Pat Bertram's Blog, page 320

Your Cyber Sins Follow You Everywhere

Daughter Am I is going to be published in just a few days, and Amazon is in the process of getting it up on their site. There's no cover image yet, no blurb, no "look inside". Nor does the book show up on my Amazon author page. Imagine my surprise then, when I checked Daughter Am I page today and found two editorial reviews. What????

Two years ago I entered the first Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition and ended up as a semi-finalist. The "prizes" for having reached the new level...

Help! I Need Topics for My Blog Tour!!

I decided to do a virtual book tour for Daughter Am I, and now I have about four weeks of guesting on blogs, which means lots and lots of articles to write in a very short time.

I did not intend to commit to such a long tour, but the first blogger who agreed to be a host chose November 12 and the second chose October 18, so I've been trying to connect the dates to make one tour instead of two. I will need approximately thirty different blog articles or activities to make sure that each stop...

Book Blogs and the FTC

I was sitting here wondering what words of wisdom to dispense or, more probably, what subject to blather on about, when out of nowhere appeared inspiration: book blogs. Well, it wasn't out of nowhere – I found a discussion of the new FTC ruling on a Yahoo thread. Apparently, many book bloggers are talking about having to give up reviewing books for fear of incurring the wrath of the FTC along with a fine of $11,000.

The new rulings say that bloggers endorsing a product, such as writing a...

I Had an Epiphany Today!

For the past six to eight months, I've been trying to figure out how to sell books online. I've been roaming the internet, experimenting with various social networking sites, but everywhere I went I ended up in a writers' community. Not that it's a problem — I've met many fine authors, found some good books, learned much about writing. Still, I want my novels to find a readership, so I roamed further afield, signed up for some author/reader sites. And guess what — there I found those same...

Daughter Am I Is Finished!

I received my final proof copy of Daughter Am I, my young woman/old-time gangsters coming of age adventure, and I've reluctantly agreed to let it go to the printer.  There is always that moment when you realize this is it — you have to live with any mistakes that end up in the book. If there are any, though, it will be sheer accident. The novel went through several good editings, including a final scrubbing by Deborah J Ledford, fellow Second Wind author and editor extraordinaire. It was...

Where Is Everyone?

It seems odd that a community of mega millions can suddenly go quiet, but today the internet world seems deserted. There were few comments on blogs I, little going on at Facebook, even less going on at my live chat on Gather. (If you feel up to it,  stop by to visit. We can use the company! We meet every Thursday night at 9:00 pm ET at the featured article at my discussion group: No Whine, Just Champagne. Tonight is our 84th discussion, and though we usually talk about a specific topic...

Researching Gangster Lore for Daughter Am I

I have notebooks full of gangster lore that I collected when I researched Daughter Am I, my young woman/old gangsters coming of age novel. (I keep calling it that, but it's so much more — a murder mystery, a treasure hunt, a romp through the middle of the United States with a young woman and a busload of irrepressible octogenarian rogues. "Snow White and the Seven Old Farts" as one of the villains called them.) As usual, I am digressing. Someday, perhaps, I will learn that just because I use...

When Did the Realization "I Am an Author" Hit?

A few months ago, another Second Wind author posted a question on a discussion group: When did the realization "I am a writer" hit?

I responded (incidentally, the answer still holds true): The realization that I am a writer hasn't hit, and I'm not sure it will. I'm very involved with writing — I belong to various groups; I talk a lot about writing; and even when I'm not writing creatively, I'm writing: blogs and articles, comments and emails. But I don't define myself as a writer. When you...

THE BLUEST SKIES YOU'VE EVER SEEN ARE IN . . .

I've never been to the state of Washington, but I'd be willing to bet that the Colorado skies in September are much, much bluer than those in Seattle. The thin, dry Colorado air gives the sky a purple cast so deep and vast you can only call it the color of infinity. 

I live off a highway, so unless I want to take my life in my hands by dodging demented drivers or being asphyxiated by exhaust, I walk laps up and down the .3 mile rock- and gravel-strewn dirt lane in front of my home. Although...

My Fruitful Summer

We are now officially into autumn, and where are the words I planned to write? Not in my head, not on paper. A Facebook friend emailed me the other day and asked if he could be part of the blog tour for my new book. All of a sudden it dawned on me that I have done no promotion for Daughter Am I, my young woman/old gangster coming of age tale. I've been so caught up in the edits, in making the book as perfect as possible, that I conveniently forgot that the finish line for one heat of the...