Elyse Salpeter's Blog, page 3

Goal Setting

Anyone who knows me knows I like to goal set. It’s one of the things that keeps me motivated. The downside is I get obsessed with it to the point that I talk about it all the time in order to keep myself accountable. This definitely is great, but at the same time, I’m sure everyone gets tired of hearing from me! LOL

Back in January I set out to be able to do a Half Marathon. (which is 13.1 miles). I joined a program called RunSmart at GLIRC (The Greater Long Island Running Club) to be able to train to do the 1/2 marathon in early May. At the same time, I figured if I could complete that amazing challenge, why not sign up for the Jones Beach NY 70.3 Half Iron Man in September? (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run).

At the same time I’m doing all this… I also got a nutritionist and was determined to drop some weight because I’d gained nearly 26 lbs in 6 years (and no it wasn’t all muscle. I’m sure there was a lot of pasta in that!). Trying to lose weight while also doing excessive training is a beast! But I’m happy to say I’m 14 lbs less than I was in March of this year, when I was at my heaviest. It definitely has helped my knees and my back. I still have more to lose, but this was something I am pretty stoked about.

I spent a lot of time training. There were days I had to do 4 hour bike rides, so many days getting up at 4 am so I’d have time to train in the morning so I could be done before work. Afternoon runs, weekend bike rides, open water swims (which were 30 min away from my house). The great part is my family was completely on board, but there were a lot of dinners where everyone had to fend for themselves.

So, how did I do? GREAT. I finished the Half Iron Man, in a tropical storm. 4000 people entered this epic race and only 2228 finished. It was amazing and difficult and grueling and exhilarating. I’m going to do a race report the next blog because there’s just so much to talk about. But here’s me crossing that finish line. Experiencing something like this has been a highlight of my life and I’m still on a high.

Do you Have a Newspaper Delivered to your Home?

For nearly 20 years I worked for Gannett at a magazine called USA WEEKEND. We were a sunday magazine that was filled with entertainment and food and all sorts of fun things. Eventually it got sold and I moved on to the digital world, but my family has always supported newspapers.

We used to have four of them delivered to the house and now we’re down to just two. But we read them every morning at breakfast, and the funnies and puzzles seem to stay out all week as we all work on them. I think it’s so important to support our local papers. Newspapers are struggling so much, so getting that yearly delivery to keep the “local” in newspapers is so important.

I’ve been fortunate quite a few times to be featured in the local papers for my novels, including Newsday and The Roslyn News!

I have a few books readers may be interested in picking up. Do you like? SciFi? Try THE DOOR ON THE RIGHT, like horror? Try RICKET ROW and THE MANNEQUINS and if you love adult thrillers my Kelsey Porter series is the go to. THE HUNT FOR XANADU is book #1 and it’s just 99 cents on Amazon ebook. Here’s my author link to amazon if you’d like to give any a try. amzn.to/40CMkNG If you can find it in your schedule to do a review, I can’t tell you how appreciated it would be.

AND DON’T FORGET, you can call your local library and ASK them to buy/get any of my books. Each library has an acquisition manager, so that is always an option. Right now the Nassau County LI system has nearly 7 of my novels, shared through different libraries. Enjoy!

So, I Did a Thing….

Everyone who knows me, knows I’m very goal oriented. I’m constantly trying to attain things. I don’t know why I’m like this, but I’m the type of person that always looks ahead. Options, potential, these are things that really pump me up.

Then there’s this other part of me that wants to hibernate in my bed and just watch Netflix all day. I’m in the process of racing through The Blacklist, which I’m on season 5. I think my drive to work out is so that I don’t succumb to that and just watch my phone all day.

So, I digress… what did I do? Two things actually. #1, I signed up for my first half marathon on May 7th. That is daunting. I’ve not run more than 7.2 miles in my life. And, with my sciatica, well, that’s always been an issue. And then, I did another thing. Even more daunting. I signed up for a 70.3 Ironman in NY on September 23rd.

WHAT THE HECK?

I have only done sprint triathlons to this date. I tried to do an Olympic at the NYC tri over the summer, but they cut it short due to the heat. Not to mention, I was so overcome that I ended up at the end in the medic area getting oxygen (I’m fine and wow, I’d love oxygen at the end of every event! I’d even pay for that! LOL)

But, now I have what to do. I’m starting a run program with GLIRC on Feb 11th that will train me for the half marathon and in the meantime, I’ll increase my swimming and biking so that when I finish that race on May 7th, I’ll rest the next day, and then start in earnest the triathlon training for the 70.3. The race is near my house, I swim in the bay there all summer, I bike there on my solo cycle runs and the course is relatively flat. How could I not do this? If there were one 70.3 to do, this is it.

