yay!

I love it when people like what I write, especially strangers because they really have no perceived obligation to say nice things. This really awesome, sweet review from someone on the Barnes and Noble website literally made me blush. I had to post it. Reviews are hard to come by for me, and this one is pretty kickass. If I could find this person, I would hug them.

Oh, this is for Like Clockwork & A Tangled Mind. I should probably include that tidbit of info.




I am so saving a screenshot.
_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

woe is my playstation

Ah yes, you may have read about the playstation network being down. Mine is down too, dear friends. Luckily I didn't have any credit card info on there.

I have to say that I'm a little disappointed with the way Sony handled the customer communication on this one. Basically, the network went down last wednesday (I discovered the outage on friday) and there was zero communication from Sony until yesterday when they came out with a public announcement.

We didn't know why it wasn't working, if it would ever work again, if the entire Sony organization fell off the side of the earth. Maybe they thought they would have the issue fixed sooner; I don't know, but they should have said something, anything, offered a timelier apology. Their silence shows a lack of consideration for their customers, I think, especially the people who pay for the upgraded playstation network services.

A company as big as Sony should have a better damage control plan. Did they not think this could happen?

As it stands right now, we can sometimes pull up the browser and Pandora radio. Netflix works with some fiddling. Online gaming was just plain dead last time I checked. When will we be completely back online? No one seems to know.

Will I trade my ps3 for an xbox because of this? No, but I will think twice before paying for content on the network.

Next up is an interesting link that has nothing to do with the rest of this post. Apparently, people really took the movie KickAss seriously. They actually dress up and run around fighting crime. Personally, I wouldn’t do it, but if they can make the world a better place without getting maimed or dead, then more power to them. I would like to meet one of these people some time.

http://www.reallifesuperheroes.org/

_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

book working on a Wednesday that sort of feels like Thursday but is actually still Wednesday

I swear today was just a long, slow-motion stream of relentless boredom! Even tasks that usually cause time to move faster were just mired in BLAH! I think it has something to do with the rainy weather.

Anyway, so I have a couple of pictures, both taken with the crackberry, so please forgive the grain.

The first is my beloved Moo. This quickly became one of my favorite photos of him. I love the emotion in his eyes. I took this during a thunderstorm. He's looking up because he hears wind pummeling the exterior of the house.

The second is an extremely rough pencil sketch of the primary graphic for a book cover for the remix project. As you may (or may not) be able to see, it's a half-lizard face and a very faint half-lady face. I may change my mind about using it later because, well, I'm really quite good at changing my mind.



Also in mind changing news, MacDowell Sisters & AnnaBeth is getting a bit of a makeover. The book isn't selling as well as I'd hoped and I think some minor tweaks might help move it a bit. I need to fix a couple of typos anyway.

First, it's getting a cover makeover. When I go back and look at the current cover, I think it could be better. The original isn't necesarily bad, but whose attention is it really getting? Is the artwork compelling? Not really. It's legible, and it's functional. Does it say anything about the story? No. You can tell a bird is likely involved but other than that, nadda.

So there will be a second edition with typos fixed, cover redesigned and possibly a new synopsis. If I can do so, I will probably take the original edition out of print. I also plan to give the AnnaBeth series a real name some time before the second book comes out.

Remix word count update: 33610

That is all.
_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

guest post: Beth Stafford and Cassie

For the first time ever on the blog, an artist is visiting! I am super excited. This is Beth Stafford and Cassie the doggie artist.


Beth Stafford is a visual artist who teamed up with her canine companion, Cassie, several years ago to make riotously colorful abstract art under the name "PiCassieO”. The digital prints start as photographs of Cassie's inspired "brushwork" on the windows and doors, and are then transformed by the artist in Photo Shop with amazingly beautiful results. PiCassieO prints and jewelry may be purchased at http://www.PiCassieO.Etsy.com


Thedynamic duo also have a just-for-fun shop at http://www.Zazzle.com/PiCassieO* with outrageous Keds, iPhone and iPadCases, mugs, stamps and other colorful items designed by PiCassieO. Only for the bold of 'art!


