Chicki Brown's Blog, page 54
October 9, 2011
Sample Sunday
This week, my contemporary romance,
Have You Seen Her?
was voted Fiction Book of the Year by Shades of Romance Magazine (SORMAG). I thought I'd share excerpts from that story for the next few Sundays.
Here's a brief overview of the story:
If she'd stayed any longer, her husband would have killed her.
Desperate to escape his drug-induced brutality, wealthy socialite Marcia Hadley disappears from Santa Barbara, California and flees to Atlantic City, New Jersey. She's sold everything she can, rents a seedy inner city apartment and attempts to disappear as Dani Reynolds, cocktail waitress at Frenzy, a neighborhood nightclub.
Taylor Villanova, the club's sexy bouncer recognizes her naiveté and volunteers to teach her about surviving and thriving in the inner city. Fearful and suspicious of men, Dani is at first repelled by Taylor's violent profession yet drawn to the compassionate nature that contradicts his macho persona. But when her well-laid plans go awry, and Dani discovers someone is following her, she must put her complete trust in him.
Her time is running out …***
When Marcia Hadley opened her eyes, she was crumpled in a heap in the corner of the kitchen. The stillness of the house echoed in her ears.
He's gone.
She struggled to focus before her blurred vision drifted down to the front of her blouse.
Blood!
The pounding inside her head sent her fingers up to the contusion rising on her temple.
I must've hit my head on something when I fell.
But her head wasn't bleeding. The slow trickle came from a gash across the base of her neck. The horror of what he'd done to her rendered her immobile. She remained crumpled in the corner of the kitchen until her thoughts became clearer. Her shaking hands fumbled overhead for a dishtowel from the drawer. She pressed it to her neck. After a couple of minutes she hooked her fingers over the edge of the counter and forced her weak legs to stand. Seconds later the contents of her stomach boiled over into the sink.
The retching finally stopped. She splashed cold water on her face and neck and limped down the hall to the bathroom to check the wound in the mirror. The bleeding had tapered off. It looked like a superficial flesh wound. She willed her hands to be still long enough to mix some peroxide and water, dabbed the slash and covered it with Band-Aids. Her legs had gained enough strength to carry her into the master suite where she stripped off her blood-splattered clothes. She sat on the edge of their California king-size bed rocking with her arms folded across her aching middle. How had her life turned into this nightmare? Why hadn't she kept her mouth shut?
[image error]
From HAVE YOU SEEN HER? $2.99 on Kindle - http://amzn.to/ixHNZI & Nook http://bit.ly/m4tAeK
Here's a brief overview of the story:
If she'd stayed any longer, her husband would have killed her.
Desperate to escape his drug-induced brutality, wealthy socialite Marcia Hadley disappears from Santa Barbara, California and flees to Atlantic City, New Jersey. She's sold everything she can, rents a seedy inner city apartment and attempts to disappear as Dani Reynolds, cocktail waitress at Frenzy, a neighborhood nightclub.
Taylor Villanova, the club's sexy bouncer recognizes her naiveté and volunteers to teach her about surviving and thriving in the inner city. Fearful and suspicious of men, Dani is at first repelled by Taylor's violent profession yet drawn to the compassionate nature that contradicts his macho persona. But when her well-laid plans go awry, and Dani discovers someone is following her, she must put her complete trust in him.
Her time is running out …***
When Marcia Hadley opened her eyes, she was crumpled in a heap in the corner of the kitchen. The stillness of the house echoed in her ears.
He's gone.
She struggled to focus before her blurred vision drifted down to the front of her blouse.
Blood!
The pounding inside her head sent her fingers up to the contusion rising on her temple.
I must've hit my head on something when I fell.
But her head wasn't bleeding. The slow trickle came from a gash across the base of her neck. The horror of what he'd done to her rendered her immobile. She remained crumpled in the corner of the kitchen until her thoughts became clearer. Her shaking hands fumbled overhead for a dishtowel from the drawer. She pressed it to her neck. After a couple of minutes she hooked her fingers over the edge of the counter and forced her weak legs to stand. Seconds later the contents of her stomach boiled over into the sink.
The retching finally stopped. She splashed cold water on her face and neck and limped down the hall to the bathroom to check the wound in the mirror. The bleeding had tapered off. It looked like a superficial flesh wound. She willed her hands to be still long enough to mix some peroxide and water, dabbed the slash and covered it with Band-Aids. Her legs had gained enough strength to carry her into the master suite where she stripped off her blood-splattered clothes. She sat on the edge of their California king-size bed rocking with her arms folded across her aching middle. How had her life turned into this nightmare? Why hadn't she kept her mouth shut?
[image error]
From HAVE YOU SEEN HER? $2.99 on Kindle - http://amzn.to/ixHNZI & Nook http://bit.ly/m4tAeK
October 7, 2011
Fun Friday!
Voted2011 New Author of the Year andHave You Seen Her? 2011 Fiction Book of the Yearby the readers of
Shades of Romance Magazine
[image error]
Now that I've finished doing the happy dance, here's your Fun Friday laugh ...
After three weeks in the Garden of Eden, God came to visit Eve. 'So, how is everything going?' inquired God.
'It is all so beautiful, God,' she replied. 'The sunrises and sunsets are breathtaking, the smells, the sights, everything is wonderful, but I have just one problem.
'It's these breasts you have given me. The middle one pushes the other two out and I am constantly knocking them with my arms, catching them on branches and snagging them on bushes. They're a real pain.'
And Eve went on to tell God that since many other parts of her body came in pairs, such as her limbs, eyes, ears, etc. She felt that having only two breasts might leave her body more 'symmetrically balanced'.
'That's a fair point,' replied God, 'But it was my first shot at this, you know. I gave the animals six breasts, so I figured that you needed only half of those, but I see that you are right. I will fix it up right away.'
And God reached down, removed the middle breast and tossed it into the bushes
Three weeks passed and God once again visited Eve in the Garden of Eden.
'Well, Eve, how is my favorite creation?'
'Just fantastic,' she replied, 'But for one oversight. You see, all the animals are paired off. The ewe has a ram and the cow has her bull. All the animals have a mate except me. I feel so alone.'
God thought for a moment and said, 'You know, Eve, you are right. How could I have overlooked this? You do need a mate and I will immediately create a man from a part of you. Let's see ... where did I put that useless boob?'
