Ain’t It the Truth?
🙂
Author: Marcia Meara
Free Authors Tools: Blurb Preview & Yasiv
Once again, thanks to Nicholas Rossis for sharing some very useful tools. These are both new to me, and I plan to download TODAY! Check it out!
I have two useful (and free) author tools to share with you today, courtesy of authors John Logsdon and MM Jaye respectively.
Amazon blurb preview
Author Central’s formatting toolbar
I’ve often shared on this blog my support of Amazon. Despite its occasional missteps, the company has leveled the playing field for Indie authors and is busy changing the publishing industry on a daily basis. It is consistently client-centric in its approach and has invested heavily in making the shopping experience as pleasant and flawless as possible.
Which is why I can’t fathom why it’s so hard for it to build a proper, user-friendly blurb builder.
In effect, there are two separate ways of posting your blurb: the first is to do it through your book details on KDP. This has the benefit of allowing you to use some basic html tags; namely: <b><br><em><font><h1><h2><h3><h4><h5><h6><hr><i><li><ol><p><pre><s><strike><strong><sub><sup><u> and <ul>. However, it lacks any…
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Where Do You Write?
An interesting question. What would YOU choose?
I may get an opportunity to have a few hours to myself each week.
Time to myself, people!Every. Week.
I’m ecstatic.
Because I’m going to use this time to write.
Here’s the catch. (You knew there was a catch, right?)
If I do the whole “drop-off, drive home, drive back, pick-up” thing, I’ll lose an hour.
So, I need to stay put. I need to be out of my housewhile I’m writing. I’ve never done this. Correction. I’ve never successfully done this.
I’ve tried coffee shops, tea shops, shoe shops, sweet shops. (No, really, not a sweet shop. In those, I just annoy my kids with how I used to buy Raisinets and Nerds in regular sized packages not the sugar-rush, vomit-inducing size they sell now.)
I don’t understand how people can write in coffee shops or whatnot. I can barely write my name never mind a…
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#ComingSoon – #ExcerptWeek
After checking my calendar, I realized that my schedule next week won’t allow me time to give my attention to running Excerpt Week, but the following week looks perfect. So, mark your calendars! Our next #ExcerptWeek will begin Saturday, 9/24, and will run through the close of day Sunday, 10/2. (A week, and one to grow on!)
If you are new to #ExcerptWeek, here are the guidlines:
1. Excerpts may be from any book or work in progress, published or not, but may not be political, religious, or overtly erotic in nature. (Fantasy world politics are fine, as are urban fantasies about angels, demons, etc. And sexy is fine. If you aren’t clear on the distinction between sexy and erotic, email me, and I’ll clarify.)
2. Excerpts may be any length you wish to share, though if they are very long, I will let them run in full for a day or two, then will insert the “Read More” tag. This is just to keep the home page from becoming too cluttered. Feel free to share as much as you like.
3. Those who are regular contributors may publish their excerpts at will. Those who aren’t must contact me, and I’ll explain how it’s done. PLEASE do NOT add your excerpt to the Comments section under anyone else’s post. Not only is that unfair to the original poster, but no one will SEE your work there. Just email me, and I’ll get you up on the main page, I promise. Email: mmeara@cfl.rr.com
4. You may publish more than one excerpt during the week, especially if things are slower than usual.
5. Sharing with The Write Stuff means your post will be passed along to many, many other viewers, so it’s a great chance for exposure. All we ask in return is that you do your part by sharing what others post, as often as possible. It’s what The Write Stuff is all about.
So, in brief, share your work, reach new readers, and help others reach them, too.
Again, for you folks who’ve never taken part in #ExcerptWeek here, just email me, and I will do my best to help. mmeara@cfl.rr.com
DON’T FORGET TO MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
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#ThorsDaySmile
Works for ME!
