Writer of Fiction, Painter of Life and Energy

Love Songs or Obsession?

2012-02-23T08:58:00.001-06:00

As an indie author it only stands to reason that I pay attention to words. Even as a teenager, the lyrics of popular songs meant even more to me than the music. My husband is the opposite. He likes songs for the beat or the melody. Most of the time he does not know the lyrics. Of course, he used to play the drums, so that makes perfect sense.

I used to think about how the lyrics showed undying love for a person. How romantic, I thought. Then I noticed something. Most of the words to songs about love aren't about love at all. They are about obsession. They are about the person singing the song; all the things another person makes them feel.

Pay attention this week to lyrics. Love is about what you can do for another person to make them happy or make their life more wonderful. It is not about what they can do for you or how they make you feel. Sure, it is great to feel those things, but that is not love. It can be unhealthy romance. It can be lust. But in itself, those feelings are not love. Love, you see, is not narcissistic or selfish. Lust and "in love" can very much be those two things.

Why do we categorize possessive songs and songs about fixation as love songs? Maybe that partly explains why so many young girls put up with abusive boyfriends. Do they think that it is love that drives those boyfriends to wanting to control their every move? Do they think that means the guy worships them?

I don't know. But I always found it creepy that Every Breath You Take by Sting was considered a romantic song that people rushed out onto the dance floor to celebrate. Really? Every breath you take, every step you make, I'll be watching you. Ummm. Ok. Thanks for giving me a heads up that I need to call the cops.

Songs about how someone makes the person feels. Songs about how they want to spend every second with you. Songs about how you are on their mind every minute of every day. Songs about how all they do is dream about you. Hey, I like being important. But I don't want to be a butterfly pinned to a piece of pager for anyone to admire. Sorry. My wings are meant for flying.

We need to remember that we all need to fly. Once in awhile, often if we are lucky, we fly with another. But they never clip our wings. And they never cause us to crash to the ground when we go off for awhile on our own.

Love isn't about owning another person. It is about allowing them the freedom to fully live and thrive. Love is about them, not you. Sometimes you are fortunate enough that real love is reciprocated. That is when your heart really sings of love. And the lyrics are beautiful.

Gideon Grows (The Pleasure of Watching a Baby Grow)

2012-02-22T10:57:00.002-06:00

Some of you may remember when I posted about the baby being born next door. I had posted that Gideon was born in August and we became grandparents to him, since his blood grandparents are all out of state. (See Loving Gideon).

This has been quite an experience for two childless by choice free spirits! Gideon is now six months old. What fun it has been to see the changes that occur in six short months! Since we did not have children we really have not been part of that. Sure, we saw other people's babies, but we didn't see them even monthly all of the time. To see a baby a couple of times a week is amazing!

Gideon is now eating rice cereal, carrots and peas. I have fed him all of those and it is a joyful experience. How someone can get so excited about mashed up peas is puzzling...but I enjoy seeing such pure, uncomplicated pleasure.

He can also roll over from front to back and keep rolling. No more leaving the room when he is on floor. He is extremely interested in trying to hoist himself up. Soon, he will be crawling and then this Grandma will be in for a lot more exercise every time she babysits. I look forward to it, yet I hate seeing him leave that precious infant stage.

Gideon is teething. I let him chew on my finger and it feels like there are several possible teeth coming, even in the back. His mom says they got several teeth at once, so maybe that is what is going on here. He can get a bit testy when his teeth are bothering him. I call it "throwing an Appleton". I don't know how many of you remember the cartoon Tom Terrific. Crabby Appleton was the villian. For some reason I LOVED Crabby Appleton. I think it was because he was so expressive. Gideon is not nearly as crabby as I would think a teething baby would be. Maybe that is yet to come.

Gampa Dave is a favorite of Gideon's. How he smiles and laughs when Gampa plays with him. When Dave is in the room, Gideon's has eyes only for him. I am glad. I know how much Dave loves him, and he does not get to see him as much as I do.

I babysit every Friday and sometimes other days or nights. We usually get to see him at least two times a week. I am trying to figure out how to kidnap him, but I am afraid Jen and Shon would know to check our house first. Sigh.

Besides, it is nice not to have the obligations, just the pleasures. What fun it is to finally get to watch a person develop in all of their stages, but not have the constant responsibility or finanical obligations. We can jump in the car and go places, sleep as late as we want; not worry as much as a parent. Still, I now think about things that might be a danger to him. Loving a child definitely changes your perspective on everything.

Last Friday Gideon was showing me that he had discovered his tongue (photo is not Gideon). He was proud to show it and would stick it out and then laugh. I then would say "Your tongue! Oh, look, Gideon's tongue!" After a while, I asked "Show me your tongue." He did. I tried several times and he would show it. A new trick, compliments of Gamma Caddy and Gideon.

My nicknames for him are Gumdrop and Gid Kid. I try to call him Gumdrop as much as possible because I know that soon enough he will rebel against that name, demanding that I stop calling him that. Then it will be only a happy memory of baby times.

Babies. Aren't they something? We used to roll our eyes whenever people went on and on about them...and now we know. Still glad we did not have them, but damn. Babies. Yeah, they are something special. I have a feeling Gideion will be very special to us his whole life. And, even when he is 30, he will still be my Gumdrop. I just won't tell him to his face.

Facebook Overload

2012-02-21T10:38:00.001-06:00

As an Indie Author I have found Facebook invaluable for finding book reviewers and bloggers. As any indie can tell you, reviews from bloggers and book reviewers are imperative to being taken seriously as an author. Friends can, and do, write reviews for authors. However, strangers can always tell when a review is biased. Therefore, we authors spend many hours searching for reviewers and inquiring if our book can please be reviewed. Facebook has helped a lot in that respect.

However, a few months back Facebook changed the look of the newsfeed. Now so much information comes across that any personal friend's message is likely to get lost. I thought I had solved it by making each of my contacts a "close friend". Ha! I thought smugly, I will just click on close friends and lose a lot of the other stuff.

Unfortunately, Facebook decided that I want to know every move each "close friend" makes. I now have to see each comment they make on any of their other friends posts, even though I don't know those people. I have to see every picture strangers post because a "friend" of mine commented on it.
This makes it impossible to catch everything someone says that I actually would like to comment on, unless I quit writing and painting so that can Facebook full time. Therefore, I might as well not be on Facebook at all.

Plus it really feels like an invasion of privacy. I don't think it is every friend of a friend's business what I say on Facebook, nor do they need to see everything I post. Evidently others feel this way, too, because I am seeing a whole lot more of just generic sayings and photos being posted than I am original thoughts. Why take the time to share your thoughts if they just get lost in all of the yada yada with strangers that Facebook decided we should care about?

Yeah, I know some people have said you "just hover over a persons name and click on something or another" and you won't see all of those extra posts. Not only am I not sure if that will then also eliminate the comments I SHOULD see, but I simply don't have the time to do that to every contact I have on Facebook. Unless you have about 10 friends on there it would take hours or days.

I used to really love going on there. Now it gets me tense. Too much information by too many people I don't know and the fear that I am missing posts from people I do care about. I post a lot of things about my writing. I don't want my friends to think I am only interested in sharing MY stuff...but I am afraid it may look that way. Of course, they may not see my stuff either. I have noticed a drop off in commenta about anything I post, both professional and personal. Unless you hang on facebook all day and make it your social center I think it is just too hard to look through the mess and find the posts to comment on.

I hear more changes are in the works. So far, the changes have not been for the good. I would like things back to clean and simple. That way I could actually see what my contacts are saying and show them I give a damn by commenting more often. So much for "social" networking. This is just a bunch of information jammed down our throats and it is no longer effective or fun.

Sex or bowling? (Three dates, sex ,or you're out?)

2012-02-17T07:39:00.000-06:00

As an indie author I have the ability to create all kinds of situations for my characters. Gastien was not the type of man to "date". When he did fall in love, he fought it the whole way. Yet he told himself they could be friends. Therefore, they walked a lot; sat and talked a lot. Got to know each other.

That is something often missing in these times. Couples tend to go to bed by the third date at the latest. I heard from a single friend that the unspoken rule is if you don't end up in bed by then, the relationship is going nowhere and it is time to meet someone else. Really? You know each other well in 3 dates?

I am no prude. In fact, most people would say I way too earthy. But isn't sex, well, the most intimate thing you can do with someone? How can you want to share that intimacy with someone you don't even know? It isn't recreation. Do daters today look at each other and say, "What do you think? A movie? Bowling? Or sex? What do you feel like?"

See, the problem is, once you have sex that is all you are interested in doing with each other. It is our nature. During that high of "in love" and being turned on, we would rather screw ourselves to death than talk. So once you have sex, all getting to really know the other person stops. You would rather try a new position with them then find out a few new facts.

If you marry quickly, while you are still in that high "you make me hot just by breathing" zone and have not gotten to know his quirks, her dislikes, each others beliefs about life's major issues you usually end up with someone incompatible. A few years later you are miserable and divorced.

Why am I an authority? Because I married at 17, after dating for 3 years. Everyone said we were too young and it would not last. We will be celebrating 39 years this June. Yes, we had sex before marriage. (Yes, my husband technically could have been arrested for it. Small towns. Different times.) But before we did, we had hours and hours (months, actually..even over a year) of being together and talking, talking, talking. In between the kissing, kissing, kissing. There is something wonderfully erotic is just the knowing you aren't getting to the final act...wanting to...not not yet.

I think if people got to know each other before jumping into bed we would have more successful marriages. Or more long term partnerships. I am not talking morals. Really, it isn't about "waiting until marriage" or "respecting me in the morning". It is about respecting yourself. Thinking yourself important enough that you want to know you LIKE and TRUST the other person before you share that most intimate act. That does not often happen in 3 dates.

Call me old fashioned. I would actually want to know how a person feels about social issues, children, animals, drinking, religion or not, all kinds of things before I decided them worthy of sharing intimacy. That takes time. I would want to watch how he reacts in different situations, how he treats others. Once I knew they were a person whose beliefs and opinions I admired (even if somewhat different than mine), all bets would be off. The sheets would be hot and sweaty and we would seldom come up for air.

But before that? Sorry. Sex is more sacred to my soul than that. I am a woman, not a dog in heat. I don't want you to respect me in the morning. I want you to respect me all of the time. More importantly, I want to know that I respect you.

But today, I Paint (The Pure Bliss of the Color)

2012-02-15T10:03:00.001-06:00

As an indie author, there is no end to the tasks I should be doing. Marketing my first two books in the series, finding additional reviewers, and writing that third book. I have about 46,000 words done in the first, rough draft. If I want it done for spring, I need to start flying that plane toward home. Yes, I know that.

But today, I paint. I will go to class at the studio of a dear artist friend and mentor, Susan Fryer Voigt. (Check out her work by clicking on her name. The photos are not her work, nor are they mine.) Amazing artist. There, I will give myself permission to get lost in creation, making love to the color. There, I don't have distractions and my books can't call out to me to help them be seen, help them exist. They might be calling out, but I am too far away and can't hear them. For a few hours, I become who I have always been from the beginning of my creation. A conduit for the creative force through color.

It is an odd life to be called by the color. No one gets it except other artists. No matter what else you are doing at any given moment, the deepest part of your soul longs to be united with your paints; your brush. For an artist, that is the only time that they are fully alive. Then and during orgasm, which is the closest any of us get to our spirituality while here on earth. We die for a brief moment during that release (the French call it the "little death") and when an artist is one with the color, their mortal self dies for a little while, too.

That union, that bliss, cannot be denied forever. My easel sits with my latest work in progress (not this photo) out where I constantly see it. I hope that I will take more time to enter that nirvana if I constantly am called...but other things have to be done. Like trying to find a way to make a little income by writing. And so it sits, impatiently waiting, wondering why we only have an occasional fling when we both know it is my deepest love.

Reality makes it so. Don't get me wrong. I love to write. It is enjoyable and I have fun with it. I am good at it. It is also a long shot at providing any sustainable income, but less so than painting. Since I have already spent most of my life working at careers that don't fulfill my calling, I have decided to try to make a go of it. It takes time and luck and LOTS of work. I might fail in the end. Writers, like painters, are as common as dust on my coffee table. But at least I am finally trying.

In the meantime, my lover waits. Color knows no sense of time. It just knows when we are apart and when we become one. When we merge, I understand what it means to fly. My deepest love, how I wish we could be one all of the time. This love is different than the love of another person. This is the love of the force that made you. This is that force speaking through your hand. It is ecstasy.

Yes, my books need me. Gastien Part 1 and 2 languish far down on the list and deserve to be in the Top 100. Book 3 is waiting to be born. I know I need several books to get the momentum really going. I know that. And I love them deeply.

But today, I paint.

What is a Real Valentine?

2012-02-14T11:54:00.001-06:00

Valentine's Day has always been a favorite holiday of mine. Ever since I was a little girl, I thought it was really romantic. My parents gave me valentines and we exchanged valentines in school. You had to put a valentine in every classmate's valentine box so that some did not get more than others.

But what impressed me the most was the valentine candy my mom would get from my dad. It wasn't terribly expensive. People were not as materialistic then. But it was always a red, heart shaped box, sometimes with ribbon or velvet on it. To me, it was extremely elegant and beautiful. Something a princess or a movie star would receive.

Now businesses do their best to ruin the day. It is all about making money. I am all for businesses making money, but not when they do it by pressuring partners to spend more than they should, making men feel "less than" if they can't, and making women feel they aren't quite loved enough if they don't recieve the "Best".

The jewelry ads really irritate me. Yes, I imagine some people that have a lot of money give expensive jewelry. Most people don't have a lot of money, or if they do they also have children, charities, and a myriad of more worthy things to spend it on. I am not saying your spouse is not worthy. I AM saying your spouse does not need to be treated like an expensive callgirl. Not unless she has self worth issues. And if she does, perhaps you would be better off finding a new person to be your valentine.

Real women, women who know their value and truly love their men (or women) for the person they are, don't need a diamond bracelet or ring, a several hundred dollar meal, chocolates that cost $50 for six. If you can afford that by the way, by all means give it. But be more original than the stooge who is tricked into giving it on Valentine's Day. Give it on a regular day. Really suprirse her. Don't cowtow to the businesses greed on this day that is supposed to be about love and lovers.

A real valentine is authentic. They look the person they love in the eye and tell them how much they really mean. How they always look forward to seeing them every day. That their heart beats faster whenever they get a smile, a kiss, a kind endearment from their partner.

A real valentine cleans up after the valentine meal if they could not spend money out somewhere reasonable. Or they cook. A real valentine watches the children while their partner takes some "me" time. In fact, a real valentine does half of the work around the house, if both partners work at jobs or careers, not just once a year.

A real valentine remembers to show that they mean those fancy words by following up-if not every single day-most days, by always doing at least one small, intimate thing to show their love. It doesn't take money. It takes giving of oneself.

A real valentine does not have to shower their lover with expensive gifts. They automatically know that the most precious gifts of all are true love, attention, and time. Those things will always be cherished because, dear valentines, those things are priceless.

How do I know? I am one of the lucky ones. I feel cherished the majority of days. I didn't marry money, or fame, or power. But I did marry an authenic valentine.

I love you forever, David Anthony. I am so glad that you elected to be my valentine.

Jumping Genres (Why I Ditched Romance)

2012-02-13T14:27:00.000-06:00

One of the hardest decisions I had to make as an indie author regarding the publishing of my first book (Gastien Part 1: The Cost of the Dream) was what genre to put it under. After much deliberation, I decided to put it in the Romance genre because it evolves into a love story for much of book 2 in the series (Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny). It did not fit the formula for "romance" but I argued that a great love story belonged there. In fact, I blogged about it a few weeks back. Still, it felt odd.

First of all, men really like the books and some have written reviews on them. These were not men that read romance. Because they were so adamant on the fact that they thought the books were great, it told me that I was missing out on a lot of male readers. Males who noticed that the book was a "romance" would skip over it. Also, it would not be recommended on Amazon or B&N for anyone buying a book other than a romance.These books are as much for men as women. How could I reach more men?

Secondly, I am not a romance genre fan. I seldom read them. I adore a good love story for sure. But the romance genre? Not so much. There is a hard and fast formula for the romance genre. Man meets woman (or man meets man, etc if it is lgbt), they fall in love despite major differences, something happens that one misunderstands or takes one away, they are split apart, they come back together and they live happily ever after. Always. The story is the exact same story over and over.

When I thought of all of my favorite books, not one is categorized as a romance. They have love stories in them, but they are much, much bigger than "romance". They have flawed characters and plenty of angst. They were complete people, people who did ugly things at times. Why was I limiting my books to a genre that frowns on that?

No, my books doesn't fit that romance formula at all. Gastien does fall in love. But decisions are not easy, life is not easy, and he has major flaws. Flaws that are not allowed in romance. He has suffered extreme abuses, both physical and mental. Sex is a way to feel close to others and a "high" that gives him brief, emotional relief from pain. He is not monogamous and says that up front. She accepts it. That is a no-no in romance. Never burst the romance readers bubble that people are not perfect, that falling in love does not cure everything, that happily ever after is not happy every second! That is not accepted.

Life is full of sadness, mistakes and regrets. Every major decision has repercussions. I don't understand a genre that hides from that. Don't get me wrong. If people want to read the same storyline over and over and enjoy fairy tales, that is understandable. Some people have enough stress in their life that they need total escape. I get it. I like escape, too...but it needs to seem like it could happen. It needs to make me think. It needs to make me feel. I don't want to read fairy tales, and I don't want to write them. There are others much better at that.

So, after saying I was sticking to romance with angst in it, I made the switch. My books are now categorized as "historical fiction" and "family saga" (the latter because it is a series and will cover three generations). I was unsure about the change up until I pressed the buttons to change it. As soon as I did, I felt a peace. One could say that I gave up romance in the name of love. True love, the kind that really does exist, in spite of our being human.

THIS is where Gastien belongs. He is not a cookie cutter character, and he makes no apologies for what he needs in life to make him happy. He may not understand some those things ultimately makes him the opposite, but he definitely stands up for what he wants. Sophie is no pushover, though. She is a strong, vibrant woman who is able to accept his flaws because she understands the damage that was done to him and sees that he has issues he simply can't face. She loves him, in spite of his terms and those flaws. He learns to love because of her.They find a way to make it work, but not without problems. Kind of like most of life. Nothing is perfect, Gastien less so.

I am not condoning abuse. Gastien was not abusive to her, at least not knowingly. They both were honest and up front about their needs and feelings. Accepting the imperfections and loving anyway. Isn't that what true love is all about? And isn't true love a greater story than romantic love, simply because true love happens so rarely?

So, I guess what I am getting at is don't be afraid to change genre if you think you put your book in the wrong category. It is okay to make a mistake. We all do. Especially my characters!

YUCK! Want germs?

2012-02-10T17:04:00.000-06:00

Here are two ways that colds and flu are spread quickly that you may not even think about. In fact, you may be guilty of doing at least one of them. The first is something that happens in many homes. It is done by the hostess at a party or the man or woman serving dessert.

