Books read in 2020

1.  The Betrayal, by Sabin Willett, mystery fiction, DC area and Wyoming, library ebook. Good writing. Took a bit to engage, politics distracting, but very suspenseful later. It kept me reading past bedtime.

2. House of Echoes, by Brendan Duffy, suspense horror, paper book. Gift to me. One of the most suspenseful, creepy books I’ve read ever or in years. Well written, good read. Kept me up past my bedtime. I bet this becomes a quiet horror movie. 

3. When We Left Cuba, by Chanel Cleeton, “mystery" audiobook. Another misrepresentation of a book as a mystery. This was a romance with a sprinkle of mystery on top. I was intrigued by the spy aspect but it was disappointing. Audiobook.
4. Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership. Seeking God in the Crucible of ministry. By Ruth Haley Barton. Nonfiction recommended to me by German friend and Blogger. I read this slowly over 2 years as it had many ideas that were good to sit with for a time.
5. The Cruelest Month, by Louise Penny, mystery fiction, set in a small town in Canada. Interesting characters in this series and Inspector Gamache I like. The theme of this had to do with seances while it wasn’t the main idea, I wearied of some themes here. I will take a break before I revisit the series. She’s a very good writer.
6. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, nonfiction, audio library book. While medical themes are hard for me, this book was fascinating. History was changed because of this story. Recommended by a friend who loves biographies.
7. Adrennaline, by Jeff Abbott, espionage fiction, Amsterdam, London. Interesting complicated plot, the protagonist didn’t like killing but unrealistically kicked people unconscious rather simply and frequently, so I eventually became fixated on that in the fight scenes. Library ebook. Sets up for a series. Not sure if I’ll read more. Possibly.
8. Emotional Healthy Spirituality, by Peter Scazzarro, nonfiction ebook. Did this as a workshop with a workbook. Some really good points about getting stuck emotionally and how that stifles growth.
9. The Hush, by John Hart, fiction. ebook. Follow up to an earlier book which I loved, maybe a favorite of the last decade. I was shocked but saw how he was able to develop this into a supernatural horror type story. He’s a very good writer. I’d say just not my taste the way this turned out. I prefer the mystery suspense type story to this but it was very suspenseful! I will always read more of Hart.
10. Everything but the Squeal; Eating the Whole Hog in the North of Spain, John Barlow, nonfiction ebook library. I enjoyed this though I did not read straight thru, picking it up and putting it down. I have a friend from Galicia. We’ve visited the region and so I enjoyed this food travel tale.  I’m ready to visit again.
11. Final Girls, by Riley Sager, suspense fiction, New York and Pennsylvania, audiobook. My frustration with the protagonist a few times was off set by several surprising things I should have seen coming but didn’t. Good writing.
12. Death Row, by William Bernhardt, legal thriller, fiction. Set in Oklahoma. Library ebook. Good plot line. He’s a good writer. I’ve read some of this character but not in order. Random House should edit better. I find copy errors distracting.
13. Tell Me Lies, by J. P. Pomare, Australia, psychological thriller. Literally, a psychologist who has weird client things happen and has a twist ending. Audiobook, a free offer from Audible. meh. 
14. Break Shot: My First 21 years by James Taylor, yes the singer. I love him. Pretty rough early situations, depression and drug addiction. It’s a wonder we didn’t lose him. Audiobook, he read. A short book, free from Audible.
15. The Body Reader, by Anne Frasier. Mystery suspense, a city that didn’t leave a strong impression on me. A detective is held captive for years and escapes. She develops sharper observation skills and unravels a crazy conspiracy. Good suspense. Audiobook.
16. Bluebird, Bluebird, by Attica Locke, Texas Ranger gets caught up in a racial related case. Interesting characters, complicated story. Fortunately I read it before the US blew up with riots so I wasn't distracted by that while I read a good plot.Audiobook. It's a series start. I would possibly read more. 
17. Exit Strategy, by Kelley Armstrong, all over the USA hitmen, serial killers, library ebook. Some things were hard to suspend my disbelief but an interesting premise.
18. Missing You, by Harlan Corbin, Northwest USA, fiction suspense. I like him he’s a good writer. I got distracted by some politicking in this one, over all a good read. Audiobook.
19. Deep Storm, by Lincoln Child, a deep sea underwater research platform in North Atlantic. I like his writing so I just grabbed it on a whim, lots of stars. Not a typical mystery. No spoiler but not a murder investigation at all. Audiobook.
20. The Body Counter, by Anne Frasier, detective character, from the series I started earlier. Enjoyed the first one enough that picking this for another audio read seemed like a easy quick pick. Good read, the character was less about reading the people she dealt with than in the first book but I like her. Audiobook.
21. Persia and the Bible, Edwin Yamauchi, Historical Research very much a text book type thing. Research for a work project. A big used hardback, a hard go but useful.
?# Norm MacDonald, Based on a true Story. Another SNL memoir. I stopped. It wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t entertaining me either. Supposed to be a funny book. Library audio book. No harm no foul no funds lost. Stopped before the end.
22. The Reading Group, by Elizabeth Noble, UK. It was a light chick lit type book. I found it on a list of feel good books that the blogger likes to re-read. It had interesting characters but the most unrealistic male female arguments but maybe that’s what makes it a feel good. Happy ending and all. Good writer. Bought a used paperback. 
23. The Late Show, by Michael Connolly, LA Cop Detective, almost hard boiled but modern, engaging and yet minimalist writing. Audiobook.
24. The Hunt, by Allison Brennan, Montana, Mystery fiction, a bit romance for my taste but good suspense. Paperbook living in my house. I’m losing faith in the description of relationships in fiction but maybe a real fight would be hard to read?
25. The Red Road, By Denise Mina, Scotland, Mystery Fiction. Library audiobook. Good Scottish accents on the reading. I liked the police detective character, multiple points of view in the book. I'd read more.
26 Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, Lori Gottlieb, nonfiction , audiobook. A therapist gets therapy. Entertaining but encouraging as well, overcoming hard times theme.
27 The Code of the Wooster, by P.G. Wodehouse, 1931 aristocrat UK, humor, fiction, ebook. Poorly edited to the point I wondered if it was a pirated version, but it was from Amazon! Entertaining, slapstick at times. I had to look up some vocabulary that we no longer actively use! Enjoyed it for a light read.
28 The Drifter, by Nick Petrie, fiction, set in Milwaukee. Tough ex military suspense. I enjoyed the characters and some of the beat up the bad guy stuff. A lot of language if that turns you off be forewarned. Fight scenarios were quite satisfying. Audiobook.
29 The Tie that Binds, by Kent Haruf, Fiction set in Colorado farm country, Holt County. It’s a vintage contemporary collection, copyright 1984 but probably set in 50s. Moody, broodsome, tense. ebook. Very compelling read. Dark.
30 A Serial Killer’s Daughter, by Kerri Rawson, nonfiction library ebook. Her father is the Wichita BTK killer. It’s a good bit autobiography and I had anticipated more about her and her dad. Later in the book that happens some.
31 The Case of the Love Commandos, by Tarquín Hall, mystery fiction, library audiobook. The reader is so good. You feel like you‘ve been on a trip to India when you read this series. Fun stories. Good writer. Library book. 4th in the series.
32 Inside Jobs, by Ben H.Winters, fiction short stories of crime in quarantine. Free audiobook. Not very long. Cute.
33 Nut Jobs, by Marc Fennell, nonfiction about almond thefts in California. Audiobook, so a bit of a podcast feel really. Intriguing crime. A bit of a soap box about food production the last chapter or two which felt like a deviation from the actual crime story being told. Still interesting at times, dark humor.
