Boat Rides and Blog Posts

ROW80 check-in

This is one of those weeks when life just won’t allow me to get to my WIP. Sigh. Today, for example, we rose early, ate a quick breakfast, walked the dogs, cleaned up and raced for the ferry dock. We caught the last morning boat.

This trip could not be postponed as we were standing up for friends at their wedding. Although this was a small civil ceremony, I have never seen a more excited bride. This girl is the ultimate tomboy. Today she was in a dress for the second time in her life. She actually lasted until we got back to the house before she switched back into jeans. J

Ok, that’s my excuse for being late with my check-in. So, on with the show.

Goals.

One: Write something at least five times or more each week.

I got this one so far. Managed a book review on the boat this morning and a blog post on the way back tonight.

Two: Write a minimum of 2500 on my WIP words each week.

Only managed about half here. It will be next week before I really get caught up on the poor neglected WIP

Three: Publish at least six new novels in 2012.

I got this one. On Monday I published the fifth book in the St. John’s Series of romances. It is available on Amazon and Smashwords, so get ‘em while they’re hot!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/136601

http://www.amazon.com/Gudrun-St-Johns-Series-ebook/dp/B007DZT1KA/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3

Four: Read and review six or more first novels by new authors. (I don’t give bad reviews, so don’t panic, I’m friendly, honest. J

I finished reading Rojuun by John H. Carol. I will review it on this blog tomorrow or Friday.

You can find it here.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/31154

Five: do more to be supportive of new and struggling writers.

I’m all set to start a new book, but haven’t decided which one yet. I’ll let you know on Sunday.

Six: Publish a small collection of erotic short stories. Hey, I’ve been around for over sixty years, and this one is on my bucket list. I will make it happen in 2012.

This has gone on hold until Amazon and or Smashwords arrive at some sensible guidelines. I may seek another on line publisher for this project. For now, this is on the back burner.

Ok, that’s about it for today folks. How is it going for you? Did you hit your targets? Let me know how it went for you.

Things I love Guitar

Hi folks, it is time for another installment of the Things I Love project. This time I want to tell you about my long standing love for the guitar.
When I was young I got the measles and had to stay in bed for days. One day my sister dropped her guitar on my bed. "If you can learn to play a song by Friday you get to keep the guitar."  Oh yeah, it was mine from there. That was over fifty years ago and about twenty years ago I passed it on to my son. I learned to play by ear, and thought I was pretty good at one time. recently I learned what a real guitarist could do.
Oh sure, I heard the greats and been completely impressed, but the other day I accidentally  discovered a video of an Australian fellow named Tommy Emmanuel.
I was captivated and watch spellbound. When it was over I asked myself, "Just what the hell did I just see here?" So today I will show you two of his videos. The first is a more conventional piece, Guitar Boogie, a favorite of mine. The second is a piece he wrote himself. If you are pressed for time, just watch the second one.

Folks, I hope you enjoy this man's artistry as much as I do, for he has no equal. enjoy.

So, tell me what you thought. I'd love to hear from you.

People watching and a ROW80 Check-in

It was a hurried trip across to the city on Friday. I actually hadn’t planned to go but ended up on the boat anyway. K and I sat with a couple of fellas she knows from work. I was being quiet, just enjoying listening to the gentle banter, but K knew I was cooking a people watching post.

Now, these two fellas are nice guys, soft spoken and with nice manners. I liked them both. As I said, I was enjoying listening to the three of them. The best part came when one man confessed he had never bought clothes for himself. His mother had done it until he married then his wife took over. He claimed to have over forty shirts in the closet at home. Say what?

Not to be outdone, his buddy confessed to having twenty nine shirts which he irons himself. He wears a fresh shirt every day until all are gone then it is laundry and ironing day. K suggested he buy no-iron shirts, and he admitted he had tried them, but he likes his shirts crisp, so he prefers to iron his own. Come again?

What’s going on here? Are not men always complaining of the money women spend on clothes? Do they not complain of wives closets full to the brim while they have no room at all? Really guys? I think we have just busted another myth here, don’t you girls?

All right, with that note of victory, let have a look at the ROW80 goals.

Goals.

One: Write something at least five times or more each week.

Nailed it this time.

Two: Write a minimum of 2500 on my WIP words each week.

I’ve nearly doubled that. Wheee!

Three: Publish at least six new novels in 2012.

