Facts - Stranger than Fiction

Happy Thursday!!!! Wow, what a week! I've been busy gearing up for my blog party next week and have some amazing prizes for you guys to win! Be sure and come back every day to see what's new!

Today I'm going to spend some time doing a quick, "Did you know?" post for anyone who may not be familiar with the great man known as Genghis Khan. This is in honor of the book Yassa being on sale for the month of October both in Kindle (just $2.99) and paperback (just $7.99) formats. The paperback has had a beautiful re-work and the interior is to die for (screenshots after the post). I hope you all enjoy this post and that you learn a little, too.

The following are all facts that I based Yassa on. Yassa is a work of fiction steeped in factual history.

Did you know:

• Genghis Khan began life as a boy named Temujin.
• His father was poisoned when Temujin was just nine years old; forcing the child to step up and lead his people.
• In Mongolia, it was common for a young boy to live with his betrothed's family to learn the ways of their people for up to four years before the marriage.
• Temujin spent four years of his life in slavery, and his escape got him noticed by powerful men.
• Blonde girls were an anomaly but highly sought-after prizes (I could find nothing that said Borte was one of these but I read it happened and went with it).
• The Merkits stole Temujin's wife, Borte, just two weeks after they were married and his retribution made him a household name.
• Jamuka was Temujin's anda (brother in life) but no one knows why they had a falling-out (most assume it was over power).
• No one is sure if Temujin's first son, Jochi, was of his loin because of the timing of the child's birth (~ 9 mos after Borte was taken).
• In the span of just twenty-five years, Genghis Khan took over much of Mongolia; uniting the tribes under one banner.
• Genghis held the idea of loyalty above all else and wrote Yassa law based on it.
• He developed a new writing style and demanded it be used across all of Mongolia so writings could be understood by all.
• The cultivation of the Silk Road, made famous by Marco Polo, was done under the guidance of Genghis.
• He truly believed he spoke to God and was tolerant of all religious followings.

Genghis Khan was one of the great men from history. He did things others had only dreamed of.

If you want to learn more about Genghis, in a fun way, you can find out a lot of fact by reading my historical fiction novel. I stuck as closely as possible to the actual timeline of events and used many of the facts you see above to mold my character and get inside his head.

Now for a shot of the new interior of Yassa.

Smaller type, smaller format, better design, and less expensive for you, the reader. Go grab a copy and get your learning on!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Empirical Evidence

Happy Wednesday, everyone! If you all remember back on Monday's post, I talked about publishing houses using the Amazon best seller list of indie authors as a slush pile. Spurred on my some of the comments I received, I decided to delve into this a bit further.

Here's what I found:

The first blog has a brief interview with an indie author and then talks about the publishers that are picking up indie titles.

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2012/08/independence_19.html

This next one is linked from the first one and tells about an indie author who turned down a publishing deal to remain indie. From what I understand, it was not pocket change.

http://jeffrivera.com/index.php/for-writers/758-why-indie-author-ruth-cardello-turned-down-a-7-figure-book-deal.html

When you read this one, pay close attention to the paragraph with the bold Traditional Publisher path in it.

http://indiebookwriters.com/2012/08/05/the-4-different-publishing-paths-authors-can-pursue-today/

And, this last one talks of Penguin buying Author Solutions. It's a VERY good read.

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2012/08/why-self-publishers-should-care-that-penguin-bought-author-solutions229.html

As you can see, I rarely talk out of my ass. I find it heartening to hear stories of an indie author that chose to stay indie and it makes me more confident in my own choices.

What do you guys think about all this? Would you go for it or stay indie?

Don't forget to check out Mystic ~ Bronya over on Amazon. Free to sample, just $3.99 to own!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Tough Cookies

Some days, I struggle with what to write here. Today, I'm giving you all a taste of what my new series Mystic is about, and what message I'm trying to convey by writing it. Disclaimer: This is my author's note from the book. It will appear in every copy. People need to understand my message. If I make a difference in just one person, I'll feel like I did my job as an author.

Without further ado:

I see our world falling apart with hate. I’m not a person who preaches there should be no war or we should share in free love. What I am is someone who understands just because one person is different from another, it doesn’t make them less than human and doesn’t make them less deserving of my acceptance. I don’t hate or judge because I wouldn’t like to be hated or judged myself.

Everyone makes choices. Every single person on the planet is different in their own way. I choose my religion and my beliefs. There are some things I didn’t choose. Those things are what make me different from you, and what make you different from the person next to you.

Maybe you’ve made a choice I don’t believe in or that goes against my strong values. I’m going to try to understand you either way. No one told me it was up to me to shove my beliefs or values down your throat. So, for example, if you’re a Christian person and I’m an Atheist or Agnostic, would you want me to tell you you’re wrong for being a Christian? No. You’d want me to understand and realize your choices aren’t mine and you’re free to do and believe what you want. You’d want me to leave you alone so you can practice your beliefs with security and safety.

I wish for nothing more than a world where people understand the Golden Rule and actually live by it. As you read my Mystic series, try to understand what hate does when brought down upon the head of someone who is different or who makes choices other than what you might have made. Try to walk a mile in someone else's shoes. Learn how hate can grow and be nearly impossible to stop. Study how to be accepting to those who didn’t choose the path you did. Discover their reasoning instead of casting them off. I promise you, they are struggling anyway. Don’t make their struggle more difficult than it already is.

WSTW (Women Save the World) is not a real company as of the date of this book’s publication. I wish it were. We all have strength in us and the only way we’re going to be able to battle hatred is when we quit hating each other and ourselves. Hate manifests just like the creature in this series. Start looking around and you’ll see it, too.

I’m sure I’m living in a fantasy land, wishing for all of the above; but I am a writer, after all, and if I cannot find solace in my words, I fear there may be nothing left to hope for. What a sad ending that would be…

Pick up a copy of Mystic ~ Bronya when it releases on Tuesday, August 21, 2012. Read it. Come back here and tell me how you felt about what happens to Bronya.

Have you ever been put down for your choices or ridiculed? Did you change your beliefs or did it just make you angry? What did you do in response?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo