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I have several guests lined up this month.Ìý I will be posting dates as each is finalized. The dates should take shape in the next few days.Ìý(Updated! The dates are set!)

As a teaser, check out two of my guests.

Guest Appearance Feb 18, 2012

Guest Appearance Feb 12, 2012

I have several guests lined up this month.Ìý I will be posting dates as each is finalized. The dates should take shape in the next few days.Ìý

As a teaser, check out two of my guests.

Christine Cunningham

Ìý

Lori A. Moore

You never forgetÌýyour first car.

I am not talking about the piece of junk that you scrapped together your nickels and dimes together to buy.Ìý You know the one. The beater that was already ten to fifteen years old when you bought it; held together by remnants of chewing gum and a mystery substance that oozed from the air vents whenever the temperature got too hot outside.Ìý

The car I am talking about is the one you saw on the big screen or perhaps on the tube that made your heart skip a beat.Ìý The one car that you have longed to drive just one time since you were a kid. This is THAT CAR. The car that still makes you ache with desire whenever you catch a glimpse.

I still remember THAT CAR. When I was needing a car as sexy as the female character, Anna Brandon, in my thriller Returns, I knew the car I needed.ÌýThe car I chose for my femme fatale was the 1971 Black Plymouth Barracuda from the 1979 movie, Phantasm.Ìý Though I made a few subtle changes including color in my novel; Anna's is Hemi Orange with Black Stripes.

I can remember being a youngÌýteen sitting at home with my stack of horror movies on a Friday night and being drawn into the sheer beauty of her design and the throaty rumble of the exhaust. I was hooked. (Thanks Mom and Dad for allowing me to spend my weekends watching way too many horror movies! No, really.)

The movie is a horror cult classic today and rightfully so, but I can remember renting the vhs tape timeÌýand again not for a well developed story line, but to see my secret crush.Ìý I rented the movie so much the clerks all eyed me wearily as I reached once more for the movie. I was never sure if it was because they thought I was an obsessed freak or worried I was going to wear out the only copy.Ìý

Later I would find the car again in the sequels, but I will never forget the movie or the night I foundÌýmy first true muscle car love.

ÌýIf you fancy cars and horror, see why I fell on love with this classic car in the movie Phantasm.Ìý

Ìý

If you did not see the very telling blog from J.A. Konrath about publicity and ebooks sales then come see my take on how his words influenced me.

See more at my website:

This is a total blog hijack. If you get the title reference then you understand that I am blaming best selling authorÌýJ.A. Konrath for my redirection.

The blog sat at the ready. Preparation was a nonissue. Hours had been spent, notes taken. I was amped for the opportunity to expand my readers minds. I had planned on writing a rather lengthy blog aboutâ€�.well that will have to wait for tomorrow night. The current topic for my blog is a recentÌý posting by a man I have never met before nor have I ever read.

Let's go ahead and fire up the Deloren because we are going back in time. (Yes, I just broke out the Back to the Future reference!) [Side note: I am a huge fan. Oh, Marty McFly where have you gone?]

Back on topic:Ìý I started wanting to write at a young age, but between piano lessons, sports and life writing got bumped then pushed from my life.Ìý I was still an avid reader whenever I had down time though writing never really happened.Ìý There was always the thought of writing and occassionally an idea was committed to a notebook that would later be shoved in the back of a closet or lost in the basement amongst my collection of books.Ìý If time was found I would peek at the pages or add additional character descriptions then toss it back onto the pile.

Jumping forward to February 2011.Ìý I was at Disney World with my family when I read a rather interesting article in USA Today about an independent author named Amanda Hocking. I poured through the words hundreds of times before leaving the resort.

When I arrived home I started researching the growing community of writers doing digital publishing and print on demand.Ìý The first blog that I ever read was written by the aforementioned Mr. Konrath. After reading his blog, the exact post has been forgotten, I talked to my wife and she said go for it.

