Drop and give me five!

Five of my favorite books.

When I woke up this morning, with my brain still foggy from sleep, the little writer-elves in my head yelled out, "Drop and give me five!" What the heck? Where did those words come from? Why?

Now let me explain that I am not one of those people who hop out of bed bright-eyed and full of energy. I don't drop to the floor and do five push-ups, or ten or whatever. If I do five of anything in the morning it's to take five more minutes to doze before I even contemplate getting out of bed. Then I slowly sit up in bed and think about getting up and facing the day.

So why did those little writer-elves, the ones who are supposed to work on great stories during the night, telling me to "Drop and give me five!?" Five what? Well, because I happen to be addicted to books, my not-so-instant response, still being sleepy and all that, was "Five books." Yep, those writer-elves must certainly have been referring to five books and not five push-ups.

Five more of my favorite books.

As I got out of bed, slowly mind you, I started putting together groups of five books. Five books I could read over and over again. Five favorite childhood books. Five classics I've always wanted to read and haven't. Five all-time favorite authors. Five new favorite authors (mind you, I have bunches and bunches of favorite authors). Five favorite romances. Yep, I can do this five-thing with no problem at all.

So I hopped out of bed, grabbed a cup of coffee and headed out to the patio with my dog, Dude. I needed to think on this a bit. I don't rush into anything without downing at least one cup of coffee.

Now I need to back up a minute here. Today is the official first day of fall. As I was falling asleep last night, I remember thinking that I needed to write a new blog post today about the beginning of fall. So I guess my writer-elves did sort of follow my advice. But I certainly didn't expect them to come up with "Drop and give me five!"

Well, here goes. Lists, lists and more lists. I absolutely love making lists of books. This is where I point out that when I have a problem falling asleep at night, I count books instead of sheep.

Five Favorite Books When I Was A Kid:

Savage Sam by Fred Gipson
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster 
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Five Favorite Books I Could Read Over And Over Again:

The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart
Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Five All-Time Favorites:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott

Five More All-Time Favorites:

The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell
Lady of the Glen by Jennifer Roberson
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Turtle Moon by Alice Hoffman
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Five Books I Recently Read That Were Simply Awesome:

The Monmouth Summer by Tim Vicary
Wool (Omnibus Ed.) by Hugh Howey
Golden Boy by R. G. Lawrence
The Hunger Games (Trilogy) by Susanne Collins
The Righteous (Righteous Series, Bks1-3) by Michael Wallace

Five Classics I've Been Wanting To Read:

Middlemarch by George Eliot
Villette by Charlotte Bronte
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Five Favorite 19th Century Authors:

Jane Austen
Thomas Hardy
Henry James
James Fenimore Cooper
George Eliot

Five Favorite 20th Century Authors:

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Ernest Hemingway
Edith Wharton
Zane Grey
Louis L'Amour

Five More Favorite 20th Century Authors:

D. H. Lawrence
John Steinbeck
Willa Cather
Ayn Rand
Ray Bradbury

Five Favorite Contemporary Authors:

Luanne Rice
Alice Hoffman
Ann River Siddons
Bernard Cornwell
Daniel Silva

Five Favorite Romantic Suspense Authors:

Suzanne Brockmann
Carla Neggars
Karen Robards
Stella Cameron
Karen Harper

Five Favorite Romantic Comedy Authors:

Janet Evanovich
Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Jennifer Crusie
Rachel Gibson
Emily Carmichael

Five Favorite Historical Romance Authors:

Marsha Canham
Linda Lael Miller
Catherine Anderson
Candace Proctor
Kat Martin

Five Favorite Contemporary Romance Authors:

Mary Alice Monroe
JoAnn Ross
Jodi Thomas
Jill Marie Landis
Sharon Sala (aka Dinah McCall)

Five New Favorite Authors:

Jan Romes
Maureen A. Miller
R. G. Lawrence
Tim Vicary
Barbara Freethy

Five Indie Authors I Think You Should Try:

Molly Greene
Christine Nolfi
Ellis Vidler
Benjamin X. Wretlind
Michael K. Rose

Five More Indie Authors I Think You Should Try:

C. L. R. Dougherty
Pete Palamountain
J. D. Currie
Carmen DeSousa
Jinx Schwartz

The above lists of books and authors are by no means all of my favorites. As I've said many times before, I'm passionate about, in love with, addicted to books. Please feel free to comment below and add your favorite authors and books.

NOTE: In the right hand column toward the bottom of my blog you'll find "Indies Rock!" which is a link list of Indie authors you really ought to check out.

A Tale of Two Stories

Flowers on my patio.

I just finished reading two books, both "tall tales" so unbelievable, so poorly written, so poorly edited that I wanted to throw them across the room. However, I was reading them on my new Kindle Fire, which my husband gave me on my birthday back in July. Let it be known, I love my Kindle Fire, so I couldn't bring myself to throw it across the room. On the the other hand ... yeah, on the other hand, I was very irritated after reading each of these books.

I buy a lot of books. In fact, I buy more books than I really should, but I love books. I'm passionate about books. Yes, I admit, I'm addicted to books. So here's the deal. I spent good money on both of those books and though the cost was minimal, I did feel a bit cheated.

Here's my beef. I keep hearing about how Indie books are crap. Yes, there are people out there who use that exact word or worse. These same people rave about how traditionally published books are edited by a zillion of the best editors out there, which makes those books superior. Then there are some Indies, or should I say self-published (as some insist they're not Indies, but self-published), who claim to spend tons of money to have their books edited by the best editors in the business and, therefore, their books are superior to those not edited by the best of the best. If you can afford a high-priced editor, that's great, though most of us Indies or self-pubs don't have that kind of money. But that's all neither here nor there.

