Monthly Archives: January 2013

Nothing Serious by Barbara Morgenroth Blog Tour with Tourz de Codex

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About the Book:-
 
“I was mainlining my modem connection. Some people snort the Internet but I plugged it right into a vein. Very dangerous but all the big girls living on the techno-edge play with injectable Internet.” That’s how Paige Elliot described her life. She was living in a virtual world until she yanked the plug out of the wall, disconnected herself from the cyberworld and left New York City for the Catskills.
Going cold turkey from her computer addiction is much harder than she would have imagined. Paige experiences deep withdrawals and finds herself trying to score some computer time from her neighboring antique dealer on Main Street, the very attractive Jonathan “Blue is his color and he knows it” Macklin.
In Kanah Springs, there’s such a collection of eccentrics, Paige looks positively normal by comparison. With nowhere left to turn, Paige must make a go of her shop, Nothing Serious, which sells urban reclamation fountains among other objets d’art. Once she can breathe evenly after adapting to the crisis of having no email, she’s able to discern how truly appealing Jonathan is. By then Paige has nearly nailed her hand to the store’s facade in an attempt to get her sign up and has traded for the use of nearly every tool in Jonathan’s store with offerings of blueberry muffins.
When Paige’s extensive knowledge of fine art comes into play at an auction and she spots a rare portrait, she must borrow money from Jonathan to pay for it. Unfortunately the million plus dollars Paige gets for the lost masterpiece, is used to bail out a local character who spells his name with no vowels and who hacked into the computer of a data mining company. The thirty-five hundred dollars is a far cry from Jonathan’s split and he thinks he’s been had. Paige has to scramble to make everything right knowing she loves Jonathan dearly and so deeply the only way she can communicate the emotion is to return to her fine arts roots and paint again.
Paige has been treating life, her art and love as nothing serious for so long, can she change in time to be with Jonathan?
Tour Schedule:
 
26th Jan, 2013 – Renee @Reading Renee – Review & Giveaway
27th Jan, 2013 – Sadrina @Books and their Wordly Realm – Guest Post & Giveaway [topic – Computer (internet) time versus writing time]
28th Jan, 2013 – Rivie @Bookshelf – Author Interview
29th Jan, 2013 – GiGi @Nightstand Novels – Guest Post & Giveaway


Find Barbara Here:-

Blog
Facebook

Find her book here:-

Goodreads
About the Author:-

 
I was born in New York City and but now live somewhere else. By now, I think of myself as a country girl and know more about gardening and animals than how to ride the subway.
Starting my career by writing books, (and I did the cover photography for my first two published by Athenaeum so continuing to do the covers to my new books is predictable), I was actually aiming at the small screen. Television seemed like the perfect place for me even if I had no clue how to get there. Life is funny and often presents opportunities. Through a neighbor, I wound up getting an introduction to a lower honcho at ABC and an audition to write for them. My hopes were more than dashed, they were crushed, disintegrated, evaporated, demolished when ABC couldn’t find a place for me on General Hospital. (No Luke and Laura in my future!) To ease the crushing disappointment, I wrote In Real Life I’m Just Kate about a 17-year-old girl who becomes a star on a soap opera. That became an open sesame moment and shortly thereafter I became the last head writer for NBC’s daytime serial, The Doctors, where I was ordered by the network to kill Alec Baldwin, shooting him not once but twice. With two different guns. From different directions.
When I left television, I became involved in antiques and auctions. This provided many experiences and ideas for stories. Nothing Serious is owed much to that time in my life—complete sets of Playboy magazine from issue 1 stacked next to an Art Deco bedroom set with portraits from the 1800’s leaning up against the armoire.  It’s always possible to find a treasure and Paige found one in Jonathan.

