Monthly Archives: January 2012

Calling All Fangs

By J. F. Lewis

If you have been paying even a little bit of attention to my various feeds, you know that BURNED: A VOID CITY NOVEL is out today. And today or at least this week is when I need you to buy it. On previous book releases, I’ve kind of been a bit subtle. I snuck around to various bookstores (both the indies and the big guys) and stealth signed all the copies they had in stock. I have never been that comfortable with saying, “My books are awesome and funny and sweet and twisted. If you love them, buy ten copies each and pass them out to your friends.” I still don’t like to refer to my Facebook Fan Page as a “Fan Page”, though I’ve started to do so, because calling it a Reader Page was confusing people.

But the market is changing. And only the writers with die hard fans are surviving. I’m not good at blogging about every clever thing under the sun and making the every day seem magical. I do it when I can. Whether it’s talking about how The Elder Son complained about the turkey I’d packed for his lunch being the most horrible turkey he’d ever tasted. (It was roast beef.) Or posting parody lyrics of “(Meet) The Flintstones”.

What I do best on the writing front, however, is not the self-promotion part. It’s the writing part. I have no interest in talking about my politics or religion, beyond the ideas of everyone being fair and nice to each other. And okay, I wouldn’t shut up about getting excommunicated, but for the most part when I have the urge to write, it’s a novel or a short story that I start turning out. As a result, I need your help. 

If you love Void City and want to see what other quirky little worlds are inside my head, then buy my books and when you’ve purchased them and read them and enjoyed them, then spread the word. Review them anywhere you are comfortable doing so. If you can’t review them or are afraid to do so, then log onto Goodreads or iTunes or Barnes & Noble or anywhere else and give them five stars or “like” them or tag them or all of the above. 

Here’s why: last year, around October, the reading public in the U.S. lost a lot of brick and mortar stores and it looks like we are going to lose more. When that happened and every time that happens, physical book sales are taking a huge hit and it isn’t all being transferred online or to eReaders. Some of those sales simply vanish. Books that people would have purchased had they seen them in the mall just don’t happen, because those stores aren’t there anymore. 

So if readers want to make sure they get the next book by their favorite authors who aren’t always on the bestsellers lists (and even the ones who are), they are going to have to do their best to put their favrorite author on those lists and keep them there, to go beyond buying the book the day it comes out, but to making websites, or funny videos, or posting with obnoxious repetition on Facebook and Twitter, or buying copies of books they’ve already read and loved and passing them on to friends they think would enjoy the books, too, or even by simply making sure everyone they know understands how much they love the books they love. 

 And that’s not just my books. If you love Kelly Meding, Adrian Phoenix, Jennifer Estep, or any other author with a book out today, then let the word ring out. If you love Mark Hodder’s awesome Burton & Swinburne series (which came out last week), buy your copies now or as soon as you can. And if you can’t afford a book, then go to your local library and place it on hold or request it. But spread the word or the words you crave may stop flowing.

(Cross posted everywhere I have posting rights, because it’s THAT important.)

 

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Paranormally Speaking

By Tina R. McSwain

New Year’s Resolutions

Did you make any?  Have you kept them?  If not, here’s one to consider for 2012.  How about attending a Con if you have never done so. 

There is a good website called Southern Fandom which lists Cons all across the United States.  See what is coming up in you area.  You may even find that Gail Z. Martin, J. F. Lewis, and/or Crymsyn Hart just may be attending.  Come on out and meet them!

As for me, Tina R. McSwain, and CAPS – The Charlotte Area Paranormal Society, we’ll be appearing at StellarCon, ConCarolinas, and the grand daddy of them all, Dragon Con!!

Hope to see you around the Con!

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What’s Your Story?

