The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

Just finished reading the third in the Millenium Series.  I know I am late, but considering how often I get to read for enjoyment, I am not too late.  So many of my friends still haven't picked up The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo as yet.  Thus, I am writing a review to follow the reviews of the first two I have written about this trilogy, Tatoo, just mentioned, and The Girl Who Played with Fire.  Question, am I still as blown away as I was with the first two?  Answer, I am still hooked.  Maybe I wasn't as blown away as I was with the first because I found the heroine to be so atypically captivating and so unexpected.  She wasn't the normal lady gumshoe, or the super-undercover agent, she was a hacker with a serious anti-social attitude. 

Stieg's last book was still worthy of its hardcover purchase, though I have to admit, getting through the background and the build-up taxed me at times.  Yet, I continued to read knowing that I would get the suspense that I craved.  This third in the series gave me the feeling that there was a fourth rolling around in his head before he passed, because there was one glaring question not answered about her sister.  Not satisfactorily to me, anyway.  But, if you are interested in political intrigue, and enjoy an ensemble of good, bad, and gray characters, this bunch of deceivers are right up your alley.  The journalist who threads all of the books together with his first sensational story is a middle aged love them and leave them womanizer named Mikhael Blomkvist who spends most of his time digging up dirt on the bad guys and trying to stay alive in the process.

I recently watched the Swedish version of the The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo, can't wait to see the American version to compare.  Without a doubt, I am still a fan. 

Dilsa Saunders Bailey

It Really Is Your Choice

I heard a quote today that says it all, "it begins with you and it ends with you."  In essence you make the decisions that determine your destiny, so that decision begins with you determining how its going to end for you.  Your life is your choice. 

With that said, I am seriously thinking about my writing career.  Where do I begin to take me where I want it to end.  I want a career that is self-sustaining.  No more bosses, no more j-o-b-s that define me or my level of income, I want freedom.  I want the freedom to constantly create using words, those beautiful things made of letters that convey meaning, evoke emotion, and take you on travels through time and space and even create reality for us all.  Remember, God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. The whole world began with words, His Words.  And we all began to follow suit, "Let there be cars. Let there be computers.  Let there be war and peace."  You get the picture.

So today, I take heart to the quote "it begins..." and I begin to fully charge ahead toward freedom to exercise God's gift of words.


Dilsa

The Help Merited a Few Choice Memories of How Far Our Country Has Come

As a writer, my second love is reading.  I read everything from cereal boxes to the classics.  I think I just finished reading a classic.  The Help was captivating, not only due to its subject matter that touched close to home, but because of its riveting portrayal of black women in the south during the most turbulent moments in American history.  It was an era when I was a child confused by the images of violence, confused by the differences made to people of color, and even deeply frightened by the confusion.  Yet, at the same time I was excited about the future and all its possibilities. 

My mother, my grandmother, and many of the women in my family had earned meager livings serving others in their homes.  Some of whom they developed life-long loving relationships with and others they lived through to tell tales of abuse, some not too unlike those told in The Help.  As a southern child whose first best friend was a little white girl whom I still call friend, I lived through blows of racial discernment because of that friendship.  The first time I realized there was a difference in us, other than her uncle’s terms of endearment calling us chocolate and vanilla, was when her cousins came to visit one day.  While playing house, they wanted to make me the maid.  Even then I knew I was going to be more than that, so I refused and went home.  Over the years though having learned what to expect from some, and having grown even stronger in my own expectations, I was again asked to become a maid in a high school play.  I was told there was only one role for a black female.  Again, I refused. I had wanted to audition for one of the other roles, not the maid and since I wasn’t allowed to that, I didn’t see a point in playing the maid. 

The Help stirred up a lot of memories as I read it, the earth shattering images of the Birmingham church that was bombed, destroying the lives of four innocent children was one.  Another was the images that gave us all hope, the massive swell of people marching on Washington for equal rights.  Kathryn Stockett deserves all the accolades she is receiving as the pictures she painted were alive as well as the strength exuded by those maids who had had enough, a statement of that era when African Americans and people of all colors were saying, “Enough.” 

