All silliness aside, I am thrilled to be a part of this 8th annual event benefiting breast cancer patients of the Santa Clarita Valley. The weather has been ordered up special, too.

Besides sponsoring a table (mine this year is “Snowy Night”), I am donating copies of my first lighthouse mystery, POINT SURRENDER, to all attendees. I’m happy to do it. And should any of my new 300+ fans wish to buy CAPE SEDUCTION, I’m passing along $3.00 from their purchase to Circle of Hope. In fact, I’ll make that deal to anyone who happens along here between now and year end. Just click HERE to take advantage of this special offer. (Sounding a little like a TV commercial!)

Pam & Kwei

To lighten the tone after my last cranky post, here’s a snapshot taken yesterday at Barnes & Noble, Valencia, California. Kwei Quartey is the author of the Inspector Darko Dawson Mystery series, the most recent of which is CHILDREN OF THE STREET. Kwei is a delightful guy and I’m always glad to see him. He periodically sends me lighthouse photos he snaps while traveling, most often from Ghana, his home country.

Big thanks to Jackie Vick and Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles for setting up our panel discussion. Also to Lori Christian of Barnes and Noble, a most gracious and knowledgeable hostess! We’re hoping to put together a lighthouse discussion in the future.

If you missed this event, all of our books are available at Barnes and Noble, as well as that other big online bookseller you might know about.

A quick surf through cyberspace will turn up numerous celebrations of National Lighthouse Day. I am celebrating by kicking off my month-long campaign to launch my latest romantic lighthouse mystery, CAPE SEDUCTION!

But back to NLD. What’s it all about, actually? Well, back in 1988, Senator John H. Chafee (Rhode Island) sponsored a joint resolution that was introduced to Congress on April 28^th, designating the day of August 7, 1989 as “National Lighthouse Day.” The enactment of the resolution would coincide with the 200^th anniversary of the signing of the Lighthouse Act and the commissioning of the first Federal lighthouse in the United States. Read more about it at my Legendary Lighthouses Blog.

Traditionally, those lighthouses open to the public plan special events and celebrations every August 7^th. This year is especially fun because the 7^th falls on Saturday, a day when lighthouse visitation is already high. One particular lighthouse, however, will remain shuttered today, as it does for most of the other 364 days a year:  St. George Reef, the inspiration for CAPE SEDUCTION. Which brings me to my campaign!

CAPE SEDUCTION officially launches in September. So, between now and September 10^th, I’ll be conducting a contest! I haven’t done one in awhile, so it’s time. Here are the answers to your questions:

WHAT DO I DO?

• Visit the excerpt page for CAPE SEDUCTION on my website.
• Post a Comment. Must be relevant to the excerpt, please!
• By posting, you agree to let me Tweet your wonderful comment or post it to Facebook.

WHEN DO I DO IT?

• Between August 7 and September 10, 2010, during which time I’ll be on my annual BOOK BLOG TOUR! (More on this next time.)

HOW DO I WIN?

• I will make a random drawing and announce the winner at my last BLOG TOUR STOP, which is LIFE AS A PUBLISHER with Karen Syed!

WHAT DO I WIN?

• Winner’s choice: $25 Gift Card from Barnes and Noble or
• Flash Drive loaded with 5 Echelon Press novels of your choice! (A $40 value!)

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU (ME)?

• The hope that the excerpt will inspire you to BUY CAPE SEDUCTION! You enlightened ebook readers can get it for $2.99, and those tactile-feely-paper-lovers are welcome to it for $13.99 from Amazon! Check Omnilit for various ebook formats of both lighthouse mysteries, CAPE SEDUCTION and POINT SURRENDER.)

As always, thanks for visiting my blog today. I know how valuable your reading time is.

High points (and pun slightly intended) were the lighthouses. Sigh. First, Point Cabrillo, just north of Mendocino, California. Darlingest little beacon. No tours (the tower was chained off) and the main floor is now a gift shop. DD and I romped around taking photos and complained because I’d left my wallet with DH, down the road.

Next was Battery Point in Crescent City. We stayed at (where else?) The Lighthouse Inn. Lovely people, and a lobbyful

The Glamorous, Success Author at Battery Point

of lighthouse pictures and artifacts. INCLUDING a huge wall mural of St. George Reef Lighthouse, which figures prominently in my new book, CAPE SEDUCTION! How hauntingly apropos. Staff was lovely. They agreed to display my rack cards!

Battery Point is a beautiful lighthouse, accessed only at low tide. DD and I took a tour. The docents were volunteers who get a month of lighthouse keeping at a time, and the waiting list is LONG. I passed out bookmarks and postcards to two very giddy lighthouse loving ladies.

Last was one of my favorites, Heceta Head Lighthouse in Yachats, Oregon. One of the most photographed beacons in the U.S. Another tour, lots of good info.

The Astonishing Heceta Head

Great gift shop (had my wallet this time!!) Could have stayed here all day. This lighthouse is on the cover of POINT SURRENDER. Heceta Head, by the way, is on tap for a major facelift next year. Needs it, badly.

