Cerulean Sins--chapter 27

So I found an old notebook the other day that had my self publishing plan scribbed down in it. Basically, this thing was my goal sheet, if you can call a few lines scribbed with a pencil a goal sheet.

And I met every one of those goals, including the "Sell 100 books by the end of the year" goal.

Which is fucking awesome.

I also must report now that it took me five months--July to December--to sell 100 books. It took me three months--January to March--to sell another 100.

The thing I keep reminding myself about is that the books I really want to release are here and waiting and not released yet. This is all still just build up. I want to have an audience (that's you guys) before I drop the big, important ones. And what I've been watching for is momentum. I've been very hesitant to say "Yes, we're doing this. This is what I want" but I'm starting to see it.

My next goal as of right now is to break 300 sales by the end of June.

I am counting on all of you to help me do this. I'm still not excited yet, but if we make 300 by July? Folks, I will start dancing fucking capers.

Also, I have not forgotten about the tattoo--I haven't gotten it yet, but I will. Soon as I find a good artist--or about the "we're going to do shit to mark this" thing for the 200 sales. I will arrange all that soon. I promise.

...right. Sucky book. 

So with the hair crisis out of the way, we move on to the kitchen and Caleb.

Caleb's only sin seems to be being a natural born victim that doesn't worship Anita. For this crime, he gets the following description:

He was cute enough in a young, boy-hooker, MTV sort of way...He routinely went around with the top button of his jeans unfastened, his explanation was that the waistband irritated the belly piercing. I didn’t believe him, but since I had never even pierced my ears, I couldn’t really call him a liar.

I am thoroughly skeeved out. Thanks, Laurel.

Caleb is apparently on good behavior, though, and he took a message from Zerbowski. Apparently Dolph got two week's suspension for dragging Anita through the crime scene. On the one hand, he should have that because no sane cop would act that way. On the other hand...yeah, justifying Anita's behavior right and left is getting really sickening really fast. I mean...can't we just let the heroine be competent without constantly fawning over how good she is? Honor Harrington gets way more Sue points than Anita, and the characters are usually content to mutter "The Salamander is pissed" once a chapter before moving on with, you know, the fucking plot.

 Anita then muses over how Caleb liked Chimera, and how that makes him a fundamentally bad person because Chimera was a sadist. Given that dudes like Chimera play favorites like nobody's business, I do not find that justification for calling Caleb a bad boy. Stupid? Yeah. Easily manipulated? Yeah. The psychological equivilant of a walking bullseye? You betcha. People like Chimera can literally pick their victims out from across a crowded room, and I've seen it happen. But Anita should have Caleb in therapy, not in the dog house.

And then she finds out that Caleb has to be stuck with her all day long, because Merle, Micah's second in command, ordered it, and threatened to rip out Caleb's new penis piercing out if he disobeyed.

You may now have that image in your head for the rest of today.

The chapter ends with Anita deciding to take Caleb along because Plot. Which isn't here.