Yes, I'm half a week late on this...but for those of you following our Summer Comedy Event, the second winner has been determined.

John of Learnmegood fame (yes, he's a writer, check out his books...ahem, right hand column ;) ) has picked:

Judi Coltman whose entry was "Johnny Marzetti casserole. Poor Johnny."

Congrats to Judi and to the future winners as we make progress with this contest through the summer!

In my city, a tragedy recently occurred. A pregnant woman was stabbed to death by the man she filed for divorce from.

So, today, I'm breaking from the norm with my blog. The woman murdered is named Katie. Katie, this blog post today is dedicated to you and your unborn baby.

I can't say that I knew this woman. I also can't say that I knew this man. But, what I do know is that when he sent me a friend request many months ago, and I accepted, I looked at his profile pics, and I was disturbed. Here's a man that displays pictures of a woman blowing her brains out and a woman being stabbed to death on a bed with a cross through her mouth as she lays on her back.

Beyond disgusting.

This man is disturbed. His friends say those pics were only his dark sense of humor. As far as I'm concerned, that isn't a dark sense of humor. That's a sick psychopath....BUT that's only my own personal opinion. And I'm still allowed, in this country, at this moment, to have my own personal opinion.

Now, aside from the woman being pregnant, the couple also shared a child. A little girl. She's three.

And she witnessed this murder. How do I know this? Because when the police found her, she was with her dad and she had blood on her clothes. Not only did she witness it, but she must have been close to the act. This child is now traumatized for life.

Yes, I know this blog post today is very disturbing. I know it's sickening. I can't help it. This tragedy has been on my mind for days now.

This supposed man has taken away this little girl's mommy and daddy. This little girl will be forever changed by this tragedy. She will likely suppress the memories for years to come, but they will be there. The knowledge that her dad killed her mom in cold blood will remain in her soul.

So what's my message through all of this?

Simple. NO MAN SHOULD EVER, EVER, EVERRRRR......commit such a senseless act.

I don't care if the woman is your wife, your girlfriend, your sister, your mother, or some random woman. I don't care if she's cheated, if she's left you, if she's cleaned you out financially, if she's broken and stolen everything in your life. I've been there myself. There is absolutely never a reason, EVER, to commit such a senseless act. Let God or the Universe deal with her. Don't throw your own life away.

I did find out that this woman, Katie, had filed for divorce from this man. It was after this fact that this man committed this act.

I've known some pretty damn rotten women in my life. That still gives no excuse to commit such violence.

May Katie and the unborn child rest in peace.

Now you may resume your regularly scheduled daily conversations.

Circles? We're going in circles now? Ah yes, the circle of life, the circle of writing life, the circle that is the ring that we give as the marriage symbol, the tire that's on our vehicle....wait, I'm going a bit far, now, eh? Let's let today's guest tell us about her idea of circles...Kd Rose, take it away:

The Circles of Writing Life

Our circle starts with my book at about 90 degrees around. It's brilliant! It's original! Very few will "get" it! It doesn't fit in a genre! It's a hard sell! It's almost unnoticed! Wait- did the exclamatory hyperbole change?

First books usually have the author's internal organs indelibly attached, and whether the books are avant-garde like mine, or simply lost among the growing number published each month, most author's still wouldn't change a word.

The circle moves to authors who've had better fortune. Or talent. Or both. And those special ones who've done even more. For example, Dave Eggers. Dave Eggers does not need another article written about him. (Wouldn't the rest of us like to say that too.) Yet, Eggers continues to be one of the most deserving. Eggers is now known for his work with 826 National Nonprofit and McSweeney's Publishing House. His actual award-winning first novel, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, almost takes a backseat.

Eggers is one of the co-founders of 826 National, a nonprofit that uses pirates, superheroes and mysterious voices booming from the back of rooms to create a learning environment for kids that actually produces results, while almost tricking them into increasing their reading and writing skills. The kids write books. Real books. Titled, bound, printed and sold books.

When we forget; when we're so busy marketing our wares, selling ourselves on social media, pleading for unknown strangers to just take a chance on our book, it's fitting and rejuvenating to return to the beginning of the circle.

"826 helps young people learn that language can be play, that work can be joyful, and that they, themselves can be the inventors and caretakers of their world." - Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize winning author and 826 volunteer.

So in the middle of this authorship, this selling off pieces of ourselves-but hopefully not our souls, we can think back, and thereby forward. Words are play. Writing, (even marketing) is creating. A writer is a caretaker who bears responsibility for all his or her words touch.

Then perhaps the pen becomes a little lighter. Facebook becomes a way to share information that matters. Twitter becomes a tool to express wit and connect with other minds- minds that are enigmas yet have unlimited potential. And maybe, just maybe, one of those minds will add play to words, authenticity to redundancy, and launch a caretaking campaign that touches future generations. After all, who wouldn't want a career like Dave Eggers?

Readers can find K.D. Rose's book Heavy Bags of Soul at: http://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Bags-Soul-K-Rose/dp/1475170629 as well as on Barnes and Noble and Books-a-Million.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @kdrose1
Facebook: kdroseauthor
LinkedIn: KD Rose
Website: heavybagsofsoul.com

Readers can find more on 826 National at: http://826national.org
826 National also has 8 satellite chapters. There may be one near you!

About the Author:

K.D. Rose is the author of Heavy Bags of Soul, an edgy- hits you in the gut- gives you the education you never knew you needed- indie book. Written with irony, truth, and a spiked pen, Heavy Bags of Soul takes the reader past the self into self-evolution.

Watch the trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd8vw2jlxts.
Get the Book: http://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Bags-Soul-K-Rose/dp/1475170629

As always, if you like what this author has to say in their guest spot, please patronize them by clicking on their book on the sidebar. I make absolutely nothing off your purchase through this site. I'm just glad to have them stop by and hope you get some pleasure from meeting another author.

I find it very interesting when I post something a tad bit controversial and I get sharp divisions in the responses.

Whether it's a picture or a group of words, what we see and what we say trigger anchors within each person. Some people are used to men being jerks, so they respond to what we say with that in mind. Some are used to women burning them, so they reach to what we do or say in that way. Whether WE mean to come across that way or not.

Same holds true for the stories we write. Each reader may take our story a completely different way than we wrote it, based on their life experience.

Aren't emotions a wonderful thing?

For instance, I wrote a how-to manual of sorts. In it, I explained how each sex should treat the opposite sex with love. With respect. Some readers took it exactly that way while others came out of the reading experience saying that the book tells how to utterly disrespect women. How much of a pig I am. So be it. I simply evoked far different reactions within each reader.

This is what we should expect and even HOPE for in everything that we write.

If we aren't evoking STRONG emotions, guess what...that reader will likely NEVER pick up another thing that we write.

That's an aspiring best-selling author's death sentence.

Remember, even a horrid reaction is a GOOD reaction. We've touched their emotions.

Happy Father's Day!

I remember when I first saw that sign touted by McD's. I was amazed. How could 1 million burgers be served? That's a lot of food. That's a lot of people. That's a lot of money!

Now, of course, that 1 million served is nothing.

Well, now I urge you to take a look at the million seller club on Kindle. There are a few indie authors in that. Right now, it's a big deal. For each author in the club, at least one million copies of their books, spread out over several titles, have been bought and paid for by paying customers. Mostly satisfied readers who come back for more. One million sales.

Can you imagine?

Thing is, regardless of what the naysayers say, such as Russell Blake and others (sorry if you're a fan of his), that one million sales mark will one day be no big deal. It'll be "normal" for any author that's been out for any length of time and has several titles out to hit that one million sales mark on Kindle.

I predict that, despite some saying the heyday for Kindle indies is over, it's just beginning. Sure, maybe Amazon changed it's algorithms. So what. So we have to adjust our Method Of Operation and figure out how to crack the great Amazon again. So we have to adjust our status quo once again. Such is the nature of business. Such is the nature of life.

Wouldn't it be worth that to make it into the million seller club?

I don't know. Maybe you don't have any desire to make it into the million seller club. Maybe you just want to sell to family and friends and then you'd be content. Personally, that's not enough for me. I want to make enough regular sales to have a cover artist and editor on retainer. Or at least give them enough business where they can substantially supplement their regular income by working for me. Well, the editor would have to work full time for me. That's all there is to it, lol. Then I'd have to have a lawyer on retainer to keep myself out of legal trouble, haha.

What would you do to make it into the million seller club? Would that club be worth it for you to spend that much energy and effort? Even at 35 cents a pop...multiply that by one million...do you realize that's $350,000? You can earn, cash in your pocket or electronic figures in the bank, $350,000 dollars to spend of your own free will by selling one million copies of your work at .99. Is that appealing to you?

And if you manage to sell one million copies at 2.99, that's barely over $2,000,000 when you figure that you'll make slightly over $2 per copy sold.

Personally, I'd take either of those amounts. But that's just me. And I'm greedy.

