Posted in my books, promo

Contemporary Romance Bookfunnel Promo

https://books.bookfunnel.com/contemporaryromancejune/yyuh1m34n0

Janie Harrell wears clothes her grandmothers wouldn’t be found dead in and tries to hide the woman underneath. Years ago, she made a mistake, and she’s been making herself pay retribution ever since. Denying her feelings for Mike McKenzie, Janie pretends she doesn’t still want him but he’s not making it easy. When they both end up in the same hotel for business conferences, they can’t pass up this chance for a brief affair.

Their second chance is threatened when old secrets come back to ruin everything.

Blurb

Janie must battle her own demons of guilt, self-worth and sibling-rivalry, and learn that life isn’t about waiting for perfection it’s making the most of what you have today. Learning to take chances and believe in herself are some of Janie’s biggest obstacles. When she finally decides to take a risk, it backfires, and she suddenly risks losing everything. Mike McKenzie is fighting his own demons. He fears he might be losing his grip on reality. Overwhelmed by everything that has been happening in Leeward, Mike carries the burden on his shoulders alone. He is afraid to ask for help. He’s felt like a coward since he was a boy of seventeen and allowed Remy Harrell to warn him away from Janie. When the two of them end up together, he believes they can have their happy ending but too many secrets threaten to rip them apart, this time for good. When you are the middle child of seven, you often get lost in the shuffle, that’s Janie. Plain Janie. Smart Janie. She’s the good sister that never causes any trouble. Scared to go out on her own, she still lives at home with her parents. She has spent her life afraid to believe in herself. But Janie has a secret. The trouble with secrets is they don’t stay secret forever. Second Chance Romance, Secret Baby, Blackmail, Murder, Kidnapping, Family Drama and more

https://books.bookfunnel.com/contemporaryromancejune/yyuh1m34n0

Posted in my books, promo

Mystery Thrillers NEW Releases

Bookfunnel Promo

https://books.bookfunnel.com/mysterythrillernewreleases/sr5heueafn

Roxy didn’t come home to fall in love. She came to betray her family. It’s the only way to save her friends.

Jorge’s first taste of freedom is Roxanne’s laughter. Discovering she is in danger he has no choice but risk it all to save her.

Will her betrayal doom them all?

Roxy is the bad sister, the one voted most likely to steal your boyfriend. Not to be confused with her smart sister or her ambitious sister…

She’s a lying, self-centered diva, she didn’t come for a family reunion or to fall in love, she came to betray her family…

It’s not like she could ask anyone for help. They wouldn’t believe her anyway. If she was going to save them, she would have to do this on her own. Would they ever forgive her? What did it matter, she probably wouldn’t live to see it anyway?

https://books2read.com/u/boD5Na

Posted in quarterly goals, Recipes, Thoughts

The Fruit is Sweeter After the Climb

My mom, my grandmother and my aunt…three strong women!

I keep trying to tell myself that I’ve only been a published author for three years and like any infant I must learn to crawl before I can run. It is difficult not to compare myself to other writers. Like the baby demanding it’s bottle, I want it now. I want to make the sales, to get my name out there, to get a movie deal and retire, but the fruit is sweeter after the climb.

Remembering things my grandmother told me has always given me strength and courage to persevere. She didn’t have an easy life. As a farmer’s wife, a share-cropper’s wife, she knew the hard scrabble of getting by, doing without and learning to make things herself. From her blackberry jam that was both tart and sweet with the taste of summer to selling ladies’ products out of her car down backroads all over eastern North Carolina, my grandmother knew if she wanted a better life, she had to do it herself. My grandfather worked hard. He paid the bills, but anything extra came from what my grandmother could do.

My grandmother led the way for my mother and me. She taught us that we could dream our dreams and make them come true, but no one was going to hand them to us. We had to work for them. I’m proud to come from a long line of hardworking women.

It is sometimes difficult for me to toot my own horn. I grew up believing a true southern lady (which I’ve never been able to be) was humble and quiet. Most people who know me as an adult know I’m a loudmouth with a wicked laugh and sense of humor equal to that of a teenaged boy. But I wasn’t always so vocal. It has taken me years to find my voice. It is often difficult to promote my own books and believe in myself.

Raising six boys taught me to be a little stronger, a little braver, a bit bolder but it has only been in the past few years that I’ve come to believe I might have something worth saying.

When you are promoting your books, you have to first promote yourself. It’s been scary but in the past few months I’ve started a newsletter increasing my readership from the seven original subscribers to 97 in the past four months. I’ve joined a few groups: AllAuthor and Bookfunnel and using their platforms began doing promos for my books. I’ve also bought a couple of ads from Bargain Booksy and joined a couple of free online groups on social media to help promote myself and my books. It’s a lot of work and sometimes a lot of money but I’m hoping that it’ll pay off. I can see steady traffic and that’s a good sign. As my dad would say “scared money don’t make money.” I’m trying to be brave and I’m thankful to all of you who have supported my efforts.

I now have six books out and I’m working on number seven. I’m hoping to finish a novella for an upcoming anthology.

The pandemic has made public appearances difficult. I’d just taken books around to the Brown Library, Riverwalk Art Gallery and The Next Chapter Books and Art Store when the pandemic first hit. I had a book signing at The Next Chapter but there was little traffic in the store that morning. I’m hoping to go back once Janie’s Secrets finally arrives. Covid-19 has messed up a lot of people’s plans but we’re still making progress slowly but surely.

As July ends and August begins, I can’t help but think about grandma’s blackberry jam. It was a lot of hot work to make a few jars but that first taste of sweet, tart jam reminded you that it was worth the effort. Looking at the past 30 days sales and subscribers it may not seem like a lot to someone with thousands of followers but I’m celebrating. Each sale, each new reader, each new subscriber is a blessing and a positive step forward.

Thank you to all of you who repost my promos and try to help me sell my books. Thank you to all of you who leave reviews. Your efforts make a huge difference and I cannot thank you enough. Wishing you all a happy August.

seven books sold in D2D last month may not sound like much but I’d only sold 1 the previous month

Grandma’s Blackberry Jam with my own twist

4 cups blackberries raw

1 cup sugar, white granulated

2 tablespoons Cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Mash blackberries in saucepan with potato masher. Stir in sugar until becomes juicy. Take out a little juice and mix with cornstarch in a small bowl, return to blackberries and sugar. Bring to a boil. Stir often until thickened. Approximately 15 minutes. Stir in spices and lemon juice. Remove from heat and let cool. Put into a glass bowl, cover and refrigerate until cold. Fill jars to save.

Posted in backstory, my books, promo

Strong Female Characters

I’m part of a promo starting Tuesday, July 28th and going through August 30th with Bookfunnel, Female Main Characters, Thriller Stories.

https://books.bookfunnel.com/femalemaincharacter-thrillerstories/n0av8ew1nd

Chrome Pink, my first novel in the Leeward Files Series is the book I’m promoting.

Rae Lynne is one of the strongest characters I’ve ever written. After being raped and ostracized during high school, Rae Lynne turned to drugs, alcohol and cutting to help her with the pain. With the help of her friends and her grandfather, she learned to focus her anger and fear on her art. Piercing and tattooing took the place of cutting, and eventually her desire for control helped her relinquish the drugs. Unfortunately the battle of the booze took her a little longer to conquer.

People often think an addict is someone who doesn’t care but too often they are people who care too much. Rae Lynne’s natural empathy battles her years of abuse. Her kindness is proof of the strength of her character. Because of her friendships with Dana and Jenna, and the support of her grandfather and brother, she finds the courage to face her demons. But it is her own determination that helps her succeed in her battle against alcoholism as she learns to love and trust herself.

We cannot love others until we first learn to love ourselves. Sometimes the greatest demons we face are those inside our own heads. I love this character because she represents hope. She overcame one problem after another. She survived and even learned to thrive simply by not giving up. She faced weakness but she fought through it.

https://books.bookfunnel.com/femalemaincharacter-thrillerstories/n0av8ew1nd

Posted in backstory, my books

Sleepless Night

Leeward Police Department

Mike McKenzie struggled to keep his eyes open. Too many sleepless nights were starting to take their toll. He sighed and saved the file he’d been working on. Standing he stretched. His jaw cracking as he gave into another yawn.

“You’re not going to get another cup of coffee,” Tar said barring his path to the break room. “Go home.”

“I need to finish the reports.”

“I’ll work on them, anything I don’t know you can finish tomorrow. Go. You’re about to fall out and all of that coffee can’t be good for your heart.”

“Yes mother.” Mike sighed and shoved a hand through his hair. Was it starting to thin? “How do you manage to deal with it?”

Tar lifted his chin and met Mike’s eyes. The two men were of a similar size and build. Tar had a little more bulk to his muscles, but neither was tall. Tar was just barely six foot and Mike fell just shy at 5’, 10”.  He was average. Average height and size, average income.

There was nothing remarkable about him so why did he push himself to be super-cop? Mike felt the overwhelming pressure to protect the town of Leeward and its citizens.

“How do I deal with the loss?” Tar asked his voice gruff with emotion.

Shit, he didn’t want to deal with the other man’s emotions, he didn’t want to deal with his own. He shrugged. “Yeah.” His mouth felt dry and his hands clammy. “How do you sleep at night?”

Tar took a deep breath and turned away. “Jenna,” he said and his dark skin reddened.

Mike wanted to laugh at the man’s blush but since they were talking about his sister, he kept his comments to himself.

Tar moved into the office and began toying with the pens and stuff on the desk. “Your sister is a pain in the ass when she wants something.” He sighed. “She won’t let me brood. She forces me to talk about things even when I don’t want to.” He laughed. “She’s the best but don’t you tell her I said that. She’ll just think it’s a license to nag more.” Tar grinned. “You need to talk about it.”

Mike nodded. He knew his brother-in-law was right, he did need to talk about what happened. So much had happened between the sex trafficking ring to the explosion, losing Jake but there wasn’t anyone he could talk to. A vision of Janie Harrell flitted through his thoughts, but he shoved that away. He’d blown that relationship before it ever had time to grow.

“You know, you could come over for dinner, let Jenna grill you for a while.”

Mike shrugged. “I’d hate to add to her list of chores. She already has you and Toby to look out for and soon this new baby. Do you know what we’re having yet?”

Tar grinned. “Jenna wants to have one of those gender-reveal parties. She and Dana have been making big plans.”

Mike’s smile froze. Dana. Jake’s fiancé. The new mayor. “How’s Dana doing?”

Tar shrugged. “You’ve seen her. She’s thrown herself into fixing this town…”

The guilt threatened to overwhelm him. “Losing Jake was hard.”

Tar agreed. “Unfortunately, it comes with the job.”

“Not in a small town like Leeward. Things like sex trafficking and explosions shouldn’t happen here.”

Posted in my books, promo

Summer Loving

https://books.bookfunnel.com/summerlove/18irzmwwll

My first Bookfunnel Promo

Whenever you are working with other people, especially people you don’t know, you want to make a good impression. This is my first promo with Bookfunnel and I’m trying to make a good impression. I want to do a good job. Yes, I want to sell books but even more than that I want to be the type of author other authors know will put forth the effort. When I ask to join a group, I want them to say, yes, we want her, she’ll work hard.

As many of you know already I have had to work most of my life. I’m thankful for parents who taught me that hard work pays off (eventually). I have said often that I’m a better worker than I am a leader. Give me a task to do and I’ll do it but just don’t make me assign work for others to do.

One of the most difficult things about being an author today is it has become our job to promote our books. If you are an indie author, like I am, then you are the marketing team. I don’t want to be the sleazy used car salesman shouting buy my car or rather buy my book. Instead, I’d rather bring you into my world. Let you see what the town of Leeward looks like in my head, and maybe, you’ll want to visit, check out the stories and get to know the people.

It all started with Rae Lynne Grimes, a motorcycle riding, tattooed Cinderella who overcame addiction, faced her demons and learned to love herself so that she could love others.

My most recent book, Janie’s Secrets is the one featured in this week’s promo Summer Loving. It’s a second chance romance, family drama, suspense thriller set on the outskirts of Leeward. More than their second chance at romance is threatened when family secrets come to light. Will Janie and Mike survive a blackmailer’s vengeance?