D.G. Kaye's Blog, page 78

Streets Ahead Street Team – D.G Kaye | Stevie Turner

Thanks to Stevie Turner for featuring my book – Words We Carry for this week’s book promo on Streets Ahead Team.   Streets Ahead Street Team – D.G Kaye   This week in Streets Ahead we’re sharing D.G Kaye’s memoir ‘Words We Carry‘.  Here below is a description of the book by the author herself: “I have been a great critic of myself for most of my life, and I was darned good at it, deflating my own ego without the help of anyone else.” What do our shopping habits, high-heeled shoes, and big hair have to do with how we perceive ourselves? Do the slights we endured when we were young affect how we choose our relationships now? D.G. takes us on a journey, unlocking the hurts of the past by identifying situations that hindered her own self-esteem. Her anecdotes and confessions demonstrate how the hurtful events in our lives linger and set the tone for how we value our own self-worth. Words We Carry is a raw, personal accounting of how the author overcame the demons of low self-esteem with the determination to learn to love herself.     Here is my own 5 star review for this book on Amazon UK: The dysfunctional childhood suffered by author D.G Kaye has left her with great insight into the human condition, which she writes about with much accumulated wisdom in her inspirational non-fiction book ‘Words We Carry’.  We read how parents, teachers, and events in our childhood shape the adults that we become.  I suffered quite a few similar events in my own childhood that the author did, and found the whole book excellent and eerily uncanny to my own life experiences. Ms Kaye believes, just as I do, that we should put on a smile, think positive thoughts, and dress to please ourselves and not others.  It doesn’t matter if we are not blessed with outward beauty, a happy and friendly demeanour will shine through and attract new friends.  Beauty is as beauty does; nobody gets pleasure from being around a miserable complainer, even though they may be the best looking person for miles around. By the time the reader reaches the last page, they would have the recipe in their hands to give their self-esteem a huge boost.  Over the years I have learned to feel comfortable in my own skin, just like the author had to, and to ignore or walk away from people whose only aim in life was to make disparaging comments in order to make me feel bad about myself. I received this book in a free promotion, but I will definitely read it again.  Thoroughly recommended!   Thank you Stevie Turner!!   Source: Streets Ahead Street Team – D.G Kaye | Stevie Turner    

Sunday Book Review – Examining Kitchen Cupboards by Stevie Turner

Welcome to this week’s Sunday Book Review. I was delighted to receive an ARC copy of Stevie Turner’s latest release – Examining Kitchen Cupboards. I found the title quite clever as soon as I realized the premise of the book. Stevie has taken a true controversial event about some misdoings taking place with college entrance exams kept locked in a ‘cupboard’ and created an intriguing discovery and chase down in search of the culprits behind this shady occurrence.     Available now on Pre-Order for a Limited time 99 cents!   Blurb: Jill Hayes discovers that not all is as it seems in her new post as a college examinations administrator. When she turns whistle-blower and tries to report her findings to the authorities, she is horrified to discover that some people will stop at nothing to ensure her silence. For readers’ information: Although the characters and college are fictional, the actual exam question that sparked Jill’s nightmare is a genuine one from 1999.   My 5 Star Review: Stevie Turner never disappoints. From her fictional family sagas to her nonfiction, and mystery/thrillers, she knows how to keep a reader engaged. In this telling book, Turner takes us into a story, which begins with Jill Hayes – a college examinations admin whose curiosity leads to her discovery that something is awry with the exams given to high school students for their college entrance exams – the questions are much too junior for the high school age level students, making it a cinch for them to get accepted to college. As Jill delves deeper into the basis for such juvenile questions, her life becomes threatened and we’re taken into a whole other world of corporate greed at the expense of student’s education and government funding. Jill’s personal investigations lead right to the higher ups involved in the ring, and through the unveiling of her findings, we are led into the private lives of these criminals and colorful characters, spreading beyond the discoveries into international crime, lies, affairs and ultimately, murder. Based on a factual occurrence of the exam findings, this book had me engrossed on the topic itself, but Turner takes the situation to a whole new level with the plot and intrigue created in this story. A fun, short and engrossing read for a cozy thriller reading escape.

