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A character takes control of my life.
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For many, many years, authors were told they had to pick a genre and stick to it. Nothing they wrote could be outside that genre. In today’s writing world, authors are genre jumping or genre mixing on a regular basis. It’s not unusual for romance to be historical or fantasy, even paranormal. This is just one example of genre mixing. Authors are also writing books in many genres—they’re going where the story follows instead of hidebound rules. And they’re using the same pseudonym on their books. Not at all like years past when authors had separate pseudonyms for each genre, because, horror of horrors, how could anyone imagine purchasing a horror novel written by the same person who pens cozy mysteries.
Yes, we are branching out. Authors have learned their fans have varied tastes. Once your fans decide they like your work, they will stick with you. Now, give them what they’re looking for, what they desire.
As the new year approaches, some authors are saying they can’t come up with anything new. They’re bored with what they’ve been writing. They want to expand their horizons and try a new type of book, but they’re afraid.
Afraid of what you ask?
They’re afraid their fans will abandon them if they switch genres. They’re terrified they’ll lose the respect they’ve worked so hard to earn. Mostly, they’re afraid they won’t be as good with another genre as they are with the one they’ve safely ensconced themselves in for years. Yet, they also don’t feel they can approach a new project using the same formula they’ve used for years.
Personally, I’ve never stuck to a single genre. I don’t stick to just one viewpoint either, but that’s another post for another day. I write the story as the characters demand of me. They are in control, hence the name of my blog, Out of Control Characters.
Now, I’m not saying that I let my characters take over everything. I do outline. Sort of. Okay, the outline is out the window by chapter three every single time. Those characters are set on what they will have happen and they don’t let me forget that.
Now that I have that confession off my chest, I have to admit that it’s fun not having to stick to an outline. Sure, I like the basics of a story noted before I begin, but not much more than that. Do I know the ending? Usually, but those pesky characters have been known to change that too.
This new year, try a different route with your writing. Expand your horizons. Write a short story in a genre you’ve long wanted to try. You might just find that you do have the ability to switch up your work.
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Authors are always working on the next novel in a series, but unless you are well known your fans are not going to wait a year or three for you to finish and give them a taste of what’s next. That’s where the short story or novella can assist you. These tales renew interest in your story, may attract new sales of your current novel, and give you a chance to use that tiny sub plot everyone has told you won’t work in the latest adventure you’re churning out in your spare time.
BD, Cassie, Carl, and Terry are back on the case—only this time it’s a case they have to solve fast. Turns out Sally Wild, intrepid reporter, has an agenda and it all has to do with making the C.I. team look bad before the Space Pirates trial. Can BD and crew prove they’re not making up stories and beat a clock that’s moving fast?
“We have to fix this.” Cassie works her PocketPad, her answer to taking care of a problem. “I won’t let that reject from a Uranus mine make me look like a fool.”
That’s my girl.
I think that a lot when she is around. Our relationship can be considered rocky at best, especially when I’m acting the idiot, but she’s a loyal friend and is always there for the team. Carl, Terry, and I depend on her to get our collective butts out of trouble, once we dive into a situation where we should stand back and think first. She’s never failed us… until now.
“Sis.” Carl sighs. “Give it up. You’ll never figure out a way to make Sally Wild look bad.”
“I will.” Cassie glares at him. “Don’t you dare give up.”
That last sentence sends me spiraling back to the frightening moment when I thought I’d finally gone a step too far. Not long before we confronted the space pirates, I laughed at her and called her a girl, as in a loser. My intent at the time was to get her attention and make her realize that being a cheerleader was worthless. The events afterward are seared into my memory as a good way to die in the most painful manner possible if I ever get that stupid again.
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Who is your best bet for an award winning novel? Most authors will say they are, because no one knows their work as well as they do.
Those authors are selling themselves short. They are forgetting the large group of people behind the scenes who ensure their book is publication ready.
Who are these people?
Why they are your editor, proofreader, cover artist, and the staff at your publishing company. These people are as responsible for your book being as good as it is as you are. They put in many hours and a lot of effort to ensure your book is ready for the world.
Many authors I know equate a book going from idea to publication as the same as giving birth to a child. We think of our books as our children, and they are. We care for them while in the process of plotting. The actual writing brings sweat and tears, often times we will do both during intense scenes. Once we finish, we aren’t actually done. We have to go back and parse every word, examine each sentence, and study every paragraph in an effort to make the elements so important to our book better than they already are.
The rare author is the one that acknowledges the staff at a publishing company for having put out so much effort in producing a book. We work behind the scenes, quietly ironing out the wrinkles and shaking out the dust that clutters up the plot. Senior staff is usually seeking places where the author can promote their book, to increase the chances of improved sales. In essence, by signing with a publisher, you have gained a new family—parents and siblings who will be with you for the long haul.
That all being said, you, the author, must remember to treat your newfound family as you would like to be treated. Instead of becoming irritated at the least problem, remember these people are humans too. They have their good days and their bad days. What might seem like a brush off to you could in actuality be an editor dealing with a sudden loss. Curt responses could because your editor in chief or another senior staff member is dealing with a personal issue they’d rather keep private. Instead of going off in a huff, remember the times when you had to interact with the public when you would have rather been hiding, or how you felt lost for some reason or another.
This story, the final post for 2016, for the #SundayBookBlog for teen readers will break your heart. It brings into focus what many families endure through the holidays.
Today, we focus on One More Christmas. Fifteen-year-old Dawn just has one holiday wish—that her mom will survive until after Christmas, so her younger brothers and sisters don’t have to remember this as a time of sadness and loss.
One more Christmas is all Dawn wants. Is that too much to ask?
With a little more than a week before the holiday, fifteen-year old Dawn and her dad share a heart-wrenching secret about her mom. She’s dying of leukemia, but no one suspected a thing; they all just thought she was tired. All Dawn has to lean on is a prayer—that her mom won’t die before or on this special day, so her five younger siblings don’t have to remember that during the holidays in the future. Will she receive her wish?
Robby Ryan got off the bus ahead of me. Not that I was that far behind him. We had the whole walk home, about a quarter mile on paved sidewalks, and no reason to hurry. He stopped and glanced at me, a sly smile on his face.
“Come on, Dawn. Quit being a slowpoke.”
We’d had a sort-of-friends relationship all our lives. He lived across the street and a few houses up from me in our little hometown of Monrovia, California. Robby was an older man, all of seventeen. I was fifteen for a couple more months, and that was the worst age to be in 1974. My parents were so old fashioned, saying I couldn’t even think about having a real boyfriend until I was sixteen—in February.
“I’m not a slowpoke,” I said to him, grinning. “Why are you rushing anyway? It’s not like we have anything to do except boring old chores.”
The holidays are filled with shopping, parties, and a lot of rushing around. Many people don’t have the time to sit down and read a full novel. In fact, most will claim they’re far too tired after everything they have to do that they can’t conceive of finding the time to sit still long enough to absorb a book by their favorite author.
Yet, you, the author, are more than willing to provide your readers with a new holiday themed story. How can you do this and be assured that you’ll have sales of this story?
Have you ever thought of a short story based on the characters in your soon to be released novel? Or maybe generating more interest in your series by providing a short tale based on a scene that was cut from your next installment? Maybe you can create a holiday meal where the characters gather and reminiscence about their experiences and relive those exciting moments.
Are the juices flowing yet? Is a story forming in your head? Just what holidays should you concentrate on in order to grab a reader by the throat and have them interested after a day of work, shopping, cooking for family or friends, and maybe even spending an evening baking goodies to give away.
Now is when your talent as an author and promoter of your own work comes into play. Your readers do have the time to read a short story. They’re standing in long lines at the stores, waiting on a cashier to be free. Most people carry smart phones, which come equipped with apps that allow them to read your tale easily. In order to make their onerous wait easier to bear, offer them the opportunity to lose themselves in your story.
Oh yes, this is Promotion 101. You, the author, need to seek out ways to invite your readers or potential new fans, to enjoy your work in different venues. Point out their long wait in line will be so much shorter if they’re checking out a new book. Why, their concentration on a story might elicit conversation with the people around them, to find out why they’re smiling or their eyes are popping out of their head at a special moment. That could begin a conversation where your name is bandied about as an author who has provide them a way to pass the boring time in line by reading.
The modern author must be adept at switching promotional techniques in order to garner interest in their work. We have to be able to change step and wave that proverbial apple in front of the fan’s nose to entice them into grabbing our work and reading in unusual situations.
Think of the recent success of Pokemon Go. Perfect strangers walking the streets, seeking one of the elusive Pokemon and adding them to their collection. Well, why can’t that work for an author seeking more sales? Instead of wandering, your fan will be wiling their time in line away by enjoying a story they’ll talk about for a long time.
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Fantasy tales range from rosy visions of the past to a future fraught with troubles. Sword fights to cats crossing the rainbow bridge evoke pleasant memories of our own dreams.
Cats await a new arrival…
A queen in hiding…
Much more than an attic…
And other fantasy tales
Debbie De Louise, Margaret Egrot, KateMarie Collins, Rick Ellrod, Rocky Rochford, Stephen St. Clair, and K.C. Sprayberry will bring enjoyment to your day with these fantastic stories.
Old Tom the tabby was at the Gate. Next to him stood Shadow, a black shorthair who had been summoned while sun bathing on the Bridge. Shadow knew the reason Tom wanted to speak with him. It could mean only one thing, another resident was arriving.
“Sorry to disturb you,” Tom said. “But I’ve had orders from above that Kate Stewart’s Siamese cat, Sam, will be joining us. He’s had a long life and much happiness with her, but it’s his time. Please alert Kate’s other cats about the new arrival.”
Shadow nodded his dark head. “I will be on it right away, sir. When is the welcome party scheduled?”
“Looks like tomorrow morning around six. Remember, it takes time for the soul to reach us.”
“Who will be in charge of the party?” Shadow knew that, according to Bridge rules, the last cat admitted from a human’s family was the next in line to welcome the incoming resident. A year ago, a car hit Shadow after he stupidly ran out the door when his human, Ben, came home from a doctor’s appointment. There had been no cats in Ben’s family on the Bridge or at least none with whom he had forged the forever bond, so Tom had welcomed Shadow. Now it was Shadow’s job to notify the last member of each incoming cat’s family until the admittance of another first-timer.
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Yes, I’m talking about this subject today. No, you don’t get to ignore it. Yes, proofreading your book after it’s been through so many beta readers, your critique group, and several rewrites sounds like the last thing you want to do.
But you will do it. And you will smile while you take days to go through each sentence and word, making sure they belong and aren’t misspelled.
Why?
First, you need to ask yourself why you’re even asking this question. Don’t you remember that old saying about putting your best foot forward?
A bit of history here, because I adore history. Put your best foot forward is linked to a line from a poem by Sir Thomas Overbury, circa 1613, The Wife.
“Hee is still setting the best foot forward.”
What this means is very simple. You only have one chance to make a good first impression. Therefore, you need to act or appear at your best when meeting someone for the first time.
How does this apply to proofreading?
Quite simply, you are handing your work off to a publisher, attempting to earn a chance to be part of their house. If you are so lazy that you can’t take the time to proofread your book, if the submissions manager is continually seeing grammatical and/or spelling errors, what kind of impression do they get of you?
More than likely, this person believes you aren’t someone willing to work hard to assist the editor and proofreader in fixing the issues they discover. The submissions manager will deduce that you don’t care enough about your work to check out every sentence to ensure there are no mistakes.
In other words, you have failed to put your best foot forward and will more than likely find your book declined by said publisher.
This line of work we’re in is a tough one. It requires a dedication not seen in most jobs. Successful authors will say this over and over again—one must not just write, we must edit and revise, we must check and triple check, and only then can we allow the world to see our work.
Before you decide your work is good enough for a publisher, please take the time to proofread and double check everything.
By:
Kathi Sprayberry,
on 12/18/2016
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Introductions to The Curse of Grungy Gulley and the Paradox Lost series, two stories to grab your interest and tickle your senses. Random A. Ransom proves that he’s always been after Tuck, Sue Anne, and Earl Lee, going all the way back to the middle ages. James discovers his mistake might change the course of history to where his ancestors will destroy the world.
Sometimes the past and the future aren’t so different after all. Consequences catch up with everyone. Even if you’re a prophet who sees salvation. Even if you’re a demon set on destroying the world.
He stood on the banks of the Coosawhatchie River. The man of many years stared across the small waves causing a rowboat at a pier to bob up and down. The boat seemed to represent his life, from the day he arrived, throughout his own education where he felt as if Travelers made up the rules as they went along, and into his ownyears actively traveling through time.
He had been graced with the name of Dennis James Sullivan. Dennis for his father, the greatest fire chief in San Francisco’s history, and James for his mother’s brother, a banker in the Midwest.
Both had contributed to his youth, but James, as he was called, learned more from the father he’d planned to emulate, until fate in the form of a Gateway changed everything seconds before the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906
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Just how do you approach advertising your book? What methods do you use to decide on which sites to utilize and which to avoid? Are you willing to pay for advertising? How much?
All of these questions must be thought about once an author makes a decision on how best to promote their book. Most authors don’t have deep pockets. Our ability to pay for ad space in major markets is slim to none. Pricing the different elements of the minimum amount of promotional material we need often forces a decision between buying something you’ve wanted for a long time or paying for promotion.
First and foremost, I always tell authors asking these questions to opt for free over paid if their budget is tight. Why? A tight budget makes picking the right promotion site difficult. One of the things I emphasize strongly is that an author research a promoter.
Are they new to promotion?
What services do they offer?
Is this promoter willing to work with your publisher and not make unilateral decisions, going so far as to push the publisher to follow their plan, no matter what it includes?
Are all the services reasonably priced, based on their experience?
Is this promoter willing to let you contact people to speak to you about their services, no matter how the person feels about what was done for them?
Let’s start with the last question first. This one could possibly be the most important one you ask a promoter. Reputable promoters will honestly tell you up front if someone was dissatisfied with their work. They won’t elaborate much and will probably give you an email address so that you may make up your own mind. Less than reputable promoters will point proudly to a page on their website, where you will be able to read gushing testimonials about their work. Make sure you look at the time stamp. Did all of these testimonials come in in a short period of time, with large gaps between each group? Are there just a few from a year or more back, but nothing recently? When you question the promoter about more recent testimonials, or ask if you can speak with those who weren’t satisfied, do they blow off your request with an airy “You don’t want to talk to this person. They’re nothing but trouble?” A refusal to let you talk to clients on both sides of the satisfaction fence should be a major red flag to you, the author. Is there perhaps more you need to know about this person? Certainly, but there isn’t a place to go to check them out with any degree of accuracy. All you can rely on is word of mouth to find people who have had experience with this person.
Is the promoter new to the field and what services do they offer? These are important issues to clear up before you agree to let someone promote your work. If they’re new, what kind of experience do they have with promotion? Until 2013, there was a plethora of bloggers offering tours for book releases and reviews. From 2014 to the present, many of those people have stopped the promotional route. Some because they became involved in their own books. Others because they couldn’t get people to offer space on their blogs any longer. That’s a difficult proposition for a reviewer and blogger. You don’t get to choose the books you’ll read. If you sign on for a tour, you are required to read and review a book in a very short period of time. You are required to blog this review, and post that review to every sales venue where it’s listed. Most people found this onerous and once Amazon changed their review policy, difficult to have the review remain up once it was posted. As for their services, make sure if they offer to make cover art that your publisher will agree with that. There are requirements for upload to sales venues that must be strictly followed and if one thing is wrong, you will find yourself with a book that can’t be released until the cover is corrected.
Is your promoter willing to work with your publisher and not make unilateral decisions that cause problems? If they aren’t, you need to run away fast. You’ll soon find yourself in a position where your publisher is losing patience with the demands and perhaps cooling about accepting your next book.
Finally, are their services priced reasonably, based on their experience? Someone who has just started promoting and is charging a premium rate needs to prove to you that they are worth the money, and I don’t mean by assuring you that they are. There are far too many scammers attempting to entice authors into paying for unnecessary promotional tools and leaving you wondering why you accepted their offer in the first place.
The biggest thing to remember about promoters is the same thing everyone looks at when they’re thinking about hiring someone. Caveat Emptor—let the buyer beware. Do your research and remember that if it looks too good to be true, move on to someone else.
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Science fiction stories have long been done by authors willing to look beyond the stars, past what is accepted, and envision new and different worlds. Asking an author who writes this genre to limit their tales to twenty thousand words or less provides them with a challenge few can ignore.
A reality pill… Canoples Investigations returns… Are we computers? plus many other stories in this science fiction anthology from Solstice Universe.
