Elyse Salpeter's Blog, page 13

Embrace Your Fears…

I was talking to someone recently who always wanted to travel the world, but they were too uncomfortable, or too scared, to do it. Maybe it was the strange foods, the different languages, the media fear that perpetrates the news that they’re going to die if they leave their safe little haven. It’s probably all of the above, but to let fear rule your life will get you no where.

I write books. I’ve written them for years, but only in the past three years have I started to publish them. Why? Fear. Fear that people would laugh at me, fear that it’s not the “Great American Novel” and I’ll be ridiculed, fear of no sales, you name it. But one day something in me clicked. Maybe I got more mature, but I finally said “so what if it’s not the great american tale? I’m not Hemingway and I’m not trying to be him.” I recently read John Locke’s book on how he sold a million e-books and one thing really stuck with me. I need to stop worry about creating a book that is going to become a classic and write something fun, entertaining, engaging and will take everyone out of their everyday lives for just a little bit of time. If I’ve been able to accomplish that, it’s a success. That was a relief to read and I’m embracing it. (Not that I don’t want my books to get wide acclaim, and not that I won’t put out the best novel I can, but let’s take it one step at a time).

Me talking to the kids at Mill Neck Manor School for the Deaf.

Other things that scare people? Strange foods, daring situations, presenting in front of people… my feeling is, that if any single part of you wants to try something, you should try it. If fear is the motivating factor getting in your way, and nothing else, then you need to fight it. I tend to put myself in uncomfortable situations all the time. I go to events by myself because I want to try new things and sometimes other people won’t go with me. I spoke to children at two Deaf Schools, Mill Neck Manor and St. Joseph’s, about my YA thrillers and my Sign Language was not the best, but I tried. I feel like putting yourself out there is the only way to grow. Even a book signing is slightly terrifying. Strangers coming up to you to discuss something that you’ve put your heart and soul into.

Honestly, it’s easier to sit in our homes, hide in our beds, exist in our safe little worlds – but that is not life. Life is meant to be lived and I implore you to live it. Share your artwork or writing, go to karaoke, jump out of that plane, try sushi, octopus, escargot. Pick one thing you’ve always wanted to do and then do it. Or, make a bucket list and see if you can click things off of it – even if it takes years. I did one below:

My first Tae Kwon Do Tournament – waiting to do forms. I look tough, but was SO NERVOUS.

My bucket list that I made seven years ago:

Get my black belt and participate in a tournament (five years later – GOT IT)

Get a book published (seven years later – SIX are out!)

Try new foods (joined a Gastronaut crazy eating club)

Travel the world (went to Alaska this summer and have plans for Italy in less than three years!)

Jump out of a plane (I still have not done this – I admit it, I’m terrified)

Now I realize I need to make another one and I’ve been thinking hard on what I want to put on it.

So, what’s on your bucket list that you’d love to do, but are scared to do? Let us know – maybe we can convince you to try!

If I Had a Scented Tattoo…

I love tattoos and think they are super cool. But, I love them from afar. You see, I’m scared out of my mind of getting one and putting something so permanent on my body. I have my ears pierced, but I can switch out the earrings every day. A tattoo is there for life.

But, I’m a bit of a prankster and there’s a crazy side of me that would love to get a tattoo just for “the joke.” You see, I love lilacs. They are my favorite flower in the world, and I always thought if I ever got a tattoo it would be a very small spray of lilacs right above my right hip. I actually have a cousin who is a freakishly talented tattoo artist and if I ever got one, I’d go to him. I once asked him if tattoos could be “scented.” He stared at me for a very long time, thought about it and finally said, “I don’t think so…” You see, if I get a tattoo of lilacs, I want it to actually smell like lilacs. So, I figure if I ever got a tattoo of lilacs, EVERY single morning I’d dab lilac essential oil on it and when people ever asked me “do you have a tattoo” I’d say “Sure, and it’s scented, too!” Then I’d raise my shirt and let them take a sniff. The joke would be that I’d never tell them that for that single solitary, momentary joke, each morning I put perfume on just that tiny spot. Yes, I’m crazy.

