Mandy M. Roth's Blog, page 83
July 18, 2012
Marketing with Mandy Author Spotlight: Denise Tompkins
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Marketing with Mandy Author Spotlight: Denise Tompkins
Q: Tell us a little about your experience with Samhain Publishing.
A: Working with Samhain has been a great experience overall. They keep the author involved in the process of editing, cover design and jacket copy development. Because it’s important to me to feel like I’m part of the developmental process for my books.
Q: What tips/tricks do you use for marketing or promoting your own titles?
A: I like to blog, and I come up with very funny and/or catchy blog titles that make people curious enough to visit my site (i.e. Drop the Fire, Dumbass; Snorkeling in Your Cereal Bowl; Mythology, Death and Play-Doh). I have participated in blog tours, advertising campaigns and other traditional media efforts. I’m active on Twitter and am always looking for new ways to connect readers with my books.
Q: What is one thing you’d want to tell a newer author, just coming into the game?
A: The biggest thing I’d have to share relating to marketing is this: don’t spam your own book. It can be very difficult to avoid doing, but your readers don’t want to get hit with repeated spam-type comments about how great your book is or how much you need us to buy from you. I realize this may seem a bit blunt, but hard truths are never easy, by definition.
Q: Could you tell us a bit about your latest release?
A: My newest release, Wrath (Samhain, 04.03.12), is the sequel to Legacy and picks up where the first story leaves off. Wrath is a story of personal growth and definition, one that takes the heroine, Maddy, into difficult personal territory. She has to stop a murderer who has targeted her as his ultimate goal, and she has to determine to whom her heart belongs.
Q: Can you tell us a little about your current WIP’s?
A: My latest WiP, Raising Cain, is out with my agent. We’ve finished revisions and she’s pitching it to several editors in New York, so it’s a very exciting time for me right now. The story is a complex urban fantasy series about a woman fated to stop the Apocalypse and the man hired to kill her in order to bring it about.
I’ve just started the sequel, The Ruin of Souls, and I’m having a blast writing it.
Q: How did you get into writing?
A: I began writing stories in first grade (my mother has evidence). I wrote through school until I graduated from college and then life took over. I left it alone for a number of years while I focused on a corporate career. Medical issues took me out of corporate America and my husband bought me a laptop and said, “Write. It used to make you happy.” He was right. I began writing and never looked back.
Q: How do balance family and writing?
A: This is something I’m constantly struggling to manage. I find the biggest challenge for me is that my productive time of the day tends to come late afternoon and into the evening. This is when my husband is just coming home from work. To balance this, we’ve committed to a date night at least once a week and we spend Sunday mornings together no matter what else is happening. He’s the most supportive man, and I’m ridiculously lucky to have him.
LINKS:
July 17, 2012
Hot, hot, hot
I think the boys have had enough of the heat. They’re now inside, kicked back (with holes in their socks) just taking it easy. Can’t say I blame them. What is everyone else doing to try to beat the summer heat?
July 16, 2012
Part 2 of 3: Science Was Wrong Interview with Stanton Friedman and Kathleen Marden by Michelle M. Pillow
Science Was Wrong Part 2 of 3
Interview with authors Stanton T. Friedman, MSC and Kathleen Marden
by Michelle M. Pillow, www.michellepillow.com
Part 2: In depth with Kathleen Marden
Kathleen, your book is titled Science Was Wrong. Yet it is obvious that both of you hold the scientific community in very high esteem. Was science wrong or was it related more to personal bias on the part of some scientists?
Kathleen: Science Was Wrong informs readers that throughout history it has been difficult, if not impossible, to promote the acceptance of new discoveries. Today it is apparent that similar forces are engaging in ad hominem attacks against some leading edge scientists, disseminating fabrications and misrepresenting factual information. Each chapter in our book explores the causative factors behind the scientific bias and tunnel vision that have impeded scientific progress. We present example after example of the failure of science to make progress, not because the science was flawed, but as a result of human bias.
Why do you think it is so difficult to advance new sound scientific ideas and discoveries?
Kathleen: I think that there are several reasons. First, scientific methodology is naturally conservative and in a sense this is good. But it is extremely difficult for scientists to admit that their life’s work was wrong. Imagine that you are a an academic scientist who has spent your entire career as the proponent of a particular theory only to have a young upstart come along with conclusive evidence that effectively refuted and therefore nullified everything you had accomplished.
