A haven of magic, myth and mayhem! Blog stops, books, reviews, interviews and more. The site of fantasy author, poet and blogger A. L. Butcher.
I’m delighted to be part of the Facebook Winter Games Event – check out all the awesome authors for the next month!
All sorts of books, every genre and something for everyone.
Come check it out and there’s a chance of free stuff!
Celebrate Halloween all month long at N. N. Light’s Book Heaven’s third annual Trick or Treat Book Bonanza. 49 books, 39 authors, $75 Amazon gift card giveaway plus discover what Halloween costumes these talented authors choose to wear! https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/trick-or-treat-book-bonanza
I’m thrilled to be a part of this event. My book, Echoes of a Song, will be featured on October 5th and The Watcher on October 24th. Wait until you read what my Halloween costume would be. You won’t want to miss it.
Giveaway Information –
One lucky reader will win a $75 Amazon (US) gift card.
https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/92db7750191
Bookmark this event and tell your friends
Author name:
Joe Bonadonna
How did you become involved with this project?
Alex L. Butcher, who put the project together, and I are Facebook friends, have worked together before, and are also involved in Janet Morris’ Heroes in Hell™ series.
Tell us a little about your work in this book?
I’d been writing short stories since fifth grade, and then I started playing guitar. Inspired by Edgar Allen Poe, Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison of The Doors, Peter Sinfield who wrote lyrics for King Crimson, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and Keith Reid, who wrote lyrics for Procul Harum, I started writing poems and then soon afterwards, song lyrics. A couple of years ago I started dabbling in haiku.
Please tell us about your other publications/work.
I’ve written three books thus far in my sword & sorcery, heroic fantasy series, Mad Shadows. I’ve also written a space opera and a sword & planet novel, co-authored two children’s books with Erika M Szabo, and co-authored a pirate/horror novel with David C. Smith. I’ve published a number of short stories and novellas, and have appeared in six recent volumes of the Heroes in Hell™ series.
Do you think the written word (or art) brings power and freedom?
Yes! The pen is indeed mightier than the sword. Fascist, authoritarian governments fear the power of the word. They fear any artform they think is harmful to their “regimes,” to their plans: art is transformative, it teaches and enlightens us, it makes us hope and dream. To “them,” its greatest threat is that it makes us think, and gives us ideas. Art is truth, and oppressors the world over would bury Truth beneath the dirt of propaganda, censorship and book burning.
If you could have dinner with any literary character or author, who would you choose, and what would you eat.
I’ll pick an author, and not to offend anyone still living, I’ll pick a dead author: Raymond Chandler, because he was the key to my writing my Mad Shadows Triad. Oh, maybe we’d eat pizza or steak, drink whiskey and/or Guinness Stout. Since he lived in California, maybe we’d eat seafood and drink wine.
How influential is storytelling/poetry to our culture?
It’s not only influential, it’s important: it is life affirming. We need poems and literature, music and paintings, and all forms of art. It keeps us sane and healthy. Storytelling and poetry reveal what’s in our hearts. Every art form reveals what we think and dream and hope for. It reveals the depths of our souls. Once again, it teaches and enlightens, as well to help ease the burden of our worries and our troubles.
If you could be any fantasy/mythical or legendary person/creature, what would you be and why?
I’ll go with being a vampire. They dress well, only go out at night, have superhuman powers, and if they invested wisely during their natural lifetime, over the long years of their afterlife, they could live quite handsomely, indeed.
Which authors/books have influenced you the most?
Once again, I’ll stick with dead authors: JRR Tolkien, Fritz Leiber, Edgar Allen Poe, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Ross Thomas, Larry McMurtry, and the list goes on and on ….
What’s your next writing adventure?
I’m hoping to write a fourth and perhaps final volume of novellas for my Mad Shadowsseries — making it a quartet instead of a trio. I’m also working on my seventh novella for the Heroes in Hell™ saga.
What is your greatest success?
That I’m still alive at age 70! Seriously, I’d have to say my Mad Shadows Triad, my, The MechMen of Canis-9, and the stories I’ve written for the Heroes in Hell™ saga are my greatest success stories, and my personal bundle of pride and joy.
What’s your favourite quote, who said it and why?
I actually have two, if I may: “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. That’s because inside a dog it’s too dark to read.” — Grouch Marx. Why? Because he was a comedian, and his sarcastic wit often had truth and deeper, more subtle meaning. And: “I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.” — Anonymous. Why? Well . . . wouldn’t you?
Tell us a silly fact about yourself.
I collect Halloween knick-knacks and cheap snow globes.
What did you want to be when you ‘grew up’?
A rock-star guitar god. When I started growing up and growing older, I just wanted to be a kid again. I think a lot of us would like that.
