D.E. Haggerty's Blog, page 9

Why I’m no longer doing sweepstakes to gain newsletter followers #WriterWednesday #AuthorNewsletter #AuthorMarketing

[image error]In case you missed it (although I’m not sure how that’s possible), the writing world is having an absolute hissy fit about the newsletter marketing platform MailChimp. MailChimp has changed a bunch of things on its platform. Don’t ask me what those changes are I haven’t the time to study the changes. I did, however, take the time to listen to the Novel Marketing Podcast, which discussed the changes in words a non-marketing professional such as myself could understand. (In case you need some guidance, here’s the link to the podcast: https://www.novelmarketing.com/190-5/)

[image error]My takeaway from the podcast was as follows: For someone like me who has around 1,300 subscribers and does not have an onboarding sequence, there’s no reason to panic. The only thing I needed to do was archive anyone on my list who had unsubscribed. Well, okay then, off I went to do just that.

While I was archiving my unsubscribed and cleaned contacts, I discovered most of these contacts were from a sweepstakes I’d taken part in to gain subscribers. And by most I mean nearly all. Logically, I knew taking part in a sweepstakes would lead to a lot of unsubscribes. I still thought it was worth a try. No more, though. I will try to gain my subscribers organically from here on out.

I’m also working on a short story, which is an offshoot from one of my series, to provide to my subscribers for free. I may do some advertising in that regard – assuming I ever finish the darn thing. Full disclosure: I haven’t even started it yet.

I’m sticking with Mailchimp for now. If I somehow become super popular and gain tons of followers, I’ll reconsider. Right after I buy the Brooklyn Bridge that is…

A review of Darkness Rising by @KatieReus #BookReview #MondayBlogs #ParanormalRomance

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There are very few authors who inspire me to read everything they write. Katie Reus is one of the few. I was super excited when I managed to get my grubby hands on an ARC copy of Darkness Rising. I’ve read (and maybe re-read) all the books in the Darkness series. Vampires, Dragons, Demons, Wolves, oh my! Darkness Rising sounded like a great addition to the series.

~ Blurb ~

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~ Review ~

I was a little worried about this final novel. No where in the blurb does it mention any of the wonderful characters I’ve fallen in love with during the reading of this series. No need to worry. This story is perfectly interwoven with the past characters of the series. And sometimes in a surprising way!

What can I say about Reaper? I’d totally let him eat crackers in my bed. Sure, he was gruff. But give the guy a break. He’s been in deep hibernation for hundreds of years. The modern age confuses me. It must downright confound him. Good thing he has some old friends to help him out along the way. I’m not sure why Greer didn’t jump him the moment she could. She had her reasons, for sure, I just didn’t think they were worth ignoring the sexy man for.

[image error]One of the things I love about this series is that the romance is only one element of the story. Sure, it’s a big element but not the only one. There’s always some kind of suspense or mystery happening as well. Darkness Rising is no different. There is something very evil going on and it’s up to Greer and any other ancients he can manage to gather together to stop it.

The ending is surprising. Yep, didn’t expect that to happen. I didn’t want this book to finish. After all, it’s the final novel of the Darkness series. I feel like my friends are moving away. Please, don’t go. Luckily, Reus has promised us more novels with our favorite characters in a spin-off series.

 

That time I yelled at the Polizei #Memoir #Nonfiction #CreativeNonfiction #ThisIsMyLife

[image error]I’ve titled this blog ‘that’ time I yelled at the Polizei. The proper title would be ‘one of the’ times I yelled at the Polizei. Yes, I’ve yelled and screamed at them more than once. To be fair, I spent quite a bit of my youth in Germany and all young people do stupid stuff. Not just me. (Someone back me up here!) Unfortunately, this particular instance happened when I was in my thirties, my late thirties at that.

It was a snowy night the week before Christmas. At the time, I was living in the Eifel region of Germany but working in The Hague. Mostly I worked remotely but I did travel at least once a month to The Hague. I’d get up at 4 a.m., drive like a bat out of hell to beat traffic, arrive at the office around 9, spend an entire day at work, and then drive home. Not my happiest memories.

