Advertising The Mustard Prince and Marketing My Brand

With all my family, friends and acquaintances knowing that The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom is published, and a few having bought the book, it is now time to advertise it to a more general audience. This, quite honestly, is more difficult for me than writing the book itself. I have been joining different author and writing groups on Facebook and have been getting advice. A lot of this advice consists of having a social media presence or an author’s page, which is generally common knowledge. Other advice consists of having the right book cover, but there are some that are clearly trying to advertise some sort of site or service that I just ignore. I also watched YouTube videos in advertising books, and some advice is worthwhile, yet some advice seems like a good idea but is just tedious and time-consuming.

The other thing that I have to do now is to market my brand. I brainstormed a few ideas with my wife, and we have decided on posting some sort of insights and reflections regularly on social media. The other idea that we had was to make a newsletter. I have to get an email list for this, but the idea of a newsletter sounds fun and is also just an extension of what I am already doing here with the blogs. This is all work, but it is a challenge that I want to tackle. Once I get a routine going, then I think that it will not be so daunting of a task.

Being a self-published author means that not only do I have to write books, but build a personal brand and market them as well. I am actually looking forward to trying to implement some of these marketing ideas along with joining these different authors and writers groups. The goal is to be able to become a full-time author as my primary profession, but there are definitely some struggles and challenges along the way.

Brett Cooper, WWE Backlash 2025 and Ron Josol

My wife and I went to the Irvine Improv to see Brett Cooper, a political commentator and actress. She appeals more to Gen Z, and the crowd at the show was full of young people with many being couples. Brett was pregnant but still moved around quite a bit. With her being pregnant, I do not know if she will go on tour again, or at least, anytime soon. For someone so young, she has a surprising amount of life experience. She did her set similar to how a comedian would do a set, citing more cultural happenings that are going on with just a little bit of politics sprinkled in. At the end, she did a Q & A, and overall, it was a very good show and a full house.

My friends and I also watched WWE Backlash 2025 at my place. I thought that overall, it was a solid show with some good matches and some storylines getting furthered. The stuff that WWE is doing with John Cena is getting mixed reviews. His main event Championship matches are already falling into a similar pattern, but this match against Randy Orton was entertaining nonetheless. I do not know where they are going with the John Cena character, but I am curious to know where he will end up by the time that he retires from wrestling at the end of the year.

Finally, my wife and I went to the Brea Improv to see Filipino comedian, Ron Josol. He really leaned into Filipino culture and parenting, and it was really funny. We both could strongly relate to the jokes. However, the real treat of this show was that we got to meet him after the show and take pictures with him and the opening comedians as well. My wife has been following Josol even before we met, so she was particularly exciting to meet him. Even as we were going home, we were still jazzed up from meeting them.

Overall, it was a busy and productive week, but we got to do a lot of fun stuff.

Thunderbolts* and Pirates Dinner Adventure

My wife and I watched Marvel’s Thunderbolts* the other day. I thought that it was decent, but not something that I would particularly recommend someone to see in the theaters. I would recommend someone to watch it when it comes out on streaming though, as just a relatively fun movie. Lewis Pullman as The Sentry really stood out and showed a lot of range from an awkward fish-out-of-water to someone who realized that he is a god. This movie had a lot of good ideas but just were not able to execute them as well as they could whether they were looking into mental health, the consequences of trauma, or some other idea. There was also a problem with tone, where the movie was serious in one scene but goes back to comedy in the next. I thought that Thunderbolts* was a perfectly serviceable movie, but I did not feel that it differentiated itself from other Marvel movies.

We also went to Buena Park to see the Pirates Dinner Adventure with another couple. I have seen this show more than a decade ago, but my wife has not seen it yet. She was surprised that it was a musical, and it was overall just a fun experience. No one goes there for the food, but the show itself, interactivity, and atmosphere made for a good time. We were on the blue team, and the blue pirate was the one who got the princess. Everything is pretty simple but fun, and considering that it was not too much different from when I last saw this show, they definitely have a winning formula here.

