Heather C. Leigh's Blog, page 3

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Research...

Today, I did a bit of research for a book to be written in the near future. I spent a couple of hours at a local blacksmith's here in Atlanta. 
While most of you would probably expect to see something like this...



In reality, modern blacksmithing is more like this...




Sparks were flying everywhere as metal was welded and grinders made edges smooth. The shop was making (with four full-time metal workers) an enormous bell tower for a local church. 
Not exactly horseshoes and swords, right?
We can romanticize the heck out of anything, but it wouldn't do this profession justice. Blacksmiths have come a long way from using an anvil and a coal forge. Although, there were several anvils in the shop, but the forge runs on propane now, not coal. (ha!)
It's important to get the details right, so to see metal creations come to life was a pretty cool experience. 
Now, for my next book I'm thinking male strippers... more research to be done!

Interactive Reading

So, this interesting article caught my attention today and I thought I'd talk a little bit about my thoughts. 
It's about the Little Bird, a tiny Bluetooth vibrator that you can sync with your e-reader to, ahem, coordinate, with the story. I understand the thought process behind this tiny trembler, however, I'm not quite sure how you'd be able to use it AND read at the same time. I mean, one of the reasons women read romance and erotica is to be sexually aroused. So it makes sense to, ummmm, take care of business while reading, right?
Not so fast.
How can you read if your eyes are rolling up in your head? Could you take in anything on the page while the Little Bird is chirping away between your thighs? Not me. My attention would have to be fully on one thing or the other. I guess I'm just not a very good multi-tasker.
What about you? Would you want to rattle while you read?

Ode to Plaid.

Did you ever have your kid randomly tell you they needed a costume to wear to school. Then they drop the bomb that it's due in 3 days?
Yeah, me too. The 10 year old girl said Immigration Day is this week at school. She has to wear something from a country in her background. I'm excited by this, because we have family that came on the Mayflower. Wear lots of black, white collar, white bonnet, done.
Nope.
She has to be from Scotland, like my great grandfather. Not only that, she wants a kilt, a very specific kilt she found online. Complete with odd vest and frilly white shirt. Like this one, minus the shoulder scarf? I think it's a scarf. Honestly, I have no clue.
So, off to the fabric store to make a damn kilt. 
Now, my family on my mother's side has their own registered tartan. Yep, in Scotland, families register their tartans with some commission or committee or plaid parade. This is our family tartan.
Lots of red and blue. 
I found something close enough and bought it. Many hours of frustration later, we had a decent girl's kilt.
Now, that vest thingy.
Old black t-shirt? Check.
Cut off arms and cut slit down the middle? Check.
Lace black ribbon up the front? Check.
Tartan socks (don't tell her they're from the boys' department)? Check. I think it came out pretty good for someone who didn't use a pattern and really had no time or clue what she was doing. 
(Ignore the attitude on the kid's face, she's always throwing shade.)

​Anyway. The last minute kilt experiment turned out okay. Now, here are some hot guys in kilts because, why not?

xoxo

What women really do at Football games

Okay, okay, not ALL women. I mean, I actually do like the sport, and I really DO watch the game. 
But who's going to turn down a hell of a lot of sexy sexy eye candy? Not me?
So, sometimes our thoughts drift from the game and into more... pleasurable activities.

1. Ohhhhh I LOVE football butts!!!

2.  I wish I could see their faces.

3. Their pants are so tight. And shiny.

4. I like their outfits the best.

​5. Maybe they'll start making out with each other.

Once Upon a Time Fans...

I've never seen the show *ducks*, but I know OUAT has a LOT of fans. Seriously dedicated fans.
On December 6, the narrator who plays Adam Reynolds in my audiobook version of Incite, Adam Croasdell, is going to be featured as Hook's father.
Adam is brilliant as Adam (coincidence, I swear), with his sexy accent, so I can't imagine he'd be anything less than awesome on OUAT. 
*He's hot, right?* Follow Adam Croasdell ^^Adam's Twitter and Instagram

Here's a nice article about his upcoming OUAT appearance.  Get Incite Audiobook AMAZON ACX iTunes

Kindle Unlimited and the Death of the Indie Author

Good morning! 

Normally, I don't use my blog for industry type posts, but this is a special instance. I wanted to let readers know how damaging KU and other subscriptions services are to you as a reader.

I write novels. Long ones. They take months of hard work and quite a bit of money to produce up front. A few hundred for a cover, $400 or so for editing, formatting costs more if you can't do it yourself. 
That's the easy part.

