Jo Robinson's Blog, page 74
September 30, 2014
Cook From Scratch – Brought up on Fusion Foods – Author M.C.V. Egan
Originally posted on Smorgasbord - Variety is the spice of life:
Welcome to the second in the series – Cook from Scratch. I am delighted by the response and over the coming weeks on Tuesdays I will be posting some wonderful recipes that have been contributed. Please do contact me if you have a family recipe or a favourite family meal you would like to share and the details can be found in the link at the end of the post. I will now hand over to this week’s guest who has a tried and tested method of preparing rice and some terrific fresh ingredients to complete the dish.
Brought up on Fusion Foods with M.C.V. Egan
I know people who spent most of their life in one area, one country. They tend to have such distinct repertoires for the meals that make them feel comfort and the feeling of security that only the smells and tastes of our first…
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Originally posted on 
Dun Writin’—Now Whut? A series by Susan Uttendorfsky – Owner of Adirondack Editing – (32 Research – How Much is Enough or How Much is Too Much?)
Originally posted on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog..... An Author Promotions Enterprise!:
Research—How Much is Enough or How Much is Too Much?
Once your first draft is completed, you might decide there are areas that you need to research. How long a body will keep in a refrigerator, for instance. Or how apt someone is to be struck by lightning while jogging through San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park in July. Or whether or not the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City is uptown or downtown from where your main character is. There are many details that writers have to research to make sure they are correct.
Just like anything, some authors love to research and others hate it. Those who love it can get lost in researching, using precious writing time to keep researching nit-picky details that simply aren’t necessary to the story. Those who hate researching may cavalierly assume that their details are correct and not bother taking…
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Primordial Origins of (Some) of Earth’s Water Posted From Centauri Dreams
Originally posted on theowlladyblog:
Posted: 29 Sep 2014 09:55 AM PDT
With one interstellar conference in the books for 2014, I’ll be headed next for the Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop, whose upcoming gathering will be held in Oak Ridge this November. Last week’s coverage of the 100 Year Starship Symposium in Houston has allowed several interesting stories to back up in the queue, and I’ll spend the next few days going over some of the latest findings, starting with the discovery that a large fraction of the water in Earth’s oceans may be substantially older than we think. The results make a strong case for water as a common ingredient in planet formation no matter where the planet forms or around what kind of star.
Ilsedore Cleeves (University of Michigan) is lead author on the new paper in Science that argues the case. What Cleeves and colleagues have found is that up to…
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She was never going back. #Book #Review of Deception by Eloise De Sousa @mello_elo
Originally posted on Lit World Interviews:
Title: Deception
Author: Eloise De Sousa
ISBN-10: 1291547955
ISBN-13: 978-1291547955
http://eloisedesousa.wordpress.com/
Pages: 234
Genre: Adult Crime-Romance
What’s it about?
Deception is a story about facing your past and learning to trust.
Amanda Glenson has a nice life working in a law firm in London while raising her 5 year old son Zachary. Unfortunately for her, a past that sent her fleeing from her home, her country on another continent, has finally caught up with her. There is no way around facing it; she must return home to Zimbabwe.
Enter Alex Edwards a lawyer brought in specifically to handle a situation in Zimbabwe for the law firm Amanda works for. Sparks fly between the two, only for Alex to discover he will be taken along for the ride into Amanda’s past, a coincidence that fate brings about. Two people with tainted pasts join together in a quest to find truth.
Highlights…
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September 29, 2014
My new novel ‘I Love Your Cupcakes’ is here! Come and have a taste!
Originally posted on Just Olga:
Hi all:
As I’ m sure you’ll remember, I’ve been talking about the new romance I was working on for a while. I asked for suggestions of names, recipes, and more recently I shared the beginning of the novel. I can give you the news. It’s now seen the light (or in its case, come out of the oven!).
I Love Your Cupcakes by Olga Núñez Miret. Cover by Lourdes VidalIf you are nuts about TV cookery programs and think chocolate is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, keep reading…
I Love Your Cupcakes is a “sweet” romance, a virtual fantasy high in calories and a fun adventure. Dare to give it a bite!
Dulce, Adelfa and Storm, the protagonists of I Love Your Cupcakes are business partners, friends and share some “interesting” family connections.
Her cakes. That’s all the men who meet Dulce talk about…
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Jo Robinson: Author of The Month!
Thank you Kevin!
