Catching UP!

NEWS!

From www.epicorg.com   
REMEMBER you do not have to be an EPIC member to enter your book for the Epic Award.


The eBook and Ariana competitions open in just THREE days! June 1st...next Monday!
Are you ready?

We also need eBook judges.  Wanna read some GREAT books? Come on down:http://tiny.cc/eBookJudge

Debi Sullivan,

Competitions Chair

__._,_.___

Posted by: EPIC Membership

 

Books that went to press or back to press this  week:

Sara Chandler has come to the big island of Hawaii to escape her troubled past and find peace in this place all the guidebooks call "Paradise." Lucas Henshaw is the first obstacle in her path to happiness. But he's not the last…

THE MORGENSTERN MURDERS, by C. M. Albrecht
   In this sequel to The Sand Bluff Murders, former police chief Jonas McCleary has gone into business as a private investigator.

An Atlantic Fisherman's Life

by B.R. Lynch

Every work day could be their last. Nine to five is just a dream. Freezing spray, driving winds and menacing federal regulations aren’t the only things hitting them in the face. Wet and Hungry is the true story of the Atlantic commercial fisherman.

 Galleys that went out or stayed out this Week

 

MATTEO'S TREASURE, Morretti Men Series, Vol. 3, by Anna Dynowski

   Jet-setter Santino Moretti died and left the Triple-M property, worth nearly $25 million, to his three neglected sons, Micah, Marek, and Matteo, each born of a different marriage, and each unknown by the others. Before any one of them can inherit, he must take turns living on the farm for three months, then they must return and all three live together for a final three months. Half-brothers, city boys, and complete strangers, they face the biggest challenge of their lives: to put aside their distrust and bitterness and live together like a kind and caring family.

 

 DOING DEAD MAN'S TIME, by Matthew L. Schoonover
     From the author who brought you the supernatural thrillers of The Arbiter series and the impossible mysteries of The Tornado Man series comes a new tale of supernatural suspense. Phil Talbot is in the here-after, awaiting judgment. He is given the opportunity to come back to the mortal plane and fix the one mistake that changed his supernatural fate. 

 

THE PROMISE by Karen Rossi

 

Katharine Wilder is devastated when her 11-year-old daughter, Maggie, is arrested for shoplifting. Although the girl is only involved by association, Katharine is deeply shaken by the incident and wants to get Maggie involved in wholesome church activities.

 

 

 THE DEPUTY, by C.M. Albrecht    

   "When Deputy Sheriff Wayne Terwilliger hires a handyman to help around his little farm, he sets a terrible and deadly machine into motion."

 

I HAVE A FRIEND ON JUPITER, Celine Rose Mariotti
   A story of two young friends who e-mail aliens on Jupiter! When their space ship arrives, so does a lot of adventure. When the space ship leaves-a special bond has been formed.  

 

 

Work began, or continued, on the following titles: 

 

THE ALBEMARLE AFFAIR, by C. M. Albrecht

   When Corky Middleton thinks she may have found her birth mother, she hires Foster & Hall to investigate. Wow, does she open a can of worms!
   Instead of finding Corky's mother, the shamuses trip over a corpse, and that's just the beinnin.g 

REWIND FORWARD, by Michael E. Field
  Another great mystery by popular author Michael E. Field. 

 

A VANISHING BREED,Volunteer Series, Vol. 2 by Tom Ward 

   The continued adventures of Medic 1260.

 

MINISTER'S SHOES, VOL. 2 by Celine Rose Mariotti
 
   Rev. Castle is back in another cozy mystery.


BLEEDING HEARTS: Killian Kendal Mystery Series, Vol. 1
   Winner of the Stonewall Society's 2002 Pride in the Arts Literary Award in the Whodunit Category!

REAP THE WHIRLWIND: Killian Kendall Mystery Series, Vol. 2,  by Josh Aterovis.
   Suicide, or murder? That's the question in the second Killian Kendall mystery. Will Smith suspects murder when an old childhood pal drowns, and asks his friend Killian for help in solving the mystery.

TRUTH OF YESTERDAY,  by Josh Aterovis

ALL LOST THINGS, by Josh Aterovis

CHANGE  OF WORLDS, by Josh Aterovis 

 

Jack's News!

  by your bookstore cat,  gossip columnist, and feline friend. 

