All Blog Posts Tagged 'suspense' (749)

Been working hard on my latest manuscript (still untitled) though the Easter weekend did muff up my writing schedule a bit. I also have a big promotion coming up for DROP OUT on April 4^th with KND’s new Book Gorilla newsletter. I paid extra to be on the premier front page and be exposed to @ 20,000 opt-in readers. Will it be profitable? I guess we’ll see. I need to sell 150 books to recoup the cost.

I’m also trying a new promotion with a site called…

Cheryl Kaye Tardif is an international bestselling Canadian author, who is best known for Submerged, a psychological thriller that had over 49,000 downloads on Amazon in March 2013, Children of the Fog, a…

It finally happened. I reached the end of my creative juices on my latest novel. At 25,000 words in, I’ve had enough. The book started well enough. I had a great idea and I feverishly wrote the first draft in under three weeks. I let it sit for a few days while I visited the Jersey Shore and then pulled it back onto the screen anxious and excited to begin the revision process. And then thunk!

Plagued by writer’s block for the last two weeks, I’ve been spending my morning…

Spring is here and once again the oncoming nice weather will test my resolve to finish my latest novel. I find it especially difficult to keep focus when it’s a beautiful, sunny seventy-degree day outside. But as an artist I must ignore the temptation to enjoy the outside. When I am working on a first draft (as I’m doing now) I find that I can only concentrate on creating original material when I’m sitting at my desk. Something about that particular space and mindset unlocks my…

As a prolific writer, I find it hard to take even one day off of working on my craft. In my mind, a day spent not writing is an unfinished day, as if I’d skipped exercising or went to bed without having dinner. But every now and then the unpredictability of life pops in and you have to take time to pause.

This happened to me recently as a family member was suddenly admitted to the hospital. After a long, unproductive week of experiencing torturous writer’s block, I had…

There is a riding wave of enthusiasm and excitement among indie authors that finally, after centuries of struggle, we can now put our books out there on the virtual bookshelf for the world to see and for all eternity. What an incredible concept that a hundred years from now someone might happen upon one of my books and my characters would rise from the ashes of time and thrill a new reader. Or is it?

What is the likelihood that a future individual will happen upon one of my…

I woke up this morning momentarily gripped by a fear and uncertainty that has plagued me as of recent. Would today be like yesterday and the day before and the day before? Would I spend the next fifteen hours walking around my office in a daze trying to rip free of this chain of boredom? Would today be the day I finally break this horrible bout of writer’s block?

For twenty-five plus years, I’ve woken each morning with my head crammed full of ideas. Imaginary characters start…

It's the undetermined but near future. America's population is plunging, beset

by a mysterious plague that robs individuals of their mental faculties before

causing catastrophic respiratory failure. One by one, the institutions of

society are also failing. Electric power, media, and law enforcement have become

nearly nonexistent. Only a small force, of military origin but exhibiting

strange behavior and superhuman abilities, seems to be functioning.…

It’s the end of the month, which means my book sales stats will again be reset to zero. As I’ve mentioned many times before, it’s a little depressing to start each new month from scratch. Sometimes I think it would be nicer if they just kept the numbers going.

That said, I sold a pretty fair number of books this month. It helped that I ran two promotions and that Kindle Nation Daily gave me extra free publicity by presenting me with an interview by a fifth grader and then…

Haha! Here is my first ever interview with a fifth grader. Please check it out!

http://kids.kindlenationdaily.com/2013/02/fifth-grader-interviews-kindle-author-neil-ostroff-looks-at-the-kids-book-of-the-week-silent-invasion/

I read a funny disclaimer on a website the other day. It was a site dedicated to posting samples of author’s writing. The disclaimer warned that any material posted may be seen by millions of people. I nearly burst out loud laughing.

If only that were true? Can you imagine if each one of my book samples got read by millions of people? If only a very small percentage of those readers purchased the book I’d be rich. The reality is the internet allows you the opportunity…

Please check out my latest sci-fi adventure, SILENT INVASION it is the first novel in a series of three. It is also Kindle Nation Daily’s ebook of the week for their new site devoted to kids and young adults.

Thank you.…

Please check out my latest novel, DROP OUT, which Kindle Fire Department.com calls; “Touching, romantic, and wonderfully told, this is a book that's bound to become a classic.”

It is their book of the day. Thank you.

http://fireapps.blogspot.com/2013/02/drop-out-kindle-book-of-day-213.html…

I woke up this morning, checked my books stats, and nearly retched at what I saw. My Amazon ‘likes’ which took me two years to build are gone on all my books. At first, I thought it was a mistake and then I delved further.

Seems Amazon has decided to get rid of all ‘like’ buttons and tags for books and products. Why, you ask? I have a theory.

The rise of indie publishing and authors self-publishing and selling their own work has skyrocketed. And not just in…

The KFD sponsorship for IMAGINATION http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ATFC3JM on Tuesday did fairly well and once again eclipsed all my other marketing efforts in return dollars to spent ratio. I got below the 5,000 rank for a bit on Amazon and sales did increase dramatically for a few hours. As usual, I would recommend KFD as a top return.

I’ve slowed marketing efforts on my other nine novels to focus more on the four-book…

Down to the Needle

“The perp torched himself,” a fireman said, shouting to be heard over the clamor.

Angry red and orange flames from the still burning back half of the warehouse licked at the night sky. Glowing yellow embers, blown by April’s night breezes off the nearby ocean, took flight. Fire trucks encircled the building. Firefighters scrambled over strewn equipment. Men wearing army fatigues darted about. Two ambulances waited for the…

A native of Chicago, former police detective Chris Karslen grew up with a love of history and books. An only child, she spent a lot of time reading, developing ‘fictional friends’, and getting lost in the world of stories.

Naturally, her love of reading and books led to writing of her own, and when she retired from her police work she finally decided to fulfil her lifelong secret desire. In 2003, she sat down and wrote her first line—and she hasn’t looked back since.…