NEWS from Michael Wells
Global Short Story Anthology Released

MCCALL, IDAHO-Words to Music: A Short Story Collection has been unleashed on the reading world. The year-long effort of 40 authors from 12 countries spanning the globe is available through Amazon.com and many other online booksellers.

The book contains more than 40 fiction and non-fiction short stories inspired by songs. The stories were written by authors from Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Lebanon, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom and United States.

The anthology’s fiction offerings run the gamut of genres: Crime, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror, Literary Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction and Westerns. The collection also includes nonfiction stories.

Writers from every hemisphere on Earth have contributed to this new book. The authors all met at the Harper Collins website for aspiring authors, http://www.authonomy.com during the years 2008-2010. In January 2010, Michael Wells, an author living in McCall, Idaho, presented the authors at the site with an opportunity to write a short story anthology with stories inspired by randomly generated songs. Many authors jumped at the chance and 40 authors stayed with the project to the end.

“I am still in awe of the opportunities our modern world presents us, should we choose to dream,” anthology publisher Michael Wells said. “Reaching across borders and cultures, our technology now allows us to work together in an open environment with people we never would have met only a few years ago.”

The 40 authors have also generously donated their royalties from the book to nine deserving charities worldwide.

After minimal publishing expenses are paid by the early royalties earned from the book, all the royalties will then go to nine charities on a revolving basis. Those nine charities are: C.A.R.E. USA, The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, The Global Hunger Project, Conservation International, Reading is Fundamental, Kiva, Catalyst, Inc., Operation USA and Riders for Health.

“It’s a rather diverse group of authors and stories in a book that is going to aid an eclectic group of charities,” Wells said. “I hope we can make some sort of difference in the lives of the people these charities help.”

Having 40 authors from 12 countries around the globe seemed like a daunting challenge to Wells when the project began in January 2010, but the authors all held a shared vision, he said.

“What I found most interesting with this process was the commonality among our authors,” Wells said. “Everyone seemed to be operating on the same page throughout the process, which was surprising considering the mix of people involved.”

Inspiration from the randomly generated songs worked well as most authors never flinched at their first offering. Some of the authors had stories ready for review within 48 hours, Wells said.

The process of creating a book was helped along by the creation of a website the authors used to communicate with each other.

Wells set up a website for the project and every author signed up and went to work at that website. A forum on the website allowed the authors to discuss various aspects of the process and share drafts of their stories. Then the authors split into several editing teams to review each other’s work over email, which helped the process along further.

“With any creative collaboration there were differences of opinion, but in the end we came up with a common denominator that worked,” Wells said. “I received a lot of feedback on my first story for the anthology (“The Penitent Man”) that I think helped make it much stronger than it was initially.”

Coming up with a cover for an anthology of this scope was an early problem that was solved when American author and artist Bradley Wind signed on to the project.

“Bradley’s artwork for the cover and his story are priceless contributions to this short story collection,” Wells said. “He’s incredibly talented and easy to work with.”

The United Kingdom supplied the most authors in the book with 14, 12 authors came from the United States, Australia had four authors, Japan two and one each from Finland, Canada, Ireland, Lebanon, South Africa, Spain, Germany and New Zealand.

“It was a gratifying experience getting to know these authors. Each and everyone of them have talents for storytelling that needs to be shared and this book hopefully will expose them to a vast reading public who one day will clamor for more,” Wells said. “That is my hope for each of the people who were involved in this process.”

The book is available from Amazon for $17.95 US at http://www.amazon.com/dp/1456532081, it is also available from CreateSpace at https://www.createspace.com/3511238. Soon it will be available virtually anywhere good books are sold.

“Give the authors in this book your undivided attention for a short break during your day, and I promise you will soon want to read more of their work,” Wells said.

