Gone for a Soldier - Cover Reveal

All good things come to those who wait...patiently!

I'm counting a lot of blessings lately, even as I remain frazzled over various issues in my life, like, um, taxes. Which I must get down to doing very soon.

Be that as it may, this post is a reward for those who have waited for a long, long time. Those who have stuck by me through thick and thin. My loyal readers, book buyers, and Street Team. My loyal family members who have encouraged me and helped me carry on, even as I continue to live life alone. Alone, but never lonely.

Remember the name of this blog? I know these characters like my own family. That's why I knew them the instant I set eyes upon this art work.

Yes, the couple is Rulon Owen and Mary Hilbrands, exactly as I've seen them in my mind's eye.

The incomparable Linda Boulanger of Tell~Tale Cover Designs has done it again! 

Gone for a Soldier will be out later this summer, but I couldn't wait any longer to reveal the cover.

If you want to help me show it off, please contact me for additional blog materials at marshaward.az@gmail.com. In the meantime, feel free to Tweet, Share, Pin, etc., and help me get the word out that Rulon Owen and his brothers are going to war ... and they won't take any prisoners.

Fabulous Friends and Fans...and Stumblers upon the Scene

Because I have been negligent to a group of people who I have designated as my Fabulous Friends & Fans─and some of them are very much Super Fans─I am extending the olive branch below, an advance reveal of the cover of a forthcoming novel. It's not the next novel, but the cover is complete and exceedingly awesome, and I don't know how I have kept it hidden all the time that I have.

For those of you who happened to stumble upon this site, this is your lucky day.

The designer is the fabulous Linda Boulanger of Tell~Tale Cover Designs. This is the book I am going to a retreat in June to finish, so it won't be out really soon. Maybe by the end of the year--maybe early in 2015. We'll see how it goes. I get all tickled inside when I realize how perfectly the cover reflects a scene from the novel. I am so blessed!

Okay, what do you think?

Harry or Ezra: The Problem of Minor Characters

I'm in the final stages of creating a new print edition for The Man from Shenandoah. As I was checking my personal copy of the first version for places I had marked that had errors of one type or another, such as a typographical error, misspelled word, point-of-view mistake, and the like, I came across a startling fact with vital importance to the story I'm writing now, but that's issue is for another post. The most important issue was a name that caught my eye, after I had created the portable document file (pdf) version to upload to CreateSpace. I stopped work as though I had been struck by lightning, and did not upload the pdf.

It was the name of a minor character. He'll never be a major character. He'll never have a book of his own. Why did his name strike me with such intensity that I put off the upload until I had a moment to do more research?

Because I was not sure if the name was correct.

You see, I remembered that I had changed it in the past. I knew at one point I had called him Ezra, if only on the character card bearing the names of his brothers and sisters. I had to be absolutely sure the name showing up in the new print edition of The Man from Shenandoah was the same name he'd carried in Spinster's Folly, or any other place he'd appeared in the "Owen Family Saga."

I've finished my research, and it shows that this young squirt carried the name "Harry" in Spinster's Folly as well as in the original print copy of The Man from Shenandoah. His name changed to Ezra in the ebook version, though.

[Marsha heaves a huge sigh]

I'll have to fix that sometime, but I won't rush right out and do it today. With a cast of hundreds of characters in "The Owen Family Saga," it's not a terribly important blemish, although it does raise a rash on my internal editor.

The upshot of this research expedition is that even minor characters can cause problems for a writer if the writer is inconsistent in keeping track of the masses. Harry Ezra Morgan, you're a snot-nosed little troublemaker!
~~~

Have you ever come across a name change in a novel as you're reading it? Did it irritate you, or spoil the story in your mind? Or were you compassionate and forgiving to the harried author?

Tell me what you think about typos and other errors in printed or electronic books. How do they color your reading experience?

Thank you!

Spinster's Folly: The Dream is Alive!

Spinster's Folly has now been published both in ebooks, at Smashwords.com and Amazon.com, and in a print edition, available right now at CreateSpace.com. The print version will be on Amazon.com soon, so watch for it (although I earn a better royalty if you get it at CreateSpace).

I'm very happy that this book is finally available in all versions. It will slowly make its way forward, out to all the online booksellers. In a few weeks' time, you can even urge your local bookstore to carry it, if you give the buyer the International Standard Book Number. It soon will be in the Ingram Book Company pipeline (they are the major distributor this side of the pond), as well as other entities, and should have wide distribution.

What is the International Standard Book Number or ISBN?

978-0988381001 

Armed with that number, my name, the book title (Spinster's Folly), and the word Ingram, you might try asking not only bookstores, but your library to order it.

Do you have anything to lose but a few minutes of your time?

Coming soon

I think I am close enough in the process of finishing to post a teensy bit of the front cover for my forthcoming novel, Spinster's Folly. You can see it over there in the sidebar:

I just dropped the price...

on The Owen Family Saga Sampler.

Although it's quite a nice collection, it is, after all, a sampler, with three chapters each from the first three books of the Saga, and a bonus chapter from book four, Spinster's Folly. Therefore, I've reduced the price from $2.99 to $.99 on both Smashwords.com and Amazon.com. The catch?

There are two: 

I may not keep the price this low forever.

Amazon's price change process is not instantaneous. It takes them up to 48 hours to make the adjustment. Smashwords, though, has already changed the price on its site, so don't wait. Get thee over to their site, buy The Owen Family Saga Sampler, and get yourself introduced to that fabled Owen Family from the Shenandoah.

In the meantime, I'll continue my recovery from unplanned surgery so I can finish the fourth book.

UPDATE:

Amazon has changed the price, so go there, if it's more convenient for your KINDLE purchasing.

The Secret Projects Unveiled

I've been hinting all over the Internet about being engaged in a special or secret project. Well, I've finished it, and I'm back to writing Spinster's Folly.

What was I doing?

I was learning how to convert and upload manuscripts to the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing website. I then did the conversions and uploading of my three novels, several short stories, and a couple of special collections. See the results here.

Why did I delay this vital step in making my work available to huge segments of the reading public in the United States, the UK, and Germany? First of all, I had been told it was complicated and difficult. Secondly, I told myself I needed to finish Spinster's Folly before I learned how to do something else.

Then it became apparent to me that such a delay was silly, and in fact, was cutting into potential sales and extra income that I need. Once I determined that I should wipe out my folly, I decided to investigate the difficulty factor. Lo and behold, I discovered that with free software and careful attention to details (which I love), the process was well within my skill set.

Therefore, I converted and uploaded all three novels to the Kindle stores, as well as uploading Trail of Storms to Smashwords.com. Now all the novels are available to a much larger audience, and, I'm happy to report, there are sales being made!

Heeding the sage advice of one of my indie-publishing mentors, JA Konrath, I also put up several short stories and a couple of collections, including a sampler of chapters from the three novels of The Owen Family Saga. There will be more bundles in various configurations in the future.