34 Isabella, the Warrior Queen, by Kristin Downey. Nonfiction, audiobook. A big book about Queen Isabella of Spain. Fascinating. Inspiring. Troubling. Great writer/researcher.
35 Shamed, by Linda Castillo, fiction, mystery set In Ohio Amish country. Nice main character formerly Amish. Library ebook. Random read. It was book 11 of the series. Good, smooth writing and suspense
36 Cop Town, by Karen Slaughter, mystery cop fiction, set in Atlanta during race tensions in 1970s, good writer, mostly believable. A bit of soapboxing but maybe it’s the times we live in now too.
37 King of Sting: Australian Conman Peter Foster. True podcast turned “audiobook." 
definitely a true con, over and over. I wasn’t clear at the end what the resolution was but intriguing. Lowers your trust in people.
38 The Lies I Told, by Heather Gudenkauf, mystery fiction Ebook. Done with different character points of view. This was good writing and had a good twist at the end that brought a lot together. I realized there’s a phenomenon, a subgenre of thriller of unreliable protagonist. It is suspenseful. The first book I read like that in the 90s left me shaken as the character himself was when he realized what he was. Gone girl is the more famous version perhaps. I recognized I like to be clear about my character even though this is a very popular genre inside mystery currently.
40 The Unlikely Spy, By Daniel Silva, WW II UK espionage, oh the tangled webs! Lots of characters, good writing. Audiobook. This is the book I discovered I’m embarrassed when the sex scenes are read out loud, just a couple but still. I’m apparently a prude and skim that stuff in writing but on audio I got stuck where I couldn’t fast forward one day! ack!  Great writing.
41 Dark clouds, Deep mercy, Discovering the grace of lament, by Mark Vroegop, nonfiction ebook. Good points to ponder. I was encouraged to explore this theme by a trusted connection. I disagreed with some ways of looking at or defining terms of grief but took away a lot from the thinking here. 
42 Career of Evil, by Robert Galbraith, Comoran Strike detective series, book 3, mystery fiction set mostly in London. Library ebook. Enjoyed this. Lots of tension but in different parts of the story. These are a bit darker than some things I read but I continue to pick up the series.
43 Lethal White, by Robert Galbraith, book 4 of series. Mystery fiction set in London. A situation not related to the main plot was left unresolved at the end of the previous book and in a rare move for me,  I picked up this one immediately. I don’t like to feel I didn’t get the ending and feel blackmailed to buy the next book. I know that’s a technique of writing cliffhanger style but I like each one resolved where I just want to see those characters again. This was more subtle but drove me to want more. Round of applause for the author’s technique. Library ebook. Liked the complex characters here.
44 Secrets of Wishtide, by Kate Saunders, Victorian England, A Letitia Rod mystery fiction. A light audio read that was engaging. I liked the characters and setting. I would read more. Historical is not my go to but I enjoy it when I do. This was on sale and had high ratings.
45 Cold Cold Heart, by Tami Hoag, mystery fiction audiobook, set mostly in Indiana town. Good suspense and even though I had pretty strong suspicions about the bad guy watching it unfold was a good story. Protagonist’s injuries helped make some of her actions more feasible as well as her fear. Two thumbs up.
46 The Kill Artist, by Daniel Silva, espionage fiction set in Europe, audiobook. As he usually does a large cast of characters that eventually come together with great suspense... this was the beginning of a series. While everything resolved, one of the characters disappointed me, so I’ll give it some space before I read another. Bought on sale, a good hook for me: cheap book 1 of a series!
48 The Girl Beneath the Sea, by Andrew Mayne, mystery thriller set in Florida with diving as a theme. Again an on sale book one of a series. Good suspense and interesting characters. I will likely read more.
49 Deliver us from Evil, by David Baldacci, espionage fiction, France and UK contemporary. Follow up, loosely to The Whole Truth. Good plot, a bit more description of the hardware than he usually has, maybe a touch of Tom Clancy. I think it set up for another in series. This was a paperbook I think I found cleaning out my grandparents house or on a book swap table. Nice to read in paper but trade paperback is just too big to take around with you.
50 Don’t Let Go, by Harlan Coben, mystery suspense set in New Jersey, on sale audiobook. Engaging I read it in a couple days. I should have seen that ending coming but didn’t. I liked the characters.
52 Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, audiobook. Great audio read going into the autumn, morose and spooky. Much more of an emotional drama than I realized. First time to read it after being challenged by a friend who was reading it.
53 Espionage and Covert Operations: A Global History, by Veja Gabriel Liulevius, a 12 hour lecture/audiobook. A bit like a history class but he is good at presenting the information. I learned a ton. Does it count as a book? It is longer than some novels I’ve done on audible.
54 Nine Women One Dress, by Jane L. Rosen, fiction chic lit, New York City, mostly. It was fun. A light read that I found on a humor list and as an audiobook in my library.
55 Iron Lake, by Willem Kent Krueger, fiction very cold small town Minnesota. Great emotion and character development in an intense mystery plot. Didn’t know it was the beginning of a series. I would not hesitate to read more. Library ebook. He's a very good writer.
56 Therapy, by Jonathan Kellerman, mystery in LA, older series, hard boiled style. Not sure if it was the age of the tech or the characters. Didn’t like this. It is part of a big popular series so my opinion clearly doesn’t hold. I like Kellerman’s writing and other books, just not an Alex Delaware series fan. Library ebook
57 The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion, fiction, a bit of romantic comedy. I listened as an audiobook and the Australian accent was fun. The character’s ocd was delightful. I find rom com a bit light and unrealistic but it was an enjoyable book.
58 Boundaries, by Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend, when to say yes and how to say no to take control of your life. A best seller nonfiction. Got it on audio library book. Very good in that includes examples, how to-s, as well as things to help you identify your own tendencies. I will probably buy for my own collection.
59 The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides, UK modern day Mystery Fiction, library ebook. It was well written and I saw it coming a bit before the twist hit toward the end. Not my favorite type of book but it was a best seller and I think it is slated for a film as well.
60 Someone Knows, by Lisa Scottoline, suburbs of Philadelphia (or was it Baltimore?). Mystery fiction, multiple points of view audiobook. The downward spiral of the first third or half was a bit hard. I ended up playing it on a higher speed to get it over, the last third is full of suspense and the pay off on some character strengths made me like the book much more by the end.
61 The Talented Mr. Ripley, By Patricia Highsmith. On a classic recommendations list. Mostly set in Italy. Good writing but I tired of the characters. Audiobook listened at high speed which is a sign I just want to be done.
62 Everything you told me, by Lucy Dawson, mostly near London. Intrigued by the premise but found the main character passive for a good amount of the book anda bit deus ex machina at the end. Audiobook listened at high speed. It is popular though.
63 The Cornish Coast Murder, by John Bude, fiction written in the 1930s, Cornwall. Library ebook. Very light reading exactly what you’d expect. A bit of the little lady tone regarding female characters. Contemporary authors ie Parker or Christie certainly didn’t take that tone.
64 Zeal without Burnout, by Christopher Ash, nonfiction ebook. I probably was not the intended audience since I’m thinking in terms of an organization not a church. Some good points but not so much as I’d hoped.
65 A man called Ove, by Federik Backman, modern fiction Sweden. On a lot of book club lists and humor book lists. It is funny in many places but it is also poignant and sometimes sad. I can highly recommend it for the writing and characters. Ebook library. Full disclosure: finished on New Year’s Day 2021

