Jo Robinson's Blog, page 102
February 9, 2014
OMG! I Got Tagged!
I got tagged! That means I've got to answer four questions and tag three fellow authors in my blogging community. In turn, they get to do the same. Now that makes me feel better...getting someone else to share the burden. ;) This is a great way of supporting each other as authors by helping our works get a little bit more attention out there, wherever…
And that's why we love Kevin Cooper! I love your answers to those questions Kev - especially, "I prefer to call it #BS." :)
Techno Granny
This is going to be an unusually short post because I’m officially knackered. The crappy covers on my short stories have been niggling away at me ever since my previous post, so I decided to just fix them. I’ve tidied up Fly Birdie, although I haven’t changed the actual cover. That story will always be special to me and I don’t want to change it too much. I’ve given The Visitation a brand new cover because the old one was just awful in every way. I’ve loaded them on to Amazon, but the new ones will only go live later today sometime.
Second reason for the knackerdness is that I’ve added a book links page on this site. Wow. I’m not sure if I’ve got every one of Amazon’s international sites included there yet, but I think I’ve earned me a sit down with a drop of vino and a large slab of chocolate. Wonderful B grade movie in my sights for today. I’ve also made some 3D book images to go on that page. I found a nice online site to make these for free here. If you don’t feel like opening the books tab above, they look like this.
Wobbling off to couch…..
February 8, 2014
More about the Sochi dogs
Reblogged from Living with Izzy:
Attending the Olympics? Don't take home a souvenir. Take home a Sochi dog.
February 7, 2014
To Tweet or be a Twit? THAT is the Question!
Reblogged from Chris The Story Reading Ape's New (to me) Authors Blog:
Before it occurred to me that I could write anything at all, I was a voracious reader. Certain authors have that certain kind of magical ability that makes you forget about the real world around you, and get lost in the worlds that they create. It’s a form of love, I think. I greedily awaited new books from my favourites, impatiently awaited sequels in series.
I'm visiting my dear Story Reading Ape today. I accidentally nicked his whole banana cream cake though, so I'm off to hide now... :D
Storm in a Teacup
The indie world is buzzing after Chuck Wendig published this post, and it seems our beloved sweary Chuck has started another good debate. I had a good chuckle at some of the comments, especially a lively chat between author Russell Blake and another where she took umbrage at apparently being called a fool. Can’t make this stuff up – love it! Even Mark Coker waded in.
Now seeing what a lot of the bloggers I follow think about the world of self publishing in general, and quality control, and gatekeepers, I’ve had a think about my own indie trip. I actually thought that I’d been writing longer than I have – it seems like forever now. But Facebook sent me one of those birthday compilation things, and I realised that I only started writing for the first time in my life not more than a year before I joined it – that was in January 2012 – so not such a seasoned scribbler after all. Never mind. The point.
It never occurred to me that I could ever publish my own book back then. I was compiling lists of agents, and preparing myself for rejection and all that sort of thing. When I’d finally done with the scribbling of the book, I found that I couldn’t do it – I couldn’t take the chance of handing it over to someone else, and for them to decide on what parts of it got published or not. I wanted to choose the cover, and I wanted to control where it was sold and how, so I decided to go indie.
Personally it didn’t make sense to me to publish the first book I wrote (African Me & Satellite TV) as a greeny, so I decided to publish a short story on Amazon first. Living in Zimbabwe you have no access to Paypal (and boy did I rant about that!), and as I slogged from editor to cover artist, and found that the whole world has to be paid mostly that way, I eventually said stuff it, and decided to do the whole lot myself. I went a bit too far to the dark side maybe when I decided that I would always do every little thing myself. I have since discovered that it makes much more sense to pay for help, and now that I too am blessed to be allowed to use PayPal, I will. But…..
There have been typos and one rotten segment published in one of my books that I really thought I had removed when I first loaded them on Amazon. Now that they’re just about to go live as paper books, and I’ve finally figured out the vetting on Smashwords, I’m very happy with them. I do know that there is one typo in there – don’t ask! – but I’m working on finding it and fixing it. So my point is this. If indie publishing did have the gatekeepers I probably would never have made it out of the starting gates.
Yes – there is some eyeball expunging crap published on Amazon, yes – there are entire books of absolute crap, but there are also books by (now) multiply published indie authors that I love. If possible, I follow the blogs of all my favourite indie authors, and I can tell you that all of them have stories of beginners mistakes – typos, plot bunnies with large teeth, crap covers, and, and….. But the fact that they had the opportunity to get to where they are today – no matter how many newbie blunders they made – makes me a happy reader.
As long as I carry on doing the very best to make sure I don’t publish anything that I haven’t polished to the very best of my ability, I don’t believe that what anyone else publishes is going to have a long term effect on me. Much as I really do love Chuck, I have to disagree. I’m with Russell Blake on this one. Some readers will definitely foreswear reading all indie books because of a couple of bad experiences, but not the majority. I can spot a turd a mile away by using the “Look Inside” feature, and a hundred five star reviews are not going to make me just mindlessly hit the buy button, so I have to credit all other reasonable readers with the same abilities. It’s up to each indie writer to make their own way, and if they publish crap nobody is going to read them more than once. I think that the whole point of self publishing is a journey to success or failure – an opportunity – and if every indie book ever allowed to be published was perfect, quite a lot of us would never have been allowed to start. It is what it is, and if anyone changed the rules now, I for one would be really disappointed. The indie authors and their books that I love only shine brighter for me because their light burns much brighter than the crappy bits floating in the pond.
Serious writers, authors serious about their craft, and those who love what they do have no need to fear the oceans of rubbish that they have to wade through. I think that our biggest problem is impatience anyway. We feel that seven minutes after we load our first book onto Amazon it should start selling thousands and reporters should start lurking in the bushes in the yard. But nothing in life is ever that easy. Expect that after five years of hard work and a couple more books. Be realistic, and don’t ever worry about what everyone else is doing is my motto. So…. Readers – be careful that you check out any book properly before you buy it – and scribblers – well – just rock on I say.
yeah you’re right that is not a good idea
LOLOL! And that’s why I LOVE Kizzy Lee!
Originally posted on kizzylee:
ok shall I tell you what is not a good idea? Well it goes like this, imagine first you are a denture wearer, then imagine you are sat all cosy on the sofa ready to watch your fave tv programme and with you in this cosyness is your cup of tea and assorted biscuits for dunking in the tea on one side and on the other side is your glass of water containing your dentures which you have removed so you can eat the biscuits so are you with me? biscuit in hand going to dunk, tea on one side, glass of water with dentures in on other side, now go to dunk your biscuit without thinking which side you are heading for,
see it’s not a good idea to have tea on one side and glass of water containing dentures on the other when dunking biscuits
yeah you're right that is not a good idea
ok shall I tell you what is not a good idea? Well it goes like this, imagine first you are a denture wearer, then imagine you are sat all cosy on the sofa ready to watch your fave tv programme and with you in this cosyness is your cup of tea and assorted biscuits for dunking in the tea on one side and on the other side is your glass of water containing your dentures which you have removed so you can eat the biscuits so are you with me?
LOLOL! And that's why I LOVE Kizzy Lee!
Dreams of Love Poetry Collection
Reblogged from Poetry by Pamela:
I alluded to working on a project - and now I'm going to unveil that project. Only a couple of good friends were even aware of this. But I took the plunge and published a collection of my love poems.
http://www.amazon.com/Dreams-Love-Poe...
I have been supported by one friend in particular and without her encouragement, this would never have happened. So, if you have enjoyed my poetry, please check this out.
Have a book of poetry from the wonderfully talented Pamela Beckford.
February 3, 2014
Book Blog Chain – I’ve Been Tagged!
I was invited to participate in a Blog Chain by one of my favourite people on the planet Vashti Quiroz-Vega. Her blog posts and articles are often just plain genius, she is a great supporter of animals and humanity, an artist, an awesome poet, a wonderful supporter of friends and fellow scribblers – oh – and she can scare the pants off you too. I never want to miss a word she writes – love it! Read her gripping book – you won’t regret it – I promise you!
The Pan of Hamgee isn’t paranoid. There must be some people in K’Barth who aren’t out to get him it’s just that, right now, he’s not sure where they are. His family are dead, his existence is treason and he does the only thing he can to survive – getaway driving.
