E-mail Question

Harmony Village Series, Vol 2

Harmony Village, Ontario, isn’t your average town. It definitely isn’t Toronto. No glittering lights. No classy concert halls. No high-end boutique shops. Nothing. Yet, with ticket sales for performances and CD sales declining, ultra-modern pop singer, Arabella Bianchi, ends up there—thanks to her agent, who sends her to Harmony to “grow new fans in a different part of the country.” What this provincial town does have is a handsome, single, and very conservative pastor, Krystian Jasicki, who is unimpressed with the arrival of his “Christmas present” with the rock-star haircut, funky clothes, and a stud in her nose. What the Pastor has, is a cat named, "Cupid."


Question from the e-mail from Anna Dynowski:  I have checked my e-mail online servers and they don't have you on any spam or blocked lists at all. You said, to check my local sender and I'm not sure what you meant by that. Can you explain?

Answer:  Sure thing, Anna!

Everyone has a local ISP and  no matter where you get your mail, it is usually forwarded to your local service provider. It is that ISP that sends OUT your e-mails when you send, because it owns your connection to the Internet.  

Most of  us  choose an on-line provider for e-mail so that our address will not change if we switch our local ISP.  BUT the actual "send from" address will be your local service provider's -- no matter what you type in the "Return to:" line. 

My online address is: arline@mail.com  MY local ISP is: arlinechase@comcast.net.  I have been on line since 1988 and Comcast is my 11th local ISP.

I rarely get e-mail addressed to Comcast. I Never send out e-mail from Mail.com, although that is the return address on all my e-mail, because it is the one I use the most AND the one that won't change and has not changed since 1988 when I set it up.

But all my mail is FORWARDED and DELIVERED to Comcast.net, so I can read  with the e-mail program in my computer. I don't use Outlook Express, but most people do. My computer is attached by cable to comcast.net as they are my Internet Service Provider. 

Comcast automatically collects a List of spam addresses, that, UNLESS I STOP IT, WILL KEEP ME FROM RECEIVING ANY  MAIL FROM THEM. I have checked that and always keep it set to "no restrictions." I would rather have to discard 100 spam messages a day, than to miss one message from any of you.




E-mail is usually the best way to reach me. I am deaf and don't hear well on the telephone, but can always hear e-mail.

Because it is an old address, and one that is used  for a business, arline@mail.com often comes in for abuse by spamers. All my former students still have it, and use it to ask me questions, though I havent actually taught a class since 2006. 

People are currently sending spam from BOTH my e-mail addresses typed carefully into the "Reply to" slot.

NONE of you would choose to block me, I'm sure.  But if your ISP gets a lot of returned spam e-mail from one address (quite possible, as I only know the addresses are being abused, from the amount of spam that is returned to me) that ISP may block the spam-sending address without even telling you.   ALSO if you mark something as junk, without noticing the  return address is mine, it will defintitely block all mail from me.

I know JUNK has been going out that says it's from me. And I have a  growing list of people who are NOT getting mail from me, while I receive their messages perfectly well. It seems the problem has to be at the receiving end.

I am almost sure the problem is in the local settings for the Send program of the Local service provider. If you have not been receiving my mail, Please check the "send" settings on your local provider and remove any list of blocked addresses. Please leave your setting as "unrestricted," so that all mail is forwarded to you.

Catching UP!

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

 LOOKING FOR MIDNIGHT, by Helen Chappell
   Sculptor Jane Constant is artist-in-residence at Green Gardens, an ancient seaside mansion turned artist’s colony. This summer’s crop of eccentrics and other creative types include the handsome actor Gabriel Hardy rehearsing for Hamlet, the stoner musician Dink Sheldrake with an opera to write, the alcoholic abstract impressionist Ted Mitran and Midnight Bunting, a retired madam who wants to spend her summer writing a tell all memoir about her rich and famous clients.

Gallies that went out, are still out, or went out again, 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. But there are two conditions: he isn’’t to know what that mistake is, and he is not allowed to come back as himself. To add to this, the ‘‘other side’’ gets a hand in helping to decide his fate.

REWIND FORWARD: Kathy Sear and Greg Hawkins Series, Vol. 4, by Michael E. Field. 

   Paul Buckler had everything he could want from life: a beautiful wife, wonderful children, and a great home. But all that came crashing down when false allegations were levied against him and he found out that you are really guilty until proven innocent  


ANNALS OF A DANGEROUS HANDYMAN, by Geoff Geauteerre
   The tale of Henri Chabron, Canadian, American, commercial mercenary for hire, in the business of personal salvage. The fast-moving story story tells how a child, becoming a man in a world of lies, deceit and betrayal, is still able to preserve his soul.

 

 TINY TIMELESS TALES: The Writer's Bloc Anthology III

    A Collection of tales by members of the Bloc that includes short stories, poetry, pages from a nonfiction childrens book, and articles about a number of subjects, one including recipes for cooking bugs.

DEMONCHASER II: One Foot in Hell, but with the Right Shoes, by David Berardelli

   After successfully sending Gutrillus Canus back to Hell, Tiffany LeBouf and her sidekick Chip, the
mischievous inferior demon, are sent to Central Florida on a brand-new assignment—to find a delinquent inferior brought up by Braithwaite, the new super demon who has come up from Hell to replace Balberith. Along the way they meet Ashley, a young girl innocently caught up in one of Braithwaite’s evil schemes. Just as they befriend and try to help Ashley, the three of them are caught up in a web of corruption involving rich oil sheiks and a sinister scheme to sell off Central Florida land and turn it into a terrorist training center. Will Tiffany and Chip be able to sour Braithwaite’s land deal? Or will they be sent back to Hell and forced to remain there forever?

 

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. But there are conditions...

Work began or Continued on the following books: 
 
THE MURDER OF SEC. ASA KANE: Adventures on Capital Hill Series, Vol. 2. by Celine Rose Mariotti
  
Do you ever wonder what it would be like to have U.S. Senators who really did their job, got along well, and stood up for what was right? This is not your typical book about politics.  It’s the perfect U.S. Senate!  Throughout the book, there is an ongoing health care debate.  Senators Andy Thompson and Hunt Wagner lead the way with a resolution to try to stop President Robinson and Secretary von Schumann from sending troops to Botswana.  But a real adventure begins when Senator Thompson is kidnapped and Brian Travors, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State is suspected of being involved.  Senators Hunt Wagner and Darius Clemens head a committee hearing to get to the truth.  President Robinson suffers a heart attack and Vice-President Barry Newman takes over temporarily.  This book is a real page turner!  Read it and you’ll have hope for tomorrow!
   

 REFINER'S FIRE, Sisters in Freedom Series, Vol. 2, by Ann Nolder Heinz
   A life in ruins—and a journey of deliverance...Lizzie Hamilton’s life as a pampered belle in the antebellum South is over.  Alone and destitute due to the disintegration of her family’s fortunes, she makes the mistake of trusting a handsome but unprincipled professional gambler whose silver-tongued promises lead only to disgrace and virtual servitude.

LAST STOP FREEDOM: Sisters in Freedom Series, Vol. 1, by Ann Nolder Heinz
   ***First Place Winner Dragonfly Awards Competition, Historical Fiction Category**** A desperate flight from brutal oppression—and everything to lose if it fails...
   Two women, one white, the other black, find themselves trapped in bondage on a South Carolina plantation in 1850's America. Their unique friendship gives each the strength to endure until circumstances threaten not only to rip them apart but to place their very lives in jeopardy.

ROYAL PRINCESS: WIFE AND MOTHER, Mondoverde Series, Vol. 1 by Anna Dynowski
   A new series by Christian author Anna Dynowski that will keep you royally entertained.

PERIPHERAL VISION, by Joan L. Cannon.
   A collection of short fiction.

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.

 

 

 

 

 Author Andy Nunez will be at Wright’s Market October 11 for a 4-H event. The public is invited to a Halloween Party at Poplar Hill Mansion October 31st. 

