Books Are Cool

Redheaded Roses

Stephanie — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:00:31 +0000

There aren’t that many of us on the street, but we turn up a lot in books. What, editors? Struggling indie authors? (I’m both of those!) No, redheads. (Yes, I’m one of those too.) The most popular hair colour for literary heroines is red, and to go with the fiery locks they often have green eyes. I’m as guilty as the next person. I’ve created a green-eyed redhead leading character, Fiona, in Something Fishy, a book you’ll find in blovel form here under the pen name of Rorie Stevens. I hadn’t realised I was being so predictable until a message thread on an author’s forum alerted me to the fact that many of us have similar looking heroines. Since then I’ve come across hundreds more in books I’ve read! We redheads make up a lot less than 10% of the population, even in Celtic countries such as Ireland and Scotland, but around 50% of the fictional population I’d guess!

Not that it matters. I think authors tend to go for redheads because that colour hair is unusual, attractive and has the associations of a certain feistiness. Red hair has long been thought to be a sign of a hot temper, but there’s no proven biological explanation for this. The idea probably grew up, in England anyway, due to the invading Vikings having red hair as did the brave and troublesome Scots. Another myth is that redheads have a higher libido than other people. Another good reason to have a redheaded hero or heroine if you’re writing in the romantic genre!

Rose Thorne of Gary Vanucci’s short fantasy novel A Rose in Bloom is therefore both a typical yet very unusual literary heroine. She has long red hair and green eyes, a strong personality and works in a bordello. So far she fits the bill. But add to that her various special gifts which include light-fingeredness and the ability to merge in and out of the world of shadows at will, and she becomes a formidable ally, or if you’re unfortunate, enemy. Arm her with a magical daggers and you could have a problem! You can read about Rose for yourself for free today and tomorrow – 18th and 19th May – since A Rose in Bloom is free on Amazon here (and on the other various Amazon sites). Gary Vanucci is a brilliant author. He creates wonderful characters and exciting situations for them, so you’re in for a treat with his books. And if you fall under Rose’s spell, which I am confident you will, then you can follow her adventures in Gary’s Covenant of the Faceless Knights, where she plays a leading role.

Gary’s books are illustrated by the talented William Kenney. I’m a huge fan of his artwork.

Can you spot Rose?

Meet new author Chrissie Rawdon – one to watch!

Stephanie — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:20:38 +0000

I’ve just read Chrissie’s first novel, Living Sensitive, and I loved it. I enjoy paranormal romance and this is a particularly original and fun book of this genre. And great news! There are more books to come in this series.

Here’s my ‘official’ review:

Delia Rhodes is a feisty and fascinating heroine who shares her flat with a ghost. She works at a waitress at Katzenjammer’s bar (German for hangover!) alongside humans, pixies, vampires and hybrids. She’s fun, strong and sensitive. A sensitive, in fact. She can sense people’s emotions and from touching, relive experiences they have gone through, a gift which she doesn’t always appreciate but others do. She also does a little shapeshifting on the side. From being single for a long while, suddenly two men enter her life – Seamus, long-time friend and sexy Irish vampire-human hybrid, and Draven, another drop-dead gorgeous hybrid, new employee at Katz. Delia now finds herself torn between two lovers who between them drag her into a dangerous situation. Draven has chosen to fight in the Cage as a sort of ritual and suddenly Delia finds she is forced to fight for her life. And how does this tie in with pixie kidnapping?

This book by an exciting young author is an interesting and entertaining take on the paranormal romance theme. Pixies certainly don’t crop up very often in this genre. The dialogue is modern and spirited, the characters are complex and credible and the settings and situations are intriguing and well thought out. It’s not just surface entertainment. The issues of loyalty and trust are strong subthemes. Good versus evil and tolerance versus discrimination are explored. There are a few sinister hints in little things like the way everyone is categorised at birth, with some sort of secret system reserved for vampires. And the characters face death. There is darkness to match the lightness of this novel. It’s a great read and an impressive start to a series. I thoroughly recommend it.

And now let’s meet Chrissie. She’s a busy mum and determined perfectionist, as you’ll see.

I asked her rather a lot questions about Living Sensitive, writing and herself and she was kind enough to take the time to answer them all. Thanks Chrissie!

