Archive for February, 2010

Zoom Zoom

I know it’s from a car commercial, but it was a sound that made people think of fast long before the car people pilfered it. I am not quite prepared for this post, even though I knew a week ago that it was my tirn to post. So I spent the day wondering what the stink I was going to blog about that had anything to do with short stories. I got nothing. Go figure.

I can pull something out of my … I can do this.

Zoom Zoom made me think about things that go fast. Okay, what goes fast? Short stories. Kinda obvious. I am  HUGE fan of short stories. I am ADD and so I have the attention span of a gnat. But short stories are perfect for me because I can get a full story in a few pages. This is good right?

Short stories are perfect for people who have limited time but need a reading fix. You’ve got 30 minutes for lunch and you want to read. You can read a few pages of a book and be left unsatidfied and spend the rest of the day wondering what was going to happen. Or you could quick surf over and download a short story. You get to read the whole story in a quick few minutes and you are totally satisfied because you get a beginning, a middle, and an end. Hooray!!!

BUY now at Fictionwise

Okay, this is all kinda stating the obvious, but it is a great lead in for me to tell you about one of my favorite short stories. Years ago, I was determined to be published by Harlequin. It is every romance authors’ dream, at least for a little while. So, I started a book for the Blaze line, which if you know anything about Harlequin, Blaze is their saucy line. Well, getting back to the attention span thing, I just couldn’t write the story into book length, so it ended up a short story, almost a novella. I have to say that this is one of my favorite stories.

The book was originally to be the first in a trilogy about three brothers and each of their stories of finding love. The cool thing for me is that these three brothers are all very different, but they all work in some capacity in the family business which just happens to be cars. One brother is a race car driver, the second runs the business side of their family automotive company, and the youngest brother is a mechanic.

I started with the race car driver. Thatcher Kaine is one of my favorite heroes because he is sexy and cocky. His heroine, Cheyenne is every bit as bold as he is and it makes for some serious sparks.

I hope you will take a little time, spend the $2.50 for the download, and enjoy TOO FAST FOR LOVE.

I have never written the second and third stories because I got into publishing and let my writing go. But the I am getting the itch to write again and I am wondering if anyone thinks that it might be worth anyone’s time if I write those stories. I’d consider a great favor if you would give it a read and let me know what you think.

TOO FAST FOR LOVE

Determined not to be tied down, Thatcher Kaine takes the bumps and curves of life as fast as he can. Cheyenne Knight’s commitment to her career leaves her no time for bad boys. But from the start, sparks fly between the two. With one burning touch after another, this couple ignites passion … but are they moving too fast for love?

BUY at Fictionwise

 

Happy reading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2010
02/28
CATEGORY
General
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E-Publishing, where it’s AT, baby.

By carlbrookins

So I’m blogging tonight in the old blog ground.  Sounds sorta like a line from an old song.  I said elsewhere that I would comment on e-publishing, and so I will.  I have a particular interest in e-publishing because several of my books and short stories are available through the new technology.  No surprise there.

A couple of them,  “A Winter’s Tale”  and  “Hard Cheese,” are short stories.  They’re available for a pittance from www. echelonpress.com.

Some of my novels, likewise, the most recent being Devils Island.

If one looks at the history of books and publishing, one may be struck by the number of revered authors who began their writing careers by doing something that today is considered, if not obscene, at least dangerous and wasteful.  It’s the dreaded self-publishing!  (Imagine that I lowered my voice to a mere whisper here)  Or, that other awful label, (psst) Vanity Press.  Makes my teeth hurt.  Let me just name a few authors you may have heard of: Wilkie Collins, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, Vince Flynn.  Oh and don’t forget the estimable Jake Konrath.

My point is this:  it’s too easy to dismiss something by sticking a label on it and declaring the label pejorative. That’s what happened to Vanity Press and Self Publishing and we have to be careful it doesn’t happen to e-publishing.  All literature should be based on the quality of the work, of the product, of the content, just as we judge the newest mousetrap or medical device, or the latest CD from that garage band down the street.

It seems illogical to me that the reading public should be saddled with the assumption that any book or short story which has not gone through the particular vetting process established by mainstream or old-fashioned publishers is, of necessity, a bad book. E-publishers are an amazing, talented lot and their authors are likewise.  We live in a time of swift-moving and incredible change.  Don’t deny yourselves the opportunities that present themselves to read really stunning, thoughtful and thoroughly stimulating literature.  And by the way, here’s a reading suggestion:  William Shakespeare wrote a fine play titled “The Winter’s Tale,” both tragedy and comedy, “I do beseech you to pardon me all the faults I have committed to your worship…” And so, another “Winter’s Tale.”

