Look It Up

Do you know what this is? Do you know what it looks like before it turns into that big puffy ball of fluff?

I'm not going to tell you. If you know the answer, good for you. I've met a lot of people who don't have any clue where that thing comes from. If you do not know the name of it, please look it up.


Do you know what those little bell-like flowers turn into? Blueberries--wild blueberries. These low shrubs grow all over New Jersey. In fact, blueberries are New Jersey's official state fruit. I photographed this little blueberry bush in Turkey Swamp Park.

What is this amazing plant? Daughter #1 took this photo on a hike. The people hiking with her did not know the name of this unusual plant although it grows in woodlands all over New Jersey in the spring. It is called a jack-in-the-pulpit.

Why should you care about the names of plants?

Because they are part of the world around you. If you are a writer, you just might get a story out of it. :-)

While walking around the block one day, I noticed a large plant with small, white flowers. I looked it up and discovered it was boneset. Native Americans used it for fevers. (Though you should not try this at home.) You can read an article about it HERE.

Boneset plays a big part in Patriot's Heart, my Revolutionary War historical which will be released in February. If I had not been intrigued by the plant and had not looked into the background of boneset, I suppose I could have come up with something else for my story--but boneset was perfect considering the historical time period and the availability of the plant in this area.

So look around you. If you see something and you don't know what it is, find out. You'll be amazed at what is in your own backyard.

You might get a story out of it.

My First Memories

Once upon a time, I was little. Yes, that pudgy, round face belongs to me. It's hard to believe but my mother labeled the photograph in her lovely flowing script so I know it's true.

I've changed considerably since I posed for that photograph. With another birthday looming ahead, I can look back and be grateful for all I've had--loving parents who made sure I had a good education, great siblings, a terrific husband, wonderful daughters, interesting work experiences, and fun friends. I had some tough times, but life has been rather interesting--and any of the bad parts I can always use in a book. :-)

Yes, that's the beauty of being a writer. Nothing goes to waste. All sorts of experiences can be recycled.

My first memories are not happy ones. I went into the hospital at the age of three and the doctors did not know what had caused my illness, but since polio was rampant back then they suspected it and put me in an isolation ward. I was there for along time. I remember sitting in a crib in a huge dark room, all alone. I remember the irritable nurse. I remember my father coming to visit me wearing a suit. (He always wore a suit to work.) He read me a story and gave me ice cream. He also lifted me up so I could look down and see my mother and brother far below on the pavement. Only--I could not see them. It was a long way down, and I was not sure where to look. My mother was not well and could not visit me. :-(

The doctors gave me antibiotics and I recovered. I did not have polio.

I remember leaving the hospital. Stepping out of the elevator in a beautiful party dress. (Yes, I knew it was a special dress even then.)

What's your first memory? Is it a good one or a bad one?

My Brother's Birthday

My brother would have been sixty-five years old today. Instead, he died nearly forty years ago in an F-111 fighter jet crash.

Happy Birthday in heaven, bro.

Buy This Book

I wish I had this book when my mother was in the hospital.

I found the book at the AAUW Book Sale last Saturday. I got it for $4, used. Whoever owned it underlined all the pertinent passages.

It's scary! But knowledge is power--and the information in this book could save your life or the life of a loved one.

Click on the Amazon link below:

If you don't have the money to buy it, borrow it at your library.

Bulletin Boards, A Tough Chore

School is back in session, but I'm home writing books. :-) I taught first grade for seven years. After our daughters were born, I did some substitute teaching, and then I spent eighteen years working as a pre-k teacher. I enjoyed teaching young children. I did not enjoy putting up bulletin boards. To me, creating bulletin boards was the toughest part of the job, but I had to do it.

I enjoy sketching and painting, but those are far different artistic disciplines. Plus bulletin boards have to be changed constantly. Some of my attempts were good, some--not so good. It was always a challenge. I liked displaying the kiddies' projects best. Below are a few of the bulletin boards I put together.

This is me about ten years ago standing in front of a rather simple bulletin board. The kiddies cut out the flowers, which was a difficult task for some of them. (One problem with pre-k is that some of the kiddies don't want to give away their flower once they've cut it out.)