They get up to go and get the birthday cake. Or valentine cake, anniversary cake, any cake...or pie for that matter. They need to cut more than one slice, of course. The cake knife gets full of frosting after the first cut, making it almost impossible to cut a second. What do they do?

They run their fingers across the knife and then lick their fingers! Then they proceed to cut other slices, using that saliva filled hand to handle the pieces of cake as they put them on plates. YUCK! Presto, instant germs from their mouth to yours. Most people don't even think about how unsanitary that is. They are licking away on their fingers in front of the family and guests and happily passing the germs...er, cake...to the others. No one says anything. It would be rude, right? Who wants to put the hostess on the spot? Yikes.

The second way that I want to mention is so common that I bet hundreds of colds and stomach flu's get spread this way and most people don't even realize it is being done to them. We all eat at restaurants. Most of us drink coffee. Well, watch what happens the next time your server refills your cup.

Invariably, she or he rests the lip of the pot up against your cup, right where you lips have been. If you are carrying any cold or flu germs they now transfer to the pouring lip of the pot and move on to the next person getting a refill. Not to mention that you inherited the saliva germs of the person before you. See that guy that looks like he hasn't seen a toothbrush in about a week? Yeah, he just got a refill right before you. Yummy!

I have mentioned this to servers, in a kind way. I try to tell them I am just giving them some friendly advice. They look at me like I am from another galaxy. Really, I blame the restaurant owners. They should be smart enough to instruct the servers not to do that. If you think about it, common sense should be at work here.

I am not unusually worried about germs. I just notice how everyone wants all kinds of cleaners for all kinds of purposes that kill all kinds of germs...but they don't blink when either of these two thing occur. Something to think about next time you go to coffee. Or a birthday party.

Me? I seldom get colds or flu. I take oil of oregano every day. One capsule, unless I am going to be around someone ill. Then I increase to 3 a day for 3 or 4 days. If I know in advance that I will be visiting where there is illness (or you could be working where people are ill) I start taking 3 a day right away and continue for a week. We have done this for about 7 years. I have had one cold in that time that lasted longer than about a day. Same with my husband.

That one cold was this fall, and I had forgotten to take my oil of oregano a few times. It you decide to try it, make sure you take it on a full stomach with a full glad of water or you will get the heartburn from hell. It works for preventing illness better than anything I know of. Medical doctors say studies have not been done so it can't be proven. Fine. I will just keep on being free of colds and flu while you harp about studies.

Even so, I hate seeing these two things happen. There is something really gross about other peoples saliva touching my cake or coffee. Kind of ruins the enjoyment I otherwise would have had. Bon Appetit!

What Ever Happened to the Art of Serving?

2012-02-09T11:35:00.000-06:00

WARNING: Major venting session ahead!

I was not always an indie author. I have worked at many jobs, including over 20 years in sales. As a teenager and again in my 20's, I was a server. Back then they were called waitresses and waiters. We learned the art of serving. The number one rule was to provide service while not disturbing the diner's experience.

Oh my, has that changed over the years! It started several years ago when servers began not only wearing name tags, but announcing their name. There are even some restaurants where the server prints their name in huge letters on the paper tablecloth with crayon. Cute? No. Tacky? Yes. I don't mean to be rude, but I do not go to a restaurant to make a new friend. I am not mean to servers. I am polite to them and I am a good tipper (unless they are totally clueless. Then I explain to the manager that I usually leave 20% or more and this is why I did not at this time). However, I don't really care what their name is. I am there to relax, not challenge my memory. I want to enjoy the people I am with, not buddy up with "Ryan" or "Melanie".

Some say it is good to learn their name so that if you want something you know who to ask for. Really? How many times do you actually remember the name? Aren't you usually busy doing something else...like enjoying the company you are with? I should not have to ask for my server anyway, if they are doing their job. If I do need to (perhaps I spilled, etc) I am sure that either someone else can bring some cloths or find the person handling the section I am in. I doubt there is a secret code regarding who is serving where.

That is just the start. Let me say this: I do NOT go out to eat for a performance. If I wanted a performance, I would go to a play or concert. I am not there to be jarred out my relaxation by a server sitting down next to me in the booth to appear "cool" and friendly. I don't want a stranger right in my face. I do not want to be touched (I am a hug and kiss person, but not to complete strangers...and yes I have been touched by servers), and I do not want to hear how smart the server is because they can recite a half dozen fresh specials.

Restaurant owners, please take the time to print out your fresh sheets. Is that so difficult? That way I can look at them at my leisure IF I WANT TO. For instance, I do not like fish. Without fail, I have to hear about three or four fish specials that there is no chance I will be ordering. Plus, we want to talk, not listen to you perform like a carnival barker. Customers are sophisticated enough that they are not "tricked" into ordering more just because you have your servers yammer at them.

Yes, a good server checks back to see if everything is satisfactory. However, it is supposed to be done skillfully, without interrupting the customers conversation. Could you possibly stand back a little and wait for a break in the conversation? Could you ask quietly instead of, once again, barking at us a la performance mode? And, please don't ask "How is that tasting for ya?" I can't believe how many ask this. Why? Are you worried it might not taste good? What happened to "Are you pleased with your selection?" or "Is everything done the way you expected it?"

Oh, by the way, it is not endearing for a server to act like middle aged and older women are "girls". Those flirty, sweet voices you use, thinking you tricking them into thinking you think they are 20? Guess what? It is condescending and usually ends up in a smaller tip. In general, if women are tipping you poorly, it is no longer because they are cheap. We make money now, remember? We get it. It is because you aren't doing your job. Or because you act slimy or manipulative and think it is attractive.

One more thing. Enough with the magicians and balloon artists, already. Again, unless I go to a kid themed restaurant, I really don't want to feel like I am at a carnival. No, I don't want a balloon wiener dog at the bargain "price" (expected tip for interrupting our meal) of $5.00. Sorry. I have been wiener dogged out. Unless it is advertised as kid's night, I don't want to be treated like a kid.

How about a nice place to eat that is reasonable, with good food and attentive (instead of disruptive) service? I have found a few and we go there again and again. The other places? Their wiener dogs will have to wait for someone else to adopt them. It isn't going to be me.

What Fanmail Means to a Writer

2012-02-08T10:06:00.000-06:00

This indie author is so blissfully happy this morning! I received another email (actually it was written on my blog and I get the message in my email, too) from a total stranger saying that she loved my books. Jubilation! Another person for whom Gastien became very real.

Let me tell you, there is no feeling in the world like the joy an author feels when they hear praise from a reader. It is wonderful to be praised by friends and family and I don't mean to downplay that. But from a stranger? That is heady stuff! I know this: no matter how successful I may become I will never lose the appreciation I have for readers who take time out of their lives to not only read my work, but to communicate with me directly to let me know how much they enjoyed it. Never.

In case you don't know it, most of us don't make much money at all...if any. We hope to become successful, but we know going in that the odds are stacked against us. There are a whole lot of writers out there. Still, I figure my odds are better at writing than with painting (which I have in my blood just like Gastien). To add more angst to it, most of us are neurotic.

Every day we fret about our books. While marketing, while writing, while waiting for sales and reviews to come in, we fret. Is the work good enough? Are people finding it? Will they spread the word? Worst of all, do they hate us? A day of no sales and we are convinced that the whole world has decided that we suck. No one will ever buy our work again. Stupid, I know. But honest.

Then sales (or a sale for some of us) comes in. A fan writes. A good review pops up. We are in ecstasy again, knowing that we were born to do this crazy thing called telling a story. Lots of sales would be nice. I won't lie, I hope to make a lot of money eventually. But you know what? Even if I don't, just hearing from readers around the world that they love my work and consider it some of the best they have read makes it worthwhile to write.

I actually get tears in my eyes whenever I hear from a reader. I can't say that I ever took the time to write or email an author. I just plain didn't think of it. I guess maybe I also thought they were not interested in hearing from me. I always assumed they were wildly successful if they had a book out. Authors are really just normal people. In reality, writing is a lonely job. We sit alone most of the time, living in our head. It is wonderful to be "touched" by another human.

Readers, we love to hear from you. We live to hear that our work matters; that it entertained you, moved you, made you feel. Thank you from the depths of my soul for taking time to let me know. Words can't express how much you mean to me. Today I can continue on book 3 (Tristan Michel: Bloodline of Passion) knowing that there ARE people out there-even in other parts of the world-waiting for me to tell them a story again. And that, my friends, is what writing is all about.

Shut your mouth! (A Pet Peeve)

2012-02-07T09:42:00.000-06:00

What are some of your pet peeves? I have several, but I think my biggest is this: people talking with food in their mouth. Or chewing without keeping their mouth closed. Gross. Yuck. Unfortunately, it has become an epidemic.

There have been all kinds of articles written on the lack of manners in society now. It has been a gradual erosion as we become a more relaxed culture. Will someone please explain to me why "relaxed" has to also mean "uncouth"? Can't one be relaxed and still be tactful and gracious? But, I digress.

I have always been nauseated by the sight of someone talking with food in their mouth, or chewing with their mouth open. You see their food in various stages of breakdown, saliva bubbling, and morsels spinning around like old rags in a front load washer. Food stuck on teeth, perhaps some flying out onto the table or even another person. Once the food gets chewed up enough it looks like vomit. Vomit whirling around for others to watch, ruining their own meal.

Perhaps you don't even realize you do it. I am amazed at the number of people that do this. I would say that for the last three years it has grown to epidemic proportions. Am I in the minority in not wanting to watch people break down their food? Maybe I am wrong. I thought a restaurant or dinner party was a place to enjoy myself and share pleasantries, not a biology class.
(Speaking of which, spare me the stories about puke-baby or otherwise- and not being able to shit, or who had bad diarrhea, while dining in a public place or at the table, please. It may not bother you to talk about runny bowels, but it does make others upset. But, again, I digress.)

Why do so many people talk with food in their mouth? Chew with their mouth open? I think it is because they take too big of bites, eat too fast and are hogging it down like pigs at a trough, and one other reason. Maybe they believe that they have such important, enlightening things to say that others can't wait for their utterances to be spoken. Yes, they have thoughts and ideas so unique and unusual that the rapt listeners won't mind seeing their slimy mush gyrating around while they bless others with their viewpoints.

I have news for you. You are not the most important person in the world, nor are you the most important person in the room. As earth shattering as your thoughts may be, we can all wait for you to chew up your food and swallow. Hey, even if someone asks you a question while chewing, you can smile and point to your CLOSED mouth and chew.

Or-newsflash-if you must answer, USE YOUR NAPKIN! Yeah, it is meant for more than sitting on the table. It goes in your lap and THEN if you MUST talk with food in your mouth (perhaps a server is waiting for an answer), you (GASP!) pick up the napkin and HOLD IT IN FRONT OF YOUR MOUTH while answering! That way the rest of us don't have to see your half chewed pizza! Isn't the napkin an amazing invention?

I also think people who eat alone a lot don't use their good manners and then it simply becomes habit. Maybe it is not such a bad idea to practice eating with good manners even when alone. That way people might actually want to dine with you more than once.

It is not just unruly teenagers, elderly, or uneducated people that do this. I see many businessmen, professionals, teachers, parents....all chewing away (talking or not) with their mouth wide open. Advertising their half broken down meal for all the world to see. You look awful. It may seem like I am too uptight, but it really is you that it reflects on. You look gross and unkempt. Sorry. But you do.

So, next time you are at the table, do us all a favor. Shut your mouth. Please! When you are not chewing (if you can pause to take a breath before hogging down the next forkful) feel free to converse. Just don't make us watch the horror movie in your mouth. Thank you.

OOh-la-la! (Becoming French when you eat will make you slender)

2012-02-06T10:51:00.000-06:00

I need to lose weight. I know that, and I know how to do it. So why don't I? If I had the answer to that question I would be a billionaire. Millions of Americans struggle with extra weight. I have lost weight several times. I never keep it off.

To begin with I was naturally thin. Until I was in my 40's I was never overweight. The problem was, I still thought I was too fat. I was 5' 8" and wore a size 11. That is slender. However, the modeling world said the opposite. We were barraged through the media with underweight examples of what was beautiful from the last 60's on. So, I began dieting.

I truly think that is what messed up my metabolism. And my mental health. I would go through periods of dieting only to binge on everything I had not allowed myself to enjoy. The binge periods lasted longer and longer. Finally, by the time I reached middle age I was overweight. I still could lose weight. I still could not keep it off.

It may surprise you that, when I say I know how to lose weight and keep it off, I am no longer talking about a diet. No food plan where you have to check off boxes. No boxed bullsh** meals. No banned foods. Nope. I am convinced that the way one gets back to a healthy weight is by eating what they want, but only when they are truly hungry. Equally important? Stopping when one is full.

The French have always done it. They eat lots of calorie laden foods. (Name one French dish that is not high in fat.) Just not in quantity. They eat small portions because that is what the human body really desires. Somehow, we Americans have gotten all messed up with the portions we think are needed. Truly, less IS more. More healthy, more budget friendly, more delicious.

Why can't I remember to only eat when hungry and stop when I am full? I guess because of decades of doing the opposite. Even when I was thin I overate. Simply because I could. I had a crazy metabolism that allowed me to eat everything and anything. Because of that I developed bad habits.

I am going to (once again) try to commit to eating only when hungry and stopping as soon as I am full. That does not mean some garbage about chewing each bite a certain number of times, or driving myself crazy about putting down my fork between every bite. What it DOES mean is that I will pace myself. I will remember manners. That means I won't shovel food into my food, refill my fork while still chewing, or take portions that would fill the back of a dump truck to capacity. I will really notice and enjoy the flavor of each bite. And I will make an attempt to converse (after chewing and swallowing food please...a pet peeve of mine is people who talk with food in their mouth) while eating. If I am involved with others during a meal I will give myself time to realize that I am full.

Will I succeed? Eventually. Hopefully, it will be this time. I have normal blood pressure, normal blood sugar, and a stress test showed a normal heart. Now it is up to me to keep things that way before it is too late. Food is not the enemy, lack of awareness is. Food is wonderful and sensuous. It should be treated with respect, not ravaged.

Wish me luck. It is difficult to learn new behavior when old behavior has been repeated so many years. I really want to be able to move better and have less pain, though...so here we go. Is this time the charm?

Why What We Love Becomes What We Hate

2012-02-03T09:53:00.000-06:00

Too often the characteristics of your spouse or significant other that make you fall in love with them end up being the same traits that irritate the hell out of you once the newness of the relationship wears off. Unfortunately, most of us may not realize that. If we do, we may not understand why that trait is now so irritating.

OK, so saying we now "hate" it is extreme. But those characteristics can drive us wonky. Why? I am no expert (well, I am kind of. I have been married for decades), but I read something several years back that made sense of it for me. I wish I could remember where I read it or who wrote it because I would like to give them credit. It has helped me understand and hold my tongue on many occasions during our marriage.

When we fall in love, we tend to look for someone who has strengths we don't necessarily have. Usually unconsciously. Hence, the cliche "opposites attract" (this is far different from having opposite morals or interests, which can hurt a relationship). That is because it will balance us, make the unit a whole. If we are afraid to voice our opinion, we find someone who can gifted. If we beat ourselves up with guilt over never getting enough done, we admire that fact that he/she is relaxed and laid back. If we have trouble asking others to help us, we find him/her great at delegating. If we are wall flowers, he or she is the toast of the party.

We fall in love; time goes on. Now that person is a human instead of a god. All of a sudden, "gifted" becomes "opinionated". "Laid back" becomes "lazy". Forget "great at delegating"! They are just plain "bossy". "Toast of the party"? They are a "show off"! Those very qualities we love turn into warts we would like to burn off.

Why? That article explained that it is because those qualities are so foreign to our sense of self. Those traits are not naturally part of us and so they feel "wrong". Plus, we are a bit jealous. Our partner are things we are can't be; at least not naturally. It eats at us that they can be things easily that we either can't be or have to work at. Now again, this is not conscious. Most of us don't think we are that small minded or that jealous. It is human nature to feel threatened or irritated by traits that are not innately us, though.

If we keep that in mind, all of a sudden those traits are not so irritating. After all, those things are the very reasons we fell in love in the first place. Keeping that in mind gives the person we love permission to be the person they are. Remember, they fell in love with your for your characteristics. Those characteristics are as foreign to them as theirs are to you. You drive them crazy for the same reasons. Isn't part of love acceptance and admiration of what the other truly is?

As long as you are both sharing responsibilities, you are fine. Chill out and let you partner be the person they were meant to be. Be the person you were meant to be. You will both be a lot happier for it. You will also find that you compliment each other very well.

Finding Happiness

2012-02-02T09:51:00.000-06:00

As an indie author it is easy to get so caught up in all of the things I need to do to market my book that it is hard to find time to write. There is blogging, tweeting, facebook, emails, review requests, interviews...the list goes on and on.

I am not just an indie author though. I am a wife, a friend to many, a homeowner, a grandma (although I am childless by choice), a companion of two parrots, and have many hobbies. Like everyone else these days, I struggle to find time for everything. Worse yet, while doing one thing I feel this nagging guilt that I really should be doing another. And, always, I am trying to find happiness.

As an author I keep thinking that once my books start selling big time I will be happy. Once I have the series done I will be happy. Once I can stop worrying about income I will be happy.

As a human I sometimes think that if we lived somewhere warmer I would be happy, or if we could take nice vacations I would be happy. Perhaps if we could replace our worn out carpet and redo the hardwoods underneath I would be happy. If Dave and I could find more time to just be with other I would be happy. When (and if) we ever retire I will be happy.

In the meantime, time has taken away the vast majority of my life. Don't get me wrong. I am not "unhappy". I am generally quite a happy person, but I think all of us fall into that trap of thinking things would be "happier" if only.
If only I would lose weight, have money, not hurt, have more time...the list goes on and on.

The problem is, we look for things other than ourselves to make us happy. Even if we try to find it in ourselves, it is by "correcting" or "improving" the body and mind we have been given. Self improvement can be a great thing; self acceptance is even greater.

You want happiness? Do I? Then, truly, we need to stop "wanting" and start simply "being". There is so much joy in just being able to breathe, to blink. To be able to hear a child laugh, a bird sing. To see a sunrise instead of rushing around opening blinds to that you can get to the computer and begin to "do". There is not just happiness, but true joy all around us and within us.
We just have to be quiet enough to notice it.

My books may eventually sell great or sit and collect "dust" online. I may always be overweight now, after years of being thin. I am going to always hurt some. And, hopefully, get old. I am not guaranteed that. Nobody is.
What I am guaranteed is the beauty-right now-of seeing the color I painted my walls (it IS a happy color!), of feeling love in my heart for my friends and family, of knowing that my heart beats and my mind works and I can stop and read poetry any time I want to.

The miracle of being on this planet. What a sheer, simple miracle. Being here now and knowing it. That is happiness. If we clear our mind and simply look, happiness is there within us. It always was and always will be. We just need to allow it to be noticed.

Want a Cheap Read With Great Ratings?

