Are You Prepared in Case of a Disaster?

Photo credit 22 News WWLP.com

When the tornado struck Western Massachusetts leaving 4 dead and dozens injured, I realized how dismally unprepared our family was to cope with a disaster. As I mentioned in this post from June 9th - http://booktoursandmore.blogspot.com/2011/06/counting-our-blessings.html - I couldn't even find batteries to work the main radios in the house. I had to settle for a hand-held radio that was powered by two AA-battery to keep me connected to the outside world.

Perhaps part of the issue is that up until recently, natural disasters haven't caused a great deal of problems in our area. While 152 twisters were recorded in Massachusetts between 1951 and 2008, according to this article in The Christian Science Monitor, the most severe occurred in 1953. It's been a while since our area saw this type of destruction. This follows a dreadful winter filled with record-breaking snowfall that caused some school districts--including ours--to sacrifice days from their April vacation in order to avoid attending school through the end of June or into July.

FEMA has an online guide titled Are You Ready?: An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness. You can find it at http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/

One of the things it mentions is assembling a Disaster Supplies Kit for home, work, and your car. As part of this move toward being better prepared, I ordered a review sample from Daily Bread. They offer 25-year worry-free food storage. According to the brochure I received with my Beef Stew sample, their gourmet entrees are made with real meats and vegetables and can be prepared with very little water. No cooking is involved.

Since we went on vacation right after our sample arrived, I haven't prepared it yet, but I plan to soon. I'll come back with additional comments after that. While purchasing food this way is definitely an investment, the peace of mind it offers can be worth it. I have to admit I didn't like feeling very helpless that afternoon as we lost all power and even cell phone service was sporadic at best. This is the year our family becomes better prepared to cope with natural disasters.

Book Spotlight: So You Want to Write a Guest Post by Jaime McDougall

The publishing world keeps on changing and, now more than ever, it is important for authors to have a presence on the internet.

But where do you start?

So You Want to Write a Guest Post is an easy to follow guide that will help you connect to bloggers and to write guest posts that get potential readers interested in your book

Read an Excerpt!

When Words Count: The Importance of Word Count in Your Post

In my work as a virtual book tour coordinator, I have seen some weird and strange things, but the thing that most often perplexes me is the length of guest posts.

The shortest guest post I have ever seen was about thirty words long. The longest? Easily topped 1500 words.

When you’re writing a guest post, remember that your posts reflect on you and even more strongly on your book. If you go too long and bore the readers, readers will assume your writing is long-winded and boring as well. If your post is too short, you risk insulting your host and the readers.

Yes, word count truly is that important. Many people aren’t aware of the many statistics out there showing how post length affects reader response.
The ‘golden range’ for almost any post – guest or otherwise – is 250 to 500 words. Given that the average reader’s attention span falls greatly the closer you get to 500, you’d do best shooting closer to 250 mark.

Read the Reviews!

"Now, I will share that the primary target of this ebook is an author.  But, the principals for guest posting hold true for anyone seeking to market their wares or services.  I know that as I grow this blog I will be utilizing many of the tidbits in the ebook."

--Day By Day in Our World

"...if you are an author with little marketing and blogging experience, then this book will give you the basics on how to guest blog properly."

NouveauWriter

Jaime McDougall is a citizen of the world, currently loving life in beautiful country Victoria in Australia. She loves eating sushi, kidnapping her husband and naming her pets in honour of science fiction authors. (So far, a cat named Asimov and a puppy named Brin.)
A love of fiction has always coursed through her veins and she told stories as a child even before she knew how to write them. Settling into one genre was never her style and she has plans for novels in women’s fiction, urban fantasy and more – all with a touch of romance.


She has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: High School: The Real Deal and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Campus Chronicles. She has also enjoyed writing a column called ‘The New Australian’ in local newspapers as well as various articles online.


Her fiction work and poetry has been published both online and off in places including The Oddville Press (no longer running) and The Filth zine.


So You Want to Write a Guest Post is her first ebook and is available on Kindle and at Smashwords.

Zumaya Birthday Bash with Guest Blogger Kim Baccellia, Author of Crossed Out

Today we're helping Zumaya Publications in "Celebrating Five Years of Irresponsible Reading!"  We are featuring Kim Baccellia, author of the paranormal romance, Crossed Out.

 I’m Glad to be Part of the Zumaya Family

By Kim Baccellia

I’d known about Zumaya publishing house for some time. I heard from others that Liz is a hard working publisher. Her authors speak highly of her. One thing I’ve learned in this business is just because you’re with a small house doesn’t guarantee you’ll get more attention. I wanted a publisher that believed in me and my stories. I’d seen how easy it is to have your book hidden among other titles. I wanted more. The big thing for me was having someone that was willing to take a chance on me.

