Okay I've been doing it - yeah I've missed a few days but... What I'm doing is a #books4Christmas on Twitter. Hoping to remind people that books are GREAT ideas and hey if you're going to give them an eReader load them up with books while you're at it.
So far I've recommended:
Passion Unleashed by Larissa Ione
Vampire Vendetta by Alexis Morgan
All I Want for Christmas by Kerrilyn Sparks
Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
The Envoy by Delilah K Stephans
Dark Needs at Nights Edge by Kresley Cole
Wolf In The Door by Christine Warren
Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Haunted by Your Touch - Anthology
Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
Blood Games by Chelesa Quinn Yarbro
Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh
Breathless by Bonnie Edwards
Dark Defender by Alexis Morgan
The Tempe Brennan series by Kathy Reichs
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir - book not movie though the movie is good too.
SO if you have a twitter account start recommending #books4Christmas! I try to do at least 1 a day. As an incentive - if you start doing them email me at delilahkstephans@gmail.com with either a screen cap of your tweet OR link to your twitter account and your snail mail addy and I'll send one winner a few little gifts and a copy of a couple of my books and for everyone that does it - I'll send you something too! Bookmarks and magnets okay?
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving and Christmas Musings
Happy Thanksgiving! Hope everyone enjoyed thier Turkey and all the fixings. I still don't know why we feel we must have what is basically enough food for a small army on one Thursday a year. But I enjoy the food so really don't complain about it too much.
No, the holiday I have a real problem with is Christmas. I know. I know. I've heard it for years. I'm horrible for not liking Christmas. BUT let me explain why I dislike it.
First there's the fact I worked retail for twelve years and experienced the nastiest of people every one of those twelve years. I can honestly say that in that dozen years I had at least one person scream at me - and usually on the 24th of December - "You're ruining my Christmas." This includes people who spend next to nothing on a gift then when they have it engraved (worked at an engraving shop) the cheap silver plating peeled. Offered this person full credit for what they had spent but NO for thier $12.00 gift they wanted a $40.00 one FREE. Oh I did it but I have never forgotten or forgiven the woman who once she got her way was all "I'm sorry" didn't believe her then and still don't.
Second is the fact that being in retail I realize the absolute commercialism of the holiday. It's not about being with people you care for or showing them you care for them and oh here's something that I know you wanted. No, all the retail businesses have convinced not just the U.S. but the world that during the month of December we must buy a gift for everyone we know to show them we care. We should put ourselves in debt to buy these gifts. Why? What if I know a friend is down or I just want to give them a gift and I have the money to buy it? Should I buy it and set it aside for December? I'd rather give a gift just cause. And personally I prefer gifts that come out of the blue for no other reason than someone wanted to do something nice with no expectation of a gift in return.
Now a little about Black Friday sales... Do your homework! It's a little late now but you should have spent September and October pricing the items you want to gift. THEN look closely at those Black Friday ads - are they REALLY a bargin? (Some retail stores bump up the retail price in November so that sale price actually looks better) If you have an iPhone, iPad or Android I seriously recommend downloading the Shop Savvy ap - you will be able to find the best price. It's like I'm a tech person. I love my computers, smart phone, iPod, memory sticks, portable drives... heck hubby knows if he wants to make me happiest not to buy me jewelry buy me tech stuff or take me to the bookstore. So I know tech prices - WELL. Trust me there is nothing tech related that has a decent deal on it this holiday. Oh there are a couple of eReaders but it's more a test by the manufacturers to see how they will sell at that price point. But definitely if you want a Nook or a Sony eReader... $99.00 tomorrow. (Nook at Best Buy and Sony at Wal Mart)
Oh one more retail tip - Best deals are the week before Christmas.
No, the holiday I have a real problem with is Christmas. I know. I know. I've heard it for years. I'm horrible for not liking Christmas. BUT let me explain why I dislike it.
