A Book in Any Other Format would Probably Not Smell as Sweet

Have you ever noticed how delicious old books smell? That almost warm tone, with hints of vanilla? Or, as one scientist said, "A combination of grassy notes with a tang of acids and a hint of vanilla over an underlying mustiness, this unmistakable smell is as much part of the book as its contents."

That smell can take us back to stories we've read and places we've dreamed of faster than the words on the page can, sometimes. And it's the natural, chemical result of aging paper.You can read more about it here: http://scientopia.org/blogs/scicurious/2013/01/04/friday-weird-science-the-good-old-book-smell/

I think, even if I go blind someday (a distinct possibility since I plan to live long enough to meet my great, great grandchildren and I already wear pretty strong glasses/contacts!) I think, even then, I'll keep old books around, just to smell them while some machine reads to me.

Freebies from Amazon, right here!

And yet, I do a lot of reading on my Kindle. I have a pretty simple one. It does have a touch screen, but it's not back lit. It can read aloud to me, but in an awful computer voice, so I don't use it. It doesn't go on the internet, or have color, but it doesn't hurt my eyes. I love that I can carry dozens of books in my purse. I love that once I get snuggled down with the Kindle in bed, I don't have to adjust to turn the page. I also love that I can adjust the size of the text as the light gets dimmer when the sun sets. There are a lot of good things about these devices, even if they don't smell good, or make that lovely crinkle noise library books with plastic dust jackets make.

What about you? What type of book (or ereader) do you use the most? What type do you like the best?

Traci Tyne Hilton, author of the Plain Jane Mysteries and the Mitzy Neuhaus Mysteries, loves to give away free books! Foreclosed, and Good Clean Murder are always free, for all eReading devices! Pop by her blog to get them today! tracihilton.com/books

Don't want to miss a freebie or a new release? Sign up for her  newsletter! ;) 

Classic April Fool's Day Trick

My Mom and I back when I was the victim of her many pranks.

My Mom is passionate about April Fool's Day. I'm not exaggerating when I say I wake up in my own home on April 1st glad that she is no longer the guardian of my fate. She was always good at the quick joke--like waking us up early, but saying we were late for school. But she is the master of the long con.

One of her long cons really stood out from the rest, since she played it on a kid who wasn't me. I like to call it the Cake Joke.

There are several versions of the prank where you frost something other than a cake, but I feel my mom's version was done with a superb subtly that no youtube video of popped water balloons can match.

As a long con, Mom started it by baking a batch of cupcakes so the whole house smelled delicious, and there was evidence of baking having occurred in the kitchen. Then she  decorated the cake pans as though they were going to a cake contest. She was into cake decorating before it was a big trend. And she's a great baker so if we were paying attention, we knew we had something really great coming our way.

After an evening out with some friends, she offered the son of the guests (a boy who was beginning to realize he was cooler than we were) a knife and asked him to cut the cake.

He tried, but failed.

She asked him, her voice like honey, but laughing at the same time, what was wrong? Didn't he know how to cut a cake? I believe she even demonstrated the right way to do it.

That moment was priceless.

The rest of it is kind of a blur--mom laughing, me laughing, the boy's parents laughing, him being the butt of the joke instead of me.

She served us the cupcakes and showed us how the trick worked. It was always a relief to know she couldn't get us with the same trick twice--but she hasn't run out of ideas yet, so I don't know why we were relieved!

I don't have the energy for these things like my mom did. Waking the kids up, telling them they are late for school (on the first day of spring break) is about as tricky as I get. I leave the rest of the pranks up to my mom. And I feel a little guilty for not bringing the kids by yesterday.

Speaking of priceless, Foreclosed is price-less now at Amazon! The pricematching took effect a couple of days ago, so thanks to all of you who wished me success or reported the lower price. Even better, it is now, as I write, #6 on the free best sellers list at Amazon!

And that is no joke! :D

Traci Tyne Hilton is the author of The Mitzy Neuhaus Mystery Series, and one of the authors in the The Tangle Saga series of science fiction novellas. She was the Mystery/Suspense Category winner for the 2012 Christian Writers of the West Phoenix Rattler Contest, a finalist for Speculative Fiction in the same contest, and has a Drammy from the Portland Civic Theatre Guild. Traci serves as the Vice President of the Portland chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association.
Traci earned a degree in History from Portland State University and still lives in the rainiest part of the Pacific Northwest with her husband the mandolin playing funeral director, their two daughters, and their dog, Dr. Watson.

More of Traci's work can be found at http://www.tracihilton.com

The See-Through Author

It's a cat! In a window!

I'm on a transparency kick.

This will be my third post this week on the theme of letting others in on the secrets.

When I first stepped into the shallow-end of the writing-pool I was very fortunate to find a whole passel of great writers ready and willing to share everything they knew and were learning. I try to be like them--honest, helpful, friendly. I wrote a page on my blog called, "Sure, I'll tell you everything I know about publishing." I could talk about writing and publishing for weeks on end, so having one spot to store all of that info seemed like a good thing.

I think the transparency kick actually started when I was putting together my Production Notes post here at CMM. But whatever started it, I have now joined the voices that share openly about the work, expense, profit, and more work, that it takes to make it in the publishing industry.

But where do I start? With my tax return?
I may not be ready for that much openness just yet.
So I'll share a little more about the "work." Namely, the marketing work.

