William L. Stuart

author of The Gemstone Chronicles Series

Book Reviews, Thoughts, and Random Interesting Ideas

The Augusta Literary Festival – Postscript!!

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On March 7, 2015, I attended the 4th Annual Augusta Literary Festival in Augusta, Georgia. We had a great time! We enjoyed our stay. Before I talk about the Festival, though, I want to talk about Augusta. Wikipedia says Augusta is the second oldest city in Georgia. Only Savannah is older. James Oglethorpe, founder of the British colony of Georgia, directed Augusta’s founding. Oglethorpe sent troops to build at the head of the navigable section of the Savannah River. He named to town Augusta (after the wife of the Frederick, Prince of Wales).

Other interesting facts about Augusta:

  • Augusta was the capital of Georgia twice during the American Revolution
  • Prior to the Civil War, Augusta was a leader in the production of textiles, gunpowder, and paper
  • in 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention was founded in Augusta
  • Augusta is the home of the Medical College of Georgia
  • Georgia Pacific was founded in Augusta
  • James Brown (the Godfather of Soul) grew up in Augusta in the 1930’s and 40’s
  • The Savannah River Site is located near Augusta (and is the source for tritium for nuclear weapons)
  • EZ – Go and Club Car (the world’s largest golf cart manufacturers) are located in Augusta
  • The Masters Golf Tournament held annually at Augusta National Golf Club

Speaking the the Masters, I keep applying for Masters tickets in the ticket lottery. Despite my many attempts, I haven’t won any, but hope springs eternal! I apply each year in May and get the results in July. One day, I hope I’ll get the tickets!

There you have a quick list of facts about Augusta. Interesting place and one I am going to have to take some time to learn more about. However, now on to the Augusta Literary Festival and my experiences there!

Augusta Literary Festival:

We (the lovely and adorable Lana accompanied me – see the picture below), arrived Friday afternoon for the Festival. We attended the Author’s Reception at the Library. The highlight was the winner of the Yerby Award. Amanda Kyle Williams won for her book Don’t Talk to Strangers.

Augusta Literary Festival Lana and Bill

Saturday got the ball rolling. The event started at 10 am and there were visitors aplenty! Before it started, we got to interact with the other authors. I made a couple of new author friends! I decided to do a giveaway with each book purchased. For Book One: The Carnelian, we gave away carnelians. Book Two: The Amethyst buyers received amethysts. Not a bad bonus for buying a book!

Augusta Literary Festival Carnelians
Carnelians
Augusta Literary Festival Amethysts
Amethysts

I also participated as a panelist for a self publishing discussion. My fellow panelists were fantasy writer Alicia Michaels, and Hasheem Francis, bestselling author and businessman. We spoke about the self publishing process and our own lessons learned during our independent author journey. About 40 people attended our session. I hope we gave useful advice! Who knows, we might have spoken to a future Yerby Award winner!

By the end of the day, we met some really great people. I gained new author friends, too. And, we sold a few books! Overall, we had a wonderful experience. I’ll Look for my invitation to next year’s Augusta Literary Festival!

Did you attend the Augusta Literary Festival? What about book festivals in your area (if you don’t live in or near Augusta)? Do you enjoy interacting with the authors and finding new books? What is your favorite part of a festival? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Connect with me:

Connect with me! I’m on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads. Otherwise, just drop me a line at bill@williamlstuart.com! Stop by and say hi! If you’ve read any of The Gemstone Chronicles, thanks! If not, what are you waiting for? And please consider leaving a review. I love to know what you think of the books!

Book Marketing – Book Trailers!!!

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Book Marketing – Book Trailers!!! One of the hottest trends to help with book marketing these days are book trailers. Book trailers are a great tool for authors to use to generate book buzz, so I decided I would do some research and see if I could develop one for The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian. Before I show it, I wanted to go through the process that I used. Maybe it will help one of you readers with your own trailer!

Book Trailers Drow

Steps:

I started my trailer by developing slides in PowerPoint. You don’t have to do it that way. There are services that will create a trailer for you. Or, you can do it yourself. Step by step, it works something like this:

  • Decide what you want to say about your book – write a script if you need to
  • Find some images that fit what you want to say in your script
  • Find music that fits the images and your book
  • Make sure you give attribution for the images and music. Sometimes you have to pay for a license to use the images and the music, so do your research! I used www.incompetech.com for the music.
  • Edit it all together and there you have it – a book trailer

I know this is a greatly simplified set of directions, but if you follow steps like this, you can make a trailer. You can Google it to find many helpful hints, examples, and step by step instructions. Once you’ve made the trailer draft, I recommend running it by friends, family, and other authors, and be prepared for some criticism (constructive, I hope). I ran my rough draft by a whole group of people (that fit the recommendations listed above) and got a ton of feedback. As a result, I reduced the length, changed the font, and made a few other changes. It made the end result much better, I think!

Formats:

Making the trailer wasn’t all that difficult. It can be a slide show or it can be converted into a .mp4 or .wmv (or other formats, depending on what devices you want to be able to view it). I converted mine to .mp4 so viewers can see it on most devices. The conversion from PowerPoint slides to the .mp4 was easy, too! Just save the file as .mp4 and PowerPoint converts it. Works the same way to save the file as a .wmv, so easy as can be!

Where to post the trailer?

Now that the trailer is made, what do you do with it? I will post mine on my website, include it on MyBookTable, put it on my Facebook fan page, and I might even start my own YouTube channel. I will be at the Augusta Literary Festival March 7 and I can run it at my table during the day. As a part of my overall marketing plan, I intend to use it extensively to generate interest in the book and I will be working on trailers for the other books of the series!

Finally, here is the trailer! Take a look and let me know what you think!!

Have you done a book trailer or had one created for your books? I would love to see them, so post a link in the comments. Who knows, I might end up buying books based on the trailers!

Connect with me:

If you want to connect with me, I can be found on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads, or you can contact me through email at bill@williamlstuart.com.

Faceted Gemstones – Newest Additions!!

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Regular readers of my blog (or my books) know that I’m a big fan of gemstones. I love faceted gemstones, cabochons, and tumbled stones. My books, The Gemstone Chronicles series, use the magical and mystical properties of gemstones as the basis of the magic the characters discover. I frequently go gemstone hunting at my favorite spot in the North Georgia Mountains, Gold n’ Gem Grubbin’, in Cleveland, GA. My two rock tumblers run almost all of the time, smoothing out the rough edges and polishing the stones I’ve found to a brilliant luster. Occasionally, though, I find a special stone that can be cut and faceted. Shown below is the first stone I ever had cut (an emerald)!

Emerald:

Faceted Gemstones Lana's emerald
Lana’s emerald

A 2.25 carat stone, it appraised nicely, and is still loose. Lana hasn’t decided on a setting yet. The stone is gorgeous, and since it was my first find, it is extra special!

Peridot:

My brother John found the peridot shown in the photo below. I had it cut for Lana. It weighed in at about 2.5 carats and I had it set in a sterling silver ring for her birthday. Beautiful!!

Faceted Gemstones Peridot Ring
Lana’s peridot ring

Ruby:

Now, I have two new additions to the faceted gemstones family! I was hunting and found this rough ruby and sent it over to my faceting friend and he worked his magic. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of the rough.

After cutting and polishing, here is the final faceted stone. Not huge by any means, but still weighing in at 1.3 carats, it is a great little stone!

Faceted Gemstones Ruby
Faceted Ruby

Note the description in the picture says sapphire, which is true. Recall that red sapphires are rubies! Gene cut the stone in a Cushion Cut, and it turned out beautifully!

Quartz:

I also sent over a piece of clear quartz that was stunning as a rough piece. Gene cut me two round brilliant cut stones about 1.25 carats each. I wanted to see how the quartz would turn out in a traditional diamond cut. I think they turned out great! What do you think?

Faceted Gemstones Round Brilliant Cut Quartz
Round Brilliant Cut Quartz

What do you think about my faceted gemstones! I have some garnets that might facet well, but I have to get them cleaned up and see what they look like. A nice sapphire (blue not red) or a piece of aquamarine to have cut might be nice, but no such luck yet. I guess I just have to keep on looking!

Which of my faceted gemstones is your favorite? What setting would you use for the emerald or the ruby? Do you think the quartz brilliant cuts look like diamonds? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Connect with me:

If you want to connect with me, find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. You can always email me at bill@williamlstuart.com. I look forward to meeting new friends! And, don’t miss a post. Subscribe to the blog!

Conspiracy Theories – 2 of my Favorites!!

