This is me.

Hi there! :) We went to Ireland and the UK this summer, and while we were in Scotland, I climbed 287 steps just to say I did it and get this picture and view! :)

I did it despite all the obstacles I posted about here.

Today, I begged and pleaded sought more contributions for my Sam McRae Mystery Series campaign.

And please consider contributing to my literacy and Sandy relief campaign.

Here’s my Sam McRae Series Facebook Page. Please, pretty please, “like” it. :)

However, I really do give all readers choices. My novels are available as ebooks here now. Thank you, Eamon Moroney, for the info about Bkclb. :)

So … after lunch, I took a walk with my husband, during which we discussed whether high school girls would refer to other students as “kids” or not. We have no kids, so I don’t know. Anyone out there know? Anyone with kids? LOL!

Mr. Teachbad? Any help? :)

Are you too famous to help me? Ha ha ha …

Then, I sat down and prepared a shitty rough outline of my speech for the Sisters in Crime, Richmond Chapter. And I still had time afterward to work on my novel and write this post. Because that’s my job, and I’m a blue collar writer, a blogger, and a happy fool.

And here’s the shitty rough outline. Read it and weep laugh or whatever.

Introduce myself, explain my series, the NYTimes list, etc.

Never intended to make a career as a self-published author. My first novel was published by small press in 2005, but went out of print 9 months later when the publisher went under.

Shortly before the novel went out of print, I suffered a stroke and developed a rare movement disorder called dystonia.

Despite these setbacks, I kept writing freelance and fiction. I submitted my work to agents and small presses, and kept doing so after I decided to bring my first novel back into print through Lulu.com.

Around the time I got ready to publish through Lulu, I read about publishing ebooks for Kindle on Joe Konrath’s and Lee Goldberg’s blogs. I decided to do so.

I started off pricing my ebooks at $1.59, but dropped the price to $.99 to see if it would help sales. My sales shot through the roof. Naturally, they would compared to the prices charged by publishers, which were unreasonably high. And who wouldn’t try something new, if it was cheap? I was selling myself short, in the hopes of gaining greater exposure. I knew this wasn’t a sustainable business practice, but I hoped that I could come away with something to show for it.

When the New York Times announced it was going to include indie authors on its bestseller list, I kept my prices low and hoped, despite the scoffing of someone who won’t be named. When I actually hit the list, I couldn’t believe it. The whole experience seemed surreal, yet when I contacted local papers with press releases about the news, no one cared.

Here’s what it boils down to: the only reason I made the NY Times list was that I sold a whole lot of downloads cheap for Kindle and Nook. I get 4 and 5 star reviews, so I write the best books I can. I don’t pay for reviews. But I hit the market at the right time, too.

Amazon has used the publishing business’ bad business practices against it to take over. It’s obviously trying to become the one and only publisher, i.e., the ultimate gatekeeper.

I assure you, the speech will go nothing like this one. There will be no tears. I’m no longer taking myself so seriously.

Can you see the apocalypse coming? :)

This blog will take a break for Thanksgiving. I’m grateful that I’m able to write and go places and do things. I have a loving husband and a funny sister and an awesome brother, and their kids are awesome. All of them. Each and every one. Please don’t make me type all the names. You know who you are.

You are more important to me than anything.

I miss my dead friend, Bill, so much. But then I think of Paul, who really is so much like Bill it’s scary awesome. However, there’s a huge body of water between us. So all I can do is blog, tweet, FB and wave like mad. *waving*

Paul, Trevor and me at Cafe Nero.

Paul and me at THE Brentwood Library.

PS: This is what death looks like.

This isn’t.

PPS: Here’s stuff I pinned. Whoopee!

PPPS: From Publishers Lunch, 11/16/12, and I quote:

“Forbes has named Amazon ceo Jeff Bezos as their businessperson of the year, featured on the magazine’s cover. Hey normal, take that.”

Here I thought I was the doofus!

Is this man the Devil?

Isn’t there a saying that the greatest trick the Devil pulled off was convincing the world he didn’t exist? Or words to that effect.

Please, pretty please, if you buy an ereader as a Christmas gift, buy a Kobo.

Help us Hiroshi Mikitani, you may be our only hope. :)

Our salvation?

Print books also make great gifts, if you’d like to contribute to either of my noble campaigns. Thank you! :)

PPPPS: For Trevor. Richard the Lionheart.

Richard the First, aka the Lionheart

He reminds me of this man.

UPDATE: Oh, crap! :) I forgot to mention that yesterday was World Toilet Day. Here’s a weirdly bizarrely curiously an appropriate tune for this post from Nik Nak’s Old Peculiar.

And this quote:

“The principle, in building a sewer system, was of diverting the cause of the mischief to a locality where it can do no mischief.”

Sir Joseph Bazalgette.

Is there a metaphor in there somewhere? I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

Could this be a good sign? :)

Go Terps!