Barbara G. Tarn's Blog, page 169
July 29, 2012
Sunday Interview – Roz Lee
I read an excerpt of Still taking chances on Six Sentence Sunday sometime last year, and had it on my Kindle for a few months… I finally managed to read it, and WOW! A Dom-sub love story – perfect length, perfect “heat”, perfect everything! 
So I had to contact the author and ask her the usual questions… Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Roz Lee!
1. Where do you live and write from?
This should be a really easy question to answer, but for me – not so much! Technically, I live in New Jersey, but my husband’s job is in California, so we’ve come up with a system that works for us – for now. Hubby lives in California, and I split my time between both coasts. Fall and winter in California, spring and summer in New Jersey. The system has its obvious drawbacks, but in this economy, you do what you have to do. Thankfully, my work is portable. Have laptop, will travel!
2. When did you start writing?
I’m a late bloomer. I didn’t begin writing until my kids were in high school, and I didn’t get really serious about it until they were in college! Who says empty nest syndrome is a bad thing?
3. What genre(s) do you write?
I write contemporary erotic romance, though my latest release, Sweet Carolina, is more of a traditional romance. I purposely turned down the heat level on that one for my youngest daughter who wanted me to write a story for her. Yeah, my girls are grown, but I’ve forbidden them to read my erotic romances until they’re married!
4. Where do you find your inspiration? Do you put yourself in your stories?
Oh, lordy! My family says they can’t take me anywhere because I will turn anything into a book! That’s not an inaccurate statement. I came up with the idea for my first published novel, The Lust Boat, while on a family cruise. The idea for Inside Heat came to me while surrounded by my husband’s business associates at a Padres baseball game. Yeah, it can be dangerous to take me places!
As for putting myself in my stories – I suppose I do. I think every writer does, to a point. After all, our characters spring from our imagination, so they are a part of us. Worse than putting myself in my books, I’ve been known to put friends and acquaintances in them – but never without their advance approval! Some people just belong in a book, you know?
[image error]5. Do you have a specific writing routine?
It would be nice if I did, but no. I write when the mood strikes – and at the expense of just about everything else. I tell everyone – if the floors are clean, I’m not writing. I may think about a story for a long time, but when I’m ready to tell it, I can get out a first draft in an amazingly short period of time. After that, I try to take a break from it – days, weeks, whatever it takes to get some perspective before I go back to it to see what I’ve got. The floors are usually clean during this phase. The laundry is done, and I actually cook meals!
Still Taking Chances is a perfect example of the way I work. The character of Elgin Huddleston popped into my head one day – name, physical attributes and all. He stayed in my head for nearly two years before I was ready to tell his story. Once the story was fully formed, I wrote it in less than a month – actually, I think it was about two weeks.
6. Outliner or improviser? Fast or slow writer?
Improviser – Fast writer. See answer to question #5 where you will see that the opposite is also true, only the outline is in my head, and it can take years for me to actually write the story.
7. Tell us about your latest book (add link if published)
My latest is Sweet Carolina. As I mentioned before, I wrote it at the urging of my youngest daughter. She’s a huge fan of professional stock car racing. I’d never seen a race until she hauled me to the longest one on the circuit – the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, NC. She really wanted me to write a story involving a racecar driver, so I told her I would – if I could come up with characters and a story I hadn’t seen before. Skip forward a few years. Add in several more races, a trip to the pits and the Hall of Fame, lots of research and countless hours watching television coverage of races, and I finally had a story.
Dell Wayne was once the most promising young driver on the circuit, but following the death of his racing legend father on the track, he’s earned the nickname – Madman. When Dell’s antics on the track cost him his ride, his childhood playmate, Carolina Hawkins, offers him a lifeline – a chance to drive for her team – Hawkins Racing.
Caro is living her dream – running her families race team, only it’s more of a nightmare than she expected. At twenty-three, she’s inherited the bones of a once respected garage, but if she can’t find a driver with the ability to win races, she’ll be looking for a job before the season is over. Unfortunately, the only qualified driver without a ride is Dell Wayne. There’s a good driver inside that fire suit somewhere, but can she find him before he drives Hawkins Racing into bankruptcy?
