ANOTHER WINNER! MICHAEL DI GESU.

"As you get older it is harder to have heroes,

but it is sort of necessary."
- Ernest Hemingway.

I quote Hemingway because Michael Di Gesu is one of my heroes. He toured the world as a model, gaining wisdom and perspective.

When the winds of fortune blew against his career, he defiantly re-set his sail, using the ill wind and his knowledge picked up along the years to become an interior designer.

When the tides of that venture slowed, he ventured forth into new waters : that of becoming a published writer. His never-ceasing good humor, determination, and talent will see him succeed in this I am sure.

Michael lives another Hemingway quote :

"But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated. The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are stronger at the broken places."

Michael is such a stronger person.

So that was why I was so happy when, after THE LEGEND OF VICTOR STANDISH sold the necessary copies, I drew Michael's name to win the AUTOGRAPHED MICHAEL WHELAN LITHOGRAPH of SUNRUNNER.

He gained 20 entries when he posted a review of THE LEGEND OF VICTOR STANDISH on AMAZON, SMASHSWORDS, GOODREADS, and finally on his own blog, IN TIME :

http://writing-art-and-design.blogspot.com/

Check his blog out why don't you? And if you're not already, become a Follower, too.

Now, when I sell only 10 more copies of THE LEGEND OF VICTOR STANDISH, I will draw from the names of the reviewers of it on Amazon for AN AUTOGRAPHED ROBERT DOWNEY, JR. IRON MAN POSTER. How cool is that?

If you are a current reviewer of LEGEND, now is the time to give it away as a gift (100% of the profits this January go to The Salvation Army). If you haven't reviewed it ...

Now is the time to do it before the 10 copies are bought!

When only SIX more reviews are posted on Amazon,

I will draw from the 15 names for AN AUTOGRAPHED CHARLES SCHULTZ 1967 LIFE MAGAZINE. {Or if you wish, A CLINT EASTWOOD AUTOGRAPH.}

This could be an early Christmas for you.
***
If you want to see who could play Samuel McCord and his mystic love, Meilori, watch this trailer :

WILLIAM FAULKNER_WHAT MAKES YOUR PROSE WORTH READING

William Faulkner, ghost, here.

I dropped in to chat with my young friend, Roland.

He is always happy to see me even though I am a ghost.

He was lying on his back, a sock, of all things, over his eyes.

He was being murdered by a migraine he groaned.

He asked if I would write to the young writer of today in his place.

I looked at the keyboard.

To write again. And to write of the art of prose.

I felt renewed.

But how to fill the vacuum of the blank monitor screen?

Vacuum. That was the key.

Despite the deluge from the media and this new technology, the internet,

today's young writer is oddly forced to function in a vacuum of the human race.

The irony of your main character is not that he or she is not tough enough or brave enough or deserving enough to be accepted into humanity.

No, there simply is no human race there.

Just a mass of frustrated urges, fears of terrorism, and nightmares of economic insecurity and rampant crime,

unredeemed by hope or education or self-awareness.

All your characters can do is buzz inside the upside-down tumbler of conventions and customs that have replaced humanity.

People all around us are being de-souled like stallions being gelded.

As a writer, your basest crime is to ignore the human soul.

I stroll unseen down the aisles of the bookstores of today's cities.

It seems to me that the young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself ...

which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat.

In your imagination have no room for anything but the old verities and truths of the heart,

the old universal truths lacking which any story is ephemeral and doomed -

love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice.

Until he does so, the writer labors under a curse.

He writes not of love but of lust,

of defeats in which nobody loses anything of value, of victories without hope and, worst of all, without pity or compassion.

His griefs grieve on no universal bones, leaving no scars.

He writes not of the heart but of the glands.

He writes of the end of all that makes Man more than an animal.

I decline to accept the end of man. I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail.

He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice,

but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.

The poet’s, the writer’s, duty is to write about these things.

It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart,

by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past.

The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man,

it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.

You writers out there reading this, you have a sacred duty.

Entertain, yes.

But touch the heart, the soul. Mankind needs you to do this. And deep down, you know you need to do this, too.
***

INSECURE WRITER SUPPORT PART II _ GET DROVES OF FOLLOWERS_RIDE THE AURORA BOREALIS!

A FELLOW BLOGGER FRIEND,

A MOTHER,

AND A WONDERFUL SPIRIT, CANDACE GANGER NEEDS HELP.

LET'S BE HEROES.

YOU WILL STAND TALLER WHEN YOU THINK BACK THAT WHEN THE CALL FOR HEROES WENT OUT, YOU WERE THERE.

HELP WITH WHAT YOU CAN. A PAYPAL BUTTON IS ON HER SITE :

http://themisadventuresincandyland.blogspot.com/2012/01/lower-than-rappers-pants.html

{"Even if you're on the right track,

you'll still get run over if you just sit there."
- Will Rogers.}

Ghost of Will Rogers here.

So there I was perched atop a bucking aurora borealis,

trying to loop my lariet over a shooting star, when the ghost of Samuel Clemens ambled by.

"Need a favor, Will."

"I'm kinda in the middle of something, Sam."

"It's about Roland."

"Why didn't you say so in the first place? He needs help?"

"More than we can give. But his friends could use some, Will."

"How so?"

"They seem all fired up about getting droves of followers."

"Well, Sam, they could rob a bank. It worked for Dillinger."

"Yeah, that worked out real well for him, didn't it? No, you dumb Okie. Followers on that bog thing-a-ma-gadget."

I slipped off the bucking aurora borealis and nudged back my Stetson.

"Blog, Sam. On the internet. I read the papers. Wrote 4,000 daily columns in my time."

"That's what I'm talking about, Will! You know how to write.
You know how to perform. Why Zigfield trusted you with his fillies on stage."

"Old Zig didn't trust himself, much less anyone else.
But I get your drift, Sam. I'll write a column on how to snag followers."
***
And so here I am. Don't let anyone fool you. There are no rules for success. But that won't stop me from giving them to you :

1.) An onion can make people cry but there's never been a vegetable that can make people laugh.

Folks just naturally have more grief in their lives than they let on. They need an outlet.

You be that outlet. Make 'em laugh. You do that, and you'll have 'em coming back for more.

Or do you want to be a vegetable?

2.) Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far.


How do you do that, you say. Easy. Blow theirs.

You find a gal or a fella who writes what you like, quote 'em on your blog. Add them to your blog list.

Be neighborly. You're leaving a comment on someone else's blog and spot a comment from them, say "Hi" to them in yours.

Agree with them (especially if you do) in your comment. Make a party line of it. Friendliness is catching.


3.) Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.


You have to experiment to get anything outstanding done. Look at me and Wiley Post. We flew over darn near the whole world.


My daily news columns put momentum in the science of aircraft design and public support. And yes, we died in a crash.


But both of us died with a friend. Not a bad way to go.


4.) Know your audience and give 'em what they want by speaking to their hurts.

I went and read some of the blogs of Roland's friends. You folks are dreamers. We need dreamers today. Too many folks nay-say on the dreams of others.

You support those dreams in your blogs. Talk about what fears you have and how you fight them. It'll make the other gal in the cyber-trenches not feel quite so alone.

How can you know your audience?

You know you, don't you? You know what you'd like to know about publishing. Research it. And then post what you found out -- with the links you went to.

Synposis. Sounds like one of those ancient Greek philosophers. And most of you would rather kiss an ancient Greek than write a synopsis.

Well, research that subject. You find anything that makes the thing less painful, you publish it. And I guarantee you that folks will flock to your blog.

Remember fellas, there are more women bloggers out there than men. Be polite when talking about ladies in general.

Speaking of which, I'm taking my Stetson off to Laila Knight. Forgive those hairy-legged gents, Ernest and Sam. They're just men. They don't know no better.


5.) Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier 'n puttin' it back in.

They call it the World Wide Web for a reason, folks. Think before you write. No "how many ______ does it take to change a tire?" Thing is, there are a lot of ______ out there no matter what _______ you're talking about.


An agent rejected you? Smarted some didn't it? I'd hold back on venting rage and spite on your blog. You jab in a knife, and you may pull it out, but the wound remains.


And remember a little thing called Google Alert. You rail about an agent, an editor, a fellow blogger --- that little gizmo will alert them. And there're a lot more of them than you.


So let's be honest with ourselves and not take ourselves too serious, and never condemn the other fellow for doing what we are doing every day, only in a different way.


*** So that's a little of what I know. I'm only a wandering cowpoke ghost. I mean, I never expected to see the day when girls would get sunburned in the places they now do.

And I've tried to be diplomatic. But I'm an Okie : to me being diplomatic is saying "Nice Doggie" until I can find a big enough rock.

One last thing : have, what is that phrase they use nowadays? Oh, yes, it comes to me now.

Have the back of each gal and fella you meet in your blog travels. Who knows? They may do the same for you.
***

INSECURE WRITER SUPPORT_WE GUESS WITH OUR FEARS

"Dear Author :

Thank you for thinking of us. Unfortunately, this is not quite right for us. Better luck with it elsewhere.

