One or Both?

Having recently released the Blessing or Curse Collection, I find myself in between books. I'm promoting my current release, yet know I have Always Young to finish and complete the Always Young Trilogy, which began with Forever Young: Blessing or Curse.
Though I strayed somewhat from the thriller genre for the second of the series and made Blessing or Curse more a relationship/romance collection, the third will definitely be a one story thriller.

In the meantime, I'm tempted to start A Perfect Angel, which would be the sequel to my romantic comedy, Her Handyman, since one of the secondary characters is begging for attention. I don't blame her, since she did get a rotten deal, which needs to be rectified.

Should I work on both books now, or one at a time?

Maybe I'll try the thriller when I feel in a dark mood, and the romantic comedy when I want something light.

What about you? Have you ever worked on two books at once? Is it a good or bad idea?

Morgan Mandel
Amazon Author Page: http://amazon.com/author/morganmandel
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/morgan.mandel
Twitter: @MorganMandel
Morgan's Book Links Blog: http://morgansbooklinks.blogspot.com

What Did I Get Myself Into?

I'd heard from various sources that series sell. Because of that, when I wrote my thriller, Forever Young: Blessing or Curse, I decided to promise a trilogy. Maybe I should have promised it after it was all written, because it takes time for me to write books, also lots of inspiration.

 Anyway, I finally finished the second in the trilogy, called the Blessing or Curse Collection. While the first is a thriller, the collection has a small thriller aspect toward the end, but is mainly based on how a pill that turns a person young again impacts the lives of not only the pill users, but also the spouses or significant others. Five short stories are included, tracing the lives of five very different people.

Why did I change genres? For some reason, that's where my muse told me to go, so I had no choice but to follow.

Then, why, after doing the collection, did I decide to make each story also available separately? Well, for one reason, readers do love choices. This way they can get the bargain Blessing or Curse Collection with all 5 stories, plus a small bit at the end featuring the bad guys, for $2.99, or, if they only want to read one or two of the stories, that can be done for 99 cents each.

Because I singled out each short story, that meant editing it side by side with the collection for discrepancies, as well as offering a sample of another of the stories at the end of each book, not to mention separate covers for the short stories.

It took some doing, but the project is done! The Blessing or Curse Collection is available on Amazon, as well as the separate short stories. Here's a recap of what's available in the collection or separately, also a peek at each short story cover in my panorama shot below:

WHO'LL MEND THIS BROKEN MAN

Desperation forces Consuela to order the Forever Young pill to cure her husband, Diego, from Parkinson’s Disease; but is the cure really a curse?

http://amzn.com/B00EMPREZ8

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING

Ezekiel, an African-American male, can't get it up for his lady love, Luana. Will the pill draw them closer together or drive her away?

http://amzn.com/B00EMPRDBI

WHAT I DID FOR LOVE

Strawberry blonde model, Sherri, sees her popularity fading, along with her looks. The pill can bring her fame and fortune, but what about love?

http://amzn.com/B00EMY1T3M

SUSPICION

Doormat, Dee Dee Marshall, takes a bold step when evidence points to her husband's infidelity. 

http://amzn.com/B00EMY1S8I

FOR THE LOVE OF DOG

Overweight Chicago Police Officer Walinski must pass a new physical or lose his job, along with his beloved canine partner. Can the young pill offer security, when danger lurks in the line of duty?

http://amzn.com/B00EMY1QVW

And now, I've begun Always Young, the last of the trilogy. This will be in novel form, instead of as a collection,  because that's where my inspiration is now leading me.

What about you? Do you sometimes wonder what you got yourself into?

Find all of Morgan Mandel's books at
http://www.amazon.com/author/morganmandel

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/morgan.mandel

Twitter:
@MorganMandel

Magic?

Steam escapes from my humidifier. Magic? Well, not really. Care went into achieving this phenomenon. First, someone a while ago figured out how to construct a product a certain way to make steam occur, turning dry air moist.

That wasn't all. A company had to gather each part either by making them or through purchase. Then, it all had to be put together. The humidifier is ready. Still, if no one knows of this particular brand, how can its benefits be enjoyed?

Using advertising methods, be they word of mouth, written, e-mail or snail mail, someone from the company has to inform buyers this particular humidifier is available at a particular price. Someone at Walgreen's has to make the decision to buy that brand and how many.

Walgreen's then keeps an amount of humidifiers in the stores, keeps circulars in its stores and also sends out copies of the circulars in the Sunday papers.

I see the ad in the paper. I buy the humidifier, take it home, put water in it, place it on the table, and turned it on. Steam comes out. This particular day the sun from the window shines on it, highlighting the steam even more.

Not exactly magic.Actually, lots of work from many people before this product got down to me, the consumer, to enjoy its benefits.