SWEET CAROLINA is available from these retailers.
iBookstore (I have no idea how to link to it!)
8. Indie publishing or traditional publishing – and why?
My first six books were with a small traditional publisher, and I’ll always be grateful to them for taking a chance on a new author. After a while, I realized I was doing most of the heavy lifting – writing the book and promoting the book. My publisher provided an editor and cover artist, formatting and distribution – all things I could acquire or do myself. So I did! I’ve self-published my last two books, and I’m loving the process. I have complete control from concept to banking the royalties, plus I can see in real-time what works and what doesn’t in regards to publicity. No more waiting six months to see how my sales were!
9. Any other projects in the pipeline?
I’m currently in the step away from it phase on the second book in the Mustangs Baseball (Inside Heat) series. I usually have a title by this point, but I’m still calling it Jason’s story. I promise to have a title before it goes on sale! I know my cover artist is anxious for me to come up with one. *hangs head in shame*
10. What is your goal as a writer and what are you doing to achieve it?
Funny you should ask. I recently had this same discussion with my cover artist. Here’s what I told her – and I was sort of joking, but not really. You know when you pick up a book, and the first thing you see is the author’s name and you have to scan the fine print to find the book title? That’s my goal – to be one of those authors!
I’m working on it – building name recognition, one book at a time. Thanks, Barb, for helping me with that – and thanks for having me over today – it’s been fun.
Well, it was my pleasure to have you here, Roz! Now I’ll have to check your other titles and add them to that never-ending TBR list, sigh! I just love this brand new world of… ebooks – and so do my (overloaded) bookshelves!
July 27, 2012
Random Friday
Because I was reading my own manuscripts, I didn’t have time to finish the book I’m reading for this post, so I’ll mention it next week.
Also, no new DVDs in sight – Agneepath got lost in transit, so I’ll look for it in NY or maybe London when I get there (although I KNOW in London it will be at 20£, so I’m not buying it at that price, LOL! I’ll do another order from Amazon UK after the summer). I need to watch again the last batch anyway, and as I’ve been singing the title song of Desi Boyz, that’s what I start with.
This weekend I’m off to celebrate my father’s 80th birthday, but you’ll have an interview on Sunday, so you’re not totally forgotten. When I’m not writing, I’m drawing, so I’ll conclude this short post with the latest artworks, done last weekend while I was procrastinating writing, LOL!
Shahrukh Khan
Have a great weekend!
July 25, 2012
Writer Wednesday
From Smashwords site:
July 20, 2012 – Big industry news. Author Solutions, one of the companies that put the “V” in “Vanity,” was acquired yesterday by Pearson, and will be operated within their Penguin imprint. Read the story here. It’s cool traditional publishers are starting to recognize the importance of self-publishing within the overall publishing ecosystem, but Author Solutions? I’m scratching my head. They’re well known for some questionable business practices, particularly around their aggressive sales tactics. They earn over 2/3 of their income selling services and packages to authors, not selling books to consumers. When I read this story here – http://www.business2community.com/books/publishing-predator-creep-0212342 – my blood boiled. Blogger Emily Suess has been maintaining a fascinating collection of stories about Author Solutions on her blog at http://blog.emilysuess.com/tag/author-solutions/. Will Penguin clean up Author Solutions’ act, and start focusing on helping authors sell books, as opposed to selling services to authors? Let’s hope so. If not, Penguin just wrapped an albatross around its neck.
I’m quite baffled too by Penguin’s move. Traditional publishers are losing their heads? Do writers still need New York? Apparently not, according to some indie authors. Check Kris Rusch’s deal breakers for 2012. Welcome to the revolution, says Kristen Lamb. And Carolyn McCray tells the best practises for Amazon e-book sales (OK, that’s actually one year old, but you never know – might still work!). Oh, and did you hear about the class act against Harlequin?
Bloggers, beware: you CAN get sued for using pics on your blog. A blogger’s story. I normally use only my pics – or if I have a guest, he/she comes in with his/her own. Yeah, I know posts look better with pics instead of all writing, but considering the breach of copyright involved, I’m not going to put a pic only to lure in readers. So, no pics this time, LOL!
Dean Wesley Smith on editing and proofing – again, do we really need traditional publishers for that? I don’t think so, but it’s a free world, do what you want! 