Getting noticed, getting found in the glut of wanna-be authors out there who only make a living due to KU, is getting near impossible. KU is filled with new indies who CAN'T make a living without KU because their works aren't good enough for a reader to spend money on their book. But if it's included in a free service? Why not? They are also usually lesser quality, these authors don't pay for editing, don't pay for a cover, don't understand the investment required before publishing a book.

Amazon, for their part, is burying our books. Look in any category, such as contemporary romance. The first dozen pages of books to show up will all be KU, effectively cutting off any chance non-KU authors (aka authors who actually make a living writing) have of being discovered by readers. 

Then there's the rankings. Amazon is skewing rankings by weighing KU titles heavier on their best seller lists. So a book that is KU can be #1 on Amazon even though a non-KU title by a well known author will be #2000. And the KU author is not only selling way fewer titles, but the non-KU author now doesn't receive the distinction of being a best seller, even though he/she sells more copies.

This system is essentially creating a vacuum, where the only titles that KU will make visible will be newbie, non-experienced, possibly not so great authors. (This is a generalization and I do realize that especially in niche genres such as LGBT, there are exceptions in KU) More experienced, quality authors, now losing revenue and market share, will start to leave Amazon to market their books on iBooks and B&N, leaving Amazon to sell the leftovers.

Do you love reading? Do you love quality authors and good stories? Do you own an Apple device? Do yourself a favor and try out iBooks. It's very user friendly, the lists aren't skewed or falsified to promote Apple or favor them in any way. Top sellers are top sellers. Period. 

If we allow Amazon to continue the way they're going, quality authors will leave the market and you'll be stuck with Netflix syndrome. Tons of movies and shows to watch, none of them are any good or interesting. 

Thanks.

Drama for your Mama

What do you do when you have a family member who's about two "oh no you didn'ts" away from being the next hair-puller on the Jerry Springer show?

​You know who I'm talking about...  The drama queen. The cray cray of the family. The one who is 'woe is me' all the live long day. The Resident Narcissist of the house.

Throughout your lives narcissistic people cause psychological pain and often financial ruptures within a family. They take sides to get What They Want!! You are not part of their goal equation. They want much more than their fair share of the family assets both while the parents are living and afterwards.

​There are constant power plays that are instigated by the narcissist. If the family has financial assets the narcissistic person places him or herself in a position to control them and eventually seize them. Sometimes they choose a family member who will align with them in these power plays. They use the weaker brother or sister as an ally. Actually the narcissist is exploiting everyone, including this hand picked “ally.”

Sound familiar? Hmmm, me too. All you can hope for is that the cray finally gets what's coming to them. Live the better life. Be the better person. Because the narcissist gets theirs in the end, usually a lonely, financially ruined end.

SPILT MILK

Whoever said "Don't cry over spilt milk" needs a punch in the face because they obviously aren't the one who had to clean it up. And they clearly didn't live in my house, because kids were definitely crying.
Let me confirm for you, milk does NOT come out of hardwood floors easily. It goes in the cracks and crevices and is impossible to get out without hauling out the WetVac and spending an hour on your hands and knees. *and not in a good way*

And God forbid you get Chex cereal all over your new Pokemon shirt. Shit gets real when that happens. I guess to a 6 year old, not being able to wear your Pokemon's to school is the worst thing that's ever happened to you. Even if it was partially your fault for screwing around at the breakfast table.

​Ugh! Anyway, enough about milk. I'll probably never look at that white crap the same after this. 

Justin Timberlake wants me, I have Proof! Or not...

Oy vey. 
The airing of dirty laundry on social media seems to be getting more prevalent every day. Passive aggressive slaps to the head (not naming names of course because that would be childish) are popping up left and right. The newest phenomenon? Visual PROOF of said backstabbing laid out for the greedy eyes of anyone with a phone and a wifi connection.

Screenshots of PM's detailing someone's name-calling, of email demands made rudely in private. But is anything private anymore? 
Haven't we learned? The internet is not your diary! Emails, photos, PM's, status updates, tweets... they're all permanent, even if you delete them.

Anthony Wiener? *cough* The US Rep who tweeted a dick pic by accident? Yeah, it ruined him. 
Don't think it can't ruin you too. EVERYTHING you do online has the potential to be released to the world.
And everything you DON'T do.....

Check out this pic I made in 15 min. on photoshop. Anyone with a grudge could easily make one of their own making you look like a raging lunatic even if you didn't do anything.
I mean, yeah, JT wants me and all, and he would send me this PM if only we were FB friends. *sigh*

What's my point? My point is not only should you not put anything up on social media that you don't want seen by everyone, but also don't believe everything you see and hear to be the absolute truth. 
Or better yet, just stay out of it and be positive and happy! You come across as a much better person that way.