Career Goals

Posted: July 26, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Odds and Ends | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

One of the things every fledgling author is told is your cover has to sell your book. Make your cover say something about your book… Does your cover say Romance? or Paranormal Romance? and honestly? It’s not bad advice. Really. In all honesty, 90% of the time, a cover sells a book. I admit, I almost never NEVER read a blurb. Once in a while, if I’m really torn, I do, but not all that often.

On the other hand.. I have certain authors that I always read their books. Authors I grew up reading… I’ve gotten a little behind in recent years but eventually, no matter what the cover is, I read the book. In that list is Jude Deveraux, Catherine Coulter, Elizabeth Lowell, Julie Garwood, Johanna Lindsey, (btw, I almost named kid 3 Johanna…) Dean Koontz, and until she passed away, Anne McCaffrey. 

Yes, I know Dean Koontz and Anne McCaffrey are the odd men out there, oddly enough, they’re the ones I’ve been reading the longest…

Have you seen any of their covers recently? The best word that comes to mind is ABSTRACT. The covers have no models… Catherine Coulter’s Sherlock and Savich have never been given faces. Almost paranormal abilities? Sure. Faces? Never!

This is a goal of mine… to hit a best sellers list (as most of these authors do with nearly every release) with even the most abstract (even ghostly or smoky image on the cover…) To have people willing to drop $10 or more on a story just because my name is on it. When I was growing up, this was amazing…

Now, 20 years later, it still is.

Tucson Festival of Books 2015 recap.

Posted: March 17, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Odds and Ends | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

I went, I saw, I conquered.

Well, not quite, but close. I planned things very carefully. I went over the schedule and chose the sessions I wanted to attend. Nearly all had to do with improving my writing.. but I will admit I went to the first one, with Catherine Coulter, simply because I’ve read her since I was a teen and loved her… Not that the topic wasn’t relevant to what I write, it was Thriller and Suspense Heroes. And while I may not (so far) have much thriller or suspense, I do have what I consider heroes.

I learned about writing better, marketing, writing faster and many other things that I’m going to have to share with the people I know.

Did you go? Do you have something similar in your area?

What I’m Reading ~ Backfire ~ Catherine Coulter

Posted: October 25, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: What I'm Reading | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This is the 16th book in Coulter’s FBI Thriller series.

FBI Agent Dillon Savich receives a vague but ominous threat, while they’re trying to trace who might be after him, and why, a long time friend, and federal judge, Ramsey Hunt is shot in the back and nearly killed. Savich and his wife, fellow Agent Lacey Sherlock fly to San Francisco to help find whoever is trying to kill Hunt.

What did I think? I liked it, I love this series and usually fly through the books, unfortunately, I’m so busy with other things it took me a week to finish this. Savich and Sherlock are true to character, taking care of each other, their son and their friends while, at the same time, doing their job. This one kept me interested even when I had to put it down over and over.

4 howls