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How Much Is Too Much?

As writers, we all want our books to sell. I published two books with a small publisher many moons ago, and neither sold very well. The publisher didn’t really do a big push, and i didn’t do much marketing at all. Now that I’ve decided to self-publish the Bad blood series, I’ve decided that marketing is at least as important as my writing. But that leads me to the question, how much is too much?

As far as social media goes, Twitter is my drug of choice. I’m not doing much of anything else (except Tumblr, obviously) because time sent on social media is time spent not writing, and most people have social media profiles across the various platforms, so doing Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram...and whatever else is out there is redundant. You pretty much hit the same people.

But here’s my philosphy on Twitter. There are a TON of writers all using Twitter to promote their work. That’s great. It’s why I’m there. But how much of your posts should be promoting your work? I talked to one writer who said I should promote more. I talked to another ho said to interact, be real, and just drop in a link to your books every third day or so. The rational is that people want to know who you are. Once you get that bond and connection, people will be more likely to read your book. Using your Twitter as nothing but an ad generator alienates people. I believe this is true, and I try to interact with readers and writers, but how much is too much as far as promotion? How often should I post links to my work or my website?

Right now, all of my stuff is free. I’m using free stories to give people a taste of my writing and my stories. Why should people risk throwing away their money if they don’t know if they’ll like my stuff? So when I post links to my work, it’s strictly to gain readers and not to make sales.

If you’re a writer, and especially if you’re self-published, how do you promote your books?

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Tree Symbolism

Alder ~ Call the tree of fire. It symbolizes firm foundations for any venture, and power to control external forces and factors in your life. It can off you security in times of uncertainty and the persistence to carry a venture through difficult initial stages.

Almond ~ Abundance, prosperity and love without limits. Like all nut-bearing tree, the almond promises fertility for any venture and the fruition of dreams, although perhaps not until several months after inception.

Apple ~ Fertility, health, love and long life. The magical apple tree promises renewed life and strength if you have been feeling tired or have lost your way.

Ash ~ Expansion of horizons, travel especially by sea, healing, strength and prosperity. As a World Tree the ash will increase your authority and powers of leadership, bringing with it, of course, additional responsibilities.

Aspen ~ Communication, eloquence, protection against theft, and healing. A tree of great sensitivity, the aspen bring empathy with others that is not without personal pain. It connects you to the heart of another person’s experience.

Avocado ~ Desire, and increase of beauty in beauty or environment. You will be able to create beauty out of ugliness, but will find that you have become involved in the concerns of your wider environment, as well as creating personal beauty and grace in your life.

Bamboo ~ Protection, especially of your household boundaries and against negative thoughts of others. You can drawn the protection around you and those you love, but must make sure your own thoughts and words are likewise positive.

Banana ~ Fertility, male potency and prosperity: involves slow ripening of endeavors and so patience for the right time for true power.

Banyan ~ Luck and optimism. You can welcome sunshine into your life by seeking simple pleasures and enjoying every small moment of happiness.

Bay  ~ Fidelity, marriage and preservation of family and home, and pleasant dreams. Be persevering and seeking lasting joy rather than instant excitement, you can bring true harmony to yourself and those you love.

Beech ~ Knowledge, formal learning and change. You can learn much from being still in the natural world, and by seeking to give your intuitions and inspiration firm foundations.

Birch ~ Cleansing, health, new beginnings, Goddess magic and protection of the young. You may need either a new approach or to clear the deck and sacrifice what is comfortable and familiar for new growth.

Boxwood ~ Uncovering hidden treasures, buried talents and the unexpected. A tree for bringing out potential and perhaps fulfilling earlier dreams you had dismissed.

Cedar ~ Good fortune and fidelity in love, and mature relationships. A very cleansing and healing tree that can take away the fears that stop you from making your own happiness and good fortune.

Cherry ~ New love, divinatory abilities and fertility, A tree of springtime and so especially useful to younger people for exploring their own capacity for love.

