Hooked into Werewolf Fiction!

Just to show that blog tours and twitter marketing really do work – I’ve recently stumbled across multiple references to Naomi Clark’s latest book, DARK HUNT.  She’s kicking off a blog tour, and her publisher, QueeredFiction, has been doing a great job of keeping folks informed via twitter updates.

I saw the first twitter update, didn’t pay much attention.

Image via Wikipedia

Saw the 2nd, and thought hmm… who is Naomi Clark…. but didn’t click the link.

By the 3rd or 4th, I caught a reference about werewolves and thought kewl, haven’t read a lesbian werewolf story yet.  So clicked the link.  Poked around her website some.  Went away.

Image via Wikipedia

Then saw the twitter update AGAIN.  And thought, I should go see if I like her writing.  So poked around some more… Saw it was the 2nd in a series.  So figure I need to get the 1st right?  Well, I stuck DARK HUNT on my amazon wishlist anyway.

Then saw the blog tour mentioned AGAIN, with a ‘free’ coupon for the 1st book.  So jumped on that for sure.

And finally, whilst pulling together the links for this post, I found her free story that introduces the main characters in her werewolf series.  Again, must read!

Anyway, all this to show how much repeat marketing it takes to get me to click a link and finally decide to make a purchase

ps – just noticed she’s from the UK.  I wonder if she writes with an accent?  (tee hee)

pps – Naomi – If you stumble on this post – do your other books have lesbian/queer content or just this series?!?  Inquiring minds want to know…

Found a new blogging toy

I’m testing out Zemanta – a blogging add-in that should recommend links and resources around the web that relate to this post.  So far, it has found nothing in this post worth pulling up other recommended links…hmph.  Says “preparing…”

How about if I talk about lesbian fiction, or lesbian science fiction?  hmm.

 

Image via Wikipedi

What about specific authors, like Jane Fletcher, or Nicola Griffith?  hmm…

Okay went away for a bit and now it has recommended links that if I click, will automagically give all the hotlinks you see above.

And a can add quick images  like this one:

And I can click on a selection of supposedly related articles:

Related Articles

• LGBT Fiction Fest: Last of the Lesbians (pinkbananaworld.com)
• Re: Make blog posts look better with Zemanta (disqus.com)
• Writer Aims To Redefine “Chick-on-Chick” Lit (pinkbananaworld.com)

Anyway, not bad.  Worth playing with more…

Writer/Publisher Conference Live-stream NOW

If you’ve  got the time, this is a great conference to snoop on:

http://www.toccon.com/toc2011/public/content/video

Good stuff.

Interesting articles on Layering in Fiction and Multiverse…

Writer Unboxed has an interesting article by Victoria Mixon on Layering in fiction. The author talks about three types of layering:

• Novel-layering-where you alternate between plotlines by switching, one chapter at a time, for example, between developing plot One and in the next chapter, develop plot Two.  This continues as each plotline moves closer to the other until they collide as a major change point in your novel.
• Scene layering – where you alternate the ‘tone’ of each scene to mix up the novel. For example, a funny scene, then serious,  then action-packed etc.
• detail-level layering – where you add the small details to each scene that draws the picture, but also, and most importantly, highlights something important. Don’t talk about the MC’s raven hair unless there’s some significance to it (e.g. that it proves she is the daughter of King, and not the lowly peasant she grew up as).

Read the original article… it’s much better.

Then, on to the multiverse!  I’ve always gotten a kick out of thinking of parallel universes and what possibilities there are for stories.  I had story pop out of a very detailed dream wherein a cop had to chase down a murderer through multiple parallel universes, wherein said killer was bumping off the same person in every universe. Sooo much fodder there for a really fun story (or novella)…must write that some day.

Anyway, Lynn Vhiel talks about the multiverse after hearing an interview with Brian Greene on his new book that talks about the real-world possibility of parallel universes. I’d seen him interviewed on the Colbert Report and thought it was an interesting book. (I’ve since downloaded the sample chapters for Kindle and it seems very readable for a scientific book).

…makes me wonder if AlternateMe has already written that parallel universe story (and did she do a better job than I will?  hmph).

So what do you think your alternate selves are up to?

Free Lesbian Book Giveaway over at Women and Words!

You don’t wanna miss this – more books being given away in the 12 days of Christmas than you can shake a stick at!

Go..enter…and hopefully win yourself a nice pressie!

Ongoing thread on quality lesbian-themed fiction

This thread is starting a nice list of authors I need to get off my backside and actually READ!  This includes:

• Emma Donahue
• April Sinclair
• Jeannette Winterson

and a scattering of books like The Fires of Bride and Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel books, and Larissa Lai’s “Salt Fish Girl”.

…and a whole thread on SF/F lesbian-themed books with too many recommendations to retype here!

 

Slowly embracing ebooks

So a few months back, I treated myself to an ipad. Beyond the fun video apps, I downloaded the major ebook readers (kindle, nook, ibook,).  (Had one other but hated it so removed it).  Since then I’ve been gathering free ebooks whenever I can.  Amazon has a list for the top 100 free ebooks (lower right side) and I scan that for interesting stuff.  Barnes and Noble also has a list of free ebooks and both these lists include modern books that are temporarily free for promotional purposes.

By far the best source of freebies for me is the SF Signal blog. They seem to find a free SF ebook about once a month, so that’s enough to keep me going so far. It’s also enough to make me realize i’ll actually pay for an ebook sooner or later. I’m enjoying the experience, and I know Bedazzled Ink has some great lesbian (SF and other) ebooks at good prices. (Yep, I’m still hung up on the notion that ebooks should cost less than their print counterparts…)

So, have you tried ebooks yet?  Love ‘em? Hate ‘em? See no point? Won’t buy until you can sell back as used or lend them out?