When I was shopping around my lighter YA fantasy, NO GODDESSES ALLOWED, I decided to try querying Zumaya. A writer friend of mine, Christine Norris, had just signed her orphan fantasy series with them. Christine’s main character shares something with my character Jordan. They both love watching old time movies. In Jordan’s case it’s her love and obsession with any Audrey Hepburn movie. I figured why not query Liz and see if she liked my story. I thought it would be a good match with her Threshold line.

Liz was great! She suggested some things to help my story stand out even more. One thing I really love about Liz is how she makes you feel that your story is something others will love to read. Her editing sessions are great too.

I found Liz is very business savvy and works hard for her authors. This is a huge plus for me. I’m glad to be a part of the Zumaya family.

Kim Baccellia has always been a sucker for the paranormal. She blames it on her families' love for such things such as having picnics at cemeteries, visiting psychics, and reading her mother's copies of the daily horoscope. She even had her own horoscope column in middle school, which was a big hit!


Kim's other works include her YA paranormal CROSSED OUT which is published by Lachesis publishing. Her YA multicultural fantasy, EARRINGS OF IXTUMEA, will be rereleased by Muse It Up publishing early 2012.


A member of SCBWI, Kim is currently writing the sequel to CROSSED OUT. She's also putting the finishing touches on a YA multicultural dystopia. She lives in Southern California with her husband and son.


Readers can find out more about me at http://www.kim-baccellia.com/


My LJ: http://kbaccellia.livejournal.com/


Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/ixtumea  


http://obscurekidlitauthors.blogspot.com/


Crossed Out is available at Amazon and for the Kindle.

Zumaya Publications was founded in British Columbia in 1999 by author Diana Kemp-Jones and artist/author Martine Jardin. Their goal was to develop a publishing company that combined the best of the old, traditional methods with the best of the new. For them, this meant developing an Internet-based house that utilized print-on-demand technology.

In 2006, Zumaya moved to Austin TX as Zumaya Publications LLC, under the direction of Executive Editor Elizabeth Burton. Over the next three years, Zumaya branched into seven imprints—Arcane, Boundless, Embraces, Enigma, Otherworlds, Thresholds and Yesterdays. In 2009, Marianne and Joyanne Moul replaced Jardin as partners in the company. Plans to implement a graphic novel imprint, Zumaya Fabled Ink, are currently underway as well as a line of artist-designed illustrated classics.

To date, Zumaya has published more than 200 titles in all areas of fiction as well as some superb nonfiction, many of which have won awards. Gideon by Chester Aaron was selected the silver medal winner in the YA-Cultural/Historical category of the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards, The Everdark Gate by Elizabeth Burton received the Dream Realm Award in Fantasy for speculative fiction in ebook format, and Busting Loose: Cancer Survivors Tell You What Your Doctor Won’t by Cheryl Swanson received the silver medal in the Living Now Book Awards.

Zumaya Publications is committed to two things: allowing undiscovered talent the opportunity to be heard and moving publishing into the 21st century by actively using and promoting new technologies and business models that have significantly less environmental impact than the traditional one. To accomplish the latter means developing new strategies for marketing and distribution, which are already being studied and implemented. The cost-effectiveness of inventory-free production, eliminating both the need for stocking large numbers of books and the subsequent need to dispose of unsold copies, allows the company to take risks with both new authors and content more often than is feasible for those using traditional methods.

Publishing 20-25 titles annually, Zumaya is one of a new breed of book publisher utilizing up-to-date technology in new ways.

Visit Zumaya Publications at http://www.zumayapublications.com/.

Connect with Zumaya at Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Zumaya-Publications-LLC/202820034854!

Summer of Gomez Winners!

Summer of Gomez Winners

"Every once in a while you come across a novel so fresh and new it reacquaints you with feelings of childhood wonder. The novel my neighbor, Warren, wrote was my first example of the exact opposite of this."
-- Gomez in 'No Hope for Gomez!'

Blogger Kindle Winner: Serena from SavvyVerseandWit.com Reader Kindle Winner: Arthur Hall (US) Reader iPod Winner: Lynn Bassler (US) Limited edition Winners: Ebehireme Iyoha (US) Yasmin Raad Muhi (Mal) Sarah Bibi Setar (SA) Gemma Richardson (UK) David Lane (US)

Thanks to everyone who decided to make the summer of 2011 an official Summer of Gomez! I for one had a lot of fun and lost only a little bit of hair (and a few teeth) over the administration. A small price to pay of course.

Let's try something great next year as well.

Book Spotlight: Liberation: Book One of the Andrusian Chronicles by Maria Lucia

Amora Madre is content in the Smokey Mountains pursuing her teaching of love, things of the spirit, and metaphysics. Her childhood invisible playmates, Casey and Nia, are always by her side. But when soul mate Gabriel Ephraim enters her life, she is drawn into the heart of a terrible encounter with the spirit world in the skies over Washington D.C. Catapulted into service for the Intergalactic Supernatural Intelligence Agency, ISIA, the kindred lovers soon discover the existence of an invisible wickedness over the city, its galactic origins, and its evil designs for national and world events.


As part of an Andrusian galactic strike force, assembled to dismantle the malevolent legion’s brutal matrix, Amora and Gabriel, seasoned and accomplished, embark on a dangerous adventure filled with Onaweyans, Scorpillians, historical figures, and a confrontation with the dark supernatural syndicate over the fate of the United States and the earth.

With journeys into galactic and dimensional worlds, interactions with fantastic characters and creatures, and revelation of the current struggle between the spiritual forces of good and evil, LIBERATION draws the reader into a world where the spiritual dimensions and reality converge.

Click this link to read an excerpt from Liberation.  
 


Read the Reviews!

Ms. Lucia has written a captivating and enriching story. She has taken the reality we know and merged it with another that is out of this world. Her ability to engulf the reader in this alternate reality is a testament to her fantastic writing skills. I found myself rooting for Amora and Gabriel through each conflict, and hoping in crazed anticipation that everything will work out for both of them. Casey and Nia are delightful characters that, for reasons unknown to myself, had me smiling almost every time they entered the scene.

Liberation is a superb novel. Ms. Maria Lucia provided me an amazing escape from my reality. I look forward to the next in the series of the The Andrusian Chronicles."

March 2011 - The Paranormal Romance Guild
Miko Cabatic, Reviewer


"Once in awhile a novel comes along that doesn’t follow a traditional recipe. Liberation combines science-fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, and contemporary politics into a metaphysical dish just right for the Aquarian Age palate. The story centers in Washington, D.C. and follows Amora Madre as she discovers the deeper truth of her own existence, and then becomes a key part of a galactic strike force battling to free the earth from the hold of dark forces. Liberation is a great read for those who enjoy using their imagination while reading fiction with a metaphysical twist."

March 2011 - New Spirit Journal

“Liberation is an exciting work of fantasy, highly recommended."

November, 2010 - Midwest Book Review

"This is definitely a story for someone who enjoys a good, thought-provoking science fiction fantasy. You have to keep those pages turning, because you just need to know what is going to happen next. Ms. Lucia did a wonderful job in creating her characters and I loved the dialogue, especially between Madre and her friends, Nia and Casey. The way she drew it out made it even more believable for their fantasy existence.

I would highly recommend this story to anyone who enjoys paranormal fantasy reads with alot of science fiction involved."

Tracy's Treasure of Books

Maria is not affiliated with any one religion or spiritual way. Her mission is to empower the heart.


There have always been women throughout history who have held the heart of a country as their own, women whose hearts responded to the sound of service to their country and to their world. They held and still hold the courage to step forward and affect the destiny of a country. These women carry within themselves the passion of divine inspiration and, naturally, always strive to better the lives of others, their environment and their world.


Born in Havana, Cuba, and having immigrated to the United States in 1960, Maria possesses a true and in-depth understanding of the power and unlimited potential of evolving and beginning again.


A University of Memphis education graduate and a professional musician and vocalist, Maria moved deeply into the study of music and launched a very successful musical career in 1984. It included experiencing music on the performance level and the educational level as well. She began her studies of the deeper aspects of music immersed in the wisdom of Stephen Halpern and the integration of the healing effects of music and sound. She developed her voice simultaneously with her ability to teach others how to create and bring out their own voice and soul through music.


In 1994 she completed a nine year position with the world renowned Howard Hanger Jazz Fantasy and left her music career to focus entirely on developing her teachings. She spent many years in private practice, facilitating her own seminars and counseling on creativity. Her experience includes programs for gifted children in the public school system and creativity seminars for musicians at the university level. She has been a musical director for church programs, composer of music, and a producer of concerts. She has traveled nationally, performing and delivering seminars for more than twenty years.
In 1997, Maria launched her first school focused on spiritual heart studies in North Carolina and became a full time spiritual growth teacher. She developed both her school and a personal national dream, The Foundation for the Evolution of America there until she re-located to Washington, D.C. to make this dream a reality. The foundation was kept alive for five years and held the mission to augment, empower and reinstate value for the heart as well as to teach Americans how to value the heart in themselves, in others and how to value the heart of the nation. As well as a respected speaker, Maria Lucia is the author of The Heart’s Unraveling and guidebook for her current school.


