Category Archives: Latest News

Summer Updates

June has flown by, and July is already in full swing. My writing life takes a bit of a back seat, or at least a side seat, during the busiest part of the season for Serenity Hilltop Retreat. It does grate on me to do laundry instead of writing. I can fold a mean fitted sheet in a minute flat! But it’s not the same as hours spent writing and editing. Nothing is. This too shall pass, as they say. And it’s the guest house income that allows me hours and hours of writing time in the winter and spring, so I can’t fuss too much.

I did meet my writing goals for June. Yay! And I’m on track for July. Doing the math, I need to have a solid first draft of Slinky Steps Out by the end of August so it has time to rest some before editing and revisions. That means it takes priority over The Brave, Frail, and Delicate Princess at the moment. Everything in its own time. I also have a picture book, Too Hot For Socks, out to an agent I know. Tick. Tick. Tick. Hoping to hear back by August.

Editing work with Pen-L goes forward as well. I have worked on 13 books for them since December, and another is waiting in my inbox to begin. I’m also tidying up some of the final, formatted versions of those earlier books. It’s amazing what gets past me or the issues that the formatting process creates. Check, Check, and Double Check! I must admit, there is a pure delight that comes from seeing these books formatted, appreciating the cover and what Pen-L comes up with, and then holding the final creation in my hand. Only the author him or herself can be happier. I love books!

But the most exciting is that at any moment the first round of edits and the cover proof for At the Corner of Magnetic and Main will arrive in my email box.

Street sign at the real corner of Magnetic and Main here in Eureka Springs. Can you see the spider web? Ooo. Nice effect.

Patience is VERY hard to muster! I’ve never really been on the other side of the editing process. Not like this. With my books so far, the final decisions on anything fell to me. I could ignore and accept changes as I saw fit. What will Duke and whomever else is involved want me to change? (nail biting ensues!) More on that ahead, you can be sure. I have a page devoted to this new book here at my website. Check it out! It is due out in August.

We tried out a new event this month: the First Friday in Bentonville, Arkansas, on the square downtown.

My booth at the July First Friday in Bentonville on the square.

This truck was across from me all day. Not fair! I managed to resist, mainly because it was too dang hot to have genuine interest in something fried. The BBQ truck next to it blew smoke on us all day. That made it less appetizing as well, though Scott was pretty determined that he would want some for dinner. He didn’t.

It was fun, but we quickly learned that no one even really shows up until about 4:00 pm. We were set up by 10:45 am for the supposed 11:30 am start time. ZZZzzz. That made for a really long day. And about 3:00, this happened.

And happened. It just poured for about 30 minutes. The tent didn’t suffice. We had to hide everything in the storage tubs. Several vendors just left. The rain did stop, and people did show up eventually. The live music on the corner was loud and jazzy. We sold some books. Mostly Max’s Wild Night. It has been a big hit. Here’s a link to a great new review from The Styling Librarian. Book 4 in the Cats in the Mirror series is still up next for the spring of 2016, but I may have to put Dottie’s Daring Day in for 2017 instead of Kimba’s Christmas. The dog book thing is hot!

Dottie, showing off Mindy’s first knitting project. She thinks moving her book up in the line up is a tasty idea.

I was hoping to do the First Friday event in October as well — the only other one that works with our schedule — but I’m not sure it was worth it. At a booth fee of $75, we have to sell a lot to break even. I did meet two teachers in the area who seemed interested in having me come speak at their school. That connection would make it totally worth it. But it’s not the first time I’ve had that kind of conversation come to nothing. We shall see.

I hope you have enjoyed some of the author interviews I have been posting. It helps to fill the weeks I just can’t stop and create a blog post. Writing on my books always wins the day when time is short. Up next, I’ll be interviewing Anita Paddock about her new true crime novel, Blind Rage. I was in on the proofing of this book, and it’s really a fascinating story of what can lead a potentially normal person down the road of, well…blind rage and murder. I think this was the first true crime book I ever read. That’s not normally my thing. But this one is really good. Look for Anita here in a weeks or so.

Stay cool in this crazy summer heat. It’s about the only time I regret living on the top of a mountain, but the breeze can be amazing.

“Max’s Wild Night” Is Here!!

I’m so thrilled that my fourth book, “Max’s Wild Night,” is now ready for purchase at amazon.com and at my web site, if you just have to have an autographed copy.

