Maria Savva's Blog, page 41

The Liebster Award

I've been nominated for The Liebster Award by Susan Buchanan. Thanks Sooz!

Here are the rules:

1. When one receives the award, one posts 11 random facts about oneself and answers the 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you.
2. Pass the award onto 11 other blogs (while making sure one notifies the blogger that one nominated them!)
3. One writes up 11 NEW questions directed towards YOUR nominees.
4. One is not allowed to nominate the blog who nominated one’s own blog!
5. One pastes the award picture into ones blog. (You can Google the image, there are plenty of them!)

Here's a link to Susan's blog, showing the random things about her, and the questions that she answered: http://susancbuchanan.blogspot.co.uk/...

Now, here are 11 random things about me:

1. I always press the snooze button 2 or 3 times before finally getting out of bed
2. I used to suffer from SVT but had ablation treatment to cure it 2 years ago
3. I lived in a haunted house between the ages of 5 and 9
4. I usually write the first drafts of my novels with a pen and paper rather than directly onto a computer
5. It takes me ages to fall asleep and I sometimes suffer from insomnia
6. I've had lots of phobias on and off in my life ranging from fear of dogs to fear of clouds
7. I was always one of the last 2 or 3 people to be picked for a sports team at school even if my best friends were picking the teams! (I was that rubbish at sports)
8. I won a prize at university for being the best year one student
9. Me and a friend wrote to "Jim'll Fix It" asking him to fix it for us to meet Depeche Mode -- with recent developments, it appears that we may have been lucky not to have been picked to appear on the show
10. I was accepted at a college when I applied for a hairdressing course at the age of 16, but I then changed direction and decided to do A'Levels
11. I once represented a client in a criminal case who was the brother of a famous UK celebrity.

Now here are my replies to Susan's questions:

If you could turn back time, what, if anything would you change?

I wouldn't change anything, I think everything happens for a reason and to get you to where you need to be

What 3 things did/do you definitely want to do before you turned 30/turn 30?

It was a long time ago when I turned 30. I think I wanted to be a bestselling novelist or a millionaire by that date. LOL

Favourite takeway food

McDonalds

If you could date a famous actor/actress for one night only (don't read anything into this!) who would it be?

Keanu Reeves

Wildlife programmes or home makeover shows?

Home makeover shows, even though I am a bit bored of them after watching so many.

Favourite city in the whole world

New York City

City, countryside or by the sea?

By the sea.

Do you have any particular talents (keep it at a PG level pls!)

Only writing.

Which sport do you wish (if any) that you were really good at (or are you already really good at?)

I always wanted to be a Wimbledon champion when I was a teenager, so I will say Tennis.

If today was the last day of Mankind (cheery thought...) what would you like to be doing?

Having fun at a heavy metal/rock festival
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I would like to nominate the following blogs for the Liebster Award:

Darcia Helle, The Secret Writer, Michael Radcliffe, Wendy Laharnar, K B Walker, Maria Karamitsos, Ben Ditmars, Jason McIntyre, Jennifer Lane, Dody Cox, Andrew Blackman

Here are your 11 questions:

1. What's your earliest memory?

2. Favourite food

3. Country you haven't visited that you would like to visit

4. What song makes you cry?

5. Favourite colour

6. Do you speak any languages other than English?

7. If you could interview any famous person on your blog, who would you choose?

8. Something you want to do before you die

9. What do you usually eat for breakfast?

10. Twitter or Facebook?

11. Favourite type of music

That's all! I'm looking forward to reading all the replies.

Haunted - Book Trailer

I've created a book trailer to help promote my latest novel, Haunted

I found the photos on morguefile.com, and the background music is from http://freemusicforvideos.com/

Here's a link to the trailer on Youtube:


http://youtu.be/64B01EquOyk

A-Z of Self-publishing and writing tips: N-P

I'm continuing my series with a few more self-publishing and writing tips that I hope you'll find handy.



N:

Names

One thing that is very common for writers when they first start out, is the need to use capital letters for everything. I've done it, and I've read lots of books by debut novelists that have the same issue.

You only need to use a capital letter at the start of a proper name, place name, or the brand name for something, or for a title. Obviously you use capital letters for days of the week, months of the year etc., but I find the most common errors are to do with misuse with words like mum and dad, aunt and uncle -- with these types of words you only need a capital letter where it's being used as a name. A few examples to hopefully make this clearer:

Where you don't need a capital letter:

Rachel's mum was doing the ironing.

