Linda Welch's Blog, page 13
January 18, 2011
Judi Coltman
Interview on Jerry's Writing Corner. Learn more about Judi and what makes her tick. January 24, 2010.
Jerry's Writing Corner
Check out Judi's Is It Just Me? or Is Everyone a Little Nuts! on Amazon
January 16, 2011
Invitation from Paul J. Coleman
Kindle Author loses his mind and begins putting readers in his books, then killing them. If you'd like to appear in a thriller as a character, and then die a hideous death, here's your chance. Paul is about to start the sequel to Jack Klak, so hurry! January 21,2010.
January 14, 2011
Sibelle Hodge – Book Release.
Sibelle Hodge will release her new ebook entitled My Perfect Wedding, January 19, 2011.
My Health and Lifestyle Blog
Jerry Hanel.
Jerry Hanel, author of Death Has a Name, will present a guest blogger article on TL Haddix's website on January 17, 2010.
T.L Haddix
Noah K. Mullette-Gillman
Noah K. Mullette-Gillman is planning to post 7 author interviews on his website all at once. Authors include Brian Kittrell, Catherine Thornton, John Sauer, Joseph Mitchell, Mike Frost, Robert Duperre, William Meikle. January 15, 2010.
Noah K.Mullette-Gillman
Monique Martin on What Book is That?
Monique Martin, author of Out of Time , will guest blog on "What Book is That?" on January 14, 2010.
What Book is That
January 1, 2011
Not New Year's Resolutions.
Here are some thoughts for 2011. In true Ramblings style, they are not in any particular order:
Love the song, hate the song – if I had a daughter, I'd hope she danced.
Treat other motorists with respect – they may be the person on the other side of the desk at your next job interview. (Yes, there is a story behind this!)
Why can't Blondie and Dagwood stand erect? Those bent knees really annoy me.
If you have three true friends in your lifetime, you are fortunate.
Murphy's word IS law.
Your math teacher was wrong: You do NOT need algebra.
Find somebody to love.
Unless it's hurting someone, mind your own business.
Don't give in to road rage.
There is nothing quite as annoying as a person who's reformed in some way. And insists on telling you about it.
Don't be holier than thou. (See above.)
Be a listener more than a talker.
Naps aren't just for little kids.
Live like you're dying, because you are.
Take responsibility.
Pizza: the greatest invention of our time.
The saddest words: If only. . . .
Remember how Mom told you to put on clean underwear in case you have an accident? Can you think of anything more embarrassing than the nurse saying, "Poo-ey!"
Read whenever you can.
Sing, even if you can't hold a tune.
Only a guy can't understand the importance of putting the toilet seat down.
Be polite to telemarketers. They're annoying, but they're just doing their job. If, on the other hand, they're rude to you, feel free to rip them a new one.
Don't write in the dust on my furniture. It proves I have better things to do with my time.
Men, never, ever give your wife or girlfriend an appliance as a birthday, anniversary, Christmas gift, even if she asks for it. An appliance is for the house, not her. Give her something romantic, and surprise her with the appliance later.
Any person whose first name begins with L and last with W, who lives in Eden, UT, is due to win the $64 million lottery in 2011. If more than one person meets those qualifications, hell, I'm not greedy, I'll share.
December 13, 2010
The Bayer Syndrome
Packaging is one of my bugbears and my bottle of Bayer aspirin is a prime example of packaging gone mad.
The box is 3 and 5/8" long x 2". Inside, the plastic bottle with large cap is almost as big. Open the bottle, pull out a massive wad of cotton wool, and find inside 120 teensy 81 mg aspirins. T e e n s y. The aspirin take up less than a quarter of the bottle. Obviously, the cost is mostly for packaging.
The point is, I expect to pay for aspirin, not packaging.
Anyway, it made me think of two books I bought recently and didn't get what I thought I was paying for. I know, my thought process is convoluted, but you know how one thought leads to another . . . Both books had excerpts of the authors' other books; I knew that when I purchased them. However, the number of pages dedicated to the story for which I paid, and the number dedicated to excerpts, was not made clear. Book A, the story took up approximately one third of the book. That's right – only one third! The rest was excerpts of five or six of the author's other books .Book B, the first story was 30% of the book, the next 4% a short story. The next 66% was seven chapters from another of the author's books.
In Book A, the excerpts were two or three chapters. I thought I paid for a novel, not a shorty which is shorter than the excerpts combined. Book B – terrific stories! – but what about the seven chapter enticer? I want to read more, but don't particularly want to pay full price for a book when I've already read seven chapters.
I hope this is not a trend, because I don't care for it. I think I'll call it the Bayer Syndrome.
I'm almost through the second edit of Dead Demon Walking, then it goes through the Evil S process. My friend and fellow author LK Gardner-Griffie blogged about what we call Evil S, if you want to take a look. http://blog.griffieworld.com/2010/12/the-love-hate-relationship/ Evil S is tedious, it takes an age to get through, but is worth the effort. After that, I'll leave the MS alone for a while before I take another look.
I think I'll ask for Beta readers for Dead Demon Walking. I've never done that before. I do have critiquing buddies, but I think some more outside eyes would be of benefit. I would like some opinions, ideas, criticism, whatever. Look for a request on this blog. If you want to volunteer, you may be one of the lucky readers who get to tear my story to shreds.
So, are you ready for Christmas? Bet you are. Bet you had your tree and decorations up the day after Thanksgiving. You probably have your gifts bought and wrapped, your menu planned. I have my tree up, but only because I had kiddie visitors over the weekend and they needed amusing. I gave them the decorations and let them at it. The cat pulled half the decorations off, but at least the dog didn't eat them.