Okay, there are great editors and not-so-great editors. I'm not attacking editors here, just saying that some are better than others. Also, some self-editors are better than some paid editors, but that really isn't my issue either. What I'm saying is, the best editor in the world can't "make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." If the story itself is crap, absurd, awful, terrible, you pick the word(s) you want to use, then the book falls short. In other words, the book itself is something not worth reading.

Now, as I was saying, I recently read two books, one by an Indie and one by a traditionally published author I've read through the years and have loved. Both books were so bad that I'm still steaming. Yes, that is steam coming out of my ears.

Here's the deal. If you are writing a book that has as its central theme, setting, what-have-you, around a true event (contemporary or historical) then get your facts right. A reader will probably (not always) accept your tall tale if you get the facts right. For the two books in question, the facts were so skewed they must have been written about a parallel universe.

I'll be the first to admit that fiction is not reality. Fiction is a story, make-believe, yes, a tall tale. But there is a difference here. I've read many a tall tale that was awesome. In my opinion, what makes a book great is when the reader can somehow identify with one or more elements of the story. Hopefully the hero or heroine is someone you can identify with or admire. Or maybe it's the setting that is so real, that the unbelievable characters seem to fit in okay.

The problem comes in when the facts are skewed beyond recognition, the characters are so unbelievable and/or have no redeeming features and the action is beyond the possible. That's when a book falls flat. That's when a reader feels cheated.

I will in future be even more selective of the books I decide to read. My time is precious and I don't want to waste a minute of it reading a book that leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. As a reader, I expect a book to have some redeeming features. I expect a book to be edited, not necessarily to perfection, but at least enough to make it readable. I expect at least one character to have something about them that I admire, can identify with, or at least can have compassion for that poor soul. I expect the storyline to at least be something I can swallow.

If the book is science-fiction, paranormal or fantasy, then as a reader I expect unreality, magic, the fantastic. But if the book is a contemporary, and your story is set around something that really happened, then I expect some truths. The same goes with a historical. Get the facts right and a reader will accept your tall tale if it's not too unbelievable.

I have to say that I read a lot of books. Most are good or very good and many are excellent. I read books by Indie authors and traditionally published authors. I do not expect a book to be perfect, but I do expect a good read. I make allowances for a book not being in my favorite genre. In fact, I've read a lot of great books that are not what I normally would read. It's the story that makes it great.

Now I want to explain why I chose the above photo to illustrate this post. The yellow and gold flowers are mums, recognizable flowers you can buy at most any store that sells flowers. The purple and white flowers are wildflowers. They are both beautiful. In my mind, Indie books are the wildflowers and traditionally published books are the store-bought flowers. They are both beautiful, exquisite, meant to be enjoyed.

What I ask of all authors, myself included, is to write that beautiful flower of a book. Make it the best story that you can. Edit it (either self-edit or professionally edit) the best possible. If it's an eBook, then format it correctly. If you can't do it yourself, then get someone to help you. There are guidelines out there that walk you through every step of the formatting process. Granted some books will be edited or formatted better than others. I admit, it's all a learning process, but honestly try to get it right, or at least readable. Check all your facts. You might miss something, but if you get the basic facts right, your reader will most likely overlook the rest.  Then write the best story you possibly can.

Below are some books that I've read over the last year that particularly stand out in my mind. They may or may not be perfect in all respects, but every one of them was a great read. So here are some of them (listed in no particular order).

Wool (Omnibus Edition) by Hugh Howey
The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
Emotional Waves by Maureen A. Miller
The Circle by R. G. Lawrence
Golden Boy by R. G. Lawrence
Judgement Tramp by J. D. Currie
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Desert Wives by Betty Webb
Mark of the Loon by Molly Greene
SEAL of My Dreams by Stephanie Bond, et. al.
One Small Fib by Jan Romes
Lucky Ducks by Jan Romes
Bluewater Killer by C. L. R. Dougherty
Runaway Twins by Pete Palamountain
Paper Roses by Amanda Cabot
Conor's Way by Laura Lee Guhrke
Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer
Come Back to Me by Melissa Foster
The Righteous (Righteous Series - Bks 1-3) by Michael Wallace
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Drinking with Dead Women Writers  by Elaine Abrose & A. K. Turner
The Independence of Carolyn Woltkowski by Benjamin X. Wretlind
Sullivan's War by Michael K. Rose
A Shore Thing (Otter Bay) by Marie Force
Dead Until Dark (A Sookie Stackhouse Novel) by Charlaine Harris
Mai Tai One On by Jill Marie Landis
Eyewall by H. W. "Buzz" Bernard

I'm sure I've left some out of the list above. This is by no means all the great books I've read over the past year. Sorry, but I didn't include any of the great short stories that I've been reading lately. I only wanted to list novels, novellas and anthologies in this list.

What am I reading now? Well, I'm almost always reading more than one book. So at this very moment I'm reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, which I read back in my college days and decided to reread. I'm also reading Sketches from the Spanish Mustang by Benjamin X. Wretlind, which is awesome.

I hope that other readers will comment below and add some of their recommended great reads. There are so many great books out there and not nearly enough time in which to read them all.

PLEASE NOTE: I did not, will not, ever leave a bad review anywhere for these two unnamed books.  Both had some redeeming features or I wouldn't have read them. I'm just very disappointed. They could have been so much better with a little more effort. As a rule, I don't write bad reviews on books. If I can't write a good/nice review, then I don't review the book. So please forgive me, but this time I just had to vent.

Indies Rock!

OUTBACK LOVE, an Indie Novel

Once again it is time to talk about Indies, both the Indie authors and those great <grin> Indie books we write. Just sayin'...

For those who are not quite sure, Indies are those writers not published by the big traditional publishing houses. Some Indies are published by small independent publishing houses or epubbed by the authors themselves. Hence the term, "Indie."

Contrary to what some people think, Indie is not a derogatory term. In fact, we Indies wear it like a badge. Being an Indie means we have to do all the hard work ourselves. The writing, rewriting, editing, re-editing, formatting, re-formatting, marketing, etc. You get the picture.

We Indies use our family members, best friends, Beta readers, paid editors and even our pets (dogs, cats, birds,etc.) to help us get that Indie book into the best shape ever.

Indie family members and friends soon learn to run the other way when they see us coming. "No, no, no! I'm not going to read your book one more time!" We quickly learn to bribe others to read our books, just to check for that elusive misspelled word or, heaven forbid, the wrong word. Babysitting? Sure! Mow your lawn? Sure! Buy you a beer? A whole case? Sure! Buy you a bottle of wine? Vintage wine? Sure! Anything to get someone to read that book one more time.

Indies have a big advantage over traditionally published authors. We do? Of course! We Indies write those books we have to write. We write those books that don't fit in that perfectly formed hole. Our books cross genres. A paranormal romantic comedy? Sure! A historical romantic horror thriller with a touch of comedy? Sure! We write those books that spring from our hearts and our souls.

Being an Indie is a scary thing at times. We Indies write the best books we can possibly create/conjure/birth and then put them out there for the whole reading world to read/analyze/love and sometimes even hate. Then we follow it up with another Indie book, and another, and another. We're determined souls if nothing else. We believe in the stories we write. We believe there are readers out there who will love those stories. So we keep writing, believing and offering our Indie books to others to read.

These are great times in which we live, because we Indies have the opportunity and ability to epub our books. Amazon/Kindle, Barnes&Noble/Nook, Apple/iPad, Sony, Kobo, Diesel, Smashwords, Goodreads, etc., all list Indie eBooks for readers to sample and hopefully buy. A few years back eBooks didn't exist, so this Indie thing is pretty darn new. Isn't it exciting? Think of all the great books available at just the click of a button.

I not only write Indie books, I read them too. Lots of them. Frankly, I've come to the realization that Indie authors and Indie books rock! Yessiree, Indies Rock! I keep adding Indie books to my Kindle and read them as fast as I can. Is it an addiction? Definitely! I love the diversity of Indie books. I love the excitement of reading something new and different, something that isn't a repeat of the books of yore.

If you haven't read an Indie book then you need to start now. It's a grand experience. Many Indies, me included, offer one or more books for free so readers can try out a new author. Isn't that cool? It's a free sample so you know what you're getting.  Other Indies offer one or more books at $0.99 for the same reason. A book for a buck? You betcha! On the whole, Indie books cost less than traditionally published books, because we Indies have a lower overhead in epubbing our books. We can afford to offer our books at lower prices.

Not all Indie books are free or $0.99 for the very reason that books take months and often years to write. Plus, Indie authors often have to pay for book covers, editors, marketing, etc. In addition, we do want/need to make some money now and then. You know, we Indies do have bills to pay and we like to eat now and then too. So you'll find that many Indie books are priced in the $1.99 to $4.99 price range and sometimes more. Compared to traditionally published books, it's still a bargain.

I'm not suggesting that readers switch from traditionally published books to Indie books. Of course not. We all have our favorite traditionally published authors that we'll never abandon. Just as readers are willing to try new traditionally published authors, readers will hopefully be willing to try Indies too. I guarantee that you'll love the experience.

Now just as a warning, I don't guarantee that you'll love every Indie book you read, just as you don't love every traditionally published book you read. All I ask is that you give Indies a try. I know you'll find many books you'll love and many new favorite authors.

In the event you're not familiar with Indies, at the bottom of the column to the right on my blog you'll find a link list, Indies Rock! I hope you'll try out some of their Indie books. Please keep checking back because the list will be growing. I won't be able to list all Indie authors, hey there are bunches of us, but at least it will be a starting point. Just to confuse you, some Indies authors are also traditionally published authors too.

If you're on Twitter you'll note that a lot of Indie authors add the hashtag, #BuyIndie, on their tweets. I use that hashtag and another, #CelebrateIndies. Now I'm adding a new hashtag, #IndiesRock! I hope other Indies will use that from time to time too just so our readers can find our books.

I hope Indie authors and/or Indie readers/reviewers will add comments below. Authors please feel free to add a short blurb about your book(s) and include a link to your blog/web-site. Readers/reviewers please feel free to mention Indie books or authors you love and/or links to your blog/web-sites. In future posts I hope to interview some of those great Indie authors. You see, another unique thing about Indies, we Indies support Indies. Isn't that cool?

A note to Indie authors/readers/reviewers: Please email me a link to your blog/web-site, comment below or Tweet me if you want to be added to my "Indies Rock!" list. Some of you will find that your link has already been added. I know that I'm forgetting a bunch of you, so please help me out here.

Talking About Reviews

Seagulls Talking About Reviews

I am trying to understand the concept of writing book reviews. As a reader and as a writer/author, I am looking at this issue from two different angles.

Until last year, when I became a published Indie author, I always considered reviews from the angle of a reader. I read a lot of books and some I consider so great that I want to talk about them. Those are the books I want to shout to the world, "Hey, you have to read this! This book is great, stupendous, glorious, outstanding, incredible, amazing, awesome!" You get the picture.

I wrote a fair number of those reviews on Amazon about books I loved and thought others would love too. I penned 5-Star Reviews for the ones I loved the most and 4-Star Reviews for those I enjoyed and felt them good enough to recommend to others. So for me, reviews were all about recommending a good/great book to other readers. It never dawned on me that reviews might be written for another purpose.

Now, as an Indie author, I'm hearing that reviews are really for constructive criticism to tell the author what's wrong with his or her book and how to make it into a better book. Huh? Did I hear that right? Now let's look at this from the author's point of view. Said author has spent one, or two, or more years writing a novel. Said author has put his/her whole heart and soul into that novel. Now that novel is published and out there for the reading public to read, savor and hopefully enjoy/love. But wait, a reviewer comes on the scene.

This reviewer may or may not be an author. That part doesn't really matter. But this reviewer wasn't part of that blood, sweat and tears process. This review says, "This book is a piece of crap and should be thrown in the garbage." Say what? I'm not making this up. I've seen so many reviews like this one that I've lost count.

I like to study things and analyze the whys and wherefores of something. So I've made it a point of studying reviews, hundreds of reviews, maybe into the thousands by now. I've studied reviews written on books by best selling authors published by the Big Six,  books written by genre authors, books written by Indie authors. The reviews that say, "This book is a piece of crap..." run the gamut of all those categories of books.

Now we're going back to the constructive criticism part of reviews. Is the review that says, "This book is a piece of crap..." constructive criticism? Or is this just pure meanness being vented at some hapless author? This is what I'm trying to understand. If this is constructive criticism, is the author truly supposed to take the reviewer at his or her word and throw the book in the garbage?

Here's an example of 1 and 2-Star Reviews for a single book. One review says, "This book is so bad the author should never write another book as long as she lives." Another review says, "I was looking for a romantic comedy and this is anything but." Another says, "I would have liked the book but it didn't have enough dialogue." Another says, "Too much talk and not enough action." Another says, "Not enough sex." Another says, "Warning, explicit sex. Don't read." Now, if this is constructive criticism, what is this author supposed to do?

Assuming this author can pull the book off the market and make changes, what changes need to be made? Add more dialogue? Or less dialogue? Add more action? Or less action? Add more sex/romance? Or clean up the explicit sex?

In most cases, the book has gone through a publisher, either the Big Six or one of the zillions of smaller publishers out there. So the book can't be pulled off the shelves, rewritten and then republished. The result, these reviewers have virtually just killed this book. Most readers will now pass on this book, because obviously it has too many problems to be read by anyone.

If this author happens to be an Indie who self-pubbed, maybe the book can be pulled and rewritten and re-published. But to whose standards? Reviewer A, B, C, D or ? Which reviewer is really in the know and can tell that author exactly what needs to be done to improve that book? No matter how you look at it, this is a no win situation, because when the book is rewritten it's most likely going to garner another whole set of 1 and 2-Star Reviews.

Then there's the reviewer who wrote that 1-Star Review and said, "This book is so bad the author should never write another book as long as she lives." Does the author take that reviewer at his or her word and never write another book again? Sadly, some authors do just that. Authors are sensitive souls who put it all on the line when they offer a book to the reading public. Does the reading public, the reviewers, have the right to destroy that writer's career and break that writer's heart and soul? I don't think so.

Another side to all this, I've heard many reviewers say that all 5-Star Reviews are suspect because no book is perfect. That may or may not be true, but as a reviewer is it your job to find every flaw in a book and point it out to the world? Is that what reviewing is all about?

I can honestly say that I don't think I've ever read a single book that didn't have a misspelled word, a missing word, the wrong word, grammatical errors, a typo. Even with the innovation of spellcheck, errors get through. Even with editors and beta readers, errors get through. It's a fact of life. Writers are only human and so are the editors and beta readers. What I'm getting at is that people aren't perfect, so why should we expect the books they write to be perfect?

I think we need to back up here and determine the real purpose for writing a book review. This isn't like in college when we had to write a paper, literary criticism, of some classic. Reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes&Noble, etc. are not meant to be literary criticism. Unless I've got it all wrong, these reviews are to recommend or not recommend books to other readers. If you really loved a book, shouldn't that be a 5-Star review? If you only liked the book, shouldn't that be a 4-Star Review? If you read it, but you're not particularly crazy about it, shouldn't that be a 3-Star Review?

Personally, if I can't write a 4 or 5-Star Review on a book then I don't write a review. I don't believe it's my place to point out the flaws to another author. So I don't write 1, 2 or 3-Star Reviews. Like I said, that's a personal thing. When I write a 5-Star Review it's because I absolutely loved the book and think others will love it too. I'm not saying, "This book is perfect." We've already come to the agreement that no books are perfect, though actually I think I've read some perfect books through the years.

Personally, I'm a bit offended if someone would think that a 5-Star Review I happened to write on a book is suspect. If I say I loved a book and think you'll love it to, well, I mean just that. I'm not writing that review to make points, or please a friend, or trying to see how many 5-Star Reviews I can write. If I love a book, it's a 5-Star book. That's all there is to it. For me a 4-Star Review is a book I really enjoyed, but it didn't get into my "best of the best" books that I love. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the book. It just means that particular book didn't resonate in my soul, didn't have that extra "zing" that made me say, "Oh, wow!" A book that I write a 4-Star Review may be a 5-Star book for someone else. We all have different likes and dislikes.

I'd really like to know what other readers, reviewers, writers, authors think about reviews. Why do you write reviews? What is the purpose of those reviews? What are you hoping to achieve by writing those reviews? I hope you'll join this discussion.

I happen to love great reviews and not love the mean reviews, it's as simple as that. First off, I think it's wonderful that someone would a) buy one of my books, b) read one of my books, c) take the time out of their busy schedule to write a review about one of my books. I can't thank those readers/reviewers enough. You are wonderful, incredible, awesome people!

Now here's one of my pet peeves, and it happens to the best selling authors, the Indie authors and everyone in between. Why would anyone write a 1-Star Review about a book they've never bought or never read? Is this to just be mean? Is this to eliminate the competition? Is it because the reviewer got out of the wrong side of the bed in the morning or his/her toast was burned? What motivates a person to do that?

I can't tell you the number of 1-Star Reviews I've read that go something like this, "The book was so terrible I couldn't get past the first page." If that's the case, get a refund on the book, take it to the library or the used bookstore, give it to someone on the street, throw it in the garbage. Why in the world waste precious time writing about why you couldn't read past the first page?

I read a 1-Star Review this morning on book that was a best seller years back and has now been brought out as an ebook. This reviewer went on a tirade, about a thousand words in length, about why she couldn't read beyond the first page. To sum it up, she couldn't get past the first page because, a) the book was different from what she expected it to be and b) the book had religious elements and this reader didn't like religious books. All I can say is, read the free excerpt on a book before buying it. Most bookstores or online book distributors will take the book back and give a refund. This particular review was on the Amazon/Kindle version of a book. Amazon will take the ebook back and give a refund. It's not necessary to rant and rave about it.

I've bought many books that turned out to be different from what I thought they were going to be. I read them anyway and usually find the journey enjoyable. Sometimes I come across a book that just doesn't come together for me. Maybe it's too slow or too violent or it doesn't have that "zing" that I've mentioned before. I put the book back on the shelf and often give it a try later. Many a time I've picked up one of those books and found I loved it at the second try. I can only imagine that the first attempt I was in the wrong frame of mind to read that particular book. For those books, very few I might add, that just don't do it for me, I pass them on. I give them to a neighbor, a used bookstore, the library. I've never thrown a book in the garbage and never come across a book I thought should be thrown in the garbage. But remember, this is just me, this is just my personal opinion.

Thank you to all who have read this lengthy post. As you can probably tell, this is an issue I feel passionate about. I think it's incredible to have the privilege to be both a reader and a writer/author. This is a dream come true. I know it's a dream come true for countless others too. I can only wish all other writers/authors the very best in their dreams. It's certainly not my purpose in life to write reviews that destroy that dream. Just sayin'...

I hope you'll add your comments to this post. I truly feel this is something we can and should talk about. By the way, I'm just sure this is what those two seagulls were talking about the other day on Pensacola Beach.

Celebrate Indies - Part 2

Teri Heyer, Indie Author

I keep saying we need to celebrate Indie Authors. Hey, since I am one of those Indie Authors, I need to celebrate me. Makes sense, right?

Well, here is a photo taken of me earlier this month. This is where and how I write, in a recliner with my feet up, my laptop on my lap and surrounded by books. This is in the living room. My house is tiny, so I don't have an office. The flat screened TV is in the far corner. I might be watching football, an old movie, the Top 20 Country or the news. If the TV is off I'm listening to country music. I like background noise while I write. If I was sitting in a quiet office I probably wouldn't be able to write a thing.

Most of the time my two dogs, Shani and Dude, are asleep at either side of my chair. They need their beauty sleep and don't want to be disturbed unless it's time to eat, go for a walk, or to sit outside on the patio.

I look out through two double windows that are almost floor to ceiling and that face the front yard. My view is of two old giant Naval Oaks, some native palms, colorful azaleas and lots of potted flowering plants. My neighbors have yards full of flowers and trees, including flowering magnolias, so it's a beautiful view.

The windows are open and a nice spring breeze is blowing through the house. An assortment of birds are singing out there. From time to time a squirrel sits in a flower pot and looks through the windows. I guess he or she is checking to make sure I'm still on the computer.

This is where I get my inspiration, right here in this comfy chair. Though I have to admit that some of my inspiration comes from dreams, those little elves in my head creating stories while I sleep.

I live close to the beach, only a couple miles away. So any time I feel like it I can go walk on that sugar-white sand and wade in the turquoise waters of the gulf.

Right now I'm sipping a tall Tequila Sunrise, though usually I'm drinking coffee while I write. Snack foods are a plus, crackers and cheese, celery with cream cheese or something chocolate. Yes, I love chocolate. I'm sure that chocolate keeps the inspiration going.

So yes, I'm an Indie Author and today I'm celebrating me. We Indie Authors are awesome! So please take the time to try out some of our books. We all have some great stories to tell.

Support Indies Month

As an Indie author I am elated to hear others say that February should be "Support Indies Month." For those readers who still are not sure of the definition of an Indie, I will try to explain.

There are six big publishing houses and a whole lot of small publishing houses. Unfortunately, a lot of really good authors are overlooked by the big name publishers. Why? Because there are more writers/authors than the big publishing houses are willing or able to publish.

Until the ebook industry arrived, all those unrepresented authors had nowhere to turn to get their books published. Some were picked up by the small publishing houses. Others paid outrageous fees for vanity press publishing which generally resulted in limited exposure and very limited sales. Other writers just kept on writing, in spite of the fact that they'd probably never get published. Those writers stored up poems, short stories, novellas, novels, memoirs in boxes under their beds, in closets, in garages, in storage sheds and on their computers. Years and years of writing was stored away in hopes that someday those books would see the light of day.

So this is how the Indie industry came about. With the creation of ebooks, eReaders (like Kindle, Nook, iPad, etc.) and Indie publishing (like KDP, Smashwords and others), Indie books became available. Amazon seems to have taken the lead in the ePub Industry with Smashwords and others following behind. I don't want to get into an argument here over who was first or best. I can only testify by my own experience that Amazon's KDP has been a boon to Indie authors.

Now here's where it gets tricky. Not all Indies are Indies. Many ePub books are backlists from authors who wrote for the big six publishing houses. Now that their book rights have been returned to them, they're ePubbing their backlists. So in effect, many big name authors are now also Indie authors. This is cool. As a reader, I love discovering old favorites being ePubbed and now available as ebooks which I'm rapidly adding to my Kindle.

Here's where I point out (every chance I get) that I love my Kindle, because it has the capacity to hold thousands of ebooks on one small device that fits in my purse. I think of it as a miniature library that I take along with me everywhere I go. If I eventually fill my Kindle to capacity (which I haven't done yet), then I can archive thousands more ebooks in the Cloud. Then I can switch the books around from my Kindle to the Cloud and back again whenever I want. Isn't that cool?

This is also where I point out that eReaders are a matter of choice. I happened to fall in love with Amazon books long before the Kindle hit the market. So it was a perfect fit for me to buy a Kindle. Other devotees of say, Barnes and Noble, swear by the Nook. Others (those with more money than me) swear by the iPad. There are other eReaders out there, so as a reader the choice is yours.

Now back to the issue of Indie authors. Some people (I won't name names here) think that Indie authors are inferior writers because they weren't published by the big six somewhere along the line. Since I'm an Indie author myself, I refute that claim. There are a lot of amazing, wonderful, spectacular, awesome Indie authors out there. Gee, I hope I hit somewhere in that spectrum, but you never know. Anyway, yes, some Indie books may not be as good or as polished as others, but all of them are books that you, as a reader, would never have discovered if it wasn't for the ePub Industry.

Think of Indie books as unpolished gems just waiting for you to discover and read. Try to overlook some of those formatting problems (believe me, formatting can be a bitch at times). Try to overlook the sometimes less than perfect editing. After all, this is a new industry and Indie authors are learning their trade. Just remember that it's the story that counts and Indie books are filled with incredible stories.

A handful of Indie authors recently decided that February should be "Support Indies Month." As I've already pointed out, since I'm an Indie author I'm elated that we should have a month of our very own. However, I'm also hoping this will grow into a "Support Indies Year." In the long run, I'm hoping that readers will finally accept Indie authors as welcome members of the book industry. Honest, we have great stories to tell and we want readers to enjoy those stories. So in the end, it's all about the readers and offering them every kind of story imaginable.So yes, February needs to be "Support Indies Month," but don't forget to support Indie authors all year long.

What Would We Do Without Indies?

I keep asking myself, "What would we do without Indies?" I mean, really, think about it. There are like a zillion indie books out there right now, mine included. Many of them are really great reads (mine included?).

I wonder how many people are born with the "writer gene." Yeah, there has to be some genetic connection to being a writer. We're wired for story telling. Something, from the moment we are born, is telling us that we have to tell stories, have to embellish the life around us. We write this cool stuff and try to convince others to read it.

Well, I'm digressing here. I wanted to write about Indies, those mysterious writers who lately popped out of nowhere in record numbers. Actually, we've been here all along, writing our little fingers to the bone. We've been making up stories from the crib. Yeah, that's not my poop in the diaper. The dog did it. Our stories started in the crib and have progressed from there.

There's a lot of controversy over Indies. Are we good enough to be published? Do we have something worthwhile to say? Well, of course we do. We've been writing this stuff down since day one. No one has paid us to write these stories. We just started writing and can't stop no matter how often the world tries to beat us down. Monetary reward has never been our thing. We just write because we have to write.

So most of us Indies have bunches of short stories, poems, novellas and novels stored on our computers, in boxes in our closets or under our beds, in stacks by the bedside, in storage in the garage. It's been said that everyone has a story to tell. Well, a number of us keep writing this stuff down, day after day, month after month, year after year.

Most of us Indies actually tried to get published through the years, but to no avail. I have bunches of rejection letters, most from my earliest years of writing. I started out with a published poem in my late teens. I was sure that would eventually lead to published short stories and novels. It didn't happen, but I kept on writing.

I remember one of my early rejections for a short story. It went something like this, "I love your short story, but short stories are no longer popular. If you'd written this before, then it would have been published." Huh? Before what? I've always wondered.

My first contemporary romance novel garnered similar responses. An agent said, "If I'd only worked with you from the beginning." The beginning of what? The beginning of the novel? The beginning of time? What beginning?

Somewhere along the way I got brave enough to let one of my college professors read a suspense thriller I was working on. I really trusted this professor. He'd read a couple of my short stories and liked them. So I figured, what the heck, let him read the first five chapters of my novel. Bad mistake. This professor slammed my novel, actually said it was the worst thing he'd ever read. Was I really that bad? Needless to say, I was devastated.

Well, I went home and gathered up everything I'd written up to that date, with the exception of a few poems. The short stories, my novel, writing notes, everything, went into a big pile. Do you know what I did with that stuff? I burned it all. Yep, every bit of it. If I was that terrible of a writer, then it all had to be destroyed.

Two weeks later my professor approached me and apologized. He said he'd been thinking about my novel for the last couple weeks and he realized that it really was good. He explained that he didn't normally read suspense thrillers, so he had a negative reaction to my novel. Only when he thought about it, he realized that I really could write, that I had a way with dialogue, etc., etc. He said I really needed to finish my novel.

Did I tell my professor that I'd burned the novel and all the rest of my writing? No! Did I try to rewrite what I'd destroyed? No! I considered it a lesson learned. Then I started on a new novel (one that is still sitting in a box somewhere). I've accepted the fact that everyone has an opinion. Some love what you write and some will hate every word.

Now fast forward by many years. Am I still writing? Yes. Did I ever burn any more of my work? No! I keep everything, all my notes, all my ideas, all my partials. I keep writing because I have to write. Oh, there have been years in between when I put aside my writing and turned to other things, like working a day job dreaming that someday I'd go back to writing.

So here's where I get back to the Indie thing again. Ask any Indie author and they'll tell you about their long road to ePubbing their books. They all wrote and wrote and got rejected and kept on writing. How can we not write? We have all these stories to tell, stories we hope others will read.

The ePub industry has been our release. After years of hard work and dreams our stories are out there. Many of these Indie books are incredible reads. If it wasn't for the ePub industry these books would still be hiding out in boxes or still taking shape in our heads.

Think of these indie books as little gems, little nuggets of gold. Read them, savor them. They may not be perfect, but they're glimpses into worlds that never would have existed if it wasn't for the ePub industry. Do we really want Indies to go away?

Learning to be an Indie Author - Part 1

Some things in life are more difficult than others. Learning to be an Indie Author is one of the more difficult ones. I love to write and have been doing so almost as long as I can remember. But translating that into ePubbed books is a long process of trial and error, learning all along the way. This is definitely not something for the faint of heart.

First off, you need a book: a short story, novella or novel. Then you have to edit until you don't want to ever see it again as long as you live. And then you have to edit some more. It helps to have other eyes look at it too. But in this busy world, it's not always easy to find someone who will go through your book with a fine tooth comb. At best, a friend or family member will read the story and let you know what they would have done if it was their book. Not sure if this is really helpful.

I've heard authors say they bribe their friends to read and edit. Oh, yeah? And just where did you find those wonderful friends? I don't know anyone who has the time to carefully read and edit a novel, let alone a short story.

Even when I belonged to writers' groups, they only edited anywhere from the first three pages or, if lucky, the first chapter. No one edited a whole book for someone else, not even when I was a member of the Cactus Rose Chapter of RWA. I still have all those old edits on partials that I boxed up years ago. Gee, I really loved the comments like, "I wouldn't put a kid in the story if I was writing it." Well, if I took the "kid" out, it wouldn't be the same story. Sheesh! Or how about, "A four year old wouldn't talk that way, she'd talk baby talk." Huh? My two and a half year old twin granddaughters don't even talk "baby talk." They talk in full sentences and the words are very clear. So edits like that don't help a writer at all. Those kind of edits/comments are just someone else's opinion and nothing else.

For instance, my husband wrote a sci-fi story that was edited by a writers' group. One of the edits was, "Your premise is all wrong." So what are you supposed to do? Throw out the whole story? Another writer said, "I loved your story." So do you keep the story? Or throw it out? Or completely rewrite the thing?

Having friends/family members edit could cause life-long resentments between said parties. I'd hate to lose a good friend over some stupid comments made about my story, novella, novel. Of course, I have some great friends who, for some perverse reason, happen to like what I write.

So now we come to the aspect of having a stranger edit your book. There's the major problem that Indie Authors are usually pretty poor and can't afford to pay a few hundred dollars to have someone edit their books. Yes, there are "starving writers" out there, just like there are "starving artists." Several hundred dollars per book for edits just isn't in my budget right now. This is where I apologize to my readers. I can't afford an independent editor.

There are some advantages though. I have a Bachelor of Arts in English. That has to count for something. I know how to edit and have edited other peoples' writing, so I should be qualified to edit my own. Plus, I did technical writing for years. I mean, I was actually paid to write. So that should count for something. So I can and do edit my own work. It doesn't mean I'll catch everything, but I do the best I can.

Now we're back to square one about learning to be an Indie Author. You've written your book and edited the heck out of it. Now you have to make sure it's formatted correctly. So you go over and over it with another fine tooth comb to correct any formatting problems. You and Word have become close friends and adversaries at the same time.  You learn to plead with Word and praise it and, at the same time, curse it's quirks. But eventually you get the formatting right too.

Now, you have to learn how to ePub on Kindle Direct Publishing, Smashwords and if you're really daring, on other sites. The first few times is often trial and error. What's a vetter error? You'd better read the Smashwords Style Guide. KDP has it's own quirks too, so you have to read the Kindle Direct Publishing Style Guide too. In fact, you start reading style guides and how-to-ePub books like they're going out of style. You learn some things, but mostly just get confused. Eventually, you just jump in there and ePub your first book.

You think the second book will be easier to ePub, but you're wrong. By the time the second book is ready to ePub, you've forgotten everything you learned the first time around. The third book isn't much easier. I'm told that eventually it all starts to click in your "old brain" and it gets easier. I'm still waiting for that moment.

Before I forget, Indie Authors need to learn about book covers. Remember all those gorgeous book covers that you've taken for granted for years? Well, now you have to create one of your own. If you have an enterprising, talented (though very stubborn) husband like I have, then you're halfway to a good cover. I must say some interesting arguments (fights?) can occur over book cover design. In the end, if you're lucky (and still married) you have a great book cover. Then you have to figure out how to add the cover to your formatted book. Nope, nothing is easy in the early learning process, but it has to improve somewhere down the line. Doesn't it?

I'm realizing now that this post is a really long one. So I'm breaking it into parts in order to get Part 1 out there. Part 2 will be posted soon. Thanks for your patience. Oh, did I forget to mention that patience is one of the most important parts of being an Indie Author? Well, I'll get into that later.

(NOTE - Please forgive me for any errors in this post. I don't have time to do a fine-tooth-comb edit of this post. I just wanted to get this info/advice out there for anyone thinking about becoming an Indie Author. I don't intend to discourage anyone. My intent is purely to let you know that it's not easy. Read all you can about ePubbing and it will help you along the way. I would spend more time on this post, only I have my next ebook, Bayou Blues and Other Sorrows, which is running behind schedule. I intended to make the book available online today. Only I was sick for the last week and lost all that time. So please forgive me for the delay. Bayou Blues... will be available in the next week or so. Thank you for being patient. Please check back over the next few days to read more posts about "Learning to be an Indie Author.")

No Winners

There were no winners for my "Outback Love" contest.  I guess no one wants to win a book by a new indie author. Oh, well. Maybe sometime down the line?

This brings to mind writer/author, Karin Cox's, recent blog post about "Respect." It's all about the need for respect between authors and the need for respect from authors for their readers. I think all writers/authors should read that post. You can find it at: karincox.wordpress.com

I'm noticing there's a great deal of animosity from established authors against indie authors. I haven't personally experienced animosity directed at me, but I've heard from other indie authors, ones who have been out there in the fray longer than I have. In some cases, it's carried to the point of hatred. Apparently, established authors think indie authors are going to take away their books sales and fans. Well, if an indie author is good enough to attract fans and book sales, then bravo. That's an author who should be published, whether it's with a big name publishing house or ePub.

The ePub industry is here to stay, whether established authors like it or not. I understand, that's a scary proposition. Will paper book sales drop? Yes! Will ebook sales increase? Yes! That's a fact of life. Times are changing. We can't stop progress. So we just have to learn to live and work with it.

I have to admit the ePub industry is a Godsend for me. I started writing seriously in my college days. I got zillions of rejection letters, but none were rejected due to the content of my writing. I was told one novel, "Firefall," sounded great, but it was too long (899 pages) for an unpublished author. I was advised to write something shorter. I wrote "Outback Love" and was told that they'd publish it if I was already a published author. Huh?

