The Big Mistake

I've been holding on to a story for a while now. It's time to talk about it. It's a true story, but for the protection of others, the characters have been replaced. Yeah, it's one of those stories.

So I won't give much away, but this story happened to a teacher, Mr. Drake. Today was supposed to be like any other day, but Mr. Drake was in for a surprise. He was to work with a specific student. He had just transferred into the school a while back. He had already made enemies with a few of his classmates, but all the teachers felt his pain. The student was no other than Heath. This made Mr. Drake nervous. Heath was aggressive. Too aggressive for Mr. Drake to maintain. But he had no choice. He was an assistant to the head teacher Mr. Summers He was already working with another student.

Mr. Drake decided there was no need to work hard with an aggressive student, so he did the easiest thing to do. 

Mr. Drake asked Heath to color a picture. That young boy didn't want to do that! Mr. Drake was told to stay strong, was it worth it? Heath was getting angry, annoyed, and disapproved of anything until he was to get his way.

That's when it happened, Heath watched as his innocent classmate, Omar was playing around. It was obvious Omar wanted to play with a deck of cards, but Heath wouldn't allow him.

Omar was a playful kid and had a hard time understanding social clues. This was obvious to Mr. Drake as he saw the anger in Heath's eyes. He stayed calm as he made sure both students were safe Heath was ready to attack. Mr. Drake watched as Heath reached for Omar. He had to be stopped. Mr. Drake's arm jerked to block his attack, but at that point, his life was in danger.

Mr. Drake watched in terror as Heath's nose was bleeding. Blood was running like a faucet. 

Heath blew a gasket, directly at Mr. Drake. All the blame was on him. Mr. Summers suggested to help. Heath had to go see the nurse. Meanwhile, Mr. Drake was left behind to watch over the remaining students and clean up the struck disaster.

Mr. Drake was devastated. Throughout the whole day, all Mr. Drake could think about was how everyone would treat him. He felt like a criminal. This teacher was loved by dozens of students, and one was about to ruin his career!

He stayed home for three weeks. He couldn't go back to work. He was restricted from his job. All he could think about was how those dozen students may never see him again. How the staff were going to live without his kind heart and helpful presence.

Within those three weeks, Mr. Drake talked to the school board, officers, and a few others about this mistake. He repeatedly told them his actions were just a mistake. But didn't help. 

Mr. Drake tried to call Mr. Summers. but it was like he was blocked out of existence. It made sense, Mr. Summers had accused Mr. Drake of hitting Heath with anger. But everyone knew the truth, Mr. Drake had no reason to hit a kid. Mr. Drake was kind to everyone. Some would even say his feelings for Heath were mostly fear.

But it was clear, the ones who accused Mr. Drake as a guilty assaulter didn't truly know the man like I did.

But those who knew Mr. Drake the most, continue to show him trust and love. It's unknown now what Mr. Drake will do. School is nearly over. but his love of teaching will forever follow in his next career.

Tough Butter part 2

  If you've read the blog from yesterday, then you've been informed about the hard struggle of telling people about the Author Fest event. But what is this blog about? This blog is about everything else that I am responsible for.

For one thing, I just got word that after 2 months the new audiobook has FINALLY been published. Now I have 50 codes to give away, and I have no idea how to give them away!

I also have over 100 cups, over 20 books, 50 stickers, and 5 pillows to sell. Where does a person like me get this stuff sold at? There are nearly a dozen marketers who say they wish to help make progress, but of course, they are wishing for payment. I don't have time for this!

I would give payment to someone who is willing to help grab attention, but there are no promises. I have dealt with some marketers before; they have grown my followers list on Instagram, posted me in multiple areas on Facebook, and have had interviews which are somewhere on a podcaster's list, but look where I've gotten to...

So I'm not in the mood to pay someone who can't promise me a change in public attention. Have you been messaged by someone on Instagram who states they want to present you? I've told them multiple times to go ahead and present me with no cost. I never hear from them again.

That's why I'm hoping to get some attention with my idea of publishing other young writers. They shouldn't have to go through junk like this. Someone who wants their story and get paid for it. TOTAL SHAME. Editorial service costs about $50 for every 500 characters. PLEASE! It's even more struggling when you try publishing audiobooks. Payment, payment, payment, that's the only way to get help.

Not for me. I'm willing to help young authors write stories because I'm not concerned about money. I have a job already, so why ask for more just to be helpful? I get companies, but some of these people work for Fiverr. They mostly get paid when they get a position for their work. It's like celebrities who present themselves at Cameo.

Anyway, enough complaining about this "help" that I get offered. It's hard to try to get attention to sell books, pillows, audiobooks, and stickers when there's nowhere to present yourself. I mean, a video about the cool stickers I have gets about 120 views on TikTok, 23 on Instagram, and 20 on YouTube and completely unknown on Facebook, but I can only guess 0-3. That doesn't include comments or likes. Those are around 0-7, and that's IF you combine them.