On this particular occasion, I’d stayed even longer in The Hague as we were having our Christmas dinner. It’s customary in Holland to have some kind of holiday event to ‘treat’ your employees. Normally, considering the late hour, I would have just slept in The Hague – especially as this would have allowed me to have a drink or two at dinner. But I’d been dealing with a horrible toothache for weeks and could only get an appointment at 9 a.m. the morning after our Christmas event. Oh well. Guess I’ll drive then. No biggie, right?

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(c) By L.1951a – http://www.maps-for-free.com/, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27175471

Although Holland doesn’t get much snow, the Ardennes in Belgium is a whole different matter. And guess where I always had to drive through to get home? That’s right, the Ardennes. Naturally, a week before Christmas, it was snowing in the Ardennes. The roads were horrible. It was slow going the entire time from Liege to the German border.

 

Unlike all the spy movies would have you believe, border control between most European countries is basically nonexistent. The border between Germany and Belgium near Sankt Vith is usually abandoned (unless Germany happens to be hosting the World Cup but that’s a different story). So, I flew through the border. Only forty-five minutes left until I was home!

Right after the border, there is an exit. I saw a car driving slowly on the onramp. I slowed down thinking the car was in trouble. It was late at night and there was tons of snow. Even though I was on my own, I would stop and help if needed. To my great surprise, when I slowed down, lights started flashing! What the heck?

I slowed down further and pulled over. It’s about 2 a.m. at this point. I’m exhausted from my long day, my tooth is freaking killing me, and I just want to be home – I’m nearly there! The police man approaches me, and I roll down my window. In German, he asks me: Do you have any drugs? He doesn’t ask if I’m okay, doesn’t ask for my license and registration. Nothing normal like that. He asks if I have any drugs.

I asked him WHAT? Obviously, my brain was no longer comprehending German, I thought. He didn’t just out and out ask me if I had drugs. No way. He repeated his question slower. I turned to him and said: You have got to be kidding me. Do you think I’d tell you if I had drugs? What the hell?

He stared at me for a moment, nodded, and then told me to have a good night.

DISCLAIMER: I do not recommend you try this. Although German police are the most correct police probably in the world, it’s never a good idea to yell at a police officer.

 

 

Why I still blog #WriterWednesday #AmWriting #Blogging

[image error]The question of whether writers should blog has once again become a hot topic. When I started down this indie author path, all the so-called experts were clear: Every writer should have a blog. Now, however, opinions disagree. Yes, every author should have a website. That remains clear. But a blog? *Shrugs* Who knows? It doesn’t sell books, so why should I bother, many authors argue. I thought I’d toss my two cents into the discussion. And – because I have a blog – I can.

So, why do I still blog? To start off, I’ll be perfectly honest. Blogging – at least in my case – does not sell books. There are still valuable reasons to blog, however. Here are a few:

Book reviews. Although I’ve cut down – substantially! – on how many reviews I agree to do, I still think it’s a valuable service an indie author can offer to other indie authors. It’s also a good way to understand how difficult it is to write a review. Writing reviews has led me to being more understanding of the reviews I receive.

Pay it forward. I get a lot of out reading about other indie author’s experiences. A ton, actually. I hope I’m able to pay that back a bit with my own blogging. I blog each Wednesday about my writing experiences. I’m painfully honest about what has worked and what hasn’t worked for me. I hope it helps other authors.

Find your voice. Ah, that elusive ‘voice’. Blogging – especially my Friday blogs which are just funny tidbits about my life – has helped me work on my voice. It’s a great writing exercise. Pick a topic and just go for it!

Express Your Opinion. I don’t do this much, but a blog can be a great way to express your opinion on a topic. Upset about the new policies of Mailchimp? Lost reviews on Amazon? What better way to get rid of your anger than to write about it?

Connect with readers. In my dreams, my blog is also a way for readers of my novels to find me and connect with me. What can I say? I’m a dreamer.

 

What about you? Do you blog? Or have you given it up? Let me know in the comments.

Book review of The Alice Network from Kate Quinn #MondayBlogs #BookReview #AmReading #HistoricalFiction

The Alice Network has been on my TBR for ages, but – like most serious and seriously thick books – hadn’t made it to the top of my pile. There’s only one thing to do in such a case – force the book on my book club, so I have to read it by a certain date. Boy, am I glad I did! I loved this book. Although I was frightened by the page numbers, it was actually a quick read.

~ Blurb ~

[image error]In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.

1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her “little problem” taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she’s recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the “Queen of Spies”, who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose.

Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth…no matter where it leads.

~ My Review ~

I can’t stop thinking about this book. It brought WWI alive for me. Although I’m a history geek and have even visited many WWI battle sites (including Verdun which is vital battle ground in Eve’s story), I’m less interested in the Great War than what came after. Quinn definitely changed my mind especially when I read the author’s note at the back of the book and realized how much of the book is based on actual people and events.

[image error]I loved how this novel featured two female protagonists. I especially enjoyed wartime events being told from a woman’s standpoint, and not just any woman – a woman who had been on the front lines, as it were, and not as a nurse. Eve is a great character. With each chapter, the reader slowly peels back the different layers of her personality until her truth is revealed – and what a truth! Although she was probably the grumpiest protagonist I’ve read, I’d love to sit down and have a drink with Eve. Oh, the stories she could tell.

Charlie’s character, on the other hand, started a bit flat. She was a messed up girl who, instead of facing her future, went off on a fool’s mission to find her cousin Rose, who despite all evidence to the contrary Charlie is convinced is still alive. Charlie did grow on me as she developed into her own person. Her history is more messed up than finding herself pregnant and unmarried.

I loved the juxtaposition between the two stories. Slowly but surely we learn how the two stories are interconnected and how the past of Eve and the present of Charlie weave together. I didn’t like one story better than another. I felt the two stories together were necessary to complete the overarching story. Although fictional (even if roughly based on true characters), I felt these characters and their stories were believable, which made them powerful.

This is a book to be read time and time again. If you haven’t read The Alice Network yet, what are you waiting for?

I’m now starting on The Lost Girls of Paris, which is this month’s book club read.

 

That time I scared the neighbors #Memoir #Nonfiction #CreativeNonficion #ThisIsMyLife

[image error]After taking a wonderful summer writing course last year, I decided to write my memoirs. I choose an awesome notebook (always the starting point for a new writing project for me). I took some notes. I came up with an awesome title! I even made some tabs in the notebook and…. That’s about as far as I got. At this rate, my nonexistent great-great-grandchildren will end up writing my memoirs.

And then I had an idea. (Don’t be scared, it happens more often.) I thought Why don’t I use my blog to get started? Awesome! So, from now on, I’m going to write a little tidbit from my memoirs on my blog each Friday. Do not expect these tidbits to be in any sort of order. I’ll just be writing my memoirs willy-nilly as I go.

I just received an email from a podcast I follow talking about cops and where they live. This reminded me of a story, which happened when I was stationed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

My boyfriend (now husband of more years than I like to think about) and I were living on the second floor of an apartment complex in the small town of Occoquan. Our downstairs neighbor was a little old lady with whom we had no problems. Well, except for when I ran on my treadmill. Apparently, my footfalls made it sound like the world was collapsing. Our neighbor was sweet when she complained. (I’m sure I would not have been nearly as calm as her.) We arranged a schedule for when it was okay for me to use the treadmill and voilà – problem solved.

Our upstairs neighbors, on the other hand, were a completely different story. They were loud and obnoxious. They were always having parties, and they never invited me! We started getting suspicious  they were up to no good. Whenever we went up to complain about the noise, you could hear dozens of feet scurrying around after the door bell rang. Add to that the people coming and going at all hours and it equals suspicious.

I’m one of those people who tend to let things go and let things go until – BAM! – I explode. Between the obnoxious upstairs neighbors and my unpredictable temper, things were bound to come to a head.

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Not my actual uniform at the time.

My position while stationed at Fort Belvoir was military police investigator (MPI). MPI are the low level detectives on an Army base. We investigated crimes like theft, spousal abuse, and child abuse. As an MPI, I was on call one weekend a month. One Saturday, I was called out to go in because someone had found a child in the barracks. Let me repeat that: A child was abandoned in the barracks. It was a long (and frankly, emotional) shift trying to find the child’s parents. When we made no headway on who this child could possibly be (these were the pre-9/11 days when bases weren’t as locked down as they are now), we had to accept defeat and call in child services to find a place for this child to sleep.

You can imagine I wasn’t in the best of moods when I rolled home at 3 a.m. to find my parking spot was taken and the upstairs neighbors were having a party. Before this, I’d always asked my boyfriend to go yell at the neighbors. But I was done. D-O-N-E. Done. I stomped upstairs and banged on the door. Not a little bang either. Oh no, I kept banging on that fricking door until someone opened.

After a few minutes, the door finally opened and the neighbor peeked out. He took one look at me, straightened up, and declared, “We’ll keep it down, ma’am.”

Huh? Why the sudden acquiescence? And what’s with this ma’am business? I looked down at myself and realized that in my haste to come home and then rush upstairs, I still had my badge hanging around my neck. Damn. I should have thought of using that badge earlier. (Just kidding. I would never – in all seriousness – have misused my authority on purpose.)

The next week the neighbors moved out. Problem solved.

Can writing fiction be therapeutic? #WriterWednesday #AmWriting

Memoir and other creative nonfiction writers often talk about the use of writing as therapy. But that doesn’t apply to fiction writing, does it? It sounds strange but maybe writing fiction can – at times – be therapeutic. Maybe – just maybe – writing fiction can help me to let go of old issues. I know it sounds strange but let me explain with an example.

[image error]At some point of the narrative of Hide Not Seek, it’s important that the main character, Pru, not know the names of all her students. I won’t go into nitty gritty details as it’s only a minor detail in the plot, but here you can read the passage to which I’m referring.

“I’m serious. I have no idea who you’re talking about. Is she a former student?” Gosh, she hated it when she forgot students’ names. She wasn’t great with names, but as a teacher, she couldn’t not learn the names of her students. There was nothing more embarrassing than calling a student by the wrong name. (emphasis added)

I wrote this and then moved on, but the words stayed with me all day. Why was I willing to forgive my character for not remembering a student’s name when I wouldn’t forgive myself for the same thing?

[image error]A bit of background: When I was a college student, I taught swimming classes to kids at the YMCA. One day, while I was on duty as a lifeguard, one of my students came to swim. I then proceeded to call him by the wrong name for the entire two hours he swam. His mother was with him and said nothing. Instead, she withdrew her son from my classes.

This incident has bothered me for years. I was plagued by guilt! How could I have been soooo stupid? Never mind that at the time I was taking 20 credits in college and working full-time. Even today, I cringe at my stupidity.

But then I wrote about Pru’s faulty memory and something clicked in me. Hey, I thought, why didn’t the child’s mother just correct me instead of watching me call her child by the wrong name? Why didn’t she show a bit of compassion? I’ve been called the wrong name more than a few times in my life. My tennis team took a year to realize my names was Dena and not Dana. Did I care? Did I stop playing tennis with them? Or send a nasty message? No, I calmly and quietly corrected the mistake at a time when no one would be embarrassed.

Writing the above passage helped me to let go of my embarrassment about the YMCA event (and other similar events that are too tedious and boring to get into here). Instead of looking at myself from that particular mother’s perspective, I thought about how I would react in the same situation. This helped me to let go.

My experiences with therapy aren’t great, but maybe writing can be my therapy.

How to keep writing even when life gets in the way #WriterWednesday #AmWriting #WritersLife

I was planning on skipping today’s blog post. I’m visiting my parents to figure out some family issues. Not only is it a time suck (getting here took me nearly twenty-four hours!), but an emotional drain as well. Actually, emotional drain doesn’t sound strong enough. What’s stronger than a drain? An emotional hurricane? Is that a thing? As you can imagine, getting any writing done under these circumstances is difficult to say the least. Writing a blog post doesn’t seem like much of a priority either. But, yet, here I find myself sitting on the porch at my parents’ house typing away.

I sat down to write a chapter in my work in progress this morning and ended up staring at my computer. Ugh! How can I possibly work on a romantic comedy when nothing seems much funny at the moment? I knew I needed to get some words in. The last month hasn’t been great for my word count. Between being busy with life and family issues, writing took a back seat. Considering writing is my full-time job, I can’t exactly let writing take the back seat forever.

