Finished! I sent the cover and guts files to the printer for approval at noon! You can now order your copy from VampiresVampires.com for just $7.97.

I’m eager to hear what you think! Thanks for your support.

<– Click the cover for a full-size version to read the back cover text.

One of my favorite tools for getting things done is setting unrealistic goals.

For example, I recently decided to write a teen vampire novel. I gave myself two weeks to finish.

It’s now about 2½ months later and it’s still not finished BUT I am 7 chapters away from a pretty solid rough draft with most all the details in place. One more pass and I’ll have a publishable book, though I should probably read through several more times to polish it up even more.

The key to successfully setting unrealistic goals is not getting all bent out of shape when you fail to achieve them. Simply reassess where you stand, give yourself credit for how far you’ve come, and start over with new unrealistic goals.

I don’t care what the experts say – you have to admit this beats setting entirely realistic goals, like writing a book in eight to twelve months, and thus never even beginning because that’s just too far away.

Tomorrow I will finish those seven chapters. After that, I give myself a week for the publishable draft, and then another day or two for final polishing.

Forgot to mention: my new book Courage, Love and the Meaning of Christmas is now available in a non-holiday edition: Courage, Love and the Meaning of Life.

I wrote the original version of this book (Gone but not Forgotten) in three weeks and it piled up a lot of enthusiastic fans. The most frequent feedback I got was that people started reading too late at night, then stayed up till 3 a.m. to finish because they didn’t want to put it down. I spent 10 years (off and on, of course) revising it and this version is way better. Translation: you want to order one. Everybody’s doing it! Just once won’t hurt.

You can order from Amazon.com, and if you’ve already read it, do me a big favor and leave a review there. Thanks!

Many things, actually; but one of the best is to make you feel loved.

And for that, I’d like to say a great big, warm thank you to my dear, eloquent friend Melanee who just wrote this very flattering and poetic blog post about me and my new book: http://readytoglow.blogspot.com/2009/12/courage-love-and-meaning-of-christmas.html

I love it, Mel. I love you! Thanks so much.

By now you all know that I’ve finished a major revision of my old Christmas book Gone but not Forgotten and that the new version and its sequel are way better than the original, but the first one was still a very good book that everyone seemed to enjoy, SO….

…if you’d like to help me give away all the old inventory, it’s yours for the taking.

Just let me know how many copies you want, then drop by and pick them up. Give them away to your family, friends, coworkers, and strangers at the mall. Keep one for yourself.

No strings attached. You’ll be helping me clear out space in my basement and spread the word about the new books.

If you’re not local, then you can order as many books as you want from Free Christmas Books.com, but it’ll cost you just about enough to cover S&H.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

P.S. Now that I have concluded my experiment to find out which of you are ingenius marketers, I will add a copy of the stamp I had made for the inside cover of the book. Thanks Antone and Joe for your input!

The Christmas season is upon us and things with the books are really coming together. They’re now available on Amazon.com, I’m working on getting a very highly-recommended distributor with national chain ties, and most of the work is done.

The question is, am I too late? Have I missed the boat for this year?

In talking to a friend who runs an online bookstore, he tells me that by around this time, people stop shopping online for books for gifts and go to the stores, to make sure the gifts arrive in plenty of time.

You can still order from Amazon, btw, and get it on time, even with super saver shipping, though you may need standard shipping soon to get it on time.

And I’ll get a couple hundred books delivered here on Tuesday. I hope to at least sell most of those to friends and neighbors, then be patient for the big boat next year.

In the mean time, if you’ve read either book and liked it and have a minute and are in the mood to do me a huge favor, I’d really appreciate if you’d leave a comment on any of the web pages where they’re for sale to help visitors decide whether to buy it!

Here are the links:

Courage, Love and the Meaning of Christmas: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1893594025?tag=chriswriti-20

or http://ChristmasNovels.com

The Perfect Gift: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1893594017?tag=chriswriti-20

or http://ChristmasNovels.com/the-perfect-gift

Thanks!

Well, it’s all finished. I finished writing The Perfect Gift. I laid out the book interiors in InDesign. I designed the covers. I sent them to the printer.

Now it’s time to get the word out. If you have a blog and want to really help me out, I’d be very grateful if you would write something about my ChristmasNovels.com or FreeChristmasBooks.com sites. All links to the site help move me up in search engine rankings, and that means more clicks, and that means more sales, and that means I can afford to write book three and buy you a nice Christmas gift! Continue Reading »

In rock climbing, a “commitment move” is when – if you proceed – you can’t back down to the safety of your last bolt or protection. It’s onward, upward, or a big fall. It can scare you but also motivate you to push forward quickly to the next clip or secure hold. Continue Reading »

I wrote a pretty good short story a few years ago called Bloomers <-(click to read).

A neighbor (Ryan) who’s a pretty good artist has begun to illustrate it with plans to self publish, but a friend just pointed out that I ought to send it off to a publisher.

An established publisher could do a lot more with it than me. And publishers prefer to choose their own artist.

So give me your feedback – should I have Ryan quit illustrating it (he has developed some good concepts but hasn’t gotten very far) and send it off to a publisher instead?