Earthquake in eastern part of US

We've been watching and tracking Hurricane Irene since it is expected to hit either SC or NC coastline this weekend. What we weren't expecting was an earthquake. It looks to have originated just north of Richmond, Virginia, but quakes were felt all the way up and down the eastern seaboard from Norcross, Georgia, to about 2 hours north of Toronto, Canada. Here in my small town, the librarian said she felt it, the post office which is almost right next door to the library did not feel it and several people reported feeling it in different parts of the town. Neither Hailie nor myself felt it on our property. Students at Anderson University felt it while in their rooms. The fault line is widespread as reports from another town in South Carolina (Spartanburg) have reported feeling it and folks all over North Carolina (mostly around the Charlotte area northward) have felt it. From looking at a map showing reported "feels" of the quake - it runs from Georgia to New York, Ohio to New Jersey and every point between upper state South Carolina to Pennsylvania. I understood when it occurred in or around Richmond, Virginia this afternoon that they evacuated the Pentagon and the nuclear plant shut itself down. This is a good thing but we have a plant in South Carolina that isn't too far from where I live and we hadn't heard whether they shut down automatically or if any quakes were even felt in that area.

Pray that Irene doesn't hit land by the weekend and turns to go back out to sea. Cooler weather I'm all for but you see Ma America and the JGDS have an event outside of Charlotte Sunday and if Irene hits between Myrtle Beach and Outer Banks then Charlotte will likely get hit pretty heavy with the rain and all, which means the event possibly could be cancelled. If it hits down in the Charleston area, the Charlotte area should be okay but then again, one never can really tell with Mother Nature.

Keeping an eye out for after shocks from the earthquake as well as Irene - E :)

kindlegraph

I mentioned earlier about the kindlegraph and anxiously awaiting the publication of my YA paranormal mystery so I can start doing kindlegraphs. Well, I didn't read the whole way through on the author sign up page - kindlegraphs are not just for ebooks but for all paperback and hardback and ebooks - so I've added my books and now anyone can receive an electronic signature for any title available, just pop over to my author page on the kindlegraph site and request your signature. You can have the kindlegraphs sent to your kindle even though the books are not available as ebooks or your email. They come as a PDF file with a personalized message from me and a signature. So anyone who has purchased a copy of any of my titles from other venues (not direct sales) and would like to have a signature, please request your kindlegraph. Thanks - see you all in the postings - E :)

Finally Home, a YA paranormal mystery

I've not talked much about this story but I think it's time to bring it out of the closet and get it published. This is the story I wrote for NaNo (National Novel Writing Month) in 2008, although I didn't really write it during the month of November (I started late, about the middle of November and wrote through the middle of December, so it was still in that 30-day period that I wrote over 50,000 words on a novel; Finally Home came in at about 56,000 words.). I've already done some behind the scenes things like sending it out to several readers to get some feedback, and supplying Heather with info for cover and layout (although the ms is not in final draft yet). I also sent a copy of the document to my kindle to make notes and do some basic editing as well. So far I've received one person's comments back. Jess, who helps me sometimes during the summer with events, is reading but with her starting school this coming week, I'm afraid she won't have time to finish editing it. She did verbally give me some feedback this weekend, so I hope to at least get a partial back from her so that I can use the info to edit the story. Heather is working on a cover for Finally Home as we speak, but she too will be starting college soon and so I know her time will be limited as far as being able to work on my stories and all. I'm anxiously awaiting the cover so I can share with all of you. For more info on other stories previously published or in the works, please visit my website. I will be self-publishing and the book will be available in print via amazon, createspace and directly from me, as well as an ebook through smashwords, Kindle and Nook. I'm looking for a publication date of about the middle of October so that I will have copies on hand for events in November, namely the Savannah Children's book festival.

Stay tuned for some upcoming contests and giveaways with the release of Finally Home.

Check out Writers on the Move blog

Tomorrow I'm posting an article on the Writers on the Move blog about "Preparing for Presentations". Stop by and leave a comment about how you prepare for an upcoming presentation or how you create a new one. - E :)

Ma America, The Travelin' Maven (Elysabeth Eldering)
Author of the JGDS, 50-state, mystery, trivia series
http://jgdsseries.blogspot.com
http://jgdsseries.weebly.com

Author of "Finally Home", a YA paranormal mystery (coming soon)
http://elysabethsstories.blogspot.com
http://eeldering.weebly.com

Kindlegraph

I love my kindle but still like paperback books too. I subscribe to Jen Wylie's blog, author of the Ever series that I've been following (can't wait for the next installment - lol). Anyway, her posting today is about kindlegraph, a place where authors can do "electronic signatures for ebooks" - Makes me excited to put my upcoming YA paranormal mystery (Finally Home) out as an ebook. I'm passing this on to a few of my writer buddies who do have ebooks available so that I can get their "kindlegraph" on the books I've already purchased. Hope all you writers take advantage of this (all you need is a twitter account to sign up). Happy writing and signing, ya'll - E :)

Paypal buttons - WOTM August free workshop

On August 16, 2011, at 7 PM EST (U.S.), Maggie Ball will present How to Create PayPal and Other Buy Buttons on Your Own Site.

Description: Have you ever wanted to take payments on your blog or website? Do you want to create PayPal buttons or learn about other ways to accept one or recurrent payments, small or large?

This free course provides an inside perspective on turning your booklets, e-books, and documents into sellable items, with no cost, and very little effort. You'll learn about setting up "buy it now" buttons, creating options for shopping carts, installment plans, donations, gift vouchers, and subscriptions, managing payments by email, and even how to send out refunds.

To register, email Maggie at: maggieball@compulsivereader.com. Please put "August Workshop" in the subject box.

Registered attendees will receive instructions for attending. While the Writers on the Move Workshops are FREE, your email address will be added to the presenter's mailing list upon registration.

Registered attendees will also be provided a transcript of the chat, if requested.