Read An E-Book Week

Each year "Read An E-Book Week" celebrates the fresh voices and fresh choices of electronic literature. When the top 10 bestselling list for 2005 includes the Bible, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, there remains no doubt that e-books have gone from oddity to mainstream.

Book lovers world-wide have used their mouses to send e-book sales soaring. Steve Potash, CEO of OverDrive, Inc. and director of International Digital Publishing Forum, the trade and standards association for the digital publishing industry, stated: "E-books represent the fastest -growing segment of the publishing industry."

"Read An E-Book Week" (March 5-11th, 2006) was created four years ago to educate readers about the advantages of electronic books, and to promote the fledgling industry. In 2002, publishers were struggling with low sales and libraries reluctant to consider their books. Today many libraries carry e-books and even provide e-book readers to their patrons. E-book topics now range from dance instruction to science fiction, repair manuals to romance novels.

E-book sales continue to rise each year by as much as 30%, which gives e-book authors and publishers reason to celebrate.

Another reason for me to celebrate--I just got my first "two thumbs up" from a reader. Check this out: "I made a comment last week about buying this book because of the cover... I'm glad I bought it! I give this newbie author 2 thumbs up! In a short number of pages Ms. Quinn manages to give this story a strong plot and characters that are well worth remembering. I hated to put the story down this morning (but I had to go to work), but as soon as I got home I finished it! Get this book! It's worth your time and money!"

How incredibly cool is that?!?

Atonement Is At Hand...

... and on sale at New Concepts Publishing! Redemption always carries a costly price tag. For Simon Trelawney, the price just might be his heart and soul.

When the Prince of Darkness offers Simon Trelawney the chance to redeem himself by wresting Jack the Ripper's intended victim from beneath his nose, it isn’t the chance of redemption that appeals to him as much as the chance for revenge against the vampire who turned him over a hundred years ago.

Tessa Long is not just any victim, however. She’s the great-granddaughter of the woman Jack originally planned to possess and kill, a victim he is obsessed with claiming, and Simon discovers that it will not be the Prince of Darkness who decides his fate. It is Tessa herself who will be his salvation--or the death of him.


Lucifer, Jack the Ripper, and a yummy vampire. What are you waiting for? Go claim your Atonement now!

March Is National Women's History Month

I'm going to be blogging periodically throughout the month about women in history that I particularly admire, hoping to share with others what made them special. The theme this year is "Women: Builders of Communities and Dreams," honoring the spirit of possibility and hope set in motion by generations of women in their creation of communities and their encouragement of dreams.

I'd be remiss if I didn't start off with my mother. She's not going to win any awards from anyone except her grateful kids, but she managed to raise four of us and make sure we became responsible, intelligent and compassionate adults. And while sometimes she may not agree with the choices we make, she still supports and loves us.

One of my sisters-in-law comments about what funny, fun-to-know people my sister, two brothers and I are. Considering she's been around us for 30 years, she's in a good position to know just how "funny" we can be. LOL I give most of the credit to my mom. Dad was a great provider: we never wanted for food, clothing or shelter, but he wasn't invested emotionally in us. Mom was.

Mom is.

Thanks. I admire you. I love you.


(P.S. Welcome home, Jenna. You know where to find me if you need me.)

I'm Over At Torrid

Today is my author day at Torrid Temptations -- come on over and say hi!

But, just so you don't feel lonely here, I'll leave some eye candy. One for the girls:

And one for the guys.


Enjoy!

New Release!

My Torrid Teaser, Careful Wishes, is out today at Whiskey Creek Press Torrid. This is the first of a series of four stories with interconnected characters. The others will appear in the remaining seasonal anthologies at WCP Torrid, coming in April, July and October.


Careful Wishes: Addie Langdon has a telepathic empathy for animals, which makes her perfect for her job. She and her twin sister are part owners of Friends, Incorporated, a private investigation firm that specializes in finding things--and people--that are lost. Addie has lost Donovan Miles because of her gift. Or has she...?


And, more good news, I just found out that the manuscript I submitted to Amber Quill for their annual contest was selected to be published!! There were over 200 entries, and only 11 were selected, so I'm feeling pretty good today! LOL

Look for The Claiming from Amber Quill Press in June.

It's The End Of February

Granted, this is our shortest month, but where did it go? I was extremely unproductive this month--managed to write just one short story (8k words) and that was it. Oh, I worked on my wolfie story. I added a couple of scenes to Chapter One and tightened it up, and made some decisions about how to handle the hero's lycanthropy. But I pretty much wrote less than 1,000 new words on it. (Now, I'll cut myself a little slack because I was sick for two of the four weeks of the month. But that only means I have a lot of time to make up for.)

March will be different. It has to be, or I'll never make a go of this. And I want--I need--to make a go of this. It has to be more than a hobby, something I do because I like it.

So, today I have errands and a long-overdue haircut in the morning, and this afternoon, after I've had some lunch, I'll write Chapter Two of the wolf story if I have to stay up through the night.

Like Larry the Cable Guy says, just git 'er done.

My Heart Is Broken...

... for my friend, Jenna. Her dad, who was in Arizona for the winter, contracted Valley Fever 2 weeks ago. The symptoms were misdiagnosed, the fungus spread, and he passed away today.


I don't even have words.

What do you say to a woman who just lost her best friend and the man who helped shaped her into the beautiful person she is today? And living almost two thousand miles away from her, I feel completely helpless. All I can do is pray for Jenna and her family, and that doesn't feel like enough. I need to do something.

I don't know what she's going through; I am lucky enough to still have both of my parents. My father has given us a few scares and, at 79 and in not the best of health, I can't imagine we'll have him around much longer.

Jenna had an expection of being able to be with her dad for many more years to come.

So I have this to say:

Jenna, know that you're in my thoughts and my prayers, and in the tears I shed for your sorrow. Know that I'm here for you, in any way I can be, at any time, today and tomorrow. It will be a hard, long road you have to travel, but I know you'll make it. You have a loving family and loving friends who will carry you when you cannot make it on your own. Have no expectations of yourself, you will deal with this the way you need to, not the way others think you should. Remember your dad with love and affection, miss him, and know that you are a better person because of him.

And know that I love you.


(This will be my only post here for today and Monday. I'll be over at NCP Authors' blog tomorrow.)