Susan Kaye Quinn, Young Adult Author

Making the Donuts

2012-01-23T07:00:00.015-06:00

When you learn something the first time, it's a revelation. When you learn it the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th times, it must be something that is very important to know.

Lesson: The most important thing I can do is write.
Corollary#1: Writing centers me.
Corollary#2: Keep writing no matter how busy I am.
Corollary#3: I'm the only one who can make the donuts (i.e. write words on the page).

The Many Hats of Publishing
When you publish, you have to wear many hats: writer, marketer, cover approver, edit wrangler, interviewee, blogger, twitterer, facebooker, networker, fellow writer supporter. (Note: this isn't just for self-publishing, but all kinds of publishing.) The most important one is writing, because without that bit, the rest is lacking in purpose. No matter how your sales and marketing efforts are going, no matter how many awesome contacts you are making, the most important thing you can do with your time is create the intellectual property that is the under-structure for your writing career.

Writing is the Answer
Stressed about sales? Writing centers me, reminds me why I'm doing this. Crazed with too many blog posts, twitter parties, promotional opportunities? Watching my word count rise helps me know I'm making forward progress, not drowning. Is the book doing fantastically well or abysmally bad? (I get just as stressed when sales are good as when sales are bad; I'm crazy that way.) Writing the next novel reminds me that the book for sale is not the only one I will ever create. Stuck on a plot point or character that simply won't behave? Writing through it wrestles my doubts into submission.

No matter what the problem, it seems like writing is always the answer.

Don't Ever Stop Making the Donuts
Every day, you need to make the donuts (I'm seriously dating myself with that phrase!). Every day you need to be writing words, creating intellectual property, doing the work. It's so easy to forget this, I need bar charts to keep me on track. But writing, like any art, is one of the few businesses that you can't outsource. You can get someone to make your cover for you; you can hire editors to help you; you can send your MS out to critique partners; but only you can create the story in the first place. You are the first, last, and only person who will see your vision through to words on the page. Every day, I have to do this work - and this becomes more important (not less) as I have more projects in the works.

Sometimes I'm a little thick-headed and need to learn a lesson a couple times.

Hopefully, this time, I won't forget.

p.s. in other news, Open Minds broke the Top 100 in Science Fiction (squee!).

Indelibles Chat: All About Indie Publishing

2012-01-18T07:00:00.021-06:00

Indie Publishing Chat TONIGHT
Have questions about Indie Publishing? Want to know what works, what doesn't, and how successful Indie authors view the changes in the industry?

The Indelibles are hosting our first Indie Writer Chat!

When: Tonight, 1/18, 8-9 EST
Where: On the Indelibles Blog (you will log in with FB or Twitter)
What: Bring Your Own Questions - 25 Indelible authors will do their best to answer!

ALSO: We will be giving away ebooks!

Bookshelf Muse Anniversary

Stop by to celebrate the Bookshelf Muse's Anniversary and Win Your Choice of 4 Indelibles' Books
When: Contest Open Until Friday 1/20
Where: On the Bookshelf Muse Blog
What: Enter to win great books, including your choice of 4 Indelibles' Books!

Indelibles' New Releases

Rival Demons by Sarra Cannon releases Friday (1/20)

Don't Fear the Reaper, by Michelle Muto

The Green, by Karly Kirkpatrick

Writing by the Numbers

2012-01-16T07:00:00.086-06:00

I've always been a writer that sets lots of goals (heck, I've always been a PERSON that sets a lot of goals), but those goals tended to be flexible and non-numeric: write a chapter a day, finish this draft by the end of the month, write three books this year (ok, that had numbers, but they're small).

Being an ex-engineer, you would think I would track everything with charts and graphs, like ninja writer Adam Heine. And I do that in many areas of my life, but not with the writing.

Hm.

Then I did NaNo this year, while simultaneously launching Open Minds, and discovered the power of numbers to keep me on track with my writing as well.

50k words and a WIN

Numbers Motivate
Our brains are naturally wired to like numbers. Before you erupt into protests about how much math perplexes and tortures you, ponder this: Do you track how many followers you have on your blog? Do you pay attention to how many friends you have on FB or followers on Twitter? If the answer is NO, good for you! (Truly, those things will make you crazy.) But you're fighting against the natural human impulse to track numbers and want them to change in a positive direction (usually up, but in the case of the scale in my bathroom, most definitely down). Every game known to man uses the principle of MORE POINTS = MORE BETTER. It's not quite Pavlovian, but the reward centers in our brains light up when we cause a number to positively change. My mom (the psychologist) would call it Behavior Modification or possibly a form of biofeedback, where the "bio" part is your brain going nuts over reaching 500 followers (or some other nicely round numerical milestone).

Numbers have the ability to "feed back" the results of your efforts in a clear, unambiguous way. Being able to measure the results increases the intensity of the reward. (These speakers go to eleven!)

Back to writing.

Chasing that wordcount line for NaNo was such a powerful motivator, I found myself needing to create an psuedo-NaNo environment in December to complete my first draft by Christmas (#MissionAccomplished).

Draft 1: Complete at 86k

Second Draft-itis

Now that I'm diving into the second draft, I'm facing another challenge. I would like to complete the draft in a (relatively) short period of time, but how can I use this numeric method to help keep me on track? Revisions are not like drafting. You don't have a relentless march of wordcount to keep you moving forward. I may spend an hour creating new slang or inventing a new technology or fleshing out a character arc that weaves through the story, with no noticeable change in wordcount or progress.

I decided all that doesn't matter.

In spite of the amorphous nature of revisions, in this second draft, I also need to march through the MS, line by line, making craft changes - and that's something I can track! So, I set up a new spreadsheet to track my progress. I had a revision checklist, revision notes, and a firm grasp on my expectations for the second draft (something presentable that I could give to my first round of crit partners): seemed like a great plan.

Road Bumps

The first road bump came in having to rewrite the first chapter. And rewrite and rewrite. I mean, I knew it was bad, but holy cats! Next road bump was in having to finish revisions on my short story for the upcoming Anthology with the Indelibles. Totally fun and good to do, but didn't count for any progress on my chart. Then the second chapter revisions required more rewrite of the first chapter and suddenly I was going BACKWARDS and ready to tear out my hair.

I wondered:

1) Were my goals completely unrealistic?

2) Was I losing my touch? No matter what I did to chapter one it was sucking socks.

3) Should I consider selling real estate instead??

Learning Hurts

Writing is a constant process of learning (one reason I love it). Not so much learning to moderate your use of adverbs, but learning about your process and yourself. One thing I've learned: whenever the writing process becomes painful for me, it's because I'm about to learn something important.

So I took some time to journal about my writing, and I quickly realized the lesson: the first chapter wouldn't be perfect in the second draft. Or even the third. That I had room in my schedule for at least four substantial drafts, because my Logic Brain already knew that was how long it took (maybe more). The problem was my Creative Brain wanted to reach the finish line too quickly, all in one draft. (Creative Brain is not patient or logical.) I could see the end goal: I could picture the final version of the story in my head. Creative Brain wanted to skip ahead to that awesomeness NOW, rather than waiting for the process of creating it to unfold.

Patience, grasshopper.

A funny thing happens whenever I get through the painful part of a lesson and really absorb it. My productivity kicks into high gear, and I start to do what seemed impossible the day before.

The happy in my brain lights up as that green bar rises. By the time I'm done with Draft Two, it won't be perfect. It will be Draft Two, and hopefully good enough that my crit partners won't choke on it (too much), so they can help me find where the story might be going off the rails. This is an important step, one I can't skip over.

Having to chase the line taught me a lesson in patience. #irony

Do you use numbers to motivate your writing?

***************
UPCOMING EVENT: The Indelibles are hosting a chat on INDIE PUBLISHING on Wednesday 1/18 from 8-9pm EST. If you have questions about Indie Publishing, between the 25 Indelibles authors there is a wealth of experience, and we are happy to pay forward what we've learned. I hope you can stop by!

Dystopias: Forging Hope For Humanity

2012-01-14T07:09:00.001-06:00

I'm guest posting over at Dystopian Domination (is that a great name, or what?), talking about my take on dystopian literature as thought experiments that help us carve out a better future.

HOP OVER to check out the post and enter to win an ebook copy of Open Minds!

Meet Kaza Kingsley, Author of the Erec Rex Series

2012-01-12T07:00:00.004-06:00

I first met Kaza Kingsley shortly after she got her eight book (yes,EIGHT BOOK) series deal with Simon and Schuster. She is a friend of a friend,who put us in contact when I first started writing. I was a rank newbie andKaza graciously took time to say hello. Shortly afterwards, she happened to bein the Chicago area on a signing tour, so I snagged a slew of signed books for myself and my kid’s teachers. At the time shewas promoting her third book in the Erec Rex series (1-The Dragon’s Eye, 2-TheMonsters of Otherness, 3-The Search for Truth). Since then she’s released Book 4(The Three Furies) and Book 5 is set to come out February 7th (The Secret ofAshona), which you can preorder here. Yay! The Erec Rex series is a great combination of magic and mystery,one that lovers of Harry Potter will enjoy.

My kids love a good, long serieslike this (me too – keeps them occupied). The series has won many awards and hit the bestsellerlist (so exciting!). Here’s the blurb:

Life is not easy fortwelve-year-old Erec Rex. His single mother can barely support her six adoptedkids. And they've moved into anapartment so tiny that Erec sleeps with the washing machine. Worse, there is astrange force within Erec that is making him do odd things. His urge to obeythese thoughts grows -- until it becomes impossible to resist them.

Then one morning, Erec'smother is missing. The force inside Erec commands him to find her, leading himon an adventure that will change him forever. When he arrives in Alypium, ahidden world where old knowledge of magic is kept, Erec learns that his motherand the entire kingdom are in peril. And he might be the only one who can savethem.

Me: Kaza, I love the story of how you got started with Erec Rex,basically venturing out on faith in your book and, with the help of a friend,self-publishing. This was before the advent of Kindle and the self-publishingcraze, which are just now coming around to (maybe) embrace middle gradee-books (The Dragon’s Eye was first published in 2007, in print, theold-fashioned way). Can you tell us a bit about what made you decide to takethat leap?

Kaza: It wasn’t my plan at first toself-publish in the beginning! I was extremely lucky and got a great agent –Jennifer Lyons who was with Writers House in New York at the time. Writers House is thetop agency for kids / YA lit, as well as a lot of amazing adult lit. Mymanuscript sat there forever, though, and she gradually sent it to only a fewplaces where it got rejected. Jennifer then left Writers House and I stayedwith them . . . only to find out that none of the other agents there wanted totake my book on as it had been sent out to a few places already!

I could have gone with anotheragent, or even tried a small press, but I happened to meet Amy Collins who hadjust left F and W Publication and had 15 years experience in book sales withPenguin Books. It seemed like fate – Amy loved my book, and between herexpertise and my efforts, the big bookstores (Borders and Barnes and Noble)bought large quantities of Book One (Erec Rex: The Dragon’s Eye) that year! The sales were great, and after Book Two (ErecRex: The Monsters of Otherness) came out Simon andSchuster bought the entire 8 book series. It was very exciting!

Me: I can only imagine! Over the time that you’ve been writing Erec Rex, what’s beenthe biggest change in the middle grade market that you’ve seen? Fantasy stillseems to be king in middle grade, but do you see that waning or growing in thefuture?

Kaza: It seems that everything getscompared to whatever is the best selling book out there at the time. Atfirst everyone was talking about what my series had in common with the HarryPotter books (I’d say suspense, mystery, humor – but a very different story.)Then when Eragon was hot everyone talked about how Erec Rex had dragons. Nowit’s Twillight that people mostly bring up – no . . . sorry, no Vampires inthis book. But the market seems pretty much the same to me. Kids like to buygood books, whatever the good books might be at the time!

Me: I think this is very true and often forgotten - what NY is publishing this year may change with the season, but the books kids love to read don't change radically from year to year. You still have three books to go (THREE! Whew!), but haveyou thought about what might be in store after Erec Rex?

Kaza: I have a lot of ideas for books Iwant to write – too many unfortunately to find the time for them all! I’mworking on Book Six now, but I’m also developing another story I’d like tosneak in before Book Six comes out. It’s unrelated to the Erec Rex series, butsomething I’ve been playing around with for a while…

Me: That sounds exciting! And it must be fun to play with something different for a while! What is your best advice for aspiring writers who would liketo follow in your footsteps?

Kaza: WRITE! Seriously – the more you doit the better you will get.

Join a writing group. It’s greatto get feedback, and even better to read other people’s work and learn how tocritique it. That process will help you improve your own work the most.
Read books on writing. There are alot of great books out there that talk about writing fiction – characters,plot, scene and setting . . . Fiction writing is unlike any other and nobodycan reinvent the wheel. A wise person once said to learn what all the rules areso you know what you’re breaking.
Make sure you have perfected yourwork before you submit it to an agent. You have one shot with it – always putyour best foot forward!

Me: Great, solid writing advice! Thanks so much for visiting with us today! I wish you (andall the Erec Rex books) great ongoing success!

Kaza: Thank you, too, Susan! It’s apleasure being on your blog. I look forward to seeing you again sometime aswell!

Not only is Kaza an inspiration, she's a delightful person as well. Next time your munchkin comes looking for books, get them started on this series! You'll hear the quiet sound of pages rustling (or ebook swiping) for some time.

*****
p.s. the winner of the Indelibles on Fire Giveaway of Open Minds is ... Jennifer Clements! Thank you to everyone that entered the Giveaway!!

Indelibles on Fire

2012-01-08T16:00:00.069-06:00

PEOPLE!

Sorry to shout, but I am so excited to (finally!) talk about this amazing group of writers. I've spent the last couple months chatting and working with these up-and-coming Indie authors. I'm honored to be a part of such a talented group! As you hop through, you'll meet all 25 Indelible authors, each of whom is giving away their books (see my giveaway entry below!), as well as have a chance to win a Kindle Fire!

Introducing the Indelibles

In celebration of our official launch, we are giving away a KINDLE FIRE! If you’d like to start at the beginning of the INDELIBLES ON FIRE GIVEAWAY BLOG HOP, then please start here.

If you are already mid-hop, then welcome to your next stop! By following the link at the bottom of this post, you can proceed to the next author (and check out the awesome, individual giveaways we are doing along the way!). If you are entering to win the KINDLE FIRE, don’t forget to make a note of the keyword at the end of every blog post - the words spell out a phrase you will need to enter the contest on the last stop.

Who are we? If you’re a fan of YA fiction, you’ve probably heard of the Tenners, the Elevensies, the Apocalypsies, and the Lucky 13s. Now marketing guru Shelli Johannes Wells has teamed up with twenty-four other indie and small press authors to bring you the Indelibles.

Introducing the Indelibles

We are indie authors who write middle grade and young adult fiction. We are dedicated to leaving a permanent mark on the world with our stories and words.
We are The Indelibles.

Each week, we’ll explore fun, fabulous, and fierce topics for today’s teens, drawing on pop culture and themes from the books we write. Check out our official launch Monday, January 9th for fun giveaways on the Indelibles blog. We’ll also be having a “blogger” chat on January 17th and a writer/author chat later to answer questions about self and indie pubbing. See our blog for details.

