Month: June 2012

Week 24 Flash Fiction Challenge Winner: Dick Waters

Today we’re pleased to announce the winner of the 24th weekly Flash Fiction competition at Indies Unlimited.

The winning entry is rewarded with a special feature here today and a place in our collection of winners which will be published as an e-book at year end.

A total of 40 votes were cast in the contest this week. The winner (with 40% of those votes) is Dick Waters.

Congratulations to Dick, and thanks to everyone who participated – excellent entries! Now, without further ado, here’s the winning entry: Continue reading “Week 24 Flash Fiction Challenge Winner: Dick Waters”

Ed’s Casual Friday: Seize the moment.

Carpe occasio.

There are a lot of good moments as a writer, stretched out over the course of writing (and hopefully, selling) a book. Maybe a line of description that you write which surprises you. Maybe something a character “says” that you could swear they did say, while your presence as a writer above the page or in front of the screen was just that: A presence. Like you watched it happen, without doing it yourself. Continue reading “Ed’s Casual Friday: Seize the moment.”

Video Trailer: Mini Skirts and Laughter Lines by Carol Wyer

Amanda Wilson can’t decide between murder, insanity and another glass of red wine. Facing 50 and all that it entails is problematic enough. What’s the point in minking your eyes, when your husband would rather watch ‘Russia Today’ than admire you, strutting in front of the television in only thigh boots and a thong? Her son has managed to perform yet another magical disappearing act. Could he actually be buried under the mountain of festering washing which is strewn on his bedroom floor? He’ll certainly be buried somewhere when she next gets her hands on him. At least her mother knows how to enjoy herself. She’s partying her twilight years away in Cyprus. Queen of the Twister mat, she now has a toy boy in tow. She really shouldn’t have pressed that send button. The past always catches up with you sooner or later. Still, her colourful past is a welcome relief to her monochrome present; especially when it comes in the shape of provocative Todd Bradshaw, her first true love. Soon Mandy has a difficult decision to make; one that will require more than a few glasses of Chianti.

 Mini Skirts and Laughter Lines by Carol Wyer is available from:
Amazon US and Amazon UK.

 

The indiePENdents.org Seal

Jasha Levi

A number of ideas are now floating about the obvious need for a new book-publishing business model, One of them directly addresses both the cause of and the remedy to its problems: The indiePENdents.org

The glut of self-published works on the printed and digital markets is a direct result of the changes in technology. Any computer savvy individual can now publish a manuscript — unfortunately, regardless of its worth. Often, such manuscripts have not been even touched by an editor’s hand. This makes it hard for readers to distinguish the wheat from the chaff. It also makes bookstores and libraries reluctant to carry works which have not been vetted by the traditional industry gatekeepers.

The imbalance between the number of existing mainstream “gatekeepers” and the number of authors seeking to publish their work has already resulted in a flood of titles not vetted by any standard. This harms the reputation of all indie-published books. Continue reading “The indiePENdents.org Seal”