Spring has sprung in Quebec City and I’m happy as a clam. Walking in the sunshine, watching the snow rapidly disappear, makes this Arizona boy VERY happy. To celebrate, starting today and continuing through Friday, March 23rd, my mystery novel, Her Book of Shadows, will be free on Amazon in Kindle format. I think you’ll like it and you can’t beat the price (grin). To download the book, click on the appropriate outlet for your region:
Consider this writing task. Write a young adult novel with a cast of young girls and the occasional hunky guy. Have them live in a modern computer world, interacting with each other on Facebook. Oh, and don’t forget to include an elf war.
How would you do that? I’d give Julia Crane a call. She’s got more experience with this than the rest of us and she does an amazing thing: she makes it believable.
Coexist starts with Keegan, an teenage elf and her family who are, not surprisingly, also elves. Elves have their mates chosen for them and she’s thinking about him, whoever he is. But elves coexist with normal humans, beings without the powers of elves. And thus the story begins.
Crane weaves a tale of Keegan’s balancing act between living the life of a human teenager while hiding her elfen heritage, her destiny, and her brother’s destiny, which is to have a role in resolving the impending elven war between the light and dark elves.
I’d like to tell you more but that wouldn’t be fair, would it? If you enjoy young adult fantasy, get this book. Read it. You won’t be disappointed.
I’m happy as a clam this morning. My mystery novel, Her Book of Shadows is now available as a KindleBook. It’s a soft-boiled, feel good traditional mystery and if you like mysteries that avoid a lot of blood and gore, I think you’ll enjoy Her Book of Shadows.
The book takes place in Quebec City, where retired Arizona cop, Scott Riker, lives with his wife and daughter and heads a group of interventionists. Directed by Quebec business mogul and philanthropist, Luc Duchesne, the group uses their talents and resources to stand between people in trouble and the criminal elements who would do them harm.
In Her Book of Shadows, Riker agrees to find Jodie Burke, a teenage girl whose parents say ran away to Quebec City from Connecticut. But when Jodie’s friend turns up murdered on the Plains of Abraham, it becomes clear that Riker faces something more than just a runaway girl. Time is running out and he must find Jodie and prevent whoever is trying to kill her from succeeding.
Riker struggles with his emotional involvement in the case, caused by the similarities between his daughter and Jodie Burke. This, and his attempts to reconcile his risky business with his role as father and husband add to his internal conflicts but maybe the two roles can be compatible.
The first four chapters are available as a sample download so please give it a try.
One of the things the Internet has given consumers is a soapbox on which to whine and complain about being wronged by this or that company. It’s a powerful tool. This is a problem for companies, of course, as a 1% error rate (I wish my track record could be that good) can become a steady stream of complaints about its products and/or policies if nothing is done about it.
Conversely, the Internet has provided companies with tools to better serve customers, if they use them. Having Twitter accounts with an action person managing the account, making good support people available via email, and even the use of targeted advertising helps companies keep customers happy.
Sadly, few companies have caught on to the fact that the Internet is doing something that is quite ironic. It is personalizing customer relations. Over the past 100 years or so, we’ve moved from small-town business models where owners knew their customers and vice-versa to a time when large brick-n-mortar stores couldn’t care less about their customers and who hire people who will work cheap but don’t know a thing about the products being sold. They try to paint a different picture in their ads but we all shop. We know the truth. Now, as people debate whether the Internet is destroying our ability to interact directly with humans, the Internet is moving us back to a ‘small town’, knowledgable owner way of doing business. In an earlier post I mentioned one company, Goulet Pens, as an example of this.
It might surprise some who are down on Amazon as being the ‘big brother’ of the book industry, that I like them… very much. In my dealings with them, they very much live up to their email signature line of “We’re Building Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company.” Unlike so many online companies, they are responsive and often do things that surprise this cynical consumer.
And so it was this morning when I received an email from Amazon saying they were refunding $14.40 to my account. The email explained that when I’d purchased two Kindle covers (the ones with lights) they’d charged me $7.20 each for “import fee deposit.” I vaguely remembered these charges, both when I bought these covers and when I’d bought my Kindles. I remembered not being very happy about those charges but given that the vagaries and expense of having products shipped across the Canadian/US border, which is akin to moving from west to east in 1960s Germany, I accepted the charges as part of doing business.
The interesting thing is that this transaction took place at the beginning of February! I’d long since forgotten about it. I had to look it up to figure why they were refunding money to me. I had filed no complaint. I never asked for a refund.
But Amazon kept track of it… somehow, and they reimbursed me because, I guess, they didn’t need to use the money to buy off the Canadian government to allow my package to get to me. I really don’t know the details.
What I do know is that this stuff breeds loyalty. These sorts of actions breed consumer confidence. And this sort of consumer-centric thinking is rare in our world. Is it any wonder that Amazon leads the pack and is pulling away? Give consumers what they want, for fair prices and we’ll flock to your stores, be they online or otherwise. Treat us fairly while you’re at it and we’ll be yours for life.
Cheers — Larry