Cindy Vine

Procrastinating Packer

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Sat, 18 May 2013 07:05:00 +0000

After four years at the foot of Kilimanjaro I am moving on. The time has come and now once again I have to pack up my life. Easier said than done. For I am the ultimate procrastinator, the person who says "I'll do it next weekend." Unfortunately I am starting to run out of weekends. The movers have dropped off the boxes which are stacked against the lounge wall staring at me, willing me to assemble them.
But as I am about to start I decide it's very necessary for me to check my email first, see what friends are doing on Facebook, maybe have a shower and wash my hair. Procrastination. It's my worst enemy.
It's not like I don't want to leave, I do. I am over power cuts, slow internet, ants, geckos, barking dogs and all the other things that wear me down. But it's the people who are hard to leave behind, friends and co-workers and the mountain which looked so beautiful yesterday evening as the sun's last rays turned the snowy top pink. Four years is quite a long time, you make connections and leaving them behind is never easy. This however, is the lot of the international school teacher. It's a transient world with people coming and going all the time. Something you never get used to. Some connections you'll keep for a lifetime and others you'll make empty promises about keeping in touch. But of course this has nothing really to do with the packing and sorting I should be doing now. Best to get started I guess.

My new children's book

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Sun, 05 May 2013 05:18:00 +0000

The idea for The Midnight Mouse came up about two years ago. I had just had my second mastectomy and was staying with my parents while I was recovering from the surgery. My stepdad came into the kitchen and asked who'd been eating all the cheese as there was none left. That night when I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, there was my stepdad in the kitchen having a midnight feast. He was unaware of my presence and seemed to be sleep-eating as opposed to sleep-walking. It seemed he was the culprit who was eating all the food! My eldest daughter Kerri and I began calling him the midnight mouse.
As I have young nephews and a niece, I thought there had to be some way that I could incorporate them in the story.
My idea was to use actual photos for the illustrations, but change them into watercolors using Photoshop. This proved to be more difficult than I could have imagined. I google-searched many tutorials on how to do it. I followed the instructions step-by-step. I never liked the results and the steps were so complicated. I figured there had to be an easier way. Fiddling around with Photoshop wasted about a year of my time. I shelved the idea and focused on my medical problems.
Last Wednesday was a public holiday and I decided if I did nothing else, I was going to get the illustrations for The Midnight Mouse sorted. Once again I started worked my way through Photoshop watercolor tutorials. And once again I got completely frustrated. At some point bad words probably even flowed liberally past my lips. Another search on Google and then I discovered BeFunky.com. This is a great website that takes your photos and turns them into cartoon-type illustrations. Just what I needed!

Here is an example of a photo turned into a cartoon with BeFunky.com. So easy and user-friendly, I highly recommend Be.Funky.com. It makes me want to write more children's books!
Modern technology is really amazing. You can illustrate your own books, upload them onto Createspace and get them published all within a day!
The Midnight Mouse is available for purchase as a paperback or kindle book on Amazon.com. It is a free giveaway from Sunday 5th May through to Tuesday 7th May. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CMVT6VO

Don't let life pass you by!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:51:00 +0000

You never know when your life might change. It can be all good and in one instant everything bad that can happen happens. There are many things that we plan on doing in the future when we have time and finally get around to it. They are sometimes things we shouldn't put off but sometimes our priorities are out of whack. I'm not suggesting live for today and forget about tomorrow, but what I am suggesting is that we need to achieve a balance. Prioritize your life and do some of the things you have put off for the future. You don't want life to pass you by and regret not having done some of the things on the bucket list.
This was brought home to me when my Mom took sick last week.
Mom, here's to you recovering and getting to do all the things on your bucket list!

Love you, Mom!

Medical woes

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:47:00 +0000

At the moment I have so many different meds in me I rattle when I walk. I'm almost at the stage of opening up my own pharmacy.
Wrongdiagnosis,com should pay me. I could be rich my now.
On the 7th January I had lipofilling injected into my left breast. That should be where the story ends. One week back in Tanzania I had a large abscess and very swollen lymph nodes in my left armpit. I dutifully went to see the GP down the road. This was his last chance after cocking up so badly the previous year, that I ended up going into septic shock and lost my breast implant. He said it wasn't an abscess but folliculitis and that I should squeeze it morning and night to get the gunk out. He also said I didn't need antibiotics for folliculitis. I asked him if he was sure as my lipofilling surgery had just been three weeks previously. He said definitely no antibiotics needed. He's the doctor, what do I know?
My left breast began to feel hot and had a faint red rash on it. It seemed to be getting harder, but I was so busy at work I had no time to take notice of what was happening with my breast.
Then one night acute pain in my breast made me think I'd pulled a muscle or something while trying to swim a couple of lengths of breaststroke. Frantically swallowing painkillers turned me into a zombie for a day and a half. I blamed it on over-exercising while trying to strengthen my right shoulder.
How wrong I was.
The breast grew slowly, sneakily, trying to avoid being noticed. Then I got large boils on the side of the breast.

Typical, by the time I realised how big, hot and hard it was, was when I was camping in the middle of the bush with 27 children. The pain was intense. I was uncomfortable, could hardly move. The campsite managers took pity on me and let me sleep in a new luxury tent overlooking the lake.
A friend phoned my surgeon in Cape Town, he prescribed a seriously strong antibiotic, I managed to get the school driver to pick it up from a pharmacy and bring it to the campsite.
Nausea.
This was not good.
I decided to go back to the local GP when I got back from the camp. He took one look at my breast and said, "Classic case of chronic mastitis."
Seriously? Are you kidding me? I had a mastectomy 2 years ago. I have no breast tissue, I can't get mastitis. Even my healthy right breast doesn't have breast tissue. Two bouts with breast cancer, two mastectomies.
"Then it must be a large breast abscess," he continued undeterred. "I'm going to send you to a radiology friend of mine. If there's fluid I'm going to get a local surgeon to cut open the breast and drain the fluid."
"Do you think this is related to the abscess I had a month ago?"
"Definitely not," he said trying to convince himself. "It's just a coincidence."
The radiologist had a small office down a dark alley. He felt my breast without washing his hands or wearing gloves. This did not sit well with my soul.
He was amazed at the amount of fluid. My heart sank. That meant a local surgeon would have to cut my breast open like a can of baked beans. "Oh my God!" he shouted nearly falling over with excitement. I strained my neck to try and get a closer look at the computer monitor to see if there was a large tumor or something. "I have no more paper! I can't print the pictures!"
Seriously? You have to be kidding me.
But at least he was a creative thinker. He got his receptionist to dig through the waste bins to find a small piece of paper that could take three pictures.
There was no way I was going to let a local surgeon touch my breast. That was settled when the local radiologist printed the pictures on paper from the waste bin.
My friend managed to stalk my surgeon in Cape Town and get his mobile number. He called me at 11pm last Friday night and told me to get on the next flight to Cape Town.
I did.
They aspirated 300ml of fluid and gave me more antibiotics. The breast is still not right, more doctors' visits next week. Apparently, both surgeons who saw me stated that they were 110% sure my breast went bad because I wasn't put on antibiotics for the abscess.
What can you do? You trust medical professionals, but they are human just like us. They make mistakes. Nobody is perfect.
Cindy Vine, a breast cancer survivor, is the author of Not Telling, Defective and C U @ 8.

Coping with an Empty Nest

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 09:01:00 +0000

It suddenly dawned on me the other day, that when Siobhan graduates in May I'll be all alone for the very first time in my life.
This was mind-blowing.
I've been alone obviously for the odd weekend and short trip, but generally since the day I was born I've always lived with somebody. As a child growing up it was my grandmother and my parents, my college years I was in a residence until I fell pregnant and had Kerri. Since then it has been my children and a husband who survived 10 years of being with me before he got booted. Life has always been full of people, I've never been on my own. What a daunting prospect?
Who do you talk to when you watch a movie and want to discuss what's happening?
How do you cook for only one person?

Who do you ask about their day and tell about yours?
How silent will the apartment be?
Who do you share your travel experiences with?
How fun can it be chasing after the 7 wonders by yourself?
It's enough to make a person depressed, being all alone in solitary confinement. Maybe I'll take to singing that song "All by myself..."
But then again...
I can watch what I want on TV without fighting anybody for the TV remote. I can watch my crime channels and sports games. I might never have to watch Disney or Nickelodeon again. What a pleasure!
I can eat beans on toast for dinner if I wish, oh yes and seafood. I can eat fish, make Tom Yum Goong and not feel guilty as I am the only one in the house that eats seafood.
I can cry during Extreme Makeover or other movies or shows without being laughed at.
I can go out with friends and not feel guilty about leaving a teenager at home.
I can feel quite liberated. There are some benefits after all.
But the thought of being all by myself, of no interactions when I walk through my front door, nobody telling me they love me and wishing me good night, no tantrums to contend with, nobody to tell me how delicious the meal I made was. I'm not sure if I am going to be ready for it but how does one prepare oneself?
I guess there's always Skype.
Cindy Vine is the author of Not Telling, Defective and CU@8, all available on Amazon.com as a Kindle ebook or paperback.

