Retired? Me? Nah...

Wow. Has it really been three months since I last saw your shining faces? I've been up to big things since then. 

For one, I pulled my ebooks out of Kindle Unlimited at the end of May. Why? Because I kept seeing posts on Instagram about pirated books and author accounts being closed by Amazon with no warning. Etcetera. Enough to make me goosey.

Then, I kept putting off "going wide", which is a fancy phrase that means selling my books through many distributors rather than exclusively through one. In my case, Amazon. So this week, I finally got the cyber presses rolling.

The little icons below the titles are my new ebook distributors

I uploaded Awen Rising and Awen Storm to the book aggregator, Draft2Digital (D2D). They are now in the process of distributing them to the major online booksellers (for a %). Now my ebooks will be available at Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, Scribd, Baker & Taylor, several overseas and other miscellaneous sites, and OverDrive. (See above pic.)

A few of the sites are for libraries, so you'll soon be able to read my ebooks through your local library account. To be honest, I don't really know how that works. You may need to request the library to get it for you, the same as you do for my paperbacks. (And add this to the list of stuff I need to find out.) Then, once the two ebooks have gone live and the kinks are worked out, I'll upload the prequels.

Am I excited? You betcha. Will my sales take off? One can hope.

The other major thing I'm doing—besides writing Awen Tide, of course—is selling and signing my paperbacks face to face. This means that on top of writing, marketing, accounting, etc, I now have a new hat to wear. Salesperson. Oh, glory. Does anyone love selling?

OJ at King Soopers in Cheyenne, WY, June 2023

But I'm showing up AND having fun meeting new readers and writers, plus discussing my books with returning fans. I've had moderate success at the local craft fairs, and now I am an official vendor.

This meant I had to apply for a Wyoming sales tax license and start collecting and paying sales tax. I filed my first quarterly return on July 14th, remitting a whopping $23, woohoo!

On April 21st, I also began setting up a table and banner in the lobby of nearby King Soopers. Through Kroger's National Authors in Grocery Stores program, I get to meet readers and sell books to their grocery shoppers. There was a fee to join and another to have my books added to their system, but it was reasonable. So far, my best sales weekend was here in Cheyenne, when 37 books found new homes in 2 days over Father's Day weekend.

Bottom line? Since April 1st, I've sold 112 paperback books face-to-face—80 copies of Awen Rising and 32 of Awen Storm. Of those, 71 were sold at King Soopers.

Another benefit is getting to meet my readers and fans in person. What a blast! As Calvin used to say, it beats a poke in the eye. Any day.

You'll be happy to hear that the nasty brain fog that was keeping me from writing (or doing much of anything) is mostly gone. What'd I tell you? That failed crown with titanium posts was the culprit. Since getting it extracted on June 2nd, Awen Tide is finally approaching THE END.

I am determined and committed to completing this trilogy and having it in your hands by Thanksgiving. This year!

I'm going to whisper this last little tidbit 'cause I don't want you to be alarmed. I'm moving again. This time into my own place. It'll be happening fairly soon, and though I'm not sure when I am excited about this new chapter in my life.

That Rebel, Olivia J. Herrell, writing as O. J. Barré.

O. J. Barré is the author of the Awen Trilogy, a fun, fast, and epic urban fantasy set in 2042 Atlanta. Steeped in current, ancient, and future history twists, Book One, Awen Rising, debuted July 2019. Book Two, Awen Storm, released May 2020. Book Three, Awen Tide, will release in 2023. All are (or will be) available in both paperback and ebook, and the hardback versions will be available soon.

Free For Subscribers

O. J.'s Awen Prequel novelette, The Druids of Marduk, Part I, is also available as an ebook - for purchase on Amazon (or free by signing up for her newsletter). The second installment, The Druids of Marduk, Part II: UnderEarth, is an ebook novella on Amazon. Part III: AboveEarth, is scheduled for a 2024 release.

Craft Fairs, Book Signings, and Other Fun Stuff

Good gosh, a'mighty! Three months? It's been three months since I last posted? Boy, did I miss a LOT!

