Welcome to Greg Kiser

Today I am welcoming the fabulous Greg Kiser to my virtual lounge. Today he is giving away a signed copy of his book to Random commentator. The coffee is on and the biscuits are fresh out of the oven. Before we have a chat, here is a bit about him.


Greg Kiser is happily married to a wonderful and inspirational wife, Serena, and has two beautiful children – Miller and Grace. He graduated from Southern Polytechnic University in Atlanta with a BS in Electrical Engineering. Greg also earned his MBA from the University of South Florida. He is currently a Director at Cisco, a high tech fortune 50 multinational corporation.

Greg has written extensively for fortune 50 high tech firms in describing next generation networks and painting pictures of the true evolution of technology for the consumer.

Good Morning Greg. I hear that you have a new book out. Tell us a bit about it.

Good morning Margaret. Thanks for having me here today. The books called Tampa Bay and is set in Florida and the year is 2020. Ex-Navy SEAL Mitch “Double” Downing discovers how to tap into the internet with his mind. His new inSyte provides transparent access to the sum of all human knowledge recorded since hieroglyphics. If knowledge is power, Mitch just became the strongest man in the world.
But inSyte has ideas of its own as the software exposes a politician’s “divine” plan that will unwittingly slaughter millions of people. Is killing the man the only way to prevent Armageddon? The politician’s daughter would probably disagree. And she happens to be the love of Mitch’s life. Losing Kate would be too damn much collateral damage.
At the center of the conflict is a wolf-like killer who will stop at nothing to murder the ex-Navy SEAL. And Mitch must come to grips with inSyte’s dark side – a dominating addiction that soon controls his thoughts and places him on a steep slide to self-destruction.


Wow, it sounds like a real nail bitter. With this book finished what’s next on your writing agenda?

At the moment I’m thinking about a sequel. Just thinking. Lol Letting my mind sort through it subconsciously.

So you’re a deep thinker huh! How about you pick your favourite character from your new release and tell us about them.

My favorite character is Cheslov who is an antagonist… but not necessarily THE antagonist. I struggled at times with dialogue and scene creation for other characters. But for some reason, it just flowed with Cheslov.
My book takes place in 2020. Cheslov is Russian, born around the turn of the century. Around 1900, that is. Somehow he ends up in Tampa in 2020 as hired muscle for the Mayor. How did he survive to 2020 if he was born in 1900?
Something happened in the woods of Rostov.
It’s like that with Cheslov, he’s just naturally creepy. I think Kirkus reviews put it pretty well when they wrote the following in their review of inSyte:
“Woven throughout a story with many finely crafted twists, turns and revelations is the charismatic, mysterious, murderous Cheslov Kirill. As a classic merciless political operator, Kirill is unforgettable and chillingly, complexly rendered, especially for a man who uses a school of sharks off the Florida coast for corpse disposal.”
But he’s also charming, likeable on some level. He is the character everyone who reads my novel seems to talk about. Some are darkly drawn to him. Most found him fascinating in his evilness. But he’s the one people remember. Me too.

Well we always remember the bad boys lol. So to change the subject totally  Where did you meet your partner? We love to hear a romance story on this blog.

I met my wife at work (boring!). We both worked for a high tech firm back in the mid nineties. I lived in Atlanta and she lived in Tampa. I went to Tampa for a week to finish a big proposal and met her in the local office. We worked 12 hour days for a week together, along with a half dozen other folks. Long hours, hard job. At the end of the week one of the guys hosted a big party at his house. Serena and I ended up sitting next to each other at the pool, drinking beer and listening to live music and the rest, as they say…

Before you go, where can your followers find you
Come and join me at mt website.

Welcome to Julie Hayes

Good Morning Everyone.
Today I am highlighting something that will affect many authors. I'd like your opinion on it and what we can do to try and make our voices be heard. So I leave you now in Julies capable hands.



And so it begins. The powers that be at Paypal, under the guise of morality, have begun practicing censorship, strong arming publishing sites into removing titles which PayPal finds objectionable and/or morally reprehensible, under the threat of freezing their PayPal accounts. As anyone who has an online business knows, PayPal payments are vital to the success of most businesses, so that is tantamount to having one’s lifeline severed, bleeding out potential profits all over the internet floor.
But wait, what right have they to do such a thing? Since when is PayPal the moral arbiter of anything, much less the authority for who publishes what and where? Where do they get off doing this?

