Tag Archives: writing

Jan 01 2016
5 Comments
One Post a Day Challenge

Happy New Year, 3.5 Readers

Hey 3.5 Readers.

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Bookshelf Q. Battler

Well, that was 2015. A whole year’s worth of blogging. As Alien Jones broke it down for us, blogging once a day and being active on social media does make a difference.

I’m at a critical mass point where I have to shift my focus from daily blogging to book production.  One of the hardest lessons I had to learn this year was there just isn’t time to do everything. I have to pick and choose between my story ideas and stick with my decisions, seeing them through to the end before starting something new.

I do love daily blogging, but I think the only way this whole nerdy enterprise remains sustainable is to get some books out there.

And sadly, that means I can’t blog everyday, which after doing it everyday for a year, is going to feel weird.

But don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll still check in, just not as often and ultimately, I have to write less in order to write better, if that makes any sense.

In the meantime, I have over a thousand posts on here. Read them. Check them out. Consult with Alien Jones and the other interesting people who stop by.

Thank you for your support, 3.5 Readers.

Sincerely,

Bookshelf Q. Battler

World Renowned Poindexter, Reviewer of Pop Cultural Happenings and Champion Yeti Fighter

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Jan 01 2016
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The Alleged Man

I’m Doing it My Way, Sort Of – The Alleged Man

And now, the end is near;
And so I face the final curtain.
My friend, I’ll say it clear,
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain.

I’ve lived a life that’s full.
I’ve traveled each and every highway;
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

– Frank Sinatra, My Way

Happy New Year, 3.5 Readers.

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The Alleged Man

The Alleged Man here, but not really. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

There’s a nasty rumor that Bookshelf Q. Battler and all the characters on this blog are just one guy pretending to be a lot of people, but that’s just balderdash if you ask me.

Oh wait, you can’t ask me, because I’m not really here. But for a brief moment, pretend that I am.

Bookshelf Q. Battler and I began as one in the same. It was the handle I went by because I wasn’t ready to say hello in person.

Old BQB and I have a lot in common.  We watch and review the same movies. He comments on the same pop cultural stuff I’m interested in. We are both big time nerds.

But at some point, BQB outgrew me.  Maybe it was when he befriended Alien Jones. Or when he roundhouse kicked the Yeti in the face. Or when he became the caretaker of a magic bookshelf. Or when he died on the toilet after shooting lightning out of his butt and came back to life to go on an adventure. Or when he enlisted the help of a 1950s noir detective. Or when his hometown was overrun by a zombie apocalypse.

Whenever or however it happened, though we still share some unique inner traits, BQB’s life is just way more exciting than mine now.

It’s long been said that Kermit the Frog was Jim Henson’s alter ego. Henson was the smartest guy in the room but lacked the big ego one would need to go around telling everyone. He had a quiet air of confidence about him. He knew exactly what to do and when to do it but didn’t outwardly demand everyone’s respect, rather, they just gave it to him.

Kind of reminds you how the Muppest are always getting into trouble only to run to good old reliable Kermit to bail them out, doesn’t it?

Am I comparing myself to a great like Henson? No. But BQB and I are both nerds who wanted to be writers, did something else instead, and now we’re both trying to become writers again thanks to modern self publishing technology that’s made it possible.

We just differ in terms of motivation:

  • I’d like to succeed at writing so I can stop feeling like I ignored my life’s big dream.
  • BQB wants to succeed at writing to keep the Mighty Potentate from conquering Earth.

Either way, we both have our own personal “Sword of Damocles” to face and somehow, we often find ourselves watching TV and eating cookies when we should be writing.

Yes, like BQB I also:

  • Feel like I’m pretty smart and often called on to help the people around me who don’t appreciate it…kind of like BQB’s relationship with the East Randomtownsfolk.
  • Live in a fantasy world. BQB’s fantasy world is made possibly largely because of a magic bookshelf. Mine is inside my head. I find myself living inside my head often.

