The Brooklyn Scribbler

Kickstarting my Kickstarter project

2012-01-24T12:11:00.001-05:00

With just 11 days to go, my crowdfunding project on Kickstarter for the professional editing and cover art of my fall release, The Rule of Love, needs a swift kick in the you-know-what. Fiction project have a notoriously hard time generating funding on Kickstarter, but I'm trying to break the trend. Can you help? If you can't, please consider forwarding this link to a friend or someone who you think might be interested. You'll have my eternal gratitude. If that's not enough, how about one of the lovely prizes I'm giving away to backers? Thanks for checking out the project.

FREE isn't what it used to be

2012-01-19T14:43:00.001-05:00

Found this out as I'm offering Sultana for free in January, through Smashwords' distributors, and two days ago on Amazon US only (not through KDP Select, but the old-fashioned way). Hard to believe but next month marks one year that the book has been available. The feedback from readers has been positive and heart-warming, especially when I consider my earlier struggles to find representation and then get a publisher to take on the story. In case you're wondering why I would cannibalize sales of the one book among my four that's a consistent money-maker, there's the sequel Sultana's Legacy, which could use a boost in sales and ranking. If you want to find out what makes thirteenth-century Spain so fascinating, pick up your free copy of the book here, here and here by January 31.

What makes offering an e-book for free different this time around? Did I mention KDP Select? Everyone's book is free every other day now, or at least it seems that way. For authors trying to build any momentum, there's a crowded room effect - harder to get your free book noticed when everyone else's own is competing by the same terms. By comparison, the freebie of On Falcon's Wings generated over 10,000 downloads last June on the first day, whereas the latest one managed 4,000 downloads in the same time period. The glut of free has definitely changed things, which tells me marketing had better become more innovative to attract interest. Secondly, this time around I have a sequel to offer, which picks up fifteen years after the events in the freebie end. I'm hoping readers will like the first book enough to buy the second one. So far? Five sales of the sequel the day after the freebie appeared. So, as for whether the free offering will have an impact on sales of the sequel, it's too early to tell after two days. I've done all I can to generate interest with complex characters and a layered plot. The rest is up to readers.

ABNA starts January 23: is your pitch ready?

2012-01-16T17:55:00.002-05:00

The 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award will open to entries next Monday (January 23). I spent part of my day preparing the submission of Sultana's Legacy, after weighing whether or not I should participate. Last year, the prequel Sultana made it to the quarterfinals and remains my best-selling title. Since the contest remains open to entries that have already been self-published (provided the author owns all the rights) I'm hoping to give this latest novel some much need exposure. Up to 5,000 entries each in the General Fiction or YA categories will be accepted.

Contest information is here, but I'll sum up. Between January 23 and February 5, all entrants must submit:

A completed manuscript in either of the categories, between 50,000 and 150,000 words.
Three to five thousand words in an excerpt.
A pitch that must not exceed 300 words.

All submissions must be submitted as a Word .doc, .docx, .rtf or .txt file. Only original works of fiction authored by one person in the English language will be considered. No clues to the author's identity can be included, such as a real or pen name. Be sure to remove your name from the headers, the copyright page, author's note, references to additional or related works, etc.

Based on the strength of the pitch, entrants will move on to the second round. Here's my first draft of the pitch for Sultana's Legacy - thoughts?

SULTANA’S LEGACY, acompleted novel at 118630 words, is an epic historical set in thirteenthcentury Moorish Spain. The novel’s themes of loyalty and faith, and empowermentand sacrifice explore the fragile ties that bind and fray between families. Theprotagonists Fatima, the daughter of aSultan, and her beloved husband Faraj offer differing perspectiveson fast-changing events. The novel provides an adventurous escape into thepast, with rich details about the period’s most unpredictable and dangerous historicalfigures.

Thematriarch of her family, Fatima’s love for her husband and children rivals anoverwhelming devotion to her cherished father. When his death occurs unexpectedly, the kingdom faces ableak future. Fatima’s brother, a corrupt maniac, seizes the throne. Crueltyabounds, as former rivals and trustedretainers alike fall victim to his machinations, including almost everyone whomFatima once held dear. A choice awaits her: acceptance or defiance.

Inthe ensuing rivalry for the throne, Fatima risks her personal safety and even her marriage. The years of love andtrust she has enjoyed with Faraj erode, as treachery and intrigues divide thecouple. A thin line between justice and revenge blurs. As Fatima’s noble quest devolvesinto bitter violence, the cost of victory may prove higher than she anticipated.Even in her triumph, the root of a final heartbreaking betrayal takes hold, onethat may destroy the legacy of the Sultans of Granada forever.

Historical fictionaudiences will find the Moorish period in SULTANA’S LEGACY fascinating andunusual. Complex characters run the gamutof genuine good to uncompromising evil. In particular, the heroineFatima is multifaceted. Her greatest strength, her devotion to family, isalso her fatal flaw. Her struggle against overwhelmingodds and cunning adversaries will appeal to those who admire strong female personalities.

I'm wishing everyone who decides to enter the best of luck, especially my #ABNA tweeps on Twitter!

How much of you is reflected in your characters?

2012-01-13T13:42:00.002-05:00

Do you ever find your personal struggles mirroring those of your characters? This is a first for me as I prepare my next title, The Burning Candle, for a spring debut. I'm one chapter / long weekend away from finishing the story of Isabel de Vermandois, who was the wife of two powerful Anglo-Norman earls in the twelfth century, Robert de Beaumont and William de Warenne. As I've written her, Isabel is a young woman struggling to find her voice and a sense of her true self against society’s expectations, against the backdrop of King Henry I's scandal-ridden court in England. She's also lucky enough in her journey of self-discovery to find love on her own terms. Writing this book has become cathartic for me in an unexpected way, where many of the frustrations the character experiences seemed very familiar. Still, Isabel and I couldn't be any more different, beyond the almost nine centuries that separate us.

Adultery and bastards in
medieval times? Shocking!

First off, her lineage included generations of French kings. She married as her parents dictated to a hero of the Norman Conquest, a man several decades older that her. Robert de Beaumont might have been 16 or 18 when he fought at Hastings in 1066. He and Isabel married by 1096, when she was between the ages of 11 and 15. She later gave birth to least three sons and five daughters. At some point, she might have had her fill of all that dutifulness to her "old man", because she had an affair with a younger William de Warenne that might have produced a daughter named Ada or Gundred. A year after Robert died, Isabel sealed the deal for real with William and had more children. The sons of Robert and William became good friends, except for the Anarchy period when Henry's daughter Matilda and nephew Stephen fought for the crown. Isabel had died by then, but I'm sure she would have proud to know both sets of her kids put aside their fathers' individual resentment and jealousy, the affair and bastard children issues, and focused on what was really important - carving up as much of England for themselves as they could.

Just as an aside, I wouldn't really mind the living in a castle bit. While I do adore kids, there is nothing on God's green earth that could make me push out THIRTEEN of them like Isabel did. So, all the other stuff in her life, I could do without.

Why does Isabel's perceived struggle appeal so much? In medieval times, there were great consequences for flouting conventions or disobedience, things like disinheritance and excommunication. Even if Isabel did as her parents and society dictated when she married Robert, she obviously chose a life beyond those expectations when she embarked on an affair with William. It's the only example I have of a moment in her life where she did as she pleased, without caring about the consequences. Where did she find the strength or was it always inside her? Read The Burning Candle for my take.

I can understand some of the sentiment behind Isabel's choice, having known moments where I want to abandon concerns about family and my job and just do only what I want to do, whether that's writing or absolutely nothing at all. Interestingly, the more I've written about Isabel finding her voice, discovering love instead of duty and defining herself as a woman, the more I'm focused on my priorities. In writing about this one person's possible struggles, seems like I'm finding ways of dealing with my own.

Truths about publishing

2012-01-01T13:54:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! The arrival of 2012 has me thinking about the writer's journey and what I've learned. Several years back, writing was little more than a hobby for me. It is amazing how a critique group and the feedback of other authors changed my perspective. I have gained from the experience of turning a mild interest into a goal for publication, but knowing the following truths beforehand would have aided my journey:

Nothing guarantees traditional publication. As much as your agent may champion the writing, there are other reasons the manuscript has not sold, factors beyond his or her control. There is always the possibility that the work, while good enough to attract an agent’s attention, is not up to a publisher standard. An editor may be interested in a manuscript, but is the chosen genre already overly saturated genre or focused on an old, tired topic? The publishing house might have already chosen the six vampire-related books for release in a particular year. Perhaps the market is too small and the book is not commercially viable – as much as the editor may like the project, a publisher will not invest in a manuscript that does not scream limitless potential. The only factor within the author’s control is to write the best book possible.

There are many paths to publication. A Chinese proverb states, “There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the view is always the same.” Whether starting out with a submission to an agent or editor in the hopes of landing a traditional contract, or taking the steps in self-publishing, the aim is to find others who see value in the final manuscript. Along each path, there are the proverbial forks in the road, each requiring a choice. Those decisions often hinge on the idea of control – how much must be maintained or surrendered in the accomplishment of the aim. Whatever the path toward publication, the goal remains the same: to gain readers.

“Build it and they will come” does not apply to readers and reviews. Even if a book is well written and promoted by various marketing efforts, it may not capture a large audience. Readers do not have limitless money or time. While the author’s objective is to convince readers that the book is entertaining, inspirational or perhaps even life changing, the intended audience may still be asking, “What’s in it for me?” For those books that do well, getting the word out is critical. Reviews are an integral part of promotion, but writers often wonder why it is so difficult to obtain them. The reader needs a reason to review – perhaps the writing touched an emotional cord, or gave instructions that are not otherwise obtainable. Gaining an audience and getting their vital opinions all starts with the book.

Trends fade, but readers’ desires remain the same. Why do we read? Of all the things we could each be doing with our valuable time, what satisfaction does reading a good book provide? Whether it involves getting lost in an alien or unfathomable world or finding spiritual strength through another’s journey, reading fills some void inside each of us, by expanding our knowledge and awareness, or entertaining us. To increase our visibility, it may seem that authors have to focus on certain markets. Yet, all writing should start with passion and interest. If we do feel any enthusiasm for the topic in the first place, how can we convince readers to invest their time? When we write, we invite readers into our experiences and imaginations. Let them know the time spent was worthwhile.

Writers' Conferences in 2012

2011-12-27T16:14:00.004-05:00

Looking to network with fellow writers, agents and editors next year? I can't say enough good things about writers' conferences for building those all-important connections. So far, I've managed to attend meetings of the Historical Novel Society and Writers' Digest, both well worth the costs because of the diverse topics each offered to writers. You can learn the basic elements of craft, how to sell manuscripts and market your published works, insight into character sketches and research, or pitch to your dream agent or editor. Conferences are one of the best opportunities to aid personal growth and reach your publication goals. If you're worried about financing a future trip, I hope this listing of the following conferences in 2012 will give you ample time to save up - you'll want to attend at least one these venues next year.

January 2012

2012 Writers' Digest Conference: January 20-22, Sheraton New York Hotel. $525 for general three day registration, $375 for Saturday attendance only or $275 for student registration with student ID and proof of enrollment. Note that this does not include room reservation. Highlights: Author Barry Eisler & agent Chuck Sambuchino.

13th Annual Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Conference: January 28-29, Grand Hyatt, NYC. Early registration rate of $360 for members, $450 for non-members.

February 2012

2012 San Francisco Writers Conference: February 16-20, Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel, California. $595 general registration (ends December 31, 2011), $695 thereafter, $645 includes Speed Dating with Agents session. Room rate $179 per night. Highlights: Author Lisa See.

March 2012

Sleuthfest 2012: March 1-4, Royal Plaza Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, Florida. Sponsored by the local Mystery Writers of America chapter. $255 for MWA members, $275 for non-members by January 15 to avoid a late fee. Room rate $119 per night. Highlights: Author Charlaine Harris.

April 2012

Romantic Times Booklovers Convention: April 11-15, Hyatt Regency O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, Illinois. Varying rates for writers and industry insiders. Room rate $130 per night.

May 2012

DFW Writers' Conference: May 19-20, Hurst Conference Center, Dallas-Forth Worth, North Texas. Regular registration $295 until March 19, late registration $325 until April 19; thereafter $350 until May 19. Highlights: Author James Rollins.

Backspace Writers Conference: May 24-26, Radisson Martinique, NYC. $425 conference registration through February 1; $525 thereafter OR $595 conference registration includes author-agent day through February 1; $720 thereafter. Call for room rate. Highlights: Agent Donald Maass

June 2012

32nd Annual Romance Writers of America Conference: July 25-28, Anaheim Marriott, California. Registration opens January 16. Varying rates based on member, non-member and early or late registration status. Highlights: Authors Stephanie Laurens and Robyn Carr.

July 2012

7th Annual ThrillerFest: July 11-14, Grand Hyatt, NYC. Varying registration packages. Call for room rates. Highlights: Authors Jack Higgins, R.L. Stine, Lee Child and Catherine Coulter (whom I always thought of as a romantic novelist - learn something new everyday!).

August 2012

Killer Nashville: August 24-26, Hutton Hotel, Tennessee. Varied registration rates, including student and senior citizen discounts. Highlights: Authors C.J. Box and Peter Straub.

September 2012

8th Annual UK Historical Novel Society Conference: September 29-30, The University of Westminster on Regent Street, Central London, United Kingdom. Registration details forthcoming.

October 2012

Surrey International Writers Conference 2012: October 19-21, Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel, British Columbia, Canada. Receive updates on registration rates. Check room rates online.

November 2012

American Christian Writers Conference: November 2-3, Phoenix, Arizona. Registration details forthcoming.

December 2012

Check back for updates.

If you decide to attend any of the conferences, safe travels, and enjoy the experience! I'm sure you'll find it worthwhile.

Meet your creative needs with crowdfunding

2011-12-21T16:44:00.002-05:00

Yeah, I never heard of crowdfunding either until a friend on Twitter got tired of my bellyaching about the costs of cover art, editing, etc. for a self publisher. Good friend that she is, she sent me this article. Essentially, crowdfunding in its various forms allows you to get your creative project off the ground through much-needed donations or assistance. It's more than just begging virtual strangers, friends and family, or anyone in your social circles to help you. Your backers expect something in return for their generosity.

I had two months of reservations about crowdfunding to work out, before I launched my first project with Kickstarter, which focuses on creative projects needing a source of capital. For now, it's only available in the US, but there are similar international sites like Pozible (Australia) and FundIt (Ireland). To date, the site has connected artists, filmmakers, fashion designers, musicians and writers with backers who have pledged varying amounts; the minimum pledge is $1. The setup costs you nothing, unless your project is fully funded. Some exceed their goal with the creators receiving all funds, minus a fee of up to 5%. Over 10,000 Kickstarter projects have been successfully funded; that's approximately 44% of the total submitted. With the average successful submission raising up to $5,000 (much of it donated by strangers), the rate seems reasonable. This isn't a quick or easy opportunity to abuse the kindness of others; not only do you have to provided incentives to donate and fulfill those requirements, you're expected to fulfill the project or cancel your funding request if you don't think you can complete the work.

But before you rush to sign up, consider the guidelines. Also, think about what you have to offer as a reward. Can you provide greater incentives for those who donate a little more? When can you offer those rewards? It's important to consider how you can thank those who help, including the associated costs, like shipping, for delivering rewards to them. Lastly, what's your timeline to achieve your funding goal? Kickstarter allows creators up to 60 days in advance. If a project is successfully funded, the money is transferred to your account via Amazon Payments, using the same settings you may already have in place as an Amazon buyer or self-published author through Kindle Direct Publishing.

Here's the way in which Kickstarter works:

Sign up for an account at the Kickstarter website. You can also login with Facebook, but at some point you'll need to provide a password.
Follow the steps under Start A Project to submit your proposal to the Kickstarter staff. It may take upwards of a day to receive a response. Your proposal includes;

The category and name of your project; for a writer, the genre and title of your book.
A range for your funding goal.
A project description; writers, try a two-line summary of your work with a sample of the first two or three lines.
Reward levels, if any. There should be at least one.

Once your proposal is accepted, you can flesh out the ideas. Set realistic goals on your funding amount, the timeline and rewards deadlines. None of this can be altered once your project is launched.
Make a video that explains your project - this is required. Since I hate this slightly nasal twang in my voice, I decided to do a book trailer pertaining to the project. If you look at the site, you'll see a variety of creative ways in which others are making videos.
Lastly, set up an Amazon Payments account, which will allow you to collect funds if you meet your goal.

Once your project goes live, you can update backers on the status as your project. You must achieve the goal of your funding in full to receive the money - all or nothing. If you set a goal of $1,000 but only receive $990, you get nothing. Seems tough, doesn't it? Not when you consider the role social media has in our lives, or the shared interactions you have with others. If you're a writer with an interesting concept or story to tell, the same way word of mouth works to sell books, applies to crowdfunding. Also, if you're just that close to reaching your goal, perhaps a friend or family member would be willing to help you achieve it - you never know until you ask. In case you're wondering, don't try to get over by providing that last $10 yourself - Amazon has ways of tracking that kind of activity.

My Kickstarter funding goal is to raise $1,200 for editing fees and costs of my cover for The Rule of Love, a historical set in fifth century India, by February 4. It's due out Fall 2012. Wish me good luck with my crowdfunding project.

How to sell books from your author website with PayPal

2011-12-10T10:23:00.000-05:00

A website is one of several ways you can increase visibility online for you and your work. Before I ever blogged, tweeted or established a Facebook page, my website had been up and running for at least 3 years. That the initial design was ~~crappy~~ minimal is besides the point.

If you don't already have a website, get one. Now. Find an affordable web designer or, if you have some tech savvy, build your own. Even unpublished writers should have a website. By the time you've finished your manuscript and have it out on submission, agents and editors will be searching for you on the internet. A perfect manuscript and query letter aren't enough - the decision-makers in the industry are also looking at your online presence. Some want to know whether you can market or promote your own work. Do you really want to be building a site in the midst of edits and rewrites?

Are you self-publishing your work? Your personal website is essential to helping people find YOUR book among the millions of available titles. Invest enough time in your site and it becomes one of your best marketing tools. After all, potential readers can't buy your books if they don't know about them. Once your book is available, feature it on your website. Encourage sales by adding links to where the book can be bought; offline and online locations.

You can also grow your readership and maximize potential profits by selling from your own website. If you've featured buy links for your book, why shouldn't one of those include an opportunity for you to sell your work directly? When I've spoken about this to other writers, three responses typically occur. "Wow, that seems so hard." or "Oh, I don't know to do that." I'll talk about the third one later. Let me show you how to address the first two.

What you need

Inventory on hand ready to be delivered to readers as soon as they order, whether it's hardcover / paperback copies or ebooks. Nothing says 'amateur' or ticks off potential readers more than being told, "This book is not available for purchase at this time."
Some reviews or testimonials that inform your potential readers about the book(s) and the benefits to them for buying your product direct.
The ability to process orders online in real-time. Unless you already run a secure business site that processes online transactions, you'll need to establish a merchant account.
Software that can process credit card orders, safely.
If you're selling more than one book, you'll need to develop a virtual "shopping cart" experience to allow for multiple orders.
Immediate notification of payments processed with orders that must be fulfilled.
An order fulfillment or completion process. Learn the shipping rates of your hardcovers / paperbacks to various locations and build that cost into your pricing structure.
A feedback form or visible email address that lets readers communicate with you.

What your readers want

A secure shopping experience. They want to know that their credit card will be encrypted in each transaction and their address information will be safeguarded.
Instant or fast delivery of their orders
Ability to communicate with you, to provide feedback or let you know if there is problem with fulfillment.

If you've read all that and think it's daunting or not worth your time, PayPal allows you to do all these processes and met reader expectations. There are other sites where you can do the same activity, including eBay. Since I have no experience with it, but tons with PayPal, that's my focus.

Steps for selling via PayPal

Establish a PayPal personal and / or business account at https://www.paypal.com/. Notice the URL; the typical http followed by 's' which indicates that this is a site to allow credit card authorizations and secure transactions. Something that will give you and your readers peace of mind. I recommend both types of accounts. The personal account allows me to pay my cover artists and editors, while a business account lets me transact sales of books online.
At minimum, PayPal will need your real name, physical address, email address and a funding source for your accounts, be it a bank account or credit card. The latter allows you to process payments through your personal account and have a link to where you can transfer monies received from your business account.
Be prepared for low fees dependent on the number of transactions you're filling each month on the business account. A business account will also be helpful for tracking what you've earned when the tax man cometh. Yes, you should report sales through your website as income earned.
Once you have completed the setup, take advantage of PayPal's tools for merchants, including shipping and tax calculators, accepting multiple currencies, tracking inventory and my favorite, buy buttons for your website.

Configuring PayPal buy buttons for single orders or virtual shopping carts for multiple transactions takes some forethought. How do you want to sell the book(s)? Are they available in varying formats? If you have more than one book, do you want potential readers to buy one book in one transaction, or offer them the ability for multiple selections in one transaction? The Merchant Services section can help you determine the best approach. Here's how I did it.

Since I have more than one book in multiple formats, I chose to setup a virtual shopping cart with two buttons, one for ordering paperbacks and another for ebooks. Setting up the virtual shopping cart was simple:

I set multiple prices on each type of book and added comment fields for readers that enable fulfillment; e.g. for someone who wants an autographed paperback, I need to know who I'll be dedicating the book to or in the case of ebooks, the specific format my readers want. After saving each button, an HTML code was generated, which I copied to my website:

The virtual shopping is the best experience for your potential readers, allowing them to place orders for multiple products, with totals automatically calculated. Each time an item is added, the shopping cart is updated, all in one transaction. Here's an example of how it might look to readers. Notice the exact quantities and pertinent fulfillment information is visible, and will be transmitted to the author when a transaction is completed.

Even better, if your readers don't have PayPal accounts, they can still complete the transaction. There's nothing to stop them from purchasing off your site. Except...

"Readers won't buy sites they're not familiar with!"

Sad but true. The average person would rather go to Amazon or any other online retailer they're familiar with than buy from an author website. However, this shouldn't stop an author from making the option available. For instance, I recently purchased Dara Marks' Inside Story: The Power of the Transformational Arc on the recommendation of a friend. So far, it's an excellent read. I tried to buy the book direct from the author website, where it was cheaper AND shipped faster than from the Amazon affiliate site where it's offered. A problem with the author website wouldn't allow me to submit the transaction. So, guess which giant online retailer (or its affiliate) got my money that day? Money that could have gone directly to the author.

As authors establish trust with their readers through good storytelling and a well-crafted online presence, the perception about buying direct from an author website will likely change. No reason you should be caught flat-footed when it does.

Would You Give Amazon Exclusivity Over Your EBooks?

2011-12-08T10:45:00.001-05:00

That's the proposition Amazon is offering thousands of self-published authors who distribute ebooks via its Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) arm. Details regarding KDP Select can be found here. I found out out about the offer as I logged into KDP this morning to, um, you know, eh, check out the KDP Community and what's happening with them! Yeah, that's the ticket.

Basic terms of KDP Select: if you're a self-published Kindle author or publisher, for a period of at least 90 days, you ~~vow to sell your soul to the Devil~~ can enroll as many ebook titles as you choose. To participate, you just have to promise that your ebook(s) will not be sold online anywhere during the term. Not online through Smashwords or its distribution partners, Kobo, Deisel, Apple, Barnes & Noble or Sony. Not Xin Xii, OmniLit or Pubit (owned by B&N). Not even through your website or blog. Your paperbacks are unaffected. During the proscribed period, you have the option of making the book free for up to five days. Your enrolled titles are also made available for borrowing through Amazon's Kindle Lending Library, which is also available EXCLUSIVELY to Amazon's Prime members (of which I am a card-carrying member - I buy enough from Amazon to justify the $79 fee). You can learn how many people borrowed the books, something which isn't available to authors automatically enrolled in Kindle lending based on their enrollment in the 70% royalty scheme. Non-Prime customers can still buy your ebooks and you earn the same royalties. There's also some slightly muddied language about additional royalties, but I don't feel like sorting out legalease this morning.

Before unrolling this offer to all, Amazon previously invited certain high profile indies to try KDP Select for six months. Several of them said no and I would have too. Six months AND I have to rely on Amazon for revenue exclusively? Oh, and Prime members get to borrow, not buy the book? As the one book per month that they can borrow through the Kindle Library? So they have the choice of Stephen King's Dome for $19.99 or mine for $2.99, and will somehow choose the cheaper one as the freebie? As Whitney once said:

HELL TO THE NO!

Except - you knew this was coming - if you're like me, a self-published author whose revenue is generated mainly from Amazon and more directly, through sales on Kindle. If you are, then certain parts of this deal start to look attractive. For instance, if you have a title that you already have made available only through Amazon, you don't have the hassle of making the title unavailable anywhere else. If your revenue as a self-published author comes mainly or only through KDP, what have you got to lose?

Before you think I'm suckling at the teat of Amazon or afraid of biting the hand that feeds me every month, allow me to assure you: Amazon fucks up sometimes. Like this bonehead move announced on December 6 right here: Amazon Will Pay Shoppers $5 to Walk Out of Stores Empty-Handed. Really, Amazon? How about that $2 surcharge on delivery of Kindle in certain geographic areas, which was mentioned in a recent post? Whether or not Kindle authors choose to participate in this power play (and believe me, they're discussing the pros and cons at Kindleboards), this is another blatant attempt to create a monopoly over ebooks and tether authors to the existing system, even if it's for a mere 90 days.

So why has Amazon made this move now? Will it increase their bottom line by enlarging the offerings that make Prime membership so good? Does creating goodwill with self-published authors by inviting them to the grownups' table make Amazon the go-to guy for future authors? The reasons are less important than the fact that Amazon can do these things. Do you see any of its competitors thinking in similar terms? Part of why Amazon can make this offer as attractive to self-published authors is because ITS RIVALS DON'T DO DIDDLY SQUAT TO COMPETE. Forgive the shouting, but all of those sites, like Smashwords, like Pubit, that also offer the opportunity to self-publish do next to NOTHING to promote their authors or self-published works. If Amazon recognizes yet another area they can exploit and make some Kindle authors happy in the process, more power to them. Perhaps this move may shake up the competition. Lord knows they need it.

EDIT: Since folks on Twitter and Kindleboards are asking, I'm enrolling the omnibus edition of the Sultana books, raising the price to $6.49 and doing a freebie December 24-29. I'll post about the results of my experiment with KDP Select in the spring KDP answered my inquiry about enrolling books in a series, I won't be testing Select.

What do you think of this latest move by Amazon? If you're an author publishing through KDP, will you consider enrolling in KDP Select?

UPDATE: Fall & Winter Writing Competitions

2011-12-07T16:30:00.000-05:00

Here's an updated list of writing contests with fast approaching deadlines in 2011 or early next year 2012:

2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards - Entry period January 23 - February 5, 2012. Best benefits of ABNA? Free entry AND making lots of new friends! Prizes include $15,000 to the top winners in two categories.

Benjamin Franklin Awards - Second call deadline is December 31, 2011, for books published September 1 - December 31, 2011. Prizes include trophies, and gold and silver award certificates. Entry fees; $90 per title for Independent Book Publishers Association members or $190 if you're not in the IBPA, which will give you a one-year membership.

ErmaBombeck Writing Competition sponsored by Washington-Centerville PublicLibrary and established in 1997 to pay tribute to hometown writer Erma Bombeck,one of the greatest humorists of the 20^th Century. The contest, nowheld every two years, opens for online entries ($15 entry fee) at 8 am (EST)Tuesday, January 3, 2012, and closes at 7:30 am (EST) Tuesday, February 14,2012. Entries should be 450 words or fewer and cannot be published more than oncein the calendar year 2011 (blog posts are allowed).

A $500 cash prize and Registration Fee (value $350) to the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop atUniversity of Dayton from April 18 through the 20^th will be awardedto four writers: Humor category (local entry and a global entry) and the HumanInterest category (local entry and a global entry). Panel of judges includeauthors, syndicated columnists, and experienced writers and some entries willreceive feedback. Winners will be announced in mid-March. No more than oneentry per writer. For complete contest details, visit http://www.wclibrary.info/erma/index.asp.

Foreword Reviews - Deadline January 15, 2012. Varied categories with a grand prize of $1,500 for the best Fiction and Non-fiction books. Entries are $99.

International Book Awards - Deadline December 31, 2012 for $20 off entry fee (regularly $69); final entry date of April 30, 2012. Over 150 categories. Affiliated with USA "Best Books 2012" Awards; includes full listing on USABookNews.com's webpage for six months.

IPPY AWARDS - Deadline March 15, 2012. Prizes include medals. Tiered entries; $85 per title October 16, 2011 - January 7, 2012; $95 per title January 8 2012 - March 15, 2012. So, the earlier, the better. Includes ebook awards. See entry form for eligibility details.

Next Generation Indie Book Awards - Deadline February 24, 2012. Grand prize of $1,500 for the best Fiction and Non-fiction books. Initial entry fee is $75, additional fee of $50 for other categories. Seriously debating this one, as I know some previous winners who've spoken well of the contest.

2012 San Francisco Writers Indie Publishing Contest - Deadline January 4, 2012. Grand prizes include an hour-long consultation with a literary agent OR free publishing package from Author Solutions. Stated aim to compete with the ABNA, which offers free entry, doesn't quite match the $35 entry fee for this contest. Click here for the form.

USA "Best Books 2012" Awards - Deadline December 31, 2012 for USABookNews.com coverage leading up to final entry date of September 30, 2012. A $69 entry fee and multiple categories including several specific to e-books.

For more on why you might want to consider entering a writing contest, author Jody Hedlund wrote a great article earlier this year on the benefits of such activities for published and unpublished writers. If you decide to enter any of these contests, good luck!

It's ABNA time again. Maybe.

2011-12-06T15:04:00.001-05:00

Today's announcement of the fifth annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards has got me wondering whether I'll enter the contest again in 2012. If I do, Sultana's Legacy will be my submission. Since it just debuted this past October, the entry qualifies under the rules that allow self-published novels into the contest. Submissions are open January 23 to February 5; sorry, English-language only.

What are the merits of this contest? It's one of few where you can participate without an entry fee. On a modest writer's budget, free becomes very appealing. There are TWO grand prizes in each of the categories, general fiction AND young adult fiction. In addition, you'll meet some great people in the forums and discussion pages, many of whom have done this contest several years running. All that camaraderie bolsters you as the judges start winnowing the entries from 10,000 manuscripts to 5,000 until the final two are chosen for the grand prize sometime in June. Writers are amazingly supportive of each other, even when we are effectively competing. Penguin co-sponsors the contest, and did I mention those grand prizes include a publishing contract with a $15,000 advance? Also, a self-published entry can elicit some new eyes on your available work and generate those reviews we need.

So why am I less than super excited about this contest in just a few days?

I truly was eager for an announcement of it. Since Sultana's Legacy is so new, having it in the contest may boost its presence and spark some interest or sales. Or maybe not. If I make it as far as the quarterfinals like last year, Publishers Weekly will read and review the manuscript in full. Oh joy. If you want some of the great and gory details of my previous entry of Sultana, click here to understand why I'm not thrilled to bits at the prospect of PW dissecting my work again. Yet, there's one factor that looms above all other concerns - the contest's end game, that contract and advance - I don't know if I'm so interested in the hype surrounding that.

WTF? Is she being serious?

Yes, I'm actually serious. Don't get me wrong - the chance offered by the contest is great. I'm not making a killing at self-publishing, and the marketing aspect is making me nuts. Yet, I'm not wondering when or if I'll ever get good reviews, great fan mail or a nice royalty check. Honestly, I'm just not aiming for a publishing contract, nor do I hold out much hope I'll garner one. Something about not querying agents or thumbing up my nose at certain tactics in the industry may seal this as fact. Odd how the possibility no longer bothers me, when three years ago, it was all I wanted. Plus, I don't know if the masochistic control freak in me, who actually enjoys all the hard work that goes along with self-publishing, is ready for a publisher's timetable and their oversight of the financial aspects.

The only valid reason for my entry would be further exposure of my work. At no cost, that seems pretty good. I have two months until February 5 to decide.

Will you be entering ABNA 2012?

Growing Pains: A Writer's Journey

2011-12-04T18:58:00.001-05:00

I have been lucky to know some inherently gifted writers fromvarious online communities. Authors whose words effortlessly flow acrossthe page, evoking the strongest emotions within me; sometimes laughter ortears, but more often, jealousy. There,I said it. I am jealous of their natural aptitude. I read their work and think,"Why can't I write like that?" Talent like theirs just does not live inside me. It takes a lot of draftsand several revisions for me to tap into the inner workings of a story and itscharacters. More than I would want you to know about, trust me.

While on Skype yesterday with a dear writing friend, westarted talking about the subtleties of talent and craft. Specifically, we werediscussing why some writers of a certain caliber are reluctant toshare insider knowledge of the industry or secrets of the trade, as if theprospect of a newbie hungry for information is their worst nightmare brought tovivid reality. As she put it succinctly, any writer can learn the craft (provided you are dedicated to the task), but no one can steal talent. Drat! It’stime for master plan two, since master plan one to siphon off her gift for storytelling won'twork.

For those of us who are not born but rather shaped into writers,what does this mean for us? As if my lack of inherent skill isn't enough, my natural inclination toward impatience gets in my way. An eager desperation to learn everylesson I will ever need in order to be a better writer right now! To write thebest and cleanest prose on the first draft and sell one million copies atdebut. No, I’m not kidding – don’t pretend that you have the same dreams. I'm looking for one of those Easy buttons. Seriously, where’s the shortcut to becoming a genius at writing when you need one?

Today on Kindleboards, I offered some advice to a fellow writerwho seemed worried that his or her pace of publication could not match that ofother authors. I suggested, “Work at yourown pace.” So much of writing is about the pace – learning the delicate balanceof tension and conflict, pacing ourselves so we don’t rush to the resolution. Perhapsit’s time to take my own advice and set a realistic pace.

Just like babies, who do not learn to walk before they crawl, eachof us as writers have steps and stages we must take on our writers'journey. From basic competence and knowing the rules of the craft, we cangrow to learn much more. With eachnovel, we take on a new challenge and with luck and dedication, improve ourskills. The task may seem difficult and is fraught with pitfalls (some of ourown making), but isn’t our writing worth the experience? For my part, I hope thejourney never ends.

Kindle's Expansion In Euro Markets: Why You Should Care

2011-12-01T11:16:00.001-05:00

Guess who was doing the happy dance this morning, as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) unveiled amazon.es and amazon.it? This person! But, it's not for the reason you may expect - no, I don't enjoy obsessively tracking my sales in each market. Well, not as much.

The new Spanish and Italian sites for Amazon customers allow residents of those countries to buy the thing nearest and dearest to my little author heart: books on Kindle! Since Amazon went live with the German and French sites, there was speculation that Italy would be the next foreign market made accessible to publishers and self-published authors. For reasons which should be very obvious to anyone who knows me, I was rooting for Spain. For now, I earn 85% of my sales on paperbacks and ebooks through Amazon alone. In fact, 90% of my sales come from Kindle ebooks. To say I'm heavily invested in Amazon's every move concerning ebooks would be an understatement. So far, I've had less than ten sales in Germany and nothing in France. Why am I possibly more hopeful with the inclusion of these two new markets? Allow me to explain.

For one, penetration of English language books into any foreign market is great for authors and English-speaking residents of those countries. It introduces readers to books that may not have been translated into the language of their particular country. It gains more exposure for smaller publishers and self-published authors, like me, who might have been weighing the heavy costs of translation fees against a strong desire for access to European markets. In addition, Kindle sales in these new countries qualify for the 70% royalty on ebooks priced within the equivalent of 2.99 and 9.99 US dollars - before, the maximum royalty earned was 35%. Double the royalties and more English language books available? Sounds good to me.

Speaking of sales, did you know your Kindle book used to cost an additional $2 or more to readers in the aforementioned European countries? Money that you never saw? Thanks to David Gaughran, who first exposed that nasty little detail on his blog, it became clear why getting sales in certain European markets were that much tougher - why would anyone choose to pay such a high surcharge on an ebook? With each European expansion, Amazon has now removed this surcharge in that particular country. I'm all for making ebooks more affordable across the globe. So Sultana on Kindle, which retails for $3.99 is now available for the equivalent price of 3.22 Euros, without an additional fee imposed. Only two things might make European buyers even happier - learning if or when the new Kindle Fire will be launched in their respective countries, or having all the newly available Kindle books free for download.

Lastly, as a writer of historical fiction, which remains more popular in Europe than it does in the US, and the author of two books set in Spain, subtitled "A Novel of Moorish Spain", Amazon's entry into that particular market couldn't come soon enough for me. Now that it's here, I'm already looking at how I can enhance my author page on amazon.es. Also, I'm betting as the holiday sales of Kindles rise, the Italians may be saying 'Buon Natale' and the Spanish 'Feliz Navidad' with Kindle books. Let's hope some of that holiday cheer finds its way into the pockets of Kindle authors. What am I betting on next? Do I hear whispers of Amazon India?

