Category Archives: Blatherings

May I Please Go Here?

Posted on December 23, 2011 | 6 comments

Well, I’ve been so focused on business lately that I have not given you a dose of my life. My husband and I recently went to Pakistan to visit his family. When we came home, we brought his parents with us. They are lovely people and we are enjoying their visit immensely.

However…I am not one who plays well with other children. I am quite selfish, and I prefer things to be my way…always my way! There have been lots of compromises and I am also not very good at that. Why is this important? Well, for you it really isn’t, but for me it is very important. You see, a couple years ago I converted from Christianity to Islam. It was a wonderful decision and one I don’t have any regrets about. It has made a huge positive impact on my life. The point…

I miss Christmas. I made a choice to stop celebrating Christmas because of the religious implications. Then I started doing some research and discovered some things about this particular holiday that I had always suspected, but never took the time to investigate. So, armed with a small bit of information, I concluded what I had actually known for years. Christmas isn’t, nor has it been, a religious holiday for me.

Missing Christmas has made me quite irritable and sad. It also makes me difficult to get along with. So, I think the safest thing for me to do is to go to a happy place. But since that is not possible, I have made a decision.

What is Christmas? For me it is Santa Claus, holiday parties, twinkling decorations, and presents. Lots of presents. SO what am I basing thins on?

The History of Christmas:

So where did it begin?

Over 4000 years ago, the Mesopotamians celebrated each new year with a 12-day festival, called Zagmuth. The Mesopotamians, who believed in many gods, held this festival in support of their chief god, Marduk, because they believed that he battled the monsters of chaos at the beginning of each winter. It is from this festival that the 12 days of Christmas is believed to have originated.

So how did they celebrate?

The ancient Romans held a celebration each year in honor of their god Saturn. The festival, which they called Saturnalia, began in the middle of December and lasted until the first of January. The Romans decorated their homes with garlands, as well as trees upon which they hung candles. During the festival the citizens of Rome would visit each other’s homes and hold great feasts. One of the theories of how the tradition of the giving of Christmas gifts came about was from the Roman practice of exchanging gifts between family and neighbors during the festival of Saturnalia to promote good luck.

What does it have to do with Jesus?

One theory about the evolution of the winter celebrations to the celebration of the birth of Jesus is that the Roman emperor Constantine, who converted to Christianity, wanted to incorporate the pagan winter rituals together with the celebration of Jesus’ birth. In this way, Constantine hoped to help both pagans and Christians celebrate together. Many believe that this is the reason for celebrating the birth of Christ on December 25th.

My Point:

With all of this in mind, I am returning to the old ways and will once again be celebrating Christmas. Not for religious reasons, but…well hell, for the awesome decorations and presents. LOTS of presents.

6 Comments

Posted in Blatherings, Just for Fun

So Close…Yet So Far

Posted on December 22, 2011 | 4 comments

Not too late to read my little itty bitty short story. BUY NOW!

Here it is the eve of the eve of the eve of Christmas. Did I count that correctly? At any rate, I thought I would give you all an update on the WTF? Begging for Reviews Contest. These numbers are as of right now. So, before I go any further, you might want to tell a few friends about this one. You’ll see why in a moment.

Books Sent: 50 (notified that 3 people cannot meet the 12/24 midnight deadline, so technically only 47.

Book Reviews Posted: 12 (Okay, we need 50 posted if I am to give away that Kindle Touch. I know, grumble grumble…rules is rules.)

Books Selected: As of this morning all 10 books have been selected for review. THANK YOU!

Happily, I have only take a small bit of rubbish for my methods with this contest, but it served a very important purpose–actually several.

1. It helped a few people realize that they were qualified to review books and that they could in fact write solid reviews.

2. It opened up the eyes of many authors who thought (seriously) that the reviewers would come looking for them. I wish it were true. Would save me a lot of hours in many days, but as publishers and authors we MUST seek out the reviewers.

3. In at least a couple instances, it helped readers realize that its okay to step a little bit out of their comfort zone because they might just find an author, or a genre, they didn’t know they would enjoy.

4. And most importantly for Echelon and our authors, it got us out there into some new forums. For more than a decade I have sought reviews with almost no success, and without really knowing why, we have sat aside feeling neglected.

