I spent more on writing fiction than I earned. No surprise. I write for Torre. This was also a very busy year at MotiveQuest where I spent extra hours upgrading software to meet demand leaving me with very little time for writing or reading. Somehow I managed to finish Dee Count for iPad and Kandy Fangs story, both projects started in 2010.

All of my stories are available for free (on blog, download, or by asking,) and I consider paid ebooks as donations (and supporting retailers) in appreciation of fiction. Find where to download my ebooks for your favorite reader on my Books page.

2011 Sales

At the beginning of the year, I announced that I would donate my 2011 ebook proceeds (as of Dec 15th) to Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP.) For transparency, here are my 2011 sales numbers for my books as of December 15, 2011.

Shadow Memories

• Paid: 3, 1 each at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo
• Free: 28 at Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale

Raven Memory

• Paid: 2, 1 at Amazon and 1 at Sony Reader Store

Kandy Fangs

• Free at Smashwords: 198
• Free at Barnes & Noble: 161
• Free at Scribd: 3 (embedded reads + downloads)

For comparison, in 2010 I sold 7 Shadow Memories, and 4 Raven Memory ebooks plus 30 free downloads.

Donation to KIPP

On behalf of readers, I donated my proceeds from paid ebook sales (ignoring my writing expenses) plus 10 cents for every free ebook download listed above to KIPP. This works out to be $4.62 for paid ebook sales plus $39.00 in thanks for free ebook downloads for a result rounded up to $50. I matched for total of US $100 donated to KIPP.

Thanks for reading my stories.

It looks like the aftermath of a gang fight between bottles, the victim smashed to death. Shards of clear glass litter the center of the table. Empty beer bottles, fifteen of them including the bottle on its side, surround the victim. Probably some national light beer trying to dance with the tough local microbrews. Roseland is home to some of the toughest ale in the country.

On a sofa, a clothing pile shifts. A sweatshirt covers the lamp shading the room except for the far corner where cobwebs darken the wall. More clothes form a pile between the lamp and sofa. A trail of clothing—enough for three people—leads from the sofa across the carpet onto the tile of the kitchen area. A lacy black bra hangs from the handle of the refrigerator. Back against the stove, a woman wearing only black bottoms rests in a fetal position, arm over knees and face pressed into a puddle of vomit.

The apartment unit smells like alcohol, sex, and an overused toilet after weeks of neglect.

“Hey, man.” Clothing flops off the sofa, and a shirtless young man sits up. His blond hair stands up, spikes pointed in every direction. He glances around, his pupils growing large and shrinking again. He grimaces at the shaded lamp. “Some party, eh?”

This is the aftermath of a brutal orgy of overindulgence.

“What’s your name?” The shirtless man holds his hand up. “No, don’t tell me. I’ve got it.” He snaps his finger. “Roger. No wait. Steve.”

Steve sounds right. A hand on the table edge, he shifts around looking the kitchen over. Pizza boxes cover the stove. He looks down at the woman on the floor growing concerned about her health.

“Okay,” he says, “I’m Steve. Who the hell are you?”

The shirtless man makes a popping noise that sounds almost like a laugh. Flopping back, he lays on the sofa and rubs his face. “Torx.”

Standing, Steve pushes the chair under the table. Looking down, he finds black slacks and a white buttoned shirt. His clothes are spotless and free of wrinkles. Even the creases in his slacks appear sharp. His shiny leather shoe steps on a sliver of pizza crust.

Torx releases more popping sounds. “You know it was a great party when most of it is a haze.”

Steve glances over at the woman on the floor. She appears no older than nineteen. Her shifting body tells him she is alive. “I don’t remember anything.”

“Good stuff, eh?” Torx sits up and shakes his head. He laughs, popping like firecrackers.

“I feel fine.” No headache. No grogginess. He feels like a bear after a winter nap, or a newborn baby with enough energy to cry for days. “I just don’t remember anything at all.”

Torx bats a hand at the air.

Steve looks at the beer bottle gang fight on the table. He scans the kitchen, the floor finding more beer bottles, and the coffee table covered with more pizza boxes. No drug paraphernalia. No needles, no bongs, not even a cigarette occupies the flat. Kneeling, he lifts the young woman up into a seated position.

