Sarah Ettritch's Blog, page 7

Catching Up

The head cold I mentioned last week travelled to my chest, so I’ve been under the weather all this week. As a result, I’m behind on everything and did very little writing.

I can’t taste or smell anything. I’ve learned that 80% of taste involves scent. When we can’t taste anything, it’s usually because we can’t smell anything. When you can’t taste, there’s no pleasure in eating, so you only eat what you absolutely need. Once you’re full, you stop eating. I’ve noticed that, on average, I eat about 2/3 of what’s on my plate. That means I’ve been overeating, so I’ll be keeping that in mind when my taste/smell returns, which I hope will be soon.

The good news is that I’m definitely on the mend, and I did manage to work on Daros Chronicles 3 this week. I was going to title it Strangers, but that didn’t look good on the cover. Now it’ll be Blood and Blades, which sounds cooler, anyway. If all goes to plan, it should be available sometime next week.

Here’s the blurb:

It’s all about strangers…

Erryn forms an uneasy alliance. Avere shadows a mysterious woman. Fi plays nice with visiting primates. Who can be trusted? Who will be betrayed?

It’s all about strangers…and Daros will never be the same.

Enjoy your weekend! 

Catching Up is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

Short Interview at Canadian Lesfic

I’m suffering from a miserable head cold right now, so this will be short. Over at Canadian Lesfic, all the admins are being interviewed as part of celebrating the site’s second year of operation. An interview is posted every month or so. As luck would have it, my interview is up today, so I’ll direct you over there:

Interview with Sarah Ettritch

Writing is going well, though I couldn’t write yesterday and won’t be writing today. Daros Chronicles 3 (Strangers) is with my editor, and I’ve passed the halfway mark for the first draft of Deiform Four.

Have a great weekend!

Short Interview at Canadian Lesfic is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

Oh, the Profanity!

Now that that the dust has settled and Inktera has pulled its support from the Clean Reader app, I thought I’d offer a few thoughts about it. If you hadn’t heard, the Clean Reader app, which I believe is still available, replaces profanity and naughty words in ebooks with gentler words. The Inktera (Page Foundry) bookstore supported the app by allowing it to use its technology and leverage its catalogue of books.

I object to this app for a number of reasons. Chuck Wendig did a post on it that pretty much jibes with what I feel about the app. You can read it here, and I highly recommend that you do.

My thoughts

Some commentators poo-pooed the outcry from authors, saying, “Poor them, not wanting their precious words changed.” They entirely missed the point. I don’t think my words are so precious that they shouldn’t be touched. I don’t want words changed in my stories because I chose those words for a reason. Not every word. I don’t agonize over most words. But here’s an example of a when I might choose a specific word for a specific reason:

The character Sam (Deiform Fellowship) has never used the word fuck. That’s a deliberate decision on my part because it’s in line with who Sam is. Let’s say something happens that infuriates her. In the interest of showing, rather than telling, I might have Sam say, “Fuck!” That would be enough for readers familiar with her to get that she’s upset. But if that sentence was run through the Clean Reader app and the result was Sam saying “Darn!” or “Oh, gosh, golly gee!” the information I intended to convey to the reader would be lost.

Word choice matters. Stories aren’t random words strung together.

The Clean Reader substitutions can alter a story enough that it’s no longer the story the author wrote. I don’t want my name attached to words I didn’t write or approve (signing off on a translation, for example). Some bloggers posted examples of substitutions the app had made that resulted in nonsensical sentences, or dirtier sentences than the original versions. Would it be fair for a reader who’s run a book through the Clean Reader app to review that book? I don’t think so.

With millions of books to choose from, I don’t see why anybody would need something like the Clean Reader app. To me, it smacks of entitlement and/or laziness. Entitlement, because a person can choose any book, but instead wants to neuter that book because that’s the one they want to read. Laziness, because with a little due diligence, it’s easy to avoid books with naughty/swear words in them.

As a reader, I want to read what the author wrote. I don’t see the point of reading a story an algorithm has changed. There’s also the usual point that getting one’s knickers in a knot over a swear word or body part, but not minding that a story is violent (would a reader who uses the Clean Reader app be okay with a murder mystery?) or disturbing in other ways, seems wrong.