Sometimes, sticking with what works and not making big, wholesale changes is just fine. Other times, the status quo is simply not good enough, and changing things up is what is needed. Entertainment is a strange thing, as what works for one thing does not necessarily work for something else.

Coming Back From Vacation and Apocalypse Hotel

My wife and I came back from our mini vacation, and it was admittedly tough to get out of vacation mode. We did not go anywhere far or that required flying, but having not to have any obligations or responsibilities for a few days and having to go back to normal life takes some adjusting. Unpacking is always quite the chore, and going from an idle lifestyle to an active and busy one can bring a certain tiredness when we least expect it. Honestly though, it is more motivation for me to become a full-time author, as I could go on vacation anywhere and at anytime without having to worry about going back to the office.

We have also been watching a new anime, Apocalypse Hotel, that has new episodes airing every Tuesday. The is the synopsis: In an isolated Tokyo hotel, robot manager Yachiyo and staff maintain operations amid societal collapse and nature's takeover, faithfully awaiting guests return to Ginzaro. The anime is more of a comedy than anything, but there is an implicit sadness to it. Humanity is gone from Earth, and these robots are just working at this hotel with no guests. Many of the robot employees have lost operational capability, and the ones left just seemingly are awaiting that same outcome. Thankfully, things start to turn around early in the series, and we look forward to seeing what happens every week.

With things pretty much back to normal, we are just going through the usual grind. We are planning our next vacations, which will be within the year and early next year, so we have some thing to look forward to.

WrestleMania 41 and A Mini Vacation

This weekend was WrestleMania weekend, headlined on Night Two by John Cena versus Cody Rhodes. The event as a whole, Night One and Night Two, was a lot of fun with some really good matches. There was a big twist at the end of Night One. Night Two, overall, in my opinion, was better than Night One, but the main event of Night Two was not particularly strong. The story of Rhodes versus Cena played out similarly to earlier in the night when AJ Styles went up against Logan Paul. Also, The Rock’s absence could really be felt. I watched Night Two with some casual fans, and they were expecting an appearance from The Rock at some point and were disappointed when he did not show up. Travis Scott’s involvement with John Cena, Cody Rhodes and the main event scene is also just very misplaced.

Before WrestleMania Night Two, my wife and I had a mini vacation in San Diego at The Welk. We’ve been there before, but it is always really nice. One of the events that we went to was having a free dinner at Hell’s Kitchen. My wife ordered the Beef Wellington, and I got the Lobster Risotto along with various drinks. It was good, and we also went to a local taco place, which honestly had some of the best tacos that I ever had. We even went to a different locale of our church, which is always nice. We are now planning for our next vacation, which should be in just a few months from now.

Overall, it was a fun weekend. A short, local, mini vacation where we could drive to is something that my wife and I will do occasionally in the future. Thankfully, living in Orange County, San Diego is to our south, Los Angeles is to our north, Palm Springs is to our east, and Las Vegas is a doable drive as well.

Jury Duty for a High-Profile Case and My Love Will Make You Disappear

I had jury duty for two days, and it was interesting yet bothersome at the same time. The timing of this jury duty could not have come at a worse time, as I had so much to do at work along with it being really busy. I have done jury duty before but was never selected to be in a jury, nor did I have any desire to. Getting to the courthouse, I was expecting them to call group numbers to prospective cases, but this time, they called for a certain criterion of individuals. After that was done, there were over one-hundred-twenty of us, and we headed to the eleventh floor for one of the cases. We were then given a two-page form with various questions on it.