Dark mascara drains from her closed eyes. She groans and waves her hands at the air. Her breath smells like beer and vomit. Dried pizza sauce speckles her breasts. Steve turns her arms around searching for needle marks. Patches of freckles on her upper arms disturb the serenity of her pale flesh. Her nose appears clean.

Spotting a red dot on her neck, he pulls her hair aside and turns her head the other way. The puncture wound is under her chin in the soft place beside her throat. The wound appears too large for a needle. On her wrist he finds pink scars, two curved rows of slender gashes appearing like a bite mark.

“No drugs here.”

“Come on,” says Torx. He slaps his arm. “I’ve got a big fresh mark on my arm. Julio delivered.”

“Where’s the needle?” Steve looks around finding the room darkening. The rumbling fridge falls silent. Toilet smells fade. It is as if his nose stopped working along with his ears.

Ghostly forms appear, people moving about the apartment. Holding a beer bottle, the young topless woman dances in the kitchen. The apparition moves her hips in circles. The ghost takes a gulp from the bottle. Two other ghosts—men—sit at the table. One watches the young woman, nodding his head and grinning in the lustful way young men do. The other ghost opens a beer bottle, the pale cap bouncing silently onto the floor. A pair of ghosts occupy the living area. A female dances on the coffee table, lifting her shirt up, exposing her breasts. She throws her shirt down, and the other ghost, Torx, laughs silently.

An apparition leans against the door. He watches the others, head rolling against the door as his gaze moves from one ghost to another. He appears like a leather-clad rockstar with long dark hair and pale skin. His gaze pauses on Steve, makes eye contact, and drops to the table. Between two brown beer bottles, six capped vials stand within a wire tray. A white cloud floats in clear liquid.

Sounds come crashing back, and a wave of pungent odors attacks.

The ghosts are gone leaving Steve holding the young woman in his arms.

A voice booms within the apartment. “What are you? A cop?”

Lifting the young woman, Steve climbs to his feet. His gaze sweeps the table. There appears to be too much broken glass for six vials.

“Look at you with your spiffy clothes,” says Torx, rising from the pile of clothes standing naked. “And your buzzed cop hair. Who the hell let your old ass in here anyway?” He swipes at the air. “Was it Sabrina? Get out of here and take that slut with you!”

Hand around Sabrina’s waist, Steve holds her limp body against him. Her feet slip and stumble around the table. Torx shouts terrible words as he marches around the other side of the table. Shoving the chair aside, Steve pulls Sabrina towards the exit.

Opening the door reveals a dim hall lit by a buzzing light, the blinking sends their shadows jumping across the worn carpet and onto the wall. Steve supports the young woman as she stumbles down the hall passing closed doors marked by brass numbers. The naked man shouts from the doorway. Finding stairs at the end of the hall, Steve heads down the creaking steps.

Folding her arms over breasts, Sabrina shivers.

Nothing is familiar. The acrid odor, the peeling paint, the blinking lights tug at his senses. “How about,” he says, trying to find the right words. “How about we find somewhere warm and safe?”

At the landing, he grabs the banister and swings Sabrina around the corner. Within his grasp, he feels the banister give, wood splinters, and the handrail breaks free. He falls, darkness swallowing him.

Instead of tumbling down stairs, he feels as if he plummets, his gut rising into his throat. Finding his arms empty, he reaches out. Sabrina is gone. From the darkness below, churning purple and black clouds curl around him. Gut lurches, feet touch down, and silent steps carry him through the rising violet fog.

Dark shapes appear within the haze. Swooning and swaying, the shapes surround him. They appear like smoke, their motions leaving wispy trails, and he realizes they dance in slow motion. He finds more of them, a mass of smoky forms in every direction. They dance, waving arms building smoky clouds above their heads.

Purple haze lifting, dancers increasing in speed, the smoke trails fade leaving solid forms. Clothing ripples out of the blackness. The ghosts dance, their pale forms turning and moving on a wood floor. Dark columns holding purple rods rise up into a white fog where lights spin splashing red like blood dripping from the mist.

