Mark Your Calendar

I've picked the dates for my first free days for Soulless. February 21 and 22. This is for amazon only. (This should include international amazon sites) I'm hoping this will get some attention for my other books as well. I'll be posting a reminder or countdown somewhere on my blog soon. (it's there now!)---->

Side note, Lindsey Stirling, my new favorite violinist, is making a new album! I'm excited! I listen to her first album all the time. Great stuff.

Top Ten Tuesday #32

Have you heard of Hayao Miyazaki? He's a Japanese genius. More specifically, he makes animation movies with Studio Ghibli, which is pretty much Japan's version of Disney. In fact, the two companies often work together to produce the English versions. I adore his movies.

Today's Topic: My Favorite Miyazaki Movies

10. Princess Mononoke. The ending wasn't what I had hoped for, but the whole story is very good. A prince is cursed and must find a way to save himself. He meets San, a wild girl, who reluctantly helps him even though she hates humans for their disregard for nature.
9. Ponyo. A story about a fish girl who wants to see more of the human world. Very cute.
8. Tales From Earthsea. It's based on the books by Ursula Le Guin.
7. Whisper of the Heart. A girl falls in love with a boy who wants to make violins. Sweet love story.
6. Castle in the Sky. A strange girls wants to find out where she's from--a place called Laputa. With the help from a boy, they fly through the air to reach a floating island.
5. From Up on Poppy Hill. A young girl takes care of her family while her mother is away. Someone writes a poem about her. She and the author eventually become friends.
4. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Nausicaa is a princess who struggles to stop a neighboring kingdom who is trying to use an ancient weapon to kill mutant insects whom she has befriended.
3. The Secret World of Arrietty. It's adapted from the story The Borrowers.
2. Spirited Away. A young girl is transported to a fantasy world where she meets all sorts of strange people and creatures, including a dragon. Such a great movie.
1. Howl's Moving Castle. Based on the book by the same name. A young girl is cursed by a witch to look like an old woman. Hoping to break the curse, she searches for the infamous wizard, Howl. Love this movie!!

Internet: Is There Anything It Doesn't Know?

I'm like most people. I spend a good deal of time browsing the internet. Most of the time there is a purpose, but other times I find myself looking at . . . unique things. I frequent a site called wimp.com where people upload videos, much like youtube, but these particular videos are always family friendly. There are usually 5-6 new videos a day. Some are funny, some inspirational, others just plain weird. These videos often lead me to seek out more information on whatever I might have just watched. For instance: there are quite a few TED videos (it's an ongoing series that features speakers on various subjects). This leads me to find other TED videos, because they are always interesting and fun. Yesterday I watched a video on a professional Hurdy Gurdy player. (here's a link if you're interested) I've heard the term before, but honestly didn't know what it was. It's kind of hard to explain. Let's say it's a crank powered stringed instrument from medieval times. I like medieval-inspired music, so I ventured to youtube to find more Hurdy Gurdy players. I spent a good twenty-thirty minutes clinking on videos. Now, I probably could have spent my time doing something useful, like the dishes, but even though listening to Hurdy Gurdy music seems like a waste of time, I was learning. I like to learn. The internet is a great tool for this. So, now I'm off to wimp.com to watch more videos and hopefully learn something in the process. Dishes can wait.

A Little More

To help inspire more sales for Soulless, I thought I would offer a glimpse into chapter 2. This is an important chapter because it's where the course of the main character's troubled existence begins its drastic change. I'm also giving another link to the prologue and chapter 1 for those of you who haven't taken the opportunity to read from the beginning. Now, read! It's good for you.

Prologue and Ch1
Part of Ch2

Top Ten Tuesday #31

Thought I'd go back to my Beatles lists and finish songs by singer. This time, it's Ringo's turn.

Today's Topic: Favorite Songs Sung by Ringo

10. Boys
9. Honey Don't
8. Yellow Submarine
7. Octopus's Garden
6. I Wanna Be Your Man
5. With a Little Help From My Friends
4. Good Night
3. Don't Pass Me By
2. What Goes On
1. Act Naturally.

Though Ringo doesn't have the best singing voice, he had some fun songs. I think I might look back on all four lists and compile a list of favorites from them. That might help me figure out if I really do have one favorite song.

Dreamy Stuff

I'm one of those people who is often able to remember most if not all of the dreams I have after I wake up. Sometimes this is a bad thing, especially when my dreams include being chased by bears or dinosaurs or my teeth crumble in my mouth and fall out. (These happen more often than I'd like) But when I have a fun or interesting dream, I can pick bits and pieces from them and turn them into book ideas. Several of my ideas have formed this way. This past week I've been able to outline two new stories from dreams. I find it rather enjoyable. Here's a couple of hints.

One is about military training for teens, but with a secret agenda.

The other is about an alternate earth with nearly identical alternate selves for everyone. The main character's alternate self is determined to kill her.

Whether or not these ideas will result in actual books remains to be seen. Creating the outlines is fun too.

__________
The ebook for Soulless is now enrolled in Kindle's Select program, which means it is only available on amazon. One of their promotional tactics is for me to choose five days during the next three months when it will be free to download. I will let you know when these free days will be. The first one or two will probably be in Feb.

The Dreaded Two Star

I have received my first not-so-positive review for one of my books. I've been expecting it. I know perfectly well that not everyone in the world will like what I write. And, as I also expected, it kinda hurt. A couple of months ago I contacted this person, who does book reviews on her blog, and offered her a free copy in exchange for an honest review. She posted her review on her blog yesterday. After reading what she thought of the book, my first instinct was to email her and either a) defend my book or b) critique her review. I decided not to do that, because everyone is entitled to their own opinion. However, there are a couple of things I wanted to touch on. For anyone who writes a book review, whether positive or negative, it is helpful to readers and authors if you are specific in your opinions and constructive in your criticism. This particular review for my book, I feel, accomplished neither. I'm always looking to improve upon my writing, but that's difficult to do when the people who read what I write don't give helpful feedback. I'm not trying to sound complainy, even though getting a negative review isn't fun. It's how the business goes. Thankfully I have plenty of positive reviews, so her negative one doesn't mean much. Time to move on and keep writing.

I had a goal to finish writing book 2 of my Vessel series by the end of December. The holidays proved to be busier than I anticipated. I'm about 2/3 of the way through it. I think it'll be done and ready to send to my editor by the end of Jan. Hopefully sooner. As for the second book I plan to finish by the end of the year, I have several prospects to pick from. It could be book 3 of The Vessel. It could be the first in a whole new series, of which I have several. It could be another stand alone. It will definitely be something that has a large chunk already worked through. I have high hopes for 2014!