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He was about to drive the mules back over to the smithy when a voice asked him, "What was that?" He fairly jumped out of his skin as he turned and saw Sarah standing there in the moonlight. The blue beams of the world's lesser light added a strange but enchanting hue to her blonde hair and pale face. "What are you doing here?" he asked, when he had recovered his breath. "I could ask you the same thing." He got down off the wagon and came over to her. She backed up a step, but no further. "How much did you see?" Continue reading →

Coming soon! Interview with Dr. Louis Koster on October 29th as part of the 2012 Virtual blog tour announcing the release of  A New Language For Life:  Happy No Matter What!

2012 Virtual Tour Itinerary for 

A New Language For Life:  Happy No Matter What! 

by Louis Koster

www.louiskoster.com/virtualtour

October 13

Tour Itinerary at Stephanie Barko, Literary Publicist Blog
Tour Itinerary at Literature & Fiction Blog
Highlighted Title Listing at Independent Publisher
Review by Irene Roth at Blogcritics

October 14

Review by Irene Roth at Roth’s Book Reviews

October 15

Review by Laura Strathman Hulka at Readerwoman Blog

October 16

Review by Dr. Grady Harp at Powell’s
Interview and excerpt at Book Promo Central

October 16 – October 29

Three international ebook giveaways at Library Thing

October 17

Podcast with Big Blend Radio

October 18

US paperback giveaway at Curled Up With A Good Book
Interview at Curled Up With A Good Book
Review by Barbara Bamberger Scott at Curled Up With A Good Book

October 19

Review by Viviane Crystal at Crystal Book Reviews and at The Best Reviews

October 22

Interview at Alpha Chick

October 23

Review, video & excerpt at Spiritual Lounge

October 24

Excerpt at Your Awakened Self Blog

October 25

Review by Helen Gallagher at New York Journal of Books and at Open Salon

October 26

Author essay, excerpt & giveaways at One Story At A Time

October 28

Podcast with Where Am I Going Radio

October 29

Interview at Literature & Fiction Blog

October 30 – November 12

Three US paperback giveaways at GoodReads

October 31

Review by Christine Zibas at Digital Journal and at Bookpleasures

November 1

Review by Irene Conlan at The Self Improvement Blog and at Ezine Articles

November 2

Review by Gloria Oren at Gloria’s Corner Blog

November 5

Excerpt at Night Owl Reviews Blog

November 6

Interview by April Pohren at Blogcritics

November 7

Interview by Cheryl Malandrinos and giveaway at The Book Connection

November 8

Podcast with Conversations Live Radio

November 9

Videos at Preview The Book, Flickr, Photobucket, & Daily Motion

November 12

Review by Darin Godby at Luxury Reading and at Book Blogs Ning

I recently met someone new via the Internet. It happens all the time, right? Only this time, instead of the raving maniacs or kooks I sometimes deal with (just kidding) the person was an author and really nice lady. I agreed to host her on my blog (below) and read her YA book, Letters from the Ledge. I am so happy I agreed to this. The book is a fascinating exploration of the ways in which our lives interweave with particular people on a daily basis without our even realizing it. Ms. Meyers' ability to draw the reader into the story and make us care for the characters is well done. She endeavors to help the reader understand why some teens 'cut' themselves or consider suicide while coming to grips with their situation. While this is not normally the type of book I would pick up in the store (or online these days) because I enjoy adventurous Fantasy and a rolicing wild ride of questing with dragons and swords, I read this the day it arrived from cover to cover within a few hours. Continue reading →

Today’s Guest Post is by Karina Fabian about her newest release: Neeta Lyffe

I was not interested in writing your usual zombie novel, so when I was asked to write Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, I gave myself permission to go a little nuts and try out some new things.  I knew it was going to center around a reality TV show, so I thought I’d add in all the things networks are doing nowadays to promote their shows:  weblogs (where the characters diss each other and promote themselves), forums (complete with trolls) and even a documentary that explained the whole zombie phenomenon.

