Thoughts About Fiction Categories and Keywords We humans love patterns – they’re a time saver, so we don’t have to make the same decision each time we come across something new. “Look at that big tawny cat,” thought a dimwitted ancestor, “I saw one pounce on and eat a gazelle last month. I’m not a […]
Illustrated instructions on how to manually send a .MOBI file (ebook) to your Amazon Kindle e-reader.
On Writing Romance: Character Flaws vs. Flawed Characters Pet Peeves, Round 2This is another in my “reader’s pet peeves” series, primarily in the romance genre. (In case you missed it, here was my previous post on pet peeves.) I’m rather annoyed by impossibly beautiful heroines/heroes who don’t know they’re beautiful, and successful people who don’t […]
Fiction book blurbs—more properly described as “book descriptions”—are hard to write. Whether they’re on the back of the paperback or the first part of the ebook listing, they’re the first taste of what’s in the book, and they will make or break the sale. They have to confirm the genre (the cover should be […]
Overload Flux on iTunes Newsflash: Apple users with iPads, iPhones, and Macs can now get their very own copy of Overload Flux straight from the iTunes or iBookstore, and here’s the link: You may now resume your regular reading activities.
Speaking as a reader, I’d like to make some gentle suggestions for author websites. Have an Author Website First things first: please have a website. I’m astonished when I run into living, still-active authors who don’t have at least a simple page or blog site, but it happens. Bonus if the website is easy […]
Alpha heroes abound throughout genre fiction, and nowhere more blatantly than in the romance genre and all its subcategories. If it’s all the same to you, I’ll take a beta hero any day, thanks. OK, that sounds a little snarky, but I’m kind of over the whole larger-than-life, my-way-or-the-highway, macho male role and the […]
Overload Flux (A Central Galactic Concordance Novel) is available today at an e-tailer near you: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, and (soon) iTunes. It’s a science fiction-action-romance novel with mystery, adventure, corrupt pharma companies, fights, space battles, and strong characters to root for. It’s also the start of a new series. By the way, […]
This is a two-part post written primarily for other independent authors on cover design for fiction novels, with personal opinions and experience galore. There’s a lot to cover (heh!), so let’s dive right in. Great Cover Design Sells Books Fiction covers, experts will tell you, will make or break a sale before the reader even […]
Good Books for 2014 and Beyond, or What’s RIGHT with Books These Days It’s easy to kvetch about what’s wrong with books these days, and I’m certainly guilty of it. To be fair, I thought I should balance my complaints with some praise about what I think authors are doing right, considering this is 2014, […]
Cover! The cover of my upcoming science fiction-action-romance novel, Overload Flux, is finished, so I’m revealing it gloating about it here. The novel will be available for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo by October 17, and on iTunes soon thereafter. Overload Flux (A Central Galactic Concordance Novel) Hidden talents, deadly enemies… two strangers must learn trust to […]
Sure, I’m a writer, but I’m also a reader with opinions. I like comedy, especially absurd comedy, witty comedy, biting comedy. I co-wrote a retro-SF comedy called Hooray for Holopticon, which I’d call a romp. I wrote a screenplay called “It’s Your Bank” that’s a farce. It’s hard to write good comedy, and I deeply admire […]
Pet Peeves About Romance Novels There are things that drive me crazy about romance novels these days. When I was ready (OK, driven) to write a science fiction/action series that starts with Overload Flux, it came to me, as I outlined the story arc, that all the planned novels involve romantic elements. Along with science fiction, action, […]
A friend and fellow traveler as an independent author asked what three writing tools I couldn’t do without, so here’s my list. I’ll focus on tools for fiction writing for now, because the list varies when we’re talking about writing plays, screenplays, or technical documents. For capturing and sketching out ideas, I start with […]
As a reader, I’m deeply grateful to the people who read books and take the time to review them. A few adventurous souls buy and read independent books on a chance, that is, trusting the blurb is true to the story, and that the book has been professionally produced. Most readers of independently published books […]