For more information about the book and its authors please go to http://www.facebook.com/wordstomusic 

For more information contact:  

Michael Wells,
ishotbigfoot@yahoo.com
(208) 315-3406
McCall, ID 83638

Title: Words to Music
Published: Jan. 24, 2011
Publisher: CreateSpace
Pages: 342

NEWS from Deborah Riley-Magnus
Notice any missing erotica here at Whispers of the Muse? A collection of erotica entitled “Damaged Valentines” by Deborah Riley-Magnus, published by Sizzler Editions will be released soon. That’s where all the Erotica stories went, mystery solved. I’ll let you all know when the final release date is announced.

NEWS from Deborah Riley-Magnus –
 DigiCon is COMING! If you don’t know about DigiCon you really should! DigiCon celebrates SavvyAuthors first anniversary with an event worthy of major attention!

Ebook sales have increased more than 80-fold since 2002. There is no sign of this trend slowing. Are you ready? Beginning February 14, 2011, SavvyAuthors will host DigiCon: a free, online, week-long conference dedicated to helping authors refine their strategy to incorporate and capitalize on the aggressively emerging world of e-publishing. Join SavvyAuthors and more than 80 experts through panels, chats, Q&A's, workshops, webinars, and pitching opportunities as they discuss craft, market... Duration: 6 days. FREE/FREE (Craft, Editing, Publishing, Promo, Query/Pitch, Editor/Agent, Industry, Contests, Technology) Pop over to the Get to Know Us forums!

I’m teaching a FREE workshop during the DigiCon event from February 14 – 18 entitled “25 Words from Query to Sales Success” (see link below) Hope to see you there!

NEWS from Deborah Riley-Magnus – SPEAKING OF WORKSHOPS, I’ve got a mess of them coming up in the first half of 2011.

SavvyAuthors ONLINE - Jan 31 – Feb 4, Roman Empire Promotions for Authors

SavvyAuthors ONLINE- Feb 14 – Feb 18, 25 Words from Query to Sales Success

WOW (Women on Writing) ONLINE – Feb 14 – Feb 28, Tantric Publicity for Authors

California Writers of Long Beach LIVE – February 26, 2-5 PM, Book Business Plans (for more info please contact me)

SavvyAuthors ONLINE – Mar 21 – 25, Creating an Effective Book Business Plan

Savvy Authors ONLINE – Mar 28 – Apr 22, Author Platforms, One Plant at a Time

California Writers of San Fernando Valley LIVE – April 16, 1:30 – 2:30 PM, Book Business Plans (for more info please contact me)

SavvyAuthors ONLINE – Apr 25 – 29, Tantric Publicity for Authors

SavvyAuthors ONLINE – May 23 – May 27, Geisha Marketing for Authors

NEWS from Sascha Illyvich – I’m teaching my Male POV Workshop again and would appreciate if you could get the word out to your venues.  Here are the details:
December 13-15 In this updated workshop, learn the ins and outs of character creation from a side of romance we rarely hear from, the male romance reader/writer! Paranormal Romance author Sascha Illyvich shares with us tips on how to create more memorable heroes, avoid some common pitfalls and have more fun with our writing!
Included will be a never before tried tactic, VIDEO Lessons! 
What you’ll learn from this class

• Male Archetypes and how they affect our characters
• How (il)logical men think and why they act the way they do
• How to take any male character from any movie/story and modify him to fit your story
• How to get your man to express his true “self”
• What men REALLY care about and how to work with that for your characters*
• A man’s self view*
• The GAY MALE Viewpoint*
• The Male Cycle of Emotions and how it compares to the female cycle of emotions
• A man’s journey in life
• What men really think

Cost:  $20 via paypal.  Send payments to stpbigbangbaby@yahoo.com
Sascha Illyvich is a published male romance author with 10 years of experience and 1 year of successful workshops! 

NEWS from Vila SpiderHawk – Get signed copies of Vila SpiderHawk’s books for a mere $13.45 each! Go to http://www.amazon.com find the title you want, click on “new”, and scroll down until you find “Vila SpiderHawk”.  Put in your order for as many as you want.  And that’s it!  How easy is that!  