Chestnut/Horse Chestnut ~ Abundance and expansion of opportunity. A magnificent tree for bold endeavours and ambitions, filled with idealism and nobility. 

Coconut ~ Fertility and motherhood, and the flow of new life and energies: give protection against all negativity, especially psychic attack. A traditional source of the nourishing life force of the Earth Mother, encourages nurturing others and in return experiencing the joys of giving.

Cypress ~ Long life, healing and comfort in sorrow. A good tree for working through loss and what must be mourned for.

Dogwood ~ Clear focus and determination. A tree that will stand firm against opposition and cheerfully persevere to achieve the desired results.

Elder ~ Tree of the White Moon Goddess and of female magic; give ability to see other dimensions and increases clairvoyance. A fairy tree, the elder absorbs personal negativity. It is a good tree for men as well as women to use to explore their magical side and to suspend disbelief in the presence of nature essences.

Elm ~ Quiet sleep, love and giving. The elm itself is under threat in a number of places through disease, but it nevertheless signifies serenity and dignity amid noise and chaos.

Eucalyptus ~ Cleansing and healing. A tree that frees stagnant or blocked energies and helps people move forwards.

Fig ~ Wisdom, creativity and creative ventures, fertility, harmony and balance. A tree filled with personal riches that allows our artistic and inspiration side to blossom.

Fir ~ The tree of Christmas and so a tree of birth, the return of light and new beginnings, the life cycle and also cleansing. A tree of light in the darkness and the promise of the future joys even on the darkest of days.

Hawthorn ~ Courage, marking boundaries, purification, protection, male potency (although it is a female tree), and cleansing: a fairy tree. Use this to protect you from skepticism and cynicism in others and to create a personal space away from the demands of others.

Hazel ~ Wisdom, luck, fertility, knowledge and inspiration, justice and divination, especially water magic and dowsing for water and treasure. Use this tree when you face injustice or feel strongly about a particular principle, to allow you to resolve matters by using persuasion not force.

Holly ~ Protection especially of the home against all negativity; a tree also for money and material gains. Another tree that thrives on opposition and uses difficulties as a springboard for positive action; a tree that works especially well with animus energies in women or in resolving issues with men in your life. Holly is regarded as a male plant, so it exudes assertive, active energies associated with the animus or male aspect of ourselves. King of the waning year.

Ivy ~ Fidelity, married love and committed relationships; Good for for taking risks in terms of deepening trust and love towards another as well as for sorting out issues of the relative importance to self and others to establish loving but clear boundaries; good for women to with.

Juniper ~ Protection against all negative forces, and purification. One of the best cleansing trees for clearing away bad habits, addictions or emotional luggage from the past. 

Larch ~ Protection, especially against thieves; optimism. A tree that lifts the spirits and triggers the inner protective system we all possess but often do not trust; good especially if you have felt under threat - whether emotionally, psychically or actually - from others at work.

Laurel ~ Protection from illness, success and realization of ambition, and winning through in spite of difficulty. A tree that promises that you will achieve more than you hoped or dreamed of if you meet life head on.

Linden ~ Justice, cooperation with others, partnerships of all kinds and dealing with officialdom. A tree of quiet, unassuming power that shows it is possible for one to take on a system and win if the case if just.

Mango ~ Health, permanence and lasting happiness. This rich fruit tree promises joy year after year if you plant the seeds of that joy now.

Maple ~ Long life, health of children, fertility, riches of all kinds and pleasure. A good tree if you have lost your confidence in yourself, suggesting you look at all the potential treasure you have in your life that will help you turn the corner.

Mistletoe ~ Known to the Druids as the “All-Healer”; peace, love and purity, and also fertility and sexual potency, the union of male and female, and protection and good health. A plant to choose if you are near the beginning of your spiritual journey or a relationship that you believe will prove important.

