Monday, Monday, Monday…

Good Monday morning! Why do we let Monday’s stress us out? Maybe it’s because Monday signals the start of the work week. Maybe it’s because Monday is the official end of the weekend. Or Maybe it’s because we were too busy over the weekend and Monday is the day all the exhaustion hits.

On Monday’s I normally drink more coffee than usual. I know, is it possible for me to drink more coffee? At least it’s a sunny Monday morning here. That makes it better. If it’s rainy on Monday morning, then it just adds to the stigma of the day.

But can I give you a piece of advise? Let Monday be another day to be fabulous. Focus on the good, not the ugly. Make it the best day of the week so that your week begins on a happy note. I know, it may be hard, but smile big and drink an extra cup of coffee. It will give you the boost you need. Even sing a happy tune…

So, how is your Monday so far…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

P.S. Here’s a link to my new children’s book that released over the weekend…

Writer’s Block… It happens!

Good morning! Yes, I said it. If you plan on being a writer, at some time or the other you will have writer’s block. And the worst part is, it normally comes when you are on a deadline or a wordcount needs to be met. It’s never during a convenient time.

But, what can you do when it threatens to sideline your work? Well, I tend to sit back, take a breath and focus on something else. If I’m stuck at a particular place in my manuscript, then I skip ahead. Sometimes that works to get the creative juices flowing.

Other times I go back and read over what I’ve written. It can make the story come alive again. Or even I will go to the next story I’ll be working on and at least work on the outline.

To me, Writer’s block is like when your mind freezes up. So, you have to jolt it back to reality. That’s why I keep doing something with my writing. Whether it’s a step ahead, a step back or a step in a different direction, I make it count.

That’s why I love having a detailed outline to go by. When I get stuck, I have it as a reminder of where the story is headed. And if I need to go ahead to another chapter or place in the book, I can without getting lost in the details. Then once the block has passed, I can get back to where I left off.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Promotions that work…

We’re halfway to the weekend and I feel as though I’ve been back pedaling. So much to do… So little time…

My latest book release went better than I expected it would. And I owe the success to the stacked ads and promotions that I ran surrounding the week of release. I’d read about doing this and was a little skeptical, but now I know it’s the thing to do. But for today, I want to talk about the biggest boost promotion that helped me.

I did run about 5 different ads for the release of SAFE. The sales began to rise, but they weren’t spiking enough to hit a bestseller list. That is until my double ad that I ran on https://faithfulreads.com/. Within an hour of the promotion hitting the Faithful Reads website and social media accounts, my sales began to go up at a rapid rate. All through the day they continued to rise.

Now, you may be saying, how do I know it was the ad through Faithful Reads that helped so much. Well, I kept up with all of my sales on the days that the other ads ran. And then when the Faithful Reads ad began, it was evident what worked. By the end of the day of the promotion, I was sandwiched between four top authors. It was exciting as I watched the rank rise. Then as the promotion was about to end, I hit #3 on the Amazon charts. The first and second place books were top ranking authors, so I was thrilled to be #3 behind them.

Over the last couple of years I’ve used Faithful Reads many, many times. They’ve always proven successful. And the fact that to run even a double ad with them is reasonable only adds to the awesomeness of using them. But remember, this promotional site is for clean books, no erotica books and no short stories, only books over 50 pages.

Their prices range from $30 to $65 per ad. They join with eReader Cafe for double features which cost the $60 or $65. And I can tell you this, it’s money well spent. They never disappoint. As an author, I’ll always use them for my promotions, and I hope you will as well.

www.faithfulreads.com

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Monday… One cup more…

Good morning! Wow, after a busy weekend, it seems like it flew by. I may need two pots of coffee this morning. And it’s rainy outside, so the yawns are long this morning, but I have at least 1500 words before I go to the office.

So, how do you reboot after a busy weekend? Coffee? Tea? Soda? This morning I gave myself a treat. Normally I just drink black coffee with a sprinkle of cinnamon, but this morning I added just a little French vanilla creamer for a boost. Well at least for the first cup…

Now, as I settle in to write and get in my word count, I’m refocusing on Broken, book 2 of the In Harm’s Way series. Book 1 has far exceeded my expectations in sales. I’m so psyched about book 2. I’ll be sharing the cover this week, or at least a peek at it. And if you think Safe was suspenseful, just wait until you start Broken. I’ve had to take a moment several times as emotions overwhelmed me.

So, hope you have a great Monday and enjoy at least one more cup of whatever it takes to get your eyes open… For me it’s always coffee.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Feeding the beast…

Photo by Dominika Roseclay on Pexels.com

Good morning! I’m not sure about you, but it feels like a Monday today. Maybe it was the long weekend…

Now, on to the post. Feeding the beast… The beast for an author is our overactive mind. And sometimes just writing doesn’t feed our overwhelmed minds. We have to keep feeding it or the crazies set in. Most writers have stories, characters, and words whirling around all of the time. Some days it’s hard to concentrate until I’ve written some of it out of my mind.

But, writing isn’t the only way to feed the beast. One of the great ways is to read. And try to read something out of your normal realm. It helps to give yourself a challenge. Read a new author… Read a new genre… Read…

One of the ways I feed the beast is to outline, or rework an old manuscript. I even revisit a discarded story that didn’t get anywhere. Anything to challenge my writers brain.

So, try it out. Exercise your writers brain. Feed it with reading, working, writing, and even learning more about your work. It helps.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…