Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

E-books have lots of advantages. They don’t take up much space. They’re light and easily portable.

Feeling tired? No problem. Make that font bigger and easier to read.

Interrupted mid-chapter? The e-reader reopens to exactly where you stopped reading.

Notes? A dictionary? Yes, that’s covered too with the touch of a button.

An autograph from your favorite author? Autographing an e-book for a reader at a book signing? Um…

Earlier this year the answer would have been no, but now Kindlegraph has arrived on the scene.

With Kindlegraph you can request autographs from your favorite authors (provided they have registered their books at Kindlegraph) and an autograph will be sent to you in a PDF document. The developer is constantly working to improve his product, and says Kindlegraph’s motto is to make e-books a little more personal.

If you have a kindle reader do check out the registered authors and try out the service. Authors, it’s simple and painless to register and load up your books. Signing an autograph for a reader is also easy. I love that warm, tingly feeling of doing a signing for a reader.

Check out my Kindlegraph page here. I’m also part of the Not Your Usual Suspects Kindle group (romantic suspense and mystery authors)

You can also follow Kindlegraph at @Kindlegraph

Do you collect autographed books? Have you tried the Kindlegraph service?

Shelley’s Shoutout Corner

I’ve joined a Carina Press group blog comprising of romantic suspense and mystery authors. Not Your Usual Suspects is celebrating Christmas with recipes, jokes and Christmas traditions as well as giveaways for the entire month of December.

Jenny Schwartz has a new release. Wanted: One Scoundrel is available at Carina Press and most other online bookstores.

Win a copy of Reclaiming His Pregnant Widow by Tessa Radley. Details of how to enter are on my contest page.

Win a copy of Sex Idol at Goodreads.

Christmas is Coming is out at Ellora’s Cave on 9 December. Two days to go!

And finally Maria Zannini is hosting a Do It Yourself Christmas at her blog from 7 – 22 Dec. For entertainment, giveaways and more visit Maria today!

The theme for this week is a black moment. I’ve chosen an excerpt from my Quickie, Issy’s Infatuation. It’s not the main black moment of the book, but it’s definitely a bad turn of events for the heroine, Issy.

Issy’s Infatuation by Shelley Munro

“Good luck, Issy.” Tyler squeezed her shoulder, leaning close for an instant, so close she thought he might actually kiss her in front of everyone. “You can do this.”

Issy nodded and hoped he was right. She jogged on the spot, trying to keep warm. A place in the Black Ferns. It was what she’d aimed for and dreamed of ever since she’d started playing for the Jets. Tyler had diverted her for a while but now that their time was over, she was back on track. Issy fell in with her teammates when the fifteen-strong team ran onto the field. The sun made an appearance but it was still bloody cold, gooseflesh rippling across her arms and legs. Her stomach lurched, the nerves still present. From experience she knew they wouldn’t settle properly until she’d had her first touch of the ball. Here’s hoping she didn’t flub it.

The referee blew his whistle. The Jets’ first-five kicked off and the rugby ball flew through the air. Issy sprinted in the same direction. One of the Panthers leapt for the ball but a Jet player contested it, reaching high to grab the ball first. They hit the ground and a ruck formed. It probably looked like a heap of bodies to the spectators but Issy’s team were skilled at passing the ball back underneath the tangle of bodies. The ball came out on the Jets’ side of the ruck. The crowd roared approval. Issy grabbed it, flicking the white ball along the back line. She sprinted down the field, backing up. Angela, their winger, kicked the ball over the heads of the opposition and it dribbled out over the sideline not far from the corner flag.

Issy hurried into position and waited for the lineout to form and the opposition hooker to take the throw in. From the corner of her eye she noted Tyler chatting to three men. The selectors. Issy looked away to concentrate on the unfolding game. She had to ignore them and play out of her skin. She ran, darted after the Panther player when they tried to make a break. Issy tackled the opposition player. The player fell and the ball popped free. Issy snatched it up and sprinted toward their goal line. A Panther ran at her, tackled.

It was bone-crunching hard, jarring her whole body. Their heads clashed. Issy’s world went dark. It was like crawling out of a long black tunnel. Very dark and later, seconds or maybe minutes, light appeared. The players had followed the ball, leaving her behind on the ground. They were way down the other end of the field. Damn, they were fuzzy, moving all over the place. Groggily, she climbed slowly to her feet. She wobbled, staggering a few steps. Issy shook her head and saw stars. She dropped to the ground, deciding to wait until the stars stopped whirring before she attempted to stand on her feet again.
Dimly, she heard the whistle, heard the thunder of feet racing toward her.

