Kim Iverson Headlee's Blog: Book Musings from the Maze of Twisty Passages, page 50

Top o'the Mornin' from The Dawnflier!

Welcome to the March 2014 edition of The Dawnflier!

First order of business: Congratulations to Daniel M. (already notified), who won an ebook copy of Dawnflight from among the list of folks who added me to their Google+ circles or commented upon my blog posts in February.

Since this was so successful, I will be running the same promotion throughout the month of March. Enter early, enter often (with your comments!), and good luck!

Another giveaway I'm hosting is active now on Goodreads:


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Goodreads Book Giveaway Dawnflight by Kim Headlee Giveaway ends March 20, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win
Yes, I know you can't enter often for that one, but good luck nonetheless!

And stay tuned for a very special set of blog posts, March 5th - April 20th, as the Maze features the work of other talented authors participating in the 2014 Eggcerpt Exchange. So far, the Maze will be hosting:

3/9/14: Happy Birthday Baby (M/F romance 18+) by Tory Richards, with a Rafflecopter giveaway

3/10/14: Dark Velvet (New Adult Paranormal romance 18+) by Lisa Carlisle

3/12/14: Lady Elinor's Escape (Sweet Regency romance) by Linda McLaughlin

3/17/14: It is Time and Other Stories (M/F romance 18+) by Anna Bayes

3/24/14: In Too Deep (contemporary romance) by Anita Philmar

4/8/14: Summer's Growth (contemporary romance) by Tina Gayle

4/18/14: Love is a Rose (Christian devotional) by Pamela Thibodeaux

I'm very excited about this mix of offerings, and I hope you will be too!

On my own publishing front, I will be working hard this month to prepare two new novels to release in April: King Arthur's Sister in Washington's Court (sequel to Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, featuring time travel with romantic elements through the eyes of Queen Morgan le Fay in the late 21st century) and Snow in July (historical paranormal romance set just after the Norman conquest of England). Bloggers, I do have galley e-copies of both books I can send you if you would like to help generate buzz for these exciting new works! Leave a comment on this post if you are interested.

Thanks, Happy Saint Patrick's Day, and have a wonderful and productive month!

Dawnflight to appear in the Eggcerpt Exchange

My novel Dawnflight will be featured in the promotional brainchild of Author Tina Gayle, the "Eggcerpt Exchange!"

About Dawnflight:
Gyan is a Caledonian chieftainess by birth, a warrior and leader of warriors by training, and she is betrothed to Urien, a son of her clan’s deadliest enemy, by right of Arthur the Pendragon’s conquest of her people. For the sake of peace, Gyan is willing to sacrifice everything...perhaps even her very life, if her foreboding about Urien proves true.

Roman by his father, Brytoni by his mother, and denied hereditary rulership of his clan because of his mixed blood, Arthur is the supreme commander of the northern Brytoni army. The Caledonians, Scots, Saxons, and Angles keep him too busy to dwell upon his loneliness...most of the time.

When Gyan and Arthur meet, each recognize within the other their soul’s mate. The treaty has preserved Gyan’s ancient right to marry any man—but Arthur does not qualify. And the ambitious Urien, Arthur’s greatest political rival, shall not be so easily denied. If Gyan and Arthur cannot prevent Urien from plunging the Caledonians and Brytons back into war, their love will be doomed to remain unfulfilled forever.


Eggcerpt:

Gyan let Arthur initiate the attack. While advancing to meet the blow, she stumbled, fell, and rolled to her stomach. As expected, he quickly moved in to claim the victory. The crowd cheered. But before she could feel the prickle of his sword on her neck, she twisted aside and hooked his legs with hers. Luck favored her; with a startled yelp, and equally startled noises from their audience, he went down. She scrambled to her feet and pinned him under the point of her sword. Amid the overall roar of disappointment, she could pick out phrases like “Trickery!” and “Not fair!” But the taunts didn’t bother her; victory had never tasted sweeter! Her only regret was that Ogryvan and Per and the rest of her clan couldn’t savor it with her.

