Home and Family, MY BOOKS, The Writing Life

The Best of Both Worlds of Bookstores

July 27, 2014 Rebecca Nolen 2 Comments

You’ve heard me expound on the virtues of independent bookstores (indie-bookstores) and how important they are in the world of book selling. They are gatekeepers to literacy, pushing good books out in front of our noses, and encouraging all ages to read. Each small bookstore has its specialty, and personality. My latest favorite is River Oaks Bookstore on Westheimer. I offered scones and creme fraiche at my book signing there. You know me, it’s really all about the food. I’ve been to a book signing at River Oaks where there was a full meal served. Now that’s a book signing to go to!

River Oaks is good about encouraging their authors to offer food that might be part of the world of the story. You’ll notice I didn’t have bug crackers, or chocolate covered earthworms on the menu, so the world of The Dry wasn’t on the menu. You’re welcome. I featured scones and clotted cream and cream fraiche and rough-cut marmalade because I was promoting the world in Deadly Thyme, a British thriller.

This past weekend I was signing books at Barnes & Noble on West Gray. There were other authors there. I believe that is how I will be signing books at bookstores from now on. Other authors mean more fans, and my fans get an opportunity to enjoy other authors, so it will be happy times all around. New model for book signing – going forward.

Actually this blog post is about Barnes & Noble. I’ve probably mentioned in earlier blogs how each Barnes & Noble is like a sovereign kingdom. In other words, each Barnes & Noble is unique because of their manager.

How can you as the reader appreciate this? Because your Barnes & Noble will cater to your needs, or not, depending on what their individual policies are regarding requests. For instance, if you want to hold a meeting for your book club on the second Tuesday of every month at your B & N, the manager either gives you a thumbs up or a thumbs down. I believe B & N’s live or die according to what the answer would be from that manager.

What does this mean for authors? How well are you loved by your B & N? Have you asked or been approached to have a signing? The answer is critical to the indie-published author especially. It’s hard enough to rock the stigma that is very real about indie-books (that’s another blog post). Here’s where the book leather scrapes the pavement. Listen up, I’ve even heard of traditionally published author’s being given the “brush-off” by their B & N in regards to a book signing. Seriously? Yes. Can you imagine the answer to an indie-published author? How about a huge, whopping no! What a shame.

On a more positive note I can now say I know of two Barnes & Nobles that readily offer book signing opportunities for indie-authors (indie-authors are independent authors who may be self-published but often are published through small press publishers. I am an indie-author.) My experience signing books yesterday at the Houston Barnes & Noble on West Gray was marvelous! I sold out of The Dry that they had ordered through Ingram and I had to call for reinforcement books from home and still, I kept selling. They told me I was the “best-selling” author of the day at the store. That means I sold more books that any other author, not just my friends who were signing their books but of all the author’s books across the store. What? It’s true. I’m sorry. There is always the part of me that wants to apologize for outselling friends. They are as earnest as I am. But I have to say – I bring a wasp.

So what say I of this Barnes & Noble? I love them. That store was humming with business yesterday or dare I say, buzzzzzzzing? Every one of those store workers were fresh-faced happy people wanting to do all and everything to make all of us successful. That’s a store that will still be there next year.

Barnes & Nobles as sovereign states? Yes. Will some of them fall away, widening the crevasse between the reader and brick and mortar stores and giving Amazon more of a foothold in their bid to take over the world? Yes.

Upper management at Barnes & Noble did an interesting thing when they allowed autonomous rule in their stores, because what they essentially created were independent bookstores (like indies) with a common name. Plus, they probably offer benefits. It’s an interesting business model.

What can you do? Find a B & N that you like. If you’re ever in the Barnes & Noble on West Gray say hi to Michelle. Also, if you are interested and I hope you are, go to your local B & N throughout the U.S. & where ever you are and please ask them to order my books. They are in the catalog. More interested in an e-book? My e-books are available on Nook, too.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Big hugs!

Keep reading great books.

reviews

The Night Visitor by Dianne Emley

July 25, 2014 Rebecca Nolen Leave a comment

Such a Page Turner!

