• +1 919.961.0198
  • info@outerbankspublishing.com

Tag Archive #OBXPublishing

Author Bob Irelan holding his second place book award

Bob Irelan’s Angel’s Truth wins second place

Outer Banks Publishing Group Author Bob Irelan recently won second place in the Northern California Publishers and Authors (NCPA) 25th annual book awards contest for his first novel, Angel’s Truth.

Bob Irelan Angel's Truth winning plaqueNCPA is an association of authors, indie publishers, and small presses based in Sacramento, CA with the goal to educate and encourage our members. The association is a regional affiliate of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA).

The contest is open to members and nonmembers alike. Books are evaluated in a variety of categories and are awarded based not only on relative rank to the other entries, but on intrinsic quality standards. Each book is read by three judges, and the judges gather for face-to-face discussion of their decisions.

Visit www.norcalpa.org for more information about the association.

Read what inspired Bob to write Angel’s Truth and how it is extraordinarily relevant today.

Angel's Truth cover______________________

Order your copy at the publisher’s special discount of $11.99 – Save $4

USE THIS CODE – DISCOUNT40 – TO GET 40% OFF WHEN YOU CHECK OUT on your first purchase.

List Price:$15.99
5.5″ x 8.5″(13.97 x 21.59 cm)
Black & White Bleed on White paper
272 pages
Outer Banks Publishing Group
ISBN-13:978-0990679080
ISBN-10:099067908X
BISAC:Fiction / Crime
_____________________

Angel Gonzales is charged with heinous crimes that law enforcement, the media, and most folks in Richmond, Texas, and surrounding communities are certain he committed.

The crimes and trial dwarf anything that has happened in that part of the Lone Star state in anyone’s memory.
When, against all odds, the jury renders “not guilty” verdicts, shock escalates to anger.

In the minds of many, justice has failed, and a brutal criminal is being set free. For Angel and his court-appointed public defender, Marty Booker, being judged “not guilty” isn’t enough.

Together and with help from an unanticipated source, they attempt to prove Angel’s innocence.

In the process, they butt up against prejudice, deceit, and a sheriff and district attorney who put politics, ambition, expedience, and arrogance above responsibility to do their jobs.

It’s a story of horror, hatred, belief, and persistence – a story of a Mexican-American teenager who nearly loses his life on the way to becoming a man.

 

 

Pine tree against the Carolina blue sky

Literary author reveals secrets to creating the right point of view

Outer Banks Publishing Group author Mary L. Tabor contributed her writing expertise on Day 3 of a 30-day writing challenge sponsored by Wattpad.

Watch her video on creating the right point of view

Learn more with Mary’s bestselling stories about women’s challenges in today’s hyperspeed society, The Woman Who Never Cooked.  The book is now published in its second edition by Outer Banks Publishing Group and available in our bookstore, on Amazon and in bookstores everywhere.  The book is

“The American adult woman is featured in this debut collection of stories about love, adultery, marriage, passion, death, and family. There is a subtle humor here, and an innate wisdom about everyday life as women find solace in cooking, work, and chores. Tabor reveals the thoughts of her working professional women who stream into Washington, D.C., from the outer suburbs, the men they date or marry, and the attractive if harried commuters they meet.

“Her collection of short stories The Woman Who Never Cooked, published when she was 60, won the Mid-List Press First Series Award.

“Mary Tabor writes with astonishing grace, endless passion, and subtle humor,” wrote reviewer Melanie Rae Thon.

You may also like

https://www.outerbankspublishing.com/writing/novel-writing-is-like-taking-a-good-photograph/

Very old typewriter

Why we have become lazy writers

By Anthony S. Policastro, Publisher

While we can now communicate in the fastest, easiest and most convenient ways possible using a myriad of devices anywhere, anytime to anyone in any corner of the connected world, I believe we are losing our ability to communicate.

Because communication is now ubiquitous, convenient, easy and instant, we have taken our writing skills for granted. Take emails. I believe that most of us are so comfortable with communicating with this medium that we use it like we are conversing with a good friend. Facebook and Twitter reinforce this mindset because we know our posts and tweets are reaching friends and relatives.

Portrait of Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos

The result is a quantum disconnect fueled by snippets of information that are most times incomprehensible.

When you a sitting face to face and having a conversation, the context of what you are talking about is always top of mind. But when you converse in the same manner with email the recipient may not read email for hours or days. The context gets lost. Complicate that with several acronyms in the copy and you might as well call a cryptologist.