Second, we should consider Occams Razor, the theoretical construct that demands that scientists accept the simplest possible theoretical explanation for existing data. According to Popper, we prefer simpler theories to more complex ones “because their empirical content is greater; and because they are better testable”. Science tends to prefer the simplest explanation that is consistent with the data available at a given time, but history shows that these simplest explanations often give way to more complex explanations as new data become available. Most of the time, Occam’s razor is a conservative tool that assures hypotheses are grounded in the science of the day. However, it has not been useful to science in its failure to accept some scientific evidence such as meteorites, continental drift, and the idea that genetic information is carried in DNA, not proteins. This also applies to telepathy and UFOs.
Next, I want to mention the difficulty scientists experience in having their sound scientific ideas and discoveries published in prestigious peer reviewed journals. The scientists who control the flow of information usually adhere to existing theories and reject new ideas. For example, R. Leo Sprinkle, Ph.D., formerly a psychologist at the University of Wyoming, spent much of his career researching UFO abductions. He met the university’s publishing requirement, but couldn’t advance in his career because the most prestigious peer-reviewed journals wouldn’t publish his work.
As noted in Science Was Wrong, Luc Montagnier, a researcher from the Louis Pasteur Institute, had already submitted a professional research article about his work on the HIV virus to Nature but he was not successful in getting it published. These findings were only published after Robert Gallo from the National Cancer Institute agreed to submit the Pasteur team’s research findings to Science magazine, along with his own.
Finally, human motivations such as big egos, greed, power grabbing, politics, religious beliefs, and the denial that it was possible get in the way of good science.
Your book has a chapter titled “Politics, Personalities and Childbed fever”. Tell us a little bit about childbed fever and why you wrote about it.
Kathleen: Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (1818-1865) grew up in Pest in Hungary and graduated from medical school in Vienna. After graduating he found a position teaching medical students at the Vienna General Hospital. The birthing ward at Vienna General Hospital was the largest in Europe when it was divided into two units: one for teaching medical students and the other for midwives. Although the midwifery unit averaged a 2% mortality rate from childbed fever, the obstetrical unit that taught from cadavers instead of wooden models, averaged 20%, and ran even higher during epidemic periods. Sometimes entire rows of women and infants died.
Childbed fever is caused by sepsis, but during Semmelweis’s time bacteria hadn’t been discovered. It occurred up to two weeks after childbirth, typically in the uterus or genital tract, and became a systemic infection within hours. I know that it sounds gruesome, but Semmelweis instructed his students in the autopsy room mornings where they dissected the bodies of the women and infants who had succumbed to childbed fever the previous day. As ridiculous as it seems in modern times, sanitation was limited to wiping one’s bloody hands on a filthy apron before proceeding to the obstetrical unit in the afternoon. Laboring and postpartum women were subjected to several intrusive exams by several medical students who were often inexperienced and tore their delicate tissues. You can understand how easily the contaminated matter could be transferred from the medical students’ hands to the laboring women.
Quite by accident, one of Semmelweis’s colleagues had pricked his finger on an infected scalpel during an autopsy. He subsequently developed the symptoms of childbed fever and died. Semmelweis realized that contaminants carried on the hands of his students that were intended to heal these women were actually killing them. In May 1847, he introduced hand washing into the obstetrical unit using a chlorinated lime solution and a nail brush prior to each student’s entry into Division I. Over time, he carefully recorded scientific data that clearly demonstrated a reduction in the mortality rate in the obstetrical unit. He even conducted laboratory experiments on rabbits that clearly supported his hypothesis. However, his actions were interpreted as insubordination by his supervisor who was grounded in the zeitgeist of the old guard. Instead of being rewarded for his significant discovery, he was relieved of his duties.
The tragedy is that although Semmelweis was right, his ideas were generally scoffed at during his entire lifetime. He endured personal attacks by his adversaries throughout Europe who flat out lied about his theory and findings because they were personally invested in promoting their own miasma, milk metastasis and emotional distress theories.
“The Hemophilia Holocaust” sounds ominous. What caused the holocaust among hemophiliacs?
Kathleen: First, let me say that hemophilia is a genetic disorder in which blood fails to clot normally due to a deficiency in clotting Factor VIII. Drug companies developed sophisticated chemical processing techniques to extract the Factor VIII from blood and to process it in large batches—up to 20,000 units of blood produced a powder which had a high concentration of Factor VIII. The problem occurred when the blood supply became contaminated with HIV and the pharmaceutical companies and blood banks reassured users that the chance of contracting the virus was only one in a million. The tragedy is that another drug and been developed and heat treating showed promise, but they were both rejected by the pharmaceutical companies. In the end, 90% of Factor VIII concentrate users became HIV positive. Various factors were responsible for spreading the disease to the hemophilia community including political correctness, denial and disbelief, incorrect assumptions by the medical establishment, political posturing and greed.