And like Alien Jones I..

  • Wonder what technology is coming down the road. Alien Jones has seen most of it already because he’s lived so long and visited so many worlds. I can only dream about it and feel bad about what I’m going to miss out on when it is invented in a hundred years.
  • Feel like I’m smart but still have to answer to the various people in the world who have bigger mouths than I do. (i.e. we all have our own Mighty Potentates)

And like Jake Dashing I…

  • Feel like the world has changed so much that I must have fallen asleep and missed when it happened. Perhaps you never notice it. Perhaps it doesn’t all happen at once. It happens through daily gradual changes but every generation one day “wakes up” to find a much different world.

Sometimes like Uncle Hardass…

  • I complain extensively but no one listens.

And like Dr. Hugo Von Science…

  • I feel like I should be in charge of the world.

And like the Yeti…

  • I get upset and yell incoherently.  I’m all talk about wanting to run the world. I just want to blame other people for my lack of success then sit on the couch and eat cookies just as the Yeti is free to leave BQB HQ at any time but sits on BQB’s couch and watches TV and blames BQB for his shortcomings.

And there are even times when I’m like Video Game Rack Fighter and…

  • Say screw it. It’s time to play Car Thief Mayhem.

But after being all over the place, I always come back to my BQB way of thinking…

  • I’m pretty great, though there’s a long line of people ready to tell myself I’m not and ironically, I’m always at the front of the line.
  • I can beat myself up forever for not being a writer yet or I can take advantage of the great tech out today and keep trying.
  • And if it doesn’t work out, I can at least tell my older self I tried, just as BQB can tell the subjugated citizens of the new Mighty Potentate regime on Earth he tried too.

WHAT’S NEXT?

It was nice to step outside of the curtain for a moment to talk to you for a minute today, 3.5 readers.  I have to return to the shadows now.

You see, I know what it is like to struggle, to be down and out, to give life a hundred and ten percent and only get ten percent back.

Through all sorts of cosmic tomfoolery, I ended up in a tough place and after years of hard work, crawled myself out of it. Where I am now is pretty good.

It’s not great. I wouldn’t consider anything great until I’m a big time successful writer.

But still, it’s good. And as anyone who has struggled will tell you, when you lift yourself up, the struggle doesn’t end.  You just keep your head on a swivel, wondering what you can do next to make sure you never have to go back to the struggle.

You become a self struggler.

And more importantly, though some might say it is silly to worry about, we live in a world where it’s not a good idea to become known as “the guy that believes in aliens and magic bookshelves” until believing in aliens and magic bookshelves becomes profitable, should that time ever come.

So BQB will have to stand in my place and collect the 3.5 readers’ applause.

It’s ok. BQB has earned it.

He did save East Randomtown from a zombie apocalypse, after all.

Page Frank, because it’s time to do it…BQB’s way.

 

 

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Jan 01 2016
5 Comments
One Post a Day Challenge

365 Days. 1 Nerd. Results of the One Post a Day Challenge – 2015 Complete

SECURE INTERGALACTIC TRANSMISSION

TO: The Mighty Potentate

FROM: Alien Jones, the Esteemed Brainy One

RE: Results of Bookshelf Q. Battler’s One Post a Day for a Year Challenge – 2015

DATE: Jan. 1, 2016

ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY POTENTATE!

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Alien Jones tallies BQB’s 2015 stats.

Your lowly servant, Alien Jones here to report on the results of Bookshelf Q. Battler’s One Post a Day Challenge.  As you recall, Your Potentosity, you have identified BQB as “The Chosen One,” the only Earth writer capable of putting out a book that will convince the humans to abandon the reality television programming that you despise with such magnanimous enthusiasm.

HOW IT BEGAN

BQB only intended to write very brief posts for the purpose of drawing some attention to his blog. However, he quickly became hooked on seeing his stats improve and spent the year focusing on his blog instead of his languishing career as a novelist.