And now, with no further ado, I will introduce myself:

Susan Kaye Quinn

I'm an ex-engineer and scientist who used to work for NASA, NCAR and GE, but now I write middle grade and young adult stories for fun and profit. My business card says "Author and Rocket Scientist," but I love writing even more than shiny tech gadgets, which is saying something. All that engineering background comes in handy when dreaming up dystopian future worlds or mixing science with fantasy to conjure slightly plausible inventions (for my stories; just ignore that stuff in the basement). My middle grade boys clamor for more middle grade books with magic and gadgets and less teen novels with kissing. Unfortunately for them, I enjoy writing both.

My first published novel (Life, Liberty, and Pursuit) was a teen love story published through a small press. My most recent novel (Open Minds) is self-published, a young adult paranormal/science fiction novel that is the first book in the Mindjack Trilogy.

When I'm not writing or reading, I'm momming in the Chicago suburbs with my three boys, two cats, and one husband. Which, it turns out, is exactly as much as I can handle.

For the Indelibles launch, I'm giving away a signed paper copy of Open Minds:

When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can't read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can't be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf's mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she's dragged deep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where being forced to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her.

Read Sample

You can buy the e-book ($2.99) on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, iTunes, or Smashwords, or enter to win the paperback below (paperback only open to U.S. and Canada, but if you are International and willing to accept an ebook, go ahead and enter). The contest begins at midnight Sunday and ends at midnight Wednesday.

IF YOU'VE ALREADY READ AND LOVED OPEN MINDS (or even if you haven't): Look for a prequel short story to Open Minds, called Mind Games, coming out as part of the Indelibles In His Eyes Anthology on Valentine's Day. The Anthology will be FREE, but you can add it now to your TBR on Goodreads.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The keyword for this stop on the hop is: DEDICATED

Continue the hop and visit the next Indelibles author:
Michelle Muto, author of Don't Fear the Reaper, and The Book of Lost Souls.

Writer's Mission Statement 3.0

2012-01-05T07:00:00.052-06:00

It's that time of year again.

Much has changed in the publishing world since my Writer's Mission Statement 2.0 last year, but my Mission Statement is surprisingly flexible in meeting those changes.*

Mission Statement 2.0 (and 3.0)
To leverage my background in science, engineering, politics and life, to create compelling stories and characters that pose moral questions to young readers and make them think. To have every story be an improvement in craft. To be a leader and member of a supportive writing community, through blogs, critiques, and social networking. To create a body of novel length works that reaches a large number of young readers, to provide the greatest impact on young lives.

*A good mission statement won't change year-to-year, because it is a reflection of your core values. However, it can be used to guide your short-term decision making, and in that, I am finding it useful again this year.

Why I Write
To leverage my background in science, engineering, politics and life, to create compelling stories and characters that pose moral questions to young readers and make them think.

This statement is a great distillation of why I wrote Open Minds, as well as pretty much every novel I've started (and finished) - I love to make my readers think. Over the last year, I've embraced my geeky tech side, folding it more completely into my writing. This was an important evolution for me as a writer and as a human being (I think we always function best when we are integrated wholes, rather than splintered pieces), but as I look back on my Mission Statement, it was there all along: leverage my background in science, engineering...

Goal for 2012: Complete the Mindjack Trilogy and plan my next novel(s) while keeping this goal in the center of where I go with my stories and my writing career.

Continuing To Push My Craft

To have every story be an improvement in craft.

This really strikes home as I write Closed Hearts, the sequel to Open Minds. It is not enough for me to simply write the next book in the series. The fear of sequel-itis (that the second book is never as good as the first) nips at my heels. But even more important, I want to make sure I'm pushing my craft forward with every book, even within a trilogy. I've started early, reading intensely over Christmas Break and studying the second books in beloved series. I'm also brushing up on the craft with James Scott Bell's The Art of War for Writers, Margie Lawson's seminar Empowering Character's Emotions, and Noah Lukeman's A Dash of Style.

Goal for 2012: Have the second book be better than the first. Have the third book be a satisfying finish for my readers. Take a daring leap with the next series.

Writing Like I'm On Fire

To create a body of novel length works that reaches a large number of young readers, to provide the greatest impact on young lives.

I'm living this, as people are reading my work in larger numbers every day, leaving reviews and having such a wonderful response to the book. The effect of this is to spur me to write more, with a furious desire to have my work out there and an equally strong need to have it be the best craft and story I'm capable of producing (see above). There is enormous pressure on self-published writers to produce work quickly, a striking difference with the traditional publishing world, where work is carefully measured in its release, and writers are sometimes barred from even submitting their work to publishers on too tight a schedule (much less releasing it). Having a foot in both worlds, this is one of the differences that can be dizzying. I recently commented in an interview that I planned to release Closed Hearts in May 2012, but that I wouldn't release it until it was ready. A writer friend said she respected that, and I appreciated (greatly!) her support. Speed isn't the most important thing - the story is. Still, I have an ambitious (but reasonable, if I am focused) schedule for 2012. I've already met the first milestone (finish the rough draft of Closed Hearts by Christmas) which gives me courage to press on.

Goal for 2012: Write two, possibly three books in 2012.

I know, crazy, right?

Which brings me to the last one ...

Keeping Connected

To be a leader and member of a supportive writing community, through blogs, critiques, and social networking.

This one is so tremendously important, and yet needs to be trimmed and tailored to my ferocious need for writing productivity this year. It tears at me, because being connected is such an important part of a successful writing career: the connections I make with writers, readers, bloggers are critically important for critiques, marketing, support, keeping on top of the industry, taking advantage of opportunities as they come ... the list is endless. But to continue to stay connected, I have to do it at a sustainable pace.

Goal for 2012: Cut back on blogging to once or twice a week. So, instead of a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule, I'll be posting Mondays and maybe Thursdays (like today) - or possibly other days as the mood or need strikes. Paring back the frequency also means a commitment to having those blog posts be the most meaningful ones for my readers (see the Best of 2011 post for the ones that have resonated in the past).

Hopefully, less will be more in this case.

I know myself well enough to know that the challenge here will be to NOT post more frequently; to make sure that I'm focused and disciplined with my writing time; to hit the self-imposed deadlines that will allow me to produce fiction that people will want to read without losing the connection to the writers and friends that make it all worthwhile.

It will be a challenge, but a tremendously exciting one! I can't wait for 2012 to unfold.

Have you written a Writer's Mission Statement yet?

*****************
WINNER of Amanda Hocking's novel SWITCHED ... Katherine Dodgers! Thanks to everyone who entered and to St. Martin's press for offering up a copy of SWITCHED!

Win a Copy of Amanda Hocking's SWITCHED

2012-01-03T07:00:00.016-06:00

Amanda Hocking is the wildly popular self-published young adult author famous for reaching 1 million sales on Kindle and then moving into traditional publishing in a deal with St. Martin's press.

Today is the re-release day of the first book in the series, Switched, which now contains a new, never-before-published bonus story, The Vittra Attacks, set in the magical world of the Trylle. St. Martin's is giving away 25 copies of Switched and I'm lucky enough to host one of the giveaways!

SWITCHED… at birth
When Wendy Everly was six years old, hermother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. Eleven yearslater, Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. She’s not theperson she’s always believed herself to be, and her whole life begins tounravel—all because of Finn Holmes.

Finn is a mysterious guy who always seemsto be watching her. Every encounter leaves her deeply shaken…though ithas more to do with her fierce attraction to him than she’d ever admit. But it isn’t long before he reveals the truth: Wendy is achangeling who was switched at birth—and he’s come to take her home.

Now Wendy’s about to journey to a magicalworld she never knew existed, one that’s both beautiful and frightening. And where she must leave her old life behind to discover who she’s meantto become…

The Trylle series continues with Torn, on-sale 2.28.12, and concludes on 4.24.12 with Ascend.

I'd like to personally thank Amanda for paving the road for self-published authors, especially young adult authors. In the acknowledgments of Switched, Amanda gracefully thanks many of the author-friends who helped along the way, including fellow Indelibles author Stacey Wallace Benefiel, making it especially cool to be able to take part in the re-launch of Amanda's series through St. Martin's Press.

TO ENTER: Fill out the form below. Winner will be randomly selected and will receive a copy of Switched directly from St. Martin's Press. OPEN UNTIL THURSDAY 1/5 8:00 am EST when a winner will be selected and announced.

UPDATE: Sorry! Open to US and Canada only!

CONTEST CLOSED!

WINNER of Amanda Hocking's novel SWITCHED ... Katherine Dodgers! Thanks to everyone who entered and to St. Martin's press for offering up a copy of SWITCHED!

Indie Book Fair

2012-01-02T07:00:00.160-06:00

Did you find a newKindle, Nook, or iPad under the Christmas tree? Browse the Indie Book Fair and find a new ebook to break in that reader!

These great new bookswere released Nov 2011-Feb 2012 by Indie authors, priced right so that taking achance on a new author doesn’t have to break your wallet. (Check out my previous Internet Book Fair for other great Indie finds.)

[Indie = self-publishedor small-publisher, for the purposes of this post, because no matter how we’re published, we’re all in this together, trying to get theword out about our books]

Note: Links are givenfor Amazon, but most authors publish across all e-book formats. Clickon the author’s name for additional purchasing options, includingpaper copies.

For Your Browsing Pleasure

Contemporary (Adult)

Build a Man by Talli Roland (Chick Lit)

Slaveto the rich, rude and deluded, cosmetic surgery receptionist Serenity Hollandlongs for the day she's a high-flying tabloid reporter. Unfortunately, everypitch she sends out disappears like her clients' liposuctioned fat, never to beseen again. Then she meets Jeremy Ritchie -- the hang-dog man determined to beBritain's Most Eligible Bachelor by making himself over from head to toe andeverything in between -- giving Serenity a story no editor couldresist. With London's biggest tabloid on board and her very own columntracking Jeremy's progress from dud to dude, Serenity is determined to be asuccess, even going undercover to gain intimate access to Jeremy's life. Butwhen Jeremy's surgery goes drastically wrong and Serenity is ordered to coverall the car-crash goriness, she must decide how far she really will go for herdream job. $0.99on Amazon

TheGolden Sky by ElisaHirsch (Memoir)

Thenight I met Cade I never would’ve thought that two years later, after wewere homeless street musicians in Hawaii, we would have a little girl andanother baby on the way. Our son was born with the type of birthdefects that make televangelists cringe. The “death home” gave him a reallynice funeral, the kind I’d never wished to attend. We lost it after that,totally cemented in our grief. Cade got into drugs, joined a rockand roll band, and I kicked him out of the house. That was how I met: Earl(an old man and unlikely best friend), the “big sag” (a middle aged womanwho still flashed folks), Todda (the stripper next door), and Chris(a cowboy who fell in love with me). It wasn’t until I killed a rogueskunk, and my daughter nearly choked on a fry, that I gave my husbandanother chance. But could our marriage recover from the death of ourson? $2.99 onAmazon

SomeoneElse’s Fairytale by E.M. Tippetts (Contemporary Romance)

JasonVanderholt is the hottest actor under thirty with legions of screaming fans.Chloe Winters is a college student who hasn't gotten around to watching most ofhis movies. When they meet by chance, he is smitten, but it justisn't her fairytale. In fact, it could be her worst nightmare as her past,attracted by the bright lights of the media, comes back to haunt her. $0.99 on Amazon

Historical Romance(Adult)

The Duke’s Divorce by Anne Gallagher Available late January 2012

Asimple trip to the Scottish Highlands finds the Duke of Cantin with a bride hedoes not want. With her impeccable beauty and fiery disposition, Fionatakes Society by storm. As their prearranged divorce proceedings drawnear, can Fiona change his mind? Check author's website.

Literary Fiction

String Bridge by Jessica Bell

Greek cuisine, smog anddomestic drudgery was not the life Australian musician, Melody, was expectingwhen she married a Greek music promoter and settled in Athens, Greece. Keen toplay in her new shoes, though, Melody trades her guitar for a 'proper' careerand her music for motherhood. That is, until she can bear it no longer andplots a return to the stage—and the person she used to be. However, theobstacles she faces along the way are nothing compared to the tragedy thatawaits ... $6.99on Amazon ALSO: Music Sample!

Mystery

Sherwood Ltd. by Anne R. Allen

Sherwood. The name immediatelyconjures up images of Richard Greene, Michael Praed and Russell Crowe. Or maybethat sly fox in the Disney version. Only, in Anne R. Allen's latest rom-commystery the fox is a coyote and there's no Robin Hood. Or is there? In herusual inimitable fashion Allen peels back the layers, one hilarious subplotafter another, until you just never know what's real and what's not. Ratherlike the Robin Hood legend. When the Manners Doctor, Camilla Randall, fliesinto Robin Hood airport with a suitcase in one hand and a book contract in theother she thinks she's leaving all her problems behind and is about to start anew life. If you look very carefully you may just spot the Sheriff ofNottingham, Maid Marian and even Little John hidden away. But as for Robin Hoodhimself... You'll just have to read it and find out. $2.99on Amazon

Short Stories andAnthologies

The Initiate (CloudProphet Trilogy) by Megg Jensen (YA Fantasy)

Overa thousand years ago, the gods left Eloh's people and took their magic withthem. To win back their favor, her people sacrifice ten female initiates everyten years. No has ever survived. There has never been a Chosen One. Forced intobecoming an initiate, Eloh will try to find a way to beat the odds, stay withher boyfriend, and survive the fires that threaten to consume her. But will herlack of faith in the gods and her disbelief in their magic doom her to apainful death? $0.99 on Amazon

Eight by Karly Kirkpatrick (YA Paranormal Short Story Collection)

Prepareto be thrilled and chilled by Kirkpatrick's eight short tales in EIGHT. Theseeight stories, while short, pack a big punch. There are demon spirits, zombies,and even some human baddies. Each story comes complete with author'scommentary. It also includes the previously unreleased short Grenades. $0.99on Amazon

{CoverComingSoon} In His Eyes by The Indelibles (YA Anthology) - Available February 14th

Justin time for Valentines Day, The Indelibles bring you a one-of-a-kind youngadult anthology! Twenty original short stories, all from the point of view ofour favorite male characters - some are old flames from our novels and somewere dreamed up especially for this anthology. Let these imminently crushable,swoon-worthy guys show you what romance looks like – in his eyes. Add to GoodreadsTBR

The contributors to IN HIS EYES includeaward winners, frequent “Top 100” placers, and hot 2011 debut authors: S.R. Wells, C.K.Bryant, Elle Strauss, Susan Kaye Quinn, Jessie Harrell, Magan Vernon, LisaNowak, Heather McCorkle, RaShelle Workman, Ali Cross, Karen Amanda Hooper, CoryPutman Oakes, Laura Pauling, Stacey Wallace Benefiel, Sarra Cannon, Katie Klein,Cheri Lasota

Transcendent: Tales ofthe Paranormal byLani Woodland, Melonie Piper, Rita Webb, Wendy Swore, Melanie Marks, Heather McCubbin and Evan Joseph (YA Anthology)

Discover the secrets of a siren, fly with a hawkgirl over the mountains of Montana, and flee supernatural party-crashers as thedécor comes to life in this magical journey through paranormal stories. Alongthe way, watch for ghosts in a haunted house, or ride through the moonlightwith a stranger. Save a comatose boy who has lost his soul, and don’t forget tobring your garlic and wolfsbane—you never know when the shadows will snag you. Transcendentincludes eight stories of magic, love, death, and choice by some of the newestnames in young adult fiction. $0.99on Amazon