1. What inspired you to write Living Sensitive?
The idea for the story has been stuck in my head for awhile now. It’s actually based off of a dream I had a few years ago.

2. Which character from the book are you most like – Delia, Eli, Seamus or Jocelyn?
I think I’m most like Delia. We both have a pretty sassy attitude. I enjoy writing her and Eli the most.

3. Living Sensitive has a great cover. Did you design it yourself?
Thank you. Yes, I designed it. I bought the background and tweaked it in Photoshop.

4. Would you like to have supernatural powers? And if so, which ones?
I would love to have supernatural powers! I think I would want to be a vampire-human hybrid. I’d have super strength, speed and hearing but I wouldn’t have to give up the sun or coffee!

5. Which of your personal qualities help you as an author? Which ones don’t help?
I have a lot of determination. Once I set my mind on something, I have to see it though. I’m also a bit of a perfectionist, which helps and hinders my writing. I have deleted entire chapters before, multiple times because I wasn’t satisfied with how they turned out. The thing that helps the least is that I’m easily distracted. You might say I have the attention span of a squirrel. That makes it very difficult to write sometimes.

6. You have two daughters. Is it easy finding time to write on top of being a Mom?
My girls definitely demand attention. They decide how I spend my days. I usually wait until they’re in bed before I sit down to write. I’m a night owl anyway so writing all night, in to the early morning, is pretty normal for me.

7. What are you writing now?
Right now I am writing the second book in the Delia Rhodes series. She has a lot going on in the next book. I’m having a lot of fun writing it.

8. Are book reviews important to authors, in your opinion?
I think they are very important. Unfortunately, they aren’t that easy to get. In my opinion, reviews can make or break your book. People are less likely to give your writing a chance if you have bad reviews, or no reviews at all.

9. Do you have any strange or quirky writing habits?
I talk to myself when I’m writing. It helps me workout scenes I’m having trouble with. I’ve also used dolls to help me keep track of ‘what’s where’ when writing steamy scenes. The last thing you want, when you’re reading a sexy scene, is to end up confused about how certain things are happening or how they got there.

10. When did you first realize you wanted to be an author, indie or otherwise?
I have been thinking up stories for as long as I can remember. It was just a matter of getting the confidence to share them with others. It’s a scary thing, putting your heart into something you love and then showing it to the world. One day it just clicked, I woke up and I had my mind set on making this happen.

11. What one snippet of advice would you give to aspiring self-published authors?
I would say to stay persistent. Don’t get discouraged if you hit a few bumps, just plow right through them and don’t give up. It’s not easy, and you will have your bad days, but if this is your dream It will be worth it.

12. OK, enough of the serious stuff. What are your three favourite foods?
Cheesecake, Brownies, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos…. and I know it’s not a food technically, but I can’t live without my coffee!

13. And finally, what would you not be seen dead wearing?!
Crocs, hands down, ugliest shoes I’ve ever seen in my life. I hear they’re comfortable, but there is no amount of comfort on this planet, to convince me to wear them.

Chrissie has a website at www.cmrawdon.blogspot.com.

Book Review: A Secure Heart by Charity Parkerson

Stephanie — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:46:28 +0000

A Secure Heart by Charity Parkerson is a clever and entertaining series of four interwoven romantic stories. Not only does the Smith Security Services team of Shannon Smith, and twins Bob and Weave Sparks feature in each of the four vignettes, but the other characters that appear are connected in various ways. Gracie and Jacob are brother and sister, but they bump into Flower and Genie and Kera along the way. You look into different people’s lives on the way and see how they interconnect and influence each other. Each story is original, touching, funny, sexy and absorbing. You might think you can predict where it’s headed, but there’s always another twist waiting around the corner. The characters are complex and strong, yet also comfortingly flawed and human.

Flowers, Chocolate, Wishes and Sparks, the four stories in this book, might appear a little glib from their titles at first glance but touch very deep emotions and issues – Can you ditch a facade you’ve worn for years? What happens when two close friends and colleagues love the same woman? Can a relationship survive when a job separates you for long periods? Each one works brilliantly well and there is no drop in quality in the writing. Parkerson creates all her characters with equal care and affection and there is clearly no end to her imagination in the settings and situations they find themselves in. Sparks fly and wishes are fulfilled in this book which is like a bouquet of flowers with a few thorns included, or a box of sweet and sour chocolates!