But, tattoos intrigue me and for most people they have incredible meaning. It could be for something spiritual, in memory of a person they love, or just something that makes them smile. It could also be something more sinister. What if your tattoo determined “who you were in a particular culture?” That concept intrigued me and I wrote a short story called THE SUN AND THE STAR. This story was chosen for a published anthology, but then they went out of business and I got the rights back, so I wanted to share it with the world. It’s about a prince who falls in love with a commoner, something which is looked down upon in their society. In their culture, people are tattooed at early ages to denote their class system. This is a poignant, sweet, lovely little romance sci-fi story. Think Romeo & Juliet, with a twist. I sell this tale for just 99 cents if you’d like to take a peek:

US: http://amzn.to/1uuKvMz

UK: http://amzn.to/1tq3awP

Check out these great reviews:

I thoroughly enjoyed this short love story. “The Sun and the Star” grabbed my attention right from the first page to the last. It starts off with the shocking discovery of a beautiful young teenage girl in a farmer’s field in the early 1900’s. When and how she got there is part of the mystery and allure of this well-written love story with an unpredictable twist.

This is not your everyday love story. Full of twists and turns. Great read from Central Park to outer space!!!! Elyse has a real way with words.

I have more books and novels coming out this year. If you’d like to be part of my mailing list, please click here: CONTACT ME

Do any of you have any tattoo stories you’d like to share? I’d love to hear! And if you need some tattoo ideas, I found a couple of really cool sites to check out:

http://tattoo-ideas.us/

http://youqueen.com/life/top-10-best-tattoo-designs-for-women/ (some of these are SO pretty!)

http://www.menstattooideas.com/best-tattoos-for-men/

http://oddstuffmagazine.com/more-then-50-best-tattoo-designs-2013-for-men.html

Yes, I Lived in a Haunted House

Mansion The Mannequins was modeled after

Growing up, I didn’t think it was unusual to move a lot. “My family moved us fifteen times before I was even fifteen years old,” was a funny little phrase I liked to say. Funny now, not so funny then. But one of those times we moved was actually because our house was haunted.

When I was in the seventh grade, we moved to Weston, Connecticut into a home we rented from the old-time movie actress, June Havoc. This house was incredibly eccentric. It was a huge split level ranch, with five bedrooms, four bathrooms, two random rooms with drains in the middle of the floor, bedrooms with two doors. Another bedroom with a sink and tons of closets everywhere. There was a third floor that stretched the entire length of the house and held just a sink and a tub (which was where the actress supposedly bathed her seven+ dogs). The third floor also boasted a tiny little room that reminded me of a room in the novel, The Amityville Horror. It was hot and stifling in there and I once remember seeing a dead fly on the windowsill (to a 12 yr old, dead flies are SO GROSS). But this room was awesome because Ms. Havoc had left it filled with trunks and memorabilia from her old Vaudeville days. She had asked if she could keep her stuff in there and I would go up and just look around now and again. I wish I had been older to have appreciated that room more, but as I was twelve, all I really did was look inside and usually just run right back out because it freaked me out too much. There were other oddities around the house. Outside the living room was an unused, broken indoor greenhouse and an abandoned stable, which is I think is where she kept goats.

But the house wasn’t just eccentric and creepy for no reason. It also had a history. June’s husband died in there (apparently in my bedroom because that’s where he slept) and on these lovely five acres there is a worn, wooden chair that sits on the edge of a trail and looks over the river that ran through the backyard. It was supposedly where he used to sit and relax.

And to further add to the creepy factor, this house was haunted. We would hear people running across the hall upstairs, and if you went upstairs, the running would commence on the third floor. My mother was known to have called the police multiple times because she’d be in the bathroom upstairs and hear people entering the house. There was one night my sisters and I and my dad all woke up and met in the hallway – and none of us knew why. My father looked at us and said “Go back to bed, girls.” There were the times the cat would “skitz out” and hiss and dart from the room. The time our six-foot, five inch tall friend was once house-sitting and was found slinking around the house with a kitchen knife in his hand, in the middle of the day, because he heard someone running around and couldn’t find them. And then there was the living room and that whole side of the house outside. We hated that room. My parents seldom entertained in there. Right outside the living room there was a wonderfully beautiful empty plot of land with no trees – the only place on the property you’d think we’d play, build snowmen, whatever. But no. For some reason we avoided it like the plague. I would bet you someone is buried back there. We lived there for about eight months and then we were out of there.

