Sheila's Guests and Reviews

Today's been an interesting day in the kindle promotion for Genesis People. From one sale in Japan yesterday (yes, Japan), the book has moved up the list to #1 in Christian books. As my publisher says, word of mouth must work, since we've certainly not been working on Japanese promotion. Anyway, here's a picture to prove it--can you tell I'm excited! Here it is at Number 2 and now Number 1 !!!!! Plus, I've reached Number one in Canada too. Thank you to my Canadian friends! Genesis People has made #1 and #3 in America too, so if you've not downloaded it yet, maybe you should click on the link and check up on what you're missing. Those Japanese and Canadian readers just might be onto something... Meanwhile, I've also been reading, so here are some more book reviews. Grab a coffee while it's hot and join me with kindle in hand... Elizabeth Parkinson-Bellows will be visiting my blog tomorrow--so don't miss her post. And today I f...

Today I get to welcome author J. D. Smith to my blog. Having recently landed on planet earth he has written an invaluable new guide book, Notes of a Tourist on Planet Earth: Being a Collection of Hilarious Essays, Poems and Ponderings about the Human Species . A species worth much pondering perhaps, and a source of much humor too. J.D. takes readers through a satirical tour of the peculiarities in our world, providing fresh and sharp wit to issues like wearing black, bestiality, and rejected menu items from Disney World. A seasoned traveler, scholar of four degrees, award-winning writer, and a contestant on "Jeopardy," the author proves smart is the new funny. Thank you so much for joining us J.D, and for sharing your: 7 Tips for Writing Humor Ideas can come from anywhere at any time, so try not to get in their way. Looking too hard for subjects and angles might make you freeze up and focus only on the same topics that other people write about,...

I've been updating my websites, one by one, adding sample buttons so people can read my writing, trying to make sure the links still work, trying to figure out which site serves which purpose... I even updated my books site: http://www.sheiladeethbooks.com. And I posted a chapter from Genesis People on my Bible Study Blog--http://sheiladeethstudies.blogspot.com--in readiness for its kindle promotion. Thinking of which... Genesis People is FREE on Kindle TODAY ! Click here or on the sample button and see why you really want to read it. Then "buy" the book (for zero dollars and cents). And come back for more. Psalm Stories will start its Kindle promotion next Sunday! Of course, you'll want some other books to read with those cups of coffee too, so here are some book reviews. All the books are short, just right for a busy day when you need to get back to work (or to Amazon to buy Genesis People FREE !). First are two rather unseasonal tales of Christmas. But hey...

Today I'm delighted to welcome Ilan Herman, author of The Lord of the Cats, Impulse, Gravedigger, and Chan Kim.  His new novel, The Ancient One, is a fantasy chronicling the life of Uxe, an African man who lives for a thousand years.  As a youth, a thousand years ago, Uxe discovers an age defying plant which now might lead to triumph in the 21st century. I'm told it evokes the Biblical times of Moses and the Exodus of the Israelites--if you know me, you'll know why that makes it irresistible to me and I'm looking forward to the read. The Ancient One? One of the inspirations guiding me to write The Ancient One, was the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy, a 1980 comedic pearl about a Kalahari bushman named Xi, who is a member of the pacifist San tribe. One day, a Coke bottle falls from the sky (discarded by a passing plane) and changes the village dynamics. Until that day, the hardest materials available to the tribe are wood and sandy rocks, but the bottle, with...

I'm delighted to welcome Sasscer Hill, author of the upcoming mystery, The Sea Horse Trade ( reviewed here) to my blog today. I was lucky enough to read the book and interview the author before the book's release date. So watch out for sea horses making their debut at the Aiken, SC Library tomorrow, though they're planning a much bigger splash at the Malice Domestic conference next week. If you're attending the conference, don't miss Sasscer speaking on a panel called "Mysteries With Sex Crimes" on May 5th with three other authors including mega best seller, Laura Lippman! I hope you have a really great time Sasscer! So, my first question... This novel is the third in the series but I found it easy to read without having read any others before. I’m curious about how you decide which characters should recur when writing a series.             I don’t really “decide” I just think of a story idea and then it will come to m...

Do you write science fiction? Do you want to write science fiction? I've just started reading Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy from Seventh Star Press-- just released in ebook and print formats--and it's brilliant! Neil Gaiman advises where you can look for ideas--or rather, why ideas really aren't the hard part. Lou Anders explores those gazillions of subgenres and actually makes them make sense. (Ever wondered where the dividing line is between hard sci-fi and soft? And what about cyber-punk, or high fantasy?) Ursula Le Guin? Yes, she's here too, one of several authors answering interview questions. There are chapters on killer beginnings, middles (and middling through), what's special about sci-fi/fantasy endings. Orson Scott Card discusses rhetoric and style. Pamela Sergeant offers the sort of dialog advice that every author should read. Character, emotion, aliens (they're characters too), Larry Niven, Harry Turtledove, Joe Haldema...

  I reviewed Prudence MacGregor's Trilogy recently and really enjoyed these three oddly unsettling short stories. So I'm delighted to welcome the author to my blog today. She's answering the question of why she wrote the stories and collected them together into her book. Why I Chose to Write Trilogy in the Paranormal Genre By Prudence MacGregor I have always been fascinated by the unknown and what the possibilities are that lie beyond that what we know; the tangible, if you will. It's no secret that I am a big fan of the iconic television series, The Twilight Zone , for one. It was so good at presenting stories that, ostensibly, had a normal veneer but peel that back and you had the oddest of circumstances surrounding them. That's what I tried to do with Trilogy: A Collection , and that show, along with my interest in the unknown and "what could be," inspired and influenced me to write these three stories in the paranormal genre. C...