Myrtle ~ Stable relationships, married love, fertility, youth, peace and money. Another tree of harmony both with others and within yourself that can stabilize an uncertain patch in your personal world.

Norfolk Island Pine ~ Assurance that you and your family will never suffer poverty; soaring potential; if you seize opportunities you will succeed.

Oak ~ King of the waxing year and sacred tree of the Druids; tree of knowledge, power and independence, confidence, prosperity and potency. Like the ash, the oak is a wise Father Tree that represents commitment to a journey of exploration and attainment of mastery over the emotions.

Olive ~ Peace and reconciliation, forgiveness, abundance, nourishment, healing and fertility. A healing tree that can mend any sorrow or bitterness and from this reconciliation bring lasting peace in your immediate world and maybe beyond as your peacemaking influences spread.

Orange ~ Love, abundance, fertility, marriage, luck and money. Increase confidence, self-esteem and self-love as a basis for making positive relationships with other which you can ask for what you need.

Palm, Date ~ Fertility, potency, self-renewal, rejuvenation and the revolving life cycles of nature and people. A tree of the sunshine and blue skies that enables you to regenerate your energies and to take steps forward on a new path.

Pear ~ New life, health, woman’s matter and fertility; gentle growth, the increase of quiet joy and fulfillment of realistic aims within the near future.

Peach ~ Marriage and birth, abundance, happiness, fertility, wishes and long life. Another sunshine tree that enables you to unfold your sensuality and sexuality without guilt or shame.

Pine ~ Symbol of fire and illumination, cleansing, friendship in adversity, knowledge and protection from all negativity. Like fir, the pine blazes in the darkness, illuminating your path and burning away what holds you from fulfillment.

Poplar, White & Black ~The white poplar symbolizes money, astral projection, hope rebirth and divination. The black poplar refers to ending. Together, the black and white poplar move through endings to beginnings, from regret to healing and from pain to joy.

Redwood ~ Limitless potential, long-term spiritual growth and clear focus. This tree tells you to aim high and not to doubt your ability to soar, however far off the goal seems.

Rowan/Mountain Ash ~ Another tree of the White Goddess; brings protection to the home, increases psychic powers, brings healing, and is also good for metal dowsing and astral projection. A magical tree that will keep you safe from harm and fears, whether of darkness or malice of others.

Silver Banksia ~ Protection, letting go of sorrow, developing a more positive outlook, new growth and positive achievement. A gentle tree that enfolds you in love and reassurance that all shall be well if you just trust and stretch out your hand to life.

Sycamore ~ Protection and the granting of wishes; increasing influence over other and situations. A tree whose effects are like its fast-rooting spores, meaning that you can have a real influence for the better on any situation if you communicate your feelings and ideas.

Tamarind ~ Love, especially new love and rebuilding of trust. A tree of gentle love, especially after sorrow or betrayal, promising kindness and friendship that may deepen into more permanent feelings.

Vine ~ Rebirth and renewal, joy, ecstasy and fairy magic. It advises you to abandon the inhibitions and prohibitions in your head and seek what will bring you happiness and connection with life.

Walnut ~ Tree of prophecy, traditionally where witches meet; health, increase of mental powers, fertility and granting of wishes. A tree that promises the gradual unfolding of good things and the revealing of the secrets of psychic powers.

Willow ~ A Moon tree; intuition, Moon magic, healing, making wishes come true, increasing psychic energies and understanding the emotions of others. Go with the flow of the hour and tap into the underlying emotions of any situation or person to discover the truth; a good tree if your emotions and intuitions are blocked.

White Mangrove ~ Nurturing self and others, being sensitive, intuitive, caring, balanced and in touch with the pulse of life. Another tree of connection with others and with the wisdom of the natural world; it overcomes any sense of loneliness and alienation.