Read about Team PiCassieO at http://www.airedale-art.blogspot.com







-- Thank you Beth and Cassie for visiting! -- Lea Ryan --

monday movie twofer! TWO!

This weekend was one of those weekends in which time seemed to stretch. I was only off for two days but it felt more like four. There was much togetherness with the fam and the animals. And of course, there was movie watching.

The Joneses
I thought this movie was a comedy. I don't know what gave me that impression way back when the trailers were out, but The Joneses is not a comedy. At all.

It's about a group of four people called a "cell". They function as a family - parents and two kids - a boy and a girl. David Duchovny plays Steve Jones and Demi Moore plays Kate Jones. They sell products by becoming walking advertisements, basically.

They're pretty and seem to have it all. They network with their rich neighbors to get them to buy certain products like cars, golf clubs, jewelry, cosmetics, beer, televisions, etc.

The movie was entertaining but sad in many ways. Steve wants a relationship with his "wife", but she's all about business. So he eats dinner alone and yearns for a less pretend life. Mrs. Jones does nothing but work. The "kids" who actually look like adults in their 30s have their own personal problems that mess up the carefully crafted facade.

Also sad are the Jones' envious neighbors want the lifestyle very badly.

The Joneses did have a few funny parts but many more not so funny. It was still a really good, albeit sad, story. It made me wonder why someone would damage themselves in the push toward material excess and what they perceive as success just to keep up with the people they admire. The thought-inducing movie gets a B+.

-------------------
Unstoppable

Yes, it's the train movie with Denzel Washington and that guy who played Captain Kirk in the Star Trek movie, Chris Pine.

A genius of an engineer (played by the guy who played Randy on My Name is Earl) jumps off the train he is driving to pull a switch or something, and then attempts to catch his train by running alongside. Not a good plan. He fails. Train rolls away. Did I mention there are hazardous materials on it? Well, there are.

They need to catch the train before it causes death and destruction in residential areas.

Rosario Dawson is Connie, a yardmaster. She is the brain of the rescue, giving orders to the various guys involved in trying to get the things stopped.

As you can probably imagine, Unstoppable has a lot of action. There are explosions and objects being hit by the train and all sorts of fun like that. It wasn't my favorite movie of all time, but not bad. It gets a B.
_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

more Easter

I like candy. a lot.

Happy Easter!

guess what. indie review!

I know, I know. Thursday has been a guest author day for the last month or so. The guest posts are over for the moment, with the exception of my one and only artist post, which is scheduled for 4/26. And maybe one more author in May.

Dry Bones is a short story about a man who is resurrected, body sans soul, and wanders onto a farm. There are some naughty people on the farm raping, killing and pillaging and such.

The story has powerful imagery and drama to spare. It's pretty well written. If I were to make any writing changes, I would kill all the "had" and "had been". They dilute the writing. I think the protagonist, Dry Bones, could've had clearer motivation too. I've never resurrected anyone but if I did, I would like to think I had some grand purpose in mind.

Good for a read. Free on the SmashWords when I downloaded it.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/26894

---------------------

Remix Update plus Kindle Learning

Hellloooo!

Remix project progress - 30000+ words

In case you're to my neck of the online woods, the remix project is my current work in progress. I'm rewriting a century-old horror.

Judging by where I am in the story so far and where I need to go, it's either going to be a really long novella or a really short novel. I don't foresee it hitting 7000 words.

I had intended to make it a full novel, but the story isn't unfolding to that length. I'm alright with that fact because the pacing is perfect and the tone and the story are coming out as I'd hoped. I may add in a few things when I slash and burn the first draft, but I won't try to cram in any random story bits just for the sake of fattening it up. The story deserves better than that treatment.

There were a couple of discontented rumblings when What the Dead Fear was released only as an ebook. Remix is longer, so rejoice, fans of print, there will be a dead tree edition.