By
Crymsyn Hart
What is it about the past that fascinates us? Is it imagining what a time was like or how a person lived back hundreds or thousands of years ago? Maybe it’s because as humans we are drawn to know where have come from. Or maybe it’s a way for us to escape the reality of our lives and imagine ourselves living the life that person lived. Or maybe when we think about them, we like to put a different spin on what their lives had been like. Think of the greats of history: Cleopatra, Caesar, the great Egyptian Pharaohs and so many more that stories have been written about.  So many tales have been penned shifting the facts around to suit an author’s imagination. I don’t know how many times I have read a story where Cleopatra ended up being a vampire.  And we all know the story of the mummy who came back to life set off by an evil curse because the archeologist descended into the tomb when the curse was clearly started above the entrance to the tomb.
What enthralls me about the past is the idea that there are so many things we don’t know.  Take Easter Island for example. The giant statues on the island are amazing, but we may never completely know the mystery behind them. Or the secrets of an ancient mummy sitting in a museum that travels all over the country.
Today I went to a mummy exhibit and even though modern technology has been applied to the mummies to identity what sex they are or if they died from a disease, there are some that those enigmas can never be solved. So it got me to thinking, what was there story? But then again, it’s like everyone else I meet on the street as well as in the past. What is their story?
I might never know, but my brain begins concocting worlds around the people, past and present. And poof, a character appears. And then I ask, what is your story?
Do you wonder what mine is?

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The Doom That Came to Underpants

By J. F. Lewis

 

So, the title of this blog (inspired by the title of a H.P Lovecraft short story) really doesn’t mean anything. It does however make me smile and, to a certain extent, that is what writing is all about. A writer entertain’s themselves first and hopes their audience will come along for the ride. Or (and I should point out that this sentence is a fragment) that there will be an audience. Which is a scary prospect and if you’ve ever turned in a homework assignment or a report or business case and really hoped that your teacher or boss would be pleased…

 

Well, multiply that by a thousand or so and you might approach the insecurity level of some writers. We are such strange animals. Many of us are shy and reclusive, yet we also want people (millions of people, if we’re honest) to read, enjoy, and care about what we have to say. And some of us are better than others at making that happen.

 

Some writers are bloggers, Twitterers, Facebookers, etc and do well at all of it in a way that is seemingly effortless to their readers. Me, I struggle to blog once a week. I think part of the problem, for me in particular, is that what is running through my head when I sit down to write are the characters in my Void City series and the new adventures upon which they are going. Unfortunately, those adventures are usually a year or more ahead of what the reader has read.

 

Burned : A Void City novel, for example, is coming out on January 31st, 2012, so I should technically be talking about that and be making pithy statements about what happened in Crossed But, in he J-brain, the characters already had those adventures and are busy having the next one. As a result, any conversation can get very spoilery for readers, so I wind up discussing writing or comic books or trying to provide some insight into my wacky grey matter ( which may or may not be scary, because, let’s face it. There’s some freaky stuff hiding out in my noggin).

 

Hopefully it works. If it doesn’t, then say so. Writers live for feedback, even the negative kind. 😉

 

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What’s your writing resolution?

by Gail Z. Martin

If you’re a writer,  what’s your writing resolution for 2012?

Is this the year you’re going to finish your manuscript?  Find an agent?  Self-publish?

Whatever your resolution, when are you going to get started?

I know, things are busy right now.  But here’s the truth—things will always be busy.  There will always be some reason why you can’t work on your book—unless you decide to make it a priority.

The truth is, writing a book based on your area of expertise can be a fantastic way to promote your business.  Just by virtue of the fact that you actually wrote and finished a book (and published it), you can claim the title of ‘expert’.  You can promote your book (and your expertise).  You can even give away your book as an expanded calling card.  You can package your services or products as an extension of the book.  But that only works if you actually sit down and write the book.

So here’s my 30 day challenge to you:  Write something every day.  And by this, I mean a good faith effort, not just jotting down a single word or a single sentence.  Set aside just 30 minutes a day and use that time to outline, to write a few paragraphs, or maybe even, on a good day, a whole page.  My bet is that by the end of 30 days, you won’t want to stop.  It will be so much fun, such a creative release, so invigorating, that you’ll want to keep on going.  Or maybe, you’ll even have a draft completed.

Remember that there is no official definition of how many pages (or words) it takes to make a book.  Your book could be 10,000 words, or 50,000 words or maybe event 75,000 words.  It doesn’t matter.  It’s all about how long it takes to say what you want to say.  And it all begins with the commitment to begin.

So how about it?  I want to know what you do, so please comment and let me know what you’re going to do in the next 30 days to get started on that book you’ve always meant to write!

Go for it!

