October Special!

If you're someone who likes stories of ghosts, goblins, and things that go bump in the night, you're in for a special bargain. The price of THE COMPANY YOU KEEP is now reduced to $0.99 for the entire month of October. All fans of Halloween should love this story. Diane Tugman of The Romance Studio said, "With each chapter you'll be drawn into a tangled web of the supernatural. Anastasia Castella-Young of Mind Fog Reviews said, "I highly recommend this paranormal romance to those interested in demons, spirits, adventure and love. Penelope Marzec hits the mark dead on!"

This special price is only available on the Kindle Editon at http://amzn.com/B00WQ77NSW

Download it now so you have something to read on a cold, dark night when the moon is full and you hear the wind whistling through the trees. :-o

Four Birthdays, One Party

Happy Birthday to us! My father, two of my daughters, and I celebrate our birthdays within the span of one week's time every year. So I throw a big birthday bash and invite the rest of the family. This year there were eighteen of us altogether. I tossed a whole bunch of chicken in the Crockpot, added Ragu's Roasted Garlic and Parmesan sauce and let it simmer forever. (It comes out very, very tender.) There were noodles and veggies to accompany the chicken. Daughter #3 and her hunny brought salad and home-canned pickles. My sister brought an assortment of her home-canned pickles. (Seems we have farmers in the family.) At any rate, there were leftovers, which is always a good thing.

My sister and her gang brought their own bedding, which makes my life easier. There were hours and hours of talking. No television. No internet.

No writing either, but that's fine. It's wonderful to have the family gathered for a happy occasion. We're all a little older, but we've enjoyed many blessings.

Sto Lat!

When Do You Read?

In the late afternoon when I'm tired and a cup of tea seems like a good idea, I usually open up a book. My brief respite from the world may not last long, but it does refresh me.

Most nights, before I close my eyes I read a novel. I have found this practice usually chases away any nightmares. At least, it works for me.

When do you read? What was the last book you read? Do you read novels, or only non-fiction?

Reading novels is a good habit to develop. Several studies prove this. The following article offers a good overview of the results you can expect from reading fiction.

http://www.realsimple.com/health/preventative-health/benefits-of-reading-real-books

So open up a novel today. It'll do you good. :-)

One Week Sale

If you want a great read at a small price, now is the time to buy Irons in the Fire. It will be $0.99 until September 23, 2015.

This book has a special place in my heart. I love all my books, in the same way I love all my children--but each one is unique. Irons in the Fire was the first book I finished. It received the most rejections, but it gained some especially nice recognition when it was finally published.

Originally published by New Concepts Publishing, it was later reissued by Crescent Moon Press. The rights now belong to me once more and the book  is available in both print and digital editions. 

It was a nominee for Best Small Press Paranormal in Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award and has received excellent reviews.

Long and Short Reviews gave it 4 1/2 Stars and said, "The twists in this one were totally unexpected. There are surprises all along the way to the final revelation of who was behind all of the evil in the town. I did not expect some of this at all. I like that in a mystery--not knowing is the best kind of plot.

The romance builds slowly, and for each step these two take toward each other, they take two steps back. I loved it when they finally acknowledged their feeling were real, and the passion they finally let loose was wonderful." 

You can find the book at Amazon: http://amzn.com/B0112J0KIE
Hurry and download it now before the sale ends!

I wish...

I wish I could write faster. Some authors churn out books at an incredible speed. I plod along in comparison--although under pressure I can get down one thousand words a day. However, for me that's a big struggle and things like laundry and supper may not happen under those conditions.

Most of the time, I am a seat-of-the-pants writer, though not completely because I do start with an outline. The problem is that sometimes my characters veer off from my carefully made plans. If they happen to have a good explanation for their actions, I will allow them to go their own way and then adjust my outline.

I do write everyday whenever possible, but sometimes that's unrealistic. I also like to sleep regular hours. I am not one of those writers who stays up until dawn.

