Somehow, this just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
It DOES, however, make me laugh every time I look at it.
Hope you do, too.
😀
#MondayMeme #MondayBlogs
The next time I’m asked this question, I think this is what I’ll say.
Or maybe I’ll just have a t-shirt made.
😀
Share this:
Featured Blogger: Ned Hickson
Great Guest Post written by Ned Hickson, the funniest guy I know. Check it out! 🙂
Share this:
#FreeStuff #MysteryGoneMad #Rafflecopter Giveaway
Woohoo! It’s Open for Business, Folks! A #MysteryGoneMad giveaway worth over $200. You want books? We have SIX of them, signed, for some lucky winner! You’d like a nice, hot cup of tea to sip while reading? We’ve created SIX custom tea blends, each named for the books in the #MysteryGoneMad boxed set. And, we’ve added some really cool mugs, custom made for the MGM set, too. All this, and $30 in Amazon gift cards, in case you want to go shopping after you finish reading. And tea sipping. And admiring your new mugs.
What are you waiting for? Did I mention it’s free? Head right on over to Rafflecopter and enter the drawing:
Mystery Gone Mad Giveaway
And when you’re finished there, run, don’t walk, to Amazon to Pre-Order your Mystery Gone Mad boxed set. You know you want to read this collection of murder and mayhem: A Dead Husband by Anna Celeste Burke, Dead End by Gerald Darnell, Midnight Owl by Viv Drewa, Chaos at Crescent City Medical Center by Judith Lucci, Swamp Ghosts by Marcia Meara (that’s me), and Jamaica Dead by Karen Vaughan. $1.99 to Pre-Order – $2.99 Upon Release
Share this:
New-release facebook posts
I finally went over to the dark side — I joined facebook as an author. And I have to admit it’s worth the extra half hour per day! During an average week, I spend that time posting something personal to my page (often a book review), sharing something from a writing buddy, and commenting on a few posts. Then, during a launch week, I reap the rewards with lots of organic eyes on my launch posts.
I stole the format of my launch post from several much more savvy authors and thought I’d pass it along here in case you’re having trouble getting attention for your posts. Here are my tips:
- Start with an awesome graphic. If you’re doing a big sale like the 99 cent sale I ran on my bundle in August, it’s worth making a different graphic for each day of the week to see which one gets the most likes and shares. Optimal size is 1200X628 pixels
- Prime the pump with a header that asks for likes and shares while also cutting to the chase. Why should people care? Because it’s new? Because it’s cheap? Because it has a thousand 5-star reviews?
- Next, use one short paragraph to sell your book. The tagline from your blurb is a good inclusion here along with perhaps a review or a paraphrased review. Be sure to keep this short enough so your link will be visible without requiring people to click “More”.
- End with your link(s).
- Finally, boost the post (assuming you made the post on a page rather than on a personal profile). It’s worth spending a dollar a day to get a little extra buzz going during launch…although I have to admit that the post above has reached more people organically due to the friendly shares of authors and readers than it has through the paid boost.
As I said, I’m new to facebook, so I’ll bet those of you who are more experienced have other tips to add. What do you do to ensure your new-release facebook posts get shown to your fans rather than hidden in the facebook sea?
(P.S. Yes, I have a new release! I hope you’ll check it out. 🙂 )
Share this:
#FabulousFridayGuestBlogger – Sarah Zama @JazzFeathers
Today’s #FabulousFridayGuestBlogger is Sarah Zama. So nice to have her here, and I know you’ll enjoy her post. Welcome, Sarah!
~~~
THE JAZZ AGE: WHY LIFE SOUNDED LIKE JAZZ IN THE 1920s
Jazz, a vision of the future with roots in the past
Since the very beginning, jazz had a strong borderline nature, one that would bring different elements together while still creating a division.
The very nature of jazz is a mishmash of different experiences. There is no doubt that jazz has strong roots in the African cultures and probably came out of the slave experience in a time when slavery no longer existed but was still very much remembered. In and around New Orleans, where jazz probably originated, fields songs that came from African traditional cultures mixed with a more European conception of music and especially with instruments coming from it. Jazz was in part both of them, while still being a completely new way not only of making music but also of understanding it. Continue reading
Share this:
#ThorsDaySmile – Just Under the Wire!
Sometimes #ThorsDaySmile just has to be about Thor. And maybe Loki, for those on his team. (You know who you are.)
😀 Enjoy!
