Sherrie Miranda's Blog, page 189
May 20, 2015
Vintage California
AnaElisa has been a world renowned photographer for more than a couple decades. Her images are stunning! ;-)
Most of you already know about my debut novel "Secrets & Lies in El Salvador"? A young American woman goes to war-torn El Salvador: tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Originally posted on AnaElisa:
A little back-story on these photos. In honor of the 75th birthday of our community recreation space, the Costume departments from the university and community college organized a fashion show depicting the swimming attire from the years gone by. Enjoy!
Photo copyright Ana Elisa Fuentes
May 19, 2015
Between The Lines with Barry Kibrick interviews Dr. Robert Maurer author of One Small Step Can Change Your Life – The Kaizen Way – Part 1
One Small Step Can Change Your Life
(Although there are ads for other interviews, the video is short & concise.)
Dr. Robert Maurer
In One Small Step Can Change Your Life discover the potent force of kaizen … and use it to easily, effortlessly achieve any goal or make any change you want to! We’ve been programmed to believe that change is a “battle” – something hard fought and hard won, something that demands struggle and sacrifice. But as anyone who uses the technique known as kaizen can tell you, nothing could be further from the truth. With kaizen, change is effortless, simple, and inevitable. In One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way to Success, author, psychologist, and world-renowned kaizen expert Dr. Robert Maurer introduces you to this simple yet extremely powerful transformation technique and gives you a step-by-step system for using it to achieve big and small changes in your life, with a speed and ease that will astonish you.
In this exciting mix of studio and live recordings, Dr. Maurer will teach you how to:
* CONQUER PROCRASTINATION – even if it’s a challenge you’ve struggled to overcome your entire life.
* ELIMINATE DEBT – even if you’ve racked up huge credit card bills and can’t see a time when you’ll ever be able to pay them off.
* CREATE A MORE BALANCED LIFE – even if you can’t see any way to redistribute your time and energy.
* WEIGHT LOSS – even if you hate dieting and have never been able to stick to a weight loss program for very long.
* BUILD WEALTH – even if you’ve found it impossi- ble to save money or create wealth up until now.
* END BAD HABITS – like smoking or overeating, even if you’ve tried over and over again without success.
* START DOING WHAT YOU LOVE – even if you don’t know what it is or can’t imagine how it could ever become your main job.
* AND SO MUCH MORE!
Rooted in ancient Asian philosophical systems and utilized today by major corporations, inventors, athletes, governments, social and business leaders, and highly successful people from all walks of life, kaizen is an amazing practice that yields extraordinary results with virtually no effort at all! One Small Step Can Change Your Life will put the power of this potent force into your hands.
Sherrie here: Just wanted to let you know that this was how I got my draft done for my thesis when I got my MFA in Creative Writing. The hardest part for me was the “Cited Works” page. I hope it helps! ;-)
May 18, 2015
We seldom long for a future where our bodies are less but our spirits and insight are more. Yet, that future is there.
This is why I wrote “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador,” to share the wisdom of the elders. I have learned so much from the elders & it is almost my time to be an elder (or maybe in some eyes, I already am!). ;-)
A young American woman goes to war-torn El Salvador: tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Originally posted on Live & Learn:
They just look like old men. And because of that, they are seen as elderly rather than wise. But there is a wisdom that comes with age. The old have walked the path we tread. They have seen the landscape through which we are traveling. They have felt our passions and known our dreams, though perhaps in different shape and in different measure. In their eyes we can see our future. In our eyes they can see their past. In some fundamental way, they know the place where we are going.
The look I saw in the eyes of both those older men in the past two days was a look of deep compassion and understanding. They understood something about me, just as I understand something about the hopeful, headphone-wearing twenty-year-olds in that gym. It is knowledge unspoken, but it is knowledge, nonetheless. They also know that few will seek…
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May 13, 2015
A Reader’s Manifesto (Cartoon)
For all of us who have trouble parting with our books! ;-)
A young American woman goes to war-torn El Salvador: tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Originally posted on
A fun cartoon by Grant Snider and found on EBook Friendly
An easy way to sell more books
Well, I better get crackin’! I have some of the prequel written & know what the main storyline looks like so time to get back to writing! I also have an idea for a sequel! ;-)
Originally posted on Nicholas C. Rossis:
Effrosyni Moschoudi was the very first one to suggest to me this little trick, and I have since used it with all my books. Now, Jonathan Gunson has written a great post with the same easy way to sell more books, as a comment on a presentation by Goodreads CEO Otis Chandler.
In a survey of Goodreads’ 15 million strong membership, he found that the main driver of eBook purchases was, unsurprisingly, ‘referral by a friend’. But when a follow-up question was put to readers, another powerful sales strategy for authors emerged.
They were asked: “What do you want to do when you get to the end of a book?”
The telling response was that 83%wanted tosee what else the author had written.
Here’s the actual slide from Chandler’s presentation:
How Can Authors Take Advantage Of This ‘Show Me More’ Moment?