Obviously, the class was working on the sound of the letter R. I liked the bright colors in the rainbows. The letters were made with sponge stamps.

I like snowflakes. I made paper snowflakes. The kiddies played with blue fingerpaint. When they were done sliding their fingers around, I dropped one of my paper snowflakes on their fingerpaint. Then I placed another sheet of paper over that. Voila! A print! This was fun. :-)

I put heart-shaped paper into a tray, added paint and marbles. The kiddies rolled the marbles around in the tray. They loved doing that. Some were a bit too enthusiastic and paint-covered marbles went rolling across the floor!

Teaching young children was exhausting but I got a huge dose of happy smiles every day. My arms got plenty of exercise tacking up those bulletin boards. :-)

My Special Toastmaster

That's Daughter #1 at the Toastmasters International Convention. One of her stories was included in an anthology, Heart of a Toastmaster. She went to Cincinnati for the convention and signed copies of the book. Toastmasters is a terrific organization. You can find their website HERE.

Toastmasters become better, more effective speakers. If you don't believe me, read Heart of a Toastmaster, which you can purchase HERE.

What Happened to Summer?

That's me, in my early twenties, trying to do a watercolor painting on Sandy Hook of the Life Saving Station. My mother, my sisters, and my BFF were with me--although only Ma and I were serious about painting. :-)

It was a great summertime activity.

Somehow, summers in the past seemed longer. This one went by rather quickly. Hubby suddenly realized it's almost over and he didn't do all his favorite summertime things yet. Part of the reason was our car troubles.

Then there's me and my edits. It's nice to have a bunch of books up for sale, but behind every release there are many hours spent in front of the computer.

So this year, we missed some of summer's delights.

How about you? Did you enjoy the summer? What summer opportunities did you miss out on this year?

Seen in an Antique Store...

The mummy case is actually storage for wine or liquor. Hubby and I saw it in an antique store in New Port Richey, Florida. Hubby asked me to get out my cell phone and record this video.

Yes, that's the man I love. :-)

I'm just glad we didn't bring it home with us.

Our Honeymoon

Thirty-seven years ago, we went to Bermuda on our honeymoon. Hubby carried me through a moongate. We went on a rum-swizzle cruise. We rented motor scooters and zipped around the island. We toured the caves, the fort, and the perfume factory. We tried snorkeling.

It was great fun!

Where did you go on your honeymoon?

Superstitions

Do you think you'll get your wish? I'm not sure about that.

My mother was superstitious. Of course, most of her superstitions had been handed down to her from her mother--a woman born in an age where life expectancy was somewhere near 50. Grandma beat those odds and did amazingly well because she made it to 90. However, she would not have made it that far without modern surgical techniques and modern medicine.

Still, her superstitions persisted and many of them are ingrained in my mind. Some of her old wives' tales are really ridiculous, but after hearing them over and over, they becomes something like truth--though they aren't.

One of the negative things about the internet is that it allows people to propagate falsehoods and pseudo-science in the same way--by repetition. Obviously when humans see or hear something numerous times, they believe it.

But that doesn't make it so. For those who missed it, I wrote a blog post specifically about political rumors HERE.

Grandma and my mother's superstitions touched on everything from who would be visiting to the the usual symbols of bad luck.

For instance, if you dropped a spoon a woman would be visiting you. If you dropped a fork, a man would be dropping by.

But if you dropped a knife, look out! There was bound to be a fight.

If you saw a spider, it would rain.

What are some of the superstitions you've heard?

My DIY Book Promo

Back in 1955, my father bought a bungalow which was simply a shell. Plywood on the outside, studs on the inside. He put in insulation and sheetrock. I was spackling wallboard at a young age. He dug out a basement. I pushed wheelbarrows full of dirt.

I learned early that the do-it-yourself work ethic saves money. When I became a published author, I knew I could promote my books and keep more of the royalties for myself if did as much as I could on my own.

Name recognition takes TIME (do not expect instant success). However, it doesn’t have to take a ton of money.

I keep four things in mind when it comes to marketing my books while keeping within a budget.

• Don’t always listen to the experts.
  
• Be dedicated to an online presence.
  
• Use hands-on promotion whenever possible.
  
• Keep Yoda's philosophy in mind. “Do or do not... there is no try.”
  

