Hello, friends and fans!
Welcome to my 67th monthly newsletter! Pull up a chair, let’s chat! In this month’s newsletter: updates on publishing, reviews and a few DIY projects. Let’s take a look at this months’ news!
Some General News
Over the last few months I’ve been picking away at the knotty mess that currently is the state of my writing and publishing business. It’s taken some effort to not be dragged down into a spiral of depression over it, but oh well, when the going gets tough, the tough… well, you know the rest.
Recovery Progress Report After Moon Books
Here’s an update for you on the publishing nightmare which resulted from the unfortunate death of Moon Books Publishing CEO, Brandon Mullins in February. In the past four months since this happened, I’ve given plenty of updates on this situation and the process of my recovery in terms of getting control of my books back. This is the status quo:
- I still haven’t received outstanding royalties since January (and also have no idea how much money is outstanding),
- the Moon Books versions of my books are still up on their KDP account and have yet to be taken down,
- I’m still waiting for the proxy letter I need to sort out duplication issues with KDP.
In the meantime, since March, I’ve made progress in regaining control of my publishing profile – but even so, these encouraging gains have also stalled for the time being. As I’ve reported previously, I’ve put up as many new eBook versions of my existing books on my own KDP account as I dare – up to the point where KDP threatened to block some of them due to duplication issues stemming from my books also still being available via Moon Books Publishing’s KDP account.
The latest news I can give you is that Elizabeth has informed me this week that KDP is in the process of transferring Brandon’s KDP account to her, which should take about another week, and only after that will she be able to return the rights to the books to me via letterhead. Tentatively, it seems that the end of this frustrating journey could be in sight at last.
I’ve been very frustrated – and so for the time being, I’ve had to adopt a more relaxed attitude. There’s no point in letting stress over things I can’t change destroy my health, and so I’ve been focusing on writing instead (more about that a little further on).
Meanwhile, I still see so many writers out there lamenting their bad luck in not finding a publisher – and I’m tempted to advise them to avoid any and all publishers, small presses and the like, like the plague! I’ve been with three or four publishers in my thirty or so years in this game, and let me tell you, I’ve pretty much seen it all: the pompous, puffed up multinational corporations who expect you to jump over hoops and barrels to meet their policy expectations; the arrogant small presses who treat you like an employee, a pawn and a staff writer at their beck and call – and then “fire” you when they decide your genre doesn’t gel with their tastes – or because you won’t be drawn into their social media drama and flame wars; the small presses who brag about their connections and promise you the moon – and then fade out and deliver nothing; and the small presses who mean well and treat you like a queen – and then die, leaving you to sort out the mess with whomever takes over from them.
If you appreciate having control over your work – how it is formatted, styled, covered, printed and distributed – NEVER sign on to a publisher. ANY publisher. It’s that simple. Sure, you’ll probably never make the A-list, you’ll probably never get that coveted “best seller” – but face it, the chances of that happening in today’s world are a pipe dream anyway. I write for a niche-group – and I write for me, so for me the choice is a simple one.
There you have it folks, straight from the horse’s mouth. More about this frustrating business next time. Current Writing Projects
I’ve been working on “The Song of the Drillipede”, the final story for the next Panic! Horror In Space volume, “We All Fall Down”, which will contain three episodes of PHIS; “Dust“, “The Song of the Drillipede”, and “Hotel No-tell”. “We All Fall Down” will also replace the standalone version of “Dust” released two years ago as the third installment in the series.
Let me remind you that as a creative writer, I could make up a dozen reasons why I’ve decided to do this, but the brutal truth is that at one stage I thought I should just release the individual stories in Panic! as standalones, but once I’d released “Dust” I changed my mind shortly afterwards. There you have it in a nut-shell.
The title “We All Fall Down” alludes to the children’s rhyme “ring a rosie”, which has some bearing to the stories in this volume. As soon as I’ve finished “The Song of the Drillipede”, I’ll let you know when to keep your peepers open for “We All Fall Down”!
In the meantime, while writing, I’ve also done some fascinating research on the fear of mimes! Although not quite the same thing as clowns, many people experience a fear of these strange creatures, which can be debilitating!
