Meredith Allard's Blog, page 36
October 2, 2013
How Do You Sell 50,000 Books?
I have no idea. Yet somehow I’ve done it.
Occasionally, someone will ask me how many books I’ve sold, and up until a few weeks ago, my best answer was, “I have no clue.” I check my Amazon rankings on occasion, as most authors do, but I learned a long time ago not to check my sales too often. I found my temperament that day was based on how many books I sold, you know, like when you’re on a diet and your mood is determined by how many pounds you lost—or didn’t. About three weeks ago, I saw my novel Woman of Stones on the Amazon Best Seller list in Inspirational Fiction. I’ve been lucky enough to have had five novels on the Amazon Best Seller lists over the last two years, and suddenly (finally, you might say) I became curious about, well, how many books have I sold? I spent a Saturday afternoon tallying up the figures from Amazon, CreateSpace, and Smashwords, and there it was, over 50,000 copies sold.
The vast majority of my sales have come from The Loving Husband Trilogy.
Sure, there are well-known authors who can sell that many books in a month, a week, a day, even, but for me, as an indie author who started almost out of nowhere, 50,000 works for me. I read somewhere that most indie books sell around 500 copies, so I have no complaints.
My journey into indie publishing is similar to other stories I’ve heard. I had written three historical novels between 1994 and 2007, and I had the same frustrations others do when trying to get published the traditional way. At one point I had an agent who turned out to be less than I hoped for. When I was close to a deal with a major publisher, she decided to switch gears and become a theatrical agent. Which is fine. Really. People change their minds about what careers they want every day. But she didn’t tell me she was no longer a literary agent. She just disappeared. Poof! Gone. It took several weeks to track her down to find out what had happened. God bless any actors who have this woman as their agent. Hopefully she carried through with their contracts before disappearing to become who-knows-what—a potato farmer in Idaho perhaps.
I had to start all over again searching for an agent. The hardest part about the rejection letters for me wasn’t the form letters. Those never bothered me. We send out form letters at Copperfield, so I understand it’s nothing personal. It just means the work isn’t right for that agent or editor for whatever reason. The hard ones to take were the letters that said, “I like your story and I can see your talent, but I don’t know who to sell this to.” What do I do with a comment like that? I would have rather received a form letter.
With my previous three novels, I became frustrated and ended up leaving them aside, never forgotten, but no longer actively pursued. But Her Dear & Loving Husband was different. I wasn’t willing to take no for an answer. I had a sense there was an audience for this book. Around this time (this was 2010-2011) I was reading a lot about the indie author revolution, and I was intrigued. I had previous experience with self-publishing through a pay-for-play company that was less than wonderful, so I was hesitant to go that route again. But self-publishing in 2011 was very different than it was in 2000, and the more I read about it the more I thought self-publishing was something I could do. After all, what’s the harm in trying?
Through my work with The Copperfield Review we created Copperfield Press, and two and a half years later I have six novels published, and between the six novels I have sold more than 50,000 copies and given away more than 100,000 copies. After I made that realization I decided I wanted to share how I’ve been navigating my way along the path of indie publishing. Some of my methods are tried and true, tested by indie authors who came before me. But I’ve always been one to march to the beat of my own drummer, and advice from others doesn’t always work for me.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing what I’ve done (and what I haven’t done) as I’ve joined the indie publishing movement. I’m not an expert on indie publishing, and here’s the big secret that’s really no secret at all—no one is an expert in indie publishing. Indie publishing is one giant experiment, and the more indie authors understand that, the more enjoyable the process can be. I’ve stopped looking at the indie author’s journey as a chore, and I’m hoping I can help others do the same.
Filed under: Publishing, Writing Tagged: Indie Authors, indie publishing, selling e-books, The Loving Husband Trilogy
September 2, 2013
Her Dear & Loving Husband is on tour through October
Her Dear & Loving Husband is on tour from September 3rd until October 15th through Teddy Rose and her fabulous Premier VirtualAuthorBookTours.com. Stop by and say hello! Here are the tour dates and websites:
So Many Precious books Sept 3 Spotlight & Giveaway
VW Stitcher Sept 3 Review
Genuine Jenn Sept 4 Review
Book Snatch Sept 4 Interview & Giveaway
Crossroads Sept 5th Review
A Chick Who Reads Sept 6 Guest Post
Peeking Between the Pages Sept 9 Review & Giveaway
Books & Bindings Sept 10 Review
Books & Bindings Sept 10 Guest Post & Giveaway
Books, Books & More Books Sept 11 Review
Mom With a Kindle Sept 12 Review
In This World of Books Sept 13 Review & Giveaway
Mina Burrows Sept 13 Guest Post
From the TBR Pile Sept 16 Review
Every Free Chance Sept 16 Guest Post & Giveaway
Open Book Society Sept 17 Review
My Seryniti Sept 18 Review
Talk Supe Sept 19 Review
Talk Supe Sept 19 Interview & Giveaway
My Cozy Corner Sept 20 Review
Giveaways & Glitter Sept 23 Review & Giveaway
Saving for 6 Sept 24 Review
Manic Mama of 2 Sept 25 Review
No Wasted Ink Sept 25 Interview
Moonlight Lace & Mayhem Sept 26 Review
Moonlight Lace & Mayhem Sept 27 Guest Post & Giveaway
My Precious Sept 27 Review
Broken Teepee Sept 30 Review & Giveaway
Romance & Inspirations Oct. 1 Review
Faerie Tale Books Oct 2 Review
My Devotional Thoughts Oct 3 Review
My Devotional Thoughts Oct 4 Interview & Giveaway
Joy Story Oct 4 Review
My Self Confessions Oct 7 Review
My Self Confessions Oct 8 Guest Post
Rainy Days & Pajamas Oct 8 Review & Giveaway
New Age Mama Oct 9 Review
DWED Oct 10 Review
DWED Oct 11 Interview
Chic Book Chick Oct 11 Review
Sweeps4Bloggers Oct 12 Review & Giveaway
Literary Winner Oct 15 Review & Giveaway
Filed under: Her Dear & Loving Husband, News Tagged: Blog Tour, Her Dear & Loving Husband, Virtual Author Book Tours
August 26, 2013
When a Book Changes Your Life
“I don’t want to change anything, because I don’t know how to deal with change. I’m used to the way I am.”
From Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist
How often does a book change your life? I’m not talking about books you love so much you read them again and again. I’m not even talking about books that prompt you to think differently. I’m talking about books that cause you to do something, to take action. Just because I’ve loved a book doesn’t mean I make any changes in my day-to-day life after reading it. When I’m reading the book I’m engrossed in it, but then I close the covers and go back to my life, doing the same thing at the same time most days of the week, most weeks of the year.
About a year ago I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho when it was one of the books available for a literature class I was teaching. The books in the textbook room were brand new, as in no one else had used them. The pages were crisp, the covers unmarked, but that didn’t deter me. When I read the book I fell in love with the simple yet profound message of finding the power of dreams and staying true to your destiny. The Alchemist is a parable about how what you’re looking for is already within you (think Glinda the Good Witch telling Dorothy she’s always had the power within her—only without the sparkly red slippers). It’s the story of Santiago, the young Andalusian shepherd who has always wanted to travel and ends up on a journey of self-discovery:
“My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer,” the boy (Santiago) told the Alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky.
“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams.”
Of all the characters in The Alchemist, the one I most related to (as I would guess most people do) is the crystal merchant. Santiago is stranded after his money is stolen, and he goes to work for the crystal merchant, who treats Santiago with kindness. Though the merchant is afraid of change, he takes Santiago’s advice and makes changes to his crystal shop. Because of Santiago’s ideas, the crystal shop thrives. The crystal merchant has dreams of travel like Santiago, but he’s full of excuses. He reminds me of that complaining relative everyone has—I can’t do this because… I can’t do that since… You think you’re not feeling well? Let me tell you about not feeling well… Like many of us, the merchant hides his heart’s desire behind worries. He can’t go to Mecca because… It’s not a good idea since… The crystal merchant fears that if he does finally go to Mecca he’ll have nothing else to look forward to.
The view from the Globe Theater in London.
I wasn’t dreaming of Mecca, but I had been wanting to visit London for more than a decade. As a student of English literature, a trip to England seemed somehow necessary. But, like the crystal merchant, I made excuses. England, especially London, is too expensive. It’s too far. I don’t like flying. England is an entirely different country! How would I know what to do or where to go in another country? I didn’t have a passport. Don’t they use different money there? Oh, did I mention how expensive England, especially London, is? But after reading about Santiago’s journey of self-discovery—how he achieved his dreams despite the obstacles—I realized how flimsy a lot of the crystal merchant’s excuses sounded. And if the crystal merchant’s excuses were flimsy, and I made the same excuses, then I’m not any better than the crystal merchant.
I began examining my excuses about not visiting England one by one to see what, if any, validity they had. Here’s what I found:
1. England, especially London, is definitely expensive, but the truth is I had the money. I’ve been fortunate enough to have sold a fair number of books and I had money set aside. When I looked into airfare, hotel, and the cost of meals and attractions, I had to cross too expensive off my list because it wasn’t true—I could afford it.
Haymarket in London
2. London is far from Las Vegas, Nevada, 5235 miles to be exact, which is ten hours airplane time. True, I don’t like to fly, but I had already discovered that just because I don’t like to fly doesn’t mean I can’t. Whenever I do travel by plane I get an aisle seat and pretend I’m on a bus or a train. And it’s not like I have to know how to work the controls in the cockpit. I just have to sit there. I didn’t want to be one of those people who are so afraid of flying they never go anywhere. I had been that way for a while, but there are places I want to go so I had to get over my fears. Not wanting to fly ten hours was no longer an excuse.
3. It’s true that England is a different country thanks to that little squabble called the American Revolution circa 1776. I often think of that quote from George Bernard Shaw: “England and America are two countries separated by a common language.” But they do speak English in England, English an American can understand, even, and from reading so much British literature and watching so much British television I like to think I speak conversational British English. So yes, England is a different country, but since I wouldn’t have trouble communicating with anyone that wasn’t an excuse—at least not a good one.
4. No passport? Seriously? Two filled-out forms, two hours in the post office, one bad photograph, and $150 later the lack of a passport was no longer an issue. They do use different money in England, but a trip to the ATM gave me a few hundred dollars, which the nice man at my bank exchanged for ten British pounds (that’s an exaggeration, but not by much).
