Month: May 2012

Book Junkies’ Journal

Annarita Guarnieri
Cathy Speight
Sue Palmer

As the most interesting man in the world says, “I’m not always on facebook, but when I am, I’m usually at Book Junkies.” I paraphrase, but I’m sure that was the sentiment.

Reader/reviewer Sue Palmer, along with Annarita Guarnieri and Cathy Speight (Book Junkies one and all) have set up an online magazine for the ever-growing Book Junkies community. The Book Junkies’ Journal will be a quarterly magazine to allow all contributors plenty of time to prepare their pieces, be it a short story (the author will of course keep the rights – this will merely be a showcase for his/her story), or a resumé of their book, or a contribution to the chosen subject for that issue.

Annarita says, “This is a new enterprise for us all, which we hope will evolve and may even change in time, either with the addition of new pages or modifying existing ones. What we really want is to give a voice to all the Book Junkies members, to offer more exposure to the writers, and something more to read to readers.”

I had the honor of being among the first indie authors interviewed for the journal. You can see that interview here. I can tell you the interview process is quite thorough. I won’t need a checkup for a while.

We at Indies Unlimited wish the Book Junkies’ Journal great success and encourage everyone to drop by and check them out.

Sneak Peek: What Happiness Looks Like by Karen Lenfestey

Today we have a sneak peek from author Karen Lenfestey’s romance novel, What Happiness Looks Like.

What Happiness Looks LikeJoely Shupe had a vision of what her thirties would look like: she’d be the mother of two, finger painting with her kids during the day and cooking dinner for her loving husband at night. Instead she’s a single mother struggling to provide for her young daughter.

Suddenly her ex-fiancé, Jake, shows up claiming he’s ready to parent the daughter he abandoned five years ago. Joely is more interested in Dalton, who offers to take care of her the way no man ever has. Should Joely risk her daughter bonding with someone new or with the man who broke her heart?

What Happiness Looks Like is available on Amazon.com.  Continue reading “Sneak Peek: What Happiness Looks Like by Karen Lenfestey”

Successful Fiction Writing by Phillip Duke Ph.D.

Sherlock Holmes and the Alien AbductionThe author of this article has never had a “best seller.” However, at one time he was book review editor for a Chicago newspaper, and after intensively studying writing and publishing for over 60 years, believes he has learned something about it. There is a saying, “those that can’t do, teach.”

Fiction writing is story telling with written, not spoken words. A good story like a good read entertains, and a great story like a great book entertains, and also improves by educating.

The spoken story has a number of advantages over the written story. The spoken word’s emphasis and the sentence word flow are immediately evident in the storyteller’s voice. The written word uses punctuation and rules of grammar to convey in writing what the storyteller does by speaking. That is why correct punctuation, spelling and grammar are important.

Words tell the story, and it is how the words are selected and strung together, that makes or breaks the story. Every word has its meaning, and also its accompanying emotion, or feeling. As the story is read its words create thoughts and feelings in the reader’s mind. The measure of a story’s success lies in this one thing; its ability to transport the reader to its place, time and action. When the reader is made to feel as if he or she is actually there, is in the story and part of it, the story is successful. How is this accomplished? Continue reading “Successful Fiction Writing by Phillip Duke Ph.D.”

Indies Unlimited Selected as Finalist in IBBA

Indies Unlimited has been named as a finalist in the Independent Book Blogger Awards. This competition was conducted under the aegis of Goodreads and the Association of American Publishers.

The announcement reads, “Goodreads and the Association of American Publishers are pleased to announce the winners of the first-ever Independent Book Blogger Awards. Designed to showcase the incredible talent working in the book blogging community today, this year’s award winners are standouts in their field.”

Goodreads reports that in this inaugural IBBA, 804 blogs were entered and nearly 10,000 members voted. Blogs could be entered in four categories: Adult Fiction; Adult Nonfiction; Young Adult & Children’s; and Publishing Industry. Indies Unlimited entered in the Publishing Industry category and  was named with 13 other blogs as a finalist in the category.

The winner in the Publishing Industry category Is Writer Beware, a well-known, respected, and valuable resource in the indie community. We are proud to have trod the same stage with them and extend our heartfelt congratulations and appreciation for all the team at Writer Beware does for the benefit of writers.

I founded Indies Unlimited October 6, 2011. I find it remarkable that a blog still less than a year old can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best. The credit for this lies with the outstanding team of writers here at Indies Unlimited and my co-administrator, Kat Brooks.

Thanks to all our readers, excellent guest contributors, and everyone who voted for us. We appreciate your support.