Have a fantastic weekend!
Now that I've finished doing the happy dance, here's your Fun Friday laugh ...
After three weeks in the Garden of Eden, God came to visit Eve. 'So, how is everything going?' inquired God.
'It is all so beautiful, God,' she replied. 'The sunrises and sunsets are breathtaking, the smells, the sights, everything is wonderful, but I have just one problem.
'It's these breasts you have given me. The middle one pushes the other two out and I am constantly knocking them with my arms, catching them on branches and snagging them on bushes. They're a real pain.'
And Eve went on to tell God that since many other parts of her body came in pairs, such as her limbs, eyes, ears, etc. She felt that having only two breasts might leave her body more 'symmetrically balanced'.
'That's a fair point,' replied God, 'But it was my first shot at this, you know. I gave the animals six breasts, so I figured that you needed only half of those, but I see that you are right. I will fix it up right away.'
And God reached down, removed the middle breast and tossed it into the bushes
Three weeks passed and God once again visited Eve in the Garden of Eden.
'Well, Eve, how is my favorite creation?'
'Just fantastic,' she replied, 'But for one oversight. You see, all the animals are paired off. The ewe has a ram and the cow has her bull. All the animals have a mate except me. I feel so alone.'
God thought for a moment and said, 'You know, Eve, you are right. How could I have overlooked this? You do need a mate and I will immediately create a man from a part of you. Let's see ... where did I put that useless boob?'
Have a fantastic weekend!
October 6, 2011
SPOOK-A-LICIOUS: BLOG HOP TOUR (OCT 17-24
[image error]
Even though I'm not into the Halloween thing, I am participating in my first blog hop tour and giving away a copy of any one of my titles. You can enter here:
Even though I'm not into the Halloween thing, I am participating in my first blog hop tour and giving away a copy of any one of my titles. You can enter here:
October 5, 2011
Writer Wednesday
Hello, and happy Writer Wednesday to you! Today I'm continuing with the third part of my e-publishing series. Last week I shared about formatting your manuscript for the three main e-book sites, Kindle, Nook and Smashwords.
This entry answers the next questions most frequently asked my writers considering electronic publishing for the first time – who does your editing?
When I published my first three books, I didn't have the funds to hire a professional editor and relied on my critique group to be my editorial eyes. My crit partners are invaluable to me. They see the things I can't see when it comes to plot, pacing, syntax and character development, but what I've discovered is even though we line edit each other's work, we don't normally upload the final version for a second review. My group has been together now for more than five years, and four of the six of us are now either self-published or published by a traditional house. We are all too busy to read each other's work twice. None of us but the author sees the final copy. As a result, typos can slip by unnoticed.
One thing I have discovered is this – no matter how good an eye a writer believes she has, it's nearly impossible to spot our own errors. From what I've read, it's a brain thing. As we read what we've written, we often don't spot mistakes because our brains know what it's supposed to say.
I do recommend that you download two free programs that can help you spot problems in your manuscript: White Smoke - http://www.whitesmoke.com/ and Perfectit -http://www.intelligentediting.com/
Attentive readers and critical reviewers were diligent in letting me know there were errors, and I've gone back in numerous times and made corrections.
Formatting errors are another story. Due to the conversion process, oftentimes the writer can format the manuscript correctly, but when she looks at the finished product, things are out of whack. The resolution to these issues is to go back into the original manuscript. Author Derek Haines talked about this in his tongue-in-cheek article, "So What Did You Expect for 99 Cents". He says, "I hear many complaints from readers about errors, typos and poor formatting in ebooks they read. I have seen these errors for myself in e-books I have purchased from major publishers as well as independents. One aspect of e-books that is overlooked by many is that there are so many different e-book file types and formats, that no matter how careful the preparation, errors will occur simply due to file conversion. It is impossible to prepare an e-book, even in the just the eight most popular formats, and attain error free files unless a lot of time and money is spent."
I've said all that to say, if you can afford to pay a professional editor, do it. If you can't at this point, at least find someone that is good at proofreading. Perhaps you know a college English major or an English teacher who wouldn't mind picking up some extra money. If you don't, you can contact your local high school English teacher or post an ad at the community college asking for assistance. If you just want this person to line edit and not offer commentary on the story, make that clear at the outset. Work out a reasonable per page fee (according to what you can afford) and see if that person is willing to do the job. Remember, if your manuscript runs 400 typed pages, and you're being charged fifty cents per page, that's two hundred dollars. If your budget is really tight, you might be able to work out an arrangement where the proofreader does fifty pages at a time and you pay as you go. Establish completion dates and payment arrangements. It's reasonable to pay part up front then half of the remaining balance when the proofreader produces half of the corrected manuscript by a certain date. The send half can be paid when the rest of the wor is done (by a specific date). Type up a simple agreement that will be signed by both parties. This step might seem unnecessary, but it will come in handy if the person you hire decides to stiff you.
A simple agreement can be something like this:
Agreed today, ____________ (date) between __________ (your name) hereafter referred to as CLIENT and _________ (proofreader's name), hereafter referred to as PROOFREADER for line editing services on _______ (name of manuscript), a ____-page, double-spaced document. Line editing will include typographical and syntax errors and ____________. PROOFREADER is not responsible for critiquing story content such as plot, pacing, characters development,
Work will be performed on an electron ic copy (or hard copy, if you still go that way) using he Microsoft Word tracking feature.
PROOFREADER agrees to begin work upon receipt of $______ deposit. CLIENT agrees to pay $_______ upon satisfactory completion of the first half (____ pages) of the manuscript. The remaining balance of $____ will be paid to PROOFREADER upon receipt of the completed second half of manuscript.
If work is not completed to CLIENT's satisfaction or the agreed number of edited pages is not produced by the first date specified above, this agreement becomes void. PROOFREADER will retain deposit and be compensated only for the number of pages completed.
Signed: Client
Signed: Proofreader
Professional editors can charge anywhere between fifty cents to a thousand dollars to edit a full-length manuscript. If possible, get a recommendation from someone that has used the editor's services. I suggest you contact other writers for recommendation rather than just picking a name off Facebook or Twitter. Ask the writer specific questions about that person/company's quality of work and whether or not the finished product was delivered on time.
These days freelance editors are incredibly busy handling all of the writers stepping into the self-publishing arena. Many of them are overextended, so try your best to find out how many jobs they will be working on at the same time.