Greg's dad was watching television.

My uncle came to visit.

The queen was in the parlour.

The king was in his counting house.

I went to university with him.

I have an appointment with the doctor.

Where a capital letter is needed:

"Are you doing the ironing, Mum?" asked Rachel. (Notice the word 'mum' is being used as a name.)

"What's on TV, Dad?"

"Thanks for visiting, Uncle Bob."

The ruler of the land was Queen Elizabeth.

For fifty years, King Henry had ruled.

I went to Middlesex University.

My appointment is with Doctor Green."

Another one is God. You always use capital G for God because it is a name, assuming you are using it for the one and only God. If you are talking of multiple gods, you don't need a capital letter. Again, when you're talking of the one and only God, you would also use capital letters when referring to Him, and use He and His, when you are talking about Him.

Hopefully, I haven't thoroughly confused you now.


NaNoWriMo

I have never actually taken part in this, but have been told by fellow writers that it's an excellent way to kickstart a new project, especially if you tend to procrastinate.

It means: National Novel Writing Month, and the idea is to write a complete novel in a month. Some people (amazingly) do manage to do this. Others don't, but those that don't finish often say that they are pleased they took part as they now have the beginning of a novel and can continue to work on it. I am not an expert of NaNoWriMo, so I can't really add any more to this, except, here's a link to the website where you can find out more about it. It takes place every November:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Networking

One of the most important things you can do as a self-published writer is network with fellow writers, readers, and people involved in the book-publishing industry in some way.

I have mentioned the forum, Bestsellerbound.com, where I am lucky enough to have met many supportive and talented independent writers. The great thing about having a support network is that you can get help when you need it, and two heads are better than one when it comes to finding ways to promote.

Find a writers group that you are happy with, and stay connected.

Twitter is also a great place to meet other writers, I have found (writers tend to follow fellow writers). I've also signed up to the World Literary Cafe Twitter Follows, here: http://www.worldlitcafe.com/, where you follow other Twitter users and they follow back. A good way to build a following, and network with other writers.


O:

Okay and OK

Many writers seem to be very confused about this word. I find variations, including ok, Ok, Okay... they are all wrong (except the last one if it's at the beginning of a sentence and needs the capital O.)

The only two correct ways of writing OK are:

OK and okay

OK????


P:


Podcasts

Increasingly, authors are using podcast interviews as a way to promote their work.

Two internet podcasts that I have appeared on are Tweep Nation, and Blue Bonnets, Bagpipes & Books.

I am still quite reluctant to agree to do podcast interviews, because I always get very nervous. However, if you like that sort of thing, I'd recommend the two podcasts listed above. There are many more similar opportunities if you search around the Internet.


Promotion

What are the best ways to promote? That is the million dollar question. I am not sure that there is a way to promote your books to make sure you get sales. The nearest I've got to success was when I did the last KDP Select free promotion of my book Coincidences. There is no doubt that the Amazon KDP Select programme increases the visibility of books on the Amazon website. However, I have found that the only way to be sure of lots of downloads is to promote using the free days. i.e. give your books away. I had about 14,000 downloads in my last free promotion. For about a month after the promotion the book was selling well, but it appears to have died down. I think because there are so many books on Amazon, and so many being given away free each day, in order for your book to be noticed it has to be quite high up in the bestselling lists. The free promotion goes some way to helping this, but after the promotion dies down, sales do too. The benefit of giving away so many free books though, is that when people read your book, if they like it, they will go on to buy more of your books. So, I suppose if you only have one book, I wouldn't recommend the KDP Select free promotion as a great way to advertise, but most writers have more than one book in them.

Even if you don't want to be part of the KDP Select programme, you can get your book listed free on Amazon. Author Darcia Helle has had great success from giving away one of her books free on Amazon, she continues to offer her first novel, Enemies and Playmates, free on Amazon and sales of her other books have taken off because of that. Again, this is only an option for those authors who have one or more books. The way to get your book listed free on Amazon without joining the KDP Select programme, is by listing it free on another site, e.g. Smashwords or Barnes and Noble, and then going to your book's page on Amazon and reporting the free book, by clicking the link that says: 'Tell us about a lower price'. There is no guarantee that Amazon will match the free price, but if you ask some of your readers and fellow authors to help out with reporting the free book to Amazon, there is more of a chance this will happen.

