Review: An Axe to Grind

An Axe to Grind
F.M. Meredith

Oak Tree Press
January 2010
Paperback, 178 pages, $12.95

Also available in Kindle edition

Crime fiction

This is the first book I’ve read in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series, but after reading An Axe to Grind, I intend to read the rest of the series. I want to know what happened to bring the characters to where they are now. Though Rocky Bluff is a fictional location, the town and the people seem very real.

If you like to read while you’re eating, as I do, you might want to avoid starting this book at meal time. The first scene—when the police are investigating the crime scene with a decapitated body and massive amounts of blood—is  pretty gory. However, that’s the only part of the book that will make your stomach a little queasy.

The main storyline involves the investigation and solution of the crime, but the relationships of the police officers and their personal lives are interwoven into the mystery. Readers who enjoy relationship stories will enjoy An Axe to Grind as much as lovers of crime fiction.

Detective Doug Milligan and fiancee and fellow police officer Stacey Wilbur are so wrapped up in their respective cases—his the murder of a stalker and hers a molestation case involving the son of a friend—that they don’t have time to plan their wedding. When Doug disappears while trailing a suspect, Stacey goes looking for him, and finding time to plan a wedding pales in comparison to finding Doug in time to save his life.

Author F.M. Meredith is currently on a blog book tour for An Axe to Grind. I recommend you check out the other stops of the tour for interviews and excerpts.

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Bio of F. M. Meredith

F. M. Meredith, who also writes under the name Marilyn Meredith, is the author of nearly thirty published novels. An Axe to Grind is the newest from Oak Tree Press. No Sanctuary was a finalist the mystery/suspense category of the Epic best in e-books contest.

Marilyn has taught writing and is active in industry organizations. For over twenty years, she lived in a beach community similar to Rocky Bluff.

You can visit the author at Fiction for You and on her blog.

Read an E-Book Week Coming to an End

Tomorrow is the last day to download free or discounted e-books for Read an E-Book Week.

You can find all my books on my Smashwords page.

I’ve been intrigued by the number of times different books have been downloaded as of early Friday morning. The books I’m giving away are listed below in order of popularity so far this week:

• Trapped by Love: A Novelette—a short romance that is always free 
• Fern’s Fancies—contemporary romance
• Dream or Destiny—romantic mystery
• Stroke of Luck—contemporary romance
• The Secrets of Fantastic Houseplants—plant care guide
• Preserving Memories: How to Write a Family History—how-to guide
• Finding the Information You Need: Research Tips for Your Family, Business, or Personal Pursuits—how-to guide and resource

Among the fiction titles, with one exception, the shorter titles are downloaded more often than longer titles. In fact, the last time I checked, Trapped by Love has been downloaded 456 times, and the other six titles have been downloaded a total of 456 times.  The exception is Stroke of Luck, which is shorter than Dream or Destiny but has been downloaded fewer times.

The same pattern holds true in the nonfiction. Coincidence? I wonder. It would be logical to assume that people would choose how-to guides on the basis of topics of interest. Houseplants probably have more general appeal than writing family histories, but I was surprised that the research how-to was at the bottom of the list. It includes nearly 100 links to helpful sites, three case studies of different types of research, and lots of tips on finding information from other people, in the library, and online.

If you have any insights on whether shorter books are, in fact, more popular in general or if this pattern is mere chance, please share your thoughts in comments.

If you haven’t downloaded your free or discounted books yet, be sure to do it by the end of the day on Saturday. You can find free books at Smashwords and Read an E-book Week as well as individual author and publisher Web sites.

I hope you download my free e-books this week. If you enjoy them, consider leaving a review (or at least at rating) on Smashwords or a community such as Goodreads.

If you don’t like them, post a review anyway. You might write something like this: “This book was worth every penny I paid for it.” Every free book is worth at least what you paid for it, and mine are no exception.

More Free E-Books

I have added the following short how-to e-books to Smashwords. The books are free through March 13, 2010 with the coupon code RFREE. Visit my Smashwords page to order any of my e-books. I’m also including the novels Dream or Destiny, Stroke of Luck, and Fern’s Fancies in the Read an E-Book Week promotion.

Learn how to find the information you need — whether it’s knowledge critical for your family’s health, intelligence important for the success of your business, facts useful in making buying decisions, or simply lore you want to know. Discover how to evaluate the reliability of the data you gather as well. Links to almost 100 sites useful for research.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re confused about e-book formats, you’ll find a handy matrix at Wordsupply showing what programs/devices read various e-book formats.

