“My GRL” by John W. Howell: A Review for Rosie’s Book Review Challenge

~ John W. Howell ~ 5 Comments

Great review by the author of the Scrolls of Sion T.J. Therien

tjtherien's avatarThe Scrolls of Sion

my grl

For me, there are books that beg to be dissected and there are books that beg the reader to strap in, sit back and enjoy the ride. “My GRL” by John W. Howell (John’s Blog:https://johnwhowell.com/) is one of those second books. The problems I had with the book were with my own pet peeves and do not reflect the author, story, or the writing itself, so they do not bare mentioning other than to say I would have found the same faults in almost any book that is written in the first person. I should mention I am also not a particular fan of mysteries to begin with. My pet peeves and personal preferences aside, I believe the author did a masterful job weaving his story. The story flowed easily and the characters were well rounded. I did not have to go back to reference certain parts to clarify, as…

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“My GRL” by John W. Howell: A Review for Rosie’s Book Review Challenge

~ John W. Howell

tjtherien's avatarThe Scrolls of Sion

my grl

For me, there are books that beg to be dissected and there are books that beg the reader to strap in, sit back and enjoy the ride. “My GRL” by John W. Howell (John’s Blog:https://johnwhowell.com/) is one of those second books. The problems I had with the book were with my own pet peeves and do not reflect the author, story, or the writing itself, so they do not bare mentioning other than to say I would have found the same faults in almost any book that is written in the first person. I should mention I am also not a particular fan of mysteries to begin with. My pet peeves and personal preferences aside, I believe the author did a masterful job weaving his story. The story flowed easily and the characters were well rounded. I did not have to go back to reference certain parts to clarify, as…

View original post 144 more words

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt

~ John W. Howell ~ 26 Comments

 

This post is part of SoCS: http://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/07/04/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-514/ The prompt is Body and I have been counseled to think about it a minute and maybe a number of things will come to me. As some of you know the rules state that the writing needs to flow without much editing. No need to think too long I think I have it.

Body by John W. Howell

“Ok students. Today we are going to begin our exploration of the human body.”

“Uh. Mr. Turner?”

“Yes Cynthia what is it?”

“I’m really uncomfortable with the word body.”

“Excuse me?”

“The word body bothers me. I don’t have a very good self-image of my body.”

“Cynthia, I’m sorry to hear that, but we aren’t talking about your body we are going to learn about body parts and their function.”

“Mr. Turner?”

“Yes Cynthia what now?”

“I am uncomfortable with the terms body parts and function. You see my body parts have long been kept under cover and I don’t want to expose them now. Also I think functions should be private.”

“Cynthia. You are making it difficult to conduct this class. No one wants to see your body parts. We are going to look at the parts of someone you don’t know. The body parts will be pictures. We won’t even be using real body parts. As far a function is concerned I am talking about how the part works and not about private things. Can we proceed?”

“Well I guess, but I am still a little uncomfortable.”

“Ok class now that Cynthia is somewhat comfortable the first part of the body I want to discuss is the heart. Please open your folder to page three and we’ll begin.”

“Mr Turner?”

“Yes Cynthia.”

“When do we get to the penis?”

Rave Reviews Book Club Spotlight Author -Kenneth J. Kerr

~ John W. Howell ~ 21 Comments

I am very pleased to host the Rave Reviews Book Club spotlight Author Kenneth J. Starr. Like me, Ken started writing after a career in business and has published two novels. He has an interesting story about his self-publishing journey. If you would like more information about Rave Review Book Club just click HERE and you will be taken to the website. Welcome Ken.

 

Author Photo

About the Author

Hi. My pen name is Kenneth J. Kerr, but most people call me Ken. I am retired after a successful business career, which included extensive international travel and living overseas in Hong Kong and Tokyo, Japan for almost a decade. After retirement, I lived in Russia for a year as a Peace Corps volunteer. I began my writing career ‘late in life,’ just over two years ago. My second novel, “The First Madam President (and the dirty bombs)” was published in May 2014 and is available as an e-book or paperback on Amazon and as an e-book in all formats at Smashwords.

Madam President

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JYKNS3S
Smashwords:  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/432665
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/thefirstmadampresident
Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/kkerr19963
Website:  http://kkerr19963.wordpress.com

 

My journey in the self-publishing world

When I decided to write my first book in 2012, I gave little thought to the publishing process. I was more concerned if I could write enough words to make a whole book. Finally, after several months I had a manuscript that had been written and re-written and edited by me a few times. Now it was time to go get it published. I spent time on the internet investigating the conventional publishing process, realized I needed to find a literary agent first and sent off a few letters to literary agents introducing myself and my book. Not surprisingly, I got no interest, a couple polite turn downs, but mostly no responses. I quickly concluded an unknown author and a first book face an almost impossible uphill climb to get into the conventional publishing world. So, I started learning about self-publishing, again online, and found this looked like a better alternative. I chose Xlibris, a company in Indiana, who offered me a variety of services at different prices. I chose a package of copy-editing, cover design, copyright and ISBN services, some limited marketing assistance and publishing my book as an e-book, paperback, and hard cover. My evaluation is that Xlibris did a good job of the publishing process and produced quality books for me. The marketing services were basic and, in hindsight, were not as valuable as I had hoped.

