Like Potterheads the world over, I rejoiced when Portkey Games officially announced two Harry Potter apps last year. Harry Potter Wizards Unite (the Pokemon Go style app) sounded more intriguing, but I was interested in Hogwarts Mystery as well.
I promptly followed the HPHogwartsMystery Instagram account and pre-registered for the app as soon as I could in order to stay up to date on all the news. I feel no shame in admitting I, quite literally, squeed in joy when I received the email alert that the game was available. At my desk. At work. #potterlife
I can’t believe February is over! March is going to be nuts! The Most Special Chosen is out tomorrow. You can pre-order it now on Amazon. And make sure you check out my Facebook release party on Sunday, there will be a ton of giveaways and takeovers by some fabulous female authors.
This month’s Friday Reads is very different. I’m not recommending a book, I’m recommending a… let’s call it a genre.
I’m a huge fan of fanfiction. Good fanfiction that is. And yes, such a thing exists.
I pretty much only read Harry Potter fanfiction. There are just so many fun ideas within that single sub-genre, I haven’t manage to expand to much of any of the other sub-genres yet.
If you’re a Potterhead like yours truly, or even if you’re not, honestly, I suggest giving fanfiction a try for whatever fandoms you’re part of.
It will never replace books, obviously, but in those “low income” interludes between paychecks when you’re dying for something new to read, fanfiction is a godsend.
Understandably, the online thing may pose a problem, after all, neither wifi nor cell signal are available everywhere, and you don’t want to eat through your data. However, the fanfiction.net app (Android | iOS) lets you download stories for offline reading. There’s also ficsave.xyz which downloads ePub, mobi, and txt files at the press of a button. I tend to prefer the app when I’m reading a story in progress since it will automatically download new chapters, but I like ficsave for finished stories since there’s no worry of the author deciding to remove the story from the site.
So if you have some extra time, I highly suggest you check out FanFiction.net. Some of my favorite authors include robst, chem prof, Clell65619, old-crow, and Rorschach’s Blot. Go take a look. Maybe even try dabbling in some fanfiction writing yourself. It can be fun to take a story precisely where you want it to go. Heck, I’d love to see some The Most Special Chosen fanfiction. *wink*
But be careful, fanfiction can pull you in, and before you know it, you can’t separate canon from fiction. Don’t worry, though, it’snot like I’ve doomed you to a black hole that will suck you in and consume your life or anything. Mwahahaha.
If you’re a fanfiction reader, or writer, drop your favorite author or story below. I’m always on the lookout for something new.
January 24th was my cover reveal. Congratulations to the winners of the accompanying giveaway!
I did some research while preparing it, and decided to go with Lola’s Blog Tours for the simple fact that, at the time, her cover reveals were free. I figured it was a good way to evaluate her services, and if it was a flop, I hadn’t really lost anything. Thankfully, it was a decent success.
Of course, the question is, how do you measure success? I’m not naive, I didn’t expect my book cover to be plastered across the internet on every single page, especially not as part of a free service, but I’m pretty happy with the 16 people who signed up.
Between the participating bloggers, the social media reach was pretty impressive (to me). It’s impossible, of course, for me to calculate the total reach. But based off of a simple follower count of accounts that posted, tweeted, retweeted, etc., the social media reach of my cover reveal was approximately:
8,000 accounts on Facebook
36,700 accounts on Twitter
428 accounts on Instagram.
This does not account for overlapping followers, nor does it consider blog subscribers, so the reach could be considerably higher.
I also ended up with 29 giveaway entries, which isn’t bad considering the prize was one ebook.
I felt the results were good enough to book additional services with Lola’s Blog Tours. I’ve scheduled a blog tour for March 5-18. If you’re interested in participating, check out the sign up post. I’ve also scheduled a review opportunity that will start around the same time as the blog tour. Subscribe to my blog to get notified when it starts.
I’ve really enjoyed working with Lola. She’s professional and efficient, qualities I greatly appreciate. If you’re in the market for any of her services, I heartily recommend Lola’s Blog Tours.
2017 has ended, 2018 is here! Happy January, everyone! I hope you had a fabulous holiday season. Let’s hope 2018 is a great year.
