Month: September 2015

Kindle Unlimited Hump Day – Free August eBooks

Kindle Unlimited Hump Day 1Do you have a Kindle Unlimited membership? Well, if you’re do, you can get all these books for FREE. Not sure what Kindle Unlimited is? Our Lynne Cantwell tells you right here. So…

Readers: look in the comment section below. If you see a book that interests you, click over and reserve your copy. How easy is that? (If you don’t see the book covers, adjust your browser’s adblock settings.)

Authors: if you have a book available through the Amazon.com Kindle Unlimited Program, post it FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW. Authors who do not follow instructions will have their comments deleted.

We will convert your link to a clickable book cover. Do not attempt to insert an image in comments on your own. Just put the following information in the comment section:

1. Book title
2. Author name
3. A one sentence blurb (tweetable in length – longer descriptions will be deleted)
4. The Amazon link to download the book
5. The normal price so readers can see what they’re saving!

Then let your friends and fans know your book is being featured here today. Use the share buttons below, or copy the link in the address bar above and share the news on your favorite social media platforms. The more, the merrier, right?

So let’s give it a try, shall we? Please make sure to follow the RULES above. Now, go ahead and tell the world about your free read. IU is a safe-for-work site. PLEASE do not post links to erotica, religious, or political titles.

[Note: if the book cover images below do not display properly, please check your AdBlock settings.]

Foreshadowing: Layers of Writing, Layers of Consciousness

foreshadowing cloister-102491_640So if you remember my post about cultivating inspiration, you’ll know that I’ve been re-reading all my favorite books and using them to launch myself whole-heartedly into my own WIP. I’m now reading my favorite book on the planet, A Prayer for Owen Meany, which I’ve read at least twenty times. You’d think by now I’d have the entire book memorized, yet every time I read it, I see something I never saw before. This time, I’ve been acutely aware of foreshadowing.

If you’re not familiar, foreshadowing is a literary device authors can use to hint at some action or meaning to come later in the book. It can be handled in many ways, from a subtle allusion to a 2×4 upside the head. Earlier this year, our own Laurie Boris wrote a post about the most ham-handed way to foreshadow, aka telegraphing. As I’ve been reading Owen Meany, however, I’ve been struck by the more ingenious ways to foreshadow, ways that — had I not already read the book twenty times — I would probably completely miss.

It got me to thinking: why do we foreshadow? Why is it attractive for the author? Why, when it’s well done, is it gratifying for the reader? Continue reading “Foreshadowing: Layers of Writing, Layers of Consciousness”

Remember to Celebrate Being an Author

celebrate being a writer pixabay glasses-213156_640It’s so easy to get bogged down trying to earn money from our writing endeavors that we forget to celebrate the fact we are writers! That is an awesome thing, a huge accomplishment and something so easily brushed over.

Nowadays, authors don’t have the luxury of simply thinking about story structure and intelligent prose. Indie authors in particular have to wrap their heads around the entire business of writing — marketing, finances, taxes, promotions, working with editors and cover designers, getting reviews, staying on top of social media, figuring out good business practices…a whole plethora of things. I, for one, am not particularly good at some of them and it’s a real battle some days to sit down to spend time doing the necessary evils so that I can continue to write for a living. Continue reading “Remember to Celebrate Being an Author”

Read a Banned Book

2015-banned-books-graphicOne day my fourth-grade teacher peered into my desk, where I’d stashed a copy of a popular and slightly controversial novel I’d borrowed from my mother, to entertain myself with during free period. Mrs. Prusak wasn’t amused. She pulled me into the hall and asked, “Do your parents know you’re reading that?” Continue reading “Read a Banned Book”