The Seven Doors

Originally posted on Mommy's Reading Break

What a unique topic today! The topic I’ve is: You find yourself in front of 7 identical doors. A voice from above tells you: “These 7 doors lead you to 7 places, Narnia, Neverland, Wonderland, Camelot, Middle Earth, Hogwarts and Westeros.” Which door do you go through? Why? What happens?

My first thought when I got this topic was: OMG! Why? Because it’s freaking hard! Those are all pretty cool/scary doors to have the opportunity to go through. I can almost see: Captain Hook’s…well, his hook…jammed into the door to Neverland; a roundish, and most certainly small, hobbit door for the entrance to middle earth; and a weird, multi-layered flap of a door that ruffles when you walk in, like a shuffling deck of cards (all hearts, of course) for the passage to Wonderland. (I considered going with a rabbit hole or a looking glass for Wonderland, but I figure that’s been overdone.)

I know, I know, just decide already! I’m purposely delaying because I don’t know. I really don’t know. First, let me strike Narnia, I was never a huge fan, sorry C.S.! And Camelot’s gone, too, I prefer watching Merlin to participating in Arthur’s Kingdom. And bye, bye Westeros, you’re a little too dark for me. Hmm, although I wouldn’t mind seeing the decidedly insane Hatter up close and in action, I’ll have to pass on facing off against the particularly witchy Queen of Hearts, so see ya Wonderland!

That leaves Neverland, Middle Earth and Hogwarts. Neverland, against most company, would stand a pretty good chance (who doesn’t want to stay young?), but choosing it over Middle Earth and Hogwarts would be like choosing a stranger’s child over one of my own children (or at least my future children since I don’t yet have any). So Neverland’s out too. That leaves Hogwarts (oh my gosh I would love to meet Dumbledore!) and Middle Earth (my favorite, favorite, favorite…did I say favorite?...series of ALL TIME). I’d give my left…let’s go with left pinky toe on my left foot…to visit the elves, yeah, just like the honorable Mr. Samwise Gamgee! Hmmmmmm…decisions, decisions! I really need someone like Carson Daly on The Voice telling me “David, you really have to make a decision. We have 30 seconds.” in that calm and unflappable voice of his.

OK, Middle Earth it is! *stepping through the red-painted hobbit door marked with a scratch from a wizard’s staff* *nearly hitting head on VERY low doorframe*

Whoa! Yeah, whoa! I didn’t end up in a hobbit hole sitting down to tea with Bilbo and the dwarves. No, nothing like that at all. I’m in the middle of the battle of Helm’s Deep, Gimli and Legolas by my side, killing battle-scarred steroidal orcs and keeping tally of their kills like they’re counting the pennies in their piggy banks. And I have a sword in one hand and a bow in the other but I throw them down because, well because an orc is swinging an axe at my head and the only thing I can think to do is duck and run back toward the Keep. (Yeah, I’m screaming like a little girl, too.)

And that’s pretty much my Middle Earth experience. Because I must get hit on the head at some point as everything goes black and I wake up with a nasty bump on my head and a fair-haired elf pouring bittersweet tea down my throat that tastes like honey and mint and sage and well, sort of like a McDonald’s cheeseburger, too, if I’m being honest. And I feel better almost right away because it’s elf tea and full of awesome healing magic.

Once I’m back on my feet, they send me back through the magical hobbit-hole door with nary a goodbye, see you later, or my preciousssss. That’s when I wake up.

Whew! What an adventure—albeit a short one!—that turned out to be! Now I want to hear from all of you. Which door would you choose and why? And what would happen to you?
 

Perry the Prickler Speaks Out!

Originally posted on The Cover Contessa

Hi! *Sways slightly under a heavy fire country wind* I’m Perry the Prickler, but you can just call me Perry for short. I’m very searin’ excited to be here today. I feel extraordinarily lucky to have been invited by David to write a guest post for his blog (whatever that is). He even said he’d type it out for me, on account of the unfortunate fact that I don’t have fingers.

The topic I’ve been given is:

There is a Perry fan club in the world, if you didn’t know. How does this make you feel? What would you like to say to your loyal fans?

What? Who? Where? Fans? No! Nononononono! I had NO IDEA that I (moi, Perry the Prickler) had FANS! Usually all the fangirling and love goes out to the good looking characters from Fire Country, like Circ (the baggard!), who all the girls thinks is the smokiest, or Feve (the wooloo tug-lover), whose markings make the ladies go wild. It’s nice to hear that (finally!) some people have realized what an integral part of the story I am.

But I know that some of you might be a little confused right now, because “pricklers” ain’t that well known outside of Fire Country. So what is a prickler? A prickler is what most people would call a cactus. We come in many shapes and sizes, sometimes carry drinkable liquid inside of us, and occasionally wear flowers in our hair. We tend to grow in hot, desert-like climates, like Fire Country, for example, and protect ourselves with spikes all over our skin (prickles). And apparently, I’m the most famous of the pricklers. Woot woot!

(Side note: if you want to learn all about me, Perry the Prickler and how I played an integral role in Siena’s journey, check out Fire Country by David Estes. Disclaimer: I receive a share of all David Estes’s royalties from sales of Fire Country. I usually use the money to buy jewelry for the lady-pricklers.)

So back to the topic at hand. My fans!!! Mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah! *making kissing noises* I love you all! I’d marry you and have your babies if I had the good to do it. But alas, I’m confined to living out my days stuck in the sand on the northern side of Fire Country. But I’d love some visitors! If you want to visit, my address is Dune 28, Confinement Row, North Fire Country. And bring some lady-pricklers if you decide to come. Oh, and some of that delicious scrubgrass tea. And if it’s not too much trouble, a small beach umbrella—it gets mighty hot out here under the eye of the sun goddess!

But I digress. How does having fans make me feel? Wow. Just wow. My prickly skin is getting hotter just thinking about the idea that there are people out there who know who I am, and recognize that my skills are every bit as important as being able to run and jump and shoot a bow and pointer and swing a sword at the baddies. I mean, who else cracks jokes and taunts the way I do? Who else can make someone blush in three words or less? Exactly, no one. Just good ol’ Perry. So yeah, I’m most honored to have fans and I’d love some fan mail from time to time. I don’t have eyes, but I can see and read. (I know, it’s weird but true.)

What would I like to say to my loyal fans? OK, for starters, some advice:

-One- respect plants. We have feelings too. (Except for those nasty bright-colored flowered ones with thorns. You know, roses? They think they’re better than everyone else.)

-Two- read all David Estes’s books. He’s a real baggard sometimes, but his books are entertaining and he cares about his readers. (Don’t forget to deposit my cut into my Paypal account, David.)

-Three- take lots of water with you when you visit me in Fire Country. It’s very dry here and dehydration is a real danger. And sunscreen too! Don’t make me say ‘I told you so’ when you turn all red.

-Four- if you ever get sent to Confinement (prison in Fire Country), be sure to give me a wave and shout hello! That way I know I can start insulting you right away. The first insult is free!

-Five- if you ever accidentally run into a prickler, apologize to the poor thing! You might be bleeding and hurting, but the prickler didn’t move into your way, you ran into it!

Six- be happy with the way you look and be proud of who you are. You’re perfect just the way you are. (As long as you keep being my fan.)

Seven- never try to give me a high-five. As much as I’d like to, I can’t, and it hurts my feelings.

OK, I’m plumb out of advice. All I got left is to ask that you please please please tell David to include me in more of his books. Just mentioning me in Ice Country and Water & Storm Country didn’t count. I’ve heard I’ll get a cameo in The Earth Dwellers, but I think I’m due a full-length novel all about me at some point, don’t you think?

Thanks everyone for being my fans and for listening to my important nuggets of wisdom! And a special thanks to David for being as wooloo as Siena and letting me rant and rave all over his lovely blog! May the sun goddess shine down on him always! (so he’ll write another book about me)

Dictated by Perry the Prickler

Typed by David Estes
 

Welcome Mike Mullin, Author of Ashfall, to my fan group and WIN A SIGNED BOOK!

GO TO THE Q&A HERE!

I'm SO EXCITED to welcome the awesome author, Mike Mullin, author of Ashfall, to the David Estes Fans and YA Book Lovers Unite group on Goodreads!

Not only is Mike Mullin going to be around from Jan 13 to 19 to answer ALL your questions for him, but he's generously donating a signed advance review copy (ARC) of the third book in his incredible Ashfall series, called SUNRISE! And the giveaway is open to INTERNATIONAL participants, so everyone has a chance to win!! How cool is that? Here's a picture of the prize sent by the author himself:

So how do you enter the giveaway? Simply go to the Q&A discussion thread in my Goodreads fan group HERE and ask a question to Mike Mullin. It's that simple! So think up some fun questions for Mike and I hope you win the prize!!

Have fun and I can't wait to see all your questions :)

Note: You must be a member of the group before you can ask a question--Goodreads rules, not mine.

Indie Author Advice Series #6- How to Make the Most of Read for Review Programs

Every author needs reviews to build up the credibility and buzz for their books. Without reviews, other readers are less likely to take a chance and buy your book. But how do you convince people to read your books before they have very many reviews? And how do you ensure that those who do read your books will leave reviews for them? I’ve found one of the fastest and easiest ways to get early reviews is by using something called “Read For Review”. These are also commonly referred to as “Read to Review”, “RtR”, “R4R”, “Read it and Reap”, and many other creative names thought up by the moderators of Goodreads groups.

In this post I’ll discuss what Read For Review programs are, how they can help you get honest reviews, how to schedule and manage them, and where you can find them!

1) What is a “Read For Review”?

Read For Reviews are programs where you offer free ebook or paperback (I prefer ebook as it’s easier and cheaper) copies of your book to readers in exchange for their honest reviews.

2) How Read For Review programs can help you get honest reviews

Before your book has reviews, most readers are unlikely to take a chance on it. Can you blame them? Do you often buy books that don’t have many reviews? I know I don’t. It’s too easy to waste your money on a poorly written, poorly edited book that some random person has slapped together and self-published. But your book is good, you might say. Your beta readers said so, and maybe your early readers, too. That’s the dilemma many new Indie authors are facing. Unfortunately a well-written synopsis and tempting book cover are usually not enough to attract the attention of the readers who might fall in love with your book. Reviews, however, are the key, and Read For Reviews can help you get them.

I know, I know, giving away free copies of your book doesn’t seem fair. After all, you’ve spent countless hours writing, editing, re-writing, revising, formatting, and publishing your book…and you’re just supposed to give it away?

YES! That’s exactly what you’ve got to do. But it’s not for free—it’s in exchange for a review, which at the early stages of your career are worth much more than the small royalty you’ll get from selling it for $0.99 or $2.99. Trust me, I’ve given away hundreds of ebooks through Read For Review programs, and each review, even the negative ones which I use to improve my books/writing, has really paid off.

And you can even request that the reviewers cross-post their reviews on Amazon, as well as Goodreads, which is HUGE. Amazon reviews are even more elusive than Goodreads ones, so getting early reviews up on Amazon will have an even larger impact on your sales.

3) How to schedule and manage your Read For Reviews

It sounds easy, right? You just offer up some free ebooks and provide them to the readers who sign up. That simple. Not exactly. There are a lot of things to think about when planning and managing your Read For Reviews, things that can have a large impact on how successful they are.

How many copies to give out

I’ve seen most authors give out between 10 and 25 ebooks per Read For Review. Personally, I give out as many copies as I can, so I usually offer 25 ebooks. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to give away 25 copies. It’s harder than you might think to give away books these days. Why? Because there are A LOT of people trying to do just the same thing, and readers know it’s a big responsibility to have to read and review a book within a set timeframe. In some cases, you might have a really successful RtR and get rid of all 25 copies and still have readers requesting to participate. It’s a judgment call, but I usually will increase the number of copies available until everyone’s received one. In one case this meant I gave away 50 ebooks of Fire Country, but it was well worth it for all the reviews!

How many Read For Reviews to sign up for

As many as possible! Honestly, the more reviews the better is my motto. And the buzz created by each one, combined with the resulting reviews, can have a large impact. Remember, you’re looking to get your book out to the potentially thousands of readers in your target market, so giving away a few hundred may just be a drop in the bucket. I’ve offered 25 copies of The Moon Dwellers to 12 different Read For Review programs. Twice. That’s right, I scheduled them when I released the book, and then a year later, I scheduled them all AGAIN. A lot happens in a year, and those who weren’t interested in reading and reviewing your book the first time might have heard good things about it and decide to participate the second time around.

Selecting the Read For Reviews to sign up for

Especially on Goodreads, there are plenty of groups that have Read For Review programs. But that doesn’t mean they’re all the right ones for your book. Choosing groups that focus on your target audience/genre is the way to go. You want the readers that you wrote the book for reading it and writing your early reviews. It doesn’t make sense to join “Mystery Lovers” and sign up for their Read For Review program if your book is a Contemporary Romance. Not only will you not get a great amount of participation, but those who participate are less likely to write you very positive reviews.

