Monday Mentionables: The Relief of Hearing Your Work Doesn't Suck

Happy Monday! Okay, maybe that post title is a little crude, but I'm always happy (and more than a little relieved) when my beta readers or editors return my stories and say "OMG this was my favorite yet!" Or maybe they don't rave that much, but they don't tell me it sucked. Or that it's full of plot holes. Or that they didn't like the hero, or the heroine, or the best friend, or...

I still feel that twinge of apprehension whenever I send my writing to others to read, whether they are friends I've known for years or beta readers I've just come in contact with or editors I've recently hired. It's scary, putting your baby out there. As much as we writers think we're crafting the next Novel  of the Year, we can't write in a bubble. We have to ask others to give us another perspective, and then we (I) hope they like and understand it as much as we do. (Of course, it's helpful when they don't too, because then we can fix the problems and make the story better.)

I got 2 different manuscripts back this past weekend, one from an editor and another from a beta reader, and while they gave me some good food for though as far as revisions, it also looks as though I'm heading in the right direction with the general story lines.....which means I should have more new books to share with you soon!

Friday Fun Facts: Cover Reveal for Summer on Main Street Coming Soon!

Hey, all, the Summer on Main Street Boxed Set is set to release in June....but first, a cover reveal! On March 27, 2015, we'll be revealing our super-colorful, summer fun-loving cover to the Web world, and we'd love any bloggers (or others who want to share on their social media sites) to join us!

Enticing Journey is hosting our cover reveal, so go ahead and sign up right here if you're interested:

Click to join our cover reveal!

Writers' Wednesday: One More Cover to Share! (and P.S. Street Team Forming Soon...)

One more cover to share today, for Inferno of Love!

And in other news, I've been thinking about putting together a street team for some of my favorite and devoted readers. What's a street team? It's one more promotional strategy some writers use. Basically, it's a group of readers that supports a writer by reading, posting reviews, and generally talking up that writer by spreading the news about releases and updates. What do the readers get out of it? Well, in addition to getting to read books before the general public, some writers give their street team members prizes, promo items, chances to win gift cards, etc. Plus you as a street team member get to feel like you're "in the know," chummy with the writer and getting to offer your opinion about stories, promo efforts, covers, and more.

I've had the awesome opportunity to get to know many readers over the last few years, and some of them (you) are so loyal and so fun to chat with that I'd love to form a special group just for them (you). Stay tuned for details on joining!

Monday Mentionables: New Covers to Share!

Happy Monday, everyone! I've been busy working with my cover designer (the fabulous Dar at Wicked Smart Designs) on rebranding my Hometown Heroes covers, and here's what she's come up with so far. I really like the overall effect (and of course, I love the "USA Today Bestelling Author" words at the bottom LOL). What do you think?

In other news, Labyrinth of Love (and Entwined, a companion book of poems) will release next month, so keep an eye out for those! And finally, Summer on Main Street, a bundled set of "small town" romances, will have its awesome cover reveal at the end of this month. So we have lots to celebrate and look forward to!

Writers' Wednesday: Where You'll Find Me This Summer!

Calling all fellow readers and writers! This summer you can catch up with me in two places, both in July:

On Saturday, July 18, from 9 - 3, I'll be yet again at the Holiday in Homer in upstate New York, a fantastic hometown craft fair (that just happens to take place in my childhood hometown). I'll have copies of my new books, including the Cocktail Cruise series and (fingers crossed) Labyrinth of Love, the third book in the Hometown Heroes series!

And July 22 -  25, I'll be attending the RWA National Conference at the Marriott Hotel in NYC. I've been an RWA member for many years, but I've never gone to the national conference. Since it's so close to home this time, I didn't want to miss it. I'm looking forward to learning lots and meeting in person, for the first time, some of my fellow writers, including my Passionate Kisses sisters!

So there you have it. As I plan any other appearances for 2015, I'll keep you updated. Hope to see you!

Monday Mentionables: Time to Make Some Changes

Happy Monday! I updated my Facebook cover over the weekend (using Canva. Super-easy). Cute, right?? Now I just have to update my other pages. Changes are a-happening, my friends!

Friday Fun Facts: I'm a USA Today Best-Selling Author!

Happy Friday, everyone! 

In case you didn't see my crazy posts on Facebook or Twitter over the last 36 hours, I'm thrilled to say that I am officially a USA Today Best-Selling author! That's right: Passionate Kisses 2: Love in Bloom hit the list after its release week (if anyone's interested, we sold just around 7,000 US copies in that week). What do I love even more? My novella Setting Sail is featured in two of the reviews on the USA list page. Check it out!

