#130: The blog site indiebookspot.com has interviewed me.  To see more about what makes your favorite author tick, see: Steve’s interview.  I recommend this site to all indie readers and authors.

#131: The writers for the TV series Lost, now writing ABC’s Once Upon A Time, have carried creative license too far once again.  In Lost, they lost viewers with their flashforwards, the opposite of flashbacks (the show lived off the latter).  Viewers were also disillusioned by the strange ending of the series—or, should I say non-ending.  Now, in Once Upon A Time, they have been fracturing fairy tales in the tradition of Rocky and Bullwinkle, but without the humor.  That’s acceptable creative license.  However, with Sunday’s episode about the Mad Hatter, their creative license should be revoked.  Through the Looking Glass is not a fairy tale in the usual sense of the word.  In fact, the story of Alice is no more a fairy tale than the books in the Harry Potter series.  It is a fantasy.  It should have its own universe and not be in contact with the one of the Grimm brothers.  Nitpicking?  Maybe…but, I reacted negatively.

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#123: FREE & NEW EBOOK!  Special St. Patrick’s Day promotion: free download from Amazon KDP of the new thriller Angels Need Not Apply—3 days only (today Friday, Saturday, and Sunday).  This is a sequel to The Midas Bomb—NYPD Detectives Chen and Castilblanco battle terrorists and a Mexican cartel.  Ex-Navy SEAL Castilblanco shows he still knows how to fight and Ex-Army Ranger Chen shows she knows how to be both tough and sexy.  Download and enjoy with your Guinness or Jameson’s—promotion ends Monday.

#124: See young adult author H. M. Prévost’s review of The Secret Lab and my interview with her.  The Secret Lab, my sci-fi thriller for young adults and adults young-at-heart, is still only $0.99—a bargain download from all of your favorite eBook online dealers.  Even if you’re allergic to cats, you will fall in love with the arrogant and aloof Mr. Paws.  Enjoy.  (Ms. Prévost is the author of the YA novel Desert Fire.)

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#121:  FULL MEDICAL NOW FREE!  If you read my novel Evil Agenda in its serialized form in my blog, or in its spruced-up re-edited eBook version, here’s your chance to see where it all began for free!  Full Medical, prequel to Evil Agenda, is now available free in three-day promotion, starting TODAY!  Promotion lasts Friday, March 2, through Sunday, March 4.

For those in the know, this means that Full Medical is in the KDP Select catalog (the first edition is still available from Xlibris only as a trade paperback), so you can also borrow it from Amazon when the promotion is over.  If you haven’t read Evil Agenda, consider the promotion as a way to get The Clones and Mutants Series for only $2.99 (Full Medical for free and Evil Agenda for $2.99).  Inexpensive spring reading…and lots of it!

#122:  If you missed it in my own blog (last December 22), see my guest post “The Eightfold Way” on Penny Sansevieri’s February 29^th Author Marketing Experts blog (thanks to Paula Krapf of AME for the posting).  It’s a list of eight don’ts for writers of novels from my perspective as reader, reviewer, and, of course, writer.  This will also appear as a guest post in AuthorU.org’s blog.  AME offers marketing tips while AuthorU focuses on its community of authors—both sites highly recommended.

In libris libertas….

News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #19…

#117:  Shah Wharton’s interview of me is now followed by my guest post titled “How British Sci-Fi Influenced My Writing.”  This provides some insight into what influences my writing and why I feel writers should also be avid readers.  It might have special resonance with my UK fans.  See: http://wordsinsync.blogspot.com/2012/02/british-influence-on-sci-fi-by-steven-m.html

Shah runs three sites that include Words In Sync (see above), her own author page, and a site from which she can “beautify your blog” (see the excellent job she did with subheadings and images in my guest blog post).  Words In Sync also contains interviews, reviews, and hints for writers, and can be used as a launch platform to her other two sites.

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#111:  I’ve added two new websites to my preferred websites list (see the “Steve’s Writing” page):  (1) Paula Haataja does a good job of finding inexpensive books for readers on Daily Cheap Reads and Daily Cheap Reads Jr.  Together with the Bargain eBooks site, readers have a large number of these books to choose from.  Don’t look for many eBooks from a legacy publisher at these sites, though, as the corporate nemesis of indie writers generally charges almost as much for their eBooks as their hardbounds and paperbacks.  (2) Shah Wharton’s site, Words In Sync, offers a variety of information for readers and writers alike, including reviews, interviews, and a blog with guest posts from around the world.

#112:  Daily Cheap Reads Jr. has featured my YA novel The Secret Lab.  For young adults (tweens and teens) and adults who are young-at-heart, this whimsical story of a cat and kids on the International Space Station in the future is still only $0.99—available on Amazon, Smashwords, and most online eBook dealers.

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#105:  For a follow-up on #104, see my blog post “Indie books and bookstores…,” prompted by a myopic NY Times article on B&N.  The Times presents the official viewpoint of B&N.  I present my own.  Are you surprised that I don’t side with the bookstore giant?  They recently announced that they will not carry Amazon’s publications.  That doesn’t make sense if you just consider the online giant as another publisher (it isn’t, of course).  I don’t know what it means for KDP (Amazon’s eBook publishing).

#106:  Deanna Proach yesterday (Feb. 2) made a guest post to my blog titled “How to Critique a Writer”—for established writers and writers who are starting out.  Anyone who has a good critique site (where writers interchange manuscripts to have them critiqued) is welcome to comment there or here with a URL to the site.  After EditRed (now defunct), I stopped participating in critique groups, but I know they are very popular with some writers.

#107:  Shah Wharton has interviewed me for her blog.  See yesterday’s (Feb. 2) posting on www.wordsinsync.blogspot.com where you might learn a bit more about my quirky cynicism.  Writers should check out her “Author Advice” category where she quotes famous authors’ tips on writing—readers might be interested in these too, because they are sure to recognize some famous names.  I especially like Philip Pullman’s, though.  Shah also has an author page:  shahwharton.blogspot.com .

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News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #16…

#101:  Paula Krapf of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., has posted in the AME blog (Jan. 16) a copy of my Dec. 8 blog post “The Internet and the eBook” (visit http://www.amarketingexpert.com/the-internet-and-the-ebook%e2%80%a6/ )—thanks Paula!  AME’s website and newsletter offer marketing hints for authors and the company also offers many marketing services (see their free catalog), including virtual book tours and SEO for your website.  Present and future writers should check out AME.  (I wasn’t paid anything for the guest post or giving this endorsement, by the way.  Penny Sansevieri and Paula and fellow marketers are friends with Jeniffer Thompson and my website people.  They all do a good job helping out self-pubbers everywhere.)

#102:  By the way, in the post indicated above, I made a plea to Joe Konrath and Barry Eisler to console me about my eBook doubts.  Now that I’ve taken Joe’s blog off my recommended websites (see my previous post “Antisocial Networking” for the reason), I don’t expect Joe to do that.  I also don’t expect Barry to do it either—he was busy recently as a keynote speaker at a conference (from “News and Notices #14,” you also know my opinions about those), so he just doesn’t have time.  I guess I’ll just have to keep worrying about how to reach all the non-eBook readers and those I can’t reach via the internet.  No one claims this stuff is easy!

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#97:  I received a very nice review of Survivors of the Chaos from Kellie Sheridan of Sift Book Reviews (www.siftreviews.com), which posts honest reviews of science fiction and fantasy books.  Thank you, Kellie.  Just a reminder:  This book is available in trade paperback and all eBook formats.  You’ll want to read it before the sequel, Sing a Samba Galactica, comes out—a teaser for this sequel is included in Survivors of the Chaos.

#98:  As a follow-up to my blog post “Antisocial Networking,” I have finished my experiment with Google Adwords.  My conclusion:  Google’s program doesn’t work, at least for this author as a method for selling books (for me, one of the many ways to reach readers).  While I saw a temporary increase in the number of visitors to my website, over time, the number of readers of my blog held study and there was never a marked increase in book purchases.  I wonder if any other authors have (1) tried Adwords, and (2) had an equally bad experience.  Comment if you have.

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#88:  The January issue of eFiction is now available for download from Amazon…or you can read the individual stories throughout the month on their website.  An up and coming eZine for short story writers and readers!  Congrats to Doug and his editorial staff for selecting another set of good short stories….

#89:  A new issue of Mini-Reviews will follow this one of News and Notices:  Baldacci, Land, Eisler, and Castle—all thriller or mystery writers, but….

#90:  Look for my review tomorrow of William Brown’s Amongst My Enemies…a good read with historical nuances and moral ambiguity….

#91:  I’m putting the finishing touches on Sing a Samba Galactica (sequel to Survivors of the Chaos) and Angels Need Not Apply (sequel to The Midas Bomb).  Coming real soon!  I’m also outlining a new YA novel (NOT a sequel to The Secret Lab, still at $0.99)—this will take longer.

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#82:  On Wednesday, I tried to comment on one of Joe’s posts at Joe Konrath’s website.  Previously, I was allowed to list the URL for my own website or use my Facebook fan page.  Now you have to sign on to Google+ (I don’t use Google+ or much of anything of theirs anymore beyond their search engine and Chrome—they’re becoming a monopoly).  Conclusion: either Google is being undemocratic and tyrannical, or Joe Konrath has succumbed to the pressures of rampant capitalism.  My first suspect is Google since I use Chrome and they obviously know I do.  If this keeps up, they can also take their web browser and shove it where the sun don’t shine.  If Joe is the guilty party, then shame on him and I’ll ask everyone to boycott his website.  In any case, pox on the house of the guilty one—I intend to find out who it is and launch an attack!

It won’t be the first time.  When the CEO of GoDaddy published video of his elephant hunt and subsequent butcher job on the carcass, I cancelled my GoDaddy account.  It cost me money too, but that’s the way I am.  I’ve noticed that during the last two days (Tuesday and Wednesday) GoDaddy has run a full-page ad in the NY Times.  Could it be that their business is hurting?  I sure hope so.

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