Celebrating Independent Authors
I guess it was a milestone of sorts. After all my time and effort to get myself and my books recognized, another author hijacked my Facebook author page to post promotion for their book with a link to their page, cover and blurb. I’d never met them or spoken to them. They apparently thought it was perfectly fair to sell their book on my page.
Really? DELETE. Continue reading “Mind your manners – How not to be a troll…”
As a writer, I’d like to say I’m more known for my fantasy and thriller novels than for my romances and erotic romances (as V. J. Devereaux) but given how often I’m asked about the erotica, I’d have to say it’s about even. *grin* However, anyone who has read any of my books knows there are very few of them that don’t contain a certain level of romance. I’ve always wondered why we’re far more comfortable showing acts of mayhem and murder but we can’t show two people expressing affection and intimacy, one of the most joyful expressions of life? Far more important to your writing, though, is the reason you’re including that scene, whether you stop at the door, take a few steps inside, or go all the way. Continue reading “How to write a good love (sex) scene…”
Officially, Pinterest is a ‘virtual pinboard’ that lets you pin pictures of all the beautiful, interesting and just plain cool stuff you find on the internet, and waste several glorious hours doing it. I know, I’ve done it. And not regretted a single minute.
On a purely personal level you can use it for your bucket list of places you want to see or things you want to do, you can use it to help design your garden, learn or share recipes or set your style of clothing.
On a professional level you can post inspirational pictures, the images of places you’d like to – or already have – used in your books, while also providing a glimpse of your personality. There’s a section for Your Style that I believe is supposed to be for posting pictures of clothes and shoes, but I use it for the things that say something about me as a person. It’s an interesting way to allow readers to see another side of you, to get a glimpse of the things you like, the things that interest you.
You can also post direct links to your books on it.
All that being said, it’s very easy to use. Continue reading “What the heck is Pinterest?”
Piracy has been the hot topic everywhere lately, even if you didn’t know it. From SOPA to Megaupload to the recent discovery of plagiarism on Amazon.
I remember the day my first traditionally published novel was released. I already had mixed feelings about it but then I got an e-mail from a ‘friend’. It seems my book had been pirated. Already. It had been out for a little less than an hour or so. For a newly published writer dreaming as we all do of leaving the day job, I was horrified and furious. They were feeding on my dreams AND stealing out of my pocket! How dare they?! I got a little hot about it with one of my coworkers. He insisted that if I were a true artist, and writing because I loved it then I should do it for free. I asked if he liked his job, because if he liked it that much as his supervisor I’d be more than glad to take him off the payroll. Not that it mattered, I wasn’t going to change his mind, he was still going to download. And of course, the pirates did dare and after a little time I gained some perspective.
As Joe Konrath said in his most excellent blog Continue reading “Avast ye maties, there’s Pirates!”