The judge told us that this was a high-profile case that reached mainstream news. The case was The People versus Ferguson where Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson was accused of shooting his wife. It was a retrial, and it was a case that I read about a year ago. We were told that Ferguson had an alcohol problem. We were each given a number, and they picked twenty-four prospective jurors from the group. They had to sit in the jury box while the rest sat in the gallery. It was a very meticulous process where all those in the jury box had to answers the questions on the form we were given. Then, the plaintiff’s attorney got to ask questions to the jurors in the jury box. Then, the defense attorney got to do the same. Afterwards, the weeded out prospective jurors one-by-one. By the end of the first day, they only picked eight or so individuals, and the judge asked us to return the next day. I was not happy with that, as I knew that I had a lot of work to do that would get even further delayed. The next day, we went through the same process, and I was not selected into the jury box. They picked the remaining jurors along with three extras. I thought that it was over, and then the judge puts us on break and tells us to come back. Back in the courtroom, they choose nine people for our group to be alternates, and I was not selected. Two of them get dismissed, and they called in two more. My anxiety admittedly shot up every time that they were calling numbers. My number was not called, and they ended up picking four from the jury box. They finally dismissed everyone, and the sense of relief with everyone was noticeable. I was in such a good mood that we were dismissed that I held the door for everyone who was leaving. Thinking back on it, if I were retired or in a different job situation, being in the jury for this particular case would have been fine with me. It was legitimately an interesting case, and it has been something of a conversation piece for me.

My wife and I also watched a Filipino movie in the theater, “My Love Will Make You Disappear,” and it was a fun movie. The synopsis for the movie is: Sari, a woman who loses every man she loves, and Jolo, a struggling landlord, cross paths as they strive to save a community from displacement. This was a romantic comedy, which tends to live and die by the leads. Thankfully, the leads played by Paulo Avelino as Jolo and Kim Chiu as Sari delivered. Kim Chiu in particular was very expressive in her acting, and I liked that they played this like a straight romantic comedy with no messaging. Not too long ago, we watched the Filipino movie, “Ex Ex Lovers” that had a lot of social messaging and brought about this idea that being single and alone is free and liberating, which we did not agree with. In “My Love Will Make You Disappear,” it was the exact opposite where being alone was very much a bad thing and not what people should sought out for.

Admittedly, the jury duty made this a really tough week for me, as I had a lot of catching up to do once I returned to work. Also, I always had something to do during the evenings, so I never really felt like I could relax. Once the weekend came, things settled down, and I can say that I am refreshed and recharged for this upcoming week.

A Working Man, Black Bag and Friends Buying The Mustard Prince

My wife and I saw a few movies this week. We first watched “A Working Man” starring Jason Statham, and it was actually a bit below my expectations. I was hoping for something more like Jason Statham’s previous movie, “The Beekeeper,” where it was just ridiculous, mindless fun and lots of action. “A Working Man” has a some really slow parts, and the pacing is a bit all over the place. One review said that the script has too much skullduggery when it needed more skull smashing, something that Statham excels at.

We also watched the movie, “Black Bag,” and this was a surprisingly good movie. The synopsis is: “When his beloved wife, Kathryn, is suspected of betraying the nation, intelligence agent George Woodhouse faces the ultimate test -- loyalty to his marriage or his country.” We were surprised at the run time, approximately an hour and a half. While the movie did not have much in terms of actions, it had strong dialogue, an intriguing story, and very interesting characters. The movie has an all-star cast including: Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett and Pierce Brosnan, among others, and the movie really did live and die by their performances. This is not a movie that anyone is really talking about, but it is one of those good movies that is flying under the radar.

Some friends and acquaintances of mine have shown me pictures of receiving paperback copies of The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom. I am very grateful that they spent their hard-earned money to buy my book. I can only hope that they read it, or maybe their kids read it and enjoy it. It is one thing to write and publish a book, but it is another thing to know if readers enjoy it or not. I can only hope that with some advertising and creativity that a general audience would buy and enjoy my book as well.

There are some things that we come into with different expectations, and those expectations can be met, below or above what we expected. Movies, books and all entertaining work that way. There is a risk in putting something out, as it can have a big audience or a small audience, but that really is the risk that all creative types make.

Royalties and Seeing Old Friends

I received my first royalties for the paperback version of The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom. It was less than twenty dollars, but this is the reality of self-publishing. It is something that I was fully aware of, and I never had the notion that my book would immediately be the next Harry Potter. Advertising and marketing are going to be a necessity, and I am of the mentality that in order to sell books, I will have to “pay to play,” which may entail losing money in order to gain an audience, or the opposite. There are other things that we can do though in order to advertise the book, but there is definitely a lot of work to be done even after writing and publishing the book, especially for self-publishing.

