The Four Letter Word – Fun Fact or Not on Friday

December 5, 2014December 4, 20141 Comment

There are a lot of four letter words. remove your mind from going down the dark tunnel-or the gutter. Seriously stop it! Okay. Back on track now. I find it interesting that several very important words that shape our lives are 4 letters. Love and fear are two that I think can shape people and how they handle life.

As a child I knew a lot of fear. Fear of failure, fear of getting lost, fear of change, fear of being unwanted, fear, fear, fear. I was afraid of everything. I actually went to a teacher in the sixth grade and requested to have a separate role in the class so that I was never be put on the spot during class. I was so afraid of ridicule.

Well as an adult those fears stayed and grew worse until my life could be boiled down to one problem-I wasn’t living, I was hiding. Writing has become my outlet. In away I still hide behind my words, but at the same time my fear gives me plots and imperfect heroines and heroes.

Why do I share a huge flaw in my character so openly in my blog and in my writing? I hope it shows someone, anyone, that sometimes our worst bits of humanity are what make life interesting. No one wants to read about a perfect person.

Good news for my readers. I haven’t outgrown all my fears. Some are soul deep, so I guess that means more reading material for you 🙂

Words to live by though-learn to control your fear so that it never controls you.

Happy Book Birthday Spooktacular Seducations!

October 31, 2014November 7, 20143 Comments

Happy Book Birthday Spooktacular Seductions!

Genre: Romance Anthology
Release Date: October 31, 2014

Publisher: Roane Publishing

Keywords: Romance, Short Stories, Halloween, Paranormal

Falling in love can be terrifying.

Eight tales of spooky romance brought to you just in time for Halloween.

Bewitching Gypsy by Linda Carroll-Bradd
Garden of Souls by Michelle Ziegler
If This Be Madness by Echo Shea
Encantado by Havva Murat
Do You Believe in Ghosts by Anne Higa
Ghost of a Chance by Lily Carlyle
Where Angels Tread by Christy Thomas
Spooky Hollow Café by Lisa A. Adams

Purchase Links:

Print
Createspace
AmazonDigital Edition
Amazon
Amazon UK
Barnes and Noble
Smashwords

Tour Schedule

Don’t miss out on the giveaway I am doing here on my blog! Or you can enter on Facebook.

Book Blitz & tour-wide giveaway: paperback copy of Spooktacular Seductions and a $10 Amazon gift card!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code. No purchase necessary, but you must be 18 or older to enter. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter, and announced on the widget. Winner well be notified by emailed and have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. The number of entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Roane Publishing’s marketing department.

Finding the Next Step -IWSG

October 1, 2014October 1, 20146 Comments

Oh for the love! It is Wednesday. And that means it’s time! Time for insecurities!! Well don’t I have a lot.

I may not finish my book that I am pitching this weekend.

I probably won’t sell the books I am bringing to the conference I am volunteering at.

I have no idea what I will do when Unemployment runs out.

What if no one needs a website?

Well hello fear of failure. I was really curious where you were. Right on cue.

There are those days. Lots and lots of them for me lately. I have no idea how to keep up with authors I love. Making sure I promote them. Making sure I read posts. I don’t like letting people down. Right now though, I have a lot to focus on in my life. Job searches are not fun. They suck so much time from your day.

The thing is though, seeing others succeed and find happiness fuels my desire to push aside the evil little bug in my ear telling me I will fail. I still need more hours in a day and a lot of understanding friends.

If I fear failure too much, I indeed will fail. But instead, if I use my fears to improve myself, well- I just might succeed.

How do you handle the fear of failure? How to rise above it?

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Visit other bloggers in the Insecure Writers Support Group ! (A blog hop that posts the first Wednesday of every month, founded by Head Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh.) Thanks to his co-hosts this month too!

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time.

Throw Back Thursday-My First Publication

September 4, 2014September 3, 20142 Comments

This week was the release of a FREE short story of mine. In case you missed it, you can go here.

What are your dreams and have you been chasing them for years? Or have you really not started to chase them yet?

