New Release!!

I’m delighted to announce my latest novel LOVE AND BLOOD was released Sep 18 (ebook and print). This paranormal romance is chock full of murder, chaos, surprises, and twists plus laced with some things sassy, some humorous, and some downright sexy. This is the continuation of the Evening Bower series begun with prequel, The Gypsy Thorn, then officially open in Time and Blood. Join Rhea and Amor-el along with their son, Destin, and friends, as they must renew their battle against deadly enemies intent on the destruction of the phoenix, of a prophecy, and any hope for the future.

Cover by Cover Me Darling LLC

The reviews are looking good, so please get yours before the price goes up. You won’t be disappointed, I promise! This is one paranormal romance that will leave you wanting more.

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Lessons in Perspective

You know the expression that says (in paraphrase), your view of the world depends on what side of the fence you stand? Well I learned this lesson well over the last few weeks.

I’ve been away because my body has been ill. I had surgery on Sept 10  to correct an ongoing ailament that previously made me very lethargic and often unable to do certain tasks. I won’t go into great detail about the fix but here’s what you need to know — I am horribly afraid of hospitals, doctors and dentists. Now I had to deal with an emergent situation in a hospital, several doctors and all the panic over fears I dreaded. My blood pressure soared, my fears rose to the surface, and I was a mess all the way around.

Now, I do not have any terminal disease nor any grave or serious illness. What was wrong with me was an often common thing though my ailament was more complicated than expected. My stay in the hospital was brief (2 and a half days) and when released, I would have run to the car to get away if I could have!

Now to perspective. I have friends who have survived a plethora of hospital visits, endured numerous surgeries, radiation treatments, chemotherapy and suffered terribly. I felt foolish with my baby fears when I thought of them and I chastised myself for my benign fears. But my perspective of the incident remained tainted with my fear and my lingering anxiety. I could not see the bigger picture when I was stuck in the middle of my singular problem.

But fears they were and I could not shake them. Instead I tried to keep them “in perspective” but began to realize that my fears were no less valid or real, no matter how small they compared to others. I needed to allow myself to have the fear and not feel ashamed of it simply because my situation didn’t measure up to the horrible enduring of others. Perspective comes when you see the field before you and you deal with what you have yet you must allow there are greater fields beyond yours and they aren’t all solid ground. That does not diminish your personal field but it helps you to regain solid footing.

As a writer, I paid attention to my anxiety, my fears, my depression, my loneliness, and stopped beating myself up and apologizing for my lack of bravery or stiff upper lip. Those who love and know me, shared compassion (even when they didn’t understand my fear) and helped me to cope.  Their warmth sustained me and eased my trepidations.

Perspective is not having to understand, but must acknowledge the reality without judgement. The mountains are real and you cannot change them. But you learn to deal with them and live with them.  That was me and that represented those who helped me through my weeks of healing.

Perspective is understanding that what I felt as a patient isn’t what the nurses feel or what the doctor understands. My pain (or in my case, my lack of pain!), is true to me. Those in my shoes may not see or feel about the situation the same. We must not say things to others like “you should, or you ought to” because that is assuming that you know more than other person about the situation. That is a directive that is without understanding or allowance.

I’m on the mend now and still coming to terms with me. I hope when you write your characters you go deeper into their emotions, find the things that scare them, that worry them, that define and confine them, things that repress them and paralyze them. Characters are the way they are from experience and not everything is always explainable. Those foibles are also not always weaknesses. They are learning experiences for your characters just as mine was for me. The best fiction is rooted in reality. What you see isn’t always what is real or the whole picture. Never short-change the other person because your perspective is limited. And so is your character’s.

Perspective gives me information, forgiveness, experience and improvement. I am a better person with it, and my writing will improve because of it. What you see at first, isn’t always the only (if ever), the truth. Or, it may only be a partial truth.

It may decide on your vantage point, or, on which side of the fence you stand.

I hope you can examine the larger moments in your lie and find the deep roots to give your life and your writing greater perspectives too.

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It feels good to be back. Please take this moment to join the newsletter (links on the right) and be the first to know insights about new books and projects, plus have first dibs on freebies! Thanks for stopping by! 

I remain Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry

After Publishing — are you prepared?

