I know I’m late. Not only am I late, I accidentally posted this on another blog. Thanks Pam for the correction. This time I did forget but for a good reason. it’s been a busy month.
Sunset on St George Island
Not only have I been writing, I’ve been at St. George Island State Park, Florida. We are volunteers here.
It’s been an interesting month. On January 13th we helped with a sea turtle release. A loggerhead turtle and 26 Kemps Ridley turtles. A fun time and I’m writing in more detail on my
Blue Heron nesting
blog.
We also have been involved in controlled burning. This method of preventing serious forest fires Is being used more
Ranger starting controlled burn
and more across the nation. I have more photos scheduled for my blog, too.
Please follow, friend or like me. I love to hear from my readers.
This morning when I walked into my kitchen, half asleep and
groping for my tea kettle, I passed by the calendar and noticed something that
slapped the sleep from my eyes and froze me in place. IT’S FEBRUARY!
Okay, okay, I know it’s February, as in the month that comes
between January and March, but I just realized it’s FEBRUARY, as in a mere five
months before my baby, my younger son (Son
No. 2 – in birth order only! – is how I usually refer to him) marries his
high school sweetheart!
And you know what that means. In five short months, I’ll go
from being someone’s boyfriend’s mother to being someone’s MOTHER-IN-LAW.
Could be there a more maligned title/position in our culture
than the mother-in-law? Anyone remember Rodney Dangerfield’s famous “Take my
mother-in-law...please?
Here’s a clip from Jeff Foxworthy titled “The Mother-in-Law
Joke” as if no more explanation is needed.
I love how after the punch line he says, “It ain’t right but
you laughed at it!”
Then there was the famous “MONSTER-In-Law” movie with Jane
Fonda and Jennifer Lopez.
Enough said.
It’s not bad enough that when scriptwriters want to turn on
the waterworks they kill the mother. (If you haven’t noticed, trust me, it’s
always the mother.) Conversely, writers can rely on a cheap laugh by making any
undead mother an in-law.
Thankfully, I have a great relationship with my future
daughter-in-law. (For purposes of this
blog, I’ll call her Sally.) Sally and
Son No. 2 have been together since high school. So what I had to find out they
were dating from a friend who saw the two of them holding hands at the town’s
annual fair. That’s his fault, not hers. He was probably worried I’d start
grilling her like a cheese sandwich. He was wrong. I have much more subtle
means of ferreting out the information I want.
Anyway, she and I bake cookies together, go to movies
together, and I even went wedding gown shopping with her and her mom. (I was so
honored to be included...truly. And yes, I cried when she said yes to the
dress.) I love her and honestly look at her as the daughter I never had. (How
lucky am I?)
But there is one troubling aspect of my soon-to-be in-law
status: My name, or title.
Up until that point Sally had always called me “Mrs.,” despite
my repeated pleas for her to “just call me Leah.” When he popped the question,
however, she figured it was time to take the next step and address me by something
that doesn’t make me sound like her second grade teacher.
And “just my name” made sense.Right? I knew she would never feel comfortable
calling me “Mom” (and her mother, understandably, would be less than keen on
it).
The first time she called me “Leah” it was kind of weird,
for both of us, but we knew it would become easier with time and practice. She
is still calling my husband “Mr.” but I can’t worry about him now. I have
bigger issues. Something happened over Christmas as we exchanged gifts across
the greater family landscape.
Sally, my future daughter-in-law, who will call me just
Leah, addressed my sister as “Aunt....”
Huh. My sister is a beloved aunt but I’m just plain old
no-title “Leah”?
I understand why the aunt bit. My sister is a wonderful
person—loving and kind and tons of fun. Also, I realize aunt is more of a
generic title than “mother,” often reserved for close friends you want to incorporate
into more of a family role.
But still...I’m the MOTHER of her future husband, for crying
out loud. I introduced her to cookie baking and taught her our cherished family
recipes. Can’t I get a bit of an elevation here, more than just my name,
something that denotes a real family relationship? Can’t I get a freakin’ title?
After I got over the shock, I started researching
alternatives to “Mom” and “Leah.”
“Ma” felt so wrong. First of all, it’s what I (reluctantly)
called my mother-in-law because that’s what my hubby called her. From him it
sounded loving and right; from me it sounded like I time-traveled to the middle
The Grapes of Wrath country.
