Rochelle Campbell's Blog: The NoteBook Blogairy, page 18

Book Thoughts: The New Mrs. Collins by Quanie Miller

For me the beginning of this book began when I first saw the cover a little over a month ago.  The cover of Quanie Miller’s The New Mrs. Collins is visually stunning; it is a beauty to behold.  I kid you not.  Take a gander for yourself…

A woman with a mysterious mask on her face with a portion of her dress transforming into birds with the requisite eerie home in the background.  Gorgeous!

Then as you delve into the story it gets even better.  It is a book with diverse characters in a small (fictional) town in Louisiana where even in real life many people feel that things are not always what they seem.  In Ms. Miller’s book, things are most definitely not what they seem in regards to the newly married Mrs. Collins.

Leena should have been Johnny Collins’ wife.  She was engaged to him for over 7 years and we meet Leena on her wedding day.  She’s chasing her and Johnny’s son, Corie into the bathtub because he keeps getting dirty (as little boys are wont to do).  Leena is a bundle of nerves.  Her wedding is in two hours!  We feel her angst, her silly worries that are magnified by the huge event about to take place in less than 120 minutes.  We see a yellow envelope arrive and its put to the side as Leena gets ready for her walk down the aisle.

We’re at the church.  The whole town’s there but Johnny’s not.

We circle back and find out that the yellow envelope contains a letter from the other woman because Johnny is too much of a coward to call off the wedding himself.

THIS is how this story begins.  The New Mrs. Collins is a new woman in town who owns a racy lingerie shop and her name is Adira.

Leena is naturally enraged and suspects all types of foul play on Adira’s part to snatch Johnny from her.  Hence, Leena begins her own snooping and investigating.  As we all know, its sometimes better to let sleeping dogs lie, right?  Leena either never heard that phrase before, or the pain of losing her man so publicly made her deaf.  Leena digs and digs but she doesn’t believe what she finds out — neither will you!

If you want to read a page-turner that will keep you up past midnight tonight, or on Halloween, pick up The New Mrs. Collins today!

I absolutely loved this book.  Plus, it is right up my alley in my favorite genre — paranormal suspense!

[Oh, if you'd like to read my Author Drop-In Chat with Quanie Miller click here.]

5 Blogairy Notebooks

Book Thoughts: The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta

Tom Perrotta’s The Leftovers was recommended to me by a colleague.  At the time of the book suggestion, the HBO TV series based on this book had recently started.  Because no one in the office had read the book, having a discussion about the book as opposed to the TV show couldn’t happen.  So, I decided I would read the book and begin watching the HBO show.

Let’s just skip through pretty much the whole season of the show because that’s how long it took me to read and digest the book.  Granted, I did finish editing my new book and published it on Amazon then began a book promotions blitz but I digress.

The point being, I did not get into Perrotta’s book until approximately 10 days ago.  From the time I started reading it, I couldn’t get into the characters.  While they were interesting and a catastrophic event called the Sudden Rapture took place (where thousands of people disappeared instantly never to be seen again) making all of the book’s character incredibly traumatized — I couldn’t get past what I saw as a huge negativity problem.

Generally speaking, I tend to read books with some sort of positivity &/or an upbeat tempo with a fast-driving plot.  I am very plot-driven when I write and when I read.  The Leftovers is written in that more literary style where the story is about the characters, their interactions with one another and the emotional evolutionary arc they travel from the beginning of the book to the end of the tome.

Perrotta is an excellent writer.  He keeps you awake with pithy believable conversations between the characters and great phrases that I recalled even after I put the book down for the day (and yes, I read this in its hardcover edition; no Kindle for this book).  One phrase I particularly enjoyed is “One Nut, One Speech.”

I’ll back up and tell you the set-up of the story.  In the book’s timeline, three years ago, an unthinkable thing occurred.  Thousands upon thousands of people simply vanished.  They were driving their car, eating dinner, walking to school, sitting and clowning around with friends and then the next second they were not there.  The book is the story about what happened to the people who did not disappear — the leftovers.

There is no general governmental consensus as to what happened and why the people who disappeared — disappeared.  Some people believe that it was God’s Rapture where the Holy were taken up to the heavens to be one with God.  Others didn’t believe that because the people who were taken were not all God-fearing people.  In fact, many of those taken were full of transgressions (i.e. – sins) but they were still taken.  Yet, others who were saintly and strove to be the best they could be were not taken.  There seemed to be no clear hard and fast rules for who was taken and who was not.

