On hiatus...

I've been trying to blog weekly, but we are heading out on a ten day cruise. Woot! I plan to do a LOT of writing on the cruise since we've been to all the ports before.

My goal is to finish the first draft of Almost a Touch (book three in the Klondike Mystery series). When we get home, we have ten days before our next cruise on Carnival's Magic where we will meet up with several members of the band, #sixappeal, that we friended last year while on the Conquest. That means ten days to get the first draft of Paradise Dead (second novella in my Lei Crime Kindle World trilogy) so the guys can read it. Eeep!!

Once we return from that cruise, we head to Tennessee for the month of April. So that month will be spent editing, editing and editing in hopes of getting both books live as soon as possible.

Okay, enough rambling.....

It's that time of year....

Every year it's the same thing - February and March roll around and the battle begins. And every year, when I've done my part and sent off the information to our accountant, I swear I will be more organized the next year.

Does that happen? Nope. I'm good about adding expenses to my spreadsheet until maybe the end of April, then it all goes sideways. The good news is I do have the spreadsheet I created last year and it simplifies things for our accountant. It also prompts me to be sure we have everything we need.

But I still have to print out all our credit card summaries as well as tackle my email for things that I've tagged as business expenses. When will I learn? LOL!

How do you handle this hateful part of being self-employed?

My first A-Z Challenge from 2012

I remember my first challenge. I was only writing flash fiction and the feedback was good. I decided to to the A to Z in what I called 10 by 10 style. Here is a better description:

26 letters in the alphabet provide the start of 26 flash fiction stories. Each story was written based upon a word and a photo used for inspiration. That's the A to Z.

The 10 by 10 refers to the story length. Each story was written in no more than ten sentences but with a minimum of 100 words (10x10=100).

Some tell a sweet tale, some have unexpected twists, some leaving you wanting more and some, well that's up to you!

And here is one reader review:

These short pieces of fiction are a wonderful quick read. Well-written and well thought out to get your mind working and wondering... Each piece could be a start, middle or end to a longer story, so they keep you thinking about what the "rest of the story" could be! I loved each one.

But don't buy it now, even though it's only 99 cents. On Feb 11th and 12th, it will be free. Be sure to tell your friends, too! Save this link: http://amzn.to/18W3fQ0


I hope to repeat this for the next A to Z but time will tell. My work Almost a Touch, book three in my Klondike series, has to be in final edits AND my next Lei Crime novella must have the first draft done or time won't allow.

VALENTINES DAY MENU HOP with D.B. McNicol!

Enter to win a $170 Amazon Gift Card!

1. Read each author's Facebook post, check out the great recipe each author has to share with you!
    
2. Get to know each #LeiCrimeKW book and author!
    
3. Comment on the Facebook posts with your choices of Valentine’s menu items, click LIKE on each authors page, and hop on! (Remember, no comment on the Facebook page, no entry in the hop!)
    
4. Click the link at the bottom of each post, to go to the next author!

You have until February 12th to visit all the authors, like their pages and post a comment. Good luck!

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PARADISE DOWN
The first in my trilogy of Lei Crime novellas.

Aloha Nicholás! But will this be a hello or a goodbye?

When Lucia Santerez returns home to Hawaii to help her brother Nicholás with his new dive shop, she learns Nicholás has disappeared--and someone doesn't want him found.

Enlisting the aid of hunky vacationing firefighter, Jared Stevens, gets them the wrong kind of attention. They discover what lies under the water off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kaua`i could make you rich or get you killed.




Each of my Lei Crime novellas will feature a Hawaiian recipe at the back of the book. Here is one that won't be featured except here, in the blog hop.

FEATURED RECIPE

LibreStock.com

Malasadas are a Portuguese confection, made of egg-sized balls of yeast dough that are deep-fried in oil and coated with granulated sugar.are one of the all time favorite snacks at community functions and fund-raisers. If you make this, you will rapidly become popular with all of your local friends. A non-traditional (read haole) way of preparing this is to add nutmeg or cinnamon to the sugar mixture that is used to coat the maladsadas.

Ingredients:
1 package yeast (1 T)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup warm water
6 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
1 cup water
1 cup evaporated milk
6 eggs
1 quart vegetable oil (to cook)
extra sugar

Procedure
Dissolve yeast, sugar and water and set aside. Beat eggs. Measure flour into mixing bowl and add salt. Make a well in the flour, pour yeast mixture, eggs and other ingredients. Beat in circular motion until the dough is soft. Cover, let raise until double. Turn dough over but do not punch down. Cover and let raise again. Heat oil to 375 degrees and drop dough by teaspoon full into oil and cook until brown. Shake in brown bag with sugar. Best when hot.

Note: If the malasadas have a tendency to come out with the center still doughy, turn the heat down on the oil which will allow them to cook longer.

Click to my Fan Page, LIKE & Comment
Then come back here and
HOP on to the next author!

2017 April A to Z Challenge

In years past, I have done a couple of the April A to Z challenges, even compiling all the flash fiction from my first challenge into a short ebook.

I've always enjoyed doing these but it takes a fair amount of time to write the daily posts and even more time to check out other blogs. But I am considering it again this year. So I trudged (okay, clicked) over to their website and discovered......nothing!

Well, not really nothing, but nothing concrete about the 2017 challenge. Why? They are busily working and reworking the challenge. According to the website, Feb 6th will be the big reveal. They asked we get the news out to as many folks as we can, so here I am. Sharing the news!

#IWSG for Feb 2017: Social Media - Is it worth it?

I haven't been doing many IWSG posts recently, too much personal life. Same with my newsletter and blog posts. Very sporadic. Twitter? I can't remember the last time I visited. Facebook? Well, I do auto post a quote of the day every day.

My stats are abysmal but in talking to other indie authors, it seems as though I'm not alone. The market is flooded, book sales are lower than they have been in years, the bullying continues in many online places...so what to do?

Do I ramp up my online presence or do I follow the advice I read recently? The blog post, 17 Changes Indie Authors Can Expect in 2017, opened my eyes a big. It sounds like I'm not the only one reconsidering my social media relationships.

I didn't do much active marketing in 2016 and my sales reflected that. I did a price drop on the first in my series in November/December timeframe and bought a few inexpensive ads. It made a big difference. I think I am better served by doing that 2-3 times a year and worrying less about social media. I also need to develop a plan to grow my email list, that means more newsletter interaction from me.

What are your plans for social media this year? Will you become more or less active? Or will you stay at the same level?