NEWS from SavvyAuthors, Sharon Pickrel – Savvy Authors, a website for authors in all genres, is accepting proposals from interested instructors and presenters for our 2011 -
2012 education program. We are seeking in-depth, well-structured workshops that address the needs of both beginning and advanced students in the areas of craft, promotion, publishing and areas of expertise of interest to writers. We are open to a range of teaching styles including forum and chat based mixtures. Our workshops are conducted via a bulletin board based forum that can function like an email loop or list. We can also accommodate webinars, Skype, and Podcasting.

At this time we are accepting proposals for workshops of all lengths including 1, 2, 3 or 4 weeks, and 3 to 5-day intensives on a tightly focused topic. All workshops are open to anyone regardless of membership in Savvy Authors. Our stipend structure accommodates a flat fee structure as well as a split of the class fees. Savvy Authors is open to considering first time workshop presenters.

Instructors and presenters will be asked to provide a complete course promotion package, including a finished course précis, syllabus, bio, book blurb and either a cover graphic or picture of themselves, within five days of notification of selection.

Your proposal MUST specifically include:
1. Class Title and Length
2. Target Audience (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced or Mixed)
3. Prerequisites if any
4. Cap on class size, if any
5. Description and Syllabus
6. Presenter Bio (including relevant experience and education)
7. Availability to Present
8. Degree of Instructor Involvement (e.g, will there be assignments and will they be reviewed individually or only as examples)
9. Is this workshop is currently scheduled for anytime in 2011 or 2012? If so provide the dates and sponsor.
10. Email Address
11. Payment preference – PayPal or check along with the email or mailing address for same.

We recognize in order to achieve our goals and best serve our membership it is sometimes necessary a workshop be developed or tailored to our specifications. We also recognize that some instructors or workshop topics in and of themselves may provide a
degree of added value not found in other instances. Hence we are willing to negotiate a stipend that reflects that understanding. If you feel that your workshop falls into the latter category please include that information in your proposal.

We make every effort to promote the workshops as widely as possible and ask our instructors to do the same. Therefore we also ask our instructors to guest blog 2-4 weeks prior to the workshop as a part of the promotion for same.  In addition we offer incentives for promotion to our instructors in the form of a higher split of the fees collected based on paid registrations.

Prospective and interested instructors and presenters are STRONGLY encouraged to visit Savvy Authors and its sister site, Savvy Readers, and to ask all questions before submitting a proposal.

Send a complete proposal for all workshops. Incomplete proposal packages will not be considered. All proposals should be addressed to:

Sharon L. Pickrel
Savvy Authors Workshop Coordinator
sharon@savvyauthors.com

NEWS FROM AUTHOR KETA DIABLO

Authors After Dark has nominated “Where The Rain Is Made” for a "BOOKIE AWARD" in the Best E-Novel Of The Year Category.

Voting begins November 20th here: http://authorsafterdark.blogspot.com/

MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND REMEMBER TO VOTE!

BUY Where The Rain Is Made on KINDLE

Please follow Keta's Erotic Romance Blog for more information about the voting: Keta's Keep

NEWS FROM AUTHOR/EDITOR SASHA ILLYVICH  CALL FOR SUBMISSION
Next year, Sizzler/Intoxication (http://SizzlerEditions.com/Intoxication), the romantic erotica imprint of Sizzler Editions will issue four very special anthologies, under the editorship of romantic erotica author Sascha Illyvich.

Each anthology will center around a distinctive theme: such as Valentine's Day or the love that can flame between two lonely cowboys.

Each anthology will contain four novellas of hot, passionate and very erotic romance.

Terms: Securing license of English electronic and paper rights, royalties are 27% of the retail price of any ebook versioin and 10% of the retail price of any paperback edition (said royalties are to be apportioned in the following manner: 33.33% to the Editor (Sascha Illyvich) and 66.67% to be divided in four equal shares by the Authors or 16.66% each) of the anthology. One year after publication date of the original ebook version of each anthology, each story in the anthology shall also be released as an individual ebook. All the royalties from said individual release shall go to the Author of that story.

