S.K. Nicholls's Blog, page 38

Leigh Michaels has a New Release: Lies that Bind: Emma’s Story!

Synopsis:  Ever since that day in grade school, Emma Parker and Kendall Preston have been best friends, with a mutual need to protect each other from harm. But when a secret from their past becomes a secret in their present, a devastating tragedy threatens to tear apart a relationship that they’ve both always believed was bulletproof. Left to pick up the broken pieces by herself, Emma learns that to survive the aftermath, all she has to do is drown the resulting anguish. The only problem is that her coping mechanism might cost her everything. But even if it does, all she wants back is her best friend.

Lies That Bind: Emma’s Story helps shed light on the all-too-common occurrence of abuse by someone familiar, and the PTSD that follows trauma.

You can pick up a copy Here on smashwords, Amazon, Amazon UK, and Nook!

Filed under: Book Reviews and Books Tagged: Leigh Michaels, Lies That Bind: Emma's Story, New Release, PTSD

A Tour Through Our Little Saigon and a Jackfruit

These past two weeks have been crappy for me. I’m fighting bilateral ear infections, thanks to daily swimming. Most days I stayed in my PJs and banged my head against the walls. Ears are constantly popping. When I wasn’t doing that, I was between the sheets sleeping, and now that I am feeling better I am stir crazy.

I spent some time gathering up pics to share with you. You have most likely heard me mention Little Saigon. I use it as a setting in my book Naked Alliances. We have a thriving Vietnamese population here in Orlando and their shops are seen all around, but Little Saigon, situated on Colonial Drive (highway #50), is where they are concentrated. Colonial Drive is a major east-west thoroughfare. Many cities and towns have a Vietnamese village and ours looks like this:

 

The buildings are painted in carnival colors. It’s hard to see just how busy it is from still pics, but it’s a hub of activity. There are tons of restaurants, soup spots mostly, Asian markets, and import shops. The aromas of stir-fries and fragrances of mixed herbs permeate the air. There is a lot of neon at night, but I don’t have any night shots. It’s all very colorful.

One of my favorite shops is an Asian market where they split jackfruit to share samples enticing people to buy. The little children (like me) gather to slurp up the slimy, sticky, yellow fruit. Not to gross you out, but it’s like a huge wad of phlegm that tastes like a cross between cotton candy and bananas, with a little tang and a creamy but firm, rubbery texture. If you have never tried it and run across one do give it a try. I highly recommend it. (Just don’t confuse it with the durian fruit which looks similar, tastes just as sweet, but smells like horse manure.) The jackfruit sections have a seed in the center about the size of a chestnut that you have to spit out.

We don’t grow jackfruit here. We import it from Indonesia where men climb thirty to forty feet high to wrap a sling around the fruit and cut it down. One of my characters has a brief encounter with this exotic fruit in my story while on a mission to Little Saigon.

This is where we were today, just thought I might bring you along on a tour. Later this week, I will show you more of our beautiful downtown area.

Filed under: Settings and Feature Articles on Naked Alliances, Writing Process/WIPs Tagged: Colonial Drive, crime fiction, jackfruit, Little Saigon, Naked Alliances, Orlando,

Photography wanted

sknicholls:

Photography blogger shout for submissions!

Originally posted on Poetry by Pamela:

I have learned so much about publishing and need to go back and “fix” some things from my first book.

I had used a stock photo from Amazon for the book cover for my Kindle version of Dreams of Love. Unfortunately, I couldn’t seem to use the same picture when I worked with Createspace on the print version. So, I found something kind of similar (but not close enough to suit me).

I am planning to rework the cover and have both versions be alike. In order to do that, I need an amazing picture of a sunset – preferably a sunset over the beach or water. I know that there are lots of you who take some incredible pictures. Would you like to share?

If you are interested in helping me out by contributing your picture (hi res) to be used on my book cover, please send me an…

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Blogging Promotions and My Book Reviews

Somebody recently asked me if I have read all of the other author’s work that I promote on my blog. It is a question that I am asked frequently.