Anyway, that’s my 0.02. If you don’t want to read books with naughty words or profanity in them, then don’t buy books with naughty words or profanity in them. You have millions of books to choose from.

Happy Easter!

Oh, the Profanity! is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

4 Ethical Ways to Get Free Books

If you want something new to read but you’re strapped for cash, here are four ethical ways to get free books.

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Other Online Bookstores

There are free ebooks at just about all the online bookstores. Amazon has a huge selection of free ebooks. So does iBooks, kobo, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Smashwords. All you have to do is look for them. Don’t have an e-reader? No problem. You can download a free Kindle app to read Kindle books on any device, including a PC/Mac. To read ebooks from elsewhere, download Adobe Digital Editions.

The Library

In addition to print books, most libraries now lend ebooks. All my books are available to libraries. That doesn’t mean your library has them, though, but if you request my books, your library might order them. The same goes for any other book you might want to read. If the library doesn’t have it, ask them if they’ll order it.

Goodreads and Library Thing Giveaways

Entering a giveaway doesn’t mean you’ll get a book, but if you don’t try, you definitely won’t. At this time, I believe that only print books can be offered for a Goodreads giveaway. Not so at Library Thing, where both print and ebooks can be given away. I’ve noticed that often a hundred or more ebook copies are offered, and sometimes there are fewer than a hundred requests, meaning there’s a good chance of getting an ebook at Library Thing. Now, authors and publishers usually do giveaways at these sites because they’re hoping for reviews in return. You’re not obligated to write a review, but when you enjoy a book you received for free, consider leaving a review.

The Public Domain

There are thousands of books in the public domain, and not all of them are from the 1800s and earlier. Due to some pretty weird copyright laws in the US, many books copyrighted in the US before 1964 have fallen out of copyright. You can find these books at places like archive.org.

While we’re on the subject of the public domain, being on the Internet doesn’t mean that a book is in the public domain. The same goes for stories and articles posted to blogs and websites. Everything on the Internet is under copyright, unless it has fallen out of copyright or the copyright owner has actively put it into the public domain. Never copy, share, or distribute books, stories, articles, photos, or anything else, unless you have the copyright owner’s permission to do so.

Bonus Method

You can also get free ebooks when authors, publishers, and book bloggers hold contests and giveaways on their sites, and sometimes the chances of winning can be good, depending on the number of entries.

And there you have it. Five ethical ways to get free books. If the book you want isn’t available for free, try requesting it at your library, or try a new author. Free books are a great way to try a new author or genre.

4 Ethical Ways to Get Free Books is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

10 Questions (March, 2015)

I haven’t done a 10 questions post for a while, so I figured it’s time for another one. Before I get to that, I’ve added a “Works in Progress” section to the website sidebar, so you can see my progress with whatever I’m writing. The goal word counts for items marked “First Draft” are estimates and might change. Right now, I’ve estimated that Deiform Four will be 75000 words long (based on the lengths of the second and third books), but I could be wrong.

Okay, the questions. Reminder: I’m taking these questions from a pool of 1500 questions I downloaded from somewhere last year. As usual, feel free to play along in the comments.

Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?

No.

Do you sing in the shower?

Nope. I get great story and scene ideas in the shower, though.

Is it possible to lie without saying a word?



I had to think about this one. If you’re having a one-on-one conversation with someone, I don’t think it’s possible to lie by not saying anything. I think you can withhold information, but not lie. Then I considered a group conversation, and someone says something like, “Do you agree with me?” or another question like that. Let’s say you don’t agree, and while everyone else nods or says, “Yes, I agree,” you remain silent. Are you lying if the person takes your silence to mean that you agree? I don’t think so. It’s more a case of them misinterpreting your silence. The same would go for a one-on-one conversation if you remain silent and the other person chooses to move on and interpret your silence however they want.

In other words, I think silence is always open to interpretation. You can’t lie, but someone can interpret your silence incorrectly. I could be wrong about this. Can you think of a situation where it’s possible to lie by not saying anything?

