Another #ROW80 Check-in from the Desert!

One of the several types of
aircraft we support here...

So, my Wednesday check-ins are proving challenging, which is perhaps a good reason to make more of an effort at doing them… 

My “battle-rhythm” here has my workload heavily weighted to Monday-Friday (even though we work 7 days a week, at least 12 hours a day…) But the two classes I teach, the squadron newsletter which I edit, and most of my other recurring tasks occur earlier in the week, so this week when Wednesday came around, I found I had very little to report…

By the end of the week, though, I’d paid the flood insurance on one of my houses, and goten a little information on another investment property that I’m interested in… I also had run 13 miles, including a 5K race which I finished in exactly 24 minutes (thus setting a baseline for future improvement!) I accomplished 5 solid workouts, and have been eating very healthy and drinking 3 liters of water a day…

Will work on getting better at spreading my various tasks throughout the week… C’est la vie!

I fell a bit short on a few of my target goals – didn’t get a chapter of the Learning Indonesian book written, but did get some other non-goal writing done… Also didn’t make any forward progress on the Parasol Books imprint, or do much in the way of networking, but overall, another generally successful week in most goal-specific areas:

WRITING
- Posted a new chapter of The Perfidious Mister Wickham - in which Wickham absconds to London with Lydia in tow!
- Completed most of a professional book review for the Air Force Research Institute… Will send it off next week…

PUBLISHING
- Put out the 11th issue of our Squadron newsletter – 6 pages of print & pictures!

FITNESS
- Added 5 lbs to my Bench Press…

- Bodyfat down by 1 percent – now at 15 percent… The goal is 9 percent!

LANGUAGE
- Completed my requisite 5 hours of language study, et ecrire un petit letre pour ma niece en Francais!

NETWORKING
- Still looking for 2 people to join my “Core Group” this week – anyone who does will get free books and advance copies of new material in exchange for reviews and critique… Are you interested? If so, leave a note here, or drop me a line directly to ehcarpenter@gmail.com

So, that’s it for my goals!

Another quiet week in Afghanistan – no rockets, no bombs, just a big windstorm and some heavy rain… So, no complaints!

I hope everyone has had a great week of writing, and I will try to do better about getting out and about and commenting on other people’s blogs…

Best regards!

Edward

Sunday Check-in from Camp Bastion...

Hmmm, you may be off to a rough start at ROW80 when you totally miss the first check-in, like I did on Wednesday! But, in my defense, I only missed it because I was so busy accomplishing all my weekly goals…

And it was an incentive for me to get my Sunday check-in done early, so here goes! A successful week in most areas:

WRITING
- Posted a new chapter of The Perfidious Mister Wickham - where we discover how Lydia and Wickham became intimately entangled…
- Wrote Chapter 2 of my Learning Indonesian book… The Indonesian alphabet!
- Did the last bit of research needed to finish up Ho B-52 .

PUBLISHING
- Did a little research into a logo and domain registration for the Parasol Books imprint.
- Brainstormed marketing ideas for the short story collection.

FITNESS
- Added 5 lbs to my Bench Press, which brought me up to 195 lbs, or 1.2 times my own bodyweight.
- Bodyfat actually went up this week, but I’m not worried, because the test for it is notoriously finicky, and I’m confident my diet/workout routines will get me where I want to be.

LANGUAGE
- Knocked my goal of 5 hours of training out of the park! Finished off the last part of an 80-hour training syllabus, and started in on another course. Je comprend l’Francais a peu plus bien maintenant!

NETWORKING
- Looking for 2 people to join my “Core Group” this week – anyone who does will get free books and advance copies of new material in exchange for reviews and critique… Are you interested? If so, leave a note here, or drop me a line directly to ehcarpenter@gmail.com

So, that’s it for my goals!

Otherwise, life goes on in the desert… A quiet week, which is always good when you live in a warzone! I hope everyone is having a similarly productive start to their ROW, and I shall look forward to perusing the results as part of my effort to expand my social networks.

