Marketing....the other side of Indy work

As in any art things are a work in progress. Even after the book is written and rewritten and rewritten there's more to do. Once the story's told we move on to preparing it for publication/formatting, cover art, and then correcting the formatting.
When I first put Soul Mates up for some reason in the first paragraph (and only the first) all the "o's" turned into zeros "0". Very weird. Then I saw all my other typos! Yikes! How embarrassing.
All corrected...hopefully.

Moving on to marketing (Yuk!) Marketing is like stripping naked and running down Main Street. You want people to notice you but actually putting yourself out there is intimidating.
So you Facebook your people, email your friends and then attack the web.
I'm just starting the attack and am in the process of building a website. Scary putting your real name on a website. Here in Aimless land I'm pretty anonymous, but out there I am who I am.

www.jeannedonnelly.com

For better or for worse.
But like the tiger and life in general: Its a work in progress. 
Now where should marketing go from here? I have a few ideas and I'll be blogging them later. Where did you go with it?

Punctuation!

I see the story unfolding and suddenly someone yells. Woof! Woof! Woof! (It makes sense in book, I promise)

So since I've been warned by writers and an agent that we should never use exclamation marks. So I stare at the page...what to do, what to do....
I need to read some more. I usually read constantly, two or three books at a time, but lately I've been painting. When my soul is sad I paint. All other emotions I can write through, but not sadness. For some reason slopping paint on canvas works. Its like blanking my mind out in a way nothing else does. Time ceases, paint heals.
I miss reading. This has gone on way too long. I need to get over the losses and find a way back to what I enjoy.
Maybe then I can see what other writers do about the woof.

Blogging, Facebook, and time...

I love bloggers. I have a list of blogs I used to visit daily, but I'm sad to say I've drifted away from blogging. It seemed like a giant slow down on all the bloggers and I know we all have real lives that take us away from all this, but I think when I was blogging all my writing moved better. It was almost like morning pages (see The Artist's Way) that were meant to flex the writer's muscle in a way to clear the clutter.
Then there's Facebook that can really chew up time. It's entertaining and keeps us in touch with friends and relatives we don't get to hear from on a daily basis. I love seeing what my nieces and nephews are up to even if I haven't seen them in a while. Then two hours fly by and I realize I've done nothing. Facebook is a time-sucker.
Finally there's this job I have to go to everyday because I need to earn money. Even when I do have down time (and there's a lot where I work) the other people in the office are always chattering so I find it hard to concentrate enough to write. I tried head phones but people get upset when I tune them out. They have nothing important to say to me, but want me ready to answer anyway.
I used to get up an hour early to write. I made it a job I went to everyday. Where did this determination go? 

To get back to writing on a regular basis I'm trying to start with getting back to blogging. Flexing the writing muscle that I hope will get me writing regularly again.

I NEED OTHER WRITERS

There are several reason why writers need other writers. Number one is you can't write in a vacuum. If you take one tip from each writer you meet it moves you that much closer to being an awesome writer.
Writer's groups give you special insight into how your work looks from the outside in. When i write and rewrite and rewrite I miss the simplest things. A good writer's group will tag these things and offer suggestions to improve. I had a great writers group at one time but it dissolved when Barnes & Nobel kicked all their groups out. In protest I don't shop at B & N anymore. I'm an Amazon girl now. I think removing the chairs and groups was a big mistake on their part. I belonged at several groups in our local store and they just stopped all of them and removed those cozy little seating arrangements. Pity. I never left a group without buying something on the way out. Now that I'm not there for my group, I shop on Amazon. My bank account is grateful but I miss my group. One of the members was an agent and she was awesome with the grammar and punctuation. Another was a multi published author who gave amazing critique. Miss those peeps.
I need other writers for insight into the publishing biz. Its changing. Agents used to be the gatekeepers to the world where only the ubber talented and lucky (yes, i think some are just lucky) get passed onto the major publishing houses. Now with Amazon cracking the lock down on the publishing biz its a whole new world for publishing. Other writers are a wealth of information on the in and outs of this new world.
I need other writers for inspiration. Every time I hear about the success of one of my writer friends it inspires me to work harder. I rejoice for every book they publish, every bridge they cross and every moment they shine in the author spotlight. These amazing writers, who forge ahead in conventional publishing or the new world of Kindle and Nook, give me hope.

I need them all.

Characters---Why does my rogue need a rule?
1. One of the first things I heard about character rules was not to name your main characters with the same beginning initial.
Reggie and Regina will confuse your reader especially if you name their kids Rudy and Rebecca. The theory behind this thought is that all the "R's" will get mixed up in the reader's brain. Not sure I believe this, but it might be true. What do you think?
2. I have a problem with books introduce too many characters in the first chapter. Yes, I know the characters build the story and we need to see our main character's interaction with them to get a feeling for who he/she is, but too many all at once is just a blur of names and later when the character comes back into the limelight I'm confused as to who it is and sometimes have to go back and find out his relationship to everyone. In doing so I fall out of the story while I search.
3. Bad behavior from the main character that is out of character. I used to read the Kinsey Millhone series by Sue Grafton until she started sleeping with the detective (Kinsey, not Sue) while the detective's wife was very ill with some incurable illness. Gee, how sleezy. Excuse me, he's still married and she's sick. I thought; how low can you go? This made me stop reading because I suddenly disliked the morals of the main character. Call me a prude, but this behavior hit close to home. My best friend was very sick with MS and we discovered her husband was cheating on her. I know no one knows the journey of another until you've walked a mile in their moccasins but still...ewww, he's a cheater and she's the cheater-enabler. What happened to "until death we do part"? I missed the codicil that says, "except if you're really sick then I get to have sex with my coworkers".
I understand I'm a woman and men may not feel the same about this issue but it really did ruin the series for me.
4. Rambling. This is subjective. Unless it's painting the picture...move on. I want story not six pages about the color of the drapes or how grandma spun the wool to make the  thread to sew the drapes. Unless of course someone steals the drapes and wraps the body in them and the DNA brings grandma's lineage to justice.
What character rules do you follow?

Five Days of Writing- Or Things I've Learned about Writing

Day One- Mechanics
I aced English. Loved it. Played with it, memorized it.
When I me an agent in a writer's group and she took out her quick, red pen, I realized just how much I didn't know about English. Or maybe I just didn't remember as much as I thought I did.