Encounter with elephants

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 13:13:00 +0000

One minute they were driving amongst sand dunes, then the next as they crested a sand dune, Fenella saw a large area of green in front of them, with a small waterhole to one side. In the distance, Fenella could make out sand dunes again. The green floodplain was ringed by large sand dunes.
“You’re lucky, no tourists are allowed to come here,” said Katerina, carefully driving down the sand dune to get onto the grass below.
“Wow,” was all Fenella could say, momentarily at a loss for words.
“If you do see elephants, don’t panic, just try and blend into the surroundings. They don’t know people, and they are very dangerous,” Katerina warned. “It’s just us woman and children out here, no men to protect us.”
After a meal of boiled rice with weevils in it, which Katerina had called the protein part of the meal, the exhausted children were put into their tent which faced out onto the tall swaying grass of the flood plain. “Mommy-time,” said Katerina with a smile as she made two mugs of coffee and liberally added brandy into the hot brown liquid. “No milk, so we’ll use the brandy as milk.”
“Fine by me,” said Fenella as she opened up the scrabble board by candlelight.

Fenella was leading Katerina by about 50 points in the scrabble game, when both women started when they heard a loud, “Humpf,” noise.
Katerina’s eyes were big with fear, “Elephants,” she hissed, looking ghostlike with the light from the candle giving her face an eerie glow.
Fenella wasn’t sure what she should feel. They were in the cooking tent, so she didn’t know what a big deal having elephants nearby might be.
“Don’t panic on me,” hissed Katerina, blowing out the candle.
Shit, thought Fenella, it was so dark they couldn’t see a thing. Katerina peeped out the cooking tent’s open doorway. “I can see about five, six big ones, in the long grass. Don’t move, otherwise they’ll hear us and charge.”
Katerina’s stage whisper was creeping out Fenella more than the thought of wild elephants a couple of metres away. Then she had a thought, a very frightening thought. “Katerina,” Fenella whispered back, “The kids’ tent opens up into the grassy area. Samantha wakes up at 9pm to go for a wee. What’s the time now?”
“Holy fuck,” muttered Katerina, “What are we going to do?”
So, much for Katerina telling Fenella not to panic. Fenella thought that Katerina was going to burst into tears.
“We have to save the children,” said Fenella calmly.
“How?” Katerina was starting to tremble, she was so scared.
“Here’s the plan,” said Fenella, making it up as she went along, “We’ll get down and leopard-crawl to their

tent, and wake them up quietly, and get them to crawl to our tent.” Fenella bit her tongue as she felt an urgent need to pee. Why did her bladder have to come alive at such a time?
Katerina led the way, with Fenella behind also on her stomach, using her elbows to pull herself forward. They could hear the elephants moving in the long grass on their left. The elephants were so close, they could even hear their tummies rumble. Silently, but surely, the two mothers inched their way forward, not noticing the thorns that pierced their flesh, or the stones that scratched and bruised them.
Suddenly, there was silence. Katerina lifted her head and looked out onto the long grass, “They’re going over the dune; they’re leaving the flood plain!” Katerina’s voice sounded loud in the still of the night.
Fenella was just about to speak, when she heard the ugly sound of Katerina vomiting up her boiled-rice-with-weevil dinner. “Might as well have a quick pee myself,” muttered Fenella now that the immediate danger had passed.
After waking the children and virtually sleep-walking them to their tent, Fenella and Katerina went back to the cooking tent to resume their game of scrabble. “Shit, coffee’s cold,” said Fenella taking a sip from her mug.
“Throw it out,” said Katerina putting on more water to boil on the gas burner. “Think we need something stronger anyway,” she said, pouring the mug three-quarters full of brandy and topping it up with a spoon of coffee and boiling water.

The next day, Fenella was lying on her sleeping bag in the tent, writing a letter to Brendan, listening to Katerina sing, ‘I’m a little Noddy man,” with the children in the cooking tent, when she suddenly became aware of an unnatural silence that made her feel uneasy. Fenella looked up from her writing, to see a huge elephant standing about 5 metres away from the front of her tent. Too scared to move in case she alerted the elephant to her presence in the tent, Fenella held her breath, watching the elephant all the time. The elephant was obviously alarmed by Fenella’s tent flap which was blowing in the breeze, as it started to shake its head and then sway it from side to side, before kicking up dirt with its front foot and expanding its ears until they were perpendicular to its head. Fenella felt herself start to go dizzy from lack of oxygen as she continued to hold her breath. Then, flapping its ears, the elephant started to take a step back, then another, then another, until it turned around and walked away. With the elephant out of her sight, Fenella started to hyperventilate, taking a good few minutes to calm down again. When she was breathing normally again, Fenella peered out of the tent to make sure that the elephant was no longer in charging distance, before hurrying out to see what had happened to Katerina and the kids.
Fenella reached the cooking tent, still a little light–headed from her frightening experience, only to find that Katerina and the kids had vanished into thin air. Something caught the corner of Fenella’s eye, and she looked at the parked Landrover, to see Katerina sitting behind the driver’s wheel.

“What are you doing?” asked Fenella, as she saw Katerina sitting frozen in shock, with one hand on the steering wheel, and the other hand clutching a .38 Special hand gun.
Katerina turned around to stare at Fenella, with eyes huge with fear, “I was coming to save you,” said Katerina in a low voice, “If the elephant attacked, I was going to charge the elephant with the Landy and then fire shots in the air.”
“That’s a wonderful rescue plan,” lied Fenella, wondering if both Katerina and her would have been killed if the elephant had charged. “Where’re the kids?”
“I sent them behind the dune for safety,” said Katerina, “They’re hiding in a ditch.”

Excerpt from Stop the world, I need to pee! Available on Amazon as Kindle and Paperback

The Story behind the Story - Defective

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 11:43:00 +0000

There are writers who can create a whole story in their heads from nothing. There are others of us who are sparked by an interesting snippet of conversation , a news item, something we've seen. Anything which ignited the creative juices. Whatever initiated the story is the story behind the story.
The Spark
As a teenager I heard about a murder case - The Scissors Murder. It was in all the newspapers, everybody was talking about it. This story sank into the murky depths of my subconscious and lay buried there until a few years ago. I'd just finished a novel and wanted to start a new one. But what to write about? Where to find a story? I have always been interested in the dark side of human nature and what motivates them to do what they do. In a flash The Scissors Murder came into my mind and I researched it on the internet to refresh my memory about what happened all those years ago.
The Scissors Murder
On the 4th November 1974, 46 year old wife and mother Susanna van der Linde was stabbed to death in her home in Cape Town South Africa, with a pair of scissors. The perpetrators of the crime were 19 year old Marlene Lehnberg and 33 year old Marthinus Choegoe.
Marlene Lehnberg worked with the victim's 47 year old husband, and soon after she started working with him began a 2 year affair. He told her he'd never leave his wife for her, but was prepared to continue with the affair. Marlene had had a very conservative upbringing with an abusive father. Marlene was convinced that the only obstacle between her and marriage to Christiaan van der Linde was his wife. You can read more about the murder through this link
The Plot and Characters

I was fascinated with the story, what motivated a young girl to embark on an affair with a married man so much older than her? What drove her to murder his wife? What role did the husband play in the murder? There didn't seem to be answers to these questions. So I thought, what happens if I use the basic plot, create my own characters with their own life stories, and try and figure out what the motivations could be. I used The Scissors Murder as the spark, the starting point and then let my imagination take over. That is how my novel Defective came about.
You can purchase Defective as a paperback or on Kindle from Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble and the Apple iStore.

Reviewed by Bob MacKenzie for Readers Favorite
"Defective" is the sort of story that sneaks up on you like those elusive shadows that give you shivers in the night. There's something about 17 year old Kara Butler. Though it would be easy to feel sorry for her, it's as easy to cheer her on. With an abusive father and a mother who mostly ignores her but will help in a crunch, Kara leaves home for the big city of Capetown. Innocent in the ways of the world, Kara nonetheless gets an apartment and finds a job. It all seems quite heroic. There is something else about Kara, something not quite right, something that her new-found freedom has set loose in her world. As her story seamlessly moves into darker and darker places, Kara's world slowly unravels. Drawn into Kara's journey of discovery are a promiscuous medical doctor, the doctor's emotionally abused wife, a boy who believes he is a secret agent, an Abbott and Costello team of detectives, and a cast of other quirky characters. The effect of this story is both surreal and chilling.