What is something you would hate to go without for a day?



Food.

What was the last book you read?



Dragon Age: The Masked Empire by Patrick Weekes (recommended).

What is your favorite meal of the day?

Lunch.

Would you prefer to live in the city or a rural area?

The city. I don’t have to live in large metropolitan area, but I’d go stir crazy living in a rural area where I’d have to travel miles to pick up bread and milk.

Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?

No.

Would you rather drink a cup of spoiled milk or pee your pants in public?



This is really dumb question, but it lets me tell a story. A number of years ago, I was visiting my sister and she asked me if I wanted something to drink. I asked for a glass of milk. She said, “We only have skim. Is that okay?” Well, I’m not a big fan of skim milk, but I don’t hate it, so I said, “Sure.” She brought me a huge glass. I took a sip, and it tasted funny to me. I hadn’t had skim milk for a while and it always tastes a little funny to me, so I didn’t think anything of it. Over the course of the afternoon, I drank the entire glass, and it was a really big glass.

The next day, I was talking to my sister on the phone, and she asked me, “When you had that glass of skim milk yesterday, did it taste off?” I asked, “Why?” She said, “Because we had to throw out the rest of it this morning. It had gone off.”

So , having done it already without suffering any consequences, I guess I’d rather drink a cup of spoiled milk than pee my pants in public.

Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?

No, and I don’t believe it makes the elevator go faster. Related story that you may have heard before in some form: Someone told me once about a consultant who was hired by a building’s management to figure out how to speed up the elevators. People said they had to wait too long for an elevator to arrive. Instead of figuring out if the elevators could be programmed better or sped up somehow, the consultant suggested that there should be mirrors next to the elevators, and the building management followed his advice. Later on, they did a survey, and even though the elevators were taking as long to arrive as they had before, everyone perceived shorter wait times. I guess the point of the story is to come at a problem from several different angles, instead of from only the obvious one.

That’s it! How would you answer these questions?

10 Questions (March, 2015) is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

Free Books – Limited Time Offer!

Free Books

As usual, I’m taking part in the Read an Ebook Week special catalogue over at Smashwords. In past years, I’ve offered books for 50% or 75% off. This year I’m giving away the first books in the series I’m actively writing.

You can try out the Deiform Fellowship series and the Daros Chronicles risk-free, but the celebration ends on Saturday, March 7, which is why I’m posting on Thursday, rather than Friday. I wanted to give you enough time to snatch up the books. Don’t delay.

The Atheist at Smashwords

Friends Torn Apart at Smashwords

(Use coupon code RW100 at checkout)

Website Redesign

If you read my blog at my website, you’ll notice a big change. The site has a more modern look. Web design evolves, so every couple of years I rejig things.

There are more changes on the way. I’m going to change the format of the book pages, rearrange where some content is located, and delete some content.

See you next week.  

Free Books – Limited Time Offer! is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

Good-bye, Hickory

I’m posting a day early this week because I missed two weeks in a row. In my “Welcome, 2015” video and post, I said that I wouldn’t post when I had nothing to say, and that’s what happened on February 13th.

I expected to post last Friday, but life threw us a curve ball. On Thursday we had to take Hickory, one of our cats, to the vet. We quickly faced the horrible decision no pet owner wants to make. On Friday we were with her when she passed away peacefully with the help of our vet.

Our girl, when she was young and taking on the world.

Hickory was our diabetic cat, so I’ve mentioned her before. Earlier this week, we returned a full box of syringes and a fresh vial of insulin to the vet. That’s how suddenly she went. We’d just stocked up on all her supplies. We expected her to be with us for a while yet (her cause of death was unrelated to her diabetes).

It’s been 11 years since we last lost one of our cats. The house feels different. We’re still getting used to the new normal. I haven’t written this week because all my characters would be weeping and throwing things. I’m feeling better as the week goes on, so I’ll get back into the writing saddle on Monday.