Regent Street in London
I realized I didn’t want to look back and know I missed my chance to go to London. I booked my flight and hotel room, I bought a few tourist guides, signed up on Rick Steves’ travel website, and a few months later I was there, in London, seeing places I had dreamed of for years. I wasn’t disappointed when I got there the way the crystal merchant expected he would be disappointed. I loved being in London. It’s a truly international city and an easy place to visit for tourists who haven’t been there before. I even went to Paris. Despite my French surname, I don’t speak a word of French (American English and conversational British English are as far as I go), but I managed to get around and back to the airport on time and in one piece. In other words, my trip wasn’t a colossal failure as the crystal merchant thought his journey would be. It was a joy, and I’m already making plans to visit again next summer.
I wouldn’t have visited London if I hadn’t read The Alchemist. Goes to show how inspiration to follow your dreams can come from anywhere—even an unused stack of books in the textbook room.
Filed under: Spirituality Tagged: London, Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist, traveling
August 15, 2013
Book Review: Quiet by Susan Cain
I don’t usually post book reviews here (you can find my reviews on The Copperfield Review and Goodreads), but I particularly loved this book so I thought I’d share it.
* * * * *
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
Written by Susan Cain
Published by Broadway Books
After I read Quiet, I wanted to shout ‘I’m an introvert!’ from the tallest building, but then the buildings around here aren’t very tall and I’m an introvert so I wouldn’t have shouted very loudly anyway. The shout would have been a whimper, and then I would have been upset with myself for not yelling louder. After a sigh, I gave up on the idea and went back into my house where I could be alone, which is where I wanted to be in the first place.
I had heard the terms ‘introvert’ and ‘extrovert’ many times over the years, and I understood that along those lines I fell on the introvert side of the spectrum. Like most writers, I’d rather be home behind my computer screen writing stories, blog posts, or reviews like these than doing almost anything else. In regards to degrees of introversion, I am in extremis. I’m not dying from introversion, mind you, but I’m so far there that if you pushed me I’d drop away never to be seen or heard from again.
In Quiet, Susan Cain pleads the case for introverts like myself by using examples and research, and she shows how introverts have made many contributions to society in areas like technology and entertainment. She points out what is obvious but should be stated in a book about introverts: we live in a society where extroversion is idealized and rewarded whereas introversion is discouraged and not rewarded. Cain points to the current trend toward group or cooperative work, and then she says something I’ve been longing to hear for 20 years: group work is inherently difficult for introverts. I know this is true from frequent workshops where the directions are “Turn to your neighbor and say…” or “Form a group of four and create a…” I’m not an unfriendly person, truly. But, as Cain points out, introverts cannot think on demand. Group leaders who are trying to teach are doing an injustice to introverts by insisting that their lessons consist of talking it out. Like other introverts, I don’t learn by talking, especially to strangers. I learn by figuring it out for myself. I realized in grad school as we sat around the table discussing great works of literature that I didn’t know how to insert myself into the conversation, and the thought that I should interject somehow left me more stressed than I already was.
Each page of Quiet was an “A ha!” moment for me. One of the biggest lessons I learned is that the societal push toward extroversion isn’t always a good thing. It turns out that 1/3 of people are introverts, people like me who would rather read or write than go to parties or speak out about anything anywhere. When Cain talks about how introverts need time to recharge because being in the world can drain their energy, my heart swelled—in a good way. Here Cain describes what I have always known about myself but never had the words to articulate. For my entire life I thought I was just weird. I’m not saying I’m not weird, I’m just saying I’m weird for other reasons. Why I chose the careers I did, why I live my life as I do—it all makes sense to me in a way it didn’t before I read Quiet. I had spent most of my life feeling bad about myself, feeling like I should force myself to be more social, but this book helped me realize that if I get my jollies staying home and working around the house, that’s okay. I still need to function in the world, but I can take the time I need to recharge.
Introverts will always have to deal with the negatives—being considered anti-social, being told to smile more, listening to the comments after you stay in your office because you need to recharge instead of going out for a noisy lunch with coworkers. Reading Quiet gave me the ability to say, “I don’t have to be like them. I can be myself.” What better gift can a book give?
If you’re an introvert, or you’re in a close relationship with one, you will want to read Quiet for its perceptive insights about being an introvert in an extroverted society.
Filed under: Book Reviews Tagged: book reviews, introverts, Quiet, Susan Cain
August 12, 2013
Her Dear & Loving Husband is Now on Tour…with Giveaways!
Her Dear & Loving Husband, Book One in the Loving Husband Trilogy, is now on tour through BestChickLit. Below are the tour dates and links to the websites. Please stop by and say hello! There are also some great prizes to win. If you’re in the Massachusetts area, or you’ll be traveling there, check out the giveaway for dinner for two at Adriatic Restaurant and Bar, in Salem, MA.
Stop 1 on August 12th – BestChickLit
Stop 2 on August 13th – The Gutter Girls
http://www.guttergirlsbookreviews.com/?zx=a3fc560b4c0b9daa
Stop 3 on August 14th – Book Junkie: Not-So-Anonymous
http://ashleythebookjunkie.blogspot.co.uk
Stop 4 on August 15th – Victoria Loves Books
https://victorialovesbooks.wordpress.com
Stop 5 on August 16th – Make My Day Books
http://makemydaybooks.blogspot.co.uk
Stop 6 on August 19th – Old Victorian Quill
http://oldvictorianquill.wordpress.com
Stop 7 on August 21st – Sheli Reads
http://shelireads.wordpress.com
Stop 8 on August 23rd – A Reading Nurse
http://areadingnurse.blogspot.co.uk
Stop 9 on August 26th – Blue Harvest Creative
https://blueharvestcreative.wordpress.com
Stop 10 on August 27th – Cosmochicklitan
https://cosmochicklitan.wordpress.com
Giveaways:
Giveaway 1:
Paperback copy of the nonfiction book The Salem Witch Trials: A Day by Day Chronicles of a Community Under Siege by Marilynne K. Roach–an important book for my research about the Salem Witch Trials.
