Celebrate the Small Things!

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit and now hosted by Lexa Cain to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here. CelebrateSmallThings_Badge

Sad to say, I missed last week. I keep finding myself going in too many directions. I guess I can say I’m never bored! 🙂 This week, I’d like to celebrate:

  1. My first book event coming up this Sunday at the River Arts Center in Morrisville, VT: The Craft of Small Publishing in Vermont! If any of you are in the area, please stop by and say, Hi!
  2. Two books sold from the local independent Phoenix Book Store! Yay!
  3. Summer vacation! No school for two months.

What other celebrations are going on out there?

 

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.

The Square and Upcoming Book Event!

Based on the overwhelming advice I received on a previous post (thank you!!), I ordered a Square credit card reader from their site: www.squareup.com. After several days, the Square arrived in the mail! I attached it to my Android smart phone through the headphone jack, downloaded the Register app, and set up the register with my items and tax percentage. It was really easy to set up and has the simplicity of e-mailing receipts to customers. I did a $1.00 test run charge on my credit card, and it worked perfectly. Very quick and easy.

I hope to get a chance to use it this weekend. On Sunday, I’ll be participating in The Craft of Small Publishing in Vermont event at the River Arts Center in Morrisville, VT. It’s a celebration of small publishers, self-publishers, and book artists and illustrators from around the state with presentations and activities for all ages. I’ll get to mingle with the writing community and maybe sell a book or two. Even if I don’t sell anything, it will be a great learning experience. I like that it’s a smaller venue, since I already know I’m going to be nervous. We’ll see how it goes. Thinking positive thoughts! 🙂

 

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.

Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Cassa Series — New E-Book Boxed Set Available!

CassaSeries by Alex J Cavanaugh - Trilogy

Release date – June 22 2015

CassaSeries

By Alex J. Cavanaugh 

ISBN 9781939844118

Price – $5.99 eBook boxed set

Science fiction/adventure (FIC028010) and science fiction/space opera (FIC028030)

 

The Amazon Best-Selling Series!

 CassaStar – Few options remain for Byron. Slated to train as a Cosbolt pilot, Byron is determined to prove his worth to his instructor, Bassa. As war brews on the edge of space, Bassa must make a decision that could decide the fate of both men. Will their skills be enough as they embark on a mission destined to stretch their abilities to the limit?

CassaFire – Byron’s days of piloting Cosbolt fighters behind him, the detection of alien ruins sends him to the planet of Tgren. Forced to train a Tgren named Athee and deal with an eager young scientist, he feels invaded. Tensions mount as the ruins reveal a potential weapon, plunging him further into the chaos. All Byron wanted was his privacy…

CassaStorm – Commanding the base on Tgren, Byron watches as a galaxy-wide war encroaches upon the planet. When the war hits Tgren, it triggers nightmares in his son. The ancient alien ship begins transmitting a deadly code and the probe that almost destroyed Tgren twenty years ago returns. The storm is about to break, and Byron is caught in the middle…

 

Find it here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZAP5PV4?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00ZAP5PV4?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cassaseries-alex-j-cavanaugh/1122097909?ean=294015196217

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/cassaseries

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25705316-cassaseries

 

Alex J. Cavanaugh has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and works in web design, graphics, and technical editing. A fan of all things science fiction, his interests range from books and movies to music and games. Online he is the Ninja Captain and founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. He’s the author of Amazon Best-Sellers CassaStar, CassaFire, and CassaStorm.

http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

http://twitter.com/AlexJCavanaugh

Cover Reveal — L.G. Keltner’s A Silent Soliloquy

A Silent Soliloquy

by

L.G. Keltner

Final Silent Soliloquy Cover

Cover Art: Devross

Genre: Science Fiction/Dystopian

Length: 28,000 words

 

TIPPIE was created to be a weapon. By all appearances, she’s an ordinary girl of 18, and she uses that to her advantage in her work for The Facility. What no one sees is that there’s another girl buried deep inside. She can’t speak or control the movements of the body she inhabits. As TIPPIE’s silent passenger, she can only observe. She uses the details she learns from TIPPIE’s work to reconstruct the stories of other people’s lives. It helps her feel a little more connected to the world she can only watch.

When TIPPIE’s work leads her to David, a young man with a haunted past and information that The Facility wants, TIPPIE uses her skills to earn his trust. The silent girl beneath the surface knows that TIPPIE is only going to hurt him, but she can’t help but feel for him. Those feelings only grow, but she knows all too well that TIPPIE’s work will soon come to an end.