"Defective" is not a thriller in the truest sense. Neither is it a mystery or a police procedural. The genre is hard to pin down, shifting as it does while the story progresses. In some ways, the television series 'Dexter' comes to mind, in other ways Hitchcock's Psycho. It is tempting to call "Defective" a psychological-thriller. It is certainly psychological, though perhaps more in the way an update of the old-fashioned Gothic novel might be psychological. Quirky and intriguing, this story is clean and tightly written, drawing the reader inexorably to its inevitable conclusion without ever revealing that climax until it arrives. For readers who prefer their books to be intelligent, thought-provoking, and challenging, "Defective" will be an ideal choice.

Meeting up with Menopause

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 09:40:00 +0000

Eve was a domineering bitch who wore the pants in her relationship. Oops, no pants not even a fig leaf at that time. Adam was a weak-willed lily-livered simpering idiot. If he had stood up to Eve and said, “No, put that damn apple back we are not supposed to eat it,” the world would be a very different place today. For a start it would be one large nudist colony. But more importantly, women would not be experiencing pain in childbirth. Hand in hand with that we would not be having a monthly period.

Hormones, moodiness, irritability, and the worry that this month’s flow might be heavy and leak out are definitely a curse that Adam should have been afflicted with rather than Eve who just made a small suggestion. She didn’t really expect him to grab that apple and take a bite. He should have been principled and followed the rules. Look what his lack of character caused!

Since the age of twelve I’ve been cursed every 28 days. The only times I’ve missed on the 28 day cycle were the times I was pregnant. Regular and like clockwork the dreaded lurgy arrives every month without fail. When I turned 50 I thought I’ve done my time paying for Adam’s sins, it was time for menopause. I eagerly awaited the onset, looking forward to the first signs of a hot flush, jealous when friends and colleagues started menopause. No such luck. Every 28 days it arrived. It. The thing that shouldn’t be mentioned out loud.

This month it didn’t arrive on schedule and I have to say I feel a little sad. It’s like when you wish like mad for something and it happens it’s a bit of a let-down. It’s not even an anti-climax, it’s just that it’s a realization that I have started on the next chapter of my life – old age. I’d never previously equated menopause with old age, just the relief that it would be no more monthly periods. But the fact is, it does mean the end of a chapter of your life and the start of the very last chapter of your life. There is something so final when you put it like that. I’m not sure that I’m psychologically ready for that.

This past holiday season I have had two operations and experienced more pain than I could ever have imagined. Continuous chronic pain 24 hours a day now heading into week 5. The remarkable thing, is that the trauma from the pain turned my hair grey basically overnight. The pain aged me and I wonder if that’s what caused the onset of menopause, or if the good Lord upstairs decided that I’m going through enough on the pain front, He’ll just make me miss the 28 day cycle this month. We’ll only know next month. But after years of wishing for this day, there is a part of me that wishes it will arrive again like clockwork next month so I can delay old age just a little longer.

Cindy Vine is the author of C U @ 8, Not Telling and Defective, all available on Amazon as kindle books and paperbacks.

Life in the Pain Lane

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 07:09:00 +0000

Doctors are not 100% truthful. Well it's not as if they actually lie, they just negate to tell you or warn you about how exactly painful their op is going to be. This of course leaves you unprepared psychologically. You think it's going to be a quick and easy procedure. But 5 weeks later and you still have plenty pain and limited movement. Pain sucks.

As you can see, pain does not bring out the best in you. It saps your energy, causes discomfort and kills all creative thoughts you might possess. In short, pain kills your ability to think and write. So no I have not been on holiday rejoicing on the extra time available to work on my book Hush Baby. For the most part I have been laid up in bed knocked out on painkillers.
Why I thought an arthroscopy in the shoulder would be only slightly painful, I don't know. It's like when the doctor explains the procedure to you, he makes a tiny hole and inserts a camera, that doesn't sound very painful does it? Unfortunately that silly camera picked up 5 different problems that needed to be rectified immediately. This meant 5 holes in the shoulder, 5 times the pain and the procedures included shaving off pieces of bone, fixing a frozen shoulder and repairing a torn tendon.
As if this wasn't enough, 2 weeks later I was back in hospital for a breast reconstruction. This was a very new technique that sounded painless when the plastic surgeon described it to me. Haha is all I can say. After that op I felt like I'd been trampled on by 30 men at the bottom of a rugby scrum. They took 500g of fat from my sides, shook and stirred it like a martini, converted it to 250ml of stem cell rich lipo-filling and injected it into my breast where they had to remove the implant after I went into septic shock last year. And the plastic surgeon says we'll have round two of that procedure in June. Charming.

I did get to have breakfast with Jodi Picoult though, and listen to her interesting and entertaining talk on wolves. Definitely a highlight of my otherwise miserable Christmas holiday. The lesson to be learned is do not embark on two big surgeries in a two week period.
The weather has been beautiful most of the time, I just haven't been in a condition to enjoy it.
Hopefully my shoulder will be sorted and will be back to normal in a couple of months. The shoulder surgeon said it can take a year to come right. As I said before, charming.
So do I have any new year's resolutions? Survive, dig deep and survive. That's all I want for 2013.
Have a good one!

Great Detective Story

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:47:00 +0000

This is a police procedural par excellence, with more twists and turns than in that David Bowie classic Labyrinth. A villain with an agenda set on revenge and a dogged police inspector with the uncanny ability to think out of the box. You can't go wrong with this read.

Book Blurb:

What would you do if you had been falsely imprisoned and if while in prison your wife and your children had been brutally murdered? Samuel Maxwell, the Prophet, decides to spend his time plotting out his plan for revenge against the greedy men responsible..

The Prophet stops at nothing to avenge the deaths. Will Inspector Duke Becker and his squad from Special Investigations Homicide be able to stop the Prophet and the reasons behind the killings before more die?

Bio:

Gary L. Kassay born on March 20, 1956 in the Bronx, New York. Married to high school sweetheart, Eileen on May 6, 1978. Two children, Jason Kassay born March 30, 1980 and Samantha Kassay born January 6, 1986. Eileen Kassay passed away on May 14, 2003.Worked as an x-ray tech for six years at Brooklyn Hospital and then joined the New York City Police Department, Transit Police. Trained for the K-9 unit and worked until injured in the line of duty forcing early retirement. Next worked in the field of commercial photography, starting in customer service, then becoming the assistant manager, manager and then with two partners buying Diversified Photo located on Long Island.

Although retired at the time, he worked Ground Zero after 9/11 for several weeks.

In 2004 left business to two partners and moved to North Carolina where he met his second wife Raella. Married on September 10, 2005 in Maui, Hawaii. Worked for Homeland Security as a TSA officer, and then as a Lieutenant for Guilford County in charge of the Social Services Building.

In 2008 he moved to Casper Wyoming where he currently resides.

Online Links:

Twitter: @GaryKassay or www.twitter.com/GaryKassay

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gary.kassay?fref=ts

Website: www.garykassay.com

Finding new authors

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 16:10:00 +0000

I don't know about you but I object to paying more than $10 for a kindle ebook. I think that charging more than that is being just plain greedy and I don't want to feed and encourage that greed. Feeling in the mood for a good gripping suspense thriller after trying to plough my way through a top-selling badly-written erotic romance and giving up, I looked to see what I could find on Amazon. Forget Sandra Brown, Kathy Reichs, Faye Kellerman, Patricia Cornwell or anybody of that ilk. All way too overpriced. This of course is good for indie authors like Nancy Thompson. Mostly indie authors set their prices realistically making their books affordable.
The Mistaken by Nancy Thompson was gripping, fast-paced, emotional, full of unexpected twists and turns. What more could you possibly want from a suspense thriller?

BLURB: Tyler Karras is an honest man, a transplanted Brit living the American dream, but his charmed life takes an unexpected turn when his brother, Nick, is coerced into joining ranks with San Francisco’s Russian mafia. Ty intervenes to secure Nick’s freedom, yet only succeeds in incurring their wrath. With no choice but to accept Nick’s new life, Ty returns to his own, but his dreams are dashed when his wife—pregnant with their first child—is killed, the victim of a reckless crime. Despondent and bitter, Ty macerates his grief in alcohol. From the depths of the bottle screams a voice, howling for vengeance. His target is a stranger, the woman who drew his wife toward her death. He doesn’t know her, but he’ll find her, and when he does, he will make her pay, for a deal has been struck with Nick’s Russian associates, enslaving her into a life of bondage. But as Ty moves forward in a cloud of alcohol, he mistakes the wrong woman for his intended victim and now all his plans have gone straight to hell. With his eyes made clear by the stark reality of his mistake, Ty is driven, compelled by remorse and a relentless sense of guilt to make amends and protect Hannah Maguire, the innocent woman whose life he has derailed. He vows to keep her safe and out of the Russians’ hands, but they’re holding Nick as leverage to force Ty to complete their deal and turn over the girl. Once again, he must fight to free his brother, miring all three lives in further jeopardy. But Ty can’t do it all: Save the girl, his brother and his own soul. One of them must make the ultimate sacrifice.