Work on the cover art MAY commence very shortly.

Rapid subject change.

Did you know that you can read this blog on your Kindle! Es verdad!

These directions work on my Kindle. It's the black one or dark gray or whatever they call the color. I figured out how to do this last night so I'm sharing for anyone who might not have gotten around to checking out the browser yet.

Directions. Here we go.

1. At the home screen, press the Menu button.

2. Activate thy wireless.

3. Via Menu, select the "Experimental" option (not as dramatic as it sounds) and "Launch Browser".

4. Be amazed at the awesome links already listed.

5. Click the first link to hop onto the internet.

6. Select the address bar - this may require some fiddling. I pushed up and to the right to get to it.

7. Delete the address that's already in there and type in the following.

http://Lea-Ryan.blogspot.com

The / : and - symbols are available when you push the "Sym" button on the little keyboard.

Select “go to”

8. Once the page loads, press "Menu" again and then "Bookmark this page".

Et voila!

Why the hell would you go through all this trouble to read my blog? The process isn't so difficult, is it? And besides, once you learn how to access this one, you can access other ones too. You could have a million blogs and other websites right at your pretty fingertips.

_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

author - Ngakma Nor'dzin's

Today we have Ngakma Nor'dzin's book, Relaxing into Meditation.




Described by one reviewer as "the best book on meditation I've ever read", Relaxing into Meditation is an accessible guide to relaxation and meditation.
Relaxing into Meditation begins with relaxation and breathing techniques specifically aimed at creating relaxation of the body and calmness of mind before embarking on meditation practices which may be more demanding. In this way it provides a place where anyone can begin, without any prior experience.

Relaxation techniques and breathing exercises enable us to be calmer human beings. Through learning to quiet the breath and relax the body, we can approach the circumstances of our lives in a calmer and more relaxed manner. Discovering relaxation offers the opportunity to begin to practice meditation.

Meditation enables us to unravel unhelpful emotional fixations. Our intellect can become clearer and more focused through allowing the chatter of our minds to subside. We can discover the nature of who we are at a deep and profound level through meditative practice.

As well as explaining relaxation and meditation, Relaxing Into Meditation also describes how to make aids to practice including various styles of cushion and a Tibetan sitting strap.

Relaxing into Meditation is illustrated throughout, showing the postures that are used in each of the practices.

The book can be bought from Amazon.com (http://bit.ly/nrprimzus) and Amazon.co.uk (http://bit.ly/nrprimzuk).







information about the author


-- Thank you, Ngakma Nor'dzin, for visiting with your book! -- Lea Ryan

movie: Dinner for Schmucks

We heard that this movie sucked. We heard the humor was too dry, and the only funny parts were shown on the trailer.

WRONGO!

Dinner for Schmucks stars Paul Rudd as an uptight corporate guy named Tim and Steve Carrell as a taxidermist named Barry.

Tim works for a corporation full of jerks. He is on his way up the ladder when he’s invited to a dinner to which each guest brings the most “extraordinary” person they can find. Basically, the corporation jerks invite the people to dinner to make fun of them.

The movie is both bizarre and hilarious. The humor is not dry. In fact, it is the complete opposite of dry. Barry is clueless about certain aspects of life , as many of the characters that Steve Carrell plays are. Paul Rudd is cute as a button as always. The supporting characters in this movie are just as interesting and colorful as the main characters. This one gets a major A.

_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

author: Sheila Lowe

Sheila Lowe is here with her novel, Last Writes. Here is some info from the author!



LAST WRITES: The frantic search for a three-year-old, an estranged half-sister, a fanatical religious cult—
Erin Powers and her family have been living quietly as members of The Temple of Brighter Light at an isolated compound. But now her husband and young child have disappeared, leaving behind a cryptic note with a terrifying message. When Erin comes to her for help, forensic handwriting expert Claudia Rose seizes on her special skills to become one of the few outsiders ever to be invited inside the compound. She has only a few days to uncover the truth about the group before the prophecy of a secret ancient parchment can be fulfilled and a child’s life is written off for good...