Share this:
And then this happened…Ranking on Amazon by Mae Clair
Sometimes things just fall in your lap when you least expect them. Last evening I was playing around online and decided to hop over to Amazon and see how my latest novel, A THOUSAND YESTERYEARS was faring. This is a mystery/thriller/suspense novel that was released the end of April. It’s been doing pretty well for me, but not busting off the charts. And then I found this:
Bestseller status? After I picked myself up off the floor I checked my ranking. It’s even better this morning:
#132 overall
#1 Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
#1 in Science Fiction/Fantasy
Gobsmacked! Needless to say, I’m doing the happy dance today. My publisher reduced the price of A THOUSAND YESTERYEARS to .99c and right now it’s part of a back to school e-book blast, so I’m sure that is what has contributed to its rise. I’m going to enjoy the spot as long as I can. In addition, I woke up today to discover I am the Author of the Month at K.C.’s Books and Music, another goodie that has me soaring high.
Only another author/writer can truly appreciate what these kind of accolades mean, and I appreciate being able to share them with all of you. If there are any readers of mystery/suspense/thrillers out there, I invite you to consider A THOUSAND YESTERYEARS, a book combining historical fact, fiction and the urban legend of the Mothman. I spent two years researching this novel and took two trips to the town where it is set to lend authenticity to the story.
Rather than provide the blurb, I thought I’d share a review I received from New York Times bestselling author, Kevin O’Brien.
Mr. O’Brien is one of my favorite writers, and his work is routinely on the NYT bestseller list. I was honored and humbled to receive this review from him, which I think explains the story as well as my blurb would:
“A THOUSAND YESTERYEARS is masterful, bone-chilling fiction that begins with a real-life tragedy on December 15, 1967: the Silver Bridge collapse in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. 46 people died. Author Mae Clair has seamlessly woven fact, fiction and creepy urban folklore into one intense thriller. The gripping story focuses on two witnesses to the disaster—fifteen years later. Both Eve Parrish and Caden Flynn lost loved ones in the catastrophe and still carry the emotional scars. After a long absence, Eve returns to Point Pleasant to bury her recently-deceased aunt, face some old ghosts, and reunite with her one-time “impossible-crush,” Caden. But when Eve begins to investigate her aunt’s death, she’s plunged into danger and a nightmare world where scary urban legends are very real. Full of suspense, A THOUSAND YESTERYEARS will keep you guessing, gasping and turning the pages for more.”
~ Kevin O’Brien, New York Times bestselling author
If the story sounds like something you’d enjoy, now is a great time to grab your copy for just .99c. You can always read it later…urban legends make great reading during Halloween…just sayin’ 🙂
A THOUSAND YESTERYEARS is available for purchase at:
Amazon
B & N
Kobo
Google Play
iTunes
Kensington Publishing
Thanks for reading and considering my book!
Share this:
Fiction Dialogue 101
I thought this was a brilliant post on dialogue. This is from “Story Empire” a blog I’ve recently become connected with. Please hop over, take a look, and give us a follow if you’ve a mind to connect. We’d love to have you follow and hope you enjoy our debut post! Staci Troilo is an editor and knows her stuff!
Well, hello there.
Funny to start this post with a greeting, given its topic. But this is our inaugural post, and I didn’t want to begin without saying hi.
“Hi.”
Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, we can get down to business. Specifically, the business of writing dialogue in fiction.
First, a list of what to do and what not to do.
Do’s and Don’ts
- Do listen to people speak in real life. This will give you a feel for speech patterns.
- Don’t repeat conversations verbatim. When people pause to think, they counter the silence with filler words and phrases (like, um, well). Unless you need to show a character pause (for example, to come up with a believable lie) omit the fillers.
- Do let readers know dialects may be heavy by certain speakers. (I considered hiring a translator to decode his southern accent.) Pepper in a phonetic…
View original post 738 more words
Share this:
#MidWeekPOV #wwwblogs
“I Can’t Believe I Ate The WHOLE Thing!”
Short and sweet POV today: Don’t bite off more than you can chew!
There’s an old expression (someone remind me who said it) that a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, else what’s a heaven for? While I think this is true in the main, as I said last week, I do think goals should be attainable. With lots of work, perhaps, but within reach. Except for those truly lofty ideas we might expect to receive only after reaching whatever afterlife we might aspire to.
And that’s it. Aim high, but not impossibly so. Reward yourself for each goal you accomplish, and most importantly, never give up. Makes sense to me.
NOTE: BTW, I answered my own question. The quote is from a poem by Robert Browning, just in case anyone else was wondering. 😀
The Write Stuff 