I Wrote a Book, How Do I Get It To Sell?

I read a great post this week on a blog I follow by a fellow indie author, Derek Haines.  It had such invaluable information, the same kind I try and offer on this very blog, I was compelled to contact the author and request permission to reprint the post, in its entirety, on my blog.  I was thrilled when he responded immediately, giving his approval.  

The information is nothing you, the new author, indie author, or aspiring author, have never heard before.  It is simply presented in such a precise format and so succinctly, that in my unending quest to be a source and tool for new writers, I knew I had to share it.  So, please enjoy, take heed and put into practice.  And then believe this:  you WILL publish AND sell in 2013!

Happy New Year!

I Wrote A Book – But It Won’t Sell.....by author Derek Haines

One of the most frequent questions I receive is from newly self published authors asking why their book isn’t selling. While there are a thousand reasons why a book doesn’t sell, there is one fact that many newly self published authors often fail to realise. The book market and the ebook market in particular is well and truly over-populated.  Try to get your head around these numbers.

300,000 books were published in the U.S. 2003.

411,422 books were published in the U.S. in 2007.

1,052,803 books were published in the U.S. 2009.

Approximately 3,000,000 books were published in the U.S. in 2011.

And . . . drum roll, please . . . Bowker estimates that they will issue15,000,000 ISBN numbers in 2012. (Or so Seth Godin said in an online interview.) Source

With these statistics it’s easy to see where one new book sits. Lost in a huge crowd.

The fact of the matter is that it is getting harder and harder to sell books and for a writer new to self publishing, there is going to be a lot of hard work ahead; just to get noticed. So what can you do to get some attention?

Firstly, write a damn good book. This may sound simplistic, but have you had independent feedback about the quality of your book? Just because your mother likes it, this doesn’t count for anything in attracting attention or climbing bestseller lists.  Yes, we all love our own books, but you really need to know if other people will love it enough to buy it.

Does your title attract attention? This is the most important few words of your book, and yet I see so many poorly titled books. Give your title a lot of thought.

Does your cover attract attention? Especially when viewed as a thumbnail image. This is important as this is usually the first image of your book that a potential reader sees, so you really want them to click on it. Look at you book cover as a thumbnail size image. Is it attention grabbing or a fuzzy little box?

Does anyone know your name? I’m a firm believer in promoting your name as an author rather than promoting the title of your book or books. Getting known is vital, so use social media to build your name recognition. Yes, it’s slow going and hard work. But nothing is going to come easy in a crowd of fifteen million new books.

Use social media intelligently. Don’t fill your social media streams with posts about the kids, the dog or details about your headache or hangover. Build a professional image of yourself and use separate accounts for your friends and relations chatting. You want to sell books not inform people about cup cakes. Build a quality Twitter and Facebook Page following and concentrate on your reputation.

Be patient and don’t give up after 3 months. It takes a long time to build your profile and to write enough books to be noticed. If you are expecting instant success through self publishing, I would really suggest trying something else. It’s just not going to happen.

Set realistic goals. In your first year with one or two titles, don’t expect to sell many more than one or perhaps two hundred copies. The average royalties earned by self published authors is less than $500 per year, so don’t even think about getting rich quick.

Market your book. Don’t sell it. Let’s face it, you don’t like getting ‘Check out my book‘ or ‘Buy my book‘ messages, so why would anyone else react differently to you? Guide your followers to you, your books and your blog and or website. Don’t just repeatedly post your Kindle page. It drives people away from you, not towards you.

Write better, and better. With each book you write, you improve. So if you truly want to be a writer who will be noticed, keep writing, improving and learning.

Okay, followers:  please contact Derek and join his blog.  Information of this value is presented constantly on his pages.  

Check him out here:  

Derek Haines

Email: derekhaines@mac.com

Web: www.derekhaines.ch

Want to Launch a Blog Tour? Have I Got a Deal For You!

My fb friend Megan McDade is the wonderful owner of the Reading Away the Days blog and an avid reader herself.  One other thing she is: the Babe of the Blog Tour!

Megan will organize a blog tour for your book release, get you interviews, guest blogs and the like, and the best part?  She does it all for free!  Because I always want to introduce you, my friends, followers, and fellow authors, to the best services to aide in your quest toward publication and general global takeover, I am so happy Megan wrote a post to tell you all about what she does.

Launching a Blog Tour......by Megan McDade

Thanks to Samantha for inviting me over!

I am here today to tell you all about my FREE YA blog tours I offer to YA authors from all genres!

I blog at http://readingawaythedays.blogspot.co.uk reading and reviewing YA books and in 2011 I organised my first ever blog tour on behalf of author Katie John for her book Immortal Beloved! I really enjoyed organising and putting together the tour that when I was approached by author of The Faerie Ring, Kiki Hamilton to put together a tour for her in December of 2011 I jumped at the chance. With the success of the previous tours I decided to do them regularly and starting in January 2012 the mayhem and excitement of organising blog tours began. I have now decided to make a blog dedicated to just my blog tours called Reading Away The Days Blog Tours.

As I said before my blog tours are FREE!

