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emaginings: e-Books Older Than You May Think @LyndiLamont

June 16, 2014 by in category The Romance Journey by Linda Mclaughlin tagged as , , ,

A few weeks ago, a blog I was reading mentioned something to the effect of “when e-books were new back in 2007-2009” which left me both amused and nostalgic.

News flash: e-books have been around since at least 1971 when Project Gutenberg started digitizing public domain works. The US Declaration of Independence was the first document chosen. Check the Wikipedia page for more early e-book history.

I started reading e-books in 1999 on my laptop. I’d gone to the Romance Writers of America conference in Chicago and signed up to moderate a panel. By sheer serendipity, I was assigned to moderate the e-book panel presented by Janet Lane Walters and the late great Jane Toombs, two true e-book pioneers. I came away with an interest in e-books and a couple of samples on 3 1/2 inch diskettes. (Remember those?)

Back home, I read the books on my laptop using either Adobe Acrobat or an Internet browser, depending on whether the format was PDF or HTML. I’m a voracious reader and book buyer, and the house was already full of print books. The idea of being able to store book on my computer seemed like a godsend to me. A way to buy and hoard, I mean, store books without cluttering my already cluttered house. I was hooked!

Commercial e-books were in their infancy, but dozens of small publishers sprang up, most of them no longer in business. Ellora’s Cave is the best known of the early small e-book houses. My publisher, Amber Quill Press, started in 2002. Romance readers got hooked early, and small presses deserve credit for reviving the paranormal romance genre, which NY had lost interest in, for feeding the erotic romance craze and for pioneering gay erotic romance.

While e-book readers were a tiny minority at first, the growth was explosive, often 50% in a year. The numbers didn’t start to hit critical mass until Amazon got into the game with the Kindle 1 in late 2006, though Sony gets the credit for having the first available e-ink reader. There were commercial e-readers available before the Sony Reader and the Kindle: the original Rocket e-book reader, its successor the RCA Gemstar 1100, using my stylus to make selections. (You had to press a lot harder than on a tablet.) Also, books could be read on the little PDAs, like the Palm Pilot and Pocket PC. I read a lot on my Sony Clie and on my RCA Gemstar until it quit on me. By then, Amazon was about to release the Kindle, so I ordered one and never looked back.

In 2006, Janet Cornelow and I took pictures of each other reading on our e-book devices for a contest at Fullerton Public Library. We thought it would be cool if tow of the photos showed people reading electronically. Needless to say, I did not win. The picture above shows Janet reading on her RCA eBookwise.

Sony produced the first e-ink reader, beating the Kindle, but Amazon’s real innovation, the one that made it the leader in the industry, was the one-click purchase followed by wireless delivery directly to your device. No more having to buy from the publisher’s site–with different accounts at each site, were we dedicated ebook readers or what?–download the books to your computer and then side load your e-books using the USB cable. This step took e-book reading beyond the limits of the technologically proficient among us. The ability to download a sample before buying was (and still is) another popular feature. I was an early adopter of the Kindle 1 and still have my device, though it’s no longer in use. I’ve moved on to a Kindle Keyboard and the iPad.

Do you read e-books? If so, when did you start and what device(s) do you use?

Linda McLaughlin / Lyndi Lamont
New website: http://lindalyndi.com
Blog: http://lindalyndi.com/reading-room-blog/
Twitter: @LyndiLamont

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Sew Up Your Novel

June 15, 2014 by in category Archives tagged as , , ,
It is true. I began writing on a crazy dare.
I was an account supervisor in a large advertising agency in San Francisco. My client was married to Danielle Steel. When I was told she was one of the most successful, most prolific authors of the day I uttered those ridiculous words, “I bet I could do that – I bet I could write a book.”
Well, my colleague dared me to do it so I dug in with both heels. At the very least, I would get a rejection and prove that I had tried. Maybe then she would stop laughing at my ridiculous boast. I tackled this challenge in the same way I tackled a marketing plan: by asking questions. How was a book published? Who did I have to talk to in order to get a book published? What kind of book had the greatest chance of being published? Finally, does one actually write a book?
The first three questions were easily answered. Even without the Internet (or computers) I was able to find out exactly how, who, and what. All the answers led to Harlequin. No agent needed, a synopsis and a partial submitted to editors directly and editorial guidelines were offered for each line. The only problem was that I had no idea how to write a book even though I had read hundreds. I could think of only one thing to do.
I would learn to write a book the same way I learned to sew – by studying and following a pattern.
It seemed appropriate that the pattern would be based on one of Danielle Steel’s novels. I can’t remember which book I chose, but I clearly remember three nights spent in front of a fireplace with that book, wine and a yellow marker. I read each page and highlighted the ‘seams’ of her work. 
  • ·      When was the reader introduced to the main characters
  • ·      Where were the dramatic plot points
  • ·      When and where were the emotional reveals
  • ·      How many pages were there of expository
  • ·      How many pages were there in the book, for that matter
  •      What role did secondary characters play and how often were they mentioned

When I was finished I had a simple, working plan – a pattern, if you will – and I was thrilled. I wrote for months and when I was done I had exactly the right number of pages, all the characters came in on cue and the plot was revealed appropriately.
Yawn!
Writing my book was like making a plain dress. Even I knew that, while I had meticulously followed the pattern, my work was lacking. My book was in dreadful need of buttons and bows to make it unique, to make every editorial head turn when I walked into the room via my novel.
When I understood this, I had the final piece of the pattern. Every book needs the right foundation – the proper pacing, a solid cast of characters, the right setting – but it also needs style. Style is what sets an artist apart from a painter, a fashion designer from a seamstress and a writer from an author.

I am writing my twenty-ninth book and I have learned a great deal but I still follow the pattern I created years ago after analyzing one of Danielle Steel’s books. Now I add on my own unique buttons and bows that are expressed through my voice, my observations and my personal inspiration. I can only hope that someday a writer will take one of my books, sit in front of the fireplace with a marker and ask, how did she do that? If she pays close attention, she will be able to see my pattern and then she will add her own buttons and bows.
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HOW THE BRODIE BROTHERS WERE BORN

June 2, 2014 by in category Archives, Guest Posts, Spotlight tagged as , ,

With ten or more reality shows about Alaska, it’s becoming clear that word is out on this magnificent jewel of a state.

A lifelong dream of mine was to drive there–a more than five-thousand mile journey from my home in Montana. In the end, Alaska was so wonderful my husband and I made the month-long trip in the back of a tiny pickup camper–two times!

It was the time I spent in Alaska that sparked the idea for AGAINST THE WILD, which is Dylan Brodie’s story. (Dylan first appears in AGAINST THE MARK. He’s Ty Brodie’s cousin, so sexy he just had to have a story of his own!)

In AGAINST THE WILD, Dylan’s the new owner of an old fishing lodge in remote Eagle Bay, Alaska, a place he intends to rebuild as a home for himself and his eight-year-old daughter.

Unfortunately, the crew working on the lodge are beginning to believe the old place is haunted. So does sexy, red-haired interior designer, Lane Bishop, the woman Dylan has hired to help him with the extensive remodel.

But is the haunting real? Or is it something even more sinister?

There was so much about Alaska I wanted to explore in my writing that the project expanded to include novels for Dylan’s two brothers, Nick and Rafe. AGAINST THE SKY and AGAINST THE TIDE are scheduled for release next year.

I hope you enjoy AGAINST THE WILD and that you’ll look for the next Brodie brothers’ adventure.

Till then, all best and happy reading, Kat

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/KatMartinAuthor

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/luvromance
WEBSITE: http://www.katbooks.com/index1.html 

BUY LINKS: B&N  Amazon  Indiebound
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How Is Your Grammar Fitness?

May 26, 2014 by in category Archives

Our upcoming OCCRWA Online Class is Grammar that Matters with MM Pollard, editor with Black Velvet Seductions and Grammar Teacher Extraordinaire. She joins us today to talk about the class and to give everyone a little quiz:


Today, almost everyone, it seems to me, is studying, promoting, or writing about physical fitness. I Yahooed “physical fitness” and got over eight million hits, yes the number 8 with 6 zeroes following it.

The TV show The Biggest Loser promotes the goal of becoming physically fit by offering money to the person who loses the most weight. Many fitness clubs have the same contests and offer prizes for their biggest losers.

But what about grammar fitness?

I was curious after finding over eight million hits for “physical fitness” on the Internet, so I Yahooed “mental fitness” and got 363,000 hits.

Raise your hand if you think The Big Bang Theory promotes mental fitness. I’m undecided. The smart characters are dorky, don’t you think?

But what about grammar fitness?