Oh, and I might try to publish one book. I’ve got a book called TAKEN I’m in final edits of. I don’t know how I feel about this book. Is it good? Bad? I just don’t know and so I’ve been sitting on it! Crazy, I know. I should just get it out to the world. But, if you want to read a fun book, go get THE DOOR ON THE RIGHT, which is my newest sci-fi apocalyptic release. Love to hear what you think!

Anyone else doing anything crazy this year? Any races, big book launches, life changes? Let me know!

Book Launch – THE DOOR ON THE RIGHT

Last September, 2021, I was asked by some writing friends to do NANOWRIMO with them. That’s this nationwide writing exercise where in November you write about 1600 words a day, every day for a month, so that at the end of the November you have the start of a novel. Well, I agreed to do it, not knowing WHAT I was going to write about until the night before. On Oct 31, 2021, I had a dream about the actress Hayden Paniettere (from her Bring It On movie days) and in this dream, she was stuck living her entire life in this one building. When I woke up, I just started writing, with the main female protaganist (who is also named Hayden and is blond) about a group of children who are prisoners in a building that they can never leave. That’s how THE DOOR ON THE RIGHT came to be.

I love geeky science and sci-fi and the novel morphed into this cool dystopian, post apocalyptic tale that I think people will enjoy. Lots of cool reveals the further you get in the book.

Here’s the blurb:

In a world devastated by a ruthless virus, 13 orphan teens cling to survival in Harlin House, a safe Haven created for them by a mysterious group called the Handlers. With no immunity to the virus and time running out, they discover that all is not as it seems, and their lives – and the world beyond theirs – are trapped in a terrifying nightmare far more hellish than they could ever imagine.

The novel is available on e-book, kindle, KDP select and paperback on Amazon here:

And don’t forget – they make great gifts to send to others too for the holiday!

Amazon US: amzn.to/3Bg2zGE

Amazon UK: bit.ly/3W4N4to

Amazon Canada: bit.ly/3W5JRKn

Love to hear what you think of it! As always, an honest review is always appreciated.

Do You Goal Set?

Every January I try to set a goal for the year. Yes, I’m one of those people that is always striving to reach for something – probably why I’m a sales rep in my day job. Goals became a big thing for me when I hit my 40th birthday. Something happened and I knew I needed to jump start my life. I started publishing my novels and the first was my Supernatural Deaf Thriller FLYING TO THE LIGHT and then I proceeded to publish a novel pretty much once or twice a year after that. I also decided to go for my Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. It took me six years but I finally got that coveted belt! This is me at a tournament. (which, by the way, was a load of fun!)

But then my 50th birthday came and again I was thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. I decided I wanted to try to train for triathlons. And I did it. I really like sprint triathlons which are about a 500-750 yard swim, a 16 mile or so bike ride (sometimes less) and usually a 5K run. Doing all three sports really appeals to me and keeps my brain and body busy.

But now it’s 2023, no big birthday this year, and I’m again thinking about goals. I always believe it’s important to put things out to the universe so I’m going to just say it – I’m going to try to run a half marathon this coming year. There, I said it! Universe… take over!

Other news? I’m going to be publishing a new Dystopian Sci Fi thriller on December 16th, so watch for that announcement. Here’s a sneak peek at the cover! What are your goals for 2023? I’d love to hear!

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Who Doesn’t Love a Free Book Giveaway?

Hello Fantastic Followers!

Who doesn’t love a book giveaway? I know I do. There are so many amazing authors out there and I can’t tell you how lucky readers are when these authors decide to give some of their best-sellers and award winning books a chance to be read, for FREE. That’s right! Starting on December 1st, you’ll be able to enter the holiday contest for 12 chances using the form on the Best Selling Reads page here.

The books?

The Book of Shadow by Bruce BlakeDragonfriend by Roger EschbacherThe Dark by David David C. Cassidy A Heart so Wild by Raine Thomas Haunted by the Past by Lucy Appadoo Justice by Jennifer Harlow The Christmas Well by Janet OakleyPalm Trees & Snowflakes by Scott BuryChristmas in Byron Bay by AJ Llewellyn A Silent Prayer by Samreen Ahsan Doing Max Vinyl by Fred Brooke.The Oblivious Girl’s Handbook by DelSheree Gladden

So go ahead and sign up! I know for a fact the emails are never shared and you’ll be introduced to so many wonderful authors. Good luck everyone!

Did you know you could read my books for free?

Hi Everyone, did you know that with one phone call to your local library, you could read my books for free? You can ask your library if they have any of my novels in their system. If they don’t, you can ask them to purchase them. Each library has a budget and an acquisition manager whose job it is to purchase books. Some books to ask for?

The Kelsey Porter 6 book adult thriller series: The Hunt for Xanadu, The Quest of the Empty Tomb, The Call of Mount Sumeru, The Haunting of Cragg Hill House, The Search for Starlight & The Journey Back

The Flying to the Light YA Series: Flying to the Light & Flying to the Fire

Horror: The Mannequins & Ricket Row

If you’re interested in reading my books and owning them, please feel free to go to my page on Amazon here. But, I’d love it if you can call your local library as well! Happy Reading!