 

Writers Bloc autrhors  are invited Oct. 11th, to vend at Nanticoke Heritage Day at Handsell. 

 

Mardela Springs’ Christmas tour and sale will take place early in December.

 

 Author Kris Condi wrote: "The presentation  at the library on Tuesday went very well. It took forty minutes to present followed by Q&A and there were a lot of Q's. Then, I felt like a real author signing books for people. One man praised Counting on You - said he couldn't put it down and enjoyed having a touch of male POV with football in the novel. What a nice compliment?"

 

 

  

If you are going to have a book signing somewhere, 

make a personal appearance, or are 

planning a launch party where you live, 

please let ME KNOW. Just put 

 NEWS FOR JACK, in the subject line, 

and we will be sure your news 

 is included here in the blog and posted on Facebook!

JACK

Medieval Pottage

by Jen Black Alba Series, Vol. 1

Finlay was the recognized heir to the throne of eleventh century Alba when the king began a plot to install his grandson Duncan. Finlay finds his girl is married off to his cousin, his best friend joins the opposing side, and Duncan plans war. Life becomes especially difficult when Thorfinn of Orkney and his sister take hand in the game.

Medieval Pottage

Ingredients Herbs 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander or ground cardamom 1/2 cup White Cooking Wine 1 large or two small bay leaves Vegetables 1 head fresh cabbage 2 medium size onions 2 whole leeks Broth 3 cups broth (chicken or beef or vegetable) Serves Four

Instructions

1. Wash and chop the cabbage and leeks. Thinly slice the onions.
2. It's okay to use canned stock.
3. Put all the ingredients together in a large pan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Recipe notes

The finer the cabbage is chopped, the quicker the pottage will be ready.

A Warning Note to Authors

I am again having e-mail problems. Someone has been sending spam from both my e-mail addresses: arline@mail.com and arlinechase@comcast.net.  I know this is definitely true, because I am getting a large amountd of "failed delivery" returned mail for mail that I have NOT sent out.


It is SO EASY to just mark something Spam, and (with some programs ) that will automatically add the return address to your "no mail" list  without noticing what the return address actually says. I have been guilty of this myself. So please, if you haven't heard back from me in awhile, take a moment to check you "no spam from" list of addresses.


I have repeated questions in my mail  today from both Bobbi Sinha and Virginia Winters, that I have already answered twice and they apparently are not getting what I send.  Anna Dynowski, Geoff Geauterre, and Michael Field have been also had problems recently.

I am checking every site every day and sending from all of the, but the problem seems to be that people are NOT receiving messages that I SEND.
.

What do editors want, anyway?

Jack Watson Series, Vol. 1

Tabitha Solo thought nothing of dropping the name of Scot Cunningham, the object of her high school crush who recently died in a car crash, as the inspiration for her first hit song, “Dreamer,” during a TV interview. But now, the FBI is asking about him, people are following her, and Carren Bixby--Tabitha’s manager and Scot’s one-time girlfriend--is behaving suspiciously. When Tabitha finds a listening device in her bedroom, she runs away and hires private detective Jack Watson.

Jack met Tabitha once before and suddenly believed in love at first sight, but he was recovering from a disastrous marriage then and had yet to fight off the commanding influence of his ex-wife. When Tabitha arrives in his office looking for help, he is both thrilled and disappointed because his professional ethics forbid him from becoming personally involved.

Question from the e-mail:  As you know, I market small pieces to magazines mostly. Every editor wants something different and complains of something else! What do they want, anyway???

Answer: As you pointed out, each editor wants something different, and his requirements are designed to lighten his own workload.

 Speaking as a sometime editor, here’s MY list in order of importance:

    1. Good clean mistake-free copy that arrives well before deadline.

    2. Coherent and organized prose that is never confusing to the reader.

    3. Authors who will listen to what the editor is saying about the assignment and will produce the desired results the editor has asked for without going off on a tangent of their own.

    4. Authors who will pay attention to length requirements. Three thousand words means “Three thousand Words, or LESS”. It doesn’t mean 3001 words. Sending in assignments that are too long makes a great deal of work for your editor.

    5. Stories or information that readers will enjoy, or that will benefit them in some way.

    6. Authors who don’t take unnecessary time. Who ask just enough questions to know what’s wanted then go away and produce it without talking about their grandchildren, dogs or in-growing toenails.

    7. Authors who don’t telephone or send twenty e-mails a day wanting to know when their book, or story, or article, will be finished and/or published.

    8. Authors who listen to suggestions and produce results without whining.

    9. Clear, concise, informative prose without repetition or padding.

    10. Artistry with words.

Please notice that artistry is last on the list. No editor needs an author who calls to complain about what an editor changed and why.

Great Reading and Rainforest Cookies to nibble on

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.

The first female president of a United States, self sufficient in oil but totally without the precious lithium, has her own plans. Andrei Kuznetsov, chess aficionado, avid reader and unlikely secret agent, is sent to make them a reality. The Australians, meanwhile, are also aware of the deposit and have their own intentions—with an SAS team on call to support them.

As the story unfolds through murder, jealousy, corruption and a Category A hurricane, Kuznetsov comes to realize the players have reckoned without one factor—the nation that holds the deposit and the beautiful young woman who will emerge to lead it.

The presence of a national heroine (and the people who call the forest home) forces them all to think again.

Rainforest Cookies

Ingredients:

Servings:

36

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup soft butter
• 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice, well drained
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 (3 1/4 ounce) jar macadamia nuts, chopped
• 3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F
2. Combine sugar and Soft Baking Butter with Canola Oil in large bowl.
3. Beat at medium speed until creamy.
4. Add pineapple and vanilla; continue beating until well mixed.
5. Reduce speed to low; add flour and baking powder.
6. Beat until well mixed.
7. Stir in nuts and 1/4 cup coconut by hand.
8. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; dip top of each cookie into remaining coconut.
9. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
10. Bake in oven 12-15 minutes or until set.

Catching UP!

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

SLOW DANCING WITH THE ANGEL OF DEATH: Hollis Ball and Sam Wescott series, Vol. 1, by Helen Chappell

    Newspaper reporter Hollis Ball is shocked to find herself shedding a tear when she learns her ex-husband, Sam Wescott, was killed in a boating accident. She is even more shocked when Sam's ghost shows up, asking her to find out who murdered him. LiFE Award from Literature for the Environment.

DEAD DUCK: Hollis Ball and Sam Wescott series, Vol. 2

   Hollis Ball is back, this time covering the Decoy Jamboree, still smouldering over the light sentence Judge Fish gave a wife-murderer. Then someone bashes Fish on the head with an antique decoy. Hollis is pretty sure it's not suspect #1, so naturally she decides to solve the murder herself, with the help of her dead ex-husband, of course, the charming ghostly Sam.

Gallies that went out, are still out, or went out again, this week:

REWIND FORWARD: Kathy Sear and Greg Hawkins Series, Vol. 4, by Michael E. Field. 

   Paul Buckler had everything he could want from life: a beautiful wife, wonderful children, and a great home. But all that came crashing down when false allegations were levied against him and he found out that you are really guilty until proven innocent  


ANNALS OF A DANGEROUS HANDYMAN, by Geoff Geauteerre
   The tale of Henri Chabron, Canadian, American, commercial mercenary for hire, in the business of personal salvage. The fast-moving story story tells how a child, becoming a man in a world of lies, deceit and betrayal, is still able to preserve his soul.

 

 TINY TIMELESS TALES: The Writer's Bloc Anthology III

    A Collection of tales by members of the Bloc that includes short stories, poetry, pages from a nonfiction childrens book, and articles about a number of subjects, one including recipes for cooking bugs.

