Reviews for the Literary Inclined discussion

A tie... So our Authors of the Month for October are:
Marjorie F. Baldwin & Lee Fullbright
Congratulations Ladies!!!

We have two spotlight authors for our first AotM which is exciting. So I want you all to tell me what you love about either one of these authors or both.

But I should warn you some of the things you love and some of my own research will end up in a trivia scavenger hunt for the month of November!!!

I love Lee Fullbright's ability to write so eloquently. Her writing is impeccable! She is warm and so funny.

Which one?

Yeah, which one says the self-absorbed winner :) Actually with that "funny" remark I guess we know it can't be me. I'm still so excited. Thank you, Jessi.

So what are my obligations as the AotM for October? Tell me what I need to do and I'll try to get right on it.

I have two books, both in the same post-apocalyptic dystopian future of The Phoenician Series. The chronological order for reading is

1. , which is priced at FREE and available right here on Goodreads as a PDF or ePub (Nook, iPad, etc.) or free in Kindle format from Smashwords (http://bit.ly/WMC-Smash) or you can purchase it from Amazon and 10% of the proceeds will go to a good cause (see my http://bit.ly/fridayRABMAD page for deets)

2. , which I have just marked down from $6.99 to $.99 - yep 99 cents! - exclusively at Smashwords (I think Amazon is charging $8.99 and marking it down to $7.99 actually)


Thank you again for selecting me to be one of the Authors of the Month this month! Yay!

(( happy dance ))

Jessi wrote: "Which one?"

LOL I am so sorry! I thohght everyone would be able to read my mind. (JK) I was referrting to Lee Fullbright. I have edited my response.

This is so very cool! Thank you! And congrats to Marjorie!

Marjorie asked what her obligations are as an Author of the Month ... ditto here. Again, thanks! This was a very nice start to the day! Could I start every day this way, please?! :)

Lee wrote: "This is so very cool! Thank you! And congrats to Marjorie!

Marjorie asked what her obligations are as an Author of the Month ... ditto here. Again, thanks! This was a very nice start to the day! ..."

Yes, if I could have my way! :o)

Aww, you're so nice, Vicki. :)

And some info about my novel:

The Angry Woman Suite, about the fallout from an unsolved celebrity murder on three generations of a Pennsylvania family, is the 2012 Discovery Award winner for Literary Fiction, and was also a Kirkus Critics’ Pick, and 5-starred Readers Favorite. It is available at Amazon and at Barnes & Noble.

My blog/website is at http://www.leefullbright.com
Facebook author page is: http://www.facebook.com/#!/fullbrightlee

Drop by and say hey—would love to say hey back.

Thanks for the links, Lee. :o)

I read The Angry Woman Sweet (actually I won it on Goodreads back in April or so), and I absolutely fell in love with the book AND the author!

It's not what one would call a "quick" or "easy" read; it's a true piece of literature of the highest quality. The book has so many twists and turns and never allows you to simply KNOW the answers to your questions. Lee is very skillful at creating mystery and a who-done-it plot. Oh, and did I already mention, I LOVE this book!! I have told many people about it. I personally hope that everyone in the group will read this one. It's a masterpiece (in my humble opinion)!

Dang, but I love the word "masterpiece."

You're the best, Vicki!

Congrats to both Marjorie and Lee!

Lee wrote: "Dang, but I love the word "masterpiece."

You're the best, Vicki!"

LOL I am?? Gee, thanks!

Marjorie wrote: "Yeah, which one says the self-absorbed winner :) Actually with that "funny" remark I guess we know it can't be me. I'm still so excited. Thank you, Jessi.

So what are my obligations as the AotM fo..."

Hey, Marjorie, I wasn't referring to you, but I don't know you as an author or a person. You might be funnier than you think.

@Marjorie, I want to congratulate you, too. I didn't mean to ignore you because you also are AoM, so congrats!

I am the person who nominated Lee, so when I saw her name I just got all excited and posted immediately.

I am happy for you, too! :o)

Lee wrote: "Dang, but I love the word "masterpiece."

You're the best, Vicki!"

I love the profile pic change. :o)

Monica wrote: "Congrats to both Marjorie and Lee!"

Thank you, Monica!

Monica wrote: "Congrats to both Marjorie and Lee!"

Thank you, Monica :)

and Vicki wrote: "@Marjorie, I want to congratulate you, too. I didn't mean to ignore you because you also are AoM, so congrats"

Thank you, too, Vicki, and now you can officially read my books and get to know me (not like you couldn't before) but I have to admit, I am not funnier than I think. Only some of my characters are ((gggg))

Marjorie wrote: "Monica wrote: "Congrats to both Marjorie and Lee!"

Thank you, Monica :)

and Vicki wrote: "@Marjorie, I want to congratulate you, too. I didn't mean to ignore you because you also are AoM, so con..."

I am going to do that, Marjorie. :o)

Vicki wrote: "I am going to do that, Marjorie. :o) "

You'd already / previously promised, so double thank you :^)

Ladies your only responsibilities are to answer any question anyone might have about your work (that's mostly bc you guys are in the group), tell us about your upcoming projects, and tell us something we might not know about you. That's pretty much it.

