R.J. Ropsen: January 2012

Monday, January 23, 2012

Why Indie Authors Rock

Self publishing is the new move in the publishing world. Nowadays it is
getting easier and easier to publish your work by yourself. The sale of eBooks
has allowed authors to get there work out to a wide audience. Here are a few
reasons why indie authors' rock:

1) Have all the control over your work.
You control what makes the final copy of your work or what gets edited out.
It is truly your work.

2) Don't have to wait for anyone.
You don't have to worry about someone agreeing that your work is good
enough or marketable enough to be accepted by a publishing company. You
can publish your work whenever you feel it is ready.

3) Costs almost nothing to publish a novel.
There are a lot of resources on the internet to help you with eBook formatting,
cover design, marketing, etc. Many of these resources can be found free on
the internet!

4) Do it on your time.
You don't have to worry about stressful deadlines. You can set up a writing
schedule that fits you perfectly. If it takes you a little longer then expected
don't worry.

5) Aren't confined to one genre.
You can write whatever you want in whatever genre. If you feel like writing a
young adult novel go ahead. Next, if you want to write a nonfiction novel you
can do that too.

6) Lots of helpful resources.
Again the internet can be the greatest tool for indie authors. Due to the rise in
popularity there are helpful websites and great downloadable tools. From print
on demand publishers like lightning source or createspace, eBook converting
software like Calibre, and awesome websites like paulsalvette.com.

7) Don't have to stress over proposals.
It takes a long time for writers to write their novels let alone send in the perfect
proposal. Proposals can be the most stress part of getting your book published
traditionally. If you are an indie author you don't have to worry about it.

Thanks for being an awesome indie author!

Sincerely,
R.J. Ropsen

Thursday, January 19, 2012

In My Diary (4)

A Day in the Life of a Writer

7:00 am: Wake up. Take out my computer start typing.

8:00 am: Quickly get ready for work.

8:30 am: Drive to work listening to a book on CD on the way.

9:00 am: Start work with thoughts of writing spinning in my head.
I think of my story and all the things I still could write. I think of my
blog desperately wanting to check up on my social networking. I
think of a new story that I can start writing after these other two are
finished.

1:00 pm: Lunch break. Go to Taco John's, get a small soda, and write
as fast as I can for an hour on my netbook. Yes, I take my netbook
everywhere I go. You never know when you will get a chance to
write.

2:00 pm: Go back to work. I continue to think of my work in progress.
I think of the next direction I want to take it and what my characters
will do.

6:00 pm: Leave work. I listen to the book on CD again.

6:30 pm: Get home. Immediately check my blog, twitter, and google +.

7:00 pm: Eat supper.

7:30 pm: Turn on the television and start writing again. It always helps
when I have a little background noise.

12:00 pm: Go to bed and start my schedule all over again. Hopefully
during the night my dreams inspire me to write a different story.

Is your day consumed with thoughts of writing?

Sincerely,
R.J. Ropsen

Monday, January 16, 2012

New Novella

My new writing project is now up on my blog. You can find it here.
I started writing it in December, and finished the novella in the middle
of January. This novella is very different from most things that I have
written.
My new project, Vaguely Foreign, is in fact a nonfiction
autobiography. I know that I technically claim I am a young adult
author, but through my experiences I was inspired to write this story.
I wanted to tell the world about my immigration journey in a
lighthearted, fun sort of way. As an author, I believe we should
follow our dreams no matter where they take us and do the things
that inspire us.
I hope to publish the book sometime in February. I will keep
everyone posted when the publication date is decided. Thanks
to an amazing cover artist the book cover to Vaguely Foreign
is already finished. You can check it out below.

P.S.
My next book will definitely be in the young adult genre. It will be
a dystopian novel called The Silenced, which is also up on my blog.
You can find it here. Currently I am working on the sequel to The
Silenced; typing the first draft. I will continue to write, draft, and
revise daily hoping one day to become the full time writer I strive
to be.

Sincerely,
R.J. Ropsen

Sunday, January 15, 2012

The Adventures of TinTin

When I was younger I loved the cartoon, Les Aventures De

TinTin. In French class we would always watch the show. It

was hard to comprehend the language, and I didn't understand

anything they said. Instead I connected with the show through

the wonderful comic animation. I quickly fell in love with TinTin,

Thompson and Thompson, Captain Haddock, and of course

Snowy.

Recently, the show The Adventures of TinTin was made into
an English movie. Of course I had to see this movie. Yesterday
I went to the movie theater, ordered my tickets, put my 3D
glasses on, sat back and enjoyed the movie. I was not
disappointed.
The producers took all the good parts from the comic and put
them into the film. All the characters were very similar to the
ones in the story. The characters were well developed and just
as enjoyable. The animation was also awesome. Steven
Spielberg used motion-capture animation to tell the story of
TinTin. This animation made the characters and scenes look life
like. There was non-stop action that drove the story along, and
humor added to the story as well. I am glad I decided to see this
movie. This is definitely a must see. I give The Adventures of
TinTin 5/5 stars!

