The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson. I read Gods in Alabama by this author a year or so ago. Jackson is a subtle writer and writes with a haunting lyricism. She never comes at you directly, never spells it out for you. Evidently, she has enough respect for…
There has been a bit of a furor lately about John Locke’s book on how he became a bestseller offering ninety-nine-cent eBooks while also admitting he isn’t that good of a writer. I have not read his how-to book. From what I’ve read about it, it appears he takes a…
Today I am starting a new blog interview series featuring avid fiction readers. Danielle agreed to be my guinea pig and aid my research in finding an answer to the question “What do readers want?” Tell me what immediately comes to mind when I ask what is your favorite book…
Last week I began a grand experiment. I self-published my book, Not Quite Heaven in digital format, offering it for sale on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and in the iBookstore. After years of pooh-poohing self-publishing, suddenly it seemed like a very appealing idea. Why? Because I kept hearing from other authors that by…
Cover artist Katerina Vamvasaki designed the cover for my book, Not Quite Heaven. I found the process fascinating. Maybe you will, too. Barb: Tell us a little about your background and education. What qualifies you to design book covers? KV: I’ve been working professionally as a graphic designer and illustrator for years. More…
For my birthday almost two years ago I received a Kindle. I hardly ever use it. For one thing, I’m not good with technology of any sort. For another thing, being a poor, struggling author myself, I don’t like to spend a lot of money on books. But occasionally, I…
There is no way to explain to someone who’s never written a book, never edited it for (let’s call it what it is) self-publishing, how incredibly tedious and time-consuming the process is. Just when you think it’s perfect and you’ve found and corrected every small mistake in your manuscript, a…
If you can’t be beautiful, develop a great smile If you can’t be thin, be healthy If you can’t be clever, be kind If you can’t be famous, be humble If you hate lies, speak the truth If you’re filled with self-pity, learn to be thankful If you can’t give…
Hidden by Shelley Shepard Gray. I think I’m noticing another trend in the “inspirational” novels I’ve read. Not enough set-up. Whether this is an editing or an author issue, I can’t say. All I know is the heroine’s motivation seems weak at best much too often. In this particular book,…
If you read my blog entitled “Before You Write” which was about how disorganized I was in my early writing days, you know I had a box filled with various versions of a book entitled Training Tommy which was published by a small press in 2001. It’s not that great…
