The post office delivered WHAT?

Last week I was expecting two boxes of books from a friend, Barbara Vey. Well, one of the boxes came in and all was well.  Yay! A few days later I get another box. The box was still sitting on my front porch, and I wondered why the hubby hadn't brought it in. He proceeds to tell me he wasn't bringing that mess inside. Hmm. I had no idea what he meant be that.

So I go outside to bring the box inside, and found a very odd surprise. The box had multiple holes in it, and it had oily stains all over it.

I figured this box was accidentally delivered to me, so I proceeded to read the label and it matched the first box of books, but I could barely see where it had come from, but sure enough it was from the same address as before. 

I opened the box and found an engine. Wha???? Needless to say I was very puzzled.

My daughter suggested that Barbara was shipping the engine to a mechanic, and accidentally sent me the engine and sent the mechanic the books. Well, wouldn't he get a surprise if that were true... :-)

So I called Barbara and her voice mail picks up. I leave her a message that went something like this.
"Hi Barb - It's Dawn. Um. Did you send me an engine? Call me."

Anyway I left the engine on my porch because the stupid thing was leaking oil through the box, plus it must have weighed 40 pounds, which got me thinking, how could some one ship an engine for $10.95?  That's what the label read.  Man she got a deal. lol

Later I left for the mall with the kiddo to shop for her home-coming dress and shoes, and while she was trying on dresses, Barbara called me back.

"Hi Dawn.  I don't think I heard you right. Did you say, and she proceeds to spell it. "E.N.G.I.N.E."

I busted out laughing in the dressing room, and I'm sure people thought I was insane.  "Yep. That's what I said. The box was from you, but didn't have books inside. It had an greesy engine."

We laughed and she suggested I contact the post office.  So I called them and told them and the lady thought it was funny.  She told me the supervisor would call, but I haven't heard a word. The motor is still sitting on my porch, and it might still be there for Thanksgiving when all the family comes over. Wouldn't that make a great conversational piece. :-) "Er, Dawn. Why do you have an engine on your porch?"  

Were you ever surprised by a package before? 

Dawn Chartier
Diamonds, Amazon, Nook, Siren-Bookstrand
Not An Angel, Amazon
www.dawnchartier.com

On My Mind by, Sara Megibow (Agent) ~ from Newsletter Article

(This is an article from Nelson Agency - Permission was granted to me to repost by Sara Megibow)

 

On My Mind by Sara Megibow

My son is seven years old, and he’s short. I’m short, my husband is short. No big surprise there, right? Last month the kid and I were in line for ski passes. For those of you who don’t ski, please know that ski passes are not cheap. They range from $80 to $150 per day per skier. But we like to ski, so we budget for it. At the cash register, the total was much lower than I expected so I said, “That’s two regular-priced tickets, please, not one.” Cashier said, “Oh, I thought your son was five. He would have been free at five.” The woman in line behind me said (loudly), “Why on earth did you say anything? You should have taken the free ticket.” And all I could think to say was, “Because I don’t want to teach my son that honesty is only for rich people.” So, I paid full price, and my son was there to learn the lesson.Honesty.

When an author has a book for sale, one of our goals is to sell that book for money. Most authors will make a little money, some will make more money, and a verrrrrry few will make a lot of money. Regardless, in publishing, one goal is to bring in money. (Another goal is high artistic integrity, but more on that in another post.)

When readers pirate books for free, they are not paying the authors for those works. Those authors earn nothing for all their hard work. Now, I get that it's tempting to get a free book. And I also know that an author is popular if he/she is being regularly pirated. Pirated books can and probably do spread the word to legitimate book buyers. But that should not be the rationale.

Don’t take music files without paying for them. Don’t post pictures on your website that you don’t own. Don’t sneak into a movie without paying for it. Don’t lie to get cheaper ski passes. Be honest.

Sincerely,

Sara

What's Hot by Sara Megibow

I spent a week in NYC this month. Mostly I was enjoying New York ComicCon and geeking out with 119,000 other comic-book fans. But I did manage to do some work between getting autographs and being a fan girl. What’s hot in the world of adult science fiction and fantasy right now?

Based on meetings I had at ComicCon:

• The mash-up! Science fiction with steampunk, fantasy set in an historical time period with vampires, space opera with magic wands and prophecies. This is one reason Michael Martinez is getting such amazing advance publicity for THE DAEDALUS INCIDENT, his debut science fiction mash-up scheduled for early 2013.

• Commercial, fun, high-action science fiction. Think spaceships, aliens, battles, cool gadgets--the works.

• Epic fantasy with a unique story. A story bigger than “adventurers on an epic journey to find the magic object that will save the world.” Betsy Dornbusch has an epic fantasy called EXILE (Feb 2013) set in a totally unique world. This is what’s hot.

Visit Sara Megibow at: www.nelsonagency.com  (I was given permission to repost from Sara.)

Happy Submitting,
Dawn Chartier
www.dawnchartier.com