It's been so long since I updated i'm expecting to see news I've 'quit smoking' LOL. Nope, I'm still among the living (probaby because I never have smoked - ha!). Anyway, I'm 'up to my ankles and in head first' and about 'blogged blind' even if I have neglected my own blog.
Think I told on here that Zumaya Publications has bought my Maryvale series for their new mystery imprint - Enigma. They have staked me to virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book and I'm burning the midnight oil answering interview questions and doing guest blogs. It's fun, but it takes up more time than you thought you had!
Enigma has changed the name of my little fictional town to Merrivale and is calling it the Cas Larkin series - he's my Sheriff Hero.
I've got the first of a new mystery series just out this month from Five Star, the name of it is Dead on Arrival and you will see a good write-up about it on International Thriller Writers January Webzine by Austin Camacho.
The virtual book tour goes on till January 29 so please come by and comment or ask any questions you want to - I love meeting new readers and writers. You can find it on your browser at: http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2009/12/08/the-devil-in-merrivale-virtual-book-tour-january-10/
I look forward to hearing from you.:-)
Break's over!
Monday, 25 January 2010
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Surviving Christmas
Whew! Had a wonderful Christmas whether we could afford it or not. The biggest problem was where to put the things in the 'absolutely necessary and the best I could do' things - you know, which line of credit could stand it I mean. Well, we did it I think. Anyway, we ate. We had a few (practical) gifts. We celebrated. We enjoyed. Now the the question for 2010 - can we survive and get our debts back down to a (reasonably) manageable level and still eat and have a roof over our heads? I think so. I hope so. We're working on it. LOL. Getting some of these debts down to managable is my only resolution for the new year aside from the one I make and break every year: "Engage brain before putting mouth in gear!"
Happy New year and good luck to all of us - oh yeah, one more thing.
The publisher who gave me a contract on my Merrivale series (Zumaya Publications, their new mystery imprint, Enigma) arranged for me to do a blog tour at Pump Up Your Book so please do visit and leave comments or questions on my guest blogs. Go to Pump Up Your Book and visit all of them. I'll answer every question and really enjoy meeting new readers and writers and fellow bloggers too.
Happy New year and good luck to all of us. Break's over!
Jackie
Happy New year and good luck to all of us - oh yeah, one more thing.
The publisher who gave me a contract on my Merrivale series (Zumaya Publications, their new mystery imprint, Enigma) arranged for me to do a blog tour at Pump Up Your Book so please do visit and leave comments or questions on my guest blogs. Go to Pump Up Your Book and visit all of them. I'll answer every question and really enjoy meeting new readers and writers and fellow bloggers too.
Happy New year and good luck to all of us. Break's over!
Jackie
Thursday, 17 December 2009
Free Excerpt/Take Time to Laugh
Here's a day-brightener for friends, fellow readers and writers. It's an excerpt from my LIGHTEN UP which is now on Kindle for $0.99.
Tis the season of more feelings than Peace on Earth and jolly whoopee. If the madding crowd doesn't stampede and stomp you to death in the mall, and you don't have a stroke from frustration trying to find someone to wait on you, the other shoppers will take deadly aim at you as you cringe in your car at the mercy of traffic lights (both working and non-working) in the snarl of traffic where you've got hemmed in and can't move in any direction.
All the scary scenes aren't in the movies set on a dark and stormy night. Some of them are right out in bright sunlight in the middle of a mob of lunitics, all bad-mouthing each other for the delay in their ritual celebration of peace on earth, good will toward men (which doesn't include their vehicles.)
The worst is yet to come. Some of the things you'e had delivered or managed to get into the trunk of your car are in boxes stenciled with the three words that can make any family man's blood run cold - Some Assembly Required. This is the absolute epitome of understatement. What's in that innocent looking cardboard carton is a lot of bits and pieces along with a little plastic sack labeled hardware. There's also a leaflet with 'simple' instructions for the simpleton who bought the thing. Included, is a picture of the product the way it's supposed to look - if all the pieces are there; you have an engineering degree; and there are no interruptions; and you are blessed with the patience of Job.
You lay out all the neatly numbered pieces, never mind the hardware yet. This is the point where you notice the instructions are in English, Spanish, and French, implying any simpleton in any location in the world should be able to do this job, so you should be able to also. This is the first stab of self coubt packed into this Pandora's Box of troubles.
All the big and little odd shaped pieces have numbers or letters on them. Some of them have both, the hardware too. It helps to keep the picture of the finished product where you can see it. It may begin to look like you're getting there by the time you get most of it assembled. In some cases reasembled, because piece E should have been insered in chunk 10A before putting 10A into slot 2B.