The ‘villans’ in the book is a group that sprung up after the Sudden Rapture called the Guilty Remnant (GR).  The GR’s leader is a man whose son disappeared.  His moniker is Holy Wayne (and the Wayners – how cool is that?).  The GR are people who are so traumatized (read: damaged) from dealing with the fallout of their loved ones being taken they need to escape.  The GR is not a religious group but they do wear white and smoke cigarettes.  The kicker is they follow people around to remind folks that there’s someone always watching. GR patrols follow the townspeople around and take a vow of silence to make those they follow feel uncomfortable.

The Leftovers is a book that explores the boundaries of the human spirit and its capacity to deal with the unknown.  While I do not find a true plot, I would say that this book is, again, using a literary device and making plot as theme.  For me, that theme is people must have something they believe in that is greater than themselves.  Why?  Because when something so unfathomable happens it takes a while to believe in anything good again.  Yeah, that’s the theme as plot.  While there are other threads running through the story such as:

* since the world is unhinged must I still adhere to morality?

* since no one knows if we be will here tomorrow there’s no room for regret

* because there is no point in getting excited about the future let’s wallow in the thick sludge that is our present reality and stay there; no weddings, no parties, no fun

Needless to say, the book is not one overflowing with the Pollyanna viewpoint.  However, if you can get past this, The Leftovers is a really fascinating read.  You get to see the world have a physical, emotional and psychological meltdown and this goes across ethnicities, countries, sex and sexual orientation — everyone is affected in the world.

I have not watched the HBO series but I wonder how those writers will treat this material.  You’ve heard it time and again that the book is never as good as the book, right?  I’m wondering how this will compare as the book has many tangents that were not fully explored that may be exploited/expounded upon in the TV series.  I guess I can start watching it now.

In the meantime, I give this book…

4 Blogairy NoteBooks

Author Drop-In & Giveaway: C.J. Archer ~ The Wrong Girl

Okay, it’s December-ish 2012.  I have been learning more and more about this new-fangled thing called a Kindle Fire.  It has been in my possession now for exactly one year and I’ve finally figured out that I can use it for reading.  However, was I supposed to get rid of my paperbacsks and eschew them for (gasp) an electronic thing-a-ma-bob?  Ultimately, the answer became a resounding YES!

In searching the Kindle store for something good to read, something to whet my reading whistle, I find the Emily Chambers’ series by C.J. Archer.  The first book in the series, The Medium, was free and I decided to try it.  The cover was interesting, vibrant, professional looking and engaging.  The main character, Emily Chambers, is 17 years old and can see spirits.  It’s a novel set in Victorian London and it is filled with suspense, drama and…demons!  What’s not to love?  I didn’t write a a full-fledged review, nor really post about it.  However, I did join a No-Kiss Blog Fest blog hop where I used a scene from this book because it affected me so!  You can read that blog post here.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago.  I wondered if this author had done any more writing about my favorite character who I thought about from time to time over the past couple of years.  Imagine my surprise when I emailed the author and she got right back to me in less than 24 hours!  I was an honored and very happy reader-fan!  While there are no more Emily Chambers’ books, there is a spin-off series featuring characters from the Emily Chambers’ series to follow in new adventures!

This new series is called the FREAK HOUSE series and book 1 of this trilogy is The Wrong Girl.  Both the FREAK HOUSE and the Emily Chambers series are set in the Victorian Era.  So, just for fun, I will intersperse cool Victorian images for your viewing pleasure.

If you have not read anything from this best-selling Indie author, C.J. Archer, you should take a minute and read our chatty interview below.  Get comfy, sit awhile and then pick up one of her books.  You’ll be glad you did.

Oh! Don’t forget to enter the raffle below to win a free paperback copy of The Wrong Girl.

C.J., tell us about yourself.

Thanks for having me on your blog! I’m a chocolate-eating, housework-avoiding, cat-loving author, reader, mother and wife from Australia. Like most Aussies, I go to the beach when the weather’s warm, despite having the sort of skin that gets burnt after five minutes. I don’t read as much as I used to, but when I do read, I go for stories that are a little different. Oh yeah, and I love history. I used to wish I lived in the past, but when I grew up and realized I was more likely to have been a servant than a heroine from one of Jane Austen’s books, I decided to be grateful for the here and now. It doesn’t stop me from occasionally dreaming of Mr. Darcy though :)

What first attracted you to this genre?

I’ve always been fascinated by paranormal phenomena. Not vampires and werewolves, but the sort of supernatural things that make you wonder if they’re real – ghosts, second sight, telepathy and hypnosis, are just some examples. I don’t have any spooky stories of my own, but I’ve heard normal, intelligent people speak about something that happened to them and they’re totally convinced what they saw was real. I enjoy exploring the story possibilities of these phenomena, and setting my books in a historical context just seemed natural to me, particularly the Victorian era. The Victorians were curious and inventive people, but also deeply superstitious and open to believing in the paranormal. It’s a wonderfully atmospheric and gothic time. Plus the clothing is just gorgeous!

What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel, or about writing in general?

Tying up all the plot threads and making sure there are no plot holes or inconsistencies. This becomes especially difficult as I write the 7th book in a 9 book series. I’ve got to remember which character knows what, and weave the many plot threads together for a satisfactory conclusion.

Tell us about the FREAK HOUSE series.  And, can you share a little of it with us?

At the moment I’m writing the 3rd trilogy in the FREAK HOUSE series. The first book of the trilogy, GHOST GIRL, starts where the 2nd trilogy finished off, but with a new hero and heroine for readers to fall in love with. Cara, a spirit medium, is sick from a supernatural curse inflicted upon her by a ghost, and the only cure is to be near a warrior from another realm. Enter Quin St. Clair, a man of mystery who doesn’t quite know how to fit into the world of modern inventions. Toilets fascinate him, neckties defeat him, and he can’t go into churches. Oh, and he can handle himself in a fight. Cara and I have our hands full with Quin, but we also have a lot of fun. :)

Can you tell us about your main character?

Cara is intelligent and spirited in an age when intelligent and spirited women were encouraged to hide their vibrant personalities from potential suitors. No man wants a wife more intelligent than himself – it was social suicide!

How did you develop your plot and characters?

The entire FREAK HOUSE series (3 trilogies in all) was inspired by my fascination with old gothic novels and the characters that inhabited them. Namely, the cliché of the mysterious woman in the attic. The first trilogy features Hannah, a girl who has lived in Lord Wade’s attic most of her life as a companion to Wade’s daughter. The plot and characters grew organically with that basic premise in mind, by answering a few questions – why is she there? How does she get free and why? What sort of man would she fall in love with, and what would keep them apart?

What do you look for in a cover?

For these books I wanted something dark and mysterious, harking back to the Gothic novels with a spooky looking house. I’m lucky in that my cover designer understands the mood I’m after.

What do you love about independent publishing?

I get to write the books that I want to read. Historical paranormals aren’t popular enough for the big publishers to publish, but I don’t need to sell as many copies as they do in order to make a living. I also love that I can write to my own schedule which means I take time off when my kids are on holidays.

Author, C.J. Archer

Are you a pantser or plotter?

I’m a little of both. I always plot out the beginning and the end before I start, with some major turning points in between, but sometimes those change as I write and I flesh out the plot as I go along. Nothing is ever set in stone.

Would or have you considered writing in another genre?

I’ve written in a variety of genres for years. Contemporary romance, mystery, humour and historical romances are some of the ones I’ve tried.

What are your goals as a writer?

To keep my readers happy and find new readers who like the sorts of books that I write. I believe that if I write a consistently satisfying story every time, my readers will trust me to deliver and come back for more.

Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?

I would love to travel to England where I set my books! But it’s expensive from Australia, not to mention time consuming. I visited Britain and Europe many years ago, and I would go back in a heartbeat. One day…

*****

Where can readers find C.J. Archer online…

My website: http://cjarcher.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CJArcherAuthorPage

Twitter handle : @cj_archer

Where can readers purchase C.J. Archer’s books?

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/C.J.-Archer/e/B004LLEHN0/

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/c.j.-archer/id421351544?mt=11&uo=4&at=10lKjy

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/c-j-archer?store=allproducts&keyword=c.j.+archer

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=c.j. archer&c=books&hl=en

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/search?Query=c.j.+archer

*****

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Author Drop-In: Quanie Miller ~ The New Mrs. Collins

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very pleased and happy to introduce you to a new novel that will make you smile, guffaw and hold your sides while covering your mouth (somehow!) to keep from disturbing other travelers during your commute.  If you happen to be one of the lucky ones that can read in the comfort of your home — you will burst out laughing at various points while reading Quanie Miller’s The New Mrs. Collins.

I began reading this book today and I must say I am captivated!  It is a story set in Louisiana.  The characters are colorful and the mood light — at the beginning — Leena is getting married later in the day.  She’s has the nerves women the world over will remember fondly and smile with Leena in commiseration.  Then, the unthinkable happens.  From that moment on, the story takes turns and twists that will have you turning pages, or swiping through digital pages at a fastest clip ever.

Miller’s writing style is naturally colorful and full of imagery that will comfort you and make you want to settle in for a good read.  One of my favorites is “…Ronetha looked as serene as a river on Sunday morning.”

I only paused from reading to come and share with you my initial thoughts and, of course, this wonderful chat I recently had with this talented Indie authoress.  Oh, and did I mention I fell in love with the cover from the first time I saw it featured in a tweet over a month ago?  Take a look for yourself…

Okay, okay.  I am rambling!  Without further gushing, I’d like to present my chat with Quanie Miller, author of The New Mrs. Collins.

Quanie, tell us about yourself.

I’m a married mother of one. I’m from New Iberia, a small town in Southwest Louisiana that sits right on the Bayou Teche and is rich in history. I spent most of my youth reading so many books that my cousins would look at me like I was crazy. “You aren’t gonna play outside? And you’re gonna read that whole book?” Then, they would shake their heads in amazement. I love writing about strong-willed women who can’t keep themselves out of trouble and setting my stories in fictional Louisiana towns.

What is your greatest strength as a writer?

I’d have to say my ability to infuse humor into pretty much anything that I write. It’s not even something I try to do. It just happens.

In your own words, can you tell us about The New Mrs. Collins and  can you share a little of it with us?

As you’ve already shared with your readers, my book is called The New Mrs. Collins and it is a paranormal novel.  The long and the short of the story goes something like this…

 In the small town of Carolville, Louisiana, no one knows that Adira Collins inherited mystic powers from her great grandmother. All they know is that she’s beautiful, poised, graceful, and ruthless—especially when it comes to love. And no one knows that more than Leena Williams, who was all set to marry the man of her dreams until Adira swooped into town and stole the man’s heart.

Being left at the altar is bad enough, but Leena and her ex share custody of their son, so Leena has to see the new Mrs. Collins on a regular basis. And it burns every time she does. But soon, Leena starts to suspect that there is more to Adira Collins than meets the eye. And it’s not because she owns some kinky lingerie shop, or allegedly insulted the pastor’s wife.  It’s the strange way Adira can make a door close without touching it, or take one look at something and make it drop dead at her feet.

Leena starts digging for answers and soon discovers that, unlike her public persona, Adira’s true nature is somewhere on the other side of grace. She also learns, a little too late, that some secrets are better left buried…

Can you tell us about your main character?

Absolutely! Leena Williams is 34 years old and owns a bakery in small fictional town in Louisiana called Carolville. She’s a hardworking mother of an overactive 6 year old, loves her family, and doesn’t hesitate to speak her mind. Leena’s down to earth and truly likeable—the kind of person you’d call in the middle of the night and talk to if you were having problems. But, she’s also curious. Perhaps, a tad bit too curious. And that’s what gets her into trouble in the novel. Leena suspects that her son’s new stepmother, Adira Collins, is hiding something about her past and when Leena goes digging for answers our heroine ends up tumbling down the proverbial rabbit hole—and it’s not entirely clear if Leena’s going to make it out alive!

How did you develop your plot and characters?

Lots of trial and error. My general process is this: write 5 pages, or so, to get a feel of the characters and the world they live in.  Then, don’t write anymore until they’re pretty much living and breathing in my head. I don’t do characters sketches or anything like that.  But, what I prefer to do is close my eyes and envision the characters in action; how they move, how they smile, how they interact with the people in their lives (and the kinds of people they surround themselves with) along with the types of things that they might say. Once I know all of that, I have a better idea of the types of things they would — or wouldn’t — do and that helps me to shape the plot. Then there are other times when I’ll wait until I have a good narrative voice.  In that case, all I really have to do is try and figure out that character’s perspective of the world around her. After that, I outline extensively and then…I write.

How do you come up with new novel ideas?