I had committed to releasing a Daros Chronicles installment every 8-10 weeks, so I bit the bullet and released On the Run, the second installment in the series. Here’s the blurb:

Previously in Daros Chronicles 1:

When King Oswald of Daros discovers that his foster daughter Erryn is a Beast Master, he banishes her from the Royal Province. On the way to the provincial border, Erryn kills two of the guards escorting her and flees. Meanwhile, a brief encounter with her future brother-in-law has Princess Filmona wondering whether she’ll be marrying the wrong man.

In Daros Chronicles 2:

Alone in a strange province, Erryn tries to adjust to her changed circumstances, but her sheltered upbringing makes her an easy target for unscrupulous men.

Back in the Royal Province, Princess Filmona has to decide between duty and her heart, and King Oswald orders his spy network to find Erryn. The king wants her captured alive, but he isn’t the only one looking for her. Someone else wants her dead.

The book’s page is here: On the Run (Daros Chronicles 2)

I’m really enjoying the Daros characters and world; in fact, I’ve already finished the first draft of Daros 3. If you’ve enjoyed any of my other work and haven’t read Friends Torn Apart (Daros 1), give it a try. The story is shaping up nicely.

Have a great rest of the week and weekend. And if you have a pet, give him or her a hug. Life is precious, and oh, so fragile.

Good-bye, Hickory is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

The Cat Lady / Nancy Drew Dossier

I like reading books with strong female protagonists. I like writing books with strong female protagonists. And I like playing games with strong female protagonists. I thought I’d post about two games I’ve recently played that fit the bill: The Cat Lady, and Nancy Drew Dossier: Resorting to Danger.

If you’re not a gamer, you still might consider checking these out. They’re both adventure games, meaning that fast reflexes and hefty gaming hardware aren’t required. They’re essentially interactive stories.

Steam has noticed that I like games with female protagonists – click to see the larger image

The Cat Lady

I got this game as part of a Humble Bundle. What are humble bundles? Well, gamers often get a lot of bad press, but as usual, the minority of bad apples don’t represent the majority of gamers. Humble Bundle sells bundles of games and donates a portion of each bundle sale to charity. Gamers have donated millions to charity by buying games through the site, and guess what? Humble Bundle also puts together book bundles. Right now, they’re doing a brainiac book bundle.

Anyway, they ran a bundle of games with strong female protagonists. Even though I hadn’t heard of most of the games, I bit, because I wanted to support the bundle. When you buy games through the Humble Bundle site, you can usually ask for a Steam key (for non-gamers, Steam is a popular PC game store/community). I thought I’d mention that for gamers who prefer to keep their game library on Steam.

One of the games in the bundle was The Cat Lady. Last month, when I was browsing my games library for something to play, I saw it and thought, “Should I?” I was concerned that the game might make fun of cat ladies. I’m also not a fan of horror games. But I figured I’d give it a try. To be honest, I was expecting to load it up, play it for a few minutes, think, “Nah, not for me,” and give up on it.

Instead, I loved it. It’s a game about clinical depression and how it feels. Yeah, not your usual gaming fare. Not surprisingly, an indie developer created the game. Just as with books and music, the indie scene is hopping in the gaming world. And just as with books and music, it gives us a much broader choice than we’d have if the only games being released were by the large game publishers. The indie scene is where you’ll find the “different” stuff. I love that in this new world, I can choose what I’d like to read/listen to/play, rather than have my choices limited by people who might not share my taste.

Okay, an adventure game about a cat lady and clinical depression, in 2D, and that only supports four keys on the keyboard. No mouse. Oh yeah, the large game publishers would have been tripping over themselves to publish this one–not. And yet, it’s one of the more thought-provoking and interesting games I’ve played in a while. The writing is a big part of it. It’s terrific.

Here’s a review of the game. It’s available on Steam.

Nancy Drew Dossier: Resorting to Danger

Nancy Drew! When I was a kid, I read Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, and the Bobbsey Twins. Silly story: I thought it was cool that Tom Swift would pull on his lower lip when he was thinking. I decided that I should pull on my lower lip when thinking. I’m still doing it forty years later. Tough habit to break.