Be sure to check out David Gaughran's blog today too; he has a much more in-depth analysis of what this new move from Amazon may mean for us all. If you're not following his blog, you should be!

Social Media Done Wrong

2011-11-27T14:12:00.000-05:00

As if writers needed anything more to occupy our time, the advent of social media has ensured that our days are filled with tweets, Facebook posts and pages. Article after article stresses the importance of good social interaction: we have to be on Google+, Twitter, Linked In AND Facebook, because the days of the invisible author are OVER! Social karma and etiquette demands that we tweet and re-tweet, follow and be interesting in every message.

Here's where I fess up: I'm a social media failure. I rarely use Twitter and post more on my personal Facebook page to catch up with family in Barbados or the UK, than I add anything to my author page. For all the advice which says authors should be actively using social media to promote our work, I give a half-hearted, grudging shrug. Sometimes I try the techniques suggested, but more often than not, it's a failure from the outset because I just don't believe it helps. I do nothing to promote Sultana through the usual social channels, yet it consistently sells well each month. Beyond the occasional monthly promotion on my website or mention of it on this blog, I don't talk about it. Yet people are finding the book, writing me, visiting my web pages and talking about the story in their reading groups. The social media pundits must forgive me for saying so, but the best promotion of an author's work is a good book. It isn't spamming each other every day with our latest reviews and "buy my book" pitches. Good social media usage is the same as conducting ourselves like normal people offline - would you ask someone to marry you one minute after the initial meeting? So, why DM people about buying your book as soon as they follow you on Twitter?

Stop spamming your friends! If they like your book, they'll buy it.

I don't doubt that social media can be an effective tool when it's used the right way. How's that? Start by letting people get to know YOU. When we look for the best advice, we turn to those whom we trust, our friends. Friendships aren't established overnight - they're earned through time and trust. For an author just starting out, it can feel as we have to rush into everything and use every means at our disposal to get our names out there as quickly as possible. Just as a good friendship takes time to grow, so to does good social interaction and karma take time to produce results. Unfortunately, some of us are going about this the wrong way and alienating the very people we're trying to reach. How many people have you unfollowed on Twitter or deleted as friends as Facebook, just because all they do is promote their work all day?

Go forth and be social! The right way.

Updated website and blog

2011-11-22T12:03:00.001-05:00

Have you ever seen a grown woman dissolve in a fit of total despair? You would have last week, when Tripod completely @#$%^&*"}?! my old site.

I'm a big girl, but watching years of hard work just disappear because someone at Tripod felt it was time for a site upgrade was NOT fun. Web stats? Gone. Ability to sell books directly from the site? Poof! Other custom HTML and hidden exclusives for readers of my book? No more. As for Tripod - gone too, at least my reliance on the company for web hosting. Never cancelled a contract so fast in my life.

If there's one thing I love about being a Scorpio, it's that wallowing in misery for too long is not an option. So, I spent part of what should have been a restful weekend setting up a new website. While those custom QR codes I had designed for readers of my book will now point to public pages that everyone can access, at least I salvaged most of the original elements. You can now find me on the web at www.lisajyarde.com. Please be sure to check out the new site and let me know what you think.

For a long time, I've wanted to link this blog to my website. Now that I've done that, it seemed time to update the look and feel too. This particular theme includes the Brooklyn Bridge, which fits perfectly given the blog's title - you got all that, right?

Necessity isn't the only mother of invention. Sometimes, disaster works just as well.

The Joy of Just Writing

2011-11-17T10:24:00.001-05:00

After a ten-day business trip to Canada, it's back to the daily grind for me, which usually involves a hellish commute. My bus route takes me past Zucotti Park in lovely downtown Manhattan, but this morning I didn't even look up to see what might be happening with the Occupy Wall Street protesters. I'll give you a good guess why, and it wouldn't be because I've grown tired of trying to understand what this movement hopes to accomplish. No, I was too busy writing scenes of my next, The Burning Candle.

Years ago, I used to wake up early in the morning and write for an hour before I went to work. My productivity level often soared after a decent night's sleep and the creative energies would just flow on to the page and later, computer screen. Lately? To hell with that! I need as much rest as I can get, especially since my sleeping habits border on insomnia. I've started spending more mornings on Twitter and email than doing the one thing I love best.

Crazy, right?

I can't blame my former malaise on a lack of energy or sleep. It's also has a lot to do with my foray into self-publishing. Four of my books are now available for sale since summer 2010. Expect two or three in 2012, dependent on whether I can get various pieces in place. In the past 17 months, I've spent so much more time than I ever expected on the books I have produced, with scant attention on the manuscript I'd like to finish. The concept of completing a manuscript just so I can sell the book makes me queasy; I swear, my stomach just tied in knots as I wrote that line. If there is one negative aspect of self-publishing , it's that it has changed how I view writing. What used to be a joy is now a chore; one more thing than has to be done in an otherwise busy day. I can't wait to type "The End" so I can be done with the damned thing, yet I dread all that comes afterward. I don't like feeling that way. I want to get back to the place where I loved to write, just for the sake of telling a good story. I plan to get back to the joy of just writing, one morning at a time.

A letter to my 18-year old self

2011-11-02T07:25:00.002-04:00

Eighteenyears ago today when I turned eighteen, I was a firstsemester sophomore at SUNY Stony Brook, which apparentlymust now be referred to as the slightly more ~~pretentious~~ prestigiousStony Brook University. I got a great education there and had a blast with mybest buds. It was far enough from home for the experienceof living away, yet close enough so I could hopon the train and surprise my mom for her birthday / raid the fridgeand cupboards / beg for money. I had all the hopes of dreams any person wouldhave at eighteen, including plans to become a lawyer making thousands andthousands of dollars at a job that I would find incredibly interesting. Yeah.

Eighteenyears later, things haven't quite turned out the way I expected, in some good,bad and very interesting ways. If I could talk to my eighteen year-old self,I'd have a lot to say about acceptance of people and situations. This would besome of my sage advice:

Don't worry about becoming a lawyer or any of that career track you're on now. Inside of you, the heart of a writer beats with one desire: to share your love of storytelling with the world, one reader at a time. It's not going to be easy, but you don't take the easy route on anything.

Enjoy these college years to the fullest, because what's coming will require harder work, tougher commitments and bigger decisions than anything you've faced before.

Develop better eating habits now and exercise more. Otherwise, your family history of diabetes and hypertension is going to catch up with you.

Friendships change in ways you don't expect. People will come and go out of your life for different reasons. Accept them for who they are when they are there and wish them well when they are gone.

You’re never going to forget your first love. No matter what happens, he’ll leave his mark. Don’t make assumptions about other guys based on him. Learn to love again without fear.

Your parents aren't perfect. Forgive your father for his frailties and love him despite them, cause in a few years, he'll be gone and you'll only have your mom. She's going to depend on you a lot more, even though she taught you to be very independent. Remember the strength inside you comes from her.

Get to know your sister a lot better too. It may seem like a generational divide now, but she will become your most constant ally and supporter, if you let her. And, she's going to be the best mom in the world and you will be the proudest aunt.

Whatever's going wrong now will be meaningless in a few months and years. Laugh more.

And by the way, you're going to LOVE your thirties!

Sultana & Sultana's Legacy FREE

2011-11-01T13:00:00.000-04:00

Starting today, I'm offering TWO Goodreads giveaways that will run all month long, each for three paperback copies of Sultana and Sultana's Legacy. It's my way of celebrating the completion of the latest book in my series on Moorish Spain. Winners will be chosen by Goodreads at random and I'll provide each with a signed paperback copy of one of the books.

You can enter the drawing by clicking the links below. Good luck!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Sultana's Legacy

by Lisa J. Yarde

Giveaway ends November 30, 2011.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Sultana

by Lisa J. Yarde

Giveaway ends November 30, 2011.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Want to download the e-book copies of Sultana and Sultana's Legacy for FREE now? All you have to do is pay me with a Tweet. Yes, you read that correctly. Go to my website and click the Historical Fiction link, or copy and paste the following link into your browser, http://www.lisajyarde.com/p/historical-fiction.html. Choose from Sultana, Sultana's Legacy, or get them both. All you have to do is click on the Pay With a Tweet button next to your selection. The application connects to your Twitter account and asks you to send the Tweet to your followers. You can modify the text of the tweet, but you can't alter the link to my site. After you've Tweeted, you'll be redirected to Media Fire, where you can get the Kindle and / or Nook copies of the ebook of your choice.

Free Ebooks: Good for Authors and Readers?

2011-10-29T19:55:00.000-04:00

I always have a split opinion on the topic of free ebooks - opinions to match my personality, you ask? Maybe. This is one argument where I can't pick a side and stick to it. It's very easy to see the pros and cons of both sides, based on my own experience.

I experimented with giving away a book this summer. Recently, I received final numbers for On Falcon's Wings as a freebie. Below are the total number of downloads per site:

Amazon.com: 21,292

Barnes & Noble: 1,312

Kobo: 51

Smashwords: 317

Sony: 114

That's a grand total of 23,806 downloads all occurring June 6 - August 6. It would have been a shorter period, except a certain company among those listed above refused to set my price back to $2.99, so I had to yank my book from their site. In the meantime, Amazon kept the book free because it remained free on that one site.

In May 2011, I set the price of On Falcon's Wings at Smashwords to $0.00. I offered the ebook for free, initially in the hopes that it would generate one measly review on Smashwords. Still waiting. Tick-tock. Anyway, while that review never materialized, I was able to get Amazon to move pretty quickly on matching the free offer. Here's how I did it:

When you're attempting to get Amazon to match your free e-book pricing, you want to click or have your friends click the link above which informs Amazon of the freebie. I've heard from writers who saw no effect from doing this. I made it work in three tries. Each time I saw the book go free on the sites where Smashwords distributes, I alerted Amazon. Within two weeks, the ebook went free on Amazon.com. How did I know? Since I was obsessively checking my sales at Amazon KDP, I knew something was up when I woke up to more than 1,000 downloads on June 6.

How good can this move be for authors and their readers? From the author side, it gives us exposure to readers who might not take a chance on us even at $2.99 or lower. If you're an author of a series, making the first book free could sell subsequent novels. I believe David Dalgish credits some of his success to this. For readers on a tight budget, you can stock up on all the freebies you want, including best-selling authors published by the Big 6 (whose ebooks tend to as expensive as mass market paperbacks). Also, it lets you sample the dreaded unknown author without parting with hard-earned cash on what could potentially be a dud.

For me, therein lies the problem with freebies for authors and readers. Yes, you gain exposure, but you also attract readers who will download anything, including your grocery list, just because it's free. Is that the audience you want to attract, or is it readers who are genuinely interested in your book? Also, if your book is a standalone, or you have no other offering, making that book free won't help you generate revenue. Also, for readers who download everything that's free, how many of those ebooks have you actually read? In recent weeks on Kindleboards, one of the moderators mentioned she was going to read On Falcon's Wings as part of the general topic thread, but she couldn't remember why or how she got the ebook. Sigh. Thanks to sites like Pixel of Ink, I'm guilty of this myself. I have over 300 books on my Kindle now, half of which are from favorite authors whose work I downloaded because it was being offered for free. Am I going to get to those books any time soon? It's not likely, but I'll try. As for my promotional efforts with other books, I'm looking into new ways to generate ROI.

Today, I found a site linked at Self-Publishing Review that offers an interesting take on the freebie. Pay With A Tweet is a social payment system that rewards those who help you promote your work with a free download of that work. Provide your contact information, a link to your download and the tweet you want sent out. Information can also be posted to Facebook. It's a variation on free, but whether it offers a greater return remains to be seen. I'll let you know what I think in a followup post in a few weeks.

Have you experimented with offering an e-book for free? As a reader, do you gravitate to free ebooks?

Advance copies of Sultana's Legacy until Nov. 1

2011-10-20T11:40:00.000-04:00

Nowthrough November 1, 2011, order a paperback OR ebook copy of Sultana and receivea copy of Sultana's Legacy for FREE! How? Email me acopy of your receipt from a retailer like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, OR directfrom my website through Paypal, etc. as proof of purchase for Sultana. I'llsend you a copy of the sequel, Sultana's Legacy in your preferred format,paperback or ebook.

Does itmatter when I purchased Sultana?

NO, ASLONG AS IT WAS ON OR BEFORE NOV. 1, 2011.

Is thereceipt for my purchase of Sultana the only proof you will accept so I can geta free copy of Sultana's Legacy?

YES.

How manyfree copies can I receive per receipt submitted?

ONE.

Anyshipping restrictions?

FREEPAPERBACKS WILL BE SHIPPED TO A VALID ADDRESS IN THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, orUNITED KINGDOM. FREE EBOOKS WILL BE DELIVERED TO A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS.

Getting over it and getting published

2011-10-06T17:50:00.001-04:00

Remember when I was talking about fear of publishing the other day? Well, that's nothing compared to the fear of losing a loved one. Since last Thursday, my mom has been hospitalized. She's got it all thanks to diabetes, "the gift that keeps on giving." The worst was watching her on a ventilator in ICU for three days, though a close second was hearing that she had a blockage in her heart. By the grace of God and very attentive hospital staff, she is on her way to recovery and eventual discharge.

It's amazing what incidents like this will do to teach us that the little stuff we worry about, like that old fear of publishing, doesn't matter. It's the people whom we love. Everything else is just crap we worry about, but most of it's irrelevant. If I never publish anything again, I could care less. It will be very different when, not if, I lose my mom one day. She is my rock and solid support. She has been mother and father to me even when my dad was around. The eventuality that she will not be around makes me cherish the moments we have together, even when we argue. I get my best features from her, including my determination, spelled stubbornness. That's why this latest book is dedicated to two people; a great writing friend and my mom. I think both ladies will be surprised and delighted.

So tonight, I'm putting all my silly fears aside and hitting the button:

Fear of publishing is real

2011-09-28T15:08:00.003-04:00

You can conqueralmost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, feardoesn't exist anywhere except in the mind. -Dale Carnegie

I’msure a famous writer and lecturer such as Dale knows what he’s talking about,but I’m still having a hard time with a certain “fear of publishing”. I’velooked it up several times now on a list of phobias – I can’t find it. It mustexist. I have it! I have found agateophobia – fear ofinsanity; could be a related disorder. Also on the list: allodoxaphobia –fear of opinions, arithmophobia- fear of numbers and atychiphobia-fear of failure. That’s just the A’s, folks. This could go on forever. Yetnothing on the fear of hitting the Save and Publish button in Amazon KDP orSubmit for Review in CreateSpace.

Nowas to what’s holding me back: why fear? My mouse has hovered over Save and Publishtwice today. It’s visited the Amazon KDP Bookshelf several times this week, andnot just because I was checking sales. How else can I explain why I have abook that’s ready to go, post-beta reads and edits, yet I refuse to make itavailable? At first I rationalized it as, “The release date isn’t untilNovember. Takes Amazon and the other online retailers a few days to make thetitle available. Why can’t you just wait?” Yes, I have conversations like thatin my head. It helps that I know some psychologists.

Potentialsources of fear? No clue. I’m not afraid it isn’t a good story. My trusted betareaders have assured me it was worth their time. Nor do I worry about theopinions it will generate. I’ve stopped reading reviews for a bit now. Peoplewill either like or hate it but that won’t change the story. Strangelyenough, I have been telling anyone who would listen, “I’ve spent more years thanI wanted to on this book and its prequel. Time to let it go!” Somehow, I justcan’t seem to do that.

Justa note to the psychologists I’ve mentioned above: fear of publishing is real.You might want to assign a named phobia to it. At this rate, I’ll be checkinginto your office SOON. Actually, I know some folks with upcoming release dates,so I might be referring a few friends.

Beta readers are a writer's best buds

2011-09-13T14:28:00.000-04:00

Is it really September? Wasn't I just sweltering under 95+ summer heat? Not that I'm complaining - I don't want the heat back. The arrival of September just means I'm that much closer to my targeted release of Sultana's Legacy in November. Time to start panicking? Maybe, but not about the latest round of edits. Most of my beta readers have provided their feedback and it's been an incredible help.

I've never been a writer who can work and put out a book in complete isolation. I applaud those who can rely on their own innate writing talent and ruthless self-editing skill, but I'm too close to my work to see the faults in it.

So, what have I learned about beta reads?

-Choose honest and thorough people who can give you the feedback you need. Hopefully, your betas will point out every flaw before your READERS do. You know, the ones who plunk down their hard-earned money for your finished product and then skewer you over every typo or misspelled word.

-If your content might be disturbing, please warn your beta readers in advance. Don't waste your time or theirs by having someone come back to you with, "I couldn't finish this because you included THIS SCENE." Know your audience.

-Set a deadline and always be prepared for people who can't meet it. Hey, life happens and people's commitments change. It might suck if someone drops out, but it doesn't have to. Have one or two backups who'll step in to help in a pinch.

- Your beta readers should be two subsets: people who are familiar with your writing style and those who are not. Those who are will recognize your voice, as well as your pitfalls and writing crutches. Those who are unfamiliar can bring a refreshing, unique perspective to your outlook.

-Don't hesitate to ask for specific feedback. My betas must have been shocked by what I referred to as the "pop quiz" but there are brutal scenes in Sultana's Legacy. I needed to know if they worked or seemed gratuitous. Come up with 5-10 questions maximum that help your betas focus on key points of the novel. Don't use Yes or No questions.

-Good betas provide constructive criticism and can pinpoint the problems. A bad beta reader will tell you the novel is fine just as it is. That's code for one of two things: "I didn't read one word of your manuscript" OR "I read and didn't understand it but because I didn't want to hurt your feelings, I said to hell with it and will let you put out an awful book." If you're my beta and a friend, you'll tell me the full truth, including where I'm screwing up.

-Don't rely on beta readers to be the last word on your book. Whether you're editing before or after the beta read, your eyes should be the last set to review the manuscript. Even the most thorough beta may miss something as easily as you do. Also, the opinions will vary and applying all the edits may create contradictions in your story line. Read it in full AGAIN before you hit Publish.

Last, but not least:

-Learn to take criticism, not just in this process but as a writer in general. Remember, you asked these folks to volunteer their efforts on YOUR behalf. Have some respect for their valuable time AND opinions.

Have you worked with beta readers or in isolation? Any particular reason for your choice?