Further, BQB made daily postings on social media. He had Twitter at the beginning of the year. He got onto Google Plus early in the year. He had been on Facebook but finally began pushing harder on it in the Fall.

WHAT DID BQB DO?

  1. Posted 1 or more (and often, more) posts on his blog daily. Did not miss a day.
  2. Posted daily on Twitter from the beginning of the year.
  3. Posted daily on Google Plus when he started it (his pitiful human brain doesn’t remember when that started but believes it was early in the year.)
  4. Became more active on Facebook, by the end of the year he started posting there daily. Also, he spent a bit of his human money to buy some Facebook ads.
  5. Joined and became active on Wattpad, posting stories and offering comments on other writers’ works.

BQB’S BEGINNING STATS

BQB, ever unsure of himself, blogged every day in January, 2015 just to see if he could do it. He then announced Feb 1. that he’d see this through to the end of the year.

WHAT BQB SAID ABOUT HIS STATS FEB 1:

“At the time of this writing, I’m averaging 35-40 site visitors per day. I believe this is due to daily postings.

I’m also seeing an increase in blog followers. I had 400 at the start of the year, and about 450 now.

I had 2000 twitter followers at the start of the year, I’m at around 2500 now.”

 STAT COMPARISON A YEAR LATER

WORDPRESS

FOLLOWERS

JAN 1, 2015 – Approx. 400

JAN 1, 2016 – 1,520

INCREASE of 1,120 approx.

2014 vs. 2015

BQB began this blog in 2014, but did not blog daily. In fact, he often let a lot of time pass between posts.

2014 Stats

VIEWS – 4,658

VISITORS – 3,623

LIKES – 895

COMMENTS – 227

2015 Stats

VIEWS – 28,103 (Up approx 24,000)

VISITORS – 14,880 (Up approx 11,000)

LIKES – 7,836 (Up approx 6,000)

COMMENTS – 2000 (Up approx 1800)

TWITTER

JAN 1, 2015 – 2,000 followers (approx)

JAN 1, 2016 – 7,168

GOOGLE PLUS

2014 – BQB didn’t have it.  He started in 2015.

Jan 1, 2016 – 858 followers

FACEBOOK

Likes were barely existent starting 2015. BQB experimented with buying some Facebook ads in the Fall. Currently, the Bookshelf Battle Facebook Page has 169 likes and the Pop Culture Mysteries Facebook Page has 107 likes.

SOCIAL MEDIA OBSERVATIONS – IS SOCIAL MEDIA WORTH IT?

Human writers often debate whether social media is worth their time. Some praise it as a free marketing tool. Others complain it takes time away from their actual writing.

For all of the social media activity BQB engaged in…

TWITTER – brought 527 views total to BQB’s blog this year.

FACEBOOK – brought 368 views total.

GOOGLE PLUS – 270

 Thus, it is clear that having more followers on social media does not mean they will all visit your website. However, BQB feels his social media efforts did help to raise awareness of his blog and to make contacts with other writers, such as the fine authors who helped him out of the East Randomtown Zombie Apocalypse in October.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS 

SEARCH ENGINES – gave BQB 6,898 views. It pays to write a lot. The more content you have on your site, the more likely people will visit your site through a search engine.

WORDPRESS READER – 1,156 – The more wordpress followers you have, the more people will seeing your blog in their wordpress reader.

DAILY VIEWS – BQB found that for the most part, his efforts attracted somewhere between 30-50 visitors (more or less). Occasionally, it would push 100, a few times over 100, but never over 200.

To BQB’s credit, his view rate is high, meaning that there are a number of visitors coming to the site, liking what they see, and giving it a few more views.

OVERALL – WAS THE ONE POST A DAY CHALLENGE WORTH IT?

Yes. The Chosen One has gone from dabbling in a blog to building a platform.