Writer’s Tips – Amazon Pages Update, Gutenberg Editor, Maximizing Blog Traffic

Welcome to this week’s edition of Writer’s Tips. I’ve curated some informative articles I came across in my blog reading that all bloggers will find useful. From how to update your Amazon author pages to working with the Gutenberg editor and how to maximize your blog traffic and a great instructional on how to back up your blogs, this post has a bounty of invaluable tips!   Harmony Kent over at the Story Empire has an informative post on how to update our Amazon author pages How to Get Your Book Sales Page Looking Good on Amazon   Natalie Ducey has a new episode of instructional on how to increase our blog traffic with our sharing buttons Increase blog traffic and maximize reach by adding and customizing social media sharing options in WordPress!   Colleen Chesebro has been running a series on how to effectively use the Gutenberg editor in WordPress. The Basics of Using the Gutenberg Editor – Part Two   Hugh Roberts has a new post out with complete instructional on How to Back Up our Blogs How To Backup Your WordPress Blog To Prevent Losing All Its Contents   Navigating Twitter for Readers and Authors by James Cudney Tips & Advice: Readers & Authors – Twitter   Thanks to all our blogging friends who take the time to put these invaluable posts together.    

Spotlight: Debby Gies | Valentina Expressions

I’m sharing this fun post Valentina Cirasola constructed for me in thanks for promoting her newest and beautiful book – Red-A Voyage into Colors.  Valentina has gifted members of her blogtour with a beautiful analysis of our astrological signs and recommends colors that would most suit our surroundings.   I could definitely use some yellow in our grey skies now! And I found it so interesting that yellow is the color of naval chakra. My stomach is definitely the gateway to my worries and thoughts, and also the place where I get my intuitive messages – sending to my brain. As a Gemini, I welcome change. And for my furnishings, I’m an eclectic mix of traditional and whimsical.     SPOTLIGHT: Debby Gies – Gemini   The authors’ community is a great one, I found a lot of support and vivid communications. These are people who write, their words flow like the waters of a river. I discovered so many new books and have met so many fine writers, one of which is author Debby Gies.   Debby is a true Gemini – May 22 to June 21.  For her, I want to make up a living room in her colors. Gemini’s main color is Yellow. She lives in Toronto, I am sure she can use some yellow to brighten the grey, snowy days of Canada. There’s nothing better to cure the cold winter blues than the cheerful yellow. Her lucky number is five and it is a protective number. it’s advisable to spread the color yellow in five ways, or in five rooms throughout her house by using yellow accessories, yellow curtains, yellow tone lights, yellow linens, yellow bath towel, and yellow flowers. Yellow is the color of the naval chakra located in the stomach area, but our stomach is directly connected with the brain, with our intelligence and the power of setting goals. . . Please visit Valentina’s Post to continue reading Source: Spotlight: Debby Gies | Valentina Expressions      