You can also find the matching “Max” toy, like I have for the other books, at the shopping cart page on this website.

The official launch day of May 1 corresponds with Max’s 10th birthday. Or at least that’s the day we celebrate it. The paperwork from the no-kill shelter where we found him says May 1, so that’s our best guess.

Happy Birthday, Max!!

Another fun feature of this book is that my daughter, who readers know as “Leia,” did the illustrations. Within the story, I didn’t want to have real photos like I normally do because it all takes place at night. It felt like it would break the mood. Her wonderful drawings provided just the perfect touch.

What kind of creature is this that Max meets on his adventures?

Yes, she is planning on being an art major in college, though she prefers clay.

If you want to get your hands on “Max’s Wild Night” immediately, come on down and visit me at Sharp’s Spring Craft Fair next to the War Eagle Mill in War Eagle, Arkansas. We will be there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with copies of Max’s book in hand.

Springfest 2015

Despite the rain, we had an excellent time at Springfest 2015 in Fayetteville on Saturday. There were lots of cool vendors, live music, and a dog parade. What more could you ask for from a street fair?

“Max’s Wild Night” was the sales leader for the day (and Kimba is pretty miffed about this). Scott (the money guy across the hall) nagged me about the “dog book” until I finally wrote it, and I’m thrilled to see it walking away in happy little hands.

The new book set up with “Max’s Wild Night” now in the mix. Kids loved the Max toys!

A parade of dogs highlighted the day. So many dogs in costume! I’m not sure Max would stand for that.

That is one chillin’ pit bull.

The view down the street from our booth. It was a people watching dream.

Despite the fact that it rained for a few hours mid-day, we had nice book sales and wonderful conversations. Fayetteville is full of really delightful people!

You could even get some kisses, if the mood struck you.

The Girl Scouts had a cookie booth next to mine. There was no way I was leaving without some cookies. Kimba and Hiro just wanted to play with the crinkle wrappers inside. It was literally their last cookie sale day of the year. Whatever didn’t sell will be donated to shelters and food kitchens. I never knew they did that with the leftovers. Wonderful.

I imagine that we will do Springfest again next year. I’d love to see how busy it is without the rain. Up next is the War Eagle Spring Craft Fair in Sharp’s Field on May 1-3 (right next to the mill). I wonder if Max will be the winner there as well.

I’m on target for my writing goal for “Slinky Steps Out” this month and just finished editing a delightful “coming of age on the river in the 1930s” Huck Finn-style book for Pen-L Publishing. Editing for “At the Corner of Magnetic and Main” starts in a couple of weeks, and it should be out in August. Very exciting!

I’ll be sharing official release information for “Max’s Wild Night” shortly. May 1 is his birthday, so that’s our big launch date. I think we have all the kinks worked out at amazon.com and are ready to roll. Good dog, Max. We should both get a treat.

National Pet Day Honors

Since it’s National Pet Day, a quick post in honor of all of our fur babies seems appropriate.

Buddy isn’t with us anymore, but he is an important character in my series so I include him in my table display at book events. Tabitha/Slinky also lives under another roof now that “Mindy” has gotten big enough to move out. Hey, that sounds like a good book plot.

I’ll be posting more next week with Springfest on the horizon, but today I’m editing a murder mystery for Pen-L Publishing and writing on “Slinky Steps Out.” Preparation for the Eureka Springs Junior/Senior Prom is also beginning upstairs for “Leia.” Duck and cover, everyone!

More news on the release of “Max’s Wild Night” coming very, very soon. Just waiting for the ebook formatting to be complete.

Self-Publishing Journey: Week 8

Freebies, Discount Promotions, & KDP

Well, I’ve gotten a bit off my schedule over the last couple of weeks, but my blog pretty much always takes a back seat to other work. It certainly has recently. I did make my word count goal for February, and Pen-L Publishing has two more books done with my proofreading skills. Sadly, however, I wasn’t able to attend the February meeting of the Ozark Writers League (OWL) due to a nasty ice storm that hit the night before. Travel on my mountain roads was out of the question, but in Branson they were able to pull together some workshops in the hotel and then pick up around noon when things started thawing out. Tomorrow I will be attending the Northwest Arkansas Writer’s Workshop meeting in Fayetteville and will hopefully get to see the friends I missed at OWL.

