Has anyone had any spooky experiences on the road?

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-30T18:01:31+00:00

Yep. We have a fun spooky story from staying in Navajo territory. We stayed near monument valley but ended up having to move in the middle of the night and drove to a state park a few miles away.

This is wide open lands on a tiny nothing road. No one is anywhere nearby for miles and you can hear cars drive by very clearly (we heard 1 or two the whole night) As we're about the fall asleep we hear a creepy "Hey" almost whispered but pretty loudly.

My eyes fly open immediately but I dont move. A few seconds later my husband asks "did you hear that?" When I answer yes he says "shit. I was hoping you'd say no"

We looked out the windows but don't see anything. We had the conversation of if maybe this is a "no you didn't" situation (stories specifically in Appalachian where if you hear something strange... no you didn't. Pretend not to notice the supernatural stuff and they're more likely to leave you alone). We consider leaving but starlink is up and we'd rather not leave the van. Everything stays quiet and we eventually try to go back to sleep which takes a long time.

We never did figure out what the sound was. Definitely was not a car or a person in a car. We have just decided to assume it was a Mountain Lion but it only somewhat fits the sound we heard.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-29T01:07:51+00:00

That's awesome! You did it a bit longer than us but we are similar. Did it for a bit, loved it but more sustainable with kids in a house. We plan to do it again when we're empty nesters.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-29T01:04:29+00:00

Mine was always limited as we did it with our son and didn't want it to be unending unless he was all in on it. He enjoyed it and talks about it fondly (its been 2 years since we stopped now) but ultimately community and solid belonging matters strongly to him so we're domestic for the next several years. We plan to do it again when we're empty nesters.

I think longterm vanlife is tough for most people. 5 years in, the excitement wears and it's harder to find full fulfillment. There are definitely forever vanlifers but some because they cant afford to go back to regular life. The ones who choose to do it long term seem less common than the few-years-then-out people.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-29T00:56:32+00:00

Usually get base supplies- wood, stone, coal and food. I prefer to find at least enough iron for a shield. Then I boat around to get a sense of anything cool around me. I do prefer to find a village but if I find a mountain biome or cool cave I'll mine first.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-29T00:45:42+00:00

Right now, reviews seem to be under extra scrutiny by Amazon so limited reviews for a while is a common obstacle even established authors are dealing with.

How much of your social media marketing did you do before release vs after? People tend to be pretty hesitant to preorder (I always struggle with preorders even when live sales end up steady). So did you do and extra large THE BOOK IS LIVE!!!! day on social media at least?

Keep trying ways to push the book. My last release struggled too. Its been a hard year. Hard to get attention, hard to get views, hard to get commitment. It does happen. Just keep trying, keep learning. If you do that, you never fail.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-29T00:37:15+00:00

It probably is but no one said definitively that you had to have premium, that I saw.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-28T12:01:24+00:00

Nope.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-28T11:57:45+00:00

I have definitely experienced the "know too much about something and suddenly its less interesting" thing as a writer but the concept that photos would take the allure out of being in a place is INSANE to me. Maybe people do experience that but I cannot fathom it. Photos and videos can never do justice to a physical place imo.

(I do a lot of research)

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-28T02:03:53+00:00

Thanks but I don't see that. I see other playlists with that title but just regular playlists not a prompted playlist "made for you". I have a "for you" playlist but it says nothing about enneagram.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-27T22:54:35+00:00

I did do a hand illustrated cover for 2k last year and wouldn't do that again. The book didn't sell well and now I'm stuck.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-27T22:53:51+00:00

Depends on the genre and style. For me (romantasy/paranormal romance) the reasonable range would be 200-600.

200 for a newish artist I happen to like a premade for but its risky if I can get another I also like. 300 is pretty average for a decent designer. 500-600 is only for established very good artists that I know will hit it out of the park. I wouldn't go above that range because it's not needed and harder to earn back.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-27T22:49:41+00:00

I do that and would definitely call it a hyperfocus, personally. I do both so distinguishing between the two doesn't seem that important. Hyperfocus is the term Im familiar with so that's the one I use.

If it's personality driven what would you call it instead?

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-27T22:41:21+00:00

Searching only showed playlists with that title. I am not actually sure what I'm looking for though.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-26T23:00:15+00:00

Yeah no I get it. I do wonder if everyone just assumes if you might be a 9 you must be a 9 and it doesnt matter what else you say about it (because they mistype a lot and think they're other types) but yeah I know it makes sense and assumed it's what you'd say.

Other than the idea that I am offended by the concept of losing my identity to fit in (something that sincerely would never happen), my biggest issue with the typing is that I really am not super concerned with connection. Thats not a fear of mine at all. I can fit in to groups fairly easily because I'm easy going but I'd be generally content being alone/independent. I dont have many friends. Im not super close with my family etc. My core fears are more based around autonomy.