So Good It Makes You Sad

2011-09-07T14:24:00.001-04:00

Have you ever read an amazingly great book and felt totally depressed when you finished? Not because one of your favorite characters died, or even that the book ended and you had to say goodbye. No, I mean depression because the book was so freaking incredible and you KNOW you will never write like that author, so why not just give up now!

As you may know, this has been a few weeks of incredible reading for me. You didn't know? Well, you do now. Since the beginning of August, when I decided to work through several of the paperbacks and Kindle books collecting various forms of dust and cobwebs around me, I've been plowing through the pile. To date, I have read:

Cinders by Michelle Davidson Argyle (fantasy)
Blockbuster by Sven Michael Davison (contemporary)
Khan: Empire of Silver by Conn Iggulden (historical)
The Swords of Faith by Richard Warren Field (historical) - I needed to get back to this from a while ago - very glad I did
Sandworms of Dune by Brian Herbert (sci-fi) - again, didn't plan to, but I'm a huge Dune fan!
The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick (historical)
Cartier's Ring by Pearson Moore (historical)
The Borgia Betrayal by Sarah Poole (historical)
Kismet's Kiss by Cate Rowan (romance)
The Black God's War by Moses Siregar III (fantasy)
To Touch the Knight by Lindsay Townsend (romance)

In case it occurs to you, yeah, that's a hell of a lot of reading. What can I say? I went on vacation and I'm not working on my own books now. That will change very shortly. Next on the list is Michael Hicks' In Her Name: Empire, which I'm looking forward to, as I've heard nothing but good about it.

Reading all these great books has not only gave me a better appreciation for how hard these authors have worked, but honestly, the quality of some of them made me depressed. I'm not exaggerating. I'm one of those writers who has to work hard at a story, yet there are others who seem to be master storytellers. I know, I've read some of them this summer. These writers can effortlessly sweep a reader away into their cleverly crafted worlds. Kudos to everyone I've read so far for keeping me entertained. But, dammit, sometimes I wish your stories weren't so good!

Writers: Where did you find inspiration?

2011-09-03T09:56:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, Iwrote about finding inspiration for my stories. I had not given muchthought to it before now.

My inspirationstarted from a love of history and in particular, the underdog in history,those people who never get a chance to tell their side of the story. At least,that’s what I thought until last night. The idea of"history being written by the victors" is very true. As a writer, Ilike sifting through the facts to find out more about the other side; theirstruggle, why they lost and more important, howthey survived. If I write about a particular period, it's almost certain thatmy protagonist will have experienced lots of tragedies along the way. They are survivors, who despite terrible losses, accept thepain and go on living.

I’ve since realizedthat the reason I tend to write about people who struggle against adversity hasvery little to do with their conflicts and courage, and much more to do with mypersonal history. I’m a survivor of sexual abuse. It’s not something that I’veshared outside of my family or close circle of friends. Until now, that is.Abuse in any form is traumatic and weakens the spirit. It’s even more harmfulwhen you’re a child and the abuser is a once-trusted adult. Even though I was achild, I had the courage to stand up to my abuser. There is somethingtremendously empowering about acknowledging something horrible in your past ANDknowing that you had the courage to rise against it. But some who have suffered or survived abuse never get the chance to speak.

My own experiencehas led me to focus on characters and periods where the protagonists, thelosers in history, have left little genuine information about their lives andsuffering. History stifled their voices, by wiping their culture, eradicatingtheir people or absorbing them. It’s a theme that consistent in Sultanaand Sultana’s Legacy, where the Spanish conquest of the Moors ensuredthat the world view of the Nasrid Dynasty has come to us in modern times,mainly through the eyes of Catholic chroniclers. The theme is also present in OnFalcon’s Wings, where the losses of the Saxons at the Battle of Hastingsaltered England’s history forever, almost eliminating the culture of a peoplethat had existed for thousands of years. While I’ve written books to show themettle and courage of the people who survived turbulent times, only yesterdaydid I connect my interest to my own experiences as a survivor.

Inspiration comes to us in many ways, from tragedy and triumph. For myfellow writers, what’s your source?

Social Media: Don't Like It? Don't Use It

2011-08-26T22:19:00.001-04:00

While dining with a friend of mine this past week, the subject of Google+ came up. Her reaction. "Oh God! Another social media site I have to learn about and join!" As she is my very dear friend who also visits this blog, I didn't roll my eyes and ask, "Who says?" Instead, I told her, "You don't need to. They can't hunt you down and make you join."

Social media can seem overwhelming between all the "twatting" - thanks, my darling cousin and Vince Vaughn. With Facebook, MySpace, Foursquare and Tumblr, even this blog, doesn't it just feel like you have to be connected all the time? Well, no, you don't.

I say this as someone who loves Twitter. It's not intervention level just yet, but pretty darn close. I'm on Facebook, started a Facebook author page, and joined Google+. Still, of all of these social media sites, Twitter is my favorite. Why do I love it so? The connections. It's evened the playing field for me - where else could I chat with my writer gods, like Jeanne Kalogridis and Colin Falconer? I tweet while on my way to work, at work, on the way home, even on vacation. Two applications are always open on my PC: Outlook and Tweetdeck. Yet, when I'm busy with books, family concerns, the 9-5 gig etc. no problems checking out. Two extremes puzzle me - the true Twitter addict, who tweets everything in their life, and the Twitter recluse, who hides from this and other social media as if the bubonic plague went viral on the Internet.

If you do engage in social media, you have to do it well. My example? Be yourself. I share general aspects of my life, my work as an author, and articles that interest me on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. If you're considering social media, remember, just be you. Let others know what you're passionate about, the things that fascinate you. Who knows, they might like them too.

Are you an active or inactive user of social media? Why? What do you love / hate the most about social media?

P.S. For my fellow authors on Twitter: want me to unfollow you? Then, I suggest you tweet about NOTHING except your books, your brand all day, every day. That's you, the author. How about you, the real person behind that Twitter account?

Help! The Blurb

2011-08-19T19:12:00.005-04:00

I've already begged for help from my ever-patient beta readers and on Kindleboards, so now I'm asking YOU! Trying to decide on a blurb for Sultana's Legacy; the text will appear on the back. Drowning in the different versions, but I've narrowed down a few. Thoughts?

I'm thicker-skinned than most, so don't worry about offending me with your honest opinions. I just want to get the right feel for this book with the cover AND blurb.

Version 1
How far will one woman go in a quest for vengeance? Can love survive the test of divided loyalties?

In thirteenth-century Moorish Spain, the kingdom of Granada faces a bleak future. Fatima and Faraj have enjoyed peace and prosperity, until treachery brings a swift end to their happiness. A madman has seized the throne. He has killed almost everyone Fatima once held dear.

Fatima must preserve the enduring legacy of the Sultans of Granada, at all costs. Yet, her greatest triumph leaves her unprepared for the most shocking betrayal of all.

Version 2
How far will one woman go to avenge terrible losses? Can love survive the test of divided loyalties?

In thirteenth-century Moorish Spain, the kingdom of Granada faces a bleak future. A tyrant has seized the throne. His reign brings a violent end to years of peace and prosperity.

Now, Fatima risks everything to preserve the legacy of her forefathers, including the love and trust of her husband, Faraj.

Version 3
In thirteenth-century Moorish Spain, divided loyalties test the fragile bonds between families, and a husband and wife.

Amidst treachery and intrigue, Fatima must confront a once beloved brother. A power-hungry madman, he has seized the throne and murdered almost everyone she has ever loved.

To preserve the enduring legacy of her forefathers, she must also risk the years of trust she has shared with a devoted husband. The bitter consequences and a final, shocking betrayal threaten to undo her accomplishments.

Thanks for your thoughts!

P.S. Yes, you can even say "None of them work for me! Go back to the drawing board" PROVIDED you suggest one line where I can start. Remember, help is the operative word here.

Sultana's Legacy: Final Cover Art

2011-08-18T00:08:00.008-04:00

Got the best email tonight from Lance Ganey, very brilliant cover artist. Sultana's Legacy is ready, at least the cover. The various elements of this book were a struggle to find and settle on. I wanted something that captured the darkness of the period, the sadness of my heroine, Fatima. It had to be a female figure that was similar in some ways to the one for Sultana, somewhat older and more world-weary, but familiar. Again, Orientalist art proved a goldmine. Then I needed a background. Fotolia was a great resource for royalty-free images. GIMP is also one of a self-published author's best resources; never thought I'd learn to layer but it happened.

First, here are the originals.

This is Femme Orientale by Jean Francois Portaels Belgian 1818-1895; available through an attribution license from Creative Commons. If you've seen the cover of Sultana, do you notice the similarities between the figure on that cover and this one? Amazingly, they were done by two different Orientalist artists.

Looking for a fantastic, royalty-free background for your commercial projects? Check out Fotolia.

The layered image. I reversed both the background and female figure, cropped the background and figure separately, and then layered and enlarged the figure to dominate more of the space. All with GIMP. Then I turned to Lance, for his magic. So, here it is:

The ~~final cover~~ final, FINAL with blurb. Lance added the font, which he had drawn for Sultana, enhanced the depth and created some drama. For the back, he used textures and patterns that compliment the front. As he explained, he was aiming for the effect of looking at a light source behind a thin curtain.

I love it. I almost cried when I saw it, but that's just because I'm a sap. What do you think?

Writer should be spelled W-A-R-R-I-O-R

2011-08-15T21:32:00.001-04:00

Wow. I've slogged through the blood, guts, muck and mire over at one of my favorite boards this weekend. I feel just as bruised and battered by the experience as those who lived through and posted it. People in tears over 1-star reviews, writers vowing to quit, another episode of "vote that bitch down" AND the reviewer from hell can make anyone, even leather-skinned me, want to come in from the cold.

Word of advice to you would-be published writers: bring your armor (your rational half), your best sword (your best BOOK) and your best shield (those people who will still love you even if you never write another word) when you step into this arena of publishing. You will need it all for your sanity. Arm yourself with a bit of patience, common sense AND business sense too, and you'll survive.

What's waiting for you? Your worst nightmare. People who do not give two shits of a rat's ass who you are, what you think you've written and why they should read it. These ~~trolls~~ folks thrive on a writer's misery and guess who they'll eyeing be someday?

What's a writer-warrior to do?

1. Stop thinking of your book as your baby. A parent will do anything to defend their baby against all harm. Granted, even the fugliest baby in the world has parents who adore it. But's that all about your heart. I'm asking you to bring your HEAD to this fight. Your book is your BUSINESS. Sometimes, business stinks. Learn to recognize that it's about the book, not about you. Stop making things personal. Focus on the book - not the one you put out that the critics have almost slashed to death. It's already out there. The other side has seen it and judged its worth. Time to put that rusty sword away and come out swinging with another one, an even better one.

2. Stop giving other people control over your emotions just because they didn't like your book. I say this as someone who's received wonderful and piss-poor reviews in turn, so believe me, it will feel like crap when you receive the latter kind. Just remember you're in good company; all the great writers have a 1-star review too. Do not let anonymous or mean comments from people whom you will never meet or interact with face-to-face make you anything other than who you are. If you drop your armor, that rational side of your brain that should say, "This is one person's opinion," they've already won. Your next adversary, self-doubt won't be so easily defeated.

3. Stop judging your self-worth by your books. If I had to, I could walk away from self-publishing tomorrow with full confidence and no regret. Why? Writing is not my full-time career (not yet!) and it sure doesn't define my existence. It is a portion of the sum of my parts, not my whole being. Writers are so wrapped up in the lives on the page that sometimes, we forget the other people. You know, the real ones? The folks who loved you before you even thought of writing. Who will still care about you even if you stopped. Remember them? Keep them at your side cause they don't judge you by what you can do or write, but for who you are. You'll need them when the first form rejection, first bad review, first pittance in royalties comes in. Trust me, they are your best shield against what's out there.

For now, I'm waiting for you in the trenches. Come out fighting!

The Great Self-Publishing Lie

2011-08-11T15:53:00.003-04:00

Most people relax and go to the beach when they're on a tropical island. Apparently, I just have deep thoughts, such as the state of the great indie / self-publishing movement. Are self-published authors also independent publishers going it alone, with every intention of continuing that way? Or, are we putting our books on Amazon, while awaiting the “real” deal?

Are self-published authors honest with ourselves about what we really mean by going indie?

Someone once asked in Kindleboards whether authors there thought of themselves as indies for life. I do. My books will never have mainstream / commercial mass appeal, because they're foremost about people and periods which I find interesting. In six years, I've worked with two agents. Yes, that's past tense. My last "break-up" wasn't the most amicable, in part because my agent felt I wasn't patient enough. As of last month, she still wishes I would just stop all this “self-publishing nonsense” - her words, not mine. Right now, I’m not looking for an agent or publisher. That's my plain and simple truth. What happens tomorrow is anyone’s guess.

Each time another “indie” signs with a traditional house, I wonder, what motivated the decision? No, it's not just about dollar signs. The two-million dollar check doesn't go out the day after the deal. Is it the potential for increased exposure? Some of the recent signings are for authors I’ve never heard of – hard to believe in our little microcosm of writers, isn’t it? Does the cachet that supposedly comes from traditional publishing affect the indie author’s choice? Maybe. Are there people for whom the publisher’s name, not the author’s own, still matters? Sure. Judging by some of the best-selling indies, some readers don’t care.

As an aside, in my 13-month stint as a self-published author, only a former member of a critique group has ever asked about my publisher. When I answered, I should have also mentioned I was Hitler and Satan's misbegotten hellspawn, for the look she gave me. Still cracks up when I remember it. Anyway, I'm more likely to get questions about the cover art on my books.

What does an indie's crossover to traditional mean for authors who choose to remain indie, or see a new future in self-publishing? Some have passed on deals most would kill for, but they seem to be writers in two categories: (1) indies who make a boatload of money on their own and don't need a publisher's "help" or (2) established, traditional writers with a backlist, who've figured out they can control their sales 100%. A no-brainer, but it doesn't mean we'll all have that choice.

There's only one real reason for me to surrender my indie-for-life card: marketing. Did I mention I LOATHE marketing AND would rather endure a root-scaling at the dentist EVERY DAY for the rest of my life(!), than spend time marketing my own work? Ok, now I've told you. If a publisher took me on and would actually market my work (I’ve heard this still happens with newbies, sometimes), I’d sign the deal. I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't. Maybe.

I’d love to hear your opinion. In particular, what does the “indie” label mean to you?

P.S: M. Louisa Locke, best-selling, self-published author of Maids of Misfortune posted a FANTASTIC article on her blog this month, which sums up the current state for indies better than I ever could.

On Vacation

2011-08-02T09:00:00.001-04:00

Be back in two weeks. Enjoy your August!

Finding Balance - a non-Zen approach

2011-07-31T11:13:00.003-04:00

Someone on Kindleboards asked the general question, "Do you feel guilty when you're not writing?" "Heck no, I worked on three books this year. I deserve a break, goddammit." As my fingers flew across the keyboard, you know what happened, right? A little guilt started to creep in. Well, maybe not. Guilt isn't the appropriate description for the conflicted emotions I have, as I sit at my computer, answering emails, tweeting, playing the Sims, and reconciling sales. It's more so a nagging moment of worry that I shouldn't be doing something more productive, like working on one of three unfinished manuscripts. Like starting the manuscript that I've just finished researching in June. Why is the prospect of the blank page or time away from writing tying my belly in knots? Why can't I find the middle ground between productivity and relaxation?

I'm a masochist by nature, so I love to put burdens on myself. The burden to be all I can be (not in the US army, of course), as a person, a daughter and sister, as an employee, as a writer, a friend, you name it. If I'm not doing these things very well, waves of stomach-clenching guilt follow. "I should work harder! I should do more! I should be a better friend! I should tweet more!" I've realized all the should’s have everything to do with other people's perception of me and very little to do with how I see myself.

Over the coming months, I’m going to try to find a little balance in my life. I’m risking burnout without it. I don’t want to hate the things I love because I put some much pressure on myself to do them well. That means leaving work at work, setting allotted times for my research and writing, and making relaxation a priority. Wish me luck, as I’m sure a little guilt and self-doubt will sneak in.

For anyone who’s been successful at finding this balance that I’m seeking, would love to hear how you’re doing it.

The Mammoth Summer of Reading

2011-07-26T21:47:00.001-04:00

Now that I have some free time on my hands, guess what I'll be doing for the rest of the summer? Actually, you don't have to guess; I told you in my last post. Those are just the print copies. Highlights include:

Ruth Downie's Caveat Emptor & Medicus
The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick
C.C. Humphrey's Vlad: The Last Confession
Conn Iggulden's Khan: Empire of Silver
George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series (I'll wait for A Dance With Dragons when HBO's Game of Thrones season 2 is done next year)
The Borgia Betrayal by Sara Poole
A book by one of my absolute favorites, the woman who inspired my love of historical fiction, Persia Woolley in a re-release of Queen of the Summer Stars.

A summer of books

There are prime choices that I'm looking forward to on Kindle as well, including:

Cinders by Michelle Davidson Argyle
Elizabeth Chadwick's For the King's Favor
Mel Comley's Impending Justice
Blockbuster by Sven Michael Davison
Alison DeLuca's The Night Watchman Express
In Her Name: Empire, by Micheal Hicks
The Vampire Relationship Guide, Volume 1: Meeting and Mating by Evelyn LaFont
Cartier's Ring by Pearson Moore
Cate Rowan's Kismet's Kiss
The Black God's War by Moses Siregar III
Lindsay Townsend's To Touch the Knight & A Knight's Vow
Mike Wells' Wild Child
The House of Women by Anne Whitfield
Sarah Woodbury's The Last Pendragon

That's about a tenth of what's on my Kindle right now. All of them will be read and reviewed this summer, either for the HNR blog or any place I like to mouth off about books, like Amazon. You might be wondering, is she really going to through all those books? Um, yeah. If an author really hooks me, I'll read a book a day, with a rare break to eat and pee. Since I'm a semi-insomniac, sleep is also a possibility. But why sleep, when you can read?

What are your summer reading plans? What are you looking forward to the most?

"The End."

2011-07-25T11:01:00.001-04:00

Are there any words more satisfying or saddening for a writer to type? My fellow writers often talk about how exciting or difficult it is to start a manuscript, or to sustain it in the middle. I'm more conflicted about the ending of my stories. It's not just about crafting a satisfying conclusion for readers and me. It's often about saying goodbye to characters, who feel like old friends.