There’s not much left to wrap up on my self-publishing journey evaluation, but one area is really important so I don’t want to let it slide: freebies and sale promotions. Any self-publishing author has got to evaluate the benefits of giving away her work or offering discounted prices. It’s just part of the game. Readers of indie books expect it, but you don’t have to let yourself or your work be taken advantage of. You worked hard to write and publish that book. Freebies have their time when they can get your book into potential readers’ hands.

If you have a series, doing a freebie on Book 1 can result in sales on the other books in the series. That’s the biggest motivation out there, and I have personally found this to be true. Around here, we call “Why Kimba Saved The World” our sacrificial lamb. Doing free promotions on that book have led to increased sales for the other two. Not everyone who downloads your freebie will ever even read your book, but some of them will. Some of them will even like it. Some will purchase other books in the series. Can you hear the field narrowing down as it goes along? So make sure you get enough downloads to have those numbers at the end of the stream be high enough to make a difference.

If you are exclusive with Kindle Direct Publishing in their Select program, you can run 5 free promo days every 90 days. I use those free days pretty consistently for Book 1 in my series. Two or three days at a time is the most productive. The times I do it without much advertising it still gets hits, but when you can loop a free promo with a significant (but not super expensive) advertisement you will do even better.

Example: I was able to get a BookBub ad for a free promo on “Why Kimba Saved The World.” If you don’t know about BookBub, click on the link to find out more right now. This site is key for indie ads. I tried several times before I was accepted, so be persistent. When that ad ran, 14,000 copies of “Why Kimba Saved The World” were downloaded for free. Did you catch that number?? That gave me a big wide field, and yes, the numbers on Book 2 and Book 3 sales rose afterward and there are still months where those two are higher than Book 1.

BookBub is the only ad site I can speak to with the authority of my own experience at this point. Tweeting about a freebie offer has had limited results. @KimbaBaby often tweets about sales because the vast majority of her followers are cats or cat people. This number has doubled since our last promotion, so I will find out soon if I have any takers among her new friends. There are many sites that will ask you to pay for an ad for your freebie. Unless you expect huge results, I wouldn’t try those. Losing money is never the goal.

On March 20-22, “Why Kimba Saved The World” will be on free promo again. I will also offer Book 2 and Book 3 for 99 cents each as incentive to pick them up right then and there when making the free download. This promo will be advertised through The Fussy Librarian. The cost of advertising with this site is inexpensive, but it remains to be seen if the ad will make a difference. I’ll do a specific blog after this sale to let you know where I ran ads and if any of them worked.

Another kind of free promotion I have coming up involves the release of a new book: “Max’s Wild Night.” Through my newsletter, I will be offering a free ebook of “Max” to anyone who has published amazon.com reviews of all three of my Cats in the Mirror books. This is a new strategy for me, but I have heard it suggested by more than one indie-pub helper book. I will lose some guaranteed sales to my fans who follow my newsletter, but I also stand an even better chance of gaining good reviews on amazon.com. That is totally worth it. Maybe they will still want a paperback copy of “Max” as well. I’ll let you know how it goes. Does it sound like an offer you’d like to take me up on? Sign up for my newsletter in the right hand column next to this article (right at the top of the web page) and you can!

Are there downsides to freebies? Of course. The biggest one I have found is that people will download your book who would never buy it and, frankly, it is not anything they should have ever read. Their reviews will be bad and odd and ones you could have done without. As long as this stays within reason, and your other reviews are good, you can weather the storm. It will help get your final amazon review numbers up, and this is good thing. Discerning readers can take the reviews/comments for what they are worth and compare them to the dozens of good reviews you have.

There is also the very real chance that these freebie takers never pay for books. I mean never. They just troll freebie sites. No matter how much they enjoy Book 1, they are never going to pay even 99 cents for your other books. Those are the middle of the field. You don’t really lose anything by them getting your book, you just don’t gain anything either.

Goodreads giveaways must be paperbacks, so you are already losing money. I have done several of these. It gets you on people’s “to be read” list, but I don’t know that it has led to any sales. Tread lightly there.

I have also found that offering a book for free during a blog tour to promote it just means that no one will buy a copy then and there. If they can enter to win a free copy, why would they buy one? By the time the contest is over, they have moved on. You can give away a prize of some kind, but don’t make it that new book you hope to promote. Make them buy it if they want it.

