Kickstarter Status Update: Stories to be Told, unsuccessful? I don't think so...

My Kickstarter is over.

I didn't make funding.

I did make 486 dollars of my 1,100 goal. That is 44% funded, and pretty damn good for my first time out.

Thank you to backers and everyone who supported me through donations, emotional and mental support, and shared the living daylights out of this little project of mine. This project, Stories to be Told is so important to me, and I can only move forward with its creation.

It has been quite a month. I found my passion, my Arete.

I have learned a lot this January, everything from marketing/business practices, how to get back up after falling, finding my joy in my writing my Arete), the choice to go independent, and the most important thing I learned is how to fail forward. Failure is a part of life and for every thousand failures, there will be successes. The more you fail and keep going (learning from each mistake and misstep), well the more you are to succeed. They also say it takes about 10,000 hours of work to make something a reality.

Arete: (Moral Virtue) as defined by Wikipedia, excellence of any kind. Connected to the concept of fulfillment of purpose. Greek in origin.

My friend and mentor, James always says that arete is the fulfillment of one's true purpose. I like that so much, that I knew I had to buckle down and take my writing seriously, edited and revise my writing, and take a step into my fears and do thing I was afraid to do; get myself published. That lead into the Kickstarter, and little did I realize that I would start a path to greatness and ever failure.

Note: failure is only true failure if it stops you from moving forward.

"It is not a catastrophe, but merely a course correction." 

~James A. Owen

So, what is next? Well, after I write to my backers, then I begin Plan B, which entails putting together "Stories to be Told", Issue 0 in a PDF version for my backers as a thank you.  Quite possibly I will sell the PDF version in the near future, but that is still early to say. There is the re-planning and re-structuring of the Stories to be Told Kickstarter re-launch with the printing of Issue #1 (maybe Issue summer or Issue * or Issue Badger, or whatever I care to call it). This will require a month worth of marketing and promotion prior to re-launch. I'm looking at April. Also, includes promoted my self as a writer, going to seminars and lectures on writing and business of art, printing business cards, bookmarks and stickers as promotional materials. Even going to writing convention, especially after I has print versions of Stories to be Told, although I will still go to these conventions and events before that happens.

My Publishing Company!

I still have a Winter Give-Away over at Here, There be a Writer. Go over there, click like and share the Winter Give-Away status to be entered into the give-away that runs through tomorrow (1/31/2018).  I will be drawing winners for a limited edition bookmark and another for a Phoenix Rising Press sticker.

On the creative side this means I need to continue to write and edit new works for future Issues. Also, I am working on ramping up of my submission goals for my children's books, A Little Lost and A Spatula Story, and any other pieces for my current and past catalog of works. The only difference this time is I will only by submitting from a list of selected works and researching places where I think they would fit into, and then submitting those pieces to those places until I get a taker.. That is going to be a project in itself.

These are the things I started in 2017, and will manifest in 2018 and beyond.

I know that sounds like a lot, right? It is. But it is worth it. Will I fail? Sometimes yes. But other times I won't. I will always learn what to do differently, what new things to try, and document what I do.

If I get board, I always have some other project to work on. This year my podcast Quantum Highway is going to be recorded and released! More on that later...

"If you really want to do something; no one can stop you. If you really don't want to do something; no one can help you."

~James A. Owen

Please keep coming back, Dear Readers. Thank you for your love and support. Leave me a comment on what you are doing in 2018. What books are you reading, movies you have seen, projects or classes you are taking, etc.

As always, your devoted writer,
~Cindy

Top 5 Classic Pieces of Literature to read (in my opinion)!

Tom Sawyer

Been having a dry week with my writing. Mostly getting into the groove with The Lake Country Player's Junior Players production of "Tom Sawyer" going up July 12th - 14th. I'm stage managing, something that I am very familiar with and really love doing. I really hit my stride at tonight's rehearsal. I am working strictly with children for this show, but there is something that is truly awesome watching children act.

These kids are learning lines in the 1850's southern dialect, I am very impressed. These are kids so sometimes the outdoor voice has to come out, I have to use the outdoor voice with adults that I stage manage too. I am also watching Mary (the director) and her daughter Maggie (junior director) grow in their roles, also a pleasure watching. I really do LOVE bolstering other talents, it's why I do theatre, not just being on stage myself. Although I love to do that too! Recently auditioned for a production of "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," just waiting to hear back on the results of that audition.

Anyway, I thought that I would update everyone on what I had been doing later, but also do something different it this blog. I thought I would share with everyone my top 5 classic works of literature that I have enjoyed reading and would read again. Since I am involved in a production of "Tom Sawyer", it seemed fitting. I have never read "Tom Sawyer" nor "Huckleberry Finn" (I know, bad English Major, bad. I plan to rectify that this year), but there are a number of classics that I HAVE read. So, in honour of Samuel Clemens AKA Mark Twain, I present my top 5 classic works of literature:

Honourable Mention:"Purgatorio" by Dante

One of the more difficult epic poems to read, but it is very much worth it! If you get a chance to read the Divine Comedy, then do so. I favourite is "Purgatorio"! But there are 3 parts in all: "Inferno", "Purgatorio", and "Paradiso".

#5 Anything by Shakespeare

After all I am an English major. I even took a course in Early Shakespeare. I am a poet at heart and the bard of Stratford-upon-Avon had quite the way with the words. I even taught myself to write in iambic pentameter. My favourite works or "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "MacBeth", "Much Ado About Nothing", and of course the Sonnets.




#4 "Black Beauty" by Anna Sewell

The very first novel I ever read, all by myself. I was a horse lover, still am, but I was enamoured with horses. I wanted a pony, have horse posters everywhere, and drew horse in my notebooks AT THE FRIGGIN' TIME. I love this touching, albeit sad story about Black Beauty's travels and trials, written from the horses perspective, probably one of the first story really taken from the animal's view.

#3 Anything by Edgar Allen Poe

This is probably cheating, but Poe has a HUGE body of work, and I cannot choose just one. Poe had such a fascinating, if disturbing life and his work shows it. I remember reading "The Raven" in high school and then spending time trying to memorize the poem after school, not even sure. There is something about his use of alteration and rhyme in his poetry. Favourite works include "The Raven", "Annabel Lee", "The Cask of Amontillado", and "The Tell Tale Heart".



#2 "The Odyssey" by Homer

The poet in me doesn't quit, I love these epic poems. To be able to tell a short in less words than a standard novel, that amazes me. The story of Odysseus is a story that I can even relate to. Life is a journey, and sometimes you get  sidetracked by winds, witches, and monsters, but in the end you will find your way home.

#1 "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

To be fair, I haven't read this is a REALLY long time! What I remember was really amazing. I plan on revisiting it is  the near future. It did leave a really good impression with me. For a difficult subject, Harper Lee wrote an amazing story.