I’ve only got a few more pages to finalize then the fifth book of the St. John’s Series will be ready to go.

Four: Read and review six or more first novels by new authors. (I don’t give bad reviews, so don’t panic, I’m friendly, honest. J

Finally put up that review of A Breath of Hope by Robert Taylor. Find it here:

 http://www.prudencemacleod.com/2012/02/book-review-breath-of-hope.html

Five: do more to be supportive of new and struggling writers.

See above!

Six: Publish a small collection of erotic short stories. Hey, I’ve been around for over sixty years, and this one is on my bucket list. I will make it happen in 2012.

I’ve got the stories in first draft now. Just need to tidy them up a bit. There has been a hitch here as PayPal is putting huge pressure on Smashwords to ban erotic fiction. To quote D.C.McMillen, "Paypal has decided to abuse its considerable position by imposing their moral beliefs on the self-publishing industry, forcing Smashwords, Bookstrand and other sites to remove certain categories of erotica from their websites. No corporation should consider itself a moral authority in any way, shape or form. This is a slippery slope, and even if this does not directly affect us as writers or readers...yet, we must stop censorship and book banning.

See petition here: 

http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-censorship-2?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=share_petition

Ok, that’s about it for today folks. How is it going for you? Did you hit your targets? Let me know how it went for you.

Check out my Amazon page here: http://www.amazon.com/Prudence-MacLeod/e/B0079XOY8U

Book Review: A Breath of Hope

Hi folks, it’s time for another book review. This time I want to tell you about A Breath of Hope by Robert E. Taylor. I really like reading the work of new authors. Sometimes you find a real gem, and this book is one of those.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/79381

ROW80 Check-in #15

It’s check-in time again and I’m feeling a lot better about my progress.  This is turning out to be a productive week. What did I do? Let’s see:

Testing the Waters

For those of you who know me, you know I can be a bit opinionated on certain subjects. E-book pricing is one of those things I feel strongly about. So many people work their butts off for months, even years, to produce a body of work they hope will provide you, the reader, with a few hours of entertainment. Please consider this for a moment.

ROW80 Check-in #14

It’s check-in time again. Where does the week go? Anyway, it’s been a week of ups and downs, but it was worth it. I’ve now got all my work up on Amazon and it appears to be selling well. I’m pretty pleased with the results. Now I have to learn all the tricks etc. for the Amazon site. Darn, I wish I was more tech savvy. Ok, on to the goals.

Breathe

I’m calling this post breathe, because I need to remind myself to take the time to do just that. Seriously. This past two weeks have been busy and then some. This is week started out brilliant as I launched my new Vampire book, the Immortal Tigress. This is a different take on the beginnings of the legend. I published the novel on Smashwords then set about promoting and publicizing it. It was much later in the day I learned that Smashwords was down.

Book review, Keeper

Hey folks, it’s time for another book review.

This time I read Keeper by Kristine Williams. I quite enjoyed Keeper. The author has come up with a new twist on an old theme. I also love sci-fi and this is good sci-fi.

ROW80 Check-in #13

It’s check-in time again. Where does the week go? Anyway, it’s been a week of ups and down, but I’ll get to that in a minute. First, the goals:

Vampire

Hi folks, here I go again, blowing my own horn, but this time I can’t help it. Today I published my latest effort, Immortal Tigress. I know I have been talking about this one for a while, but it is just that I am so very pleased with it. Everybody seems to be writing about vampires these days so I thought I’d take a crack at it too.

Many of the book I have self-published recently were written years ago. I tidied them up a bit, but didn’t make a lot of changes. The reasons for this are simple. I didn’t want to dilute the emotion of the story as I felt it back then, and I wanted make it easy for folks to see my progress as a writer. However, the Immortal Tigress is a recent work and I am rather proud of it.  Here’s where to find her:

http://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Tigress-ebook/dp/B0079RA7IC/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1

 For millions of years a rogue meteor hurtles through space towards Earth, glowing from the vast fields of radiation through which it has passed. A primitive human female gazes in wonder as the burning invader hurtles toward the ground, unaware of the great beast stalking her. All three meet in an instant. Flash forward to the present, yes, she is still here, she has always been here, stalking us, feeding off us, and so have those she has created.

This cover was produced by the super talented Justin, and this time he has outdone himself as he captured the lady just the way I wanted.

I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Feedback is always welcome.