Yew ~ Tree of endings, of new coming out of the old, of permanence, of aims that are slow to come to fruition and enduring strengths, of what is worth and union between two people after difficulty. The yew will allow what is lost to be mourned for, while reminding you what is of worth, and will endure. 

Source The Modern-Day Druidess by Cassandra Eason 

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Writing set-up

Yesterday I talked a little bit about my writing process, so I thought I would share a picture of my set-up.

The computer is a Lenovo Yoga laptop. I have it flipped so the truly terrible keyboard is out of the way. The lovely turquoise keyboard you see is a Lofree Dot. It arrived yesterday, and it is glorious and clicky and makes me feel like Hemingway, if only Hemingway wrote smutty stories about witches, vampires, and shape shifters. It really sounds like a typewriter. I love it so much.

Next to the keyboard is one of my beloved fountain pens. I have around 40 (don’t judge me) but this one was my first and is still a favorite. Of course, it is in the picture for purely aesthetic reasons because it matches the keyboard. I apparently have a thing for the 50s retro-teal color.

The notebook on the left is a work in progress that I am working on typing up. The notebook on the right is for-- well, notes.

Of course, no writer’s desk would be complete without coffee, and the mug is one I bought from the Warner Brother’s store before the Harry Potter movies were even cast. It is one of my most prized possessions.

The shelf along the back holds a jar of Sherbet Lemons from Honeydukes and some Pepper Imps from the same source. There are also 14 bottles of fountain pen ink in varying colors (again, don’t judge me), and two Pop Vinyls, one of Moriarty and one of Gerard Way. I’m a grown-ass, middle-aged woman, but I love me some Gerard Way. His writing is incredible-- bold, inventive, fearless. You should read Doom Patrol if you aren’t already.

So that’s my set-up. Now I need to put it to use and get some work done. Hope you all have a wonderful and productive day.

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My Writing Process, Sort Of...

In my first blog post, I said I would talk some about my writing process, and I haven’t done that yet, so I feel like today is as good a day as any. Maybe it will make you feel better about yourself! I will also touch on having ADHD because I feel like that impacts my process as well.

All of my first drafts are written long hand. I think it’s becoming more common, but it’s still uncommon enough to raise eyebrows, and I hear a lot of people talk about writer’s cramp and how their hands hurt of they write too much. That’s why you write with fountain pens.  They are so much easier on the hands. They are great fun to write with, and they are better for the environment (American’s throw away 1.6 BILLION disposable pens each year. That’s a lot of plastic, y’all!).

The best part of writing long hand is how difficult it is to self-edit as I write. When I was younger, I could sit down at the keyboard and bang out a story without a problem. As I got older, I became more and more self-conscious about my words, and I would write a paragraph and edit. Go back and change it. Change it again. Until I worked all day with only 100 words to show for it. I have at least 20 abandoned stories because I just couldn’t get going because I second guessed myself until I just gave up. I was judging myself harshly, which is normal for writers I think, and especially so for people with ADHD. 

Here’s the thing about ADHD. It saps your confidence. The name itself is a misnomer, and it really distills a complex syndrome into one thing- attention. Most ADHDers don’t have a deficit of attention. We have a surplus. We see everything that goes on around us, hear every sound. Attention isn’t the problem. The problem is focus. With a million pieces of information coming into our brains, what one do we focus on? But we also struggle with time management, task commitment, emotional self-regulation, attention to detail, organization...you name it, we probably struggle with it. Life is just twice as hard if you have ADHD. We work twice as hard to try to avoid making mistakes. Criticism hurts us, probably more than it hurts neurotypical people because one, we try so, so, so hard, and two, we get criticized A LOT. That fear of failure and criticism can be paralyzing. It’s why we sometimes get started on something with verve and energy and then peter out.  So writing long hand helps short circuit that self-criticism. The words meld into the page and the only way to change them is to strike them. They aren’t glowing on the page and��“fixing” it isn’t as easy as hitting the backspace key.

