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What I Didn’t Say About Life as an Author
Last night, I was honored to have been asked to do a book talk at my local library in Severna Park. I gave a little background on my writing, shared my books, and talked about what it’s like to be an indie author. I said a lot. I answered questions. I was positive. But there was much that I didn’t say…and I feel obligated to share it here. Full disclosure. Complete honesty. So, here it goes. What I didn’t say was… I didn’t say how hard it is to wake up every day and be consumed by what you can do to sell one book. Just one. I didn’t say…
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Teaser Ads for LITTLE MILESTONES and a Bit About the Novel
Set in beautiful St. Michaels, Maryland, my newest novel delves into the notion of the importance of family, friendship, moving on, and starting over. The idea of bringing in some of the characters from Inn Significant into this new story was an absolute thrill for me, and I did my best to do so for those who loved my previous novel. However, Little Milestones can be read alone—as a stand alone novel—without having previously read Inn Significant. These teaser ads below reflect the style of writing you will find in the book. As a writer, I try to write as realistic fiction as I can, borrowing from people and situations…
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Writing About Baseball: The Slump from The Postcard & Other Short Stories
I’ll always have a little bit of baseball in my soul, even all these years later after having worked for the Orioles. The truth is, I grew up in baseball. I did. From the age of 19 through my early 30s, I learned so much from working for the Baltimore Orioles organization. That experience molded me and helped me in the careers I have chosen now. It also gave me some pretty remarkable friendships (and I also got a husband and two great kids out of the deal). One of those careers I have today is that of a writer of novels and short stories. Today, I decided to share…
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Goodbyes. Gripping Pain. And a Giveaway.
*** Hi there! I feel as if I’ve been away from my blog for a while, and I actually have, although it’s been entirely unintentional. Today, I wanted to explain why, especially as I wanted to write about the past week, which has been somewhat momentous for my family. My son started his freshman year at a university, and it’s not the one where I teach. The preparation, though, was all that you’d expect. The day before he left, we were frantically getting everything together, making sure he had all he needed. We washed clothes and ran to Target. We created a checklist and began ticking things off. We organized…
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“Your stories give me hope,” she said.
* “Your stories give me hope,” the woman said to me when she told me how much she liked Inn Significant. “Where do you get your inspiration?” she asked. I told her I get my inspiration from people—mostly from people I know or I’ve loved along the way in my life. “You are an optimist?” she asked me. “I like to think I am,” I said. “Well, keep writing. You give me hope for the future. Will there be a sequel to Inn Significant?” “I’m toying with it,” I said. “Well, stop toying and get to it. I want to see what becomes of these people.” I guess to…
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Book Marketing & An Infographic
One of the things we independent authors have to continually do is market ourselves, our books, and what we are working on presently. THIS IS THE HARDEST PART OF THIS PROCESS — TRUST ME. I am no pro at it, believe me, but I strive each day to work on it and learn something new. Therefore, this morning I told myself I would design a marketing piece—take a new tactic—and that piece is the infographic below that showcases each of my fiction novels with a brief description of what they are about. I’m posting it below for feedback and to hear from other indie authors about what you do. What…
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Inn Significant Named Finalist in National Indie Excellence Awards
*** It’s what every writer dreams of — a little recognition for the work you slaved over for a year and a half. Just a little nod to let you know your work was not done in vain. As I have chosen my own path of writing and publishing as an independent author, whereby I do all the work on the book myself—from writing it to editing it to designing the cover and laying it out for print and for digital media to uploading it and publishing it via my hub Mimosa Publishing—being a finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards really means something to me. I am so grateful…
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Sharing The Prologue Because Book Promotion Ain’t Easy
*** Getting people interested in your book ain’t easy. I know. I’ve begun the everyday challenge of marketing a novel I’ve written. Don’t feel too badly for me, though. I’ve chosen to take this on myself; I’ve chosen the path of an independent author mainly because I’m extraordinarily controlling. When I write, it’s from the heart, and I very much enjoy making sure that every word on the page comes directly from me. Plus, this is the third time around for me. Third time’s a charm, maybe. I guess you could say, as a controlling artist, that I’ve utilized my collective skills to be able to do this. As…
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“Baseball Girl” Is Now Available
* * * After almost three years in the making, my new novel entitled Baseball Girl, is now available for purchase on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The follow-up novel to Beneath the Mimosa Tree is another contemporary romance that uses baseball as a backdrop. The story revolves around Francesca Milli, whose father passes away when she’s a freshman in college and nineteen years old; she is devastated and copes with his death by securing a job working for the Bay City Blackbirds, a big-league team, as she attempts to carry on their traditions and mutual love for the game of baseball. The residual effect of loving and losing her…
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Why I Write, Part III, The Finale
One of my favorite authors is Kate DiCamillo. She writes beautiful, lyrical stories that you generally find in the young adult section of book stores. Her stories are somewhat mystical, and despite that her stories are geared to children through young teens, I believe they are wonderful stories for all ages. I recently watched a video of her where she was talking about becoming a writer. She mentions that she walked around for 10 years wearing the uniform of a writer—a black turtleneck and jeans—saying she was going to be a writer, but she never did anything about it. Then, she said, she got off her duff and wrote her…
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Good News: Teens and Young Adults Are Reading
* * * In an article dated Wednesday, October 24, from The Baltimore Sun by Reuters, apparently teens & college-age adults are reading, and folks in their 30s are the largest percentage of those utilizing e-readers. To see the details of the article, click here. The statistics regarding reading are pretty good, and it’s encouraging, especially for someone who is (a) a writing professor, and (b) a writer. It’s imperative that we keep people reading, and quite frankly, though I’m still one of those “book with paper” kind of people, as long as people are reading, I don’t care by what means they do it, but that they do it.…
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Today’s Inspirational Thought: Get Yourself A Journal
Yesterday I stopped off at Barnes & Noble to purchase a book for each of my children. After I visited the kids’ section, I wandered around, and then found myself standing in front of all the leather journals. As a pretty serious blogger now, I decided it was time I carried a blank book around with me so I can diary my thoughts. Blog post ideas can come at the most inopportune moments, and I often need to scribble them down while they are top of mind. I picked out a beautiful, brown leather journal with string that keeps it in tact. It’s old fashioned, and just the look of…