Punctuation-commas go before the word "but", but only in certain places. They connect two thoughts within a sentence. Sometimes they don't.  You use them in a series and belong before the word "and" as in: He had meat, potatoes, string beans, and salad. However, somewhere along the line one of the news lines wanted to save space and decided to wipe out that last comma to read: He had meat, potatoes, string beans and salad. I learned this when writing for one of the info sites on the net. I got tagged for putting the comma in by one editor and tagged for not putting it in by another editor for the same site. (That's a whole different post! If you wrote for them, you know who they are.) I went and looked it up and discovered it was a space saving thing done by a big news site. I think it was app but don't quote me.
And let's not forget that commas saved grandma.
Let's eat grandma!
Let's eat, grandma!
Oscar Wilde once said he spent most of the day putting in commas and the rest of the day taking them out.
Since I write fiction, let's talk quotes and the connected tag line.
"I love puppies," Jane said as she scooped a warm ball of fur into her arms. Since Jane uttered a complete sentence I'd think the period should go after puppies, but I'd be wrong.  The entire thought is about Jane's words and actions so they are connected with a comma. Weirdly correct.
However if the sentence continues after the tag we use another comma.
"I've loved puppies, Jane said as she scooped up a warm ball of fur, "ever since I was a child."
After this and more I've decided I hate punctuation. Blah. And don't get me started on Its and It's...they hurt my brain.
Punctuation is essential in good writing, but sometimes fiction bends the rules. Setting something apart so the reader will hear the voice of the character or mood of the story can be done with correctly placed punctuation. It can add dynamic expression.
If.
Done.
Right.
Which are incomplete subjects/thoughts and completely wrong, but work so well in some places.
It can also get grandma eaten by cannibals so be careful with your commas, quotes and periods.
Tomorrow we'll talk about character dos and don't s and if any of them can be write or wrong.
:)

SOUL MATES (A different kind of Love Story)

Soul Mates (A different kind of Love Story) is now fixed up and available at Amazon.com for Kindle.
I'm done with this one. Finally. My daughter told me that at some point I have to stop editing the editing and just let it fly.
So it's flying. Good or bad, weak or strong. I have to let go.
Whew!
In a way letting go feels good. Like a burden--- No, I don't like that word. It was never a burden. It was a journey. Sometimes fun, sometimes stressful, sometimes confusing. Letting go is like having a heavy weight that is lifted off your shoulders. Not a bad weight, but a weight just the same.
Letting go also begets a moment or ten of panic.
I'M NOT READY!
It's not ready.
Panic is ugly.
But this is it. Soul Mates is ready to meet an audience. I hope they enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It was a good trip
Ciao for now. 

Re-do!

Ok, went through the Kindle copy of Soul Mates and found all the bugs. (some typos too...I'm so embarrassed!) Everything should be fixed by tomorrow if I can get my partner in this crime to move on it. Little things, nothing big, but for some reason undetectable before uploading.
I don't know if some of this was just stuff I missed or if the conversion to Kindle warped somethings. I did see some weird stuff like a few "o's" that went thought to become "0's". Now really, a zero? This was definitely s0mething that w0uld have glared 0ut from the page. Besides, numbers are s0mething I have to reach for and not the easiest thing to type repeatedly in several words without n0ticing.
A few wrong line breaks too but those were few and far between.
Whew!
This is quite a journey for one little novella. I haven't really done any advertising or blasted it out to more than a few close people. One already asked me for a print copy since he doesn't have Kindle.
Now I have to consider the other options. Nook? Create Space? What do you do? Where do you find the most success?
After trying to advertise a bit I'm back to working on the next book. It's written but needs some desperate editing.

Formatting glitch!

I downloaded Soul Mates on my Kindle and for some weird reason some of the "o"s are coming up as 0 (zeros). Very weird. I found one word that was correct in my document and come out as a different word on the downloaded Kindle version. Close but not right.
Now we're going back to figure out if it was just weird on my Kindle or will it download incorrectly on all of them. Probably, right? So I can't blast it out to the universe right now. :( >sigh<
And I was so excited to get this up on Amazon. I did email the link to a few close friends/family as sort of a test market. One of them was my brother, an editor for a major newspaper, who already grabbed it up. In a panic, I shot him an email right away about the formatting issues because I didn't want him to think I was that stupid! or that bad a typist.
Anyone else have these formatting issues? Could it be the font? What font do you use? Tips? Hints? Aside from these issues everything else looks okay. Paragraphs are working, chapter breaks, etc. all look good.

Soul Mates is on Kingle

My novella, Soul Mates (A different kind of love story), is up for sale on Kindle! After a tragic death on mean city streets, a woman meets God and begs him to let her reincarnate to bring the heavenly message of unconditional love to the world. Follow the adventure when she is tossed back to earth as one of the smallest dogs on the planet.

http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Mates-ebook/dp/B007KLDXF6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1331838726&sr=1-1
How can this be exciting and frightening at the same time? It's a good thing, it's what I wanted, I really like this story but sharing it with the world scares the heck out of me. I can see the cover is a little pixeled and I have to fix that ASAP. I bought it for my own kindle so I can check it. Problem: I've read this book 8 million times so am I really going to know a problem when I see one? Now I get the second and third thoughts. Does the story flow, is it too wordy, did I stay in character, does it all make sense? Did I price it right, What about the title page? Was I suppose to do something else? Okay, Universe! Do with it what you will. I'm going to go channel all this worry energy into my next book....I need to bang on the keyboard for a bit. Happy Reading!

Smashwords?

I'm hoping to have my novella up on Amazon soon. I've thought about doing it somewhere in print form but not sure if it's worth it. Should I watch and see how it does as an ebook first? I'm not even sure how to do it in print yet. Smashwords? What is that other one? I forget.
I know some people who don't have kindle or nook and I'm wondering if I should do paperback or since it's a novella and only 156 pages, is it worth it?
And what about Nook? If you Kindle, do you Nook, too? I like the writing part of this business better. All this ebook publishing and paperback issues are sooo confusing. It's like a whole new world. I guess this is how the agents earn their money. All these details make my head spin.

And people think all this writing and publishing is easy. If you mention that you write people always have a book they want me to write for them, a story idea they want me to turn into a book or a genius remake of something already out there. And they'll split the profits with me. Isn't that nice? I write the book, do all the editing and stuff and they will be nice and split the cash. They don't even know if I can write or what type of books I write, but they'll make the deal with me to write their book.
Ha!
They have no idea of the crap shoot writing is. If you can get the book actually written, edited, edited and edited, and sent out a ga-jillion times to publishing houses and agents you might just get a bite. And a year from now, if you're lucky, it might see print.
Now we have indy ebooking. Much better but still not a sure thing. You can get your book up but then you have to sell, sell, sell.
When people ask me to write their book I tell them to give me a complete outline and character sketch of all main characters. So far no one's gotten back to me. hmmmmm...

