Thumpthumpthump...Is This Blog On?

Cover by:Terra Weston-Koster

Yes, I know...I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks. But why should I? Don't you have better things to do for summer? Like camping, fishing, swimming, and drinking beer on the patio?

  Do you really want to hear about the writing I'm NOT doing as much as I'd like? Wanna hear more about my CATS?! Or maybe more about my muses, Bruce, Amir and Henry? Because that's all I've got. :P

Well, until now...

I don't know if I told you all, but the launch date for Aphrodite's War has been pushed back to September. No, no, no...That's a good thing.

Remember that award I didn't win? Well, my publisher and I have decided that the feedback about that is great, and we think it's going to amount to a lot more exposure and hopefully more sales.

This means that the new novel will be published as a paperback AS WELL AS  an e-book. We're pretty excited. (I am presently grinning like an idiot.)

So because the original publish date was supposed to be this week, and because I want you to stay in tune with me, I'm holding a contest. Here's what you can win:

1st Prize:  An Aphrodite's War T-Shirt (size L), an Aphrodite's War notebook, keychain and 5 signed bookmarks.

2nd Prize: An Aphrodite's War T-Shirt (size L) and 5 signed bookmarks.

3rd Prize: An Aphrodite's War keychain and 5 signed bookmarks.

It's easy to participate. Just spread the word about Aphrodite's War and tag me when you do so I can see you. You will gain an entry EVERY time you do it, but remember to tag me. It DOESN'T COUNT if you 'like' my posts. You have to put it out there on Twitter, Facebook, author pages, etc.

This contest will go on for two weeks, and I will announce the winners on July 11th, 2013.

This contest is the the sole responsibility of the author, Donna Milward, and is in no way affiliated with Facebook or Twitter  in whole or in part.

Rollin' Along with Muse #3

Photo provided by: www.sickchirpse.com

"When those walls close in around you,
When all around you doubt you,
When the world can live without you,
Get a grip and keep it"--Henry Rollins 'Grip'

The first time I read those words they were quoted in probably one of the last issues of Creem magazine. The journalist clearly worshiped Mr. Rollins, praising this verse as a profound message to the masses on how to survive. 

As a matter of fact, I found them to be the exact words of wisdom I needed to get through my teens. I figured if he could not only exist, but THRIVE in the chaos that was HIS life, then so could I. This verse became a kind of mantra for me, and I've been an admirer of his ever since.

And over the years my respect for him grows. He's a punk icon, having fronted Black Flag and The Rollins Band. And when the punk scene gave way to metal, glam rock, and grunge, he traveled the world. He got his own radio show. He did documentaries for National Geographic.He went on spoken word tours. (You may have noticed I appreciate musicians who evolve their careers to stay relevant.)

And guess what? He's funny, educated, and cares a great deal for the world and its inhabitants. And he's' absolutely fearless. 

My husband and I got to see him here in Edmonton on his "The Long March" Tour. He told us stories about the punk scene: Like the poor girl who lost an eye when a large stagediver landed on her. He told us about trying to decide between a chocolate bar he loved and a larger one he hated because the gross one was bigger and he was down to his last 30 cents. How while he was deciding this, two cowboys tried to bully two cross-dressers and ended up running away like frightened little girls. He told us how he was filming for National Geographic and drank a glass of cow urine...Only to discover he was drinking the unsterilized version...Then his cameraman insisted on another take. Even my jaded troll loved him.

He made us laugh, cry, and think for three hours without missing a beat and without even a drink of water. It was after that show that he became an official muse for me. As my career waxes and wanes, will I have the same courage he does? 

I learned so much about him. What I don't understand is how a man who has been through so much can be so strong, humorous and caring. He's a brave and passionate man and I guess he never lost his grip.

And for those reasons, Henry Rollins is museworthy. 

Haters everywhere...Even in Charity

I have a friend named Rika. And for the two or three years I've known her, Rika has been passionate about helping the homeless.

A little background:

Rika is a coupon maven. All her friends collect as many coupons from every place we know, just to help her build her backpacks for the homeless, particularly toiletries such as toothpaste and deodorant.

She's been doing this out of her own pocket for three years. She strives to build 100 backpacks a year, filled with shaving necessities, deodorant, toothbrushes and toothpaste, soap, as well as new socks and underwear. Rika does this out of her own belief that everyone deserves kindness and maybe a second chance.

Again, Rika did this on her own, until one day an MP showed up at her door. He asked her what the trunk on her doorstep was for. She told him.."That's where people leave me coupons." Then she told him why.