The weekend, I made the penultimate changes to Sultana's Legacy. I wrote the words 'The End' for the novel back in 2008. The conclusion of the story hasn't changed since then, but everything up until has undergone a major revision over the past three years. I turned what was a first-person narrative into third person, cut two additional POV's and sorted out the muddle history had created of six characters named Muhammad, three Faraj's and two Ismail's. When I say writing this manuscript and its prequel Sultana has been a labor a love, there was a bit of lunacy involved too. After all, who spends more than a decade sorting through jumbled details about a largely unknown period of history, without being committed, or feeling like you really should be committed to a mental institution?

I've never given birth, but it feels like I have. It's time for a much needed break. Next week, I'm off to Barbados for some family-business, but it's also a chance to relax and not think about writing novels, at least until the edits and suggestions come back from my writing friends. I've turned the manuscript over to would-be beta readers, with the warning that this one isn't nice at all. With at least three violent deaths of major characters, and some others, the body count is higher than the prequel. When Sultana's Legacy comes out in November, it will be the third book I've released this year. I am beyond exhausted. I plan to spend the next few months until late fall catching up on my reading and reviews for HNR, and probably spending more time on Twitter than I should.

I’ve also sent off the cover image I’d like to use for the book to Lance Ganey, who I recommend to anyone looking for a cover artist. I had settled on something before, but it never really hooked as me as this new one does. As with Sultana, this one is public domain art from the Orientalist period, this time combined with a stunning, royalty-free background from Fotolia. GIMP can be one of the best tools for a self-published author. When the final artwork is ready, I’ll post it here first.

Having arrived at 'The End' for this story is a bittersweet moment, a little sad but also filled with contentment. Dependent on how well the story and prequel sell over the coming year, I might consider two more books on the descendants of the characters. For now, this is truly the end of that long journey of research and writing on the period.

Truth in fiction: why do we care?

2011-07-20T13:43:00.001-04:00

A great friend, Sophie Perinot, did an excellent blog post yesterday, Invention is the Midwife of Good Historical Fiction. Truth in fiction is a huge concern for me. I don't believe that the historical fiction author has a license to make it all up. Otherwise, why write or call it a historical, if you ignore the sources? But, there are times where even a good detective of history, as hist fic writers are often forced to be, must use their imagination. Check out Sophie's article too, as she shares the "experts" reasoning on the topic.

I'm struggling with truth in fiction, while wrapping up scenes between my protagonist and villain in Sultana's Legacy. My antagonist is my heroine Fatima's elder brother, Sultan Muhammad III. If some of the therapists I know could get him on their couch, he'd be diagnosed as a sociopath, seriously in need of some CBT. The historical record has some information on his murderous behavior. One day, he got pissed off at his jailer for having pity on some political prisoners (he dared throw them some dry bread, rather than let them starve). Muhammad had the jailer's head cut off and let the blood rain down on the prisoners to give them "something to drink" - that's direct from all the sources. It's the best example of his cruelty I could find, so I had to include that scene . The other references to how he tortured and killed his father's servants, or roamed the palace at odd hours screaming like a madman, are just general examples of his instability.

Sounds like the perfect sort of villain to write about, doesn't he? While I have no doubt that Muhammad was a complete nut job, I've had to guess at how others would have reacted to his behavior, in particular Fatima. By all accounts, she was her father's image, devoted to her studies and as learned as he was. How did she feel when Muhammad poisoned their father? I'll never know.

The Spanish and even Arabic chroniclers within the Alhambra didn't write anything about how the murder of Muhammad II affected his other children. Some of the later events from Fatima's history have allowed me to form an educated guess about her feelings. I've used it as the basis for the majority of the conflict that occurs 2/3 into Sultana's Legacy. My dilemma: do I address the fact in my author's note that I truly don't know the extent of her vengeance? Why should I care?

The reason I care is because of what can be called the "Braveheart phenomena" - if you've seen the film, you know what I mean so I won't go into it here. If you haven't seen it, watch the film, then go off and read about Isabella of France, the wife of King Edward II. I'm sure you'll say because it's a movie, it's different from historical fiction. Historical events on TV or in books still leave the audience with the same conclusion: the events, as presented, must have happened. I remember seeing Braveheart with my mother and, since she knows her daughter is some history freak, she asked what I thought. My response? "Why'd he (Mel Gibson) have to do the stupid French princess thing?" She asked what I meant and was surprised that history and Mel disagreed.

In my case, does it matter that what I've written isn't 100% verifiable? When the sources don't give me any detail, I've settled for what's reasonably plausible, what could have happened. I've determined that Fatima didn't get the warm fuzzies when her elder brother killed their father, because she helped secure the throne for a younger brother. Yes, this was one screwed up family - they would all be on therapists' couches if they were alive today!

Beyond extrapolating later details, I also considered basic human nature. I don't know anyone who can take on a villain without taking some risks and doing slightly questionable things. I also think it's impossible to come out of the battle unscathed. I've enjoyed writing this sequel because I got to turn my genteel, loving heroine into a person almost as dangerous as her real-life brother. It's all reasonably possible that it happened, but part of me wishes I knew the real truth. Where's a time machine when you need one? Scholars are still investigating the Moorish period in Spain and perhaps one day, they'll get the real story.

Until now, it's never bothered me that I was putting words in the mouths of my historical figures. I understand a little better why some of my friends who write in the same genre create characters from scratch. I keep in mind that as a writer, it's my job to be creative and sustain conflict. But, what do you do when the sources are silent as to whether there was a conflict to begin with?

"I don't act like that! Do I?"

2011-07-19T20:59:00.002-04:00

I've been seeing a rash of blog posts and tweets lately, all complaining about how writers (typically indies, but sometimes not) need to get over ourselves and learn some damned manners. I don't comment. I typically just close the browser, move on to another topic, or just wonder why there's so much negativity being spewed on the Internet.

Seriously, I have no idea who these posts are referring to, and I suppose, I really don't want to know these crazy folks. I often wonder about the purpose behind these posts and discussions. Are they meant to warn off other writers? A pre-emptive strike against some strange or bad behavior? Or, are they really for ourselves, to keep us in line and remind us that we really shouldn't act like a horse's ass for all the Web to see? Do we see ourselves in these idiots?

I thank God everyday that I am blessed by the friendship of many professional writers, both traditional and self-published. People who work hard to finish their drafts and revisions, without whining and moaning about how hard it is to do this writing thing that they chose to do. Authors who don't go bat-shit crazy when they get bad reviews from strangers on Amazon. Who don't have meltdowns and curse out the bloggers they invited to review their books.

Why don't these other professional writers do any of that crap? If I had to guess, I'd say they're too busy writing to act like morons on the Internet. I like that crowd of writers. I'm going to stick with them. To all of you, and most of you know you are - thank you for showing the best of you each day.

That's not to say I'll completely ignore the looney-toons on the Web. I do need a good dose of entertainment ever so often, and boy, do I get that every day! I love the zany-ass tweets, and those crazy blogs and discussion posts. Still, I must acknowledge that I don't have much time for B.S. right now. I do have time for a book that needs to be finished by my self-imposed November publication date. So, if I happen to disappear, go underground from the slightly wacky world of social media sometimes, it's just that I have my priorities. Besides, if anyone out there chooses to act like a complete jackass, I'm sure I'll find out about it.

Creativity: Where do you find it?

2011-07-11T22:11:00.000-04:00

Today I was browsing through some stock photos online, when a series of them appeared that would fit the premise of a future novella perfectly. Just like that, inspiration and a little girlish squeal were born. Yes, things like that make me a little giddy.

No matter how important your writing is, do you ever find yourself struggling for the creative spark? Many books written in the same genre have similar aspects. With my first love, historical fiction, I can be assured there will be at least one epic confrontation or battle scene and a test of the main character's survival skills against terrible odds. After years of reading such stories, there are common themes that always emerge, something that feels very familiar. Sometimes, we're all drawing from the same well of inspiration. I think writer's block results - we want to be creative, but it's next to impossible without an original idea in mind.

Many authors who write historical fiction turn an original idea on its head, such as a non-virginal Queen Elizabeth I, or with stories writen from the perspective of the losers in history, rather than its victors. I prefer to write about the history that hasn't been explored as well as the Tudor, Renaissance and Regency periods. The era I choose is a framework that allows me to do a bit of world-building, but that's only half the struggle to feel inspired. To truly be creative, I let music, my environment and people influence me. When I need some rousing battle scene, I blast Carl Orff's Carmina Burana from my computer speakers. I'm sure my family thinks this is strange and annoying all at once. If my character has a rare quiet moment of deep introspection, I create a similar mood by turning off the music, TV, whatever sounds might interfere. I'm also a great people watcher. Nothing like a pair of dark shades and a park bench for catching people at the moment where powerful emotions are on display. Whether it's a couple walking hand in hand or arguing, a parent and child enjoying the warm sunshine, people and their behavior are great sources.

Where do you find creative influences? How do you use them to write?

Thank You

2011-07-10T10:14:00.000-04:00

To Gemi, Michelle, Peter and Kristina, for your thoughtful guest posts. I enjoyed another chance to learn much more about each of you and cheer you on. Your professionalism, dedication and genuine warmth makes me feel extremely lucky to know you. I wish you every success wherever your writing and personal goals take you.

Also, thanks to all the visitors who stopped by the blog during the previous week, especially those who left kind and encouraging comments. You helped make this a great week.

Highs and lows in this writer's life - Lisa Yarde

2011-07-09T07:00:00.022-04:00

Just twelve months ago, a decision to self-publish my first book became reality, when On Falcon’s Wings premiered on Amazon. Since then, it’s been a year fraught with highs and lows, family illnesses, and plans for the future made and unmade. I’d be lying if I pretended I haven't re-thought the decision to self-publish once or twenty-six times. Thing is, I never learned how to quit.

Here are some highlights in my year of publication (mingled with some of the bad stuff too). All figures are as of Monday, July 4.

Number of books I’ve self-published: (3)

Genres and formats: (2) historical fiction in ebook and paperback - novels, (1)contemporary women’s fiction – novella

Official dates of publication: On Falcon’s Wings (July 2010), Sultana (February 2011), Long Way Home (July 2011)

Number of Copies Sold: On Falcon’s Wings (68 – paperback, 611 – ebook), Sultana (18 - paperback, 223 - ebook), Long Way Home (3 – ebook only)

Revenue Earned: On Falcon’s Wings ($1,017.86), Sultana ($631.72), Long Way Home ($1.43)

Expenses (copyright, cover art, review copies, other promotion): On Falcon’s Wings ($562.06), Sultana ($378.85), Long Way Home ($0)

Net Profit: On Falcon’s Wings ($455.80), Sultana($252.87), Long Way Home ($1.43)

Best Sales Month: On Falcon’s Wings (March 2011 - 67), Sultana (June 2011 - 52)

Worst Sales Month: On Falcon’s Wings (July 2010 - 6), Sultana(February 2011 - 10)

Best Amazon Paid Sales Rank: On Falcon’s Wings (#7,993 - ebook), Sultana (#16,762 – ebook)

Worst Amazon Paid Sales Rank: On Falcon’s Wings (#1,994,394- paperback), Sultana (#2,404,935 -paperback)

The first sale happened: On Falcon’s Wings (Kindle - Amazon.com – 11 days after publication), Sultana (Kindle - Amazon.com – 4 days after publication), Long Way Home (Kindle - Amazon.com - 1 hour after publication)

Longest period without a sale: On Falcon’s Wings (14 days from August 4, 2010), Sultana (9 days from March 6, 2011)

Number of freebies: On Falcon’s Wings (21,505), Sultana (37)

The inclusion of freebies has skewed my sales data a lot. On Falcon's Wings was offered as a freebie June 6 - July 2 through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Smashwords and Sony. It resulted in 21,497 downloads, of which 21,292 came from Amazon alone. If I counted the freebies, in addition to increasing ebook numbers:

• My top Amazon sales ranking for On Falcon's Wings would have been #1. (I even have a screenshot that proves it!)

• Amazon also gives a pittance (I do mean a pittance) on freebies, so there is an additional $127.45 in earnings on the freebies that I don't account for in the revenue above.

For some inexplicable reason, Amazon has made On Falcon's Wings free again as of July 7. So, my data will continue to be skewed, but I appreciate the increased downloads and the additional 4 reviews that have come in.

First thing I bought with my earnings: Added money to my MetroCard. Deposit came just in time for me to go work the next morning.

Last thing I bought with my earnings: A $20 promotional spot for Sultana this month on Indie eBooks blog.

How I felt when I got my first bad review from a stranger: Like shit. Cried for a bit, cursed out the reviewer in my head. Although I thanked her for the review, I really just wanted to smash her face in with my paperback. I've aged since then into a thick-skinned, 35-year old woman, rather than remaining a 5-year old with a temper tantrum.

How I felt when I got my first great review from a stranger: Shocked, cried a little and thanked the reviewer in my head. Now, I ignore all reviews, good or bad, or try to. It's a work in progress.

Biggest mistake I have made, so far: Thinking that publishing was the hardest aspect. I now know marketing is the hardest aspect –it’s not for me, I suck at it. Doesn't matter how good your book is, if people don't know it exists. Yet, I keep trying, cause I'm just not built to quit.

Best advice I ever had: From Gemi Sasson, who reminded me that there are people with axes to grind about self-publishing. Entertaining them won't change their views or my intent. I’m paraphrasing, but she’s right.

The one thing I have yet to learn / accept about self-publishing: It's a marathon, not a sprint. My books will be around for as long as books are being sold online. The goals are to keep writing, making the next book better than its predecessor and keep on publishing.

Number of times I’ve regretted self-publishing and decided I would give up: (2) – the first, when I got my first bad review, and the second, when I promoted my first two books like crazy in May 2011, yet it turned out to be one of the slower months for sales. That's always the worst - working hard with little to show for it.

Why do I continue to self-publish: It’s hard being my own editor, marketer / promoter, but I can’t imagine not doing this. It’s brought me out of my shell, taught me to persevere, even when things get really tough. Fear held me back from self-publishing – what if I never sold a copy of my books, earned no reviews, spent a ton of money and never saw a dime of revenue? Now, I'm motivated to take it to the next level and the next – there’s always better and I’m striving for it in both my work and marketing efforts.

What advice would I give to a writer thinking of self-publishing: It’s tough and there's risk involved. Is your writing worth the risk? Failure doesn't happen when you fall flat. It happens when you choose not to get up. If you're willing to risk the fall, jump right in with a good story, a great team that includes editors and beta readers. Make sure you keep a support network handy. They'll be there to help you up when you fall and cheer on your successes. Don't measure your own success by what anyone else has done.

Finding Voice and Courage - Kristina Emmons

2011-07-08T07:00:00.017-04:00

I guess in a way writing can feel for me like a non-activity, as if it’s not actual work since so much of it is mental, unlike other art forms, where you get to see tangible progress on a canvas or with a piece of clay or wood. Writing is “only” words on a page! But getting them down in a coherent, relatable way is a lot of work, and it is art that can be magical for the reader when done well. Just like with any art form there are those who appreciate what you put out and those who might oppose it, so it can be a fearful experience to subject yourself to public opinion.

Writing novels is for me the art that completes me. I didn’t recognize that for a long time. I knew I had writing ability and a strong command of language in general, but storytelling was never something I thought I could do. My grandmother was the story teller, I was the wallflower in the corner who rarely opened her mouth, so when I first began to look at writing as a career I assumed journalism was the best fit for me. It was like book reports but for life, right? I could do that. It certainly seemed the most respectable way to go, but after an unfortunate interview at the offices of the local paper I was turned off to journalism itself. My next choice was writing articles for magazines. Articles about what, though? I was young and had little life experience. And submitting to so many different publications sounded as tedious as sanding wood for me.

This writing thing began eating at me. I was pregnant with my first child and I needed a creative outlet, something for myself. My husband suggested I write a book, and I laughed. That was for the big dawgs, for people who like, went to college for that! Thoughtfully, he enrolled me in a correspondence writing course. For various reasons I couldn’t complete it fully, but the instructor feedback I got in those few lessons gave me a great boost of confidence. I could do this, I could tell stories! Maybe I couldn’t verbalize them well, but writing was a perfect medium for me. Soon the seed of a story lodged into my mind, and with unsteady fingers I began to type.

The blank page can be daunting. After several false starts, years of research into Victoriana and writing, and doubts and revisions too numerous to count, it was nine years until I published Roeing Oaks, my first novel. To my delight, response was wonderful, with demand for a sequel! I’m nearly finished with it and can’t wait to get started on another book. I suppose my best day as a writer was deciding not to quit. The worst? About halfway through the first draft of Roeing Oaks, when I realized what a long, arduous road lay ahead.

Matter of fact, they were the same day.

Kristina's Website

Kristina on Twitter

Roeing Oaks

An Eventful Year - Peter Johnson

2011-07-07T07:00:00.001-04:00

It’s been a year since my last post here, and much has (and hasn’t) happened.

My first novel, Grant’s Indian, published October 2009, continues to sell steadily. After about 30 agents passed on the book, I decided to publish using my own devices, which meant (1) creating an audiobook and getting a publisher for that (Audible www.audible.com agreed to do that), (2) arranging for print and Kindle editions (Amazon www.amazon.com, which owns Audible, did that), (3) getting a print distributor (IndieReader www.indiereaderselects.com is handling that) and (4) publicity.

I spent most of 2010 publicizing the book. One thing about Grant’s Indian that makes it appropriate for indie publishing is that it is based on an actual, if little-known, historical character – Ely Parker, a Seneca Indian on General Grant’s staff who was present (and wrote out the terms of surrender) at Appomattox in 1865.

The book was appropriate for indie publishing because it has a built-in audience of Civil War buffs, for whom it fills a gap in the historical record. One thing that keeps me bemused when I talk about the book is that, while I want to talk about historical fiction, the audience always asks about historical fact – Who was Parker? How did he get to Appomattox? What were his feelings about Indian affairs? Did he suffer prejudice? I also found out that Parker has descendants. One of his great-great-nephews, Alvin Parker, shared the podium with me at the New York Civil War Forum last September, which led to a neat article in the New York Times. (“A Seneca Indian Connects with his New York Roots,” September 19, 2010. http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/wilson-indian-post-for-sunday/

My next novel, also set partly during the Civil War, is encountering a different set of challenges. The good news is that I got an actual, and very reputable, agent for the book – one of the last to pass on Grant’s Indian. The bad news is that, unlike Grant’s Indian, which I submitted to 30 agents with no takers, my agent has now submitted the new novel to 30 publishers . . . with no takers.