Book Covers

Book covers are important, they draw people in, make them want to read and tell something about whats inside. And getting one designed for an ebook can be expensive.
But that's not why I did my own.
I like completing a project. The cover is part of the whole book and I do have some things I want to show. And I love art. I paint, draw and do other kind of brochure, design work on the side so the book cover is something I want to do.
In Soul Mates the main character goes to heaven; see sky and clouds. She comes back to earth as a dog; see paw prints.
Now I worry that this cover is a bit simplistic. I worry if people will get the right message. I want the readers who like dogs and maybe a bit of the heaven-god story peeps too.
The only thing I don't have is the actual dog and I vacillated quite a bit over finding a dog to put on the cover. Then I wondered if this wasn't your kind of dog would you turn away because it wasn't the dog sitting at your feet. So dog came off the cover and now I wonder if THAT was the right move. Decisions, decisions, decisions.... So? Opinions?

Next Project

As I wait for Soul Mates to go up on the Kindle store I'm contemplating my next project. I have several books finished in first draft but need to think about genre. Blurb for Soul Mates: After a tragic death on mean city streets, a woman meets God and begs him to let her reincarnate to bring the heavenly message of unconditional love to the world. Follow the adventure when she is tossed back to earth as one of the smallest dogs on the planet.
So should I stay in the same genre. I mean if I want to create a name for myself? What if my next book is a tad darker? Serial killers, demons, darkness...would I blow my chance at forming a readership? I'm guessing people who like animals and feel good stories should like this story.
Or should I come up with something softer, more in line with Soul Mates? I do have a few ideas. I also have a Vampire story I'm having fun writing but that is so far out of left field that I'm thinking it wouldn't make good next book for the Kindle store. 

It's close...almost ready to upload to Amazon's Kindle store. Editing, editing and more editing, cover work, formatting problems, formatting solutions and now...soon...up it goes.
This is scary as hell.
It's like telling the world to take your talent, ego, and hopes of success and tie them up in a big knot and stomp on them. Fold, spindle, mutilate. And this is only a novela. Something small and cute. Not the giant wordy thrillers I've been trying to pare down. I'm putting this up as a test. Can I really do this? Be the writer I see in my heart? Actually sell a book?
Scary
Exciting
Scary
Exciting
>insert deep heartfelt sigh here<
In the mean time I'm working on another book. A more serious book far away from the genre of the first. (that worries me--that my writing spans several genres and how am I ever going to develop a following?)
And I'm making T-shirt designs. Crazy Painter T's
It's what I do when I'm not writing or painting because sitting still isn't an option. If I sit still I think about these the scary prospect of strangers reading and critiquing my work. I know you can't please everyone. I'm really not interested in trying. But still...
Scary
Exciting
How do you guys shove your work out there and still stay sane? Does it get easier with the next book? Does the anxiety ever go away?

Spacey Kindle Issues

In formatting for Kindle, uploading the manuscript on Kindle to see how it looked wasn't helpful. It went up with all these weird sentence breaks. So now I don't know if when I put it up on Amazon for download, if it will have these same weird line breaks. Frustration. The Amazon publishing guide didn't answer this issue. This book, Soul Mates, isn't even on of my favorite things I've written. I like it well enough but I wrote it on a dare and then kind of liked the story. It's more of a novella and I'm putting it up as an experiment so I'm trying not to obsess over this stuff. But I still want it to be perfect. Maybe its the Virgo in me. Then yesterday I downloaded a free preview of a book and it has the same weird line breaks. Like you're tolling along and suddenly in the middle of the sentence the words drop down on a different line. Why? Did this guy format the manuscript wrong? Was there some other conversion issue I'm missing here? Anyone else experience this issue?

Where to Hide the Bodies...

In trying to make room in my creative cave for a futon (I do need somewhere to do my thinking) I took to cleaning out stuff I hadn't seen in a long time. First I dumped the old or even semi-old paint, cleared out the misfit brushes, stained water cans, and all those things I cut out of magazines, printed off the net and random sketches of what I wanted to paint someday. Then I turned to that big bin under my work bench and found it was packed with pages of some really old stories. Some 400 pages or better, some shorts and some stuff I still have on my computer and work on occasionally. And even some written on a typewriter (am I dating myself here?) and in the computer paper with the holes on the side. There were a couple of note books with a hand written story that encompassed 3 books. I barely remember writing it. It was real hard to keep cleaning and not stop and read it all though. There were some poems I must have written at a really angry time, old love poems and then the usual weird stuff that pops out of my brain if I'm not on alert. It was really hard to let this stuff go. I know there's a few boxes in the attic and maybe one or two of those under the bed storage boxes under my bed with pages and pages of stories and that, realistically, I'll never do anything with. I'll never polish, publish or even read them but for some reason it's comforting to have them here. I think of them as a legacy of sorts. Maybe someday when I'm gone my kids will read these things and know a little bit more about what made me tick. That the woman who took care of them, raised them and set them loose on the world was a bit more than chief cook and bottle washer. But then again...maybe they shouldn't see too far into my mind...it might make them wonder about my sanity. So where do you keep your bodies? And why do you keep them?

Kindle Tips?

In formatting a book from word for the kindle the information out there seems confusing. Different websites seem to say different things. I think the writing is easy compared to all this detail stuff. Anyone know of a good website that's easy to understand about formatting for Kindle? Did you format and upload your own book or pay someone? One good thing about going the traditional publishing route is that someone else does all this grunt work for you. After watching more and more new and established authors go Indy I wonder how the publishing houses feel? I once went to a conference where they had this machine that would print on demand. Put the instructions in one end and a fully binded book pops out the other end. They hoped to sell this machine to schools, stores and anyone who wanted an instant book. This was supposed to be the new thing in publishing. this was a few years before Kindle hit the market.

Now that Amazon and all the Indy epub opportunities are here I wonder what the future of traditional publishing will bring.