Just a note for those who have been in the game for a while: success in free promos does you absolutely no good in your ranking at amazon.com once the promo is done. This didn’t used to be true. There used to be some carryover. If anything, it might hurt you because you won’t have any sales credited to your ranking for the days of your promo. As far as your number ranking is concerned, free days are just days with no sales. Your numbers will slide. Just be aware of that. You will be listed in the “free book” rankings, which is where those folks who like freebies go, so it’s not all bad, but it all ends with the promo. This could change tomorrow, but that’s where it stands now. I still think it’s worth it. Rankings vary and are affected by many things I can’t control. I don’t worry about them too much in the scheme of things from day to day, as long as they stay reasonable over time.

Discount prices can help boost sales a small amount. 99 cents seems to be the big price point for the most bang, and sales on these discount or “countdown” promos do count toward your ranking. Again, you are going to have to run some promotions if you want it to make a big difference. I did a BookBub ad (yes, I qualified for two, whoot whoot) for Book 2, “Vacation Hiro,” during a 99 cent promotion and sold roughly 380 copies. It was enough to send me to the #1 spot in my category for three days (beating out those Warrior books, finally!) and earn me “best seller” status forever. Totally worth it.

I had talked about KDP select wrapped into this blog, but all I can really say about it is that it works well for me. I tried having Book 1 up at Smashwords and Kobo and Barnes and Noble. Never sold a copy. When you stay with KDP select, you get the free and sale day promo options to help get the word out about your sale just on amazon.com itself. For me, this is the only way to go.

I hope all of that helps you as you make decisions for your own possible free days or sale promotions. It is still an area we are toying with. I’ll continue to let you know what I learn along the way.

Next Week: Week 9 and the wrap up to this blog series on my self-publishing journey.

If you’re in the area, join me Saturday for the Northwest Arkansas Writer’s Workshop event. It’s free!

My winter newsletter goes out in a few days, so make sure you sign up to get that free “Max’s Wild Night” ebook offer. The details will only be in that newsletter!

My writing goal for the month is fairly low: 5,000 words on “Slinky Steps Out.” I have been moderate with that because paperback formatting for “Max’s Wild Night” is well underway with the ebook formatting on the horizon and these require my attention. I also have another editing project coming from Pen-L before the end of March. You will notice, however, that I don’t get a pass for the month or a zero word count goal. Book 4 is not going to write itself.

Just Keep Writing!

Holiday Sale 99 Cents Days

I hope this week finds you prepared for whatever holidays you celebrate this time of year! We are on the Christmas track of things, but our family has also established a tradition of having latkes — often on Christmas morning itself. We grew to love them from friends who are Jewish (especially during my husband’s years of working at the Jewish Community Center in
West Bloomfield, MI). My family loves them served with bacon, so it is far from kosher, but I think that’s what happens in a place like America. Traditions meld and form into something new. I’m all about any celebration that involves presents and food and family!

My husband goes a little “Clark Griswold” this time of year, but it looks mighty pretty from the highway as travelers drive by.

As a holiday special, I have set all three of my Cats in the Mirror books for sale on kindle for only 99 cents each. That’s all three for less than the normal price of one book! If you still need gifts for the last few nights of Hanukkah or are looking for some Christmas gifts, I hope these fit the bill for you. The 99 cents special runs from December 20th – 26th, so if someone gets a kindle for Christmas you know what to stock it with right away. Click here to find all of my books on kindle at amazon.com.

Alien rescue cats for only 99 cents each. You can’t beat that!

My writing work was sidelined a bit this month because I have taken on a new position as a proofreader for Pen-L Publishing. I’ve gotten to know Duke and Kimberly Pennell quite well over the last few months. They are putting out my adult book, “At the Corner of Magnetic and Main,” in September. I have done freelance proofreading for a while now, and I’m thrilled to be a part of the team at Pen-L that helps authors put out the most beautiful and fantastic books possible. My first project for them was a mob hit mystery type book called “Copperhead Cove.” It was a bit of a rush job to get it all tucked in before the holidays, so I proofed 85,000+ words in three days. Whew. I’m grateful I enjoyed the story! And the cover is perfect too. I’m sure I’ll toot more about it when release time comes.

Staying focused, I was also able to get “Max’s Wild Night” completed and off to the beta readers before the holidays, like I had planned. My husband has already had his say and made some good notes (which he says I fixed perfectly). This is the stage where I take another break from the book and let it rest for a bit while others have their chance to add their two cents. I’m really happy with how the story evolved and look forward to sharing it with you on May 1, 2015!