Thank you for everything about this project and for asking me to take part.
https://books2read.com/StandTogetherUkraine
Enter to win an e-book bundle of all 27 books featured in the Indie Authors Bookish Event on NN Light Book Heaven:
https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/92db775089
Open Internationally.
Runs December 8 – December 13, 2020.
Winner will be drawn on December 16, 2020.
All spotlights will be grouped together at this link.
https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/indie-authors-bookish-event
Features from
Jami Gray
P.L. Parker
Carla Krae
Marlo Berliner
Brenda Whiteside
Sharon Buchbinder
Natalina Reis
Robyn Rychards
Cynthia Woolf
Jennifer Wilck
Theresa Dale
A.L. Butcher
Cadence Vonn
Marie Tuhart
Lis Anna-Langston
A.D. Britten
N. Christine Samuelson
Marie Tuhart
Claire Marti
Sherry
Calling all readers! Feed your book addiction with N. N. Light’s Book Heaven Binge-Worthy Book Festival. 68 books featured plus a chance to win one of the following:
Enter to win a $50 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $50 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $25 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $15 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $10 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
I’m thrilled to be a part of this event. My book, The Secret of Blossom Rise will be featured on 11th August. I even talk about the first binge-worthy book I read. You won’t want to miss it.
Bookmark this get-together and tell your friends:
https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/bookpromos/categories/binge-worthy-book-festival
Runs August 1 – 31
https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/92db775069
Drawing will be held on September 1.
Check out some of the authors and their series in the event below.
Rafflecopter Direct Link
Enter to win a book bundle of all 35 books featured in the Book Series Starter Event.
Open Internationally.
Runs January 13 – 17, 2020.
https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/92db775046
Schedule (All times are North America East Coast Time or EST) –
Monday 1/13
Livia Quinn (Calloways)
Brenda Whiteside
Judith Sterling (Ravenwood)
Petie McCarty (Cinderella)
Julie Rowe (Viable)
Claire Marti
Jami Gray (Hunted)
Jessica James
Tuesday 1/14
Marie Tuhart
Kimberly Dean
Anna Lores
Meredith Bond
Wednesday 1/15
Livia Quinn (Destiny)
Tena Stetler
Vivienne Brereton
Julie Rowe (Deadly)
Helen C. Johannes
Jami Gray (Shadows)
Kerry Blaisdell
P.J. MacLayne
Thursday 1/16
Laura Strickland
Willa Blair
Judith Sterling (Cauldron)
Petie McCarty (Angel)
Mary Morgan
Alina K. Field
Gini Rifkin
Ilona Fridl
Friday 1/17
A.L. Butcher
Peggy Jaeger
McKenna Grey
Jennifer Wilck
Debra Elizabeth
Tammy L. Bailey
Susan Payne
Calling all readers! Fill your library with N. N. Light’s Book Heaven Snuggle Up With These Books Readathon picks. 56 books from multiple genres featured plus a chance to win one of the following:
Enter to win a $50 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $50 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $25 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $15 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
Enter to win a $10 Amazon (US) or Barnes and Noble Gift Card
I’m thrilled to be a part of this event. My book, The Shining Citadel, will be featured on 14th November. I even talk about what I’m thankful for this year. You won’t want to miss it.
Bookmark this bookish party and tell your friends:
https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/snuggle-up-readathon
14 Manuscript-Formatting Tips for Writers and Poets
Don’t press the Publish button until you read this post.
Whether you self-publish or work with a traditional publisher, you should perform a thorough check for hidden codes that might hinder your book’s conversion.
Even if you’re not at the publishing stage, a professional-looking document will impress agents and slush readers. A haphazard mess will have them reaching for antacids.
Save yourself the embarrassment.
This article discusses a few common formatting blunders and how to fix them in Microsoft Word. If you prefer a different word processor, you can still use the information here to isolate the same problems in your software.
Before we begin, open your WIP in Word.
You’ll need to activate the function that allows you to see paragraph marks and other invisible symbols:
Navigate to the Home tab of Word and press the ¶ icon.
Tip #1: Never copy and paste from a website.
If you’ve already done this, you might be in for a bumpy ride.
And I’m not talking about legal issues if you’ve hijacked information from internet pages. You’d never do that, right?
No matter what you copy online, you could pick up weird spacing, tables, headings, undesired page breaks, non-standard colors and font sizes, tabs, highlighting, special characters, et al. These unexpected anomalies could prevent conversion to eBook format.
Tip #2: Select a standard font such as Times New Roman or Cambria.
Comic Sans MS won’t impress an agent or an editor. But if you’re self-publishing a printed children’s book, go for it.
Tip #3: Avoid tables.
Some eBook aggregators or programs won’t accept tables, or they do a sloppy conversion job. If you need a table, one option is to produce a graphic instead. It’s beyond the scope of a short article to explain the mechanics, but for guidance, you can search online for how to take a screenshot.
