Psychedelia Gothique

My first experience with sending a novel out to beta readers was a resounding success.   My Process In September, I finished the fourth draft of my novel, The Human Template ,   and decided it was ready for beta readers. After comparing prices for different print processes, I discovered it was less expensive to get the manuscript published as a POD book than as bound or even unbound manuscript pages. I had a hunch that the more professional it looked, the more seriously people would take it – increasing their likelihood of reading it. The way everything unfolded reinforced that suspicion.   ( Read my full post about the production of beta copies ). My Team Initially I approached eight official beta readers, but several of the people who had read the ms earlier in the process requested hardcopies when available and followed through by answering all my Beta Reader questions. Several random people who saw the POD copies asked to read the book. And a few other...

I can tell time by standing on a street corner about a kilometre from my house and watching buses. I know which buses go by and at what time.   Disrupt that schedule by blocking off a single street on any of the bus routes, and it throws off the clock. Knock two of the eight buses off schedule, and it starts tearing into the fabric of reality. Just by living our daily lives, we allow ourselves to become creatures of routine – thus relieving ourselves of the responsibility of thinking on our feet. The tiniest changes in our routines create stresses far disproportionate to their size creating a ripple; a butterfly effect.  Imagine; a cut on my toe slows down my pace so I get to the bus stop late. I miss my bus and don’t make the connections. Starting out five minutes late gets me to work twenty minutes late. The ensuing agitation ripples through the day and results in my firing a staff member who is in Canada on a working visa and the lack of work forces them to go bac...