Dun dun duuuuunnn!

Good morning, friends! It seems we have another slow weekend ahead of us, but Deea made up for the lost time by almost killing herself with exhaustion, advertising, reaching out and doing whatever she does for the project (because I just don't want to know). 

I bashed her pretty hard this morning, not for taking a break, but for being too bloody hyperactive! If you haven't figured it out yet, this journey we both embarked on is not only about publishing a fantastic book (not flaunting, merely stating a truth); it's also about evolving, learning, honing our skills, and also have some fun with it. From my point of view, Deea's the best person to handle my P.R. campaign. She's invulnerable to pessimism, she's unflinching and she goes for the throat, no matter whose throat it is! ...She also shares another characteristic of mine: the A.D.H.D. that makes us unable to focus on one thing for a longer period of time, and we end up bored. It's because of this that I sometimes have to pick up the slack. Don't get me wrong: I enjoy working side by side with her very much! But while I keep interfering, cleaning up or just adjusting the finer details, she doesn't learn. So, from this point on, if you see something that doesn't seem right or thought through, let us know! While I'll try to keep my nose out of my agent's activities, I would appreciate your input very much.

We had a hell of a time with our Facebook page and it felt like the old IRC days (for those of you who might remember them), when we spammed the main channels like fanatics with all sorts of crazy ads about some new chat room. So much so that I've received a messaged from the admins telling me to stop. Or else. Still, we received 65 Likes in 24 hours and we are very happy about it! It would be truly great if we could keep the rate constant, though I am aware there is a certain cap and people are lazy or just suspicious about such a (seemingly) minor project. I just want you all to know how thankful we are for your continuous support and be assured that this will be mentioned in Crux after it's published!

What else did I do...? Ah, yes. Except advertising on all the English publisher pages I could find, I tried to contact the Romanian ones as well. Surprise, surprise! As it goes, our local publishers do NOT own pages, but regular user profiles that don't even allow posting. For a moment, I felt frustrated: 14/15 English pages let me advertise The Angellove Society, while 14/15 Romanian profiles made me turn tail and go home. But then I amused myself by realizing that our F.B. page makes the local publishers look like a Mini next to a Ferrari! 

I also e-mailed Total Biscuit, whose shows I've followed for years! He's one of the most annoyingly smart and funny people I had the luck to stumble upon, and he's the one responsible for my discovery and growing admiration of Sir Terry Pratchett. But as I know T.B., he's probably very busy with his many projects (or too cynical to mind me). So I pushed it even further and messaged one of the owners of his Facebook page who, as it turns out, he's -ta daaa!- Romanian! Hopefully my explanations had been interesting enough for either of them to call back. Fingers crossed!

And now for the fun part! Yes, I will explain the picture above. "Hobbit With A Shotgun" is the title I chose some weeks back for a short story meant to introduce a future Angellove Society novel (possibly Book 3). It has nothing to do with the terrible subject of the film "Hobo With A Shotgun" which is a horrible waste of money and time; I do not endorse gratuitous violence nor scenarios written by untalented people, and that movie is the pinnacle of both concepts. This story however is funny and explosive and, I hope, a typical Steampunk fantasy! It's still 'under construction', so I ask you to be patient for a few more days until I manage to sort out the newly developed matters here, on my ship. It appears that we must sail for Tampa, Florida, very soon, and considering I am the one responsible with planning the trip (a process that is quite complicated), these matters will require my full attention.

I will however check in with you guys as often as possible and, seeing how my poor agent is forced to teach a class about teaching methods (yes, you read it correctly!) on her birthday, messing up her entire weekend, I'll try to update you on whatever news we receive or new tasks we might get involved with. But it's summer so most of you will most likely run outside to enjoy the sun and lovely weather, so no biggie, eh?

Be back soon! Have an awesome weekend!

Writer's Lament

There's really no plan. My week is pretty decent so far- another 2 days at anchor, giving me time to relax and prepare for the trip to Tampa, are more than welcomed. Yet I feel generally bored and I'm in no mood for writing. Since Deea took some time to solve her personal issues, the best way to picture me is staring dumbly at the screen with neither the ideas nor the mood to do anything. She did manage to find us the good-hearted Vlad Muresan, who's willing to lend his talents and help out with the website, but now I have to explain to him the crazy ideas I had for its layout and functions by e-mail. I don't know what's more scary: telling him that my vision involves separate coding or actually seeing this site up and running...

What got me down in the gutters wasn't Deea's need for a break though. Not entirely anyway. It was mostly the stats - I masochistically check the blog's views every day. At least two times. And falling from 81 views (Friday) to 25 (yesterday) can get a person to lose faith. Furthermore, I got beaten by my old blog with 52 and 51 views in the last couple of days... A blog that hasn't been updated since Christmas. Ain't that something?

I realized people hate reading. Post a picture of a dog on Facebook and you get 2 shares and 10 likes, but link a text and they are gone, running faster than a vampire at sunrise. God forbid you use English! As a decent and frequent user of the English language, I noticed that more than once people avoid me or just scold me, labeling me a snob. I'm sorry, but do any of you know how hard it is to write about a car chase in Romanian and make it sound exciting? I believe Eddie Izzard had a bit about writing about a car chase; he thought it can't be as thrilling as a movie scene. True, though it depends on how good the director is. Same with books: if you know what details to focus on, you can make everything exciting!

What I'm getting at is that people shouldn't be so quick to write off writings. Pun intended. I'm a huge movie lover and I did my fair share of objective and argumentative criticism regarding a few of Hollywood's productions. But, at the same time, I can honestly say that there is no form of art that allows such freedoms as those granted by writing. A film has a limited time line in which it must capture the important details, whereas a book can go on for as long as it's necessary. Of course, I don't encourage the Proustian style of never-ending descriptions, I'm just saying you have that option!

Oftentimes I've heard the words "I don't like reading". Or, in the past few years, the trendy "I'm not a professor to speak perfect Romanian / English". Since when exactly do you need a teaching diploma to speak and write correctly in your native tongue? I believe it's every man's duty to do that! My Romanian article was about patriotism and the pride one should express about one's nationality. Aside the fact that the concept is idiotic, as you can't be proud of a coincidence, shouldn't we express said patriotism FIRSTLY by showing respect towards our own language? Shouldn't we honor our heritage with this minimal effort?

I speak Romanian, English, Italian. I understand and can speak common French phrases, basic Spanish and a little German. Never have I claimed that everybody should share my talent and love for linguistics, but I can't comprehend this common aversion towards reading, writing and most importantly SPEAKING correctly. Books are not your enemy, folks! Open one - it won't bite!

Missed you too, love!

 

You know... that feeling that you sometimes get, when you first make contact with something completely awesome, new, original, special? I had it when I saw the first movie. And I had it again after this trailer. I LOVE Robert Downey Jr.! Can't wait for this one! W00t!