Terry Odell's Blog, page 119

Character Interviews – Ashley York’s Lorccán

Thanks for letting me interview you, Lorccán. First, a few introductory questions:

Your name:  Lorccán, son of the Rí Túath
The book you’re in: Curse of the Healer
Your author’s name:  Ashley York
Your role: Son of the overking, cousin to the heroine

And now, on with the interview:

What was your favorite part of being a character in this book?
I enjoy the adventure. Being cared for by Aednat is always an adventure. Like when we went into the caves!

Do you have any input into how the story goe...

Left Coast Crime Recap 2 – Indie Publishing and Authors Tell All

I’m continuing my recaps of panels at Left Coast Crime. Part 1 is here.

The first panel I attended was presented by indie authors, and I thought I might pick up some pointers. Most of what was discussed was familiar territory. However, one very successful hybrid author provided a few tidbits of interest.

Most indie authors, as well as those with very small presses, should expect to pay 25% of their gross income on promotion.

Most panelists recommended CreateSpace for print, but it’s also not...

Friday Field Trip – Honolulu

For Left Coast Crime, we stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort. Here are some pictures I took (with my phone) while roaming parts of the property. Apologies for image quality; our time “off” was limited and lighting conditions weren’t always ideal. I’ll be posting more on future Fridays.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Left Coast Crime Recap – Speed Dating

Aloha!

This will be the first of my recaps of my experiences at the Left Coast Crime conference in Honolulu.

After a long but relatively uneventful trip to Honolulu, some unpacking, a mai tai, and a moderately decent night’s sleep, I was ready to face the conference.

I’ve talked about the types of conferences in depth in older posts, so suffice it to say Left Coast Crime is a fan-based conference. The attendees, however, include a lot of authors and aspiring authors as well as readers/fans. A...

Character Interviews – Tina Whittle’s Tai Randolph

Thanks for letting me interview you, Tai. First, a few introductory questions:

Your name:  Tai Randolph
The book you’re in: Lowcountry Crime: Four Novellas, which contains “Trouble Like a Freight Train Coming,” the story of my first “case.”
Your author’s name:  Tina Whittle
Your role: Protagonist

And now, on with the interview:

What was your favorite part of being a character in this book?
Oh, that’s easy—my co-protagonist and partner in both romance and crime-solving, Trey Seaver. We’ve been...

Tips for Attending Writers Conferences

I’ve been at Left Coast Crime, which reminded me about an older post giving tips for attending conferences. Since I’ll be traveling today and tomorrow, I thought I’d reprint this post

Conferences are great ways to refuel. Writing is a solitary occupation, and sometimes we need to get out and among people who understand what it’s like to have voices in your head. It’s also a great opportunity to see how other people handle all the aspects of the craft. No two people do things the same way, and...

Editing an Audiobook – an Interview with Steve Marvel

As an author, I compose my manuscripts at the computer, using Word. I’m always moving things around, finding better words, and fixing mistakes. With a word processor, it’s a very simple task. I have copy, cut, and paste commands at my disposal. I can highlight a sentence or phrase and drag it somewhere else in the manuscript, or delete it altogether.

But how does a narrator edit an audiobook? Can they move words around? I didn’t think so, and I asked my Mapleton Mystery narrator, Steve “Capta...

What’s Cooking Wednesday – Mai Tais

Since I’m taking off for Left Coast Crime in Honolulu today, what better recipe to share than one that reminds me of my other trips to the islands—a Mai Tai.

However, there is no single recipe for a Mai Tai. According to Wikipedia, the history of the drink is as follows:

Victor J. Bergeron claimed to have invented the Mai Tai in 1944 at his restaurant, Trader Vic’s, in California. Trader Vic’s rival, Don the Beachcomber, claimed to have created it in 1933 at his then-new bar named for himself...

Character Interviews – Charmaine Gordon’s Reva Mercer

Thanks for letting me interview you, Reva. First, a few introductory questions:

Your name:  Reva Mercer
The book you’re in: Chef’s Surprise
Your author’s name:  Charmaine Gordon
Your role: Heroine

And now, on with the interview:

What was your favorite part of being a character in this book?
I got to fight back when the young man tried to get me in bed and I clobbered him.

Do you have any input into how the story goes, or does your author call all the shots?
Ms. Gordon called the shots but som...

Providing Customer Service

What first comes to mind when you think of providing customer service? Recently, I dealt with a company I’d been with for a couple of years. Due to a flaw in their programming, I was told I was exceeding the limits of our agreement. I pointed out that this had happened before, and that I had kept my end of the bargain, and was being called on the carpet for something I had no control over. Over the next four days, when I didn’t hear back from the company,  I sent followup emails. When I final...