InD’Tale: Fabulous Staff, Magazine and Conference! by Rolynn Anderson

I’m on a high right now, literally and figuratively, flying from Burbank, CA, to Las Vegas.  You’re aware my husband and I are touring the national parks this fall; I took a short break from that to attend the InD’Tale conference in Burbank.  I already know the dates of the 2017 conference at the Marriott Burbank…the second weekend in October.  I hope you save the dates on your calendar; I also hope you’ll submit a novel you published in 2016 to InD’Tale before the end of the year.  Best reviewers around…and a chance to compete for the Rone (rhymes with pony) award.

Only four years old, InD’Tale nurtures small press and self-published authors.  More important, the cadre of authors, bright and prolific, are the warmest, most enthusiastic people you’ll ever meet at a small conference…with a love for learning, mentoring, dressing up and having fun.  Seriously, every waking moment was filled with interesting people and things to learn. These women LOVE to dance, too!  And men who are Indie writers show up along with a group of men who serve as cover artists, the sweetest group of guys, devoted to the InD'Tale group.  Here I am with Sean and Michael.

A big high for me was winning a Second Runner-up award for FEAR LAND.  Sean and Michael escorted me to the podium to grab my certificate.  I have read all eight finalist novels in my category and feel lucky to come in third for 2016!

Other highlights: Our own Rose, Donna Michaels won both First and Second Runner-up in her category.  Fabulous!  What’s more, Donna presented with me (along with Debra Holland and Kim Hornsby).  We showed the audience how to organize and carry off successful book signings.  I so enjoyed getting to know Donna (talk about prolific and seasoned…I learned a ton from her and also enjoyed meeting her husband).

I hope you’ll submit to InD’Tale and mark your calendar for next year’s event.  I guarantee we’ll have a ball together!

http://www.rolynnanderson.com

http://www.amazon.com/author/rolynnanderson

What Lies Beneath? You don’t want to know about this suspense! by Rolynn Anderson

My hairdryer led me into the abyss.  Fairly new, with all ‘ionic’ features, whatever that means, the ding-dang dryer was acting up.  It would blow hot hair, then cold; it would produce lots of air, then very little.  First thought: I’d bought a lemon; second thought: Is there a problem with the air vents?  Are they obstructed?  

Were they ever!  I took a tweezers to those layers of dust.  Gone!  Result: the hairdryer operated as good as new.

I walk by the refrigerator.  A yellow indicator light draws my attention and I squint to read the information.  “Clean coils!”  What?  More dust and more havoc to deal with?  On my knees, then flattened on my side, I shine the flashlight into a place no one ought to have to look.  Horrors!  Globs of dust everywhere.

Now where do I find a brush narrow enough and long enough to clean out those coils?  And how important is this task?  I use the longest brush cleaner I have; I even stick a wood lefse turner into the dark reaches, hoping I’ll gather up some dust.  I bring out globs of the stuff, but more remains, unreachable.  Yet, the indicator light goes out.  Success!

Later I think: I should have turned off the power on the refrigerator while I dug around those dark places.  I won’t forget to add that safety feature next time.

Here’s the thing.  Our kitchen refrigerator has stood in place for about 20 years.  We ‘owned’ it when we bought the house in 2000.  I swear, no one has ever cleaned those coils.  Did you know there’s a pan for collecting water down there?  How gross does yours look compared to mine?

Worse, we brought a very old refrigerator to this house to provide coolness to my chardonnay wine collection.  Forty years of chill-time?  Have I ever cleaned its coils?  Of course not!  But now I’m thinking I better, even if I don’t want to. 

Lesson to self:  One obstruction leads to another.

Question for my readers: What else have we forgotten to clean out after all these years?

Speaking of obstructions, every character in FEAR LAND confronts a barrier to their happiness.  If these people don’t solve their problems, anxiety, instead of joy, will take over their lives.  Watch how a soldier, a psychiatrist and a boy deal with trauma in this suspense novel, spiked with romance!

http://amzn.com/B012JE75ES

http://rolynnanderson.com

Enough of the Dystopian Angst: What’s your good news? by Rolynn Anderson

Candidates for political office need to tell us how bad things are so their plans for fixing the nation’s problems sound brilliant.  But as this conceit plays out, we might conclude conditions in the country couldn’t be more dire.  You know that’s not true, as do I.  Worse are the politicians who would ask us to return to the 50’s/60’s/70’s when turmoil described our world, civil rights strife and the Viet Nam War, to name two potboilers.

The world is a better place today than it was a fifty years ago.  Heck, even the ozone hole has diminished in size.  Here are some other factoids (I have all the sources for these stats…if you want them, let me know!) :

After rising by 126% between 1960 and 1970 the 2010 violent crime rate is the lowest since the 70's at about 1/3 of 1973's. The violent crime rate under Reagan was 65% higher than today. The overall crime rate is half of what it was in 1990.  Since 1960, the average number of police deaths per year fell by 25% when compared to the last eight years. Poverty in America has fallen by 22% in the last 60 years. Average life expectancy has increased by 11 years (16%) since WWII.  Today's child mortality rate is about one-third of 1960's. Inflation adjusted income per person has increased by 122% since 1960. US manufacturers produce more than twice as much as they did in 1980, but the kinds of manufacturing jobs have changed. The average inflation adjusted price for gas today is just $0.11/gal more than 1981. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has increased by 249% since 1960.

For me, as a writer, my good news-two books coming out this year.  Even better, my books emerge among a wealth of wonderful writers who have learned the ins and outs of small press/indie publishing to get their treasures out to readers. The big six have lost their monopoly on what readers get to enjoy.

We're in the HEA business, after all...what good news can you bring to the 2016 table? 

Six Suspense Novels Spiked with Romance

http://www.rolynnanderson.com

http://www.amazon.com/author/rolynnanderson