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Who doesn’t love a good conspiracy theory? Conspiracy theories have been around forever, but, now that we are so connected by the Internet, social media, and instant information, they have seemed to proliferate. Information makes it easy to connect dots and create conspiracies where none previously existed. For instance, I could say the story of The Gemstone Chronicles was based on the attempt at time and inter-dimensional travel allegedly conducted as part of the Philadelphia Experiment. It isn’t true (at least as the basis of my books part), and certainly not a conspiracy (so I say), but what about the experiment?

USS_Eldridge_DE-173_(1944)
USS Eldridge DE-173 (1944)

The Philadelphia Experiment:

For those who aren’t familiar with the legend of the Philadelphia Experiment, in 1943, the USS Eldridge (DE-173) was outfitted with very powerful electromagnetic generators as part of an experiment to create a ship invisible to radar. The experiment was a test of Einstein’s unified field theory and was carried out at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Versions of the story vary, but one of the most popular holds that the ship did disappear and was replaced by a greenish fog. When it reappeared, some sailors were imbedded in bulkheads, some disappeared, some experienced severe nausea, and still others suffered serious mental issues.

Another account says the ship disappeared and reappeared 200 miles away in Norfolk, VA. Allegedly observed by another ship in Norfolk, the Eldridge then reappeared in Philadelphia and traveled backward in time by 10 minutes. The US Navy, of course, denies the experiment ever occurred and the historical documents about USS Eldridge don’t indicate  any involvement in the experiment. The official explanation of any type of experimentation at the time was the Navy trying to find a way to make steel ships undetectable to magnetic mines (degaussing).

First, did the experiment occur? Secondly, did Einstein actually complete a Unified Field Theory as alleged and then destroy it because mankind wasn’t ready for it? Lastly, did USS Eldridge actually disappear and reappear after traveling back in time by 10 minutes? Who knows? But it makes for great conversation! And, in keeping with conspiracy theories, any information provided by the Navy is immediately suspect as part of the conspiracy!

The Knights Templar:

Another of my favorite conspiracy theories is the Knights Templar. Again, I must provide a little background. The Knights Templar were originally a small group of knights that went to the Holy Land after the First Crusade to provide protection to pilgrims. The Knights expanded their numbers rapidly (perhaps for discoveries made while in Jerusalem). They eventually became the military arm of the Catholic Church and established a vast network of castles and lands throughout Europe. They were also the first international bankers.

The Templars grew so powerful and wealthy that most of the European monarchies owed them money. On Friday 13, 1307, the Templars castles were raided and the knights jailed as heretics. The charges of heresy were signed by Pope Clement V (at the alleged urging of King Phillip IV of France, who reportedly owed a huge sum to the Templars). Here begins our conspiracy theory. Did the Pope (who lived in Avignon not Rome – another conspiracy) and King Phillip truly conspire against the Templars? What happened to the Templar riches? Who knows? But, the story is great conspiracy fuel!

Conspiracy Theories Templar Cross
Templar Cross

Legend says that as the Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay burned at the stake, he allegedly cursed both the Pope and King Phillip IV, claiming they would be dead within the year. Pope Clement V died a month later and King Phillip later that year. Coincidence or did the banished Templars have anything to do with the deaths?

The Templar Treasure:

Another part of this tale is there were supposedly Templar treasure ships at the port in France and these ships were loaded with Templar riches (yep, the ones mentioned above). On the morning of the raids on Templar properties, the ships were no longer in port. They, and their supposed loads of treasure, disappeared. According to legend, the Holy Grail made up part of the missing treasure. The Grail, found by the original Templars in Jerusalem, fueled their rapid rise!

Where did the treasure go? To this day, no one knows. Or do they? Some say the treasure went to Scotland, where the remaining Templars became Freemasons. Interestingly, the head of the Scottish Masons are Sinclairs (the Anglicized version of St. Clair – coincidentally, the name of a powerful French Templar). One only has to visit Rosslyn Chapel to see the cryptic carvings and decorations to wonder about the conspiracy.

Oak Island and the New World:

Another legend is the treasure is in North America (ever heard of Oak Island?). Prince Henry the Navigator was thought to be a Templar Knight. Many believe he visited the New World long before Columbus. In fact, some believe Columbus knew exactly where he sailed when he reached the New World because Columbus used Prince Henry’s charts to sail. Interestingly enough, many of the depictions of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria have Templar Crosses on their sails as shown below!

Conspiracy Theories Columbus Ships
Columbus’ Ships with Templar Cross sails

Still another theory says that the Templars eventually blended into secular society. Armed with their extensive banking knowledge and untold riches, they formed Switzerland! Why Switzerland? Simple, according to the conspiracy theories. The Swiss flag is a white cross on a red background – the opposite of the Templars, but certainly a clue to the real identity of the Knights. Just like the Knights Templar, the Swiss are renowned engineers and bankers. Awfully convenient, isn’t it?

New conspiracies:

There you have my two favorite conspiracy theories. I have a new one I am following now – the Georgia Guidestones. The guidestones will figure prominently in my next novel, so stay tuned as it develops! I can’t say more, now, because they may be watching…

What are your favorite conspiracy theories? Have you researched the topic? If you do, ready yourself for some interesting reading! Once you do, leave me a comment and let me know which ones entertained you. Even better, which ones made you probe more deeply into seeming coincidences that may lead into a web of deceit, lies, cover ups, and shadowy characters!

Connect with me:

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads, or email me at bill@williamlstuart.com. And welcome to the conspiracy!! The truth is out there…

Yggdrasil – The World Tree from Norse Mythology

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Yggdrasil – The World Tree springs from Norse mythology, so it made perfect sense to me to use it as part of the elves story in The Gemstone Chronicles. Referenced in Book One: The Carnelian, by Findecano, the elf freed from the chiastolite fairy cross, the story of Yggdrasil dates back to at least the 13th century, though its first attestation in the Poetic Edda from that time is a compilation from earlier traditional sources (according to Wikipedia). Regardless of the source, I think the tale is fascinating!

Yggdrasil - The World Tree
Yggdrasil

Yggdrasil:

Wikipedia says Yggdrasil is a Norse word thought by some to mean Odin’s Horse. Ygg(r) was one of Odin’s many names and drasill means horse. Gallows are sometimes called horse of the hanged, and Norse mythology holds that Odin hanged himself from a tree, so Odin’s gallows becomes Odin’s horse and now you have, Yggdrasil. There are certainly other interpretations, but I kind of like this one! In my book, Yggdrasil is an immense ash tree and provides connection to life and death as a natural cycle for the elves.

About the tree:

Yggdrasil, in the mythology, connects the nine worlds together and is the home to  the wyrm (dragon), an unnamed eagle, and others. The three roots of the tree extend into the well Urðarbrunnr, where the gods gather daily to meet and where the three Norns live, the spring Hvergelmir, that is near Nidhoggr, and finally, the well Mímisbrunnr, which runs to the land of the giants (Jotunheim). I think the wyrm, Nidhoggr, is particularly interesting. The name comes from the Norse word “nid,” which was a term for social stigma and loss of honor. In the mythology, Nidhoggr gnaws at the root of Yggdrasil. The picture below is from an Icelandic manuscript showing Nidhoggr at the roots of Yggdrasil.

Nidhoggr Gnawing at Yggdrasil
Nidhoggr Gnawing the roots of Yggdrasil

The nine worlds:

As mentioned above, Yggdrasil connects the 9 worlds, which are divided into three levels. The highest level is Asgard, home of the Aesir (Gods of the Vikings including Odin), Vanaheim (home of the Vanir), and Alfheim (home of the Light Elves).

Light Elf
Light Elf

The second level consists of Middle Earth (home of the humans and connected to Asgard by the Rainbow Bridge, but no mention of Hobbits). Jotunheim (home of the giants), and Svartalfheim (home of the Dark Elves or Drow). Alfheim figures prominently in Book Four: The Ruby.

Drow
Dark Elf (Drow)

The lowest level contains Nidavellir (home of the Dwarves), Niflheim (to the north and somewhere under it is Helheim, home of the dead), and Muspelheim (to the south and home of the fire giants and demons). Here is a picture of how the 9 worlds might be connected.

Yggdrasil 9 Worlds
Yggdrasil and the 9 Worlds

Yggdrasil (or the World Tree) is not exclusive to Norse mythology, though. According to Wikipedia, there are similar myths among the Siberian shaman and ancient Germanic people. The notion of an eagle atop the tree and a serpent coiled around the roots has parallels in Asian cosmologies.

There you have a brief story of Yggdrasil. Very cool mythology and absolutely fascinating to me. I like to imagine the connections the myths have with events today. It’s a great way to develop story lines and future writing projects!

What are your favorite myths? If you’re a writer, have you used myths in your writing or do you plan to? If you are a reader, what myths do you like to read about? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Connect with me:

If you want to connect with me, I can be found on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads, or email me at bill@williamlstuart.com. I enjoy getting to know new people and connecting on social media!