As if being on the run isn’t bad enough, when he finds a magic thimble and decides to keep it, he unwittingly sets himself on a collision course with Lord Vernon, K’Barth’s despot ruler.
Unwillingly The Pan is forced to make choices and stand up for his beliefs, beliefs he never knew he had until they were challenged. But when he is faced with a stark moral dilemma will his new found integrity stick? Can he stop running?
Book 3:
My final pick (only because ladies first) is Kevin Cooper. As an added bonus to getting to read his fantastic fantasy, I love his blog posts. He writes and sings beautiful music, and his poems get you right in the heart every time. I’m happy to call this author friend, but once again, that is not why I love to read his books. Off you zoom to Amazon again….
The Wizard, The Girl and The Unicorn's Horn
February 1, 2014
Beginning Anew by Paula Rose Michelson – Book Blast and Giveaway
***
ABOUT THE BOOK
Naomi and Chaz know that miracles really do happen for at a friend’s wedding they reaffirmed their love and are Beginning Anew!
Yet there are consequences that the couple must face. Will Chaz love and protect his wife? Will Naomi learn to trust Chaz?
Find out in the first novel of Paula Rose Michelson’s four-book saga e Naomi Chronicles.
Available at:
Smashwords – http://ow.ly/sTZsu
Amazon – http://a-fwd.com/uk=lucpir-21&asin=B00I12XLY6
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18807340-beginning-anew
https://www.createspace.com/4238774
AMAZON | GOODREADS
***
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paula Rose Michelson is not only an author but also a mother of two married daughters, and the grandmother of seven. She authored the Casa de Naomi Series. And today, February 1, 2014 The Naomi Chronicles, Book One, Beginning Anew will release on Amazon.
In 1988, she founded LAMB Ministries which teaches women recovering from trauma and abuse.
While awaiting the copyright for the first LAMB recovery book titled, “Why Did We Become Angry?” She wrote a series of politically incorrect articles that will be published under the title, “The Purple Pitch Seduction of America.” These will release in 2014.
Paula can be found online on:
Her site, blog, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, and Goodreads
***
For this release blast Paula has decided to do a giveaway.
The prizes are:
3 sets of the previous Casa de Naomi Books (digital format)
and
3 x Casa de Naomi: Book One (digital format)
)
Chaz carried Naomi over the threshold and into the vestibule. His gaze caressed her every feature, resting at last on her eyes. They were a striking couple. She, a petite woman with olive skin, azure blue eyes, and curly hair that, when let loose, fell to her waist; he, a lanky man with close cut, dark brown hair and strong features who had once again married the woman his heart yearned for. As Naomi met his gaze with her own, she found herself believing that the Spanish tiles and sideboard stood as silent witnesses to the love encompassing them. She felt Chaz tighten his hold on her and remembered the first time she came to this casa, a teenager handcuffed and dragged here against her will.
He nuzzled her neck, and her thoughts turned toward Chaz coming to this casa the first time they wed, unaware of her secrets. When they looked at each other, Naomi believed each of them were experiencing the magic that surrounded them, magic carried on the soft velvety breeze that drifted in through the front door, enfolding them in its embrace. Noticing that they breathed in unison, her heart rejoiced, for their unity affirmed to her that this was the beginning of all their tomorrows as their yesterdays faded away. She smiled, certain each of them was remembering the vows they had reaffirmed, the promise of the night they shared, and the many promises they made; promises to love, cherish, and obey.
Naomi drank in her surroundings, amazed that the place of fear and trepidation that had become a refuge for her while serving others, and from which she had fled weeks ago, was now a place of love and joy. Bringing her thoughts back to the present, she saw Chaz’s gaze sweep the casa and noticed his scowl. She wondered if he was remembering their first wedding night a little more than a month ago that for him, she believed, was a night of unmet…She blushed and was about to ask him when he turned toward her. Though she believed, she would never be sure, his look seemed to say…Nomi, you take my breath away!
She flicked a piece of lint from his tuxedo jacket.
“Nomi! Did you hear me?” He stared at her.
