Monday, September 29, 2014

A Mind Blown Monday Meandering



I attended some work training last week for my day job, and one of the classes touched on something I had never considered.

What happens to your digital rights when you die?
  1. What happens to all those songs or movies or books you've downloaded iTunes?
  2. What about the HUGE library of ebooks and audiobooks you've downloaded from Amazon and Audible and B&N or Kobo?
  3. Does your husband--or the grown child who will be the executor for your wills in the event you die at the same time--have access to your passwords? 
Number 3 above poses all kinds of questions that can come back and bite you.
  • If there's royalty money in your authorly PayPal account when you die, how will your spouse or significant other get the money out if s/he doesn't have your password?
  • Would your spouse be able to access your webpage account to keep it going if s/he doesn't have your password?
  • What about what you have on your blog or Facebook or Twitter or Google+ or any other of the myriad social media outlets folks have their fingers in these days?
The instructor suggested that we do the following:
  • Create an inventory of our digital assets--store it in a secure way.
  • Provide instructions about disposition.
  • Obtain competent estate planning advice.
He also counseled everyone to read those terms of service/usage that we automatically click agree to just so we can move on to actually using the site.

And did you know you can keep on tweeting after you die?

On a serious note, this class got me thinking. It's time for hubby and me to redo our wills. We no longer have to worry about how to care for minor children, but there are other but still equally daunting issues we need to get down on paper.

What about you? Had you ever considered your digital rights and whether or not you can bequeath them to someone?

FYI--the Kindle books are only licensed for your use and cannot be bequeathed to anyone. Same for those tunes you've downloaded. 

Friday, September 26, 2014

The Devil's Intern by Donna Hosie

My friend and mentor, Donna Hosie has a new book coming out. If you've followed my blog for a while, you know that she and I have "known" each other for several years. We met back when we were both moderators on The Leaky Cauldron forum, The Leaky Lounge. Our Harry Potter history goes way back. I was always struck by her fun sense of humor, so it's no surprise that it shines in this new release.

About the book:

"How did you die?"

It's the most popular question in Hell, and Mitchell Johnson has been answering it ever since he was hit by a bus at age seventeen and inexplicably ended up in the Underworld. Now Mitchell is The Devil's intern in Hell's accounting office. Lately, he's noticed a disturbing trend: the volume of new arrivals is straining Hell's limited resources. Then Mitchell overhears his boss discussing plans to limit newcomers with a legendary time travel mechanism. With a device like that, Mitchell realizes, he could change history and prevent his own death.

Mitchell's plot goes awry when his three closest friends—Alfarin, the Viking prince; Elinor, from 17th-century London; and Melissa, from 1960s San Francisco—insert themselves into his plans. It soon becomes clear that the fates of all four are entwined in dangerous and unpredictable ways. With unforgettable characters and a thrilling premise, this original novel is by turns funny, poignant, and thought-provoking.

★ "A comic, time-traveling trip to Hell and back. . . . Just outstanding fun for those who enjoy snarky comedy and suspense."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

★ "Interesting characters, nonstop adventure, and humor with a touch of heart will not disappoint teens looking for a dark comedy. School Library Journal

Donna agreed to do a short interview.

1.  A wizard walks through the door right now wearing a Fedora. What does he say and why is he here?
It's Gandalf, and he's here for my INTERN launch party - although he's arrived late and as we're packing up after we sold out the place! He would say, "A wizard is never late, Donna Hosie. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to. Now where's the beer and my hat you borrowed for Comic Con. I look ridiculous in this Fedora!"
Gandalf in disguise. Hmmm. I kinda like it.


2.  What actor would play you in a movie about your life?
Kate Winslet. She's a Reading girl, and I moved there when I was 18. She actually had her wedding reception in my local pub! I used to drive past her acting school every week. I reckon she could pull off the insanity that's been my life pretty well. Plus she gets Oscar nominated for everything, so I'd go along with her to meet Benedict Cumberbatch!
Methinks we're seeing a theme here. 


