I'm Pleased With Fly Away

• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #415 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
  • #32 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Contemporary Fiction
  • #72 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Romance > Contemporary

It's in the top 100 of 2 categories--I call that success.  Thank you to everyone who downloaded it.

Fly Away Freebie Today

Go to my other blog for the horrible details leading up to this moment.  Yes, I had to switch the cover.  Something that probably doesn't surprise Kelly!  I hope Amazon manages to make that happen quickly since their speed at getting changes live has been increasing in the past couple months.

It's free and being promo'ed in all the appropriate places and we'll see what happens.

FREE.  FLY AWAY. July 12-July 14.  Lis wanted to fly away but didn’t mean it so literally until meeting daredevil flyboy, Jake, who redefines the phrase "turning your world on its head".

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006IEX0YA

Update:  This is very cool.  As I've said all over the place today, I had a lot of mentoring from a nice woman who understands the process of putting a book on Kindle Select Freebie.  When I checked a while ago, her book was #1 and mine was #2.  It doesn't get better than that.  (It'll change 25 times by tomoro morning.)

Fly Away Freebie Tomorrow

FREE KINDLE.  FLY AWAY. July 12-July 14.  Lis wanted to fly away but didn’t mean it so literally until meeting daredevil flyboy, Jake, who redefines the phrase "turning your world on its head".

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006IEX0YA

5 Star Review on Waiting For You

Yes, I'm very happy about this.

Sexy and Funny,

July 10, 2012

By Riterchick

This review is from: Waiting For You (Kindle Edition)

Waiting for You by Barbara Morgenroth

Is it possible to find the one true forever love of your life at a garden party? Jemima Blume knows she has, and Dr. Jay Gold, skeptic, is helpless to resist her overwhelming onslaught on his libido. But will Jemima's documentary on the most private secrets women keep, and an unusual outbreak of extreme feminism in town, come between them?

Sexy, sensual, full of repartee, fraught with heavy issues from the past, this is a love story for people who want an adult romance peopled with adults .
Read it. You'll be swept away.

New Cover For The Ice Cream Parlor

I know!  I don't even mention this book but it's cute and informative and people buy it in the summer.  So I started fooling around with the cover.  And I wound up with this

In a way it makes more sense than having an ice cream sundae on the cover because we are, after all, talking about where you eat ice cream not that you do eat ice cream.  OTOH, there are plenty of recipes so a sundae would be appropriate as well.

I like this building.  It has a sense of humor.  So it can stay this way for a while and then I can change it again when I need a new hat.

Butterfly

I was without power for about 6 hours today so, unable to work,  I braved the heat and wind with my trusty Nikon and walked across the road.  I thought you would like to see a nice photo.  Nothing to do with books.  Nothing to do with politics.  Nothing at all.  Just a butterfly.

New Cover for Waiting For You

I spent a lot of time on this.  So I hope you like it, Kelly, and everyone else, of course.

I never could get the sky to do quite what I wanted but it still looks like summer.  I had to find a way to make more grass and more sky--that's part of what took so long.  Never mind me and my Photoshop issues!

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday and spent it with friends and family.

Genres Flowing Together

As I was discussing Waiting For You with someone over the past few days, I was surprised to hear she thought it was a romance.  It was already rejected by a well-known romance agent, so I thought of it as women's fiction. 
That's the least exciting book category in the world! 

Recently I found a new subset to YAs.  Now there are Mature YAs/New Adult.  (You know who you are!)  This didn't exist ten years ago.  I'm glad it does now!  I'm very happy there.  I always was and always wanted to do more serious or mature material but traditional publishing balked for a long while.  Probably not so much anymore but most of us have migrated quite happily to digital, haven't we?

Okay Kelly.  Which do you prefer for a women's fiction/romance/love story/romantic comedy?

Or

Anyone can comment, I just know Kelly will.  Which one of these covers makes you feel like reading the book?
If neither, can you say why that's so? 

Waiting For You

Someone sent me a note about this book after they read it.

"Hi:

Just finished this book. It's...I can't think of a word large enough to describe it. It is a beautiful love story and the writing is off the charts good. Wow. It also has the most evocative love scenes I've ever read. They're like music."

For traditional publishing, this book was unpublishable.  It was rejected by everyone.  Diane Reverand  at St. Martin's (yes, I'm naming names now) said it wasn't raunchy enough.  It's a love story not porn, Ms Reverand.

So you feel like Alice Through The Looking Glass.  Up is Down.  Black is White.  Your mind reels as it attempts to make sense of it. 

Then you get lucky and someone gets it and you think "If one other person understands what I'm doing, I'm not nuts."   Of course, it could just mean there are two nuts.

Waiting For You

Amazon To Buy Dorchester Publishing

Well it's really nothing to me personally but yay!  Go for it!  And it's a good excuse to post this photo I took this morning.

No News Is No News

Maisie & Emer Update:  I'm thinking.  I was remembering that scene in the hospital.  That was cute, wasn't it?  One thing I love about Tru is how he can be clueless while being incredibly perceptive.  That's probably what everyone loves about him.  Emily tried so hard with him!

I can multitask, so I'm thinking about a new book.  I think I've put aside the next one on the schedule and can't really explain why.  I once read an interview in the NY Times with some writers who had just gotten $11,000,000 dollars for a book (that flopped) and maybe, in that case, their advice should be ignored but they said whenever you get bogged down kill someone.  But I did just kill someone so shouldn't be stalled.  I think I need something else between the death and where I wound up.

Love In The Air

When such things were important because they were the only game in town, I wrote a "romance" novel and submitted it to traditional publishers.   No, it was off-genre even though I tried terribly hard to behave and make it like all the other ones out there.  It was about an airshow using antique planes.   Another romance novelist read it and noted "The airplanes are the main characters."  Yeah, you noticed that.

No one wanted it.  Then for some reason, besides that it's cute and well-written (which doesn't matter to traditional publishers), it was published.  By a publisher not really all that interested in selling books.  I don't know of one of their authors that ever earned back their advance.  I figured it was worth it.  Now I have a hardcover book published by a real publisher in NYC and that should be (should be!) credibility to other NYC publishers and agents who are ignoring me.

That part didn't really work and I had another "romance" novel that wasn't selling so I submitted it to them.  They were going to take it.

And right at that moment in time, digital publishing became viable.  I decided to jump in, I asked for the 2nd book back.  Luckily I couldn't get the 1st one back although up until about 2 weeks ago I did regret it.

What changed?  Amazon bought out this publisher!  3000 books.  We're all going to be published by the Amazon imprint Montlake.  I don't know when but Amazon is going full-steam ahead.  It will be available digitally and in paper.  Is this great or what?

Now if Montlake would consider the 2nd book, which is Nothing Serious, I would be thrilled.

Ari and the Doctor

I gave Sweeps a facelift.  This book is close to me because (sshhh!) most of it is true.  It's up to readers to determine which parts are true.  I worked on a soap opera/daytime serial and you get a lot of material.  There's a lot of emotion in the building both genuine and fabricated, really dreamy guys--yes, I'm talking about you, Roscoe!-- and real nightmares (I'm not naming names, God, they're still alive, some of these people would sue!).

Ariel Robbins is not me--unfortunately, because she's so much smarter than I am.

Here's the blurb

As a staff writer for the daytime serial, Tryst, Ariel Robbins finds herself between feuding headwriters, the show’s need for good ratings during the all important tri-annual sweeps weeks, out of control producers, and actors who can’t act.  Let the matchmaking begin.  Attractive and simmering with unexpected passions, Dr. Dorsey Rees is brought on board the show as the medical consultant.  He’s as perfectly imperfect for Ari as she is for him.  So they fall in love perfectly and predictably.  And that’s when the real chaos begins.

For the time being, this will only be available at BN.  If you would like a mobi copy, please contact me--that goes for anyone who'd like an epub, too--and I'll be glad to send you one for free.

Bad Apple 1 New Cover

What do you think?  No, no, you can't hurt my feelings by telling me the truth on this one.

Kobo, a Canadian/Japanese Amazon I guess is how to describe it, will be opening up to indie publishers in a few weeks and I'm thinking about tweaking some of the covers.

Bad Apple Has A Facebook Page

And I'm going to tell you how I came to start the series.  Grim piece of business.  Like with Neal, it started with a murder.

Bad Apple on Facebook

Apple Blossoms Freebie Weekend Is Here

 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00870CTWC

12 photos, no text.  So go download it and share it and enjoy the flowers.  2 days only because the 3rd day seems like overkill.