Proofreaders

I think I have already mentioned the importance of good proofreaders when preparing your book for publishing, when I was talking about Editing, in an earlier post in this series.

I will quickly mention it again, as it is so important. I would recommend that you have at least a handful of good proofreaders to check over your work for grammatical and typographical errors. There are things that your spellchecker won't pick up. For instance, where you use a word that sounds like another word e.g. their and there, it's a very common mistake to use the wrong one, not because you don't know the difference, but because the brain is a strange thing... You could accidentally have written "is" instead of "if", for example, or "of" instead of "off", "to" instead of "too". These are some of the most common mistakes I've noticed in writing. Proofreaders can often notice these things. One proofreader wouldn't notice all of them. I have found that when using 6 or 7 proofreaders they tend to find different errors, often completely missing those found by the other proofreaders, so I would never rely on just one person to check through the finished manuscript.

This leads me on to the next point I want to make:

Perfection

Although we must all strive for perfection in our writing, over the years, I have learnt that it is almost impossible to achieve it and you should not be too hard on yourself. Try to make sure that your book is error free; use an editor; proofreaders, and beta readers. Read it through yourself a few times, but realise that even after you've done all of this there will likely be 2 or 3 (if not more) typos. As a reader, I can forgive these, and I'm sure most readers can. What you don't want to produce is a book with a typo on every page, or every other page... that will frustrate your readers.


Pinterest

I'm going to quickly mention Pinterest. I have an account there and I know it's catching on, because there are P signs alongside the Google+ and FB and Twitter signs on many websites, so you can share things that you like to Pinterest.

On Pinterest, the idea is simple, you create 'Boards' containing things that you have found that are of interest on the Internet. For writers, you can use it to list your books, and links to your websites. There are also Boards that you can join where you can add your books, for example, I have joined a board called 'The World of Indie Authors' and there are links to books by many different authors.

I hope you have found some of the above helpful.


To see the other posts in this series, please follow the links below:


A-C: http://nutsandcrisps.wordpress.com/20...
D-F: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...
G: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...
H-J: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...
K-M: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...

Haunted is the Featured New Release at the West of Mars blog!

Haunted is the Featured New Release on West of Mars.

West of Mars is the website for Rock & Roll fiction author, Susan Helene Gottfried. Susan helped me with the editing for Haunted.

You can find out all about Susan's editing services here: http://westofmars.com/susans-editing-...

Follow this link to see the Featured New Release post, and find out what song makes me think of my book: http://westofmars.com/featured-new-bo...

Meet the author: Adventures in Mother-Sitting by Doreen Cox

A few months ago, I came across a woman on Twitter who is so full of life and exudes love. She is such a fun, happy person, and I feel lucky to have connected with her. Doreen Cox is the author of Adventures in Mother-Sitting. The book is a true account of the time she spent caring for her mother who suffered from dementia. It's such an important book in so many ways, it is a no holds barred account of what a carer faces when taking on the responsibility of looking after an infirm relative. I wanted to introduce Doreen to all of you as I believe her story will help many people who are facing similar problems.

Doreen or 'Dody', as she is known to her family and friends, is such a wonderful person. Please feel free to ask any questions you many have about dementia and related carer issues in the comment section below. I am sure she will be able to give some guidance.

Here's my interview with Dody:


Your book, Adventures in Mother-Sitting, is a wonderful tribute to your late mother as well as a book about how you coped during the years you were responsible for caring for your mother who suffered dementia in the last few years of her life. I found it a very open and honest account. How hard was it for you to share your innermost feelings and experiences in a book that way, knowing it would be read by complete strangers?

Ye gads, Maria! Not saving the tough ones for last? Here goes: The experiences I encountered with my mom tore away the usual defenses that I habitually used to keep hidden any rough edges. Simply put, I became too tired to care about how I was seen by others; more so, about how I saw myself. It was akin to a massive shrug of my shoulders that, if it could have spoken, would have said, ‘Yes, this is me being human; emotionally naked.’ My mom had always wanted me to write a book, any book. Being her Care Bear gifted me with the experience of becoming more honestly human, especially to myself. The memoir is my gift to her; a sharing of the love that carried us during the toughest of times. There was fear in letting others read of my meltdowns yet somehow, more freeing for me to move through the fear.




