Call it lucky number twenty-one. Here’s a tidbit from the latest Amazon review:
The ebook is free right now but THE FEVER won’t be free forever, so take advantage of this special offer.
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/557754
Enter coupon code “SFREE”
Warning: the sequel is coming soon, if you catch The Fever now you WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RESIST “A Curse That Bites Deep”
If we were having coffee I’m afraid I’d be inclined to perhaps pay a little too much attention to what you were having.
We humans are funny about our perceptions of what we spend money on. We’ll think nothing of dropping upwards of five bucks or more on a Mocha Latte with an extra shot, sometimes every day. Sometimes several times a day.
Look at smokers. To them the cost of cigarettes is a given. It’s automatically on the top of the pile. That’s why you see so many panhandlers who smoke and it is no doubt a part of what keeps them on the street. The first five bucks is not going to go to booze, as you might imagine, it’s going to go to tobacco. Maybe the second five bucks will go to booze.
Ever watch people in a bakery? You know that old saying, ‘Eating with the eyes?’ Well, that keeps the till full … “maybe one of those, oh, make it two. Oh, and a dozen doughnuts …”
I’d take a sip of my plain, small coffee and tell you, “I don’t begrudge these people their simple pleasures at all … but,” I would ask, “Why do people who have all manner of iPads, tablets, Kindles, and Nooks, balk at paying four or five bucks for an ebook?”
Like any artist, an author spends hours, days, weeks, months, and sometimes years sweating over their work. It’s not just books. I’ve seen people balk at the notion of buying music too, usually complaining while enjoying a high-priced coffee drink.
Don’t get me wrong, I think ebooks should be cheaper than print books and their value should reflect the resources they save. It is an immense savings, so on the other side of the issue … when I see an ebook priced as much as a print book I wince.
“Overpriced ebooks are part of the problem,” I’d say after another sip.
Then I would confess, “But, I actually like ebooks for general reading.”
Since I got my first electronic reader, I’ve read more books than I’ve read in years. I won’t bore you with the brand, but it’s true. The trick I found is a good case, one that opens like a book, and feels like a book in your hands. I went with a bigger screen once but down-sized because I think a smaller size is more comfortable for reading. There is back lighting for dim light and you don’t have to fold down pages if you forget your bookmark. Email, web access, movie streaming, yeah, there is extra value there, sure, but I always go back to the books.
Of course, if you’re read any of my blog entries, you know I have my own book out there.
“Yeah, me and everybody else,” I’d joke as I took another sip.
It’s in both print and ebook format. I’ve probably sold just as many (or maybe I should say just as few) copies in one format as the other. I make a little less on the print books even though they are $13.95 and the ebooks are $3.99. Voodoo economics I guess.
When asked how much royalty I make I explain it this way:
“About the same as the cost of a bag of potato chips; store brand; on sale.”
After you purchased us each another muffin, I’d tell you the news.
“I’m giving up.”
And then I’d react to your startled look.
“No, no, not on writing,” I’d laugh before explaining, “My ebook is going freebie for a while.”
Then I’d finish my coffee and the last bite of muffin and add with a chuckle, “so now’s your chance, you cheapskate.”
Thomas Fenske is a writer living in North Carolina. For information on his book, yes, the free one, check out his web page.
Next week, you’re buying the coffee.
Just a quick note with some news! I am now a featured author at Author Shout.
Check out my new profile page:
http://authorshout.com/author-shout-bookshelf/thomas-fenske/
If we were having coffee, once we got all nice and settled into our (hopefully) comfy chairs, I’d have to ask you the question.
Somebody asked me the other day about the headline on my website: “Not Just Another Lost Gold Mine Story”
Well, beyond the obvious answer (it isn’t!) … there is a story behind the comment.
I had entered The Fever in a contest where the winners would be considered for distribution to movie and television producers. Hey, I thought, The Fever would make a great movie! In fact, when I was first attempting to write the story, I seriously considered doing it as a screenplay instead. But in the early days I was just as successful in avoiding writing a screenplay as I was in avoiding writing a novel.
Anyway, one aspect of this contest was that they would give you feedback on your submission. They did. They pointed out that it looked like a good story and all but it seemed to be “just another lost gold mine story.”
“Great,” I thought to myself, “I knew I should have rewritten Freaky Friday instead!”
