Livia J. Washburn's Blog, page 7

Banned From Amazon for Life

Every month we find on our Amazon sales where several ebooks have been returned.  Amazon allows returns within 7 days.  I used this once when I bought a book accidently hitting the mouse on my computer on the one click buy button.  I have not been able to find where Amazon limits returns.  So when we saw several returns of our ebooks, we both wondered if people buy ebooks, read them, then return them.  I am sure some have, but I was curious what would keep readers from doing this all of the time.  A little Googling gave me the answer.  If Amazon thinks you’ve returned too many of your purchases, you will get a letter like the following.
Greetings from Amazon.com.
A careful review of your account indicates that you have required refunds on a large majority of your orders for a variety of reasons.
In the normal course of business, the occasional problem is inevitable. The rate at which such problems have occurred on your account is extraordinary, however, and cannot continue. Effective immediately, your Amazon.com account is closed and you are no longer able to shop in our store.
Please know that any accounts related to yours have also been closed. If you were to open a new account, the same will result and it will also be closed. In the event that you attempt to do so, we will not accept the return of any additional orders, nor will we issue further refunds in connection with any future orders. We appreciate your cooperation in refraining from using our web site.
Going forward, all inquiries must be directed to (deleted email address).
Please do not contact regular Customer Service again, as they will no longer be able to assist you.
Best regards,
Account SpecialistAmazon.com
It’s a little frightening that they can close your account with no warning so that you can’t access your Kindle books, you would lose all money on gift cards, and to be banned from Amazon for life.  Yikes!  This would be well deserved to the people who abuse the return policy and basically steal, but a policy like this could harm innocent people, too.  A little warning might be nice.  So here’s a fair warning to all the people who return ebooks after they read them.  You can be BANNED FROM AMAZON FOR LIFE!

The Gingerbread Bump-off Review

A nice review of The Gingerbread Bump-off here  (Columbus Books Examiner).

The trade paperback is cheaper than the mass market paperback will be right now at Amazon.  Mass market paperback will be coming out on November 6th.

Trade Paperback                  Mass Market Paperback
               

New Book Available

It's been a busy week! Not only did I publish James's new book FORT WORTH NIGHTS, I wrapped up A PECK OF PICKLED WARLOCKS, the second book in my Tongue-Tied Witch series, and now it's on sale as well for both the Kindle and the Nook. This 61,000 word novel wraps up all the plotlines from the first book in the series and is full of action, humor, and romance in a fast-paced story that takes the reader from the picturesque Gulf Coast of Texas to the glittering lights of Las Vegas.
To celebrate the release of A PECK OF PICKLED WARLOCKS, the first book in the series, WITCH GOT YOUR TONGUE, is now on sale for both the Kindle and the Nook for 99 cents. If you've been meaning to give this series a try, this is the perfect opportunity to do so. I really love writing them and hope some of you enjoy them as much as I do.

               
Added Later: Trade paperback now available through CreateSpace here.and will be available through Amazon in 5-7 days.

Socrates' Book Reviews: For Whom The Funeral Bell Tolls by Livia J. Washburn

Socrates' Book Reviews: For Whom The Funeral Bell Tolls by Livia J. Washburn

“For Whom the Funeral Bell Tolls” is a quick read with a crazy cast of characters. Delilah is a strong, feisty heroine and the setting of Key West is perfect....
       Ebook                                Trade Paperback
                   

Fresh Fiction: Review

Fresh Fiction: Review: For Whom The Funeral Bell Tolls by Livia J. Washburn  Delilah must deal with difficult clients and dead bodies http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=33377 via @FreshFiction

FOR WHOM THE FUNERAL BELL TOLLS was an enjoyable read with some very intriguing moments...

What Did You Say?

Earlier my daughter said she was going to cut her nails on the porch.  Now my hearing isn't awful, but it's certainly not what it used to be.  I heard that she was going to go cut her nails with a fork.  I honestly sat there pondering how in the world she was going to do that, when I realized she'd gone out on the porch.  Then did the mental smack of the head.


I'm presently working on one of our older westerns.  I scanned it last week and I'm formatting and editing it for the Kindle. So my brain is in western mode.


Hearing her wrong got me to thinking. I know . . . not always a good thing.  But, I can't help but wonder how many of the battles, gunfights, brawls, etc. from history, were caused by a good ol' misunderstanding.  Someone just hearing something a little wrong.  Of course this lead to me thinking about a new character to come to Wind River, a town we wrote a 6 book series about.  This summer might be a good time to revisit Wind River, if we can just find the time.

A Nice Review

There's a very nice review of For Whom The Funeral Bell Tolls here.

Also available for the Nook , and trade paperback

Western Fictioneers 2011 Peacemaker Award. Nominees

Western Fictioneers (WF) is proud to announce the nominees for the 2011 Peacemaker Award.


