S.K. Nicholls's Blog, page 72
November 6, 2013
Chatting with Charles Yallowitz: An Author Interview
Reblogged from My First Fantasy Novel:
The average indie author sells a few hundred copies of a book. Even though after spending nearly an hour chatting and interviewing the very down-to-earth Charles Yallowitz, I find that his writing and attitudes are anything but typical. To date, Charles has over 9000 sales on only two books. Neither have even been out for a year, yet. Looking for up-and-coming authors?
How cool is this? An Audio Interview of fantasy author of Legends of Windemere, Charles yallowitz! Download it here.
November 5, 2013
Me and Billy the Kid
Reblogged from When I Became an Author:
Me and Billy the Kid has officially been released! Buy it here on amazon.com!
Another book officially released by the young and talented Briana Vedsted
Researching the WIP
I am not doing NaNo, but I have committed to getting as much work done on my W.I.P. as possible. It is a crime novel/murder mystery series. I don’t have a title for the first book, or the series yet, and I am still in the research phase. This week my research involves the following:
Confer with Dr. G. the Orange Co. M.E. (yet again) re: murder weapons and stab wounds/DNA testing in 2005
Cold case procedure
Osceola Co. jail
The Parliament House Resort, Orlando
Melbourne seaside parks
I-95 exits near Melbourne
Slang used in the Trans community
Alternate lifestyles
Golf Course acreage
Asian (Vietnamese language and customs)
Little Saigon
Airboats
Bass fishing boats
Maps for Big Lake Tohopekaliga (Toho)
East lake Toho
Southport Park
Seasonal water weeds growth patterns
Martial arts
Self-defense for women
Glock handguns
Chuluota Sporting Club/ Gun Range
Trucks and cars in the year 2005-8
Maps of Intersession City topography
Military police
Yeehaw Junction’s Road Kill Café and Brothel
Human trafficking statistics
Dry cleaning chemicals
St Cloud diners
Disney and other resorts
Restaurant, Population, and Hotel statistics in Orlando area
Florida weather patterns in 2005 and 2008
With what I have already written in my former WIP that was scraped, this research should take me at least through chapter five or six. I am a stickler for accurate details so this should be fun. There will much more research as we move into the politics of the murder victim’s spouse, his partner, and the psychological implications of the children involved.
I am trying to keep the chapters short and to the point. Many of these items I already know something about, but accuracy adds to realism, so I am checking some facts. I love learning and actually visiting the places I write about, so I will be out a lot of the next week or so and then have more focus on my writing.
I know this seems like a lot of research, but there is very little that I need to know about some of these items, as I already have some experience, and others there is much to learn.
I like that this is really starting to gel well in my mind. The plot and subplots are coming together very well. I have several crimes in mind that can carry this story arc across several books without losing the primary theme. I also like the often misunderstood dynamics of alternate lifestyles being a primary focus.
Oh yeah! I forgot to add this pic:
The desk you could not see for all of the papers in previous posts. I cleaned it up yesterday. Probably the cleanest you will ever see my desk for the next six months, or so. I do have about five spiral bound notebooks for jotting down details, even though I am trying to use Scrivener more effectively this time.
Filed under: Writing Process/WIPs Tagged: list early first book, Reasearch, series, WIP
November 4, 2013
10 Tips For Creating a Bestselling Series
Reblogged from Writers In The Storm Blog:
Writers In The Storm welcomes Eve Paludan. I first met Eve at a Desert Rose RWA meeting in Phoenix, AZ. First impression? A bubbly person who lugs around a very warm heart. She now lives in Los Angeles, CA, where she writes fiction and edits for other bestselling authors. She enjoys reading mysteries, science fiction, and romances, especially paranormal romances, walking on the beach and learning scenic photography.
Is your book going to be a series? Then read this for some very helpful insights to building the better series. My word count won't need to be as great as I thought if I do this correctly!
November 3, 2013
Weekly Prompt - Childhood Memories
Reblogged from The Community Storyboard:
This week's prompt is to choose your favorite childhood memory - then use that in a short story or a poem. Don't forget to reference the weekly prompt. Have fun digging into your memory banks and reminiscing about your childhood!
By the way, I am posting the prompt this week on behalf of Sarah who is off at Northwest Bookfest this weekend!
This week's CSB Prompt: poem or short story: Childhood Memories.
Blog Culture: Sunday Summations
Sunday Summations
I am trying to get a better handle on scheduling on this blog, and I would also like to highlight some blogs that I have become acquainted with so you get to know them too. Sunday summations should be a regular feature as I examine my week and my goals. Future Sunday Summations will probably be much shorter.
Summing up my weekly happenings:
1. Structure: How I am attempting to stay organized.
I have created some drop down menus on this blog to better organize and lesson the length of the menu. The subtitles should make things pertinent to the titles easier to find.
I have completed the settings posts for Red Clay and Roses, the novel, and those can now be found under the menu title of the novel. I may divide out the feature posts as well. These settings and features are designed for fans to find more info on the book.
It is a goal to have a new posts added to each menu title or a subtitle weekly.
I may be adding other menu titles as new subjects develop. I would really like to have a humor post at least once weekly…sometimes I can be funny, even if I am laughing at myself in the process. I try not to laugh at the expense of others, but sometimes that happens too.
2. People: Cruising my Reader, and getting to know more and more WordPress family and friends, I have collected some blogs that are of significance to me for one reason or another. They are from a variety of interests and I am sure some of you will find them interesting, as well. Check these folk out! They are really cool! I have categorized what I could. These categories are subject to change weekly.
Book reviews:
Queen of all things Books: Ionia Martin’s Readful Things. (Many sneak peeks with advance reader copies.)