That's about it. If you have any questions, please post n the comments.
Next Wednesday, I'll be talking about marketing.
Hope this was beneficial. Stop by on Friday for my Fun Friday entry.
This entry answers the next questions most frequently asked my writers considering electronic publishing for the first time – who does your editing?
When I published my first three books, I didn't have the funds to hire a professional editor and relied on my critique group to be my editorial eyes. My crit partners are invaluable to me. They see the things I can't see when it comes to plot, pacing, syntax and character development, but what I've discovered is even though we line edit each other's work, we don't normally upload the final version for a second review. My group has been together now for more than five years, and four of the six of us are now either self-published or published by a traditional house. We are all too busy to read each other's work twice. None of us but the author sees the final copy. As a result, typos can slip by unnoticed.
One thing I have discovered is this – no matter how good an eye a writer believes she has, it's nearly impossible to spot our own errors. From what I've read, it's a brain thing. As we read what we've written, we often don't spot mistakes because our brains know what it's supposed to say.
I do recommend that you download two free programs that can help you spot problems in your manuscript: White Smoke - http://www.whitesmoke.com/ and Perfectit -http://www.intelligentediting.com/
Attentive readers and critical reviewers were diligent in letting me know there were errors, and I've gone back in numerous times and made corrections.
Formatting errors are another story. Due to the conversion process, oftentimes the writer can format the manuscript correctly, but when she looks at the finished product, things are out of whack. The resolution to these issues is to go back into the original manuscript. Author Derek Haines talked about this in his tongue-in-cheek article, "So What Did You Expect for 99 Cents". He says, "I hear many complaints from readers about errors, typos and poor formatting in ebooks they read. I have seen these errors for myself in e-books I have purchased from major publishers as well as independents. One aspect of e-books that is overlooked by many is that there are so many different e-book file types and formats, that no matter how careful the preparation, errors will occur simply due to file conversion. It is impossible to prepare an e-book, even in the just the eight most popular formats, and attain error free files unless a lot of time and money is spent."
I've said all that to say, if you can afford to pay a professional editor, do it. If you can't at this point, at least find someone that is good at proofreading. Perhaps you know a college English major or an English teacher who wouldn't mind picking up some extra money. If you don't, you can contact your local high school English teacher or post an ad at the community college asking for assistance. If you just want this person to line edit and not offer commentary on the story, make that clear at the outset. Work out a reasonable per page fee (according to what you can afford) and see if that person is willing to do the job. Remember, if your manuscript runs 400 typed pages, and you're being charged fifty cents per page, that's two hundred dollars. If your budget is really tight, you might be able to work out an arrangement where the proofreader does fifty pages at a time and you pay as you go. Establish completion dates and payment arrangements. It's reasonable to pay part up front then half of the remaining balance when the proofreader produces half of the corrected manuscript by a certain date. The send half can be paid when the rest of the wor is done (by a specific date). Type up a simple agreement that will be signed by both parties. This step might seem unnecessary, but it will come in handy if the person you hire decides to stiff you.
A simple agreement can be something like this:
Agreed today, ____________ (date) between __________ (your name) hereafter referred to as CLIENT and _________ (proofreader's name), hereafter referred to as PROOFREADER for line editing services on _______ (name of manuscript), a ____-page, double-spaced document. Line editing will include typographical and syntax errors and ____________. PROOFREADER is not responsible for critiquing story content such as plot, pacing, characters development,
Work will be performed on an electron ic copy (or hard copy, if you still go that way) using he Microsoft Word tracking feature.
PROOFREADER agrees to begin work upon receipt of $______ deposit. CLIENT agrees to pay $_______ upon satisfactory completion of the first half (____ pages) of the manuscript. The remaining balance of $____ will be paid to PROOFREADER upon receipt of the completed second half of manuscript.
If work is not completed to CLIENT's satisfaction or the agreed number of edited pages is not produced by the first date specified above, this agreement becomes void. PROOFREADER will retain deposit and be compensated only for the number of pages completed.
Signed: Client
Signed: Proofreader
Professional editors can charge anywhere between fifty cents to a thousand dollars to edit a full-length manuscript. If possible, get a recommendation from someone that has used the editor's services. I suggest you contact other writers for recommendation rather than just picking a name off Facebook or Twitter. Ask the writer specific questions about that person/company's quality of work and whether or not the finished product was delivered on time.
These days freelance editors are incredibly busy handling all of the writers stepping into the self-publishing arena. Many of them are overextended, so try your best to find out how many jobs they will be working on at the same time.
That's about it. If you have any questions, please post n the comments.
Next Wednesday, I'll be talking about marketing.
Hope this was beneficial. Stop by on Friday for my Fun Friday entry.
October 3, 2011
Change of plans
My plans for this past weekend included Christmas shopping, a stop at the Post Office and at Office Depot to get copies made, a forty minute drive to my daughter's house to pick up my grandsons so they could hang out my husband and me.
On the way to our first errand, the car died. We had to call my brother to pick us up and leave the old Jeep Cherokee on the street.
To shorten a very long, boring story, we ended up getting a rental for the weekend from Enterprise, a hot candy apple red, Dodge Avenger with Sirius radio.
The Avenger is a nice car, but this latest diss by my sixteen-year-old ride has revived my latent hunger for a brand new vehicle. Before I left the nine-to-five world, I always had a new car. Over the years I've had three Camaros and two Firebirds. It's just the kind of car that speaks to me.
Since Enterprise is right down the highway from a Chevy dealer, I couldn't resist stopping by and taking a look at the new Camaro.
Big mistake.
Right out front the dealer had a gleaming black on black model sitting right out front at the curb. Oh, gee. My knees got weak …
The restyled Camaro debuted in the first Transformers movie as one of Bumblebee's forms, and I've been salivating ever since.
Some of you might laugh at the image of a five-time grandma cruising around in an American muscle car, but I suggest you keep your laughter to yourself. We need to replace the Grand Cherokee fast. It might as well be with a Camaro.
I'll leave you with this song from back in the day. It's my new theme song …
I'll keep you post ...
On the way to our first errand, the car died. We had to call my brother to pick us up and leave the old Jeep Cherokee on the street.
To shorten a very long, boring story, we ended up getting a rental for the weekend from Enterprise, a hot candy apple red, Dodge Avenger with Sirius radio.