Studying Arthur for a reaction, her grin soured. For several seconds, he stared at the sky as though stunned; whether physically or mentally, she couldn’t tell. Her concern rose as she wondered if she had injured him. Finally, he shook his head and attempted to sit up, but her sword barred his way.

“I concede the match, Chieftainess.” He released his sword and waved his open hand. “I won’t try anything unique. You have my word. Thank God my enemies aren’t half as devious as you are.” His grin could have stopped the sun in its course…and it was having an arresting effect on Gyan’s heart as well. “But I wouldn’t advise using that move in battle. Much too risky.”

“Oh. Yes, I—I know.” Chiding herself for how silly she must sound, she sheathed her sword and thrust out her hand. He tugged off his gloves and accepted her unspoken offer, gripped her forearm, and hauled himself up.

Pain stabbing her arm forced a strangled gasp from her throat. He shifted his grip to her hand and gently turned her arm to expose the underside. A long cut lay perilously close to one of the veins, seeping blood. He traced the vein lightly with a fingertip.

“When did I do this?” His voice was a hoarse whisper.

Staring at the cut, she wondered the same thing. Probably during their initial clash, though she really had no idea. She shrugged. Even that motion made her wince.

“Chieftainess, I didn’t mean to—” A stricken look shattered his bearing. He squeezed her hand. “God in heaven, Gyanhumara, I am so sorry.”

She wanted to reassure him that she’d be all right; the wound looked clean and wasn’t much deeper than a scratch. In fact, it was the least of her concerns. Enchanted by the sound of her name on his lips and mesmerized by his gaze, she felt the world seem to collapse to just the two of them. His face hovered over hers, his lips a handspan away. The warmth of his nearness had an intoxicating effect. She was acutely conscious of the tugging of her heart, as though it was trying to pull her closer to him. It wasn’t an unwelcome idea.

Buy Dawnflight via:
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The fine art of character naming

What's in a name?

Names are crucially important because of the ancient implication that if you can name a thing, you possess power over that thing. Hence the biblical implication of stewardship over the animal kingdom when God gave Adam the power to name all the animals—and why God never reveals His name to us mere mortals but goes most commonly by a word that translates as "I am." (end of Name Theology 101 :)

The meaning of a name is also crucially important to the person or fictional character because it defines that person. This is why you very rarely see, for example, a research scientist named Bunny or a stripper named Gertrude.

Much of my fiction is based in early medieval (used to be known as "Dark Ages") Scotland & northern Britain, so my characters have Scottish Gaelic, Brythonic Welsh, or sometimes Latin names. I needed to know what they meant, and decades ago I stumbled across a very interesting web site called Kabalarian Philosophy. Among other things, they offer name analysis -- and if the name you need isn't in their database, you can still request that it be added.

The primary character in my Arthurian Legends series is Gyanhumara (Guinevere), and her Kabalarian name analysis goes like this:

—Begin Kabalarian "Gyanhumara" name analysis—
Your name of Gyanhumara has created a practical, responsible, stable nature, and you desire to direct the efforts of others rather than to take order or ask permission.You have a determined, self-reliant, capable nature and resent any interference, although in your desire to help you are inclined to become involved in the lives and decisions of other people.You like to make your own decisions and to be the master of your domain.You feel a limitation in your own expression when it is necessary to reach another through tact and understanding.Although you are honest and fair, a directness in speech is a source of much consternation to you, and you often regret what you say.You also have a tendency to worry.It causes you to be too serious, and interferes with happiness and relaxation that comes with naturalness of expression.Health weaknesses centre in the head appearing as headaches, head colds, and eye, teeth, ear, or sinus problems.—end report—

Compare this with "Guinevere" (I would have been including links for brevity, but that's not how their system works these days) and you can see why I needed to invent a new name for my kick-@ss character! (Which I had done in =1988=, long before that web site was a gleam in anyone's eye, btw.)