In many different ways! For this particular novel, this image popped into my head of this woman standing next to a lake ringing out a towel. There was something about her eyes and the way that she moved that let me know that she had many secrets. So I wrote her to find out what those secrets were! In another instance, I was in a beauty salon when I saw a little girl run past me holding a coloring book. I saw a blur of red and blue on the page and before I knew it, the red and blue turned into a party dress in my head, and the woman wearing it was running across the room to hide the evidence of the crime she’d committed! So inspiration is everywhere. We just have to pay attention.

Would or have you considered writing in another genre?

I also write comedy. For the longest time I thought I had to choose since paranormal and comedy seem like polar opposites, but then I realized that I was putting those boundaries on myself. People who like my humorous stories may very well like my paranormal stories, and vice versa. Or, if not then, hey!  C’est la vie.

How important do you think villains are in a story?

Extremely important! And I do love a good villain! My thing is this: don’t just give me a villain without a cause. Someone who does bad things “just because.” I love it when authors give us the reason why a villain makes the decisions they do. I also think the stronger the villain the better the story because the reader is going to wonder: how on earth is the main character going to persevere against these odds? It’s a great way to keep readers on the edge of their seats.

Quanie, do you have any advice for other writers?

My advice is to hone your craft. Do it any way you can and in multiple ways.

Take classes on writing.
Read books on the craft of writing.
Study the work of writers that you admire.
Study, study, study!
And also, believe in yourself, even when nobody else does.

If your book became a movie, who do you see playing your main characters?

Love this question! I could totally see Taraji Henson or Jill Scott playing my main character, Leena. And of course, my bff in my head, Kerry Washington, playing the villain, Adira.

Do you have (a) muse(s)? If so, what are they like?

Ha! I imagine that my muse looks a lot like somebody’s grandmother. She’s a slick talker who’s quick on her feet with the comebacks and doesn’t take any mess! When she’s not giving me inspiration, she’s probably cooking a chicken and sausage gumbo!

*****

Thank you for stopping by Quanie!  I appreciate your keen insight into the writing life and I absolutely can’t wait to delve back into the pages of The New Mrs. Collins!  But, before I do let me share where you, my dear readers, can find Quanie Miller online, and where you can pick up her most excellent book.

Where can readers find Quanie Miller…

Twitter: @quaniemiller

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/QuanieMillerAuthor

Blog: http://www.quanietalkswriting.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/QuanieMiller

Website: quaniemiller.com

Email: quanie@quanietalkswriting.com

Where can readers purchase The New Mrs. Collins…

Amazon (US) http://www.amazon.com/New-Mrs-Collins-Quanie-Miller-ebook/dp/B00OAC362I

Amazon (UK) http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Mrs-Collins-Quanie-Miller-ebook/dp/B00OAC362I

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/483357

Author, Quanie Miller

 

Sharing is Giving Away Free Books On Halloween!

As I was traipsing about the internet I happened across Patricia Lynne’s fabulous Halloween Trick-O-Treat blog hop.  I stopped to peruse it a bit more and realized that Patricia was on to something totally FABOO.  She’s combining a bit of the giving of the end of the year holidays with the mad fun of Halloween.  Patricia is offering all who stop by and comment on her blog a free book of hers as a treat instead of a trick on October 31st.

While I’m a tad bit old to celebrate Halloween in the costume, dress-up in clothes too tight/skimpy for comfort, I figured this type of Halloweening was definitely doable!  On Patricia’s blog she writes, and I quote — EBOOKS ARE THE CANDY!  As one of my colleagues likes to say, You like it, I love it!  And I do love this idea!

So, since my book Fury From Hell is very appropriately themed for this holiday (it’s opening scene takes place on Halloween Eve — yes, seriously!), I feel it is my absolute duty to join Patricia blog hop and offer a PDF copy of Fury From Hell to all who stop by and comment on my blog on Friday, October 31st, 2014 otherwise known as Halloween!

It is my sincere hope that people who have been treated and like their treat [my book! :-)] will give me a treat and write a review of Fury From Hell.  Or, at the very least, tell their friends about it.  After all, sharing is caring even on Halloween!

Ahem…so, maybe this wasn’t exactly on theme but you get the general idea of what I’m trying to say.

Okay, so are we ready for Halloween and getting our treats on?!  Great! see you at the blog hop and happy commenting & reading your ghostly spectacular treat-reads.

Read Patricia’s full blog post here if you’d like to join the ghoulish trick-o-treating fun!

