The Times, They are a-Changin’

Come writers and critics

Who prophesize with your pen.

And keep your eyes wide

The chance won’t come again.

And don’t speak too soon

For the wheel’s still in spin.

And there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’

For the loser now will be later to win.

For the times they are a-changin’. - Bob Dylan

Several years ago, I established a writer’s critique blog, Unicorn Bell, with Marcy Hatch and Charity Bradford. 

We brought in two more writers, L. Blankenship (Disciple, self-pub) and Elizabeth Arundel as part of the team. 

Unicorn Bell, the product of writers, is a-changin’...er, making a few adjustments.

A regular schedule. Our team at UB has individual talents.

• L. Blankenship is gifted at critiquing 1500 word submissions. 
• Marcy is expert at First Pages and interviews.
• I, the Huntress of Fantasy, like taming the Query Monster and all its minions including loglines and blurbs.

To give our followers time to submit their chapters, loglines, and first pages, a weekly schedule is in order. 

Blogfests and book tours. So you want to create a presence online. How to do it?

My publisher, Musa Publishing, suggests bloghops/fests. Enter as many as you can manage. Comment and participate. This gets you out there, puts your name in front of people.

So why shouldn’t Unicorn Bell conduct a regular bloghop too? Good question and now a two word answer: 

• Charity Bradford. She intends to hold a bloghop during some of her weeks.

Book tours. Excitement is building. You have a book coming out! Now you want everyone to get the message.

• Elizabeth Arundel takes command of book tours. 

During her week, she will post all the info you send about your book. 

Lastly, do you have any special gifts that need an outlet? Would you like to join our team and build a writing platform to impress agents and publishers?

We are taking applicants for Unicorn Bell moderators. Send requests to our email with ‘Moderator Request’ in the subject line to unicornbellsubmissions[at]gmail[dot]com.

Join us for critiquing, bloghops, and book tours. It is definitely a can of mixed nuts at Unicorn Bell, the crucible of critique.

Cephalopod Coffeehouse Chat - Summer of '42

From the ArmChair Squid: 
“The idea is simple: on the last Friday of each month, post about the best book you've finished over the past month while visiting other bloggers doing the same.  In this way, we'll all have the opportunity to share our thoughts with other enthusiastic readers.”

Summer of '42 by Herman Raucher

Hermie is fifteen, too young to join in the war effort and too old to be counted a kid. He is one of a gang of three boys whose families take a vacation in the summer at Nantucket Island. They run with the sun and wind and dream of days when they are treated as adults.

This summer is the turning point for them. Girls, dating, and an experience that changes Hermie forever. 

Love and war touches him and the hurt from both feels nearly the same.

Summer of ’42 was the movie everyone wanted to see in 1971. I stood in a line to watch the film that stretched down the block and around the corner. 

Herman Raucher wrote the script for the movie first then wrote the book, definitely not the norm. It became a runaway best seller. Funny, realistic, it is a self-portrait of Mr. Raucher’s experience that summer, his coming-of-age. 

A few years ago, I found the book in the bargain section at a book fair. For a dollar, I got a pristine, hardback with a dust cover, a most excellent deal.

What I found so amazing about the author, was the simple, indirect words that he used when describing the sex scene. I don’t care for a play-by-play of intimate moments. I like it left to my imagination. This book is the epitome of how to convey the act without making it an instruction book on intercourse.

I didn't realize until I re-read the book for this post that I employ the same tactic when I describe physical love. 

Although I highly recommend this book, it isn't easy to find. Out of print and ignored, it lingers in places other than Amazon. I suggest the library, garage sales, and book fairs.

Joy to All - Missouri

Mark Koopman's 50 States of Pray, an event of devotion and inspiration. Share a prayer, a thought, a memory, a hope, a regret about the past and/or a wish for the future.

For myself it is a memory.

When my daughter was about ten, we started making sugar cookies on Christmas Eve. 

While mixing, forming, baking, frosting, and oh, yes, eating those bells, Santas, stars, and reindeer, I recorded the Christmas songs from a local radio station. I enjoy listening to it every year.

But the best part comes when the kid hits the wrong button and accidentally records herself asking which button to push.

