Being Fairy(ly) Unbalanced is Expensive

A Couple  of Glow in the Dark Fairies that I will be giving away at Fandemonium on top of one of my covers for The Mall Fairies: Exile.

I apologize for the stretch of a pun in my title. But it's accurate. What's happened to me since my 'tween novel has been released is ... well expensive. In a couple of different ways. Expensive in time first and foremost, not money. Okay, I'm a girl who loves fairies (obviously) and I believed writing about the fairies was the beginning and end of it. But I was wrong, very wrong. I've never considered myself much of a girly girl shopper--that was until I started thinking of ways to promote my title. Uh-oh. So many fairies and fairy related items, jewelry, clothing and ohmigosh, GLOW IN THE DARK FAIRIES. So cute! And I have the wonderful excuse--ahem--reason for shopping. For example, I'll be attaching one of these fairies to a postcard and giving them away at Fandemonium and Bouchercon and who knows where else.

But time spent shopping is not time spent writing the next in the trilogy. I remind myself often not to spend too much, but sometimes it's hard ...

So dear readers, do you have any thoughts, ideas or tips on how to go cheap? How not to get caught doing one more click on one more fairy-related item? I'd love to know!

A ROLLICKING GREAT READ

Maven Fairy Godmother is a fabulous, fun read. This is the kind of incredibly imaginative fantasy that I adore. A lip-smacker of an afternoon read, sit down with a big cup of tea (or if you're like Maven, coffee) and some fabulous chocolate and enjoy. I love how, with the advent of e-books we're getting so much more variety of reads--authors are taking chances!

Maven is a Mundane with a truly middle-aged mundane life. That is until she gets thrust into the world of fairy. There, the magical problems pile up, but Maven never falters--or rather never falters for long. She reminds me of my favorite teacher in high school, smart, tough, gentle and most of all, able to pierce the masks we all wear to bring forth our truest best selves.

Even though the main character is middle-aged, I don't believe this novel is only for a certain age group. Maven's close friend, Tulip, is much younger, and her struggles to become a fairy godmother echo Maven's own. I can see a wide age range enjoying Maven Fairy Godmother, from tween to ninety.

One last favorite about this title that I adore, parts of the ending is unexpected and surprising in many ways, but completely satisfying. More satisfying than a more standard novel would be. Again, I appreciate authors who step out of the box.

Author Pratfalls and Great Social Media Wars

This upcoming Tuesday, July 17th, I'll be giving the luncheon speech at the Idaho Writers Guild in Boise. My talk's all about the various mistakes all writers make. I know I've made every single one, a number of times. Most of the problem is that I'm an author and therefore neurotic and unbalanced--as in swinging from one extreme to the other.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the new world of social media. Every writer I know (including myself) swings from one extreme to the other. Part of the problem is that no one is certain what works the best with social media--is it SEO? Part of the problem is that social media seems to operate as virtual word of mouth, but which mouths and when? Us authors drive ourselves wild figuring that out.

The unbalance comes from not knowing how much is too much and wasted time and effort, or possibly even annoying), how much is enough (we want to sell ourselves and our titles), and how much is too little (my mom always said, "If you don't tell people that you have a book out to buy, they won't know.).

So what's a writer to do? Here's a tip from my talk:

ALWAYS REMEMBER THE WRITING COMES FIRST! Or as my wise mom said too, "You need something to sell, and the more product you have to sell the better." I'd add that having more than one piece of writing published is very useful too, for cross-marketing.

So everyone, keep writing!

Anybody got a secret to sell millions of books? Please share here! Anybody got a rant about the life of a writer nowadays? Share here!

Happy Fourth of July!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

AN AMERICAN BEAUTY ROSE TO CELEBRATE

 

 My hope is that everyone today who is an American celebrates and is grateful for our freedoms. I'm grateful for the freedom to create whatever I wish, whenever I wish. I've been in countries where that freedom is not available and seen the culture and soul killing results.

Let's celebrate our freedoms and work to set those others free of tyranny.