Victoria Zigler's Blog: Zigler News, page 174

R.I.P. Lucy

Almost nine years ago, we took in a Yorkshire Terrier puppy named Lucy. We already had her sister, Jayde. Shortly afterwards, we were forced to rehome both the Yorkie pups. Jayde went to live with my Grandma, and Lucy went to live with Helen and Tom (good friends of my friend, Corinne). Kelly and I were both sad to see the girls go, but we know they both went to good homes, where they could be loved and pampered, like all good pets should be!

It seems like only yesterday we were saying Goodbye to them, but the girls celebrated their ninth birthday on September 3rd 2014.

On Monday we got some sad news: Lucy had died during the night.

I know she was loved, and will be missed very much. Helen and Tom gave her a wonderful life, which any dog would be pleased with; Lucy meant the world to them and was very happy.

Rest in peace dear Lucy!

Vinnie The Vegetarian Zombie

Vinnie The Vegetarian Zombie

Genre: Monsters

Description: "When Vinnie the zombie smashes his way in to the fruit and vegetable shop where six year old Annie is waiting in hiding for her Mother to come back for her, Annie isn’t sure what to do. But Vinnie isn’t like other zombies. A vegetarian in life, it looks like Vinnie may also be one in death, and it may not be Annie who’s in danger after all."

Published: October 28th 2014

ISBN: 9781311948908

Buy it from Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...

Available elsewhere soon!

Vinnie The Vegetarian Zombie - officially released today!

"When Vinnie the zombie smashes his way in to the fruit and vegetable shop where six year old Annie is waiting in hiding for her Mother to come back for her, Annie isn’t sure what to do. But Vinnie isn’t like other zombies. A vegetarian in life, it looks like Vinnie may also be one in death, and it may not be Annie who’s in danger after all."

That's the synopsis for "Vinnie The Vegetarian Zombie" which is my latest book, written in response to my own musings about whether a vegetarian would remain one if they became a zombie, or give in to the urges for flesh and brains zombies are generally known for.

You can already buy it from Smashwords in all formats they offer, as well as a couple of other ebook retailers.

Interview with Zach

Yes. That's right. I've done another interview!

This time it's with Zach of http://ztyoauthor.com

To read my interview, go to http://ztyoauthor.com/2014/10/27/wyrd-worlds-ii-interview-series-victoria-zigler/

Kindle accessability continued

Next month is my birthday, so Kelly said I could have my Kindle as my birthday present from him, but I could have it early.

As it turned out, the Kindle I had from my Dad to use while figuring out the best option for me to have for a new ereader and the Kindle Fire 6 we ordered me as an early birthday present arrived at the same time. I thought it would take Amazon longer to get my Kindle to me, but apparently they decided I needed it quickly. Not that I'm complaining, LOL!

Anyway, the Kindle Fire 6 does speak like it's supposed to. In fact, when we turned the accessability features on it immediately brought up a tutorial to show you how to make it work, which I was impressed about, and which gave me a nice head start on figuring out how to make touch screen technology work when you can't see what you're doing.

I've not quite gotten the hang of it yet. In fact, I have a couple of things I spacifically need to figure out how to do (see below). But I managed to find some books I put on there via USB, pick one, and read some of it (both in continuous reading mode, and by having it select something and tell me what I selected from the book's text). So, I'd say that's a pretty successful start!

It's not linked to my Amazon account yet, because I haven't figured out the touch screen keyboard, and for some reason Amazon doesn't appear to automatically register them any more. So, that's something I need to sort out pretty soon.

Also, the time on it is out by an hour right now, because it doesn't seem to have figured out the difference between standard time and Summer time. But since the clocks will be changing soon anyway, I'm not going to worry about trying to change it. Hopefully it will stay as it is when the clocks go back an hour, and then I can worry about how to fix it when the clocks go forward again in March. That way it gives me time to figure out what I'm doing properly... And maybe by then I'll know how to change the time on it? LOL!