I love hearing that little girl voice again while making Christmas cookies each year.

Sway, a Book that I can't leave alone.

...Or be alone after I read it.

I am reading Matthew Keith's new book, Sway. It is like a combination Silence of the Lambs and American Horror Story, too good to put down and too scary to watch without peering through my fingers. (yeah, somehow I expect that to save me. Go figure).

This psychological thriller is just plain the best in its field. I don't usually read this genre. Fantasy is my meat. But then again I don't read nonfiction either and there I go reading Killing Kennedy. So how would I know whether Sway is one of the best books in this genre? 

Writing. Good, edgy writing. That's how.

Short synopsis of Sway from Amazon:

A psychological thriller/horror that explores the inner workings of a man who had some of the worst experiences possible as a child. Now, as an adult, he is revisiting his childhood demons, trying to put it all together, all the while unaware that that's what he is doing. 

Through the re-emergence of a recurring childhood nightmare, he works toward beating back the man representative of a society holding him in check. 

Is it real, the product of a doctor who chemically induces his patients into visiting the dream as a means of control, or is it nothing more than the ravings of insanity manifesting itself through a dream?

Amazon: 
BN: 
Goodreads: 
Author website 

Author Bio:

I live in Kentucky near Fort Knox with my wife, 2 children, and our dog "Elvis". Although I have been writing for the better part of a decade, I have only recently begun publishing novels.

"Sway" is my third novel, and is very different from my first two which were the first two in a trilogy, "Watchers of the Night"—a sci-fi fantasy adventure about a young man who can walk the night in his dreams. He is recruited by an agency run by the United Nations that uses people like him to gather intelligence. The first book in that trilogy, published in April 2013, won 5th place in the annual critiquemynovel.com writing contest. 

My next project, currently underway and due for release in the spring, is the final installment of that trilogy, "The Fall of Astralis". After finishing the Watchers trilogy, it is my intention to head back into darker fiction and continue to test my boundaries as a writer.

Ethics, Writing, and Reality

I saw a question floating around the blogosphere several weeks ago that intrigued me.

What do you want most? Reviews or buyers. To me, it is a chicken-and-the-egg question. If you have more reviews then people might be more inclined to buy your book. But others don’t read reviews and look at the blurb only.

I’d rather folks did both, buy Wilder Mage and leave a review. But if I have to choose between the two, buying the book is okey dokey. *big smiley face*



Ethics. Have you seen this? 

So, you've written a book and you think it’s the best thing ever. But the reviews are slow to come in and you decide to post a review of your own book. And of course, it’s a five-star rating.

I was a little startled when I saw this by an author. After reading one of her books that left me nauseous, I followed my policy of not giving a review. I don’t give one or two-stars to fellow writers. It doesn’t seem right even when the book is Cee Are A Pee. 

But who has the guts to give themselves a review? Presumptuous much?

What do you want more? Reviews or buyers. And would you write a review for your own book? Do you see anything wrong with it?

IWSG - It Be Glory

IWSG—Writers, coming together on the first Wednesday of every month for a virtual pat on the back. 

I had a topic for today’s edition of the Insecure Writers Support Group. But it was too darn depressing. And I do not need another serving of Negativity at the moment.

So today, I am posting light, happiness, and laughter. What simple thing in life gives you radiance?

For me, it is:

A Perfect Sunset

My Grandson's Laughter

Christmas lights

A golden morning

Cool looking clouds

Family and friends including my blogger pals fill my days with glory as well. 

Thank you for stopping by.

Insecure Writers Support Group: The Final Frontier.

These are the voyages of the Ninja Captain, AJC. His continuing mission, to explore all new writing venues, to seek out new authors and new blogs. 

To boldly go where no blogateer has gone before.

Out of Magic, Released Today. 50 States of Pray Link is open

Released today.

Out of Magic
Magic can't fix a broken life. Just ask Sable.

Prequel to Wilder Mage, a stand-alone short story about Sable’s introduction to magic.

Sable Rounds has every basic need a seventeen-year-old girl could want. Shelter, food, and an education. She is safe. Clean. Provided for. Nothing is missing. Except parental affection.

Her parents’ attitude changes on the day she speaks to a whirlwind. And it answers. 