BIO: Nancy Thompson makes her fiction debut with The Mistaken. She is an interior designer and California transplant, currently living with her husband near Seattle, WA.
ONLINE LINKS: Goodreads- http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7809425-nancy-s-thompson Website- http://nancysthompson.blogspot.com/ Twitter- twitter.com/NancySThompson Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/nancy.saling.thompson Book Page- www.sapphirestarpublishing.com/themistaken BUY NOW LINK: Amazon- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009R3SYC2 B&N ~ http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-mistaken-nancy-s-thompson/1113472607?ean=2940015514162 • Amazon paper book • Amazon Kindle copy Giveaway: 5 Ebooks Rafflecopter a Rafflecopter giveaway

A suspense novel worth the read

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 08:10:00 +0000

Finding Claire Fletcher is a special kind of read. Brutally honest, well-written, gripping - a real page-turner. This is what I like about discovering unknown authors and giving them a try. You are often pleasantly surprised and want more. This is not your normal kind of crime thriller and detective novel. This is something more, something unique. Lisa Regan has created something special with this novel. If you are hooked on suspense this will not disappoint.

Book BLURB:

Down on his luck, Detective Connor Parks takes solace in the arms of a woman he meets at a local bar, but in the morning, Claire Fletcher is gone, leaving behind clues to a decade-old mystery—her own abduction. Perplexed and driven by an unsettling need to see Claire again, Connor must solve the mystery of her disappearance and find her once and for all.
BIO:
Lisa Regan is a suspense novelist. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Master of Education Degree from Bloomsburg University. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and daughter.

ONLINE LINKS:

Website: www.lisaregan.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lisa-Regan/189735444395923
Twitter: www.twitter.com/lisalregan @lisalregan
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6443334.Lisa_Regan

Marketing your Books

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 08:39:00 +0000

You've just written your book and are now dreaming about relaxing on a beach in some exotic location with a good book. Forget about that dream. Writing was the easy part. You now have to market your book and that is the unfun part. Marketing is a serious amount of work and time. If you don't market your book nobody will know it exists. If they don't know it exists then they will not know to buy it. So get yourself off that beach chair and fire up that old laptop and get started.
Author Platform
In a nutshell, this is your footprint on the worldwide web. You develop this by having a website, a blog, using social media, writing articles, guest blogging and commenting on others' blogs. The more active you are on the internet, the larger the footprint you will leave. The easier it will be for readers to find you and your books.
Marketing 101
Freebies
There is a lot of discussion about giving your books away for free. Some authors don't believe in it and say they didn't put all the hard work and effort into writing the book just to give it away. Others say it gets your name known and out there. If you want to give away books you need to sign up with Goodreads.com and list your book as a giveaway. Alternatively put your book on Smashwords.com and give away a discount coupon. KDP Select gives you 5 free giveaway days every 90 days. How much longer this will last for, nobody knows. I haven't found KDP Select particularly successful in the longterm. You get a lot of people downloading your book onto their Kindle because it is free. They don't always read it and aren't necessarily your target audience either, which can result in a sucky review. Also, you have to give them exclusivity which is never a good thing as you miss out on a lot of other ebook retailers.
Blogs, Blogging, Guest Posts, Commenting and Virtual Book Tours
It's so easy to set up a blog it's frightening. There are scores of places where you can get a free blog. You have to post regularly, deliver good content and don't spam or only try and push your books on people. If you have friends with blogs, offer to do a guest post and reciprocate. You can also organise your own Virtual Book Tour, or pay someone else to organise it for you. Once again there are countless people advertising on the net who arrange your blog tour for about $30. You will get some exposure and reviews. Find blogs similar to yours that you can sign up for and be sure to comment on them regularly.

Book Reviews
I'm a great believer in what you put out to the universe you get back. If you review other books people will review yours. Get into the habit of reviewing everything you read. Post the reviews on Amazon, Shelfari, Barnesandnoble and Goodreads. Don't pay people to review your books. There are many people out there who are prepared to exchange reviews. If you want to go that route you find review exchanges on Goodreads Forums, Createspace and Amazon Forums.
Social Networking
Twitter, Facebook, Pininterest, Google+, Linkedin are the more common ones. For writers there is also She Writes, Goodreads, Kindleboards and Shelfari. Join the groups, comment frequently and get yourself known as an oracle of useful information. Don't spam as that will make you unpopular.

Try and work out a schedule for yourself so you can do a little every day. Take on too much and it becomes overwhelming. Good luck with your marketing efforts and have an awesome Festive Season!
Cindy

What motivates a writer?

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:08:00 +0000

Everybody has different motivations that make them do what they do. Some people write because it was a childhood dream. Others write to try and supplement their income. Me I write because I genuinely love it. Creating other lives, solving problems, it's a bit of a power trip where you control the world you create. Michael Meyer, author of the thriller Covert Dreams, shares what motivates him as a writer.

Writing is a lonely avocation, just my trusty computer at my side, as I work hard to create people, places, and plots that other people might enjoy reading. Marketing one’s own writing is an extremely lonely business. Unlike having a traditional publisher and all of its clout behind me, I have only myself, and I am a writer, not a salesperson. I find it difficult to toot my own horn, though I know that it is essential in order to get word of the very existence of my work out to the reading public. So what keeps me going? The writing, of course, gives me a lot of enjoyment. I am actually like a reader as I write. I never quite know how things will turn out in the end, not only of the book itself, but also in specific scenes. I thoroughly enjoy working with words, stringing them together in a creative way. Language has always fascinated me. Can you goose a goose? Does a house burn up or burn down? If you are going to come visit me, are you coming or going? Why would you want to swipe your card at a cash register if you already own the card? There is a huge difference between snap to and snap at. The list can go on and on. I love to play with words as I write, and this can be seen in COVERT DREAMS.

            Marketing my own work, however, is a completely different ballgame. I am a good writer, but I lack a lot in the area of salesmanship. I do seek out as many reviewers, interviewers, and bloggers as I can, and I am very thankful for all of these people, but every hour I spend tooting my own horn could be spent creating, my real forte. So what keeps me plugging away at telling others about my work, you might ask? The answer is found in the wonderful reactions that readers have to my work. Their excitement serves to push me forward. I like people, and it makes me happy to see that they, in turn, like what I have created. Here are a few random lines from posted reviews of COVERT DREAMS on my Amazon author’s site as examples of what I mean:
            “This story will not disappoint as it sucks you right into these lives from page one and doesn't let go until the last page is turned.”
            “If you enjoy psychological thrillers and exotic locales, this is the book for you.”
            “This is the best book, bar none, that I've read in an eon. It grabbed me by the collar and wouldn't let me go…. I felt I was in the hands of a master.”
            “[COVERT DREAMS] was like I was reading Robert Ludlum and the Bourne series.”
            “I'm looking forward to reading more from this wordsmith! Michael Meyer is a born storyteller!”
            “Covert Dreams is ‘I got captured’-reading, as opposed to ‘escape’-reading.”
            I think you can see what I mean. It is pretty heady stuff, the type of thing that helps me keep the faith. Michael Meyer.
Michael Meyer Author Bio
I have resided in and have visited many places in the world, all of which have contributed in some way to my own published writing. I have literally traveled throughout the world, on numerous occasions. I have lived in Finland, Germany, Thailand, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Saudi Arabia, where COVERT DREAMS is set. I gained the wanderlust to see the world, to experience other cultures, at an early age, and this desire has never left me. If anything, it has only gained in intensity as I have aged. I try to travel internationally at least once a year. In the interim, I spend lots of time traveling around both my home state of California and other nearby states.
            I spent my early years in the small town of Lone Pine, California, the home of almost every western movie, in addition to a wide variety of other genres, made in the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. In fact, Hollywood still films parts of big-time movies there today. My dad, the town’s lifeguard at the time, personally knew John Wayne, Lloyd Bridges, and Lee Marvin, all of whom came to the town’s pool, the Memorial Plunge, at times to cool off after a hectic day of working in the sun. I was even an extra in a movie filmed there in 1957, MONOLITH MONSTERS, a B-cult favorite even today. I was ten years old at the time. Even though I resided in a small town hours from the big city, I was exposed to the excitement of action and heroes at a formative age, and, thus, my interest in writing novels of suspense such as COVERT DREAMS was born.
            As a recent retiree from a forty-year career as a professor of writing, I now live in Southern California wine country with my wife, Kitty, and our two other cats.

Benefactor Needed: Apply within

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 15:52:00 +0000

There are days when you wish you were somebody else. When the thought of working is enough to make you crawl under the rose bushes and hide. The years of earning a salary and still having nothing to show for it are wearying. I’ve worked in education for 26 years, my friend for 33 years. That’s a couple of lifetimes. The paperwork we’ve had to complete over those combined years would probably be enough to fill a few rooms. We reckon we have done our time.

So joking around (as you do when you are wading through paperwork) we decided that what we really want in life is to stop working. Unfortunately there is that little phrase ‘no work no pay = no play’ that comes to mind. Therein lies the rub. We still want the same salaries. Both being over fifty we are too old to move in to the playboy mansion. We are still realistic. Our marbles are still rattling in our skulls, we haven’t quite lost them yet. The idea of starting a new career is too daunting. We need a job where we can relax on a beach.

Therefore we decided that what we actually need is a rich benefactor. It can be a man or a woman, we are not too fussy. It would be preferable if we never have to see them or meet them, but they just top up our bank accounts each month. Think of us as a car needing its petrol tank filled. Obviously people just don’t hand out money for nothing. You have to do something to earn it. After serious discussion and deliberation we have agreed that we would be prepared to keep a photo of our benefactor in the drawer of the bedside cabinet. That should be worth a few thousand dollars a month.

If you are interested in financing our lifestyles then please apply within. You will not be required to attend any meetings, make any phone calls or complete any paperwork.

Cindy Vine is the author of Not Telling, The Case of Billy B, Defective and C U @ 8. You can buy her books on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and the Apple iStore.

It's all about Head Space!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 06:56:00 +0000

It's difficult to get anything done when you are not in the right frame of mind to do it. Until you get into the right head space you will be hit by every possible distraction, distractions you would normally brush aside. I reckon if I knew how to develop the right head space then I would make millions. Unfortunately for me it's just something that is either there or it isn't.
Like now I should be working on my NaNoWriMo novel Hush Baby. But besides writing a blog post, I am debating inside my head what I should make myself for breakfast. Possible breakfasts are dominating my thoughts making even writing a simple blog post a challenge. Then there is the new John Grisham novel I just started. I keep wondering if I should read a bit before sitting at my laptop writing again. It was very stupid to start reading a potentially gripping book when I am supposed to be trying to write one.
Writing during the week when you work full time is virtually impossible. You have too many work-related issues zooming through your head that you can't even find an empty head space compartment.
But really it is all about discipline. Making sure you set some quiet time aside where you can focus on nothing more than the story you are trying to write. Those living with you need to know not to disturb you. Of course this will be very difficult for them if you are viewed as the oracle, the person who has all the answers.
My best time to write is early in the morning over the weekend. The neighbour's dogs are relatively quiet, probably exhausted from all the barking, yapping and howling they do all night long when you try to sleep. And my 17 year old daughter likes to sleep in which is a bonus. The minute she wakes up I save my work and shut my laptop. There are some battles I choose not to fight.
But now all is quiet, there is a rooster crowing but that I can almost blot out, my head space should be good, I should be in the writing zone...But all I can think about is breakfast. Guess I should make myself some.

Cindy Vine is the author of Not Telling, The Case of Billy B, Defective and C U @ 8. You can buy her books on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and the Apple iStore.

Writing for Teenagers

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 04:28:00 +0000

When you first decide you are going to be a writer, it can be a little like a kid in a candy store. There are so many genres to choose from. You can write children's books, young adult, thrillers, self-help, just to name a few. The best thing though is to follow your passion. It's hard to write a book when you don't feel strongly for that particular genre. Naomi Rabinowitz, author of Revenge of a Band Geek Gone Bad, followed her passion when she became a writer. She shares what made her choose to write young adult fiction.

WHY YA? WHY NOT?
When I decided to write a novel, there was no question in my mind that it would be a YA story. I've been fascinated with young adult literature from before I was even a teen myself.
As a kid, I devoured books by Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Louisa May Alcott and a lesser-known, but still great YA author named Frieda Friedman. All wrote about teens from different time periods (Friedman's books take place in the 1940s and '50s), but as a child of the '80s, that didn't matter to me. I was still sucked into the characters' stories and could relate to their emotions, if not always their living conditions (though some of the stuff that Laura got to do on the prairie was really cool!). I would be a teen myself in a few years and looked forward to those glamorous days ahead when I'd begin dating, driving and would gain some independence. The characters seemed to have it all and I wanted to be like them.

Once I actually became a teen, I quickly discovered that it wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be. In fact, there were often days when being 15 sucked. I didn't have a boyfriend. I wasn't popular in high school. I was just a band geek who felt as if she were invisible. But during those lonely times, my YA books kept me company. Fluffy YA stories like the Sweet Valley High series took me to another world and lifted my spirits when I was having a bad day. Meanwhile, I could relate to lost soul teen protagonists like Catcher In The Rye's Holden Caulfied. In other words, by reading YA stories, I didn't feel quite as alone.

Now that I'm an adult, I still love the genre. Teens are fascinating because they're between worlds. In some ways, they're very adult and often face mature challenges. Some get jobs, others have to care for younger siblings, some are involved in their first serious relationships. Some even go off to war. On the other hand, teens aren't yet considered to be adults -- at least not in our culture -- and still have to deal with many restrictions. They may have a serious boyfriend or girlfriend, but will have to obey a cerfew. They may have some strong political opinions, but aren't old enough to vote. The teenage years are a tumultuous time filled with changing bodies, new experiences and many firsts. Being a teen isn't always fun -- but writing about that age is very exciting and offers a lot of possibilities.

I hope that REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD can help some teens deal with their high school years the same way that Blume and other authors helped me cope with mine. I wouldn't want to revisit those years, but I'm grateful that they gave me something to write about.

Naomi Rabinowitz has always loved being creative. Raised in Nesconset, NY -- a suburb on Long Island -- she was introduced to the arts at an early age. Her mother, Joyce, is a pianist; her father, Melvin, plays piano and guitar; her grandmother, Esther, was a talented knitter; her late grandfather, Morris, was a violinist; her late great uncle, Sid Robin, was a well-known jazz musician, who penned the lyrics to the popular big band hit, "Undecided."

Naomi's parents, who were both teachers, frequently took her to museums and concerts. During their summers off, her family traveled. By the time she was 15, Naomi had been to several European countries, as well as China, Japan, Israel, Egypt, Russia and Mexico.

Naomi's love for writing emerged when she was in the second grade and her poem, "The Four Seasons," won first prize in a local literary competition. She became interested in journalism in junior high when her English class was selected to write for Newsday's "Kidsday" column.

She had as much passion for music. Though she began playing piano when she was three, she switched to her "true" instrument, the flute, when she was nine and eventually added tenor sax and clarinet to her list so that she could play in jazz band. She performed in almost every musical group from wind ensemble to orchestra (but never marching band!). In 2008, she released her jazz album FLUTE PATH.
Naomi received a B.A. in English from Binghamton University and an M.A. in magazine journalism from Syracuse University. From 1998-2012, she worked as a reporter/editor for national TV magazine Soap Opera Digest.

These days, Naomi writes, plays jazz flute and designs jewelry for her businesses Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations. She lives in Queens, NY with her husband, Jonathan, and their cat, Maya.

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The Next Big Thing

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 09:56:00 +0000

MY TURN AT THE BLOG HOP: THE NEXT BIG THING

Two writer friends of mine , BK Walker author of Immortyl Kisses: Warrior Rising and Aya Katz author of Vacuum County, tagged me in something called a “Blog Hop,” which is a cool new way for writers to talk about their work, support other writers, and help readers find new writers they might not know about. So, in the spirit of self-promotion AND goodwill to man (and woman), I happily accepted the baton, so to speak, and will play along. To do so, I will begin with adhering to the format, which appears to be posting the Blog Hop title, the rules, the questions (with answers) and the links:

BLOG HOP — The Next Big Thing

The rules for the Blog Hop are as follows:
1. Give credit to the person/blog that tagged you
2. Post the rules for the blog hop
3. Answer these 10 questions about your current WIP (work in progress) on your blog
4. Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them

Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing:

What is the working title of your book?
Hush Baby

Where did the idea come from for the book?
There was a newspaper report last year in December, about a 2 year old boy who had gone missing. After an extensive search the mother came forward and confessed to killing him.