Here is what I offer:

*A FREE blog tour for any YA Book in any genre whether you are from a small publisher, self published, anything goes!

*I can arrange a tour to last from 5-14 days

*I ask that you can provide reviewers with an ebook to review and if possible be up for interviews, guest posts etc all of which can be limited to just a few.

*Giveaways can be offered only if you want to

By the way, I organised a tour for Samantha herself for Waterdancer and she deemed it a success.

Here is some other praise for my Reading Away The Days Tours:

Being an independent author, I only have so much time to dedicate to marketing and promotion. Megan at Reading Away the Days helped take that pressure off of my hands when she organized and hosted the blog tour for my novel, Family Magic. How fantastic! I hugely recommend her as a host. She made it fun, energetic and found me a collection of wonderful bloggers to help get the word out. I can't say enough to thank her!"

Author of Family Magic, Patti Larsen

"I was very fortunate to have Megan coordinate a UK blog tour for my book, THE FAERIE RING, and she did a FANTASTIC job! Enthusiastic, professional, and an awesome marketer, you couldn’t ask for a better person to be in charge of your blog tour!"

Author of The Faerie Ring, Kiki Hamilton

"Megan's kindess and professionalism made blog touring really easy. She was super-organised and fab at keeping me updated We had great fun and the tour was a super way to meet lots of lovely new bloggers and readers. I can't recommend her highly enough. "

Author of Knight Trilogy, Katie John

"Megan did a fabulous job with my five day blog tour for The Keeper. I had specific requests and she made sure each one was met. I highly recommend Megan!"
Author of The Keeper , Natalie Star

"For authors seeking an excellent book tour organizer, look no further! The charming, lovely Megan at Reading Away the Days is your gal! She arranged an awesome book blog tour for my YA novel, Cicada, and I was very pleased! I got to meet so many wonderful book bloggers and readers, and her blog tours are just plain fun! Not only was the tour well-organized and fun, but I had an increase in book sales during the tour! I'd recommend Megan's book blog tours to any author! You won't be disappointed!" ~ Belle Whittington, Author of Cicada

If you would like to sign up for a tour I am taking bookings for April tours and onwards. All you have to do is head over to the blog and sign up for a tour: http://readingawaythedaysblogtours.blogspot.co.uk

*P.S. If you are a YA blogger, you can sign up to be a tour host!*

Megan McDade

http://readingawaythedays.blogspot.com- YA review blog

http://readingawaythedaysblogtours.blogspot.co.uk/ - FREE YA blog tours available
@Teamwolf1988

I Get My Publisher to Speak: Stephanie Taylor of Astraea Press

If you have been following this blog, you know that I am proud to be part of two nurturing and wonderful publishing families.  Astraea Press is the home for my award-winning book Spellbound, as well as Ghostly and Everspell.  The owner, Stephanie Taylor, was the first person to accept my manuscript and the first person to tell me I could write, at a time when not much else was going well in my life.  I am indebted to her in more ways than she can ever know. 

I am honored to be in her stable of authors, talented, kind and warm, all of them.  Her support for projects I have that don't fit the Astraea Press vision never wavers, even if she isn't publishing them.  She is just as big a cheerleader for my horror and edgier works as she is for those that her house welcomes.  I am thrilled she answered my inquiry about blogging for me.  I think Astraea Press is an amazing place to be, run by an amazing woman and I am excited to introduce you to her.  So, friends, readers, aspiring writers, authors, and followers, please meet my publisher and my friend, Stephanie Taylor.

A Dare

by Stephanie Taylor

www.astraeapress.com                                            

Astraea began after I edited for five epublishing houses and became good friends with several of the owners from those houses.  And I won’t lie.  Astraea germinated because my husband and I weren’t as financially secure as we wanted to be.  I didn’t know what to do, but writing had always been my passion.  Thanks to some wonderful people who offered to help me get started in epublishing, Astraea was officially born in December of 2010.

In a word, I was SICK of editing erotica. I was sick of having to edit this stuff and pretend I was okay with it.  That it was considered literature. I know that might ruffle some feathers but I’m just being honest.  Erotica isn’t for me and I don’t feel like it’s something I could have laying around in the house and let my children see.  As I researched, I realized there was a need for “sweet” publishers without the pink parts or the cursing.  I wanted to be the Disney of ebooks.  Still enjoy the adult relationships, but enjoy them without lying next to them in bed as they get naked.  Have covers that you don’t care for your kids to see lying around.  Or even have them READ.

There was two other companies that published strictly sweets, Desert Breeze Publishing and Vinspire Publishing.  I had the privilege to meet the owner of Desert Breeze RT this year and she’s one amazing gal. The Vinspire owner has become a close friend of mine, too.  In the coming years, I want us to ALL succeed.  There’s room for all of us in the industry.  I don’t want to be one of those owners who thinks my company is the only company doing anything right, or the only one putting out good books.  In fact, since opening AP, I’ve discovered a HUGE amount of people who feel the same way I do and there’s a massive market for the types of books we produce.  And readers are voracious.  They want a good book, not a certain publisher.  Check out the other two companies as well!