Though not given to mind reading, because of the way Chaz looked at her, Naomi wonder if he was remembering the way they meet years ago when he was on the street inebriated. Before their life had fallen apart, he had told her that the few moments they spent then changed him forever. Now, as she relieved the moment, Chaz had called her “Nomi” she realized once more the manifold blessings of remarrying this man who used the same endearment her papá had. Chaz had called her “Nomi” before, but this time, when he spoke that name it sounded like a benediction, and her heart filled with joy. She was certain he truly loved her as her family had, for none but her family had ever called her what her papá had until Chaz claimed her heart.
“Nomi, you take my breath away!”
“Oh, Chaz, I thought I imagined you saying that.”
Chaz smiled and kissed her. “Dear one, let us remember what we went through to come to this place and this time. Let us never take lightly the love we have for each other.”
“I promise…I will not forget.”
“Amore, time has robbed us of many things. Commitments unconsecrated at the beginning of our marriage and your promise of their completion on that first Sunday night.”
She blushed. “This is true, but there is nothing we can do about that now.”
“We can have our special Sunday as you planned.”
Naomi took the measure of her man with new insight. “Do you mean to tell me that after all of this, you are willing to wait?”
“Sí, that is exactly what I mean. If there is one thing I have learned from all of this, it is that I need to be patient with you…with us.”
“Are you trying to develop this trait by putting off our union?”
“I believe we should come together after we have sorted things out. I must confess, you were not the only one hiding. I came to you with one suitcase and allowed you to think I was less than I am. For that, I ask you to forgive me. It is because both of us have not been open with each other that we need this time. Besides, waiting until Sunday will be wonderful agony for us both. After all, what is it they say, ‘waiting makes the moment more special’? I believe we should wait as you originally requested.”
“What do you mean, you made yourself to be less than you are? Who exactly are you?”
“See, you are aware that we do not really know each other, or you would not be reacting this way.”
“That is true. I can see the wisdom in what you suggest. But…”
Chaz watched his bride’s emotions as they flitted across her face. “What are you thinking about?” he asked as he put her down.
Seconds ticked by. She smiled at him. “I was thinking about the sign.”
Chaz drew her close. “I am glad you like it.”
“Well…who would not be surprised…I mean pleased, to come home and discover the casa had been named after them, with a sign saying so now hanging above the front door?” She remembered asking him, “Why did you pick these words?” Though she hated having her name where everyone could see it, she smiled when he answered, “I told you before, you are my casa, Naomi. I am at home in you!” Amazed by her response, “I never thought of this as my casa,” Naomi knew she sounded happy like new brides do. Now, those words seemed to reverberate within the walls of the casa, as if the house was rejoicing with her because it somehow knew that home had always been an illusion to her until now.
She thought of the yellow butterfly on the sign and asked, “Chaz, are you one who watches butterflies?”
“No, my sweet, I am one who watches you.”
“What do you mean?”
“What were you thinking of that made you blush when I proposed?”
“Well…I said I would date you…because outside my bedroom’s French doors each spring, I watched caterpillars spin their cocoons and emerge later in the season as beautiful butterflies. I wondered if…if I…could be like them…becoming all I was meant to be by…marrying you.”
“When hearts beat as one like yours and mine, in time we come to understand each other’s secret yearnings.”
“And what is my secret yearning?”
“That we be happy—”
“Oh yes, I want us to be happy and… hope for…”
“Una mariposa amarilla, sí?”
“How did you know my secret wish was to be free like a yellow butterfly is?”
“Naomi, for one who was taught that observing the Jewish faith could lead to her death, who sought freedom in America, then needed to live in isolation because she had entered the land illegally, thinking of a butterfly that goes where it wants and does what it pleases must have seemed like heaven. As for yellow, that, my lovely, is no secret. Given the choice, if you are not trying to be invisible, or dressing to please me, you wear something yellow.”
Naomi thought of the lovely yellow sunhat with embroidered red roses Chaz had bought her and nodded. “Yes, you are right.”
“Un momento.” Chaz hurried away, returning a moment later with that hat in hand. She smiled at him as he placed it on her head and draped the matching scarf artfully around her neck. “I promised myself that when you came back we would begin again with good memories. For me, this hat and dancing with you on the patio are the best!”
She smiled at him.
He picked her up, and hurried towards the backdoor. Before he crossed the kitchen’s threshold, she motioned for him to put her down. “Is there a problem?”
