Saturday, September 18, 2010

Barnes & Noble: A surprise.

So today I got a surprise in the mail from Barnes & Noble.  A 5 dollar gift certificate.  I was confused on why I got it until I saw in small letters that it was from their refund department for the e-book that I mentioned about a few posts back.  I was in shock.  I didn’t think they would actually do anything to sort the situation out and I am completely shocked that they did.  I am allowed to use the card at an actual store and online as well as for e-books.  I am not sure which I will do.  My mom says I shouldn’t use it online, but I’m not scared off of using their online store just nervous that I will be paying the right price or getting the right book or what have you.  I see through this experience that online things can go wrong, but I’m willing to try again.

I think I will go to the store and get a book in person.  I haven’t bought a tangible book in a while, but I don’t know which book to get.  There isn’t really any out that I really want.  But I will head down there in the next few weeks to take a peek and see what they have.  Haven’t been in B&N in forever, but I love going in there.  Maybe I will get  Nook cover instead of a book.  I need one and 5 dollars off would be nice.  Hummm, I’ve got time to think about it.

But I just wanted to update to let you know that B&N did make things better, and I have nothing but respect for companies that will admit they made a mistake want to make amends.  Like I said I am not one to make a big huff about things businesses do to me, I know I’m not the only one that is screwed by companies, but the last two issues I’ve had with companies just got my feathers all fluffed up.  But both Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble have renewed my faith in them.  Now I’m not encouraging people to go out there an make a stink about every single thing a company does bad because not all things are worth the dust you’ll kick up, but if it’s something you feel strongly about then you should say something and if a company respects their customers then they will try to work things out for you, and if they don’t then you don’t need to deal with them any more, there is to much competition out there to let one company stress you out.  And that is all there is to say about that.  ;-)

Well I’m off, just wanted to update you about what happened.  Can’t wait to go shopping, I’m really thinking about getting a Nook cover, see B&N was smart.  They send me a 5 dollar gift card and I will end up spending more.  But I want to because the renewed my faith in them.  I know, I’m sad.  LOL!  Ok, talk to you all later.  Bye for now.

Writing away,
M.

Friday, September 10, 2010

In Wil Wheaton’s Words

So a friend of mine recently went to PAX in Seattle, WA, and while on  the phone with him on one of the days he mentioned he was on the way to the Wil Wheaton panel.  Now I hadn’t become very interested in Wil Wheaton until he showed up on The Guild.  But I loved his character he protrayed so much I grew a fangirl crush on him.  So I was jealous my friend got the breathe the same air he did.  LOL!  Anyway, Wil did a reading at the panel that someone got on camera and posted on Youtube.  This story he wrote about him and his wife just tugged at my heart strings and it’s just a wonderful story.  The way he wrote and spoke just had me in awe. I’d love to be able to write that way.  Though there were curse words in what he wrote it was still elegant.  Hard to explain really, so why don’t I just show you instead.

So I just had to share this.  I love the way he talked about his wife.  You could just feel the love he has for her through his words.  To me, that’s what good writing is.  You can feel your character’s/writer’s emotions without them really having to say it.  Hope you enjoyed.  Oh and if you haven’t checked out The Guild, I highly advise you do.  If you are a gamer you will love it.  And I’m off now.

Writing away,
M.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Barnes and Noble: E-Buyer Beware!

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Ok, so last Friday I was on the Barnes and Nobel website looking for some free e-books to download to my Nook. I got one a couple of months back and I am still trying it out. I hadn’t bought a book until recently because I was nervous on how the whole thing worked. The transaction on the site worked nicely and I had planned to purchase another book that was coming out this month to my Nook from the site. Now my funds are budgeted so I can’t go buying a ton of books. I have to pick and choose what I order or buy. So the event that happened on Friday got me ticked off.