By now you are sure you will be through by Christmas. But Christmas what year? The next stage is when the monster, if you use just a little imagination, resembles the pictue of the finished product. So you decide you can do witout shelves three and four. And what difference does it make if you don't put on that door that you had on upside down and had to remove on that extra shelf? Who need it, anyway? The thing is now functional and somewhat resembles the picture, give or take a couple of shelves. So you call it done.
The struggle it took to get that far makes you wonder how the French and Spanish buyers made out with their projects. As you close the instructions, on the back side of the brochure there's more print in some other foreign language. The picture looks like a screwdriver being inserted into an electical outlet. I bet that cuts down on the number of complaints!
Break's over - Merry Christmas! :-)
Tis the season of more feelings than Peace on Earth and jolly whoopee. If the madding crowd doesn't stampede and stomp you to death in the mall, and you don't have a stroke from frustration trying to find someone to wait on you, the other shoppers will take deadly aim at you as you cringe in your car at the mercy of traffic lights (both working and non-working) in the snarl of traffic where you've got hemmed in and can't move in any direction.
All the scary scenes aren't in the movies set on a dark and stormy night. Some of them are right out in bright sunlight in the middle of a mob of lunitics, all bad-mouthing each other for the delay in their ritual celebration of peace on earth, good will toward men (which doesn't include their vehicles.)
The worst is yet to come. Some of the things you'e had delivered or managed to get into the trunk of your car are in boxes stenciled with the three words that can make any family man's blood run cold - Some Assembly Required. This is the absolute epitome of understatement. What's in that innocent looking cardboard carton is a lot of bits and pieces along with a little plastic sack labeled hardware. There's also a leaflet with 'simple' instructions for the simpleton who bought the thing. Included, is a picture of the product the way it's supposed to look - if all the pieces are there; you have an engineering degree; and there are no interruptions; and you are blessed with the patience of Job.
You lay out all the neatly numbered pieces, never mind the hardware yet. This is the point where you notice the instructions are in English, Spanish, and French, implying any simpleton in any location in the world should be able to do this job, so you should be able to also. This is the first stab of self coubt packed into this Pandora's Box of troubles.
All the big and little odd shaped pieces have numbers or letters on them. Some of them have both, the hardware too. It helps to keep the picture of the finished product where you can see it. It may begin to look like you're getting there by the time you get most of it assembled. In some cases reasembled, because piece E should have been insered in chunk 10A before putting 10A into slot 2B.
By now you are sure you will be through by Christmas. But Christmas what year? The next stage is when the monster, if you use just a little imagination, resembles the pictue of the finished product. So you decide you can do witout shelves three and four. And what difference does it make if you don't put on that door that you had on upside down and had to remove on that extra shelf? Who need it, anyway? The thing is now functional and somewhat resembles the picture, give or take a couple of shelves. So you call it done.
The struggle it took to get that far makes you wonder how the French and Spanish buyers made out with their projects. As you close the instructions, on the back side of the brochure there's more print in some other foreign language. The picture looks like a screwdriver being inserted into an electical outlet. I bet that cuts down on the number of complaints!
Break's over - Merry Christmas! :-)
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Audio Books Coming Soon!
Hope everyone is looking over the three books I put on Kindle since two of them are small enough to order to read on your computer if you want to. There are audio books coming in the near future too - it's really going to be hard to get away from me isn't it? You may as well give up and order a couple of my books.:-)
I'm thrilled that when Books in Motion schedules Spanish Eyes for their audios, MP3s and other goodies I'll be published in all formats. Of course, I'd be a lot more thrilled if I weren't still squeezing ink cartridges out of the grocery list. It really is true that a writer must write. I like to write as well as read and I plan to keep writing as long as I can see the monitor.
My Merrivale series will begin in December (this month!) with The Devil in Merrivale and The Nelson Scandal will follow next year, there will be a new one each year. Come visit Merrivale and also when you visit here, please sign my guest book and leave a Hi! or a comment. I love meeting readers and other writers and would like to hear from you.
Five Star will publish my Dead on Arrival in January of 2010, the first of a new mystery series. Merrywinds, a young adult adventure novel will follow in December of 2010.
Whatever you're reading, have fun and enjoy this beautiful fall weather.
Break's over!
Jackie
I'm thrilled that when Books in Motion schedules Spanish Eyes for their audios, MP3s and other goodies I'll be published in all formats. Of course, I'd be a lot more thrilled if I weren't still squeezing ink cartridges out of the grocery list. It really is true that a writer must write. I like to write as well as read and I plan to keep writing as long as I can see the monitor.
My Merrivale series will begin in December (this month!) with The Devil in Merrivale and The Nelson Scandal will follow next year, there will be a new one each year. Come visit Merrivale and also when you visit here, please sign my guest book and leave a Hi! or a comment. I love meeting readers and other writers and would like to hear from you.
Five Star will publish my Dead on Arrival in January of 2010, the first of a new mystery series. Merrywinds, a young adult adventure novel will follow in December of 2010.
Whatever you're reading, have fun and enjoy this beautiful fall weather.
Break's over!
Jackie
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Ninety-nine Cent Books!
Well, it had to happen with the economy in the toilet - ha! I tried to lower my price on three ebooks to $0.00 but Kindle wouldn't let me - price has to be "between $.99 and $200.00." So now I've got three items on Kindle for ninety-nine cents as early Christmas presents for anyone who wants to read them. I'm a newcomer to Kindle and have been putting things on it since the last of May or the first of June. The 'freebies' I hope you (fellow readers and writers ) will like are: LIGHTEN UP which is random articles from the humor column I did several years ago before I got so many deadlines to meet; THREE M ANTHOLOGY is three different stories involving mystery, magic, and mischief; and the third one is CHRISTMAS TREK which also has the reading script for anyone who is curious to see a reading script can get a look at what they look like-this one's a family story set in the future when we've let polution run us off Planet Earth to colonize another home in outer space.
I just can't stay in here a minute longer, I'm going out and enjoy the gorgeous fall weather - hope everyone is stocking up on books to read when winter comes.
Happy reading. Break's over!
Jackie
I just can't stay in here a minute longer, I'm going out and enjoy the gorgeous fall weather - hope everyone is stocking up on books to read when winter comes.
Happy reading. Break's over!
Jackie
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Now Hear This!!!
The good news is: I've just signed a contract with Books in Motion for an audio book of SPANISH EYES (HC from Five Star and LP out in Nov. 2008). Don't know when it will be scheduled but am really pleased about it. It's my first audio book (couldja tell? LOL).
The Merrivale cozy mystery series will begin Nov. 2009 with the first one, THE DEVIL IN MERRIVALE and there will be another each year from Zumaya Publications.
I'm waiting for Pat Browning's book, WINTER MOON, the second of her Pearl series. Watch Krill Publishing and Amazon for announcement. ABSINTHE OF MALICE, the first of the series is now available and is the first of the Pearl series. No cozy mystery lover should miss this series, you'll be returning to Pearl as often as Pat Browning will let you (me too :-))
Also, please watch here and at Amazon for two 'Christmas presents:' I'm changing the price on two e-books to $0.00 till the end of the year. If they turn out to be popular, will probably leave them as gifts. Like everything else in publishing, it will take a while to get into the system; make the changes; and wait, wait, wait, till the changes are made. These two e-books will give anyone who needs a little ray of sunshine in our daily lives some laughs and chuckles. Will announce soon as I can get it done.
Break's over! :-)
Jackie
The Merrivale cozy mystery series will begin Nov. 2009 with the first one, THE DEVIL IN MERRIVALE and there will be another each year from Zumaya Publications.
I'm waiting for Pat Browning's book, WINTER MOON, the second of her Pearl series. Watch Krill Publishing and Amazon for announcement. ABSINTHE OF MALICE, the first of the series is now available and is the first of the Pearl series. No cozy mystery lover should miss this series, you'll be returning to Pearl as often as Pat Browning will let you (me too :-))
Also, please watch here and at Amazon for two 'Christmas presents:' I'm changing the price on two e-books to $0.00 till the end of the year. If they turn out to be popular, will probably leave them as gifts. Like everything else in publishing, it will take a while to get into the system; make the changes; and wait, wait, wait, till the changes are made. These two e-books will give anyone who needs a little ray of sunshine in our daily lives some laughs and chuckles. Will announce soon as I can get it done.
Break's over! :-)
Jackie
Friday, 14 August 2009
jjgbreaktimewithjackie.blogspot.com
jjgbreaktimewithjackie.blogspot.com will take you directly to my latest blog. Somehow another entry on the net takes you to an entry back in August years ago!? So be advised, go to jjgbreaktimewithjackie.blogspot.com to get the latest blog, news, one writer to other writer's and reader's discussions and gossip, and general sharing, whoopee, and keepin' in touch. I love to hear from fellow writers, readers and anyone who wants to share experiences and news bulletins that all of us enjoy on our respective digests and lists. One of the very best things about being a writer is meeting so many wonderful, talented, and just plain interesting people. And please, when you come to visit, sign my guestbook. :-)
Break's over!
Jackie
Break's over!
Jackie
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