Last Day to Enter to Win Books for a Year!

If you haven't already entered the contest to win a copy of every book Second Wind Publishing will release in 2011, click here and leave a comment on the Second Wind Blog. That's all you need to do to! (Besides keeping your fingers crossed, that is). Here is some added inducement (all these books are scheduled to be released in 2011 -- click on a cover to learn more about that book):

The Writing Year in Review

It’s been an interesting twelve months. I was offered a publishing contract in March for the first book in my Casey Holland series, The Opposite of Dark, and spent a total of three months working with two terrific editors. My free copies arrive next month and then the real work of promoting steps up. When I wasn’t working on this book, I edited the second and third books in the series, which I’ve been working on for quite some time, and started the first draft of book four. Finally—hopefully permanently—I broke free of salaried employment to live life as a full time writer. So, it’s been a great year for creativity, though not so much for finances, but there you go—this is a writer’s life, unless you're John Grisham, or James Patterson, or Stephen King. My publisher put the cover and pre-ordering info about The Opposite of Dark on amazon, which you can find at http://tinyurl.com/2frw58u

Meanwhile, here are a couple of cool things to take a look at. First, Darcia Helle’s holiday book giveaway event, which I mentioned a month ago, ends on December 31st . So far, about 600 people have signed up, so if you want a chance to get a free book by an indie authors, go to http://www.quietfurybooks.com/holidayevent.html

The always informative January Magazine has prepared a number of different “best of” book lists for the year. The one for crime fiction is in two parts. Some of the names on the list are familiar, but others aren’t. You can find part one at http://tinyurl.com/26rpfvd and the other at http://tinyurl.com/27y9m68. They’ve also compiled a list of best cookbooks, best fiction and nonfiction, plus art and culture books which are also worth checking out. So, happy reading, and all the best for the new year!

Lancelot's Lady book trailer video needs your vote--by December 26th

The book trailer video for my bestselling romantic suspense, Lancelot's Lady, has been entered in the You Gotta Read Videos contest for December. It is entry #6 and I hope you'll check it out and vote for it.

My trailer was created by the talented Kelly Komm, who is also an author. Thanks, Kelly!

To view all the contest videos, please visit: http://t.co/d6GnHvT

Thank you to everyone who votes for Lancelot's Lady. I so appreciate your support! Have an awesome Christmas.

~Cherish D'Angelo/aka Cheryl Kaye Tardif
http://www.cherishdangelo.com

A Gift For You!

Wishing you a warm and safe holiday weekend and a new year filled with possibilities.

Click on the gift to open. Have fun!

Hard Work Can Be Fun

How dweeby can you get? But it's true.

I love to write. It's my favorite thing to do--make up stories and please people with them. If I had been Scheherazade, and the Sultan had told me I didn't have to make up a story every night any more, I probably would have kicked him in the shin so he'd make me make up stories again.

The hard part, for me, is shaping the stories. Coming up with a story arc, a plot, an outline--making sure I have the details straight: those things are hard, for me.

Yet, this year, I've learned to enjoy those hard things. I don't know quite what flipped the switch. Part of it was my nephew, Joshua Stephen Allen, telling me to woman up and write a three-sentence outline of the three acts of my book: One sentence for the set-up and build-up, one sentence for the obstacles and one sentence for the solution(s) and outcome.

That was vague enough that I could do it without feeling like I was putting on a straight-jacket. And it actually made it easier for me to write spontaneously, because I didn't have to worry that I was going to fall off the edge of a story line and tumble to the book's death.

Now I'm working on a story bible for the series I have going, and that's being fun, too. My series is set in a neighborhood, and I've been stalling: I didn't want to research the length of a city block and the number and size of lots and all that, but I've done it. Now I know how many people live on the block. I know who some of them are, because they've been in the books and stories already. I'm going through a book of house plans and deciding who lives in what house, which is making me think, "What kind of person would live in a house like this? Is it a good house for them, or a not-so-good house? Why?" So, pretty soon, I'll have ideas for characters and ideas for plot points and then I'll have outlines for the rest of the books in the series.

Hard work, but I'm having SO MUCH FUN!

Marian Allen
author ofEEL'S REVERENCE

The Challenge of Writing in December

Ah, December ... it’s great for socializing, shopping, eating, movie-watching, and quality family time. What it’s not good for, I’ve discovered over the years, is writing. This is particularly true for those of us saddled with most of the Christmas preparation work. My hubby’s job is to buy the liquor and haul the tree home, and even that we stopped doing seven years ago when we bought an artificial tree. Happily, my kids are old enough to help with preparations now, although with one busy studying for final exams and the other not old enough to drive, I’m still doing a lot of running around.

I used to rail against my diminished writing time, but over the years I’ve learned two things. One is that whatever writing time you lose in December you can probably make up for in January because nothing’s going on then, and who wants to see the inside of a mall again? Secondly, getting older has made me appreciate the quality time I get to spend with my family. Older relatives are no longer here, time is fleeting and, in the end, family time is more important than anything.

Now, here’s a little something fun to take a look at: January Magazine has written a couple of interesting pieces; one is a list of best children’s books for 2010, which you can find at http://tinyurl.com/24fbgbc

Also, J. Kingston Pierce from the same magazine, has compiled a list of his favourite crime fiction covers and is inviting you to vote on the one you like best. I suppose we shouldn’t be judging a book by its cover, but we do. We can’t help ourselves, and any publisher will tell you that it’s a vital marketing tool. So, if you’re interested, take a look and vote at http://tinyurl.com/2aj77qw
And whatever you celebrate with the coming days off, have a wonderful time.

My Alex Bellamy mysteries can be purchased at
FATAL ENCRYPTION, http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl
TAXED TO DEATH, http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n