Links: Cartoon, Movie Trailer

Sincerely,
R.J. Ropsen

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Five Sentence Fiction: Poison

His brother's words were poison shooting through his veins like a drug addict on heroin. “Father and mother hated you, I am the only one they loved”. Those deadly words continued to ring in his head threatening to destroy his reality, and he knew his brother was right. He was the one they never wanted; a runt twin outshined by a brothers talents. He also knew that he wasn't all the things his parents hated, and he had some good qualities too; slowly releasing the cold heavy gun from his grasp he finally realized that there was something to live for.

Sincerely,
R.J.Ropsen

Friday, January 13, 2012

In My Diary (3)

Weird Writing Spots
I grew up in a large family. I had two brothers, and two sisters. Having that many

siblings does have its advantages, but it also has its disadvantages. One of the biggest

disadvantages for me was I had less privacy. Growing up I shared a room with my

sister. I didn't have any place to myself. The rest of the house could get pretty noisy

too. Sometimes I just wanted some piece and quiet. Over the years I discovered great

spots to find this peace and quiet.

One of my favorite things to do was read. I would go to the library every week or

sometimes every two days and get a bag full of books. With such a loud house it was

hard to find anywhere quiet to read. I soon found an excellent, but weird reading spot

that I would visit time and time again.

This reading spot was the attic in my garage. The attic was a very quiet spot to read,

the only problem was that in the summer it got very hot. I would sit in the attic for an

hour at a time. Sometimes, drops of sweat would roll off my face falling onto the pages

as I read.

It was one of the weirdest places I had found to read, because it was also one of the

least comfortable places. Who wants to read when it is burning hot in an attic, but the

noise must have bothered me more then the heat. When I would decide to come down

and go back into the house, my mother would always wonder where I had gone, but I

would never tell. The sauna like attic was my secret and I wasn't going to tell anyone.

Somethings are better kept to ourselves.

Where are some weird places you have read before? Or your favorite reading spot?

Sincerely,
R.J. Ropsen

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Weird Writing Facts

Here is a list I compiled of the weirdest writing facts I have ever seen!

1) A pencil can write around 45,000 words before it runs out.

2) The world's thickest book is, The Complete Miss Marple, by Agatha Christie it

is 12.5 inches thick.

3) The longest book title has 79 words and was published in 2007.

4) The longest word is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis it has 45 letters!

5) James Patterson has published 31 New York Bestselling books which is the most ever recorded.

6) Jason W. Mitchiner is the first author ever to skydive with his published book.

7) The fastest selling book is, Harry Pottter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling
selling 15 million copies in its first day.

8) The novel, Gadsby, by Ernest Vincent is very unusual within the 50,000 word novel
there is no letter 'e'.

9) In the dictionary there are no words that rhyme with orange, purple and silver.

10) The most stolen book from public libraries is, The Guinness Book of Records.

11) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo contains a sentence with 823 words.

12) In the United States there are an average of 5 million books sold a day.

13) In the United States 125 new titles are published each day.

14) The United States and Canada account for almost half of the newspapers that are
published in the entire world.

15) D.H. Lawrence was an author who never revised his work. He would start back at
the beginning if he was not satisfied. It took him three rewrites to finish the novel, Lady
Chatterley's Lover.

16) Jennifer Eagan writes all her first drafts to her novels on a yellow pad.Only when she
is finished does she go back, read her work, and type it into a computer.

17) Virgina Wolf wrote all her novels when she was standing up.

18) Over 20,000 books have been published about Chess.

19) The book that calculates pi to two million places is 800 pages.

20) Noah Webster of Webster's Dictionaires took 36 years to write his 1st dictionary.

Is there any other weird writing facts I missed? Feel free to add them to the list in the
comments below.

Sincerely,

R.J. Ropsen

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Five Sentence Fiction

This Five Sentence Fiction has been moved.
You can now find it at http://rjropsen.com/hunger/

Sincerely,

R.J. Ropsen

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

A Truly Inspirational Story

Walk On By Julie Rydlund

This book is truly an inspirational story. It was a

true account of the author's battle with diabetes and

the transplant that was necessary to combat the

disease. Julie explains her medical situation really well

that it was easy to understand. There are many terms

she uses that I was not familiar with but she explained

them well.

The story also discusses her life after death

experience, her life without scripture, her prayers to St.

Therese, adopting a child, conceiving a child, and looking

for a kidney transplant. There are so many topics that it

can relate to a wide variety of people.

The book was a very emotional story from her

pancreas transplant to her battle to save her life, and
a struggle to have a child. One moment I particular
remember from, Walk On, is her account of spending time with her children before a very risky
pancreas transplant. The way her children responded to the situation was very emotionally for
me. I can't imagine how scary it would be for young children to see their mother go in for a very
risky operation.

It inspired me that even though she had almost lost her life and had to have both legs

amputated she continues to not give up. Through God she has found strength to live and
understands His plan for her. She states after her life after death experience “It was through
me that God wanted to reach the broken-hearted, those who were frustrated and wanting to
give up.” God continues to be in her life and through the story she refers to Him and how he
has positively influenced her.

But the story doesn't stop there. In the About the Author's section at the back of the book
there was a link to her blog. Her blog continues her story to the present day and gives an
update on her life since the end of Walk On.

I would highly recommend reading this story and it is only $2.99 for the Kindle! I give it
5/5 stars.

Author's Blog

Sincerely,

R.J.Ropsen