Astral Planing – Have You Tried It? – The Sisters of the Fey

As many of my readers know, I’m part of the Sisters of the Fey group where we each contribute to the blog monthly with an article on anything spiritual, mystical, intuitive, Fairies, Magic, Angels and more. My last post to the Fey blog was on the topic of Astral Planing. Have you experienced this?     Are you familiar with Astral Planing? What is Astral Planing?   The astral plane is the realm of dreams and spirits. When we astral plane, we are taken to a level beyond the physical where we live here on earth. Astral Planing is the vehicle method we use to visit an intermediate world of light between heaven and earth. Those who have astral traveled say when in the astral, they can feel they are in the present, along with all their senses. People often experience this during illness or if they’re involved in a near death experience, if not practiced intentionally. Astral planing is a spiritual journey of the out of body experience, known as OBE. It is like floating out of our bodies and watching our body below, not unlike what many tell us they experience in near death situations, or while in an operating room as their soul watches from above. The nature of astral traveling is we can explore another plane that does exist. It is said that approximately 10% of the population has had an OBE. So how would we know if we’ve astral planed? Astral planing is basically, lucid dreaming. It is the separation of our spirit body from the physical body allowing us to experience the astral realm. And remember, our body is still connected by a silver cord, enabling us to return anytime. We can literally feel our conscious self, leaving our body when we start to fall asleep, that is why we sometimes feel like we’re falling. the first step to starting an astral projection. The goal is to transcend our physical being, mentally. Our soul doesn’t actually leave our body, it’s just something people say as a way to describe astral projection. It’s important to do our research before attempting astral projection, making sure we have a clear and pure intention because astral projection is the law of attraction for the soul, meaning that whatever we reflect will come back to us during our soul journey. While we sleep, our subconscious is in control. The difference between unconscious astral travel when asleep and dreaming, and practiced astral projection, is by using conscious astral projection  we’re able to control where our body or soul travels, also referred to as conscious sleeping.   How to Astral Travel Lie down or sit in a chair in a quiet place and focus solely on your deep breathing. Do this until your mind draws blank and the only sound you hear is the sound of your deep breathing, and  you’re just about to fall asleep, but still awake. Continue on with deep breaths for approximately 20 minutes when you will begin to feel a tingling or numbness within your body and you eventually lose consciousness of your physical body. Don’t panic, stay focused, and do not move or allow in any thinking, this is part of the process. Once we’ve achieved this vibrational stage, we can begin to use our willpower in one of several ways.   Vibrational Stage Our vibrations have now been shifted to an alternate frequency, which enable us to project. We must next visualize ourselves moving – without moving, as we need to begin lifting ourselves out of our physical bodies. We must now focus our imaginations and intentions with eyes closed and use visualization. There are various methods we can use for visualization, and as time progresses with practice, we eventually discover what works best for our focus. But one suggested method is that we close our eyes and imagine there is a rope hanging above us. Then we must reach up (with our astral bodies) and grab on to the rope, without moving any body parts. This event takes a lot of practice, and admittedly, I still have not mastered it myself, as I have a very active imagination and have a difficult time doing deep concentration, but I’m working on it. It’s natural for us to be pulled right back into our bodies (as I have) the first few times until we get a natural handle on astral traveling. Once we master this, we will be free to journey to wherever we wish. When we’re ready to return to our bodies, all we have to do is ‘think’ it.   What will you experience in Astral Traveling? We may feel as though our body is paralyzed, similar to when we sleep. Some say they feel their heart rate escalate as astral traveling exerts a lot of energy. Some will feel a tingling through their bodies, where others claim to feel an electricity-like vibration through them. This happens when energy points reach a synchronized resonation. Others claim they begin to hear a loud buzzing noise, or a hum. Some say it’s a light buzzing sound, while others claim they feel as though they were near proximity to a jet plane.   Please continue reading at Sisters of the Fey, for more of what you will experience, and what to beware of before preparing for astral travel.   Source: Astral Planing – Have You Tried It? – The Sisters of the Fey    

Stevie’s New Suspense Novella is Now Available for Pre-Order. | Stevie Turner

Sharing the news here of Stevie Turner’s brand new release (which I’m currently reading and loving) – Examining Kitchen Cupboards. An interesting fictional mystery/thriller about a true topic – Messing with college exams.     Available on Amazon now for pre-order   From the Author: Suspense/Thrillers seem to be quite popular, and so I thought I’d write another one.  Twenty years after I quit my job in a college as an examinations assistant, the time was right in the summer of this year to create the novella  ‘Examining Kitchen Cupboards‘.   Blurb:   Jill Hayes discovers that not all is as it seems in her new post as a college examinations administrator. When she turns whistle-blower and tries to report her findings to the authorities, she is horrified to discover that some people will stop at nothing to ensure her silence. When I worked at a college back in 1999 I found out just what Jill discovered, but it took me twenty years to get around to writing about it.  Jill is braver than I ever was, as you will find out if you pre-order the novella.  It will be just £0.99 / $0.99 until its publication date of 7th December 2019, when the price will then rise to £1.95 / $2.50. The college I write about is fictional, as are all the characters.  However, the exam question that sparked Jill’s nightmare is absolutely the genuine article from 1999.   Source: Stevie’s New Suspense Novella is Now Available for Pre-Order. | Stevie Turner

Sunday Book Review – You Beneath Your Skin by Damyanti Biswas

Welcome to the Sunday Book Review. I recently interviewed Damyanti Biswas in my Q and A Author Interview Series and today I’m delighted to share my review of this intense crime thriller inspired by the criminal  atrocities and corruption happening to women in New Delhi. You Beneath Your Skin is a powerful and emotionally gripping read.     About the Author Damyanti Biswas lives in Singapore, and works with Delhi’s underprivileged children as part of Project Why, a charity that promotes education and social enhancement in underprivileged communities. Her short stories have been published in magazines in the US, UK, and Asia, and she helps edit the Forge Literary Magazine.     Blurb: LIES. AMBITION. FAMILY. It’s a dark, smog-choked new Delhi winter. Indian American single mother Anjali Morgan juggles her job as a psychiatrist with caring for her autistic teenage son. She is in a long-standing affair with ambitious police commissioner Jatin Bhatt – An irresistible attraction that could destroy both their lives. Jatin’s home life is falling apart: his handsome and charming son is not all he appears to be, and his wife has too much on her plate to pay attention to either husband or son. But Jatin refuses to listen to anyone, not even the sister to whom he is deeply attached. Across the city there is a crime spree: slum women found stuffed in trash bags, faces and bodies disfigured by acid. And as events spiral out of control Anjali is horrifyingly at the centre of it all … In a sordid world of poverty, misogyny, and political corruption, Jatin must make some hard choices. But what he unearths is only the tip of the iceberg. Together with Anjali he must confront old wounds and uncover long-held secrets before it is too late. ————————————— Reviews ‘A gripping tale of murder, corruption and power and their terrifying effects in New Delhi. Highly recommended.’ – Alice Clark-Platts, bestselling author of THE FLOWER GIRLS ‘Suspenseful and sensitive, with characters negotiating serious issues of society, this crime novel will keep you awake at night!’ – Jo Furniss, bestselling author of ALL THE LITTLE CHILDREN and THE TRAILING SPOUSE ‘Gripping…crime fiction with a difference. This is a novel full of layers and depth, focusing on class and corruption in India with compassion and complexity.’ – Sanjida Kay, Author of psychological thrillers, BONE BY BONE, THE STOLEN CHILD ‘Beautiful writing, strong characters and a story that will stay with me for a long time. Set in New Delhi, this novel tackles important issues as well as providing a tension-filled read.’ – Jacqueline Ward, Bestselling author of PERFECT TEN An intelligent page-turner that mixes a thrilling murder case with a profound psychological and sociological study of contemporary India. As I turned the pages, my pleasure was exceeded only by my desire for more. Seldom has a novel, let alone a debut novel, so expertly captured both the sprawling details of its complex setting and the intimate emotional turns of its characters’ inner lives with such precision, depth, and insight. On the one hand a thrilling examination of politics colliding with police work in the lurid underworld of South Asian sex trafficking; on another an intriguing exploration of present-day New Delhi in all its teeming, multicultural complexity; and on still another an intimate examination of its characters’ struggles for connection, safety, and meaning, this impressive first novel signals the emergence of a major new talent. —David Corbett, award-winning author of THE ART OF CHARACTER   My 5 Star Review: Harrowing, yet, addictive! I’ll preface this review by saying that the title is more than appropriate, and a pun so to speak, as the characters unfold and reveal who they really are and of course, the faces of the victims burnt by acid – You Beneath Your Skin. This book has a host of characters involved in this gripping, hard-hitting crime story complete with street crime, organized crime, corruption at the highest level of police, and of course, the central characters: Anjali, an American/Indian, divorced psychiatrist living in New Delhi with her good friend Maya (who happens to be the sister of the police commissioner Jatin Bhatt – who also happens to be Anjali’s long-time lover and the son-in-law of Mehra, the chief of police who Jatin aspires to take over for one day) and Anjali’s autistic and troublesome young son Nikkil. The nucleus of the story involves Anjali who becomes centrally involved in a huge case of corruption and murders against impoverished women where the heinous act of throwing acid in their faces, disfiguring them and many murdered left for trash in bags becomes the central investigation. With Jatin at the helm of this investigation, we are brought into the world of criminal acts and Jatin’s heroic decision to take on a huge case to strengthen his resume and in doing so uncovers the perpetrators, and is forced to make one of the biggest decisions of his life when he discovers who the perps of this crime were. The storyline takes us into a multitude of sins with crime, corruption, filthy politics, secrets and affairs. While the crimes and investigations are taking place we are laser focused on Anjali and her life, the past she ran away from and her own fight for survival and the coming out of her secret affair with Jatin. This book is a deep exploration of the human condition taking place in a male dominated society, capturing a whirlwind of emotions. Highly recommended read!        