3.  Who is your favorite literary villain and why?
Severus Snape - and before the world screams at me that he wasn't a villain and DEATHLY HALLOWS proves it, I will blow a big fat raspberry in your face and say he WAS a villain and nothing will ever change my mind. Snape is one of the greatest creations in literature. To get to book 7 in a series and still not know whether he was good or bad, is an amazing feat by the writer. Yet Snape was a villain. He was a vicious bully to his students, he didn't care about James or Harry; he only wanted to save Lily. He was emotionally blackmailed into helping Harry by Dumbledore. He was a Death Eater, and we still don't know what heinous crimes he did under that guise, but it is more than hinted at that his soul was already torn before he AK'd Dumbledore. Severus Snape is the most charismatic and complicated character in the Potterverse, but the greasy one was a villain.
Hear hear! I remember right after DH came out, Jo was interviewed. Someone said something like, "So Snape was a good guy?" Jo replied, "Do you think he was a good guy?"

Final Question.

4. What am I working on?
I'm juggling projects. I am currently in the middle of revising THE DEVIL'S DREAMCATCHER (Holiday House 2015), which is the sequel to INTERN. That'll be released in October next year. I have another release at the beginning of 2015 called QUEST OF THE ARTISAN, which is book five in my indie CAMELOT tales. That's written, so now comes editing and formatting once my critique partners have worked their magic. In terms of works in progress, I am currently drafting book 3 in my DEVIL'S series, and I also have a YA contemporary manuscript that requires some revising for my agent. Busy, busy, busy!

About the author
Donna Hosie is a full-time geek who fell into writing while working as a Warner Brothers fan consultant on movie tie-in video games. Writing reports about different characters and worlds eventually inspired her to create her own stories for young adults. Originally from England, Donna now lives in Australia with her husband, three children, and a crazy golden retriever named Harry (after a certain boy wizard).

Monday, September 22, 2014

Monday Meandering

My crazy busy September responsibilities is almost at an end.

Last weekend I attended another writing retreat, only one night. But I was one of the keynote speakers. It was humbling experience and an honor to have  been asked. I only put one person to sleep, that I could see. Or maybe she was checking her eyelids for holes.

View from the front of the house
The house we stayed in was amazing, and I had an opportunity to discover a beautiful little valley in northern Utah.

I understand Morgan is the only incorporated city in Morgan County. You drive through a canyon that opens onto a valley. Lots of farm fields and horses. Beautiful homes.

We got a little lost (missed a sign) so we took the scenic route. This is the only town I've seen where the elementary school, junior high, high school, and the university extension are all on the same block.

There was a pool and hot tube in back. Rough life, I know.
View inside the house.
Lots of bedrooms and open areas to write.



This is one of my speaker gifts. I love a sense of humor.


* * * * * * * * * * *

This week's final challenge is work related, giving a presentation on minutes and open meetings law. I've been working on the PowerPoint presentation for forever. I found this awesome video on how to avoid death by PowerPoint. I've implemented his suggestions. Here's hoping it works. 



* * * * * * * * * * * *

Hubby and I have tickets to see The Maze Runner tonight. So excited! I loved the book series by James Dashner. It was awesome to see the film take the top spot at the box office this weekend.


What did you do this weekend? Did you see The Maze Runner?



Friday, September 19, 2014

Sherry Gammon Audiobook Cover Reveal

Welcome my special guest, author Sherry Gammon!

Unlovable is now an audiobook!! If you click here you can get the audiobook for free with a 30 day free trial of Audible on Amazon!! You can't beat free!!

Along with the release of the audiobook, I've redesigned the covers of the first two books in the Port Fare series. ( I'm designing covers now. Click here and check them out!) To celebrate the new look, I am giving away paperback copies of the entire series. 