I’m so excited to announce the new book, Love and Blood, is finished and the ebook is available for pre-orders. This book forced me to dig deep and work the trail of breadcrumbs that I have been leaving for a while. I spent months being sure I collected all the old ones and incorporated them into the new book before I began leaving new crumbs for the next book. Writing a series is hard work! If you write a lot of stand alone novels, it would be so much easier but then I love being able to weave an intricate tapestry that blends together the lives of several characters. JK Rowling was a master and I’ve tried to learn from her. I may die before I get it done with the same style and majesty as she managed, but I’m giving it the novice college try!

With Love and Blood put to bed, of course I realized that I’m not actually finished. Now begins the hard part, the part I hate with a passion – advertising and marketing. Ugh. Let’s say it together — UGH.

Fortunately, I had the blessing of a friend who worked as my PA guru over the last two years and she pointed me in the direction of some good marketing and promo information. She is now writing and publishing novels of her own (more on that later), so I’m forced to market myself again, doing all the things that she once managed for me. I hate it. There, truth is told.

There are many marketing and promotion opportunities out there. Some are more successful than others as I have discovered over the years. For me, I like having others help me but this does insist that I trust others to manage promotions. Thankfully, through networking I have met professional and wise folks who will help me by managing blog tours and facebook promos, solicit readers and do facebook and twitter blasts for reasonable prices. I have met some wonderful podcasters who have been kind to me and have helped me by allowing me to advertise or be interviewed and that helps promote my work. I’ve found websites that do newletter blasts to thousands of audience/readers and that saves me gobs of emailing.

Many of the best promotions cost money. Whoever said self-publishing was a cheap way to go, never wrote and developed a quality product or spent the effort to find and advertise to various markets. Promotions cost money. Yes, $10 here or $15 there, a $45 for a month of this or $77 for a huge blast of that. It adds up and for someone who doesn’t sell thousands of books (though I hold hope high), the money is mostly unrecouped. Though I will say with each new book, my visibility improves, my reputation spreads and the want to help promote is stronger. 

So why do it? Well, if I want to be seen and heard I have to try. If I want any audience to spread the word, I need to be seen. And if I want to be seen, then I need to get there the best ways I can. Spending money is a necessity but I try to spread it across the best platforms for me.

Advertising aside, the rest of the marketing must be managed by self through individual posts across social media. The worst of this is the time it takes. Well-managed (a bit every day or scheduled once a week), and it doesn’t eat up your other duties (like life or writing), but again, it requires focus and dedication given to one purpose.

It’s obvious to me why people have secretaries, personal and virtual assistants, spokespersons, managers, etc. Because most people don’t want to do this stuff. It’s a pain. Had I the money I’d hire it off permanently. But, oh well.

Back to the point. Love and Blood is out. I’ve programmed and hired those I need to help me, arranged for emails and promos and the like. I’ll start my own ads and promos this week. And then I cross my fingers and hope for the best.

You can pre-order and get the ebook while it is .99cents. It will go up in October. The print book should be released on Sept 21. You can order signed copies through my Contact page.

If you are self-publishing, be prepared for what comes after the delight of finishing and publishing the final product. The work – the real work – is only beginning! Be prepared to meet it with knowledge of your responsibilities and your wallet. Go into the “afterward” with focus and preparation. As you learned about publishing your book before you did it, take time to learn about marketing before you get there. It will pay off in royalties and dividends. Good luck!

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OTHER NEWS:

The Instagram #pinyourpen campaign is over. I did 57 or so weeks, over a year of Monday morning pens both exotic and novelty. Hard to believe. I’m sure there will be a pen or two coming up but the steady stream is over. It was great fun.

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CONGRATULATIONS TERRI!

My friend and once PA, Terri Wilson is now an author! She has one novella published and a new book releasing Aug 28! Here’s your link. Follow her on Amazon and do check her out. I love this new cover. (I feel like a proud teacher!) This is an up-and-coming author, so invest early!

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What’s coming up for me?

     FIRESIDE WITH THE PHOENIX, monthly LIVE Facebook chat is Aug 30, noon. Come to my Facebook Author Page and share 15 minutes with me.  It goes by very fast.

