BarbHendee.org

Point of View

 
To my surprise, I've been receiving fan emails for "The Forgotten Lord."  Although the Tales project has been popular, I normally don't receive many fan mails regarding the stories themselves.  But this one has instilled people to write to me . . . and this makes me glad.

The piece is written in first person, and I have not attempted that point-of-view in about fifteen years.  I enjoyed it so much that I'm actually considering a series for the future that would be written in a first person narrative.

The drawback to writing in first person is that you can only show anything happening in the book from one character's perspective.  I mean, imagine how different the Sookie Stackhouse novels would be if Bill and Eric each had a POV. 

With the Noble Dead books, JC and I need to play the characters off each other, and therefore we need multiple perspectives.

The benefit of a first person narrative is that as a writer, you can really let the reader get to know your narrator, and . . . you can also play around with the "unreliable narrator," which can be fun.  We are all the hero of our own stories (smiles).

Anyway, this piece seems to be resonating, and that makes me happy.

Valentine's Day

I've always found Valentine's Day to be a manufactured holiday (probably cultured by the greeting card industry), that tends to make people coming off a bad break-up feel worse for no reason.  But . . . JC and I usually do something fun--or at least interesting.  The most apropos V-Day happened two years ago and sort of defines our relationship.  JC actually asked me (and this alone is unheard of), "Um, do you want anything for Valentine's Day?"  He is not the type of man to buy flowers (ever), so in surprise I said, "Yes, maybe some roses for the table?"  On V-Day, I woke up and walked out into the kitchen to find dirt all over the floor and nine thorny, dormant vines inside of plastic bags and dirt.  He'd bought me four large rose vines and five miniature tea rose vines.  I stared at them and he said, "Get your boots and find a shovel."  Ah, romance.

NOW AVAILABLE — Tales of Misbelief, I: The Forgotten Lord

Time for our first 2013 entry in Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga. We did a little behind the scenes reorganization of the “tales” project. Barb’s latest tale is now the opener for the new sequence called “Tales of Misbelief.” So without further ado…

Barb Hendee
$3.00 USD
Short Story, Standalone, 15k+ words
ISBN-10: 098556167X
ISBN-13: 978-0-9855616-7-3
ASIN: B00BCP0M64
English Only

NOTICE: this release is “on the shelves” at Amazon, B&N, and KoboBooks. It should follow shortly at iBookStore/iTunes.

For more information please visit the “Tales” page at NobleDead.org. While you are there, have a look at previous “Tales” releases in the “Homeward” and “Bones of the Earth” sequences. Though set in the world of the Noble Dead Saga, all “tales” and their sequences do not require knowledge of the saga’s books/series. You can easily pick up and read one as your first venture into this world.

You Do NOT Need an eReader

Free Apps to purchase ebooks directly from your computer or other devices are available for Windows, OS X, Android, iOS and sometimes Linux. Yes, you can buy your first ebook as a test right from your computer. There are even free ebooks so you do not have to spend a dime to test what ebooks are all about.

NOTE: If you purchase an ebook on your computer from a specific vendor and then later buy a portable ereader device from that vendor, all of your previously purchased books will automatically load to your new ereader.

Better yet, if you buy an Android or iOS device (such as a full or small sized tablet) and then load the vendor’s app to that device… once again all of your purchases will load to that device. You can even load apps from all of the vendors and shop wherever you want. That’s what J.C. does, though he has a few additional tricks for pulling any vendor’s books into his own preferred reader app called Mantano. He also speaks highly of Aldiko. Both have a free version to try out.

• Kindle Apps (AZW/Mobi)
• Nook Apps (EPUB)
• KoboBooks Apps (EPUB)

The Writer’s Corner: We Really are Paid Entertainers… Unfortunately

I sympathize, but anyone who chooses acting as a profession is a paid entertainer. If they wish to get their rent paid and buy groceries, they have to reconcile themselves to more productions of plays like Arsenic and Old Lace, because entertaining plays like this sell lots and lots of tickets. So does A Christmas Carol. When people spend $60 on a ticket to see a play, especially in today’s economy, they want to know going in that they will be entertained.