SynergEbooks Blog

Newest eBook Release - Wendy's Sleeper Cell

synergebooks@aol.com (SynergE Blogcast) — 2010-02-25T15:40:00Z

by J.S. Bradford (Suspense/Tthriller)

When Wendy Shanahan loses her nineteen year old son to a road side bomb in Baghdad, she finds solace in plotting her revenge. Handy with firearms and brimming with wrath, she resolves to become a bounty hunter tracking home grown terrorists.

Ironically, as soon as Wendy begins to have second thoughts about her state of mind, she gets caught up in a home grown terrorist network known as Purification by Fire. The network plans to poison a porn convention in Las Vegas hosted by the Western Babylon Resort & Casino, promoting itself as Two Thousand and One Arabian Nights.

Despite her reservations, Wendy feels compelled to foil the poison plot. So Wendy and her wrangler crew saddle up and head for Vegas. Things start to heat up as soon as the Heartland Rangers hit the strip. Just when it looks like the flames of Purification have cooled things off, the action dramatically shifts back to the ranch where a terrifying battle for survival ensues. Wendy is pitted against an opponent who wants nothing less than her total physical and moral debasement—but Wendy has something else in mind. And it isn’t pretty.

Purchase your copy today!
http://www.synergebooks.com/ebook_wendyssleepercell.html

Newest eBook Review: The Witchlock Series

synergebooks@aol.com (SynergE Blogcast) — 2010-02-25T15:28:00Z

by Cyrese Covelli (Magic/Fantasy/Young Adults)
by BITTEN BY BOOKS

REVIEW OF WITCHFIRE (Book 1):
http://www.synergebooks.com/ebook_witchfire.html

Witchfire is a fast-paced, exciting story that I am happy to report is the first in a series about the Rafferty sisters. It is sure to be a hit with the young adult crowd as the characters are easy to relate to and the plot keeps you wanting more even after you have turned the last page. A very enjoyable and quick read.

REVIEW OF SHADOWSHIFTER (Book 2):
http://www.synergebooks.com/ebook_shadowshifter.html

In this second installment of the Witchlock series, we get to see the story from both Ascher’s and Gemma’s points of view. I had a very hard time putting this book down and highly recommend it as another quick and enjoyable read. Cyrese Covelli is definitely an author to watch on the Young Adult scene.

REVIEW OF WOLFSMAGE (Book 3):
http://www.synergebooks.com/ebook_wolfsmage.html

In this third installment of Cyrese Covelli’s Witchlock series, the heroine Ascher seems to have more problems to contend with at the turn of every page. This results in an engaging story that will keep the reader wanting more. I was a little disappointed in the fact that so many questions were left unanswered at the end of the book. If you are looking for a happily ever after, it seems that Ascher has a long way to go. Still, I am looking forward to Book 4 and hoping that some of the secrets and mysteries that have followed the main characters finally get resolved.

To Read More Information, go to:
http://bittenbybooks.com/?page_id=58&book_author_id=Cyrese%20Covelli

Newest eBook Release - The Mask of Tamirella

synergebooks@aol.com (SynergE Blogcast) — 2010-02-25T15:21:00Z

by Dana Davis (Sci-fi/Young Adult)

Sixteen-year-old Caitlanna Mullen lives in a harsh world where technology no longer exists. In her post-apocalyptic society, she salvages artifacts for trade. One artifact is especially desired - The Mask of Tamirella. Cait steals the Mask from another sanction, putting her own at risk. As punishment, the Elders send her to a hazardous dig. She must travel through a mutant forest without becoming a sacrifice and into Rotted City, where toxic ruins hoard an ancient disease. To complicate matters, the man she loves accompanies her group. Because of their age differences, an intimate relationship with him is strictly forbidden and would bring severe punishment, perhaps even exile. Cait’s life takes an unexpected turn when she uncovers secrets she never imagined.

Will this sixteen-year-old survive in a place where death and injury are daily concerns? Can she quell her feelings for a man forbidden to touch her until she’s older? Or will her confrontations with mutants and toxic ruins cause her demise? One thing is certain - the secrets Caitlanna uncovers will change her world forever.

Purchase your copy today!
http://www.synergebooks.com/ebook_maskoftamirella.html

FLOOD by bf oswald; A Review

bfoswald@gmail.com (Ben Oswald) — 2010-02-21T15:52:00Z

FLOOD: A SAGA bf oswald
I finished your book, and it was just a real page-turner. I couldn't
wait to turn to the next page to see how differing situations were going to
turn out. Your writing style reminds me sort of Jessamyn West, or Belva
Plain, who never let a good thought go astray. Your writing just flows along,
and even though there was a plethora of characters, they weren't hard at all
to know, and follow. I was surprised and pleased that you included the Amish
Community and their way of life in the book, which most folk don't have
accurate information about. At any rate, it was almost like I was sitting there
listening to a talking book, instead of reading it. I liked the fact that
the location was in the country, and the genesis, before the 20th century,
was perfect. I don't know how you get your thought processes like ducks in a
row, but I do know that it takes not only a lot of research, but a ton of
thought to write a good story. The book was a wonderful read, and right up my alley.
Nancy Pitcher, Avon Park, FL.