Ten authors with eleven tales to tell: Ray Chilensky, K.C. Sprayberry, Rob McLachlan, Debbie De Louise, Jim Cronin, Rick Ellrod, Natalie Silk, Arthur Butt, E.B. Sullivan, and S@yr bring you stories to delight and entertain.
It seemed like a good idea when they had first introduced it back in 2070. Everyone had experienced something that they would like to forget. After all, who wouldn’t want to forget the death of their first pet or watching a loved one perish in a traffic accident? Synaptic Engineering (or S.E.) seemed, at first, to be the answer to a myriad of psychological and emotional disorders. If you were traumatized, you could just forget what it was that had traumatized you.
The technique had been developed by the military; ostensibly to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Memories that caused social dysfunction were just erased. Soldiers could come home from war without remembering the most terrible parts of it. No longer would these fighters be plagued by horrible nightmares or crippling guilt and depression. The horrors of war could be erased and forgotten in minutes; the warrior was psychically cleansed.
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We’ve all seen the advertisements for new movies, a release of a new song, or even a new product that will soon be available in the stores. Depending on the time of year, these ads can happen as early as two months before the item releases. Yet, as authors, many of us don’t take advantage of the same advertising technique for our books.
What are you, as an author, doing to bring attention to your new release prior to that happening?
That’s right. You, as an author, need to work hard prior to the release of your book in order to have sales.
What do you need to do?
The first thing is to brand your name. Many authors have no clue how to do this. They’re lost, often don’t understand what it means to brand a name.
The first thing is to set up social media accounts—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, a blog and website are all necessary to do this. Don’t just talk about your books on those sites. Be involved with those you see as your potential fans, but never get into hot topics—politics and religion are the big ones—or you may find half of your potential fan base turning against you.
Now that you have these accounts, you have to attract people to them. This is where those you know on your personal social media accounts come into play. They’re a start. Once they’ve liked or followed your page, you need to be posting. Tidbits about what you’re working on—limit these to general discussions about your story—are a great start. To keep your pages upbeat and away from hot topics, be involved by talking about topics you’ve noticed these people are interested in in their pages. Animals, vacations, and yes, even what’s for dinner.
Now, on Twitter, you can build your feed there by following those with like interests. Don’t stick with books. Search for those who have an interest in your books. Check out the suggestions Twitter makes for people that you might want to follow. Be diverse. And go international. Don’t stick with followers from your country. Remember, in the twenty-first century, the world is a much smaller place. You will have fans from every country, make the most of this.
Use your blog as a place to talk about writing, offer spots for other authors to advertise their releases, even do reviews. Get your blog moving, so it attracts followers. Be active weekly—you can even connect your blog posts to Twitter days. Just what are Twitter days? Look for Sunday Book Blogs, Monday Blogs, Tuesday Book Blogs and WWW Blogs (for those ladies out there). There’s also Teaser Tuesday, 1 Line Wednesday and 1 Line Friday for giving tidbits from your work in progress. All it takes is a bit of research to discover literally hundreds of ways to attract people to your new endeavor!
Now that you’re seriously working on branding your name, you need to take the next step—advertising that book and when it will be coming out. How you do this can make or break your book’s release.
First, you need to reveal your cover art. This can be done with a blog post and shared to Twitter, Facebook, and Google +. In fact, if your blog host allows it, you can share directly from the post’s page to those social media sites, saving you the trouble of saving the link and copying it into them.
Before you do that, though, you need to see what hashtags apply to your book. Why hashtags you ask. A few are probably scratching your head and asking “What’s a hashtag?”
Your book will be categorized when it’s uploaded to Amazon. If you are very lucky, your publisher will allow you to do this. That means looking at a really long list of categories and deciding which one fits your book best. First rule—don’t go just for the huge categories. That means don’t use just romance, science fiction, fantasy, coming of age, etc. Look for smaller categories where your book will fit. Why? Because if you happen to have enough sales to get ranked, these smaller categories will give you the opportunity to say you’re a “Best Selling Author” or even an “International Best Selling Author.” Oh, did I mention that if your book does hit that lovely height, you will also see it appearing in the “if you like this book, check out these books” section on Amazon—which means people who wouldn’t have known about you or your book will now see it. They might be interested, and that might lead to more sales.
There are but a few of the secrets about how to make your book a success. It’s not just about writing a book in the twenty-first century. You, the author, are now a business, and as such, you need to learn how to promote your work.
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BD, Carl, Cassie, and Terry discover their lives are turning upside down again—mere days after the arrest of the space pirates, they’re having to fight to prove they didn’t lie about the whole adventure.
BD, Cassie, Carl, and Terry are back on the case—only this time it’s a case they have to solve fast. Turns out Sally Wild, intrepid reporter, has an agenda and it all has to do with making the C.I. team look bad before the Space Pirates trial. Can BD and crew prove they’re not making up stories and beat a clock that’s moving fast?
Our jaws are still hanging down near our knees. Me and my crew—Carl, Terry, and Cassie—can’t believe what just happened. Sally Wild made us look like fools, and we fell for it. Stupidly, we forgot every piece of advice that Chief Pelham has ever given us; ignored Wade, my older brother, about never giving an enemy an even chance; and stepped right into a trap.
“We’ll never live this down.” Terry drops his head into his hands. “Everyone will laugh us right off Canoples Station.”
He’s right and I can’t figure out a way to fix the mess that we’ve gotten into. Even though Chief Pelham promised us that the reporter from Inside Galaxy would never do anything to get her banned from covering the upcoming trial of the space pirates, she has. And she is still on the station. Worse, everyone else believes that she’s a poor, abused reporter rather than the Mercury tat she truly is.