2012-02-01T08:20:00.000-06:00

As an indie author I try to read as many books by other indie authors (click for a good author and book site)that I can. My goal this year is to always pick an indie book (click for another good indie site) whenever I buy a new book. I don't necessarily want to buy the cheapest. A lot of the .99 cents books are rife with formatting, spelling and grammar errors.

And the free ones! Oh, my. Too many times I have downloaded "free" just to delete them. That does not mean free or "cheap" has to be bad. Here are a couple of hints for finding good books by indies:

1. Don't just download free books or .99. I mean, come on. Is $2.99 or even $4.99 a lot for a book nowadays? Seriously! Authors need to eat too.

2. If you do download free or .99 look to see what rating the book has and how many reviews. I am not talking about reviews from Joe Blow. I am talking about reviews from reviewers or book bloggers. Those are more honest. Some people are suspicious of a book with all high reviews, but if most of them are from reviewers or bloggers it is probably just a really good book!

3. Again, when considering free or .99 does the author have more than one book out? If so, they may be using this book as a loss leader to build a following. That is great. Check out the ratings and go for it!

4. Also when considering free or .99 look to see if it is part of a series. If so, it is probably being used as a loss leader to promote the series. Again, a good thing! You can see if you want to read the whole series for little of no money. Check the ratings.

You may ask "Why bother to worry if it is free or under a buck?" Well, because people who download books rife with errors are not authors. They don't want to do the work to be an author. If people don't download their books they either learn to improve or go away. Either is fine. We don't need the e-book market flooded with books full of errors.

I am not talking about a couple of mistakes in a full novel. That happens all the time in books that have been put out by major publishers too. I am talking about the flood of books with a dozen errors in a couple hundred pages. Books that don't know how and when to use a comma. Things like that.

You can find good books for free or under a buck if you just research the book on the site you are going to download it from a little bit. But, please, don't just buy .99 and download free. The best books do, or will eventually (after the sale goes off) cost more...even if only a dollar or two. If you love reading, support the art of writing!

Here is a great site for finding quality books for under a buck to get you started: http://ebooksforabuck.wordpress.com/ In order to even get on this site you need at least 4 (or was it 5?) reviews from verified purchases on Amazon and at least a 4 star rating average from those reviews. Many of those featured put a book on sale to get on that site. It is a great way to increase readership for us indies and Michael should be commended for it. Stop by and check out the site. You will find a lot of fabulous reading on there!

Don't forget: if you like the book you got for free or under a buck, please continue to support that author. Books by indies are a bargain even at $2.99, $3.99 or $4.99 and higher. Don't expect a quality author to offer every book for free or .99. When you find an author you love, give them some love back. Chances are you don't work for free or a buck, either!

I thank you and other indies will thank you, too. Now, go out and grab a great book. There is a world of escape waiting for you!

Not Messy But Dirty (Housecleaning Sucks!)

2012-01-31T12:00:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday my husband and I decided to give our house a thorough cleaning. Well, not the basement. That would take the whole weekend. The basement is my art supply area and the place where projects in progress linger. Need I say more? Artists need stuff out where they can get it immediately. That does not equal clutter free.

Anyway, the whole main living area was ravaged with dust cloths, feather dusters and vacuums. We did not leave anything alone. Carpet edgings got vacuumed. (Yes, we still have carpet, much to my husband's delight and my chagrin.) Ceiling and walls got hit with the feather thingy. Furniture got vacuumed I even polishing the silver pieces in my hutch!

It took us all of Saturday. We finally got our first meal at 9:30 pm. Man, that is a lot of work! It looked great...on Saturday. Slowly, so slowly one sees the dust and debris show up on furniture and carpets. We will still dust and vacuum, but we live by our own motto. You know how most say "We are messy, but we aren't dirty"? Not us. We don't like clutter (except in my art area. :) ) but we don't mind our own dirt. We aren't messy, but we are dirty. There. I said it. If friends base their friendship on how clean my house is I don't need those friends in my life. I do have other talents.

Sorry. Too many other things to do in this short life. I used to drive myself nuts about it. Used to wash walls until my knuckles bled. Not anymore. Not for years. There are only two of us and two parrots. We do vacuum the parrot dust up, but we don't clean as often as we probably should.

Still, I worked in property management for eight years. I can tell you that 90% of people are dirtier than we are. Even the well dressed, neat looking ones can surprise you. Seriously, you would not believe the hell holes I entered when I had to go into apartments. And these were nice apartments, not ghettos! That is when I learned I could relax a little...actually a lot...and still have a cleaner home than most people on this planet.

I really hate cleaning. It is boring. Although I did learn a trick that helps a little. I read somewhere to think about who gave you each item or where you were or who you were with when you bought or received each item as you dust. That does give me some pleasant memories while cleaning. It helps. A little. OK...not much.

It was sure nice to relax on Sunday in a totally clean house. Not nice enough to do it again anytime soon, though. That I can say with no hesitation. That, my friends, is a wrap.

Interview With Fabulous Author T. M. Souders!

2012-01-30T08:44:00.000-06:00

Today I have a special treat for you on this blog. I am interviewing author T.M. Sounders, who I have had the pleasure of getting to know on kindleboards.com. Please take a few minutes to get to know more about her and her writing. You will be glad that you did!

Welcome T.M. ! I appreciate your taking time to chat with me today.Let's talk a little bit about how you became an author, your books, and you. First of all, I am curious as to what made you personally decide to write your first book, why you decided to go "indie", and when the first book went "live".

I wrote my first book in college, but my life was crazy at the time and I was not fully committed to writing. I became serious about it shortly after my first child was born, this was about four years ago. Since then, I've written about one book a year, only one of which has been published (Waiting On Hope). I decided to go Indie after researching the industry and publishing. It seemed like a “no-brainer” at the time. My first book, Waiting On Hope went live in late July of 2011.

Waiting on Hope has 28 reviews and 4 Stars. That speaks very well of the book! People can click on the book to get to Amazon and read the reviews.

How many books do you have out? What are the other titles and genres? Tell us a little about the main character(s).

I have one women's fiction novel, Waiting On Hope. The main character in this story is a pariah of strength. She is forced to find a way through unspeakable tragedy and manages to pick up the broken pieces of her life.
Dashing Through The Snow is a romance/chick-lit novelette that I published this winter. The main character is sweet, but my favorite character is her best friend Gemma! She's funny, sassy, and tells you like it is.

I loved Gemma, too! She made me laugh out loud more than once, that is for sure. I can see why this is another 4 star book. (Click on cover to read reviews, etc)

When is your next book coming out? What is it about?

My next book, Freedom Road, is undergoing edits as we speak. I believe and hope it will be available in mid-March. It's a YA/Crossover novel and is about an eighteen year old who comes from an extremely dysfunctional family. She has a dream of Juilliard and a desire to escape home and the life she's leading.

What advice would you give other people who are thinking about writing their first book, but then that self doubt comes in?

Don't doubt yourself. If you're that unsure, then get Beta reader or someone who provides critique to look at your work, then go from there. Often times, self doubt is something we all struggle with and something we just need to get over. A good critique will tell you if you're just doubting yourself or if you really do need to work on your craft.

What do you think are the five most important things a new author has to "take care of" to give them the best chance at success?

The first, and I learned this the hard way, is to get a good editor. Don't just hire anyone who is cheap, with little to no experience. Look at their credentials and make sure their worthy to work on your book. Second, grow a thick skin. Third, get ready to devote some serious time to promotion, marketing, and networking if you want to be successful. Fourth, create goals for yourself. How successful do you want to be? Are your goals realistic? Fifth, get a good cover, because most people do buy a book based on the cover.

Let's talk a little bit about you as a person now. Tell me, what about life never fails to make you laugh?

My kids. They constantly are reminders of what's important in life. They're the two things I'm positive I did right!

What do you enjoy doing besides writing?

I love to read! Sometimes I devour books, one right after the other, because when I'm in the middle of writing I don't have as much time to read. I love spending time with family and good food! Eating out is one of my favorite things to do, lol. In the spring and summer, I also love gardening and spending time outside. There's something amazing about burying a seed in the earth and watching it grow.

I love gardening, too. For me, it is working with my annuals daily. They get as much attention as one would give a child!

Finally, let's play the old genie in a bottle game. You get 3 wishes. They can't be general wishes, like "peace on earth", or all disease cured. No I wish my family, etc would stay healthy. We all wish those kinds of things. These 3 wishes are for personal, material things. What three things would you wish for?

1.    To be in St.Lucia, Antigua, or somewhere equally as exotic and beautiful right now for a month of R&R.
2.    For my book to get a movie deal, and actually be made into a movie. (Often times, books get deals but never come to fruition)
3.    A beach house in the Outer Banks of North Carolina!!! I can't believe I almost forgot this one! It's my DREAM to get a beach house there. I'm determined that some day it will happen!

I hope you get that beach house and be you will. The movie deal would be AWESOME! What book by another author do you wish you would have written and why?

Jennifer Donelly's Rose Trilogy! I LOVE these books. They are absolutely amazing for romance fans. It's funny because I don't read much historical romance, but these by far are three of my favorite books. Especially, the first two. I don't know what else to say except I love them. The writing is amazing, the history amazing, and the story lines---> this is my jelly face :-/

Any last things you would like to tell people about you or your writing?

I write because I love it! If I had one main goal to achieve through my writing, it would be for people to love my books and for them to leave the book wishing it didn't have to end. I love hearing from readers and other authors, so feel free to contact me!

Thank you again. It was a pleasure. Please see the links below for ordering information begarding T. M. Sounders books and contact information!
http://tmsouders.com/blog/

Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/TM-Souders-Author/181198815275423?sk=app_139229522811253

Purchase links:

Waiting On Hope: http://www.amazon.com/Waiting-On-Hope-ebook/dp/B005CPD2BC/

Dashing Through The Snow: http://www.amazon.com/Dashing-Through-The-Snow-ebook/dp/B005ZUXIT0/

twitter: @tmsouders

Is It A Romance? (This Genre Is A Tough One)

2012-01-27T08:09:00.000-06:00

As an indie author, you will be responsible for selecting the genres you want your book to appear in. On Barnes & Noble you get up to 5 to add. On Amazon you only get two. That is really difficult for many of us. For instance, my books are drama, historical fiction, romance, steamy romance, historical romance, saga, and book one is coming of age. See what I mean?

I also wish they had a better selection of genres. Some are missing. Some get further broken down and the wording sounds so stuffy I almost go to sleep!

However, today my blog is about the romance genre. There are many that argue that if a story does not have a "happy ever after" ending it does not fall into the romance category. They almost have a stroke if a book dares to fall out of that old "woman meets man, they fall in love, there is a misunderstanding, they fight, they get back together, they marry" formula.

There are many readers that DON"T want to read that formula anymore or never did. What fun is it to read a book when you know exactly what is going to happen? Why not just read the same book over and over? Those of some of the things that run through the minds of readers that do love romance but don't like predictability.

I would fall into the category of those that don't like a standard formula. It bores me, and it bores me quickly. I have been reading for decades now. That same old formula just doesn't excite me anymore. Sorry. This is not a knock on those who write formula romances. God knows you have a huge following. It is just not for me and I can't write it. I am probably in the minority. You who write it will make a hell of a lot more money than I ever will. Still, if I am bored writing I may as well go back to work for the feds typing social security numbers all day. At least I would have some benefits.

Here is a thought for those of you that insist on the same old, same old. If we use your formula, then Romeo & Juliet, Wuthering Heights, and Gone With The Wind would not qualify as romances. They can't, if you use the formula. They certainly are not feel good stories. Yet, they are love stories.
Romantic/Sexual love is at the core of each of them. As it is in 1984. Does that have a happy ever after ending?

Some say they are "only" love stories and not romances, Or they fall under another category (Of course, don't most great books?). Only love stories??? Isn't that what romance is part of? Personally, I will take a romance with surprises and real life dysfunction and angst any day over a 'they met and kissed and lived happy forever' type of book. I want to read about characters who seem to have a real life. In real life, we seldom exist in a state of eternal bliss, even when we end up with our soul mate. I get that it is fiction. Still, I want to be able to believe it might happen. My mom used to say if two people live together and never fight, one is kissing the other's ass. She was right.

I am not saying the story cannot have a happy ending. It could. But, it just as easily could not. Isn't that what life is like? Isn't that what makes a book something you don't want to put down? A book where you aren't sure how it will end is much more addicting than a book that you know the ending to before opening it.

Be forewarned: I write romance, but it will never be typical. If they gave me "love story" as a genre choice, I would move there. They don't-so thar ya go. I write about love. I write about love and romance in a way that appeals to both men and women. Imperfect characters. Raw sex. Both beautiful and ugly emotions and actions. You will never know what to expect and you will never know if it will be "happy ever after". I want to take you on a ride. Even more, I want the destination to be a secret until we get there.

Surprise! Fasten your seat belt.

Treating Book Reviwers and Bloggers With Respect

2012-01-26T08:25:00.001-06:00

Part of your job as an indie author is to find book reviewers and bloggers to review your book. There are dozens of them out there. You can find them by searching facebook for pages about books and about your genre, searching on yahoo or google, or asking other authors that you are friends with. Once you have a large list, you should be contacting a couple of dozen right away. Then, every week or so, add three more. Keep a log of who, what and when.

Before you contact them, go to their website or blog and carefully read the instructions on how to request a review. Please note if they say they are closed for reviews or do not review indies. If either of these are mentioned, do NOT request a review from them. You will not be the exception and you will only irritate them.

If they do accept indies and are not closed, then follow the instructions completely. Send what they ask for in the first email and only send that.
If they accept your book and did not ask for everything up front, they will give you further instructions.

Once accepting, ask them kindly if they will post on whatever book sites and selling sites you want the review on. Remember, they do reviews for free and out of the love for books, so they do not "owe" you reviews on any sites. If they do not post on every site you want, don't be rude. Most at least post on Amazon, B&N and Goodreads. That is fair to expect and request. Some will post other places, too. Just ask. Never demand. If they don't do other sites, don't get angry. Reviews on the three I mentioned will still benefit you.

Provide all information that they ask for. Make sure you have a copy of your book cover photo, a description, your buy links, your social media links and can either send them a .pdf or .mobi if they want OR be willing to send them a gift cert to either Kindle or NOOK. It only costs you the price of your book and when they redeem it, you get a sale. Some do not read books electronically. So, send them the paperback. Yes, it costs more. Still, the review costs you nothing and can benefit you greatly. If you don't have your work in paperback and they don't have an e-reader then graciously say so and find a different reviewer.

It is fine to ask when they expect to have the review done. Some are within weeks, most a month or two...and some of the big ones can be several months. I have a review that I requested last fall coming in July 2012! That review site is greatly respected and I feel it is well worth the wait. What does it hurt me? Nothing.

If they don't give you a general date, don't harass them weekly. In fact, don't harass them at all! If a month and a half goes by, a polite email asking if they are now able to provide a target date is fine. Don't bug them often or you won't get reviewed! Remember, they are doing this for free.

Ask them if they will let you know on the day the review goes live so that you can push the review with social media. You can tweet and facebook the link to the review on their site or blog, and that gives them exposure too. In fact, you should. Some don't let you know ahead of time, just when it is live. Some don't show you the review until it is live. Some do.

Do NOT pay for reviews. How can a paid review be fair?

Last and most important: Do not argue or be rude or defend your book once the review is done if it is less than you expected.

You asked them to review your book, not be your friend. They are not obligated to love, or even like, your work! Not everyone likes every book! Chalk it up to either someone not liking your style or needing to improve your writing skills, depending on what the review says. If it says the book is full of errors, shame on you. The book should not be published if it is not well proofed and edited.

If it says the characters were not developed or story did not flow, perhaps you need to work on those things in the future. If other reviews are good and don't mention that, perhaps it was a style that they don't like. Once you get several reviews, you will know if certain points come up over and over again.

Remember, three stars is not a bad review. Authors are starting to think anything less than four or five stars is an insult to the book. Three stars out of five means they liked it! They liked it enough to read it all and would tell others it was decent. What is wrong with that?

Even two star and one star reviews can help you. It just depends on what is said. I got a two star that said there was too much sex in my book. Right after that review I had a burst of sales! I am not going to argue if there was too much, too little or just the right amount, as it does not matter. If I see a review that says there was too much description of scenes, I won't buy it but others may love that. I like a lot of dialog. So a one star review saying too much dialog would inspire me to buy.

Do not leave comments about reviews on the review sites. It looks tacky to readers. You look defensive and unprofessional, no matter how professionally you respond to bad reviews. Just don't. Seriously. Responding to good reviews makes it look like you are friends. Leave it be. Seriously, don't. Remember this: reviews are for readers not authors. You can thank them for their work via a private email. And that is all. No rebuttal. Got it? :) We have lost too many fair reviewers because of abuse by authors. If all we end up with are reviewers that kiss authors butts, then reviews are pointless.

Bitching about a bad review on kindleboards (even their writer's cafe) or other chat rooms is not advised. Readers see that and think much less of you. Reviewers see that and don't want to work with you.

Yes, we all strive for four and five stars. It is great to get those. But you earn them, dear author. You earn them. You are not more special than the rest, you are not entitled simply by publishing our work. You earn them.

There Is Nothing Like Being Owned By Parrots

2012-01-25T09:11:00.000-06:00

I have a life besides being an indie writer. You know I paint, but did you know I am owned by parrots?

There are dog lovers and then there are cat lovers. They both give reasons why dogs or cats are the best pet you can have. And, of course, we have all heard that cliche "Dogs are a man's best friend". Dog lovers go on and on about dog's loyalty and how glad they always are to see you.

Hmmmpfffff. You don't have a clue to how close of a relationship one can have with an animal until you are owned by a parrot. People who don't know much about birds think they must be boring. Not so. Most parrots have the intelligence of a three year old human. African Grey parrots and Cockatoo parrots have the intelligence of a five year old human. Animal experts now say they are at least as intelligent as dolphins and moneys...maybe more so.

Does you dog talk? I did not say mimic. I said talk. There are still some "experts" that say parrots only mimic. They obviously have not lived with parrots. Or watched the videos of Alex, the African Grey. He is dead now, but learned colors, sizes, shapes and could pick them out when asked randomly. Some greys are being taught to touch computer keys to call up different photos of parrots. They think in 10 years greys can video conference. True, it won't be as in depth as us...but pretty cool.

My parrots will look at me out of the blue and say "I love you." When was the last time your cat said that? When they are tired, they say "Time for night night" or "See you tomorrow". If I don't act immediately, I hear "Let's go. Let's go."

Some think parrots are dirty and have bugs because they are always pecking at themselves. Not so. They are cleaning feathers and rearranging feathers to get warmer or cooler. Parrots ARE messy. They throw things and their feather dander gets on everything. There is lots of vacuuming done in my house and we have air purifiers. But guess what? Their poop does not stink. Not one bit. Nice, huh?

Parrots are not for everyone though. They are very, VERY high maintenance. They need one on one time daily. They need to legitimately be part of the family. As flock animals, they like to be involved and included. They can't be put in a cage and left there just because their feathers happen to match your decor. Some parrots actually go insane because of bad treatment. They are a commitment for decades. Do you get rid of three year old humans when you tire of them? That is what it is like if you "get rid of" parrots.

