Mimi Barbour's Blog: Believe!, page 2

Cover Reveal-Missing: The Lady Said No by Jacquie Biggar #mystery #ChandlerCounty #mgtab

Today is the official cover day for my upcoming contribution to the Chandler County World
Missing: The Lady Said No!
Description :
There’s something for everyone in Chandler County.Chandler County is a small county nestled between Lexington and Louisville Kentucky. There are two small towns within Chandler County, Chandlerville and Bourbonville.Chandler County is 311 square miles with a population of just under 7,000 but it boasts an active government, flourishing businesses, resident’s eager to make their way in the world and an entrepreneurial spirit abounds.
Two Festivals each year are held in Chandler County.
In May the Derby Festival celebrates the many entrepreneurs, horse ranchers and employees who work so hard all year long to make their mark on the Derby, one of the largest horse races in the country.Visitors come from all over the world to celebrate the Derby Festival with the town’s folk and to escape the overcrowding of the two main cities burgeoning with visitors. With the festival excitement and visitors comes its own set of troubles.There’s a Derby Hat contest, stick pony head races for the kids and the adults, Shetland pony races, Taste the Derby contest featuring favorite foods from the area, and a fashion show. Mint Juleps are poured with abandon and mayhem seems to follow that. Saturday evening, after the Derby hosts a concert in the park in which a headliner band entertains the crowd.


Derby History:
While credit for the term Triple Crown has often been ascribed to Charles Hatton, a columnist for Daily Racing Form, who started using the term after Gallant Fox won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont in 1930, it really was The Times that began the regular use of Triple CrownThe American classics are the Belmont Stakes (1867), the Preakness Stakes(1873), and the Kentucky Derby (1875), which make up the American Triple Crown. Since the establishment of the British and American Triple Crown series, scores of countries have instituted their own (less prestigious) Triple Crowns of elite races.

Welcome to the Chandler County World!
My story takes place in 1953. My hero, Augustus Grant is fashioned after one of my all-time favorite detectives, Columbo.Gus has just been called in to investigate the death of a prominent member of the horse racing community. But, when he arrives things get complicated. It turns out, the girl he left behind in order to pursue his career is the prime suspect.




The Race is on to find a Killer in the heart of Kentucky horse country...
Detective Augustus Grant is faced with his most baffling case to date. Well-respected race horse breeder, John Jorgenson, is murdered in his den days before the Kentucky Derby and the list of suspects is growing.Complicating matters, Gus’ ex-girlfriend is the last person to have seen the victim alive.Rebecca Hayes owes the Jorgenson family her loyalty. They gave her a new life after a disastrous affair leaves her alone and pregnant.With all the evidence pointing in Becky’s direction, will Gus do his duty?Or follow his heart?

Buy Link: Amazon Add to your TBR List!

