Christine Nolfi's Blog, page 15
July 21, 2013
How I Invent Characters
Recently a book reviewer asked for a post on how I go about developing the rather unusual characters that populate my books. I suspect she was looking for process, a step-by-step procure used to develop a cast sure to make readers laugh at one moment then cry the next. Of course, the development of a novel isn’t quite that simple.
How do I invent characters? There’s no easy answer.
Each novel arises in a distinctive fashion. Over the decades I’ve written dozens of books and thrown most away, de...
July 17, 2013
Collateral Damage Tour and Prizes
Frederick Lee Brooke has designed an amazing INTERNATIONAL BLOG TOUR to introduce his new novel in the Annie Ogden series, COLLATERAL DAMAGE! Fred’s tour involves sharing 26 chapters of Collateral Damage across 26 days and 26 different blogs! Chapter 24 comes to you today from the beautiful beautiful beaches and historic city of Charleston, South Carolina.
AND… you can get in on a fantastic GIVEAWAY! Win a $25 Amazon gift card AND a signed paperback edition of any book by Frederick Lee Brooke....
July 15, 2013
How to Publish and Profit
Gather together a group of career writers and you’ll hear a litany of diverse if familiar complaints. “Social media has taken over my life.” “I hate my new WIP.” “My sales took off, and I gained 20 pounds.” “I’m suffering the worst writer’s block I’ve ever experienced.”
The complaints seem as unique as the authors voicing them, but it all funnels down to the same problem: these artists have lost an essential ingredient of the creative spirit. They’re floundering.
The frenetic pace of modern lif...
July 12, 2013
Why Readers Need Honest Book Reviews
Today I’m delighted to host my good friend and GoodReads top reviewer, Naomi Blackburn. Her commitment to excellence in fiction and unfailing promotion of exceptional Indie books has garnered a large following of both writers and readers.
Please tell us about you, the Author CEO venture, and your participation in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Book.
In 2010, Sisterhood of the Traveling Book was launched on Goodreads. The “mission” of Sisterhood was to partner authors, particularly those indie...
July 8, 2013
Why Your Book Doesn’t Sell
Chat with me on Twitter at @christinenolfi and you’ll quickly deduce that I believe social media should foster authentic relationships and encourage new connections. By making myself available I’ve chatted with hundreds (thousands?) of people over the years. Some of those delightful folks are authors disenchanted with the publishing process. Try as they might, they can’t drag a beloved book out of the dungeon.
Don’t get me wrong—the competition is fierce. You must work hard to hone your craft...
July 3, 2013
July 1, 2013
GoodReads Strategies to Increase Sales
Tell the truth: After indie publishing your book, did you rush to GoodReads and attempt to “friend” dozens of authors in a misguided belief the effort would ignite book sales? No doubt many of those overworked scribes who ignored your request wish you nothing but good fortune. They’re simply too busy writing, marketing and cultivating a readership to chum around with the new kid on the block.
Like FaceBook, GoodReads has instituted a friend limit of 5,000 because the current system doesn’t han...
June 14, 2013
The Window God Opens
Recently my youngest child graduated from high school at the age of 21. If you’ve read posts on my website, you probably know my children are a sibling group adopted from the Philippines in 1996. Marguerite weighed 24 pounds and wore 18-month baby clothes when we first met. She was four and ½ years old.
By definition any child adopted after early infancy has special needs—and my kids were more special than most. Abuse, neglect and malnutrition had all left a toll. We spent years roaming the h...
June 11, 2013
New Cover Art
I’m simply thrilled with the new cover art for The Tree of Everlasting Knowledge. Don’t you think the woman on the new cover resembles Tree’s protagonist, Ourania? I do!
The post New Cover Art appeared first on Christine Nolfi.
June 3, 2013
A Writer’s Heart
I found the definition of author to be: ‘the maker of anything; creator; originator’. When an author writes a book, they write from the heart. They write what is inside of them. They write from what they know, or what they imagine. They put their heart and soul into every word they pen to paper.
I became a writer almost as form of therapy or escape from the reality that was my life at the time. There are many aspects of my own life within the pages of my books. The abuse, the violence, even th...