The Avenger is a nice car, but this latest diss by my sixteen-year-old ride has revived my latent hunger for a brand new vehicle. Before I left the nine-to-five world, I always had a new car. Over the years I've had three Camaros and two Firebirds. It's just the kind of car that speaks to me.
Since Enterprise is right down the highway from a Chevy dealer, I couldn't resist stopping by and taking a look at the new Camaro.
Big mistake.
Right out front the dealer had a gleaming black on black model sitting right out front at the curb. Oh, gee. My knees got weak …
The restyled Camaro debuted in the first Transformers movie as one of Bumblebee's forms, and I've been salivating ever since.
Some of you might laugh at the image of a five-time grandma cruising around in an American muscle car, but I suggest you keep your laughter to yourself. We need to replace the Grand Cherokee fast. It might as well be with a Camaro.
I'll leave you with this song from back in the day. It's my new theme song …
I'll keep you post ...
October 2, 2011
Sample Sunday Excerpt
Today's clip is from Hollywood Swinging, my sale book, which is on only 99 cents on Kindle and Nook. http://amzn.to/lpgC8m & - http://bit.ly/kx0ihv
I glanced out into the darkness, searching for my wife, only I couldn't see her. Set visitors were kept out of the actors' sightline. It was for the best, at least for me. If I'd seen Shontae's reaction, I would've been totally distracted.
The scene called for hot, intense passion. Drumming that up with Toccara wasn't easy. I wasn't the least bit attracted to her. Oh, she was beautiful all right and had an amazing body, but she was also one of the new Hollywood girls – a spoiled brat who'd never learned to play well with others. Toccara annoyed the hell out of me. During our first run-through of lines around the conference table, her perfume had overpowered the room, so much so that I left with a headache. I asked the director to tell her not to wear any fragrance during the shoot. Still she showed up reeking of the stuff, which probably cost seventy dollars an ounce. To me it smelled like lemon-scented Raid.
Everything about her was overpowering. It took an extra level of concentration to not let my feelings show in my facial expressions or body language. You have to hypnotize yourself into believing it. The worst thing you can do is to get on camera and look like you're faking it. So I closed my eyes and thought about my Shontae. The light, fresh scent of her skin, the feel of her perfect breasts, her soft sighs when we made love. Toccara's breasts felt like basketballs against my chest. Her exaggerated sighs made me want to cringe. All the while I fixed my mind on Shontae, and I kept reminding myself to say the character's name and not my wife's. We'd only been married for six months and had been living apart for half of those. Now that she was here with me in L.A., we were still in what people called the honeymoon phase. I looked around again, longing for a glimpse of her sweet smile, craving her like a crackhead needing his next hit.
To make matters worse, Toccara tried to be cute and do a little improv under the covers that no one could see. She didn't know my wife was on the set. Not that it would have made a difference. Under the sheet she kept letting her hand drift to my crotch. Of course she knew I wouldn't wreck the take by saying anything. I simply moved her hand and continued with the scene. Once the director called the final cut, I whispered in her ear, "You play too much. Let's keep this strictly business, okay?"
Two lines formed between her exotic dark eyes. "Why? Are you gay?"
"If by that you mean happy, yes. I'm happily married and intend to stay that way. You're wasting your time, sweetheart."
Her liquid ebony gaze ran over my body. "That's too bad. We could have some real fun together." She tightened the belt on her robe, spun around and headed for her dressing room.
That should make for great vibes on the set tomorrow.
I glanced out into the darkness, searching for my wife, only I couldn't see her. Set visitors were kept out of the actors' sightline. It was for the best, at least for me. If I'd seen Shontae's reaction, I would've been totally distracted.
The scene called for hot, intense passion. Drumming that up with Toccara wasn't easy. I wasn't the least bit attracted to her. Oh, she was beautiful all right and had an amazing body, but she was also one of the new Hollywood girls – a spoiled brat who'd never learned to play well with others. Toccara annoyed the hell out of me. During our first run-through of lines around the conference table, her perfume had overpowered the room, so much so that I left with a headache. I asked the director to tell her not to wear any fragrance during the shoot. Still she showed up reeking of the stuff, which probably cost seventy dollars an ounce. To me it smelled like lemon-scented Raid.
Everything about her was overpowering. It took an extra level of concentration to not let my feelings show in my facial expressions or body language. You have to hypnotize yourself into believing it. The worst thing you can do is to get on camera and look like you're faking it. So I closed my eyes and thought about my Shontae. The light, fresh scent of her skin, the feel of her perfect breasts, her soft sighs when we made love. Toccara's breasts felt like basketballs against my chest. Her exaggerated sighs made me want to cringe. All the while I fixed my mind on Shontae, and I kept reminding myself to say the character's name and not my wife's. We'd only been married for six months and had been living apart for half of those. Now that she was here with me in L.A., we were still in what people called the honeymoon phase. I looked around again, longing for a glimpse of her sweet smile, craving her like a crackhead needing his next hit.
To make matters worse, Toccara tried to be cute and do a little improv under the covers that no one could see. She didn't know my wife was on the set. Not that it would have made a difference. Under the sheet she kept letting her hand drift to my crotch. Of course she knew I wouldn't wreck the take by saying anything. I simply moved her hand and continued with the scene. Once the director called the final cut, I whispered in her ear, "You play too much. Let's keep this strictly business, okay?"
Two lines formed between her exotic dark eyes. "Why? Are you gay?"
"If by that you mean happy, yes. I'm happily married and intend to stay that way. You're wasting your time, sweetheart."
Her liquid ebony gaze ran over my body. "That's too bad. We could have some real fun together." She tightened the belt on her robe, spun around and headed for her dressing room.
That should make for great vibes on the set tomorrow.
September 30, 2011
Fun Friday Dedication
Yesterday I read a great blog entry by my cyber-mentor, Joe Konrath in which he compared the predictions he made in 2009 on the future of publishing with the current reality. I love Joe, because since I started reading his blog back in 2007, he's had his finger on the pulse of this business.
His entry got me thinking about the people who seem to be launching an offensive against electronic reading. As I've said in previous posts, these are the folks I like to call the "cold, dead handers." The proudly and vehemently proclaim the someone will have to pry their paper books from their cold, dead hands before the succumb to reading their beloved books on an electronic device. What amazes me is many of the ones screaming the loudest are half my age.