Excerpt from Missing: The Lady Said No
April 16, 1953Augustus Grant drove slowly down the paved drive lined with towering oaks waving gently in the early spring breeze. A split rail fence kept him company, the boards gleaming with a fresh coat of whitewash. In the distance, he could see some fine-looking horses munching on the blue-green grass Kentucky was famous for, not that he was any judge of horseflesh. A couple of foals, their chestnut coats gleaming in the early morning sun, broke away from the herd, kicking and jumping like skittish deer.He stopped and rolled down his window, sticking his nose in the air to catch a whiff of how the other half lived. Money. He smelled money. If there was one thing the aristocracy knew, it was how to live in style.Case in point; the mansion had just come into view. A Georgian red brick structure, three stories tall, with four thick white columns supporting the upper balcony, and enough windows to keep a cleaner busy for a year. It was truly awe-inspiring. Much different from his little two-room bungalow in town, that’s for sure.Gus pulled up behind the sheriff’s car and nodded to the officer guarding the front door. Sheriff Tromley wasn’t going to be happy to see him. He tended to be territorial over his cases, but the chief had insisted, so here he was.He took his time, gathering the leather briefcase that had been a gift from his ex-wife, his keys, a spare pen, and his trench coat in case the weather turned, rolled up the window and opened the door. Except now his hands were full and he couldn’t get out of the car. It took a few moments, some cringing when he inadvertently hit the horn with his elbow, but Gus finally managed to exit his Buick.“Need any help, sir?” The young officer glanced doubtfully at the steep staircase leading up to the double entrance doors, then at him as though he were an old man in need of a walker.Gus straightened his tie, darn near giving himself a shiner with the corner of the briefcase, and shook his head. “I can manage, thank you. Mind telling me where the sheriff is?”“Out back, sir. Talking to the widow.”That made sense. It was an established fact that in eighty-eight percent of murder cases, the killer was someone who knew the victim. He waited until the officer pointed which direction he should go, then Gus trudged down the walk, reviewing the case in his head.Dead male, approximately forty-five years of age, found on the floor in his den with a pair of shears sticking out of his chest. The Jorgenson family were fourth generation horse breeders, and even had a colt who had won two of three legs in the Triple Crown. Gus had heard the horse was making the Jorgenson family more money now as a stud than he had racing. Nice way to retire.He rounded the corner of the house, avoided the giant rose bush reaching out to grab his clothes, and sought out the elusive sheriff. There he was, on the other side of an Olympic-sized swimming pool, complete with waterfall. A gazebo provided both shelter and privacy from the house, but Gus could see just fine. And what he saw pulled him up short.The sheriff had his arms wrapped around a woman who barely cleared his chest, her raven locks spilling down the back of her crimson red robe as she tilted her head to gaze into his eyes.Augustus cleared his throat and the woman jumped, freeing herself from the sheriff’s embrace. Tromley glared across the distance, hands fisted at his sides, while the woman, Gus was sure it was the widow Jorgenson from the description he’d been given, spun away, tightening the belt on her bathrobe. As he neared, she picked up a pack of cigarettes with trembling fingers and lit a smoke. She took a long drag and exhaled, a blue cloud forming a nimbus around her head.“What are you doing here, Detective?” The sheriff crossed his arms over a barrel chest and scowled.“Well, sir,” Gus started, then tripped over a step and almost went sprawling. “The, ah, chief asked me to come out and offer a hand. He’s worried what the press is going to do with this one. Mr. Jorgenson is…” The woman let out a soft cry. “I mean was, sorry Ma’am.” He cleared his throat. “Mr. Jorgenson was a prominent member of the Lexington community.”“We’re aware of John’s standing in the community, Detective Grant,” the sheriff said impatiently. “There’s no need for you to be here. I just finished my interview with Mrs. Jorgenson and will have a report filed by this afternoon. It was clearly an accidental death. These things happen.” He glanced at the widow and his expression softened. “Trudy has been through enough. She found her husband in the den.” His gaze hardened as it returned to Gus. “I’m sure you’ll understand if she needs some space right now to gather herself.”Gus hesitated, then nodded to the missus. “Sorry for your loss, ma’am. Take all the time you need. Mind if I step inside, maybe have a look at the crime scene? Question your staff?” He ignored the sheriff’s soft curse. “It’s just that it’s the chief’s orders and all. I won’t be long…” He waited while she made eye contact with the sheriff, and when she began to shake her head, he added, “Or I could start with you, ma’am, if you would prefer?”“Grant,” the sheriff warned.Mrs. Jorgenson sighed and stubbed out her cigarette on an elegant cut-crystal ashtray in the center of the table. “It seems you’re determined, Detective. Go ahead then, question my staff. But don’t get in their way. They have jobs to do, same as you.” She sank into a deeply piled armchair and crossed slender legs, making no effort to stop the robe from sliding open dangerously high on her thigh. And of course she caught him looking. A feline smile temporarily chased the shadows from her eyes. “Anything else, Detective?”A cold shower maybe?Gus cleared his throat and fumbled with his briefcase. “Uh, no, thank you, ma’am. Appreciated.”He turned and stumbled down the same dang step he’d tripped on earlier. He couldn’t imagine any man voluntarily giving her up, but you never knew what happened behind closed doors. He’d have a quick look-see, talk to a couple staff members, and be on his way. Case closed.Except—it kind of bothered him. Shouldn’t she be a little more heartbroken at the loss of her husband? Shock triggered different reactions depending on the person, of course, but she’d seemed more worried about the staff getting their jobs done than getting to the truth. And what was going on between her and the sheriff?He glanced surreptitiously over his shoulder and caught what seemed to be a heated exchange between the widow and the lawman. Obviously, they weren’t strangers. In fact, if he wasn’t mistaken, he’d have to say they had a history. Question was; how recent?