Since that initial experience I have learned a great deal about the business of self-publishing. For my second book, “The First Madam President (and the dirty bombs)” I used three self-publishing companies; CreateSpace.com for the paperback, and KDP and Smashwords for the e-book. I used KDP for the Kindle e-book and Smashwords for all the other e-book formats. All three companies offer a wide variety of services for a fee, but if you are willing to do your own formatting and editing and cover design, etc. all three companies offer their self-publishing services for FREE. I am very happy with the products they published for me.

 

Book Excerpt

The President had only met Ann once before, but her initial impressions of the young lady were very positive. She smiled inwardly realizing that the CIA Director had given Ann a more important role in this meeting.

“Ann, you and your Director were here previously on the suspected plot, and I said come back when you have more evidence that will stand up in court. Do you think we are there yet?”

Ann responded, “Madam President, with all due respect, you may be using the wrong standard. My team is tasked with following Al Qaeda, collecting intelligence, analyzing the intelligence and the situation, and preventing another terrorist attack on the United States. Sometimes we collect intelligence in ways that would not meet the standard required in a court of law. We may have that situation facing us now. It is highly likely that a cell of terrorists plan to attack sites in Washington D.C soon. It could be tomorrow, or the next day or several days from now. Hopefully, they are using fake explosives and will be unsuccessful. I don’t want to take that chance. And Madam President, I don’t think you should take that chance either. We have reliable intelligence that indicates an attack is imminent. I don’t believe you want to be known as the President who had intel about an attack and did not act. There are times when the standard for evidence useable in a trial, may be too high. This may be one of those times.”

The President stared at Ann. Everyone else in the room was dead silent, wondering how the President would respond to Ann’s comments.

 

Wednesday Story

~ John W. Howell ~ 21 Comments

 

 

Wednesday is upon us so fast this week. I think I may have some kind of attention problem because as I get older the time seems to go faster. I guess the regulars all read on Monday that Marie Ann Bailey can no longer write for the Top Ten Things Not to do feature on our blogs. The understanding of her need to focus on a few priorities does not lessen the fact I will miss her support and guidance on those posts. I am going to continue posting and am trying to think of some ways to find another victim author who may want to share in the collaboration. I am also thinking of hosting a guest Top Ten List of What Not to do series. Let me ask you, if you would like to guest with a Top Ten list send an e-mail to me at johnhowell.wave@gmail.com. I think also if you would like to collaborate let me know that as well. I think we should start with the guest list and then let you get a taste of what collaboration looks like before you make your decision. The week’s story is about missing someone and features Frank in the role of a person who misses his co-worker. It is titled Missing Me?. I hope you like it.
Missing Me? By John W. Howell ©2014

“Yeah, hello.”
“Hey Frank this is Gerry.”
“Gerry. I am so pleased to hear from you. What a nice surprise.”
“I told you we would stay in touch didn’t I?”
“Yes you did, but you know how that goes.”
“No tell me.”
“People promise to stay in touch, but they never follow-up to make it happen. I’m so glad you called.”
“You miss me there at work?”
“You bet I do. I have to do not only my work, but yours as well.”
“Gee, that must be a pain. They didn’t replace me then?”
“Nope. Just told me to take over.”
“Boy. That’s too bad.”
“Yeah, I know. How about you? How are you doing?”
“Oh, just great. I have a new roommate now and things are better.”
“New roommate?”
“Real strong guy. Keeps the others off my back. It’s great. Oh by the way Frank. Did you ever get that little thing handled for me?”
“Little thing?”
“Yes, you know the bank account. I was to take the embezzlement rap and you were going to set up an account in my name.”
“Gee Gerry there must be something wrong with the line. You on a payphone?”
“You know damn well I’m on a payphone. They don’t allow cellphones in the pen.”
“Hello Gerry. Can you hear me?”

How To Promote and Market Your Book by Madi Preda – Release Day

~ John W. Howell ~ 3 Comments

A new book from a terrific marketing person.

authors promotion's avatarAUTHORS PROMOTION

BALOANEToday marks the official release of How To Promote and Market Your Book.As Madi Preda describes the importance of book marketing and PR in authors success, the book is a good read for aspiring writers and marketers or for well established ones who want to embrace and take an active role in their book’s publicity and make the book a success.

How readers perceive a book has an important role when it comes to brand yourself as a writer and promote a book efficiently and the ability to do this has become essential.No matter how talented an author is;if the readers don’t know about a book how will they know to buy it or if it is a good one or not?

