Stephanie Abbott's Blog, page 19
July 16, 2012
A Shout-out About STEPWISE
Okay, I almost never do this. But my friend and fellow indie author Arshad Ahsanuddin has just published a guide to formatting your own ebooks if you use Word 2010.
Let me tell you, for non-techies like me, formatting is scary stuff. I tried other guides and it just never quite worked. Enough small errors always persisted (weird indents, random spaces) to court bad reviews. You haven’t had the full indie experience until someone deducts a star from your review for “formatting issues.”
So here’s the book, it’s 99 cents (ought to be at least $9.99) and it’s on Smashwords and Amazon. Worked for me.
Filed under: Books, Kindle, Writing Tagged: amazon, arshad ahsanuddin, DIY, ebooks smashwords, formatting, KDP, Kindle, word 2010
July 8, 2012
A Resource for Indie Authors: Indie Review Tracker
My friend Karin Cox has created a new site for Indie Authors. Go here to check it out — many features are free!
Time-Saving Features for Authors
You’ll benefit from:
searchable, up-to-date links to a host of useful sites, from facebook forums to review sites, to book bloggers, e-book advertisers and indie service providers;
access to a forum for self-published authors to get together and discuss what worked for them and what didn’t;
firsthand advice from some indie author success stories;
regular blog posts that help you stay abreast of e-book industry news;
a swag of useful information about e-book pricing, e-publishing, PoD publication,production, editing, and technology.
Filed under: Writing Tagged: indie publishing, indie review tracker, writing
June 25, 2012
Blue Murder (Lord & Lady Hetheridge #2)
For everyone who read Ice Blue and waited, patiently or impatiently, for book two. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Blue Murder is now available on Amazon.com – click here!
Also Smashwords — click here!
Tomorrow B&N and OmniLit, soon enough everywhere!
Two Dead Men
In London’s fashionable Chelsea, a Halloween bash goes terribly wrong. Emmeline Wardle, daughter of a frozen foods baron, throws a party which results in the demise of two university schoolmates. Handsome golden boy Trevor Parsons is dead. So is pasty computer nerd Clive French. Both died on the Wardle estate within minutes of one another, and both died the same way – an axe to the skull. Given the social connections of all involved, New Scotland Yard sends a real baron to investigate: Chief Superintendent Anthony Hetheridge, also known as Lord Hetheridge, ninth baron of Wellegrave.
Two Prime Suspects
This time around, Detective Sergeant Kate Wakefield and her partner, Detective Sergeant Deepal “Paul” Bhar, have their work cut out. Bhar must contend with Emmeline Wardle, a spoiled blonde with a penchant for the finer things, including a certain illegal white powder. Kate must decide if Kyla Sloane, model-pretty and delicate, is being truthful about the events of that fateful night. And if Kyla’s connection to a former lover of Bhar’s means nothing – or everything.
Lord & Lady Hetheridge, Book Two
Return to the world of Ice Blue in Blue Murder, the second of the Lord & Lady Hetheridge series. In addition to solving the double murder in Chelsea, Anthony Hetheridge plans on proposing marriage to Kate for the second time. He has the ring. Now all he needs is the proper moment…
Filed under: Blue Murder, Books, Emma Jameson, Ice Blue, Kindle, Lord and Lady Hetheridge Series Tagged: blue murder, cozy mystery, ebook, kate wakefield, Kindle, Lord Hetheridge, new ebooks, new mystery
June 22, 2012
A much more serious review, for a book with which I am seriously in love!
Reblogged from Imaqulotta's Irreverent Book Blog:
I have been a fan of Stephanie Abbott’s work longer than almost anyone. This isn’t idle boasting, it’s just a fact. She’s a dear friend of mine, and has been for over 30 years. I don’t know many people who have friends that they have managed to keep for that long. So you’ve got to put this in perspective. I was a lonely kid.
June 15, 2012
BLUE MURDER (Lord & Lady Hetheridge #2) Blurb
The book is finished and has been sent to the copy-editor for the final edit. In the meantime, here’s the blurb:
Two Dead Men
In London’s fashionable Chelsea, a Halloween bash goes terribly wrong. Emmeline Wardle, daughter of a frozen foods baron, throws a party which results in the demise of two university schoolmates. Handsome golden boy Trevor Parsons is dead. So is pasty computer nerd Clive French. Both died on the Wardle estate within minutes of one another, and both died the same way – an axe to the skull. Given the social connections of all involved, New Scotland Yard sends a real baron to investigate: Chief Superintendent Anthony Hetheridge, also known as Lord Hetheridge, ninth baron of Wellegrave.
Two Prime Suspects
This time around, Detective Sergeant Kate Wakefield and her partner, Detective Sergeant Deepal “Paul” Bhar, have their work cut out. Bhar must contend with Emmeline Wardle, a spoiled blonde with a penchant for the finer things, including a certain illegal white powder. Kate must decide if Kyla Sloane, model-pretty and delicate, is being truthful about the events of that fateful night. And if Kyla’s connection to a former lover of Bhar’s means nothing – or everything.
Lord & Lady Hetheridge, Book Two
Return to the world of Ice Blue in Blue Murder, the second of the Lord & Lady Hetheridge series. In addition to solving the double murder in Chelsea, Anthony Hetheridge plans on proposing marriage to Kate for the second time. He has the ring. Now all he needs is the proper moment…
Cover design by J. David Peterson
Filed under: Blue Murder, Emma Jameson, Kindle, Lord and Lady Hetheridge Series Tagged: blue murder, cozy mystery, emma jameson, Ice blue, Kindle, lord & lady hetheridge, new books
June 8, 2012
Movie Mention: PROMETHEUS
Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and the android David (Michael Fassbender) search for the origins of human life in deep space. (20th Century Fox)
This will be a short movie mention, and spoiler-free, because I think if you enjoy sci-fi, you should definitely see this film. 33 years after the ground-breaking Alien (still a darn good film), director Ridley Scott returns to sci-fi/horror with Prometheus. The plot is simple. On Earth, Dr.Elizabeth Shaw () and her lover Dr. Holloway () discover cave paintings that suggest human life was created by aliens. Dr. Shaw, a devout Christian, is fascinated by the notion of finding humanity’s origins, which she insists does not diminish her faith. Along for the ride is the mysterious Meredith Vickers (), a crew of spacemen, some scientists and David, an artificial life form ().
Perhaps not surprisingly, David is arguably the most interesting character. Only he knows where he came from — R&D at Weyland Corporation. The knowledge brings him no peace or joy. But the discovery of a “perfect” lifeform? Oh, that’s another story…
Filed under: Michael Fassbender, Movies Tagged: alien, michael fassbender, movies, prometheus, ridley scott
June 5, 2012
If You Enjoyed PROTECTION, Read the Rest of the Story: CODA by S.A. Reid
I never intended to do this.
Last November, when I finished writing Protection, I discovered soon after that I wasn’t quite done with that world. I felt as if Dr. Joey Cooper’s story wasn’t finished. So I wrote a short piece, meant for my eyes only, as a private conclusion. As an indie writer, I often have to be my own sounding board.
June 4, 2012
Game of Thrones Season 2 Finale
Tyrian Lannister (Peter Dinklage), unappreciated and somewhat worse for wear. (HBO)
Last night marked the season two finale of HBO’s epic fantasy series, Game of Thrones. Here are my thoughts:
Tyrian Lannister and Shae
Tyrian (Peter Dinklage) spent the entire season proving how tough, brave and smart he is. He almost single-handedly saved King’s Landing, not only by putting the secret wildfire stockpile to good use, but by leading the battle himself after the Hound and King Joffrey deserted. So what does Tyrian get in return? His sister Cersei sends a knight to kill him, marking him for all time. (Though less horribly than in the books, I might add.) His father arrives, takes all the credit, plus the title Hand of the King, plus the Hand’s sumptuous apartments. Even lets his big white horse take a big steaming dump while approaching the Iron Throne. Reversals of fortune are a big part of why I love Game of Thrones. Not so much for the fantasy elements, although they are well-imagined. For the characters and their often stunningly realistic interactions.
This season, we last see Tyrian in Shae’s arms, brought to tears by her devotion. Now in the books, Shae was loathsome and vile, and I often sighed that Tyrian, for all his brilliance, couldn’t recognize her for what she was. This character is clearly different — perhaps a combination of Shae and one of the Dornish “Sand Snakes”? Anyway, I loved the scene and it made we wish things could work out for them.
Theon (Alfie Allen) does his best Henry V, with a somewhat different result. (HBO)
Theon, Maester Luwin, Bran and Winterfell
Well, it’s been a crappy life for Theon Greyjoy. The show’s head writers seem to feel that rather keenly, since they’ve twice allowed Theon to speechify about his difficult path in ways he never did in the book. (Or if he did, they made no impression on me.) Theon was ransomed as a baby and brought up by kind frenemies that never quite adopted him. When he returned to his own family, he was mocked as weak and less of a man than his superstar sister. When he decided to betray Winterfell and the Starks, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. In the end, his own men mutinied and carried him off as a prisoner, no doubt to ransom back to King Robb, who has promised amnesty for all Ironborn except Theon.
It’s interesting how Theon’s pity party is allowed to go on and on, while Tyrian simply swallows insult after insult and Sam Tarly, whose own father threatened to murder him, bumbles around happily in the North. Perhaps that’s the point to Theon’s arc? Wallow in self-pity and end up deserted by all?
Not much of Bran, Rickon or Osha, but Maester Luwin gets a nice final scene. I enjoyed that, because in the books he suffers the usual pitiless GRRM end.
Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) shows a certain golden lion just what she’s made of. (HBO)
Brienne of Tarth and Jaime Lannister
Oh, I do enjoy seeing these two together. The staging of their all-too-brief sequence was brilliant. Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) emerges from the boat a few paces ahead of Brienne (Gwendoline Christie). The camera angle — him walking uphill a bit ahead of her — makes him seem her height, or even a shade taller, as he does what handsome jerks do to strange or unconventionally attractive females … tease her mercilessly. Is she a virgin? Did any man ever care enough to try? Doesn’t she wish he, often called the handsomest man in the kingdom, would try? (Well, that last bit is only implied.)
Then they come upon the corpses of three tavern girls, hanging in the trees. Stark men raped and killed them for serving the Lannisters as customers. Just as Brienne sees the bodies, the actress hits her mark beside Coster-Waldau, towering over him by at least half a head. (Broader, too, in full armor.) When apparent danger arrives on-scene, Jaime begs her for release so he can save them both. Then he gets to watch while Brienne easily dispatches three armed men like they were boys with sticks. The progression of reactions on Jaime’s face – first shock, then respect, then shrewd appraisal — was perfect.
Can’t wait for season three.
Is this a grumpkin, or a snark? (HBO)
Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, White Walkers and — a Slight Anticlimax?
I wasn’t a fan of the “stolen dragons” plot because I thought the end was too obvious to be interesting. And sure enough, for me, it didn’t amount to much. I did find it interesting that the show’s version of Dany could lock away her betrayers so cruelly. Cutting their throats would have been far kinder. In the books, Dany is hard, as all would-be conquerors must be, but she isn’t cruel. Interesting choice.
As for Jon’s final bit, maneuvered-into-killing-Qhorin-to-gain-the-Wildings-trust … eh. I didn’t feel any particular drama. That seemed rushed. Your mileage may vary, of course.
Finally, at last, the White Walkers and their undead army (Gray Staggerers?) were revealed. As far as the close-up of a White Walker’s face … I’m not sure about the effect, it seemed a little too unreal. Seeing poor Sam surrounded by CGI reminded me of that time a lot of special effects teamed up to drown George Clooney and Marky Mark. But these are my usual nitpicks, because I am a compulsive nitpicker.
Overall, the season was tremendous and I can’t wait for what comes next.
