I've had many projects on hold for awhile, my book one of them. The others were stripping wallpaper and getting my back entry painted, getting the backsplash finished in my kitchen, giving my living room a face-lift, plus creating new programs for the kids at the library. Each one had stalled, all with good reasons. Then the universe shifted and all started moving again with me the pivot that will either make it successful or end in ruin.
My photographer called and we set up an appointment. A wonderful lady from the Ottawa Times called and we set up an interview time. The newspaper photographer called and we set up an appointment. The interior designer I talked to called and we set up a talk session for revamping my livingroom. The artist called, apologized for not calling sooner, but she had suffered that awful cold that so many have had and now that she's better, we set up a time for her to come see my back entry.
In the meantime, I'd sorted through what I want for a book cover and sent the ideas to my gals so they could have some input on what they thought was the best cover. Some were on vacation, some were so quick in replying I hadn't had a chance to think how I would use their ideas. But their thoughts flooded in and I was overwhelmed with their enthusiasm!! It makes me excited all the more to share my book with the world.
Then the weatherman told us snow was on the way. We've been waiting all winter for more snow. My phone started ringing again. Yes, Monday would be great, come on over, we'll miss the storm that way. More phone calls came for re-scheduling for Tuesday morning before the big storm hit. That was great too. I don't want anyone left out in bad weather because of me.
Despite the inclement weather, my plate grew increasingly crowded. The above picture is the result of a photo shoot in my home - thank you Mary and Josh Hamer. I'm a horrible candidate. All I really wanted to do was giggle with a camera in my face. But they endeavored to persevere and got a decent shot of me. Kate Reynolds, newswoman, arrived for my interview and we discovered we're both librarians and we chatted about our love of books as well as my upcoming release. The interior designer, Julie, arrived and told me my livingroom could be saved. She had wonderful ideas and I'm anxious to see what she has planned.
Tuesday the newspaper photographer arrived and despite my giggle affliction he clicked off several shots. I have no idea if I will look like a buffoon or not. Soon after the artist, Kathy arrived and she came up with clever ideas to make my back entry interesting and not so blah. From there I headed for work only to discover we were closing due to bad weather. My program planning will have to wait and for that I'm thankful because I really can't think of anything more right now.
Life doesn't stop and for that I'm grateful, but a little breather now and then is good. I really need to begin planning a blog tour and if you are so inclined to ask me, I promise to chat about lots of things, and not just my book. I'm a firm believer that the more real an author becomes to the public, the better chance the book has for success.
Til next time ~
DL Larson
Get writing, networking, and everyday tips from the Masters -Debra St. John, Christine Verstraete, Morgan Mandel, DL Larson, Terri Stone, Margot Justes and Rob Walker.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
She's Back & Free March 1 Thru March 3!
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| Her Handyman by Morgan Mandel |
When: Friday, March 1 through Sunday, March 3
Where: http://amzn.com/B0097EVXBK
Come and get it & Tell your friends about it, too!
This is the story about the hardworking handyman who answers a frantic call in the middle of the night to fix a toilet leak in a penthouse bathroom.
The gal who greets him is totally strange. Dressed like a Flower Child in flowing blonde hair, with an orchid stuck in it, along with her gauzy blouse and gypsy skirt, a peace sign around her neck and a mood ring on her finger, she looks like she missed the Seventies boat!
Fufu, her Chinese Crested dog, the guilty party who started the flood in the first place, is even stranger looking, and not through in the devilment department.
Read all about their adventures in the Her Handyman Freebie Promotion this Friday March 1 through Sunday, March 3!
If you don't have a Kindle, you can still download to your PC.
Again, the link to this freebie is at http://amzn.com/B0097EVXBK
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| Morgan Mandel and her dog, Rascal |
Here I am with my dog, Rascal
Check out my chick lit website at
http://www.chicklitfaves.com
Find Excerpts & Buy links to all of my books
at http://morgansbooklinks.blogspot.com
Connect on Twitter: @MorganMandel
Monday, February 25, 2013
Food for a book launch
With my book, GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie coming out in July, I started thinking about what kind of snacks and food to have at a book launch. Well, launches. I hope to have several at different locations in Illinois and Wisconsin.
A natural seemed to be the brain cupcakes and.... well, how about some zombie cakes? I found an, er, gruesome "delightful" selection of possible cakes.... see links at GirlZombieAuthors (Warning! Some are nightmare worthy!)
I like the cupcake idea... have to find the brain mold, (I wonder if Hobby Lobby has one? have to check... Found one at Amazon, probably cost more to ship it. ha!) but here's the recipe.