I am a “fan” of Nook on Facebook and they mentioned free classical book downloads. So I went to check them out and downloaded them. Then I went to look at the other classical book downloads and saw some of them where free. I saw Sleepy Hollow was free so I clicked on the link for it. The page came up and it said to click for the free download. I clicked it, downloaded it, and then it went to the next page where it said I’d bought the book. I was confused on this. It said it was free everywhere, so why was I charged?

From the email I got from Barnes and Noble, there is a Sleepy Hollow sketch book that is free to download and not the Sleepy Hollow novel. Well the webmasters must have accidentally listed Sleepy Hollow as free and then caught it and fixed it after I downloaded and made my complaint to B&N. They sent me an email basically saying I was wrong and had the wrong book. Umm, no, I had the right book. I just feel like I was being called a liar in this situation. Usually I try not to make a stink about things and just assume it was my stupidity, but here lately I am just tired of companies getting one over on me. I sent B&N and email backing telling them that I was not in the wrong and I was furious at being called a liar by them and that I won’t be using their website again. I will use my local store still for tangible books since I can talk to actual people, but I won’t use the website for buying e-books. I learned of another place that I can get e-books for cheaper so I will use them. I wanted to use B&N to support the company because I saw them as a quality company. But I’m one to like things simple and I like good customer service. Even if they had given me an online gift card for 10% off a future purchase instead of a refund, it would have been “something” to let me know they understood me and were sorry for the situation. I hate companies that put the blame on the customer when the company is to blame. In all fairness I know they have tons of people trying to rip them off in similar situations and they ruin it for everyone else, but it doesn’t make me feel better when they are in the wrong and basically called me a liar.

I’m just lucky the money wasn’t much, but when you are on a budget every little bit counts, even what is considered pocket change to big corporations. I hope the book is good and worth the money and irritation it put me through. So word of the wise, if you purchase from the B&N website, make sure the item you are downloading is the right price or you may be seriously paying for it in the end. I am really let down by them, and I had plans to get some Nook accessories from them for my Nook since it needs a cover and some other things, but I will go to Amazon for that and call it day. I don’t know, I guess I’m just sad that I wanted to support the company even though they cost more than most places and in the end it feels like they don’t care about those who do want to support them. Meh, I’m just being a hormonal so and so today. I’ve had all weekend to calm down about the money and it’s gone now so I will deal. Just think their customer service sucks old musty book pages. Maybe that’s why they are so bitter. Oh well. I just wanted to tell you guys about my situation and what happened and how it turned out. I expect it to turn out this way too, but at least my piece was heard…kind of.

On a good note, I had a problem with Amazon sending me a book with a deeply cut cover and they are in the process of fixing the situation. I had posted this on craft blog I had, since it was a craft book, but since I closed it I will post about it here. I need to go double check to make sure it still going as it should. But the funny thing is the money I saved on that book I ended up spending a book that was suppose to be free. Irony, eh? *sigh* Oh well. Ok, I’m off. I need to relax my elbow, I believe I banged it in my sleep and now it’s in pain. I do have another post to make about my novel Jumper…I wonder what it would be called if it was published? But yeah, I have decided something big on it. But I want to work on it a little more before I make my final choice. More to come later on that.

Writing away,
M.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Reading Habits

So I’ve been reading some author blogs, again instead of working on my own novel, and found this meme, that was started here, that I decided to try.  Feel free to do the same.  :-)  Let me know in the comments if you do and I will stop by your blog and take a peek.  :-)

Do you snack while you read?
No, never.  Don’t know why, just never craved a snack while reading.

What is your favorite drink while reading?
If I drink anything it’s usually either water, tea, cocoa, coffee, milk, soda, or jucie.  Just whatever is on hand at the moment.  Don’t usually drink while reading either though.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
I did highlight Stephen King’s “On Writing” but other than textbooks I don’t mark in my books.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
If there was something on the page I really wanted to look up later then I will dog-ear the page, but other than that it’s bookmarks, paper, or laying flat.