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#MidWeekPOV #wwwblogs Genre & Category: Reader Expectations
Among the many new things I’ve learned since I started writing three years ago, nothing has been more of a surprise than the idea of reader expectations. As an avid reader of 3 to 4 books a week for most of my adult life, my own expectations were simple. I wanted good writing, fantastic characters I was totally invested in, and solid, believable plots, even in fantasy. That was about it.
In today’s world, the relationship between readers and writers seems to be expanding. Writers no longer lock themselves in tiny rooms, sweating blood while they aim to produce literary masterpieces that will live beyond them for centuries. Well, maybe a few still do. But mostly, it seems like writers today are forever asking themselves what it is that readers want. This week. And then trying to write a book that fills that need, even if it’s not the story they really want to be telling. I’m not so sure that’s a good thing, but it is one way many are going about the process.
I have to say, I don’t think a lot about what’s trendy in fiction. I know I probably should, but my brain doesn’t work that way. I have a hundred stories in my head, waiting to get out, and those are the ones I want to tell. Some of them have current subjects woven into them, and some don’t. Most do have age-old themes threaded through them, and those are the things I want to focus on, no matter what the tale is outwardly about, or what’s popular in the industry today. I do my best to make my stories entertaining, but I don’t spend a lot of time wondering if the topic of the book I’m writing is going to be a hot one in the months ahead.
However, having said all of that, I also want to SELL my books. In fact, for me, this is not a paying hobby, as I’ve heard it described. It is an honest attempt to tell good stories and be compensated with a small but steady income every month. I don’t expect to get rich. I do hope to augment my husband’s retirement income, in a few more years. So, I write the stories I want to tell in the best way I can, and I look for ways to get them in front of the right audience. Once there, I expect them to stand on their own merit, or fall by the wayside. But getting them there–in front of people who might enjoy my writing style and subject matter–is the hardest part of this whole endeavor, if you ask me. Continue reading
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#NorseMythology by #NeilGaiman
Neil Gaiman AND Thor? In one book? Be still, my heart! Just thought I’d share this with those who might be as excited as I am by the thought of a Gaiman anthology based on all the Norse mythology, from the beginning of the nine worlds, to Ragnarok, to rebirth. I’ve already preordered! (And for those who pick up on the line about Thor not being “the wisest of gods,” I’ll just say this: “Brains? Thor has brains, too?”) 😀
To read more and choose your preorder site, click HERE.
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Excerpt From #Harbinger: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 3
Since things are a wee bit slow as summer heads into fall, I thought maybe I’d schedule another #ExcerptWeek. I will do a separate post on exactly when, and how to take part, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, just to get you thinking about what you’d like to share with us, here’s an excerpt of my own from my latest book, Harbinger. A moment to provide a wee bit of comic relief in this shivery tale. Mac and Rabbit are on their way home from a visit with Sheriff Raleigh Wardell, where 11-year old Rabbit got to spend time with Raleigh’s grandson, Finn. Rabbit was raised in the wilderness, and Finn is the first child he’s ever met. Today, he also met Finn’s sister, Merry, who has left him gobsmacked, as Raleigh would say. Men are from Mars, Women from Venus? Maybe so. Hope you enjoy it.
~~~
Late Saturday Afternoon, March 22, 2014
Wake-Robin Ridge, North Carolina
“NICE AFTERNOON, HUH?”
Rabbit nodded.
“You really enjoy visiting with Finn, don’t you?”
Rabbit nodded.
“His sister seems nice.”
Rabbit turned three shades of red.
Mac reached across the seat and tousled his hair. “You can do better than that, can’t you? After all, you knew Finn had a sister.”
Once again, Rabbit nodded.
“Well, then, what’s got you so quiet about meeting her? Are you saying she wasn’t nice?”
“No! I mean, she was okay. I guess.”
“Just okay? I thought she was very pretty, and she seemed like a friendly girl.”
Rabbit gave a long, drawn out sigh. “You wouldn’t understand,” he finally muttered.
“Wouldn’t I? Do you think you’re the only guy who’s ever felt shy around a girl?”
“Wasn’t shy.”