And since we know great ideas cannot be contained, I have to mention that best-selling author Neil Gaiman has created a movement called #AllHallowsRead where he advocates just this idea of giving someone a scary book for Halloween.  You can read more about it at http://www.allhallowsread.com.  You can also watch Neil’s video right here where he explains this movement is in its infancy stages but in 10 years everyone’s going to be doing it.  Why not be one of the first to join in and get treated?

Don’t forget!  Stop back here anytime on Halloween, write a comment on October 31st, 2014 and you will be treated to a copy of Fury From Hell as your Halloween treat!

Ta-ta for now,

NB

Author Drop-In: Melissa Holden ~ Searching for Katherine

Melissa, tell us about yourself.

I’m a third year student studying Creative and Professional Writing at Canterbury Christ Church University. I’m originally from Dartford but currently live in Canterbury.  As well as writing novels and blogging, I am also Editor for Her Campus CCCU as well as maintain a part time job.

What inspired you to write your first book, and what was it?

My first book was The Snow Killer and it was actually the image I used for the cover. I always wondered what it would be like if snow could kill, but then it escalated to a murder thriller instead.

What made you want to be a writer?

I used to read Jaquline Wilson books religiously and I remember getting one of her “Create Your Own Book” sets for my birthday when I was 9. It was terrible, but I haven’t stopped writing since.

Did writing this new book teach you anything and what was it?

My latest book, Searching For Katherine, has taught me so much. I usually rush my projects but this time I took it slow and have ended up with something I am very proud of. It also taught me that it takes a team to write a good book, not one stressed individual.

What is your greatest strength as a writer?

My determination. I’m a very profilic writer and I believe you should do everything you can to get your name out there.

 

Tell us about your latest work. Can you share a little of it with us (blurb)?

My new novel is Searching For Katherine

Blurb:

Jennifer and Katherine are living the typical post-university life, drinking lots of tea and going clubbing. But when Katherine is kidnapped in a night club, Jennifer’s whole world is turned upside down.

Could her luck finally have changed for the better when Marcus enters her life, or is it about to get a whole lot worse?

I loved writing this novel. It was also a personal challenge as it’s the longest book I’ve written so far. I look forward to my readers thoughts.

Does the writing get easier with each new book?

Writing is never easy, but I think that’s the point. I always enjoy it and I love to challenge myself by trying new things.

 

How did you come up with the title?

The title for Searching For Katherine just fits. It’s exactly what the book is about, and yet there is so much more to it then you first realise.

Can you tell us about your main character?

I have two main characters – both female protagonists, Katherine and Jennifer. They are best friends and flat mates, but after Katherine goes missing you follow the journeys of both women and learn who they are without each other and it shows just how much they need to be together.

How did you develop your plot and characters?

I like to think of my characters as real people, because then they develop on their own.  A lot of character development was done in my later drafts, as I like to write very character-based stories.

What do you love about independent publishing?

I love the creative control, the solitude but above all I love the freedom of it.

****

Where can readers find you?

Twitter: @melissaholden94

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelissaHoldenWriter

WordPress: https://youngunknownauthor.wordpress.com/

Readwave: http://www.readwave.com/melissaholden94/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7444020.Melissa_Holden

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCaj56g9nJ2bQCQyY_SgKYg

 ***

Where can readers purchase your book?

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Searching-Katherine-Melissa-Holden-ebook/dp/B00OIQVAIS/

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Searching-Katherine-Melissa-Holden-ebook/dp/B00OIQVAIS/

Fury From Hell Blog Tour Stop #9: Nandhini’s Book Review Blog

There’s one more surprise Fury From Hell Blog Tour!  It’s stop #9!!  This one is brought to us by a wonderful book blogger in India — Nandhini’s Book Review Blog!

We connected through the Book Blogs community and I thank Nandhini for sharing my new book on her site.

You can read her blog post here:

http://nandhinisbookreviews.blogspot.in/2014/10/fury-from-hell-by-rochelle-campbell.html

Thanks Nandhini!!

Bublish: A new way to find books?

It’s been a little over a month since my new book Fury From Hell was released.  Since that time, I’ve been seeking new ways of trying to let people know about my book.  Boy, has that been a bumpy ride!

Initially, my IRL friends, Twitter friends as well as family members purchased the book which allowed the book to get as high as #26 in its category in the first two weeks.  As the days and weeks pass, as we all know, those family and friend book sales drop off and you now have to market…seriously market.  Here are some of the steps, faux pas and victories I’ve encountered along the way.

