Melissa Foster was invited this week by Felicia Rogers, author of THE PERFECT ROSE, to do a series of interviews to discuss her upcoming book launch for Melissa’s newest release coming November 1st, COME BACK TO ME, on Felicia’s website. Melissa’s an award-winning author and the founder of The WoMen’s Literary Cafe, a place online for authors and readers to meet and share their experiences.
Take a moment, read the interview and get to know Melissa. She’s a great writer (her paranormal thriller CHASING AMANDA’s currently in Amazon’s Top 10 for Kindle list!), and she’s a wonderful promoter of the indie publishing world, helping others to achieve their writing and publishing goals. She’s even invited 35 other authors along for her Book Launch Party – don’t miss it! It’s got a little something for everyone!!
Click Here to Read the First Interview In the Series
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Chick Lit – The New Black has a new writer interview up on their site.
Bonnie Trachtenberg, author of WEDLOCKED: A Novel, has written a fun guest blog, interviewing herself for the site.
Get great insight into the mind of a writer, including the real life inspirations she draws from, who she’s a fan of, and what her writing routine’s like.
(Bonnie Trachtenberg is also participating in the book launch of Melissa Foster’s newest book COME BACK TO ME. Don’t miss the release party – it starts November 1st and runs through November 3rd. For more info on all the participating authors and promotions, go to The WoMen’s Literary Cafe.)
]]>2010 has started out with a bang, and it’s not a good one: quite a few well-known writers have died since this year began!
Here are some of the authors we’ve lost:
William Tuohy, 83
He was a former Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times foreign correspondent who covered the Vietnam War and who wrote three well-known books: DANGEROUS COMPANY (1987), detailing his time as a war correspondent; THE BRAVEST MAN: The Story of Richard O’Kane and U.S. Submariners in the Pacific War (2001); and “AMERICA’S FIGHTING ADMIRALS: Winning the War at Sea in World War II” (2007). Tuohy died Dec. 31 after open-heart surgery at a hospital in Santa Monica, Calif.
Dick Zunt, 78
Cleveland’s Plain Dealer sports writer who covered the city’s high school teams for more than 50 years, died on Jan 2nd.
Margery Beddow, 72
Broadway dancer, choreographer, director and author of BOB FOSSE’S BROADWAY, also passed away Jan 2nd.
Stephen Huneck, 60
A Vermont man whose love of dogs inspired his art and books (SALLY GOES TO THE BEACH, MY DOG”S BRAIN) and the building of a unique dog chapel, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Jan 7th. He had been suffering from depression for quite some time before taking his own life.
William J. Lederer, 97
Co-author of THE UGLY AMERICAN, the fiction book that brought to light some of the US foreign service’s unsavory practices and associations in Southeast Asia and which was to serve as a warning about the coming loss of US influence in the area, passed away on Dec 5th, but it wasn’t made public until a month later while funeral arrangements were being made. A former Naval line officer in World War II, he’s to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on Feb 16th.
George B. Leonard, 86
An editor and writer for Look magazine and an advocate for counterculture and the “human potential movement”, over the years he wrote a dozen books, including “The Transformation: A Guide to the Inevitable Changes in Humankind” (1972), “The Silent Pulse: A Search for the Perfect Rhythm That Exists in Each of Us” (1978), “The End of Sex: Erotic Love After the Sexual Revolution” (1983), “Walking on the Edge of the World” (1988) and “The Ultimate Athlete” (2001). He passed away on Jan 6th.
