Happy News Years Eve to Everyone!!

Pretty Snow

The snow is still coming down, but more of a mist now.  Not likely to get more than another inch.  It's quite beautiful.  Too bad it didn't come Monday.

Boxing Day Snow

View out my front door...birds furious feeding

We got almost three inches.  20 miles north of us got nearly a foot!  We stayed at 33 degrees so it was mostly rain all night.  Has the temperatures dropped just a couple degrees we would have been snowed in.

The winds are hard, wind chill bitter.  Maybe another inches or so.

A Boxing Day Snow!

Happy Boxing day!!

My family always celebrated Christmas with just family.  Boxing Day was to go visit friends.  In many ways I always enjoyed Boxing Day even more.

  Well, not this one.  We are in the midst of a big snow storm!  High Winds, Snow and Sleet...Oh My!!

Stay safe on this busy traveling day.

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to Everyone.  I hope you found peace and fellowship on this special day.

Merry Tides of Yule to you

Merry Yule to all. 

This will be the longest night of the year. From this point forward the sun will begin its journey northward, making each day a few minutes longer than the day before. Burn your Yule log, make wishes for a better world, a happier world, and be thankful for the blessing we do have.

New glasses

New glasses today.  

Ray Ban Wayferer in horn rim.  I think it makes me look very "author".  My poor face was puffy since I just came from the dentist.  I was pumped to the gill with Novocaine.  LOL

the newest family member - Algie

A little over a month ago, someone dropped a kitty, who now lives with us.  Meet Algie - short for Algernon

A Merry Christmas and Yule from my home

A lot of news for Amazon Publishing

Amazon Publishing to Expand in Europe, Kirshbaum Takes Larger U.S. Role

Read the article

and

Kindle Direct Publishing Adds $1.5 Million Holiday Bonus for KDP Select Authors

Amazon Press Release

Sisters of Colford Hall

Montlake/Amazon Publishing, now publisher for my Sisters of Colford Hall ™

(formerly with Dorchester Publishing), immediately re-released all three novels in KINDLE.  However, they recently informed me that they would also be putting the books into tradesize in early 2013.  I will update with precise date once I know.

I am  excited about the series going into trade.  Dorchester originally had scheduled publishing the series in tradesize for July 2012 release.  Of course, this didn't happen because of Dorchester going out of business.  So this is thrilling to see it will happen.

A nice mention by a fellow author

http://jmpowersromance.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-complete-book-signing.html

I had a nice surprise this morning, when I got a note from an author I have taken an interest in.  We met through Facebook, with her drawn to me because she loved my first book.  It's so nice how Facebook connects you with people you might have never had the chance to find.

Recently, she wrote me in a little bother -- she was facing her first book signing and asking for tips.  I suggested one of my best ones - Rack Cards.  They are like super wide bookmarks.  Vista Print does a lot of weekly specials, and for authors needing banners, folders, rack cards, business cards, you can often get ones for nothing but postage.  I pulled her cover off her website and create a Rack Card for her and was delighted it pleased her.  Vista did their number saving her a lot of money.  And from her blog it looks like her first signing went very well.

I was glad to play a small part in her having a great time.

Deborah

working on my new study

I am doing a new study, and just finished the accent wall behind the desk.
Rather fitting, I think, for an author who writes Medieval romances.

I have always love Accolades by Leighton, so was very thrilled to find
it in a tapestry that just the perfect size to fit the wall.

John Mellancamp speaks out against piracy

John Mellencamp

Musician and Activist

"Tell me where, under today's conditions of de facto indentured servitude, will the new artists come from? If I were a young songwriter today, I would definitely be looking for another way to earn a living. The same would go for the young screenwriter or novelist. And what about the guy who only had one or two hit records 10 or 50 years ago? What happens to this guy who depends on that income to support his family if people are stealing those songs now? Tough luck, right? This is the thread of failure in front of all artists today. Art exclusively as a hobby -- that's the "new model" it seems. And to all you bloggers who have prophesized that this new way is going to somehow provide sustainable careers? Your prophecies did not and will never come true. If there is the occasional sparkle of success, it usually turns out to be nothing more than a novelty, not a new business model. We need to restore intellectual property to its rightful owners and reconstruct the business that has lost thousands and thousands of jobs plus billions of dollars in revenue."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-mellencamp/online-piracy-search-engines_b_2018332.html

Read the whole article.