Claudia Rose is a modern fortyish woman in a relationship with an LAPD detective. She is not an amateur sleuth, she’s a forensic handwriting expert who gets involved in crimes through her cases and learns about the people she deals with through their handwriting.


The forensic handwriting mystery series is available anywhere books are sold. Read a sample chapter of each book at www.claudiaroseseries.com



Author Bio: Like her character Claudia Rose in the award-winning Forensic Handwriting Mysteries series, author Sheila Lowe is a real-life handwriting expert who testifies in handwriting-related court cases. With more than forty years in the field of handwriting analysis, she’s a frequent guest in the media and was invited by Lifetime Movie Network to provide information and analyses of criminals on their website as a tie-in for Jeffery Deaver’s The Devil’s Teardrop movie. Sheila holds a Master of Science degree in psychology and is the author of the acclaimed The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Handwriting Analysis, Handwriting of the Famous & Infamous, and Sheila Lowe’s Handwriting Analyzer software. www.sheilalowe.com and www.claudiaroseseries.com







Forensic handwriting mysteries, LAST WRITES in stores now
http://www.claudiaroseseries.com
Twitter: @sheila_lowe


--Thank you for visiting, Sheila! The book sounds very interesting!—Lea Ryan

FOOFARAW!!

I'm feeling Attention-Deficiteriffic, so this post is a hodge podge of almost complete randomness.

First some photos from this weekend.

As for writing, I am still working on the remix project. I've decided to take six months between editing and actually publishing this time to get some pre-release reviews set up, which will likely put the release some time in 2012 but hopefully before we're all scheduled to die in the December apocalypse.



As for AnnaBeth 2, I don't plan to work too hard at getting prerelease reviews because it is a sequel. I still hope to get that out by the end of this year. I left that word count at around 30000, so rough draft shouldn't take too long to complete once I get back to it.



A completely other novel, which was actually supposed to be my second project this year, may get written in the fall. Maybe. I really haven't been as productive as I would like to be lately. I am SO easily distracted and I really haven't been able to write unless I'm "feeling it". I don't think it's writer's block. It's more like laziness.



Anyway.



Here is a totally awesome promo video for the Beastie Boys album, which may actually come out next month. Fingers crossed! The video features Will Ferrell, Seth Rogan and some other very funny guys and of course, the Beastie Boys, who are also funny.

http://www.beastieboys.com/

Smooches!

_________________________


Hey, want some free reading?

Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog! There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

author: Anne Albert

Today's extra special guest is author, Anne Albert. She is here with a description of her book, Defending Glory, and an excerpt for your reading enjoyment!

Suffering from survivor’s guilt and unable to resume his career with the FBI, Mac McKeown moves to northern Minnesota to start over as a general contractor and forget that fateful day that changed everything. When he discovers the body of his nemesis on Glory Palmer’s property, along with a warning for her to leave while she still can and abandon her dream of building a Christian retreat, Mac realizes his past has come back to haunt him and an innocent woman’s life is in grave danger. He vows to keep her safe during construction of the retreat, but can he protect his heart as well?

Excerpt:

Aidan “Mac” McKeown palmed the bullets doctors removed from his right thigh and stared out his office window. Daffodils, tulips, and marsh marigolds lined garden paths beyond the alleyway at the back of the building. The fragrant scent of lilacs sweetened the air. Robins chirped on their endless hunt for worms. It was a perfect Thursday morning in northern Minnesota. The kind his partner would have cherished.

If he were alive.

A true hero and all around good guy, Ben should have been the one to survive the ambush. He had every reason to live. A loving wife. Two adorable children.
Mac’s fist tightened around the spent ammo. If only he could remember what went wrong that day. He had snippets of blurred images, fragments of shouted warnings, but nothing concrete. He woke up in the hospital two days later, and at the grand old age of thirty one learned a valuable lesson. There was no grand scheme. No master plan. And most certainly, no merciful God in heaven.