Marjorie wrote: "Vicki wrote: "I am going to do that, Marjorie. :o) "

You'd already / previously promised, so double thank you :^)"

Oh, yeah, call me out on a public forum! LOL I DO keep my promises, so I will read/review. You have a good memory, huh? LOL

@Lee: I'd like to know if you have noticed that your readers have a fondness for any particular character in The Angry Woman Suite or an aversion to any.

Will you be coming out with a 2nd edition of this book?

Are you currently writing another book and, if so, when might we expect it?

Ok, I'm a little late to the party, but hey, I showed up! Cool to get to know Lee (Marj - well, we go way back!).

Hey Marjorie!!! Thanks for inviting me here! And congratulations !!! Looking forward to the first book! :D

Vicki wrote: "I am going to do that, Marjorie. :o)"

Marjorie wrote: You'd already / previously promised, so double thank you :^)"

Vicki replied:Oh, yeah, call me out on a public forum! LOL I DO keep my promises, so I will read/review. You have a good memory, huh? LOL "

I used to have a good memory (eidetic!) but I'm getting old and definitely forget things now. I do recall your saying it would be November or December before you'd get to it :^)

Jessi wrote: "Ladies your only responsibilities are to answer any question anyone might have about your work (that's mostly bc you guys are in the group), tell us about your upcoming projects, and tell us something we might not know about you. That's pretty much it. "

Well, in re the upcoming project and something you might not know about me (even Vered might not know!) part, I want to redo the artwork for the series to make it all look more "science fiction-y" because right now, let's be honest, floating eyes tell you NOTHING about what genre the books are, let alone what the individual volume is. Oh well, I loved the eyes and thought they'd be good. They look heart-stopping on my blog, don't they? http://phoenicianseries.blogspot.com/

Oh well.

So I've been cartooning Raif, the Proctor / MC in the first two books of The Phoenician Series, as a young version of himself, like he'll be in Book 1 (Conditioned Response is Book 2 - I haven't yet written Book 1 ;-)) Raif is 25 in Book 1 and 38 in Book 2 so I figure if I can draw a young version, then I just add some muscle, some wrinkles, some "life" maybe a scar or two and voila! we have Raif at 38, so theoretically, I can do the artwork for both books.

Obviously, I'd have to do artwork for Book 3 as well (and I'm probably going to end the series at Book 3) but by then, after doing two other covers, I should have the hang of drawing this stuff.

I used to cartoon when I was a teenager but hadn't been doing any of it for years. Then in 2011 I ran across David Kawena's Disney Heroes (he drew famous Disney Heroes in sexy "gay porn" style - warning, very sexy guys ahead) and I decided to cartoon Dicky, the Hero in my one/only Jewish Inspirational/RomCom (under my real name, not this name) It took me 13 months of painstaking effort to relearn what the heck I was doing. I didn't do a bad job lining the guy but now I still need to color him in and figure out what to draw for the background. I need a full-color background for the book or all that effort on Dicky was for naught - see what I mean here (he disappears on a white background!) Click the image to zoom in and see the details.



This time I decided to go a different route/style. Instead of the "realistic" style cartooning of Disneyesque characters, I'm going after Bruce Timm's flat color and thin lines artwork like he did for all my favorite cartoons on The WB (Batman, Superman, etc.)

I've been posting udpates to my Phoenician Series Facebook Page (which auto-feeds to my @phoenicianbooks Twitterstream) so you can check out how it's going, if you're interested.

[image error]

Mei wrote: "Hey Marjorie!!! Thanks for inviting me here! And congratulations !!! Looking forward to the first book! :D"

Welcome to the group, Mei! Glad you made it :)

As for the next book (Book 1) unfortunately, it might be a while. My finances have made it necessary for me to seek a new day job--and I am urgently trying to find one, anything, so I might need to take on full-time (or more) work precluding all writing until after New Year's. Gotta take the money when/where I can find it...if I can.

But at least cartooning is a braindead activity that I can do in the background so I can keep working on the covers even if I find a day job 40-60 hours a week.

I love Raif! And I'm happy to hear you're changing the covers. The eyes, although mysterious, don't tell me anything. So right on!

Vered wrote: "I love Raif! And I'm happy to hear you're changing the covers. The eyes, although mysterious, don't tell me anything. So right on!"

Yeah, I've been studying various SF/F publishers' book lists and feeling more and more that I did myself a disservice by trying to be so mysterious. Better to just slap Raif on the cover right away ;) Plus I love cartoons so why not? It's hard though...definitely taking a while to figure all this out (I'm 100% self-taught, trial and error)

I'm doing what the "greats" advise doing: tracing something close to what I want then modifying it to be exactly what I want. It's saving a lot of time. Forex, the Raif figure above, has Superman's torso (see his utility belt? :)) Green Lantern's arms, legs, hands, and Aquaman's hair. I started with an old Jim Lee Aquaman face but it was angry and awful so I've completely redone the face just using the shape of the head as a guide (and the ear...ears are really hard, who knew?) The eyes are still two wide-set and not glaring enough yet plus I am STRUGGLING with making a mouth. I've done 5 or 6 mouths so far, don't like any of them. We'll see where this ends up.

I think that goes for a lot of us! Still, I like the cartoonish Raif.

Marjorie wrote:
Welcome to the group, Mei! Glad you made it :)

As for the next book (Book 1..."

I'm sorry to hear it... :( I really hope you'll find a job soon! Darn it, why couldn't you be the nex Ken Follett? This way you could write really fast! *wink*

Vicki wrote: "@Lee: I'd like to know if you have noticed that your readers have a fondness for any particular character in The Angry Woman Suite or an aversion to any.

Will you be coming out with a 2nd edition ..."

Hey Vicki, Yes, the favorite character/narrator is the young Elyse Grayson, although I've been pleasantly surprised how Aidan Madsen's story has resonated with so many readers (it's his love affair with Magdalene-- who doesn't like a love affair, even if it's the reason a house of cards comes tumbling down?).

Only one reader, so far, actually LOVED Francis Grayson, but she also admitted she has a thing for "bad" boys. Okaaaaaaaaay. Actually, she said more and it was very cool how she nailed Francis' character.

As for another edition, the book is coming out in a new cover soon-- and it's dark and twisty (like the story)-- I can't wait. :)

Mei wrote: "Marjorie wrote:
Welcome to the group, Mei! Glad you made it :)

As for the next book (Book 1..."

I'm sorry to hear it... :( I really hope you'll find a job soon! Darn it, why couldn't you be the ..."

I wish I didn't have to support myself or pay my own bills and could just sit around and write all day (LOL) I make it sound like I'm lounging on the couch eating confectionaries and chocolates or something but seriously, writing is like that for me. The ULTIMATE pleasure.

Then again, I *AM* working on the new cover art and that WILL be coming soon. I know it's definitely not the same as having a new story, though :) It's nice to have some devoted fans besides myself (haha) Mei, you are one of a handful I've met here on goodreads.

Vered wrote: "I think that goes for a lot of us! Still, I like the cartoonish Raif."

Thanks Vered. I'm definitely having an easier time with him than I did with Dicky last year! Odd, because Raif is definitely not as "easy" a man as Dicky (LOL)

Lee wrote: "Vicki wrote: "@Lee: I'd like to know if you have noticed that your readers have a fondness for any particular character in The Angry Woman Suite or an aversion to any.

Will you be coming out with ..."

That's all very exciting. It must be very rewarding for a reader to nail a character like that.

I look forward to seeing the new edition/cover when it is complete.

Marjorie wrote: "Vered wrote: "I think that goes for a lot of us! Still, I like the cartoonish Raif."

Thanks Vered. I'm definitely having an easier time with him than I did with Dicky last year! Odd, because Raif ..."

...

I just wanted to be sure to give everyone here a heads up about the pricing of my novel, Conditioned Response. Although I lowered the price to 99c earlier this month in order to support this group's selection of me as an Author of the Month, I won't be leaving the price so low indefinitely. In fact, next week sometime I'll have to raise it back up to the regular price of $6.99 and I'll start charging for the short story/novella, When Minds Collide, which is currently free everywhere (except at Amazon where it's currently 99c)

To recap, as of November:

Conditioned Response goes from $0.99 -> $6.99 (save $6 if you buy now - all formats available at Smashwords http://bit.ly/SW-CondResp )

When Minds Collide goes from FREE -> $0.99 everywhere. Well, most everywhere...there'll probably still be places you can find it for free but I won't be promoting it as free anymore. Get it here on Goodreads (free for now) or at Smashwords http://bit.ly/WMC-Smash

Thanks to everyone who has already downloaded and/or purchased a copy of either or both of these stories. I hope to read reviews 'cause I never get tired of hearing reader feedback!

-Friday
@phoenicianbooks

Addendum re pricing. I just got a new 5-star review for Conditioned Response and noticed when I went to see if it had been copied to Amazon also that Amazon has lowered the price to 99 cents!. This means, in 2 days, when I raise the price back up to $6.99 everywhere else, Amazon will have it for $8.99 with a discount of $8.00 and a net price of $0.99 - Kindle only of course but still, Kindle book for 99 cents is a Kindle book for 99 cents. Since it's still a 232,000 word novel, it's hardly a 99-cent eBook but I don't control Amazon's pricing, sadly.

Please be sure to get a copy while it's 99 cents (in the next 2 days if you want non-Kindle or "soon" if you like Kindle)

To read the latest 5-star review, click here. Sadie S. Forsythe just floored me with her remarks! I especially liked the comment about my boldness in "allowing" people to be unhappy. She totally "got" me and my point here! Welcome to reality-based fiction (like the antithesis of reality-based television *haha*)

-Friday
@phoenicianbooks

Last call! I'll be ending the sale tomorrow morning (Friday Nov 2) over coffee in the morning so "just before dawn" Eastern Time (USA). Get 'em now or pay full price (which is fine since I donate 10% of all my proceeds to a great cause)

-Friday
@phoenicianbooks

Cool on the great review! Not so cool on Amazon pricing.