Available April 25, 2017
By the way, we’re having a scavenger hunt! 
 Check it out here!
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Goodie!! Here's another fun place to enter your name and win #prizes #mgtab

February 13 – 20th
Another Valentine’s Special!
Enter to Win 45+ Romantic Suspense Novels 
PLUS a Brand New Kindle Fire!
Are your favorite books to read Romantic Suspense?
I sure as hell love to write 'em!
So… give yourself a treat and enter this contest.
Be a winner!
The Grand Prize winner receives a Kindle Fire
 And… a copy of all ebooks.
One runner-up receives all books.
Participating is easy — just sign up below.
Go Here

Instafreebie's benefits for the hard-working author! #mgtab @instafreebie

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My newest favorite site is called Instafreebie. I was aware of this website’s scheme quite some time ago but didn’t pay too much attention until I realized the ways it could be useful for an author.
Then I signed up and started using them for different scenarios and they worked very well.
First – I set up a book to give the readers a chance to read the first book of my newest series and I advertised this on Twitter, Facebook and my blog. I wanted to bring attention to that collection “Holiday Heartwarmers” because they were holiday books for Christmas and the season was upon us. I noticed the other book’s sales were picking up and best of all, I saw the “pages read” on Select had doubled.
Next – I realized that I could send the link for free copies of my book to my beta readers and they could choose the format they wanted since one of the functions Instafreebie offers is your book in mobi, epub and pdf.
Then – it dawned on me that I could use these freebies in my newsletters. (Okay – I probably heard about it somewhere online, but I did see the genius in this and tried it myself :-))))
You might think that giving away a freebie in your newsletter defeats the purpose of getting new subscribers since they're already subscribed to your newsletter.  But you need to see beyond that. What you really want is to keep your subscribers, and that means an interesting, fun newsletter that has something to offer them.And that’s where Instafreebie comes in handy.
You can put as many books free as you want and for as long as you want. They give you options so you’re in control of the Giveaway.
They say the best way to find a new reader is by letting them experience one of your books and Instafreebie allows you to do that. I’ve spent a huge amount of money over the years to promote free books so I could get them into the hands of new readers. Instafreebie has a free option so it won’t cost you anything.
Best of all, you don’t have to lock your book in Select to get 5 free days or make a book free on Amazon at all. Instafreebie works well in Giveaways also when you have to gift a number of books; this makes it easy and cost effective.
So, go to the website and look into how simple it is to use. There you’ll see that you can upgrade, and being as nosey as I am, I had to check out how I would benefit from doing so. And I was quite excited at what was offered there.
If you choose to pay the $20 /month, they give you the option of having everyone who signs up for your freebie a chance to add their e-mail address to your Mail Chimp newsletter directly.    
For me, I’m thinking it might be worth the money for a few trial months. The reason it interests me is this: on one of my freebies, I gave away 2,134 copies of a Christmas book. Had I captured even a portion of those readers for my Newsletter it would have been worth the $20.





***Just so you know, these Giveaways and Freebies have been around for some time and are still quite sought after. But we know how overwhelmed the reader can get with so many coming at them at once. When this happens, the popularity will be a thing of the past and we’ll have to move on to the next new craze.

A Special Valentine's Giveaway that's the best one yet!! #100freebooks #mgtab

This is my donation to the Giveaway!!



February is the month for romance!

Valentine is the perfect time to lock yourself inside and turn up the love. Melt that icy cold outside with tales of happy ever after.

And I have the perfect solution...
100 FREE Novels to tempt you!

A Giveaway to end all others!!
Click HERE...

Mail Chimp Newsletter Lists - Clean out the deleters! #mgtab

I’m going to keep this simple because as far as Mail Chimp is concerned, I have a very simple understanding of how it all works. So if I tried to go into too much detail, I wouldn’t only be losing you…heck I’d be lost myself.
Needless to say, I promised I’d share with you all what I’ve been doing about  the different Giveaways I’ve been involved in lately and one of the many consequences from all those giveaways are multiple lists of new subscribers. Now those subscribers are wonderful, don’t get me wrong, I love having them as new fans, receiving my newsletter but there are difficulties that have to be faced.
#1 – I now have a number of lists of people from the various Giveaways. Some are Contemporary Romance readers who signed onto Giveaways formed around that genre. Others are Fantasy, Suspense and even Spicy. So I cannot place them all onto one newsletter list because in many cases, they wouldn’t be interested in the products I’d be promoting and they would unsubscribe.
#2 – Therefore, I’m forced to form categories in my List. Right? Except I’m not too sure how that’s done. So I went to Mail Chimp and researched it only to find my eyes were crossing, drool was forming a pond on my desk and my snores woke me. Finally, I broke down and decided to try watching a u-tube video on how-to use Mail Chimp.  Luckily, there was a new Mail Chimp video for 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE0k7tuKEa0that was very clear and easy to follow. (I’ll admit, I had to watch it more than once to really let it sink in J
But it answered my questions. I found out how to combine all those lists and yet keep them in separate groups. The reason you want to do this is because as soon as you combine the lists, Mail Chimp automatically streams out the duplicates. That’s important because many fans join all the Giveaways they can find so it’s possible for you to have the same people on multiple lists.
Remember… you have to pay for your subscribers once you’ve reached 1,500. And then again at 2,000, and each time the price goes up, it jumps radically. So it’s important to keep your lists pared down as much as possible.
#3- Next, I’ll eventually need to send a notice to those fans who’d signed up mainly to win prizes and free books but who have no intention of continuing to open my e-mails nor can hey be bothered to unsubscribe. This means I’m paying for those people who are actually driving down my open rates. I will need to send out forms to them and see if they are truly wanting to get my newsletters or not.  So again… I went to Mail Chimp and found this very simple form. I went to Listsand then on the right where you see Stats, I clicked it open and found sign-up forms.
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On the “Build it tab” of the Form Builder, you can add or remove form fields, customize text, and add a message to the top of your form.
I wrote a message telling everyone how much I appreciated their support and that I would love to have them re-sign to my newsletter, which would always give them options to win prizes, free books and great sales.
On the “Design it” tab of the Form Builder, you can make your design more exciting with custom colors, fonts, or images.
In this example, you’ll learn how to change the form’s color scheme, and replace the header text with an image.
On the “Translate it” tab of the Form Builder, you can set your default language, turn on auto-translate, customize default form text, or change text direction.
The sign up form has an address Url that showed up automatically that takes the subscriber to your newsletter so if they do sign up, they’ll be added to a new list.  If you send this notice out at least 3 times over a few weeks, you will give everyone a fair chance to open the form and stay with you and at the end of that time, Delete the ones who never signed up.
Good luck with setting up your lists and make a point of trying out some of the many Giveaways available so you can build your list. (I listed some in my last post.)  
~*~*~

