• Things I learned today …

    So, I went to my very first event as a bona fide author today — a local women’s expo.

    It was a real eye-opening experience for me, and I thought I would share some of the things that I learned. This is probably all old hat for established authors, but maybe it can help some other newbies like me. 🙂

    1) People love free goodies. I made over 100 goodie bags full of candy for this event. They lasted about 15 minutes. I could have made 1,000, and I still don’t think I would have had enough.

    2) People are more interested in your freebies than they are in hearing about your book. They tend to grab the bags and move on, avoiding eye contact at all times.

    3) People are more interested in freebies than buying anything at the expo — including your book.

    4) People think because you are sitting behind a table that you are somehow know what time they’re handing out door prizes in another booth.

    5) If you leave your booth for a few minutes, no one’s going to notice or complain. They’ve already gotten your goodies and moved on.

    So, these are the top 5 things I learned today. Despite the lack of goodies on my part, I still had a good time. It was a lot of fun talking to folks and the other authors there.

    See ya there next year …

  • 790 and counting …

    Finished The Queen’s Knight by Deborah Chester. It’s part of a fantasy series called “The Sword, the Ring, and the Chalice.”

    It’s about a queen named Pheresa, a secondary character in the original series, who’s now facing her own problems — including the fact that she’s in love with a man that she can’t marry.

    It’s an entertaining enough read if you like epic fantasy, although the plot is very similiar to the previous book, The Queen’s Gambit. Lots of people try to control or kill Pheresa, while Talmor, her true love, comes to her rescue time and time again. That’s pretty much the premise of both books.

    The book isn’t really a continuation of the original “Sword, Ring, Chalice” series so much as it is a spin-off — which can be a risky thing to do if you’re an author.

    I find that I don’t like most spin-offs as much as I do the original series. The best example of this would be the Star Wars films. The original trilogy — particularly The Empire Strikes Back — is one of the best series. Ever. End of discussion.

    But the last three films — or really the first three, depending on your point of view — were disappointing to say the least. Most of the acting was bad, the dialogue was very wooden, and several of the actors seemed miscast for their roles.

    In short, they lacked everything that made the originals so great. So much so, that I’m now wary of anything that’s a spin-off.

    What about you? Do you like spin-off books or movies with different characters? Inquiring minds want to know ..

  • The big Project Runway uh-oh

    I can’t believe they gave it to Jeff. He should have been kicked off the show half a dozen times. The very first outfit … the Mom challenge … the cocktail dress …

    Uli was totally robbed. ‘Nuff said.

  • 789 and counting …

    Just finished Does This Cape Make Me Look Fat? by Chelsea Cain and Marc Mohan.

    Hysterical. Completely, utterly hysterical. If you love superheroes, you have to read this book.

    It’s subtitled “Pop Psychology for Superheroes” and examines issues important to every hero. Like how to choose a sidekick. How to pick a good superhero name. And what to do if your parent and/or spouse turns out to be a supervillain.

    As superhero spoofs go, it’s the best one that I’ve read in a long time. And the art is so ’70s bad that it’s funny. I’m still snickering. 🙂

    Get it. Read it. Laugh your socks off.

  • ·

    Blurbs, blurbs, blurbs …

    I have cover blurbs! Yeah!

    Authors Rachel Gibson, Candace Havens, and Erin McCarthy have all given a big thumbs-up to Karma Girl. For more, click on the Home page or go to the Books page.

    Thanks to Rachel, Candace, and Erin for taking the time to read the book. 🙂