Goodbye Emily by Michael Murphy

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Goodbye Emily
Who else missed Woodstock and regretted it? Three baby boomers relive their 1969 trip to Woodstock. One final road trip. One last chance to say Goodbye Emily.
Walt and Emily met at Woodstock, and the love lasted a lifetime. Then she was gone, cancer took her away. Within a short time so was his college teaching job. Heartbroken and lost Walt is on a dangerous path between depression and broken heart syndrome. Being determined, he reunites with his two best friends to help him return to the place where love bloomed. This was a very endearing love story. It was about life lessons. The cast of characters included Walt and Emily’s daughter Cloe , a lawyer his best friend Josh who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and Buck who is now owner of an auto body shop. After going to the Emergency Room and having Cloe swoon over the Doctor there, he finally realizes that the thoughts of puffy clouds and smiley faces won’t heal him. When Walt then decides on a road trip to place Emily’s ashes where the love bloomed.
There is much more to this novel than just going to Woodstock and remembering the past. When Cloe pushes him to get out and stop smoking and drinking he resists all attempts. He is content to be miserable. He just wants to be unhappy while he drinks and smokes. Actually he is shocked that everyone expects him to move on after Emily dies.
The professor Walt, Josh and Buck head to Bethel. There are many musical references that are perfectly placed. You will learn a lot about Alzheimer’s. When Walt meets his hated neighbor’s Daughter Megan he sort of feels romance. Megan’s daughter Heather introduces them and then Heather stats to play guitar with Walt and Buck to see if music is the key to get into Josh’s head. The day Josh had a lucid moment was when the plan to head to Woodstock was born.
Goodbye Emily is the about a journey of self-discovery for a man who thought he’d left all important journeys in life behind him. It was VERY well written and sometimes you feel a little guilty about laughing when the premise is about death, but it worked!
Buy the book on Amazon 
Author’s page on Amazon 

How to Get More Reviews for Your Book on Amazon

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How to Get More Reviews for Your Book on Amazon 

By  on Jan 14, 2013 http://authoritypublishing.com/book-marketing/how-to-get-more-reviews-for-your-book-on-amazon/

Like it or not, reviews on Amazon help sell books. The vast majority of potential buyers will look at your reviews to assist them in making How to get book reviews on Amazona buying decision (I know that I do). If you don’t have many reviews, it can make your book look less popular than competing books with many reviews. And if you have too many negative reviews, you will undoubtedly lose buyers. If this happens, take a step back and look objectively at the negative feedback. Often you will find a trend that needs to be addressed in a revised edition of your book.

The point is that all authors need to focus on generating reviews on Amazon on an ongoing basis. Legend has it that reviews also help Amazon rank your book. The more reviews your book receives, the more likely Amazon will be to display your book as an option in related search results.

Following are ways to generate more book reviews on Amazon:

Start with friends who have actually READ the book – This one is tricky. You don’t want to ask great aunt Edna or your mom to write a review. It will be too hard for them to be objective, and the results will show up in the reviews. But you do want to reach out to friends and family—those who have actually read the book—and ask them to take a few moments to write one for you.

Reach out to your email subscribers – If you maintain an e-newsletter list, and you should, ask your readers to write a review. It’s amazing what happens when you simply ask.

Ask via social media – There is nothing wrong with reaching out to your social media audience and asking for their help. A post like this should work: “Did you like XYZ book? I’d appreciate it if you’d post a review on Amazon!” Don’t forget to include a link to your book’s page on Amazon. Make it as easy as possible.

Give away review copies – Many authors host campaigns where they give away free books specifically for review. In exchange, if the reader likes the book, he/she should write a nice review on Amazon. You can offer up this option via any means at your disposal (email, social media, to trade associations you belong to, etc.). Dan Poynter also facilitates campaigns like these through his publishing newsletter. Sign up atParaPublishing.com.

Ask buyers – When you sell books through your website or at a live event, consider inserting a note inside the book asking the reader to post a review. You could print this request up on a postcard or even on a business card, or if time allows, hand-write a note to include in each copy.

Offer incentive – Last fall I reached out to my audience and offered up a bonus report to anyone who posted a review within a specified time period (several weeks). This simple campaign inspired several dozen reviews from my readers with very little effort.

Remember, sometimes all you have to do is ask. The key for most of us is to remember to ask!

