Archive for May, 2012

“Write the Exercise Way” by Steven Montano

Posted: May 26, 2012 in Blogging, Guest Bloggers, Writing
Tags: ,

A few days ago I had the opportunity to write a guest post on Blood Skies (cyber home of Steven Montano) to share some words about my involvement with the Indies Unite for Joshua campaign, and today it is a great pleasure to announce that Steven is my very first guest blogger on Sharkbait Writes. I met Steven on Twitter last year when he was writing his first book Blood Skies and I have to say he is one of the coolest guys I have ever meet. He has a great sense of humor and has a special talent for writing and managing his time.

If you are a writer I’m certain you have come across the difficulty of juggling your busy schedule to find time for writing. Today Steven Montano, the talented author of the Blood Skies series, will be sharing some tips on how we too can integrate writing into our daily routine. Enjoy!

Write the Exercise Way

By Steven Montano

Believe it or not, you have time to write. You may just not realize it. Anyone can find the time to write. But a lot of people can’t figure out how to go about it.

For me, writing is all about routine. Like anything and everything we do, the more you do it, the better you are at it. More important, the more you write, the better you get at the act of writing – the routine, the ritual, the purposeful process of engaging with your work.

I approach writing the same way I approach exercising: as something that is going to happen, no matter what. A few years ago I decided to finally, seriously get in shape. I started counting calories, I walked every day, and I made an effort to get to the gym and jump on the treadmill. I determined how much exercise was realistic for my body to handle (I can only run so long before my knees lock up tighter than airport security), and how much exercise would be helpful towards attaining my weight goal. I figured out how much time I needed to put aside for exercise, what time of day I’d physically be up to the task, and what worked best with my daily schedule.

Don’t get me wrong: it took quite some time to figure this all out. It sounds like a pain…okay, it is a pain…but after you do it for a week or two, suddenly it’s not a pain, and it’s not something you wake up feeling like you have to do. It just becomes part of your routine, so much so that when it doesn’t happen, you notice…and it throws you off, throws you off to the point where you’ll go out of your way to make sure that part of your routine is met, even if you have to shuffle a few meetings or other obligations around to do so.

Yes, that sounds a little obsessive. But that’s what you want.

Now, the trick is to try and do that with your writing.

Hey, I know it’s hard to find time to write. Like I said, I have a job, kids, and a spouse who likes to see me every once in a while (or so she claims… ;D). I write at least 1,000 words a day, 2,000 if I’m actively trying to finish something up. Now, I admit some people consider that freakishly prolific, but how much you write isn’t nearly as important as just writing.

Set yourself a realistic goal, but make it something worthwhile. It shouldn’t be easy (just like a workout shouldn’t be easy): you need to challenge your brain cells enough to kick those creative gears into play, and for most people that doesn’t happen until you have at least a few hundred words down. At the same time, however, you don’t want to set yourself up to fail, because if you do you may quickly find yourself not caring or not wanting to maintain the routine. 500 words is usually a good starting point if you’re not used to writing every day, and you may soon find yourself wanting to do more.

Imagine writing as a workout routine: figure out how much time you need to produce your projected word count, and try to make your writing time coincide with a time of day when you’ll have favorable conditions to be productive. (Some people need silence; others could write while running a marathon while their underwear is on fire. Whatever works for you.) Just like with working out, it may take time for you to figure out when and where is the best time for you to write; just be sure to make writing something you can work right into your daily schedule.

Now, the biggest mistake you could make is to treat your writing time as something less important than the rest of your day. If you do, your mind tells you it’s okay to marginalize or reschedule writing time if your day gets too hectic. This is just silly, and, quite frankly the reason most people end up giving up trying to establish a writing routine. If you want to write, if you need to write, then you’re going to have to make it just as important as going to work, going to the bank, making dinner and dropping the kids off at school. Until you treat your own writing with the proper level of respect, you’ll never be able to work it into your already busy life. (Note: yes, the same applies to an exercise regime.) Now, don’t get me wrong: there will be times when writing doesn’t happen, just like with everything else. Don’t beat yourself up over it, so long as you’re making the proper effort to maintain the routine.