Writers' Wednesday: A Review of Eleanor & Park

Hello readers! Today I'm gushing about one of my new favorite books & authors: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell.

This is a YA novel, and it's about as beautifully written as they come. Eleanor has bright red hair, some extra weight, above-average intelligence, and a home life made up of a beautiful but spineless mother, 4 younger siblings, and an abusive stepfather. Park is part-Korean, loves comics and music, and thinks Eleanor is the biggest misfit he's ever met...until they sit next to each other on the bus and become friends. The book unfolds over the course of a year as 16-year old Eleanor and Park slowly fall in mad, all-consuming first love with each other, amid bullies and parental crises. It's heartbreaking at times, uplifting at others, and has a *perfect ending*. It took me 2 days to read, and only because I put it down a few times because I didn't want to get to the end. This is a must-read for everyone! I'll leave you with some of my favorite lines (there are so many; these are only a few):

"Holding Eleanor's hand was like holding a butterfly. Or a heartbeat. Like holding something complete, and completely alive."

"When Eleanor smiled at him, something broke inside him. Something always did."

"There's only one of him, she thought, and he's right here, He knows I'll like a song before I've heard it. He laughs before I even get to the punchline. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes me want to let him open doors for me."

Monday Mentionables: The Power of the Boxed Set on Sales

Well hello there! Happy Monday. Today a very quick talk for writers about how participating in a boxed set can drive your other sales. Most of you know I've been involved in two boxed sets, Passionate Kisses and Passionate Kisses 2, and among the many benefits is the way your book in a set can drive sales of your other titles.

I saw this incrementally with the first set. My story in Passionate Kisses was Beacon of Love. It was ninth of ten books in the set, and sales of Inferno of Love, the book that follows it in the Hometown Heroes series, picked up around 1-2 months after the set released. Inferno continues to sell moderately well, and I attribute that to new readers picking up the set and finding a new story/series to buy.

This time around, the effect has been much faster and more dramatic. My book in Passionate Kisses 2 is Setting Sail, the prequel to my Cocktail Cruise series. It's also fourth of the ten titles in the set. Since last Tuesday, release day, my sales for the full series, the first title in the series, and (interestingly enough) my one free title, have all picked up. What makes me even happier is that the Cocktail Cruise series is $7.99 - not a cheapie purchase by any means, but people are still buying it.

This is why I highly recommend anyone participating in a boxed set to use that set to springboard your own sales. An author friend of mine said it very eloquently on a Facebook group I belong to, so I'll leave you with this thought. Happy writing!

"Since we are essentially "giving away" our books in the boxed set, the big payoff comes when new-to-you readers buy your next book. It's really important to have your next book available at the time of our boxed set release, so that when they finish your story - and loved it - and want more - there is more for them to buy. That's how you make your money. That's how you build your readership.That's how you harness the power of a series."

Writers' Wednesday: It's Release Week!

Hi everyone! Ooh it's been a crazy busy week so far - and it's only Wednesday! But yesterday, Passionate Kisses 2: Love in Bloom released, so the PK2 sisters and I have been promoting like mad!

 Among other things to mention:

We are featured on the USA Today "Happy Ever After" Blog today, talking about our most memorable kisses.

We've been partying all day over at our Facebook party site (stop by before Thursday morning and you could win some great prizes!)

We are currently in the Top 100 at Barnes and Noble and on 3 Top 100 lists at Amazon.

And we are running a Thunderclap campaign this Friday that we'd love you to support. Not sure what Thumderclap is? It's a way to harness the power of social media by agreeing to use your Facebook or Twitter accounts to post one single, focused message at a single time. We'd love your support, and all you have to do is click right here to join. 

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Friday Fun Facts: Just in Time for V-Day

Happy (early) Valentine's Day! No matter how you might be spending tomorrow, here are some fun facts you might not know about this day...

More than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are sold for Valentine's Day each year.

On average, men shell out $130 each on candy, cards, jewelry, flowers and dates. That’s more than double what women commit to spending.

About 8 billion candy hearts will be produced this year; that’s enough candy to stretch from Rome, Italy to Valentine, Arizona 20 times and back again.

About 1 billion Valentine's Day cards are exchanged in US each year. That's the largest seasonal card-sending occasion of the year, next to Christmas.

Worldwide, over 50 million roses are given for Valentine's Day each year.

Women purchase 85% of all valentines.

In order of popularity, Valentine's Day cards are given to teachers, children, mothers, wives, sweethearts and pets.