Don’t forget to visit Read an E-Book Week and Smashwords for more free e-books this week … after you’ve checked out all my free e-books.

Free E-Books for Read an E-Book Week

One of my favorite weeks of the year is here. During Read an E-Book Week, many publishers and authors offer free e-books to introduce readers to e-books in general and to their stories in particular. Of course, I’m already a big fan of e-books—and a big fan of free. So this week, I’ll be stocking up on great reading material for my Kindle.

I’m giving away several e-books, both fiction and nonfiction. You can download the books from my Smashwords page—simply place your order and enter discount code RFREE at checkout to receive a 100% discount. (Note: not all titles will be available at the beginning of the week but all will be added very soon. If you see a title on the list of books I’m offering that you don’t see at Smashwords, just return in a day or two and you will be able to download it.)

Be sure to check out all the other free books at Smashwords and Read an E-Book Week.

And don’t forget that Read an E-Book Week runs March 7-13, 2010.

Interview with Donna Wright, Always Keepers Press

My guest today is Donna Wright. She is the owner of Always Keepers Press, the new audiobook publishing company that just released Gayle Trent’s Between a Clutch and a Hard Place.

Lillie: Thank you for visiting A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eye today, Donna. First, let me congratulate you on the launch of Always Keepers Press. I’m excited about the start-up and thrilled that you will be publishing Dream or Destiny in April. March is Small Press Month, so it’s a good time to celebrate a new small press. What led you to start this new venture?

Donna: To be perfectly honest, I have been wanting to do this for years. Sherry Bigler-Donovan and I have wanted to work together for the last twenty years. We’re both ashamed that we’ve known each other longer that that! (laugh) One day I was listening to the radio and the morning talk show host on a Knoxville (TN) radio station said, “You have a dream, now what are you going to do with it?” As a writer and someone who has always wanted my own business, I started thinking. Well, I’m too old. Guess what, not going to get any younger. I can’t do this. I need help. Well, that was true. So, I called Sherry and Katie Lovette of 77 Productions. We worked out a system that we think will work. Now, we’re putting that system into place and praying.

The truth is I started this company with a domain name, a few close friends who were also talented, and a prayer. We’ll just wait and see what happens.

Lillie: How did you come up with the name Always Keepers Press?

Donna: I went through several names and didn’t end up with them for one reason or the other. I’d go to buy the domain and it would be taken. Or, I’d go to register it with the state and it was taken.

I thought all of our books need to be keepers. I don’t want to find them at used book stores. That was how I came up with it.

Lillie: I’ve been a business owner, and I recognize that starting any new business can be a challenge. Please share a little about what is involved in starting an audio publishing company.

Donna: Oh, this one will be fun to answer. My one voice talent had an accident, followed by laryngitis for two weeks. Also, she had a computer accident and that was tough as well, as the finished product (all but one chapter of the book) was lost in a crash.

Of course, there were a hundred other things that happened. I had hoped to start last October and postponed until February because I was just trying to get things together. A whole lot more goes into something this simple than one might think.

Lillie: I know some authors who try to read their own books for audio publishing, but most of us don’t have the right voice or reading skill to do a good job. Who does Always Keepers Press use for voice talent?

Donna: The only talent I have, at this point, is Sherry Bigler-Donovan. She’s been doing voice work for over 30 years. In fact, I met her while she and my husband worked together at a radio station when I was first married.

Lillie: You have an interesting way of describing the kind of books you publish. What books do you have scheduled in the near future?

Donna: I always say that if you can’t read it aloud in church, I’m not interested. A few years ago I sat at my desk and wrote a very sensual scene and then realized that every word was being read by my Lord, Jesus. That was a very big moment for me. I realized I didn’t want to write anything that would be uncomfortable for me to read aloud before Him. So, I started that in my personal writing and also in what I need for AKP. If someone disagrees with me, that’s their perogative. But, this is what I need to be for my own personal beliefs.

Lillie: Are you open for submissions? If so, where can authors find submission guidelines?

Donna: Yes, please send submissions to editor@alwayskeeperspress.com.

This is what I want: Cozy mysteries, sweet romances, inspirational romances, short stories and full length. We especially like to hear from people who are already published but own their audio rights and want to spread out.

Also, I am soon opening up two other branches. One is non-fiction. It will be in print and hopefully later audio or even video. Christian and conservative works. I want to start a speaker base from this part of the venture.