Yes, I'm unprofessional. Very much so. And this post will prove it, haha.

Alright, time to thank the sweet Katie Jennings for the award she gave me yesterday. That's the most professional thing you'll see in this post...so brace yourself.

By the way, her blog, and her mention of me, is located here:
http://katieajennings.wordpress.com/
There, now that my plug is out of the way...

I'm supposed to follow this format thingy to return this favor. Well, I've never been one for following the rules, guidelines, or any kind of formal format. So, with that in mind...um, do you have a safety belt? Now would be a good time to use it. Just sayin.

Rules, rules, rules. BLEGH. Er, bah humbug even. Though it's not Christmas. Well, Christmas in July at some jewelry store, I'm sure, so I'm safe there.

Sigh, 7 things that you may not know about me:
(Grumble)
1. I like to grumble a lot. Er, I mean, write a lot. Shhh. Write a lot, yeah, that's it. Engrave that on your mind. *Passes my hand over your head like a souped up magician*
2. David Copperfield, David Blaine, Chris Angel, etc. I am not. I'm just your normal, everyday, average guy who's blazing his own trail in this world. Shocking, I know.
3. I truly do like to help others. As long as...it's appreciated, paid back in some way to someone who truly needs it (that may even be me one day), and I'm not totally burned in the process. Which I have been. WAY too many times.
4. I want MASSIVE success. But then who doesn't, when you're truly being honest about things.
5. I absolutely crave dark chocolate. With Almonds. Or Swiss chocolate. Can't leave home without it.
6. I absolutely love city life and beach life. So much so that I want to have a place in both California and Florida when the day comes that I see my book numbers actually...moving. And not making the sounds of a cricket. When I'm in the position of an Amanda Hocking, J A Konrath, John Locke, Gemma Halliday, CJ Lyons, Andrew E Kaufman, or tons of others, that's when I'll be looking at getting a place like that. In case you don't recognize all those names, here: http://ireaderreview.com/2012/05/03/top-100-indie-authors-for-may-28-authors-to-watch/ 
Then I can truly sit back and enjoy life whilst writing. And hopefully write MORE.
7. Though I get aggravated by them daily...I truly adore my family.

Now, the other part of these arbitrary "rules" are...I'm supposed to tell you about and link you to FIFTEEN other blogs. Ummm...I don't READ 15 blogs! LOL. I don't have time to. So, with two kids running around that just woke from slumber, three WIPS on my desktop that I need to wrap up and push out, marketing to do, food I need to eat, and a much needed mental break from it all, here a couple other blogs you should probably check out: 

http://wade-inpublishing.blogspot.com/
http://nicolestorey.weebly.com/

Having said that...enjoy your weekend!

As always, check some of the books in my right hand column. You just may find a new author you like ;)

Ghostwriting? What? Is that worth it? Ken Scott talks a bit about that today. Let's join in: 
 
I found out from a Sky news survey only yesterday that apparently three out of four people would like to change careers frustrated and unfulfilled in the jobs they have stumbled into. The same survey also published a list of the top ten careers those questioned would like to pursue.

The obvious ones were in there of course. A professional sportsman, an astronaut and a scientist and lo and behold, in there at position number three was writer/author.

The average person unfamiliar with our industry has a strange perception on what the life of an author entails. They assume a book is written, it is published, finds its way into the top book stores, (and window displays too) receives rave reviews from the critics and generates huge sales. Royalties pour in making the author very rich and the publishers queue up around the block to waive their six figure advance cheques for the sequel.

It’s as easy as that.

The reality however is somewhat different.

I am fortunate enough to have stumbled into ghost writing, that is writing books for other people who pay me to do so. (Rather incredible for a boy who left school with no formal education, thank goodness for my editor!)

Ghost-writing was not the way I envisaged my writing career progressing but it does pay the bills and allows me to continue with my own historical and crime fiction novels and yes it gives me the status of a professional writer. I have also been privileged to meet more than one or two incredible people in pursuit of my career including two real life heroes, ex POWs from World War II, Horace Greasley and Lise Kristensen.

But there are an awful lot of balls to juggle out there and I confess at times it is more than a little frustrating to see the book I have written for someone else sell 50 or 60,000 copies whilst my own books hardly make it into a bookstore and some do not even find a publisher at all. The real heartache is knowing that the books who haven’t made it to the bookstore are better than the ones who have sold in their countless thousands.

But alas that is the frustration of the career I have chosen to follow and I will always remain an optimist and a patient man.

This career has a regular habit of kicking you between the legs just when you think you have it cracked. Three months ago a UK film director flew across to see me in Spain clutching a copy of my very first book ‘The Jack of Hearts’. She announced there and then she wanted to make a film of the book and would I be interested in writing the screenplay? I jumped at the chance. The Jack of Hearts was badly written but the plot was good and I welcomed the chance to revisit the manuscript and correct the many mistakes in there.

I more or less ran home and wrote the first few scenes that evening. Presenting the work to her the following day she remarked how professional it looked as if I’ve been writing screenplays all my life.

I hadn’t. This was my first one I confessed, feeling more than a little pleased with myself. She gave me a month to write the screenplay stating she wanted to commence filming in the spring of 2013. I put everything else on hold and worked 12 and 13 hour days to get the 200 scene/ 30,000 word document completed before sending it off to her at the end of April. Two weeks ago she announced she was putting the project on ice, her reason being she needed to chill out a little as her health wasn’t what it should be. She apologized profusely and said she would look at it again in a year or two. I told her not to worry and tried hard to smile during our short conversation.

I’ve been writing professionally now for over 6 years but it was only last year that I managed to feed my family and put a roof over their heads without relying on income from other sources and help from family and friends. I have just finished another ghostwritten book for an actress who should have no problem getting it published and already I am discussing my next commission at the end of the month. I am surviving but that is all. We at the coal face of the industry know the harsh reality of being a writer. The average man in the street does not experience the rejection from agents and publishers and the frustration of trying to make it as a writer. They don’t see the long hours we put in trying to promote our work, updating websites and blogging. Our waking thoughts and our personal take on life is displayed on Facebook and Twitter on an almost hourly basis. At times it feels intrusive and yet we know we must maintain that presence or we might as well give up.

And yet having said all that I wouldn’t swap it for the world.

My writing desk is ten metres from the Mediterranean sea and I work when I want to answering to no one. I can work in a bar, in a café or on the beach and I can jump out of bed in the mornings and go to work in just my boxer shorts. How many people can say that? I have books published in Italian, Spanish, Norwegian and Turkish, my mother thinks that’s great and it is. I research on the internet at least a couple of hours each day and never tire at the sheer joy of being able to learn and study and broaden my knowledge forming opinions on a whole range of subjects from Genghis Khan to the Spanish Inquisition and the role of the Catholic Church. I am constantly fielding questions from would be authors and I encourage and meet with them whenever possible. I have helped many of them to finish their book and even helped one or two get published.

It is without a doubt the best job in the world but shhhhh…. let’s keep that to ourselves.

My working life is near utopia, success in my own right would be nice but not essential. I have a crime fiction and a historical fiction book on the Spanish Civil War more or less both complete. Who knows, one of them might give me my lucky break.

In the meantime I will continue to write and believe. I cannot imagine a day in life complete without achieving at least few hundred words.
-- 
Ken Scott

Author of:
Jack of Hearts
A Million Would Be Nice
The Sun Will Still Shine Tomorrow
Ghost-writer of:
Race Against Me - Dwain Chambers
Do The Birds Still Sing In Hell? - Horace Greasley (Film production to commence late 2011)
This Heart Within Me Burns - Crissy Rock
The Blue Door - Lise Kristenson
Sherlock's Squadron
Coming soon:
Diary of a Serial Killer
Mr & Mrs XXX
Juan Cortez. A novel set around the Spanish Civil War

www.ken-scott.co.uk

As always, if you like what this author has to say in their guest spot, please patronize them by clicking on their book on the sidebar. I make absolutely nothing off your purchase through this site. I'm just glad to have them stop by and hope you get some pleasure from meeting another author.

Alright Indies!

I've written about this recently, but it seems the need is still out there to have attention called to this matter.

Do we really WANT to support one another in our MUTUAL pursuit? I hope so.

I've just created a new facebook group for FREE books. http://www.facebook.com/groups/369867503068226/ 
Join it and help support each other.

It's like this...we can run around spamming our own wares to every other author and be upset when they don't bite...because WE aren't biting on theirs. OR...we can actually support the others first, so that when WE want support, they are more likely to oblige as well. When we run around spamming everyone else constantly with an "take mine" attitude without us giving anything in return, people get sick of seeing us.

Is THAT helpful for our marketing? Not so much.

So let's grow some guts. Have a tiny bit of courtesy. Of human decency. Of mutual respect. Of...common sense. Too bad common sense isn't common at all. Wonder who came up with that term anyway...

Let's change the trends...TOGETHER. Let's stop just spamming our books to every fellow author we come across. Let's band together and each author simply point and click to download the free wares to raise our fellow author's ranking. Let's help one another raise in Amazon's precious rankings so that ACTUAL paying customers will then see our individual wares. Let's help each other make actual cash. Let's stop pimping our own wares to every other author. Oh wait, did I already say that one?

Let's stop only pimping our own wares to every other author.

Wait...I feel like I'm repeating myself.

Well, maybe if some authors would listen...maybe if some authors would listen...maybe if some authors would listen...*slaps recording*

Help me create a new recording. Help me create a recording that says "All indies actually, honest-to-God support each other, it's awesome!"

Here's an idea from the Twilight Zone. How about we each make a commitment to start pimping other author's works and not touch our own. I will say this...from my own experience of doing just that, I've sold a copy of each book in my Jack series when I wasn't pimping them myself. However, when I pimped them myself every single day...they books were broken. Stuck. In the mud. Going nowhere fast. Zero to sixty in...well...in infinity because they never hit sixty, haha.

And that is a series from which the first book is in over 10,000 readers hands/kindles currently.

So, let's enjoy our personal Twilight Zone and flip the conventional thinking scenario on it's head. You just may be PLEASANTLY surprised. Give it a shot and see. What do you have to lose?

There's the million dollar question that you won't want to ask of Des Birch. Let's find out why...

Have you ever returned from vacation and have somebody ask you how it was? Have you ever returned from work and have someone ask how your day has been? How many times have you given a one-word answer to these questions? Often when I am relaxing, my wife Julie notices my fixed stare which she attributes to my being in ‘Storyland’. If the TV is on I might be gazing at the screen but she knows I am not watching it. Then I might stand up and head for my computer, writing for a time before returning to Julie’s ‘welcome back’ smile. How has my day been? Exciting, torrid, frightening, loving, exhausting........, but never just OK.

I work in an engineering company with murderers, rapists, drug barons etc, for my colleagues are the real people on which I base many of my characters. I live in a world over which I have complete control. Perhaps my daily work is just a fantasy and Storyland is the reality. Julie of course is the wonderful dream.

Being the wrong side of fifty, I have experienced much of life’s up’s and down’s. I also see cycles taking place in which young people experience the same challenges as we did in the struggle for the rite of passage into adulthood. I began to wonder how other species handled this, when a Storyland trance came over me and I eventually emerged with the idea for my YA book Beyond Dark Waters in which a little boy enters five different species, learning lessons from each. It was such fun to write and each day I would complete a section and read it to Julie and Elliott (an elephant, but you will have to read Different Eyes if you want to meet him). I was lucky enough to win an award for this book and it is my crowning achievement to date. I had written 110 pages of the sequel when this torrid, violent story of drug barons, torture and revenge came hammering on the inside of my skull, ready written and demanding to be put down in words. I told it that it was in a queue and that anyway I had far too much on this year, but to no avail. I’m now 70 pages into it and it seems to have calmed down a little, allowing me to study for the final part of my BSc Hon. Stories can do that!

So who am I? I am a father and a grandfather. I have a basic science degree and I have also spent a couple of interesting years in Europe teaching English. I believe in living life to the full. I currently have three novels and one book of short stories in E-format and paperback. Am I rich? Ha ha ha! I’ll never be rich; I like living too much and I need to be around real people who have problems that money can’t solve. I feel I am very lucky indeed. I have a loving family, great friends, a life full of intrigue and the ability to share that life with the world. Come and join me on Amazon and on my Facebook site.

As always, if you like what this author has to say in their guest spot, please patronize them by clicking on their book on the sidebar. I make absolutely nothing off your purchase through this site. I'm just glad to have them stop by and hope you get some pleasure from meeting another author.

I mean to make this post yesterday, but things got so hectic I didn't get it done.

I had a great response this week for our Summer Comedy Event and the #finishtheline contest. Thanks to ALL who participated!

I combed through the entries and narrowed them down to four that struck me the most. Then, the task of figuring out which one struck me as the best of those four.

It wasn't an easy choice, let me tell ya. I loved the absolute simplicity of three of these final four. I loved the play on words with one of these final four. In the end, I went with the choice that sounds most like what Jack would say, and since he is the main character in the free book, I felt that was fitting.

So...my line for #finishtheline was:
I jumped over the barbed wire and...
That's when I lost my pants. Honest, Officer!
And the winner is...Mariah from facebook!

Congratulations to Mariah, and follow me on twitter @LATripp2818 for the next contest which starts TODAY!