AP launched our first titles on February 1, 2011.  We contracted our first book in 2010 as well, and I’ll forever remember thinking, “I’m going to do this.  I’m really going to do this.” And you know what?  We did. Not me.  WE.

As the months passed by, AP was noticed.  And we grew.  By the end of 2011, we were a profitable company, owing no one and our editing staff grew, and we had our first USA Today bestselling author, Rachel Van Dyken.  I was also fortunate enough to have a few editors work for free in the beginning and a cover artist who worked like dog and allowed me to pay her as I could.  As a result, I put very little capital into my company, which helped the financial side of things tremendously when we were profitable.

On February of 2012, we celebrated our one-year anniversary. I had tons of people along the way tell me I was making a mistake.  Ereading was a fad.  Running a business was hard work and I couldn’t pay attention to my family or homeschool the way I planned to. I even lost a few friendships that were dear to me.  But still, I was determined to at least try.  Shamefully, I had tried to go to realtor school and flunked out, so I decided that wasn’t really my cup of tea.  And if I failed at epublishing, then I would have my answer on that, too.  ;o)

2012 was a HUGE year for Astraea.  We acquired an agent, Louise Fury with L. Perkins Agency in New York and made a foreign rights deal and we also brought much of our backlist into audio.  Several titles are under consideration at a huge movie production company and Astraea named our first NY Times author, Rachel Van Dyken, and another USA Today bestseller, Leah Sanders.  Both are extremely talented authors and worked so hard for the title they now have. I can’t even begin to count all the #1 bestsellers we have now, either!

AP also attended its first conferences in 2012.  We went to the RT convention, RomCon, and a Michigan conference.  The coming year has even more in store and we look forward to meeting more authors who want to write sweet books and publish sweet romance without sacrificing sensuality or personal morals.  It CAN be done and anyone who tells me it can’t hasn’t tried hard enough.

So I challenge all of you, whether you're a reader or a writer, take a chance on sweet books.  TRY a sweet author or try your hand at writing one.  The characters can still kiss, they can still feel things, but we keep the actual deeds to the imagination.  We also don’t allow anything in our books that we wouldn’t want our children to do or say.

Do we want characters to have premarital sex and make it look so wonderful that it might possibly encourage an impressionable teenager or even an adult to do it, too?  Nope.

Do we want to show that drinking can take away the stress of a bad day?  Nope.

Do we want to show that cursing is a good way to get a point across and insult others?  Uh, no.

However, do we want to show how wonderful a relationship can be with the right person?  Absolutely.

Do we want to prove to readers that sensuality doesn’t always come in an erotic book?  Sure.

Do we want to appeal to every audience out there?  Uh, YES.

So as I always say, go ahead.  Read or write a book for Astraea Press.

I dare you.

Paying It Forward.....More Than Just 26 Times

I have a dear, funny, sweet, DIRECT, friend who lives in Washington.  We have been closerthanthis for more than 10 years and we have never met.  It didn't matter, we never needed to.  She has always been a cheerleader for me, Beta-reads my books before anyone else in the universe, and was my first dedication.  She loves me, respects me, and the feeling is more than mutual.

She wrote a post on her facebook page today and I am moved to re-create it here.  Now, don't get me wrong, we don't always agree.  In fact, we have very different political opinions, religious beliefs and stations in life.  But, above all, we have always mutually respected one another.  Cathi never pulls any punches and her non-nonsense approach to life has gotten me through more than one kick-in-the-gut Life has delivered me. And her post today was no different.  She delivered the message clearly, succinctly, and in her words, with no bullshit.  She's right.  Let's get with the program, people!

Cathi's post from earlier today:

I was hoping I was going to lose track of the days of the week and have December 21 fly by and I wouldn't notice. I even told Kelly at work "Don't tell me when it's Thursday and don't say TGIF. I want the end to come as a big surprise". I mean I really don't believe it but let's admit it, we ALL are kinda thinking in the back of our minds, "What if". 

So, I am going with the Mayan belief that it is a new time, a time of enlightenment. 

A tragedy of enormous proportion occurred last Friday when 20 children were senselessly murdered. The world ended for their families on December 14,2012, not December 21. Those families will never be the same nor will they ever fully recover from the loss. If that does not bring enlightenment to people, then I hold no hope for the human race. Then there is no compassion, love or unity and if that is the case then I really hope that God does push the button and say He's had it with us and we have been a terrible disappointment. So when December 21 comes and goes just like every other day has come and gone, let us use the calendar the way it was intended. Let us become the people we are supposed to be. 

Compassionate, loving, and caring. 

Instead of doing 26 random acts of kindness to honor the fallen at Newtown, lets practice ONE random act EVERYDAY. Buy a burger for the homeless guy sitting in front of the Jack in the Box, it wont cost you a dollar and it could save him from the brink of starvation. Let the old man in the car behind you have the closer parking space. Ask the old woman with the grocery cart full of bags if she'd like help loading her car. HOLD THE DOOR open for the person behind you. THAT is the people we used to be, we really need to come back around to that. And pray, pray very hard that morals, values and God are brought back into our daily lives. 

Merry Christmas everyone

And Merry Christmas to you, my wonderful friend.  My life is enriched with you in it.  