The last is that if anyone has a book that they want on audio, I will be glad to do that and take no rights to it. It will be absolutely self published. We will contract for a certain amount of money and all rights will remain with the author. I do this because a lot of people are wanting to put self-published works in audio but don’t want to lose any rights. This way they pay up front, and everything is theirs. We are quite reasonable compared to other outlets.

The last thing that is part of AKP is also a tabloid style blog called The Romance Rag. I hope that your authors will let me know at romancerag@alwayskeeperspress.com of any news in their careers. I will blog it for them and link wherever they like. This is just a way to keep in touch and to bring more traffic to AKP as well.

Lillie: Where can readers learn more and buy audiobooks from Always Keepers Press?

Donna: Our Web site is finally up: alwayskeeperspress.com. I should have put that road in the “Problem” category! What a road that’s been to get that up!

Lillie: Is there anything else you’d like to share that I haven’t asked?

Donna: I would like to ask Christians who read your blog to remember us in their prayers. We are just starting and have a long way to go. I have told anyone who does business with me, if they do not see Christ in me, then I don’t need to be in business.

Lillie: That’s a great testimony, Donna. I agree.  Thank you for visiting. I’m sure I didn’t ask everything my readers want to know so I hope you’ll check in during the day to answer questions.

Donna: Sure, I’ll answer questions here. Also, everyone, feel free to email me privately at publisher@alwayskeeperspress.com.

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Donna Wright

A Tennessee gal at heart, Donna spent her childhood in a Jersey shore town, not far from the Big Apple. In love with Donny Osmond since the age of 12, she began to write love stories about him. Lots of them. Then, she discovered romance novels.

After she married, (not Donny, by the way) her husband encouraged her to continue to write and try her hand at actually getting published.

She dabbled.

Finishing her first novel with a friend in 1989, she’ll tell you, it had every mistake in it known to the writing community. All of them. She didn’t leave one out, from craft to industry.

She continued to stumble through the journey until she discovered  a new chapter of Romance Writers of America®. After finding the Smoky Mountain Romance Writers®, she won several writing honors and became RWA® Pro. All because she found people who all wanted the same goal.

In 2003, her dream came true.

The 2002 Sweet, Spicy, and Spooky Award sponsored by SMRW® had a final round read by Erin Cartwright-Niumata at Avalon Books. Excited to final, Donna waited on word for the winners, like any contest finalist would. Astounded to not only win, but to be requested, she didn’t believe an editor was serious about her work. That’s why she waited until October of the next year to send in the manuscript. (Of course, she also had to finish it.) Four books and one short story later, Donna has put her efforts in a different place. She is now the sole proprietor of Always Keepers Press, a place to find fine audio books.

 Donna lives in East Tennessee with her husband of 24 years and teen-aged son. She is an active church member and believes in Jesus Christ as Salvation. Donna is available for speaking engagements regarding both her writing and her faith.

Scripture for the Second Monday in Lent

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” ~ Luke 6:37-38 (ESV)

Lord, You promise to give wonderful gifts to me if I forgive and give to others. Yet so often I am selfish, judgmental, unforgiving. Teach me to love others as You love me, to give to others as You give to me, to forgive others as You forgive me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

A Busy Month in the Book World

March is Small Press Month. Though the Web site is dated 2009, there are some good suggestions on how to celebrate. The purpose of Small Press Month is to recognize the valuable work done by small, independent publishers. My novels, Stroke of Luck and Dream or Destiny, are published by a small press, GASLight Publishing, LLC. Dream or Destiny will be coming out in audio next month from a brand new small audiobook publisher, Always Keepers Press. On Wednesday, I’ll be interviewing the owner of Always Keepers, Donna Wright, about starting her business.

This week is also Words Matter Week, sponsored by the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (NAIWE). Each day of the week, NAIWE will post a specific question for the Blog Challenge. Bloggers write a post answering the daily question and post a comment on the Words Matter Week blog linking to their blog. I will be responding to a question later in the week and encourage you to participate as well.

Next week is Read an E-Book Week, which I’ve talked about before. I’m going to take advantage of the opportunity to download lots of free e-books, and I invite you to download the free e-books I’ll be offering during Read an E-Book Week.

Interview with Gayle Trent

My guest today is Gayle Trent. Her mystery novel Between a Clutch and a Hard Place has just been released In audio from Always Keepers Press. I shared the exciting news about this new audio publisher last week.

Lillie: Thank you for visiting A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eye today, Gayle. Tell us about Between a Clutch and a Hard Place.

