(Click on the images for full view.)

Also, on my Book Blog Tour (March 19-23) hosted by A Tale of Many Reviews, I’ll be offering up as part of the Grand Prize, a sterling silver ‘Mayfair Moonstone’ charm necklace , so be sure to visit their site for full details and your chance to win! I’ll also include in that Grand Prize a hard copy version of the book and other goodies.

Onto other news: I’m happy to announce that my not-so-young-adult novel, DIRTY EDEN, will likely be published by the end of February! I’m really looking forward to seeing what you all think of that one. It’s COMPLETELY different from THE MAYFAIR MOON in so many aspects and let’s just say I don’t hold anything back . If you like dark and gritty adult humor, unconventional views and strange, creepy alternate realities, then you might like DIRTY EDEN.

Also, I’ve already had one book blog review and even my first author interview over at Mina Burrows’ blog ‘Books for Paranormal & Mystic Minds’ – she’s been great! AND I have a book blog tour coming up in March, hosted by the wonderful people over at A Tale of Many Reviews. So, anyone out there runs a book blog and would like participate in the tour for THE MAYFAIR MOON, follow that link and sign up!

I’m in the process right now of publishing a physical copy of THE MAYFAIR MOON and I can’t wait! Soon, it’ll be available for Kindle AND for anyone out there who don’t yet have an eReader, or who just prefer a book they can hold and read.

:-)

Yesterday marks a huge day for me as I finally published my first novel on Amazon and I’m pretty much…terrified. I spent a week going over the book one last time, addressing Heather’s recommendations (from Red Adept Reviews)  and then sat staring at my computer screen for a tortuously long time on the night of the 6th, before taking the plunge. I decided to enroll in Amazon’s KDP program, which means the digital selling of my book is exclusive to Kindle for at least 6 months. If you are an Amazon Prime member and own a Kindle, you can read my book for FREE using the ‘Lending Library’! After that, I can start selling on Nook and other platforms. Paperback copies will be available at a later date all depending on how this eBook process unfolds.

Right now, I need reviews and ‘likes’ on Amazon and abroad!

On my book’s Amazon page, just to the right of the cover you’ll see a graphic like the one above. Be generous and ‘like’ it – I will be in your debt. If you happen to purchase ‘The Mayfair Moon’, I would love a good review! :-) I’m also looking for book reviewers out there who might be interested in delving into my story and telling their readers what they think of it. So, if you know any personally, please send then my way!

As with any new author, I’m both excited and scared out of my mind, but this step in my lifelong journey to become a published author is (it feels like) long overdue, and despite being afraid, I’m also happy. :-)

I really hope you all like it!

I got my official Red Adept ‘Alpha Read’ results back today on my novel, ‘The Mayfair Moon’ and I couldn’t be more pleased and excited. My Alpha Reader was ‘Heather’ and she did exactly what I hoped she would do: She pointed out and described in detail everything that she DID NOT like. Honestly, I was worried that whoever read my novel might feel in some way obligated to sugarcoat the truth, but that was not the case. Heather was blunt and to the point, which is now helping me to make this book the best it can be. She has opened my mind to a few things I was unaware of and even confirmed a couple of things I myself thought was a bit ‘off’. I cannot stress enough to every writer out there how important it is to get someone who doesn’t know you and who would be less inclined to bias, to read your book before you consider publishing (self-published, indie and even traditional).  I am now on to the next step in my publishing process: another brief edit to address all of Heather’s recommendations and then on to the step that both terrifies and excites me: publishing.

Despite the mentioned negative, I’m very happy to say that her positive opinions greatly outweighed the negative and that she “really enjoyed it!” and hopes to “…get to read the sequel some day!”.

What a way to start a new year! I’ve been sick with nervousness since I sent Red Adept my manuscript, unable to write or do much of anything for fear of my Alpha Reader absolutely hating it. And now, I’m looking at my road to publication in a whole new way. I’m still scared to death, but I’m going into it with a lot more confidence! :-)

I know this might sound like some kind of prompted publicity, but it’s purely my UNprompted opinion and a big Thank You to Red Adept, but I would recommend Red Adept services to any aspiring published author and I personally will be using them for my future projects.

As for ‘The Mayfair Moon’, I am hoping to publish this month! So, I guess I better get back to work.

Alright, folks! I’m getting a Kindle around February and I want to help give indie/self-pubbed authors some deserving praise and exposure, so here’s what I’m going to do. I’m setting aside $50 to put toward the purchase of eBooks to read on my new Kindle. If you’re a self-published author and you write fiction, all you have to do is:

1.  Be following me on Twitter.
2. Be an indie or self-published author.
3. Comment on this blog post with the title of your book, genre and a link to your book on Amazon. (This is important, so read carefully: to help my paranoia, DO NOT shorten your URL so that it removes the ‘Amazon’ from your link, or I will not click on it.)
4. Also post your Twitter username.

That’s it. I will take the first however many eBooks posted (and that qualify: see below)  that equal to $50 and will buy them when I get my Kindle. In addition to purchasing your book, after I have read it and if I like it, I will rate your book on Amazon and on Goodreads and write a short-and-to-the-point review. If I can’t honestly give you at least 4 stars, I will not rate or review at all because I don’t want to give anyone public negative feedback. Keep in mind, it might take me a while to actually get to your rating and review because I’ll have several books to read ahead of yours, but I will purchase your eBook around the same time I purchase the others.

In addition to purchasing, rating and short-reviewing your eBook, I’ll tweet when I’m reading yours along with a link to your eBook on Amazon and a link to your web site/blog. The only things to keep in mind before submitting are the following:

1. It MUST be fiction
2. It MUST be either, paranormal, fantasy, young adult, paranormal romance, horror, middle-grade fantasy, dystopian, science fiction, post-apocalyptic, or anything else that you think fits these genres. I also love a good southern story with rich southern characters, or historical novels about society’s struggles and triumphs (e.g. The Color Purple), or a tragic love story (e.g. The Notebook). I’ve never been too interested in strictly romance novels, or crime and mystery, things like that. However, if you think your book has the potential to change my tastes a little, go ahead and post it and I might give it a try. I can’t guarantee it’ll be counted among one of the first chosen, so please take that into account.

I have been trolling Amazon’s eBook phenomenon for months and am really excited about finally jumping on the eBook reader bandwagon myself. Also, I want to help out any way I can with giving great indie and self-pubbed books/authors some publicity. Every little bit helps, right?

Lastly, even if you don’t post the link to your book in time for it to be among the first $50, I still encourage you to post your link for me anyway! I’m always on the lookout for great indie/self-pubbed books and I might end up checking it out later, regardless.

Click the image for full view. It might not look like much in this photo, but I still can’t believe I saw it like this.

I also got to see the moon UP CLOSE and got an even more detailed shot of it:

I also saw two of the ‘M’ galaxies, though I can’t remember which he said! But they were among these. I just couldn’t believe I was actually looking into the sky at two GALAXIES. I didn’t attempt getting a photo of those because although I could see them through the telescope and clearly make them out, they were too faint to try getting a photo. I also caught a glimpse of Betelgeuse, Titan and several others. Then, to my surprise I watched as two satellites went across the sky around Earth. It was awesome.

Thanks to the CAAS (Central Arkansas Astronomical Society) for organizing the event and for being so welcoming and friendly. Come to find out, they have been doing this yearly for a long time and I never knew anything about it. My brother and I will be going to another one of their events next month. Can’t wait!

The Walking Dead has broken records, was renewed for a second season long before the first season was over and will continue to captivate viewers as long as it stays on the air (if the 1-year-long wait for Season Two doesn’t piss too many fans off and send them packing). Now let me tell you why…

The Cast –

Nothing bugs me more than how television and even film tend to think that getting the hottest, clone-like, most high-profile actors is a necessity. While the cast of The Walking Dead are not by any means unattractive, they are real, relatable, everyday-looking human beings like your next door neighbor, or that guy that works as a mechanic at Jiffy Lube. Fans can easily relate to every character on this show in some way and not be distracted by the Hollywood bullshit expectations, which so many television shows and movies live by. Look at the cast of films such as The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and yes, even Twilight – dare I say it! Many of these actors were extremely low-profile, or in the case of Harry Potter, practically nobody. Now imagine if Steven Spielberg landed the Harry Potter director’s job and cast Haley Joel Osment as Harry, or if Sean Connery accepted the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings. Do I really need to say it? I didn’t think so. So yes, characters matter. They matter A LOT, and if you want a kick ass television show or film, then choose the cast based on character, not on fame and sex appeal.

The Location –

Face it, a good majority of all television and film is not only shot in New York, Chicago and other huge cities as such, but base their storylines in those places as well. There ARE other people and places in the United States, y’know! If The Walking Dead was shot in Chicago instead of Atlanta, I would’ve been pissed, needless to say. But like with casting characters that so many average people can relate to, the storyline taking place primarily in a city OTHER THAN the ‘Hollywood cities’, is just as important.

The Storyline –

In addition to all of the excellent reviews and comments by fans out there, I’ve also run across quite a few haters (can’t be successful without haters!) who have bitched and complained about this and that and blah fucking blah. Basically, the majority of negative comments I have seen seem to revolve around one thing: PREDICTABILITY. These are people who expected Dr. Jenner to know every single thing about this ‘virus’ and give it all up in episode 6, and about other things that did not happen, but they pretty much thought would. The Walking Dead storyline isn’t entirely PREDICTABLE! Really? And that’s a bad thing how? Personally, I was extremely happy that episode 6 went out the way it did and that the characters didn’t go into the CDC and leave with the knowledge that would obviously send them out to find the cure, which is a plant that only grows on ledges under waterfalls. I want to be surprised when I watch something new, like I was when the Vatos sweet grandmother came out and made me feel stupid for calling the fake gangbanger Mexicans, wetbacks. I love Mexicans, by the way – just thought I’d clarify that for any close-minded, chicken-chokers who might be reading.

It’s NOT About Police Investigations or Emergency Rooms-

CSI, Chase, CSI, NCIS, CSI, CSI – Really…when is enough, enough? The Walking Dead comes out and is a godsend to television riddled with cop and doctor shows, not to mention, fake reality TV.

Kick-ass, Gruesome ZOMBIES –

No need to explain this; watch the show and it speaks for itself.

So there you have it, the ingredients for a kick-ass television series or movie. Now I’ll leave you with two of my favorite Santa photos, ever! Found these off Wicked Lil Pixie’s blog.

Jerricah has been extremely curious about my newest YA novel, The Mayfair Moon (title subject to change) and finally after seventeen chapters, I decided to let her read it.

She did more than read it. For two days, she read it aloud to me and we edited it. I knew she was intelligent, but I never thought to put her intelligence and love for reading to work like that. It was a wise decision. She found a lot of errors, bad sentences, places were I was ‘telling’ rather than ‘showing’ – she found a lot! And what was also great was her inability to be biased because I’m her mom. She wasn’t afraid to tell me what she didn’t like, what made no sense, what SUCKED.

Of course, what I say next will likely be interpreted as writer blindness to family opinions, but that’s OK. I’m not ‘one of those’ writer’s, I can assure you. So, with that said, I can tell you Jerricah loves The Mayfair Moon, despite the errors (because ALL first drafts have errors!) and she kept trying to read ahead to find out what happened to this and that character. She truly loves the story and has easily connected with the characters. She’s anxious to read the rest and this has helped inspire me to finish it.

On a side note, I have dumped my cable! I have officially dragged out the crappy converter box and hooked it up so I can get used to limited TV entertainment in a few days when Comcast shuts me off. I did do it because I’m sick of paying $65 a month for basic cable, but also because too much TV=less writing! I know that without the TV on to distract me for hours and hours every week, I’ll have much more time to write.

And that’s what matters.

Of course, a big thanks to my friend Jon for passing my site along! :-)

Anyway, just a cool quick blog.

Happy weekend.

There was a lot I left out in my first Chicago blog and here I need to add some of it. Well, I am officially a sushi lover! Brian took me to Tokyo Lunchboxes & Catering (I just read that on the package of chopsticks I brought back, but I thought the place was called something different, shorter?). Mmmmm, I was hooked on the first try. Of course, now I’m back in this depressing place that very likely doesn’t have good sushi that I don’t have to hunt down and drive long distances to find.

Here’s a shot of me in the heavenly sushi place.

(Photo by Brian Salata)

The chairs were up because they were cleaning the floor. Damn. I wish I had some sushi right now. :-(

Here’s a shot Brian took at night as I stood in this odd cubby hole that smelled like pee a little bit. There was a small drain there, as you can see and I could only assume that perhaps bums peed there? I don’t know, but I got out of there quickly once the photo was taken. Nice shot though – good perspective.

(Photo by Brian Salata)

And this photo I’m only putting up because Brian thinks it’s ‘cute’, hehehe. Though for some reason it reminds me of Mary Tyler Moore….

(Photo by Brian Salata)

And I like this one at the Adler Planetarium. We were sitting in the cafe’ having a bite with the best view of The Lake and the city. It was raining, but that made it more special somehow.

Well, I’m ready to go back to Chicago. Like, right now. Yep.