Thursday, July 27, 2017

Best Selling Author Susan Fox Talks Settings


This week we’re going to find out a little about author Susan Fox. July’s theme is ‘Marketing’ so Susan will be talking about marketing tips. She’ll also tell us a little about herself and her writing, and answer some fun questions.
International bestselling author Susan Fox, who also writes as Susan Lyons and Savanna Fox, “knows what women want in a contemporary romance” (Publishers Weekly). Her books have won numerous awards and Love Somebody Like You was a RITA® finalist.

Susan is a Pacific Northwester with homes in Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia. She has degrees in law and psychology, and has had a variety of careers, including perennial student, computer consultant, and legal editor. Fiction writer is by far her favorite, giving her an outlet to demonstrate her belief in the power of love, friendship, and a sense of humor.

Beverley: How important are settings to a story?
Susan: I think that depends on the story and on the writer’s voice. Let me expand on that in my answers below.
Beverley: When you think of settings what do you think of? (locales, houses, rooms, weather)
Susan: Everything from the grand scale (e.g., like you, I’m Canadian and set my stories in Canada, which is a different place than the United States or anywhere else) down to the tiny scale (like the aroma of fresh cinnamon buns coming from a nearby bakery, or the rough caress of a callused finger against sensitive skin).
Beverley: Do settings contribute to the mood of the story? (romance/ conflict/tension) If yes – how?
Susan: I think they do, but it’s on a “more or less” scale. At the “less” end, for example, if two girlfriends are having a meaningful conversation, it may not be terribly significant whether that happens in a bookstore, a coffee shop, or one of their kitchens. There will be small differences, like an awareness of others around them in a public setting, but the focus of the scene is on the conversation. On the other hand, at the “more” end – well, let me give you an example from Fly Away With Me.
Voice breaking, she said, “I have to let you go. We can’t keep doing this.”
He sucked in a breath but didn’t speak. Nor did she. It was so quiet, no breeze to rustle the tree branches, the birds all nestled somewhere for the night. And yet, as she’d learned, it was rarely entirely silent here. Tonight, even though the air was so calm, she could hear the ocean breathing in soft sighs against the rocky shore below. It ebbed and flowed, not pausing for one moment to acknowledge that her heart was breaking.

I used the setting as a counterpoint to Eden’s emotional turmoil.
Beverley: Do you have any examples of the great use of settings in books you’ve read?
Susan: Maybe it’s because I live in the Pacific Northwest where our environment is so fresh and young and rugged, but I’ve always loved books set in the southern United States, like Pat Conroy’s, where the settings are lush and luscious. I love the way authors like him describe the places and the people in language as rich and languid as a southern drawl.
Beverley: How do you use settings in your books? Or do you?
Susan: Yes, I sure do. My first books were set in Vancouver and had the vibe of that city: cosmopolitan, West Coasty, diverse, a unique combination of energetic and laid-back. My Caribou Crossing books are a total contrast: ranch country in the interior of British Columbia, with the whole vibe of a small, close-knit community (though also with diversity, because I’m only interested in settings with a diverse population). Horses and country music figure prominently in the Caribou Crossings.
Now I’m writing the Blue Moon Harbor series, which is set in the Gulf Islands near Victoria – a setting I’m quite familiar with because we go boating there. I get to use the ocean, of course, the ruggedly picturesque scenery, the fact that island life is quite different from mainland life, and also the eccentricity of the community I’ve created on an island that draws dreamers, dissidents, and independent spirits. (Diversity again!) The books are small community ones as with Caribou Crossing, but the community has a quite different character.
Beverley: Can you share an example from one of your books?
Susan: This is from Fly Away With Me. Eden is a lawyer from Ottawa – responsible, reliable, perfectionist – who has come to Destiny Island on a mission for her mother: to try to find her mom’s long-lost sister. When Eden tells her seaplane pilot Aaron about her quest, he offers to help. He has a mission of his own, too: to help the city girl loosen up and have fun, preferably with him.
He takes her kayaking. These paragraphs use setting to reveal aspects of Eden’s life and character.
Aaron paddled more quickly, heading to shore. She didn’t try to match his pace. In the bay, the water was even calmer, the surface like deep, bluish-green glass. She almost hated to disturb it with the dip of her paddle, and after each stroke she paused to watch a crystal cascade of droplets tip off the end of the blade and splash onto the ocean’s surface, creating rings of ripples. The sun warmed her back and the top of her head; gulls soared and cried overhead. She stopped paddling, closing her eyes for a moment to simply drift with the tide. Utter serenity. Had she ever experienced anything like this before?