So don’t look at writing as a chore, as something extra you’re trying to do on top of all of your other important life stuff. Don’t force it into your routine, but make it a part of your routine, integrate it smoothly. If you have 15 minutes a day where you find yourself just sitting and staring at the computer screen without actually doing anything, HEY!, there’s a golden opportunity for you. If you have 20 minutes after dinner where you usually just sit and contemplate your toe-socks, BAM!, scribble down a few hundred words, instead. Make writing a part of your equation…a new paradigm, if you will:

My Day Now + Writing = My New Day

Try to make it as much a part of your day as eating your toast in the morning and reading your e-mail. Missing writing should make you feel as discombobulated and as irritated as forgetting your coffee or forgetting to charge up your cell phone.

Once it becomes ingrained into your daily habit – once you’ve secured writing as part of your ritual, when you’ve made it as natural and as automatic as letting the dog out and checking the news – you’ll be amazed at how productive you can be.

Lastly, let’s get the “who is this guy and why should I listen to him about writing?” question out of the way: I’ve self-published three novels and two short stories. I’ll be publishing three more novels this year, and right now I’m about a quarter-of-the-way through the rough draft for the first novel I plan to release next year. I work a full-time job as an Accountant, I’m the father of two medically fragile children (one is epileptic, the other has impulse control issues), I blog two to three times a week, and I somehow manage to find time to spend with my wife.

So there. =D

Steven Montano fell out of the sky one day and landed behind an accountant’s desk. Rather than write novels about his experiences in an alternate post-apocalyptic world besieged by vampires, he decided to reconcile accounts and calculate journal entries. He still writes in his spare time.

Check out his Blood Skies series at Amazon, or visit his website at http://bloodskies.com/

Sharky Teeth

You might also like:

Devil’s Nightmare by Robert Pruneda available in print and eBook formats. Click the image below for more details.
Devil's Nightmare

One-Year Anniversary Post… Versatile Blogger Award: Part Deux!

Posted: May 9, 2012 in Blog Awards, Blogging


First and foremost, I want to thank everyone who has been following “Sharkbait Writes” this past year and has taken the time to comment (I love reading your comments!). I am very excited to announce that TODAY is this site’s ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY! It’s hard to believe that it has already been a year since I started this site. I never imagined that I would have people visiting “Sharkbait Writes” from all over the world! That’s amazing! Thank you! And what better way to celebrate this day than announcing another nomination for the Versatile Blogger Award! I recently had the pleasure of receiving a nomination for this very cool award for a second time. This time Karen Einsel and Jordanna East were kind of enough to hand me this prestigious award. The “trophy” even looks different, so it’s almost like winning a different award! Yay!

Anyway, you can read my post from the previous award HERE which gives you seven random facts about yours truly. Since I’ve been nominated again you get to read seven more random facts about me. I’ll try to keep this one short (Yeah, I know… good luck with that!).

So, without further ado, here are seven new random facts about Sharky:

1941 – 2016

1. I met “Grizzly Adams” when I was a kid. When I was about four or five years old Dan Haggerty (who played James “Grizzly” Adams in the TV show “The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams) had a meet and greet at the Texas Zoo in Victoria. He was the first and only actor that I have ever met, which I thought was really cool, particularly as a little kid. Mr. Haggerty signed autograph photos for me and my older sister and also took photos with us. My sister had a crush on “Grizzly Adams” and even got a kiss. She, of course, got all giddy about that fact. I have photos stored away somewhere (this was ages ago), but at the time of this blog post, I only have a stock photo of Dan Haggerty from IMDb.

2. I see dead people. I spent several years working as an obituaries coordinator at the local newspaper. After leaving the newspaper industry, I now focus on my writing and building my home-based business Jireh Administrative Services. About a month after leaving the newspaper, one of the funeral home owners contacted me and asked if I would be interested in working for him on a part-time basis at the funeral home. Since part of my business is offering various small business support services, we agreed on an “independent contract” (really, we just shook hands after agreeing on the details) and now I have a funeral home listed among my small business clientele. I basically help out in the office if needed, help out with visitations and rosaries, play “traffic cop” in the parking lot, and drive the hearse and limousine during funerals. On some occasions, I even help the funeral directors on “first calls”, which is basically bringing the deceased to the funeral home after he/she passes away. So, I literally see dead people.

