Calling all authors!

Good Wednesday Morning. Well it’s back to raining here in Georgia. But this post is not about the weather. This post is about a newsletter that I’ve started.

It’s going to be called “Fresh From The Book” and is sponsored by my publishing service company Horseshoe Publishing. The newsletter will consist of a author interview. With the interview the author can showcase one book and a synopsis. Then we will be showcasing 3 books from different authors. They can be in any genre. Also in the newsletter I will be choosing different writing oriented subjects to weigh in on. May throw in some polls on subjects that you my followers and friends can weigh in on.

I’m hoping to start this in August, but I need your help. I need authors to interview and authors for the book showcase. If you’re interested in participating and/or receiving the email through email, please message me with your email address. Some of you I have the email address, but I want to make sure.

I think it will be an exciting way to spread the word about other authors and also to have a voice in this crazy world of writing. I’m really excited about this project. At the moment the newsletter will be once a month, but if I get a good response I will up it to either every other week or even every week.

But the choice is yours. It’s free advertisement at it’s best. Come on over and join us for some fun.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Casted – By: Sonya Loveday Officially released July 31st

Tomorrow is an exciting day for author Sonya Loveday and for us as readers. Her new book “Casted” will be released. Check out this synopsis and go over to check it out tomorrow.

Jade had spent the majority of her life running from the Triad. The Triad, are a powerful group, who would stop at nothing to obtain Jade and the missing spell book for leader, Lorenzo’s, nefarious plans. And now that she has absorbed the highly coveted magic contained inside the missing book, there is nowhere left for her to hide.

With the help of her friends, Jade steps out from the shadows and learns how to fight back. But no one is prepared for Elinor-the woman bound inside of the book that’s trapped in Jade’s mind. Now she not only needs to protect herself from the Triad, but from what’s hiding inside her mind as well.

Jade never expected the answer to it all would revolve around love.

Edge is dark, mysterious, and a sworn member of the Triad. He also hides a secret past that threatens the thin line he walks between good and evil. Lives are at stake when Jade and Edge’s two worlds collide. Can Jade learn to trust him when he says he is her pre-ordained and vows to do everything he can to protect her? But more importantly, can she trust herself and the woman in her mind?

Find out more about this talented author:

About the Author

Sonya Loveday, first and foremost is a reader, an avid one. It is of that love that brought her to the realization that this was the answer to the nagging persistent feeling that ‘there’s got to be something more’.

The dream came alive in 2009 when she purchased her laptop and began the tedious step of becoming a published author.

When she’s not reading, she’s writing. When she’s not writing, she’s reading. And when she’s not doing either of those things she’s sleeping, shuttling her children back and forth to school, letting the dogs and cats in and out of the house for the umpteenth time in the last hour and dreaming of a clean house.

You can find Sonya Loveday on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and WordPress on the links below:

http://www.facebook.com/sonyalovedayauthor?ref=hl

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/11660396-sonya-loveday

https://twitter.com/SonyaLoveday – @SonyaLoveday

www.sonyaloveday@wordpress.com

So go over and check out her and Casted.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

What does a romance novel do for you?

This post is for all of you, me included, that lose yourself in a romance novel often or as often as you can. Have you ever wondered why it’s one of the largest genres? Well here is my take on this.

A romance novel can take the reader to another place. Maybe it’s another country, some exotic destination or just to another time in history. You may be saying, well so can science fiction, non fiction or any of the other genres out there. For some reason a romance novel just inspires you to want more.

Maybe the reader just needs to lose themselves in someone else’s world for a while. It’s a way to escape and what better way than to lose yourself in a romance novel. Most romance novels end with a happy ending and you’re pretty sure to have a better outlook when you finish.

Most romance novels just leave you wanting to read another one. Maybe you like the sexy characters that are described in the stories that unfold. Maybe it’s the feelings that a good romance brings about in you.

For me a good romance inspires me. I’ve been reading romance novels since I was a young teenager. There’s something about following someone else’s relationship and not having to worry whether you’ve said the right thing or done the right thing. You just leave it up to the character.

If it’s a good descriptive romance, you may even feel like you’re part of the story. Sometimes I’m reading and I get so immersed in the story that I forget everything around me. That’s what I try to achieve in the romance that I write. I want my readers to get lost in the story. I want it to make them feel better about themselves or at least feel better than they did when they started.

As I always say, this is just my thoughts on the subject. What are yours?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Handwritten or Typed, what’s your preference?

As long as I can remember I’ve been writing down my thoughts. Sometimes in journal form or just in story form. I’ll see something or someone and it’ll inspire a verse or maybe two, sometimes even a whole novel. But it’s where and when which determines the preference of my writing tools.