I don't watch television, except for the news or some special shows. I had hoped that when I retired there would be more time for writing. Ha! I didn't think about how elderly relatives would impact my writing schedule. Still, there are plenty of other authors with real, full-time jobs who put out three books or more a year.

And I cannot imagine how they do it.

Still, I have a good time writing and I am not going to give it up any time soon.

So my fans will just have to be patient with me. :^)

How fast do you write?

I Need Reviews

In the world of Amazon, more reviews guarantee books better placement in ads. It's tough enough to get people to buy or read books. It seems to be nearly impossible to get anyone (even relatives or very dear friends!) to place a review on Amazon.

A review does not need to be a book report like the kind you had to write in the fifth grade. It should simply tell if you liked the book and why.

For tips on writing reviews please read 12 Things Everybody and His Grandmother Needs to Know.

Remember that writing a review is the best thing you can do for an author.

I suggest you turn off the television. You don't need to binge watch every episode of an ancient TV series. Pick up a book and open the pages. Exercise your mind. :-)

Chocolate Cherry Cake

I have too many cookbooks. When I first buy one, I study all the recipes, try a few, find a couple favorites, and then move on to another cookbook. I recently rediscovered an interesting cookbook, The RV & Camping Gourmet, from U-Haul. I bought the book because we used to go camping when our daughters were young.

We haven't gone camping in a long, long time. However, recently Daughter #1 bought her boyfriend a set of camping recipe cards. It was then I remembered my own camping cookbook. I took it off the shelf and started browsing through it. Many of the one-pot meals would have been handy when we had no electricity for eight days after Hurricane Sandy hit. At that time, since we had no refrigeration, I cooked up many meals using canned meat. The RV & Camping Gourmet has several one-pot recipes which used canned meat.

But there are desserts, too. :-)

Daughter #1 tried one the other day. It's not too sweet, but quite a pleasant end to a meal. It uses no eggs or milk. It's quick, simple, and good.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY CAKE

1  21-ounce can cherry pie filling
2 1/4  cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2  cups sugar
3/4  cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2  teaspoons baking soda
3/4  teaspoon salt
1 1/2  cups water
1/2  cup cooking oil
1/4  cup vinegar
1 1/2  teaspoons vanilla

Spread the cherry pie filling evenly over the bottom of a greased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. In a large bowl stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, soda, and salt. In another bowl combine water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Add liquid ingredients to flour mixture all at once; stir just to moisten. Pour batter evenly over cherry pie filling. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes or till cake tests done. Cool 10 minutes in pan; invert and cool

Makes 12 to 16 servings.

It's rather nice with whipped cream, too.

Goodbye Summer

I took this photo last week at Ocean Grove. We went to the last summer band concert in the pavilion on the boardwalk as the sun set and the moon rose. For many, many years the end of summer for me meant heading back into the classroom to teach a brand new group of students. Since I retired, I don't have the sense of anticipation I used to have when September rolled around. I don't have to put up an eye-catching new bulletin board, I don't have to memorize names, and I don't have to plan my lessons.

For me now, summer just flows into fall. The leaves litter the driveway. The weather turns cooler. I watch over my father and my mother-in-law, keeping track of doctor's visits, taking them on outings, filling up their pill boxes, and paying their bills.

When I can, I sit down and write.

The summer things I always miss are the outdoor cultural events, like the band concerts. But I miss the amusement parks and the carnivals, too. I even miss sitting outside and eating in our own backyard.

What will you miss when summer is gone?

Romance With a Motorboat

There's a very old, well-known writer's adage which says, "Write what you know." Some writing authorities don't consider it a valid piece of advice. Some do. I believe real life winds up in every novel in some shape or form--because that's what makes the writing feel real.

In my book, Irons in the Fire, the hero owns a motorboat. Not surprisingly, my first date with hubby involved a ride in his motorboat. That's him in the photo standing in the boat while unhooking his lines. The boat was sixteen feet long and had a sixty-five horsepower Johnson outboard motor on the back. We went up the river and down the river and then we went out for pizza.