Ever "Gone Muddin' "? We Can Now Learn How

I have a fabulous, wonderful facebook friend.  A fellow author for my sweet publisher, Astraea Press, she has an upcoming new book, Fried Pickles and the Fuzz, coming to Astraea in January of 2013, in which she introduces us to several new concepts.  One of them, she calls "muddin'"  It's kind of like....well, let me let her tell you about it.  And her new book!

Gone Muddin'.........by Calico Daniels

In many small towns muddin’ is a popular past time for the young’uns. I’ll admit that I have been several times and had a ball J The key to a good muddin’ trip is making sure there is a group with several trucks and at least one with a tow chain or winch. Someone is gonna get stuck J Never fails.

Why in the world would anyone want to you might ask. Well, there is just something very satisfying about slippin’ and slidin’. Jerkin’ the wheel to correct the slide and when you finish…seein’ those trucks COVERED in mud J Silly? Of course. But in small towns where entertainment is hard to find, muddin’ is one of those things that is just pure fun. 

Safe? Well……it carries hazards of its own. Never go muddin’ in a top heavy or jacked up ride. The chances of rollin’ your truck go way up. Muddin’ is really an art that should only be performed in a VERY large pasture where it has already been permitted, the area checked for dangers like fence posts and holes, and the spectators should remain a safe distance from the mud pit J

Aside from that it’s a barrel of monkeys J

Calico Daniels

Fried Pickles and the Fuzz coming January 2013 to Astraea Press 

Blurb: 

Big Creek might be a stereotypical small town but even they have drama.

Heather loves her little café, and her best customer is the county Sheriff. She’s been waiting months for him to ask her out…maybe she won’t have to wait much longer.

Bronson feels at home in Big Creek even though he hasn’t been the Sheriff for long. Small towns have their perks and a pretty café owner who cooks like an angel certainly doesn’t hurt. Now, if he could only get over his nerves and drum up the gumption to ask her out.

Throw in a gossip mill, a redneck festival and an ill timed attempt to help and you end up with some laughs, some ruffled feathers and a town that is….Redneck Fabulous.

Look for this kitschy and whimsical new offering from Calico in less than a month!

Being the Phoenix

   
A family member of mine is going through some life-changing events.  Whenever that happens, I find myself compelled to examine my own life.  To him, I have offered the kind words, the solace, the love only a sister can.  But I know the best thing I can offer is not help, but validation.  Not suggestions, but just the relating of my own wounded experiences.

     Also not lost on me is the finality the month of December can bring.  Even before the looming of the first of the year commercially challenges me to make change and resolutions, I find I am doing it anyway.  I am silently grading my year, checking off invisible boxes and begrudgingly drawing in new ones.  The self-examination at the end of any year can be a chafing process, raw and emotional.  But for me, no more so than this year.

     At the top of the year, I started the job I wanted more than I wanted to take my next breath.  I loved it then and I still do now.  We had our company Christmas party this past Friday and I was once again reminded that this company values us, the employees, like no other company I have ever worked for before.  On the same day, tragedy struck our nation and we lost wonderful people and precious children.  The dichotomy struck me and made me nearly raw.

     My husband dealt with an emotionally draining matter on his own this year for so long before he told me.  I cried for him, then for us, as I realized this was as it should be.  It, and the aftermath, brought us closer in a way I have never felt in our dozen-plus years together.  I love my husband and always have, but this year, I learned that I like him.  Mind-blowing.

The purpose of this post, as suggested by the      title, is how the Phoenix rises from the ashes.
   
     Renewed.

     Reborn.

     Repurposed.

     This year more than any other, I understand that now.  How ruin can define us or realign us.  How only from destruction can there be resurrection.  How only from the wreckage must the bird begin his flight.

      I feel like that bird now.  Purposeful.  Driven.  Directed.  My wings have been battered, my feathers torn off, and still I am compelled to fly.

     As a writer, I feel that attitude permeating my work.  Regeneration.  Reconfiguration.  Resurgence.  I'm writing in genres I've never tackled and allowing my characters to be stupid.  Ignorant.  Cocky. Afraid.  I'm allowing my characters to be me.  And they are living and breathing inside me and spilling out onto my keyboard.  And I like them.  I want to have a beer with them, go shopping with them, giggle with them over a silly movie.  They are my friends.  And I don't think I could say that about them two years ago.  Or maybe even one.

     So to my brother I tried to convey all that.  Everyone processes things at a different pace and in a different manner.  Oh, I learned that this year too.  So, I am letting him process.  And he will.  Because I truly, truly, truly believe that when you endeavor to make a change that scares you, that tears into your core, what you are really doing is tearing down a wall.  And even though you don't know what's on the other side, darling brother, it's there.  It's waiting.  It's always been there, waiting for you to be ready for it.  And you have to get there on your own.  Only, know this:  If you scale that wall and fall back down, I'll always be there.  I'll hold you for a moment, then I'll shove you back up that wall.  Because your life is waiting for you.  On the other side.