We tend to write emails as if the recipient is sitting across from us leaving out the content because we believe the recipient will know what we are writing about. We have become lazy writers.

And I’m not alone in my view.

Walter Chen in his blog, IDoneThis.com, wrote about Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon who values writing over talking to such an extreme that in Amazon senior executive meetings, “before any conversation or discussion begins, everyone sits for 30 minutes in total silence, carefully reading six-page printed memos.”

Writing out full sentences enforces clear thinking, but more than that, it’s a compelling method to drive memo authors to write in a narrative structure that reinforces a distinctly Amazon way of thinking—its obsession with the customer. In every memo that could potentially address any issue in the company, the memo author must answer the question: “What’s in it for the customer, the company, and how does the answer to the question enable innovation on behalf of the customer?”

Andy Grove, legendary co-founder of Intel

Andy Grove, legendary co-founder of Intel

Like Bezos, Andy Grove of Intel finds value in the process of writing, but he doesn’t consider reading important. Grove considers the process to force

yourself “to be more precise than [you] might be verbally”, creating “an archive of data” that can “help to validate ad hoc inputs” and to reflect with precision on your thought and approach.

Writing, according to Grove, is a “safety-net” for your thought process that you should always be doing to “catch … anything you may have missed.”

So what is the solution? Write more, write casually, but include all the pertinent facts and pretend your reader knows practically nothing about what you are writing about.

Novel writing is like taking a good photograph

By Anthony S. Policastro, Publisher When writing a novel it is a bit like taking that award-winning photograph. Don’t worry, you don’t have to take great photographs to be a great novelist.

In today’s world with dozens of media channels bombarding us every minute of the day, your book has to stand out from all the noise.

Here are elements that should be included in your novel and help to make your book stand out. You can pick and choose a few or include all, but you should have at least one.

  1. Entertainment – in our complex, high-tech society escaping into a good novel is rest and relaxation for many people. Your novel should be entertaining. The level of entertainment included in your book depends on your genre and subject matter.
  2. Emotional – a good novel generates an emotional response whether it is joy, happiness, anger, fear, revelations, insights, disgust or all of the above.
  3. Informational – anytime your words teach something or help people improve their lives, you have given your readers a gift. However, if you over do the information, you might as well write a non-fiction book. It’s a delicate balance, but you can promo information if it is mixed with entertainment and emotions.

Now here is how writing is like photography. Look at the photo below. Pretend it’s your realty – what you perceive through your senses. Now write a story about that photograph. You would describe the scenery, the asphalt path, the fallen leaves and twigs…overall what you wrote is pretty boring and a nondescript story unless those elements play a part in your plot.  

Neuse River Greenway trail, Raleigh, NC

Neuse River Greenway trail, Raleigh, NC

  If you look closely or view the scene from a different angle or perspective there is a better story there. Neuse River Greenway trail, Raleigh, NC The story reveals itself upon a closer look – a nice person found the pink sunglasses on the trail and was considerate enough to place them on the milepost, hoping the person would pass this way again and find the sunglasses. Out of the reality emerges a story. Neuse River Greenway trail, Raleigh, NC The photographer views and analyzes the light, shadows, colors, shapes and how they play against each other and then picks an angle or position for the shot. Writing is the same.  A good book is like taking a snapshot of reality, analyzing that realty, digging deeper until the hidden story is found in plain sight and then putting it to words. Tell us what you think. We would love to hear your thoughts.

 

Ron Rhody at the Branding Shed

If we don’t tell each other our stories, how will we know what life is about?

By Ron Rhody
I’ve a new book coming. I’m uneasy with it. I’ve never before written anything this personal knowing it will be public.


But I wanted to get the slice of time this book is about, and the place at its center, and the people who figure in it, on the record in the way only a book can do.

Our Own Little Fictions -Stories from the Road

Our Own Little Fictions So, I have done it. It’s an unconventional book. There is no obvious story line. There is one, but the reader will have to pay attention to uncover it. And the story jumps around in time — the way memories do. Again, the reader will have to pay attention. And the people who figure in it are presented mostly in cameo, but with enough portrayal to allow the reader to imagine them. And I’m asking the reader to pretend they are listening. Not reading. Listening.


Hopefully the writing will make that easy. This is asking a lot of the reader. But the book is novella size and won’t take a lot of time to get through. There is that. Watch for it.


Our Own Little Fictions Available November 1. List Price: $14.99 5.5″ x 8.5″ (13.97 x 21.59 cm) Black & White on White paper 86 pages Outer Banks Publishing Group ISBN-13: 978-1732045217 ISBN-10: 1732045216 BISAC: Biography & Autobiography / General


Read the stunning review by the San Francisco Book Review.