By the time she arrived at the shore, Aaron had pulled his kayak up on the beach and was waiting to guide hers into shore and help her out. She caught his arm for balance, raised herself, and then gingerly stepped out into the water. “Brrr.” The soles of her feet met a strange surface, and as she splashed ashore she studied the grayish-white particles that made up the beach. “It’s not sand.”

“Shells, mostly. Pounded by waves.”

The beach felt coarse underfoot but pleasantly so, like an exfoliating massage, if such a thing existed. She’d never had time to spare for massage or mani-pedis. Nor did she have much occasion to wear a bathing suit, and she felt exposed, even though her tee was long enough to cover her bikini bottom. It would be silly to put on shorts, though, because that bottom was damp.

She freed herself from her life jacket and wandered down the beach, picking up a pebble here, a shell there, a colored bit of weathered glass. If she were back in Ottawa, she’d be busy at her desk, dressed in a suit and low-heeled pumps.

Beverley: How long have you been writing?
Susan: For a very long time! For at least ten years (and probably ten books) before I sold my first book to Kensington in 2005. Since then, I’ve had more than thirty romances published.
Beverley: What genre do you write in and why?
Susan: I write romance/women’s fiction, for a couple of reasons. One is that, as a writer, I feel a sense of responsibility, to share values I believe strongly in, like equality and respect, and romance is a perfect forum to do that. Also, I’m fascinated by people, character growth, and relationships. I get to explore all of those things in romance, as well as any other issues that interest me. And in romance, I know that my characters and my readers will always have a happy ending.
Beverley: Who influenced you the most in deciding to become a writer?
Susan: I have always, always been addicted to books, so of course I was inspired by all the wonderful writers whose novels I had enjoyed. But it was actually a friend who had the strongest influence, when he gave me a copy of Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones. It had never occurred to me to write fiction until I read that book.
Beverley: What obstacles did you have to overcome to begin creating your work?
Susan: When I started writing my first book (which will never be published), it just felt right. This was the career passion I’d always been searching for. As well as being creative, I’m also a practical person, so I did my research and realized it was difficult to get published (this was in the days before indie publishing) and even more difficult to make a living at it. I knew I would have to persist and persist and persist, so I did. I also prepared – like by paying off the mortgage because I doubted writing would give me a sufficient income to do that (and sadly I was right!). The “obstacle” was in writing a manuscript that connected with the right editor at the right time.
One thing I thought might be an obstacle turned out not to be, and that was the setting of my books. As a Canadian, I wanted to write Canadian settings, but the conventional wisdom was that American readers and publishers had no interest in Canadian settings. I wondered what I’d do if a publisher said they’d buy my work but only if I changed the setting from Vancouver to Seattle. Fortunately, that never happened.
Beverley: What gets your creative juices flowing?
Susan: People. My characters, characters in other authors’ stories, and people in the real world. I love mulling over people’s issues and dilemmas, their character quirks, their interactions, their sorrows and joys, and how we grow and change as we get older.
Beverley: What will stop your creative muse the quickest?
