Ok, a few of you are really great but apparently most of you are mssing the whole point of recommended reading. See, I tell you what I recommend and you tell me what you recommend. It's easy. I find that the more I surf through the available books, I'm finding it harder and harder to find author's that I really like and I'm really not that picky. I don't normally put my two cents in on books I don't like but has anyone tried Bridgette's Boy Toy? Well I did. I only wasted two minutes because that's when I gave up. And the reviews were middle of the road reviews. Unfortunately, I've found a lot of books lately that I didn't finish. That used to be pretty rare. So, here's my recommendation for today. If you've never read Kim Harrison's series The Hollows, you should try it. They've been out for a while and she's definitely already established herself as an excellent writer. She's good. The books are nothing like what I write but I have them all except the last one and I enjoyed all of them. the best part, she didn't lose steam or get lazy after book 6 or 7. Book 9 was as good as book 1.
So, I gave you a good recommendation. Have a heart and save me the trouble of reading all those samples.
Casey
P.S. I've developed a real fondness for Highlander books. Something about those handsome, lusty, wild men just does it for me. So if you know of a good one, please share.
I sometimes do web searches to find out where my books are turning up and I found a blog that I wanted to pass along. It recommends some good books, some free, some not, but definitely worth checking out if you haven't already. http://temptingbooks.blogspot.com/p/home.html Enjoy!Casey
I always say I'm going to take a day off but I never actually seem to to do it. So... First, I made the changes on the site. I consolidated the retail links and added a page for other authors or artists. It's really for anybody who wants to read it. I'm tired and I really need sleep so I can't be entirely sure that I wrote what I intended to write. I could end up changing it. Who knows. I'm working on another story right now. It's new and I don't even know how long it will be. Of course, if it doesn't go where I want it to, I'll scrap it and start over. It's one of those stories where I know my characters and I know how I want it to end but I have to get them there.
I'm going to finish the fourth Indulgence story but need a few days away from the series. Sorry, but Tamed really took it out of me. In a day or so, I should have a better idea of where I stand with both stories and hopefully will be able to tell you a little more.
Casey
Tamed has been uploaded to Amazon and should be available tomorrow. To celebrate, I've discounted Surrender for a limited time. It's at Amazon and Smashwords for .99. It will drop at other retailers but it takes a little longer for them to update their price, although iTunes will probably change theirs within a few days.
For the most part anyway. I made the necessary changes on the website and plan to consolidate some of it in the next day or two. The first two Tales of Indulgence books are available at most retailers including iTunes. Friday nights has also made it to most of them so I'm going to group all of the retail links under one page. It probably won't include iTunes because frankly, I don't know how to link to theirs. I'm also going to add a page for other authors or anyone who wants to become one. And no, I don't know everything. I'm winging most of this as I go. But, I've thought about it and I want to do it. Since I'm the boss, I get to do that. I'll admit I spent part of the last two days on my bike instead of working around the clock. I needed the therapy after a week of cold rain and snow. First hint of sunshine and I was out of here. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned sunshine as a necessary requirement in my life. The dull spoon didn't work. Of course, that's why I chose the spoon. A dull knife might have eventually gotten the job done and my children would not have been happy. My sunshine didn't last long nor did my time on the bike because it was still awfully damned cold but it helped and I'm as close to sane as I ever am. If anyone has anything to say, give it a shot. If you don't want to put it out there for everyone, send me an email.
Casey
It took most of the evening since I forgot to check the formatting this morning. It's not easy to do with someone yelling mom every five minutes. But, it's done. And it's up. So, I'm taking a moment to breathe before I update on everything else.
Casey
It took a little longer than I thought but hey, life called. I did in fact finish Tamed. It's not on Smashwords yet but will be before the end of the day, barring disaster or a downed internet connection. Duty calls and the job that pays the bills gets first priority for the moment. Yeah, I've got to go to work but I'll get Tamed uploaded before the day is over.
Firday Nights is the first story to be available at iTunes. It's my understanding that they manually check erotica titles to make sure they meet their standards - subject matter must be legal and must involve consenting adults. I know that Surrender and Unbound are both there but so far have not been made available for purchase.
Tamed is nearly finished. I know, I've said that at least once before but it really is. It just takes so damned long to edit. Have I mentioned that I'm have tendencies toward OCD? I obsess sometimes about errors I might have missed and I know it doesn't change anything. Truly, after you've read your own work a hundred times, you know the story and you tend to see what you meant for it to say and not what it actually says. In my real job, I write a great deal of correspondence and have to be extremely patient when proofing or I'll do the same thing there.
