Tunnel W Published

Tunnel W is published. You can get it on Amazon & Smashwords and anywhere else that Smashwords will distribute it. It started out as a short story, and the characters (once again) ran away with it. (That line is actually funny after you read the book. Now, you HAVE to read it to get the joke.)

Tunnel W has a kick-ass, women lead character. She is everything I am not (except for funny she is funny, and perhaps not as funny as me.) It is my first real take at a story with a lot of physical, fighting, acting and plots to overtake the other side. It is a novelette and keeps things moving pretty quickly. Go to  Tunnel W to buy it for your ereader.

New Year's Resolutions

I am a lover of New Year's Resolutions. There can be many reasons for this. First, my birthday is New Year's Eve. So not only is it a new year but it is a new age for me, so I am doubly enticed to look at my life for new goals and what I have achieved. Second, I am a lover of lists. I make shopping lists, lists of movies I want to see, lists of things to do, etc. One of my favorite gifts I got was a vertically skinny book make out of unique, thick paper and entitled "The Book of Lists." Third, I am someone who likes to see how much I can accomplish. I love to challenge myself and I am striving to do better and be better.
Here is the dilemma. Last year, I had one goal. The goal was to publish a book. It was a lifetime goal that I have had. Not only did I publish a book, but I published two books AND accomplished some goals that I had on my list for a while.

List of Things I Accomplished in 2012

I lost over 50 lbs.

I ate better

I exercised

I got married

I published a book

 

 

I accomplished a lot in 2012 and that was after just setting one goal. The dilemma then lies in do I go with my love of writing lists and write a list of things for 2013? Or do I have one goal and hope the success continues?

I already have a list in my head of things I want to accomplish. I guess I will have to make a list of pros and cons about this. 





Publishing Ebooks

I, like many other writers, are in a very exciting time. I could compare it to some very historic times like when the slaves were freed, women were able to vote, or every teen who ever got his/her license. I don't know if this time for writers is as BIG as those. So I will stop being dramatic.
I, however, am published. Self-published. I am published. I did not have to spend one dime to get published. I just needed a computer, a story, and the knowledge to do so. I have published ebooks.
A few weeks ago, I read a comment regarding one of my books that was from a stranger. I knew it was a stranger and not a family member, because it was a harsh comment. Although I am no stranger of hearing harsh remarks from family and friends, I am pretty sure it was a stranger's review.
Although it was a 2.5 out of 5 star review, I was estatic. Why, because a stranger read my book. Scratch that he or she read half of my book because he did not read the whole thing and he/she made the point to say that.
Another reason why I was happy, was because the reviewers stated he/she was not satisfied with the book because of his/her expectations. I went back to the description of the book, and realized it seemed to be his/her assumptions that led to those expectations.
Anyway, publishing ebooks has consumed my days and nights with writing. My thought in between appointments, in the lunchroom, in the bathroom, walking down the hall, are stolen by my character's thoughts. No, I do not think I am delusional or experiencing psychosis, but if it makes me writer better, why not.
I am a published author. Self-published, but aren't I my worst critic?

7 Ways to find Free ebooks Legally

It is my Kindle and my one year anniversary. I was not sure I would be able to go away from my love of the feel and smell of old books. The love of sifting through piles of books at yard sales (tag sales, garage sales). I thought I would miss having a good, thick book in my hand. Here a year later, I am head over heels in love with the concept of ereaders and ebooks. Also, I have published ebooks and have many more on the way.I have downloaded hundreds of ebooks and paid for less than half a dozen of them. The only reason I had to pay for them, was because I was impulse buying and impatient.

The rest of them were free. All this was done legally!

There are many books that are FREE! Here are the many ways to find them. Some shortcuts are included.

1. Go to ebook websites and type in free ebooks or 0.00. Some sites add books to this search that are free only if you subscribe to a certain membership. There are tons of new writers that have books for Free.

2. You can borrow books through the online library. Yes, you still need a library card. Currently, you can borrow up to 7 books at a time and put up to 5 books on hold at a time. If have kids with library cards,  you can take more and more out at once. This allows you to take out books that are new and popular for free. Follow this link for instructions,  Overdrive Library hints by CNET

3. You can borrow books from friends or family. A lot of books allow the buyer to share with one friend/family member/ other. The six books I have bought I have lent to a friend and she didn't have to pay anything. (Wait, I think I got the raw end of the deal here.)