—Begin Kabalarian "Guinevere" name analysis—
Your name of Guinevere creates a very sensitive, inspirational, and idealistic nature.You have an appreciation for all the fine and beautiful things in life, and could excel in music, art, drama, or literary undertakings, where you could find an expression for your deeper feelings that you would not find otherwise.As a result of your love of the out-of-doors, you would experience the most peace and harmony out in the quiet of nature.Your sensitive nature causes you to lack self-confidence, and to withdraw from arguments or turmoil, as any discord reflects quickly through your nervous system.You cannot stand pressure and desire to work where there is no confusion.This name restricts proper verbal expression; as a result, you are often lonely, craving understanding of others.Yours is a very deep, reflective nature, but others would never know it as you keep your deeper feelings within.Tension resulting from the use of this name would affect the heart, lungs, and respiratory organs, or the nervous system.—end report—

You can see what a great resource this is for writers! The other tool I use to help define my characters is their Western Zodiac sun-sign. The late Linda Goodman wrote two excellent books titled Sun Signs (goes into the characteristics common to the various signs) and Love Signs (goes over all the various Zodiac pairings and how their relationships benefit & suffer as a result). For example, the most powerful combination is the Scorpio-Scorpio -- when their relationship is hitting on all cylinders, they have the potential to conquer the world together. My Gyanhumara was already a Scorpio (Oct 31), but reading Love Signs convinced me that my Arthur also needed to be a Scorpio (Nov 14 and the feast day of Saint Dubric, who corresponds to my Merlin character). And so forth.

Happy naming! :)

TurboTax 2013 Installation Error 1603 Demystified

Today's post is a public-service announcement for owners of older computers upon which they are trying—and failing—to install TurboTax 2013 software.

My household boasts several computers, the oldest being an XP desktop model that I have used for running TurboTax pretty much since XP became a stable operating system, well before the days when Vista became a gleam in anyone's eye. This is the computer that gets exposed to the Internet the least, and therefore it's my go-to choice for having to deactivate the antivirus software just to get other programs like TurboTax to install.

Understand that I have been running TurboTax far more than usual lately, because my late father-in-law left the legacy of three years' worth of unfiled income taxes to have to square away. So perhaps my nerves are a bit more raw than usual in this regard. In any case, I was not pleased to see "Windows Installer Error 1603" while attempting to install the 2013 edition of TurboTax for Business, since the filing deadline of 17 March for my S Corporation was looming. This error happened not once but twice—the first time I hadn't shut down the antivirus software as I should have done—and it entailed an inordinate amount of wasted time as TurboTax rolled back the installation.

After giving myself a day to simmer down, I found the following link via Intuit's virtual help center: Error 1603 fix. Steps and links to the various patches are listed there if you need them. But wait, there's more.

I have been programming computers since the days of toggle switches (four decades at least), and when Step #1 directed me to a site for downloading a European Union FONT extension for an OS-level fix, I said, "Wait. What??" But it was a Microsoft site so I clicked the "Download" button... and got a page that read only "Bad Request" in letters so tiny they seemed apologetic. As well they should have been.

Hoping for the best anyway, I followed the instructions in Step # 2—which seem daunting but in actuality are very straightforward, and I downloaded & installed the Business patch. 

Four decades of computer programming have taught me to hate having to watch an installation "thumbsucker" bar with my heart in my mouth, and it certainly kept leaping there even after it passed the dreaded 31% mark, the point at which the installation had failed twice before—it ground to a near halt at 51% and again at 74% before the TurboTax and Windows gods deigned to smile upon my efforts.

The bottom line: Don't bother with Step #1, which doesn't work.

The only question remains whether I need to install the patch for TurboTax Deluxe when I get ready to compile the tax records for my household and my father-in-law's estate. If I'm feeling brave that day, I may just try to install it without taking that step. I will let you know what happens either way.

Happy February & Valentine's Day from The Dawnflier!

Happy Valentine's Day! May it be filled with love and happiness for you and everyone you hold dear. Congratulations to Sherri W (already notified), who won an ebook copy of Dawnflight for her Nook from Barnes & Noble! All my books are available on most platforms, as well as in print, and reviews are always welcome. Please wish me luck in the contests I have entered! Morning’s Journey has been entered in the “Novel with Strong Romantic Elements” category of the HOLT Medallion contest, wherein my 2006 novel Liberty(HQN Books, writing as Kimberly Iverson) was a 2007 finalist. Winners will be announced 14 June. I’ve also got three entries in a contest for unpublished works…and I need to get busy on my own judging packets, due later this month! To learn more about Morning’s Journey, I have an awesome new book trailer which may be viewed here. It runs like a movie trailer and features a voiceover track by the narrator of The Color of Vengeance, a short story excerpted from Morning’s Journeythat’s available as an audiobook and Kindle Select ebook. The first three of you to reply to this blog post will win a coupon code for 50% off the retail price of the Morning’s Journey print edition on Createspace.com! That’s wholesale pricing for this great addition to your library. Thanks for your shares, likes, tweets & comments, and I hope you have a fantastic February! Stories make us greater, Kim Headlee, Author

Happy New Year from The Dawnflier!

Happy New Year! I hope 2014 brings you great health and happiness.
First please let me thank Claire, co-owner of Enigma Bookstore, 33-17 Crescent Street, Astoria, New York, for hosting me at a wonderful event at her bookstore last month! My daughter & I had a lot of fun, and I hope to visit again sometime. If you live in the NYC area, please stop by! They may still have some copies of my novels Dawnflight and Morning’s Journeyavailable—and if not, I’m sure they’ll be happy to order them for you.
Congratulations are in order for Debra T., Crystal B., Fran S., Myra E., Elise C., and Jenny B., winners in the huge December giveaway sponsored by Facebook group Wanda's Amazing Amazon Reviewers. All winners have been notified already. There were more than 3,300 entries, and I thank you for your tremendous support! Special thanks to those who have already left reviews and rankings of my books on Goodreads, Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Audible.com, and other review and blog sites. I appreciate them all very much. And if you haven’t yet written a review, I thank you in advance!
My New Year’s resolution for 2014 is to do more for my fellow authors. To that end, I finally set up a Twitter account, @kimdheadlee. I have already followed a number of authors, book review blogs, publishers, and other writing-related accounts, and I am making it a habit to retweet announcements of books and writing tips & news that look interesting. And I follow back! I also have my Twitter account synched with my Facebook profile and Pinterest boards.
I will be participating in an enormous multi-author giveaway in May titled “Read, White, and Blue” in honor of Memorial Day. Until then, I will be running my own monthly giveaways on this blog. Follow my blog, follow me on Twitterand/or on Pinterest, subscribe to my YouTube channel, send me a friend request on Facebook, like any/all of my Facebook pages (Kim Headlee’s Maze of Twisty Passages, Dawnflight, and Morning’s Journey), and add me to your Google+ circles for separate chances to win an ebook copy of Dawnflight. Please leave a comment here on my blog regarding which of these options you have exercised, as well as your preferred ereader type. I will draw one winner using Random.org at the end of every month. Good luck!
While I’m on the subject of luck, please wish me luck in the contests I have entered! Morning’s Journeyhas been entered in the “Novel with Strong Romantic Elements” category of the HOLT Medallion contest, wherein my 2006 novel Liberty(HQN Books, writing as Kimberly Iverson) was a 2007 finalist. Most categories are still open to entries until 31 January, and winners will be announced 14 June. Another contest I’ve entered, the Marlene Awards for unpublished manuscripts, is also still open to submissions until 15 January. Since some of you reading this might be judges, I must refrain from mentioning titles and categories, but I did submit 3 entries. Finalists will be notified by 1 April, and winners will be announced a few days after that. My entries must remain unpublished until then, but this will give me plenty of time to get them ready for hitting that “publish” button!
In terms of accolades, I'm excited to report that Dawnflight is featured in the December/January issue of Shelf Unbound Magazine as one of 12 Notable Books of 2013 in the category of Epic Sagas! You can find it on page 46 of 151.
As of this writing, the audiobook edition of Dawnflight is still being offered at a special discounted price of $1.99 on Amazon.com when you buy (or if you already own) the Kindle edition. Since the audiobook edition retails for $24.95, this is a great deal! If you would like help deciding whether to buy this fantastic audiobook production, I invite you to watch this video featuring the 8-minute Prologue read to lovely images and haunting music here. The 2-minute book trailer may be viewed here. Shares and comments are always welcome and greatly appreciated. Also, I have published a short story excerpted from Morning's Journey titled The Color of Vengeance, and it is available as a Kindle Select ebook, and as an audiobook via Amazon.com, Audible.com and iTunes. Get your copies today!
I am especially pleased to announce that the print edition of Morning's Journey, sequel to Dawnflight, is now available to order from Createspace, as well as Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and you may order convention-priced copies personally autographed by me via Half.com! Its latest book trailer may be viewed here. The first three of you to reply to this message will win a coupon code for 50% off the retail price on Createspace.com! That’s wholesale pricing for this great addition to your library. Please quote this passage in your reply.
Thanks and I hope you have a fantastic new year!