Giveaway 2:
Dinner for 2 people at Adriatic Restaurant and Bar, Salem, MA–the setting for the Loving Husband Trilogy and a wonderful place to visit.
Click on the links of the hosts on the day of my tour stop to enter the giveaways. Good luck!
Filed under: Giveaways, Her Dear & Loving Husband, News Tagged: Adriatic Restaurant and Bar, BestChickLit, Blog Tours, Giveaways, Her Dear & Loving Husband, Massachusetts, Salem, Salem Witch Trials
August 5, 2013
Do You Need to Travel to the Place You’re Writing About?
Pittock Mansion in Portland, Oregon
You don’t need to travel to the place you’re writing about, but it’s helpful to go if you can.
Sometimes traveling for research happens by accident, when you find a jewel you didn’t know you were looking for. That’s what happened to me when I was in Portland, Oregon and I found my way to Pittock Mansion. It is a mansion indeed, nestled in the West Hills 1000 feet above Portland with a panoramic view of the city. I’m starting a new novel that will combine a story idea I’ve been kicking around for years with inspiration from my new obsession—Downton Abbey (I know—I’m about three years late to the Downton Abbey party). When I was in Portland I saw something about Pittock Mansion and I knew I had to visit. That afternoon I found myself standing in an old house that echoes the grand English house in Downton, as much as a frontier American house can. I had assumed that Highclere Castle, brilliant in its role as Downton Abbey, was hundreds of years old, but, based on what I found on the website, the mansion has stood in its current incarnation only since 1878 when the interior modeling was completed. I say only since 1878 because, having visited Westminster Abbey in London, I now think everything in Britain is 1000 years old. That makes the current version of Highclere Castle 36 years older than Pittock Mansion, which was completed in 1914. And the two houses might as well be kissing cousins since they have so much in common.
The library at Pittock Mansion
Unlike Downton’s Lord Grantham, Henry Pittock was, first, an actual person, and second, a self-made man. He was English born, Pittock, arriving in America at 19 “barefoot and penniless” (his words). Eventually, he took over the local newspaper, The Oregonian, then the Weekly Oregonian, and in time built an empire while becoming a wealthy man. His house, Pittock Mansion, stands on 46 acres of land, and it’s complete with glorious gardens, a greenhouse, and a servants’ residence. I realized, as I stood in the house admiring the opulent furnishings, pondering antiquated appliances, walking upstairs to the family’s living area, then visiting downstairs to where the servants worked, that wandering around Pittock Mansion was more than a tourist activity. It was a chance to do some research, to stand in a grand house, to see the wide, winding staircase, to feel the sunlight (more like cloudlight than sunlight in Portland) in the open, airy rooms. I won’t be writing specifically about Pittock Mansion, but now I have a personal experience with a grand house that will help me when I sit down to describe one.
The kitchen at Pittock Mansion
There are many articles out there on how to write about a place you’ve never been. Here’s a good one from The Creative Penn. I never used to think much of traveling for research, and for a long time I was content writing about places I had never been. I have an active imagination, as fiction writers do, and I felt that with photographs, maps, Google Earth, and some explanatory information I was able to visualize the place in my mind. Then, after I could see the place clearly, I could describe it in my story. I’ve written about southeastern Georgia, Nazareth, Jerusalem, New York City, and Salem, Massachusetts without setting foot in any of those places. Finally, when I was writing Her Loving Husband’s Curse, I made the decision to visit Salem. I felt like I had used up whatever I learned about the town writing Her Dear & Loving Husband, and for Book Two in the series I needed more to say. That trip was eye opening for me. It showed me that there’s something to be said for standing in the places I’m going to be describing. You can read about my trip to Salem here.
Now whenever I see one of these I think of Mr. Carson practicing his answer.
In On Writing Well, in Chapter 13 “Writing About a Place,” William Zinsser says that “next to writing about people, you should know how to write about a place” (94). He’s talking about nonfiction writing here, but a lot of what he says applies to fiction too. Every story, whether it’s true or make-believe, happens somewhere, and it’s the writer’s job to make that somewhere come to life. Zinsser warns writers to avoid cliches when describing places, and it’s so easy to fall into that trap, using phrases we’ve heard before. Visiting the places I’m writing about helps me avoid those pesky cliches. That’s not to say I never use them (I’m guilty of using the word “quaint,” which Zinsser says is a no-no), but having stood in Salem along the seashore, having walked up a grand marble staircase in a century-old house, I know now how I feel being there. I notice details specific to the area that can’t be found in a brochure or spotted on Google Earth. I’m able to make my descriptions personal—descriptions that only could have come from me—because I was there, I saw it, I walked it, I heard it, I imagined it. I can read about the weather all I want, but experiencing it myself makes it easier for me to share what I know. I’ve learned that experience is language; in other words, experiencing something opens me up and allows me to find the language to express it. Specific street names, monuments, places of interest—those details can be found online. But standing there, seeing it for myself, taking pictures to remember what I saw when I get home, there’s nothing like it.