What genre does your book fall under?
Reality fiction. Is that a genre?

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I would choose Ryan Reynolds to play the part of Kyle Rushton, Charlize Theron to play Sylvie Rushton, Kristen Stewart as Marlene Twigg.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
When a father investigates the death of his son, he unearths secrets that were best kept hidden.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Definitely self-published. It is too difficult to find an agency when you live in the wop-wops like I do.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I’m still busy with the first draft. I hope to have it done by the end of January.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I’d probably compare it to Defective, Not Telling and The Case of Billy B, some of the other novels I have written. I enjoy writing and reading reality-type stories.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?My brother and his twin boys. I love being around them and was thinking about what it would be like to lose them. How would we cope?

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?
People who enjoy reading stories which could be real, psychological thrillers and who enjoy books that look at how people handle stressful situations, will find this book of interest.

If you won fifty million dollars in a lottery, what is the first thing you would purchase?I’d buy each one of my three children a house.

So that’s it, my official first Blog Hop blog entry. It was fun to do, especially the casting the movie thing. Thanks again to BK Walker and Aya Katz (don’t forget to check out their books and blog) for inviting me to play along. Please check out these other writers’ work and blogs as well.
Karoline Barrett http://karolinebarrett.com/blog
MaryLynn Bast www.heartofawolf.com
Aya Katz http://notesfromthepens.blogspot.com
J'aime Rubio www.dreamingcasuallypoetry.blogspot.com
Sheri Swift http://sherilswift.blogspot.com

Cindy Vine is the author of Not Telling, Defective and C U @ 8, available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and the Apple iStore.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 07:29:00 +0000

How did Breast Cancer Awareness Month start
The first National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM) took place in October 1985 and was intended to increase awareness of breast cancer issues, especially the importance of early detection.

During NBCAM, women are encouraged to educate themselves about the disease, perform regular breast self-examinations, and schedule an annual mammogram.

The pink ribbon symbol
The first known use of the pink ribbon was in the fall of 1991, when the Susan G. Komen Foundation had handed them out to participants in its New York City race for breast cancer survivors. In 1993, Evelyn Lauder (of Estée Lauder Inc.) founded The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and used the pink ribbon as its logo, popularizing the symbol and its association with the disease.For the past two decades the world every October swathes itself in pink and turns attention to a deadly disease. In the U.S. alone a quarter of a million women are diagnosed while nearly 40,000 die from breast cancer each year. And that's just the US!

Stars That Battled Breast Cancer:

Kathy Bates, Maura Tierney, Judy Blume, Ann Romney, Edie Falco, Suzanne Somers, Olivia Newton-John, Giuliana Rancic, Wanda Sykes, Christina Applegate, Melissa Etheridge, Robin Roberts, Kylie Minogue, Sheryl Crow (list from the Huffington Post

What Breast Cancer means to me

My grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer way back in 1969 and had a mastectomy. In those days they didn't worry about reconstruction or leaving a nice scar. They just hacked off the breast in the most brutal way. I remember as a child going to visit her in hospital, and seeing her hands tied to her neck to stop her from touching the wound where her right breast used to be. She used a bag of bird seed as a breast prosthesis. One day after quickly taking washing off the line when the rain started, the seeds in her prosthesis started to germinate.

My own story with breast cancer started in 2003. You can read about it here. I had reconstruction done at the same time. My problems from the tram flap reconstruction were not pleasant. In my hub I write about the pros and cons of it. My second bout with breast cancer was in 2011. I went for an implant but that has not been without complications. In August this year I got breast cellulitis and had to have the implant removed. My breasts have proved to be a curse. What I once thought was my best feature became my enemy. excess, have always been a conservative social drinker. I have never smoked or taken drugs. I breast-fed my three children for a total of 5 years. I did everything right, so why did I get breast cancer not once, but twice? I have come to realise that sometimes bad things just happen to good people. There doesn't have to be a reason, it can just be in your genetic make-up. It can also just be shitty rotten luck. Whatever the reason, you just have to deal with it as best you can. Be grateful it was picked up early. Be thankful that you are one of the lucky ones that survived.

Cindy Vine is the author of the novels Not Telling, Defective and C U @ 8. They are available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Nobel.com, Sony and the Apple iStore.

Why you need Beta Readers

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 05:22:00 +0000

I've just been reading a great book by Stephen King called On Writing. In it he speaks about the need to find a special reader whom you trust to read your book and be a critical friend. He uses his wife Tabitha. Author T.K. Harris, author of Phantom Dreams, shares her insights in getting beta readers.

AUTHOR BIO:

T.K. Harris was born in California and lived a gypsy sort of life traveling the world as a military brat. She has been writing since she was a child and as had several short stories published by various magazines, including one in Woman's World. She currently lives and works in Colorado as a Senior Solutions Architect and IT Instructor and has recently had her first novel, Phantom Dreams, published. She is looking forward to her next two books, already outlined and partially written. You can find out more at: http://www.tkharrisonline.com.

Beta Readers. Get Some.

Why You Need Them and Where to Find Them

When I was writing short stories, I had a writer’s group to rely on. We met twice a month, read our stories aloud and received immediate feedback. It was great! I sold ten stories, professionally, this way.

But that doesn’t work as well for a novel. First off, they are right when they say don’t let anyone read a novel you are currently writing. You're either going to get great feedback that will probably go to your head and make you lazy or you're going to get so much constructive criticism that you may become discouraged and give up. The only time you want to receive feedback while writing that first draft is when you’re stuck and just need something to pry you out of whatever corner you wrote yourself into.

Once you’re done with that first draft, you put it away for a month or two, then pull it back out and edit. And edit. And edit. Its mind numbing. It may drive you a little crazy. But it has to be done. And it’s probably the hardest part of the entire venture, next to marketing your baby. (But that’s another story.) But now, you need readers. Readers to help you find the holes in your plot, or to tell you the places where your brilliant novel becomes boring or confusing. But also readers to tell you what you did right!

For those of you who already have dedicated readers willing to wade through what is, inevitably, a manuscript still in need of major repairs, good for you. I’ll try not to be jealous! For the rest of us, we know that no matter how much our friends and family say they may help, getting them to finish, is like pulling teeth. (Although I’ve never pulled teeth, I hear it’s quite difficult.)

So where do you find them? I tried book clubs, college students, etc. No luck. But then I decided to try something a little different. I posted an ad on Craigslist. I know you’re thinking “brilliant” right? Or, more likely, “Are you crazy? What if they steal your book?!” Well, it’s a risk. And it didn’t happen.

I basically asked for 5-10 people to read my novel, answer a few questions, and I’d send them a ten dollar Money Order. The response was overwhelming. In fact, I had to turn people away. For those that responded, I outlined the questions, explained that once I got the answers back, I’d send the money. And, most importantly, I gave them a two week deadline. Once they agreed to all of this, I sent them the book.

What I got back blew me away. The comments devastated and inspired me.

They didn’t like my main character. She was boring. (A result of writing late at night no doubt). They got confused in the beginning and at the very end. They couldn’t put the book down in the middle. In fact, one lady said her interest was so caught in the middle that she sat in her car outside of her gym, until she finished it. (How cool is that?!)

I used the comments to plug the holes. I rewrote and started the book with Jack, instead of Kathy. And, when I became discouraged, I read and re-read the comments that told me how much they liked the book and would be willing to read it again once it was ready.

It was an amazing experience that helped me make an OK story so much better. I will definitely be doing the same for my next book! And I hope this was helpful!

I’d be happy to send anyone the actual Craigslist post and the questions I sent the readers. Simply contact me at: https://www.tkharrisonline.com and go to the contact page OR my Phantom Dreams page on Facebook and leave a comment requesting the information.

You can also just stop by to say "hi" or ask another question!

T.K. Harris

Website: http://www.tkharrisonline.com/index.php?p=1_11_Book-and-Reviews

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tk.harris.568?ref=tn_tnmn

And you can find Tamara's books here:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Phantom-Dreams-ebook/dp/B008I4R1FM

Barnes&Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/phantom-dreams-t-k-harris/1112976686

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Phantom-Dreams/book-by49U9ATsku2CiTPWfxl6g/page1.html?s=N81-rNZGlE6rhpbt92nJbA&r=1

Did I ever mention that I hate flying?