     I suppose what this post is for, other than to let me ramble a it, is to push you to choose that risk, take that chance, scale that wall.  A friend of mine moved across the country.  He didn't know anyone and just did it.  He just scaled the wall.  I'm speechless at his courage.  It mirrors my brother's.  So, find your wall.  Don't worry about telling me what it is.  Just let me know you've identified it.  I sure the hell know mine.

     And this next year, 2013 in the year of our Lord, let's kick the shit out of that wall.

My Favorite Christmas....by Clarissa Johal

Besides having one of my favorite names for girls, author Clarissa Johal also happens to be a fellow author at Musa Publishing.  A fiction gal, she writes adult paranormal, paranormal horror and YA fantasy.  *Sigh*  A girl after my own heart.  She answered the call from me regarding Christmas posts and I was surprised and delighted to receive this in response.  Off-site, in our author groups, she totally cracks me up.  Hope you enjoy her story as well.  And check out the end of her post for exciting news....she has a new book coming out today!

Have Yourself a Sneaky Little Christmas....by Clarissa Johal 

     Money was always tight growing up. Consequently, the holidays were more about spending time together. While I certainly had a list of things in my head that I wanted, it stayed in my head because I knew we couldn’t afford it. My parents would always manage one gift, however. And my curiosity being what it was, I could never stand to wait until Christmas morning to open it.

     I was a latchkey kid. As December rolled around, and while my parents were at work, I would sneak into their room and search for my one gift. It was usually under the bed, shoved under a blanket or behind another object that would fail to hide the brightly-colored wrapping paper. I became an expert at lifting the tape, taking a peek at the box underneath, and taping it back up again. No one was the wiser. And it wasn’t a horrible thing to do, I reasoned. It was my gift, after all.

     One year, I wanted a rock tumbler so badly, it was all I could think about. My favorite thing to do was to collect rocks and spend countless hours categorizing them on my bed. I knew my parents couldn’t afford a rock tumbler, so my hopes weren’t raised. 

      As Christmas got closer, I waited for a chance to sneak into my parents room for a standard peek at my gift. That year, I found it hidden in their closet. Sneaky, I thought, but no match for my superior hunting skills. I opened up the end of the box and…it was a Lite-Brite. I wanted a Lite-Brite, but admittedly, I was disappointed. I had a small ray of hope that a rock tumbler would magically make it’s was into my clutches, but knew that was that.

     I spent the next week dropping hints about how much I wanted a Lite-Brite set (silly rock tumbler, who would want that anyways?). I wanted my parents to feel good about what they had chosen because I knew that money was tight.

      Christmas morning came. My mom was one of those moms that felt compelled to record every second of my life in a photograph, so I prepared to put on my Lite-Brite happy face. I even practiced it in the bathroom mirror. What I wasn’t expecting, was that inside the Lite-Brite box…was a rock tumbler! Turns out, I wasn’t as sneaky as I thought. My mom had gotten wise to my wicked ways and “borrowed” a box from a friend to hide my rock tumbler in. The photograph she snapped that year was one of me truly surprised and ecstatic over my gift.

      I kept that rock tumbler until a few years ago, when it was replaced by a newer model I bought my own daughter. A gift that she wanted for Christmas. Wrapped in the box it came in.

My hiding places are much better than my mothers.

BETWEEN

by Clarissa Johal

Blurb: 

How far would you go to redeem yourself?

  

As a young girl, Lucinda was able to see spirits, a gift that didn't come without its problems. Now, a dedicated young veterinarian, she is committed to the idea that every life can be saved.

After a devastating accident, Lucinda tries to escape her past by moving to a small town. There, she meets a newcomer and feels an immediate connection with him. But there is another mysterious stranger to the small town, one that stirs within her a mixture of unease and desire.

As Lucinda is drawn into a bitter tug-a-war from the forces around her, she is likewise pulled into a dangerous twist of past and present events. Forced to make difficult choices, she finds that the two men are locked in not only a battle for her life...but a battle for their salvation.

BETWEEN buy link Musa Publishing:  http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=493

Clarissa Johal has worked as a veterinary assistant, zoo-keeper aide and vegetarian chef. Writing has always been her passion. When she’s not listening to the ghosts in her head, she’s dancing or taking photographs of gargoyles.

Clarissa shares her life with her husband, two daughters and every stray animal that darkens the doorstep. One day, she expects that a wayward troll will wander into her yard, but that hasn’t happened yet.

CONNECT WITH CLARISSA!

Author Webpage:  http://clarissajohal.com/

Author Blog: http://clarissajohal.blogspot.com/

Author Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/clarissa.johal.9

An Aussie Christmas........with author Vonnie Hughes

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming!  Returning once again to the Christmas memory theme, I'm happy that Vonnie Hughes is joinging us on the bloggy today.  An author of regency and romantic suspense and fellow Musan from Musa Publishing, Vonnie is also one of my treasured Wenches of Words.  She shares her holiday memories with us from a land she calls Downunder.  Try reading it with your fake Aussie accent....a la Crocodile Dundee.  I did, and totally cracked myself up!

