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

Seasonal Changes and Mid-Year Review

The temperature may be 90 degrees outside and the A/C is definitely cranked down inside, but there are signs everything is about to switch over to a new season. I’m ready, are you?

(my house and I know we aren’t there yet, but hey…!)

When I was at the grocery store a few days ago, the magazines are touting “soups to warm you” and “easy casseroles for tailgating,” and snuggly quilts to make for those chilly nights. Covers display autumnal designs with pumpkins and warm colors of gold and orange. Domestic magazines are encouraging us to take our families on the ghost tours. In other words, Summer may have us firmly in her grasp but Autumn is pacing in the wings and she’s not far away.

Which is why I thought now was a good time to catch up with a mid-year review with what’s news and include what’s happened to be sure we’re ready for a change season.

UPCOMING NEW RELEASE: First, the July newsletter gave subscribers a first look at the new book cover! I followed this up with a release on Facebook, first on the Cover Me Darlings page and then on mine. Now you get to see the final front cover:

I’m completely crazed for this divine cover by Marisa-rose Wesley of Cover Me Darlings. The upcoming events are wonderfully captured. Hoping to for a SEP 21 RELEASE. No pre-order info yet.  If you want to be ready for the new book, then begin with the prequel, THE GYPSY THORN. Here’s a teaser and a link.
LATEST CHAT: I’ve done a Live Chat every month. Hope you’ve been listening. The latest one promised exclusive content for newsletter subscribers. August will begin those surprises. Catch up on the latest video here.  Newsletter subscribers can sign up here.

INSTAGRAM: Are you following all the pens I’ve been showing every Monday on Instagram? Here is the one for this week — you’re seeing it here the same time I’m posting on IG. Only two left after today. What a cool year of pens it has been. You can always scroll back through my IG and revisit them.

UPCOMING EVENT:  Find me next at Book ‘Em North Carolina, an author signing designed to fight against illiteracy. This will be my third time with them. The event is Sep 22, Robeson Community College, NC and the event is FREE. All you pay for are the books you buy. There are about 35 authors and publishers scheduled to attend. Plus there will be some panels and those are free too. Hope to see you. Here is the website with more info. Come by and mention this blog post and you’ll get a little something extra with my compliments.

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ON THE HORIZON: I was given a great idea and I am going to implement it right away. The suggestion was that I do some specialized videos about each of the books in my Evening Bower series, to include information about the characters plus read a snippet from each book. 

I like that idea and so I will begin this information right away! The first video will appear soon and be about Midnight Assassin. The second will be at the end of August and cover The Gypsy Thorn. The third will be about Time and Blood and appear around mid September. In the vids I will introduce you to characters, give you information about the plot and read something from the book. I will mention particulars about the characters that may enhance your experience with the story.

All this will be in preparation of the newest book’s release. Just before it comes out, I will do a teaser video (TBA) and mention some secrets that have never been discussed. Sound like fun?

Exact dates TBA in the newsletter, in here, and on my Facebook Author page. It’ll be FUN!

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There’s MORE!  FAN FICTION WRITERS!

My special book, Vampire Vignettes is planned for late spring 2019 (guessing). This book will be scenes that never made it into the regular novels of the Evening Bower. I have planned scenes between Drahomira and Franklin, Destin and Reaper, Rhea and Cooke…and so many more. But here’s where YOU come in.

I’m going to offer readers of the series a chance to have their fan fiction vignette INCLUDED in this book. You won’t be paid royalties when published, but you will have your own chapter in the back under Fan Fiction and you’ll be a published author too! Thinking right now up to three stories. More info on this coming.

If you have read the novels and plan to read the new book, then you will have all the information you need to do a fun vignette (of course I will happily answer any questions). Lighthearted is the key. They may be dark but they have to have some quirk to make me smile and must capture the established flavor and voice of the character. Look for specifics by the end of the month. I’m VERY excited about this and look forward to helping you out too.

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With the upcoming change of season, I’m changing too. I love the longer nights and the darker shadows.  New books keep me excited and the prospects ahead are as moonlight from a full moon. The changes make me want to write more….more….more!

Thank you for stopping by. Watch my newsletter and Facebook author page for updates, and of course, the Monday posts here. 

I remain always, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry