Without Reason

Mystery bug hit again. I was really hoping the surgery would stop that happening. It did make it easier and I'll be back to work tomorrow. Today, I am trying to catch up. Installed Reaper and Shotcut on the M2. And realized I do not have the patience to edit audio. Or video.

It's funny. I put models up on Shapeways and people seemed to like them. Put Poser content up at Rendo and people bought (not a lot, but some). Did replica props and people wanted them. But the one thing I've wanted to do since forever is write, and nobody seems to want the books.

I read, a lot. A long list of authors on Amazon that I know aren't that good or that famous. And they have decent sales numbers. Nothing spectacular, but if I had those figures, I'd leave my day job and have more time for writing.

So what is different? Grammar? I'm not seeing a huge difference (but then, I am trusting my own eyes, and computer checks. And I just don't go insane about grammar or spelling, personally. I know some people do. Some people will see a single word and throw the book across the room with a scream. I don't.)

Plotting? Character? Emotion? Description? Am I falling short somewhere in the art of story-telling? Is there something I don't even notice when it isn't there?

Or is this visibility? Advertising, volume (most of these people have multiple books in multiple series) social media presence?

***

Possible data. A family member really loved the "relationship with Amelia." I had never planned this. I wasn't really intending to write anything other than a typical friendship. Originally, in fact, Amelia was sort of a one-scene wonder. She was there to be the neophyte tourist that Penny could see her past self in, and compare to where she was today.

I'd gotten all the way to the first Louvre scene when I realized it wasn't working to have Penny know all this stuff about art, not in addition to history. So the both of us went back to Amelia and gave her that job.

Then, as I worked, I understood that the (small) character arc Penny has for this one is accepting that she actually makes a pretty good hero. That meant getting her to finally talk about the stuff she'd been doing (she keeps it so under wraps she doesn't even tell herself, or the reader). So I got her to chose to open up to Amelia.

And that's what this reader was seeing. The trust. So is this the kind of thing I should have been doing more of all along, and why my books aren't getting attention? Probably not. But it is very tempting to think of oneself as perhaps being socially naive, and not noticing when the kind of grit of real people in real relationships is missing from a book -- whether yours or someone else's.

Oh, and by sheer coincidence I ended up watching a bit of first season Xena. Where the relationship between Xena and Gabriella is absolutely key.

***

In any case, I re-learned a bit of Reaper, picked up the basics of Affinity Photo, and re-acquainted with Shotcut as well. I lost access to the room I was shooting the video in, so never really finished making the clips I wanted. But I figured I could just splice in some stills and call it good enough for viking.