Books aren't magic either, although their inspiration might seem to be. Authors need to not only get an idea, but also master grammar, use common sense, research the genre, settings and/or plot points, plus spend however many hours it takes to put that book together. That could take months, or years, but very rarely only a day or two.

After a book is written, whether indie or traditional, it still needs to go to an editor to catch what the author missed. That editor offers suggestions for improvement, which the author agrees to or not. Changes are  done to make the book stronger.

At some point, preferably early on, a designer puts together a cover provided by an artist or stock source. Sometimes authors do this themselves, but whoever does it must take care to achieve a professional look.

Once the book is done, whether indie or traditional, it needs to be formatted for e-book and/or print. If e-book, it will usually be put up at Amazon and/or Smashwords. If print, some popular places to use are Createspace through Amazon and/or Lightning Source.

The book  is then available for purchase, but no one knows about it. If an author and/or publicist is on the ball, word has already leaked out about the upcoming release.

When the book is actually ready, more publicity results through websites, blogs, publicity releases, and popular social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn and Goodreads. If print copies are on hand, an author might arrange a book launch party or book signings at brick and mortar stores.

Then, wonder of wonders, light shines down. A reader sees the book. Magic?  Not really.

Find Morgan Mandel's current Thriller,
Forever Young: Blessing or Curse on
Amazon at http://amzn.com/B006MO28CQ

Like romantic comedy? Try Morgan's latest, Her Handyman,
at http://amzn.com/B0097EVXBK

Find all of Morgan's books at http://www.morganmandel.com

Connect at Twitter: @MorganMandel

I See You, But You Don't See Me

By accident I discovered I can look out my dining room window, see two blocks away, yet no one can see me looking. I know this, because I've checked outside from that distance and can't see into that window. I'm not an expert, but the reason appears to be a combination of the shrub blocking over 50% of the window, plus the way the light hits the glass.

It's kind of fun watching people walk down the street, some with their dogs, some on their way to work, some to other destinations.

This scenario fits well into mystery books in various instances. Here are some:

A person witnesses a crime, yet the criminal can't see the witness. Perhaps it was a case of looking out a window like mine, or inattentiveness by the criminal in not casing the area for bystanders, or various other factors.

Or, the reverse. A victim doesn't see the criminal, perhaps a stalker, who hides behind doorways, or hides behind cars in traffic lanes, sneaks into a house while the door is open, or uses other methods. Or, perhaps the victim is so engrossed in some other problem or event the criminal goes unnoticed.

Carrying this scenario to a different level, here are some instances between authors and readers:

An author creates a book and puts it online, or it's carried in a bookstore. Readers don't see it. Why? Perhaps an author gets caught up in having the book published and expects the literary world to rush out and get it. However, that author hasn't set up any publicity, or hired someone to do so, either through social media or other methods. Unless readers know a book is available by seeing the cover or description somewhere, or hearing about it, the author can see the book, but no one else does.

Or, in another case, a reader notices an author, purchases a book, yet no one, including the author, knows whether or not that reader enjoyed the read. The only person who knows this is the reader. If only the reader had shared the experience, either through word-of-mouth, a comment somewhere on social media, or even by going so far as to write a review, that would have made the difference. Then, the author would know the effect of the book on that reader.

Can you think of other instances? Or, perhaps you just want to agree or expand on one of mine.

Morgan's current thriller is
Forever Young: Blessing or Curse.
A 55 year old widow takes a pill to be 24 forever, but
learns that being old might not be the only way to die.

Soon, the villains and the law are after her.

In the works is a sequel to Forever Young: Blessing or Curse,
called Blessing or Curse.

Consuela's husband has Parkinson's. Would the pills help him?

Ezekial suffers from E.D. Will the pills cure his curse?

Police officer, Mike, has let himself go. His physical is coming up. Maybe the pill will help.

Dee Dee wonders if her husband is cheating. Will the pill make her more attractive? 

Sherri's washed out as a model. Can the pill reignite her career?

If you like romantic comedy, check out Her Handyman,
and be amused by the adventures of Jake, the handyman, who answers a frantic call by Zoe, the rich artist, to stop a bathroom flood in her penthouse.

