Terry Odell's Blog, page 149

The Long and Winding Road

My blogcation guest today is Sam Knight. As well as being Distribution Manager for WordFire Press, Sam is the Senior Editor for Villainous Press and author of four children’s books, three short story collections, two novels, and more than two dozen short stories.

I recently read a blog on the Fictorians website by David Carrico. He got me thinking about the different ways writers work. Specifically outlining—or not.

Writers tend to fall into two categories when it comes to getting ready to wr...

Price Reduction – Limited Time

Save the date, bookmark this page. Officially, Pine Hills Police will be on sale for 99 cents from Jan. 22-24. However, there might be some flexibility in those dates, depending on the distribution channel. That’s 4 full-length novels for 99 cents. Buy Links on the book page.

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Blogcation – In Hot Water Progress Report

Indie publishing is faster by far than traditional publishing, but it still takes time. In Hot Water is beginning the rollout process.

For me, that means going over my editors comments and suggestions, with another printout, full manuscript read to catch things that jump out at me. And no matter how many times I’ve read the manuscript, there will always be things that sneak through. Not only errors of the typo variety, but continuity issues. Sabrina said she had her recipe book with her when...

In Hot Water

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Writing and Lottery Tickets

While I’m on Blogcation, Jason Dias is my guest. Jason is a psychologist, author and columnist in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

You can’t win if you don’t play – but it goes a little deeper than that.

A friend recently asked a room full of people how they stayed motivated and productive as writers while simultaneously holding down jobs, managing families, and being sane. There were a lot of answers about making time, about viewing work as getting the bills paid and writing as a career.

I think...

Blogcation – Counting Down to In Hot Water 2

My editor says she is almost done going through my revisions. I thought today might be a good day to share the cover on the blog, as well as a few memes I’ve tinkered with, thanks to my cover artist who gave me a ‘text-free’ version.

Any thoughts? Do things like memes pique your curiosity enough to make you look further?

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The 3 Es of Character Development

Today my Blogcation Guest is James R. Callan. James had a successful career in mathematics and computer science, receiving grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA, but left the technology field to pursue his real love, writing.

When you start thinking about the characters who will populate your novel, keep these three Es in mind.

Eccentric
Exaggerate
Engage

First, Eccentric. The first definition of eccentric is “not having the same center.” This is followed by “deviating from the...

Blogcation – Counting Down to In Hot Water

Part of the reason for my blogcation is to allow me to devote more time to working on my new Triple-D Ranch romantic suspense series.

I turned in my first round of edits for In Hot Water, and am waiting (anxiously) for her to send them back. I’m also working to get book 2 finished by a mid-February deadline. But today, it’s about the cover. After a lot of serious thought, I decided I’d play up the romance and hired the Killion Group to design the cover. Kim Killion is one of the heavy hitters...

Blogcation – Reviews Redux

I’m on my “Blogcation” but I thought I’d rerun this post from 2013 about reviews, and what they mean. Keep watching this space (or sign up for notifications), as I’ve got some guests lined up, and some news about the new book.

Authors want to see lots of reviews for their books. Why? Reviews and star ratings can move a book up or down the visibility charts at the e-book stores. Some promotion sites won’t consider a book unless it has over 15 reviews with a 4.5 star average. But are they real...

Blogcation — Reviews Redux

I’m on my “Blogcation” but I thought I’d rerun this post from 2013 about reviews, and what they mean. Keep watching this space (or sign up for notifications), as I’ve got some guests lined up, and some news about the new book.

Authors want to see lots of reviews for their books. Why? Reviews and star ratings can move a book up or down the visibility charts at the e-book stores. Some promotion sites won’t consider a book unless it has over 15 reviews with a 4.5 star average. But are they real...