Q and A with D.G. Kaye – Featuring Author Jacqui Murray – Promote Your Book

Welcome to this week’s edition of Q and A. Today I’m happy to be featuring Jacqui Murray and her latest, book 2 in her Crossroads Trilogy – The Quest for Home. Jacqui is a prolific author, tech teacher, columnist, book reviewer, and a fellow blogger – just to name a few of the accolades under her belt. Read on to learn more about Jacqui, her writing, and her well-received newest book to her trilogy.   About Jacqui: Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, the Rowe- Delamagente thrillers, and the Man vs. Nature saga. She is also the author/editor of over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, blog webmaster, an Amazon Vine Voice,  a columnist for  NEA Today, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, In the Footsteps of Giants, Winter 2020, the final chapter in the Crossroads Trilogy.   Let’s get to know a little more about Jacqui and her writing:   Where do your book ideas grow from? Book ideas come from my insatiable curiosity. I get interested in a topic, dig-dig- dig relentlessly only to find that a full understanding requires the characteristics of fiction to organize my thinking on the subject. By that, I mean I need powerful actors, appealing settings, and a story arc to make sense of my research. This is how my early man saga (and the current Crossroads trilogy) came into being: I was trying to figure out how we-all survived a world with sabertooth cats, violent natural disasters, and no way to kill animals for food. We had no fangs, weak nails, and thin skin. Really, nothing about that equates to dominance—until you factor in our brains! Anyone else have that experience? DG – Well, I have to say this is a fascinating topic.   What are your writing goals for this year? I’m currently launching my latest prehistoric fiction, The Quest for Home. When that is done–around October—I will prepare to participate in NaNoWriMo to kick- start Book 3 in my Crossroads series—In the Footsteps of Giants. To get ready for that, I’m going to participate in Kate Johnston’s Team Writer Facebook group where she promises to hold my hand as we prepare. In between, I’m transferring my 20-ish print non-fiction books to KDP’s print-on- demand. Turns out—surprisingly—it’s much cheaper to print through Amazon than my local printer. It is a lot of work, though, so will keep me busy! DG – Wow Jacqui, you sound like you’re going to be a most busy beaver right through the end of they year. And nice to hear Kate will be guiding you. She is awesome!   If you weren’t a writer what else do you think you would do? I have done so many other jobs. Each I’m sure contributed to where I am now as a teacher-author. At different points in my work life, I installed cell phone antennas for Sprint (those bulky white tall spires that are either on the ground or on rooftops—even water towers), design-built preschools on corporate campuses (after convincing them they should provide daycare for employee children), played secretary to a labor advocate, made loans through a finance company (and repossessed cars), owned and taught at a Fred Astaire dance studio, worked with trash collectors—I could go on. I wouldn’t return to any of these. Writing by far is my favorite of all jobs. DG – Okay, well what a fascinating resume! Now we know you’re a dancer too! And it must take a good discipline to be a repo woman!   What can you tell us you’ve gained from blogging as an author? Friends. Well, efriends. People who enjoy a sociable conversation on varied topics. I’m vanilla bordering on boring and don’t find many friends in the real world who will invest the time required to get to know me. Even I think I’m boring! I feel bad for anyone who must sit through a block of time with me. I once had coffee with a friend, told her I hadn’t been out for coffee with anyone since our last outing, and now we haven’t done one since! That’s my life. But in the virtual world—sometimes I feel like a rock star. Besides community, I’ve learned a lot about writing from blogging—how to create a snazzy headline, how to grab readers with the intro paragraph, how to blend humor with facts for an interesting read. Did I miss anything? DG – I love your honesty Jacqui. But please don’t sell yourself short. Us writers connect best with other writers because we’re like-minded when it comes to understanding our world of books and writing. I can tell you, I can count on one hand how few people in my ‘real’ life have no clue to what a writer’s life is like, nor do most of them even read books! Perhaps, once we became full-time writers, we begin to realize how much we don’t have in common with some of our realtime folks?   Would you like to share with us what upcoming projects and/or ideas for books you’re working on? I have two big-ish writing projects I’m currently pursuing. I am finishing up both the Crossroads trilogy and the Dawn of Humanity trilogy. That will take at least three years—because it’s three more books. I’m also working on Book 3 of the Rowe Delamagente series. This one will deal with AIs, the control of satellites over our lives, the horror of child-soldiers, space planes, the intrusiveness of Internet-of- Things, and the power of an angry female. It will feature Otto, my almost-sentient robot, and a revamped return of Cat from Book 1 as a revitalized, stronger version of her earlier character. I’m excited about all these books and sure wish I could write faster! DG – You are amazing. I love that you have such long-range plans for your next series already! I wish you smooth sailing ahead!     Blurb: Driven from her home. Stalked by enemies. Now her closest ally may be a traitor. Chased by a ruthless and powerful enemy, Xhosa flees with her People, leaving behind a certain life in her African homeland to search for an unknown future. She leads her People on a grueling journey through unknown and dangerous lands. As they struggle to overcome treachery, lies, danger, tragedy, hidden secrets, and Nature herself, Xhosa must face the reality that her most dangerous enemy isn’t the one she expected. It may be one she has trusted with her life. The story is set 850,000 years ago, a time in prehistory when man populated most of Eurasia. He was a violent species, fully capable of addressing the many hardships that threatened his survival except for one: future man, a smarter version of himself, one destined to obliterate any who came before. Based on a true story, this is the unforgettable saga of hardship and determination, conflict and passion as early man makes his way across Eurasia, fleeing those who would kill him. He must be bigger-than-life, prepared time and again to do the impossible because nothing less than the future of mankind is at stake.   Book information: Title and author: The Quest for Home Series: Book 2 in the Crossroads series, part of the Man vs. Nature sagaGenre: Prehistoric fiction Available at: Kindle US Kindle UK Kindle CA Kindle AU Excerpt from The Quest for Home Chapter 1   Northern shore of what we now call the Mediterranean Sea Pain came first, pulsing through her body like cactus spines. When she moved her head, it exploded. Flat on her back and lying as still as possible, Xhosa blindly clawed for her neck sack with the healing plants. Her shoulder screamed and she froze, gasping. How can anything hurt that much? She cracked one eye, slowly. The bright sun filled the sky, almost straight over her head. And how did I sleep so long? Fractured memories hit her—the raging storm, death, and helplessness, unconnected pieces that made no sense. Overshadowing it was a visceral sense of tragedy that made her shake so violently she hugged her chest despite the searing pain. After it passed, she pushed up on her arms and shook her head to shed the twigs and grit that clung to her long hair. Fire burned through her shoulders, up her neck and down her arms, but less than before. She ignored it. A shadow blocked Sun’s glare replaced by dark worried eyes that relaxed when hers caught his. “Nightshade.” Relief washed over her and she tried to smile. Somehow, with him here, everything would work out. Her Lead Warrior leaned forward. Dripping water pooled at her side, smelling of salt, rotten vegetation, mud, and blood. “You are alright, Leader Xhosa,” he motioned, hands erratic. Her People communicated with a rich collection of grunts, sounds, gestures, facial expressions, and arm movements, all augmented with whistles, hoots, howls, and chirps. “Yes,” but her answer came out low and scratchy, the beat inside her chest noisy as it tried to burst through her skin. Tears filled her eyes, not from pain but happiness that Nightshade was here, exactly where she needed him. His face, the one that brought fear to those who might attack the People and devastation to those who did, projected fear. She cocked her head and motioned, “You?” Deep bruises marred swaths of Nightshade’s handsome physique, as though he had been pummeled by rocks.  An angry gash pulsed at the top of his leg. His strong upper arm wept from a fresh wound, its raw redness extending up his stout neck, over his stubbled cheek, and into his thick hair. Cuts and tears shredded his hands. “I am fine,” and he fell silent. Why would he say more? He protected the People, not whined about injuries. When she fumbled again for her neck sack, he reached in and handed her the plant she needed, a root tipped with white bulbs. She chewed as Nightshade scanned the surroundings, never pausing anywhere long, always coming back to her. The sun shone brightly in a cloudless sky. Sweltering heat hammered down, sucking up the last of the rain that had collected in puddles on the shore. Xhosa’s protective animal skin was torn into shreds but what bothered her was she couldn’t remember how she got here. “Nightshade, what happened?” Her memories were a blur—terrified screams and flashes of people flying through the air, some drowning, others clinging desperately to bits of wood. Nightshade motioned, slowly, “The storm—it hit us with a fury, the rain as heavy and fierce as a waterfall.” A memory surfaced. Hawk, the powerful leader of the Hawk People, one arm clutching someone as the other clawed at the wet sand, dragging himself up the beach. He was alive! It was Hawk who offered her People a home when they had none, after more than a Moon of fleeing for their lives through lands so desolate, she didn’t know how anyone survived. Finding Hawk and his People, she thought she’d found a new homeland. Her last hunt with Hawk flashed through her mind—the stone tip they created like the Big Head’s weapon, how she had hung by her ankles from a tree trunk to cross a deep ravine. How he grinned when she reached the other side, chest heaving but radiant with satisfaction. He told her many of his warriors shook with fear as they crossed. His pride in her that day glowed like flames at night. For the first time in her life, she felt Sun’s warmth inside of her. She looked around, saw quiet groups huddled together, males talking and females grooming children. Pan-do bent over a child, whispering something in her ear but no Hawk. Where is he? But she didn’t ask Nightshade. The last time she’d seen the two together, they had fought. She couldn’t imagine a world...

