Category Archives: Daisy Updates

Progress report on the current Daisy mystery.

Daisy Update – Visiting Friends

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They say that public speaking is a terror for many people.  If you’re an author and have any desire for financial success, best get over that fear as quickly as you can.  In the next few weeks, I’m going to work on this with Daisy Arthur promotions. . .

Lindsay Woods with Liesa Malik at KRFC radio

Thanks, Lindsay Woods, for a great radio show!

KRFC RADIO WITH LINDSAY WOODS

Last night I had a blast being interviewed by my good friend, Lindsay Woods on a local radio station called KRFC 88.9 FM.  With such a generous questioner, I couldn’t help but relax and get into the topics we covered, including getting started in writing, promoting your book, and, of course, a little Sliced Veggie talk.  I hope to post the recording in a few weeks as I continue to update my website. As they say in “the biz,” stay tuned!

Beyond the Trope logo

See you soon Trope friends!

PODCASTING WITH BEYOND THE TROPE

I’m very excited to be making my first podcast appearance soon.  This Saturday I’ll record a session with Giles Hash and his team from Beyond the Trope, a group of people focused on deep discussions on genre fiction and popular art and culture.  We’ll record via Skype (something I haven’t used very much, but am excited about), and then November 17, the podcast will become available if you go to I-Tunes and look it up by either my name or Beyond the Trope.

What’s a trope you say? A trope is the figurative use of language to quickly convey a general meaning.  I personally think of it as a short-cut to an image.  For example, if I say, “He was a real Prince Charming,” you have an image immediately of what I’m shooting for in our communication.  And no, I did not say “Prince Charming” sarcastically.

Bouchercon logo

Next week should be fun!

BOUCHERCON IS COMING

Are you going to be in Raleigh next week?  I will.  The annual crime readers and writer’s convention, Bouchercon, will be held there.  And guess what–I’ll be on a panel!  As there are 2,000 or more people coming to this event, I better NOT play shy on this opportunity.  No, I won’t speak in front of all 2,000, but I have to guess the panel will have 40 or 50 people in the audience.  How cool is that?

AUTHOR PLATFORM 101 WITH RMFW

Remember how I did a workshop for RMFW’s CO Gold conference?  Turns out that workshop went well enough that I’ll be able to expand on it for a group of RMFW writers who live on the Western Slope of Colorado.  On November 14, if you’re in the Grand Junction area, please check out the program and come in for a visit.  We’ll be talking about building your reputation as an author with specifics on self-promotions and general marketing of your books.

Whew!  Too shy to get up in front of a group?  I’d better not be at this point!

Wishing you a confident week.

200th Post–Celebrating with a New Book Cover Design

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Today is special to me because this marks my 200th post.  I never imagined in May of 2012 that I’d still be here two years later, writing a small column with a growing group of friends and fellow-readers/writers. In this time, I’ve met some wonderful people through this blog, and look forward to meeting more.

Here are some of my favorite comments . . .

  • “I have a lot of notebooks in different rooms around the house so when an idea comes to me, I quickly write it down…” Letitia
  • “I think about writing every day but reading and dreaming about it is more fun than actually doing it.” Sharon
  • “I paint because I have to, if anyone sees the beauty in it, so much the better.” Cindy
  • “I learned in Toastmasters there is a way to offer help that is truly helpful. A gifted speaker in our group said something like, “I really enjoyed . . . about your talk. One thing I noticed, that may be just me, was a lack of wrap up for your main points. Others may have heard it – it’s just my thought.” So easy to hear this kind – and kind – of help.” Linda
  • “My favorite use of the ellipse in writing is when I want to give a dramatic effect to my reader. That pause before a shocking sentence arrives.” Ahamin

New Book Cover!

Sliced Vegetarian Front Book Cover

Whoo Hoo! Can’t wait to promote this book!

Yippee! I received the cover art for Sliced Vegetarian last week.  The artist, it turns out, is also from Colorado, so I hope to meet her in person one day (and with her permission) will do a blog interview with Deirdre Wait.

We live in a visual world, with color printing and on-line art so prolific, we take it for granted.  But don’t be fooled by the old saying, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”  Anyone who’s been in marketing for more than a week knows that well-ordered and professionally executed visuals “sell” all the time.  People buy books, at least in part, by what the cover looks like and what’s printed on it.

Some of the things I like about Deirdre’s work on Sliced Veggie, is that she connected one book to the next through the use of typeface and cover elements.  I love this new cover because of how bright and fun the graphics are, and I can see people enjoying the vegetable stand with the–heh, heh, heh–bloody knife in the middle.  My good guy thought the knife came from me, because it looks so much like a set we just bought. Hmm . . .

Taking A Holiday Break

Now that I’ve made such a big deal of publishing 200 posts, I’m going to turn around and let you know that I’m taking a little vacation.  This will be my last post until the New Year.  I might post a picture for Christmas, but other than that, I plan to spend the next couple of weeks enjoying a bunch of holiday movies (thank you Netflix), eating too many sugar-coated cookies, and reading some books that have been calling to me.

I wish you all a peaceful, holiday season, and hope all your special wishes come true.  See you in 2015!