It’s not always possible to travel for research purposes, and many writers have successfully written about places they’ve never been. But I’ve learned that if you can go, go. The more you feel as though you’ve experienced what you’re going to be writing about, the easier it will be to share with your readers. I know my afternoon at Pittock Mansion will help me when I sit down to write my next novel. My trip to London earlier this year, and my trip back to the U.K. next year, will also help me bring my story to life. So now, whenever I can, I travel to the places I’m writing about. If nothing else, it’s an excuse to see the world.
By the way, Downton fans will love Pittock Mansion. If you’re going to be in the Portland area, check it out.
Filed under: Historical Fiction, Writing Tagged: creative writing, Highclere Castle, On Writing Well, Oregon, Pittock Mansion, Portland, Writing about a place
July 22, 2013
James Wentworth, and What Does it Mean to be a Vampire?
In my Loving Husband Trilogy, James Wentworth is a vampire. But what does it mean to be a vampire?
On the surface, it’s an unnecessary question since with the popularity of vampire stories everyone seems to have their own ideas of the undead. Yet it’s a question writers of vampire fiction must contend with, and it’s one question I had never considered before sitting down to write the trilogy.
I had never given much thought to vampires. I was never into the paranormal genre, the main reason being I’m not a fan of horror. I’m not a fan of violence, real or pretend, and since vampires have traditionally represented violence, I didn’t care to know them. But then I was introduced to the vampire genre in a less gore-filled way, and the more I read about them the more I realized that there is no one way to describe a vampire. The question of ‘What is a vampire?’ is answered differently according to what authors want or need from their preternatural characters. What a grand revelation as I embarked on my own paranormal stories.
I realized I had a decision to make. Would I go the more traditional route and keep my vamplings asleep during the day, unable to go out in the sun, or would I take the more modern route of sunbeams and sparkles? In the beginning, I had no idea. I hopped on the computer (God bless the Internet) and searched vampire folklore to see how the undead have been traditionally defined. I was fascinated by what I found. Turns out that vampire legends have abounded for as long as there have been people to tell them, long before vampire stories were ever published. Who knew? There are vampire legends from all over the world, and while there are cultural differences, there were more than a few commonalities, and this is what I focused on—the commonalities.
So what is a vampire to me? How did I craft James’s vampire nature?
I tended to stay along more traditional lines. One similarity between almost all vampire legends is that they’re nocturnal creatures. James is as well, sleeping during the day and living at night. He drinks blood. Now, how he choses to drink blood differs from other vampires, but let’s say that he does drink human blood. Their human bodies die as they are transformed (by the bite of another vampire) into a preternatural, immortal being. Again, pretty traditional. As to garlic and silver, well, I don’t know what to say about that. It’s true that traditionally (especially in the Slavic cultures) those are considered supreme weapons against the undead, but it seems to me that if you can live forever a little plant bulb or metal won’t harm you much. But that’s just me. Geoffrey, James’s “maker” (as they would say on True Blood), tends to agree. And since, as a vampire, James lives forever, he loves forever, which is the focus of the trilogy—how he has never forgotten his one true love and the joy he feels when he’s finally reunited with her. On the surface, the Loving Husband Trilogy is a vampire story, complete with witches and werewolves, but it’s really a love story that spans the ages.
Part of the fun of writing in the paranormal genre is the ability to create your fantasy creatures however you want. If you want your vampire sitting on the sofa in broad daylight eating pizza (as Aidan did in the BBC series Being Human), then do it. There is no right way to create a vampire. As long as authors believe that the world they’re describing is true, then readers will follow. What is a vampire? The fun part is, we all get to decide for ourselves.
Filed under: Her Dear & Loving Husband, Her Loving Husband's Curse, Her Loving Husband's Return Tagged: Her Dear & Loving Husband, James Wentworth, Loving Husband Trilogy, vampires
July 19, 2013
Books Are Dead? Not While Powell’s Lives.
The amazing Powell’s City of Books. Every city needs one.
Today I saw an empty store where a Borders used to be, and I sniffled when I realized the building is now a Ross Dress-For-Less. I have nothing against Ross Dress-For-Less—I found some cute luggage there once—but as I drove past I found myself thinking that, while the world is a sadder place with fewer bookstores, we would survive all right without another half-off department store. I know there are hobbiest bargain shoppers out there who want, no, need more discount stores, but I’d still rather see a bookstore.
During my recent trip to Portland, Oregon, I went, as all book lovers must, to pay homage at Powell’s City of Books, an independent bookstore in Downtown Portland. I’ve known about Powell’s for years. Friends who visited Portland told me about Powell’s. I had read about the store on the Internet. I started following @Powells on Twitter. I hadn’t even been there when I started following them, but for someone who loves history as much as I do, I couldn’t resist following such a relic—an independent bookstore. When I knew I was going to Portland, Powell’s was the first stop on my to-do list.
I don’t know what I expected to see when I walked into Powell’s. Having read all about the death of books, I thought maybe I would find a dilapidated cellar with a few books hanging by their threadbare bindings from a cobweb-covered shelf, the scent of mold and mortality heavy in the air. Or maybe I would find a zombie apocalypse, where hundreds of undead, grunting and groaning as they dragged their corpses across the rotting wooden floor, would wave disintegrating hardcovers and paperbacks in the air and yell, “See! Look what you have done!”
Proof positive: that’s me in front of Powell’s!