Georges Anglade, 65
Canadian geographer and author, he and his wife Mireille, also 65, were killed in the Port-Au-Prince earthquake on Jan. 12. Born in Haiti, Anglade had moved to France during the reign of dictator “Papa Doc” Duvalier, getting a degree in geography. He then moved to Canada in the late ’60s, teaching geography at l’Université du Québec à Montréal, a school he helped found. During the 1990s, he turned to writing French-language books: ”Les Blancs de Mémoire” (Memory Blanks), “Leurs jupons dépassent” (Their Slips are Showing), “Ce pays qui m’habite” (This Country that Lives Inside Me) and “Et si Haïti déclarait la guerre aux USA?” (And What if Haiti Declared War on the USA)
Erich Segal, 72
Best known for the tearjerker LOVE STORY, Segal died of a heart attack on Jan 17th. He had suffered with Parkinson’s disease for more than 2 decades. Unlike most bestselling books, LOVE STORY was actually a novelization of an uproduced screenplay by Segal rather than starting life as an original manuscript. The book was critically panned when it came out, and even the National Book Award jury threatened to walk out if the book wasn’t taken out of contention for that year’s award. (It was removed to their delight, but the publisher had the last laugh as the book spent a year on the hardcover bestseller lists…) The screenplay was finally produced about then, and the movie became a blockbuster.
Robert B. Parker, 77
A writer who “died in the saddle” (he had a heart attack at his writing desk on Jan. 18), Parker was the profilic author of the Spenser murder mystery series, writing 37 books in that set alone. Spenser (no first name), a wise-cracking, street-smart and surprisingly literate Boston P.I. became extremely popular, propelling Parker onto the bestselling lists over and over, and spawning a TV series based on him. Another of his series characters, Jesse Stone, also became the basis for another TV series.
Paul Quarrington, 56
Award-winning author of WHALE MUSIC, a book loosely based on Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson’s life which was made into a movie, Quarrington passed away from lung cancer on Jan 21. His memoir, Cigar Box Banjo, is due out in May. He was also a screenwriter, helping to pen the TV series DUE SOUTH.
Dave Berry, 66
He wrote the reference work WALES AND CINEMA – The First Hundred Years and was a former critic and correspondent with the South Wales Echo. Mr. Berry had been ill for some time before he passed away on Jan 23rd.
Howard Zinn, 87
Author of the book “A People’s History of the United States”, which started out with a small printing (5000) back in 1980 and almost no interest and then grew into a million-copy selling monster, died from a heart attack in Santa Monica, California, on Jan 27th. His book took a very “left-wing” approach to history, taking “established” views of the past and turning them on their heads. (Rather than treat historical figures such as Columbus and others as heroic explorers, he instead charged them with genocide.) While many complained his books weren’t accurate or very thorough, he himself said his book wasn’t intended as the be-all and end-all of history books, but rather a starting place to discuss what really happened, a book to get people talking and creating change.
Louis Auchincloss, 92
A Manhattan lawyer, novelist, essayist, biographer and editor who wrote about the decline of the old WASP world of power and privilege (a world he was intimately familiar with), died Jan. 26 at Lenox Hill Hospital from complications from a stroke. He was best known for books like THE RECTOR OF JUSTIN and THE EMBEZZLER, both written in the 1960s. He also wrote POWER OF ATTORNEYS, a collection of short stories, all of which take place in a Manhattan law firm.
J. D. Salinger, 91
If you aren’t familiar with CATCHER IN THE RYE, you may be one of the only people in the world who’s never heard of it. Salinger’s book to date has sold over 60 million copies, and even though it was written in the early ’50s, it still resonates with readers today. A reclusive writer, Salinger originally started out writing short fiction for magazines, especially the New Yorker. However, after CATCHER became a mega-hit, Salinger developed an intense dislike for the publishing industry and stopped giving interviews or promoting his books. That didn’t stop his later works from becoming bestsellers in their own rights, including FRANNY AND ZOOEY. However, none ever reached the level of popularity of CATCHER. (And now that Salinger has passed away and can no longer object/sue as he was wont to due, word has it that it may finally be made into a movie.)
Ralph McInerny, 80
A professor at the University of Notre Dame, McInerny wrote more than 80 books, the most well-known and popular being his Father Dowling books about a priest who solved murder mysteries. They also became the basis for a well-liked TV series that aired from 1989-1991. He died Jan. 29 of esophageal cancer.
Tomas Eloy Martinez, 75
Martinez’s SANTA EVITA, THE FLIGHT OF THE QUEEN and THE PERON NOVEL mixed fiction and reality about Argentina during and after the rule of Juan and Eva Peron, the fascinating and fearsome couple who dominated the nation’s politics in the 1950s. His books struck such a nerve with the public that Isabel Peron, 2nd wife and widow of Juan, had Martinez exiled from Argentina during the ’70s. He later returned to Argentina and was living in Buenos Aires when he passed away from cancer on Jan 31.
