Sunday, March 27, 2011

Absence

Sorry about my absence. Many things have been going on. To start, I had a combination of a sinus infection and bronchitis. I would move my eyes and it hurt so bad, I thought the top of my head was going to blow off. So now, I am on the mend with just have a little lingering cough. Second, my day job is taking up most of my time, including an overnight, out of town business trip to Indianapolis. By the time I get home at the end of each day, I'm bushed and just want to crash on the couch. Needless to say, my writing has suffered. I have not written or edited anything in weeks. I hope to change that in April. I checked on my To Do list for this year and I am falling behind. I have lost weight, so that is one goal I'm achieving.

Today, I visited the new Books-A-Million store that opened recently near me. Wow, what a great store. I loved it and wish I could have stayed longer to browse their stacks, but I was with someone and couldn't stay. I did buy a couple of magazines, Writer's Digest and RT Book Review. I can't wait to go back, if I ever have time again.

Carol

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Read an Ebook Week

March 6-12 has been designated as Read an Ebook Week. Have you heard of Kindles, Nooks, Kobos, or Sony Ereader. These are all electronic devices that you use to read books in electronic format. The photo on the left is of my book, Love, Lies and Deceit on my Kindle ereader.

I've had my Kindle since October and I love it. I taken it to work to read over lunch, to the doctor's office to read while my mom was at her appointment, and on long trips. I have over 25 books on my reader and can carry it in one hand. How many of you can say you took 25 books with you on vacation to read?

Ebook are usually cheaper than their hardback counterparts and you can find just about any book that is in hardback in an electronic version. The question that I get a lot is which ereader to buy. As I said, I have a Kindle and am partial to it. It is sold by Amazon.com and they have thousands of ebooks to buy and hundreds that are free. Each ereader has it's own format, but as far as I know, they all accept PDF files.

Do you think you'd like to try an ereader, but don't think you can afford one? There are other ways to read ebooks. I started out with Kindle for PC, a free app program from Amazon.com that allows you to download Kindle books to your PC for reading. I also have a friend who downloaded an app for her cell phone from Amazon.com so she could buy and read my book. I can't imagine reading an ebook on a phone screen, but she did it.

If you are interested in my book, Love, Lies & Deceit, you can visit my page at Red Rose Publishing. While on the Red Rose Publishing page, please take some time and check out all of the great authors on there.

You can also visit my Author Central Page at Amazon.com. A few of my friends also have books available in ebook format and I highly recommend them, Marian Allen, Kenzie Michaels, Michael Williams, and T. Lee Harris. Also, please check out my list of author friends whose web pages and blogs I have listed on the right side of the page.

Carol

Friday, March 4, 2011

Publicity Photos

I need some publicity photos taken, but oh my, I don't like being in front of a camera. My job was always behind the camera where I am very comfortable. With spring coming, I find that it's the perfect time to have some photos taken. I'm ashamed to say how old the photos I have are that I use online. If you look at the photo I use on this blog, the one where I am wearing a purple shirt. I think that is my most recent photo and it's probably at least five years old. The one I used before that of me sitting at a computer was older than that! Then, there's the first photo that I put up on my Amazon.com Author's page. It's the one where I am wearing blue. While I think it's a pretty good photo of me, it's probably over 15 years old.

The hardest thing about getting some photos taken is what should I wear. In addition to a photographer, I think I need a stylist to dress me, too. So, the search is on to find a good, but inexpensive photographer for some good photos. Any suggestions?

Carol

An Interview with E.M. Munsch

Today, I welcome author E.M. Munsch for some questions, answers, and maybe a little hot tea.. Elaine writes the Dash Hammond series and her ...