Podcast Interview with Hank Garner
Two weeks ago, I was contacted by author Hank Garner who does interviews for his Author Stories Podcast, and the interview just went live today. Hank is a great interviewer (so check out his site), and I was particularly happy that we not only got to talk about my Victorian San Francisco Mystery Series but that I was also able to introduce his listeners to the history behind the Paradisi Chronicles–the open source science fiction universe I have been working on with six other authors for the past year. In fact, the reason Hank had heard of me was that, even though the first round of works written for the Paradisi Chronicles aren’t going to be out until September 1, our whole enterprise was now the subject of a good deal of buzz among the science fiction/fantasy world of indies. Read more…
Deadly Proof and Historical Fiction eBooks
I am a member of the Historical Fiction Authors Cooperative, a group of authors who banded together several years ago because we wanted a way to reach people who were interested in finding good historical fiction ebooks. The group started small, and our membership is by invitation only, but we now have 47 members and nearly 200 books in our catalog on our website http://hfebooks.com. We feature books and posts by our authors every Monday, and every Thursday we post a list of books that are currently free or discounted and announce new publications. If you are at all interested in historical fiction, I strongly suggest you go on over to the site and subscribe so you will get these posts. Meanwhile, today with the publication of Deadly Proof, it is my turn to have a featured book and a Read more…
Celebrating Five Years of Self-Publishing with a Giveaway
When I read Marie Force’s recent blog post celebrating four years as a self-published author, it occurred to me that I should celebrate my own anniversary since I self-published Maids of Misfortune, the first book in my Victorian San Francisco Mystery series, on November 28, 2009––FIVE YEARS AGO. While Force’s success as one of the most prolific and high selling hybrid authors of today is truly remarkable––it struck me that I should honor the fact that when I self-published (with no traditionally published books under my belt, no fan base) I was doing something a little risky––a little ahead of the curve. In 2009, the pundits were still saying ebooks and self-published books were the route to failure, and J.A Konrath and April Hamilton were voices in the wilderness. So, when I clicked publish on that first ebook edition, I was taking a Read more…
Fun Halloween Ideas from the Past
Hallowe’en. The night wind whispers — Ghosts ! They are waiting for their hosts; The waning moon is weary and will not be up till late ; Already there are shadows at the gate. A word, half heard, that is whispered in your ear, And a presence that is felt when no one else is near. Have you been along the corridors alone — all alone — And listened to the wind up yonder making moan? Have you thought about it all, The footfall in the hall That comes and goes — comes and goes — With the measure of a heartbeat of a life that ebbs and flows ? The poem above was the first item in a nearly 200 page book, Hallowe’en Festivities by Stanley Schell, put out in 1903, that was devoted to giving suggestions on how to Read more…
Introducing Katja Blum, translator for my German Edition of Maids of Misfortune
I am very pleased to introduce Katja Blum, the person who did such a lovely, professional job translating Maids of Misfortune into the German edition: Dienstmädchen im Unglück. She graciously answered some of my questions in my quest to get to know her, and I think you will be as charmed as I was with her answers. 1. Please tell the readers about yourself and how you got into translating. I began working as a translator (English into German) while I was studying at Hamburg University in Germany – sheesh, that was almost twenty years ago. My major wasn’t translation, by the way, but American Literature and Women’s Studies. For my first job, I translated Harlequin romances into German. I’m fluent in English, I’m a writer – how hard can it be? The answer: Very. I learned many important things from working with Read more…
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