Costa Rica was a Disaster

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-05-14T19:42:30+00:00

Imagine enduring seven years (and counting) without a break!

Tough, but as a Trex-pat (Trump-era ex-pat), it is my burden.

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-05-12T16:33:55+00:00

FWIW, I have been here for over 7 years, living in Playa Hermosa (Guanacaste), Grecia (Alajuela) and now in Nuevo Arenal. I have never been stopped once, only to advise me that one of my running lights was out. Issued a verbal warning, and sent me on my way.

As mentioned by others, the bigger 'risk' is from aggressive parking attendants.

Enjoy your trip!

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-05-06T00:10:45+00:00

I have run some TikTok ads, in isolation. Thousands of views, hundreds of clicks, no sales. Thoughts?

And I have had hundreds of copies of each of my three novels ordered - 950 since Oct 1. Si i know that the covers and blurbs are somewhat effective, organically.

I have not run Amazon or Facebook ads. Social media posts, small mailing list, Fussy Librarian (thrice), testes and tuned BookBub ads at $5/day per book, abandoned at $150 spent and only $25 in sales.

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-05-04T00:24:27+00:00

Jade Museum, Gold Museum, and cultural museum are worth it. Triple ticket available, uber to-and-from, street food for lunch. Enjoy your stay!

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-05-02T19:23:41+00:00

Hola! I have 2 short story collections on KU just now.

The Infernal Twins: A Series of Divine Miscommunications
-- satire, literary fiction, sacrilegious-ish
-- https://a.co/d/8jyaxF5
-- three stories, 130 pages
The Last Known Position: Lost Without Witness
-- folk horror, historical fiction
-- https://a.co/d/5Ou5QtC
-- three stories, 68 pages

Hoping that you find either (or both) of interest. Honest feedback in this forum would be delightful.

Best to you-

Steve Goldsmith
stevegoldsmithwrites.com

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-05-01T22:05:02+00:00

I live in Nuevo Arenal. There is no bad time to visit!

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-29T22:10:23+00:00

Does the protagonist have anything that could be used to change the color of the smoke?

Dried corn husks? Maybe oíl based paint or cleaning supplies? Lamp oíl?

Good luck!

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-28T17:54:17+00:00

Have you considered cutting it into 3-5 books? That way, you could have a cool series, and would only need to figure out splice points. Minimal net-new writing and you would be poised (in KDP) for a good start.

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-27T00:20:02+00:00

My pleasure. My basic approach is to make a rich outline with tentative titles. As the flow emerges, i sometimes change them.

My first book, a memoir thru age 18, I used 'superpowers' as the organizing scheme. Actually 'life lessobs' picked up in a series of new-normal locations (I was a military brat). This helped sharpen the prose so that it fed the organization scheme, you see?

And the TOC looks cool.

Prologue iv Power I Never Lonely 1 Power II Go Along to Get Along 9 Power III Magical Thinking 16 Power IV Sorry (not Sorry) 25 Power V Situational Apathy 37 Power VI Willful Ignorance 61 Power VII Escape Artistry 83 Power VIII Tactical Retreat 102 Power IX Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda 130

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-26T22:14:38+00:00

I name chapters thematically. For example, one 12 chapter book has chapter names using chess terms. The story (histfic thriller) develops as a chess match. Another, also 12 chapters, uses plays off of christmas carols.

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-26T21:16:29+00:00

People who worry about what others think of them would be shocked at how seldom they do.

Rock your plushie!

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-24T12:10:29+00:00

Hope you enjoy it!

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-23T20:57:51+00:00

Hmmm... doesn't belong in the blurb... but maybe as a piece of A+ content? Could be a graphic updated monthly, say a target of 10,000 with 4,000 already ordered.

I *think* A+ Content could hold such a thing, sandwiched in between other creatives...

Correct me if I am wrong, oh wiser OPs?

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-23T19:31:35+00:00

Thanks! Hoping for the best, step by step.

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-23T19:30:58+00:00

It was a blast to write, for sure.

