How to Solve a Rubix Cube - is live.

How to Solve a Rubix Cube on Smashwords

Well Folks 

It's finally up and live on Smashwords. 'How to Solve a Rubix Cube' has had an amazingly successful debut on it's first day with the number of downloads ticking upwards as we speak. It is my first adventure in publishing, any typos attributable to me as I did the edit this time. I know this was not necessarily a good thing given my track record but it was only about nine pages with the majority of the page filled up with photographs of Rubix cubes at various stages of completion. For me, this was also an experiment in formatting and so far, I think all is well. Anyway, if you do happen to download the manual, I would appreciate some feedback, although if negative, I would appreciate it if you post that on the blog.

Last week I posted information about the amazing Andy who designs games. He has given me the OK to post a link to his game. It can be downloaded from the following link.  Don't forget the plight of the struggling artist when you look at the link that allows you to donate towards the sequel. In fact, don't forget me either as I could do with a few more downloads of Kujira on Smashwords and Kindle. If you go to Kindle you will notice the price has been reduced - involuntarily - to match the Smashwords price of $0.99. Sorry if you paid more for it before the reductions.

Anyway, my mission to upload the Rubix Cube book before Christmas is now complete so I think I'll take a break from blogging. It has been a very busy year and I have achieved a lot. I have a bit of study to do in January as I have enrolled in Summer School (Yep, Southern Hemisphere) Luckily I managed to pass the property law exam (yawn) this semester and so I am clear to move on. I have a huge family Christmas Lunch to contend with this year and need to finish buying presents for all. Best wishes to all, stay safe and I will see you in the new year.

BTW: Check out the latest vending machine in Japan – face recognition? What the... ?

That's all for now.

Beerubaraoyaji

What's with the cube?

How-to manual almost there...

Hi Folks

Well I thought I had better get my regular post up as I have been dragging my feet a little and don't want to leave my regular readers disappointed in the oh-no-not-the-old-post-again loop. 

Since I posted the copy edit version of 'Kujira' I have had a few more than the usual amount of downloads but things are generally slow. I keep dropping in and out of the Kindle top 100 for this and that and I have a great review posted thanks to the amazing Andy. Smashwords is doing well and I have had some readers clicking the 'like' button––something I never thought I would appreciate until now.

In the mean time, I have been working on the format for the 'How to do a Rubik's Cube' masterpiece and am just about there. I'll be working on it tonight and every night thereafter until it is ready to roll. I/we have decide to post it for free. It will eventually become a link to a You Tube post for anyone interested in learning the ' how to' part of the Rubik's cube after watching the Video. Don't want to say too much more but the video is not a 'how to do a Rubik's cube' video and is promising to be a lot more entertaining and interesting than that.

Speaking of interesting, Andy who did a review for me last week has turned out to be quite an interesting guy. It turns out that he designs games. I had a little play this week and was pleasantly surprised with what he has come up with. I must confess that I am not much of a 'gamer' and would never profess to be qualified to review a game but I must admit that I did have fun. It is based on a detective/crime/mystery sort of theme where you pick up clues as you move around the crime scenes. You keep track of things via a 'text box' that sort of suits me well as I like to read and follow text rather than just remember images. There is a background theme playing along in a minor key that sets the mood of the story as it unfolds. Looking at the credits, it looks like it is a one man show, all produced by Andy. If he approves, I'll post the link.

It is pretty interesting to find out about people who are reading my stuff and so I have decided to post a couple of features in the next couple of weeks about some interesting readers I have come across and the creative things they are doing. Turns it all on its head really as this blog was supposed to be about me and my books but it has become obvious to me that it is all a lot deeper than that.

Anyway, that's all for now. All the best over the Christmas Season.

Later

Beerubaraoyaji

What's the difference between a park bench and a writer?

 ANSWER: A park bench can support a family.