BQB has a tendency to doubt himself, but will keep up with something if he sees progress and there was definite progress this year.

THE FUTURE

As a pitiful human, BQB can’t do everything, so in 2016 he will have to divert his attention to his novel writing career. However, the time he spent building this site’s readership will likely payoff one day…some day.

Somehow no matter what happens, BQB only reports having 3.5 readers though. That is likely to continue.

MY RECOMMENDATION 

Spare the Earthlings, Mighty Potentate. BQB is doing his best to write a novel and build a writing career. He will do his best to convince the pitiful humans to stop watching reality television and read books instead.

ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY POTENATE!

Alien Jones, out.

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Dec 31 2015
4 Comments
One Post a Day Challenge

BQB Bests the Yeti…AND POSTS FOR 365 DAYS!

By: Bookshelf Q. Battler, World Renowned Poindexter, Reviewer of Pop Cultural Happenings, Champion Yeti Fighter AND POSTER OF 365+ POSTS IN 2015.

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“Ohh…I am the champion, my 3.5 friends! Yes I…roundhouse kicked the Yeti in the face again! I am the champion! I am the champion…no time for losers ‘cuz I am the champion….of this blog!!!”

Happy New Year’s Eve, 3.5 readers. GET BACK IN YOUR CAGE AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’VE DONE, THE YETI!

Bookshelf Q. Battler here, with my last post of the year, the one that makes it official:

I blogged once a day in 2015.

Actually, I blogged a lot more than just once a day. Way more. Plus, I did more than that. I also:

  • Foiled 2 plots by the Yeti to take over BQB HQ, one in the Spring and one five seconds ago. Each time, I managed to secure my freedom by roundhouse kicking the Yeti in the face. Stupid Yeti. When will he ever learn that the path towards keeping 3.5 readers happy is to entertain them, not bore them?
  • Befriended Alien Jones, an intergalactic emissary of the Mighty Potentate, a space despot who has decreed that he will take over Earth if I do not write a novel so eloquent that it inspires all humans to abandon reality television.
  • Met the love of my nerd life, Video Game Rack Fighter while on a mission to discover the meaning of life. Oh, also, I discovered the meaning of life. Or did I? I still need to finish telling you what happened.
  • Contracted with infamous hardboiled noir style private investigator Jake Dashing to solve 100 “Pop Culture Mysteries” by withholding the information he needs to return to 1954, the time period he feels most comfortable in.
  • Survived a zombie apocalypse that broke out in my home town of East Randomtown, set off by my once former mentor turned enemy, Dr. Hugo Von Science. I couldn’t have done it without the help of #31ZombieAuthors. Yes, 31 (actually 32) successful and accomplished people took time out of their busy schedules to help me stop the zombie hordes.

I blogged everyday. I connected with my 3.5 readers on Twitter, Google Plus, and Facebook. I upped my stats and built my platform.

And I couldn’t have done it without my trusty 3.5 readers, like this one:

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“BQB’s undecipherable ramblings get a big thumbs up from me!” – Bookshelf Battle Blog Reader #1 – Samantha Putney, Racine, WN

Or this one…

 

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“The Funky Hunks aren’t that bad in virtual reality…they’re much, much worse!” – Jill Metzler, Bookshelf Battle Blog Reader #2

Or this reader…

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“Bless you, BQB. Whenever my parents tell me I wasted my life I just point them to your blog and tell them, ‘At least I’m not THIS GUY!'” – Bookshelf Battle Blog Reader #3 – Mitch Culpepper, Cleveland, OH.

And who could forget my incorrigible .5th reader?

*AHEM*

I said, “WHO COULD FORGET MY .5th reader!”

Oh never mind. Sure, I could post some sort of photo of half a person or a dwarf but that’d be in very poor taste and also incorrect because as long as you’ve got a brain and a heart, you’re a whole person in my book.

But whoever you are and even though my stat reports only count you as .5th of a reader, you’re loved too, .5th reader!

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Thank you, 3.5 readers.

Thank you for going on this year long journey with me, for putting up with my nonsense, my tomfoolery, my pondexosity.

I’ll be back Jan. 1 to break down the stats of where I was at the start of the year and where I am now but until then, feel free to add to those stats by following me.

Yours truly,

Bookshelf Q. Battler

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Dec 31 2015
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The Yeti

The Yeti Takes Over!!!

By: The Yeti, International Fuzzy Monster War Criminalshutterstock_152431793

Muah ha…muah ha ha…MUAH HA HA!

Pathetic 3.5 readers!  I, the Yeti, have escaped and taken control of Bookshelf Battle Headquarters, just in time to stop Bookshelf Q. Battler’s One Post a Day for a Year Challenge on its final day!

You have failed, BQB! You have failed so epically!  Muah ha ha! Now the world will know you are a failure!

Correction, BQB! Now your 3.5 readers will know you are a failure! You will remain my prisoner forever as the knowledge that you were stopped just one day short of posting for an entire year!  BAH HA HA HA!

And now I, the Yeti, will turn your awesome, super fun blog into a museum of boredom. All Yetis believe everything in the world should be boring and now I will spread my boringositude to you, BQB’s 3.5 readers.

Post subjects will now be limited to:

  • Photos of mushrooms
  • My vacation to Yeti Falls
  • Treatises about the various denture adhesives available on the market and which ones have the better grip.
  • Discussions about mold growth, specifically, history and related scientific theories of mold’s ability to grow on leftover food.
  • Toilet paper rations

Yes. I am the best yeti of all yetis!  I…I…oh no!  BQB! How did you escape?!  ACKK!! MY BEAUTIFUL YETI FACE!

 

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Dec 30 2015
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Things That Really Frost My Ass

Things That Really Frost My Ass -New Year’s Edition

By: Uncle Hardass, Grumpy Old Man Correspondent

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Uncle Hardass, Noted Complainer of World Renown

Hello again, miserable degenerate 3.5 readers. I see none of you have gotten jobs at the salt mines yet. Still wasting away your time on your writing, trying to fill your pages with stories about elves and wizards and hippies while good, decent, hard working folk are out there working for a living.

I’d say you make me sick but by now I’m beyond the point of disappointment with you people. Anyway, you’re in luck. Between Christmas and New Year’s, you’re getting two doses of your old Uncle Hardass one after the other.

I know. You can’t wait to ring in 2016 with some singing, dancing, and your favorite hippy drug music blaring on your radio machines while hard working people are trying to get some sleep because they have to get up and work for a living.

Let’s talk New Year’s, losers. It’s the time to collect your thoughts, look back on the year gone by, reflect on your mistakes…AND MAKE POINTLESS, USELESS PROMISES THAT YOU WON’T REPEAT THE BULLSHIT THAT MADE 2015 A TOTAL BUST WHEN 2016 ROLLS IN!!!

Don’t even bother. On New Year’s Day, 2015, what did you nimrods do?  You made a…

RESOLUTION TO LOSE WEIGHT 

Jan. 1, 2015 – “I’ll walk three miles a day, eat fruits and vegetables and cut out junk food, fast food, and all manner of garbage food.”

Jan. 5, 2015 – You spent the entire day on your couch in the previous day’s clothes only to muster up enough energy to run to McDonald’s, where you freebased ten Happy Meals, toys included, didn’t you…DIDN’T YOU?!!

RESOLUTION TO GO TO THE GYM EVERYDAY

Jan. 1, 2015 – “I just plopped down a bunch of money on this gym membership!  I’ll use it every day!”

Jan. 1, 2015, 5 minutes later – The guy working the desk at the gym thanks you for taking part in the annual “We Know You Don’t Want to Be a Fatty Fatty Boomba Latty Anymore and You Really Mean Business This Year, Hey Look, a Donut!” special. That snarky bastard then quips he’ll see you on Jan. 1, 2017 to buy another membership you won’t use. You prove him right every year. You’re putting the gym owner’s kids through college by giving him a yearly income boost without causing him to incur any equipment repair fees when your fat ass breaks the stair master.

RESOLUTION TO GET OUT OF DEBT

Jan. 1, 2015 – “I will only buy the bare necessities of life, nothing more, nothing less. I’ll keep my expenses low. I won’t go on shopping binges. Material things won’t fix my problems.”

Jan. 3, 2015 – You spent a week’s salary on in-app purchases, buying extra corn to grow on your virtual farm, or food to feed your virtual dog or what have you. Then you went online and bought a limited edition autograph of that kid that played Xander on Buffy the Vampire Slayer because it reminded you of your youth. You followed it up with a golden chalice to drink your Mountain Dew out of, which you justified to yourself with the argument, “I am a special person and I deserve to drink my soda out of a cup fit for royalty and doing so will make me feel better about myself!” It did not, so you gave a thousand dollars to a fake televangelist then bought a copy of Avengers 2 and paused it on a scene involving Black Widow’s ample, leather clad bosom.

RESOLUTION TO FIND TRUE LOVE

Jan. 1, 2015 – “I will open myself up to someone decent, true and pure with honest moral character and good intentions toward me and reject those who don’t treat me with the respect that I deserve.”

Jan. 7, 2015 – You rejected that well adjusted person who is head over heels in love with you because he/she has a tiny mole, or a few early gray hairs, a zit, a foot that’s a sixth of an inch bigger than the other, or some minor issue that you magnified in your pea brain because, “Whoa, look at me, I’m really great and I won’t settle for anything less that an experience that makes me feel like I’m on a rocket to the moon.” Then you sent the sixth unanswered text message of the week to that attractive person who only answers when he/she needs money, which you eagerly dole out in total violation of the previous resolution.

RESOLUTION TO STOP DRINKING/SMOKING

Jan. 1, 2015 – “No more cigarettes! No more alcohol! My body is a temple!”

Jan 2, 2015 – “Right after this last butt and this last Bud…shit, these resolutions technically don’t start till March, right?”

RESOLUTION TO WRITE A NOVEL

Jan. 1, 2015 – “My book will be on Amazon by Christmas, 2015!”

Dec. 31, 2015 – “I spent the year working on a blog for 3.5 readers.” (That was an impression of my incompetent, lousy excuse for a nephew, Bookshelf Q. Battler.)

STOP MAKING IDIOTIC RESOLUTIONS!!!

So listen up, 3.5 dummies. Stop making ridiculous promises to yourselves that you’ll never keep. You know you won’t.

Why do you make resolutions? Because time moves by very fast. You start the year with the best intentions, then life gets in the way, you resort to your old bad habits, you tell yourself, “Tomorrow! I’ll start working on this tomorrow!” and then before you know it the year is over and you’re still the same old asshole you promised you wouldn’t be anymore when the year began.

So you resolve, and resolve and resolve. You lie to yourself. “I’m putting a patch on the open wound of my soul that makes me a) eat, drink and smoke too much b) avoid fulfilling relationships while seeking out harmful ones c) spend your money on nonsense d) generally act like a dumb ass.

3.5 HIPPIES: But Uncle Hardass! Are you telling me I SHOULD just go ahead and eat, smoke, and drink myself into an early grave and spend myself into the poorhouse?

Of course not, you ignorant communist. YOU SHOULD stop engaging in all of the destructive behaviors that have led you to the lowly state you find yourself in right now, most likely curled up in the fetal position on the couch, eating cupcakes and volunteering your time to be one of my idiot nephew’s 3.5 readers.

BUT YOU ALSO SHOULD…identify whatever it is that is causing you to eat, drink, smoke, spend and chase away love and happiness.