You’d think this experience would scare me off of horror movies and books – but not a shot. The Shining is one of my favorite movies. I have written a bunch of short horror stories and a dream prompted my newest horror novel. In the dream, this man was resting his hand on the back of a very little boy. They stood on a hill and were looking down at a decaying mansion. When I woke up, I had the idea for my quirky horror novel THE MANNEQUINS. It’s about a film crew that breaks into an abandoned house and gets transported to a different reality run by a man they call, the Preacher. I just launched it and I’ll have it for 99 cents through Halloween if you’d like to pick up your copy. The links on Amazon are here:

US Amazon: http://amzn.to/1Dcoirc

UK Amazon: http://amzn.to/1DMxxk3

Canada Amazon: http://amzn.to/10sWenD

Have you ever lived in a haunted house or experienced anything “supernatural?” Love to hear! If you’d like to join my newsletter for the next update in the Kelsey Porter or Flying series, please contact me here.

My Fascination with Sign Language

When I was a little kid, I was fascinated with sign language. I remember finding a pamphlet with all the letters in ASL (American Sign Language) on it and practicing until I learned the alphabet. I would have loved to have practiced with someone, but I never interacted with a deaf person before. Except for seeing it the movie with Marlee Matlin in “Children of a Lesser God,” I had so little experience with the culture and it wasn’t until I was in college in a sign language class, that I actually met my first deaf person. He was my professor, Larry Forrestal, and he was just awesome.

Professor Forrestal was deaf and didn’t speak. The entire class was conducted in sign language and whatever he felt like writing on the black board. I remember only hearing him speak once. It was later in the year and he called out someone’s name when they were walking away from him and he couldn’t get their attention. Dumbfounded, we all stared at him and signed, “You Can Speak?” He shook his head no, but gave a sly grin. I bet he could speak, but he chose not too.

Another funny story: One day, we met in the evening for a study group and we were walking with our professor through the Student Union to our meeting area. There was a huge party going on and the music was so loud, “I couldn’t hear myself think.” I saw Professor Forrestal “dancing and moving” along to the music and I signed to him “How are you dancing? You hear it?” He rolled his eyes, grabbed my hand and another girl’s hand and pushed us both to the floor. Here were the three of us, our professor and two of his students, sitting on the floor in the middle of this very active building and he’d pressed our hands to the floor so we could feel the pulsations from the bass from the music “loud and clear.” He also pointed to his chest and told us to just “feel it” and of course we could. We sat there for a while, just “listening” with him along to the music. It was a very big wake up call for me.

Sign Language and the deaf culture has fascinated me ever since and when I was writing a YA series, I decided to make my main character deaf. FLYING TO THE LIGHT is about a young deaf boy who knows about the afterlife and now people are after him for the answer. FLYING TO THE FIRE continues the tale seven years later and my main character’s life is suddenly turned upside down yet again. What I think has really appealed to people is that my character’s family primarily uses sign language to communicate with him and at no time is his deafness a disability. It is simply a part of who he is.

I just love that my interest as a little girl morphed into something so amazing and brought me to this spot. Have you had experiences with the culture? I’d love to hear. Please drop me a note on my website and join my e-newsletter. Just click for newsletter updates here and then click “Contact Me.”

What’s the Fascination with Twins?

I admit it. I am fascinated with twins. Fraternal, identical, boy/girl – it doesn’t matter. When I was a little girl, I used to draw crayon filled drawings of what my family would be like when I got older, and they were filled with twins, triplets, and octuplets. I’d have a family of forty kids and two very happy looking parents smack dab in the middle, with their brood surrounding them. Now, thirty years later, I actually have a set of twins and I’ll tell you what? Two is just fine, thank you very much! LOL.

But twins still fascinate me, as they do society as a whole. Is there a special bond? Do they get along? What is it like to have one? My twins are as different as possible. One is sporty, the other is into computer coding, one will eat sushi and one won’t let anything but pizza and nuggets pass his lips. One’s a boy, one’s a girl.

But what about other twins? The famous ones we hear about? Tiki and Ronde Barber were football players (and one was a Giant – yeah!!!) and were so competitive. They are both now authors themselves who write books about being football players. Then there’s Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen who were child actors and who have now built a fashion empire together. And my idols, Abigail and Brittany Hensel. Want to talk about cooperation? They are conjoined twins who share one body and when I think about how much those girls have had to work together and cooperate in order to do practically anything, I realize that all of us can look to them on how to act on a daily basis. Check here for Abby & Brittany’s show on TLC to learn more about them.