3. I drive a limousine on occasion. Just recently the owner of the funeral home that I help out at asked me if I would be interested in driving his limo on non-funeral related occasions. At the time he asked, I had only driven the limousine once during a funeral and still wasn’t very comfortable with it (that particular route we took didn’t have many turns). He gave me some pointers and told me that he really needed another person that he could call on to drive the limo and particularly needed one for that weekend. He told me the only way I was going to get comfortable with the limo was by driving it. He told me to take the limo for the day, drive it around town, practice the right turns, and take it home. He said it was free advertising for him anyway. He told me to keep it for as long as I wanted until I was comfortable with it. He encouraged me not to worry about it. Just take the car. I was a bit surprised, but how could I say no?

Pardon me, sir, but have you any Grey Poupon?

So, for the next day my personal vehicle was a $150,000 Cadillac Stretch Limo. Very cool! I drove it around town and even took it home when I needed to get some work done at the house. I live in an older neighborhood with 1950s homes, so having a limousine parked in front of the house was kind of cool. It turns out that driving the limo wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be, so I was ready to play chauffer that weekend. I also don’t have to worry about getting a chauffer’s license because that is only required when carrying 10 or more passengers; this limo carries eight passengers. So, if you ever need a ride… 🙂 
4. I have never flown on a commercial airliner. That’s right, I repeat that I’ve never flown in a jumbo jet before. I’ve never really had to since I’ve never had to travel far enough that I could not drive to. I have been in a four-seat Cessna, though, which was kind of a cool experience. Other than that, the only commercial flying I’ve ever done is on Microsoft Flight Simulator as a pilot… and trust me, you DON’T want me flying you across the country in a 747! Here’s a preview of my in flight experience:

5. I used to have an afro when I was a little kid. Thanks, Mom! Moving right along!

6. A family of finches has recently taken residence in a potted plant hanging above my front porch. Okay, maybe that’s not really a random fact about me, but I’m running out of ideas here. If you’ve been following me on Twitter, Facebook or Google Plus, you may have seen me post some pics and videos of a family of baby finches nestled in a little nest built within the confines of a potted plant hanging from my front porch. Here are a few photos of the little velociraptors. Click on the images to enlarge.

7. Umm… Oh yes, how could I forget? I was once a multi-millionaire for about a day. That’s right, I can honestly say that I have had the pleasure of having millions of dollars in my bank account. This is a true story! You see, my first job out of high school was as a customer account maintenance associate at a locally owned (and growing bank). My job was to verify all of the new certificates of deposit and personal loans and correct any mistakes entered by the customer service representatives. Well, as an employee of the bank I also had direct access to check my own account, which I regularly did to make sure checks had cleared, paychecks were deposited correctly, etc. Well, one day (I think it was a pay day) I checked my account and noticed I had nearly THREE MILLION DOLLARS in my personal checking account! Imagine my reaction when I saw that!

After doing a bit of research, it turns out that when someone opened up a new special account for the bank they accidentally linked it with mine as a co-owner of the account. So, not only was a now a multi-millionaire, I was also a co-owner of one of the bank’s accounts. Obviously, I had to report the error to my supervisor, but I had fun with it. I asked her what I needed to do to withdraw a couple of million dollars from my account. She looked at me like I was crazy. I told her that I was a co-owner of one of the bank’s accounts, and I wanted to make a withdrawal. She still didn’t take me seriously, so I told her to check my account and see if I was joking. Her eyes grew very wide when she saw the balance on my account and that I was listed as a co-owner of one of the bank’s accounts. She thanked me and told me that she would take care of it immediately. I laughed, but she didn’t find it very funny. She never did have a good sense of humor. So, while my mulit-millionaire status was short-lived, I can honestly say that I was once a millionaire.

So, there you have it, seven more random facts about Rob “Sharky” Pruneda. I’m supposed to nominate another 15 bloggers for this award, but since I’m such a rebel, I think I’m going to officially nominate anyone who comments below. If you comment, you are thus crowned with the prestigious Versatile Blogger award. Just be sure to let me know when you post your award, so I can find out seven juicy facts about you, too. 🙂

Thanks for visiting! Grab a piece of cake before you leave! And be sure to comment below!

Cheers!

Before you go, be sure to check out this trailer for my horror-mystery novel Devil’s Nightmare!

