Check Out Last Chance

Hi Gang,
If you wish, please hop over to http://makeminemystery.blogspot.com and read about my last chance.
Thanks,
Morgan

Book Signing Today at Frontier Days Marketplace

If any of you are near Arlington Heights, please stop by and say hi. I'll be autographing Two Wrongs and Girl of My Dreams Saturday and Sunday from 10-6 at Recreation Park in the Frontier Days Marketplace in Booth 124 at Frontier Days.
I'm also handing out invitations for my book launch party for Killer Career for
August 16, 1-4pm. at the Arlington Heights Historical Museum, 110 W. Fremont,
Arlington Heights, IL. (You don't need an official invitation to come. It's
just good for a reminder to stick on your refrigerator or somewhere)

Other signing at the booth are romantic suspense author, Margot Justes, YA author, June Sproat and contemporary Western romance author, Debra St. John.

As most of you already know, Two Wrongs is a romantic suspense, Girl of My Dreams is a romantic comedy and the upcoming release, Killer Career is a romantic suspense.

Hope to see some of you over there.

Morgan Mandel

Let the Fun Begin!

Fortunately, we were set free from work today at 3:00. Now I can catch up on a few things before heading over to the Festival tonight to see a rock band called ARRA at the Frontier Stage.

We have some DVDs at home from the library. We may just be able to watch one or two before we go, since the band doesn't start until 9:15. Or, we may want to get pver there a bit early and eat desert, though we shouldn't.

Last night I had a hamburger at home, but at the Festival I could't resist a DQ Reese Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard. They've got pies, cheese cake, ice cream, brownies, and Blizzards. I wish I could eat them all,but I'm being bad enough! I have no willpower when it comes to good food.

What about you? Do you cave in and eat special treats at special events?

Catching My Breath

See why I'm catching my breath at http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com
Thanks,
Morgan

How Do You Sell Books?

How do you sell books? I know I've asked this question before in various forms, but now that I'm coming up to the date of Killer Career's release on August 15, I'm wondering what's the most effective approach.

Tell me, please. What do you do to sell books?

Meet My Guest, Mystery Author Robert W. Walker

Robert W. (Rob) Walker with his dog, Pongo

Welcome to a very special guest, a good friend, a great author, and diligent editor.

Rob Walker is a prolific mystery writer with about 47 books to his credit. It's hard to keep track.

He's one of the regulars at my group blog, Acme Authors Link and also was gracious enough to provide a great blurb for my upcoming release, Killer Career.

For a change of pace, Rob's stepped over to Double M. Here's how he turned an author's computer nightmare into a sweet dream.

And Now Here's Rob - (No, that's not him hanging from the tree. At least, I don't think so.)

New HP Scanning Hardware for a Hardboiled Writer
by Robert W. Walker

My Mac went “south” on me through no fault of its own; people who have seen it, the condition it is in, my beloved G4 Mac Momma laptop know that the label on its cover is not far from the truth: Shake Before Each Use.

The keys are so worn that the letters are gone, especially on e, t, l, m and n…completely obliterated from, I assume, secretions of the finger against metal or just plain worn away from pecking, pecking, an more pecking. Two keys are gone altogether, thanks to the cat. Again my fault. I left it open and running to go get a cup of java and on returning Clark Kent was asleep atop it. Must be great to fall asleep at the drop of a dime or catnip.

Worse yet about the Mac, the WIFI thingamabob that allows wireless internet was fried…this due to a little known mishap soon after I got my lovely and quite expensive G4 notebook. A certain friend, and I am naming no names, was drooling over the Mac while I was staying overnight at his place. In fact, his whole family, the dog included, were drooling over it and as the battery was run low, I took it upstairs and plugged her in and left her I thought safely alone and sleeping…her little light-emitting blink on and off thingamabob winking at me as I left the room. Then sometime later, maybe two hours? I returned to find that someone had slipped in and had slipped the Mac into its tight little carrying-case sleeve that fits like a pizza carrier, and digging it out I was burned by the touch of it against human skin—my human skin. It was hotter than any pizza I had ever laid hands on. Outside temperatures in Chicagoland at the time were in the single digits, so I raced the Mac outside via the front door, everyone following me and asking what was up….I wanted to stick the entire machine into the nearest snow bank, but my host whom we will call Joe for anonymity, restrained me, thinking that I had gone berserk after so many years of writing about berserk characters.

I put the machine in Joe’s hands and he gasped at the level of heat emanating from the Mac. I removed the battery, playing hot-potato with it until I found a chair on the porch to place it on. This was all some ten or so years ago but seems like yesterday. After some judicious detecting on my part, I ruled out the wife and kids and it remained to be seen how my host might apologize for this awful set of circumstances. There was nothing to be done about it as my host was also a writer and had less in the way of finances than I, and on taking my baby back to where it was born, the Mac hospital, the thingamabob inside that made wireless possible, I was told, was fried, but fortunately everything else was A-OK.

Of course over the years, I had dropped the Mac not once but thrice, but the last drop was a baddy…so bad that the screen had a blue ink “rupture” of the spleen. This about three and a half years ago. There was no fixing a ruptured screen, no way to replace it. I thought I had the problem licked by purchasing a second humongous screen upon which I could just move everything over. Sure it would be now a desktop but I was pretty much by this time using it that way anyhow…and for how many years I was the geek at the coffee shop who “appeared” dumb and uninformed about wireless ‘cause I was always plugged in at the coffee shop—not to wireless but to a wall. Tied down! In any case, the second monitor did not suffice; failed to do the job….well not the monitor but the MAC failed me this time as while I could move whole files and screen images over with ease, the screen guides and drop downs—all those necessities for me—were not moveable! They stayed put.

I worked around the growing cancer of a blue disease slowly eating away at more and more of my screen and covering more and more of my guides. I did a great deal of drop-down memorization. I learned as much as I could about keyboard commands. I stretched this baby to the limit, and you gotta give it to her, she delivered. For years she delivered. Until recently. Now she goes off on her own. I mean off. The screen goes blank and then it displays all the colors of the rainbow, and it takes effort to resuscitate Mac Honey Momma who has become Mac-Madinajad!

So as serendipity would have it, a number of “things” in the world coalesced for me at once. I knew I needed to back up all my files at once, and so I loaded up everything on thumb drives between Mac’s tantrums and working around the blue disease. As I did so, I learned of the dtpAmazon.com program that pretty much amounts to going into partnership as a self-publisher with Amazon, and I learned of the program from the very Joe who had smoked Mac Honey. What with all my out of print titles, all of which I have rights to, I could go into business with this new digital text platform publishing. All I needed to do was upload out of print titles, but guess what…most all of said titles were not written on my Mac and they were not stored nowhere no how except as old hardcopy manuscripts or the book itself on my shelf….Most had been written at a time when no one had ever heard of the term eBook or electronic thingamabobs or eBook publishing.

Anyway to make a long story short if that is possible at this point, I went out and got a 500 dollar HP Pavillion and a 120 dollar 4-in-1 copier, printer, fax, SCANNER so as to scan and scan again all the out of print titles onto the Pavillion whereupon I can edit, proof, rewrite, bring up to date these titles and generally spiff them up for publication as eBooks for the Kindle via dtp publishing. Thus far I have put up six titles for Kindle Store browser—some of the most voracious readers on the planet. I put up the easy stuff first, recently written and even more recently rejected books such as a great horror tale of spontaneous human combustion called Snake Flesh Wars, an exotic suspense novel set in old Havana called Cuba Blue, co-authored with Lyn Polkabla, a fantastic co-author and friend, Deja Blue, sequel to PSI Blue, Dead On Writing, a how-to for the disorganized among us writers, hehehe… and as I have always wanted to throw together an anthology of short stories, I done done that too! It’s called Thrice-Told Tales, and a couple of others that share space with three HarperCollins titles that have been Kindalized, City for Ransom, Shadows in the White City, and City of the Absent.

All told I have nine Kindle books up, and it’s a great buzz tool as well.
I am currently scanning (at 250 pgs of a 317 pgs.) the prequel to Snake Flesh Wars, the horror-science fiction title once known as Flesh and Fire that I plan to publish either as Fire Wall or Snake Flesh Wars #1 so there’s no confusing which came first, the snake or the fire. Let me just add that the 650 dollars spent on HP products to get these books up and selling at the Kindle Store was in my estimation a great bargain. The new line of HP scanners does OCR scanning, optical character recognition, a dream software that comes built into the HP 4-in-1s. Scanning this way at a box store or a university can cost up to 25 dollars a page!
Rob Walker
http://www.robertwalkerbooks.com/
http://www.robertwalker.com/

http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com/

www.myspace.com/robertwwalkerbooks.com

From Frustration to Fun

After my edits were done, I still spent many midnight oil nights trying to figure out how to get my cover for Killer Career to fit the template requirements provided by Lightning Source. When you have new programs you haven't used, it takes a while to get the hang of them. I wrestled quite a bit with Adobe Elements 7 and Acrobat Pro 9, but still was in the dark in more ways than one. Rascal kept whining and hinting she wanted to go to sleep, but I was still driven to get the cover down pat. (She won't go to her spot behind the easy chair until she makes sure I'm upstairs for the night.)

In frustration, from work I called my rep at Lightning Source and asked for help. She put it a message to the cover technician and I got a call back the same afternoon. It took about ten minutes for everything to click in my head and make sense. Sometimes that's all it takes, a few hints from someone in the know. The secret was using layers. He explained the concept and now I'm on a roll. I'm in control of the cover instead of the other way around.

It's turned into fun fooling around and getting it all just so. I expect to have the cover wrapped up as early as tonight or as late as this weekend.

That's a relief. Now I can go onto other things, like getting ready to submit for reviews, getting the book launch party promo ready, getting a pile of blogs for my virtual tour, lining up book signings. Okay, lots to do, but the most important will soon be out of the way.

Ryan's Hope Emmy Winner Louise Shaffer at Blog Talk Radio Today

Today at Blog Talk Radio Books and Blogs from 5-5:15pm CDST (IL time), I'm happy to host Louise Shaffer, Emmy award winning actress from Ryan's Hope, TV writer and novel author. We'll discuss her new novel, Serendipity, as well as why she enjoys writing novels.

The call-in number is 347-308-8605.
If you miss the live show, you can find the podcast here in the left column, as well as at my website, http://www.morganmandel.com/, or at my Blog Talk Radio page at http://blogtalkradio.com/booksandblogs.It sounds like she's leading a fascinating life. It should be a fun interview. Also, the cover art for her new book is really cute.

Pepsi vending machine

http://video.yahoo.com/network/100000086?v=5289218&l=100000085

If you didn't see this, it's really cute. See who was living in the machine. You don't have to be a Pepsi lover to like this story, even though I am.

So Near and Yet So Far

I'm very near to having Killer Career ready, yet have some stumbling blocks happening about the cover. I made a few changes so it would fit on the book cover size. I hadn't noticed before that the original form wouldn't work.

Right now I'm working madly to get everything figured out, but wanted to take a few minutes to say hello on my daily blog.

Now, back to figuring out a few puzzles.

A taste of Killer Career

If you'd like a taste of Killer Career, hop over to
http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com/2009/06/killer-career-by-morgan-mandel.html

Thanks,
Morgan Mandel

Rainy Day Reflections

Fleeting reflections on a rainy day -

A huge golf umbrella shielding a cell phone talker as she takes up half the sidewalk space.

People waiting in doorways with the hopes the downpour will stop.

Brave souls without umbrellas rushing through the rain.

Puddles at every corner.

Cars honking, people dashing across the street when they don't have the light.

A water taxi leaving to go across the river. I wonder how many people are on it? A canvas covers the sides so I can't tell.

A drummer man playing his drums on the bridge and hoping to get tips, despite the rain.

Squishing shoes as I walk through the train terminal.

The unpleasant feeling of the back of my legs and one arm being wet as I type this on the train.

How about you? Do you have any rainy day reflections?

Editing Blog at Make Mine Mystery Today

Please check out my blog about editing today at http://makeminemystery.blogspot.com, called Tearing Down the Walls.

As always, comments here, there or both are welcome.