Thunder erupts pounding into the floor. Another dull boom, and another, the increasing beat becoming alive, sharpening. The dancers stomp to the beat, their movements increasing in speed. A chorus of guitars join in, and music explodes.

Standing at the center of the dance floor, Steve glances around at the crowd. White shirts and waving colored bracelets glow in the black light. Some of the eyes glow as well like phosphorous discs floating on white orbs. The discs bounce and weave. The floor shakes to the beat of the drums and dancing feet.

Standing on a stage, a woman with deep crimson hair screams into a microphone. Her voice, harsh and demonic, shouts about blood and death. Behind her, the musicians shake their heads and stomp. A bald man pounds drums splashing sweat glistening into the spotlight flooding his bare chest decorated with a dark dragon.

Feeling a gaze piercing into him, Steve turns around finding a woman staring at him. Her hips throw her black dress swaying and shifting about her leather boots tapping the floor in time with the beat. Her body flows, twisting and swaying, her arms climbing up over her head like snakes swooning about each other. Her dark hair bounces on her shoulders. He recognizes her pale face, her cute dimples, her slender nose. Her strong gaze pulls him in.

She smiles, her glossy red lips curl deepening her dimples. “Nice to meet you, Steve Reynolds.”

A wave of nausea rushes over, and he concentrates on the woman before him, focusing on her glistening lips. He watches her tongue slide sideways licking her upper lip. Smile growing, her mouth opens wider exposing glistening teeth. A red spotlight flashes over her face. Staring at her open mouth, he notices her canines are slender and long.

“I’m sweet like candy,” she says. Spinning around, she gazes over her shoulder. Her thin eyebrows bounce. “With a K.”

Watching her smile, her pointed teeth, he realizes her name. “Kandy.”

Led by the hand, he follows her off the dance floor. Climbing a staircase, she says something about having what he’s looking for. He doesn’t recall asking for anything, and he feels doubtful she can help him find Sabrina or the apartment building. However, her kind smile tells him she may have something. He tries placing her face, but nothing sticks. Even her cinnamon scent is familiar. Somehow he knows her hair always smells like cinnamon.

Candles barely illuminate the leather sofas lining the dark walls of the lounge. Music drones in the floor, and Kandy bounces to the beat. Passing a bar on the right, the bartender dressed in puffy sleeves and a bow tie frowns. Hand pulling him the other way, he slips off the red carpet and onto the smooth tile of a room, music growing louder.

Kandy slams the door closed. One foot in front of the other, hips rocking, she struts over to a leather sofa sitting against a wall of glass. With the red lights spinning through fog beyond the window, Kandy is a dark silhouette. One hand on her waist, she stands there waiting, tapping her toe to the beat.

Raising his hand, Steve finds dollar bills in his grasp. His feet shuffle taking slow steps.

Lashing out, Kandy grasps his shoulder jerking him onto his toes. His elbow cracks, and her jaw crushes his wrist. Pain shoots up his arm into his head cracking into silence, a scream fading into the background.

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Kandy Fangs is a free ebook available at Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/88665

Not your everyday vampire tale, this time-twisted journey explores an intimate connection between a killer with a thirst for blood and her prey with a taste for memories. 

Life is a memory, and Steve Reynolds starts his life caught in the middle of a political issue involving a rare venom used as a drug. Kandy, a professional killer, helps him find his way through the time-shifting shadows of his life and into hers. Haunted by wraiths from his past, Steve puts his past together discovering not all of his memories belong to him.

Kandy Fangs ebook novella is available for free.

Where to Find

• Download in your preferred format from Smashwords.

• Read online at Scribd.

Novella vs Serial

At about 43,000 words, the novella is slightly longer than the serialized version found at www.KandyFangs.com. Besides polishing, the novella includes a few longer scenes with more details. I edited the two versions separately since the serial requires different breaks. The novella has 14 chapters compared to 27 episodes in the serial.

Comments on the Serial

“The memory-thief concept has turned the vampire shtick on its head” ~Jason (moultworld.com)

“This is always such a mindtrip.” ~Xan (crookedfang.com)

“Wonderful, dreamy, but more like nightmare.” ~Carrie (CarrieClevenger.com)

Thanks for following the serial and sharing your thoughts.

Notes on ebook formats

If you’re not sure which format to pick, epub is the most widely used including iPad, Android devices, and Adobe Digital Editions for the desktop. Choose mobi for Kindle.

Support authors. Buy a book (or three.)

Below is my incomplete list of ebooks by Friday Flash participants. The best part about Friday Flash is diversity, and the same is true for this list of books. There is something for everyone.

I have read several of these titles, and the rest are on my reading list. Sure, ebooks don’t impress people like print books sitting on a shelf, but you’re a reader! (You could always take a snap of your digital bookshelf like I did.) Even if you don’t have a fancy ebook reader, you can enjoy their books on your PC, phone or iPod (and some are available in print.) Smashwords supports many formats or read online.

If you’re creating an ebook for Smashwords, consider formatting working contents supporting PDF, epub, mobi, and iPad. See my post on formatting.

Books are cheap. Buy them all! (At least sample.)

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13 Horror Stories by John McDonell (McDonnellWrite.) Sample on Smashwords.

A Breath of Life and Other Stories by Eric J. Krause (ericjkrause) is a collection of shorts. Find it at Smashwords or Amazon.

A, B & E by Marc Nash (21stCscribe) is in paperback at Amazon.

Deadlands Hunt by G L Drummond (Scath) is part of a world of stories. Sample on Smashwords .

Don’t Fall Asleep by Laura Eno (lauraeno) begins the Dream Assassin series. Find it on Smashwords or Amazon.

A Fine Cast of Characters by J. Dane Tyler (DarcKnyt) is a collection. Sample at Smashwords.

The First Tale by Icy Sedgwick (icypop) takes place in her Vertigo City from her serial shared on Tuesday Serial available at Smashwords.

From Dark Places by Emma Newman (EmApocalyptic) is a collection available on Smashwords.

Must Love Dragons by Monica Marier (lil_monmon) is a novel available at Lulu.

Password Incorrect by Piotr Kowalczyk (namenick) is a collection. Sample on Smashwords.

Prophecy Moon by Laura Eno (lauraeno) is a fantasy novella about love, wizards, and worlds. Sample at Smashwords or Amazon.

RealmShift by Alan Baxter (AlanBaxter) is a novel. Available at Smashwords and Amazon.

Something’s Not Right by Trevor Mcpherson (3S_stories) is a collection of shorts. Your biggest disappointment might be how short this book is, but the stories pack a punch. Available at Smashwords.

Strange New Feet by Shannon Esposito (soesposito) is a science-politics novella available at Smashwords and Amazon.

You’ll also find some of your favorite Friday Flash authors in these collections:

• Best of Friday Flash – Volume One edited by J.M. Strother is available at Smashwords.
• The Yin and Yang Book edited by Jodi Cleghorn and Paul Anderson at chinesewhisperings.com

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Screen shot of iPad bookshelf

You want a working contents page in your ebook. Readers love them. Anything that improves navigation is good. Done properly, the Smashwords Meatgrinder will produce epub and PDF with working contents page linking to your chapters or parts. Software like Adobe Digital Editions and iBooks on iPad will allow the reader to jump to chapters in your book. Below are screen shots of my novel, Raven Memory in Adobe Digital Editions and iBooks. The iBooks contents work by scrolling. In addition, iBooks reveals how many pages remain in the chapter. Note: In my first revision of Raven Memory, I used flowing text between chapters, and my recent revision (Sep 3) uses chapter headers.

Screen shot of iBooks showing chapter and page feature. Touch chapter slider to reveal chapter info.

Adobe Digital Editions Screen Shot of Raven Memory 1st revision with chapters flowing together. No formatted headers.

iBooks on iPad Screen Shot scrolling contents page

The Quick Guide to Working Contents

• Follow Mark Coker’s Smashwords Style Guide exactly.

It’s that simple. Well, almost. The  Smashwords Meatgrinder is picky about formatting, and some issues may not be clear. Pay close attention to the entire guide. It doesn’t matter if you use Microsoft Word or OpenOffice.org Writer, the directions for creating working contents links are the same.

About Chapter Headers

Coker’s guide mentions using header formatting for your chapter headers. This is optional, but a good idea if your book is long. Using headers tells Meatgrinder to create a new xhtml page for the epub which may render as chapter breaks in software like Adobe Digital Editions and iBooks. You may end up with a few nearly blank pages with only a sentence or two. Ugly, but preferable over the alternative. Without formatted headers the text flows, but Smashwords Meatgrinder will break longer works into segments which may cause page breaks in undesirable spots when reading epub. Format headers for chapters to avoid Meatgrinder choosing breaks for you in epub conversion. This doesn’t apply to PDF or online reading.

As seen in the Adobe Digital Editions screen capture above, my first revision of Raven Memory didn’t format the chapter headers allowing flowing text. Due to 3 abrupt page breaks in the epub, I revised using header formatting. Now Adobe Digital Editions produces one nearly blank page (depending on screen size,) but looks fine in iBooks. See the screen shot below. This is better than breaking between paragraphs, and epub readers may get better in the future at pushing text so there isn’t a single line left on a page. (Dear epub reader software creators: Learn how to flow text correctly.)

Tips on formatting with linking contents for your ebook

• Make sure the entire document has consistent formatting, paying close attention to the paragraph style name. If you use formatted chapter headers, they should also be consistent.
• Use Styles and Formatting sheet.
• Internal contents links work like external hyperlinks.
• Don’t use automation. Create your contents links by hand.
• Before uploaded to Smashwords, export to PDF and test every link.
• After uploading, test the PDF and the epub in Adobe Digital Editions. Click every link to make sure it goes to the correct place in your document.

My How-To: Create Contents Links Formatted for Smashwords

Save your contents page for last after you have made certain your entire document is formatted correctly. Heading styles are optional, but recommended for longer works. Edit your styles sheet for your body text and header. If you name your chapters starting with “Chapter” then Meatgrinder will make things easier. In Shadow Memories, I named each as the title of the short story. Still works as long as you make internal hyperlinks. See Step 20 in Coker’s guide.

Your table of contents should list each chapter single-spaced after the license information. No page numbers. The contents entry should be the same as the matching heading.

1. Go to each chapter heading and highlight the text.
2. (Optional, but recommended) Set the format to header using the same or similar font. (Remember to use style sheets.)
3. Use the Insert Bookmark feature. Name the bookmark matching the header, but without spaces.
4. After you named all the bookmarks matched to headers, go back to the contents page. Select each entry and use your Insert Hyperlink feature, select internal hyperlink and select the matching bookmark.

In your document, test each bookmark hyperlink. If you missed one or made a mistake, correct. Then export to PDF and test the links there. If it works in a PDF, and your book is formatted properly, it will work after going through the Meatgrinder.

Questions?

Screen shot of iBooks showing chapter break produced by using a header format for Smashwords

If you’re new to digital books or have a shiny new digital book reader, you may be wondering where to find books. Some stores use DRM that may limit the book to a device, while others sell DRM-free books allowing you transfer the book to a new device. Below are some quick lists to help get you started.

eBook Stores

• iBookstore for iPad
• Amazon using Kindle software
• Barnes & Noble using nook or B&N reader
• O’Reilly [technical, DRM-free]
• Smashwords [some free, DRM-free]
• Feedbooks [many free, DRM-free]
• Project Gutenberg [free, DRM-free]

The iBookstore provides searching Project Gutenberg, but if you are shopping elsewhere you may find it easier to download an ePub using your PC then import the book using iTunes same as a song.

iPad reading software

• iBooks (need to add, not included out of the box)
• Kindle for iPad
• GoodReader for PDF and MS Office documents.

iPhone / iPod Touch reading software

• Kindle for iPhone
• Stanza
• GoodReader
• Barnes & Noble

Android reading software

• Aldiko

PC reading software

• Adobe Digital Editions

Digital Reading

Until recently, I considered myself a traditional reader especially with technical books. I preferred using the physical book, marking pages and quickly flipping through to find something. PDF documents on the PC are difficult to work with, and many eBooks on the PC aren’t much better with the ability to search as the only benefit. Searching usually just jumps through the document, but the iBooks search reveals a list of results showing surrounded context. Some of my technical books are full of sticky notes, many of which I’ve forgotten their purpose for being there and end up checking each one. Digital readers make bookmarking cleaner.