Most often I have, but sometimes I have not. So why would I promote them?

If I am doing a book review, then I have read that book and liked enough about it to say so and recommend it. I may not have loved it, but I liked it. I can usually find nice things to say about the books I have read, after all I did choose them to read! I do book reviews at liberty and do not take requests.

I will not post book reviews for works that I could not read, for whatever reason, or works I did not like. I may post that review on Amazon &/or Goodreads, but not on my blog if it is an author not known to me. I will usually send the author a personal email if it is an author known to me. I try to keep the blog positive.

I do promotional posts and reblog indie authors or traditionally published authors I have met through blogging. Occasionally, I will post on a really good book I have read that is written by a non-blogger author, but is so very interesting to me that I think my readers may also be interested.

Books I have not read will sometimes be promoted because I feel that we all need to help each other out. So I am not really recommending them as books I know, but as books you might like to try. They may not be a genre that I am personally interested in, but having such a diverse readership, I know someone else out there might thoroughly enjoy the read. It is a way to help readers find books.

Blogging is a way to reach other people and I feel as bloggers interested in writing books we can all pass on information about books that others might find useful or interesting, a cover reveal, a blog tour, a debut, a continuation of a series, a sale. These are all ways we can be helpful and share the word.

I would spend my whole time blogging books for others if I tried to reblog everything, so I start with people who have engaged me on this blog or whom I have met on theirs. I may not pick up on everything.

I may not have read the works, it may not be your cup of tea (or mine either)…and that’s okay.

We’re all in this social media experience together.

Share the love.

Filed under: Book Reviews and Books Tagged: authors, blogging, book reviews, promotions, reading, reblogging, sharing

Starting out as an indie author: Interview with Kate Sparkes, author of BOUND

sknicholls:

So excited to see this. An excellent writer, now an excellent author. See how she did it. Kate Sparks author of Bound!

Originally posted on Ruth Nestvold - Indie Adventures:

For this week’s installment of “Starting out as an indie author” I offer you an interview with new writer Kate Sparkes, who — to judge by her rankings in the Amazon store — “did it right.” She published her first novel, Bound, in June 2014. The novel is a YA fantasy and the first in a trilogy – and has a beautiful cover that makes me drool. :)

As of today, the book already has 88 reviews with an average of 4.7. The rankings in the Amazon US Kindle store are also impressive:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,212 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

#2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Sword & Sorcery
#4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy…

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Guest author Charles E. Yallowitz

Originally posted on Daily Echo:

I would like to welcome Charles E. Yallowitz, author of the Legends of Windemere fantasy series and other works such as The Hopeteller. Charles’ latest book, The Compass Key, has recently been published on Amazon Kindle.

Thank you to Sue Vincent for giving me an opportunity to be a guest on her blog. My name is Charles E Yallowitz and I am the Indie Author behind the fantasy adventure series Legends of Windemere. Sue sent me the following questions that cover a wide range of aspects of being an Indie Author. After all, those of us who go outside of the traditional route are author, editor, publisher, promoter, and whatever other role that needs to be filled at a moment’s notice.

Where do you get your inspiration for your characters?

My characters come from various sources, but the heroes in Legends of Windemere stem from a Dungeons & Dragons game…

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Beta Readers: The Force Thanks You, I Thank You

Waiting is hard! So far, I have beaten every level in Angry Birds Star Wars and Angry Birds Space, (about 600 levels) including bonus levels, except for one. I can’t get three stars on Cloud City level 29. (If anybody knows how to beat it with three stars, drop me an email.) I have retrieved all of the golden eggs, and completed all of the eggbirds. Of course, when I get stuck I rely on the rocket scientist, so I have cheated a bit.

That’s what I do when I’m not writing or reading. Play with my animated friends. I’m lost in deep cyberspace somewhere out in the universe.