English speaking friends and my writing habits

For the last eight weeks a friend I've known for 20 years has been here in Spain and another came to visit in the same time period. It has been unusual for us to have visitors the last two years. After seven years in Madrid the newness of that and visiting has worn off for a lot of our friends and family. A lot of people say they're coming but never get around to it. That international flight is a big pain in the internal time clock.

The writer in me has noticed that having a spontaneous friend to hang out with has ground my writing habits to a halt. The weather too has played a part. It's gotten cooler and sun down is coming earlier, so if I want to have a walk or anyone else in my social circle does, well that first hour after work needs to be taken advantage of immediately. 

Last year, I wrote after work for an hour usually. This was stronger in the summer when it was too hot to do anything involving motion. Plugging away an hour a or more a day produced a nice draft in about nine months. Editing is harder for me already and I've had some shifts in my day job responsibilities that have wrung out my brain soI've done little post work editing.

I turned my energies to writer work on the weekends earlier this year. It sounds really dull and there was a time in my life I would have never been able to sit still and write or edit on weekends, but now I  do, happily. Perhaps because I don't need (or think I need) to shop for house stuff or clothes. I do like to explore Madrid, but that takes a lot of energy I can't always muster.

So the last eight weeks, my visitor friends have wanted to go walking after work and see things on the weekends. Generally I've had people to be with and it's made me realize how absent that is from my life lately and I hadn't noticed.

I have friends who are permanent residents here in Spain, but they don't generally invite us places, many have kids and organizing outtings is a challenge. While we speak the language, it's still a lot more work to socialize in amother tongue and we often don't make the effort. We travel for work often so people aren't in the habit of connecting with us.  I really hadn't realized this until my English speaking friend came. It didn't hurt that she stayed in our area since we aren't in a central location either. 

I've realized I need to be more disciplined with my writing and not just rely on the absence of social activities as my writing crutch! I guess I enjoy time with my imaginary friends and forget to make the effort to get out and see real ones. 

Psyching yourself out

Breathe in, breathe out. I went thru a spell a while back where it felt like I couldn't get my breath. I told a stomach doctor that after I eat sometimes I feel like can't breathe very well. He said don't eat so much. Thanks, I couldn't have figured that out by myself. But in reality it didn't seem to be related to the food. I also noticed the sensation of being short of air when I lay down at night.

I recognized lying in the darkness that I could escalate the situation or calm it simply by how I thought about it. I could concentrate on the tightness in my abs or I could concentrate on air flowing in and out of my chest as I breathed slowly and steadily.

I started thinking about the power of the mind. As a writer, I do often try to get inside people's heads. The thing is I'm not a super psychology student and it's not my first instinct to look into the thoughts or motivations of someone else. I like plot so I easily get swept away in the activities. Next they did this, and then they did that.

But seeing in myself my own "opportunity" to talk myself into near panic over catching my breath or calming myself down if I talked differently made me think about the psychology of characters and strangers more.

A friend of mine described how she took the anger level of driving way down by imagining that the person that cut her off had to pee or was on their way to an emergency. Or even she could imagine that they were having a really bad day and if cutting her off could make them feel more in control of their lives maybe they just needed that at the moment and she would "give" them that.

The power of our thoughts on our perspective is amazing really.  You hear stories of the bitter victims of disease faring worse than those who make peace with it and fight on. In both cases they are fighting but one seems to do so with more grace and sometimes more success.