4. You can borrow books from strangers. Site like Book Lending and ebookfling let you lend and borrow with strangers for free.

5. Go to ebook publishing sites, and writing forums to connect with authors with free ebooks. Such sites include Smashwords, Writer Unboxed, and Figment. Enter contests or make a comment on a article or post for chances to win free ebooks.

6. Find coupons and codes for ebooks RetailMeNot, Coupon Cabin, and many others.

7.  Last and maybe not least. You can find a lot of classic books for free on various sites.

World ending 12/21/12

Do I believe the world is ending on 12/21/12? No.
Do I believe in ghosts? No.
Do I believe in. . . love at first sight? Lust at first sight.
Did I believe the Y2K hype? Enough to take all my money out of the bank for a couple days.

Have I prepared for 12/21/12? I have imagined it, and I have downloaded enough ebooks for at least a year or two. (Hope I can charge it.)

World ending on 12/21/12. . . I sure hope not; I have a lot of books itching to get out of me.

Addicted to. . . .

Hi, my name is Michele and I am addicted to downloading ebooks. My justification here is that they are free, and good. I love, love, love that I can download books for the library for FREE. Using Overdrive the ebooks come from my computer right to my kindle. How can you blame me? Who could blame me? I am the type of person that yearned to be locked in a library on a college campus like Kurt Vonnegut's book Hocus Pocus. Okay he did have a illness that killed him, but that is besides the point. If I had to be locked away somewhere it would be with a bunch of books.

Okay I am not being completely honest. I not only download free, good ebooks, but I download as many as I can at a time using multiple library cards owned in my household. And to take it to that step further. I put as many as I can on reserve. So at any given time I will have 21 books borrowed and be on a waiting list for 15 books.

To go another step further, it is a coping mechanism. When I get stressed I go on-line and sift through hundreds and hundreds of books. Anything that seems remotely interesting, I download it. I have even taken to clicking on a random page number and randomly download a book from that page.
It is an addiction. . . what is the definition of addiction? I, however, justify it by saying 1. it is free 2. I am not harming anyone 3. it's free, good ebooks. I will not work any 12 step program for this, but I will download a book on it.

Characters holding me hostage!

People talk about writing what  you know. They talk about finding something you know about and write. I think it is about writing what you are interested in or have no idea about. Researching about things can be part of the writer's journey. Writing about pirates learn nautical terms, writing about a carpenter pick up a hammer, writing about a murder mystery. . . be mysterious.

Walk into a room and just say, "I am mysterious." If you are writing a nonfiction book, I think this all can be taken differently. If you are writing a fiction book, just go with it. Let you characters guide the story.

The first time I had this happen writing, I could not believe it. I had created this amazing character that I would even want to date, and she only lasted a chapter. I was sad to see her go, but hey, writing happens. My characters went another direction, and it all worked out in the end.

Planning my Grand Entrance

I am awaiting the time to say "I have arrived!" There are times I have had grand entrances in my life. Running out before a crowd at my high school & college basketball games, my wedding, my graduations, my birth, and surprise parties.
Now I am trying for my grand entrance as an author. How intimidating is it surfing the net looking for the magic recipe of "how in the hell do I make a lot of money writing ebooks?" Here is another good article to read on that How to Make Money on Ebooks by JA Konrath. But otherwise there is a lot of information out there on the internet, but a lot of it seems pretty useless. I think I need a mentor or a fairy godmother. I will take either or both.
In my searching I had found some things out that I am instituting:
-Write a blog.
-Set-up a fan facebook page.
-Write, write, write.
- Read, read, read, read.
-Join forums, author sites.
- Learn from others.
All trying to point to building a "platform".

I have stumbled upon a writer I have not read his books yet, but he seems to be very succesful. I watched a video of him on a BOOKRIX interview. He seems very witty, and someont I woud love to have a beer with. Check out his blog, JA Konrath Blog. He is very involved in the ebook movement.
Still, I have this pull of "building a platform" or writing, writing, reading, writing, reading. There are only so many hours in a day. . . not to mention I have a more than fulltime job, kids, and a wife.
ALERT ALERT. . . NOW LEAVING THE WHINING ZONE.

So, I am going to find a way to fit all this in to my life. I will surf through my favorite intro music to make a grand entrance, and try on my fanciest capes (I dont have any, but maybe I should start collecting).