Responsibility & Life

So much of life is about taking responsibility. Responsibility for a job, car/house payment, kids, pets and so on and so on and so on. Sometimes it's scary and sometimes its exciting. I finished my book, Soul Mates and its in final edits (at least I hope they're final!) and soon it will be up on Amazon. It excites me, it scares the hell out of me. And its a responsibility too. When this goes out with any mistakes, typos or story line glitches its out there for the world to see. Scary. Sink or swim. No take backs. Sometimes I think the only way people succeed is if they drop the fear, take the responsibility and just go for it. Was Thomas Edison afraid to flip the switch and let them see his new toy? Did he wonder if he'd be laughed at or just figure his toy was so awesome of course they would love it. Maybe Thomas' experience isn't quite the right one to bring forth. But as for writers? The traditional writers wouldn't be a comparison because they had editors, professional designers, and a whole crew at a publishing house. I forgo all that to jump in as an Indy. Somedays I want to shout; TELL ME I'M NOT CRAZY! Going it alone is scary and thrilling. And with great power comes great responsibility. Soon. What's that dog got to so with all this responsibility stuff? She's my foster dog Daisy. Came up from Tennessee before Christmas and I think her situation might have been abusive. She sometimes flinches when I raise my hand. She didn't play or even look at the toys until she was here over two weeks. She came a fragile little ball of fur and is slowly coming to trust. Finding a home for a dog like this is a great responsibility. I want the home to be loving and kind and most of all gentle with this lost little soul. I want to make the best choice when I match her to a forever family. See, it's the "R" word again. It follows our lives like ...well i was going to say the stars above and be nice and poetic but the vision that hits me is like gum stuck to your shoe or too much peanut butter in the roof of your mouth. It's there, it's sticky and you can't get rid of it. So I guess I'll embrace it.

From Writing to Painting....

I'm almost thinking I should change this blog to AimlessPainter as I'm painting more than writing right now. Or (see Pic) burning. That piece of wood was etched with a wood burner and when I'm done burning it I'll paint around the burn marks. I like this stuff but almost asphyxiate myself with the smoke while working. This piece is about 8 feet long and I'm going to use it as a valance in the front living room. I'll post a pic when it's done and up. I'm still editing my Soul Mates novella and it's coming along. What I can't believe is that after three full edits I still find something.

I have a reader who is helping and we're passing the story back and forth as we edit. I was hoping to have it up on Amazon by Sept, then November...now I'm seeing the reality is that it might be up by Christmas because I'm sick of looking at it and ready to work on something else. I think painting and wood burning is keeping me sane during this process. Instead of just editing I still get to create something. Next project under the paintbrush will be a three canvas beach scene. So? What do you do when writing just isn't enough?

Copyrights and Ebooks

For anyone who has an ebook on Amazon or B&N: Do you have a copyright on your books? Did you do the whole register with the copyright office or a poor man's copyright? (Where you mail yourself a copy and not open it)
How does this work? Do we need it? If you publish on Amazon does that kind of save your rights in any way?
I'm almost ready. Now just ironing out the details.
That's a picture of Hemmingway's desk. I take inspiration from it.

Procrastination & Fear

I don't know why but for some reason I fear getting my work out there into the world. I've been calling it procrastination but, if I'm honest, it's fear. And I'm not generally a shy person.
My daddy once gave me the best advice I ever got: Keep your ears open and your mouth shut. (I wonder if he told me this because he saw my true nature lurking even when I was very young)
But its true. If you're ears are open you hear all kinds of things you don't hear when your mouth is going. This advice has gotten me through lots of tense situations. However, my rising sign sits on the cusp of Scorpio and Libra. I can hang back, take it in and then...and then...well, Scorpio's sting. Quick and lethal. I'm not real fearful of people or situations. My Scorpio takes over if pushed too far and SMACK! (literally or figuratively-whichever is necessary)
So why am I so fearful of this? My feet drag, I know I should get back to polishing my novella, Soul Mates, but I stall.
I think it's like opening a door and not knowing what's on the other side. Is it a fear of failure? Reviews? Critiques? Friends and Relatives seeing the inside of my mind? (Scary sometimes, although, Soul Mates is not one of the scary ones)
I have a friend who has a book out. It has a great premise but got really terrible reviews. I know she's a good writer, I've read other work she wrote. Then I read this and I have to agree with the reviewers. I feel awful. And I know she's written better stuff. So why was this so bad?
Ebooks put me here. Now I don't need any of the big 6 or little dozens to take my work. I can ebook it on Amazon. So there are no gatekeepers between my audience and my writing any more. If I put it out there it either flies on its own or sinks. My choice, my chance.
Then I think what if I have blinders on for my own work? Am I getting enough editing help? Should I join another editing group? Or will the mixed messages you sometimes get in these groups just confuse me?
Or should I take the plunge.
Anyone else so boggled down with ebook fear?

Used To Be...

It used to be fear of that almighty rejection letter. Those envelopes would come in the mail and I'd try to push down the hope because...well, I'd had enough of them to know it's probably another rejection.
Then it got worse...email rejections. Those come fairly quick and hit you in the face as soon as you open your email box. Like ripping off a band aid you get that sharp sting-quick but still just as painful.
The times change...publishing rolls on...
And out comes Amazon for Indies.
We can put our books out there. Do it yourself publishing.
I admit I'm a coward, but this comes from years of jumping into the fire without thinking. Sometimes I wonder how I made it this far still unscathed. But I'm here. Older, hopefully wiser and looking at all the Indie authors. I've been reading their blogs for years, watching what and how they figured it out.
And now I'm ready. My book will be out there soon. Thrust into the world of Amazon looking for a chance.
So now without the fear of the rejection letter looming over my head I have a new fear or two.
Am I edited enough?
Is my book clean enough?
Does it flow?
Should I do something more?
I don't worry about going indie any more than I worry about the way I sell my art by walking it store to store. Its just another form of art.
If you're an indie...do you have fears?
The pup is Marley, up from a high kill shelter in Tennessee with her five puppies. She's looking for a home with lots of love.

Multiple genres

As I approach getting ready to Kindle my book I wonder about a pen name. I write in several different genres so I worry about a person who reads my angel books, being upset about the darker books.
When I read Charlaine Harris I expect vampires and shape shifters. When I read Constance O'Day Connor I look for romance.
So, here's my question? How do you pick a pen name? I once read that if you write like King and Koontz you should pick a name that begins with K. Or if you're writing sci-fi pick the same initial as someone who's big in that genre.
Sounds like too much thinking. . . then there's Konrath.
King
Koontz
Hmmmmm, gotta think on this some more.
Do you have a pen name? Where did it come from?