Dilsa Saunders Bailey, author of Dreams Thrown Away

Update on Good Show Publications October Releases

The original version of Dreams Thrown Away is running out of time and out of print within the next 30 days. Its alter ego, The Sperling Chronicles Part I: Dreams Thrown Away will soon be available along with its sequel, The Sperling Chronicles Part II: Split Images. Order the original now at http://www.dilsasaundersbailey.com/ for that last chance autographed copy of the mother of all things Sperling.

Mama Sperling (Dreams Thrown Away, the original) will be featured at one more book signing: Nubian Book Store in Southlake Mall, Morrow, GA on September 23, 2011 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. There will be reading of an excerpt from Dreams and Split Images on A Live Reading Webinar on Sunday night at 8:00 PM by the author, Dilsa Saunders Bailey. This event will be posted on the Dreams Thrown Away Facebook page.  It’s up close and personal event with several authors who will be sitting before webcams to share the whole live reading experience. Keep your ears open and for an excerpt from Split Images on the Bernice Feagins Radio Show on BlogTalkRadio at 1:00 PM on September 22. Catch more news on these releases, if you can, on one of Atlanta Clark University’s television shows to get a sneak peek at the new cover for Dreams and the cover for Split Images.

Kali and Ashton are fighting to get back out of the box with another Sperling family adventure. Pre-order your copy of Split Images and be one of the first to receive an autographed copy. Pre-orders will be available at http://www.dilsasaundersbailey.com/ and  Good Show Publications.  Both books will also be available in any eBook format your heart desires, Kindle, iBook, epub, and more.

SELF-PUBLISHING TIPS 108 - Ten Questions to Ask a POD Self-Publisher (SP) Publisher

There is a book in each and every one of us. Not everyone though takes the plunge to see that book in print. Some do by pursuing the traditional route, others pursue independent publishing, and others pursue self-publishing through a self-publisher. If you stopped to read this article, you may or may not already know the difference. If you don’t, think of it in these terms. Traditional publishing involves a contract with a big, medium, or small publishing house. They do all the work with varying levels of marketing based on contract and book sales. An independent publisher (the author) takes responsibility for writing the book, getting the book printed, distributed, and marketed. A Print-On-Demand (POD) self-publisher or any vanity self-publishing house offers a variety of packages that you can purchase. They will print, distribute, and market the book at various levels for you. The SP’s will also offer a variety of additional products and services. These self-publishing houses offer packages that are extremely attractive. They make it so much easier for everyone who has that desire to birth that book contributing to the over 764,000 books that were self-published in 2009. If you are considering the POD self-publishing route, put these questions on your list of things to ask:

1. How much will they charge you to purchase your own book? Note: The production cost of the book is usually based upon page number and size.
2. How much will you receive (royalty) if the book is purchased on their website or through a retailer? Note: This will be based on the retail price and could include a specific discount for retailers.
3. Will they continue to charge you at the same price regardless of the number of copies you order? Note: The greater the number of books you order, the lower the price should be. Ask about the discount levels.
4. How much will you receive for the sale of your e-book through their website or through a retailer?
5. Is there a base price for pricing your e-book? Note: You may have $.99 in mind and they may $9.99.
6. Will your e-book be released in a variety of formats? Note not using technical dots: Kindle, Nook, Sony, any e-reader accessibility.
7. Can you use your own ISBN or is it mandatory that you use theirs? Note: The ISBN belongs to the company, not you. If you have your own imprint, or want to move your book in the future, consider your own ISBN that you own.
8. If you want to add your book to Inside Cover for either Amazon or Barnes and Noble, do you have to utilize their service or can you do it yourself? Note: You could do it for free.
9. What entails a custom cover? Note: It may not include front and back. Back may be an additional charge.
10. Is there an additional charge to insert images? Note: Some may charge by the photo.

My first book, Dreams Thrown Away, was published through a POD self-publisher in August 2009. It was one of the most exciting days in my life when the finished copy arrived. Whether you choose to go traditional, independent, or self-publish to experience that same excitement, be well armed with the right questions to make it an even happier experience.