Tip #4: Remove non-breaking spaces.
These spaces, which require a Ctrl-Shift-Space key sequence in Word, mysteriously appear in some documents and will make them fail EPUBCheck validation.
Non-breaking spaces create sentences that look like this:
The°quick°red°fox°jumps°over°the°lazy°brown°dog.
instead of this:
The·quick·red·fox·jumps·over·the·lazy·brown·dog.
To replace them:
Search for [space]
Replace with [space]
Word is smart enough to replace all spaces, including non-breaking spaces, with regular ones.
Tip #5: Eliminate double returns after paragraphs.
Do you see something like the following in your manuscript?
The quick red fox.¶
¶
Tsk, tsk. That’s what styles are for.
Search for ^p^p
Replace with ^p
If you want extra room after each paragraph, access the style you need to change and modify its spacing:
Modify -> Format -> Paragraph -> Spacing: After
Not sure how to use Word styles?
Microsoft provides how-tos for several versions of Word at the following link:
Tip #6: Delete linefeeds, and replace them with paragraph returns.
Linefeeds eliminate extra spacing between paragraphs. They’re produced with Shift-Enter, and are helpful when writing articles for blogs. This post contains a few, because they work well in WordPress. However, they don’t belong in manuscripts.
Word expects all text joined by linefeeds to be part of the same style. An added annoyance: They hinder edits to hyperlinks and bookmarks.
Search for ^l
Replace with ^p
[That’s ^ell, not ^one.]
Tip #7: Replace double spaces with single spaces.
Double spaces between words were the norm when everyone created manuscripts on typewriters. Nowadays they’re unnecessary, and they can cause spacing anomalies.
For instance, if a line break occurs in the middle of a double space, you’ll end up with a single space at the end of the first line and another single space at the beginning of the next. Given the number of double spaces that would occur in a typical manuscript, the probability of several such anomalies is close to 100%.
Search for [space][space]
Replace with [space]
Tip #8: Remove extraneous spaces at the end and beginning of paragraphs.
No matter how careful you are, these spaces appear as you write and revise. They’re easy to replace.
Search for [space]^p
Replace with ^p
and then
Search for ^p[space]
Replace with ^p
Tip #9: Edit apostrophes that face the wrong way.
Consider this sentence:
“But I don’t trust ‘im,” he said.
Note the punctuation that replaces the missing h at the beginning of ‘im. It looks like a quotation mark.
Here’s how you would fix it. Type:
[h][i][m][cursor left x 2][‘][cursor left][backspace][cursor right x 3]
This is an excellent reason to avoid words that drop initial letters.
Instead of: ’E’s doing it again.
Try: He’s doin’ it again.
Instead of: He’s going with ’em.
Try: He’s goin’ with them.
Instead of: I’m not against ’t, honest.
Try: I’m not agin it, honest.
Plan your dialect before you write your story, and keep a file with the quirks for each person. Characters should have unique speech characteristics that enable readers to differentiate them, but the dialogue should be easy to read.
Tip #10: Replace tabs.
Search for ^t
Replace with [nothing]
Tabs don’t belong in a manuscript. Neither do multiple spaces. If you want to indent the beginning of each paragraph, set up a style for that.
Indented paragraphs function well for novels.
Block-formatted paragraphs work better for books such as cookbooks and instructional manuals, where special formatting like bulleted lists, block indents, and hanging indents often appear.
Tip #11: If you’re preparing your document for eBook conversion, find and replace these codes with [nothing]:
^b (section break)
^m (manual page break)
Tip #12: Never do this.
Do you remember the tip about double returns after paragraphs?
Here’s a practice that’s even worse: multiple presses of the Enter key to reach the top of a new page, to insert a blank page, or to set up for a section break.
In eBooks, free-flowing text, font changes by readers, and varying screen sizes will transform extra lines into a mess. You might get away with it in a paperback or hardcover edition, but a minor edit before you print could alter your paging and introduce other glitches.
Instead, on the Insert tab, select:
Pages -> Blank Page
or
Pages -> Page Break
Tip #13: Search and replace cautiously.
Why?
Consider the following, for example. Sometimes authors want to replace all ‘s (straight quotes) with ‘s (curly quotes). This is how they do it:
Search for ‘
Replace with ‘
However, when they do this, all words such as ’e’s, ’em, and ’t end up with apostrophes that face the wrong way.
Can you imagine the time-consuming mess you’ll have to clean up afterward?
Always, and I repeat, always double check your entire document after performing blanket search-and-replace operations. Yes, it takes time, but quality is worth the effort.
Tip #14: When all else fails …
Are you receiving obscure errors from EPUBCheck or your book aggregator’s conversion process?
If you can’t locate the problems via Word’s Find function, you might have to:
Imagine how long that will take. The painless approach would be to avoid the errors in the first place.