So far the reviews posted have been solid and I feel the readers have been pretty honest. I have learned a lot and will make every effort to enhance the quality of our books from this point on.

So, get out there and tell ALL your reader buddies that YOU want to win a Kindle Touch so they need to read a book or two by Midnight 12/24. If they really love you, they will. (okay, I know that never really works, but I couldn’t think of anything any more clever to close with.)

But since I just added that other stuff, I am now closing this post, in a non-comedic way. That means not funny, cause hubby says, I think I’m a lot funnier than I really am. He has other good qualities. LOL He irons his own clothes. I know, right. How cool is that?

And to lizziecracked (not broken) who write the Running Naked With Scissors Blog (which you really should follow) I give you this link. The History of Christmas. You asked about Christmas and when it actually started or something like that, and then somewhere you asked for links, I wasn’t sure exactly what links you wanted, but I assumed it was in reference to the whole Christmas thing, so I went out this morning (cause I had so much time to waste, and I found this link that I think gives a rather good description of the history of Christmas and while I was raised a Christian, I always had a problem with that whole Jesus born in December thing, but that’s a whole ‘nother blog post.

4 Comments

Posted in Blatherings, Book Reviews, Contest, Just for Fun

Pick Your Battles Wisely

Posted on December 20, 2011 | 9 comments

Well, it was bound to happen. After a week of begging for reviews (WTF? Begging for Reviews), I finally got the email I had been expecting–took a little longer than I would have thought. Yes, you guessed it. I pissed someone off by asking for reviews, no “begging like a spoiled child” is what I supposedly, actually did.

“What kind of publisher would post a Blog telling the world that no one would review your books?” Have I lost my mind? What the hell as I thinking? Um, the fact that many of our books had no reviews might have been a sign to the world. Furthermore.

“Is it your goal in life to ruin the careers of all your authors?” How dare I? No kidding, why would I want readers to tell other readers what they thought of our books. That might actually encourage someone to go out and buy one of the books. I suck!

“Perhaps no one reviews your books because you publish mediocre writers who can’t get published anywhere else.” Um..yeah, that’s it. I only publish people who suck.

Come on, Asshat. Really? I have not, nor will I respond directly to this person–who by the way submitted to us and was rejected. Obviously they read my blog and can see my response here. So you all know, I am not taking my professional hat off, but I am tipping it a little to the side.

Who do you think you are? Seriously. You have the audacity to question my intentions and level of professionalism? Did you think I would not recognize your name when you signed your email? I do keep records. Did you think that sending a publisher a note calling them names and insulting them would gain you favor anywhere? Did you really think I would NOT post my response publicly? You obviously have not read enough of my posts. You should consider yourself lucky I did not take off the professional hat, or your name, email address, and web address would be in HUGE bold letters with this response. I’m sure I will get more than one request from Echelon authors to know the name of the person who called them all mediocre.

There is something you obviously have not learned about me throughout the years that I have been blogging and speaking freely about my role in the industry. I am not a lemming. I do not follow along blindly and let everyone else dictate how I run my business or my life. I have every intention of continuing to succeed in this business. I have not “failed to intrigue or energize readers or reviewers with lackluster plots and mediocre writers.” I have published damn good stories that entertain readers. And if some of our books have errors in them, then I sincerely apologize, but we are human.

People, authors, readers, etc, don’t let stupidity rule your life. If you don’t like something, then find a considerate way to say it. This isn’t about publishing, it’s about human decency. I don’t expect everyone to agree with everything I say or do, but if you don’t, then either give me constructive advice, or shut the hell up. Don’t keep telling me that I am doing something wrong until you have solid advice on how I can do it better.

I would wager there are tons of people out there who don’t agree with my tactics for gathering reviews, I thank you all for not sending me pissy emails calling me a “hack publisher wannabe.”

With all that said, please don’t think this has swayed me in any way from my path to riches and success. There are still four more days for you to request your book and get those reviews posted on the original blog post to be entered to win the Kindle. So send me those requests. The family won’t mind sandwiches another day so you can finish that book.

And to those of you who have requested books and are sending/posting your reviews. I cannot thank you enough. Your support of Echelon is very much appreciated.