My Christmas present to myself

I love my new Paperwhite Kindle! The screen is so fantastic, it's a joy to read on it in any light. When I bought it a few months ago, instead of buying the fancy leather cover, I got a simple slipcase, that was much cheaper, because I figured now that the device itself had its own light, it didn't need the fancy cover. Previous Kindle models solved the problem of the need for light by offering a cover with a light in the top, that the Kindle fit into snugly; this allowed the light to run off the Kindle's battery. It was convenient, but getting the Kindle in and out of the case was a pain, so mostly I read with the Kindle in its case even when I didn't need the built-in light.

One reason I got the slipcase cover was so I could read with just the device in my hand; that lets me take advantage of how incredibly light the Paperwhite is, compared to my old Kindle Touch in its case with the built-in light. And then Amazon sent me a coupon offering 40% off on selected Kindle accessories, and one of them was the Paperwhite magnetic case (sadly, only in black). It was such a good deal, I figured it was time to see if the case was worth the added weight,

It so is! When you open the magnetic case, the Kindle comes awake instantly! It feels more like reading an actual electronic book when the Kindle lights up as soon as you open the cover. Ditto when you finish reading, all you have to do is close the case.  The only downside is, that if you want to take the Paperwhite out of the magnetic case, it is almost as difficult as it was to get the Touch out of the lighted case.

Now if they could just make a dual screen version, it would look a lot the the readers in some of my novels.

Merry Christmas from me to you! (another free ebook!)

Assuming Amazon doesn't goof (again), as of Wednesday, December 26, The Nostalgia Gambit should be free in the US Kindle store and also in the UK Kindle store, the Canadian Kindle store, and the German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Brazilian Kindle stores.  This is a KDP Select promotion, which means it can be international in scale (there are now a lot of Kindle stores) but will be of limited duration. At present, I don't anticipate making this book free after Thursday, December 27.

Hope you had a good holiday, and if you got a Kindle or a tablet for Christmas, have a book on me!

King of Trees coming next year!

I'm still proofing my converted file for the Kindle version of King of Trees.  I don't expect to have it for sale in the Kindle store until some time in January.  Even writers have to take holidays!

This book is a departure for me, an alternate history where England is called Albion and Druids still hold sway.  In this world, the New World was never conquered by Europeans—although the Roman tried their best. The hero is a man named Bardolph Patrickson, a blacksmith who supports his mother and younger sister. Bardolph also happens to be King of Albion, and when his country is attacked, he has stoke his forge and answer duty's call.

The Nostalgia Gambit is live on Amazon!

My newest book The Nostalgia Gambit is now for sale (or for borrow if you have Amazon Prime and a Kindle or a Kindle Fire) in the Kindle store!

I don't have time for a long post but here's the (updated) blurb:


Tychon Damiano was minding his own business when disaster struck. Of course, since his business was buying and selling stolen goods, disaster was not entirely unexpected. What was unexpected was a wanted felon waking up in a palace full of servants and high tech gadgets, including a virtual girlfriend. It's all very pleasant except for one little problem:  Ty can't leave. 

Just about the time he discovers that a real woman is vastly superior to the virtual kind, some truly alarming nightmares start to haunt his sleep. Ty learns to play chess from a master, but one thing he's never sure of is, exactly what game is he in? 

One and a half down!

I turned in the m.s. for King of Trees to the conversion house, and I got back the finished files for The Nostalgia Gambit. With so much going on, I could say that now I'm cooking with gas, which would be especially apt because our kitchen reno is done and we are, in fact, quite literally cooking with gas!

TNG should be in the Kindle store before the week is out; KoT will take a few weeks, because there is always a correction step to check for last minute errors and conversion problems.  Meanwhile, here is the cover for King of Trees.

One down, one to go

Okay, the corrections have been made to the converted file for The Nostalgia Gambit. Now I need to finish evaluating the copyeditor's comments and make her suggested edits to King of Trees.

Once I get a final pass version of TNG, I will load it into Amazon's Kindle Direct Platform. That usually takes a matter of minutes, once I have a corrected file.

Oops, just realized I also need to write the "back cover" blurb.  Even though ebooks don't have a cover, they still need a description.

It will probably be January before King of Trees comes out.  Once we get into the holiday season, everything slows down.

That's strange . . .

According to my Blogger stats, someone found my blog by searching for the phrase "The Nostalgia Gambit." The weird thing is, my book by that title isn't out yet, and I don't think there is another book by that name. Which makes me wonder how someone knew about the book if they didn't already know about my blog?

Or maybe another author out there is thinking of using that name for his or her new book?  Hmm.

The Nostalgia Gambit is on my Kindle!

Of course, it's only the proof copy. I loaded the version that 52Novels sent me onto my Kindle so I could  do one last final proof, especially to check for conversion errors, which fortunately, are usually very rare. Once I send them my corrections, it should not take long before I will get back a file I can load into KDP.

I will be launching this on KDP Select, so it won't be on other platforms for a few months.

Almost there!

Going a little crazy here

I feel like a juggler who has launched one ball too many into the air. The main level of my house is being renovated, so we're camping out in the basement for several weeks. We're using a picnic cooler as a desk/coffee table, and I'm making the copyeditor's revisions to King of Trees while crouched over my laptop.

At the same time, I'm waiting for the converted file for the The Nostalgia Gambit and the final cover for King of Trees. As soon as I get TNG back, I need to load it onto my Kindle for final proofing; the conversion is generally very smooth, but sometimes quote marks don't convert correctly or it turns out there was weird stuff in the Word file that came through in the epub/Kindle versions.

And, of course, with home renovation, things never go as smoothly as you had hoped. Do the words "termite damage" and "rotten floor joist" sound as scary to you as they did to me?

At least tomorrow the floors should be done, and we will be able to bring the cat home from kitty jail. Now if I can just keep him from walking on my keyboard . . .

The Nostalgia Gambit is out for conversion!

Final edits are done, the ISBN has been assigned, the cover is complete, and I have sent it off for conversion. Now to get going on King of Trees, which is right behind TNG. KoT is back from the copyeditor and I need to start going over her comments/suggestions/corrections.  I will post the cover for that one soon, too,

All this in spite of suffering through a major home renovation and Hurricane Sandy, too! Luckily, Sandy didn't affect my area too badly. I feel so bad for the folks in New York and New Jersey.