My first handwritten draft is usually 75% of the length of my second draft. I don’t always use full descriptions, and there are times when I’m writing when I know something needs to be fleshed out, but I’m trying to get to the next scene before I forget what I want to happen (there’s the ADHD again), so I’ll take a contrasting ink color and either star the passage (which means rewrite this drivel) or I’ll underline or make a note to myself. The different ink color is a visual reminder when I’m typing up the story that I need to do some more work. I don’t outline, and honestly, when I sit down to start writing for the day, I usually have no idea where the story is going that day. I just let my characters do as they will.

So that’s the beginning of my process. I’m putting a link to my favorite beginner fountain pens at the end of the post. Both come with ink cartridges, and one comes with a converter so you can use bottled ink, which I recommend.

The Pilot Metropolitan is my favorite pen. I have seven of them! They come with a converter, so you can use bottled ink.

https://www.amazon.com/Pilot-Collection-Fountain-Turquoise-91436/dp/B015XIKE2W/ref=sr_1_2?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1497882695&sr=1-2&keywords=pilot%2Bmetropolitan%2Bfountain%2Bpen&th=1

The Platinum Preppy is a cheaper alternative, but it’s all plastic and I don’t like it as well. It’s a good cheap introduction, though:

https://www.amazon.com/Platinum-Fountain-Preppy-Black-PPQ-200/dp/B001H0CEM4/ref=sr_1_1?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1497882978&sr=1-1&keywords=platinum+preppy

Both pens come in a variety of colors. Disclaimer- I have two gold nib pens (One was $80.00 and the other $140.00!) and I still reach for my Metropolitans most mornings. You don’t have to spend a ton to get a good fountain pen.

So that’s the first part of my process.

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Location Matters

To help promote my upcoming novel “Bad Blood,” I’ve written a few short background pieces and published them on Wattpad. Not many people are reading them, though. That’s okay. It’ll come. But- one of the readers of “A Short History of Creatures in Memphis,” asked several good questions about the location and history, and it started me thinking about locations in stories and why they’re important.

Most of my stories are set in the American South, with “Bad Blood” taking place in Memphis. I’ve read a lot of stories that take place in a particular location and it seems as though the writer just picked a spot on the map and plopped her characters down. There’s no rhyme or reason as to why the story is set there, and we get no information about the area. I hate that.

“Bad Blood” is set in Memphis for a number of reasons. I lived in Memphis for around three years and I’m still a frequent visitor, so I’m very familiar with the city, its culture, its landmarks, and its people. Memphis sits at the crossroads of the United States. Most river traffic comes up the Mississippi. Interstate 40 runs through the middle of town, connecting the east and west coasts. And it has a fascinating history. 

The area was initially settled by the Chickasaw tribe, bt they were pushed off their land by none other than Andrew Jackson, the future US president. Memphis was almost wiped out by three separate Yellow Fever outbreaks. The city still bears the effects of the flight out of the city.

But the main reason I chose to begin the Bound By Blood series in Memphis is its history of paranormal activity and unexplained happenings. Several buildings in downtown Memphis are reputed to be haunted. Legend has it the devil himself met Robert Johnson just outside Memphis and exchanged musical success for Johnson’s soul, and there is a thriving underground Voodoo community in Memphis as well. So there is a dark undercurrent in the city that sparks my imagination. My characters are at home there.

In the “Bound by Blood” Universe, Creatures played a major role in shaping Memphis. Many of the facts in “A Short History” are true, just with a Creature twist. If you haven’t read it yet, I would love for you to check it out and let me know what you think.  

http://my.w.tt/UiNb/tYCYTkt2RD

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Body Shaming

Okay, so I’m apparently not so hot at this whole blogging thing. I try, but I tend to forget about it, but something upset me so much last night that I feel like I need to speak on it, and this is the only place where I feel like I can.