Stories of quality, not deemed the right fit for an anthology may still be offered contracts for individual or another anthology publication.

Sizzler/Intoxications is seeking hot Valentine's Day stories [Title TBA]!
Stories must take place on or revolve around Valentine’s Day and feature romance that finds its release in physical expression,
Deadline for Submissions: December 1.
Release date: Jan. 15, 2011

Sizzler/Intoxications seeks tales of Romantic Bondage [Title TBA]!
Tied up, heart twisted in knots over that special dom or sub?  Show us!  Give us a great story of romance in bondage!
Deadline for Submissions: Feb 15, 2011
Release date: May 15, 2011

Sizzler/Intoxications seeks sweaty stories of Male-Male Rangeland Romance [Title TBA]!
When two sexy cowhands ride the range half naked in the sun together and they are of a kindred spirit, they are just naturally going to fall in love with each other. Give us contemporary or historical stories of cowboys who go for other boys, face conflict from within or without or both, make incendiary love, and reach a happy pasture in the resolution of the story.
Deadline for Submissions: June 1, 2011.
Release date: August 1, 2011

Sizzler/Intoxications seeks hot tales of Winter Holiday Romance [Title TBA]!
Hanukah, Christmas, Winter Solstice ... we don't care as long as it’s a winter holiday that has deep meaning to you. Give us sexy stories of love begun, thwarted, or reborn at that "wonderful time of the year."
Deadline for Submissions: August 15, 2011.
Release date: October 15, 2011

These anthologies are open to all types of stories including glbt, bondage, suspense, historical, science fiction, paranormal, multicultural, and fantasy, as long as the story meets the above guidelines.

Since 1999, Sizzler Editions has been a pioneer in ebook publishing, presenting exciting new works from talented, contemporary authors of erotic fiction as well as classic works from the masters of the past. Sizzler Editions and Sizzler/Intoxications are erotic imprint of Renaissance E-Books, Inc.

Send synopsis and first 5,000 words to

Sascha Illyvich
Co-Editor
WolfPrinceEditor@gmail.com
http://SizzlerEditions.com/Intoxication

 

NEWS FROM AUTHOR KETA DIABLO
Where The Rain Is Made, Keta Diablo's paranormal shapeshifter has been nominated for a Book Award by Authors After Dark. The announcement is below:

As Convention Director for the AAD event, Im happy to present to you all the nominations for 41 categories for the first annual bookie awards! Now the Bookies from this moment onwards will be handled by our Bookie Awards staff, both are readers and attendees and have agreed to give their time to make this a fair and impartial ballot.

Voting begins in November, so shall we... get to the good part? Ok then...

Ebook only Novel:
Nisey's Awakening by Dakota Trace
Table for three/Lainy reese,
Slave To Pleasure, Eliza Gayle
Beyond Eden by Kele Moon
Conquering India - Melissa Schroeder
Where the Rain is Made, by Keta Diablo
Comfort Food by Kitty Thomas

About Where The Rain Is Made:
After a decadent-looking savage captures Francesca DuVall and her brother Marsh, she spends every waking moment planning an escape. She didn’t count on the powerful draw of desire interfering with her scheme while in the clutches of the brutal Cheyenne Dog Soldiers.

Ethan Gray is a curator at a national museum . . . most of the time. When he travels through time to help his beloved People he’s Meko, leader of the most revered and feared tribe of the plains. Their worlds are decades apart and yet Meko can’t resist the dark beauty he kidnapped during a raid. Violent battles loom on the horizon, but there’s only one he must win at all costs – the capture of Cesca’s heart forever.

From the windswept plains of Colorado and the harsh life of a Dog Soldier to the placid life of a curator, their love was fueled by passion and kindled by destiny.