Here is the new cover for Unlovable. I didn't change it too much because I really loved the original one. (Thank you, Paul Beeley), but another author came out with almost the exact same cover, including the coloring :'(

I kept the girl on the swing because she fits Maggie's story perfectly, though I did add flowers to the swing. The rest has been changed completely. I love the blues and pinks, and I've always wanted a moon on the cover. I also added Maggie's trailer in the background!
                                                       
                                                             Here is the eBook cover:


And this is the Paperback


     This is the audio book cover.


 This is the new cover for Unbelievable! It's a real change. I feel this cover fits the story so much better. Lilah feels trapped by her domineering father and his demands. She desperately wants to break free...can't tell you anymore or I'll spoil the story  I feel this new cover portrays Lilah and what she is going through in a much stronger way, and it seems to fit in better with the other covers. While I loved the old cover, and had a huge say in its design, (Thank you again, Paul) it seemed out of place with book one & three's covers. This one holds the same "feel," if you will.

Here is the Ebook cover:



And this is the paperback



Unbearable's cover didn't really change, only the back was updated.


So, what do you think??



Purchase links:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Monday, September 15, 2014

Reality vs Fiction ... And Some Fun

This whole thing is beyond enough. I'm firmly convinced that if I tried to write this as fiction, few would believe it.

I've posted several times about this plagiarism issue. Having been kind of behind the scenes as the story has unfolded, it's been a sad and fascinating journey.

As a further update to the drama, Rachel Nunes (the author who was plagiarized) reported that she had been in contact by Army veteran Chase Weston about the article he wrote that Rushton also plagiarized (you can see details in John Dopp's post here).

The Westons were appalled to discover what had happened. Mrs. Weston wrote an open letter to Tiffanie Rushton and asked Rachel to post it (you can see it here). It's heartbreaking to read.

And if that wasn't bad enough ...

Last week I posted an update that included a list of plagiarist Tiffanie Rushton's sock puppet names. You can find the post here. Someone who appeared to be a parent of one of Rushton's students posted in the comments that the names of the sock puppets were children from Rushton's class!

I notified Rachel, and they were able to check the school's yearbook and, sure enough, they were. At the request of that parent in a subsequent post, I redacted the surnames of the students. John Dopp, when he found out about it, did the same on his post.

I understand that Rushton--finally--has been put on administrative leave by her school district. Once again, a plea to everyone not to attack the woman. It's in the hands of the court now. Others could be taking action against her too.

I hope this raises some discussions at family dinner tables about plagiarism and identity theft.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

On a happier note, I spent the weekend at the iWriteNetwork writing retreat. Something fun that we did was do the "beats" from Blake Snyder's Save the Cat while we watched the movie Iron Man.

View from the front
Kitchen and One Gathering Area
Hot Tub and Grill - Yum!
Gathering on First Night



Almost the entire group.

What did you do this weekend?

Monday, September 8, 2014

Plagiarism Update

Tiffanie Rushton aka Sam Taylor Mullens
Sam Taylor Mullens, the woman caught plagiarizing author Rachel Nunes, has been identified as a Utah school teacher by the name of Tiffanie Rushton. She's been served with a summons to appear in federal court. Some of the things she's been charged with include:

* Copyright infringement
* Defamation
* False light
* Injurious falsehood
* Harassment
* False advertising
* Deceptive trade practices

Evidently she faces statutory damages in the neighborhood of $150,000.00, if the case if successful. That's in addition to damages for every sale of the infringing work, damages, and attorney’s fees.

It's also my understand that the schools take quite a strong position on plagiarism. She could lose her job.

Through the course of this whole thing unfolding, people kept talking about sock puppets. In case you don't know what that is, it's when someone creates false online identities and uses those to post about products, in this situation, books.

Lucy Evans
Jennifer [REDACTED]
Macey [REDACTED]
Abigail [REDACTED]
Abby [REDACTED]
Abigail [REDACTED]
Jennifer [REDACTED]
Mercedes [REDACTED]
Emma [REDACTED]
Bethany [REDACTED]
Moonshine and Books
Simple Book Reviews
Elle [REDACTED]
Gibby [REDACTED]
Hailey [REDACTED]
Hannah [REDACTED]
Ky [REDACTED]
Rylee [REDACTED]
Sierra [REDACTED]
W [REDACTED]
Aubrey [REDACTED]

It seems Rushton was also soliciting manuscripts under some of these, so she could review them. This is a cautionary tale about authors giving out their manuscripts in the hopes of getting reviews and ending up being plagiarized.
Plea - Rachel has asked that people not attack Tiffanie Rushton. It's in the hands of the court, and we should let it play out there.
John Dopp wrote a great article about the whole situation here.

David Farland also wrote a post here. He has suggested that he might stop buying indie books now because the issue of sock puppets seems to be so prevalent. I think that's a bit of an overreaction. I don't use sock puppets to boost my reviews, and I know a bazillion legitimate indie authors who don't use sock puppets. David Farland is a hybrid author now, as is Rachel Nunes. Should she be punished twice?

What do you think? Are you so put off by this whole situation that you might not buy indie anymore?

ETA: It appears that Rushton has used the names of some of her students for her sock puppets. A parent has requested that I remove the last names to protect the children. I have done so.

Friday, September 5, 2014

Jaleta Clegg Guest Post

I've got a special guest today, author Jaletta Clegg. She and I have met at a few writing events, and she's so fun to talk to. I love the premise of her newest book, Dark Dancer

Since I've got both Fantasy and SciFi projects I'm working on, I thought it would be interesting if she talked about how authors create entire worlds for their fiction. Take it away, Jaletta!

Building a World

Thanks for inviting me to your blog, Donna. And for posing such an interesting topic. How do authors create whole worlds for their stories? I don't know how other authors do it, but my process is like shooting peas with a shotgun. I'm not sure how else to describe it.

I like to start with a general framework, the basic shape of the world. Then I fill it in as I go and as the story needs it. This sometimes means I get to do a lot of editing if something major changes with the story. But it also means I get to play with my imagination and add in cool little details as I dream them up.

Sometimes I'll start with one idea, one picture in my head, that I really want to write about. Then I build a story around it.

For Dark Dancer, I wanted to do elves with airships and a steampunk vibe. And pirates. I really wanted an elf as a pirate captain, with his airship. I blame this idea on my kids watching too much anime where I could watch, too, and on a friend of mine who wrote some very cool books about fairyland. Not the Tinkerbell variety of fairies, but dark and sinister and self-serving and magical and all kinds of interesting. The fae or fey, depending on which translation you read. My elves are a mash-up between Tolkein, Shakespeare's Midsummer's Night Dream, and legends of the wild hunt and the fae from the Celtic and Irish tradition.

I also love this picture. It sparked the idea of a dancer, a human who can open the door to fairyland. I pulled in some of the myths about fairy rings and dancing and the fairy revels and places of power to fill in the idea.

All of these things went into my head where I turned on my story blender. Out came the world of Dark Dancer. It's a fairy world where magic has been harnessed to run machines. The rulers, the Lords of the Seligh, have even gone so far as to divide the world into the Summerlands and the Winterlands. The land between is a no-man's land, a desolate wasteland dying from a lack of magic. It has airships, and an elf pirate captain who defies the Seligh every chance he gets. It has dancers, Sabrina and her cousin Katie, who just might change the world of the fae. It has hints of other lands, other creatures, other adventures that I haven't written yet.

I may have to re-visit my world again and explore new horizons. Because a world is only limited by your imagination. For now, enjoy Dark Dancer and its magical steampunk airships and elven pirates.

You can find a complete list of all my work at http://www.jaletac.com

Available in ebook and print.
Smashwords (all ebook formats)

To celebrate the release of Dark Dancer, Jaletta's having a giveaway.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

September 2014 ISWG

Click here to find out more and to see a list of other IWSG blogs.
Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Wow. I woke up this morning and realized it was the first Wednesday of the month. How did that happen so fast?

