Sunday, January 27, 2013

Getting to know the Mimsey...

Hello Gentle Readers,

As part of the magical "Reintroduce Blogfest Monday" I thought I would introduce myself. Or re-introduce myself.

Hello! My name is Jay Mims, and I'm an author.


I'm an indie author, writing for an indie publisher, and I listen to all my music on vinyl. 
 
Hipster Dalek: Exterminating before it was mainstream.
 
I'm originally from South Carolina, which is why book 2, Cult of Koo Kway, is a Gullah mystery. I also write lighthearted mysteries. So, apparently, I currently have a lock on lighthearted Gullah murder mysteries.

Also: I killed Santa.

I'm currently working on book 3 of this series, which should come out late summer. That book's called The Gray Ghost Inn. Book 4, Racing the Storm, will be out in the fall. 

That one's a NaNoWriMo book. 


Please feel free to follow the blog as I chronicle my misadventures and wacky antics. 



 









Friday, January 18, 2013

What better way to celebrate winter then with a "Healing Summer"?

Hello Gentle Readers,

We have a special treat for you today. It's the latest book by my dear friend Elizabeth Seckman.


This is a llama wearing a Santa hat.

Interestingly enough, when talking with Elizabeth, the subject of our favorite writing music came up. That of course led to the perfect songs of "Summer". Here's the author to tell you more:
Hey Jay. Here is my top ten list of summer songs.I'll be straight with you Jay...these songs may not even have anything to do with summer, but if I was going on a road trip with my girl friends (back in the days before I drove a mini van) these songs would be in the top ten!
10. "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani

9. "Summer of 69" by Bryan Adams (I was born in the summer of '69, you think Bryan was thinking of me?)
8. "Boys of Summer" by Don Henley (a little sad, but still a good song.)
 7. "Fun, Fun, Fun" by The Beach Boys (I drove a T-Bird in High School, so this was my self-appointed anthem!)


 
6. "Summer Girl" by LFO (This could be the eternal summer anthem!)
 5. "All-Star" by Smash Mouth (My boys listened to this in an endless cycle one summer...a car seat quartet!) 

4. "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol (saw him in concert in Columbia South Carolina in 1988...high school highlight!!!)
 3. "King Rocker" by Generation X (Billy Idol's start up group)

2. "Dancin' with Myself" by Billy Idol (did I mention I was a charter member of the Billy Idol fan club?)
 1. "Summertime" by Mungo Jerry (This song makes me want to grab a glass of lemonade and swing from a rope swing!)
Hope you enjoyed that little break! And remember to check out "Healing Summer" the second book of the Coulter Men series. 
Healing Summer

Maybe Love, Not Time, Heals All Wounds

Ditched at the altar…biopsied for cancer…Mollie Hinkle is having a bona fide bitch of a summer. When life sucks so hard it takes your breath away, what's a girl to do? Pack a bag, grab a few friends, and leave the past and the worry in the rear view mirror. What wounds can’t be healed by a drive across the Heartland, where quarter flips at cross roads determine the route and the future? All roads lead to Craig, the second son and bad boy of the haughty Coulter line. Has fate brought her to the miniscule Montana town to find happily ever after or will it just break her heart?


 
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Friday, January 11, 2013

Paperless Writer or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the E-Reader

Hello Gentle Readers,

I'm a bit of a Luddite. I like my technologies proven and my chicken fried. However, I also think that, reluctantly, technology is important. So, since I'm both a writer and shameless self-promoter, I should start addressing this new fangled e-reader thing.

Nah, just kidding. Back by popular demand is everyone's favorite publisher, blogger, and author. Give a big Mimsey welcome to HK Savage!


Considering how much I enjoy our favorite blog host, I was more than happy to write an article for him this week. 


Anyone who has ears and/or eyes knows by now that there is a book out there that has brought this topic screaming out of the backroom. I’d say closet, but that’s another topic. Well, not really. Hold on, I’ll explain.


Remember back in the old days when the only way to read a book was to buy, borrow, or steal a copy printed on paper?

 Or be bribed with pizza to read. Oh who are we kidding, 
this was the only way book nerds got free pizza. 

The advantage was that you could read it anywhere including on the plane long after everyone else had shut down their electronic devices. The downside was that everyone else knew what you were reading. Yep, that meant that if you didn’t want everyone to know that at your mature age you were still reading about vampires and werewolves ( a subject I have recently stopped apologizing for writing even though I’m supposed to have outgrown it ). 


 
It also meant that your church group knew that you liked to read a good bodice ripper, or that maybe you liked things a little hotter. You know you’ve seen the covers. There’s no explaining to your mother in law that the woman on the cover, bits only barely covered by shadow and the author’s name is wearing little more than handcuffs and a pleasant expression not often found outside of the bedroom (or wherever else those sorts of things are done ). A rapidly growing subgenre in the erotica realm is male/male. Try explaining that one to your knitting circle.

Enter the ereader. 


This little device has blown the doors off of the reading and publishing world. The books we used to read after everyone went to bed, those guilty pleasures be they dwarves and hobbits, whips and chains, or fanged and furred, are now portable. That’s right, you can read them on the bus, in the waiting room, on the couch next to your kid while he/she watches Yo Gabba Gabba. And provided you keep your cheering or sweating to a minimum, no one is the wiser. 

I typed in "Sexy Dwarf" this is what came up.

For publishers this has opened up a huge new area in which many of us are finding eager audiences ready to snap up some new reads. Ask any digital readers out there what their favorite thing about this new discovery is and I guarantee you will hear two sentiments at the top of the list: price and variety. 


Wait, we have choices? More than the socially approved, “NY Times Bestseller lists” and “Oprah’s Book Club picks,” really? Uh huh. I know, it sounds cynical, but it’s true. 


A lot of us alter our decisions every day to please others. Remember how you wanted that king sized candy bar when you were a kid but Mom lifted that brow and your hand moved over to the normal sized sugary goo goo cluster?

 No.
   
That’s right, you did it. We all did. And we still do. Clothes? Same thing. Hair? Yep, you guessed it. Our book choices are no different. For decades, in order to avoid having to explain ourselves or not to be considered “different,” we avoided reading books that our peers might not approve of. 
 
So feel free readers, you can now download your favorite book no matter the genre without fear of judgment.  One piece of advice though: before you set your reader down to go tuck the little one in and leave it in the room with Gramma, make sure you swing over to Little Bo Peep or sleep mode just might show off that cover and give you away. Breakfast with the family might get weird.

It's all smiles until they find out you love "My Immortal"

-----HK Savage

 That's all the time we have for today folks. Give a big hand and lots of love to HK Savage, and see you again soon!