Filed under: TV Tagged: brienne of tarth, finale, game of thrones, hbo, jaime lannister, season two, TV, TV shows, tyrian lannister
June 2, 2012
Defend Your Barricades!
Reblogged from Imaqulotta's Irreverent Book Blog:
The 25th of May is approaching, and my yearly traditional reading Night Watch, by Terry Pratchett, with it. I was introduced to Discworld by a friend who was crashing on my couch at the time. Although that was an unpleasant experience for all concerned, I still owe the guy. I had not made such a deep emotional connection with a new author since I’d been 8 years old discovering Stephen King for the first time.
A great analysis of Night Watch written by my friend and fledgling book blogger, Jenx!
May 27, 2012
WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE by Rebecca Emin
My friend Rebecca Emin has just released her second novel, When Dreams Come True! Here’s the blurb:
Charlie is happiest when biking with Max and Toby, or watching films with Allie. But when Charlie reaches year nine (age 13), everything begins to change.
As her friends develop new interests, Charlie’s dreams become more frequent and vivid, and a family crisis tears her away from her friends.
How will Charlie react when old family secrets are revealed? Will her life change completely when some of her dreams start to come true?
Middle Grade and YA Books
Full disclosure: I haven’t yet read When Dreams Come True. (Still finishing Blue Murder, to send it off for editing very soon.) But I want to give a shout-out to authors like Rebecca Emin who write for older children and young adults. These authors have to work within very specific constraints. They need to deliver a story their target audience will enjoy, and relate to, without including “adult” elements that many of us writers take for granted. For me, I write across different genres, and while I don’t confront hot button issues in my cozy mysteries or my fantasy adventures, I have the absolute freedom to go there if I wish. I can include graphic violence, bad language, love scenes, etc. I’d like to think that when I choose to add these elements, they enhance the story I am trying to tell, but still, these inclusions can often be considered “selling points.” Good MG and YA authors must attract and hold their readers without falling back on any of those things. And quite often, I think their work is superior to so-called “adult” and even literary fiction.
Rebecca Emin, author of When Dreams Come True
“It Has To Actually Be About Something”
Once I was discussing the old mystery/suspense show Alfred Hitchcock Presents with a friend. I said I was impressed that the stories not only held up well after 40-50 years, but in some cases were vastly more entertaining than similar offerings today. I asked, “Are we just getting stupider?”
She said, “No, but since broadcasting standards have relaxed, a lot of writers and producers have gotten lazy. A crime show today can be one-third blood and guts, one-third salacious back story, and only one-third characterization or theme. In those days, the show had to actually be about something.”
I think my friend had a point. Today, TV writers can always throw in a weird internet urban legend or a deliberately “controversial” kiss/hook-up/murder to keep the viewer watching. When Alfred Hitchcock Presents aired, not even a married couple could be seen in the same bed (unless one of them had at least one foot on the floor) and the culprit always, always had to be caught and punished. (This is why occasionally after the “gotcha” ending, Hitch would appear and say something like, “Incidentally, our murderous friend was soon caught and locked up for life, proving the crime always costs more than it pays.”)
It’s much the same with MG and YA fiction. The story must stand on its own. Re-read the list of Newberry Award Winners over the years and remember how those books touched you. Probably few of the “adult” fiction books you’ve read had the same effect.
When Dreams Come True
Check out the book and author at the following links. And congratulations, Rebecca!
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/When-Dreams-Come-True-Rebecca/dp/1471092046
Amazon.co.uk: www.amazon.co.uk/When-Dreams-Come-True-Rebecca/dp/1471092046/
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/156236
The Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/When-Dreams-Come-True-Rebecca-Emin/9781471092046
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-dreams-come-true-rebecca-emin/1110455483
Rebecca Emin Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/RebeccaEminPage
Blog: http://ramblingsofarustywriter.blogspot.co.uk/
Twitter account: www.twitter.com/RebeccaEmin
Filed under: Books, Giveaway, Kindle, Rebecca Emin, Writing Tagged: alfred hitchcock presents, Kindle, new fiction, newberry award winner, nook, rebecca emin, when dreams come true
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