And check his tips on blurb writing if you can’t attend his wonderful workshops (I did last October, the same pair that’s just finished now), the post is an eye-opener, and have a look at the comments section as well. Finally I have Joe Konrath’s thoughts on this everchanging world of publishing…
Now to my writing news! Last week of Smashwords sale – everything 75% off. Which means even more free titles. Thanks to the person who gathered a whopping 7 books with the new discount! 
Really, you got yourself a deal! (And I think I know who you are, so double thanks – I’ll get to your book as soon as I can and pay full price for it!).
Got CVE3 back from the editors, so one last pass, then formatting and up we go on Smashwords and Kindle – and later on XinXii. That’s because I have to pass the document through calibre for XinXii, and I don’t like the way the e-books look on there, LOL! The meatgrinder or uploading the Word.doc saved as HTML to Kindle look so much better… I might try the MobyCreator as well… maybe…
Also finished Technological Angel, now on its way to beta-readers. I hope the only one who has read the original story (in Italian) tells me good news – that it’s improved! Now before I actually write down the sequel, I better move on to other projects. When the first book is out and the worldbuilding established, I can work on the next story, right? Gee, I’ll have to do another “bible”… as if I didn’t have enough already, both for Silvery Earth and the science-fantasy series! Like my cover artist says – I’m a volcano. I’m already working on both covers, although I’ll probably have to ask for help when I must choose one!
I’ve also finished SKYBAND 11, so I’ll do a PDF for DriveThru first and then maybe upload it to Lulu as well – but I’m not really selling the printed copies, so I don’t know. In August DayJob should allow me one week of drawing at work, so I might be able to do #12 before heading for Chicon! And as the story is getting more interesting for me (I look forward to the last chapter, but I can’t jump to it, LOL), maybe I’ll manage to finish it by the end of the year – wishful thinking? We’ll see!
July 22, 2012
Sunday Interview – Marjorie F.Baldwin
Sweet A.T.Weaver apologized for being long-winded and today’s guest also mentioned she was ready to cut some of her words. But you know what, ladies? This is your spotlight, and you can ramble as much as you please! I’m a writer, I know what it means when you just can’t stop because you’re writing about what you love. So I will stop rambling myself, apologize to the author for NOT reading her book yet – it’s on that infamous TBR pile a.k.a. my Smashwords library, sigh – and let you enjoy today’s guest. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Marjorie F.Baldwin!
Where do you live and write from?
North Carolina, on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. At least, for now. I’d like to move to Europe for a while and travel around a bit, then ultimately, retire in the Negev Desert.
When did you start writing?
When I was a kid, very young, I wrote my first story. I started making them up in my head earlier, though. My first character, Joshua Andrew Caine, was a 30-something cross between the Marlboro Man of the 1960s cigarette commercials and the blond version of Richard Chamberlain in Young Doctor Kildaire. Him, I conceived in my mind, fully-blown, when I was about five (in first grade).
As a child, I saw nothing wrong with imagining this fully-grown man in my head but as a middle-aged woman, I have to wonder what was going on in my child-mind that I made up adult characters instead of age-mates. William Harrington followed swiftly behind Joshua (no pun intended) though I did originally imagine them as just “very good friends.” I was an innocent child and definitely did not understand what sex was, let alone “sexual orientation.” Ah, the sweet ignorance! By my teens, I’d really fully-developed both Joshua and William and a half a dozen more characters from the series. Joshua and William were still very good friends, but they were already more than that—I just didn’t know what exactly. I figured out the what—that they were a gay couple—when I was around 20. I started writing the series a year or two later. I was seriously naïve in my teens despite being completely out there in the world (I started clubbing around age 12, in 1972 when there still were night clubs in Boston so I sure had the opportunity to see a lot but I seriously had no clue). I think I found them to be such interesting men and people, I just never really objectified them as sexual targets. Odd, because I usually have no trouble objectifying men as sexual targets (LOL).
What genre(s) do you write?
