S.R.R.’s Comments (group member since Nov 21, 2009)

S.R.R.’s comments from the Ink in My Veins group.

Good grief you guys are talented when it comes to making these book covers!!!

Reading and movies usually only evoke three responses from me: laughter, sadness, and anger. The movie "The Hangover" was hilarious! I laughed and laughed.

As for sadness, I seem to have trouble getting through anything Nicholas Sparks writes without getting a little teary-eyed and emotional.

Now for anger, I get screaming mad when a female character has to stumble and fall during a daring escape from certain death or dismemberment, then she stays on the ground until the big strong man comes back to pull her to her feet (or worse, heft her over his beefy shoulder to carry her useless and helpless carcass) so they can continue their getaway. Blood shoots out of my eyes!!

I know a lot of girls/women, and none of them spend a lot of time on the ground. If they do, they bounce right back up, with skinned knees and beaming with pride through a smile littered with tufts of grass stuck between their teeth.

I think most girls are tougher than generally portrayed. That's why I like Lara Croft - Tomb Raider, and Jade del Cameron (of the Suzanne Arruda books). These characters are always kicking butt and taking names.

Tell me about it. Yes, there is always something out there calling you. I was in the middle of a Clive Cussler NUMA book when this Sacred Scarab showed up. Clive was placed on hold.

One day you'll turn around and be 50 years old and unable to stay awake past supper time. LIKE ME! Gotta read 'em while you can.

S.

Well, I finished The Secret of the Sacred Scarab. I sat up last night until I got to the end. I usually can't stay up late (it's a curse of the aging process), but I couldn't put the book down until I got to the end!

It's a great book, fast moving and action-packed, filled with mystery, history, exotic scenery, great characters, and wicked villains.

It truly is a "good read!"

I doubt it. But I'd rather have one in my hand anyway, so I ordered it. I decided against getting the Kindle for that same reason. I want to be able to hold the book. (I'm old as dirt, you know, and I grew up turning pages.)

It's cool! I'm waiting on my copy of the first book (...Sacred Scarab) to arrive. I ordered it from Books-a-Million, and added a couple of other books I wanted so I could get the free shipping.

I wonder if she'll fill that whole world map with books!!!

Funny line after your name. What's up with that?

SRR

Yesterday I found the web site for "The Chronicles of the Stone" by Fiona Ingram - http://www.chroniclesofthestone.com/ (middle-grade fiction, ages 9-12)

Then I clicked the link on the map for the first book - The Secret of the Sacred Scarab" -
http://www.secretofthesacredscarab.com/

Very nicely done web site. If Egyptian history and culture interests you, click "The Journey" tab and the interactive map that comes up has clickable place names from the story that will pop up new information to read.

I haven't read the book yet, but I am so intrigued that I ordered one yesterday. If the book is half as good as the web site concept, then it's a winner.

I wish I'd thought of it!!!

Christian is a perfect last name. No matter how bad your character behaves, he can still claim to be a "Christian," if only in name.

I go to southern Africa every year and I've noticed some fabulous names in Namibia and South Africa that I'd love to use in a story. Some are from the many indiginous languages while others reflect a European influence.

Use Google Earth or Google Maps with the city names feature turned on, and check out some of the town and village names in southern Africa. Some will never work as a last name, others are perfect, and still others just need a letter or two altered to sound right.

Back up is available!!! If Santa doesn't bring me a Kindle, he's in BIG trouble.

The quote below is from this link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custome...

"We make books and periodicals you purchased from the Kindle Store available in the library for re-download wirelessly from your Kindle or from the Manage Your Kindle page. You can keep your own back-up of your content by saving a copy to your computer or another storage device."

Now I'm hearing that with the original edition of Kindle, your books could not be backed up. I don't know about the new one. But I do know I'm not investing $10 or more per electronic book and not having a system in place to ensure I don't lose them.

Unless unlimited downloads of the purchased book are allowed, then forget it.