I don’t know what to do with myself when I’m not writing or editing or something to do with writing. I have completed two more vague outlines for future books and a lot of where I go with those will depend on where my beta readers desire to go. And whether they decide to go anywhere at all. The hardest part is waiting.

One beta reader is done and she loved the story. Did some jam up good editing with a keen eye.

Another beta reader is giving me an in-depth and thorough deep read for content editing. He’s close to the end. We’ve made lots of progress. I know there is more to come.

I plan to do a future post on just how helpful beta reads are when we are all done. Invaluable!

I have seven more lined up and am just starting to get some feedback. That’s totally awesome! I’m nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof. I feel like the nerdy guy who has just decided to ask the pretty girl to the prom.

Beta readers really rock! To give your story time and attention, when life places so many demands on them, well, it just goes to show how wonderful the world is that we live in. I can’t thank them all enough. I would do the same for them and they know it, but I feel like I could send them winning lottery tickets and it still wouldn’t be enough.

So, thanks guys and girls, for your time and attention, for your brain energy and willingness to help.

You are deeply appreciated.
Filed under: Writing Process/WIPs Tagged: Angry Birds, beta readers, editing, hard part, spare time, time on my hands, waiting, what to do with myself while I wait

Easily Connect with Authors and Readers with these 232 Hashtags!

sknicholls:

Here’s some more things that will help you with marketing thanks to Nicholas C. Rossis. #Hashtags 232 of them!

Originally posted on Nicholas C. Rossis:

Image: http://jpundits.com/

Leeland Artra recently posted over at the FSFN group on Facebook a link to a list by Book Marketing Services, containing no less than 205 Author Hashtags to use on Google+, Twitter, Facebook etc. In short, you can use these hashtags to easily connect with other authors and/or readers on any social media platform. Since I added a couple of dozens more, they’re now 232!

How to use them

Hashtags are words or acronyms that serve like clusters, by allowing people with common interests to easily search for them. Some are rather esoteric, like #FF meaning #FollowFriday. This is commonly used on Twitter to suggest each Friday the people that have proven supportive in the previous week, therefore others may also benefit from following them.

Other hashtags explain what you’re doing (eg #AmWriting) or what you’re promoting (eg #FreeBook). This list allows you to select the most suitable, therefore effective, hashtag for…

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My Thoughts About Marketing for Independent Authors

sknicholls:

We all need helpful ideas about marketing and Tim Baker has a few things to keep in mind.

Originally posted on blindoggbooks:

My friend Becky and I seem to have this running “discussion” about marketing our books. She recently shared her thoughts on the matter in this blog post, to which I added a brief comment.

Then I decided a more lengthy response was in order…so here we are.

My Thoughts About Marketing for Independent Authors

Step 1; Write the book

Seems pretty self-explanatory and definitely obvious so we won’t go into any detail about it, other than to say if you ever want sell a book, it’s the only place to start (plagiarism notwithstanding).

Step 2; Sell the book

This is where many authors drop the ball.

In fact, when I released my first novel, Living the Dream, way back in the day, I made the very mistake(s) I’m about to tell you to avoid – so pay attention, because I’m speaking from experience.

First, let’s start with some…

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A Whale Of A Sale But It’s All True I Swear By My Tattoo

sknicholls:

Awesome good series on sale this week. So get started on it!

Originally posted on mishaburnett:

Click To Buy!

Click To Buy!

To celebrate my launching of The Worms Of Heaven I am putting Catskinner’s Book and Cannibal Hearts on sale for 99 cents each this week.  In addition Catskinner’s Book will be featured on EReader News Today tomorrow, Wednesday the 3rd.

So we’ll see how this works.  I don’t often ask for reblogs, but I would appreciate it if you would see fit to help me spread the news.  With my third James & Catskinner novel I feel that I have an actual body of work.

Click To Buy!

I did what I set out to do, which is to create a new mythos, new monsters, new magic, a cosmology based on some fairly outre sources and my own imagination.  It’s been hard to get any traction since the world in my books is difficult to explain–I can’t really say that it’s “just like” anything else out…

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