“Issy? Issy, sweetheart, are you okay?” It sounded like Tyler, but she wasn’t sure since the voice was so far away.

“Wanna stand up.” Issy struggled to a sitting position and someone helped her stand.

“Let me look at her,” another voice said. “Open your eyes for me. That’s a girl.”

What did he mean? Her eyes were open.

“Hmm. Lights are on, but nobody’s home,” the voice said. “Concussion. Looked to me as if she actually blacked out for a little while. She can’t play the rest of the game. She needs to get checked out at the emergency clinic.”

Go off? No way! “Not going off.” Issy turned, intending to rejoin the game when the referee signaled time back on. Instead she almost fell flat on her face and would have fallen if someone hadn’t caught her. Tears trickled down her face. She couldn’t go off. She couldn’t. The selectors wouldn’t choose her if they couldn’t see her play. “I want to play.”

“You can’t.” Tyler signaled to the reserve players and one of them ran onto the field to replace Issy. He did it with a heavy heart, knowing how gutted Issy must feel.

“I want to go back on,” Issy protested.

“You can’t even stand on your own, Issy.” Adam slipped his arm around her and guided her to the sideline.

Tyler followed, hearing the referee’s whistle when he signaled play to resume. Hell, poor Issy. A lump formed in his throat when he studied her pale face. It was easy to see she wasn’t sure what was going on yet, that the full disappointment wouldn’t hit until later. Damn, this wasn’t bloody fair. She’d trained so hard and done everything right only for an injury to rob her of the chance to impress the selectors.

Purchase from Ellora’s Cave
Purchase in Kindle format

To read more Snippet Saturday excerpts, follow the links below:

Emma Petersen
McKenna Jeffries
Ashley Ladd
Shelley Munro
Lauren Dane
Mari Carr
Lissa Matthews
TJ Michaels
Elisabeth Naughton
Juliana Stone
Taige Crenshaw
Eliza Gayle

This is a shot of Albert Park (named after Prince Albert) in Central Auckland. It’s not far from the university and on a fine day, it’s the perfect place for students to eat their lunch.

Mystery writer JA Konrath has a very interesting post about e-books and what he predicts will happen during 2010 in the e-book/e-reader world.

I’m actually feeling very positive about e-books at the moment. I love the freedom of writing for e-publishers, although the pirate issue does worry me. It’s truly disheartening when pirates put up books for free download on release day. It’s not only the e-authors who have a pirate problem though. The pirates have no compunction in making e-copies of paperback books and giving those away free too.

I think the increased competition in the e-reader market can only mean good things, driving the price down. Like Mr. Konrath, I’d like to see a standard industry format. What do you think will happen in the e-book world during the next year?

I’m guest blogging at the Samhellion blog today and talking about diaries and my upcoming release, The Bottom Line. While you’re there don’t forget to check out the special Christmas scavenger hunts to win either a Kindle reader or a Sony reader.

Some of my titles are now available on Kindle. Ellora’s Cave have a huge backlist of titles, and it’s taking a while, but all titles from A – C are now available at Amazon in Kindle format.

Several of my Middlemarch Mates series are now available on Kindle.

Here’s the link to my available Kindle titles – go forth and shop for Christmas!

It’s my birthday today–well, in New Zealand. It will be my birthday tomorrow in the Northern hemisphere – December 8. Definitely an auspicious day!

I received a wonderful review for House of the Cat from JERR (Just Erotic Romance Reviews)

Karen said, “House of the Cat is a great adventure saga and love story, fresh with new beings, new worlds, and definitely new animals. Ry did as much to help Camryn as she did for him. She also became the sole focus of his uncontrollable, constant, blinding need for sex that plagued him in spite of medication to stop the desire. The interaction between the crew members, all different species, and their reactions to Ry and Camryn’s very heated and constantly everywhere sexual relationship kept me entertained as much as the mystery and adventure. Lots of surprises to keep those pages flipping as quickly as the reader can scan them. House of the Cat is thoroughly entertaining as well as very physically stimulating. Of course, it does have Shelley Munro’s name on it, which usually means you can count on a great reading experience. House of the Cat is certainly no exception!”

I’m taking part in one of the four Scavenger hunts sponsored by Samhain Publishing authors. Win a Kindle or a Sony ereader plus lots of books. To learn details of how to win an ereader visit the Samhellion.

During the month of December there will also be free short stories for readers to download at the Samhellion. I have a short story called Turning Point that will be available for download on 17 December. Turning Point is a sort of a prequel to my upcoming Samhain Publishing release called The Bottom Line.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do on my birthday. I know I have edits I need to do, but I’m thinking I’ll have some down time as well.

How do you like to spend your birthday?