Your day will come. You can watch it from heaven.

Your lucky numbers are : 9 - 12 - 21- 35 - 42 -54."

Form rejections.

You hate them. I hate them. We all get them.

Basically, it's silence from the agent's end.

And when you receive only silence from someone important, you're left to guess why. And we guess with our fears.

And I've usually noticed from other areas of my life, what I fear usually isn't even in the same galaxy with the truth of the situation.

I would wager that is true with the silence of form rejections. But a wager is just a fancy word for a guess. And we've come full circle.

We've heard the truth before : it isn't personal. And it truly isn't.

You're not paying the agent a cent. She is under no obligation to teach you how to write a letter or a novel. We're job applicants. Period.

Play turnabout.

What would you want in a query if you had to read hundreds a week?

No brainer. Short ones. All right, then. We have our first requirement : make that sucker short.

Short means no fluff. No Hamlet introduction. Just straight to the point.

What would you want next if hundreds of queries surged in a rush of cyber-diarrhea into your inbox?

Something different. Something catchy. Written by someone who didn't have a chip on her/his shoulder. And the tone?

Not misleading. Not written in a funny vein if the novel is a tragedy.

O.K. Write the query short, with a hook up front, and in the tone of the novel you're submitting. We've getting a better idea now on how to write our next query.

What else would you want in those thousands of emails a month? Short paragraphs. Well-written ones without errors that grate like nails on the blackboard.

Ones easy to reject in a second :

Ones that are illiterate. Ones that query for genres you don't handle. Ones that query for carbon copies of hit sellers. Ones that whine.

All right. Now, we have an idea of what NOT to do.

What do we do next?

Look at your query. Does it do your novel justice? Would it make a total stranger want to read your novel with

"Wow, that sounds neat! I gotta read this."

Is there building tension in your summation?

Are the stakes primal : threat to survival, sex, or family?

Is your hero likeable, clever, funny? He/she better be.

Even a detailed letter of why your query was rejected would still leave you wondering, without a true direction to follow.

One agent's take is not gospel. Trust your instincts.

You are a reader. Try reading your query as an agent would. Try reading your novel as a stranger would. Then, as my friend, Heather, suggests :

read it aloud. You'll hear flaws you never would find otherwise.

And now a word from Neil Gaiman {courtesy of http://www.nanowrimo.org/node/1065561 }

"By now you're probably ready to give up.

You're past that first fine furious rapture when every character and idea is new and entertaining. You're not yet at the momentous downhill slide to the end. You're in the middle, a little past the half-way point.

The glamour has faded, the magic has gone, your back hurts from all the typing. You don't know why you started your novel, you no longer remember why you imagined that anyone would want to read it, and you're pretty sure that even if you finish it it won't have been worth the time or energy.

Welcome to the club.

That's how novels get written.

You write. That's the hard bit that nobody sees. You write on the good days and you write on the lousy days. Like a shark, you have to keep moving forward or you die. What matters right now are the words, one after another. Find the next word. Write it down. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Writing is a continual search for the word that will fit in the text, in your mind, on the page. Plot and character and metaphor and style, all these become secondary to the words.

The search for the word gets no easier but nobody else is going to write your novel for you.

The last novel I wrote (it was ANANSI BOYS, in case you were wondering) when I got three-quarters of the way through I called my agent.

I told her how stupid I felt writing something no-one would ever want to read, how thin the characters were, how pointless the plot. I strongly suggested that I was ready to abandon this book and write something else instead, or perhaps I could abandon the book and take up a new life as a landscape gardener, bank-robber, short-order cook or marine biologist.

And instead of sympathising or agreeing with me, or blasting me forward with a wave of enthusiasm---or even arguing with me---she simply said, suspiciously cheerfully, "Oh, you're at that part of the book, are you?"

I was shocked. "You mean I've done this before?"

"You don't remember?"

"Not really."

"Oh yes," she said. "You do this every time you write a novel. But so do all my other clients."

I didn't even get to feel unique in my despair.

So I put down the phone and drove down to the coffee house in which I was writing the book, filled my pen and carried on writing.

One word after another.

That's the only way that novels get written and, short of elves coming in the night and turning your jumbled notes into Chapter Nine, it's the only way to do it.

So keep on keeping on. Write another word and then another.

Pretty soon you'll be on the downward slide, and it's not impossible that soon you'll be at the end. Good luck..."

- Neil Gaiman


Here is Stephen King on writing :

HOW TO HAVE A 1000 FOLLOWERS!

Don't ask me.

I don't even know why fools fall in love!