Susan: Pain and tiredness. I have back issues that can slow me down, so I do my best to stay fit and healthy, always building exercise time into every day. Other than that, if I get stuck in the middle of a book (which invariably happens), it’s usually because I don’t know my characters well enough. I’m not sure what they’re thinking and feeling, so I don’t know what they’ll do next. It usually helps if I go for a walk and sort of mull, but in a casual way, not too intensely (more like it’s fun, not work!). Somehow, the motion and the mulling usually lead to an insight that lets me carry on. And the walking loosens up my back!
Beverley: What do you have for breakfast?
Susan: Fat free vanilla yogurt with fresh fruit cut up in it, a home-made bran muffin (mixed fruit, or banana, or pumpkin), and either a cup of tea or a café latté.
Beverley: What do you wear when you are writing?
Susan: Capris in warm weather, fleece yoga pants in cold weather, a t-shirt, and in winter a fleece jacket. It’s expensive to heat our house!
Beverley: Where do you do most of your writing?
Susan: At my desk, with my full-size monitor and wireless keyboard and mouse. But sometimes, for the sake of my back, standing at the kitchen island, lounging in a recliner with my laptop, or sitting on one of those big balls. Occasionally, for a treat, I write at a coffee shop or nice bar with a latté or a glass of wine.
Beverley: Do you have a favorite cartoon character? Why?
Susan: Snoopy. I’ve always been a Peanuts fan. Who can resist Snoopy on top of his doghouse, typing a “dark and stormy night” story – or happy dancing?
Beverley: Who would you love most to meet 'in person' and why?
Susan: The author Mary Stewart – though sadly she’s deceased. I fell in love with her books when I was a teenager. Loved her heroines, heroes – and, since we’ve been talking about setting – her fantastic settings. She made me long to go to Greece – and I have, twice. I even wrote a book, Fly Close to the Sun, that’s set on Crete and is my modern-day homage to her fabulous romantic suspense stories. Anyhow, I would like to thank her and to talk writing with her.
Beverley: If you had an unexpected free day what would you do with it?
Susan: Go to a botanical garden with my camera and roam for hours – with a break in the middle for a lovely lunch and a glass of wine.
Beverley: What are you working on now?
Susan: I’m finishing off the fourth title in my Blue Moon Harbor series. Fly Away With Me is the first (July 2017), then “Blue Moon Harbor Christmas” in Winter Wishes (October 2017), a holiday anthology that also contains novellas by Fern Michaels, Jules Bennett, and Leah Marie Brown. After that, there’s Come Home With Me (December 2017). The fourth story is Sail Away With Me. Iris Yakimura is a shy bookseller (and romance reader!) who only feels safe in her own tiny community, and who dreams of finding love. Julian Blake is a celebrity musician who suffered childhood trauma that impaired his ability to trust and to love. It’s a book about digging deep inside yourself to find the kind of courage you don’t believe you possess.

Thank you so much for this interview, Beverley – for the great questions and the opportunity to discuss my writing and my books.
Blurb for Fly Away With Me

Known for its rugged beauty and eccentric residents, tiny Blue Moon Harbor is big on love...
For busy lawyer Eden Blaine, a trip to a Pacific Northwest island she’s never even heard of is far from a vacation. Eden’s ailing mother has tasked her with finding her long-lost aunt, who once had ties to a commune on the island.  Still reeling from a breakup with her longtime boyfriend, romance is the last thing Eden is looking for. But her gorgeous seaplane pilot has her wondering if a carefree rebound fling is exactly what she needs…
Aaron Gabriel has no illusions about happily ever after. His troubled childhood made sure of that. But he does appreciate a pretty woman’s company, and Eden is the exact combination of smart and sexy that turns him on. Still, as he helps her search for her missing aunt, the casual relationship he imagined quickly becomes something much more passionate—and much harder to give up. Can two people determined to ignore romance recognize that their heated connection is the kind of love destined to last?