What to do? I turned to the twenty-minute interval. You can do anything for twenty-minutes. Even try and write comedy when you aren’t feeling particularly humorous. And guess what? It worked. Sure, it’s not my best effort ever. But first drafts are called rough drafts for a reason.

If you do try the twenty-minute interval, make sure to set an alarm and turn off your internet. It only works if you force yourself to concentrate for those twenty-minutes. Otherwise, it’s too easy to get distracted. Especially when you’re not in the mood to write.

What techniques do you use to write when life tries to get in the way?

 

10 Things I’ve Learned as a Writer #WriterWednesday #AmWriting #WritersLife

As I’ve recently released my 15th novel (Hide Not Seek), I thought it was a good time to reflect on what I’ve learned since I started on this writing journey.

1.Everyone thinks that a writer isn’t busy. I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count the number of times I’ve been asked by friends and acquaintances how I manage not to get bored when my hubby is off working.

2. A lot of people don’t read. Seriously, they don’t read novels. I am flabbergasted and confused.

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Say it ain’t so!

3. Readers assume that the main character of each novel is you only more funny, mad, sad, [fill in the appropriate adjective here].

4. Self-publishing is not for the fainthearted. If the prejudice against indie writing doesn’t get you down, then the sheer amount of extra work an indie writer needs to do to get noticed will.

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5. Finishing the book is just the start. Now you need to market the book and find readers. And somehow manage not to become discouraged and want to jump off a bridge.

6. There comes a point in every book when you think: I can’t do this, I don’t know how to end this, where do I go from here? Keep. Writing. If that doesn’t work, alcohol can drown out that little voice in your head.

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7. Always carry a notebook with you. You won’t remember that awesome idea you had in the middle of the night, in the shower, while on the bus, etc. You might want to remember a pen or pencil as well.

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8. Bad reviews are like getting a negative job performance review that everyone just watched on YouTube. And then judges you based upon it.

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9. Grammar is harder than I remember from school. Or maybe it’s just me wanting to start sentences with conjunctions, use hyphens instead of commas, and write dialogues like people really talk. What’s an Oxford comma again?

10. It’s okay to say you’re a writer even if you aren’t on the bestseller list. Yeah right. Still working on this one.

What about you? What have you learned on your writing journey?

Easter Monday in Holland #ExpatLife #LifeInHolland #ThisIsHolland #ExpatLiving

It never ceases to boggle my mind that the vast majority of holidays in the Netherlands are religious days. Not because there’s anything wrong with religion mind you. No, my confusion stems from the fact that the Dutch are distinctly not religious. According to CBS (the Dutch statistics bureau, not the television station), less than 50% of the Dutch population adhere to a religion.

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What else boggles my mind? The Dutch have no idea what most of these holidays are about. This past Monday was Easter Monday – a holiday here in the Netherlands. While the Wikipedia page explaining Easter Monday in English is extensive, the Dutch page states only the following:

Easter Monday or 2nd Easter Day is the day after Easter and is a holiday in a number of primarily Christian countries.

That’s it. C’est tout! Well, no wonder no one has a clue what the day signifies.

Easter Monday means a day off for most people. Nothing more. Nothing less. You’ll find the beaches packed, the dunes full of walkers out for a stroll, and bike paths overflowing with bikers out for a nice ride. In case you’re wondering, me, the hubby, and the dog were part of the crowds of walkers and bikers. I have the sunburn to prove it!

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The stores don’t even bother to close. Years ago, the only shops open on Easter Monday were furniture stores like Ikea. (Expert tip: Do NOT go to Ikea on Easter Monday. Just don’t do it!) Now, all of the shops in the city center are open. For many, you wouldn’t have even known it was a holiday. Unless you need to buy bread. Then, you’re in trouble as grocery stores were one of the few stores that were closed.

So, why has the Netherlands continued to maintain Christian holidays? There are plenty of other days in the year, which could be holidays. Liberation Day on May 5th commemorates the day most of the Netherlands was liberated from the Nazis. (I say most as Haarlem wasn’t liberated until May 8th and I’m just a tiny bit anal about details.) But Liberation Day is only a holiday once every five years. Which is just weird and kind of sad.

What do you say? Who’s ready to start a movement for secular holidays?