Book Review No 29: Dancing Backwards In High Heels by Christine Darcas

Maddy is 42 years old and in a rut. A newcomer to Australia, she is struggling to find her feet while her two kids and husband seem to have settled in well at work and school. Desperate for a new outlet but just not sure what she wants, Maddy finds her answer one night as she searches for a doctors surgery for her ill son. A dancing studio catches her eye and on a whim, Maddy signs up for lessons - having no clue just what an impact it will have on her life.

Many women would be able to relate to Maddy's feelings - she is a giver to everybody except herself. While she has carefully buried her past as a dancer, that spark still exists within her and it doesn't take much to bloom back to full strength. Her family aren't entirely happy with her new hobby - after all it means she will be less available for them. Yet Maddy knows if she doesn't take a stand now, she never will.

Well written and easy to read, Dancing Backwards in High Heels explores many themes common to women worldwide. It is ultimately an uplifting story that celebrates the different passions each one of us has and why it is so important for us to embrace them - no matter what other people think.

Kindle Sale!

The Kindle version of The Beach House is just $2.99 for the weekend. Check it out at Amazon or Amazon UK

Thanks Fellow Authors

I really am very glad that I have become an author in the Internet age! In fact in all honesty, I might not even be here if it wasn't for the sweeping changes that the Internet has brought into the publishing industry. Not only is it much easier to get your work out on the world stage, but there is a huge community of fellow authors out there who are ready and willing to help you make it in the writing world. Over the past couple of months I have managed to conquer two of the biggest challenges facing (non U.S.) authors publishing on Amazon Kindle - tax and payment.

While Amazon might get your book out onto the global stage - unless you have your tax sorted out, the I.R.S. will take a huge 30% chunk of your earnings. Ouch! While you can apply to get this money back, it is such a long winded process it's really not worth the bother. Applying for an International Tax Number was similarly daunting - which was why I kept putting it off. Then I was lucky enough to stumble across a blog post about the much simpler to get Employee Identification Number and after a ten minute phone call I was sorted!

Dear Amazon, Please Explain......

I've said it before - Amazon has changed the way books are bought and read and given all authors a massive worldwide platform to share their work with the world. They are the King of books and I humbly acknowledge that. However, they can also be sneaky and as a huge player that knows they pretty much control the world book selling and e-book publishing industry, sometimes they do things that are just plain unfair.

Recently an indie author John Locke admitted he had paid for hundreds of glowing reviews of his own book. While it is without doubt an unethical thing to do, it was also without doubt a dumb thing to admit to. So like the whole class who gets kept in at lunch time because one kid won't admit to doing something wrong, thousands (or millions) of other authors have to suffer the fallout from this.