Rory has a successful cosmetics company but is still haunted by the death of her company’s representative model, her twin sister. So much mystery surrounds her sister’s murder: Junior, the man found next to the model in a vegetative state from a gunshot wound to the head was Rory’s fiance, his wound is not consistent with a self-inflicted wound but Rory’s wealthy family leaked a story to the press that he murdered his fiance’s sister and then tried to commit suicide, no one in Junior’s family believes it and prepares a civil lawsuit, and Rory can’t accept her family’s story either. As Junior’s death nears he reaches out trying to clear his name and communicates with his brother who gets confused messages and believes that what his brother is trying to tell him is that Rory is responsible. His actions lead to tragic consequences and plunge his family and Rory’s into a deeper mystery. Rory begins seeing pictures in her mind of what happened the night her sister was murdered. As she is pulled deeper and deeper into a psychic connection with Junior, her mind sinks deeper into turmoil as she sees but doesn’t see what truly happened. As Junior’s health fails, so does Rory’s. Will she be able to figure out what Junior is telling her before she dies with him?

I can’t tell you. You’ll have to read this riveting story for yourself.

I received this novel from Net Galley for my fair and honest review.

Author Blog Tour

Hosting an author: Welcome Rhani D. Chae!

July 18, 2014 Rebecca Nolen 4 Comments

EXCERPT FROM SHADOW OF THE DRILL:

His gloved fingers probed the Betadine-stained area above the wound as he prepared to make another incision, but he stopped when Rudy moaned in response. “Char,” he said without looking up, “he’s too close to the top. We need to put him back down. I know the pills are gone, but is there any more booze?”

The woman clenched her hands together, unable to hide her stricken expression. “No. I gave him the last of it just before you started. There might be more somewhere, but I don’t know how much.” Her voice broke in a frustrated sob. “Or where it would be.”

Decker frowned again, thinking of and weighing the options. “Well,” he said, swallowing hard against the dread that threatened the strength and accuracy of his hands, “I guess we’ll just go ahead and finish it. Hopefully, he’ll pass out before we get too far.”

Another sentence followed, too softly for Charlene to hear. “What did you say?”

“I said if there’s a God in Heaven, he will.”

The bloodstained gloves hit the floor, and Decker’s hands cupped Rudy’s face, one finger tracing the clenched jaw with a lover’s smooth touch. His lips tightened at the thought of what his friend would still have to suffer at his hands, but then he straightened, all emotion locked safely away until the job was done.

“Ready?” The sound of fresh gloves snapping around his wrists accented the word.

Charlene caught her breath, but managed to keep her voice from shaking too badly. “As ready as I’m gonna be.” She pressed her palms against Rudy’s shoulders, leaning her weight forward while bracing her feet against the base of the wall behind her.

“Are you sure?” Decker’s voice was steady, almost as if his fright had never been. She bobbed her head in reply, and he poised his hands over Rudy’s abdomen. “Okay then,” he said, forcing his eyes away from Rudy’s face. “Here we go.”

The scalpel slid into the skin, forcing a throaty groan from Rudy’s lips. Blood flowed, causing Charlene’s heart to skip a beat.

There’s so much!

Rudy’s legs thrashed while Charlene fought to hold his upper body against the table and she dug the heels of her palms into the front of his shoulders. “I can’t hold him,” she cried, struggling against Rudy’s greater strength. “Deck, I’m losing him!”

“I’m almost there,” he replied as the scalpel went deeper. “Just a little more, and I’ll have it!”

He tossed the blood-covered instrument onto the tray before picking up the forceps. “Okay,” he said, more to himself than to Charlene. “Okay, steady now. Easy . . . easy . . .”

Rudy cried out when Decker reached in for the elusive piece of metal. His head rolled from side to side while his hands flailed, even though Decker tried to hold the closest one against the edge of the table with his body. His expressive brown eyes were wide and pain-crazed, but beneath the pain was something else. Something that, to their dismay, both Charlene and Decker recognized.

Awareness.

Rudy should have been beyond all feeling, but instead he remained awake. Awake and aware.

Shadow of the Drill centers around a man whose life was destroyed by violence, who then embraced violence as a means to a very brutal end. It follows Decker and Rudy as they come face to face with their oldest enemies and attempt to close that chapter of their lives. The book contains graphic violence as well as sexual situations, and is not intended for young or easily offended readers. Shadow of the Drill is the first in the Drill series and the second book, Winter of the Drill, will hopefully be completed in the next month or two.

Thank you all so much for allowing me to share a bit of my journey with you today. To follow the rest of my tour, please visit 4WillsPublishing. Rebecca, you were a great host and thank you so much for having me!

BIO:

RHANI D’CHAE spent her teen years bouncing between WA, OR, and OK, but has lived her adult life in Tacoma, WA. She likes to read, though she doesn’t read as much as she used to due to diabetic vision loss, and is a fan of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Brian Lumley, and James Clavell. She loves The Walking Dead, and any zombie film with a high body count. Ms. D’Chae enjoys connecting with people on social networking sites, and loves getting feedback from those who have read her work, so please don’t leave without sharing your comments.