BUY Where The Rain Is Made on KINDLE: http://www.amazon.com/Where-Rain-Made-ebook/dp/B0041847FG/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2

Please follow Keta's Erotic Romance Blog for more information about the voting. Keta's Keep, http://ketaskeep.blogspot.com 

 

NEWS FROM AUTHOR M. CHRISTIAN
M.Christian and Circlet Press are proud to announce the publication of a brand new edition of M.Christian's best-selling and ground-breaking collection of science fiction erotica: The Bachelor Machine!

Now available in ebook for the first time, 18 short stories of crackling erotic futures by the master of erotic voice, M. Christian. Men, women, hackers, derelicts, enforcers, hustlers, and whores in every combination inhabit the streets and beds and back alleys of Christian's imagination. This is erotic science fiction at its best.

Included in this new edition, in addition to Cecilia Tan's rave introduction to M.Christian's work from the original book, is a special foreword by Kit O'Connell, a chat between Cecilia Tan and M.Christian on mixing science fiction and erotica, and much more!

As a special treat, here's an interview with M.Christian from the Suicide Girl's Web site about The Bachelor Machine!

The Bachelor Machine
Circlet Press 
ASIN: B003Y8XUK2 
ebook/Kindle Edition
$7.99

NEWS From author Deborah Riley-Magnus. Hee Ha! OMG, OMG, OMG! I’ve signed a publishing contract with Ampichellis, an imprint of Martin Brown Publishers, LLC for my Urban Fantasy, Cold in California. This tongue-in-cheek story about what happens to a vampire after he finally dies, will be released in March of 2011 and you can read the excerpt right here at Whispers of the Muse!

 NEWS From author Vila SpiderHawk. Forest Song: Letting Go is now available on Kindle.

NEWS From Author Dan Holloway! (Songs from the Other Side of the Wall)

Dan Holloway has just launched eight cuts gallery, a space for writing that refuses to respect traditional boundaries. eight cuts gallery comprises three parts, first a real and virtual gallery space that will stage three highly curated exhibitions every year. The first, “Into the Desert”, will run during October and November. Submissions for the second, “Once Upon a Time in a Gallery” may be made at any time. Second is a pair of awards, the eight cuts literary award and the Chris Al-Aswad Prize, the latter being given in honour of Chris Al-Aswad, the visionary behind  Escape Into Life and designed to help the work of people and projects doing outstanding work to break down barriers in the arts.

eight cuts gallery press is an alternative press that will publish 4-6 books per year to champion amazing writing that would not find an audience in the mainstream. Whilst publishing books, both in regular Print on Demand and very limited edition runs - to sidestep the bias of top literary prizes against self-published work - it seeks primarly to promote the work in the format most suitable to it, be that book, ebook, zine or other, and will work on the writers’ behalf to facilitate production in these formats. The press is run on strict non-profit principles, with all profits going to writers, and seeks submissions from writers whose work and principles give them a more natural home in the underground than the mainstream.

Dan Holloway is a founder member of Year Zero Writers. You can read an interview with Writers’ Digest’s Jane Friedman about eight cutrs gallery press here Writers Digest Blog.

Submission information can be found here. In keeping with the ethos of the press there is no rescribed submission format except that all enquiries should be by e-mail in the first instance, to eight cuts gallery.

GEORGE LA CAS, a Florida-based author, earlier this year signed a contract with PublishingWorks, a small press in Exeter, NH. His debut novel, tentatively entitled The Legend of Jimmy Gollihue, is due to be released in July 2011. In the book, a young pool hustler named Jimmy falls in love with a sexy witch, who sends him out on the road for a gritty, supernatural adventure. LaCas also writes short stories, flash fiction, and poetry, some of which can be found on his blog: http://www.seamus39.wordpress.com

Muse Author News!

DEBORAH RILEY-MAGNUS – NEWS, NEWS, NEWS!
First of all, just last week I was signed by Wylie-Merrick Literary Agent! My agent is excited about Cold in California and rocking his way through publisher’s doors with it as we speak! This is sooooo exciting!