 

Arline posted the best news above.  I do have some gossip, though.





The daughter of Write Words Author Andy Nunez (who is working on a book about Pirates of the Eastern Shore) graduated. Gee when we did his first book I think she was nine. Of course I was only a baby then.

Write Words Author Ray Morand has finished training for her new position. Congrats, Ray, on the new day job. But don't give up on writing. I hear you have a new one in the works. Way to go!

The vet says I'm too heavy. I ask you! I am a bookstore cat. I lead a sedentary life! Do YOU think that 18 pounds is too heavy for a midlife tomcat with big bone structure? After all, I'm no spring kitten.


Somebody PLEASE send me some juicy gossip to take my mind off my diet.

 

Attention Romance Writers

Izabella Golec once stalked her art professor. She’s since channeled her energy into a thriving venture and into interring the man with the ebony hair and dark eyes into a remote chamber of her dead heart.

But when lucrative artist, Roman Ricci, shows up unexpectedly in town, books a room in her inn, and parks his easel and brushes there, her dead heart is revived…and so are the memories, both the shameful and the passionate.

www.allromanceebooks.com offers the following:

Advertising Opportunity for Romance Writers

We are now booking spots for our September 2014 ad with RT BookReviews Magazine.

The ad will be a full page/color and contain 25 covers on the flame background with our logo, tagline, and web-address. A review is not guaranteed.

We would need a minimum 300 dpi 600X900 color cover in jpg or pdf format at the time of payment for the September issue.

**Please note our payment procedures.

Please query via email to info@allromanceebooks.com to discover if space is available.

Once you have queried and reservation is confirmed, you will need to provide us with your Paypal e-mail so that our accounting department can provide you with an easy to pay invoice. Payment and cover will be expected at time of invoice to proceed.

Cost of ad is $115.00

Donut Muffin Recipe

Tabitha Black does not believe in the supernatural even though for decades past her ancestors were gifted with clairvoyancy. She does not believe in legends either, because she would rather deal with facts. When her parents give her and her five best friends the graduation gift of a lifetime, her beliefs begins to change.

Donut Muffins Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 c	white sugar
1/4 c	butter, melted
3/4 tsp	ground nutmeg
1/2 c	milk
1 tsp	baking powder
1 c	all purpose flour
				MIXTURE FOR TOPPING
1/4 c	margarine melted
1/2 c	white sugar
1 tsp	ground cinnamon

Directions

1  Preheat oven to 375deg.

Grease 24 mini-muffin cups. 

 

2 Mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup margarine or butter, in a large bowl. Stir in the milk, then mix in the baking powder and flour until just combined. 

 

3 Fill the prepared mini muffin cups about half full. (not necessary to put in paper cups, they have to be removed after baking anyway).

Bake until the tops are lightly golden, 10-15 minutes.

 

4 While the muffins are baking, place 1/4 cup of melted margarine or butter in a bowl.

 

In a separate bowl, mix together 1/2 cup sugar with the cinnamon.

 

5 Dip each muffin in the melted margarine or butter, and roll in sugar-cinnamon mixture I only dipped the tops.

Let cool and serve.

Tiger Butter Recipe

Set in Los Angeles, teacher Brenda Finnegan and her animal trainer boyfriend Bob Zebrinski witness a kidnapping. Brenda decides she must do what she can to find the people behind the crime and the victim's subsequent murder.

TIGER BUTTER
1 lb. white chocolate 1 lb. milk chocolate 1 c. creamy peanut butter   Melt white and milk chocolate separately. Add peanut butter to white chocolate. Pour together - do not stir. Pour into wax paper lined pan. Swirl chocolates together to get a striped effect. Let cool at room temperature. Turn out onto cutting board and cut into small squares.

Happy Memorial Day!

Told in journal format, this novel of the Iraq war is a fictional story that revolves around a medic and the day-to day activities of the unit he serves. He tries so hard to keep his men safe, in a world where safety is not an option.

Happy Memorial Day Everyone! 

Thanks to all who have served our country. 

May we honor them as they deserve and

 may we  all enjoy a blessed day, today.

 Question from the e-mail: I remember your saying, "Dialog is like money in the bank." But my new teacher says I have "too much dialogue." She suggests I cut some.Any ideas on how to tell when I have too much? And what to cut. Junie.

Answer: That depends on the teacher. Some literary writers and college professors dislike dialogue, feeling that it is "a pulp writing tool." But I have always found that the reader's interest perks up when they see those quotation marks whether you are writing fiction or an article.

Having said that, it's important that the dialogue is about something important.  So the first thing to cut in dialogue is small-talk.

You only need to write dialogue when they are talking about something important. The rest can go into narrative and a lot can be assumed. Nobody says, "HI, how are you?"

 For instance, take the following story situation:

In Scene one, Sally’s brother John was in a 40-car pile up on the Interstate. He lies for hours, pinned in the car, then finally is picked up by paramedics and taken to the Emergency Room, by an ambulance.  There he is rushed into surgery while (end of scene hook) a nurse tosses his wallet to the ward clerk, yelling, “Call his next-of-kin.” 

Ordinarily we'd assume the next scene would be Sister Sally answering the phone, but that would not tell the reader anything that isn't already known. Better to skip right on to what happens after Sally finds out.

In scene two: Sally rushes out of the house and meets her neighbor, Paul, a friend of John’s.

    Sally slammed down the phone, grabbed her jacket, and headed for the door, frantic to get to the hospital and find out how badly John was hurt. (Opening Hook) It wasn’t until she actually got into the garage that she remembered John had been driving her car the night before, because his was in the repair shop. (Shows confusion caused by the emergency situation)  Without a second thought for her damaged car (shows her first concern is her brother’s life), Sally hurried out to the street and all but ran toward the bus stop.

    Half a block down the street, Paul Anderson, a friend of John’s, put down his rake and caught up with Sally.

   “Where are you going in such a hurry? What’s wrong?” (Now in reality he would probably have said, “Hey, Sally. Wait a minute. I want to talk to you.” But that would not have moved the story forward. Dialogue should always move the story forward and it should be about something important.)

    “It’s, John! He’s in the hospital.” Sally told Paul about the accident. (Instead of a whole replay, use narrative. No need to repeat all the action about the 40-car pile-up and John’s being pinned in the car for hours — the reader already knows that.)

    “No wonder you are upset. Come on, I’ll drive you.” Paul took off his gardening gloves and headed for his pickup. By the time he got the door open, Sally was already waiting inside.

    “Hurry!.” Sally gave Paul a worried look. “I have to find out how bad it is.” (End of scene hook.)
* * *
Scene three:  Sally and Paul rush in to question the doctors.


So maybe I spoke too soon when I said "Dialogue is money in the bank." It does tend to make the reader's stake in the story go up, as long as it's about something important that the reader hasn't heard before.

Catching UP!

Catching UP!

Books that went to press, or back to press this week:



   HIS SON, HER DAUGHTER, by Ludima Gus Burton
   Destitute, single mother Nora Ames believes taking a job as nanny to a wealthy lawyer’s baby could be the answer to her financial problems. Her own daughter is hospitalized, but Nora can take the job temporarily. If her daughter’s health improves, then he can find someone else...

 

Galleys that went out this Week:

DOING DEAD MAN'S TIME, by Matthew L. Schoonover
     From the author who brought you the supernatural thrillers of The Arbiter series and the impossible mysteries of The Tornado Man series comes a new tale of supernatural suspense. Phil Talbot is in the here-after, awaiting judgment. He is given the opportunity to come back to the mortal plane and fix the one mistake that changed his supernatural fate.

 

MATTEO'S TREASURE, Morretti Men Series, Vol. 3, by Anna Dynowski

   Jet-setter Santino Moretti died and left the Triple-M property, worth nearly $25 million, to his three neglected sons, Micah, Marek, and Matteo, each born of a different marriage, and each unknown by the others. Before any one of them can inherit, he must take turns living on the farm for three months, then they must return and all three live together for a final three months. Half-brothers, city boys, and complete strangers, they face the biggest challenge of their lives: to put aside their distrust and bitterness and live together like a kind and caring family.

 

  

THE PROMISE by Karen Rossi

 

Katharine Wilder is devastated when her 11-year-old daughter, Maggie, is arrested for shoplifting. Although the girl is only involved by association, Katharine is deeply shaken by the incident and wants to get Maggie involved in wholesome church activities.

 

 

 THE DEPUTY, by C.M. Albrecht    

   "When Deputy Sheriff Wayne Terwilliger hires a handyman to help around his little farm, he sets a terrible and deadly machine into motion."

 

 

 

 

Work began, or continued, on the following titles: 

 

I HAVE A FRIEND ON JUPITER, Celine Rose Mariotti
   A story of two young friends who e-mail aliens on Jupiter! When their space ship arrives, so does a lot of adventure. When the space ship leaves-a special bond has been formed. 

 

A VANISHING BREED,Volunteer Series, Vol. 2 by Tom Ward 

   The continued adventures of Medic 1260.

 

MINISTER'S SHOES, VOL. 2 by Celine Rose Mariotti
 
   Rev. Castle is back in another cozy mystery.

REWIND FORWARD, by Michael E. Field
  Another great mystery by popular author Michael E. Field.

BLEEDING HEARTS: Killian Kendal Mystery Series, Vol. 1
   Winner of the Stonewall Society's 2002 Pride in the Arts Literary Award in the Whodunit Category!

REAP THE WHIRLWIND: Killian Kendall Mystery Series, Vol. 2,  by Josh Aterovis.
   Suicide, or murder? That's the question in the second Killian Kendall mystery. Will Smith suspects murder when an old childhood pal drowns, and asks his friend Killian for help in solving the mystery.
 

TRUTH OF YESTERDAY,  by Josh Aterovis

ALL LOST THINGS, by Josh Aterovis

CHANGE  OF WORLDS, by Josh Aterovis 

 

Jack's News!

  by your bookstore cat,  gossip columnist, and feline friend. 

 

Arline and Roger both have doctor's appointments in the next week. They'll both be grumpy, though it's just for routine check-ups. Truly, if it wasn't for doctors, they'd have no social life at all.

As for me, I'm SHEDDING! All that beautiful hair flying around in the breeze and everyone sneezing, including me. Need I say more?

Somebody PLEASE send me some good news or juicy gossip to take my mind off all this itching.

 

Day Late and Dollar Short

 by Anne and Ivan Kronenfeld

In 1814, a woman of unknown origins graduated from Edinburgh Medical School disguised as a man.

Dr. James Miranda Barry has the distinction of being the first woman doctor in the Western world. She then served in the British Military disguised as a male surgeon for forty-five years.

A Note from Arline

Been to doctors all morning.  Nothing wrong, but time consuming.  Will play Catch UP! tomorrow instead of today. Hang in there!

Too Many Pronouns

Our Very First Epic Award Winner 2002

First in the series: 

Survey Team Leader Nora Falconi's closest friend, anthropologist Marcus Cranshaw, has disappeared on Class M Planet No. 8055. Nora must find and rescue him before a long-awaited treaty takes effect, and 8055 becomes part of Ast territory.

Question from the E-mail:  People tell me I use too many pronouns, or maybe the wrong pronouns. You were always a strickler for the rules. Can you tell me the one for pronouns? Eva.

Answer:  Eva, good to hear from you.

Sure. The rule is a pronoun always refers to the Preceding Noun. So if "she" follows the word Table, that would technically be against the rule and you'd have to use the proper name. Of course most readers wouldn't complain, as tables, in English anyway, have no gender, and they'd remember the last female character mentioned and subconsciously assign the "she" to  whoever that was.

If it's been awhile since a female name was used, you might want to use it again, just to help remind the reader who it is.

The Most Important Thing is not to confuse the reader. So if two people are present, John and Mary a man and a woman, and the name Mary is followed by “he” — that’s pretty clear, too. Okay, it's against the rule, if you are being picky. But it's still not confusing. 

Now if the scene has two women and the “her” after Mary refers to Jane, then the proper name should be used to avoid confusion. 

I know some folks are taught to always use the name once in a scene, and the pronoun thereafter, but that can get confusing. Also it can be as repetitive as using the proper name every single time. Usually, keeping clarity in mind, most writers use a pronoun a couple of times,  then the name, then go  back for a couple more pronouns. That keeps the repetition from being too noticable.

