Greetings

From The

Amazing Authors Showcase

May 1, 2000

YOU’VE BEEN SPREADING THE WORD!

Before we get on to the other goodies you’ve come to expect each month, the staff of the Showcase would like to express our appreciation for the continued support from all of our readers. News of this ezine has literally spread around the world. Our site tracking devices have recognized hits from 25 of the major Internet domains on the planet, and that number goes up every week.

We have readers and contributors now from almost 40 countries and that’s just the ones we are able to count officially. There are hundreds of other hits each month from domains and urls that cannot be accurately logged, so the number of countries represented is probably much larger. Suffice to say, the Internet writing community knows we are here, and much of the credit for that goes to all of you who have helped put us on the map.

This month there were in excess of 7,000 hits on the author pages alone. That’s a lot of exposure for writers in this business, whether they are published or not. And many ARE published now, as you will no doubt notice when you look over the new Authors Marquee on the Showcase.

When we launched this project in August of 1999, Pepper Raines and I had no idea how big it would get, or how fast the Showcase would grow in just a little over nine months. With featured authors like Stephen King, Charlotte Boyett-Compo and Mary Higgins Clark bringing in thousands of hits per month, our ezine and Showcase will undoubtedly continue to gain respect and exposure with the writing and publishing community in the coming months.

We invite all of you to come along for the ride. This should be a memorable year for everyone, and particularly a few of our (as yet) unpublished writers. <hint hint> Remember, too, that almost everything you’re reading right now can be freely distributed to your online buddies, but if you use something out of the ezine, please properly credit it to us or the original author.

NEW AMAZING AUTHORS THIS MONTH:

We've added a number of exciting new writers to the Showcase since the last issue. Please drop by these authors’ pages and leave a note in their guest books to welcome them aboard or send them email and let them know you read their stories.

FEATURED AUTHOR

CHARLOTTE BOYETT-COMPO

Charlotte (Charlee) Boyett-Compo was born in Florida and raised in Georgia. She has been married 34 years to her husband Tom. They have two sons and two grandchildren. Ms. Compo is the author of 24 novels in the dark fantasy, horror, sci-fi/futuristic, dark historical romance, thriller, and sword & sorcery romance genres.

STAR ATTRACTIONS

Dan Brown featuring Angels & Demons

Jim Marrs featuring PSI SPIES

Stephen King featuring Riding The Bullet

Coming this month also:

Mary Higgins Clark featuring Before I Say Goodbye

(May 25th)

Shirley MacClain featuring The Cameo

(Available Soon)

All will be available for preview and immediate download!

NEW SHOWCASE COLUMNIST

JOY McKELLEN

Our newest contributing columnist, Joy McKellen, lives in England. She has been in the publishing business for over thirty years. She has had seventeen titles published, so she knows both sides of the author/editor relationship as well as anyone. Since retiring from Penguin Publishing, she has worked as a freelance editor advising new authors and repaying some of the help she received as a beginner. Her Showcase column “The 'Joys' Of Publishing” will focus on common questions about writing and publishing sent in by readers of this ezine each month.

NEW AUTHORS

CHARLES A. ACREE

Charles was born in 1963 in rural Kentucky and comes from a long line of oral storytellers. While still a youngster, he wrote poetry for friends at the astounding rate of 50 cents per page, thus becoming a professional writer at a very early age. His first major piece was actually published in 1999. Currently Charles writes news and information articles for The Cumberland, and is managing editor of the Community Leadership Alliance Newsletter.

JAMES IGNIZIO

James Ignizio was born and raised in Akron, Ohio. After graduation from college, Jim went to work for North American Aviation. In 1980 he received the First Hartford Prize for work initiated on the Apollo Space program. Since then he has published a number of papers and textbooks. A preview of Jim's whimsical book, GONE AWRY: A Virtual Tour Through High Tech Hell can be read here and on his website: http://www.geocities.com/goneawry25.

ROY PICKERING

Roy Pickering was born in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and moved to the Bronx, New York at the age of 5. Writing has been his calling since grade school when he first came across the novels of Jules Verne. He is now a freelance writer in New York City, having recently completed his debut novel, Patches of Grey. A brief excerpt is provided on his website: http://www.roypickering.com.

MARK WESTON

Mark Weston was the original BRYLCREEM man for 8 years and has been featured in daytime soaps such as The Guiding Light, Another World, and The Secret Storm. He wrote the feature film Carnival Magic, released by General Cinema, and 16 other screenplays. His playwriting credits include the award winning one man play Beckwourth as well as The Ninth of April, Bagels and Luck, De Witt C! and others.

JANINE MICK WILLS

Janine Wills has a passion for reading and teaching. She's had several pieces published in both hard copy and over the Internet and contributed regularly to several ezines and newsletters. Janine has also written five books she hopes to have ready for possible publication this summer.

Anna Yesilevsky

Ms. Yesilevsky is an eighteen year old writer from Kiev, Ukraine who now lives in California. Her interests include writing, table tennis, amateur photography & film. She is in the 12th grade and has been accepted to Stanford, Berkeley, and UCLA.

ACCOLADES TO AMAZING AUTHORS

To Pepper Raines

From: Mark Weston (the original Brylcreem man)

Count me in! I will alert all my writing friends about the Amazing Authors also my writing class. Being a novice on the Internet, I would appreciate simple instructions on what and how you would like me to proceed.