#librarybooks

These are my novels on the shelves right now at Bryant Library!

Need Motivation? Join a Fitness Social Club

A lot of people join gyms with the hopes of keeping in shape. The hard part is always finding the motivation to keep going. I find what helps me is making myself accountable to a group. While I belong to Lifetime Gym (which I think is one of the nicest gyms on the planet), I have gone ahead and also joined various athletic clubs. Since I train to run sprint triathlons, it’s crucial for me to keep running, cycling and swimming, even outside of the gym.

A social club can help you in so many ways. First, being with people. I find I get so motivated when I watch and train with others. I’ve learned not to compare my own progress, (which is so hard to do) but honestly, when I see someone older than I am, just destroying me? I LOVE IT.

One of my clubs is the Lifetime Social Run Club group out of the Syosset Location. They are amazing with a philosopy of “No person gets left behind.” We do anywhere from 3.2 to 4 or 5 miles. There are different routes and everyone just runs at their own pace and we all meet up at the end and chat.

Another group I do is the Mineola Bicycle club. To be honest, I didn’t do it much last summer but I’ll be back to it this year. It is so great because I bike in the C group which has a leader and sweeper and goes at a bit of a slower pace than the A/B groups. But we’re still doing 20+ miles through really beautiful parts of Long Island.

Lastly, the one that is most challenging for me is the Masters Swim at Tobay Beach. But, OMG, that is fun. I get to wear a wetsuit and we swim in the bay right before sunset over the summer. I find swimming the hardest event, but there’s something wonderful being with people and we’re all trying to get better while swimming in a fantastic location. Not to mention, they have people on boards monitoring us and it makes me feel safe.

What groups do you join to help you achieve your goals? I’d love to hear!

Also, please feel free to follow me on Instagram where I’ll be posting a lot of my triathlon and fitness journey posts. https://www.instagram.com/elysesalpeter/?hl=en

#triathlon #triathlontraining #motivation #swimming #cycling #running

Making Tik Toks from an 80 Year old Cookbook

So, I’ve been doing TikTok videos for a few months now. Most of them have been focused on my novels I’ve created, trends, or maybe even my exercise endeavors. I accumulated about 2500 followers and get a few hundred views to my posts.

Well, about 2 weeks ago, my 94 year old neighbor was throwing out a box of old cookbooks. One of them was the Rumford Complete Cook Book, circa 1940’s printing and since then, I’ve been making some of the recipes and posting them. I’m terrible at this! LOL. I have a beater going at times while I’m talking and no one can hear a darn thing, or it’s shaky because I’m holding it with one hand, etc… that said, people seem to like it a lot! I just hit 23,000 followers and my videos are in the thousands and some have hit 10K, 74K and one over 458K!!! Crazy.

Anyway, if you like to see video step by step recipe tutorials, I’m going to be doing this for a bit more time. Come on over and follow me on TikTok under @elysesalpeter and you can see the direct link here: tiktok.com/elysesalpeter

I also have a listing for all my social media for you to follow. Check here: https://bit.ly/3au7CGv

Love to hear from you and see what you think of the recipes!

TITANIUM FLOW, my Collection of Science Fiction Short Stories

This has been a crazy year for all of us. I launched book #6 in my Kelsey Porter series with the release of THE JOURNEY BACK and now I’ve been playing around with a few other novels done in my computer that I haven’t published yet.

One of my novels that doesn’t get a lot of love, but really should, is my science fiction short story collection called TITANIUM FLOW. Gosh, I love these stories and I think they’re some of my best work. Some of these tales are sweet romance sci-fi, some speculative sci-fi and some hard science fiction. Some were featured in magazines and rights were returned to me as well, so these are some strong tales. And at 99 cents, I feel like it offers such a great read. Not to mention, I get a ton of compliments on this book, though there are only 6 reviews on Amazon, which is startling. It’s so very hard to get someone to write a review. They are so much more comfortable just to side IM me vs put it on the web for all to see. But, reviews are incredibly helpful.

Here’s the blurb on Amazon for just some of the short stories in the collection:

TITANIUM FLOW: It was supposed to be a simple mission. Mine the titanium on a deserted world and return it to earth. No one knew they wouldn’t be alone.

In A BAD DAY AT SCHOOL, find out what was in that jar that little Roger brought to school and why it terrified everyone.

In THE GARDEN, discover why a loving husband has walled up a section of his garden in the back of his property. And why he refuses to let anyone go near it.

And in THE FLIP, you learn how very important it is to drink all your tea… because if you don’t, you might simply disappear.

This collection will scratch all the sub-genre itches, from hard science, to speculative fiction, to romance. Discover a new favorite sci-fi genre today!

Happy reading!