But what if all twins didn’t get along? What if they hated each other with a passion? I wanted to explore that in my dark fantasy novels, THE WORLD OF KAROV and THE RUBY AMULET. Both books include twins and both books take that complicated relationship and flip them on their heads.

I have a third book in the series and guess what? Twins are in this too. Here’s the beginning of a flash fiction tale that will give you a little “taste” for this particular novel. It’s going to have a high fantasy feel and will eventually be a pre-cursor to both novels: (Here’s only half of it – the rest is just a click away!)

ARPAGIUS’S WORLD

The sphere was so small in the palm of my hand. All that vast blue with hints of greens and browns and soft white swirls covering it.

I felt a gentle hand upon my shoulder. “You must take care of it, son, for it’s fragile.

I glanced up at my father. “Is this one alive?”

He nodded. “Yes, very much so. Not like the ones you played with as a young child, Arpagius.”

I remembered those worlds. Those lovely marbles of brown and black; some as light as a dove’s feather, some as heavy as a block of granite; but all ice-cold.

I stared back at my world. It was nearly hot in my hand and I watched as new fluffy white masses formed across the greatest stretch of blue. I gently blew on them. The clouds scattered where my breath hit them. I glanced back at my father.

“Arpagius, how you treat this world will determine your place with our kind. Will you be a leader, a god to these small beings? Or, will you fall, to remain a servant of the land, never to achieve your full status? Only you can decide this. It’s an important decision for one of only nine years old, but it must be done and this is the only way for us to know your true character. I trust you’ll make the right choice and not fall by the way of your brother.” My father turned, and with a spread of his wings, flew out the window. I watched him soar over the turrets of the castle and move northward, until he was but a black speck in the sky.

I turned back to my world as black clouds formed across the oceans. “I will do my best, Father,” I whispered.

Want receive the rest of the story? Just shoot me a note here and say “I want the end of the short story!” http://www.elysesalpeter.com and choose CONTACT ME. Just ask and you shall receive. (even if you’re already on my contact list)

Want to read THE WORLD OF KAROV? Click here on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1tpVy9h

Want to read THE RUBY AMULET? Click here on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1vHLgVJ

The fact is, I find twins are occupying so much of my thoughts that I have been putting them in nearly all my series in one capacity of the other. I didn’t realize that until very recently when I decided to publish a horror tale for Halloween – and yep, there are twins in that, too. So, Happy Twinning!

Halloween Food Ideas – the Party that isn’t Happening

Guacamole vomiting pumpkin

One of my favorite holidays is Halloween. I’ve been waiting for my kids to get old enough to finally throw a real party. You know, the spooky kind where I transform the entire downstairs of the house into a dark nightmare with great themed music and put out crazy food. Playing a scary movie like The Purge or The Exorcist in the background. Where they can dress up and be creative. I’ve been collecting Pinterest ideas all year long and now I’m ready.

But, you know who isn’t ready? MY KIDS! My pre-teens have decided that it’s “not cool” and they don’t want me to throw a party. I’m stunned. Disappointed. Bummed. Crushed. You name it. One of the greatest joys of parenthood is the opportunity to act like a kid again. Trust me, when they wanted to play with Barbies, I was all in! When they wanted a tea party, I sat on that little chair and sipped water out of plastic cups and pretended to eat fake cake. When they wanted to play legos for hours, the real geek in me showed up and I eagerly sat on the floor with them.

beef jerky scabs

But now this? No Halloween party? Sadly, this year, I guess not. But, for those of you who are interested, here is the link to the Pinterest Halloween Food ideas if you’re in need of your own great, disgusting and/or fun ideas. The meatloaf baby, the vomiting pumpkin, Jell-O worms made with straws and the bowl of beef jerky scabs are some of my favorites. Oooh, don’t forget using Nori sushi strips for Zombie skin, too! http://www.pinterest.com/elysesalpeter/halloween-themed-food-ideas/

So, to curb my disappointment, I’ve decided instead to decorate the entire front of my house. We do this every year and the kids “don’t seem to mind.” But, since they’re not letting me have a party, I think I’m going to take it to the next level and add some really cool sound and mist machines and really go all out. Ha! And they think they can stop me!