Giveaways – are they worth it? Do the subscribers play fair? #mgtab

 Recently, I’ve been very involved in this form of marketing and have watched my newsletter subscriber list bloom in leaps and bounds.
For those of you who haven’t actually joined in multi-author giveaways, this is what happens:
Coordinators like Ryan Zee or Authors Cross Promotion organize a special event, which can be based on certain genres of romance like “A Suspense Giveaway” or a specific date like “A Valentine’s Giveaway” and then they advertise to their list of authors for those who want to sign on.
Those of us who decide to be involved will sign up with a book we’re willing to give copies of to a certain number of winners (usually 3) and pay a fee that can differ from individual organizers. This money is collected and put towards the prizes: see here. In the Giveaway I’m now signed up with, there are fabulous prizes to be won.


Also - the authors must agree to share the Giveaway on their social media and even more important - to their personal newsletter subscribers. This is the unique way that we can link with other author's subscribers and give us a further reach to readers.
And this is how it works: the contest entrants must sign up their e-mail addresses in order to win one of the prizes. In some cases, to get more chances to win, they will agree for their addresses to be passed out to all of the authors involved in the Giveaway. The problem is - many are only interested in winning a prize and not keeping up an ongoing relationship with the author.
When it’s over, the coordinators send out the prizes, they send the book winner’s names to the authors (usually 3 free books are gifted by all authors) and then they share the exclusive list of e-mail addresses.
Over the last six month, I have gained thousands of new subscribers. This is good – right?
Well… yes. In a way, it is good. But only if the subscribers are truly interested in receiving the author's newsletters, want to follow the author and best of all – like reading their books. If not, when they get besieged by all the newsletters they might delete them without opening them which is a negative benefit.
You see, on most of the Newsletter providers like Mail chimp for example – my provider – I must pay a monthly payment depending on the numbers of people on my lists. Up to 500 it’s free. From then on, the price rises:

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So… unless my new subscribers, are truly interested enough in my newsletters so that they open them and maybe even interact by buying one of my special offers on books that I always price low or give away for free, I’m paying a lot of money every month to be allocated to the junk mail or worse yet – to spam.
NO!!!!
So… does that mean I should quit trying to grow my newsletter?
NO!!!
An author’s newsletter is her own special link with her readers.
What I try and do is this. I don’t inundate my subscribers with constant newsletters that have nothing to offer. I watch for other giveaways from different organisers that they might want to sign up for – with good prizes. I always include either a fabulous sale on a book they might feel is a great buy – Like the Hotshot Lover’s multi-author collection for 99 cents when my book alone – Special Agent Booker – currently sells for $3.99.
Or I set up an Instafreebieand give them the chance at a free book just from me and only given to my subscribers as a special gift for them. Soon, I will include a gift certificate prize one of them will win each month too. But not until I make sure that my lists are full of only those who will open my e-mails and who want to be included.
And that’s another post – coming soon! - How to clear out your newsletters – separate the wheat from the chaff so to speak :-))
 
 

I can't believe how sophisticated Giveaways are getting! Check the fabulous #prizes #mgtab

  Fall In Love with Romance

Prizes:$100 Amazon Gift CardKindle FireBarnes& Noble Nook$50 Amazon Gift Card$50 Barnes & Noble Gift Card$25 Amazon Gift Card$25 Barnes & Noble Gift CardSigned Paperback – Dominant Persuasions (12 author anthology)$10 Amazon Gift Card$10 Barnes & Noble Gift Card The authors have come through for this one with a huge selection of books!!Go here to enter: Fall In Love with Romance

GOOD LUCK!!

