Apparently Thieves Don't Read

There's recently been a rash of break-ins around town. Someone(s) is doing the smash-and-grab on cars parked on driveways and in the street.

My neighbor had hers broken into. They ripped her CD radio player out of her console, took the toll change in her cup holder, and the umbrella she had in the back seat. But the bag of books she'd just purchased that day and left inside was untouched.

Go figure.

Where Do You Buy Your Ebooks? (It matters to the authors.)

Where do you buy your ebooks? Because it matters to the authors.

The best place to buy them is at the publisher's website. Why? Because authors get paid by the book, and they make their best percentage at the publisher's website.

Some publishers are even offering immediate discounts on new releases. For instance, Whiskey Creek Press has each new release at 10% off the first three months.

I know a lot of people wait until the book gets to Fictionwise and ARe because they have an account already established with them. That's okay. Authors get paid the least from those bookstores, but they often sell the most books there.

Either way, buying a book is the best way to tell an author, "Keep writing!" To which we reply, "Keep buying and we will!"

Re-Uses for Old Books, Take 5

Do you live near an used book store? Take your old paperbacks and hardbacks there. Trade them for in-store credit, or with Half Price Books, take the money and run.

I've done book signings at used book stores, and I love it! Most used book stores are locally owned and operated. The atmosphere is warm and comfortable, and often the hostess sets out goodies and drinks for the authors and customers. Better yet, the owners will often take the authors' books and sell them on commission.

(Note! Let's say you have a few paperbacks with not-so-pretty covers. Go ahead and give them to the UBS. They can still offer them in their Buy-1-Get-Something-From-This-Bin-Free box!)

I'm giving a shout-out to Pam over at Boomerang Books in League City, Texas, and Jennifer at Books Ink in Portland, Texas.

You girls ROCK! :D

Pre-Judging a Book By Its Genre - DON'T!

I've been reading a lot of twits on Twitter recently, and holding my tongue. I've also been reading other blogs regarding books of a particular genre, and biting my lips to keep from responding.

Well, this is my blog, and the gloves are off. That being done, all I have to say is:

Do Not Judge A Book By Its Genre!

I write sci-fi romances. I've lost count of the number of people, especially reviewers, who have written to tell me that they 1) normally don't like sci-fi romances, especially erotic ones, or 2) will read them, but have pretty much figured they were all the same. But then they read something of mine, and have all their preconceived notions blown out of the water.

Plain and simple, I write the stories I want to read. I have probably read three or four sci-fi romances in my lifetime. Yeah, I know that what I write is nothing like them, but I never wanted to emulate or imitate them. Take the sex out of my books, and you'll still have a loving romance, characters you'll care about, suspense, action, angst, and an HEA.

So if you are not a fan of sci-fi romances, still give one of mine a chance. Just one, that's all I ask. Don't put on blinders and lump every writer's books into the same pile. The GENRE may be the same, but our voices are totally different. And - who know? - you may end up adding sci-fi romances to your TBB/TBR pile. :)

Re-Uses for Old Books, Take 4

New Life for Old Books (and old Books-On-Tape)

Donate them to your local library. Even those books you don't think anyone would want... someone might surprise you.

Libraries can use every extra penny they can get!

It's READ AN EBOOK WEEK!

Let's all celebrate! :D

http://www.examiner.com/x-3098-Houston-Romance-Novels-Examiner~y2009m3d8-Read-an-Ebook-Week-starts-today

For the Love of Writing - Making Certain Scenes... "Believable"

Every so often I see the inevitable question asked on a loop -- "What's the hardest part of writing a romance?" Inevitably, at least one author will answer, "The sex scenes."

There have been a few times I've been reading an erotic romance, and trying to get the visual imagery of what the couple are doing is, umm, difficult. Oh, yes, I KNOW what they're doing. It's trying to see them in my mind's eye that I have a problem with.

Do the scenes give me problems? Rarely. I know a couple of authors who read other authors' sex scenes for inspiration. Me, I would rather watch a movie. There. I admit it. I will watch a hard R rated flick, or soft porn, to get the imagery back in my head. So the next time I have to write a love scene... well... ;)

For the Love of Reading - Do Reviews Make a Difference?

I wish I'd remembered to add "Good Reviews" to my poll. But I just had an incident that reminded me of my oversight.

I was at Fictionwise, looking for a book I'd seen promo'd on one of my umpteen kajillion e-loops. The premise looked interesting, and the author had gotten some great reviews from notable review sites. However, over on FWise, that same book had one or two (maybe) Great ratings, a few more Good ratings, but the remainder were Fair and Poor. Most of her reader reviews were in the lower ranges. Needless to say, I'm holding off until I get word of mouth from some people I know and trust to let me know if I should fork over the money.

Not too long ago there was an uproar about authors and their fans manipulating the reviews over at Amazon, which led a lot of readers to reply that there were ways for the authors to have low ratings removed. As such, the reviews at Amazon are not as unbiased as they could be. That's not the case over at FWise. What authors get is what authors get.

So, my question is this... Do you trust reviews? Do they make a difference when you get ready to purchase a book? Are there certain sites you trust more than others?

For the Love of Being Read - Thank You!

I'm walking on Cloud 9!

Like most authors, I have my name set up as a Google Alert so that I can be notified once a day of any places on the internet where I'm mentioned. Specifically, this is to let me know when a review for one of my books may go up without me being aware of it.

I got an alert today that I was mentioned on someone's blog. Curious, I went over to see.

My book is listed as being on someone's TBR (To Be Read) List! I'm in tears!

This is a FIRST!

Rarely do I hear from other people, much less from readers, although they're out there. You see, 99.9% of the time, when people discuss what they're reading, or make suggestions what to read, it's a NY book by a NY author.

Which is why I was stunned, then in tears to see my book listed with a dozen other books -- a dozen NY books.

To that person, many many thanks, and many more blessings on you!

I Would Love to Get Your Feedback!

Please do me a favor and answer my poll at the right.

For my benefit only, let me know what influences you the most to buy a book.

The poll will be up until Friday, February 28th, and will close at 6:00 p.m. CST.

Thank you!

For the Love of Reading - Why Use Books as Punishment?

Grrr. Time to let out some steam.

I have a very difficult time trying to make certain teachers understand one basic principle: If you use reading as a punishment, then don't complain when the child's reading scores are low!

Have you ever heard this?
"If you don't behave, I'm going to put you over in that corner with a book!"
"You just lost recess, buster! When we go outside, take a book with you so you'll have something to do."
"No, sir. You're going to In School Suspension. Take your library book with you."

There are other similar quotes, but you get the picture. I cringe every time I hear an adult threaten a child with reading a book if they don't do "such and such". Heck, I would LOVE it if I could get out of some of my more boring classes, and instead be sentenced to a day of reading!

Why do teachers AND PARENTS use reading as a form of punishment, when we're trying to RAISE our reading test scores? Does anyone else see the double standard in this?

Where is the Strangest Place You've Ever Read a Book?

Did you read it in a boat?
Did you read it with a goat?

Did you read it in a house?
Did you read it with a mouse?

Did you read it with a fox?
Did you read it in a box?

Did you read it here and there?
Would you read it anywhere?

5 Things Ebooks WON'T Give You

Five Things Ebooks Won't Give You:

* More stuff to dust

* More weight to carry onboard your flight

* Eyestrain, trying to read the small print

* Boxes of books to put in storage

and

* A lighter pocketbook

For the Love of Reading - Dealing With Overcrowded Bookshelves

What do you do?

Do you have a bookshelf that looks like mine -- books stacked and jammed in, and balanced any way you can?

What do you do when the shelves can hold no more? Do you pack up boxes of them and ship them off to resell? Or do you donate them to a local library?

What if they're books you just can't get rid of because you love them so much, you plan to go back and re-read them again later?

What books do you keep on your bookshelves? Are they on your TBR (to be read) list, or Keepers?

Any suggestions, insights, and tips will be appreciated!

For the Love of Reading - Book or Movie?

READ THE BOOK THAT INSPIRED THE MOVIE!

If I had a nickel for every time I've seen that promo splashed across a paperback...

I was in Hastings Sunday, and there it was again for a YA book whose title I don't recall off-hand (something with a big silver lower case "e" on it?).

Anyway, when was the last time you read the book THEN saw the movie, and hated the movie? Or you saw the movie THEN read the book, and hated the book?

If you read the book, do you usually find yourself disappointed with the way Hollywood "interpreted" it? Or do you avoid one if you've done the other?

I do know that the last time I read the book AND saw the movie, and was delighted by both, was Time After Time with Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, and Mary Steenburgen. Of course, the fact that Nicholas Meyer wrote the book AND directed the movie may have had something to do with that. :D

For the Love of Reading - A Sequel/Prequel Worth Mentioning

If you loved Somewhere in Time like I did, try to find a copy of this book.

Memoirs of Elise
by David Gurnee

"This sequel/prequel to Somewhere in Time was inspired by the movie's poignant opening scene. In this scene Elise McKenna sits alone in the darkness waiting for her opportunity to give a young playwright, Richard Collier, a watch, and to utter the enigmatic words, "Come back to me." The underlying emotion of the scene, and possibly of the entire film, comes from the fact that she had been waiting for this day for sixty years!"

"A book with uncommon and stunning beauty......that will carry on the rare and brilliant passion of SOMEWHERE IN TIME."

"What had Elise been through in those sixty years?
How did she discover where Richard Collier had come from?
How did she find him?
Memoirs of Elise answers these questions in a manner that is loyal to the original story.
Come back to me! "

From WindTime Publications

Tidbits and Trivia

When I initially began writing Runner's Moon, I had originally entitled the series RUINOS MOON. But about midway through Jebaral, I realized people might have difficulty remembering or pronouncing "Ruinos", so I changed it to "Runner's".

Dear Linda: Pantser or Plotter?

Dear Linda,

I'm curious. Are you a pantser or a plotter?

I'm basically a plotter. I have an idea, I come up with possible problems and plot points I want to include, and I know how I want the book to end. In my journal, I make notes of characters (and their descriptions), and other names I need to keep track of. After that, I begin to write.

Of course, sometimes my story veers off, which means my outline needs revision. I don't force a story to stick to my outline because circumstances change. But I can't "pantser" -- I can't sit down with no idea what my story is going to be about, or where it's going to take me, or how it's going to end.

For the Love of Writing - Are You a Collector?

When I was writing AEQUANA, I started finding odd little mermaid-y things, and thus began my collection. Friends would find out what my WIP was, and they'd send me stuff related to it. Candles, figurines, stickers, calendars, earrings, t-shirts, plaques -- you name it, they sent it. Since I'm big into The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, I also get a lot of lighthouses and other nautical paraphernalia.

Plus there are my wombats, my Phantom of the Opera stuff, my faeries, and more Native American Indian stuff you could shake an arrow at.

Now my walls and bookshelves are filled with all sorts of collections. And you know what? All this eye candy helps. There are times I get stuck on a plot line, so I lean back in my chair and just stare around the room. Suddenly something pops out at me, and I find a way around my roadblock.

Collections are great! The only problem is finding a place to put everything!

An Ebook Plus From an Author's Viewpoint

I've seen a lot of arguments in favor of ebooks. I mean A LOT --price, content, storage, etc. But one I haven't seen (or if I have, I've forgotten. You know how old age sucks.) is any mention of Story Size.

I just had a short story accepted at Red Rose, and I mean a SHORT story. A mere 2.9K words. That's about 6-7 pages single spaced Times font. But it's a horror short, and it packs quite a punch.

The point is, if I had been trying to get this bloody little gem published elsewhere -- say, by a traditional house -- I would be severely restricted. Unless it was submitted for an anthology, my chances of acceptance would be less than nil.

But ebook publishers aren't restricted by word count, and for that we authors are blessed. Of course, it means I'll need to sell a BUNCH of these $.99 gems to bulk up a decent royalty check. But the fact that it will be published is already something to cheer about. :)