Now they pay attention to her. They were only waiting for her magic. And the end of their obligation to raise her.

Go to Musa Publishing for the free read.

Did I mention it's free?

**

Mark Koopman's 50 States of Pray is an event of devotion and inspiration. 

"On Dec. 24, 2013, take a moment, (and in about 100 words), share a prayer, a thought, a memory, a hope, a regret about the past and/or a wish for the future."

Follow the Linky List and sign up. Sounds like a wonderful event.

Out of Magic and 50 States of Pray. Quite a combination.

Books, Musa Publishing, and Cyber Sale Monday

Today marks the beginning of Musa Publishing's Thirteen Days of Christmas. Starting with a Sale!

All books are 50% off.

Free reads also. Short stories by Musa's authors begin today.

Tuesday, December 3rd is the release date of my short story, Out of Magic. I'll post the link when it becomes available.

Blurb. Sable Rounds has every basic need a seventeen-year-old girl could want. Shelter, food, and an education. She is safe. Clean. Provided for. Nothing is missing. Except parental affection.

Her parents’ attitude changes on the day she speaks to a whirlwind. And it answers.

Now they pay attention to her. They were only waiting for her magic. And the end of their obligation to raise her.

Excerpt. “Magic,” a voice said.

A woman stood on the edge of the pasture opposite the tree. With sleek black hair and just-applied makeup, she belonged in Vogue magazine. It was as if she’d dropped out of nowhere and had not just hiked across the field. I simply stared and didn't answer.

“Magic,” she repeated. “You feel another mage. That is why your skin shivers with energy.”

Shivering? More like skin crawling. The way she was looking at me made me want to look for spiders skittering all over my body.

Spiders with great hairy legs and snapping pincers.

Stock up on books (you know you want to) and grab a free read for the next thirteen days.

Out of Magic comes out tomorrow! 

*double arm pump*

Cephalopod Coffeehouse Chat - Warm Bodies

From the ArmChair Squid: 
“The idea is simple: on the last Friday of each month, post about the best book you've finished over the past month while visiting other bloggers doing the same.  In this way, we'll all have the opportunity to share our thoughts with other enthusiastic readers.”

"I am dead, but it’s not so bad. I’ve learned to live with it."

So begins Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion. If the title sounds familiar, that’s because Hollywood made it into a cool movie.

He calls himself R because he can’t remember his name let alone how he lived and died. But, what do you expect? He’s zombie for Pete’s sake. Still, he has friends, goals, and a bit of glamour about his position. He isn’t a complete waste of skin. Or at least said skin hasn’t deteriorated too badly yet.

When R meets a living, breathing girl under less than ideal circumstances, he is draw to her. He saves her after confronting his friends who look at her as a meal. His mercy awakens his buried humanity and ignites a revolution among his zombie brethren and Julie’s humans.

Warm Bodies is an easy read. It drew me in immediately and held me captive, but some scenes are difficult. If you’ve seen the movie, don’t think this is quite as sweet. The reason for R’s decision to save Julie is quite detailed and rather disgusting. There is blood and gore, dead people and a lot of screaming.

It isn’t one of my usual books in other words.
I loved it.

Give it a whirl. Well-written, an excellent storyline and a new take on the current zombie-craze.

And I did not clue into the reference to R-omeo and Julie-t until way later.

Mark Koopman's 50 States of Pray, Lots of books on sale, and the release of Out of Magic.

In his own words:

"Mark Koopman is an award-winning writer: 2013 SCWC (Southern California Writers' Conference) "Outstanding Memoir"; former award-winning journalist; current writer. Proud husband to my wife, a U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander. Stay-at-home dad to three boys ages six, three and one."

50 States of Pray is an event of devotion and inspiration. 

"On Dec. 24, 2013, take a moment, (and in about 100 words), share a prayer, a thought, a memory, a hope, a regret about the past and/or a wish for the future."

Linky list to open December 2nd. Sign up then.


Books on Sale at Musa Publishing. 
Big announcement for December 2nd, Cyber Monday.

All books on Musa Publishing (including Wilder Mage) are 50% off. Download any book in any format to your Kindle, Ipad, Nook, or computer.