PURCHASE LINKS:

“SHADOW OF THE DRILL” by Rhani D. Chae www.amazon.com/dp/B00GBHQZZU

CONTACT INFO:

Twitter: @rhanidchae

Facebook: www.facebook.com/rhani.dchae

Google +: http://google.com/+RhaniDChae

Website: www.rhanidchae.com

Review of Shadow of the Drill at NONNIE’S “RAVE” REVIEWS

reviews

Boarding House Reach by Peter Crawley, a review

July 15, 2014 Rebecca Nolen Leave a comment

Boarding House Reach is set in England and is told from the points of view of several people, none of whom know each other. As the story unfolds each person is dealing with a problem. Phoebe is dealing with being kicked out of Cambridge for plagiarism. Stella is dealing with England’s equivalent of the IRS wanting to know how she came up with the monies for extensive repairs to her boarding house, The Reach. Audrey is wanting a nice vacation to deal with her two-timing husband’s death and reclaim her past love. Phillip is wondering how he can improve his shaky marriage.

All these people stumble and fail again and again trying to come to terms with, or to deal with, or to avoid their troubles. The author ties these story lines together so well that it happens seamlessly. The boarding house reach the author manages with the characters is well done, as he moves and maneuvers them into place. Though by the fiery end the reader is turning pages very fast in hopes that at least someone will get what they wish for. And someone does. And someone dies. And to tell anything else would be to ruin it for you, the next reader.

I received this book from NetGalley for a fair and honest review.

Recommended.

The Writing Life

Book Signings

July 5, 2014 Rebecca Nolen Leave a comment

On July 19 from 10:30 to Noon I’ll be at the Barbara Bush Branch Library in Cypress, TX signing books. I’m going to be there to take part in a panel. Lilia Fabry, E. L. Russell, and K. J. Russell will be on the panel with me. The title of the presentation is “Writing Science Fiction for Youth.

Then that afternoon from 2 until 4 I will be with a group of authors signing books at Te – The House of Tea, 1927 Fairview just west of Dunlavy. I understand they have a great Korean dumpling and many other interesting items on their menu. I’ll be there Sunday afternoon, July 20 also from 2 to 4.

On July 26 I’ll be signing books at the Barnes & Noble on West Gray from 2 to 4 but I may be there longer if they can stand it. This is not just me, there will be a lot of other authors there also. It’s a bigger deal when there are a lot of other authors. Plus, it’s a lot more fun for everyone.

I sure hope I see you there.

I’m attaching flyers for the first two events to give you a better idea of what these events are.

The Writing Life

Closing the Facebook

July 5, 2014 Rebecca Nolen Leave a comment

I think you’ll appreciate what Catherine Howard says so I’m passing this on to you.

The Writing Life

Deadly Thyme has got it!

July 4, 2014 Rebecca Nolen 4 Comments

Self Promotion

Publicity is not an easy thing to do. I thought long and hard about what to put in a press release for my novels. This was difficult. I was raised not to make a fuss, not to call attention to myself because vanity is a worthless quality. Having to promote myself goes against the grain.

I’ve inserted a picture of me and two of my brothers because it’s less boring. The brother to the left in the picture, I hadn’t seen face-to-face in about fifteen years. See? Got your attention again. It isn’t that we are estranged. For years he chose to avoid the family. So my other two brothers (Jeff is taking the picture) and I decided to jump in the car and force a show-down. He said it was the best Christmas present he’d ever gotten.

Here’s a repeat point about self-promotion. Self-promotion isn’t a burden required by self-published authors or indie authors alone. Those who have been traditionally published must make some of the same decisions, and develop marketing strategies just as I have. I have a great mentor in Pamela Fagan Hutchins. Her book What Kind of Loser Indie Publishes? and how can I be one, too? has been a great tool in learning about the different options I have. Why is it that traditionally published authors must also come up with their own advertising? Because marketing budgets with the large publishers are not what they used to be, and because when there is money for marketing budgets it goes to the big names like Grisham, King, and Rowling. And if you are a traditionally published author just starting out in this cruel world, you have to get over the “why not me?” thinking. The answer is ‘because’.

So, back to me, (ha. ha) I’ve read a lot of press releases and still, I struggled with what to say for mine. What to say? What to say? I went to a company in Austin who works with some big names and asked for help. Here’s my first press release. I think they’ve got an eye grabbing headline here. I couldn’t be prouder.