Originally posted on Kev's Blog:
Author of the Month
Jo Robinson has won the spotlight on Author Of The Month for May 2014 and has a picture and direct link to her book posted for a limited time on Kev’s blog!
Presenting, Jo Robinson, Everyone!
Jo’s Interview
For more information on how YOU may have the same opportunity to appear on Author Of The Month visit my Author Interviews & Contact Info Page.
September 28, 2014
Marketing – None on None
When you were growing up, did you often wake up and think, “Wow! That’s it – I want to be a telemarketer? And then—! When I’m REALLY good at that I can move on up and sell insurance door to door! Yeah baby!!!” Yes – I know there are too many exclamation marks you grammar guru guy you!!! No. You probably wanted to be a fireman or astronaut, or the next president. The problem is that life is a slippery old thing, and things happen, crappy people happen, and sometimes you find yourself upside down in a pit of some horrible thing, and you have no choice but to take whatever means you can to earn your monthly crusts.
Nobody likes telemarketers. Nobody likes in your face buggers trying to force you to insure yourself against clocking out entirely. Nobody likes in your face buggers in general. Having been in sales and marketing for pretty much all of my working life, I learned that the art of salesmanship is more about selling yourself than your product. “Talking the talk” just pisses people off. I was lucky though – I got good packages with cars and trips to cool resorts as well as commission, so I never had that desperate need to make the money for the rent – too often. I also got to teach and lecture a bit. Now as a buyer of many totally unnecessary things, I realise that quite a lot of what I buy I don’t actually want or need – I just really liked the guy selling it.
A lot of indie authors put a lot of time into every day “marketing”. Unfortunately, blamming your book cover in my face every single day is just going to irritate me – a bit – ok – a LOT. So – no – I probably won’t buy your book. I’ll more than likely switch notifications to your site off. Any writer – whether traditional or not, is highly unlikely to make it into the top echelons in the first five years. Now and then you will have moments of glee – HI WILBUR! But mostly – not.
Even though I’m only a couple of years into this old gorgeous scribbling world, I know that my first five books will more than likely receive the response of – “Meh.” So I say – forget about the big bucks and the red carpet for a while, and build up your backlist. When you’ve published seven or ten books, and you’re comfortable in your author skin – that’s when you’ll find your forever readers. So slow down – relax – enjoy, and write on – bugger the marketing. If you get yourself to midlist, and enough readers love your scribbles, you will afford all the absinthe that your rowdy muse needs, and tea and bickies for you too. Enough of the BUY MY BOOK emails and – stuff. Have fun with your online writers groups and connections for now – don’t get too serious too soon – if ever.
Power2Indies Big Book Bash – You’re ALL Invited!
The schedules are starting to go out for this year’s Power2Indies Big Book Bash event on Facebook beginning 17th October. I was a bit late last year (ahem) and only managed to book one slot, but if you get moving now you can book two one hour slots on the event, where you get to take over and chat about yourself and your work to all those attending. This event is open to ALL – bloggers – authors – illustrators – publishers, and of course – readers. It was great last year and I gave away piles of freebies and sold a couple of discounted books too. Also a huge amount of fun chatting away to strangers all about what I do – wonderful!
So EVERYONE is invited! Check out Fraser’s blog post Power2Indies Big Book Bash for more info, join the event Power2Indies Big Book Bash Facebook Event and send your details (name, twitter handle and email address) to Fraser Stoopman at email address power2indies@outlook.com just as quickly as you can, because the slots are given on a first come first serve basis, and you REALLY don’t want to miss out on this one – you’ll have a ball.
The Sunday Show – Chris, The Story Reading Ape – Payback time.
Our TSRA, Chris Graham, beloved of indie scribblers the world over is with Sally on today’s Sunday Show, and she got our secretive Ape to reveal a little more than usual. :D
Originally posted on Smorgasbord - Variety is the spice of life:
Chris the Story Reading Ape is a friend to Indie Authors across all genres and abilities. Apart from opening up his blog up to writers to promote themselves and their books, he also provides some excellent posts in the form of tutorials that are very valuable for both experienced and novice writers.
When I broached the subject of an interview I was delighted when Chris very kindly said he would be happy to guest on the Sunday show. This presents quite a challenge as The Story Reading Ape is an enigma to say the least and you will find very little information as to his background online so I was excited about the prospect of finding out a little more. And, I am also pleased to be able to repay some of the hospitality that Chris has shown to writers like me who welcome any chance to showcase our own…
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