June Shaw's Blog, page 23

Spring

by Carola



Spring brings longer days and flowers and bright courting colours on birds and animals.....and taxes, and Left Coast Crime. The last two explain the brevity of this post.

At LCC, I have a panel at 10:15 Friday morning--something to do with Downton Abbey, with Catriona McPherson, GM Malliet, and Rhys Bowen. Also, I'm hosting a table at the banquet. Hope to see some of you in Monterey.

Stripes

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Accolades to My Alpha and Beta Readers

by Jackie KingThere should be a special place in heaven for friends of writers. Especially for smart friends who love to read and who volunteer to read your work. Some of these are called alpha readers and some are called beta readers, and I've just recently learned the difference.
Alpha readers are the folks in your critique group or other friends with generous hearts who will read your work as it’s produced. I have a group of these folks who support me emotionally on a regular basi...

Because they’re not worth it

Money’s always in the news. I could bluff my way through some politics but economics, which was always a closed book, is even less penetrable than an obscure Serbo-Croatian dialect. Nonetheless, there’s one aspect of the money thing that I really need explained to me. And it relates to the ongoing banking crisis. It seems that Mr Bob Diamond, the ex CEO of Barclays, ‘earned’ just short of £100,000,000 over the 6 years he was in charge. Now that he’s left, having allegedly presided over a peri...

Putting an End to Bullying

by Jean Henry Mead

Teen suicides, school shootings, and cyber harassment have placed a spotlight on bullying.  The dangerous and debilitating practice is as old as mankind but there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight, although a number of organizations have been formed to study the problem and educate both children and adults in ways to put a stop to bullys’ power struggles.
Psychologists have determined that certain types of people become bullies due to a number of factors. Among them are...

Guest blog links

by Carola

I'm posting a couple of links today as I'm knee-deep in taxes AND having fits about my approaching deadline.

The Book People are a British bookseller who take a selection of books to workplaces. People can look at them and order what they want on the spot. Great idea! They asked me to answer some questions in connection with their promotion of one of my Regency trilogies, but they carry my mysteries too and my answers include both subjects.

http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/blog/index.ph...

Overture to Disaster Goes Free

By Chester Campbell

I haven't commented on the final book in my Post Cold War Political Thriller Trilogy since a post back in September shortly after it came out in ebook format for the Kindle. I haven't done much in the way of promotion except an occasional tweet, and the results are obvious. It has registered few sales and has received no reviews on Amazon. I suspect one problem is that my loyal readers are all fans of PI whodunit mysteries. The political thrillers are a different breed, the...

Hell Nurse

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Finished at Last!

by Jackie King
Finally. It’s finished!
I’m embarrassed to say how long it’s taken me to finish THE CORPSE WHO WALKED IN THE DOOR. Way, way, way too long. In fact, there have been numerous times when I seriously considered ending the struggle (No, not slit my wrists!) and starting a new project. But I didn’t. Mostly because I have a stubborn streak a mile wide. If you don’t believe me, ask my daughter, Susan. She’s accused me of this since she was in college…and she’s right!
Stubborn Streaks Are...

How our betters bob up and down

I often go on about how absurd life is. It’s because I believe it’s true and that so many of the ways we behave must make God sorry he didn’t choose a different species, such as slugs or mackerel, to be the Lords of creation. I’ve no doubt every nationality has its little foibles and proofs that humans are unworthy to have dominion over Chihuahuas, wildebeests, aphids and the rest but I’d make a claim that the UK must be contenders for the gold medal in unworthiness.
This claim is sparked by a...