Science Fiction, more of the Classic SciFi and “psychological” kind than the exploding spaceships stories with alien wars that are so popular today. I write the old-fashioned stuff from the Golden Era—but with a fresh new voice. My voice ^)^ Since I do see humans (not just men) as sexual creatures, however, I have a lot of sex in my stories. It seems to bother some people while Romantic SF has actually grown into a genre unto itself. My SciFi stories don’t follow the “romance novel” format though. They’re more about the Sci in the Fi than the umm, you know what goes in the pie.
Where do you find your inspiration?
Oh, everywhere. All of life is story fodder. Living life keeps me full of ideas. Oddly, though, I’m coming to realize I never really read much of the works by female authors who are my age mates. It’s weird to discover this 30 years later as I begin to get my work published myself. I think we were all influenced by the same things, but in my teens and 20s, when I was really writing full-length novels at full speed, one after another, I read almost exclusively male science fiction authors or non-fiction works.
I never read the big names that started out in the 70s and 80s: Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K. LeGuin, Octavia Butler, and my now-favorite, Lois McMaster Bujold not to mention a host of others who won major awards while I was working white collar middle management jobs and writing “art for art’s sake” (not to share or publish). I wrote a lot, daily at least, more so on the weekends but I’d frequently go a day or two without sleep and just write for 12 hours in between my day job shifts. I worked in offices at unchallenging secretarial jobs back then, before I went to college. I had plenty of time to rest my brain at work (LOL)
During the 80s and 90s, I read a lot more of the scientific journals and other non-fiction (history) than I did fiction authors. I think if I’d read something like Butler’s Xenogenesis Trilogy (Lilith’s Brood) which I just read this year, either before or during the time I was originating The Phoenician Series, I would have decided to be “lazy” (like I think she was) and not have bothered writing in any of the actual science in my science fiction.
John Campbell would have rolled over in his grave to see Butler’s trilogy called “science fiction” because there’s no actual science in it. There’s a vague reference to it, sideways, but conversational hand-waving does not a science fiction story make. Back then, just knowing Campbell was out there and might read something of mine one day, even just “by accident,” made me feel like I had to live up to what I call the Campbell Standard of science in my SciFi. Campbell summarily rejected better stories than Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy for a lack of scientific basis. I wanted to be good enough for the Campbell Standard, so I focused on learning as much science as I could. In fact, that’s why I got a degree in Mechanical Engineering: for the first-hand knowledge of the math and sciences required. It just so happens I truly enjoy subjects like chemistry and physics, though, so it worked out all right. I just think the universe is a fascinating set of contradictions once you learn how it all works!
Do you have a specific writing routine?
Not really. I’m actually in the process of redefining my writing habits into a routine I can follow. I want to learn how to outline, how to plan, how to schedule pieces so I can divvy up my life into bite-sized pieces. I’m not sure I can be truly creative that way. We shall see how “organizing my art” actually works out for me ((smirk)) I’m a practically compulsive type of planner and scheduler in the rest of my life. I have no idea why I never applied my management skills to my writing. Probably because I’m afraid I’ll squash the creativity.
I’ve never specifically assigned myself a task to complete (i.e., write thus and such a scene today, then that one tomorrow, etc.) I’ve always just sat down and written whatever might pop into my head, usually starting at “The End” and working back towards the plot climax, then I skip around writing scenes, then I fill in the middle, and lastly, I try to write an opener that makes sense for the book I’ve already sketched out. It’s a system that has worked extremely well for me, but it’s hardly one I’d call “specific” or “routine.” I don’t even know if I could duplicate this process with any reliability. So I’m working on developing a reliable routine I can duplicate, predict, schedule and evaluate for effectiveness. Yeah, I’m that compulsively organized! So far, I’m doing all promo and no writing. I think this system is broken (haha) Wait, is this thing on?
Outliner or improviser? Fast or slow writer?
I answered the first question already and as to the second: very fast! I can easily turn out a first draft of 120,000 to 150,000 words in 3-4 weeks—assuming I don’t need to work a day job or do anything else. If my books are self-supporting, I could turn out multiple books very quickly. I am never—I repeat, n-e-v-e-r—at a loss for ideas or words to write. Or at least in my 51 years of life and 42 years of writing, I have never once attempted to write and been “unable” to do so. I’ve been distracted by real-life emergencies (you know, like work and buying or eating food) but my mind has never been unable to conceive of a story if I allow it to run unfettered.