What happened to you, lousy 3.5 readers, to bring you to the lowly state you are in?

  • Did your parents not give you enough attention when you were a child?
  • Did someone hurt your feelings? Were you betrayed and left heartbroken?
  • Did you experience some kind of heinous traumatic event?
  • Did you once believe in yourself enough to try to do something only to fail miserably, leaving you feeling like having hopes and dreams aren’t worth it?
  • Did life not turn out the way you planned it?

Whatever happened, 3.5 readers, here are my two bits of advice:

FIRST – avoid the urge to tell me all about it. Like a bad gas pain, that too will pass. I’m too busy to pretend to give a shit. If you try to tell me, I’ll just grunt and call you a dumb ass.

SECOND – You should find a professional that can help talk you through it, work through your feelings and come to terms with whatever is bothering you as well as develop a strategy to prevent your problems from manifesting themselves into the destructive behaviors that you resolve to stop every year without any progress.

BOTTOMLINE: Whatever the hell your problem is, either fix it, or if you can’t fix it, learn to live with it without engaging in bad behavior. You can resolve all you want, but those resolutions won’t take root until you figure out whats making you do all the bad things you’re resolving against in the first place.

I know you all worship and adore your Uncle Hardass and strive to be the stable, well-adjusted person that he is.

I don’t blame you. But I’m a specimen of perfection that few, if any, can ever live up to.

Instead, stop worrying about other people and worry about you.  Be the best you that you can be. Give yourself a hug and forgive yourself for the shambles you’ve put your life into and only then can you work on digging yourself out of the pile of crap you’re stuck in.

That’s enough hippy talk for one column, 3.5 readers. I’m off to watch the ball drop then after that, I hear there’s some big glowing blinky thing in New York City they broadcast video of as it slides down a pole, so I’ll probably watch that too.

Happy New Year’s, 3.5 readers. Resolve to get a job. I can’t carry everyone on my back forever.

Attorney Donnelly notes that Uncle Hardass is not a licensed therapist or professional counselor or psychiatrist/psychologist of any kind, so you shouldn’t rely on anything he just said. If you have problems, do your own research into what the proper course of action is and look into what resources, professionals etc. are available to help you. 

But seriously, don’t take advice on a blog with only 3.5 readers. That’s just stupid.

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Dec 29 2015
4 Comments
One Post a Day Challenge

Bookshelf Battle 2015 in Review

What was your favorite post/moment/happening on the Bookshelf Battle Blog in 2015, oh noble 3.5 readers?

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Dec 28 2015
4 Comments
Writing

The Best Story I Have

Hello 3.5 Readers,

My stories are my children so I am loathe to refer to one of them as “my best” or “my favorite.”

Since I actively started blogging in 2014 (in the hopes doing so would inspire a career as a novelist) the ideas have been flowing into my head non-stop. Many of them are ideas I’ve had for years. Others brand new.

The sad part is I’m not sure there will be enough time for me to ever tell you all of them. Thus, picking which story to work on the most, or rather, which “kid” to put on display (I guess I’m an obnoxious pageant mother if we’re keeping up with this analogy) depends on a gut feeling of a) what I feel I will be able to produce given the limits on my free time and b) what the audience might enjoy.

So while I’m loathe to say one of my “story kids” is better than the other, let’s just say I have, for a long, long time now, been working on a story whose artwork really, really deserves a plum spot on the old fridge.

But…out of all my story ideas, it’s the most complex.  I don’t really want to get into the details but there’s a lot of moving parts.

I’ve tried various drafts.  It’s very complicated. There are a lot of characters and a lot is going on. There’s trickery and intrigue. It’s not all that funny like my usual stuff is but it is an idea that’ll make you think.

And honestly, it is also bizarre and unusual, so the general public might have some different thoughts about it.  Some of you might think it’s brilliant. Others may read it and think I need to be on meds.

I actually don’t think its an idea that could have been pursued a decade or two ago, what with changing social norms and all.