I’ve been writing forever. I’ve found poems from grade school, short stories from high school, and random chicken scratch from goodness knows when. I simply love to write. I love to visit my own worlds, or see women over come struggles we may all have faced, or maybe something we could all face. I love the escape to have a small break from reality.

So all that being said, I just found the first poem that my mother sent out for me. It was published in a collection of poems. At the time I didn’t care. I never had a thought of grandeur. It was not a reality be a writer. That was too frivolous to dream to think about in my family. Don’t worry. My mother is a closest dreamer though. So somehow at ten I was published in some collection. It meant nothing then, but today it makes me smile that I am revisiting a happy path.

So throw back Thursday. Anything you are coming back around to that is making you smile? Making you feel like you just might be on the right path in life?

Free Reads Inspire the Best and the Worst in People -IWSG

September 3, 2014September 3, 20141 Comment

It’s the first Wednesday of the month! That means I get to post my insecurities-or whatever I need to post about, I suppose. This month though, it has to do with an insecurity. My publisher is celebrating their anniversary this month. To help celebrate, several authors offered up free reads. The hope is to not only celebrate, but also spread the word about us. Free reads can be a great idea. But in my mind it can also open the stories up to people that not normally give you a chance, but it also opens you up to some of the overly critical. Good news though. Most people never leave reviews.

That is so frustrating. Not only will I not know if my free read is inspiring people to follow me, but I’ll never know if there was something that I should have done differently. In the end I write for me and whatever makes me smile. It’s nice to know sometimes though, if people appreciate what you wrote. After all, as humans, we are all a little vain. Even if we try not to be. So there you have it. I have a free story out right now and would love to have your read it. Better yet? I’d love it if it inspired you to want to read my other short stories, and hopefully someday soon, my full length novels.

My goal after running a free story is to get my first standalone novel done and then become a best seller-hehe, okay sorry. Just had to add my wish list at the end. OHHHH and I have another short story coming out in October. Details to be shared later. This is no a fun lighthearted contemporary romance. So it will be interesting to see what people think if it.

Thanks Jamie for the reminder that it was indeed time to post. In the mean time I’m still making a go of freelance web design.

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Throw Back Thursday – When I Started to Write

August 28, 2014August 22, 20144 Comments

When I first started to write I simply knew I would be the next big one. The next Stephanie Meyer or <Insert famous author>. This wasn’t because my vampires sparked, because well, they didn’t. No. It was because I had something to say that would bring joy to people. Little did I know that the average it takes a person to get published isn’t exactly a fact, but it is founded on facts. The average I last heard was 8 years. Is that true today? I would say no. Why? Well now there is self-publication and therefore one more statistic.

Okay – enough depressing words. So for fun.

If you are a writer – what is the first thing you tried to publish?

If you are a reader – what have you thought of some authors new releases vs. their later releases?

Here is my embarrassment. Mind you I started to seriously write during the vampire craze about 7 years ago.

Seventeen year old girl who is human, falls for a vampire that is a friend of her vampire family. Yes – a human raised by vampires. There’s some crazy vengeance from a few hundred years of feuds, some trips to Ireland and Italy. Shopping in France. A crush from a human boy – so a small love triangle. Love struck girl is kidnapped, but don’t panic. There is an over indulgent HEA – because all my stories are happily ever after. The end!

You can laugh now 🙂

Throw Back Thursday Blog Post?

August 21, 2014August 23, 20141 Comment

I am trying something new. I have neglected my poor blog. It isn’t that I don’t love to share. It’s certainly not because I don’t love to write. It’s more like life. I’d love to get back to the simpler times. Who doesn’t feel like sometimes the worlds problems are so large you might suffocate under the worry and the stress. <Raises hand.>

Let’s all breath. In and out. In and out. There. That’s much better.

Ignoring the world for the next five minutes, what was the first book your remember reading?

For me, it was Green Egg’s and Ham. I should say, it’s the first book I ever read on my own. No help. It was the best day of my life. I struggled with reading. Crazy right? There’s a small ghost from my past spilled. So when I finally read this wonderful story of one Sam I AM never giving up and a grouchy person realizing changes can be good, I truly felt like I’d accomplished something. Granted at the time all I noticed was green eggs and ham; trying to decide if it was rotting or dyed for St. Patrick’s day.