Newest Audio Book Release - Quest For Freedom

synergebooks@aol.com (SynergE Blogcast) — 2010-02-12T17:17:00Z

by Dana Davis (Fantasy)

Kidnapped. Enslaved. Trapped on an unforgiving world far from home.

Fifteen-year-old Janai, a healer's apprentice from a planet called Kritine, volunteers to lead others to freedom. Along the journey, she finds she’s attracted to a boy from her homeworld, but now is not the time to bond with a life-mate. She must remain strong as she fights to overcome old and new enemies that don’t want her to find freedom.

Will she succeed? Or is the free-zone merely a fanciful story spread by desperate children? Janai risks her life to find out.

Purchase your download or CD-ROM copy (MP3) today!
http://www.synergebooks.com/ebook_questforfreedom.html

~ Available soon in digital format! ~

E-Book Price Increase May Stir Reader's Passions

synergebooks@aol.com (SynergE Blogcast) — 2010-02-12T17:08:00Z

From The New York Times

February 11, 2010

by MOTOKO RICH and BRAD STONE

In the battle over the pricing of electronic books, publishers appear to have won the first round. The price of many new releases and best sellers is about to go up, to as much as $14.99 from $9.99.

But there may be an insurgency waiting to pounce: e-book buyers.Over the last year, the most voracious readers of e-books have shown a reflexive hostility to prices higher than the $9.99 set by Amazon.com and other online retailers for popular titles.

When digital editions have cost more, or have been delayed until after the release of hardcover versions, these raucous readers have organized impromptu boycotts and gone to the Web sites of Amazon and Barnes & Noble to leave one-star ratings and negative comments for those books and their authors.

“This book has been on the shelves for three weeks and is already in the remainder bins,” wrote Wayne Fogel of The Villages, Fla., when he left a one-star review of Catherine Coulter’s book “KnockOut” on Amazon. “$14.82 for the Kindle version is unbelievable. Some listings Amazon should refuse when the authors are trying to rip off Amazon’s customers.”

The angry commenters on Amazon and online message boards could just be a vocal minority. But now, with e-books scheduled to cost $12.99 to $14.99 under new deals that publishers negotiated with Apple and Amazon, a broader swath of customers may resist the new pricing. The higher prices will go into effect within the next few months.

Predicting the behavior of consumers is always tricky. In the case of e-books, publishers are hoping that a vast majority of people who have not yet tried e-reading devices will not have any expectation of the low pricing now available from Amazon and others, including Barnes & Noble and Sony. They argue that new e-book shoppers will welcome the chance to buy digital editions at a level significantly lower than the typical price tag on a hardcover book.

“With the iPad, the whole notion of e-book reading is probably going to become way more mainstream than it ever has,” said Harvey Chute, who runs KindleBoards, a popular discussion forum for readers of electronic books. “And a majority of people may be coming to it new, and may only see that they are getting $7 off the price they would see at a bookstore.”

But some e-book buyers say that since publishers do not have to pay to print, store or distribute e-books, they should be much cheaper than print books.

“I just don’t want to be extorted,” said Joshua Levitsky, a computer technician and Kindle owner in New York. “I want to pay what it’s worth. If it costs them nothing to print the paper book, which I can’t believe, then they should be the same price. But I just don’t see how it can be the same price.”

Just what e-books are worth is a matter of debate. Publishers argue that printing and distribution represents a small proportion of the total cost of making a book.

“There are people who don’t always understand what goes into an author writing and an editor editing and a publishing house with hundreds of men and women working on these books,” said Mark Gompertz, executive vice president of digital publishing at Simon & Schuster. “If you want something that has no quality to it, fine, but we’re out to bring out things of quality, regardless of what type of book it is.”

To consumers who do not pay much attention to the economics of publishing, though, such arguments are trumped by the fact that e-books have been available for $9.99 for more than a year.

“As far as I’m concerned, Amazon has committed to the $9.99 price,” said Wilma Sanders, a 70-year-old retiree who has homes in Plymouth, Mass., and Marco Island, Fla. She said that if e-book prices rose, she would stop buying. “I’m still a library-goer. There are enough good books out there that I don’t need to pay more than I want to. I already can’t keep up with what I have.”

Authors have been taken aback by some of the vehemence of the reader protests.

“The sense of entitlement of the American consumer is absolutely astonishing,” said Douglas Preston, whose novel “Impact” reached as high as No. 4 on The New York Times’s hardcover fiction best-seller list earlier this month. “It’s the Wal-mart mentality, which in my view is very unhealthy for our country. It’s this notion of not wanting to pay the real price of something.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/technology/11reader.html?emc=eta1

Newest eBook Release - The Rep

synergebooks@aol.com (SynergE Blogcast) — 2010-02-12T16:54:00Z

by William Wilde (Horror)

David Price survives death in a terrible freeway crash, but his nightmare has only begun.

He's hounded thereafter by an inhuman traveling sales rep and a series of gruesome deaths that occur wherever Price goes. Can he stop the rep before the police link all those deaths to him, before he goes insane... or both?

Purchase your copy today!
http://www.synergebooks.com/ebook_therep.html

Google Documents

johnlink00@gmail.com (John Lincoln) — 2010-02-11T15:11:00Z

Hey folks.

If you are working between several computers, or you do not have Word or Excel, then I highly suggest getting a free gmail account.

Why? Well, for one gmail is the most user friendly email account out there. I've used AOL, Cox, Yahoo, and others. I prefer gmail because of the way it groups replies together (so if you and a friend, or a group, are all replying to an original email, it stays as one entry allowing you to see more emails at once).

But the major reason I suggest it is for Google Documents. Google Documents is a free part of gmail. You can start a new document, spreadsheet, database, etc. Also (and here is the nicest part) you can import a word or excel document into gmail documents. So, if you are on a computer that does not have word, and someone emails you a word document, you can import it into google documents (and very easily: when you click on the attachment, a prompt will ask you if you want to open as a google document).

Also, you can share google documents with whoever you want. My brother and I do some writing together. We used to have to edit and attach a word document back and forth. If we both happened to be working at once, we'd end up with two different documents that we would have to combine. Now, with google docs, we both have access to the same document. If someone else is editing it while I have it open the document lets me know.

Plus, because it is kept in as a part of your gmail, there is no attaching necessary. Everything is stored on the internet and is kept secure by your email password. In fact, as I am working on my home computer, I will email myself the document and upload it to google docs. It serves as a free back-up for all my work that way.

And no, I am not being paid by Google (I wish). As a writer, I've just found that having a gmail account and using google documents has saved me a lot of time and energy. When I get sent an excel file at work (where I do not have excel) I'm able to open it instantly, and not have to wait til I get home.

If you have any questions, let me know. I've been using these for over a year, and I'm fairly well versed in how to get around.

Have a great day!

--John Lincoln
http://synergebooks.com/ebook_suntzu.html

Playing Tag On Amazon

debralee2039@windstream.net (Debra_Lee) — 2010-02-10T23:45:00Z

Most of SynergEbooks are available for Amazon’s kindle or Amazon print editions. One of the Internet groups I belong to decided it might help author sales if we each went into Amazon and tagged each others books. Our hope is that if we have several people tagging our books Amazon will highlight our books more. So I thought it might help all of us if we tag each others books. For all of the Readers visiting the blog, we would appreciate your help with this as well. If you purchase one of our titles from Amazon-either a kindle or print edition, it would be helpful if you would add some tags while you are on the site. A review would be nice, too if you’ve read one of our books.

You can find SynergEbooks at the following link to get started http://tinyurl.com/yexs4wa

Here’s a direct link to my books

http://tinyurl.com/ykjsuym

Also, in order to be able to tag a book you must have a login ID with Amazon and I believe had to have purchased at least one book. So if you haven’t already done so…Hint…Hint…

For Authors:

You can also consider this like a class of Amazon 101, helping to familiarize yourself a bit with the details of Amazon from an author's point of view rather than a customer's. As you're visiting pages, pay attention to what you see and think about how this information can help you if you have a book on Amazon now or in the future. Look at the variety of key words/tags that SynergEbook authors have chosen for different types of books, how many reviews they have and how sales rankings fluctuate. Check the More About the Author Heading. Has the author set up an Amazon author page and blog? Notice the header: Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought.....what other books are coming up? Are they similar or different to the book you're tagging? Notice the header Customers Who Bought Items in Your Recent History Also Bought...what books does Amazon think you'll be interested in? How frequently do books by SynergEbook authors come up?

Now let's go play tag.

Debra

http://www.debralee.net

Romance Special - Available for a Limited Time!

synergebooks@aol.com (SynergE Blogcast) — 2010-02-10T21:02:00Z

Win at a chance at a FREE PAPERBACK!

From now until Valentine's Day, buy the Complete OBERON SERIES on CD-ROM and get the chance to win one of three paperbacks of the Oberon series by P.G. Forte: Scent of the Roses, A Sight to Dream Of or Sound of a Voice That is Still.

Book 1 Book 2 Book 3

Purchase all 9 eBooks of the Oberon series on one CD-ROM. Every 10th customer will get one FREE PAPERBACK out of the first 3 in the series that are now available in Paperback! Buy 2 or more CD-ROMs and increase your chance for another free paperback!

For less than the cost of 8 eBooks on CD-ROM, you will get:

Scent of the Roses (Book 1)

After a twenty year absence, Scout Patterson is finally home and hoping to lay a few of her ghosts to rest. Too bad the ghosts have other ideas.

A Sight to Dream Of (Book 2)

Marsha Quinn is used to being called a witch—her second sight makes a lot of people nervous. But, up ‘til now, no one’s ever called her an angel.

Sound of a Voice that is Still (Book 3)

It’s winter in Oberon. The perfect time for casting spells, for interfering in your neighbors’ lives...and for falling in love.

A Taste of Honey (Book 4)

When Lucy and Dan Cavanaugh’s perfect marriage goes off the rails, it’s going to take an entire band of angels to get them back on track.

Touch of a Vanished Hand (Book 5)

Six months ago, tired of waiting for his soul-mate to arrive, Adam Sasso cast a spell designed to dream her into his life. Now, she’s here—and none too happy.

The Spirit of the Place (Book 6)

Marsha Quinn has a lot on her mind this holiday season. It’s Christmas. Got ghosts?

Visions Before Midnight (Book 7)

When the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest, something wicked haunts the hills around Oberon. Who you gonna call?

Dream Under the Hill (Book 8)

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for an evil cult to get up to no good. Won’t you be my neighbor?

And Shadows Have Their Ending (Book 9)

Some wounds never heal. Some dreams won’t come true. But sometimes the angels are on your side and shadows have their ending.

Purchase your CD-ROM today!
http://www.synergebooks.com/ebook_scentoftheroses.html

Newest eBook Release - The Mask of Tamirella

synergebooks@aol.com (SynergE Blogcast) — 2010-02-10T20:52:00Z

by Dana Davis (Fantasy)

~ Eric Hoffer Award Finalist ~

~ Indie Excellence Book Award Finalist ~

~ Hollywood Book Festival Honorable Mention ~

Will this sixteen-year-old survive in a place where death and injury are daily concerns? Can she quell her feelings for a man forbidden to touch her until she’s older? Or will her confrontations with mutants and toxic ruins cause her demise? One thing is certain - the secrets Caitlanna uncovers will change her world forever.

Purchase your copy today!
http://www.synergebooks.com/ebook_maskoftamirella.html

An Interview With bf oswald

bfoswald@gmail.com (Ben Oswald) — 2010-02-05T16:24:00Z

INTERVIEW WITH bf oswald

During a recent visit to the campus bf oswald was interviewed by the editor of the North Central Technical College’s Creative Journal.

CJ: When I read Echoes of Ellen I couldn’t decide if it was a collection of short stories
       masquerading as a novel or a novel showcasing your short stories. Which is it?

bfo: Actually Ellen began as a collection of short stories that I had written over
       the last decade, many of which I had submitted to various publications with zero
       success. So I decided to bundle them and sent out query letters to several
       publishers who accepted short story collections. Deb Staples of SynergEbooks
       expressed interest and suggested that I build the stories into a plot. So Bill and
       Ellen’s story, a short story in itself, was written last with the result you noted. I’d say
       that your second suggestion is closer to the mark.

CJ: Is Echoes of Ellen your first published work?

bfo: Yes by a national publisher. As you may remember, you included many of my
       essays, poems, and short fiction in the Journal. Also I have a few local newspaper
       articles to my credit.

CJ: Why short stories and not longer works?

bfo: Over my adult life everything I wrote had to be short, beginning with the stories
        I had to write for my creative writing courses in college. When I was a
        federal investigator my reports had to be short and concise; sermons are by
        necessity short complete works, as are lectures. Also I have always liked
        short stories especially those by Poe, Singer, London, and O’Henry.

CJ:   SynergEbooks is primarily an electronic press. What is your opinion of that
         form of publishing?

bfo:   Frankly I have had some difficulty accepting that method. During the majority of
         my life a book has been printed pages between two covers. Although I spend a lot
         of time looking at a computer screen, I use a word processing program to write
         and all of my research is done on line, I still like to be comfortable when I
         read for pleasure. Even with a laptop I can’t read in bed very easily.
               Ellen is available on a CD or as a download, and also in print as a trade
         publication. The primary reason for the print edition was my publisher entered
         Ellen in the National Book Awards and had to submit six print copies. She also
         entered an e-copy in the EPPIE Awards. Unfortunately Ellen did not place
         in either.
                I am amazed at how large e-publishing has become. To date, as far as I
         know, there are more than twenty thousand titles available for download (including
         Ellen) from Amazon alone. And they are only one of many outlets.

CJ:   How difficult was it to get Ellen published?

bfo:   Initially not that hard. I sent out two dozen query letters and received two
         offers. Getting Ellen ready for publication was the real challenge. I tend to be
         a perfectionist. I rewrote almost every story, including Bill and Ellen’s, many
         times, two stories twelve times each, and would have done more prep had I
         not had a deadline. I re-edited the first edition of the print copy also for the
         second printing. It was far easier to write the stories than it was to prepare
         them to be published.

CJ:    What’s next?

bfo:    Last week I submitted the second draft of a novel titled FLOOD, A Saga to my
          publisher. And I am currently editing another called Five Women
          in Black that I wrote while on the faculty here almost thirty years ago. I also
          have completed the first draft of a novel titled The Footpath and am
          writing another titled The Rental.

CJ:     What are they about?

bfo:     There are detailed synopses of the first three on my website, bfoswald.com.
           I wrote Flood over this past summer and I have dedicated it to our daughter
           and her family who were made homeless during the catastrophic Cedar
           River Valley flood in Iowa this spring. Our daughter finished her RN classes
           and took her final exams during the height of the flood and its aftermath,
           and did very well with both. We are extremely proud of her. However the
           book has nothing to do with their experience.

CJ:      You said you wrote Five Women in Black thirty years ago but you are just
            now getting it ready for publication. Why is that?

bfo:     At the time I was beset by a number of personal problems. I had been carrying
           the kernel of FWIB around in my head for a while before that and decide to
           start writing it as a diversion. When I am working I lose all track of time and
           block out everything around me. I wrote almost all of the novel on a legal pad
           in the faculty lounge in Ovalwood Hall right here on campus. The lounge was
           usually deserted and quiet and it was only a few hundred steps from the college
           library where I did my research for the story.
                  When I started dating my present wife she took a interest in the book and
           typed the manuscript. When I bought my first computer I transposed the book
           to floppies, stored them and forgot about the project. With both Ellen published
           and Flood soon to be, my wife urged me to resurrect FWIB and submit it.

CJ:      You mentioned research. Do you still use libraries?

bfo:     No. There is a wealth of information available to me on the Internet. What
           used to take me hours in a library I can now accomplish in a matter of
           minutes, electronically storing whole articles for referencing without having
           to write a single note.

CJ:     What do you envision in your future?

bfo:     I plan to keep writing and submitting my work as long as my age and health
           permit. I’ve got lot of stories to tell and I enjoy telling them. If I am fortunate
           one of my books will gain national attention. But there are a lot of writers
           publishing a lot of books so the competition is fierce.
                  Having Ellen published was very important to me. I always dreamed of
           seeing my name on a book cover. I never imagined it would appear first on
           the label of a CD. In any event I am now a published author and proud of it.

CJ:      Thank you Professor Oswald. I’m looking forward to reading more of your books.

bfo:      Thank you, Paul, for your time and your interest.

      bf oswald links: E-mail bfoswald@gmail.com; web page http://bfoswald.com
              http://amazon.com   http://synergebooks.com

An Interview With bf oswald

bfoswald@gmail.com (Ben Oswald) — 2010-02-05T16:12:31Z

INTERVIEW WITH bf oswald

During a recent visit to the campus bf oswald was interviewed by the editor of the North Central Technical College’s Creative Journal.

CJ: When I read Echoes of Ellen I couldn’t decide if it was a collection of short stories
       masquerading as a novel or a novel showcasing your short stories. Which is it?

bfo: Actually Ellen began as a collection of short stories that I had written over
       the last decade, many of which I had submitted to various publications with zero
       success. So I decided to bundle them and sent out query letters to several
       publishers who accepted short story collections. Deb Staples of SynergEbooks
       expressed interest and suggested that I build the stories into a plot. So Bill and
       Ellen’s story, a short story in itself, was written last with the result you noted. I’d say
       that your second suggestion is closer to the mark.

CJ: Is Echoes of Ellen your first published work?

bfo: Yes by a national publisher. As you may remember, you included many of my
       essays, poems, and short fiction in the Journal. Also I have a few local newspaper
       articles to my credit.

CJ: Why short stories and not longer works?

bfo: Over my adult life everything I wrote had to be short, beginning with the stories
        I had to write for my creative writing courses in college. When I was a
        federal investigator my reports had to be short and concise; sermons are by
        necessity short complete works, as are lectures. Also I have always liked
        short stories especially those by Poe, Singer, London, and O’Henry.

CJ:   SynergEbooks is primarily an electronic press. What is your opinion of that
         form of publishing?

bfo:   Frankly I have had some difficulty accepting that method. During the majority of
         my life a book has been printed pages between two covers. Although I spend a lot
         of time looking at a computer screen, I use a word processing program to write
         and all of my research is done on line, I still like to be comfortable when I
         read for pleasure. Even with a laptop I can’t read in bed very easily.
               Ellen is available on a CD or as a download, and also in print as a trade
         publication. The primary reason for the print edition was my publisher entered
         Ellen in the National Book Awards and had to submit six print copies. She also
         entered an e-copy in the EPPIE Awards. Unfortunately Ellen did not place
         in either.
                I am amazed at how large e-publishing has become. To date, as far as I
         know, there are more than twenty thousand titles available for download (including
         Ellen) from Amazon alone. And they are only one of many outlets.

CJ:   How difficult was it to get Ellen published?

bfo:   Initially not that hard. I sent out two dozen query letters and received two
         offers. Getting Ellen ready for publication was the real challenge. I tend to be
         a perfectionist. I rewrote almost every story, including Bill and Ellen’s, many
         times, two stories twelve times each, and would have done more prep had I
         not had a deadline. I re-edited the first edition of the print copy also for the
         second printing. It was far easier to write the stories than it was to prepare
         them to be published.

CJ:    What’s next?

bfo:    Last week I submitted the second draft of a novel titled FLOOD, A Saga to my
          publisher. And I am currently editing another called Five Women
          in Black that I wrote while on the faculty here almost thirty years ago. I also
          have completed the first draft of a novel titled The Footpath and am
          writing another titled The Rental.

CJ:     What are they about?

bfo:     There are detailed synopses of the first three on my website, bfoswald.com.
           I wrote Flood over this past summer and I have dedicated it to our daughter
           and her family who were made homeless during the catastrophic Cedar
           River Valley flood in Iowa this spring. Our daughter finished her RN classes
           and took her final exams during the height of the flood and its aftermath,
           and did very well with both. We are extremely proud of her. However the
           book has nothing to do with their experience.

CJ:      You said you wrote Five Women in Black thirty years ago but you are just
            now getting it ready for publication. Why is that?

bfo:     At the time I was beset by a number of personal problems. I had been carrying
           the kernel of FWIB around in my head for a while before that and decide to
           start writing it as a diversion. When I am working I lose all track of time and
           block out everything around me. I wrote almost all of the novel on a legal pad
           in the faculty lounge in Ovalwood Hall right here on campus. The lounge was
           usually deserted and quiet and it was only a few hundred steps from the college
           library where I did my research for the story.
                  When I started dating my present wife she took a interest in the book and
           typed the manuscript. When I bought my first computer I transposed the book
           to floppies, stored them and forgot about the project. With both Ellen published
           and Flood soon to be, my wife urged me to resurrect FWIB and submit it.

CJ:      You mentioned research. Do you still use libraries?

bfo:     No. There is a wealth of information available to me on the Internet. What
           used to take me hours in a library I can now accomplish in a matter of
           minutes, electronically storing whole articles for referencing without having
           to write a single note.

CJ:     What do you envision in your future?

bfo:     I plan to keep writing and submitting my work as long as my age and health
           permit. I’ve got lot of stories to tell and I enjoy telling them. If I am fortunate
           one of my books will gain national attention. But there are a lot of writers
           publishing a lot of books so the competition is fierce.
                  Having Ellen published was very important to me. I always dreamed of
           seeing my name on a book cover. I never imagined it would appear first on
           the label of a CD. In any event I am now a published author and proud of it.

CJ:      Thank you Professor Oswald. I’m looking forward to reading more of your books.

bfo:      Thank you, Paul, for your time and your interest.

      bf oswald links: E-mail ; bfoswald@gmail.com; web page http://bfoswald.com; amazon.com;

,http://

Interview with James S. Hoch

jhoch@winona.edu (James S. Hoch) — 2010-01-26T00:44:00Z

This morning, January 25th, Linda Faulkner posted an interview that she did with me on Author's Exchange. Here's the link to read the interview: http://www.lindamfaulknertips.blogspot.com/

She had excellent questions. Hope you enjoy my answers! The whole process was very easy and Linda was great to converse with. This is another good site for working one's publicity.

Happy reading!!!

Newest eBook Release - The A to Z of Practical Wisdom

synergebooks@aol.com (SynergE Blogcast) — 2010-01-20T15:35:00Z

by Lorraine Hockley (Self-Help/Inspiration)

The A – Z of Practical Wisdom is a unique blend of life coaching and spirituality. It offers inspiration and insight and is packed with practical techniques on how you can improve your life. There are many case studies which add depth to the interesting material.

The book features 26 short chapters – one for each letter of the alphabet – making it ideal for ‘dipping into’ when you are looking for guidance and inspiration. The writing style is straightforward and easy to read. Lorraine has a gift for getting to the heart of a message in as few words as possible; no long flowery explanations here!

The A – Z of Practical Wisdom can be read over and over again. Each time you read it you will uncover another layer of understanding. It’s about absorbing the insights and making them relevant so that you move forward and fulfill your life purpose.

READ A REVIEW

The A-Z of Practical Wisdom was a joy to read; it deals with some life enhancing, enlightening concepts in a down to earth, yet compelling way.

Hockley peppers her descriptions with insightful anecdotes which bring her points to life and make the reader really think. Once begun ‘The A-Z of Practical Wisdom’ is hard to put down, you just want to know more. The chapters are short in length, which makes it easy to dip in and out of.

As a life coach I can see myself referencing a number of the chapters within this book as useful reading for clients.

Thank you to Hockley for sharing her wisdom – I have no doubt it will make a difference to many who read this book enabling individuals to peacefully work with this wonderful journey called life!

~ Emily Young, Life Coach

Purchase your copy today!
http://www.synergebooks.com/ebook_AtoZofpracticalwisdom.html

Newest eBook Release - Bone Dry

synergebooks@aol.com (SynergE Blogcast) — 2010-01-20T15:28:00Z

by J.J. Lamb and Bette Golden Lamb (Crime/Suspense)

Missing bone marrow, a sudden change in a patient’s demeanor, and an unusual death in the cancer ward raise suspicions, but protecting the hospital’s reputation becomes more important than launching an investigation.

One patient’s primary nurse defies the administration, the attending physician, and her abusive boyfriend to dig deeper and solve the mystery.

READ A REVIEW:

“An avaricious lab technician is holding cancer patients’ bone morrow for ransom…a medical thriller not for the squeamish.”

~ Publishers Weekly

~~~~~
Purchase your copy today!
http://www.synergebooks.com/ebook_bonedry.html

Can e-books Save Publishing?

synergebooks@aol.com (SynergE Blogcast) — 2010-01-20T15:22:00Z

Electronic transmission of literature might save the day by slashing overhead

by David Milofsky of Denverpost.com

I received an e-book reader as a holiday gift from my wife this year, and it turns out I'm not alone. According to Forrester Research, a technology consulting firm, sales of e-book readers increased from 1 million in 2008 to 3 million last year leaving the three main producers of the devices with inadequate inventory on hand.

Mine is a Sony Reader, but as far as I can tell the technology for the e-book readers currently on the market is pretty similar. Whether you buy a Kindle from Amazon or the Nook (if you can get one) that Barnes and Noble is selling, or a Sony, all offer backlit readable screens and are about the size of a trade paperback.

There are, of course, bells and whistles and depending on which model you choose, your reader may have a touch screen, be available in color or feature wireless transmission. Some have embedded dictionaries and they allow you to make notes, highlight passages and even add your own drawings, which could be useful if e-books are ever adopted by school systems.

The primary disadvantage of e-books at the moment is the paucity of quality modern and contemporary fiction available in this format. While you can get all the John Grisham or Danielle Steele your heart may desire, good luck on finding, say, Graham Greene, Iris Murdoch or David Lodge. Sony and the Nook, unlike Kindle, do offer access to the Google Free Library, which claims to offer millions of titles, assuming you can find them on their confusing content pages. Google titles are indeed free, but for the present the only books offered are in the public domain. Under U.S. law, what this means is that a work is protected under copyright for 70 years after an author's death. Thus Google can make available works by, say, Edith Wharton, but not Hemingway.

A drawback is that the Google books are scanned into the system from libraries, which results in some rather interesting idiosyncracies. In my e-book copy of "Lord Jim," for example, I found this puzzling line: "A faint voice said, 2 You there? Another cried out shakily, 2 She's gone." That old metafictionist Conrad might have been surprised by these emendations to his prose, but this is the price you pay with scanning.

The problems facing marketers of e-books go way beyond this, however. As the New York Times reported last month, the family of the late William Styron, author of such books as "Sophie's Choice" and "The Confessions of Nat Turner" is in a legal battle with Random House over the rights to e-book versions of Styron's novels. To make matters more confusing, a group of authors has initiated a multimillion dollar class action suit against Google, which has held up the addition of many more titles to its Free Library.

In the future, book contracts will certainly include e-book rights along with provisions for movies, paperback editions and audio books. But one interesting possibility is that some authors may choose to bypass print publication altogether and go directly to e-book publication. Two companies that have already begun signing authors to e-book contracts are Rosetta Books and Symptio, which focuses on religious titles.

One question that arises is what will happen to brick-and-mortar bookstores in the wake of e-books?

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14103123?source=email#ixzz0dAOU8BBY

Setting up Author Info page on Amazon dot com

bubba99@comcast.net (Mike & Carolyn Nettleton) — 2010-01-19T00:15:00Z

If your books are listed on Amazon dot com, you can set up an author page on Amazon Author Central, which will include your bio, picture, book titles and description and cover art. You can also add links to your web page,blog or promotional video. Here's the link.

https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/home/home

We've set up our home pages so take a peek. You can also see what we've been up to lately at our web site www.deadlyduomysteries.com

Mike Nettleton

Interview with Dana Davis

aznovelist@cox.net (Dana Davis) — 2010-01-18T15:30:00Z

Aurora's interview with Dana Davis now available at http://aurorareviewsarchives.blogspot.com/

Interview with Quenilda

jhoch@winona.edu (James S. Hoch) — 2010-01-12T03:05:00Z

Hello everyone. Today on my blog at the Red Room I posted the following interview. I am including it here on the Synergebooks blog. Enjoy!

I am excited to interview one of the characters in "Reveka's Revenge," book two of the Crimson Pursuit series. My guest is Quenilda. She has been an astral spirit since her death in 1347.