Max is very excited that he is finally getting a book of his own! He wants to be more than just The Big Black Beast.

In January and February, this blog is going to take a bit of a turn and focus on sharing what I have learned in the last three years of my self-publishing journey. There are hundreds of books on the subject. This will not be like that. It’s going to be only about what I have learned and discovered along the way — failures and successes — in the hopes that it can start some conversation and sharing in the comments sections so we can all get better at this new frontier of publishing. Watch for the first blog on January 5, 2015, and one each week after that. Is there something you want to make sure I cover? Shoot me an email or share your thoughts in the comments section.

What am I currently reading? I just finished “The Story is the Thing” by Amy Hale Auker, and I just loved it. Here’s my amazon.com review (5 stars!), and here’s the link where you can purchase it directly from Pen-L Publishing. Another reviewer used words like “lyrical” and “poignant” and described it as a “love letter.” I totally agree. Highly recommend.

On my bedside table right now is “Washed in the Water” by Nancy Hartney — a collection of Southern stories that won Best Book of the Year from the Ozark Writer’s League. So far, these stories also hit that “poignant” spot. I also just picked up “Brown Girl Dreaming” by Jacqueline Woodson at the library. It is a National Book Award winner, and I keep seeing it on everyone’s lists of best books this year, so I need to know what the fuss is about. I’ll let you know.

I have finally broken down and asked for a kindle for Christmas. My book budget is soooo tight (they know me by sight at the library), and I love all the deals I can get on books that way. My mom always gets me what I ask for, so I have been collecting freebies and fun-looking books to put on it. I can’t wait to start reading it all! I know I will always prefer actual books. I’ve shared my husband’s kindle for the last year (and boy is he grateful I’m getting my own), so I’ve done some reading that way. It’s just not the same, but it is time to step at least one foot into the more digital age.

I hope each of you has a joy-filled end of the year and take time to enjoy all of the little pleasures of the holidays amid all of the chaos it can bring. I know I’m really going to try this year. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Wonderful Winter Solstice, and a Happy New Year to you all!

Arkansas Reading Association Conference 2014

Last week was an interesting mix of writing retreat all on my own and face to face time with the public promoting my Cats in the Mirror series at the Arkansas Reading Association Conference 2014 in Little Rock, Arkansas.

We have a time share condo, so I was able to spend a week in the Hot Springs/Little Rock area for probably less than two nights at the Marriott for the conference. On Monday and Tuesday, I hunkered down and got 10,000 words added to my manuscript for “Max’s Wild Night.” Since I’m hoping to keep it at only around 24,000 words, that’s a pretty significant accomplishment! My goal is still to have a very solid rough draft going into the Christmas holidays so I can let it rest for a bit. January will be serious editing and revisions, and then it will be off to my editor in February and book cover design can get rolling. Dog lovers, Max’s book is really coming!

Wednesday through Friday, I focused on set up and sharing my books with 1,000 teachers and administrators from Arkansas at the Arkansas Reading Association Conference 2014. There were some issues with the vendor area of the conference that can hopefully be worked out for next year, but overall those attending were delightful and felt their end of the conference went really well.

Kimba and Hiro were thrilled to meet so many teachers at our booth in the exhibit hall!

Our exhibit table.

With any conference, who you have staffing the booths around you is crucial. You will be rubbing elbows for many hours — a lot of which there will be no one walking by and you will have to amuse yourselves. I was thrilled to have great folks surrounding my booth and learned a lot from them about past conferences and other events in Arkansas and Missouri. We covered for each other, and all of that camaraderie made the no-traffic hours more bearable.

Lynn Hawking from Quirkles had a wonderful conference. Two presentations and happy teachers. I’d never heard of Quirkles science units before, but the teachers who already use it just love it. You should check it out.

Dustin Rhodes from Lego Education was very popular. Who doesn’t love Legos??

Dustin gave me a Lego “story starter” set as a thank you for watching his booth for a while. Kimba was impressed that there were THREE white cats in the set. She now thinks Legos are very cool

Kim Stilwell from the National Science Teachers Association was our conference expert and got attendees to stop and sign up for her free book giveaway. I caught them on the way out of her booth.

Jennifer Blalock from the Rainbow Book Company kept us entertained with her different pricing options to lure teachers in. $5 a book or 75% off or Buy 1, Get 2 Free?