Well Folks

What a week. I have loaded up 'Kujira' on Smashwords and have also managed to load it up on Kindle. If you follow the link you will notice a price hike for Amazon. Makes sense given the costs but I have kept the price at $0.99 on Smashwords. Not that there have been huge amounts of downloads on either forum. 'Memoirs of a Vending Machine' is still motoring along as a free download but the encumbered 'Kujira' is lagging still. Doesn't really matter 'cause it isn't really about the money. I have a job and am able to support a family already so it is something else driving me to spend days and weeks absorbed in these special little literary projects. 

So... in order to encourage the proliferation of my latest creation and subsequent discussion, I offer a free coupon for this month for downloads of Kujira on Smashwords. As loyal readers of this blog, feel free to have a read and comment if you wish. When you check out use the following code. WJ92E. 

I gave this coupon code first to my most loyal advocate, Andy and he has responded with a fantastic review, the likes of which I would never have expected nor feel I deserve. Still it felt good to have that kind of feedback. If you have any work of your own that needs to be reviewed or publicised Andy, you have an instant forum on this blog.

I seem to have developed a regular stream of readers and on my last peek on my stats page I had readers from Italy, Australia, Russia, The UK, The US, Germany, France and this week, Latvia. I haven't seen Malaysia and Brazil  for a week or two but they pop in regularly and Japan chimes in every now and then. This month, Italy topped the list for the most readers. 

To end my regular post I just want to mention that I am making plans for a follow up to 'Kujira' but in between, I was thinking of finishing off a story that I have had waiting to see the light of day for quite some time now. It's about a group of musicians in a band. At this point in time it will be set in the 80s but that is about all I want to give away just now. I'll post some excerpts next time. The next publication however, will be the 'How to do a Rubik's Cube' manual. I'll do this as publisher though, not as author. I mean seriously, can you see a guy who, despite paying for a copy editor still manages to publish with typos being an expert with a Rubik's cube?

Thats all for now.

Beerubaraoyaji (one day someone is going to ask me what this means)

OMG - That took a long time but it's up now - enjoy

Kujira Cover No. 2

Well that was not a lot of fun. I have been obsessed for the past couple of days with the final edit. Of all places, I found myself in an isolated country location in Western Australia called Dwellingup. Despite it being the start of summer, the temperature dropped and I kept myself warm with a wood-fire while I corrected out of place commas, semi colons and quotation marks while intermittently staring in the hot coals of my Jarrah and Karri fuelled inferno. That all ended on Wednesday and I have only just finished. Ironically the temperatures have soared so I am sitting in my living room with the airconditioner on. So as the frantic pace subsides and the dry but cool air of my living room makes me sneeze the moral of the story for me as the tortured writer becomes clear–get it right in the first place.

Mind you, it was a fantastic experience to be under pressure to finish in order to get the final version to a patient reader. In those moments, when I questioned the reason I was actually submitting to the mental anguish and physical pain involved I remembered that someone out there was waiting to read about Mike, Mark and Jon and their adventure in Osaka. It made the characters dance around the corrections. It was as if there were there, making sure that I represented them fairly and accurately by adhering to the conventions that link them to the reader. I felt a responsibility separate the the creative process that created them in the first place. 

Anyway, thanks to Andy for being so patient and if there are others that have been waiting you can now download the most recent version of Kujira on Smashwords for $0.99. I will be loading it up on Kindle in the near future and pending approval, it will be available on Apple, Kobo, etc in the next couple of weeks. I would really appreciate some feedback on this one. If you have the time to rate it or to post a review, I would appreciate it. This is the longest of my creations and the only one with a price. As much as I do enjoy writing my copy edit fees are starting to add up and so I am aiming to recoup at least a percentage of my costs hence the $0.99 price. 

Plans for the follow up to Kujira are now growing in my mind and I will begin putting it together over the Christmas period. I'll keep you posted on this and other projects.

That's all for now

Beerubaroyaji