Touched by her generous heart, he promised to make her a legitimate charity. She's always looking for stuff: Anything anyone can give...jeans, blankets, the backpacks themselves...

Here is where I'm pissed off...Can you believe that someone is badmouthing her? Someone in her own community is telling others that Rika HORDES shampoo and other toiletries in a room inside her house.

Well...she sorta does. I've seen it. She has shelves dedicated and categorized. She has rows of toothpaste, socks and underwear neatly labeled and rotated accordingly.  She's proud of those shelves and rightly so. Because she GIVES IT ALL AWAY!!

I told Rika to take the high road, to leave the backlash to someone like me, and wait for karma to bite back, but it's hard...

Rika gave her food, she gave her money, because she apparently has five kids. And this is how she's treated. In case you were wondering how she knows...someone sent her a letter telling her what this woman said. She also mentioned this woman needs a STORAGE LOCKER for all the things she got couponing?

Lady, do not sit in a glass house and throw stones. People will find out who you are and what you do. How do you sleep at night knowing you took advantage of someone's generosity AND stabbed them in the back to others?

The worst part is, because of this woman's gossip, Rika is behind in donations, and it's the homeless that will suffer for that. If anyone can help, follow the link above and get to know the Homeless Backpack Donations.

I don't normally use this blog to promote charities, but I'm sick of haters using the internet to screw people over. You gotta be a whole lot of special to attack people who are only trying to help.

CORRECTION: The link has been removed due to the fact I accidentally posted the wrong one and actually gave the address to the same person who is publicly trashing Rika. Please look for Rika on Facebook as Homeless Backpack Donations.

Image by: Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What's New Pussycat?

I'm late today and I'm using summer as my excuse.

Summers are notoriously short in Alberta and the LAST thing I feel like doing right now is blogging. So I'm going to brief so I can go play in my garden with my kitties.

I didn't win the Midwestern Independent Book Award for Paranormal, but that's okay. Apparently I lost to a lovely lady who gave my publisher a signed copy.

I still get foil stickers to put on all my copies that say I was a finalist.

Also, my publisher pushed back my release date to September, because Aphrodite's War will be made available in paperback as well as e-book. Yay!

In other news, Spartacus Jones is doing well. You can barely see his ribs anymore and he's happy and loving. He's stalking grass outside as we speak.

I think I'll take the laptop outside and join him. Enjoy the sunshine everyone!

I Don't Want to be Pushy...Honest.

Photo by Karen Bursey

I just read an article that makes me feel as though I've been scolded. And rightly so. Here's the link:

http://www.jroseallister.com/2013/05/why-authors-shouldnt-promote-books-on.html?m=1


It talks about how writers have become those aggressive sales people of social media, and she's absolutely right.

When I started this blog, I did it in 'Thoeba's' character, to give readers a feel for her. Then maybe they might buy the book.

After awhile, I found it harder and harder to come up with new and interesting things for Thoeba to think about our planet. She experienced fashion, transportation, camping, caffeine, various human holidays along with the food that goes with it. She learned how to use a credit card and she hates aerobic exercise combined with Disco music.

It occurred to me that if I wanted to keep up the blog, I would have to come up with something else. So I decided to be myself.

I have this theory...If you like the author, you're going to like the book he or she wrote. If you don't like this blog, most likely you won't enjoy my work, right? I still believe that, but I may have strayed a bit.

I'm on Facebook as myself and an author page with my name as well. Donna Milward and Donna Milward, Author. I'm also on Twitter @DonnaMilward. Plus of course, Goodreads and Smashwords.

My personal page is where I post about my feelings and opinions, as well as life stuff, silly statuses and cat pictures.

My author page is where I publish all writing related things, such as my own author posts, other author promotions as well as writing related cartoons and articles.

TWITTER however...I post links from mostly author pages, and my own best friend is so BORED with my feed, she is thisclose to unfollowing me. She doesn't read much so she looks for my blog, reads it, retweets it and ignores the rest. And why wouldn't she?

I've become a pusher for book addicts, and I'm sorry.

So I'm going to turn over a new leaf, and I'd love some feedback. How's the blog? The author page?

www.facebook.com/DonnaMilwardAuthor  Twitter might take more thought. What do you think? What would you like to see?

A Dubious Gift from the Universe

Spartacus Jones

Ever hear the saying "Be careful what you wish for, because you might get it."?

I wish for a lot of things. I wish spring would hurry up and get here. I wish for more time to write. I wish for a best seller.

At one point I thought about getting another cat. It was just a brief idea--I have two cats I love ferociously and they keep me pretty occupied. But cats, by their very nature, are addictive.