One of the reason I don’t have much faith in the experts is that they proclaimed the death of the ebook around the time my first ebook, SEA OF HOPE, was published in 2001.

I owned a Rocket E-Book reader and to me it just as good as a paper book—and in many ways better due to the back light and unlimited font sizes. I had faith that the rest of the world would come around.

The ebook revolution took longer than I thought it would. However, once the Kindle launched in November of 2007, sales for ebooks skyrocketed.

According to a survey compiled by the Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group in 2012, e-books accounted for 20 percent of publishers’ revenues, up from 15 percent in 2011. This data represents only US revenues from approximately 12 to 15 trade publishers. With actual retail numbers, those figures might double.

The future of publishing is here, but the competition is fierce.

The most important part of my marketing plan is writing the best book and then writing another and another. Experts have plenty of ideas as to how an author should brand themselves and according to those experts I’ve done everything wrong when it comes to branding.

I’ve written in multiple subgenres of romance and used my own name. I have not changed my persona.

However, I am not alone. James Patterson, while famous for his thrillers has also written romances, inspirational stories, science fiction, nonfiction, fantasy, graphic novels, Christmas-themed books, and lately Young Adult. There is a James Patterson book for every audience. This has not hurt his sales. It has expanded his reach.

James Patterson doesn’t listen to experts and he makes a ton of money. (If I wrote faster, maybe I could catch up.)

Once upon a time when everything in the publishing world moved at a glacial pace, an author could write one blockbuster and be successful. Margaret Mitchell wrote one book, Gone With the Wind. Harper Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird and never wrote another novel—even though she won a Pulitzer Prize for her book!

In today’s market, every author is competing with the likes of Nora Roberts. She has written more bestsellers than anyone else in the world. I believe she is now up to 203 full-length novels (or something like that). Her output is incredible!

Nora isn’t the only competition. With the advent of the Kindle, anyone can publish their books—that means there are more self-published books than ever.

What can an author do to make books stand out in the crowd?

Here’s what I’ve done:

1. Enter contests and win. This is so you can call yourself an award-winning author. It helps to give you credibility.

2. Be nice to everyone—even other authors. Some of them might give you a good review on Amazon. Getting good reviews on Amazon or other online sites does help—people do read those comments.

Don’t knock another author’s work. As my mother always told me, if you don’t have something nice to say—don’t say it.

3. Keep your ear to the ground by joining other professional writers’ groups. Belonging to a group is money well spent. You need support in this business. When new opportunities come up, you want to be the first author with her foot in the door. I heard about a new publisher, Prism Book Group, on the Marketing for Romance Writers Yahoo Group. I sent in Daddy Wanted and I got a contract.

4. Spend time every day online. Ebooks are online. I believe authors need a very visible presence if they intend to market their books online. I have a website and a blog. I put up blog posts at least twice a week. I am on Triberr, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads, Shelfari, and LinkedIn. I have an Amazon author page. I am a member of several Yahoo groups as well.

All of that costs me nothing but time, even with my website, the only thing I pay for is my domain name. My website is free. Free is the way to go.

I had to learn HTML because in the beginning of the web, page building tools were not good or non-existent. Things have gotten much better in that regard. It’s a lot easier nowadays. Anyone can do it.

And yes, time is money and promotion uses up some of my precious writing time. However, nobody will know I exist if I don't do it. The connectivity of the web is a boon to any author. My blog posts automatically go to my Amazon author page, my Goodreads and LinkedIn pages. When I tweet the news about my latest post, it transfers to my Facebook page.

I often tweet from my cell phone. There are no excuses for not having frequent status updates. And the whole point of all this connectivity is to interact—to get people to respond to your messages. (Hint: photos often work best.)

Restricting your status updates to only writing related stuff gets old fast. Put in personal stuff. Or even silly stuff. It’s amazing what gets folks to respond to your comments. Once, when I posted a status update about buying Easter candy and then having a craving to eat a chocolate bunny, I hit a raw nerve. Many people responded and one woman confessed to devouring a whole box of Peeps. :-)

I recommend keeping your political views to yourself. People get very hot under the collar about politics and you might lose some potential readers.

