In today's lesson, I am going to show you how you can effectively create your own book-signing event, effortlessly. This process will take you less than an hour, and the result may attract hundreds, and maybe thousands of visitors to your book-signing events.

Localized book-signing event is critical to every independent authors because of the impacts it can create for author's professionalism and book sales. I don't know if you are aware of this, but your friends and family members are usually your first fans, followed by your community, the city, state, and then eventually the nation or internationally. It's like a simple arithmetic equation, the one with the infinite possibilities called, 'words of mouth.' 

Words are the first evolution of mankind, and any whisper can be heard worldwide nowadays.

Your friends and family member are most likely to be the first to talk about and your book to others, and the others (usually within your community) may spread the word after that. Then before you know it, your book is known outside of your community, into the next city, state, and the whole nation.

This is the kind of impact that book-signing can do for you. It can make an unknown author famously known, starting from the city. While you may hire a publicist to perform these publicity tasks for you, the fact is that, 'you can do these tasks yourself, and save you a lot money and time.'

The very first step to creating a successful book-signing event is to acquire a good position (book shop) for the gathering. You may obtain a list of 850 book-store owners in the United States from this link, http://j.mp/1ywevzd. Manta.com is also a good resource for finding the local book-shops around your area. Simply type in the keywords, 'book shop' & 'your city', in the search box, and the result will display the list of the local book businesses around your way, including the Barnes&Nobles, and Borders. After acquiring a list, make contact with them, and try to get the book-store owner's permission (given that you don't a book-rep that will do this for you) to include their location in an article that you are submitting to the local newspaper concerning a book-signing event. Give he or she your professional credential, and a brief summary of what your book is about.  Any free broadcast  of a local business is always good to a local business owner, so the chance that the book-store owner will say no to your newspaper-exposure-proposal is slim. Promise the book-store owner that you will attract at least 100 book buyers of your own to the event, and that you will provide the paperback books that you will be signing & selling that day. Instead of paying cash to the book-store owner for using their location, pay he or she with your books, perhaps 50 to 100 autographed copies that they could sell for their own profit them after your book-signing. Chances are, if you can attract more than 100 people to that initial book-signing, the remaining autographed books will sell.

After you've acquired a deal with a book-store owner, the next step is to contact your local news outlets. The Tribune newspaper is nationwide, and very user friendly.

You will have to write the local newspaper editor, and this is where your professionalism, as far as writing goes, will be tested. Because your writing will not bypass a newspaper editor's approval unless it is appealing. Instead of submitting a fully written proposal to them, you may also call their office and schedule a one-to-one appointment with them. Newspaper editors are known for accepting every literary-based appointments. The rest, as far as convincing the editor to print the book event in the newspaper is up to you. Chances are, if your proposal is accepted, you will not be charge for the advertisement, and the event will be categorized to the 'Local Events' section of the newspaper's print. You work may be tedious, but very worthy. If you are successful with this, many other book shops would be scheduling you for appearances.

There are other ways of promoting your book-signing event offline, for free, with Craigslist, Uniiverse, Groupon, Goodreads, BlogTalkRadio, I.W.S, Facebook & Twitter.

Groupon.com is a deal-of-the-day website and subscription system that features and distributes redeemable discounted gift certificates that are usable at the user's desired venues. Groupon is a great crowd sourcing program, and can attract thousand of local visitors / buyers to your venue. To use Groupon, you will first have to create a user account, and then you will want to create a Merchant Account so that you be a seller and not the buyer. You may apply for the merchant account after creating your groupon profile at, https://merchants.groupon.com. From here, you may create an event for the book-store location that you have secured, set the amount for how much you want to sell your autographed books, and then press launch. The Groupon localize system will take care of the rest and email every Groupon members within the state about your book-signing event. Even more, it allows the email recipients to buy a ticket for the event (the autographed book) directly from the email, or the landing page that Groupon will create specifically for the event. With Groupon, I can guarantee that you will gain some audience as long as the price is right.

Another very effective online tool that you can use for your book-signing promotion is Uniiverse.com. Much like the Groupon system, you can create an event, sell admission tickets, and then announce/message the physical location and a 40 words description 'TO ALL OF YOUR FACEBOOK FRIENDS, EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS, AND TWITTER FOLLOWERS' with one push of a button. I don't think I need to reiterate this point (that are capitalized) again. So if you have 30,000 twitter followers, this program will deliver your book-event message into all of their inbox, for the ones in your local area to attend. Same goes for Facebook; if you have 2,000 friends, they will all receive the message at the same time. Uniiverse is a must-use system for every author looking to bring their circles to their book events!!

Much like Groupon and Uniiverse, Craigslist.org is another crowd pleasing website for attracting the locals to your event. To use craigslist for your book-event promotion, click on the proper link for your city & state listed on the website, and then go to the 'Community' section to compose a general message concerning your book signing appearance.  You may also direct the viewers to pick up their admission ticket for the event from the Groupon (or Uniiverse) landing page that was created

Another effective way of marketing your event's ticket, the one you created on Groupon or Uniiverse for your autographed book, is to advertise them on Facebook groups and Fanpages. The Facebook Graph system is a great tool that allows any Facebook member to find results for any keyword from their homepage. For example, if you schedule book event in San Bernardino, California, all you'll have to do use the Facebook search box for the keywords, San Bernardino, California. A lot of results will pop up that you can choose from. The Facebook results with the likes results are fan-pages, and the one with the members counts are the Facebook groups for that keyword. Join and like the ones that you think will more effective for your event, and then post the link and info about your book-event on the walls, asking for the people in the community to come join you. Chance are, the event will likely spread.

Goodreads.com is also a good tool for creating a successful book event. Goodreads Events can be used to promote events like book launches, book tours, and author appearances. It can also be used to give away free copies of eBooks. And much like the Facebook graph system, the book event you create with Goodreads can automatically generate new viewers and visitors to your listing with its search tool. To get started with setting up your event on Goodreads go to, https://www.goodreads.com/event.

Blogtalkradio.com is another great avenue to announce your book event. BlogTalkRadio.com is a web-based platform that allows podcasters and talk show hosts to create live and on-demand talk format content for distribution on the web and podcast distribution channels. What this means is that you can book an online interview with one of the host and announce your book to their audiences usually for free. BlogTalkRadio hosts are mostly happy to have published authors on their station, and will accommodate your book interview. To find the best podcaster for your announcement, simply browse through the graet contents of the website. 

Indie Writers Support is also a great place to promote your book event. Hundreds of readers visit indiewritersupport.com everyday, and the book-signing event you created would be expose to each and every one of them.

There is no shame in letting people know about a book event, so don't let anyone guilt you out about you doing your own promotion.

The best time to set up your book-signing event is usually about 45 days ahead of time, so that you and the bookstore owners may attract as much visitors that you can.

There are things you can do to make your book-signing event more eventful.

• You may sponsor a book giveaway
• Do a book reading of the most exciting chapter in the book
• You may partaken in designing a theme-based-atmospheric attraction for the event, one that would wow the visitors when they arrive. 
• You may want to invite other known authors within the community to join and collaborate with you at the event.

BookWebinars.com is a new website that our website-developer, Judd Miller, is currently working on. This website will address all of the book-marketing issues addressed in this topic. The website would also be a paid-member-access only, and is expected to launch within the next three months.

At Indie Writers Support, we aim at helping writers become more successful.

Let us embark on a journey together. I am pursuing my dream of becoming a famous author. Follow with what I post here on the internet and support my efforts in whatever way suits you, such as buy and read my books, or if you are in Portland Oregon, attend some of my events. In return, I will provide you with novels to entertain, move, stir you up, and inspire you. At the events we will have conversations that may do the same. On this journey, you will discover new ways to see the world and new openings for action you may not have thought possible. I am about people having their dreams come true, like the characters in my novels. Wouldn't you love to see someone fulfill his or her dearest dream for a change, and without selling out?

We can still dream about what is possible for us as we did when we were children. Kids dream of things to do with their lives without the aid of experience (say, the past) to teach them they could not do it. As a child, did you dream of being a great actress, a firefighter, a ballet dancer, a jet fighter pilot, a doctor, an astronaut? Are you like me and have a dream you would love to pursue, but it occurs to you at this moment as inaccessible due to the demands life puts upon you?

For me story is paramount. I say story is what gives us humans our reality. We think and speak in terms of stories—it's all stories, and we make it up. We all have where we stand, our viewpoints, or frame of reference and none of us has a privileged frame of reference. The story I have created for my life and the world is that as a famous author I will assist my beloved human race becoming interstellar explorers; beings who other races welcome, because we take care of ourselves and where we live. We will become inquirers and explorers, rather than agents for rich people bent on getting richer.

How you really embark on this journey is not by just following what I'm up to, but by assisting me in this dream, there are a number of ways: one of the first is to visit my website, if you're not already there; buy a book (reading one would help too), subscribe to my newsletter, or even buy some novel merchandise and if you're in the Portland area (Oregon that is) keep an eye out for upcoming author events that include yours truly. Two novels are available through Lulu.com, Mermaid Song, and Chrysalis as eBooks, paperbacks, and first edition hardcovers. Two more novels are in the works, Verdigris and Sweet Dreams of Flying Machines. An interesting part of this is, once you assist with the dream, you are the dream itself. Think about that a bit.

A little about what I write. In my science fiction novels, you will discover that my stories are about people who transform their lives in one way or another. These are not nice stories, they are not a quick read, they may be a bit demanding of your emotional involvement, stir you up, have you be uncomfortable sometimes. I have little doubt that with their adventure, romance, mystery, and violence, my stories will entertain you. They are not safe stories to read, but ritual journeys to take where you may not be the same person as when you started.