Book Review: Heads Above Water!

Stephanie — Sat, 12 May 2012 10:56:44 +0000

I’m always reviewing and promoting other people’s books. I decided it was time to promote my own! Heads Above Water is the account of our first couple of years living the expat life in France with a family, no income and an awful lot of work to do …

Here’s a review of the book from the wonderful Steve Bichard:

“This is a real life story warts and all, about a family moving to France from Ireland. If you really want to know how hard that it can be surviving the freezing cold winters without decent heating, having to deal with never ending paperwork, settling your kids into a whole new school environment and so much more, then ‘Heads Above Water’ is just the book for you. Full of first hand advice and many of the idiosyncrasies of French life explained, Stephanie has created the perfect novel for anyone thinking of moving to France.

To take on a dilapidated farm with 3 lakes and acres and acres of land, then turn it into a successful business with a gite, llama farm and wonderful fishing lakes was certainly some undertaking. But the Dagg’s did it with sheer hard work and a great deal of persistence. Luckily they managed to keep their sense of humour which comes across so well in the book and as I have said, one not to be missed by any budding or resident ex-pats.”

Thanks, Steve. So please, do grab yourselves a copy of Heads Above Water from the Kindle Store of your local Amazon and read about our adventures for yourself. And let me know what you think about it too.

Book Review: Deed So by Kathleen Russell

Stephanie — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:05:53 +0000

This book is set in politically and socially turbulent 1960s America where women and ethnic minorities were beginning to emerge from under the oppressive discrimination they’d suffered until then. But the prejudices are still simmering. There are boundaries that shouldn’t be crossed. The after effects of both the Second World War and the Vietnam War are continuing to be felt too. The scene of the book’s action is Wicomico Corners in Maryland, a relatively stable and peaceful community, with few extremists. However, a handicapped white boy is beaten up by a gang of black youths, one of whom is later killed. The trial of a white man by a white jury soon has protests starting and tension mounts. Haddie is involved and shows great courage.

I had high expectations of this book and I wasn’t disappointed. Kathleen Russell is a versatile and talented author who always weaves a complex and fascinating tale with apparently diverse subplots that gradually intertwine. Alongside the strains on the life of the community, family life is also severely stressed and tested. My only slight criticism of Deed So is that the role of narrator occasionally means that Haddie has to be old beyond her years. She goes from talking about girly things, like a new outfit, to sketching out major social and political event, even if she doesn’t quite understand them. There are inevitable slight hints of To Kill a Mocking Bird, given the trial at the centre, but generally this is an original, ambitious and impressive novel .

Virtual Book Tour – Blood: The New Red by David S Grant

Stephanie — Tue, 08 May 2012 06:13:32 +0000

David S Grant is the author of ten books, including Corporate Porn, Bleach|Blackout, Hollywood Ending, and Rock Stars. He also writes weekly rock, travel, and NBA columns from New York City.

Blood: The New Red really started with Corporate Porn since that featured a model, named Mickey, who worked in the adult movie industry. Now he gets to be the lead, the anti-hero.

Blood: The New Red is a quirky, almost surreal novel. It explores what might appear to be the glittering side of life in New York City but which actually turns out to be dark and almost dystopian. It’s set in a world of models and fashion designers where frightening amounts of alcohol and drugs are consumed at every party. Mickey spends a lot of his time either passing out or recovering from the night before. You have to wonder how he keeps his looks. His associates – you can’t really call them friends, even Juanita his girlfriend – all seem as self-obsessed as Mickey. This is a world where there is little loyalty or trustworthiness. There isn’t any real emotion since these characters are incapable of it. There’s sex but not love. There’s hate but it’s only surface deep although destructively violent none the less. No one really knows anyone else.

And just who exactly is ‘the manager’?

Blood: The New Red makes for an interesting read. It’s by no means a straightforward book and it’s definitely not predictable. There are moments of farcical comedy but it’s not a laugh out loud book. It’s too on the edge for that.