You seem particularly passionate in your chapter titled “The Eugenics Movement in America”. When did you first learn about this movement and do you have a personal story to tell about it?
Kathleen: Forced sterilization of the developmentally disabled and convicted criminals was still being debated in sociology and genetics classes when I was a college student in the mid to late 1960s. Had the Eugenics Movement succeeded, I might have been sterilized because one of my cousin’s is deaf. Also, my brilliant Jewish coauthor would probably have been exterminated.
You touched briefly upon the story of Carrie Buck describing her as a victim of the Eugenics Movement. Who is Carrie Buck and what is her story?
Kathleen: Harry Laughlin, one of the leading figures in the Eugenics Movement, wrote the “Model Sterilization Act” which served as a mock-up for Virginia’s 1924 “Eugenical Sterilization Act” to legalize compulsory sterilizations of “defective persons”. Later that year, the statute went before the court in the famous test case Buck versus Bell, and finally on to the U.S. Supreme Court which passed it.
Carrie Buck was the daughter of a woman whose husband had died and who attempted to support her family through prostitution. Carrie was placed in foster care and her mother was institutionalized at the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feeble Minded in Lynchburg, Virginia. Carrie had been raped by her foster parents’ nephew and gave birth to an illegitimate child. For this she was declared feebleminded and the potential parent of socially inadequate offspring in what can only be described as a sham trial. Her fate was sealed on May 2, 1927, when US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes delivered the Supreme Court’s decision: “It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes. Three generations of imbeciles are enough.” Later, evidence confirmed that Carrie and her daughter were of normal intelligence.
You devote a chapter to Methyl ‐ Mercury in the Food Chain. What is methyl ‐ mercury and how does it differ from mercury? What causes methyl ‐ mercury contamination and why is it dangerous?
Kathleen: Methylmercury is an organic form of mercury that arises when inorganic mercury is absorbed by small plants and animals in lakes and streams. At each step up the food chain, it accumulates in greater concentrations. So that predatory fish at the top of the food chain can have dangerously high levels of the neurotoxin, 10,000 to 100,000 times greater than the water.
Virtually every state in the United States is at risk for methyl-mercury toxicity. Chronic mercury exposure can have a serious impact upon fertility and the outcome of pregnancy. It interferes with the part of the brain that controls reproduction and results in menstrual cycle disorders. In men organic mercury can cause low sperm count, minor genetic damage, a reduction in libido and impotence. It has also been linked to an increased level of cardiac arrhythmia and heart disease, autoimmune disorders, kidney disease and liver disease in both men and women. In children it has been linked to neurological disorders such as learning disabilities, and at worst, symptoms similar to Cerebral Palsy.
You wrote a powerful account of the devastating effect of methyl ‐ mercury contamination in Minamata, Japan. What went wrong and what was the impact?
Kathleen: Minamata disease was the natural consequence of the Chisso Corporation’s policy of dumping mercury into Japan’s Minamata Bay and its tributaries from 1930s to the 1960s. The company denied and covered up its role in causing the disease. To make matters worse, local politicians were in bed with the Chisso Corporation and refused to hold Chisso accountable. First it killed the fish, birds and cats that ate it. Then it started killing young children or terribly maiming them. The neurotoxin caused mental retardation and physical spasticity in children and also affected adults. The official denial went on until 1968—4 months after the Chisso Co. stopped using mercury in its manufacturing process.
Section 5 of your book has three chapters under the heading “Frontiers of Science”. What are the exciting new sciences?
Kathleen: PSI: There is reason to believe that psychic phenomena are real. Independent replication of controlled experiments performed thousands of times by researchers around the world has demonstrated statistical evidence in support of psi phenomena. Although the hit rate in experiments averages only 32 percent, among telepathic people such as psychics, it is 65 percent—pretty amazing despite the strong social prohibition against it by western science. A 1985 meta-analysis of 2,549 ganzfeld telepathy experiments by researchers around the world clearly showed that psi effects do occur in the ganzfeld.
UFOs and UFO Abductions: There is substantial support for the idea that members of the scientific community are refusing to examine UFO evidence for reasons that sometime have to do with the fear of not advancing in one’s career. I think that the scientific establishment is clinging to the zeitgeist of the old guard in order to perpetuate the scientific tenets for which they have been handsomely rewarded. This is blatantly obvious in the infamous “Trick Memo” written by Robert Low, the assistant dean of graduate studies at the University of Colorado and project coordinator for the Condon study of UFOs. He wrote, “In order to undertake such a project, one would have to approach it objectively. That is, one has to admit the possibility that such things as UFOs exist. It is not respectable to give serious consideration to such a possibility…The very act of admitting these possibilities just as possibilities puts us beyond the pale.” Edward Condon, the study’s chairman made the negative pronouncement that “Nothing has come from the study of UFOs in the past 21 years that has added to scientific knowledge…we consider it safe to assume that no ILE (intelligent life elsewhere) outside of our solar system has any possibility of visiting Earth in the next 10,000 years.” Subsequently, the National Academy of Science’s issued the statement that “The least likely explanation for UFOs is the hypothesis of extraterrestrial visitations by intelligent beings”. However, the special UFO subcommittee of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics found that 30 percent of the 117 cases studied in detail could not be identified. The AIAA finding clearly demonstrated Condon and the NAS, of which Condon was a member, were biased in their assessment of the evidence. There is substantial evidence that UFOs are real, and I think it deserves the attention of an unbiased scientific community.
In “Extraordinary Visual Feats: Psi Phenomena” you wrote about the plight of Natasha Demkina. Who is she and what brought her to your attention?
Kathleen: Natasha Demkina is a young Russia medical intuitive who claimed she could “see” the full structure of the human body, including how internal organs are positioned and how they function almost as if she had x-ray eyes. The Discovery Channel produced a television program in 2004 allegedly designed to test Natasha’s paranormal ability in an objective and unbiased manner. They said she would be tested by top scientists, but they were actually three members of the skeptic’s society, CSICOP, now CSI. By all appearances the experiment was designed to increase Natasha’s chances of failure. She complained that she had been forced to perform under conditions that are known to reduce psychic ability. These included stress, fatigue due to jet lag, and hostility from the scientific team, not being able to follow her usual protocols, not being able to use her own interpreter, and having the bar for a passing grade raised above that which is normally accepted by international statistical standards. If the bar had not been raised, she would have passed the test. In the end, several highly respected international scientists and a lawyer defended Natasha’s position. Nobel Prize winning physicist and director of the University of Cambridge’s Mind Matter Unification Project, Brian Josephson, Ph.D. criticized the experimental team’s methodology and questioned its motives.
Is there reason to believe that some psychic phenomena are real?
Kathleen: Yes, as I stated above there is significant scientific evidence that telepathy is real.
Tell me about UFOs and little green men.
Kathleen: I thought they were gray. (grin) Although the “impossibilists” promote the idea that all UFO abductions are attributable to sleep disorders and delusional thinking, there is scientific evidence that some abductions are real. Psychological studies of suspected abductees have demonstrated that those who meet the criteria for having a real abduction are no more fantasy prone than the general population. They also score normal on psychological testing. Studies that limit their participants to self-identified abductees that lack supporting evidence for alien abduction tend to produce results indicating that they score higher than the norm on a variety of personality scales that measure fantasy proneness, dissociation, schizotypy, etc. Many do have sleep anomalies and personality disorders. However, they are in an entirely separate category than those who meet the criteria for alien abduction. In addition to the unbiased psychological study findings, the well investigated accounts of alien abduction provide evidence that some abduction claims have a foundation in reality. Despite the many psychological explanations, some abductions cannot be explained as personality aberrations, psychological abnormalities, hoaxes, sleep anomalies, hypnotic confabulation or misinterpretations. One needs only to read the peer reviewed journal articles. I have written an overview of their findings in Chapter 14 of Science Was Wrong.
Are we being visited by aliens?
Kathleen: One needs only to examine the evidence to be convinced that we are being visited by non-human entities. The greatest challenge for someone who is not a UFO abduction researcher/investigator is in determining what evidence is credible and where to look for it. Unfortunately, the UFO field has been riddled with hoaxes and false claims that tend to confuse. For example, the Betty and Barney Hill UFO abduction case has been terribly misrepresented. An Internet search will produce a plethora of false accounts and outright lies about their experience. They were my aunt and uncle. I have all of their files and evidence and researched/ investigated their experience for fifteen years prior to writing Captured!. I have separated fact from fiction and it is all in Captured!.
Can you sum up why this book is important and tell us how you are taking it to the world?
Kathleen: Science Was Wrong is important because it informs reader that throughout history it has been difficult, if not impossible, to promote the acceptance of new discoveries. It also gives “paranormal category” readers hope that mainstream science will one day accept the evidence that psi phenomena and UFOs are real. I only hope that the average reader will come away with an altered and enlightened perception of how mainstream science works and learn about the scientific evidence that psi phenomena and UFOs are real. I am carrying my message to the public through radio and television programs and speaking engagements. You can find my upcoming appearances on my Web site at www.kathleen-marden.com
*****
Look for Part 3 of this interview next week!