Young Adult

Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn (Paranormal/Science Fiction)

When everyone readsminds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep. Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someonewho can’t read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can’t betrusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the bestfriend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf’s mind and nearlykills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family andan increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she’s draggeddeep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyoneshe loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her. $2.99 on Amazon

Bound by C.K. Bryant (Paranormal Romance)

When a photo shoot endsin tragedy, Kira discovers her best friend, Lydia,has been keeping a secret.Knowing the truth, and accepting it, will change Kira’s life forever and thrusther into a world of ancient curses, magical objects, and savage enemies. Whathappens next will challenge everything Kira knows about her world, herself andthe shape-shifting warrior she’s falling in love with. No longer the timidmouse her mother accused her of being, but a woman who finds the mental andphysical strength to endure and survive. $3.99 on Amazon

Become by Ali Cross (YA Urban Fantasy)

Sixteen-year oldDesolation Black wants nothing more than to stay in Hell where it’s cold andlonely and totally predictable. Instead, she’s sent back to Earth where sheBecomes the evil she despises and the good she always feared. When Desi isforced to embrace her inner demon, she assumes her Choice has been made—thatshe has no hope of being anything other than what her father, Lucifer, hascreated her to be. What she doesn’t count on, is a reason to want tochange—something she’s never had before—a friend. $3.99on Amazon

Exiled by RaShelle Workman (YA SF Romance)

Worldsdivided them. Chance brought them together. Only love will save them.
An alien princess exiled to Earth. An arrogant boy. One week to get back to herplanet or she'll die. And, her only chance for survival? She must help the boyfind his soul mate.
Piece of cake! $0.99on Kindle

The Secret of SpruceKnoll by Heather McCorkle (Urban Fantasy)

Followingthe tragic death of her parents, Eren Donovan moves to Spruce Knollto live with an aunt she’s never met. Little does Eren know the entiretown of Spruce Knoll is filled with “channelers”—a magical group ofpeople who immigrated to the small Colorado town when theywere driven out of their own lands. Channelers are tied to the fateof the world. As the world slowly dies, so do they—and they alonehave the power to stop the destruction of Earth. Soon, Eren learnsshe not only lives among them, but she is one. When she meets local boy Aiden,his charm convinces her that being a channeler may not be all bad though. $4.99 onAmazon

Destined by Jessie Harrell (Retelling)

WhenPsyche receives a prophecy gone horribly wrong, she learns that even the mostbeautiful girl in Greece can have a hideous future. Her fate? Fall in love withthe one creature even the gods fear. As she feels herself slipping closer intothe arms of the prophecy, Psyche must choose between the terrifyingly tendertouch she feels almost powerless to resist and the one constant she's come toexpect out of life: you cannot escape what is destined. $0.99 on Amazon

Darkspell by Elizabeth Mueller (Paranormal Romance)

Winter Sky believes sheis everything ordinary . . . until she is kissed by Alex Stormhold. Asseer of Stormhold Coven, Alex is sworn to be Winter’s protector against thedarkness that hunts her. Violently thrust into a magickal realm shealways thought impossible, she stumbles upon a disturbing secret of her own.Will love prove thicker than magick? $3.99 on Amazon

Untraceable by S. R. Johannes (Thriller)

Grace has lived in theSmokies all her life, patrolling with her forest ranger father who taught herabout wildlife, tracking, and wilderness survival. When her dad goes missing on a routinepatrol, Grace refuses to believe he’s dead and fights the town authorities,tribal officials, and nature to find him. One day, while out tracking clues,Grace is rescued from danger by Mo, a hot guy with an intoxicating accent and asecret. As her feelings between him and her ex-boyfriend get muddled, Gracetravels deep into the wilderness to escape and find her father. Along the way, Grace learns terrible secrets that sever relationships andlives. Soon she’s enmeshed in a web of conspiracy, deception, and murder. Andit’s going to take a lot more than a compass and a motorcycle (named Lucifer)for this kick-butting heroine to save everything she loves. $0.99on Amazon

Rival Demons (Book 5 ofthe Peachville High Demons Series) by Sarra Cannon (Paranormal Romance) Available January 20th

After narrowly escaping death atthe hands of the Order of Shadows, Harper finds herself thrust into the strangeand beautiful world of the shadow demons. But crossing through the portaldoesn't mean she is safe. The Order of Shadows is determined to bring her homeand transfer the Prima line to the Harris family. They send their most vicioushunters after Harper. Hunters who will not stop until they have found theirprey. Determined to keep her safe, Jackson takes her deep into an undergroundworld filled with dangers of its own. Here, Harper will begin a journey thatwill teach her more about herself and her own path than she ever imaginedpossible. Addto Goodreads TBR

The Legend of VictorStandish: Under a Voodoo Moon by Roland D. Yeomans (Urban Fantasy/Romance)

Can love kill? Yes... if you love a ghoul who hungers for your flesh only slightly less than shedoes your heart. Yet to the lonely street orphan Victor Standish, who hasrisked his life for a meal, to find love (even for one magical French Quarternight) is worth dying in the morning. $2.99 on Amazon All profits go to the Salvation Army.

Getting Sideways (Book 2 in the Full Throttle Series) by Lisa Nowak (Contemporary)

Getting shipped off to live with hisuncle Race was the best thing that ever happened to fifteen-year-old Cody. Thena wreck at the speedway nearly ruined everything. Cody’s making every effort toget his life back on track—writing for the school paper, searching for theperfect girlfriend, and counting the days until he gets his drivers’license—but there’s no escaping the nightmares that haunt him. Achance to build his own car seems like the perfect distraction. Until Codyrealizes he’ll have to live up to Race’s legendary status. But that’s the leastof his worries, considering he doesn’t have his dad’s permission. All he has todo is the impossible: keep Race from discovering his lie until he can convince his dad that racing’s safe. Yeah, sure. That’llbe easy. $3.99on Amazon

Tangled Tides by Karen Hooper (Sea Monster Memoirs)

YaraJones doesn’t believe in sea monsters—until she becomes one. When a hurricanehits her island home and she wakes up with fins, Yara finds herself tangled upin an underwater world of mysterious merfolk and secretive selkies. Both sidesbelieve Yara can save them by fulfilling a broken promise and opening thesealed gateway to their realm, but they are battling over how it should bedone. The selkies want to take her life. The merfolk want something far moreprecious. Treygan, the stormy-eyed merman who turned Yara mer, will stop atnothing and sacrifice everything to protect his people—until he falls for Yara.The tides turn as Yara fights to save herself, hundreds of sea creatures, andthe merman who has her heart. She could lose her soul in the process—or shemight open the gateway to a love that’s deeper than the oceans. $4.99on Amazon

Here by Denise Grover Swank (SF Romance)

Sixteenyear old Julia Phillips buries herself in guilt after killing her best friendMonica in a car accident. Julia awoke in the hospital with a broken leg, a newtalent for drawing and false memories of the accident, in which she dies andMonica lives. The doctors attribute this to her head injury, but no one canexplain how a bracelet engraved with her name ended up at the scene of theaccident. A bracelet no one has ever seen before. Classmate Evan Whittaker paidJulia no attention before the accident, let alone after. Now suddenly he’svolunteering to tutor her and offering to drive her home. She can't ignore thathis new obsession started after his two-day disappearance last week and that hewears a pendant she’s been drawing for months. When the police show up onenight looking for Evan, he begs Julia to run with him, convincing her thatMonica is still alive. Julia agrees to go, never guessing where he’s reallyfrom. $2.99 on Amazon

The Veil by CoryPutman Oakes (Paranormal Romance)

Seventeen-year-oldAddison Russell is in for a shock when she discovers that she can see theinvisible world of the Annorasi. Suddenly, nothing is as it appears tobe—the house she lives in, the woman who raised her, even the most beautifulboy in town all turn out to be more than what they seem. And when thisstrange new world forces Addy to answer for a crime that was committed longago, by parents she has never known, she has no choice but to trust Luc, themysterious Annorasi who has been sent to protect her. Or so he says . . .$7.99on Amazon

Embrace by Cherie Colyer (Paranormal Romance)

Madisonis familiar enough with change, and she hates everything about it. Change tookher long-term boyfriend away from her. It caused one of her friends to suddenlyhate her. It’s responsible for the death of a local along with a host of othermysterious happenings. But when Madison meets a hot new guy, she thinks herluck is about to improve. Madison is instantly drawn to the handsome andintriguing Isaac Addington. She quickly realizes he’s a guy harboring a secret,but she’s willing to risk the unknown to be with him. Her world really spins out of control, however, whenher best friend becomes delusional, seeing things that aren’t there anddesperately trying to escape their evil. When the doctors can’t find theanswers, Madison seeks her own. Nothing can prepare her for whatshe is about to discover. $6.99on Amazon

Onyx Talisman by Brenda Pandos (Paranormal Romance)

Unrest stirs deep in Scotts Valley. Filled withuncertainty, Julia anxiously awaits Nicholas’ return. Phil, holds the pieces ofJulia’s fragile psyche together, secretly hoping Nicholas stays away forever.But Alora secretly conspires to reclaim her talisman and strip Julia ofeverything she holds dear. Littledo they know, a war is coming and more than one vampire would like to see thePrince of Vampires overthrown. Can Julia bargain with fate? Find out how it allends in this explosive grand finale of The Talisman Trilogy. $3.99 on Amazon

Howto Date an Alien by Magan Vernon (Science Fiction)

Highschool senior Alex Bianchi's estranged father gets her an internship at CirceOperations Center to pad her college applications. But Circe isn't your typicalmilitary base. It's an alien-run operation center and not all of the aliens arefriendly, especially the one that tries to kill Alex on her first day. WhenAce, a dark-eyed Caltian, enters and saves the day, she can't help but be drawnto him. Can these star-crossed lovers survive when they're on the brink ofintergalactic war? $2.99on Amazon

FireseedOne by Catherine Stine (Science Fiction/Thriller)

Fireseed One is ajourney into a tricked-out near-future earth where 18 year-old Varik hasinherited a vast ocean farm, following the suspicious drowning of his Marinebiologist father. When Marisa, a beautiful and devious terrorist, destroys theworld's food source, Varik is forced to travel to a lethal hotzone, teemingwith dangerous nomads and a strange cult to search for a magical hybrid plantthat may not even exist. The catch? He must take Marisa along, the only personwho seems to know way, way too much key information. $2.99 on Amazon

The Missing by M.A. Leslie (Paranormal)

Eight-year-old, Ethan Doyle is just a normal kid whose biggest problem in life was to fight for the attention of his busy parents from his older twin siblings. But, after his aunt and uncle tragically die, his family takes in his teenage cousin, Kelsey, and moves to a spooky old, manor house in a new town. At first, everything seems fine, but when he begins to see and speak to a spirit named Lucas, his biggest problem becomes, just staying alive. Lucas was ten years old when the spirits of the house came to him and asked him for help setting their spirits free. Unfortunately, he never made the deadline and as a result the spirits took him and made him a part of the house as well. As he soon finds out, the only way he can save his own soul is to save the souls of the missing boys in the house. With his own deadline in place, Ethan enlists the help of his cousin Kelsey to solve the twenty-year-old mystery of THE MISSING. $0.99 on Amazon

Princess Kandake by Stephanie Jefferson (Fantasy) Available February 1, 2012

In Nubia a woman can be whatever she chooses. At 14,Kandake knows exactly what she chooses...Prime Warrior of Nubia. But hergrandmother has said that she will follow her father on the throne. Refusing toabandon her warrior dreams she continues to train. When her brother is kidnapped,Kandake learns she must be both queen and warrior to win his release! See Author's Website

Middle Grade

Blink of a Dragon by Eisley Jacobs (Fantasy)

Discovering she’s connected to dragons is onething, but when another dragon is caught hanging out in the fifth grade, Meia thinksthings couldn’t get any worse. Is she ever wrong! Trouble is brewing in thecosmos and Deglan believes this new dragon holds the answers, but his hopes arecrushed when the leader of the exiled dark dragons ambushes them. The fate ofthe dragons and possibly the whole world falls to Deglan and Meia as theysearch for the only creature powerful

enough to send the dark dragons back into theabyss. What they encounter along the way makes the adventure worth fightingfor. $0.99 on Amazon

2011 Most Favoritest Posts

2011-12-28T07:00:00.006-06:00

Some posts this year resonated with readers (that's you!) more than others. Here's the year's most "favoritest" posts (yes, it's a word!).

Creativity - How Does It Die?
Emotional Structure
Validation
The Secret Ingredient: Confidence
Hiding Stuff in Broad Daylight
Ten Things I Believe
Taking the Road Less Traveled
Taking The Road Less Traveled Redux
Four (Nasty) Lies We Tell Ourselves About Writing
Investing in Your Writing Career, or Why I Decided to Self-Publish Open Minds
Writers Must Write First
Internet Indie Book Fair

I sense a common theme, do you? :)

I haven't included the post from my launch day for Open Minds, because the support of the blogosphere that day blows everything else out of the park! Thank you to every one of my blogger friends for making 2011 a magical year ... I look forward to an even better 2012 with you!

p.s. Don't forget to stop back on January 2nd, for another Internet Indie Book Fair! (The previous Book Fair is still a great place to browse for new e-books.) We'll have some great new books to load up on that Kindle, Nook, or iPad you got for Christmas!

p.p.s. Have a kid or teen looking for free or low-priced ebooks for that new e-reader? Check out Pixel of Ink - Young Edition for sortable lists of recent deals on ebooks (mostly self-pub but some traditional pub books on sale as well).

Embracing Change

2011-12-20T07:00:00.251-06:00

My small-pub-sister Cherie Colyer is launching her book Embrace today. Here's the blurb:

Madison is instantly drawn to the handsome and intriguing Isaac Addington. She quickly realizes he’s a guy harboring a secret, but she’s willing to risk the unknown to be with him. Her world really spins out of control, however, when her best friend becomes delusional, seeing things that aren’t there and desperately trying to escape their evil. When the doctors can’t find the answers, Madison seeks her own.

Nothing can prepare her for what she is about to discover.

Add Embrace to your Goodreads TBR or buy it in paperback from Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and Omnific Publishing, and in ebook from Amazon and Omnific Publishing.

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In Cherie's book, her protagonist struggles with embracing change. In a year that's been nothing but change in the publishing industry, it seems like a fitting topic to close the year.

The Many Paths
Over the course of the year, I've seen writer friends switch from pursuing traditional publication to self-publishing their first (or second or third) novels (yay Indelibles!). I've known writers that stopped querying agents and submitted to small publishers (Cherie is one, releasing Embrace through Omnific Publishing). Other writer-friends have stuck with traditional publishing and landed agents and book contracts in 2011 (yay Terry Lynn Johnson, Adam Heine, and Joshua McCune!). Still others are fence straddlers (that's me!) pursuing multiple paths at once.

Embracing change is scary.

Self-Publishing Route
For writers taking the road less traveled along the self-pub route, it can be frightening to deviate from the "established" path, especially if the dream of a big advance from a large publisher has been a long cherished one. The bold will go forth into self-publishing because it makes logical business sense, but for the less confident, it can feel like quitting without trying hard enough. One thing that encouraged me to take the leap was the resounding chorus coming from the other side of the publishing point. There were many, many self-publishers that were extremely happy with their choice, whose main regret was that they waited so long to take the leap. As someone who is on the "other side" now, I can heartily say the same thing. Do I regret self-publishing? Not a bit. Every day, I'm happier I chose to leap when I did: people are reading (and enjoying!) my work, I'm building a fan base that extends beyond my awesome writer friends, and I have a measure of control over my writing career that eluded me before. This was the right choice for the Mindjack Trilogy and my career at this point. At the same time, I don't regret going through a small publisher for my first novel, and I'm still pursuing traditional/big publishing for my middle grade series (because those are the right choices for those books).

Small Publisher Route
For many writers, the small publisher route wasn't the "dream" they had as a child, but is the reality they are increasingly choosing as an adult. For a long time, I had to stop the small voice (evil, as Adam Heine calls it) inside that told me this wasn't a "real" publisher because it hadn't been around for 100 years. This evil voice completely baffled my husband, who said, "They're willing to bet money that you'll make money for them with your writing." Ah, yes. This is a business, not a fairy tale! Strange, how often those are confused with one another. But this helped me put it in perspective and embrace my small publisher as an innovator in a tradition-bound field. Once I realized that, I found the small publisher route actually fit my personality quite well. While some writers with small publishers are increasingly opting for the self-publishing route (myself, Talli Roland), my friends who have chosen small publishers continue to find that to be the right path for them. I think small publishers are wonderful about embracing the desire to launch writers in their careers, which is part of what makes them a great place to start.

Big/Traditional Publishing Route
I haven't landed an agent or big publisher book contract (yet), but I have queried (extensively) and had some significant first-hand experience with agents and editors, as well as lots of second-hand experience through traditionally-published friends. Just because a writer chooses to pursue traditional publishing doesn't mean they escape the need to embrace change. Lately, with the rise of self-publishing, writers choosing to stay the course with traditional publishing have been on the defensive, feeling like they have to justify their choice. This is something that self-publishers and small-publishers have had to do all along, so it's an interesting turn in such a short period of time (less than 6 months ago, I wasn't seeing any of this). Self-publishing affects trad-pubbed authors as well - the industry is roiling, agents are fighting for their livelihood, editors under even more pressure to prove the "viability" of a writer before taking a chance on them. The stakes and expectations are higher for debut traditional novelists, and even those with novels already out. Elana Johnson spoke eloquently about how even after traditional publishing (or maybe especially then) that her definition of "success" all comes back to the writing. To me, this is key: the thing that rules, that has to rule, at all times along the journey is the writing. It is the creation of content that is most important, with the path to publication simply a means to an end.

To me, embracing change means embracing the writer.

No matter what path we follow, we writers are much more similar than we are different. Writers pitted against each other, judging each other for the path they choose or the level of "success" they achieve - who does that serve? Not writers, of that much I am certain. Writers are an amazingly supportive bunch ... when they're not judging another writer. We are our better selves when we're banding together to support and help promote one another. This is why groups like the Elevensies (trad-pub), the Apocalypsies (small and large pub), and the Indelibles (self-pub, official launch coming soon) are so important. I've seen this grouping of writers for support happen at my small publisher as well. I think it's a natural (and wonderful!) tendency for writers to band together and help each other out. These groups provide a safe haven of support and an avenue to celebrate each other's successes.

When it comes right down to it, we are all simply writers. Published or unpublished, traditional or indie, bestseller or midlister - at the beginning of every day we are moving forward with our writing. The journey (hopefully) is a life-long one filled with friends and a love for the craft.

I wish everyone on the journey a joyful holiday season! I'll be taking a break to eat Christmas cookies, wrap presents, and catch up on my TBR pile, but I'll be back in the New Year with another Internet Book Fair. If you get a Kindle or Nook or iPad under your Christmas tree, be sure to stop back then to browse for some new, great reads!
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Also: Don't forget to stop by and support Cherie as she launches her debut novel! Cherie's giving away an e-copy of Embrace as well as five hemp bracelets, so hop around the party posts and leave a comment (or three!) to enter:

Embrace Launch Party Posts!

Jennifer DeLucy Blog: Writing Embrace - From Idea toRelease

Kym's Quips: The Research Behind to Story

Once Upon A *Spark*: Mythology Behind Madison's World

Nicki Elson's Not-So-Deep Thoughts: Bring on the Romance

Jennifer Lane Books Blog: Facing Change

Kim Winters, Kat's Eye Journal

Carole, the life of fiction

Mina Burrows, books for paranormal & mystic minds

Joseph Rinaldo, Read Rinaldo

Angela Brown, in a Pursuit of Publishness

Debra Anastasia , Tell me a Story

Colleen Wagner, London Relocation

Prizes: To celebrate the release of her debut novel,Cherie is giving away an eCopy of EMBRACE and 5-Embrace Hemp Bracelets today.There are three ways to win:

1) Leave a comment here or at any of the Party Posts.

2) Tweet aboutthe Virtual Party or any of the Party Posts with tag #EMBRACEnovels

Example:

Nothing could have prepared her for what she’s about to discover.#EMBRACEnovels @CherieColyer #YA avail NOW www.cheriecolyer.blogspot.com

Example:

Celebrate the launch of EMBRACE by @CherieColyer #EMBRACEnovels#paranormal #YA avail NOW www.cheriecolyer.blogspot.com

3) Facebook (tag Cherie Colyer, author) aboutthe Virtual Party.

Example:

Celebrate the launch of teen paranormal thriller/romance novelEMBRACE by Cherie Colyer, author andenter for a chance towin Embrace prizes! http://www.cheriecolyer.blogspot.com

Do allthree and you will have three times the chances to win! Leave a comment at eachstop of the tour for a chance to win the Grand Prize.
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The E-Book Overlords ... Are Us

2011-12-19T07:00:00.119-06:00

I've followed Nathan Bransford's blog for a couple years now, and one thing I love is the occasional "pulse taking" polls that he conducts. Totally unscientific, yet sample size is large, so there is something to these numbers. And they're showing that the ebook revolution we've been talking about for the last year is a very real thing (from Nate B's blog):

The percentage of people who said you'd have to pry paper books out of their cold dead hands:

2007: 49%
2008: 45%
2009: 37%
2010: 30%
2011: 25%

The percentage of people who welcome their coming e-book overlords:

2007: 7% (!)
2008: 11%
2009: 19%
2010: 32%
2011: 47%

There's been a joke for some time about the coming E-book Overlords, but it turns out the E-book Overlords are US. WE are the ones buying the ebooks, changing our minds about ereaders once we have them in our hands, rushing out to by Kindles by the millions per week.

Why?

Because ebooks are cheaper (sometimes, and sometimes not), faster (instant gratification!), and in many ways have a real advantage over paper books (disadvantages too, but the massive adoption is evidence of a net WIN in that war). Note, this advantage is for READERS, although there are many advantages for writers as well. In fact, with traditional publishers keeping their ebook prices high, they are actually increasing the exposure of self-published authors by ceding the low-priced ebook market to them. Over the last year, this has given rise to the self-publishing revolution (which has been getting lots of press lately), with self-published titles climbing the bestseller charts as readers chose this lower-priced option.

Across the board, it is the advantage to READERS that has driven the change.

The thing about REAL change is that it isn't just self-sustaining (especially where technology is concerned). It is self-accelerating.

"I love my new Kindle, but now I can't get an autograph from my favorite author!"
Answer: Kindlegraph

"My Nook is great, but I could never give it to my kids. I'm too afraid they'd drop it."
Answer: $99 Nook Simple

"But I do all my reading in the bathtub!"
Answer: Waterproof ereader and science of shriveling

And then there's the things you didn't know you needed until someone else has it. A month ago, I realized that I could gift e-books on Amazon! Right next to the "buy" link was a "give as gift" link - all I had to do was click that, provide an email address for the receiver, and off my e-book present went! Talk about last-minute shopping! And without the tarnish of just giving a gift card (I have a love/hate relationship with gift cards).

But I don't have a Kindle. My whole family (grandmas, grandpas, cousins, nieces, kids) - they all have Nooks. Why? Because I was an early adopter and if they got Nooks, they could LendMe ebooks. This value-add was enough to convert them to the Nook family. But Barnes&Noble sadly trails after Amazon in many e-book areas, and gifting was one of them. I went to my local B&N and complained to the poor Nook salesman, who looked beleaguered until I finally gave up. Then, just as I was about to despair for this Christmas (and perhaps not coincidentally after I'd already bought my paperbook gifts), Nook suddenly has e-book gifting capability!

The rate of change has been astounding, but when something offers a real improvement, there's always someone out there tweaking it, making it better, fixing the problems before you have time to get a good head of steam to complain about them. If only this were true of things like the Department of Motor Vehicles and the United States Space Program! Ah, but those are government programs, not the Wild West of the free market. (And I digress...)

Free market. Creative Destruction. Free flow of information. These are the things that allow innovation to occur, and I believe we should embrace rather than fear it. Tommorrow, in my final post of 2011, I'll talk about embracing this change and how to move forward into a brighter 2012.

How Worldbuilding Can Make or Break Your Story

2011-12-16T07:00:00.023-06:00

I don't usually review movies, and this isn't so much a review as a cautionary tale about how the most brilliant idea can be destroyed by a lack of good worldbuilding and attention to detail. I'm talking, of course, about the movie In Time.

Brilliant idea, here's the blurb:
In a future where people stop aging at 25, but are engineered to live only one more year, having the means to buy your way out of the situation is a shot at immortal youth. Here, Will Salas finds himself accused of murder and on the run with a hostage - a connection that becomes an important part of the way against the system.

Actually, the problems start right there. This is how the blurb should have been:
In a future where people stop aging at 25, but are engineered to live only one more year, buying time is buying a chance to live another day. When Will Salas is given a century of unexpected life, he has a chance at immortal youth ... if he can keep from being murdered for his time. But the system never planned on Will discovering where all that time came from ... or where it shouldn't go.

Or something like that.

This movie has a brilliant concept, but it falls down in telling us (instead of showing) all the important morals of the story and robbing us of tidbits of worldbuilding (is that gorgeous woman his wife, daughter, or mother? There's no way to tell, because everyone is 25) by delivering them in ham-handed ways ("Are you wondering if she's my wife or my mother? She's my daughter!" Ugh.). There were many anachronistic details that pulled the viewer out of the context of the story with a wry commentary on "oh how clever we are that we thought of this."

Taking the above example of immortal youth, if the world truly is filled with beautiful 25 year olds and it's impossible to distinguish relationships by visual cues, then either 1) the society would have made those relationships irrelevant or 2) the society would have evolved some kind of marker to distinguish people. Maybe this is only a problem for the rich/long-lived, so people from the time-ghetto wouldn't have the problem of having adult mothers around to be confused with adult daughters. But amongst the time-rich, social markers would surely have evolved. They could be extreme or subtle, but they would be there, especially if living a long life is a sign of time-wealth. Maybe the women would wear extra earrings, or maybe both sexes would have a tiny tattoo hash to "mark time" they've been on the planet. This could be revealed in cool ways - a faux embarrassment covering the marks or a tantalizing reveal of them. Our confused protagonist could ask about them, or the protective antagonist could admonish his daughter for flaunting her two hash marks.

It could be anything, but ruining that awesome worldbuilding tidbit with some telling dialogue missed the chance make the world deeper and more cool. And keep the viewer/reader firmly entrenched in the story.

In Time didn't trust its viewers to understand all the nuances of this brilliant future dystopian world, and I can understand the temptation to explain, to make sure that the audience "gets" the point. But having a brilliant concept requires some brilliant execution, to deliver on the promise of that premise. In Time didn't live up to that promise, but I still recommend that you see it. Look for the missed chances to show rather than tell how the world works, for trite explanations or anachronistic "time" jokes.

Then go forth and make sure you aren't doing this in your storytelling. Your readers will thank you! (And your brilliant concept will shine even brighter.)

p.s. All of this is my critique, my take on the craft of storytelling in this movie. It's important to note that I STILL enjoyed the movie. What's more, my husband REALLY enjoyed it, not so much bothered by the details of the worldbuilding. (It's all subjective: see my post about the Art of Writing)

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REMINDER

I'm giving away a $10 Barnes&Noble Giftcard, but the giveaway ends Tuesday December 20th!

To enter, just post a picture of the cover of Open Minds on my Facebook Page (or email it to me and I'll post it for you). Ebook or paperback doesn't matter. Creativity is always nice!

The Art of Writing

2011-12-14T07:00:00.160-06:00

I have no art education, couldn't tell a Matisse from a Van Gogh, but I know what I like. I am a "reader" in the art world.

I believe that art is a tremendously personal experience. Someone once told me that the only thing I needed to know about art was how it made me feel. Being a logical Vulcan-type engineer at the time, this was a tantalizing idea - that art wasn't just for art majors, but that it was something meant to touch everyone differently.

My father was an ardent amateur photographer and Ansel Adams afficiando. My childhood home was littered with black and white pictures of nature. This was just my dad's thing to do, and I didn't think much of it. Not until I was given permission to feel something about art, did I truly appreciate the importance of it.

Art museums are wonderful and I enjoy the amazing masterpieces that are curated there. But no matter what the little notecard next to painting said about the tremendous importance of the art or the artist, I always used my personal experience as my final arbiter of the art itself. Did it resonate with me? What emotion did it tug out from the cloistered emotional chambers of my heart? (I talk this way now, being a writer; not so much then.) Personally (because all art is personal), I found much modern art to be ridiculous, even offensive (which are emotions, although not good ones). Then along would come a piece that would shoot right into my soul.

Mind you, I couldn't explain why (lacking that art degree). But I was just as likely to find that emotional connection with canvases strewn around a folding table at our local art fair, or in student art hung in our local bagel shop, as at the Chicago Museum of Modern Art. Sometimes, the skillfulness of the craft would be enough to arrest me, transfixed in front of a piece. But more often, it was the emotional connection that would scribe the art into my head, making it unforgettable.

This post isn't actually about art. It's about writing, and what the democratization of self-publishing means for writing as an art.

There are people that fear this democratization, thinking that they will be overwhelmed by the unwashed masses of writers who will upload their literary equivalent of a Velvet Elvis.

There's talk of wading through the "slush pile" of self-published works and how awful this will be for "readers" (the people saying this are usually writers who are also readers). There's also disparagement of self-published writers, no matter their level of success, the presumption being that their works weren't "good enough" for traditional publishing, so therefore their success must be due to marketing (as if the success of any book isn't dependent on marketing).

But whether I visit a local art fair in my hometown or the Chicago Museum of Art, I have to wade through art that doesn't speak to me to find the one that does. I don't think any less of the artists in either case. I don't look down on the student artists in the bagel shop who are brave and bold enough to put their work out where anyone can see. I don't think the vendors at art fairs or the artist who sells a few works out of his basement studio are any less artists than the people curated by the MOMA, just because they haven't sold as much or haven't been critically acclaimed by the "gatekeepers" of the art world. I don't think of them as doing a disservice to the world by displaying their wares.

Quite the contrary.

