Above is a preview of Uncovering Oklahoma’s 2014 Date Idea Book. Pretty cool, huh? The book should be out for sale within a week or two. I’m really proud of how much an improvement this year’s edition compared to last’s year’s. I just wanted to share what I’ve been working on real quick.
Let’s go 2014!
If the unknown scares you, then you should not continue reading this story that truly happened to me.
Today I had trouble sleeping. I had fallen asleep just fine, however, I woke up at about three in the morning and couldn’t fall back asleep. There was a good few hours chunk of time where I kept tossing from side to side to get comfortable. I finally laid on my back to force me not to move around. (I’m generally a side sleeper.) I fell asleep for an unknown length of time and when I woke up, I was still on my back, dead still, and eyes closed.
Then I felt something stiff my face.
If you’ve ever had a dog get in bed with you, you know exactly what I felt. My mind went through this thought process: Where I am? … I’m at my place… I don’t have any dogs… Did Leslie come to my place bringing one of her dogs? That’s a weird thing for her to do…
So then I decided to open my eyes as I still had this sensation of a dog sniffing around my face.
What I saw was not exactly a dog. I’m not entirely sure what it was. I saw this small creature, but it was more like an outline of a dog, similar to active camouflage in video games and movies where you would see something but you would see through it.
Whatever it was, knew I was aware of it. It freaked out and ran away, scoured down the side of my leg and off the bed. I then looked up at the ceiling where I saw this glowing, red, misty, light shapeless…thing flailing about in the room. At one point it looked like a butterfly, a snake, a skull, a dragon, and yet it just remained shapeless. The more I tried to decipher what it was, the more rapidly it changed its appearance to confuse me and make me doubt its own existence. It also acted quite shocked and as if it were saying to the invisible dog, “Oh, shit, oh shit, he saw us! He sees us! Quick, run!”
The invisible dog and red light faded away as I saw up in bed.
My heart raced. I knew what I felt. I knew what I saw.
However, I can’t help but think the red light dared the invisible dog to lick my face.
I wrote a short scary story because ’tis the season and all for scary ghost stories. It’s somewhat inspired by the ice storm we had recently and a comment a friend mentioned about the sound the icy tree branches made. The story is less than 500 words, so read and enjoy.
Stay warm and stay safe.
Crack…crack…crack…
Catherine rolled over and lifted the comforter to better bundle herself, ignoring the crackling of the tree branches falling from the weight of the ice. She snuck a peak of the clock. It read 3:23. She closed her eyes.
Crack…crack…crack…KA-BOOM!
Catherine bolted up. The room felt darker to her. She looked over at the clock. It was blank.
“Figures,” Catherine mumbled as she plopped back down on the bed.
She tried to steady her breath. Her heart still pounded from what she told herself was only the transformer exploding. She began to wonder how long it would be before the power returned. Then she began to worry how cold it would get. The place she lived in wasn’t well insulated. She lived in what was similar to a studio apartment, but was a small building behind a house her friend owned. She rolled over to her side, closed her eyes, and tried to go back to sleep.
She wished her fiancé was there and not at work at the hospital. She placed a pillow behind her back to make it at least feel like he was there with her, comforting her back to sleep.
Crack – Crack – Crack.
Her face crunched together and she tried to figure out the new crackling sound. It wasn’t the ice, she thought. She knew the sound of the ice. She knew it well. She attentively waited for the sound again.
CRack – CRack – CRack.
Catherine felt a glow of light in the room. She rolled over and looked at her clock. The power was still off, but she saw a reflective blue light on the wall. She sat up and looked around. On the wall facing the bottom of the bed was a glowing blue crack. It was about a foot tall.
CRAck – CRAck – CRAck.
The crack stretched taller and wider, while remaining a crack. Catherine rubbed her eyes. The crack was still there.
CRACk – CRACk – CRACk.
The crack had stretched even further, expanding to the ceiling and floor. The room became frigid. Catherine wrapped the blanket around herself. She slowly approached the glowing crack on the wall. She blinked, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the brightness.
“This is weird,” Catherine said.
With herself wrapped up in the blanket, she poked the crack.
CRACK – CRACK – CRACK.
The crack unfurled, vacuuming her blanket in and dragging her with it. She screamed, but the crack vacuumed the sound too. When Catherine was gone, the crack turned purple and then shrank into nothing.
This year I participated in Reddit’s Secret Santa Gift Exchange for the first time. My Secret Santa was game for pretty much anything, so in keeping with my Keep It Local gift giving I’ve been doing this year, I sent him several Made in Oklahoma items.
The items were a Flaming Lips candy, Flaming Lips art magnet, a Link button, Bigfoot coffee, my murder mystery party game book, and if all else failed, there was bubble wrap. While looking for local gifts, I took pictures of items from shops and I’ve been posting a series of gift ideas on Uncovering Oklahoma. The articles have been big hit on the site.
The Secret Santa gift I received today was the Forth Doctor’s scarf.
As you can see, it looks great on me! I’m going to wear it around and people will recognize it and will instantly want to be my friend. And we’ll be friends! Scarfs are cool. I wear scarfs now.
Group
+ Greater exposure
+ Networking
– Sharing Buyers
Solo
+ Focus is on you
– Requires more publicity work
– Can be boring/lonely
I honestly can’t flat out say group events are best for new authors and solo are for established. The best approach is to do both.
Unless your super famous, prepare for some down time. My girlfriend was with me, along with books and my iPhone, to keep me company. Good to have company to watch the table while you use the bathroom.
Other authors did other things.
I was part of a conversation awhile back with a friend, Cristela Carrizales, who is an actress, and she made a good point about friendship. I’m going to do my best not butcher what she said but basically she only expects companionship from her friends. It’s a solid expectation.
Don’t expect all of your friends to make an appearance, especially if most of your friends are the creative types. It’s impossible to go to everyone’s watch party/book signing/art opening/play/game/concert/etc. While they may not come, keep in mind, they are proud of you. They are your friends – not your fans.
If you want to see more photos of the event, I uploaded them to Facebook.
To everyone who came out and visited me or brought a copy at any point I want to say, thank you.
Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén