First off, I must apologize to the Italian team. They have far exceeded what I thought they were capable of at this tournament. The Azura truly deserve to be in the Final with Spain. After squeaking by the first round, they out classed England and again squeaked by via PKs to the Semis. Once in the Semifinal, the Italians dominated the German team with the same stifling defense that the world has come to know them for during the better part of the past decade and a half.. Their offense looked better, livelier than the German side.
As for the Germans, I cannot even explain what I saw the other day. This was their tournament. It was supposed to be their coronation, at long last a trophy for all their hard work. But alas, like the Russians against the Greeks, the German team crumbled under the pressure of the moment. Every other game that they played in this tournament was so easy for them. As soon as the Germans ran into a team (the Italians) with the wherewithal to actually put up a fight, they lost all sense of who they were. The midfield and backline should be very disappointed with themselves.
What were Gomez and Klose supposed to do when the heart of the German team, the supposed strength, failed them so miserably?
I still don't know what was wrong with Bastain Schweinsteiger. If he had a bad ankle and was so ineffective against the Greeks, why on Earth did the man start and play the whole match against the Italians. He was better in the Semifinal but there was no energy and the only time he did anything positive was at the very end when he began lobbing the ball in toward goal once the game was lost. Not sure what the Germans will have to do to overcome this massive setback. First Bayern Munich in the Champions League Final, and then this stinker against Italy. It's going to be a long off season for some of these players. They are better suited for a deep run in a tournament than the Russians, but they have to shed that choker status--much like Lebron James did this year in winning his first NBA Championship in dominating fashion. You cannot let up, ever, until the prize is yours.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Facing Forward
With all the troubles my readers and I have faced concerning the release of Stage Two of Monarch (Larva)--and the troubles are still ongoing, hundreds of people still don't have their copies of Stage Two--I have had to focus too much of my attention on what I had hoped to move on from. Over a month removed from the release date and a large portion of my readers are without their update.
In my effort to afford a proactive and frugal reader the chance to read something before anyone else, they are the ones who are not able to read Stage Two. My unique way of releasing an eBook in stages, which was meant to reward people for purchasing all four stages at once, has hurt them, and I am saddened and angered by what has happened.
This unhealthy and unusable anger has forced me to reconsider the release of the rest of Monarch. I have to look forward, even though the past is unresolved. My main concern with the release of the book has always been getting it into a reader's hands before December of this year. The reasoning for doing this was sound on my part: I have a book that deals with a specific date in the future, and allowing people to read it with enough time before December is only fair. To release a six hundred page book in fall with so little time before December would have been unfair.
"No man is an island," the old saying goes.
Sometimes I wish that weren't true, but it is the case in the civilized world. Troubles arise that one man cannot resolve via his will alone. Concessions often need be made, and plans must be altered.
My intent was to release Stage Three shortly after Stage Two. As both the Author and Self-Publisher of Monarch I have to take responsibility for how things have unfolded so far, and how they will unfold from here on out. So far, I am seeing why I should have chosen something less complicated for my first release. Write it, edit it, and slap it up on the web. But then I have rarely taken the path of least resistence.
My single-minded artistic side (Author) is indignant for any and all unnecessary delays. "How dare anyone or anything stand between my work and my readers." That side refuses to forget how much work has been put in and craves a release. It wants to bask for a moment in the pride of completion before moving on to the next project.
My rational side (Self-Publisher) is charged with placating the artist and keeping things in perspective in order to reach the end. "Rome wasn't built in a day, was it? And for goodness sake, don't go expecting the world to bend to your will just because you want it to."
Thankfully there is a semi-happy balance between the two sides and I'm not out on the street talking to myself. Not yet at least. A writer worth his or her salt never forgets a slight, big or small, and makes damn sure to put it to good use.
As the publisher of Monarch, I have concerns about rushing into the release of another stage when the last stage has yet to reach hundreds of waiting hands. With less than half of the book to go, a reader may be better served to receive stage three and four at the same time, or very close together. It is a potential compromise between my initial concern: Do I release Monarch all at once or in stages? Even though Stage Three should be good to go before August, I must consider releasing the last half of the book (Stages Three and Four) all at once. I cannot afford to further upset readers with another unnecessary month-long delay. I don't know if I can do anything about that problem with Amazon's KDP email update process, but I do not want to have the same thing happen with Stages Three and Four.
I'll have to run the idea by my editor when I see her next. Either way, it gets me facing forward instead of worrying about what I cannot change.
-aap
In my effort to afford a proactive and frugal reader the chance to read something before anyone else, they are the ones who are not able to read Stage Two. My unique way of releasing an eBook in stages, which was meant to reward people for purchasing all four stages at once, has hurt them, and I am saddened and angered by what has happened.
This unhealthy and unusable anger has forced me to reconsider the release of the rest of Monarch. I have to look forward, even though the past is unresolved. My main concern with the release of the book has always been getting it into a reader's hands before December of this year. The reasoning for doing this was sound on my part: I have a book that deals with a specific date in the future, and allowing people to read it with enough time before December is only fair. To release a six hundred page book in fall with so little time before December would have been unfair.
"No man is an island," the old saying goes.
Sometimes I wish that weren't true, but it is the case in the civilized world. Troubles arise that one man cannot resolve via his will alone. Concessions often need be made, and plans must be altered.
My intent was to release Stage Three shortly after Stage Two. As both the Author and Self-Publisher of Monarch I have to take responsibility for how things have unfolded so far, and how they will unfold from here on out. So far, I am seeing why I should have chosen something less complicated for my first release. Write it, edit it, and slap it up on the web. But then I have rarely taken the path of least resistence.
My single-minded artistic side (Author) is indignant for any and all unnecessary delays. "How dare anyone or anything stand between my work and my readers." That side refuses to forget how much work has been put in and craves a release. It wants to bask for a moment in the pride of completion before moving on to the next project.
My rational side (Self-Publisher) is charged with placating the artist and keeping things in perspective in order to reach the end. "Rome wasn't built in a day, was it? And for goodness sake, don't go expecting the world to bend to your will just because you want it to."
Thankfully there is a semi-happy balance between the two sides and I'm not out on the street talking to myself. Not yet at least. A writer worth his or her salt never forgets a slight, big or small, and makes damn sure to put it to good use.
As the publisher of Monarch, I have concerns about rushing into the release of another stage when the last stage has yet to reach hundreds of waiting hands. With less than half of the book to go, a reader may be better served to receive stage three and four at the same time, or very close together. It is a potential compromise between my initial concern: Do I release Monarch all at once or in stages? Even though Stage Three should be good to go before August, I must consider releasing the last half of the book (Stages Three and Four) all at once. I cannot afford to further upset readers with another unnecessary month-long delay. I don't know if I can do anything about that problem with Amazon's KDP email update process, but I do not want to have the same thing happen with Stages Three and Four.
I'll have to run the idea by my editor when I see her next. Either way, it gets me facing forward instead of worrying about what I cannot change.
-aap
Euro 2012 Semifinals
The quarterfinals have come and gone, and the results were about as suspected. The first (Czech vs. Portugal0 and last (England vs. Italy) games were the most hotly contested matches. Both the Czech Republic and England were just outclassed by their opponents. The Czech team at least came to play. That English team truly did revert to their old ways -- defense, defense, defense. They couldn't put three passes together. Sloppy, ugly futbol. England needs to rethink their game plan if that is the best they can come up with, better yet, go back to the fundamentals of offensive futbol.
There is a reason that the Spanish brand (Possession and crisp passing) of futbol has come to dominate these types of tournaments. It works! Look at who is left, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Germany. Each of those teams, except maybe to a lesser extent Portugal, likes to possess the ball. and they do it very well. However, only two teams can proceed to the final game.
Matchups:
Portugal vs. Spain - Without David Villa, the only true striker for Spain is Fernando Torres. Torres has been running hot and cold, and more cold as of late. The past two games he's had too many offsides runs and just can't seem to time things right. The coach appears to be playing games with Torres psyche, trying to motivate him. Will it work? We'll find out tomorrow.
This is Cristiano Ronaldo's tournament so far. It has been a bit of redemption for him, since his poor showing in the Champion's League. The man has a chip on his shoulder and has since reclaimed his place amongst futbol's elite.
Spain is not the Czech Republic; they play brilliant defense and will control the ball for the majority of the 90-minute match. Portugal's opportunities may be few and far between. This should be a brilliant game to watch. Both sides will likely score, but Spain is the classier of the two teams and should move on.
Italy vs. Germany - Italy looked amazing against the English. Their passing was crisp--Pirlo truly is the Maestro. The Azura possessed the ball for 70% of the match, they just couldn't score. Some credit should go to John Terry; he was absolutely brilliant. However, the midfield and the forwards, besides Carroll and Gerrard, were bloody awful.
The German side had only one weakness against the Greek, Bastain Schweinsteiger. I don't know if he is just suffering from the ankle injury or if it is from a concussion that he received during the Champions League final, because what he did out there against the Greek's made absolutely no sense. The man is one of my favorite German players, too. His passes belonged on a high school team or at the very best the English team. Yuck! I was happy to hear that he will not be starting. Poor guy hits the post during PKs at the Champions League Final and is now totally ineffective here in the Euro. Good thing for Germany that they have so much depth and class to compensate for the loss of Schweinsteiger.
Will Pirlo have enough magic in those 33 year old legs to take Italy to the finals? No, Germany wins big and advances to a Clash of the Titans with Spain.
Italy is tired and banged up. They have gone as far as they can go. Portugal has been a great team to watch in this tournament. There is so much anticipation whenever Ronaldo puts his cleats on the ball, but they are unfortunately lacking some depth to take them all the way to the final. There is a sliver of a chance that Portugal might sneak by Spain due David Villa not being out there to put additional goals in the back of the net. If it is Germany and Spain, and it should be, oh what an electric final we will all see.
-aap
There is a reason that the Spanish brand (Possession and crisp passing) of futbol has come to dominate these types of tournaments. It works! Look at who is left, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Germany. Each of those teams, except maybe to a lesser extent Portugal, likes to possess the ball. and they do it very well. However, only two teams can proceed to the final game.
Matchups:
Portugal vs. Spain - Without David Villa, the only true striker for Spain is Fernando Torres. Torres has been running hot and cold, and more cold as of late. The past two games he's had too many offsides runs and just can't seem to time things right. The coach appears to be playing games with Torres psyche, trying to motivate him. Will it work? We'll find out tomorrow.
This is Cristiano Ronaldo's tournament so far. It has been a bit of redemption for him, since his poor showing in the Champion's League. The man has a chip on his shoulder and has since reclaimed his place amongst futbol's elite.
Spain is not the Czech Republic; they play brilliant defense and will control the ball for the majority of the 90-minute match. Portugal's opportunities may be few and far between. This should be a brilliant game to watch. Both sides will likely score, but Spain is the classier of the two teams and should move on.
Italy vs. Germany - Italy looked amazing against the English. Their passing was crisp--Pirlo truly is the Maestro. The Azura possessed the ball for 70% of the match, they just couldn't score. Some credit should go to John Terry; he was absolutely brilliant. However, the midfield and the forwards, besides Carroll and Gerrard, were bloody awful.
The German side had only one weakness against the Greek, Bastain Schweinsteiger. I don't know if he is just suffering from the ankle injury or if it is from a concussion that he received during the Champions League final, because what he did out there against the Greek's made absolutely no sense. The man is one of my favorite German players, too. His passes belonged on a high school team or at the very best the English team. Yuck! I was happy to hear that he will not be starting. Poor guy hits the post during PKs at the Champions League Final and is now totally ineffective here in the Euro. Good thing for Germany that they have so much depth and class to compensate for the loss of Schweinsteiger.
Will Pirlo have enough magic in those 33 year old legs to take Italy to the finals? No, Germany wins big and advances to a Clash of the Titans with Spain.
Italy is tired and banged up. They have gone as far as they can go. Portugal has been a great team to watch in this tournament. There is so much anticipation whenever Ronaldo puts his cleats on the ball, but they are unfortunately lacking some depth to take them all the way to the final. There is a sliver of a chance that Portugal might sneak by Spain due David Villa not being out there to put additional goals in the back of the net. If it is Germany and Spain, and it should be, oh what an electric final we will all see.