I admit it—I’m a grammar geek. I Yahooed “grammar fitness” and got 5,760 hits, most of which referred to one computer program named Grammar Fitness.

A computer program is what I found. Can’t think of a TV show that promotes grammar fitness? Can you? Let me know, seriously.

Notice a trend here? Obviously, people are more concerned about the way they look than about the way their mind and their language work.

Oh, but they should be concerned, especially writers. Why? Because every time writers write, they use grammar to express their thoughts. Good grammar usage equals clear thoughts. Bad grammar usage equals muddled thoughts.

Now, which would you rather read, the clear thoughts of a writer or her muddled thoughts? 

I ask you, “How is your grammar fitness?” Find out by taking this short quiz. You may have more than one correct answer, so be careful. The answers are at the end of the quiz.

1.   Give the four principal parts of the verb “to drag.”

2.   Which sentence shows correct subject-verb agreement?

a.   Mrs. Simmons or her twelve children likes to play loud music at night.

b.   Mrs. Simmons or her twelve children like to play loud music at night.

 3.   Which sentence shows correct subject-verb agreement?

a.   My classmates and I, along with my teacher, goes to Chicago on a class trip in May.

b.   My classmates and I, along with my teacher, go to Chicago on a class trip in May.

 4.   Which sentence shows correct subject-verb agreement?

a.   The child hugging her stuffed animals are my niece.

b.   The child hugging her stuffed animals is my niece.

 5.   Which sentence shows correct pronoun-antecedent agreement?

a.   Everyone should listen to their own heart.

b.   Everyone should listen to his own heart.

 6.   Which sentence shows correct pronoun-antecedent agreement?

a.   All of the pie was gone in about five minutes.

b.   All of the pies were gone in about five minutes. 

 7.   Which sentence shows correct comparison?

a.   There is no woman quite like my aunt.

b.   There is no other woman quite like my aunt.

8.   Which sentence shows correct comparison?

a.   Harry likes Allison much better than he likes Bethany.

b.   Harry likes Allison much better than Bethany does.

c.   Harry likes Allison much better than Bethany.

9.   Fill in the blank with the correct preposition.

a.   We tried ___ stop the car.

b.   He never argues ___ his wife.

c.   I am grateful ___ you __ your assistance.

d.   Pat applied ___ admission ___ the university.

e.   Scuba diving is different ___ snorkeling.

f.    She dropped the expensive vase ___ accident.

g.   I have developed feelings ___ Helen.

Answers are right here.

1.       Give the four principal parts of the verb “to drag.”

Present: drag

Present participle: dragging

Past: dragged

Past participle: dragged

 2.   Which sentence shows correct subject-verb agreement?

b.  Mrs. Simmons or her twelve children like to play loud music at night.

3.   Which sentence shows correct subject-verb agreement?

b.  My classmates and I, along with my teacher, go to Chicago on a class trip in May.

4.   Which sentence shows correct subject-verb agreement?

b.  The child hugging her stuffed animals is my niece.

5.   Which sentence shows correct pronoun-antecedent agreement?

b.  Everyone should listen to his own heart.   Okay, I’m a purist!

6.   Which sentence show correct pronoun-antecedent agreement?  Both are correct.

a.  All of the pie was gone in about five minutes.

b.  All of the pies were gone in about five minutes. 

7.   Which sentence shows correct comparison?

a.  There is no other woman quite like my aunt.

8.   Which sentence shows correct comparison?  A and B are correct.

a.  Harry likes Allison much better than he likes Bethany.

b.  Harry likes Allison much better than Bethany does.

9.   Fill in the blank with the correct preposition.

a.  We tried ___ stop the car.  TO

b.  He never argues ___ his wife.  WITH

c.  I am grateful ___ you __ your assistance.  TO   FOR

d.  Pat applied ___ admission ___ the university. FOR   TO

e.  Scuba diving is different ___ snorkeling.  FROM

f.  She dropped the expensive vase ___ accident.  BY

g.  I have developed feelings ___ Helen.  FOR

 
So, how did you do? If you think you need improvement, or just a grammar refresher, I’d love to see you in class!

 

MM Pollard,

Editor, Black Velvet Seductions

 
It’s Alina, back again. Registration is now open for MM’s upcoming workshop, Grammar that Matters, which begins June 16th. 
 
Click here for more information and to register for this month-long workshop.
 
Alina K. Field
Online Class Coordinator

 

 

 
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