ROW80 Check-in #12 Plus Odds and Sods

I know it is late in the day, but it is still Sunday so I’m not technically late. Last night we went to a friend’s birthday party and watched as her partner got down on one knee, proposed, and then put a ring on her hand. It was so very sweet.  Anyway, I’m here with the check-in and a few other bits and pieces. Sooooo, on with the show.

Goals.

One: Write something at least five times or more each week.

I’m good here.

Two: Write a minimum of 2500 on my WIP words each week.

I beat that this week and actually feel like I’m catching up a bit. Yeaaa me!

Three: Publish at least six new novels in 2012.

Still basking in the glow of the last one, but have started working on the cover for the Tigress story. Actually, the truth is, Justin has started work on the cover, I’m cheering him on. J

Four: Read and review six or more first novels by new authors. (I don’t give bad reviews, so don’t panic, I’m friendly, honest. J

I finally got the review done for Stone Relics by Katy Walters. Check it out. 

http://www.prudencemacleod.com/2012/02/book-review-stone-relics.html

Five: do more to be supportive of new and struggling writers.

Something very strange happened here and I would love a bit of feedback on this one. I located and bought five novels from five different writers. I looked for folks with their first novel up or only a few. Two of the five were free, but I paid for the others. No problems here.

This is where it got a bit strange. I contacted the authors, told them I had their book, promised to Tweet, blog, and review each book as soon as I managed to read it. I also let them know I had followed them on twitter. I have had two responses so far. Two polite, thanks I hope you enjoy, responses, but, and here’s the kicker, neither followed me back on Twitter or has followed my blog.

I’m feeling a bit strange about this. I would have thought a follow on Twitter would not be too much to expect? Every other author I have contacted in this way has done so.  Anyway, it has put me off a bit.

Six: Publish a small collection of erotic short stories. Hey, I’ve been around for over sixty years, and this one is on my bucket list. I will make it happen in 2012.

Working, but the research is demanding. :)

Ok, that’s about it for today folks. How is it going for you? Did you hit your targets? Let me know how it went for you.

My book about Vampires will soon be ready for publication. The first draft of the first chapter is here. http://www.prudencemacleod.com/p/immortal-tigress.html  Check it out.

Beauty of a Woman

Hi folks, this is the day we celebrate the beauty of a woman. Cool! Be sure to check out August McLaughlin’s blog tomorrow for lots more stories about the beauty of a woman. This was her idea after all. You can find it here: http://augustmclaughlin.wordpress.com/ Check it out for a chance to win some awesome prizes.

 I thought long and hard about what to do here.

For today’s post I eventually decided I would rework an older post to demonstrate the true beauty of a woman. So here’s the story.

I love people watching. I love the sheer variety of shapes, sizes, and colors that we humans come in. I will now describe a few I saw from my car window that day so you can share the experience with me. Let’s get in my car and have a look.

There are several small groups of men standing around, smoking or with hands in pockets, shoulders slouched, drinking coffee from Styrofoam cups and complaining about life in general. Grey cloudy mornings can do that to you.

There stands an older man, quite bald, absentmindedly smoothing his comb-over down in the breeze. His younger companion has a small goatee and shaven head. Go figure. That has to be a generational thing.

Here comes an interesting fellow. He’s a big man, heavy, wearing loose clothing. His clothes are worn, but clean, his boots run down and old. He wears his graying hair cut short, mostly hidden beneath a cap with some sort of logo. His face has seen many years in the sun; deep lines surround his eyes and line his face.

It would be easy to dismiss this man as an old fat guy who was down on his luck. Let’s take a second look, for I have an idea his appearance is deceptive. Yes he has some fat on him, but that could just be a side effect of good living. His back is too straight, his shoulders too wide, his hands look like they could crush stone, and there is an easy grace to his stride.

I smile as he walks past the car. With a wink and a nod he returns the smile, and now I can see where all those lines in his face came from. That is a face that has smiled a lot over the years.

He’s gone past now, but there comes an old truck, a working man’s truck, but that’s not who is driving. The door opens and a young woman steps out. She is well dressed, in heels, tall, slim, blonde, and beautiful. All eyes are on her as she alights. She smiles and calls a greeting to one of the men, who waves and smiles back.

All the men are standing taller now, their backs straighter, tummies pulled in, cigarettes cast aside, and their scowls gone. She stops to chat with different groups as she makes her way to the coffee shop, and again on her way back. She has a smile and a good word for everybody she meets on her way back.

