Day: August 7, 2012

Congratulations to Author Jennifer Zane

Gnome on the RangeRomCon has awarded Gnome on the Range, the contemporary romance novel by Jennifer Zane, two honors:  2012 Readers’ Crown Winner for Best Contemporary Romance, and Best First Book.

Jane West has everything a woman could want. A job in a small Montana town’s only adult store, two busy young boys and one dead husband. Everything except a little excitement–a little zing. But that changes one summer morning at a garage sale when her kids buy some garden gnomes.

Now someone wants those gnomes and will let nothing get in their way. Including Jane. This new excitement for Jane spells trouble for a relationship with new neighbor–and hot fireman–Ty Strickland. Can Jane and Ty handle a relationship meddling mother-in-law, crazy kids, and stay alive while trying to solve the mystery of the garden gnomes?

You can read a Sneak Peek of Gnome on the Range here.

Gnome on the Range is available in paperback and electronic editions from Amazon.com. You can see the awards announcement on the RomCon website here.

Psych Out

Writers psych themselves out a LOT. Like baseball players, but less fit. I’ve said before that I don’t believe in writer’s block, but there are other psych-outs. A certain time of day. A certain place. A certain beverage. A certain amount or kind of noise. A certain…whatever. And it is a fact that it is all bullshit. Here’s how I know.

I get ideas and weird inspirations in the shower, while I’m driving, in the middle of the night, mid-conversation…

Now, it stands to reason that if inspiration can strike at any time, then I can write anytime as long as I allow myself to. Meaning, no superstitions. You don’t have to tap your cleats
and spit north to write well.

Continue reading “Psych Out”

Keys, Tags and Penguins (Part 1)

What’s a penguin got to do with anything?

When I mentioned yet another post about SEO to the fellow minions they suggested, relatively politely, that I might explain why anyone should care. We have already had splendid examples of great SEO advice, here for example, but it bugs me that most writers still aren’t playing the SEO game to its full advantage. And I care, so there.

I know that most of us are on Amazon, Goodreads etc and people who like books find us that way. We have lively blogs, they gain loyal fans and your fame spreads by word of mouth…but people Google for books too. If they already know your name or your book title they can usually find your website but suppose they just want ‘fantasy fiction’? I just Googled it, not a single author on page 1. And yet 165,000 people Google for fantasy books per month. Book Reviews? 1,500,000 searches per month, and not a single reviewer’s blog on page 1. People are looking for you and they can’t find you. How do I know? I’ll show you later.

Why say it again though? And why now? Everyone’s read loads of articles on SEO and they all disagree with each other. Here are a few secrets: Continue reading “Keys, Tags and Penguins (Part 1)”

Eye Health for Writers

Although I was put on indefinite administrative leave for berating people into changing their ways opted for early retirement from the Wellness Police, I still like to craft the occasional post on health tips to help prolong your writing careers. I do it because you guys are important to me. Sure, it’ll help me knock down my community service hours, but that’s just a bonus.

Anyway, let’s talk about your eyes. Yes. They’re gorgeous, dahh-ling. And as long as they point straight ahead and you can find your way to the coffee pot in the morning, you probably don’t think too much about them. But eye health is vital to your writing career, for reading, writing, revising, proofreading, proofreading again, and finding your way back to the coffee pot after the first four or five cups have lost their magic. Here are a few ways to protect your precious eyeballs from the ravages of computer use and keep them looking pretty in your author photos for years to come. Even without Photoshop. Continue reading “Eye Health for Writers”