David is currently working on a novel titled The Devil Wears Black Leather as well as non-fiction works centered on rock bands.

David has a website at http://www.davidsgrant.com/

You can follow him on Twitter @david_s_grant.

Book Review: Dark Redemption by R Peter Ubtrent

Stephanie — Mon, 07 May 2012 05:38:25 +0000

Dark Redemption by R Peter Ubtrent is the fifth book in the stunning Dark Pilgrim series. And still the author keeps up mesmerised and surprised as events in the galaxy continue to twist and turn in directions we could never have foreseen. The universe seems to be crumbling into chaos. The F’gat Ynos are slowly but surely destroying every planet they come across, intent on wiping out the human race. There is general chaos as the hyper gates normally allowing galactic travel are closed as a defencive measure. Only a few vessels are able to create their own pirate gate to travel through. Ailanthus, the Emperor, is still trying to unite the Imperium, the Noble Houses within which are being challenged by The Restoration, whose members are growing more and more desperate. Someone else is after the Imperial throne too. The Dei Glorium, Ailanthus’ intended spouse, has vengeance up her sleeve and possesses an illegal and devastating weapon, but her plan misfires. And Anolis, working with two bounty hunters and a Kroor, still wants to repay his brother’s death, brought about by Ailanthus’ actions in the past. The action doesn’t stop.

In contrast to the enormity of the crisis facing the galaxy, emotions on a personal level play an important part in this novel. Love and loyalty emerge strongly, although there is also deception, hatred and dishonesty. The characters, many of whom are now very familiar to us this far along in the series, continue to develop. Each is as complex as the universe they inhabit. Ubtrent has created yet another absorbing novel that it’s impossible to put down.

Visit Peter’s website at http://ubtrentbooks.com

Go Publish Yourself! by Katie Salidas

Stephanie — Sat, 05 May 2012 06:25:14 +0000

As part of her virtual book tour for Go Publish Yourself, Katie Salidas is stopping by at Books Are Cool today, at least virtually! (And today is Katie’s daughter’s birthday too – happy birthday!) I asked Katie some questions about her book, her writing and herself.

1. What inspired you to write Go Publish Yourself?

It started as a collection of blog posts. I spent about 6 months writing on topics about self-editing, self-publishing, and marketing. The posts were very popular and the feedback I received was wonderful. It was then that my editor suggested I put everything together in a nice easy-to-read format. That’s when Go Publish Yourself took shape. It’s a handy dandy quick reference guide for all levels of self-publishers.

2. Why did you feel there was a need for your take on the issue of self-publishing?

Through my own process of trial and error, I found that there was so much that I didn’t know. I wished that I had a book like this when I started. The books I had purchased were a little out dated and focused more on the print side of things. I thought that if I could touch on every subject in a quick and informative format it would be helpful. A nice quick reference guide that authors can turn to for answers rather than wading through big thick books or searching for hours on the internet.

3. Go Publish Yourself has a great cover. Did you design it yourself?

No, I cannot take credit for that, but what I can take credit for is finding an awesome cover artist. He’s also listed in the book! Willsin Rowe of Coverage is my go to man for all things covers. He’s done not only this book, but many of my other covers as well.
4. You also write paranormal fiction. Why that genre?

Oh I love vampires, werewolves, witches, shapeshifters, and all other things that go bump in the night. Well, almost all things. I don’t do zombies. They really creep me out! I know it sounds silly but they do. I can’t even write about them without getting night mares.
5. Which character from your paranormal books are you most like?

I like to think there is a little of me in all of the characters I write. They are embellishments, exaggerations of traits I know or have. Nicholas has my snarky attitude, of course, he says the things I won’t say out loud. Alyssa has the naivety I had in youth. Rozaline had (RIP) my motherly nature. I could go on.
6. I bet Halloween is fun at your house! Am I right?

Oh I love Halloween. It’s my favorite night of the year. Halloween is the one night of the year where you can be something different. You get to play dress up again! I love it. And of course my kids have fun too. LoL!!
7. Which authors or books are you reading at the moment?

