Saturday, January 28, 2012

Ruth Nestvold interview




1: What is the most productive time of the day for you to write?

I'm not a morning person. I write best in the evening, sometimes even until late at night if I'm on a roll.

2: Do you start your projects writing with paper and pen or is it all on the computer?

I almost always start with pen and paper. Brainstorming on paper in a spiral notebook (and not some kind of beautiful journal) seems to signal to my brain that I don't have to take it seriously, which is incredibly liberating. I just keep throwing ideas at the paper until something sticks, until I get that "Ah-ha!" moment where I know I've found something I should do with the idea.

3: What do you draw inspiration from?

All kinds of things. A snippet of conversation, a turn of phrase, a newspaper article that makes me mad or sad or curious, a historical figure I want to read more about, a literary convention I think it would be fun to play with ... Anything can be inspiration, when it comes right down to it. If you twist it and turn it enough to be able to see it in an unusual light, it can be material for a story.

4: Do you set goals for yourself when you sit down to write such as word count?

When I'm creating new material, I tend to use daily and/or weekly word counts to keep myself on track. When I'm rewriting, revising, editing, I will use goals involving a set amount of time (two hours rewriting) or how much to accomplish within the novel (edit two chapters a day). Fixed goals are very important for me because it's so easy to get distracted.

5: Are you a published or a self published author and how do you come up with your cover art?

The first short story I sold was published in Asimov's in 2000, so long before anyone seriously considered self-publishing an option. I started putting up ebook versions of my previously published fiction last year, and with the exception of "Dragon Time" my daughter helped me do the cover art (she's an old hand at Photoshop). With "Dragon Time" I just saw this lovely dragon art by Dean Spencer and had to have it for my short story, even though I know sales for stories and collections are pretty low.
When I got the English rights back for my novel Yseult (it was originally published in German translation) and decided to go indie with it, I knew I wanted to do it right, which meant getting a professional cover artist. I saw Derek Murphy's work mentioned on a blog post I read, so I checked out his site. I really liked what I saw, so I hired him for Yseult. He was great to work with, and when I get the next Arthurian novel, Shadow of Stone, ready to publish, I will probably hire him again -- if he isn't completely overbooked.

6: What drives you to choose the career of being a writer?

I've always been making up stories. I can hardly remember a time when reading and writing weren't a part of my life.

7: Do you own an ebook reading device?

I've had a Kindle for about a year.

8: Who are some of your favorite authors and What are you reading now?

Some of my favorite authors are Ursula Le Guin, Guy Gavriel Kay, Tracy Chevalier, Jane Austen and T.H. White. Right now I'm reading George R. R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons.

9: What do you think of book trailers and do you have any plans to have any?

I don't really have much of an opinion. I never watch them, and presently I have no plans to make one.

10: How did you come up with the title of your latest book?

I don't have a release date yet for Shadow of Stone, but I guess you could still call it my latest book. The title for that one comes from an important object in the book, a standing stone erected on a grave. The metaphorical shadow cast by that stone plays an important role in the book.

11: What are you working on now that you can talk about?

My present work in progress, Fragments of Legend, takes place on three different levels of time and revolves around a literary mystery concerning the German medieval epic, the Nibelungenlied. A kind of secret history fantasy. 

Blog: 


Smashwords page: 

Ruth Nestvold 








Something Happened to Grandma (Crimescape) review





5.0 out of 5 stars A look into a criminal mindJanuary 28, 2012

Another very informative read from the CrimeScape collection giving insight of a man who couldn't tell the difference between reality and fantasy. A man who is a master of manipulation and all of the people he affected along the way. Nice color photos to view on the Kindle Fire.





Something Happened to Grandma (Crimescape)

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Til Death (87th Precinct) Ed McBain review





5.0 out of 5 stars Three guns and a weddingJanuary 22, 2012

I was so excited when I heard Ed McBain was coming to Kindle and after 6 months after the announcement they are here. The wait was well worth it. The story takes place all in one day and keeps you reading at a very fast pace just to see what will happen next. Steve Carella sister is getting married and in trying to keep her day as special as it should be Steve and his colleges have their work cut out for them. With murder and mayhem going on behind the scenes.



Product Description

Hours before his sister's wedding, Steve Carella of the 87th Precinct learns that a killer is stalking the groom, and in order to learn the would-be murderer's identity, Steve must search through hundreds of wedding guests. Reissue.


Til Death (87th Precinct)

Nosferatu Real Cannibal Stories review





4.0 out of 5 stars It's a strange world we live inJanuary 22, 2012
The book starts out giving you insight into the world of the Vampire and not the sexy dreamy vampire but the blood sucking death warmed over parasite. Then the book takes a expansive look into 5 True Crime cases that border around individuals who take on some of the Vampire, and Cannibal traits. Nicely edited with pictures of the killers. A nice addition to my True Crime Library.