I am a My Chemical Romance fan. I didn’t start listening to them until August of 2016. About the time they blew up was about the time my daughter discovered Radio Disney, so in the mid 2000s I listened to a lot of Hannah Montana, Cheetah Girls, and the Jonas Brothers. I’ve seen all of them in concert (the Jonas Brothers THREE times- and Justin Bieber twice.) So there’s not a point in my personal narrative where the group was together or when Gerard Way was anything other than what he is now- a 40 year old dad that happens to write comics for a living.

I’ve seen the pictures, of course- the ones where everyone says he was “so hot.” As someone who is close to him in age, and someone who has struggled with mental illness, weight gain, and self-esteem issues, let me tell you what I see when I look at those pictures and watch those videos.

I see a young man with a terminal illness, trying his best to self-medicate or slowly kill himself. I’m still not sure which. Because make no mistake- mental illness can be fatal if untreated.

In the “Revenge” era video clips, the ones that everyone thinks are so funny, I see a young man so profoundly ill that he doesn’t know which way is up. I can’t watch any live clips from this era because it’s so painful to me.

During the “Danger Days” era, I see someone who is so painfully thin, trying to be what the industry says he should be, trying to make his body be something it was never meant to be. At no time during MCR did he really look healthy to me. Was he attractive? At times, yes- “Desolation Row” anyone? Yeesh.

But he never really looked healthy until “Hesitant Alien.” Even then, I can’t say he looked happy.

So let’s fast forward to now. Every time a new picture from a con or an appearance shows up, the haters come out of the woodwork. He posted an article on Facebook yesterday and two things stuck out- he’s thinking about a new album and he wouldn’t rule out an MCR reunion  and the thing people commented on was his appearance in the photo that accompanied the article.  “He’s fat.” “He’s old.” “He’s ugly.” You know what? Fuck you. He’s none of those things.  He’s fucking beautiful, and healthy, and he looks happy. Why is that a problem, and more importantly, what gives you the right to say that about anybody? And here’s the thing, I believe if it were a woman, people would be lining up to defend her. There would be news articles about how people were being harsh because she aged a little, or because she put on a few pounds because she was at home instead of being on stage every night, but because it’s a man, no one rushes to his defense. And after all the times he’s told his fans they were beautiful regardless of size, to love themselves-- this is how you repay him? He is too good for you.

Look at this picture. His hair is shiny. His skin is smooth and clear, his eyes are bright. He is healthy. He is beautiful. I promise if I walked into the comic book store and saw him picking up his pull list, or I saw him at the used record store digging through the bargain bin, I would do a quick wedding ring check (If you’re single and my age it becomes a habit) and would be profoundly disappointed to see that glint of gold.

Gerard is brilliant- creative, talented, and by all accounts kind, and he’s beautiful from the inside out. If you are so fixated on what he looked like in the MCR days, listen to the records and wear your black eyeliner, but don’t pretend you give two shits about his well-being. 

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Taking Your Writing Seriously

I think the first step in being a successful writer is taking your writing seriously. It’s easy to just write when you “feel like it,” or when you have spare time. To be successful takes discipline and planning. To that end, every morning I wake up and write down a list of things to accomplish: word counts to meet, promo activities to do, editing goals to accomplish...and every day it’s a struggle. Why? Because no one else take my writing seriously.

I have ADHD, so it takes while for me to focus. If I’m interrupted, I have a hard time refocusing my attention. I’ve explained to people that I have to have uninterrupted time to work, but they just don’t take me seriously. 

I can turn off my phone, but what about when the distraction lives in your house? I have a desk set up in my living room, but I find myself having to bring my laptop in my bedroom to get any peace. I take my writing seriously, but no one else does. Does anyone else have this problem? How do you deal with people constantly intruding on your writing time?

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My Decision to Self-Publish

I never thought I would self-publish. Several years ago, I wrote and published three novels with two different independent publishers. I’ve sold several short stories to different magazines and anthologies. Why self-publish when I was able to place my work with publishers? And then Bad Blood happened.

I took a hiatus from writing for a few years. I’m a single mother, and I felt like my daughter needed me. She’s 18 now, and the urge to tell stories grew too strong to ignore. Out of this urge to write, and grief for the unexpected loss of my brother, Bad Blood was born. 

The publishing landscape has changed since I last submitted a book. Publishers have gone out of business, new ones have risen to take their place, and I’m once again a “new” writer. I submitted Bad Blood to my old publisher, and I received a very nice rejection. The story “didn’t fit their needs” because the romance wasn’t the main focus of the story, but the editor added that I had written it well and she hoped I found a house for it.

After going back over the story, I understood her decision. There is a strong element of romance in the story. Kerrigan and Micha and their relationship is the heart of the story, but there are other things, too. There’s loss, grief, trust, and sex. My choices, as I saw them, were to rewrite and move the focus to Micha and Kerrigan and submit to romance houses, remove the romance and submit to urban fantasy houses, or publish the story myself.

If you’ve ever published with an independent publisher, you know that most of your promotion comes from you. I knew that no matter what decision I made, I would be in charge of selling my book. The choice became- to I stay true to my vision of the story and maintain total control of all aspects, or do I make the changes and let someone else decide on a cover, price, and release date?

I decided if I were the one writing, and I were the one promoting, I should be the one in control. 

So today, for the first time, I am a self-published author. My short story “Trouble,” is available for free on Smashwords. It was originally published as “Car Trouble,” by Summerhouse Publishing, which has since gone out of business It has been expanded with a different take on the characters and a different ending. It is a small glimpse behind the curtain of the “Bound by Blood” universe.  There are a few more free stories coming on Wattpad, all leading up to the release of Bad Blood in August. I hope you take the time to check out “Trouble,” and please let me know what you think.

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I needed this todayj.

“Are you really trying to succeed? Is every part of you engaged in that slog of writing, editing, rewriting, sourcing criticism, sending out your manuscript? Or is part of you holding back? Is some secret hand laid on top of yours, dragging you away from really committing to success?”

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Too many ideas

Does any other writer have this problem? I have too many ideas and I want to write them all right now! I know part of this is my ADHD always looking for novelty. It’s way more fun to start something new than to finish old ideas that have reached the “God, this is so hard,” stage of writing. I try to manage it by writing a page or two about my new idea and then going back to my current “main” story, but sometimes I start to hyperfocus and end up spending way more time on a new idea than I should. Right now my time needs to be spent on doing promo for “Bad Blood.” I‘m starting to think that maybe self-publishing isn’t the way to go. I’m not sure having all promotional responsibilities in my lap is the right thing for me. Has anyone else faced this?

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A Short History of Creatures in Memphis (on Wattpad) http://my.w.tt/UiNb/GxLYQKv8nD "Bad Blood," the first book in the "Bound by Blood" series will be available at all major online booksellers on August 2! But first, a little background. Bad Blood is set in Memphis, Tennessee-- home of the Blues, barbecue, and a startling number of witches, vampires, trolls, and shifters- or Creatures. You may think you know about Memphis, but beneath the lights and the music...

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My short story “Trouble” will be available for FREE from Amazon and other online retailers on May 30! A portion of “Trouble” was published as “Car Trouble” by Summerhouse Publishing. The new edition has been edited and expanded with a new ending!

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Good Morning!

Good morning Tumblr! It’s been a few days since I blogged, but I’ve been glued to Twitter watching our President have a meltdown. Quite entertaining, but honestly a little concerning. I’m glad I have my stories to retreat to.

“Bad Blood” is finished and will be available soon! In celebration of the upcoming release of “Bad Blood” I will be making a few previously published short stories and novellas available for FREE download for a short time. I’m also working on getting my new website up and running, so watch this space for my website launch and a chance to snag your free books!