I had a good time. We went on more dates. We went up and down the river, sometimes we ventured into the Shrewsbury River, and occasionally we would drop anchor in Horseshoe Cove along Sandy Hook. We never went far into the bay because the boat was rather small and the waves in the bay can get rather large at times.

I packed picnic lunches, which we ate in the boat. We also dined at restaurants if they had docks along the river where we could tie up the boat.

We hopped into the boat to watch the Fourth of July fireworks. We got stuck on sandbars. We towed sailboats under the bridge. We helped to right sailboats when they toppled over.

We used up a lot of gasoline, but it was far less expensive in those days.

Love blossomed between us and by the following summer we were married.

Eventually, after baby #1 came along, we moved to a larger home five miles inland and sold the boat. It had been fun but we had other things to do.

When I wrote Irons in the Fire, all those rides up and down the river came back to haunt me--and I put them into the book. The plot is an invention, but the boat rides are not.

So if you'd like to spend a few evenings going for a virtual cruise up and down the river, I recommend Irons in the Fire.

But it now at AMAZON!

Hidden In The Reeds

There's a small lake in Thompson Park named Marlu Lake. Sometimes hubby and I take his mother and my father to the lake just to sit for a while and watch the scenery. Sometimes there are Canadian geese floating around on the lake. Last week, we saw a whole family of swans. Often, there are kayakers paddling along on the water. 

There were some very tall reeds growing at the edge on one side, but recently the reeds were cut down and I saw the white flowers pictured above. I didn't know what they were, but I am always curious to learn the names of things I don't know. After all, I might be able to use it in a story.

From what I gather, the plant is called Arrowhead. You can find more information about it at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittaria_latifolia

Another site (http://www.gpnc.org/arrowhea.htm) stated, "The corms were harvested by Native Americans (usually the women) in the fall.  They would feel around with their toes to locate and dislodge the tubers, which would float to the surface where they could be gathered.  Bitter when raw, they become quite tasty after cooking. For long periods of time when they were following the lower Columbia River in present-day Oregon, the Lewis and Clark expedition lived mainly on elk meat (which they killed themselves) and wapato purchased from the local tribes."

So if I was going to send a character off into the wilderness, I might have them eat the tubers of the arrowhead. :-)

Mental Health and Hearing Aids

Each of us have five senses. Why would anyone dismiss one of those as being negligible? Yet, many people do when it comes to hearing. They don't want to wear a hearing aid because they are vain--or they don't want to pay for one because it's expensive. Of course, Medicare doesn't cover the expense. Obviously, the government thinks the loss of hearing isn't tragic. 

But it is. A Johns Hopkins News Release stated, "The findings add to a growing list of health consequences associated with hearing loss, including increased risk of dementia, falls, hospitalizations, and diminished physical and mental health overall."

Read more about it here: Hearing Loss Linked to Accelerated Brain Tissue Loss

I have lived with hearing impaired people all my life. My father can't hear a thing without his hearing aid. His father, my grandfather also needed a hearing aid. My husband wears two hearing aids--but he is far better at figuring out songs by ear than I am. :-) 

As some of our friends are aging, their hearing has diminished. Yet, they refuse to get hearing aids. Hubby was talking to one of his friends the other day. He asked his friend a question, but his friend didn't answer him. That's because he didn't hear the question, but he doesn't believe he has a problem and he doesn't want to get a hearing aid. :-(

And that is sad. He will miss more than one question as the years go by. 

Sometimes Even Editors Should Use a Dictionary

At the writers' meeting last Saturday, I chatted with some authors whose editors ask them to change words in their stories because those editors didn't know the word. I've had that happen to me. I have spent most of my life near water. Once an editor judging a contest complained about my use of the word bulkhead. 

"What is that?" she wrote on the manuscript. (This was back in the old days of paper manuscripts.) This upset me because the word is in the dictionary and it's a very important word to know if you're living by an ocean or a river--where you will see a lot of bulkheads. 