Much more to come.

    I almost hate telling people that I'm a writer because almost every single one of them immediately asks the same stupid question: "Where do you get your ideas from?"

    If you meet a chef do you ask him/her, "How did you decide what kind of food you like to cook?" Do you ask the major league baseball player, "How did you figure out how to catch that third-inning fly ball?" Would you ask someone, "Why did you decide to fall in love with that woman?"

    You don't open a web page or tap your smart phone to find a list of people you will love or food that you want to cook or stories that you want to write. We all encounter large numbers of people and events and some resonate with us and some don't. Who knows why?

    Every time I'm about to start a new book I have to ask myself what story I want to tell. For me, the answer is always based on the emotional situation I want to explore – revenge, redemption, betrayal, perseverance, whatever. In order to get my level of energy up I need to find the emotional core to the story I'm going to write.

    I liked the idea of a decent, courageous lawman willing to do whatever it took, no matter the personal cost, to bring a gang of ruthless killers to justice and that idea became Shooting Crows At Dawn.

    I liked the idea of child mistakenly thought dead rescued through the innate decency of an ordinary person and returned safe to her family and from that idea arose The Concrete Kiss.

    I liked the idea of a technically smart but socially clueless young cop being mentored by a skilled detective in the hope that someday the kid could himself become a great member of the Murder Police and from that notion came Death Never Sleeps.

    I first need to find some emotional situation that excites me and then construct a story around that idea. Every writer is different. Lots of crime novelists like writing what I call "puzzle stories," books with complicated plots and clues. There is a crime. There are lots of suspects. The killer may or may not even be on the suspect list. The detective follows the threads until, eventually, he or she finds the culprit.

    I could write a book like that but I won't write a book like that because there's no excitement, no emotion, in it for me. For me, it's just work. I may as well be digging a ditch. There are plenty of writers who love writing puzzle books, who enjoy figuring out the clues and the plot twists. Good for them. I enjoy reading books like that. I just don't enjoy writing them so I immediately cross all kinds of pure puzzle stories off my list.

    Getting back to the "where your ideas come from" question, it's not so much how you think up a story. It's more about looking at that list of story ideas and then deciding which one you think you will enjoy writing versus all those other stories you could think of that would be drudgery to write.

    Where do those story ideas come from? The same place that a chef gets the dinner menu and the artist gets the subject for his/her painting. They all come from the individual's imagination. If you don't have any imagination then you aren't going to be much of a fiction writer, painter, chef, musician, etc.

    Maybe people who ask the question don't have much of an imagination. Maybe it's like someone who can't add 11 + 19 in their head asking the accountant how he knows that the answer is 30. He just does. That's how his brain works. But here's the crucial thing: the real trick is not coming up with the correct total. It's figuring out which numbers to add together in the first place.

    –David Grace

APub.com is a well kept secret to a lot of people, including writers and publishers, because it is supposedly the top publishing brand of Amazon.com. While the KDP Direct is open to the general public - to publish their ebooks - APub is directly the opposite. In order for any writer to become a member of APub, he or she must first be a bestselling author, whether independently or traditionally. And the advantage of becoming an APub author is tremendous. Why? Because Amazon.com will promote your book for you, to their millions of subscribers. 

Listed below are the 14 book publishing imprints currently operating under APub:

• AmazonEncore (Rediscovered Works)
• AmazonCrossing (Translated Works)
• Thomas & Mercer (Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense)
• Montlake Romance (Romance)
• 47North (Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror)
• Little A (Literary Fiction)
• Skyscape (Teen and Young Adult)
• Two Lions (Children's Picture Books, Chapter Books, and Novels)
• Jet City Comics (Comics and Graphic Novels)
• Lake Union Publishing (Contemporary and Historical Fiction, Memoir and Popular Nonfiction)
• StoryFront (Short Fiction)
• Grand Harbor Press (Personal Growth and Self-Help)
• Waterfall Press (Christian Nonfiction and Fiction)
• Amazon Publishing (Nonfiction, Memoirs, and General Fiction)

The whole Apub.com is still under development, and Amazon is currently looking for writers fill its spots; meaning that they are looking for the next potential bestsellers to sign.

Below is a sample proposal that Amazon has been sending to potential writers who may qualify for this new apub program, be mindful that this is not KDP related at all.

"We want you to be one of the first authors to hear about a new program that will help you kick-start your book and potentially earn a new publishing contract with Amazon - in 45 days or less. We'll be officially announcing this program soon. In the meantime we wanted to share how it will work.

Authors will be asked to submit their complete, never-before-published book and cover.

After a few days, we will post the first pages of each book on a new website for readers to preview and nominate their favorites.

Books with the most nominations will be reviewed by our team for potential publication.