My wife and I also recently met up with some of my old friends, and it was a good time. While we have stayed in contact via social media and text, there is nothing like meeting face-to-face. Also, we met up in a much different stage in our lives being married, some having kids and whatnot. My wife and I particularly liked that we all shared similar viewpoints and values, so to be able to talk about things that we can all relate to was great. While there was some reminiscing going on, what we talk about now as adults is much different than before, which is to be expected.

With the book at this point, everything is a trial-and-error learning experience. I hope to gain an audience, but I will definitely have to work for it. However, seeing how things have turned out so far being adults, we achieve things and future outcomes by working for it.

Severance Season 2 Finale and The Published Paperback

My wife and I watched the season two finale of the television show, Severance. After it was over, I thought that might have been the end of the series, but after checking online, I discovered that it has been renewed for a third season. This series explores various ideas including identity, love, loss, grief, and so many other topics. With this season finale, so many characters had to make difficult choices and having the audience biting their nails seeing what the characters will do. The ending was rather shocking, but not all that surprising in hindsight. It was also neat seeing the main character, Mark Scout, having a conversation with himself in a creative way.

We also finally released the paperback for The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom on Amazon. After seeing preview samples for this book, we finally got it right. So far, I have only given copies to my immediate family and a good friend of mine, but we do have plans to strongly market this book. It Is still a strange thing to see an actual physical book of mine out there, and I really just hope that it gets an audience. I would really like the intended audience, middle grade, reading this book as a form of enjoyment and escapism. The work is far from over, as I have to now advertise and convince people to buy my book.

Certain things end, yet they are not over, whether that is television shows or books. I, along with so many others, are waiting with bated breath for the third season of Severance, just like I am waiting to see who will buy and read my book.

Church Week and Eating Out

My wife is a choir member in our church, and I am a deacon. There was a special event for our church this week, and we had to participate. Preparation took a lot of our time, and in order not to get sick this week, I did not attend Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practice for the week. The day of the event took more than half a Saturday, but it was good. It was the first time for me performing as a deacon, and I did not mess anything up, so that was good. Overall, it was a good experience performing in our church along with my wife.

In the aftermath of the special event, my wife and I ate out a good amount. We had shabu shabu, thai food and ate out at a Hawaiian breakfastplace. It was nice to just relieve any stress and cool down. We definitely lazed about and ate not-so-healthy, but we know that we will have to get back to eating better and exercising regularly. There comes a point where eating out becomes “not special,” so we’ll probably calm that down a bit moving forward, along with just saving money. There are some dishes that my wife can make at home anyways, like the thai food: crying tiger, and it would be a lot less costly.

Working towards something and then relaxing afterwards is a nice feeling. Doing things for church is a good thing, and the rest and relaxation feels more earned than just being idle.

Getting Book Samples and Timeshare

I finally received samples of the paperback for The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom. It was honestly unreal to see the book in printed form for the first time. Before putting out the final version of the paperback, my wife decided for us to see the samples first, and we did find a few things that could be fixed. Self-publishing is very much a trial-and-error endeavor. There was just something different seeing the book in printed form instead of on a screen or monitor, making it more “real” in a sense. It was years in the making, and seeing the nearly finished product in print form was very satisfying.

My wife and I purchased a timeshare not long ago that is usable in many parts of the world and are already discussing different places to vacation in. Hawaii looks to be our first destination, but even places more local like Santa Barbara are on the table. It is pretty exciting as our timeshare includes discounts on air fare along with other privileges. I can imagine using this in vacationing with family as well since we are able to get multiple rooms. I can see my wife and I using this at least once a year, if not more, and it will be fun vacationing around the world.

Things are strongly moving forward with the book and in future vacationing plans. I am looking forward to where The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom goes and hope that a wide audience will read and enjoy it.