Book Marketing Part 4 – I Can See Clearly Now!!

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I know everyone is probably getting tired of seeing my posts about book marketing, so I think I will wrap up the series with Book Marketing Part 4 – I can see clearly now! This one will deal with more of the sites I have discovered and have either tried or want to try. Hopefully, these will help you with your own book marketing efforts!

Book Marketing Part 4 Sunny Day

AUTHORSdB:

AuthorsdB is a great site that is free for authors to join. I’m listed there, but I have to admit I need to explore the offerings the site offers. I know that there are reviewers, author services, and some marketing help at AuthorsdB. You can grab a widget, enter your cover in a cover contest, and a lot of other things. Check it out and see what they can do for you!

IndieReader:

IndieReader.com is another site I have visited and am interested in trying out some of their services. They offer everything from reviews to news articles about the Indie book world. The reviews, though, are not free. They will do a review for $225 (with a turnaround time of 5-9 weeks) or a rush review for an additional $75 (with a turnaround time of 4-6 weeks). If your book is reviewed and receives a 4 or 5 star rating, IndieReader will include your book in their curation service that makes recommendations to Scribd, Bibliolabs, Huffington Post, and USA Today.

There are many other services available on IndieReader, so I’m planning on doing more investigation and see what opportunities are there!

theindietribe.com:

Theindietribe.com is a cool site that offers a lot to authors. From proofreading, review exchange (you do have to buy the books to review), writing tips, and many others, it is a one-stop shop for many authors. As with IndieReader, I will have investigate all of the offerings and opportunities at theindietribe! Look for a follow up report in the future.

The Readers Gazette World:

The Readers Gazette World is something new to me. I recently started following them on Twitter and have been impressed by the amount of activity I see there. I haven’t signed up on their website yet, but I will check it out in the next few days. You have to use Facebook to access most of the features of the site, but they offer quizzes, games, blogs, and short stories, as well as promotional opportunities.

Self-Publishing Review:

Another site worth looking at is Self-Publishing Review. They offer book reviews for a price, but the prices range from $59-$249 and the turnaround time is 2-4 weeks. The lowest price option doesn’t include a star rating, so if you want that option, you have to pick one of the other options. SPR also offers editorial services, a book launch service, and SPR Awards, so give them a look.

Readers Favorite:

Readers Favorite is a great site that offers reviews and awards for deserving books. I submitted my first book for a free review and it took a while before it was picked up by a reviewer, but picked up it was. I can’t wait to hear back for my reviewer. Readers Favorite only posts 4 and 5 star reviews, but if the review doesn’t meet that standard, the author is contacted with constructive criticism.

However, if your book earns a 4 or 5 star review, they do a great job of getting the word out. If you happen to receive a 5 star review, then you get an award that you can place on the book and everyone can see it is an award-winning book. They also sponsor the Readers Favorite Book Awards that can get more publicity for your book. It costs $89 to enter in one category. Add your book to multiple categories for an additional fee. I may enter my book!

Check out Readers Favorite and see if it’s a fit for you. I know it’s something I will use!

Bublish:

Another site that I’m taking a close look at is Bublish. Bublish allows the author to upload an .epub of their book(s) and publish excerpt bubbles along with background from the author. A basic membership is free, but for $9.99/month (or $99/year), there are some extras. I like the concept and read a couple of bubbles from authors on the site. The bubbles were great and the background from the author helped put them in context. Bublish runs a lot of Twitter promos for the bubbles, so here is a great opportunity to get exposure for not a lot of money. I’ll be setting up my Bublish account in the very near future and will provide an update on how it goes.

Book marketing Part 4 wrap up:

That’s it for now. I hope I have been able to provide some new sites and promotional and marketing opportunities for Indie authors (and even traditionally published authors who are working on promoting your books). I know working on this series of posts has helped me define what my marketing focus will be in 2015. I’ll be putting my marketing plan together using some of the information I gleaned from my research, and I’ll let you know how it goes. Book Marketing Part 4, as well as the other posts in the series, hopefully added a few more tools to your toolbox!

Connect with me:

If any of these ideas from this post (or the previous 3 posts) have helped your marketing efforts, please leave me a comment and let me know. If you want to connect with me, I can be found at Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads, and you can always contact me at bill@williamlstuart.com.

You can find The Gemstone Chronicles on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes&Noble, and many other outlets. If you read one (or all of them), please consider leaving a review. I would love to know what y’all think!