So I have to decide what to do next. I’m reluctant to publish independently, because the book doesn’t really have a built-in audience. Unlike Grant’s Indian, the new book’s central characters are entirely fictional – two young actors in 19^th-century America who pretty much grow up onstage together, get caught up in the 1849 Astor Place riot in New York, the Gold Rush, John Brown’s hanging, the Civil War, and who end up onstage at Ford’s Theater the night their friend and colleague John Booth assassinates President Lincoln.

So it’s a historical novel, a coming-of-age novel, a young love novel . . . all sorts of things, but it lacks a central historical truth. My inclination at this point is to wait a bit. The 150^th anniversary of the Civil War started this spring, and new interest is stirring in the War. In a couple of years the Lincoln assassination will again be in the air, and maybe the novel will find a publisher at that point. Meanwhile, I mull alternatives.

Peter's Website

Peter on Facebook

Grant's Indian

True to who I am - Michelle Gregory

2011-07-06T07:00:00.001-04:00

The early Hassidic sage Rabbi Zusya once said, "When I reach the next world, God will not ask me, 'Why were you not Moses?' Instead, he will ask me, 'Why were you not Zusya?'"

I don't know about you, but I have to make a conscious effort to be myself and stay true to what I know I'm supposed to do. I'm the kind of person who looks around at what everyone else is doing, and though I know better, I start to think, "Maybe I should be doing it like so and so."

I get this way with homeschooling. I'm part of an online homeschooling group and even though we're all very gracious with each other and we're not even giving into the pressure to make homeschool look like public school with mounds of homework, etc., it's easy to compare myself to them and say, "wow, I should be doing more projects, going more places, doing more things, blah, blah, blah."

Then I remember that my kids are learning what they need to learn and the way we're doing school fits our lifestyle. My kids are happy and not so overly busy that we're stressed and going crazy. I like a simple lifestyle.

Lately I've found myself doing the comparison thing with blogging and writing and promoting. "I should have more posts about writing, more contests, more blog hops, and more interviews. I should be helping more writing friends promote their books with blog tours and side buttons and links. My blog should look more professional; have more about my book and links to all the places people can buy it. I should work on my story more often and not play with other stories so much. I should have more description, less tea, etc. I should have my book on Kindle and Smashwords and kobo and wherever. Maybe I should look for an agent. I should say more and do more..."

Makes me tired just writing it.

I've learned from counseling (and my husband reminds me every once in a while) that if you substitute the word (excuse me) sh** for should, when you say you should do something, it's like piling sh** on yourself. And isn't that exactly how we feel when we start saying "I should, I should"?

So it's time to be kind to myself, stop piling crap on myself, and let myself be who I am. I will put whatever I want on my blog. I will help other writers when I can. I will promote myself as much or as little as I'm comfortable with. I will let my mind play when it needs a break. I will continue to self-publish, and not pressure myself into doing it the way my indie author friends are doing it. I will write the story I want to write and not worry about the tea.

Maybe that's my cue to go have some tea, or a cup of hot cocoa.

Now, go have a beautiful day, free of "shoulds." have some tea. Be yourself.

Michelle's Website
Michelle Blog
Michelle on Facebook

Eldala

One year of self-publishing - N. Gemini Sasson

2011-07-05T07:00:00.001-04:00

What a wild year this has been – full of ups and downs, tough challenges and unexpected rewards. When I leapt into indie publishing last year at about this time, it was after years of pursuing the traditional route with a reputable agent. I’d become jaded by the process and was more than ready to move on. My goals were simply to put my work in physical form, make it as professional-looking as I possibly could on a limited budget and maybe, maybe sell a few hundred. A thousand or two sales was a distant dream.

After releasing The Crown in the Heather in paperback, I quickly became aware that my best chance of reaching an audience was through e-books. So I loaded it onto Kindle, announced it on the Amazon forums and at Kindleboards and waited for people to snatch it off the virtual shelf. Mostly, it collected dust.

Eventually, I released a second and then a third book onto Kindle (Isabeau and Worth Dying For). Sometimes I went days in between sales. The first day I reached double digits, I was ecstatic. Still, after several months I was barely averaging half a dozen a day. Resigned to the fact that I had given it a go, I went back to college to renew my teaching certificate. But a funny thing happened while I was scribbling notes in Anatomy class. Sales began to snowball: 10, then 20, then 50, and eventually 100 a day.

Just eleven months after launching my first e-book, the tally ticked over to 10,000 Kindle books sold. In May of 2011, Isabeau, A Novel of Queen Isabella and Sir Roger Mortimer, was awarded the IPPY (Independent Publisher Book Award) Silver Medal in the Historical Fiction category. Two of my three books have also regularly been in the Top 100 Kindle Bestsellers for Historical Fiction.

Someone asked me this past year how it felt to hold my book in my hands. Truth be told, to me it was just a manuscript in a fancy wrapper – the same thing I’d been seeing on my computer screen for years. But I really knew I was a writer when I got my first fan mail, asking when the next book would be out. That is the most awesome feeling in the world. It also terrifies me, because I know I have to put my best effort into each successive book and that continued success is never a given.

Ten years ago, these opportunities wouldn’t have existed. The biases against self-publishing are eroding as readers discover fresh, new voices and the lines between traditional and indie publishing blur. With an engaging story and solid writing, you can climb the rankings, but it also takes patience, luck and hard work.

I’ve since put plans of returning to work on hold while I work on finishing two more books. It’s a great time to be a writer!

Gemi's Website
Gemi's Blog
Gemi on Facebook
Gemi on Twitter

The Crown In The Heather (The Bruce Trilogy)
Isabeau, A Novel of Queen Isabella and Sir Roger Mortimer
Worth Dying For (The Bruce Trilogy)

Happy Fourth & Happy Independents Week

2011-07-04T12:25:00.001-04:00

Yes, I made that whole thing about Happy Indpendents Week up, but the Fourth of July is certainly true. Wishing a happy and safe holiday to everyone who's enjoying it so far.

Another great reason to celebrate this week will be another series of guest posts from some of the authors I interviewed at this time last year. Starting tomorrow, N. Gemini Sasson, Michelle Gregory, Peter Johnson and Kristina Emmons are back at the blog, talking about their experiences as writers. The posts they shared last year still generate a lot of hits on the blog. I'm excited to feature each of them on the blog again and share what they've been up to. I'll also be sharing a year of my publication efforts and the goals that lie ahead. The schedule is as follows:

N. Gemini Sasson (historical fiction) - Tuesday, July 5
Michelle Gregory (fantasy) - Wednesday, July 6
Peter Johnson (historical fiction) - Thursday, July 7
Kristina Emmons (historical fiction) - Friday, July 8
Me (historical fiction & contemporary novellas) - Saturday, Friday 9

I hope you'll join us.

#SampleSunday: Long Way Home - A Novella, Chap. 2

2011-07-03T08:35:00.000-04:00

Chapter Two

July 1998

Kevin pulled the new Mercedes into the parking lot outside Los Palmas restaurant in downtown L.A. and looked in the rearview mirror. Satisfied with his reflection, he checked his watch. The digital face displayed six-thirty, perhaps an hour before sunset. His belly fluttered. He had arrived too early for dinner. Damn.

He should have hung around Ventura a little longer, but that would have meant listening to more inane chatter from Melanie. Melissa, he corrected himself. Whatever. He had met her on Friday at Karma, a new nightclub. She took him back to her apartment on Veronica Lane for a little after-party that lasted into Saturday afternoon. Now, he intended to forget the address and the girl associated with it.

He looked in the mirror again, tugging at the collar of his silk shirt. He hated when girls left hickeys on his neck, as if marking him as theirs. The collar hid most of the strawberry blotch from view, except for the very edge. He slapped the dashboard in frustration. If she noticed it tonight during dinner, would the sight bother her in any way?

He smacked his forehead. “Get a grip, Kev. Doesn’t matter what she thinks of you.”

The manila folder on the passenger seat indicated the opposite was true. He eyed it with a sigh. Why had he been keeping this thing with him for more than a month? What was he, some kind of stalker now? What would she think if she ever discovered it?

He reached for it, thinking he could just dump the thing in the trash when he got out of the car. His hand halted in midair. He was not ready for that.

Instead, he pulled out the contents, admiring the photo at the top of the pile.

“Taka.” As he breathed her name, an evening wind stirred the forms, newspaper clipping and the photo. He set the latter in his lap and placed everything else back inside the folder.

He gripped the picture in one hand and traced the left edge of it with his thumb. The photo ran in the Times the day after the crash, on the morning of the Democratic primary. A copy had appeared on the newspaper’s website also. It showed four people. He rummaged for the article containing the original image and re-read the headline.

“Oakland mogul Lei Chang hosts major fundraiser for Democratic gubernatorial candidate.” He scanned the first few lines of the article preceding the picture, words he had never bothered about reading beforehand.

“On the eve of the Democratic primary on June 2, Lei Chang, the Chief Executive Officer of Chang Industries Limited gave a generous contribution…”

Kevin shook his head, wondering how Lei Chang had felt on June 3, when he learned that his contribution of ten million dollars did not help his candidate secure the Democratic nomination. Both men had attended the same schools together, served on the same boards at overlapping times. Based on what Kevin had discovered about Mr. Chang through a paralegal at Carter-Chase, he doubted whether the man would even miss the money. Not only did Chang remain in sole control of the company he had founded in China thirty years ago, he was also a long-standing board member of two leading airlines.

Chang often appeared on lists of the richest people in America, but he kept a tight lid on most information about himself, including details of his million-dollar assets. Kevin had called on other resources among his mother’s media contacts just to determine how much Chang had donated to his friend’s campaign.

Kevin’s gaze returned to the photo he had printed. The four people in the image were all smiles, no hint of fear about the outcome of the next day. Lei Chang was on the left, in a tailored, buttoned-up gray suit. A silver Rolex flashed at his wrist. He wore his graying hair parted on the left. It fell around his ears. He and the woman next to him were short. His face was round and flat, with a button nose, which was red at the tip. The double creases etched around his sunken eyes belied the warm smile and brightness of his gaze.

Next to him, his plump wife Sachiko stood in a sleeveless, silver-blue silk gown that flared out from wide hips. A scarf of the same material draped her sloping shoulders. She wore her hair in a tidy chignon. Diamonds dangled from her earlobes and around her wrists, while a large sapphire glittered next to her gold wedding band. The former gubernatorial candidate framed the shot on her right.

Kevin’s attention diverted from him to Taka, who stood taller than the rest of them, her head and shoulders a few inches above her mother’s own. Instead of the black dress that had clung to her every curve and showed off those incredible legs during the accident, a blue jacket covered her narrow shoulders. Someone had tamed that unruly bob, as well. She wore red lipstick instead of the bare, pink kissable lips he had seen earlier that day. A mockery of a smile twitched on her lips.

The half-lidded eyes gave away her boredom. No emotion reflected from their depths, or at least none of the passion she had displayed on the highway at the accident scene. He felt certain she would have preferred to be somewhere else than in front of the camera, perhaps not even at the fundraiser. Despite her blank expression, he couldn’t help the stirrings of desire. Damn if she wasn’t beautiful.

His gaze drifted to Mrs. Chang again. Taka resembled her mother instead of the father. Why was he obsessing over her like this? It’s not as if they were on a date. He had other reasons for meeting her at Los Palmas.

The claims adjuster from Kevin’s car insurance company had contacted everyone, including the police officers and two witnesses they had detained at the scene for corroboration. Since Kevin and Taka had alleged that each person bore partial responsibility for the accident, Kevin insisted they talk about it. Her easy acquiescence at the end of the phone call still surprised him.

He read the caption below the photo in the Times aloud. “Oakland-based Lei Chang, CEO of Chang Industries Limited with his wife, internationally-renowned soprano Sachiko Nishimura, their daughter…hell, they didn’t even bother to find out the daughter’s name? What’s up with that?”

A blaring car horn followed by an exchange of curses jarred his concentration. The photo and clipping slipped from his grasp. He retrieved them and returned everything to the manila folder.

“Hurry up and pay, lady! I’m trying to park here.”

Curious about the source of the commotion, Kevin unbuckled his seatbelt, took the keys out of the ignition and turned in the driver’s seat.

At the entrance to the parking lot, the driver honked at the red cab idling in front of him. A thin woman extended a hand through the driver’s side window of the cab, with her narrow butt sticking out, as well as her middle finger, which she directed at the Jeep.

Kevin chuckled. Even after six weeks, he would have recognized her skinny ass and lean legs anywhere. He had not noticed the slight dimples at the backs of her knees until now.

Taka pulled away from the cab and glared at the Jeep’s driver. Even at a distance, her stare flickered like the tip of a burning cigarette. “Feel better now, asshole? Like, seriously, learn some patience and manners next time, fucker!”

Kevin’s belly rumbled with laughter. She dared lecture the poor Jeep driver about proper decorum while she cursed at him across a crowded parking lot. That mouth, another unmistakable trademark. How had a nondescript business executive and a demure opera star produced this little fireball? She was a total misfit.

As she picked her way around other cars, he admired the beauty of her long-legged stride. The untidy black mop atop her head made an appearance again, except this time it had a slight curl from some hair mousse or the shower. The A-line, pinstriped skirt fitted her just above her knees, paired with a white, button-down shirt with three-quarter sleeves. With a leather clutch in her hand and open-toed mules on her feet, she shuffled through the parking lot. Her cheeks glowed with vitality and a pretty blush, with a smear of pink lipstick across her mouth.

He didn’t expect this side of her. She was upbeat and vibrant, but still sexy as hell. Thin eyebrows arched like half moons. Heavy mascara made her wide stare exotic and arresting.

When her eyes alighted on him, she drew to a halt on the walkway that led to the restaurant. He shoved the manila folder beneath the seat and opened the car door. He cursed when he remembered the steering wheel lock.

She clasped the handbag in both hands and stood silent. Their gazes locked, even as he closed the collar one more time. It would have looked suspicious to anyone if he buttoned it up to the top. The temperature hovered in the upper eighties.

He locked the car, tucked his keys into his pocket and approached her. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Ms. Chang.”

She looked past him at the vehicle and whistled. “Whoa! Nice car. I see Daddy came through again. Lucky you.”

“My father’s not around to buy me anything. The Senior Golf Open happened today. He’s still in Pacific Palisades, as far as I know.”

“Uh-huh.” She kept eyeing the car. “This shit’s even nicer than the BMW.”

His jaw clenched but he ignored the baited comment. “This is a nice place you suggested, my mother’s dined here before. She said the food was good, so I hope we’ll enjoy it, too.”

She eyed him with an upraised eyebrow. “I work here. My shift starts at seven thirty.”

He jerked a glance at his watch and sputtered, “It’s six forty-three! I thought we were having dinner.”

She responded with a half-hearted shrug.

He threw his hands in the air. “Why did you tell me about this place if you only intended to give me thirty minutes of your time?”

Despite the frustration roiling in his gut and his muddied thoughts, his voice dropped. What an idiot! He had blundered straight into another mess with her, but he had made this one. He couldn’t blame her, although he wanted to make the whole fiasco her fault. How had he misunderstood? How could he have just assumed they would have dinner tonight? She probably thought he was a total spaz.

He ducked his head, certain a blush crept across his cheeks. It didn’t help that she stared at him without saying a word. He shuffled on his feet, wanting to sink sandal first into the pavement or backpedal to his car without another word. He tugged at the collar again. It felt hot and oppressive around his neck.

A howling snort escaped her. She shook her head and strolled past him. “Not my flipping fault if you heard what you wanted to hear. I never said we’d have dinner, but you can eat here, if you want and wait for me until the end of my shift, guy.”

“My name is Kevin. Don’t act like you don’t know it.”

“Uh-huh.” The near whisper drifted over her shoulder.

He followed her up the three terracotta steps outside the restaurant. “What time’s your shift over?”

“We stop seating at eleven-thirty, so maybe I’ll knock off around one o’clock.”

“In the morning? What the hell?” He covered his face with his hands.

Her snigger frazzled him. He glared at her obvious enjoyment of his confusion.

She held the door ajar with a manicured hand, the nails short and trimmed. “What, I’m not worth the wait? The way you were looking at me when you got out of the car, I could have sworn you thought otherwise.”

Her eyes sparkled with teasing mischief. He stared, entranced. She had been beautiful before, but now with her pink cheeks and that delectable mouth curved in a smirk, she bewitched him.

“That remains to be seen, Ms. Chang.”

Her smirk widened into a full-blown grin. “It’s Taka. I’m sure you remember that, Kevin. You might want to close your collar again. The hickey’s like, showing. Want all of downtown L.A. to guess how your night went?”

With a wink, she entered the restaurant. He raked a hand through his hair, adjusted the shirt collar for the last time and followed her inside.

DIY: Book Trailers for Authors on a Tight Budget

2011-06-28T11:57:00.007-04:00

Up to a year ago, if you had asked me whether I watch the clever book trailers that most authors were coming out with for their novels, I would have said, "What for?" A book and a short series of clips about events in the book – why is that necessary? Surely, the two couldn’t be more different. You can appreciate that I have these slightly naive moments and not hold that against me, right? Then, I started to think about the some of the best books I had read lately, and in particular, the comments I would make about them, like “I could really see that scene; the author paints great visuals with his words,” etc. For each of them, the author opened up my imagination, so that I could visualize the world of his or her characters on the page. When you can connect readers with your characters and portray a world so vivid that it’s so clear in the mind’s eye, you’re doing a great job as a writer.

Book trailers add another layer of marketing tools to your work, a means by which you can portray the most important events or a summary of the main conflict facing your characters AND hopefully, convince buyers to snag the book. Still, for a while, I was unconvinced that I should attempt one. After all, I didn’t know a thing at the time about getting the right images and music. I didn’t know what I wanted to convey in a trailer. That’s the hardest aspect of all. If you are unsure about the story elements you should focus on, look at your blurb or synopsis. What were the key themes you focused on? Before you begin the process, ask yourself, what’s this story about?

Once you’ve defined your focus, time to assemble everything you need. Do you want pictures or short clips? Voice narration or just text? What type of soundtrack, if any, would suit those elements? If you’re on a budget, you’ll have to choose very carefully. Also, think about the length of your trailer. The first one I did for On Falcon’s Wings was a whopping two minutes and forty-six seconds, which equals WAY TOO LONG! Think of your book trailer as performing the same function as your blurb or pitch: it needs to entice a reader, but it should also be also short . So, I learned something from the first trailer and have keep all subsequent ones to less than a minute and a half.

