Tag Archives: Love’s a Beach

Read an E-book Week, and What to do with a Dead Kindle?

by Jennette,

girlreadingToday marks the start of Read an Ebook Week, an annual promotion from Smashwords wherein thousands of independent authors and publishers offer ebooks at fantastic discounts. Mythical Press is participating too, and has all my books on sale. Haven’t tried the Saturn Society series yet? It’s a great time to change that–Time’s Enemy, Book 1, is on sale for 75% off. The anthology Love’s a Beach, which includes my newest installment, a short story called “Time’s Tempest” featuring new characters, is also on sale for 50% off, and has some great reads from Stacy McKitrick and four of my other writing friends. Just click the image above to go to Smashwords.

Ironically, just in time for Read an Ebook Week, my Kindle decided to die on me. It had been getting slower and occasionally would display an error message when I opened a book. If I tapped OK, the error message would disappear and it worked fine. Then searches for words I knew were in the book would turn up nothing, and a couple days ago, it started saying books were “no longer available” when I’d just purchased them from Amazon. A quick search revealed that my Kindle probably just needed a reboot, so I tried that. But my Kindle did not reboot–or rather, it tried for several minutes, than eventually just crapped out:

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I was not optimistic about contacting Amazon, because you see, I got this Kindle for Christmas–last year.

Which means it’s about two months out of warranty.

But all I found in the searches was either “Duh, contact Amazon, they’ll replace it” (usually in response to someone with a relatively new Kindle) or “It’s bricked” (often in response to someone who tried to root, or hack, their Kindle). Nothing about anything else that could be done if it was out of warranty, even in a case like mine where I’d not so much as dropped it.

So I got on an online chat with them. I didn’t really expect them to offer to repair or replace it except for a fee, but mainly contacted them in the small chance there was something else I might try to resuscitate the Kindle. Sure enough, the customer service rep said it was out of warranty, and would I like him to go over some options for a “deeply discounted replacement or upgrade?”

Not acceptable. Why would I want to pay for another Kindle when this one failed two months after the warranty expired? I told him that and added, “I am very unhappy with this. I haven’t even dropped it, it just quit working,” expecting to get a “sorry, company policy” response. But the rep said, “please wait while I talk to my manager.”

He came back and said they’d make an exception, and replace it for free! I guess it never hurts to let them know what you think (politely, of course) and be persistent. The new one is supposed to arrive tomorrow.

ROW80Logo175Luckily, that didn’t cut into my writing time too much yesterday, and I got my 3,500 words in for the week. Wow, is this novella turning out to be longer than I expected! I thought it was going to be a longish short story at first, maybe 10,000 words, but then it kept going. I’m now over 20,000 words and only a little more than halfway through my outline. That’s okay, it needs to be as long as it needs to be. I suspect I’ll do some cutting on revision, too.

I didn’t do so well with the fitness, though I got a couple of very short workouts in. I am almost done with the website–hope to finish that today–so I still consider it a good week.

Next week, the same: 3500 words, finish the website (this time, for sure!), and get 3 or 4 activity sessions in. I have a print book to format too, so I’ll toss get started on that in as a bonus.

What about you–planning to read any ebooks this week, whether from Smashwords or elsewhere? Have any surprising customer service experiences to share, good or bad? And whether or not you’re participating in ROW80, how did you do on whatever goals you might have? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

Some Weeks are Just a Bust

by Jennette,

I did not make any of my goals this week. I could blame it on a lot of things–unexpected happenings, more commitments than usual, poor planning, not feeling well, but despite all of that I could have still met the goals. But still, it wasn’t a bad week.

I knew I had things going on Thursday night and Saturday afternoon, which are a couple of my prime times for writing. But my husband was also out of town this week, so I’d expected to be able to make up for those earlier in the week.

