Sunday, September 27, 2015

Driving with Spiders


 
Over the weekend, I was up in Heber Arizona selling and signing books. After four long days of schools and signings I was excited to get home. So I settled in for the two and a half hour drive down the mountain. The day was overcast and misty and I drove with extra care on wet roads. About ten miles into the drive I saw something small fall from the interior roof of my car, then I felt it hit my hand. When the tiny legs of a spider began to climb my hand like a miniature mountain I squealed with surprise, swerved and flicked the spider off in one fluid motion.

               Bob (as I’ve come to affectionately call him) flew through the air and for a moment disappeared. While I righted my car’s position in the lane, I began to think about Bob. I’d just left a forest. Bob could be any kind of spider. He was small, but so are brown recluse and they’re deadly. About mile later, Bob reappeared on the passenger’s seat next to me. It was as if he were taunting me, laying there with his spindly little legs all spread on his very own chair. Meanwhile, I had to contend with a fluid stream of traffic, so while I could check on Bob with a quick glance in his direction, I couldn’t really watch him. Most importantly, I couldn’t get him out of the car.

               Yes, he had the element of surprise, but I’m much bigger, I told myself. That’s when I turned and noticed that Bob was inexplicably gone. Hmmm, it seems being small has it’s perks.
             
 I began to look around the car at available hiding places. A stack of books. Maybe instead of a book worm, Bob was a book spider. Yeah, probably not. Then there was my purse, sitting there with the top wide open. I may as well have stuck a sign on the handle, spider hotel, stay two nights, get one free.  

I started itching just thinking about it. Would some poor unsuspecting teenager open my book and a spider pop out?(although that really would add to the mood of The Secret Keeper) Would I be reaching for a pen only to feel the tiny little patter of spider legs using my arm hair like a ladder?  And so I drove, me wondering where my spider friend had gone and him, laughing at me as he made himself cozy in some dark corner of my car.

What were the chances that a spider would fall from a tree, land in my car and scare the bejeebers out of me. Obviously, pretty good. Where’s Bob now, you ask? That is a good question. The day after I returned home I found one long delicate strand of spider web running from the top of the windshield to the dashboard…but no Bob to take the credit so the mystery lives on. That’s my story anyway; so what’d you do this weekendJ

Monday, September 14, 2015

You Make A Difference!

I've decided that someone should start an author school. It could be called AU(Author University) and the building could be a beautiful castle or maybe a fortress with tall windows and dozens of secret nooks perfect for writing brilliance.

At this college, they could offer course like descriptive writing 101 or The power of reviews 210.

Unfortunately there is no such enchanting and informative place and authors, even those with college writing classes are not taught about the nuances of marketing in the real world.

If such a place existed I would certainly have learned years earlier that when readers post reviews, it is a powerful tool for authors. I used to think of reviews as a nice way to give your opinion or perhaps complain. Don't get me wrong even the most simple review on your book thrills an author, keeping them motivated for a long time. However, in the last couple of years I have learned that the number of good reviews an author garners can actually change their career. You see, reviews are our report cards, not just for other readers but also for  
advertisers, agents, screenplay writers and anyone else that might be looking to size up our work before reading it. For example Bookbub, a powerful advertising tool will not even consider you without dozens of strong reviews. The same thing goes for E-reader News and bloggers considering whether to read your work.

The ones that are hardest hit are indie authors. I recently read and reviewed a book titled Shadow of the Hawk by K.S. Jones. She's a relatively new and unknown author. I gave the book 5 stars and a rave review because the writing was amazing, Harper Lee quality and I couldn't put it down. However a couple of years ago I would've read the book, thought, that was a great book and slid it in my bookshelf without another thought.
In fact, only about one percent of readers leave any kind of review. Imagine if you went to twelve years of primary school and then sweated through college and only two teachers posted grades that entire time. It would be impossible to gage your progress or even feel motivated to keep working.

Reviews also help authors. I read mine understanding that not everyone will love my stories, but if I see criticisms that form patterns, I really think about those criticisms and improve my writing where necessary.

What I'm saying is reader reviews make a difference. When I ask someone if they'd leave a review they often say they feel uncomfortable, like they don't know what to say. I get that but truthfully even if you just leave however many stars your think the book earned and write I enjoyed this book because......leaving only one reason....authors and readers alike benefit! So don't be shy. Your voice counts...far more than you know!!!

For all of you who have read my books, review or not, Thanks! No seriously, it gives me great joy to know I got to share this amazing part of my life with you.

Those of you who want to tell the world what you think. Go for it. We love to hear your honest opinion!!
Thanks for stopping today and if you want to see reviews on my books check em out here:) http://www.amazon.com/Angela-Carling/e/B006P15NOG/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
 

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

I'm so excited to welcome a new author to my blog today. Ms. Brooke Williams has a big release coming up and I'm happy to help her get the word out. Without further delay, here is her guest post!

Mamarazzi Release Promo Post

 

Mamarazzi

 

By Brooke Williams

 

Release Date: September 11, 2015 from Prism Book Group

 

 

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Order HERE

 

Join the Sept. 15th Release Day Party on Facebook HERE

Enjoy giveaways with a dozen different authors!

 

Danica Bennett isn't sure what she hates more...her job or the fact that she's good at it.  As one of the many Hollywood paparazzi, she lives her life incognito and sneaks around trying to get the best shot of the latest star.  When she is mistaken for an extra on a new, up and coming TV show, her own star rises and she becomes the one being photographed.  Add that to the fact that she's falling for her co-star, Eliot Lane, and Danica is in a whole heap of trouble.

 

Add “Mamarazzi” to your Goodreads list HERE

 

 

About the Author

 

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Brooke Williams writes in a sleep-deprived state while her daughters nap. Her romantic comedy is best read in the same state. Brooke has twelve years of radio in her background, both behind the scenes and on the air. She was also a television traffic reporter for a short time despite the fact that she could care less about hair and make-up. Today, Brooke stays at home with her daughters and works as a freelance writer for a variety of companies. When she isn’t working for paying clients, she makes things up, which results in books like “Accept this Dandelion.”  Brooke is also the author of "Accept this Dandelion," “Wrong Place, Right Time,” “Someone Always Loved You,”  “Beyond the Bars.” She looks forward to her first children's book release “Baby Sheep Gets a Haircut” in June 2016. Brooke and her husband Sean have been married since 2002 and have two beautiful daughters, Kaelyn (6) and Sadie (2).

 

Connect with Brooke:

Facebook

Website

Blog

 

Note from the Author on the book's inspiration:

I've always been fascinated by the Hollywood life and the idea that "they" are different from "us." The idea for Mamarazzi has been with me for a long time. I'm not even exactly sure when I came up with it, but in college, I had a screenwriting class and I had to write a portion of a screenplay. I wrote "Paparazzi," which was the same general idea only with a male lead character. When I began writing romantic comedy, the idea came back to me and I decided to chance the main character to a female and call it "Mamarazzi." I even had a naming contest so that facebook fans and blog readers could name the characters in the book. Every character in the novel is reader named and approved! Overall, I wanted to examine what happens when you take someone from one side of the fence and plop them on the other side. In the end, famous or not, we're all just people. And in this book, they all have secrets...

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And next from Brooke Williams....

 

"Dandelions on the Road"

releases November 5, 2015...

pre-order today by clicking below

Dandelions on the Road (Dandelion Series Book 2)

 

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