Promoting your work and News…

Good Friday morning 🙂 It’s been a crazy week for me. I’m still playing catch up from three months of long hours and bad tax programs. My son was on Spring Break this week so I’ve tried to get in some Mama/Son time in.

The one thing I had to get done this week was promoting my books. I’ve been kind of slack on that lately. Well for obvious reasons. But I had a really good prompt this week to get back into the grind. A couple of months ago I sent a promotional letter to several local book stores and a Barnes & Noble store sent me an interesting response. They said that I needed to send a printed copy of each of my books to the New York main office for submission to their brick & mortar stores. They are interested in my books which totally excites me. I’m already on their online store, but they are interested in them for stores.

Well, if any of you have gone through their process then you know it’s a time consuming deal. I got it all ready and boxed up yesterday. I’ve set up a mail pick up this morning. I can’t tell you how excited I am. It’s been such a crazy road since last May when I published my first book. Wow, I can’t believe it’s been a year. Time flies when you’re having fun…

I’ve been on a wild ride of Tweets, Blogs, Press Releases and making wonderful new friends from all over this wonderful place we call Earth. Well, I have a bit of news. A month or so ago I hinted at some news that a big change was coming for me. Well after much prayer and some real big talks with the hubby I’ve finally almost made a decision. Some of you have been asking what that decision was, well here goes. I’ve been contemplating expanding my Accounting business and backing off the tax preparation side of it. For me that’s a huge step and I’m not sure how it’s going to go but it’s a real possibility. I was shooting for this being my last official tax season, but a couple of factors that are still in the works have to come to life before I can make that official decision. I need a lot of prayers for this to be a done deal.

Another thing is I’m starting a monthly writers newsletter. If any of you would be interested in being interviewed or add a note or two please contact me. I’m really excited about this as I hope you will be too. I hope to get a big response from this and for it to help other writers showcase their work and ideas.

Hope everyone has a blessed Friday and remember that God is with you in everything you do so make sure you do it the best way possible 🙂

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Memories…What do you do with them?

It’s Friday and the weekend is almost upon us. Are you planning a big writing weekend? Me, I’m planning a working weekend which hopefully includes some writing as it’s supposed to be a rainy weekend here.

Now to the post at hand. We all have memories, but what do we do with them. Some dwell on them and let them take over their lives. Not healthy. Some give them wings and let them fly away. Sometimes that’s a good thing when they’re memories that need to be forgotten. But most keep the good memories held in a special place to visit from time to time.

I use memories in my writing a lot. Sometimes life is the best inspiration for a writer. It can give your story depth and realism. The best way to keep a good memory alive is to immortalize it in fiction. Sometimes a bad memory can be rationalized in fiction too. If that bad memory haunts you at night, put it in fiction and leave it there for the rest of the world to see.

As for me I’ve incorporated many memories, good and bad, into my writing. Some of the most emotional parts of my books are pulled from memories. Putting them into my writing has helped in lots of ways to cope with those memories and to learn to put them into perspective.

We all have times of haunted dreams and secret smiles, but we also have the chance to put them where they need to be, in the past. Move forward and make new memories. Living in the past is normally not a healthy thing. Living in the past hinders moving forward and reaching goals. Put them in fiction and move ahead…

As always, good writing, and May God Bless You…

Friday morning coffee & doughnut…

It’s Friday people! Get excited. The weekend is only a couple hours away or if you’re one of my friends across the pond it’s really close 🙂

As I sit and sip my coffee watching the sun start to beam through the window and dance across the floor I smile. The air is crisp and clean, the world is beautiful and it’s Friday.

I know my posts have been sporadic and I’m sorry. With tax season in full swing and this old cold, allergy thing I’ve had, it’s been a crazy week.

Hopefully this weekend I can work on one of my manuscripts. I’ve been having writing withdrawals. It’ s been almost a week since I was able to work That doesn’t stop the characters and plots from running around in my head. They keep poking me and telling me to pay attention to them. Well, if all goes well I will give them my full attention tomorrow.

So if you’re a full time writer I envy you and if you do as I do and juggle writing with a full time career, then hope you get to write this weekend.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Friday night and smiling :)

Well I made it through another week. Thanks to all the well wishes I’ve received. I’m feeling much better, but still a little stuffy. I’m excited for the weekend. Not planning much of anything but some time for myself somehow among the tax returns, my son’s shot gun practice and house cleaning.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday night and remember to smile. It’s the weekend and God has given us in Georgia a beautiful weekend. Get out and enjoy the outdoors if you can.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Burrr!!!!!

Well the snow missed up in central Georgia last night. But we did get an arctic blast. It’s 29 degrees on my thermometer this morning. It was definitely a brisk walk to my office this morning.

It’s one of those mornings when I’d love to stay curled up by the fire either writing or reading. But it’s that time of year for us accountants. I have five hundred things to complete before the IRS releases us at the starting line.

Hope everyone has a great Friday. By the way, yes it’s Friday and my son is out of school Monday for the MLK Holiday, so we will be sleeping in. Looking forward to a 3 day weekend, well somewhat of one. I don’t have the luxury of taking the whole day off Monday. I might lounge around in my pjs a little longer than normal Monday 🙂

As always, good writing and May God bless you!

Writer’s frame of mind

What’s up with my writer’s brain? The book “Rekindled Flame” that was supposed to be completed in December is still in the process. What started out to be a novella has turned out to be a novella on steroids. It’s funny how you think you know how the manuscript will go and then all of a sudden you’re going into a more advanced manuscript.

Got to rant for a moment on reviews. As I’ve said before reviews rarely make me upset, but I’ve received a couple that seem to be from the same person. It’s like a reviewer stalker. They’re appearing on all my books and say basically the same thing. What’s funny is the review does not fit the book. I’m not sure what the reviewer is trying to accomplish, but I do know that they need to actually read the book so that the review at least matches. I don’t get mad or upset about ugly, nasty reviews, but I don’t appreciate just downright vicious ones that come from a person that evidently never read the book to begin with. Oh, well, enough of that. Whew, got that off my chest. Now I feel lot’s better 🙂

Was pleasantly surprised when a delivery was made yesterday. It was my newest novel. I ordered copies for giveaways and family. It was “The Winner Is Love”. It’s so exciting to hold your work in your hand. Seeing them on the internet and computer screen is one thing, but to actually hold it in your hand is so rewarding. I was very pleased with the cover. My editor designs my covers and she’s awesome. She get’s exactly what I want and totally blows me away with the finished product.

Well, it’s Friday and school started back today for my son. It was a wonderful Christmas break. We spent some good mama-son time together. It was sad to put him on the bus this morning. The house is so quiet without him playing his drums (Santa had a brain issue). Well, it’s back to normal in the office and tax season has begun.

As usual, good writing and May God Bless 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.

Laugh, it’s Friday!

Hello fellow bloggers. It’s Friday. Had you noticed? Did you forget? Well, I woke up and smiled. It’s Friday and the weekend officially starts in a couple of hours.

Have you laughed lately? I’m not talking about that snicker or pretend laugh when someone tells you a stupid joke. I’m talking about a outright, stomach clenching laugh. Well if you haven’t then try it. It helps you feel better. It clears the mind and makes way for positive thinking. Studies show that laughter helps people heal faster. I don’t know much about that, but I do know it helps you feel better.

As a children’s minister I laugh a lot. Children can just bring on laughter just being themselves. Sometimes I get to class on Wednesday or Sunday with a splitting headache and soon I’m feeling better. I contribute it to laughter.

Try to laugh today. Don’t take things so seriously. You only live once and you need to enjoy it. It also helps your writing and during November a lot of people are on a writing marathon. If you don’t have anything to laugh about, go to the internet and find a joke site or youtube video. See if you don’t feel better after you have that healthy side splitting laugh.

Well, as always, good writing, have a good laugh and May God always bless you!

For those in the north that are still having issues from Sandy, try to laugh. I know that you don’t have a lot to laugh about, but it couldn’t hurt to just laugh. It might give you some hope or extra energy. Not to mention it will warm your body against the cold. Praying for all of you!

First Press Release!

http://www.prlog.org/12014198.pdf

Well, it’s official. I have completed my first Press Release. It was scary at first. I was nervous about it. My first thought was ‘what if I leave something out’ or ‘What if I say the wrong thing’. It was published late yesterday afternoon and this morning I had 70 hits and 1000+ headline impressions.

The world of self publishing has been eye opening. It has been a wild ride and an exciting one too. This press release is for my newest novel “A Love Never Lost” which has done better than I had even hoped. So, if you have a moment go by and check it out. Would love to hear some comments.

Hopefully, God willing, my current work in progress “Rekindled Flames”, the second in the “Flames of Love” series will be out in the next week. It is second book after “Tender Flames” and this one is a holiday book, so it’s release comes just in time.

So smile today is Friday and the weekend is a few hours away. Still praying for our neighbors to the north.

As always, good writing and May God bless you!

It’s Friday! Thank Heavens!

If you haven’t looked at your calendar, it’s Friday! I always feel a since of relief when Friday rolls around. Although Friday in an accounting office can be pretty hectic with payroll. After payroll is done though it gets pretty laid back.

On Friday it is a day to summarize the week and get ready for the weekend. I start figuring out what I will take care of on Saturday. Top of the list is house cleaning (and mine is desperately in need) and then there is my writing. Saturday is the day I do most of my writing. I wait until I have everything done, then I sit down and relax with my laptop and my current manuscript. I get giddy on Friday waiting on that special time when I can make my books come alive in my mind.

Think about the feeling you get when you look at the clock and it’s 4:30 on Friday. Your heart flips a little as you realize the weekend is only thirty long minutes away. You start watching the seconds count down. (My grandmother always said that makes time go slower to watch the clock or more precisely she said “A watch pot never boils.” Smiling at memory) Well I started when I got up this morning watching and waiting.

So have a wonderful Friday and remember the weekend starts in a couple of hours. As always good writing and may God bless you!