P R O C R A S T I N A T I O N

The biggest waste I have is time. I have so much to do and so little time to do it in, but for some strange reason I procrastinate. I drift from thing to thing, knowing I should be working on my WIP but not quite getting there.

I finished another edit (on paper) of the book I’m thinking of putting up on Amazon and now have to enter these changes in the computer. Then I have someone who will edit it for me a final time. When it passes that, then it goes up.

I think.

No, I know.

Yes, I think this will be a good thing.

It’s an experiment.

It’s a hope.

I guess.

So my plan today is to go home, let the dogs out, feed them, and sit down and get started.

Good plan, right?

Wanna take bets if it will actually happen?

Procrastination is an ugly word. It sits heavy on my shoulders and presses down when I’m trying to get up.

Maybe I’ll pick up some iced coffee first. A little caffeine goes a long way.

Verbal People

I like verbal people. The ones that speak in pictures. Their general talk paints vivid images as they speak. My cousin is from the south and speaks in pictures. "If dirt were dumb, he'd be a mile." "His mouth just overloaded his butt."
See the dirt? Man standing in the middle of a mile long dirt field? The mouth/butt thing...scary visual, but I'm not sure what it means.
I think this is more common in the south. Jersey girls don't speak in pictures, they speak in staccato bursts. "Do it." "Wassup?" "Yo, bitch."
What do you see? Ummm...nothing.
But I like when people speak in pictures better. Or maybe its because I don't hear it that often and, try as I might, I can't think quick enough to do it on the fly.
My cos also uses "bless his heart" a lot too. Its like a disclaimer. You can say anything and you're cool if you end it with "bless his heart".
Right now I'm listening to an audio book for my 40 min ride to hell...oops...I mean work (bless it's heart). Charlaine Harris, Dead as a Doornail. A Sookie Stackhouse vampire story. I'm not a big vamp reader overall but some of them grab me. I'm also reading Amanda Hocking's 4th book and one of the Lee Child, Reacher stories.
Anyway, Sookie Stackhouse has the verbal/picture/words down pat. I think I love the words more than the story. (Although it is an excellent book---just ask HBO)
Sometimes in writing it comes easier. On a good day the words flow and little sayings actually make it onto the page. But I think to give the picture words the right delivery you have to be specially trained or something.
Do you speak like this? Write?

What the F***

I was just browsing Yahoo news (while I should have been writing) and came across a man ejected for using the F word. When sitting on the airplane, the flight was delayed without explanation so he said, "What the F-word is taking so long?"
A flight attendant sitting behind him, had him removed from the plane. To that I say, "What the fuck?"
It's just a word. A very popular word at that, so what's the problem? Did this flight attendant never hear the word before? Were his virgin ears so offended he couldn't just ask the guy not to use that word? Or was his ego so big he had to bully this guy off the plane?
And who decided that the word fuck would be the bad word but intercourse could fly under the radar? And what about shit? How come we can say "Oh, poopie" and not get the same glare as to when we say shit?
It's a word, for crying out loud! Its just a word and it's not going to hurt anyone. If everyone just pretended it was just another word, no one would even notice it's existence.
So when is it okay to use the word fuck in writing? Does a tough character use the word? An angry teen? A woman? In what instance would it be okay for a woman to just say fuck it?
And if you know who decided the word fuck was to be the bad word, please let me know. I want to know why his word is law.

Ebooks Rock!

I always thought I'd never come to love the Kindle as much as I love paper books but owning one has made me realize I love the words more than the format. I have books all over my house. To pare down my husband has to wretch them from my death grip before I'll give one up. Even then I have to reason with him as to why I should keep each one. He's an ex-Marine. They are trained to live out of a duffel bag and not to form attachments to material things. Even a so called "ex" Marine is still a Marine. The training and brainwashing they go through stays with them forever. Once a Marine always a Marine. It's what I love about him, its the exact opposite of me and that's a good thing. I'm an artist and happiest when covered in paint creating something or spinning stories on my laptop. I need the Marine's discipline. Otherwise every room in the house would have sunflowers and puppies painted on the walls and there would be books stacked everywhere. My Marine keeps me in balance.
Back to the subject...
Books are my magic. It like having thousands of little brains retaining information for me. I keep the fiction I absolutely love or whose writing I find amazing. I keep non-fiction where the information is something I want to come back to for reference.
And now I Kindle. I have this little device that brings stories to my fingertips with just a click. It's amazing. And addictive. When you can get a book zipped into your hands so quickly it's easy to load up. So now I have all these books on my Kindle and I should really stop until I read them all. Really.
I should.
But Amazon calls me.
What about you? Do you Kindle?

To Be or Not To Be

There is a woman at work and I'm kind of coaching her on some freelancing basics. Demand Studios, Constant Content and writing for the Trues. Today we got into a discussion about admitting we are writers.
Long ago I thought I couldn't say I was a writer until I was published. It wasn't until I joined critique groups and Romance Writers of America that I discovered it wasn't a bad thing to admit I was a writer even if I hadn't been paid for it yet.
Being a writer is something you are because of what you do. Finances had nothing to do with it. Of course it would be better if we had money coming in from writing but that doesn't make us any less a writer.
The leap to answer questions about your career choices by saying, "I'm a writer." can be a big one. Big and scary.
Today I told my friend that she is a writer. She sold! I could see the realization dawning in her eyes. Like, Oh yeah-I am a writer!
In becoming a writer I think there are many hurdles. Stating you're a writer is one of the biggest steps. It puts you out there, face to the world, declaring what you are.
Scary at first. Then oh so satisfying.

Going Indie

Self publishing used to be called Vanity publishing because is was deemed more about ego than skill. Some self pubs were good, most were not.
Now with Amazon's ebook program anyone can self publish and they no longer call them self published, now, they're Indies. Independent publishing. And now that I have my Kindle I'm reading some and so far they're all good. The Indies have come a long way. I think they're better educated writers who understand the importance of critique and editing. Some have writer friends who help with the editing process, others pay for a professional to edit for them. Either way I think the Indies are a new breed in the industry and they're paving the way for a big change in publishing.
I write constantly. It's what I love to do. To get paid to do this would be a dream and not just to be "published" but to be able to keep writing while I paid some bills.
So I'm going Indie. As I've said before I'm working on rewriting something I've submitted in the past and had some good comments on from an agent and editor. I like this story. It's a paranormal romance about angels. I'd like to have it up sometime this summer.
Now I feel weird facing my gaggle of friends who traditionally publish. One of them an agent, other multi-published authors. Some are locked in the "self-pub bad" mode from years ago and aren't ready to face the new Indie revolution. I think some agents may feel threatened by the Indies. Others unbelieving that an Indie could do anything worth reading. I wonder if some are surfing the ebooks to offer representation?
I think publishing is in the middle of a revolution and there's no telling which way it will go. (Well, I think I know)
All I want to do is get paid so I can write more. I want to tell my stories, that's all. I don't want to go to book signings, do the dog and pony shows, or care if anyone knows who I am. I just want people to enjoy my stories.
What's wrong with that? If Amazon lets me do this with the chance of making some money then I'm ready to give it a try.
Anyone else going Indie? How do you feel about this?

Could this be about Critics?

Once in a golden hour
I cast to earth a seed.
Up there came a flower,
The people said, a weed.

To and fro they went
Thro' my garden-bower,
And muttering discontent
Cursed me and my flower.

Then it grew so tall
It wore a crown of light,
But thieves from o'er the wall
Stole the seed by night.

Sow'd it far and wide
By every town and tower,
Till all the people cried
`Splendid is the flower.'

Read my little fable:
He that runs may read.
Most can raise the flowers now,
For all have got the seed.

And some are pretty enough,
And some are poor indeed;
And now again the people
Call it but a weed.

--Lord Alfred Tennyson

A man's reach should exceed his grasp...

What does "We pay $1,000 against a 25% royalty. (The royalty enters the picture with respect to downloadable versions of the work.)" mean?

I was surfing over to Hero's and Heartbreakers and there was a call for submissions for shorts. I've sold a few to the trues so I was thinking of seeing if I have something for this one, but I don't understand what "against a 25% royalty" means.
And I thought I knew everything. :)
These publishers speak a different language. I think it could mean they pay the thou up front then 25% after that is earned out. Hey if I got the thou up front I'd be happy to let the story sit and germinate. But what if it means something else? This makes me wonder if my story could earn more if I sent it somewhere else.
And then I saw something on Amazon called Kindle Singles. I'm not sure what that is? Single stories? Are they talking novellas? It says expressed in it's natural length...hmmm. I saw one at 30 pages. Most I see are selling at 1.99. Not bad for 30 pages. If you want a quick read or have a short attention span something like this might be good. I think this section, which doesn't seem to have a lot to it yet, will grow by leaps and bounds. I wonder how long (or short) a Kindle Single can be? Either way, putting a short up on Amazon might be a better pay off in the long run.
I've seen several places that want short stories but don't pay and I wonder why would anyone want to submit? Why not put it up on your own blog if you're not going to get paid for it?
Thoughts?

Yay Kindle!

My wonderful hubby gave me a Kindle for Valentine's Day! Yay! Books beat out chocolate and flowers every time.
I've been surfing for a case for it because I'm so scared of damaging it. I'm afraid to bring it to work in case I bang it or crush it or drop it since I usually carry a backpack with my WIP (printed out), water, lunch, a book (Karen Slaughter's Broken), iPod & wire, notebook, magazines...What can I say? I'm really bored at work, I need to keep entertained.
Now I'm so excited to have a Kindle I'm surfing Amazon and scooping up some books. I'm not sure how to find the free ones yet but when books are only 2.99 my book budget is suddenly worth a lot more.
I don't think a Kindle can replace books. I still love the feel of a paperback in my hands. Something about cracking the spine of a new book and turning those pages is like comfort food. I read in bed and there's usually a book or two under my pillow. I don't think I can tuck my Kindle under my pillow. And what about the beach? Dare I take it to the beach? I worry enough about the cell phone and the sand.
:)
Later gators! I'm going to play with my Kindle!
My first purchase:

That thing in the book...

There's something in some books that bring you so far into the character and their world that you forget you're reading. When you have to put that book down all you can think about is what happens next. Some authors seem to do this easily, others...not so much. It has to be there and it has to be consistent throughout the entire book.
As I read and listen to books I try to figure out what this is. Is it the character's thoughts? Actions? Thoughts about their actions? It's something around that stuff.
In Meg Cabot's Insatiable she went into the main character's head a lot. We heard her thoughts and how she muddled through things happening to and around her. When other characters popped up it was inside the main character's head that we heard the discription.
Stephen King does this in The Dome. (Excellent book now available in paperback. I did the audio book.) We almost constantly see what's happening through the thoughts of the few main characters.
So is this the way you write? Omnipresent or inside a head? Which is better? Does one give us a more personal view of the world created?
This is my Edgar Allen Poe action figure. Every writer needs one.

When words ... show

I just finished Meg Cabot's Insatiable. Great book about a woman who doesn't believe in vampires learns they might be everywhere. This book was soooo well written I felt as if I was sucked into another worlds. The words Meg wrote gave vivid pictures, ripped the feelings from my soul and made me laugh out loud.
Now I'm reading Karin Slaughter's Broken and on the first page we get: "It wasn't so much raining as misting down a cold wetness, like walking around inside a dog's nose."
Can ya feel that? The cold dampness that sticks to your skin like a slick slime? These are words that give such an image that I can feel it. These are the words of a great writer. Someone who can conjure up a world and make me feel like I stepped right into it. Someone who can make me forget I'm reading.
I wish I could write such images. Even in the deepest end of my zone I don't think I could think to link rain to my dog's nose. Could you?
What are you reading and how well is it written?

The Zone

My best writing comes from a place I call "the zone". When I find the zone I can write for hours and shut out everything around me. The writing is smooth and flows like a river. I'm in the story, inside my characters and it is wonderful. When I leave the zone it's like coming up for air. I have to blink and focus to come back out of the zone. And as the zone slips back into the nether-regions of my mind there's a pang of regret.
I love the zone.
My day job is very slow right now. We're allowed to goof off. One girl cross stitches, one finger paints on her ipad, one has a jigsaw puzzle on her desk. I go crazy. Those close to me say I can use this time for writing, but that doesn't always work. The zone is hard to find when there's a lot of chatter going on around you. I use an ipod but we're only allowed to use one head phone. Sometimes not enough to blot out the noise, but it's better than nothing.
The zone doesn't come easy at the day job. Sometimes I can grab it and other times it slips through my fingers like sands through the hourglass.
This book is going to take me forever to edit.