For those of you who love Halloween, keep your eyes out for my new horror tale, THE MANNEQUINS, which will be out this month. It’s about a film crew that gets stuck in an abandoned house and become prisoners in an alternate reality run by a madman I call the Preacher. This is a pretty cool cover and I think my cover artist did a really great job!

So, what are YOU doing for Halloween this year? I’d love to hear and live vicariously through you. My hope is that next year the kids think it will be “cooler” and then I can really party. Until then, eat lots of chocolate, scare a few kids (though not the cute little three year old princesses) and have a safe holiday!

Character Interview with Markhat of the Markhat Files

I thought I’d do something different this week. After all the interviews and lovely blogs that were done for me for my release of FLYING TO THE FIRE, one of the blogs ended up being a Character Interview of the main lead, Danny Anderson. I’ve never done one like this before and I just loved it! I know that when my favorite authors end up doing something like this with a character that I adore, I really enjoy the read. It’s like I’ve stepped into the lives of the main character and I feel like I live along vicariously with them.

If you’d like to read the wonderful character interview Sharon Buchbinder did for me for Danny – please check it out here. http://sharonbuchbinder.com/blog/character-interview-danny-anderson-from-elyse-salpeters-flying-series/

So today, my first victim (oh, I mean guinea pig, no I mean character interview) is with a “gentlemen” called Markhat. This is a character in a series of novels written by author Frank Tuttle. There are actually NINE books in this series and I’m up to #4 and just love them. They are wonderful dystopian fantasy tales, published by Samhain. The writing is quick, easy prose, fun, and the main protagonist has a really dry sense of humor. I enjoy “being in his world” and thought it would be fun to do a character interview on him.

So, Markhat… Where are you from and what do you actually do for a living?

I was born in Rannit, and raised in a neighborhood we called home but everyone else called the Rows. There weren’t many mansions in the Rows. Hell, there weren’t many roofs. Mom sewed and cooked and did anything she could for coin. Dad helped out by getting himself killed in the War, as did both my brothers.

What do I do for a living? I stay alive. In my business, that’s not always easy. I’m a Finder. We Finders got our name right after the War, when the Crown declared victory and fell over backwards dead broke. Left the whole damned Army stranded where they stood, a thousand miles from home. Most Finders were vets who knew how to read regimental rosters and convince sergeants to talk. We found missing sons and fathers and uncles and cousins, all for a modest fee. Nowadays, I look for just about anything anyone has lost. Trust, mainly. Errant husbands and straying wives pay most of my wages. It’s not a noble way to earn a living. But it’s not the worst way to get by, for a kid from the Rows.

Your character certainly surrounds himself with interesting people. Who are his friends and are you married?

I’m married. Darla is one of those unfortunate women who learn too late they’ve wed below themselves. My best friend is a halfdead named Evis, who’s a big shot in House Avalante. But don’t hold him being rich and dead against him. He knows his beer and he’s free with his good cigars and he’s pulled my hash out of the fire more than once.

And then there’s Mama Hog, who was my next-door neighbor for ten years after the War. Mama runs a card and potion joint down on Cambrit Street. She claims to be a century and a quarter old, and though I don’t believe a damned word of that I will admit she looks the part. Mama is feared in some quarters, and revered in others, which only goes to prove how effective a few dried crows and a penchant for muttering nonsense magic words can be on the gullible and the simple-minded. She bakes a good biscuit, though, and she’s no slouch with that wicked old meat cleaver of hers, either.

Your character seems pretty fearless. Is there anything that frightens him?

My biggest fear? Running out of beer. I came close once, and haven’t gotten over the fright.

What makes your character laugh out loud?

Evis does this imitation of the Regent that could get us both hung if word ever got out. And once Mama Hog kneed a Watchman in his privates, and clubbed him over the head when he bent over, and then kicked his ass when he went down. I laughed good and hard at that. Teach him to shove a poor frail old lady.

In the earlier books, your character lived a pretty spartan life… so now, a few books in, “What is in your character’s refrigerator right now? On his bedroom floor? On his nightstand?

Beer. Two kinds. We live on a boat named Dasher now, and our dog Cornbread is probably asleep beside the bed right now. Darla keeps a revolver atop her nightstand, and I keep one atop mine. We don’t allow Cornbread to keep his gun on board Dasher.

