Laura Benedict's Blog, page 44

The Lucky 7 Meme: A Little BLISS HOUSE for You

It's Sunday, and on Sundays I like to do fun things that tend to slip by the other six days of the week. Here's a fun meme one of my newer Twitter friends, Anna Meade ( @ruanna3 ), tagged me in. This was an easy one, because I've already done the work. (Love that.)

Seven paragraphs from my latest WIP, BLISS HOUSE, a mystery about a haunted house in Virginia:
_______



This sound was inside the house. Not rhythmic, but insistent. Someone running. And a voice, but not a happy one. Jillian told...

Review: Mrs. Darcy versus the Aliens

A while ago (too long ago, in fact), I received a review copy of Mrs. Darcy versus the Aliens, Jonathan Pinnock's alien homage to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Reader, I read it, and loved it.

I confess I have never been on the classic-novels-morphing-into-contemporary-schtick literary bandwagon. Such romps are not generally to my taste. But if they all demonstrate the wit and good humor of this sweet little novel, I'm surely missing something.

Jane Austen's Regency England is plagued by my...

Legos, Thank-yous, and French Fries

Last week was so much fun. I was overwhelmed by all the support for the free downloads of Devil's Oven. It surprises me every time I think about someone wanting to read my work--I still can't quite believe it's true. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Some other lovely news: Isabella Moon got a nice boost over at Barnes and Noble at the same time. The dynamics of the publishing business continue to both puzzle and delight me. Fortunately, I love a good puzzle, and it's just getting interesting. ...

DEVIL'S OVEN: Get Your Full-Sized, Genuine eBook Free!

It's true! I'm not just offering a sample. I'm offering you your own ebook version of DEVIL'S OVEN, my new novel, for the low, low price of the energy it takes to go to the Amazon page and click download.


I'm so excited that Amazon lets me make this available to you.** I wish that life were such that I could give away my work all the time. It's such a kick to write stories that people want to read. I hope you'll download DEVIL'S OVEN, read it, and enjoy it. And if you like it a whole lot...

Life in the Indie Lane: The Adventure Continues

It's been a crazy-busy month (or four). I started the process of e-publishing DEVIL'S OVEN (it's here and here, btw!) way back in November, and, even as late as my most recent blog post, I was sure I would have it--as well as my backlist--up and available the first week in March. Three weeks ago.

Right.

Who knew there was so much detail work involved? I had imagined I would simply pop new covers on my first two novels and they would magically transport themselves to Amazon and BN, where my wins...

Another Bite at the Apple

Changes are coming.

In the next couple weeks, I'll be entering the uncertain world of independent publishing. I've been talking about and around the subject for a good long while. The tools are available. The time is right. The rights for both of my novels, Isabella Moon and Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts, have reverted back to me. (North American and audio, anyway. I've yet to hear about foreign rights.) I have Devil's Oven, another novel, ready to go. I've got a wonderful life partner who thinks ...

The Perilous Mix of Politics and Prose: A Rant

Let's all be thankful that we have the right to free speech (for the most part) in These United States. We can say whatever annoying thing, whenever we want (for the most part), and not live in fear of government censorship. It's the right that has kept us from bottling up our complaints and aggravations until they reach the bursting point and we start taking over television stations and holding government figures hostage so we can get our message out into the world. Yes, the right to blather...

My Unapologetically Ego-centric, Brutally Honest List of Stuff I Want to Do in 2012

In the waning days of 2010, I made a gorgeous spreadsheet for my 2011 goals. It was a thing of beauty. I even did a pretty good job of checking it every month to see how I was doing--up until August. There are a few things I didn't end up accomplishing, but I did meet all of my writing and publishing goals for the year, and I got a better handle on the family finances. It was a good year.

In recent months, I've ascribed to the theory that building habits is more effective for me than setting g...

Shiny Object Saturday: My Magical Front Door

I'm not even going to show you a photo of our old front door. It was green and ugly and had no glass. When we started this latest remodeling project, the contractor said that he thought the door was fine--it just needed to be painted. He didn't seem to notice that it belonged on a pseudo-Colonial cottage, and not (even) on our loooong, then-cedar-panelled ranch house. But I digress.

Our new door speaks to my heart. It lets in light. It's cheerful. It's stained a lovely oak color. It makes me h...

Fiction Friday: Pinckney Benedict and "Damselfly"

Someday I'll tell you what it's like to be married to a genius writer guy. But for now I'll just share a little bit of his work. His name, btw, is Pinckney Benedict. He doesn't have a website, a blog, or a Twitter handle. He does have a Wikipedia page. If I say that his writing defies genre classification, it's because it does. He writes in the way good writers have written for hundreds of years: he just tells the story. Fantasy, science fiction, (rural) crime, horror, Literary Americana (I...