Welcome to the Canoples Investigations Exposes Space Dodger release tour. This is the third novel and fourth story in this series. Strap on your restraints and be ready for an exciting ride… oh, once you have the book in hand, you will discover there’s a special added attraction—the first chapter of Secret Society: A Canoples Investigations Novella!
Blurb
There’s a carnival on the station, with all kinds of “legally” cloned animals, more than a few zero-G acrobats, and miniature clowns. BD’s ever present suspicious mind latches onto one thing when the advance team for Galactic Carnival arrives to begin preparations for a weeklong visit. The ringmaster looks familiar, but the man swears that he has never been to Canoples Station before. Even worse, children five and under are disappearing. A bit of investigating on BD’s part clues him in to the fact this has happened on every station Galactic Carnival has visited so far. He’s determined to uncover the true identity of the ringmaster and solve the mystery of the missing children, but at what cost. Is BD willing to lose his lifelong friends to solve this case? Will they prove Jenna Rock, Wade’s girlfriend, isn’t involved?
About K.C. Sprayberry
Born and raised in Southern California’s Los Angeles basin, K.C. Sprayberry spent years traveling the United States and Europe while in the Air Force before settling in northwest Georgia. A new empty nester with her husband of more than twenty years, she spends her days figuring out new ways to torment her characters and coming up with innovative tales from the South and beyond.
She’s a multi-genre author who comes up with ideas from the strangest sources. Those who know her best will tell you that nothing is safe or sacred when she is observing real life. In fact, she considers any situation she witnesses as fair game when plotting a new story.
Excerpt
My voice is harsh, uninviting. Most guys are backing away at this point, but not this jerk. He comes even closer and releases a breath into my face. Not shoving him through the nearest wall is the hardest thing I’ve done since I taught BD that lesson about laughing at me.
Totally gross. Doesn’t this guy believe in personal hygiene?
“A pretty girl like you will be just the thing I need to attract more audiences,” he says. “Have you ever thought of being an acrobat?”
Chief Pelham nods at me. I’m not sure what he means but I think I’m supposed to let this creep think I’m interested.
“Really?” I say. “How much does an acrobat earn with your circus?”
Being polite to this jerk hurts. I really want to tell him to take a hike outside the station, without gear. A grim smile rises as I imagine that happening.
“Space Dodger.” Governor Tulane joins us. “How about you and I speak quietly? I’m sure you don’t want this girl as part of your circus.”
“Au contraire, Governor.” Space Dodger moves away from me, for which I’m very grateful. “The young lady will be a welcome addition to the Space Dodger Space Circus. Men will love the costume I have in mind for her.”
Interview with the Author
If you weren't writing, what would you be doing?
Going crazy. LOL! Honestly, I’ve lived with these stories in my head for so many hears, I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t write. Perhaps read more, take up cross stitch and embroidery again, spend more time with my grandbabies. Traveling comes to mind. There are still states in this country I haven’t visited. There are a lot of things I could do, but writing fills a part of my soul and gives me contentment.
Are there any words of encouragement for unpublished writers?
Never give up. There is a publisher out there for your work. While you’re waiting, learn how to improve your writing. Join a critique group, enlist the assistance of beta readers, work out the problem areas in your books. You will get there. It just takes time.
Who are some of your other favorite authors to read?
Robert Heinlein and Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Timeseries are my top favorites. Isaac Asimov and Anne McCaffrey are two other favorites. Ann Rule’s real crime books are also at the top of my list. I have varied tastes in reading and a very large personal library, both print and electronic.
Interview with Cassie Wills
Who are your friends and family?
Mom and Dad, but they haven’t come up in the books much. Carl and I used to help Dad with his tours of the area around Jupiter when we were younger but these days, we’re so busy with Canoples Investigations. Mom is an administrator with the station’s upper management. She’s always really busy. My closest friends are BD and Terry. We’ve been a team for so long that I don’t think we’ll ever be apart.
What are your life goals?
To be the best investigator that I can be. To provide assistance for the new stations being built, to relieve overcrowding, and to enjoy life. I see those as being the goals that are the most important. The rest will happen, like it always does.
Who are you closest to?
BD, there’s no one closer in my life. I miss him when he’s not around and I know he misses me. We started out as good buds but we’re so much more now. He still hasn’t said the words and I don’t know if he ever can, because of how rotten his dad turned out to be, but I know he loves me.
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What’s your attitude when you’re posting on social media? How do you approach religion or politics? Are you firm in your belief that your chosen religion or political candidate is the only choice to be made by everyone else? Do you bombard your fans and friends with posts that are divisive in nature? Is your sole purpose of these posts to force everyone following you about your books to believe as you do or get out of your life?
As public figures, authors have a duty—we can’t let our politics or religion be done is such a way that we turn off potential readers.
Why?
Your readers buy your books for one purpose only—to be entertained. Whether you pen mysteries or science fiction, fantasy or young adult tales, any type of fiction at all, you have a duty to your fans. Most authors today aren’t well known. Our name isn’t on the lips of people worldwide, as they eagerly await the release of our latest book.
As many mid-list authors discovered during the recently bitterly contested presidential election in the United States, taking one side or another publicly, posting the bitter and divisive rants of the candidates and adding our own take to them can and did have a very deleterious effect.
Our sales plummeted.
That’s right. We lost readers. Probably forever. Because we didn’t stop to think about the consequences of insulting those we’ve developed as fans. All that was on our mind was ensuring that our candidate was elected, by any means possible. If that meant a few people didn’t agree with us, then so what?
That was the attitude I ran across more often as not. Those same authors didn’t worry about the effect on their sales, until they got a royalty statement one month and made an important discovery. Where once they could depend on a royalty payment that would provide extras for their household, they were now looking at only enough to pick up a latte—if that much.
