Meghan Riley's Blog, page 18

March 2-8, 2014: Read an E-Book Week

Since 2004, Read an E-Book Week has been promoting downloads of digital books across the world. This international event brings together authors, publishers, and book retailers, who offer their books at deep discounts or for free. The founder of the event, Rita Toews hoped that, by multiple working together, a large impact could be made in the publishing world where independent authors are often overlooked. Since it’s inception, participation has grown by the thousands from year to year.

This...

Checking In: La Gemma Fine Italian Bakery

Mini Cheesecakes
Source: Le Gemma’s Facebook Page

Last week, Mr. Awesome and I took our little one to her 6 month checkup and shots, which meant we were in the same vicinity as one of my favorite places in Wilmington, NC – La Gemma Fine Italian Bakery. I discovered this place in 2012 and fell in love with their Tiramisu. Then, the owners decided to close down the retail part while they spent more time with their family. 2013 arrived and they decided to sell the bakery. The new owner reopened th...

6 Months Down as New Parents

It’s amazing to think that my little girl is now over 200 days old. I keep track of this on my phone. It’s like a “Thank God!” moment every day when I see it.

Somehow, it’s gotten both easier and harder as the days go by. She’s more interested in the world around her, and can interact with it more now that she’s rolling and able to sit up with help. It’s made it easier to keep her happy compared to 3 months ago. But it feels like she’s constantly teething. We got a small break after the first...

Honest Review: Time Warner Cable (TWC TV®) App

The other night I was lying in bed when I thought, “Oh! I forgot to set my DVR to record the first episode of Star-Crossed!” I had just settled down and was comfortable, and I really didn’t want to get out of bed, so I was arguing with myself over how much I really wanted to watch it.

Can I wait until next week? The CW doesn’t have On Demand on Time Warner. Do I want to risk it not being on the CW website? Or do I just want to get my butt out of bed?

That’s when it occurred to me that I had ju...

Black T-shirt and Jeans

I work for a team of Realtors at a very successful real estate company. Women in my office collect shoes and often discuss them. I basically only have 4 pairs I wear: 1 black pair, 1 brown pair, 1 set of sandals, and a pair of tennis shoes. None of those are high heels. At the last real estate company that I worked for, the girls made fun of me, because I asked who Chloe was when I overheard them talking about handbags. Apparently, it’s bag brand. I choose purses according to how many pockets...

Book Review: Lamaze Soft Books

My daughter received the first book she could interact with within the first month of her birth. It was Lamaze’s Peek-a-Boo Forest Soft Book and she loved it! I tried other books with her, but she just wasn’t as interested. When Christmas came around, I went out and bought more from the series. She loved those too. So, I had to share this line of books with anyone who has a baby.

What’s great about the Lamaze series is that the pages are filled with cellophane. So, when the baby handles one of...

Book Review: 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

I’m ashamed to admit that I just finished 5th Wave by Rick Yancey. Yes, I started it before my daughter was born. That was over 6 months ago, but in my defense, not until this month was I able to finally develop some time for myself and reading. Who knew a baby would take up so much of your time?

That was a joke.

So, what did I think of it?

Well, first, here’s a brief synopsis of the book:

Cassie is a teenage girl trying to survive alone in a world that has been “invaded” by aliens. When the book...

Book Signing Tips

Today, I had a book signing at Memories of a Child in Wilmington, NC. It was a great success and it reminded me that I was planning on sharing my book signing tips. Many of these I learned form other writers when I was helping my sister host book signings when I was in my late teens/early twenties. Others I learned from doing marketing in my day job.

Two Weeks Before the Signing

1. Notify your local paper, radio stations, and news stations that you’ll be doing a book signing. You can do this vi...

Book Signing: Memories of a Child – February 1, 2014

I will be doing a book signing next week! Here are the details:

Date: Saturday, February 1, 2014

Time: 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Location: Memories of a Child

6932 Market Street

Wilmington, NC 28411

(In the shopping complex with

Brooklyn Pizza and Food Lion)

Stop by, get your book signed, and enter to win a prize!

The post Book Signing: Memories of a Child – February 1, 2014 appeared first on Meghan Riley - Author.

How I Would Have Done My Kickstarter Project Differently

As you may know, a year ago I created a project on Kickstarter to have Anna published. Projects on Kickstarter only have a 43.65% success rate and mine was one of them. It was a life changing event, of which I am very thankful. I had never published a book before and it gave me the chance to thoroughly experience the process from beginning to end. However, if I was able to do it over again, there are some things I would change.

But, first, let’s review my original plan. My goal was to raise $6...