Even though I am a "woman of a certain age," I am a lover of all things electronic. I love change, progress, and anything that makes life easier.
In my mind, it's simply more practical and easier to carry one device containing all my books than being able to carry only one or two books with me. The ability to switch over to a dictionary or thesaurus when I'm reading and run across a word I don't know just geeks me out. And when I'm in the middle of something that just doesn't get my motor running, I can click over to a more interesting or exciting story. In my opinion, this is a reader's dream.
On top of those perks, in general the cost of e-books is lower than hardcover editions
and the price of the devices themselves is decreasing by the month. This week Amazon introduced their new $199 tablet and two new Kindles priced at $79 and $149.
I dedicate this post to the paper people who refuse to move into the future. They are in good company with these visionaries of the past.
At the turn of the 20th century, carmakers produced only four million automobiles because the experts believed the world would eventually run out of chauffeurs. Lord Kelvin, president of the Royal Society, made the bold pronouncement that radio had no future in 1894. Mark Twain refused to invest in Alexander Graham Bell's telephone because he didn't see a use for it. Thomas Watson, the President of IBM, once said the future world would need "maybe only five computers." And in 1899, the director of the United States patent office told President McKinley, "everything that can be invented has already been invented." (from http://www.lightsource.com/devotionals/seniors)
This weekend I am reading both Vivid by Beverly Jenkins and The Help by Kathryn Stockett on my Kindle. Waiting in the wings are The Temptation of a Good Man by Delaney Diamond, How to Get Out of Your Own Way by Tyrese Gibson, Red Mojo Mama by Kathy Lynn Hall, Crossing Over by Jennifer Coissiere and many more.
His entry got me thinking about the people who seem to be launching an offensive against electronic reading. As I've said in previous posts, these are the folks I like to call the "cold, dead handers." The proudly and vehemently proclaim the someone will have to pry their paper books from their cold, dead hands before the succumb to reading their beloved books on an electronic device. What amazes me is many of the ones screaming the loudest are half my age. Even though I am a "woman of a certain age," I am a lover of all things electronic. I love change, progress, and anything that makes life easier.
In my mind, it's simply more practical and easier to carry one device containing all my books than being able to carry only one or two books with me. The ability to switch over to a dictionary or thesaurus when I'm reading and run across a word I don't know just geeks me out. And when I'm in the middle of something that just doesn't get my motor running, I can click over to a more interesting or exciting story. In my opinion, this is a reader's dream.
On top of those perks, in general the cost of e-books is lower than hardcover editions
and the price of the devices themselves is decreasing by the month. This week Amazon introduced their new $199 tablet and two new Kindles priced at $79 and $149.
I dedicate this post to the paper people who refuse to move into the future. They are in good company with these visionaries of the past.
At the turn of the 20th century, carmakers produced only four million automobiles because the experts believed the world would eventually run out of chauffeurs. Lord Kelvin, president of the Royal Society, made the bold pronouncement that radio had no future in 1894. Mark Twain refused to invest in Alexander Graham Bell's telephone because he didn't see a use for it. Thomas Watson, the President of IBM, once said the future world would need "maybe only five computers." And in 1899, the director of the United States patent office told President McKinley, "everything that can be invented has already been invented." (from http://www.lightsource.com/devotionals/seniors)
This weekend I am reading both Vivid by Beverly Jenkins and The Help by Kathryn Stockett on my Kindle. Waiting in the wings are The Temptation of a Good Man by Delaney Diamond, How to Get Out of Your Own Way by Tyrese Gibson, Red Mojo Mama by Kathy Lynn Hall, Crossing Over by Jennifer Coissiere and many more.
September 28, 2011
Writer Wednesday
The second most frequent questions I am asked are about e-book formatting, specifically:
Who does your formatting?Is it expensive?Do I need an ISBN number to sell my e-book?Let me answer those three first.
1. I do my own formatting. When I was preparing to upload my first Kindle book, I discovered most formatting services would charge me between $150-300. That was
my first book, and I couldn't even afford to pay $50, so I set out to teach myself how
to do my own formatting. And now that I know how to do it, I figure why pay
someone all that money for something I can do myself for free?
What I discovered is that Amazon provides a detailed (70-plus page) formatting guide online. Thankfully, you don't need to study all 70 pages unless you decide you want to do the HTML code yourself, which is totally unnecessary. All you need to know is contained in the first 25 pages.
Barnes & Noble's PubIt program for their Nook e-reader and Smashwords also have their guidelines available on their sites.
2. I promised myself when I decided to write this series that I would be completely honest, and being truthful about formatting means I must say this. It doesn't cost a
cent to upload and sell your books on these sites, but formatting an e-book isn't
for the faint of heart. It is not a hard process, but it is precise and can work your last nerve.
Although Amazon, B&N and Smashwords do give extensive instructions about formatting, none of these sites offer much assistance when you run into problems. And if your manuscript was created using Microsoft Word, you will run into problems. The reason is Word contains hidden code behind the text, which can cause screwy things to happen to your document once it's uploaded.
For this reason, it is necessary to convert your Word manuscript into HTML using one of the conversion software programs like Mobipocket or Calibre first.
B&N's PubIt! program allows you to directly upload your clean (I'll talk about this is a minute) document right into PubIt, and they convert it for you.
Smashwords had what they call the "meatgrinder" which is supposed to take care of the conversion process, but honestly my manuscripts kept coming back as unapproved because it didn't agree with the meatgrinder. I did everything they told me to do in order to fix the issues to no avail. I finally gave up and settled with listing my books on Kindle and Nook alone. The aggravation was just too much for me. My stress quotient is very limited.
3. You do not need an ISBN number to sell on any of these sites. Amazon will assign each book an ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number). B&N does the same. Smashwords offers free ISBN numbers but doesn't require them.
Now, lets talk about the "cleanup" process. If you're just starting a manuscript, you can avoid this step by creating the Word document with these caveats – no tabs, no fonts over 16 point, no fancy fonts and no hard page breaks, no headers or footers and no page numbers.
Since my first five novels had already been written, I had to go through the additional steps of removing those things. I won't go into the specifics here. Instead, I'll direct you to the links below.
I've heard some authors say what works best for them is to save their Word documents into Notepad, which strips it of all formatting. Then they essentially reformat it. In my mind, it's easier to go the other way.