What is one strong memory that has stuck with your character from childhood? Why is it so powerful and lasting?

Earliest thing I remember is being hungry and cold. I am resolved never to be either again, unless it’s the kind of cold one experiences briefly before getting one’s coat buttoned on a brisk winter day.

What’s going on in your life right now?

I’m learning all things nautical. Dasher requires intensive upkeep and maintenance. So does my new vocabulary, because we live on a boat among boat people and they look at you funny if you get port and starboard mixed up or refer to the bilge as if it was the mainsail. Cleats? What are cleats, anyway? No one has yet to provide me a satisfactory answer. I believe boat people make things up on the fly.

Is there someone special in your life? If so, how did you meet?

There’s Cornbread. OOF. I meant Darla. Yes, Darla, my beloved and thus far only wife. We met when I was working a case. Her friend Martha Hoobin went missing, and Martha’s brothers hired me to find her, and I found Darla along the way. She quickly became enraptured with my easy charm and quick wit, and after a lengthy campaign of begging and pleading I consented to marry her. Stop hitting me! All right, all right, it was mostly the other way around. Mostly.

Any last comments?

I didn’t mention Buttercup. Buttercup is a banshee, older than Rannit and probably older than the Kingdom itself. You may have seen her around — four feet tall, long messy hair, walks through walls, flies when the mood strikes her. Darla feeds her cookies and combs her hair. Lately Buttercup has adopted the habit of sitting atop Dasher’s smoke-stack some nights. Since Buttercup glows, she’s hard to miss, but our neighbors take it in stride. I will say this about boat people — they don’t shock easily. Probably because they spend half their time and money plugging leaks.

Frank, thank you so much for your time and letting us peek into Markhat’s world! And now folks, I’m a stickler for series and more of a purist in that I think you should always read them in order. But, per Frank, here are his suggestions:

It doesn’t matter in what order you read the first three books, which are:

DEAD MAN’S RAIN

THE MISTER TROPHY

THE CADAVER CLIENT

But it would be most enjoyable to read the rest in this order:

HOLD THE DARK

THE BANSHEE’S WALK

THE BROKEN BELL

BROWN RIVER QUEEN

THE FIVE FACES

THE DARKER CARNIVAL

Want to learn a bit more about Frank? Check out his bio:

Frank Tuttle lives and writes in the perpetually humid wilderness of North Mississippi. Frank tried to be a proper Southern author and write about pickups and hound dogs, but trolls and magic kept creeping into his stories, so Frank is a fantasy author. Although hounds do make occasional appearances in his fiction.

Frank has been writing since the Earth’s crust began to cool. His first professional sales were to Weird Tales and Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine. Since then, Frank has published 9 books in the Markhat Files series, has started a YA fantasy series which begins with All the Paths of Shadow, and has a number of short story

anthologies on the market.

Link to all of Frank’s books can be found here: http://franktuttle.com/books.htm

You can also connect with Frank here:

http://franktuttle.com/index.htm

http://franktuttle.com/contact.htm

Want to ask Frank, or Markhat a question? Go ahead, I know both of them would love to hear from you!

What do you think of this Cover & Blurb?

Hey, everyone – I could use some advice! I’m working to release a horror tale to be ready for Halloween. It’s called THE MANNEQUINS and is about a film crew that enters an abandoned mansion and gets caught in another reality run by a madman. This is the awesome cover Laura LaRoche made for me, but I’m still playing with the tagline and thought I’d ask for your opinions and suggestions. I wanted the cover to be creepy and cool and I think she nailed the mood perfectly.

Folks are chiming in on my author page at http://www.facebook.com/elysesalpeterauthor (so if you could go there and give a like and comment, that would be great – or below is fine too!)

So, which tagline do you like the best, or come up with one of your own creation! I’ve been told the only caveat is to keep it brief. Some of the top suggestions are below:

Don’t go inside…

Fear has a new name…

They’re waiting for you…. (reader suggestion)

Come inside… (reader suggestion)

So, would you take a peek at this cover? Does it scream horror? Thanks so much for your help!

Social Media – It’s Not A One Size Fits All World

You see a lot of people on social media posting the same thing over and over, across multiple platforms. It could be book links, or promotional blogs, or here’s what I made for dinner, or the same rant about the world. You know, the tweeter who only posts his books and then on google+ does the same thing. The FB friend who only posts photos of her daughter and discusses her beauty over and over. There are definitely people that after awhile when I see their posts, I cringe, because I know what’s coming. You don’t want to become that poster.