She frowned. “It is going to be hard enough to wait until Sunday, so…”
He saw her frown and understood all she had not said. “Sí…dancing with you is out of the question! Now I wish you had not agreed to wait until…”
“No. I know you were right…though it seems odd to be married twice in such a short time and never come together.”
Chaz chuckled. “When you put it that way, I can see the humor in our situation.”
“It might not seem funny when some will insist that we wed on June fifteenth, 1967 instead of on July twenty-sixth, 1967.”
“I do not care what date we use. All that matters is that we are really and truly married.”
“Yes, a new beginning.”
“Now there are things we need to do.”
“What things?”
“We must go shopping for some new bedding and other things for the master
suite.”
At the mention of bedding, Naomi blushed.
“What is it?”
Aware that if she shared her desire, Chaz’s plan might go awry, Naomi cast her eyes down. “Nothing…nothing at all…”
“Naomi, do not hide from me again.”
Oh, God, how do I do this? she wondered as her color deepened.
“Naomi…please, please…” The way Chaz looked when he uttered those two
words made her feel weak in the knees.
Talk about something else, she told herself. “All right…since you spoke of Madre Vida and the sign, I must share that her name is misspelled.”
“Is that all?”
“Um…well…”
“Tell me.”
“I am so sorry that I did not clear out her room for you.”
“Nomi, it is all right. We can do that together.”
“I could not let go of her presence. With your help, now I can.”
“Good! Let us make that room our own.”
“I am glad you will help because that way the room will really be ours. What should we do with Madre Vida’s things?”
“We could pack them away,” he suggested. Then seeing his bride frown, Chaz exclaimed, “Why not pick some of her things and frame them!”
“Oh, Chaz, that is a wonderful idea, but…”
“What?”
“Well,” she looked at him for assurance. Seeing him nod, she continued, “It might be silly to speak of such things now, but though I lived with Madre Vida for more than five years, I do not know anything about her except her work with girls like me, and the market she owned and passed on to me along with all her other commitments. Though not my real mother, she gave me this life.”
“Maybe, in her things, you will find what you want.”
“I hope so. I would like to know…” Naomi smiled at him. “She was my only family here in America.”
Chaz hugged her tight. “Now you have me.”
“We have each other.”
Chaz heard the kitchen clock chime, marking the midnight hour. He escorted his wife to her bedroom door and forced a smile. “Then we agree, tomorrow we begin to make the suite fit for us.”
Naomi smiled and opened her door. “Yes, tomorrow we begin to be us instead of you and me….Us, as only a couple in love can…”
“Will be,” Chaz finished her sentence, then he kissed her lips longingly. Drawing circles in her right hand, he moved closer, so close each could feel the other’s heart beating. “Naomi, I…” he pulled her to him.
“Whatever you want, I am yours,” she murmured as his lips encircled hers.
“Naomi,” he moaned, “I must leave you now or I will never go!” He forced himself to turn away and walk down the hall.
Paula answers some questions:
Sweet or savoury?
Sweet! Growing up next-door to my grandparents,’ I was blessed to eat bread or sweets anytime I liked because grandpa owned a Jewish bakery and my dad frosted all the cakes. In that day no one sold anything that was a day old, so there were a lot of delectable treats. At one year old, I weighed 32 pounds and have had to watch my weight ever since…but I still love sweets!
Coffee or tea?
Tea! I have a tea pot collection that my friends have added to over the years. Once while Ron was in Idaho, staying at a pastor’s house over night before he preached on Sunday, he admired the wife’s teapot collection and she took one of her prized teapots that she gotten when she was in Russia and gifted it to me.
Chocolate or cookies?
Chocolate or cookies…hum mm, that’s like asking Winnie the Pooh to pick between Piglet and Eeyore! I guess it would depend on what the chocolate or cookie choices are…I know, how about white chocolate tea (I’m fantasizing here) with cinnamon chocolate cookies!
Favourite dish?
My mother-in-law, God bless her, was a chief. She taught my hubby how to cook! So my favorite dish, as my hips can attest to, is anything he makes! However, if we’re going out, I’ve got a list of fave’s we don’t eat at home like anything Greek or hor dourves.