I hate to say it, but since my baby boy was born I have not had a chance to read. By the time I get a few free moments of peace, I’m passed out and snoring. LoL. Hopefully when my baby boy is a little bigger and sleeps better I’ll be able to get a few moments to pick up my reading. I have so much to catch up on.
8. When did you first realize you wanted to be an author, indie or otherwise?

I’ve been writing since I was a little girl. At the age of 14 I had written my first full-length novel, a novel that was subsequently lost during my move from Texas to Nevada. But that didn’t stop me for long.

I primarily work in Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance, but it was my experience in learning how to self-publish that really helped me to understand the behind the scenes business.
9. What’s the one snippet of advice you would give anyone considering self-publishing?

If you’re going to self-publish, you need to take the time to do it right. One of the biggest reasons that self-publishing had a bad name to begin with is quality. Back before it became more mainstream, self-publishing was super expensive. Editing for example could cost thousands. Many authors couldn’t afford to do it right and self-publishing became synonymous with poor quality. It left a bad taste in many reader’s mouths. Today it is cheaper and much easier to do, but quality is still key. So if you’re interested in self-publishing, take your time, do your research, and put out the best quality product you can.

10. What’s the one best thing and the one worst thing about self-publishing, in your experience?

The best thing is the freedom. I control every aspect of the process. I don’t have anyone else telling me what I can and cannot do. The down side is, I am accountable for the quality of my book. Not that I ever want to put out a bad quality book, but when a reader complains about it, I feel terrible because I could have done better.
11. OK, enough of the serious stuff. What are your three favourite foods?

Oooh, I love food! I make a mean Beef and Broccoli! But I also love some BBQ ribs. Oooh and Gyros! I love those too. I could do this all day. I love love love food. It’s a reason I haven’t quite dropped all of the baby weight yet. Ha!
12. And finally, please describe your perfect day away from the computer and writing!

Oh that’s a fun one. I think a perfect day would be one in which I take a real vacation with my family. I’d love to do a Disney theme park! Spend the day in the sun, riding rides, eating good food, taking goofy pictures with my kids, etc.. Yep, that would be perfect!

Finally, my opinion of Katie’s book?

It’s a very thorough and realistic look at the self-publishing process. Katie makes certain you realise that it’s a tough thing to do, that you’re very unlikely to become rich as an indie author and that writing is only half the battle. Marketing is the most difficult and most crucial part. As a freelance editor, I was glad to see her stance in support of getting your indie book properly edited! Katie emphasises the importance of quality in your finished product in terms of its presentation, and she’s quite right.

Katie shares her experience and common sense throughout the whole book. I love her attitude, and her ‘Quick and dirty tips’ that crop up regularly in the text. This is a very well written and helpful book and will benefit everyone who reads it. There was a need for a non-sensational, warts-and-all yet still encouraging book on the subject of self-publishing, and this is definitely it.

Visit Katie’s website at www.katiesalidas.com.

Hot Genres – What To Write If You Want To Sell

Stephanie — Thu, 03 May 2012 17:01:40 +0000

There are two approaches to writing. One is to write for the sake of writing – to let free those ideas and stories that are whirling around in your head. The other is more pragmatic – write to sell and make money. That might seem an unidealistic and mercenary way to go about writing, but there’s a limit to art for art’s sake. A little – or, if you’re lucky, a lot – of extra income is always welcome.

Let’s stay with this second approach. Write to sell. You need to know what’s hot, what’s topping the sales charts. Here are the current most downloaded books on Smashwords.

1. Mark Coker’s Smashwords Style Guide

2. Short Erotic Tales by Carl East

3. Smashwords Book Marketing Guide, Mark Coker again

4. 101 Degrees Fahrenheit by Eva Gale (erotica)

5. Zombie Nights by Tom Licttenburg (sci-fi with a touch of paranormal)

6. Fryupdale by Mark Staniforth, fiction short story anthology

7. The Seduction of Gabriel Stewart by Eva Gale (erotica)

8. We Don’t Plummet Out of the Sky Anymore by M David Blake (sci-fi)

9. A Letter to Justin Beiber’s Hair by German Alcala (poetry)

10. The Mating by Nicky Charles (adult rated paranormal)

We can ignore the two Mark Coker books since they’re what every Smashwords author has to have. So let’s another two to the list. We now have.

