Just a Little BSP

Yesterday was the official launch party for the new International Anthology, Short and Happy (Or Not), that contains my short story To Love Again. The book was just released this week on Amazon and already has 9 reviews. One reviewer wrote: "A sampling in all the right ways. Overall one of my favorite reads in the past couple of months. I had a lot of fun stepping inside the minds of somany diverse and engaging authors."

I also want to announce that my mystery, Boxes for Beds, which was a Kindle exclusive for almost a year, is now available for Kobo, Nook, iTunes, Inktera. Of course it is still available for Kindle readers, too. I just decided to open distribution and used Draft2Digital, a terrific company that helps indie authors who don't want to take the time to create all the different formats for all of these retail outlets.

The folks at D2D will convert a Word document into an ebook, create clean chapter breaks and a functioning table of contents. It is a quick and easy process from the author end and I highly recommend the service. There is no upfront charge and D2D only takes 10% of the retail price.

And now, so this isn't just about me, here is an interview with Laura Parker on Regan Walker's blog Historical Romance Review. Laura is the best-selling author of 40 books, many of them historical romances, and her Rose Trilogy is being offered as a boxed set through Untreed Reads. I read all three books in the series that started with Rose of the Mists and they are terrific stories. The new release has a different cover, but here is the original from that first book.

Since books make great gifts, it is not too soon to think about some of the written treasures for folks on your gift list.

Monday Morning Musings

My little town, Winnsboro, is one of the few rural cultural arts districts in Texas, and one of the reasons we acquired that designation is the Fine Art Market that is held annually. Another reason is the vibrant Winnsboro Center for the Arts, where I am very active.

In addition to being the Theatre Director, I organize the Author Showcase that is held in conjunction with the Fine Art Market, and for one weekend the air in town is infused with creativity. On Saturday I was at the Author Showcase with a number of other authors and it was a good event. We had lots of fun greeting folks we knew and meeting new friends. I was especially pleased to see a number of my Young Players come out for the day, and was thrilled to sign a book for Natalie, a terrific young actress.

Sunday, I went back to the market to do some shopping, and it was so much fun finding unique gifts for my kids and grandkids. I always love it when something just pops up and says, "Buy this for..." I even splurged and bought a gift for myself.

In other news, I have a story in a new anthology that is being released November 15 by S&H Publishing. The book has already received several early reviews on Amazon and so far readers are enjoying it. There will be a launch party for the book this Sunday in Virginia. I sure wish I was close enough to attend. Who doesn't love a party?

The book, Short & Happy (or not) is available through the S&H Publishing website and other online retail stores. I will be happy to send a signed bookplate to anyone who might want to order the book as a gift - to someone else or to keep. Just e-mail me at maryann@maryannwrites.com

Autographed book make terrific gifts, and I would be happy to sign and ship copies of my other books that you might want to buy as gifts. Just contact me at the above e-mail addy.

To end with a bit of humor, I cracked up when I saw this cartoon from Drabble yesterday. Ralph and June are in a restaurant, where June has made quite a mess with her soup. Ralph is thinking, "If your spouse goes to the dentist in the morning and the dentist gives her long-lasting Novocain, and she asks you to take her to her favorite soup and salad restaurant afterward, I suggest you sit at separate tables. Just sayin'."

Dreams Never Die

Since you are smarter than the average bear, you have already figured out this will not be my usual Friday Odds and Ends post. I am heading out of town for an Art & Author Faire at the Georgetown, Texas library, and will spend the rest of the weekend with my son and his family who live in Austin. Great way to start Mother's Day weekend, which is especially hard for me this year. So today I have a guest piece from humorist, Slim Randles who writes the popular syndicated column Home Country. His story resonated with me as "continuing a dream" is the theme of one of my stories in my collection, The Wisdom of Ages.  

When old Ben died recently, the town was saddened, but probably not for the usual reasons. Ben had been widowed for nearly 20 years and had lived alone in the house where he and Judith had raised their boy, John.

He’d had a lot of health problems, there at the last, too. Things weren’t easy for him.

Sometimes when a guy is in that shape, people nod and smile slightly at his passing and say, “Well, in a way it’s a blessing, isn’t it.

