CONGRATULATIONS TO JUDY C. IN LOUISIANA FOR WINNING MY SEPT. 12 YAHOO CHAT  CONTEST. SHE CHOSE THE STARBUCKS COFFEE, SO I SENT A GIFT CARD SINCE SHE HAS SEVERAL STORES IN HER TOWN.

CONGRATULATIONS TO JEN H. OF COLORADO FOR WINNING HER CHOICE OF MY BOOKS OFFERED IN MY AUTHOR ISLAND CONTEST. SHE CHOSE MY PRINT BOOK "IN PASSION'S THRALL." I HAD TO REORDER, SO SHE'S WAITING PATIENTLY.

SOON AUTHOR ISLAND WILL BE OFFERING ANOTHER KINDLE AS A PRIZE. I'M ONE OF THE AUTHORS WHO HAVE DONATED MONEY TO PAY FOR IT.
 
Y'LL COME TO AUTHOR ISLAND TO ENTER. http://www.authorisland.com

HAVE A GREAT WEEK,

CAROLINA VALDEZ

http://www.carolinavaldez.com

Pop in Saturday, Sept 12, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. for my chat on "Passion, Heat and Ecstasy of the Exotic Male Kind"

http:groups.yahoo.com/group/karendevinkaren 

Contest prize is a pound of Starbuck's coffee OR a can of tea from Coffee, Bean & Tea Leaf.
 
Contest closes at midnight, but the chat and readers' remarks will be there for some days.

Hope to see you there,

Carolina Valdez
http://www.carolinavaldez.com

SMOLDERING EMBERS, new paperback gay erotic collection contains Carolina's Passionate Plume 2009 Novella Finalist, TIE'EM UP, HOLD 'EM DOWN, its sequel, HANGIN' WITH MY WINDOW MAN, and HOLE IN ONE.
http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/SmolderingEmbers.html
Also available on amazon.com/kindlebooks 

AVAILABLE NOW FROM AMBER QUILL/AMBER ALLURE
ISBN-13:978-1-60272-532-4 (Digital)
$3.75 during discount period, otherwise $5.00

Stan Gordon, M.D., is well aware of the unwritten code forbidding sexual liaisons between a physician and those in his charge, but when he provides intimate care for Brian Storm, a seriously injured police detective, he comes dangerously close to crossing the line. When he tries, he’s shocked to find desire is forbidden, not by the code but by the emotional demons Brian wrestles. Tortured while working undercover before they met, department policy prevents Brian from sharing the full story with Stan, yet reliving the trauma threatens to destroy their new and deepening love. If Brian can’t overcome what’s been done to him, will Stan leave him to look for a more responsive man? And will Brian  be able to resolve his secret fear that he'll be unable to function as a copy again?

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/ForbiddenDesire.html  

Carolina Valdez
http://www.carolinavaldez.com 

Go into your Kindle account and see what they've named your device. Then see what email they've given you. Let's say January Doe bought a Kindle. The email address she uses for the account is yellowstonepark388888@sbcglobal.net.

Her Kindle account indicates the name of her device is Jan's Kindle and her email address is yellowstonepark388888. Then she would attach the file(s) she'd like converted and address it to

Jan's Kindle yellowstonepark388888@free.kindle.com

I sent in two html files, and they were returned promptly. They still state the extension as .html, but if I connect my Kindle to my computer, I can transfer.

Neat!

Carolina Valdez

From now on, I'll choose the PRC format for any ebooks I buy from a non-Kindle site such as Amber Quill Press. This is Mobipocket's format and Amazon owns Mobi, so you can connect your Kindle to your computer and transfer those files right to it.

When my books are published, Amber Quill sends me copies in prc, pdf, html, rb, and lit. I'd splurged on a Kindle when the Oprah Winfrey $50 discount was in effect, and I easily loaded all the books in prc to it from my computer.

However, my first novel, KNIGHT OF THE CAPTIVE HEART, and my Heat Wave winner DARK STRANGER, published by Amber Quill, aren't in that format, so Mobi and Amazon/Kindle don't list them. Also, I usually purchase in html, and I'd like those on this reader, too.

I'm in the process of figuring out how to send them to Amazon/Kindle to have them converted. So far, I've learned you go into your Kindle account to determine what they've named your device and what Kindle email address they've given you. You use these to send files to them for conversion. I've tried it, but without a response.

I think I may have to convert the files into doc first. If a pdf file isn't locked, a pdf converter would do this, but the one I have doesn't work because the cover design comes up first. I believe a more advanced converter would work, but right now I don't have time to look into this because I'm swamped baking and cleaning in preparation for overnight guests for Thanksgiving.

Author Connie Crow says people at the Kindle Help line (1-866-321-8851) are terrific. 

Anyway, I'm on this journey. I'll keep you informed. By the time I figure it out, you'll probably have solved the problem yourself.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday,

Carolina

Wouldn't you be thrilled if your novella hit the number on spot on Amber Quill's Best Seller list - particularly since it was your first M/M story? I certainly was.

For more on what it took to pull this story together, check out http://www.novelspot.com/blog/832 for MORE THAN JUST WORDS.

My other postings are ON BEING PUBLISHED, A FIRST NOVEL'S JOURNEY INTO PRINT and OTHER REALMS, OTHER LOVES.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Carolina Valdez   http://www.carolinavaldez.com

Before you join, be fully informed by reading http://www.ncs-tech.org/?p=1146

I've been receiving invitations from people I don't know. On MySpace, I have  "friend" requests from people I don't know and cheerfully add them to my page. However, with Goodly I realized people were getting my email address from not one but several Yahoo groups when people mentioned them. 

When the form for joining popped up, I backed off when it asked for my Yahoo ID and password. No way. After reading the article, I realized that was a wise, even though instinctive, response.

You may find this group is for you. If so, the article will indicate a way to be safe. I think it suggests setting up a separate ID and password used only for this group. Anyway, please read before you join.

Carolina Valdez - Where passion unlocks the sweet ecstasies of love  http://www.carolinavaldez.com                                                              Available now TIE 'EM UP, HOLD 'EM DOWN at http://www.amberallure.com/TieEmUp.html

 

 

 

My friendship with a woman my mother's age began in an evening writing class. My mother had passed away, and I was a young mother writing and raising a family. She lived in a small house behind her daughter's house, and I loved stepping in to have tea and talk about writing. Somehow visiting her at Christmas became a tradition. She'd have goodies and a small gift for our firstborn son.

She'd invite me to lunch, and we'd bite into open-face sandwiches, whose cheese had been melted in the toaster oven until their edges were crisp, and drink Earl Grey tea. 

Sometimes she'd critique my latest story, and she was quite blunt. "Your writing is so cold," she once told me. She'd probably be amused at the hot, explicit stories I write these days. 

When the second son came along, our friendship and the holiday tradition continued. After about eight years, I went to work and rarely had time to step into her small, comfortable home and relax with her. We still traded books, and she'd give me scads of catalogs as she was no longer able to get out to shop much.

My sons grew up, and I was busy working. We'd still sometimes manage the Christmas visit, but then even that dropped off. Guilt would niggle at me once in awhile. I should go see Dorothy, it would say. There was a year when I became determined to answer that prompt. She was from the East Coast, and she loved geese. I found a lovely Christmas mug with a deep blue interior. On the white outside, geese waddled along with a red holiday ribbon waving above them. The mug sat in its bright wrapping, waiting to be delivered.

Christmas came and went. New Year's, too. The mug waited for the visit I still planned to make, even if belatedly. It waited until her daughter called one morning to say Dorothy had passed away.

My grief was even more sharp because I had neglected her. Her daughter said, "Oh, no. Mother didn't feel neglected. She understood how little time you had. She loved you."

And I had loved her. For years afterward, I put the wrapped gift under our Christmas tree--a gentle reminder that late may just well be too late.

When it was time to let go of guilt, I unwrapped the mug. Now our sons use it on visits to us over the holidays. And I drink from it as I eat toasted cheese sandwiches and drink tea, pondering the complexities of life for modern women and the value of friendship.

Carolina Valdez - Where passion unlocks the sweet ecstasies of love