Category Archives: self-publishing

Publication Day! A Book about Exiles, Languages, and War

So today, as I post this, my book is now published! I’ll spare you the long saga–and it is quite long–of how this book came to be, how I wrote it, and all the hills and valleys between then and now. It’s a good story, actually, but not for today. Today, I’m just going toContinue reading “Publication Day! A Book about Exiles, Languages, and War”

The Je Ne Se Quois and what I DO know.

It is often easier to take note of the things I don’t like about a book than to understand what constituent elements come together to form something I do like. This is why people’s rants on goodreads are often longer than their raves. This is partly because good writing–good storytelling–is rather seamless. And since youContinue reading “The Je Ne Se Quois and what I DO know.”

Reviews are for Readers

Stating the obvious, I know, but as a recent newcomer to things like booktube and bookstagram, it turns out that it’s not as obvious as you would have thought! The way some reviewers feel the need to add 57 caveats and apologies to explain why they gave a book 3 stars. Why? WHY??? When didContinue reading “Reviews are for Readers”

Bit by Bit

We’re getting there. My book is now up for pre-order on Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/by-blood-by-salt-j-l-odom/1145031237?ean=9798990024403 And on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Salt-Land-Exile-Book-ebook/dp/B0CVV8BR37?ref_=ast_author_mpb [UPDATE: The goodreads discrepancies have been resolved! Wonderful!] And I’m having some issues with goodreads–it added a paperback edition that wasn’t available, and I associated my author goodreads page with that edition, and now goodreads hasContinue reading “Bit by Bit”

It Gets Easier. But Also, It Doesn’t

On Saturday I drove out of the dry and windy desert, through fog and rain-soaked mountains, to a city of angels by the ocean. All this, so that I could do a Jiu Jitsu competition. I sign up for these things many months ahead of time, when I am still coming down from the highContinue reading “It Gets Easier. But Also, It Doesn’t”

The Lucky Number Slevin Effect

There is this movie that, despite some highly inappropriate scenes and incredibly dark themes, I truly love. It’s a dark humor mystery movie where a hapless fellow and a bubbly neighbor find themselves caught in the crossfire of two different mobs. It is also something quite different than that. But I won’t tell you what,Continue reading “The Lucky Number Slevin Effect”

A Moment of Sharp Hypocrisy

So we had a few (minor) hiccups in the book upload process, the first of which my husband labored some hours to fix, the last of which was swiftly resolved and approved. But when that one small image was the wrong color on the eproof, and I saw we would have to revise the uploadContinue reading “A Moment of Sharp Hypocrisy”

A Discipline

My thoughts are scattershot right now, puncturing here, glancing off there, not really going anywhere. Not collected or concentrated enough to have proper depth. But, as we all know, writing is far more about discipline than inspiration, so here I am writing a blog post in the manner that one must fold laundry or doContinue reading “A Discipline”