An all genre serious reviewer: Rosie Amber at Rosie Amber
Master of Collectables: Julian Froment at Julian Froment’s Blog
Music:
A lovely Soprano with a beautiful voice & 150,957 followers: Charlotte Hoather
Writers writing:
A lady with a sense of humor about her serious writing efforts: Katie Sparkes at Disregard the Prologue.
Wonderful poetry and short stories: Helen Midgley
New author with a new blog and a newly published book: Dean Kealy at Dean’z Worldz
Math & Science:
Fascinating and artistically colorful geometry for the fun of it: Robert Austin at Robert Loves Pi (Prepare to be dazzled.)
Scientist, deep thinker, and poet: Erik Andrulis at Anacephalaeosis
Useful Information for writers, authors & bloggers
Everything about Publishing and Marketing: Chris McMullen at Chris McMullen
Promotional Event for all authors, readers and gift givers. Get signed up. This is going to be HUGE!: Chris McMullen at Read Tuesday
New feature on blog “How to on WordPress” videos: Bradley Corbett at Green Embers (He takes requests BTW)
Guidance on writing techniques regardless of your genre: Victoria Grefer at Creative Writing with the Crimson League
Humor:
My kind of off the wall funny stuff: Rob Pop at Humans Are Weird (He always makes the time to return comments, and can often be even funnier when he does.)
Gosh! So many creative geniuses…I could go on forever, but there will be other days!
3. Process: Just an update on my own personal progress this week:
With the help of blogger friends and readers in my reading and critique group, I decided on a prologue for my first book in this yet to be titled work and series.
There are now four beta readers for my new WIP (not counting my husband).
I got 12 bookstores lined up to buy copies of Red Clay and Roses when the paperback is live.
We are almost there with the paperback at CreateSpace. It has been an interesting but sometimes frustrating journey.
My new bookmarks came in this week. I think they are much more professional and not so microsofty as my last bookmarks. My former ones were created by my publisher. I would highly recommend having your bookmark image created by your cover image artist. They can work wonders with graphics. Thanks to Charles Yallowitz’s idea at Legends of Windemere, the QR codes are a great way to advertise without looking so much like an ad and they give me opportunity to make immediate sells on my smartphone without carrying around a pile of books.
New Bookmarks
Old Bookmarks
Sorry my formatting really sucked on this post. I have yet to conquer formatting, which is why I have an independent publisher prepare my books 
Filed under: Blog Culture: Sunday Summaries Tagged: blog, culture, people, process, structure, WIP, writing progress
November 2, 2013
The New and Improved Read Tuesday Book Catalog
We've replaced the old Read Tuesday book catalog with a more visually appealing book catalog.
You can view the new catalog by clicking one of the following links:
GENERAL
CHILDREN'S
TEEN
MATURE AUDIENCE
Authors, please check your covers to ensure that they're in the right catalog and link where you want them to go. If you have any corrections, please let us know.
New catalog looks great in a Pinterest format for Read Tuesday. One Day. December 10th. This is going to be HUGE! Get signed up now!
Oh my F*cking Sweet mother of WOW!
Reblogged from readful things blog:
Okay, so now that I have your attention...
There is this really great book floating around cyberspace called
Yesterday Road
I am the first to admit that I have not read it yet, but I am working on getting there. I have heard nothing but good things about this book--and that is highly unusual in and of itself. This to me means that the author either threatened a lot of people or that he is a damn good author.
A popular book by a popular author and one of our own, Kevin Brennan. You must get this book! Ionia says so, and you cannot dispute the Queen of Books, now, can you? I would not dare.
Rene Devote Dies, Havana 1954
Reblogged from The Mirror Obscura:
Should anyone be interested or care Rene Devote is dead.
Her life was an unimportant one.
A drunk, an addict, prostitute. A mother
Unfit to raise a child.
She lived out her days slumped over
The bar of a thousand dives around the world.
Every evening she fell in love
For Fifteen minutes,
Nine or ten times a night--dreaming
Of being taken…
A most meaningful poem to reflect on from The Mirror Obscura.
Red Clay and Roses: Updated Eversion now on smashwords, paperback POD coming soon to Amazon
Revised and edited eversion now available on Smashwords, supporting Apple, Kobo, B&N, Sony and others.
Examine what life in the 50s & 60s was like for people of color and interracial relationships.
Explore women’s rights and responsibilities in an era of change.
Also available from Amazon in Kindle version.
Paperback POD version available from Amazon soon.
A fictionalized true story of life in the Deep South during the time of Jim Crow Law, and before Roe vs. Wade. Women were supposed to keep quiet and serve, abortion was illegal, adoption difficult, and racism rampant. The discovery of an old ledger opens a window into the dynamics of the 1950s-60s, when the world was beginning to change.
Unspoken secrets are shared between Beatrice, The Good Doctor’s wife, and Moses Grier, their black handyman. The Grier’s daughter, Althea, suffers a tragedy that leaves her family silent and mournful. Her brother, Nathan, looks for answers from a community that is deaf, blind, and dumb.
A summer romance between Nathan and Sybil, an independent, high-spirited, white woman, leaves more unresolved. Sybil is torn between living the mundane life of her peers, or a life that involves fastening herself to a taboo relationship. Witness social progress through the eyes of those who lived it.
“Nicholls has a distinct and powerful voice. Steeped in history, this novel deeply penetrates the surface of a complex era providing a rich and full-bodied reading experience.”
~ Sammie Vittoria, Library Media Specialist
“This is no fluffy romance. This book has substance and is storytelling at its finest.”
~ Roseendhar Dasilma, R.N., BSN
Filed under: Writing, Publishing, & Marketing Tagged: Amazon, eversion, paperback update, Red Clay and Roses, smashwords