     I’m doing a live poetry reading on Aug 31 at 10am for The Andi Thought Ladies Thoughtful Book Festival. It’s a free Virtual Festival from 10am-6pm. There are all sorts of goodies going on during, so check it out. Here is a link to more info. I’ll be reading social issues poems. My reading will be on Zoom and there will not be a recording.

     Be sure to sign up for my newsletter because my readers get goodies and info that isn’t anywhere else. Want to be in the know? That’s the secret. Next newsletter is due out in a few days!

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I remain, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry

The Vagaries of Social Media

Lately I’ve had some online friends who decided to pull back and disappear from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media sites. Most of them cite similar reasons for taking protracted breaks. Reasons include: stress, mental health, disgust, tiredness, lack of fun and time consuming. Ah, the vagaries of social media!

I did not want to be on Facebook but when my first book came out, my publisher practically insisted. “If you want to sell books you need an audience and to do that you need Facebook. And Twitter. And….

Well I was already on Twitter, and had been for about a year. But I dragged my feet about Facebook because I didn’t care to post about sneezing or what I ate for lunch, or how I spilled my coffee or where the cat threw up. I really did NOT want to be involved in such a banal, trivial and cliché world. But I joined.

I kept my interactions simple and limited myself to general notes on weather, inspiration, book promotion, and things about writing. Took me a while to learn how to fill everything out and make it work. Than I learned about the ability to have a “page” and more learning commenced as I tried to build an author page (which is why I was there in the first place).

When I started to find familiar faces “out there,” I settled in with a little more confidence. I still kept my personal interactions to a minimum and never disclosed anything too personal. I’m still this way. But gradually I began to see the trouble with “social” media” and why the vagaries sent people away.

I wanted, and still sometimes want, to go away too.

Seems we’ve forgotten how to be civil. We don’t allow people to have a personal opinion that differs with ours. We have forgotten how to debate and be respectful of others’ ideas. We don’t approve of people who are different. We are self-centered and narcissitic. If we aren’t selfie-ing our friends to death, we are meme-ing ad nauseum or else we are selling and selling and selling and selling. It gets tiresome and exhausting and boring and did I mention tiresome?

Social media has made us antisocial (not everyone, of course, I speak generally here). It seems to have brought out the bigots, the racists, the homophobes, the misogynists, the anti-everyone, the social media platform builders and sellers, the buy-me-and-no-one-else-crowds and the folks who drowned out my Notifications with their posts of 57 new pictures every day.

What happened to being social? Where is the “how are you?” Where are the folks who are interested in you just for you? Where are the people who can share a little and then engage a lot?

It is no wonder that people are stressed about social media. It’s a madhouse of nasty innuendo, bad language, constant buy-buy-buy or sell-sell-sell, political vitriol (it has to do with who is #45), sickness, excuses and complaints. People are taking a break by the droves because the vagaries of social media are turning us into people we don’t like. 

Knowing this I wonder why we can’t be different, better, more social and stress a lot less?

Take a good hard look at your feeds. If you are a business, then sell. But remember to gain notice you have to be social too. Are you putting out a thousand pictures all over everyone’s feed? Stop. Give me 10 now and maybe 10 more later. I don’t need every single photo of your trip. Or else use the custom notifications and send only to those who really want to know the intimate details.

Yes, let us see the new baby, the new kitty, the graduation, the success, the bestseller, the solo at church, the blue ribbon and the first day of school. We are interested in your big moments. But exercise some caution before you get in too deep about your personal life. (And as a suggestion, stop broadcasting to the public when you are away from the house. Use the friends only for that and keep yourself safer). Sharing is caring. Too much sharing is overkill. Social media has become the overkill valley. No wonder we’re all wanting to run away back to the lives we know and love.

Let’s do a little less finger pointing, harassing, shaming and bullying. Let’s be SOCIAL and be kind. Let’s be curious and interested about others even though you want to yell “BUY MY BOOK.”  Remember that social media serves a purpose. It’s not a retail store (unless you have a business page). Want to get some fans? Be social before you be the salesperson.

And stop letting the vagaries of social media drive you, your friends, and me away because we need to stop stressing, worrying and recovering. Let’s be FUN! There’s a thought, right?

Let’s make Social media a social thing again and maybe we won’t trouble ourselves with the vagaries ever again.

I remain, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry