Lea Carter's Blog
March 5, 2025
Read an Ebook week!
My books are 50% off for a few more days as part of the Smashwords 'Read an Ebook' week!
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...
November 25, 2024
Free scifi romance
I wrote Uncharted Stars sort of as revenge against 2 different TV shows where the main characters had the same names (Jack and Sam), because both shows loused up their love stories.
I figured it was about time someone got it right!
For a limited time, get Uncharted Stars for free on Bookfunnel!
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/nq63hedsaq
*I'm not collecting data, only trying to reach new readers.
I figured it was about time someone got it right!
For a limited time, get Uncharted Stars for free on Bookfunnel!
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/nq63hedsaq
*I'm not collecting data, only trying to reach new readers.
November 4, 2022
Book launch!
New today! Enjoy Found in Translation, available now for purchase in an ebook format.
https://books2read.com/u/meK5QV
Paperback coming soon!
#cleanromance #agegapromance #selfpromotion
https://books2read.com/u/meK5QV
Paperback coming soon!
#cleanromance #agegapromance #selfpromotion
November 4, 2019
Language in YA
I recently took a chance on a book with a 14 yo protagonist. I don't swear or appreciate swearing in my entertainment, but I rationalized his swearing for the first couple of chapters because the boy had just lost his mother, been dumped into a bad foster home, etc.
But I eventually decided to stop reading it.
I don't understand why swearing and/or promiscuity (this book was thankfully free of that) are considered "adult" behaviors and forced on child/teen protagonists.
But I eventually decided to stop reading it.
I don't understand why swearing and/or promiscuity (this book was thankfully free of that) are considered "adult" behaviors and forced on child/teen protagonists.
May 5, 2017
Microsoft Word 2010 to epub3 in 11 steps
After hours (days) of struggling to figure out what I was doing, I figured out how to turn a Microsoft Word 2010 docx document into a valid epub3--which is what my distributor, Ingram Spark, requires. The whole process can be found on my webpage:
https://sites.google.com/site/leasboo...
https://sites.google.com/site/leasboo...
March 13, 2015
Upcoming book and ARC's
Polling the audience! :D How do you find your advance review copies? Do you watch a group? Are you in an author's mailing list? Would you be open to having an author whose last book you favorably reviewed contact you directly?
And any other tidbits/venting that comes to mind on the subject. :D
I'm trying to do a better job of prepping this next book, so I really appreciate your input!
And any other tidbits/venting that comes to mind on the subject. :D
I'm trying to do a better job of prepping this next book, so I really appreciate your input!
June 13, 2014
How to Train Your Dragon 2: a movie in a nutshell
First things first. Toothless got WAY more awesome. And Astrid was amazing--possibly the best girlfriend ever.
And the situation of restoring Hiccup's mother to them was handled with grace--a surprising amount of grace and lack of rude humor on their part. All in all, it was incredibly realistic from a human point of view. As with the first movie, they've done that very well.
Now, there were things in the movie that I wouldn't care to have to explain to a very young child. Young meaning about three. On the other hand, when they're three, they may not even notice it.
They certainly won't understand it, but if you're really lucky (because they notice everything) it just might slip by them. And hey, if you've already taken them to see Winter Soldier, this is ought to be a breeze. All they'll ask is why there wasn't more violence.
I don't think there was (hit per hit) more violence than in the first movie, it was just a different kind of violence. It seemed a little more ferocious to me, a little more...pronounced, perhaps.
By the time the credits began to roll, Hiccup had gained a lot; he had lost a lot. For all that I liked, there were things I would've done differently.
And the situation of restoring Hiccup's mother to them was handled with grace--a surprising amount of grace and lack of rude humor on their part. All in all, it was incredibly realistic from a human point of view. As with the first movie, they've done that very well.
Now, there were things in the movie that I wouldn't care to have to explain to a very young child. Young meaning about three. On the other hand, when they're three, they may not even notice it.
They certainly won't understand it, but if you're really lucky (because they notice everything) it just might slip by them. And hey, if you've already taken them to see Winter Soldier, this is ought to be a breeze. All they'll ask is why there wasn't more violence.
I don't think there was (hit per hit) more violence than in the first movie, it was just a different kind of violence. It seemed a little more ferocious to me, a little more...pronounced, perhaps.