By the time she reaches the truck again everyone is smiling. Conversations have gone from complaints to idle chat about more pleasant subjects. I’m not sure if she is aware of the effect she had on everybody, but I do hope she is. I’d like to think this woman used her youth and beauty to brighten the day for everyone she encountered.

For that is exactly what she has done. Through her a goddess came and lifted the gloom from the hearts of all the people scattered about this parking lot. Because of her a number of people, men and women alike, are facing the day with a much brighter outlook. That ability to brighten other people’s lives with just a smile is true beauty.

Now, is it just the young and slim who can do this? Heck no. Yesterday I saw an older woman, stooped and walking with difficulty as she leaned on her cane. She smiled brightly at everyone she met and they smiled back. She is still beautiful and she still shares that beauty with those around her. Beauty truly does shine from within.

So, remember to check in at August McLaughlin's blog today and tomorrow for lots more on the beauty of a woman. here's that URL again.

http://augustmclaughlin.wordpress.com/

ROW80 Check-in #11

Ever heard that old saw, “Life is what happens while you make other plans.” That pretty much says it all for me over the past number of days. Not a lot has gone according to plan. Anyway, whining won’t help, work will, so here the report for the past few days.

One: Write something at least five times or more each week.

Ok, I did do that, but not where I wanted to.

Two: Write a minimum of 2500 on my WIP words each week.

Realizing where things were going for me, I kissed my lovely WIP on the cheek and put her to bed for a few days. I had a lot of other things that needed attention. Girl’s gotta focus, right? I’ve added several pages to my blog, including an about me page. Check them out, say hello!

Three: Publish at least six new novels in 2012.

Ok, we have some action here. Book #4 of the St. John’s series went up on Smashwords Sunday morning.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/129744

I really need to thank the very talented Justin for another great cover. Even with all he has had to deal with over the past few weeks, he still managed to get my cover done. J, I’d be lost without you.

Four: Read and review six or more first novels by new authors. (I don’t give bad reviews, so don’t panic, I’m friendly, honest. J

I finally got the review done for Stone Relics by Katy Walters. Check it out. 

http://www.prudencemacleod.com/2012/02/book-review-stone-relics.html

Five: do more to be supportive of new and struggling writers.

I’m trying to find two Y/A Supernatural writers to team up with for a promotional site. I’m looking for folks with two or three novels published. Self pub is fine. Interested? E-mail me.

Six: Publish a small collection of erotic short stories. Hey, I’ve been around for over sixty years, and this one is on my bucket list. I will make it happen in 2012.

Working. Working. Working. Pant. Pant. Pant.

Ok, that’s about it for today folks. How is it going for you? Did you hit your targets? Let me know how it went for you.

My book about Vampires will soon be ready for publication. The first draft of the first chapter is here. http://www.prudencemacleod.com/p/immortal-tigress.html  Check it out.

Moira, Book #4 in the St. John’s series.

Hi folks, here we are with another book in the St. John’s series of romances. I originally wrote the St. John's series back around the turn of the century. I began at the request of a friend (a psychologist) who was looking for tools that could help folks overcome emotional trauma. She liked my life philosophy and wanted a self-help book, but a series of romances seemed like it would be more interesting and fun to read. The St. John's series was the result. I had lived there before and loved the city.

Book Review: Stone Relics

Book Review: Stone Relics

The latest book I have finished is Stone Relics by Katy Walters.  This is another author’s first effort. I continue to be thrilled and amazed at the richness and scope of story conceived by new authors and Katy Walters is no exception. This is a rollicking good story that will hold your interest from beginning to end. The book does carry an adult warning.

ROW80 check-in #10

Hi folks, it’s been a bit of a tough week writer wise, but a load of fun otherwise. Yesterday was our 16^th anniversary. Friday we went shopping and burned off a credit card or two just for fun. We went Friday as a big storm was forecast for yesterday. On that shopping trip we found a yarn store with lots of wonderful fibers to fondle, a great little dog for a guardian, and a delightful woman to chat with.

ROW80 check-in #9

Hi folks. It is time for the ROW80 check-in, but first, I have had several requests for the story of my first and only swimming lesson, so here it is.

Swimming Lesson

It was over forty-five years ago that I had my first swimming lesson. It wasn’t planned. A bright sunny day called me to the lake shore. The sun was warm, the beaches crawling with people of all ages. It was the perfect place for a young single like me.