It’s Monday and I turn 44 today!

Yeah I know, most women don’t reveal their age, but I’m just happy to have another birthday every year. It’s crazy that I’m over 40. Me! I don’t feel 44. Most people say I don’t act 44 either. Well, last week while I had sickness, I felt over 40, but now after all the antibiotics and steroids I’m back to feeling young again.

Age to me is a frame of mind. If you constantly act your age, you will end up feeling your age. I try to enjoy every aspect of life. I try not to let everything get to me. My friends are constantly saying how do you stay so calm all the time. Well, letting things drag me down and keep me in depression doesn’t accomplish anything but developing an ulcer. Don’t get me wrong, I have regrets in my life. I have those moments of what if… I put a lot of those what if’s in my writing and go on with my life.

So, if you are in the dumps because you’re over 40, well get up off the ground you have threw yourself on and dust yourself off. Start living life to the fullest. You’re not promised tomorrow and the Good Lord gave you this time to live as He would have you live. Enjoy your family, play with your kids, decorate a tree, hug a friend, kiss your lover, tell someone you love them and live, by goodness live. Start today, right now. It will change your life.

That’s why I finally decided to publish my books and continue writing. It gives me immense pleasure. I get to live the life of my characters and enjoy what they enjoy. If only for a moment.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You!

Sara’s Promise By: Deanna Sletten – Soon to be released.

Good Monday morning blog friends. I want to make a special early morning blog for an author friend. Check out Sara’s Promise by: Deanna Sletten. The information is listed below with descriptions and release dates. From what I’ve read you will not be sorry.

Sara’s Promise Book Release Blog Tour & Giveaway

Sara’s Promise

Deanna Lynn Sletten

Book Description:

Do you believe in soul mates?

William Grafton had the perfect life with his lovely wife, Sara, and two teenaged children. But one day his perfect forever was shattered when Sara died suddenly, leaving him alone to raise his children and wonder how he would ever get through life without his soul mate. Five years later, he finds himself looking into a familiar pair of blue-green eyes that remind him of Sara. The woman is the exact opposite of his late wife, yet he finds he is drawn to her. But after a few strange occurrences, he begins to wonder–are these just coincidences or has his Sara come back to him as she once promised in the form of this new woman?

Annie Paxton doesn’t believe in soul mates or fate. She had watched her father die of a broken heart after her mother passed away and has since cast away any fairy tale ideas of love. Then she meets the man who has been haunting her dreams and she begins to see love in a whole new light. But her dream man is still tied to his deceased wife, and Annie doesn’t know if he will ever be able to break away from his past. As strange occurrences unfold, Annie wonders if William could ever truly love her for herself and not for the traits that remind him of Sara.

Were William and Annie brought together by fate, coincidence or by Sara keeping her promise?

***

Book Excerpt:

Sara looked up at him, the man she’d spent almost half her life with, the man she knew she’d spend forever with. His wavy black hair was damp from the shower, curling gently at his temples and neck. He wore it longer than fashion dictated these days, and she liked it on him that way. She always had. She placed her hand on his chest and snuggled up next to him. He felt warm and smelled of soap and shampoo. He felt good.

“They still need me more than they think, even at their ages,” she said into his chest.

William wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “From what I heard today, they don’t appreciate you as much as they should,” he said gently, adding softly, “None of us do.”

Sara smiled appreciatively. It was rare for William to acknowledge all that she did. She knew he appreciated it all and depended upon her completely. He worked long hours at his business, as well as putting in several more hours each night at home, and her being available to the kids twenty-four hours a day made it easier for him. He never had to worry about being home at a certain time, who’d feed the kids, who’d pick up the dry cleaning or who’d fill the refrigerator with groceries. It was all done, magically, quietly, completely, by Sara. Holidays, birthdays, vacations, everything was planned by her and her alone. And she loved doing it. But it did make it feel all the more worthwhile when he acknowledged the work she put into family and home.

“You know, you’ve spoiled us all,” William continued, pulling her even closer. “We would be completely lost without you.”

Sara pulled away and looked up at him, her expression serious. “Then it’s a good thing none of you will ever know what that’s like,” she said with certainty.

He smiled. “How can you be so sure?”

“I just know,” Sara said. “Even if something happened to me, I’d still find a way to be here for you and the kids. That’s how strong our bond is.”

William looked at her, half-amused, half-skeptical, making Sara laugh softly.

“Oh, Billy,” she said, calling him by the nickname of long ago that only she still used. “I’ve told you a thousand times, we’re soul mates. We were together before we met, we’ll be together long after we’re gone. And even if we cannot be together for a time, I’ll find a way to make sure you and the kids are happy and cared for, one way or another.”

It was William’s turn to laugh, not unkindly. He loved her artistic ways in everything she did. Especially in the way she viewed love and life.