I received rejections from agents, my favorite being, "If I could only have worked with you from the beginning." The beginning of my novel? The beginning of the romance industry? The beginning of the publishing industry? The beginning of time? I never got an answer on that.

Yes, I kept every one of those rejection letters. I wanted to keep a paper trail of my writing career. Due to all those rejections, I wrote in spurts. A year or two of writing and then years of working, family and living life. More years of writing. Then more years of living. This pattern went on and on. All those years in between just added more fuel to the fire. It gave me more life experiences to write about, more travels and locales to add to my books.

I'm not the kind of person who gives up easily. Though the years I've just kept writing. A poem was published in a literary magazine. Several articles about boating were published in national boating magazines. I wrote bunches of short stories, none of which were published, but I enjoyed writing them. My favorite rejections on my short stories were received on "Harry's Garden." I received two rejection letters on the same day for "Harry's Garden." At that time, I'd long since given up sending my stories out to just one magazine at a time. I was sending the stories out to two or three at a time, supposedly a no-no, but I did it anyway. Oh, my!

Anyway, two rejection letters arrived simultaneously for "Harry's Garden." One said, "I love the beginning of your story." The other said, "I love the end of your story." Huh? I thought, why couldn't the two get together and decide they loved the whole story? By the way, I love "Harry's Garden" and it will eventually be ePubbed in my collection of short stories and poems, "Bayou Blues and Other Sorrows," which I plan to ePub before too long.

Rejection letters don't mean you're a poor writer. Acceptance from a publishing house doesn't mean you're a great writer. It's all about writing the best novels, novellas, short stories or poetry that you can. Then it's about timing. Was the reader having a good or bad day? Had the reader just finished three manuscripts ahead of yours, all with the same theme? Did your reader just happen to love your hero or heroine, because the reader identified with one or both at that particular moment in time? It also has a lot to do with luck. Did the stars, moon and planets align in the precise way on that particular day?

I don't regret getting rejection slips through the years. They made me a better and more determined writer. For several years I was a member of RWA and the Cactus Rose Chapter. Along with a couple other writing friends, we started Desert Rogues, our own writing group. Several writers came and went in our group, but eventually there were just four of us, whom I mentioned in a previous blog post, but here they are again: Ruth Kerce (who writes erotica, ruthkerce.blogspot.com ), Michele Bardsley (who writes urban paranormals and romantic comedy, michelebardsley.com ), Nancy Lynn (who wrote a really fun romantic comedy) and me, Teri Heyer (contemporary romance, paranormal and trying other genres). So now all four of us are published authors. Really cool.

At some point, I'd like to think the animosity between authors will eventually ease up. After all, we're all in this great big pot together. Some are on the top of this stew and others are simmering on the bottom. But when the chef comes along and stirs that pot, we're all going to get mixed up. Hey, I love food, so I had to use that analogy.

Anyway, I respect all writers/authors, big and small, established and indie. All of us have some great stories to tell. I'm a voracious reader myself, so I respect all readers too. I know what it's like to have a big name author treat a reader like crap. Yep, a couple big-time authors have been on my "Do Not Read" list forever, because they were so rude to me when I met them that I'll never again buy one of their books.

Writers/authors need to remember that every person out there is a potential reader. So be nice. Play nice. Treat your potential readers with respect and they'll stick by you forever, through thick and thin. They'll forgive your writing a slow, boring book now and then, so long as you follow it up with something good down the line. But treat your readers like crap and they won't buy your books no matter what you write. And it could be as simple as your reader saying, "Oh, it's so nice to meet you." Only you don't respond and turn your back on said reader. Believe me, it happens and all too often.

For those of you who are interested, I'm going to keep writing. My next release is a novella, "Moon Over Madness," which will be ePubbed by next week. It's a light-hearted paranormal about witches, vampires, ghosts, and those are the good guys. There's some bad guys too. It's a fun read for October and Halloween.

Many thanks to all who have waded through and read this particular blog post. I needed to say these things and I hope you all understand. Many more thanks to the readers of my books.

Indie Authors

I've started wondering if indie authors are supporting other indie authors. I can't help but feel that's important in this ePub industry. After all, if we don't support each other, like buying each other's books, then who will? I, for one, buy a lot of indie books. Finding a new author is exciting. So I search for the indie authors and download one ebook after another onto my Kindle. What a wonderful surprise as I read each book. And the coolest thing, I keep going back for more. Am I addicted to indies? Maybe so.

So what I'm asking is, am I the only one? Or are we actively buying each other's books? This is important. We're in this together and, it seems, we need to stick together. This is a "Paying it Forward" kind of thing. I buy your books and someone else buys mine and so on to keep the ball rolling.

Remember, as indie authors we're starting out at a grave disadvantage. No one knows who we are. That's a scary proposition to readers who want to know what to expect. We're an unknown quantity. But, trust me on this, we indie authors have some great stories to tell.

So set aside some money each month, whatever feels right, and spend that amount on indie ebooks. Try out new authors, new story ideas. Take a chance. I've been doing this for a long time and have come across some great books by some wonderful authors. In fact, I did this long before I became an indie author myself.

Think of it this way. What if you threw a party and nobody came? That's how it is for us indie authors. We're having a party and right now we're waiting to see if anyone walks through that door.

Well, enough said. I just had to get this out there. Sorry to anyone who might be offended by this. It doesn't mean we're abandoning our favorite authors in order to buy unknowns. No, we'll keep reading our favorites and at the same time discover some new favorites.

It's like when my grandson was asking me about my giant 100 pound puppy, Dude. I assured him that Dude was really sweet. "But Nana," he said. "Are you sure about those teeth?"

Well, I can't guarantee that every indie book you buy will be the best of the best. But chances are, you'll discover some really great reads.

A special thanks to all readers who take a chance on us indie authors.