 

Release Date: July 6th, 2015

Available for Pre-Order:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

photoL.G. Keltner spends most of her time trying to write while also cleaning up after her crazy but wonderful kids and hanging out with her husband. Her favorite genre of all time is science fiction, and she’s been trying to write novels since the age of six. Needless to say, those earliest attempts weren’t all that good.

Her non-writing hobbies include astronomy and playing Trivial Pursuit.

You can typically find L.G. lurking around her blog, on Twitter, or on her Facebook page.

Celebrate the Small Things — The Creative Blogger Award!

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit and now hosted by Lexa Cain to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here. CelebrateSmallThings_Badge

A few weeks ago, Wallcat over at My Inner Geek nominated me for the Creative Blogger Award! Thanks so much, Wallcat!

CreativeBloggerAward_06122015

The rules for accepting the award are:

  1. Thank and post the link of the person who nominated you.
  2. Share 5 facts about yourself to your readers.
  3. Nominate 15-20 blogs and notify them.
  4. Pass on the rules.

Since I’ve already shared a great many facts about myself, which can be read HERE, I thought I might share instead 5 things on my bucket list.

  1. A ride in a hot air balloon.
  2. To go ziplining! I don’t care where.
  3. To see the Redwood trees in California.
  4. To see my book made into a movie.
  5. To visit the ruins of an ancient civilization like Machu Picchu or the pyramids of Egypt.

My nominations (in alphabetical order):

Atherton’s Magic Vapour — Anyone who loves a good mystery would love Melanie’s serialized A to Z murder mystery. She even used theatrical makeup and included photos of herself dressed up as each of the characters.

Bemuzin’ — Many of Sammy D.’s humorous posts include intricate tangles and designs that are just lovely.

Constantine — Cathrina writes YA/NA suspense and is about to publish some short fiction as well.

Doorway Between Worlds — Sue Archer’s creative take on grammar and spelling issues is not only useful, but hilarious.

Down the Rabbit Hole — Celine Jean Jean’s nostalgic and sometimes fictionalized childhood stories made for some fun and amusing A to Z reads.

Eclectic Alli — I’ve enjoyed reading Alli’s serialized Taliana stories on her blog.

Elizabeth Mueller — Not only is Elizabeth a great writer, she’s also a fantastic artist. My daughter and I both loved her A to Z original My Little Pony drawings.

Hungry Enough To Eat Six — Nancy Mock has very creative culinary talents and makes the best desserts.

Kristin Smith — Kristin is a YA writer and busy mom, who also loves interior design and party planning.

Marilyn Parel — Marilyn is a producer and writer of short stories with a twist.

Often Clueless, Always Shoeless —Olivia Berrier recently began a serialized story on her blog called “The World That Forgot How to Dance” that I find intriguing.

Sara C. Snider — Sara wrote beautiful flash fiction stories using tree names for prompts for A to Z this year.

Story Treasury — Sonia writes fascinating fiction and book reviews, among other things.

Tyrean Martinson — Tyrean is another awesome writer who is amazingly organized.

Write with Fey — Author Chrys Fey’s blog overflows with great tips for writers.

 

What other celebrations are going on out there?

 

 

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.

Celebrate the Small Things!

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit and now hosted by Lexa Cain to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here. CelebrateSmallThings_Badge

I can’t believe another week has flown by. Today, I’m celebrating:

  1. Final editing and proofreading work on Book 2 has begun! Yay!
  2. I attended a seminar on cyber security for small businesses. That was an eye opener.
  3. One of the libraries we go to will be giving away free books this weekend! We are so there.
  4. National Donut Day! This year I celebrated with a maple crème filled sugar donut. Absolutely delicious! (The Boston Crème wasn’t bad, either.)  🙂

What other celebrations are going on out there?

 

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.

IWSG — Cash or Charge?

Today’s the day for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) where, on the first Wednesday of every month, writers get together to share their insecurities and offer encouragement. The IWSG was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can learn all about it and sign up for it here. IWSG_Badge

I’m in the process of signing up for some events where I can showcase and hopefully sell my book. My question for this month is: what forms of payment should I accept? Is it better to do cash only? Or should I invest in a machine to handle credit/debit card transactions?

The cost of my book, including tax, is $18. I’m concerned that people may not carry a lot of cash and would prefer to use a credit or debit card. I don’t want to take checks, because I don’t have the time or the desire to deal with the rubber ones, which are always a possibility.

With accepting credit/debit cards, though, I worry about data security. So many large companies with top-notch security systems have had breaches that it makes me wonder how I would prevent it. Of course, at this point, I’d be such a tiny fish in a small pond that maybe I wouldn’t have to worry about it.

I’d love to hear from other authors who have sold their books in person. What forms of payment do you accept? If you have a credit card machine, what kind is it and how has it worked for you? Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!!

 

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.