Mathis Talks about writing and “The Mysterious Bed”
If the video is not below, click here for the video.
Friday, June 3, 2011
I have just approved "The Mysterious Bed" and it is now available.
If you wish to order an autographed copy, please return to the front page of my website, log in, and click on 'Order "The Mysterious Bed"' and fill out the form and follow the instructions on the next page.
You do not have to have a PayPal account to pay by credit card at the link you will be taken to after you fill out your mailing information. If you do not want an autographed copy, there's a link on my front page that will take you to the publishers' website where you can order it direct.
You will eventually be able to order it from Amazon.com, but it may take up to six weeks before it appears there. You may also order it from your local bookstore if you prefer.
The ISBN is: 978-1461006619. Just give that number to your local bookstore and they'll order it for you.
Again,this is a Print On Demand book and there is no sex in it. Although the main character is gay, your grandmother would enjoy reading it.
Thanks,
Mathis…
Monday, May 02, 2011
Hello, all.
I just wanted to give you an update.I have given the proof for “The Mysterious Bed” to a friend to read through to look for anything major. She got involved trying to get ready for a garage sale, so she hasn’t even started on it yet.Her sale is this weekend, so I’ll give her to the end of the month.If she hasn’t gotten it done by then, I’ll take it away from her and do it myself.I’ll have been away from it long enough by then that I should be able to catch most problems. Sorry for the delay, but I do believe it’ll be better for someone else to proof it one last time.I’ve had it edited professionally, but I just want to make sure since this one is going to be printed and afterwards, there will be no options to get anything corrected.So now I’m going to say that it’s going to be available (hopefully) in late June-early July.
Remember, if you are interested in getting an autographed copy, you can pre-order it now through my home page.
You may have noticed that I took down the “Free Stories” link.I went through all of the stories and “cleaned them up” and then uploaded them as eBooks to Smashwords.com.I am now making money on them, which is a good thing since I’m out of a job.And I have already “cleaned up” the “Shipwrecked/Climb to the Top” series that was posted – found a major mistake in “Shipwrecked: Rescue at Smuggler’s Cove” and was surprised no one noticed/mentioned it—and I am working on “Shipwrecked: Family Reunion” so as soon as I get it finished, the entire series will be available at Smashwords.com as an eBook the same way I did the “Halloween Night/The Golden Locket” Series.You’ll be able to get it through my Published Stories link when I release it. If you’re on my list, I’ll notify you when I get it published.This will be the final finale of this series, and I've already got Dima (nitrocovers.com) working on the cover for me. But I’ve already got several stories on the back burner that I started when I had an idea, so those will be coming in the future. So, just because all the current stories are published don’t worry, there will be more in the future.Since I’m not working now, I’m totally spending all my free time writing, so it’s safe for me to say that I’m a “Full time Author”.Yay!
Better get back to work on this story. I’m trying to figure out what this hotel is going to look like.
Mathis…
Tuesday, 12 April 2011 9:50 PM
I just received the cover for “Texas Heat” from Dima, the guy in Russia (nitrocovers.com), this evening and was able to get it published, so it’s processing as I type.So all of the stories that I had for free on my website are currently published through “Smashwords.com”.And I’ve already sold 27 copies of them.
I had Sizzler Editions publish “Storm” and “The House on Willow Creek Lane. And “The Birthday Surprise, Weekend, Just Another Day at the Office, and Week’s Vacation” are all in “The Birthday Surprise & Other Gay Male Erotica by Mathis B. Rogers”.
Then I used Smashwords.com to publish the other 16 stories myself.
I received my second proof for “The Mysterious Bed” today, so now to get to work on reading through it to make sure it’s as close to perfect as it can get so I can get it published and anyone who wants a copy can order it.You can currently pre-order an Autographed copy on the homepage at my website.Just create an account and follow the instructions there.
I am getting closer to being done with “The Golden Locket: The Cruise”.I have friend I take to physical therapy three times a week and the hour and a half that they’re torturing her, I am working on it.So hopefully it’ll be done by the end of the month, but you know how bad I am with deadlines, so I won’t make any promises.
I’ll keep you informed.
Mathis….
Saturday, 02 April 2011 1:03 PM
As you’ve probably noticed, I’m moving all my stories over to eBook format. Everyone in my list has read all of them and I haven’t had much activity lately on my website, so I decided to submit them to a different format for a new group of readers and to actually make money on them.If I sell the eBook for 2.99, I actually get 2.00 for it.The reason I split 
“The Wedding” (cover by nitrocovers.com) between the Amazon Kindle Store and Smashwords is because I wasn’t aware of Smashwords and had already submitted it to Amazon before I found out that Smashwords was an option.I also discovered that they let you download the eBook in EPUB format and if you have a Sony eReader, an Ipad, or a Kindle, or you can read them on your PC.Amazon is just the Kindle.Bigger market, more sales.
And, speaking of sales, I just published “The Wrong Crowd” 
last night and had already sold a copy this morning by the time I got up.Yeah!
I even “revisited” “Hot Sensations”. 
There were a lot of comments about it back when I posted it.And I really did need to “clean it up”.So, I spent a few days going through it and did “clean it up” quite a bit.But there wasn’t anything that I found that I could actually be comfortable removing.So except for the errors, it’s the same.Wow, I am impressed though, how much technology has advanced since 1996.As I was going through it, I kept asking myself, “Why did I have him do that?” — You know, like dial up modems.Having to plug your cellphone into the cigarette lighter just to use it. Well, that’s the way things were back then.“We’ve come a looooong way, baby.” I did publish it as an eBook on the 22nd and have already sold four copies.
Okay, so I’m not going to make a killing — or a living — on these, but at least the money is coming in.It’s also going out because I have to pay for the cover artwork. But I really like the work that Dima is doing (nitrocovers.com).I’ve also made a few myself at myecovermaker.com (I did the two above without links beside them) and I like the way they’ve come out. But I have to pay for the artwork from other places for them, too.So hopefully, I’ll at least break even on the covers. You all know what my characters look like in your heads, so it’s VERY difficult to find pictures of guys who look like the ones in MY head.
I’m also excited about Createspace.com being available to let me publish my first novel – even though “Hot Sensations” is a novel, I wrote “The Mysterious Bed” 
(cover by nitrocovers.com) back in 1994 and finished it in 1995.Talk about technology changing since then.It will be available as a PoD (Print on Demand) book.I ordered the Galley Proof yesterday and it should be here by Friday.If everything goes well in it, I should be able to make the link available for you to purchase it by the end of April. The advertisement is already available on the front of my website and you can pre-order an Autographed copy, if you’d like one.Unfortunately, for me to even make fifty cents per book from Amazon on it, I have to charge at least $14.95 US.It doesn’t have any “on screen” sex in it, and I do believe that if your grandmother could get over the fact that the main character is gay, she’d really enjoy the story line because it has a really strong romantic story line.
It’s been almost a year since I posted “A Second Chance”, and I am still working on “The Golden Locket: The Cruise”; I hope to have it done soon.But since I’m still unemployed (there are no jobs in this area and everyone is starting to lay people off) I want to get the stories I’ve got on my website now published so I can get some money coming in.I’m not getting unemployment since I was fired.
So what does the conversion to selling eBooks mean to you, a free reader?
Good question.
I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to publish the “Halloween Night” series, so since “The Golden Locket: The Cruise” is in it, you’ll have at least one more free story.
I am going to gather up some energy and go through and clean up and get the “Shipwrecked/Climb to the Top” series ready for publication. And I will write one more story called “Shipwrecked: Family Reunion”. If you recall in “Thunder in Paradise” they were getting ready to go to a Peterson Family reunion “Next Summer”. I wrote that in 2002. So I guess it’s time for “Next Summer” to get here. I’ll have to read through the Smashwords instructions again, but I’m going to see if I can get it all cleaned up for a really big eBook and “Family Reunion” will be the final finale in it. I am considering getting it published through Createspace as well, so it’ll be a PoD, too, but I might not be able to because of the size of it.
I’ll keep you informed.
Also, if you haven’t visited my site lately, I now have an RSS feed available for my blog (which this is also posted there).
Now, I’d better get back to work getting the rest of my stories published, so I can get to work on the next story for you.
Mathis…
Obituary for Oleta Rogers
Oleta Bowen Rogers, 87, of Plainview, died the morning of Thursday, March 24, 2011.
Oleta was born in Wellington, Texas August 27, 1923.
She is survived by her sister, Gwenn Farnsworth of San Jose, Ca, her sons Mitt Rogers of Carlsbad, NM,and Mathis Rogers of Lubbock, Tx.A granddaughter, Lauren Rogers of Dallas, TX, a granddaughter, Amber Birgè, a grandson, Brandon Birgè, and a great granddaughter, Arianna, of Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
She donated her body to the Texas Tech Health Science Center and, per her request, there will not be a memorial service.
In lieu of flowers, please make your donations to
Alzheimer’s Association.
3610 22nd St
Suite 300
Lubbock, TX 79410
Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts. I am so thankful that she didn't suffer.
As you've probably noticed, I'm getting to work on converting all the stories here into eBooks, so I can start making some money, since I'm still unemployed.
I'll keep you informed.
Mathis…
Posted 3-25-11 2:55 PM
Wednesday, 16 March 2011 12:15 PM
Just a quick note to let you know what's going on. I'm still happily unemployed. There are no jobs around here that I'm either interested in or qualified for. Even the Texas Workforce Commission isn't sending me any leads. But I'm doing okay.
I got a call from the Prairie House in Plainview a few weeks ago and they said that since Mother isn't trying to get out any more, that she didn't need to be in lock up (the secure Alzheimer's unit). So I decided it'd be okay to bring her to Lubbock. She's in a nice place here that is about 4.3 miles from my house. So I can go see her more frequently. Unfortunately, the new place called me yesterday and told me that she seems to have forgotten how to swallow. I will have to discuss my options with my aunt before making any decisions. about putting in a feeding tube. At least she's closer and I'm not working, so I can spend more time with her now.
Now the good news!
I finally found an artist to do my eCovers. He's in Russia and his website is nitrocovers.com
I got him to create an eCover for "The Wedding" and I love it! I submitted it in eBook format to Amazon's Kindle publishing area yesterday, so as soon as it gets published, I'll put the cover on my front page. I found a place called myecovers.com that I used to create the "book" looking covers that were published by my publisher. I never did like just the flat ecover, so I am glad I was able to create the 3D book look.
I also found an editor and she's in the process of editing "The Mysterious Bed" for me. So I have nitrocovers working on a cover for it.
And, yes, I have been spending so much time on all this that I haven't had too much time to be working on "The Golden Locket: The Cruise" but I will get back to it and get it posted.
Take care and I'll keep you informed.
Mathis…
Thursday, January 27 2:16 PM
I just figured out how to install a component that will allow everyone to subscribe to my RSS Feed. You should receive Blog updates that I post here automatically when I post them. Just click here to sign up.
I had my "Assessment" test with a company here in town Friday. I didn't pass it, so I'm still unemployed. Oh, well, at least I am still enjoying my "retirement" and have more time to write.
Will keep you informed.
Thursday, January 20, 2011 7:54 PM
Hello, all.
I just got email from my publisher that "The House on Willow Creek Lane" has been released. I really wanted a picture of the guys in front of the house, but since I can't find anyone to do my artwork for me, I guess "beggars can't be choosers."
I will continue to see if I can get an artist so I don't have to have her publish another one for me, though.
I enjoyed my birthday (yesterday). A couple of friends came to town Tuesday and we had a blast, then I spent yesterday relaxing and trying to recuperate from it.
I do have a job interview tomorrow. It's a job that I wouldn't mind having, so hopefully I'll get it.
Take care and I'll keep you informed.
Mathis….
Saturday, December 25, 2010: 09:20 PM
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and didn't eat too much.
I had a great Christmas and didn't eat too much. I was hoping that since I went to a friend's that I wouldn't have the temptation of left overs, but they seemed to follow me home, so I'm set for next week.
If you're on my Notification List you received a Christmas e-Letter from me. I did receive several of them back "Undeliverable" for unknown addresses. So if you thought you were on my list and didn't get one, then please email me to get back on my list. Please let me know what your old address is so I can remove it if you change it.
I've figured out that I'm terrible with "Dead lines" so I'm not going to guesstimate when "The Golden Locket: The Cruise" is going to be finished any more. But I am still working on it so it will eventually get done. I just thought of something else to add, so it might be another long one.
Thanks again for reading, and I hope you have a Happy New Year.
Mathis…