But Alex Cavanaugh has written a great post on how to do it :

http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/2012/01/you-cant-reach-1000-followers-by-being.html

He has pointed out 4 bloggers who are very close :

Nicole :
http://nicolezoltack.blogspot.com/

Matthew :
http://theqqqe.blogspot.com/

Jesse :
http://jesseacohen.blogspot.com/


The fourth? Shy, bashful me.

Visit the three above and tell them Roland & Alex sent you. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

WELCOME to the INDIE BOOK FAIR!!

An early next Christmas gift to my fellow indie authors

Did you find a new
Kindle, Nook, or iPad under the Christmas tree? Browse the Indie Book Fair and find a new ebook to break in that reader!

These great new books
were released Nov 2011-Feb 2012 by Indie authors, priced right so that taking a

chance on a new author doesn’t have to break your wallet. (Check out the previous Internet Book Fair for other great Indie finds.)

[Indie = self-published
or small-publisher, for the purposes of this post, because no matter how we’re published, we’re all in this together, trying to get the word out about our books]

Note: Links are given
for Amazon, but most authors publish across all e-book formats. Click
on the author’s name for additional purchasing options, including
paper copies.

For Your Browsing Pleasure

Contemporary (Adult)

Build a Man by Talli Roland (Chick Lit)

Slave

to the rich, rude and deluded, cosmetic surgery receptionist Serenity Holland

longs for the day she's a high-flying tabloid reporter. Unfortunately, every

pitch she sends out disappears like her clients' liposuctioned fat, never to be

seen again. Then she meets Jeremy Ritchie -- the hang-dog man determined to be

Britain's Most Eligible Bachelor by making himself over from head to toe and

everything in between -- giving Serenity a story no editor could

resist. With London's biggest tabloid on board and her very own column

tracking Jeremy's progress from dud to dude, Serenity is determined to be a

success, even going undercover to gain intimate access to Jeremy's life. But

when Jeremy's surgery goes drastically wrong and Serenity is ordered to cover

all the car-crash goriness, she must decide how far she really will go for her

dream job. $0.99

on Amazon

The

Golden Sky by Elisa

Hirsch (Memoir)

The night I met Cade I never would’ve thought that two years later, after we

were homeless street musicians in Hawaii, we would have a little girl and

another baby on the way. Our son was born with the type of birth

defects that make televangelists cringe. The “death home” gave him a really

nice funeral, the kind I’d never wished to attend. We lost it after that,

totally cemented in our grief. Cade got into drugs, joined a rock

and roll band, and I kicked him out of the house. That was how I met: Earl

(an old man and unlikely best friend), the “big sag” (a middle aged woman

who still flashed folks), Todda (the stripper next door), and Chris

(a cowboy who fell in love with me). It wasn’t until I killed a rogue

skunk, and my daughter nearly choked on a fry, that I gave my husband

another chance. But could our marriage recover from the death of our

son? $2.99 onAmazon

Someone

Else’s Fairytale by E.M. Tippetts (Contemporary Romance)

Jason Vanderholt is the hottest actor under thirty with legions of screaming fans.

Chloe Winters is a college student who hasn't gotten around to watching most of

his movies. When they meet by chance, he is smitten, but it just

isn't her fairytale. In fact, it could be her worst nightmare as her past,

attracted by the bright lights of the media, comes back to haunt her. $0.99 on Amazon

Historical Romance

(Adult)

The Duke’s Divorce by Anne Gallagher Available late January 2012

A simple trip to the Scottish Highlands finds the Duke of Cantin with a bride he

does not want. With her impeccable beauty and fiery disposition, Fiona

takes Society by storm. As their prearranged divorce proceedings draw

near, can Fiona change his mind? Check author's website.

Literary Fiction

String Bridge by Jessica Bell

Greek cuisine, smog and

domestic drudgery was not the life Australian musician, Melody, was expecting

when she married a Greek music promoter and settled in Athens, Greece. Keen to

play in her new shoes, though, Melody trades her guitar for a 'proper' career

and her music for motherhood. That is, until she can bear it no longer and

plots a return to the stage—and the person she used to be. However, the

obstacles she faces along the way are nothing compared to the tragedy that

awaits ... $6.99

on Amazon ALSO: Music Sample!