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 18:52:00 +0000

Flying has got to be my least favourite activity. I mean I enjoy travel and the holiday at the end. But the actual flying part, nah. I'm hanging out for the day when we just teleport everywhere.
Today was my worst flying experience ever. Even worse than when our plane got struck by lightning in Southern Angola during the civil war and we had to make an emergency landing in rebel territory. Even worse than flying into a typhoon over Hong Kong sitting next to a morbidly obese man who poured himself into half of my seat and suffered from the nastiest flatulence that ever ventured past my nostrils. Even worse than the pressure valve going and us having to return to the airport wearing oxygen masks. Even worse than the pilot coming in too fast, over-shooting the runway so he had to yank the plane upwards quickly before we crashed into the national road on the other side of the fence.
I'm sure you realise by now it was pretty bad.
I can't believe I survived.
Actually, the bad part only lasted for ten minutes of a two hour flight. We flew into a storm that was so severe, it threw our plane around the sky rather like a pigeon on crack. One that over-indulged on the crumbs of the xmas cake that had been soaked in a mixture of rum, brandy and whiskey. The pilot had no control as first the plane dropped and then took off sideways, bouncing its way through the storm clouds. My ears couldn't decide what they were supposed to do, popping like champagne corks at a wedding. People were screaming. Ten minutes of being blown around the sky, but the dropping parts were the worst. The poached eggs I'd had for breakfast this morning scrambled themselves and made their way into my lungs. Last night's fat-free ice-cream curdled inside me and entered my brain through some internal pipe or other. The terror must have been frozen on my face, rather like when a crazy boyfriend takes you for a motorbike ride down a steep hill at speed. Maybe the pilot was on speed. I wish I was on speed. It might have dulled the fear. I thought I wasn't afraid of dying. I was wrong. Did you hear that? I'm admitting I'm wrong. That doesn't happen too often. I told you my brain has become curdled fat-free ice-cream.
Ten minutes of the worst rollercoaster ride in the world. I also happen to hate rollercoasters. It felt like it lasted several lifetimes. There are definitely more grey hairs on my head. They probably come in fifty shades of grey. In fact, it's aged me so much I think it has brought on menopause as it caused my ovaries to seize. Gripping the chair so tightly, sitting so ramrod-stiff, caused my back and my left leg to cramp. Now, several hours later, my back feels as if I built the pyramids all on my own, carrying each block by myself, struggling to walk under its weight in the thick desert sands.
Above the screams you could hear a group at the back of the plane laughing raucously at each drop. What were they trying to prove laughing while the rest of us were screaming? Maybe all the free wine they consumed on the plane had taken away all their fear. Drunken skunks. Savages. I hate them for laughing.
Did I ever mention I hate flying?
Cindy Vine is the author of Not Telling, Defective and C U @ 8.

As NaNoWriMo approaches...

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 09:00:00 +0000

October to me only means one thing. It is the month before November. November is the craziest month of the year. No it's not recovery after Halloween or the start of frantic Christmas shopping. November signifies NaNoWriMo. The month when you drop everything and write. I have written 4 novels during NaNoWriMo time. It gives you that kickstart you often need to get that novel out of your head and onto your computer. Teresa Trent, author of A Dash of Murder, shares her experience with NaNoWriMo.

Crazy Days With NaNoWriMo

by Teresa Trent

Have you heard of it? National Novel Writing Month? The goal is to write at least 50,000 words in one month. That works out to 1676 words per day. Every day. For an entire month. Let's travel back in time to my life about a year ago. I was writing, but not daily. I had published my first book and was slogging along on my second book, but not daily. I had characters, plots, subplots all coming along nicely, but my fictional garden was growing weeds between work sessions. I decided to join National Novel Writing Month just to see if I could do it. I went to the site nanowrimo.org and signed up for my month of fun. Now, the rule is you cannot have a single word of your novel written before November 1, so the novel I had been working on had to be shelved temporarily. I had to start at word number one, so I created another story. Here are some guidelines for the weeks before NaNoWriMo.

Setting Up Your Book: You can't write any chapters or scenes, but you can work on your outline prior to NaNoWriMo. Not only can you, but if you want to succeed, I highly suggest doing this. Work out your plotlines, research your settings, write up your character and setting sketches. Imagine if you were going to paint a portrait. You would need to prepare your paints, choose your colors, get the right size canvas, find your model and set up your work schedule to get it done in a certain amount of time. This is what you do before NaNoWriMo. If you go in with nothing prepared hitting that 1676 words daily can be harder than you ever imagined. That being said, once you are into the flow of writing that novel be flexible to make changes where they're needed. Many times I plan events out in a book and then find a hole in my plot. For example- If character A is doing this here then character B needs to hear it. I'll need to write them in or write a scene that sets up a clue for the reader. Don't be so rigid you can't let your story breathe.

Ready Start Write: This part seems so easy in the beginning. A little less than 2,000 words? Piece of cake! Then you realize you are in what month? NOVEMBER. The month of preparing and having one of the biggest family gatherings of the year. Last year I was writing on my ipad to and from Louisiana trying to make my daily word quota. Did I hit it every day? No. I admit it. I took Thanksgiving off but then tried to double up on the weekend. It took me several days to really get back on track with the book.

Picky Writers-Chill: If you tend write and then rewrite-that's good. Doing this during the first draft process, though, is time consuming. There will be plenty of mistakes in your manuscript in the first draft, but that is what the second draft is for, right? Too much backing up and fixing will ruin your thought flow for writing your story. Go, Go, Go. Need I say more? Get from beginning to middle to end and then start all over again and correct your mistakes in December.

Don't Give Up: So there I was, on the last night of NaNoWriMo with 47,000 words and an important choir rehearsal to go to at my church. Did I mention the end of November also coincides with the beginning of all the Christmas crazy scheduling? It does. I was ready to give up. I could cling to the fact that I had done so much in one month, and I just felt like I was out of story to tell. Other writers write books that are hundreds of thousands words long and someday I hope to be one, but for right now I am what I am. I was trying to write but ~BLOCK~. Then it hit me, probably as I drove to choir. Let's hit somebody in the head with a frying pan! That's right. I visualized an old German beer glass my father had with a lady hitting her inebriated husband on the head with a frying pan. That image stuck in my head and I rushed home and wrote that scene at 9:30. The contest would end at midnight. By 10:30 I had the scene in and uploaded my novel.

(Trumpet Blast). I had achieved NaNoWriMo.
Before you get too excited, you don't get any major prizes for winning NaNoWriMo except for that 50,000 word novel you now have to work with, submit and/or publish. Even though you have to upload your novel, the NaNoWriMo people aren't reading your words—just counting them. After writing this book, which is my second mystery novel, Overdue For Murder, it still took me until around Easter to finish the rewrites. I have to admit that once I was out of NaNoWriMo my work slowed down, but one thing I learned from my experience was consistency is the key. If you want to write, then set a goal and WRITE EVERY DAY. If you stop, then you will lose that precious thought thread going on in your brain. As November rolls around again this year, will I NaNoWriMo? Can't wait!

Teresa Trent wasn't born in Texas but after a few glasses of sweet tea and some exceptional barbecue she decided to stay. With a father in the Army, she found herself moved all over the world, settling down for a while in her teens in the state of Colorado. Her writing was influenced by all of the interesting people she found in small towns and the sense of family that seemed to be woven through them all. Teresa is a former high school teacher and received her degree from The University of Northern Colorado. Teresa is presently working on the third book in her Pecan Bayou Series. Her second book, Overdue For Murder, came out in June of 2012.

http://teresatrent.wordpress.com/

How to avoid the rejection blues

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 05:48:00 +0000

It always amazes me how many women there are out there, who for some reason or other are trapped in abusive relationships. For every one of us who escapes a terrible situation, there are many more who are unable to escape and face daily abuse. Nobody should stay in an abusive relationship. You are worth more than that. You deserve better. In fact. You deserve the best.

Senica Evans escaped an abusive situation, and like I did with Fear, Phobias and Frozen Feet has written an inspirational book about her experiences and her escape. It is very cathartic to write about what you went through and use the drama to help others get through a similar situation.

Just as you learn to cope with rejection in your life, as a writer you also have to know how to handle rejection. Senica Evans shares her thoughts on How to Avoid the Rejection Blues.

Rejection, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is the act to refuse to accept, recognize, submit to, believe, make use of, consider, or deny. Rejection is inevitable in life especially in the creative business. If you want to experience any degree of success you must first get comfortable with NO. On the other side of comfort is greatness. Find comfort in the uncomfortable.