 But not with old Ben. There’s the sailboat, you see.

After Judith died – and Judith was the most practical woman in town – Ben started buying and reading magazines about sailboats. Then he cut the front off the barn/garage out in back, and began building one. He drew crowds with his work for a while. Everyone stopped by from time to time, and we all know it is to be 32 feet long and a gaff-rigged – not Marconi-rigged – sloop. Said they look more like real sailboats.

Eccentric? Well, maybe. Eccentricities last a year or two, but a 20-year project is a lot closer to being an obsession.

When Ben could afford more of the special wood he was using, he bought it. Sometimes all he’d get were some of those little brass whatchits to put along the side. But each time something came, there was work going on out in that garage. Ben took pride in the project being pay-as-you-go, so he wouldn’t owe anybody when he finally put it in the ocean.

Ben died before that happened, and that saddened us greatly. We might chuckle a bit behind his back, but we also secretly envied him and admired him for building that boat.

After Ben passed, his son John brought his wife and children to live in the little house. After a few weeks, we heard activity out in the garage, and we found John working on his dad’s boat.  It would, he said, eventually sail.

There is no statute of limitations on dreams.                            
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Brought to you by the new CD “Having Fun in New Mexico,” Fifteen stories by Slim Randles. www.slimrandles.com   Slim's books have some of the same thoughtful and humorous commentary and are well worth the read. One of my favorites is Sun Dog Days.

Taking a Week Or so Off

Due to a family emergency, I will be offline and not doing my regular blog posts for a while. Carry on without me.

If you are in the mood to pick up some bargain books, my publisher is putting two of my titles on sale the rest of this week and into next.

My short story collection, The Wisdom of Ages, is on sale for only $.99 for three more days for Kindle and Kindle apps. My novel for young teens, Friends Forever will be going on sale March 27 - April 3. The books are available for Kindle worldwide and the sale prices are
effective in the UK, too.
 

Monday Morning Musings - The Truth of the Matter

As the trial of George Zimmerman goes into it's second week, I thought about the fact that the outcome largely depends on who you are going to believe. Zimmerman is charged with murder in the killing of Trayvon Martin, a 17- year old who was walking home after buying snacks at a convenience store. Witnesses have differing accounts of what happened, so it truly is going to be a case of he-said, she-said. When writing fiction you, the author, can put words into a character's mouth and manipulate the story to take it in the direction you want it to go, but in real life, we aren't supposed to do that.

Unfortunately, people manipulate the truth all the time. Do you like the way I came right out and called anyone a liar?

People manipulate the truth to avoid prosecution, to avoid public scorn, to avoid responsibility, and it seems to be an acceptible mode of behavior. Lie as long as you can get away with it.

Okay, sorry, I couldn't avoid the word any longer.

I don't know who is lying in the Zimmerman case, but someone is. There was only one way this scenereo played out. Either Martin attacked Zimmerman first, or he did not. Since Martin is dead and cannot tell  his side of the story, the jury is going to have to rely on what they are led to believe.

Let's hope it's the truth. Either way, let's hope it's the truth.

Well, I didn't mean to get all heavy and philosophical this early in the morning, but this kept running through my mind as I took my walk this morning. Don't even ask me why. I have not been following the trial at all.

Thursday is my birthday and we will be having company for the Fourth of July and through the weekend, so I will be busy all week getting ready. It is always fun when most of our kids and grandkids come out to Grandma's Ranch to celebrate the birthdays, mine and the good ol' USA, and they do have to suffer through me singing "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" over and over again.

Don't forget to leave a comment if you would like to enter the contest to win copies of my short stories. This is part of the Untreed Reads sale - 4 for the Fourth - in which they are offering four short stories for only a dollar through Thursday. Details and lists of books on my post last Wednesday. I decided that I would gift someone with my four short stories on my birthday, so leave contact information in your comment and I will have the drawing early on Thursday before all the fun starts here.

This picture has nothing to do with anything I wrote about. I just thought you might like to see what our Harry was doing recently. I think he wanted the horse to play with him. What would be a good caption?