Thanks

Getting There

Reminder: Interview with Austin S. Camacho today 2-2:15pm Central Daylight Savings Time (Illinois Time) Catch it at http://blogtalkradio.com/booksandblogs. Call in number is 347-308-8605.

Life is a bit hectic lately as I try to get Killer Career ready for publication. Life intrusions keep getting in the way, most of them pleasant, such as book signings, graduation parties, birthday parties. Also, we've got some DVDs to watch from the library which we'd reserved a while ago and will be due in a week.

Still, I'm getting there. Only a few finishing touches to go. I'm hoping I'll get through very soon. Maybe I can take a few deep breaths then before I rush ahead with the marketing.

Why do I do it?

I guess for the thrill of it all.

PS When I get time, I'll post about the book signing today at Bundles of Books & Gifts in Glen Ellyn, where I saw lots of wonderful people, had lots of fun and sold lots of books.

Book Signing in Glen Ellyn, IL today

I'm at a Book Signing Today from 11AM - 3 PM at
Bundles of Books & Gifts
560 Crescent Blvd., Glen Ellyn, IL 60137
Phone: 630-545-0069

If you're in the area, please stop by and say hello.

After the book signing, I've got a graduation party to go to. Busy days always
seem to get busier.

Coming Events

Sunday, I'll be doing another show on Blog Talk Radio. This time I'm featuring Austin S. Camacho, a great mystery writer and marketer. We'll talk about his new novel, Russian Roulette, among other topics which crop up. You can find the show from 2:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. Central Daylight Savings Time (Illinois time) this Sunday at http://blogtalkradio.com/booksandblogs

The good thing is if you miss the show Sunday, you can still catch it on its podcast at the same location. I'll also insert it in the left column here on the player.

Another coming attraction isn't happening until April, 2010. If you enjoy romance, check out the new website for the Spring Fling Writers Conference at http://www.chicagospringfling.com/ , sponsored by Chicago-North Romance Writers of America. Laurie Powers did a spectacular job setting up the website. It's worth a look just for that.

A Life Saved

My friend, Jeanne, came over to see me at the Arbor Vitae Flea Market where I was selling books, while the DH and I were on vacation. She happened to mention a chipmunk ran inside her house. It was still there because she couldn't find it.

Later that evening we stopped by her house to say goodbye since we were leaving for home the following morning. The chipmunk was still there. She was getting nervous about what kind of damage it could cause, so she had the DH help her set up this giant trap which looked like it could even hold a rat. Thinking of the poor chipmunk getting caught in it made me feel really horrible.

Anyway, as luck would have it, Jeanne opened up the door which led to the family room and out ran the chipmunk. The DH and I tried to corner it in the hallway. It stared cutely up at us, before it ran past and hid under the couch. We opened the front and back doors. We pounded on the couch.

It ran out from its hiding place and out the back door, thank goodness. We all cheered since the trap would not need to be used and the critter would not be killed.

A life saved. It may have been a small one, but I still felt good about it. What about you? Have you had a similar experience?

Who Do You Blog?

Check out some of my thoughts on blogging at http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com
If you want, add your thoughts here or there or both.
Thanks.

Iphone Woes

Good news - Great new Iphones are available with video and compass and another megapixel on the camera. Also, they don't cost as much as the ones before.

That is unless - Bad news - My contract is about a year old, so I'd have to pay full price to upgrade. Bummer.

I love my Iphone because it's easy to carry and can do so much. I'd love it even more if it had the new features and more memory like the ones rolling out very soon.

Well, maybe when I am eligible, the Iphones will also have a flash and a telephoto lens. That might be next year's version. Until then, I'll probably have to sit and wait it out. I do have a perfectly nice small camera that does short videos and has 8 megapixels, so I'm not that bad off.

What about you? Will you get a new Iphone?

Back to the Grind

Back to work on a Monday after ten days of vacation, how depressing. Anyway, tonight I'll be going to our Chicag0-North RWA meeting, which will cheer me up. I always have fun there and eat too much of the treats our members always bring.

Another good thing - This week I plan to get Killer Career into shape, so I can get my author copies by the 4th of July Festival. Since I'm working full time now, hopefully, I can carve out enough time to get it all together. All sorts of little decisions to make and things to figure out. Stay tuned for more developments on that end.