Author: Marcia Meara

The 2018 Author Interview Series Featuring Marcia Meara

/ Marcia Meara / 13 Comments

I have the great pleasure of being a guest on Don Massenzio’s blog today, and hope you guys will stop by and check out the interview. It was so much fun! Please feel free to share far and wide. Both Don and I will thank you for it! 🙂

Unknown's avatarDon Massenzio

It’s time for the next subject for my 2018 author interview series. Author interviews are posted every Friday throughout the year.

I am honored to continue this series with fellow Florida author and blogger Marcia Meara

You can catch up with all of my past author interviews (nearly 200) on my Author Directory page.

If you’re an author interested in being interviewed in this series, I still have limited spots available for 2018. You can email me at don@donmassenzio.com

Now, please enjoy this interview with Marcia Meara:

626smallsDo you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

Honestly, I’ve never thought about it in either of those terms. I just want to tell the stories bouncing around in my head, and do so in a way that will appeal to readers. I spend very little time thinking about current trends or originality, I’m afraid. I…

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#NotesFromTheRiver – The Tiny Terror

/ Marcia Meara / 11 Comments


Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake
(Sistrurus miliarius barbouri)

It’s Wednesday again, and that means time for my weekly post on the St. Johns River Eco Tours blog. This one finishes off the last of four posts dealing with the only dangerous snakes in central Florida. Hope some of you will enjoy checking  it out and maybe sharing it here and there. Next week’s post will probably involve something of the feathered persuasion. 🙂 In the meantime, here’s the link to this one:

#NotesFromTheRiver – The Tiny Terror

Wednesday is Now #ShareAReviewDay

/ Marcia Meara / 50 Comments

I think we should add a new feature to TWS, just for fun, and to help us share what readers are saying about our books. With that in mind, I’m creating  #ShareAReviewDay for Wednesdays.  You are hereby invited to choose a favorite review of one of your books, and either a) post it on TWS directly, if you are a contributor, or b) email me to set it up for you. (See Contact above.) Since I’m late getting this off the ground, I’ll run it through tomorrow, too, and next week, I’ll give you heads up the day before, so you can plan to take part. 

I’m going to start the ball rolling by sharing a lovely review I discovered on Amazon this morning. Happily, I have received nothing but good reviews for my 2nd Wake-Robin Ridge book,  A Boy Named Rabbit, and many have been truly beautiful. This is the latest of those. Hope you enjoy it,  and if you haven’t yet read Rabbit’s story, maybe this will encourage you to check it out.

And by all means, please share these reviews throughout your social media sites. Let’s get some new eyes on them.

5.0 out of 5 stars
Rabbit Stole My Heart
By writester on May 15, 2018 

“Every now and then, an author manages to write a character so distinctive and impactful, he becomes difficult to forget. Sometimes it’s someone inherently evil; other times the character is a beacon of good. But seldom does such a character elevate himself past memorable — to do so is to vault over a rather high bar. 

Marcia Meara’s Rabbit is one such character. 

I can tell you she’s written another lovely book with a solid plot. I can tell you her settings are vivid and her villain chilling. All of that is true. Yet none of it matters. 

I recommend this story because of a little boy named Rabbit who climbed down off a mountain and strode right into my heart. 

This is a heart-warming tale of love and family, one that’s sure to tug at any reader’s heartstrings. It’s also a story you don’t want to miss. It’s a must-read.”

Buy 5-Star Rated A Boy Named Rabbit HERE.

DSM Publications – With Don Massenzio

/ Marcia Meara / 4 Comments

A very helpful interview with Don Massenzio on Writer’s Treasure Chest today. For details on Don’s editing and formatting services, check it out. I’m impressed with the way he approaches the editing process, and suspect many of you will want to consider working with him.

aurorajeanalexander's avatarWriter's Treasure Chest

Welcome back, Don Massenzio! It’s good to have you here again. Let’s talk about your new business and how it is part of the writing world.

1. With your blog you are helping so many aspiring authors. What made you decide to do more than that?

There were a few factors. I wanted to be sure that I enjoyed editing and formatting the work of author authors. I’ve worked with a few authors and find that I still enjoy helping them bring their work to life. Another factor was the stigma (perceived or actual) that independently published authors face. Traditional publishing purists will tell you that our work is substandard due to the lack of professionalism and quality. I wanted to help the independent author community, as a whole, improve the quality of their work with professional editing and formatting at a price that won’t break the bank. If we…

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Help! My interview is nigh! #POW2 and #KindleCountdown #sale

