I gave up TV long ago. But now I don't even watch many movies anymore because no movie script gets even close to the plot of what's happening in 'real life' at this moment. It's the greatest show possibly in the history of mankind. Certainly modern times - let's leave out for now the Jesus story and the 'hidden' history of mankind.
So most of the people I know in my daily life are convinced there's a pandemic and the governments of the world are doing their best to save the masses. Trust is a virtue - but unchecked it falls perilously close to naivety and pure stupidity. Once you've been down one rabbit-hole it opens up a whole labyrinth of networked chasms and there's really no escaping, save trying to brainwash yourself back into ignorance. I consider myself 'awake'... but I'm not so naive that I think I know what's really going on. I've been following Q's anons since Trump first became president and it's been a wild ride - I've been hooked, and I want to see how it all turns out. I never watched 'Lost', or 'Game of Thrones', but this show has really got me. I trust in 'The Plan', I understand the tactics of the 'White Hats', and I've heard and been convinced of all the 'Deep State' atrocities. But more and more I'm hearing that many of the bad actors are already arrested, or executed, and what we see playing out around the world is all part of a massive pantomime, filled with clones and deep-fakes and CGI, and all with the sole purpose of waking up the masses. It could be true - I don't know. I know how it would be possible, and why it would be necessary. And I really don't care if it's true or not - I'll find out soon enough. Unlike those still asleep though, I won't be shocked or surprised when the truth is exposed. Bring it all on I say - deep state, one-world-order, blood-drinking sociopathic elite pedophiles, reptilian aliens... I can accept it all. Why? Well... my belief is that all of reality, all realities, all existence, is all a dream anyway - an imagining in the one universal mind that some may call God, and others may call the universal field of consciousness.
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I've never been very active on social-media - partly to do with the fact that I'm not very 'social' offline. Not that I'm antisocial - don't get the wrong idea - it's just that I really enjoy my own space and time and I'm hesitant to give that up for social get-togethers with people who don't share my particular interests and understandings. I have a small group of people I see regularly, where we make music and discuss deep themes on 'being human'. Apart from that I don't keep contact much with anyone.
I have a profile on Facebook - a couple of hundred 'friends' - ex work colleagues, a few remaining contacts from my life in England, and diverse contacts made online and through various groups I got involved with here in Amsterdam. But I rarely post on FB - it seems most of the 'friends' are left-leaning in their viewpoints and I find their activist comments rather tiring and predictable. Mostly, I use FB to keep up on the activities of my son, and my nephews in England. Also, given the rampant censorship of all the big social-media sites over the last year, I'm pretty reluctant to support such platforms. I still watch a lot of content on YouTube (threw the tv out years ago), though I turn to Bitchute more and more for deeper content, and I have a Twitter link but, again, I'm reluctant to support Jack Dorsey's tyranny. The only reason I keep FB up at the moment is to keep the contact with all those older aquaintances who are still important to me, and to see what happens with the platform (and with my friends) when the big event takes place - disclosure of the deep-state and democrats, election fraud, covid plandemic, and the return of Trump to the Whitehouse... But now I've discovered GAB. An FB type platform with the emphasis on free-speech. And boy... was I ready for this. What a breath of fresh air! I'm going to delight in making new friends and aquaintances there. So, once I'd decided to publish my books directly onto Wattpad, I got to work designing covers. It took about a week to think up the concepts, and it had been a long time since I'd done any graphic work on the computer so it took me a while to get used to the program again (I use Gimp - easier than photoshop and free).
I didn't think of format or size, just formed the basic shape of a book. I was happy with the results, but when I researched Wattpad I found I had to adapt my covers to fit their upload requirements. So... back to work on Gimp. This worked ok, though I lost a little of the edges of one of the images. Not important. Also I had to diminish the images to about a fifth of the size. Which I did, but forgot to save the originals. Stupid, but that's how you learn right? I'd also made double examples, one with my own name and one with Levi Dulce - wasn't yet sure which I was going to go with. Anyway... then I discover Smashwords... and they have a different requirement for size and format of covers. And so I had to adapt them again - this time somewhat more difficult because I had to expand the width. What I ended up doing was clipping the middle and squashing it so the top and bottom would be closer. Luckily, it worked. At least now I know what to do with any new covers... I'm going with my own name, and the Smashwords format. Easier next time. So, look at the examples here, see if you can spot the difference. Just ended a month free from my work - now I'm back to the grind and missing all that wonderful free time to write and post and dream... So now I have to make sure I get to bed earlier so I can get up earlier so I can post my book chapters on Wattpad as scheduled... and I still have to get back in the swing of things so I can get back into writing the stories I'm presently working on. Phew!
Latest thoughts on Smashwords... wondering if it might be a good idea to pay someone to format my manuscripts for me... it's a lot of work. I'll make a decision this weekend. Well, now I've got to head out to my day-job... I set up this blog with the name Levi Dulci - it's an anagram I was going to give one of the characters in one of my stories, but I liked it so much I considered using it myself.
Why? Well... probably like most people I find my own name less 'enticing' on a book cover. It's a mouthful: M. Monaghan, or Michael Monaghan, or Mike Monaghan... doesn't sound like a writer. Now i know a lot of writers use pen-names for various reasons, so I thought it might be fun to do that too. When I was creating my book-covers, I did examples with both names, and the Levi one looked better. Now though I realize it's just not worth it. If you use a pen-name you have to register it legally and I can't be bothered with that. Another reason I was thinking of a pen-name is that there are literally millions of Mike Monaghans in the world. really. I come from Irish roots, and Monaghan is a common name. But there's a custom among the Irish to keep a christian name going through the line of 'first sons'. So Michael would be the name of the grandfather, the father, the son, and so on through generations. Now... My grandfather was a Michael. His oldest son was a Michael. But he died in WWII. So the youngest son, Joseph, my father, took it up and called his oldest son Michael... and that was me. The point is that, as I said, there are millions of Michael Monaghans all over the world. I was afraid I might get lost among them. But I just did a search on Google for 'Mike Monaghan - author'... and surprisingly it brings up only a couple of results - one of them is a musician who does some magazine writing, another is just mentioned in the title of a book. Also, if you type it in images, I'm right there too on the first page. Probably because I illustrated a lot of kids books in Holland and that's made it's mark. So, if I do my marketing and self-promotion well enough, it shouldn't be too difficult to stand out among the millions. Suddenly, I like the idea of using my own name. But I'll stick to Mike and not Michael. I spent most of yesterday reading through the info on the Smashwords site. I'm not through yet. Gonna take me most of the week to get through it all. But you can't rush these things.
So far, besides being more and more pumped up about starting this, I've identified only two main areas that I'm going to have to study deeply: 1) formatting my manuscript(s) correctly for the platform; 2) taking the necessary actions to market and promote my work so they actually get noticed among the hundreds of other books on offer. Now the formatting just requires time and attention - I've got both. Already formatted my first book according to the requirements of agents and publishers - now I've got to undo what I did and start again. Nothing too complicated, and once I've done it for one book, it'll be easier for the second... and so on. The marketing aspect though... Well, that's not my strong point, and something that always deterred me in the past about self-publishing. But the advice on Smashwords is really good, and sets out all the tips and tricks you need for success. And I'm looking forward to it now. But first I gotta get my first book up... and before that I've still got a ton of reading to do. Just discovered this alternative ebook publishing platform. SMASHWORDS.
At first glance it looks quite promising and it's inspiring me to try the route of self-publishing. I've always turned away from that and aimed for traditional publishing - mainly because I'm not very active on social media and I know it would be a hell of a lot of work doing self-promotion. Also, with all the millions of ebooks out there on the major sites (re: Amazon), I fear mine will NEVER even get noticed, let alone make sales. But there's no guarantee either with trad publishing - still millions of books to compete with, and the added barrier of agents and publishers to impress. So, maybe the direct-to-reader option is the best way after all. I'm going to research this site over the next few days before I make a decision... but if i do go for it, then I'll go big, and I'll log the whole process here on this blog. So... let's see what happens. Sometimes life is like springing off a rock into icy cold water - you just got to take a deep breath and go for it.
Sort of got that feeling this morning. I've been writing stories for two years now. Started with my first novel. Then went straight on to the second. When that was done I had to then start looking for a publisher or an agent, so there was work involved creating a promotional package and researching where and who to send to. This is not the sort of work I enjoy doing - self promotion. I'd rather just spend my time writing the stories. So I end up putting it off - again and again. Anyway - then I found Wattpad - a place where you can publish your stories direct to readers...albeit unpaid. But it's a start, and I hear many publishers and agents actually follow Wattpad looking for writers, so I decided it would be a good move - with the idea that I could actually let the publishers and agents find me instead of the other way around... let THEM do the work. At the same time I get feedback and hopefully build up an audience, a following, a fan base... So that's what I've been busy with the last two months - getting to know the site, creating covers for my novels, starting a new one specially aimed at the younger readers on Wattpad, setting up a new 'author blog'... and now, with my personal account and platform all in place - it's time to launch the first chapter of my first book. It's not a difficult process - just a click on a button - but like jumping off a cliff into cold water, I've got to take that deep breath before I press "PUBLISH". It's not that I'm afraid of putting my work out there - done that before - it's more the commitment I have now to follow the path I've just stepped onto. I can be so comfortable in my own space, doing what I enjoy just for me, and I've been a bit of a recluse the last couple of years. Now I'm stepping back into the world, you could say, and that requires me to be more social than I've been used to. I'm looking forward to it, I need it, I want it, and I know I'll get used to it once I'm in, but still... the water looks bloody cold - inviting, but cold. Take a deep breath... *First chapter of first book - LUCID - starts HERE. |
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