Special Sale for the Fourth of July

If you stopped by to meet Wednesday's Guest, you might want to check yesterday's post for a guest who could not make it today and get to know Ellen Harger. I am over at the Blood Red Pencil today where we are discussing authors writing book reviews. It is a discussion that started on Kristen Lamb's blog a week or so ago, and there are lots of pros and cons being tossed around. You might want to toss an opinion into the mix.

On another note, Untreed Reads is having a special sale to celebrate Independence Day! 

Now through July 4th, you can pick any four short stories (priced at $0.99 or less) and add them to your cart. During checkout, enter coupon code FIREWORKS and you'll get those four stories for only a dollar!

Even better news! You can use this coupon over and over, so come back and pick any other four short stories and get those for only $1.00 as well. We've even improved The Untreed Reads Store so that for many titles you can send the EPUB version directly to your Nook from your bookshelf, or send the MOBI version straight to your Kindle.

Click HERE for mystery short stories.
Click HERE for horror short stories.
Click HERE for romance short stories.
Click HERE for science fiction and fantasy short stories.
Click HERE for literary short stories.
Click HERE for experimental fiction short stories.

So many books - How can I choose?

I have four short stories with Untreed Reads - Making it Home - The Last Dollar - The Visitor - SAHM I Am . They are all included in the sale, so this is a great time to sample them. I have also decided to offer them as a special gift on July Fourth. Since that is my birthday, I thought I would give gifts as well as receive them. So I will give the short stories to one of my visitors who comment on any blog post starting with today's and continuing through the Fourth. Names will be put in a hat and one of my cats will use a very sharp claw to draw one out.

Don't forget to leave an e-mail so I can contact you.

Friday's Odds and Ends

Today, I'm over at The Blood Red Pencil where the topic is the differences between the way men and women talk. Hop on over if you have a moment.

A high-rent area of Dallas, Highland Park, is banning the use of artificial grass. "Plastic grass is not in keeping with the quality of design we want to have in our town," says a city council member.

Sure, let's stymie a home-owner's attempt to save some water. It's not like Texas has not been in a drought for three years.

Where's Tweetie?  Police in Florida are still looking for two people they say stole more than 500 canaries from the home of an 87-year-old Florida man back in May.  The birds, valued at $30 each, were then sold to at least three pet shops.

That gives new meaning to the word Tweet.

Speaking of new words, did you know that F-bomb is now included in a mainstream dictionary?  The term "F-bomb" surfaced in newspapers more than 20 years ago but just this past Tuesday was included for the first time in the mainstream Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, along with sexting, flexitarian, obesogenic, energy drink and life coach. For more on how words get added to the dictionary, as well as how the f-bomb qualified, here is the full story.
 

You've got to love this one. Representative Ralph Hall of Rockwall TX - the oldest member of congress at age 89, is going skydiving next May. "Sometimes you have to do crazy things," he says.

Way to go, Ralph.

Not so smart were the three men in Las Vegas who tried to ride a mattress down a flood channel in Henderson after heavy rains on Wednesday. A police helicopter caught up with them and ordered the riders out of the dangerous, fast-moving water.

What were they thinking? Oh, right. Probably not thinking was the problem.


Then there  was the man in Montana who was charged by a cow. The construction worker was helping police corral a runaway cow when the animal charged at him "like a bull at a rodeo," tossing him into the air before continuing its rampage through the streets of Montana's largest city. Story and pictures HERE

Just for fun. This came from the comic strip, One Big Happy. Ruthie walks into the kitchen to announce, "Boys are mean and stinky."

To which her mother responds, "Now Ruthie that's a generalization. Not all boys are mean and stinky. In fact, some are just the opposite."

Ruthie makes a new announcement,  "Boys are stinky and mean."

And now for a word from our sponsor. My short story, SAHM, I Am is free for Kindle readers today and tomorrow. If you missed it the last time it was free, now is your chance to get it. It is a humorous look at what happens when a computer meets an indestructible force. If you do get the story and enjoy it, I'd love for you to leave a short review on Amazon.

I just saw that my publisher has put my short story collection, The Wisdom of Ages, free today for Kindle. One of my fans said she liked this book the best of all of them. 

Book Review - The Corner Cafe: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories

I'm not sure if there is any rule against reviewing a book that  you are a contributor to, but if I don't say anything about my story, will that work?

