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Read an e-book week is Sunday, March 3rd through Saturday, March 9th.  Smashwords is celebrating with its annual INSANE promo.  And trust the crazy duck lady - you don't want to miss the deals!!

All the QA romances on Smashwords will be 50% off via a special coupon deal during the RAEW promo.

That's CRAZY, right?  Not as crazy as you'd be to miss this chance to snag a deal on all our books AND on all the other amazing romances available from great indie SW authors.

So, be sure to boogle by SW between March 3-9 and fill up your e-reader!!

 

 

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The initial meeting reminds me of lawyer's trying to settle a case.  Owen and Cristina are doing the wild thing and the other plane crash docs are negotiating the wild thing.  They're talking buying the hospital and this time, Arizona and Callie are on opposite sides.  Arizona thinks Derek feels guilty that he got the money and gets to keep his career.

She might be right.  McDreamy is good at buying his own tickets for guilt trips.  I do that all the time and it takes one to know one. The next day at the hospital, Arizona apologizes for calling McDreamy egomaniacal.  Then they see the picture.  It's a lot of McDreamy.

Karev still has that sparkle in his eyes working with Jo over a sick baby.  But he really doesn't want to have that sparkle.  Watching such a cutie pie fight himself should be fun.

Oh, gosh.  A second sick kid in the same epi.  I hate seeing sick kids.  This one needs experimental treatment.  The new hospital doesn't do experimental.  Are they unaware of the dangers of saying no to the Nazi?

And Cristina is not on board with the sale -- yet.  She'll get there.  She's a rebel at heart.

OK.  April having the "How do I tell the cute paramedic I won't sleep with him," convo with Jackson was awkward.  It still reminds me of the period when McDreamy was with Addison and Meredith was trying to make a life with other people.

The interns telling Cristina that the "new hospital" feels like working at a trade school seemed to wake her up, didn't it?  Cristina doesn't do second class medicine.   And the meeting about changes with the staff?  Not so smooth.

McDreamy gets tired of playing McModel just as Owen is telling Bailey he didn't even bother to take her proposed experimental treatment on the sick kid to the board.  Owen knew it would be turned down.  His scream at Bailey that the answer was no,  just no?  That was the last straw.  Now Derek has to find a really buff stallion to ride in on when he saves the day.

Callie waits outside and it's a dark and stormy night... Oh.. she's meeting McDreamy and a financial advisor.  He tells her that they have to form a company to buy the hospital and then run the company like a board.  Boy, the occupants of the van in the rain keep changing.  Uh Oh... the advisor tells Cristina she can't tell Owen but he'll end up being Chief.

Cahill's giving Owen a world-class brown nose.  She says she's good at her job and she's right b/c Owen's buying what she's selling.  And I can smell it from the other side of the country.  She's talked Owen into going into a room and trying to lie to a room full of nurses and staff.  They buy it too - really?? Cristina tries to get Owen to cough up the Kool Aide but he's still strolling down guilt lane over having put all the docs on the plane.

Only on Grey's would calling a woman "the biggest ball busting Ice Queen bitch he's ever met" be a pep talk.

YOU GO BAILEY - she tells sick kid's Dad that if he wants to save his kid, he better check out of Seattle Grace.  That even woke up Arizona.

Guilt and Coffee - That should've been the title of this epi.  All the docs are either towing a truckload of guilt or getting a shot of reality -- sometimes both.

Jo and Karev with the baby again.  He's telling Jo it can work b/c it worked for Mer/Der....

The Jackson comment to April - whispered - awww -- "he'll follow you anywhere."

Pegasus wants to move up the closing and the only way to save their shot to buy the hospital is by quitting.  Cristina's quitting with that "me too" when Owen had that betrayed look on his face? That took mad courage.

And the innocuous intern is the one defacing the McDreamy posters?  Perhaps,  he's not so innocuous after all.  I've been pegging him as the George of the group and George did have his moments.  George died from one of those moments.  Ohhh - intern was doing it at Derek's instructions.  Yeah, that's sort of like George and the Chief.

Cristina's worried about Owen not understanding.  He may not.

The paramedic is saving himself for marriage?  So, April worried for nothing.  Except now, he'll think her "I am too" means that she is a virgin.....  wait... will she tell him?  Darn, she doesn't.

Jo turns down a beer.  She has a date.  She asked the other guy out...

And Owen knocking and screaming for Cristina but she's not there.

The epi ends where my blog last week ended.  With the docs trying to find a name for the group buying the hospital.  I'm still working on that too.

But after this epi - I'VE FIGURED OUT SHONDA'S BIGGEST SHUFFLE OF ALL!  Did y'all get it yet?  She's trying to plant a little bit of the Mer/Der magic in each developing couple on the show. Who knew Shonda Rhimes was such a gardener?

If she plants the McMagic, will it grow?

 

 

 

 

 

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Okay, QA fans - you strange crowd, you - here goes my first shot at live blogging Grey's Anatomy.  This week's episode is - "The Face Of Change."

First, I'm already over Jackson and the intern chick.  Her name escapes me at the moment.  I liked Jackson with April - there was enough clash to give the combo some dash.  Don't get me wrong, April and the paramedic have promise, but it feels a little like Meredith and the Vet - close, but not quite. I do like Jo with Karev, though.  They might be the right match.

Why did they name the would-be buyers Pegasus?  The Pegasus is an emblem of UCF - my eldest's college (and soon to be alma mater- he graduates in May).    And UCF is a great school -

Jackson's seminar - Sidebar - borrowing a court term for a medical show is lame.

Up to the scene with April getting her trauma fix with the cute paramedic.  I'm liking April more and more these days.  I'm hopeful that she'll give up her quest to be "perfect." She should realize that so long as she keeps caring for others, giving of herself and not going out of her way to hurt other people - that'll make her a quacking fine person in anyone's book.  She's become kind of kick ass lately so she's really got promise.  If Jackson's not careful, she'll pass him by before he realizes what he's lost.

The underground ER is kind of cool.  Maybe I could afford one of those.  Not a speakeasy -- maybe a treateasy?

Jackson asking April in the treateasy - "Your ride along was a date?"  Reminds me of Derek when he was trying to stay married telling Meredith in the OR about how much it hurt knowing she was with other men.  That was the patented Shonda shuffle. And Derek running interference for the treateasy?  McDreamy.  (His is the face of Seattle Grace, right?  What kind of new idiot buyers wouldn't know that?)

I also like Callie and the Chief going all undercover.  Mr. and Mrs. Plantain rocked it cool-style.  The Chief is a softie but I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of Callie.  Love their interrogation of the docs.  It reminded me of "soylant green is people."

Jackson and Karev bonding over surgery was kind of nice.  And Meredith's anti-geek style saved the day when her rep for "deleting" patients from the iPad helps cover for the docs rebellion of mercy.  And of course, the line of interns being questioned?  That's Denny and the L-Vad investigation.  Shonda's shuffling a lot tonight.

Love Jackson and Karev taking responsibility.  Call McDreamy on the carpet, will Miss Dr. Accountant?

And it takes Meredith to open Karev's eyes about his feelings for Jo?

The Chief is talking early retirement?  That'd be sad for him.  His dream probably isn't staying home to write a book.

April and the cute EMT again - he came back to check on the patient - and to try again w/April.  "I like you.  I really like you."  How sweet - and Jackson walking by during that kiss?  That's not sweet.  That's karma.

Jo and Karev toasting w/doughnuts?  That's my kind of toast.  And that look in Karev's eyes.  Yep.  Change is coming.

Owen goes back to Cristina and he knew she was a treateasy cohort.

The meeting?  Callie suggests what I predicted last week.   Yep.  The new doctorillionaires are going to buy the hospital.  They'll win that battle just like Dempsey won the fight for Tully's.  I'm not buying  the promo for next week where McDreamy says he's resigning -

But you know what I am buying?  Yeah, that poster in the elevator.  The PR folks weren't so stupid after all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Yes, Mer/Der lovers, on the last episode, "Bad Blood,"  - baby McDreamy kicked for the first time!

Doesn't every mother remember that feeling?  Like little butterfly wings at first.......  it's something no mother will ever forget.  You know you're carrying a baby, but that first kick is really when you start connecting to the developing little person you're incubating.  I talked to mine -- sometimes, I even sang to them.  Maybe that's why both boys get pained expressions on their faces when I sing today.  Likely, it's memories of being helpless and forced to hear mommy sing.

Read the whole episode rundown here on Starpulse.com.

Owen and Cristina went off drinking together, and that's got to be a good thing.  I'm still rooting for them, although I'm not convinced that they're each other's "soul mate."  Maybe, I've still got a Dr. Preston Burke hangup re Cristina.  Yeah, I know those were way early days and way long ago, but loyalty is one of my biggest character flaws/assets.  (Aren't most things both - in different ways?)  Still, I was glad to see Owen and Cristina boogle off together.  They both deserve some happiness.

Loved the bit at the end with Mer/Der in bed, with his hand covering her tummy, waiting for the kick so he could share it!!  Yeah, he wants to share it now, but wait till the wee kidlet gets bigger.  Mr. Duck swore our eldest did it deliberately.  He said Z kept kicking his back so hard it would drive him out of bed.

And the big news?  They're closing the ER to "stage" the hospital for potential buyers.  I hear there's a group of docs about to have a bunch of money to spend.  Can you imagine that group as co-owners?  What fun disputes that would...err.... will be.  Come on guys,  that's too tasty a morsel for Shonda "Sunshine" Rhimes and her gang of bangin' writers to pass up.

Maybe, McDreamy got the idea to buy Tully's from the docs' purchase of the hospital?  Tully's set McDreamy back 9.15 million - what's the going rate for buying a hospital these days?

I'm sure the docs will form an LLC or a Corporation to buy the hospital.  What would the name of that group be?

 

 

 

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In the bad old days, ebooks didn't exist and publishers were the royals, ruling over all the reading landscape from their lofty castles.

Readers were common folk and publishers listened to them the same way politicians listen to voters - which is to say - not a'tall. And even though publishers built their castle from money they made by selling writer's books, they considered the writers commoners and they didn't listen to the writers either. All the nasty dealing with the commoners was done by minions called literary agents. The minions made their living from the writers work too, but even they didn't want to deal directly with the people who made it possible for them to not only survive, but to have direct access to the royals. So the minions only dealt with commoners who petitioned them properly - from afar and as briefly as possible.

And the readers? They read what the minions and the royals thought they should read. They had to, because there was nothing else. The royals controlled the workers who bound and printed the books. How did the readers hear about the new books? What made them think that these books were worthy of their hard-earned money? The royals and the minions had vast networks of trumpeters and town criers who went about, shouting the merits of the books the royals and minions wanted the readers to buy. And so the readers did buy. What else could they do?

Then one day, a new Castle was built by a company called Amazon. The company said it would change the world by dealing directly with the writers, valuing the opinions of the readers, and bypassing the printed books. They would deliver ebooks directly to readers who would screen the work for themselves, deciding whether or not to buy. And those readers could return to the Amazon and leave their thoughts and opinions about the work right on the Castle walls, for all to see. These reviews would tell future browsers what books they might enjoy.

And so the world changed. Even the royals had to travel to the Amazon and others came in to build Castles called Smashwords and Nook and KOBO. And the royals had to travel there too, for these days, the readers had become emboldened by having their power acknowledged. The readers didn't want their work pre-screened by the minions and the royals. Readers could decide for themselves and they did, in vast numbers, helped along by those words scrawled on the Castle walls.

But still - there was something missing. An advantage still lay in the hands of the minions and the royals. 'Twas those bloody trumpeters and town criers. The readers and the writers lacked those. What could be done about that? The writers despaired because great work went unread. Readers despaired for books they had discovered and loved and scrawled about on the Castle walls - they went undiscovered.

Then one day, a reader was shouting to a reader friend along a vast roadway about a wonderful new ebook. At the end of the message, the reader friend decided to pick up the book his comrade liked so well. And the reader friend shouted back to the reader, "Why, I heard that message loud and clear. You shout as well as a town crier!"

That's when the reader realized she had undervalued her own worth. Not only could she scrawl an opinion on the Castle wall -- she could cry to her friends about the work. Each reader could also be a town crier!!

