Author: Edward Trimnell

The return of cassettes

Cassettes Are Back, and It’s Not About the Music

I wouldn’t have expected this one.

I remember cassettes well, of course. (I even owned a few 8-tracks, as they were being phased out, in the very early 1980s.)

There are a lot of things that I miss about the last century, but the hissing, easily tangled audiocassette is not one of them. (That and typewriter correction fluid.)

As the above-linked article states, the big selling point of the cassette was its distinction as the most portable audio format, under the technological constraints we faced in the 1980s. No one loved them for their sound, or their reliability.

FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

For a limited time: a tale of horror, American history, and coming-of-age. 

The year is 1976, and the Headless Horseman rides again!

Steve Wagner is an ordinary Ohio teenager in the year of America’s Bicentennial, 1976. As that summer begins, his thoughts are mostly about girls, finishing high school, and driving his 1968 Pontiac Bonneville.

But this will be no ordinary summer. Steve sees evidence of supernatural activity in the area near his home: mysterious hoof prints and missing persons reports, and unusual, violently inclined men with British accents.

There is a also a hideous woman–the vengeful ghost of a condemned Loyalist spy–who appears in the doorway of Steve’s bedroom. 

Filled with angry spirits, historical figures, and the Headless Horseman of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Revolutionary Ghosts is a terrifying coming-of-age story with a groovy 1970s vibe.

Read it for FREE in Kindle unlimited, or for just $2.99

Don’t have Kindle Unlimited? Try Kindle Unlimited for FREE!

Luk Thep: Chapter 11

Jane had been asleep for several hours when she saw the image of the little village. She was alone in the dream (at least at its beginning) without any guides or emissaries from that world. Nevertheless, she knew immediately, instinctively, that the sun-baked collection of thatch and bamboo huts was a village in Thailand—a village not far from Bangkok, in fact.

Continue reading “Luk Thep: Chapter 11”

Luk Thep: Chapter 10

Jane and one of the night-shift security guards overcame the language barrier enough so that the latter could summon a taxi for the former. Jane was half-asleep by the time the taxi driver dropped her off at her hotel.

Jane’s first inclination was to go directly to bed. It was now a little past 10 p.m. local time. Then she realized how famished she was. If she went to sleep without eating anything, she would feel intolerably weak and light-headed in the morning.

The hotel restaurant was still open; this was Bangkok, after all. Jane ordered a spicy fish-and-rice dish, the sort of fare that could be found in practically any restaurant worth its chops in Southeast Asia. Continue reading “Luk Thep: Chapter 10”

A ghostly read with a 1980s vibe: FREE for a limited time!

Do you like supernatural coming-of-age stories? Do you like stories set in the 1980s?

Then check out 12 Hours of Halloween:

On Halloween night, 1980, three young friends must face a Halloween curse. Their familiar neighborhood becomes a ghostly landscape filled with witches, vampires, and supernatural creatures!

You can read 12 Hours of Halloween here on Edward Trimnell Books for a limited time.

Click here to start reading it for FREE!

 

(Don’t like to read online? You can also get the book in various formats, if that’s what you prefer!)

Is the Internet going to video?

Some people certainly think so.

I was listening to an Internet “guru” the other day, who basically sees the future of the Internet as one video clip after another. Fahrenheit 451, here we come!

But here’s a counterargument from just last year:

People are constantly putting videos up with little to no content that can REALLY benefit their intended audience. They just don’t understand that nobody’s going to sit there for 20 or 30 minutes listening to them go on and on and on without having real content. These video sales pitches are just becoming overwhelming on social media. It’s happening on Facebook too; I haven’t quite seen it on Twitter yet, but it’s coming. And with Instagram Story, you’re going to see more and more and more of that. Here’s what it boils down to: How do we make what we do relevant — especially to the audience that we’re trying to reach?

Business2Community.com

There is a lot of video on YouTube, but most of it is pointless. Tell me: Does anyone who isn’t a bored 13 year-old really want to watch Pewdiepie? 

Video has its place. As I’ve admitted many times, YouTube is absolutely great if you want to learn how to fix your leaky commode. I also prefer video for things like Photoshop instruction, which are inherently visual.

But for most objectives, in the fields of both instruction and entertainment, YouTube-style video provides little or no improvement over text (unless your audience is completely illiterate).

And in many cases, text is demonstrably superior. You can skim through a page of text. Skimming through a 20-minute YouTube video, on the other hand, is almost impossible. 

The Eavesdropper: Chapter 12

It occurred to me that I had overlooked the obvious: In large companies like Thomas-Smithfield Electronics, difficult personnel issues were handled by human resources departments. And if a conspiracy between my boss and two of my coworkers to kill our group admin didn’t count as a difficult personnel issue, what did?

So the very next morning I sent an intentionally vague email message to Anne Hull. Anne was a mid-level manager within the human resources department. She was high enough on the ladder to make things happen, but she wasn’t so high up the corporate food chain that she would pass me off to an underling.