Have you always kept a journal, or was it just during the time you looked after your mother?


My first bit of journaling was in the form of letters to my mom, beginning when I was in college and when I lived in the Washington, D.C., area. I found them after she died. Journaling to myself began in 1984 after a woman was killed in a water skiing accident in which I was the skier. It became a more daily habit when I went through a year of group therapy. Prior to Mother-sitting, my journaling habits were less consistent.

In the book, you describe your time looking after your mother as the "care bear" years, what made you choose that as a way of describing your experience?


During my first year as group counselor at an alternative school, many of our students used their earned free time to color pictures of those cute little cartoon Care Bears. I’d often bring one home to my mom. About 4 years before needing me full time, she had a very bad month yet my aunt was able to be there for her during the day. During that month, every morning before I left for school, I drew her a cute cartoon and wrote a short poem. She recuperated from those mini-strokes and began teasing me about being her Care Bear. Fortuitous?



Being someone with experience of looking after an elderly relative with a debilitating condition, did you feel that you were adequately supported by the system, or were there things that the state could have done better to help you?


I was luckier than most it seems. Having been a Public Health nurse for many years, my mom’s retirement insurance (that supplemented federal Medicare) got us through any financial tangles at the Emergency Room, Hospital and doctors’ offices. Plus, she had an excellent primary doctor and nurse, good bedside manners. Lake County is made up of small towns. I often wonder if this attracts more medical persons who are patient and caring.

If a friend came to you asking for some advice about how best to deal with caring for someone with dementia, what do you think would be the most important advice you could pass on?


Your loved one is on a journey of ‘unlearning’ whereas a child is on a journey of ‘learning.’ Be patient; listen; try reminding of correct actions yet be attuned to the point at which your loved one can no longer respond to reminders. Also, be patient with yourself. When you find yourself arguing or losing it (and you will), breath and breath through the anger and frustration; take five if you can.

From reading your blog, I know that you occasionally write short stories or poems. Do you have any plans to publish any of your fiction or poetry?


What a fascinating question! I’ve enjoyed writing a slew of fanciful short stories for the birthdays of family and friends. There is an unusual name that has stayed in my mind for several months. I’m considering developing a fantasy type of novella with this character. More will be revealed. I’ve been considering using the cartoons/poems I drew for my mom (mentioned above) and configuring a short care-type guide relating to dementia.

I know you love to read, and you're a great supporter of fellow authors. In your memoir, you said that your mother was also a book lover. What were some of your mother's favourite books?


We enjoyed the same genres: intrigue, adventures, mysteries, dramas, romances that were fun yet insightful. One of my toughest moments was when I discovered Charles Martin’s novels and she could no longer enjoy them with me. Maria, she would have loved your novel, COINCIDENCES! Other recently read books of authors I so enjoy and wish that she were here to read with me include: Julia Hughes, Flick Merauld, Jan Romes, Arleen Alleman, Diane Rapp, Charles E. Wells, Stephen C. Spenser and Helen Hanson. A few writers whose memoirs would so resonate with my mom are Micki Peluso, Madeline Sharples, and Sonia Marsh. And I have no doubt that my mom would be, like me, waiting for JT Therrien’s novel to be published! Truthfully, as I read a good book, I still hear in my mind her comments, her joy.

What do you hope readers will take away from reading Adventures in Mother-Sitting?


The knowledge that anger/frustration in caregiver situations are merely human, defenses against fear and despair; part of a journey through grief, one the begins before a loved one dies. A sense of feeling kinder and gentler towards older folks, their caregivers, their loved ones. More so, however, for a caregiver to treat her/himself more kindly and gently during any very human reactive episodes.

Do you prefer print or e-books?


I love walking into my home and being greeted by old friends, favorite books. E-books have their place in this techie world; saves trees, etc. I’m a long-time lover of the smell, the texture, the feng-shui look of books on a shelf.

You've recently started back at work after spending time at home caring for your mother. How easy/difficult has it been to adjust?