Some learned their lesson and backed off their divisive rhetoric. Others continued, feeling that if they pushed hard enough, their fans would “see the light” and “return to the fold.” Even though that has yet to happen, these authors continue to dig the grave of their career by pressing those still attached to them to demand recounts, to post rants against the elected president, and to force everyone to put up with their antics until they grow so bored with them that the rest of their fan base will slowly disappear.
The cure for this is to understand that even the big name authors quickly backed away from posting their feelings about the recent election because they soon realized their bread and butter—their fans—would express their displeasure in the one place it would hurt them the most; their bank account. The lesson from this election cycle is simple.
As a public figure, we as authors must learn to keep our opinions to ourselves. Our sole duty to our readers is to provide entertainment, not to demand that our fans lavishly follow our beliefs.
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Oh, that very special first love. The emotions running through you. The thought that you will be with that person forever, or until next week. However you connect your memories with your first love, one thing will always stand out—this was a very special encounter that set you on the path to your forever love.
That magic moment for a teen. The realization that the person you’ve liked is a little more than a friend. Chance meetings. Old friendships. Even a social media post. These can all lead to that first love.
Authors M.A. Cortez, Gloria Weber, Vanayssa Somers, Margaret Egrot, Josie Montano, K.C. Sprayberry, Pauline Prentiss, and Mya O’Malley bring you tales of teens in the throes of their first romance.
Nixie took a broken branch and scraped a glop of mud from the toe of her new, suede boots. She set her bow down next to the spare tire in the trunk of her beat up VW. Normally, she would’ve worn her UGGs in this unpredictable weather but this was her second lesson with Garrett, the cute guy she met at Mia’s New Year’s Eve party and even though he probably had a girlfriend, it didn’t hurt to look good.
Recurve, the archery range where she worked, was packed. Most of the people would be league regulars, practicing for the upcoming tournament on Valentine’s Day. Free lanes would be scarce for the walk in’s, which meant there would be a line of people who would have to wait. Customers who have to wait equal grumpy people and she hated working with grumpy people. She knew Garrett had made an appointment because she saw his name on the reservation list but, if he showed up late, she would have to help someone else, and her cute-but not-too-obvious, outfit would go to waste. It would just be my luck that Gwen will get him this time and I’ll get creepy Lord of the Rings, guy. Gwen always managed to get her claws on every cute guy that showed up at the range.
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Publishing in the twenty-first century has seen many changes. The advent of online publishers has given authors looking for a home for their books more choices than those publishers that have been around for decades and often require an individual to have an agent before submitting their work. Even that isn’t a guarantee your book will find a home, so many people wanting to have their books published must look to other venues.
One of the first places these people will turn to are the many online publishers who are known for offering the unpublished author a place for their book. The overriding consensus is that these publishers are easy to accept your work and manipulate.
That can’t be further from the truth.
Many online publishers have standards as high or higher than the Big 5, who have dominated the publishing world for many years. When offering your work, you must learn the rules of submission. One of the more important rules, one that can have you forever kept from having a book with this publisher’s name on it, is that you don’t submit a manuscript and after being offered a contract, turn around and say…
“Oh, I was actually looking for a traditional publisher. There are many agents interested in this work. But I can offer you two, three, or four of my other stories in exchange. After all, you liked this one, so you’ll love these. They’re more suited as ebooks.”
First thing that will run through the submission manager’s mind is “Is this person nuts? Did they not read our website and see that we are a traditional publisher? Did they ignore the fact that we do offer print books in addition to ebooks?
First, you are a supplicant to the publisher. They have seen a gem within your book and think it will be a good fit for their company. It is the book for which the contract was offered that they are interested in, not other books you’re offering as a consolation prize.
Second, why, if you wanted to be with a “traditional” publisher, as in the Big 5, did you offer this book to an online publisher in the first place? If you’ve already contacted agents who are showing an interest in your material, why are you submitting to publishers? That makes no sense.
Third, you, as the author, are not in a position to assume—some might say arrogantly—that a publisher would be interested in having anything to do with you at this point.
Why, you ask.
Because this publisher has already expended time and money in assessing your submission. They’ve read the material and decided it would fit in with the other books of that genre they’ve already contracted. They are willing to take a chance on you, as an author, and offer you the opportunity to have you join their other authors in making a success of your work.
What you have done by speaking to a publisher as if you are doing them a great favor by making this offer is prove to them that you are not really worthy of being part of their company. You have shown them that you will not be a cooperative author, but rather a diva—demanding special attention for your book, expecting everyone to bow to your alleged expertise, and giving in to your demands, because you feel you are better than they are.
Since 2010, I’ve noticed that many authors have changed how they regard publishers. This might have a lot to do with the ease of self publishing—an if no one wants my book, I’ll just publish it myself attitude. Instead of researching how to write a cover letter, how to approach a publisher, how to read the posted guidelines, authors are basically cutting off all chances of finding a publisher who will give them a chance when they have yet to brand their name.
Instead of deciding you know everything about the publishing world, do the research. Hold your hat humbly in your hand, and be grateful for a chance to have your book published if a publisher decides they want to do that. You only get a single first chance to make a good impression. Don’t waste that.
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Trank has dreams, big dreams. He wants to move away from the family tradition of providing safe nesting for the legendary Phoenix of his world and become a teacher to others who delve into the fantastic realms.
The Evans family has always been the Protector of the Phoenix. The heavy mantle has passed from father to oldest son for hundreds of years—until an accident in the breederies changes everything.