  “Writing a book without promoting it is like waving to someone in a dark room. You know what have you done but nobody else does.”
~Madi…

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Top Ten Things Not to do On Your First Anniversary

~ John W. Howell ~ 15 Comments

Here is the 52nd installment of Ten Top Lists of What Not to Do by Marie Ann Bailey of 1WriteWay at http://1writeway.com and John W. Howell of Fiction Favorites at http://johnwhowell.com. These lists are simu-published on our blogs each Monday. We hope you enjoy.

Happy-Anniversary

The Top Ten Things Not to do On Your First Anniversary

  1. If it is your first wedding anniversary, do not think your spouse will find it funny if you pretend to forget your wedding date.  If you do pretend to forget, at best your spouse will forgive you after you’ve recited a dozen mea culpas and treated your spouse to a romantic candlelit dinner at the most expensive restaurant in town.  At worst, your spouse will demand, in addition to the mea culpas and romantic dinner, you be solely responsible for cleaning out your cat’s litter box until your second wedding anniversary.
  2. If it is your first wedding anniversary, do not assume your spouse will want to celebrate the anniversary with all your family, friends, and the same people at your wedding.  If you do, at best your spouse will grudgingly put up with a crush and noise of partygoers.  At worst, your spouse will commit a disappearing act (sneaking out of the house to have that nice, quiet dinner your spouse really wanted), leaving you to be solo host, as well as clean-up crew after the party.
  3. If it is your first work anniversary, do not think you should necessarily expect some congratulations from your boss and coworkers.  At best, you will get some recognition for having stayed in the job for a year since no one else (including your boss) has, an insight which might cause you to start looking for another job.  At worst, you try to throw your own party during lunch time in the conference room which coincides with your boss’s own planned luncheon with the CEO, CFO, CIO, and COO, and you wind up playing caterer to them since you are now too embarrassed to admit the food was for your own party.
  4. If it is your first work anniversary, do not insist on going to the most expensive restaurant to celebrate with your boss and coworkers.  If you do, at best, no one will complain about the fact that all any of them (except your boss) can afford is the Caesar salad and a glass of ice water.  At worst, in honor of your anniversary, your boss will publicly suggest you pay the bill for the entire table since your anniversary grants you a 1.0% raise which, after taxes, translates to a 0.3% raise which after a year will cover the cost of the meal.
  5. If it is the first anniversary of your first date, do not think your significant other will be unaware of the fact.  If you do, at best, your significant other will accept your apologies for forgetting and you make a promise to yourself not to forget the second anniversary.  At worst, your significant other will accept your apologies and then suggest perhaps it’s time to see other people, letting you know in no-uncertain terms there will not be a second anniversary.
  6. If it is the first anniversary of your first date, do not think a simple greeting card will be enough to celebrate the event.  If you do, at best, your significant other will simply sigh and make arrangements for a nice dinner at the restaurant where you had your first date.  At worst, your significant other will make reservations at a very expensive restaurant you’ve always wanted to go but never had the money and then after dessert tell you its time for you both to see other people.  For the cherry on top, your significant other will abruptly leave, grabbing the foil wrapped coq au vin, but leaving the check which, of course, you cannot pay except with long hours of dishwashing.
  7. If it is your first blogging anniversary, do not think no one will care if you ignore the event.  If you do, at best, your readers will likely be confused when you start writing posts beginning “When I began blogging over a year ago ….”since it’s fairly common to celebrate such an event and they won’t understand why you didn’t.  At worst, you’ll be out spotlighted into shame by your fellow bloggers who go ahead and post about their first-year anniversary while you sit and watch their readership grow as yours sinks.
  8. If it is your first blogging anniversary, do not think you can crowdsource your way to a fancy restaurant to celebrate.  If you do, at best, you’ll gain enough for a tip  and your readers will just shake their heads over your impudence and continue to read your blog anyway.  At worst, a number of fellow bloggers will show up at a fancy restaurant expecting you to share your crowdsourced meal for one with all of them, forcing you to eventually crowdsource to get enough money to pay the bill so you don’t have to wash the restaurant’s dishes for the next month.
  9. If it is the first anniversary of your book, do not think it would be gauche to promote the hell out of it on your important day.  If you do, at best, an ardent fan will realize the date and promote your book for you, giving you an uptick in sales which you otherwise would not have had.  At worst, you miss your window of opportunity and your post-first anniversary sale bombs since no one understands what a year and a day anniversary is all about.
  10. If it is the first anniversary of your book, do not hesitate to promote the hell out of it on that important day.  If you do hesitate, at best, you’ll get a lukewarm response of increased sales from your lukewarm effort.  At worst, your promotion will be so tepid none of your readers will understand what you are promoting and miss the opportunity to purchase your book at less than the cost of a tall skinny Vanilla latte.

I am saddened by Marie Ann Bailey’s announcement that she will not be continuing as a collaborator on this feature. Her plate is full and needs to devote more time to other priorities. Since this post is the first year anniversary of our collaboration I think I forgot a gift and she believes it is time to see other people. I will miss her collaboration but will retain her friendship. Plans to continue are in place and you can read about them on Wednesday.