Once you find the groups on Goodreads (or the book community of your choice) that fit your book, join the groups, become part of the community, and READ THE RULES for the Read For Review program. I can’t stress this enough. Every group has different rules, and the best way to piss off the group is to break them. So read the rules and follow them, and sign your book up.

Timing

Sometimes you have control over timing, and sometimes not. It just depends, but the earlier you sign up, the more flexibility you usually have. For example, I scheduled my Read For Reviews a month before the release of The Moon Dwellers, and I managed to have 10 of them occur within the first two months after the release date. That’s a lot of healthy buzz. If I had waited until the last minute, most of those Read For Reviews would probably have been full, and I’d have to delay them for a few months.

That being said, it’s not necessarily bad to spread them out a little. It keeps the buzz going longer, and ensures a steady flow of reviews coming in. And for the more popular, established RtR programs, you might just get a spot in line 6 months or even a year down the road.

Formats available

Make ALL formats available! I cannot stress this enough. Not everyone has a Kindle. In fact, not everyone has an e-reader. So how can you expect to get much participation if half of the target readers aren’t even able to sign up because they don’t have the right devices? The easiest way to do this is to publish on Smashwords, which converts your book into ALL popular formats. That way anyone can participate, by downloading formats compatible with Kindle, Nook, iPad, or just their computers. If using Smashwords isn’t an option because you’ve signed up for KDP Select, you can still make all formats available, but you need to create the files yourself, and then e-mail them to the participants. This isn’t as hard as it sounds. There’s plenty of free software out there that can convert your MS Word document into Kindle (mobi), Nook/iPad/Kobo (epub), and pdf format. I personally use the Mobipocket Creator to create my Kindle files, and Caliber to convert to epub. There are also lots of sites that will convert to pdf for you.

Providing the books to participating readers

Most groups give you the option of having the moderator provide the free ebooks to the participants, or for you to do it yourself. Do it yourself! A Read For Review is the PERFECT chance to start connecting with your readers, and if you place a barrier (the moderator, as a  middle person) in the way, then you’ve missed a golden opportunity. Let the moderator set up the thread, notify the group, and provide the platform for participants to sign up (by providing their e-mail addresses), and then you can take it from there.

Okay, so some people have signed up for your Read For Review and provided their e-mail addresses, but what should you send them? Well, besides the book in the format they requested, you should thank them for signing up, give them a little info about you and your books, any links to things like your social networking sites or fan groups, and a REQUEST THAT THEY REVIEW ON AMAZON. In case my bold capital letters didn’t highlight it for you, I can’t stress enough how important this is. It’s great to get reviews on Goodreads, but Amazon reviews are far more important, as that’s where new readers will actually buy your books. So don’t miss this golden opportunity to get some more reviews on Amazon.

Responding to reviews

Once you’ve provided the copies of the books to the participants, the reviews will start pouring in, and generally the participants will provide a link to their reviews in the RtR thread. What do you do for a 5 star review, or for a 1 star review? Or something in the middle? My advice: essentially do the same thing! Thank them for their review and feedback, even if you don’t agree with it. Do not argue with negative comments, nor contact the negative reviewers. It will only make you look bad. Don’t get frustrated with negative reviews; I did this once, and it was a huge mistake, and I was wrong in doing so. Focus on the positive ones, because they’re your future readers.

4) Where you can find Read For Reviews

Now that you’ve got all the information to plan and execute a successful Read For Review, where can you find these magical programs? I’ve only used two sites for these, but I’m sure there are many more.

Goodreads.com Groups

My personal favorite method of giving away free ebooks in exchange for reviews is through Goodreads groups. You can search for various groups HERE. Remember, after you find a group that fits your book, check to see if they have a Read For Review program, or contact one of the moderators to ask. If they don’t, move on to another group. If they do, read the rules and get your book signed up!

I’ve personally conducted dozens of Read For Reviews for Angel Evolution, The Moon Dwellers, and Fire Country on various Goodreads YA groups, and I’ve had a lot of success in doing so. If your book is for adults, you’ll have to do a bit of searching to find the best groups to choose (as I have no experience with adult groups), but if your book is for young adults, here’s a list of the groups I’ve used in the past:

-David Estes Fans and YA Book Lovers Unite! Yes, this is my official fan group, but it’s also a growing YA group with more than 1,800 members! Our Read to Review program has great participation, and you’ll undoubtedly get some reviews!

-Shut up & Read- 6,500+ members, an adult group that has lots of YA book lovers in it. But beware, the waiting list for this group’s read for review program is exceptionally long!

-We Love YA Books- 5,000+ members, YA only

-The Nexus- 1,000+ members, also an adult group with good YA participation

-Basically Books- 1,500+ members, adult group with lots of YA readers

-Never Too Old for YA/NA Books- 6,000+ members, YA and NA books only

-Making Connections (6,000+ members, an adult group) and Making Connections-YA Edition (1,500+ members, YA only)

-Young Adult Reads- 2,500+ members, YA only

-YA Apocalyptic and Dystopian Fiction- 1,500+ members, YA, only if your book fits these genres

-The YA Dystopian Book Club- 2,000+ members, only if your book fits the genre

These are just the examples of the groups I’ve used for my Read For Reviews, but I’m sure there are many many more you can find!

LibraryThing.com

The LibraryThing.com Member Giveaway program is a place where you can offer up to 100 copies (ebook or paperback) of your book to readers for free. Members sign up with their e-mail address and then you send them the book. When you sign up you can request a review in exchange for the free book, but there is no guarantee you’ll get one for each book you giveaway. But I wouldn’t worry too much about that, the exposure will help you find new readers either way!

I hope you all found this helpful! Happy reading and writing, and always feel free to ask me any specific questions about Read For Reviews or anything at all!
 

Earth…100 Years Into the Future (or how I think it will be)

Originally posted on Words to Dreams

Eek! What a topic! My first thought was “What could I possibly know about what the future will be like in 100 years?” But then I realized: I can say whatever I want and I won’t be alive for anyone to know whether I was right! *Rubbing hands together gleefully* Now it sounds more like coming up with the plot for a dystopian novel, which happens to be my specialty.

OK, let’s see, I guess a good place to start is the past, because it tends to be a pretty good predictor of the future. As the saying goes, history usually repeats itself, or at least history buffs think so. Unfortunately, I wasn’t around 100 years ago, nor am I a scholar of history, so most of my limited knowledge will come from watching the amazing TV show, Downton Abbey, set in England around World War I time. World-changing inventions, like cars, telephones, and electricity became more widely used. People were changing too, becoming slightly more open to women’s rights (although it was still a long way from where it needed to be). The rich were getting richer and the poor poorer.