Second, the brilliant and lovely Natalie Preston (web designer extraordinaire!) has joined in business partnership with me in what used to be called Magnus Consulting and now will be known as Paradigm Warriors - Publicity, Marketing and Promotions! We specialize in helping authors face the ever shifting paradigm of the publishing landscape and get SALES!

ROY L. PICKERING, JR – Roy, author of Patches of Grey, announced that in addition to the print version of his book, it is now available for the first time as an ebook that can be downloaded to a Kindle at Amazon - http://tinyurl.com/ydoamc3  “Not quite as exciting as being nominated for a Pulitzer, but I'm pleased,” said Roy with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

ANN RAINA - Indeed, Ann’s got wonderful news concerning her novel, Living for the Act - three great reviews by Delenn from NightOwlReviews. Pop on over to http://www.nightowlromance.com and the review site. Excerpts of the book are here at Whispers of the Muse and also posted on Ann’s website www.annraina.com

GEORGE LaCAS – Author of The Legend of Jimmy Gollihue (see his Author Spotlight interview here at the Muse) announces that “Jimmy” will be released July, 2010 by PublishingWorks, a New Hampshire publisher. Details to come!

Muse Author News!

Sascha Illyvich – NEW RELEASE
Author Sascha Illyvich announces a piece in the new print release compilation, Caught in the Middle, from Total E-bound Books! Other authors featured in the compilation are: Nadia Aidan, Kim Dare, Desiree Holt, Ashley Ladd and Chrissy Smith.

Pamela Glasner, to Facilitate Women’s Conference
Pamela Glasner, author of Finding Emmaus, has been invited to facilitate the 2010 Greater Hartford Women’s Conference to be held on April 28, 2010. Among the guest speakers for the event is luncheon keynote speaker, Joan Lunden, and kick-off keynote speaker, Gina Barreca.

Just an English Lady Rumor
Rumor has it that Maureen Haseley-Jones – highly respected lecturer, writer and garden radio expert heard monthly on Connecticut Radio station WRCH, is writing a book! Adored by her fans and lovingly called The English Lady, Ms. Haseley-Jones is developing the first in a series of gardening books based on her humorous, upbeat style of gardening with that special connection to Mother Nature. We’ll pass on more of the scoop as things develop.

AND… REMEMBER to support our authors! Books are PERFECT holiday gifts!

Muse Author News!

Pamela Glasner
An excerpt and review of Ms. Glasner's dark historic fiction, Finding Emmaus, will be included in the Spring/Summer issue of Blue Moon Literary and Art Review.

Marc Nash
Experimental literature novel, AB&E, is available at:
Barnes & Noble

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Keta Diablo
Good news for authors Tara Nichols and Keta Diablo! Writing under the pseudonym of *JOAQUIN* they finaled in the Scarlet Boa contest with their paranormal entry. The contest is hosted every year by NY author Stella Cameron. Originally, over 148 entries were posted and ten finalists were chosen. The ten finalists can be found at the following link and voting ends October 31st.  Read Entry Here: http://www.stellacameron.com/finalists2009.html
Vote For Entry Number 90 here if you enjoyed the excerpt: http://www.stellacameron.com/scarletboavote-final.html

Sasha Illyvich
Total E-bound is releasing the ménage anthology Caught in the Middle in print on November 2nd . Availability details to come!

Muse Authors and where to buy their books!

Pamela Glasner
Finding Emmaus, released 10/1/09
Amazon.com

Ann Raina
Living for the Act - Book One, Captured
eXtasy Books.com

Amy Grech
Blanket of White, released 9/1/09
Amazon.com

Jeremy C. Shipp
Cursed, to be released 10/31/09
Pre-order: Raw Dogs Screaming.com
Vacation
Amazon.com
Sleeping Wolves
Amazon.com

Roy L. Pickering, Jr.
Patches of Grey
Amazon.com

Sasha Illyvich
Heavenly Bodies
Amazon.com