Amazon-ing

It's a cold day here in NJ and we're hunkered down with movies, our computers and the wood stove. That's another 14 inches of snow on top of the 4 inches from yesterday morning and the foot from last week and the 30 inches from the week after Christmas. Can someone tell me when I moved to Montana, because I can't remember.
It's nice and warm in here as we watch the squirrels and birds raiding the bird feeders in the back yard. I feel bad for them. I'm going to have to get more seed.
So I wandered over to Amazon.com to see what's new. Now I know I'm probably late to the party but I found a Kindle app for my PC. My dh has a Kindle but I haven't gotten that far yet. Sooon...very sooon.
I'm not really a fan of reading too much on the PC but the Kindle app is pretty good. The words are clear and easy to read and flipping the pages is quick. I do get the urge to scroll but that's fading.
I didn't download too much because I'm going to get a Kindle and wasn't sure how to flip it back and forth from PC to Kindle. I haven't read any of the directions. I'm sure it's in there somewhere and I think I can copy them back and forth. The one think I couldn't see how to do was print a page. I would like to do that. hmmmmm
There has to be a way.
Anyway for those of you, like me, who haven't jumped onto the Kindle bandwagon just yet this might be a great way to get started. Surprisingly, reading on the computer wasn't as bad as I envisioned, but I won't be able to take it to bed with me. I definitely need a real Kindle.
Do I really need the 3G wi-fi? Or is the regular Kindle enough? And why?

Two Books...

Right now I'm reading two books. One by James Patterson & friend and one by Lee Childs. I'm struggling with the Patterson book. The internal dialog of the characters is weirdly feminine for a NY cop and the external dialog is stilted. Then there's the tags. The main character is a hardened NYC detective. Okay, so this guy should be kool under pressure but half the time he's freakin out. He's screaming and yelling in people's faces and otherwise acting like he's never seen any action before. He's such a girl! Even the female FBI agent working with him isn't as feminine.
Now the Lee Childs book is a Jack Reacher book. This is a character that's often seen in Lee's books. I'm only a few chapters into this book and I totally forget that I'm reading. Lee Childs pulls me into the story with such skill I can feel the snow swirling around Jack as he sets the flares out on the road. I'm shivering and worrying and so far into the world Childs created that I'm late for work.
When I finally left the house I was trying to think what it was in Lee Childs book that yanked me in to his world and left me forsaking the clock, the fact that the roads are an icy mess and I intended to get an early start and the dogs who are waiting patiently for breakfast.
I know what Reacher's wearing, where he's been for the last few days and why he got on that bus. I could see it, feel it and hear it.
Lee Childs is a master. I want to write like him.
I haven't finished either of these books yet but I'll have more when I'm done with them.

Cat Litter

I have a weird cat. She won't cover anything in her litter box. I have to take the little scooper-rake and cover things up so they don't smell. To make matters worse she won't use the box again if things aren't covered. It's like a punishment for not keeping up on my job. She'll pick a throw rug or towel or piece of clothing left on the floor to use instead. Once she even peed on the dog, but I think that was more of a vengeance thing.
What does cat litter have to do with writing?
Sometimes I'm meaning to get some writing done, but something in my environment isn't perfect and I put it off. I promise myself I'll write today but then I realize the room really needs vacumning so I'll do that first. Or maybe I'll just do a load of laundry or bathe the dog (because of the cat), or after Judge Judy (because the coming attractions looked like something I just can't miss!).
Whatever! It seems like there's something in the litter box that puts me out of the game.
This is my problem.
Now how do I overcome it?
I think when a woman has been a stay-at-home mom it's more difficult. For years while the kids were younger this whole house was my job. Kids grow up, I get an outside job and still everything in the house still seems like my job. It's like having two jobs.
It's hard to overcome or let go so I can get some writing/editing done.
>sigh<

Writer Brains

Writers can be hard to live with. Even harder to watch television with.
I can often guess the plot before the show is over. I catch glitches in the story and point out why the crime scene doesn't make sense.
Hawaii 5-0 recently had a show where one of the characters is found kneeling in a parking lot or some such area, with a bomb strapped to his neck. One of the cops says, "Don't move. That's a mercury switch, if you move it will blow up."
A mercury switch depends on where the little drop of mercury is in the switch. If you lean to either side the mercury moves and completes the circuit and KABOOM!
So then the 5-0 character tells his would be rescuers that he doesn't know how he got there he was knocked out and just woke up in the parking lot.
Now remember as we come upon the scene the man is in a kneeling position. So that means, if he was knocked out, he would not have been in an upright kneeling position. He would have been laying down. Now, if it is a mercury switch, and he would have had to move up to the kneeling position, this would have set off the bomb. That's the way a mercury switch works.
Hmmmm...
I just can't let these things slide. It's bad habit. It's so apparent I just have to say something. It amazes me that others don't see this stuff.
I give away the plot and I dissect the inconsistent. I think its a writer thing.
Anyone else do this?

The Editing Process...

I had Disregarding Heaven ready to go months ago and have the rejection to prove it. The only thing the editor said when she rejected me was that my hero didn't come in soon enough. Yet I've seen books where the hero didn't enter right away and they worked just fine. So I added a preamble. I'm doing a scene where the hero shows in the woman's life two years before. Which what happened but is only referenced in the way I originally wrote the story. Let's hope it works.
One thing I'm seeing while editing this story is I'll get to a place and think "I should put X here" and I insert it. Then I read down a couple of lines and see X. So I thought of it originally and did put it in. This is slowing me down as I have to keep back tracking and re-fixing the stuff I added that was already there.
>sigh<
It just makes me want to write a new story. Which I started because I had an idea pop into my head and had to get it down.
So what's your secret to successful editing?

My story, Valentine's Day Disaster, is in the February True Romance Magazine. Yay!
It seems Dorchester revamped the True's office and the January issues went digital, but it seems February is back in print. Whew!
I think the audience for the Trues is definitely print type people. It's the kind of mag you curl up on the couch with a hot cup of tea. I was worried.
True Confessions was started in like 1922 and after it's success True Romance bounced onto the scene followed by a bunch of others. They are simple stories about how people overcome hardships to find love. Fun to write, fun to read.
:)

Adventures in ebooking

I've decided to have a go at putting an ebook up on Amazon. This is a learning curve as I don't really know what I'm doing. So here's the adventure. Step by step I'm going to post as I go along.
Step 1. Pick something already finished to put up as the ebook. I have several novels finished (rejected by agents) that I think are polished and ready to go. I'm choosing "Disregarding Heaven", a story about a woman who finds out she should have died two years ago and now has no destiny. When she finds out it's all her guardian angel's fault she goes looking for him and the show down ain't gonna be pretty.
One editor told me I introduced the hero too late and that he should have come in within the first ten pages. Hmmmmm, gotta think on that. I might have a slight change to make, but I have an idea on how to do it.
Step 2. Polish it one more time. I'm going through it again because I have this very nervous feeling that it won't be perfect and reviews will be biting.
That's where I'm at now.
All advice welcomed.

