Sheila's Guests and Reviews

I'm only one and a half books behind on my reading schedule now, unless you count that strange plan to read one book a month just for myself. Maybe I'll read something quickly tomorrow. Meanwhile, grab your coffee mugs if you want some recommendations for books to enjoy during the long weekend. Aaron Paul Lazar's Essentially Yours is second in his Tall Pines series, set in the Adirondacks, filled with great characters and genuine heart, exciting, intriguing and thoroughly entertaining, it's a perfect read for sitting on your deck before dinner... with a dog, preferably, and maybe a parrot too. I've read several for Aaron Lazar's mysteries now and enjoyed them all, so having one available on my review list is always a treat. Drink some 3-star well-balanced coffee as you follow the tale. Faces Behind the Stones by Fran Lewis is a set of short stories which tell  their mysteries from the points of view of the dead. The stories are all based on fact, and the m...

I'm delighted to welcome author Kristy James to my blog today. I have her book Enza on my reading list and am very much looking forward to it. But my reading list is long (all the way to November now!) and my time is in urgent need of balance. Kristy's post gives me a nice reminder that it's okay when other things come first, once or twice, or even always, maybe... as her novel might also reveal. Thank you so much for visiting my blog Kristy, and now I'll pass it over to you. If anyone bothers to check publishing dates on Amazon.com , it would appear as though I wrote several books last year. That's where looks can be deceiving. Those were all first drafts (AKA dust collectors) that I wrote over the past six or eight years. And then I discovered self-publishing. At that point I spent months editing and polishing, and finally, put them out there for the entire world to see. I'm in awe of authors who can crank out novels every two or three months th...

Help! Today's the day I get to help out at the church daycamp and teach some kids to play chess. Please wish me luck! The thought has inspired me to think of another book I'd like to write, but first I'd like some time to write it in--a Bible book of chess where creation leads to the board, with the center like the mountain where Noah landed; pawns are Abraham and Lot's tribespeople fighting over water rights: rooks are born of those battles on the return to the Promised Land where cities, towers and the high ground made it hard for Joshua to prevail; bishops are like the prophets and priests who listened to God and sent out sneak attacks at just the right time; queens are like Deborah; knights represent the time when Israelite learned to use horses; kings can never be put in danger or killed, just like David refusing to kill Saul; and more... Well, I'm working on the more. Anyway, I'm also working on the reading so here are a few more reviews. I think I need ...

The first book took two hours. The next one took one and a half. And I've just finished getting the third book ready in one hour. I suspect converting books with pictures might take an awful lot longer, but I have three ebooks available on Smashwords now so I've finally joined the world of Smashwords authors!   If you want to review one of them, please let me know--the pictures should be linked to the smashwords page so you can view samples online, and I might even learn how to offer Smashwords coupons sometime. Meanwhile I've copied them to my kindle since my kindle-for-PC has suddenly stopped working. I'm checking through all the contents links, web links, spelling, references, etc..., a minor task that will doubtless take many more hours but I don't want to submit the books for distribution until I'm sure they're right. Meanwhile I've been putting off catching up on life, the universe and everything. If I wait much longer the universe will explod...

I'm considering republishing some of my childrens' Bible stories on Createspace so they'll be available on Amazon. I'm still not sure how it will work, but it's going well so far. The cover creator's not as nice or as flexible as Lulu's, and they won't write on the spine if you've got less than 135 pages, which is a bit of a shame. There's lots of information about distribution that I've not read yet--will I ever get these books in bookstores or libraries? I'm hoping maybe an ISBN will at least help with the local library who refused to even look at them when I started self-publishing with Lulu. Ah well, I'll let you know. (The reason I don't just use Lulu distribution is the higher Lulu print costs plus the wholesale pricing structure would make at least some of them cost too much.) I do like the interior template on Createspace. It's kind of a bind shifting my text across but the formatting's nice, the choice of font (...

My second Bible story book has just been reviewed at the Dubious Disciple , and it's a lovely informative review, for me as the author as well as for potential readers. It tells me what's right, what's wrong, how the reviewer views it, and why it's not as good as the first book (also reviewed at the Dubious Disciple ). Plus the reviewer gives me ideas how to market the book--WOW! Now I'm feeling really inspired, and eager to start work on the next one--perfect timing I suppose since my novel's out of my hands. Meanwhile, thinking of marketing ploys, here are two books I "bought" free on Amazon today, so if you like free kindle reads you might like to follow the links: House Haunting--like house hunting but with ghosts, http://www.amazon.com/Haunting-Estate-Paranormal-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0054N7CTA/ and Tango Trajectory--CIA experience informing the novel of a woman flying "spook" missions and locating a terrorist base, http://www.amazon....

I love YA novels, and paranormal, urban fantasy, action adventure... so I was delighted to add Desiree Finkbeiner's Ethos series to my reading list. Morning Star (book 1) was released on March 28th and already has lots of great reviews. It's even been a bestseller in recent weeks with over 21,000 downloads last month! If only I could dream that kind of readership for my novels... Ah, but dreaming is fun, as are reading and writing too. Desiree's asked me to review Morning Star, which I most certainly will as soon as I've read it. She's also sent me a wonderful guest post on the importance of writing book reviews, so please read on... then read Morning Star (links below), and then review it. Here's a blurb to entice you. When a mysterious stranger interrupts Brianna’s mundane routine, her eyes are opened to the dark underbelly of reality… immortal rogues, ancient conspiracies, prophetic revelations, savage tribes, mammoth dragonflies… She’s thrust i...