So, who's up for a little FUN?

Are the kids in school yet? Vacations behind you? How about writing, editing, and drinking your caffeinated beverage of choice. Still doing that, I betcha.

So, why not plan on a little fun in October?

The beginning of a wonderful, blog hop with a silly, trendy twist - THE SHELFIE BLOG HOP!

Dates: Now thru Monday, Oct 6
Entries: Take a picture of you and your book(s) - your favorites or your own novels. Or you can just arrange the books in a special way and take the picture - but you do get extra points for being in the photo.
Formats: Tweet, Facebook, Blog - just make sure to include a link(s) to each.

My lovely co-hosts, co-conspirators and contributors: Heather M. Gardner, Christine Rains, Vikki Biram, CD Coffelt aka Huntress, M.J. Fifield, Elizabeth Seckman, and Rena Rocford

But that's not all - check out the fabulous prizes! It's easy and profitable! I hope you'll join us and spread the word =)

Contestants:

Ellie Garrett
L. Diane Wolfe
Gina Stoneheart
Stephen Tremp
Alex J. Cavanaugh
Tyrean Martinson
Tami Aschenbrenner
Elizabeth Arroyo
Chrys Fey
Eric Juneau
Loni Townsend
Nicki Elson
Rebecca Bradley
Susanne Drazic
Carrie Anne Brownian
Michelle Wallace

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wilder Mage, Available in Paperback

The earthquake wasn't his fault. 

Not this time.

I wrote those words over four years ago, the first paragraph of my bestseller speculative fiction novel, Wilder Mage. 

Wilder came out as an Ebook in August 2013 and went on to achieve number one status in several categories including Occult, Hot New Releases, Most Wished For, and #4 in Magic and Wizards.

Its #9 ranking in Urban Fantasy honored me the most.

Wilder Mage is now available in paperback at Amazon.

Check it out and see what people are talking about.  

Blogs, DRM, Wilder Mage, and Edits

Is silence golden? Or merely a case of shiny objects diverting my attention from blogging?

Anyway, I’m back on the bloggery track after a jumbled July and an awesome August. Plus, I been sick.

Yeah. That’s the ticket.

Wilder Mage has entered the realm of the Fifth Sense. Or Touch. It is in print now and available through Amazon. My publisher Musa decided to branch out from Ebooks and into the glue-and-paper versions. I most humbly appreciate that Wilder is one of their first to go to print. In October, Mage Revealed will come out in both print and Ebook also. And I’m doing the Snoopy Dance.

DRM or Digital Rights Management. Is it good or bad for an author? I’m reading both sides and confess that I’m more confused than ever. An article in Publishers Weekly breaks it down to a single sentence:

“...all DRM does is punish legitimate users who had the misfortune to be so honest that they paid for the book, rather than taking it...”

By holding the digital rights of our books, is it slithering out of our fingers like a broken egg? This blogger thinks so.

Another question from an article by Writers Beta hit me hard:

"...is pirating going to cost me so much, that I'm better off risking limiting and annoying users..."

Wilder Mage is on the Torrent websites available for a free download and there ain’t nuthin’ I can do about it. Sure, you can email them and give the spiel to remove your book from their lists immediately. But it is a waste of time. Believe me, I know.

Summary: any book, DRM protected or not, can be formatted to fit your programs. Look to Calibre to see how it’s done.

Edits. I am in the final edits to Mage Revealed, the sequel to Wilder Mage. I’m up against a deadline for the first time in my writing career and find it...er...stimulating.

Cover reveal soon. For now, here is the book trailer.

So what do you think about DRM? Ready to cut your book loose and let it fly like a kite?

Manuscript Wars – The Writer’s Block Strikes Back

Or, “...come into the light, Carol Anne”

• Words, mix-mastered into a jumble of nothing.
• Ideas that fail to ignite.
• Commitment is a bad word.
• An engine that stutters and dies.

So many euphemisms for the miasma of writer’s block, that loud screech of tires on pavement coming to a full and

complete stop. It’s not a matter of if it happens, but when. And what to do when it does.

I’ve given and received much advice. When I hit the fog of manuscript blues this time, the tried and true solutions failed me. Walking, driving, writing it out in long-hand: Nothing worked. And I stopped creating. 

The words of JRR Tolkien come to mind, in speaking about the long process of writing:

“...and I plodded on, till I stood by Balin’s tomb in Moria. There I halted for a long while...”

Mine is not such a journey as his and I do not in any way pretend it is. The mental picture he paints is rather cool though.

At any rate, the third book in The Magic Withheld series is roaring along now. Fresh ideas are stirring and boiling. Book two, Mage Revealed, is in the oven while Spirit Mage is coming on with grit teeth and fire in its words.

Thank the Lord for those half-asleep moments when strange ideas pop into a writer’s head. It's the only thing that broke me from the dungeon of Writer's Block.

IWSG - Disappointment

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

Did you ever look forward to a much-anticipated book only to be sorely disappointed when it fell short of glory?

It happened to me. Twice in two months.

Two great series—one by a hero of mine and the other book written by a new author who I had put on a pedestal—went thunk in my literary opinion.

It sure is a killer when a book doesn’t live up to my anticipation. And not just the wasted money. But the eagerness, the counting down the days until the release date, opening that fresh cover, turning the page that’s no one’s turned before. Then, half way through the book, you know it’s...blah.

As I’ve said before, giving bad reviews isn’t my style. Not anymore. I prefer to let someone else slap them upside the head. I can’t. It hurts too much when I receive them. How can I do it to other authors?

I hope my literary hero starts a new series. I think his MC has been-there, done-that. The other author has a third book in the series that I won’t buy. The second was just that bad.

So, is there a book that you desired greatly thinking it would quench your thirst only to find a damp palm to lick instead?

****

Insecure Writers Support Group: The Final Frontier.

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

To boldly go where no blogateer has gone before.