“You are forever the romantic,” he told her, kissing her gently on the forehead. “And I hope you’re right.”

Sara raised her lips to his, and they kissed, soft and sweet at first, then turning warm and passionate. Soon they were naked in each other’s arms with a passion that only years of loving one person can bring, and Sara once again showed him just how sweet forever could be.

Buy Sara’s Promise on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback and on Barnes & Noble Nook

http://www.deannalynnsletten.com/p/saras-promise.html

About Deanna Lynn Sletten:

Deanna Lynn Sletten writes women’s fiction novels that go beyond the basic romance novel. Her stories dig deeply into the lives of the characters, giving the reader an in-depth look into their hearts and souls. Deanna has also written one middle-grade novel that takes you on the adventure of a lifetime.

Deanna started her writing career in the early 1990s writing articles for parenting publications and local newspapers. Over time she transitioned to writing for blogs and websites and was a contributing writer for the women’s website, She Knows. In November 2011, she changed course and put all her energy into novel writing and hasn’t looked back since.

Deanna is married and has two grown children. When not writing, she enjoys walking the wooded trails around her northern Minnesota home with her beautiful Australian Shepherd or relaxing in the boat on the lake in the summer.

Connect with Deanna:

Blog http://www.deannalynnsletten.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/#!/DeannaLSletten

Twitter https://twitter.com/DeannaLSletten

Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/555634.Deanna_Lynn_Sletten

Amazon Author Page http://www.amazon.com/Deanna-Lynn-Sletten/e/B00683SQYK/

Giveaway!

In celebration of Deanna’s new book release she is having a giveaway! Leave a comment on this site to have your name entered in the drawing for one of four prizes: Two $25 Amazon Gift Cards and 2 paperback copies of Sara’s Promise. Be sure to include your email address so we can contact you. You can enter at each site of the blog tour for more chances to win! Giveaway starts December 10^th and ends December 17^th at midnight. Winners will be contacted December 18^th after noon.

Follow the tour schedule here: http://www.deannalynnsletten.com

Do you believe?

Sorry that I haven’t posted anything for a couple of days, but the bug that’s going around struck me down on Tuesday and knocked me out of the living for a couple of days. Two shots later (OUCH!) and two meds I’m on the mend.

My blog today is the magic of believing. You may be saying to yourself, believing in what? Well here’s what I’m talking about. During Christmas I’m transformed into a big kid. Well I’m always a big kid, but during Christmas my inner kid comes alive.

Do you believe in Santa? Well, I do. Or at least the spirit of Santa. I mean St. Nick was a real man that lived a long time ago, but his legacy lives on today. I’m talking about the legacy of giving. It’s sad that most people only have the giving spirit at this time of year, but it’s true. As for me, I gaze at my tree all decorated in red and gold balls, snowmen, my sons handmade ornaments and snowflakes, oh, yeah, and don’t forget the angel on top, it makes my heart a little giddy. I smile and the spirit of the season washes over me. I close my eyes and remember the feeling of knowing Santa would come soon and it always made everything alright. I love to watch the magic of Christmas shine in a child’s eyes as they look at decorations or talk to Santa. It’s awesome. The magic is that they don’t have to see Santa put the presents under the tree to believe he put them there.

As with Jesus. As you know if you’ve seen my profile, I’m a children’s minister and I take that responsibility seriously. I often have to explain to the children that even if you can’t see something it doesn’t mean it’s not real. As with Santa, they can sit on his lap (Well the one the mall hired) and it’s makes it more real. With Jesus they feel it. Sometimes they just look at me, but when the Spirit hits them, they usually come up to me and say, now I know what you meant. It warms my heart when I see that look come over them. When they start to truly believe. The way a child believes is so surreal. They haven’t had all the worldly wrongs touch them and shade their eyes. They believe with all their hearts, which is what you should do.

Now on the love. So many people say love doesn’t exist. They say it’s just temporary lust or the need for someone to spend time with. Not! True love does exist. It’s not something you can see as a physical thing. It’s the look in a persons eyes and the feeling in your heart. That’s one reason I love to write about romance and love. It’s one of those feelings that can totally take you to another realm of feeling. Love can also take you to your lowest point in your life. I know some of you are shaking you head and saying is she for real. Well, open your heart and let love in. That’s the problem today, people don’t slow down and just let it take over. Sometimes they overlook love for practicality. I mean people, you only live once and you should experience the phenomenal feeling of true love. It’s awesome and magical.

Well, that’s just a few things that I believe in. I believe in the magic that can be inspired inside the heart. Just open up and let your guard down. You might be surprised at what happens.

As always, good writing and May God bless and keep you!

Locations. How do you decide?