I don’t edit while writing. I know a lot of writers do. I don’t. Deliberately. After I churn out the initial material, I go through numerous drafts honing and fine-tuning and tweaking sentences and correcting typos and filling in things I forgot to mention, etc. That’s all editing of one form or another and not writing; I edit very slowly. It’s quite a different beast than writing. I call writing “creative” while editing is “destructive.” Mostly I think they are opposites because I don’t care what I churn out during “writing” but I try to be ruthless in my slaughter during “editing.” It doesn’t always work. I need outside help for the “wet work” I think.
On that note, I’m just starting to work with others on the editing process. I’ve never done that before. I’ve always solicited people to read but not to edit. I call these people First Readers (FRs) because they like/read the kinds of stuff I write and take a look at my work then make comments. I don’t allow them access to the files or allow them to do any real editing of the content, so basically, it’s like getting early reviews and then changing the book.
Now, however, I’m working with people who are attempting to edit me, and are either professional editors or want to be professional editors. It’s a learning experience for both me and some of them. After more than a quarter century, I’m pretty good at posing questions to guide readers into the process of critiquing rather than giving opinions. With editors, however, I’m still learning how to exploit what they have to offer without losing months worth of time going through their changes afterwards and having to put things back the way I had them when I don’t agree with their suggested changes. Bottom line, after turning over a file once, I don’t think I’ll be doing it again. I think I’ll stick to the process that has worked for me for over 25 years.
I find the very best editor or editorial assistance will be when someone explains to me what’s wrong and then leaves it up to me to figure out how to fix it, rather than telling me what’s wrong and how they think it should be changed. It’s a subtle grey line between advice-giving and the realm of the AuthorGod’s creative license. I think an editor who “rewrites” an Author has overstepped their bounds. At least with me. With that in mind, I can say I’ve been truly blessed to find editorial help that works precisely the way I do. Cassie McCown at Gathering Leaves and I are a perfect match! Well, we’ll be a perfect match once I can afford to pay her what she’s worth—which ain’t cheap! She’s amazing.
I confess I do have one friend I’ve known online for about 25 years but have never met in person. Because he and I have communicated exclusively in writing and done so for a quarter of a century, he is uniquely qualified to practically read my mind when I leave a word out or misstate something. He knows what I mean rather than what I wrote. It’s like magic. We still misunderstand each other in email, though. It’s hilarious. I am currently a porcupine. May I shed my quills and use them for Good (writing) not Evil? Only time will tell!
Tell us about your latest book (add link if published)
I’ve just released the first of my Classic SciFi/Thrillers in The Phoenician Series: Conditioned Response which yes, is Book 2 of the series. The books were all written years ago, when I was 20ish, and centered around this one character I mentioned earlier named Joshua Andrew Caine. He’s a little more pompous now than he was when I first imagined him. As a teenager, I had a big crush on Dudley Do-Right (the blond Canadian Mounted Police man in the cartoons). I think I liked Dudley Do-Right because Joshua was a blond, not the other way around, though I definitely lifted a few of Dudley’s Good Guy traits to endow Joshua with some angelic qualities. He’s none of that now; he’s completely full of himself in Conditioned Response.
I haven’t written Book 1 yet. Conditioned Response was edited in 2005 both for a change to the setting (I took it off-Earth) and to create a new tossaway character, some “guy on the street” named Raif, who is a Proctor, or basically a cop (there’s that Dudley Do-Right thing again). As soon as I got Raif written down on the page, the guy outshined Joshua to the point of pushing him right off the pages of the entire book! Raif, I guess, took Joshua’s place as the central male character in Conditioned Response.
In fact, Raif took over enough I needed to renumber the books and make Conditioned Response Book 2 so that I could write a whole book just for Raif which will be Book 1. It’ll come out in 2013 (I hope!) What I have done is begin to go back in time, writing prequels. It’s really fun. Theoretically, I could do this indefinitely. I won’t, but I could.
I plan to release Book 1 next and then move forward with the series in its normal chronological order. Since the later books are already written and just need to be edited, I estimate a 6-9 month per book schedule but it could take longer. We’ll have to see. I won’t release something halfway done.
The universe of The Phoenician Series is still centered around Joshua Andrew Caine—he’d have it no other way!—but Book 1 will be Joshua’s past, who he was, has been, will have to resolve to end being. In Book 2, Conditioned Response, Raif will be Joshua’s present; and in Book 3, Brennan will become Joshua’s future. I cannot tell you who is the central male lead character in Book 4 or I’ll be giving away the end of the series ((grin)) The point is that the entire series keeps coming back to Joshua Andrew Caine.
Because of this, it occurred to me to write a prequel talking about Joshua, kind of to tide people over while I work on editing Book 1. I’m about halfway through writing a short story titled When Minds Collide which will tell the story of how Joshua Andrew Caine came into existence. He didn’t always used to be … the man you meet in Conditioned Response.
I’ve got a snippet of the early draft opening paragraphs for When Minds Collide on Goodreads. I’ll be releasing that as a free giveaway through Smashwords, so it’ll be at all of the regular eTailer sites (e.g., iTunes, Kobo, Nook, etc.) I’ll upload it directly to the Amazon Kindle store but they don’t like to let Indie Authors price books as “free” unless we join/enroll in their program granting them exclusive rights for a period of 90 days (3 months). I don’t see the point in limiting my readers on purpose so I’m going with the 99c option I guess. Whatever it takes. Smashwords will allow me to make it free. Get it there Or read the intro sample here and now if you just can’t wait to get more of The Phoenician Series.
Indie publishing or traditional publishing – and why?
Indie for now, definitely. In part, it’s a control issue and partly it’s an impatience issue. I don’t have the patience to query a publisher (who will take 85% or more of my profits off the top) and then wait 3 months to be told “No, we won’t look at your work” and not have a clue as to why not.
Nor do I want to waste time to solicit agents who will take 12.5% of my remaining 15% only to have some agent tell me my work needs to be changed like this and that and the other thing. Why? So they can sell it to their good buddy at thus-and-such a known publishing house instead of going out and working to find my market where they already exist? There are readers out there for nearly everything. You just have to find them—and an agent works with people he or she already knows. The traditional publishing model is absolutely all about “who you know” not “what you write.”
I’d rather deliver the entire set of books in The Phoenician Seriesmy way and then let the work speak for itself. If a traditional publisher wants to approach me, I can guarantee them I have a few dozen more books “in the drawer” already set to be professionally edited into salable and marketable format. The ideas I had in my teens and 20s are still fresh and original from what I’ve read. I’m a pretty voracious reader but I have to confess, I haven’t been interested in much of the cookie cutter stuff of the last ten or so years. I still enjoy my own work. Repeatedly.
If a publisher like Tor/Forge or even a smaller one like Baen Books approached me, I’d definitely take the meeting and think long and hard about how I can sell them some of my books without sacrificing my established brand. There’s always a pen name. Oh yeah, that’s right, I’m already doing that! (LOL)
What is your goal as a writer and what are you doing to achieve it?
I am both an Indie Author and an Indie Publisher, with some plans in the future to publish other Indie Authors. As such, I know what it takes to market a book and you don’t try to sell apples to people who love bananas. It just doesn’t work. There are so many people who love apples, why even try? Just go to your market instead of expecting your market to come to you. It’s so upsidedown sometimes.
I want to release my first work myself but that doesn’t mean I want to keep doing it all myself. I’d rather write more books! (LOL) I guess my real long-term goal is to get a traditional publisher to take over my marketing and promotion or better yet, get a sufficient and ongoing stream of revenue from my books that I can just hire a PR firm full-time to do it all. I can run an Indie Publishing house and write books if I hire a PR firm to do the promotion and marketing.
In fact, I’d like to hire someone else to do all of the crap that goes with being a small business owner—and being an Indie Author, not to mention an Indie Publisher, is definitely being a small business owner. Then I can focus on writing the next book. That’s my goal. Write full-time without sacrificing the need to stay in business.
I’m just over 50 now. Even with my lightning speeds, I can’t possibly write and release all of the books I have in me before I die. I have too many books in my head and more arriving every day! That’s not bragging. That’s the reality I live with: I don’t have enough time left to write everything I want to write. It’s both exciting and sad.