The world would be a sad place without this expression of creativity for everyone to see, if the only art that was deemed "acceptable" for public consumption was the art curated in museums. Even the curators freely admit there is far more worthwhile art than they could ever display. Now, with the advent of the internet, virtual art fairs connect the artist and patron more easily than ever before. I've purchased art on Ebay from an artist I've never met, because his paintings reminded me of the beautiful Colorado landscape I left behind when I moved to Illinois. I'm still on the mailing list for a NY artist because one painting she made of Mozart as a boy spoke to me (I lost it in an auction, which still makes me cry).

The rise of e-readers has enabled writers to connect directly with readers in a way not really possible before. This e-distribution channel not only disperses novel-length works, but there's a resurgence of novellas, short stories, and anthologies. These forms didn't sell in sufficient quantities for NY publishers to print and distribute, but now the floodgates are open - to experimentation, to serious authors, to children publishing their first works to share with their friends as well as long-time closeted writers who are just now daring to share their stories with the world.

There's a richness to the very idea of it that I'm just beginning to appreciate.

Of course, the analogy is not perfect - you can assess art more quickly than a book (although this is what reviews are for). Much of the art that hangs in museums has passed the test of centuries of time, whereas lots of books "curated" by traditional publishing are released primarily for their ability to make money (think Snookie). But I think art is a close cousin to writing, and perhaps commercial art is writing's half-sister. This makes the different perspectives on the two media instructive (at least to me).

Also: this isn't an apologia for all self-published works. Some will be badly edited, slapped together and released before they are ready, just as there are paintings that are raw and unpolished that will be displayed at the local art fair. But, IMHO, the good of having stories written and shared (art created and displayed) far outweighs the fact that all of it will not be to my taste. Because this is (at least part of) why human beings write, why we paint, why we draw - to share that creation with the world.

I'm not an ideologue when it comes to self-publishing vs. traditional publishing. I think the route you choose should fit your goals as an artist/writer and the work itself. But I am passionate about this: I believe the democratizing force of digital distribution is a good thing for creativity and for the human spirit.

Meet D. Robert Pease, Author of Noah Zarc

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

E-books and self-publishing are upending the publishing world. Don't take my word for it - Friday's WSJ article sums it up nicely. With Kindles sales increasing four-fold on Black Friday this year, I've seen estimates of the 8 million Kindles currently in use jumping to 25 million after Christmas (Amazon doesn't release its numbers). With $79 Kindles and $99 Nooks, it's not hard to imagine a lot of these showing up under the Christmas tree in a couple weeks.

What will the impact of all these e-readers be? I expect more e-books of every kind to be sold, but in particular, I'm predicting (Danger, Will Robinson!) that there will be a shift in the demographic of e-book owners with the more affordable price. In particular, I expect more young people to receive these readers as a gift from grandparents who would rather buy a reading device than another gaming device.

What will this mean for middle grade authors, like my guest Dale Pease? I hope that it means many happy sales, and I think that it will ... eventually. Whether this Christmas or the next (3 years at the outside - yikes! more predictions!), the middle grade e-book market will eventually take off, and self-publishing middle grade authors like Anita Laydon Miller, Simon Haynes, PHC Marchesi, and D. Robert Pease will be ready with multiple books out to capture some marketshare.

(Note to JK Rowling: We love you. Please get Pottermore out soon.)

Dale is blog-touring his middle grade science fiction novel NoahZarc: Mammoth Trouble, and I'm happy to be the stop today. You can see all the information about Dale's book and tour at the bottom, but first Dale kindly answered my questions about writing and publishing a middle grade novel during today's self-publishing revolution.

Me: What inspired you to write Noah Zarc?

Dale: The original idea came from a discussion I had with a friend of mine. The name Noah Zarc was thrown out (I suspect it was from him). We talked about making a game, or an animated series on it. But none of those things went anywhere. A few years later I got to thinking it'd be a cool idea for a book. There was just something about this idea of a futuristic take on the old Noah's Ark story that wouldn't let go of me. The more I got into it, the more I fell in love with the idea of taking old Biblical stories and casting them in a new light. I have another one in the works based on the story of Joseph and the coat of many colors. But, and I hope I make this clear, I didn't want to write "Religious" stories. I don't know why, but most of the time they come off as preachy, and who likes to be preached at? I just think these are such great stories of the roles people play in the bigger picture of history that they can lead to fantastic new adventures too.

Me: I love this fresh take on biblical stories! Right now, twisted fairy tales are hot, and I think the mood is right for re-examining powerful stories from the past. I love that you've made this your focus with your writing! Before you started writing, you spent many years as a designer, doing art for a living. Can you tell us a little about your background? How do you feel your art/design background influences your writing?

Dale: I'm a visual person. I learn visually. I sense the world around me most keenly through sight. So that is exactly how I approach writing. I "see" the characters, and the world in my head. Sometimes I'll sketch out things. Sometimes I'll scour stock photo sites for just the write image of my characters. All to help me see better. But there's also another aspect of my background that comes into play. I am a graphic or "commercial" designer. I don't have a passion for fine art like other artists do. Don't get me wrong, I love to go to museums and drink in the beauty, but my favorite artists are those who tell stories with their art; Norman Rockwell for example. And, this is a big one, I believe in making a living at my art. GASP! This was a huge debate at the art school I attended. The conflict between art for art's sake, and art to make a living. How this translates into my writing is simple. I write stories that kids and adults have fun reading. I don't claim to be a literary master, creating "art". I think there is a place for beautiful prose and writing that is just exquisite, but you probably won't find that in my books. I just love a good, fast-paced story.

Me: I really enjoy the intersection of art and writing, and I love your take on pictures being story! As I mentioned in the preamble above, e-readers are definitely on the rise, but the middle grade e-book market hasn’t quite arrived yet. Do you think that will change this Christmas, with cheaper Kindles and the impending arrival of Pottermore (JK Rowling’s e-experiment)? Did that have an influence on your decision to self-publish Noah Zarc?

Dale: This is an area I am still learning about. It is quite a wakeup call to see authors all around me selling books in far greater quantities, simply because they write for an older audience. It is not that I'm jealous (ok, maybe a little) it is that I'm realizing the market may not be there yet for middle grade authors. I have found that when I really connect with my audience, they are much more likely to buy a paperback version than an eBook version. Do I think this will change? Absolutely. As parents pass eBook readers down to their kids, and as prices on eReaders continue to plummet I'm convinced the middle grade market will grow. I've heard a few people in the industry saying that the MG market is the next wave to hit. So I am pretty optimistic at this point.

Me: I'm hopeful for you! And I do think it's an advantage to be early in the game, although it may not seem that way now. Many of the current very-successful authors in self-pub are the ones who had multiple books out when the wave of e-readers started to hit. So tell us about the sequel to Noah Zarc. What are your plans for future books?

Dale: I am about 90% through the first draft of Noah Zarc: Cataclysm. It is a book that maybe gets a little darker than Mammoth Trouble, but readers will still have fun following the exploits of our hero. Noah goes on a quest through time to discover what caused the Great Cataclysm that wiped out every living thing on Earth, and wonders if there's anything he can do to stop it from happening in the first place. Along the way he begins to think his worst fear might come true as he starts to discover maybe by going back in time he actually caused the Cataclysm himself.

There is a third novel in the series planned. But I can't say much more than that now. And as mentioned above, I am working on another story, tentatively titled Joey Cola and the Stoat of Many Colors, about a second-to-youngest son of a huge family with twelve brothers in New York City who discovers a hidden "dream-world" where an ancient order of warriors has been fighting a reincarnated Pharaoh for over 3,000 years. I am super excited about this one and can't wait to get it out to readers.

Me: Ok, can I just say how much I love that time-travel twist for Cataclysm? And I'm beyond excited about Joey Cola. I can see that being HUGE as a YA story, and a re-imagined biblical story at that! #coolness Now that you've got some self-pub experience under your belt, what advice do you have for writers considering self-publishing?

Dale: Be realistic. They say it is a one in a million shot to make a living at publishing a book traditionally, and about the same if you self-publish. The only difference being you have more control over your success or failure if you do it yourself. But with great power comes great responsibility! You must approach it like a business. Your product has to be the best it can possibly be. Get lots of beta readers. Hire an editor (this is non-negotiable) and not just a proof editor. You need to hire someone who can help you shape the overall story into the best story possible. Someone who will look at overall plot. Characterization issues. World building, etc... You want someone who says, why is this chapter here? I think it should be cut. Or you really need to add much more detail about this character's motivation. I went through almost six months of this kind of work with an editor. It was well worth it. Also another non-negotiable, unless you are a professional designer, is to hire a cover artist. This is the second most important thing (after writing and editing a great book). Don't skimp. Finally, be prepared to spend a ton of time marketing. I never dreamed I would spend as much time as I have. It has basically become another full-time job for me. Hopefully it will lessen over time, but I've been at this for four months now, and it is still taking up a sizable chunk of my day.

Would I do it again! Absolutely. Just meeting all the great people and hearing some awesome stories, has been worth it. I'm not quitting my day job anytime soon, but I still think there is a possibility I will some day. So keep dreaming. And keep writing.

Thank you so much, Dale, for sharing your insights with us! (Full disclosure: Dale is my cover designer and he rocks it! Definitely seek out a professional like Dale for your cover work!) You can see my review of Dale's book or check out all the details below:

OVERVIEW
Noah lives for piloting spaceships through time, dodging killer robots and saving Earth's animals from extinction.

Life couldn't be better.

But the twelve-year-old time traveler learns it could be a whole lot worse. His mom is kidnapped and taken to Mars; his dad is stranded in the Ice Age; and Noah is attacked at every turn by a foe bent on destroying Earth... for the second time.

Get your copy today by visiting Amazon.com (available in paperback or as an eBook) or the online retailer of your choice (more links below).

CASH PRIZES
Guess what? You could win a $50 Amazon gift card as part of this special blog tour. That’s right! Just leave a comment below saying something about the post you just read, and you’ll be entered into the raffle.

GIVEAWAY
Win 1 of 5 copies of the paperback version of Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble by entering the giveaway on GoodReads.

THE AUTHOR
D. Robert Pease has been interested in creating worlds since childhood. From building in the sandbox behind his house, to drawing fantastical worlds with paper and pencil, there has hardly been a time he hasn't been off on some adventure in his mind, to the dismay of parents and teachers alike. Also, since the moment he could read, books have consumed vast swaths of his life. From The Mouse and the Motorcycle, to The Lord of the Rings, worlds just beyond reality have called to him like Homer's Sirens. It's not surprising then he chose to write stories of his own. Each filled with worlds just beyond reach, but close enough we can all catch a glimpse of ourselves in the characters.

Discover ways to connect with the author by visiting his site at www.drobertpease.com

BOOK TRAILER

THANK YOU! for visiting. And don't forget to comment below for that chance to win the $50 Amazon gift card. And of course head on over to your favorite online book store and buy a copy of Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble, for you or for the kids in your life.

Amazon Paperback | Amazon Kindle | Barnes &Noble Nook | Apple iBookstore | Smashwords | Diesel eBook Store | CreateSpace Paperback | Amazon UK | Amazon France | Amazon Germany

Getting Sideways and Someone Else's Fairytale Released Today

2011-12-11T07:38:00.000-06:00

Looking to stock up some reading material for the holidays? (I've been cramming my nook full of new titles in anticipation of some reading time, once my current draft is finished.) Two Indie friends have books releasing today:

Fellow Indelibles author Lisa Nowak is releasing her contemporary boy-POV novel Getting Sideways, the sequel to Running Wide Open. It's a great gift for NASCAR and racing fans (yes, Amazon and B&N now BOTH support gifting of e-books).

Running Wide Open $0.99 on Amazon and Barnes&Noble
Cody Everett has a temper as hot as the flashpoint of racing fuel, and it's landed him at his uncle's trailer, a last-chance home before military school. But how can he take the guy seriously when he calls himself Race, eats Twinkies for breakfast, and pals around with rednecks who drive in circles every Saturday night?

What Cody doesn't expect is for the arrangement to work. Or for Race to become the friend and mentor he's been looking for all his life. But just as Cody begins to settle in and get a handle on his supercharged temper, a crisis sends his life spinning out of control. Everything he's come to care about is threatened, and he has to choose between falling back on his old, familiar anger or stepping up to prove his loyalty to the only person he's ever dared to trust.

Getting Sideways $3.99 on Amazon and Barnes&Noble

Getting shipped off to live with his uncle Race was the best thing that ever happened to fifteen-year-old Cody. Then a wreck at the speedway nearly ruined everything. Cody's making every effort to get his life back on track—writing for the school paper, searching for the perfect girlfriend, and counting the days until he gets his drivers' license-but there's no escaping the nightmares that haunt him.

A chance to build his own car seems like the perfect distraction. Until Cody realizes he'll have to live up to Race's legendary status. But that's the least of his worries, considering he doesn't have his dad's permission. All he has to do is the impossible: keep Race from discovering his lie until he can convince his dad that racing's safe.

Yeah, sure. That'll be easy.

If you're looking for something more girlish and fun, fellow Scribbler's Cove member E.M. Tippets has just released her chick-lit novel Someone Else's Fairytale.

Someone Else's Fairytale $0.99 on Amazon and Barnes&Noble, FREE on Smashwords

Jason Vanderholt, the hottest actor in Hollywood, falls for everygirl, Chloe Winters, who hasn't even seen most of his movies. It's any woman's fairytale, except for Chloe's. The last thing she wants is media attention. Although she's slain her own dragons, there's always the possibility they might come back to haunt her.

Happy Reading!

Gifts for Geeks

2011-12-09T07:00:00.025-06:00

I'm a geek (of the science and Star Trek varieties). My husband is a geek (of the engineering and model rocket flavor). We've spawned three miniature geeks (small, medium, and large).

Even though I now consider myself a WORD NERD, we still have a lot of geek gifts of Christmases-past in our house, including barometric pressure gages, enough rocketry explosives in the basement to alarm an ATF official, and a museum worthy collection of computers, computer parts, and electronics of unknown origin.

If you're feeling generous towards your geek beloved, you could invest in a Zombie Proof House. If you're being silly you could write a love letter entirely in Elvish. But if you seriously need a gift for the geek in your life, try one of these:

A Big Old Hunk of Gallium

From Robert Turner (along with a bunch of other cool stuff), this block of gallium will melt in your hand, not in your mouth:

Gallium is a silvery metal with atomic number 31. It’s used in semiconductors and LEDs, but the cool thing about it is its melting point, which is only about 85 degrees Fahrenheit. If you hold a solid gallium crystal in your hand, your body heat will cause it to slowly melt into a silvery metallic puddle. Pour it into a dish, and it freezes back into a solid. While you probably shouldn’t lick your fingers after playing with it, gallium isn’t toxic and won’t make you crazy like mercury does. And if you get tired of it, you can melt it onto glass and make yourself a mirror.

Han Solo Carbonite Ice Cube Tray

Oh, c'mon, you know you want this! From our friends at Think Geek: "Crystal clear, not scruffy looking." :) Also useful for CHOCOLATE! Enuf said.

Tesla Party Package
Includes mini-tesla plasma ball (USB powered) and a Tesla vs. Edison throw-down t-shirt. But the best is Electronic Gadgets for the Evil Genius by Bob Iannini (not recommended for anyone with a large stockpile of rocketry explosives in their basement).