73% of people who buy flowers for Valentine's Day are men, while only 27 percent are women.

Men buy most of the millions of boxes of candy and bouquets of flowers given on Valentine's Day.

In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.

The Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare's lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine's Day.

Richard Cadbury invented the first Valentines Day candy box in the late 1800s.

Alexander Graham Bell applied for his patent on the telephone, an "Improvement in Telegraphy", on Valentine's Day, 1876.

The oldest surviving love poem till date is written in a clay tablet from the times of the Sumerians around 3500 BC.

Writers' Wednesday: Welcome to Summer on Main Street!

Well, here we are at another Wednesday. Happy Hump Day, everyone! I have a project I've been working on, in the very newest stages, but I'll share with you some of the news today: it looks like I will be part of another boxed set, releasing this summer! This time all the stories will be set in small towns -- because there's just so much delicious conflict and characterization that can happen there, right? We're tentatively titling it Summer on Main Street, and we hope you'll look forward to spending part of YOUR summer getting to know each of our small towns.

I'm happy to say that the following authors will be part of this set as well. Please check them out, follow them on Facebook, sign up for their newsletters...you know, all the usual stuff so you get the earliest peeks at when this set is releasing!

Crista McHugh
Rebecca J. Clark
MJ Fredrick
Cerian Hebert
Liz Kelly

Monday Mentionables: Get in on the Good Stuff!

Happy Monday, everyone! Well, as the white stuff is coming down outside, I have two mentionables to warm your day. First, in honor of Passionate Kisses 2 releasing next week, we're holding a day-long Facebook party, with lots of sneak peeks, excerpts, yummy pictures, and of course GIVEAWAYS! Join us by clicking below:

And....speaking of giveaways, A Girl and Her Kindle is giving away a Kindle Paperwhite E-Reader AND a year's subscription to Kindle Unlimited (all the books you can read for a year!). Want to enter? Just click below to see all the ways you can win chances. And stay warm!

Friday Fun Facts: Did You Miss Tweet-It-Up Thursday?

TGIF, everyone! Boy it's good to see the end of the week :)

By now, I'm sure you know that the Passionate Kisses 2 Boxed Set I'm part of is releasing in just under 2 weeks. Yesterday the other authors and I decided to "Tweet it up" at 5 pm EST and share a whole bunch of teasers for a sneak peek into what you're going to get in this set.

In case you missed it, here were just a few:

“Oh yeah? Let me show you how it’s done.” His words were laced with his hot breath against her ear. #10kisses

"If you dump him and he’s available three months from now, I’m going to pursue him like there’s no tomorrow." #10kisses http://

Her mission to break up with him did not include throwing herself at him. #10kisses

"Betty tells me the young man who does their yard is quite the stallion.” “Grandma!” “What? We’re old. Not blind.”
#10kisses

"I can barely shower in twenty minutes with everything I have to wash, condition, exfoliate, and shave. It’s hell being a girl.” #10kisses

“I can barely keep my hands to myself. Now should we go in for a drink?” #10kisses

If you're on Twitter, you can search by #10kisses to see the rest. Lots of fun! And our Amazon ranking jumped for a few hours last night, so even better!
 

Monday Mentionables: Super Bowl Commercials!

So did you watch the Super Bowl?? And did you watch it for the game or the commercials (be honest...).

Actually, it was one of the better games I've seen in past years -- what a crazy last 2 receptions! Gotta feel for the Seahawks, though I was disappointed in the punches thrown. Hello, sportsmanship?

Anyway, let's talk about the commercials, always highly anticipated, right? What were your favorites this year? Interestingly, there seemed to be an abundance of daddy + son commercials this year. Did anyone else notice that? And let's not even talk about the terribly depressing Nationwide insurance ad (dead kids? pictures of overflowing bathtubs? really?).

Here are my top 5 faves from last night:

What about you?? Which did you like??

Friday Fun Facts: Two Emails That Made Me Happy This Week

I know, that isn't a very succinct blog post title, but I couldn't think of a clever way to condense it. Anyway, I got two so-fun emails from readers this week, I just had to share them with you.

One is from Judy, who read my novella Setting Sail as an early reviewer for the Passionate Kisses Boxed Set. She wrote to say, "Just finished Setting Sail this morning. Very very good. I hope everyone who buys it enjoys it as much as I did."

P.S. If you haven't ordered the set yet, you still have time before release day by clicking here!

The second was from one of my newsletter subscribers, who wrote in response to last week's Free Poem Friday issue: "Words cannot express - what an amazing poem!   Simply wonderful!  In fact, I forwarded it to my husband at work ~ thank you!"