Today, a hundred years later, technology is advancing more and more rapidly, and things like phones, TV, cars and electricity have changed so much they hardly resemble their former selves. Women, while still fighting for their rights in many parts of the world, are on much more equal footing with men (as they should be), and work in every field, rising to the top in many. And the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. Some things never change.

So what do I see 100 years from now? Flying cars? Perhaps. Internet wired into our brains? It ain’t out of the question (that would be awesome, right? Hmm, that sounds like a good way to increase the incidence of brain cancer if you ask me). A woman U.S. president? There had better have been about 10 of them by then! A colony on Mars? Less likely, but still in the realm of possibility. War? Most definitely. The key natural resources won’t last forever, and renewable energy is expensive and, despite the efforts of environmentalists and scientists, is still not an area of significant focus.

Give governments a prize worth fighting over and guess what? They’ll fight over it. So there will be a big war over resources, only it won’t be humans risking their lives. It will be fought by robots, big and Transformer-like, some that fly, some that stomp, all that wreak havoc on each other. Once one side breaks through, the humans will have no choice but to blast them with lasers and bomb them with nukes.

Meanwhile, the ice caps will melt under growing global warning and the sea levels will rise. Chunks of continents will be erased, sent below sea like modern day Atlantis’s. The cost of land will rise beyond salaries. The rich will grow richer and the poor poorer. There will be a mass uprising. Fighting in the streets. Babies being sold on the black market to be used as warriors in the class struggle.

And don’t forget about the Plague that will break out. Unleashed accidentally by government scientists researching biological warfare, the Plague will hit every country, wiping out half the world’s population, which people will soon realize is a blessing in disguise because overpopulation was half the problem to begin with.

Then come the vampires…oh wait, that’s a different future. Then come…

The aliens...yeah, the aliens, they definitely belong in this story. DAs or “damn aliens” as they’ll be referred to by the general public, or “the visitors” as they’ll be called by the diplomats, will solve the rising-water-level problem by sucking a bunch of the earth’s water away through large tubes appropriately called “Big Suckers,” restoring the Earth’s ecosystem to equilibrium while giving them enough water to take back to their barren planet, called “Click Clack Cluck” by their clicking tongues.

Ummm…did I miss anything? Hmm, teleportation? Nah, Willy Wonka already tried that and everything shrunk by the time it got to the other side. Zombies? They’ll go the way of the vampires if you ask me. McDonald’s? Thriving, selling billions and billions of burgers per annum, both on Earth and Mars. I think that just about covers it! OK, to summarize:

The future 100 years from now (bear in mind, this is just one man’s opinion) will have:

-a robot war (I think that could be a good book idea)

-a global plague (ever heard of the black plague?)

-a class uprising and war (never seen that before, right?)

-a baby market (although I think, sadly, there’s already one of these)

-melting ice caps (don’t give me that virtual look, it’s the darn scientists’ fault for even suggesting it!)

-water-sucking aliens (no comment)

-EQUILIBRIUM!

See, even the most cringe-worthy stories can have a happy ending if aliens are involved! (Note to self: add “Robot Wars” and “Earth-saving aliens” to list of book ideas. Cross off “Anything having to do with vampires”)

Hi there! *waves* Sorry, just wanted to welcome you to the end of this post and to thank you for making it this far! *Slips $20 bill under the computer* I’m surprised and honored that you found my extremely tongue-in-cheek answer to this dangerous question worthy of being read all the way through! Although most of my books aren’t this silly, they are dystopian, and they do answer this very same question; namely, what will the world look like in the future, so if you like that sort of thing, check them out, they’ll cost you less than a Big Mac!

Happy reading!
 

Welcome Cristin Terrill, Author of All Our Yesterdays, to my fan group and WIN SIGNED PRIZES!

I'm SO EXCITED to welcome the fabulous author, Cristin Terrill, author of All Our Yesterdays, to the David Estes Fans and YA Book Lovers Unite group on Goodreads!

Not only is Cristin Terrill going to be around from Jan 6 to 12 to answer ALL your questions for  her, but she's generously donating 11 prizes to those who participate!

-1 person will WIN a SIGNED paperback of All Our Yesterdays (U.S. participants only)

-10 people will WIN signed bookmark/bookplate packs! (International)

So how do you enter the giveaway? Simply go to the Q&A discussion thread in my Goodreads fan group HERE and ask a question to Cristin Terrill. It's that simple! So think up some fun questions for Cristin and I hope you win some prizes!!

Have fun and I can't wait to see all your questions :)

Note: You must be a member of the group before you can ask a question--Goodreads rules, not mine.

A Day in the Life of One Writer

Originally posted on Bookhi

I write about five young adult novels each year. A lot of people have asked how I’ve managed to write and publish so many books (14 books in less than 3 years) in such a short time, while juggling all the other challenges that life has to offer. The quick answer: a strict routine. Each writer is different, and therefore, each writer has a different routine that works for them (or no routine at all!) Here’s an example of a typical day in the life of me, David Estes!

Because I’m a fulltime writer, my day revolves around books. Wake up, not too early, not too late. Perhaps eight in the morning. Have breakfast with my lovely Australian wife, Adele (like the singer). Try to withstand the temptation to check my overnight book sales, reviews, and reader messages. When breakfast is finished, I check my e-mail and social networking sites. I spend no more than a half hour usually, because it’s time to start writing!

Because of my OCD, I operate under a word count goal each day. Depending on my schedule for the rest of the day, my goal is usually between 3,000 and 5,000 words. At about 1,250 words per hour (my average), I’m usually finished in three to five hours, right up until lunch time. (Side note: I usually drink a lot of coffee during my writing time!) This time is where the real magic happens. Having a solid three to five hours of writing time is crucial to let my creativity run free, focusing my brain power on developing my characters and plotlines, and building my dystopian worlds.

Lunch time! Whew! A break, sort of. Although I try to focus all my attention on lunch time conversation with Adele, after a long writing session my mind is buzzing with creativity and ideas don’t stop coming just because I close my laptop lid. So I jot them down between mouthfuls so I can come back to them the next day.

For those of you who don’t know, Adele and I are in the middle of a two-year trip around the world while I write, so on any given day we could be in Central America, Africa, Europe, or Asia. Regardless of where we are, we try to spend the sunny afternoon (it’s almost always sunny wherever we are as we’re chasing summer around the globe) outside, sightseeing or going to the beach. If we’re at the beach, I fit in as much reading time as possible, as I love reading YA books even more than writing them. For me, reading books by authors I love helps to inspire me to be a better writer and to learn from their prose and sentence structure. I read about two books a week on average.

After spending time with Adele, we have dinner together. Again, we both avoid our iPhones so we can just enjoy the food and conversation. Only after the dishes are done and dry do I get back to work. The early evening is spent online, doing EVERYTHING ELSE that comes with being a published author. If only being an author was just about writing books, it would be easy! There’s so much more to it, from answering reader mail (which I love doing), to connecting with readers (who I also consider my friends) in my Goodreads fan group (David Estes Fans and YA Book Lovers Unite!), to writing guest posts, doing interviews, managing giveaways, working with my agent, formatting my novels that are nearly ready for publication….the list goes on and on and on. The interesting thing: I spend equal time doing EVERYTHING ELSE as I do writing. So if I put in four hours of writing, I’ll put in four hours of all the other stuff. It makes for a full day of work. Luckily, I LOVE what I do!

But the day’s not over yet! Not with Adele and me being such TV addicts. We almost always watch at least an episode or two (or three or four!) of whichever TV show we’re currently obsessed with. We call it Entertainment. Here are a few we’re all up to date on: Prison Break, 24, Game of Thrones, Homeland, The Mentalist, American Idol, Revenge, and many more. And we’re all caught up on The Good Wife. I’m currently up to date on The Walking Dead, which I have to watch alone as it’s a little too gory for Adele!

When Entertainment is over, Adele gets to bed and I usually sneak in another few chapters of whatever book I’m reading. I just finished the sequel to Susan Ee’s Angelfall, called World After. When I can no longer keep my eyes open, I check my e-mail once more for anything important, and then drift off to sleep and dream about waking up to do the whole routine all over again! Nineteen to twenty-one days later, a new book is born! A month of two after that, a new book is released. And so the cycle continues!

That’s it! That’s a day in the life of David Estes. It’s a nice, relaxing, peaceful life, but a busy one too. But I love everything about it and I wouldn’t give it up for anything! Thanks for listening, and the next time you read one of my books, picture me typing the words all morning, drinking coffee and creating my stories J
 

Happy Holidays!

Perry the Prickler and I just wanted to wish you all a very

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

 

&

 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

 

 (If you don't know who Perry the Prickler is, then why haven't you read my book, Fire Country? Available on Kindle or in paperback on Amazon.com)

 

The Star Dwellers (the sequel to The Moon Dwellers) is only $0.99 from Dec 16-19!

The Revolution Continues!

 

 

Just in time for Christmas, The Star Dwellers, the second book in my YA dystopian series, The Dwellers Saga, is ON SALE FOR $0.99 (regular price $4.99) on Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook, Smashwords, and Google Books from December 16-19!!  On those dates, you may download the ebook on your favorite site for ONLY $0.99! Take advantage of this chance by getting your copy today!

Download from Amazon HERE Or get the Nook, Smashwords, or Google Books version.

I'm so honored that The Dwellers Saga was mentioned in a recent Buzzfeed article as one of "15 Books Series to Read If You Enjoyed The Hunger Games," along with many other well respected series:  The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth; Delirium by Lauren Oliver, The Gone Series by Michael Grant, along with others.  You can read about the books that make up the list HERE. The Moon Dwellers was also recently compared to Divergent by the popular Book Gift Guide, check it out HERE.

Download from Amazon HERE

The Synopsis:
After rescuing her father and younger sister, Adele is forced to leave her family and Tristan behind to find her mother in the cruel and dangerous realm of the star dwellers.

Amidst blossoming feelings for Adele, Tristan must cast his feelings aside and let her find her own way amongst the star dwellers, while he accompanies Adele's father to meet with the leaders of the moon dwellers and decide the fate of the Tri-Realms.

Will Adele be able to rescue her mother and make it back to the Moon Realm before the President and the sun dweller soldiers destroy her family?

Can Tristan convince the moon dweller puppets of the error of their ways?

Was Adele's lost kiss with Tristan her one and only chance at love?

In her world there's only one rule: Someone must die

ENJOY!

I hope you all enjoy the Country/Dwellers Sagas, I poured my heart and soul into this 7-book young adult dystopian series, and I'm so glad it's complete so the entire story can be shared with you!

 

And if you enjoy my books, I'd really appreciate reviews on Amazon.com, they are so important to the success of my books, and allow me to do what I love for a living!

And please share the news with your friends on e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, and anywhere else you connect with people!

Thanks for all your INCREDIBLE support!!

 

Flu Season

Originally posted on Words to Dreams

Throughout history the world has seen numerous deadly diseases, so that begs the question, could there ever be a world killer?

This is a topic that writers of dystopian and post-apocalyptic writers often think about. (I know, we’re a little gruesome sometimes.) In my Country Saga series there’s an element of disease, an airborne plague that the various tribes refer to by different names (the Fire, the Cold, the Scurve). Also, the second book in the Dwellers Saga, The Star Dwellers, finds two of the characters stricken by “the Bat Flu”, a nasty virus caught by drinking water contaminated by bat droppings.

But I’m not the only one giving DISEASE a starring role in their books. Bestselling authors Rick Yancey and Dan Wells each chose to wipe out large portions of the world’s population through airborne killers. Yancey’s most recent novel (highly anticipated and hyped), which I happen to be reading right now, The 5^th Wave, centers on an alien species attacking the earth. Amongst their many sins, the aliens unleash a virus—some mutated form of the Zaire Ebola virus—using birds as the initial carriers. In this case, 97% of the earth’s 7 billion person population is decimated by the disease. Wells isn’t much kinder. His “RM” disease in Partials, which was supposedly unleashed by genetically engineered super soldiers (the Partials), cuts the human population down to a small community of only 35,000 on Long Island. Ouch. Double ouch. They make my little plague look like child’s play in comparison. At least people in Fire Country can live to the ripe old age of 35 years old before my disease kills them off. 45 years old if you live in Ice Country, where the thin air slows the disease down.

So back to the question at hand: does the world need to be worried about “world killer” diseases? The answer, undoubtedly, is YES! In recent times we’ve seen nasty viruses get serious TV time, like the bird flu and the swine flu, causing travelers to reroute their vacations from highly sought out destinations like Asia and Mexico. But even those viruses are nothing compared to some of history’s worst diseases, such as smallpox, the Spanish Flu, and the Black Plague, which killed hundreds of millions of people during their time. Even today, diseases like Malaria, AIDs and Cholera kill hundreds of thousands each year. However, with those diseases, ignorance, lack of education, and lack of access to treatment options are the main causes of deaths. At least on a world scale, those diseases are manageable—they’re not going to send homo sapiens into extinction like the dinosaurs.

So what should we be worried about? Medicine continues to advance rapidly; we’re smarter, more prepared than ever before; we have formal agencies whose only goal is to prevent disease (like the Center for Disease Control). Honestly, as scary and conspiracy-theoryesque as this sounds, the only ones we need to be worried about are ourselves. As humans and our technology evolves, so do the scale and methods of waging war. The fear of nuclear war has bred many a good post-apocalyptic book. Nowadays, there’s little doubt that some serious viruses are being “safely” played with and experimented on in laboratories somewhere. It’s only a matter of time before they’re used in war: for revenge, conquest, or hatred. The results could be devastating.

But there is hope, and I’m determined to end this post on a positive note. There is SO MUCH good in this world. Good people with good intentions, who are determined to fight the good fight against evil, whether it be at home or abroad. In the event of a major world epidemic, whether set in motion by nature or by ourselves, I believe we can fight it, and WE CAN WIN. Just like in some of the awesome YA dystopian novels like The 5^th Wave and Partials. Just like in my books, The Moon Dwellers and Fire Country.

And in the meantime, YA dystopian authors like me will continue to paint the bleakest of the bleak futures, and then turn them on their heads with characters who SURVIVE, who FIGHT, and who PREVAIL, sometimes against the most perilous of odds.

Happy reading!
 

Indie Author Advice Series #5- All About Beta Readers

As any writer knows, you can only improve your work by obtaining constructive and unbiased feedback on your writing. The only problem is that finding the right people to read for you is easier said than done! I talk about my AWESOME beta team (shout out to you ten incredible people, you know who you are!) a lot, and so I regularly get asked by Indie authors how I find my beta readers. Hopefully this post will answer that question and a lot more. Remember, there are a million different ways to constructive a quality beta team, but this is the approach that’s led to my team. I’ll break it down by answering three common questions: 1) How many beta readers should I have? 2) How do I find beta readers? 3) What do I ask my beta readers to do?

1) How many readers should you have?

This is a very personal decision and really depends on the readers. If you can get three or four really amazing, experienced, detail-oriented beta readers, then that might be enough for you. However, for me, I prefer a larger team, eight to ten, for a couple of reasons.

First, people get busy, and they may not always have time to read for you, so it’s good to have backups. Plus, eventually people might just get tired of doing it. Beta reading is exhausting work, especially for my readers, who usually get a new manuscript every two months. Finding replacements is NOT easy, so I like to have plenty of readers available.

Second, I’ve found that even with a team of ten beta readers, everyone brings something different to the table. I’ve got a beta reader who’s extremely logical and is fantastic at poking holes in my plots and the worlds I create. No one else asks the same hard questions as him. Another of my readers sees the big picture really well, and is great at honing in on why a character isn’t as likeable as they should be. A few others push me to the boundaries of my imagination, to develop backstories that reach further back than I ever considered. Everyone has something to offer. I always find it so cool when I get that last piece of beta feedback, the tenth reader, and find a nugget in there that is so mind-blowing that my novel isn’t the same without it. So yeah, more readers works better for me.

That being said, there has to be a limit. At some point the feedback becomes unmanageable and comments start to contradict each other and you end up being more confused than you were before. My limit is ten readers, and I rarely see conflicting comments. Trends always emerge and I know where to focus. It’s my magic number. Yours might be different. Experiment with it. If you try eight readers and it’s too overwhelming, decrease the number of readers the next time. If you use three readers and you don’t feel you get enough constructive feedback or substance to properly revise your manuscript, add a few readers. Your team should be a fluid, changing, always improving creature.

2) How do I find beta readers?

Ah, the question I get the most. Well, it’s not exactly a science, although there are some criteria you absolutely need in your beta readers:

-They need to be honest and unbiased. Does that mean you can’t know them? Not necessarily, as long as they’re willing to give you the hard, honest feedback you need. I’d generally (I say “generally” because my wife, Adele, is one of my best beta readers—she’s brutally honest and saves me from myself all the time!) steer clear of close friends and family members though, there’s something inherently biased about those kinds of relationships.

-They need to have an opinion! Having someone who always says your writing is awesome is a great boost for the self-esteem, but it’s not very helpful and not usually true. All writers need improvement, no matter how good you are (or think you are). I’ve had beta readers who’d tell me every book I gave them was awesome and better than the previous one. Ummm….thanks? If I’d released my first drafts, the general public wouldn’t have been so complimentary, that’s for sure. So look for critical readers.

I know, I know, these types of honest, opinionated, unbiased people sound AWESOME, but where do you find them?

I can only speak for how I found my readers, which is on Goodreads. What I do not recommend is creating a thread that says “Help! Beta Readers Needed for a YA Paranormal Romance Novel!” Why not? You literally have no control over who might answer your call. Yes, they will likely be unbiased, potentially honest, and have very strong opinions, but who knows how reliable they’ll be. Personally, I’ve requested help from people I’ve met on Goodreads in the following three categories:

A) Friends. These are people I’ve chatted with about books and formed a friendly relationship with. There are hundreds of people I’ve met who fall into this category, but what I’m looking for are people who I’ve seen have strong opinions, who read books in my genre, and who seem to read a lot of books. People like that have worked out really well for me. About five out of my ten readers fit into this category.

B) Referrals. Occasionally I get referrals from my other beta readers or from other connections. Usually they’re people who are interested in critical reading, either because they’re English majors and looking to make a career out of it, or they just enjoy it. Either way, the referrals I’ve received have always worked out really well. Two of my ten readers fit into this category.

C) Haters. These are random critical readers who hate my early books. This is also my favorite category! This one is a bit of a wild card, but the three of my ten readers who fall into this category have worked out incredibly well for me. Two of them really disliked my debut novel, Angel Evolution, and one of them didn’t care for the first book in my second series, The Moon Dwellers, which is my most popular book. The thing is, I’ve received plenty of 1 and 2 star reviews, so how did I pick these particular three readers? (Note: I’ve literally only tried this three times, and ALL three accepted my invitation and have been on my team for over a year and read at least SEVEN of my books.)