Buy Links:
Amazon: myBook.to/FAWM
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/fly-away-with-me-2
BarnesAndNoble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fly-away-with-me-susan-fox/1125051681;jsessionid=D6EA15DDAA2F269D90E23214D1A68E69.prodny_store01-atgap04?ean=9781420143256
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/fly-away-with-me/id1187680827?mt=11
Chapters: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/home/search/?keywords=fly%20away%20with%20me%20susan%20fox

You can find Susan at:
Website [http://susanlyons.ca/]
Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/SusanLyonsFox/]
Amazon [https://www.amazon.com/Susan-Fox/e/B003AJSDLG/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1499376925&sr=8-1]
Goodreads [[https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/136389.Susan_Lyons]
BookBub [https://www.bookbub.com/authors/susan-fox]
Pinterest [https://www.pinterest.com/SusanLyonsFox/]

Don’t forget to check back next week for another author interview and more discussion of settings.

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Marketing - Is It or Isn't It?


A few years ago I attended a workshop at RWA with author, Bob Mayer. One of the things he said was if you’re self-publishing don’t even think about marketing until you have at least three books published, four or five, even better.
I thought this made sense and marketing scared me. (It still does) So I kept writing and publishing books. Life threw a few curves and I didn’t publish the books quite as quickly as I had planned. Last year I planned on marketing but with selling and moving, twice it didn’t get off the ground. This year I’m beginning to market, and researching the best ways to market. 

It occurred to me that maybe I have been marketing. When we finish writing a book and write the blurb – is that marketing? We get a great cover – is that marketing? What about choosing the metadata? We join Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Triberr. We get a blog. We post the book on our blog, or website if we have one. We may send a post to a few loops we’re on that we have a new book, or post it on our facebook page.  Are we marketing?  
Does marketing have to be active like taking out ads and doing blog tours, etc. or can it be the simple things we do when we self-publish. I didn’t consider what I did, marketing. But I’m rethinking it. What about you, what do you think marketing involves?

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Going to Conference


I’m getting ready to head off to Orlando, Florida for the Romance Writers of America (RWA) National conference.  Anyone else still a member of RWA?
One of the reasons I continue to be an RWA member is because of my online chapter, Kiss of Death. I can’t be a member if I’m not part of RWA. Also, RWA does provide some good workshops for writers and Indie authors at t he National conference. I’ll talk about those later.

Kiss of Death (KOD) has its own event preceding the National conference. This year our speaker is a former member of the elite US Air Force Combat Search and Rescue team and a pararescue jumper, Jarrod Honrada.  Other special forces call the pararescue jumper to rescue them. He excels at bringing in the personal and character building side of our heroes and will give us great insight into what makes a Special Forces soldier special. We have him for the morning and it will be a lot of questions and answers.
And in the afternoon the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be sending a forensics analyst and a Special Agent to talk about DNA, Chemistry, Crime Scenes, Digital Evidence, Firearms, Latent prints, Toxology, and Trace Evidence.  And we’re also having a certified Ethical Hacker talk to us. You have to admit, it sounds like a fascinating and information packed day.
I’m hoping to take good notes and I’ll try and pass on a little of the information to you next week. I’d love to hear your thoughts and maybe some questions about the speakers.

And I'll be talking more about the RWA courses later.

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Daryl Devore Discusses Settings

This week we’re going to find out a little about author Daryl Devore. July’s theme is ‘Settings’ so Daryl will be talking about settings. She’ll also tell us a little about herself and her writing, and answer some fun questions.
Daryl Devore (@daryldevore) lives in an old farmhouse in Ontario, Canada, with her husband, a large salt water aquarium full of fish, a black cat named Licorice and some house ghosts. Her daughter is grown and has flown the nest. Daryl loves to take long walks on her quiet country road or snowshoe across the back acres, and in the summer, kayak along the St. Lawrence River. She has touched a moon rock, a mammoth, and a meteorite. She’s been deep in the ocean in a submarine, flown high over Niagara Falls in a helicopter and used the ladies room in a royal palace. Life’s an adventure and Daryl’s having fun living it.

