Tag Archives: books

48 Of My ‘Bold Coast’ Books Ready To Be Delivered To ‘Dockside Treasures’, In ‘Lubec’, Maine.

Leave a reply

by Anura Guruge
on May 11, 2024

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

Click to ENLARGE.

Always NICE to piles of your own book. SMILE.

24 copies of the ‘Ambling Guide for Seniors‘. This is THE most popular. I am THRILLED. I did have any expectations for that book! Wow. I am so chuffed. OK … I will let you into a SECRET. I v. rarely tell folks, even family, as to what my next book will be. I don’t like to tempt fate. But, on June 1, 2024, I plan to start writing ANOTHER ‘Ambling Guide for Seniors‘. No, NOT for the Bold Coast — but it somewhere else in Maine. I am getting nagged to write one for THIS area, i.e., ‘Lake Winnipesaukee‘. That might have to be next year. SMILE.

12 copies each of the ‘Two Days or Less‘ & ‘Souvenir & Guide‘. That is COOL. The lady who runs the ‘Dockside Treasures‘ is a consummate retailed. She knows her stuff. WOW. She knows exactly what sells. So, the title she orders, & the quantities, give me the BEST gauge of what sells. I am very grateful.

So, YES, I am off to Lubec next week to deliver the books. Smile. Yes, of course, I could have had the books shipped, BUT this gives me an excuse to visit Lubec, & how can I resist that.

I ordered a few more books, for MYSELF, to give away as gifts. That is ANOTHER joy & privilege of being an author.

SMILE.

‘Bold Coast’ books (now available). Click on images for details.

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

Amazon’s Shipping Algorithm Still Has Pockets Of ‘Artificial Stupidity’ (i.e., Opposite Of ‘AI’).

Leave a reply

by Anura Guruge
on April 26, 2024

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

Click to ENLARGE. This is from the last 36 hours.

Amazon’s shipping REALLY hasn’t got that much better over the last 6 months — despite their claims that they are using more & more Artificial Intelligence (AI). They have got better at playing games.

The above was beyond stupid. I ordered 12 copies of the SAME BOOK (as author copies). They SPLIT the order in TWO. Yes, split it in TWO — but not even 6 + 6. Instead 11 + 1. They printed 11 in one location & ONE in another. Shipped them SEPARATELY.

How does that make SENSE?

Two shipping costs to THEM. Stupid.

This, alas, is NOT the only example. I have talked about others too. See below.

From late last year.

Click to ENLARGE. Post from 4-months ago. You can, EASILY, see the STUPIDITY.

From May 20, 2023. An even earlier post.

This is beyond CRAZY.

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

Cracks Me Up To Receive Royalties On Web Technology Books I Wrote 20+ Years Ago (That Are Totally Out Of Date).

Leave a reply

by Anura Guruge
on March 21, 2024

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

Click to ENLARGE.

Click to ENLARGE.
Available, of course, of Amazon — here & there.

It is very clear when the books were written. Plus they can Preview them + RETURN THEM.

But, a few buy them & keep them. I am happy — though they are (these days) only buying the (much cheaper) eBook editions. That is OK. I am happy.

I got paid ADVANCES for both these books — & I was HAPPY just with what I got upfront. [By now, 20+ years later, I have fully paid back those advances, why I get these checks.] Obviously, the Royalty Check isn’t for much. Pays for 2 weeks of wine (now that I don’t drink as much). So, that is OK. Better than a kick in the teeth.

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

I Now Have 23 Audiobooks On ‘Audible’.

Leave a reply

by Anura Guruge
on March 4, 2024

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

You can find then on ‘Audible.com‘.
Click to ENLARGE. From an internal Amazon report.

As I have already stated a couple of times I am very happy that ‘Amazon‘ made it possible for me to convert my print/eBooks into audiobooks. My books work great in audiobook form. Folks will be able to listen them while driving or ambling. This is wonderful.

They have also started selling — though they have only been available in the last 2.5 weeks. Wow. Not great — but, as I always say, it is better than a kick in the teeth.

As expected my ‘Orgasm’ book has DONE BEST. That makes sense.

Then TWO of my Pope books.

SMILE. GRIN.

This has to be my ONLY claim to fame. I am sure there is no one else that has published books about both popes and orgasms. SMILE.

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

3 Of My ‘Bold Coast’ Books Are Now Available As Audiobooks On ‘Audible’.

Leave a reply

by Anura Guruge
on February 25, 2024

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

You can find then on ‘Audible.com‘.

This makes me VERY HAPPY. These books work great in audiobook form. Folks will be able to listen them while driving or ambling. This is wonderful.

My ‘Bold Coast — In Color‘ will NOT work as an audiobook. So, I will not have that converted. I am not sure about the ‘Bold Coast — Souvenir & Guide‘. That has a lot of pictures too and pictures don’t get conveyed in audiobooks.

So, I might just leave it at that, i.e., just these three ‘Bold Coast’ books. I am happy. Thank YOU, Amazon.