(R.I.P. to them all and any I missed mentioning…)
]]>By Nick Daws – Author of Write Any Book in 28 Days – Or Less!
If you’re a writer and don’t have your own website to advertise yourself, you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities. How do I know? Well, I’ve had my own site for about seven years now, and during that time it’s brought me dozens, possibly hundreds, of work opportunities. Here are just a few which came my way as a result of people seeing my site…
* Hamlyn Publishing (UK) wanting me to write a couple of two-page spreads for a proposed book.
* A retired gangster living in Ireland wanting me to help write his memoirs.
* A local video company, wanting my help scripting a training video.
* A US publishing house wanting me to ghost-write an exposé of malpractice in the insurance industry.
* A UK publisher, wanting me to quote for producing a series of city guides for publication on the Internet.
* And, not least, White Cliff Computing Limited, whose interest in my work led to me writing two courses for them, “Write Any Book in 28 Days – Or Less! and Quick Cash Writing.
I didn’t actually take up all of the opportunities mentioned above. Sometimes I was too busy with other projects (and I must admit the retired gangster scared me a little…). However, the point is that none of these approaches would have come my way without a website.
There are other benefits as well. If I’m applying for a new writing project or commission, I can simply suggest that the potential client refers to my website if they require any further information. It saves constantly sending out weighty CVs or résumés, and makes me look like a technologically aware, up-to-the-minute sort of guy (this becomes more important when, as in my case, you are no longer in the first flush of youth). The website also helps me keep in touch with readers of my books, and it provides me with an additional (if small) income stream through advertising.
OK, I hear you saying, you’ve sold me on the benefits of having a website, but I’m a writer, not a tech-head. I don’t know how to create my own site, and I don’t have the spare cash to hire someone to build one for me.
Let’s take the latter point first. Getting a website built for you need not be hugely expensive. Freelance writers really don’t need whizzy, cutting-edge designs with Flash animation, online databases, shopping trolleys, and so forth. A basic site which showcases you and your work should be more than sufficient. Try entering “website designer” in your favorite search engine and you’ll get hundreds of potential designers. Approach a few with details of your requirements and see what responses you get. You may well be pleasantly surprised by the quotes you receive. Website design is a very competitive field – and, of course, the designer you use can be based anywhere in the world.
However, if at all possible, I do strongly recommend that you consider building and maintaining your own site. This has all sorts of advantages. For one, you can update it yourself quickly and easily, and you can also create it exactly as you wish. You can add bits, take bits away, try out advertising, start your own newsletter, etc. etc. This is the route I have taken, and although my site is never going to win any awards for its design, it suits my purposes very well.
In my time, I’ve used various programs to create and maintain my website, starting with a program called the CompuServe First Web Page Designer (now, I’m sure, residing in software heaven). If I was starting again today, however, I would definitely invest a few bucks in the Newbie Club First Website Builder. This is a four-volume guide to creating, writing, designing, automating, uploading and promoting your own website, in fully illustrated e-book format. As well as the four beautifully written e-books, you get loads of free software, including the Super Easy Mini Site Wizard, which will build a basic site for you in literally minutes. Check out everything on offer in this product at http://newbieclub.com/builder/?hotproducts. I guarantee it’ll blow you away.
Even if you decide to hire a professional designer to create your site for you, the Newbie Club First Website Builder will show you everything you need to know in order to take over the running of your site and maintain and update it yourself. Incidentally, the Newbie Club, which is aimed at people new to computing rather than IT specialists, also produces a free email newsletter packed with hints and tips for newcomers to computing – you can sign up to it at http://newbieclub.com/?hotproducts if you wish. Although I’ve been using PCs for quite a while now, I still subscribe, and regularly pick up useful hints and tips I hadn’t been aware of before.
Nick Daws is a best-selling author living in Staffordshire, England.
You can discover his exciting course online at “How to Write Any Book in 28 Days – OR LESS!”