Enter this contest for a chance to win Kevin Brennan’s latest novel, Occasional Soulmates!
Of course, you could do as I did and buy the book and then you wouldn’t need to enter the contest. In fact, if you buy the book now, you’ll probably get it before the contest closes on November 5. You might even read it before the contest closes. And then you will be very very glad that you went ahead and bought the book :)
Some time ago I wrote about “letting go” of my earliest writings (you can read that post here). Just for the record, I still have most of those early writings, slowly rotting away on decades-old onion-skin typing paper. I will eventually let go of them, but only after I’ve scanned them and resigned them to an indefinite existence in the Cloud.
Today, letting go involves leafing through my files, a tidy box of folders, hanging and otherwise. (more…)
When we were out West not too long ago (although now it seems like a dream), one of our closest friends gave us a gift. Our friend is Jennifer Ewing, an artist in mixed media as well as the fine arts. She and her husband Leo Germano are a dynamic duo in the Art world with their mural and fine art business that they started in 1989 as Ewing & Germano. Currently, Leo is developing his already awesome skills as a photographer, and Jennifer has branched out in workshops and events around her “Spirit Boat” series. Jennifer started this series soon after her father died in 2004. I remember visiting her studio and seeing early paintings where notes from her father were pasted on the canvas. Fast forward several years and the motif of boats, of journeys, of spiritual quests continues. To commemorate our 25th wedding anniversary, Jennifer offered us a boat from several that she had been working on. (more…)
Time is running out to participate in the Legends of Windemere Thunderclap campaign. It doesn’t cost a cent to participate. More importantly, you would be helping the one and only Charles Yallowitz, author of the high fantasy series Legends of Windemere! Go to Charles’s blog and click on that cute Capybara!
Just a few more days for the Legends of Windemere Thunderclap campaign and I’ve been stuck at 74 for days. I have until Saturday to get 26 more volunteers to make this a success. I’ve tried tweets, Facebook posts, and WordPress posts. For now, I’m doing this post and then one on Friday night. After that, I’ll talk about my experience with this and give my Pro/Con opinion. (At least after I’ve eaten since this campaign ends on Yom Kippur, Jewish Day of Fasting.)
SO CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW OR SHARE THIS TO LEND A HAND!
This list was inspired by a mishap in the kitchen which was a result of not being fully engaged in the process. I hope you enjoy.
10 If you are cooking dinner do not walk away from that pot of water that refuses to boil. If you do, at best you will return to find a steam-filled kitchen. At worst, you will return to a completely dry pot which is now in the basement through the giant hole in the floor and the volunteer fire department captain writing up the citation.
9 If you are cooking dinner do not try to edit your novel at the same time. If you do, ay best you may find the word asparagus in your final proof. At worst you will not find the word asparagus in the final proof and will have to live…
The talented and versatile S. K. Nicholls (of Red Clay and Roses fame) has tagged me to participate in the Sisters in Crime Blog Hop. Click here to see what Susan has to say about Sisters in Crime (SinC). She’s pretty much convinced me that I should join this organization. And why is that, you may ask? Well, I know I tend to not join organizations because, to paraphrase Groucho Marx, I don’t like to belong to any club that would accept me as a member. And yet …. (more…)
I’ve come rather late to the Sir Terry Pratchett party. I’ve seen him and his writing discussed on several blogs, but didn’t even have a clue what he wrote until a month ago. Now I’m a huge fan of his.
First, some background. I’m a fan of audiobooks. Best. Thing. Ever. I love listening to audiobooks while I walk or knit or commute. If it weren’t for audiobooks, my imaginary worlds be far poorer. I have a subscription to Audible.com and when preparing for my recent vacation, I was on the website casting about for some audiobook that could easily entertain or at least distract me if I had any down time, such as on the flights or in the late evening while knitting. Snuff was on sale. It sounded like a good old police procedural. Yeah, even the novel’s description wasn’t enough to clue me in on the world I was about to enter. And obviously I didn’t look close enough at the cover.
Snuff (Pratchett novel) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The first evening I started listening, I was totally blown away: dwarfs? trolls? vampires? werewolves? social commentary on discrimination against other … hmmm … not really people but let’s say, sentient beings? WTF?
What riotous fun Snuff was to listen to! The narrator, Stephen Briggs, was wonderful, one of those great narrators who doesn’t resort to high-pitch whines when he reads the female characters. Snuff was so amazing that I want to buy the book (eventually) since oftentimes I literally could not believe my ears at what I was hearing.
To anyone who is a long-time fan of Sir Pratchett’s, my apologies if I sound (as I am) like an idiot for not already knowing of him and all the great work he has done. To top off my “discovery” of his work, I find that Sir Pratchett is not just an extraordinary writer, but an extraordinary human being.
You don’t have to enjoy fantasy (high or low) or police procedurals or supernatural/paranormal fiction to enjoy Sir Pratchett. You just have to enjoy good writing, full of humor and heart. Many thanks to Cate Russell-Cole for posting his quotes!
Help high fantasy author, the genius of Legends of Windemere, Charles Yallowitz, reach his goal of 100 supporters on Thunderclap! It’s so easy. Just click on the cute purple dragon and sign up!
There’s still 11 days left to reach the goal of 100 supporters. We’re at 44 and it’s been that way for the last 2 days. So I ask again for people to click on the picture below and give their social media support for Legends of Windemere!
Also, please spread the word to others and let’s see if we can meet that October 4th goal.
If you’ve been following my blog, you already have plenty of reason to buy Occasional Soulmates. While you’re at it, pick up Yesterday Road too. Both books are discounted for a short time only. You can’t lose!
And don’t forget, for a little while longer, Yesterday Road is available for 99 cents. That means you can buy both Yesterday Road and Occasional Soulmates for under $5!
Here’s the UK listing, and here’s Amazon Canada. The rest of the world will have to do their own legwork.
Oh, and for you Nook and Kobo users, as I announced earlier, if you don’t want to buy the paperback, just purchase the ebook on Amazon and send your receipt to me at kevinbrennan520(at)gmail(dot)com. I will forward you a lovely EPUB edition you can read on your device.
Indie authors, as you well know, depend on the kindness of strangers (and even the not-so-strange) to help peddle their wares, so anything you can do to get some word-of-mouth going will…
Marie at 1 Write Way 