Sandy Appleyard's Blog, page 21

Guest Post: Fateful Night-Book 1 in the ‘What She Knew’ trilogy

Please welcome the co-authors of the ‘What She Knew’ trilogy. Enjoy the scintillating tale of how the first book, ‘Fateful Night’ came about.

As we began to play with the idea of writing an entire book around a “What if?” question our excitement grew. Who do you know that doesn’t get into the conversation of did Marilyn Monroe kill herself or was she murdered? No matter what side of that question you’re on, the debate is always a good one.

In that light, we decided to see if a book could be wri...

Skinny People Cry Too: What’s it Like Having Scoliosis?

X-ray taken 2009

Scoliosis is a condition where your spine is curved. Some people have one curve, and others, like me, have two curves (Bilateral Scoliosis). Sometimes if you’re diagnosed early in life, meaning before you’re finished growing, it can be reversed or repaired if the curves aren’t too prominent. But for people like me, who didn’t get diagnosed until age twenty two, it is probably too late depending on how advanced the curves are.

Due to my late diagnosis and the fact that my curves...

Book Review: My Sister’s Keeper

Fair warning: if you read this book, keep a tissue box close by. Never in my life have I been so incredibly emotional while reading a book as when I read My Sister’s Keeper. This is a wonderfully strong, beautiful and tragic story of a family with a child who has a rare form of Leukemia.

If you ever feel like your children are a pain, if you’ve ever felt like life has handed you a sack of coal because your child has bad allergies or some other minor yet frustrating ailment, you must read My Si...

Guest Post: Planning a Vacation?

Image courtesy of Inmagine.com

Hello Everyone! I hope all is well with you! My name is Lisa Orchard and I’m the Young Adult Author of the Super Spies Mystery/Thriller series. I want to thank Sandy for having me as her guest today.

As I thought about my topic for today, my thoughts wandered. I started thinking about summer and warmer weather. An image came to mind, a sandy beach and a lounge chair, the hot sun tanning my skin, the smell of suntan lotion and the feel of a slight breeze on my face...

Surrendering to KDP Select

In a previous post, I discussed the fact that the results from KDP Select were less than satisfactory overall, aside from having over 1600 downloads during my free promotional period for my first novel Blessed and Betrayed.

However, since then I’ve spent way more funds than I care to share in promotion, realizing that it netted me little returns. I’ve also noticed that having all my books available on Smashwords hasn’t been much of a benefit.

Now that I’ve released my second novel The Wife of a...

Writing Romantic Mysteries: Mystery Solved Vol.1

Image courtesy of Inmagine.com

We all have a particular genre that appeals to us; some change interest over time and some of us remain loyal to one genre. Our favourite genre to read usually tends to become our favourite to write as well.

I’m no exception. I love reading mysteries; I’ve read every one of Sue Grafton’s A-Z series and many other mysteries (if you care to see the full list, visit my Goodreads page).

Interestingly, what we like to read is typically what we like to watch as well. Alt...

I’m Using a Pen Name…Now What?

In a recent , I discussed whether or not it was a good idea to go with a pen name when trying out the erotic romance genre. Because of an overwhelming response, I decided to go with a pen name.

The main reasons for arriving at this decision were:

Privacy (I have small children who may not be accepting of mommy’s ‘naughty literature’ when they get older.

Many authors who responded to my blog recommended that I use a different pen name for each genre. Most reported they do this already. I wish...

Being a Starving Author: What Makes You Stay?

Image courtesy of Inmagine.com

I read an article many years ago in the waiting room at the dentist’s office. The tagline was “When They Cheat: What Makes you Stay?” The purpose of the article was to show readers that there’s usually more than one reason a person stays in a place where it may or may not be obvious you’re getting what you need out of the situation: like a stable marriage in this case.

Being a writer isn’t much different. Most people stay at their jobs primarily because they get c...

When Parents Bully

Image courtesy of Inmagine.com

I’m happy to report that my children are not being bullied at school, and my niece is no longer being bullied at school. It’s nice to know that the school system seems to have it under control in most cases with the invent of the ‘tribes’ learning community.

The problem still exists and for some it’s very serious, but thankfully it’s being brought to the public’s attention, and places like KidPower and stopbullying.gov are there to help.

In a recent post I discusse...

Skinny People Cry Too: Stuck in a Creative Rut?

Image courtesy of Inmagine.com

Not that I’m bragging, but I pretty much never have creative ruts. My challenge is finding the time to bring all my creativity to fruition. Seeing as I’m a writer, I have a diary of all my writing ideas, several digital lists and multiple notes on my phone. All are just waiting (and nagging me) to be written.

But I know that isn’t the norm. I know many people get stuck in a creative rut; whether you’re a writer or not. Is this you? In a recent post, I discussed ho...