When I was younger we didn’t have a computer, obviously, let’s not go there. I’d get composition books and fill them with my thoughts and stories. The funny thing is I still have those notebooks. Some of the books I’ve written came from those pages. Of course I’ve changed them around to fit the times, but they’re still the basics that I wrote so long ago.

As I read over what I hand wrote all those years ago, I laugh at my innocence. I can tell when things were changing in my mind and when I started to think differently. I love reading over some of them. I’ll have to put some of them in my blog sometime.

Today I prefer my laptop as it keeps down the hand cramps and it’s quicker at times. I do keep a small pad with me for when I’m away from my laptop I can still catch the moment. I’ve even been know to take a notebook to the bubble bath to write. Those pages are usually smeared and crinkly from the humidity, but readable.

So what’s your preference?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Sunday morning shout out…

I’d like to give a special shout out to Avon Publishing for allowing me to be a contributor to their website. As I’ve been going on their site for a couple of months checking my blog post I’ve gotten to know some other romance lovers. I’ve been reading Avon Romance books for as long as I can remember. So it’s an honor for me to be part of their world if only in my blogs.

If you haven’t checked out avonromance.com then I suggest you do so. They’ve got some great authors and reviewers and bloggers. I’ve gained several new followers through this site.

I’ve also been post parts of my manuscripts on their site. They have this great place where you can share your work. It’d be great to be found by their editors on this site, but you know me, I’m patient. But I’m thinking about pitching one of my works in progress to them in the next week. We’ll just see.

So, go on over and check them out. As I’ve said, they’ve got some great authors on their site. I know you’ll be hooked just as I am.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

What’s up with people these days?

Have you noticed people these days are more opinionated? People have always had an opinion, but with social media taking over, it’s more apparent and out there everywhere. The reason I’m posting on this is the way people do things.

Take for instance. I received a review on one of my books. The person gave me a 1 star review which is their opinion and I can take criticism, but only when it’s constructive. The review simply stated “Pease relieve my mind. Whyis tender flame and moonbeames and roses using the ssme names but different stories. Nothimg is mention about others that were mention tender flames. What happened to sarahs baby……..damn why wright two books using wes and sarah”. I copied this from the actual review. Does anyone see anything wrong with this review other than the spelling and nasty word?

Now don’t get me wrong, Criticism is a big part of writing and I use constructive criticism for good. My issue is that Tender Flames and Moonbeam & Roses are two entirely different books and many writers use the same character names in different books. Why do people do this to writers? Moonbeam & Roses is a stand alone book and Tender Flames clearly states it’s part of the Flames of Love series. I just don’t get it. Let us know what you thought about the book, not the characters names. That’s a odd point.

Opinions run rampant, but when your opinions are not constructive but destructive should you voice them? Many people like to voice destructive opinions publicly. It’s bad for those that are public figures. Look at how movie stars get raked over the coals. If they make one misstep or wear the wrong color shoes with the outfit they get a social media dress down.

So, what’s up with people these days? Some people are like moths to the flame when it comes to negativity. I can say this, when you do a review for a book whether it’s a 1 star or 5 star, make sure it’s relevant to the book. What does it matter the names of the characters? When you watch a star do a interview, what does it matter the color of their shoes or the way they combed their hair? Look at what they’re saying or their acting skills, not their fashion sense.

Everyone has their opinion about something or someone, that’s their right, but should they go crazy with how they express it. I guess my upbringing taught me to not sling mud and to watch what I say because I could be on the receiving end one day. Boy was that ever right.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Do you like it long or short?

Well, do you like it long or short? You may be scratching your head and saying, well that’s it, she’s finally lost what’s left of her brain. What I mean is reading. Do you like a long novel or a short easy read?

I was reading a post yesterday about a study done on how many actually finish a long novel. It intrigued me. I started thinking about all the books that I’ve started and they were good up to a point, then about 100 or so pages in I lost track of where the book was going. But then later I pick it up and finish it on a rainy day.

I’ve written long and short books, but I get the better response from the short ones. Amazingly enough a lot of people prefer a short, easy read that get’s to the heart of the story quickly and keeps them enthralled for a couple of hours. Several publishing sites actually have a special segment of publishing call short reads or lunch time reads.

When I was younger the craze was the long novel and now it seems the shorter the better. I was going through some new books on Smashwords.com the other day and over half of them were less than 10000 words. Amazing.

I guess that’s why my shorter novels sell better. Funny isn’t it. We’ve gotten to such a busy way of life that we’ve even shortened our reading time. Oh, we still make time for reading, but we want to do it in record time so we can go out and get busy again. Oh well, I’ll just write what I feel like I need to get my stories across and hope it passes the test.