Christmas holidays in the sun...........by Vonnie Hughes

We won’t be spending our holidays in the snow. No Christmassy swirls of the cold, pretty white stuff that makes for perfect chocolate box covers. Nope. Our Christmas Downunder will be marked by barbecues (bbq’s), swimming in the lukewarm sea and games of cricket that segue into desultory sitting about in deckchairs snoozing, with the dogs lying in the shade and the kids, worn out after their early morning call, all packed together in heaps in the spare bedrooms.

Any particular Christmas holiday come to mind? Well, there was the one during my childhood when we went camping out as usual. Dad’s technique was to pack the car, get in and drive as far as possible. Then we’d pitch the family sized tent, spend a couple of nights in that place and then move on, doing the whole thing over again. As we got older, my brother and I got less of a charge from it. It became an obligation.

But sometimes the weather goes haywire. The year Mum got sick was a December of pouring rain and high winds. And there we were, huddling in our heavy-duty tent, waiting for the weather to soothe so we could cross on the car ferry from the North Island to the South Island of New Zealand. The ferry didn’t run in wild weather for obvious reasons so we had to wait it out. The rain got so heavy the sides of the thick canvas tent became clammy. Mum began to cough. And she coughed. Her cold turned into pleurisy. Still we were stuck. The people next to us in the camping-ground had the ultimate equipment, an immense caravan that had heaters and hot water and God knows what. Never seen such equipment. And those people were wonderful. They tucked Mum into one of their beds and gave her a few slugs of whisky. Then they called a doctor who sloshed through the rain squalls and administered antibiotics. Two days later all was well. Out came the sun, and Mum recovered. I often wonder what happened to those kind people who took us under their wing.

Strangely, I still love camping.

And even though we live in the searing heat of Australia now, I write Regencies where Christmases are in winter. But I also write dark suspense novels set Downunder so I have the best of both worlds!

Here are links to a couple of my books:  

This one is for LETHAL REFUGE, a New Zealand-set gritty romantic suspense. It is my personal favorite, since the heroine is tough and not necessarily sweet and pretty. Hell’s she’s had to be tough, and sweet and pretty don’t cut it when you’re running for your life:

http://amzn.com/1601549962

And here is a link to CAPTIVE, my latest Regency novella from Musa Publishing:

http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14&products_id=435

Enjoy!

As always, buy her books and let her know how much you love them!  Connect with her here:

Vonnie

http://www.vonniehughes.com
Regency and Romantic Suspense Writer
http://vonniehughes.blogspot.com.au
http://www.facebook.com/VonnieJHughes

Middle Grade Finds a Hero.....in author Rita Monette

I have found so many new friends by being part of a fun, completely ridiculous and wonderful group a bunch of author friends have created called the Wenches of Words.  One thing we do, and we do quite well, thank you, is promote the worthy books each other writes.  In a departure from my current blog theme, I am posting a non-Christmassy blog.  Everyone needs a break from it sometime.  I am taking mine with Rita!  The author of a new middle-grade book called The Legend of Ghost Island, she shares some of herself with us.  

Also, take note:  I hear from VERY informed sources that the middle grade genre is The Next Big Thing.  Writers?  The gauntlet is down!  And now, .....

The Truth Behind the Legend.....by Rita Monette

I read somewhere that almost every author’s first attempt at writing is personal. Perhaps it is a story from their past that has haunted them and needs to be released. But it also said that most of those stories don’t make it into the world. Once written, they sit on a shelf, while their creator moves on to more adventurous and exciting projects. I read this after completing my middle grade novel, The Legend of Ghost Dog Island, and thought perhaps this was my cathartic tale that would go unpublished.

The Legend of Ghost Dog Island is indeed a personal story. I wanted to tell the story of the   Louisiana Cajuns. Ask a child today about Cajuns and they may tell you that it is about hot food, or about shooting alligators (Incidentally, I started my book long before Swamp People over took the History Channel.) I figured there was no better way to tell the story than to start with my own childhood.

I was raised in the Louisiana bayous. My father trapped and fished crabs for a living, and moved our family three times a year in search of better fishing spots. Being new in school was common place for me. My father was also fond of telling legends about what might be living in nearby swamps. Perfect for a children’s story, right? My historical fiction novel, set in the 1950s, is told through the eyes of my ten-year-old protagonist, Nikki Landry. But it would be rather boring if she’d stuck strictly to my routine, so Nikki (braver than me) sets out to discover the truth behind one of the legends she feels poses a threat to her dog, Snooper. She gets herself into trouble more than once, and has many spooky mishaps and adventures, but in the end, Nikki discovers the truth and solves the mystery behind the decade old legend.

However, being true to my mission, I made sure to inject some of my father’s stories about the lifestyle and treatment of the Cajun (Acadian) people of his day, and about learning a new language… something today’s immigrant children might relate to. Heads up librarians! I’ve included an author’s page, which encourages more reading about the history of the Acadian people and their exile from their homeland in Canada.

I wish to thank Musa Publishing for believing in me and my debut novel.

Category:  Euterpe

Papa says every legend starts with a truth. But what is the truth behind the legend of Ghost Dog Island?

BLURB:

Moving is nothing new for ten-year-old Nikki Landry. Her fisherman father relocates their raggedy old houseboat several times a year in search of better crab fishing spots. However, their latest move has brought her to a mysterious bayou where she feels like something is watching her and her beloved dog Snooper from a nearby island. But when Papa tells her about a local legend that something sinister might be living nearby and stealing the souls of dogs, she fears for her constant companion’s life. Join Nikki as she seeks to discover the truth behind the legend…before it’s too late.

EXCERPT:

Mama closed the door behind her. She knew once Papa got going on one of his tales, there was no stopping him.

The last traces of daylight seemed to disappear in a hurry, as if Papa had ordered it away. The glass globe of the kerosene lamp clinked. He touched a match to the wick and adjusted the flame until it filled the room with pale light and gray shadows. He motioned me to sit next to him on the worn sofa.

I hurried to his side, not knowing what spooky legend he was going to tell this time. But as scared as I’d get, I always enjoyed hearing ’em.

“Mais, there’s a legend told around these parts.” That was how they always started out.  He leaned down so the light from the lamp made eerie shadows across his face.

I rolled my eyes, determined not to get spooked this time.

“Folks say there’s something living out yonder,” he went on. “Legend has it the monster lures dogs to the island using evil spells. Then at the peak of the full moon, they’re turned into hollow spirits with glowing eyes.” Papa put on his eeriest sneer. “That there’s Ghost Dog Island.”

“Ghost dogs?” I pulled my knees up against my chest and wrapped my arms around ’em tight. My mind conjured up images of a huge monster with drippy fangs and dogs with bright yellow eyes. I thought about the feeling I had of something watching us. Was there really a creature out there? Did it have its eye on my best buddy? I shuddered.

IEEEOWWWOOOO-oooooooo! The howling sound echoed again across the bayou.

Rita Monette was born and raised in Southwest Louisiana. After retiring from her “real” job as an administrative assistant for the State of Michigan, Rita began doing what she always wanted to do…write and paint. 

     Five long years later, Musa Publishing offered her a contract for her debut middle grade novel, The Legend of Ghost Dog Island, which also includes her artwork. Her stories are set in the beautiful, yet mysterious, bayous and swamps of her home state.

     Rita now lives with her husband, four lap dogs, and one lap cat, in the mountains of Tennessee. 

As always, make sure and connect with this fun new indie author!

Contact Info

Email	frmonette@facebook.com
Facebook	http://facebook.com/frmonette

My Favorite Christmas - by Rasana Atreya

One of the most wonderful things about being on facebook is the exposure to international flavor, whether it be in style or literary reference.  By virtue of the social network behemoth, I can now count friends in nearly every civilized country in the world, and all six inhabitable continents.  The most fun is comparing things; what games my friends played as children, giggling over their colloquialisms, and flushing pink and red over ours.  It makes the big scary world seem not so big and scary after all.

Today, I am thrilled that one of our international friends has answered my blog post call.  I am so happy to introduce you to a new friend from India, Rasana Atreya.  Rasana Atreya is a blogger, foodie and novelist living in Hyderabad, India. She is also the mother of two grade schoolers who are desperate for the chance to design the cover of her second book. She's still thinking about that one. Her first novel, Tell A Thousand Lies, is an Amazon category bestseller.  She has graciously shared her holiday memory with us.

My Favorite Christmas......by Rasana Atreya

A big part of holidays for those of us in India, as everywhere else, are defined by food and family. In the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, an important festival is the Ugadi. I’ll let the characters from my forthcoming book tell you what this festival is about:

To celebrate the harvest, the pachchadi was traditionally made from tamarind, mangoes, flowering buds of the Neem tree, jaggery, salt and chili powder – all fresh from the harvest. The idea behind it was to include all six tastes – sour, sweet, spicy, savoury, bitter and salt. A symbolic reminder that life was a mix of the good and the not-so-good, the happy and the not-so-happy. An informal take on the pachchadi was that if you found it sweet, the year ahead would be sweet, and so on.

The making of the pachchadi should have been simple enough, but Grandma added a special ingredient that she kept secret. As a result, her pachchadi was known far and wide as something to be avoided. Any callers that might have come to greet them for other festivals were conspicuously absent on the occasion of Ugadi.

Prayers for the day completed, Grandma looked around, puzzled. “Where did your grandfather and cousins disappear to? It is time for the pachchadi.” She thrust a cupful of pachchadi in her grandson’s hand.

Madhav took a deep breath and poured it down his throat, almost gagging in the process.

He had no idea what Grandma had put into the mixture, but by God, if the pachchadi were a portent of any sort, he had a lot of really bad months ahead of him.

 *****

Tell A Thousand Lies  

Review

Shortlisted for the 2012 Tibor Jones South Asia prize.

Nominated for the 2012 Global eBook Awards.

From the Author

Tell A Thousand Lies came about because Indian television is overrun with advertisements from manufacturers of fairness creams (aka skin lightening creams) that promise everything from good grades to nirvana, if only you use their particular brand of product. This bothered me enough that I wrote out a tagline -

Fairness Cream: Finding Solutions to Life's Vexing Problems, One Application at a Time
Then I proceeded to write a novel around it.

