“Have Bags, Will Travel” Review by Michelle James – D. G. Kaye

November 3, 2015November 3, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 19 Comments

I was pleasantly surprised when Michelle James of BookChat, kindly approached me, offering to review my latest book, Have Bags, Will Travel. There is nothing as gratifying for an author than to find that her book was enjoyed and well received. I was even more elated that Michelle had given her time to review and recommend my book.

My Review – Michelle James

Have you ever read a book that could have been written about you? D.G. Kaye did just that.

Case#1 – She’s a shopaholic. Well, I love to shop, though maybe not as much as she does. Christmas shopping, back to school shopping, birthdays, anniversaries – I could shop for days on end. I love buying gifts for others, furniture for our home, the list is endless. The author loves to buy so much more, in fact shoes are her favorite shopping item. The problem is she shops when she travels and has to have a way to get it home without customs finding out she packed more than she is allowed to bring back. As you will see, she goes to great lengths to pack creatively. Continue reading →

#MysteryNovember Day 2 – Shelley R. Pickens

November 2, 2015 / Marcia Meara / Leave a comment

Today, the #MysteryNovember tour features author Shelley R. Pickens. You can learn more about Shelley and her books by clicking on the link below. Please remember to share via all your usual routes. These authors will thank you for it, and so will I. 🙂 Enjoy!

#MysteryNovember Day 2 – Shelley R. Pickens

#MysteryNovember Tour Day 1 – Mike Martin

November 1, 2015November 1, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 4 Comments

Hooray! Rosie Amber’s #MysteryNovember Tour is underway. I hope you’ll follow along with these posts, which feature a different author each day. I’m betting you’ll find some whose work you’d really enjoy. And please remember to share both the posts on Rosie’s page, and this one, as well. Let’s get the word out about these authors, their books, Rosie’s Blog, and ours, as well. Thanks. Now here’s the link to the first featured author, Mike Martin. Enjoy!

#MysteryNovember Day 1 Featuring Mike Martin

More Bookends – so cute!

October 31, 2015 / Deborah Jay / Debby Lush / 1 Comment

Taking my inspiration from Marcia’s earlier posts, I’d like to share my own favourite bookends:

Aren’t they cute?

They are from a limited edition of just 12, and I was really lucky to get them.

Come on people, share your own favourites.

The ghosts of Tissington Hall…

October 31, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 3 Comments

A nice, spooky place, eh? Would love to visit one day. 🙂

Campfire Ghosts – Happy Halloween #2

October 31, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 11 Comments

Dark clouds
Hide the silver light
From his wide-eyed gaze.
Night reigns
In blackest glory,
Held at bay only
By the orange firelight.
The trees are gone,
Lost in gloom.
Everywhere,
A wall of black,
Except within
The fire’s warm
Circle.

Sparks rise up,
Twisting high
Until they disappear,
Lost in the darkness,
Only to be followed
By legions more.

Whippoorwills call,
And foxes bark,
And the night settles like
A blanket over all.

Grilled food
Is gobbled down,
Leaving behind only
The sweet scorched
Scent of burnt
Marshmallow.
He wears a smile
Dressed in melted chocolate,
And licks his sticky fingers
Clean.

The air turns cooler,
As day is forgotten,
And jewel-bright embers
Glow in heaps of ash.
He’s waited as long
As a young boy can.
Shivering, he asks,
Is it time?

A warm arm
Pulls him close,
Holding him safe,
And he asks again.
Is it time now, dad?

Yes, says his father,
His voice a deep
Familiar comfort
In the ink-dark night.
Yes, I believe it is.
Let me see,
Shall I tell you
A new one?

Will it have
Clacking bones
And eyes that glow?
Will there be cold wind
Whistling through trees,
And bats swooping,
And owls calling?

Of course, says his dad.
All of that, I’m sure,
For isn’t that what
You love the most?

Oh, yes, he sighs,
Safe and warm,
Eyes growing heavy
And sleep close by.
Tell me, dad,
Like you always do.
Tell me a story.

~ Summer Magic: Poems of Life and Love by Marcia Meara ~

October Siege – Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2015October 31, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 8 Comments

October.
The siege begins.
Enemies among us
Everywhere!
With evil grins,
They lurk,
They skulk,
They glare,
Sharp fangs bared.

October.
Hide inside.
Nighttime danger
Everywhere!
With shining eyes,
They menace,
They taunt,
They torment,
Mouths opened wide.

See how they glow!
Deadly, gap-toothed grins
Midst curves of vivid orange!
Silently screaming with devilish glee,
They lounge on nighttime porches,
And march up darkened drives.
Casting yellow light from watchful eyes,
They search for unwary victims,
For slow and easy prey.

Big ones, tall ones,
Skinny ones, or round.
Colored like the fiery sun,
Or the moonlight pallor of alien visitors.
They line up on fence posts,
Stair steps, and windowsills.
Peering out . . . or peering in?
Looking for who?
You!

