Terry Odell's Blog, page 32

One Week to Go!

One Week to Go!

March 7th is only a week away. There’s still time to make sure you’ll have Deadly Relations on your preferred reading device. Pre-order it from your favorite e-store. Those pre-orders really help move the book up in the “new releases” rankings.

But wait! There’s more!

For those of you who like print, I’ve released the paperback version of Deadly Relations. Find it here.

Audio, you ask? Steve “Captain” Marvel is busy narrating the book. I’m listening, and he’s doing a great job br...

A Celebratory Day Off

Happy Birthday to Me

I’m taking today off as a birthday gift to myself. I finished all my proofing and uploading final files of Deadly Relations yesterday, and I decided I’ve worked hard enough this week.

Available for Pre-Order
Deadly Relations.
Nothing Ever Happens in Mapleton … Until it Does
Gordon Hepler, Mapleton, Colorado’s Police Chief, is called away from a quiet Sunday with his wife to an emergency situation at the home he’s planning to sell. A man has chained himself to the front por...

The Proof is in the Reading

The Proof is in the Reading

My proofs of Deadly Relations were delivered Monday afternoon. It’s exciting to see the paperbacks, even though most of my sales are of the digital format. Now comes yet another round of edits. Yes, things sneak by, and looking at the book in an entirely different format—font, layout, etc.—gives me one last chance to catch and fix any glitches.

I’m allowing three days for this. Too much time spend in the reading chair, I’ve found, leads to moving too fast, and little ...

Best Foot Forward

Best Foot Forward

Back in the day when my daughters were in the stroller stage, I made sure they looked their “best” before heading for our semi-regular walks through the mall. Rarely did I have time to do the same for myself, but I’d quickly learned that people always stopped me to look at twins, and usually had things to say. Comments usually included “How old are they?” “Are they twins?” (they’re fraternal and didn’t look anything alike.) “What are their names?” If there was more than one per...

Friday Photos – More Alaska

Before we get started, Kobo is having a 25% off box sets sale, and you can pick up my 4 novel set, Pine Hills Police as part of the promotion. Use code FEB25 at checkout. You can get the free Kobo app and read on most devices.

 

I’m still working on post processing of these old pictures from my Alaska photo cruise. One thing I’ve learned — I’ve improved considerably, and was hitting the delete key with reckless abandon, but some of these shots seemed interesting enough to play with.

 

 

 

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Vonnegut’s Rules

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

I’m over at the Kill Zone Blog today, where “rules” of writing have been a frequent topic. I’m sharing Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Rules of Writing.

Here are the first two:

Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

Pop over and say hello.

Available for Pre-Order
Deadly Relations.
Nothing Ever Happens in Mapleton … Until it Does
Gordon Hepler, Mapleton, Color...

Confidence Booster

Confidence Booster

There’s that moment when I send my manuscript to my editor when I think she’s going to say, “What were you thinking?” For me, the writing process moves back and forth between “This is a great scene” to “What makes you think you can tell a story?” And yes, this goes on with every book. Every. Single. One. Maybe it’s because I never had aspirations of being a writer. Never took writing classes. Only got started on a whim. But I give it my best shot. Then, when I hit “send”, all...

Friday Photos – Alaska

Taking a break in between books to play around with some photography. I found a folder full of pictures I took in Alaska on a photo safari with our son a bunch of years back. I can’t remember what camera or lens I was using, but I do know they were borrowed. I also knew far less about photography than I do now (although I’m still a newbie.)

At any rate, I went through some of them, hitting the ‘reject’ button on most. Then I played with them in Lightroom, a program I didn’t have back then, and f...

I’m Not Done Yet

I’m Not Done Yet

Whew! I’ve got my “final” draft of Deadly Relations off to my Read & Review Team and to my audiobook narrator. I should be able to relax now, right?

If only. I’m not done yet. There’s the print book to format.

I’m self-taught there, so it takes a little longer than if I sent it to a formatter. But it’s cheaper that way, too. I know there’s software out there that does a good job with creating a “pretty” manuscript, but at this point, I’m not sure it’s worth the investment. I’ve ...

A Monday Morning Update

A Monday Morning Update

I have the new car! Quality Control finally finished and sent it to the dealership. Even though it’s the “same” as the one I traded in, there have been a LOT of changes since 2017. Plus, this one’s a hybrid. But the biggie is … it has a heated steering wheel. Enough of a reason to get a new car! OK, maybe not just that, but it’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Of course, buying a car isn’t the same as going to the grocery store and picking up a rotisserie chicken for din...