WAIT! Did you say that you don’t have a Kindle? 

Go here. This free app makes your computer or mobile device a reading machine.

Let me say again, You Do Not Need a Kindle/Ipad etc. If you are reading this, you have the ability. Download the app and read any book anytime on your computer.

Then go to Musa Publishing and check out their extensive bookshelf. 

Do you like Young Adult? Sci-Fi? Fantasy? Fifty Shades-type books? They have them. At 50% off on Monday, December 2nd, it is worth it believe me.

The steps:
1. Don’t have a Kindle? Go here for the free app.
2. Go to Musa Publishing. 
3. Hit the Log in/Create account (top left of Home page)
4. On the ‘Welcome, Sign in page’ hit Sign up under the New Customer banner
5. Create an account.

On Cyber Monday, Dec 2nd all books are 50%.

Starting the same day, free reads for selected short stories.

My prequel to Wilder Mage, Out of Magic is available for free on Tuesday, Dec 3rd.

Sable Rounds has every basic need a seventeen-year-old girl could want. Shelter, food, and an education. She is safe. Clean. Provided for. Nothing is missing. Except parental affection.

Her parents’ attitude changes on the day she speaks to a whirlwind. And it answers.

Now they pay attention to her. They were only waiting for her magic. And the end of their obligation to raise her.

Check out 50 States of Pray, sure to be an inspiration to all. And schmooze on over to Musa Publishers. They have the book you want.

Falling Down the Stairs and Other Trips

Not gonna do it this year. 

Not that I didn't try or that I'm feeling bad since forty thousand plus words is nothing to sneeze at. But achieving fifty thousand words for NaNo in the month of November just ain't gonna happen.

First reason/excuse: Harvest. Forty-five days of combining corn and soybeans. Then, on the last day a mile from home, this happened:

No, the tire should not be sitting in the middle of the road. The hub broke off bringing the combine to a grinding halt just two feet short of a thirty-foot drop off. yikes. The mechanics and running around required time that I usually would have spent writing.

Meh, I said. I can make it up. More wordage tomorrow.

Then tomorrow came and my horse and cat conspired against me. Telepathically evidently since the cat stays inside. Said cat is fifteen years old and normally without issues. But one morning, he became, well, sick as a dog and needed emergency attention.

The horse had a colic attack and required me as well. Both decided to pull these stunts on the same day. Cat and horse recovered.

I’ve missed two days before. I can do it, I can do it....ERRRRRRR BooM!!

Company came and stayed all day. I lost another twelve hours of time. 

So I am still writing and will continue down the road I started November 1st. But I am not going to make 50 K. Not when company arrives again on Wednesday, the house needs a good cleaning before hand, and pies must be made.

I gave it a shot and am tickled with the 40 K plus so don’t cry for me Argentina.

Whew! What a month.

How's everyone else doing? Making plans? Writing non-stop?

Lexa Cain and Soul Cutter

This is a review by my good friend, Matthew Keith. Read and enjoy!

Soul Cutter by Lexa Cain

What an amazing and original story. Lexa Cain's debut novel is an outstanding YA story about an angst-ridden young girl, Elan, who is forced to travel to Egypt in order to save her reality-star mother, who has mysteriously disappeared.

Elan is no timid "Bella" kind of leading character--when the story opens, she is on the job as a teen-aged psychic-buster. Because of her mother's lack of ever being around and the kind of work her mother does (she's the host of a kind of "Most Haunted Places of the World" type of show), Elan has a passion for busting fake psychics who scam people out of their hard-earned money. It's kind of a big F-You to her mother.

Immediately upon arriving in Egypt, the action really kicks in and Elan throws in with Ramsey, a young man who was (is) employed with her mother's show. He helps her hunt down her mother's whereabouts and a bit of "impossible romance" is fostered. "Impossible", because both Elan and Ramsey have personal issues and have to keep reminded themselves they're not interested and don't have the time for anything romantic.

Pace was amazing, non-stop, and kept me coming back for more. Characters, every one of them, had depth that far surpassed your usual debut novel's cast--in fact, it far surpassed many veteran writers' casts. The plot twists were unexpected and brought me even deeper into a story that I was already fully invested in.

