Happy Halloween!

What to listen to on this day:

Samhain Eve by Damh The Bard. One of my most favorite musicians. Damh The Bard's songs are always magical for the genre lovers.

What to watch on this day:

The Woman in Black (full movie). A Victorian suspense, lots of spooky scenes, a haunting score, a bone-chilling villain. And Daniel Radcliffe!

 or 

(if you're too much of a chicken)

One of the best South Park episodes. It spoofs Stephen King's The Shining (which seems to be on sale right now), and is funny as hell.

Personally I will be watching this:

Eliza Graves. Not only it's based on one of E.A. Poe's short stories, but the events of the movie take place during one of my favorite eras, and it's also about an asylum, and I have just began The Asylum by my favorite writer of Gothic Victorian suspense. It's such a shame that this is John Harwood's last book for me. I hope he'll pen some more, he's a masterful writer.

What to read on this day:

The Haunting of Hill House

Yes, you have been postponing this for so long, but tonight it's the time to read this book at last.

What? You're afraid you might get too scared? Alright then, try this one, you coward!

Witch Hollow and the Wrong Spell

Happy Halloween, everyone!

7 Bone-Chilling Books To Read For Halloween

Just stumbled upon an article at Buzzfeed suggesting 7 bone-chilling books for Halloween. I've read two on the list: Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, and Doctor Sleep by Stephen King.

Sharp Objects is actually my favorite novel by Miss Flynn. I've read all three of her books and the famous Gone Girl is on the third place (Dark Places was better). But I wouldn't call Sharp Objects bone-chilling. It was a standard mystery about murders in a small town of weirdos, and by the middle of the book the identity of the murderer was obvious. And still, I loved it more than other novels by Gillian Flynn, because Sharp Objects was atmospheric, filled with haunting memories and the feeling of guilt and pain

I can't even imagine why someone would put Doctor Sleep in the list of bone-chilling reads. There was nothing bone-chilling about this book. It was not even bone-cooling. Not even skin-prickling. It was boring. Lethargic. Tedious. And not a jot scary. Buzzfeed says, "Try reading Doctor Sleep but don’t expect to do too much sleeping." That is strange, because all that happened to me while I was struggling my way through Danny's adventures was falling asleep and feeling sorry for starting that book (I'm one of those diligent readers who always finish the book and almost never skip the pages).

Other books on the list are:

Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone, which sounds interesting and suspenseful. The sample's already on my Kindle.

The Girl with All the Gifts, which for some reason doesn't have a kindle version, preventing me from giving it a try.

The Accursed. 1057 pages? No, thank you. I'm currently on the 859th page of Stephen King's Under the Dome, so once again no, thank you.

Fiend. A zombie novel. Zombies are not my thing. Maybe it's time to give them a try?

White Is for Witching. Witches!!! Yes, I think I might like this one... but wait, where is the kindle version? o.O No e-book? What a shame.

And while we are on it, let me remind you that a hangman comes to life on Halloween night in The Witch Hollow and the Wrong Spell. ;) Although, it's not that blood-chilling, after all it's a kids' book.

But the cover is pure Halloween, is it not? :))

Feeling good on a Wednesday

It's Wednesday evening, I have lots of things to do but ignore them all. The lazy bee has stung me again, and I'm just reading and listening to music.
Laugh as much as you wish, but I like this song. Or is it a song at all? :)

But I like it and I listen to it, and I also watch the video, and when at 0:50 I see Butters dancing happily in a pink tutu and feeling good, my heart melts into a warm puddle.

Always had a soft spot for Butters

 

I'm not familiar with Lorde's music, but maybe after this episode I'll check her out. I wonder if she sings as well as Sia in this video.

To Free or not to Free

This has been the big question for a very long time. I've watched authors debate, argue, and discuss the free giveaways vs permafree, the pros and cons, the possible results...

Here's what I have learnt--there is no absolute answer. Many authors say they never give away their books for free. Others claim that free is what made them. My take is this: if you have series, it might be helpful to make the first book permafree and promote it like crazy.

My first book has been free for some months now. But I don't promote it, so the free doesn't do much for me.

BUT. A short search on Amazon will bring up lots of free titles of the first books in the series, and many authors make a good use of it.

Another BUT. Don't go free if that's your only book. It won't do much for you. Most of the time free is helpful when you have other books too. Better when they are a part of series:

You will have to decide for yourself to free or not to free, I will only tell you how to do that.

When you publish with Amazon, you can choose to go exclusive with them, or publish on other platforms too (Smashwords, Kobo, Barnes and Nobles, Apple store, etc.). If you publish exclusively with Amazon, you will have 5 days every 3 months to make your book free. You can use all 5 days in a row, or spread them over the 3 months. Amazon does not let you go permafree. Your book has to be at least $0.99.

But if you choose to publish with other vendors, too, then you can make your book forever free. Here's how to do that. Publish with Smashwords. Smashwords let's you choose free without any limitations. After you make your book free at Smashowrds, Amazon's system will detect a lower price and will price-match your book. Thus, in a short period of time, your book will become $0.00 everywhere.

 

And then you will have to promote and promote it. If you won't to make a good use of the free promotion, don't just sit back and wait for a magic to happen. Free doesn't do much unless you market and promote your book.

Good luck!