“Mother” is too formal. “Mother Leah” is even worse. As one
friend told me, “You sound like Mother Superior.” “Mama Leah” sounds like a kosher pizza...and
so on and so on.
Still, I was determined and started venting my dilemma to
everyone who would listen, until I found it—a good alternative to “Mom” that
would make me feel like I was part of Sally’s family. I got this from a friend
who is German (really German...from Germany):Mutti (pronounced mooti) is a German word for Mom or Mommy.
How perfect! I thought. I’m of German descent. Sally is part
Indian (as in Asian Indian) and the word kind of sounds Indian...at least the
way my German friend pronounced it.
Armed with my find, I texted my son to feel him out. “Say,
uh...how would Sally like to call me Mutti instead of Leah?” I explained the roots
of the word, adding that I know Sally is uncomfortable with just Leah. After
about five minutes, he got back to me, so I know he was conferring with her. The
response? “That’s okay, Mom. She’s fine with Leah.”
I have to admit I was a bit hurt. But when I asked him why
she calls my sister “Aunt,” my hurt disappeared. He explained that Sally doesn’t
have a good relationship with her real aunts, and having an aunt she can love
makes her feel better.
Hey, I can’t argue with that. I think that’s sweet and I’m
happy to share my wonderful sister with her. As for me, just call me Leah.
******************************
Leah writes stories of mystery and romance, good and evil, and the power of love. She loves Facebook visitors where she often posts about her son's kitten Hercules. She blogs here onthe 6th and 22nd of each month.
I was all ready to buckle down and get back to work in January. Really I was. Since I don't have contractual deadlines to meet, I like to take time after a new book releases to concentrate on promo and catch up on life. Since I usually time my releases for early fall, the holidays tend to sneak in gobble up big chunks of my time, too. Before I know it, it's January--time to dive head-first into a new project. Until this year. I started off fairly well. I came up with a basic plot outline for my new female bodyguard book Child's Play and completed my character profiles. I even managed to write the first chapter. Yay! That took me through the first two-thirds of the month. Then, for fairly obvious reasons, I hit a creative brick wall. Every day the news got worse, sucking up all my energy and natural optimism. By the 31st, I'd had it. Something had to change. I refused to let malevolent outside forces steal my life any longer if I could help it. Along with everything happening in the nation and the world, my mood was not improved by the fact that I hadn't been able to exercise since the first week of December because of a nasty case of bursitis in my left hip. I'm not a fanatic--I don't run marathons or anything--but I am used to walking briskly on the treadmill five or six days a week. It boosts my energy and supports the illusion that I'm still young and lively. Since the main treatment for bursitis is rest, I had to abandon my routine when I needed it most. On February 1st, I decided I'd given my body enough time to heal, and I got back on the treadmill. I'm starting slowly and alternating days with strength bands in an attempt to avoid another flare-up, but it feels good to move again. I'm also getting back into my book. While I couldn't think about words, I worked with pictures. I like to have an image of the cover in mind while I'm working on a book for inspiration, so I played around and came up with this. What do you think? For continuity and branding, I used the same basic color scheme, fonts, and design elements (legs and gun) as the other two books in the series.
The heroine in this book is a PhD student in Child Psychology who goes undercover as a nanny/bodyguard to the four-year-old niece of a Professor of Egyptian Archaeology after he receives a veiled threat directed toward the child. The story includes stolen artifacts, a bad-tempered monkey named Balthazar, and an enigmatic villain named Fermin LeBlanc. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Now all I have to do is get busy and write it! Alison www.alisonhenderson.com
Last year was my most prosperous writing year to date. I’ve
been doing this author “thing” for over fifteen years and finally have some
momentum going. I can’t call it a hobby anymore. It’s not just something I do
for the fun of it, although I do have a blast most times. It’s gotten to be
serious business these days.
How did this shift come about?
I spent money. Yeah, I spent money on writing. Money beyond
an editor and a cover artist. Money on advertising and a small street team. It
was money well spent too.
In February of 2016, I took the plunge and paid what I
considered an exorbitant amount to have one of my books advertised in Book Bub,
a reader newsletter that targets specific readers. I’d heard from more than one
fellow author that they’d made back the money they’d spent on this promotional
opportunity and then some.