First there's the fact I worked retail for twelve years and experienced the nastiest of people every one of those twelve years. I can honestly say that in that dozen years I had at least one person scream at me - and usually on the 24th of December - "You're ruining my Christmas." This includes people who spend next to nothing on a gift then when they have it engraved (worked at an engraving shop) the cheap silver plating peeled. Offered this person full credit for what they had spent but NO for thier $12.00 gift they wanted a $40.00 one FREE. Oh I did it but I have never forgotten or forgiven the woman who once she got her way was all "I'm sorry" didn't believe her then and still don't.
Second is the fact that being in retail I realize the absolute commercialism of the holiday. It's not about being with people you care for or showing them you care for them and oh here's something that I know you wanted. No, all the retail businesses have convinced not just the U.S. but the world that during the month of December we must buy a gift for everyone we know to show them we care. We should put ourselves in debt to buy these gifts. Why? What if I know a friend is down or I just want to give them a gift and I have the money to buy it? Should I buy it and set it aside for December? I'd rather give a gift just cause. And personally I prefer gifts that come out of the blue for no other reason than someone wanted to do something nice with no expectation of a gift in return.
Now a little about Black Friday sales... Do your homework! It's a little late now but you should have spent September and October pricing the items you want to gift. THEN look closely at those Black Friday ads - are they REALLY a bargin? (Some retail stores bump up the retail price in November so that sale price actually looks better) If you have an iPhone, iPad or Android I seriously recommend downloading the Shop Savvy ap - you will be able to find the best price. It's like I'm a tech person. I love my computers, smart phone, iPod, memory sticks, portable drives... heck hubby knows if he wants to make me happiest not to buy me jewelry buy me tech stuff or take me to the bookstore. So I know tech prices - WELL. Trust me there is nothing tech related that has a decent deal on it this holiday. Oh there are a couple of eReaders but it's more a test by the manufacturers to see how they will sell at that price point. But definitely if you want a Nook or a Sony eReader... $99.00 tomorrow. (Nook at Best Buy and Sony at Wal Mart)
Oh one more retail tip - Best deals are the week before Christmas.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
NY Times tracking eBook Sales
So the NY Times announced today that they will be tracking eBook sales and ranking them at the beginning of next year http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/11/books/11list.html?_r=1
That's good news and bad news.
Good in the fact that finally someone is giving ebooks the respect the authors of them deserve.
Bad in the fact that they didn't decide to do it until the big publishers got into eBooks.
I have mixed feelings about this issue. Mostly I wish they'd have recognized them sooner, but we can't get everything we want, can we?
That's good news and bad news.
Good in the fact that finally someone is giving ebooks the respect the authors of them deserve.
Bad in the fact that they didn't decide to do it until the big publishers got into eBooks.
I have mixed feelings about this issue. Mostly I wish they'd have recognized them sooner, but we can't get everything we want, can we?
Monday, October 25, 2010
How do you decide what to write?
I've heard "write what you know" many times. But what do I really know about Vampires and Demons? About Time Travelers? Honestly, I only know what I've read from other authors.
Let's take Vampires. I am a total fangirl of them and will read almost every book, see every movie and give every TV series a try. I got the idea to write one but really needed to make mine unique. So I took my favorite Vampire books (Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series, Kerrilyn Sparks Love at Stake series, Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark, Lynsay Sands Argenaux series, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Chelesa Quinn Yarbro's St. Germain series) and made a list of the advantages and disadvantages of each. I looked through that list and decided what made sense to me. Then jumbled them all up, put my own twist on them and wrote The Envoy (Available now from Lyrical Press). 
Ghost? Well there's more freedom there because there are so many types of Ghost. I watched Ghost Hunters one day they had a marathon. This lovely paranormal researcher and a sexy ghost started taking shape in my head. From that came Ghostly Passions (releasing June 1, 2011 from MuseitHot Publishinhg)
And then I took on Death. While most books whoever is Death is male. But one author, W. Somerset Maugham, wrote a short story "Appointmentin Samarra" in which Death was a beautiful woman. It stuck with me. So I start thinking after rereading Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series. Oh I didn't want to try to touch that one but the idea of the different incarnations having a physical presence? Oh yeah, I liked that idea. Which led to my current WIP! I'm still not sure of the title but the two in the running are My Lady Death and Death and the Detective. In which I also mix in my love of Romantic Suspense novels. I just need to finish it.