Damned if I know, but I’m finding it extremely ridiculous and very akin to extortion. My question is, where will it end? If they aren’t stopped now, what will keep them from imposing these sanctions for anything which they don’t like? Including religious and political issues? Today it may be sexual content, but tomorrow? Who knows.
First off, it’s none of their business. They aren’t in business to legislate morality, but to move money. That’s what they do, and they do it well. People use their services to pay for many things, and it’s great. But it’s none of PayPal’s bloody business what they pay for.
Not to mention that it’s arbitrary. They think that they’ll stop these immoral goings on by identifying and halting the payment for such services which don’t meet their standards of morality. But let’s be realistic. How much money gets transferred under the general blanket of “services” which they have no idea what it’s for. And frankly, who cares?
I can send money through PayPal all day long for anything. But if I go into a legitimate bookseller site online and wish to purchase something, that’s my business, not theirs – and for being honest, I’m going to be penalized? There are definite double standards going on here.
And who’s to say what is right and what is wrong? If you don’t like a title, or what the author writes, do what I do—DON’T BUY IT! No one is forcing you to do it, so don’t. But don’t prevent those who want to from doing it, or put the kibosh on free enterprise because it doesn’t suit you in some way.
Your list of taboos is ridiculous. Are you applying these same standards, PayPal, to the major publishers? Because I’m damn sure their books have these same things in them. Subjects you deem immoral. But the difference is that they don’t care, because they don’t need you in the way the smaller booksellers do. So you’re a bully, plain and simple, pushing your views down people’s throats, threatening them in an economic manner, hitting where it hurts – in the moneybelt.
Shame on you, Paypal, for shame! Keep your nose out of other people’s morality. You’re not making a change for the better, you’re making yourself look ridiculous and interfering with people’s rights.
I understand that they’re including shapeshifters under bestiality? Seriously? Teenagers having sex? Yeah, like that doesn’t happen in the real world. The point here is that we’re discussing fictional characters, not real people. Characters who exist only in the minds of their creators, and maybe in the hearts of their readers. But not in the real world.
I think maybe PayPal needs to learn the difference. Reality vs a book. Real life vs fiction. They need to step off their high horse and get over themselves.
Censorship does not belong in the hands of financial institutions. It should be the individual’s right to judge for himself and make his own choices. If people want to read certain kinds of books, although you dislike them, then that is their right. It’s your right NOT to buy them.
STOP CENSORING US, PAYPAL!


Find Julie here:My Links:
My blog:
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My Publishers:
Romance First
Silver Publishing:
Dreamspinner Press:

Snarky Piranha's

I don’t know about you but I have been seeing more and more heated ‘discussions’ I call them by that term loosely lol on forums and writers sites.
Not too long ago I heard about a couple of authors who were circled and consumed by a shoal of piranha’s in a writing forum, just for daring to post a book blub. Every forum has etiquette, which I understand. But a full out, verbal tearing at the flesh until the author is a gibbering wreck, seems a bit harsh!





















A lot of snarkyness,( if that is a word lol,) will come from competitors. But recently it’s looking like random snarking is becoming more and more apparent. Why do some forums wish to draw blood on a site that should be dedicated to professional advancement? What makes a group of like-minded people band together and turn into a flesh munching, confidence shattering shoal of snarkiness?




Who feels that sometimes they need to tread as if their paths are made of egg shells? Are you worried about weaving discontent on forums? Do you agree that sometimes it’s best to bite the bullet and walk away from the comments?



I personally think that mostly it’s better to retain your dignity and professionalism by walking away, but other times..no? Sometimes the worm needs to turn. But there are right ways and wrong ways.



Remember the saying, give enough rope and they’ll hang themselves, remember that when you are battling a narky snark!






We can only get our point across on the internet by writing. So our words need to be picked carefully as they build and protect our reputation. It’s hard restraining our fingers when they want to type every swear word that’s in the human vocabulary. But it’s at that moment you need to first ask yourself, who will those sort of words most wound? You or the piranha’s?


So, who has battled with a piranha and won? Who has been ripped within an inch if their life because they happened to stumble on a basking shoal of them?

Welcome to Emlyn Chand

Morning folks.
I have to say thats its freezing here in not so sunny kent. Its a good job I have my virtual log fire crackling away in the blog lounge. Before we start, here is a bit about Emlyn.

From an early age, Emlyn Chand has counted books among her best friends. She loves to hear and tell stories and emerged from the womb with a fountain pen grasped firmly in her left hand (true story). Her affinity for the written word extends to absolutely every area of her life: she has written two-and-a-half novels, leads a classics book group with over three hundred members, and, of course, runs the whole shebang at Novel Publicity.

The book that changed Emlyn’s life is Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crocket Johnson. It opened her eyes to the world that could exist if only she was willing to create it—a lesson she has never forgotten. While she enjoys all types of novels, her greatest loves are literary fiction and YA.


Hi Emlyn. It's lovely to met you and i have enjoyed our chats about the paranormal side of life recently. I hear that you have a book hot off the press. Tell us a bit about it.

Hi Margaret. Its good to be here. I'm a long way from home in your virtual lounge lol My new release Farsighted tells the story of Alex Kosmitoras. Here’s my mini teaser: Alex Kosmitoras may be blind, but he can still “see” things others can’t. When his unwanted visions of the future begin to suggest that the girl he likes could be in danger, he has no choice but to take on destiny and demand it reconsider.

Loving the teaser. Paranormal elements always intrigue me. I'm sure your book will catch a lot of peoples interest. So what’s next on your writing agenda?

I’m working on book #2 of the Farsighted Series. Its title is Open Heart, and the story is told from a different character’s POV for added fun/complexity. I am also beginning work on a new YA science fiction series. I like to be mysterious and reveal as few details as possible, but I’m really excited about the upcoming works ;-)

Wow you are a busy bee. How about some fun! Pick your favourite character from your new release and tell us about them.