I think I've talked myself out of getting it.

I had a friend ask me about backing up data. He said he'd hate to spend money on electronic books and lose it all when the reader crashes like so many computers do. (I read an article just today that said HP laptops have a 25% hardware failure rate!! HP is what I have.)

Anyway, the info I've found states you can hook a Kindle up to your computer by USB so that you can moves files on to the reader. So — I guess you could move files from the reader back to the computer.

I'm still not sure if I want make the leap or not. My husband asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year and I was thinking Kindle, but maybe not.
Better to go with the diamonds, huh?

Does anyone in this group use an electronic reading device like a Kindle?

I was considering getting one since I travel a lot and fly around the US and overseas.

Why I think I'd like it:
☺ can store LOTS of books
☺ doesn't take up a lot of space
☺ quick download without driving to a bookstore

Why I think I might not like it:
☺ might be hard to read on the screen
☺ battery life might be similar to my crappy cell phone
☺ might be too fragile to drag all over h*ll and back
☺ I might miss collecting the actual books I've read

Does anyone have personal experience with one of these electronic readers?

Maria-G.Weasley/INeedsMentalHelpOhLookAFlyingCooki wrote: "all except my NaNo which is the worst I've ever written, but if you still want to read it, here it is:

http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/5...

I think the last chapter was the best so f..."

Maria-G.Weasley/INeedsMentalHelpOhLookAFlyingCooki wrote: "I write mine all longhand, so I couldn't really have you read my work..."

I like it! Your writing style reminds me of Terry McMillan.

And I like talking critters! Gabriel is a great character. I have a talking gopher in my middle-grade novel named Digby (he digs, ya know).

I'm off to do some marketing work for a client . . .

I'm still reading Angel for Hire. You've already messed up my make-up, getting me all watery eyed. What I've read is brilliant.

Great opening line — grabs the reader and makes him/er (him or her) want to know more right away. I like 1st person, actually I prefer it as a way to make the story more personal. I regret that I've not used it in any of my writing.

I love the way you paint the opening scene and that your character's personality is clear within four paragraphs!

I could go on and on, but I think I've already highjacked the thread which started out as "What do you look like?"

Great writing, Holly!!!

I'll jump on it in the morning. It's time for the elderly to be asleep. I'm in Minot, ND until Christmas so it's 7:45 at night here.

I do like Dean Koontz.

As for being a published author, I'm am self-published with iUniverse. I played the agent/publisher game for years and never could get past the query letter. I kept getting turned down and no one had ever even read the manuscript. SOOOOOOOOO, I'd had enough.

I sent my manuscript to a published children's author whom I paid hundreds of dollars to edit. She did and agreed it was a viable story.

Not satisfied, I made the suggested changes and sent the manuscript to an Doubleday author who agreed to edit it from a different perspective. She did and also received hundreds of my hard earned dollars.

I made the suggested changes (the ones I agreed with) and decided to self-publish. That's what I did.

I attended a writing conference in Austin, TX a couple of years ago and was mortified when I sat through the "Success Panel." This was a group of published authors who took questions from the audience and gave answers on how they had made it in the business. One panel member said she had a friend who knew the wife of a publishing company head. The wife mentioned the friend's friend to her hubby and the he said, "Okay, we'll publish it," without ever reading a word. That's how fickle it all is. I'm working my backside off and she "knew somebody."

I'm too old for those kinds of games.

Go to Barnes and Noble online or amazon online and look inside my book and read a bit. If you like what you see, and still want me to read your work, I'd be glad to.

(in a rush - no type to check for typos)

Funny girls. I survived the teen years with three daughters (barely) in my home.

I'm not here to sell a book. I do have needs, though. For example: I am reading a book that is sucking the life out of me. I am looking around for a different read. I'd much rather hear from others than swim through a sea of books at a bookstore or an online bookstore looking something I may end up not liking.

How about a group for writers who have children and 6 grandchildren?!? As it turns out, I'm about as old as dirt.