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Next Book

April 17, 2012

So, before you ask, what does the title “Zebulon” mean?

Good question. I looked it up for you:

Zebulon \z(e)-bu-lon\ as a boy’s name is of Hebrew origin, and the meaning of Zebulon is “dwelling of honor.” Biblical: the name of one of Jacob’s son.

What does that mean as far as my new book is concerned?

Nothing. I just like the word.

My next book is a collection of short stories. The best definition of genre would be fantasy.

The collection contains stories that range from the ultra-short fiction of “Conversations with a Lonely Island God” to the 8,600 words of “Zebulon.” They run the gamut from sad, and maybe sentimental, ghost stories to pure and simple fantasy.

However, while there might also be a touch of science fiction, there is no sword and sorcery here, no epic fantasy or horror. Most stories here would rightfully be called low fantasy; stories that are set in a relatively normal world, containing fantasy elements.

More than anything, they are stories of life and love, and the experiences of ordinary, if not exactly normal, people.

Hmmm, sounds like I may just have written something I can use in the forward!

As a teaser, here are a few sentences from one of the stories in the book, “The Devil & Charlie Barrow.”

When he stepped into the bar that cold night in December, Charlie acted as if Flanagan’s was definitely not the first stop he had made. If anyone had asked, everyone, and I do mean everyone, from me to Mayor O’Reilly, would have said Charlie looked like he had been partying since noon.

Still, he somehow maintained the dignified presence that seemed to follow him wherever he went.

As Charlie slowly wobbled his way through the tables, I shook my head in wordless wonder. Charlie ignored many empty seats and finally plunked himself down at the bar.

He took the stool right next to old Beelzebub.

Interested yet?

Find out more about my current book, “Reichold Street,” and plans for the next books at my writing web site: Broken Glass.

Tags:amazon kindle, amazon print book, barnes & noble, fantasy, kindle e-reader, literature, new book, nook e-reader, writing
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Busy Time

March 26, 2012

“Reichold Street” The new book © R.L. Herron

I know I said blogging was going to be more important to me this year, and my dismal posting record does not match the promise. I do have a good excuse, however … honest.

My new novel, the 80,000 word “Reichold Street” got in the way.

It has finally been edited, formatted and uploaded to to both Amazon and Barnes & Noble, as a digital e-Book. It should be available online by the end of the week. You can read it with either a Kindle (Amazon) or a Nook (Barnes & Noble) e-Reader.

Don’t have either one yet? No sweat. There’s a free, downloadable app available for Kindle, Mac or i-Pad that will let you read it (or any digital book from Amazon) right on your computer at home. To make it easy for you to find the downloads, I’ve included them below. Just click on the appropriate link below for your computer!

Free Kindle App for PC

Free Kindle App for Mac

Free Kindle App for i-Pad

If you’re a Barnes & Noble fan, I’m still trying to discover if there’s a free app for that, direct to your personal computer. I haven’t found it yet, but if you do have a B&N Nook e-reader, you can go to their e-Book site from here!

Keep your eyes and ears open, because I also have two short story collections that are almost ready to publish. I’ll let you know about them in my next post.

Tags:kindle amazon, literature
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Doorways

February 5, 2010

When I started this blog it was to talk about my writing and my photography and my views on those art forms as a means of social comment. I present an image with every post, and I’ve talked about a lot of things since I began.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the substantial changes in the advertising and marketing world. I grew up in that world and, not that long ago, marketing revolved around a mix of print and broadcast media.

However, the arrival of the Internet started a profound change. At first, everyone scrambled to build web sites, often without really understanding what they would do with them.

Not many asked themselves the fundamental question: Why? A “presence” on the unique new venue was all that mattered.

Today, the exploding universe of social media has become a tool. The various online sites in existence (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, et al) are no longer venues belonging only to the young. People who still believe that are far behind the times.

Even the world’s largest marketer, Proctor & Gamble, has opened a California office primarily to develop its Facebook presence. But they haven’t abandoned traditional media.

P&G is learning how to balance the new technologies in their promotional mix to ensure the messages of their many brands are positioned to best advantage. Smart marketing.

Creating a place for people to come for information is good thing. But, in a setting of social media, the success of those messages depends on the perceived sincerity of the messenger. We’ve all seen those “try me” or “buy here” Tweets and blogs that hug the border of spam … and get treated that way.

Posts on a social media venue, such as this blog, are more of a one-on-one contact. People follow because of personal credibility, whether real or imagined. Posts that are hard-sell, or measured only for lead generation, don’t really communicate in such a setting, or open any doors.

Like the old door in the picture above, they become one-way portals that do little more than sit in a dark corner gathering dust, without establishing a relationship or cutting through any noise when it counts.