In other words, publicity is complicated!

Tough Butter

I wasn't really planning on doing a blog story today. But this had to be announced, because I can't hold this information any longer. Before I tell you what it is that's got me pacing the floors, let me tell you what's rolling through my mind first.

So this month is the author Fest at Enid Library. If you've seen any posts on social media you know I've been bringing this up for a while now. It's almost getting to the point of being annoying. But you can understand the concern when you've made an announcement about this and you end up questioning if anyone has seen it. Let me tell you, Facebook keeps no record of views, just likes and that's not much since facebook mostly presents to close related people. Let's talk about Instagram. That is a site that might get attention, but only for popular information, funny clips, and celebrity content. It seems to only reach out to those who have a relation to the topic, and (correct me if I'm wrong)  new author's don't have a place in that. Youtube does no good. Once again, it's mostly the attention for movie/ tv buffers, pointless "funny" clips, video games, and sometimes music.

Lastly there is TikTok. Now you an get away with a lot on Tik Tok. But it's mostly for good laughs. 

What is the point of all this bashing on different social medias? This all leads to the point I'm trying to make about what it takes to get attention from an audience from social media. It's the quick terms that seems to spread out the most. Those are the videos that stand for about 60 seconds or less. Hard to get full information of that. Reels seem to spread pretty far, but they only seem to spread to the best categorized audience. Which of course are for those who make pointless funny videos.

Now this is coming from experience. Because some videos reach to 200 views, others reach to 1000. What makes them different? What your audience care about more. Art, TV, and jokes.At least, that's what I tend to notice.

This all leads to the question of who is interested in the Author Fest in Enid?

Now that's half of the story. If you want more, read the next blog, coming tomorrow!

Enid Library AuthorFest

Guess what? It's that time of year again! Enid Library has invited AJ Hard to their annual Author Fest. This year we will have a whole load of stuff! Books, pillows, cups, and stickers! Even Boo the ghost will make an appearance!

We will have a collection of 5 books, including:
Lost in the Forgotten Library
Attack of the Headless Robot
Sibling Subtraction
Magical Times
Haunting of the Halloween Kids
What other authors will be present at the event? I'm not sure, but I'll let you know as soon as I know myself. But I can tell you this, there will be dozens, which means there will be multiple genres for multiple ages. So don't feel like your too old or too young for this event. It will be located at Enid Library 120 W Maine Ave, Enid, OK 73701 to be exact!

 Hope you'll be there, or at least tell somebody who can. You'll enjoy and be upset when you miss it.

A Story with a sad ending.

 There were four authors, each with their own amazing store. They all sat in a room together. They were Christmas presents waiting for Christmas day and were thrilled to meet their fans. They watched as the sun traveled from one side of the building to the other. People came in, but none of them claimed their author. The four authors wondered, was today their day? Had they appeared in the wrong bookstore?

Soon it was time to go, after a long wait the author's had realized no one had came to meet them. Not a single person was interested in meeting them. Each author collected their supplies: their pens, their books, and their papers and began to walk out the door. 

People still continued to pass the authors, but none of them were special enough to catch their attention. 4 authors went home without a single gleam in their eyes...

Sad huh? 

Why did I tell this sad story? Because it happened.

Can you image 4 authors meeting in a bookstore sharing a signing event, and not ONE selling a thing?

Now, be truthful. If you were to walk into a bookstore thinking about your favorite book series and you saw an unfamiliar author sitting in the back, what would you do?

Well, here's what you should do: give them consideration! Some people don't get noticed for their creations. Artists, singers, authors, actors, etc. all because no one takes the time to notice them. Now, many of course will go on social media and join a group of these people to draw attention to themselves, however, everyone in the group is all for the same thing. reaching out for attention. Chances are you won't get a like, comment, or post because no one in the group cares about you getting attention, just about themselves. 

Anyway... I'm ranting. the thing I'm trying to say here is that we authors don't get a lot of attention!

Love to Read for Obvious Reasons

 Let's take a break from books for a moment. Let's discuss music and holidays. No, I'm not talking about the Super Bowl. I'm talking about Valentine's Day. Now before I tell you more. I want to play a little game: There is a link hidden within this blog. Can you find the link and see where it leads you? Here's a hint: You'll LOVE it.

Now, anyway. I want to tell you about Valentine's Day. It's strange to me, these special days don't seem to be as admired as they used to. Valentine's Day was the perfect time to show your admirer how you felt. It was the perfect time for love songs. Shiver and Fears even made a book on Valentine's Day, and you true fans, know which book it is.

As for now, I am spreading the love with these:

, Every year a different set of Valentine's cards is made for the kids. One thing I've learned over the years is that the card isn't what matters, it's the candy. 

I will never forget as I got older passing around cards and candy somewhere in my path I'd find a card I'd given laid out on the floor. Completely forgotten.

In fact one girl didn't want a valentine, because she thought I was in love with her!

I can't say you'll get one, but what you can do is save the image of one and send it to a friend.

Hey, were you able to find that link? You didn't forget, did you? Well, try to find it, I promise you'll like the link. Don't know where it is? If you notice, you'll see it's different for any other word in this blog...

Best Books go to Best of Books.

I'm about to give you the whole scoop about the book signing, so pay attention.

THis year I have ordered 25 total books for the book signing. Which I know doesn't seem to be a lot, but there is actually another book signing in April to attend and so the remaining books (Which, I'm sure there'll be) will attend the Author Fest in Enid.

These books include Sibling Subtraction, Attack of the Headless Robot, Locked in the Forgotten Library, Haunting of the Halloween Kids, and the 5th book from the Magical Times series.

But there is more to this adventure  than this. This would be the merch included. For every person who buys a book, they will receive a free cup, sticker, and card which may include a special code for an audio book! CAn you believe this only costs $5? That's right, only $5 to get a whole collection.

Now you might be asking what if I want just the book? Or what if I want to purchase the cup... not sure why, it's free. But anyway, my best advice is to accept it and pass it on to your favorite young one.

Now i will say a donation is perfectly fine, not that you have to. 

Now am I forgetting anything? Let me think...

...

...

Nope, I think that's everything. But if there is another piece of information i need to tell, i place it in the next blog. As for the picture, well here it is

My only request is for you to spread the news. I hope to see you there. 

WAIT! One more thing, If you do have any question, just comment and ask. 

Work is in Process...

Hey, just wanted to share with you that I'll be participating in the parade on Saturday representing Shiver and Fears 🎉🎊. I'll be passing around candy to the crowd downtown 🍬🍭. However, I'm not fully prepared yet. I still need to buy banners for the car, candy packets, and collect business cards. Passing out candy during the parade has always been a challenge for me 🤔. I can't throw it from the vehicle and there isn't enough candy to give to everyone. It will take around 5 packets to make one good load for just one side of the parade. I haven't even gone shopping for the candy yet and I know we won't have enough business cards to distribute to the crowd. 

Winter has slowed down the progress, but I'm hoping to see you at the parade. It's going to be cold, but it'll be great to see our fans 👥. If you're coming, I have a "contest" for you. Take a picture of me at the parade and post it on social media with the hashtag #shiverandfears. You can also send it to my account. I'd love to share it on my stories 📸. You can find Shiver and Fears on Tik Tok, Facebook, and Instagram 📱.

FYI if you haven't already, follow me on Instagram and Facebook. Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day... even if it was already on Monday.

First Thing's First

I mentioned before that I have a few plans to start the new year. The first thing that is coming up is the MLK Parade coming in a couple of weeks.
This will be a difficult task since finding a partner will be a part of the challenge My partner Rane has been a big help for the past 3 years, and hope he continues. But who will pass around the candy to the kids? or hold the sign? of help go live? I surely don't know. It's still a working progress.
Another event I want you to know about is the book signing in the spring. I've chatted with a few people and come to the idea that selling the stickers at the book signing is not such a good idea. Meanwhile, we agree that the cups should be presented.
Those items are still involved with the Shiver and Fears fundraiser, as we still continue passing around the news. This book signing will be hosted in Edmond at the Best of Books store. The plan is to sell multiple books instead of the original one.
For sure we will have to visit that store and have a chat for an idea, for that was the location of the first bookstore signing Shiver and Fears ever attended.

I won't reveal any more plans set for the future, instead, I want to announce that Shiver and Fears has not one, but TWO new games for you to try!

Our first game is called Boo's Book Hunt, it was on a link, but now it is embedded to our site instead. The object of the game is to collect as many books as possible WITHOUT getting hit by the witch's spell (Don't Mock a Witch) and the evil rabbit (The Unlucky Charm) It's not an easy-to-play game. It's kind of flawed in some ways, but hopefully it's still fun to play.

The 2nd game is called Avoid the Thief. I just made it today. Now, when you play, you think that Blade is the bad guy, carrying a load of money, but it's not true. Blade is trying to send the money back to the bank. 

WHy?

Because Monster Ghost is the one who has taken the money and wants to stop Blade from returning it. You have to hop over Monster Ghost by clicking your left-side mouse, if you don't Monster Ghost will take the money and run off. What a drag!

Go to shiverandfears.com and try out both these games and tell me which one is best! Meanwhile, I hope to see you at one of the events Shiver and Fears has this new year. So, chill out and see you soon!