Accio Big Bang Theory!

If your geek is of the Hogwarts loving flavor, you can't miss with a wand that acts like a remote control (see page 9). If I could only get it to clean the kitchen, like Mrs. Weasley does.

R2, Could You Save That?

If your geek is of the Star Wars persuasion, an R2D2 USB drive is flat awesome. I wish I could get one with that little electrical arm attachment just to zap anyone who thinks about taking my flash drive (this happens more than you might think in my house. I'm looking at you Worm Burner).

Retro Gamer Alert

This desktop arcade game is iPad + Atari = Geeksplosion. AND it has a controller. Just in case you get tired of playing Angry Birds.

Geek Humor XKCD style

For serious brainiac, spit-out-your-tea humor, you can't beat XKCD comics. BONUS: you'll gain some profound insights into the geek brain, for better (and worse).

If none of these fit your geek gift recipient, try Think Geek - they even have a whole category for Geek Kids (personally I think all kids are born geeks; it's just that the world beats it out of them).

Happy Weekend (and shopping)!

UPDATE:
Holy Dark City, Batman!

For the gaming geeks out there, courtesy of Eliza of Girls PWN, I bring you the Dark Knight in Batman: Arkham City. I know nothing of gaming (seriously, Atari and Angry Birds are the limits of my gaming universe), but anything with The Batman is FTW. Thanks Eliza!

Holiday Gifts for Writers

2011-12-08T07:00:00.009-06:00

Have a writer on your Christmas list? Or are your family and friends always wondering what to get you, besides secluded time to write and a new notebook (paper or electronic)?

Here's some ideas to put on your list or pass along for your favorite writerly friends.

Moleskin Covers for Your iPad!

From Roger Parker's post on Best Gifts for Authors, these iPad covers have paper and digital together. Some may think this is an unholy marriage, but I squeed when I saw this. Now, I just need an iPad to go with it.

World's Coolest Teapot
From White Lion Teas, this delightful teapot depicts novels from Dickens to Carroll to Orwell. I own this little gem, and it's just as cool as it looks. Only serves about 2 cups, but that's okay. Writers tend to drink alone. #sad

Hand Crafted Coolness
Etsy is a gold mine of cool, unique, hand-crafted gifts. These earrings are handmade by ALikelyStory and practically shout WORD NERD. I wants.

These book earrings are handmade by earringsbysusan (not me, another more talented Susan), and are a little more subtle in their bookishness, so probably suited for librarian friends and book lovers as well as writers.

These ampersand earrings, on the other hand, are back to shouting WORD NERD as well as TYPOGRAPHY GEEK. They are handmade by Fabrication Unlimited and I would totally wear these and be proud.

Custom crafted tennis shoes! These are handmade by ElianaG and this is a picture of the ones I had made for my mother-in-law for her birthday. It has the logo for the High School where she works and a picture of my three boys, all the things she loves. Put your creativity to work and make a unique gift for a special person.

These handcrafted journals by makingthishome are very cool looking. I'm coveting one of these, even as I still adore my moleskin notebooks that I tote everywhere.

If you want to combine the Writer and Christmas themes, you could go for one of these miniature book-themed Christmas Ornaments - that really open! How darn cute is that? Handcrafted by AmbJewelry.

If you're all about sporting your WORDNERDiness on a shirt, there are lots to choose from. Zazzle has a great collection, and these are just a few that caught my eye.

And Tesla WAS robbed. Don't make me come over there and prove it.

Speaking of Tesla, stop back tomorrow for GIFTS FOR GEEKS! If you're like me, either you are one, or you have one (or several) in your life.

Guest Post: Christmas in a Foreign Land by Talli Roland

2011-12-07T06:47:00.000-06:00

Fellow author Talli Roland, with two previously small-press published novels, is taking the leap into self-publishing with her latest release, Build A Man. Talli's previous releases have been fun-filled, creative events that made me in awe of her (and furiously taking notes). This round is no exception as she has created an online poll for people to vote on features to create their idea partner:

I'll have a selection of eyes, mouths, lips to choose from ... for both men and women. At the end of the day, I'll assemble the 'ideal' man and woman and do the big reveal.

Too. Much. Fun!

Before you hop over and join the fun, please check out this delightful guest post from Talli. One of the things I'm enjoying most about having a book "out there" is connecting with readers and bloggers "across the pond." Being an avowed anglophile, this just tickles my fancy ...

Christmas in a ForeignLand by Talli Roland

Can you really considerLondon, UK, a foreign land? Well, yes. The fact that it’s so close to theCanadian culture I grew up with – yet intrinsically different – makes anydifference stand out even more. I’ve been here for almost eight years, and I’mstill adjusting to the peculiarities of a British Christmas.

Let’s begin with theChristmas tree. Standing all of four feet (if you’re lucky) with intermittentbranches, you can expect to pay the princely sum of anything from thirty to sixtypounds. Yes, POUNDS! With strangely thick, waxy needles that shower the floorat the hint of a draft, to me it looks like foliage from a different planet.

But hey, Christmas is aboutmore than the tree. Thankfully, you can get over your shock by scoffing mincepies. I held out on these little delights for quite some time, very confused bythe ‘mince’ moniker. But no worries: here, ‘mince’ refers to the sweet date andsultana filling inside the flaky pastry treats. You can choose from a frostedtop, cognac infused . . . the list goes on!

One tradition I definitelydon’t partake in is Christmas cake. Although recipes vary, it’s usually afruit-type cake with marzipan frosting. The last Sunday before Advent is knownas Stir Up Sunday in the UK, a time when Christmas cake is made. And, if youreally want to make your dinner jolly, you ‘feed’ the cake brandy untilChristmas Day. I’ve tried this dessert several times, and despite the alcoholhit, it just ain’t for me.

The sheer abundance of mulledwine during the holidays makes up for any pudding disappointment. Fromsupermarkets to corner shops, shelves are laden with the spicy delight. Gentlyheated in a saucepan, there’s nothing better than coming in from a cold, dampLondon winter to a wonderfully warming drink.

Ah, Christmas . . .

TalliRoland has three loves in her life: chick lit, coffee and wine. Born and raised in Canada, Talli now lives in London, where shesavours the great cultural life (coffee and wine). Her debut novel, The Hating Game, was anAmazon Top 100 bestseller and shortlisted for Best Romantic Read at the UK’sFestival of Romance, and her second, Watching Willow Watts, was selected as a 2011 AmazonCustomer Favourite. Build A Man is her latest release. Talli blogs here and can be found on Twitter here.

Slave to the rich, rude and deluded, cosmetic surgery receptionist Serenity Holland longs for the day she's a high-flying tabloid reporter. Unfortunately, every pitch she sends out disappears like her clients' liposuctioned fat, never to be seen again. Then she meets Jeremy Ritchie -- the hang-dog man determined to be Britain's Most Eligible Bachelor by making himself over from head to toe and everything in between -- giving Serenity a story no editor could resist.

With London's biggest tabloid on board and her very own column tracking Jeremy's progress from dud to dude, Serenity is determined to be a success, even going undercover to gain intimate access to Jeremy's life. But when Jeremy's surgery goes drastically wrong and Serenity is ordered to cover all the car-crash goriness, she must decide how far she really will go for her dream job.

Build a Man by Talli Roland on sale at Amazon or add to your Goodreads.

Don't forget to check out the party!

Giving Kids Books for the Holidays

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

I am totally that Crazy Aunt that gives books for Christmas. (And Birthdays. And any other excuse I can think of.)

I was this way long before I was an author, but it reached epic proportions after I had my own children and was surrounded by kidlit. Everything from gorgeous picture books to delightful chapter books to gripping middle grade adventures. I didn't dip into reading YA until my niece reached her teens, but then I was hooked.

If you think gifting books is just for paper copies, think again. You can gift a particular title to your Kindle owning friend as well. (Of course, there's always e-gift-cards, but where's the fun in that?) When you're checking out on Amazon (note: not available at B&N), just click "Give as a Gift". Or you can watch this video on how to gift e-books.

There's a zillion book guides this time of year. Here's just a few:

Imagination Soup Educational Gift Guide - sorted by age

Novel Novice Middle Grade Shopping Guide (yay Familiars!)

Reading Rockets Buying Guide (Ages 0-9)

Here are some of my favorites from 2011:

Sequels I Love
If you haven't read the first books in these series, 1) You Must, and 2) Read Them All.

Hunger Games
You need to read these before the movie comes out (squeee!).

Indie Books On My TBR

Coming Up: Gift Lists for Writers and Geeks (no, those aren't the same thing)!

Guest Post: A Daring New Christmas Book by Rick Daley

2011-12-05T07:00:00.033-06:00

It's a Christmas Themed week! And there are lots of cool things ahead.

Last Friday, I kicked off the Holiday Theme by throwing a giveaway for anyone that posts a picture of Open Minds on my FB page (open until 12/20, so check it out). Today, I'm over on Goodreads doing an author Q&A about my books, writing, and publishing. Stop by and post a question!

But for the main event today, I have a guest post from middle grade author Rick Daley. You can check out my review of Rick's Christmas book, The Man in the Cinder Clouds, or gaze upon the awesome cover. This is one you'll want to tuck under the Christmas tree, and I'm looking forward to reading it aloud with my kids to usher in the season.

A Daring New Christmas Book by Rick Daley

As a writer, I am constantly exploring ideas forstories. I have a deep file on mycomputer, along with a stack of post-it notes on my desk, chock full o’premises.

The challenge is deciding which one to work on.

Sometimes what seems like a great idea is actuallycrazy. Other times, though, what seemslike an insane undertaking can turn into something special, if only you chooseto take a dare.

I had one of those moments when I decided to re-boot Santa Claus.

Think about it. Thereare few characters in modern culture that are more cemented in the public mindthan Santa. Trying to create a newcanon…to re-write the history and origins of one of the star players in one ofthe world’s most beloved holidays…That’s crazy, right? I mean, there must be a thousand ways toscrew that story up.

The idea for The Man in the Cinder Clouds, an origins-of-Santastory revealed through a book found in an arctic ice core, had beensimmering on a back-burner in my mind for years. I always knew I would at least try to write the story someday, but washesitant to start. Could it really work,or would it be a monumental waste of time?

In a twist of fate, I lost my job last year and ended upwith an unexpected chunk of free time. So I got to work and cranked out the first draft. By the time I finished my feelings had changed. I was no longer afraid. I was elated! The story was different that I thought it would be; it turns out The Musehad stepped in and guided my thoughts in a new direction.

The basic elements of the plot were the same, but the toneshifted from farcical to realistic. Humorwas still there, but now it was balanced with suspense and action. The characters came to life, and not one ortwo, but three stories grew together, weaving around each other into one solidtale.

I sent the story out for critiques. It had its flaws, and the feedback definitelyrevealed them, but the feedback also told me something important: the story worked.

After a year of revisions, I published it. I feel as though The Muse gave me somethingspecial, and I am eager to share it with people.

They say most people who start to write a novel neverfinish, and most that do finish never complete a second book. I have written another book (to be publishedin the Spring), and I have a new work-in-progress, but no matter what levels ofsuccess those other endeavors reach (assuming there is a measurable level ofsuccess), The Man in the Cinder Clouds will always be a crowning achievement in my writing career.

I’m glad I took the dare.

[Editorial note: I'm glad Rick took the dare, too. And thanks to Rick for sharing his thoughts today!]

TheMan in the Cinder Clouds

By Rick Daley

A young boy and his scientist father made an incrediblediscovery at the North Pole—an ancient book embedded deep within an icecore. Even more incredible is the storythe book tells: the long-lost history ofSanta Claus you never knew…and will never forget.

This origins-of-Santastory is a great holiday read for the whole family. Its mix of action, humor, and Christmasspirit keeps younger readers turning the pages, but The Man in the Cinder Clouds is not just a kids’ book.

As one Amazon.comreviewer puts it, “THE MAN IN THE CINDER CLOUDS is one of those middlegrade books that the grown-ups get sucked into along with their kids. You thinkyou bought if for your young reader but after you browse chapter one you justsort of... can't stop.”

This story-within-a-story reveals the origins of our mostfamiliar Christmas traditions: from Christmas trees, stockings, and lumps ofcoal to jingle bells, the North Pole, and flying reindeer. Highly original and thoroughly entertaining, The Man in the Cinder Clouds will showyou how Kris Kringle came to be known as Santa Claus. It wasn’t easy.

About the Author

Rick Daley has been writing professionally for over 15years. His experience includes marketing copy for print and web, pressreleases, business proposals, training and technical manuals, andwhitepapers. His essays, ranging from family life during the holidays tohis first skydiving experience, have been featured in The Columbus Dispatch.

Rick lives in Lewis Center, Ohio with his wife and two sons(and a neurotic schnauzer).

Holiday Gift Card Giveaway!

2011-12-02T07:00:00.024-06:00

Do you have a copy of Open Minds?

Post a picture of the cover (be creative!)

on my FB page to win this:

$10 B&N Gift Card + Open Books, Open Minds Wrist Band

(pencil not included)

to keep ... or to give away for the Holidays

Giveaway open until December 20th!

Are you subscribed to my author newsletter?

If YES: Look for a special Holiday Giveaway email coming next Tuesday!

If NO: Subscribe before Tuesday 12/6, and you can get in on the Holiday Giveaway too!

Are you on Goodreads?

Check out the Q&A with Susan Kaye Quinn on Goodreads about Open Minds, Closed Hearts, writing and publishing ... and leave a question or comment! I will be answering questions all next week (12/5-12/9) and would love to hear what you think of the book!

Next week will also be all kinds of Holiday Fun here on the blog with Holiday-themed guest posts, and gifts for writers, kids, and geeks ... all my favorite people. See you then!

Writers Must Write First

2011-11-30T07:00:00.037-06:00

When I announced I was participating in National Novel Writing Month the same month I was launching my book, several people commented that they were impressed (and were probably thinking, boy is she crazy). It was a bit crazy, but I am so glad that I did it!

(Yes, I met the 50k mark, although I'm certainly not done drafting Closed Hearts.That's what December is for.)

Having to chase that line every day forced me to remember - in the middle of possibly the zaniest marketing month of my life - that writers must write first. This is quickly becoming a platitude, but it takes on a whole different meaning when people are actively adding your (as yet unwritten) book to their TBR pile on Goodreads.

Before starting to draft Closed Hearts, I did a substantial amount of plotting. Of course, it's a sequel, so some of the character and worldbuilding work was already done. But I'm finding the sequel just as challenging as the first book, because new elements, characters, and story arcs have to be built from the ground up, just like in the initial novel.

There really is no short-cut in novel writing.

But I have found that plotting ahead of time does substantially increase my drafting speed. Adam Heine, bless his well-charted heart, has shared data on how plotting has sped up his drafting speed. Zoe Winters has a great post about trying to speed up her writing process. I don't have the data to prove I'm any faster when I plot ahead of time, but before I sat down to draft Closed Hearts, I had 13,831 words of outline written, plus another 5-7k of notes (on top of all my notes for Open Minds). That doesn't count the additional outlining I did for Unnamed Book #3. There was one point during drafting the first half of the book that I had to pause and do some more worldbuilding to get through a sticky plot point. But overall, I was able to mostly crank out words because the storybuilding had already been done.

