Logan Lo

Thanks for downloading 1,636 copies of my book!

2012-02-22T14:05:33Z

So I’ve just finished my first marketing campaign for my book and here’s what I’ve accomplished in 48 hours:

Amazon.com downloads: 1,567
Amazon.co.uk downloads: 40
Amazon.de downloads: 29
Amazon.fr downloads: 0

All-in-all, expected a total of 500-800 downloads and this totally blew away my estimates. And here’s what I’ve learned:

The French dislike my work
This is disappointing because I feel I support the French: I eat their fries and their bread, utilize a French press with regularity, and enjoy Pepe le Peu. How’s about some reciprocity?!

Social marketing really works
Put up some ads here and there which got me about 300 downloads – about what I guessed – however, people mentioning me on their FB page or via email forwards garnered me the vast majority of the downloads and this was completely unexpected.

Stuff y’put out online is powerful and stays forever. Note to self: redact mention of womanizing and rum intake in this blog.

Discovered I know five distinct groups of people

One group, without my asking, put up postings on FB and elsewhere; they took my undertaking and made it their own.
Another group, when asked, immediately started telling others.
A third group, when asked, declined.
A fourth group, when asked, completely ignored me.
A fifth group, was never asked and also never said a thing.

I’ve got to say that this was all a bit surprising. Some people I was sure would help did not and some people whom I never even thought to ask took it upon themselves to help. Eye-opening.

And speaking of reciprocity, two of the people that completely ignored me, I go out of my way to help all the time. Also eye-opening.

Again, think it’s that divergence of our very basic definitions of friendship.

It’s actually given me some clarity on things, so, while it was disappointing, it’s still beneficial cause it’s helped me figure out what to do with my time. And we all know Time¬=Money; Time>Money.

To those that helped me, I really do want to say thanks. This is the first of six things I’ve got mapped out and, if the others end up being anything like this, think I’ll be just fine.

Location: the basement of my brain, thinking of a sequel
Mood: grateful
Music: It’s not so bad And I want to thank you
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Technorati Tags: discussion, friends, human condition, writing

Download The Men Made of Stone for Free today (2/20) and tomorrow (2/21)

2012-02-20T13:56:50Z

The book I wrote – The Men Made of Stone is available today and tomorrow as a free download as of right now.

If you have Kindle or Kindle app on an Android tablet/phone, iPad, iPhone, you can download to your device and just read it there.

If you don’t have a Kindle, you can still download and read it online via their cloud reader. Later, if you get a Kindle or device that reads Kindle this book will always be there.

So essentially, you can download it today and tomorrow and have it forever for the price of free.

I think that’s a good deal for something I worked on for almost a decade. It’s the best thing I’ve ever written and I think most people that have read it already would agree.

BTW, to clarify what it’s about, it’s revenge novel – a la The Count of Monte Cristo that just happens to take place in NYC’s Chinatown in the 1990s.

If you’re reading this blog, I can only assume that you:

Like my writing, or
Have stumbled here completely by accident looking for a pair of shoes oddly named Logan Lo (I’m not making this part up), or
Are my mother.

For the first two, click here and download my book. If nothing else, you’ll have a good book for when the mood strikes you to read about friendship and revenge.

If you are my mother, then do not. It is the best thing I’ve ever written but still…it may be a bit too much for you to take.

Murder, mayhem, potty-mouth and all that.

Location: taking a day off at home
Mood: proud
Music: take these lies and make them true somehow
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We are made in our sleep and by our lonely

2012-02-15T16:24:52Z

This fella named Brooke Foss Westcott once said that, Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes of men. Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or weak; and at last some crisis shows what we have become.

This is onea my core beliefs, that we create our three lives in our sleep and by our lonely, and they’re often hidden, many times even from ourselves.

We find out, only at some great calamity, if we’re rubies or rubbish.

Don’t watch sports. At all really – think it has something to do with the fact that no one ever invited me to play.

But I’ve been watching a few basketball games to see about Jeremy Lin. It’s truly impressive.

Think he had suspicions of what he was made of all this time but never knew for sure. He only became who he was meant to be when the occasion finally presented itself. Before then, he kept getting passed over and ignored for years. Yet he kept on going.

This reminded me of something my father told me once when he was a lawyer gutting fish for a living. He said that he knew what he was made of even if others didn’t.

He also told me – at the lowest point of my life – that he’d only be disappointed in me if I stopped.

Y’either keep going or stop causea the suspicions you have inside. For me, there’s no stopping anytime.

———-

And here’s a video from my buddy. I miss making videos myself but I’m stretched pretty thin as it is.

Location: running to meet a client in the Village
Mood: ambitious
Music: you’re on a roll, no one gets it, no one gets it
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Technorati Tags: quote

The Men Made of Stone / Writers write to be read

2012-02-16T02:43:21Z

So, about that project I was telling you about previously – it’s the manuscript I’ve been working on for the past decade or so.

Just finished it.

Well, more accurately, I finished it, an editor’s okay-ed it, a copy-editor’s read it and my wife thinks it’s good. It’s called The Men Made of Stone and I put it up on Amazon as a Kindle ebook a month ago just to test a few things out and now I think it’s ready for everyone.

It’s a crime drama, which I wrote in a radically different style than I have this blog or anything else for that matter. It’s the story of two ambitious men named C and Jack that climb up opposite sides of Chinatown organized crime – but nothing in that world is ever as it seems.

The cast of characters includes Danny the Priest – who never kills on a Sunday – and Trigger, Cloudy, and Slim Grey, who have no such qualms.

You can read a sample of it online by clicking here.

And here’s my fancy-shmancy Amazon Author’s Page.

Now, while you could buy a copy now, I’ve kept the price “high”- at $2.99 – so that I could get some marketing things in place and also potentially get some good reviews.

Note that if you’re an Amazon Prime reader, you can download it now for free.

However, if you’re not, I’m giving it away on the 20th and 21st and then dropping the price to $0.99 on the 24th because I believe – honestly – that for writers, the problem isn’t piracy, it’s obscurity.

Put another way, Writers write to be read.

Of course, you could buy it now to get started but really, we both know that I’d just blow that money on rum and chili. In that order.

It’s only available for the Kindle and Kindle app for now (sorry) but I’m going to be publishing it for Nook and the Apple store on April 21st. There are a whole buncha reasons why.

In any case, that’s all for now. I’ll drop you another reminder later on or so.

Location: about to run to see a client
Mood: accomplished
Music: its a winding road I’ve been walking for a long time
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Technorati Tags: men made of stone, writing

Taking and teaching online classes

2012-02-08T13:59:50Z

Made a huge pot of chili yesterday as I went through my emergency stash the other day. Was not a good idea to have as much as I did right before my fencing class as I moved like lead. My arms look like a leopard’s coat with all the bruising.

The beginning of the year’s usually pretty slow for me so I’ve been taking alla these required classes for my licenses while I’ve got the time. Somea them’re mind-numbingly boring.

Dunno if I ever mentioned it, but I actually taught two of the courses myself:

I’m not saying I’m some phenomenal speaker but the ones I’ve been listening to are just dull as dull can be. Man, crack a joke or something.

But I suppose it’s better to be able to watch them from the comfort of my own desk than out there in the world.

The things I do to avoid actual human interaction…

One month supply of homemade chili (which I will go through in two weeks).

Location: UWS
Mood: bored
Music: Why can’t you understand? Whoa, I won’t sleep tonight
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Technorati Tags: cooking, teaching

We make our own luck in this world

2012-02-06T14:09:50Z

Me: Y’know, in a decade, we loook pretty close to what we looked like back then. You look great!
Her: Oh thanks, you too.
Me: Well, I always look good.
Her: That’s…hey!

Met up with Hazel for some drinks the other night. She’s come around to my way of thinking that meeting your person deserves as much thought as getting a good job or going back to school for your career.

Me: Imagine if I said, “I’ve decided that I’m just going to leave getting a job to chance. It’ll happen when it happens. Until then, I’m going to sit at home every day and night and I believe that a high-paying, awesome job will call me and want just the way I am.” What would you say about my career plans?
Her: That that’s not a good idea.
Me: Right. But I can’t tell you how many times I have people say to me, “I’m just going to meet the right person. It’ll happen when it happens.” The right person’s a big deal – too big to leave up to chance. Y’make your own luck in this world.

———-

This recent study has a new take on why exercise is so good for us. Apparently, it makes our very healthy cells eat the weaker cells in our bodies as a kinda natural recycling.

Goes to show two things: (1) why exercise really is the fountain of youth and (2) that I can find a way to eat regardless of where I am and what I’m doing:

Me: We vacation well together – we can hang out or get our own alone time.
Wife: Yes, like I go to the spa, you go eat, I go to the beach, you go eat, I go to the cafe, you go eat, I go to…
Me: I would say something but that’s pretty accurate.

Location: getting dressed to meet a client
Mood: contented
Music: on the other side I’ve got friends and they’ve got my back
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Technorati Tags: dating, friends, relationships

An artist or a nutcase with a notebook?

2012-02-01T14:08:01Z

Have a few days to myself this week so was planning on doing what I always do when the wife’s away, which is to stuff my piehole, just like I did in the last entry.

Unfortunately, the doc just told me that my cholesterol’s up, which I find shocking but it’s onea those things about getting old. It’s still better than the alternative.

The doc says I’m in fine health but it makes me think.

Been alive for 14,235 days and am guessing that I’ve got about 12,045 days left if I’m lucky. And the thing’s that my mind’s racing with alla the stuff I wanna get done. As a writer, there’re stories in my head that I need to get out before they drive me starkers or they just fade away.

There’s this news that cave paintings thought to have been painted 10,000 years ago were probably painted 35,000 years ago – or, put another way, 12,775,000 days ago.

Put yet another way, back when life was hard, brutally hard, and people were lucky to make it to 25 years of age, they somehow found a time and a way for art.