I bid you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May all your dreams come true. Have a wonder-filled holiday season.
November 24, 2010
ODDS AND SODS
WHISPERINGS
Not much to report here. In October, my agent Robert sent Along Came a Demon to one of the editors who showed interest when Robert presented it at the Frankfurt Book Fair. They passed, which is a nicer way of saying it was rejected. Robert is going to wait till January to send the manuscript out again, as according to him editors don't look at new submissions over December.
If you've read my earlier posts, you know I decided to hold back on Demon on a Distant Shore in favor of making Dead Demon Walking book three in the Whisperings series. I have now finished the first draft. This is just the beginning. There will be a lot of revision on more drafts before I get to the final version. If I don't have a publishing contract when Dead Demon Walking is ready for publication, I shall self-publish as I did the first two books in the series. Then on to the fourth in the series: Demon Demon Burning Bright. I don't know whether to be excited or intimidated by the prospect of writing this book. This is the one in which all questions will be answered: why Tiff sees demons (Gelpha) and dead people, where she came from, who she really is. Can I pull it off? God, I hope so!
After that, I will write Whisperings adventures. I'm sure Tiff can get into enough trouble to carry her through a few more books.
FAREWELL McKLUTZY
I modeled Tiff's Scottish terrier McKlutzy on my two boys Angus and Duncan. My Facebook friends know I recently lost my dear little friend Angus. He was only nine and taken too early. On Friday October 29th he was his usual self, bouncing around the house with his toys and his best friend Duncan. Sunday afternoon, he was gone. I think about him all the time. I still cry.
Thank you, friends, for your understanding, kind words and condolences.
The picture above is one of my favorites, of Angus and the dog who did as much to rear him as I did, my Bearded Collie Sweep, who passed away six years ago.
I hope they are together again.
SERENDIPITY
Four days after Angus went into the long, last sleep, a kitten walked into our garage and refused to leave. I am not a cat person, but I can't see an animal suffer, and this kitten was obviously lost. I advertised, but nobody claimed it, so apparently I am stuck with it. Duncan likes the company, so I shall care for it the best way I can.
With apologies to my cat-loving friends who admire the felines for what they call a cat's independent spirit and I call "I don't give a rat's ass" – cats are stupid! My dog doesn't yowl for food at the pantry and refrigerator every time they are open. My dog doesn't climb into the pantry and refrigerator, and the dishwasher. One morning I came upstairs to hear yowling and found the kitten shut in the pantry. My husband did not notice it got in there when he was getting his breakfast cereal. It was in there for two hours. Did the adventure cure it of the habit? No!
My dog does not persist on trying to get on my lap every time I read a book or open the laptop on my knees. Apparently, a cat lacks the intelligence to know when "no" means NO! My dog doesn't rake its claw over the furniture, either. Feed a cat and it's your friend, do something it doesn't like and it gets seriously pissed off. Cat's do not forgive and forget. After it came back from the vet and its first series of shots, it ran outside and didn't come back for four hours, until time to be fed. It's going to hate me next week when I take it back to the vet for a little surgery.
My vet said the cat turning up when it did was serendipity; the aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. In other words, she thinks that the kitten arriving when it did was a happy event. I don't agree.
Okay, so it's not a bad little thing. It's actually kind of cute.
DRAMA IN EDEN
Two weeks ago we had the strongest winds I've known since moving into the mountains and something happened to the power lines across from our house. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the top of the post was wonky and wires sagging. I looked out to see smoke drifting from the pole. When the wind blew stronger, I saw flame. How does a bit of smoke and tiny flame classify as drama? Our little valley is densely wooded and at that time of year covered in long, dead grass and dead leaves. A spark could take out the entire mountainside, and all the homes on it. I called the dispatcher at 3:10 PM and a fire truck and sheriff turned up 15 minutes later. They blocked the road until 4:30, when a Utah Power truck arrived. The fire department sprayed the pole. Everyone drove away.
At 6:10 PM a fleet of vehicles arrived. In the darkness, I could not tell exactly what they were. I think there were seven of them. Those utility guys are marvelous. Working with only the lights on their hardhats, they put up a new pole and transferred the wires.
We were without power for six hours.
If it happened today, no bother. The dry grass and leaves are now under twenty-two inches of snow. Several storms rolled in last week with strong wind, sleet, and snow. The roads were very slick; even with four-wheel-drive, I slalomed all over the place and was close to going off the edge of the road on one particularly nasty bend. Then, last night, we had an almighty blizzard. I think the entire state of Utah went into panic mode when TV and radio stations announced a "blizzard alert." Schools closed. Workplaces took the day off. But up here in the Wasatch Mountains it was business as usual. Blizzards are nothing new where I live.
I haven't named the kitten yet, although it has been upgraded from "kitty" to "the cat." It's ash gray with white feet, a white bib and white under its chin. Any suggestions?
October 27, 2010
Next in Whisperings
Do other people on vacation in Boston end up in the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington DC? Tiff wonders. Does the Federal Bureau of Investigation want her help because she can talk to the victims of a series of gruesome murders, or are they not being quite honest with her and Royal? She has a hard time believing Agent Barrett would seek the assistance of a psychic, let alone one who lives and works in Clarion, Utah.
What Tiff sees at the first crime scene tells her the killer is not human, and she's surprised when the FBI reaches the same conclusion. Luckily, the federal agents are way off base.
In Las Vegas, Tiff sees a face from the past, which puts a whole new twist on the case. And when a Dark Cousin appears in their motel room with a warning, Tiff and Royal know they must be very, very careful.
The shade of a murdered woman divulges a century-old secret, and the identity of a deranged killer who is all but unstoppable.