Whatever was causing my own breathing issues went away on it's own with no medical intervention. I could have spent a lot of time in emergency rooms at bedtime had I listened to the panic voice in my head. Instead, I concentrated on the air I did have. I wonder what other situations in life I could adjust the way I see? Opportunity or problem? I think in psychology they would call it "reframing" how I look at the situation.

So as I'm beginning to think of my next book I'm going to write I'm trying to imagine what kind of psychological journey I can take my characters on this time. From panic to serene? Maybe that's a bit too much, but it makes me want to look at how people cope and their motivations more.

Do you hear what I hear?

Have you ever noticed the explosion of sound when you close your eyes?  I went to have my hair done at a nearly empty shopping center. Normally I practice my Spanish and try to chat with the beauty technician, but I decided to close my eyes and listen.

I'm working on a senses edit of my next novel  trying to add another layer to the story of the five senses. I must be a majorly visual person. I never thought of myself that way, but I find it takes a big effort to focus on elements of a scene besides what I see in my mind's eye.

When the lady started putting the color on my hair, I decided to close my eyes and listen. I enjoy getting my hair done though I am a lot lax about doing it regularly. I find someone else combing my hair to be very relaxing so I slipped into a semi-somnambulant state.

The easiest thing to hear was a baby screaming somewhere in the mall. They always scream in confined places, don't they? Airplanes, weddings, shopping centers, church. When the baby took time out, I heard a soft buzz of adult conversations, probably upstairs on the restaurant level. The foil on my head made lot of rattling sounds and the brush applying the color made a pounding sound inside my head that accompanied the rattle of the foil.

In lulls between the plastic comb and paint brush applicator clacking together ad the foil rattles, I sometimes heard music from a nearby shop. Not enough to identify a song, but the beat or a crash of symbols, a high note. In the quiet there is also a big echoing sound of air in the mall. I suppose it's just the big enclosed space sound a whoosh of air and motion.

When I slipped deeper and concentrated harder, I could hear the purr of a motor. It reminded me of a quiet house when the refridgerator kicks on, but it's a beauty salon and there are no refridgerators. I can't really identify that sound and if I don't concentrate on it, it disappears again from my consciousness. I smell the strong smell of the ammonia in the hair color and  maybe a hint of food from upstairs. Even the scents are more notable with my eyes closed.

The other girl in the shop moves some chairs and they make scootching sounds against the tile floor. Like they think I'm really asleep, she and the lady working on my hair exchange a quiet mumble that I don't catch all of. Something about sharing something, food maybe?

I hear voices nearer probably of people walking nearby on this level and the occasional race car sound and motor from a child's ride in motion.

So a quiet shopping center with few people in it actually turns into a cacophony of sounds when you unplug your brain and your eyes and listen and smell. So what can you hear?

Epub the emotional journey

If you follow me on twitter or even on facebook, you may have seen some of the articles I've posted the last couple months, mainly having to do with publishing and writing. I read a string of articles in close succession earlier this month that in so many words, in different ways, said that - yeah epublishing is a big deal right now, but really bookstores and paperbooks are still the majority of the market and if you want to be respected you need to go the traditional route and find an agent, who finds a publisher, who edits your book etc.

I always believed this and held very firmly to this mantra until the last year. Something has broken loose the last couple years in ebooks and I started to wonder - what if I just did it? I was a journalist, freelance writer, graphic designer in previous jobs. The skills to create a book are not out of reach. In fact, I worked with a publisher and actually produced 3 books myself. This is a process I can do. So, like a crack of light under a door in a dark room this idea started seeping into me. I read lots of things that seemed to say this is the future.

Then I stumbled on the articles with my old point of view -- you're only a real author if NY says you are (in so many words). So earlier this month in a fit of panic I sent letters to agents. I think I sent out 4 or 5 via email and I haven't heard anything back. It would be too soon in most cases, but I think they all said something like, "If we don't respond, we're not interested."

But I learned something about myself doing that. As I started working my way through the queries and the requirements, all those old feelings came back. The scary ones I try to bury. They'll never respond, you're not good enough, it'll never work for you, etc. etc. The evil editorial voice in the head.

I contrasted this with how I felt when I "published" my short story myself to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. The story had been published by a webzine so I already had some sense that it was legit, but be that as it may, I was eccstatic to see the work of my hands, the creation of my mind, and my husband's brillant cover posted out there for all the world to see. I know I'm not going to get rich from it and I know that it's a long way from the respect and bestsellerdom of NYC but it felt good. I felt proud as opposed to the sense of begging and shame I felt from my query letters to agents.

So for now, I walk the epub journey with a clear conscious. I know the respect I long for isn't there but for now I am content. And don't let anybody kid you, there's not an epub out there who wouldn't sign a contract for six figures or more if it was offered by the NYC big dogs!

To post a book by Denise

I spent a good deal of the last couple months researching and reading about posting ebooks. I read a lot of pros, cons, and instructions. Some of the instructions were a year or two old on the internet and didn't really serve a purpose anymore. I decided to stick to new ones. I downloaded the Smashwords Style guide which is a long book-like document and read a few bits of it. This is a case where everyone seems to have a different idea and you eventually have to pick one and try it.

Ultimately, someone on a forum was testing a video that they put on youtube of how to format your book. It's only a 5 minute video, so I invested the time. It's from an author CJ Lyons: How to Format your Ebook Video. 

I found the video easy to follow and clear. It was helpful to see what she meant on screen in Word rather than just read it. Normally I'm a read it and do it person because that is often faster for me. I thought it was helpful and a doable process that did not take hours. Of course this is a short story. I'd have to spend more time eliminating some formatting in my novel (coming soon!) but it does not seem out of reach. I have been a graphic designer in a former life so maybe this stuff is easier for me, but personally I'd recommend trying to do it yourself before you hire someone.

