Great tips
To read this informative article by Marcy Kennedy,
click on her photo or link below:
5 Techniques for Amazing Internal Dialogue
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Category Archives: my books
Ten things I’ve learned from my copyeditor
Despite being the single highest cost of self-publishing so far, the copyedit will be the one expense I will never regret.
That would have been the list if this article was entitled “A single most important thing I’ve learned”. But it’s not, so there are ten more below. Which I guess makes it eleven…never mind! Anyway, after getting eight quotes and four samples from Australian and American editors, I chose Lu Sexton of A Story to Tell to copyedit Shizzle, Inc and I’m blown away with the results. To be honest, I had a lot of reservations about paying for editing. After all I’ve already had a structural edit; I’ve revised the draft no less than a hundred times myself; I speaka English real good. Handing over cash for a promise of making your draft better is scary, even if that promise comes with a professional reputation and an exceptional…
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Where’s the Most Unusual Place You’ve Had a Book-Signing?
I arrive at my book-signing event to be greeted with a small table covered with an immaculate table cloth, my books already displayed, a notice announcing my presence and, as always, a lovely vase of flowers as a centrepiece. The staff are friendly and chatty (today it’s Carolyn … and Sharon, complete with big smiles ). I already know them; after all I’ve been holding book-signings here for the last five years and I’ve been a customer of the shop for more years than I care to remember. Nothing unusual in that, I hear you say; we’ve all done events in stores we know. But this venue is special, this is our local chemist, Kilgetty Pharmacy. And, when first forced to admit to myself that I needed to go forth and sell, this was the second local event I was welcomed to.
Putting on a pose – me with Jane Gilbert (who owns the shop with her husband, Bart)
I’d talked with Jane about my writing for years (I’m not sure she ever thought I’d be published but she was always tremendously encouraging). Anyway, the day that Pattern of Shadows came out I couldn’t wait to show her. Without hesitation she asked, would I like to hold a book-signing in the shop. I was thrilled – thought there was nothing odd about appearing at a chemist. Up to date I’ve been four times, they’ve sold loads of my books,and I’ll be there again just before Christmas.
Kilgetty Pharmacy isn’t just a place where people go to have prescriptions filled; it’s an Aladdin’s cave of goodies. It’s where I’ve bought gorgeous scarves and unusual handbags. Husband tries to ban me from going into the shop; the temptations to buy are always too strong!
And their claim to fame? In 2013, in a UK wide Easter competition held by Bronley for the best window display, this chemist won first prize. I believe the prize was a jolly to Paris for two of the staff!!
A few shots of the busy shop … er … well it was busy until I produced my mobile to take photos … then the staff scuttled off and customers disappeared. (I made the mistake of asking permission.) Hah!
Two kind ladies who did agree to pose, while looking for a present. There are treasures for all kinds of occasions: Engagements, Weddings, Births,, Birthdays (from one to a hundred years old!)) Celebrations of all kinds, Cards, Festive ornaments, Treats for pets, Treats for the birds in the garden … and … and …
Highlight of the day? No less than three sales reps came in to sell their stock to the shop … and I sold a signed copy of one of my books to each of the . Yay!!
My thanks go to Jane & Bart Gilbert, Carolyn Finlay,, Sharon, Val, Linda, Carolyn Jones, Jane Goldsmith and Sue for a great day. See you next time!
So, all you authors out there – a challenge! Where’s the most unusual place you’ve held a book signing? Do please tell – with photos if possible!
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/judith.barrow.3
https://twitter.com/barrow_judith
https://plus.google.com/+JudithBarrowauthor
LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/1fNP6t2
Bit of self publicity here:
Hush! The first two books of the trilogy are on offer at £1.89 at the moment.
Pattern of Shadows: http://amzn.to/1Denx74
Changing Patterns: http://amzn.to/1MxOvJ0
Living in the Shadows: the last of the trilogy, published in July: http://amzn.to/1JzO3Jh
All also available in paperback on Amazon and from my publishers
Woman of the week: Judith Barrow and her new release: Living in the Shadows
What a wonderful surprise – bowled over by this gesture from the ever – generous Christoph
Over the last week I’ve seen a lot of blog posts about a very talented writer and a wonderful woman: Judith Barrow.
So I’ve decided to crown her Woman of the Week!
Check out some of her memories here:
http://scvincent.com/2015/07/26/guest-author-judith-barrow-memories-a-short-story-and-a-new-book/
Here she is as interview guest on my blog a while ago.
Here is her contribution to womens healthweek:
And this is her new book:
Living in the Shadows which concludes her amazing trilogy.