Still I was reluctant. I was tired of always taking a hit in
the writing department. I slaved away for hours and hours after the day job and
wasn’t seeing any financial rewards for my labor. I couldn’t reach the readers
I needed to by just blasting images and links and clever one-liners on Facebook
groups that had anything to do with reading and books. I was sick of checking
my Amazon rank and finding it to be large, unspeakably embarrassing numbers.
I was ready to quit altogether.
Finally, I decided to go for it as a last ditch effort to
make writing a semi-respectable profession for myself. If it didn’t produce
some solid sales, I was done. I doled out the cash and waited.
I wasn’t disappointed. The book I advertised was free and
the downloads came pouring in. I didn’t make any money off those downloads, BUT
those lovely readers were kind enough to buy the other books in the series. A
lot of them. Soon I was watching my ranks go down and my earnings go up! I was
delighted and refueled to continue spinning tales.
People were really reading my stuff. They were leaving
reviews. They were emailing me with kind words that sent me over the moon. My
characters were finally getting to meet the world. I was like a proud mom.
I supplemented this tidal wave with establishing a small,
3-person street team of fine women who had liked my books and were willing to
spread the word. I promised them a monthly prize, and they agreed to talk about
my books to their friends, re-post news about my books on Facebook, and other
little things that have helped my sales.
For a few solid months, I saw some wonderful royalties and
grew excited about the number of readers I was reaching. Sales tapered off
after the summer and then I did something crazy like launch a new series that
wasn’t really like the series that had garnered some fans. Things have been
slow to pick up on that new series, but I’m gearing up to spend some money
again and hopefully put these books in front of the right readers. I’m
determined to have another great writing year.
In the meantime, I’m experimenting. I’ve been trying out
different sponsored Facebook ads and have found that the ones with images with little
text do the best. They are eye-catching enough to get people to notice them in
their newsfeeds and make them curious enough to click for more info. I’m also
dabbling with promoting the “Shop Now” button on Facebook to see if leading
people directly to Amazon works better than providing several links in the ad
for various retailers. And finally, I’m playing around with a review service
where you pay a fee, your book becomes available to targeted, non-paid
reviewers, and those reviewers promise to post reviews at various spots online.
I’m figuring if I can get more reviews for my new series, then I can approach
Book Bub with more confidence.
Blog tours, book trailers, and online parties never seem to
work so I’ve cut those out of the cycle. I’m devoting my time and money to new
ideas or things that have worked for me in the past.
In other words, I’m still learning. Over fifteen years doing
this writing “thing” and there’s still so much to figure out.
What’s something new you’ve learned that works for your
books? Or if you are a reader, how do you find those new books you grow to
love?
We've all had them, right? Those days that start out bad and slowly, or rapidly, sink downhill. Take my yesterday, for example. Please! I'm serious. Somebody take it!
I crawled out of the bed early to make a pottie run and as I passed the mirror, an old saggy-eyed beast with a red Mohawk glared back at me. Scared me so badly I almost didn't need to toddle the rest of the way to tinkle. Who in the fifth dimension was that? Better still, what was that? And how did it get into my pajamas?
Most of you know I've been suffering with bronchitis for over three weeks. My ribs are sore from all the coughing. You've probably been there yourselves and know what I'm talking about. Calvin insisted I go back to the doctor. I'd finished the antibiotics three days ago and hadn't seen or felt much improvement.
I took my morning shower and was stepping into my panties--one leg in mid-air--when a bad coughing spell hit. My back went into spasms and I fell backwards across the bed. One leg in...one leg out. Coughing like hell and not giving a damn. My sciatic nerve thought it would teach me a lesson. Two hours later, I hobbled into the doctor's office.
Some time afterward, I hobbled out with a diagnosis of pneumonia, asthma, and a double ear infection. No mention was made of my back. But the nurse loved my two latest books, so that had to count in the positive column for my day.
Once I had all my meds, Calvin helped me into bed. A word here--Calvin is like a helicopter when I'm sick. He hovers. He put a walkie talkie in bed beside me in case I needed him. He can't hear his cellphone ring, so we use these talkie gizmos that emit sonic booms to get his attention.
I'd just fallen to sleep when mine let out an unholy screech. "How are you now, angel?" (He had to call me angel 'cause he'd just scared the hell outta me!)