Inevitably, you will run into some kind of difficulty, and if you think I'm just being negative, just check out the comments on the KDP forums. It is filled with moaning, crying, screaming authors who've run into some freaky glitch they can't figure out how to fix. Basically, all three sites recommend that you find the answer to your formatting problems on these forums. They don't want to deal with technical issues, or take the time to hold thousands of authors by the hand and walk them through the problems, and I honestly can't blame them. The poor customer service reps answering these calls would be subject to the foulest, most vicious language known to mankind!
There is one fabulous source of help with Kindle formatting. It's a web site called, CJ's Easy as Pie. CJ, whoever he or she is, deserves a medal for creating such a wonderful, helpful site.
The good news is that once you have your manuscript cleaned up, you can use it for all three sites (with a few special changes for Smashwords). You can then run the clean manuscript through Mobipocket or Calibre. I use Mobipocket, which automatically puts the document into a file called "My Publications" on your hard drive. Mobi will also ask you to upload your cover and "build" it into the document. Ths process takes all of five minutes. The Mobi HTML document is what you upload directly to Kindle.
Some other points to consider before you begin formatting are:
Have your book cover in JPEG format in the exact size required by the site. 2. Write your book descriptions (one short and one longer) to include in the general
info.
Consider the categories your book fits into before you upload and make a list of these. Categories are required for all three sites. A drop-down menu of categories is offered during the uploading process.
Also make a list of tags to be used in describing your book. These are words that describe your story. For instance the tags I used for Have You Seen Her? were: romance, women's fiction, domestic abuse, Atlantic City, and Santa Barbara. Adding tags helps readers searching for something to read by subject find your book easier.Another crucial warning – be sure to check each and every single page in the previewer provided before you click "publish." The reason I say this is because you can upload a book, look at the first few pages and everything looks perfect only to discover that on page 19 or 119 an entire paragraph has shown up in bold. When you look at your Word document, the text is not in bold, or there is a huge chunk of blank space in the middle of a page, or something else really ugly. That's where CJ's Easy as Pie comes to the rescue!
The great thing about e-books is that authors can go back at any time and make revisions to their books as many times as necessary.
Just last week I read on one of my indie writer groups that Amazon is sending e-mails to authors about books they deem as needing revision. I suppose finicky readers precipitated this move. Amazon is giving authors time to fix the problems, but warns if the revisions aren't made the book will be removed from their site. Surely Nook and Smashwords will follow suit.
In conclusion, my advice for those attempting to upload to an e-book for the first time is to take it slow. Don't wait until the week of release to start the actual uploading process. You can put the book on the site, get all of your details in order and publish it day or weeks later. The book won't go live until you tell it to. Also, it takes 24-72 hours after a book is uploaded for it to be cleared and get "Live or "On Sale" status. So be aware of that when scheduling your release date.
Links:
Simplified formatting guide for Kindle: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A2RYO17TIRUIVI
Video tutorial for Kindle: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?ie=UTF8&topicId=A2M7MM0UP7PHK0
For help with specific Kindle formatting problems: http://www.cjs-easy-as-pie.com/
B&N PubIt! Frequently Asked Questions and formatting instructions: http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com/pubit_app/bn?t=support
How to Publish and Distribute Ebooks with Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/about/how_to_publish_on_smashwords
Smashwords Style Guide (e-book format – Free): http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52
That's about it. I hope this was helpful. If you think of questions I haven't answered, please post in the comment. I'll try my best to answer them for you.
Who does your formatting?Is it expensive?Do I need an ISBN number to sell my e-book?Let me answer those three first.
1. I do my own formatting. When I was preparing to upload my first Kindle book, I discovered most formatting services would charge me between $150-300. That was
my first book, and I couldn't even afford to pay $50, so I set out to teach myself how
to do my own formatting. And now that I know how to do it, I figure why pay
someone all that money for something I can do myself for free?
What I discovered is that Amazon provides a detailed (70-plus page) formatting guide online. Thankfully, you don't need to study all 70 pages unless you decide you want to do the HTML code yourself, which is totally unnecessary. All you need to know is contained in the first 25 pages.
Barnes & Noble's PubIt program for their Nook e-reader and Smashwords also have their guidelines available on their sites.
2. I promised myself when I decided to write this series that I would be completely honest, and being truthful about formatting means I must say this. It doesn't cost a
cent to upload and sell your books on these sites, but formatting an e-book isn't
for the faint of heart. It is not a hard process, but it is precise and can work your last nerve.
Although Amazon, B&N and Smashwords do give extensive instructions about formatting, none of these sites offer much assistance when you run into problems. And if your manuscript was created using Microsoft Word, you will run into problems. The reason is Word contains hidden code behind the text, which can cause screwy things to happen to your document once it's uploaded.
For this reason, it is necessary to convert your Word manuscript into HTML using one of the conversion software programs like Mobipocket or Calibre first.
B&N's PubIt! program allows you to directly upload your clean (I'll talk about this is a minute) document right into PubIt, and they convert it for you.
Smashwords had what they call the "meatgrinder" which is supposed to take care of the conversion process, but honestly my manuscripts kept coming back as unapproved because it didn't agree with the meatgrinder. I did everything they told me to do in order to fix the issues to no avail. I finally gave up and settled with listing my books on Kindle and Nook alone. The aggravation was just too much for me. My stress quotient is very limited.
3. You do not need an ISBN number to sell on any of these sites. Amazon will assign each book an ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number). B&N does the same. Smashwords offers free ISBN numbers but doesn't require them.
Now, lets talk about the "cleanup" process. If you're just starting a manuscript, you can avoid this step by creating the Word document with these caveats – no tabs, no fonts over 16 point, no fancy fonts and no hard page breaks, no headers or footers and no page numbers.
Since my first five novels had already been written, I had to go through the additional steps of removing those things. I won't go into the specifics here. Instead, I'll direct you to the links below.
I've heard some authors say what works best for them is to save their Word documents into Notepad, which strips it of all formatting. Then they essentially reformat it. In my mind, it's easier to go the other way.
Inevitably, you will run into some kind of difficulty, and if you think I'm just being negative, just check out the comments on the KDP forums. It is filled with moaning, crying, screaming authors who've run into some freaky glitch they can't figure out how to fix. Basically, all three sites recommend that you find the answer to your formatting problems on these forums. They don't want to deal with technical issues, or take the time to hold thousands of authors by the hand and walk them through the problems, and I honestly can't blame them. The poor customer service reps answering these calls would be subject to the foulest, most vicious language known to mankind!
