Just in time for holiday shopping!

I received the proof copy of Despite Them last Friday as promised. It looks amazing! I've approved it and it's ready to be bought and read by all my dear friends who've pestered me for the last 2 years asking when the next book will be out. Just teasing! I love the fact that I'm lucky enough to have such a wonderful following.

Right now it's only available on Amazon.com. It will filter it's way through to Barnes and Noble and the like a little later. Here's the direct link.

https://www.createspace.com/3502290

Thanks in advance for your support and, shamelessly I ask that you please write a review.

Black Friday and My New Book

Okay everyone, I was finally able to get all of my books up onto Kindle. Yes, even Despite Them! Now it's time for some shameless self-promotion. I thought, with your help, of course, that those who want to order the Kindle versions of my books can do so on Black Friday (Nov. 26th) and the rest of the weekend, and my books might actually get a good ranking. Maybe (dare to dream!) get close to the number one slot!

For those of you who'd prefer an actual book, I'm getting Despite Them printed in paperback, and with any luck, it'll be ready for purchase in December. I'm also working on getting the paperback versions of the Eyes of Garnet trilogy on CreateSpace, the Amazon print-on-demand company. They should also be ready in December. I'll keep you posted on Despite Them. My proof copy is due at the end of this coming week. It's a bit like birthing a baby! Exciting!

Here are the links to the Kindle books.

Eyes of Garnet: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004BLJ89S

Sightless: An Eyes of Garnet Novel: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004BLJ8C0

Double Vision: An Eyes of Garnet Novel: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004BLJ86Q

Despite Them: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004BDP30O

For those who don't have a Kindle and still want to read my books on your PC or Mac, iPhone, or other device, you can download the App right to your device and start reading in minutes. Here are the links.

Kindle for iPhone Available for FREE Download:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=pe_01/?docId=1000301301

Kindle for Android Available for FREE Download:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=pe_02/?docId=165849822

Kindle for PC Available for FREE Download:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=pe_03/?docId=1000426311

Kindle for iPad Available for FREE Download:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=pe_04/?docId=1000490441

What Dreams May Come

A few weeks ago I had a dream about how to solve my formatting problem on Kindle. Then I hurt my leg and couldn't get back to my computer to test the theory.

Until yesterday.

What do you know? Dreams really do come true! When I removed all the formatting in my Word document, POOF! it came up perfectly in the Kindle previewer. Now I've got to go through each book and do the same thing so it'll still be a little while before all four books are up, but at least the problem is solved. Whooohoooo!



On another note, Monday I was pleased to be well enough to get out and talk with the book club at the Brewer Public Library. It was my first book-related outing of 2010 and it was a blast. There were about a dozen people there and they brought Scottish and Welsh goodies to eat while we chatted about Eyes of Garnet. A couple had read all three books but most had just read the first. My husband and I had a bet as to what subjects would be brought up and we hit them on the head. The two that always make me smile are, "What happened to the nephew?", and "Why did you have to kill off all the brothers?"

Like I've told many folks, I'm only the typist; the story writes itself and I have little say in the matter. It never really appeases them but I told them to read the rest of the books to find out what happened to Teàrlach.

Frustrated

Uploading my book onto Kindle is proving to be a headache. I've finally given up and sent the file to a webmaster I used to work with for a fresh look at my html file. It's beginning to stress me out and I don't need that in my life right now.

So, I thought I'd share a little bit of Maine with you all.

October in Maine begins hunting season. And with hunting season, Mainers of all ages and status don their blaze orange. They wear it to the mailbox, to the grocery store, collecting seaweed, or just for a ride about town to enjoy the fall colors.

It's curious to me that 99% of these people never go into the woods where all the wild beasts hiding from hunters live. Perhaps I have it all wrong. Perhaps it's just an excuse to wear the color of Autumn and not feel foolish in clothes that rival the color of pumpkins.

Do I wear the official color of fall in Maine? Nope. Not even when I used to go into the woods. Why do I take my life in my hands when it's so easy to throw on an orange sweatshirt, you might ask? Because there is only 1% of the population who venture into the woods for a turkey in the center of my little town. It might save me from getting hit by a car crossing the street, but other than that, I believe it's just a fashion statement. And I've never been a slave to fashion.

Progress With Kindle

Thursday afternoon, after my husband returned from the post office, he plopped a little brown box onto my lap that had the Amazon logo on it. I tore into it to find the Snow Leopard system software for my Mac. I promptly retired to my office and proceeded to upgrade my system, which took about an hour.

Then I was onto Kindle.

It's never as easy as you imagine it will be. Inconsistencies in Word have decided to not indent any paragraph beginning with a quotation mark. This sucks big time. Do you know how much dialog there is in my books? A lot! So I sought the advice of the system people at Amazon. They told me I need to work in HTML and manually correct the code at the beginning of all paragraphs that start with quotation marks.

Great! What I thought would take a day to do has stretched into three and I'm not done yet.

And now that I'm working in HTML, I can't figure out how to view it in Word again, even though I've saved it that way.

I'm certain I'll figure it out, and the other three books will be a breeze. Have patience I keep telling myself. And have fun. Well, easier said than done, on both accounts!

I'll update you when I've figured it out and it looks perfect in Kindle. Hopefully, that will be very soon...

Going for it

After my last blog about whether or not I should put my books up on Kindle, with your blessings I got an overwhelming YES!

So, before I begin this process, I have to upgrade my system software so I can download something called the Kindle Previewer. This will allow me to see what my books will look like before I send them off into the ether and have them appear on a Kindle near you. The software should be here this week sometime and then I can begin.

I was asked if Despite Them is going to be put on Kindle as well. Yes it is! It may take a little more time to get an actual printed book out of it, but you'll all be able to read Gregor's story on whatever device you get the app for, or on your Kindle. Maybe, with your help, we can make it be a best seller on Kindle! How fun would that be?

I'll keep updating you on my progress and the ease of use (or problems) in world of ebooks technology. I'm pretty excited about the whole thing!

Bad News

I called my agent yesterday about Despite Them. As I feared, the editor of Pocket Books didn't want to pursue the book with a contract. Here's what she said about my manuscript.

It was an intriguing story and she liked Gregor's character a lot, but she did not like the Scottish dialect used when he spoke. Then she went on, after she had already said she liked the story, that the writing didn't impress her the way she thought it would.

And it took her 5 months to tell me this bad news.

So here's my dilemma; do I change the dialect to be all English so these young folks who think they know what the public wants can understand what they're reading? Or do I keep it and try every editor in NYC until one says yes? You do understand that this could take years, if it ever happens.

I have had more compliments on the fact that I DO use the Scottish brogue because it makes the conversation feel more authentic. Never have I been told that it was impossible to read because of it.

Here's another option, one I've been trying out in my head since it came out.

Put my book on Kindle.

I know, I know, I've been talking about the piracy end of it, but I've been doing a little more research and found that unless you're a hacker and really have it out for me, there are some safety measures in place so once a book is downloaded to your Kindle or PC, Mac, IPhone, IPad or any other device, it can't be resent to someone else's device. This fact made my heart warm with joy!

I also found out that along with putting my book on Kindle, I can also get an actual book printed as print on demand, like I'm already doing with my old publisher.

I think this may be the best of all worlds. No agents taking 15%. No publishers telling me what and how to write and giving me 8% of all my hard work. The royalties on Kindle are up to 70%. I'm trying to find the bad in it, but not coming up with any faults.

What do you think? I want some feedback on this. Do I continue down the traditional path, or break out into the new world of ebooks? Let me know.