He's so good to me, I can't get snappish. "I'm sleepy, hon." I placed the contraption back on the bed.
It blares again! My blood pressure shoots skyward. "You forgot to say 'Roger. Out.'"
Oh, for Pete's sake!!!
Rachel Dennison is having a rough day, too. Or night. She's traveling to her new patient in the Hill Country of Texas when she sees a man cresting a hill, wearing nothing but a cowboy hat, a pair of boots, and a go-to-hell sneer. My first novel, revamped, and Indie-published.
I've been trying to figure out what to blog about for days...and failed miserably. So I asked myself why and realized there are topics I want to talk about but can't...or won't. Let's start with the elephant in the room...politics. I have strong opinions, and I've occasionally left fairly moderate and reasoned comments on real-life friends' and other authors' Facebook and blog posts. BUT, I don't post anything related to the topic on my own wall. It's not that I don't have confidence in my convictions, but I look at writing as a business. Sure, I have personal friends on FB, but I'm also there to connect with readers. Authors are flat out alienating people with their strong political presence, which tells me they care more about their beliefs than selling books. I applaud them and hope they can make their voices heard. But I've also unfollowed a few. And, I've noticed that most of the bigger names who actually make a living from their craft avoid the topic. Call me a coward, but I don't want to piss off readers. I also have to wonder how publishers feel about the situation. They're in it to make money, too, and can easily throw their support behind the authors on their team not stirring up controversy. I want that support. So, while we're talking about taboo subjects, let's toss money into the arena. Authors almost never talk about how much they make (or don't make) from their writing. Maybe because it was ingrained into us at an early age that it's bad manners. Maybe because we feel it's no one's business. Honestly, when I was new to the game, I was under the naive impression I would actually make a living writing books. (You can all stop laughing now!) I still think small presses (and even the bigger ones) should warn newbies not to quit their day jobs. Not necessarily to discourage them from writing, but to at least give them a reality check so they don't have unrealistic expectations. Perhaps after a while, most of us quit focusing on the "making a living" aspect of the business. And in a way, that allows us more freedom to say what we want and not care how it's perceived. But with print releases looming on my horizon, I'm not ready to let go of the fantasy where I actually earn a living from my craft. It's quite possible I'm delusional, but there you have it. This is why those contracts should come with warning labels! And speaking of my first mass market print release not due out until March of 2018, I just got my cover for BURIED TRUTH. I can't share it yet, but I'm super excited about it. One more thing I couldn't blog about! LOL See, I told you. Limbo-Land when it comes to appropriate topics. I also have a new release due out the end of this month, WILDE THING. But since I don't want to bore you on that topic yet, I'll just post a cover photo (since I'm allowed to share it) and leave you with the promise of more to come soon.
So, now that you all know I'm a chicken (but maybe a smart one), we can debate why I crossed the road. Hopefully that won't upset any readers... You can find info on all my books on my WEBSITE. Thanks for dropping by.
I
suspect most writers are controllers. We like the idea of manipulating setting,
characters, and action in our novels.
Even though critique groups, beta readers and editors suggest changes in
our stories, indie authors get to have the last word about the shape and
substance of our books.
In most other aspects of my life, I like to be in charge, so when I decided to let a landscaper prune my fruit trees and trim up the bushes in my yard, I had/have/will have moments of doubt. Except for weekly lawn mowings, I have been in charge of yard work for the last forty-some years. I’ve done all the chores on our California half acre, our second home for seventeen years.
(I'm so proud of my orange tree, which produces enough delicious fruit for us and all our friends!)
But
my garden has aged with me.Old trees
and bushes have lost their luster or grown too large for the space and must be
removed.One of my favorite trees is
dying; another is sending up too many root sprouts for me to eradicate.
(These Santa Rosa plums are so sweet and juicy. I have two Santa Rosa trees in my yard; two apricots, two limes, an Asian pear, and an apple)
Today,
the landscaper takes over.He’s already
pruned my fruit trees (he’s an arborist, I made sure); now he and his helper
are going to trim up the yard.This
summer, he’s going to redo the front yard (less lawn and more drought tolerant
plants); in the fall, he’ll take on the back yard. Expensive, but necessary to keep our property
spiffy.
Big
step for me.How about you?Any other gardeners out there who have loved
it and left it?
