Can You Hear Me Squee?

My first solo book signing is just a week away. I'll be at The Book Asylum in Blackwood on April 25th from 1-3 pm. I have my very own dragon pen, thanks to my friend and fellow author Jennifer Eaton, for the occasion, and A BARD DAY'S KNIGHT arrived just in time.

One of the things I'd forgotten about writing is how cool it is to see your words in actual print, and have people tell you that they loved reading them. More than that, reading the words myself and thinking that it sounds like something I might have written, but is way cooler. The publishing process takes so long, it's easy to lose touch with our work between submission and publication. Reading something with new eyes, and tearing up as I did this morning, is like an out-of-body experience. Did I really write that? Oh, yeah. I did.

In the last light of the sun's vanishing edge he saw a great, skinny head rise above the water. Bessie bellowed once, calling her calf. The sound was as ancient as the glaciers that had carved this lake and as rich as its waters. The calf's head came up and it swam to its mother.
- "Bessie's Return"

So come on out and meet me and the utterly sweet Book Asylum proprietor, Rosemary, try a coffee drink or gourmet snack, and browse her fantastic selection of new and used books. I can't wait!

The Book Asylum is at 26 N Black Horse Pike, Blackwood NJ, 08012. The Mocha Vodka Valium Latte is not actually for sale, but I keep hoping.

Still Here... Book Links!

I've been absent for a while, but am anticipating the release of "A Bard Day's Knight: Tales from Fortannis Vol III" next month.

(Don't even mention the goofy title. Just... don't. I'm partly responsible for it. I owe the universe some sensible karma.)

In the meantime, you can get your hands on copies of Reading Glasses and Different Dragons II at Amazon.com. I was a bit excited when both books arrived within 24 hours of each other. There was squee-ing and jumping-up-and-down at the office that day.

A book signing is in the works at The Book Asylum in Blackwood, NJ. Stay tuned for details!

Cover Reveal: Reading Glasses

Another fantastic job by my fellow South Jersey Writers Group member and dear friend, Shelley Sjazner, who did the cover for TALL TALES AND SHORT STORIES FROM SOUTH JERSEY.

My story, "The Beach House," featured in READING GLASSES, is about a woman grieving the drowning death of her best friend at the same time that the U.S. waits on the brink of possible nuclear war with North Korea. The threat seems distant compared to her intimate pain, but the two events are more closely connected than she ever imagined, especially when her friend's ghost visits the beach house.

The book launch is NEXT WEEK!!! So stay tuned.

Happy National Milk Shake Day!

Not that I have anything against dairy products, but this is just getting silly. Today is National Chocolate Milkshake Day. It is also National Video Game Day and National Stand Up to Cancer Day. September is also Life Insurance Awareness Month, Ask a Man on a Date Month, National Organic Harvest Month and National Piano Month. This is National Line Dance Week.

Sooo.... ask a life insurance salesman on a date to play video games and line dance to piano music while holding a milkshake during the organic harvest festival in order to raise money for cancer. GOT IT?????                                                  

Cover Reveal: DIFFERENT DRAGONS II

I love this artwork, especially the fact that my roller coaster over the lake was incorporated into it. Anyone who's been to Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, will know where that idea came from.  The book is due out on October 15th. Can you hear me squee?

An Exciting Announcement x 3

Last November, I submitted three stories for publication. To my surprise and astonishment, all three were accepted for publication. I'm still in shock. I'm waiting for someone to tell me they made a mistake. So far, no notices. So.... it's time to make the following announcement:

"The Beach House," about a woman being haunted by her childhood best friend and the impending end of the world, will be published in the anthology READING GLASSES by Hypothetical Press this August.

"The Dragon in the Kettle," in which a dragon's egg heating a blacksmith's forge hatches unexpectedly, will be published in TALES FROM FORTANNIS: A BARD DAY'S KNIGHT via Double Dragon.

"Bessie Returns," about the Loch Ness monster's cousin in Lake Erie, will appear in DIFFERENT DRAGONS VOL. II from Wolfsinger Press.

eHarmony - "The Enron of online dating"

Neil Clark Warren should be ashamed of himself.

After joining eHarmony for a trial subscription ending on Dec. 14th, costing approximately $20/month ($59.95 for three months), my account was then charged $49.95 for an additional month.  I had previously tried to close my account several times but was unable to because I had a 3-month subscription, and the website won't let you close out if you still have time on a subscription. So I had been very careful to make sure that the auto-renew feature was turned off prior to Dec. 14th.

Imagine my shock on the 15th when I checked my account, saw that it was still active and that I had been charged $49.95 for an additional month of a totally worthless service. I immediately called Customer Service, as there is a 3-day cancellation period in their terms and services.

Customer Service informed me that I had renewed my membership on Dec. 10th. I don't recall doing so, but I do recall looking at the subscription options recently to see if there were any changes to the available plans. I did not complete the subscription offer and therefore thought that my account would still close on Dec. 14th. There was no message stating, "Your membership is now renewed and you will be charged full price on Dec. 14th."

I was warned after I joined eHarmony about them charging to continue unwanted memberships, and was therefore very careful to be sure auto-renew was turned off. I had been travelling a lot for work that week, however, and clearly was not as vigilant as I should have been against stealthy charges.

Customer Service directed me to their email complaint department, which today informed me that they cannot issue me a refund and directed me to read the terms and services on their website. The terms say nothing about refusing to give a refund, but do include a 3-day cancellation period.

According to the email, they will not address the issue further and I have no other recourse. They won't even let me talk to a human person.

Since then I've found myriad complaints about eHarmony. The real shock is that Mr. Warren is an evangelical Christian, upon whose personal reputation the service is promoted.

Maybe I shouldn't be so shocked. Actually, I'm not. I'm just deeply disappointed and embarrassed on behalf of all the other evangelical Christians who get a bad rap because of charlatans like him.

One anonymous person wrote this on a complaint website:

Please tell everyone you know to avoid eHarmony. Online dating can work. There are honest and effective online dating sites out there. The top two competitors of eHarmony are both genuinely good sites. I know because I've used them since my experience with eHarmony.

I sincerely hope others are more fortunate and learn of eHarmony's deception before signing up. Because eHarmony will steal your money and according to the dozens of other complaints I've since read, they will renew your contract and charge your credit card even after you've cancelled.

eHarmony is clearly the Enron of on-line dating.

A friend gave me a good tip to avoid bogus charges on a website like this. You must enter a credit card to sign up, but what you can do is change the card to a Visa gift card that has no value on it.