“No?”
“Just didn’t know what to say to her.”
Mac grinned. “Ah. I see the fine distinction there.”
Scowling, Rabbit flushed redder than ever. “Don’t make fun. I ain’t never had that happen to me before.”
Mac’s smile disappeared, and he blew out a long breath. “I guess it does take some getting used to, doesn’t it? That feeling you get around them, when you want to say the right things, and look clever or funny, but nothing comes out the way you think it will.”
Rabbit turned sideways in his seat. “Did you feel like that when you met Mama? I mean, like every word you ever knew just up an’ left your brain, an’ you couldn’t quit starin’ at her, an’ you just knew that she could tell exactly what was happenin’ to you?”
Thinking back to the day he had raced down Sarah’s drive, hunting Rosheen, and had seen his future wife for the first time, Mac remembered the alarm he’d felt. “Yeah. I think you’ve about summed it up. Women have this way of turning men into powerless, speechless dolts sometimes, especially when we first lay eyes on them. It can knock the wind right out of our sails, but you’d better get used to it. You’re growing up fast, and it’s sure to happen more and more.”
“Huh.” Rabbit grew quiet again. After a few minutes, he blurted, “Trouble is, I can’t tell if I like feelin’ this way, or I hate it worse’n anything.”
“Welcome to the club, partner.”
He pulled his truck into the drive, and Rabbit raced for the house almost before it came to a stop. By the time Mac joined his family in the living room, the boy was in the middle of telling Sarah everything.
“An’ she was beautiful, Mama. Like you. Like an angel, but only wearin’ jeans an’ a t-shirt like me an’ Finn. An’ hangin’ on the fence to feed Pawnee an’ Peanuts, too.”
As Rabbit bounced a laughing Branna on his knee, Mac nodded his agreement. “She was, Sarah. A very pretty—”
“Beautiful,” corrected Rabbit, still tickling Branna.
“I mean beautiful. She was a very beautiful young girl. Charming, and just as nice as Finn.”
Rabbit handed Branna to Mac, then rose to pace back and forth across the living room floor. “I reckon I expected Finn’s sister would be just like him, only maybe wearin’ a dress, or carryin’ a doll, or somethin’. I never figured on someone like Merry. Are all girls so beautiful an’ smart?”
Sarah grinned at Mac before answering. “Some are, yes. And some aren’t. In that way, they’re very much like boys, Rabbit. Each one is different, but all of them are special.”
“Do they all make you feel unhappy about your own self?”
A slight frown touched her face as she responded. “How do you mean?”
“Dunno,” Rabbit mumbled, not meeting her eyes. “It’s hard to put in words. I reckon it’s that I wanted her to like me, but then I couldn’t come up with nothin’ good to say, an’ I started thinkin’ she wasn’t never gonna like no boy raised on a mountain like I was, anyway. I don’t even go to school, or into towns, or nothin’. For the first time, I saw there wasn’t all that much about me for her to like.”
Mac and Sarah started to protest at the same time, but Mac gave way and let his wife speak.
“Oh, Rabbit. You don’t ever have to feel bad about who you are. You’re so special, and so sweet, any girl would be happy to have you as a friend. Just you wait. If Merry doesn’t know this already, she soon will.”
“You sure, Mama? I’m askin’ you ‘bout this here stuff, ‘cause Daddy already told me that men mostly can’t understand women at all, so I figured you’d be the one who could ‘splain these things to me. I ain’t never had to think ‘bout girls before.” Rabbit’s voice went up an octave as a panicked expression swept across his features. “An’ now, I can’t think about nothin’ else!”
Mac ruffled Rabbit’s hair. “Don’t worry, Little Rabbit. Women might not make sense to you right now, or maybe even later on, but trust me on this. They’re worth it.”
~~~
Harbinger: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 3
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#MondayMeme #MondayBlogs
I love it when my #MondayMeme (writing or book related) is also funny.
The best of both worlds! Enjoy!
The Write Stuff 