Beverley: How important are settings to a story?
Daryl: To me – settings are very important – just under characters. Think of the difference between -
A dark, January evening, snow falling, wind howling and a lonely farmhouse with a light shining from one window.
Vs
A billionaire's super yacht sailing on the Caribbean with the sun shining, music blaring and bikini clad women dancing on the deck.
Both of those settings could have a similar plot line running through – a budding romance or sinister murder mystery, but there is a different feel to each and the story would reflect that.
Beverley: When you think of settings what do you think of? (locales, houses, rooms, weather)
Daryl: I'd say locale is the first thing I think about. In book 1 of the Two Hearts One Love trilogy – What Happens in Bangkok - I set it in Bangkok, Thailand. I used the exoticness of that locale – the people, the names and the food.
Beverley: Do settings contribute to the mood of the story? (romance/ conflict/tension) If yes – how?
Daryl: Yes. Definitely. Some settings seem to ooze romance (a Caribbean beach at sunset), others instill fear (a post-apocalyptic prison). My guess is because we all have an impression of what it should be like and we put that impression onto the scene. In the horrors of a post-apocalyptic prison, a passionate romance can still be written, but it'd be a challenge to overcome the feeling of the setting.
Beverley: Do you have any examples of the great use of settings in books you’ve read?
Daryl: Part of the reason I love Agatha Christie mysteries is when I read them I settle into that era. The mansions, the clothes, the dialect; all of it wraps you into the book.
Beverley: How do you use settings in your books? Or do you?
Daryl: I love changing the settings of each of my stories. I like taking my readers on a world tour. In my first books, I used contemporary New York City, Chicago, Miami, Indonesia, Alaska, Detroit and then shifted to medieval England.
In this trilogy, the reader is taken to Bangkok, Thailand, Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, Goa, India, Paris, France and Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
Beverley: Can you share an example from one of your books?
Daryl: The crowded plaza was filled with people milling about, johns talking to prostitutes, food vendors hawking their meals, booths where you could buy knock-off anything, and people holding large drinking cups, begging for money. A mother holding a baby stuck the cup out, holding it in front of a group of men. They walked around her. A young boy, Darien guessed he was about three, dressed in a Spiderman shirt and dirty green shorts, held out a cup and danced. People walked around him, ignoring him. A rotund businessman bumped into the child, knocking him down. The man did not stop or even acknowledge the existence of the little beggar. Darien gripped Erika's hand and pulled her toward the boy. Before he got there, the child popped up onto his feet and continued to beg.
The boy grinned, pointing at Erika. "Pre-e lae-e."
Darien looked at Erika. "Yes, she is a pre-e lae-e." He reached into his wallet and pulled out a small bill and dropped it into the boy's cup.
The boy tilted the cup, peered inside, then grinned. "Korb kun krup."
Darien nodded. "Mai bpen rai."
Erika leaned closer. "You speak Thai?"
"Just enough to get around."
Beverley: How long have you been writing?
Daryl: Writing towards being published – 5 or 6 yrs – I think.
Beverley: What genre do you write in and why?
Daryl: There is an evolution going on in what genre I write. I have 2 pen names. This one, Daryl Devoré, is an erotic romance writer – except that's not what I am any more. People often confuse erotic with fetish or alternate lifestyle and that's not what I write about. I write super-hot romances where the sex scenes are detailed, but not pornographic. My other pen name, Victoria Adams, writes sweet contemporary and NA contemporary romances.
Beverley: Who influenced you the most in deciding to become a writer?
Daryl: Nobody. I've been writing since I was little. My stories got longer as I got older. The benefit of being an only child – there is the time and the silence to let creativity flow.
Beverley: What obstacles did you have to overcome to begin creating your work?
Daryl: Nothing. I sat down and started typing. Honestly, it was a simple as that.
Beverley: What gets your creative juices flowing?
Daryl: No idea. I think my muse sits around somewhere in the back of my head and then decides it's time to write. For What happens in Bangkok, I was in the car, riding down to NC to visit my daughter. I picked up my laptop and wrote 3 chapters of a book that I didn't even know I was going to write and that book morphed into a trilogy. It actually tried to be 4 books, but I put my foot down.
Beverley: What will stop your creative muse the quickest?
Daryl: My self-confidence taking a dip. It can do that at the drop of a hat and it takes a bit for me to get it back. What causes my self-confidence to dip – oh, just about anything. But mainly, edits. I feel like an idiot after I get them. My pride really gets up and in my head I "fight" with the editor on every suggestion. And an unfair review can crush me for a while. I take a lot of yoga to help me get past the muse blocks. There is a yoga saying – get rid of whatever doesn't serve you. An unfair review doesn't serve me, so I meditate on making the irritation of it dispel into the ether.
Beverley: What do you have for breakfast?
Daryl: It changes every day. I could make pancakes tomorrow then have yogurt and granola the next day.
Beverley: What do you wear when you are writing?
Daryl: It changes every day. I could make pancakes tomorrow then have yogurt and granola the next day.
Beverley: Where do you do most of your writing?
Daryl: In a chair – laptop on lap – by a window overlooking the side fields.
Beverley: Do you have a favorite cartoon character? Why?
Daryl: Road Runner. No idea why. I just find him hilarious. Beep. Beep.
Beverley: Who would you love most to meet 'in person' and why?
Daryl: Queen Elizabeth. I'd loved to get her to sit back, take her crown off, put her feet up, hand her a beer and then just chat. I'd ask her all sorts of things like – have you ever had take-out pizza? And then I'd order one.
Beverley: If you had an unexpected free day what would you do with it?
Daryl: Winter – snuggle down with a good book, next to the woodstove. Summer – go putz around in my garden. It's one of my happy places.
Beverley: What are you working on now?
Daryl: The edits of book 3 in the trilogy arrived the other day. Notice I am writing this interview and not working on edits. They really do throw me for a loop. Also, I have a Christmas short that is at the publishers and am waiting on those edits any day now. I expect both of those books to be released in December.
If I do get down to writing there is an erotic medieval fantasy – dragon included - that needs to get finished. And a time travel romance that needs rewriting. I went a bit off course and it needs to be reined back in.
Two Hearts ~ One Love Trilogy