If most readers finish books and immediately…
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May 12, 2015
War-torn El Salvador is setting for Chula Vista novelist
War-torn El Salvador is setting for CV novelist
Jeanne Becijos | Fri, May 01 2015 02:26 PM
Chula Vista author Sherrie Miranda displays her self-published book during a recent writers panel. Photo by Ron Becijos
Chula Vista author Sherrie Miranda has recently released a historical novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador.” It is the story of an American girl who goes to war-torn El Salvador hoping to help victims of the war. It is also a love story between a young American woman and the Salvadoran people.
Although the story takes place in El Salvador, Miranda explains that it stands for the stories of all Latin America, as well as other developing nations. The book exposes death and destruction at every turn, but also validates the power of love and embodies the gift of hope. Shelly, the protagonist, is an American photographer who hears the secrets and lies of the Salvadorans while she photographs them.
On April 11, the Barnes and Noble bookstore in La Mesa hosted a panel of writers and their recent books, including Miranda and her novel. The event was an opportunity for Miranda to speak about her book and answer questions in a public forum.
Miranda held a book launch event at the Chula Vista Woman’s Club in late February.
Miranda’s self-published novel is available in bookstores and on Amazon.
“After a few years of hearing people tell me how I should tell my story, I ran a Kickstarter campaign and began to plan how I could publish my novel independently,” Miranda explains. “Fortunately I made enough money to pay for an editor.”
Besides hiring an editor, she found a cover designer, a formatter and someone to upload her novel.
Miranda says, “If you read my novel, you will find that I tell many people’s stories there: men and women, the young, the old and the middle-aged. I tell the Salvadorans’ stories but I also tell the stories of several Americans. When my niece recently told me she didn’t like history, I told her that’s because she hasn’t learned history the way I teach it. We must begin now to let the world learn the history of the people, not that of the leaders and their dogma.”
Miranda’s former husband was Salvadoran. They were active in the Salvadoran anti-war movement. She was active in the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador from 1981-1992 when the Peace Accords were signed. She visited El Salvador during the war, then again in 2002 — 10 years after the Peace Accords were signed — with a CISPES fact-finding delegation.
She met with union leaders, the U.S. Embassy and a women’s cooperative in Usulatan where they grow organic crops and help women and children have permanent homes.
Miranda and her current husband, Angelo Miranda, live in Chula Vista and have taught in the Sweetwater Union High School District.
Now that her book is finished, she realizes she has other stories to write, including a prequel and sequel to her novel.
– See more at: http://www.thestarnews.com/entertainment/war-torn-el-salvador-is-setting-for-cv-novelist/#sthash.dTjXf2l0.dpuf
You can find Sherrie’s novel here: http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Lies-El-Salvador-Shellys/dp/1507837011/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8
Also at local bookstores.
May 10, 2015
The Writer’s Rule Book Writing Maxims Infograph
Everything you ever needed to know about writing a book! ;-)
Originally posted on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog:
May 9, 2015
Infographic: Why Is It So Hard To Get Book Reviews?
This is something ALL us authors need to know & understand. Hopefully getting the message out there will help. ;-)
A young American woman goes to war-torn El Salvador: tinyurl.com/klxbt4y.
Originally posted on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog:
May 6, 2015
Which Kind(s) of Editing Does Your Novel Need?
Thanks Kate, this is very important to know & understand. I almost hired editors for the first two types of edits when what I needed was the 3rd or 4th type of edit. Thank God, some kind soul took the time to explain it to me. No all of us are that lucky though! ;-)
Originally posted on Kate M. Colby :
Notice the title of this post is not Does your novel need editing? The answer to that question is YES. Always. I don’t care if you wrote The Great Gatsby of the modern day; your novel needs to be edited.
For those of you going the traditional publishing route, this question is a little less important. Personally, I would advise paying for a professional edit or two to give your novel a leg up when it reaches potential agents and/or publishers. However, once you sign on the dotted line, your publishing company will hook you up with editing and everything will be hunky dory. More on the traditional publishing process here.
For those of you going the independent route (like me!), editing is crucial. Selecting which type — or, more commonly, types — of editing you need is one of the many “sell or sink” decisions you will…
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May 4, 2015
Why writing a novel is not like writing for your day job – and how to transition
Although non fiction is lowly becoming more creative. (i.e. Creative nonfiction actually has stories – tho they are true), Roz Morris has some really great advice on how to write differently for fiction. ;-)
Originally posted on Nail Your Novel:
Yesterday I was teaching an editing masterclass at The Guardian. During the lunch break I got chatting to a desk editor from its sister title The Observer, who remarked that he’d always been curious about writing a novel, but wondered where his journalism instincts would be a hindrance and where an advantage. (He was also remaking several news pages to squeeze in the latest royal birth, so was possibly hankering for a life where he’d be in charge of the surprises.)
Two worlds
When I’m not working with fiction, I do sub-editing shifts on a magazine, so I have a foot in both worlds. And many of us have day jobs where we might write reports, presentations, legally required notes or other documents. Although all of this helps us get used to creating text, it doesn’t help us use it in the way a novelist does.
Here are…
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