After some internal debate I decided I would throw my hat into the ring. Soon I was rediscovering how much I enjoyed writing.Ìý I fought for time in my life and finally I was able to hammer out my first novel, Returns, as well as parts of seven other books.

Yes � J.A. Konrath has had an influence in my decision to begin writing and for that I am very thankful.

Now to the main point of this post.

Today I was using a break in my day to catch up with my fellow authors on the Twitterverse when I came across a tweet.Ìý I clicked the embedded link and behold a dissertation about the publishing world written by none other than J.A.

My day was ruined. I read through the article more times than I should.Ìý The post was a riveting look at how one of the top authors in the ebook industry today views the value of publicity in sales of his books.

The look inside his world was fascinating, but more importantly and the part that grabbed at my soul was the last quarter of his blog outling his advice to aspiring authors.Ìý The advice for the most part was not earthshattering and could be found in other blogs in some form or fashion until I read item three on his list included here in whole:

Social media and word of mouth are helpful, but you have to reach a lot of people before these become a factor. Less tweeting, more writing.

I have seen alot of writers including myself that have spent large amounts of time building a brand and I think there is a need, but his last four words struck me hard.Ìý I burned because I had forgotten the basic premise of why I was doing what I was doing.

These last few weeks have been filled with the buildupÌýto the release of my book accompanied by the pushing of my image. I have neglected my writing. The writing has been neglectedÌýnot in content and quality; in length. I have not been spending enough time honing my craft and putting product in stores.Ìý A need to create balance which is a topic for another day. (Hint)

So damn you J.A. Konrath youÌýwere right again.

If you get a chance check out his blog: .

Ìý

How can you develop a great website you may ask?

Let us rewind……�.

I will eventually get to providing you with the wisdom of the ages.

Now fast forward back to ourÌý topic…â€�.

I would be doing a grave disservice toÌýa very Ìýimportant part of being a writer; his support team.Ìý I knew when I began this quest to become published and write down the thoughts that were bouncing around in the ole noggin I would have to haveÌýhelp.Ìý In my case, the helpÌýis my wife.

Luckly,Ìý my wife is adept at all things involving computers. When I asked for her help designing a kickass webpage she agreed without hesitation. (While I am here I need to add that I was of littleÌýhelp.)ÌýOk, maybe there was a little hesitation because she works hard at her own endeavors and has limited time to enjoy her hobbies or spend time with our daughter.

I will say that I am very thankful to have a great wife who helps make my writing possible. She spent many hours making sure my site had a great layout and was functional. Her weekend was given unselfishly to help me.

(Heather because I know you will read this. Thank you so much for making my webpage fantastic!)

So back to where we began. How do you make an amazing webpage?Ìý Time and Love.

Dear Reader,

I pledge at this writing to make the best attempt possible to update my blog at least twice a week.ÌýThere I said it.Ìý The words will be forever linkedÌý to my blog and webpage for everyone to see so I have to now.

I sat down and developed a schedule . I reserve the right to change my mind, but at the moment I will be making updates on Wednesdays and Sundays.Ìý Don't be surprised if you occassionally see me on other days, but we have to start with my good intentions first.

What can you expect from my blog?Ìý What will make me different than other authors or bloggers?

I guess you will have to checkin to see. I can tell you I have a much more elaborate plans for my regular posts.

You will find that I will ocassionally ramble about different events in my life, writing, publishing, tv, randomness,Ìýsocial media, technology, my passion for things fast or anything else thatÌý comes to mind.Ìý I hope you enjoy the ride.

Sincerely,

Shannon

My first book went on sale this week and I have been more than a little nervous. It was been a wierd sense of relief and anxiety.

It was been a busy week trying to get the semester going well while starting to market my book, but it has also been fun.

The first book in the Samuel Carsten series was a labor of love for me and I hope my readers get as much enjoyment from the installment as I did writing it.

My new website is almost ready to go live so I will keep you updated....shouldn't be long...I hope.