She presently resides in the Phoenix, Arizona area, and is working full time on her writings and on launching the new revised version of her novel, LIBERATION, Book One of The Andrusian Chronicles.


You can visit Maria Lucia at www.andrusianchronicles.com.

Book Review: The Cause Within You by Matthew Barnett with George Barna

What if you could find the one thing in the world you were created to do? The Cause within You: Finding the One Great Thing You Were Created to Do in This World will help you get started.

Matthew Barnett was only twenty years old when he arrived in LA with his father, Pastor Tommy Barnett, to bring spiritual health to the declining Bethel Temple. Little did he know that this would be "the cause" that God had for him.

In this moving inspirational story, Barnett shows others through his own experiences as co founder of the Dream Center in LA, that God has a cause for their lives and shows them how to figure out what that cause is. From how to discover what God has created you to do, to motivation on how to keep you working toward fulfilling that cause, The Cause Within You has the power to change lives.

What I enjoyed most about this book is that it reminds the reader while we may have a cause we are passionate about, it must also be the cause that God has called us to. It reminds us to seek His will and not our own. As a Sunday school teacher and Vacation Bible School director, I truly appreciate Barnett's gentle reminders, as much as I am empowered by the message that fills this book. It is too easy to get so focused on your own vision that you forget God's vision is what is most important.

With tons of encouragement along the way, The Cause Within You will get you moving toward discovering what you were created to do and keep you focused on God's vision for your life. I highly recommend it.


Title:  The Cause Within You
Author:  Matthew Barnett with George Barna
Publisher: BarnaBooks 
ISBN-10: 9781414348469
ISBN-13: 978-1414348469
SRP:  $24.99 (hardcover)
Also available as an audio book and a Kindle edition.

I received a copy of this book from Tyndale in exchange for my honest opinions. I received no monetary compensation for this review.

Guest Blogger: Is It Like Listening To You Talk? by Graham Parke, Author of No Hope for Gomez!

As you probably know, to become an internationally best-selling author, you need to sell three books. This is not an easy task, but once you’ve managed to rack up these three sales, the rest is more or less a done deal.

Now, these sales themselves will not put you on the best-seller lists. They won’t even put you within a million spots of the bottom of the lists, but what they will do, and what they do every time, is spark a slowly growing buying frenzy that will get you there.

These three people will love your book, they will tell another five people, who in turn tell another seven. Within roughly four-and-a-half weeks, you finally make your first million.

That’s how it happens. Every single time.

But, how does an author tackle this monumental task? Where does he find these three readers?

I myself was quite lucky. When my novel appeared on Amazon I already knew over five people! What’s more, some of these people even liked me... somewhat. So I set out to become an internationally best-selling author by convincing at least three of these five people to buy my novel.

I started with my mother. Of all the five people I knew, I probably knew her the longest. I showed her my Amazon page and she nodded approvingly. She did not, however, make any attempts to buy a copy. So I logged on for her, navigated back to my novel’s page, and left the mouse pointer conveniently positioned over the BUY button.

She read the novel description again, searched-inside-this-book, and nodded some more. When I asked her if she’d like to buy a copy, she scrunched up her nose and said;

‘But what if I don’t like it?’
I told her not to worry. ‘It’s a really good book,’ I said. ‘I should know. I’ve re-written it like 50 times. It’s really funny and interesting.’
My mother wasn’t convinced. ‘I’m not really into comedy writing, though,’ she said.
‘It’s not just a comedy,’ I pointed out. ‘It has a real story; it’s a mystery. And it has twists and turns and believable characters.’
My mother hesitated. ‘Maybe I should just play it safe and buy another Stephen King novel…’

I ended up having to offer a personal money-back guarantee, and purchase a copy using my own credit card for the time being, but she finally cracked. I’d made my first sale!

Next, I prodded my wife. Although she did like words in general, she wasn’t sure she was up for reading and entire book full of them. ‘Is this like your usual stuff?’ she wanted to know.
‘What usual stuff?’
She shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Is it like listening to you talk?’
‘What’s wrong with they way I talk?’
‘Nothing. It’s just, well, sometimes you talk a lot of nonsense.’
I waved it away. ‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘I am much more interesting and ‘telligible’ on paper.’

Long story short; my second sale is almost in the bag. Now I just need to find one more person to buy my novel, and I’ll be set for life!


Check out the Summer of Gomez!


Get free books and win a Kindle or iPod.

As reviewers have been calling “No Hope for Gomez!” the perfect summer read - light, fast, fun - I decided to give this summer's Gomez readers some exclusive content and the chance to win prizes.