One of my be issues when writing a book is location. Where does the story take place? Will it be a mythical place, a well known town, a town out of my head (That’s scary :)) or will it be a mega city? I try to incorporate Georgia in most of my work. I’m a Georgia girl so I’m proud of my state. My newest novel, The Winner is Love” is based in Atlanta, but the characters go to Colorado and discuss Beverly Hills and Montana.

How do you decide? Sometimes I just never name the town, but describe it in words, not names. Sometimes I even say for example the town is south of a big city. Some books I’ve read have designated towns that are well known. In reading their books I get to know the town and want to visit it. It’s funny how if a book or movie highlights a certain town how the visitors flock in to see where it was filmed or written about.

It is important to designate an area. Some may say why is that? Well you can’t write about heavy snow if the characters are based in the south. Also, beaches don’t exist in the middle of a landlocked state. If you want a snowy region, then stick with the plan. It makes it more realistic. I read a book once that I was so confused when I finished because the author had at the beginning mentioned the cold regional weather, then ended the book in a warm region. The characters stayed in the same town. Really!

So as you write you manuscript, think about the location. Make sure you stay true to the region in regards to weather, dialect and details. It can make all the difference in the way it works out.

As always good writing and May God Bless You!

By the way, if you haven’t looked at the calendar it’s Friday and the last day of November! Tomorrow we’re officially in the month of December and the holiday season. Yikes! Only 24 shopping days left. I’d better get busy shopping online.

Today’s the Day! It’s Published! Finally!

I know I haven’t made a post in a couple of days. I’ve had a personal issue that had my mind completely in a fog. I finally got with my editor yesterday and the edits are finished and the last word is done. My Christmas novel is finished and the publishing starts today. It should be on Amazon late this evening or in the morning. It will be available on Smashwords today. I’m excited.

When my editor finished the final reading she turned and look at me with a look of anger. I thought she didn’t like it. The look was actually disbelief. She said I did it again, I left her hanging, because this is part 1 of 2 parts. I held that part from her to get the look that she gave me.

So, I hope it’s well received by my readers. It was a labor of love. The story just hit me a couple of months ago and I put the other manuscripts I was working on to the side to finish it. Now on the “Rekindled Flames” the 2nd in the “Flames of Love” series. It’s the continuation of “Tender Flames”. It will be a New Year’s Love Story.

As always good writing and May God Bless and Keep you.

Christmas in the eyes of a child!

I did something yesterday I didn’t really want to do. I let my mom talk me into going to a couple of home improvement stores. At least half of Georgia was not at those stores. We were looking for a new Christmas tree for her.

As we walked through the Christmas decoration a small boy came running up to the counter and grabbed a stuffed Rudolph that was bigger than him. His eyes lit up with joy and he started singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I couldn’t help but smile. Before that I wasn’t in the smiling mood.

The little boy had so much joy in his heart that Christmas was near, you couldn’t help but get the Christmas spirit. He went from one decoration to the other smiling and eyes twinkling. When he got to the section with items for Christmas villages I thought he would literally explode his smile got so large. There was Santa’s toy shop with dancing elves, a pond with moving ice skaters, a Church with ringing bells, a windmill with a spinning mill, and a carnival carousel turning with bright blinking lights.

It was something to watch. I remember when I was that way. It was a wonderful time. I have to admit I still have those feelings in my heart at Christmas time. My son is 13 and he still loves Christmas time. He has mentioned putting up the tree several times in the last two days. My husband is not a fan. If it was left up to him we would put the tree up two days before Christmas. Bah Humbug… That’s what I tell him.

So, get into the spirit of Christmas and think as a child with innocence and wonder. It will make your Christmas a lot more enjoyable.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you.

Just a Christmas reminder, my Christmas novel is coming out this week. Finally!!!

Children in need for Christmas…

This post is about something near and dear to my heart. Children. Our Church adopts a needy family every year for Christmas. We all donate gifts and money to make sure the family has a nice Christmas. Even food is donated for their Christmas meal.

Well, I called yesterday to the local Family and Children service and spoke with the wonderful lady that helps us make this possible every year. She informed me that this year the biggest need was for foster children. She said a record number of children have gone into foster care this year. My heart heaved a sigh and tears pricked at my eyes.

She went on to ask how many we could help. I was sorry to say only three since we are a small Church. We always try to do our best to do more, but we have our limits. She was more that excited that we were taking three small children. She sent me their ages, first names and wish lists. As I read the wish lists I started to cry. They were so simple and sweet. It broke my heart to know these precious children would be without family for Christmas.

So my wish is to help these three have a wonderful Christmas so they won’t lose the spirit of Christmas. Christmas is so special in the eyes of children. I remember the feeling of going to bed on Christmas Eve and knowing when I woke presents would cover the floor. I was lucky. It breaks my heart to know so many children around the world will go to sleep on Christmas Eve hoping they at least have something to wake up to. Presents are not what Christmas is all about, but to a child it is.