By the time the credits began to roll, Hiccup had gained a lot; he had lost a lot. For all that I liked, there were things I would've done differently.
June 4, 2014
Good idea? or pushy marketing?
Here's another question for you folks. I've got an idea for getting more reviews--but it's a bit risky.
Here's the idea: I should direct message the people who gave Silver Princess (Book 1) a score of 3 or above and offer them a free copy of Silver Majesty (Book 2) in exchange for an honest review.
Or is that a breach of author-reviewer etiquette? I'm not trying to spam anyone...
Here's the idea: I should direct message the people who gave Silver Princess (Book 1) a score of 3 or above and offer them a free copy of Silver Majesty (Book 2) in exchange for an honest review.
Or is that a breach of author-reviewer etiquette? I'm not trying to spam anyone...
May 1, 2014
No batteries necessary…
One problem with being an author is the way one’s mind begins to work. I can be standing in the grocery section, trying to decide between the hundred and one flavors of chips, when suddenly I’m knee-deep in a mental story. It’s still about picking a bag of chips—but the character is a single woman in a much larger city, an ordinary person to whom something extraordinary is happening. Or about to happen. And that is how my mind works, all of the time.
In fact, it’s not unlike Danny Kaye’s original The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. In one instance, Kaye’s character, Mitty, was waiting for a light to turn green when a “cowboy” rode up next to his car. Yep, on a horse. It took only moments for Mitty to be mentally transported to a fictional world where he was a tough cowboy defending a woman (not his fiancé) against the unwanted advances of another cowboy.
Imagine that happening almost anywhere, anytime. I’m never bored. But it takes some willpower to control these story ideas, to put them to work instead of just indulging in them. Any scrap of paper, my cell phone’s voice recorder, or frequently a blank notepad on my computer is hastily located and I try to record the bare bones of the story. Who, what, where, why, and when has to be translated from the vivid mental image into words. It’s almost like trying to write a book based on a movie.
I discard some story ideas, of course. If every author recorded every story idea s/he ever had, the world wouldn’t be big enough to hold it all. Every author has their own, distinct set of criteria that they (probably subconsciously) compare a story idea to. Here are some of my criteria.
1) Has the story been told and retold until I’m tired of hearing from others, let alone myself?
2) If it doesn’t fall under the first category, is it still too similar to something I can recall having read or seen?
3) Do I really want my name associated with this story? (This is for when a story takes a bad or immoral twist and no matter how hard I try the characters refuse to change. The story exits my head in File 13 fashion.)
4) Would I even read this story?
If a story idea passes my subconscious checklist and gets recorded, there’s still the matter of using it. As a self-published author, I have occasionally blended partial story ideas while writing my books, which is one way to use them. I also compete in a yearly contest hosted by Crowder, a local college. That way approximately four story ideas become short stories every year. Unfortunately, however, I will probably never bring every story idea to light. Just like some Goodreads users have “to read” shelves with hundreds or thousands of titles, many (if not most) authors have notebooks and computer folders crammed with ideas they just don’t have time to get to.
Meanwhile, life goes on. Story ideas keep zapping me like a bolt from the blue (or the yellow or the green*). If I’m in a position to pursue the story, sometimes I’ll just let it play out in my mind. I toss it a conflict or two, perhaps rewrite a character’s lines or adjust their motivation, but mostly I just enjoy it. So the next time you see someone standing in a long waiting line without an electronic device and just smiling, ask yourself, “Is that an author?”
*Quoted from “Scuppers, the Sailor Dog”.
In fact, it’s not unlike Danny Kaye’s original The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. In one instance, Kaye’s character, Mitty, was waiting for a light to turn green when a “cowboy” rode up next to his car. Yep, on a horse. It took only moments for Mitty to be mentally transported to a fictional world where he was a tough cowboy defending a woman (not his fiancé) against the unwanted advances of another cowboy.
Imagine that happening almost anywhere, anytime. I’m never bored. But it takes some willpower to control these story ideas, to put them to work instead of just indulging in them. Any scrap of paper, my cell phone’s voice recorder, or frequently a blank notepad on my computer is hastily located and I try to record the bare bones of the story. Who, what, where, why, and when has to be translated from the vivid mental image into words. It’s almost like trying to write a book based on a movie.
I discard some story ideas, of course. If every author recorded every story idea s/he ever had, the world wouldn’t be big enough to hold it all. Every author has their own, distinct set of criteria that they (probably subconsciously) compare a story idea to. Here are some of my criteria.
1) Has the story been told and retold until I’m tired of hearing from others, let alone myself?
2) If it doesn’t fall under the first category, is it still too similar to something I can recall having read or seen?
3) Do I really want my name associated with this story? (This is for when a story takes a bad or immoral twist and no matter how hard I try the characters refuse to change. The story exits my head in File 13 fashion.)
4) Would I even read this story?
If a story idea passes my subconscious checklist and gets recorded, there’s still the matter of using it. As a self-published author, I have occasionally blended partial story ideas while writing my books, which is one way to use them. I also compete in a yearly contest hosted by Crowder, a local college. That way approximately four story ideas become short stories every year. Unfortunately, however, I will probably never bring every story idea to light. Just like some Goodreads users have “to read” shelves with hundreds or thousands of titles, many (if not most) authors have notebooks and computer folders crammed with ideas they just don’t have time to get to.
Meanwhile, life goes on. Story ideas keep zapping me like a bolt from the blue (or the yellow or the green*). If I’m in a position to pursue the story, sometimes I’ll just let it play out in my mind. I toss it a conflict or two, perhaps rewrite a character’s lines or adjust their motivation, but mostly I just enjoy it. So the next time you see someone standing in a long waiting line without an electronic device and just smiling, ask yourself, “Is that an author?”
*Quoted from “Scuppers, the Sailor Dog”.
April 21, 2014
New books require a lot of work
I was telling a friend of mine the other day that I needed to make a detailed list of how to do each step of taking a book from my brain to publication. I still need to do that. ;) But , as Troubled Skies approaches the completion of yet another phase, I thought I'd start things off with a blog post.
So much of writing a book seems obvious (ex. have an idea, type it up, edit it). And so much of it lurks on the edges of my awareness (ex. advance marketing). I can honestly say I do as much research on how to market and sell books as I do to clarify things for myself while writing.
Back to the "list." I had the idea; I struggled to get it typed up; and it's 3/5ths of the way edited (it's not enough to have someone else look at it and suggest corrections, the author also has to review the suggestions and accept them or work around them). It's still at least a week from being ready for publication, probably two weeks, but that means I need to start thinking about copyrighting it, registering it to an ISBN with Bowkers, and formatting it (manuscript and cover) for Amazon Kindle. Not to mention trying to locate five or ten pre-launch readers who are willing to wait to post their reviews on Amazon.com and Goodreads.
So the short version of the list so far:
1) Decide to write a book/Have an idea
2) Type it up
3) Have it edited/Review edits
4) Begin marketing/Contacting reviewers
5) Register book to an ISBN with Bowkers
6) Submit manuscript and cover to copyright office
7) Format manuscript and cover for submission to publishing company
8) Don't go crazy trying to juggle everything
I hope you've enjoyed this post; there will be more to come. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Jokes? Post 'em below, please! :D
So much of writing a book seems obvious (ex. have an idea, type it up, edit it). And so much of it lurks on the edges of my awareness (ex. advance marketing). I can honestly say I do as much research on how to market and sell books as I do to clarify things for myself while writing.
Back to the "list." I had the idea; I struggled to get it typed up; and it's 3/5ths of the way edited (it's not enough to have someone else look at it and suggest corrections, the author also has to review the suggestions and accept them or work around them). It's still at least a week from being ready for publication, probably two weeks, but that means I need to start thinking about copyrighting it, registering it to an ISBN with Bowkers, and formatting it (manuscript and cover) for Amazon Kindle. Not to mention trying to locate five or ten pre-launch readers who are willing to wait to post their reviews on Amazon.com and Goodreads.
So the short version of the list so far:
1) Decide to write a book/Have an idea
2) Type it up
3) Have it edited/Review edits
4) Begin marketing/Contacting reviewers
5) Register book to an ISBN with Bowkers
6) Submit manuscript and cover to copyright office
7) Format manuscript and cover for submission to publishing company
8) Don't go crazy trying to juggle everything
I hope you've enjoyed this post; there will be more to come. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Jokes? Post 'em below, please! :D