Oh, I’m fairly pragmatic about such things, and saw this feedback as more of a problem with my submission materials rather than the quality of the work itself. I think submissions like this are a bit like grant writing, there is an art to it and it is a skill I haven’t quite mastered, along with writing book blurbs and good headlines I guess.
But there you have it … I wanted to emphasize the fact that it ISN’T just another lost gold mine story. The hero Sam realizes he has become stagnated and his isolation is holding him back. He finally figures out that he HAS to change or he’ll never find what he’s looking for.
I think that’s good advice … I probably need to change the headline and blurb to something new before too long.
Thomas Fenske http://www.thefensk.com
I guess I’m still learning this blogging stuff but one thing I have managed to figure out is that it needs a catchy title. My original title, “Thomas Fenske, Author,” although descriptive, ironically lacked originality. Then one day I thought about my first web page, cobbled together by hand back in 1993. “Okay, You’re Here, Now What?” was the banner that splashed across the page and it reflected my awe at arriving on the web scene … Basically all dressed up and no place to go (well, except everywhere).
Back in the very early days of the wild wide world of webs it seemed oddly appropriate, but after I changed it to that name here, well, it was too long. And it didn’t make as much sense now. Note to self, your own private jokes often don’t play well to a crowd. Twenty five year old jokes even less.
Still, I needed something in that spot so I tried just shortening it to “Okay, You’re Here” and that made even less sense. Sigh.
So I revisited the problem and came up with “A Smidgeon’s Toll.” Yeah, it still doesn’t make a lot of sense but at least it is hopefully intriguing. And it has some bearing on my published and soon-to-be published writings. You see, Smidgeon Toll is a major character in both books and should have an even bigger role in a planned third edition of the growing series. She’s the short, spunky, outspoken owner of a cafe that has a prominent place in both books. Her name came from her grandmother who blurted out, “Why, she’s just a smidgen of a thing” the first time she saw her as a tiny baby. Smidgeon is just an archaic (quaint, right?) spelling of the same word.
So, we’ll see how this one goes … unless I change my mind again.
What do you think? Do I need to change the title again?
Two reminders: You can get more information on my novel The Fever at http://www.thefensk.com and I am still hosting a giveaway for one Kindle copy of The Fever at Amazon: https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/de2b8b0acbf85b6f
If we were having coffee, it being National Donut Day weekend, I’d be inclined to read you a passage from The Fever, about a legendary Austin donut shop:
“The aggravation of Austin’s rush hour traffic spurred Sam to make a side trip on the way to work. Mrs. Johnson’s was a doughnut shop that had carved a niche in the collective appetite of Austin. If he drove past the shop late at night when the hot doughnuts were being freshly glazed, the aroma would permeate the air with a sweet and luscious fragrance that was impossible to ignore without stopping.
“My car starts shaking and then automatically pulls in,” he would joke to friends.
Despite its reputation, the store itself was not impressive. It was a low-slung frame building with peeling paint and a parking lot that resembled the lunar surface.
“A dozen glazed,” was his order. The clerk sauntered over to the production line and pulled his order from the warm doughnuts that were resting after being glazed. As he carried his prize back to the car, he savored the irresistible aroma and could feel a gentle warmth radiating from the box.”
More information on The Fever: http://www.thefensk.com
It is a bit scary and humbling for an author to solicit independent book reviews. Let me preface this reblog with one word: Awesome!!!
Originally published in The Edifying Word:
http://theedifyingword.com/2016/05/30/book-review-the-fever-by-thomas-fenske/
Throughout the nineties, I was an old-school barista at a gourmet food store in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I admit it, I was a coffee snob back then. Ah, but we got a discount, plus … we ground beans fresh every day for the coffee bar, so whatever dabs of coffee were left for the day were free for the taking. I drank high-quality beans every day for YEARS.
Okay, it’s our turn … you know what I’d order? A coffee.
Internally I’ll smirk if you ordered anything else. Although I don’t insist on pricey gourmet beans anymore at home, I’m still a little bit of a coffee snob out at a coffee bar. Especially at that Ess-place. Sure, if I’m dragging and need a cup of coffee and it’s the only place around I’ll pop in there but to me they’ve both popularized coffee and ruined coffee at the same time.
I worked in a simple, traditional coffee bar environment. We had a full range of coffee drinks but nothing fanciful or made up. We served drinks in real glasses and cups with real spoons. It was thought that you’d sit down and enjoy your expertly made coffee drink so you could appreciate the skill and care that went into it.
I’m going to tell you a secret that most of the current crop of baristas don’t know. That latte that you pay $$ for in a paper cup? You’ve just bought a shot of espresso and a lot of milk in a paper cup.
Here’s the secret: a latte is a visual drink, meant to be served in a tall glass … meaning one actually made out of glass. A cappuccino? The same … It is also a visual drink, although it is a bit more subtle than a latte, it should be made in a large cup with a saucer.
The artistry in my lattes was in using the glass itself as a canvas, ending up with three distinct layers of milk, espresso, and froth, with the espresso just beginning to cascade down into the milk like an ever-changing sunset of subtle hues and swirls until the unwitting customer drops a glob of sugar into it and swirls it into oblivion. Brownian motion, I guess. A cappuccino has a slight dome of froth that is ringed with a halo of thick crema. I would serve them and point out the beauty, proud of my work.
Sigh. A traditional barista lives in such moments, each instant replaced by a stir and then you move on to the next order. It reflects in the tip jar … I made a lot of tips, but not on to-go orders in paper cups.
What about all those fancy artistic flares places do these days, like drawing with the crema in the froth? I’d never make it because as a visual artist I am a total flop. I might be able to do a Bob Ross thing, you know, “maybe add a little log cabin over there,” but your drink would be stone cold by the time I finished.
At our bar we didn’t make up new drinks like frapa-whatever (a pet peeve because people would come in and order those and since it is a proprietary item we’d have to pretend we didn’t know what it was) or reinvent a drink with a traditional name, like macchiato, forcing us to ask you if you know what that really was, a specific drink that is totally NOT like at that other place.
There isn’t much else to espresso drinks. When you are training, you learn to froth, you learn to make shots. Good froth and good shots. There is a process to do it right. The rest is really just recipes using those building blocks along with things like flavorings. Don’t get me started on flavorings. But those are really all the tools you need.
I always almost laugh out loud when I see a thermometer on the frothing pitcher. Thermometer? You hold a stainless steel pitcher in your hand … you froth by feel, by smell, and by sound. If it gets too hot, it is too hot to hold. Really. You can smell it if it scalds. It happens. You throw it out. A froth that sounds bad is like fingers on a blackboard to me. Something is wrong. Try again. There is an artistry to it and it takes a while to master but like riding a bicycle, once you have it, you have it.
My advice to anyone who likes coffee drinks? Get what you like, as long as you understand you are paying for a glass of milk. Oh, and if there are several of you, count shots. If the place has two double spout espresso heads and you’re ordering five or six shots remember that they can only make four shots at a time and the time between means several drinks are sitting getting cold. There are four of you but only you are getting a double … everybody loses. And keep an eye on that barista. If they draw espresso first, then froth they are doing it wrong. The milk will stay hot longer than the espresso, so they should froth first, then pull.
Ah, our coffee is done, time to get on with the day. Thank heavens we didn’t have fajitas, Lord knows, I could go on and on about fajitas …
Writer Thomas Fenske is author of The Fever and A Curse That Bites Deep (due out in September) … read more about him at http://thefensk.com
This is just a friendly reminder that there are still TWO COPIES (Kindle version) of my novel, THE FEVER up for grabs on an Amazon Giveaway. No purchase necessary, just go and enter for a chance to win.
What’s The Fever? I’m glad you asked.
What if someone told you how to find a lost gold mine?
What would YOU do?
THE FEVER is about Sam Milton, and that’s exactly what happened to him. Now he is obsessed with finding it and it hasn’t been easy. Time, money, skepticism … he deals with all these things and, in the process, he’s lost friends, lost love, and begins to question his own sanity. Still he goes out … again and again, trespassing, risking his life, and his freedom … for what? He doesn’t know anything except the raw urging that tugs at his soul, driving him to continue.
How far would you go to feed your FEVER?
Click below to enter the giveaway … it takes just a second … and you don’t need a kindle to enter.
https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/2c2b70a3a7387f64
Amazon has a kindle app for just about any device. Open up your world!
Scratching the Surface 