WWE Elimination Chamber 2025 and Buying Property in Philippines

This year’s WWE Elimination Chamber had one of the best endings that I have seen in a while. John Cena, after years of being a babyface (good guy), turned heel (bad guy). It was a long time coming, and no one expected it until after the Men’s Elimination Chamber match ended. Along with The Rock, who is the Final Boss, this build to Wrestlemania went from zero to one-hundred in a hurry. The lead-up to this year’s Wrestlemania up until Elimination Chamber was just okay – nothing bad, but pales in comparison to last year’s with Cody Rhodes versus The Bloodline storyline. Now, with a heel John Cena versus the top babyface Champion, Cody Rhodes, along with The Rock looming over the proceedings, this Wrestlemania just became highly anticipated.

My parents just came back from the Philippines. They are retired and go there every year around winter time because of the weather. My wife and I will most likely emulate that decades from now, but we can prepare for that day now. We have spoken about buying property in the Philippines as a vacation home, and maybe use it as an AirBNB or other such rental while we are not there. It is motivation to work hard, be frugal, and be patient while working towards a common goal. Ideally, I would like to buy land there and build a home, but that would take a lot of money and time. To start out, a condo would suffice.

Like with what the WWE product is doing right now, we are looking to build towards the future. It takes a lot of time and work, but the payoff should be worth it.

Ex Ex Lovers and the Final Product

My wife and I watched a Filipino movie in theaters, Ex Ex Lovers. My wife was a fan of the cast, and many of these actors and actresses were very popular decades ago, so nostalgia was a selling point. The story centers around two ex-couples reconnecting for their daughter’s wedding, and it started off well enough. However, somewhere around the middle, the movie started to bring about political messaging, and that is where I felt that the movie just fell apart. The messaging that was being brought to the audience negatively affected the story, in my opinion, leaving me confused and making it difficult to suspend disbelief. Crying tears of joy over a marriage annulment after seemingly reconnecting positively with an ex-spouse just came across bizarre and strange, for example.

Otherwise, there has been church stuff and writing stuff that has been taking up a lot of our time this week. Formatting The Mustard Prince to be put out in paperback has been quite the grind, not dissimilar to editing. It goes to show that the final product of anything takes a lot of work before being perfected and put to market. In movies, during the credits, we see so many names and companies, and that is because so much work behind the scenes and off-camera is being done. With a book, a lot of editing, re-writing, proofreading and formatting is being done so that the final product looks its best.

While getting to the final product is tough, there is only so much that can be done so that audiences will like the product. While there is luck in that, I feel that creators also make their own luck through hard work, grinding, perseverance, and perfecting.

Cobra Kai Finale and Captain America: Brave New World

My wife and I watched the last episodes of the Cobra Kai series on Netflix, and it ended really good. The story arcs for John Kreese, Johnny Lawrence, Miguel, Tori, Daniel and others really went full circle. I remember watching this when it was still on YouTube Red, and now, six seasons later, it finally ended. There are rumors that the creators are working on a spin-off, and considering that we have grown with the non-legacy characters, I can see stories being made featuring Miguel, Robbie, Zara of the Iron Dragons, or other characters. The only thing that did not happen was a cameo from Julie Pierce of The Next Karate Kid. After everything is said and done, Cobra Kai was Johnny Lawrence’s story with him battling through personal demons and professional setbacks to finally get a happy ending, essentially being the Karate Kid by the end of it. While the show got campy and convoluted at times, the creators did a great job of being loyal to the source material but making a product that was modern, funny, exciting, and enjoyable.

We also watched the new Captain America: Brave New World movie this week. Admittedly, coming in, I was expecting it to be really bad, as the reviews were not great, and Marvel not having the best track record as of late. I did enjoy it more than I thought that I would, and considering that we have a Regal Movie Pass, it’s no big deal if it was really bad. The good was that I liked some of the characters like Sam Wilson and the new Falcon, and it at least acknowledged this huge plot hole from the Eternals. There were a lot of negatives to it though. There were apparently a bunch of re-shoots, and that showed itself. There was a lot of use of green screen, which was noticeable. Some side characters were just kind of there but did not play a huge role by the end. Sam Wilson’s suit was too buffed with various technology and abilities, so his powers did not feel earned but given to him. For him to be able to survive against Red Hulk is a bit of a stretch. Some reviewers call this movie a Frankenstein’s monster, in that it was trying to be so many things at once along with Sam Wilson having Captain America’s shield, Ant Man’s helmet, the Falcon’s wings, Wakandan technology and more, and that is a valid criticism.

