Fan Friday - Surprise Sneak Peek from ~Storm Warning - A Kelli Storm Novel~

Tuesday October 27^th 2:48 P.M. Manhattan

West 125^th Street - New York County District Attorney’s Office

Kelli pushed the file across to ADA John Beckman and sat back. “You have got to keep Jesus Reyes in isolation. He got lucky today and survived, but if he gets put back into Gen Pop, these people are not going to miss again.”

The ADA picked the folder up and leaned back. “I can’t guarantee anything. You’ve got to bring me more on this before I can even think about pursuing a case against Diaz,” he said as he tossed the file onto the desk.

“What more do you want? Reyes almost lost his life today, isn’t that enough? You and I both know that Diaz had a hand in that.”

“I don’t know any such thing. I’m sure that Reyes has made enemies in jail, and anyone of them could have attacked him. Without any evidence against Diaz, there’s no case, Detective. You want this guy protected, bring me something I can work with, or he goes back into Gen Pop as soon as the doctor releases him.”

Kelli stood up and grabbed the file. “That’s just it, Reyes is our evidence. He goes back inside and you might as well be the one sticking the knife in his back.”

The ADA stood, walked around the desk and looked down at Kelli. “You’re wrong, Detective. You’re the one sticking the knife in his back, not me. Bring me something I can use and I’ll make sure Reyes is protected.”

Kelli turned and started for the door. “Fucking asshole,” she said under her breath.

“What was that, Detective?”

She stopped and turned to face him. “Nothing. I’ll get you something, but I need some time.”

“You’ve got forty-eight hours. That’s when Reyes goes back to Gen Pop. Find me something, Detective, because I don’t like this anymore than you do.”

Kelli turned and walked out. I’ll bet you don’t. Asshole.

Thriller Thursday ~Sneak Peek from Storm Warning - A Kelli Storm Novel~

  Okay, this isn't a chase scene, and no one is getting shot at, but I hope you enjoy it just the same.

  Kelli rolled on to her side and looked at Kevin. “I’ve been thinking.”

  “You know you can hurt yourself doing that,” he said with a grin.

  “Okay, smart ass. I’m serious,” she said and gave him a light slap on the arm.

  “Sorry, you were saying.”

  “Well, you are spending a lot more time here, and I think things are going really well. I was thinking that instead of you keeping your place, maybe you could just move in.”

  Kevin shifted, lifted himself up on his elbow and looked at her. “Really? I mean, yeah, things are going great between us, but do you think we’re really ready for that?”

  Kelli closed her eyes, took a deep breath and lay back down. “Shit, Kevin, I’m not sure about anything. I just think that maybe we could try again,” she said and looked at him. “I just know that when you’re not here I miss you.”

  Kevin leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I miss you too, but don’t you think we should take it slow this time?”

  She turned her eyes toward the ceiling and fought back the tears. “I just miss us. I’m not saying that I wasn’t a real bitch during our marriage, I was, but I’ve changed. I’m not drinking any more, and I won’t put my career ahead of us.”

  Kevin moved closer and put his hand to her cheek. “If you really want this,” he said, as he leaned in and kissed her, “then we’ll try.”

  “I don’t want to make you do anything you don’t want to do, Kevin. Are you sure you want this?”

  “Baby, I just want you to be happy.”

  She put her arms around his neck, pulled him close and kissed him. She had never loved him more than at this moment, and she knew then that this was the right choice.

Formatting your book for Kindle

Last night I decided it was time to get my current work formatted for the Kindle format. Having done this just over a year ago with my first novel, I thought I had it nailed. Boy was I wrong. I just couldn't get it to work, no matter what I did. I went to the KDP site and read the instructions, which didn't really tell me a lot. So, I hunted and hunted on the Internet and finally found some good information. I thought I'd pass it on, so those who haven't had this pleasure yet don't have to go through what I did. Enjoy!

This is an example of how to format your manuscript into Kindle eBook format.

If you need to insert a line break between chapter headings or scene breaks, use the Format Paragraph tool.

I always use 18 pt as it seems to work the best. (But play around with it to see what works best for you.)

For breaks between chapters, use the Page Break feature at the end of a chapter.

To view your manuscript in Kindle format once you have it formatted, go to:

http://www.mobipocket.com/en/downloadsoft/productdetailscreator.asp

Download the program and install it on your computer, if you haven’t done so already.

Before using MobiPocket Creator, save your Word file as a Filtered Web Page. For some reason, this format converts better in MobiPocket Creator.

Once you have saved the file, open MobiPocket Creator and select, Import HTML file.

Follow the steps as outlined on the Kindle Direct Publishing page.

** Note: You will have to sign up for a KDP account, if you do not already have one.

On another note, I found that if you "build" your eBook using encryption, for some reason you are not able to view it using Kindle for PC. To get around this, save it the first time with "No Encryption" so you can view it. Once you are satisfied, you can always go back and "build" it again using the DRM Encryption.

I hope that this article has been of some help.

Please note that these screen shots for Word were taken from Office 2003, and it will be somewhat different in Office 2007 or 2010.