Product Description

Until very recently, the vampire has hunted to survive and flourish with the awareness that all our understanding was based on myth, legend, and old wives tales. However, now we have science. We can confirm the myths, describe the legends, and have the affability to thank the old wives with their tales, who were, and are, usually right.

Vampirism has been reported across Europe since the Dark Ages, the first instance in the British Isles was reported during the nineteenth century. More recently, many cases have been recorded in the North and South America, with some accounts of serious invasion, and serial killings. It has also been linked with witchcraft, religious overkill (pardon the pun) and pagan beliefs. Their hunting has become a matter of largely symbolic attacks based on myth and legend. The preferential age of select victims for vampires is early twenties.


Nosferatu Real Cannibal Stories

Gregory Morrison Interview




1: What is the most productive time of the day for you to write?

Defenetly Morning. I’d like to go to coffee shop take laptop with me order some coffee, or tea, or water and dive into words.

2: Do you start your projects writing with paper and pen or is it all on the computer?

My Iphone is helping me whit that. Usually I write ideas on the notes app or I just record it to Voice Memos and later licen and type it and add more.

3: What do you draw inspiration from?

By walking a lot, loking around, meeting defferent people.

4: Do you set goals for yourself when you sit down to write such as word count?

If I have dead line, yes. If not, I can take as much time as I need. To be honest I prefer dead line, its keeps me going. I like finiched manuscripts,  more that stock in the middle.

5: Are you a published or a self published author and how do you come up with your cover art?

I’m self published author.  I have sponsors who have interest in my work. So its like half half, lets say J . Cover art – I have story in “Four D” called “Four Rooms” and character in the story sometimes looking for a key to the door. So at the end I come up with the hole idea with the door and and letter D in form of the key. And ofcorse CreatSpace helped me with book cover and editing  a lot.

6: What drives you to choose the career of being a writer?

I just love it. I cant see myself doing not something creative. Plus it’s a good way to redeem your demons.  

7: Do you own an ebook reading device?

Shame on me but no! Actually on my Iphone I have Kindle app, and I have couple of books there.

8: Who are some of your favorite authors and What are you reading now?

Its so many J ! I like John Ornwell he is great in every sentense of his books. At the moment I’m reading The Art of War by Sun-Tzu.  I like to mix what I’m reading.

9: What do you think of book trailers and do you have any plans to have any?

Its good way to promote your book. Lets say free way whitch is always good. Yes I have two, my friend Olesya Opana is a film director so he offered me help. It took us two day to shoot first one, and one day to shoot second trailer. 

10: How did you come up with the title of your latest book?

Four D consists of four stories, so that why its Four, and D have multiple meaning  its can be dream, dead, and door, and dawn.

11: What are you working on now that you can talk about?

I’m working at the moment on second part of Four D, its gonna show how characters connected in the real way. It’ll surprise you, I promise.  And I just finish writing script for “The Principle of Luidgi”, and doing some editing.




Four D


Monday, January 16, 2012

The naughty Kindle Fairy 3 days 360,000 eBooks downloaded




The naughty Kindle Fairy said if you post this event Tshirt on your wall, Website, blog, or other virtual space, and then email epickindlegiveaway at yahoo dot com, you are entered for a $50 gift card from me, Aiden James AuthorHtnight Author and J.r. Rain Author! Winner announced with Fire drawings Tuesday! Thanks!

https://www.facebook.com/hauntedcomputer

Friday, January 13, 2012


5.0 out of 5 stars Another must read from CrimescapeJanuary 13, 2012

What a sick and disturbing case this ebook clocks in at 1009 locations on Kindle and each of those locations is filled with intriguing information that will leave you wondering what a strange, and sick world it can be.

Through out the book we are given some full color photos of the house that this nightmare took place, it is a nice added touch to True Crime ebooks. The book takes you through the beginning of the investigation and all the way to the end of the final court case at a nice pace. Not weighting you down with to much drawn out info but just enough to keep you reading. 

Crimescape books are some of my favorite books in my Kindle library and hope to read more of them. (Keep em coming)








NIGHTCRAWLER (Crimescape)

CRIMESCAPE™ EXPANDS TRUE CRIME COLLECTION WITH SIX NEW E-BOOKS




CRIMESCAPE™ EXPANDS TRUE CRIME COLLECTION WITH SIX NEW E-BOOKS
What makes for a good true-crime story? Interesting characters, an engrossing plot, situations that often teeter between life and death. But here’s the MacGuffin about true crime: What you’re reading actually happened. Sometimes truth really is more compelling than fiction. And that’s why you will enjoy reading Crimescape’s true crime series.”
—Paul Alexander, # 1 bestselling author of the Kindle Singles Accused and Murdered


RosettaBooks LLC, a leading independent digital publisher and eBook pioneer, has expanded its Crimescape collection to twelve short true crime eBooks. Three of the six new eBooks are written by bestselling Kindle authors Dr. Katherine Ramsland, Anthony Bruno and Mark Gado. In Psychopath, Dr. Ramsland reveals how science can now decode the sadistic behavior of serial killer H. H. Holmes, a real-life Hannibal Lecter. Holmes is a central figure in an upcoming movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio based on Erik Larson’s bestselling book The Devil in the White City.
Anthony Bruno’s The Roppongi Stalker takes the reader into the tangled world of Tokyo's sex trade where a charming serial rapist and killer preyed on young women to satisfy his deviant sexual desires. The wealthy playboy had a taste for young Caucasian women. He stalked them, lured them on dates, then drugged and raped them. After two women died, he eluded justice for a decade.
NIGHTCRAWLER by former detective Mark Gado is the story of a ruthless murderer who preyed on the weak and deceived the police at almost every turn. What he did with his victims afterwards shocked and appalled an entire city.
Crimescape has added three very experienced crime writers: Johnny Sharp, Rachael Bell, and Elizabeth Engstrom. British investigative journalist Johnny Sharp’s Murder on the New Moon: The True Story of the Monster of Florence brings new clarity to the bizarre case of the monstrous serial killer who stalked the picturesque Italian countryside around Florence, shooting and mutilating eight couples on moonless nights in dark lovers’ lanes. George Clooney will star in the upcoming movie about the unsolved murder case.
Sexual Obsessions Gone Wrong by Rachael Bell is an entertaining and at times tongue-and-cheek look into cases of bizarre sexually obsessive behaviors (paraphilias) that had unintended consequences. Bell is an expert in sex criminals and is a therapist in a lock-down facility for teenage sex offenders.
Singled out by People Magazine as one of America’s best mystery writers, Elizabeth Engstrom’s Something Happened to Grandma takes the reader into a horrific family tragedy precipitated by deep-seated anger and deception.
All twelve Crimescape eBooks are available on Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, and iBookstore. Each Crimescape true crime short is between 12,000 and 25,000 words.
Crimescape is a RosettaBooks collection of compelling short nonfiction crime books by the best true crime authors in the business, many of whom have seen their books made into major motion pictures. Taking readers into the dark heart of the criminal mind and the tense hunt to bring perpetrators to justice, Crimescape authors stand apart from other true crime writers because they are selected for their experience in crime investigation, whether as police detectives, investigative reporters, forensics professionals or criminal psychologists. Riveting storytellers, our Crimescape short nonfiction writers give readers all the information they need to understand relevant clues and the interwoven influences in each criminal case.


CRIMESCAPE













Today's Kindle Deal Ed McBain books .99 cents


Today only, 35 Kindle Books from Ed McBain's "87th Precinct" series are just $0.99 each.


Ed McBain 99 cent books


Friday, January 6, 2012

Ed Mcbain comes to Kindle



Ed Mcbain books are now available on Kindle and if you are a Prime subscriber you can read one a month for free. I'm a big fan of his work and will be reading each one of theses.


Ed McBain was one of the many pen names of the successful and prolific crime fiction author Evan Hunter (1926 - 2005). Born Salvatore Lambino in New York, McBain served aboard a destroyer in the US Navy during World War II and then earned a degree from Hunter College in English and Psychology. After a short stint teaching in a high school, McBain went to work for a literary agency in New York, working with authors such as Arthur C. Clarke and P.G. Wodehouse all the while working on his own writing on nights and weekends. He had his first breakthrough in 1954 with the novel The Blackboard Jungle, which was published under his newly legal name Evan Hunter and based on his time teaching in the Bronx.
Perhaps his most popular work, the 87th Precinct series (released mainly under the name Ed McBain) is one of the longest running crime series ever published, debuting in 1956 with Cop Hater and featuring over fifty novels. The series is set in a fictional locale called Isola and features a wide cast of detectives including the prevalent Detective Steve Carella.
McBain was also known as a screenwriter. Most famously he adapted a short story from Daphne Du Maurier into the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). In addition to writing for the silver screen, he wrote for many television series, including Columbo and the NBC series 87th Precinct (1961-1962), based on his popular novels.
McBain was awarded the Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement in 1986 by the Mystery Writers of America and was the first American to receive the Cartier Diamond Dagger award from the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain. He passed away in 2005 in his home in Connecticut after a battle with larynx cancer.