Within 2 months after my mom died, I began writing our memoir. Though this process was cathartic, after it was published, I went through a long period which I have termed as, ‘finding my way back to me.’ Family and friends graciously supported me, giving me the time and space that I needed. Around 1 1/2 years had passed and I woke up one morning with the clear words, ‘Start Twitter,’ in my head. So I did and a whole new world of information and cyber friendships have added nourishment to my life. Financially it became time for me to get a part-time job. My career experience has always been a convoluted one, so I wondered, what will I do next? Out of the blue, my new friend, Aaron, asked if I wanted him to query his boss about a job. He did and here I am, with a new nourishing vocation! I tell people that this new part-time job as TABE/GED instructor found me. I have the pleasure of facilitating the process for a multi-cultural group of adults to learn language, reading and math skills in order to obtain a high school equivalency diploma. When folks ask how I like my job, ‘Fiercely!’ is my answer. I am blessed.

What are some of the early signs to look out for that might indicate someone is suffering from dementia?


Several months before I chose to step in as my mom’s Care Bear, I came home to find her standing before a plate of meat. She said to me, ‘I don’t remember how to make this meat loaf.’ For the previous 7-8 years, she had often laughed and said things like,’ I can’t remember what I was going to do.’ She was not laughing this time; there was a befuddled look on her face that I had not seen before. I actually sensed that something different was going on with her; so senses are important. Do not discount them. Words can offer clues; yet, the affect or facial expressions that depict confusion, befuddlement can offer the best clue. Old age for most equates to memory loss. Dementia-related illness takes memory loss to a different level and can be quite subtle. Discuss this with their doctor. My experience was such that those moments of befuddlement began to come with a twist: Mother’s brain began to get cagey. When questioned, even by a home health nurse, she’d make light of, try to change the subject and even deny what she had said or done. I still get a chuckle at a memory of her walking around/away from her walker while giving me straight eye contact and clearly saying, ‘I know how to use that!’ Even while I felt despair, her brain’s responses often amazed me.

Do you have any upcoming news/events for your readers?


The e-book version of Adventures in Mother-Sitting will be available for a free download on Sunday, November 18 – Thursday, November 22, a perfect time to express the gratitude that I feel for the many gifts of spirit given me by my mom.


Where can people buy your book?

My publisher offers the paperback and has a link to Amazon for an e-book http://olmsteadpublishing.com She also has other very interesting, compelling books.

Direct from Amazon:
Kindle
Paperback

Where are the best places for people to connect with you online?

Email: dodecx -at- hotmail.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mothersitting

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mothersitter

Treasured Encounters blog: http://doreencox.blogspot.com

Thank you, Dody, for answering my questions

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Remember, you can download Adventures in Mother-Sitting on Amazon for FREE from 18th - 22nd November 2012




Here are the links you'll need:

Amazon.com (includes India): http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-in-M...

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adventures-in...

Amazon France: http://www.amazon.fr/Adventures-in-Mo...

Amazon Germany: http://www.amazon.de/Adventures-in-Mo...

Amazon Spain: http://www.amazon.es/Adventures-in-Mo...

Amazon Italy: http://www.amazon.it/Adventures-in-Mo...

Amazon Japan: http://www.amazon.co.jp/Adventures-in...

Stock up for Christmas with great books at discount prices!

For the next few days there are great savings to be had at Lulu.com (offer ends 16th November 2012).

I, and many other self-published authors, publish our books through Lulu.com. I've discovered some of my favourite writers there, including, fantasy author Julie Elizabeth Powell.

Check out my author page where you can find copies of all my books. I have discounts available on all my paperbacks, ranging from 20% - 50%!

On top of those existing discounts for the next few days, if you use the code: SERENTIS at the checkout, you get an extra 20%

What this means to you is you're basically getting the books cheaper than the usual price and saving the cost of postage and package. So it's well worth checking out the site.

My latest novel,Haunted, has a 20% discount already, so with the extra 20%, there are some real savings there.

Here's a link to my author page: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/mariasavva

Below are links to some other authors' pages on Lulu that I recommend. Perhaps you can get all of that Christmas shopping done early and stock up with gifts for your bookworm friends :)


Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/kirkpat...

Julie Elizabeth Powell,
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/JEP

Bill See,
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/billsee

Heather Grace Stewart
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/heather...

Jess C Scott
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/jesscscott

Alex Sumner,
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/alex_su...

Susan Helene Gottfried,
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/susan1134

Mark Rice,
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/metalli...

