Filed under: Humor, movies, SCA | Tags: anachronism, cats, combat, fighting, historical recreation, history, humor, jim downey, Peter Woodward, pets, rescue, SCA, video
I’ve mentioned my earlier involvement in the SCA previously. And generally I’ve always had an interest in different historical recreation groups, particularly those which strive to do the different types of combat throughout history well (one of the reasons I really like Peter Woodward). So naturally I have to share this brilliant little film short:
Hilarious.
Went and rescued a kitty today who was no longer wanted. She’s currently isolated in one of the bathrooms, getting slowly acclimated to being in a strange place with strange monkeys, another cat, and a DOG!!! I promise pix once she’s more settled.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Art, Feedback, Humor, Kindle, Marketing, Publishing, Writing stuff | Tags: Amazon, art, direct publishing, feedback, jim downey, Kindle, literature, reviews, Science Fiction, writing
I must admit that after my initial confusion, I found this rather humorous:
Reincarnation and Karma – An interesting framework for writing short stories with a common theme. Engaging, but a little repetitive at the same time. The medieval plague years were brought to life in one story, and I found that story the most engaging.
Sounds interesting enough, right? So why was I amused?
Because it was supposedly a review* of Communion of Dreams.
I mentioned it to my Facebook friends, who also seem to have mostly found it amusing, based on the comments and reaction to the review.
It also points up one of the problems with Amazon’s reviews, or any review, for that matter: pretty much, anyone can say whatever they want, and it just goes into the general pool of info out there. Permanently. For the most part I have had *very* positive reviews and reaction to Communion of Dreams, but there will always be some folks who don’t like any piece of writing or work of art. You’ve just gotta accept that, just as you can’t let praise be a distraction. In both cases you just have to take the feedback for what it’s worth, then get back to the work at hand.
Speaking of which . . .
Jim Downey
*Edited a couple hours later to add: Well, the review is now gone, so I deleted the hot link. I suppose the author logged into his account and figured it out. Or perhaps with it getting so many downvotes it was automatically eliminated. Still, it was pretty amusing.
Filed under: Amazon, Failure, Humor, Kindle, Marketing, Predictions, Preparedness, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, tech | Tags: jim downey
As noted, Sunday is the actual 40th ‘pre-anniversary’ of the discovery of the artifact on Titan. And as noted in that blog post, I had intended on having a free Kindle edition promotion all day to celebrate that, but had also decided to add in tomorrow just in case someone thought that the Sunday listing might be some kind of April Fool’s prank.
Well, it looks like the joke is on me. Or I’m the Fool. Take your pick.
See, because of some glitches in the Amazon scheduling system back on March 4 when last I did a promotion, Amazon decided to give me an additional promotion day (you get 5 such days during each quarter you’re signed up with KDP Select). That’s cool – so I intended to use it this weekend.
Except I screwed up and didn’t note that said additional promotion day needed to go through Amazon’s bureaucracy, rather than just being scheduled directly by yours truly. Oops.
So I have contacted said bureaucracy, and submitted said request. But whether they’ll get it in place by Sunday is an open question.
So let’s just assume that tomorrow may be the only day this weekend for you to get your free copy of the book, and plan accordingly. Should Amazon get the extra day in place, I’ll let people know. But for now, help to share news of Communion of Dreams being *FREE* all day tomorrow! And remember, you don’t even need to own a Kindle to get your copy: there is a Kindle emulator available for just about any computer/tablet/mobile device – ALSO for FREE!
This was my screw-up. And I’ll make it up with another free weekend sometime in the next quarter. But for now, spread the word that Communion of Dreams is going to be free all day tomorrow (and maybe Sunday!) We had over 5,000 downloads last time – and I keep hearing that people really love the book – so let’s make the world a little better for others who would enjoy it!
Thanks.
Jim Downey
It is not stated explicitly, but a close reading of Communion of Dreams will confirm that Darnell Sidwell discovered the ‘artifact’ 40 years from this Sunday.
Yeah, on April Fool’s Day.
That was just a little ‘Easter egg’ I put in the text, for the amusement of anyone who might catch it (there are a number of such things in the text). It becomes clear early enough in the book that it could make someone go “wait a minute . . . is all of this just a hoax?”
Anyway, in observation of the future anniversary of this event, I thought that I’d have another “free Kindle edition” promotion on Sunday.
But then I got to worrying that people might think it was all just an April Fool’s Day prank.
Damn. Hoist by my own little fart.
The only solution is to add in Saturday as well, to make it clear that the book really is free.
So, if you have yet to download Communion of Dreams for reading on your Kindle, computer, tablet or other device, this is your chance.
And if you have already read the book, this is your opportunity to tell your friends that they can get it free! Think how much they will love you for this, showering you with praise and respect for sharing such a wonderful, incredible, life-changing story with them! Your popularity will soar, your teeth will be whiter, your bank balance will swell, and that cute guy or gal will start to return your smiles. Even the president may call you for advice. No, seriously – it could happen!
Or, you know, not. But hey, it’s worth a chance, right?
So, this Saturday and Sunday, the Kindle Edition of Communion of Dreams, currently ranked an amazing #54,632 Paid in the Kindle Store! Which isn’t bad, considering how many books are out there. Really.
Jim downey
Filed under: BoingBoing, DARPA, Government, Humor, Predictions, Science Fiction, Society, Survival, tech, YouTube
Ah, looking around, seeing the different components of the rise of the machines. Here’s a nice bit from BoingBoing:
And then this news item: Police Drone Crashes into Police
Make that “tired and embarrassed.”
Jim Downey
The horror!
The crushing blow to my ego!
I did not make the cut for the second round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award!
I’m not sure I’ll survive such devastating news.
But you can help. Let’s show Amazon – let’s prove to them that they were wrong not to include Communion of Dreams in their silly contest. That’s right! They can’t push us around! Just tell your friends to go buy my book! Heck, go ahead and buy the book for your friends yourself! That’ll teach ’em a lesson! Amazon, I mean, not your friends. Though I suppose your friends could learn some lessons as well. I mean, who can’t?
Er, what? Where was I? Oh, yeah: Together, we can beat this thing!
Jim Downey
*Yes, yes, I know the term is “woe”. I was playing off the homophone sense of being stopped from moving on to the next round of the contest. Sheesh, do I have to explain *everything*?
Today is election day in Missouri. Yup, we are holding a completely pointless Primary. I say that because due to a campaign trail mix of politics, ineptitude, inertia, and simple waste the election is nothing more than a beauty contest: there will be no delegates won, there is mercifully little political advertising, and most of the GOP candidates have completely ignored the state.
And this morning, I had an idea. A brilliant and cunning idea. One which would have been entirely too much fun to have done. Unfortunately, note the past tense verb there. That’s because I needed to have had this idea a month or two ago. And I didn’t. Oh well, might as well share it anyway: Think how much fun it would have been to organize a write-in candidacy for the Primary. We could have set up Facebook and Twitter accounts to promote The Chosen One. Get thousands of people to pledge to go to the polls today, maybe bring poll workers a box of donuts or something. And we could turn this pointless election into a bit of performance art. And our write-in candidate could at least provide a good laugh.
No, it wouldn’t be me. And not Mickey Mouse or anything like that. I’m thinking someone all the Republican candidates love, and most of the GOP faithful revere: Ronald Reagan.
Of course, since President Reagan is dead, we’d have to run him as the Undead candidate. Yup, Zombie Reagan.
This would tie in with the zeitgeist perfectly. And wouldn’t it have been fun to listen to NPR have to report that Zombie Reagan had won the Primary? We could make jokes about how he would be more lifelike than Mitt, and make more sense in his speeches than Newt. Ricky would like him because he’d be pro-(after)life. And Ron (no, the other Ron) would envy his hair.
Damn, why didn’t I think of this a couple of months ago???
Jim Downey
Filed under: Art, Augmented Reality, George Lucas, Humor, movies, Science Fiction, Society, Star Wars, YouTube
I can be a bit of a curmudgeon. A grump. A misanthrope. Anyone who’s read my blog for a while knows this.
But sometimes, people impress the hell out of me. Oh, I’m not talking about the sorts of things that cause a lump in your throat. You know, self-sacrifice . . . being kind to strangers . . . saving a defenseless animal . . . that kind of thing. No, I’m talking about how people can be remarkably creative and intelligent. Like this:
Yeah, it’s two hours long. You don’t have to watch it all at once. Just look at it in bits and pieces. It’s OK, because you know the story, and the thing was *designed* to be sampled:
In 2009, thousands of Internet users were asked to remake “Star Wars: A New Hope” into a fan film, 15 seconds at a time. Contributors were allowed to recreate scenes from Star Wars however they wanted. Within just a few months SWU grew into a wild success. The creativity that poured into the project was unimaginable.
Just watching the amazing approaches that different people took to telling each slice of the story is pretty mind-blowing. Everything from bad acting with pretty good mock-ups of the scenes, to sock puppets, to incredible animation, to re-interpretations using animals, and on and on. It’s really damned impressive.
And of course, so is the brilliance behind the idea, and seeing it to completion.
Yeah, sometimes people impress the hell out of me. I’ve been laughing my ass off watching this thing.
Jim Downey
Yes, I have a very twisted sense of humor:
Uploaded by “historyteachers“.
And they have a buttload of other vids which may be worth checking out as well.
Jim Downey
Communion Of Dreams 