Blurb - Book 1 – What Happens in Bangkok
To save Darien's life his brother asks, "Can you walk in high heels?"
Erika Bailey, owner/manager of a drag queen club in Bangkok, Thailand has happily settled into all aspects of her new life, except for her lack of a love life. When a new diva auditions, Erika is bewildered over her instant attraction to the blond God, Apollo.
Darien Scott is on vacation after a world tour and mistakenly figures the safest place to be is at The Black Dragon with the head of a Triad. When the club is hit, Darien is the only person to get out alive. Now   he's running from the police and a Triad. Mistake number 1.
Disguised as a drag queen, he's hired by Erika, but falls hard for his new boss, then struggles with not coming clean with her. Mistake number 2.
Can he fix his mistakes and find a life filled with love or is he headed straight for mistake number 3?

Blurb - Book 2 – Darien's Desire You loved What Happens in Bangkok and want to know what happens next….
It's complicated is not only her relationship status, but the definition of Erika Bailey's life. She loves managing her drag queen club in Bangkok, Thailand, but her rock star boyfriend resides in North Carolina. And to top it off, her father threatens she must stay away from Darien or lose the Pink Flamingo. Does she protect her club or her love?
Darien Scott, Grammy award winning international superstar, wants nothing more than to wake up in the arms of Erika, the woman he loves, but contractual obligations force him to exotic video shoots and an isolated movie set with one of Hollywood's sexiest stars.
With the feeding frenzy of social media trending every aspect of Darien's life—real or not—it's hard for Erika to know the truth. Will she be able to see through the lies and trust Darien? Or will evidence from damaging Internet rumors condemn their relationship? 