Surviving and moving ahead

Author/Reviewer Jacqueline Lichtenberg reviewed my novel A Wolf's and Wolf's Clothing (wonderful review by the way) a few months after release.  She enjoyed the book, so I dropped her a note to explain why there were no more releases in the series of late.  First, I had to overcome a series of life-altering incidents, then the publisher -- Dorchester Publishing -- went out of business.  She asked me to write about the fire, how it affected me, how it was eerily like the ending of A Wolf in Wolf's Clothing.  I put it off for a long time.  The events were simply too hard to sit and write about.  But I think she sensed this was a bridge I had to cross in the healing process.  Wise woman.  I traveled that path of healing, an ongoing process, but it's a step I needed to take in my personal life and my evolving as an author.  They say what doesn't break you, makes you.  I have fond that to be truth.

So here is the article:

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2012/10/guest-post-by-deborah-macgillivray-wolf.html

I thank Jacqueline for her kindness, her encouragement and special words about my writing.

I also give a big thanks to Montlake/Amazon Publishing for stepping in and buying my series from the defunct Dorchester Publishing and giving my series a new home.

new bookmarks are in!!!

As usual, the bunch at Iconix.biz are such amazing people to work with.  They take my designs and make the stunning bookmarks that are on heavy paper and plastic coated so they last.  And in 1, 2, 3, days they are HERE.  I am so thrilled with this company and cannot recommend them enough!!

 

I hit the jack pot on Knockout Roses.  A lovely nursery down the road was selling them for $10.   So Candy Thompson and I rode down last week and picked up a truck load.  The lady who does my yard put in the bed today.  17 reds, 5 yellows in a bed 25 foot long at the very back of the yard.  Next week they will come back with landscape timbers and form around the bed, then fill the bed with red mulch.  I was out watering them this evening and the neighbor came over to tell me how beautiful they looked.

Miss Mouthy's anniversary

Miss Mouthy has been with us for six months now.  Since I took her in that stormy night in spring she hasn't asked to go outside again.  She loves it inside.  She had put on weight, plays, sits in the window and watches the birds in the bird bath, but she is quite delighted at being a pampered indoor baby.

She spends  every afternoon beside me, napping while I write.  I am very lucky she came into my life.

Welcome Autumn in all your glory

New Bookmarks for Sisters series

Talk Like a Pirate Day

Today was International Talk Like A Pirate Day, and boy did it seem like the day is spreading in attention!!  Even on the news they were talking about it.  It really started gaining force with the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, but being a pirate seems to really have captured people's imagination.  As you can see by my Snoopy Flag, I celebrate it openly, though my hubby frowned on the Muppets Treasure Island going full blast this morning!

So hope all your scurvy sons of a bilge rat had a rum and toasted our favourite pirate, Cap'n Jack!!!

ARRRRRGHHHHH!!!!

Perfect rose

Simply because beauty requires no words

A BIG thank you to White Knight Amazon Publishing

I had a very grand surprise to awaken to this morning!!

All sleepy-eyed and in the mood to pull the blanket over my head and snooze for another hour, I rolled the bed and, I usually do -- check my email.  Well, imagine to my surprise when I spy an e-mail from Amazon Publishing/Montlake.  The beautiful email was announcing that they had done a bank transfer of the money that Dorchester Publishing has owed me for nearly two years.  Amazon bought the rights to my Sisters of Colford Hall™ series, and had promised me, as well as the other Dorchester authors signing with them, that they would honor the money owed by Dorchester before they went out of business.

I simply cannot thank Amazon Publishing/Montlake enough for stepping in and saving the Dorchester authors.  It's been too long with nothing but bad news for these authors, so it amazing to see Amazon's caring and prompt handling.

Remembering the lives lost on 9-11

Sisters of Colford Hall - available again on Kindle

I am delighted to say Amazon Publishing/Montlake is moving fast after acquiring my titles from the Dorchester selling of the active backlist titles.  They have already put the first three of the series out in Kindle, so are available for immediate download.

These books were never out of print, until Dorchester's end, with The Invasion of Falgannon Isle going to a second printing just as Dorchester began having problems, and Riding the Thunder had sold out of print.  All there had been slated for tradesize release July 2012, which never happened.  Montlake has promised me they will be available again soon in print, so I am very delighted with their new home.

Welcome September...

out my windows :-)

my veranda... :-) great place to write

It's DONE!! Amazon owns the rights to the backlist of Dorchester Pub

Amazon Publishing Acquires Publication Contracts to Over 1000 Books from Dorchester Publishing

SEATTLE—August 30, 2012—Amazon Publishing today announced that it has acquired through an auction the publication contracts of over 1000 books from Dorchester Publishing. As part of the process, Dorchester authors were offered the opportunity to join Amazon Publishing and receive the full back royalties that Dorchester indicated were owed. 