Instead, inside Powell’s I saw people—living, breathing people, and a lot of them. They were ordinary-looking folks. They didn’t have two heads or ten eyes. They were boys and girls, men and women, tall and short, doing regular bookstore stuff, pulling books from the shelves, flipping through them, reading the back covers and the insides, putting back the ones that didn’t strike them and holding onto the ones they liked. Some people asked questions of the knowledgeable staff. Even children were reading in the well-stocked, fun-looking young person’s section. I saw a line of people waiting to spend their money, and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw they were buying books with that money. And as for the people behind the register…they had the audacity to smile at me while I made my purchase. In other words, the place was thriving. So, I wondered, how has Powell’s held on while other bookstores have faded away?
First, to call it a city of books is an understatement. The place is huge. I read it takes up an entire city block, and having been there I believe it. It has several floors, and each floor is divided into color-coded nooks with every possible category you might want. I was thrilled when I found the ceiling-high shelves of vegetarian cookbooks. I’m so tired of cookbooks with titles like 101 Ways to Cook Rutabagas. I have all the respect in the world for rutabagas, and I’m certain without ever having eaten one that rutabagas are tasty and nutritious. I only mean that even we vegetarians like variety in our diets, and at Powell’s I can find a cookbook to help me. In less-stocked bookstores all I’ll find, if I’m lucky, is something like Vegetables 365 Days a Year and that rutabaga book.
(Insert angels singing here.) The Dickens shelf at Powell’s.
At Powell’s, you feel comfortable enough to browse around and get lost in the stacks. The staff is there if you need them, but otherwise you can look around for hours, which is really all any book lover wants—to find something you didn’t know you were looking for. I found my treasure in the Classics section in the Ds—an entire ceiling-high shelf of Dickens. Every kind of Dickens. Big Dickens and small Dickens. Long Dickens and short Dickens. Popular editions of Dickens and lesser-known versions. Plain text Dickens and illustrated Dickens. Biographies of Dickens. Critical studies of Dickens. The only thing missing, I thought, was Dickens. Not that he’d look all that propped onto a shelf at 201. But still.
Another thing Powell’s does right is buy and sell used books, which gives their customers more variety, more choices. They sell new books at Powell’s too, and I’m all for recently published books, but often there’s something wonderful to be discovered when browsing used books. I didn’t even realize the copy of Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel I bought at Powell’s was used until I got home and noticed the label. And Powell’s has a thriving website. While the store itself is a fun place to spend time, the Powell’s people haven’t ignored the online world and they understand that sometimes you just want to browse and buy books over the computer while relaxing at home in your jammies. Or maybe that’s me.
I’m glad I took the time to visit Powell’s. I’m glad I got to see actual people reading actual books. I had been believing what I was reading—about how people don’t read any more, how people only skim nowadays, how reading seems boring compared to everything else we could be doing, how there are more people writing books than there are people who read them, which is a worrying thought for someone like me who lives to read and write. But never fear. They’re still out there, readers. I saw them myself, pouring over books, scanning the shelves, and looking for their next great read. I feel better already.
Filed under: Tidbits Tagged: books, Oregon, Portland, Powell's City of Books, reading
July 15, 2013
Guest Post from Dennis Milam Bensie
Dennis Milam Bensie was born in the 1960s and raised with traditional values in Robinson, Illinois. Bensie desperately wanted romance, a beautiful wedding, and a baby to carry on the family name. He denied his sexuality and married a woman at nineteen years old, but fantasized of weddings where he could be the bride. The newlyweds “adopted” a Cabbage Patch Doll and ironically witnessed a Cabbage Patch Doll wedding (a successful fundraiser staged by a local women’s club) where the dolls were granted the type of grand ceremony off-limits to gay couples.
In search of his identity as a gay man, Bensie divorced his wife and stumbled through missteps and lessons that still sting his generation: defending against bullies, “disappointing” his parents, and looking for love in gay bars, bath houses and restrooms. He helped his straight friends plan their dream weddings and mourned his gay friends dying of AIDS.
Although true love has not yet come his way, Bensie has learned to love himself. Bensie is the author of the much-lauded memoir, Shorn: Toys to Men, which recounts his battle with paraphilia. One Gay American tells the rest of his story and draws parallels to gay history, decade by decade, with newspaper headlines and quotations. Bensie is the gay neighbor that you either love or hate. Either way, he’s got a lot to say and says it with no apologies.
Here is an excerpt from Bensie’s book One Gay American:
Ribbons: Commitment Ceremony (a.k.a Gay Wedding)
Breaking the Code was a play about British mathematician Alan Turing, who was a key player in the breaking of the German Enigma code at Bletchley Park during World War II. The play thematically links Turing’s cryptographic activities with his attempts to grapple with his homosexuality.
I was doing hair and wigs for a production of the play at Alice B. Theater in Seattle when my friends Matt and Scot first met. Matt was the Assistant Stage Manager and Scot was playing a young street hustler. It was delightful to watch their relationship blossom over the next several months.
Gay activism got even more personal for me when the two of them announced that they were going to make their relationship official and have a commitment ceremony. This would be my first gay wedding, and I was thrilled.
Both sets of parents supported the union and planned to come to town for the event. I was jealous. I doubted that my parents would ever come to a commitment ceremony of mine. They had never even come to Seattle for a visit.
I realized as I watched the guys plan their wedding in detail that there were no established traditions for gay weddings. They could pick and choose what they wanted to do and make the event special for them. Their friends and guests were sure to be open minded enough to love anything they did.
The ceremony was to take place at Aha! Theater, a Seattle fringe theater the couple was involved with. Their invitations paid some homage to tradition, but with their own twist. A friend and aspiring baker agreed to make their wedding cake—a three tier pink triangle cake with two grooms on top. Care was given to make sure the grooms looked like Matt and Scot. They planned a festive reception in the same space with a rented karaoke machine and gay door prizes for the guests.