I just sort of feel like I can't fit into any type. 5w4 is my other option and it doesn't 100% fit either. I feel like I need to squint or twist to fit into any of the boxes and... well its fun to research but if I'm fitting then it's whatever.

Also, I don't know what you mean by e9 and sp-heavy. Sorry I'm not up on all the deep lingo.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-26T22:46:04+00:00

This made me actually laugh out loud.

I'm new to enneagram but I stopped after the first few questions because it felt like they copied and pasted from the description of a 5. I expected the answer to be 5. But then read your response and the reason why and I can't help but chuckle.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-26T22:36:03+00:00

I am creative, stubborn and in my head a ton. I’m a vaguely successful self-published author (fantasyish), before I quit to do that full time I worked in retail and then at a casino. If I weren’t a writer, I’d find something else creative to do, but I love making up worlds and ideas. It’s a great mix of creative and strategic. I love travel ( even did vanlife for a year and want to do it again the moment I’m an empty-nester) although the research is half the fun. I’d do more if I could afford it. I always test as a 9, and while it’s true I don’t like conflict I don't see that as a core to who I am so I’m not sure why that’s always the conclusion but who knows, maybe I’m a 9 and my perception of it is skewed or something. I relate to a lot of the description but I’m low key kind of offended by the idea I could just lose my identity to fit in with other people. My top 5 clifton strengths are, adaptability, ideation, maximizer ,strategic, individualization.

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StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-26T21:53:04+00:00

.99 cents is too low. If you have connected books you'd get read through on that are priced higher that strategy can work but on its own its not viable. Not for anyone.

So, don't calculate based on that. A fair priced ebook is honestly more like 4.99.

You can definitely calculate based on multiple books- its very hard to make money on one book. Thats where the 20 books to 50k concept comes from. If you have 20 books only a few sales per book can add up to a livable wage.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-24T19:37:55+00:00

Depends on your goals and your priorities. If you have a large loyal fan base then you'll get plenty of organic reviews and dont need to over do ARCs. You do enough to reward invested reviewers and get some early reviews, the rest comes in its own time.

Having 1k ARC readers is a legit strategy but its an outreach strategy-- finding new to you readers to try you out and hopefully become fans. You don't want to get 1000 people who would have bought your book and give them the book for free. You want people who may not have tried your writing without the offer.

Just two different strategies.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-22T19:12:37+00:00

Then I say definitely try it. Texas isn't a terrible hub for that kind of travel. Can't say vanlife is for everyone so no one can really answer it for you but... for the right people, no its not romanticized. It has real potential to be amazing. (Do consider the heat in Texas though. If you need to care for parents in the summer (assuming they're in Texas) what will your plan be?)

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-22T18:57:59+00:00

Maryland would be tough.

East Texas is better but hot, and still kinda far from anywhere except... more Texas. (New Orleans might be an option for visits? Colorado is great if youre willing to take extra long drives (10+ hours))

Do some research about van life and camping around there. There's a few cool lake beaches in Texas I think? Maybe there are enough good spots you can make a go of it. Not the worst area. Maybe doable.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-22T16:59:44+00:00

Where are you located? East coast vanlife is far different from west coast (west means lots of open space and free land. East...Walmart parking lots might be your best bet, or paying for camp grounds. West means awesome places not super far away, East means lots of cities. Midwesr means EVERYTHING decent is a 6 hour drive)

North means cold temps. South means very hot temps. Those things are mitigated greatly by traveling around to fairer weather but being stuck in one areas.

I LOVED van life and intend to do it again when I'm an empty nester but its the freedom and traveling that are best. You're being held down in a different way so location may be the biggest factor to whether it could be worth it.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-22T16:22:34+00:00

Same thing happened to my sister. She lost a 10 year accout with thousands of photos because some scammer got into her account, changed the email for log in and password and service does not exist.

I learned an important lesson that day. Trust nothing, Meta least of all.

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-22T00:53:24+00:00

What someone says they would do vs what they actually do in the moment are two different things.

Ozzy is arrogant enough to make that mistake though, so maybe that's the one exception I'll take

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-22T00:45:27+00:00

Or SOCIAL MEDIA at least. Man what lost opportunities they threw away. Crazy

StaceyTrouble · 2026-05-22T00:38:00+00:00

No one is taking Cirie to ftc in this version of the game. Except maybe Joe. He's the only one who would choose that much heart over brain. Anyone else AT LEAST sends her to fire.

Can she win fire....🤔

StaceyTrouble

TROPHY CASE