Apple Blossoms in Spring

Yes, the Apple Blossom book is live at Amazon.  I'll eventually get around to putting it in Select and then having a free weekend.  12 images of apple blossoms.

Wouldn't this be a good gift book for someone's birthday?  It costs less than a greeting card and there's more to it.

I know it had to be someone who comes here--I even think I know her name--bought a copy of Unheard.  You have no idea how touched I am by your enthusiasm and support.   Thank you.

I'm a little bit stalled in my planning for Parked.  I know you want bulletins--maybe I should be tweeting but I don't have a twitter account.  I'm trying to think how to compress what was supposed to be 3 books into 1.  It's a question of their timeline.  

Yes, I uploaded Unheard to Amazon this morning so with luck it'll be available tomorrow sometime.

Unheard

Yes, it's done.  As done as it's going to be for a while.  I expect there is a space missing somewhere even though I instituted a thorough search for it!

I didn't upload it to Amazon yet, but will do that tomorrow.  It should be live at BN tomorrow as they're pretty quick about it.

Here's the blurb

Renie Lake is the product of a broken home and of the streets.  She learned to be tough.  After a drug bust, Renie’s taken from her mother and goes to live with her father.  Life is just as dangerous but in unexpected ways.  Then she meets Jan who is deaf.  He communicates easily even though he can't hear.  Renie can't communicate at all even though she can. 

Victor Vasnetsov

left to right--Dobrynya Nikitich, Ilya Muromets, Alyosha Popovich

Very famous Russian painting.  Why would I show it to you? 

(I feel a little like Gilderoy Lockhart but it's not about launching my own hair care products and my favorite color is not lavender.)

Correct answer in comments wins...a copy of Unheard.

Apple Blossoms

Last month the apple blossoms were in bloom so I was out there taking photos of them.  When open they're quite white but when in bud, they're quite pink, so that was eye-catching.

I decided to gather 12 of those together and do another essay.

Photography is a lot like writing for me.  It's about what seems right to me rather than what's correct.  As with writing, I like to have a focal point.  What is the importance of what's in front of you?  What should you be paying attention to?

It's a little like reverse stage magic where the intention is to distract you, to pull you away from what you should be looking at---the magic at work.  I want to push the viewer/audience/reader to what I want them to see.

Whether they see it or not, I'll probably never know.  And the great part is they may see something I don't.

So next month I'll put that up for a freebie weekend and you can enjoy photos of the apple blossoms if you're interested.

The Buttercup Book

There are so many lovely buttercups in the area now, I couldn't resist taking portraits of them.  There are 12 and no text, not a even a poem.  It will be free this weekend and I encourage everyone who wants to look at some flowers to download it.

I made the images as large as possible, still it's a confining size. 

I call this one the Buttercup Overlord but it's not in the book.

It would be nice to have photographic essays available as ebooks.  There's a guy whose work I've seen on Flickr and he's terrific.  I'd pay (a little) to have 12 of his photos on my reader.  Maybe I'll start a trend!

Yes, Unheard is almost done.  Yes I'm thinking about Parked.  Yes, I read the new reviews for BA and they were lovely, I was very touched,  so thank you.

Unbelievable Offer

The first person to leave me a comment can have the villain in Unheard named after them.

Limited time offer since the book is almost done.

Bad Apple #4--Parked

No, I did not start the writing but I have been thinking.  And I know some of you are really sticking with me and believe that I will do this.  Hang with me so I can satisfy us all  with the final installment and that will take time.

Just remember--if you can--that only a few short years ago readers had to wait for years for a series to be completed.  Hey, I'm still waiting for Book #2 in the I Am Number Four series.  And that doesn't come out until Aug.  We waited more than a decade for Harry Potter.  Digital gives you the illusion that good writing can happen fast.  It can't.  Good storytelling takes time.  I apologize for the wait, but I can't do this unless I'm going to do the best job I can for both of us.

Patience is a virtue so please be virtuous. ;-)

I can give you some hints.  Truly and Neal will make an album.  It will be called Parked By The Side Of The Road and that's for a reason.  Tru will feel he has competition for Neal while he's working in LA.  Tru will make a stunning announcement.  And Joe will continue to be a very loose and dangerous cannon.

That's it.  Now you really have to wait.  This is not the cover but a test. 

By Force of Will

I'm sorry I haven't be around much in the last month, I've been working on the chain gang!
I finished a short project that I didn't mention here for a couple reasons.  I'm working on a new series but I went back to an old book thinking I could just reformat it and I'd be good to go.  I suppose that marks me as a real optimist.  That's good to know about me!

Here's the hot off the computer book du jour.  By Force of Will.

Blurb:

She was given drugs before she was born.  So was her brother.  It killed him.  Delaney Fairchild wishes it had killed her when she arrives in her real now, 30 years in the future.  She’s supposed to become a hyperop because everything is all about the long war, a thousand years long with no damn end in sight.

Delaney doesn’t know what the freak hyperop is except she feels like a freak in a freakish, backward world.

This is the story of the resistance.  Some people still believe life has value and freedom is worth fighting for.  And some people believe those people should be dead.

Yes, that is in fact Blue Raja.  I loved that title but someone said to me something like "I didn't have any interest in reading that because there's some comic book that mentions those two words together..."  I'm not sure, still, what that's all about.  But okay.  Rename it, give it a new cover that hopefully has nothing to do with another comic book that I've never heard of.  I just know Batman, Superman, Archie.  I haven't read comic books since I was about 9.  I understand they're popular but they're not written for me, I'm pretty sure about that.

Maybe this will interest some readers who weren't interested before.  

Her Cold Kiss, Live and Possibly Dead

Yay, Amazon.  This is the first time you published something faster than BN.  Well done, you!  So Her Cold Kiss is live at Amazon right as I type.

It's not intended to be a secret, but I did use a pen name on the book because it's not for the same audience as Dream Horse readers.  It was a little bit of a difficult decision to make and I hope it works.

Here's the final cover.

Taking the risk of spoiling the story's journey, here's the last line

"Her lips were so cold, it was like kissing a dead thing."

Her Cold Kiss

Or at least that's what I think it will be titled by the time I publish it.  There more work to writing a book, but just because you got to the end doesn't mean you're done so there's always quite a bit of work still to be accomplished.  Sometimes what you thought in the beginning changes by the end so you have to make it all compatible.

I've been working on a cover.  This is the best place to try it out even though Photoshop is lovely, you want to see the art in a less kind venue. 

Here's the blurb

From the first moment she saw him, she knew she loved him, would always love him, had always loved him.  They came from two worlds but he was as perfect for her as she was for him.  She loved music and he was a musician.  He had eyes so beautiful it made her catch her breath.  She longed to be caressed by his hands, to be touched by him, to be loved by him.  Her life became about one thing—making sure they were together always.

She would do anything to make it happen.

And if she was his high school English teacher, why should that matter?  This time they would get it right.  This was a love for the ages.

Freebie Weekend The Missed Wish

My novella, The Missed Wish, is having a free weekend.  Here's the link.  THE MISSED WISH
Download away.  If not for Chris Westphal, it wouldn't exist.  This is what happens when you carry an idea around for  ten years.  It becomes so heavy the handles start to rip off the tote bag and you either drop it or you write it.


Here's the blurb:

“Greg Rydell loved being married so much, he did it twice. The only problem was instead of sequentially, he did it concurrently.”

You’d love to have this said about your father on national television, too, right? No, you’d hate having a bigamist as your father and so did I.

I tossed a coin into the fountain and wished for my family, suddenly I had two of them. I knew when I went back to grab my quarter, I had gotten the wrong coin. Now I was getting someone else’s wish—to be famous.

All this insanity was played out in front of Mill Crocker, the captain of the school polo team and the most gorgeous guy I had ever seen or expected to see. Of course the humiliation didn’t didn’t stop at keeling over in the dead faint when the news about the Rydell Family 2.0 was revealed, or when I went on a stupid talk show to tell my father exactly what I thought of him or being chased by reporters on my first date with Mill. Embarrassment lurked everywhere waiting for me.

Somehow it didn’t bother Mill. He liked me because I was fearless on a horse and could ride as well as he did.

Mill didn’t take my wishing seriously but I did. I wished I could be with him forever.

The way things were going, that was stacking up to be my missed wish unless I got the right coin back. But how was I going to find it among the thousands in the fountain?