Andrew Clements was in the building signing his Charlie May Simon Honor Book “Troublemaker,” and I freely admit to having a bit of a fan girl moment when he accepted the award only 20 yards away from me. I’m also curious to check out “The Little Red Pen,” which won the Arkansas Diamond Primary Honor Book Award. If it is half as adorable as the authors, I’m sure to love it.

Overall, I’m not sure that expensive booth spaces at conferences like this are worth the investment for independent authors. Sales were decent and feedback was great, but financially covering costs is nearly impossible. Most of the attendees were more excited about the famous, national award-winning authors there — and rightly so. They’ve earned it. I can only hope to be like them when I grow up. A great many seeds were sown with teachers and administrators who may want to schedule an author visit with me. That will be the saving grace, if any actually happen. What events are worth attending may have to be two blog posts in my January series on what I’ve learned about self-publishing so far. There are no easy answers.

On the “what I’m reading” front, “A Snicker of Magic” was great from beginning to end. Highly recommend for middle grade. I also finished “I’ll Give You The Sun” by Jandy Nelson. It was superbly written. Much more appropriate for an older YA or NA audience because there is some sex, though it’s most innuendo. Anyone hoping to write for that age group should read this immediately. I’ve already requested Jandy’s first book “The Sky Is Everywhere” from my library. Right now, I am reading “Daughter of the Howling Moon,” an adult book by a local author friend, Ruth Burkett. Enjoying it so far. You had me at shape-shifting into a jaguar!

Sunday was Thanksgiving at our house to accommodate my daughter’s work schedule. I have certainly worked my own share of crazy hours over the holidays, and the dogs she cares for don’t care what day it is. They just want her love and to be fed. Thanksgiving Day here will probably be full of writing — and possibly a movie or two from the DVR.

I hope each of you is blessed to have family around you and weather that allows you to travel wherever you want this holiday weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Washington County Pet Expo

November may be a novel writing month for lots of aspiring and professional writers out there, but for me it is promote-my-book month…okay, and maybe some writing in there too. That’s not to say that I have anything against the NANOWRIMO trend, but with the holidays and fall book events November is not a great time for focusing specifically on writing 50,000 words for most authors I know. There is also a JANOWRIMO group. That sounds much more realistic!

I will be putting in my own mini-writing push the week of November 16th. Since I have a booth at the Arkansas Reading Association Literacy Conference in Little Rock on November 20th – 21st, I am taking that week to hide out in a time-share condo and finish my first draft of “Max’s Wild Night.” Some of those days are full of conference work and prep, but I should be able to put in at least four days of 6,000 – 7,000 word counts. That should get me at least close to that goal if not crossing the first draft finish line. Doing something like this last year was how I finished up “Vacation Hiro,” and that kind of isolation and writing seems to work best for me.

For this post it also seems appropriate to comment on the Veteran’s Day Holiday at least a bit. My family has a long and proud history of serving our country’s military, all the way back to the American Revolution. Yes, I qualify for DAR status and have family members who have devoted huge chunks of their time to supporting that group’s goals. Maybe I’ll get more involved someday since there is an active group here in Eureka Springs. My grandfather served in WWI, my father in WWII, and both of my nephews are currently on active duty and have served several tours overseas in nasty conflict areas. They have earned having their feet on American soil this year.

Patrick Errett Welch, WWII

If you know of a soldier who is struggling with PTSD, be sure to check out the work of my author friend Pamela Foster. What she has learned through caring for her husband can help families working their way through the same issues. Some of her books are hilarious, but others are serious and face the issue head-on. Highly recommend.

On Saturday, November 8, we took part in the Washington Country Pet Expo to support low cost vaccinations, micro-chipping, spay/neuter options, and pet adoptions from the local animal shelter.

“Leia” helped me man the booth, but she mostly wanted to see the cute animals that were everywhere.

We quickly realized that this event was a terrible fit for selling books. First, all of the cats and their people were brought in a side door and scooted back out that way. Great for the cats to avoid the crazy room full of anxious dogs, but terrible for us hoping to share our alien rescue cat books with them. Second, every “vendor” there was basically giving away services. The crowd did not come to buy. We had some lovely chats with the people there and had a great time dog watching, but that’s about it. Wrong choices like that happen when you are exploring new territory, so we just enjoyed the adventure. Consider the table fee a worthwhile donation to a great event, the day a fun time spent visiting with family, and move along with the month.