I was honored to be asked to help the boys select new outfits for ceremony. We had serious discussions about what would work best. Since the wedding wasn’t being held in a church and they wanted to be comfortable, they decided to go with dressy, casual looks. We spent a Saturday shopping downtown and came up with ensembles that looked sharp, but didn’t match or say “wedding.”
I still felt that the boys needed some element of a bride (or at least a bride doll) at the event: a wink at tradition. In 1977, Mattel created a Super Size Barbie that was eighteen inches tall rather than the tradition eleven and one half. In 1992, they introduced My Size Barbie, which stood three feet tall and was sold with a stretchy outfit that, ideally, the doll’s owner would be able to wear and share. Mattel hadn’t planned on a twenty-eight-year-old gay man buying the doll.
I bought a My Size Barbie for myself when she came out on the market. I decided Matt and Scotʼs wedding was the perfect 
opportunity to indulge my never-ending interest in wedding dresses. I made the My Size Barbie a beautiful wedding dress fit for a queen. The guys loved the doll and the dress and decided the enormous bride doll would look perfect presiding over their gift table at the reception. She was much bigger than my cousin Libbyʼs bride doll, who had presiding over the gift table of her wedding years before. I was touched beyond belief. I was, after all, making a white wedding dress for a gay wedding. Ladyman Dennis would have been proud.
As the big day grew closer, the grooms had plenty of jitters. Jitters turned to deep sadness when a fellow thespian friend named Vinny died of AIDS only a few days before the ceremony. It was a shock that such a sweet and vibrant man, only twenty-five years old, would vanish on the eve of such an uplifting celebration of life and love.
Emotions ran high as Matt and Scot’s wedding day finally dawned. The black box theater space was decorated with gay pride paraphernalia. They had decided to do a variation of the traditional European ritual called Handfasting, symbolizing “tying the knot.” Guests were all given a mysterious piece of ribbon about two feet long (in one of the six colors of a gay pride flag) as they entered and signed the guest book. They were all warned not to lose their piece of ribbon. A round platform about two feet tall had been erected in the middle of the space. People walked around the platform without realizing its purpose. All would be revealed later during the event.
There was a lot of hugging and tears: an odd mix of happiness and sadness. The day had become both a gay wedding and a memorial for our friend Vinny. The timing seemed unreal and unfair. However, as people filed into the theater, I saw that the timing couldn’t be more perfect. Vinny was with us; he was a reminder of how important gay people are. We would never forget Vinny.
I couldn’t help thinking about the play where Matt and Scot met. In Breaking the Code, Alan Turing’s homosexuality resulted in a criminal prosecution. He accepted chemical castration as an alternative to prison. Turing allegedly committed suicide before his 42nd birthday. It seemed appropriate that Matt and Scot met working on a play inspired by his story. In many ways, their ceremony was breaking the code, too.
The handfasting ceremony began. Matt and Scot and their parents all got up on the platform in the middle of the room. Close to seventy-five of their friends and loved ones surrounded the platform in a complete circle. Each guest was told to tie his or her ribbon to another guest’s ribbons. The mothers of the grooms tied one end of their ribbons to the guests’ chain. Mattʼs mom then tied her ribbon to Scotʼs ribbon, while Scotʼs mom tied hers to Mattʼs. The men each held one end of the trail of ribbon not yet joined.
There was no one officiating the ceremony. My friend Ruth was in charge of sound. On cue, she put a cassette tape in a portable cassette player. A beautiful song, “Stay for the Ride,” underscored the ceremony. The song was by a local lesbian singer, Lisa Koch, from her album Colorblind Blues. Lisa’s song was the perfect accent to the occasion: hauntingly romantic and sincere. Matt spoke first of the difficult week that had begun with the death of Vinny. He began sobbing.
“Today is dedicated to Vinny,” Matt said as the two men tearfully exchanged vows they had written themselves. When the vows were completed, the two grooms tied their end of the ribbon to each other, uniting the room in gay pride colors. The gesture was special and I knew I would never forget the special day as long as I lived.
Finally I understood weddings. I had witnessed what I wanted to see my whole life—two men in love coming together in pride. The dress wasn’t important. Walking down the aisle wasn’t important. Matt and Scot indulged a tradition and no one could convince me they were wrong.
I wished there was a bouquet to toss, one that I could have caught. I loved Matt and Scot so much, but it was hard to contain my jealousy. Two distinct images of gay life: the happy couple and the boy dead of AIDS. I was very scared.
Was I going to die of AIDS that I had caught at a bathhouse while looking for true love?
Matt and Scot kept the yards and yards of tied ribbon from their ceremony in Seattle.
I gave them the My Size Barbie wedding dress to keep as a memento.
One Gay American
Paperback: 242 pages
Publisher: Coffeetown Press (September 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1603811532
ISBN-13: 978-1603811538
Price $13.95
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Dennis Milam Bensie grew up in Robinson, Illinois where his interest in the arts began in high school participating in various community theatre productions. Bensie’s first book, Shorn: Toys to Men, was nominated for the Stonewall Book Award, sponsored by the American Library Association. It was also a pick in the International gay magazine The Advocate as “One of the Best Overlooked Books of 2011.″ The author’s short stories have been published by Bay Laurel, Everyday Fiction, and This Zine Will Change Your Life, and he has also been a feature contributor for The Good Men Project. One Gay American is his second book with Coffeetown Press and it was chosen as a finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards and the Indie Excellence Book Awards. He was a presenter at the 2013 Saints and Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans. Dennis lives in Seattle with his three dogs. You can find out more about Dennis Milam Bensie, his memoirs and World of Ink Author/Book Tour at http://tinyurl.com/lhtvxyt. To learn more about the World of Ink Tours visit http://worldofinknetwork.com
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: Dennis Milam Bensie, guest posts, One Gay American
July 10, 2013
Illicit Love Blog Tour and Giveaways
Welcome to Stop Eight on the Illicit Love blog tour! Jane Lark is celebrating her first instalment in the Marlow Intrigues series with a HUGE giveaway – including a one night stay in London’s Regency Hotel, Amazon gift voucher, signed copies of Illicit Love and plenty of swag!
Illicit Love – What they say:
‘Ellen Harding longs to be free of the life she is trapped in – her husband died at the battle of Waterloo and her family disowned her and now she lives under the reign of a cruel protector. When her eyes are drawn to a beautiful man for no other reason than his looks, she imagines escaping her chains for a night by giving her body to him – to a man of her choosing – even if only to infuriate her captor.
But Edward Marlow is kind and gentle when he touches her and her subconscious whispers that this man could save her. Yet how can he help her when she has secrets which prevent her ever being free. She has too many battles to fight.
Edward is restless, lonely and a little angry with his lot in life – it is his only excuse for being drawn to another man’s mistress. The woman’s dark hair and pale eyes are striking and he cannot take his gaze off of her while she watches him over the top of a fan with an illicit intent in her eyes. But once he’s known her he cannot forget her – and once he’s seen how brutal her protector is, how can leave her with the man? But she will not run anymore than she will speak of her past, so how can he help her…’
Click Here To Buy This Book – UK
Click Here To Buy This Book – US
Check Out Jane’s New Novella Available At Amazon:
Captured Love – What they say:
‘Rupert Stanforth, Earl of Morton, is missing his cousin’s company. He has too many burdens weighing down his shoulders,
including the task of finding his sister, Rowena, a husband.
Meredith Divine has one friend in all the world, Lady Rowena Stanforth. She clings to their friendship as though it is a rope, when she is drowning in a lake of social isolation. Even Rowena’s elder brother cannot stand Meredith. Everyone judges her poorly, simply because her father is in trade. But despite Lord Morton’s constant rejection, Meredith’s heart still favors Rowena’s proud, judgmental brother.
Lord Morton would break the friendship his sister has with Miss Divine if he could, but the more he disparages Miss Divine, the more Rowena favors the girl. He’s ceased his complaints, in the hope the friendship would wither and die, believing the girl would make a wrong step soon. He just did not anticipate what that step might be…’
Click Here To Buy This Book – UK
Click Here To Buy This Book – US
Video Interview with Author Jane Lark
Here are the Giveaways!
Want To Win A Night In London’s Regency Hotel?
The Regency Hotel has been kind enough to support the Illicit Love blog tour by donating a one-night stay for two
lucky winners this August! Located in the Royal Borough of Chelsea and Kensington, you could find yourself relaxing in one of hotel’s plush new bedrooms or sampling the delights of their incredible traditional afternoon teas.
Readers have plenty of chances to win:
Either entry via the Rafflecopter below AND/OR add your review of Illicit Love to Amazon and Goodreads and email the review link to Charlotte@BestChickLit.com.
The winner will be emailed a voucher, which can be redeemed for stays during August 2013 only. Giveaway closes 19th July 2013.
Here is the link for the Rafflecopter Giveaway.
Win £30 (or $40) Amazon Gift Voucher!
Entry via the Rafflecopter below AND/OR add your review of Illicit Love to Amazon and Goodreads and email the review link to Charlotte@BestChickLit.com. Giveaway closes 19th July 2013 and is open to UK and USA residents only.
Here is the link to the Rafflecopter Giveaway.
Win One Of Three Swag Packs With Signed Paperback Copy of Illicit Love
Entry via the Rafflecopter below AND/OR add your review of Illicit Love to Amazon and Goodreads and email the review link to Charlotte@BestChickLit.com. Giveaway closes 19th July.
Here is the link to the Rafflecopter Giveaway.
About the Author:
Jane is a writer of authentic, passionate and emotional love stories. She began her first historical novel at sixteen, but a life full of adversity derailed her as she lives with the restrictions of Ankylosing Spondylitis. When she finally completed a novel it was because she was determined not to reach forty still saying, I want to write. You might think that Jane was inspired to write by Jane Austen, especially as she lives near Bath in the United Kingdom, but you would be wrong. Jane’s favourite author is Anya Seton, and the book that drew her into the bliss of falling into historical imagination was ‘Katherine’ a story crafted from reality. Jane has drawn on this inspiration to discover other real-life love stories, reading memoirs and letters to capture elements of the past, and she uses them to create more realistic plots. ‘Basically I love history and I am sucker for a love story. I love the feeling of falling in love; it’s wonderful being able to do it time and time again in fiction.’ Jane is also a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development in the United Kingdom, and uses this specialist understanding of people to bring her characters to life. Check out Jane’s musical inspirations HERE and HERE.
Get In Touch With Jane:
Filed under: Giveaways, Guest Authors Tagged: BestChickLit, Blog Tour, Giveaways, guest authors, Illicit Love, Jane Lark