This is going to be a crazy month for me. A lot of commitments are coming due, and the most stressful comes in a couple of weeks. I've been invited to be the keynote speaker at a writing retreat. After I found out I was supposed to speak for 45 minutes rather than 15, I picked myself up off the floor and decided on a topic.

Then, last night, I found out a prominent author (and editor) is going to be attending the retreat.

Total freak out!

Monday, September 1, 2014

Jo Noelle Blog Hop

I'm moving my usual Friday spotlight/review post from last week to today. I'm excited to spotlight a triple release by debut author Jo Noelle.

First, about Jo Noelle.

Jo Noelle grew up in Colorado and Utah but also spent time in Idaho and California. She has two adult children and three small kids.

She teaches teachers and students about reading and writing, grows freakishly large tomatoes, enjoys cooking especially for desserts, builds furniture, sews beautiful dresses, and likes to go hiking in the nearby mountains.

Oh, and by the way, she’s two people—Canda Mortensen and Deanna Henderson, a mother/daughter writing team.


Yes! A mother/daughter writing team. How fun is that?

To celebrate, there's a giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Now for the books ...

The housing market is crashing, and Sophie’s life is crashing with it. At twenty-four, her successful real estate career evaporates. She’s broke, can’t find a job, or pay her bills, leaving Sophie wondering how her successful lifestyle became so fragile.

 At the urging of her roommate, Sophie accepts a job in her fallback career—teaching six-year-olds. She hopes it’s temporary. After all, how long can a tanking economy last anyway? The best part of the new job is Liam, another employee at Rio Grande Elementary. The worst part of the new job is, well, teaching.

 Sophie has a surprise real estate closing from a contract she wrote months ago, leading her to a niche in the real estate market and to a new partner, Kevin. Sophie must choose between Liam or Kevin and between a lucrative career or recess duty.


MY TAKE
I've had a chance to read Newbie and loved it. Sophie's inner thoughts are a delight. She just makes me smile. Her journey as a newbie teacher is real and touching. If you've ever thought about being a teacher, this book will give you a feel for what it might be like. And I'm totally Team Liam.

Can't wait to read these other two books.


 Lexi Middleton has been socially invisible to her classmates, but starting her junior year, that’s going to change. First, she’s determined to hook a boyfriend, ensuring dates with flowers and possible kisses on the doorstep. Second, she wants to be a writer for the school paper, even though it freaks her out to think of everyone judging her by her punctuation and metaphors. High school is difficult enough—keeping up her grades, dealing with increasing sibling rivalry, and trying to stay out of the way of her personal nemesis, Amberlee—but when Lexi catches the eye of her long-time crush, she also becomes the focus of mean-girl tactics. Caught between who she was and who she wants to be, Lexi must decide how to confront a bully, and choose who to let into her heart.


Cassie is going to heaven—if she can get amnesty from hell in the next twenty days.  Her assignment is to change the eternal destination of a girl in Albuquerque to earn admittance into heaven.

            No sweat.

But when Cassie returns to earth during her three-week, mostly-mortal assignment, her old habits get in the way, (apparently habits don’t die when you do), the partners assigned to help her are anything but helpful, and it turns out the girl she is supposed to help is the only enemy she made on her first day of school.

            Oh, I’m so going to hell.

Things aren’t all bad—it helps to have a hot angel on your side. Mmm-Marc. Even though he’s all about heavenly business, Cassie would like to make it personal.

            Assignment with benefits.


Other Blog Hop Participants

Get the Details
1 winner will receive a $100.00 Amazon.com giftcard.
Blog hop and Rafflecopter registrations Begin 9/1/14 and End 9/7/14 MDT

This drawing is open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Card.  Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Check back on this blog between Sept. 8-10, 2014. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized and sponsored by Canda Mortensen & Deanna Henderson DBA Jo Noelle. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.


ETA: The books are now available on Barnes & Noble.

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