I have a solid handle on the promotional activity and simply need to spend the time and effort on it. Promoting a book is a full-time job. Promoting and writing is more than a full-time job. Promoting and writing and reading and learning and living life…that’s more than 3 full-time jobs. My future is definitely going to include hiring a PR firm for the marketing and promotion stuff. I’ll handle the rest of that list myself. With pleasure.((grin))
Links to Friday Baldwin:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FridayBaldwin or
http://www.facebook.com/PhoenicianSeries
Twitter:
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/marjoriefbaldwin
Blog: The Phoenician Series Blog
Read a free sample of Conditioned Response available in all eBook formats via Smashwords: http://bit.ly/SW-CondResp
July 20, 2012
Random Friday
The heat is making me sleepier than ever. So let’s see if I manage to say something remotely intelligent today.
Reading: I managed to go through a couple of books. A paper anthology, Love and Rockets, which I bought last October.
yikes! A paperback… where’s my Kindle?? Anyway, 3 stars and a half (dunno how to do the half star on GR).
Favorites: Wanted by Anita Ensal, Music in time by Dean Wesley Smith and Drinking Games by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
Those were 5 stars. The others go from 2 to 4 depending on the story…
Ahem, yes, I bought it because my two mentors were in it, and I was eager to read their fiction. And I gave them both 5 stars because they deserve them. They’re real pros, and I better read more from them, maybe the longer works (I have a Kris Rusch novel that I bought at the same time, but it’s a paperback, so… on the back-burner at the moment, LOL!).
I organized my Kindle reads by writing a list with the page number and numbered them from the shortest to the longest. I’ll read the “less than 100 pages”, then a paper book, then “up to 200 pages” then paper, etc. I’ve started reading the shortest,i.e. under 100pages. Next I’ll have to grab a dead tree book, hoping to finish it before next weekend when I have to travel (my dad turns 80, and I have a car ride but also a train ride, so the Kindle is better for travel! ).
Blue Galaxy: it was my first sci-fi romance. I really liked it – not too romantic and with good action and surprises. I guess it’s a genre worth exploring!
The Djinn’s dilemma: I’m not really into paranormal romance (not too fond of vampires and werewolves are too hairy for my tastes), but if it involves a djinn… well, that’s not something you see every day! I enjoyed this story very much – and I’m not a Mills&Boon fan either (yeah, I’m a cynic!), but this one was well balanced in all its aspects.
I found this (djinn) last year through Six Sentence Sunday, so again, see how long it takes me to get to reading stuff? Sigh. Actually, there’s another, but I interviewed the author, so you’ll hear about that one in a couple of Sundays. My brain is too fried to think about anything else to say today… so have a great weekend!
July 18, 2012
Writer Wednesday
Writing weekend was good – Saturday working on CVE3, Sunday on Technological Angel. The new “slashy” ending of my science-fantasy has already given birth to another drawing that might become the cover of a (probably) shorter sequel – no spoilers, so no previews, sorry! I already started thinking about it, but we’ll see if I deem it worth writing, or better, worth publishing! Some stories I’d rather keep them for myself, but I love this couple – so why do I want to hurt them and tear them apart in a sequel? Because sometimes I’m a sadist author!
Anyway, I agree with Kris Rusch again – writing can be taught or learned, through hard work and not giving up just because someone didn’t like your story. And no need to go to university or college or whatever you call it for that. I’m proudly self-taught and was happily unpublished for thirty years, which allowed me to refine my craft and find my voice. Now, not everything I wrote is publishable. Even the comics and graphic novels – I look at my older works and go “Yikes! I better write the prose version of that!”. But then sometimes I go “Yikes!” even with SKYBAND – why? Because I don’t practice enough! Drawing is definitely a hobby, but writing must become my career.
And thank God the world of publishing is changing. Yes, I’d love to find somebody who does the formatting and marketing and dealing with Amazon, Smashwords, etc for me, but at the same time I’m sick of waiting for somebody to help me, so I trudge on, hoping to find validation through my readers, who haven’t found me yet, but I’m not stopping now. During the weekend I also re-read a couple of my stories (Lords of War and Allan de Sayek) and I’m still one of my favorite authors, LOL!