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2010
02/27
CATEGORY
General
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What A Man Will Do For Love

Romance.  What is it about that word that sets most men I know quivering in fear?  Not all of them mind you, but enough that it makes me wonder if it’s a gender-linked trait to avoid hearts, flowers, and all things mushy. 

Sometimes I wonder, “Is it so hard to make a small gesture?”  Even just a grocery store bouquet would do.  What about that rare man who makes the grand gesture without social prodding?  Perhaps it’s the hopeless romantic in this female’s heart, but I’d like to think such men exist – the type of man who will sweep a woman off her feet without reminders like Valentine’s Day. 

One of the advantages of being a writer is that I get to indulge in my love for the grand gesture without having to wait for someone else to do it.  Not all of my male characters are sensitive romantics, but at least some of them are. 

In “Hounds of Winter,” Devlin is a taciturn, but sensitive, man who lives deep in the forest with his beloved Faylinn.  When Faylinn disappears in the bitter depths of winter, Devlin’s love for Faylinn drives him out into the treacherous night, where even the wind has teeth, to find his lady love.  (Buy it here)

But restoring the status quo, even if it does mean fighting beasts of the other world, isn’t as grand a gesture as Mel Hippos makes in my short story “In the Land of Plenty.”   You see, Mel is no ordinary man.  He masquerades as one under the wide Montana sky, but he’s really one of four brothers who must ride forth to bring on the end of the world.  His brothers want him to ride but he refuses for one reason, and one reason only – Janie.  For the love of a woman he would stop the Apocalypse.  How’s that for romantic?  (Read it for free here)

So with Valentine’s Day not far past, and a little romance still hanging in the air, why don’t you curl up with Devlin and Mel, and see just how romantic a man can be if he just tries. 

Click here for “Hounds of Winter”

Click here for “In the Land of Plenty”

Like what you saw?  Read the rest of my Echelon shorts here.

Follow my blog here.

2010
02/25
CATEGORY
General
Just for Fun!
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Write for Fun and Feeling

Have you read or written a short story lately?

When my sister visited us recently, we talked about the long hours we spent in the hospital with our mother before she passed. Her memories were still painful, and she asked how I had gotten past it. “I put it on paper,” I told her. “I gave the conflicts to my story characters and let them work it out!”

Click Cover to BUY for only $1.00

She laughed until I explained. The scene in LAST VISIT, when Kerri is looking out the hospital window and sees life renewed in the baby ducks trailing behind their mother, is exactly the scene I saw out my mother’s hospital window. The hopeful feelings the scene evoked in me are in my short story. Kerri finds that beyond death and misunderstanding there can be happiness.

You can buy LAST VISIT at: http://tiny.cc/LastVisit

My other short story at Echelon is also about finding happiness after adversity: http://tinyurl.com/SpecialGifts

I hope you find a rainbow at the end of your storm. And I’d love to hear from you about what you think of my short stories. You’ll find an email link on the author page of my website:http://loiscarrollbooks.com/

Plus you can find more of my short short stories on my blog: http://loiscarroll.blogspot.com/

Looking forward to hearing from you. Enjoy!

Lois Carroll

2010
02/22
CATEGORY
General
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Stranger Danger Online

Stranger Danger Online is real. How safe are your children from the following situations:

· A stranger posing as their school friend in an online chat:

Stranger: “Hi, it’s Isabella speaking. You know, from school.”
Your child: “Isabella W or Isabella S?”
Stranger: “Isabella S.”
Your child: “Izzy! Is that you?”
Stranger: “Yes. I need to call you but lost your number. Duh!”
Your child: “555-55555.”

As easy as that!

· Somebody getting your child’s particulars from your Facebook / MySpace account.

Even if you yourself are careful not to mention your child’s name or post their photo, be sure that your friends will. Is your account set to private and do you only befriend people you know?

· A stranger gaining your teenager’s trust by sharing “naughty” websites?

But wait, there’s more. Although my work of short fiction, “Witch Hunts on the Internet”, concentrates chiefly on stranger danger present online, it also considers the problem of 98% of all abuse cases happening within the circle of the child’s family and family friends.

Contrary to its theme, “Witch Hunts on the Internet” is a light humorous read with a good ending. If by promoting it I can keep just one teen out of trouble, I’ll be very, very happy.

e-book

2010
02/08
CATEGORY
General
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