The iPad using iBooks and GoodReader has changed my opinion. The iBooks bookmarking tool is handy. I highlight as much text to give me enough information, a reminder that may be all I need in a pinch. If I need to read more, I can jump to the page. Devices like Kindle and iPad allow the reader to hold and carry the device like a book, even leaf through pages. Even better, I can now carry my 1,500 page technical book around without breaking my back. Another great bonus: some technical eBooks get updates downloaded straight to my reader. No need to visit the web for corrections.

The pages of my favorite book has turned yellow and the spine is falling apart. I read it too much. When I replace it, I will get the eBook.

The eBook is a digital copy of the physical book, same concept as in 1971 when Project Gutenberg was founded. Much has changed since 1971 including the Web where we may find many eBooks in formats included text, PDF, HTML, XML, ePub, Kindle, Open eBook, and more. PDF is great layout for print, but not as useful on the screen. Some modern eBooks contain hyperlinks, but otherwise remain the same as the original concept.

The eBook is trying hard to be like print.

Current eBook readers are lost in the past. Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, Stanza, Zinio, and others are simple print replacements. They offer nothing functionally new and few of them do better than print. Some readers present books poorly lacking the nice format we are accustomed to in print.

Single function reading devices like Kindle come with big price tags at $250-$400, but Forrester Research shows that consumers want to pay under $100 for a single purpose reader. E Ink produces a paper-like display, but even after they add color, a quality view isn’t enough for the price.

Students hate lugging stacks of textbooks, but carrying multiple devices is not much of an improvement. And some publishers are trying to rent textbooks (eBook only lasts 180 days; see Mashable “3 Reasons Students Aren’t Ready“) at print prices.

A few readers try to mimic print exactly. The Zinio reader uses a layout approach presenting magazines on screen where the reader gives the feel of the printed magazine including animated page flipping. Why does a digital version need to mimic print? Format for reading devices.

Future digital books will bring new concepts, new ways of telling stories. At basic level, an eBook must support connecting common items including linking related stories, jumping to author biography, finding similar books, going to and from an appendix. Hyperlinks accomplish this, but digital books need more. Imagine an instruction book including optional video clips. Vook is video embedded book, and this is only the start. Educational books may include sounds, connect students together, import new material, quiz the student, or provide alternate instruction. New ways of telling stories will go beyond the eBook.

New digital readers supporting other functions will push basic readers out of the market, and they are just around the corner. Even better, other functions allow storytellers to deliver new forms. What about consumers that just want to read a traditional story? New readers support that as well. And there’s always print.

Gizmodo shows a sample of Microsoft’s Courier, a dual screen device based on a traditional organizer. The video gives us a peek at the near future. These smaller devices will replace notebook computers as the business travel companion. Heavy work can wait for the office while those with mobile offices may prefer keeping their computers. By including other functions, the Courier may have a future in storytelling.

Apple may introduce a multifunction device like a larger iPod Touch aimed at reading. Applications allow future formats revealing new ideas to fit right in. Consumers want to see Apple’s attempt at doing e-reader right.

Future digital books will kill current readers. The old eBooks may survive as free content to support print books, future digital books, or other products.

Just as they gain popularity, eBook readers are dead on arrival.

What others say:

• TIME points out that as e-reader gains traction, it may become obsolete.
• “Sony’s E-Reader: A Nice Device at the Wrong Price” at Portfolio.com
• “The iPod Decade And The Steve Jobs Effect“
• Adam Penenberg declares, “It’s the End of the Book as We Know It,” calling Kindle “clumsy” with an “uninspiring interface.”
• Techdirt is “Still Debating The Cost of Ebooks.”
• At LibraryJournal, Roy Tennant declares “Single Purpose E-Book Readers are Dead.”
• Macworld: “Apple looms large over e-reader market.”
• “On Formats and Friction” talks about the need for better formatting.
• Penny Arcade reaction to Kindle popularity in the comic, “Progress.”
• Newsweek: “The Hype is Right” on Apple’s new device.