Hearing NO is not only uncomfortable; it brings the grey cloud of negativity. You’ve heard the song with the low melodic beats and snazzy snarls. The tune carries you down the reminiscent lane headed straight towards the place where the blues is felt in every word a person speaks. You know those blues… rejection blues. Although you’re drawn in, avoid this place in order to reach your ultimate destination. Here are a few tips on avoiding the rejection blues;

Acknowledge. Refusing to acknowledge the ‘NO’ will only allow the associated feelings of negativity and self-doubt to fester and grow. Once negativity takes root, look out, it takes over. The best response to a ‘NO’ is not to take it personal because the response isn’t about you. It might be bad timing, not a good fit, or some other reason that has nothing to do with you.

Acceptance. Hearing NO comes with the territory. You have to develop thick skin and remember NO has nothing to do with you. No’s don’t indicate your writing skill. They indicate another’s preference, timing, or preferred style. Accept the NO as part of the job and keep pressing forward. Perfect matches for your work are out there.

Embracing. Have fun with the No’s. I’m sure that sounds sort of weird but… you might as well get used to them since they are a regular part of a writer’s life, or any creative for that matter. Expect them, welcome them, embrace them… they’re just bumps along the path.

Let Go. Move on and quick. Let go of any associated negative feelings of self-doubt, worry, or not being good enough. You are just fine and are the best version of you. Take your NO in stride then let it go. Allow yourself daily reminders (incantations are a great tool) of your effort and greatness.

The longer you wallow in rejection blues, the more difficult getting back up and out there becomes. The rejection blues is akin to being swept away by the currant taking you off course. Stay active and let the momentum propel you forward. Remember, the best version of you is already good enough.

Senica Evans as author, relationship coach, radio host, and speaker is passionate about helping women overcome the destruction in their life to reveal their true beauty and greatness. As a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, and destructive relationships, Senica founded SennySen to be a guiding light to women and teen girls. Senica is the author of Married to Him, an autobiography of the destruction she faced in her abusive destructive marriage. Senica is preparing to release her second book later this year; Woman Free Yourself: A Guide to Healing from Divorce or a Heart Wrenching Breakup by Starting Over, Rediscovering You, & Crushing Bitterness, Anger, and Resentment. Visit her at http://www.sennysen.com .

Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/unu-MN_OQng
Links: Link to Tour on Main Site - http://www.virtualbooktourcafe.com/3/post/2012/09/married-to-him-by-senica-evans.html
Married to Him – http://promos.sennysen.com/married-to-him
Website – www.sennysen.com
Blog – www.sennysen.com/blog
Facebook – www.facebook.com/sennysen11 | www.facebook.com/sddevans
Twitter – www.twitter.com/sennysen11
senica@sennysen.com
www.blogtalkradio.com/sennysen
Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Not everyone will like what you do and that's okay!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 09:04:00 +0000

The curtains go up, the music starts, the audience begins to laugh and applaud, and I run off the stage crying. Granted I was five years old at the time. And today if I was in that audience I would also have laughed. Five year olds dressed in nothing but a pair of shorts, topless except for balloons cellotaped in strategic places, must have looked quite hilarious. Especially when some balloons popped as the curtains opened.

It took me years to recover from that experience and get over my stagefright.
Writing a book and publishing it is a bit like going out on stage. You put yourself out there for everybody to see and comment on. You stand there completely exposed, at the mercy of your audience. Sometimes the balloons pop and your audience see more than what you bargained on. Occasionally they find mirth in something that should have been serious. Some love to tear everything to shreds, not quite distinguishng the fine line between being critical and just being a bitch. Others identify with your characters and love what you do.
Here's the thing. You can't please everybody every time.
We are all different, unique, with different experiences which shape our opinions and perceptions. We don't all like the same things.
For me cucmber in a salad is a fate worse than death. I always gingerly fish them out when I happen upon them. Other people might like cucumbers so much, they even, horror upon horrors, eat it before it even goes into a salad. Standing in the kitchen nibbling on pieces of cucumber while they prepare a meal.
You don't have to like what everybody else likes. Not everybody has to like what you do. So it stands to reason that not everybody has to like what you write and that's okay.
Cindy Vine lives at the foot of Kilimanjaro and is the author of Not Telling, Defective and C U @ 8.

Writing a Memoir

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Vine) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 15:41:00 +0000

Entrepreneur, Best Selling Author, Publishing Liaison, and Motivational Speaker are just a few of the makings of O. Keeys (Omegia). After serving two terms in the military Omegia went on to apply her strategic planning to the publishing industry. She has garnered numerous awards and praise to include the Scribe Award for the National Black Book Festival, guest speaker for The Miami International Book Festival, and ranking in Conversations Magazine top 100 books of 2010 and 2011.

In between book touring Omegia spends her time dedicated to helping her fellow authors. She has over 20 years in the publishing industry in which she started out as a teen working in her mother’s book store. Omegia has many published books to include (Adult) Passionate, Playmates, Seduction.com, Can You Keep a Secret? and Erotic Moments: Love, Lust, and Desire, (Memoir) Rise and Fall of a Track Start and Single, Black, and Government Owned, (Young Adult) The Baby Girl and Unloved, and (Self Help) The Not So Common Sense Guide for Authors.

Who Are You to Pen a Memoir?

“You’re not a celebrity so what gives you the right to pen a memoir? You don’t look like you’ve been through anything.” I stared at the older lady and composed myself before responding. Being I was at what was probably my 50^th book festival I was used to all sorts of questions regarding my writing but this is one which caught me by surprise. If she wasn’t still in front of me with her nose turned up I would have thought I imagined it.
My answer was simple but not short and sweet. “I wrote a book which people can relate to. Being a victim of molestation, rape, racism, sexism, of abuse, and much more has nothing to do with how I look or my status. But, if it makes you feel better I felt like a celebrity every time I returned home to my family while in the military, when I qualified for the Olympic Trials, and when I overcame every obstacle put in my way.”

The woman’s frown softened a bit and she purchased my book. A few weeks later I had an inbox message on Facebook thanking me for setting her straight. She stated she laughed, she cried, and wanted to strangle some of my family members. My intention wasn’t to set her straight, as she put it, but to let her know being victimized in anyway has nothing to do with how much money you make so why should speaking on it?

Single, Black, and Government Owned isn’t a woe is me depiction of my life by any means. Yes, some terrible things happened to me, but overall I feel I’ve lived a pretty good life. In fact I really didn’t focus on the bad much but how I went through life trying to overcome it. It wasn’t an easy decision to write my memoir. I was scared of what people who thought they knew me would think, but the voice inside of me had other plans. The voice said screw their feelings and do what I needed to do to finish the manuscript. In the end the voice won out and trapped me in front of my computer for three weeks straight as my life played out before me. I’m all the better for it. This memoir was the therapy my soul needed.

I’m accountable for all my actions and have learned I can’t control the action or inaction of others. My goal for my memoirs, this and Rise and Fall of a Track Star is to help those who’ve been victimized and to give my readers a great story through my raw emotion. One doesn’t need to have walked in another’s shoes to begin to understand their plight.

Omegia Keeys

Please enjoy this snippet from Single, Black, and Government Owned

What the heck was I thinking? I stood in front of a brown brick building with about fifty other people, both male and female, being screamed at. We were lined up in four rows with ten in each column. I was in the second row, midway down and an arm’s length away from the each of the four other people surrounding me.

“Drop your bags! Pick them up! Hold them with your arms straight out!” one of the drill instructors yelled.

Dressed in their battle dress uniform (BDU’s) and Smokey the Bear hats, they swarmed us. Something about those hats made them more intimidating. For me, it was because it blocked their eyes, but for those who got the one-on-one attention of the drill instructors, it was something more. The fear could be seen on their faces whenever a drill instructor approached them. One guy with long, blond hair received special treatment with the hat. The drill instructor stood so close as he spoke to the boy, the brim of the hat smacked the boy in the forehead on every other word. By the time the drill instructor was finished, the poor guy had a red indention on his forehead.

“You rainbows are a bunch of freaking idiots! You just couldn't follow directions, could you? The Airman manual clearly said pack two changes of clothes,” another drill instructor added.

I found out later they called us rainbows because it was day one of Basic Training and we hadn't been issued our uniforms yet. The group of us standing together in formation with different colored clothing made us look like one big rainbow.

With my arms out straight and parallel on both sides of my body, I fought desperately to hold up my bags in my hands. My arms were just beginning to feel the burn and from all my years of watching military movies, I knew this was only the beginning. I held back tears as I reflected on what had gotten me to this point…..

Other Books By O. Keeys:
(Adult) Passionate Playmates, Seduction.com, Can You Keep a Secret?,
(YA) The Baby Girl, Unloved,
(Memoir) The Rise and Fall of a Track Star and Single, Black, and Government Owned,
(How To/Self Help) The Not So Common Sense Guide for Authors – coming soon.

Giveaway: 5 E-books will be given away during the tour. a Rafflecopter giveaway