Mystery

Sherwood Ltd. by Anne R. Allen

Sherwood.. $2.99

on Amazon

Short Stories and

Anthologies

The Initiate (Cloud

Prophet Trilogy) by Megg Jensen (YA Fantasy)

Over

a thousand years ago, the gods left Eloh's people and took their magic with

them. To win back their favor, her people sacrifice ten female initiates every

ten years. No has ever survived. There has never been a Chosen One. Forced into

becoming an initiate, Eloh will try to find a way to beat the odds, stay with

her boyfriend, and survive the fires that threaten to consume her. But will her

lack of faith in the gods and her disbelief in their magic doom her to a

painful death? $0.99 on Amazon

Eight by Karly Kirkpatrick (YA Paranormal Short Story Collection)

Prepare

to be thrilled and chilled by Kirkpatrick's eight short tales in EIGHT. These

eight stories, while short, pack a big punch. There are demon spirits, zombies,

and even some human baddies. Each story comes complete with author's

commentary. It also includes the previously unreleased short Grenades. $0.99

on Amazon
{CoverComingSoon} In His Eyes by The Indelibles (YA Anthology) - Available February 14th

Just in time for Valentines Day, The Indelibles bring you a one-of-a-kind young

adult anthology! Twenty original short stories, all from the point of view of

our favorite male characters - some are old flames from our novels and some

were dreamed up especially for this anthology. Let these imminently crushable,

swoon-worthy guys show you what romance looks like – in his eyes. Add to Goodreads

TBR

The contributors to IN HIS EYES include

award winners, frequent “Top 100” placers, and hot 2011 debut authors: S.R. Wells, C.K.

Bryant, Elle Strauss, Susan Kaye Quinn, Jessie Harrell, Magan Vernon, Lisa

Nowak, Heather McCorkle, RaShelle Workman, Ali Cross, Karen Amanda Hooper, Cory

Putman Oakes, Laura Pauling, Stacey Wallace Benefiel, Sarra Cannon, Katie Klein,

Cheri Lasota

Transcendent: Tales of

the Paranormal by
Lani Woodland, Melonie Piper, Rita Webb, Wendy Swore, Melanie Marks, Heather McCubbin and Evan Joseph (YA Anthology)

Discover the secrets of a siren, fly with a hawk girl over the mountains of Montana, and flee supernatural party-crashers as the

décor comes to life in this magical journey through paranormal stories. Along

the way, watch for ghosts in a haunted house, or ride through the moonlight

with a stranger. Save a comatose boy who has lost his soul, and don’t forget to

bring your garlic and wolfsbane—you never know when the shadows will snag you. Transcendent

includes eight stories of magic, love, death, and choice by some of the newestnames in young adult fiction. $0.99

on Amazon

Young Adult

Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn (Paranormal/Science Fiction)

When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep. Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone

who can’t read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can’t be

trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best

friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf’s mind and nearly

kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and

an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she’s dragged

deep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyone

she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her. $2.99 on Amazon

Bound by C.K. Bryant (Paranormal Romance)

When a photo shoot ends in tragedy, Kira discovers her best friend, Lydia,has been keeping a secret.

Knowing the truth, and accepting it, will change Kira’s life forever and thrust

her into a world of ancient curses, magical objects, and savage enemies. What

happens next will challenge everything Kira knows about her world, herself and

the shape-shifting warrior she’s falling in love with. No longer the timid

mouse her mother accused her of being, but a woman who finds the mental and

physical strength to endure and survive. $3.99 on Amazon

Become by Ali Cross (YA Urban Fantasy)

Sixteen-year old Desolation Black wants nothing more than to stay in Hell where it’s cold and

lonely and totally predictable. Instead, she’s sent back to Earth where she

Becomes the evil she despises and the good she always feared. When Desi is

forced to embrace her inner demon, she assumes her Choice has been made—that

she has no hope of being anything other than what her father, Lucifer, has

created her to be. What she doesn’t count on, is a reason to want to

change—something she’s never had before—a friend. $3.99

on Amazon

Exiled by RaShelle Workman (YA SF Romance)

Worlds

divided them. Chance brought them together. Only love will save them.


An alien princess exiled to Earth. An arrogant boy. One week to get back to her

planet or she'll die. And, her only chance for survival? She must help the boy

find his soul mate.


Piece of cake! $0.99

on Kindle

The Secret of Spruce

Knoll by Heather McCorkle (Urban Fantasy)

Following the tragic death of her parents, Eren Donovan moves to Spruce Knoll

to live with an aunt she’s never met. Little does Eren know the entire

town of Spruce Knoll is filled with “channelers”—a magical group of

people who immigrated to the small Colorado town when they

were driven out of their own lands. Channelers are tied to the fate

of the world. As the world slowly dies, so do they—and they alone

have the power to stop the destruction of Earth. Soon, Eren learns

she not only lives among them, but she is one. When she meets local boy Aiden,

his charm convinces her that being a channeler may not be all bad though. $4.99 on

Amazon

Destined by Jessie Harrell (Retelling)

When Psyche receives a prophecy gone horribly wrong, she learns that even the most

beautiful girl in Greece can have a hideous future. Her fate? Fall in love with

the one creature even the gods fear. As she feels herself slipping closer into

the arms of the prophecy, Psyche must choose between the terrifyingly tender

touch she feels almost powerless to resist and the one constant she's come to

expect out of life: you cannot escape what is destined. $0.99 on Amazon

Darkspell by Elizabeth Mueller (Paranormal Romance)

Winter Sky believes she

is everything ordinary . . . until she is kissed by Alex Stormhold. As

seer of Stormhold Coven, Alex is sworn to be Winter’s protector against the

darkness that hunts her. Violently thrust into a magickal realm she

always thought impossible, she stumbles upon a disturbing secret of her own.

Will love prove thicker than magick?$3.99 on Amazon

Untraceable by S. R. Johannes (Thriller)

Grace has lived in the

Smokies all her life, patrolling with her forest ranger father who taught her

about wildlife, tracking, and wilderness survival. When her dad goes missing on a routine

patrol, Grace refuses to believe he’s dead and fights the town authorities,

tribal officials, and nature to find him. One day, while out tracking clues,

Grace is rescued from danger by Mo, a hot guy with an intoxicating accent and a

secret. As her feelings between him and her ex-boyfriend get muddled, Grace

travels deep into the wilderness to escape and find her father. Along the way, Grace learns terrible secrets that sever relationships and

lives. Soon she’s enmeshed in a web of conspiracy, deception, and murder. And

it’s going to take a lot more than a compass and a motorcycle (named Lucifer)

for this kick-butting heroine to save everything she loves. $2.99

on Amazon

Rival Demons (Book 5 of

the Peachville High Demons Series) by Sarra Cannon (Paranormal Romance) Available January 20th

After narrowly escaping death at

the hands of the Order of Shadows, Harper finds herself thrust into the strange

and beautiful world of the shadow demons. But crossing through the portal

doesn't mean she is safe. The Order of Shadows is determined to bring her home

and transfer the Prima line to the Harris family. They send their most vicious

hunters after Harper. Hunters who will not stop until they have found their

prey. Determined to keep her safe, Jackson takes her deep into an underground

world filled with dangers of its own. Here, Harper will begin a journey that

will teach her more about herself and her own path than she ever imagined

possible. Add

to Goodreads TBR

The Legend of Victor Standish: Under a Voodoo Moon by Roland D. Yeomans (Urban Fantasy/Romance)

Can love kill? Yes

... if you love a ghoul who hungers for your flesh only slightly less than she

does your heart. Yet to the lonely street orphan Victor Standish, who has

risked his life for a meal, to find love (even for one magical French Quarter

night) is worth dying in the morning. $2.99 on Amazon All profits go to the Salvation Army.

Getting Sideways (Book 2 in the Full Throttle Series) by Lisa Nowak (Contemporary)

Getting shipped off to live with his

uncle Race was the best thing that ever happened to fifteen-year-old Cody. Then

a wreck at the speedway nearly ruined everything. Cody’s making every effort to

get his life back on track—writing for the school paper, searching for the

perfect girlfriend, and counting the days until he gets his drivers’

license—but there’s no escaping the nightmares that haunt him. A

chance to build his own car seems like the perfect distraction. Until Cody

realizes he’ll have to live up to Race’s legendary status. But that’s the least

of his worries, considering he doesn’t have his dad’s permission. All he has to

do is the impossible: keep Race from discovering his lie until he can convince his dad that racing’s safe. Yeah, sure. That’ll

be easy. $3.99

on Amazon

Tangled Tides by Karen Hooper (Sea Monster Memoirs)

Yara Jones doesn’t believe in sea monsters—until she becomes one. When a hurricane

hits her island home and she wakes up with fins, Yara finds herself tangled up

in an underwater world of mysterious merfolk and secretive selkies. Both sides

believe Yara can save them by fulfilling a broken promise and opening the

sealed gateway to their realm, but they are battling over how it should be

done. The selkies want to take her life. The merfolk want something far more

precious. Treygan, the stormy-eyed merman who turned Yara mer, will stop at

nothing and sacrifice everything to protect his people—until he falls for Yara.