Writer’s Tips – Marketing and Social Media tip for Authors by Sally Cronin

This edition of Writer’s Tips is a compilation from a Marketing Series Sally Cronin has been running at her Smorgasbord Invitation.  Below you find some very useful tips for marketing your books using Twitter, Facebook, Radio Podcasting, Local Media, and getting your work into local bookshops!     Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Book Marketing – Getting yourself noticed locally – Media and Bookshops – Sally Cronin   Sending out press releases to your local press and radio. There are certainly a couple of things to consider when marketing your book, and one of those is cost.  Most self-publishing companies are not going to do your marketing for you.  You can pay quite a bit of money to a PR firm to compose and send out press releases to their contacts, and if you feel you will get a return on your money, then it is probably the most effective way to go.  They will compose your release and then direct it to specific contacts in the media who would be most interested in your genre or books in general. And, because they are a recognised PR firm they are likely to get it as far as the journalist in question. Unfortunately today, unless you have a high profile name – either author or celebrity, your press release about your book, that you send in your own name, is unlikely to get past first base.  Short of changing your name by deed poll to J.K. Rowling, you are going to have to make sure that both the subject line of your email and the title of your book intrigues. How can they find out more about you? These days it is important to have created some form of digital footprint so that if you peak someone in the media’s interest, they have access to information about you and your book before they consider contacting you. I suggest that you use the usual social media – including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter as well as your own website or webpage. . . . continue reading Source: Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Book Marketing – Getting yourself noticed locally – Media and Bookshops – Sally Cronin | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine   Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Book Marketing – Radio or Podcast Interviews – Grab the opportunity by Sally Cronin   This week a look at how you can prepare for you interview on radio and next week on camera. Wonderful news, your hard work in promoting your new book on social media and locally has paid off and you get the call or email. An invitation to do an interview on a radio station, television show or author promoting podcast. Getting an interview on a radio show or an established author podcast is gold dust for an author and as such requires you to take a deep breath and celebrate. Millions of Indies out there would love the opportunity to get their voice heard about their work so give this serious thought. Following sending out your press releases you hopefully will get some response from the media with a view to interviewing you about your book. . .continue reading Source: https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpre...   Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Book Marketing – Online Watering Holes for Authors – Facebook, Exclusive Watering Holes, and LinkedIn by Sally Cronin   This week I am going to Facebook in relation to book marketing and also the benefits of joining an exclusive watering hole on social media platforms. This is not intended to be the definitive guide to Facebook, but just some suggestions to new authors who are getting started. I am sure that those of you with established pages find them successful for your marketing needs, and am only sharing my own experiences. When I first joined Facebook ten years ago it was to keep in touch with friends from work and places we had lived. It was a simpler time, and people chatted about their everyday lives and you shared as much or as little as you wanted to. Over the years it has become increasingly more complicated, especially if you are a blogger and author looking to market your books and blog without creating a page and being constantly hassled to upgrade, pay to advertise etc.. . . continue reading Source: https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpre...   Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Book Marketing – Online Watering Holes for Authors – Twitter – Step by step guide set up for authors – Sally Cronin.   Twitter – New look and and step by step guide to Book Marketing useful functions. The look and  functionality of Twitter has changed recently, and I have to say that I am not a fan (as yet). It is now designed for mobile devices and whilst there are a couple of useful upgrades, for someone starting an account (and some of us who have been using it for 7 years) it is over complicated for what you want to use it for. However, as a watering hole, for your blog and certainly your books it is a useful platform to establish yourself on. There are some useful marketing features, including paid advertisements, but there is a great deal of free functionality that you can take of advantage of first. To be honest I don’t use all the bells and whistles as I do everything manually, but do find it helpful to use some of their basic marketing options. I will work my way through the new interface with some of the key elements that you need to focus on as an author with books to market. . .continue reading Source: https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpre...   Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Book Marketing for Authors – Preparing for an interview on Camera – Sally Cronin | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine   Preparing for an interview on camera. In the last few years I have been very lucky to interview some fascinating people on camera. Mainly live shows that as profile interviews have lasted 30 minutes or so. These included: – astronauts from NASA – a former First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy – Doctor Allison Cronin of the Monkey World rescue centre – Charles Tobias, President of Pusser’s Rum. Also successful authors and those writers just beginning their careers. Some had been media trained for their particular job, but for many it was their first experience of being live in front of a camera. Today there are a number of options available for online interviews that are filmed with YouTube and other platforms offering access to millions of viewers. Many thankfully only show the guest from the waist up without the long shots that show a magnitude of sins! But as with the radio and podcast interview, the opportunity to talk about your book, even for a few minutes is too good to pass up. I do suggest that you get a couple of radio interviews under your belt first as it will boost your confidence before facing a camera. I went to the extreme to get my nerve up. I applied to The Weakest Link in the UK and was accepted as a contestant. I managed to make it to the 6th round and was voted off… Tactically of course!! Paying attention to visual details Whether you are facing the several cameras of a major network programme or a one to one interview with one camera, you still need to pay attention to visual details. In my last blog, I covered the radio interview which can be daunting enough. . . continue reading     You can find all these helpful posts on marketing for authors iSally has shared from her book Media Training – The Manual      