Find all of Morgan Mandel's mysteries, thrillers and romances at:
http://www.morganmandel.com

Amazon Author Page:
http://amazon.com/author/morganmandel

Twitter: @MorganMandel

The Next Big Thing for Me is Blessing or Curse

I received three tag requests to participate in The Next Big Thing -- one from Jenny Milchman, who is posting today at http//www.kathleenkaskawrites.blogspot.com, another from Shonell Bacon at http://shonellbacon.com, who posted on Oct. 22, and yet another from Susan Furlong-Bolliger, at http://booksgoneviral.blogspot.com, who will do her post on Nov. 19, so I had to give in, sit down and do one of my own.  My duties today are to answer ten burning questions, provide a link to the person(s) who tagged me, and also tag off to five other bloggers. So far, I've only found two, so I may need to tag three more victims later. The main thing is to keep The Next Big Thing going! And the questions and answers are:  What is your working title of your book? Blessing or Curse  Where did the idea come from for the book? Forever Young: Blessing or Curse When I began writing Forever Young: Blessing or Curse, my object was to lay the groundwork about the young pill which could revert a taker from that person’s present age to a previous one. So many characters begged for attention, I realized I couldn’t cover them all in one book. I had to yank some of them out of the manuscript and plop them into a separate book. Hence, Blessing or Curse, began. The first novel, Forever Young: Blessing or Curse,  concentrates on the heroine, as well as the villains. The second, Blessing or Curse, today's subject of The Next Big Thing, focuses on test market participants, as well as a bit about the bad guys. The third, Always Young, concludes the trilogy by taking readers back to the original main character  and someone she holds dear.  What genre does your book fall under? Good question. This one has mixed parentage. Paranormal, since no one has invented a pill yet to take anyone back in age and hold that person there.  It's also a Romance, because most of the stories revolve around love and relationships.  And a Thriller, because the pill has a wide reaching affect for good or bad, and also because there are nefarious villains around. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie edition? Ezekiel – Will Smith Sherri - Nicole Kidman Mike Walinski – Kevin James Not sure yet about the rest of the cast What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Blessing or Curse focuses on five characters from differing walks of life, nationalities, and circumstances, yet with one thing in common: they are all test market subjects of the experimental pill, Forever Young, designed to revert the user's age back to an earlier choice. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Definitely self-published, but with the help of my editor, Helen Ginger, plus my book designer,  Stephen Walker. How long did it take you to write the first draft of this manuscript? This has been going on for too long.(g) Actually, I started this sequel at least three or four years ago, but since much of it was part of the first book, I had to finish that one first. I’ve just about wrapped this second one up and hope to have it ready sometime in December, 2012, fingers crossed. What other books would you compare this story to in your genre? Forever Young: Blessing or Curse, the first book in my trilogy. Also, the original Forever Young book and movie. More movies: 17 Again, Young Again. I know there's more, but I can't remember them all. Who or what inspired you to write this book? Getting old was a big inspiration, thinking how nice it would be to be young again and stay at a younger age. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? I made a concerted effort to include different sorts of characters, with a range of nationalities and physical characteristics, to appeal to a wide audience.  Here's something about their stories: Desperation forces Consuela to order the Forever Young pill to cure her debilitated husband, Diego, who suffers from Parkinson’s Disease; but will the cure become a curse? Ezekiel, an African-American male with  E.D. difficulties, sends in for the young pill to prevent his lady love, Luana, from discovering he can’t get it up. Will the pill draw her closer or drive her away? Strawberry blonde model, Sherri’s popularity is fading with her looks. The pill can bring her fame and fortune, but what about love? Overweight Chicago Police Officer Walinski must pass a new physical or lose his job, along with his canine partner. Will the young pill provide security, when danger lurks in the line of duty? Downtrodden going-on-sixty housewife, Dee Dee Marshall, suspects her husband of infidelity, and will do anything to keep him, even take an experimental pill. What she really needs is self-confidence. Now you know something about The Next Big Thing of Morgan Mandel, which I hope you'll be reading soon!!! I'm tagging Debra St. John, who will be posting about her Next Big Thing at my blog, http://morganmandel.blogspot.com on Nov.19. And Helen Ginger, is posting today at http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com.            Thanks, Morgan Mandel http://www.morganmandel.com Twitter at @MorganMandel Amazon Central Page: http://amazon.com/author/morganmandel Excerpt & Buy Links Blog: http://morgansbooklinks.blogspot.com

All a Matter of Perspective

It's amazing how perspective can differ amongst people and even with myself.

On the way home from Wisconsin near Wausau

I got back from our North Woods vacation yesterday. Almost every day, the weather was my ideal - 60s and 70s. I know some people  would say that's not warm enough. They prefer at least 80s or 90s. That's them. I was happy.

So was the DH, who set out in his fishing boat almost every day to catch "The Big One." He tried, but never caught that elusive dream. Still he did pretty well, hauling in some keeper walleyes, bass and a nice-sized crappy. On the days he couldn't catch fish, he'd say, "I guess you can't have good weather and good fishing at the same time."

In past years, when we had no cable and no Internet in our cottage, the DH was fit to be tied if the fish weren't on a feeding frenzy. Now, he takes it in stride, and occupies himself in other ways.

Morgan's dog. Rascal

In the old days, without other entertainment except for eating binges at local restaurants, I went through many books, also lay out in the sun, weather permitting. I walked the dog, did crossword puzzles, and went to Bingo when I could. I worked full time then, and my vacations were relaxing. At times, I'd even go fishing with the DH.