JSH: Hello, Quenilda, it is a pleasure to be able to talk with you today. I trust you had a safe journey here.

Q: Good morning to you, James, and thank you for inviting me to your blog. Oh, my travels here were a bit testy.

JSH: Why was that?

Q: The traffic was horrific.

JSH: What do you mean by traffic?

Q: Spirits were jam packed on the way to your web site to get information on the release of your new book, "Reveka's Return." They are just thrilled to read about Reveka and her story. It's not often that someone includes the astral plane in a story. They've been curious as to how Reveka is fairing and what will happen to her. She had a lot of friends while she was here.

JSH: Well, that leads us nicely into my first question. What is the astral plane?

Q: That is an excellent query. The astral plane is the world of the planetary spheres. It is a plane of existence where the soul resides on the way to being born and after death. The inhabitants of the plane include all manner of spirits such as angels, demons, and what you colloquially refer to as ghosts. It is a wonderful world of self-evaluation and critical assessment. For some of our visitors, it can take a long time and be very difficult before they move on.

JSH: So, do these spirits travel back to Earth and for what reasons?

Q: Most of our inhabitants are happy to stay in the astral plane to meditate and reflect. However, there are some more type A folks who like to slip back to earth. For several, it's to try to resolve an issue that they left unfinished, and for others...well, they are your typical class clowns who like to stir things.

JSH: Tell us about Reveka.

Q: Ahh...Reveka. I remember when she first came to us. She was very upset and an extremely tortured soul. I befriended her soon after she got here and tried to console her. We became very good friends.

JSH: What about the whole business of "astral vampirism?"

Q: Now that's a sensitive area that we don't like to talk much about. Sadly, there are some of the astral inhabitants that learn the secret to feeding off a life force. Some do it for the kick they receive. It's a pretty fantastic high. Most often if they were a vampire on earth, they crave the feeling of feeding off the life force of their victims. I know that for Reveka in the beginning, she just wanted to take the life of the hunter who killed her.

JSH: How do the spirits feed off the life force?

Q: They enter the dreams of the victim. Many of the spirits just take a little of the life force. Most often, while the spirit is feeding, they manipulate the victim's dream to provide an intense pleasure and usually sexual in nature. Rarely, is a victim so depleted that they die. However, a spirit or more accurately demon, can completely drain a victim's total life force, leaving them to die.

JSH: So, after Reveka took the life force of the hunter, why did she continue to feed off the life force of others?

Q: (long pause) It's difficult for me to talk about this.

JSH: Please, take a moment.

Q: Reveka was unhappy in the astral plane. She yearned to return to corporeal form. Her blood lust was so overpowering her. She so wanted to return as a flesh and blood vampire. I could not persuade her to move on.

JSH: Is it possible for an astral inhabitant to return to corporeal form?

Q: Yes, and I showed her how to do it.

JSH: What did she have to do?

Q: I taught her the secret to store the energy that she drained from the life force of individuals. It is a very old secret that not many of the astral inhabitants possess. It is not supposed to be taught.

JSH: How come you never passed on from the astral plane?

Q: I remain in the astral plane to help others. I have never wanted to pass on. I feel that my place is to educate newly placed spirits. Perhaps, someday I will make the transition.

JSH: Explain a little, if you will, how Reveka made the transference back to corporeal form.

Q: She stored enough energy to pass her spirit into the body of an individual on earth. Once she had enough energy stored, she invaded the dream of the person and infused her spirit into the body, thus pushing the other spirit out into the astral plane.

JSH: So, Reveka murdered the poor girl.

Q: (shaking her head slowly) I am afraid so. I met with the young lady. I believe her name was Miranda. She was very unhappy at first, but she was able to put it all behind her. I watched the day she move on. In the end, she was elated.

JSH: What do you think of the new book that I'm writing, "Reveka's Revenge?"

Q: I am thrilled to be a part of the story. I don't want to give anything away, but I can tell you that there is another in the astral plane that is...well, she is malicious, violent and extremely evil. I have tried to stay away from her as much as I can. I do know that she is cunning and plotting a return to corporeal form. Reveka will have her hands full.

JSH: That's exciting. Well, I want to thank you for your time and I am sure our readers have enjoyed your comments. Are you heading back to the astral plane?

Q: Yes, but first I want to go to your web site that has your contest. Now, if I'm not mistaken, on your home page there is a hand to click that takes you to your contest, right?

JSH: Yes, that's correct. The first place winner will receive a free book of their choosing from SynergEbooks. The second place winner takes home a copy of Halfway to the Grave, book one, Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost.

Q: One last thing, I just want to remind everyone to go to www.synergEbooks.com and order their copy of "Reveka's Return." You're gonna love it.

JSH: Thanks again, Quenilda for coming today and have a safe journey home. And to all my readers...thanks for stopping by. Happy reading!!