Trank’s dreams are of Wizard Camp and teaching about his wonderful world to young wizards and witches around the world. He has plans, none of which include working at the family’s legacy. After an accident in two of the breederies, he finds himself with the heavy mantle of Protector shoved on his shoulders, a mere day after his fourteenth birthday.
Not only is he thrust into the drudgery of protecting the Phoenixes, he has to continually fight to prove that he can do the job when the father of his best friend attempts to wrest the position of Protector from the Evans family. Can Trank do what is needed and prevent a reoccurrence of the accident that took so many of his family? Will he succumb to the intense work and quit to escape what he views as something that is making him so unhappy?
Southern pines rose well above the two boys hidden in the wooded area behind the small farmhouse. A gentle breeze blew across the tops of the trees bending them and swaying the upper trunks. Neither boy paid much attention after watching the action for a few moments. Both held sticks about two feet long and grinned at each other. Dust clouds rose from where they stood. At one end of the clearing, rocks lay scattered.
The taller boy’s skin resembled a rich cup of espresso. His companion’s complexion appeared so pale as to redden in the early spring sunshine breaking through the trees surrounding them. Shouts and laughter filled the air.
“I’ve got it,” the fair-skinned one called. “It’s not fair, Gordon. Your last three landed without a problem. You’ve been practicing.”
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The new adult genre has been around for a very short period of time but is catching on very fast. Basically, many publishers saw that the young adult books, originally for those twelve to their mid-twenties, had far too many books in them parents objected to because of their content.
The reality of the situation is that authors of both young adult and new adult books need to be aware of exactly what parents want their kids reading. Yes, many teens today have access to reading material with Mom or Dad standing behind them to make sure they don’t get something too old. But the real truth is that many teens are far more electronics savvy than their parents, and there will never be a closure of that gap.
What we, as authors, need to do is remember that even though today’s teens seem to be more sophisticated and aware, they are still very much someone else’s child. As such, we need to take into consideration how we approach certain subjects. While we do need to show rather than tell, there are times when too much graphic detail can break our book through reviews.
Remember, if you are going for an older tone in your books, say over seventeen, not to write to a younger audience.
Science fiction stories have drawn interest from the time the first one, Somnium, was published by Johannes Kepler in 1608. Humans have always been drawn to the stars, and what lies beyond them. We are driven by a need to explore and imagine what is in space and beyond.
A collection of short stories for readers who love Science Fiction.
Abby receives mysterious messages with information about recent fuel station explosions. Then her home is one of those destroyed in an explosion. Left without a place to live and care for her young child, she’s forced to decide between reporting the situation as ordered or telling the truth.
By:
Kathi Sprayberry,
on 11/28/2016
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One thing young adult authors who focus on real life must consider is the problem novel. That is to say that they need to examine books that are centered around identity, sexuality, racism, depression, and suicide.
These types of books appeal to teens in similar situations. Oh, we as parents and grandparents like to think our teen isn’t involved in such things, but that’s only us thinking they’re the perfect little angel gifted to us many years before. In truth, teens often struggle with all of these things.
Identity is more than a teen saying they can’t possibly be part of your family because everyone is so messed up. It’s about who they are inside, what they expect out of life, and if they’re moving along a path where they believe their parents might eventually hate them. This can cause them to move away from the normal family dynamic and seek out others in the same position, only to discover that group doesn’t have the answers they need either.
Sexuality is more than what gender your child is. I’ve always maintained that teens are comprised of raging hormones. They’re experimenting with things they’ve been told all their lives are forbidden, but their bodies are saying go for it. The confusion there can cause all sorts of animosity between parent and child. Some have likened it to having a perfectly adorable child, until they hit puberty and became a monster. No, your teen isn’t a monster; they’re dealing with raging hormones that have them off balance.
Racism has raised its ugly head after many years of people working in concert. Even if your teen seems to have a good grasp on the problem, they are seeing claims of this and that is wrong. Or that they’re a horrible person because of their ancestry. Since all teens strive toward acceptance from their peers, this can cause them to withdraw and turn to other people to figure out why they’re no longer an accepted part of their peer group.
Depression isn’t just being sad. It’s a chemical imbalance. No matter how much the parent wants to help their teen deal with this, they are facing a two-fold problem. First, the teen more than likely doesn’t want to talk at all. Secondly, our society has hammered into everyone’s heads that taking drugs is wrong, but the cure for depression is a drug. Enter the conflicted teen who can’t deal with the sadness driving through them being told they have to take a drug. Now, they’re more conflicted than ever. A simple “this will help you feel better” won’t work. This teen needs to join with others like him or herself and discover they can control their problem, as long as they don’t quit.
Suicide among teens has become front page news. It’s shocking. It’s a problem everyone wants to deny, but it is a fact. Taking your own life is a drastic step, a scream that no one listened. To hide teens from books about this problem is akin to telling them the emotional and/or physical problems they’re facing aren’t important.
One of the biggest lesson twenty-first century parents can learn is that their teens are savvy and in touch. Many of them go to non-traditional places for assistance. Some have found comfort in books, and learned that the more drastic measures they were thinking about aren’t right, but if the books that address those problems are banned, forbidden, where else can they go when they fell cut out of the world?
Sometimes the best cure is a bite of fiction, done in a way that your teen feels like they have a person who understands.
Science fiction stories have drawn interest from the time the first one, Somnium, was published by Johannes Kepler in 1608. Humans have always been drawn to the stars, and what lies beyond them. We are driven by a need to explore and imagine what is in space and beyond.
A collection of short stories for readers who love Science Fiction.
Abby receives mysterious messages with information about recent fuel station explosions. Then her home is one of those destroyed in an explosion. Left without a place to live and care for her young child, she’s forced to decide between reporting the situation as ordered or telling the truth.
