Kate, The Wait, & The Royal Babygate Saga

This month was a lesson about waiting. 

Patience. 

Delayed gratification. 

As the entire British Nation, World, Cosmos, and Globe waited for the appearance of the Royal Baby, a mob of global Media gathered outside the hospital which was one possible location for the impending birth. The Duchess, however, was nested away at a second location, with a second hospital on standby.

For days, the Media camped out in front of the hospital, hoping and praying for a glimpse of the Duchess entering the hospital, with the birth of the much anticipated heir to the Throne pending.

The soaring heat and endless sticky humidity did not deter them. The Media grew more determined to capture that first image of the Duchess arriving at the hospital. 

They waited, and waited, and waited. 

Even Her Majesty, the Great-Grandmother-In-Waiting pitched in with her opinion on the delay. Now it seems that her engagements will take her out of the country at the same time as the Duchess may be in labour. 

Providence, I'd say. Counting chickens... and all that parlance.

And so this month's lesson for this Author has been about patience. Wanting my new book to hurry up and get published. It's turning into a tome. I have to be patient and allow the writing process to fully expand.

With my creativity being at an all time high this month, I added to my craft by re-imagining my book covers. A work of pleasure, I must admit, and a real sense of accomplishment about my ability to transform an otherwise dull cover into a multi-dimensional work of art. The finished product:

Pandora's Box

Amazon.com (Kindle)

Out Now.

Ruby Binns-Cagney is a successful Self-Published Author at Amazon.com for Kindle and at Smashwords.com for Apple iPad.

This Month's Writing Challenge - July

July

Wonderful July came screeching in, bringing with it the chaos and mayhem of computer glitches, for want of a better word. When one makes ones living from writing, and it is one's craft, inevitably things go awry.

Take for instance the Microsoft Windows Update which lasted most of an entire evening, and left me frustrated and 'inoperable'. Frequent checks to see whether the update had finished, blotting of fevered brow, and ensuing frustration. I lost an entire day of creativity due to this update. Imagine my horror then, to discover that the laptop would not boot after the installation of said update. I'm one of those laptop owners who kept the manual. Fortunately, I also kept the install discs. Unfortunately, I didn't have the Windows 7 installation disc, so now I'm without a laptop. 

As providence would have it, I had recently backed up all my work onto Google Drive. I also have a Mac Mini sitting in the corner, where the uncomfortable chair makes my back hurt, and my feet become swollen within hours of being seated there. I write best when I am on the couch, next to the window, with bright sunshine pouring in. I am also opposite the television, where I can select various radio channels to hum away in the background.

My challenge this month was technology. The laptop will be repaired, when i get around to it. It isn't old, but it isn't a priority right now. I've swapped to the Mac Mini, and Smashwords happily snap up and convert into all the other formats, and my e book is published, as before.

Until the Windows Update problem is resolved, I shall not be setting my computers to automatically download them anymore. If I take control over when downloads occur, I hope to minimise the disruption to my craft. My advice to you, Dear Reader, is to backup, remotely store your files in the Cloud, and above all, have a second computer where you can get set up and be on our way again.

'Tabula Rasa - A Detective Macaulay Homicide Case' - July 31, Smashwords.com and Amazon.com for Kindle, and at all the retailers below(via Smashwords.com)

'The Detective Macaulay Murders Trilogy' by Ruby Binns-Cagney is available at Amazon.com for Kindle  or at smashwords.com for Apple iPad, Kobo Books, Barnes and Noble Nook, and more (via Smashwords.com).

What are your writing challenges? Sound off in the comments.

Meet The Characters - 'The Detective Macaulay Murders Trilogy'

The Detective Macaulay Murders Trilogy

---- Characters ---

NYPD Detective Finkel Macaulay is a third-generation African American woman who does not give up. Through her career with NYPD she has seen her fair share of pain, heartache and personal loss. Nothing will stop Macaulay in the pursuit of criminal justice. Macaulay is a caramel-skinned woman with long legs that don't quit. Her favourite companion is her Glock 22. And chocolate chip cookies. In that order.Detective Macaulay is the only daughter of deceased Police Officer Ted Macaulay.