The book I chose for this Giveaway is called
"Hearts, Flowers and Romance".

  

The best darn cake you'll ever be complimented on! #mgtab

    For all my friends: This cake has been in my recipe box for years and I dug it out this Christmas to make it for my family. Wow! It went over so well that I had to pass out the recipe. This cake is so moist and delicious that you will be congratulated by everyone who you serve it to.  Carrot Cake – Moist                    
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2 cups flour
1tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp cinnamon
4 cups grated carrots
1 ½ cups chopped walnuts
 
Method:
Beat sugar and eggs well, add oil, mix well. Then mix dry ingredients together. Grate carrots and chop nuts. Then add altogether.
Bake at 325 oven in a 11x7 or for a thinner cake 13x9 for 1 hour and check ( will probably need another 5 or 10 mins if you use the smaller pan). If baked in 9” layer pans, will need approx. 40 mins.  Do not overbake. Touch top to see if ready.
 Frosting:
½ cup butter (room temp)
1 tsp vanilla
1 – 8 oz pkg of Philadelphia cream cheese
3 cups icing sugar
Beat altogether until creamy
Store leftover.

Another great tool for authors... and readers! #instafreebie #mgtab

 
I have recently found a new website called Instafreebie where an author can set up a book to be gifted to her readers and fans without actually having to make it free on Amazon, Kobo and the other venues.
I love this because it means that I can single out some of my friends and followers and give them a special treat with very little effort.
Or when I write a newsletter and want to give my subscribers a free read for being faithful, it’s very simple.
There are many times I’ve wanted to make this type of gesture but if the book is listed everywhere, it can be a battle trying to make sure it becomes free for the days you particularly want it to be. And if it’s everywhere, we all know you have to get Amazon to price match so it will be free on that venue. And… that isn’t easy nor is it a quick change. Sometimes Amazon can stall for days.
Recently, I’ve been involved in a lot of Giveaways and my subscriber lists have doubled and then doubled again. To be able to keep those friends opening my newsletters, it’s a good idea to have a gift for them. This is a perfect way to do that.
I also have a lot of “Followers”, “Friends” and “Likes” on my Twitter and Facebook pages and I think it’s a nice gesture to be able to tell them they’re in for a treat. Then put a book on Instafreebie and pass out the link.
There’s a bit of method to my madness - I’m always hoping that if they get one free book from me, just maybe they will like my writing enough to go looking to buy some of my other books. According to many of my reviews, the readers often say that this was the first book they read by Mimi Barbour but it certainly won’t be the last.
Now that is music to my ears. ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪
And… it’s worth giving away a free read.
On the other hand – if you’re on the opposite end of the spectrum – A Reader – Oh great one!!!~sending love xoxox – then this is also a great place for you to go to find free books from some wonderful writers.



 https://www.instafreebie.com/free/nnizE

~So you can see how easy it is, I have set up Special Agent Francesca - the first book in my popular Undercover FBI series 
as a gift for you today.
 Check it out and see just how easy it is to access!!~ 



   
 

Happy New Year! Why I totally love these three words! #mgtab @mimisgang1

It’s because - they’re a promise.
Think about it.
If the last year has been full of disappointments or difficulties…
If you’ve lost a loved one or suffered distress…
If it seems that the bad times are never-ending...
These three words promise you a new beginning – a chance that your luck will turn. And if you’ve been one of the fortunate people, then it could be better.
Happy is the blessing we all use without really thinking about what it means.  It’s the wish we all share that the future will be wonderful. We say it unconsciously but the meaning is quite beautiful.
New is my favorite part of this salutation. If your last year sucked, this new year has the potential to be superior – maybe even the best year of your life. It’s your opportunity to start over, to make a resolution and be a finer version of who you might be. Everyone has this opportunity. It’s free to all of God’s creatures no matter your background. It’s yours to make of it what you want. A chance….
Year just reminds you that time matters. Don’t waste a second of this precious 364 days. Why? Because - soon it will be over. Before you know it, we will be getting ready for Christmas of 2017.
So my friends - let this year shine – that’s my wish for you.
This year of 2017 – let us all shine.