Contest: Finish author Kelly Moran's sentence for a chance to win a signed copy of Divine Intervention

There's an exciting new contest over at author Kelly Moran's site. And it's very easy to enter. Simply finish the sentence she started there.

One winner will be selected and will win a signed copy of my paranormal thriller, Divine Intervention.

Prize: a signed copy of Divine Intervention by finishing her sentence.

Enter now at: http://authorkellymoran.blogspot.com/2009/10/contest-and-giveaway.html

My 100th Blog!

This week’s blog is a milestone for me: my 100th blog with the Writetype group. When Cheryl first invited me to join I wasn’t sure I’d have much to say. But once I started, a whole range of topics came to mind and I’ve been contributing weekly ever since. There’s always something interesting happening in the writing world. Sometimes it’s negative or controversial or just strange. Plenty of times it’s positive, entertaining, or informative.

It’s my privilege to be part of this group and I hope I’m doing my part to keep you informed or entertained, or perhaps a little interested. Meanwhile, I have a link to fantasy author Lorna Suzuki’s interview of me at http://bit.ly/rx9DX She provided a lot of thoughtful questions to answer. Hope you enjoy it.

Until next week ....

To read excerpts of Fatal Encryption and Taxed to Death, visit http://www.debrapurdykong.com/.

Fatal Encryption is available through amazon.com at http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl and Taxed to Death can be found at http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n

Word on the Street - Vancouver

Today, I was at the Word on the Street Fair, in Vancouver. This day-long celebration of reading and writing was born in Toronto over twenty years ago, but has since expanded to other Canadian cities. Each year, all cities hold the event on the same day.

This was my sixth year at the fair and I never grow tired of it. This event is not just about selling books—although that’s a bonus—it’s about meeting friends, new and old, and discussing books, conventions, writers, and publishers, and all other writing-related things. It’s about sharing the love of reading with strangers.

The fair hasn’t changed much over the years and still has plenty to offer everyone: kids’ tents, a tent for poets to read aloud, and two more for novelists and nonfiction writers. One thing I’ve noticed since first attending in 1996 was the growth of graphic novels and comic books. I don’t remember them being much of a presence back then, but these writers now fill one very large room.

Technology has also changed the event a little. This year, Margaret Atwood was reading live from Toronto, yet Vancouver fans could participate in a question and answer session. They also could have their copies of her latest, The Year of the Flood, signed by Atwood using LongPen technology.

It was good to see colleagues again. Many of them travelled a fair distance to get there, but I think all would agree it was worth it. We sold some books, promoted Crime Writers of Canada (you do know there is such an organization don’t you?) caught up on each others’ lives, and exchanged smiles with tons of people on a gorgeous sunny day. What more could one ask for?

To read excerpts of Fatal Encryption and Taxed to Death, visit http://www.debrapurdykong.com/.

Fatal Encryption is available through amazon.com at http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl and Taxed to Death can be found at http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n

What James Patterson's Up To and What I'm Up To

Not long ago, I wrote a blog about why I’m not prolific, but James Patterson sure is. The man has written, or co-written, over forty bestsellers. Recently, he signed a contract to write 17 more thrillers (11 adult and 6 for young people) by the end of 2012, for an undisclosed sum. Probably in the millions. I’m guessing he doesn’t do the housework, grocery shopping, and laundry at his place.

Meanwhile, the rest of us plug along as best we can. This week, I received one of the most thoughtful and in-depth reviews of Fatal Encryption I’ve ever had. I don’t know the reviewer personally, but she and I happen to be on the same forum, and I asked her if she’d review my book, and she agreed. Anyhow, the review by Fran Lewis is at http://tinyurl.com/ohg2xk

Also, I might have mentioned that I was featured on a blog by The Park Avenue Princess. She offered a giveaway of Fatal Encryption, which ended September 17th. The Princess reported that she had a great number of hits and the winner was very excited to have won a copy of the book. The contest went so well that she’ll be featuring me again, this time with respect to my first Alex Bellamy novel, Taxed to Death. I’m busy preparing something for this feature and will let you know when the contest is underway.

Lastly, I’m very honoured to be a future guest on author Lorna Suzuki’s blog. She’s given me quite a few questions to answer, so I’m busy working on those too. Her blog should be posted by the end of September, but I’ll announce the exact date later.

Thanks to all of those who participated in the giveaway. I really do appreciate it.

FATAL ENCRYPTION, http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl
TAXED TO DEATH, http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n

Do Blog Tours Live Up To the Hype?

Daughter Am I, my latest novel, will soon to be released by Second Wind Pubishing, so I have to start planning a blog tour if I’m going to do one. I hear so much about how great they are — mostly from the major publishers who don’t want to spend the money to send their authors on an unvirtual tour — that I wonder if blog tours do anything for an unknown author. I know the most popular book blogs do help get the word out, but if one can’t get a guest spot on those blogs, is it still worth doing a tour? And is there any real difference between doing a formal tour and doing guest spots on a few blogs?

In case I decide that a blog tour is worth all the work, would you be willing to be a host?

Daughter Am I is a young woman/old gangsters coming of age tale that is being sold as mainstream, though it could just as easily be classified as a mystery.

When twenty-five-year-old Mary Stuart learns she inherited a farm from her recently murdered grandparents—grandparents her father claimed had died before she was born—she becomes obsessed with finding out who they were and why someone wanted them dead. Along the way she accumulates a crew of feisty octogenarians—former gangsters and friends of her grandfather. She meets and falls in love Tim Olson, whose grandfather shared a deadly secret with her great-grandfather. Now Mary and Tim need to stay one step ahead of the killer who is desperate to dig up that secret.

AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!! NOW I HAVE TO WRITE A REVIEW!!

While most of the world is talking about the new Dan Brown bestseller, Second Wind Publishing, LLC has quietly released another thriller -- Staccato by Deborah J Ledford. You won’t find all the elements that have become Brown’s hallmarks: cartoonish characters, amateurish prose, tin-ear for dialogue, internal inconsistencies. What you will find is a well-written, well-constructed story that will keep you enthralled.

The product description on Amazon says it better than I could: Performed against the backdrop of the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, Staccato transports readers to a behind-the-scenes glimpse of professional musicians, the psychological twists and turns of its characters, and in the end, retribution that crashes in a crescendo of notes played at the literary pace of a maestro’s staccato. The only drawback to Staccato is that it doesn’t come with a soundtrack -- each meticulously chosen piece of music enhances the mood of the scene it accompanies, and unless you are much more informed about music than I am, you will miss some of the brilliance of this composition.

Readers are in for a treat, and me? Aaaarrrggghhhh!!! I have to write another review! Well, I don’t have to, but the book deserves all the attention it can get. So, I will add it to the stack of other books I’ve promised to review, yet haven’t:

Lacey Took a Holiday by Lazarus BarnhilL
The Medicine People by Lazarus Barnhill
Steel Waters by Ken Coffman
Toxic Shock Syndrome by Ken Coffman
Mazurka by Aaron Lazar
Heart of Hythea by Suzanne Francis
and now, Staccato by Deborah J Ledford

Although all these books are much more literate, readable, and enjoyable than Dan Brown’s pap, the best I can come up with for a review right now is, “Good book. I liked it and you will, too.”