Sarah Wendell--who blogs at http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/--strongly believes that offering free reads on your website will help sell your books. Free reads provide a taste--a sample of your work. J. A. Konrath has tons of free stuff on his website and has made a lot of money selling some of his other work for $1.99 at Amazon.

Check out his blog, A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing at http://jakonrath.blogspot.com

Don't forget newsletters. They do get results. I use Mailchimp to send out my newsletter. I’ve collected names and email addresses for years. I advertise my contests and latest book. This is a tedious, but it works. Very famous authors do this, too. There’s a reason. It’s cheap and effective.

My Hands On—DIY Promotion Projects.
• Brochures.
  
  For these, I recommend HP’s trifold brochure paper. Best stuff ever. Already scored. I set up a Word document in a landscape format with three columns. On one page I place—in a small font--as much of the first chapter as I can fit—ending with something dramatic. On the other page, I put in images of my other books, a bio, and contact information. I like them better than bookmarks because your potential readers get a little taste of your writing. You can also leave them in all sorts of places.
  
  
• Postcards
  
  I like these better than bookmarks, too. I keep theses in my handbag and hand them out to EVERYONE. (Don't be shy.) You can get postcards done professionally, they don't cost much, but if you have a laser print and a nice glossy paper, you can do this yourself as well. Having a laser printer has been a big help. I used to do everything on an inkjet, but it took forever.
  
  I have a paper cutter at home, too, which is a big boost when it comes to cutting anything to size.
  
  For one writer's conference I attached small tea light candles to my postcards. I put the candles in a small piece of tulle and tied it to the bookmark with thin satin ribbon. The tea light candles came from the Dollar Store—as did the tulle. It was a very inexpensive promo item.
  
  
  
• Notecards:
  
  I have a software program called Print Explosion for my Mac. I use card stock and put the image of one of my books on the cover of the notecard. I leave the inside blank, but on the back I put in either a book blurb or a rave review along with all the pertinent information about the book. I have offered sets of notecards as prizes—Romance Junkies often has contests and asks for prizes. Hoping that the recipients will then send a notecard along to Aunt Tilly and subsequently, Aunt Tilly will download the book on her Kindle.
  
  With notecards, you have the possibility of getting in touch with more than one person.
  
  
• T-Shirts
  
  Anyone who wins one of your shirts automatically becomes a walking billboard when they wear it.
  
  Buy a good brand of iron-on transfer—like Avery. If you want to use a colored t-shirt, you have to use the dark t-shirt transfers—which cost a bit more. The white t-shirt transfers are cheaper and I believe last longer—but the image has to be flipped before you print it out.
  
  You must have an inkjet printer for the transfers. There are special ones available for laser printers, but those types of transfers need a heat press—not an iron. And heat presses are not cheap.
  
  If you follow the instructions, these come out nicely.
  
  
• Book Videos
  
  My favorite marketing project is the book video. This is perfect because—again—ebook readers are online. These little commercials for books should not be more than 2 minutes long—and preferably less.
  
  If you have a Mac, you have iMovie which is super simple to use. For the PC, you can use Windows Movie Maker. Michelle Pillow has directions at her blog. That’s where I first learned how to do it. http://www.michellepillow.com/book_videos_how_to.htm
  
  You need some copyright free music—and I recommend Kevin Macleod’s incompetech.com.
  
  You need photos or video clips. (Make sure you’re not stealing these either.) You can buy some wonderful photos at istockphoto.com—the pictures are relatively inexpensive. Of course, it’s better if you can use your own pix. I carry my little digital camera with me wherever I go. Sometimes, I'll shoot a video, too.
  
  Keep the words in a book video to a minimum. Some people do voice overs—I haven’t tried that yet because I have a squeaky, pre-k teacher voice. Maybe I should get hubby do it. He has a deep voice.
  
  Once my video is complete, I upload it to Youtube, Facebook, and my blog.
  
  Then I convert my book videos to DVD files. I make them loop, and have the DVD play during my book signings on a small DVD player. This helps attract attention.
  
  
• Press Releases
  
  I do these, too. It isn't difficult. Yes, it's a shot in the dark but sometimes it works--especially with local newspapers and magazine.
  
  

Finally,
In the words of Yoda, “Do or do not.. There is no try.”

