Mike Harris is taking the route chosen by many authors throughout history – by trying to make his Grandfather’s novels a self-publishing success. Are you ready to take a chance on an unknown author, and help make it happen for him? Self-publishing feels like a relatively new thing, doesn’t it? It’s thanks to the ebook revolution, it seems, that we have seen an explosion in self-published books. Amazon’s shelves are positively teeming with offers, some good, some bad, some extraordinary and some downright awful. But the truth is that self-publishing has been around for a lot longer than you’d think. Before the likes of E. L. James, Amanda Hocking and John Locke took over the best seller lists, authors of all walks of life were taking the DIY route, and for many reasons. The popular image of the self-published author is one of an egotistical brat who can’t really write but can’t take no for an answer. But the fact is that it wasn’t just those who had been rejected by one too many publishing houses who were doing it. Edgar Allen Poe, Alexandre Dumas, Mark Twain and James Joyce are just a handful of famous names who decided to…

Today’s guest author is Lisa April Smith, who will sharing her approach to writing. She is author of three books: Dangerous Lies, Exceeding Expectations and Paradise Misplaced – a genre she has named “Suspense with Sizzle.” My Approach to Writing Lisa April Smith I’m often asked at book events, “Are you ever stymied by writer’s block?” And I am delighted to reply that I’ve never experienced writer’s block. I think the reason for that has to do with my concept of work. When I was at IBM I didn’t ask myself if I was in the mood to do something. I looked at the tasks at hand, prioritized them and got to it. In the process of constructing a book, I have many varied ways to be productive. Editing. Plotting. Incorporating my latest epiphany. Creating a calendar so that I know how old characters are during the time frame of the story. I maintain a separate file that has the physical appearance, ethnicity and traits of every significant character. Except when we’re traveling, five to six days a week, I’m at my desk about 7:00 am and quit between 1:00 and 2:00. But whether I’m at my desk or not,…

Many people have a book inside of them just waiting to get out, yet have no idea how to go from being a writer to published author. The first step is to know what you want to write about, and start writing. I say this because writers sometimes do everything under the sun, except actually write. Perhaps, you have already written a manuscript, but cannot get an agent or publisher to read it. The good news is it easier to get published these days than ever before, if you are willing to follow some sound advice. You must know what you want to write and publish, and who to market your work to. If you are seeking a general publishing house, obtain a copy Writer’s Market by Robert Lee Brewer. On the other hand if you are writing for the Christian market you need a copy of The Christian Writers’ Market Guide by Jerry Jenkins. Both are fine books and offer a good place to learn about your specific genre. In addition, you can obtain great advice and tips from people who are in the business. Do a Google search for other writers and publisher’s blogs. Look for names like…

Venturing away from books a bit, Tripp Braden (website | @TrippBraden) has written a post on his experiences with early civil rights leaders when attending college. As a lover of history I found this piece interesting and enlightning and would like to share it with you (yes, you!) on this day. Post first published as Create a Great Leadership Team Like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on http://www.trippbraden.com What made Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. such a powerful serving leader? Can we use the same principles he used to help impact our world today? During the 1980’s, I was given an opportunity to interview his wife and several of his closest associates about what they felt about the civil rights movement and what made Dr. King effective as a man and as a leader. I met with several people in Dr. King’s inner circle. They included Coretta Scott King, Andrew Young, Ralph David Abernathy Sr., Jesse Jackson, and James Meredith. Each had a different perspective on Dr. King but I believe each can help us better understand the man who changed our world so much. The first thing you notice about all the people around Dr. King was that they…

Buy this Star Wars Book in paper or elec­tronic copy* Andrew: Orig­i­nally pub­lished at: http://www.rancorslovetoread.com/2009/01/andrews-review-of-jedi-academy-trilogy_2371.html 2/5 Rancors – Champions of the Force is the final book in Kevin J. Anderson’s Jedi Academy Trilogy. It continues much in the vein of the first two novels: a somewhat promising and engaging storyline is dragged down by pedestrian writing and some very hokey scenes. The 300-some pages of this book are essentially one extended climax to the trilogy. One battle in particular, the assault on the Imperial facility in the Maw, almost stretches the entire length of the story. The Bantam Spectra era of Star Wars novels was noted for the authors’ predilection to invent “superweapons-of-the-week.” True to form, this trilogy contains not one but two in the form of a prototype (but fully functional) Death Star and the even more powerful Sun Crusher. It’s not that hard to swallow the existence of a prototype Death Star, although the idea feels a trifle overused after seeing them in A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. However, the Sun Crusher concept goes beyond the pale. Anderson asks the reader to accept it took a 100+ kilometer wide sphere to support a laser that could destroy…

It can almost be said with certainty that I didn’t follow the path of the average writer. As a child, I never dreamed of writing a best-seller, never aspired to write the next classic novel, I wanted to be an NHL superstar…period. I was born in a small rural community in Western Quebec. Like every boy growing up in Canada, I aspired to be an NHL superstar. With the death of my mother in 1992, losing a battle to cancer she had fought so hard against for years, I sensed it was time to get serious about reaching my dreams, and moved away to pursue hockey. From 1992-1995, while playing for the Pembroke Lumber Kings in the Central Junior Hockey League, I noticed a shift in the game of hockey and realized that the odds of making it to the NHL were unfavorable for a kid who stood 5’9’’ and weighed 160 pounds. So, my goals shifted. I accepted a hockey scholarship to Rochester Institute of Technology. If I couldn’t make a living playing hockey, at least I could achieve an education and open doors for my future. After four rewarding years at College, receiving a Bachelor of…

Buy this Star Wars Book in paper or elec­tronic copy* Andrew: Orig­i­nally pub­lished at: http://www.rancorslovetoread.com/2009/01/andrews-review-of-jedi-academy-trilogy_30.html 2/5 Rancors – Kevin J. Anderson’s Jedi Academy Trilogy continues in this second volume, Dark Apprentice. At the conclusion of the first entry, Jedi Search, Luke Skywalker had laid the groundwork to start his new academy for training potential Jedi on the planet Yavin IV. Here Anderson explores the early days of the Academy itself, along with continuing the plotline of Admiral Daala’s exploits and also devoting a large amount of the story to a new storyline involving Princess Leia and Admiral Ackbar. There is a reasonably interesting story present in this book. Unfortunately, it is dragged down by pedestrian writing and Anderson’s inclination to directly spell out exactly what the characters are feeling and thinking. There’s not any room for subtlety and what drama there is gets undercut by passages that feel more like summaries than prose. The most engagingly written plotline in this book is the tragedy that befalls Admiral Ackbar on a trip to Vortex to visit the legendary Cathedral of Winds. In the aftermath of the Vortex disaster, Ackbar resigns from the New Republic government and returns home to Mon Calamari. Soon after, Chief of State Mon Mothma falls gravely…

A young woman finds out that life has more to offer her after the loss of her parents. After losing her parents, Raylyn moves to the mountains only to discover that she isn’t what she appears to be. Not believing in fairly tales of vampires, werewolves, and pixies, Raylyn gets a surprise visit from an unlikely visitor that winds up turning her world inside out. It’s this visitor who sets the story in motion by explaining who Raylyn really was and that the world of vampires, werewolves, and pixies is real. As is the evil that has set out to find her. Buy this book in paper or electronic format* ‘Where are you from, or do all you pixies have Irish accents?’ ‘No, I’m from Ireland. I was sent here a hundred years ago by the queen of Bearen on a quest.’ ‘What’s the quest?’ ‘To find the one they call the Pathfinder. She is supposed to be the queen’s great-granddaughter. No one knows where or who she is.’ ‘So, what happens when you find her?’ This fun book written by Angela Miller is an easy to read novel that delves into the fantasy world of today’s society. Fans of…

Buy this Star Wars Book in paper or electronic copy* Andrew: Originally published at: http://www.rancorslovetoread.com/2009/01/andrews-review-of-jedi-academy-trilogy.html 3/5 Rancors – Kevin J. Anderson played a prominent role in the Star Wars Expanded Universe for a few years in the mid-1990s. His projects included the Tales of the Jedi comics published by Dark Horse, the Illustrated Guide to the Star Wars Universe, editorial and authorial duties on three Tales collections, various youth-oriented fiction, and a few of the adult novels. Jedi Search was his first book in the Jedi Academy Trilogy, set after the pivotal events of Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy and the Dark Empire comic series. This trilogy typifies many of the characteristics often associated with the 90s Bantam Spectra era of Star Wars publishing, following the main movie characters as they battle a newly emerged ex-Imperial leader and throwing a new super weapon or two into the mix. This first part of the trilogy opens with the New Republic in the process of re-claiming Coruscant after the recent Imperial reoccupation. It’s interesting how openly the book ties to the Dark Empire comics series in some of the early scenes. Readers who stick only to the books will be quite confused when…

Reviewed by Ren Zelen Buy this book in paper format It’s all a bit bleak. Not that I’m saying that horror stories should be a walk in the park, of course not, but sometimes a little bit of light might not be a bad idea, just for contrast if nothing else. McMahon’s depressing tale begins initially as a realistically gritty crime novel. ‘Pretty Little Dead Things’ follows Thomas Usher, a man whose life is both ruined and transformed one night when he is involved in a head-on collision in his car. Tragically, his wife and daughter die in the crash, but Usher survives. He emerges with the ability to see the deceased – all kinds of deceased, except, it seems, his own wife and child. Overwhelmed by grief, guilt and depression, he considers his newly acquired ability as a curse. A sense of sorrow and loss inform all his actions, but gradually, with the help of an old flame, he begins to surface out of his despair and begins working as a kind of paranormal private investigator, hoping to help others that have died, if he cannot help his own wife and child. He investigates the murder of a shady businessman’s…