So yes, Tamed will be done this weekend. One way or another. I cannot tell you for certain when it will be published. Not today I don't think but maybe tomorrow or at worst, Monday. I'll let you know.
Casey
I know I've mentioned that I read a lot. I probably have enough money invested in books that I could have bought at least one more home. I ran out of room for all of the physical editions so I now buy primarily ebooks. Since I just mentioned that I don't normally review books, I decided to start letting people know when I read something I like. I don't discriminate. I read different kinds of stories all the time. It makes no difference to me if it's an established author or a new author, whether the book cost $10 or if it was free. I read whatever catches my eye as long as it's not garbage or filled with some religious message detailing god's plan. I quickly delete those. So...what I read last night was Needing Nita by Norah Wilson. You can find it right now for free on Amazon. As much as Amazon frustrates me as an author, it's still where I pick up most of my books. Regardless, this is not a new book and you may have already read it. If you haven't, it's worth the time to read it. I enjoyed it. It's one that I would gladly pay for and it will eventually lead me to buy the author's other stories when I'm looking for something else to read. Since I can finish a novel in a day (even when I have ten other things to do), I'm always looking for something new to read. I'm the person who reads while walking down the street, fixing dinner, or half a dozen other tasks. Needing Nita is short but sometimes short is what I'm looking for. It made a great bedtime story.
If you have a recommendation, feel free to share. Yes, I'd much prefer people read my books but I'm not going to hold it against them if they don't. Not to mention that I don't want to read my own stuff. I know how it all ends and I haven't forgotten yet. So, I need new things to read too. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.
Casey
You know, I tried to let this go. I really did. It's just been sitting there, gnawing at me. At the risk of offending those who frequent those forums, I just feel compelled to share. First, let me say, I do not participate in their discussions. I find no reason to stick my two cents in so that someone can turn around and pounce on me. Frankly I have better things to do. I can assure you, the forums are not for the feint of heart. The discussions I've seen are controlled primarily by people who come across as pompous, arrogant, and frequently rude. They are extremely clickish and do in fact remind me of schoolyard bullies. They jump on people who are new to the posts and they encourage and applaud each other. Having said that, I can tell you that I occasionally see a thread that catches my eye and curious person that I am, I will take a minute to see if I can figure out the topic. There have been two of those lately. The first was one on authors who review their own books, get friends or family to review them or possibly pay people to review them. Since this is a subject that has been on my mind lately, I wanted to check it out. What I found were posts by many of the same names I've seen in the past and they were discussing how they can tell which authors had fake reviews. It appeared that they go to a great deal of trouble to make these determinations, basing them on things such as the reviewers, how many reviews they have, how many total reviews a book has, whether they're all five stars, etc. Huh? Who has time for this? Wouldn't it just be simpler to read the sample? What about the new author that has two great reviews? Would this author automatically be condemned for having two five star reviews? I personally, wouldn't want to be responsible for falsely accusing someone of writing their own reviews. Yes, I know it's done but I'd like to believe it's fairly rare. I personally don't usually leave reviews unless I've read something that no one else has reviewed and I really liked it. I don't base my own decisions on a book's reviews because what I like, others may hate. I've read books with fifty or sixty good reviews that I really didn't like. I always read the sample and make my own decision. But, for authors who are trying to get started, who have written a good story, I will tell whether or not I loved it or hated it. I won't critique the book because I don't want to unduly influence someone else. This is just my personal take on book reviews.
Now, a day or two after I abandoned the discussion about the reviews, I came across one where they were asking whether or not what they posted constituted cyber bullying. Well, duh? Truly, if you have not read any of these posts, check them out. You can debate the definition of cyber bullies all day long and it won't change the fact that if your posts are cruel, sarcastic, and hateful, and only serve to encourage people to tuck their tail and abandon a discussion, then yeah, you are a bully. I don't care what you call yourself.
Now I doubt that those same people will lower themselves to the point where they will read my posts, but just in case, I will admit that I don't frequent the forums. I don't read the entire thread. I will read part of it and then abandon it. I'm sure that these same people cannot rule all of the forums. Good god, there are only so many hours in a day and they must devote a fair share of those to the forums but they can't spend all of their time there.
Why do I care? I've spent the better part of my life studying human behavior and all I've ever determined for certain is that I still don't understand most of it. However, it does still fascinate me. And... I really don't like bullies.
Casey
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