A few weeks ago, all of us who contributed to The Corner Cafe: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories were asked to download the book to do some proofing and check for formatting issues, so we have had the opportunity to read all the stories first.

In reading some of the first stories in the collection, I noticed a theme that involved strong women taking charge of their lives. "You Can't be too Careful" by Bob Sanchez features George, who is a bit off his rocker, so to speak, and has made his wife, Lila, live with him in a storm shelter. Duct tape plays an important role in this humorous story that has a bit of an O'Henry twist.

Shon Bacon's story, "I Wanna Get Off Here" brings us the character of Bay, a bus driver and closet writer. She doesn't want to be forever trapped in the abusive relationship with Darryl. He thinks she is too stupid to be anything but a bus driver, but in her heart, Bay knows she is better than that. She needs to find the courage to get him out of her life, and she finds it at The Corner Cafe.

In "What's Next" by Karen Casey Fitzjerrell, the reader meets a woman named Wilson, named so because her mother desperately wanted "a baby with a penis." Wilson has grown up in a little town in Texas near the Gulf  and longs for more than the endless routine of days and nights living with her grandmother, and wondering what happened to her father who died at sea before she was born. How she decides to break that endless cycle is both harrowing and enlightening.

I found these stories of strong women particularly endearing. Maybe because I like to write about strong women. But I also really enjoyed the other stories as well. On her blog, The Fabulousness, Red Tash shares a list of all the stories with a short blurb for each one.

This collection, a collaborative effort with 14  writers is free at Amazon UNTIL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. You can download it to your Kindle by clicking here: http://www.amzn.to/Cornercafe and read at your leisure!

If you don't have a Kindle, you can download a free Kindle app to many other gadgets like your computer, smartphone, or iPad. Click here: http://bit.ly/CCKindleApps

Read a Book - It's Good for You

I always knew that reading was good for people. As a child, I escaped into fiction and found comfort and sometimes guidance in the stories I read. I learned about dedication and commitment from The Old Man and the Sea.  I learned about loyalty and devotion to those we love from Of Mice and Men I learned about the danger of too much power and prestige in The Great Gatsby. And I learned about good and evil through the characters in the westerns I read by Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour . The good guys were clearly defined by the adherence to a strict moral code, while the outlaws operated on a different moral plane entirely.

It was interesting to read a recent article by Jonathan Gottschall, who teaches English at Washington & Jefferson College and is the author of The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make us Human. He validated my belief that fiction helped shape me when he shared results from research "that shows that reading fiction does mold us. The more deeply we are cast under a story's spell, the more potent it's influence."

For the complete article, I suggest you go to this link. It is worth the time to get all the results of the research, especially the difference between the impact of reading fiction and non-fiction.

One of the most interesting facts that Gottschall pointed out is that fiction shapes us for the better, not for the worse.  When I was researching for my nonfiction book, Coping With Weapons and Violence in School and on Your Streets, I found studies that indicated that all the violence in fiction promotes violence in young people, and the jury is still out on the effects of the violent video games. However, this new research indicates that reading fiction "enhances our ability to understand other people; it promotes a deep morality that cuts across religious and political creeds. More peculiarly, fiction's happy ending seem to warp our sense of reality. They make is believe in a lie: that the world is more just than it actually is."

Giving people that belief may explain "why humans tell stories in the first place."

While I do not consciously have that thought in mind as I write my stories, most of my fiction does offer the hope that good will prevail over evil. It encourages people to embrace new ideas and attitudes toward people and cultures that are different from what they are comfortable with, and it looks at life situations and brings about that happy ending that doesn't always happen in real life.

To assist you in believing in a happier world, there is a new book out, The Corner Cafe; A Tasty Collection of Short Stories that has an eclectic assortment of stories from published authors. I am pleased to be one of those authors with my story that is described as; "Over the Threshold" by Maryann Miller mixes a bit of Raymond Chandler noir with "The Twilight Zone."

For the month of June, the authors will be doing a blog book tour, and the full schedule of stops can be found at Dani Greer's blog site Blog Book Tours.  The tour starts today and you can find a complete introduction to the book at Dani's blog.

Happy Reading.....