You cannot be shrinking violet in this business. (Did I tell you I was shy when I was a child?) You have to let the world know you are an author and that you have books available. Giving talks at libraries, other writers' chapters, and at conferences is a great way to toot your own horn. You can also write articles for chapter newsletters. This is all free stuff. It is promotion on a shoestring.

It doesn’t take much skill but it does take time. It’s harder than writing the book.

But it is something that no author can ignore.

There are plenty of books—you have to convince readers that your book is the one they should buy.

Buttermilk Biscuits

Nothing out of a refrigerated can of dough can match the goodness of real, homemade biscuits.

4 cups unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter (softened at room temperature)
1 1/3 cup buttermilk (you may need a little more)

Mix dry ingredients. Thoroughly work butter into the mixture with your hands. Quickly stir in buttermilk, adding more, little by little, until the dough is soft and light but not sticky.

Turn out onto a floured board. With floured hands, pat down or knead until smooth. Roll lightly 3/4 inch thick. Use a round biscuit cutter or an ordinary glass tumbler to cut out biscuits. Spray a cookie sheet with PAM. Place biscuits on cookie sheet close together for soft biscuits.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 to 17 minutes.

Great with butter or jam!

Enjoy. :-)

Thirty-Seventh Wedding Anniversary

On Wednesday, it will be thirty-seven years since hubby and I said our vows. After the ceremony at the church, the wedding party went to Holmdel Park where the photographer arranged us in formal poses in the arboretum. It was an overcast day, but at least it did not rain while we tramped around in the grass.

Since it was the bicentennial year, I had thought a red, white, and blue theme for the wedding party would be a fabulous idea, but hubby thought it would be a bit much. On further consideration, I decided he was right.

The bridesmaid dresses were white with small, red polka dots. They wore red and white flower crowns. They carried red and white bouquets. The men had red-edged ruffles on their shirts.

Red has always been my favorite color, but blue runs a close second.

Thirty-seven years have gone by in a flash it seems, but I am always glad hubby and I found each other.

Our Screen Test

The day after our nephew's wedding in Pittsburgh, we visited the Andy Warhol museum. Daughter #2 had it on her "must see" list. Among other things, Andy Warhol amassed a collection of videos. He took videos of everyone. In one room of the museum, there is a movie camera where anyone can sit down for a screen test.

Hubby and I decided to try it. We sang the Anniversary Waltz. However, the sound was not recorded, which was a good thing. (I forgot most of the words.) You can see our screen test at the link below.

http://warholscreentest.com/v/AWM/Penelope_s_Screen_Test-63510615555071

Tips for Road Trips

Last week, hubby and I drove to Pittsburgh to see our nephew get married. We also drove back. I am used to road trips. Every single summer when I was young, my family drove out to the Pittsburgh area to visit my grandparents and a whole passel of other relatives. Then we went to Ohio to visit more relatives. The Pennsylvania Turnpike is like an old friend. Still, four hundred miles one way is a long haul.

There are many sites online which list sensible tips for road trips. You should read them before you set out. Anything can happen on the road--and usually does.

I have a short list of tips based upon this last trip to Pittsburgh.

1. Make sure your maps or GPS are up to date. Pittsburgh changed all the exit numbers on me. It has changed the names of several streets, too. In addition, the Squirrel Hill tunnel is closed on the weekend. While it helps to have a sense of direction, a current map or GPS can save you from riding around in circles.

2. Carry antifreeze, oil, and water along with jumper cables and the necessary equipment for changing tires. Make sure you check all fluids in the car before you leave. Our car overheated at the rest stop at Sidling Hill on the turnpike. We did not bring an antifreeze along but a very kind young man handed us a gallon of the stuff. We drove for the rest of the trip without any air conditioning fearing the car would overheat again.

3. Good music helps--a lot. The driver always gets to choose. If you intend to go on a road trip with your significant other, it would be advantageous if you share a similar taste in music. (Think about this carefully before you marry anyone.) Still, it is very difficult to hear music on the Pennsylvania Turnpike with the windows wide open because the air conditioning is not running.

Yes, we made it to Pittsburgh for the wedding--and we had a great time. We also arrived home but I am rather disenchanted with our puny 4 cylinder engine that couldn't.