Should you be selected for publication you will receive benefits that include:

Guaranteed advance & competitive royalties: You will receive a guaranteed $1,500 advance and 50% royalties on net eBook revenue.
Focused formats: We acquire worldwide publication rights for eBook and audio formats in all languages. You retain all other rights, including print.
5-year renewable terms, $5,000 in royalties: If your book doesn’t earn $5,000 in royalties during your initial 5-year contract term, and any 5-year renewal term after that, you can choose to stop publishing with us.
Easy reversions: After two years, your rights in any format or language that remains unpublished, or all rights for any book that earns less than $500 in total royalties in the preceding 12-month period, can be reverted upon request – no questions asked.
Early downloads & reviews: One week prior to release date, everyone who nominated your book will receive a free, early copy to help build momentum and customer reviews."

To receive a copy of this notification letter from amazon.com and apply for the apub program go here, http://www.amazon.com/gp/gss/detail/29134490/ref=pe_1148920_123694410_pe_button/1. Click on the subscribe button to sign up.

In 1999 after 14 years of marriage, my second marriage ended in divorce. In 2008, I decided it was time to honor a lifelong dream and write a book, something my ex-husband refused to allow me to do – he saw my time spent writing as time spent neglecting him. I sent a brief synopsis to family and friends and their reactions were typically blunt: “It sounds like the same old sob story!” “Some things just don't need to be said!” My family's reaction to my entire life was always typically blunt. But, at the age of 54, my life started falling apart. I became weakened by their negativity, yet, I saw an opportunity when others couldn't. I decided to honor hardship – the dark period.

Four years prior, I needed hip replacement, my employer laid me off shortly after the surgery. Having exhausted several weeks of unemployment and still on crutches, I couldn't find employment. Food was scarce, electricity shut off, I couldn't afford medication nor the physical therapy I badly needed. I was constantly peeking out windows fearing the landlord, as I couldn't pay my full rent. At that time, my only income was a small monthly retirement check from employment with an Insurance company for some 23 years.

To add to my responsibilities, I had my 22 year old unemployed son and his newborn son living with me. I applied for Social Security Disability. My battle with the landlord raged on for six months. I wasn't paying the full rent but, the house I was renting was a disgrace, and the landlord refused to repair anything. Most of the kitchen appliances did not work – only one burner on the stove and the refrigerator operated sometimes. Sewage filled the bathtub and sink. The toilet did not flush, so we had to dig the sewage out by hand and dump it into the trash. I was hospitalized twice with Mercer due to my filthy environment. The carpeting was so dry rotted that dust flew up if something was dropped on the floor and black trash bags hung at the windows for curtains.

We were served with an eviction notice. The only thing I had was a vehicle I hadn't made payments on for six months, a few articles of clothing, a post office box for my mail and $408.00 a month. We parked in front of the Health Department and lived inside my car. The whole time I continued to write in the notebooks I'd purchase from time to time because I knew my horizons were expansive. Sitting in that car, I realized my life hadn't ever been easy. Memories poured out onto the pages of my notebooks, memories I fictionalized, expanded upon and dreamed of being a caution to other young women some day. One day, I checked my post office box and there lay my first Social Security Disability Check.

After receiving that check, I headed to the nearest place where we could live considering we had no furniture, kitchen supplies or time to search for a place to rent. Dealing with Security Deposits, turning on lights and water and all those things needed to rent a place - my nerves were not able to deal with. We moved into The Putnam Hotel. The Putnam was an old relic of a building that was rumored to be haunted. Unfortunately, the residents were mostly drug addicts and homeless people placed there for a few days by Social Services. The rent was paid on a weekly basis, so for many of the residents it was a revolving door.

Family members had their noses in the air, as they found living in the Putnam Hotel to be the most disgusting of things to do. But, to us it was a palace! We had furniture, running water, a toilet that flushed and television. I had a kitchen to cook in, with all of the appliances working – It was home. I could have spent my time feeling sorry for myself, as they seemed to think was necessary. But I began to count my blessings. The weirdest thing was our apartment 313 was known to be the most haunted space in the hotel!

I visited a local Thrift Shop called Our Father's Closet in search of a computer. In a spans of three months I found all of the pieces of a desk top and my son connected everything together. I now had a word program to write my book. I stayed in touch with the world via Face book using a cell phone. While my Grandson ran around in diapers, my son ran the streets – I wrote. Writing my book was my comfort, my piece of mind, my escape. When reaching writer's block – I'd pray. I'd pray deeply, intensely and with belief and trust and every time the answer would come to me in my sleep. I'd jump up immediately and sit at the computer.

Writing my book brought me closer to my own spirituality. Closer to GOD. I knew there wasn't a ghost anywhere that would bother me, and in spite of the occasional documentaries, crews and cameras that visited the hotel to do ghostly research – I never saw anything. My mind and body would not accept it. Life, for me, was meant to be a series of challenges that I had to overcome. The messiness, the difficult conversations, the hard work, the discipline, acting boldly when I didn’t feel like it was part of the deal. I didn't pray that God remove the obstacles, I prayed that he give me the strength to overcome them and finish my book.