All teens want those around them to take them seriously. Sometimes, though, their means of getting this to happen brings them unwanted or unpleasant attention.
Brian Lachlan, at thirteen, knows what his future will be. He will be a ship commander, like the skipper of Lucretia’s Dream. On the day when he must prove his skills, in order to be placed in the right training program, he uses the Eight Simple Rules one must know for such a position to compare to his progress.
Will Brian reach his goal?
There are all kinds of rules if you’re going to be the commander of a space liner, exploring the galaxy. Not many of the men and women on Lucretia’s Dreambelieved in this theory, but they weren’t determined to become the youngest starship commander in history.
According to galactic records, the person currently holding the record was an ancient forty-five when he was awarded command of a garbage scow. But it wasn’t a floating trashcan that interested Brian Lachlan. Oh, no, his master scheme was to take control of the very ship upon which he had been born and raised—Lucretia’s Dream.
I will get the grand prize in this contest. I just have to. That’s the first step to reaching my goal.
Is there anything sweeter than plotting a romance between your characters in a teen novel? Sure, you have the usual trials and tribulations that will sell the book, but an underlying romance can add moments that leave memories for everyone.
One thing the teen writer must be aware of is that teen romance isn’t about meeting someone at a bar and ending up happily ever after. Meetings between teens are rife with anxiety, doubt, and questions if this is the “one,” the person they can be with forever.
In reality, very few teen romances last for more than a few months. There’s always another person waiting in the wings who will make the heart beat a little faster, give your protagonist that sensation of perhaps this person is better for them. More power to this story line. It’s real, a situation teens deal with day in and day out.
In truth, teens are going through so many changes that promises to be together forever are short lived. They move on without a second thought, creating drama in a life that is already filled with this. Yet, this is part of their maturation process from child to adult. This is a side effect of the hormonal changes teens are going through, as much as greasy hair and acne. Still, there is a reason to explore the teen romance, and that is because teens want to see how their favorite characters deal with the first meeting, first date, even the first awkward kiss.
One thing that shouldn’t be in the teen romance is the sexual hookup. Leave that for a new adult or adult book. Keep the young adult romance sweet so that you aren’t pressuring your teen readers into thinking all relationships end up in a bedroom, the back seat of a car, or on a blanket in the woods or a beach. Instead, lead your reader on a discovery of likes and dislikes, of happiness and sadness. In other words, show them real life but without some of the issues they’re already struggling with so that they feel as if they have to equate sex with love.
Between November and early January, there are twenty-seven major celebrations worldwide, and many much smaller ones honoring the winter holidays. Here are just a few, presented by a group of talented authors.
Enjoy these ten stories from a group of very talented authors. We celebrate the Winter Holidays around the world, brought to you by a multinational group of authors, with various traditions and one theme—joy and happiness.
M.H. Newhouse, Malay A. Upadhyay, K.C. Sprayberry, A.A. Schenna, S Cu’Anam Policar, Vanayssa Somers, Margaret Egrot, April Erwin, Mya O’Malley, E.B. Sullivan.
Our tiny menorah is barely visible behind a large, Mickey Mouse statuette and several water globes in our wall unit. My son, Keith, loves the cartoony figurines, but nobody ever takes notice of the Hanukkah candleholder, a relic from my husband’s family. It really doesn’t look like much, I think, as I close the glass door on it. Without Rob here, there seems little point in taking it out.
A photograph of Rob and me, through the glass door, catches my eye. It is from the summer we first were going out. I never suspected we would end up together or, maybe, I might have paid more attention to our religious differences. At the time, I wasn’t thinking about a future, only about whether I liked him enough to keep seeing him. Believe me, I wasn’t sure. He had a lot going against him. For starters, he was recently divorced after five years of marriage. Neither of us was looking for a relationship, and I was really turned off when he told me that he was augmenting his teaching salary by serving in the Army reserve. That really threw me. Religion didn’t seem to matter much when you weighed all the other issues. Once we did get married, two years later, we decided to celebrate both of our holidays together. But this year, we are not together, so the menorah is being left in the wall unit. I guess I’m just not motivated enough to take it out.
By:
Kathi Sprayberry,
on 11/21/2016
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It’s not unusual to see multiple viewpoints in most adult books. In fact, it’s unusual not to see them. But in children’s books, even young adult, multiple viewpoints seem to be decried as too old for the reader. That may be true, or it may be that adults are selling teens short.
Teens are much smarter and aware of their world than most adults give them. No, they are not adults in training, but they are exposed to more things than most of us were when we were the same age. Case in point are the phones most teens carry. They are connected to friends all over the world on a twenty-four basis. They can keep up text conversations with multiple people without messing up. Their social media accounts never once give them any issue with what they’re doing on there… or do they?
Yes, teens are accomplished with the latest technology and probably far more mature than their parents and grandparents were a few decades ago. A lot of them, the ones who read, aren’t looking for a mild mannered book, where the hero or heroine follows a set pattern that has been in place forever. Nor do they want a book with teeth, a novel they can follow along on the story line and not get lost or wonder why this person shows up so much but they aren’t getting their own place.
Why not write a multiple viewpoint story? Sometimes we do need to see how others perceive the situation. What could be a middling, quiet story, suddenly becomes a tense, suspenseful back and forth look at a situation from two or three sides. The characters, be they protagonist or antagonist, are striving toward their goals and also having to compete with each other for space on the page.
Your teen reader will enjoy this give and take between the characters. They are seeing the people in the book as real, engaged with each other, much as his or her friends are. Don’t sell teens short. They enjoy complicated stories as much as adults.
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So true and good advice to start the new year. I've never been one to stick to one genre or one point of view either.