-aap
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Euro 2012 Quarterfinals
There sure were a few surprises in the first round. Greece befuddling a superior Russian side to advance was the upset of the tournament thus far. The Russians looked broken in the second half; their composure was seemingly obliterated by the late first half goal by the Greeks. Russia just couldn't crack the solid Greek defense. Sometimes you have to lose to win. That loss may be a character building lesson for the Russians, one they should use to mentally prepare for such a game in the 2014 World Cup.
The biggest disappointment has to be the Netherlands. I read something yesterday where the team was jawing at each other over who was to blame for their poor showing. Not good.
I had really hoped one of the host countries might have advanced, but it wasn't meant to be. Poland came out firing against the Czech Republic; their problem was that they fell flat in the second half and were out classed by a superior Czech team. The Ukrainian, Poland, and Russian losses were similar in a way. All three teams came out with great energy in the first half of their respective games, but each seemed to feel the pressure of the moment in the second half. To the Ukrainian team's credit, they never stopped firing, but they were not poised enough to knock one into the net. The officials got the non-goal call wrong. However, since they didn't call offside seconds earlier, both bad calls negated each other.
France and England advance. France looked awful. If they play like that against Spain, it will be a blowout. With Rooney back, England played their style of futbol (try and score early, defend and counter attack) and squeaked by Ukraine.
Matchups:
Czech Republic vs. Portugal - At the bare bones of this contest it will be Ronaldo vs Chech. A predominate scorer against an equally savvy goalkeeper. The back lines of each side may determine this match. Neither employ brilliant defense, so the advantage goes to the one who has the best finisher. Great game to watch. Portugal moves on.
Germany vs. Greece - This game seems lopsided in Germany's favor to most futbol fans. Germany has much better composure than the Russians and will not stop shooting on goal. However, the German defense is susceptible to lapses just like the Russians. Good timing on offense and a stellar defense give Greece a very small chance of squeaking out another win. Will it happen? Highly unlikely. Germany moves on.
Spain vs. France - A clash of the futbol titans. Spain has snapped back into form after a stagnant game against the Italian team to open the tournament. France on the other hand has regressed into their 2010 World Cup manifestation, with half-hearted and ineffective play. Granted, Ibrahimovich scored one of the classiest goals I have seen in some time against them--it does not excuse the French for just giving up after that amazing goal. They left it up to the English to decide their futbol fate. Boo... poorly played. As I mentioned before, if they play as uninspired as they did against Sweden then they are in for a shellacking. Spain moves on.
England vs. Italy - This has a chance to be a truly brilliant, albeit slow-paced game. Italy is on its way down but is still cagey enough to pull this thing out. England seems to be on its way back up but their old habits may come back to bite them before this tournament is said and done. England moves on.
It should be four exciting games to see who moves on to the semis. Keep an eye out for the first and last matches for the big surprises, those two games look to be the most hotly contested matchups.
-aap
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
AFC South Shake Up
With exciting new players like Andrew Luck of the
Indianapolis Colts and Justin Blackmon of the Jacksonville Jaguars, the AFC
should have a lot of eyes on it this season . Will the Houston
Texans be as tough on defense without Mario Williams? Can the Tennessee
Texans savvy veterans of Chris Johnson and Matt Hasselbeck get over the hump
and make a push for division crown? It should be an exciting season.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
About Time!
Well, after enough complaining to get the right people to take notice, Amazon sent me another email this morning. In this morning's email they apologized and said that emails would be going out by week's end to all those who have purchased Monarch. Hooray! Or as I prefer to say after needlessly wasting hours of my life, "About time."
I hope the email updates do actually go out by week's end, but I'll believe it when I see it. I'm still waiting to get that phone number that was promised. I have a feeling that will never be sent.
Rhetorical Question: Do you suppose it is better for these big businesses to have their customers waste their time over days and weeks, in some cases, as opposed to hiring enough people to actually deal with those customers' issues immediately? Of course it is! Who needs a good reputation when you own the marketplace? When saving money is more important than the customers who supply it, it's time for that to change. And yet if there is no one to complain to, then nothing can be changed. Wow, what a perfect way to horde all the money and piss everyone else off. Stay classy you soulless monopolies.
I look forward to talking to you guys on the other side of those email updates. If you have any troubles--well, wait a minute. I'd give you a phone number, but apparently there is no such number. So I guess you could try and email them, but that could take weeks for them to figure things out. Oh hell, let's just hope that it works properly.
Thanks for reading.
-aap
I hope the email updates do actually go out by week's end, but I'll believe it when I see it. I'm still waiting to get that phone number that was promised. I have a feeling that will never be sent.
Rhetorical Question: Do you suppose it is better for these big businesses to have their customers waste their time over days and weeks, in some cases, as opposed to hiring enough people to actually deal with those customers' issues immediately? Of course it is! Who needs a good reputation when you own the marketplace? When saving money is more important than the customers who supply it, it's time for that to change. And yet if there is no one to complain to, then nothing can be changed. Wow, what a perfect way to horde all the money and piss everyone else off. Stay classy you soulless monopolies.
I look forward to talking to you guys on the other side of those email updates. If you have any troubles--well, wait a minute. I'd give you a phone number, but apparently there is no such number. So I guess you could try and email them, but that could take weeks for them to figure things out. Oh hell, let's just hope that it works properly.
Thanks for reading.
-aap
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Amazon, oh Amazon, why does thou hate me so?
I wish I could say that all was roses in my small
self-publishing world, but I don't like to lie or pull punches. It wears
at my soul and would go against my reason for starting this blog in the first
place. This space on the web is meant to detail my process of
self-publishing. The good, the bad and the ugly.
I'm not sure where Amazon fits into that, but they sure
aren't the good, not after what they've done to my eBooks and my readers.
And once I tell you about it, you'll likely have your own thoughts and
may even agree.
I know my particular eBook is unconventional: one book with
four parts added at different times. But it is the way I had to do it
with the time constraints I posed upon myself. If I were to release a 600
- 700 page novel in September or October, there would be so little time before
the integral date in the book of 12/21/2012
that some people might not have enough time to finish it by then. Very
Uncool. And I want cool to be the rule when it comes to my readers.
I don't mind running hot over people making mistakes. We all make
mistakes. But when people mess with my readers I take it personally. I am doing all that I can to start a career as a novelist and my readers are everything to me.
Due to their tardiness I was forced to contact Amazon yesterday about my recent
release of Stage Two. "Two weeks" I was
promised originally as a response to my request for an email update in
regard to my addition of over two hundred pages.
Below is the email I received today after I had to contact
Amazon once they did not respond within two weeks like they had promised.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Time To Go Big
I've finally decided to take Monarch wider than Amazon. This is due in large part because of Amazon and the poor customer service I have received since the beginning of the year. This type of thing happens when you get too big for your own good.
When it comes to dealing with professionals, I expect to explain myself once and have that be sufficient to get my point across. I always think of the Cars song "Psycho Killer" at such times. "Say something once, why say it again?
That's enough hating on Amazon. I would advise self-publishing authors who are attempting something similar to what I am working on (Releasing a novel that REQUIRES multiple updates), to be warned that your patience will be tested with Amazon's customer service, and your readers will be forced to wait needlessly. OK, now I'm done.
The Spectacularly Awesome result of Amazon FAILING is that it forced me to move to SMASHWORDS earlier than I had planned. Why I was waiting, I can now barely remember.
When it comes to dealing with professionals, I expect to explain myself once and have that be sufficient to get my point across. I always think of the Cars song "Psycho Killer" at such times. "Say something once, why say it again?
That's enough hating on Amazon. I would advise self-publishing authors who are attempting something similar to what I am working on (Releasing a novel that REQUIRES multiple updates), to be warned that your patience will be tested with Amazon's customer service, and your readers will be forced to wait needlessly. OK, now I'm done.
The Spectacularly Awesome result of Amazon FAILING is that it forced me to move to SMASHWORDS earlier than I had planned. Why I was waiting, I can now barely remember.
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