The answer is I picked them very carefully. You have to be careful whenever you contact negative reviewers for your books. I don’t recommend doing it often, and only if your reason is unrelated to arguing or disputing their review. In this case, it was the complete opposite. I wanted to commend their reviews and offer them a spot on my team. I avoid all 1-star reviewers, because in my opinion, if someone can’t find at least one thing redeeming about my book, then they’re probably not the right reader for me anyway. I want people who are open-minded, but critical. All three of my betas in this category have been two star reviewers. The next thing I looked for were intelligent, thorough, logical reviews that made me say “Good point, I wish I’d had them as a beta for this book.” If I’m saying that while reading their NEGATIVE review (rather than getting all angry and melancholy about the bad review), then the review must be pretty constructive. Finally, I look for negative reviews that give credit to the things they DID like. I want my betas to be somewhat balanced and to tell me the things that they loved about my book as well as what they didn’t like, so that I don’t end up changing their favorite parts. What you don’t change is just as important as what you do.

So that’s how I recruit my betas! Every time I lose one (for whatever reason), I go to my list of referrals, or to my negative reviews, or to my contacts, and consider who might be the best for my team. You may find your beta readers in a completely different way though, everyone’s a little different!

Recommendation: Be sure to include your beta readers in your acknowledgments and give them credit for the help they gave you! And it’s nice to give them ARCs of your books, too, most of them will usually write you some awesome reviews before your books even hit the shelves!

3) What do I ask my beta readers to do?

Again, this is up to you. I’ve taken a few different approaches, but the longer you’re with the same team, the more it tends to become less formal. For example, at first I provided a list of questions, hitting the key areas (characters, plot, setting, beginning, ending, etc.), and asked them to answer each of my questions. But over time, I’ve essentially just told them to read my book and tell me what they liked and what they didn’t. However, here’s a solid list of the type of feedback your beta readers should be giving you:

-Characters: Is each character's voice strong, distinct, and different than the other characters? Were there any characters you didn't like, annoyed you, or frustrated you. Why? (The quickest way to kill a book is with main characters people don't like, so you want to "fix" them before you go live!)

-Beginning: Did it draw you into the story, catch your attention and make you want to keep reading?

-Pacing: Did the story move too fast, too slow, just right? Any areas you got bogged down?

-Ending: Did you like it, love it, hate it. Why?

-Plot consistency and clarity: Did the plot make sense? Were there any inconsistencies or plot holes?

-Setting: Was the setting of the story clearly described? Did it make sense?

These are several of the areas I expect my beta readers to focus in on, but they are by no means a complete list. And depending on the nature of your project, you may have additional, more specific areas you want your readers to focus on.

One final recommendation is that you ask your beta readers to be as specific as possible, including a quote from the manuscript for which the comment applies. That will make it easier for you to locate the part of the book and consider any changes required.

Thank you all for reading about how I find and work with my beta readers! I hope you found it interesting and/or helpful! Happy reading and writing, and always feel free to ask me any specific questions if you have them!!
 

The Best Gift Ever

Adele and I just received the Best Gift Ever from some of my most loyal readers, all of whom I consider to be my friends. A group of 26 people pitched  in to NAME A STAR for us! I'm not kidding--it's a real star! And the name they gave it is.........

David's Adele

 

How beautiful is that? And so fitting, too, because Adele is my one true love, my inspiration, and my soul mate. Without her, all the books I write are meaningless. Without her, life is just an empty shell of a thing.

 

Here's a link to the original blog post announcing the gift, many of the words written in it made us very emotional :) BLOG POST

 

Here's a photo of the certificate from the International Star Registry:

 

 

And here's the location of the star, near the constellation Orion:

 

 

Details about the star on the International Star Registry

 

Finally, here are some incredibly sweet messages from a few of the friends who did this for us:

 

Message from Karen:

David and Adele, I hope you know how much your friendship means to me...! To all of us, actually! Every time you look up at the stars, and you happen to gaze over towards Orion's belt, KNOW... Know that you are loved by each other... and by all of us! Thank you for everything you have given to us! You. Are. Our. Star!

Message from Jenny:

 

David and Adele, I feel so blessed to have you both as friends in my life!  You are both amazing people, and this is just a small token to let you know how much all of us love you!  Keep on shining!

Message from Tessa:

Hi David and Adele! It would be awesome if you guys lived in Hawaii!  If I visited you, we could go surfing together and look for your star at night!  Toodles!

Message from Dre:

Those messages and the gift of a star named after us meant the absolute world to Adele and I!!  It lifted our spirits and made us cry tears of happiness. We are lucky to know all of you, and believe the world is a better place simply because you all are in it! So THANK YOU to Jenny, Karen, Dre, Cheer, Alana, Nelly, Terri, Kelly, Lola, Rachel, Meaghan, Michael, Jen, Brooke, Linn, Tana, Jeann, Ruby, Think, Tracy, Redfox, Kayleigh, Dnicole, Madison, Gretchen, and Martha!!! You gave us the Best Gift Ever!

 

Love always,

David & Adele

 

Over 10,000 Sales in 2013!

10,000!

I'm so excited, flabbergasted, and proud to announce that for the first time ever I sold 10,000 books in a year!!! Sales of just the Dwellers and Country Sagas alone have climbed to well over 10,000 books, with most of the sales coming in 2013!

What. A. Year!

And who do I have to thank? Oh so many people!

First I have to thank my wife, Adele, who's put up with so much absentmindedness while I'm lost in my world of books, and given me her time and creativity in helping to edit and develop my books from start to finish. You're my rock!

This would NEVER have happened without all you awesome readers who have tried my books, told your friends, posted incredible reviews, and brought so much energy and buzz to my dream. You are my personal champions and I will forever be in your debt! And a special thank you to the 1,800+ members of the David Estes Fans and YA Book Lovers Unite group on Goodreads (my official fan group)! You are the coolest people in the world!

I also have to thank my unbelievably smart, clever and motivated Street Team, Estes' Angels, for carrying out so many projects this year with unmatched zeal. You've put my books in the hands of amazing bestselling authors, hundreds of bloggers, and even more readers through promotions and by donating to libraries. You are my advocates, my heroes, and my dear friends. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all you've done for me.

And of course, a big thank you to my beta readers, who've helped me make my books the best they can be, which has led to my reviews being much better than they would've been! You all are such awesome critical readers!!!

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't thank my AMAZING agent, Andrea Hurst, who worked with her team to create the perfect marketing plan for my books, thus leading to the best three months of sales I've EVER had. Thank you, Andrea, learning from your experience has changed everything for me. And thank you for believing in me and my books!

