Fruitful Hours of Blog Trolling

Do you have trouble checking out all the links, email post announcements and Twitter suggestions which you get in a day or a week?

I certainly do.

And just now, I’m having more trouble than usual what with all the posts I’m creating for my book launch, the reading of proofs for The Loyalist’s Wife, and a zillion other must-do items which are all converging in my brain. That being said I have some great links for my readers today.

Lorrie Porter’s blog post, which I finally got around to reading (having been on a 3-day holiday), is a trove of writing-related blog addresses and blog awards which she has received. She chose to answer them all together to the benefit of all of us who enjoy seeing other writers’ links.

Note: When you start clicking on the links you’ll lose Lorrie’s site as she has forgotten to have each one open in a new page. Not to worry. Just use the back button on your browser to go back to Lorrie’s list.

Lorrie mentioned my blog here and invited all of us whom she mentioned to pick an award or all of them and participate.

Here, then, are my responses to the Very Inspirational Blogger Award, the name of which sets pretty well in my brain and I’ll refer to it over and over, particularly on those days when I myself need inspiration.

Favourite colour: Blue. Royal blue to be specific.

Favourite animal: The human animal who married me

Favourite number: The ones with dollar signs in front of them on cheques. Just kidding.

Favourite non-alcoholic drink: My own version of hot chocolate: 1/2 tsp. Quik in a mug of steaming skim milk.

Favourite alcoholic drink: Crown Royal, Diet Coke and 2 slices of lime

Facebook or Twitter: LinkedIn writing groups although I do think there are a lot of amazing writing gurus on Twitter. That’s where I found a lot of wonderful web wizards.

My passions: My family, my writing, my jewelry making

Giving or receiving gifts: Giving, although receiving is pretty intoxicating at times, too

Favourite city: Quebec City dans la belle province au Canada

Favourite TV shows: West Wing, anything which is historical and well done, such as Downton Abbey.

Here are some blogs which I follow at the moment:

The Maiden’s Court

Peeking Between the Pages

Let Them Read Books

Passages to the Past

Live Write Thrive

Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

This Craft Called Writing

Market Your Book by Jan Bear

I do tend to change sites I follow based upon what I need to learn about the book business at any given moment.

Consider leaving a comment with favorite sites you’ve found. I do love the sharing aspects of the web, don’t you?

Download your free copy of 10 Ways to Improve Your Writing from the link in the side column!

Coming Soon!

The Loyalist’s Wife by Elaine Cougler

 

Have You Ever Heard a Great Story?

Most of us talk about reading books, watching movies, or attending plays. We know what the verb is that fits best with each activity; in fact, we know it so well, we don’t even have to think about it.

Reading books. That phrase just hangs together as naturally as drinking milk or licking a lollipop.

There are, however, times when we want the distraction or the excitement of a book when we just cannot read, such as when driving in a car. Listening to the radio puts us at the mercy of whatever stations are available as we drive along and especially on a long trip the stations keep fading out as we leave their signal area.

Some of us resort to CD’s or iPods or the like. Then there are the rest of us. We think hitting the open road is a marvelous time for an audiobook.

For a recent trip to South Carolina, my husband and I hit the library the night before leaving and picked up Bernard Cornwell’s The Last Kingdom. We fell in love with listening. No matter who was driving over those two days we would decide to pick up where we left off in the story. The miles simply slipped away as did the time. I usually drive for two hours and the last half hour I am always looking at my watch.

Not this time.

As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, we loved listening to a good book. So, of course, my writer’s brain began to go off on tangents asking questions.

7 Questions Related to Audio Books:

1. How hard is it to read a whole book for a recording?
2. Do actors do this or is this a special niche job?
3. What is the percentage of published books that make it into the audio book category?
4. Is there a genre or book length that works better?
5. Is creating an audio book something that is only done by renowned authors through their publishers or is the process easily accessible by any author?
6. What makes an audio book great?
7. What are the pitfalls to avoid?

