Saturday, February 27, 2016

Sharing Links Saturday

Karen Ball, with The Steve Laube Agency, shared why to write:
http://www.stevelaube.com/dont-waste-your-time/

Patricia Johns gives a peek into "The Method Behind the Madness":
http://patriciajohnsromance.com/2016/02/17/the-method-behind-the-madness/

Laurie Schnebly Campbell was over at "Writers In The Storm," sharing the importance of Motivation:
http://writersinthestormblog.com/2016/02/the-driving-force/

Vincent Mars is a guest blogger over on "A Writer's Path," sharing The Benefits of the Written Word...
http://ryanlanz.com/2016/02/22/the-benefits-of-the-written-word-upon-the-worried-mind/

God bless.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Holiday USA Anthology 2015 cover reveal

Carol Fiorillo created this beautiful cover, incorporating Ruth Mower's covers for the four novellas featured in the anthology. The book is downloaded, awaiting reviews. It takes a few weeks. I'll post when it's available.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Sharing Links

For Readers: Writers In The Storm offered advice on how to write good reviews:
http://writersinthestormblog.com/2016/02/help-your-readers-write-good-reviews/

For Authors about marketing:

Bill Taysom: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/brand-alignment-your-vast-untapped-resource-bill-taysom

I read this and thought of myself as the business. I need work on my branding. My sales team is hiding, and marketing is clueless. Operations is finally getting its act together, and the executive is tearing her hair out wondering when she'll figure out how to pull it all together.

Chris McMullen: https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/organic-is-better-for-book-marketing/

One of my favorite Spoken Word videos by Jon Jorgensen "Who You Are: A Message To All Women":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWi5iXnguTU&index=7&list=PLm4vXA2z3GzRW2zsDeAZ7XtpkxSFhrrLx

God bless.

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Posts About Me 4

This is the fourth in a series of posts about me. I hope these help you decide my books are worth the read. I also hope they help save time for those who have no interest in my books. I know there's nothing more disappointing than expecting one kind of book and discovering what I'm reading isn't something I'm interested in reading. Not all books in a single genre are the same. Authors in the same genre are as different as football players on the same team and cupcake bakers. A lot of similarities but no two are alike.

I use a lot of long words and less used vocabulary. In my Regency books, I enjoy peppering my stories with words and phrases more commonly used in the early 1800s. I even check to make sure the word was invented before I use it. The etymology dictionary on line is helpful. My contemporary stories also lean toward more variety in my word usage.

There is a reason behind both of these choices. I'm dyslexic.

Big books intimidate me. It isn't to say I don't read them. I do, but I have to really love the author, i.e., the writing. I know if I'm going to read a long book, I'm making a major time commitment. This is why I write shorter books. When I thumb through my Kindle books, I always choose the shorter books to read first.

Short paragraphs are another plus for me. I'm less likely to become lost. I'm endeavoring to use more long paragraphs of description occasionally, for those who prefer it.

On the other end, short easy words are the ones I'm most likely to misread. Oddly enough, I discovered it's easier to read long words, hence the use of big words and a wide variety in vocabulary. Really. It's easier to read the longer words and the less than familiar words. I don't know why. I only know it works for me.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Post About Me 3

This is the third in a series of posts about me. I hope these help you decide my books are worth the read. I also hope they help save time for those who have no interest in my books. I know there's nothing more disappointing than expecting one kind of book and discovering what I'm reading isn't something I'm interested in reading. Not all books in a single genre are the same. Authors in the same genre are as different as football players on the same team and cupcake bakers. A lot of similarities but no two are alike.

The length of my books:

If you like fat books, my books are probably not for you.

If you like what I would call super long books, anything over 100,000 words, I'm not for you. My books run 60,000+, the longest being 82,000, unless you look at my Anthologies, 4 books in 1 paperback. I'm putting out my second one, this month. Each of my novellas run between 20,000-25,000 words.

Perhaps you could look at my books as a tasty appetizer or a midnight snack.

My novellas would qualify as yummy hors d'oeuvres.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Happy Valentines Day

Holiday, USA has it's own Valentine novella:

Valentine Delivery

Time for the third novella in the series...

Welcome back to Holiday, USA, small town America, where nothing happens, except holidays... and maybe a little romance, if the hero and heroine trust God.

Lance Nelson delivers flowers every Valentine's Day. This year, he decides to show the woman he's secretly loved all his life exactly how he feels, creating a unique bouquet especially for her.