If you would like to read more about Stanton T. Friedman, MSC and Kathleen Marden, or any of their mentioned titles, please visit them on the web at: www.stantonfriedman.com and www.kathleen-marden.com.
Interview by Michelle M. Pillow, www.michellepillow.com
Deadlines are hell on the house
Look there was a kitchen under all that mess
I should have had the mind to snap a before picture. My kitchen had looked a lot like a bomb of the Sam’s Club/GFS kind had gone off in it. You can always tell when I’m buried with deadlines… my house suffers. Thankfully Mr. Mandy has stepped up to the plate and helps with laundry or I fear the Roth family would be without any clothing. It took me three hours of deep cleaning to get the house back into shape this morning. Yes, the kitchen is clean now (never mind how dated it is and how very much I’m in need of a remodel). LOL
So, when work is backed up for you what suffers most?
July 13, 2012
Snippet from Theirs to Take
Snippet from Theirs to Take by Rory Michaels (pen name of Mandy M Roth)
Chapter One
Rows of shops lined the downtown area. A little bit of everything could be found there even in a small town. With the internet, what couldn’t be purchased locally could be ordered in, though most people still did the online ordering through the general store. They tended to pride themselves on keeping the business local. Ray Thompson couldn’t fathom how anyone would want to do much of anything outside of Hazard County. The area had been his home since birth and he full well planned to be buried there someday.
Ray peeled into a parking space in front of the hardware store. His fence on the west side of his ranch had come down during the last round of storms to hit the area, and he needed supplies to see to the mending of it. He had people do the work for him and to even run the errands, but he preferred staying hands-on.
He opened the door of his black pickup truck, and it was nearly taken clean off as a sporty car darted into the space next to his. Main Street wasn’t exactly known for a run on parking. At least not in Hazard County—population, very, very small.
“Hey there!” he hollered as he hopped out. “You’re gonna kill someone if you’re not careful.”
As a tall, broad shouldered man with sandy blond hair emerged from the vehicle, Ray’s breath caught. He’d not set eyes on Mark Whiteburn in nearly four years and their last parting was far from good. It took longer than Ray would have liked to compose himself before he attempted to appear nonchalant as he groaned and rolled his eyes. “Mark, shocking to see you can’t drive worth a damn.”
Mark lowered his sunglasses, a smirk slinking over his handsome face. “Nice to see you too, Raymond. Miss me?”
Ray’s jaw set as he clutched the handle of his truck door. Miss him? Hell yeah he missed him, but he was still furious at how Mark had split town. “What the hell are you doing back? I figured you’d stay long gone?”
Mark removed his trendy sunglasses and tossed them into his car. He shut his car door and walked towards Ray. The man was decked out head to toe in designer clothing. Mark lowered his voice, “This is how it’s gonna be between us now, Ray?”
Ray exhaled slowly and glanced around, wondering if anyone was watching their interaction. Rumors had already circulated about them at one point, but they’d sort of gone by the wayside since Mark’s departure.
Mark snorted. “Don’t worry.” He put his hands up and backed away. “Promise not to leak my reputation all over the town, good ole boy. Though, there was a time you didn’t mind me leaking anything all over you.”
Ray’s body tightened at Mark’s words. Remembered passion played out in his mind. His cheeks flushed and he had to take a moment to collect himself. Four years had passed since they’d spent a weekend together, shacked up two counties over, doing things to each other that in the eyes of the locals wasn’t right.
The beauty shop door opened and a sexy, leggy redhead exited. She spotted Mark and a large smile slipped over her face. “Hey you.”
Mark straightened his shirt even though it wasn’t out of place. “Woman, how is it you get even more beautiful each and every time I lay eyes on you?”
The redhead laughed and the sound made Ray’s cock harden. She was certainly a vision.
“I’m talented like that,” she said. She went straight to Mark and he drew her against him before kissing her tenderly.
A stab of jealousy raced through Ray, but he wasn’t sure if it stemmed from Mark finding someone to be with that wasn’t him or if Ray wanted the redhead. His tastes ran from women to men, but he kept the men part to himself. He’d seen what the locals did to men who came out about their sexuality and it wasn’t pretty.
Mark and the redhead separated, but Mark kept an arm around her waist, his blue gaze sweeping to Ray. “Nancy, I’d like you to meet an old friend of mine. Ray Thompson.”
“The friend who owns his own cattle ranch,” Nancy supplied. Her green eyes held a certain level of both innocence and mischief and her pale, creamy skin begged to be touched. With a body like hers, Ray could imagine it was easy to get lost in it, finding endless pleasure.
“One in the same,” said Mark.
“We’re headed to lunch together. He should join us,” inserted Nancy. “I know you used to be close and I know how much you miss the area.”