1) Tweeting rather incessantly

Yes, you can tweet a lot and gain attention and exposure for yourself and your book (or whatever product service you offer).  However, there  comes a saturation point.  Remember, on Twitter you are tweeting to your circle of tweeps/friends/pals.  The way to grow your circle is to grow your followers which means follow new and different types of people.  This mean even more conversations and time spent cultivating these new relationships.  Here is where you need to decide very clearly how much sleep you really need to survive.  I love Twitter.  I was on Twitter and tweeting pretty much daily long before my book came out.  Yet, there are still only 24 hours in a day.  Tweeting is a very useful in helping me to find new readers and people who are interested in the paranormal genre but you must do your due diligence to find those interested parties.  People of all kinds are on Twitter each and every day — don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

2) FaceBook’ing Your Way to Readers

Okay, FB is not my preferred social media site.  I confuse that FB confuses me greatly.  I don’t have a huge circle of friends and family so I can keep up with them IRL, or via phone with no issues.  When I went on FB and searched for far flung family members I found them.  Boy did I find them!  But many of them didn’t speak English…but I digress.  This little peek let’s you know I have no friggin’ clue about FB so I did some research.  I found writer groups, reader groups and other social groups on FB where I could go and ‘meet’ people and form relationships.  This is an excellent thing!  Groups are the secret sauce of FaceBook!  The key is to remember which groups have the people you most commune with.  So, at first you will visit a lot of groups until you ferret out which ones fit the best with you and your persona.

3) Trying Other People’s Paths

So, I next thought that maybe I’m spinning my wheels.  I should try and see what others have done and done successfully.  Right?  Right!  Where did I go first?  To John Locke’s book.  You know the one, the one where he talks about how he sold 1 million ebooks in 5 months.  Well, after reading his book I realized he is not an ‘ordinary’ guy.  He was a super salesman, sharp, keen.  He also owned his own insurance company and then sold it for a hefty profit.  Locke had the wherewithal to try many more things than the average Joe (read: me) can try.  He says it in his book and he says he can tell us what doesn’t work.  What worked for him were blog posts that infused his personality, writing style, and verve in with a trending topic, or person.

For Locke, these finely tuned blog posts written, revised, and re-angled over the course of a month or more created almost instantaneous buzz and people started buying his books.  He also put himself in a position where he had a lot of material (books!) to sell after the first book was purchased.  And, he has a great price point – $0.99!  Locke claims it is not the price of his books that’s doing it but I believe it is a helpful aspect.  He claims that his books are less than a buck which means that people are more apt to try his book.  Furthermore, authors whose books are $9.99 now have to prove that their book is that much more better than his!  [Yeah, I just said 'much more better'.  Yepperdoodle.]

I tried to write a blog as Locke suggests and tried it twice.  I will admit those blog posts received a lot of attention and were retweeted quite a bit.  My website has enjoyed 978 visitors to see those two posts alone.  The one about Halle Berry has had 516 visitors and the one about Adam Lambert had 399 visitors.  There were more reads recorded than these numbers but I’m assuming some people came back and re-read them.  But these are the hard numbers in a 10-day time period.

I super enjoyed communicating with people about these two great artists both of whom I LOVE.  Those were the most exciting ten days ever!  I woke up not know who would have a comment for me and what country they would hail from.  (For some reason, the Adam Lambert post brought a lot of traffic from Australia.  I’m assuming because Queen was performing there during that time…)

Yet, I can only track 1 book sales from all of that fabulously fun and exciting time period.  The great takeaway is I made lots of new friends and have a greater appreciation for the power of Twitter.

3) Tried it My Way

So, I found this relatively new book discovery platform called Bublish.  It is a book sharing platform where you can share excerpts of your book through an interactive book bubble.  These bubbles provide a link to buy your book.  After a reader reads the excerpt of the author’s choosing there’s a short comment from the author there as well letting the reader know why the author chose that particular excerpt, or the meaning of that excerpt to the author.

The concept is great.  The book bubbles themselves look really good and professional.  So, why did it take me 11 days to figure it out??  LOL.  (Life. Work. Kids. Sleep.)  Here is what one looks like: bit.ly/1tUSTVh.