Couldn’t see them all. Passed several up on the way, hopefully to be visited another time. I’ll be traveling back to my brother’s house in late August, at which time we’ll visit Point No Point Lighthouse. Can’t wait!

St. George Reef inside The Lighthouse Inn!

Evidence of decay. Still beautiful

• Small press month
• Women’s history month
• National Nutrition Month
• National Kidney Month
• American Red Cross Month.

See anything interesting yet? Maybe you’re not up to a whole month of anything, so consider this: it’s Read an ebook week! Yes, those annoying tree-huggers are back, admonishing you for still reading paper books! I’ll admit to reading both, although I prefer the “e” variety and have for many years. Do I have a dedicated ereader? Yes, and no. My ereader is the granddaddy of all ebook reading devices, the Rocket eBook, and it’s like 8 years old already. Heavy, clunky, but adorable.

On Monday, I noticed the woman on the next treadmill was jogging while reading a Kindle, placed on the magazine deck of her machine. She had to reach up every few seconds to press the spot that would turn the page as she ran. Very jazzy. Poor me, trying to read about Johnny Depp in Entertainment Weekly, while the overhead fan kept blowing the magazine’s leaves. Hrmph.

To celebrate REBW, my niece and I went to B & N yesterday and she scraped up $280 in cold, hard-earned cash (she’s 18) for a nook™ ereader. (Yes, it’s lower case. Go figure.) We were both so excited and spent quite a while playing with it later. While I am enamored with the upcoming Apple iPad, I am so not enamored with the $500+ price tag. So I’m going to wait a bit, get the feedback from my niece on the nook and see if I get a chance to test drive the iPad when it comes out. In the meantime, I’ll play with her nook. Say, look what she’s reading!

POINT SURRENDER is available for your nook, your Kindle, your Sony reader and even your Rocket eBook. Read it on your computer, your iPhone, your MACBook. Your Pocket PC, your Blackberry, your Palm Pilot. And even (shhh! – don’t tell everyone) available in dead-tree version! (On sale at B&N.com for $11.69!)

Happy Reading!

I'm All Packed!

It’s going great. A LOT more fun than I thought it would be! And it’s forcing me to write on-the-fly. I offered these topics, now I must make good on them. (What was I thinking??? LOL).

Monday kicked off at Life of a Publisher. Confession, my actual article got lost in cyberspace and never made it to host Karen Syed’s hands. Karen, ever the fix-all wonder that she is, dredged up a pretty darn decent replacement blog about me. The original article will go up at the end of the tour, to wrap things up!

Tuesday found me jabbering about photography and writing at Beth Fish Reads. What fun! And what a great bunch of readers she has!

Wednesday I stopped in at Write First, Clean Later with L.J. Sellers. By the time I finished talking about how to find more time for yourself, I was convinced I need to take my own advice! L.J.’s site is a wealth of information for any writer. Great blog!

Today, I get a break from writing and instead got to sit back and read a review of my middle grade reader, LOCKER SHOCK! by Mitali at Alley of Books. Felt like a reward! This 18 year old reviewer is articulate and thoughtful, and I couldn’t be happier with her well-written review.

Tomorrow ends my first week with My Friend Amy, where I’m talking all about lighthouses. And guess what: August 7th is actually National Lighthouse Day! What a treat!

My line up for next week:

Monday - Writing & Life, hosted by Nick Valentino:  Taking the Mystery Out of EBooks

Tuesday - Twiga Tales, with Regina Leake:  Haunting Lighthouses

Wednesday - Vintage Cookbooks, cooked up by Amy Alessio:  Living the Romantic Life

Thursday - Nisha Sharma is on the calendar to review me!

Friday - Candid Canine (Cute name!) led by Christine Verstraete: Keeping Young Readers Motivated!

Hope you’ll stop by for a visit!

Pam:     Well, Case McKenna. Or is it Casey?

Case:     Just Case. (Shakes dark, shaggy locks away from his face.) But yeah. Casey’s my given name. Just got a bit worn.

Pam:     Case it is. Let’s see. You own a lighthouse?

Case:     (Shakes head, grins) Oh, no. Not me. You’re talking about Point Surrender, right? Nope. Not mine. Thank God. It belongs to my girlfriend’s brother and his wife.

Pam:     I see. But you have a connection.

Case:     Well, yeah, you might say that.

Pam:     You don’t want to talk about it.

Case:     Can I buy a vowel, Vanna?

Pam: (laughing) Can you tell us anything about this famous lighthouse? I heard it was haunted.

Case: (chews bottom lip, thoughtful) Yes. Yes, I’ve seen…a ghost there.

Pam:     Scary!

Case:     Not really. He’s a benevolent type. He had a … message for us.

Pam:     Us. You and ?

Case:     Amy. My lady love. My cohabitant. My significant other.

Pam:     What kind of message?

Case:     He wanted us to know about some…important events that occurred in the lighthouse. To clear up some things. You know. He couldn’t rest… all that stuff.

Pam:     Do you know who he was?

Case:     Yes.

Pam:     And?

Case:     Just—yes.

Pam:     Is it true that the last keeper died in the lighthouse?