P.S. You too can read these poems each and every Friday -- just sign up to receive my newsletter right here!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Writers' Wednesday: Events from Author Matthew S. Field

Hello local Hudson Valley writers!! Here's an event hosted by a colleague of mine who's published in both adult and children's fiction:

YOU have a story to tell. You may already have a manuscript or you may not yet have gotten your ideas on paper. Regardless of where you are in the process of writing your book, The Book Inside You Writer's Workshop will provide you with the knowledge, tools, and a plan to transform the book inside you into a book in print.

Bestselling novelist, biographer, and top inspirational journalist Sharon Linnéa and award winning children’s book author and novelist Matthew S. Field have announced the next in a series of successful The Book Inside You Writer’s Workshops, scheduled for February 7 and 8, 2014 at the Courtyard by Marriott in Middletown, New York.

Authors who want more information or who want to register can visit the official The Book Inside You Writer’s Workshop website, www.The-Book-Inside-You-Workshop.com, or call 845-987-2807.

Also from this author, if you're looking for a feel-good story in time for Valentine's Day, consider supporting his release day! 

The day before Valentine's Day is the official release on Amazon Kindle of 'Tiny Footsteps: A Short Story' written by my alter-ego, Matthew S. Field. It's my favorite among the short stories that I've published so far.

Chance is a business "road warrior" whose serendipitous meeting with Hannah, a pensive and melancholy auburn-haired beauty who drives a Jeep Wrangler and wears the cutest, smallest, and most "tricked-out" sneakers, appears to have changed his life. With a little cover from his executive assistant and a job that permits him to make his own schedule, something like a love, or at least a meaningful lust begins to flourish. Fate, however, is marching toward Chance as each day passes. Sometimes, Fate takes very tiny footsteps.

I'm asking all of my friends who are readers and/or who are readers of my work to buy, if you'd planned on buying, 'Tiny Footsteps: A Short Story,' on Friday, February 13, 2015 between 8 a.m and 5 p.m. at the following link: http://amzn.to/1GOYWae (It's more than an hour, but you get the idea.)

Thanks and Happy Valentine's Day . . . a day early.

Monday Mentionables: Where Story Ideas Begin

So I've been thinking about writing a Christmas novella (more on the reason for this later this week), but I really had no idea where to begin. I knew I wanted to set it in the town of Pine Point, because that's where my novel Summer's Song takes place, and if all goes well, this novella will be a precursor to a series set in that town. Beyond that, I had no idea who the characters were or what was going to happen to them.

Hmm.

So I was reading the Best Friends magazine over breakfast last week (put out by one of the biggest and best animal rescue organizations in the country), and I came across an article on people and their "pet soulmates" -- you know, those pets that somehow were more special than the rest, that you just knew would have a special place in your heart for all time.

And I started thinking.

What if my heroine is an over-the-top animal lover? What if the hero doesn't want anything to do with them?

And the ideas sprang from there. I've spent the last 5 years volunteering at an animal shelter, and I'm good friends with both the past and present managers, so I have a pretty good idea of what's involved. Besides, who doesn't love a feel-good animal story around the holidays?

So there you have it. I've written the first two chapters, and I have a general idea about the conflicts coming up, so while nothing's concrete, I have a much better idea of this story than I did a week ago.
And that, my friends, is where story ideas come from.

Everywhere.

Friday Fun Facts: One Indie Writers' Income

TGIF! I have 2 great blog posts to share with you today, written by none other than one of my Passionate Kisses sisters, Jessi Gage. In the first, she chronicles her income of one title published through a small press and then re-released on her own, as an indie title. The results are truly stunning -- she made 3x the amount of money when she released this title on her own. She's a great author, so I'm not surprised!

In the second, she looks at her other titles along with the costs she put out to publish on her own (cover design, editing, formatting, marketing, other business expenses) as an indie author. Remember that publishers will absorb those costs for authors, which is why you will also make lower royalties with them. Please keep in mind that not all indie authors make this kind of money in their debut year -- some do, which is terrific. Many do not.

As with any endeavor, if you're considering venturing into the world of indie publishing, do your research first. And as part of that, read these blog posts!

Writers' Wednesday: How Many Beta Readers Do You Need?

Hi gang! Found this article thanks to a Twitter feed and thought I'd pass it along to my fellow writers. It's a good look at selecting beta readers and what to keep in mind when you're considering their feedback.

Write on!

How Many Beta Readers Do You Need?