Here's to an even better 2014, I hope you all enjoy the stories I create next!
 

The Moon Dwellers Compared to Divergent by popular Book Gift Guide!

The popular Book Gift Guide (created by Freebooksy) has recently compared The Moon Dwellers to internationally bestselling phenomenon Divergent!!! Here's what the Book Gift Guide had to say: "If your teenager loved Divergent, pick up The Moon Dwellers by David Estes as a gift."



Honestly, I almost screamed out loud when I saw it! I'm so thankful for all the support of the incredible readers who have bought The Moon Dwellers (and the other six books in the series), written incredible reviews, and voted in lists comparing The Moon Dwellers to bestselling dystopian books like Divergent and The Hunger Games. Without you, none of this would have been possible!!

So if you want to share any of my books with your friends and family this holiday season, give them a gift for less than $5 per book! You can find all my books HERE.

Thanks for everything, happy reading, and may your holidays be safe and full of stories!

10 Slightly Weird and Moderately Funny Things My Readers Probably Don’t Know About Me

Originally posted on We Blog about Books

In case anyone wants to know, here are ten things my readers probably don’t know about me. I will try to keep my responses as absurd and as entertaining as possible J

1) Hammocks! Must I say more? Hammocks are a slight obsession of mine. I see one and I’m drawn to it like a dog to an interesting odor. All I want to do is settle down into its soft, swinging comfort for just a moment or two and then…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Don’t believe me? Ask my wife, Adele. When Adele and I were in Mexico last year, we visited a beautiful cenote, which is a freshwater, mostly underground pond/river sort of thing. SOOO beautiful! Sparkling, clear, turquoise water, incredible rock formations, snorkeling, little fishies that nibble the dry skin off your feet for free (not like those $100 day spas), and—

Oh wait! Is that a hammock? *Runs off leaving Adele still snapping photos* Yeah, I saw a hammock at that cenote, and while Adele enjoyed the beautiful water, I napped in comfort and style. In fact, my Goodreads author profile photo is of me in that very hammock, only you can just see my face. Adele snapped the shot just as I opened my eyes from my nap.

2) My love/hate relationship with cats! OK, there isn’t really any hate in the relationship. I love love LOVE cats! Especially kittens. They’re so cute and have unique and hilarious personalities. They like to play and sleep (both things I like to do, too). And yet, my body HATES them. I have bad cat allergies. Adele is a cat lover, too. Everywhere we’ve gone on our two-year trip around the world (we’ve been travelling for 16 months), seems to have cats, and I always fall in love with them. Only problem is, then I have a runny nose and itchy eyes and hives…misery.

But I don’t think I’ll ever learn, so I just keep on keeping on, popping allergy pills like vitamins and hoping that one day I’ll outgrow my allergy.

3) I cried during Armageddon! And Titanic and Stepmom and a whole bunch of other emotional movies. I’m not afraid to admit it: I’m a Sad Movie Cryer! Perhaps I shouldn’t be admitting it. Perhaps you’ll think less of me. Perhaps it’s a blight on my manhood. But I don’t care! I like sad movies and I like when my cheeks are stained with salt when they’re over. And oh my gosh, when Bruce Willis is talking to Liv Tyler on the screen just before he blows himself up to save the world…how could you not cry?!

4) Spelling Bee Champion! Okay, okay, it’s not like I ended up on that National Spelling Bee competition they have on ESPN every year with the kids that whisper into their palms and ask for “language of origin, please”. But I did win a few at my elementary school! I pride myself on my spelling ability and hate when I’m defeated by spell check. (Note: if you catch a spelling error in this post, blame my speedy and somewhat reckless typing, not my spelling.)

5) I should’ve been born in Canada! In reality, I was born in El Paso, Texas, very close to the border of Mexico. Hot sands, scorched earth, cacti. And yet, after my family moved to Pittsburgh when I was very little, I became obsessed with hockey. I love all kinds of hockey, ice and roller and floor. I love watching as much as I love playing. The Pittsburgh Penguins are my team of choice and it was such a thrill to watch them win the Stanley Cup just before I left the U.S. to move to Australia! So yes, I think I should have been born in Canada.

6) Shower acoustics! I am such a good singer…in the shower. When the slight tingy echo takes my deep, narrow range and amplifies it, I almost consider trying out for American Idol. And then the moment I step out of that warm cubicle, it all falls apart. So I’ll keep singing in the shower daily, but you won’t see me at an open mic night anytime soon.

7) Young at heart! Although I’m 32 now, I seem to relate much better to kids than adults, which is perhaps why I write Young Adult and Children’s fiction. Whenever Adele and I visit family, I usually end up spending more time with their kids than with them. Imagination is an important part of my life, and I find kids are more receptive to me using it 24/7!

8) Warm water/cold water! I love warm water! Jacuzzis and hot tubs and bath tubs…ahhhh! I could sit in them all day with a good book, until I’m beyond the point of pruniness. While Adele is swimming laps in the pool, I’ll undoubtedly be in the hot tub.

Cold water? Brrrrrr! No thanks. I hate it with a passion. Even water that most people wouldn’t probably consider cold is freezing to me. So keep it above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, thank you very much. NOTE: if I am forced to swim in cold water, I prefer to jump right in and get it over with. A slow and steady walk into the water will only send me running back to my towel before it even gets to my knees.

9) Paper or plastic? My first job was a bagger at a grocery store called Shop ’n Save. Me and my bagger friends prided ourselves on our ability to bag efficiently and with “like items” in the same bags. Nothing heavy near bread or eggs. Frozen items together. Don’t make the customer wait long after they’ve paid. But our favorite duty was cart patrol, collecting carts from the cart returns, stringing them together and pushing a mile-long train of carts back to the front without dinging up any cars in the parking lot. Now they use those machines that push the carts for them. Cheaters!

And my most feared announcement over the speaker system: “Clean up in Aisle 8!” Yeah, it was always the pasta sauce or pickles or eggs. Something smelly.

10) The dry author! I’ve never, not once, had a sip of an alcoholic beverage. How I made it through four years at Penn State for college and three years working in Australia is a wonder. I’m not particularly religious, but it’s a lifestyle choice I made a long time ago, and I’m sticking with it. So though I may never experience a real hangover, I get book hangovers all the time, from staying up until the wee hours of the morning finishing a great book.

Whew! I felt like I was baring my soul! Okay, maybe that’s a bit melodramatic, but it was somewhat intense sharing all these random things about me. I hope you all enjoyed it and learned a few things about me you didn’t know before.

HAPPY READING!