DEMONCHASER II: One Foot in Hell, but with the Right Shoes, by David Berardelli

   After successfully sending Gutrillus Canus back to Hell, Tiffany LeBouf and her sidekick Chip, the
mischievous inferior demon, are sent to Central Florida on a brand-new assignment—to find a delinquent inferior brought up by Braithwaite, the new super demon who has come up from Hell to replace Balberith. Along the way they meet Ashley, a young girl innocently caught up in one of Braithwaite’s evil schemes. Just as they befriend and try to help Ashley, the three of them are caught up in a web of corruption involving rich oil sheiks and a sinister scheme to sell off Central Florida land and turn it into a terrorist training center. Will Tiffany and Chip be able to sour Braithwaite’s land deal? Or will they be sent back to Hell and forced to remain there forever?

 

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. But there are conditions...

Work began or Continued on the following books:

 REFINER'S FIRE, Sisters in Freedom Series, Vol. 2, by Ann Nolder Heinz
   A life in ruins—and a journey of deliverance...Lizzie Hamilton’s life as a pampered belle in the antebellum South is over.  Alone and destitute due to the disintegration of her family’s fortunes, she makes the mistake of trusting a handsome but unprincipled professional gambler whose silver-tongued promises lead only to disgrace and virtual servitude.


 
THE MURDER OF SEC. ASA KANE: Adventures on Capital Hill Series, Vol. 2. by Celine Rose Mariotti
  
Do you ever wonder what it would be like to have U.S. Senators who really did their job, got along well, and stood up for what was right? This is not your typical book about politics.  It’s the perfect U.S. Senate!  Throughout the book, there is an ongoing health care debate.  Senators Andy Thompson and Hunt Wagner lead the way with a resolution to try to stop President Robinson and Secretary von Schumann from sending troops to Botswana.  But a real adventure begins when Senator Thompson is kidnapped and Brian Travors, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State is suspected of being involved.  Senators Hunt Wagner and Darius Clemens head a committee hearing to get to the truth.  President Robinson suffers a heart attack and Vice-President Barry Newman takes over temporarily.  This book is a real page turner!  Read it and you’ll have hope for tomorrow!
   
LAST STOP FREEDOM: Sisters in Freedom Series, Vol. 1, by Ann Nolder Heinz
   ***First Place Winner Dragonfly Awards Competition, Historical Fiction Category**** A desperate flight from brutal oppression—and everything to lose if it fails...
   Two women, one white, the other black, find themselves trapped in bondage on a South Carolina plantation in 1850's America. Their unique friendship gives each the strength to endure until circumstances threaten not only to rip them apart but to place their very lives in jeopardy.

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.

 

   Shelley is enjoying her long-awaited visitors, her mom and sister, all the way from Canada! Boy is she happy. She missed out on Sunday, as she had to work, but we enjoyed visiting with her mom, Vi and Sister Betty. Mom sure knows how to chuckle me under the chin.

 

  Author Kris Condi is getting lots of attention in her home town of Crescent City, IL. Her books are flying off the shelves at the local library and they her upcoming talk has been noted in the newspapers and  on Local TV. She will do a book signing of her latest book COUNTING ON YOU, NEXT TUESDAY, Sept. 23, at the Watseka Library from 6:30 TO 8 P.M. Don’t miss it if you’re in her neighborhood.

 

  Arline pretended to find my mousie -- the orange calico one, with the green button eyes, that author Terry L. White made (and stuffed with catnip) just for me. At least she SAID it was mine! SHE couldn't fool me. It only had one eye and I can't tell you WHAT it smelled like!

   (Note from Arline: The mousie was found to have been hidden in the laundry basket and reappeared with only one eye and no longer smelling of catnip, but of detergent and dryer sheets! At first, Jack refused to look at it. Then he picked it up, carried it into his litterbox and pissed on it!)

   Arline tried and tried to tell me it was the same ONE! But she couldn't fool me! I disposed of it properly, and am still looking for the real one, though SHE refuses to help me search anymore!

  

If you are going to have a book signing somewhere, 

make a personal appearance, or are 

planning a launch party where you live, 

please let ME KNOW. Just put 

 NEWS FOR JACK, in the subject line, 

and we will be sure your news 

 is included here in the blog and posted on Facebook!

JACK