Archive for September, 2009

My Excellent Ebook Adventures: Geronimo!

Monday, September 28th, 2009
Teed Off! cover

Teed Off! cover

I love the idea of ebooks. Many reasons but for now let’s just say: as a author because they offer a variety of new marketing opportunities and ease of updating and as a reader because they provide simplicity, portability and availability.

So, months ago I decided to republish a pair of my novels as ebooks.

Even though I’ve never touched one, my main goal was to have my mysteries available for Amazon’s amazing Kindle ereader.

Simple, right?

No such luck BUT through a peck of perserverance and a dash of digitizing, I now (or shortly will) have ebooks available:

- in the iTunes.com App Store
- on Smashwords.com (the ‘people’s ebook site’)
- BarnesandNobles.com (through Smashwords agreement)
- Shortcovers.com (Canada’s Indigo Books’ online bookstore),
- Mobipocket.com (one of the Internet’s biggest ebook sellers), and
- Amazon.com’s Kindle store (waiting approval/fingers crossed).

So, how did I do it? Well, I’d love to say “Elementary, my dear Reader”, but it wasn’t. However, neither was it rocket science.

You might want to give it a digital whirl. So, over the next few weeks, I’ll blog you through it.

Geronimo!

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Coffee Time Romance Drinks Up UnnaturalStates

Friday, September 25th, 2009

Coffee Time Romance

A reviewer at Coffee Time Romance recently gave our Quillr a three cup (good read) review. Calling our multimedia platform an interesting idea, she also said that the music is wonderfully done, and really builds on the suspense and emotion of the characters and that the plot is very well done with the many twists and turns it takes to hold the reader captive to the story.

It’s great that she enjoyed the story and considers our experiment in multimedia publishing to be interesting, but the best news is that she loved and commented on the music. It’s about time! Our composer, Glynne Turner, created some amazing original songs, including Sinners Who Weep and Unnatural State. The songs, plus her carefully crafted music and sound effect atmospheres, add hugely to the overall UnnaturalStates.com experience.

Click here to watch our music video, starrring John the Apostle, singing Unnatural State: Unnatural State video

You may read the entire Coffee Time Romance review here coffee time romance review unnaturalstates.

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Have a Book with your Coffee?

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

No matter what your position on Google’s controversial book project, you’ll probably appreciate the instant coolness of getting a printed-on-demand-paperback from a kiosk, in the time it takes your barista to brew your latte.

The search engine giant recently inked an agreement with On Demand Books, which gives the maker of the Expresso Book Machine a stable of public domain titles. These nifty machines, which can quickly print and bind a quality paperback, are now in a bookstores and libraries in five countries, including my own Maple Leaf.

So, what’s your order? Will it be the thrilling adventure of Moby Dick? Perhaps the dark fantasy of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Or the wit and comedy of Pygmalion?

Me, I’m indulging in a little Emily Dickinson while I sip my iced tea:

But never met this fellow,
Attended or alone,
Without a tighter breathing,
And zero at the bone.

Doesn’t that give you delicious shivers?

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Improve Your Writing with Youdunit Whodunit!

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

cover image for Youdunit Whodunit!

I’m delighted to announce the e-book publication of my new non-fiction title YOUDUNIT WHODUNIT!, a short and practical how-to guide to CRAFTING mystery stories.

Only $2.99 US, this punchy ebook offers simple tricks and techniques, supported by concrete examples, which you can apply immediately to novels, short stories, screenplays, radio dramas or television scripts.

Maureen Jennings, author of the terrific MURDOCH MYSTERIES series, said Nicola Furlong has written a fun, engaging ‘how to’ book about writing mysteries. She is witty, thorough and she certainly knows what she’s talking about.

And Mary Jane Maffini, author of the Camilla MacPhee, Fiona Silk and Charlotte Adams mysteries, called YOUDUNIT WHODUNIT! … a snappy guide that effectively covers the bases for the beginning mystery writer. You’ll pick up useful insights into plot, character, point of view, suspense and so much more. The many tips should also help you find your unique style. If anything will kick start your first foray into crime writing, this great little resource will. I sure wish it had been around when I waded blindly into writing.

