Special Wednesday's Guest

Happy Hump Day everyone. This morning I was going to post another column from Slim Randles, but then Sam started bugging me. Sam, Samantha Rutgers, from Play it Again, Sam, had a few things on her mind, and she wouldn't go away and leave me alone. I'm not making this up folk. Well, I guess I am partially responsible because I did make her up when I wrote the book, but I'm sure all the writers reading this are nodding and saying, "I know what you mean."

Characters become very real to us, and even when the book is finished and has been published, sometimes they come back to talk to us again. On one hand, that can be disruptive when we are working on a new story, but on the other hand, it is kind of neat to have a visit with them again. So, here is Sam with the questions she had for me today. Grab a cup of coffee and a slice of this hot apple pie and join us....

Sam: Now it's my turn?

Me: Yes. What do you want to know?

Sam: Well, first I want to thank you for giving me a happy ending.

Me: You're welcome. Most stories should have a happy ending. Otherwise the reader will be disappointed, especially in a romance novel. So what is your question?

Sam: I wondered why you named me Sam. And why the whole Casablanca thing?

Me: Didn't you like it?

Sam: Hey, I thought I was asking the questions.

Me: Okay, okay. Boy, you sure have gotten pushy now that you are all self-actualized and all.

Sam: Self what?

Me: Sure of yourself. Strong. Confident. Remember how you were in the beginning of the story?

Sam: Oh, right. So anyway, my question?

Me: Okay. When I wrote the story I wanted to say something about a person who starts her life over again, and the phrase "play it again" kept running through my mind. That reminded me of Casablanca, one of the best love stories ever, so I decided to make it a favorite of yours.

Sam: What if I didn't like it?

Me: But you did, right?

Sam: Yeah.

Me: And I didn't make you like it just because I wanted you to, right?

Sam: That's true. At first I wasn't sure, but when I saw the movie I fell in love with it. And then that whole thing you did with Frank when he-

Me: Stop! Don't tell. You don't want to give anything away. Then people might not read your story and see how you became all self-actualized.

Sam: I kind of like that. Self-Actualized. Thanks.

Me: You're welcome. That was all part of your character arc.

Sam: I don't care why you did it. I'm just glad that my life turned out so well after John. He sure did kick the foundation out from under me.

Me: So you built a new one. There's an old adage "That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger." Or something like that. But you know what I mean. You made choices throughout the story that made you stronger, until you became who you are now.

Sam: I did, didn't I.

Me: Yes you did. This was your story. Not mine. So... now could you go away for a while. I do have some other characters I need to be talking to right now.

Sam: Okay, okay. I think I'll go someplace warm and play on a beach. It is freakin' cold here.

Me: Can I go with you?

Sam: Nope. You said you had to work. Chop, chop, girl.

If you enjoyed meeting Sam and would like to know her "happy ever after" ending, Play It Again, Sam is on sale at Untreed Reads for 30% off the cover price from now through Valentine's Day. It is just one of the many romance novels on sale during this special event.

Sale on E-Books

 All Untreed Reads And Distribution Titles On Sale 50% Off This Month At Kobo!

 

The folks at Untreed Reads just let me know that Kobo is running a special sale for the rest of this month. There is a coupon code that will give readers 50% off their purchase. Every title by Untreed Reads and all of its distribution clients can be purchased at 50% off with the code, and there is no limit.   Nearly one million titles are part of the sale, and the coupon can be reused!

  All books purchased through Kobo are EPUBs, meaning they can be read on every single device or computer in the world except for a Kindle or the Kindle app.

  Kobo has its own free app for all reading devices and computers. The person who notified me said he has it installed on a Mac, an iPad, a Galaxy S3 and a Barnes and Noble Nook.

  Readers from around the world can buy from Kobo, and the markets included in this sale are US, Canada and the UK.

  Kobo has a program that supports your local bookstores and enables your local brick-and-mortar to sell ebooks and stay open.

To take advantage of this promo, simply head over to Kobo. Add as many titles as you'd like to your cart and enter coupon code Sept50 during checkout. This includes all of my books that are distributed through Untreed Reads.

Friday's Odds and Ends

First I want to mention that today is the last day of the big sale from the BackList Books authors. 25% off already low-priced e-books from over 40 authors in a wide variety of genres. My book, One Small Victory, is one of the books offered. These books were all originally published by traditional publishers and the rights reverted back to the authors. Here is a LINK to the sale page.

Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art? The eternal question. I started wondering about that the other day when reading the news, and I just don't know. Consider this:

From Fiction: A line from Father Flip in the play "The Altos, Like the Sopranos only Lower" : "I was lost, but found my way behind bars."

From Real Life: A pastor of a small church in Dallas after being arrested for breaking into a woman's house, defending her checkered past: "I've turned by life around. Since 1988, I have walked the straight and narrow path."

Hmmmmmm? I doubt the pastor ever read The Altos script or saw the show, but it is a scary coincidence that the words are so close.

I read this recently in The Dallas Morning News. "Because Dallas city processes for removing graffiti is so lengthy, the city is contracting with a lawyer who has been painting over the graffiti for several years, even though what he is doing is against the law.

So, instead of streamlining the process so city workers could do the work, the city would rather pay more money to a contractor? But, hey, why not change the law so people in the community could paint over the graffiti for free and not be breaking the law?

Oh, but that would be too simple of a solution for a bureaucracy.

And finally, Happy New Year.   Click on the link for a holiday wish from me to you.

Sale on E-Books

There is a terrific sale on the Backlist E-Books site on a wide variety of books from romance to mystery. The sale starts today, Dec 26th and runs  through Dec 31st.

The  books offered were once out in either hardback or paperback by traditional publishers, including my One Small Victory, and the authors retained the electronic rights to the stories. 

If you received a Kindle, Nook, or i-Pad for Christmas, this is a perfect time to load up on a few books. All 84 titles are offered at 25% off, so there are some good deals to be had over the next few days.

Here is a link to the Backlist E-Books site with all the information and coupon codes to get the 25% discount as you check out.

Happy shopping.