There is one fabulous source of help with Kindle formatting. It's a web site called, CJ's Easy as Pie. CJ, whoever he or she is, deserves a medal for creating such a wonderful, helpful site.
The good news is that once you have your manuscript cleaned up, you can use it for all three sites (with a few special changes for Smashwords). You can then run the clean manuscript through Mobipocket or Calibre. I use Mobipocket, which automatically puts the document into a file called "My Publications" on your hard drive. Mobi will also ask you to upload your cover and "build" it into the document. Ths process takes all of five minutes. The Mobi HTML document is what you upload directly to Kindle.
Some other points to consider before you begin formatting are:
Have your book cover in JPEG format in the exact size required by the site. 2. Write your book descriptions (one short and one longer) to include in the general
info.
Consider the categories your book fits into before you upload and make a list of these. Categories are required for all three sites. A drop-down menu of categories is offered during the uploading process.
Also make a list of tags to be used in describing your book. These are words that describe your story. For instance the tags I used for Have You Seen Her? were: romance, women's fiction, domestic abuse, Atlantic City, and Santa Barbara. Adding tags helps readers searching for something to read by subject find your book easier.Another crucial warning – be sure to check each and every single page in the previewer provided before you click "publish." The reason I say this is because you can upload a book, look at the first few pages and everything looks perfect only to discover that on page 19 or 119 an entire paragraph has shown up in bold. When you look at your Word document, the text is not in bold, or there is a huge chunk of blank space in the middle of a page, or something else really ugly. That's where CJ's Easy as Pie comes to the rescue!
The great thing about e-books is that authors can go back at any time and make revisions to their books as many times as necessary.
Just last week I read on one of my indie writer groups that Amazon is sending e-mails to authors about books they deem as needing revision. I suppose finicky readers precipitated this move. Amazon is giving authors time to fix the problems, but warns if the revisions aren't made the book will be removed from their site. Surely Nook and Smashwords will follow suit.
In conclusion, my advice for those attempting to upload to an e-book for the first time is to take it slow. Don't wait until the week of release to start the actual uploading process. You can put the book on the site, get all of your details in order and publish it day or weeks later. The book won't go live until you tell it to. Also, it takes 24-72 hours after a book is uploaded for it to be cleared and get "Live or "On Sale" status. So be aware of that when scheduling your release date.
Links:
Simplified formatting guide for Kindle: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A2RYO17TIRUIVI
Video tutorial for Kindle: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?ie=UTF8&topicId=A2M7MM0UP7PHK0
For help with specific Kindle formatting problems: http://www.cjs-easy-as-pie.com/
B&N PubIt! Frequently Asked Questions and formatting instructions: http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com/pubit_app/bn?t=support
How to Publish and Distribute Ebooks with Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/about/how_to_publish_on_smashwords
Smashwords Style Guide (e-book format – Free): http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52
That's about it. I hope this was helpful. If you think of questions I haven't answered, please post in the comment. I'll try my best to answer them for you.
September 26, 2011
Contest Winners!
I am happy to announce the following contest winners:
1. Amy Manemann
2. Yolanda Moore
3. Cathy Clough
4. Jan Brown
5. Melissa
I have everyone's e-mail except Melissa and Amy. Please contact me ASAP and let me know which book you would like.
Congratulations, ladies!
September 25, 2011
Sample Sunday - Excerpt from Hollywood Swinging #1
Newlywed author Shontae Nichols Burke is trying to adjust to her life in Hollywood as the wife of actor Devon Burke, one of the film industry's brightest upcoming stars. She's left her home and her friends and moved to Los Angeles.
They both have blossoming careers. She's attending movie premieres and living a life she only dreamed of.
Unknown to Shontae, someone else also believes Devon Burke is the love of her life. When this disturbed woman insinuates herself into their lives, Shontae learns that all Hollywood drama isn't scripted and finds herself in a fight for her marriage that's worthy of the big screen.
Here's the excerpt:
"Bernie sent you a message. Let me grab a Vitamin Water, and I'll tell you what he said."
"Bernie? Why?" Her narrowed gaze followed me into the house. "Why would your agent have a message for me?" She asked with her arms folded when I came back out.
"I asked him if he would give you an insider's crash course on movie premieres." I held the Vitamin Water bottle in front of my face half expecting her to throw something in my direction like Shari had always done when she got upset. Instead her face softened and the lines between her light brown eyes eased.
"You did? I'm sorry I haven't wanted to talk about going. The whole thing makes me nauseous."
"I know. It's not as bad as you might think. In fact, you'll probably have a great time."
She grimaced. "I doubt it. The right dress, right jewelry, right shoes stuff annoys me. The last thing I want to do is embarrass you."
"What are you talking about? You couldn't embarrass me."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please! I can hear Cojo now. 'And here comes that gorgeous Devon Burke and his frumpy wife. What's her name again? She's not exactly a Hollywood insider. I think she writes romance novels or something. Oh, my God what in the world is that she's wearing?'" Shontae joked with unsmiling eyes imagining the outspoken commentator ruining her red carpet debut.
"Cojo won't be there. And no matter what you wear, no one in his right mind could ever consider you frumpy. Relax, okay?"
"Besides, I hate spending all that money for just one night."
"Even if I tell you that we'll be partying at Sid Goldman's house afterwards?"
A spark flickered in her eyes. "Really?"
"Yup. It should be outrageous."
"Hmm…so, what did Bernie say?"
I think she was warming up to the idea. A cast party at a director's home was guaranteed to be a big blowout. "He said to drop by his office tomorrow at one o'clock if you don't have any plans."
"I planned to write for a few hours in the morning then visit Barnes & Noble in Studio City. I'm trying to introduce myself to the store managers in the area before my new book is released. I guess I can swing by Bernie's office on the way back." She gathered up her papers and tucked the word processor under her arm. "Did you eat anything?"
"I'm not hungry. I grabbed a sandwich from the buffet on set before I went to the gym. When I finished my workout, I wanted to get home and see what you were up to." My wink let her know what was on my mind.
"If you don't mind skipping dinner, I wouldn't mind you joining me in the shower." She opened the back door, and I followed her into the house.
"You don't have to ask me twice."