That just didn’t happen. It started out being another tired week (and also headachey). Not whining, just sayin’. Thursday was a lot of fun–I participated on a panel at the library about romance novels, with writing friends Stacy McKitrick, Athena Grayson, Catherine Castle, CD Hersh, and Jessica Lemmon, which was a lot of fun. Several of us went to dinner afterward, where I met a new writing friend from my community, and that was great fun too, as hanging out with other writers always is.

ROW80Logo175I did some of the same Saturday, when I went to Cincinnati and met up with Jim Winter for a beer and a bite to eat, and more writing talk. Always a good time.

I’d still hoped to catch up on my writing after I got back, but that didn’t happen. Not sure why, just couldn’t get into it. I think I just need to skip some boring and unnecessary details and get to the next part where the bad guys come in. I have some friends from Columbus visiting today, but am off work tomorrow, so I’m going to push on that then.

Of course, due to the same things, not much got done on the website project, nor did my fitness get done. I did get some work done on the website last Sunday, and got 2700 words total on my writing throughout the week, so it wasn’t a total bust–just didn’t meet any of my goals all the way. This is one of those times where I have to remind myself that it’s a new week, and a new chance to meet your goals. Don’t try to catch up, just jump in where you are.

So next week’s goals will be the same: 3500 words on the WIP, 3-4x fitness, and finish that website project.

On another note, Love’s a Beach is now out in print! It’s available in both print and ebook at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and in ebook at iTunes and Smashwords.

What about you–do you have weeks where you just can’t get it all done, for whatever reason? What do you do to get back in the groove? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

Coming Soon: Another Way to Warm Up!

by Jennette,

Love's a Beach coverThe weather here in Ohio has been crazy the past couple of weeks! Around zero a week ago, up in the fifties yesterday morning, and almost that today, only to drop back to a more typical twenty-something later this week. Luckily, the folks at Mythical Press have been busy getting something ready that should warm up even the coolest soul, if only figuratively: Love’s a Beach, an anthology of stories of summer love by members of the Ohio Valley Romance Writers of America.

Yes, the anthology is finally going to happen, and yes, there’s something in it for everyone who likes a little romance, including those who’ve been waiting for something new from the Saturn Society! This is the long-time-coming first installment of Time’s Tempest, my serialized novel that takes place in a parallel timeframe to my WIP Saturn Society Book Three.  In my story “The Storm,” a headstrong handyman on his first trip to the past winds up in the storm of the century, on the run from a madman from the future, with a woman he doesn’t remember meeting—or falling in love with.

I’m doing the formatting for Mythical Press on this one, and that means I’m getting a sneak preview of the other stories in the book, too. And wow! Are they fantastic! There are a couple of humor-laced romantic suspense tales, some sweet contemporary stories, office romances, and a historic story (which interestingly enough, takes place in the early twentieth century – the same time period as “Time’s Tempest: The Storm”). There are also a couple of lovely poems by Ann Gregory. The release is slated for the first of February, and I’m especially excited to see this anthology finally come out after seeing what else is in it! Here’s the official blurb:

Warm up your winter with this anthology of stories of springtime and summer love by members of the Ohio Valley Romance Writers of America. From heartwarming to mysterious, comical to suspenseful, these romantic tales show that there really is someone for everyone. Whether it happens today or a hundred years ago, from the Atlantic shore to the American West coast, there’s something magical about the finding love when the warm breezes blow.

More info on the publisher’s site.

ROW80Logo175Doing the work on that has kept me busy this week, but getting the formatting ready for Smashwords was one of my goals, and I met that. I also got my fitness in. I did not get as much new writing done as I’d hoped, adding only 1500 new words, rather than the 2,500 I wanted. So here’s the plan for this week:

  • Format anthology as ePub
  • 2500 words on TT or SS#3
  • Fitness 3-4x

What about you–what’s the weather like where you are, and have you had enough of it? What do you think of releasing a “beach reads” anthology in the winter? And whether or not you’re participating in ROW80, what have you been up to this week, and how did you do? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.