Don't get me wrong. I love dogs and cats. I also love snakes and other reptiles. But there is no other animal in the world that can have a deeper relationship with you than a parrot.

We have a male White Capped Pionus named Kazoo (16 years old) and a female African Grey name Melanie (20 years old). Kazoo could live 35 years and Melanie could live to be 75. People ask why we chose animals that have the intelligence of human children and will live (one of them longer than we have left here) so long when we are childless by choice.

My answer? Well, yes they can bite. They are messy and can be loud. They are demanding. However, they will never do drugs, total my car, need money for college, or marry someone I can't stand. That is more than a fair trade-off, if you ask me.

Oh-oh. Gotta go. My "bosses" are ready for breakfast. Kazoo is saying "Wanna eat" and Melly is yelling "Good Morning." I don't want to be written up.

Book Reviews By Readers Help Readers AND Authors

2012-01-24T09:13:00.001-06:00

As an indie author, I need all of the exposure I can get for my work. Whenever a reader leaves a book review, it really helps me. Before I started writing I really did not realize how important it was to an author for readers to leave reviews. I never left reviews.

I guess I just assumed reviews were only done by "reviewers". Yes, we need reviews from book reviewers and book bloggers. But, we really need input from regular readers, too. It you liked or loved a book, please take the time to leave a review.

Also, in order for the review to help other readers, it needs to say more than "I really loved this book" or "the best book I ever read". If you take the time to leave a paragraph or two about what made you love the book (without spoiling any surprises that would ruin the story for others) if really helps others know if they want to read it.

For example, perhaps you loved the fact that the author went into a lot of detail about the homes or settings. That is good to know. Some people love that. Others prefer more dialog driven books. Either way, it helps both readers know what this book is like. If the dialog flows well and is crisp, say so. If you laughed, cried, felt emotions toward characters or situations, say so (again, do NOT spoil a situation by revealing something that should not be).

Conversely, if you did not like a book and feel compelled to leave a review, be specific. Leaving a one or two star review and saying "This book sucked" or "The worst book ever" does nothing but show your meanness. What didn't you like about it? Where the characters wooden? Was plot lacking? Be specific in a constructive way, so that the author can improve their skills. Being mean does not help anyone know what they did wrong. Remember, authors are people, too. Treat them as such. They put a lot of time and their heart into their work. It is ok to criticize the work, but don't bully.

Hey, I know we are all busy. Perhaps you don't have time to do a review every time you read a book. I understand. I don't always, either, even though I know the importance of reviews now. But, if you can take a few minutes, a review is always much appreciated by any author. Good, bad, or indifferent. If you give specific reasons, a review will help other readers and it will help the author.

Happy reading!

Writing Fiction in a Different Time Period

2012-01-23T10:45:00.000-06:00

As an indie author writing novels that take place during a past time period, I must be my own policeman when it comes to making sure my story stays true to the period. Yes, it is fiction, and you can have things happen that didn't really happen...but it still has to be within reason.

Gastien lived in nineteenth century France. Therefore, I can't say that he drove to Au Lapin Agile for a drink! You may thing this is a "duh" when writing, but it is so easy to mess up. For instance, one beta reader caught it when Gastien used a twist on an old saying by stating: "I may have just arrived off the turnip truck...". There were no trucks then, she reminded me. Oh. Right! It quickly got changed to "I may have just arrived off the turnip wagon..."

I am now writing the third book in The Gastien Series, which will be titled Tristan Michel: Bloodline of Passion. It starts in 1909. I have about 17,000 words done. Friday I started reading it aloud to my husband, Dave. Tristan Michel calls his sister in New York City to tell her that he is moving his family to New York from Paris. All of a sudden, I paused. Could that have happened?

It has been too many years since my history classes as a student. Way too many. So, I looked it up on the Internet. Whew, I thought, phones WERE in use then. No problem. Still, it haunted me. This morning I searched deeper. Yes, phones were in use, but the first intercontinental call did not happen until 1915! Now I know that Tristan Michel must send a telegram.

If you are using a big event that actually happened in history in your fiction, make sure the facts are right. For instance, if I wanted to use the Great Flood of Paris that happened in 1910, I better not have any of Tristan Michel's relatives die in it. No one died in Paris itself, and they all lived in Paris. Well, actually, one soldier did. So, if he was related to Tristan Michel, I would be safe. Does it matter? To a some people, no. But to a reader that knows French history, you better believe it does. It makes the story unreal to them. Fiction is fiction, but while the reader is reading the story it needs to seem real.

I am talking about major historical events. Tristan Michel is an architect. Because it is fiction, I certainly can have him work on some major buildings wherever he lives in the USA. The facts about who built each building are not major events. Not many care or know who put the windows in which building, or who made the plans for most of the buildings in our cities.

Gastien's clothing was vastly different than others during his life. Because people from all over the world came to Paris and Montmartre there were what we would call "flea markets" and used shops featuring all kinds of goodies. Therefore, it was possible that he would buy clothing from other cultures and wear it. Plus, he was an artist and they tended to dress oddly.
He even wore pants that fit him as capris, although no one else was wearing capri trousers at the time. It works, because he was a "bohemian", the group he was part of and where he resided.

Have fun with your characters and what they do, but make sure that it fits the era you are writing in, or at least can be believable because of the character and situation he or she is in. Use the Internet to find out details of major events, how people dressed, and what major things were or were not available to them during that time period. It will take you longer to write the story, but you will end up with a novel that readers can enjoy as real during their time spent with your characters.

Happy Writing!

What a Character! (So Hard to Say Goodbye)

2012-01-20T16:51:00.000-06:00

Continuing as an indie author, the third book in my Gastien Series has been started. I have about 17,000 words done. It is so hard to say goodbye to Gastien himself! This third book is about another characeter in the series, and he is vastly different from Gastien.

I have lived with Gastien in my head and in my soul for over a year. I think I know him better than I know Caddy Rowland. Sometimes, he feels more real than I do. All of a sudden, I have to let go. Let go and move on. It is so incredibly hard to do so! It feels like my firstborn is being ripped from my arms. Yet, unless I do, Tristan Michel will have no voice. He won't become real and readers will feel that.

Tristan Michel is very, very different from Gastien. I have to keep reminding myself of that as I write book 3. What worries me is that readers won't remember that. They love Gastien. They talk about Gastien as if he were alive today and a close friend of theirs. His story was extremely emotional for them. Many who never cry found themselves in tears. Gastien was full of passion and wildness. A nonconformist.

How will they deal with a reserved man who values tradition and family values? Will they pan the book, saying that it lacks the excitement and emotional intensity of the first two? I am scared. Damned scared.

If they just give Tristan Michel a chance, I think they will find that he wrestles his own demons and is a time bomb waiting to go off. That his story, too, is full of emotion and pain. He is different than Gastien, but no less driven; no less conflicted.

Tristan Michel is begging me to open my mind and allow him to speak. His story, although different, is no less important. He deserves my complete attention and so, although I hate to, this blog is a goodbye.

It is a goodbye to Gastien, that bohemian bad boy who broke readers hearts and made them laugh at the same time. Yes, readers hated him at times. They loved him even more. Ah, Gastien. How I enjoyed your story. It was a pleasure allowing you to speak through me. How I love you! I will miss you, my amie. I will miss you.

R.I.P. Gastien Beauchamp.

Formatting Hell (Where Indie Authors Go)

2012-01-19T07:25:00.000-06:00

I love being an indie author. I don't much like waiting for other people to decide my future; or having my writing changed into something that is different from my voice. Why write if you lose your uniqueness? Yeah, I have always fought authority, and like John says, authority "always" wins.

But not in this case. Indie authors are here to stay. Kind of like rock and roll. I am here to stay. And I am determined that, this time, I will win. What is cool about being an indie? Well, besides keeping my voice, I get to call all the shots. I have never been much good at having someone else do that. I get to decide how to market my work, how often to publish, what to publish, and where to publish it.

Will my work ever become hugely successful? I hope so. If it doesn't, I will still keep writing. More and more people are listening, and I got my first "fan" mail by email yesterday. There is nothing quite like getting an email from a stranger telling you how glad they are that you write; how they can't wait to read whatever you are writing next. That makes the struggle to be heard worthwhile.

But, formatting...oh my. I really thought I had it covered. The first book taught me a lot. The second book should have been easy. But, no. For the last week or so I have been struggling with some formatting issues discovered once it went live! There were extra alpha characters on kindle that did not appear on Nook or in the paperback. Nor were they on my original documents.

I seriously thought I would develop ulcers before this got solved. FINALLY, after a friend on kindleboards found what was wrong, I uploaded the new book yesterday. Only to find out that a reviewer cannot get the gift certificate for kindle to download. Fabulous. Will this book ever settle down?

I called a different friend and told her I was sending a gift certificate and to see if it opened. It would not. She then went and bought the book and it downloaded. Then, it said her gift was waiting...but it would not download. That may be because she had the book downloaded already because of buying it to see if it worked that way.

The good news? People buying my book are getting it. Thank God. I put up information on several Facebook pages yesterday, so I would have really hated for people to be buying my book and getting nothing. The bad news? I still don't know what is wrong with the certificates. At least I know it is not me. I will be calling Amazon later today after I have that reviewer try to download the certificate again.

Still, Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny seems to be my problem child. This is the rebellious child after giving birth to my first one. Everyone says no two deliveries are the same and I can now vouch for that.

I am going to be working on Book 3 today: Tristan Michel: Bloodline of Passion. I pray this child will give me a break when it comes to formatting. I don't have much hair left to pull out. I am also running low on bottles of cab.

In Protest of SOPA and Protect IP

2012-01-18T10:09:00.000-06:00

In protest of SOPA, I am only posting a link that explains why you should care if this bill gets passed:

http://blog.reddit.com/2012/01/technical-examination-of-sopa-and.html

This is NOT a good thing.

Ménage à Trois and Loving It

2012-01-12T11:28:00.001-06:00

People say it's wrong. I know that. Still, I can't stop. How can I choose just one? To live without either would kill me. They both fulfill me in different ways...and in like ways, too. Each can consume me. I get lost in them for hours at a time. When I am with either, I am totally immersed in their sensuous, sinuous offerings. Yes, I am in love with two. And I am damn proud of it.

Oh, wait! Did you think I was talking about men? Or perhaps one of each sex? No, no, nothing that ho-hum; nothing that cliche. I am talking about writing and painting. Those, you see, are the two that I love. Of course, I love my husband even more in a completely different way, but I did not want to say I love three. You might think I am too promiscuous then!

Both writing and painting offer me the platform to create. Ah, creation. The start of everything the universe has ever known. Is creation, that energy that turns thoughts into realities, what God is? Perhaps. Creative energy. That certainly does not put limits on God. In fact, to me it makes God as huge as a god should be. The vastness of creation is unparalleled. To give something like that human qualities (jealous, forgiving, loving, angry) seems much more limiting in my book. Of course, my book may be much different than yours.

Writing gives me the ability to create characters and scenes; thoughts and deeds. Painting gives me the ability to express emotions and visual beauty or horror. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Yet, they also say that verbal abuse is much more damaging than physical abuse.

Words and visuals. Paintings and books. They both can cause a woman to sigh in ecstasy, a man to fall to his knees in horror. Words can make a grown man cry, paintings can slice a hole in ones soul. Both can heal. Pretty heady stuff, books and paintings.

So, I will continue my love affairs with both. Today I am committed to writing twenty pages in my third novel. Yesterday I got a review from a total stranger, a man, for Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny. There is nothing quite like the feeling I get when I see that someone I will never know has been drawn to read my work. He gave it 5 stars. I am honored. He said he laughed and he cried. I made a man cry with a love story. Words. They have brute strength.

After I write my twenty pages, I will pick up my favorite paintbrush and continue to caress either my impressionistic painting of a street in Montmartre, or I will continue to soul kiss some cubism I am working on. Depends on my mood. Paintings. Visual statements from my soul to your eyes. Will you love them? I don't know. What I do know is that the paintings will know that I loved them to the best of my ability.

Me and my loves. My loves and me. How fortunate I am to have them both in my life. They sometimes fight for attention, but they both know I love them equally. We exist blissfully in our ménage à trois. Care to join us?

Winter Reality in Minnesota (Stranger Than Fiction)

2012-01-11T08:58:00.000-06:00

Ok. Wow. I have lived in Minnesota for decades and winter has always been a miserable time of year. I won't go into all the reasons I hate it because I have posted about that before. But this winter? If, as an indie author, I wrote a book and had winter in Minnesota like this winter people would say my work was fakey and unrealistic. Even Gastien did not have good enough drugs to imagine a winter like this for Minnesota.

Every year I pray that by some stroke of fortune we get through November without snow. That makes the winter so much easier to mentally get through. Snow usually comes in November, though. Sometimes quite a bit of it. We normally get snow November through March. March has a lot of melting and new snow. Promises of spring peek through during the March melting days, making March tolerable.

Believe me, I remember the year of the Halloween blizzard. Something like 28 inches over a couple of days. If I recall, it started the day before the holiday. We got stuck with all of our candy that year. Gee. Too bad! :)
It also made winter seems about two years long!

This year, I crossed fingers, toes and eyes in hope of seeing a snow free November. Bingo! I got four corners, and by November 30th still no snow! Then December began. Nothing. The week of Christmas we got a dusting. Christmas itself was not white. Thank you Mother Nature! I know, I know. We need the moisture. Shut up. We got an inch or so New Year's Eve.

Enter January (click on January to read about last year's typical January). Not this year! For the first ten days, not only did we not get snow, our temperatures continued to be more like late March or April. We have consistently been in the forties, and sometimes in the fifties! Yesterday was about 53 degrees! So, not only do we not have snow, we have not been even close to the frigid temperatures we normally have. Not once below zero, even at night. I can only recall one night in single digits above zero.

Yes, this has been a winter to cherish. Today it changes. The temperatures drop and by tomorrow the high will be about sixteen. We are supposed to get snow today and tomorrow. Maybe three inches. Still, this week is supposed to traditionally be the coldest of the year. Sixteen? Fine. I'll take it. Next week they are predicting a large snowstorm.

People keep saying "Oh, we will pay. Just wait for January and February." Hell, I don't care! We shaved two and one half months off of winter! It can snow every day for the next two months and I won't bitch once. Well, umm, maybe a couple of times. But I am so very grateful for this stranger than fiction winter!

I hope we do get a boatload of snow over the next two months. I understand that plants and trees need it. I am prepared to have miserable weather, just not for five months, thank you. Two I can deal with.

Oh, and Mother (Nature)? Please don't bitchslap me now and make me pay in April That would NOT be nice. I have been a good girl (as good as I can be) and every Minnesotan deserves a decent spring. You don't have something awful up your sleeve for us, do you????

I am going to sneak off to lunch with a friend today, while the snow starts. Perhaps dinner with friends tonight, unless it is too crappy. Then I will stay home with my husband. The next two days, I am inside. By the weekend, 20's again. It is usually WAY colder than that, so 20's will be great.

Ah, Minnesota. The land where idiots still try to go out on the lake to icefish when it is slush instead of ice and fall through. I have lost count of how many by now. They should have their children taken away when they have subjected them to falling through thin ice. Someone should dole out mandatory intelligence tests to the males here. It seems we have a higher than normal percentage of inbeciles.

Now I am off to find my boots. Damn. I have to wear them today. Friday I had on birkenstocks with no socks.

LIVE Author Chat and Book Giveaway TONIGHT!

2012-01-10T09:21:00.000-06:00

As an indie author, I am always looking for new ways to connect with readers. It is nice to build a relationship with current fans and to gain new ones. I am trying something new for me tonight. I am doing a live chat.

A favorite facebook page of mine, Bookies, asked me if I would be interested in discussing the Gastien series in a live chat. I jumped at the chance! It sounds like a whole lot of fun. How cool to be able to chat directly with people who have read either one or both of the first two books in The Gastien Series.

The story of Gastien is for both adult men and women. It is drama, coming of age, historical and romance.

I am also going to give away either a NOOK book or Kindle book to someone. They will receive either Gastien Part One: The Cost of the Dream OR Gastien Part Two: From Dream to Destiny if they have already read book one.

This is a great way to ask questions about how Gastien was written, get background information about any of the characters, or to ask questions about the history of the bohemian art world in nineteenth century Paris/Montmartre.

Please join me tonight at 7pm Central (8 Eastern, 5 Pacific) to learn more about Gastien and the world he lived in. I would love to chat with you and answer your questions! Just go to Bookies and then click on the chat, listed on the left of the page. It is so simple and will be a lot of fun.

Hope to see you there!

Inteview with an "Angel"? (Author David H. Fears (Mike Angel Series) Talks About Writing

2012-01-09T10:01:00.001-06:00

Indie Authors are a wonderful, diverse group of people. One writer that I have had the pleasure of meeting in kindleboards is David H. Fears, the author of several books in the Mike Angel Series. Mike Angel is a PI and the books are mysteries, with a little bit of a "hard boiled" feel...and a lot of originality.

David was kind enough to help me with the blurb for my second book Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny, which I really appreciated. He has also agreed to be interviewed today here on my blog. I am really pleased and excited to present to you Mr. David H. Fears, a fabulous author and a new friend on mine:

Hi Mike! Thanks for taking time to chat with me for a little while today. You have several books under your belt, so I know you can give some great insight and advice. Let's start by talking a little bit about how you became an author, your books, and you. First of all, I am curious as to what made you personally decide to write your first book, why you decided to go "indie", and when the first book went "live".

I’m a historian and a recognized Mark Twain scholar (See Mark Twain Day By Day in 4 volumes, 3 now out; each 1100+ pages. Ivy Leaguers love these). I came to writing fiction late in life (doesn’t it always feel late?). I literally immersed myself in reading fiction, long and short for a couple of years, after realizing that save for a few school assignments, I’d mostly read non-fiction and history (which can be a certain kind of fiction, depending on the schlub who’s writing it). I also immersed myself in online and in person crit groups and studied the craft of fiction writing in 60 books I purchased. I began with short stories and flash stories, and was quite enamored of them. Having a rolling computer biz with over 300 customers, I self-pubbed a collection of my 20 first good stories (“Tree House Tales”). I paid for cover art & design, an editor and printer and did a run of 500 books costing about $4 each. That was in 2001. I broke even and was happy with that, and I think there’s still a couple of boxes in the garage.

My writing was perhaps not as polished as it would be but even today when I read them I feel there is a dollop of freshness and vibrancy in several of them. That was my first idea to go indie, since agents wouldn’t look at a collection by an unknown. Of course, those who knew me would have argued I wasn’t unknown! It’s all relative. About this time I was offered a part time gig as an English Comp instructor at a career college and loved it, also fitting in a masters degree in Education. Teaching comp by using fiction became my most successful approach to turning students on. I haven’t taught in several years but would jump at the chance to do it again. From 2003 to 2006 I wrote the first 4 Mike Angel novels. The first, DarkQuarry, was actually 4 diff. stories “stitched” together. I don’t recommend that method, but it did get me past my fear of writing novel-length works.

Then ebooks came along and on Christmas Eve, 2010 I uploaded the first couple of Mike Angel novels. Since then I’ve written 2 more for a total of 6. Each book is in a subsequent year, beginning in 1960. Each has elements of historical fiction, using real events, persons, places. The first began in the NY/NJ area (Mike was from Newark) and then moved to Chicago. Novels 2-5 are based in Chicago, from 1961 to 1964. The last, Dark Moon (#6) is based in my hometown of Portland, Oregon. I find these so damned much fun to write. I can be several sides of myself, don’t have to be politically correct at all, and can do research of the times for things I cannot recall (I was a young man in the 1960s and find today I’m still cursed in that way—arrested development?).

Due to all the snubs and weirdness connected with trying to find an agent in the late 90s and early 00’s, I have sworn on an altar (actually it’s my desk) never to go traditional publishing or to use an agent. Since I grew up with a bossy sister (think Lucy-Linus), I enjoy doing it myself in my own way, be it right or ruinous (insert Sinatra here, singing “I Did It My Way.”)

How many books do you have out? What are the other titles and genres? Tell us a little about the main character(s).

Currently, 8, though I also have several short stories or bundles of short stories. My main writing these days is the Mike Angel Mystery Series, and there are 6 of those: Dark Quarry, Dark Lake, Dark Blonde, Dark Poison, Dark Idol, and Dark Moon. These, if you haven’t guessed are a bit, uh, “dark.” Besides the 2001 Tree House Tales (20 short stories under the pen name DH Henry) I have a collection of 44 of my best short stories collected from 1998 on, 44Collected Stories by David H Fears (DH Henry). Obviously the mysteries are mysteries—so much of a dab of this and that; the short stories are in a wide range of genres. As a historian I enjoy wrapping a story around historical figures and events—the Mike Angel Series goes up against Chicago corruption in the Richard Daley administration; one short story that illustrates my love of history is “Pretty Boy Floyd We Need You Now.” Mixing history with fiction is very much like a slug of good scotch with a suds chaser. They both work.

My mystery novels are hard boiled to a degree, romantic to a degree (if you think of seduction and a growing love interest as romantic), with a smidge of the supernatural (Mike’s dead father “talks” to him during periods of danger), and humorous to a degree (how could I write without being humorous? Answer: I can’t.)

Mike Angel, aka (D’Angelo) is a too-young (30-35) and not-ready-for-prime time investigator, who, after a stint in Korea and with the NYPD, followed his father’s dream of establishing an elite agency; his father was murdered on his first case after retiring from the NYPD Detective force. Mike tends to be headstrong, rush-in with fists or bullets flying, has a weakness for drink and females in trouble (whether bad or good) and struggles with commitment issues. Mike’s a simple, what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of straight forward guy, who is ambivalent about being a PI, and struggles with his failures. He’s a bottom line romantic though, not the tough woman-beating PI of Spillane, nor the cultured loner of Chandler.

Molly Bennett meets Mike in the first novel. She is then 24, a bright, cute, and shiny penny of optimism who is wise beyond her years. She loves Mike totally but understands, and more importantly, accepts him, knowing she cannot tie him down without his permission. She encourages him to let the relationship build slowly; is his office whiz and even helps on some cases by her cogent questions. Nothing ever gets her down, with the one exception of the death of her father (Dark Lake). She’s in it for the long haul, and will wait for Mike to understand he’ll never find a better mate, mainly because she’s convinced of it. She admires him to death and even encourages him to “fib when you need to” though this acts as a brake to his behavior. She also takes judo lessons and is a brown belt working toward a black belt. One misled reviewer thought Molly was “all right” with Mike’s womanizing. The poor thing (reviewer) didn’t understand just how Molly approaches this, so she needs to read the other novels.

Rick (“Don’t call me Richard”) Anthony (age 58-63) was the lead detective partner of Mike’s late father on the NYPD 23^rd precinct. He retired but didn’t want to fish or play golf. Over educated and burdened with a head-slapping vocabulary from taking every NYU night class available for 20 years, Rick is the analytical partner and balance to Mike’s rush-in nature. Rick came West to Chicago during Dark Lake (#2) and talked Mike into being his junior-senior partner. Though increasingly unable to endure rough and tumble as he ages, and with his own predilection for females (society widows, etc.), Rick provides a lot of humor and give & take with Mike & Molly, and keeps nudging Mike to commit to Molly. He also wants to hear about every salacious dame who trips Mike & beats him to the floor, as most of his bedroom enjoyment is vicarious through Mike’s missteps and adventures.

The late Chet Anthony, Mike’s father, gets a “quota” of words to use in warning Mike of dangerous situations; Only Mike “hears” this voice in his head and he hasn’t yet told anyone about it, though he’s convinced St. Peter is allowing Chet to speak to him. Chet also “warns” Mike by prickling and burning a long scar on Mike’s jaw that he earned when chasing down his father’s killer in Dark Quarry (#1). The Voice isn’t frequent enough to be overbearing or that Machina ex Deus thing writers are warned about, and it isn’t often enough for Mike to be sure one way or the other if he’s going bonkers.

By the way, I LOVE your book covers! When is your next book coming out? What is it about?

Besides my historical reference work, Vol IV of Mark Twain Day By Day out late 2012 hopefully, I have a seed of an idea now for a 7^th Mike Angel Novel. What is it about? The murder of a stunning model, human frailties, danger, seduction/temptation. Sometimes these seeds drop in my briar patch from a certain image I’ve seen on the Net. This one is now germinating.

I also have an idea for a “chicken soup” type of book—that contains discussions of the last conversations with loved ones passed by a bunch of folks. I have at least 3 segments to add myself. Send me yours!

What advice would you give other people who are thinking about writing their first book, but then that self doubt comes in?

Self doubts are the worst. Read and act on a book called Be Your Own Best Friend, the gist of which is to tell yourself only those things that you would say to encourage your best friend, and flush the others. Then, go ahead and write, get a lot of crits, editor advice, beta readers (not family) and learn the difference between editing and revising. Lastly, put it to the drawer test—let it lie there as long as it takes to forget a lot of it. Then pull it out and do another read through. Read it also aloud—very important. You might want to read it backwards, or printed out in a diff. Font. Learn how to self-edit. Don’t buy too much into what “experts” tell you—be true to your vision. Finally, throw it out there—if you find you’ve made errors, ebooks are quite easy to edit & republish. Even paperbacks using Createspace are easy to change.

What do you think are the five most important things a new author has to "take care of" to give them the best chance at success?

1) Discover ways to exercise your imagination—without it no piece of writing, no matter how “correct” can be a good story.

2) Study and learn the craft of writing fiction in whatever way you can. Read all the time—have at least a couple of reads going in the genre you plan to write in. See how others do it; observe & even ape the masters, but use your own head, heart & mystery.

3) Have your life in proper priority—no one has to ignore family, God, Country, etc. to become a good or great writer. For what shall it profit a man if he gives up his soul for his writing? (I kinda borrowed that). If you don’t have a thick skin, rent one. Write what’s fun or exciting or scintillating to write.

4) Don’t follow the crowd—they’re always proven to be dumb lemmings.

5) Write regularly—don’t wait for some stupid “muse”—ass to chair; writing is discipline as well as fun.

Let's talk a little bit about you as a person now. Tell me, what about life never fails to make you laugh?

People mostly—those without a sense of humor are the funniest. Groucho movies, Peanuts cartoons, Old Seinfeld episodes, kids—what they say and how they say it.

What has surprised you about life that you were not expecting that is good?

A strong and surprising increase of love for children and animals; also being, feeling younger as I age.

How about same thing, but bad?

The tearing holes that come at the loss of a parent, or a life-long friend; a lonely warehouse of memories & no one to share them with.

What do you enjoy doing besides writing?

Historical research and reading history; eating those baby chocolate donuts while watching The Biggest Loser and Cupcake Wars with the wifey. Bicycling on some great trails in the woods near my home. Watching nourish old movies. “The stuff that dreams are made of.”

I have no wishes for material things, understanding like the rich guy who tried riding that camel through a needle’s eye was on the wrong path. I’ve been a millionaire and also a pauper and learned that neither lifts the spirit. I hope to teach writing again someday and see once more the students catch my enthusiasm and learn to write better than they thought they could. I also wish my calico editor cat Sophie lives to be 20 or more years. She is now 11, and this interview has put her completely to sleep next to me.

What book by another author do you wish you would have written and why?

A tie: first, The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler because I think it is simply the best, the most sublime in the genre. Also Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy (I read all his novels one summer years ago), because he created a place called the Heath, which became a character in the moody novel. I try to re-read these two every year.

Any last things you would like to tell people about you or your writing?

I always strive to be a good storyteller first. As I taught my students, “you can pick all the flies off of a dead man but you’ll still have a corpse”—meaning, voice and story must take priority over grammar and correct diction. Of course you can be thin and rich too? I am challenged to bring back some popularity for the PI Mystery, hard boiled to a degree, but with my own ingredients applied as well. Seduction and romance carried beyond those famous fade out scenes, venturing into erotica territory. I aim for likable sympathetic characters with depth but also strive to give life to the minor characters even if they only have a brief time on stage. I’m probably done with short stories, but deeply respect the crafting of them and those who do it well, like Alice Munro. Not every writer can be a novelist. I read once that every short story could be a novel, and every novel could be a short story. Life is both—a novel, and a short story—way too short for most.

I thank you for this opportunity. My persona does not always come across well online. Many people actually think I’m a jerk! Of course this can be publicity of a sort. “Be good and you will be lonesome” – Mark Twain. Last, I’d like to see writers interviewed in Utube or Skype sessions. That’d be an improvement in that follow up questions would be added. Now I’ve done my one interview for 2012 and will go back to being a hermit in my den. Wake up, Sophie! It’s time for lunch.

Thanks, David. And, Sophie, thanks for letting me borrow David for a few minutes. I grew up with cats, but now have 2 parrots. Something tells me you and my parrots would probably not be best friends...but I do love felines.

You can click on David's book titles that are linked above, or here is a link to all of David's books on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_tc_2_0?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3ADavid+H+Fears&keywords=David+H+Fears&ie=UTF8&qid=1326122385&sr=1-2-ent&field-contributor_id=B002BMD05M

There are reviews and free samples for each book on Amazon. I am betting you will quickly become a Mike Angel fan!

The Mental Illness of Creativity

2012-01-06T10:06:00.000-06:00

Being an indie author and a painter, I have had the opportunity to meet many other creative types. I have also read about a lot of different artists, mostly painters, or watched documentaries about them. What I have discovered is that for the vast majority of them, mental illness seems to be part of their make-up.

Everyone assumes that being talented in the arts is a blessing. Yes, indeed it is in many ways. In some ways, though, it is a curse. Most of us will never make much money at all from our artistic endeavors. To pursue the life of an artist full time is usually equivalent to pursuing poverty. It is not enjoyable to move from crappy room or apartment to another, nor is it enjoyable to wonder where your next meal comes from. How many famous artists made money while they were alive? Point made. For a painter, fame usually follows death.,,if it comes at all.

So, most of us work at other jobs. Usually, these jobs feel to us like they are sucking our soul out of our body. Some of us always work at something else full time. Some work part-time. Others take some time off to just create, hoping against hope that they will find a way to continue full time at what they were meant to do.

This creates other problems. If we have other jobs, our free time is limited. Do we create or do we involve ourselves in personal relationships? It is damn difficult to work 40 hours, write or paint, be a lover and friend, raise kids, take care of a home, and all of the other things that involve life.

The artist is always torn. Really, the reason they are here is to create. When they are not creating, they feel real anguish and a pull that is hard to silence. When they create, they become so involved in their work that everything outside of that is shut out. That hurts people they love.

Because artists are human, they also need love and want to love. If they take the time to be involved with another adult, take the time to have children and really enjoy them....when do they create? Do they give up sleep to create? That can't be continued forever, either.

That is the conflict that creatives face every moment of each day. One thing that I have noticed and discussed with many artists is the fact that, if you read about almost any past painter, almost every one of them either spent time in a mental institution (sometimes more than once), had alcohol or drug problems, or committed suicide. Seriously, I would bet at least 90% of them.

So, here is my question. Are creatives already mentally ill because of the way they see things? Or does the stress of trying to create, make a living, and be involved with others all at the same time cause it? I know I see things differently than most. I always have. I have also struggled with some forms of mental illness. Drugs for it dull creativity so I opt to go without. Learn to cope. Accept my alienation that I feel at times. Go deep inside and ground myself.

Ah, yes. The blessing of creative talent. Is my storytelling simply a way to escape reality? I don't know. What about my painting? Is it a blessing? When I am dead, who will give a damn about the hundreds of canvases painted in my basement? When I think of that, my paintbrush feels more like a dagger that could, at any time, be plunged deep into my heart.

And so I go back to square one. Go back, as I said, deep within myself to find my grounding. I remember, once again, that I don't create simply because I am good enough or because I love it. I create because I have to. That is why I am here. Words and me. Color and me. Why I am here.

Strange Magic: The Courtship Between Color and Me

2012-01-04T12:06:00.000-06:00

I don't know how most artists paint, but I definitely have a sort of courtship dance that I do with my work. I always look forward to the days that I plan on makin' love to the color. In my head I imagine spending hours upon hours lost in that special place. It seldom happens that way for me, though.

For some reason, I have to "court" the color, or perhaps the painting. First, I get things set up. Easel, canvas, paints at the ready. My favorite brushes. The palette. Then, the dance begins.

Oh, I may draw a little bit, or paint the background or underpainting. I am just as likely to do nothing, though. I have to kind of walk around the house, looking at the canvas on the easel. Not too bold. Just a glance. I don't want to make it uncomfortable. That canvas is no hussy! It is a rare gift to me, and I damn well better treat it right! To paint is to be with my Creator and that is holy. Homage must be made.

Finally, I approach. It may be the same day, it may not. As I begin, I play one of 4 CD's. Dire Straights first album simply titled "Dire Straights". Joan Osborne's CD "Early Recordings". Joan Jett's Greatest Hits. Or The Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Why those? I don't know. Does it matter? Sometimes I will listen to the radio, too. Classic Rock, or Classical. But mostly it is those four. Those four are "our songs". The songs the color and I fall in love with each other to.

I may paint three or four hours. I may paint two. Then, the dance begins again. I have to walk around, glancing at it. Look up from the table while eating and notice nuances, what works, what isn't. Still, I don't jump up and "fix" it or elaborate. No, no! One cannot accost their lover.

When the time is right to begin again, I know. I can then start to caress my lover and show it, just a little more, what I am feeling for it. Eventually, the painting gets done. Sometimes I feel it is a success. Other times, I feel I have fallen far short of what I was trying to express to my dearest love.

It used to puzzle me, this game of cat and mouse. It seemed I must be scared to just paint! I finally realize it is not fear. It is reverence. It is a building of anticipation, a sensuous revelling in the erotic pleasure of creation.

Just like making love to a human, the joy...the bliss of the act should not be ignored. Yes, the ending is breathtaking for me, just like with sex...but, oh, the pleasure of building up to that! That is not to be taken lightly, but prolonged so that every fiber of my being can rejoice in it. My color. My love. My everything.

Painting a Place I Have Never Been, But Used to Live At

2012-01-03T09:54:00.002-06:00

As an artist, I have started a journey. I am painting the largest painting I have ever done, in a style I have never painted, of a place I have never been. Confusing? No. Scary? Yes. Impossible? No. Challenging? Definitely.

I have started to paint a street scene in Paris. Specifically the Montmartre area, where Impressionism started. As an indie writer my first two novels take place there, in the nineteenth century. In fact, the main character, Gastien, is an artist.

I love Impressionism, but have seldom been a painter of that style. I usually paint from one extreme to another: realism or abstract. So, why the change? Welllll.....because I happen to believe that change is good for the soul. It keeps the mind fresh and forces one to think in new ways. It will also force my painting hand to work in new ways!

I also do not paint street scenes. At least, not in the past. Yet, here I am with the underpainting done of a street across from place du tertre (the park where Impressionists often painted in the late 1800's and many artists still paint today).

I have not been there once. Not in this life. That place, though, it is so familiar. I have lived there before. It is the place that my soul cries for. I know I will live there again. My beautiful, now over commercialized Montmartre. I hear you calling me back. I have not forgotten you. I never could. Somewhere deep inside I remember every street, every building, every tree, every dirt road.

I don't know if I will get there in this lifetime, but I promise you I will try. And, if I don't, I will do my best to return the next time. I know nothing will be the same. Yet everything will be familiar. Your true home when visiting this planet always feels right to you, and you will know where it is if you take the time to listen.

For now, I will pick up my brushes, mix some color and make a poor attempt to capture some of that love that I feel for that place, that home I had long ago. I don't know if I will have a masterpiece or what others will consider a piece of junk. But this I do know: the final painting will carry part of my energy back to my earth home and help me connect to the place I am always meant to be. At least while I am here on earth. For me, it is the closest I can get to my real home; that place of eternity whenever I am not visiting here.

Oui, now you know. If you read this carefully and know me at all, you will know. If you don't know me, chalk it up to being slightly crazy, and extremely open minded. A soul who embraces the "what ifs" and knows when some of them are true. I have lived many times. Once it was in Montmartre. Been there, done that...will do it again. Je t'aime beaucoup, mon Monmartre. Je t'aime.

A Resolution to Accept Imperfection

2011-12-30T07:14:00.001-06:00

Another year is coming up and we all know that resolutions will be made to lose weight, stop smoking, exercise more, be kinder, spend more time with kids, and a ton of others. Some people will even manage to keep the resolutions going for months. Others? Within a week or two the resolution is forgotten about.

I remember one year that I resolved to lose weight. I lost 60 pounds. Then I got a very stressful job and gained it all back. I sat on my ass 8 hours a day selling electronic advertising. By the end of the day I was so mentally exhausted I just could not drive myself to exercise. An excuse? Maybe. Or maybe my body and mind just needed to rest.

For this indie author 2012 is going to be the year that I learn to forgive myself. I vow to no longer expect perfection from the time I wake up...going from one task on a list to another and always feeling like I am coming up short because there are so many tasks still left to compete. All of a sudden the day is over, the week is over...the months are over. And although I accomplished a lot of things I have found that I was strangely not present. I was too busy "doing" to enjoy just "being".

I am going to just "be" this upcoming year. Yes, I will accomplish goals. I am a goal oriented person. But the time frames for completion will be less strident. If I decide to spend the day in the woods, or at the zoo, I am NOT going to feel guilty. In other words, I am going to simply live to live.

If I don't lose weight without it being a struggle, perhaps I don't want to that badly. If I don't push myself to do exercise every damn day, or even most of them, perhaps it is because my muscles ache. I am tired to hearing how exercise is supposed to help that. It doesn't. It makes it worse. Even yoga sometimes. So, excuse me, but I am going to love myself. When I feel that I would enjoy hiking or yoga, I will do it. When I want a nap, I will nap instead.