Within less than an hour, there was an email from Anne in my Lotus Notes inbox:

“Why don’t you stop by at 10:00 a.m. My office is on the first floor, in the HR area.” Continue reading “The Eavesdropper: Chapter 12”

Luk Thep: Chapter 8

“Would you like me to give you a ride to your hotel?” Khajee asked. 

When Jane hesitated in her response, the Thai woman laughed and said, “Oh you probably thought that I was going to take you on the back of a moped!”

“Not necessarily,” Jane said. That would have been her first thought, though. Mopeds were ubiquitous in the cities of Southeast Asia—Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, and, of course, Bangkok. The truth was that as tired as Jane was, she simply hadn’t had time to fully contemplate Khajee’s offer.

Continue reading “Luk Thep: Chapter 8”

Should you sign up for Kindle Unlimited?

Amazon Kindle Unlimited

As both a writer and a reader, I know Kindle Unlimited from the inside out.

Kindle Unlimited (at the time of this writing) costs $9.99 per month. 

(Keep reading for information about the FREE TRIAL, though.)

Kindle Unlimited is an Amazon program that gives members more or less unlimited access (hence the name of the program) to a vast body of enrolled books.

How many books, exactly? 

I don’t know how many titles are enrolled in Kindle Unlimited at the moment. Probably no one does. But more are added every day. 

It’s a big, big bunch. (That’s a technical term, by the way.)

There are more books in Kindle Unlimited than you are going to read in your lifetime (even if you’re still in your twenties, and you don’t drink, smoke, or eat trans fats). 

Or to put it another way: You will never exhaust the books available to you in Kindle Unlimited. 

I can promise you that. 

So….what kinds of books are included with a Kindle Unlimited membership?

Well, first of all: These are Kindle, electronic books. (You probably already know that, but I should mention this just in case.) 

Not paperbacks or hardcovers, etc. 

Some Kindle Unlimited titles do include FREE audiobooks, too…but not all of them. Kindle Unlimited is primarily about ebooks. 

“Yeah, I get that. But what kinds of books?”

A lot of fiction. 

(Some nonfiction, too…But a lot of fiction.)

Genre fiction abounds in Kindle Unlimited. Romance, science fiction, fantasy, cozy mystery, etc. 

Oh, yes, and erotica, too. (Since you’ll be reading on your Kindle device, no one will know what you’re reading: the modern equivalent of the plain brown wrapper.)

Series

Many Kindle Unlimited authors publish series. So if you find a character whom you like, you may be able to follow that character on numerous adventures, over the course of a long series of books. 

Constant authorial output

Kindle Unlimited authors are largely compensated by page reads. (Like I said, as an author, I know the program from both sides.) Therefore, many of them are writing machines, in the grand tradition of the old pulp writers. 

Are there any downsides to Kindle Unlimited?

Kindle Unlimited is a great deal for voracious readers who like certain kinds of books. But there are a few other things (not necessarily sales points) that you should know about the program. With Kindle Unlimited, as with almost everything else, your mileage may vary 

In Kindle Unlimited, you won’t find the books that you see on the shelves at Walmart. 

Books by John Grisham, Stephen King, Lisa Scottoline, and James Patterson, etc. generally aren’t enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. 

(You can still order these books for your Kindle, of course—but you’ll have to pay for them.)

Authoritative nonfiction titles are scarce in Kindle Unlimited.

I like to read big, thick nonfiction books, especially about history and economics. For example: Leonardo Da Vinci, by Walter Isaacson. 

Those aren’t the kinds of books that typically show up in Kindle Unlimited. 

Once again: Kindle Unlimited is mostly about genre fiction.

Maybe you won’t read as much as you think you will.

Life happens, right? Maybe you’ll plan on reading…But you’ll be busy at work…Or you’ll go on vacation, or….

You know what I mean. 

And if that happens, you might not get your monthly fee’s worth.

Moreover, not every reader is a truly voracious reader.  

Are you the sort of reader who reads four or five books per year? Kindle Unlimited (probably) isn’t your thing.

Do you read multiple books per week? Then Kindle Unlimited might be for you.

The bottom line

Kindle Unlimited is a great program. Moreover, it’s an Amazon program, and you probably already have a relationship with Amazon. (If you don’t have a relationship with Amazon and you live in the U.S., you are an extreme rarity, indeed.)

But as I said: Your mileage may vary. 

So…what’s the best thing to do?

In my opinion, your best option is to sign up for a Kindle Unlimited 30-day FREE trial.

That way, if you like Kindle Unlimited, you can continue with it.

On the other hand, if you determine that Kindle Unlimited isn’t your thing, you can cancel, nothing lost.

Why not give Kindle Unlimited a try?

You have nothing to lose, after all.

I strongly recommend that you give Kindle Unlimited a FREE try. And while you’re thinking about Kindle Unlimited, you might also want to check out the newest Kindle devices from Amazon.

Should the writer plot?

That perennial question…

From my YouTube channel: Should the writer plot?

As I explain in the video, either process can result in a successful story.

But there are two things that you must do…and you can do these either as a plotter or a discovery writer.

I also mention my short story, “The Dreams of Lord Satu” (FREE to read here on Edward Trimnell Books), and I recommend John Sandford’s crime novel, Mortal Prey.