Petroplague – Author Amy Rogers – 83,000~ words, $19.95 HC / $2.99 E I have a huge ego. To keep its luster, I keep it away from embarrassing situations. Naturally, I was a bit intimidated when I followed a stray link from Booktrib to the website of Havard grad, former Cal State Professor, Amy Rogers, […]
Heroine Archetype: Katniss Everdeen
I read 50-80 books a year and post reviews for 10-20 of them. This is the only one that is not a review. I’m posting this in the hopes of getting more writers, movie moguls, TV producers, etc to understand how a real literary heroine works. Since everyone finally caught on to The Hunger Games, writers […]
Review: XO by Jeffery Deaver
XO – Author Jeffery Deaver – 98,000 ~ words, $26.95 HC / $12.99 E I finished reading XO while sitting in the front row of the Poisoned Pen (our cherished local bookstore) just as Jeffery Deaver took the microphone on stage. Perfect timing! Except … I couldn’t think of any questions to ask him that […]
On Writing v5.1: Cash is Good – ROI
Our goal as writers is to craft a story so interesting that strangers will pay money to hear it. Let’s start with definitions: ROI stands for Return On Investment. The equation: Revenue minus Costs divided by Costs. In publishing, this is a very tricky number because books have a startup cost but very little operational […]
On Writing 4: Ignorance is Bliss (not cash)
Our goal as writers is to craft a story so interesting that strangers will pay money to hear it. I have been told a thousand times that I am blissfully ignorant. But let’s not dwell on my family’s opinions. Let’s stick to writing, where ignorance, and the accompanying bliss, can hurt your writing efforts far […]