Best regards!
Edward

#ROW80 - Starting Round 2 in Afghanistan!

Hello, fellow ROW'ers...

It's been a while (8 months, to be precise!) since my last ROW80 post - back then, I was in Germany, finishing up a 2-week long course in the Bavarian mountain town of Garmisch - now I'm writing from my latest home-away-from home at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan's Helmand Province.

That's life when your full-time job is as an officer of Marines, and writing is something you squeeze in where you can! Suffice to say that I've been very busy standing up a new unit and deploying with them half-way around the world - on top of that, I'm teaching a college class and a French class out here to help my fellow Marines and Soldiers advance their careers - so, why ROW80 on top of all that?

Simple! I really do need to get back to writing, and I've found that nothing is as good for maintaining accountability and progress on the literary front as weekly ROW80 check-ins!

So, here are my initial goals for this Round of Words...

WRITING
- Post one Chapter of The Perfidious Mister Wickham each week.
- Write one Chapter of my Learning Indonesian book each week.
- Finish The Artillerists (short story)
- Finish Merry Christmas, Mister Washington (short story)

- Finish Ho B-52 (short story)

PUBLISHING
- Publish a book of short stories
- Start the Parasol Books imprint

FITNESS
- Add 5 lbs per week to my Bench Press
- Drop 1/2 percent bodyfat each week

LANGUAGE
- Five hours of studying French per week

NETWORKING
- Work on establishing a better social media presence.
- Add 2 people to my "Core Group" each week.

A key difference in this round as opposed to previous iterations is that I have tried to tie the majority of my goals to weekly progress - rather than say, "I'm going to write 10 chapters" I've said "a chapter a week" - that gives me something to focus on and it's progress that can't be "put off" more than a few days. We shall see if that results in a more productive Round of Words this time.

Well, that's that! I wish you all a wonderful and productive Round Two, and look forward to popping in to your blogs to check out your progress as the Round progresses!

Best regards,
Edward

p.s. If you are a Jane Austen fan, I cordially invite you to take a peek at the prologue to The Perfidious Mister Wickham - not a continuation, nor an adaptation, this unique work looks at Mister Darcy, the Bennet family, and a wide array of late Georgian and early Regency historical and literary figures through the eyes of the eponymous scoundrel! See what wickedness Wickham was up to before he arrived in Meryton, how he seduced (or was seduced by) Lydia Bennet in Brighton, and what became of their scandalously patched-up marriage after their carriage rolled away from Longbourn.

An International Debut!

FREE 'til Sunday!

Authors, have you ever considered having your book translated into another language? It allows you to reach out and touch a whole new audience!

I've just released the German translation of HAPPILY EVER AFTER, which is entitled UND WENN SIE NICHT GESTORBEN SIND... (literally, "and if they are still alive...")

The book is FREE THIS WEEKEND - here's a link to the German Amazon site - http://amzn.to/S0AZyF - so if lesen Sie Deutsch, I cordially invite you to grab a copy... If you don't read German, but have any friends who do, won't you please help me spread the word by forwarding them the little link above, or recommending this blog post?

Also, if you're on Twitter, a Tweet to the world would be wunderbar! Here's a cut-and-paste sample you can use!

Tauchen Sie in die Welt der „bösen Hexe“ aus Ihren Lieblingsmärchen, selber zu Wort kommt http://amzn.to/S0AZyF #frei #buch #deutsch #marchen

OK, enough with the promotional stuff, here's a little more about the process.

Translation requires you to find a good translator - I found the wonderful Sabine Ströbele by talking to my friend Julia, another German translator who was too busy to do the work. Translation does cost money, unless you have a friend who's willing to help you out. Some translators may work for a percentage of the profits... Do NOT use Google Translate unless you want to be laughed at, and if finding a freelancer on Craigslist or elsewhere, it would be wise to have them translate a short passage, and then have a friend who is a native speaker of the language read through it and comment on the quality of the work.