So, let me ask again, Do you like it long or short? See I told you it wasn’t a crazy question…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

In A Writer’s View…

Have you ever thought about what a writer was thinking when they wrote their books? Take for instance Romeo & Juliet which is a great, tragic romance, but what on earth was he thinking. I just wonder how popular he was at the time of his big debut. Did he get good reviews? Maybe he would have made it to the top of the New York Bestseller’s list if it would have been available then.

Then you have some of the more recent literature and you wonder where they learned about what they wrote about. Sometimes I wonder if horror writers sit around and try to figure out the grossest way to kill someone. Makes for good conversation over dinner with friends. “Hey, how would you like to kill someone?”. Good way to end up alone on Friday night.

Oh and don’t let me forget romance, my favorite genre. I’ve read some books that I wonder if the writer had experienced personally what happened in the book because it was so real. Then other times I wonder if they even know what romance is. I’ve read romance novels that don’t even show any romance and yet they’re supposed to be a romance.

I’ll tell you how I feel when I write. If it’s a sad part I usually cry. That’s when I know I’ve gotten to the core of the emotion. Then when I’m writing a really sweet, romantic part, well I usually cry again, but the point is I try to put as much emotion as I can. I was writing a part the other night where the main character was very angry and I laughed when my son asked why I was scowling so hard. I was actually angry with the other character. I guess that’s getting lost in the Writer’s view.

In my opinion God gave us emotions and we need to show them. Well sometimes we need to know when not to show them, but in writing the more emotion the better. Make the reader feel what you feel. I’ve had fans tell me they had to use a box of tissues reading one of my books. One even said they started really liking cowboy romance after reading on of them. I try to make my cowboys have feelings, but still be ruggedly handsome and able to take care of any situation.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you…

Writing…

For me writing is a way to release stress and get the thoughts in my head out. I’ve always been a dreamer. Even as a child I could spin a story in my head. My teachers always would ask where I came up with the stories I’d write for assignments. I’d laugh and say out of my brain. My grandfather wanted me to be a journalist, which is what I wanted to be for a long time.

It’s funny how things change. As life starts to take over you make decisions and some are good and others you spend the rest of your life shaking your head at your own stupidity. Well, if I’d gone with my gut instinct writing would’ve been my career from the start. I’ve been writing stories since I was around 13 years old. I was also trained in classical piano and organ. I always dreamed of playing for a huge orchestra somewhere in Europe. Oh well, dreams of the youth. I started painting around the same time. I’ve sold a couple of my paintings but nothing to brag about.

Again, it’s funny how life takes over. In college I took a liking to Accounting and it was all over for the journalism and music. I decided to get a “safe” career. Not that working with the IRS and their ever changing rules is safe, but it seemed the thing to do. Accounting has given us a comfortable life and running my own accounting firm has afforded me the luxury of keeping my son close and always being able to go to all his ball games and such.

Now that I’m writing, it’s been such a rewarding aspect of my life. I’ve met some of the nicest people from all over the world. The support that other authors give you is awesome. I may never be on the New York Times Bestseller list, but I have the knowledge that I’ve put my work out there and gotten some great response to it. Maybe one day I can retire my calculator and replace it with a laptop, but for now I’ll enjoy all the aspects of my life.

A couple of aspects of my life that will never change is that I’m a mom, wife, children’s minister and a servant in my Church. Even if I was to get to the next level with my writing those things still hold on. Life’s short and you need to make sure you live it to the fullest. The Lord doesn’t promise you tomorrow so live today and enjoy it. If you have a talent, then use it for good. Make someone smile or laugh, maybe even inspire someone for a moment. Don’t let it go to waste.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Make your writing stand out…

How are your sales? Do they fluctuate or flounder?

One thing that could be happening is you don’t stand out from the thousands of other writers in your genre. I’ve noticed in the romance genre that you have to stand out to be noticed. Here are a couple of ways to make your book stand out and take the lead:

1: Cover – Your cover is very important. If it’s bland and not eye catching most of the time a reader will pass it by. Make sure that this is a part of your book that you pay for the better images and use the more unique fonts. Don’t just use the font you find on Word. Go onto a font site and grab a really cool one.

2. Description – You have to make your description a cliff hanger. Don’t give away too much but do give away enough to get the reader interested. Maybe even write it in the main characters point of view. If you put a lot of thought and energy in your description it will pop.

3. The first page – You may be saying why is this important. Well if you offer a free sample that’s the first impression the reader will get of your writing. Make sure the first few sentences draw in the reader. You don’t want a lot of back story in the first page or two. Make it catchy and mysterious.

This is just three things that can help bring your book to the forefront. Try these out and see how it helps you.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…