My favorite character from Farsighted is definitely Shapri Teak—she is also the favorite of many readers I’ve spoken with. Not only is she the most fun of all my characters, but she’s also the kind of the person I wish I could have been like back when I was younger. She’s strong, always true to herself, and won’t let anyone disrespect her. Sure, she has fears, but we all do. Shapri is the kind of girl I would love to be friends with. You know she’ll always go to bat for you when you’re too tired to step up to the plate. And, oh, she has a mysterious, other-worldly secret too.

I can't wait to read this book. it sounds right up my alley. So do you have any marketing advice for other authors that you'd like to share?

Stretch far and wide. Stay focused and true to who you are as an author. Readers can sense authenticity, which is why the BUY MY BOOK BUY MY BOOK BUY MY BOOK strategy just doesn’t work. As an author, you’ll want to have an awesome, well-designed blog, a presence on the major social media networks (and try to devote avid attention to at least 1 or 2). And don’t under-count the tremendous value of paid advertising. Sites like Kindle Nation Daily, Pixel of Ink, Cheap eReads, and eReader News Today are just fantastic for getting exposure.

Before you go, I'm goimg to get up front and personal lol Where did you meet your partner? We all love to hear a good romance story on this blog.

Oh, lordy. I’ve been with my husband for over 7 years. Married 4. He’s from New Delhi, India, but we met in one of the least romantic places imaginable—Detroit. We went to the same college. He was pursuing his PhD in materials science engineering while I was finishing up my BA in sociology. To help cover the cost of classes, I got a job at the student center working as a cashier at KFC. Basically, I was the only non-Indian there and tried really hard to fit in by showing off my (then nonexistent) knowledge of Hindu culture. One of the workers invited me to his place for some Indian food. He was my hubby’s roommate. That’s how we met. In the oddest twist of fate, I met my coworker and became close enough friends to venture to his home on my very first day on the job. That ended up being his last day working there. We had one day to intersect, and we did. Fate?


Ah, fate. it never ceases to amaze me. So where can your followers find you?

I'm everywhere. Seriously, Google “Emlyn Chand” plus your favorite social media site, and you’ll find me. Visit me at my website and my favorite networking sites are
Facebook,
Twitter,
Google
GoodReads.


Thanks for stopping by Emlyn. Its been lovley meeting you.




Farsighted is Emlyn Chand's first novel. Here is a short excerpt.


Simmi and I arrive at this rally point together from Mrs. Warszynski’s to wait for Shapri. Several minutes go by. I want to suggest we leave without her but don’t think that’ll score me any points with Simmi.

“You didn’t want Shapri to come tonight, did you?” Simmi asks.

“Well, I—no, I mean, it’s fine. I’m glad she could come,” I sputter.

“You’re such a horrible liar,” Simmi teases, pushing me playfully.

“Hey, that’s not fair. I can’t hit you back. You’re a girl.”

“I’m just teasing you.” Simmi blows a raspberry and pulls her body up onto the circular wall surrounding the flagpole area. I hesitate before pulling myself up too. Simmi scootches over so we touch at the hip. She loops her hand through the crook of my arm and places her head on my shoulder. “I never would have gotten away with this in India,” she says. “But I’m glad I can here. I’m a psychic feeler. I need to be in touch with others.” She pauses and strokes my arm with her free hand. “You know, when I touch someone I can make them feel what I want them to, but I can also sense their existing emotions. It’s almost the same as being able to read minds. Everything important has to do with the heart, not logic.” She lightens her tone. “But don’t tell Dr. Brown I said that, he’d take marks off of my next chem exam out of spite.”

I laugh nervously. Is she like Miss Teak in a way? Can she read my feelings for her? If she can, why hasn’t she said anything? I contemplate reaching over and kissing her, so I can know for sure how she feels. But I’ve never kissed anyone before. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to initiate it. Do I take her out for dinner and a movie first? Or make some lengthy speech declaring my intentions? Do I kiss her, just like that? Or do I ask for her permission before making my big move?

I decide to ask if it’s okay. Simmi is a classy girl. She needs respect. I swallow, hoping the motion will open up my airway, because right now, I’m kind of having trouble catching my breath. “Simmi,” I start.

“Yeah, Alex?” She lifts her head and links her hand in mine, nudging her slender fingers in between each of mine.

“Would it be okay if I…”

“There you two are!” Shapri says, running over to us, panting heavily. “I thought we were meeting in the commons.”

“No, we agreed on the flagpole,” Simmi says, hopping down from the wall.

The moment is gone. I don’t know when I’ll get the chance and the nerve again. My opinion of Shapri transforms from cautious indifference into outright hatred. Why did she invite herself along?

Shapri clears her throat. “Did I—Did I interrupt something here? Maybe a little romance?”

“What? No, no,” Simmi says shaking her head adamantly. “Nothing like that, Alex is like a brother to me.”

Ouch. Pain. Stabbed in my heart. I’m like a brother to her? I guess this means romance is off the table…