To Pepper Raines

From: Margaret Marr

You did a wonderful job with my short stories :-) I posted the link to my page at Amazing Authors on the Planet Garth Forum, and I think I've had about 200 people go through there this week!!! One of my friends off the Internet read my stories, and sent the page to 300 people on her mailing list. I was like WOW! I've had several people E-mail me and tell me how pretty the site looks :-) You did a great job! Thanks a million.

To Pepper Raines

From: Charles Acree

I really love the look of the page you have created presenting my bio and story. I will be sure to pass along a link to the site to any and all. Listed on the same page as Stephen King? Sounds like a winner to me! Many Thanks!

To: Pepper Raines

From: Debbie McKinney

I love your latest story. You are a very good writer. I also wanted to tell you how much I love Edward Twardokus' poems on his site. Never saw poems on here, but I like them and have written a few myself. Thanks for putting them on there it was a treat. Keep up the good work with the site. It is great.

To: Pepper Raines

From: Pete Wegener

Even though I am on Amazing Authors Showcase as an aspiring author, I want to mention that this is one of the best sites on the web. The composition is fabulous, it flows like a river and the graphics are the best I have seen on the web. Also the site is ever changing which indicates that you are striving for constant improvement (although that's getting hard to do). Congratulations, Pepper, I hope a million people discover your site!

To: Jon Baxley

From: Bill Riepe

You know, Jon, the thing that impresses me most about the Showcase is that it gives an obscure author (I won't say unknown -- the word is too painful) a chance to write with his own voice. No worrying about The Formula, or character development, or dialogue. He can just sit down and write the story, and not worry about whether or not some editor will find it commercially viable. That makes writing fun again. Regards, Bill...

To: Janet Beaulieu

From: Cheryl Clickstein

Hi just read the interview you did with King in '88. Wow, great interviewing. Wish more people would interview my favorite author that way. They just don't seem to have a clue...anyhoo, just wanted to say kudos for a wonderful interview....it must have been amazing to just sit down with him like that.

A NOTE TO THE READERS

From: Slouard2@aol.com

(I) have a fabulous life story, which includes my husband and I and three beautiful children that come from special backgrounds and two have been adopted (while) one is pending. We had an amazing crossing the bridge life for seven years involving Children and Family Service in Florida and things I can't say without some professional guidance! Would anyone like to talk to us (about possibly writing our story)? We are available...someone out there wants to be encouraged and trust me that's putting it lightly!

BUSINESS NEWS

The ebook publisher, Booklocker (http://www.booklocker.com/) has announced: Booklocker is inundated with fiction. But, sales for non-fiction are much stronger in the ebook world right now. Our current needs are:

How-to (title must begin with the words "How to...")

Travel guides

Finance and money management

Cookbooks

Health & Fitness

History and Current Events

Home and Garden

Antiques and Collectibles

GUIDELINES, CONTRACT, AUTHOR FAQ, ETC.:

http://www.booklocker.com/getpublished/published.html

BOOKLOCKER JR:

We are seeking submissions from young authors for Booklocker Jr.

http://www.booklocker.com/getpublished/published.html

SUBMITTED NEWS

**Beatrice K. Sheftel (Tortorici) was born in Brooklyn, New York. She dreamed of becoming a writer ever since she wrote her first poems in elementary school. Winning a writing contest at age 16, she knew this was the career she wanted to pursue.  

She is happy to announce the release of her latest poetry book, Beauty in the Weeds, now available at Amazon.com.

**Third Charm Communications proudly presents MY PERFECT SON HAS CEREBRAL PALSY by  Marie A. Kennedy.

Mrs. Kennedy's personal site -- with additional information regarding her son and her book -- can be found at:  http://hometown.aol.com/pookington/myhomepage/index.html

REVIEW:

As a mother it brought tears to my eyes. I was moved by your honesty...as a therapist, I was very impressed with all the activities and adaptations you established. Everything was presented in a very thorough way, explaining how and why you did everything in terms that anyone could understand. This book is beneficial to parents and professionals alike.

--Sue Anderson, Physical Therapist

From the author, Marie Kennedy..Pook:

Wow!!..thank you so much..I am honored and pleased.

I found out this week that I will be a guest on a PBS show..locally but submitted to affiliates..(I believe)..taping at our house next friday May 12th..I don't know the air date..yet. Show is called..Across Indiana..very popular show here.

Then I get your email..and I am almost in tears..

I appreciate your time and help...

**Charlotte Dobson's  Incubus now available at Hard Shell Word Factory.

WRITERS CLUB CONTEST WINNERS

The winners of the latest Writers Club romance contest, “The Future Is Now” have been announced. Congratulations! Watch for these stories to be posted soon on the Amazing Authors Showcase.

First Place: Declined publication

Second Place: “Secret Succession” by Ann Jones-Rodriguez

Third Place: “Faithfully Yours” by Belinda Palmer

THE BOTTOM LINES:

If any of you have news of yours or someone else’s writing exploits or achievements you think might be of interest to the Amazing Authors readership, please send the information to be included with the next ezine to AmazingAuthors@aol.com. That issue should be on site sometime around the first of June. Until then, we wish you great success in your writing and creative efforts.

The Staff of the Amazing Authors Showcase

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