Book Brouhaha

Summary: Two short stories straight from a writer's nightmares and two scrumptious, original recipes. In Out of Character, a novelist who prides herself on creating realistic characters, is writing a gritty murder mystery. Unfortunately, her story takes a more personal turn when her villain is bent on making her his next victim. To what lengths would a highly successful novelist go to overcome her writer’s block? In Idea Man, Lucinda’s muse materializes in his thong bathing suit and offers her a story she can’t refuse. Review: An amusing story about an author that has finally hit the end of her rope but help arrives just in the nick of time.  Despite the somewhat unconventional appearance of Lucinda's muse, what else is a writer to do but go along for the ride? I found myself enjoying this story quite a bit.  Fowkes has a charming style of writing that may not make you laugh out loud but will definitely keep you smiling throughout.  I found myself getting ...

KDP Select hasn't been treatin' me well.  I've tried to make the relationship work!  Every time we break up I think maybe I could have done something different.... maybe we should try again.... But no. I just can't seem to get any short stories to catch on with KDP Select.  I've tried: -Collections -Various genres -Altering the level of promotion I do on free days -When I do free days There's more.  I've even tried putting stories on there that sell regularly.  They continue  to sell regularly without any noticeable difference in sales numbers.  But I've yet to have a single copy borrowed.  Which means the only pro is five free days. Is this worth it? Ehhhhhhh...... I'm thinking not.  iTunes, Sony and Kobo are turning into three of my main sources for sales.  Frankly, that's worth way more to me than five freebie days.  If someone is shopping online, comes across one of my stories and then is...

Summary:   Albert's an aging rock star who escapes the big city to kick back on a lake in the wilderness . . . no manager, no groupies, no tour bus . . . when out of the blue a hunter blasts the living chopsticks out of his shoulder. Instead of finding himself in a nice cushy ambulance, Albert wakes up in a remote cabin with the man who shot him. The shooter guards the lake, standing by it into the late hours of the night, staring at a strange a light in the depths that only he can see. Review: Another excellent story by House.  This author continues to display her clear strength in creating deep, interesting characters with surprisingly few words.  We barely have a chance to meet Albert before he is thrown into his hair-raising adventure but immediately there is sympathy for him as a character. I really enjoyed "Albert."  If you actually take it at face value it's a science fiction horror story.  But it's written with such whimsy that you fin...

Books are a product.  Yes, they may transport you to other worlds and absorb your time for hours but they are a product nonetheless. This means that someone created this product, packaged it and then put it up for sale for your buying pleasure.  While the seller's job is to sell, he or she is also obligated to inform the general public what kind of product is being sold.  That is the seller's legal and moral responsibility.   But this is a two way street! It is the buyer's job to be educated in order to make informed purchases.  If the seller says their cereal is 100% sugar, it is the buyer's job to do a few minutes of research to find out if eating all-sugar cereal for breakfast every morning is a good health choice.  It would be foolish to rely on the seller for the total picture.  Sure, that cereal could be part of a complete breakfast.  But which part?  Dessert? Therefore, if ebooks are something that interest you as a buyer,...