I think free books are great marketing. Especially when the free book is at the beginning of the series. When I give away free books I always see an uptick in my paid sales. To that end, I want to make the first book in my Mitzy Neuhaus series permanently free.

Right now you can grab a free copy of Foreclosed at iTunes, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords, and Kobo is coming soon.

Supposedly, as if by magic, Amazon will price match it, and then everyone, everywhere can read the first Mitzy adventure, have a laugh, and then go buy the rest.

However (and this is more real life transparency!) I have the terrible feeling they aren't going to do it. I tried to do this same thing about 18 months ago and they just never price matched it. Will they this time? Maybe? I hope so! Either way, feel free to grab a copy from one of the other fine retailers (Smashwords has versions that play on the kindle.)

And, in the spirit of sharing, I will let you know as soon as Amazon matches it. I will also let you know if this has a positive impact on my sales! (And, I will add that sometimes Amazon price-matches faster if readers report that they've seen a lower priced version on another sales site.)

Waiting with Bated Breath

photo by Fabio Garcia from sxc.hu

What do you call a ship that is quivering on the bottom of the sea?

A Nervous Wreck!

What do you call an author waiting for The Big Announcement?

Same thing!

According to Write Integrity Press's website, they will be announcing winners of the Books of Hope contest at the end of next week. The end of this week is my birthday, and you know, I had kind of hoped (ha ha!) that they might make the announcement by then, but the week after is good too.

I should back up, shouldn't I?

Write Integrity Press is a small-press Christian publisher. They've got a couple of award winners on their list, including Jennifer Fromke's A Familiar Shore. The Books of Hope Contest sought submissions for three-book series with the running theme of hope. First prize is a cash reward and a three book contract. There are a handful of contracts at stake though, and my eye is on one of those. I wouldn't mind winning first prize of course, but the ispy writers field is pretty talented, so I know competition is stiff. If I have the privileged of being offered a contract I will be thrilled.

In the mean time, to take my mind off of my excited nerves, I am working on a little romantic piece for the other contest mentioned on the blog I linked to. I know. I'm kind of a contest junky.

Speaking of being a contest junky, the same book also made the semi-finals for The Phoenix Rattler Contest, winners to be announced soon.

I'll announce everything, as soon as I know at TraciHilton.com

Until then!

Traci Tyne Hilton

Traci Tyne Hilton is a mom, Sunday School teacher, novelist, and award winning playwright from Portland, Oregon.

Traci earned a degree in History from Portland State University and lives in the rainiest part of the Pacific Northwest with her husband the mandolin playing funeral director from Kansas, their two daughters, and their dog, Dr. Watson.

Traci's photo by Jessie Kirk Photography

The Mitzy Neuhaus Mysteries are just $2.99 for your Kindle!

 

Merry Christmas!

I've had a couple of unexpected, but totally welcome surprises this Christmas season. The first, most surprising, was finding myself onstage at Riverside Performing Arts' *Jazz Hands* Nutcracker, dancing a ballet after only six lessons. The picture is of me as a Snow Raven at dress rehearsal. (Feet doing a passe, hands in fifth)Sorry for the poor image quality, it is a still from a video made on the hot pink Sanyo camera my 6 year old picked out at Walmart. I like how slimming the black costume is against the black curtain.

I wasn't born graceful, so it was a testimony to the patience and talent of "Teacher Jenn" that I didn't fall on my face as I attempted a pirouette. You can read up on this fall's ballet adventures on my personal blog, starting with this post: Ballet.

Dancing on stage was a combination of my biggest fear and my childhood dream come true, and it was definitely unexpected!

Entirely unrelated to dancing, I found myself at a local bookstore the other day, shopping for mid-century literature that chronicled the changing world of the modern woman. (For a gift.) While digging around on the vintage rack, I ran across a little hardcovered book with a pretty dust jacket called The Peacock Feather.

I flipped it opened to find it was by Portland author, Anne Tedlock Brooks. I wanted to know a little more about the author, who signed the book in 1957, so I googled her. If it hadn't been for a website dedicated to matching grave locations and obituaries, her name would have been lost, though she authored over 40 books during her career!


 That's all well and good, I imagine you saying, but what was the surprise?

First, about the book. The Peacock Feather is about a spunky Portland girl who has to tackle the mystery surrounding a beautiful Victorian Mansion in Portland, destined for destruction. If you are familiar with the first two Mitzy Neuhaus Mysteries, Foreclosed, and Eminent Domain, you'd know I had to read this book! (I'm to chapter five now.) I love a solid genre mystery, and can't wait to find out the rest of this story.

 But the second surprise was about the author herself.

Anne Tedlock Brooks grew up in Kansas, like my husband, but spent her adult life in Portland. And when her end came, in 1980, after a long, full 75 years, she was buried in the cemetery that my husband worked at for 8 years. It know it's a cemetery, but it was also a little bit like home, since we were a part of it for so long. And the idea that she is resting there was very sweet to me.

I've surprised myself this Christmas, by being braver (or more foolish!) than I thought I could be, and I've been surprised by the happy coincidence of finding it really is a small world.

 Have you been surprised this season? Are you planning a surprise for someone else? I'd love to hear about it!

In the meantime, to celebrate Christmas, I've put the Mitzy Neuhaus Mystery series on sale for just 99 cents each!