Nowadays, on vacation I can watch TV, read on my Kindle, surf the net, and after walking the dog, I prefer sitting in the shade, while my dog lays in the sun.

I have no day job anymore, except writing. A bit of relaxation is fine and dandy, but I much prefer excitement and variety. Bingo is no longer enough, when the thrills of the casino beckon to me. I haven't fished in two years, and don't miss it.

I bet you're wondering what this has to do with writing. Well, I'll tell you.

To make your book characters come alive, perspective is important. Each character needs to be and see differently, even those who share some basic views or values. Notice that I and the DH both loved the weather and modern conveniences, but still differed in some ways as to our entertainment. Even minor distinctions between characters is important.

Readers should be able to distinguish each character, even without the author continually pointing out which one it is.

Be sure to include clues, even if they're physical mannerisms, such as lifted or furrowed eyebrows, smiles or frowns, or maybe trembling or firm hands. Age can also be a factor in a character's perspective, although you can have fun with that in a mystery by having a senior be spunky and a teenager timid.

When there's a murder involved, which is often the case in mysteries, you can have more fun by showing atypical reactions. A reader might expect an innocent party to exhibit sadness at the death of a family member, but that might not always be the case. Wrongs, either perceived or real, could hinder what seems an appropriate reaction.

You can also allow your characters' perceptions to change. Maybe after more evidence is revealed, the very person who despised the dead party, now feels saddened and guilty for prior feelings.

Lots of possibilities to play around with perspective. Have fun!

Morgan Mandel - http://www.morganmandel.com
Morgan writes mysteries, thrillers and romances
Her latest thriller: Forever Young: Blessing or Curse
Her current romantic suspense: Her Handyman
Her Amazon Author Page:
http://amazon.com/author/morganmandel

Which Famous People Are Your Book Characters? by Morgan Mandel



Available for all ereaders,
also in print at Amazon.

Do you put photos of famous people near your computer to remind you of what your characters look like? Actually, I don't, but today I started imagining which ones would fit the bill for my Fountain of Youth theme, romantic thriller, Forever Young: Blessing or Curse.

For Dorrie Donato, the Boomer Generation widow who turns from 55 to 24, for the older version, I'd choose Holly Hunter,who is close to 55, has warm blond hair and warm brown eyes. Holly seems approachable, yet vulnerable, qualities I want my character to project.

For 24 year old Dorrie, I choose Carrie Underwood. She's young, and fits the description, of blond hair, brown eyes, a pretty face, spectacular figure, spunk and talent. Perfect casting!

Roman Remington, Dorrie's boss, dubbed as the Angel Man in my thriller, is tall, with shoulder length blond hair, appears in commercials and is very charismatic. Immediately, the image of a young Fabio comes to mind.

What about you? Which Famous People Are Your Book Characters?

If you'd like to read Forever Young: Blessing or Curse, it's now available in Print. Also, in Kindle, Nook, Itunes and other electronic formats. See excerpts and all buy links for the four Morgan Mandel books at http://morgansbooklinks.blogspot.com.

Make It Legal by Morgan Mandel

A word to the wise author -
Take the extra time to make everything legal. I self-published Killer Career, but before doing so, I registered my publishing company, Choice One Publishing Co. with the Cook County Clerk of the State of Illinois.

I also applied for and obtained a trademark from the Secretary of State of Illinois for the use of my pen name, Morgan Mandel.

When I requested the rights back for my backlist books from Mundania Press, I sent and kept a copy of the certified letter requesting the reversion of my rights.

I contacted Mundania and told them I needed written confirmation and received an email verifying I had my rights back.

To busy authors, this may seem like nitpicking,  but it could save you grief in the longrun. Saturday, I received an inquiry from Amazon about my publishing rights for Two Wrongs, which I'm in the process of getting up on Kindle. After rummaging around today, I found copies of all of my documentation and sent it along to Amazon. Hopefully, they'll be quick about clearing this up, since I'd hoped to have this book back in circulation by now under my own auspices at the reduced 99 cents price on Kindle.

Okay, now that I'm through bragging about having all this stuff to at my disposal, I must confess it took a little while to find it. Not as long as I'd thought it would, though. I was lucky this time. I do save a lot of things, and not all of those things come in handy when I need them.

What about you? Are you legal? Have you run into any roadblocks where you had to provide some sort of legal proof?



Morgan Mandel



Morgan Mandel's Books -
Killer Career - 99 cents Kindle, Smashwords
Girl of My Dreams - 99 cents Kindle and Smashwords
Two Wrongs - 99 cents Smashwords, Kindle to follow when
Amazon sorts this out.
Forever Young: Blessing or Curse - Coming very, very soon to
Kindle & Smashwords for $2.99, I promise