But…it’s so complicated that after various drafts I just told myself maybe this idea has to wait until I’m a better writer, or at least until I figure out how to approach it better.

Time does indeed help.  Sometimes you can hit a wall with a story, put it away, and after awhile, it dawns on you how to leap over that wall in a way that banging your head against that wall would have never achieved.

After attempting a number of drafts and finally, after giving my brain that simmer time, my gut tells me the story is so complicated that it can really only be told through a series of at least 7 novels.

That’s 7 novels with sort of “story arc” of their own that build upon one another until the climax in the 7th.

That’s a lot for a guy who’s never published one novel.  So ultimately, that’s why I pursued other projects.

Currently, I’m working on Pop Culture Mysteries.  That’s also my kid.

Sticking with the kid analogy, Pop Culture Mysteries is a good boy.  He does his homework and helps with the dishes and wears a clean shirt on picture day.

The other idea, also my kid, is like an emo goth kid that I have to listen to all of his problems and though I have no clue how to help him, try to do so anyway.

But enough of the analogies.

I guess my whole point with this post is that writing has made me aware more than ever about how little time I have left in the grand scheme of things.

I work.  In my spare time, I tend to life’s necessities. I have others I have to help. Then if I get an hour a day to write I’m lucky.

Thus, 1 book a year is possible…2 a year is the only way I’ll get anywhere but I’m not sure its possible.

I got sick over Christmas and stayed in bed for 2 days, binge watching TV. It’s the first time I’d done anything like that all year.  Normally, I go to work, do all the other stuff I need to do, then write.

I woke up so rested Sunday that it made me realize perhaps, just health wise, I do need to stop and goof off more.  But I hate to.  Because then that’s even less writing time.

I know.  This post made no sense.

In an attempt to make it make sense, let me say that if you folks dig my first couple of books i.e. Pop Culture Mysteries then at some point I might be motivated to wrack my brains on a very complicated, flow chart requiring mind bending 7 novel series.

That only 3.5 people will read.

 

 

 

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Dec 26 2015
6 Comments
One a Day Post Challenge

Sick Nerd

Boo!

Bookshelf Q. Battler here, 3.5 readers.

Got sick on Christmas, spent the day in bed. A little bit better today, but still woozy, unsure if I’ll get up or stay in bed awhile longer.

I blame the Yeti for this malfeasance. He probably poisoned me in an attempt to make me fail on the final stretch of the one post a day for a year challenge.

Damn it, Yeti.  Why are you the cause of all my problems?

Actually, I do have a complaint though. I got sick on Labor Day and then again on Christmas. Its like if I ever get a day off the Yeti conspires to make me not enjoy it.

 

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Dec 25 2015
7 Comments
Christmas

Merry Christmas 3.5 Readers!

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Bookshelf Q. Battler and Video Game Rack Fighter, East Randomtown’s Nerdiest Power Couple Wishing You a Merry Christmas!

Dearest 3.5 Readers,

A quick note to say thank you, for you, my darling 3.5 readers, are the wind beneath my wings, the hot fudge on my sundae, the dip on my chips and the reason I keep writing.

As I reach the home stretch of the One Post a Day for a Year Challenge, I realize I’ve learned a lot about blogging, self-publishing, social media, building a fan base and so on.

What I’ve noticed is that unlike other activities, blogging…very slowly but surely…does yield results.  Bookshelfbattle.com did better in 2015 than it did in 2014 and here’s hoping things just keep improving with every passing year.

Tell your friends so I can have 7 readers in 2016 and 14 readers in 2017.  Let’s double everything every year!

It hasn’t been an easy year, what with attacks from the Yeti, Dr. Hugo Von Science choosing a dark path and the zombie apocalypse that decimated my hometown but amidst it all, you fine 3.5 readers have been there for me.

Thank you 3.5 readers.  Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Whatever Holidays You Celebrate.

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