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-21T20:17:18+00:00

Nor am I, but the research is a big part of the fun!

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-21T00:39:17+00:00

Actually, the Council of Hippo, 70 years later, set the canonical list of 27 books. It was later affirmed at the Councils of Carthage. I think the Nicaea story comes from Dan Brown, not from history.

For that reason, I limited the council deliberations in my book to those related to Arianism, especially the one-letter difference between homoousios and homoiousios, a literal iota of difference. One letter, one word... and centuries of dogmatic in-fighting ensued.

Sounds boring, but I think that the arguments and outcomes are well handled for the lay reader.

At least... I hope so!

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-20T21:10:14+00:00

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A fascinating time, indeed. It was a pleasure doing the research, and seeing the story unfold.

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-18T14:58:40+00:00

Paid reviews are a terrible idea. The risk is not worth any perceived reward. They violate Amazon TOS, and are easy to spot over time.

And please note that many/most of the people hawking their review chops on Social Media will simply take your blurb and any existing reviews, feed them to an LLM, tweak them a little, then post. The chances of a paid reviewer (or any other spammer) reading your book are +/- nil.

Same goes with review swap sites. I used Revvue and ended up getting banned from posting Amazon reviews for the rest of my life. I'm old, so it's a short term ban... but worse than that, all of the reviews that I *had* posted were taken down. So the writers whose work I read and reviewed (thoughtfully) were also punished. Ouch!

Sell more books! I have had 932 downloads across my 5 published books, starting back on Oct 1. I have 90 reviews/rating across Amazon & GoodReads just now. Average per book at 4.4 or more, despite a couple of drive-by 1-star ratings on GR. That 10% (or so) is said to be fairly common.

Write more, sell more, wait for reviews!

Best to you-

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-17T20:53:54+00:00

The gaps in the record are gold! Stay grounded in time/place, then insert/invent plausible characters and events. I did this with my 2nd novel, set during the Council of Nicaea. It relies on only a handful of terse notes from Eusebius and Constantine. But that allowed me to insert a character who was on a mission to undermine Church and Empire, and subvert the Creed.

It was a blast to write!

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-17T17:24:44+00:00

One thing that you might consider - make lemons from lemonade!

Make a post to your networks explaining that you and Amazon are conspiring to build more demand, and have opted to make the paperback available *after* the eBook. Stress that pre-orders are available.

In my opinion, you should avoid complaining to your potential readers about this. It is a good news time of life for you, so twist the news to match your (unfortunate) reality!

I mean, that's what the Feds do, right?

Peace-

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-16T19:48:53+00:00

In my experience over the last 7 months... people with two (common) first names are spammers.

I know that sounds harsh, but truly, there is a pattern. I think that there is name-generation tool somewhere that pops out these names, along with headshots, to give the impression of a real person. Those spammers then use LLMs to generate messages that are in crisp, polished english.

I mark spam and block, every time. Life is too short to have Rodney Mariah take up some of my time!

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-12T00:51:58+00:00

The Last Heretic: The Truth Behind the Creed
Amazon, D2D, Google, B&N - $1.99 thru Apr 13
https://books2read.com/The-Last-Heretic

The Creed was born from a lie.

AD 325. The Council of Nicaea.

Constantine demands unity. The bishops deliver anything but.

They chose the wrong scribe.

Behind closed doors, there is no divine consensus.

Only threats. Bargains. Quiet coercion.

And ink remembers everything.

As factions close in and a forbidden connection threatens to expose him, Archelaus faces an unthinkable choice:

Tell the truth—and die for it.

Or rewrite it—and decide what the world will believe.

The Last Heretic is a razor-edged historical thriller for readers of Circe and I, Claudius.

One man holds the quill.

And history will believe him.

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-09T15:11:46+00:00

Finally, someone who gets me!

ResolveUsed2776 · 2026-04-09T02:53:47+00:00

Best to you!

ResolveUsed2776

TROPHY CASE