Anyway, here are some posts for you. The future of publishing. Traditionally published author going indie. Traditional publishers vs self-publishing. Challenges to innovation in publishing. Why e-books are not paper books. McMillan’s plans for the future.
As for the future of Unicorn Productions, books will keep coming out, available mostly in e-book format until I find someone who really really really wants a dead tree book (I still have paper copies of BoI – Air, collector’s edition as I unpublished the “European Version” from Lulu). For me, I’d rather read printed PDFs or on my Kindle. Soon I’ll go direct to Kobo, so even if some titles will still be through Smashwords (or maybe I’ll opt them out from Premium Distribution), more will be available there (there were more when they didn’t require an ISBN – I had to opt out half the titles at Smashwords because the short stories don’t have an ISBN. Hopefully I’ll be able to upload those direct. And for the new titles, I’ll study the FAQs and then decide, LOL).
Now I better go back to writing. Have a great week!
July 16, 2012
July 13, 2012
Random Friday
I might keep this short and sweet. Well, not so sweet, probably. Because I’m not really into sweets or cakes in the first place. And it’s so darn hot my energies keep going down the gutter. And I’m moody and a spinster – mostly. OK: sweet note first. A very special thanks to whoever yesterday bought the five Books of the Immortals on the Smashwords sale. Hope you enjoy! Now brace yourself for a rant…
I hate the summer. But mostly I hate AC and the abuse everybody does of it. I hated it during my many US trips (the first 2 or 3 I caught awful colds, now I’ve learned to travel with a jumper for inside and t-shirt for outside – but once a room in LA during a Screenwriting Expo panel was so cold I actually had to keep my ANORAK on. Turn down the damn stuff, you crazy people!!!!) and now I hate it in Rome. Because I normally don’t go on vacation during June-August (the hotter months), I’m forced to AC at the office. And I’m forced to hear people say “well, at least you have AC at the office” or “why don’t you put AC at home? Can’t you feel the heat?”.
Yes, I DO feel the heat, probably more than you do. I have low blood pressure, of course I hate the heat. But AC gives me migraines, belly aches and other nice things I’d rather be without. A fan – even if it moves warm air – is certainly better for my body and my mood. I hate waking up all sticky and sweaty, but I hate even more waking up with a headache from AC! So I drink a lot, sweat a lot – and swear a lot when I’m forced to spend hours in a place with AC. Might be quick if I go to McDonald (yesterday I ordered take away from the outside window, though) but the five working hours destroy me worse than the outside heat. Sigh.
I sure hope my roomie at Chicon7 will not insist on having AC on in the room… end of August should be cooler anyway! Anyway, end rant. (I could go on saying how I think this is technology abuse and if we survived all those centuries without it – albeit without the hole in the ozone – we should be able to do without it and besides it’s all our fault anyway, but I said end rant, so END RANT it is! ).
To end on a sweeter note, I’ll ramble about reading. Like Michael Kingswood, I’m probably saying goodbye to print books very soon – I’ll finish the pile that has been waiting on my desk, but won’t buy anything new. I’m currently reading a paperback I bought in Lincoln City last October, and I look forward to get back to my Kindle. To fill it with books from my Smashwords library that won’t take any room on my bookshelves and can come with me wherever I want. I won’t re-buy e-books of books that I already own in print, but I will not buy new titles – unless they’re graphic novels, of course. Comics and graphic novels don’t look good on Kindle yet.
OK, one more thing. My mom&sis went to India (Ladakh and Kashmir – Himalayas and Buddist monasteries) and I got some souvenirs.
Yep, that’s a sari (and assorted souvenirs). I’m doing the close-up of the embroidery especially for Prue – made me think of her Adelina! (Which reminds me I still have to read her Lalita’s story… where’s my Kindle again? I had paper books of the first two Eirie books, but now it’s all e-books, LOL)
And yes, if you happen to come to Roma, you can have a cup of real chai (without milk, as I normally don’t have it in my fridge, but if you call before you come, I might get it for you! )! And I’ll be very grateful if you can even tell me how to wear the damn thing! I learn fast, I only need to be shown once!
That’s all for today! Have a great weekend and see you next week!