So if you want to write - then write. The ideas are all around let your brain mix the ideas around and you'll be surprised what comes.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Why do some publishers do that?
No parties will be named so.
Two publishers have received request for return of rights back and handled it in a very unprofessional manner... They have so far, to my knowledge, ignored them. Why?
I mean honestly. If an author isn't happy at a publisher and request rights back, why keep them? All it does is cause even more animosity in the author. That animosity grows and the next thing you know lawyers are involved, the court system and even the Romance Writers of America (RWA). Not to mention the behind the site bad mouthing that goes on in private emails.
Why not just give them their rights back and let them go on their way? These two publishers have had blog after blog hashing out all the sorted details. To the point in some cases where READERS won't purchase from that company in solitarity with the authors. Now the publishers look bad, the authors that are happy are being hurt and in a few cases chastising those that want to leave.
If an author wants to leave - why keep them? It may be for no reason other than the author has a personality clash with someone, or wants to rework a book to make it better. But they are ignored. Then they get angry. When all it would take is a few clicks of the mouse to delete the books from other vendors and their own website, signing a release of rights, dating it and emailing it to the author - all could be done, I'd guess, in a few hours at most a week with epublishers. Print books probably longer.
One publisher stated, when asked, that they have to go to court about the right revisions. Why? Did they go before a judge when the signed a contract? If they did - okay but if not why do they need to do that now? Why change from 90 DAYS to 90 BUSINESS DAYS? Why are they keeping unhappy authors? In my state we have a right to work program - meaning you can leave your job for any reason you want including "I just don't want to work their any more."
I understand contracts - but if you (publisher) gives a termination clause then live by it. Right?
Two publishers have received request for return of rights back and handled it in a very unprofessional manner... They have so far, to my knowledge, ignored them. Why?
I mean honestly. If an author isn't happy at a publisher and request rights back, why keep them? All it does is cause even more animosity in the author. That animosity grows and the next thing you know lawyers are involved, the court system and even the Romance Writers of America (RWA). Not to mention the behind the site bad mouthing that goes on in private emails.
Why not just give them their rights back and let them go on their way? These two publishers have had blog after blog hashing out all the sorted details. To the point in some cases where READERS won't purchase from that company in solitarity with the authors. Now the publishers look bad, the authors that are happy are being hurt and in a few cases chastising those that want to leave.
If an author wants to leave - why keep them? It may be for no reason other than the author has a personality clash with someone, or wants to rework a book to make it better. But they are ignored. Then they get angry. When all it would take is a few clicks of the mouse to delete the books from other vendors and their own website, signing a release of rights, dating it and emailing it to the author - all could be done, I'd guess, in a few hours at most a week with epublishers. Print books probably longer.
One publisher stated, when asked, that they have to go to court about the right revisions. Why? Did they go before a judge when the signed a contract? If they did - okay but if not why do they need to do that now? Why change from 90 DAYS to 90 BUSINESS DAYS? Why are they keeping unhappy authors? In my state we have a right to work program - meaning you can leave your job for any reason you want including "I just don't want to work their any more."
I understand contracts - but if you (publisher) gives a termination clause then live by it. Right?
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Meet a sexy Ghost
Today I'm turning the blog over to Devlin Ruark the hero of Ghostly Passions.
Good day. As the lovely author said I am Devlin Ruark and proud of what has happened since my death.
There are advantages to being a ghost. Aye, I've seen things I ne'er dreamed possible. The rise of technology, like this internet. Tis truly a marvel to know instantly what friends in distant cities, even across the vastness of the oceans are thinking or doing. The freedoms enjoyed by all. And most of all I have enjoyed the changes in women's fashions.
Aye, for a man still young it is a true pleasure to see the young lasses visit the beaches. First in dresses down to their ankles then move to what they wear now. Mere bits of fabric and lace that barely cover their bodies.
Which brings me to the disadvantages. While I would love to follow them along the beach I am trapped in my home. Ne'er to step a transparent foot past the threshold. For 230 years it has been so. But if that were the only disadvantage I would be happy. Nay, and forgive me dear ladies for speaking of something that should be private in your presence, the worst of it is to be unable to feel any sensation in the part of me that makes me a man. Aye, tis my deepest shame that in being a ghost I have become unable to rise to any occassion.
But enough about my sm.. deficency. There is another difficulty in being a ghost. The damned Paranormal Researchers as they call themselves. Always trying to prove I am here or worst yet drive me from my home! I'll not stand for it. If the God Almighty saw fit to leave me here until he comes again then no man or woman will part me from my home.
That is part of the problem, there is a new one coming here soon. Heard her speaking to the upstart that thinks he owns my property. I did not see this woman, but she did have a pleasing voice. She will be here in June. I wish the lovely author who told our tale would tell me what to expect.
"Not on your ghostly life!"
See? Not a word. I fear what is coming. She has titled my story Ghostly Passions so that must be good - correct?
Good day. As the lovely author said I am Devlin Ruark and proud of what has happened since my death.
There are advantages to being a ghost. Aye, I've seen things I ne'er dreamed possible. The rise of technology, like this internet. Tis truly a marvel to know instantly what friends in distant cities, even across the vastness of the oceans are thinking or doing. The freedoms enjoyed by all. And most of all I have enjoyed the changes in women's fashions.
Aye, for a man still young it is a true pleasure to see the young lasses visit the beaches. First in dresses down to their ankles then move to what they wear now. Mere bits of fabric and lace that barely cover their bodies.
Which brings me to the disadvantages. While I would love to follow them along the beach I am trapped in my home. Ne'er to step a transparent foot past the threshold. For 230 years it has been so. But if that were the only disadvantage I would be happy. Nay, and forgive me dear ladies for speaking of something that should be private in your presence, the worst of it is to be unable to feel any sensation in the part of me that makes me a man. Aye, tis my deepest shame that in being a ghost I have become unable to rise to any occassion.
But enough about my sm.. deficency. There is another difficulty in being a ghost. The damned Paranormal Researchers as they call themselves. Always trying to prove I am here or worst yet drive me from my home! I'll not stand for it. If the God Almighty saw fit to leave me here until he comes again then no man or woman will part me from my home.
That is part of the problem, there is a new one coming here soon. Heard her speaking to the upstart that thinks he owns my property. I did not see this woman, but she did have a pleasing voice. She will be here in June. I wish the lovely author who told our tale would tell me what to expect.
"Not on your ghostly life!"
See? Not a word. I fear what is coming. She has titled my story Ghostly Passions so that must be good - correct?
Saturday, September 18, 2010
New Cover!
I have to take a minute to show off my beautiful cover for my June 1st Release from MuseitHot Publishing. Isn't it Gorgeous!
Devlin Ruark has been trapped in the same house for 230 years. He's faced a British hangman, numerous paranormal researchers, but he doesn't know what to do with the newest researcher.
Determined to prove that ghost do exist, Druscilla Hutchinson has returned to the house where she saw her first ghost. With the Electromagnetic Particle Scanner she developed she hopes to give a ghost a more substantial form.
When the EMP Scanner produces an unusual side effect, Devlin and Druscilla have to decide whether to talk or take advantage of the situation.
I have to admit I love this sexy brash hero and logical heroine. I hope you readers do to. I'll have excerpts later.
Devlin Ruark has been trapped in the same house for 230 years. He's faced a British hangman, numerous paranormal researchers, but he doesn't know what to do with the newest researcher.
Determined to prove that ghost do exist, Druscilla Hutchinson has returned to the house where she saw her first ghost. With the Electromagnetic Particle Scanner she developed she hopes to give a ghost a more substantial form.
When the EMP Scanner produces an unusual side effect, Devlin and Druscilla have to decide whether to talk or take advantage of the situation.
I have to admit I love this sexy brash hero and logical heroine. I hope you readers do to. I'll have excerpts later.
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