So, improve your writing today. Download YOUDUNIT WHODUNIT! from mobipocket.com or smashwords.com.

It will soon be available from the iTunes apps store, barnesandnobles.com and shortcovers.com.

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CSI Creator On Multimedia Storytelling Bandwagon

Friday, September 11th, 2009

We’re not alone in thinking “books” can be more, much more, in this digital age.

Our QUILLR® concept merges text, video, music, photos and sound effects, letting the reader experience the story.

Now Anthony Zuiker, the creator of the CSI TV franchise, is getting in on the multimedia storytelling action by combining book, movie and website in a “digi-novel” format, described here
Digi-movie concept.

As Zuiker says, The future of business in terms of entertainment will have to be the convergence of different mediums. So we did that – publishing, movies and a website.

I’m looking forward to following his brave new effort.

In the meantime, why not give our own multimedia event a shot?
UnnaturalStates.com

John & Harry Battling

John & Harry Battling

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MyShelf.com Loves UnnaturalStates

Monday, September 7th, 2009


It’s been a roller coaster few days. After receiving a negative review about our QUILLR®, UnnaturalStates, I was pretty down but kept repeating something my sister often quotes from Maeterlinck,

At every crossway on the road that leads to the future, each PROGRESSIVE SPIRIT is OPPOSED by a thousand men appointed to guard the past.

Then, something terrific: we received a fab review on MyShelf.com. Here’s an excerpt:

Nicola Furlong has stepped full-bodied into the twenty-first century with the release of Unnatural States, a multimedia internet venture based on her novel Thy Will Be Done. This is a very bold concept for an author.

Internet renderings have been around for awhile that combine stills and live action. But these are, for the most part, independent film shorts—I used to review them and other independent films for an indie film site. But Nicola Furlong's concept is quite unique. Not only are there stills and live action, but she has blocks of text like an eBook AND she also has a lot of music, written specifically for her novel...

...In Unnatural States, Nicola Furlong presents the story in short blocks of text that are often broken up with photographs of key characters. On some pages, a video widget appears, and you can click and watch a short scene between the actors. Music often plays on each page as you read, and sometimes songs are highlighted in special video segments. There are two full-length song segments, from John's upcoming concert...

... Quillr™, which is what Furlong is calling this blend of media, is touted for letting readers experience novels instead of just reading them or watching them as movies. I did enjoy the whole experience...

To read the full review, please visit: MyShelf Review of UnnaturalStates.

And to heck with those thousand men!

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Great Review – A Hemorrhaging of Souls

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

Cover for A Hemorrhaging of Souls

Rebekah at Bookishmom’s Review of A Hemorrhaging of Souls has given A Hemorrhaging of Souls a terrific review, saying “It was intense and truly chilling. A great read!”

Here’s an excerpt…

Not everything is as it appears when young girls begin killing themselves at The Perpetual Soul girl’s school. Death by self inflicted trama appears to be the case with each victim, but something about these scenarios doesn’t settle right with child psychologist Dr. Tempest Ivory or police Constable Patrick Painter. Based on evidence alone no foul play is suspected, and still both Ivory and Painter believe there’s a deeper meaning to be found.

The unexplained deaths are worrisome and tragic; however, what is to be uncovered is far more chilling and disturbing. For Dr. Ivory, what she discovers will take her back through years of hidden pain to the most personally troubling time of her life. She’s sitting on the opportunity of a lifetime in her singing career, the role of Gilda in Rigoletto. But she does what she does for a reason, and her own past is nothing, if not partially responsible, for putting her here. Her dreams of singing a big role aren’t to be forgotten, yet at the moment there’s more at stake than pride…

You can read the whole review here Bookishmom’s Review of A Hemorrhaging of Souls.

And while you’re at it, explore BookishMomReviews; Rebekah’s had a gander at some interesting books.

Of course, you may check out the book’s trailer and find how to purchase it as an ebook for $2.99 US at Nicola’s Work

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