Another tip that was very helpful was to have certain things prepared and ready before you go to upload. I got this tip from John Kremer at this helpful blog. ebook-publishing guide
This was the list I found helpful but he's got lots of other information there too and other links.
Book (preferably in.doc format) – See detailed formatting guidelines below.
Cover picture (in JPG format, max 1200 pixels high)
Short book description (400 characters max)
Proper book description (up to about 2,500 characters)
About the Author summary
Book categories (i.e. Young Adult, Fantasy, etc.)
Decision on selling price of book

Barnes and Noble's Pub It gets the prize for the easiest and most pain free upload-my-book (short story) process. Amazon is a close second but slightly more cumbersome at their kdp website that was hard to find.Find it here. Smashwords I almost skipped because they are a much smaller share of the market (Kobo, Sony, Indies) but they do epub for ibook which meant I needed it if I wanted to see my finished story on my ipad, so I got on board. It was the most cumbersome, the most fussy not liking my formatting etc. They do however have a way to do a coupon so you can give away the book.

I did not see immediately any way to have a free book on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. It must be there and I will investigate further.

I downloaded my book from Smashwords since the ipad is the only reader I've got. Looks really good -- except for 2 sentences that seem to be in a different font (and they weren't) -- and it appears to be bold face throughout which it also was not. So a little more investigating to be done, but overall a good look I'm pleased with for a start. Waiting on a friend with a Nook and a Kindle to tell me how they look there and then I will take another look at the formatting.

Perceptions of Time part 2

This is part two of a blog I did earlier about my perception of time and how I struggle with feeling like I'm wasting it or that things/tasks will "take too long." Even now, I am at my day job office without my computer so I'm redeeming the time by blogging on my ipad.

So I surprised myself yesterday. I put on music and did some chores. I did dishes, swept floor in kitchen and hall. It was only 3 songs. So figure an average song is around 3 minutes. In 9 minutes, I did much more than I would have thought would occur in that amount of time.

On the other hand, I tried to quickly go through my email. It took me 5.5 songs to deal with email, not actually do it but disband it to the "to do" "to read" and then a few things I could dispatch instantly. More time than dishes and sweeping and feels maybe like less done.

I did a seminar on writing once and I did an exercise with the class. Something I stole from a class I had been in previously. You take a theme and write on it for 3 minutes and then count the words. You'd be amazed how much of a rough draft you can do and how many words appear on paper. It's so much about just sticking to it or squeeking out some time here and there.

I've been having trouble getting back into a couple writing projects because I feel I'll be interrupted or it's not enough time. It's true that when you've been away from a project for a while it takes a bit longer to find your grove again, but maybe I need to use the small bits of time despite the fact they feel insufficient. I need to write anyway whatever the time frame, but that doesn't come easily to me.

Evolution of a blog

This blog was started originally when I moved to Spain between a few friends and myself to keep in touch and I'm grateful to you who have hung with me on this.

The evolution of which I speak now is that I am creating the pieces of a writing career if I do in fact decide to launch myself in self publishing. Even if I decide ultimately to search out an agent and a traditional publisher having a writers blog, writers page on facebook, a twitter account, and other marketing/contact elements is still essential. So for this I am migrating this blog to be attached to my author page on facebook: "Denise M Hartman."

I will then migrate my day job blog to my personal facebook page. So depending on which part of my life you are interested in, you can choose accordingly.

This blog will feature writing things or perhaps random life things. The day job blog will focus on the video production/religious aspects of that side of my life. So there we have it. The evolution as it now stands.

A new idea creeping up on me.

I have even in this blog explained the differences between self publishing and traditional publishing and been a proponent of going the traditional way. It garners more respect, especially in publishing, writer circles. Recently from some of the writer ezines, I've seen some articles that are challenging the way I think.

I am beginning to soften my own perspective on self publishing. Two authors I've read of recently are making good money on their books by self publishing ebooks. I think one of them offered print on demand books for a higher cost. Both of these articles featured people who are making so much money on their own that the publishing industry couldn't afford to get a contract with them. They did ebooks and started out with small sales and built up over a few years.

In traditional publishing, authors generally make a very small amount per book. Often under a dollar of the price of paperback actually pays the royalties. Suddenly with self publishing the author can make $3-7 dollars a book or more. It seems fair in this American land of free enterprise that the person who actually wrote the words would make more from them than others.

I have worked in desktop publishing and even laid out a few books for one of my jobs. I feel I do have the technical skill to figure out how to format and design books for epublishing. But my argument against self published books, is also against myself. The books often read as though they need to be edited -- because they DO need to be edited. I don't want to put out a book that reads that way.

So I saw a company that is helping authors who want to do this themselves by letting them chose different items of help from a menu. Just need formatting? $X price. Just need editing, $X price. It's a one time service rather than a percentage of your book for eternity. It's a great idea in this time of evolution in the publishing world.

I'm beginning to consider doing it myself. I will need to pay an editor and I'm not sure if I've got enough of my writing money left. I also am uncertain about my ability to promote myself sufficiently that it would be a successful endeavor. Keeping in mind I still have my day job that has to be sustained. A botched self publishing book would be a kiss of death with the New York publishing houses. They would stay far, far away after that and I don't want to ruin my chances, but it's such a different day. It's worth considering the risk.

2 lighter mysteries

I've been doing a lot of travel lately which leads to lots of reading time for me and so I'm struggling this year to keep up with my own commitment to review the books I read. And in an ironic twist, on my last plane ride I was the only one for rows with a real book, therefore, I needed a real light and mine was broken. Everyone else had their personal glow-y readers.


http://www.amazon.com/Grace-Under-Pressure-Manor-Mysteries/dp/0425235211
Grace Under Pressure by Julie Hyzy
 The idea here is a young art historian who has been hired as a assistant curator for a mansion spread from her home town. Grace is in her probationary period of the job when the curator is killed and the pressure mounts. The mansion's owner lives upstairs, the staff is suspicious of grace, and her inherited home is falling apart. She needs to figure out who the bad guy is before she ends up losing her job or herself. I liked Grace and cheered for her along the way.

http://www.haileylind.com/brush-with-death.php
Brush with Death, an art lovers mystery, by Hailey Lind
Hailey Lind actually is a pseudonym for two ladies that write this series. One is an artist, the other a historian, so they make for a variety of information in the story. It's an easy read and they had some hilarious dialogue lines now and then. The mystery is set in California in the Oakland/San Francisco area and this one in a particular graveyard. There were some good hooks of using the graveyard as a specific place. How does this tie to art you might ask? The faux finisher Annie, the protagonist, was repairing a antique ceiling in a columbarium - a sort of mausoleum building but huge. I enjoyed this and didn't have the murderer figured out like I thought I did. This is not the first in the series, but the first one I ran into.

