A third regular post! Though first things first, I am on vacation for one week beginning tomorrow, so there may not be the usual posts.

For those who are waiting on an update on the ITIN – I have still to hear anything from the IRS regarding my application. They do say it takes six weeks on the website, which means I have up to four weeks left of waiting. I will post as soon as I get my number, or (hopefully not) a rejection of my application.

For anyone who doesn’t know, Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch is available for sale at all major ebook retail outlets. See the link on the side of the page to get to Amazon. I am working on adding links to the other stores as well.  In hard copy book news, for anyone who lives in Saskatoon, Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch will soon be on the shelves at McNally Robinson (my most favourite book shop, with adjacent most wonderful cafe). If you live nearby and want to own your own paperback, head over anytime after August 10th to pick up your copy!

Broken Tide, the sequel to Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, is coming along nicely. I’m tentatively scheduling this release for just before Halloween – possibly sooner. Black Depths, a Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch prequel, should be up on WattPad soon (within the next two weeks).  I’m hoping to squeeze in enough time to write another lead in story to Broken Tide, but this will depend on what my schedule looks like come Autumn.

If anyone has any questions about Tales, or the Black Depths Universe, this is the place to ask. So fire away!

PS. I just might be posting a free book give away soon, so check back frequently for more writing prompts and updates!

This one is inspired by my recent trip to the local mini-golf.

What one scene, a page long, which involves this dungeon/tower.

I’m currently reading The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris.  There are a couple things I love about this book: the mythology, the narrator, the cover. My favourite parts are the brief Loki quotes at the beginning of each chapter, which add some well loved humour.

A quick read, never to dense or meandering like more traditionally written myths can be, this book is full or quick dialogue, beautiful description, and as mentioned earlier, humour.  If you love mythology, as I do, then this is a book for you.

I’m going to try to start some “regular” weekly posts. I thought writing prompts would be a good idea. Even when I have a lot of ideas floating across my mind, sometimes I find I need an exercise to get me going. Maybe you do too.

Try this one.

Write for five minutes, non-stop.

What is happening on this balloon?

I love seeing my book available for sale on the internet.  Here is a screenshot of Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch for sale on Kobo!

If you are looking for something to read on your device, you can buy a copy by clicking on this link.

Kobo even informed me that new members get a $5 coupon for signing up a new account! Which means you can buy my book for free – and Kobo would still pay me which is great! So if you’re looking for a free read this summer, head over to Kobo and get your copy of Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch.  Once you’re done reading it, be sure to send me a note to let me know what you think!

Hope you’re having a great summer!

Good News!

I received my letter from Smashwords in less than a week.  It took longer to get the certified copies of my passport.  But I just picked those up today.  I’ve finished filling out form W-7 (which seemed pretty straightforward, so hopefully I did it right).  There were good instructions on the IRS website, and I’m pretty good at reading so…..time to mail the whole thing off!  I will be heading out to my local post office soon, just need to make myself a copy of the whole thing for my records.  Then, according to the IRS website, I should hear back from them in approximately 6 weeks with my ITIN and then goodbye tax-withholding!  I look forward to those days.

If you missed part one of my post on obtaining an ITIN, you can find it here.

Here’s a picture of the Smashwords letterhead, and also of the cool stamp that came on the envelope.  Nothing better than a bright, colourful stamp, I think:

Also, Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch is now available on multiple retailer websites.  Here is a screenshot of my book up on CreateSpace, where you can order your very own paperback copy of Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch.  I’ve recently tweaked the cover of the print edition, changing the font and turning the writing red.  Doesn’t it POP so much more now?  What do you think?

Here’s the big announcement.

As you can see in the heading.  I will shortly be posting a short story, set in the Tales of a Sea-Witch World, on Wattpad!  I’m hoping to have it up by the end of next week, so if you’re a Tales fan, keep your eyes here, or on Wattpad, to read the latest Tales adventure.  The story won’t have Nessa in it, but it will star another redheaded sea-witch, and will feature a new character who will play a major roll in the upcoming sequel, Broken Tide.

I finally began the process on the weekend to obtain my ITIN for use for self-publishing in order to avoid tax withholding.

Step #1
I sent a message to Smashwords to request a letter indicating my intention to self-publish.  i already received a confirmatory email indicating this letter will be sent to me in the mail.

Step #2
I headed down to my local passport Canada office yesterday, in order to apply for a certified copy of my passport, which will need to be sent to the IRS, along with the above letter, for the ITIN application.

For $45, I can get up to 3 copies.  I did choose to ask for three, just in case something is incorrect with my application when I finally send it in.  It will take two weeks to get the certified copies, and I am unsure how long it will take to get the letter from Smashwords.  But I am finally on my way to getting my ITIN!  Step #3 will be the last one – filling out the W-7 and sending everything to the IRS. I will update again at this point.

Well, it has apparently taken me a full month to get around to fixing my Smashwords errors, as listed on my Smashwords dashboard.  Finally, today I got the message that my book is in the Smashwords Premium Catalog!  It was a simple fix, but the past month has been very busy with family commitments, and unfortunately it took me a lot longer to fix the manuscript than I’d been hoping.

In my case, it was simply getting rid of all the information in the footer, which just happened to be page numbers.  I mean, of course an e-book doesn’t need page numbers.  Why didn’t I think of that sooner?!  Lol.

So….YES!  My book, Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, is now available on Amazon, and Smashwords and KOBO and iTunes and Barnes and Noble…Pretty much everywhere!  So if you haven’t picked up your copy yet, do so now.  Here is a link to the new listing on Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/543362

There is a big announcement coming up this week regarding the second Black Depths Novel, called Broken Tide.  Check back in a couple of days to find out what it is…