Kindle Free Pick of the Week: You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One)

A quick and fun read for anyone who ever thought about putting pen to paper.

Hi, my name's Jeff. And I'm a writer. But I didn't always think of myself that way. In fact, for years, I dreamed of one day becoming a writer. But secretly, I was afraid of the risk. It took a gentle but firm rebuke from a friend to realize the dead-end course I was on, to finally understand who I was. After that, I was never the same.

One day, a friend asked me about my dream. I said I didn't know. "Really?" he said. "That's too bad -- because I would've thought it was to be a writer."

That hit me hard. I told him that was true. I did hope to be a writer. Maybe. Some day. If I was lucky.

He shook his head and smiled: "Jeff, you don't have to want to be a writer. You are a writer. You just need to write." So that's what I did, and it changed everything.

This is an eBook about a journey of becoming a writer. It's a guide to writing and publishing, including how to navigate the world of platform-building and getting your work noticed. Mostly, it's about believing in yourself. About the process of self-doubt we all go through and the declarations we make to do what were made to do.

Whether you realize it or not, you are a writer. You just need to write.

Kindle Free Pick of the Week: Thaw

A thriller on the Arctic Seas by Bryan Dunn.

Arctic bush pilot Harry McNills is minding his own business and dreaming of retiring to the Caribbean--when two scientists from Cryolabs Corporation charter his plane for a scientific expedition. The beautiful young biologist Amy Tyler and her boss, the avaricious Hayden Lockwood, want to explore for freeze-tolerant organisms. Harry gets more than he bargained for when he falls for Amy and discovers an ancient terror entombed in an iceberg. A Navy team is assembled to exhume the remarkable find. But before the job is completed, something goes horribly wrong...and Harry and Amy find themselves trapped in a desperate struggle for survival.

Kindle Free Pick of the Week: No Time to Run

Like John Grisham and D.W. Buffa, award-winning author J.D. Trafford created a smart legal thriller that keeps the reader turning pages.

Michael Collins burned his suits and ties in a beautiful bonfire before leaving New York and taking up residence at Hut No. 7 in a run-down Mexican resort. He dropped-out, giving up a future of billable hours and big law firm paychecks. But, there are millions of dollars missing from a client's account and a lot of people who want Michael Collins to come back. When his girlfriend is accused of murder, he knows that there really isn't much choice.

"No Time To Run" has been an Amazon Top 100 bestseller and a best-selling Amazon Legal Thriller.

Kindle Free Pick of the Week: Illegal

This week, a dark thriller from Paul Levine.

L.A. defense attorney Jimmy Payne, overwhelmed by guilt and grief at his son’s death, also loses his wife, Sharon, to divorce, and morphs into “Royal” Payne to both cops and judges. It’s just a matter of time before he’s in deep trouble with both. Along with the trouble comes 12-year-old Agustino Perez, an illegal alien who is searching for his mother. Initially, Tino robs Payne, but Payne admires the boy’s toughness and determination and promises to help him find his mother. The trail takes them—dodging cops and assorted bad guys—from L.A. to Mexico and then back into the U.S. to confront a willful agri-tycoon who uses illegal aliens the way most people use Kleenex. Illegal is a riveting read, filled with action, pathos, and even humor. The portrait of the dangers and predations that Latinos face crossing the border is chilling and rings with authenticity. But the book’s best quality is the way Levine invests his characters with believable humanity. A compulsively readable yet character-driven thriller. --Thomas Gaughan

New Book Dishes on Simon Cowell

We know he has a big ego and I can imagine he is hard to deal with, but a new unauthorized biography reveals more details about the man behind "American Idol" and X-Factor".

Sweet Revenge: The Intimate Life of Simon Cowell" is written by British journalist and biographer Tom Bower, whose previous works include books about former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, jailed media mogul Conrad Black and ex-Harrods owner Mohammad al-Fayed.

The book paints a picture of a man who struggled for years in the music business, spurred on to success out of a desire to prove his detractors wrong.

"He had 20 years — more than 20 years — of humiliation," Bower said. "At school he was a total failure and as a music producer he was a total failure.

Among the details Bower reveals: Cowell gets regular colonic irrigations because "it's so cleansing — and it makes my eyes shine brighter." He is put on a drip of vitamins and nutrients for a half hour each week.

He's not gay, despite long-standing rumors. The book reveals bedroom secrets including a brief affair with former "X Factor" judge Danii Minogue. But Bower says that Cowell isn't interested in serious relationships.

Cowell is, however, generous. Bower says Cowell gave his ex-fiance Mezhgan Hussainy, a makeup artist on "American Idol," a $5 million Beverly Hills house as a parting gift. Most of his former girlfriends have refrained from spilling the beans in the media.

Bower, though, thinks the book's portrait of Cowell is fairly positive.

While Bower has been openly hostile to some of his previous subjects — he called Gordon Brown a ruthless bully and Conrad Black a crook — he has a soft spot for Cowell.

"He's not a crook," Bower said. "So far he hasn't sued me. And it was good fun.

And this book looks like a lot of fun.

Here's where you can buy it: