C.D. Hersh's Blog, page 95
August 12, 2019
Tell Again Tuesday Where to sell your books
A blog series where we shamelessly share posts from others that we have enjoyed.
The Amazon Conundrum (AKA Why Some of My Books Are in Kindle Unlimited and Most Are Not)
By Lindsay Buroker
I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while, because I get these questions a lot:
Why isn’t X book available in Kindle Unlimited?
Why isn’t X book available on Kobo/Barnes & Noble/Apple/etc.?
I wanted a place to send folks where I can explain. It’s hard to get all the points across in a response to someone’s Facebook comment. Especially since I always forget how to do the darned hard returns (SHIFT + ENTER, in case you also didn’t know or keep forgetting) there.
So, here’s the scoop: . . .
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August 8, 2019
Friday Feature @SharonLedwith #Family and #Food
Guest talks about
Family and Food!
by
Sharon Ledwith
The one theme I love to weave throughout my two book series is the importance of family. We hold each other tight when times are tough, and on the flip side we can tear each other apart during times of stress and worry. Food seems to be the source of comfort in all family matters.
Meals bring us together to celebrate, cry or support each other in so many ways. The characters in The Last Timekeepers young adult time travel adventure series were originally thrown together, despite their differences, and have had to learn how to act like a family by trusting and working with one another through each Timekeeper mission. In my Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls teen psychic mystery series, the main characters change with each book, but the setting remains the same, I focused on the tribal matters of the town, and what’s best for the whole. Again, my characters must overcome differences and obstacles in order to keep Fairy Falls’ sense of community safe and intact.
I recently came across my father’s lasagna recipe, and a wave of emotions and memories rushed through me. I loved his meaty take on a popular Italian dish. My dad’s been gone for over thirty-five years, and I still miss him deeply, especially when our family gets together over holidays, events or Sunday dinners. So, I thought I’d share his special family recipe with you with the hopes of adding this mouth-watering pasta entree to your menu one day. Bon appetite!
Dad’s Mouth-Watering, Meaty Lasagna
1 lb. lean ground beef
½ lb. ground pork
1 can (28 oz.) whole tomatoes
1 can (12 oz.) tomato paste
2 tsps. garlic salt or powder
1½ tsps. oregano leaves
1 tsp. basil leaves
2 cups cottage cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 packages (4 ounces each) shredded mozzarella cheese
12 oz. lasagna noodles, cooked and well drained (we use precooked noodles)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
In a Dutch over or large skillet, cook and stir meats until brown. Drain off fat. Add tomatoes; break up with fork. Stir in tomato paste, garlic, oregano and basil. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered 20 minutes or until mixture is consistency of spaghetti sauce.
Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C).
Stir together cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese. Set aside 1 cup meat sauce and ½ the mozzarella. In ungreased baking pan, 13 x 9 x 2 inches, alternate layers of ⅓ each noodles, remaining meat sauce, remaining mozzarella, and cottage cheese mixture.
Spread reserved meat sauce over top. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Scatter reserved mozzarella across lasagna.
Bake uncovered 45 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting. Cut into 3-inch squares.
Serves 8 of your hungriest family members or friends.
And there you have it! A feast fit for any family who loves getting together to share good food, and create happy memories. So, now that you’ve cooked to your heart’s content, and your belly is full, why not escape from the dishes and curl up with one of my books? May I suggest a visit to Fairy Falls or go back in time with The Last Timekeepers? Just remember to pack lightly.
The only witness left to testify against an unsolved crime in Fairy Falls isn’t a person…
City born and bred, Hart Stewart possesses the gift of psychometry—the psychic ability to discover facts about an event or person by touching inanimate objects associated with them. Since his mother’s death, seventeen-year-old Hart has endured homelessness, and has learned ways to keep his illiteracy under wraps. He eventually learns of a great-aunt living in Fairy Falls, and decides to leave the only life he’s ever known for an uncertain future.
Diana MacGregor lives in Fairy Falls. Her mother was a victim of a senseless murder. Only Diana’s unanswered questions and her grief keeps her going, until Hart finds her mother’s lost ring and becomes a witness to her murder.
Through Hart’s psychic power, Diana gains hope for justice. Their investigation leads them into the corrupt world threatening Fairy Falls. To secure the town’s future, Hart and Diana must join forces to uncover the shocking truth, or they risk losing the true essence of Fairy Falls forever.
AMAZON BUY LINK – BARNES & NOBLE
MIRROR WORLD PUBLISHING
Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/YA time travel series, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS, and the teen psychic mystery series, MYSTERIOUS TALES FROM FAIRY FALLS. When not writing, researching, or revising, she enjoys reading, exercising, anything arcane, and an occasional dram of scotch. Sharon lives a serene, yet busy life in a southern tourist region of Ontario, Canada, with her hubby, one spoiled yellow Labrador and a moody calico cat.
Learn more about Sharon Ledwith on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter, Google+, Goodreads, and Smashwords. Look up her Amazon Author page for a list of current books. Be sure to check out THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS TIME TRAVEL SERIES Facebook page.
August 6, 2019
Wednesday Special Spotlight On Writing Villains @ChrisPavesic
Shines On
The ever-learning Chris Pavesic brings us writing advice.
I like to read writing advice from other authors. Many times, I find really great ideas that help improve my own abilities. For example, in On Writing, Stephen King (2001) recommends listening to music to help a writer block out the world and focus on the work at hand. I have multiple dedicated writing playlists for just this purpose.
Certain advice, though, does not resonate with me. For example—certain writers suggest modeling villains after people in your own life that you dislike. I would find that difficult advice to implement in my writing.
First—there is the time factor. Writing a novel generally takes time. Even if a writer aims for a thousand words a day of good, solid prose, the writing stretches into months. Imagine this time actively thinking about people you do not like. This would not be an enjoyable activity in my perspective.
As a writer, I want to like my villains. Not everything that they do—many of their activities to me would be morally objectionable. But I need to understand them—to know why they are doing certain activities so that I can put this down on the page. I need to sympathize with their motivations and to realize that, in most instances, the villains do not see themselves as evil. These characters need the same depth as the heroes or, in my opinion, they will never be more than a caricature.
In Witches Abroad, Terry Pratchett (1991, p. 185) has the villain of the story, Lilith, make the following comparison:
“She wondered whether there was such a thing as the opposite of a fairy godmother. Most things had their opposite, after all. If so, she wouldn’t be a bad fairy godmother, because that’s just a good fairy godmother seen from a different viewpoint.”
Later in the story, readers learn that Lilith firmly believes she is the good fairy godmother and is not the villain. It’s a matter of perspective, and in her viewpoint, those working against her are evil. She’s trying to improve people’s lives, and those working against her are trying to impede progress.
This is not the only type of villain in literature, but it is the type that I tend to find the most interesting. It is why I can sympathize with Khan in Star Trek (both in Into Darkness and in Space Seed) and Loki in The Avengers while at the same time being morally appalled by many of their actions.
There are obvious exceptions to this—Sauron in The Lord of the Rings trilogy does not generate sympathy for many readers, (although Tolkien does give him a fascinating history in The Silmarillion that explains his fall into darkness) but the Nazguls always had a touch of sympathy to their story for me because they were tricked by Sauron into becoming the Ring Wraiths. The detail and care that Tolkien invests into the story keeps these characters from being caricatures.
Allow me to introduce you to my villains. I hope you enjoy reading about them as much as I did writing them.
Amazon – Audible – Smashwords
Chris Pavesic is a fantasy author who lives in the Midwestern United States and loves Kona coffee, steampunk, fairy tales, and all types of speculative fiction. Between writing projects, Chris can most often be found reading, gaming, gardening, working on an endless list of DIY household projects, or hanging out with friends.
Learn more about Chris on her website and blog.
Stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, and her Amazon Author Page.
August 5, 2019
Tell Again Tuesday How to end your novel
A blog series where we shamelessly share posts from others that we have enjoyed.