Gabriel: Zero Point Promo Contest Catches Fire

Posted: May 5, 2012 in Contests, Social Networking
Tags: , , , , ,

A couple of weeks ago Science Fiction author Steve Umstead published Gabriel: Zero Point, the prequel to his very popular Evan Gabriel Trilogy. To launch his latest book, Steve decided to have a book promotion contest for all of his fans. The task was simple… help him promote the book through various social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, etc.) and let him know about it by either using a #GZP hashtag on Twitter or tagging/mentioning him in the book promotional messages on Facebook or Google Plus.

This is the first Gabriel’s Redemption print sold with the new cover.

Every day for five days he randomly picked a name to win a $10 Amazon gift card (a total of $50 for the week). Steve also announced that he would be giving away a Nook Table or Kindle Fire (each valued at $199) to one lucky grand prize winner during Week 2 of the book launch (More details on that later). I was lucky enough to have my name drawn in one of the $10 gift card drawings and purchased the print edition of Steve Umstead’s first published book Gabriel’s Redemption. I had already read the eBook version, enjoyed it, and thought it would make a great addition to my growing library of books from independently published (“Indie”) authors. I soon found out that I was the first person to purchase the print version with the new cover as soon as it went live on Amazon! Too bad it wasn’t a numbered signed edition so I could later auction it off on eBay when it officially becomes a collector’s item, and then I could retire.

Anyway, throughout the week I continued to help promote Gabriel: Zero Point through Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus via sharing promo messages Steve broadcasted and creating some custom messages of my own. As I was browsing through my emails the following Monday, I was pleasantly surprised to see my name listed among seven grand prize finalists for the second week of Steve Umstead’s “Gabriel: Zero Point Spread the Word” book promo contest. The seven grand prize finalists were selected for being the most creative and helpful during the book launch promotion and ranged from writing book reviews, blog posts, and spreading the word via various social media platforms. I was selected for having a consistent Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus campaign.

The real fun began when I read that the grand prize winner would be selected by way of casting votes. Each candidate for the grand prize had one week to solicit as many votes as possible from friends, family, neighbors, etc. and the man or woman with the most votes by 11 p.m. (Eastern Time) Friday, April 27, would be crowned the winner the next day. I got a late start since I hadn’t read the blog post until later in the day and Dr. Shay Fabbro had already earned approximately 30 votes! All of the other candidates had votes too, except for me! I had zero, zilch, nada! Well, I’ve been wanting to get my hands on a Kindle Fire ever since Amazon released it and my dad (who is very technically challenged) received one for Christmas and is now addicted to it!

Vote for Sharky!

So, it was time to hit the campaign trail in my very subtle campaign vehicle. I also sent messages to all of my friends and family with a link to the contest details and started gaining votes, but Shay continued to have a steady lead throughout the first half of the week. Then a few of my friends started putting together their posse of friends around mid-week and the margin between Shay’s and my votes began to shrink, but every morning Shay would have a large surge of votes. I called in some help, and a friend of mine (who I may only refer to as Agent X, or else you might see my picture on a milk carton) recruited her brother (who is employed by a foreign government) to utilize an undisclosed office to cast votes for this desperate little American trying to win a Kindle Fire.

On Thursday, I took the lead for the first time and continued to enjoy the lead throughout the day. It looks like my secret weapon, Agent X and her brother’s secret foreign government task force, was getting me close to victory. On Friday morning I had an 88 point lead over Dr. Shay Fabbro, but something about the sudden slow pace of Team Fabbro votes on Friday seemed very fishy. My shark radar sensed a sneak counter attack. I watched the votes carefully and then late in the afternoon, Team Fabbro pounced, almost immediately cutting my lead in half, then I was only ahead by 20 votes, then suddenly, Doc Fabbro shot ahead with a near 30 point lead! Ruh-roh! Luckily, Team Pruneda kicked it into high gear and started generating some much needed votes through some desperate Twitter campaign tweets many ending with “This is Rob Pruneda, and I approve this message.” Team Fabbro, however, continued to counter with votes coming in from Lord knows where! Personally, I think she hired Anonymous to hack into Sony’s system again and commandeered hundreds of Playstation accounts to generate more votes. I’ll never be able to prove it, but she’ sneaky like that! 🙂

With only two hours left to go in the Gabriel: Zero Point book promo grand prize contest, the bullets—I mean the ballots—started flying. Team Fabbro had votes coming in from all over the place. I had unconfirmed reports of Team Fabbro votes coming in from the International Space Station and Area 51. This Shay Fabbro character was a tricky one, and with one hour to go she and I had nearly the same amount of votes. After the sneak attack Team Fabbro had launched earlier, I was ready for another one. I had more unconfirmed intelligence suggesting a special forces team was on standby to take out my communications and plant an Electronic Magnetic Pulse bomb at the Team Sharky Headquarters in Austin, Texas.