We watched the end of a series in Cobra Kai, that may very well continue if spin-offs, and a movie that was the beginning of a new Captain America. Some endings finish very well, while some beginnings can be very rough.

Flight Risk and Superbowl LIX

My wife and I watched the movie, Flight Risk, the other day. It started out good, and throughout the middle of the movie, it was interesting. Mark Wahlberg played his role well of an unhinged and crazy antagonist. Everyone else played their roles well, especially a character who helped the main character through the radio. There were very few characters overall, with some of the major characters only heard through phone or radio. The issue with the movie though is that it pretty much ends right at the climax. The ending comes quite suddenly, and there just felt like a lack of finality to the film. If the ending was better, I think that I’d have liked it much more.

We also watched Superbowl LIX. The defense of the Philadelphia Eagles was on point, and they seemed to have just studied the Kansas City Chiefs extensively. It was a blowout, pretty much, with the Chiefs scoring in the fourth quarter, but that just seemed like the Eagles running out the clock as they were so far ahead by then. The halftime show with Kendrick Lamar was okay, in my opinion, but noticeably patriotic. The commercials this time around did not stand out like in other years. Besides commercials for some of the summer movies coming out, and a lot of commercials for homes.com, I was not particularly impressed with the commercials.

Not everything will be great, I suppose. Some movies, despite being the top movie for the week, can fail to live up to expectations. Some Superbowls, unless your team won, will not have all the pizzazz as expected. This is fine though, as things cannot always be great.

Church Duties and Bathroom Fixed

My wife and I had a really busy week. I just recently took up an office in my church as a deacon, and there was a lot to learn. It was not particularly difficult or anything, but just a few things to remember along with consuming a little more of my time. This is still an adjustment and takes some getting used to, but I felt duty-bound to commit to this duty. My church and God have done a lot for me from owning property, getting married and whatnot that this is the least I could do. I am actually just looking forward to when I am used to all this, and this becomes normal routine.

My condo has two bathrooms, and one of them has been out of commission for months now. We reached out to our HOA to have this fixed one time, but it was during the holidays, and they were not available. Timing with vacations, sickness and whatnot also caused delays. Our HOA also brought in a new management company which complicated things. Finally, I reached out to them, and they said that they’d try to get it approved. Two days later, there was still no response, so my wife insisted on sending them a sterner yet respectful email to the HOA, and we got approved. The bathroom was finished, finally, and it is just so nice having two bathrooms again, with each of us having our own bathroom to use. Admittedly, while my HOA is not that bad for what they provide, I have never been fans of an HOA. It operates like a small bureaucracy where money is poured in, and some things do get done, but issues like we had tended to be resolved more slowly than I would like.

Things are changing early in 2025, but for the better. A big issue in our home finally got fixed, and I am taking more duties in my church. Getting big things completed is just such a relief, and I would like more big things like writing more books or owning more properties to get done in the future.

New Things and Severance

After our trip to San Diego, things have been good. My wife and I are already planning our next vacation and places that we can stay. Frontrunners include Hawaii, Japan, Europe or Cabo, among other options. Travelling to the Philippines is always something that we will do pretty much on a yearly or near yearly basis as well. Also, there are changes with my role in my church, so I will have a few more responsibilities. It is already the beginning of the year, and we are already experiencing some new and exciting things.

My wife and I have also been watching the television series, Severance, on AppleTV. It is a really fascinating show with a concept that really makes one think, in that they have characters who have severed their work life with their personal life, making the two totally separate entities within an individual. The setting and use of perspective give the show a real disjointed and confusing feeling. The story contains a good amount of mystery, revealing just a little per episode. Also, the characters are interesting and have their own quirks. I am intrigued and wonder where this story is ultimately going.