It’s the first Friday of the month, and that means Friday Reads! In case you missed it, you can take a look at last month’s Friday Reads on Memnoch the Devil.
A few weeks ago, I decided to re-read A Hunger Like No Other (AHLNO) by Kresley Cole. AHLNO is a very special book to me. A gift for Valentine’s Day nearly 11 years ago, it was the first “adult” book I read.
I absolutely adored, still adore, Ms. Cole’s take on the various mythologies. Valkyries, vampires, werewolves, Ms. Cole eventually includes everything that’s “mythical” in the series in one way or another.
But beyond how great the story is, AHLNO, carries a lot of meaning for me. As I re-read AHLNO, I realized just how much my writing was originally influenced by reading it. The Most Special Chosen would probably be very different if I’d never read AHLNO. There’s even a chance that I would never have finished The Most Special Chosen, much less published it. AHLNO gave me ideas, some of which were incorporated into The Most Special Chosen, some that live on in the dark recesses of my brain that house fantasies.
If you haven’t read AHLNO or any of the rest of the Immortals After Dark series, I highly suggest you do so. They’re fun, sexy, and well-written.
Have you read any of the Immortals After Dark series? Did you like them? Which one was your favorite (if you can choose)? Leave me a comment below. I love reading comments. Until next time, I hope you have a fabulous time reading.
There will be spoilers towards the end of this post, but I’ll warn you first.
I saw Coco for the second time on Saturday. And while it didn’t hit me quite as hard in the feels this time, it was still an amazing movie.
The first time I saw Coco (on Thanksgiving), I was blown away, absolutely enchanted, and amazed to see my heritage, Mexican heritage, portrayed on the big screen in such a beautiful way. As Chantel mentions in this Pero Like video, it was amazing to see a story that happens to be set in Mexico, rather than a story about being Mexican.
At its heart, Coco is about family. That family just so happens to be Mexican, and living Mexican lives. Therefore you have a rich tapestry of Mexican culture woven into the story. But the central theme of family can be (and has been) played out in any other setting (think Brave, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Finding Dory, Inside Out, etc.). I think this is part of what makes Coco so special to me. The Mexican culture isn’t highlighted, isn’t glorified, it’s just there. But you can’t help but appreciate the beauty and richness of it.
Granted, in Coco, the focus is on one particular facet, Dia de los Muertos. But you get to see other bits as well. With Ernesto de la Cruz, you get a glance at old films. With the music competitions, you get a look at mariachi music. There are also alebrijes, lucha libre, ballet folklórico, chanclas, and on and on, but you get the idea.
Growing up multicultural, I never really paid much attention to people saying that it means a lot to see yourself represented in movies, TV, etc. That was a failing on my part, I know. But Coco opened my eyes to just how much it can mean. There were multiple times I found myself tearing up in sheer joy at seeing Mexican culture portrayed correctly. I can only imagine how great it was for all of the abuelitos going to the movies for the first time and seeing the magnificence that is Coco.
So if you haven’t seen Coco yet, stop reading here (there are spoilers coming), and go see it while it’s still in theaters. Really, it’s worth it. If you have seen Coco, then let me share with you a little something I noticed when I watched it the second time.
***Spoilers Ahead***
It didn’t take me long on the first go around to figure out that Ernesto wasn’t Miguel’s great-great-grandfather. And it didn’t take much longer to determine that Hector must, therefore, be Miguel’s great-great-grandfather. What I didn’t pick up on, and really should have, is that because Ernesto stole Hector’s guitar, there was likely something nefarious going on.
And speaking of the guitar, did you notice that it’s the first hint the viewers get about who Miguel is actually related to?
The guitar has a gold tooth.
Hector has a gold tooth.
Ernesto does not.
It’s even on the movie poster. Talk about fabulous foreshadowing. Did you catch that hint? Let me know in the comments.
Wow, it’s November already! Where has the year gone? You know what the first Friday of the month means: Friday Reads! If you missed it, take a look at last month’s Friday Reads on Crossroads in the Dark III: Monsters Under Your Bed.
I’m going back to Tudor England this week with The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. Before I go any further, if you’ve seen either movie, store that memory away for now, this is about the book. In typical book-to-movie fashion, neither did the book justice. That said, The Other Boleyn Girl (TOBG) book has been a favorite of mine for years. When I first bought it, I had this edition, which I *THINK* is the original paperback edition.