Shontae kept several bottles of Bath and Body Works shower gel inside the stall and beside the tub. I covered her in a blanket of fragrant bubbles as we showered. My body instantly went on heightened alert at the scent of her favorite fragrance. As she washed me, her gentle touch stirred my senses. I ended our shower by wrapping her in a towel and carrying her into the bedroom.
We made love in our typical rhythm that always began slow and unrushed yet ended with a breathless combined song of each other's names. No one needed to tell us how to hold each other. It didn't matter where the light was or if her hair covered her face. This was the real thing, and I lived for it.
Afterward I turned on the television and scanned the channels for a movie. Shontae laid her head on my chest and cuddled her soft body against mine. Once the credits rolled, her hands began a slow dance over my chest. Her foot ran up and down the inside of my leg, a clear signal that she wasn't interested in going to sleep. Of course I'd pay for it when the alarm went off in the morning, but the word no wasn't in my vocabulary when it came to a little four-legged frolic with my wife.
I don't care what anyone said, there was nothing better than being married to a woman you loved who loved you back. I'd been with a lot of women in my past, but never anyone who loved me the way she did. Shontae had become my world; but lately I'd been having weird dreams about her. They always hinted of someone or something threatening her. The threat was never clear in my nighttime visions, and I hadn't shared them with her or anyone else. All I knew was the thought of anything happening to her made me crazy. I would kill to protect her.
She pressed a kiss into my chest, murmured a soft goodnight. After I pulled her closer, I shook the disturbing thoughts from my mind and let the gentle rhythm of her breathing lull me to sleep.
From HOLLYWOOD SWINGING – 99 cents Kindle - http://amzn.to/lpgC8m & Nook - http://bit.ly/kx0ihv
They both have blossoming careers. She's attending movie premieres and living a life she only dreamed of.
Unknown to Shontae, someone else also believes Devon Burke is the love of her life. When this disturbed woman insinuates herself into their lives, Shontae learns that all Hollywood drama isn't scripted and finds herself in a fight for her marriage that's worthy of the big screen.
Here's the excerpt:
"Bernie sent you a message. Let me grab a Vitamin Water, and I'll tell you what he said."
"Bernie? Why?" Her narrowed gaze followed me into the house. "Why would your agent have a message for me?" She asked with her arms folded when I came back out.
"I asked him if he would give you an insider's crash course on movie premieres." I held the Vitamin Water bottle in front of my face half expecting her to throw something in my direction like Shari had always done when she got upset. Instead her face softened and the lines between her light brown eyes eased.
"You did? I'm sorry I haven't wanted to talk about going. The whole thing makes me nauseous."
"I know. It's not as bad as you might think. In fact, you'll probably have a great time."
She grimaced. "I doubt it. The right dress, right jewelry, right shoes stuff annoys me. The last thing I want to do is embarrass you."
"What are you talking about? You couldn't embarrass me."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please! I can hear Cojo now. 'And here comes that gorgeous Devon Burke and his frumpy wife. What's her name again? She's not exactly a Hollywood insider. I think she writes romance novels or something. Oh, my God what in the world is that she's wearing?'" Shontae joked with unsmiling eyes imagining the outspoken commentator ruining her red carpet debut.
"Cojo won't be there. And no matter what you wear, no one in his right mind could ever consider you frumpy. Relax, okay?"
"Besides, I hate spending all that money for just one night."
"Even if I tell you that we'll be partying at Sid Goldman's house afterwards?"
A spark flickered in her eyes. "Really?"
"Yup. It should be outrageous."
"Hmm…so, what did Bernie say?"
I think she was warming up to the idea. A cast party at a director's home was guaranteed to be a big blowout. "He said to drop by his office tomorrow at one o'clock if you don't have any plans."
"I planned to write for a few hours in the morning then visit Barnes & Noble in Studio City. I'm trying to introduce myself to the store managers in the area before my new book is released. I guess I can swing by Bernie's office on the way back." She gathered up her papers and tucked the word processor under her arm. "Did you eat anything?"
"I'm not hungry. I grabbed a sandwich from the buffet on set before I went to the gym. When I finished my workout, I wanted to get home and see what you were up to." My wink let her know what was on my mind.
"If you don't mind skipping dinner, I wouldn't mind you joining me in the shower." She opened the back door, and I followed her into the house.
"You don't have to ask me twice."
Shontae kept several bottles of Bath and Body Works shower gel inside the stall and beside the tub. I covered her in a blanket of fragrant bubbles as we showered. My body instantly went on heightened alert at the scent of her favorite fragrance. As she washed me, her gentle touch stirred my senses. I ended our shower by wrapping her in a towel and carrying her into the bedroom.
We made love in our typical rhythm that always began slow and unrushed yet ended with a breathless combined song of each other's names. No one needed to tell us how to hold each other. It didn't matter where the light was or if her hair covered her face. This was the real thing, and I lived for it.
Afterward I turned on the television and scanned the channels for a movie. Shontae laid her head on my chest and cuddled her soft body against mine. Once the credits rolled, her hands began a slow dance over my chest. Her foot ran up and down the inside of my leg, a clear signal that she wasn't interested in going to sleep. Of course I'd pay for it when the alarm went off in the morning, but the word no wasn't in my vocabulary when it came to a little four-legged frolic with my wife.
I don't care what anyone said, there was nothing better than being married to a woman you loved who loved you back. I'd been with a lot of women in my past, but never anyone who loved me the way she did. Shontae had become my world; but lately I'd been having weird dreams about her. They always hinted of someone or something threatening her. The threat was never clear in my nighttime visions, and I hadn't shared them with her or anyone else. All I knew was the thought of anything happening to her made me crazy. I would kill to protect her.
She pressed a kiss into my chest, murmured a soft goodnight. After I pulled her closer, I shook the disturbing thoughts from my mind and let the gentle rhythm of her breathing lull me to sleep.
From HOLLYWOOD SWINGING – 99 cents Kindle - http://amzn.to/lpgC8m & Nook - http://bit.ly/kx0ihv
![[image error]](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TrZAfiuBl_M/TpGPdq943YI/AAAAAAAAAHA/DxSLYAvfh60/s1600/HAVE+YOU+SEEN+HER+FINAL+COVER.jpg){kind=link}
![[image error]](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HzJFqW6MA9E/ToxuBAIh0kI/AAAAAAAAATk/4J5dGEvTI4Q/s1600/Halloween+4.jpg){kind=link}