I don’t think it would work for most books, but I had a lot of fun with this.  It let me go behind the scenes without worrying about head-hopping.  It spared me a lot of having to describe landscapes and backgrounds and such–I could cut right to the jokes.  The documentary let me add in a couple of flash stories that are much better for having the context of the entire novel.  Many reviewers enjoyed the fresh style, which did keep the novel moving.

It also helped me learn to work with a huge cast of characters, something I’d not done before.  That proved invaluable when I wrote my next book, a serious science fiction novel involving a crew that finds an alien device that shows them the weakness of their souls.

Now, however, I’m working on Neeta Lyffe II, and I’m finding that without the reality TV show angle (this one is at a convention), I’m not as free as I was in Neeta I.  I can’t make a forum fit.  The weblogs are more news-oriented.  There is a new documentary, however.  I really like being able to tell a separate but related story without flashback or characters just talking about it.

Experimenting with new formats is a great way to free up your imagination.

Byline: The Zombie Apocalypse Meets Reality TV!

Blurb:

By the 2040s, the shambling dead have become and international problem. While governments and special interest groups vie for the most environmentally-friendly way to rid the world of zombies, a new breed of exterminator has risen: The Zombie Exterminator. When zombie exterminator Neeta Lyffe gets sued because a zombie she set afire stumbles onto a lawyer’s back porch, she needs money, fast. So she agrees to train apprentice exterminators in a reality TV show that makes Survivor look like a game of tag. But that’s nothing compared to having to deal with crazy directors, bickering contestants and paparazzi. Can she keep her ratings up, her bills paid and her apprentices alive and still keep her sanity?

Excerpt:

The workout room had a weights set and an elliptical in one corner, but Neeta ignored them. She needed more vigorous exercise than that if she wanted to burn off her emotional funk.

None of the plebes had done the routine she’d just set for herself. It didn’t really reflect the reality of zombie movements, either. Although the crew had designed the targets to look much like actual undead, they moved too quickly, changed direction too suddenly, lunged and retreated in ways zombies couldn’t imitate. They zigged and zaggged, dropped from the ceiling to zoom back up, flung themselves from the ground to trip the unwary. For once, this wasn’t about train

Free Books Prizes Giveaways Meet new Middle Grade/Young Adult authors during the MuseItUp September Blog-A-Thon. Every day a different author will appear on various blogs. Follow the schedule below to follow MY postings. Leave a comment at each one and earn a point toward PRIZES. Other ways to win? Earn 1 point for each of these: Continue reading →

This week I have some business to attend to. We’ll get back to normal posting next week. Firstly, I owe an apology to several winners from my Odessa Blog Tour. I still have your prizes to mail out—never fear, you WILL eventually get them. Last week I did a bit of gardening and apparently pinched a nerve in my back. I’ve been laid up since with incredible pain in my left leg any time I try to stand for more than a minute. My family has been awesome at filling in at the stove (my 12-year old son has become the family cook) and elsewhere. As soon as I can get my act together (my appointment with a specialist is Wednesday, cross your fingers this is something easy to fix) I will get those amazing prizes in the mail to you lucky winners. In case you don’t know who you are yet, I will list below who won and what you won—that way you can be salivating until delivery. Continue reading →

It’s great to mess around with open source tools if you’re geeky and techie. However what if, like many small libraries and solo librarians, you’re not? PALINET has been looking at open srouce tools and I really really like what PALINET is doing to make using an open source ILS a genuine option for their member libraries. Way to actually address the problem PALINET, nice job.

PALINET is aware that not all of our members have the technical support or skills necessary to install or test the open source applications that are currently available. We’re looking at a number of ways to address this issue, but we’ve taken two initial steps already. First, a member Technology Caucus has begun regular discussions of open source software tools in monthly meetings. Yesterday, a group of library developers met at the PALINET offices in Philadelphia to install test copies of Koha and Evergreen for evaluation and comparison. It’s my hope that we’ll be able to put together a couple of really clean, well integrated, model systems, which will demonstrate the kind of functionality that is possible with these open source ILS solutions.

[wilt]