/ Marcia Meara / 8 Comments

Don’t forget Deborah Jay has an interview coming up very soon, and to coincide with that, her book Desprite Measures is on sale via Kindle Countdown. For more info, check out her post! This should be fun! Good luck, Debbie! 🙂

#NotesFromTheRiver – Rattlesnakes on Parade: Watch Your Step

/ Marcia Meara / 29 Comments

Finished today’s #NotesFromTheRiver post, and hope some of you will check it out. You don’t have to enjoy snakes as much as I do to understand it’s a good idea to recognize any that might be dangerous. 🙂

#NotesFromTheRiver – Rattlesnakes on Parade

#WhyWriteWrong – To Peek or Not to Peek

/ Marcia Meara / 31 Comments

 

Haven’t done a Why Write Wrong post in some time and would like to get back on track with them, so I’m taking a moment tonight to talk about three words that I see misused fairly often, especially the third: Peek, peak, and pique. These words are not interchangeable, though in the last week, I have seen all three misused in a series I’ve been reading, and more than once, at that. Let’s take a look at them.

Though all three are pronounced exactly the same way, they are very different in meaning, to wit:

Peek is to take a quick look at something, perhaps in a sneaky manner. He peeked at the answers to his homework assignment. If what you want to say deals with the way your character is looking at something, you want PEEK.

Peak is usually used to reference the summit  or highest point of something. The peak of the mountain was covered with snow. Or perhaps: The whipped cream was mounded on the top of the pie in fluffy peaks. It could also work for a summit a bit less tangible, like: The child actor’s popularity peaked when she was a mere eight years of age.

Pique is definitely the one misused most often. Pique is a state of irritation or resentment. It can also be used to indicate  the rousing of curiosity. Her spiteful tone left him in a fit of pique. Or: His curiosity was piqued by the mysterious letter. So this one deals with emotions, and has nothing to do with peeking through a crack in the door, or climbing to the peak of the jungle gym.

Now, have I piqued your curiosity enough to wonder if your blinds are pulled, so no one can peek in your windows and discover you’re the annoying neighbor playing your stereo at peak volume? (Oh, even I’M groaning that one!) But you get my drift. And I hope this helps clear up any confusion about these three words.

Signing off now. As you were, folks! 😀

DSM Publications – News From Don Massenzio & a Free Book Offer

/ Marcia Meara / 18 Comments

LogoAn Exciting New Venture

Services for Indie Authors

(NOTE: So happy to share this news from Don Massenzio, introducing his new editing and formatting business. Hope you’ll all keep him in mind for your editing needs, and will share this news with your friends. Thanks!)

DSM Publications offers Editing and Formatting services to Indie Authors with advice and networking with other authors.

As Indie Authors, we are all in this together. Every day we make gains on the traditional publishing market.

One of the ways that we can accomplish even more is by making sure that the work we produce is of the highest quality possible to help alleviate the stigma that has been cast upon us by the traditional publishing world.

It has been my mission to help other indie authors realize a high level of quality while alleviating the tedious tasks of editing and formatting by sharing the experience I have picked up along the way. I’ve done this, for the past three years, through informative posts on my blog, promotion of author books and over 200 author interviews. I will continue to do these things on my author web site, but now I’m taking it one step further.

I am so excited to launch this new venture. Throughout my career, I have enjoyed editing documents and making them look professional. I have been working with word processing programs since the old Xerox XPS WYSIWYG system of the 1980s through Multimate, Word Perfect and Microsoft Word.

The thrill of seeing a document come together and look like something professional never gets old for me. Whether it’s my own book or one that I help another author finalize, I take a great deal of pride in producing that finished product.

That is why I’m so excited to officially launch DSM Publications as a service provider for authors. I know the struggles and challenges that Independently Published authors face because I am one. With 10 published books, so far, I’ve made nearly every mistake as I’ve learned the steps necessary to create a final product that I’m proud of.

I’ve collected all of this experience, along with my decades of editing business publications, into a process that is repeatable and efficient.

I want to help my fellow authors reach a level of quality that will make them proud of their work and put it on equal footing with the product coming from the traditional publishing path.

I hope some of you will consider joining me as I launch this venture. I’ve been editing books for others as I prepare for fully committing to this business. I feel like I’m ready to jump in with both feet.

My goal with DSM Publications is to offer cafeteria-style services to indie authors at a reasonable price.

I truly enjoy this kind of work while I help you on your writing journey.

I hope you’ll help me make this new venture a success.

Stop over to the DSM Publications web site and check out my services and rates.

Special Offer

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If you sign up for my DSM Publications Newsletter, you’ll receive a free copy of my book, The Ultimate Guide for Independently Published Authors. You can sign up for my newsletter by clicking HERE.