I created this especially for this event, and it certainly led to many conversations about the joys of rescuing animals from shelters and from the streets.

Our “granddoggie” came to be micro-chipped. Dottie is a rescue from Oklahoma and is beyond sweet.

This little doxie was ready to run the show for the book the city set up. Woof, Woof!

This little doxie was ready to run the show for the booth the city set up. Woof, Woof!

Ziggy kept us entertained all afternoon at the book for XXXXX. He even got a puppy tattoo!

Ziggy kept us entertained all afternoon at the booth for the Canine Design Studio. He even got a puppy tattoo! He was especially talented at sneaking out from under their table cloth to sniff passing puppy bottoms and then slinking back unseen. Silly Ziggy.

In the next two days, I will be putting together my quarterly newsletter so I can send it out before my trip to Little Rock. If you don’t subscribe to it, you should! I only put out four a year with maybe one or two extra quick ones if there is something extra special going on. You can subscribe in the sidebar here at my website. Easy peasy!

On the reading front, I am LOVING “A Snicker of Magic” by Natalie Lloyd. It is just purely delightful, and I highly recommend it. I’ll post more later once I have finished and done an amazon.com review. Readers who love a book should ALWAYS share that love on amazon.com!

I hope everyone across the country has warm coats ready to go. Here’s to hoping that you avoid the early snow and stay warm and cozy while the arctic blast whooshes its way through.

War Eagle Fall Craft Fair 2014 & Greenwood Writer’s Event

We had such a blast at the War Eagle Fall Craft Fair 2014! For four days (Oct. 16-19), a sea of humanity flowed past, and we sold more books per day than any other event we have ever done. Dozens of happy new readers signed up for my quarterly newsletter, and we had fun trying to keep track of how many people enjoyed my newest book title. About every 10 minutes someone would say “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge” and laugh as they went by. Glad to know they appreciated it, even if it wasn’t a book for them. There are apparently a whole lot of Miss Fatty Cat’s out there.

It was sooo cold in the morning, and we had to get set up before the sun for the 8:00 am opening time. We could see our breath every day until 10:00 am! This photo is only day one. The next three days I was better equipped with a warmer coat, hat, scarf, and gloves. Brrr. Probably because of the chill, traffic was a bit slow first thing in the morning, but we stuck it out for the thousands of people who came later in the day. Scott found it funny that we sold a set of books on the first day before we were even set up and sold a set of books at the last minute on the last day as we were just getting ready to close up shop. You never know when that perfect buyer will wander by!

What was especially interesting at this event was how many people bought the whole set without reading a word. I give my fantastic cover designer, Lesley Hollinger Vernon, credit for that. The covers got folks attention and got them to stop and find out more. Yay! I lost track of how many bookmarks we gave out so shoppers could download the kindle version. The response was just overwhelmingly positive.

A couple of fun moments:

*one young woman stopped at the sign, squealed, and clapped her hands over her mouth because she was so excited by the books. She bought a full set.

*a second grade girl read a page out loud to her mom to do the “five finger” test and see if she could read it to herself. She did pretty well, and just got hung up on a couple of words. I had hoped to start at a 2nd/3rd grade reading level, so it was a delight to see I was right on target. You know, I don’t even remember if she bought a book. I was still pleased as punch to hear her reading it.

This is the event this sign was actually created for, and it did its job 100% by getting folks to stop and read and pay attention to what we had to offer. A huge part of a fair like this is just getting the throngs of people to even notice your booth.

We had a great location on the first aisle across from the bridge. This is a low traffic moment when I could actually step out and get a photo. All day, each day, throngs of people crossed the bridge between the three sections. Honestly, if you are just shopping, you think it’s all one big event.

Across from our booth was a caricature artist named Dorinda, and when traffic was slow we enjoyed watching her create little works of art in just a few minutes. The reactions of the people getting them were priceless. What a great way to use your talent to bring some joy into the world! Also across the aisle was Regina Smith, a folk artist from Eureka Springs that we had never met. She left us with some bling for our booth, and Hiro’s travel rep thought it was the perfect vantage point to watch the crowds.

I made her spin when I got a little bored.

Hiro thought it was much scarier than what Daddy did with her when he got bored.

