I first posted this interview on September 25, 2013. I'd just finished reading the first four books in The Remaining series and I couldn't get them out of my head. In my opinion, they are the best zombie books ever written and a perfect example of how exciting it is when you find an indie published author who does amazing work. 
Since the Lei Crime Kindle World launch in April, Christine Nolfi’s, The Shell Keeper has spent much of that time in the number one spot of the Kindle World Contemporary category. The only book that has moved The Shell Keeper from that top spot, (which is on sale right now for less than a dollar!) is her second Lei Crime Kindle World novella, The Shell Seeker.
There’s a good reason Christine’s work has been hugging the top of the charts. Great settings, rich and lovely characters and an intriguingly magical story that takes Toby Neal’s vibrant character, Lei Texeira, to places Lei has never been. Here’s a description of The Shell Seeker.
In South Carolina, there’s more than magic in the air. Now policewoman Lei Texeira must solve the case of the Pirate Necklace.
The famed emeralds, spirited in the 1700s from the pirate Blackbeard’s ship, have been snatched once again. This time, the bling was taken from Marie-Therese Belvedere, a woman whose cruelty is only topped by her arrogance.
Lei doesn’t care for the icy socialite, but she feels an instant connection with the woman’s stepdaughter. An unlucky star has followed Sydney Belvedere her entire life. If the necklace isn’t found, she’ll lose a treasure more dear than the finest gem.
Only the magic of Lei’s intuition stands between Sydney and unspeakable loss.
Sounds great doesn’t it? I had to quiz Christine about her experience and get some insight into what drove her to keep writing in Toby Neal’s Lei Crime Kindle World. (more…)
I'm excited for some of my author friends who are collectively putting out six more novellas in the Lei Crime Kindle World. Sadly, I won't be contributing this time since I'm hard at work on a novel I hope to have done this fall. That said, I can still make sure folks hear about these fantastic and diverse stories.
Eden Baylee's Seal of a Monk, is the first of the batch I'll talk about here. She has another fantastic cover for the story she describes this way:
Seal of a Monk, By Eden Baylee
The ancient jungles of Kauai provide the perfect setting for self-discovery.
Despite the terror she experienced on her last trip, Lainey Lee returns to Hawaii to manage a silent meditation course on the Coconut Coast. Twenty-five women are under her care for ten days in a beautiful and remote location. Lainey expects to find inner peace, but four days into the course, one of the meditators disappears without a trace.
Did the girl leave of her own free will, or was she lured away by a strange cult? Lainey is frantic to answer these questions. As her desperation grows, she finds help from an unexpected source—a retired Navy SEAL named Maxamillian Scott.
Now, Lainey has two mysteries to solve: what happened to the missing girl and the case of her own heart. Can she ever trust a man again?
Sounds really good doesn't it? I can't wait to read it. In the meantime, Eden took the time to fill me in on how this project went for her.
Amazon has decided to start deleting reviews they consider fake. What possible criteria could they use to do this?
Like many independently published authors, when I finish a writing a book, I send it to a group of beta readers to get their feedback. Once the book is published, after several rewrites and line edits and the like, I’ll send it to several more people to request honest feedback and an honest review. I’ve never paid anyone a single penny for a review. At most, like giving a gift to a friend, I’ve given titles away.
I have gifted books to people and received no reviews in exchange. I can only assume those folks either didn’t think the book was worth a review or simply didn’t like it. Rather than give me a bad review, they didn’t review it at all. (more…)