He tossed the bullets into the middle drawer of his desk. Why rehash the past? If Ben were alive, he’d order Mac to snap out of it and focus on the here and now.

“Pay attention,” Ben would say. “Never let your heart rule your head. It’ll get you every time.”

Exhaling slowly, Mac began to sort through a stack of bills. He divided them into two piles. Those he could pay and those he could not. Topping the former was the rent for the century old, red brick building that housed his office on the ground floor and a small two-bedroom apartment he called home on the second. After that he could pay the minimum amount required on the electric and telephone bills. The rest would have to wait until next month.

Or the month after that.

The recent downturn in the economy affected everyone. The good news was he did not have the added responsibility of a family to take care of, but many of his creditors, local entrepreneurs like himself, did. That bothered Mac. His bills were more than just a bunch of numbers or tallies of services rendered. They were mouths to feed and bodies to clothe. He had to find a solution to his cash flow problem before it became their problem, too.

A warm breeze whooshed through the open office window, whipping the items he’d pinned to a cork bulletin board on the wall opposite his desk. One photograph and accompanying article snipped from the local newspaper caught his attention. Written less than a year earlier to coincide with the grand opening of McKeown General Contracting, it told readers how as a young boy he had worked with his grandfather, a master tradesman in Minneapolis. Fond memories of their fishing trips to Piedmont Island spurred Mac to move north and open his own business.

He had felt so confident then. So certain he’d made the right decision. But with few construction projects on the horizon, and cash so tight he could not afford to paint his company’s name or phone number on the side of his truck to attract future clients, it was doubtful he’d still be in business by the end of summer.

Then what?

The buzzer inside his shop blared. A quick glance at the wall clock provided a spark of hope. 8:00 A.M. on the dot. Someone must need his services to come by so early in the morning. Reaching for his cane, he pushed himself up from the chair, and headed to the front of the building. A couple stood near the counter with their backs toward him.

“Good morning,” he said. “How may I help you?”

They turned to face him and his optimism fizzled. Although he did not recognize the woman, he was acquainted with the man. The pastor’s appearance inside his shop could mean only one thing. They had no desire to save his business. Their only concern was his soul.






Website: http://www.AnneKAlbert.com

Blog: http://anne-k-albert.blogspot.com

Blog: http://piedmont-island-trilogy.blogspot.com

Buy Link: Amazon.com - http://www.amazon.com/Defending-Glory-ebook/dp/B0045JL61E/


--Thank you for visiting and bringing an excerpt, Anne! -- Lea Ryan

movie twofer: Saw: The Final Chapter & TRON: Legacy

We watched two this weekend, so today's movie post is a twofer!

Saw: The Final Chapter

“Why do we watch these movies again?” I asked my husband during the opening scene of overboard gore that really had nothing to do with the rest of the movie. Another question that came to mind was - why is the blood pink? I do hope my television isn't having some sort of color issue. All the other colors looked normal.

Saw: The Final Chapter is like all the other Saw movies. Yippee doodle dandy. The story this time involved survivors of Jigsaw's previous traps. A guy writes a book on how his survival changed his life for the better. He gets rich and famous. Well, guess what. He was never in one of Jigsaw's traps.

Jigsaw found out about the book before he died and apparently set all this into motion. The author, his wife, his book publicist, his best friend, and his lawyer are kidnapped. Author man is tasked with saving them.

Gory hijinx, possibly with pink blood, ensue.

Baddies included Jigsaw's wife and that evil cop guy that keeps popping up in the series and a few others who shall remain nameless.

One thing that I find interesting with the Saw movies is that they rewrite their history whenever they feel like it. They take a character, insert them into some scenes that could have fit in the previous movies and act like they were there all along.

Final verse is the same as the first. The movie is Saw business as usual. Whatever. It's ok if you're bored, I guess. C-

TRON: Legacy

I swore I would see this in the movie theater. Alas, it was never meant to be. However, I did finally see it this weekend.