Here is an article on Judith’s blog about the inspiration behind it :
https://judithbarrowblog.com/2014/11/23/the-inspiration-behind-pattern-of-shadows/
I’ve got the book at home and can’t wait to get a chance to read it.
Find the Book on Amazon US and UK
Connect with Judith on her blog
What’s in a Book’s Elevator Pitch?
Didn’t realise I was doing an ‘elevator pitch’ when I sold one of my books to the guy who delivered them to the door. Must have worked! Wish now I could remember what I said!
An Elevator Ride Doesn’t Last Very Long
Every author has been in the position where someone asks them to describe his/her book. It happened to me several times at a book-signing last Saturday (although, if you read my previous blog post, it didn’t happen as often as I hoped it would).*
What’s your book about?
The answer you give to that question is called an “elevator pitch.”
The term itself comes from the scenario of an accidental meeting with someone important. It’s any quick, catchy pitch you can deliver in the short time it takes for an elevator to reach its destination.
I’m sure you’ve heard the term before. I didn’t invent it. It’s been around the business world for decades. Now, however, as an indie author you need to think about it in terms of your new book.
By preparing an elevator pitch in advance for your book…
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Three Quote Challenge – III
“Yes: I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.”
— Oscar Wilde
Éilis, whose poetry and writing you can find on The Sound of What Happens, tagged me in the Three Quote Challenge.
First, you thank the person who tagged you. Then, post a quote you love on three consecutive days. Choose another person to carry on, if they so choose and have the time.
I’d like to invite S.K. Nicolls, author of Red Clay and Roses to participate. Hope you’ll join in, Susan!
![Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000031_00016]](https://judithbarrowblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ebook.jpg?w=148&h=229)
How to survive your fictional characters all night bickering in six easy ways…
very useful advice. Hah!
It is two AM. You are wrestling with one of your fictional characters as to, well it really depends on your fictional character. Mine decided that the furry Ape needed another blog post. Actually, it was one of her decrees. And don’t tell her, I just referred to her as a fictional character! Please!
Frankly, if you start using your fictional character’s name as passwords for your real life social networks and other electronic devices, you are a goner. My friend you may as well kiss your sleep good-bye. If she or he (let me just stick with one pronoun from now on) decides that you will absolutely listen to her at two AM, no earplug ever invented is going to shut her out.
1. Get up and write
First of all, you may as well get up out from that comfy duvet and get to your primary writing device…
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Review: “Death in a Red Canvas Chair: A Rhe Brewster Mystery” by N Granger
Another great review for a N Granger book!
Review for Death in a Red Canvas Chair: A Rhe Brewster Mystery (Rhe Brewster Mysteries Book 1) by N Granger
This is a quirky cosy mystery with ER nurse Rhe Brewster at the centre of the investigation. When her son plays soccer and she discovers a body dumped by the side of the game, Rhe alarms the authorities and before you know it, she is deeply involved in solving the case. Rhe is quite a character, the most apt description of herself is: “despite his PhD in Psychology he (her husband) still doesn’t understand me.” I think many would struggle and that is what makes her such a wonderful and watchable protagonist.
Familiar with Sheriff Sam there is little that can stop her.
The victim was a college student and the investigation starts to step on Rhe’s husband’s toes, a professor at the same college.
The plot is quite complex…
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Guest Post – Nicholas C. Rossis: Finding Inspiration
“What if we pity them only because we can’t see the full picture? “A quote from one of Nicholas’ short stories – The Twist in the Tale. Having lived with two of my relative who’s suffered this dreadful desease, this question made me stop and think. A great interview..
I am delighted to host Nicholas C. Rossis today as he launches his new book, Infinite Waters, a collection of short stories. Nicholas is the award winning author of a number of books, including the superb Pearseus series that cleverly blends the best of Sci-Fi with elements of mythology and philosophy, as well as the delightful Runaway Smile, a children’s story in which a young boy discovers that the only smiles that matter are the ones that are shared.
Nicholas’ blog is a popular one; full of informative articles on writing, publishing and marketing, often tinged with humour and with links to a number of stories to read free online. Quite apart from that, he is a genuinely supportive writer and a nice guy. No surprise then that he has received several nominations for the upcoming Annual Blogger’s Bash Awards, hosted by Sacha Black.
Finding Inspiration
Like many…
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100-Word Challenge for Grownups -Week 157
Check out below, on how it’s done and come on down:
https://jfb57.wordpress.com/2015/06/29/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week157-2/
This week’s prompt is … at last we were free… + 100 words
A New Page
Trina had to pull herself together. I need a cold shower. She pounded on her roommate’s bedroom door. Quiet as a tomb.
“Sarah. Wake up.” Trina squinted at the clock down the hall. “Come on, kiddo.” She gave the door another whack and proceeded to the bathroom and turned the water on. Then off. Odd. She paused. Blinked. And retraced her steps. “Time to sober up.” She turned the knob. “It’s Graduation Day. Remember we said we were free to start… Sarah…? A new page for the rest of our lives?
“You’re so cold.”
Oh. My. God.
Where’s my cell? “I need an ambulance. Hurry-please!”
The End
© 2015 Tess and How the Cookie Crumbles All Rights Reserved
#Guestauthor. N. A. Granger(@rhebrewster) and her books. A heroine who knows where she is and what she’s talking about.
Hi all:
As you know on Fridays it’s guest author day. Recently I’ve been trying to catch up with some authors whose blogs I’ve been following for a while, but for some reason I haven’t featured yet. Today, it’s the turn of Noelle Granger (or N.A. Granger in her books).We not only have background interests (medical ) in common, but Noelle also spotted we had both studied at Mount Holyoke College (in my case only one year as an exchange student, but hey, it goes to prove the world is very small).
First, as I’ve mentioned her blog, and to make sure I don’t forget it, here is SaylingAway. Go and check it and you’ll see that Noelle loves her traveling, but she also features fellow authors, shares her writing, and muses about life.
And a little about her:
Author N.A. Granger
Noelle A. Granger grew up in…
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The Sunday Show.. A funny thing happened to me with author Jane Dougherty
Northern Light
Memories … and What Comes Next
This is the view I saw from the window of my bedroom in the house I lived in as a child until the day I married. The war memorial, an Obelisk, on Alderman’s Hill is called Pots and Pans. No one seems to know why. When I was eleven I had a dog (a Heinz Fifty-Seven variety; a cross between a corgi and a terrier, who probably these days would be called a Torgi) named Rusty. She and I could climb and run back down the hill in twenty minutes. Nowadays I think it would take me an hour just to get to the top. I’m not even going to try.
The house itself doesn’t change. Each tread of the stairs has its own noise; a soft whisper, a sigh of relief underfoot, a crack of protest. Each door sounds my progress through the house; the bedroom door protests its opening on the ill-fitted carpet, the bathroom door shushes closed. Downstairs the living room door opens quietly, then creaks as it’s forced against the many painted-over the hinges and frame. Finally there’s the heavy sigh of kitchen door, as though opening onto another day’s toil.
It’s my mother’s house. 
Once I lived here too. Now I visit.
.
It’s six o’clock in the morning.With laptop and cup of tea I settle down to write. I must have done this hundreds of times before. I wait to hear the thud of her feet as she stomps across the bedroom, the sound of her peeing in the bathroom, the yank on the chain of the flush of the old-fashioned cistern. I hold my breath, force back the slight irritation, hope she gets back into bed. But the mumblings get louder. I hear her tap on my bedroom door: ‘Judith?’ followed by the feigned echo of surprise; ‘you’re up already?’ as she takes the first two steps onto the landing.
In the past I bit back the exasperation. She knew I wrote at this time. I always have; it’s my time. We had a day of shared memories to get through. Again. Of laughing at the old black and white photographs; the different and often outrageous hairstyles and perms, her hats and frilly blouses, my flower-power flared jeans and mini skirts. Hours of mindless TV; Jeremy Kyle, This Morning, Doctors. Lunchtimes; chomping mournfully through thinly buttered Ryvita on diet days – joyfully savouring meat and potato pies and custard slices on ‘who gives a damn’ days. Then the comfort of the afternoon nap and the quiet hour of companionable reading.
I wait to hear the thud of her feet as she stomps across the bedroom floor.
It doesn’t happen.
Some weeks ago, a quick phone call, a frantic journey brought us to to this part of the country, to the hospital, to the ward, to the bed she sat up … cheerfully waving as we walk towards her. ‘Hello love,’ she shouted, ‘ well, here’s another fine pickle I’ve got myself into.’ She seemed perfectly clear, lucid for a few minutes. Then she called me Olive, her sister who’d died some years ago, mixing up past and present; confused. I held her hand, traced the veins under the thin, wrinkled skin, touched the deformed nail on her right hand little finger that once was trapped in the machinery of her winding frame in a cotton mill and never properly grew back..
And I knew there were hard family decisions to be made.
Mum at a family wedding ten years ago.
Yesterday Mum went into residential care. At ninety three she’d lived in this house for sixty-one years.
Today will be the last time I write here; it felt as though it was a ritual I needed to go through. This is what I wrote.
Judith Barrow 