It was now time for Rob “Sharky” Pruneda to launch Operation Tuna Fish!

While this is a splitting image of my pearly white smile, I can’t take credit for this image. We all know who this image is credited to. And remember… “Fish are food… not friends!” Wait, that’s not right!

I sent another encrypted message to Agent X and a few other secret agents in my campaign management team that I had on standby. While I hit the campaign trail in my Shark Mobile trying to solicit as many votes as possible, Agent X, her brother’s secret government task force, and a few other hired guns pumped themselves full of their favorite energy drinks and chocolate bars and went to work. Agent X and her husband were in an Irish pub (undisclosed in a foreign land, of course) and bribed all of the patrons with free rounds of drinks if they voted for me…I just received the bill by the way! Agent X’s brother called in his secret government task force in another location of his country and promised them all a day off of work (and free beer for a year) if they would vote for some weird American known as “Sharky” in Texas. I had some other rogue agents that I claim no responsibility for that somehow resulted in phone calls and letters from The U.S. Department of Commerce, Department of Treasury, the Secretary of State, and the Department of Defense and some pretty hefty bills; one bill from the Pentagon included a plunger for $2 billion. I’m not sure what that was for, but I think I’m going to dispute that bill. Although, it may have something to do with the B-2 stealth bomber that dropped a ton of “A Vote for Sharky is a Vote for Indies” leaflets (with a coupon for a free Starbucks coffee on the back) at a major Shay Fabbro rally. I had nothing to do with that though! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

At the end of the day, all of the efforts from Team Pruneda paid off and I was crowned the grand prize winner of Steve Umstead’s “Gabriel: Zero Point contest. Below are the final results of the voting after all of the ballots were counted…and then recounted…and then recounted:

I want to thank everyone who participated in this contest, voted for me, encouraged others to vote for me, or just spread the word about the contest. I had a heck of a lot of fun promoting Steve’s new book and hitting the campaign trail to generate votes. I literally had votes coming in from all over the world, which was amazing! You all helped me win a really cool Kindle Fire and I owe it all to you. Thank you! I received my $199 Kindle Fire in the mail on Wednesday… and hired an accountant on Thursday to figure out how I am going to pay my campaign bill of $2,550,844,233.12. In hindsight, maybe the stealth leaflet bomber was a bit of overkill. It was worth it, though, because I’m now the proud new owner of a Kindle Fire loaded with Gabriel: Zero Point by Steve Umstead!

I received my Gabriel: Zero Point promo contest Grand Prize on Wednesday. As promised, the first book loaded onto my new Kindle Fire was Gabriel: Zero Point by Steve Umstead. Thank you very much, Steve, for this awesome prize!!!! Gabriel!

In closing please be sure to visit Steve Umstead’s website and check out his books. He was very cool to put together this contest and deserves a few sales from it. Trust me, if you love SciFi, you’ll love Steve Umstead’s books!

Steve Umstead has been the owner of a Caribbean & Mexico travel company for the past ten years, but never forgot his lifelong dream of becoming an author. After a successful stab at National Novel Writing Month, he decided to pursue his dream more vigorously…but hasn’t given up the traveling.

Steve lives in scenic (tongue-in-cheek) New Jersey with his wife, two kids, and several bookshelves full of other authors’ science fiction novels. Gabriel’s Redemption was his debut novel, published in February of 2011; Gabriel’s Return, the second in the trilogy, launched in August; the finale, Gabriel’s Revenge, book 3, hit the virtual shelves in December.

If you were a part of “Team Sharky”, are a fan of Steve’s books, or have any other comments you would like to share about this particular post, please feel free to share your thoughts. I love reading your comments! Cheers!