We were also just around the corner from the big food vendor section and had more food at the end of our row. It was perfect because nearly everyone gets some fair treats while they are there. We waited until the last day to indulge, which was good because I would have wanted more each day if I’d started out that way. On Sunday, Scott and I split a gyro and spanakopita. There was also the required meat on a stick, which was fantastic.

Okay, this was an early morning snack, not really lunch, and I was still freezing. Honey teriyaki chicken. Yum.

I’m beyond glad I waited until the very end of the last day to get a funnel cake, which they were selling at the end of our row with far too easy access. It was amazing, even though we were both covered with powdered sugar when it was gone.

The War Eagle Fall Craft Fair was well worth the time and energy that it took, and we are looking forward to being back again in the spring with one new book and next fall with one more new book!

Because there’s never a dull weekend in the fall, just last Saturday (Oct. 25) we were part of the Greenwood, Arkansas Writers Unite Event benefiting Autism Speaks. There were 14 student authors who had put together a book of their stories, “Helping Hands: Volume 1,” and the mayor came to give out awards for the overall winners.

My spot was right next to my OWL and OCW friend Dusty Richards, and there were about 10 authors there overall.

Dusty got his first photo op with Kimba and Hiro’s travel reps, and he pretended to be a bit startled. I think he has seen those stuffed cats a few times over the last couple of years.

On my other side was a new author friend, Cal Davis, and his adorable picture book “I’m Just a Crow.” Cal ingratiated himself to me forever by passing on his raffle win: a kindle case with cats on it. After determining that it was not quite his style, he shared it with me because, let’s face it, most anything with cats on it is exactly my style. I am even expecting a kindle for Christmas, so it’s a perfect gift.

I’m grateful that the next couple of weeks are a bit calmer than the rest of the fall has been. We have a wedding here at the guest house, and there are a couple more book events ahead. Next up is the Washington County Pet Expo on November 8th. But I can see the winter and hours of quiet writing time on the horizon. Enjoy these last beautiful fall days!

Ozark Creative Writers Conference 2014

Well, I’m exhausted, which is exactly how I should feel after two days and three nights of hanging out with wonderful authors from all over the area at the Ozark Creative Writers Conference. There were fun workshops, but I think I spent far too much time just talking with the other writers there and hearing about their works in progress and stories from the year.

I got to spend some nice chunks of time kvetching with the lovely Duke and Kimberly Pennell of Pen-L Publishing, who will be producing my adult book “At The Corner of Magnetic and Main” next fall. That’s the date we came up with for now at least. Can we call it an award-winning novel?

Well, it won an award at the conference for in the category of unpublished manuscripts from High Hill Press, but it was only First Honorable Mention (aka 4th place). I wouldn’t want to be one of those authors that tries to make her work sound like more than it is. Maybe I’m just spoiled from having won a few First Place awards last year. Anything less was kind of disappointing. But, of course, you never know how many other people entered and what/who you were up against. I had honestly only entered this manuscript in the contest to catch the attention of the folks at High Hill Press and Pen-L Publishing. Since Pen-L already has it under contract, I guess I won the real prize I wanted in the end. Score!!

I also took home First Honorable Mention (4th place) in the Young Adult Short Story contest for an adapted version of “The Brave, Frail, and Delicate Princess.” It is really more middle grade, so I was grateful it got anything at all. And they didn’t do any other honorable mentions, which makes me think that they just wanted to be sure I got something for it. I’ll take that as good, even if it’s all in my head. This story definitely has legs to be developed into a nice middle grade book. I’ll add it to the list of projects!

Then there was a Second Honorable Mention in the Flash Fiction contest for a little 100 word piece called “Justice.” Considering the number of people who probably enter this quick category, I’ll smile and say thank you for getting anything on that one. It was a fun one. Maybe I’ll post it another time.

I only entered two of the other contest categories, so percentage-wise I did very well. Next year I’m taking over as a local contact and Conference Coordinator with the hotel since I live here in town, and “At The Corner of Magnetic and Main” will be hot off the presses. I doubt there will be any time to mess around with contests.

The fall fun continues on Wednesday night as we set up our booth at the War Eagle Fall Craft Fair, which runs Thursday to Sunday (Oct. 16-19). Literally thousands of people attend this event, but we have been gearing up and planning for it so we are ready. I just need to sleep for a day or two. I think I’ll go find Cheetara for a nap/cuddle… because she will let me.