Congratulations to the WAAR Christmas Giveaway winners!

Congratulations to Debra T., Crystal B., Fran S.,  Myra E., Elise C., and Jenny B., winners in the huge giveaway sponsored by Facebook group Wanda's Amazing Amazon Reviewers. All winners have been notified. There were more than 3,300 entries, and I thank you for your tremendous support!


The contest may be over, but Wanda's Amazing Amazon Reviewers is always looking to expand their ranks. All of us authors appreciate you very much!

Merry Christmas, and I hope you enjoy a safe, blessed, and happy holiday season.

Wanda's Amazing Amazon Reviewers is looking for more reviewers...

... and they're sponsoring an awesome holiday contest as a recruitment incentive!


Enter the Rafflecopter contest below to win ebooks, including a copy of my novel Dawnflight, Amazon gift cards, and more! You don't have to be a book reviewer to enter, but this great Facebook group, Wanda's Amazing Amazon Reviewers, is looking to expand their ranks, and we authors are grateful to you all for your tremendous support. This contest closes on December 21st, 2013.

On my blog only: leave a comment on this post giving the title of the most recent book you have read or reviewed, and I'll use the site Random.org to choose one lucky winner to receive an ebook copy of the award-winning Dawnflight. Subscribe to my YouTube channel, follow this blog, and add me to your Google+ circles for more chances to win! (And please let me know that you've done this via your comment on this post so that I can be sure to count all your entries. :)

Thanks and have a wonderful holiday season!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Join me in supporting military families for this May 2014 giveaway!

Reblogged from ClosedtheCover.com:

Attention, Authors and Bloggers! I have already committed to supply an ebook copy of Dawnflight. Join me to help make this giveaway huge!

Sign-Up For the Read, White & Blue Event 
We at Closed the Cover are putting together an event called "Read, White and Blue" which will run in May, 2014 for Memorial Day.


Here are the preliminary details for Read, White & Blue.

The grand prize for Read, White & Blue will be an "All You Need to Read" kit.  We are hoping to offer: a set of custom coffee cups, coasters, an afghan blanket, Starbucks gift card and a Kindle.

Do you want to be a part of it?

Here is how it works for authors:

You have the choice to donate a minimum $5 and either a book or book swag.  In exchange, you receive two Rafflecopter entries on the giveaway widget.  Or you can donate a minimum of $10 for two Rafflecopter entries.  Additional entries can be purchased for $5 up to a total of four Rafflecopter entries.

Here is how it works for bloggers:

You can purchase up to 4 Rafflecopter entries for $5 a piece and will be asked to promote the event during the month of May.

Any money raised above the cost of the grand prize is going to be donated to the Semper Fi Fund for US Military troops and veterans.

If you are interested in signing up to be a part of Read, White and Blue please sign up here ---> http://eepurl.com/H75ev

Romance for the Holidays Double Giveaway!

Congratulations to Eva M. and Jeannie B-P, winners of ebook copies of Dawnflight in the Maze’s portion of the Home for the Holidays Blog Hop!
A great double giveaway is going on through the end of the month.
Don't delay—enter today!




US Residents: to win an autographed print copy of Dawnflight by Kim Headlee and other novels, enter this giveaway:
 a Rafflecopter giveaway


No residency restrictions to win an ebook copy of Dawnflight and lots of other great books & prizes in this contest:
a Rafflecopter giveaway