The tides turn as Yara fights to save herself, hundreds of sea creatures, and

the merman who has her heart. She could lose her soul in the process—or she

might open the gateway to a love that’s deeper than the oceans. $4.99

on Amazon

Here by Denise Grover Swank (SF Romance)

Sixteen year old Julia Phillips buries herself in guilt after killing her best friend

Monica in a car accident. Julia awoke in the hospital with a broken leg, a new

talent for drawing and false memories of the accident, in which she dies and

Monica lives. The doctors attribute this to her head injury, but no one can

explain how a bracelet engraved with her name ended up at the scene of the

accident. A bracelet no one has ever seen before. Classmate Evan Whittaker paid

Julia no attention before the accident, let alone after. Now suddenly he’s

volunteering to tutor her and offering to drive her home. She can't ignore that

his new obsession started after his two-day disappearance last week and that he

wears a pendant she’s been drawing for months. When the police show up one

night looking for Evan, he begs Julia to run with him, convincing her that

Monica is still alive. Julia agrees to go, never guessing where he’s really

from. $2.99 on Amazon

The Veil by Cory

Putman Oakes (Paranormal Romance)

Seventeen-year-old Addison Russell is in for a shock when she discovers that she can see the

invisible world of the Annorasi. Suddenly, nothing is as it appears to

be—the house she lives in, the woman who raised her, even the most beautiful

boy in town all turn out to be more than what they seem. And when this

strange new world forces Addy to answer for a crime that was committed long

ago, by parents she has never known, she has no choice but to trust Luc, the

mysterious Annorasi who has been sent to protect her. Or so he says . . .

$7.99

on Amazon

Embrace by Cherie Colyer (Paranormal Romance)

Madison

is familiar enough with change, and she hates everything about it. Change took

her long-term boyfriend away from her. It caused one of her friends to suddenly

hate her. It’s responsible for the death of a local along with a host of other

mysterious happenings. But when Madison meets a hot new guy, she thinks her

luck is about to improve. Madison is instantly drawn to the handsome and

intriguing Isaac Addington. She quickly realizes he’s a guy harboring a secret,

but she’s willing to risk the unknown to be with him. Nothing can prepare her for what

she is about to discover. $6.99

on Amazon

Onyx Talisman by Brenda Pandos (Paranormal Romance)

Unrest stirs deep in Scotts Valley. Filled with uncertainty, Julia anxiously awaits Nicholas’ return. Phil, holds the pieces of

Julia’s fragile psyche together, secretly hoping Nicholas stays away forever.

But Alora secretly conspires to reclaim her talisman and strip Julia of

everything she holds dear. Little

do they know, a war is coming and more than one vampire would like to see the

Prince of Vampires overthrown. Can Julia bargain with fate? Find out how it all

ends in this explosive grand finale of The Talisman Trilogy. $3.99 on Amazon

How

to Date an Alien by Magan Vernon (Science Fiction)

High school senior Alex Bianchi's estranged father gets her an internship at Circe

Operations Center to pad her college applications. But Circe isn't your typical

military base. It's an alien-run operation center and not all of the aliens are

friendly, especially the one that tries to kill Alex on her first day. When

Ace, a dark-eyed Caltian, enters and saves the day, she can't help but be drawn

to him. Can these star-crossed lovers survive when they're on the brink of

intergalactic war? $2.99

on Amazon

Fireseed

One by Catherine Stine (Science Fiction/Thriller)

Fireseed One is a

journey into a tricked-out near-future earth where 18 year-old Varik has

inherited a vast ocean farm, following the suspicious drowning of his Marine

biologist father. When Marisa, a beautiful and devious terrorist, destroys the

world's food source, Varik is forced to travel to a lethal hotzone, teeming

with dangerous nomads and a strange cult to search for a magical hybrid plant

that may not even exist. The catch? He must take Marisa along, the only person

who seems to know way, way too much key information. $2.99 on Amazon

The Missing by M.A. Leslie (Paranormal)

Eight-year-old, Ethan Doyle is just a normal kid whose biggest problem in life was to fight for the attention of his busy parents from his older twin siblings. But, after his aunt and uncle tragically die, his family takes in his teenage cousin, Kelsey, and moves to a spooky old, manor house in a new town. At first, everything seems fine, but when he begins to see and speak to a spirit named Lucas, his biggest problem becomes, just staying alive. Lucas was ten years old when the spirits of the house came to him and asked him for help setting their spirits free. Unfortunately, he never made the deadline and as a result the spirits took him and made him a part of the house as well. As he soon finds out, the only way he can save his own soul is to save the souls of the missing boys in the house. With his own deadline in place, Ethan enlists the help of his cousin Kelsey to solve the twenty-year-old mystery of THE MISSING. $0.99 on Amazon