TOBG was one of the first “adult” books I read. It was either end of high school or early in college, when I had my own money and could buy whatever I wanted, without parental input. It sparked the realization that books could contain a lot more than what I’d been reading, and sparked an interest in several other genres and styles. TOBG was my adult “gateway book”, if you will.
TOBG was also the book that sparked my interest in Mary Boleyn. For those of you who aren’t familiar with that name, she was sister to Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, and Henry’s official mistress before he fell in love with Anne. There’s also a high likelihood that 2 of her children were his.
SIDE NOTE: This post will contain what some people would consider spoilers. I don’t, simply because TOBG is based on history, and major plot events are common knowledge.
One of the things I like most about Philippa Gregory’s early books (I don’t know if she still does this, because I’m rather behind in my reading) is that she presents “what if” scenarios. For example, in TOBG the reader is given major hints that Anne Boleyn really did sleep with her brother. This adds a different feel to the story that most books about the Boleyn sisters don’t have.
Granted, having these “what if” scenarios means that the book isn’t “real” history. So take what you read with a grain of salt. After all, it’s categorized as historical fiction for a reason. But just because you aren’t being handed a factual account of Mary Boleyn doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it.
And enjoy it, I do. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve read TOBG. I read my first copy to death, literally. The pages started coming unglued and falling out of the book. So I went out and bought a second version. Then an ebook, which, thankfully, can’t ever fall apart.
Part of what led to me reading TOBG so much is the amount of compassion I felt for Mary Boleyn. She’s written as a very kind, somewhat naive character, and many times I just wanted to give her a hug and tell her things would turn out alright in the end, despite knowing they wouldn’t.
Have you read The Other Boleyn Girl? What about other historical fiction books? What’s your favorite era in history? Leave me a comment and let me know, and make sure to check back for next month’s Friday Reads. I hope you enjoy your weekend.
Bertram’s holds a special place in my heart as the store where I bought my first fountain pen. It was a red-nibbed Platinum Preppy 05. I don’t have a picture of mine, as it sadly disappeared in my recent move, but I did find this photo from WonderPens. It was my gateway pen, and the experience of purchasing it was so pleasant that Bertram’s was forever fixed in my mind as a top-notch store.
The next time I visited, I picked up a Lamy Safari Dark Lilac, completely oblivious to the fact that I was buying a special edition. I just knew I liked the color and feel of it. I also picked up bottles of Diamine Meadow and Diamine Aqua Lagoon because they were beautiful, bright colors. I’ve since learned that just because a color is pretty doesn’t mean it will make a good writing ink. Meadow hasn’t gotten much use because a full-page of it can be hard on the eyes.
While we were there, Jim bought a Namiki Falcon as a birthday present to himself. I can’t recall if it was Bert or Adam (or both) who helped us out that day — I was too focused on buying my first “nice” pen — but whoever it was was incredibly patient with me as I went through all of the Lamy colors, and let me dip test a few different nib sizes. Jim was also treated very well as he tried to decide if he was actually willing to buy such an expensive pen (oh, how our views have changed).
And now the really fun part. I get to tell you about some of my customer service experiences that I feel went above and beyond what your typical store offers.
Crimson Sunrise & Stipula Nib Exchange
My “series pen” – the pen I intend to sign books with – that I’ve dubbed Moon Blood.
When Goulet Pens announced the Pilot Vanishing Point (VP) Crimson Sunrise, I was intrigued. I’d considered buying it as my “series pen” until I found Moon Blood at the DC Pen Show (Read my 2nd DC Pen Show post for that story). But as its release date drew nearer, I wasn’t positive I wanted it. To help me decide, we took a trip to Bertram’s. I figured I could hold and write with a regular VP, and, if I liked it, I’d order a Crimson Sunrise when they were available. I’m not going to lie, I intended to order one from Goulet Pens. I even signed up for the in-stock notification email.