Anyway, Steam has these crazy sales a few times a year. During the winter sale, it offered a bundle of Nancy Drew games for $26 CDN. I bit. A few are really old, but the bundle also included two of the new Dossier games. Once again, the Nancy Drew games are adventure games, which are essentially interactive stories. If I can go back to The Cat Lady for a second: some of the reviews, including the positive ones, said, “Oh, it’s more an interactive story than a game.” In my opinion, all adventure games are interactive stories. Every single one of them.

Back to Nancy Drew, I’d call the Dossier games a pleasant and interesting way to wile away a few hours. There’s nothing really challenging about them, but they’re fun. And isn’t that what games are supposed to be? Fun? At least that’s my primary criterion when it comes to whether I enjoy a game. If a game has superb graphics and a wonderful story and great mechanics, but it’s boring and/or tedious, then the rest doesn’t matter.

The Dossier games have a good mix of story, mini-games, and humour. I also played and enjoyed Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses. If you want to relax with a game for a few hours, the Dossier games would definitely suit. If you’re looking for a game for your kids, check out Nancy Drew!

Here’s the trailer for Resorting to Danger:

I’m always looking for good games with female protagonists, so if you have any PC game recommendations (I don’t own a console), please let me know. Warning: I probably already know about the popular ones. Gaming is one of my primary pastimes. 

The Cat Lady / Nancy Drew Dossier is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

Canadian Lesfic Anniversary Celebration

Believe it or not, Canadian Lesfic is already celebrating its one-year anniversary! On Wednesday, we announced a book giveaway. I’ve thrown in a copy of The Missing Comatose Woman. You can find out what else is up for grabs here:

Anniversary Celebrations! Join the fun!

Between today (January 30, 2015) and February 13, several authors will be participating in a story jam. One author writes a part of the story, another author then picks it up and writes the next part, and so on.

Tracey Richardson and I bowed out of the story jam for the same reason: we don’t have any free writing cycles in our schedule at the moment. Tracey is busy editing a novel. I’m busy preparing Daros 2 for publication, writing the first draft of Daros 3, and trying to squeeze in the first draft of Deiform Four.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to dedicate much time to Deiform Four, so I didn’t make as much progress with it this month as I’d hoped. Once I’ve finished the first draft of Daros 3, which should happen by mid-February at the latest, I’ll be able to focus on Deiform Four until it’s time to start Daros 4 (around mid-April).

Anyway, the story jam is off to a great start, and it’s tied in with the book giveaway. To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on one of the story jam posts by February 13.

You can check out the story jam here:

The First Inaugural Moose Hall Story Jam

Later.

Canadian Lesfic Anniversary Celebration is a post from: Sarah Ettritch

Spending My Christmas Book Money

I’ve been writing off and on since my mid-thirties. I’ve been reading since I was five years old. I had a Scottish kindergarten teacher who believed kids should learn how to read as early as possible, so we didn’t play a lot of games in our kindergarten class. We read a lot of books. I’ve had at least one book on the go since then, and there will probably be an open book next to me on my deathbed.

People often give me Amazon gift certificates and book money for Christmas. I thought I’d share some of the books I’ve bought with my Christmas book money. I still haven’t spent it all.

In no particular order…

The Bourne Ascendancy

I like Jason Bourne. I enjoy the movies and have read most of the books. When Robert Ludlum died, Eric Van Lustbader took over the series. I almost gave up on it, because one of the recent books was terrible. Writers are often advised to keep the pace going, especially with thrillers. Well, Van Lustbader took that advice to a whole new level in a previous book. Every scene was action, action, action, and then he’d end the scene on a cliffhanger and move to the next scene that was action, action, action, cliffhanger. And so on. For the entire book.

When I finished it, I read the reviews to see if people had felt the same whiplash I’d experienced. I don’t pay much attention to fiction reviews because fiction is so subjective. I don’t use reviews to help me decide whether to buy a book. If it’s an author I haven’t read before and the description grabs me, I’ll read the sample and decide. If it’s an author I regularly read, I’ll just buy the book, unless it’s in a series I’m not reading. Sometimes I’ll read one series by an author but not another, usually because it’s in a genre I don’t read or has a focus that doesn’t appeal to me. Having said all that, sometimes I’ll read reviews AFTER I’ve read a book, to see how other people felt about it. In this case, other readers had experienced whiplash, too.