Winners will be announced on the Western Fictioneers (WF) web site (http://www.westernfictioneers.com/) on June 1, 2012.
Entries were accepted in both print and electronic forms with a 2011 copyright date.  The Peacemaker Awards are given out annually.  Submissions for the 2012 awards will be open in July, 2012. Submission guidelines will be posted on the WF web site. The following list of nominees is in no particular order.
Best Western Short Story: ***There were  two ties in this category, which is why there are seven nominees instead of the required five.
"Planting Season" by Johnny D Boggs (Cactus Country Anthology, Volume I – High Hill Press)"The Way of the West" by Larry J. Martin (The Traditional West anthology, WF)"Blackwell's Run" (Western Trail Blazer) by Troy D. Smith"The Sin of Eli" by Troy D. Smith (The Traditional West anthology, WF)"Panhandle Freight" by LJ Washburn (The Traditional West anthology, WF)    "The Death of Delgado" by Rod Miller (The Traditional West anthology, WF)"Stay of Execution" by Lucia St. Clair Robson (Cactus Country Anthology, Volume I – High Hill Press)
Best Western Novel:
The Sonora Noose by Jackson Lowry (Berkley)Redemption, Kansas by James Reasoner (Berkley)Blood Trails by Lyle Brandt (Berkley)The Assassination of Governor Boggs by Rod Miller (Bonneville Books)Between Hell and Texas by Dusty Richards (Kensington Pinnacle imprint)
Best Western First Novel:
Unbridled by Tammy Hinton (Roots and Branches Publishing)The Black Hills by Rod Thompson (Berkley)Dismal River by Wayne Dundee (Oak Tree Press)Bullets And Bad Bad Men by B.A. Kelly (Oak Tree Press)The Guerrilla Man by Steven Clark (Solstice Publishing)
Western Fictioneers (WF) was formed in 2010 by Western writers Robert J. Randisi, James Reasoner, Frank Roderus, and other professional Western writers with the mission of preserving, honoring, and promoting the Traditional Western in the 21st Century. Western Fictioneers (WF) is the only professional writers organization composed entirely of authors who have written Western fiction, the classic American genre. A writer or publisher does not have to be a member to be nominated, or win, the Peacemaker Award.

Contact: Larry D. Sweazy, WF Awards Chair, larrysweazy@prodigy.net

Growing Up Watching Westerns

I'm sure some of you have wondered how I got into westernwriting.  I grew up watching Gunsmoke, Paladin,Bonanza, etc.  My dad lovedwesterns.  Top this with the fact I enjoyreading about history.  I didn't mind havingto read the history textbooks in school, in fact I may have been the only kidthat read the whole books.  Now that mathtextbook was a different matter.
My first toe into western writing came with writing Hallam. The first Lucas Hallam story which was published as a mystery, but it had western touches. Lucas was a riding extra/PI in the first stories which were set during the1920's in Hollywood.  That story isavailable as an ebook on Amazon and Barnes and Noble along with 3 other storiesI had saved on a usb drive I carried with me the day our house burneddown.  This past week I have beencollecting our missing stories.  The onespublished in Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, andvarious anthologies.  I'm hoping I canscan them and make them available by this fall. There are many Hallam stories and he is my favorite ol' cowboy, but myfavorite town would have to be Wind River. James and I worked on this series together. We had all six books plotted before the first book had even sold.  The publisherinsisted on one name for the author on the paperbacks, so we decided to use James'.  When we republished them as ebooks, we usedboth of our names.  We were told thatthey wouldn't sell with two names.  Thistime, the publisher was wrong.  They areselling very nicely with both our names.  While Wind Riverseems like a just a western, we planned a long running mystery to be solved inbook six.  If you've read the books, youknow how much fun we had writing them.  Ifyou've only read a book or two, we wrote it where you would never know you missedanything.  But if you read all 6, you'll see what I mean.  Lately I've been trying to decide ifwe should revisit Wind River.  I wonderif there are six more books in the town . . .  The first book is still only 99 cents for the Kindle and Nook.

A Little Irony

Since I finished For Whom The Funeral Bell Tolls, it was time to return my research books on the Florida Keys to the Fort Worth Library.  One book didn't make to to the library.  We started out with seven books, but only arrived with six.  The book we couldn't find was A Hidden Florida Keys & Everglades.  And hidden it was.  We looked all around the seat, no book. We thought it must have fallen out at one of the places we stopped earlier.  Retracing and asking brought no results.  That sucker was hidden very well.  It wasn't until I was sitting in my chair at home that I remembered a click in the seat earlier.  A flashlight revealed the little trade paperback had slid between the drawer under the passenger seat and the seat.  I was only able to see it with a flashlight.  Fingers wouldn't reach.  It required a small grabber slid between the drawer and seat and lots of maneuvering to get it out.  Mystery solved.  A Hidden Florida Keys & Everglades was no longer hidden.  Now we'll have to return to the Fort Worth Library sooner than planned, but that's nothing to complain about, more book looking.

For Whom The Funeral Bell Tolls is now available in trade paperback and ebook on Amazon.
and for the Nook