At Bertram’s, I found that I liked the way the VP felt. Bert dipped a nib for me and let me try writing a bit, and I was rather happy with the line quality and flow. I wasn’t positive I loved it, but I knew that if I bought a Crimson Sunrise and decided it wasn’t for me, I could sell it and get my money back very easily. After all, the 2015 special edition is selling for around $500 on eBay.
Most likely seeing my approbation, Bert asked if I’d like to pre-order the Crimson Sunrise. I started to decline, but Bert’s price was a couple bucks less than Goulet Pen’s, and I wouldn’t have to pay shipping. Bertram’s had been good to me thus far, and, honestly, who doesn’t like saving money, even if just a bit. Deciding to give it a go, I said yes, paid, and was informed that they were expecting the pens to ship in a couple of days. Since I couldn’t decide if I’d rather come in and pick up my pen or have it shipped, Bert said he would call me when it came in.
With my business out of the way, Jim brought out his Stipula (You can read the story about it in my 4th DC Pen Show post and a shortened version of this exchange in my Rainbow Pens Update post) with the question, “Do you want to see something I bet you haven’t seen before?”
Jim proceeded to point out the crack in the nib right along the stamped design. It was sheer unlucky coincidence that the nib was bent (to wrap around the feed) precisely at the edge of the design, creating a weak point.
This is the replacement nib. I don’t have a photo of the original nib with the crack.
Out came Bert’s loupe, and I was surprised to hear, “You’re right, I haven’t seen this before. It’s a manufacturing defect.” That’s paraphrased, it was long enough ago that I don’t recall precisely what was said anymore.
Now, while I wasn’t in Jim’s brain, I’m as certain as I can be that he just intended to show Bert something different. Neither he, nor I, had any expectation of getting the pen fixed at Bertram’s. However, Bert disappeared behind a wall (I strongly suspect there are various pen parts on the other side, although I’ve never asked) and emerged with a new gold-colored Stipula Titanium nib.
He had the old, broken nib out, the new nib inserted, and was handing the pen back to Jim before either of us had really processed what was happening. I was so flabbergasted that I don’t recall precisely what was said next, but it was basically Jim making his surprise and thanks known, and Bert telling him no thanks were really necessary.
I’m well aware that Stipula stands behind their pens, so you can send a pen in for servicing at any time. Jim had already filled out a form to do just that. But Stipula nibs aren’t exactly cheap, and Bert just handed us a new one. We left that day with a new level of respect for Bert and his store.
I waited impatiently for the week to end, feeling a little disappointed each day that I didn’t receive a call. Another week went by, and again, no phone call, so on Friday, I called the store. The pens hadn’t shipped, but they’d let me know when they did.
Around this time, I started seeing photos on Instagram of the Crimson Sunrise. Patience, never my strong suit, became that much harder as I more and more images appeared.
I didn’t make it another week. On Wednesday, I caved and left a message on Bertram’s Facebook page, asking if there was any status update on the Crimson Sunrise. I got a rather quick reply that the pens would probably be shipped that day.
Sure enough, the next day (Thursday), Bertram’s sent me a Facebook message saying the pens had been shipped, and when they came in, I’d get first pick of the numbers. As if waiting wasn’t hard enough! I allowed myself a brief moment of fantasy and imagined getting another #19 pen, or maybe pen #1988, despite knowing the odds were astronomical.
Come Monday, I decided to check in, as the pens were now available on Bertram’s website, and I wanted to make sure I hadn’t been forgotten. The shipment was out for delivery, but may not arrive until 4pm. Sure enough, around 4:30, I got a message that the pens had arrived. They’d received numbers 1969-1980.
My thoughts were a roller coaster. Disappointment that I wouldn’t get #19 or #1988. Immature silliness imagining having pen #1969. *eyebrow waggle* Confusion, because what pen did I want. Distress at needing to pick a number quickly. Relief at figuring out the perfect number: 1971. I had a 1988 pen for my birth year, and now I’d have a 1971 pen for Jim’s.
I thanked Bert profusely, and worked out details to have my pen shipped. It showed up two days later in all it’s colorful glory.
I’m well aware that my repeated check-ins were wearisome (some would say nagging), and I can only feel eternally grateful that Bert, or whoever it is that mans the social media post, has the patience of a saint. The responses were always quick, friendly, and helpful, which means a lot to me.