I want an eighteen wheeler. The kind with the bed in the back of the cab and a kitchen. Sort of like the fancy custom model below.:-)

Atmosphere

Have you ever driven south on the Garden State Parkway in a thunderstorm? I have. Parts of southern NJ remain remote and desolate. Once I chanced to see the Parkway Phantom as I drove along in a terrible storm. You can read that story HERE.

On another trip as the rain poured down and I pulled out of the Asbury tolls, all the other vehicles seemed to vanish into the gray wall of water. I could not see the other cars anymore, but I knew they were still there. I drove slower and peered through the windshield searching for red tail lights. That's when I started thinking about writing a time travel novel. The atmosphere got to me. That's why Lesley in The Pirate's Wraith is driving south on the Garden State Parkway.

Go to the book's page at Amazon, HERE. Click on the cover to look inside the book. You can read the entire scene. :-)

Advice

That's my mother in a photo taken not long before she passed away. Tomorrow will mark the fourth anniversary of her death. I miss her. Most of all, I miss her guidance. When it came to handing out advice, Mom was a pro. She should have been a psychologist. She listened carefully and then she gave her recommendation in a decisive tone. She did not waver or hesitate.

She was always right. :-)

With three daughters, I've done a lot of listening and I've given out plenty of advice, but I don't always know if my ideas are the best ideas. I wish Mom was here to back me up--or offer better suggestions.

Beating the Heat

Here's how I used to beat the heat when I was a youngster. I got wet and stayed in a wet bathing suit for the rest of the day. There's my brother on the left, then me with the scrunched up face, then my sister, and on the right, my beautiful mother. :-)

It's been very hot in NJ this week, rather brutal in fact. I am staying inside in air conditioned comfort. It is too hot for the beach.

It was never too hot for the beach when I was young.

We lived by the bay, where there was almost always a breeze. (In the wintertime, that breeze turned into a strong wind that rattled the windows.) I don't remember being hot when I was a child--except when we went out to visit my grandparents in western Pennsylvania. They did not have a bay, a beach, or any large body of water nearby--except for a town pool.

It was too hot to move.

How do you beat the heat?

The Book I Had to Write

My pirate/time travel romance, The Pirate's Wraith, is now available HERE at New Concepts Publishing for a special introductory price. It received a 5 Star review at PRG Reviews, which you can read HERE.

While it is true that I've been compelled to write every one of my books for some reason or another, the foundation of this particular novel grew out of my childhood in the little town of Cliffwood Beach, New Jersey. For as long as anyone can remember, there was always talk and speculation about the location of Captain Kidd's treasure. It was reported to be somewhere in that area.

In the 1920s, developers took advantage of the legends and built a pirate ship to serve as a realty office, intending to draw people to the area and sell them plots of land. A salt-water pool, a casino, a boardwalk, and small cottages added further enticements. When a hurricane in 1950 destroyed the boardwalk, people began to convert their bungalows to year round homes.

My parents moved there in the mid-1950s. Our house was situated above Treasure Lake, which was separated from Raritan Bay by a narrow strip of land. As children, my siblings and I entertained the idea of finding Captain Kidd's treasure. Once, during the early spring, I dug into some soft dirt in the cliff. Unfortunately, I wound up with a bad case of poison ivy from that adventure.

However, I became thoroughly interested in pirates and their history. The die was cast--so to speak.

So if you're looking for a watery adventure on the high seas, check out The Pirate's Wraith, and buy it now before the price goes up. :-)

Summer Camp With MFRW!

I've never gone to summer camp. I went on some overnight camping trips with the Girls Scouts. My family and I did plenty of camping on our own because it was the most inexpensive way to go places. However, I never had the experience of going to a summer camp. Sigh.

Until now. :-)

Marketing for Romance Writers has set up a summer camp at the Coffee Time forums' site. I've been a member of the MFRW Yahoo group for quite a while. I've gotten lots of useful information and I discovered Prism Book Group there, too. I am looking forward to learning more about promotion and the business of writing.

If you want to join, go HERE. It's time for you to discover all the inside secrets of marketing. Oh--and maybe someone will bring along the S'mores, too.