Interview with Jennifer Yih, author of the first book of the Shy Town Girls series

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Finally my interview with Jennifer Yih, one of the 4 fab and funny authors of Shy Town Girls. So Jennifer is the author of the first book of the Shy Town Girls series. I loved the idea of 4 collaborating girls and the book! Although angst was thrown in there was enough humor and life lessons to make it more funny! Pure chick lit in my opinion that is the best lit!!
 
How and who came up with this idea to write this together? I see many books with two authors and maybe more than one POV,but this was the best and most refreshing idea I have seen in a long time.
I’ve been working for Melissa for about three years now and just this summer she approached me with an idea she had for a book series. It turns out, it was the wonderful idea of bringing a Sex In The City-esque series to Chicago. She asked me if I’d be interested in writing the first book and I got started right away. Melissa, Katie Leimkuehler, Kate Clinesmith, and myself got together and created 4 different female characters. We narrowed it down to what they looked like, their favorite foods, family lives, and so on. After character development we brainstormed ideas about how we wanted the books to come off. As we developed the characters, I really got a feel for who Kate and Katie were, and how they related to their characters and vice versa. The book finished November 14th and went in for editing. 
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I sort of have a vision of each author being a character, or at least having their personality traits. Is that true? 
 
Absolutely each character has major similarities to the authors. Bobbie, I believe, is very much of me…more so, parts of me overtime. (I knew it!!!) I hoped to overdramatize the insecurities, the optimism, the uncertainty, also her strengths and weaknesses as a overly loyal person with priorities that are some what out of whack. In the end, I hoped Bobbie would trust herself more than she did in the beginning.
 
Who is Barbara? Would you say she is funny like Holland Taylor from Two and Half Men or more serious like Candace Bergen? 
I’d say Barbara is more of a Holland Taylor, less serious than Candace. Barbara is a diva, but undeniably intelligent. I created her character based off my best friends Grandmother who was a Legs model back in the day, lived on Lakeshore Drive her whole life, and no matter where she went she looked like a movie star. Of course, she was dating a man 30 years younger than her, and looks hotter than any of us in our 20’s at 70 years old. My friends Grandmother used to come dancing out of her bathroom in a silk robe, hair in curler, make up done, with a glass of scotch, singing some old song I didn’t know. Her friends were just as fabulous as she was. (giggling on my end)
 
Charlie is a man we all love to hate. Was the moving out and breaking up hard to write? I felt like he was always thinking it was just a whim and she would be back. 
 
Yes, Charlie is a disaster of a man. He’s gorgeous, shallow, and manipulative. Although, Bobbie sees the goodness in him, he’s not an evil person, just a superficial…lost…weak…person. Bobbie is so much stronger and deeper than him, but she’s distracted and he plays her weaknesses. It wasn’t hard to write, it was real. I experienced a very similar situation to Bobbie with my ex model boyfriend. Every girl has a Charlie and for those that don’t…lucky them!
 
How did you come up with them being amicable? The car ride over to the new place had me on the fence about them, maybe this is it or maybe there is a chance..  
Old habits are hard to break. They’ve dated for a long time, lived together, the level of comfort is high. Bobbie also is his agent…they have a very dependent relationship on each other. (I think she has a voodoo doll in her closet somewhere… LOL)
 
Do you think that Bobbie’s work made her insecure? 
Absolutely. She’s competed with 5’10” models, but she knows her strengths and it hasn’t totally ruined her. In fact, she has so much hostility towards the industry and everyone in it. The job as a modeling agent was never a pursuit for her, she fell into it by “a friend of a friend”…it’d be hard for any girl graduating from undergrad to deny the offer at a high end modeling agency surrounded by fashion and the glam (temporarily)
 
What can we expect in the next book? 
You’ll have to contact Katie about that. Katie’s a great writer and also has created a hilarious character, Ivy. The next book is from Ivy’s perspective and she’s a bit “wilder” than Bobbie, but not to be underestimated….her energy and wit is addictive. (Can’t wait. Note to self, bother Katie asap)