Fiction, non-fiction, or both?
Usually fiction, but I’m big into self-help books and sometimes memoirs so a little non-fiction as well.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I usually like to read to the end of the chapter but here lately I’ve been stopping in the chapter when I get tired or had my fill of reading for the moment.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
No, never did that.  A lot of crying over things the author did, to the point of having to close the book and collect myself…what can I say, I get wrapped up in the characters, but no throwing of books as of yet.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
I usually do it but not lately because I read one book where the author used as many big words as he could to simply describe going to get a newspaper.  So I gave up on the dictionary and read the novel in my pleasantly dumb state.  :-)

What are you currently reading?
Oh goodness.  I’m currently reading 4 books.  Never did it before, and it kind of happened accidentally.  I am reading “Along For The Ride”, “Breaing Dawn”…I  don’t want to hear it, Witch Week…for research, and a murder mystery that the name completely escapes me.  I think it’s something like “The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder”, or something along that line.

What is the last book you bought?
A punk knit pattern book from the Dollar Tree.

Do you have a favorite time/place to read?
I have started to love reading at night after everyone has gone to sleep. I lay in my bed in read.  I also like to read while exercising.  Makes it go by faster.

Do you prefer series books or stand alones?
I like both.  I love series because you can invest in the characters and learn about their lives and follow their journey.  I also like stand alones for that simple story of a person’s life and what happened to them and how they solved whatever problem they came across.  Both are equally good.

How do you organise your books? (by genre, title, author's last name, etc.)
Right now they are organized in any way that will get them on the shelf or to stack up.  I’m hoping to get a big bookshelf one day where I can put them up by author in alphabetical order.  Yeah, that’ll be nice.  :-)

Ok so there are my answers.  I am finding it interesting how other people read.  It’s nice to see others treat their books like babies or treasures too.  LOL!  Ok just wanted to share this with you.  Talk to you all soon.  Bye for now.

Writing away,
M.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Frustration sets in.

My middle grade novel is suddenly changing on me the more I read about middle grade novels.  My concept I was going for would work better in a made up world or witches than in real life.  So now I’m toying with the idea of making my once plain and smart little girl into a plain smart little witch.  Ugh!  It really would work better, but hasn’t this been over done?  Witch stories I mean?  My concept is my character seemingly is the worst witch ever, but she is really one of the smartest and her wild knowledge helps save the day.  Then there is the concept of age.  First she was 8 then I pushed her up to 9 and now I am wondering if I should push her up to 12 now.  Ahhh!!!  Why can’t this be easier?  Such a mess this has become.  I am excited about the witch concept and I am eager to look up some “spells” and read folklore about witches and whatnot, but I’m still not sure on the concept.  I want to just focus on one novel but I feel this character could be a series.  Well I will work on the one and see what happens I guess.  Meh.  I should be in bed instead of doing this but I can’t sleep so I research.  Oh well. Off to research some more.

Writing away,
M.

Oh hold until…well I don’t know exactly.

I have decided to put “Jumper” on hold.  It’s just not going anywhere.  I tried hard to work on it today and then realized that the romance I wanted to form between these two characters just didn’t form.  I think I need more time to think about this because this story is very involved and I have to create a world for it and I just need time to think about it.  It does make me sad to abandon the story right now and I am wondering if I will ever return to it, but right now I need to WRITE and I can’t do that on this story any more right now.  I’ve been working on it since 2008 and it just hasn’t gone anywhere.  I know some authors do this and some just realize the story isn’t going anywhere and they say good bye and mourn their loss.  I’m not ready to give up on this story yet, but I won’t return to it for a while.  I want to focus on other work I’ve done and want to do.  I think it’s time to focus on my middle grade novel for a while.  Yep, my Nanowrimo from last year.  Here’s hoping this isn’t just another “Jumper”.  Can you tell I’m a little sad and feel I wasted valuable time?  Yep.  I know, it helped me learn and we all will go through this one time or another but it still is sad.  Hopefully working on my middle grade stuff will make me feel a little better.

Writing away,
M.