Remember, you can use the code: SERENTIS to get 20% off any books at Lulu, not just mine. So stock up!

Happy Browsing :)

The BestsellerBound Friendship Blog Hop

BestsellerBound is a wonderful community of indie authors. Created by Darcia Helle in the late summer of 2010, I'm lucky enough to be a resident author along with Stacy Juba. The community has grown and now boasts over 500 members. Quite a few of the members are active on the forum. The group wanted to celebrate one thing that has kept them all going over the past two years: friendship. Many friendships have been formed on the board. In fact, one of the most common things our members say is that BestsellerBound is the friendliest group of writers they have found. We pride ourselves on that.

To celebrate not only a successful 2 years as a popular indie writer forum, but also the friendships we have made on the board, a few of the regular members have organised a blog hop. The theme for this blog hop is of course, Friendship. If you follow the tour, you can read blogs by each of the participating authors based on the theme of friendship. Some of the authors will be writing about fictional friendships in their novels, others will be writing about real friendships. We are sure it will be an interesting and varied blog hop. We are also offering a big prize! One lucky winner will win the following prizes:

Secrets by Darcia Helle (Print)
Haunted by Maria Savva (Print)
Priestess of the Eggstone by Jaleta Clegg (Print)
Belkin Mod Standing Cover for Kindle Fire
Nexus Point by Jaleta Clegg (ebook)
Sink or Swim by Stacy Juba (ebook)
Alaskan Healing by Lana Voynich (ebook)
Harmony's Passing by Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick (Print)

** This is a tour-wide giveaway, so you can enter from any one of the blogs. Use the Rafflecopter form and follow the instructions for multiple entries. Each author has included a simple question as a way for you to earn bonus entries. The answers can be found within that author's friendship blog post. You can answer all the questions on one form, or answer from the form on each author?s blog.

This giveaway is open to everyone 16 and older, everywhere in the world. Enter between Monday, November 12 and midnight, EST on Monday, November 26. **

Here's the link you need to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway



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Friendship

The subject of friendship appears again and again in my novels and stories. Friendship is something that is important in all of our lives. In this blog, I'm going to highlight a few paragraphs and quotes from my novels and short stories that say something about friendship.








Friendship can survive over time and distance.

In my novel, Coincidences, Stephanie meets her friend Rita again after 20 years apart. They swap telephone numbers and talk later:

"After the telephone conversation, Stephanie mused that although she hadn’t spoken to Rita for nearly twenty years, she had been able to talk to her as if they’d never lost touch."

I often find this is the way when I meet an old friend again after a period of absence. You can talk to each other as if there was never any time in between your last meeting.

In my short story, The Reunion, from my collection, Fusion, four university friends make a pact to meet again when they are 40, and in this story, which has a twist in the tail, I wanted to make the point that nothing would have stopped them getting together again.

"‘Robert!’ Susie ran across the park towards him. Had it really been over 18 years since she’d last seen him? The run towards her friend felt almost like a flashback, or a run through time and space to where she used to be. She recognised him immediately, even though his hair was now grey. As she drew closer, she noticed he had wrinkles on his once fresh face. Back in their college days, Robert, Susie, Gail, and Charles had been inseparable."

"The four friends enjoyed a pleasant picnic in the park. Gail had brought a cake, and a bottle of champagne, to celebrate her birthday. The initial awkwardness soon disappeared as they reminisced about their college days.

Friends can help you through difficult times

In Coincidences, Jenny, Alice's friend, helps her in her search for her father, and is always there for her.

She suggests a way Alice could try finding her father:

"She was pleased that she’d spoken to Jenny about it; Jenny was always so practical and positive about things. Over the past few days the confusion in Alice’s mind had made it hard for her to concentrate on anything..."

She also finds out some information to help Alice secure a meeting with her father:

"Jenny read out the address and a telephone number, and Alice wrote them down. Her mouth fell open as the realisation hit her that she had her father’s address and telephone number..."

In Second Chances, James helps his friend Tim who is going through a difficult time in his marriage,

"He had been confiding in James a great deal recently, about his marital problems, as if he were crying for help."