*** So-- what have you served or what would you serve at your book launch party? What worked - what didn't?
A natural seemed to be the brain cupcakes and.... well, how about some zombie cakes? I found an, er,
I like the cupcake idea... have to find the brain mold, (I wonder if Hobby Lobby has one? have to check... Found one at Amazon, probably cost more to ship it. ha!) but here's the recipe.
*** So-- what have you served or what would you serve at your book launch party? What worked - what didn't?
Sunday, February 24, 2013
An End and a Beginning
We just got back from a weekend road trip that marked the end of basketball season! Whoo hoo! I do enjoy working with the cheerleaders as their coach, but come February, the season starts to seem really long. So it was nice to walk into our house a few minutes ago and breathe a sigh of relief.
With the season over, my schedule clears considerably. Between practices and games, I was out usually three nights a week. Add in travel to away games, and it didn't leave a lot of time to get much of anything else done.
My plan now is to use some of that freed-up for writing. I brought in the beginning of a mss I'd started (and set aside) ages ago for a critique a couple weeks ago. It was met with much enthusiasm, which gave me incentive to dust it off and continue working on it.
So that's the goal. To get some writing done. And on that note, I'll sign off so I can unpack and begin making some progress on that goal.
Until next time,
Happy Reading!
Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com
With the season over, my schedule clears considerably. Between practices and games, I was out usually three nights a week. Add in travel to away games, and it didn't leave a lot of time to get much of anything else done.
My plan now is to use some of that freed-up for writing. I brought in the beginning of a mss I'd started (and set aside) ages ago for a critique a couple weeks ago. It was met with much enthusiasm, which gave me incentive to dust it off and continue working on it.
So that's the goal. To get some writing done. And on that note, I'll sign off so I can unpack and begin making some progress on that goal.
Until next time,
Happy Reading!
Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com
Friday, February 22, 2013
Unexpected Publicity! by DL Larson
I had a few wonderful things happen in the writers world this week. And one rather bazarre occurance. I am pursuing publishing with an indepent publishing house and they have been very informative about "what to do next." Getting the word out that my book will be published this spring is imperative and so I have been wondering what to do. It's been several years since my last book came out and I feel rather rusty in the whole promoting myself arena. I'm trying to take the publisher's advice, promote myself rather than my book. Not that I shouldn't promote my book, but rather the approach, "DL Larson has another book to be released soon ..."
So with all this floating and banging around in my head, I take a break and read my emails. Our past president of Windy City RWA has just posted that she has two free openings on her TV show if anyone is interested. July and August!
I typed a response back faster than it takes to tell this story. YES! I'd love to be on her show. She thought that would be wonderful too. So I've taken a major step in promoting myself and my upcoming book. I'll be on air July 20 - more details will be available later, but feel free to check Dyanne Davis on Utube.
The next bit of good fortune is purely Divine Intervention! I received a call from a reporter from the Ottawa Times, a local newspaper in LaSalle County. The reporter informed me she intended to write a story about a small town but someone (I have no idea who) mentioned I was an author in a small town and I could be reached at the library! She liked the idea of interviewing me and called me. I told her I'd be happy for an interview since my book is coming out in April! I have an appointment for next week with her and the article is scheduled to be in the paper in mid-March. A photographer will be coming as well. I'm nearly giddie over this interlude. It's another big step in reaching out to the public.
The last thing that happened this week is odd. I received an email from a e-book publishing house saying they had received my submission and it looked promising and if I hadn't sent the whole manuscript with the first query, I should do so as soon as possible. They would then let me know in a few weeks if they were interested in publishing my book.
I have a log sheet I use for all queries and submissions. 2013 is pretty short, so it took no time at all to realize I did not send a query to this publisher. I dug out 2012 and poured over it, checked my files in my computers, and still found no verification that I had sent a query to this publisher. Finally, I rumaged through more paper and found 2011 queries. There it was Feb. 5, 2011, a submission to them. The space where I check a response was blank. Obviously I had moved on to another house, thinking no news meant no interest. I wrote back thanking them for the interest in my work but since I would be publishing the very book I submitted, they need not bother looking it over.
So where was my submission all this time? In cyber-space or stuck in someone's email for two years? I have no idea and will undoubtedly never find out. But it was nice to know my book interested them enough for them to respond.
This week did not end without some trials too. My computer was hacked and I've had a crazy time getting things back to normal. If by chance, I sent you something odd, please DO NOT open it. Delete, delete, delete.
And so goes the life of a writer. Worry, surprise and delight mingled with a good dose of frustration. It's a reminder that anything is possible. And of course, to never, never give up!
Til next time ~
DL Larson
So with all this floating and banging around in my head, I take a break and read my emails. Our past president of Windy City RWA has just posted that she has two free openings on her TV show if anyone is interested. July and August!
