Shop Locally

I know the phrase is usually "shop local," but I have trouble with that so I hope you'll forgive me for my title. Once an English major ...

However you want to say it, it's a good plan to shop the smaller stores in your area. I'm not one of those people who will say the big chains are evil, because they do employ a lot of folks, but it's nice to support the entrepreneurs who start a business in your town/city/community. I've never had the courage to try it, but my mother ran her own bookstore successfully for years, so I know how much it means for customers to bypass the big chain store and stop by the smaller shop.

As a writer, I also want to support my local bookstores. I've had copies of my novels in the Vintage Stock store in Northpark Mall in Joplin, MO, for a few years now, but since Hastings closed, I've been unable to offer them in Pittsburg, KS. That has now changed! All three of my novels are now available at Spellbound Bookstore and Cafe in Pittsburg!

Here's their Facebook page: Spellbound Bookstore on FB

I want to thank Brett for taking a chance on my novels and offering them in the new location at 1012 S. Broadway. Check them out if you get the chance!

Thanks again for your support.

Song and Color

Spring is (officially) less than a week away! (At least in the Northern Hemisphere.)

Everyone probably notices different things at this time of year. For me, it's the longer days and the birds. It's so nice to get home from work and still have daylight so I don't feel like it's already time for bed. I feel more motivated to get things done and less inclined to just plop down in front of the TV. (That always changes when baseball season starts, but I digress ...)

And the birds! Already we have killdeer announcing their presence in the parking lot of my place of work. Cardinals, titmice and robins are singing. Red-shouldered hawks are calling out in circles overhead. Chickadees are warning me away from the bird feeder, which has been visited by goldfinches, house finches, red-bellied woodpeckers and more. It's as if abundant feathered life has spontaneously sprung into existence to enrich my days.

Before long, the plants will follow them into renewed life and color.

Winter has its place in my life, but I'm never sorry to let another one fade away.

Have a joyous spring full of discovery.

(And happy Pi Day!)

Spring Forward

Now that I have In the Shadows done, I can just sit back and put my feet up, right?

Not exactly.

For one thing, I'm still trying to drum up interest in it through this blog, Facebook, word of mouth, etc. And I'm working on another video to possibly catch the eye of people who might not otherwise have heard of the Penumbra series.

Then there's the fourth novel. Oh, yes, there's another one ... and I've learned my lesson with In the Shadows: this time I won't be waiting until September to start working on it. That was my fault and caused me all sorts of problems last year, so I'm going to try to avoid it this time. I'm working on a particularly difficult scene today (sorry, no hints yet!).

Does this mean I spend all of my time on the novels? Certainly not (although sometimes I wish I could spend at least a little more time on them). I have this thing called a job and it takes up quite a bit of time. Until some rich person feels like paying me to write, I'll be going there on weekdays.

But I do other fun things, too. I'll be joining my Audubon group tomorrow to trek into the country and look for short-eared owls. Trooping across a muddy field is well worth it when you get to see such amazing creatures (I'll let you decide if I'm talking about the owls or my fellow Auduboners).

So life goes on. I'm just glad it's going on while the temperature is starting to go up again! Longer days, too!

Thanks again for your support. Please keep spreading the word.

How I Made a Video

I hope you've seen my video for Outsider by now. Please share it with your friends: you can either send them a link, or you can go to Youtube, find the video and click on "Share." Then you can choose Facebook, Google+ or wherever you wish to share it.

Here's the link again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VihpR0pKQXE

I'd been wanting to make a video for quite some time, but I wasn't sure how to do it until I learned about Windows Movie Maker. I threw together a little test video to see how the software works, but I knew I couldn't get away with making a video using others' photos or drawings, so that was my first hurdle.

To solve it, I bought some Crayola markers and cut some sheets of paper into fourths. Each quarter was one of the images. I drew up a little storyboard so I would know what images I needed. Then I drew images on the paper and scanned them into my computer. Since they looked a little raw, I fixed them up using Paint. (This was the most time-consuming process of the whole video.)

Once I had my bundle of images, I imported them into Windows Movie Maker. I arranged them on the timeline at the bottom, and then I began adding effects and transitions. This took a while because there are an amazing number of these available! At first I only used fades, but then I began experimenting with dissolves, peels and other effects. It was kind of fun. (The most important thing I learned was to Save Project, so I could save my changes but I didn't have to finalize the video.)

Then I hit another snag: what music to use? I knew I couldn't use someone else's music any more than I could use someone else's images, so I was stuck. (I had some music lined up but couldn't use it because of copyright.) Fortunately, Youtube has free music available in their Audio Library, so I spent quite a bit of time going through that until I found something I liked. Actually, I found two songs and it took me several play-throughs before I could pick one that fit better with the video images. (I chose "Warrior Strife" by Jingle Punks. Great band name!)

Of course, the song I wanted was too short, so I had to paste it in there twice, cut off the excess and add a fade at the end so it didn't just end abruptly.

Then, after some hesitation, I pressed the "Publish" key and there was my video! I still had to upload it to Youtube, of course, but that wasn't so bad after the whole process of creating it.

In a way, this process was a lot like publishing Outsider itself. I created the story, spent a lot of time to format it the way I wanted, and then had to have the courage to press "Publish." I'm glad I did, in both cases.

I might make a video for Another Shot, but I think it will be a while before I have that much spare time, so don't hold your breath.

Thanks again for your support!

New Video

This week I mailed off two copies of In the Shadows to the Library of Congress for mandatory deposit. I didn't think they would get there right away because of all the nasty weather on the East Coast, but when I checked this morning, they'd arrived! That means they're in the Library of Congress! That still makes me grin like an idiot, even for the third time.

Here's another thing that makes me kind of happy: I made an actual video! It's on Youtube and everything. (You don't even want to know how long it took me to put this together.) Here it is:



I hope this will help get the word about Outsider to more people. Please be sure to share it with everyone you know! Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VihpR0pKQXE

What do you think? Is it passable for my first video? Should I try to make more? (Feel free to leave a comment below!)

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope you'll be able to spend the day with someone you love.
"I love you" never goes out of style.

In the Shadows is now available for Kindle on amazon.com. Be sure to note that if you buy the paperback, you can get the Kindle version for only 99 cents!

I have the bookmarks, too. There was a bit of a misunderstanding, which meant that the printers called to let me know my order was ready ... before I could look at a proof! Fortunately, when I went to look at them, I decided they weren't bad. The green was a little darker than I'd expected, but I think it works with the green that's in the cover image, so I'm happy with them.

I just registered for copyright protection today. You can find more about how I did this here.

Here's the poster I created to put up at work:

I've had some good responses so far. I want to thank my loyal readers, who get excited every time I release a new novel. You make a huge difference and I really appreciate you!

Let's keep spreading the word, okay?

In the Shadows Now Available

That's right, it's finally ready!

I only missed the deadline I'd set for myself by ONE day, so that's not too bad!
(I published it on February 1.)

Here's the link to Amazon: In the Shadows  I'll try to add it to the right side of this blog like the first two novels.

I'm a three-novel author! Wow, it's hard to believe. This one was the most challenging so far, but "what doesn't kill you ..."

I want to thank the artist, Kristi Kranker, for the cover image, and I also want to thank CreateSpace for making this dream a reality.

I hope to have the Kindle version ready by tomorrow, so look for it on amazon.com in the next few days.

And please tell all of your friends, family, co-workers, acquaintances, neighbors, etc., about the Penumbra series. Word of mouth is the best advertising, right?

Thanks again for your support!