Six Superb Ways To End A Novel
By Lorraine Ambers
The ending of a novel needs to leave the reader satisfied and should reflect the pace and tone of the rest of the story. The truth is, endings are hard. The writer must conclude all subplots and bring clarity and resolution to the conflicts the characters face.
I’m going to share six of the most effective methods for concluding your novel.
To Be Continued . . .
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August 1, 2019
Friday Features Where was Woodstock? by @AuthorCDHersh
We talk about
Woodstock wasn’t really at Woodstock
Woodstock 1969 is an iconic music festival that is celebrating its 50th anniversary this August 15-18. So, since our book, Can’t Stop the Music, begins at the famous Woodstock Festival August 1969, we’re taking some extra time to talk about Woodstock and our book.
In Can’t Stop the Music we mention that the heroine, Rose, has a festival flyer and her tickets hanging on the wall of her home. We thought it would be fun to show some of the various posters that were printed for the music festival.
We’re fond of the center poster because we think it would help Rose remember the handsome, guitar playing hippie she met at Woodstock—the one she’s believes the magic Soul Mate Tree led her to.
Notice the posters have different locations for the festival. That’s because the Woodstock organizers, had some issues with the locations they choice. Originally they wanted the venue to be near take place in Woodstock, NY. After residents opposed them, they thought they’d found a second location in Saugerties, NY. That, too, fell through. Another search brought them to the town of Wallkill, NY. But then the town board passed a law that required a permit for an assembly of more than 5,000 people. The estimated attendance the organizers were tell authorities was about 5,000, but in reality they expected 150,000 to show up. The organizers of the concert applied for the permit but ended up being turned down because the number of portable toilets were deemed to be inadequate. A dairy farmer, named Max Yasgur, heard about the festival and the problems the organizers were encountering and he offered his dairy farm, in the town of Bethel, near White Lake, NY, as an alternative site.
The concert was fraught with problems, ranging from an unexpected, massive attendance (500,000 music loving hippies showed up); running out of food; traffic jams that delayed the performers; and a weekend of rain that turned the entire field into a giant mud puddle. Even with all those problems Woodstock was a peaceful concert, which according to historic reports, has not been duplicated since.
For our heroine Rose and the handsome, guitar-playing hippie she falls for, Woodstock was an event they would never forget—thanks to the promise-making Soul Mate Tree.
Here’s an excerpt from Can’t Stop the Music that we hope will make you want to join Rose and Dakota at Woodstock.
THE LEGEND OF THE SOUL MATE TREE:
I am old, I am ancient, my purpose is clear
To give those who are needy a treasure so dear.
They who come to my roots, touch my bark, stroke my leaves
Find the soul of their lives if they but believe.
When I call and you listen, your prize will be great
If your heart remains open and you don’t hesitate.
Do you yearn? Be you lonely? Is your time yet at hand?
Reach for me and I’ll give to you. I’m yours to command.
For your trust, for your faith, keep my secrets untold
And I’ll gift you forever, to have and to hold.
As they made their way to the festival site, Rose and her friends grooved to the music coming from the stage.
When they reached the makeshift bridge over the road, someone yelled, “Hey beautiful! You with the red hair.”
She looked around to see if there was anyone else with red hair. Then she glanced up and spotted two guys, one blond and the other dark-haired, leaning over the side of the bridge.
“Yeah, you,” the blond called out as he caught her gaze.
Willow halted beside her. “He’s cute. How about him?”
Rose looked away, her gaze landing on the other guy.
He jabbed his companion in the ribs. “Quit trying to pick up every girl you see.” Then he leaned farther over the rail. “Don’t pay any attention to him. He’s high.”
“So she’s not beautiful?” Willow yelled to the hippie.
She poked her friend. “Stop it, Willow, you’re making a scene.” In spite of her protest, her gaze remained on the dark-haired guy.
He rested his elbows on the rail and stared back at her. The intensity of his expression shot heat into her belly.
“I didn’t say that, just that she shouldn’t pay attention to him.” He flapped a hand at his blond buddy, then tapped his own chest with his thumb several times as if to say, ‘Choose me!’
Does he want me to pay attention to him? Her heart thumped in rhythm to his jabbing thumb.
“Take that one,” Willow whispered. “He’s the real cutie.”
Before she could respond, the crowd pushed them forward. When they reached the other side of the bridge, she looked back, searching for the dark-haired hippie, but the spot where he’d stood was empty.
Just my luck. I see someone who’s intriguing and he disappears.
With a sigh, she continued the trek to the festival grounds.
Want to read more? Can’t Stop the Music is available on Amazon.
July 30, 2019
Wednesday Special Spotlight Ophelia’s Curse #newbook Coming Soon @TinaGriffith
Shines On
A new book,
Ophelia’s Curse,
coming soon
by
Tina Griffith
Ophelia’s Curse is a suspenseful and intriguing novel from start to finish. The story will give you goose bumps and have you sitting on the edge of your seat. In short, this story will tickle your senses on a level that you’ve not known before. The thin line between witchcraft and terror is remarkable and written as if Tina Griffith had the gift of pure magic. This is an hypnotic and provocative book. And just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, the twists and turns prove you wrong.
On Hallow’s Eve, as the veil between the two worlds was thinning, the face of the full moon was lit up like a Christmas tree. The dead would soon come alive, the alive would dress up as the dead, and witchcraft had a way of piggybacking off other spells. This was the ideal night to be a witch, for the effectiveness of all incantations, divinations, and other avenues of magic, was perfect.
Jayla is a clever witch, who had been cursed in her teens by her friend, Ophelia. Since then, she has had to retrieve dark souls from shrewd men in order to survive. While she has taken hundreds of souls in her lifetime, this story is about her trying to take the one which belongs to Roger Casem – the man she accidentally fell in love with.
Could she kill him, as she had done with the others? If she wanted to continue living, she must. But today, when his eyes skimmed her body with unbelievable passion, she began to recognize her own needs. As she blushed and turned her face away from him, Jayla did the only thing she could.
Tina Griffith, who also wrote twenty-seven children’s books as Tina Ruiz, was born in Germany, but her family moved to Canada when she was in grammar school.
After her husband of 25 years passed away, she wrote romance novels to keep the love inside her heart. Tina now has eleven romance novels on Amazon, and while all of them have undertones of a love story, they are different genres; murder, mystery, whimsical, witches, ghosts, suspense, adventure, and her sister’s scary biography.
Tina has worked in television and radio as well as being a professional clown at the Children’s Hospital. She lives in Calgary with her second husband who encourages her to write her passion be it high-quality children’s books or intriguing romance.
Stay connected with Tina (Griffith) Ruiz on her Facebook group Tina Speaks Out.
July 29, 2019
Tell Again Tuesday The Light in the Darkness
A blog series where we shamelessly share posts from others that we have enjoyed.
Why Writer Friends Are Like Lighthouses The Closer You Get To Publication
By Lucy Mitchell
I am likening the process of getting closer to publishing my book to sailing a small boat across a violent sea at night.
It doesn’t matter which route you take to get to publication. From the tweets and blog posts I read from other writers and authors, we all end up in the same little publication boat; in total darkness, weary and desperately clinging onto something, a life dream of being an author perhaps, with no idea where we are going to end up and cursing ourselves for even thinking about setting off on a journey like this.
So, here we all are, alone in our boat, being tossed about by . . .
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July 25, 2019
Friday Feature @LizzieTLeaf breakfast #recipe
Guest shares
A new dish for breakfast
by
Lizzie T. Leaf
I like to create new dishes for breakfast. It’s my personal challenge to produce tasty and healthy meals outside the norm. This certainly fits the bill! Although I use honey smoked salmon, but any type salmon will still be delicious. This recipe serves 1 but is easily increased for more.
LIZZIE’S BREAKFAST SPECIAL
Image by Rupert B. from Pixabay
1 Roma tomato, sliced thin
1 ripe avocado
2 slices swirl bread, rye & pumpernickel
¼ red onion, sliced thin and separated
⅓ cup honey smoked salmon
Balsamic vinegar to taste
Drain tomato on a paper towel while you create breakfast magic.
Cut avocado in half, remove from shell and then dice. Spread on each slice of bread.
Lay onion pieces on top of avocado. Add tomatoes and then salmon. Sprinkle on vinegar.
Dig in!
Here is a little from my latest spicy romantic release for your reading pleasure.
Following the Powers directive to unite soul mates, a Scottish Cailleach’s magic will have repercussions in several realms.
Mixed-blood author Ian McCabe, grandson of Fae and gods, tries to deny his powers while hiding his true origins from the human world. When he discovers mortal, Emma Grant unconscious at his front door, his world starts to change.
Tour director Emma Grant leads a group of senior ladies through Scotland. The breakdown of their bus on a rural Scottish backroad has her sloshing through the rain and mud on foot. Her efforts to seek help results in a fall that knocks her unconscious. She awakens to find the man of her dreams staring into her eyes.
Both feel an instant attraction, but will his secrets and her distrust of men keep them apart.
A few lines that tweak a grin.
Yep, at this rate, a long three weeks lay ahead. No one had told Emma that the dozen school teachers ranged in ages from sixty-nine to eighty-eight. Good grief, what happened to women at this age sitting on the front porch and enjoying their rocking chairs?
Mildred waved away the correction “Of course, dear. Whatever you say. I just want to know, will we see any men in kilts soon? I want to see what they wear under them.”
Dirty old woman. She asked that question at least half a dozen times before we got on the bus and stated the reason just as often.
Read the first chapter on Amazon.
To read excerpts from other books by Lizzie T. Leaf please click onto Amazon .
Lizzie T. Leaf has loved books since she opened her first one. Her dream was to write them herself. Lost in the hectic day to day world of family, job, laundry and housework, writing became a distant memory. When the twinkling ember did spark, it was usually doused by someone demanding their share of her time.
Lizzie’s life went full circle. The desire to put the stories that continued to play in her head on paper emerged stronger than ever, and at a time when there was someone who encouraged. Now she lives her dream.
Learn more about Lizzie T. Leaf on her website and blog. Connect with Lizzie on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.
July 23, 2019
Wednesday Special Spotlight Can’t Stop the Music by @AuthorCDHersh
Shines On
Can’t Stop the Music
our award winning book.
The 50th anniversary of the musical festival Woodstock is coming up this August 15-18, and we’d like to share our book, Can’t Stop the Music, which is set at the famous Woodstock Festival August 1969.
With a title like Can’t Stop the Music, you’d expect music to be in the book, and it is. The heroine, Rose, is a college senior studying to be a music teacher. Rose loves music, in all its forms, and when the chance to attend Woodstock comes, she’s ready to go, along with her current boyfriend. But things go south with him and she ends up at the festival crammed among 500,000 people, which had originally been estimated with an attendance of 200,000. For a claustrophobic person like Rose, the elbow-to-elbow mass of humanity presents a big problem.
The Soul Mate Tree books, of which Can’t Stop the Music is number 2 in the series, revolve around a magic tree that grants deserving souls the love of their life. Here’s the tree’s legend, in poetic form.
THE LEGEND OF THE SOUL MATE TREE:
I am old, I am ancient, my purpose is clear
To give those who are needy a treasure so dear.
They who come to my roots, touch my bark, stroke my leaves
Find the soul of their lives if they but believe.
When I call and you listen, your prize will be great
If your heart remains open and you don’t hesitate.
Do you yearn? Be you lonely? Is your time yet at hand?
Reach for me and I’ll give to you. I’m yours to command.
For your trust, for your faith, keep my secrets untold
And I’ll gift you forever, to have and to hold.
The tree’s abilities span eras, continents, and worlds, which provides a wide variety of genres and settings for the 12 books in the series. Our book, Can’t Stop the Music, is a nostalgia romance that begins at Woodstock 1967 and is filled with musical references from the 60s, as well as other times eras, and a happily-ever–after that romance readers crave.
No matter what your favorite genre is, there is something for you in The Soul Mate Tree flagship project from Soul Mate Publishing.