Unlike dogs, cats only cuddle you when THEY feel like it. Obtaining more cats increases your cuddle quotient. In a room full of feline friends, chances are  ONE of them is willing to snuggle for oh, 3 minutes.

But I was content with just Freya and Sully. Just keeping up with litter box duty and tangled harnesses is plenty enough, thank you.

But if I WAS going to get another cat, I'd be really picky. It couldn't just be any cat.

It would have to be one I'd rescued...a stray. One in desperate need of love and a good home. Weather would factor in. I wouldn't need to take a stray inside in the summer. They can stay warm and dry and hunt. I'd only take one in if it was too cold or too wet. And it would need to be younger than Sully and Freya. There's already enough issues between the two of them. An older kitten would mostly likely fit better into the dynamic, I figured.  I need to be firm with my guidelines, otherwise I'd be adopting every single cat I met.

And the powers that be in the universe said, "Really? That's your criteria? Okay, HERE." I guess I should have told the universe I wanted to wait a few years, and could I maybe have that best seller and extra time to write first?

Right now Spartacus Jones feels like an unwanted pregnancy. He's unexpected, unplanned for and I don't have time for this, but he isn't unloved. I mean, LOOK at that face!

On Monday night, my husband and my best friend went for a walk to get cigarettes. It had been raining AND snowing all day. They came home and told me about this little guy who followed them home.

Sure enough, I could hear the meows coming from outside...I couldn't leave him there, so in he came. As you can tell from the photo, he's quite comfortable here. He's sweet and gentle, despite the fact that he's got nasty scars on his ears and leg. He has a terrible puncture wound under his jaw. You can feel his ribs and his hip bones when you pet him. He whimpers in his sleep sometimes. He can't be more than three or four months old, and he's already been through too much.

The truth is, I don't think I could let him go now. He meets all the criteria. I mean...This feels like a Karma issue. It's a little too pat, don't you think? That he should be everything I asked for? Besides, I already love him. That's what he needs and deserves; to be safe and loved.

Interesting curveball, Universe. Well played, and wish me luck. I'm on the Highway to Catlady.

Arrrrr! Pirates Blow.

Image by: James Barker /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Even if you hermit from social media and internet, chances are you know all about piracy.

Whether it be movies, music, photography or books we're all aware of it. When I was younger, and not a published author, it didn't bother me.

Ever buy an album because there were one or two songs you LOVED only to find that the rest of the cassette sucked? That happened to me frequently, and when Napster came out, I remember thinking it was a good idea. These big rock bands are rolling in money, right? (For the record, I never actually used Napster or sites like it. I was behind the times, and barely knew how to use the internet.)

But it wasn't just big named bands that were targeted. New bands were also victimized. Bands that invested a tremendous amount of time, money and heart into their music, only to have people just click a mouse and take it. Ouch.

Now I'm older and wiser, and worried about my own work and that of others.

I'm just using myself as an example...It takes me a YEAR to write a novel. That's just the first couple of drafts. I stress out over every word. From there, it's edits, marketing, purchasing swag, networking and making contacts, after one finds a publisher and/or an agent (a feat in itself) there's contracts and more edits.

After all this, very few of us make a living at it. And NOW we have to spend time trolling the internet looking for self-entitled jerks who sell or give away our work! I have a brand new sympathy for those short-changed by sites like Napster. And for photographers who spend thousands of dollars on equipment only to not even be credited for their work by people who aren't even aware they've stolen anything. I especially feel for us authors, because I know how much we make for our efforts.

The way I see it now, I'm glad I can buy a single song from iTunes for a mere  $1.29. Beats shelling out for a CD I don't like. Hopefully the artist will make enough money to keep making hit singles instead of getting disgusted   with the business and getting an office job.

I can download, with permission, certain images for free if I'm not using them for personal profit. Like my favorite site FreeDigitalPhotos.net (They have reasonable terms and conditions.) But if I think someone's image will sell me tons of books, then yes, I should pay the artist. If I get rich, they should too.

Hard work and talent SHOULD be rewarded. If someone makes millions, maybe it's because they deserve it.

I don't shoplift books from a bookstore, so why would I do it on-line? It would make me a hypocrite. Besides, what's five bucks compared to that of say 10 or 15 dollars for a paperback?

The internet has made it easier for all of us to get paid and to buy creativity for less. Why wouldn't we SUPPORT the work we love instead of starving the artists? Not to mention the behind the scenes people. We're talking JOBS here.

Rant over...I'd like to introduce the author who inspired this post. I love what she did here. Go Nely!

http://nelycab.blogspot.ca/2013/04/i-bill-e-book-pirates.html?spref=fb