My personal pet peave is when people use the pronoun on first reference.  To begin a scene with a transition like:

"She went into the Post Office and checked her mail, before running into John, the love of her life. He offered to buy her coffee and she went with him...

That, too, is confusing to a reader. Who She IS? We know John is having coffee with someone he met at the PO, but is it Mary? Her sister Jane? Cindi Lauper? Queen Latifah? Meryl Streep?

There are lots of lists of "rules of good writing" but only two rules that publishers care about.

1. Never confuse the reader!!!!

2. Never make work for your editor. Staff time costs money.

Distribution News from Smashwords

Scottish Heritage Series, Vol. 1

By Dorice Nelson

To become chief of his clan, Gerek Gunn must wed before his 30th birthday, an arranged marriage, but that was how things were done—or so Gerek thought until he met his bride. Catronia has no desire to wed any man and certainly not one known as the "Beast of Battle." In disguise, Catronia flees, only to find herself sharing a crofter's hut with the very man she ran from.

Distribution News from Smashwords

For those of you who are at a loss to tell fans where to find books that will work in their e-readers, we recommend SmashWords. They sell in formats that will work in most e-readers and offer free software that allows their books to be read on many various devices, from both PC and Apple computer screens, through Kindle, Nook, Sony, and Kobo e-readers, and on to most brands of tablets and iPhones or other devices that access the Internet.

Even better, Smashwords distributes our titles to other e-book sellers. So (if we prepare the files right) your titles will appear on many different sales sites, be sold through them, but paid to us by SW.

Shelley has been working for more than a year to get our older titles listed there, especially all our series books. And we will, of course list our new works there as we post them everywhere.

Today, we received the SW Newsletter and are pleased to learn that SW has signed a new distribution deal with OverDrive for library distribution.

Inside: 1. Distribution to OverDrive - Reach 20,000 Libraries!
2. Distribution Deal with txtr
3. Smashwords Shipping Faster to iBooks
4. Preorders to Barnes & Noble Helps Authors Hit Bestseller Lists
5. Ebook Subscription Services - Scribd and Oyster Off to Amazing Start
6. Ebook Publishing in the Classroom


1. DISTRIBUTION TO OVERDRIVE SERVING 20,000 PUBLIC LIBRARIES

Imagine your indie ebooks available for purchase at 20,000 public libraries. Now imagine no more. Today we announced a massive distribution deal with OverDrive, the world's largest library ebook platform. This is a milestone event for indie authors and small independent presses. It's probably our biggest and most important new distribution channel since we launched Apple iBooks in 2010. Libraries buy a lot of ebooks, and library patrons are big ebook buyers. Authors who sell into libraries are going to build larger readership faster, and this will translate to more retail sales. As we promise in the Terms of Service, all Premium Catalog books are automatically opted in to new distribution channels. In the case of OverDrive, they'll take our entire Premium Catalog *except* erotica. This means they'll soon start selling over 200,000 titles from Smashwords. As always, we give you at least 48 hours advance notice before we activate new channels. Test shipments have already begun, but if for any reason you don't want your books distributed to OverDrive, please opt out from your Dashboard's Channel Manager before Thursday night Pacific time. I do not recommending opting out, but it's a choice we always give you. This will become an important new channel. We're going to create recommend buy-lists to help librarians build their collections. The lists will identify the most popular titles by genre or category based upon sales data we aggregate for books we sell at iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords.com and other outlets. Learn all the exciting details about OverDrive, and how you can partner with your local library, and how you can drive more library sales here: http://blog.smashwords.com/2014/05/smashwords-and-overdrive-to-bring.html


 2. DISTRIBUTION DEAL WITH 'TXTR

No, that's not a typo. Yesterday we announced a distribution deal with 'TXTR, an ebook retailing and e-reading platform based in Berlin, Germany. TXTR is a smaller partner than Overdrive, but they're working on some interesting initiatives which, if successful, could be really interesting. But small retailer or not, every new distribution channel helps you reach new readers you wouldn't otherwise reach. As with OverDrive above, test shipments have already commenced. If you wish to opt out, please do so before Thursday evening from your Dashboard's Channel Manager. Learn the full scoop about TXTR at http://blog.smashwords.com/2014/05/smashwords-to-distribute-250000-ebooks.html


3. SMASHWORDS SHIPPING FASTER TO APPLE IBOOKS - SOME TITLES APPEARING AT IBOOKS SAME DAY!

 Many Smashwords authors have noticed lately that their books are shipping faster to iBooks than ever before. Price updates for Premium Catalog books are being reflected within hours. Some Smashwords authors have even seen their books appear for sale at iBooks the *same day* they uploaded to Smashwords (this is most likely to happen on Thursdays or Fridays when our vetting queue is the shortest). The cause of the new lightning-fast deliveries and listings? Two pieces to this. 1. The Smashwords vetting team is approving books quickly. 2. iBooks, in recognition of our vetting team's accuracy, has decided to fast track the listings of all non-erotica titles coming from Smashwords. Since we vet the books they don't have to. The implications of these faster listings are huge. It's yet another advantage of reaching iBooks through Smashwords. Learn more at http://blog.smashwords.com/2014/05/smashwords-introduces-faster-deliveries.html

4. PREORDERS HELP AUTHORS HIT BESTSELLER LISTS AT BARNES & NOBLE

This came as news to me. We already knew, as I've been sharing for the last year, that one of the biggest reasons to do ebook preorders is that all the accumulated orders credit as unit sales on the same day the book goes onsale at iBooks and Kobo, causing the book to spike in the bestseller lists. Higher rankings in the bestseller list increase the visibility, discoverability and desirability of your book to customers, which creates a virtuous self-reinforcing cycle of more sales leading to more sales. Until recently, it was a common belief that this magical day-one spike didn't happen at Barnes & Noble. That's what I thought, and I was WRONG! Here's how I got my head set straight: After I noticed our bestseller Nicky Charles spiking in the B&N bestseller list the day her preorder activated, I checked with one of my contacts at B&N and asked if they had changed their algorithm. And what do you know?! Sure enough, B&N preorders get the same magic day-one bump in the charts as iBooks and Kobo preorders get. If you upload direct to Barnes & Noble through Nook Press, you can't do preorders. If you distribute via Smashwords, you can do preorders at B&N! You also can earn 60% list on books priced under $2.99 and over $9.99, whereas direct uploaders via Nook Press only earn 40% list for those price points. Oh, and the faster shipments we do to Apple? We're now shipping 5 days per week, five times daily to B&N as well. Now more than ever, you've got great reason to consolidate all your non-Amazon ebook distribution through Smashwords. By consolidating your distribution through Smashwords, you can spend more time writing and less time fussing with direct uploads. Learn more about B&N preorders at http://blog.smashwords.com/2014/05/ebook-preorders-at-barnes-noble-help.html

5. SMASHWORDS AT uPublishU / BEA NEXT WEEK

 If you live near New York City, don't miss uPublishU on Saturday May 31. I'll be on hand to present two workshops. The first is an all-new workshop on PREORDER STRATEGY. Learn how to top the bestseller lists with preorders. The tips I share aren't just pie-in-the-sky speculation. Hundreds of Smashwords authors have put my strategies to the test and have gained measurable incremental advantage, and dozens have hit the top-10 bestseller lists. The second workshop is on iBooks merchandising strategies. This will be an updated version of the talk you can listen to on YouTube at http://youtube.com/user/Smashwords Register for uPublishU at http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/BEA-Conferences/DIY-Authors-Conference/ View a summary of the great sessions at http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/BEA-Conferences/DIY-Authors-Conference/#page=page-2 I'll be there with Jim Azevedo of Smashwords, so please stop by and say hello! We love meeting Smashwords authors face to face at these events.