“Like” my WinterKingdoms page on Facebook and enter to win a prize package of signed books, foreign editions and rare Advance Review Copies  https://on.fb.me/yRGfHD

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Reviews

by

Crymsyn Hart

You read a book and you end up liking it or disliking it. The feeling that comes over you is that you really have to talk about the book and give your opinion of the story. Thus you are creating a review about the story.  Of course, it could be a wonderful review and gushing about the writing style of the author or plot of the novel. Maybe something about the book could have rubbed you the wrong way and you just have to state that.

I have seen a lot of chatter lately about reviews, good and bad, and how the reviewers and authors attack one another. I figured I would weigh in my two cents. Personally, I don’t write reviews because I am horrible at voicing my opinions. I either state I like something or I don’t like it. Normally, I don’t pull apart the plot or the editing or the characters because I would get one or two sentences about the book and that would be about it whether I liked it or not.

However, I’ve had plenty of reviews good and bad. As they are opinions everyone is entitled to them. When it comes to bashing someone, I don’t think that’s right. Nor is it right for the author to answer back and start bashing the editor. It’s a two way street. If an author does respond to a review good or bad, in my opinion, it should just be short and courteous. Bashing on reviews is unprofessional and it just hurts on both sides of the reviewer and the author.

If someone likes a book, awesome or if a person doesn’t like a book and talks about it, that is good to. Just do it nicely.

What do you think?

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Paranormally Speaking

By Tina R. McSwain

Friday the 13th

Is it unlucky for you?  I have experienced no bad luck in the past on this date.  Conversely, I seem to have my issues on Thursday the 12th if I were to recall the timing of some of those instances.

The number 13 has long been considered “unlucky”.  Could this have come from the past in that Judas was the 13th disciple?  Perhaps, but couple this with an old belief that it is unwise to travel on Fridays, brings us the dreaded Friday the 13th.

So, be safe, be careful and don’t travel unless you have to. 

 

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A Resurgence of Baddassery

By

J. F. Lewis

It is official, my dysfunctional, murderous, and sometimes noble (but not too noble) vampires are of their way back to a bookshelf or ereader near you. In this volume, Eric has a plan that just might be crazy enough to work… and the thought of Eric with a plan should scare you.

If you want to see what I mean a little early, here is the first chapter of Burned: A Void City Novel by J. F. Lewis (due out January 31st, 2013):

Chapter 1: ALL A PART OF THE PLAN

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Paranormally Speaking

By Tina R. McSwain

The Power to Heal

There have actually been studies performed that seem to point to evidence that prayer does indeed aid in the healing process.

I myself, am a firm believer in the power of prayer, love, light and healing energies ability to help heal a person.  Collectively, this power comes at an awesome strength, especially when focused on a common goal.

My Mom is in the hospital with a serious medical concern.  I believe it is possible to make a difference in her case with a concerted effort at sending healing power.  I would like to elicit your help in making a difference in my Mom’s life. Please keep her in your thoughts, place her on your congregation’s prayer list, and send positive healing energy and love and light her way.   Her name is Pat.

Much gratitude to you all.

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What to buy with those holiday gift card? A geek guide.

by Gail Z. Martin

So you got a gift card.  Why not get your geek on and buy what you really want?

Like an iPhone skin that turns your phone into Han Solo encased in carbonite, or a remote controlled R2D2, or even a Star Wars movie poster skateboard?  (Because you already got the BluRay DVD set of Star Wars, ‘fess up.)

It’s late in the season, but you could probably grab a Star Wars Lego Advent calendar so you’ll be ready next year.  Or the Lego Deathstar with over 3,800 pieces.  How about Star Wars Mighty Beans?

Brighten your holidays with a Dalek Christmas tree?  (I’m not making this stuff up, honest– https://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/12/gift-guide-giveaway-2011/)

Or what about a pizza cutter shaped like the Enterprise?  (You know, I never realized the similarity before, but now that they point it out….)

There’s always Klingon Monopoly or a Spock Mr. Potato Head.

Of course, you already have a Jayne hat, right?

Everyone’s got Harry Potter Clue, don’t they?  But how about your very own Mirror of Erised?  A “Team Neville” t-shirt?  How about a wand that lights a candle? (Now that’s a twist on The Clapper.)

Of course, there’s always a copy of William Shatner singing Bohemian Rhapsody  https://youtu.be/cKo4FMzt_hM

 

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