Once again, I am off to learn about something new related to my writing. This time, however, I am asking you, my readers, to share any thoughts you have on making audio books.

Consider leaving a comment about anything but especially about audiobooks.

Download your free copy of 10 Ways to Improve Your Writing from the link in the side column!

Coming Soon!

The Loyalist’s Wife by Elaine Cougler

 

7 Steps to Picking Out a Great Historical Read

We all have our strategies for choosing what we read, whether it be historical or not. In the list below you might very well see methods which you use for all kinds of books, as do I. Here are just a few elements which help me choose books I’ll treasure forever.

1. Look at the cover, either in person or online. Does it intrigue or annoy you? Are the colours compelling? Personally I like covers to offer a  clue, subtle or not, as to the story/history inside as well as the period. In my post last week I showed a cover for the Henry VIII book by Margaret George. That famous Holbein painting of the man just cries out to be investigated, it is so dominant, so richly endowed, and so much of a closeup. There is no ignoring King Henry.
2. Check out the author. Do you recognize her? Have you enjoyed other of his books? Whenever I see Bernard Cornwell, I know the novel will be historically accurate, gritty, full of battles and brawny characters, but most of all, compelling. On a road trip in January we listened to one of his audio books and the two-day journey’s miles just disappeared so caught up were we. If you don’t recognize the author, move on to the next step.
3. Read the hook on the inside flap on a hard cover book or on the back of a paperback. Only you can tell if the author’s words make you want to put the book back on the shelf or crack open the spine. My new novel’s hook can be found here. I tried to give an overview without spoiling the story for my readers. “When American colonists resort to war against Britain and her colonial attitudes, a young couple caught in the crossfire must find a way to survive. Pioneers in the wilds of New York State, John and Lucy face a bitter separation and the fear of losing everything, even their lives, when he joins Butler’s Rangers to fight for the King and leaves her to care for their isolated farm. As the war in the Americas ramps up, ruffians roam the colonies looking to snap up Loyalist land. Alone, pregnant, and fearing John is dead, Lucy must fight with every weapon she has.” (The Loyalist’s Wife)
4. Check to see if there are any quotations from reviewers on the cover. Do they make you want to run to the front desk, plop down your money, and race to the car to sit right there in the parking lot and begin? Do you recognize the people quoted? Of course if there are no quotations the book could still be amazing but just hasn’t been found. I have lots of excellent books on my shelves with no such quotations. They stand well enough on their own without the crutch of someone’s endorsement.
5. Check the length of the book. I really prefer long, long historical novels which keep me company for weeks at a time. The characters can be so much more a part of my life because I know them so well. McCullough’s Caesar books are deliciously long, a happy circumstance as getting to know all those Roman-named characters like Gaius Marius, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, and Scipio Aemilianus, full name Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Numantinus, can be daunting. For a reader like me who loves the sound of the words and who has studied Latin, this was fine but I needed a big book to get comfortable with them. Once I did I loved the whole series. McCullough is much more than the very talented author of The Thorn Birds.
6. Read the first few paragraphs and see how easy it is to put the book back on the shelf. Look for something which makes you want to read on, be it lovely language, intriguing plot details, characters you want to know, whatever. This is the page the author has been told to spend hours and hours on so it should really grab you. Of course you may see that the writing is not to your taste. Pick up another and try again. Like one of those choose-a-plot books where the reader is in charge of the story, you hold all the power.
7. Finally, I like to open the book in the middle a few times and just read a few sentences, again for the style, the quality of the story and of the writing. If I find nothing that sends me away at this point, the book will be going home with me. I get to lug it to the checkout, stand in line and savour it, and flip open my wallet.

Do you have strategies for book choosing that I haven’t mentioned? Consider leaving a comment below to tell us about them.

Download your free copy of 10 Ways to Improve Your Writing from the link in the side column!

Coming Soon!

The Loyalist’s Wife by Elaine Cougler