Translation also benefits from having an appropriate story. In the case of UND WENN SIE NICHT... it's based on the old German Märchen that we know as "fairy tales" - thus, a German translation seemed appropriate, and this assumption was justified after a couple of German friends, who had read the English version agreed that it would be a great read in German.

That said, I doubt I'd have SEVEN LIVES TO REPAY OUR COUNTRY, a WWII story featuring Japanese and American soldiers on Saipan translated to German - even though I know a good translator, the audience connection just isn't there. However, SEVEN LIVES... would be a perfect book to translate to Japanese, because it's written from the perspective of a Japanese soldier.

So, when you're looking at your bookshelf, consider this - to get a new book out on the market, you can write another one - or consider having an English title translated into a new language! The choice is yours!

Bonne chance!

Edward

Indie Artist Crossover Karma Post #2

A Lovely Lace Cuff!

Once in a while, I like to take a moment out from whatever else I've got going on to share a little something about one of the many awesome independent artists that I know who works in some other medium besides writing!

Last time it was the band 7Lions - who are continuing to rock their way around the West Coast and up the charts!

Today it's my fabulous friend Ashley DeCarli... I've known Ashley for years, and while I always knew she was an amazingly creative person, I was still delightfully surprised when she opened a store on Etsy, revealing a whole new side to her that I never knew existed - she makes great, wearable art in the form of scarflettes, cuffs, bracelets, necklaces, etc.

So, as this week's little act of good karma, I'd like to cordially invite you all to pop over to her virtual store, and check out all three pages of wearable art, jewelry, and more! It's a great way to support an independent artist, and make yourself (or a special sister, friend, wife or lover) stand out from the crowd! Today's the perfect day for it, because everything's 10% off when you use the coupon code GLISTEN10...

I know I'll definitely be doing some shopping here for my many sisters, and if she ever comes out with a line of manly accessories, peut-etre pour moi!

Have a great day, and more writing-related stuff will be coming your way soon!

Best to all,
Edward

The Awards Issue...

So, this is a special post.

I usually find myself updating my status in A Round of Words in 80 Days (ROW80) or announcing some new book or project, but this post is all about a couple of awards.

The first is for the short story that started it all for me, Seven Lives to Repay Our Country, which has recently been nominated for the Military Writers Society of America (MWSA) award for Literary Fiction - time will eventually tell if it wins this award, but you can make your voice heard here: 

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/23214.MWSA_Awards_2012_Nominees#13056832

If you've read this story and are a Goodreads member, please take a moment to cast a vote - it would be much appreciated!

The next award is a "Versatile Blogger" award which I received from Lynn Thompson. Thanks, Lynn!

To accept it, I'm supposed to share 7 random facts about myself, and to nominate 15 other bloggers for this award... Now, I have some issues with these sorts of awards, because shouldn't writers be writing, not passing around electronic badges? But OK, I'll play along...

First, here are my nominees... Check out their blogs, you'll be glad you did:

http://lindsayandjaneviewsandreviews.blogspot.com/ 
Great reviews, and a beautiful site!

http://shahwharton.com/ 
Oone of the prettiest (and most diverse!) blogs I've seen...

http://jenniferblood.net/ 
Crime & Mystery readers / writers check this out!

http://www.mohanalakshmi.com/ 
Lots of reviews and some craft pieces...

http://thethingsthatcatchmyeye.wordpress.com/ 
Historical fiction resources and more!

http://www.bibliogrind.com/ 
A lot of great short pieces on this one!

http://westceltgypsy.com/ 
"Meet the Writer" interviews and other great stuff...

http://site.kristinecayne.com/ 
Romantic suspense? Look no further!

http://www.sarenastraus.com/ 
The wait is almost over for her new book...

http://www.meredithbond.com/ 
Because the list needs at least ONE paranormal romance blog!

http://universecityblog.wordpress.com/ 
Reviews, travel, writing - this site has it all!

http://newenglandmuse.wordpress.com/ 
My newest Tribemate on Triberr - check her out!

http://www.albertaross.co.uk/ 
A great (British!) connection!

http://ttoria.blogspot.com/ 
A great UK review site... She got me started!

http://www.charityparkerson.com/ 
Hot stuff... Mmm, yeah, THAT kind of hot!