Great book for any fan of YA adventure. 5 of 5 stars.

SMASHWORDS
GOODREADS

IWSP - Genre Confusion

IWSG—Writers, coming together on the first Wednesday of every month for a virtual pat on the back. This month I am joining the ranks of hosts.



I admit it. I am confused. Or maybe everyone else has it wrong.

I’ve posted before about YA vs Adult, how the definitions have changed over the years. Bambi, the book by Felix Salten not the Golden Rule book version, was a favorite of mine in third grade. Do you think kids read that now? I’d love to know that they do.

Other genre definitions continue to mess with my mind. Urban fantasy vs contemporary fantasy seemed clear, impossible humans living in a modern world. Then I read the definition of urban is any age as long as it is set in the city. Scott Ender wrote an excellent guest blog on the subject.

My publisher Musa’s Urania section calls it speculative fiction. This covers anything from science fiction to horror to fantasy, with all its subgenres of urban, contemporary, epic, dystopian, and supernatural.

Well now, I like that. An umbrella that covers every genre of the weird and impossible. My debut novel Wilder Mage fits perfect in that category.

Oh but wait. Amazon doesn’t have a Spec Fic section.

So my publisher put Wilder Mage in the subgenre of Horror and Occult which kinda surprised me. 

It did great though hitting #1. 

My first reviews called it urban fantasy and praised it. Other reviewers, meh, not so much. They said it wasn’t urban and called it a romance. 

Romance?

So I give up. I hereby call Wilder Mage literary fiction set in a modern urban area about people who care about each other

And can’t possibly create earthquakes.

There. My genre. 

Insecure Writers Support Group: The Final Frontier.

These are the voyages of the Ninja Captain, AJC. His continuing mission, to explore all new writing venues, to seek out new authors and new blogs. 

To boldly go where no blogateer has gone before.

A Matter of Minutes and Hours

Writing and Time

As one of my Facebook friends said, “What sadistic mind would schedule NaNoWriMo in the month of November?”

It does seem like someone with a sense of humor and an evil laugh decided on the timing. With family, Thanksgiving, harvest still underway on the farm, I must keep the motto of the little engine that could in mind. 

I joined the glut of nincompoops participating, figuring it was an excellent motivator. And it is too. As soon as I finish this post it’s back to grind out my two thousand words a day.

TV shows. Walking Dead is living up to its name. Lots of gore of course. It’s a given that I don’t eat popcorn during this show. But the storyline is hair-raising fantastic, the whole reason for watching. I know there will be death and mangling ahead. Here’s hoping my favorite characters make it to the end of the season. Especially Daryl. I cannot do without my dose of the big D.

The Originals. Absolutely fantastic. Nuff said.

Dracula. Watched the second episode. It has the same blood and no-popcorn-allowed scenes as Walking Dead and a twisting storyline to go with it. I bought the original Bram Stoker’s Dracula to read. Sure it doesn’t follow the book but who would want that anyway? Definitely TiVo worthy.

Get ready for the next installment of Insecure WritersSupport Group this Wednesday. 

I didn't have enough to do this month, lots of time on my hands and all so I volunteered to be one of the humble hosts. Actually, I’m rather looking forward to it. Told the family that I would be “unavailable” that day. No dinner for harvest. No running to town for parts. And shifted babysitting the grandson to Monday and Friday. 

I share this duty with The Man Who Needs No Hyperlink, Tina Downey, Isis Rushdan, and Michelle Wallace.

So what are you watching this TV season? Like Dracula? Are you participating in NaNo? Got your post ready for IWSG? 

"I think I can, I think I can" - Little Engine That Could

It is Confirmed. I'm Nuts

I said, "Never."
I said, "Those people are crazy."

Then something dropped into the slot in my brain. 

"Hm. Maybe," I said.

Joining National Novel Writing Month

Wilder Mage. It's on Sale!

Two months after its release, my first sale for Wilder Mage.

The earthquake wasn't his fault. 

Not this time.

Musa Publishing is offering Wilder Mage 30% off for this week. 

It has a direct link to all eReaders so download it straight to your Kindle.

For everyone who enjoys speculative fiction, horror/occult, contemporary/urban fantasy.