Colleen Chesebro’s #Poetry Challenge – Free Write

This week’s Poetry Challenge at Colleen Chesebro’s blog is a free-write no synonyms required. I’ve written a Haibun Nonet. You can find the varied styles of poetry for this challenge below in description.   Colleen’s 2019 Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 152, #Poet’sChoice   WELCOME TO TANKA TUESDAY! It’s the first of the month and you know what that means! Poets choose your own words.     This challenge is for Haiku, Senryu, Haiga, Tanka, Haibun, Etheree, Nonet, Shadorma, and Cinquain poetry forms. Freestyle rhyming poetry is not part of this challenge. Thank you. <3 For Colleen’s Weekly Poetry Challenge, you can write your poem in one of the forms defined below. Click on the links to learn about each form: HAIKU IN ENGLISH SENRYU IN ENGLISH HAIGA TANKA IN ENGLISH HAIBUN IN ENGLISH CINQUAIN & the variations on Cinquain-Wikipedia ETHEREE NONET SHADORMA   Listen       Voting across the world seems to have become a dangerous divide. With social trolling, smear campaigns, and some ruthless politicians, it can be difficult to make an informed decision. In this new attack mode on global elections, it’s important that we as voters, must do our homework before casting our votes instead of taking everything we hear from those who shout loudest. We’re encouraged to vote for our favorites, sometimes following the masses, when we should be looking for the best policies and and agendas before deciding on a candidate. In a world where capitalistic greed dominates for personal gain, I suggest we’re better off taking a look at what we don’t want from a candidate to avoid becoming blind to those who offer sugar coated promises.   It’s often said, may the best man win. Everyone carries a blemish. Diligence imperative. Take pause, weed out the rot. Before committing Eliminate The dangers. Cast vote. Pray.   Visit Colleen’s post to join the Poetry Challenge