Anyway, The Bourne Ascendancy was a pleasant read and I didn’t get whiplash. It’s a thriller, so there isn’t much character development. I don’t expect any in thrillers, but if you prefer books in which the characters grow, this one won’t be for you. Pick it up here.

Notorious

I haven’t read this one yet. Allison Brennan is a new author for me. I flipped through the book at the grocery store and decided to give it a try. It has a strong female protagonist, which influenced my decision. Pick it up here.

What Doesn’t Kill You

Iris Johansen is one of my “usually buy” authors. She tends to focus on the same things I focus on (characters and their interactions) and I write similarly to her (lots of dialogue, not much description). So when I’m asked what authors have a similar style to mine, I mention her. I’ve enjoyed some of her books more than others, which I can say of all authors. I’m reading What Doesn’t Kill You now, and so far I’m really liking it. It tells Catherine Ling’s backstory. She’s a character that first showed up in the Eve Duncan series. Anyway, so far, so good. Pick it up here.

Fields of Blood

This will be a timely book to read. According to its tagline, it’s about “religion and the history of violence.” On first blush, you might think it’s about how religion leads to violence and wars. It actually argues the opposite. Karen Armstrong, an ex-nun who has written many books about religion, argues that many wars that appear to be about religion actually aren’t. I’ll come clean and admit that I’m on board with her argument already, and I haven’t read the book yet. Religion is often used as an excuse to fight. It’s often not the real reason for whatever conflict is being fought in God’s name.

Whenever I see/hear someone blathering on about how religion causes violence and if there wasn’t religion, we’d all be wearing flowers in our hair and being kind to one another in a peaceful world, I wonder what drugs the person is on. According to them, if there wasn’t religion, nations wouldn’t go to war to fight over power, wealth, oil and other resources, influence, etc. (Channeling Jillian: “And I’m Mary freaking Poppins.”). Unfortunately, the human race will always find something to fight about. Obviously religion does lead to violence and war at times. But often, especially in the modern world, religion doesn’t have anything to do with it, despite the rhetoric. Pick it up here.

Armstrong wrote A History of God, a fantastic book. Few books blow my mind in the sense that they set my imagination racing and open up possibilities I’d never considered. That one did. It’s on my re-read list, and I read very few books more than once. Pick it up here.

Dragon Age: Last Flight

This one’s in my Amazon cart for my next order, so I haven’t read it yet. I’ve mentioned Dragon Age before. It’s a fantasy role-playing game series I really enjoy playing. In my experience, most books based on video games fall flat. This series is an exception. Last Flight is written by Liane Merciel, a new writer to the series, and it features a female protagonist. I’m looking forward to reading it. Pick it up here.

Lunch with Charlotte

This isn’t a book I bought with my Christmas money, but it was in one of the Fussy Librarian emails this week, which reminded me of reading it last year. The prose can be a little weird at times, and I can’t really explain why I enjoyed it, but I did. It’s the story about a Jewish woman who escaped the Holocaust by moving to Britain, and then to Canada (so there’s a Canadian angle). It’s based on a true story. It’s only $4.99 and worth a read. Pick it up here.

Any Recommendations?

As I mentioned, I haven’t spent all my Christmas book money, and I’m open to new authors. I’m looking for recommendations.

For fiction, I’m interested in fantasy and mystery stories. I’ll consider science fiction if it’s people-focused. I’ll consider lesbian fiction if it’s the type of lesbian fiction that has a lesbian main character but doesn’t focus on romance or lesbian themes (coming out or having a baby using a sperm donor or similar stuff). I don’t mind romantic elements, as long as they don’t overpower the main plot. For example, if it’s classified as a mystery, then I want a mystery, not a story that’s mainly about the lead detective getting it on with the main suspect.

For non-fiction, I’ll consider science (esp. biology), theology/religion (including atheism), history, and biography books.

Any recommendations?

Spending My Christmas Book Money is a post from: Sarah Ettritch