Check out this excerpt from Can’t Stop the Music by C.D. Hersh, currently available on Amazon.
Can’t Stop the Music
By C.D. Hersh
For college senior and hippie wannabe Rosemary—Rose for short—a teaching job is within her grasp, but she wants more. She wants love, the kind of love that has bound her parents for so many years. When she’s dumped by her current boyfriend because her morals can’t bring her to give in to free love, she finds herself at Woodstock in the middle of the biggest free-love music festival of the Sixties. Alone, again. Until a magical tree grants her wish and she finds the man of her dreams—and loses him before she really knows who he is.
Dakota meets the girl of his dreams at Woodstock, but a jealous wannabe girlfriend drives them apart before he can discover Rose’s last name and where she comes from. After he sees a disappearing tree that promises him true love, a frantic search to find Rose comes up empty-handed.
Magic and music brings them together at Woodstock in 1969. Misunderstandings tear them apart. Will two flower children find one another again, or live with missed opportunities?
Bethel, New York
August, 1969
Rosemary Sterling pulled her striped, gauzy maxi-skirt to her knees, stuck her sandaled feet out the rear passenger door opening of her friend Willow’s ’51 Woodie, and wiggled her toes. Sweat rolled down the center of her back. Not even a tiny breeze tickled the air on the crowded, one-lane road to the Woodstock Music Festival.
The heat radiating from the string of cars stretching in front and in back of her only added to the hot, summer air. Most of the vehicles’ occupants lounged on the hoods, the dirt road, or sat cross-legged on the ground, smoking pot or playing their guitars, their psychedelic clothing bright spots of neon color against the deep-green grass.
“How much longer before we find out what the holdup is?” she called as she exited the steamy vehicle.
Shielding her eyes, Willow straightened from her slouched position against the side of the car and peered between the row of stopped cars. “I see Bodi coming now. Maybe he’s found out what’s causing the traffic jam.”
“Aren’t you burning up?” Rose flapped the bottom of her cotton peasant blouse to stave off the hot, humid air. When the motion didn’t cool the sweat running between her breasts, she jammed the fabric under her boobs, swiping at the damp flesh. Then she clambered onto the sun-scorched hood, careful to tuck her skirt under her bare legs.
“I shouldn’t have let you talk me into burning my bra last night.” She glanced at Willow, envying her pert A-cups. You couldn’t tell Willow’s girls were unchained. “Even that thin layer would have kept the sweat off. Bra burning might be the rage right now, and that’s fine for someone built like you. For C-cups or bigger, loose boobs are a drag. Pun intended.”
Willow laughed. “You’ll get used to it. Once you do, you’ll see the advantage.”
So far the only thing her hippie friend introduced her to that she’d embraced was the shortened flower name Willow had given her.
“Rosemary’s the name of your grandmother, not a flower child. I’m renaming you Rose,” Willow had said.
Jake and Starr, the other two in their group, came around the side of the Woodie. Jake’s tangled curls looked as if he’d just rolled out of bed. Grass stuck out of Starr’s hair in a green corona. She doubted they’d been doing anything that merited halos.
Frowning, she slid off the hood, motioned Starr over, and began picking grass from her braids. “I hope you two weren’t cavorting in poison ivy. I don’t think we packed any anti-itch lotion.”
“You should cavort sometime, Rose.” Starr gave her a friendly shove. “You need to loosen up, girl. Partake of free love.”
She couldn’t get used to free love either. “No thanks.”
Want to read more? Can’t Stop the Music is available on Amazon.
July 22, 2019
Tell Again Tuesday Writing Tips for a Blank Page
A blog series where we shamelessly share posts from others that we have enjoyed.
The Right Opening
By Joanne Guidoccio
Have you ever experienced the tyranny of the blank page?
If you’re nodding in agreement, you are in good company. In fact, I believe every author—from beginner to published—has experienced those feelings of doubt and apprehension, especially at the start of a new manuscript. That’s when the gremlin thoughts are most powerful.
In this post, I will offer several suggestions on . . .
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