RON RHODY

Ron Rhody is one of our bestselling authors having published 8 books in both non-fiction and fiction. Our Own Little Fictions is his fourth non-fiction book.

Ron Rhody portrait
Author Ron Rhody

Visit his blog to learn more or read one of our posts below.

The Monster Inn Cover

SEARCH AND FIND THE MONSTER INN THIS SUMMER

Let your child travel on an adventurous journey this summer with Alex and Ludo the Wolpertinger on a enthralling trip to find The Monster Inn, a wondrous place where the most fascinating characters show up!

Publisher’s Note
Buy THE MONSTER INN at the publisher’s discount of $12.99 and Save $2 – list $14.99
Receive 7 Wolpertinger wash-off tattoos FREE!

Koos Verkaik and Ludo the Wolpertinger

Koos Verkaik and Ludo the Wolpertinger

By Koos Verkaik

Wolpertingers… little monsters or friends?
Teasers or small helpful creatures?

Actually, everyone is a bit afraid of them.
Humans and giants run away the moment they spot a wolpertinger.

And yet, a boy made friends with a wolpertinger from the mysterious Downhills!
It was Alex, a boy from the Alps, who lived in the land of King Clover a long time ago.
Alex and Ludo the Wolpertinger go from one adventure to another!

Together they travel to the Downhills to help free a magician who is a prisoner of the giant Prince Ruff Rumble.

They meet many strange creatures like a river monster, fire-breathing dragons, lizards and giant mice on their trip to the Monster Inn. There they hope to find someone who can make gold to free the imprisoned magician, Halo from Prince Ruff Rumble’s dungeon.

 

Buy The Monster Inn
Receive 7 wash-off tattoos of the fascinating characters in this bestselling children’s book FREE!

Wolpertinger wash-off tattos

Wolpertinger tattoos card

 

Summer Beach-reading - 2-book sale

Buy Angel’s Truth and get The Mansfield Killings FREE!

Get our two bestselling crime novels for the price of one!
ANGEL’S TRUTH & THE MANSFIELD KILLINGS

BUY BOTH for $12.99

List Price: $15.99
5.5″ x 8.5″ (13.97 x 21.59 cm)
Black & White on White paper
268 pages
Outer Banks Publishing Group
ISBN-13: 978-0990679080
ISBN-10: 099067908X
BISAC: Fiction / Crime

Angel Gonzales is charged with heinous crimes that law enforcement, the media, and most folks in Richmond, Texas, and surrounding communities are certain he committed.

The crimes and trial dwarf anything that has happened in that part of the Lone Star state in anyone’s memory.
When, against all odds, the jury renders “not guilty” verdicts, shock escalates to anger.

In the minds of many, justice has failed, and a brutal criminal is being set free. For Angel and his court-appointed public defender, Marty Booker, being judged “not guilty” isn’t enough.

Together and with help from an unanticipated source, they attempt to prove Angel’s innocence.

In the process, they butt up against prejudice, deceit, and a sheriff and district attorney who put politics, ambition, expedience, and arrogance above responsibility to do their jobs.

It’s a story of horror, hatred, belief, and persistence – a story of a Mexican-American teenager who nearly loses his life on the way to becoming a man.

 

BASED ON TRUE EVENTS
SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE in 2019

Price: $14.99
5.5″ x 8.5″ (13.97 x 21.59 cm)
Black & White on Cream paper
280 pages
ISBN 10 – 0982993137
ISBN 13 – 978-0-9829931-3-2
Binding Type: US Trade Paper
Language: English

On the night of July 21, 1948, Robert Daniels and John West entered John and Nolena Niebel’s house with loaded guns. They forced the family including the Niebel’s 21-year-old daughter, Phyllis, into their car and drove them to a cornfield just off Fleming Falls Road in Mansfield. The two men instructed the Niebels to remove all of their clothing, and then Robert Daniels shot each of them in the head.

What followed was the worst two-week killing spree in the history of Ohio.

 

Angel's Truth author Bob Irelan at his first book signing

“Angel’s Truth” author Bob Irelan shares what he learned from his initial book signing

Top of the page photo courtesy of Rancho Murieta Community Website

By Bob Irelan

Book signings are an effective marketing and communications tool, not only for established authors but most certainly for first-time novelists.

For me, a recent local launching/signing event for my first published novel, “Angel’s Truth,” proved to be a learning experience.