Publishing
Currently Available Titles:
My books are available as eBooks, Paperbacks, and Audiobooks, and you can find them everywhere. Click the links in the slideshow below to view titles available in these formats.
If you’re still wondering where to find them in the format of your choice, you should read “Where To Get My Books – Specially For My South African Readers!” (recently updated).
New Titles:
These are recent titles (re)published in 2022 via my new KDP account:
In addition, “African Assignment” and “A Way Of Life“, two books written by my father, Theo Engela, have recently been released in South Africa by Hally Park Publishers.
New Releases!
My most recent new release is “Sentinel” (May 07, 2022):
Sentinel – Book 4 in the Galaxii Series:
The starship I.S.S. Munray is a ship crewed by a lot of ill-disciplined misfits barely one step away from another court-martial – and the Captain’s the worst of the lot! When the opportunity presents itself for Vice-Admiral Beens to rid himself of the troublesome, malingering Wynne Polluk, he jumps at the chance to introduce a new broom, in the form of one Sonia La Belle.
In order to meet the deadline, she must deal with all the obstacles in her path; an old rundown ship whose engines lie disassembled, an uncooperative senior staff, and negative hopeless crewmembers who’d probably be more at home in the stockade than running a starship! The Munray and her crew resume their life of routine space patrol – which is soon interrupted when the ship is diverted to pursue a pair of dangerous fugitives who’ve escaped from a max-security facility – one that was supposed to be escape-proof! This turns out to be an exercise which will push ship and crew – and the Captain – to their limits!
Can they overcome all the obstacles they face, track down the Corsair fugitives, and do so in time to prevent the destruction of Earth?
Audiobooks:
I have 15 audiobooks available on Audible and Amazon! Click the links in the slideshow below to view titles available as audiobooks.
Panic! Horror In Space in Audiobook Format?
Last time I mentioned that Darla Middlebrook, the lady who narrated my Quantum series and “Opsaal” is keen to narrate the Panic! Horror in Space series as well In the light of this possibility, as I mentioned too, I created an account with Audiobooks Unleashed and investigated how that would work. Unfortunately, AU didn’t work out for me. Their requirements for submitting a new audiobook – and I have to say it seems they’ve set this up to reserve their services for the very famous or very rich! According to their website, in order to submit a new audiobook it would have to have:
- At least 50 ratings on Amazon (HOW do books on Amazon get that many ratings?! I’ve been at this for 30 years and the most I have on one book is 8 reviews!)
- Quality cover art (got that)
- Well known author and/or narrator (got that – one is even a BBC TV/movie actor).
- Reviews, Accolades, or Awards (NYT Bestsellers, IAA Finalist, SOVAS, Audies) (I have some reviews, but not from mainstream reviewers like the ones they list – who do I have to screw to get one?!).
- Marketing plans (from an indie author?! My marketing plan is essentially to do it all myself, and for free!)
- Past sales figures (mine are guaranteed to not be very impressive by their standards!)
- Author or Narrator’s past work. (I have over 30 published books. 2 of my narrators have over 70 audiobooks.)
- Social media presence (I AM literally everywhere!)
I’m surprised I didn’t also have to submit to a blood test as well! Suffice to say, that really didn’t work for me – fortunately, Darla came forward with another suggestion: Spoken Realms! She is already a registered narrator with them, and recording of the Panic! series should begin shortly! This is also good news for those still waiting for the audiobook of Quantum book 6: “High Steaks” to come out!
New Audiobooks:
You can view my audiobooks here.
Coming Soon!
Darla Middlebrook, the amazing narrator who recorded the Quantum Series audiobooks, is gearing up to start the Panic! Horror In Space series through Spoken Realms. It will take a while, and I’ll still need to create covers for the audiobooks, so I’ll keep you updated about that!
Feedback & Communication
Reviews:
You can see all my previous reviews here.
Interviews:
I have no new interviews to show you this time, but all my interviews are linked to from this page.
What The Readers Say:
All my reader comments are linked to from this page.
