An end-of-the-month look back at the last 30 days.

This might be a short post, because March is, by far, my day job’s busiest month. And I always overestimate my ability to do book stuff while also juggling the madness.

Where’s the Beef?
No book reviews this month, because with the aforementioned March Being A Thing, I didn’t finish any of the books I’m reading. But I am in the process of reading Echoes of Blood by Halo Scot, Dreadknot by S.E. Anderson, and A Dangerous Game by Madeline Dyer. All are potential five-star reads.

End of an Era?
Don’t tell 20-year-old me, but I am giving serious thought to giving up video games and selling off my collection. I barely play anymore, and the industry has devolved to the point where none of the new machines or games interest me (even games like Gran Turismo 7, and I’m a lifelong GT junkie!). Spare time is precious to me anymore, and I find myself devoting less and less of it to gaming (and when I do game, it’s almost always the older stuff).

Ad Time
I tried another Facebook ad for Notna in March, since Facebook gifted me a $50 credit for a boosted post. I tried the same post I did back in January, but this time, I changed the Buffy comparison to Supernatural (to test my theory) and ran the ad for nearly two weeks (March 6-21), targeted a strictly US audience, and added target filters to include fans of adventure fiction, fantasy books, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Supernatural.

In all, I reached 4,135 people and got 60 clicks (both increases over the first Facebook ad). The mobile app news feed and suggested videos feed gave me the bulk of my clicks, and almost 70% of my reach was men (…why, I have no idea). Texas and California were the states where I had the most reach, and the effect on sales was…negligible.

So, it’s looking like, while Facebook ads are great for getting eyeballs on my FB page, it doesn’t really do much sales-wise.

Your Mileage May Vary
Are books on writing worth the paper on which they’re printed? For the most part, I say no. Feel free to agree. Or disagree. But don’t use any adverbs, or Stephen King will come after you.

Where Are the Haters?
I was convinced this article would lose me followers, but it seems to have just been…largely ignored. On Medium, I wrote about why I write about the police in the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Yes, There’s a Difference
I recently wrote about the difference between inspiration and motivation. Yes, those are two completely different things, and they are often mutually exclusive from one another. It’s one of the more maddening aspects of being an author.

Is This Thing On?
I had written another essay for Medium, one where I examine creativity in a theoretical sense, and submitted it to the Writers’ Blokke publication. But…it’s still there. I know they’ve said they’re swamped with content over there, but this is by far the longest it’s taken one of my essays to get posted. Shame, too, because I was really proud of this one.

From the ‘Out of Your Comfort Zone’ Department:
I’ve written a children’s book. You can’t buy it, but you can read about what I learned through the experience.

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