October.
Watch your step.
They’re back again,
Everywhere!
With wicked intent,
They scheme,
They hunger,
They haunt,
Pumpkins on patrol!

Boo!

~ Summer Magic: Poems of Life and Love by Marcia Meara

Arrrggghh Moment For Today!

October 30, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 6 Comments

You know you’ve seen way too many Geico commercials when you catch yourself thinking, “This is as annoying as playing Poker with Kenny Rogers!”

Now I dare you to try to get that song out of your head!

(Me, heading off to count my money…WHILE SITTIN’ AT THE TABLE!! Take THAT, Kenny!)

#FabulousFridayGuestBlogger – Tony Riches

October 30, 2015October 28, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 3 Comments

Today, our FabFriday Guest Blogger is Tony Riches. Thank you so much for joining us today, Tony. Now, without further ado, here is Tony’s wonderful and informative post on how to use Amazon’s Author Pages.

Ten Tips for Setting Up Amazon Author Pages

Your Amazon page should be an important part of your ‘author platform’ – yet many authors don’t bother. It may be they are so busy writing they really don’t have the time but it’s easy to do and here are my ten top tips:

Create your own Amazon Author Page

This only takes a moment to do. Once you have an Amazon Author account and at least one book published on Amazon, simply visit https://authorcentral.amazon.co.uk/ or https://authorcentral.amazon.com/ (US) and follow the instructions. You probably have short author ‘bio’ and a suitable picture somewhere already. (I’ve seen research suggesting that readers like to see a picture of the author, so try to resist using a book cover, as I have seen some people do!) Readers can click on any of your books and be directed to the Kindle store where they can download the book in less than a minute. Also, any time you update your biography or claim a new book through Author Central, About the Author will update on Kindle giving your readers access to the most recent information.

Make sure all your books are linked to the page

Amazon leaves this to you as they can’t always be sure which are your books. Simply click on the ‘Add More Books’ button and search for books you’ve written by title, author, or ISBN and add them. While you’re there you can also click on any of your books to check and add information about them.

Copy and paste your details to the other Amazon countries

Unfortunately, updates you make to any Amazon site don’t automatically find their way to the other twelve countries – but all you need to do is copy and paste the bio and update your list of books and add videos when you have the time. (I use Google translate to understand the prompts on the non-English sites – but would appreciate help from anyone who can help translate my German and French pages.)

Add your promotional videos

Promotional videos can bring your author platform to life and your Amazon pages are a great place to showcase them. Unlike some sites, you actually need to upload the video, rather than just add the YouTube embed code or link. You can ‘manage’ the order they are displayed and easily update them. I have had feedback from readers that they made the decision to buy my book after seeing the video, so they definitely work!

Link to your blog

Your writing blog can be linked to your Amazon US page with an RSS feed. This isn’t currently available on the other country sites and sounds more complicated than it is but really makes your page more dynamic, as well as bringing more readers to your blog. There are plenty of tutorials of how to do it – Amazon’s guidance is HERE.

Continue reading →

#Writing Craft: book review of WRITING DEEP POINT OF VIEW by Rayne Hall

October 29, 2015 / Deborah Jay / Debby Lush / 8 Comments

I though I would share with you a review I did earlier today, and suggest that if you haven’t yet discovered Rayne Hall’s Writing Craft books, you might like to take a look.

This one is the newly published thirteenth volume, and other titles in the series include:

Writing Vivid Settings
Why does my book not sell?
Writing Fight Scenes
Twitter for Writers
Writing about Villains
The Word Loss Diet

These books are not aimed at beginners, but at authors who want to improve their craft. They are succinct and brimming with knowledge from an author of more than 50 books.

I consider myself a fair writer, and I learn something from every one.

So without further ado, here is my review:

Writing Deep Point Of View: Professional Techniques for Fiction Authors by Rayne Hall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the thirteenth book in Rayne Hall’s Writer’s Craft Book Series, and like the others, it does what it says on the tin.
As an author, writing in deep point of view is a skill you will probably want to master, as it gives readers the most intense experience, allowing them not just to read about characters, but to inhabit their thoughts and emotions; to ‘become’ the character. This depth of identity with a fictional character is what makes the book live in a reader’s mind long after they’ve finished it, and drives them back for more as soon as they can get their hands on your next novel.
Using examples and exercises split into simple-to-follow categories, Hall makes the whole process simple to understand and execute. It isn’t a book for total beginners, rather for those ready to improve and expand their writing skills, so if that’s you, I’d advise you to grab a copy now.
On a personal level as a writer of fantasy novels, I found the chapters on character, sensory and gender filters (chapters 4 – 6) of particular interest, plus those on character thoughts and emotions (chapters 9 and 11), and I know I will be returning often to chapter 17, and its handy list of word choices.

View all my reviews