I learned that the audience is genuinely interested in what you have to say. And I was pleased by the number and quality of the questions.”Where did you come up with the plot? How did you choose the characters? How did you come up with their names? Is any of this based on fact? How do you go about organizing the narrative? Do you outline? Do you know the beginning, middle and end before you write? How do you go about getting published?”
That’s only a sampling of the questions I got, so be prepared.

The setting I used was a wine and cheese social, very informal, 4 to 5:30 p.m. It worked well. We had a framed table card of favorable Amazon reviews (“Here’s what readers are saying about “Angel’s Truth”) on each table and each person received a custom designed “Angel’s Truth” bookmark that quoted briefly from the book and gave information on where it could be bought. Good friends provided these and they were well received. Whether or not you bought the book, you got a bookmark as a gift and reminder.

I also told them the messages concerning discrimination, mindsets, injustices were ones I had long cared about. Also my belief that the truth often is not obvious — that it takes digging, commitment, persistence, plain old hard work to achieve it.

After being introduced, I spent a few minutes describing what motivated me to write the book. The motivations included my desire to try writing fiction after a long career that mandated all my writing be factual. I also told them the messages concerning discrimination, mindsets, injustices were ones I had long cared about. Also my belief that the truth often is not obvious — that it takes digging, commitment, persistence, plain old hard work to achieve it. And, while the plot is shaped around two vicious murders, I wanted to deliver a satisfying, surprise ending.

I read several passages from the book, starting with the first couple of pages. Because “Angel’s Truth” is a mystery, I selected other sections deeper into the book which pulled them into the plot. I didn’t tell too much, just enough to entice them to read the book and try to figure out who did what and where it was headed. That amount of time for reading passages seemed about right.

Then came the questions – the absolute best part of the afternoon. My advice: Don’t cut these off; make sure you allow enough time to answer any and all questions. And, if/when you know the questioner, personalize your response.

I closed with this final thought.

“Everybody has a story to tell. It may be biographical and of interest to future generations of your family. It may be a detailed narrative or a collection of anecdotes. Or, it may be fiction. Whatever the choice, I challenged them to commit their ideas to paper.”

That resonated because several folks thanked me afterwards for the prompting.

We ended with signing and selling the book. Logistically, I found it worked well to have someone serve as cashier. That allowed me time to personalize each signing.

And, as my mother would say, “Remember the basic of thanking everyone at the beginning and end.”

Bottom line, this initial event for this first-time writer of fiction, was a very satisfying and educational experience. I hope some of the above details will be helpful to you.

Learn more about Bob Irelan in his interview and why he believes truth is so important or follow him on Facebook.

Bob Irelan at his book signing for Angel's Truth

Photo by Jon Irelan


Angel's Truth has a five-star rating on Amazon

Angel’s Truth is a five-star murder mystery

The murder mystery starts when Angel Gonzales is charged with heinous crimes that law enforcement, the media, and most folks in Richmond, Texas, and surrounding communities are certain he committed.

Author of Angel's Truth, Bob Irelan

Author Bob Irelan, photo by Jon Irelan

The crimes and trial dwarf anything that has happened in that part of the Lone Star state in anyone’s memory.

When, against all odds, the jury renders “not guilty” verdicts, shock escalates to anger.

In the minds of many, justice has failed, and a brutal criminal is being set free. For Angel and his court-appointed public defender, Marty Booker, being judged “not guilty” isn’t enough.

Together and with help from an unanticipated source, they attempt to prove Angel’s innocence.

In the process, they butt up against prejudice, deceit, and a sheriff and district attorney who put politics, ambition, expedience, and arrogance above responsibility to do their jobs.

It’s a story of horror, hatred, belief, and persistence – a story of a Mexican-American teenager who nearly loses his life on the way to becoming a man.

Outer Banks Publishing Group author Bob Irelan hopes his novel, Angel’s Truth will help people realize that justice is not always applied fairly, especially when it to comes to racial minorities

Angel’s Truth Amazon Reviews pdf

Angel's Truth by Bob Irelan
Order your copy at the publisher’s special discount of $10.99
List Price:$15.99
5.5″ x 8.5″(13.97 x 21.59 cm)
Black & White Bleed on White paper
272 pages
Outer Banks Publishing Group
ISBN-13:978-0990679080
ISBN-10:099067908X
BISAC:Fiction / Crime

 

 

x  Powerful Protection for WordPress, from Shield Security
This Site Is Protected By
Shield Security