The jury is still out on this one but I like having such a great piece of my book available to potential readers for free without having to download it via Amazon.  There’s also anonymity with these bubbles.  You can read without having anyone look over your shoulder.  You can form your own opinion of the book basked on what you’ve read and what the author has shared and decide for yourself if you’d like to read more, research it more, or whatever your process for deciding upon a book is you can take it from there.  Readers don’t even have to sign up they can just read the book bubbles.  Guess what?  There’s a hashtag for it!  #BookBubbles — just key it in and you can read a ton of book bubbles and decide for yourself about any number of books.  It’s better in way to read a bubble because you get the author’s take on the excerpt in a quick short hit.

I’ll let you know how this goes.

4) Old School: Made Flyers & Handed Them Out

Yep, I did.  I even had my hubby and my then 13-month old with me as I did it.  I went to Brooklyn Book Expo and met some really great people and had a blast!  Reconnected with an old writer buddy of mine and was able to step back a bit and look at the effect my book was having on people.  It was very cool!  Again, to the best of my knowledge, this did not sell one book but it did raise awareness of the book.

Summary

In summary, to date, Twitter has been the medium that has helped me sell the most books.  That is the medium where I have the largest influence and the one that influences me the most as well.  I have high hopes for Bublish as it is a simple thing to use and is great to look at.  But, who knows?  The very idea of an unknown author attempting to gain exposure for their book in a virtual sea of others doing EXACTLY the same thing is already a daunting task.  But hey, who ever said I was anything like normal?

Until next time,

NB signing off

Gluten Free Pancakes that Taste Good!

These pancakes come out dense but very tasty! My whole family loved them and, more importantly – ate them! This way, I only had to do one batch of pancakes instead of the normal two batches since I am the only GF person in the house.  So, Sunday Brunch was a good experience.

Another thing to note, these pancakes take a bit longer to cook than normal pancakes.  Depending up0n your heat source, each side takes approximately 4 – 5 minutes to cook.  So, unless you have several pans going at a time, Bunch will take much longer than normal with these gluten free pancakes on the menu.  But, they are worth the wait!!

Here’s how mine came out.  I complemented these pancakes with an herbed egg white scramble (with cilantro, parsley and green peppers) and smoked turkey sausage.  [I just had to take a taste and remembered I may want to blog about this...]

 

GLUTEN FREE PANCAKES

Gluten Free Flour Mix (mix these ingredients first; blend thoroughly and then set aside)

½ cup coconut flour

½ cup white rice flour

1 cup brown rice flour

1 tsp Xanthan Gum

 

3 egg whites

3 cups Almond Milk (or other milk substitute)

3 TBL sugar

4 TBL Vegetable Oil

2 TBL baking powder

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

1 tsp vanilla (optional)

¼ tsp sea salt

Margarine, butter or shortening (for pan)

Beat egg whites with hand beater in medium bowl until fluffy. Beat in remaining ingredients except margarine just until smooth. For thinner pancakes, stir in additional 1 to 2 tablespoons milk. Heath griddle or skillet over medium heat or to 375 degrees. Grease griddle with margarine, if necessary. (To test griddle, sprinkle with a few drops water. If bubbles skitter around, heat is just right.)

For each pancake, pour scant ¼ cup batter onto hot griddle. Cook pancakes until puffed and dry around edges. Turn and cook other sides until golden brown.

Book Thoughts: Rising Tide, Dark Innocence

Claudette Melanson‘s YA vampire novel, Rising Tide: Dark Innocence is full of teenage angst and passion coupled with the full range of the ebb and flow of the high school experience.  This author has captured that time period aptly!  While I am not a fan of YA fiction because of the overly dramatic teen emotional arc, Ms. Melanson does a very good job of making her main character’s drama very real and engaging.

This is book 1 of a trilogy that follows Maura “Mink” through her transformation into a vampire.  At the end of book one is when the true story begins.  So, it is abundantly clear early on in book 1 what is transpiring in Mink’s body but everyone around her is avoiding the issue and allaying her concerns about ‘her health’.  An absentee father also is something that is used by Mink’s mother as a major diversion/avoidance topic throughout Mink’s childhood.

The emotions expressed are believable.  The characters are well thought out and the reader comes to care about them and there’s a profound mystery that needs to be solved (even though,we, the reader know the answer!).  The reader feels for Mink and hopes beyond hope that it’s something other than what we know it to be.  Therein lies the lovely suspense, is it really the expected ending?

Good job to Ms. Melanson on creating a vampire story that is substantially different from what is already out in play in the world.

Author Claudette Melanson

4 Blogairy Notebooks