What was your first book you remember? Fond memories or trauma?

Finding the Next Step -IWSG

August 5, 20145 Comments

Everyone comes to that point in their life where you face a crossroad. I’m there. Okay, honestly I think I’m at some kind of maze in the road. My entire life seems to be meeting different changes and opportunities.

In writing, I’ve come to the point where I LOVE my publisher, but I’ve always dreamed of an agent. My current novel is still in the editing stages, but what do I do once I’m ready? Do I submit to agents and see how it goes? It sort of feels like cheating on my current publisher.

I think the key to writing and small publishers is diversity. It’s a good way to get your name out there by diversifying. I’ve seen this with several authors I love. It also helps your other publishers, new fans. All the same though, I’ve always dreamed of an agent and being in a big publishing house. Times are changing and I can’t say I know what the right road is. What do you think?

In the mean time I’m still making a go of freelance web design. Maybe there is a chance writing will start to pay a bit better, but I wonder if an agent might be the key. Wouldn’t we all love to make money doing what we enjoy?

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Please, oh Please be My Prisoner -IWSG

July 2, 2014June 26, 201411 Comments

I double booked myself today. Sorry! So if you are looking for the giveaway, look at the post above this one.

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“Please, oh please be my prisoner. “ The words of Doug the dog from Up, by Disney. I thought it was appropriate for this month’s post.

Who feels like they are a prisoner in their own life? A prisoner to their doubts and fear? Fear of failure is probably a jailer to most about here. I am no exception. I am trying to do freelance web design while I wait for my writing career to go crazy. I have a lot of doubts if it will work. I have doubts that my writing will actually ever take off. Maybe I am just chasing a rainbow that has no end.

After a few minutes of banging my head into the wall, I realize I am my own worst enemy. I have made myself a prisoner to my irrational doubts. The crazy fears that haven’t happened yet, keep me from being successful.

So take that Doug the Dog. No. No I will not be your prisoner! Okay, not that I was his prisoner really. All the same though, I am stepping outside my comfort zone and I am giving it my all. I am volunteering web design services to a writer’s conference. I am going to find a local writers group who might see me as an asset. I am going to find an agent. I will finish my next novel. Hmm, maybe I should rearrange my goals.

Either way. Let’s break free from our prisons and start to live. I need to try in order to know that I can succeed.

How about you? Are you breaking free from the chains of doubt and fear in your lives? What is your prison made of?

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The Evolution of a Story

June 4, 2014May 28, 20143 Comments

I’ve been watching a lot of Looney Tunes lately – my daughters new favorite thing. They started in 1930 and wrapped up in 1969. So what’s my point here?

Well stories and writers all go through an evolution. It doesn’t take us thirty years, I hope, but our stories evolve as we do rounds of edits. As authors, we evolve and change with each submission process. This is a good thing. If you think you can’t ever learn anything or that your story is the best it could be straight out of the gate, well you will earn a reputation as a author that is hard to work with.

Going back to Looney Tunes. I think most of us would agree that the animations for the early versions aren’t nearly as good as the later. The tools got better, the technology improved, and then one day color!

Now look at your story. Version one is a primitive bare bones version. Round two is smoothing out the lines, making the story resemble what you’d always hoped it would be. Round three is when you enter into the age of technicolor, hehe just kidding, you can have full blown 3d graphics if you want. All the same you are finally adding the color, the details, correcting punctuation, filling in small issues. Making it shine. Okay, your evolution may have six rounds or two or twelve, but the point is you really have to do these edits. I hated editing. I still do. The difference is now I have evolved a little as an author. I now realize that my story takes on a new form in that second stage of editing. It turns into something I actually love, if not, I fix it.

So don’t skip the edits. Don’t forget that everyone can get better – even Looney Tunes.

What do you think? Hate editing, love it, or just survive it?

Oh last parting words. You do have to let go at some point 🙂 If no one ever did and you just wanted for the timing to be right OR the technology to get better you won’t ever see your work out there. It’s a balance.

Visit other bloggers in the Insecure Writers Support Group ! (A blog hop that posts the first Wednesday of every month, founded by Head Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh.)