Mark talked about him and missed the area?
As far as Ray knew, Mark ran as far and as fast as he could from Hazard County. He’d not looked back once. They’d spent one amazing weekend together and then Mark split. It had apparently been too much on him. Truth was, Ray wasn’t so sure it would have worked out had he stayed. As amazing as their time together was, something had been missing.
Nancy smiled wide and stepped towards Ray. She put her hand out. “It’s so nice to meet someone from my husband’s past.”
Husband?
Ray felt sick to his stomach as he took her hand. Her sweet scent launched up at him. Instead of curling his stomach as the news Mark was officially off the market did, the smell made his body respond. His nostrils flared and his muscles coiled at the idea of sampling what was before him. He cleared his throat, her hand now in his. “Nice to meet you too, ma’am.”
With a pout, she tipped her head, her long hair falling over one shoulder. “You’ll join us for lunch, right?”
He eyed the hardware store and then nodded. The fence mending would have to wait. “I’d love to.”
She squealed and launched herself at him as they’d known each other forever and a day. He wrapped his arms around her and held her to him as his gaze went to Mark. He stared at him over Nancy’s head. A satisfied smile edged its way onto Mark’s face. Mark nodded and blatantly adjusted his cock in the middle of Main Street.
Megan Hart:Read in bed!
Leah Braemel
Jody Wallace
Eliza Gayle
Mandy M Roth
Lissa Matthews
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Shiloh Walker
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
Lauren Dane
Shelli Stevens
TJ Michaels
July 11, 2012
Summertime Blues
(c) copyright Mandy M Roth 2012
Beating the heat has been something the nation can relate to. I don’t recall a time we’ve had weather this hot, stretching this long, since the summer of 88 and honestly it most likely just felt super long then because I was a kid and things always seem longer and bigger when you’re little. A favorite of my kids summertime fun has always been spending time at the cottage. My in-laws own it and love having us over. Its becoming harder and harder to find the time that we can go as a family with everyone’s schedules conflicting and what not. And I’m not talking extended family because my hubby is an only child. Just the five of us have trouble getting a full day off together. This shouldn’t be. We should make a point to spend more time together and to spend time enjoying the cottage which will give my kids lasting memories. So I’m making a resolution (I know its not New Year’s) to assure we log off for a few hours every once in a while and spend quality family time together.
July 4, 2012
Happy 4th of July!
To my readers in the United States…. Happy 4th of July (Independence Day)! I hope everyone has a safe, happy holiday. Remember, prime time for drunk drivers/boaters so use caution.
June 27, 2012
Marketing with Mandy Author Spotlight JoAnn Smith Ainsworth
Marketing with Mandy Author Spotlight JoAnn Smith Ainsworth
Q: Tell us a little about your experience with Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
A: My experience has been excellent. Samhain was my first sale. My editor competently and efficiently guided me through the publishing process. Samhain’s Accounting Department keeps the royalties and the paperwork accurate. The marketing department reviewed my business plan and brochure to suggest enhancements. Samhain periodically opened up to authors an opportunity to have bookmarks and brochures mailed to their contact list. I’m happy.
Q: What tips/tricks do you use for marketing or promoting your own titles?
A: I believe in Word of Mouth. I believe most people buy because a friend or family member recommends an author or the reader had met the author. Because of this belief, I like to do meet-and-greets at bookstores, give talks to reader groups and be on author panels.
When appearing at these author events, it’s important to have a handout for the audience to take home. I prefer bookmarks. They’re useful as a bookmark and they contain the most critical information about my book: the back cover blurb, the cover, a review quote, my e-mail, my website address and a Buy It statement.
When doing a meet and greet, I state my name loudly and that I’m an author when people come in the door. I offer a bookmark. Even if they don’t stop to talk, my name and that I’m an author hopefully sticks. Extra bookmarks are left at the store to be given out over a period of time. I’ve gotten sales from this longer exposure.
With readers groups, I spend less time talking about my books and more time answering questions about the publishing process and the art of novel writing.
Each author must find a way to market compatible with personality and time commitments. For me, it’s getting out with the reader. The buildup is slow, but lasting.
Q: What is one thing you’d want to tell a newer author, just coming into the game?
A: Never give up. If your passion is writing, stay focused on your goal. Know that most people don’t leapfrog from where they are to their final goal. Most of us take baby steps and set new goals as we go along. The key is to stick with it, stay focused and eventually you’ll get there.
Q: Could you tell us a bit about your latest release?