It has already been an interesting and exciting 2025 so far. There are changes going on, and there are no shortages of new things to watch. 2025 so far has been pretty good to us.

The Welk and Godfrey

My wife and I spent our anniversary with a vacation. We stayed at The Welk in Escondido in San Diego County. It is about an hour from where we live, so we could drive there without it feeling like the transit was very long. The Welk itself is a big resort with a golf course, many villas, pools and other amenities. Being in San Diego County though, we decided to try different places to eat, like Galpao Gaucho on the San Diego Harbor, Filippis Pizza Grotto and Swami’s. Galpao Gaucho was the best Brazilian Barbecue place that I have eaten at so far.

On our first night in San Diego County, my wife went to The Comedy Store in La Jolla to watch Godfrey. Admittedly, we did not know much about him but wanted to check out a comedy club since we were down there. Usually, we watch comedians at the Improv, which is a nice, big and clean venue that serves food and drinks. The Comedy Store was a much smaller venue and a bit gritty. Godfrey’s opening act was good, but then at the very end, he had a bit that was more of a political statement than a joke, and he just lost me and my wife at the end because of it. Godfrey himself was very funny. His impressions of the likes of Donald Trump, Jason Statham, and others was spot-on. He joked on things that he observed, but did not seem to be making a political statement about the topic he was joking about, which I found refreshing.

Our vacation in San Diego County was great. While there was more that we wanted to do, we had fun, relaxed and ate some really good food. It was just a nice break from things, and now, it is just about getting back to reality as there is a lot to take care of.

Releasing The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom and Marketing the Book

The definitive version of The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom has been released as an eBook on Kindle. My wife and I are still looking into getting physical copies out as well. It was a long time coming, as this book has been worked on and re-edited so many times with added artwork. Once the book was available, I knew that I had to inform family and friends of the release. I was apprehensive at first actually, as it is not something that people were expecting from me. I told some really close friends first as they knew that this was coming out, and once I told them, then I felt comfortable telling others.

The immediate reaction was not something that I was particularly comfortable with, to be honest. I have only been forthcoming about writing a book with just a few people and mentioned it in passing with others. There were many people that were surprised that I wrote this book and had no idea that I was even writing a book. I received a lot of “congratulations” as well. I am fully aware that self-publishing is very difficult in getting people to know about my book. One would think that I did the hardest thing in writing it, and while there is some truth to that, it was also something that I could do by myself in my own terms, Now, I have to advertise and market this book, convincing people to put their own money into my product. I feel as if writing the book is something of the first step, as what is the point of writing a book and putting it out there if no one reads it? Thankfully, me and my wife are developing strategies to market The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom. I feel that telling family and friends was just something of a “soft opening,” but the “grand opening” is yet to come.

I am not looking to be the next Harry Potter but setting more realistic goals for this book. I am exciting for what is to come, and I really want to do this correctly with due diligence as far as advertising and marketing. We will definitely do what we can, and we can only hope for the best.

New Years 2025 and Plans for the Year

2024 came and went quite quickly. My wife and I stayed home this New Years Eve, eating Mediterranean food along with some desserts. We spent New Years Day with family, as that was a day of from work. I went back to practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu the day after. It was decided that we purchase a vision board to write our goals and plans for 2025. It is nice to have something visible for us to see as a reminder and motivation. I think that having a tangible, physical reminder also just has a greater influence on us to actually do what we want to set out to do. Hopefully, we will achieve our goals this year.

I am looking forward to a few things this year. My wife and I have a vacation to San Diego planned this month for our wedding anniversary. We have already gotten tickets to see the comedian, Godfrey, when we are in San Diego, and we plan to visit the San Diego Zoo, eat at different places, and see some sites. We also have plans to advertise the Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom novel that we plan to release in February, so I am excited about that. Hopefully, we can get another vacation in this year to some place like Europe, Hawaii, or Japan. We also plan to visit the Philippines later this year.

I am looking forward to this year, as I think it will be the start of getting many goals completed. Also, many new anime, movies and television shows are going to come out this year. We already have some things like a short vacation and getting my book out early this year, and the rest of the year is open for anything.