This Valentine's Day, Sharon Kelly decides to stop waiting for someone to send her what she wants and orders a bouquet of flowers for herself. She might as well arrange for her secret crush to deliver them.

God works in mysterious ways to provide the way to Happily Ever After, even when His children stand in their own way...

http://www.amazon.com/Valentine-Delivery-Holiday-Laurel-Hawkes-ebook/dp/B00IGVA8SY/ref=sr_1_3
Available at Amazon for $2.99 or Free on Kindle Unlimited.

If you prefer paperback, it's available in the Holiday, USA Anthology 2014, along with 3 other novellas. Only on Amazon.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Posts About Me 2

This is the second in a series of posts about me. I hope these help you decide my books are worth the read. I also hope they help save time for those who have no interest in my books. I know there's nothing more disappointing than expecting one kind of book and discovering what I'm reading isn't something I'm interested in reading. Not all books in a single genre are the same. Authors in the same genre are as different as football players on the same team and cupcake bakers. A lot of similarities but no two are alike.

I write clean romances. No swear words. No explicit anything, which does not mean I sanitize. I'm an abuse survivor, so many of my characters are abuse survivors. The resultant problems do not magically disappear. Several of my characters deal with PTSD. Curing them isn't part of the story. I share methods of coping, from prayer and counseling to coloring books and therapy dogs. I endeavor to offer hope. In several of my books I touch on human trafficking. It's ugly. It's dehumanizing. I handle it as gently as possible.

I don't believe in anyone going it alone. Building a support system is part of every journey to becoming healthy, which may include a pastor and his wife, friends, and family. Sometimes family is the problem, and my characters choose to walk away. There is no fairy dust to make the family all better when the family chooses dysfunction over healing.

I write less "sweet" and more "blush." Sweet is holding hands and quick kisses and focusing on the emotional aspect not the physical. I find it difficult to relate to sweet books. Blush adds more of the physical responses, in addition to the emotional side. My heroes have "typical male" responses.

Even before seeing the movie Old Fashioned, I endeavored to have my characters lean more toward courting. Some of my heroes have been playboys, others have made mistakes, a few made the chastity vow early and held to it. My heroines are more likely to be the sexual abuse survivors but not exclusively. My teen nieces have read my books.

I write in third person, not first, and only from the point of view of the hero and heroine.




Saturday, February 6, 2016

Sharing Links...

For Readers: Seth Adam Smith was born the day after the explosion of the Challenger "You Came From the Stars." I wanted to read it again, so I'm sharing it here:
http://sethadamsmith.com/2016/01/28/star-stuff/

Candidkay reminded me of the story about a red dress, hanging in the closet, waiting for a special occasion and never being worn. I endeavor to embrace the moment but confess I'm not particularly good at it. I'm learning. I appreciate the reminder of all the ways it can be done:
http://candidkay.com/2016/01/28/worth-it/

Aerykah over at Expressions of Me shares regular book reviews on Christian books. If you're looking to find something new, she may be able to help:
https://aerykah.wordpress.com/

For Writers: Ryan Lanz, over at A Writer's Path, shares a two part series on writing short stories:
http://ryanlanz.com/2016/01/29/20-tips-for-writing-a-captivating-short-story-part-1/
http://ryanlanz.com/2016/02/01/20-tips-for-writing-a-captivating-short-story-part-2/

As a side note: My novellas run over 20,000 words, too long to be a short story.

For inspiration: Sharing a music video I like found on YouTube:
Hawk Nelson's Faithfulhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kPKTwzrAn8

God bless.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Posts About Me 1

This is the first in a series of posts about me. I hope these help you decide my books are worth the read. I also hope they help save time for those who have no interest in my books. I know there's nothing more disappointing than expecting one kind of book and discovering what I'm reading isn't something I'm interested in reading. Not all books in a single genre are the same. Authors in the same genre are as different as football players on the same team and cupcake bakers. A lot of similarities but no two are alike.

I'll start with the type of books I write: Christian Romance.

Jesus is my Savior and influences my life and thus my writing. Faith in God is a central element in all my stories. Some characters come from a place of unbelief but most are simply struggling with their faith, like a lot of people.

I write about relationships, how I've seen them and how I wish they were. I've made plenty of mistakes. Like Clay, in Old Fashioned, I have a lot of theories. My stories give me an opportunity to explore those theories.

Questions I have, problems I'm struggling with, "what ifs" are worked out in my stories.