In the discussion on Saturday, one author noted that using the proper terminology is important to the book and especially pertinent to the setting of the book. The main characters would be aware of the names of things and places proper to that place--the vocabulary of the area.

When I wrote Daddy Wanted, my editor questioned me about my use of the word DUMBO. The book is set in New York City and everyone in New York City knows where DUMBO is. I've been to DUMBO. Wikipedia says, "Dumbo, also known as DUMBO, is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. 'Dumbo' is an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass."

My editor lives in Canada, but she's a very good and reasonable editor. When I explained that DUMBO is the well-known name of a specific area in NYC, she allowed me to keep the word in the book. 

Any editor has a tough job, which I don't envy. If there are 80,000 words in a book, the editor has to pore over each and every one of those words.

But sometimes, just like the rest of us, if an editor sees a word she doesn't know, she should look it up in the dictionary or on the internet. If the word is part of the jargon of a particular place, the word should stay in the book. At least, that's my opinion. :-)


What do you think?

I Signed a New Contract!

Prism Book Group is planning a new series based on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Each author is going to be responsible for illustrating one part of the verse. I proposed an idea for Love Always Hopes--and yesterday I received the contract. :-)

My story will be titled Hoping for Joy. The series will begin in February. I am so excited to be part of this new venture and I can't wait to read the other authors' stories, too.

Sweet and Short and Just Right

Need a dose of sweetness? You'll find it in this collection of short stories. I've gathered seven of my compact romances into a small ebook. Right now, this anthology is exclusive to Kindle and free for those who subscribe to Kindle Unlimited. For everyone else the price is $0.99, which should buy you a lighter heart and a smile. 

You can find the book at http://amzn.com/B013OAMBSG

Thirty-Nine Years!

Thirty-nine years ago we were toasting our wedding at Diamond Jim's in Matawan. That reception hall is now gone, but we still make a good team. I hardly ate any of the prime rib we had chosen for our wedding feast. Actually, hubby was the one who favored the prime rib. Or was it Diamond Jim? He had a way of convincing us to get the most expensive things on the menu--like the cherry filling in the wedding cake. I would have been happy with lemon filling, but Diamond Jim assured me the guests would be horrified. I should put him in a novel somewhere. :-)

Actually, we hardly had any time to enjoy the party. The photographer was always ordering us around to pose here and there. The time flew.

But I remember our first dance. We swayed to Colour My World.


Then it was all over and we were off on our honeymoon. After that, it was thirty-nine very busy years of working, raising children, and now caring for elderly parents. Oh yes, and writing books and making music, too. It's been a blast!

On The Radio!

On Sunday night, I was invited to join Authors in the Round, a live radio show hosted by Karen Smith, president of Three Worlds Press. The show was broadcast from http://www.40footholestudio.com in Lanoka Harbor at the Murray Grove Retreat Center. It was a wonderful experience. Scott Wieczorek is on the right. He read excerpts from his latest book, Witness Through Time. Coming in via Skype was Sheri Velarde, who read excerpts from her book, Quest for Redemption. I read excerpts from both Patriot's Heart and Patriot's Pride. 

We also discussed our backgrounds, writing habits, and the initial spark that started us on the path to authorship. 

Hubby took the photo above so it's his fault that it's fuzzy. However, he also made a nice digital recording of my responses at the event which I put on a CD so my father can listen to it. 

There were plenty of munchies to nibble on before the show and during the break. We had a live audience, too. And someone from Arizona called in to ask a question. How cool is that? 

I was thrilled to be there. 

Should Authors Give Their Books Away?

I sent out four paper copies of PATRIOT'S PRIDE on Saturday to readers who were picked for a Goodreads Giveaway. I'm hoping I'll get four reviews, but I know I'll be extremely fortunate if I do. I still believe the Goodreads Giveaway program is a great way to get people to notice my books. 556 people signed up for the giveaway and 286 people added the book to their lists. However, last year I ran a giveaway for PATRIOT'S HEART. While 365 people signed up for the contest, and I sent away four free copies of the book, I didn't get a single review from any of the winners--yet. I suppose there's still hope.