There were times this month that it was difficult to write, simply because the siren call of marketing was so strong. I was just sure that any incremental minute, hour, day that I spent trying to reach new readers would bring in more sales. I was like the greyhound who chases the rabbit around and around the track, only in this case, the dog actually gets the rabbit - marketing efforts do result in more sales. Just imagine how hard the dog would run if he actually caught that dang rabbit every once in a while!

Which is why NaNo was so important to me this year. It kept bringing me back, reminding me that the most important thing I should be doing is writing the sequel. Every minute, hour, day I spend creating new material is a minute, hour, day I am closer to releasing the next book. And the next one after that.

This isn't a sprint around the racetrack. The bell rings to signal the beginning, but the chase never ends. And the most important marketing event I can create for my book is to release another one. I'm building a backlist, writing works that I hope readers will enjoy not just this month, but next year and the year after that.

But only if I write them.

Untraceable by S.R. Johannes Launches Today

2011-11-29T07:00:00.002-06:00

I'm excited to be a part of The Indelibles, a group of 20 Indie authors who are launching their books this fall. I'll be able to tell you more when we officially launch the group after the first of the year (mostly because everyone is so busy launching their books right now), but I have to say, there are some seriously amazing books in this group of talented YA/MG authors. They're hitting bestseller charts already (hooray GP and Jessie!) , and I expect to see more in the future, including fellow Indelible author Shelli's release today, Untraceable, a YA thriller.

Untraceable
S.R. Johannes

Grace has lived in the Smokies all her life, patrolling with her forest ranger father who taught her about wildlife, tracking, and wilderness survival.

When her dad goes missing on a routine patrol, Grace refuses to believe he’s dead and fights the town authorities, tribal officials, and nature to find him.

One day, while out tracking clues, Grace is rescued from danger by Mo, a hot guy with an intoxicating accent and a secret. As her feelings between him and her ex-boyfriend get muddled, Grace travels deep into the wilderness to escape and find her father.
Along the way, Grace learns terrible secrets that sever relationships and lives. Soon she’s enmeshed in a web of conspiracy, deception, and murder. And it’s going to take a lot more than a compass and a motorcycle (named Lucifer) for this kick-butting heroine to save everything she loves.
Available on Amazon, or add to your Goodreads TBR.

Shelli's giving out some cool prizes for her launch party, so hop over and check them out. She also has a whole schedule of twitter parties, giveaways, and chats, so check out the schedule and see what's going on during the day. Shelli will be giving away a bunch of books, including a batch of Indie books from fellow Indelibles (Open Minds will be in the mix there somewhere).

Shelli's is a party you won't want to miss! Best of luck, Shelli! (But I don't think you're going to need it!)

The Importance of Story

2011-11-28T07:00:00.003-06:00

I firmly believe that stories aren't just entertainment or distraction, but an essential part of our how brains operate. As Kenneth Burke says, Stories are equipment for living.

And now the scientists are proving this to be more true than we realize. A Scientific American article titled In the Minds of Others dives into the impact of stories on our brains, on how we relate to others, and how they help us become more empathetic, open and social creatures.

Bookworms around the world rejoice!

A couple of quotes that caught my eye:

"We do not actually experience the character’s emotions—after all, the character is an abstraction. Rather we feel our own emotions in response to the yearnings, actions and circumstances the writer describes. The trajectory of these emotions keeps us turning the pages or glued to the screen."

"As with all good literature, Chekhov’s story prompted people to think and feel in new ways, but the particular feelings and thoughts it evoked depended on the reader."

At last! A scientific explanation for how to hook readers! Seriously, this fascinates me, because it taps into the very real experience that readers have of being immersed in the story, while explaining how each person's experience of the story remains their own, flavored by the life-story that they bring to the pages.

This is the best reason I can think of to use SHOW and not TELL in a story. By showing the character's actions (and thoughts), by having them interact with your fictional world - push and pull, tug and release - the reader's brain literally experiences those same actions. When the character leaps off the train, if you've done your job as a writer, the reader feels the rush, the wind whistling in their ears and the heart stopping moment before you know what will happen next. Whether this thrills or terrifies them remains the piece of the puzzle that the reader brings to the story.

In one way, many children of today are cloistered in closed environments. Risk averse schools remove hazardous playground equipment. Protective parents shuttle their children to school and back. Kids wear bike helmets and ride in car seats and don't have many opportunities to experience any real risks, much less heart-stopping adventure. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, being one of those over-protective parents myself. And despite all my over-protectiveness, Mighty Mite recently managed to bash his head against a dumpster and bleed all over a friend's kitchen. I'm starting to wonder if the boy needs a helmet full-time.

But in another way, children of today are immersed in stories even more than children of the past. I grew up with after-school TV shows, the occasional movie, and books, books, books. Kids today have all that, plus the internet, highly interactive games, and even newspaper and non-fiction reporting that are increasingly taking narrative form. They are awash in stories, often in ways that make them a star player as it unfolds.

I can't help but wonder what this is doing to their brains. According to the scientists, that virtual experience of narrative worlds - through reading or other storytelling - expands their horizons, makes them open to new experiences, and helps them empathize with people who are intrinsically different than themselves by stepping into their heads for the duration of the story.

Stories truly are equipment for living, and for children, they are an essential tool for growing up by letting them experience people, places and feelings outside the realm of their own experience.

I just hope Mighty Mite doesn't decide to jump off a train next.

**********************************************************************

M.A. Leslie is releasing a new novel today, THE MISSING! This is a paranormal ghost story complete with spooky manor house and a boy trying to save his soul as well as the souls of The Missing! Check it out!

New Author Blog Hop

2011-11-23T15:20:00.005-06:00

At the last minute, I jumped on board with a New Author Blog Hop! I'm not so "new" but my newest release is...

Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy)

Wheneveryone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someonewho can’t read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can’t betrusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the bestfriend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf’s mind and nearlykills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family andan increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she’s draggeddeep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyoneshe loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her.

Reviews

"Wow - just when I was getting a little bored of YA a book like this comes along and just wows me back! ... I was holding my breath right up until the last page." - Mel's Random Reviews

"Wow oh Wow! I just inhaled this book. Quinn is an amazing author with an even more amazing imagination. In some ways Kira reminds me a lot of Katniss from the Hunger Games series." - TwiMom101 Book Blog

"I'm not entirely sure Susan Kaye Quinn didn't jack into my mind herself to make me fall in love with this book! This book is full of awesome." - Jade Hanke's Review

Open Minds was released on November 1st, andis available for $2.99 on Amazon and Barnes&Noble. The MindjackTrilogy has itsown website, where you can find the latest on the sequel Closed Hearts as well as a list of ONGOING E-BOOK GIVEAWAYS!

Two more Indelibles authors have releases coming up after Thanksgiving, including:

Severed by Megg Jensen $3.99 on Amazon

Tangled Tides by Karen Hopper has just released! She's having a web celebration on her blog that day.

(The first book of the Cloud Prophet Trilogy, Anathema, is free on Amazon.)

Here are links to the other New Authors on the Hop ... Enjoy!

Cover Art Contest

2011-11-22T07:00:00.062-06:00

Shannon Mayer hosted a November Indie Cover Art poll, and I entered Open Minds ... and we lost. :) But truly, everyone who participated was a winner, with hundreds of views and 80+ votes and great exposure for all the Indie titles.

And the winner was ...

Moonlight on the Nantahala (A Paranormal Romance)

by Michael Rivers

Edward Caulfield was not a simple man. Losing his wife early in their marriage he continued to live his life as a shrine to her. In his twilight years he encountered a troubled young woman. There were lessons to be learned from each other. With the spirit of his deceased wife by his side Edward Caulfield left behind a legacy in his words to ease a troubled heart.

Congrats, Michael! (And thank you for your service! I didn't realize you were a veteran as well!)

Micheal, born in 1953, is an American author. His writing genres include Fiction, Horror, Thriller and Paranormal. Micheal has been writing for several years. In the past he concentrated on Romantic Poetry. In recent years he has focused on writing Fiction and Paranormal stories. His book titled "Ghosts of the North Carolina Shores" has been published by Schiffer Publishing Ltd. Micheal also published the eBook "The Black Witch" which is the first of a series on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Micheal has over thirty years of investigating and collecting stories of the paranormal. He is the lead investigator for the Smokey Mountain Ghost Trackers of Western North Carolina. He served his country as a United States Marine during Vietnam. He is a native North Carolinian. He lived in the Chicago area in the past and furthered his education there. He served the community as an Emergency Medical Technician while living there. Micheal currently resides in the mountains of North Carolina along with his wife and his Boxer he fondly calls Dee Dee.

Here's a list of the other participants, if you want to check out some new Indie titles: R. S. Guthrie, Writing duo PJ and Karen, Andy Holloman, Michelle McCleod, Catherine Bybee, Karen Pokras Toz, Trish McCallan, Melissa Garrett, R. G. Porter , Eryn Lockhart, Curtis Oddo, Andrew D. Carlson, Rhondi Vilott

I'm taking a break to help Worm Burner bake some apple pie, host a Write In for Dark Omen and his writing club friends, and navigate Mighty Mite's first Parent/Teacher Conference where he gets to attend (3rd grade is so hard!).

A Wonderful Thankful Holiday to all my American friends!

Questions Answered

2011-11-21T07:00:00.036-06:00

Throughout the launch of Open Minds, I got a lot of positive feedback about the book, but also about the launch itself. On Friday, I asked if my loyal blog readers had any questions for me, and they came up with some great ones!

Here are the answers ...

Laura Pauling asks: “Me me! I have a question. What surprised you about this selfpublishing venture in a good and a bad way?

Biggest Positive Surprise:the enthusiastic reception of the book by book bloggers! I’m not sure why thissuprised me. Maybe I’ve been conditioned by querying agents to expect lots ofnegative response. After all, these book bloggers weren’t my friends ... theywere complete strangers that were the first “test” of the reception by thegeneral public for the book. I couldn’t be more pleased how it went.

Biggest Negative Surprise:the utter pain that is print production and distribution. I knew ebooks were easier,but two weeks to get a batch of print books? It turned out okay, but I stillwish I had built in more time for the print production part. And I was dismayedby how high I had to set my print price in order to opt into Amazon’s extendeddistribution (librarires and bookstores). I didn’t expect many sales from thatchannel anyway, so I kept my price low and opted out. Still, disappointing.

LM Preston asks: “You have done an awesome and impressivejob publishing your book. You my dear are now a publisher. With that said, whatareas of the process do you think is better off having someone else do ormanage for you?”

Absolutelythe cover. My cover designer D. Robert Pease is a genius and my attempts wouldhave been laughably amateur. I’m also very glad I hired a copyeditor - I’ve hadlots of positive feedback about how “clean” the book was of errors, which Ithink is doubly important for self-publishers. Most of the rest, I’m glad I hada hand in myself. Although I may seek out some help in marketing overseas.

Ansha Koytk asks: “Self-publishing and marketing requirethat you wear a lot of different hats. How do you stay so organized and timely?I’m in awe! :)”

Thanks! I’velost track of the hats I wear, but the most important one is still writer. I try to keep that front andcenter in my mind. Being timely has two parts to it: this isn’t my first book,so I had a sense of the process already, and being part of the blogosphere islike have a finely tuned antennae sampling the market all the time. As forbeing organized, I’m not sure how to answer that. I used spreadsheets to trackmy launch party and blog tour. I made a marketing plan before I decided to self-publish, but flexibly changed it as Iwent. Basically, I treated the book as a business venture, with up-frontinvestments, marketing and (hopefully) a payback at some point (I have aP&L sheet for the book). I used a lot of the organizational skills that anybusiness would need to get started. I also put gobs of time into it. Writing ismy future career, so I’m investing a lot of effort into it.

Rachel Morgan asks: “My question... Do you have anapproximate date when you plan to release CLOSED HEARTS?”

Theearliest will be May and the latest November (2012). :) May is my target, but Iwon’t release the book until it’s ready. Thanks for asking!

Lisa Gail Green (seconded by LynNerdKelley) asks: “What didyou find the most useful way to reach new potential readers in the age groupyou intended? :D”

This is atough one, and I’m still working on it.

The first setof readers are definitely adults that read YA - not a small group, BTW. I’m reachingthese readers through book blogs that target YA as well as Goodreads and otheronline avenues. The second set is the young adults that those adults (who areoften gatekeepers: teachers, parents, librarians) have contact with. Forexample, my local teen librarian is beyond awesome and regularly invites me togive teen writing classes at the library, stocks my books in the YA section ofthe library, and just last week, gave her usual slideshow to the Jr. Highstudents in our area, and touted my book with the likes of I Am Number Four and Matched.All of this was unsolicited ... she’s just that awesome.

I have afew teen beta readers, and many of my friends who came to my in-person booksigning brought their teen readers, several of whom started reading the bookbefore they left the signing. Each of these teen contacts, moreover, arepassing the book around to their friends and talking it up (=buzz). I’vecontacted teachers, the writing club coach, and the librarian in my local schools,and they are in the process of having me in for author visits or to teach aworkshop for the kids. I’m reluctant to approach teens on MySpace (or prettymuch anywhere else), because as a parent, I would be wary of anyone approachingmy teen child. This is why we have gatekeepers (who I think do a great job ofbeing trusted purveyors of book recommendations).

Lately, I’mfollowing fellow Indelible author Elle Strauss’s lead in posting on Wattpad andFigment. These are places where teen writers gather and post their works, and Ifeel like we have something in common (other than my book). I’ve posted asample of my book, but I’m also doing an ongoing series about writing (basedoff my workshops) - and I’m getting lots of hits off both. While I have apresence there, I’m not actively seeking out teens (see above), but ratherbeing available for them to find me. My teen librarian has also offered toconnect me with other teen librarians in the area to do workshops, and I needto follow up on that. Reaching the teen market is a slow process, anddifficult. But I think it will become a lot easier after Christmas, when Ifully expect many teens to get shiny new Kindles in their stockings.

Mattew MacNish asks (rhetorically!): “Wow. You have been sobusy. This kind of stuff terrifies me. If I can’t find time to finish a novel,how will I ever make time to promote it?”

Don’tworry, Matt, you’ll figure it out when you get there! Meanwhile, you’re doingthe most important thing ... concentrating on your writing.

Leslie Rose asks: “I'll bet you are ready to put your feetup and enjoy a delicious flavored coffee. My question: What did you do thatyou'll toss next time, and what did you do that you'll amp up?”

I’m stillworking on the post-mortem (while writing a book and figuring out how to keepsales aloft until Christmas ... not much feet up time!).

Things I would amp up:Query more book bloggers, in particular more teen bloggers. In fact, I still planto query more book bloggers, even though the book has launched, because most bookbloggers won’t take the second book in a series if they haven’t read the first.I have a solid set now that have enjoyed the book and are actively seeking thesecond in the series, which is great! But each new blogger reaches new readers.It’s a powerful way to market the book.

Things I would toss:There isn’t anything that I would toss outright as a “failure” - overall, Ithink most of the things I did were successful on some level. For example, theguest posts during the launch took a lot of time, but I think they brought alot of awareness of the book. A lot of marketing is building awareness, and it’shard to measure the “success” or “failure” of it. That being said, next time Imight look for something a bit less time intensive. I want to do somethingdifferent for the launch of the second book anyway. Being a sequel calls for adifferent approach, something that hopefully will capitalize on the buzz of theinitial book and amplify it. I’m not sure what that will look like yet, butwhatever it is, it will be fun ... for me and (hopefully) my readers. That wasa guiding principal this time around, and it seemed to work.