The other thing I'm trying to figure out and haven't yet is the fact it keeps insisting on having a constant connection to the internet (thankfully through my home internet, so it's not costing me anything). I wouldn't mind this, but keeping it connected really eats up the battery life, and since the battery goes quickly when you have to have any kind of speaking software activated on a battery powered device anyway... Well, I'm sure you get my point. So, I need to figure out how to make it stay set to only connect when I ask it to. It will be in the settings somewhere... I've just got to find it.

I think though, that since I've only had it since Thursday, I'm doing well with figuring it out. And, anyway, it's talking to me, I haven't had to ask Kelly to tell me what it wants since the accessability feature got turned on, and I haven't broken anything, so that's what really matters, right?

Toby character profile

Want to know a few things about my character, Toby, from my "Toby's Tales" series?

Then go to http://peersofbeinan.wordpress.com/2014/10/19/character-profile-toby-tobys-tales/ and check out his character profile.

It's not a character interview; more a character profile. But you may learn something you didn't know about young Toby.

All about a birthday and ereaders

Today is my brother's birthday. I doubt he'll read this, but I'm going to say it anyway... Happy birthday, Carl!

****

I've decided I'm going to try out the Kindle accessability first.

The Kindles are cheaper (not always by much; depending on the model) so I figure I'll try the cheaper option first. If Amazon's information is correct, I should be able to get one for a reasonable price that I can use. Though, I will have to adapt to using touch screen. But, I'd have to do that either way, and Carl manages to use touch screen, so I know it can be done by the blind; I'll just need time to get used to it.

My Dad wants to upgrade his Kindle to one with a backlit screen (which the Kindle Keyboards don't have) so I'm having his 3 year old Kindle Keyboard from him to use while I sort out a new ereader for myself, since we know the Keyboard definitely works for me (that's what I had that died). It's supposed to get here today.

When I get sorted out with a new ereader that works for me, Kelly's going to have Dad's old one, because he only wants an ereader to read pdfs of rulebooks on (mostly for roleplaying games; he gets a lot of them from DriveThrough RPG). I didn't use pdfs on my Kindle, but I know it does read them. Anyway, we were going to get Kelly a cheap ereader for his pdfs, but we figure this way I guarantee to have ereader accessability back quickly. Plus, I know Dad's Kindle currently works perfectly (it's never had the glitch mine had when I got it two years ago, and doesn't get nearly as much use as mine did). Later on - like when Dad's old Kindle stops working - we'll get Kelly a new one.

So, I'll have a Kindle I can use by the end of today, and Kelly will have one pretty soon too!

There has been one positive thing about my lack of a Kindle though... I've gotten through most of the short books I had as pdfs on my computer in this past week and a half, and put a nice dent in my "to read" pile. I'll get a couple more read today. Most of them I do have copies of for the Kindle too, but some I only had as pdfs, which - as I already mentioned - I don't usually put on the Kindle.

To Kill A Curse is LIVE!

"Roberta’s had a year of hell. From fighting a deadly curse, to discovering a parallel realm hiding in the shadows of her own world, she’s narrowly missed death on many occasions. As both friends and foe have fallen, she’s miraculously survived. Though, with giant wolves, doppelgängers and her greatest nemesis’s minions around every corner, she’s not sure how.

Now, torn from her loved ones and trying to survive in an alien land, she’s tasked with her most difficult challenge to date; destroy an ancient evil and save two worlds whilst she’s at it.

In the world of Gathin, Roberta’s had to rely on those once considered the enemy, and their relationships are strained even further in her last attempt to find vengeance for those she’s lost. Meanwhile, with Susan and Sam battling to protect Ridgewood from it’s greatest ever threat, the burden to survive and conquer until the bitter end is once again placed upon Roberta’s shoulders."

Grab the final book in the "Inside Evil" series today:
Amazon Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/Kill-Curse-Inside-Evil-Book-ebook/dp/B00OHNC9LE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1413310680&sr=1-1&keywords=to+kill+a+curse
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OHNC9LE/?tag=gwweb-20
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OHNC9LE/?tag=gwweb-20

My review:
"With an interesting and believable cast of characters, a plot that will keep you guessing until the end, plus fantastic descriptions, this was an excellent ending to the series, and as well-written as the other books in the series; maybe even better!"