Later in the novel, Tim helps James when he finds himself out of work:

"He [James] took a deep breath, and stretched his legs, feeling happy. Reaching into his shirt pocket, he pulled out the two business cards that Tim had given him. One was Tim’s own card. He smiled to himself, and placed it back into his pocket. The other was Kenneth Hipplethwaite’s card. Looking at the gold- embossed card: ‘Hipplethwaite’s Solicitors’, he felt gratified; that was where he would be working, starting from next week. He couldn’t believe his luck.
Tim had felt sorry for him, when he had told him that he’d been sacked..."

Friends will stand by you

"A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.”
― Elbert Hubbard

In my novel, Haunted, Nigel's best friend, Mike, always stands by him, even knowing that Nigel is an angry young man who often gets them involved in fights:

"Nigel never did understand why Mike continued to stand by him as a friend, but he was genuinely grateful for that friendship; it was the only thing that kept him sane in an otherwise confusing and turbulent childhood."


Age is not a barrier to friendship

In A Time To Tell, Penelope becomes friends with, Steve, one of the counsellors from the Women's Refuge. She is in her early thirties and he is in his fifties.

"'Yes, dear,’ said Cara, slightly concerned that she might have developed some sort of crush or infatuation over Steve; he seemed old enough to be her father, perhaps in his late forties or early fifties.
‘Oh, he is, he helped me so much. I can’t wait until the kids see him again. They really got on well with him... He’s like a dad to me; a proper dad, not the lousy one I had. He’s just such an inspiration to me.’"

In my short story, The Legacy, from Fusion, Barry becomes friends with the man he looks after for a living:

"Barry had been Arthur’s carer for the past three years. Arthur was almost eighty years old and had arthritis, which made it difficult for him to look after himself, especially in the winter months... He often telephoned Barry in the middle of the night, asking him to come over and help out in one way or another. Barry was always pleased to be of assistance.
Barry had been made redundant the month before, due to cutbacks at the company he worked for. He had continued to visit Arthur as usual, while he was looking for another job. They had become good friends over the years."

This poignant story of a friendship is one of the most popular ones in my collection; it really seems to strike a chord with lots of people.

Friendships can be made online these days

With the Internet, many friendships are being formed online. I have found that I have connected with many people who I consider friends, but whom I have never met. I find that the support given by online friends can sometimes be just as strong as our 'real' friends and help us through some tough times. Some of my stories, though, take a look at the other side of online friendships i.e. people can pretend to be who they want to be online.

In my story, A Virtual Affair, from Fusion, Angela meets Jake online and becomes good friends, but when she meets him, is he really who he says he is?

Finally, in my story, Speed King, from my collection: Love and Loyalty, George meets Sarah L. online and they seem to have a lot in common. His wife Amelia seems boring in comparison.

"He had made many ‘virtual’ friends on the speed racing website. One of his favourites was ‘Sarah L’. She was about his age, but unlike Amelia, she seemed to understand him."

Would she turn out to be the same in real life?

Friendship is a fascinating subject as it means different things to different people.

Check out the following blogs by BetsellerBound members, for some wonderful stories about friendship!

BestsellerBound Recommends (http://quietfurybooks.com/bestsellerb...)
A Word Please (http://quietfurybooks.com/blog/2012/1...) - Darcia Helle
The Far Edge of Normal (http://jaletaclegg.blogspot.com/) - Jaleta Clegg
The Tale's The Thing: http://thetaleisthething.blogspot.com... - Joel Kirkpatrick
Stacy Juba's One Stop Reading: http://stacyjuba.com/blog/2012/11/12/...
Scribblings from my mind (http://www.lanavoynich.com/blog-2/) - Lana Voynich

Reality versus fantasy...

To celebrate the launch of my latest novel, Haunted, I have written a guest post on the Secret Writer's blog. Check it out here: http://thesecretwriterblog.blogspot.c...

The theme is about reality versus fantasy, which is one of the themes that runs through Haunted. I hope you enjoy it.

Haunted paperback, now available!

Great news for those of you who prefer print books... Haunted is now available to buy as a paperback from Lulu.com!

Here's the link you need: http://www.lulu.com/shop/maria-savva/...

For the next few days, to celebrate the launch, there is also a 20% discount available for anyone who buys it.

Enjoy!

Read all about my inspiration...

To celebrate the launch of my new novel, Haunted, I have written a guest blog post for K.B. Walker's blog. Click the link below to read all about the recurring themes in my novels, and my inspiration:
http://nutsandcrisps.wordpress.com/20...