Gayle: In Between A Clutch and A Hard Place, Myrtle Crumb buys a purse from a consignment shop and finds a note inside. The note leads her to believe something bad might’ve happened to the purse’s previous owner, so she investigates.

Lillie: I always like to know the story behind the story. Where did you get the idea for the book?

Gayle: I’d never written in first person until I did a story for Belle Books which was accepted for Blessings of Mossy Creek. I found I really enjoyed that. Plus, my grandmother had died about a year prior; and I think there is a lot of Myrtle’s personality in keeping with hers. I think, in a way, Between A Clutch and A Hard Place was part of my grieving process…a way to keep her close.

Lillie: Why did you decide to publish your story in audio with Always Keepers Press? How does it feel to be the author of the first audiobook released by the company?

Gayle: I always enjoy audio books, especially when I’m traveling, so I was thrilled at the prospect of one of my books being made into an audio book. Plus, after the publisher sent me a sample of the reading, I was really hooked!

Lillie: What are your thoughts about different kinds of publishing, such as self-publishing, small press, large traditional publishers? Do you think one is better than the others or do you think different publishers are appropriate for different books?

Gayle: Gee, I think I’ve done all of that! (laughs) All the various publishing methods have their pros and cons. With smaller houses, you have a shorter turnaround time and more personalized attention; with self-publishing, you have total creative control but a considerable investment of your own money; and with traditional publishing, your books are available in more venues. I think all have their benefits as well as their drawbacks. For example, with self-publishing I learned so much about marketing. I’m still able to draw on that knowledge to market my current titles.

Lillie: For many authors, promotion is the hardest part of writing. How do you promote your books?

Gayle: I’m finding new venues all the time. My agent suggested I get more involved in social media. I was already on Twitter; but after talking wtih him, I got involved in Facebook and MySpace. I’ll warn you those can be major time-wasters and they take discipline I sometimes don’t have (it’s more fun to chat than work, you know), but I hope to see an increase in my web traffic. And speaking of web traffic, a well-designed, professional website is the best investment an author can make. Besides those things, I think blog tours are terrific.

Lillie: You’re active as a speaker, teacher, and coach for writers. Tell us a little about that.

Gayle: When I have a speaking engagement–especially at a school–it’s like having a day off from “real” work. I love talking with people and helping them make their own dreams come true.

Lillie: Where can readers learn more about you and your books?

Gayle: Please visit me at GayleTrent.com.

Lillie: Is there anything else you’d like to share that I haven’t asked?

Gayle: Visit me at FreshFiction, where you can enter a different contest for my books (and sometimes additional goodies like a sterling silver locket during the month of February) each month!

Lillie: Thank you for visiting. I’m sure I didn’t ask everything my readers want to know so I hope you’ll check in during the day to answer questions.

Gayle: Thank you for having me, and I certainly will be popping in and out during the course of the day.
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Gayle Trent

Gayle lives in Southwest Virginia with her husband and two beautiful children, a boy and a girl. She’s a full-time writer/editor/mom/wife and chief cook and bottle washer, and loves every minute of it. Okay, not the bottle washing so much, but the rest of it is great.

Reminder: Read an E-Book Week

Read an E-Book Week will be here soon.

 

 

I’ll be offering free copies of the following e-books that are currently available:

• Dream or Destiny—romantic mystery
• Stroke of Luck—contemporary romance
• Fern’s Fancies—contemporary romance

I’ll also be offering the following new nonfiction how-to guides:

• Finding the Information You Need — Research Tips for Your Family, Business, or Personal Pursuits—advice and extensive resources for doing all kinds of research.
• The Secrets of Fantastic Houseplants—a guide to indoor plant care, adapted and updated  from a booklet I wrote and distributed to customers in my retail plant shop in the 1970s. I was in the retail plant business (either a retail store or an interior landscaping business) for more than 20 years.
• Preserving Memories: How to Write a Family History—practical tips and advice for writing memoirs and family history, especially for people who are primarily interested in preserving a legacy for future generations.

These short e-books are all written—they were previously available from an online publisher. I will format and upload them to Smashwords so they are available for free during Read an E-Book Week. At the end of that week, they will be offered for sale.

Don’t forget to check all the other authors and publishers offering free downloads during Read an E-Book Week.

Suffering with PTSD or Know Someone Who Is?

I recently talked about a book about PTSD in veterans. I’m working with psychiatrist Dr. Harry Croft—you can see him on this video of a television interview in which he talks about PTSD and the book project.

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