A million miles in a thousand years

By Donald Miller

So I read this book at the recommendation of a friend who is challenging me to go to a new level this year. It's a challenge to discover dreams and understand your desires anew. Well, haven't gone as deep with the entire challenge yet but she recommended reading 3 books with the challenge. This is the first one. I may be one of say 15 people in north America who did not read Blue Like Jazz by the same author. I had no aversion; it just wasn't ever laying around when I was between books. So I have nothing to compare this too.

This personal memoir with a self depreciating tone is entertaining but in this book he's exploring life from the perspective of a screenplay. Don bit by bit decides to add a deeper level of living and adventure to his life because of the exploration of story and what makes a good story. I don't know if this makes sense, but he really develops his own life experiences along with exploring what makes a good screenplay.

I enjoyed this on two levels. As a person who needs to write screenplays and who writes fiction stories, I loved the advice about writing and that Don was looking at it from a fresh perspective since he had not considered this writer advice previously.

The other level was a self exploration of what makes a good life which gives the book an almost self help feel. I don't know if it only did that for me because of the combo of things I'm interested in. I also felt an affirmation of the missionary calling I've been operating under the last eight years. It was good timing for me to have encouragement in my writing and my work life.

It was a fairly light and easy read too that didn't feel imposing. I can recommend it.

Book reviews: 3 mysteries and 1 self help

Recently I was reading about doing synopsi (is that the plural of synopsis?) for books and they said it is good practice to take books you've read and do a synopsis as a practice exercise. Since I thought I'd try to blog reviews of books I'm reading this year, I will try a few abbreviated synopsi with my two cents at the end.

Desert Lost, by Betty Webb
Private detective Lena Jones is at a trailer park trying to catch some graffiti artists when she discovers the body of a woman who appears to be from one of the polygamist compounds, but those are a couple hours away. It's not Lena's case but she gets pulled in when she goes to help her best friend pick up some escapees from the northern Arizona polygamist camp, but it's a trap. They escape but with more questions than answers. Lena wants to know why threats are escalating and who killed the dead woman before things turn deadly.

DG: While this was a pretty standard detective story, I was intrigued to learn about the atmosphere of the polygamist world. Lena is a detective with some unusual flaws and a childhood shooting which has left her with memory gaps. It will be interesting to see how this personal side of her unfolds in the books to come.

The Rosewood Casket, Sharyn McCrumb.
The four distant and very different Stargill brothers are called back to their mountain farm home in Appalachia to see to their dying father. He was a hard unemotional man, but they obey his wishes to build him a casket. The men awaken to their mountain roots and skeletons start tumbling out of their father's closet. It's time for the ghosts of the past to come to light, so they can rest.

DG: This book is high on atmosphere of the Appalachia mountain living and including a couple characters who have the "sight" for things unseen. It is strong on character development and an intriguing family mystery to be solved. For me, maybe too much history as the author couches the atmosphere around Daniel Boone. My significant other read this and liked that aspect of the book, so that is about taste not about the writing.

Whose Body? Dorothy L. Sayers
Lord Peter Whimsey is summoned by his mother the Duchess to help the architect who is working on the church. Apparently, a dead man has turned up in the little architect's bath. Whimsey is delighted by such an intriguing set of events and involves his valet, and his friend from Scotland Yard in discovering who this dead body is and how it came to be in a stranger's bathtub.

DG: This is a great light read. Sayers was a contemporary and friend of CS Lewis, an Oxford graduate, a believer and scholar. She's had a lot of influence in the mystery realm even though that wasn't her first calling. This story is from the 1920s and you do have to work a little to get into the language and slang of the day, but if you can do it, you'll enjoy Lord Peter. I don't know how many books she wrote of Lord Peter as a rich, idle, amateur sleuth, but there are a great number.

Murder at the National Cathedral, Margaret Truman
Mackenzie Smith marries his long time sweetheart Annabell in Washington D.C.'s National Cathedral, but the priest that conducts the ceremony ends up murdered a short time later. Mac steps out of teaching law to advise the Cathedral on legal matters around the murder, but he soon finds himself caught up in the investigation as much more than an advisor. Threats on he and Annabel on their honeymoon in London eventually lead to clues much closer to home.

DG: While I enjoyed this story, I was somewhat distracted by the lag in technology. It was published in 1990, so there are no mentions of cellphones (it would have been early days in that,) there are answering machines, etc. I felt that Mac and Annabell were a little passive in discovering the mystery, even though they do indeed get it sorted out. It made me worried that my own WIP (work in progress) is too passive which just leads to another re-write and I don't really want to go there right now.

12 'Christian' Beliefs That Can Drive You Crazy: Relief From False Assumptions
by Henry Cloud, and John Townsend
Christian advice sometimes well meaning leads to a trail of hurt and failure. This book debunks some phrases and jargon that gets thrown around in Christian circles that often harms the hearer more than it helps.

DG: This book takes some common phrases we throw around and examines them a little more closely and provides scripture to back up their expanded or opposed views. It's a book for people who are within in the church or who have left after feeling harmed by the church, but at it's heart it is just solid advice for those who haven't found help in catch phrases.

January's Fiction

I read the second book in a series first. I try not to do that, but in spite of it, I really enjoyed the story.  It was recommended to me by a friend at Sisters In Crime. (http://www.sistersincrime.org/)

A Monstrous Regiment of Women, by Laurie B. King was set in Oxford, London, and the countryside town where the main character Mary Russell has rooms or homes. It is just after World War I and young men have become scarce and those who made it back ravaged by the war. Mary becomes embroiled in a mystery surrounding a charismatic feminist mystic. I enjoyed the depictions of a "church" that is obviously something more, a movement. It's interesting to see what church metaphors carry over for people. I enjoyed the historical time period and love things set in London in that era. One of the more original hooks for this series of books is that Mary's good friend is a mostly retired Sherlock Holmes who befriended her after her parent's were killed. The author has worked hard and seems to get Holmes exactly right even though he is a more peripheral character.
http://www.laurierking.com/books/mary-russell

The Art of Deception by Ridley Pearson was a suspense book with some of his main characters that appear in many books - various players in a detective squad in Seattle. I have not followed this series in order at all and just seem to randomly stumble on these books, but always enjoy them. The characters are well rounded and Pearson seems in just a paragraph sketch here and there to add depth without ever drawing you away from the plot. The plots involved missing or killed women and lead to a former Seattle that has been buried since 100 years ago when the city was raised up higher. A whole network of neighborhoods still exist underground and vagrants and a criminal have found them. It's a good setting to add to what is a police procedural book with added suspense. I'm considering trying to break this book down. A local Sisters In Crime chapter has been doing a book clinic where they analyze parts of a book and what the pieces do. I have not gotten to attend one of these but I'm intrigued. I so enjoy Pearson's style and his turns of phrase or an upended noun that becomes a verb that I think this would be a good book to analyze. I need to figure out how to go about that analysis.
http://www.ridleypearson.com/novels.php

PS For those who read this on my blog rather than facebook, I decided to put the url so that the other readers could see it when it moves to facebook rather than a direct link.

Media, Publishing, Gutenberg days

We are living through an incredible time in publishing/media history. I mean, for one thing you can't just call it publishing anymore. Things like book trailers are out there. Advanced software and marketing tools exist to promote a (fill in the blank) movie, book, blog, website, all of the above.

When I started learning the Communications field you had to choose which niche you wanted to specialize in. Back then my choices were broadcasting, journalism, drama/speech. I went journalism. I'm glad because the firm hand on writing has carried over to everything else I've ended up doing.

My significant other, Kerry, and I were talking this morning about living through a media revolution and how incredible it is. I was reading blog analysis and debate on the book industry with Google releasing their online book distribution, ereaders, and New York Times is saying they are going to do a best seller elist for ebooks next year. That's just books.

I talked to a friend last night in film school who is exploring documentaries. People after they make a couple of these that are moderately successful are making a living. Not a multi-million dollar living but with basic equipment and good ideas you can share your ideas with the world.

Another article I read about a maverick who is creating a hybrid media group that will team writers and ideas for no money up front but 30-50% of what eventually comes in for projects, books or movies or whatever they turn out to be. That is amazing -- traditional publishing for a traditional book is NOT paying that. The odd thing is they are trying on purpose to be the next Harry Potter phenomena. A book didn't sell to a publisher so they shopped it to DreamWorks who are releasing a movie next year almost before the publishers can get back in line to buy the book. Oh, and the screenplays of the book have now modified that about to be released book. This is radical stuff. The guy behind it is universally loved and hated. Read article here.

It's not to say I'm for or against any of this, it's just amazing to watch something that is going to be in text books unfold before your eyes. The software for movies is radicalizing too, shrinking and getting more accessible. It is truly "media" now because it all bleeds over onto each other and gets more accessible to the rabble masses rather than elites in ivory publishing, movie towers.

Christian marketing

I've heard some discussions in my book world, in my video production world and speculated that the same is true in music the music world. All of these in regard to Christian products.

I know that when a book or video distributor/printer becomes successful they have guidelines. This can be good in that it guides them to choose projects that are a good fit for their company, but I'm beginning to suspect that some of the parameters and rules placed on art by the big companies, publishers, distributors (THEM for lack of a better term) have turned it into a repetitious formula. The danger with this is that new artists or styles don't find a commercial voice even if they have minor success on local levels.

It's like THEY by finding a formula of movies, books, or dare I say it music, dictate what can and cannot be popular. Now this is true in both secular and Christian circles but I've been thinking about it in regard to the Christian market place.

I heard a lecture about the so-called rules for a Christian movie that places like Sony are putting on things they will distribute. It's not moral convictions. It's just that x + y has equaled marketing success. SO, no sex, no bad words, no, no whatever the rules fill in the blank. Christian books have similar limits. I once heard an acquiring editor for a Christian press say they did not accept any book with a divorced protagonist or significant other. So how believable and realistic are these pieces? Bad guys who aren't too bad (no swearing). Good guys who are, well, too perfect (no sins). Do you ever see something that doesn't quite ring true but it was pretty good, just not quite? Maybe it didn't have believable characters. Maybe it followed the formula for financial, marketing success but not necessarily the most satisfying story it could be. Maybe a tiny bit of reality was squeezed out of it so it would fit better in the Christian system.

I had been thinking these things in my head driving around and I was listening to the radio. I'm a station flipper when left alone. I flip til I like a song then flip again. I kept trying the Christian station and flipping away. It was all that sort of country sounding alternative songs and all sounding the same (and not to my taste). It occurred to me that the Christian radio mavens and masters have done the same thing that the Christian book and movie guardians had. Only one style is getting through because it fits the formula. I'm absolutely positive there are Christians out there with other musical sounds and granted I'm a flipper so there is much I miss, but still.

Not to say the secular world doesn't do the same thing, but it's disappointing as someone who wants to move in those circles to think I have to fit some odd uncomfortable formula to be considered "legitimate." Sorry to say I'm probably not gonna fit.

Two for the road

Well, many of you have been hanging with me during this odd disconnected journey of blogging in 2010. The update is that I'm behind. Shocking that, I'm sure.

Actually it's not for lack of ideas or things I want to write, it's about internet access and travel. If my math, is right, I can still make it. I'll have to do 2 posts a week rather than one. The trick will be access and probably a bit of perseverance.  I think now I have 3 or 4 ideas that are either started or waiting their turn plus a short story I'd still like to share with you.

I've enjoyed the interaction and feedback on the many random subjects. Writing can be so solitary, it's been fun to have more connections and you are all so kind and interesting in your comments. That keeps me going too. Hang in there as I have to put in 2 a week because of the road time this year. Anyone taking bets on whether I'll make it?

Any topic requests for the mad dash to the end of the year?

A New day in publishing

I've been reading articles for a few months now about the state of publishing in the USA and let's just say the ground is shaking.  (Here's a recent LONG article about it.) The industry has been in trouble for a while. They keep putting more money into big name best seller types and squeezing out people who can't produce the best sellers and giving less chance to what we call mid-list authors.