A: My medieval romantic suspense series (published by Samhain )is set in Britain a generation after the Norman conquest. In MATILDA’S SONG, an Anglo-Saxon woman has a life-threatening secret which comes out when she falls in love with the Norman baron. In OUT OF THE DARK, a visually impaired Anglo-Saxon noblewoman overhears a conspiracy. She and the Norman sheriff fall in love while investigating the conspiracy.
Q: Can you tell us a little about your current WIP’s?
A: My work in progress is a three-book paranormal suspense series where the U.S. government hires five psychics to ferret out Nazi spies along the East Coast during World War II. My agent is currently marketing the series.
Q: How do you balance family and writing?
A: My son is grown and working out-of-state so my balance is between community volunteering and writing. I’ve learned to put writing first and say “no” if volunteering will add too much stress to my writing day.
Q: How did you get into writing?
A: I started writing to supplement Social Security. Because I have a Bachelors and Masters in English, I thought being an author would be an easy transition from the business world. Little did I know how difficult it is to write a good novel! I spent years in online classes learning to write dialogue, develop pacing and to understand deep point of view. Through these experiences and greater understanding, my goals transformed. My “commercial enterprise” has turned into a passion.
June 25, 2012
Research Tripping and Ants in my Pants…
Millennium-Bostonian (luxury hotel with complimentary ants in your pants)
Ah, if only it were that much fun. Seriously though, research trips are a huge part of my behind the scenes prep for books. It’s one thing for me to read about locations and describe what I read in my books, it’s an entirely different matter for me to visit the locations and gain firsthand insider knowledge. I made a decision several years back that I would do my all to visit locations I was setting stories in rather than rely on solely on book/net research. The cost was a factor, but in the end I decided it was worth it to assure the info in my stories is as accurate as possible. Thus, my hectic travel schedule began. Of course, my partner in crime, Michelle Pillow, joined me on this fun and excited trip. Boston will never be the same again.
To kick off the season I went to Boston. My upcoming release The Bet (under the pen name Kennedy Kovit) has Boston tidbits sprinkled throughout it and it was important I understood the area better. I also have Boston featured in several other WIPs (works in progress) so I took a ton of notes and pictures to help remember everything I learned.
Quincy Market was by far my favorite part of downtown Boston. I loved how it filled with various street artists—everything from guys who play buckets and create great songs to living statues that blow kisses as you give them a tip. So much fun to be had there. Great people, great good, great fun.
I took a walking tour of the Freedom Trail and learned a great deal about the history of the area. Many myths I’d had about the history were dispelled. So glad I did that even though my feet were covered in blisters by the time the day was out.
Salem was a different story. I’d had such high hopes for it. I’d really assumed it would be a Mecca for me. That I’d get there and never want to leave. Not the case. It was a tourist trap. Everything is “witch” this and witch that. But, you play heck finding places to eat there so anyone looking to start up a great business in Salem should consider a family restaurant. Heck, name it witch something and you’re “in”. Just saying.
The return train to Boston was late so we waited in a rather no frills stop that smelled a touch like urine. I tried not to breathe too deep so that is all I have to say on that.
The Boston hotel I was in was the Millennium-Bostonian. I’d read good things about it and it had good ratings so I selected it. Unbeknownst to me my room had ants. I found out the last day there as I’m grabbing things from my suitcase only to find tiny (I mean iddy biddy) ants crawling in my things. I swear to God I had ants in my undies. It’s not like I sprinkle sugar on my clothes so I was not pleased. They were also in my kids things and in the end we found them in my husband’s as well. They were making a nice little home in the baseboard area of the room near where the . So not fun to deal with when you have to leave the hotel at noon to catch a cruise ship. Sadly, the hotel did NOT offer to launder my clothing until nearly 10 am when they said “my things should most likely” be back by noon. Maybe shortly after. Mind you, I’d brought this to their attention very early in the morning and the first and ONLY thing I asked for was that my clothing be laundered. They dragged their feet and then their maybe promise of my clothes being done didn’t cut it. They took $100 off the bill and when a bill is pushing $700 that is sort of insulting. They then offered (how generous of them) to reimburse me up to $100 of the cleaning bill for having Carnival Cruise Line launder my clothing if I provide them with an invoice from Carnival. I washed half our things in the self-service on the ship when we arrived and forked out $40 for that and then gave up because spending my entire day running back and forth to a laundry room while I’m on “vacation” blows. So I sent the rest to be laundered by the ship (another $45 there). Who knows if the hotel will actually hold true and reimburse me the $45. Personally, I think they should give me back the $85 but short of photographing myself putting quarters in the machine ($3 dollars’ worth to wash and $3 to dry) there is no invoice for that. The entire ordeal set a bad tone for the trip and took me a lot of time to get cleaned up. Since the Millennium-Bostonian plugs themselves as a luxury hotel they really should advertise they have luxury ants too go with it.