Videos:
You’re welcome to browse through the videos on my YouTube video channel! I’m not really the performing seal type, but I do my best! There’s also a 13 minute movie on there, called “Bang, Splat!“, based on characters and settings from “The Time Saving Agency“.
Latest Articles:
Below are links to a few of my most recent posts or articles since my previous newsletter:
- A Peek At My Week! #58
- A Peek At My Week! #57
- A Peek At My Week! #56
- A Peek At My Week! #55
- Christina Engela’s Monthly Newsletter: #66 June 2022
A Little Other News
I did manage to get a little work on the house done on a few Sundays this past month. In one instance, I put up a ceiling rose in the parlor. I gave it a little detail painting treatment first though, because who wants to stick up a bland boring white object anyway? To make a long story short, I replaced the tacky old 70’s light fitting with a more age-appropriate Victorian light fitting – which then meant I needed a ceiling rose to finish that off properly!
In the second instance, the tacky old 70’s light fitting I replaced on the parlor ceiling earlier wound up on Facebunk marketplace for a few days, but then I decided to use it in a DIY project instead. A few hours on a Sunday morning resulted in a revamped standing lamp for the parlor.
Then, last weekend, I revamped the lounge chandelier to match the recently revamped ceiling rose. Previously, the fitting was covered in glassware and was a real dust-magnet that needed frequent cleaning – on top of a ladder! Worse still, the glass plates and pendants were held on with wire, which had become brittle and fragile – these broke easily with dusting, and a lot of them ended up in a packet in the kitchen Drawer of Crap (every home has one). I decided to revamp it, and this is the result – before and after pics below:
I’ll be painting the candlestick sleeves to match and I’ll be sure to post an update soon! I think these projects turned out really nice – what do you think?
A Death In The Family
On 30 June I was informed of my uncle Ewin’s death on the night of the 29th at the age of 95 years. He was my mother’s sister’s husband.
I was very fond of him, and thought highly of him. He inspired me – until the Pandemic started in 2020, he was still an avid gardener and woodworker who was always busy round their home and rarely sat still. Whenever he did sit still – for example, when there were visitors to be entertained, he would quietly nod off, much to our amusement – and much to my aunt’s chagrin and embarrassment! He was a good sport, and he had a wicked sense of humor, and although he seldom spoke about himself or his experiences, and never bragged, he would quietly add value to every conversation with his input or an anecdote about the subject.
In my experience, Uncle Ewin was a kind man, patient, generous and helpful. Among many things, he was a true braai-master whose feats at the grill I still struggle to imitate! His crispy chicken pieces were truly the best! Truly, he was a consummate gentleman and a dutiful host, always ready to fill your glass at a family party or braai, and I can still hear him offering “Klippies and Coke?” when mom and I paid them a visit.
He’d worked on the railways in the signals environment, and I worked in the military signals environment, so we had quite a bit of common ground to talk about, and I enjoyed our chats a great deal. I also learned quite a lot from him in the subtle ways those who are willing to listen, learn from our elders who generously share their knowledge, experience and their memories.
He doted on my aunt, and for the last 35 years or so – after she began to suffer from deteriorating eyesight – he was her chauffeur, carer and constant companion. He would read newspapers and magazines to her, and he took over the household chores and would bring my aunt’s medication and eyedrops to her.
Uncle Ewin was an inspiration to me – even into his 80s and early 90s, he was still fixing this, making that, and painting the other thing!
I have many fond memories of my uncle, but the one right at the top of the list is something that happened in about 1998. I’d been struggling for hours to remove a stubborn axle nut from a VW beetle drive shaft with a large spanner and a 4 pound hammer, when suddenly a shadow fell across me. I looked up to see my uncle standing there over me, wearing an overall and holding a long handled ten pound hammer and grinning. He said “Let me try mine!” and in two shots, the nut was loose!
I will remember him fondly. Rest easy, uncle Ewin.
My sincerest condolences to aunt Dulcie, cousins Yvonne, Howard and Justin and their families.
In Closing
On that sad note, I must bid you farewell until next time.
Thanks again for all your support, sharing, friendship and interaction!
As always, feel free to email or message me via Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn if you have any comments or questions!
Cheers!
Catch me on social media!
All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2022.