Blurb - Book 3 – Title not released yet.
Concerned for his fiancée, Erika Bailey’s safety, rock star Darien Scott races to Bangkok to protect her, only to discover his brother is missing. Fearing the worse, he contacts his nemesis, Gan, and makes a repulsive deal that will free his brother and protect Erika’s club, The Pink Flamingo. Or so he thought. When a python and Gan are involved, things go sour, and Darien sinks into a deep depression.
Erika is disheartened by the betrayal of her parents. Her father's destruction of her club, and the humiliation of her mother’s drunken behavior have her feeling down, but those are the least of her worries. She has a wedding to plan, but won’t. Having been betrayed too often, she’s scared to trust Darien.
How can Erika prove to herself and Darien that she loves and trusts him? Simple. All she has to do is jump out of a plane.

Excerpt from What Happens in Bangkok

He pointed at the food vendors. "Do you want to get a snack before we hit the club?"
   Erika glanced at the various booths. "Which one? The smells from each are just mouth-watering."
   "Easy choice. That one." Darien pointed. "The lady's wearing purple. You love purple, so we get food from there."
   An elderly lady, wearing a purple silk Thai dress, smiled a toothless grin. With broken Thai, he ordered. Turning to Erika, he pointed at the row of soda cans. "Drink?"
   "Diet Coke, please."
   The lady scooped sticky rice into two takeout containers, then sliced pieces of roast meat, from the chicken hanging by the side of the booth. The pieces dropped onto the containers of rice. She pointed at the sauces. Darien nodded and she plopped a few Thai chilies and ginger on the top of the chicken. Erika pulled out her wallet.
   Darien placed his hand on her arm. "No, I get to pay for something. This I can afford. Seats three rows from the front at the National Theatre, not so much. Chicken and rice from a food vendor, I got this." He handed over a few bahts, refused the change, and accepted the containers, chopsticks and drinks. "Korb kun ka."
   The elderly lady smiled and bowed.
   Darien held out one of the containers. "Want to find a spot to sit or wander around the plaza?"
   "Let's play tourist. Check out the souvenirs. See the sights."
   "Wow, you really have been locked in the club for too long. See this." He waved his chopsticks in the air. "This is the outside world. It's very large. Some of it's ugly, but a lot is nice. Like this chicken." He shoveled some into his mouth.
   Savoring the food, neither spoke as they walked among the booths. One would stop, point at something and laugh, then move on. They paused by a busker on a unicycle juggling flaming batons.
   Erika leaned close. He caught the scent of her perfume above the smells of the food and crowd.

Buy Links:
eXtasy Books
Amazon
Amazon - Paperback
Amazon Canada
KOBO  
Book Strand
Barnes and Noble

You can find Daryl at:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Daryl-Devore/280168402052520
Twitter - http://twitter.com/daryldevore
Google+ - https://plus.google.com/u/0/107866370365154406917
GoodReads Author Page - http://www.goodreads.com/DarylDevore
Amazon Author Page - http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004TJ1354
LinkedIn - ca.linkedin.com/pub/daryl-devore/58/b42/792/
Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=Daryl%20Devore

Don’t forget to check back next week for another author interview and more discussion of settings.

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Blogging on Marketing Tips


The topic for this month is marketing. I’d love to hear from all of you, your thoughts on marketing.

I can’t speak to those published by traditional publishers but my understanding is that you need to do most of your own marketing.
I’ve attended several workshops and the general message I got was don’t worry about marketing was if you only have one book published, don’t worry about marketing. Write the next book and the next. Then with at least three published books, consider marketing. I followed this advice, but partly because I didn’t want to do any marketing. J

The next point about marketing – establish a budget. How much can you afford to spend?

Blog tours that you do yourself are free – except for the books you might give away.

Facebook parties are again free.  Many loops you may be a member of, have free promos for the member’s books.

Newsletters are one of the best ways to promote your book.  And if you can get a street team, that’s relatively free. You can give them small gifts to help promote your books.

You can buy ads on Facebook and Twitter. BTSeMag has a full page premium ad in their online magazine, which is quite well done, for $70. There is a charge to design the ad, but it also is reasonable and you can have as much input as needed to finalize. http://www.btsemag.com Fiverr http://www.fiverr.com/bknights Bookbub (which is great but can be a challenge to get one) http://ohfb.com/index.html

Check back on Thursday for more information on marketing.