A program like Jutoh, which contains EPUBCheck and works well in tandem with Calibre, provides meaningful errors. Jutoh also allows direct edits, saves your project, and converts to multiple file formats.
Don’t give up if you experience formatting difficulties.
And remember: Today’s words are tomorrow’s legacy. Keep writing.
© Kathy Steinemann
—
Kathy Steinemann, Grandma Birdie to her grandkids, is a parrot-loving grandma involved in a passionate affair with words, especially when the words are frightening or futuristic or funny.
As a child, she scribbled prose and poetry, and won public-speaking and writing awards. As an adult, she worked as a small-town paper editor, and taught a couple of college courses. She has won or placed in multiple short fiction contests.
If you were to follow her around for a day, you might see her wince when a character on TV says “lay” instead of “lie” or when a social media post confuses “your” with “you’re.” And please don’t get her started on gratuitous apostrophes in pluralized words.
Her popular books in The Writer’s Lexicon series are touted by writers as “phenomenal,” a “secret weapon,” and “better than a thesaurus.”
You’ll find her at KathySteinemann.com, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Having a hard time choosing what to read in 2019? While there’s so many wonderful authors and books available, it’s imperative to have a dependable and responsible place that can help you choose what to read. It’s even better when you get a chance to win free books! Every month, you can win free books from multiple authors hosted by N. N. Light’s Book Heaven. Numerous authors are offering their books in this collaborative group entitled Literary Giveaway Portal. The best part is they’re all screened and approved by N. N. Light, a top reviewer.
Resolve to Read More Books Giveaway: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/92db775023
Literary Giveaway Portal: https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/literary-giveaway-portal
January 2019 Prizes
autographed print copy of Eye of the Pharaoh plus swag generously donated by Nancy Fraser (US/Canada only)
audiobook copy of Rescue Love by Melissa Keir (US/Canada only)
autographed print copy of Dante’s Gift by Aubrey Wynne (US only)
autographed print copy of Healer (Truth Seer Trilogy Book 2) by Kay L. Moody (US only)
e-copy of Dickensen Academy by Christine Grabowski
e-copy of The Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles Book 1 by A. L. Butcher (Smashwords voucher)
e-copy or print of one of C. C. Bolick’s books (winner’s choice)
5 e-copy of Fire on the Mountain by Clabe Polk
e-copy of Debriefing the Dead (Book 1 of The Dead Series) by Kerry Blaisdell
e-copy of The Cauldron Stirred (Guardians of Erin Book 1) by Judith Sterling
e-copy of Arresting Mason by Amber Daulton
e-copy of The Queen of Paradise Valley by Cat Dubie
e-copy of The Haunting of Hotel LaBelle by Sharon Buchbinder
e-copy of Once Broken by D. M. Hamblin
e-copy of A Debt to the Devil by D. M. Hamblin
e-copy of Tied Up With Strings by Madeline McEwan
e-copy of The Colony and The Last City by RM Gilmour
e-copy of Self’s Blossom by David Russell
e-copy of N. N. Light’s Book of Daily Inspiration by N. N. Light
2018 seems to have flown by. Isn’t it odd how individual days appear to last an age, but the year as a whole just zooms past?
Politics has lost what little mind it had – the US government – probably the less said about that the better as I’ll only start an argument. The UK government has been dominated by Brexit, leadership problems and everyone is thoroughly sick of it all. I will say this year there has been a revolving door both at the Whitehouse and the Houses of Parliament. Jeez – grow a spine, some balls or get rid of the person who is the problem and do it quickly….
Reading-wise – I’ve read over 60 books from true crime to historical to mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. I am planning to read a bit more fiction next year, and pick up some new authors.
Writing-wise – not as productive as I hoped and I’m not going to bore you with excuses. Let’s focus on what I have done.
Lovers in Hell What a fun universe to write for! Anything can happen – but it usually backfires in ironic, dastardly and hellish ways. (See interviews for Hell Week).
The Secret of Blossom Rise This was my first ghost story – written for the Here Be Ghosts bundle, and Boo V.
The Kitchen Imps won the NN Light Fantasy book of the year.
Bundles:
Here Be Monsters (no longer available)
Remembering Warriors (no longer available in 2019)
Spring Surprise (no longer available)
Summer Shimmer (no longer available)
Frisky February (no longer available)
There were also audio editions for The Watcher (a Jack the Ripper Tale)
And audio and print editions for the two current Legacy of the Mask Tales:
What will 2019 bring? That is a good question…
Hopefully more Kitchen Imps, working on book IV of the Light Beyond the Storm, Heroika 2, another Heroes in Hell (assuming I can get the damn story finished), and possibly the completion of at least one novella.
I’m also learning Photoshop (steep learning curve), and have completed a course on Copyright, GDPR, Ancient Egypt, and DSE.
I’ll be a better blogger too….
Library of Erana 