A Drift of Quills is here again! We’re like clockwork that way, every Friday! Today we’re doing “miniviews” — shortshortshort interviews with some of our favorite authors. We each picked a victim, er… writer, and asked them the same three questions. Read on to see how they answered. A.E. Marling leaped into the indie writer scene about three years ago with his impressive debut, Brood of Bones. (Not that I’ve talked about that before, but who’s counting?) Behind the book’s gorgeous cover is a story about an enchantress with a sleeping problem and a city full of pregnant women. All […]
Cover Candy #2
I love great book covers. I have a digital collection that I go through every now and then, admiring and deciphering what it is about each that particularly intrigues or pleases me. Some days the walk through my virtual gallery is for the simple desire to appreciate the artwork. On other days (especially when I’m contemplating the creation of a cover) I look through the collection to inspire ideas. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Book covers have to do a lot of work! “Aspiring authors, get this through your head. Cover art serves one purpose, and […]
More Good, Clean Reading
Are you one of those people that loves to read but hates trying to disinfect your eyeballs after they’ve been exposed to blood, guts, profanity or sex? Yeah, me, too … And I have good news! As the hunt continues for providers of “clean” fiction, more sites and blogs are cropping up. This time I’d like to introduce you to Clean Indie Reads: The goal of this site is to connect writers from across the fiction genre spectrum with readers who want to discover something great. Specifically, it is to find independent authors who are writing fiction that would generally […]
Getting Graphic
The word “graphic” comes from a Greek word that means “writing, drawing.” Graphic representations are visual, symbolic, illustrative … and written. Graphic descriptions are vivid, detailed, descriptive, illustrative. Do you see a connection here? Authors who want to sell their books (as I suppose most authors do) will draw more attention to themselves and their books if the package (author and books) is attractive. I’ve talked before about what an important job book covers have. Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords, points out that: A book’s description is the “first and foremost concern” of the blogger and book reviewer known as “The […]
Chocolate Fix: Chocolate Magic Custard Cake
When I was a little girl my mom spearheaded an annual Baking Campaign that started in October or November and came to a glorious, beautiful, tasty finale at Christmas. She set up a long, narrow table covered with a red tablecloth and decorated with gold tinsel. A basket shaped like a sleigh held old-fashioned, don’t-touch-it, fiberglass “snow” and some of her antique ornaments. She made a beautiful gingerbread house. There were fancy bowls of ribbon candy. But the best part was the cookies. Two shallow, rectangular baskets held rows and rows of cookies. Each row was different, and it was […]
Bookshelf Scavenger Hunt!
It’s the first Friday of a whole new year! Hello, and Happy New Year to You! As usual for the first-Friday-of-the-month, A Drift of Quills comes together to deliver you something wonderfully bookish—and this time we’re doing a scavenger hunt! You might have seen some others around the cyber world, but we decided to make up our own. We’re adventurous that way! Rummaging through my bookshelves (both physical and digital) makes me feel like a dragon admiring its treasure. I have silver and gold, precious jewels, priceless collections of beautiful words at my very fingertips! The hardest part of this […]
Stuff Your Kindle!
It’s the day after Christmas! Are you stuffed full of turkey? Family? Joy? There is nothing in the world like the energy that comes when my family gathers to celebrate this joyous season. I like seeing the way the idea of the gift-giving has evolved in my grown children. They’re looking for more than the easy solutions and searching a little deeper, sifting through the possibilities to find gifts that mean something. They’re using their hearts. It makes Christmas different than it used to be when they were small. Sometimes I miss the eager, childish excitement—but that’s what grandkids are for, right? […]
Awesome Sale on Fantasy and Sci-Fi eBooks!
Boy, have I got a treat for you! On December 21st (one day only!) the Fantasy Sci-Fi Network is having a spectacular event featuring free, 99¢, and bargain e-books from the likes of Leeland Artra, JD Hallowell, AR Silverberry, Ichabod Temperance, Kasper Beaumont, Cheryllynn Dyess, Joshua Grasso — and many more! Yes, me, too! Mark your calendar, set your alarm, bookmark the page and — Oh, right, you need the link! Santa’s Best Fantasy & Sci-Fi eBook Sale! Merry Christmas, and have fun stuffing those virtual socks!
Blogger Book Fair and Giveaway! Featuring Kayla Curry
It’s the last day of the Speculative Fiction Blogger Book Fair. I hope you’ve enjoyed meeting some of our authors here on my blog. Visit the BBF website for the complete list of authors and giveaways, and then go VOTE in the BBF Reader’s Choice Awards! Today’s guest is the awesome Kayla Curry, author and blogger, and mastermind behind the Blogger Book Fair. Where the Carnies Are Fantasy | New Adult Olive is having a very bad day. She caught her boyfriend cheating on her, she lost her job, and she stumbled into a portal leading to a secret carnival kingdom […]
Blogger Book Fair and Giveaway! Featuring Lia Davis
The Speculative Fiction Blogger Book Fair continues! Until November 14th visitors to the participating blogs will find free and bargain ebooks. They’ll also get a chance to enter drawings for Amazon gift cards ($50, $30 and $20). Be sure to read to the end to enter the giveaways, and then go VOTE! (NOTE: Event has ended!) Next up is Lia Davis—Welcome! War’s Passion (Sons of War #1) Fantasy | Adult After losing her parents in a brutal attack from a monster straight out of her nightmares, Gwendolyn Preston tries to pick up the shattered pieces of her life. Along with her […]