Apparently less people are reading books - there's more and more competition for our free time attention. The strange and interesting thing is that all the ebook type devices (kindle, nook, ipad, etc) is that sales are up. While this is good news, the publishers are in a mess. Massive competition exists for the few dollars a book brings in and how it is divided up (publisher, agent, seller, author).

The ebooks are potentially adding pictures, videos, and graphics to regular books to make them more alluring to people into that AND to be able to possibly charge a little extra for those particular books.

Amazon and I think the Apple people are offering authors a unique chance to sell direct to the public. In the past, "self publishing" has really had a negative reputation, but some already established authors are making some good money on posting their own work for sale direct.  This is a dramatic development.

I personally make no predictions about where this is all going to land and who is going to get paid what by whom. That is for the big dogs to decide. But as an aspiring book author and published short story writer, I feel for the first time a glimmer of hope I haven't felt for a while. To be well respected in the past, you absolutely had to follow the agent/publisher route. As a person who knows how to layout and design a book, I've wondered about the wisdom of doing so. I know professional editing is worth the price and the polish you get, but the selling direct to the audience and cutting out all the people who get a cut of the book price. Wow! Revolutionary stuff going on these days. I wonder if I will get to join in someday.

What do you read?

Not what are you reading, but what is it you read habitually? In writing, you constantly hear the phrase write what you know. I think this means more the style of things you read, not that you are knowledgeable about everything you write. By that rule, you'd have to murder someone to write a mystery - not a good plan. Research can take the place of knowing what you write.

I have always felt slightly bothered that I wrote for newspapers for years and I've never been an avid newspaper writer. Should I have been more of a news reader to be a reporter? I enjoyed my job. I rarely read my stories again after I wrote them and rarely read my coworkers articles.

I read magazines but not voraciously. I had a conversation with someone a few months ago who said they never read books but mainly magazines. I found this interesting because I like magazines but I usually would prefer to read a novel if I have one going. Often I read a magazine to sort of cleanse my reading palette between books. Magazines stack up in my house and eventually feel like work.

I've also tried reading nonfiction books after each fiction book. This has only been the last couple years. I find I'm impatient for the nonfiction books to end and if it a particularly stressful episode of life, I'm irritable if I am not getting my dose of escape from real life in my fiction.

Some people don't even read -- this amazes me. I totally don't get that. Perhaps you can explain it to me if you are one of those.  I am lost without something to read and maybe almost panicky if I don't feel I can lay my hands on some reading material.

So (other than blogs! ha) what do you read?

Comparing travelogues

I'm Off Then: My Journey Along the Camino De Santiago
by Hape Kerkeling

link here

The Places in Between
by Rory Stewart
link here

I read these two books in the last couple months and wanted to compare and contrast them a little. Both were written by European men who took a walk - a long, long walk across chunks of countries. One a comedian by trade and the other a historian, author. One walked one of the most walked/famous pilgrimages in the world and the other across a recently liberated from the Taliban Afghanistan. 

I tend to read mystery fiction as my first choice of books, but one of my favorite books of all time is a travelogue by Peter Mayle about moving and living in the south of France which I find intriguing since it is not my usual reading choice.

"I'm off then" was recommended to me by a German friend who is married to a Spaniard. It was a real book of spiritual exploration on the camino which runs across the north of Spain. I was interested because of both the spiritual aspect and the Spanish aspect. I've been fascinated by the camino but not enough to actually walk my behind across it for weeks at a time. I enjoyed his self depreciating humor, his willingness to complain and not glamourize the journey. The spirituality of it was perplexing because he was raised with a Roman Catholic version of God and came to embrace a somewhat ethereal, esoteric version on his journey which as one raised in evangelicalism was somewhat uncomfortable for me, but interesting all the same to see so intimately into someone's spiritual thoughts.


"The Places in Between" was something I found exploring the travelogue section of a book store in Arizona. I'm interested in learning more about the Islamic cultures and that is why I bought it. The author had walked across several countries in the region and had skipped Afghanistan because of the Taliban and found an opportunity to walk it in 2002. It is a much more serious book with strong introspection, neutrality on much of the culture while describing it fairly. The physical aspect of his journey was frank but no complaints or humor were involved. It had more flowery descriptions that could only be described as literary. I feel I learned a lot about Islamic perspective through an outsider's eyes and I don't regret the read.


I feel I learned and enjoyed both books, but "The Places in Between" was more like researching than pleasure reading for me and "I'm off Then" was more light and enjoyable while still strong on provoking thoughts.


It was interesting to accidentally read two books of walking journeys in close succession with such different perspectives. Depending on your taste in books, they both had value, but were very different. I surprise myself a little that I read them both.


Oh, and I receive no royalties or kickbacks, or free books for that matter, for this "review."

All work and no play?

I've been pondering what makes something pleasant or fun and where is the line where it crosses over to pure work. I have dabbled with some hobbies and plunged myself deeply into others.

Right now for instance I'm in the process of reupholstering a couch. I'm not doing this out of any creative instinct. I inherited (borrowed? stole?) it from the basement of my parents house.I'm only going to be here a year or so but the furniture in question looked a bit like raccoons had lived on it and it needed a refreshing. So I'm pushing myself to get it done sooner rather than later. You know what? It's not fun and I'm not that good at reupholstering. I have a sore back and I just want a clean couch.

Gardening falls into that same category. On a nice day, I think I'll go pull weeds or plant flowers or something. After about an hour and only half way or less through the project, I'm really not having fun. It's like the idea of these things is fun and drives me to do them but in the end it's just...well, work.

I've been debating the same issue in regard to writing. I always have wanted to tell stories. The idea of stories come to my mind and I want to develop them. Totally different from gardening, it is very, very hard to sit down to start the writing. Something akin to being trapped in a traffic jam - you go out of your way to avoid it. But when I do write a story, sometimes once you get going a magical moment occurs where you are inside the story like you are watching a movie that moment is great fun. You lose track of time and live the story for a few moments. The bad news is no story is ever complete with one magical pass at putting words on paper. The next step is killing your darlings -- editing, editing, and editing some more. This is like having my fingernails removed without anesthetic. So I wonder, why do I keep doing it?I seem driven or obsessed.

Is it work or play? Yes.