So if you get a chance, please help someone in need for Christmas.

As always good writing and May God bless you.

The birth of a novel.

Have you ever read a novel and wondered what the author was thinking about when they wrote the first word? Like what was Charlotte Bronte thinking when she started Jane Eyre or J.K. Rowling when she started Harry Potter? Did they know at the moment of the first word that it would be a success?

As I started my last novel I was thinking, will someone want to read this. Will it make the New Your Best Sellers list? I typed the first word and suddenly the words were flowing from my fingers. It was as though the story had to be written and I’d been chosen to write it. I knew what had to be said and what the characters had to go through to get to the words The End.

As the story evolved I became immersed in the lives of the characters. It was as though I was watching the story from a distance. I could see the house, the people, the horses, and feel the pain, love or just happiness. I even cried at one point which is so in character with myself.

To make the great novel what do you do? You put everything inside you on paper. You leave nothing unsaid and no feeling unfelt. I’m not saying my novel is the great novel by any stretch of the mind, but instead I’m saying it could be to me or maybe a fan of my writing. I can dream of the day it soars to life in someone else’s heart.

The one thing I hope to achieve from my writing, other than making a little extra money, I hope to take the reader to another world, another time and help them to experience love through my characters. My Christian series was created to help others cope with something in their life. My romance novels were created to inspire romance. Everyone needs it.

So as I close this post, I glance out my window and watch the sun shine on the golden leaves as they fall from the trees. My mind is working on the novel at my fingertips and I smile. Maybe one day after I’m gone, someone will read my books and say, “I wonder what she was thinking as she wrote these words.”

As always good writing and May God bless you.

Self Publishing: Do or Don’t?

I’ve read several posts lately regarding the decision whether to go traditional publisher or do it yourself. It’s a hard question to answer without some investigating your options. That’s what I did before I published my books. Here’s my findings and remember, this is just my experiences and opinions.

When I first decided to publish my books I sent a query letter to a traditional publisher. Well, after several months I didn’t receive a response and I was really wanting to the book out. So, being the person I am, I started looking into other options. I didn’t know a lot about self publishing, but soon I was immersed in the how-to’s. It was an interesting concept. What really impressed me was the royalty rates versus traditional rates.

One of the issues was that in traditional publishing you have someone doing book promos for you and the self publishing market you do it yourself. Being an accountant by trade I wasn’t sure about this. But with more in depth investigating I realized I could do this. Thank goodness my assistant is in college and she is very with working computer magic.

The funny thing is that it was easier than I had ever imagined. I was not a social media butterfly, so easing me into that part of the marketing was extremely funny to my assistant. The first time I received a follower on Twitter I was like, really, someone I don’t even know followed me. She just laughed and rolled her eyes. Since then it’s been crazy. I blog, I tweet and I have my books on every website I can find. My accounting office has turned into publishing central.

We even design our own covers and have gotten some real good reviews on them. I have gotten a couple of calls from traditional publishers wanting me to sign with them. That’s been gratifying but the only thing is some of them want me to pay for their services. I asked one the other day and they are a big publisher, what are you going to do to market my book? Guess what, I was doing the same exact thing they were going to do, and paying thousands less than they wanted to do it.

So, I guess with me, I’ve had a good experience with self publishing. I won’t say that I’ll never go with a traditional publisher, but for now I’m happy with doing it myself. I have been talking with a small publishing company that is interested, but that will be later on. At least with self publishing I can get it out there now, not next year.

Hope this helps you if you’re trying to decide. As always great writing and May God bless you!

How authors are portrayed.

Have you ever read a book and you had an idea in your head what the author would look like? Come on, you know you have. Well, since becoming a published author I’ve thought long and hard about the portrayal of authors. If you write a horror story does that make you ugly and mean? If you write a romance does that make you beautiful and romantic? No, the genre you write in doesn’t make you who you are.

I’ve talked to people that know me and they always say, “Yeah, I can see you writing romance novels.” Why do they say that? What makes me more of a romance novelist than someone else? In my opinion nothing. Who says I couldn’t write a gory horror story, well I personally couldn’t but just by looking at me you wouldn’t be able to tell that.

It’s profiling plain and simple. Just like with models, everyone thinks they all have eating disorders, but not all of them do. Some of them are naturally skinny, it’s just in their nature. One of my favorite authors of romance and I’m not mentioning any names, but she was totally different from what I portrayed her as. I could see the younger person and she turned out to be a retired grandmother. This in no way made me stop reading her work because I still love her writing. It actually spurred me on because I hope I can write as well as her when I get to be a grandmother. Wait, I am a grandmother, well a step grandmother.

Oh well, good writing and may God bless you!