Case:     Yes. And no, it wasn’t him. (Chuckles).

Pam:     Well thank you for that, at least! Now, you are a veteran of the Marines?

Case: (Shakes head, again) I’m a marine veterinarian. I take care of sick sea mammals and birds.

Pam:     But do you visit Point Surrender?

Case:     Not if I can help it.

Pam:     Did anyone ever tell you you are a tough interview?

Case: (Blue eyes twinkle) You want to talk about whales or sea otters?

Case McKenna and Amy Winslow are both characters in POINT SURRENDER by Anne Carter, from Echelon Press, Amazon and available for your Kindle, iPhone or other ereader from Fictionwise.

I'm All Packed!

Okay, it’s a blog tour, but it’s still going to be a real trip… !

I’m blogging all over the place anyway, so why not hand pick a variety of entertaining spots to visit while I’m at it? The entire schedule can be found on the Book Tour calendar on my website.  I hope you’ll join me on my tour and leave a comment here and there—there’s bound to be some reward for the fans who visit all of my stops!  More details on that CONTEST to come!

On the first week of the tour—between August 3 and August 7th—you can find me at the following websites with lots of fun and reading matter. Thanks to my fab publisher, Ms. Karen Syed, for helping me get this off the ground!

August 3: Life as a Publisher with host Karen Syed

• Tour kicks off with an article about a subject near and dear to my heart: Kids & EBooks
• How EBooks Will Increase Literacy

August 4:          Beth Fish Reads

• Read how photography can enhance your writing in
• A Story’s Worth a Thousand Pictures

August 5:          Write First, Clean Later interview with host L.J. Sellers

• Ever had a conflict between your professional life and your true self?
• Finding Time to Be Yourself (and Stay Sane)

August 6:          Alley of Books review post by Mitali Dave

• What did Ben find in his school locker?
• Mitali will be reviewing LOCKER SHOCK!

August 7:          My Friend Amy hosted by… Amy!

• What do lighthouses have to do with romance? Find out in
• Living, Loving and Lighthouses

Come along for the ride and let’s have some fun!

Yes, my book is on Kindle

Lit Agent Nathan Bransford’s post this morning got me thinking. (Note: I still like Nathan even though he turned down my query in a NY minute.) Nathan’s a smart guy, and if anyone is keeping his finger on the pulse of the pub industry, he is. Today he is talking about the squabble over releasing hard cover books in advance of ebooks, because the fear seems to be that the less expensive electronic editions will hurt sales of paper versions. This is particularly amusing to me, because my small press publisher does just the opposite; ebooks first, paper books only if the e-version does well.

I was glad to see that, for the most part, Nathan and I are on the same proverbial page. I see book purchasing consumers as two very different breeds, at least for the time being. The ebook market is still in the throes of a painfully slow evolution. True, the advent of the Kindle and Sony readers has given the process a good shove, but I still believe that the same people who want those hard backs (I never buy them, myself) aren’t the same folks who will gleefully download the same book instead simply due to cost. Save for a small percentage of enlightened mainstream book buyers, most of those clamoring for ebooks would not likely buy the expensive paper version to begin with. Likewise, paper-only-pundits wouldn’t be caught dead with a USB cable in hand.

What I see are missed opportunities for publishers to mine both camps. Maybe part of the problem is that these big, mainstream publishers don’t really know how to market the digital versions of their new releases. Or, they are so focused on the low price of the ebook, they fail to see how any sale is better than no sale.

I’m no expert–although I’d like to be–and I’m still trying to figure out how best to promote ebooks myself. I see my own readers as divided. Clearly, for me, most of my fan base prefers the trade paperback–and I’ve been touting ebooks for ten years. But I can be patient. Ebooks have come farther in the last year than in the previous five, in my opinion. And I’ll repeat what I’ve said many times before: paper books will not go away; there will be, however, a shift in reading toward their electronic cousins. A market share for both.

Coquille River Lighthouse as it looked to us in 1990.

Some friends of mine are traveling to Oregon tomorrow, and our discussion about their trip led me to recommend visits to the state’s many beautiful lighthouses. As it turns out, their travels will take them along a good portion of the Oregon coastline, leading them past several of these marvelous beacons. Heceta Head, of course, is a favorite of mine, being the inspiration for (and gracing the cover of) my latest romantic mystery, POINT SURRENDER.

Yaquina Head, Yaquina Bay, Umpqua River, Cape Arago and others are all on the route. However, I gave my friends specific instructions to visit Coquille (Koh-kel) River Lighthouse in Bandon. With Google’s help, a quick search of this distinctive, octagonal beacon reveals that it has been refurbished since my visit in the early 1990’s. LighthouseFriends.com seems to have the most updated info, and they mention some discord concerning the paint colors on this 113 year old station. Seems some folks feel it should be all white. Personally, I’m just thrilled it’s been restored.

When my family visited Bullards State Beach Park in 1990, my young sons delighted in playing amount the rocks on the jetty. The younger, just 4, managed to plop himself down into the cold waters of the Coquille River! He thought it was a riot until I had to strip him down in the parking lot, behind our open car door, and redress him in dry clothes.