Where have I been?

     Hello world!  I'm alive!  I've been absent from my blog a few months wading through life.  My son started kindergarten in fall and he's had a challenging year, which in turn means I've had a challenging year as well.  He will always come first in my life and my writing can sit on the backburner. 

     I have found time to work on my new story though and it's been fun.  Here's a blurb...

The Zookeeper

(Full Length - contemporary single title)

Elizabeth Tanner was raised in a Zoo.  Literally.  But now that Zoo is in danger, not only from falling ticket sales, but also from a mysterious illness afflicting the animals. 

Frank Adams, the newest Animal Care attendant, spent time behind bars himself. 

But, in this Zoo, even the strongest bars can’t hold back the truth. 

And the truth will be set free.

Challenging Yourself

     Life often presents us with choices.  Well, to be honest, every day we are presented with a myriad of choices.  What to have for breakfast, what to wear, etc.  But, I’m talking about the major, life changing choices, or so they seem to be to us at the time.  In reality, they aren’t that dramatic.  Life goes on no matter what choices we make.  The clock keeps ticking, the rooster still crows (might be a different rooster though), and the tides still rise and fall with precision.
    
     So, why are these choices so difficult?  It’s our own fault that we make them difficult.  But, in the end, no one has to live with the choices that you make except for you.  So be gentle with yourself, contemplate, allow yourself to make mistakes, even HUGE mistakes.  In the grand scheme of things, it will all even out.  In the mean time, just breathe. 

Publishing - The Myths and Facts

It seems as if everyone and their mom are publishing books lately.  Wow, there are a lot of authors out there and that’s a good thing.  But, there is some confusion over different types of publishing and what is entailed in each.  I’ll try to be as concise as possible. 

Traditional Publishing –

• A “New York” style publisher (not necessarily based out of New York).  This would be the Harper Collins, the Bantam, the Harlequin, the Random House type giants.  This is the BIG LEAGUE, and is every writer’s dream.  They PAY YOU to edit and publish your book.
• Small press publishers.  These publishers are every bit as legitimate as their big brothers, but they lack the financial strength to publish more than a couple physical books per year (it takes a lot of bucks to print books).  These publishers usually e-publish an author first (much cheaper than printing) to see if there is a market for their work and may print their books later.  They pay their authors royalties on the amount of books sold, and may or may not offer advances. 

E-publishing –

• All this means is that the book/work is available for download to an e-device such as a Kindle or a Nook.  Even big “New York” publishers do this for their authors. 

Self-Publishing –

• Sometimes an author has no luck with traditional publishing because they are unable to find a publisher or an agent that can take their work (regardless if it’s good or not – sometimes the best writing gets rejected over and over again).  OR, they may choose to self-publish for other reasons.  Self-publishing means that the work has not been accepted by a traditional publisher and the author has decided to make a go of publishing it on their own.  There are many free and low-cost ways to do this.

Vanity Publishers –

• Vanity publishers ALWAYS take a fee (usually a substantial one) to publish your book for you.  What do you get?  Depending on how much you pay, you will get copies of your book in print for you to market, sell, distribute, etc.  Some of the vanity presses have editing services (for a fee), marketing services (for a fee), and cover design services (for a fee).  It is rare for an author to be successful when using a Vanity publisher because the initial investment is very high and it's unlikely that they will make a return on their investment. 

 

In conclusion, a Traditional Publisher will NEVER ask you for money.  It is their privilege to publish your book because they believe in you and are willing to take a financial risk on your product.  Self-Publishing is also a viable way of publishing provided you are willing to do the legwork to make sure that your best product is produced, and are ready to make the necessary time/monetary investment to make this possible. 

Ok, I think I covered everything here.  If I made a mistake please let me know.

My Sexy Saturday

This week's snippet is very simple and to the point.  Yesterday was Valentines' Day, and the story this snippet came from takes place around Valentine's Day.  Are you ready for it?  Here it is...

 

“I guess you liked your Valentine’s present."

 

 

Yes, that's it!  That's the snippet.  Who said it?  What was the present?  How do they know the recipient liked it?  These questions that can all be answered within my story. 

The idea behind My Sexy Saturday is to post 7 words, sentences or paragraphs.  And, since my snippet this week was such a major tease, I'll also include my teaser...

Lauren Madison’s life started unraveling at a speed too fast for her to keep up with.  Every truth was torn away, and the pieces that were left painted no clear pictures at all…only more confusion. 

 

The only pillar of strength in her fragile life was David Wagner, her bodyguard who was placed in witness protection, and she was to have no more contact with him.  But, what had he seen that day, and why couldn’t she remember?

 

She had no choice but to run.  And if her life was threatened again, who would be there to protect her?

Find out at:  https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/coming-soon/borealis-ardor-detail
 
BUT, I can't just leave you hanging like this!  Here's a free Valentine's gift from me to you...  Use code: JB57B for a FREE DOWNLOAD of my short story "The Plane Truth" at: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/214003

My Sexy Saturday ( http://www.mysexysaturday.blogspot.com/ ) is a place for authors to showcase snippets of their sexy works with 7 words, 7 sentences, or 7 paragraphs.