The fact is, social media is not a “one size fits all” world. People go to social media for different things, the same way readers love different genres, and magazines are niche. Here’s a quick synopsis of some of the social media outlets and what their participants are looking for.

Twitter: A great place for small little 140 character tweets. You can do a book promo, ask a quick question, do a cute game – but people want something quick, fast and then… you’re outta there. I will tell you – consensus is if you only post book promo tweets you are assured of getting blocked fast. Do two to four a day, but no more and spend more time interacting with people or doing different kinds of posts. And be nice on twitter – I can’t tell you how many people think this anonymous world gives people the right to be mean. Arguing with people on a public forum like twitter is never a good way to make friends.

Facebook: To me this is a more personal place where it’s totally acceptable to talk about your family, what you ate, things you did, ask questions, polls, play games. People expect it. Just mix it up. And, if you expect anyone to see your posts and comment on them, you have to interact with people. There is no way around it. You don’t comment or like any of your friend’s posts, Facebook will shove you down in analytics and folks won’t see your post for hours.

Instagram: This is really Facebook, but in pictures. People don’t really want to talk on there – they just want to post photos. Comments are ok, but liking their pictures is what people are going for – to show you enjoyed their photo post.

Google+: My newest obsession. This is different – people want to read a bit more content and it’s appropriate to give them a bit more – not an entire novel’s worth, but definitely leave more than you would on a tweet. Photos are great on here, but explanations of why that photo is there, or why you are sharing a particular link, is even better. Add hashtags so that google analytics can pick you up. This is a great link on How to Make an Awesome Google Post: http://dustn.tv/perfect-post

In every one of these mediums above, conversations are key. Answer people’s questions, comment on blogs. In every one of these, continuous and sole self promo to excess is bad. Unless you are on a “Facebook brag group” no one, including your good family and friends, wants to see a book promo post over and over. I heard this cool ratio to do FOUR fun tweets/posts to every ONE promo post. You still need to promote your books, but it shouldn’t be every single post.

Love to hear what you think!

New Release for FLYING TO THE FIRE is Today – Book #2 in a YA thriller series!

Hey everyone! Today is the launch of Book #2 in my deaf thriller series called FLYING TO THE FIRE!



An evil black mass has burst through Danny Anderson’s nightmares to attack him in broad daylight. If it weren’t for his birds, he would have died. Danny soon realizes that this monster is not coming for him, but for his little sister, Katie…because while he looks up to a place of light and peace, Katie looks down into realms of darkness and cruelty. Time is running out. The monster grows stronger with each attempt to steal Katie away to these dark dimensions, forcing Danny into the fight of his life to save his sister–before she is lost to him forever.

Want to grab your copy? Click here on Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/Flying-Fire-Book-2-ebook/dp/B00MDKZAG4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409402671&sr=8-1&keywords=flying+to+the+fire

I’m so excited at all the reviews that Book #1, FLYING TO THE LIGHT, received! In fact, just a few days ago a Professor of English from Gallaudet named Sharon Pajka gave me a 5 Star review. She also just finished reviewing FLYING TO THE FIRE and is going to do a write up on her blog “Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature.” Here’s her review if you’d like to check it out! http://www.amazon.com/review/RA1AYTHSCQLDR/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00J8ZPKWG

I’ve been very fortunate to get written up on so many blogs about this series. Some blogs about the launch are already out, so take a peek! They’re all great and you may wish to start following these people now!

Chris Mentzer: http://mentzer2150.wordpress.com/2014/08/28/fifth-tower-interview-elyse-salpeter/comment-page-1/?blogsub=confirmed#blog_subscription-2

Forever Friends: http://www.2foreverfriends.com/forever-friends-blog/flying-to-the-fire

Sharon Pajka’s blog “Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature:” http://pajka.blogspot.com/

I’m featuring a special FB event today with lots of prizes – feel free to come on by and check it out! Goes from 9-5. Join here! https://www.facebook.com/events/669594469785008/

Thank you everyone – your support means so much to me and if you’ve read the books and liked them, by all means, please consider leaving a review on Amazon and Goodreads – I’d truly appreciate it!

Elyse