Enough of the gross.
The cruise portion of the trip was great (aside from having to launder five people’s clothing). As usual Carnival did an amazing job keeping the ship and the staterooms spotless. Perhaps the hotel should consult them for tips. The intermarry was lacking slightly but I think it was due to the fact it was cooler weather so not as many on deck activities could be planned. Loved talking with the crew and interviewing them. They are always so helpful and their tips really help to flavor up the Pleasure Cruise series. Can’t learn enough. Really.
First stop was St. John (New Brunswick). The loyalist cemetery was very beautiful and eerie. Some really interesting history in the tiny town. Had an unofficial tour guide there in the form of an elderly man who was local and looking for conversation. Hey, I’m a talker. It worked out great.
Next stop was Halifax (Nova Scotia). This was full of history and info. So much to learn and soak in. Glad I took a lot of notes. I’d be lost without them. The Citadel there was my favorite. We had such great guides helping us out. And they have a Cougar Bar. Hand to the Gods. LOL
I’m home now. Rewashed all my clothes again just to be sure I didn’t bring home any “luxury” ants. LOL.
June 20, 2012
Marketing with Mandy Author Spotlight: Suleikha Snyder
Marketing with Mandy Author Spotlight: Suleikha Snyder
Q: Tell us a little about your experience with Samhain Publishing.
A: Hooking up with Samhain to release my debut novella, Spice and Smoke was a really eye-opening and energizing process! From start to finish, it took less than a year. Total kudos to my editor, Jennifer Miller, who asked a lot of “Why?” and “How?” questions about my characters and made them the richer for it. She was awesome and really “got” my voice and the cultural context of the novella. With her guidance, the story basically went through a metamorphosis, going from a bare bones, get-in-get-out, romance to a much more vibrant collage. Before I knew it, I had a complete novella, a gorgeous cover and a release date. It was like a dream!
Q: What tips/tricks do you use for marketing or promoting your own titles?
A: I’m just starting out, so I’ve been trying to build a social media profile and get out there with Twitter and a Facebook fan page. Since my debut is an e-book and not something readers can hold in their hands, I invested in full-color cover postcards to pass out at events. I’ve also been signing up for blog interviews (like this one!) because, as an e-book writer, this is your target audience: people who come to the Internet for more romance-related content.
Q: What is one thing you’d want to tell a newer author, just coming into the game?
A: I’m about as new as they get, so this is the equivalent of a three-month old giving advice to newborn, but I think one of the most important things is to learn to “roll with it.” Yes, you love your book, and it’s your baby, but it will take time to get it published, it will take just the right people to believe in it — and it will need editing. The sooner you accept that it takes a village to publish and market your literary child, the better off you are!
Q: Could you tell us a bit about your latest release?
A: Spice and Smoke is a multicultural erotic romance that takes place completely in India, featuring an all-Indian cast. Set in the splashy, scandalous world of Bollywood cinema, it’s the story of a hotheaded crop of actors who find love while filming a sweeping, period drama. Avinash Kumar and Trishna Chaudhury are a sexy power couple with an open marriage, but after they arrive on the shoot for The Raj, it’s their hearts that open up. Bisexual Avi is instantly drawn to former model Michael Gill, and Trishna’s banked feelings for her childhood crush, Harsh Mathur, come roaring to life. Meanwhile, the film’s supporting cast includes ex-boyfriends Sam Khanna and Vikram Malhotra, who have never quite gotten over each other. When the cameras stop rolling, the real scene begins!
Q: Can you tell us a little about your current WIP’s?
A: I’m still immersed in Bollywood, writing tales set in the same universe as Spice and Smoke. It’s such a rich, colorful place to play, and I’m honestly in love with the whole concept. (I hope readers will be, too!) On the docket are a second-chance-at-love tale about a hotshot producer and an ingénue-turned-sexpot and the supernatural-themed love story of a music producer and a nymph.
Q: How did you get into writing?
A: From the moment I could hold a pen! I was making up fairy tales before I got to school and writing Dark Shadows and Twin Peaks fan fiction before I knew what fan fiction was.
Q: How do you balance family and writing?
A: Well, I’m a singleton, so there are really no family responsibilities to balance. I do, however, have to manage a full-time job and my romance writing. That definitely takes discipline. I try to write in the mornings and on the subway — typing away on the notepad on my phone — and devote my weekends to fiction. If I get even a snippet of story floating around in my head, it’s like, “Stop! Hammer Time!” I drop whatever I’m doing to jot it down or type it up, because I might forget about it in the throes of the day job.
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