OK, now my 7 things...

1. Wiener-schnitzel isn't all it's cracked up to be.
2. I enjoy swimming with sharks, within reason.
3. I like big butts and I cannot lie... Well, sometimes I can...
4. My writing knows no genre.
5. I am a good, bad influence on my nieces and nephews.
6. I have a lot of scars. Some of them are on the outside.
7. It is a minor miracle that I've made it this far.

Right, the rain has let up, and so it's time to mosey down the cobbled Bavarian streets to the snug little apartment that I'm calling home for the next few days.

Best regards,
Edward

New Story and a #ROW80 Update!

The Zugspitze on a clear day...

When it's a rainy day in Bavaria and the Zugspitze is covered in clouds, there's no hope for hiking, so it's the perfect time to post an update on writing, etc.

I'm in Germany for a 3-week course in international and military relations as they apply to Europe, Central Asia, and the Trans-Caucasus, so I've put the French on hold and am learning to sprechen sie Deutsch instead... By the time I leave, I hope to be good enough to get around, which I've always considered to be "order a drink, be polite, check in to a hotel, and buy a garment." If you can do those little things, you'll probably be OK... And of course, many people here speak great Englisch, which is both helpful, but also makes it harder to learn Deutsch, since you aren't actually forced into it...

My latest release!

Since I'm here, I thought it would be a great opportunity to release the German translation of Happily Ever After, whose translated title, Und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind... means, literally, "And if they have not since died..." (then it is implied that they must be living happily ever after...)

Translation is wonderful! You learn so much through it... For instance, when my translator, the wonderful and talented Sabine Ströbele sent me the draft, I noticed that a line in which the Queen observes that she was never an ordinary, average princess now included a strange-looking numeric code: 08/15.

I thought this was a typo, and asked Sabine about it - it turns out, this is a German idiom that dates back to the first World War when the MG 08/15 machinegun was the "standard issue" weapon, and was so ubiquitous that even today, someone or something that is ordinary, average, or lacking in originality is referred to as being "08/15."

So, if you read German (or know someone who does!) please recommend this short, fun Märchen (fairy tale) for their reading pleasure!

This announcement is also the biggest part of my ROW80 update, because it's the final check in the block for my publishing goals category in this round:

WRITING
- Write 10 Chapters of The Perfidious Mister Wickham COMPLETE!
- Write 3 Chapters of my Learning Indonesian book
- Finish Charming
- Finish The Welsh Mouse
- Finish The Artillerists
- Finish Merry Christmas, Mister Washington
- Finish Intercepts

PUBLISHING
- Publish the German Translation of Happily Ever After COMPLETE!
- Publish A Matter of Honor COMPLETE!

FITNESS
- Score 300 on the Combat Fitness Test
- Bench Press over 100 kg

LANGUAGE
- Five hours of studying French per week (replaced this with German until 15 September...)

NETWORKING
- Execute my “Social Media Plan”
- Build my “Core Group” to 25 people

ADMINISTRATION
- Re-Design my blog COMPLETE!
- Create a Kickstarter Project to support The Perfidious Mister Wickham COMPLETE!

Well, obviously (and disturbingly, from the perspective of an author) the biggest thing I have left to do in the next 3 weeks is write! (And not blog posts, either!) So, back to the drawing board (errr, keyboard!)

Wishing you all a great week, and will try to have some more interesting posts in the next few days about awards, electronic newspapers, etc...

Auf Weiderzehn!

Edward