130+ eBooks Sold, Another Review, and more

At $10 a pop, no big PR/marketing push or budget, and almost no middle-man to pay a cut to (I both love and hate you, PayPal), 130+ books is pretty rad. I've never really sold a mini-comic or other self-published venture, but I guess this is sort of what it feels like. I can't tell you how awesome it feels to have somebody buy your work, especially when that work is from the heart.

Following up on my thoughts regarding writing from yesterday, I think the key for me is to write from the heart and make my writing align with...well, with my writing. It all has to come from an organic whole. It needs to be real. It all flows from the realness. I spent a great deal of my life after college running away from the authors and works that inspired me, because I thought theirs wasn't a commercial enough path. I think that was a wrong way of thinking on my part. I think it's pretty clear to me now how I'm supposed to write, what I'm best at. And I'm currently pursuing that direction.

The Life of Darrell gave "Memoirs of An Occasional Superheroine" a nifty mention recently:

"Right from the start, it's raw, it's powerful, and it's heart wrenching."

Darrell also wrote about how the book made him think closer about other people:

"The thing that has me thinking the most is that I'm opening my eyes more fully to the people I've associated with, some as friends and some as no more than acquaintances who shopped at the same comic store. Now I'd like to say that none of them came close to the people Val writes about but the truth is, I don't know."

Another reader told me that the memoir made him cringe at the possibility that there might be predators, like the ones in the book, that his kids might possibly encounter one day.

There are most definitely predators out there of all stripes. Paranoia is not the correct way to deal with it -- rather, you need to just be aware.

The best gift you can give your child is good self-esteem. Good self-esteem will go a long way. Predators can smell low self-esteem and damaged souls on people. Literally. They can suss out who will tell and who will be cowed into secrecy. Finding the perfect, most vulnerable victim is more important to them than looks or any other factor...partially because it turns them on, and partially because it increases the chances they will not be caught.

Instilling a good sense of self-esteem and self-worth in your children now will not 100% deter predators, but will significantly reduce possible incidents. A person needs to feel -- whether in the workplace, school, home, or with peers -- that if a situation gets uncomfortable, they can walk away. And I mean, walk away immediately and without self-doubt or guilt.

Lastly, when I debuted this book at the end of March/beginning of April, I didn't realize April was National Child Abuse Prevention Month. I feel that if this book does nothing but make people stop and think hard on subjects like child abuse, I've done my job. There was one passage at the beginning of the memoir that was like torture for me to write, but I felt it needed to be written out very clearly so people understood.

Sometimes I get a dismissive reaction from people regarding me being physically abused as a kid -- as if it only "counts" if you've been sexually abused. That somehow physical abuse that isn't sexual isn't really a big crime -- it's more like an everyday thing. This is not true. The HR woman at DC told me that no matter how abusive the boss in question was, it wasn't really complaint-worthy unless sexual harassment was involved. Only the sexual parts were complaint-worthy -- not intimidation, verbal abuse, threats, etc.

To me, the sex and the violence are just different points on the same spectrum of abuse. Physical and verbal abuse are just different points on the same spectrum. It all come from the same painful, fucked-up place. It has no business in families, the workplace, or relationships. Period.

Those are some of the thoughts I had today. I have to go sell more books now.