“Working with the Dorchester author community during this auction process has been a tremendous experience for all of us,” said Philip Patrick, Business Development Director at Amazon Publishing. “We are happy to be able to pay their back royalties and we’re thrilled to welcome them to the Amazon Publishing family.”

“Amazon Publishing is breathing new life into my series, and I’m very excited to see what the future holds,” said Tracy Madison, award-winning author of the Gypsy Magic series.

“I am excited beyond words about being offered this chance to join Amazon Publishing.  I cannot thank them enough for stepping in and giving former Dorchester authors the chance to move ahead,” said Deborah MacGillivray, author and agent of the late Dawn Thompson, author of The Ravening. “Dawn literally lived for her writing. Amazon Publishing is helping me safeguard Dawn’s legacy, and to see that new readers can continue to find her books,” said Dawn’s sister, Diane Thompson.

“This new relationship will enable the works of countless talented fiction writers to serve their established readers and reach new ones across the globe,” said Gregg Loomis, author of The Bonaparte Secret.

“The transition from Dorchester to Amazon Publishing means that our authors will now be able to reach so many more readers and markets worldwide than they ever could before.  That truly is something to celebrate,” said Vicky Piekarski and Jon Tuska, co-owners of Golden West Literary Agency, in a joint statement.

Going forward, the acquired Dorchester titles will be published under the appropriate Amazon Publishing imprints: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror titles to 47North; Romance titles to Montlake Romance; Mystery and Thriller titles to Thomas & Mercer; Westerns and other titles to AmazonEncore. Titles will be available both in print and as Kindle books. Under the terms of Amazon’s bid, any former Dorchester Publishing authors that chose not to work with Amazon Publishing will have their rights revert back to them to pursue other publishing opportunities including self-publishing via the Kindle Direct Publishing platform.

Amazon Publishing is the publishing arm of Amazon.com. Amazon Publishing’s West Coast Group includes imprints AmazonEncore, AmazonCrossing, Montlake Romance, Thomas & Mercer, and 47North. Amazon Publishing’s East Coast Group publishes adult trade, children's and young adult titles. For more information about all imprints of Amazon Publishing, visit www.amazon.com/amazonpublishing. Amazon Publishing is a brand used by Amazon Content Services, LLC.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. The new latest generation Kindle is the lightest, most compact Kindle ever and features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in bright sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes – still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display.  Kindle Touch 3G is the top of the line e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle Touch, with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G.  Kindle Fire is the Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games and web browsing with all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, Amazon Silk (Amazon’s new revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser), vibrant color touch screen, and powerful dual-core processor.  

 Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it, and www.amazon.es. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

Snoopy Rules here!

this is the back half of my front veranda, showing my Snoopy Author flag

The waiting is almost over for stranded Dorchester authors

Today was the be the auction of the backlist of active titles of Dorchester Publishing Authors.  It's been a long couple of years.  Dorchester saw it's publisher leave the "ship" at sea, then an editor stepped in to try and carry on.  Finally, it fell to Chris Keeslar, who really gave it his all.  And he really succeeded, to an extent.  He got the business back on its feel, and started moving ahead with e-book sales and prospect of Trade Size coming, when the roof fell in.  The owner of Dorchester foreclosed on himself to get back his investment.  Which left a lot of authors in limbo.  No publisher, no way to get rights back, and no hope for the future.

At the end of January, Chris walked, leaving no one in charge.  Tales of moving offices turned out to be a post office box in a UPS station.  Authors were left with no rights back, and no hope for money owed them.

In walks Amazon Publishing/Montlake.  They are buying the active backlist titles, and giving the authors a choice -- transfer the rights to Montlake and allow them to put the titles out, or get rights back.  I joyfully accepted Montlake's offer and am very excited about the move.

So today was a going through the motion auction.  Everyone knew Amazon Publishing would be the only bidder, so it was clear who would walk away with the "toys" at the end of the game.  Friday the contact is supposed to be inked.

So Dorchester author who thought they were lost in limbo, finally has a white knight who has come in and saved them.

This damsel is quite pleased to get on with my life and look forward to working with Montlake.

Get Medieval...if you live in New York

Simple Pleasures in Life

Nature's beauty in all forms.

But perhaps the most joyous is 

a pool party for the birdies!

My birthday doll

My Birthday was Thursday.  And I had a lovely time.  Candy Thompson made me an extra special present.  A Scottish doll.  Totally handmade, it's one of Candy's beautiful creations, and 

I cannot thank her enough.