Lo, it came to pass that the reader not only cried to the friends she met about her favorite ebooks, she took the message to her friends from afar via her personal message networks: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Plus, Email and her blog.

Yes, readers - today the playing fields are still far from equal. The Castle walls of the royals have crumbled and commoners wander in and out amongst the minions. The minions and the royals can no longer have absolute and total control of what readers can and cannot read. But wait -- while the minions and the royals lack total control, they still have EFFECTIVE CONTROL over which ebooks thrive and which molder in relative obscurity. For the minions and the royals can still afford to pay an army of town criers!!!

Such publicity machines often work all too well to convince readers that they should only spend their money for certain books. If that means they should avoid others, well, that's what they'll do. After all, they've never heard any publicity about THOSE books.....

This is a call to arms dear reader friends. The publishing revolution is not yet complete. The overthrow will culminate only when readers become town criers. If you like a book, by all means, leave a review at your site of purchase. But that is the beginning and not the end of your task. Once you've scrawled your endorsement on the Castle walls, you must take to the real and the virtual streets. Tell your neighbors and email, facebook and tweet your online friends and followers. Post your review on your blog and mention it on other sites you visit.

All the power will flow to the readers only when they seize it and claim it.

So -- seize the power. Be the publicity machine. Become a town crier and ---

TWEET 'EM IF YOU LIKE 'EM!!!

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My new book - as yet untitled - is a Highland Romance.  It will be the first of a trio - my "lovely lairds" series.  I enjoyed writing about the Highlands in "A Faerie Fated Forever" and I'm enjoying spending keyboard time there again. But there is a challenge.  It's one that I - a born and bred Southerner - know all too well.

Dialect.

Regions where there is a well-known accent present a real challenge for everyone involved in the creative process - writers, actors, directors - everyone.  It particularly presents a challenge for readers and that increases the challenge for writers.   As readers, we all have our ideas about the vernacular of our home area or of a beloved romance novel region.   When the writer presents phrases differently, it challenges preconceptions in a way that births the reader reaction that writers hate -- "You got it wrong. You made a mistake."

It isn't possible to get it wrong.  It isn't possible to make a mistake with dialect.  Well, it is and it isn't.

You can't get dialect wrong because it's not like spelling.  There's not a "right" way to express how a region expresses itself.  However, there is a "wrong" way for a writer to do it.  The "wrong" way is the way that tears the reader out of the book.  And the bad part of writing dialect?  There is no way that any writer, now matter how great or gifted, will ever write dialect to suit every reader.  It's like my day job - I practice law in an office where it seems that no matter what we do, we didn't do it exactly the way the boss wanted.  It's very liberating once you accept that you won't get it right.  It means you do what you think best and let the chips fall as they will anyway.

Writing dialect is exactly that way.  I throw in some Highland Scottish dialect at points where I think it suits the story and I write it as it suits my ear and my sensibility.  It may not suit yours.  Like I said above, I'm Southern and Lord Knows, when I read books set in the South or watch a TV show or movie with Southern characters - they never get it right!!  Of course, they never get it wrong either.

Dialect helps set the mood and makes the actions of some of the characters make sense.  A laird might not act or react in a way that other people from other areas would act or react.  That's part of what makes the story, after all.  As readers we all enjoy visiting places defined by other senses and sensibilities.  I live with that because Southerners won't act or react the way people from any other part of the USA will act or react to many, many things.  We enjoy our differences and we celebrate them.  We don't mind seeing them explored; we just don't want to see them exploited.

To me, that's the delicate balance of dialect.  I want it in my story.  I want the characters to occasionally say ye, aye, lass, lad, and sassenach.  It kindles the mood, keeps the magic alive, and reminds the reader that the story is set in a different place.  But I don't want to use dialect in a way that offends Highlanders who read the story.  (I've had reviews on the UK Amazon site from Scots for A Faerie Fated Forever complimenting this.)  I also don't want to use so much dialect that reading the story becomes a chore, rather than a pleasure.

So, I'm presently writing the first of my "lovely lairds" trilogy and trying to toss in enough dialect to season it properly, but not so much it overwhelms.  Like seasoning, dialect will make or break a story and I'm trying to get it right, even though I can't get it wrong.  Do ye ken?