Theft

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Jeeze, you guys. Did you hear about the latest (or maybe it's not so new) Amazon scam? I read from a site I can't link to here because of the +18 content that a person has been lifting whole books and posting them as her own on Amazon. These are mostly self-published books and books published by small e-book companies. 

Apparently this "author" has been "publishing" under several different names, but (s)he even has the audacity to use the same blurbs and everything. To steal like this in front of everyone in broad daylight is just unbelievable. I feel so sorry for the real authors. It must be horrible to be so powerless, to see your hard work being treated like this and no one will do anything.

It just plain sucks that people can do this and Amazon refuses to remove it because they say they're not responsible because of some clause they have in their contracts with the authors (saying that the person who is uploading is solely responsible for the content being their own). I personally think that since Amazon is getting a percentage of the sales, they should be held accountable. 

You know what? I have only ever ordered online books through Amazon (.com and .co.uk), but I'm not going to buy books from them anymore until they've corrected this injustice. I've found better places to shop at anyway, like Book Depository who ships free internationally. As for Kindle books, well I've learned to convert PDF files to Kindle format through Mobipocket Creator (it's soooo easy, just a few clicks), so I'll be just fine without Amazon for a while.

Woah There Stranger!

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I know, I know, it's been aaaaages since I posted, but I've been going through a lot lately. At least school will be out in two weeks, so I should be returning to the blogsphere soon! 

I've managed to do some writing and my "Secret File" (haven't chosen a name yet) is almost completed. The goal was 50,000 words and I'm only 48 words away from that goal, but I still have two chapters to write so it'll be a little longer. Maybe 55,000 words, which is fine for a romance novel. What I'm so proud of in this manuscript is that it's packed with voice! I've never written something with so much voice before. Yay for progressing ^.^

But yeah, I'm genre hopping! So far I've been set on YA, but then I finished an MG manuscript, and now I'm into adult romance. I don't know where I land but I suppose there's nothing that forces me to stick to just one genre. There are always pen names ^.^

I was planning on publishing this Secret File on Amazon for $2.99, but my buddy Rachael Harrie has been encouraging me to query. I suppose I have nothing to lose by doing that first. 

I've also been stuck by a huge decision: to write in English or Icelandic. I always write much more fluently in English and I'd like to publish my work in English, but the Icelandic market is sooooo much easier to break into. So I've come to the decision to try to publish at least one Icelandic and one English book every year (self-publish via Amazon or through a publisher if I get lucky) and a load has been hurled off my shoulder after that decision. 

Of course I'll write a lot more, because writing a first manuscript really doesn't take that long, but I think it's better to be modest to begin with. Besides, not everything I'll write will be publishable (yeah right! No, seriously...). 

Anyone else with such robust ambition? ^.^

Say Hello!

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My followship (yes, that's a word!) has increased a lot lately and I'm very, very grateful. However, Blogger won't allow me to see everyone's blog page when I click on the little images in the sidebar. So, could the ones I haven't followed back leave a short comment below (just a quick hello) so that I can click your names and repay your kindness!

The Second Crusade!

I hope all of you made it onto Rach's list of Crusaders this year (or this part of the year - I think there's another crusade later in the year). Last fall there were 50 Crusaders, but I have it from a reliable source that there are 200 Crusaders this year! Rach sure will have her hands full.

What is the Crusade? It's the "Writer's Platform-Building Crusade", where the purpose is to introduce blogging writers to one another and get them to communicate (and follow each other). There are loads of fun challenges and I made a lot of great buddies in the last Crusade. 

Unfortunately the application time has closed (so sorry for being late with this - I'll post earlier next time to give you heads up!), but I just wanted to congratulate Rach on her success and say to the other Crusaders: Can't wait to get to know you all!

Trilogy Contest Winners!

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Winners, Trilogy Contest

Well, today’s the day to announce the winners of our Trilogy Contest. Thanks to all who entered, we had a great time and met some really awesome peeps.

As a reminder, up for grabs were a total of 12 critiques, 4 each by Marieke, Rach and me:*

(1)    query or synopsis (max. 2 pages) critique (winner's choice)

(2)    first 300 words critique

(3)    first 3 pages critique

AND

(4)    first 30 pages critique

I know you can’t wait to find out the winners.

So...*drumroll*... the winners of the critiques by me (as determined by random.org out of a total 505 entries) are:

·         query or synopsis (max. 2 pages) critique (winner's choice) - Michelle

·         first 300 words critique - Emy Shin

·         first 3 pages critique - The Weed

AND

·         first 30 pages critique - Elena Solodow

Woot!!!

Congratulations to all the winners. Email me at tessaquin[at]gmail[dot]com to claim your prizes.

But, I see you thinking, there are only 4 winners in this post, where are the others???

Good question, I say. You’ll have to pop over to Marieke’s Musings and Rach Writes to find out the other winners.

Good luck!

*Unfortunately we didn’t quite get to 50 entrants, but we’ll definitely have some books up for grabs in our next contest as well. 

(Yeah, the above was totally copy-pasted from Rach's site)

What's Up?

Image: http://childcareinaustin.com/programhighlights.html

So, what are you guys doing these days? Working on a manuscript? Trying to get back into gear after Christmas? Just relaxing with a book?

University has started, so I'm spending a lot of time studying, but with it I'm working on getting an Icelandic book published. I kind of feel out of sorts, though, because I feel that I should be writing (and not waiting for the kid-betas to finish reading). It's just that I'm so excited about this project that I find it hard to put it aside and dive back into my YA novel. 

It's not like I've been doing nothing in January, though. I did polish the Icelandic MG manuscript, and I have a schedule I'm sticking to. It's a darn good novel, might I add, so I have a good feeling about this one. 

Going back to my YA manuscript looks so daunting. I just need to do what Rachael Harrie advised: Take it in sections. Smaller parts are always more manageable.

Is everyone else being super active in their writing? 

Oh! And don't forget to enter the Trilogy Contest for some awesome prizes! 

Favourite Food Challenge

Image: http://doctorbrady.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/

I'm taking English Composition this semester, which is academic writing. Only I'm thrilled to learn that we're supposed to use a bit of showing in our texts. For this week, I'm supposed to write a short, descriptive paragraph of how my favourite food tastes like. I'm not allowed to say what it is.


So! I'm turning this into a challenge. Write a short paragraph to describe HOW your favourite food tastes like, using some or all of your senses.

My favourite food fuses my taste buds with sweet, rich flavour almost before it passes my lips. My mouth waters with the thick, smooth texture as my teeth crunch against the hard surface and my tongue smoothes the shattered fragments, creaming them against the top of my gum.

Okay, so this can be a double-meaning thingy, but I swear it's food. Can you guess what it is?