I typed a response back faster than it takes to tell this story. YES! I'd love to be on her show. She thought that would be wonderful too. So I've taken a major step in promoting myself and my upcoming book. I'll be on air July 20 - more details will be available later, but feel free to check Dyanne Davis on Utube.
The next bit of good fortune is purely Divine Intervention! I received a call from a reporter from the Ottawa Times, a local newspaper in LaSalle County. The reporter informed me she intended to write a story about a small town but someone (I have no idea who) mentioned I was an author in a small town and I could be reached at the library! She liked the idea of interviewing me and called me. I told her I'd be happy for an interview since my book is coming out in April! I have an appointment for next week with her and the article is scheduled to be in the paper in mid-March. A photographer will be coming as well. I'm nearly giddie over this interlude. It's another big step in reaching out to the public.
The last thing that happened this week is odd. I received an email from a e-book publishing house saying they had received my submission and it looked promising and if I hadn't sent the whole manuscript with the first query, I should do so as soon as possible. They would then let me know in a few weeks if they were interested in publishing my book.
I have a log sheet I use for all queries and submissions. 2013 is pretty short, so it took no time at all to realize I did not send a query to this publisher. I dug out 2012 and poured over it, checked my files in my computers, and still found no verification that I had sent a query to this publisher. Finally, I rumaged through more paper and found 2011 queries. There it was Feb. 5, 2011, a submission to them. The space where I check a response was blank. Obviously I had moved on to another house, thinking no news meant no interest. I wrote back thanking them for the interest in my work but since I would be publishing the very book I submitted, they need not bother looking it over.
So where was my submission all this time? In cyber-space or stuck in someone's email for two years? I have no idea and will undoubtedly never find out. But it was nice to know my book interested them enough for them to respond.
This week did not end without some trials too. My computer was hacked and I've had a crazy time getting things back to normal. If by chance, I sent you something odd, please DO NOT open it. Delete, delete, delete.
And so goes the life of a writer. Worry, surprise and delight mingled with a good dose of frustration. It's a reminder that anything is possible. And of course, to never, never give up!
Til next time ~
DL Larson
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
The Tax Man
I've got the tax man beating down the doors - Real estate tax is due March 1, followed on the heels by good old income tax. It's amazing how the real estate values have gone down in our area, yet the tax bill still goes up!
As far as income tax is concerned, I'd like to say I keep everything in order for easy access, but that would be a lie. Today, I'll be hunting around for all the necessary ingredients for a completed tax return. Actually, that will take more than one day. However, it must be done in the next few weeks, since the appointment with the accountant looms on March 8.
Anyway, I do keep all of my receipts, and make copies of all the expenses for publishing and promoting my books, plus donations, medical bills, etc. I just have to put it all in order.
What about you? Are you ready for the Tax Man?
Morgan Mandel writes romances, thrillers &
mysteries. Find all of Morgan's books at
Connect on Twitter: @MorganMandel
Monday, February 18, 2013
Editing, book releases, and what else is new?
Feel like I have been sick for-ev-er..... finally I actually feel like myself again. Can't wait for spring now and flea market season soon!!
So, what is new?
* If you didn't read it, I have a Valentine's story (or just call it a twisted love story) over at King's River Life Magazine....
* I also won a Dog Writer's Assn. Award for best mainstream magazine story! Info and a link to the story is on my nonfiction web page.
* If you're intrigued at all by zombies, several of us writers have started a blog, GirlZombieAuthors -.http://girlzombieauthors.blogspot.com/.. random postings, so come check us out!
* I am now almost through the last edits before the galley on GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie - which I learned should be coming out around JULY 1. Yay! Saw a preliminary cover too so that should be done soon.
Wow! After what also seemed like forever, it is now only months away to seeing the book! Wow!
Funny, how after so many reads, reading it again all these doubts rush in. But I still like the story so hope others do, too.
** So, how do you cope with an upcoming book release? Get scared still? Share your thoughts!
So, what is new?
* If you didn't read it, I have a Valentine's story (or just call it a twisted love story) over at King's River Life Magazine....
* I also won a Dog Writer's Assn. Award for best mainstream magazine story! Info and a link to the story is on my nonfiction web page.
* If you're intrigued at all by zombies, several of us writers have started a blog, GirlZombieAuthors -.http://girlzombieauthors.blogspot.com/.. random postings, so come check us out!
* I am now almost through the last edits before the galley on GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie - which I learned should be coming out around JULY 1. Yay! Saw a preliminary cover too so that should be done soon.
Wow! After what also seemed like forever, it is now only months away to seeing the book! Wow!
Funny, how after so many reads, reading it again all these doubts rush in. But I still like the story so hope others do, too.
** So, how do you cope with an upcoming book release? Get scared still? Share your thoughts!
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