About Books

  • I’m an Amazon addict …

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    Okay, I have to confess something.

    I’m completely addicted to Amazon. More specifically, to checking my sales numbers for Karma Girl. I know, I know, it’s not even out yet. It won’t be out for three more months (May 1 to be exact). But evidently, Amazon keeps track of pre-orders and posts those ranks too.

    Right now, I am #711,130 in Books. That’s up from the 1.3 million range I was in last week, but down from my high of 400,000 and some earlier this week. Since I don’t know exactly how many books Amazon is selling, I don’t really know what my rank is.

    How many books would you have to sell to get into the top 10,000? The top 1,000? The top 100? A girl can dream …

    Maybe I’ll check it again in a few minutes … just in case it went up …

    What about you? Do you obsess over Amazon rankings? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • One hot title …

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    It’s official. The second book in my Bigtime series will be callled … Hot Mama. It’s about a superhero with fire-based powers whose love life is about to crash and burn.

    I love the title. But … it’s the one that I came up with for the book. Any author will tell you that titles usually change — sometimes three or four times before one is finally decided on. Most authors don’t get to keep the titles they create for their books.

    But I have.

    I’d originally called Karma Girl simply Karma. But my super agent suggested adding the Girl, which I happily agreed to. It’s a much better title. So, she submitted it as Karma Girl, and the title stuck. 

    Hot Mama was all me from the very beginning, although I also suggested Burn, Baby, Burn. So, I guess you could say that I’m 1 1/2 for 2 on titles right now. Not a bad average at all.

    Right now, the working titled for Bigtime 3 is Jinx. I’m thinking about changing it to Jinxed, though. We’ll see. And looking ahead, Bigtime 4 and Bigtime 5 (should the series go that long) have working titles of Black Widow and Nightingale.

    What about you? Does Hot Mama make you cringe? Want to know more? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • Coming soon to a store near you …

    This week, I started contacting local bookstores and libraries about doing some book signings for Karma Girl. When I get the dates and locations, I’ll post them here and on the Appearances page.

    Stay tuned for more …

  • ·

    My resolutions …

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    Since it’s almost New Year’s, I’d thought I’d share some of my resolutions. I won’t bore you with the 30 or so that I usually write (yes, Virginia, I really write that many), but here are my top five writing-related ones. 😉

    1) Write two more Bigtime books — Jinx and either Black Widow or Nightingale.

    2) Write two Spy Girl books (a new paranormal spy-spoof series I hope to sell). 

    3) Sell tons and tons and tons of copies of Karma Girl and Hot Mama.

    4) Promote the heck out of my books and my brand. Do conferences, book signings, guest blogs, advertising, the whole shebang.

    5) Quit worrying about book stuff so much. Some things (like sales) are pretty much out of my control, and I need to let go and breathe a little more. All I can do is write and hope people like what I produce.

    I was pretty good about keeping my resolutions from last year, especially the writing-related ones. I got a wonderful new agent. Sold Karma Girl and Hot Mama. Put up my Web site. Starting getting my name out there. 2006 was a good year for me, and I hope 2007 is even better — for everyone.

    What about you? What are some of your resolutions? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • They shoot authors, don’t they?

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    I did something last night that I’m not particularly proud of. I decided to put aside the book I was reading — without finishing it.

    It was a paranormal romance, and I just didn’t get it. Didn’t understand how the magic worked, and didn’t really care about the characters. I worked my way up to page 90 before I decided to call it quits.

    Normally, when I start a book, I finish it. No matter how absurd or outlandish or unbelievable the plot might be. No matter how stupid the heroine is. No matter how bad and cliched I think the writing is. But I just couldn’t get through or into this one, try as I might.

    So, I’m going to take it back to the library, furtively drop it in the return box, and slink away before the Book Police come and put me away.

    What about you? Do you always finish reading what you start? Or do you put it aside after a few chapters? Inquiring minds want to know …