Blurb:

In a land where skin colour can determine one's destiny, fraternal twins PULLAMMA and LATA are about to embark on a journey that will tear their lives apart.

Dark skinned Pullamma dreams of being a wife. With three girls in her family, the sixteen year old is aware there isn't enough dowry to secure suitable husbands for them all. But a girl can hope. She's well versed in cooking, pickle making, cow washing -- you name it. She's
also obliged her old-fashioned grandmother by not doing well in school.

Fair skinned and pretty, her twin sister Lata would rather study medicine than get married. Unable to grasp the depth of Lata's desire, the twins' Grandmother formalizes a wedding alliance for the girl. Distraught, Lata rebels, with devastating consequences.

As Pullamma helps ready the house for her older sister Malli's bride viewing, she prays for a positive outcome to the event. What happens next is so inconceivable that it will shape Pullamma's future in ways she couldn't have foreseen.

A mainstream, multi-ethnic, world literature book from India, TELL A THOUSAND LIES is a sometimes wry, sometimes sad, but ultimately realistic look at how superstition and the colour of a girl's skin rules India's hinterlands.

If you like Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner) or Vikram Seth (A Suitable Boy), you might like this book.

Please support Rasana, as always, and buy her book.  You can find her here:

Book Link: http://ow.ly/9A83N
Blog Link: http://rasanaatreya.wordpress.com

My Favorite Christmas.....by Dennis Moore

Our fun blog theme gets it's third taker, author Dennis Moore. An adventure/science-fiction writer, it appears that the writing bug bit Dennis very early in life and his best Christmas memory revolves around his finding that calling a long time ago.  Please enjoy meeting Dennis and the memory he shares with us.  And as always, check out his book at the end of this blog!

My Favorite Christmas.......by Dennis Moore, Storyteller

While for me, every childhood Christmas had been and still is memorable, the one that stands out the most in my mind when asked to recall a favorite is the year Santa gave this little ten year old a desk. Now, to be sure, my mom intoned that the desk was more than likely a reminder that I now had no excuse for completing my homework, she knew in her heart that it was my command center for penning (back then the internet was unheard of, and I used a typewriter, or pen and paper – PCs were not here yet either) the Greatest American Novel. 

It was a joy to see the two most favorite events of mine coalesce: Christmas and writing. Here was a physical space that I could call my own, a place private to me, where I could escape reality and enter the worlds I created. I couldn't be happier. From that desk came many of the story concepts that are even now, three decades later, coming to fruition and finding their place in the world. 

Dennis's latest book is "Scattered to the Four Winds, The Adventures of Pullman Brown"  

Blurb:  
Inspired by Indiana Jones, Dirk Pitt and other adventurers, Pullman Brown is a character that can be admired by readers of all ages. Join him and his co-pilot, Tony Vincent, as they chase air pirates all around the Caribbean, in a plot that involves the kidnapping of President of the United States. Joining them are a cast of colorful characters that bring the adventure to life.

A great read for kids 8-14 years old, as well as for adults who love a good adventure tale. 68 pages of fun and excitement

You can find it, and his others, at the following locations:

Amazon:
http://amazon.com/dp/B001DGEXO4
http://amazon.com/dp/B00A81HKOA
http://amazon.com/dp/B009QTWPO0
ganxy.com/i/73098 

And after you enjoy them, tell Dennis!
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thedennismoore
Blog: http://storytellerdennismoore.com 

My Favorite Christmas.....by K.W. McCabe

The fun Christmas memories keep coming.  Today we get to hear from the organizer of this showcasing of new indies, K.W. McCabe.  She proves that short is still sweet.  Here, she shares the memories of her favorite holiday.  And make sure you check out the end of the post for information on her book, The Dragon's Call.

My Favorite Holiday Memory......by K. W. McCabe

The Christmas that I remember most was the first Christmas I spent away from home when I moved away to college.

I was living at the on campus apartments at California State University Hayward (now CSU East Bay), and there were four of us, all female, packed into the apartment - two to each room.

And since we all were away from our families, we decided to celebrate and go all out.

I went out and bought a Christmas tree and we all chipped in and cooked food: pies, a honey-glazed ham, whipped cream, cheesy mashed potatoes - you name it, we did it.

We fed half the college students in the apartment building that day, and it's still my best and favorite memory of Christmas!

Blurb for The Dragon's Call:

In a thoughtless final act of destruction, humans wake the one creature of legend they have no protection against.

Years after the complete subjugation of the human race, Derek, heir of the Dragon Queen, and Cecily, create a tentative friendship.

But something or someone is stalking the human enclave. Cecily and Derek must find out who and why before she's next.

Kareen is a great person, a great writer and lots of fun to get to know.  Just try it for yourself!  And buy the book!

Amazon:  http://amzn.to/QOr1A5
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/The-Dragons-Call/book-AlO9vvI7zkCTyfbXELtXyw/page1.html
Barnes and Noble: http://click.linksynergy.com/link?id=1jkPoS20vgQ&offerid=239662.2940015522464&type=2&murl=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.barnesandnoble.com%2FThe-Dragons-Call%2FK-W-McCabe%2Fe%2F2940015522464
Blog: http://kwmccabe.blogspot.com