Perhaps it is age. I remember one person telling me that getting older was in a way a relief because your expectations are lower. I find that is true for me.
I am going to enjoy some desserts and I am going to enjoy some salads. I am going to sleep later when I wish. And take a nap if I wish.

If our house is dirty, we may clean it. Or, we may instead decide to go play. I fell in love with my husband because I enjoy him, not because he can clean a bathroom well. If our house bothers people, they can stop coming over. We will never be pigs, but at times you will see dust. I will admit we are NOT messy, but can be dirty. It is our dirt. If you come over I will have a clean bathroom, but the other rooms may be dusty. Get over it or find new friends.

I am going to write more novels because I enjoy it, not because a time frame is glaring at me. I am going to paint more because it is who I am, not because perhaps someone will discover me. Some people will love my books and my art. Some will hate it. That's cool. I will love my books and art regardless. Anything that causes emotion (and my work tends to do that) results in strong reaction.

I have finally realized that I am fabulous just as I am. Not perfect, but just fine. The soul in this body has waiting for acceptance for 56 years. I accept her now. Welcome, self, to 2012...the year of self love and acceptance.

To Kindle Select or Not to Kindle Select, That is the Question

2011-12-29T07:28:00.000-06:00

Indie Authors have a big decision to make.

Amazon has changed the game and may be planning on taking over the publishing world. Around mid December they started offering authors Kindle Select. If you join, you get to be part of their loaning program and get part of the revenue shared by authors whose books are loaned to Prime members. Prime members can borrow one book a month.

You can also offer your book free for 5 days during 90 days. Doing so often pushes your book into the top 100 lists for the genres it is listed in and makes it appear also a "also bought" for people. This means you may sell a whole lot more for awhile after the free days.

Not to mention that books in the Select program will probably be promoted more heavily to Prime customers. Sounds great, right?

Well...not so much. In order to do that, you have to go exclusively with Amazon for at least 90 days. That means you can't sell your book on B&N for NOOK, Apple, any other book sites or even your own website. You must have your book removed from all of those sources and only be available on Amazon. If you stay with Select after the 90 days you must stay exclusive to Amazon.

That means you lose your reviews on those other sites. It means those customers can no longer buy your book. For some authors, that does not seem like a big deal. The majority of sales come from Amazon for most anyway.

But think about it for a minute. Doesn't that take the "indie" out of indie author? Telling someone where they can and cannot sell their book is not exactly independent. Also, traditionally published authors don't have to play by the same rules. They are not required to be exclusive, at least from what I understand. If I am wrong, I hope someone corrects me. How is that fair?

Also, if a Prime member can only "borrow" one book a month, how many times will that be an indie book? Indie books are significantly less money. Why would they use their one borrow for a $2.99 or .99 book when they can use it for a $10.00 or more? Really, the money an indie will make from the loaning program won't be much.

What if Amazon pushes hard enough that almost all indies are exclusive with them? Can't they then change the game again...and offer them a lot less profit per book? Where are they going to go unless they start over, building reviews, etc on other sites?

I don't know. This seems like a stranger offering me candy on a street corner. On the other hand, other authors are jumping in and seeing a huge increase in visibility because of days their book is free. It remains to be seen how that free turns into future sales...but it is looking promising.

So far, I have decided not to abandon my Nook users. But they are a tough sell. If things don't improve with Nook users and my sales, I may be tempted. I have not published with Apple yet, but planned to. Now this Kindle Select comes along. Still, it just feels wrong in my gut...and my gut seldom lies.

It would be easier to try it if I wrote stand alone books. Right now I am in the middle of a series. It does not make sense to put just one of two in a series on there only on Amazon...or does it? What about when book 3 comes out? Should I make book 1 exclusive then, thinking that it has been out long enough on other sites already? Decisions, decisions.

Yeah, it feels crappy, like a potentially bad situation in the future. I have been wrong before and could be again. This is really a hard decision. A decision every indie author will be facing with every book published. Tomorrow I may wake up and think "what the hell" and try it. Or I may continue as is, truly indie and loving it.

The Most Important Gift You Will Ever Open

2011-12-27T10:24:00.000-06:00

I am an indie author/publisher. I can say that because of a gift that I finally “got”; one that we all have, but usually don’t open. Curious? Good!

In 2010 I went for my annual physical. The routine blood tests all came back normal like usual, and I went on with my day. There was a gift waiting for me, one that had been there since I was born; but once again I failed to open it.

Then, my phone rang. I needed to come back in because my mammogram had something suspicious on it. After another mammogram and biopsy, I got another call. The call that finally got me to open my eyes…the call that finally got me to open the gift.

I had breast cancer. I could go on and on about my feelings, my fears, the surgery, the radiation, the healing; but that is not what this blog is about. This blog is about what getting cancer forces you to do. It forces you to finally open your eyes and see the gift that has been waiting for you from the moment you were born.

It is the gift of “now”.

I finally understood that anything that I wanted to accomplish in my life should not be put on a back burner for “someday”. ‘Someday’ is not guaranteed. We all run out of “someday” sooner or later. But I did (and do) have “now”. Nothing brings this home to us like the threat of no longer existing.

And so, once I was done with all of the radiation, I committed to writing five days a week, at least an hour a day. No matter what. Why? Because “now” is all I had; all any of us have.

I had always wants to write a novel. Had started a couple but never finished. This time, I knew that if I wanted it to happen, it was up to me to make sure that nothing stopped me. Not even "someday".

Gastien Part 1: The Cost of the Dream was born from that. I self published for many reasons. I did not even try to go the traditional route. I wanted freedom. I did not want to wait (remember “now”?). I wanted to control my own destiny in regard to my writing. It came out for Kindle and Nook on August 1, 2011. Paperback arrived shortly after.

Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny released the week of December 13th for Kindle and NOOK. I am waiting for the paperback proof. I may never see the kind of success that Amanda Hocking, did...but if one Minnesota gal can do it, why not two?

I am not going to use this blog to talk about the saga/romance series of Gastien. You will find links above if you want more information. I simply want to share the gift of “now”.

I could never have imagined how exciting it would be to hold my own book in my hands! It is a feeling that I am glad I got to experience. Cancer did that for me. I had always heard there were blessings to cancer, but thought it was b.s. Not so. The gift of “now” is the greatest gift there is…and it is free and available to all of us.

The cancer is gone. It was caught very early and my doctor says to plan on eventually dying from something else. Yes, of course. No one gets out of here alive. That is why I am moving right into the third book in the Gastien series, but first taking time to make love to the color for a week (as Gastien called painting). It is time. Now!

I hope this each one of you reading this will accept the gift that has always sat there, waiting for you to open it. I can’t give it to you. Only you can. It is your gift of “now”.

Open it. Please.

Brown Christmas Is Perfect, Thank You.

2011-12-26T12:13:00.001-06:00

I am pleased to say that this year in Minnesota we had a brown Christmas. At least in my part of the state. I do believe they have snow in Northern Minnesota. Am I disappointed? Hell no!

There is nothing enjoyable about scraping ice from windshields after going out to eat, shop or anything else you might need to venture out for. I don't enjoy shoveling mounds of frozen white stuff off the drive and walks...and my husband doesn't either.

It gets tiresome slipping and sliding all over the streets...or seeing an inch of salt eating away at your car. Neither cars nor people are made for ice.

Bah, humbug regarding ice skating, snowmobiling, skiing or ice fishing. Sorry. I don't enjoy freezing my ass off staring down a hole in the lake on the off chance that some poor fish might decide to strike. That is what supermarkets are for.

Snowmobiling? Seems to me the only reason people do that is to go from one bar to another and drink. Dangerous and cold. No thanks. A bottle of cab in my warm house works better. Especially considering I probably won't kill myself or others making my way from one room to another. (Depending, of course, upon how many bottles are consumed.)

No, give me a pool and a frozen cocktail over a ice rink and hot chocolate any day. Slipping into flip flops to leave the house is much nicer than putting on layers, a coat, a hat, gloves, boots...and then standing in melted snow in stocking feet when you take off the boots later.

Why do I stay? I love a Minnesota man. He wants to stay because family is here. I stay because he gives so much to me that I need to let him claim victory in a few things. This is one of them. So far.

So, brown Christmas? I was sure hoping so. My wish was granted. We may not even have snow before New Year's! That will make this frozen hell they call Minnesota much more endurable. It really is a beautiful place to live most of the year. If you manage to shorten the four to five months of winter we usually get down to three you may even get me to say it is the best place to live in the country.

Just to celebrate I think I will go out and make a leaf angel. Or would that be tempting fate by rubbing it's nose in all things not winter?

Guest Post by 8 Year Old Kaylee-Future Author

2011-12-23T07:13:00.000-06:00

I was very excited to hear from a nephews partner that her daughter loves to write and wants to be an author. Perhaps like most new authors now, she will become an indie author! It is always nice to know that there will be people who love to do what I do. Kaylee is 8 years old and is a charming little girl. Please welcome Kaylee Rae Curtis!

Christmas Traditions

By Kaylee Rae Curtis

Every year for Christmas we set up the tree and we always have a lot of ornaments! My favorite ornament is my princess ornament. She has a fancy dress and ribbon and a bow.

Another thing we do is cookies. We always make Christmas tree cookies. Last year we made about 100. We had so many that we had to throw them away! But they were still good!

Another thing we do is we always go shopping for people who are nice to other people. Once mom got me Pillow Pets. And we always go to parties. Like the one was the Rowland party. THE ROWLANDS ARE SO LOUD!!! We played a dice game and ate a lot of food. And my favorite food was the sloppy joes, rice krispy bars and the fruit punch.

And another thing we do is that we go to our Grammie & Bumpa's house. Grammie and Bumpa are our grandma and grandpa. Every year we go there and we see Santa, and we eat a Christmas dinner, and then we get presents and we play with our toys.

And another thing we do is we always get emails from Santa, he tells us how old we are, he tells us if we are on the nice list or the naughty list. And last but not least, we always open our presents in the morning.

******

Steven Ain't Believin'

By Kaylee Rae Curtis

Once upon a time there was a boy named Steven. He loved to play, but the person he did not like was Santa!

One day he was playing with his friends and his friends asked him, "Do you believe in Santa?"

He said, "No. Your parents are Santa."

"Do you believe in the tooth fairy, Easter bunny, or anybody?"

He said, "NO!"

So one day his friends were thinking of a plan for him to think that Santa is real. So they sent a letter to Santa saying...

"Dear Santa,

I know Steven has been a naughty little boy, but can you please come to his house cause he thinks your not real!"

Love, Tommy & Jake

So on Christmas night Steven was thirsty, so he went down tot get a bottle of water and when he came up he....saw Santa!

He pulled his beard - it did not come off.

He said, "I'm going outside." - and he saw Santa's reindeer!

He said, "You're real, you're real!"

So Steven gave Santa a big hug and went back to sleep.

***

What I Got For Christmas (Christmas Alone)

2011-12-22T07:30:00.000-06:00

We are celebrating Christmas alone this year. It is not the first time, nor will it be the last. We did not decorate or put up a tree. We have only exchanged gifts with each other three times in almost forty years. We have always bought what we wanted during the year. The times we bought gifts, most of them were exchanged for something else or put on a garage sale a few years later.

People want to feel sorry for us when they find out we "aren't doing anything" for Christmas. They assume we must be depressed or Grinch's because we have not decorated (it has been a couple years since we have).

Not so. We are perfectly happy and we have Christmas spirit inside. We just don't feel like getting out a bunch of "stuff" and then having to put that "stuff" away to get out the regular "stuff". We are extremely busy and that is one chore we have eliminated that last couple of years.

Oh, we will decorate again. Now that we have Gideon in our life we know the importance of making Christmas magical for him. Once he is old enough he will want to see decorations when he comes over to Grandma and Grandpa Rowland's house and that is just fine. Right know we just need a break.

As far as being alone, we treasure that time together. We don't always want to be alone on Christmas. But, when we are, it is a time to just enjoy the person we love the most. There is no pressure to be anywhere (most everything is closed). We can stay up as late as we want, sleep as late as we want and don't have a long drive. We don't have to clean like maniacs for company. We can eat whatever we damn please. We can even make love on the kitchen table if we want, because Santa ain't coming down our chimney! Yeah, people in their 50's (and later!) have sex. Damn good sex. Get over it. You can only hope you are that lucky when you are older.

Gifts? I got mine early this year. Gideon arrived next door on August 20th. I have already blogged about our love for him. We are now "grandparents" and I treasure every moment with him. What better gift is there than new life that I am not responsible for 24 hours a day? We are childless by choice and grandparents by choice. Those choices have proved perfect for us.

I also received the gift of "no cancer" in regard to the biopsy I had this fall. When you have had cancer once that is an even bigger gift!

I got two books out this year, my first two. It is quite a gift to hold a book in your hand that has your name as author. The Gastien series is alive and well. I love being an indie author!

It looks like Christmas won't be white here and we both consider that a gift. It makes the Minnesota winter a but shorter.

Lastly, I am going to be "making love to the color" (as Gastien called painting) from now until January 2nd. No writing. Just a little promotion of my books and lots of paint and canvas. Yeah baby! Like Gastien, that is why I am here. That and the writing.

I found out that my nephews 8 year old daughter wants to be an author. She writes things and asks her mom to send them to publishers, so I am going to turn this blog over to her tomorrow. You will be hearing from Kaylee tomorrow with some Christmas thoughts. It would be nice if she got some comments to encourage her.

So, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year or just plain old have a great life...depending on your belief. I am off to make love...to the color!

Really, Redneck? No Fat Chicks?

2011-12-19T09:20:00.002-06:00

Ok, I am going to warn you right at the start: I am feelin' snarky today. Not gonna apologize, either. I am not sorry...but at least I am honest. Yup. Today this indie author is one snarky gal.

Ever notice those decals some males have on cars that say "No Fat Chicks"? They have been around now for years, all kinds of them. What has amazed me all of those years is how the guy looks when he gets out of his truck (cuz you can bet he is drivin' a truck. No question. Hands down.).

One would think that in order to be choosy about a potential mates looks, that person wold have some looks himself. I have yet to see a good lookin' guy with the No Fat Chicks decal. I am not saying some good looking guys don't want to date fat girls. I am just saying that those who feel it is their right to advertise their extremely discriminating "good" taste seem to seldom look in a mirror.

Every single one of these guys that I have seen sport at least one of the following: beer gut, teeth missing, acne, balding, greasy hair, unkempt clothing, t-shirts advertising beer or NASCAR or heavy metal (and not washed in decades), or they are spitting snuff.

Damn! Let me tell you, fat girls across the country breathe a sigh of relief when they see that decal. One less ahole to worry about in their life. The day suddenly seems a bit brighter.

Hey, redneck, here is a newsflash for ya: You would need to tie a T-bone to your trousers to even get a bulldog to sniff you. No need to worry about a fat girl. You think you deserve a fashion model? Well, I used to look like one when I was younger. Let me tell ya, you would not have had a chance in a million years. And guess what? Now that I am 56 and have a big ass, you still would not stand a chance in a million years. So dream on, darling. All men want the pin up girl. Most, though, don't look like Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp so perhaps they need to get over themselves a wee bit.

Gals, I think it is time that we get a few decals for our cars. How about "No Missing Teeth?" or "No Hairy Ass Crack Sticking Out Of Jeans?" or maybe
"No Rednecks With IQ of 20?"

Sorry, guys. The funny thing is, most rednecks don't even know they are. I am going to end this with my favorite song.

"If you're redneck but don't know it, clap your hands!
If you're redneck but don't know it, clap your hands!
If you're redneck but don't know it, well don't worry
You sure show it!
If you're redneck but don't know it, clap your hands!"

Later. Gotta go thank my lucky stars that Joe Redneck down the street is not attracted to me. Damn. I have always fantasized about how his big gut must bounce when he's doing the "wild thang". Be still my heart!

Two Computers, Two Work Emails, One Brain!

2011-12-16T14:20:00.000-06:00

My head is once again ready to explode! Ain't technology grand? Yeah, it is...but sometimes I swear one brain is no longer enough if you engage in the myriad of technology available.

I have a pc that I wrote my first two books on as an indie author. Then, last spring I bought a laptop so that I could edit and write outside during the spring and summer. Trust me, in Minnesota you want to soak up every nice day in preparation for 4 months or more of cold!

The only problem is I am constantly needing to back up and transfer or else I don't have what I need at whatever computer I am working on! Yesterday I tried to get a bit more organized by moving more files to my laptop. I hope to eventually use that exclusively. Once this pc fails I won't replace it because I love my laptop; however, I do like the 24 inch monitor of my pc. It is easier to read. So I find myself here blogging and other things.

Don't even start about email addresses. I have so many that I don't remember some of them! My original one was so full of spam I put box trapper on it...and now many people are rejected even if I set up filters. So, that one if just for some friends and family that are lucky enough for the damn filter to accept them! That filter is much more choosy about friends than I am.

Then I started one for my art and for other friends, etc. That was great, and I started requesting book reviews etc from it. All of a sudden I realized that it would be easier to have one email address for all things "author" related. Great. Except some promotions and reviews are stored in files under the art one. Sigh.

I find myself going back and forth, usually screwing up what I send. Misty gets the .pdf and Katie gets the .mobi...and then I realize it should have been the other way around...well, you get the picture!

Dear me. Then there are all my "favorites" or "bookmarks" on my pc from when I wrote the first two books in my series. Except now I write on my laptop. So I need to look up each of those for the laptop...my head is so mixed up I can't think straight.

You know what? I have only one place where my favorite Cabernet sits waiting. That is not at all stressful or confusing. I think maybe it is time to go say hello to Louis M. Martini. He and I seem to frequently see eye to eye...or should I say mouth to bottle?

At Long Last, Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny

2011-12-14T11:27:00.000-06:00

I usually blog about other things instead of specifically dedicating a blog to my books. However, today I am just so happy that I am going to promote myself. Please forgive me while I do a celebration dance!

Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny is now available on Kindle and NOOK! I will be formatting for paperback and that should come out in January. This picks up where Gastien Part 1: The Cost of the Dream leaves off. It is the romance my fans have been waiting for.

This is NOT a typical female romance. It is definitely still a story for men as well as women! This book shows that "being in love is wonderful, but true love refuses to be confined by any boundaries." Gastien is a true nonconformist, yet he finds himself loved in spire of his terms.

Don't forget Gastien's fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/Gastien.Beauchamp

Now, off to formatting the paperback. :) Then I need to get this to reviewers/bloggers and do some other updating of profiles. After that, I am going to take a couple weeks around the holidays to "make love to the color" as Gastien and I refer to painting. My hand is itching to hold a brush again.

The second week of January I will start writing more of book 3 in The Gastien Series. Of course, I will still be blogging during my painting time. Did you think you could shut me up that long?

Sometimes Nice Things Happen For No Reason

2011-12-12T10:19:00.000-06:00

We had something really nice happen to us this last weekend. Isn't it fun when something cool happens to you for no reason other than serendipity?

All day Saturday my husband was busy "mouse proofing" our house. (If you remember, I blogged about finding evidence of a visitor about a week ago). I spent the day cleaning the house. Not one of my favorite chores, but it sure is nice to have a clean house once it is done.

We decided to go to Famous Dave's for dinner. We love Famous Dave's. We usually go about once a week and get the ribs on the Early Bird Special. It is just the right amount of food at a very reasonable price.

Famous Dave's has been running a promotion where you get a scratch off ticket with your bill. You bring in the ticket the next time and scratch it off to see what you won. Most prizes are free appetizers or desserts. We seldom order either. My husband is not a dessert fan, I am too much of one. Appetizers are great...if you want to ruin your appetite for your entree!

About a week ago we scratched ours off and to our surprise, we won a free entree! That was very nice. On Saturday I almost forgot that we had a scratch off. Remembering, I dug it out and scratched while the server watched. It was kind of dark in there (yeah, ok...I need reading glasses...get over it!) so I could not quite make out. "Something about 2nd and All American" I said.

The waitress grabbed it and lit up. "Oh! You just won the All American! That is only the 2nd time that has happened here. It is a very nice prize...our $58 All American Feast!" Huh???? Wow! It came and we could not stop laughing at all of the food. It is really for four. Honestly, it should be for six. It is so large it comes on a garbage can lid!

We got 12 ribs, brisket, a WHOLE chicken, 4 corn muffins, enough fries for 8 people, a ton of coleslaw (they have the BEST), Wilber beans, and their chips instead of corn on the cob! Needless to say, we could not eat even half of it.

This was perfect because we had not found time to get groceries that day. We now had 2 more meals to take home. Last night we had the chicken, etc. Tonight the ribs and brisket that was left over. These "leftovers" are full meals.

We made sure to thank the manager and we also made sure to tip the servers as if we had paid for it. (For those of you who use 2 for 1 coupons, you are supposed to tip on the full amount, not on one entree. The server should not be punished for your savings.).

Walking out, I commented to Dave that we needed to remember that even though bad or irritating things happen all of the time (remember the mice?), good things happen for no reason, too. And what a nice surprise it is whenever that happens!

Thank you Famous Dave's. That was very cool!

Fa la la lala la la Formatting gets easier!

2011-12-08T07:52:00.001-06:00

As an indie publisher, I do my own formatting for e-book and for paperback. I started the formatting for paperback yesterday afternoon for Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny. I have to say that it is going much smoother for the second book! The first book (which was the first time I had tried to do any of this type of thing) was tough. Some days I wanted to open a bottle of cab by 10am. Other days, I wanted to throw a bottle of cab against my computer screen.

I am sure I will run into a few little glitches, but it is nice to see (at least so far) that this formatting gets easier once you have a little experience under the belt.

As far as formatting for kindle and nook, I have that ready to go. That is now second nature to me (now watch the file get rejected when I decide to submit...). I want to wait until further into December to submit, as I want to be a new release for a few weeks after people open their gifts and get those new kindles!

I thought those of you who are getting ready to self publish your first novel, and those of you holding back because of formatting fear, would like to know that it does indeed get easier after the first time. Make sure you ask questions in the communities for the formatting you are working on. More importantly, bookmark the answers! You will need those the next time!

I copied the answers to my questions on a word.doc since there were various bookmarks from different days questions. I now have that word.doc up and available on my laptop for referral as I work on the paperback formatting.

Formatting for paperback has different requirements than for e-books, so you need to go slow and be careful. Always, ALWAYS keep a copy of your finished manuscript separate from the one you are formatting. That way, if you really mess up you have not lost your work.

Time to get back at it. I want to make sure that I have done everything possible to assure my readers a quality book!

Kindle Direct Publishing community board: http://forums.kindledirectpublishing.com/kdpforums/index.jspa

Createspace (print on demand paperback) community board: https://www.createspace.com/en/community/index.jspa

Christmas Spirit? Or Same Old Rudeness?

2011-12-07T09:34:00.000-06:00

I have noticed something sad lately while I am out at the various stores and running errands. For a season that is supposed to be so jolly, people sure are anything but.

Hey, I know a lot of us are unemployed. I get that kind of stress. But, for all of the talk people do about how they "love" Christmas and how they get the "real" meaning, they sure appear the opposite.

Too many people at the stores aren't smiling. No, they are too busy yapping on their cellphones to even be in the present (no Christmas pun intended). If not on their phones, they are bitching at their children or pushing others out of the way with their carts. What happened to all of that holiday jolly?

In supermarkets, people are as rude as ever. They barrel through the aisles, and you just better stop and let them through...even if you are already in the aisle they want into. When did everyone decide they are the most important entity in the universe? Is it really that hard to say "excuse me" or "I am sorry"?

Same in the parking lots. People see that you are pulling out so they hurry to slam into gear and get out ahead of you. Never mind if you are halfway out of your space. You just damn well better wait for them to leave. After all, they are far more important to you. What happened to treating others with decency and respect?

No, I am sorry. I just can't believe that those people "get" the meaning of Christmas. Peace, love, and forgiveness don't jive with "get the hell out of my way, because I could care less about anyone but me". We have become a nation of self centered, rude egotists. No wonder other countries don't like us. I don't like us much at times, either.

People, slow down a little. Look into the eyes of other people out shopping and parking their cars. If you really look, you will see another human being there. What a surprise! You aren't the only person in the world!

Let's all take a little inventory and start practicing what this season is supposed to teach us. Love. Patience. Generosity. Forgiveness.

That also includes me. I guess I need to practice that with all of the people that treat others poorly. Hard as it may seem, they need love and forgiveness, too.

Ho Ho Ho. Have a nice day! And try to make it a nice day for others!

The Christmas Mouse? No, thank you!

2011-12-05T09:02:00.022-06:00

Yesterday my husband and I planned on having a totally relaxing day of watching TV and lounging on the sofa. He had worked hard all week and was looking forward to watching the Vikings (yeah, he must like torture) and then some movies. I had stayed up until 4:30 am Thursday morning, working on some guest blogs and interviews that were due. I got 3 hours sleep. The life of an indie writer/publisher.

Then I opened the silverware drawer and saw them. Little "gifts" from what could only be a visiting Christmas mouse! Oh, no! Yuck! Is there anything better at making you feel sick than seeing mouse droppings in your kitchen drawers or cupboards? I opened the drawer next to it. More gifts!

ALL of a sudden, the afternoon of pleasant idleness had evaporated. Now we were facing the daunting task of removing every item from every cupboard, disinfecting the items and the drawers/cupboards, and setting peanut butter traps. Do you have any idea just how much "stuff" one has for entertaining, etc after decades of adult life???

That was not all. Once everything was cleaned, it could not be put back. No. Because the mouse (mice?) would be back. So, we needed to put those items all over the house, keeping the drawers and cupboards bare except for the traps. Sigh.

The good news? All of our cupboards got cleaned. Even better, only 2 drawers and 2 cupboards had any evidence at all of the visitor(s). Thank God! That meant he/she had only recently invaded us. That also meant we only had the items from those 4 places to keep out while we plant our stealth killing devices.

I feel bad for them. I really do. Honestly, mice are quite cute. I understand that they are looking for warmth and food, which all living things are entitled to. However, they carry a lot of diseases! So, cute or not, they are never welcome in our home. Still, I can't set the traps. That is Dave's job. He will carry the blood of those murders on his hands, not me. At least that is what I tell myself.

Poor Christmas mouse. He picked a bad home to invade. No piece of cheese set on a plate for him on the eve of Christmas in this home. Instead, he will have his neck snapped for pooping on our knives and forks.

Ho ho ho. Merry Christmas, Mr. Mouse. :(

Indie Sex & Violence (Sometimes Rock 'n Roll)

2011-12-02T16:55:00.000-06:00

Some indie authors/publishers feel the need to put a "warning" in their book blurb if their book has sex or violence in it. I find that puzzling. To me, it makes them look like they are not taking their authorship seriously. Or maybe too seriously?

It sounds like they are apologizing for writing the story how they felt it was best told. Kind of like "Oh, gee, I try to be a good puppy, but look what I have done! I have peed on the carpet!"

The reason I say this is that the playing field needs to be even in regard to writing freedom for both indie authors and traditionally published authors. When you walk into a bookstore and browse the backs of book covers, do you EVER see a warning?

Of course not. Yet, major authors write steaming, graphic sex scenes and such graphic violence that some of it makes me ill. People are cut up, burned, sawed apart, eaten...but no warning.

Nor should there be. Look, if you are buying a book that is not in the children's, teen, Christian, light, or cozy category you have to assume that the story might have sex and violence. Sometimes a lot of sex and violence. Sometimes a lot of very graphic sex and violence.

I am not saying graphic sex and violence are good or bad. What I AM saying is that, if you choose a murder mystery or horror story, you should be prepared that it may gross you out or scare you in parts. If you pick a romance or literary fiction, the sex may (or may not) burn the fingerprints off your fingers. There may be violent scenes that are graphically written to show the horror of what happened. Characters may use crude language or curse.

Some authors never write sex or violence and that is fine. They usually put their work in the genres I mentioned. But to say sex and violence is gratuitous, or needs to come with a warning, is just plain crazy.

First of all, you can read part of the book to find out the authors style. Even online, you can read a sample. It won't tell the full story, but it gives you a hint. Still, if you decline a book because there is crude language or someone has hot sex, you may miss out on a truly great story.

People have sex and people are violent. When writing about the head of the mob, for instance, wouldn't it be more gratuitous to have him say "Gee whiz, you have kind of upset me. I feel like raising my voice to you!" Some characters have crude facets to them. Writing them differently makes them hard to find believable. Saying "he swore". sixty times in a novel is redundant.

Nor should people assume that an author is like their characters! Some filthy mouthed people write clean stories. Some who never cuss write characters who cuss like, well, hell! I have to tell you that if I had sex as often as my main character in Gastien did, I would not have time to sit here and blog. Do not confuse a character with the author.

Indies, don't feel the need to apologize or "warn" people about your work. We ALL have the freedom of speech. No matter how you write, some people will love you and others will not. None of us can get every reader as a fan. I guarantee you, though, that writing honest, real characters and not acting apologetic about it will garner more respect than not.

Like John Mellencamp said: "This is serious business; sex & violence & rock & roll." Use it when the character or scene calls for it to make it real. Don't look back. Life is sexual; life is, at times, violent. Just tell it, baby, and make no apologies. Life sure doesn't.

Taking My Own Medicine (Fixing My Blurb)

2011-12-01T10:06:00.000-06:00

Indie authors, as we know, take care of alsmot everything in regard to their books. Yesterday, I blogged about the importance of a great blurb. I also mentioned that I was in the process of writing the blurb for my second book.

Well, after that I put my blurb up on the kindleboards for suggestions. I got some wonderful suggestions and am now happy to say that I feel my blurb is ready!

Not only that, but I realized that the blurb I had for my first book was just too darn long! Talk about saying one thing and doing another! So, I changed it. Yup. That blurb I worked so hard on for the first book got ditched.

I realized it would not make me buy the book. It gave too much information and I was probably losing some people. That is what is cool about blogging. The whole process makes you think. Thinking makes you realize that you might need to make some changes yourself!

Now I have what I consider to be a concise blurb for my first book that should intrique people; make them want to know more. Here it is. Tell me what you think!

One Man: Stunningly handsome; with desires that burn relentlessly inside of him.

Two Dreams: Become a great artist; an even greater lover.

The scene: For an artist, Paris is a hotbed of new ideas. For a lover, nineteenth century women can only dream of a man who cares if he actually satisfies them.

The problem: No training, no money, no connections. In nineteenth century France naïve young men, hoping to achieve impossible dreams, die in the gutters of Paris every day. And, he is a virgin…so far.

The tools: Raw, natural talent. Willingness to learn. Incredibly irresistible. The vow to stop at absolutely nothing in order to achieve his goals.

Gastien Beauchamp, Paris is yours for the taking.

Sometimes, the “impossible” is possible. But the cost can be extremely high.

Do you like it? Do you think it sucks? I would love to hear your opinions. Give me a shout!

The All Important Book Blurb (It Makes "Em Buy Your Book)

2011-11-30T11:17:00.000-06:00

As I head into the final stages of preparing my next novel for print, I begin thinking about my book blurb. The blurb is the product description (Amazon) or Overview (B&N), and the words that are on the back cover of an actual book.

Make no mistake, an indie author cannot take the blurb lightly. It is the thing that will make readers decide if they will purchase your book or not. The story itself must be great, or people won't buy another book from you. The cover must be great, because that compels readers to look at the blurb. But the blurb? That baby had better sing, and sing well. It can't be too long, but it has to grab their attention.

Think of it as advertising. That is really what it is. After over 20 years in adverstising sales, I can tell you that a good ad gets a customer (reader) to take action. That is ALL it does. It does not tell them the story. It does not give them all of the facts. It simply gets them excited. Like a carnival barker.

Readers don't want you to take up much of their time with the blurb. If you don't capture them quickly, you lose them. If you capture them, but then start blabbing on and on about the story (which they can get if they read the free sample), they will grow impatient.

Why should they buy it? What is mesmerizing about it? Hook them. Pull them in. They will then either buy (if it sounds like something they would enjoy) or read the free sample (if they are online and not quite sure yet). The free sample is where your great novel steps in. If the novel sucks in the first couple of chapters, they walk away.

The blurb is the romance. It is the candy and flowers; the violins and promises. The blurb damn well better get them to take positive action, or you will get caught holding the ring in your hand.

I write the first draft of the blurb several days before I need it. The first draft will suck. That gotten out of the way, I can now hone it off and on other the next few days. My gut tells me when it is ready.

I have the "suck" draft on my computer right now. It is being worked on constantly in the back of my mind, even though I have no idea what my mind is deciding. I will attack it again today at least once.

The words will come together and it will sing. I will once again be ready to make romance to the readers. I will hope that they like my choice of flowers; my box of candy. I don't want to have to keep this "ring" for myself. My book is like a precious gem to me. I want others to "wear" it.

Indie Publishing Means Play It Again, Sam!

2011-11-29T08:01:00.000-06:00

If you are considering publishing your first book as an indie author, or if you have just published your first indie book, you are probably hoping that you will be an exception to the rule and your book will sell like green beer on St. Patricks Day. We all have that dream. It is good to believe that your book is great.

However, in reality, that seldom happens. Many books don't sell at all. Certain genres are more popular than others. Some people just don't have many friends that buy their books and help get the word out. But, most importantly, your book just does not get seen by many people. It gets buried very quickly after coming out as a new release.

I have already blogged about how important book reviews are. The more reviews you get, the better chances you have that your book will be recommended on Amazon and B&N as a "customers who bought this item also bought" book. You don't need all 4 and 5 stars, either. It is great to get 5 star reviews, but when a book has 20 5 stars and no others, it appears that the reviews were "fixed" somehow. So, don't worry if you get a few 3 star reviews. 3 is a bit better than average anyhow! Even one or two 2 and 1 stars won't hurt, as long as they are fair. Sometimes, what one person hates in a book is what another person is looking for. Lower reviews can also show you if you are weak in certain writing areas. Then, you can improve.

However, even when you get lots of reviews and use social media to the best of your ability, chances are you are not going to make livable income (or part time livable income) from your first book. You are a new author and people are skeptical. Are you going to write one book and fade away, never to be seen again? Why should they invest emotionally in you only to be left in the dust? This is especially true for a series. On one hand, readers LOVE a series. On the other hand, that first book in the series by a new author may sit there without selling. People are afraid to read the first in a series because, again, what if you don't continue to write? They will be left with an incomplete story.

The most important thing you as an indie need to do is: do it again. Write and release the second book. Then, the third. Get the picture? I received a comment from another author yesterday who said the same thing. Just keep going. Always look forward. You must keep putting quality books out, doing your marketing and showing people that you are here to stay.

The odd thing is that, from what I have been told, your first book starts selling more with each book that comes out. That is if you are writing interesting books, of course. This is true even if your books are not a series. People who buy each new book are not necessarily that same ones who bought book 1. If they like what they read, they will look for other books by you.

To recap, put out your best possible work, get a compelling cover, write a dynamic blurb (book description), do your marketing and get reviews...and then you simply have to play it again, Sam. Play it over and over, creating new, exciting stories and showing the reading world that you are here to stay.

Happy writing! I need to get busy. Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny is almost ready. Book 3 wants me to hurry up, stretch my fingers, and play it again. The melody has been started and it is dying to become a full out symphony.

Giving Birth To A New Book (Indlie Publishing)

2011-11-28T10:05:00.000-06:00

When I released my first novel as an indie author, it was extremely exciting! It was also very stressful. I had never formatted a novel for Kindle or NOOK before. I wasn't even considering paperback...just getting the darn thing ready for e-readers seemed an impossible climb.

I was surprised when it went smoothly. Sure, I had questions. However, the community boards with KDP really helped me. Before I knew it, I had Gastien Part 1: The Cost of the Dream released to Amazon.com for Kindle and Barnes&Noble.com for NOOK.

Dare I think about a print on demand paperback? Since I had several friends who did not have e-readers, I decided to give it a try. Plus, I wanted to hold my own book in my hands. I used Createspace. I am not going to lie and say it was easy. It wasn't. I am not at all left brained. Several times I almost gave up. But, again, the community board with Createspace was always there, helping me with answers to my problems and the resulting questions.
Before I knew it, I was holding a proof paperback in my hand. No, it was not easy. But it was not as hard as you might fear.

Now it is time to release my second book, Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny. I am 5/6 of the way through the out loud reading. I am half done with the final tweaks. There will be one read through after that. I am on schedule for a release by December 15th or so. I really want to make sure it is out there getting exposure as a new release for travelers over the holidays and people unwrapping new e-readers over the holidays.

The cover has been decided on, Robin Ludwig Design has finished it, and I have the files on my computer. The cover is beautiful! It is starting to go into labor. I still have to write the synopsis, or the blurb. Then, it will be time to fomat.

Stress is building. But, this time, the excitement far outweighs the stress. This time, I know I can do it. I have done it before. Plus, truth be told, I kept the answers from those questions I submitted on the different community boards. If I run into those problems again, I have solutions at my fingertips.

The labor will last a couple of weeks yet (thank God humans are not in labor that long!) before the book is "birthed". All that is left are the final preparations so that the book can come into the publishing world knowing it is loved by me and that all of it's needs have been taken care of so far.

Once it is born, there will be more work. All of the marketing starts once again. Social networking. Asking bloggers and reviewers to read and review it. Hoping friends and previous buyers purchase this one. But, this too will be easier. I know what to do now. I have contacts for reviews from my first book. This baby will be well taken care of.

Finally, what I have to hope for is that others will love it as much as I do. I would really hate to see it sit on the sidelines, an outcast. I love it too much for that to not hurt. It will be nurtured and guided to the best of my ability. The rest will be up to the public.

Thankful For Self Publishing Becoming "Normal"!

2011-11-23T07:28:00.000-06:00

Before I take a break from blogging for the holiday weekend, I wanted to say that, as an indie author, I am very thankful that self publishing has moved "out of the shadows" and into mainstream.