11. Sentence of Marriage by Shayne Parkinson (historical romance)

12. A Bride for Tom by Ruth Ann Nordin (romance)

So what do we have? 3 erotica, 2 sci-fi, 1 paranormal, 1 general fiction, 2 romances, 1 poetry. Note: These books are all free apart from Justin Beiber’s Hair which is a relatively pricey $6.99 so that has done extremely well. Being free can skew results a little.

Erotica

I guess we’d better start with erotica then. This isn’t for everyone. It might be you don’t approve of it or it may be that it just gives you the giggles. Possibly you’d love to write it but are embarrassed about your children finding out! Anyway, readers love it. Readers love sex so if you want readers, well, it’s something to think about. Here are a couple of good places to start: http://writing.helium.com/how-to/14484-how-to-write-an-erotic-romance and http://www.writesex.net/

Science Fiction

Alternate realities, the ultimate in escapism, always make for popular reading. Personally I feel you have to be quite methodical and analytical to write sci-fi. You need to have your new universe all mapped out – its inhabitants, politics, morals and so forth. So this is quite a challenge to write but, if you’re successful, there will always be demand for your writing. My own favourite science-fiction writer is self-published R Peter Ubtrent with his amazing Dark Pilgrim series. Read some of these to get a feel for this genre at its best.

Paranormal

I was frankly surprised that there weren’t more of this type of book in the top ten. This genre is so hot at the moment, in particular paranormal romance. The romance element frequently veers towards the erotic. It looks like we’re all interested in going to bed with vampires or other demons! Vampires are the most popular supernatural characters you’ll come across, but shapeshifters, werewolves and ghosts aren’t far behind. These books generally feature a very strong heroine and have a happy-for-now, if not a happy-ever-after, ending.

Here is a brilliant article about writing paranormal romance.

Romance

These books will ever go out of fashion. Everyone loves reading a heartwarming tale of the girl and guy, who usually hate each other at first sight, finally getting together, after overcoming various huge obstacles along the way. The romance can be set in any time period and feature straight or gay love, and, since paranormal is a subgenre of it, we’re not limited to just writing about humans either. A growing trend is for what I call homme-rom – romance from the man’s point of view. (I’m based in France which explains the ‘homme’ element – it’s French for man.) Mainstream publishers tended to fight shy of this but now that we have indie authors self-publishing, there are more and more examples of this subgenre around. It’s as enjoyable for women to read as men. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the excellent Song in the Wrong Key by Simon Lipson or The Wake-Up Call by Jonas Ericsson.

So a few handy tips for what to write if you’re wanting to sell well.

The Vampire’s Quest by Damian Serbu

Stephanie — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:24:16 +0000

The Vampire’s Quest by Damian Serbu injects originality into paranormal fiction. St Michel appears to vampire Xavier and sends him on a quest. Xavier’s emotionally turbulent lover and fellow vampire, Thomas, is uneasy about this, and rightly so. Xavier encounters his dying friend Anne who has supernatural powers. She is dying and beseeches Xavier to free her enslaved grandson. As Thomas says, Xavier is ‘the vampire that cared about the world and the people in it’. He will do anything for his friend, even though this particular action is against the vampire ethic. The ethic means vampires can feed off evil humans, but can’t otherwise interfere in human events. Transgressing vampires ace the ire and punishment of the Vampire Council if they disobey. Thomas fears for Xavier and so gets Anthony to help him, another vampire and friend. Can they keep Xavier from facing the terrifying consequences of his loyal actions.

Damian Serbu himself describes his writing as gay horror. There is darkness and violence in the novel, certainly, but it’s not too disturbing. This is writing that’s hard to categorise. This is a modern novel, although it’s set in the last century. The author’s love of history adds an extra dimension to it too. It’s brutal but also tender. I hope the gay element won’t put off any readers since the love between Xavier and Thomas is moving and powerful and always sensitively described. The relationship is strongly in the background but the focus in this book is on friendships – those between Xavier and Anne, between Anthony and Thomas – and also on the sibling love betwen Xavier and Catherine. Loyalty is tested. There are many layers in this absorbing and richly constructed book.