Princess Kandake by Stephanie Jefferson (Fantasy) Available February 1, 2012

In Nubia a woman can be whatever she chooses. At 14,

Kandake knows exactly what she chooses...Prime Warrior of Nubia. But her

grandmother has said that she will follow her father on the throne. Refusing to

abandon her warrior dreams she continues to train. When her brother is kidnapped,

Kandake learns she must be both queen and warrior to win his release! See Author's Website

Middle Grade

Blink of a Dragon by Eisley Jacobs (Fantasy)

Discovering she’s connected to dragons is one

thing, but when another dragon is caught hanging out in the fifth grade, Meia thinks

things couldn’t get any worse. Is she ever wrong! Trouble is brewing in the

cosmos and Deglan believes this new dragon holds the answers, but his hopes are

crushed when the leader of the exiled dark dragons ambushes them. The fate of

the dragons and possibly the whole world falls to Deglan and Meia as they

search for the only creature powerful enough to send the dark dragons back into the

abyss. What they encounter along the way makes the adventure worth fighting

for. $6.99

Paperback preorder

DUH!_THAT QUIET VOICE THAT ASKS YOU, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

Humans aren't the only ones who suffer from sagging middles.

Novels do, too.

It's accompanied by that leaden feeling that weighs you down with the mocking question :

"What were you thinking of when you thought you could write a book?"

When you hear that voice, I want you to answer, "DUH!"

D ..... DISASTERS

U ..... UNDERLYING

H ..... HEROES

DISASTERS :

I.) Disaster. When your novel's middle sags, you certainly know that word. It's what you feel you are writing!

II.) Escalating Disasters ...

A.) are what make up the backbone of the best novels.

B.) without them, you're just writing a news snippet for CNN.

C.) Each disaster must lead logically from the last one to make a coherent whole.

D.) But to interest an agent, then the publisher, and finally the reader ...
you must have a destination in mind for your hero from the very beginning.

III.) If your novel's middle is sagging then ...

A.) Like with humans, the discipline of exercise is missing.

B.) The disciplined exercise of steadily working towards a pre-conceived ending, step by logical step.

C.) Without that compass to guide you, your novel will meander all over the place, subject to the whims of your imagination.

UNDERLYING :

I.) The trouble with a novel that its very structure invites sagging in the middle.

II.) Your novel's middle will more than likely take up fully half of your pages.

A.) After that many pages, things start to look alike.

B.) The fix : underlying that middle with a tremendous disaster, rocking your hero and his world to its foundations.

C.) Shaking things up like that will awaken your readers from the sameness doze they may have fallen into :

Think Obi wan Kenobi sacrificing himself so that Luke may escape. To all appearances, Darth Vader looks unbeatable.

D.) This enormous disaster shores up your novel's middle, firming it up and preventing sagging.

HEROES :

I.) A memorable character that leaps off the page and into your reader's imagination is the keystone to the success of your novel.

A.) Think Hannibal Lector.

What? Hannibal a hero? Of sorts. He chose his victims quite carefully. Don't agree? Think Dexter. Same principle. We pull for Dexter, for he has chosen an acceptable outlet for his murderous impulses.

B.) UNDERLYING comes into play again with your hero :

Your hero was not born yesterday. He/she has a past. It will determine his or her actions. You had better know your hero's backstory.

C.) In fact, your hero's backstory may very well provide the world-shaking disasters that braces your novel's middle.

D.) You see how DISASTER - UNDERLYING - HEROES all interweave with one another? It is a support device that wraps around your novel's middle, keeping it firm.

E.) A fully developed hero with a past, flaws, hopes, failures will make him seem real, sucking your reader into identifying with him, rooting for him, and thrilling with him when he succeeds.

F.) Without a backstory, your reader will not understand your hero -- and more than likely, neither will you. And that slippery slope ends with a sagging middle and confused muddle of an ending.

G.) Backstory is an iceberg ;

1.) The part that is important to you as a writer is the 9/10 of it that the reader cannot see.

2.) The part you must tell your reader is the tiny 1/10 above the water line.

3.) Sensory and data overload is one of the hallmarks of a sagging middle.

H.) What determines the backstory you reveal to your reader?

1.) Core truths.

2.) They determine your hero's motivations, acting as a rudder in the flow of events in your novel.

3.) They often conflict.

You know why Miss America wants "World Peace?" She wants to impress those fuddy-duddy judges and win the war of the beauty pageant!
Stated values often clash with the real ones, motivating your hero.

II.) A dynamic hero, like say Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Tony Stark, shored up those times when he he wasn't in that armor -- those moments could very well have sagged -- but because of his impish, rogue attitude, those moments were some of the best of the film, IRON MAN.

*) I hope you've found something of value in this little post. Happy New Year, Roland!
***