***~~~***

About the author:
"Geoff Wakeling lives in London and escapes the smog of the city through his writing. The Inside Evil, even though being dark and mysterious, was a way to escape the drudgery of every day life and indulge in something a little more fantastical.

With a degree in Zoology, Wakeling is animal mad and has three cats, fish and five chickens in his London home. He is a keen gardener and conservationist. He is also still awaiting the arrival of his Hogwart’s Owl!"

Find him on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GeoffreyWakeling
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GWakelingWriter
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5781929.Geoffrey_Wakeling
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Geoffrey-Wakeling/e/B007JNTZLG/
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/GeoffWakeling
Website: http://geoffreywakeling.com/

Questions nobody asked me

I've done a lot of author interviews, and answered many questions. But, just because I can, here are a couple of questions I've seen asked in author interviews, or on "ask the author" threads, but don't remember being asked myself, and the answers I'd have given to them if someone had asked me:

1. How do you come up with your character names, and the titles for your books?

"When it comes to titles, some of my titles just come to me, others come after some serious thinking time. But all have one thing in common: they reference either an important event from the story, the main character, or both. For example, ‘Quest For The Purple Pumpkin’ refers to the fact that Polly goes on a quest to find the purple pumpkin, and ‘Vinnie The Vegetarian Zombie’ is a book about a vegetarian turned zombie named Vinnie.

When it comes to character names, mostly I pick them for their meanings, and search baby name sites for names that mean things that fit the type of characters, or look up words in other languages that have the meaning I'm looking for (that's how I got the name for Neige from 'Cubby And The Beanstalk'). Other times I pick them because they're the name of the pet I'm basing my story on (like with Kero from the 'Kero's World' series). They also sometimes pick themselves, and I only change them if they don’t feel right to me, or if my association with the name, or the meaning of the name, is all wrong for how I view the character. There have also been a few names I got by either randomly putting together syllables associated with names for those races in popular fiction (which is how I got the names for Arael and Derwyn from ‘Quest For The Purple Pumpkin’) or using the name generating option on the Hero Lab program for the Pathfinder roleplaying system, when I use it to help along my character creation process (which is how I got the names for Ardul and Rith from 'Snowball The Oddball Kobold'). However I pick the name though, I look for one I like, one that feels right for the character, and one that's not too difficult to pronounce."

2. If you could visit - or live in - any fantasy world, which one would you pick? Why?

"Narnia, because then I could be surrounded by talking animals, and meet Aslan the lion."

3. If you could have lunch with a fictional character, who would you pick? Why?

"I'd like to pick two: Aslan and Luna Lovegood. Aslan from the Narnia books, because he's a talking lion, and also very wise, so would quite likely have some interesting things to say. Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter books, because I like her unique way of looking at the world, and I think she would make lunch fun and entertaining."

Kindle update

So, yeah... My Kindle is dead. After several days of attempted charges (with two different chargers) and attempts at connecting it to the computer, we're getting nothing. And, yes, Kelly had a look too, in case it just decided to stop talking and needs that turned back on (which happened once).

I also tried the Kindle for PC thing again, in case the recently updated Jaws will work with it. But it won't. It will navigate the menus now, which is a start, but that's it. I tried every single keystroke that's meant to make it read things out, and it was having none of it. So, the Kindle for PC thing is out, as I suspected.

We looked at the Kindles on Amazon. Of course, the ones with all the features I need are the newer ones, which naturally makes them the more expensive options. Big surprise there, I don't think!

With that in mind, I decided to talk to Apple, since I know for a fact the "Speak Screen" software their ipods and ipads come with as standard works for the visually impaired, since my brother, Carl, has an iPhone, which he manages to use (he was fiddling with it when he was visiting a couple of weeks ago). So, I called Apple and the guy actually tried out the accessability of the Kindle App using his own Apple iPad-mini while I was on the phone with him. And, yes, it worked; the speaking software read out the book he opened up.

This leaves me with two options:

1. Get a Kindle, hope it works, but know I have limited accessability when it comes to most features.

2. Pay just a little more, get an iPad, know it works, and that other features it has will work for me.

It's nice to have options. Though kind of frustrating that either way it's going to cost me a couple of hundred pounds.