Q and A with D.G. Kaye featuring Author, Blogger and Promoter Sally Cronin

I’m thrilled to be featuring Sally Cronin here today. Sally is always so busy promoting the work of other authors, it’s her turn to shine in the spotlight today! For those of you unfamiliar with Sally (is that possible?), she has authored a dozen books, both fiction and nonfiction. She is a nutritionist who shares lots of health information on her blog – Smorgasbord Invitation, along with featuring authors and their books in  her Smorgasbord Cafe, lots of entertainment and monthly columns from featured guest writers (which I’m delighted to be one of them), and so much more! The title of Sally’s blog was the perfect name for a blog full of so many interesting, informative and delightful articles churned out on a daily basis. You can visit Sally’s blog and learn about all her author promotion offerings.         About Sally: I have enjoyed a nomadic existence living in eight countries including Sri Lanka, Malta, South Africa, USA and Spain, before settling back here in Ireland. My work, and a desire to see some of the most beautiful parts of the world in the last forty years, has taken me to many more incredible destinations around Europe and Canada, and across the oceans to New Zealand and Hawaii. All those experiences and the people that I have met, provide a rich source of inspiration for my stories. After a career in customer facing roles in the hospitality, retail, advertising and telecommunications industry, I wrote and published my first book in 1999 called Size Matters, about my weight loss journey, losing 150lbs in 18 months. This was followed by 11 further fiction and non-fiction books, including a number of short story collections. My first book release resulted in a radio interview in Spain that led to four years as a nutritional consultant for an English language station, and this was followed by four years with my own health show and Sunday morning show on local radio station in the UK and then as station director, newsreader and presenter for an online television station. As a writer I know how important it is to have help in marketing books and from 2002 I have been working with authors on their book launches and publicity. At that time it was very much physical book launches and press coverage locally to stimulate national interest.. Today it is very different with a global market via the worldwide web. As important as my own promotion is, I believe it is important to support others within our community. I offer a number of FREE promotional opportunities on my blog, linked to my social media. If you are an author who would like to be promoted to a new audience of dedicated readers, please contact me via my blog. All it will cost you is a few minutes of your time. Look forward to hearing from you.     Blurb:     My 5 Star Review: Sally Cronin certainly is a master at weaving with words. No matter how many or few, her words will paint a complete story and leave us with a satisfactory optimism or a tug at our heartstrings. In this author’s newest release of tales to inspire, we’ll find a smorgasbord of forms of writing from various forms of poetry – Haiku, Etherees and Cinquain poetry to condensed micro fiction, where stories are wrapped up complete despite a minimal word count, to short stories on speculative fiction. A wonderful mixed bag of tales covering topics such as: random thoughts, seasons, aging, nature, holidays, fairies, romance, pets, to the human condition and life lessons. My favorite Flash Fiction story – The Witch’s Handbook Spell #356 – Removal of Inhibitions for ‘The Devilish Mojito’, and her heartwarming short stories like The Ugly Mutt that will keep you engaged as evil doers try to do harm, kept me cheering for Brian. One story in particular had me glued from beginning to end – Great Aunt Georgina. This story begins with a little girl and her family visiting her Grandma. The little girl looked forward to those visits where Grandma would pull out the old photo albums and introduce her to family of the past era. In later years, after Gran is gone the girl now in her twenties learns a never told family secret, discovered by looking through old letters sent to her Gran Elizabeth by her sister Georgina. From the letters we learn about betrayal, grief, karma, and reckoning (no spoilers), and ultimately, forgiveness. The last half of the book is focused on the short stories. Among them, I also enjoyed the story about Onions that ended a marriage, a magical tale – A Moment of Alignment – about love, loss and a chance to meet up with a lost loved one when the sun and the moon align, and The Enhancement Project– a sci-fi short where Cronin manages to zing in her ‘known for’ sentimental ending. Sally Cronin has the knack for bringing in emotions to her stories no matter the genre. She wraps up the book beautifully with a fashionable tribute to ‘The Duchess‘, a tribute to Cronin’s mother. A wonderful book with something to satisfy all genre readers. I highly recommend.   Now, let’s see what Sally is up to!   How lovely to be invited over to your house Debby and thank you for the opportunity to talk about myself and my writing. D.G. – My absolute pleasure to have you over and share some new things about yourself and your work Sal. It’s a treat to put you in the spotlight after all you do for so many of us at your Smorgasbord Invitation.   If you weren’t a writer what else do you think you would do? I think that ship might have sailed now, as apart from being a bit long in the tooth to be embarking on a new full-time career, I am obsessed with writing. However, despite working in a number of different industries, if I had my time over again, I would have chosen the police force as my career. It was an option when I was 18 years old, but women in the police force nearly 50 years ago did not have the same opportunities as they do today. However, if I was that age again, I would certainly apply to be a police officer and would welcome the opportunity to work hard and become a detective. I have always enjoyed reading detective and crime novels and also real crime stories. I find it fascinating and I think I would have been good at the job. D.G. – Whodathunk? I would have never figured you for a police officer – but a detective – oh ya! Lol.   What can you tell us you’ve gained from blogging as an author? As an author and a person I have gained a huge amount from blogging over the last seven years. And you Debby have been a major part of that journey for the last five years, and along with other supportive and generous bloggers, it has provided a safe and creative environment to write and experiment with different styles and genres. Interaction with others is so inspiring and motivating, and the encouragement of people you respect is essential for a writer. Importantly, especially for those just starting out in blogging or their writing career in general, it must be a two way street. That is the only way strong and long lasting relationships are developed. If you want to reap the benefits of blogging you need to reach out, connect, and offer the same level of support to others that they offer in return. I feel very strongly that moving passed our immediate circle of friends and family, out into the global village of blogging, is a way to keep young in heart, body and mind. It is a social, stimulating way to build friendships and keep learning and writing our entire lives. D.G. – Thanks for the kudos Sal. But, it’s no wonder you and I connected because we have so many of the same beliefs in common, especially when it comes to blogging protocol. Like anything in life – you get what you give.