Honest, fair reviews are difficult to obtain--unless there's money involved. Though I don't see how someone can be objective when cash is a requirement.

There are many authors who refuse to give their books away for free, while there are an equal number who feel it is part of a sensible plan to entice readers to become fans.

Below is one author who lists the pros and cons of free books.
http://jefflaferney.blogspot.com/2015/05/should-indie-authors-give-their-e-books.html

What do you think? Should an author give away books or not?

Review: Jenn Nixon's LUCKY'S PROMISE

On July 9th, I mentioned that I was reading Jenn Nixon's book, LUCKY'S PROMISE. Despite Jenn's description of the heroine, I continued to see Jenn in my mind, because I know her.  

Well, here's what Jenn's heroine, Lucky, really looks like. And there's the hero, too. They make a nice couple. :-)

Lucky's Promise officially goes on sale today. Below are the buy links along with Jenn's contact information:

All Romance eBooks: http://bit.ly/LuckysPromiseARe

Amazon: http://bit.ly/LuckysPromise

iTunes: http://bit.ly/LuckysPromiseiTunes

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/LuckysPromiseBN 

Kobo: http://bit.ly/LuckysPromiseKobo

OmniLit: http://bit.ly/LuckysPromiseOmni

Wild Child: http://bit.ly/LuckysPromiseWCP

Author website: www.jennnixon.com

Author contact email: jennafern@gmail.com

My Review of LUCKY'S PROMISE

Packed with tense moments and action, this book contains a heaping dose of angst and torment as well. I kept turning the pages, worrying about Lucky nearly as much as she worried about those close to her. As a member of a network of hired assassins, she rids the world of evil men. She feels justified in that task for the men she is assigned to eliminate have committed heinous crimes. However, she’s also spent years searching for the man who killed her mother, but that man is searching for Kenji, who is deeply in love with Lucky. Plagued with anxiety, Lucky tests Kenji’s patience, refusing to let him into her heart for fear of losing him even though he’s the only one who seems to be able to help her deal with the afflictions she suffers due to her unhappy past.

As Kenji breaks down Lucky's barriers to love, the danger grows ever nearer for both of them. Ms. Nixon delivers a solid emotional punch in this third book of her series. It’s well worth the read. I give it FIVE STARS!

A Trucker's Life

On our recent trip out to Ohio for a family reunion, we drove along Interstate 80. The big eighteen wheelers are intimidating, but hubby reminded me that--for the most part--they drive in a conservative manner. He followed one truck for a long while because the rig was traveling at a steady speed. Later, when it was my turn at the wheel, I wound up doing the same thing. I got behind a truck with a pace that seldom varied.

When it was time for a brief break, we pulled in at a truck stop. I love truck stops. Aside from good coffee and food, the stores are filled with a variety of items--everything from electronic gadgets to clothing. I bought a T-shirt for my father with an interesting camouflage design. When I returned home and gave it to him, I told him he could go hunting now. :-)

He asked me if I was going to write a book with a truck driver as the hero. I laughed. There's always that possibility.

The Artist's Role

As a writer, I thought the above quote apropos to my work. For those of who find the quote difficult to read, it says:

My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.                                                              ---John Lennon, c.1972

The quote is on the wall at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a section that depicts the outcry against rock music. Many thought it was music of the devil. Some thought it would turn young people into Communists.  

Of course, there was an outcry against the waltz, too. 

So long as this obscene display was confined to prostitutes and adulteresses, we did not think it deserving of notice; but now that it is attempted to be forced on the respectable classes of society by the civil examples of their superiors, we feel it a duty to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion." (Source: The Times of London, 16th July 1816) http://www.centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/waltz.htm

Obviously, anything new is subject to condemnation. 

At any rate, I like John Lennon's quote. It speaks to me. :-)