And art that survived their petty differences, their politics, their beliefs, their wars and even their good and evil; art that survived way beyond their moment on the planet.

That’s what’s been keeping me up at night. Alla my stories I think I need to tell before my expiration date.

Real artists ship. Until then, I’m just a nutcase with a notebook. Even a cave man found the time to ship.

So I get up, flip on my glowing box, and I write.

Just watch the first minute, see if you don’t watch the whole thing.

Location: about to run to the post office (again)
Mood: pensive
Music: I need another story something to get off my chest
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Technorati Tags: discussion, steve jobs, writing

Red hot pot and pink cold glass

2012-01-30T13:25:16Z

Waitress: …and here’s your drink.
Friend: Is your drink pink?
Me: Yes. I’m ok with that. (to waitress) I don’t get an umbrella?

Was supposed to go out Saturday a groupa friends for hot pot but that fell through so met up with my buddy Steel and his brother in Chinatown instead.

For those of you that don’t know what that is, it’s essentially a Chinese fondue with broth insteada cheese. We ordered some lamb, beef, calamari, bamboo shoots, amongst other things; we devoured it all and then washed it down with beer. His brother ended up treating us to dinner.

Me: We should hang out with more doctors.
Him: I know!

Afterward, took a walk to the LES where we had some more drinks. Steel and I both love to cook so we ended up discussing how America’s Test Kitchen is more like Good Eats now.

Me: I made their margarita mix – it was great.
Him: I’ll send you their recipe for a Chocolate Blackout cake; I used powered buttermilk in it and it was a hit.

Ordered a hard cider with berries that ended up being pink. My friends just shook their heads and then we all parted ways.

Headed over to a friends bday party, which ended up moved. There was a young blond woman asking for directions with a familiar accent.

Me: (in German) ‘Scuse me, where do you want to go?
Her: (confused in English) You speak German?
Me: (in German) Don’t be silly, I’m Chinese. Why would I speak German? Now where do you want to go?

She invited me to go with her to a party but I told her that I was meeting my wife and some friends and went on my way.

Finally met up with my other buddy and his lady friend at a hotel room in the Thompson LES. Felt like a third wheel so I bounced home. The next morning, found an email with a recipe for Chocolate Blackout cake.

I forget oftentimes that I still live in the same city as when I was single.

Location: about to run to the post office
Mood: hopeful
Music: if you’re free to make a choice, just look towards the west
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Technorati Tags: dialogue, out and about, story

Friendships and getting the invite

2012-01-25T14:04:20Z

Having some issues with some friends lately.

The problem with dealing with friends is that on one hand, y’can’t expect them to act as you do – they have their own life experiences and values – but on the other hand, there’s a baseline mirroring required for them to be your friend.

For the first friend, his basic understanding of what friendship is differs greatly from my understanding.

His definition is: I have something you don’t want or need, but it is of value to me; here you go.
My definition is: I have something you want or need, despite it being of value to me; here you go.

It’s been a historically one-sided friendship and I’m thinking that cutting my losses would be the smart way to go.

For my other friend, he’s a genuinely good fella. The issue’s that he hangs out with a buncha douchebags – usually of the female persuasion. In fact, he seems to be drawn to them.

Some of their recent escapades include: breaking a mutual friend’s funiture and then trying to hide it, getting drunk and sick at a house party then leaving without a thanks or offering to clean up, and thinking racist jokes are hysterical.

It’s that mirroring again. He doesn’t realize that people’re starting to think he’s a douchebag because he keeps company with douchebags.

When I was single, had a rule to never turn down an invite. But to follow that rule, y’gotta first get an invite.

When people think that you come with douchebag, those invites are far less likely to come in.

Location: desk
Mood: disappointed
Music: crossed the sea to find a brother
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Technorati Tags: friends, single life

There’s nothing you love you won’t lose some day

2012-01-23T16:56:25Z

Been really busy with work, my overactive insomnia, and my pet projects but still managed to find some time for some mindless distractions. And, despite alla the bad press it’s gotten lately, there’s little better for mindless entertainment than Netflix.

One film we watched recently was this film called The Ramen Girl, which we had pretty low expectations for, which meant that it turned out to be better than we thought it would.

Always liked Brittney Murphy and I recalled reading somewhere that her husband died of a broken heart. It’s called the widower effect, but I don’t think that it’s only for marriage or that it’s even only a human trait.

Just found out yesterday that Joe Paterno died as well. Cancer they said. But I’d think it was something related.

It’s a sobering when y’realize that there’s nuthin you love you will not lose one day – either because he/she/it leaves or you leave. Everything goes away.

Find it odd that growing up, you’re taught how to read and write, and how to brush your teeth, but not how to survive the blows.

Then again, all education’s expensive.

Some far more than others.

———-

If you have a Kindle or access to a Kindle app, drop me a line? (logan607 at hotmail) I could use your help on one of my other projects.

Oh, and Happy Chinese New Year! 新年快樂!

Location: rainy NYC
Mood: tired
Music: didn’t want the train to come, now it’s departed. I’m brokenhearted.
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Technorati Tags: love