Montegrappa Coffee Brown Ink
And now for the Tale of Montegrappa Coffee Brown. Just imagine a creepy face with a flashlight held underneath. 😉
A while back Jim bought a bottle of Montegrappa Coffee Brown ink. He’s a big coffee drinker, and the color is almost spot on, so of course he had to get it. He loaded up a pen almost immediately, I filled a pen a bit later after seeing the color.
Because Jim put the ink in a wet writer, he didn’t notice a problem at first. I, however, put it in my Jinhao x450, which is a fairly dry writer, and noticed flow issues almost immediately. I had to wet the nib every time I started writing. It annoyed me enough, that I finally decided to put in a different ink.
While cleaning my pen, I decided to just dump what was left in the converter. As I twisted the piston, the ink bubbled at the top, then dripped down slowly, more like syrup than ink. Jim and I have since dubbed it “ink snot”. I’ll let you soak in that lovely mental image for a moment.
Jim decided to clean out his pen almost immediately after I finished explaining my “Ewww!” I did some research online about the ink drying out or coagulating in a pen, with no real results, so I sent out a tweet to see if this was a one-off or a known problem.
The general consensus was to try it in a different pen, because maybe I didn’t get the previous pen clean enough. I think Jim tried it in one other and had the same issue.
So next time we went to Bertram’s, we mentioned the issue and were treated with, “Oh, that was you on Twitter!” It’s always fun to hear that. We explained the problem in more detail to Bert, who reiterated that it wasn’t a problem he’d heard of before. We decided it was probably a bad bottle, maybe there was a contaminant inside when the ink was added, and were satisfied. It happens, right?
But, Bert surprised us. He pulled a new bottle off the shelf and handed it to us. “Give this one a try. And, if you remember, bring in the other bottle the next time you’re here. I’ll send it back to Montegrappa.” I can’t speak for Jim, but I’d never heard of receiving a replacement for something defective without having the original. More kudos to Bertram’s.
Jim tried the new bottle a few days later and had even worse problems with it. As he put it, “I was thwapped with a line of ink snot.” This was while filling a pen from the bottle. Again, eewww.
When we next went to Bertram’s we returned both bottles and got our choice of ink (Diamine Kelly Green) and some change in return, no questions asked.
While writing this, I decided to try looking for a review again and found only one, from Mountain of Ink, who wrote the following:
“When I tried to drop this ink, instead of falling straight to the paper, it hung from the converter a bit, looking more like syrup than a viscous ink. When it did hit the paper, it didn’t spread out much and had short little fingers. This tells me that the ink is pretty thick compared to the average fountain pen ink.”
So maybe others are having troubles with this ink, too, and just don’t want to write negative reviews? I’m not sure. It’s made me a bit wary of other Montegrappa inks. I think I’ll get samples before committing to any of them. But It hasn’t warned me off the brand. I think my next pen will be Montegrappa Fortuna Heartwood Pear.
Final Thoughts
There are certainly other examples of excellent Bertram’s customer service, but seeing as this post has already hit 1900 words, I think I should wrap things up.
We’ve been in multiple times since Jim introduced me to Bertram’s, and each has been a fantastic experience. Adam and Bert are spectacular, as are the various other people who have been in on different days. There’s a sense of camaraderie and inclusion at Bertram’s that makes you want to stay. You feel like a friend as well as a customer.
Ultimately, if you’re local to the DMV area, or visiting, make a point to visit. You won’t regret it. It’s a great place, with fabulous people. Their upcoming Annual Pen Fair on November 11 is a great reason to go check it out. And if you can’t make it into the store, they’ve got a website. *wink* You can also find Bertram’s Inkwell on Facebook, Google +, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
About a month ago, Sonya Jesus invited me to take part in her Facebook release party. I’d heard of them, of course, through open calls to participate on my publisher’s Facebook group. I hadn’t ever participated, though, thinking that they were for people who already had books out. The direct invitation, however, made me curious, and, with a bit of trepidation, I accepted the 5:30 – 6:00 pm time slot.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Facebook release parties, they’re a chance for an author to reach anyone in the world by making a public Facebook event page. On the day of the event, the author, as well as any people they have invited to participate, will post to the page with information about available and upcoming books, giveaways, teasers, videos, etc. The idea being that the more people who are involved, the more fans and readers will check out the event, and, hopefully, the book being released.