 6. UPDATE ON SUBSCRIPTION EBOOK SERVICES SCRIBD AND OYSTER  As ya'll know, over the last six months we've added two new ebook subscription services to the Smashwords Distribution Network. I know a lot of authors were concerned these services wouldn't amount to much, but I'm happy to report both are looking like they'll become significant ebook retailing platforms for our authors. We now have two full months of sales data from Scribd, starting from the month of March. Scribd's first month was an all-time record for a new retailer's first month. They followed with a strong April with sales up another 50%. Oyster, now with about five months of sales under its belt, is also showing a lot of promise. Oyster has grown its Smashwords sales 40-50% per month, each month. This is impressive growth for both Oyster and Scribd, and I haven't seen such consistent sequential monthly percentage increases for a new retailer since the early days of iBooks, Kobo and Barnes & Noble. Let's hope these two partners keep it up! I think one or both of these partners could become significant players on the scale of Kobo or B&N during the next three years. Smashwords authors who got in early will have the greatest long term advantage because our 250,000+ titles represent the bulk of their catalogs at the moment. It means our authors are reaping the bulk of the readership exposure. In a few years once these services have millions of titles (and they probably will), the competition for reader eyeballs will be greater. Scribd is also is doing an exclusive promotional feature for the next week showcasing the books of 18 Smashwords authors. 

Legleitner's WWII Italian Recipes

In this WWII era novel, gay, German-born archaeologist Kydon Schmidt has a secret that would ruin him in the homophobic atmosphere of the 1940s. So when the U.S. Government recruits him for a mission against Nazi artifact collectors, he is hardly in a position to refuse Filled with suspense and drama. You won't be disappointed!


Contributed by Robert Legleitner on behalf of La Contessa who is Kydon Schmidt’s landlady and fellow resistance fighting ally in A Brief Madness: Book Two of the Kydon Chronicles...In WWII, Kydon Schmidt a gay man with a secret in the homophobic atmosphere of the 1940's, has been forced to spy for the allies.... In this sequel to The Golden Legend,  Kydon is seeking revenge on the men who shot his friend Val. If they want a spy, they’ll get one! 

      Isabella, La Contessa Avezzano’s  
    luncheon treat from the hills of Tuscany

2 to 4 tbsp. Chopped garlic (to taste)
3     tbsp. extra virgin Olive Oil
2     large green tomatoes (or 4 small ones)
½     cup flour

In a baking pan, brown chopped garlic in a little olive oil. Take several good-sized green tomatoes and slice. Dip lightly in flour and brown in the garlic/olive oil. While this is being done, take 3 to four cups of seedless green grapes and crush them gently. When the tomato slices are browned, arrange them in the baking pan and pour the crushed green grapes over them. Shower with bread crumbs and a tiny light sprinkling of cheese (your choice but keep it Italian) over the dish.

Bake in a medium over, 350-F or 177-C degrees, until hot and the bread crumbs are toasted.



You can serve it with:

Roman Bruschetta.

Peel and crush or grate several garlic cloves. Cut Italian bread in medium-thick slices. If no wood burning stove, pan grill the bread until golden brown. Press one side of toasted bread slices firmly into the crushed garlic. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and a splash of olive oil. Add minced cherry tomatoes and a sprinkle of oregano.

The rainforest’s secret is known to a very few. But each is perfectly placed to profit from it. The secret is lithium— sometimes described as the oil of the 21st century—and the knowledge of it has spawned a crime cabal led by Vietnamese gangster-turned-investor Johnny Ho and including a diverse cast of fellow crooks. Their plan is to own the priceless resource in the middle of the island of New Guinea, cut down the rainforest, and leverage themselves into financial control of most of Southeast Asia. To protect them they have a weapon only a nuclear strike can combat. Or so they think.

Rainforest Shrimp

Ingredients:

8 ounces penne pasta 

2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup sun-dried tomato packed in oil (drained)
3 cups mushrooms, sliced
16 Jumbo shrimp, tails off (peeled and deveined) 

2 garlic clove

2 cups prepared alfredo sauce (Canned is okay)

2 tablespoon shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 cup peas (fresh or frozen-thawed) 

4 pieces garlic bread (or focaccia triangles)

Directions:

1 Prepare penne as directed.

2 While penne is cooking, heat olive oil in heavy sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add sun dried tomatoes, mushroom and shrimp. Sauté for one minute. Add garlic sauté until garlic is golden-brown and shrimp are cooked through (pink, not gray).

3 Add Alfredo sauce and peas, stirring frequently until sauce is warm.

4 Remove from heat and add drained penne to pan, stirring until pastia is well-cooked.

5 Divide between 4 bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

6 Serve immediately with focaccia triangles or garlic bread.