Self pub? The times they are a-changin?

Visited J.A.Konrath's blog and he has up an interesting post about the evolving world of self publishing. I know for years self publishing has been a big no-no and thought to be only a thing to stroke the ego of a writer who has yet to be able to go the conventional route. But now?
I think it's a new world for publishing. Like everything else evolves so has book publishing. There's been many a time I laid down my good bucks for a book that should have been used to line the bird cage. As a yet unpublished (except for the Trues, ehow and Livestrong) writer I knew I could do better. I'm sure others have had the same experience. There were times I wondered if getting your book published was 50% talent and 50% luck. Hit the right agent on the right day when your words would hit the right ear at the right time.
So now we have Amazon's epublishing stuff where anyone can put their book up for sale. This means some books are going to be not so good. Wait, I've already paid good money for one (or ten) of those and they were from traditionally published authors.
So now I think about ebooking it and my biggest worry is the polishing. I want it to be perfect. I want perfect grammar, flow, execution and everything a good agent and editor would catch.
What about you? Do you ebook? Do you want to? What's holding you back?

Crayons is Back!

I'm in a lot of pain the last few days. I had rotator cuff surgery three years ago and the pain still comes back. Sometimes its very bad. Like yesterday. And last night. And right about now. No one can explain why this pain comes back or why it won't go away.
Blah.
But today I found a reason to smile. Crayons is back! Crayons tells a story with her drawings. A while a go she closed up shop and said she ran out of things to say. But I would still go by her old site just to see if she had dropped by and today I found Crayons Encore.
Today, inspite of the pain, is a good day.
Thank you, Crayons. Your site gives me smiles.

Under the Dome by Stephen King

Just finished Under the Dome by Stephen King and I still haven't caught my breath. In this story a mysterious force field-like dome covers a small New England town trapping the people inside. Maybe that wouldn't have been too bad at first, but one of the town selectmen, Jim Rennie, has dictator issues and quickly works behind the scenes to create havoc. He fills the town police force with incompetent bullies, murders those who threaten to expose his crimes and manipulates the towns people to his own benefit. When the president sets up an ex-military man, Dale Barbara (Barr-beee), as the person in charge Big Jim pins him with a multiple murder rap and has him thrown in jail. Suddenly all the chaos created by Jim Rennie is blamed on Barrr-beee. What happens next will keep you on the edge of your seat.
My one problem with this book is the size...no it's not the length of the book...it's the physical size. This book is 4 inches thick in hardback. I guess I should have waited for the paperback because this book was hard to fit in my purse. And to make matters worse I couldn't put it down! lol So after going through the first few chapters I went out and got the audio version so I could listen during my 40 minute drive to work. Raul Esparza read this book and he is excellent. His ability to do voices was amazing and really took me into Chester's Mill and it's characters. I think he's the best reader I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.
The characters in this book will stay with me for a long time. When the book ended I felt like I was losing some old friends. Isn't that the best feeling in the world? Well done, Mr. King. Now...will you sign my copy?
Five stars. I loved this book!
Go to Amazon to see a video of Stephen King talking about this book.

Hacked!

My web based email was hacked and someone sent out a weird email saying I was stranded in the UK and needed money. What kind of sicko does this? Then it wiped out all my contacts so I don't even know who it went out to. I'm fuming! I contacted yahoo and asked what they could do about it but haven't heard from them yet. Has this ever happened to you? What do you do about it?
I'm deleting my yahoo accounts which will also delete my flicker account but what else can I do?
Blah. Some people are so mean.

So You Want to be a Writer

Work is really slow this time of year. In fact, it's dead. We sit around and watch movies, read, draw or paint, play computer games or surf. (I hate this job...I don't do well with boredom) And now the powers that be told us to stay off the internet.
REally? What the hell am I supposed to do now?
I want them to give me work...something...anything to do...but there is none for now. Even when there is work it's easy stuff so that's not that entertaining either.
I try writing and sometimes when the office is quiet I can get some done, but usually the chatter is too distracting.
I need a new job. Something busy and active. Blah, the job market isn't that great right now so I don't see anything that would fit me. . . yet. Being a full time writer isn't there for me. At least not yet. (I'm hoping!)
So, I'm looking.
While I'm looking, check this out -->

Cross Country, Oy! Mr. Patterson!

Normally, I love James Patterson. Yes, I've heard the rumors that he doesn't write his own books and yes, sometimes those short chapters annoy the hell out of me, but generally I like his books. And I love the Alex Cross series.
Then I read Cross Country and prayed for it to be over. This was the worst book I've read in a long! long! long! time!
It broke all the rules! There were so many exclamation marks I thought I should be jumping up off my chair for every other sentence!
There there were the rhetorical sentences. They came in groups of three (always three!) in every chapter.
If you've ever read any of the Alex Cross books you know he's this big, tough detective. He's too smart to take unnecessary chances and always puts his family first.
He's the perfect man.
Well, whoever took over the Alex Cross in this book was none of those things. He came across dumb as a doornail, took stupid chances and was a really feminine. Yes, big tough Alex Cross came across in this book as a girl. Jacqueline Daniels had a bigger pair than this guy.
Now lets move on to the plot....Alex goes to Africa to try and track a murderer. However he goes without a clue as to where to look for this man. Africa is a big continent so....what's the plan Alex? Wander here and there and hope for the best to bump into this guy?
But lets back up, Alex has no proof that this guy is in Africa. He only has some rumors that the guy originally came from there. The Alex Cross in previous books was much smarter than this guy.
Weak plot and out-of-character characters make for a really bad book. And I think this book was written by a woman. The feminine voice comes through so loud and clear
I can picture big, tough Alex Cross running in high heels.
Sorry James, whoever wrote this book needs to go back to writing 101.

More Sales!

Two more sales to the Confessions for January!
Yippy!