Research
Because I’d never been part of a release party before, I wasn’t entirely sure of the protocol. So, I did what I always do: I researched. I asked some other authors about typical post content. I attended a couple of release parties and paid very close attention to the posts and engagement. And I made some unexpected discoveries:
You post, at most, once every 3 – 5 minutes.
Some people seem to treat release parties as a chance to outrageously pimp their own books. As in, every post is a link to buying their books with a picture of the cover or covers, with no real description of the books at all. I don’t know if this nets them any sales, but I noticed less interaction with those posts.
Facebook has polls. Yeah, I had no idea about this, and apparently they’re only available on event and group pages, because I don’t have the option to create one on either my personal Facebook page or my author page.
Preparation
Armed with some new information, I got to work creating posts. Since I don’t have a book available for sale yet (March 3rd, people *wink*), I decided to go for teasers. Hopefully they would entice people to follow me on various sites and buy my book once it’s available.
I hand lettered some book quotes (if this sounds interesting to you, check out my Instagram for #TeaserTuesdays). I also created the first teaser video for *The Most Special Chosen*, as this seemed like a great place to debut it (and hopefully get some views). And, of course, I had to provide a link to Sonya’s Author Spotlight. A poll (for interaction), giveaway (to get people to stick around until the end of my half hour), and links to my social media accounts rounded out my main posts. And let’s not forget an introduction and thank you post. Those are important, too.
I wrote up all of the posts so I could copy and paste them on the day of the party to avoid wasting time, or suffering from writer’s block. I’m very glad I did, as I edited everything a few times to have the best content possible.
Party Time
As the actual release party got closer, I started looking forward to participating. I expected it to be fun, and I hoped that people would be interested in what I had to post. At 5:20, I sat down at my computer, opened up the document with my posts, kept an eye on the event page, and prepared to have fun and be engaging. I think I succeeded at both.
It was fun to read people’s comments (especially the GIFs) and respond to them in return. And I can’t deny it’s exciting to watch the likes, loves, comments, etc. counts go up. My time went quite a bit faster than I expected it to, and I found myself almost sad when it was over.
I will note that I had a hard time keeping track of when to post things as Facebook shows “Just Now” for a few minutes after posting. My solution was to add time labels to the document where I’d written my posts. That way, I just had to ensure that the current time and the time label matched before I pushed “Post”. It made a big difference, and let me focus on interacting with people
Overall, It was a great experience, and I’m very happy, now, that I accepted Sonya’s invitation. I look forward to joining other release parties in the future.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, taking part in a release party is to gain exposure. And part of that is reviewing what you did and seeing what did and didn’t work. I think for a first time, I did pretty well, and gained about 10 new followers/likes on each of my social media accounts, which I don’t find too shabby.
The poll was (surprisingly) my best performing post, when I go by total interactions (comments, reactions, post interaction, shares, etc.). My giveaway post received the most reactions (17), while the introduction post received the most comments (12). So make of all of that what you will.
A couple side notes to interactive posts. I think everyone will agree that GIF comments are big right now. So I think I’ll look into requesting GIF comments in future posts. Perhaps one of those “pick your answer” posts would be good, too. You know, the ones where you piece together an answer based on your name, birthday, color of your shirt, etc.
My main takeaway from it all is that I should have more interactive posts in the future. I should ask even more questions, and encourage discussions and comments.
That said, do you have any questions for me? Leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you. And if you need an additional participant at your Facebook release party, send me a message.
I’ll be the first to say that I am not a “girly girl”. Makeup happens maybe once a week. I’m really happy if my nails are all the same length. When I wear dresses, it’s because it’s only one piece to pull out of my closet, rather than two. I’m not necessarily the tomboy that I was as a kid, but I’m still definitely not girly.
I tell you this to give you a bit of context for the rest of this post. So that you understand how impressive it is that I’ve bought so much from Surreal Makeup. And when I say “so much” here is my current collection, and I have four more eyeshadow colors on the way.
Backing up a bit, I discovered Surreal at AwesomeCon 2016. Amanda Baker, the founder, was manning a table alone when I went by. She was so bubbly and colorful that I stopped to check out her stuff. She explained how Surreal is “hypoallergenic, naturally water resistant and cruelty-free mineral” makeup, and was very quick to swatch a few colors on the back of my hand. I was stunned. Finally, I’d come across the super pigmented, vibrant eyeshadows I’d always wanted. And, in some ways even better, they clean up with basic baby wipes; you don’t need makeup remover! They certainly live up to their name. But, my funds at the time were rather limited, so I bought my favorite colors (G. I. Jane, Gorgeous, and Royal) and snagged a card so I could buy more later.
Let me remind you, makeup rarely happens for me. I just don’t get up early enough to do much, if anything, during the week, and on weekends, I often don’t feel like putting in the effort. But I still bought three jars on the spot. Because these eyeshadows, well, a picture’s worth a thousand words, so, look at them. Just, wow!!! Swatches on the left are on bare skin, swatches on the right are over Surreal primer.
I’d like to point out that a full 5g jar of this stuff will last you forever. Well, ok, it depends on how often you wear makeup. But I usually just put a single color on my lids and call my look done. So for that, I generally up-end the jar and tap it 4-5 times into a palette. Not a whole lot comes out with that, but you certainly get enough to do a full look. So these will last a very long time. And being loose powder, you won’t be introducing bacteria, so no grossness!
After AwesomeCon, I only ended up ordering a couple of the sample pod packs over the course of the year. The sample pods are amazing. You get 1 gram of 5 different products. And you can choose any product they have in stock. ANY product! It’s fabulous! You can try before you commit to a whole jar. They are also REALLY good for travel. So much so that I have some sample sizes of colors I own whole jars of, just so I can travel better. I’ve also noticed that you get an extra goodie or two with the samples you order, which is how I discovered Juicy is an amazing color for work.
In January this year, as I was working on my cosplay for AwesomeCon, I dropped Surreal a line on their Facebook page asking if they’d be back again. I got a quick reply in the affirmative. Happy day! I planned to get the makeup for my cosplay at the show. I also threw away what non-Surreal eyeshadows I had (most of them were very old, as in, I couldn’t remember when I bought them) with every intention of buying Surreal equivalents at the show.
AwesomeCon 2017 rolled around and I made sure to find Surreal’s table on Friday. There were more colors, and more types of products (including black light reactive eyeshadows!!!), but Amanda was still just as lovely and bubbly and colorful.
I’m going to pause a minute to say that it occurred to me the other day that Amanda’s like Luna Lovegood all grown up. A very kind soul, and 100% herself (or at least, that’s how she presents herself to the world, and she’s never seemed anything but completely genuine). And honestly, for me, there’s no better compliment. I’m in awe of people who can be themselves completely. It’s amazing. I hope she doesn’t mind me borrowing her photo.
But back to AwesomeCon…Amanda helped me pick out the right eyeshadows for my punk Tinkerbell costume, and swatched many more colors on the back of my hands. I had to wipe both hands off! Twice! I ended up putting together a nine-shadow palette, plus getting a lip gloss (because it was just so pretty). I really only stopped with those because I was determined to stick to my Con budget. And despite asking to see/swatch a million different colors, Amanda was continuously helpful and enthusiastic, so I didn’t feel like I was being a pain. Instead, I felt like we were bonding over her fabulous products. I even made sure to bring one of my close friends to her booth the next day, because I wanted her to experience how awesome Amanda and Surreal are.
It was shortly after AwesomeCon that I started following Surreal on Instagram, and I was, and still am, amazed at how positive all of the posts are. Every photo that Surreal shares has something good in the comments. When the account shares customer photos, they always include some kind of uplifting compliment. It’s generally a “feel good” feed.
A few weeks ago, Surreal started teasing their new Dragon Scales collection, and I knew I had to have them. I drooled over their fabulous swatches and mixing videos, and even set a reminder for launch day so I couldn’t possibly forget to buy them. I was so eager, that I purchased them before the official announcement, and my post BECAME the announcement on Instagram. *grin*
As an example of how FABULOUS their customer service is, I received an email a couple nights ago from Amanda herself, apologizing that they’ve run out of Hydra Dragon because she’s been unable to return home due to the Hurricane. I’m just happy she’s safe. But I was offered a different eyeshadow in exchange, with Hydra being shipped when she gets back home in October. How totally awesome is that! We then proceeded to have a short email exchange, ending with her suggestion of Cosmic or Hypnotize in response to my question about an intense silver shadow.
Now, just so people don’t say I’m being too positive, I will admit to some difficulties with their primer, although I’m pretty certain it’s user error. It’s a gel-like primer, and I’ve yet to figure out just how much to use so that it holds the shadow without being overly greasy or creasing really bad. Maybe someday I’ll figure it out, or, if I’m smart, I’ll ask Amanda at next year’s AwesomeCon (assuming that she goes again).
Ultimately, what I’m trying to say here, is that if you love bright, highly pigmented eyeshadow, Surreal is, in my opinion, the best choice. For what you’re getting, and how long they last, they are certainly among the least expensive, and you’re buying from an AMAZING person. Just try the sample pods once they’re back in stock. You won’t regret it, really. Even Yaya Han is wearing their stuff. My entire eyeshadow collection is from Surreal, and I have no regrets. Ms. Baker, if you ever happen to read this, know that I love your cosmetics, and you have a customer for life. Keep up the amazing work, it’s very much appreciated. 🙂
Yikes, what a mouthful of a title! Anyway, we’re about a month out from the DC Pen Show, and I’ve been meaning to post an update to my Stipula’s attitude problem and Jim’s pen’s problem.
As you may recall from my post about meeting Brian Goulet, my Stipula was a bit “skippy” when writing (I just considered it had an attitude problem). Jim’s pen suffered from a bit of overuse. While at the DC Pen Show, a lovely gentleman at the Yafa table (Twitter user @stevetweeting pointed out that it was probably Ross) tweaked both of our pens.
Rainbow Prisma 88
I am very happy to report that Prisma is MUCH better behaved now. I don’t have any problem with it skipping now, even when I write quickly. Check out the difference in the before and after. See how smooth and pretty the after writing is. Both are Diamine inks. Tudor Blue from the new anniversary inks on the before page, and Eau de Nil on the after page.
It’s certainly a rather wet writer, now. Almost too wet for me, but thankfully it’s still within the “ok” range. It does mean I get some nice shading when I use the right inks.
Rainbow Demonstrator
Jim’s pen, however, seemed to improve for a bit, then get worse again. After a few weeks, he discovered the real problem. It was cracked along one side of the stamped design. I don’t have a picture of the old nib, so I found this one on Google to refer to. Click on it to see the original page.
Jim filled out a service form (or whatever it is you have to do in order to send your pen to Yafa for servicing), but hadn’t gotten around to sending it in when we went to Bertram’s Inkwell a couple of weekends ago.
After taking a look at the pen, Bert was kind enough to replace the nib, no charge and no questions asked. Can you say someone has earned your business if you’re already a repeat customer? Needless to say, Bertram’s Inkwell jumped up a massive amount of cool points for both of us. And I’m currently waiting for them to let me know my pre-ordered Pilot Vanishing Point Crimson Sunrise is in stock (waiting patiently is SO not my strong suit).
Anyway, (got a bit off track there) Jim’s Rainbow Demonstrator is now a super wet writer, and he’s very happy with it.
So there’s my update on the condition of both of our pens. We’re both delighted with our pens, and have 0 regrets. I’ll leave you now with some pen porn. *wink wink*
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A few weeks ago, I decided to re-read 
I’m going back to Tudor England this week with 
Bertram’s holds a special place in my heart as the store where I bought my first fountain pen. It was a red-nibbed Platinum Preppy 05. I don’t have a picture of mine, as it sadly disappeared in my recent move, but I did find 
The next time I visited, I picked up a Lamy Safari Dark Lilac, completely oblivious to the fact that I was buying a special edition. I just knew I liked the color and feel of it. I also picked up bottles of Diamine Meadow and Diamine Aqua Lagoon because they were beautiful, bright colors. I’ve since learned that just because a color is pretty doesn’t mean it will make a good writing ink. Meadow hasn’t gotten much use because a full-page of it can be hard on the eyes. 
