New Books

I've updated the books page.

Flash of Fire

A collection of super short stories (1000 words or less) on the subject of fire. Ranging from the love of a volcano goddess to natural phenomena encountered as humans explore a distant planet, these stories evoke a sense of wonder and awe at the nature and power of fire. Some titles have been previously published as part of a weekly flash fiction project but others are brand new and exclusive to this volume. 
Titles include:
Molten Love
Spark
The Silver Fire
The Weeping Flame
Husband in the Flame
Troublemaker

Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kobo.

The Out of Order Detective

Spying on cheating monsters, being kidnapped to the past and chasing after a husband she didn't want who's been abducted by aliens is all part of the job for Eliza Carlisle, PI. This collection of super short stories (under 1500 words each) gives a glimpse into her life and her clients. 
Some of the stories have been published before as part of a weekly flash fiction feature but others are unique to this volume. 
Stories included are: 
Little Green Clients 
The Detective and the Archeologist 
Spying on Bigfoot's Wife 
The Case of the Missing Sparks 
Searching for Nessie 
To Whom It May Concern 
A Wife in Time 

Currently available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kobo.

E-Book Pricing and My Thoughts There Upon

I've read a lot of posts on ebook pricing, the economics behind it and so forth.

To be honest, I really hate agency pricing. It smacks of price-fixing to me.

I dislike piracy on principle but I also recognize there will always be the little twerp who steals the gum. I'll be doing a post on DRM soon where I will cover my views on that but I tend to agree with Eric Flint in his introduction to Baen's Free Library

3. Any cure which relies on tighter regulation of the market — especially the kind of extreme measures being advocated by some people — is far worse than the disease. As a widespread phenomenon rather than a nuisance, piracy occurs when artificial restrictions in the market jack up prices beyond what people think are reasonable. The "regulation-enforcement-more regulation" strategy is a bottomless pit which continually recreates (on a larger scale) the problem it supposedly solves. And that commercial effect is often compounded by the more general damage done to social and political freedom.

I really like ebooks. I've been reading them since early 2000. I wanted to get a palm pilot when I was in high school specifically because my band director had one and had a copy of a book I couldn't find anywhere on it. To say I was an early adapter is to put it mildly. I saw the potential right away and jumped in with both feet, as far as my income would let me.

Sad to say, I couldn't afford to get an actual ereader until last year. I bought a Kobo and I loved it. I could side load the hundreds of ebooks I'd purchased over the years onto it. However, I couldn't put new books on it. That's irritating and has gotten me slowly moving to the thought that I may have to buy a Kindle. I don't want to buy a Kindle. Yes, I can buy new books but what about all of my old books? From all indications, unless I bought them through Amazon, I can't really load all of my old books onto the Kindle. Am I going to have to carry 2 ereaders with me? That seems a bit, I dunno, excessive.

This all brings me to price.

In order to afford a Kindle, all of the adults in the household are going to have to live on Ramen for a couple of months, and that's if we can swing it with my hubby being out of work. But, hey, I can download new books from Amazon!

If I can afford them.

Like I said, I've read many of the arguments on both sides of the price 'debate' about ebooks. When an ebook a day was a choice between a latte and a new book, well, I learned to make coffee at home and would buy almost 30 books a month. But now, when the choice is between 2 new ebooks (priced at 14.99 each) and diapers? Well, I can't really justify that choice.

I'm finding a lot more books I would like to read at 3.99 and supporting indie authors. I'm also doing my best to make those purchases from the authors themselves, rather than any of the retailers.

I also love the "Humble Indie Bundle" concept of pay what you can/think it's worth.

So, I'm going to offer something similar here.

Hit the tip jar for any amount and I'll send you copies of both ebooks I have, in any format you'd like. If you want it from Amazon, I'll send it to you as a gift.

New Ebook Release: Tone Deaf

It took a few days long to get out than I had hoped but it's here!

This story has had a long and semi-interesting history. I think I submitted it 20 times? Maybe more. I'd won multiple moderators choice awards and readers choice awards for it on several forums but it just didn't seem to fit easily into a category. I got more personal responses from editors saying they "loved it, but is just doesn't fit with our publication." It was too fantasy for literary magazines and not quite fantasy enough for fantasy magazines.

So, here it is, available for the Kindle.

Tone Deaf: short story. Thirteen years ago, Heather was sent home from the bardic college in disgrace. Now, lives hang in the balance as she once again takes up her music to right the wrongs perpetrated by a despotic warlord.

To Do LIst

I have been told there are certain things I have to do to be successful at what I'm doing.

This was amusing because, at this juncture, I'm not really sure what it is exactly that I am doing.

However, some of them seemed like a good idea so I'm going to see what I can do about them. Some of them may be amusing to watch. Such as the fact that I have been told that I must, absolutely must! have a video for my book.

Erm, okay.

I figured, ok, I'll do a vlog about each book I do and post it! Except for the fact that I hate being on camera or having my picture taken. This is mostly because how I look in pictures is never how I think I look in my head and I think I would be horrible in a video. So, in my typical style, I have decided that I am going to GET OVER IT and do videos until I like it or until I can do them so that I'm not embarrassing myself.

So, my to do list for the coming week:

1. Lose 100 pounds or find a way to make it look like I lost 100 pounds
2. Get a haircut
3. Get a nose job
4. Hire a Hollywood make up person to do my makeup
5. Get 4 inches taller
6. Dye my hair blonde


Oh, and I need to finish editing the ebook for December and writing the book I started in November and making the cover for the ebook coming out this month. No biggie, right?

What's on your to do list?

NaNoWriMo: Day Seventeen

Whew, this feels like it's been a long day. This is probably because I ended up redoing work that I'd done yesterday. I know it's against the rules (or at least not advised) but I needed to change a scene from yesterday. It works so much better, now.

Very early this morning, I took a break from the novel to write down a couple of ideas I want to get to when this is finished. One of them involves the fate of Aidan. If you bought the book, you know who that is.

Today's stats:
Title: Amaria
Total words written: 28720
Words written today: 2035

NaNoWriMo: Day Sixteen

I think maybe I should call this the "Today I Learned" post but I didn't really 'learn' all that much. Maybe it would be more accurate that this day enforced things I already knew.

Things like:

- There are people out there who are going to knock your dream just because they can.

- You should never base your self-worth on what other's think about you. Especially if they don't know you.

- Everybody's success looks different.

- One of the best compliments a writer can receive is the question "when's the next one coming out?"

My very first ebook became available for purchase today. So far, everybody's who's read it and told me about it has loved it. That in itself is cause for celebration. I'll buy myself a cup of coffee if I sell enough books to get a check from Amazon.

I've spent several years of my life in and around publishers. I think I've learned a few things and I am very, very glad I did my homework.

I guess the point of today is, if you have a dream, go for it. Not everybody will be there cheering you on but you're not doing it for them, you're doing it for you.

Oh, and buy the book.  


Today's stats:
Title: Amaria
Total words written: 26685
Words written today: 2361

Exciting Updates!

So, it's finally time to share, not just one, but TWO finished projects!

I'm so excited, I think I'm gonna barf.

Seriously, I've had butterflies in my stomach for days.

Buy it here

My first book! Look at that cover!

and also . . . .

Buy it here

Jilly's first book!

The covers were both done by Neil Wells and he is freaking awesome, too!

Now, back to the novel. Hopefully I can focus a bit more, now.

NaNoWriMo: Day Fourteen

Day fourteen was just down right blah for me. I actually started contemplating a post called "How NOT To Be Supportive" but that's not really that helpful so I didn't.

I will say one thing, though. If somebody you love is doing something they've never done before, something truly ambitious (even if it's just ambitious for them), don't tell them "I'm pretty sure nobody really cares about that."

Nope, I didn't kill the person who said it, I just wanted to.

Today I learned out how to format and set up an ebook from start to finish.

Today's Stats:
Title: Amaria
Total Words Written: 23347
Words written today: 1273

NaNoWriMo: Day Ten

Ah, Day Ten. I accomplished so much today, unfortunately, the word count doesn't reflect it.

I played with Scrivener for Linux today. There's definitely a learning curve but I think I'm figuring parts of it out which is very encouraging.

What else did I do today? Well, I figured out, almost all by myself, how to format and design an ebook. I just need to finish the cover and it will be ready for Amazon. I'll be posting links when it's up and available for purchase.

You might notice a word count widget on the upper right corner of the blog. I'll be keeping it there throughout the month of November. I'm a compulsive updater so check often.

Today's Stats:
Title: Amaria
Total words written: 18000
Words written today: 822

I was asked for a synopsis and an excerpt so here we go:


Synopsis: 


Amaria is the daughter of one of the kingdoms greatest smugglers. He bought his nobility. His family, Amaria's cousins, are part of a desert people who prey on the trade routes between kingdoms and the guardians of a deep secret. The king is mad, magic is suspected and his son seeks to gain allies as he searches for a cause and a cure.

Excerpt:

Exhausted from her latest round with the healers, Amaria looked out the window of her home at the most fashionable street in the capital. It also had the distinction of being the most expensive. It was not the most prestigious and that annoyed her. It set her family apart as new money. Of course, the old money, which lived in the most prestigious neighborhoods, was going broke. One could not buy into the prestigious neighborhood; one must be born there, or placed there by the monarch. With the current monarch quite mad, but in otherwise excellent health, that honor was not going to happen any time soon.