Posted in backstory, my books, News, promo

In Honor of My Interview with Jeff Aydelette of The County Compass

More of the Story…

The County Compass will be featuring a brief interview with me Thursday, January 19th. To celebrate, I’ve put together a little behind the story information and I’ve placed all of my eBooks on sale for 99 cents through Tuesday, January 24th at all eBook retailers and on my website.

I started out writing historical romantic fiction. I even sent off a couple of manuscripts, pieces of manuscripts and hundreds of query letters to agents and publishers long before doing it by email was a thing. But then tragedy struck and we lost our home to a house fire that pretty much wiped us out. My husband got us all out with our lives. I still have flashbacks of that night.

After losing all of my research books, my big computer and files, my husband and friends encouraged me to get back to writing. I took an online class about creating characters. The instructor said describe someone. I chose my husband. The next day, she told us to change their gender, ethnicity, keep some of their traits but expand others. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever write again but with the love and support of my family, friends and writers’ groups, Rae Lynne was created.

My town, Aurora was the inspiration for the fictional town of Leeward. I decided on a fictional town in order to have a little more creative freedom, but locals recognize places like the Depot Café as Wayside, the Hardhat Lounge and of course, the fossil museum and library.

Chrome Pink was inspired by several things that happened at nearly the same time. I’d created the character Rae Lynne but she was just a paper doll, I didn’t have the rest of her story, but my husband and his boss were restoring a motorcycle in memory of a nephew who’d passed away. At the same time my friend’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and my sister-in-law was always volunteering me for something or other that had to do with Relay-for-Life or other projects. Then I met one of my sons’ friends, a lovely half-Hispanic lady who was very kind but she was tattooed and pierced. When I asked about the tats and piercings, my son simply said, she’d had a rough life. From there, I found Rae Lynne and had my theme for Chrome Pink. https://books2read.com/u/4jaeBk

Reading that North Carolina was ranked 9th in human trafficking and growing up listening to seafood trucks running in the middle of the night got my imagination playing in the dark. What if they weren’t really carrying seafood, or not just seafood?

The Leeward Files was supposed to be a three-book series about three best friends: Rae Lynne-Chrome Pink, Dana Windley-White Gold, and Jenna McKenzie Roberts-Titanium Blue who uncover the town of Leeward’s darkest secrets while finding their strengths and falling in love.

White Gold’s Dana Windley is a force to be reckoned with. She is one of the ladies all small towns need who gets jobs done whether it’s volunteering to coach a youth ball team or organize the local beauty pageant. My sister-in-law loves this book best because she knows she’s one great ladies who inspired the main character. Dana is a plus-size multiracial woman who carves out a place for herself and becomes a hero all little girls can look up to. https://books2read.com/u/brYpjA

Titanium Blue has Jenna McKenzie and her estranged husband Tar Roberts struggling to get on with their lives after separating. This was the first book my son, Jason and his wife, Brandi helped me with. Since they were both in the Army their insight helped me make my character Tar, who was an Afghanistan vet who lost his leg and was dealing with PTSD more real. Jason served two tours in Afghanistan but thankfully returned home and is now retired from the Army. https://books2read.com/u/bzWOrq

After writing the first three books I wasn’t ready to leave the town of Leeward. Evergreen Crystals was supposed to be my first true romance with Rae’s wedding, but I can’t write anything without a murder and blowing something up. “Holidays, weddings and babies are happy occasions until someone ends up dead.” Or in Rae Lynne’s case, arrested. https://books2read.com/u/b68OqE

Red Steel is the final book in The Leeward Files series, my youngest son, a volunteer firefighter and his wife, a photographer, helped me with this book, and were the inspiration for the young couple Billy Grimes and Tracy Harrell. This is the final book is also the spin-off for The Harrell Family Chronicles. https://books2read.com/u/3yEKXB

The Harrell Family Chronicles came about from a dream my husband and I had as a young married couple of owning our own camp. I grew up in the community of South Creek which was at one time known as Stanton-Harrell thus the name, the Harrell Family Chronicles. The Harrell family turned part of a failing farm into a family campground. The middle brother, Charlie and his wife, Liz have seven children and they run the family campgrounds. Charlie’s older brother John runs the farm and his younger brother, Robert is a hunting and fishing guide.