I’ve already shared with you my favorite photo / video sharing sites, for cheap and quick access to high quality images. Titling each visual works for me, though I have liked several trailers where the author or someone else narrates. If you have a microphone and recording software, you can do it. Let’s skip to soundtracks.

Music conveys the mood of your story and should complement the visuals. Have you written an upbeat chick-lit tale? Does your historical work feature an epic battle? A tragic love story? I’ve found two great sites for soundtracks that complement any book trailer. Pond5, where I obtained the music for Sultana’s book trailer, offers tracks from sale in every length and variety, from acoustic sounds to world music. Incompetech, which Gemi Sasson recommended, provides royalty-free music. I like this site in particular because you can search by mood; for those epic historical battles, try searching by Feel with the elements of Action and Intense.

Now that you’ve compiled your photos or videos, added the music and decided on the narration, how are you going to put everything together? I rely on Windows Movie Maker and Windows Live Movie Maker, software that comes pre-installed on most PCs. Simplest way to put everything together is to save the music, visuals and if you’re using it, narration, to one folder, ready for import.

I’m showing a much older version of Movie Maker here, but the process remains the same; grab your visuals in the order you want to display them. Next, add your music and/or narration. If the music is too long, you can trim it. You can add stylistic elements to your visuals and titles; do you want to zoom in on your hero’s face as he prepares to meet his adversary, showing the tired, sagging lines etched in his features and then fade to black? Do you want the title to remain stationary, or ease in and fade out? Have fun with the process, but don’t include every element.

Here are two examples of what I did with Movie Maker, with the trailer for Long Way Home, an upcoming contemporary novella, and Live Movie Maker, for Sultana’s Legacy. Both are somber stories, so I chose visuals (courtesy of Fotolia) and soundtracks (both from Incompetech) which would convey that mood.

After the compilation and editing are finished and you’re ready to debut your brand-new trailer, where can you go to upload? There are a variety of video sharing sites you can try. My personal favorites are YouTube and Vimeo. Have an author page on Facebook? Upload it there. Of course, you should have an author page at Amazon’s Author Central as well – you can showcase up to eight videos there. I believe you’re still limited to one upload at the UK and German Author Central sites. Are you a Goodreads author? Post your trailer there too.

And, if you’re like me, and still wondering whether all this effort is worth it, I know firsthand that it can be. Within the first week of my trailer for Sultana, which I posted on YouTube, someone left this comment: “I NEEEED THIS BOOK !!!” Which she promptly bought from Amazon. You never know who might discover your work and the mechanism that will lead them to it. In the competitive world of book publishing, book trailers can be one way to stand out.

“Amazon is full of crap!”

2011-06-24T23:02:00.003-04:00

The following post is likely going to piss off several people. Oh, well. I’ve pissed off people before. I don’t see any reason to stop now. It will also shock others. “Two blog posts in one day? Has Lisa gone mad?” No, but I am annoyed and confused.

The last two weeks have been saturated with news of how much PLR content, aka spam, dreck and hackneyed crap is now available for download through Amazon’s Kindle. Detractors of self-publishing LOVE this one. “See,” they say, “not only do readers have to sift through those poorly written / formatted shits masquerading as books. Now, they can’t even be sure that what they’re downloading is a book, and not some pirated novel, articles cobbled together or a phrase repeated 700 times.” This is prima facie evidence, some say, for why Amazon should charge self-publishing authors to upload their books. Cause, you know, it’s not like spammers who make millions of dollars can afford the $20 or $50 it might take to upload crap.

Well, in what I’m sure will come as groundbreaking news, Amazon has several ways to address this issue of crap on Kindle. I’ll start with the simple, if not obvious one. It’s called a sample. That’s right, ladies and gents, Amazon will let us try, or rather read, before we buy. Say I’m not sure if that ebook on managing or selling my timeshare will really give me some good information. I could download a sample. A-MAZING! I don’t know about anyone else, but if I download a sample that purports to be one topic, but clearly is another from the first or by the tenth page, I really don’t buy the whole book just to be certain.

But, if I buy an ebook on Amazon, there is a period in which I can request – wait for it, here it comes – a refund! Isn’t that just A-MAZING? If, for some asinine reason, I read the sample of that book on timeshares, found out it was about working as a maid in a timeshare instead and bought it anyway, I can ask for my money back. But there’s another argument often trotted at this point. It sounds a little something like, “Most of these crap books are 99 cents impulse buys! No one reads this stuff within a certain period and by the time they get to it, it’s too late for a refund!” I’m not going to quibble about 99 cents or 99 dollars. Dammit, if it’s my hard-earned money spent on crap, I want a refund! Here’s where I have to ask, though, who made me buy that book? Why did I get it without checking it out via a sample? Why was this festering turd on my Kindle for a year before I got to it? Um, no one is responsible for that except me. It sure as hell wasn’t Amazon’s fault.

Dear Reader, this is the part where I’m really going to fuck with people’s heads. Ready for it? Here I go: TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY WHEN YOU SPEND YOUR HARD-EARNED MONEY. Whether you’re plunking down 99 cents or dollars, don’t buy fucked up shit on Kindle and complain, when you could have avoided it by sampling. By reading reviews. By asking other readers, “Do you know if that book on timeshares is really what it says it is?” We solicit the views and read the reviews of major appliances before we buy them, right? Why does a 99 cent price point absolve us of checking something out?

Lastly, I’m sorry, but I just don’t get some of the analogies that refer to this Kindle stuff as spam. Here’s my definition of spam – it comes into my inbox, telling me how I can enlarge my penis (because I must be a freaking hermaphrodite or something) and forces me to give it some attention. Either, I have to manually delete or provide examples to my lovely (!) SpamBayes program on how to recognize junk for the junk folder. If you have a Kindle that actually shows you the crap on Amazon AND makes you delete the view from your device, can you tell me which model you have, so I don’t get that one for my nephew as a graduation present? Seriously, have they invented a Kindle that shows you crap you don’t want to buy? So loved the old method of going online and searching for what I wanted, sampling it and buying. I wish they had just stuck with that.

Here’s where the other argument comes in about wading through crap. Again, ever seen the Search and Filter by Relevance features on Amazon? STUPENDOUS! (Figured you were probably tired of A-MAZING). You can search for the type of book you want and filter the results by their relevance. Don’t know if the books you find will be any good? Re-read that paragraph above about sampling.

They say don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Since Amazon helps me earn snack money every day, I suppose that should apply to me. But, as I’ve already pissed off some, let me just add that I don’t think everything Amazon does is right either. Great, now I’ve pissed off Amazon too. Where there is outright piracy and fraud, yes, they should move much faster to prevent it. Ever heard of software that detects plagiarism? It exists. However, in this instance, please do not try to convince me that this is Amazon’s fault for not policing their site. I refuse as a reader and book buyer to put all the responsibility on Amazon to make sure that I spend my hard-earned money wisely. I have a brain and use it to make intelligent decisions on what I buy. Amazon certainly isn't shoving crap books on to my Kindle and stealing my hard-earned money.

As for how PLR content is any reason why self-publishing needs to go away, I'm still scratching my damn head about the logic. Sorry folks, but the self-pubbers, like me, are here and we’re here to stay. Get used to us.

"I will stop reading reviews of my books!"

2011-06-24T13:07:00.001-04:00

He probably just read a review of his book.

This morning, a darling friend of mine emailed and mentioned she'd received her first poor review. Apparently, the reviewer must be used to those kick-ass Victorian heroines, who somehow manage to kick all those asses while wearing dresses with bustles, rather than the sedate, much more historically accurate girls of the period, who never kicked anyone's ass for fear of being disinherited and ostracized. So, when I reply to my best bud at lunch, I'm going to say this, "Don't read reviews. They are not for you. They are to inform potential buyers and readers. Ignore the reviews. Stop it. I said, stop it!"

Why? For the same reason that I seem to keep forgetting - reviews will vary, because every reader has a different taste and expectation. I know this. My Amazon freebie of On Falcon's Wings is still going on - I think / hope the price should change next week back to $2.99, now that all the other sites have also reverted back to that price (except Kobo - waiting on YOU). Thousands of downloads later, I'm getting in some reviews from 1-star ("too many characters") to 5-stars ("lots of characters, but the reader kept it all straight"). See why I shouldn't be looking at reviews - who's right here? Yet, each time a new review is posted, my heart skips a little beat and my thoughts do a little sing-song, "A new review? Let's go see!"

No, let's not. Let's just get on with the business of writing the next book and making it even better. That's my goal and I'm sticking to it.

Making the Connections - Characterization

2011-06-20T14:20:00.010-04:00

I just completed tweaking the novella that I'm writing under a pen name, and sent it off to an editor in the hopes that a small publisher will accept it. My heroine’s not a pirate, but she sure curses like one. Writing a contemporary has been so freeing! I explained to one of my best writing buds, as much as I love historical fiction and will continue in that genre, I just wanted to write freely in this instance. To put aside a typical year's worth of research into the past and just focus on the writing instead. The approach didn't necessarily make my task any easier. I still had to look up pop culture way back in the 1990's, from music, movies and fashion trends to the dynamics of highway traffic accidents and plane crashes. Did I mention this novella wouldn’t have a happy conclusion? So sad.

The one aspect that is universal to anything I write is how much time I spend crafting characters. It took me several years to understand the concept of show vs. tell, especially when it comes to characterization. It's deeper than, "Don't tell us your protagonist, Jane Doe is a divorcee who's getting older. Show us." It's more than Jane's rheumy eyes, her gnarled hands cramping and shaking as she gropes for the pill bottle on the nightstand, while she lies alone at night in her bed. It's about getting a reader to make a deep connection with Jane, to care about what happens to her.

How many times have you read a book, where you just couldn't connect with the main character? Whether he or she was too perfect, too pathetic, something about this character just felt unreal. I’ll bet you may not remember the entire plot of some of your favorite novels, but something about the story stood out. Typically, that something is a character. How many of you writers have slaved over getting the characteristics of your protagonists and villains just right? Do you ever ask yourself why you go to the trouble? For the same reason that I do - to make your characters true to life, as flesh and blood as you are, with faults and foibles to spare. No protagonist should be too perfect. If he or she can always save the day and do just the right thing without any consequences, I have to ask, where’s the conflict? Why should I stay tuned to find out if Mr. Perfect Hero really will get the vaccine from the villain’s HQ in time to save the dying villagers? I already know he’s going to do it, if the writer has painted him as someone who can do no wrong. We're not perfect. Why should our characters be?

I've heard of lots of different approaches to crafting characters. One method I've come to rely on is a character sketch. First, I summarize a character in one or two lines, to define their basic personality. Then I go beyond the physical descriptions of the characters (so that black hair doesn't suddenly turn brown with highlights; I've done that before!), to refine their personalities. I keep a table in Access with answers to questions like, “Most painful childhood memory?” or “Does he or she like children? Why or why not?” and, most important in my mind, “How does he or she deal with change?” Change is a vital aspect to building up a strong character, showing how a person grows (or not) by altering their circumstances.

Once I have answered the questions, it’s easier to think about what will happen scene by scene, and how my characters will deal with the events that transpire. I look to see how much havoc I can wreak in my characters’ lives, and ways in which they can, or perhaps can’t, work themselves out of trouble. Sometimes they just don’t make it. I did mention there’s no HEA in that novella, right? Don’t crucify me by calling it a love story gone wrong! I warned you.

With Edric, my hero in On Falcon’s Wings, he’s best summed up as a Saxon lord’s son, living in the shadow of everyone else’s expectations, until a forbidden love affair challenges him to find his own happiness. The first third of the book shows Edric under his father’s thumb, then under the sway of his lord, Harold Godwinson. It’s only in the latter third of the book that Edric comes into his own, and fights for his family and future at the Battle of Hastings. Fatima, my heroine in Sultana and Sultana’s Legacy is devoted to her family. Bitter rivalries among its members force her to make the wrong choices, for all the right reasons. She remains one of my favorite protagonists and I loved writing about her, because she is so incredibly flawed. She loves her family to the point where she will do anything, even murder innocents, to protect them. Part of creating memorable characters is showing them at their best and worst.

Tell me about some of your favorite characters. Why did they resonate with you? Also, if you’re a writer, how do you create a memorable character?

#SampleSunday: Father's Day Edition

2011-06-19T12:12:00.000-04:00

Chapter 1

Fathers and Sons

Prince Faraj

Tarif, al-Andalus: Dhu al-Qa`da 693 AH (Tarifa, Andalusia: October AD 1294)

Faraj stood again with Muhammad and Khalid at either side of him. The sun blazed across the sky, beating down upon their heads mercilessly. He longed for the evening, when the sky in its myriad colors ranged above. However, today he felt hollow and suspected the view would not provide the same enjoyment as it had in the past.

An abrupt silence descended. Even the winds had calmed, leaving the air brittle and heavy. Doñ Alonso returned to the battlements. He strode toward the wall, with his men at-arms following him. Faraj’s gaze swayed to the tower window to the right where his woman stood. Her sharp nails gripped the ledge. She stared down at the child and waited to hear the fate of her eldest son, along with everyone else.

Suddenly, a fierce coastal breeze reared up again, whipping about Doñ Alonso’s short, red cloak. His gaze resolute on the boy below him, he withdrew a dagger from his belt, its handle covered with spinel and bloodstone. Faraj knew Christians believed gemstones carried certain properties offering aid to the bearer. Spinel was for improving character and, bloodstone, a form of jasper, for strengthening the will. The edge of the dagger caught the glow of the setting sun. Prisms of light danced across the blade.

Doñ Alonso began, “Fernan Alonso de Guzman y Coronel is my firstborn son. No father ever felt so much pride in his offspring as I did, when first I beheld him on the day of his birth. No father has ever felt the satisfaction in a son as I feel today. Now, Prince Juan would have me choose between the pride of my heart and the honor of my family. I did not father a son to be a pawn against the country I love and the land I call my own. I fathered a son who, in my stead, might have one day fought against the enemies of Castilla-Leon, be they Moorish or Christian.

“Prince Juan has by his actions, by his treason, made himself an enemy of Castilla-Leon. I shall never yield Tarif or betray the mantle of trust that King Sancho has placed upon me, not even to save my own son. If this rebel prince, who is little more than a dog, should put my son to death, he shall affirm my honor as the loyal defender of his sovereign lord, King Sancho. He shall ensure my son’s place in heaven as a martyr of the Christian faith, who died doing his duty before a faithless lord. He calls down eternal shame on himself in this world and the everlasting wrath of Christ Jesus after death. If Prince Juan wants to test my resolve, if he needs a weapon with which to murder my son, he may have my blade for his cruel purpose!”

Doñ Alonso flung his dagger down over the wall. The weapon spiraled before it landed with a heavy thud, a short distance from where the Prince sat mounted. Doñ Alonso nodded to his weeping son, bowed his head and turned away.

His shoulders were stiff, as he strode across the battlements. His steps never faltered. As one, those who ringed the ramparts bowed their heads as he passed them.

Faraj did the same to honor the noble but tragic sacrifice their adversary had chosen. His heart tore inside his breast for his enemy’s sake.

Prince Juan leapt down from his horse and now brandished Doñ Alonso’s dagger. He dragged the kicking and squealing child against him and forced his head back, exposing his tender neck. With a snarl directed toward the battlements, he pressed the glittering blade against the pale flesh. Tears flooded the boy’s face. In a swift motion, Prince Juan sliced a deep cut from ear to ear. Blood sprayed in a ruby-red arc out across the glittering sand. Shouts of dismay and horror flowed from those assembled on the citadel walls.

As the viscous redness gurgled and spilled down the dying child’s throat, he sagged against his captor. Prince Juan pushed him forward into the sand. The mutilated child fell at the feet of the horse. The stallion nickered and sidestepped the body. A viscid line of red ran from the dead boy’s throat and pooled on the sand beneath his nearly severed neck. The Castillan Prince tucked the Doñ Alonso’s dagger in his belt, still stained with blood and wheeled his horse around, dragging the lifeless body behind him.

No one within the Marinid encampment spoke. Some turned their faces away from Prince Juan, who stared straight ahead. Even the wind stilled completely.

Faraj sought out Doñ Alonso again. He had halted at a doorway though he did not turn around. Someone gripped his arm and spoke with him. Doñ Alonso’s shoulders slumped for a moment and he bowed his head. Then he nodded and re-entered the citadel. He never looked upon the grisly trail leading across the white sand.

Faraj whispered, “As a father of two sons whom I love dearly, I shall honor this sacrifice. I cannot taint this battlefield with the blood of our enemy now that his child’s life has been stolen in such a way.”

Chapter 9

The Union

Princess Fatima

(Malaka, al-Andalus: Rajab 701 AH (Malaga, Andalusia: March 1302 CE)

“Fatima?”

Her father’s voice beckoned and she stepped into the light. “I did not mean to intrude upon you and my husband.”

“You could never be an intrusion,” he said, holding out his hand. She rushed to his side and laced her fingers with his. His hand shook in her hold.

“Are you well, Father?” She studied the fine lines etched in his forehead.

He nodded. “I am overcome by the joy of this occasion. If you have a moment before you return to the wedding guests, may we speak in private?”

“As you command, Father.” She glanced at Faraj.

He bowed at the waist and then grinned at the Sultan. “I pray you may come to us again in the spring, when the Wadi al-Madina shall flow. The hunting shall be good at that time of year.”

Father said, “I look forward to it. Tell my grandsons I shall see them in the spring.”

Faraj nodded and pressed a hand to Fatima’s shoulder. She squeezed it and smiled at him, before he left them.

She slid her arms around her father’s waist and pressed her cheek against his barrel chest. “It’s so good to have you here, for Leila’s sake. You have honored our daughter on her wedding day, with your gifts and your blessing.”

“If only I might have done more, when she was a child. Now she is a woman and one day, she shall have children of her own. I have not spent enough time with my grandchildren. I should have known her, them, much better than I do.”

“It is the burden of your power. You shall always be my father and the grandfather of my children. But foremost, you are Sultan of Gharnatah. You belong to your people, not to us. It has always been so. I knew how it would be from the moment you ascended the throne. It has never diminished the love in my heart, the honor with which I revere you, as my father and lord of my life.”

He sighed. “I have not always deserved your love and respect. I feared I might not be welcome here today, after all the things I have said and done to your husband. To you.”

“Father, that is all in the past. You and Faraj have forgiven each other. My heart is whole again, not torn between the love that I would bear a father and a husband, once at war with each other.”

“I have made many mistakes in these long years. Things I must undo. It is part of why I came to you and Faraj, to seek your forgiveness.”

“You have it, oh, Father, you shall always have it!”

She hugged him again. His frailty shocked her, bones and sinew knitted together in a wiry frame that was half his normal size. How did he possess the strength to stand?

She drew back and searched his gaze. “Something more than the troubles between you and my husband, more than Leila’s union has drawn you to Malaka. Father, what is the matter?”

His long sigh confirmed the suspicions that had dogged her since his unexpected arrival at the wedding.

She maneuvered him to the carved stone bench on the belvedere. When he settled on the seat with a groan, she sat and took his hand. He held her fingers in a shaky grasp and looked out on the water. Sunlight shimmered in the depths of the White Sea. Birds whirled and circled against the blue backdrop and wisps of clouds.

“Fatima, have you ever slept for so long that when you awoke, it seemed you had been slumbering for years?”

When she shook her head, her father continued. “I have lingered in a haze of dreaming. I am awake now. My eyes are open. I see the world as it truly is. I see my son Muhammad for what he truly is.”

Her heart pitched with fear for what her brother might have done and in heartbreak, for whatever painful discovery her father might have made about Muhammad.

He squeezed her fingers, with some effort and cupped her chin with his free hand. “I want you to know, you were right to caution me in the past about your brother. I indulged him too much. If he is deceitful, it is because I have failed him as a father, as I failed you.”

“No, no, you have never failed me!”

“Fatima, hear me in this. I should have trusted in you and your instincts about your brother. You have never led me astray before. But I needed you to know that you were right. Now, I pray Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, may continue to bless you with the knowledge I did not possess. Be strong, my daughter, in the days of trial to come. Have the courage to see your loved ones as they are, not as you would wish them to be. Wisdom and strength are all I possess at the end of my days.”

“Father, what are you saying? You’re not dying, you can’t die now, not when we….”

“Hush, child and listen well. This is my last and best legacy, which I bequeath to you. Promise me, you shall hold fast to it, no matter what may come.”

She blinked hard against her tears and embraced him once more. She buried her tears in his familiar comfort.

“To the end and with my last breath, I shall honor you always, Father.”

New Voices: Steve Drennon

2011-06-17T09:30:00.004-04:00

Author Steve Drennon

Where does inspiration come from? For me, it was my 16 year old daughter. Last year she was helping me clean out the garage and sorting through some old stuff. I’ve always been something of a pack rat, but from time to time I’ll decide it’s time to toss some of the old memories.

As we were going from box to box, my daughter came across one that I hadn’t seen or opened in many years. When she looked inside she found a stack of neatly typed pages wrapped in an old newspaper. This was the only remaining copy of a manuscript I had tried to shop around over twenty years ago. The story was a fantasy, complete with wizards and warriors and demons and such, and when she asked if she could read it, I said of course!

Over the next week or so, I’d see her sitting in her room, flipping through the pages, but I resisted the temptation to ask her what she thought of it. I was just thrilled that she was actually reading it! So, I kept my distance and waited to see if she would come to me with any opinions on it, and eventually she did.

After she finished reading the entire book, she came and asked me why I had never bothered publishing it. I tried explaining that I had sent it out to several publishers, and at one time there were a couple who actually showed some interest. However, after following their suggestions and doing a couple of rewrites, I had eventually grown weary of the process and gave up on it. She told me that was too bad, because she thought it was a really great book!

Even if I had never sold a copy of that book, just hearing her say that made me more proud than I had felt in a very long time! A couple of months later I started reading about this self-publishing craze and how simple it was to get your book published as an e-book. I started researching it, and then after a couple more months, I decided to do one last rewrite on the book before publishing it myself.

Since then, I’ve sold over a hundred copies, and I discovered that I had the desire to write again. For the first time in many years, I found myself working on a new book, and just this past week I published my second fantasy novel!

However, the best part of this story is the impact it had on my daughter. Shortly after I started rewriting my first book, she decided she was going to write a book based on a story idea she had! I’ve had the opportunity to read parts of it, and it’s really quite good! My daughter is now 17, and within the next couple of months, she will become a published author as well, and I think that will be one of the proudest days of my life!

Thank you, Steve, for being such a supportive friend to other writers. Lean more about Steve's poetry and fantasy fiction at his website and follow him on Twitter, @sdrennon!

Resources: Stock Photos

2011-06-15T21:14:00.003-04:00

As a blogger and a writer, and in general, one of those picky people who has very precise ideas in mind of the images I want to associate with my content, I literally can and do spend hours scouring photo-sharing sites. Like I really need to add something else to my busy day.

Recently, I had a generous 30-day trial of a photo-sharing site, Fotolia US, a site I've used before. I have had the Fotolia desktop application installed since last year, and obtained one or two images for the trailer of On Falcon’s Wings, which I ultimately did not end up using in the final version. With the premium subscription, I saw a full-range of the offerings. The site offered a wide variety of high-quality images to suit my needs. Every image had great resolution, and was easy to download and use for a variety of projects, including some new stock images for this blog. In particular, the search function works really well. I tend to concentrate on images of people in my searches, with certain keywords. No matter how obscure my term, I usually found most of what I was looking for. When I had purchased images in the past, I liked the flexibility of being able to purchase the number of credits I wanted for their total value. Overall, for the quality and volume of images, I liked Fotolia.

Another site I have visited regularly for downloads is Dreamstime. It is where I obtained the rest of images in the trailer for On Falcon’s Wings, as well as all the stock photos in Sultana. I know I will be back to Dreamstime and Fotolia for Sultana’s Legacy and future projects, particularly for the pricing. Both have comparable pricing, but I remember Dreamstime as having a certain minimum credit purchase with their flexible buying package. I did not have that experience with Fotolia. Both sites offer somewhat similar images, but when I was looking for several images of the model featured in Sultana’s book trailer, I found more stock photos of her through Dreamstime, than when I searched on Fotolia. I have yet to find a "one-stop" solution for all my imaging needs.

What I wish I could find more of all these sites? Photos of people in medieval or ancient costume. Since I am writing about both periods and could always use models depicting certain periods in costume. Yet, sometimes medieval gets lumped in with Renaissance, vampires and most annoying of all, chicks with swords. The women I write about are tough enough to wield weapons, but none of them carries swords. Wish there was a way to weed that stuff out in my searches.

Of course, there are other more popular sharing sites. I have also purchased from iStockphoto, and still have two credits waiting for use – do you know of anything that I can buy from that site with just two credits? I bet you can’t come up with something and here’s why. In a comparison of Fotolia, Dreamstime and iStock, the latter is definitely out of my price range. It does offer great images and video, but a bit too expensive for my pockets.

When you need stock photos and images, where do you go? Are there any other sites you would recommend? Share, because you know I am always on the lookout….

#SampleSunday: The Rule of Love, Chap. 5

2011-06-12T11:00:00.007-04:00

Chapter Five: At the Courtesan’s Pleasure

Kausambi, India – Late Summer

In the Reign of Kumara Gupta I (5^th century CE)

The strains of a flute followed Chandi, as she led Nandika toward her chamber. Her fingers interlaced with his, they strolled and shared a silent smile. Anticipation shone in his gleaming eyes, yet his countenance wavered as they approached the door.

She paused just outside the curtain and cupped his cheek. The prickly hairs in his beard tickled her palm.

“You are pensive now. Share your thoughts with me.”

He leaned into her hand and kissed the skin. Her stomach clenched in response.

“My jewel, my thoughts are only of you, and the delights to come.”

Suppressing her shudder, she laughed instead. “You forget that I know you as my own heart. We’ve known each other since we were children.”

He reached for her cheek. His finger caressed her flesh, his thumb sweeping across the curve of her lower lip. A ragged breath escaped her when their gazes met and held.

“Goddess, you’ve always known my thoughts without asking. I have never had to say the words. You know what I want, now.”

She looked away, but he framed her face in both his hands. Passionate warmth radiated from his touch. She trembled under the intense scrutiny of his darkened gaze, where passion and yearning swirled. Until now, his desires had never frightened her. She swayed against him.

“I pray, Nandika, do not speak its name.”

His grip tightened. “Why? When it is what we both want?”

Lightheaded, she willed strength into her quaking limbs. Her lips clamped together, she fought against the urge coiling through her belly, demanding her surrender. She would never allow another man such control. Not again.

She pushed her shoulders back, tossed her hair and returned his probing gaze. “And your wives? Would they look upon our arrangement with satisfaction? You have never been a selfish man. Will you begin now?”

A heavy sigh whistled through his lips. His hands dropped at his side and his gaze fell away.

Her heart damned for her a fool, pounded a tattoo of bitter resentment and regret. His obvious hurt pained her, but she could not risk the mistakes of the past. A painful lesson left its mark, cutting so deep that not even the balm of his love could soothe the old wound.

Still, she wound her arms around his neck, soothed his slumped shoulders and cradled his neck. For a moment, he froze. Then his hands grasped her about the waist, though he kept his eyes averted. On tiptoe, she kissed his cheeks and forehead, her body pressed against his. She nuzzled his beard, inhaling the scent of sesame oil coating the dark hairs. The sounds of the musicians on the veranda faded. Muscles tensed beneath the caress of his hands. She explored the contours of his nut-brown skin, nails raking down his arms. With a ragged groan, he pulled her tighter. He met her stare.

“A fool can hope. If that is all I have, then it must be enough.”

She hushed him. “Tonight, you have me. I am yours.”

Smooth and supple, his lips parted. She pressed her mouth against his, their breaths commingled. The taste of mango and cinnamon on his tongue, he pressed her against him. The power of his ardor made desire leap in her belly. She clung to him, as though this embrace might be their last. Soon, it would be. Then she pulled away. He leaned into her again, but she laid a firm hand over his throbbing heart.

“Come with me.”

She led him into her chamber, crushing patchouli beneath her feet. They entered the bedroom, where the lone lamp on a small table by the bed banished the rest of the room into shadows. She glanced at the lacquered screen directly across from her bed, and then settled herself on the pillows arranged on the floor, Nandika reclining at her side. Offering him a smile, she clapped her hands twice.

At the sound of a drum echoing from the veranda next door, Samavati appeared, framed in the doorway leading to Chandi’s balcony. She bent at the waist, a fringe of black hair falling over her eyes. Chandi smiled at Nandika, who returned the gesture before he leaned forward, his gaze intent on the younger courtesan.

Samavati raised her hands in the invocation to the gods that begun the kathak dance. The drums continued in a slow rhythm, mimicked by her movements. As she moved, Chandi often turned her attention from Samavati toward Nandika. At times, he caught her gaze and flushed, as though embarrassed. Still, he could not keep his eyes from the entertainment for long.

When the tempo of the drums increased, Samavati twirled on her heel in a spin, winding faster and faster. The long braid spun in an arc. Flushed, her golden skin a glimmer of perfection in the lamplight, ragged breaths tore from her lungs. When she finished, Nandika roared his approval.

Samavati bowed. “Thank you, Master.”

“You have a rare talent, one hardly seen in one so young,” he replied.

She glanced at Chandi. “I’m not so young, but thank you for the compliment, Master.”

“You deserve better tokens of my praise.”

Nandika removed one of the bracelets on his wrist, gold inlaid with lapis lazuli. He held out his hand. Chandi recognized his approval, curiosity, and desire. For a brief moment, she pursed her lips and tossed her hair, but when Nandika looked at her, she pushed aside the flare of jealousy.

“Would you like Samavati to remain with us, my lord?”

He swallowed and rubbed the back of his neck, before turning away. She leaned toward him, took his hand in hers. She waited in silence until his sheepish expression returned to hers.

“I would like that. Would you allow it?”

“Do you need my permission?” She smiled, intent on reassuring him, although her heart thrummed inside her chest.

He shook his head and gestured for Samavati.

The courtesan’s eyes widened. She drew a deep breath and licked her lips. The lamplight revealed her watering eyes and pinched lips. Her pain-filled expression found Chandi, who patted Nandika’s arm. He turned toward her again, a question in his gaze.

“Forgive us, the offense is mine. I should have explained. Samavati would prefer another’s touch, a woman’s own to be precise.”

His eyebrows flared for a moment. Then he settled back against the pillows. A lazy smile curved the corners of his lips.

“I can deny you nothing.” He paused and turned the pleasant expression of his face on Samavati, “not even her. If it is your pleasure, it shall be mine.”

New Voices: Anita Davison

2011-06-10T09:00:00.010-04:00

Author Anita Davison

Born and raised in London, the city’s colourful history has always influenced Anita Davison’s writing, even when it was stories scribbled in lined exercise books. Having lived all over the UK and parts of Europe, the author of Trencarrow Secret is now back in her home city where she immerses herself in writing about the 17^th Century.

Trencarrow Secret

Isabel Hart is afraid of two things, the maze at Trencarrow where she got lost as a young child, and the lake where her brother David saved her from drowning in a boating accident.

Interview with David Hart

I appreciate your showing up for this interview, David.

You’re welcome, and why wouldn’t I turn up? I’m usually close by whenever I’m needed.

Perhaps, but you have the reputation of being somewhat elusive.

[Blinks] Really? I wasn’t aware of that. I admit time is a concept I don’t have a firm grasp of, and I like my own company. I tend to hang around down by the lake. I have some sort of connection with the water and like to sit looking at it for hours at a time.

And the boathouse I believe? Isabel tells me you prefer to stay there during your summers in Cornwall rather than the main house.

[Shrugs] Nothing wrong with craving a little privacy is there? I brought some chums from school down one year and we had a grand time, swimming at night and holding supper parties in the boathouse. I suppose the main house with its rigid timetable lost its appeal after that. Besides, no one bothered me at the boathouse unless I invited them. That suited me very well, so I continued the habit.

Doesn’t Isabel miss you?

Why should she? I’m always close by whenever Izzy needs me. She’s a shy, insecure girl and has needed me quite a lot recently. Ever since......

The accident on the lake?

[Narrows his eyes] I realise you need to delve into our lives, but I’ll offer a word of warning. No one in the family talks about that day Isabel almost drowned. The poor girl had nightmares for weeks and even now she keeps well away from the water. I tend to meet her over by that old oak where the bench is. Somehow the lake still upsets her. She won’t discuss it, even with me.

But you saved her life, surely you have discussed that day with her?

Not really. She mentions how it felt sometimes, to be dragged down by weeds and to see the sky through deep green water but not be able to reach it, while her lungs felt as if they were bursting. Pretty horrific for her I’d say. She always starts to shake at that point so I change the subject. Why upset her?

She’s almost twenty-one now. Don’t you feel that she’s over protected because of something that happened four years ago?

[Rolls eyes] Time means little when something like that happens. Has it really been four years? I had almost forgotten that myself. Perhaps I should remind her she has her whole life to live and can’t live in the past.

How do you feel about her becoming engaged to Jared Winters?
[Sniffs] I don't like it at all actually. Jared isn’t right for her, but I can’t simply go up to her and order her not to marry him. She thinks she’s doing what Ma and Pa want.

And is she? Doing what her parents want?

[Stares off across the lake] Pa certainly. He pays attention to all that social status and marrying the right kind to keep family assets intact sort of thing. Ma is more concerned about Isabel’s happiness. I had a word with her actually about this very subject.

Does your mother intend to do something about it?

[Face lights up] Oh, yes. But Ma is very ill you know, and Isabel hasn’t been told. Ridiculous if you ask me, she isn’t a child. However, Pa says he wants to wait until the time is right. I’m more practical and if it were up to me I’d come right out with it. And actually, Ma and I have something up our sleeves concerning Isabel.

What do you mean?
Well, Ma has invited a charming young man to spend the summer at Trencarrow. Chap called Lord Strachan. I doubt it’s a plot to match make or anything like that, but who knows? She thinks that if Isabel is made to realise there are other attractive, eligible young men willing to pay her some attention, she will decide for herself that she doesn’t have to do what she thinks is expected of her all the time.

Suppose this young man doesn’t take to Isabel?
Hah! How could he not? Isabels’ quite the most lovely thing I have ever seen, and that’s quite an admission coming from her brother. She’s built like a racehorse, all red gold mane and long, graceful limbs which make her look as if she glides rather than walks. She has a kind heart and the sweetest disposition too, which would be entirely wasted on Jared. I only hope she finds out before it’s too late.

Weren’t you once engaged to Jared’s sister, Evaline Winters?
[Nerve jumps beside his mouth and he looks away] How did you find that out? Oh well, no matter. It’s true. We were very young and Evaline would sneak off and meet me at the boathouse. Young love is very strong and all that. I doubt we would have made it official at all if my father hadn’t found us. Before I knew it, there was an announcement in The Times. Evaline was thrilled of course, engaged at sixteen seems to be something girls in our circle go for. Heady stuff for a seventeen-year- old – and I’m talking about myself!

So what happened – because you didn’t marry Evaline?

[Inhales through pursed lips] I fluffed it I’m afraid. Acted like a complete idiot and during a raucous night out at the theatre in London with some school friends, I took up with some actress from the show. Can’t even remember her name now.

Evaline found out and broke off the engagement. Broke her heart apparently, not that I fully appreciated that at the time. Too busy thanking my lucky stars for my escape. [Sighs] I wonder sometimes that I may have been to rash and imagine what being married to her would have been like. Quite agreeable I should think, she’s quite a character. Too late now though.

Tell me more about yours and your mother’s plans for Isabel?
Ma knows she’s dying, and she’s determined to tell Isabel the truth about her and Pa’s marriage, how it affected her life and that she wants more for Izzy. She’ll pick her moment and when she does, it will be perfect. Ma’s shrewd like that. She may look like a fragile iris whose neck can barely support her head, but she’s cleverer that Pa at times, and persistent. She’ll put Izzy right, you’ll see.

You could help do that too. Isabel listens to you doesn’t she?
[Frowns] Yes, she does. We’ve always been close. Maybe I’ll put an odd word into her ear too. Let her know she has alternatives no one will hold against her. I would hate to see Izzy trapped in a cold marriage with a bounder like Winters. He’s young and brash, and casual about other people’s feelings. There’s a cruel streak in him too, and I doubt he’ll treat her with the delicacy she needs. He’ll trample over her emotions and disappoint her.

You’ll have to pick your moment too won’t you?

[Laughs] indeed I will or Izzy won’t thank me for meddling. She won’t like it that we’ve been keeping secrets from her either, but I’ll have to face that one.

Thank you for talking to me, David. I do hope you can help make Isabel see things more clearly.

I’m confident I will. [Sniffs the air] Summer’s coming, I can feel it. May it be a good one this year.

Learn more about the enigmatic David Hart in Anita Davison's Trencarrow Secret, available now from MuseItUp Publishing, Smashwords and Amazon for Kindle.