TRON: Legacy takes place years after the first story. Kevin Flynn disappeared into the system and his son, Sam, grew up without his father.

Alan Bradley, Kevin Flynn’s partner, receives a page (like on a beeper) from the elder Flynn's old office. The phone has been disconnected for years. Sam investigates and gets sucked into Tron land, which is not actually called Tron land.

With the help of super cute Tron girl, Quorra, he fights various naughty people while he searches for his father.

There were aspects of this movie I really liked - awesome special effects, no substantial lag in action, totally eighties soundtrack (with music by Daft Punk), acting was ok with one minor exception, which I'll get to here in a moment. I would've LOVED to have seen this movie in 3D on the big screen.

Aspects I didn't like so much - I thought Jeff Bridges' performance was too much "Dude". I'm a huge fan of The Big Lebowski, but that character didn't fit this movie.

The plot was meh. The story had direction, but didn't really end up anywhere substantial. It left me asking - ok, so what was the point?

Minor spoiler alert - there was also the unsolved case of the mysterious page. If I remember correctly, no one ever fessed up to sending it. So why did they keep bringing it up? Did the system send it like a distress call or something?

All in all, I wouldn't call TRON: Legacy a bad movie. I wouldn't call it a great movie either. It gets a solid B.

Damn that was a lot of words. I think I need a nap.

Tune in tomorrow for author Anne Albert.

_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

in which objects, a word, and desktop wallpaper are loved

Fridays are usually accompanied by positive feelings anyway, so I thought I would throw together a collage of things (not counting family) that I lovesomuch at this very moment. Much like my thought process, the order of this list is random.





















TTFN
Random remix project word count update - 21000

_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

author: Iris Waichler

Today is author post day and Iris Waichler is here with some information on her award winning book, Riding the Infertility Rollercoaster, published by Wyatt-Mackenzie.

Here’s a writeup on the book.

“The award winning book Riding the Infertility Roller Coaster: A Guide to Educate and Inspire was written by Iris Waichler. She combines her 30 years of expertise as a clinical social worker with her personal experience having a child through IVF. This book is unique because it includes interviews with men and women who candidly share their insights as they made different choices regarding their infertility treatment. It is a comprehensive guide with practical solutions and information that will inform and empower you as you face your infertility challenges. Questions range from how do I choose a clinic and a doctor to becoming a couple again and how to build a support network. This is also a great resource from friends and family of those experiencing infertility helping them to understand the challenges that are presented as people try to build their families. For more information go to http://www.infertilityrollercoaster.com/”

Twitter site:Ioninfertility

Mom's Choice Gold Award Winner for Best Book of the Year

Winner of the National Parenting Publications (NAPPA) Gold Award for best book of the year.

Award Winner-Finalist for USA BookNews Best Book of the Year

Winner of the finalist award for Foreword Magazine 2007 non-fiction Book of the Year.

- Thank you, Iris for sharing your book! I’m sure it has helped and will help many people with similar experiences. – Lea Ryan

manners, please

Ok, I got this link from Nathan Bransford's blog. He's an author and used to be a literary agent, etc.

I'm really not trying to rip off anyone's blog content but this particular issue won't get out of my head until I express some sort of opinion.

This other author, some chick named Jaqueline, went off on a blogger (not Nathan) who gave a negative review of her book. She threw a cyberspace tantrum to the nth degree in the comment section, saying he didn't read the version of the book that she wanted him to read and other immature, sometimes profane, things. I'll provide the link at the end of this entry so you may look upon her comments (assuming they're still there) and cringe like I did and maybe laugh a little like I did.

There's a lot about this situation that bothers me. First, no author should ever do what she did. She showed a general lack of appreciation, class, manners and mental stability responding that way. What she should have done is taken the criticism to heart, figure out what she could do better and keep her opinions to herself and OFF the public forum.



That blog entry would have disappeared from people's memories in like ten minutes had she just left it alone.

What did she do instead? She pissed off a mob who proceeded to trash her not only on the comment section of a blog, but on Amazon where her book now has a 1 1/2 star average rating. One person even posted some rude "customer images" with the cover art.

Another negative aspect of this debacle was that it gave the people who have something against authors who publish their own work new fuel for their snobbery. One person wrote that they didn't review self-published books because of the lack of professionalism. Generalizations like that are really awful.

I've read a few indie titles in my day. Only a couple of them were overly rough in the writing department. And I have never seen any author kick and scream like she did, indie or otherwise.

There was also a lot of debate (in the comment section) about self publishers calling themselves indie because indie used to mean you were published by a small press, not yourself. That bugged me. Last time I checked, I was free to call myself whatever I wanted. If you don't like it, please feel free to look away.

Basically what I'm saying is that she didn't just make herself look bad with her infantile behavior; she made us all look bad. Earning credibility in the publishing world is tough enough without this chick throwing around her confetti of craziness.

If I were to offer her any damage control advice, it would be - yank your book from amazon (I think you can at least remove it from active status now), new title, new cover, new picture of you, change your pen name, and pretend you don't know past you. If anyone asks about the incident, just act like you have no idea what they're talking about. LOL

The review

The book on Amazon with bad reviews and questionable customer images

Nathan's blog

That is all. Ryan - out.

_________________________

Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog! There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me: http://www.LeaRyan.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

author: Judith Marshall

Judith Marshall is here with some information about her novel, Husbands May Come and Go But Friends Are Forever.


The story takes place in Northern California in the spring of 2000, when the dot-com boom was at its peak. Elizabeth Reilly-Hayden is a successful executive in her late fifties and a divorced mother of two. Emotionally armored and living alone, she wants only to maintain the status quo: her long-term significant other, her job, and her trusted friends—five feisty women whose high school friendship has carried them through multiple marriages, dramatic divorces, and maddening menopause. Yet in a matter of days, the three anchors that have kept her moored are ripped away.


The group of lifelong pals gathers at Lake Tahoe to attend to the funeral arrangements of their beloved friend, and tries to unravel the mystery of her death. Through their shared tragedy, Liz learns how disappointment and grief can bloom into healing and hope.


http://www.judithmarshall.net/



The award-winning novel is available on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Husbands-May-Come-Friends-Forever/dp/0982504608/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300726812&sr=1-1




- Thank you, Judith for sharing your book! – Lea

movie: Death Race 2 Disappoints

I LOVED Death Race, the first movie. I loved it so much that I bought the DVD. It has awesome cars, lots of action, big guns, Jason Statham in the shower. What more do you need?

The second one is really horrible. Hated it.

Plot –Convicts are made to fight and race to the death on a reality show. Death Race is created.

Here is a list of reasons Death Race 2 sucks.

1. No Jason Statham. Death Race 2 is actually a prequel, which means that Statham’s character hasn’t yet made an appearance.

2. The writing was really and truly horrible. I can put up with a lot in the way of cheesy lines. Heck, the first installment was pretty cheesy. The dialog in Death Race 2 is crap. The characters are more like caricatures. They say “fuck” in every other sentence, apologies for the french. That word really loses any effect it may have had after the fiftieth use.

3. Not only is the dialog bad, there’s far too much of it. More action and less talking would have done a whole lot for this movie.

Ving Rhames and Danny Trejo were in the movie. That was kind of weird, given that they’re talented actors.

Please do yourself a favor and don’t waste money or time watching this movie. D- -

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Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog! There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me: http://www.LeaRyan.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

I am here.

I was gone but now I’m here. I promise the blog has not turned into one big stream of guest posts. I was on vacation last week. I really did plan to post at least once, but that didn’t happen. I also didn’t work on the remix project, except on the way home when I made some notes.

Here’s a word count update, just because we haven’t had one in a while – 17145

Oh my, that’s a little depressing. I need to get back to work!

But first. Vacation photos.

We went to the much warmer (than Indiana) state of Florida. There were lots of clouds and lots of rain, but we still had fun. Here are some scenery and wildlife shots.

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Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1