The first book in the series was actually written third when I realized Red Steel couldn’t be the last of The Leeward Files and the first in The Harrell Family Chronicles. Willow’s Retreat deals with estranged married couple John and Willow, the oldest of the Harrell brothers and his wife, Dr. Willow Rider. The difficulty I had in writing this book was how can two people be married for thirty years and not know each other. With my husband’s help I tried to show the relationship and the couple’s choice to stay or go, and how they found their happy ending. Using my research into therapy animals, PTSD and trauma, I tried to craft a story that was both romantic and suspenseful with the deeper story of family. https://books2read.com/u/mgEra7

All of my stories have family as part of the theme whether it is the family we’re born with or one we create. Even though my stories are fiction, I feel it is important to portray honest relationships. Red Steel and Willow’s Retreat also show the family that comes about through shared experiences, such as being part of the local volunteer firefighters.

Janie’s Secrets is about mistakes and second chances. Janie hides behind the safety of her life as a small-town librarian, she even lives at home. She’s afraid to take chances. Afraid of getting hurt and making mistakes. But life is about risk, and if we aren’t taking a risks are we really living? This is a second chance romance. https://books2read.com/u/bpDq79

Roxy’s Betrayal was a lot of fun to write. Where Janie was the good girl in the family who never did anything wrong, well, Roxy was just the opposite. She was known for her bad girl antics and it takes something truly serious to make her forget about herself and put someone else first. But even trying to do the right thing, a bad girl’s got to do a little bad along the way…and boy does she have fun doing it. She falls for the wrong guy who just might be her Mr. Right and together, they save the day. But even being the hero of the story might not be enough to salvage her relationship with her family. She had to betray them to save them. Will they understand? https://books2read.com/u/boD5Na

Christmas Inn at Teach’s Island slipped away from Leeward but not too far. After a visit to Bath, I decided I needed to write a story with it as my backdrop, so I created Teach’s Island ( a combo of Indian Island and Bath). Hurricane Irene devastated this area and took several years to recuperate from. People who don’t live in areas affected by hurricanes don’t understand the devastation. I thought this Christmas romance was a good way to show the rebuilding of the small community and making my bad guy the hurricane instead of a person was good for a change. I also used this novella to set up the next book. https://books2read.com/u/47Ong8

Trent’s Melody was partially written several years ago but I couldn’t get it right. I think the timing was wrong. Using some of the previously written material, I managed to recreate the idea and make a few changes. Trent is Tracy’s twin brother. He’s as different from her as chalk from cheese but I had to dig deep to understand why. This story revealed itself to me like an onion peeling layers away to reveal something new each time. Of all the books I’ve written Trent’s story touched my heart in ways I never expected. For one, it helped me understand one of my sons better. I had a couple of contests, one a song writing contest where my writer friend, K B Davenport sent an awesome song that fit so well within the story. If you love music competition shows like The Voice and home improvement shows like Rock the Block, you’ll enjoy this story. https://books2read.com/u/bz1vK2

I am working on Remy’s Dilemma the last in The Harrell Family Chronicles (for now). I won’t completely leave this world but the next book will be a new point of entry for the series and I’d like to lighten things up, do a little romantic comedy. I don’t know if I can write a book without murdering someone and blowing things up, but I will try. Maybe…

My historical novel, The Americans are Coming, is a cozy mystery. This is more family friendly but I still managed to blow a few things up and kill a couple of people. I can’t help it, it’s an addiction. When seventeen-year-old, wild west show performer Winnie Applegate’s brother Riley is accused of causing the death of a fellow performer, Winnie seeks to prove him innocent. Instead, she uncovers a murder and a family secret that could put her brother and father at risk. What does a mysterious benefactor, an invitation to England and a family secret have to do with murder and sabotage? Winnie along with the young man she plans to marry, and a female Pinkerton agent will uncover the truth of who is really trying to sabotage Colonel Bill Dexter’s Wild West Extravaganza even if it kills them. https://books2read.com/u/b6zzRW

https://books2read.com/u/bPQO0x

Posted in backstory, inspiration, my books

My Community, My Inspiration

Many of you have already seen the Goodreads Giveaway, I’ve also set up a couple of ads for March and one for April, now I just have to wait and see what happens. Waiting isn’t easy for me.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Willow's Retreat by Sherri Lupton Hollister

Willow's Retreat

by Sherri Lupton Hollister

Giveaway ends March 09, 2022.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

I put my writing career on hold for so many years while I wrestled growing boys into independent men. Now, it’s my turn and it’s not as easy as I’d hoped. No one is banging down the doors to get to my books or to demand my autograph. Although I did have a fantastic audience today, I didn’t read my own stories, because they were second graders, and my books aren’t designed for young minds.

Today I joined other illustrious members of our community to go read at our local school for Read Across America. One of my good friends, Ms. Christy, the second-grade teacher, and my neighbor asked if I’d read to her class. She told them I was a famous author. Well, the famous part is stretching it, but everyone is famous in a small town. The children were wonderful and a boon to my flagging ego. They were delighted to learn their teacher was one of the inspirations for my character, Dana the heroine in White Gold. After reading Dr. Suess’ Daisy-Head Maysie and making paper flowers, the kids asked for my autograph and a couple wanted me to come back and read one of my books. I told them I had a short story I’d written for my grandchildren that I could bring. I think that’s what I’ll do.

What a marvelous treat. I was a little afraid, to tell the truth. It’s been a long time since I’ve had the opportunity to read to young children, even my grandchildren, and I worried I wouldn’t be able to connect. It started out as a favor for a friend, a thing to do to support my community but it became more. Today made me realize how much this community and the people in it inspire me.

As I told her class, Christy along with my sister-in-law Denise and my good friend, Mary, all combined to help me create the character, Dana.

Dana Windley who later becomes mayor of Leeward, is a community leader. She is an entrepreneur, a small business owner, a volunteer for the school and her community. She also does charity work raising money for things like breast cancer and her local firefighters and paramedics squads. Dana would be the one you would see at the school reading to the children, planning events for the community and doing all in her power to support her town, her friends, and her family.

The Leeward Files and The Harrell Family Chronicles are about REAL people, living in a small town just like where I come from. The town of Leeward is struggling to rebuild after several devasting blows. My home has suffered hurricanes, the loss of businesses and our high school, it is a town that was dying but we are doing our best to revive it. Just like the characters in my stories, there are very real people working to see that the town of Aurora, not only survives, but once again thrives. These people, this town, this community of supporters are the inspiration for my stories and what keep me writing.

Posted in event, my books, News, promo

New Book Launching Soon!

Thanks to my daughter-in-law, Brandi Lupton for finding a friend willing to share a photo with me for my upcoming cover! Thank you Linda and Lee Major, and Flame for allowing me to use your image!

Every time I think I have learned what it means to be an indie author I discover there is something else I didn’t know, didn’t do correctly or forgot. Of course it doesn’t help that I’m often publishing in the middle of the night because I have to go to work at my bill-paying-job the next day, or I have this amount of time to write or learn how to do something, let’s write. Too often I feel there are only a few hours in the day I can devote to being an author and I have to divide them into writing, editing, marketing, publishing, etc.

Being an indie author is much like any other small business owner. As the owner everything falls to you and until you make money you can’t afford to hire others to take up some of the slack. So, you juggle all of the jobs that have to be done and too often you find out the hard way what you don’t know. For me, it’s marketing. I don’t want to go around shouting buy my book, buy my book! But please, buy my book!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JCJFND6

But how else do you market if you don’t shout out here’s the book buy it? I don’t know. I just want to write. I take classes both online and in person. I belong to several writers’ groups, and I study what I see others doing. But while money is a problem, it is also the limit of time. How best to spend my time as well as my dollars?

In writing this new book, Willow’s Secrets many of you will be surprised that it is Book One of The Harrell Family Chronicles. This is because of one of those things I didn’t know. When I finished The Leeward Files series with Book Five Red Steel, I thought it could also serve as my Book One for The Harrell Family Chronicles, B-U-T it doesn’t show up that way and if I want new readers who may start at the new series, I need a new number one that would begin the series in such a way as to let readers know enough of what happened before but not bog them down. If they are interested enough they might want to go back and read the first series but if not, they could just wander through the new one. UGH! The things I do to myself.

If you have followed me for any length of time, you know I’m basically a pantser. I write by the seat of my pants, heck, I live by the seat of my pants. With six sons and my husband, no matter how many plans I make, I often have to adjust them. It was difficult at first and then it just became my normal.

About The Harrell Family Chronicles new book, Willow’s Retreat, I didn’t want to interfere with the stories that were already published but felt I needed an origin story. I looked to the older adults to give me what I needed to write book one. Willow’s retreat combines the loves and marriages of the three Harrell brothers who inherited the farm from their father: John, Charlie and Robert, told from the points of view of John, his wife Willow and their son, Rider.

Book Description

The farmer and the psychiatrist. Willow and John should have never met, much less fallen in love, but they did. Thirty years later their relationship is in limbo. When her nephew dies in a tragic fire, Dr. Willow Rider knows she has to repair her relationship with her husband and sons before it’s too late. She is a terrible mother and an awful wife but she’s an awesome therapist. Can she take her own advice and save her family?

Saint John, the oldest of the Harrell brothers has sacrificed everything to ensure his family’s happiness. Isn’t it time he grabs his own happiness? He is willing to do anything for a second chance with Willow, even take her crazy bet. But as he makes the same stupid mistakes, he pushes her farther away.

When a motorcycle club believes the only thing keeping them from gaining control of the local sex trafficking cartel is the Harrell family, they are their town come under attack.

Willow and John’s second chance at happiness may go up in flames as they find themselves at war with the Steel Marauders.

Cover Reveal August 1st

Events:

Cover Reveal Sunday, August 1st, 2021

Book Launch Tuesday, August 24th, 2021

Book Blog Tour Tuesday, August 24th – Thursday, August 26th, 2021

If you would like to be a part of the Blog Tour you can sign up here. (Just click on the link)

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Or Follow Bed and Books on Facebook!

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Follow me on social media:

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Pre-Order Links:

US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099R578N8

UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B099R578N8

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CA https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B099R578N8

Posted in my books, promo

Titanium Blue

Tobias Anthony “Tar” Roberts returned from Afghanistan with a chip on his shoulder and missing half his leg. Some of his men weren’t as lucky, they didn’t come home at all. Pain in his body and his soul had him self medicating with pain pills and alcohol. He pushed his family away because it hurt too much to feel anything. When Jenna left to help her parents, he was relieved. When she didn’t return he sank deeper into depression until he reached his darkest moment.

Loving Tar was never the problem. Jenna fell in love with him nearly the first moment she met him but their whirlwind romance, early pregnancy and his deployment wasn’t conducive to a strong relationship. When he returned from Afghanistan he pushed her away. She had to protect her baby. Her father’s heart attack was just the excuse she needed to runaway.

Tar is back and he’s willing to do whatever he has to, even move to Leeward, to get his family back.

Excerpt from Titanium Blue

The stench of steaming crabs slapped him in the face as soon as he slid from the jeep. Tar gagged and considered getting back in and driving off. “God, I hate this place,” he grumbled. Leeward was the toe jam of eastern North Carolina, not the place to raise his son. He stretched, rubbing his knee above the rim of his artificial leg. The ride from Lejeune had been long. He was stiff and there’d been too much time to think. He wiped his sweaty palms on the legs of his pants. His stomach churned. The odor of seafood scraps broiling in the sunshine did little to soothe his mind or his stomach. I need to get Jenna and Toby away from here.

Tobias Anthony Roberts, known to his friends and fellow recruits as Tar, sighed. It wasn’t the first time he’d wondered when his life had gone to shit. He clenched his jaw, glaring at the manila envelope lying on the passenger seat. The bright white address label glowed against the orangey color of the envelope. Tar licked his lips, wishing for something cool to quench his thirst. Jenna wanted a divorce.  He shouldn’t be surprised. They’d not lived together for almost two years.

A flash of dark red hair caught his attention. He watched his wife through the cracked glass of the huge front window. Mac’s really let this place go to hell. Tar noted the peeling and powdering paint, the drooping gutters and broken concrete. He’d heard in rehab Mac had suffered another heart attack. The first one had been the excuse Jenna used for leaving him. She would have found another if it hadn’t happened.

A hot wind pushed sand across the parking lot. His heart raced and fear clogged his throat. It took a great deal of concentration and deep breathing to remind himself it wasn’t the smell of raw sewage, petrol and exotic spices mingling with unwashed bodies assaulting his nasal passages, but the aroma of grease, newly turned earth and the local crab house still in production even though it was early October. The damn season should be over. When would it cool off? The reality burned away the waking nightmare. You’re not in Afghanistan. He repeated it over and over until the feeling passed.

I shouldn’t have come. I’m not ready to be a husband or father again. Jenna passed the window, smiling at a customer. Like the first rays of sunlight when you’d been too long in the dark, her smile lit up the room. The pain, not to his eyes but to his chest, reminded him of why he’d come. You may not get a second chance. The jeep chimed, reminding him he’d not shut the door. You’re draining the battery, idiot. He considered climbing back into the jeep and riding back to Camp Lejeune.

Coward. He could face Afghan soldiers but the prospect of confronting his hundred and twenty-pound estranged wife left him shaking in his boots. Well, his Reeboks at least. He was processing out of the Corp. Would she care? Would it matter? Once a Marine, always a Marine! Tobias Anthony Roberts was no coward! He could handle one little five-foot-eight redhead. He swallowed the lump in his throat. He hoped.

https://books2read.com/u/bzWOrq

Posted in my books, promo

Roxy’s Betrayal Cover Reveal Party

Join me at Bed and Books on Instagram and Facebook, Tuesday, January 26th,

https://www.instagram.com/bedandbookspr/

https://www.facebook.com/bedandbookspr

to get a glimpse of the bad sister, Roxy! I had a lot of fun writing a bad girl. Roxy is no one’s idea of a romantic hero. She was voted most likely to steal your boyfriend in high school. Roxanne Harrell doesn’t do anything that doesn’t benefit Roxanne until she meets the niece she didn’t know she even had. When her brother’s ex-fiance threatens sell her niece and friend to the highest bidder, has no choice but to do her bidding. Can she save her friends by betraying her family or will she end up destroying them all?

The Washington (NC) waterfront is mentioned often in both my book series. This is where the Pamlico and Tar Rivers meet.

On the new cover of White Gold, Dana is walking the waterfront after shopping with her sisters. It is where she strolls with Jake, agent sexy and where Rae Lynne walks with one of her dates before he is murdered.

When I was planning the cover for Roxy’s Betrayal I knew I wanted the waterfront and I found this photo I took while strolling the waterfront with my granddaughter. It is one of my favorites with the old warehouse and bridge.

In Roxy’s Betrayal I mention Bill’s Hot Dogs. Bill’s is a famous hot dog place here in Beaufort County but I have a confession to make. I had never eaten one of Bill’s dogs until after I married my husband. They are known for their white bean chili which is spicy and delicious.

excerpt from Roxy’s Betrayal

“So, is there any place you’d like to go before I take you home?”

“I thought your brother wanted you to take me straight home.”

“Remington likes to give orders, but he knows I won’t listen.” She gave him that 1000-watt smile. “So, what have you missed most while in lock-up?”

The buxom blonde wasn’t his normal type, not that he really had a type. Roxanne Harrell was definitely more than he would have asked for with her big personality, luscious figure and daring. She was tempting him more than was wise for someone in his position. He tamped down his desire. He wasn’t exactly a free man. What had he missed most since being locked up? “Sunshine,” he whispered.

“What’s that?”

“I’ve missed sunshine and fresh air.”

She turned down Water Street. Leaning across his lap, she rolled down his window. She turned her head and gave him a wink.

Heat pooled in his groin. He shoved his hands beneath his armpits to keep from holding her head to his lap. Sliding a little closer to the door, he put his head out the window like an old hound.

Slowing the truck, she cruised the waterfront. “Are you hungry? We could stop at Bill’s for a hotdog.”

Jorge licked his lips and nodded. He could smell the world-famous hot dogs from a block away, the peppery scent of the white chili tickled his nose and his mouth watered. He chuckled imagine himself as a dog with his tongue lulling out his mouth with his head hanging out the window.

She pulled into a parking lot and whipped the truck around cruising back to the town’s famous hot dog stand. “You want to go in or do you want me to order for us both?”

“Do you mind?” He was not up to dealing with people just yet.

“What do you want?”

“All the way.”

Giving him the once over she nodded. “Well of course, I should have known. How many, a dozen?”

He laughed. “I’m not quite man enough for a dozen but I’ll take half that.”

“Oh, I bet you could handle it.” She called in their order. “Do you want anything to drink, chips?”

He gave her his preferences and she made comments on all of them until he was ready to forget the food and find some place to sink his cock deep inside her. Shit! When was the last time a girl’s teasing comments had made him so freaking horny? Well, maybe when you haven’t had sex in forever it does something to your brain. He watched her walk down the sidewalk to the café. She had a heart-shaped ass, and long muscular legs that looked as if she could crush a man’s head between her thighs. Aw fuck, now the image of him dying between her thighs was forever imprinted on his brain. Remy should never have trusted a sex-starved jailbird to come within ten feet of his gorgeous sister. Jorge needed to remember she was his lawyer’s baby sister.

The smell of garlic, onions, spices and processed meat assaulted his senses. “Oh fuck me.”

“Gladly but why don’t we eat first. You’ll need your strength.”

Jorge stopped breathing.

She laughed. “Damn, I was just kidding but now I’m interested. How long has it been?”

“Unless you’re planning to do something about it, I suggest you stop baiting the bear or haven’t you learned yet, we bite.”

“Okay, I’ll quit teasing you but for the record, I was only half teasing.”

He growled.

https://books2read.com/u/boD5Na

Roxy’s Betrayal is available for pre-order. The eBook goes live February 5th, it will be 99 cents through Sunday, February 7th then the price goes up! Don’t wait!

Follow me on Facebook and Instagram to get a glimpse of Roxy’s Betrayal!

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Posted in Thoughts

So Long 20-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JCJFND6

Happy New Year 2021, Good-Bye 2020

This year has been filled with many ups and downs. While some of you have been forced into quarantine and sought to fill your time with delicious books, I and many others were considered essential employees. For those of us blessed or forced to remain on the job, we’ve had to deal with more regulations and responsibilities. While my job isn’t an important one like being on the frontline nursing the sick, it is still considered essential and I try to do it with respect and grace. Working with the public I filled a role that many people felt was a necessity. For me, the biggest service I felt I could give to my friends and neighbors was a kind word and a caring heart. I have to admit that this year has been exhausting. Between the politics and the virus, family tragedies and dramas, extra responsibilities and expectations at work and in the public, I have been a bit overwhelmed. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has felt the weight of this year.

While we bid good riddance to this year with its many awful moments, I want to take this time to also reflect on the things that were wonderful and special about this year. I have two new grandbabies, twin boys who are healthy and after losing a grandson in May of this year, that is extremely important. I have a new and improved relationship with two of my sons and their families.

I have never been one to put myself out there, but due to Covid19 and having to do more online, I have started volunteering. I attended the RWA (Romance Writers of America) National conference and even hosted an online chat room. I have been able to attend the Heart of Carolina RWA meetings regularly and I’ve even accepted a position of leadership with the group. Our local writers’ group, the Pamlico Writers is still struggling to stay afloat during this time. Only a small handful of members attend the monthly Zoom meetings.

This year has been a struggle for so many. I know that I and my family have been blessed. My father-in-law has been the only one to truly suffer from the virus. He spent two weeks in the hospital but is thankfully well. Most of the family has kept working in one capacity or another. There have been a few struggles, some days it seems it is two steps forward and three back but with the grace of God and the help of family and friends, we are managing.

I know for many this year has been so much worse. Many have been trapped in their homes due to health concerns and regulations. Many have lost jobs, struggled financially, lost businesses and homes. Many have buried loved ones.  Our schools and small businesses have felt the greatest burden, trying to navigate a new world with new needs. Living in rural America where we are half-quarantined already has given us a bit of freedom people in larger communities haven’t had.

This year has been stressful on many levels. I only published two of the three books I’d planned. I’m hoping 2021 will be a more productive year. I have devoted more time to marketing and learning about marketing. I’ve come to realize that there are only so many hours in a day and I can only do so much within those bounds. If you haven’t taken Sarra Cannon’s HB90 course and you are a small business owner, especially an indie author, I suggest you take it the next time she offers it. It helps you understand how much time you really have and how to use it. I would also suggest her YouTube channel Heartbreathings, and her Publish and Thrive course. Sarra’s YouTube channel helped me through much of this year. Her uplifting spirit and honest approach to problems made me feel as if I too could be a best-selling author.

I’m ending this blog with some highlights from my year on my website and will follow it soon with my 2020 book list and highlights from my Creekside Café Author interviews.

Happy New Year!

HB90 w/ Sarra Cannon

https://wordpress.com/post/sherrilhollister.com/3411

Posted in my books, Thoughts

I Need Your Help!

As an indie-author I’m learning about a lot of things, the most recent is marketing and where my book fits in a book store whether it’s a brick and mortar store or an online store.

While doing Bookfunnel promos I realized my covers don’t fit with others in the same genre. As a dark, romantic suspense or suspense thriller romance, they need to look sexy, dark, thrilling, something more…I’m hoping that by changing my covers I’ll attract a wider audience. That’s where you guys come in. I’d love to hear what you think.

#1: Chrome Pink, chrome, tough female heroine
#2: CP pink chrome, tough female character
#3: CP Large romantic silhouette
#4: CP medium romantic silhouette

What cover gives the reader the best idea of what the story feels like? As the author, sometimes I think I’m too close to the story. I’ve also hesitated to put bare-chested men on the cover. I wanted the books to fit into mainline fiction as well as romance and suspense. There’s nothing wrong with bare-chested men, I kind of like them myself but in trying to discover what fits best for my Leeward Files Series I feel I’m running around in circles. I would love to hear from each of you especially those of you who have read my series.

Here are the matching covers for the rest of the series.

1: White Gold solo character, bleached
2: WG solo, dark
#3: WG couple, trees
#4: WG couple on street medium
#5: WG couple on street large
#6: WG couple at waterfront w/ crown
#1: Titanium Blue couple at sunset
#2: TB couple at waterfront
#3: TB large blue-gray couple

I would appreciate any input. If you like one cover over another but feel it needs something please feel free to make suggestions.

#4: TB large full-color couple
#1: Evergreen Crystals, medium full-color couple
#2: EC bleached cover
#3: EC bright couple blurred background