A bumpy start. Yes. There were setbacks at every turn. Often a piece of the old discarded computer would break down, devastating me, and I would hunt until I found another piece. Often I'd loose everything I'd written and have to start over, but after days of tears, I saw it as a sign that it needed rewriting. The most bitter experience was the nasty feedback I received from family over Face book. If I wrote about the beautiful sounds of the birds in the trees outside my window, they responded with how crazy I was, how delusional I was, how I wasn't facing the reality of the horrible place in which I lived. Those were really bitter times for me. But those bad experiences left me more determined.

I needed a printer. No printers existed for the ancient desk top computer I was using, but my brother who lived in Michigan scoured the papers until he found someone selling exactly what I needed, and he sent it to me. I began to write and send out my query letters, discovering I was lousy at writing queries and even worse at writing synopsis. I was rejected 50 times.

We moved on. My manuscript laid on a shelf until 2014. The door had shut in my face. The support of my step-sister who, other than my brother, kept encouraging me to stay with my book, led me to blow off the dust and self publish. Another door opened. Throughout life you can lose a battle but not a war. Although my sales are small, “To Dance with Ugly People,” kindle version reached #1 on the Amazon Best Seller List for African-American Fiction in the U.K. - My vision is alive, My journey hasn't been an easy one, but I know I will prove, someday, there are opportunities in hardship.

Life can be an ongoing war with many fierce battles; I have not won every battle, yet. However I am determined not to lose this war. I will not let that battle hold me back from succeeding through life. My dream is alive to become an accomplished Author!

www.tinagayle.net   I believe the best way for Authors to get their books out to the world is by teaming up with other authors. That's why I like to do an Author Exchange ever so often.

Right now, I'm doing the #FallingIntoLove Author Exchange


Here's how it works:

Send me -

• over 36.8 K followers on Twitter
• I'm on Triber and my post are retweeted by others
• my blog feeds into facebook and goodread
• If you use the #in the title your post can be easily retweeted by other people involved in the author exchanged
• Also, I share your name/email address with other authors interested in doing the author exchange, giving you a chance to post on more blogs.
  
  
  
  
  Thanks for letting me share your book with the world,

Tina Gayle

www.tinagayle.net

When it comes to promoting your book, you have to spend money to make money.

How many of you have been told that?

The first time I heard it, my heart filled with desolation. I live in the real world where disposable income is as rare as the unicorn–in other words, it doesn’t exist. What chance do I have of being successful with my marketing endeavours without the coin to back it?

The answer is: I don’t know. My book is relatively new (just over a month old at the time of my writing this) and it’s really too soon to tell. Nevertheless, I thought I’d share some of the places I’ve found online that allow me to advertise my book for free. Here are the 5 sites that top my list so far.

Indies Unlimited

The vetting process on this site is incredibly helpful. I submitted my novel for their free promotion. About 6 weeks later, the site contacted me with an excellent critique of my book description as well as suggestions on how to improve it. I made the corrections and received a second critique and even more suggestions–all for free! As far as I’m concerned, this site is indie author gold, for that reason alone.

Online PR News

This site provides a free place to post and distribute a press release. You have to write the press release yourself, but this is an excellent opportunity to reach people to which you might not otherwise have access.

New Book Journal

Free author announcements for anything author related. Announce your book release or a book signing…the possibilities are endless.

Adventures in Sci Fi Publishing

This website posts a list of new Sci Fi releases each week. I sent an email to the site administrator asking if my book could be included in the next list and he was happy to oblige. This taught me never to be afraid to send a query to anything online I’d like to be a part of. The worst that could happen is my request will either be ignored or rejected. To my surprise, that rarely happens.

My Book Addiction’s zOctober Event

I read about zOctober on a news feed site I frequent and sent an email and was accepted right away. I am posting a “Mad Lib” style puzzle and a short story on My Book Addiction’s site in October. Great publicity for my book and my brand, all of it absolutely free!

That’s my list so far, opaline pearls in a sea of seemingly barren oysters.  Do you have any other hidden gems you are willing to share? Post them here and I’ll feature them on my next post with a link to your online pages–another great, free place to publicize!

This blogpost is dedicated to bringing attention to the idea that certain books should bebanned because of questionable content or language. Many books are pulledfrom public schools and public libraries because a few people want to impose their beliefs upon the majority of the population. I personally think that it is dangerous. 

I was brought up with the idea that if you CAN read it, then you MAY read it. 

So I read anything and everything that piqued my interest. I raised my own daughter the same way. Now here's where I may differ from others in this campaign: I don't believe the same ideas extend to other forms of entertainment such as video games and movies. Those are passive pasttimes. They don't require any brain power. That's a huge difference if you ask me.

Books make you think, and if you aren't able to read and understand the words in the book, then you probably aren't going to attempt the material. Visual media, on the other hand, doesn't require one to have a working vocabulary. Quite t

he contrary, images on a screen are "fed" into your brain at warp speed whether you are "mature" enough for them, or not. I think this is dangerous, too. But that's another topic.

For this post, I'll just conclude by saying that some of my favorite reads were (or still are) on the banned books list (according to the American Library Association's website). These books are:
The Grapes of Wrath
To Kill a Mockingbird
Call of the Wild
The Color Purple
Animal Farm1984 

More recent additions are the kids books, Captain Underpants, and the YA series, The Hunger Games.
I could go on an on, the list is very lengthy, but I think you get my point. Yes, there is controversy in all of these books, that's what makes them "good reads."

Ending a dystopian-type novel has its problems. If you end on a cheerful note, it may spoil the nature of the rest, but if the ending is simply depressing, I fear the reader may not come back for other books on your list. I faced this problem in my novel Troubles. The backstory is that the world had done nothing much about replacing oil, all economies had collapsed, the world had descended into general anarchy but with local islands of relative stability for the rich, and the occasional one for the poor enforced by the gun.

The novel open with nuclear fusion being invented, whereupon the world would suddenly have energy and there would be a general economic recovery. This meant great opportunities to get rich, if you were ruthless enough, and some were. I have a range of protagonists: the "hero" who wants to see democracy, a fair go for everyone and law and order, even though he himself has used the gun to previously enforce law; his brother, a weak leech; the would-be oligarch; the more effective robber baron; the young woman who started with nothing and is working her way up, helped with a machine pistol; the new agent of the government, in the carpet-bagger model; and of course, the guns for hire. There is also a string of minor characters, mainly helped by the "hero".

One problem with discussing endings is that one has to be careful not to add spoilers, however I should add I have a further constraint, because I am writing a form of "future history" so while this is a stand-alone book, the overall background has to end in a fashion that permits the next book in the series, so the reader may guess that not everything ends well. However, the question relating to this blog post, and the question I agonized over, is whether the young woman should live or die? She has been an intermediate character, not evil, but not exactly virtuous either. She has "gone with the flow" so to speak, and hence has done some fairly nasty things, but she has also done some good things. As a consequence of a not very nice act, she inherits an old building that used to be a bank, and which contains a huge amount of aged currency that is not directly negotiable and would not be considered hers. At the time of writing, I actually had three endings. In one in she wandered off into the sunset, abandoning the money, and looking forward to a more anonymous life in the vicinity of a man who had both admired her and feared her. That ending was a bit "up in the air", but the reader looking for optimism could find it. In ending two, she tried for the money. That almost begged a sequel, in which there would be two sub-endings: she succeeded or failed. The third ending was that she was simply killed, the robber baron kept the money and some would say, justice was done, at least to her if not to the robber baron. There is a case for each of these, but the author can only choose one. Which would you choose? Why?

Are you a SLIder ?     Do you have H.V.S.  ?       In my Sci-Fi Series… The Eve Project… Ben Harris is and does.  He destroys any unshielded electronics, sets fire to ATMs, coffee machines and unwittingly sends devastating arcs of electricity to anything metal.   He suffers from B.C.E.D.  He has spent his entire life trying to hide his ailment from prying eyes.  

What many readers are unaware of is the fact that his condition is a real one.  In my book I called it B.C.E.D.  or Bio-Chemical Electric Discharge to make it sound more… interesting and official.

As it turns out, depending on the severity of the condition it has two names.  The first and less life transforming is S.L.I.  or Streetlight Interference. These poor souls are often called SLIders.  As you might expect they affect streetlights, turning them off  simply by walking under them only to have them reignite after they pass..  In addition they frequently do not wear watches or jewelry because their bodies generate enough electricity to destroy them within a matter of days, making cameras and cell phones out of the question. Research into the phenomena has been slow but the little that has been done shows women hold a much higher static level than men. Their bodies absorb more external electric charges. This is usually caused by an Alkali-Acid imbalance.  How is this possible you ask ??  It is the by-product of eating fresh fruit and vegetables ! Who Knew ?

For those that have passed the line of humdrum static electricity there is H.V.S. or High Voltage Syndrome.  This condition has ruined many a life, ranging from starting fires shocking those that come to close and destroying any metal object. Computers, microwaves, televisions, radios, light bulbs, and the rest don’t stand a chance. They are completely destroyed without desire or intention.  And worse, many of the people who are afflicted with this condition become magnetized.  Metal objects cling to their body unwanted as if they themselves have become a magnet. Others are able to push objects like heavy furniture away from themselves with but a touch. Others are blamed for haunting like experiences, making lights and appliances turn on and off by themselves, things floating through mid-air with no desire intended. It has been tied to a heightened  psychic or telekinetic ability.

So if you thought you had problems in your life that made you feel like you didn’t fit in or like an outsider; consider these people and the lives they lead…   do you have H.V.S. ??  Are you a SLIder ?  Thank God everyday if you can say no !

Here are some sites with more info…

H.V.S. – High Voltage Syndrome /  SLI – Streetlight Interference

 http://paranormal.about.com/od/telekinesispsychokinesis/a/aa052508.htm

 http://amasci.com/weird/unusual/wots050399.html

http://theparanormal411.blogspot.com/2010/12/high-voltage-syndrome-caroline-clare.html

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1309&dat=19850608&id=2udLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yY0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6826,2027732

The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder

Famed Charles Manson prosecutor and three time #1 New York Times bestselling author Vincent Bugliosi has written the most powerful, explosive, and thought-provoking book of his storied career. In The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, Bugliosi presents a tight, meticulously researched legal case that puts George W. Bush on trial in an American courtroom for the murder of nearly 4,000 American soldiers fighting the war in Iraq. Bugliosi sets forth the legal architecture and incontrovertible evidence that President Bush took this nation to war in Iraq under false pretenses—a war that has not only caused the deaths of American soldiers but also over 100,000 innocent Iraqi men, women, and children; cost the United States over one trillion dollars thus far with no end in sight; and alienated many American allies in the Western world.

A review for "Conflicted" from esteemed author and screenwriter James Dalessandro: "If the law ever produced a more colorful character than Steve Eggleston himself, I'd probably be afraid to meet him. Eggleston has taken that colorful, irreverent personae of his - and an encyclopedic knowledge of the law and the characters who pass through that suspense-filled world - and created a character as colorful and outrageous as his name: Trip Splatter. Conflicted is a roller coaster ride through the dark and twisted world of criminals and those who hunt them." 

-- James Dalessandro, author of Bohemian Heart and 1906

I’ve been tagged for the Sisters in Crime SinC Up - September Blog Hop by Laurie Stevens, author of the fantastic Gabriel McRay thriller series -- The Dark Before Dawn and Deep into Dusk.  Can’t wait for her next book! The question that caught my eye on the Sisters in Crime list was “What books are on your nightstand right now?”  Okay, I thought, that’s easy.  I like that question.  Then I hesitated . . . wait just a minute . . . this is really much more personal that I had at first thought.  This is kind of like putting the contents of my underwear drawer out on the web.

I mean what would other people think of this very personal pile of books?  I finally took a deep breath and decided to be completely honest.  So, here’s my list:

Dante’s Wood by Lynne Raimondo is on top of the pile because I’m reading it now. Lynne and I, even though we didn’t have a chance to really chat, were both debut authors at Thrillerfest in 2013 and I’m slowly working my way through all the debut books from our year It’s terrific by the way and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. More twists and turns than I can keep track of.

World’s End, a translated collection of the poetry of Pablo Neruda. Maybe it’s the translation or maybe it’s me, but it’s not really grabbing me. I’ll continue to try. Sorry, Mr. Neruda.

The Brim Reaper by Diane Vallere, the second book in the Style and Error Mystery series. I love Diane’s style and I’m looking forward to reading her fast-paced cozy set in the fashion industry.

The Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery by Bruce F. Murphy, published by St. Martin’s in 1962. A gift from my husband who loves to peruse the back shelves of old bookstores. This unbelievable compilation offers definitions of everything and everybody ever related to murder and mystery – from Aarons, Edward Sidney to Zubro, Mark Richard and lots in between. A magnum opus to be sure.

Charlotte au Chocolat, Memories of a Restaurant Girlhood by Charlotte Silver.  This was a gift from my daughter.  It’s a heartwarming and delightful book and I keep it by the bed so I can read it again.

Poisons and Poisoners by C.J. S. Thompson, with “Historical Accounts of Some Famous Mysteries in Ancient and Modern Times.”  Another gift from my husband. I guess he knows what makes my sox go up and down.

Murder on Sunset Boulevard, a Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles Chapter anthology edited by Rochelle Krich, Michael Mallory and Lisa Seidman. Wonderful short stories and I want to read them all again.

Women on the Edge – Forty-three monologues by Monique Carmona. I found this little book at the West Hollywood Book Fair a couple of years ago. It’s full of drama, comedy and serio-comedy.  I picked it up from the table that day and the first page I read grabbed me completely.  I just had to bring this book home.

Images of America – Larz Anderson Park.  Another sentimental find on a recent trip to Boston with pictures of a long-gone estate, now a park in which I played as a little girl.

Russian Roulette – A One Eyed Jack novel by Christopher J Lynch. Just bought this one and haven’t read it yet, but the first book about a blackmailing PI was a great read! I’ll get to it very soon.

The Mists of Avalon by Marian Zimmer Bradley. This one actually belongs to my daughter but I’ve promised myself for years that I would read this beautifully written book.  I’ve always been a fan of Mary Stewart too and loved The Crystal Cave. The Arthurian legend is a lot to digest but the writing simply flows beautifully. Problem is, it weighs a ton!

And last but not least: An Exaltation of Soups by Patricia Solley, a woman who must love soups as much as I do, with recipes from many cultures and countries.  How could I resist this book?  After all, I’m writing a mystery series set in a soup shop, but this author is a goddess of soups. Chapter One is called “The Origins and History of Soup.”

So that’s it.  I’ve been totally honest.  I thought perhaps I’d fib a little and list a whole bunch of erudite tomes, but that wouldn’t be fair, would it? Looking at my list, I guess it’s safe to say it’s heavily weighted in favor of murder, mayhem and crime. No high falutin’ literary fiction for me.  Nope.  There’s gotta be a body!

I’m tagging Sister in Crime Molly MacRae for the next stop on the blog hop. You’ll love her Haunted Yarn Mysteries.  And her next book, Plagued by Quilt, is out next month, November 2014. Take it away, Molly!

At long last! After a year of despair and depression, I am thrilled to announce my new novel, The Brede Chronicles, Book 1, First Realm Publishing!

Just when I thought I'd never produce another book, two characters sprang to life last year and obsessed me with their unusual, sometimes dark, relationship. Funny thing is I couldn't stop writing this book even with the horrible sense of inadequacy as an author! I think what made this story end up as a published success was that exact gloomy cloud overhanging my head. Hell, this book was fun! I wasn't on deadline and had nothing to lose so I allowed myself to enjoy writing it without any real intention other than I loved Alekzander Brede and Elektra Tate and their love story.  Those are the best kind of books; the kind you love writing. The stories that force themselves to be told with or without the shadowing of a theme. I loved my characters, hated them, laughed and cried with them. This book engaged and absorbed even me, the author. Love them or hate them, I and hopefully and most important, you will be entertained by them!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L8FM978

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Developers Can Now Target Amazon Fire Tablet Users With Facebook’s App Install Ads

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The way we'll categorize your promotion (if you hire us) is so special, that your chance of becoming a bestseller can become very real with continual usage. Okay, let's say your book or eBook is titled, 'Android Robot'. What we will do to promote 'Android Robot' is extract 100,000 UIDs and Facebook emails from Facebook groups and Pages such as ( Sci-Fi,Horror,Fantasy,Paranormal,Fiction,true Story Authors, Lovers,  Sci fi fantasy and book lovers,  Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America etc) who are very much interested in your book's genre. We will then run an advert of your book to all members of this groups and pages. Your book-cover, along with its Amazon.com buy link, will display on their news-feed and homepage every time they log into Facebook. You will see the advertising evident yourself, because we will include your UID (Facebook User ID) in the promotion before it starts.

We want to make this promotion affordable for every writer, so we have lowered it to $50 to get your book promoted to 1,000s of Facebook users everyday for a duration of one month. If you want to be promoted for six month, then you should change the quantity of your order to 6. A one year's promotion will means 12 quantity order. Get started and apply at; http://j.mp/X0lEXb.

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The Azon Profit system is an 18 (and growing) video course on how to create your first Kindle book and how to build a list of leads with Amazon traffic. The description for each video are listed below:

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• Watch how to create perfect book covers, convert your manuscripts and submit all your work with 1-2-3 ease!
• How to add over 2,000 people to your own email list using nothing but free Amazon.com traffic.. step-by-step, hands on, and easy enough for anyone
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• How to quickly set up a uniques kind of web page that magnetically attracts book buyers to your list with the least time and smallest effort
• How to use a special "Mafia Offer" that forces Amazon.com customers to lustfully drool to get on your list (HINT: Set up your "lead rocket" page the right way!)
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• How to transform just one simple Kindle book into an entire publsihing empire that simply requires a tiny "mental shift" in your thinking
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• How to grab thousands of eyeballs from the 3rd largest search engine online - and point them all to your Kindle book!
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• Getting your Youtube traffic-siphon machine setup for maximum "Piggyback" action!
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The AmaSuite Crash Course for Authors is another 9 video training course designed to help you build your Author's website and direct traffic to it. The description for each video are listed below:

• How to research an Amazon Niche
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A Piece of Heaven

First we have Trina's story...

Trina Wembly dreamt of owning a Christian coffee house for years –a Godly place where people could enjoy a good meal, and entertainment that wasn’t offensive. A Piece of Heaven is that dream.

...and now there's Laura's story...

Precious Embrace



Laura Senton has found peace and happiness, knowing she’s right where she belongs, running her own kitchen at A Piece of Heaven, a Christian coffee house in Pingree, MD. Being partners with her dear friend, Trina, she has carved out a niche and counts her blessings daily for being able to do something she loves doing. When the sins of her past are brought to mind by the appearance of Sean Laylor, her teenage crush, Laura tries to hide from Sean, as well as her own feelings.