Thanks to everyone who submitted questions! Your questions make me organize my thoughts and really focus what I'm doing ... are you sure you're not all marketing coaches? :)

p.s. If you missed the chance to post a question before, feel free to leave one in the comments. I'll either answer you personally or post about it soon! :)

Questions For Me?

2011-11-18T06:44:00.001-06:00

The tour is coming to a close.

As I mentioned in my interview with Sherrie Petersen, I think next time I will trim up the Book Tour (same number of stops, but over a shorter time frame). The tour was targeted at reaching new readers, not the faithful (wonderful, awesome) readers of my blog, who had already partied hard with me during the launch of Open Minds.

That's one of a few (many?) lessons I've learned during the release of this novel. And I'd love to pay forward everything I've learned (on my own and from other writers).

So, I'm opening up the floor to questions! Any questions you like: about the book release, about writing, about how I manage to never clean the house and not (yet) land a spot on "Hoarders." Just leave a comment with your question, and I will address it in a future blog post.

For my FINAL blog tour stops...

A hilarious and fun review/interview by Sher A Hart: Help! I've Been Mindjacked! (note: Sher won the t-shirt prize on Launch Day but opted for a signed paper copy of Open Minds instead. How could I say no to that?)

A guest post "Slang: Using Language to Flavor Your World" in which I might have called Adam Heine a ninja.

A yummy foody interview with Ansha Kotyk!

And a stop at the The Bookish Babes...

Bookish Babes

Andrea of Bookish Babes has posted her review along with an e-book giveaway.

Summary of Giveaways:

Scribblers' Cove Two E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/30
Random Thoughts Bookmark and Paper/E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/17
The Reading Housewives of Indiana E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/18
Book Lovers Inc. E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/19
Buried in Books E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/15
Mel's Random Reviews E-book Giveaway, open until 11/18
There's a Book, Ebook Giveaway, open until 11/30 Coolest. Giveaway. Form. Ever.
The Fairy Tale Nerd, E-book Giveaway
A Tale of Many Reviews, E-book Giveaway, open until 11/22
Mother Lode, E-book Giveaway, open until 11/30
Ex Libris, E-book Giveaway, open until 11/25
Katie's Book Blog, E-book Giveaway, open until 11/30
Bookish Babes, E-book Giveaway, open until 11/24

GOODREADS BOOK GIVEAWAY

Open Minds

by Susan Kaye Quinn

Released November 01 2011

Giveaway ends in 6 days (November 23, 2011)

1 copy available, 309 people requesting

giveaway details »

Enter to win

Destined Book Birthday

2011-11-17T12:00:00.024-06:00

Fellow Indelible author Jessie Harrell's YA retelling of the Eros and Psyche myth, Destined, releases today!

I am to excited to buy this book! I mean, just look at the cover ...

Gorgeous, right?

Jessie talks about cover design at Oasis for YA, and I love the story of how she avoided the usual "same stock photo" problem - something that plagues traditionally published as a well as self-published books.

Here's the Blurb:

When Psyche receives a prophecy gone horribly wrong, she learns that even the most beautiful girl in Greece can have a hideous future. Her fate? Fall in love with the one creature even the gods fear.

As she feels herself slipping closer into the arms of the prophecy, Psyche must choose between the terrifyingly tender touch she feels almost powerless to resist and the one constant she's come to expect out of life: you cannot escape what is destined.

And some reviews:

"I am a huge sucker for a well written Greek mythology re-telling, and Destined delivers a story that's engaging, witty, fast paced and fun." - Mundie Moms

"This is a fresh new take on Eros and Psyche’s romance. Harrell takes the original myth and turns it into a more detailed book with romance, and adventure." - Story Seekers

Jessie has been blog touring all month (check the schedule here), but today she has a special interview with Eros (he's very dreamy) posted onStuck in Books. Plus, she's running a contest through launch day to win a copy of Destined.

Also check out the book birthday party on her blog,where she'll have a contest for a doodled in copy of Destined, anautographed bookmark, and one of Psyche's rings.

You can buy Destined in paperback on Amazon ($9.99) or Kindle ($3.99) or Nook ($3.99) or add it to your Goodreads TBR. Look for Jessie on Twitter and FB as well!

Book Bloggers Are Made of Awesome

2011-11-16T07:00:00.031-06:00

I've long appreciated the importance of Book Bloggers - their reviews help readers find books that they love and help writers spread the word about their works. With the rise of self-publishing, I think Anne R. Allen (in interviewing Danielle from There's A Book) gets it right: Book Bloggers can serve as a new kind of gate-keeper.

When I set out to self-publish Open Minds, one of the first things I did was research book bloggers: finding the ones that would take self-published books, ones that were interested in my genre, and especially ones with those magic words in their policy (I prefer paranormal YA). Then I queried them, carefully reading their review policies and tailoring my queries to each blogger. It was a very similar process to querying agents, only I got a amazingly fast responses and a very high hit rate on bloggers interested in the book. Plus they were friendly and fun.

WIN all around.

When the reviews started coming in, to say that I was pleased would be a huge understatement. I've quoted several of these reviews in my promotional efforts and they have, without doubt, helped to sell the book. I'm thankful for each and every one of them, not least because I know how much time it takes to read and review.

And then there comes along a review like this (from Danielle at There's a Book):

"In a growing pool of young adult fiction Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn stands out as a novel with a fantastic premise, excellent characters and an incredibly well executed plot."

And this ...

"As many of my readers know, I don’t read many self-published books primarily because I find the stories underdeveloped and poorly edited. To be honest I’m completely shocked Quinn’s Mindjacker series hasn’t been picked up by a major publisher, because it certainly doesn’t fall into either of my dis-qualifiers. This is a novel that’s been extremely well thought out, written beautifully, and it’s obviously been edited professionally."

Most of the book bloggers I queried either didn't specify or explicitly stated they would accept self-published books. Danielle was one of the few that I queried even though she stated that she did not take self-published books. I had followed her blog for some time and really respected her ideas about children's literature.

"Reading is something I feel can have a transformative effect on people and so much more so on children. The effects can be seen into adulthood and beyond. That’s one of the reasons I decided to create this site." - Danielle at There's A Book

I very politely asked if she would consider making an exception for me, and I would have been completely understanding if she had not, because bloggers have policies for a reason. I'm very grateful that Danielle made an exception and was willing to give the story a try. (Please, self-publishers, don't flood her inbox asking for exceptions, just because I did!)

As more and more quality self-published books find their way on to the virtual shelves, I am sure that more and more book bloggers will make exceptions for them. Because one thing I've notice about these fine reviewers: it's all about the story for them.

Which is awesome. (Thank you Book Bloggers!)

Speaking of story, today and tomorrow's blog stops include excerpts from Open Minds, more reviews and giveaways, and an interview with the lovely Sherrie Petersen, where I do quick post-mortem (I'm not dead yet!) on the launch and blog tour.

AND: Don't forget to check out the Goodreads giveaway at the bottom.

WEDNESDAY, November 16th

A Tale of Many Reviews
Julie at A Tale of Many Reviews has an excerpt from Open Minds (not the first chapter!), in which we get to see a bit of Raf and Kira trying to negotiate their relationship in a mindreading world. Plus Julie is hosting a giveaway!

Write About Now
Fabulous fellow author-friend Sherrie Petersen has interviewed me on her blog Write About Now:
Launching Open Minds: A Conversation with Susan Kaye Quinn
in which I do a preliminary post-mortem on the book launch and give a brief status update on Closed Hearts.

Mother Lode
Grace at Mother Lode has posted her review of Open Minds as well as hosting a giveaway!

BONUS: A totally fun review/interview by Sher A Hart: Help! I've Been Mindjacked!

THURSDAY, November 17th

Ex Libris
Stella of Ex Libris has posted my guest post:

"Slang: Using Language to Flavor Your World"

in which I might have called Adam Heine a ninja. She is also hosting an e-book giveaway!

Katie's Book Blog
Katie of Katie's Book Blog has posted an interview and an e-book giveaway of Open Minds! She also has posted her review.

Summary of Giveaways this week (lots of chances to win!):
Scribblers' Cove Two E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/30
Random Thoughts Bookmark and Paper/E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/17
The Reading Housewives of Indiana E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/18
Book Lovers Inc. E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/19
Buried in Books E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/15
Mel's Random Reviews E-book Giveaway, open until 11/18
There's a Book, Ebook Giveaway, open until 11/30 Coolest. Giveaway. Form. Ever.
The Fairy Tale Nerd, E-book Giveaway
A Tale of Many Reviews, E-book Giveaway, open until 11/22
Mother Lode, E-book Giveaway, open until 11/30
Ex Libris, E-book Giveaway, open until 11/25
Katie's Book Blog, E-book Giveaway, open until 11/30

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Open Minds

by Susan Kaye Quinn

Giveaway ends November 23, 2011.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

NaNo-ing through the Blog Tour

2011-11-14T07:00:00.144-06:00

Is it me, or is National Novel Writing Month attracting a lot of high-profile people this year? I mean, Nathan Bransford is doing it, and so is John Green (via Ava Jae)!

Has it suddenly become "cool" to NaNo in a way that it wasn't in previous years? Has Water for Elephants (originally a NaNo novel) lent credibility, or is it the rise (and many success stories) in self-publishing? I'm not sure, but NaNoWriMo is nothing if not an unabashed celebration of The Writer. It's a month of camaraderie, heady rough drafting, and caffeinated storytelling - and I'm loving it.

NaNo detractors bemoan the unedited mess that comes out of NaNo, complaining that so much dreck lands in agents' slush piles or self-published within moments of completion. But every writer starts with a blank page and an idea (and sometimes not much more). It's not how a story starts that matters, but how it finishes. And far, far more writers are guilty of not finishing than are of finishing too quickly. I think the complaints about NaNo have always been overstated, but this year I sense these complaints are even more muted.

I wonder why? If you have a theory, leave it in the comments. :)

Whatever this moment is, I'm enjoying being part of it, joining NaNo again this year as I draft Closed Hearts. I'm finally making some solid progress (that first week was a little slow since I was, yanno, launching a novel). It feels really good to be writing in earnest again.

Meanwhile, the Open Minds Blog Tour Rolls on with more reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways ...

MONDAY, November 14th

The Write to Make a Living
Stacey over at The Write to Make a Living is posting her review of Open Minds today:
"Open Minds is unlike anything I have ever read."

Just what I like to hear! Thanks, Stacey! :)

In High Spirits
Awesome author and fellow Tesla devotee, Dianne Salerni (check out that Faraday Cage in the picture!!), is interviewing me today on her blog In High Spirits - in which I haul out notes scribbled during NaNoWriMo two years ago, when Open Minds was just getting started.

The Fairytale Nerd
Joanne at The Fairytale Nerd is also interviewing me today, in which I
talk about weird repeat words and my love of Green Day. And she's hosting an e-book giveaway!

TUESDAY, November 15th

There's A Book
Danielle at There's A Book posted her review of Open Minds today.
"In a growing pool of young adult fiction Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn stands out as a novel with a fantastic premise, excellent characters and an incredibly well executed plot."

And I'm quoting her twice, because I love this review so much:

"As many of my readers know, I don’t read many self-published books primarily because I find the stories underdeveloped and poorly edited. To be honest I’m completely shocked Quinn’s Mindjacker series hasn’t been picked up by a major publisher, because it certainly doesn’t fall into either of my dis-qualifiers. This is a novel that’s been extremely well thought out, written beautifully, and it’s obviously been edited professionally."

Thank you, Danielle!

There's a Book is hosting a giveaway of an e-book copy (US/International) of Open Minds with the coolest giveaway form I've seen. Seriously. :)

Danielle also recently did a great post with Anne R. Allen about the ins and outs of querying book bloggers: The New Gatekeepers. Check it out!

Book Faery
Tori at Book Faery is hosting my guest post on
Keeping an Open Mind: The Importance of Theme
(this is a repeat post from Launch Day, in case you're tracking these things at home).

Super Reader Girl
Emily at Super Reader Girl has posted her review of Open Minds, and is hosting an e-book giveaway as well!

Summary of Giveaways this week (lots of chances to win!):
Scribblers' Cove Two E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/30
Random Thoughts Bookmark and Paper/E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/17
The Reading Housewives of Indiana E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/18
Book Lovers Inc. E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/19
Buried in Books E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/15
Mel's Random Reviews E-book Giveaway, open until 11/18
There's a Book, Ebook Giveaway, open until 11/30 Coolest. Giveaway. Form. Ever.
The Fairy Tale Nerd, E-book Giveaway

Dark C.A.R.M.A.

2011-11-11T07:00:00.049-06:00

The Open Minds blog tour rolls on, but I want to bring another book launch to your attention!

Dark C.A.R.M.A.

I'm excited for the Dark C.A.R.M.A. ladies (C.K. Bryant, Ali Cross, RaShelle Workman) kicking off their collective Launch Party today! These ladies are YA authors who have banded their resources together to launch their books, a trend that is gaining traction as more and more authors are self-publishing and finding their fellow authors to be an invaluable resource.

The Dark C.A.R.M.A. authors are part of a larger group called The Indelibles. I'm not sure what the right term for it is ... a guild? A collective? It's a group of 20 MG/YA authors that are sharing information and support as we go forward in the Indie Experience. And yes, I said we, because I'm proud to be associated with these fine authors as a fellow Indelible (check the sidebar here for covers and links to all the Indelibles authors). More to come on The Indelibles after the new year...

On to the Dark C.A.R.M.A. launch ...!

Dark C.A.R.MA represents three YA authors determined to keep you up at night reading fantastical fiction about darkness—in the world and the soul.

At 11am MST (1pm EST), and then later at 6pm MST (8pm EST). C.K., Ali, and Rachelle are having a Twitter Party (hashtag DARKCARMA), where you can win cool prizes, including books by other Indelibles authors. Join them on Twitter or hop over now to the Dark C.A.R.M.A. blog to enter to win a $100 Amazon gift card!

Here's a video inviting you to the party!

I hope to see you there! #darkcarma

************************************************************************

THURSDAY, November 10th

Literature Young Adult Fiction
On Thursday, Keira posted my Guest Post:

"The Difference Between MG and YA and Why I Write Both"

in which I talk about loving kidlit and torturing teen readers.

FRIDAY, November 11th

Mel's Random Reviews
On Friday morning (UK time), Mel posted her review of Open Minds.

"Recommended for fans of Suzanne Collins and Julie Kagawa."

Yowsa! Doesn't get better than that! Thank you Mel!

Mel has also posted an interview with yours truly. Plus she's hosting a giveaway of an e-book!

Summary of Giveaways this week (lots of chances to win!):
Scribblers' Cove Two E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/30
Random Thoughts Bookmark and Paper/E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/17
The Reading Housewives of Indiana E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/18
Letters Inside Out (YA Book Reviews) E-Book or Paper Giveaway, Reader's Choice, open until 11/14
Book Lovers Inc. E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/19
Buried in Books E-Book Giveaway, open until 11/15

Mel's Random Reviews E-book Giveaway, open until 11/18