In a nutshell:

• I'm still alive;
• I'm still writing Awen Tide and am very near THE END (for the whole trilogy, woohoo!);
• Spring has sprung in most parts of the US. We're seeing signs and having some warmer days here in Cheyenne, Wyoming, but winter still has us in its grips. There's another storm rolling in, with, yes, another one-two punch. The first hits tonight, the second tomorrow, and we'll get somewhere between 3 to 12 inches of wet snow. Right now, our landscape is dead grass. By this time tomorrow, it'll likely be white again;
• I signed a contract with the Authors in Grocery Stores Program. I will soon begin doing book signings at our local King Soopers in May, down in Aurora, CO, on the weekend of April 21-22, and later in May, down in Fort Collins, CO, then off and on through the rest of the year. I will post the dates/times in advance on Facebook and Instagram, so make sure you're following me there for the most up-to-date news;
• This past Saturday, I did my first book sale/signing of the year at the Spring Business Fair at the Cheyenne Ice & Events Center. I felt like whale poo but managed to show up, and I'm so glad I did! I met lots of new people - other vendors, browsers, and readers with wide eyes that made a beeline for my table when they saw the book covers of Awen Rising and Awen Storm. It was so rewarding to see their excitement and to chat with them about the Awen Trilogy. Here's an after-show video if you're interested;

  @ojbarreauthor #Prequel ♬ original sound - Olivia

• From now through the end of the year, I will be appearing at craft fairs at least once a month, mostly in Cheyenne. Barnes & Noble is reopening (supposedly this summer), and when they do, I plan to arrange a book signing there. Keep an eye on Facebook & Instagram;
• I've yet to make plans, and it may not happen this year, but I want to book a trip to Atlanta and schedule book signings at the Villa Rica Library, hopefully in conjunction with the launch of Awen Tide and their Book Club Meeting, Underground Books in Carrollton, and a couple of other book stores in Atlanta and Decatur;
• Hmm, what else? OH YEAH! My paperback books will soon be available at 307 Made, a store in downtown Cheyenne that carries crafts, artwork, oils, and many works made by local artisans. We'll also be doing a book signing there in the next few months. Again, keep an eye on my social media (FB & Insta) for the most current news.

As for recreation, I mostly stay home but do indulge occasionally:

• I regularly visit the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens and Lions Park to get my nature fix. There's a small lake (Sloan Lake) and willows, firs, and pines where the crows congregate to sing a serenade. I posted a video to FB a week or so ago of me walking the labyrinth, though it cut off the ending;
• We have one movie theatre in all of Cheyenne, but over the last few weeks, I have enjoyed Champions, 80 for Brady, Jesus Revolution, and most recently, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. If you're interested in my reviews, browse my Instagram or FB page;
• Last week, the kids were on Spring Break, so we went down to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the Planetarium for a fun day with the dinosaurs, rocks, gems, and outer space. Oh yes, they have much more than that, but we oldsters like to take longer to look at and admire the displays, so we went our separate ways.

Th-th-th-tha-tha-tha-that's all, folks! Hopefully, I'll be back here at least once a month. I'm sorry for the huge delay!

That Rebel, Olivia J. Herrell, writing as O. J. Barré.

O. J. Barré is the author of the Awen Trilogy, a fun, fast, and epic urban fantasy set in 2042 Atlanta. Steeped in current, ancient, and future history twists, Book One, Awen Rising, debuted July 2019. Book Two, Awen Storm, released May 2020. Book Three, Awen Tide, will release in 2023. All are (or will be) available in both paperback and ebook, and the hardback versions will be available soon.

Free For Subscribers

O. J.'s Awen Prequel novelette, The Druids of Marduk, Part I, is also available as an ebook - for purchase on Amazon (or free by signing up for her newsletter). The second installment, The Druids of Marduk, Part II: UnderEarth, is an ebook novella on Amazon. Part III: AboveEarth, is scheduled for a 2023 release.

Feeling Fragile

I'm tired of being fragile.

And when, pray tell, did this happen? One day I'm a hellion carving my way through the world, the next, I'm this ephemeral... thing.

And just how did this happen? Is it a function of aging, compounded by letting go of my day job and relying on Social Security to pay my way? Or is it the breaking down of my body compounded by my shitty diet and lack of exercise these days? Thank God for the healthy smoothie packed with fifty fruits and vegetables I consume daily.

I'm trying to do better. I am, I promise. But the truth is, I'm fragile, y'all. And it ain't a laughing matter. 

As I free write, I seem to be reverting to my native Southern. I'll likely leave it here. I hope you don't mind.

As usual, today I woke early and had my shot of cacao, followed by my tall cup of White Peony Tea, while checking my KDP dashboard to see if the ads I'm paying for are bringing in sales. Then, perusing social media, there's a tickler message on Facebook about two books I keep forgetting to mail. Dang.

So, rather than dressing right away for the library, I trudged downstairs and looked at/around/into every box in the basement, trying to locate the large box of envelopes I special ordered from Uline to mail my signed books to readers. Y'all, we have a lot of boxes. But these two books need to go out, don'tcha know. I found nada. The envelopes refused to be found, and I'm wondering if they made it here from Idaho.

So, now I'm frustrated. Plus, there's a weather alert beeping on my phone (they're like amber alerts, y'all, and my first EVER!). A snowsquall's coming.

Huh. Really? It's sunny and beautiful outside, so I decide it'll likely pass us by, and I'm about to change for the library where I plan to write, and SHIT!!! There's that freaking snowsquall! A minute earlier, the sun was shining. Literally. 

I wished I'd taken a picture. For ten minutes, maybe longer, the wind howled, howled, I tell you. HOWLED. And it was white outside. Not solid white. That would be crazy scary. But sideways white—fine ice crystals mixed with snow, blowing and blowing and blowing—white air blowing twenty-five miles per hour. Then it petered out and stopped. Then, the sun came back out. But my plans to go to the library didn't.

See, y'all. I told ya I'm fragile. And it ain't no laughing matter. It's keeping me from writing. From living. From having a life.

Oh, poor baby. People would kill to have your life. Sitting at home day after day watching movies and eating ham sandwiches and watching tv and drinking Coca-Cola and Perrier and loving on Rambo.

Most days, the only exercise I get is letting the dogs and cat out and in, out and in. Oh. And trekking to the bathroom and back. And the kitchen, 'cause Lord knows I need to keep pushing food and drink into my mouth. Why is that, y'all? Why? Why?

Because it's comforting, baby. And when you're fragile, comfort is the thing you seek.

Just ask me. I know. I'm fragile.

That Rebel, Olivia J. Herrell, writing as O. J. Barré.

P. S. With any luck at all, I'll toughen up. But wait. Why? After sixty-five years of kicking and screaming and bucking the odds, did I not earn the right to be fragile?

P.P.S. David at Davissa Ranch (Northeast of Cheyenne) caught the snowsquall on film and posted the video to Instagram.

P.P.S.S. Check out this really cool inspirational website I found called "I'm Fragile."

P.P.P.S.S. Ooo, when I entered the labels for this post, "I'm Tore Down" popped up. Yeah. That fits too. And here's my old flame Calvin B. Streets performing Tore Down.

O. J. Barré is the author of the Awen Trilogy, a fun, fast, and epic urban fantasy set in 2042 Atlanta. Steeped in current, ancient, and future history twists, Book One, Awen Rising, debuted July 2019. Book Two, Awen Storm, released May 2020. Book Three, Awen Tide, will release in late 2022 or early 2023. All are (or will be) available in both paperback and ebook, and the hardback versions will be available soon.

Free For Subscribers

O. J.'s Awen Prequel novelette, The Druids of Marduk, Part I, is also available as an ebook - for purchase on Amazon (or free by signing up for her newsletter). The second installment, The Druids of Marduk, Part II: UnderEarth, is an ebook novella on Amazon. Part III: AboveEarth, is scheduled for a 2022 release.