Because of kindle direct publishing (amazon.com), pubit (barnes&nobles.com), smashwords, lulu, and createspace, there is now a plethora of good reads for under $5.00. Yes, I agree that there are still a good number of poorly edited books in the indie arena. Still, more and more, we are seeing good reads that are decently edited by indie authors. It is wonderful to be able to pick up a good read without having to take out a second mortgage!

As an indie author myself, I am thankful for the freedom self publishing has given me. No more do I have to bow to the moods of a publisher. My book does not have to sit for months on someones "desk", waiting to be read. No more do I have to wonder if they even read more than two sentences before saying "thanks, but no thanks". I know my book is a great read. My gut is sure of it. It does not matter anymore that they don't have time, or feel a genre is too saturated, or feel that a genre is not popular. I can write it, publish it and then (to a large extent) control the destiny of my work.

The only thing I can't control is if readers buy it, after I have done my best at marketing. After doing everything possible to market my work, I still have to rely on some luck. Still, the same would be true it I had gone the traditional route. If I am going to end up relying on luck anyway, why not take care of my 'baby" myself instead of depending on others to "raise" it?

Gastien Part 1: The Cost of the Dream has done "ok" for a first book. Gastien sells copies weekly. It should do even better when Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny comes out. By Part 3, I will know if Gastien is as loved by others as by me.

If you are thinking about self publishing, don't hesitate. You will find it fun, challenging, rewarding, frustrating, and very much worth your time. You will find people to help you every step of the way at the sites I mentioned above.

You know that book that keeps knocking around in your head? Why not make a new year's resolution early this year? How about commiting to writing that book and getting it out where readers can enjoy it, too? You have nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain in knowledge, sense of accomplishment, and-perhaps-in some additional income.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Travel safe, eat lots...and find some time to read!

Fun Blog/Site Interviews Fictional Characters

2011-11-22T08:02:00.000-06:00

This is a very unique blog today. I had so much fun that I just had to share!

I need to tell everyone about this cool site called The Plot. "Where All The Characters Are" is their tag line. Here is their url: http://theplotline.wordpress.com/

This site gives authors a chance to first introduce their book, a synopsis, excerpt, and author bio one day. The next day an interview with one of the characters in their book is featured. The character can be interviewed by the author, by another character in the book, or by "Rose" from the site itself.

What fun it is to read interviews by fictional characters! It gives authors a chance to show off a favorite character from their book and offers them the opportunity to have a little creative fun. Indie authors should take advantage of this opportunity to promote their work!

Today, the main character from my first book is interviewed. Go see Gastien Beauchamp's interview and, if you would be so kind, leave him a comment. I would love to help drive ever more traffic to this unique site! Jaime deserves to see a lot of action there for her efforts.

While you are there, check out other character interviews. You just might be intrigued to buy a few new reads.

Don't stop visiting after today. Mark this site as a favorite and check in every once in awhile. After all, it IS the place where "all the characters are"!

Book Bloggers & Reviewers Need To Edit, Too.

2011-11-21T09:19:00.000-06:00

Today I can blogging about book bloggers and reviewers.We indie authors love book bloggers and reviewers. Their reviews are very important to us, especially if we are indies. We provide our books at no cost in exchange for a fair, unbiased review. We don't pay for those reviews. (At least you shouldn't. How fair is a paid review?). But, we do expect to be able to use snippets of those reviews for marketing our books.

Let me stop to say that MOST reviewers and book bloggers do a very good job. They are careful to present a well written review. But, as more people join the book blogging arena, I see quality slipping. Are some people pretending to be book bloggers so that they can get free books?

How disappointing it is to get a great review, only to see that it is filled with misspelled words, poor grammar and poor use of punctuation. How do you use a quote like "He don't want to.." or sentences with "by" instead of "be", commas instead of periods, and sentences that don't start with a capital letter? Hey, I can even forgive one mistake. They get by all of us. But all of these things in a two paragraph review?

Here is the unfortunate part: While the kind words can still help us, what these bloggers don't realize is that is makes THEM look bad. If they want people to come to their blogs and read their reviews, they need to show professionalism. And, while the words help us authors some, the review does not hold the credence it should. It is hard for readers to believe that the review was done by a professional.

Professionalism means that you know the difference between "does" and "don't", a comma and a period, and that you use spellcheck! Spellcheck will not catch the "does" and "don't" or (usually) the poor use of punctuation...but it WILL catch a word spelled wrong. If you are not a good speller, type out your review in Word first and use spellcheck. Then check for wrong words spelled right and change it to the right word. Check punctuation! There are many good sources for punctuation online. Please, bookmark them and use them if you are unsure of punctuation. Punctuation is not abstract art.

While we indies are very grateful to people who review our book, we wait for weeks or months for that review to appear. If we have presented you with a well edited book, could you please take the time to do the same with your review? And, please...keep in mind that one or two misspelled words in 500 pages is a whole lot different than one or two misspelled words in two paragraphs.

Both parties should do their best. Please don't rush to get your reviews out, ending up with a posting that looks like a junior high drop out wrote it.

Also, if you are a book blogger or reviewer posting a review on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads or other websites, please include name of your blog with your name. That way people know that the review was indeed impartial instead of done by a friend. "Cathy" does not have the same impact as "Cathy from Book Lovers".

Reviews should be worded a little differently for each site, or else Amazon pulls the review down.

If you are a book blogger or reviewer, please understand that I am not ungrateful. Truly, the only reason this post should upset you is if you are guilty of submitting poorly edited reviews. I don't like editing, either. Still, I understand that editing means the difference between being taken seriously or not, being successful or not. The same is true for you.

I want to see you succeed and become a blog or review site with hudnreds, or even thousands, of readers. That helps you and it helps me. The only way to become that successful is to offer quality product. Please don't just slap together a few reviews in a haphazard fashion and call yourself a reviewer so you can get free books. Authors work too hard for that.

Limbo Is A Terrible Place To Be

2011-11-16T10:04:00.000-06:00

There are many terrible places to be, but limbo ranks right up there. We all go there every once in awhile. Some to wait and see if their marriage is going to work out after an affair; some to wait and see if a loved one is going to pull through a horrible accident or illness. Others are waiting for the ax to fall at work, watching as one friend after another gets the dreaded notice: You are not needed anymore.

Some, like me right now, are waiting for test results. Do I have cancer again or not? Do I get to go on with my life without making hard decisions (at least for the immediate future) regarding single or double mastecomy, going "flat" or implants? Or am I going to get a call that says "Sorry, but the cancer came back. Life itself may not need you anymore."

I had outpatient sugery Monday and came home the same day. We think it is a duct filled with debris and water. It hurt some, too, which is good. The doctor says cancer does not hurt. There is only a very small chance it will be cancer. Still, I heard that once before, one and half years ago. It was Stage 0 and my doctor told me afterward that I should plan on eventually dying of something besides cancer. Everything looked good.

Now, there is this. It takes one to three days to hear. Today is the second day of waiting. My stomach hurts so bad that I wonder if I have an ulcer, and I go from extremely postive to scared as hell. I just can't sit here and wait for the phone to ring today. I will go and paint for three hours. That is my escape. Unlike my body, the color never betrays me.

As I said, we have all been in limbo. You all understand exactly what I mean. And, if the news is bad, I will wish for even limbo again. Still, as we all know, limbo is a terrible place to be.

Little Things You Can Do To Promote Your Book

2011-11-15T11:13:00.000-06:00

First of all, let me say that this blog will be a "duh" for any seasoned indie author. It is written for those who are new to self publishing, and is one blog of several where I blog about different ways to market. Still, sometimes it surprises a seasoned veteran when they read over these things because they find a few things that have gradually been overlooked.

None of these things are going to send your book to the top of the charts. Each of these things are simple ways to get the word out and perhaps pick up a few sales. Things you should do every time you release a book, because they cost very little and take almost no time to do.

-Make sure that you list your book, the buy links, your fan or author page link, and your blog link in your email signature. There is a way to set it up automatically, so that every email going out from you has it. Each email program is a bit different, but none of them are hard to figure out. Look under "tools" or "options" in your email program.

-I already blogged about the fan or author page, so I won't go into detail on that one. Just let me say if you don't have one, you should. Now.

-Consider using your book cover as your photo on blogs and boards that you frequent. Add it to your profile on any of those pages. Note that I said "consider". There are some reader forums that do not want authors to actively promote their work. Read their instructions and rules.

-When you publish for Kindle, you get an Author Profile page in Author Central (through Amazon). Fill it out, add your book cover and set it up so that your blog feeds into it automatically.

-Start a blog. Blog about anything and everything, or just about writing, but do NOT blog about your book. It can be mentioned once in awhile as an example of something you are talking about, or because something great happened for it, but people will get sick or hearing about your book constantly.

-Get business cards with your cover as the photo and feature the buy links on it. These an be purchased online for under $100, sometimes under $50. Just like your book, though, the cards don't work if they just sit on a shelf. Use them! Give a bunch out to friends to give to friends. Give them to servers, at doctor's offices to workers you interact with, etc. Don't be afraid to mention your book at an appointment. If you are afraid to talk about your book then you must not think you have a very good one. I am not talking hard sell. Let it flow out of a natural conversation. Once you have said a few things about it and given your card, change the subject.

-Think of fun stuff that may or may not sell books, but does not cost much. I have a bumper sticker that says "Who in the World Was Gastien Beauchamp?" and then his facebook fanpage. I have gotten a lot of comments on it. Has it sold books? I don't know. However, it only cost me a little under $10.

-Send press releases to local papers of places you live or have lived. Consider doing the same to radio stations. I am getting two interviews featured in two small town papers after doing that. I may get more, who knows?

-Join kindleboards.com and put your photo in your signature. Become involved in conversation in the Writers' Cafe there. I am not saying to always talk about your book, I am saying to become involved in author's conversations and posts. As you become known there, people will notice your book. Authors are readers you know. Some who come there are not authors, but do read a lot. Some may buy it, some will talk about it or promote it. All kinds of cool things happen there. Just remember, you are not there to sell your book, but to learn how to become a better writer, find ways to promote your book outside of the board, and help other authors.

-Join other boards that talk about your genre. Talk about the genre, not your book! Once again, as people get to know you, they will check out your profile and possibly your book.

-Find other places to sell your books besides Amazon and B&N. Type in keywords for your genre on google. For instance: "Mystery Fiction" etc. You will find sites that sell your genre. Read how to apply to sell yours there.

-Open your mouth! Even if you don't have business cards you can still tell people about your book. Don't hog the conversation, just include a little big about how excited you are to have your first (second, etc) book out. If they ask more, answer. They will ask.

Don't forget to keep writing. I will promise you that it is difficult to balance all of this. In spite of that, you need to find a way to do some marketing, while at the same time writing that next book. Be patient. Don't be overbearing. A first book seldom does well. It takes about three books (from what I have been told) to find out if all three will be decent sellers. Oddly, the first book starts selling more as more come out. That is not odd for a series, but it is true for other books, too.

Write on, baby!

Interview:Meet November Indie Author Rockstar Kate Ellison!

2011-11-13T20:56:00.000-06:00

Welcome, Kate! I want to congratulate you on being picked as one of two Indie Author Rockstars for November. I absolutely loved the free sample of The Curse Girl. It will be the first book I purchase when my Kindle FIRE arrives. I can't wait! Let's talk a little bit about how you became an author, your book, and you. First of all, I am curious as to what made you personally decide to write your first book, why you decided to go "indie", and when the first book went "live".

My path to publication is a bit meandering. I actually wrote my first book back in 2008, but I never queried it or tried to get it published because it was more of a practice novel (and it wasn’t very good). I started looking for an agent with my third novel, and I got a few good responses and requests for full manuscripts, and I started querying a second novel as well, and I got a good response from several agents with it too.

But the path to traditional publication is a long and grueling one that can take several years. Right around the time I was querying, all the self-publishing news began to hit (Amanda Hocking’s success, John Locke’s, etc), and I was deeply intrigued by the whole indie author thing. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to try self-publishing if I did get an agent and started on the traditional path, so I put a hold on querying and decided to self-publish a book I’d written for a friend that I’d never planned on trying to sell. It was TheCurse Girl. The book went live on May 15^th.

I mentioned the agents because I think there is a notion out there that the only people who self-publish are writers who can’t get agents or who can’t get a traditional publishing contract because they “aren’t good enough.” That’s completely untrue. I self-published after much consideration and discussion with others in the industry, and I did it because I wanted to, not because I didn’t think I could ever get published the traditional way. I knew if I didn’t try self-publishing I’d always regret it, and now I’m so glad I did. I’ve learned a lot, and I relish the absolute control and the fact that I can write and sell whatever I want, not only what an editor thinks will sell.
I may not always be an independent author, who knows? But I’ve enjoyed every minute of it so far.

Was this your first book? If not, what are the other titles and genres?
It wasn’t! I think The Curse Girl is my 9^th book (most of them are sorely in need of revision and rewriting), but I don’t keep a very strict count since I have about fifty partially finished novels on my hard drive and I occasionally finish one and the number goes up. The first book I ever wrote was called Chrysalis, and it was a space opera/paranormal/vampire story that I wrote for my friend. I’ve written a lot of books that weren’t (as far as I could tell) something an agent would be interested in (either the market was “dead” or “swamped” or whatever… the sort of stuff the agent actively requests that you DON’T send them), but now that I’m doing the self-publishing thing I’m planning to dust a few of them off and see if they’re worth revising for publication.

When is your next book coming out? What is it about?

I am working on three books right now, and I’m not sure which will be finished and ready for publication first. Whiteout (tentative title) is a sci fi/paranormal mystery about a girl with amnesia who’s on the run from kidnappers. Nocturne is a young adult paranormal mystery with superhero overtones, and I’m also working on a yet-untitled companion novel to The Curse Girl.

What advice would you give other people who are thinking about writing their first book, but then that self doubt comes in?

My advice is to write even when you don’t feel like you can do it. Don’t give up just because you think your writing is bad. All writers feel that way sometimes. Everybody, even famous authors with numerous successes, write terrible first drafts and experience loads of self-doubt. Don’t give in to it!

What do you think are the five most important things a new author has to "take care of" to give them the best chance at success?

For indies specifically…
1. Write the best book you can. Edit, revise, polish. Make sure you have a tight plot, strong characters, and good pacing.
2. Proofread. Hire a copyeditor if you need. Make sure there aren’t errors or typos. There’s always about fifty more typos than you think there are!
3. Make sure you have professional formatting—no wonky stuff like paragraphs that split for no reason, missing indentions, or weird symbols in the middle of the text.
4. Be sure you have a professional-looking cover. No crazy colors, cluttered images, or amateur fonts. Take a look at what other books in your genre look like, and try to make yours fit. Be original, but also easily categorized into a specific genre. People will look at your cover and make a snap decision about whether or not to click to read more. Entice them.
5. Learn to market effectively. Tweet or blog if it comes naturally to you. Seek out free advertising (or paid ad space if it’s in your budget). Nobody can read your book if they don’t know it exists. Also, a lot of your infrastructure should be in place before you publish—like a blog, a Twitter account, Facebook, etc.

Let's talk a little bit about you as a person now. Tell me, what about life never fails to make you laugh?

How I so often end up doing things I swore I’d never do. Case in point, going indie. I used to say I’d never do it.

What has surprised you about life that you were not expecting that is good?

The first thing that comes to mind is the support I’ve received from my friends and family. I wasn’t expecting them to be so wildly excited for me. I’ve been humbled and delighted with the unconditional love and support they’ve shown me over the last few months.

How about same thing, but bad?

I think I’m still taken aback at how petty, competitive, and downright mean some people can be. Especially when it comes to writing… I am blown away by the way some people bash their fellow writers. It’s not a race. It’s not a catfight. Some people feel like they can’t succeed unless others fail, and that really distresses me.

What do you enjoy doing besides writing?

I seem to stumble across a lot of writers who don’t even own a TV, let alone watch any of it, but I’m the exact opposite. I love stories in any form, so I’m a TV junkie! I also love playing board games, composing music for the piano, scouring thrift stores for treasures, and gardening.

What book by another author do you wish you would have written and why?

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. Her books are all so densely woven, with carefully crafted fantasy worlds and subtle love stories.

Hmmmmmm. I’d wish for 1) a horse and a stable to keep him in, 2) a house up in Maine or someplace cool in the summers where I can escape to write, and 3) a skating rink in my basement complete with a disco ball.

Any last things you would like to tell people about you or your writing?

I just hope that through my books I can inspire others the way my favorite authors inspired me. Whenever someone writes to me and tells me they enjoyed my book, or whenever someone writes a glowing review on Barnes & Noble or Amazon, I am speechless and humbled. It’s the best feeling in the world.

Thanks, Kate. Be sure to go to Kate's links, where you can read reviews, a description, and a free sample of The Curse Girl. I think you are going to add her to your list of favorite authors!

Buy Links for The Curse Girl:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Curse-Girl-ebook/dp/B00512ZWUU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321221239&sr=8-1

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/curse-girl-kate-ellison/1102099125

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/59665

Kate's blog:
http://thesouthernscrawl.blogspot.com/
Kate's Twitter handle:
@Katiewriting

Respecting the Freedom to Fight

2011-11-11T08:25:00.000-06:00

Today is Veterans Day, as I am sure you probably know. I just thinking about this and want to say a few words about the freedom we have in this country to fight in defense of it or to protest doing so.

First of all, I want you to know that I am very anti-war. In fact, that is what ultimately drove a wedge between my father and me in the 60's. I was very young (about 12) when the crack in our relationship appeared and turned into a chasm. Viet Nam. He thought the war was right, I did not. You might think a 12 year old could not have an opinion, but I sure did.

My opinion of wars and "confrontations" we have been in since has not been much different. I don't believe in sending young men and women to other countries to die. If you believe differently,that is your right. I respect that. And that is what this post is about today. Respect.

It frustrates me terribly when people on either side of this issue disrespect the other side. People, that is what freedom is about! The right to think differently. An important thing to remember when you think differently is that the "other" side deserves your respect.

So, today I want to remind all of us that the people who do choose to fight, who do go to war, are the bravest people in the world. To put your life on the line for your belief is the highest standard of courage known to man. That, my friends, is what a hero is.

Regardless of how you view war, regardless of what you think of a particular "involvement" our country gets into, the people who believe they are doing right and are willing to die for it deserve our respect and admiration. I want to tell them today that the bravery they show is some kind of wonderful. We need more of that bravery in other areas of society. We can admire the qualities and standing behind a belief even if we don't admire the actions.

Veterans of the past, present and future, please know that-while we may disargree-I will never look down on you for doing what you believe is the right thing to do. Heroes are not quarterbacks, or race car drivers, or actors who put on some benefit dinner. Heroes are willing to die for what they believe. Heroes can die in a protest, fighting against war. Heroes can get blown up fighting in a war because they believe they are doing the right thing.

Let's not forget that standing up for what one thinks is right is a honorable thing to do. Let's all fight to make sure that right is never taken away from any of us. After all, if we can't believe how we feel in our heart and our gut, what kind of freedom do we really have? 1984 may be my favorite book, but I don't ever want to live it. We are dangerously close to that already.