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

So HAPPY To Have My ‘Central Pain’ Book In Audio Form, On ‘Audible’.

Leave a reply

by Anura Guruge
on February 17, 2024

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

You can find it on ‘Audible.com‘.

This book, which I wrote in 2017, continues to sell. Not a bestseller (alas), but a few copies continue to get bought, each month, & this has been the case since it was published.

As you can see from the reviews people like it.

It is IDEALLY suited to be an AUDIOBOOK. So, I am so, so delighted that it is. This will HELP PEOPLE. I am happy. I am NOT concerned about the ‘royaltes.

** ** ** **

At Christmas I also published a $1 print version of it.

So, I created this new PDF today. It is in color. Check it out. There is a PREVIEW.

Click image to get the book for a $1 at ‘PayHip‘. There is also a PREVIEW.
Click to ENLARGE. Amazon listing for my ‘Central Pain’ book.
Click to ENLARGE.

IF you have pain make sure it is NOT Central Pain (or Central Sensitization).

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

I Now Have 13 (Yes, ’13’) Audiobooks On ‘Amazon’ + ‘Audible’.

Leave a reply

by Anura Guruge
on February 16, 2024

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

Click to ENLARGE.
Click to ENLARGE.

WOW. I am BLOWN AWAY.

I finally have SOME audiobooks. Prior to this it was WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. Now, Amazon/KDP is creating them for me for FREE. I am very grateful … but then again I am one of their more LOYAL & longtime clients. I have been with KDP for over a decade.

Very slick. Very easy. Some hitches.

KDP is looking into some of the issues.

I have listened to 3 of the titles.

They sound REAL, REAL good. Voices aren’t optimum, BUT 1,000% better than IF I tried to read them out aloud.

Some of my books are IDEALLY suited for AUDIO. So, I am THRILLED.

Particularly happy about the titles I HIGHLIGHTED.

41 Published Books.

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

‘Amazon’ ‘Kindle Direct Publishing’ (KDP) Has Selected Me To Try Out New AI-based Audiobook Conversion Beta.

Leave a reply

by Anura Guruge
on February 13, 2024

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

Click to ENLARGE.

This is EXCITING. I haven’t tried it out.

Prior to this, creating an AUDIOBOOK was expensive. So, this could be real neat.

I am genuinely excited. I am glad to have been given the chance.

41 Published Books.

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

‘The Covenant of Water’ By Brilliant ‘Abraham Verghese’ Is Life-Changingly GOOD — But For One FATAL ‘Indulgence’.

Leave a reply

by Anura Guruge
on February 4, 2024

Click to ENLARGE. ‘Amazon’ listing for book.
Click to ENLARGE. Wikipedia.

I agree with ‘Oprah’. One of the BEST BOOKS I have read (or to be accurate ‘listented’) in my entire life. Actually, I am willing to go further. Maybe THE BEST BOOK in my whole life.

70% of the way through I was CONVINCED that it would join ‘Pillars of the Earth‘ & ‘The Da Vinci Code‘ as a book that changed MY LIFE. I was that much in AWE. I still am.

He, Abraham Verghese, is beyond a genius polymath. He seems SUPER-HUMAN. I am gobsmacked by his talents and achievements. I think he puts both ‘James Michener‘ & ‘John Irving‘ to shame. He is better than ‘Amor Towles‘! I think he has to be the GREATEST of modern authors!

Wow.

That said he ‘killed’ me with a totally unnecessary INDULGENCE in the story/plot line.

Kind of SPOILT the whole thing. YIKES.

What is my gripe.

He included a TOTALLY IMPLAUSIBLE — farcical — part of the story. Unbecoming.

Yes, he needed away to get rid of a MAIN character so the story could continue. To do that, he had that character ‘Lenin Forever After‘ go to prison. His contention was that Lenin, who became ‘Naxalite’ insurgent, was readily identifiable in rural India in the 1970s. DO NOT BUY THAT. Yes, Lenin would have looked rough, undernourished and unkept — but that was NOT going to make his look like he was a WANTED criminal. That was poor. That was bad. RUINED the book for I. Sorry.

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

Our Artist’s Tentative Beginnings.

Leave a reply

by Anura Guruge
on January 14, 2024

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

Click to ENLARGE.

This was her first desk when she was probably four or five.

We had forgotten about it, because it was in my office, covered with a sheet.

After my two Christmas books, I am FORCING myself to allocate some time to tasks other than writing. One of these tasks have been to finally, after over a decade, to reorganize my cluttered and chaotic office. I, to my amazement, have made great strides. I made a concerted (& very credible) effort to (majorly) declutter, rationalize and simplify. Succeeding. In the process I uncovered this desk — which has been under wraps for at least 10 years. WOW.

You can see the shapes she had started with … houses, Sun & stars. But, she had also written her name — in remarkably good script. Then there is also a LOT of binary. I know I taught both these kids binary, BUT I can’t remember how old they were.

This was cute. This was neat. I had to capture ‘her start’ & post it. She will hate me for doing so. SMILE.