FBI Special Agent Nick Benson: Nick Benson is an ex-Marine Master Sergeant who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. He heads a joint NYPD-FBI Task Force, which is where he first encounters Detective Finkel Macaulay. Italian-American heritage, with an olive-skinned complexion, hazel eyes, and dark closely cropped hair. 

FBI Agent Diane Hepworth: Diane Hepworth is a descendant of the of the indigenous people of the Iroquois Nation in the Northwestern woodlands. Native American ancestors, with keen senses and intense spiritualistic abilities to read the energy of a space; instantly rating it as being occupied by negatively or positively charged energy. Diane is tall, blonde with blue eyes.Diane has the ability to heal people with her own energy. She is seen healing in this Trilogy. Also, Diane can tune in to the serial killers' mind and 'see' his crimes, helping the FBI with their murder investigations.

FBI Special Agent Ben Thomas: Ben Thomas is a descendant of the indigenous people of the Iroquois Nation in the Northwestern woodlands. Native American ancestors, with keen senses and intense spiritualistic abilities to read the energy of a space; instantly rating it as being occupied by negatively or positively charged energy. He's blond with blue eyes, and is Diane Hepworth's half-brother. Ben has similar empathic qualities to his sister, Diane. He prefers not to tap into the energies.

Bo Harknett - Sadistic Serial Killer: Bo Harknett gets his kicks by murdering innocent people. On Feb. 25, 2010, Harknett began stalking Detective Finkel Macaulay of Newhall Yard Police Department. 

This trilogy is centered around Harknett's character, and contains graphic depictions of his crimes. It is not therefore recommended that anyone under the age of 18 reads these books. 

'The Detective Macaulay Murders Trilogy' by Ruby Binns-Cagney is available at Amazon.com for Kindle  or at smashwords.com for Apple iPad, 

Albatross - The Detective Macaulay Murders Trilogy #3 - at amazon.com and smashwords.com now.

 

**** The FBI hunt for Bo Harknett intensifies to its thrilling climax. ******

One life hangs in the balance.
One chance for survival.
Time is running out.

Will Detective Macaulay get there in time?

The pursuit of sadist Bo Harknett takes Detective Finkel Macaulay into uncomfortable territory, which shocks her to the core.

The final part of this gripping, murder-based trilogy,

"Albatross - The Detective Macaulay Murders Trilogy #3" 

has just been published at amazon.com and at smashwords.com

Now that the trilogy has been published, I feel as though I have suffered a bereavement. I did not prepare myself for this overwhelming sense of loss, this feeling like I had lost "people" I love.

As I clicked 'publish' I did not steel my heart for the loss of my beloved characters. Characters who had been in my head and heart for weeks, months, and even years before I could finally confine them to page and screen, and book.

This sense of loss has me feeling bewildered, unsure what to do with myself, what to do to fill the void left by releasing my creativity out into the world.

Writing 'Albatross' was difficult, for a variety of reasons. 

Not only is it the longest of the trilogy, it is also the most challenging story-wise, with multiple story arcs and emotions all vying for your attention simultaneously.

Near the final paragraphs of the final chapter I even found myself making excuses not to finish it, and I did all I could to avoid sitting down to write the final few words.

If I told you that there were real tears in my eyes at some of the parts of this  final book, you would be astonished. I have a feeling that this book will take off - all the time I have been writing it, the story and dialogue has come to me in dreams. It felt at times like I was being helped to write this book, it often felt as though another's presence was helping me. 

Although I had crafted an outline of the book before starting to write it, the plan changed many times, taking on a life of its own. I went to sleep each night and had dreams about what my characters would do next, and when I woke up it was with a new found eagerness to put down on page and screen what I had dreamt about. 

Perhaps it is a 'stream of consciousness' that allowed me to tap into my psyche and write this incredibly suspenseful, thrilling and emotional book, and now that the Trilogy is complete, I have enough material coming to me while I sleep to write at least a dozen more books in this series.

I have arrived, Universe, embrace me.

If you wish to preview or download a sample all of the books in the Trilogy go to smashwords.com  for iPad iPod Touch, Apple iBookstore, Sony Reader, Barnes and Noble Nook, and Kobo Books Reader. Amazon for Kindle also allow you to download a sample to your Kindle device.

To look inside this book, or to download a sample for Kindle, go to  amazon.com
Ruby Binns-Cagney is a successful self-published Author at smashwords.com and at Amazon.com for Kindle.

Google's Penguin 2.0 Update Has Arrived

(credit: national geographic)

Google Penguin 2.0 Update Background:

May 25 saw the implementation of the long-awaited Google Penguin 2.0 update.

Google started cleaning up the quality of content pulled into their search engine going back to the Panda update in 2011 which targeted low quality websites; ones with duplicate content, thin content, scraped content.

2012 heralded the blackhat spam update, Penguin, targeting those websites which were full of spammy links and redirects, and the ones where users were served pop-ups and pop-unders and redirects to porn websites and websites offering Viagra pills.

Penguin 2.0 update leads on from this, in an aggressive way, detailed below.


What Are The Main Factors?

The Google Penguin update is a fairly standard update that was aimed at reducing the webspam within the Google results. There have however been some highly documented factors that the Google Penguin update specifically targeted.

Google have publicly stated that the update was aimed at reducing web spam techniques utilized by many SEO’s, and the factors above clearly demonstrate that they have tried to attack web spam and low-quality content. 

About 2.3% of English-US queries are affected to the degree that a regular user might notice.

What can you do to improve your sites Page Rank post-Penguin if you notice your rank has dropped significantly?

>>Clean up your website. Remove old, duplicate ads, broken links, photos that are too big and load slowly.

>>Check the backlinks you have - do they help or harm your ranking? Use the Google disavow tool to remove backlinks which do not serve you in a positive way.

>>Avoid having too many ads above the fold.

>>Verify your website with Google by using an exact-match domain (for example, make sure you have an email address which matches your domain name, such as info@mydomainname.com from http://www.mydomainname.com) and get verified now.

>>Have a responsive website design: if your site takes a long time to load, revise this to make sure it loads faster. One way to do this is to use CSS to ensure that whichever device a visitor uses to view your website is an optimised experience.

>>Stop using paid links that pass PageRank - you will receive a penalty notice from Google if you continue to use paid links to make your PageRank higher.

These are just some of the Google Penguin 2.0 updates. Even if you do just one of the suggested improvements your PageRank will thank you.

Ruby Binns-Cagney is a successful self-published Author at smashwords.com and at Amazon.com for Kindle.

One For The Money - The Detective Macaulay Murders Trilogy #1 - smashwords.com

One For The Money is now published at smashwords.com for iPad, Nook, Kobo, Sony Reader, Kindle Apps, Apple iBookstore and at amazon.com for Kindle and Kindle Cloud Reader

Newhall Yard Police Detective Finkel Macaulay is up against her old adversary, Bo Harknett, only this time she may have taken on more than she can handle. 

With her partner, Detective Baines, she hunts down the notorious serial killer, Bo Harknett to the darkest crevices of New Jersey, where he remains at large.

His latest victim's flesh was branded with a mark which simply read "XIII"
leaving Detective Macaulay even more determined to catch him.

Up against the clock, Detective Macaulay knows she has four hours left to catch Harknett before he skips town forever, and she is adamant that she's not going to let him escape.

Not after he tortured her, and left her for dead.

Has time run out for Detective Macaulay?

Will Harknett's final victim be Detective Macaualay ?

Ruby Binns-Cagney is a successful self-published Author at smashwords.com and at Amazon.com for Kindle.

This Month's Writing Challenge - May and June

 Available at amazon.com for Kindle

This month was always going to be tough. The weather has become warmer, nicer, more enticing, the beer garden is now open and ice cold bottled beers are calling my name. Temptation is all around. Add my birthday to this mix. Double temptation. How to deal with it all?

Take time off from writing, one day off will not damage any credibility I have as an author. Go for it. I went for it, and it was a wonderful day, great sunshine, lots of ice cold drinks and fun with family and friends.

Back to writing now.

This month I have already completed two out of three stages of promoting my new novel. Perhaps you need to read this sentence again:

I have already competed two out of three stages of promoting my new novel. 

One thing you need to do when you are planning to publish a new book is let people know. Use social media but bear in mind sometimes one of the rules is not to self-promote products on your social media profile. Check before you do anything, and avoid being banned by the platforms you use. 

Weeks ago, when I planned my novel from start to finish, I also planned my marketing strategy to create interest in this book, PRIOR to my novel being published. 

This works well no matter the genre, and once you have a plan you can add to it or change it as much as you like. Things you can do to create interest in your yet to be published book includes tweeting out a link to preview copies, asking questions and providing the answers for prospective readers to comment on, and participating in forums in advance so that it does not look like you are sending spam by constantly commenting on your posts with endless links to your new book. 

My final challenge for May and June included publishing on time.

This has been a real challenge for me given all the distractions this month has presented. 

Once I had advertised the publication date I was pretty much tied to it. This is one of the advantages of pre-selling your new book by marketing pre-publication, you can create advance interest in the book, and carry the momentum through to the publication date.   

Now it's published, I'm ready for the next writing challenge!

Ruby Binns-Cagney is a successful self-published Author at smashwords.com and at Amazon.com for Kindle.

 

HAS TIME RUN OUT FOR DETECTIVE MACAULAY ? [The Macaulay Murders Trilogy #1 ] [New Book]

ONE FOR THE MONEY 

 [THE MACAULAY MURDERS TRILOGY #1]

"Taking down perpetrators keeps me focussed. 

That, chocolate chip cookies, and great coffee.

Today is going to be a two-cookie day.

It's show time." 

- Detective Macaulay, Newhall Yard PD

  

Another of Harknett's victims has been found, and Detective Macaulay's on the case. 

About "One For The Money" - The Detective Macaulay Murders Trilogy #1

Newhall Yard Police Detective Finkel Macaulay is up against her old adversary, Bo Harknett, only this time she may have taken on more than she can handle. 

With her partner, Detective Baines, she hunts down the notorious serial killer, Bo Harknett to the darkest crevices of New York City where he remains at large. 

His victim's flesh was seared before being branded with by a garish tattoo that simply read "XIII" leaving Macaulay even more determined to catch him.

Up against the clock, Detective Macaulay knows she has just four hours left to catch Harknett before he skips town, and she is adamant that she's not going to let him escape. 

Not after he tortured her, and left her for dead. 

Has time run out for Detective Macaulay? 

PURCHASE this book at smashwords.com for iPad, Nook, Kobo, Kindle Reading Apps, Apple iBookstore. Also available for Kindle at amazon.com

Ruby Binns-Cagney is a successful self-published Author at smashwords.com and at Amazon.com for Kindle.

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This Month's Writing Challenges - April

What a week!

This week's writing challenge has been marketing the new book sufficiently to coincide with my KDP Select book promotion which started today.

What a lot of self-publishers do not realise is that once you have written your book the real work of getting it to sell begins. Through trial and error when releasing a new book you will find which methods work for you, and your niche.

Try and remember that the marketing methods other authors have used may not work well for you. Every reader is different, and your method of courting them will need to be adjusted. Similarly, using social media to promote your book may not work for you - social media platforms are now overly saturated with internet marketers trying to sell products in a social arena. There is an etiquette connected to social media which many people do not observe, which is a big mistake.

It can take a long time to attract traffic, attention, interest, and ultimately sales through using social media. This is partly because people need to feel that they can trust you before they will consider buying your stuff, so you have to create a situation where you can build a relationship with them in order to sell to them at a later date. Add to this the fact that sales from social media participation is minimal, sometimes as low as 4% of sales are generated from social media.

Also of note, if you decide to use social media to generate sales for your products or services, do ensure that you read the terms and conditions of using the website, as often there are no affiliate links allowed, which scuppers your return on investment, and revenue. Further, consider that the most active website in social media, Facebook doesn't allow affiliate or "follow" links unless you create a paid advertisement with the Facebook Ads Team.

With these obstacles, it can be understood why only 4% of a companies sales are generated through social media interaction. By all means, use your social media presence to attract traffic to your website. This is my method, and largely it works.

The takeaway message of this week is learn where to market your products and services, make connections or "fans" and nurture the relationship. Only after you have done all these steps, gently introduce your products and services. Provide value and your fans will be clamouring for your products and services.

Get my new book "One For The Money-The Detective Macaulay Murders Trilogy #1 at smashwords.com now for iPad, iPad Mini, iPod Touch, Kindle Reading Apps, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble Nook before publication at amazon.com for Kindle on May 27th.

One For The Money

The Detective Macaulay Murders Trilogy #1

Out now at amazon.com for Kindle and smashwords.com for iPad iBookstore Barnes and Noble Nook and Kobo

                                                        

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Book Sales & Promotions

Amazon Prime members can borrow this book FREE once a month in the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

"After Your Wedding Vows" is FREE to download, at amazon.com 


This book is for you if you want to know what marriage is like before you say "I Do."

What is marriage like unless you have tried it before? 

It's a mystery, only to be revealed after you've exchanged wedding vows; and thousands of couples soon rush into a divorce because their vision of married life did not match each other's vision. 

The first year of married life can feel alien, disconnected from your feelings, and uncertain what the cause of it is. This books tells you how to prepare for married life.

This book will reveal what marriage can be like - joyful, inspirational, devoted, comforting - if you put in the effort to make it so.

PREVIEW my latest book at smashwords.com for iPad, iPod Touch, Nook, Kobo, Kindle Reading Apps

Newhall Yard Police Detective Finkel Macaulay is up against her old adversary, Bo Harknett, only this time she may have taken on more than she can handle. 

With her partner, Detective Baines, she tracks down the notorious serial killer, Bo Harknett to the darkest crevices of New York City where he remains at large. 

His victim's flesh was seared before being branded with by a garish tattoo that simply read "XIII" - thus leaving Macaulay even more determined to catch him.

Up against the clock, Detective Macaulay knows she has four hours left to catch Harknett before he skips town, and she is adamant that she's not going to let him escape.

Not after he tortured her, and left her for dead.

Has time run out for Detective Macaulay?



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Ruby Binns-Cagney is a successful self-published Author at smashwords.com and at Amazon.com for Kindle.

The Latest Books By Author Tales

Lay Lady Lay -

The Detective Macaulay Murders Trilogy #2

Published now at smashwords.com and amazon.com for Kindle

***IT’S HERE! The 2nd book in the Detective Macaulay Murders Trilogy!!***

Fast paced, sexy, and exciting !!!!

"Lay Lady Lay" - The Detective Macaulay Murders Trilogy #2 picks up the pace where "One For The Money" ended.  

A relentless sadist has put a target on Detective Macaulay's back. The clock is ticking. Will time run out for Detective Macaulay?

Overview of "Lay Lady Lay"

One dead blonde. 

One bomb. 

One sadist. 

Detective Macaulay is not about to quit.

Available to own at amazon.com for Kindle and Smashwords.com for iPad, iPhone, Barnes and Noble Nook or Kobo.

One For The Money -

The Detective Macaulay Murders Trilogy #1

My latest book is now exclusively published at smashwords.com  prior to being published for amazon.com Kindle on May 27th.


Newhall Yard Police Detective Finkel Macaulay is up against her old adversary, Bo Harknett, only this time she may have taken on more than she can handle. 

With her partner, Detective Baines, she hunts down the notorious serial killer, Bo Harknett to the darkest crevices of New York City where he remains at large.

His victim's flesh was seared before being branded with by a garish tattoo that simply read "13" leaving Macaulay even more determined to catch him.

Up against the clock, Detective Macaulay knows she has four hours left to catch Harknett before he skips town, and she is adamant that she's not going to let him escape.

Not after he tortured her, and left her for dead.

Has time run out for Detective Macaulay?

Ultimate Intimacy

 

Ultimate Intimacy ISBN 9781301011216

Sample or purchase Ultimate Intimacy here: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/307423

When you are in a relationship filled with great passion and even greater sex, you want it to last. 

Over time, the heat cools and the passion and intimacy fades. How do you keep the intimacy at an intense but pleasurable level? 

How do you achieve an ultimate level of intimacy which lasts, deepens and grows? When you are in a happy, passionate relationship, you can use these techniques to help make it special and enduring. last. 

About "Ultimate Intimacy"

"Ultimate Intimacy" has Expert relationship advice which gently guides you towards new ways to develop real intimacy. Ultimate Intimacy is an essential tool which serve as a foundation you can build the crucial components of relationship based intimacy upon. 

For more information, please visit the Smashwords website.
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Ruby Binns-Cagney is a successful self-published Author at smashwords.com and at Amazon.com for Kindle.