Seven days. The Caribbean. Mango margaritas. No phone.
I’m leaving on Sunday.
Guess who’s coming with me?
We might come back.
We might not.
We’ll let you know…
~Tiffany
One thing I constantly have troubles with as a writer is staying in shape. Quite frankly, I’m lazy. I’d rather be reading or writing than anything else. And over the winter… well, let’s just say I’ll keep my weight gain to myself.
Now that spring is upon us, I think that every woman is cutting back and thinking about the bathing suit weather looming ahead. I know I am. But with me? Dieting just seems…excruciating. I rarely stick with it for longer than a week.
But you know what? I stumbled upon a very helpful site. If you’re looking for motivation, take a peek at www.slimkicker.com. It’s what I like to call a (free) dieting website for nerds. Why? Well, it treats weight loss as a game. And let me tell you, earning those points is very powerful motivation.
How does it work? To start, you take a bit of a quiz which, based on your current weight and goal weight, results in a list of recommended amount of calories, sodium, cholesterol, carbs, sugars, and other essential nutrients. I never realized how many carbs and sugars I ate until I started on this diet… and to be honest, some days, it’s just killer. At least I know it’ll be worth it in the end.
You get points for logging what you eat, for logging your exercise routines, and for completing challenges. The challenges are my favorite part. Some are hard — like no snacks after supper. I’ve had to quit and restart that one a couple times when my cravings won out. Others are a relief to participate. Pamper yourself for 4 out of 7 days this week? Yes, please! And there’s a picture of the next reward on the front page, reminding me what I have to look forward to.
With any luck, I’ll have lost that pesky winter weight before too long. If you need a kick in the pants to get going, take a look at the site. If you do decide to join, look me up on my personal addy at G33kEmpress.
And welcome to bathing suit weather!
L.K. Below
The other day I had to make my typical 25 mile drive to go buy horse feed and a few groceries. Got to feed the “kids” and the kids! While I was waiting at a stoplight at a busy intersection, I heard a whoosh of wind and caught sight of a dust devil approaching on my right. The whirlwind swept across the street, my truck right in the middle of its path, and I watched, and felt, as the mini tornado zipped over me and sped across to a nearby parking lot, making the ornamental trees on the edge of the lot whip in a wild dance. Within a matter of seconds the spectacle was over.
Having lived my entire life in the Midwest I’m no stranger to dust devils and tornadoes. We can see plenty of them here during the warmer months. Although dust devils are usually small and pretty much harmless, as we know, tornadoes are not. A swirling vortex of wind with unimaginable forces propelling it forward, a tornado can wreak all kinds of havoc on whatever might have the misfortune of being in its path, leaving a mountain of chaos and devastation in its wake. Fortunately, knock on wood, my home has never been in the direct path of a tornado. Gee, I hope like heck I haven’t jinxed myself by stating this publicly and end up having all I hold dear wiped away by the wrath of nature in a matter of hours after this posts!
But sitting through that dust devil got me to thinking about tornadoes, and thinking about tornadoes got me to thinking about the 
current state of publishing. I’ve been in this biz a long, long time, as both a bookseller and an author, and right now the publishing world is experiencing a swirling vortex of uncertainty and chaos unlike it ever has before.
Why? Well, and these are my humble opinions, but I think the straw finally broke the proverbial Camel’s publishing back because of:
Unlike a dust devil or tornado, this is one storm that isn’t going to be over in a matter of seconds, or even minutes. I’m no cooperate business guru, and I’m not a seer. I’m not sure how all of this is going to shake out. But at this point I’m not making any bets as to who will be the clear-cut winner. And maybe, just maybe no one will be. Personally, I think there’s room for all in the book world. Independent. Traditional. And small press.
But which path do I follow? Should I forgo a publisher and publish myself and potentially see more money in the long run, but where I have to wear a multitude of hats besides the one of writer—editor, cover artist, promoter, accountant, etc.?
Or do I sign with a traditional publisher who has worldwide distribution, and in the process of building my name and readership, locks in the rights to my books for years to come, possibly for the rest of my life?
Or do I opt for a smaller publisher who might not have a huge following, but is strong and growing and who can help wear some of those hats I mentioned above, but because it’s not a powerhouse publisher limits my income potential?
Or can I navigate all three?
Wow. I feel like I’m personally caught in that swirling vortex, not sure which course is the best one to take for my career. Will what I decide is right for my career today still hold true tomorrow? Six months from now? One year from now, and so on? Up until the last few years, the publishing world typically moved at a snail’s pace. That isn’t necessarily the case today. Now, the right or wrong course can change as fast a tornado can switch directions. If you’ve been following e-book publishing/indie book publishing, you get where I’m coming from.
Cripes. I’m just an author who is trying to make a living doing what I love—writing. What am I supposed to do? And how do I know I’m making the right decisions?
Well, on the positive side, I think it’s a great time to be a writer. Why? Because we have options. Options we didn’t have all that long ago. I remember the years when authors were limited to a handful of big houses and a handful of editors. This left us waiting months on end for a response, and more often than not a response in the form of a rejection. Thanks to OUR timing being off.
Today, if I write something a little different and off the wall, I can find a home for it. If I write on a traditional contemporary plain, I can find a home for it. It doesn’t matter if I’m writing cowboys, vampires, shape shifters, alpha males, billionaires, or setting my book during WWII, the American West, in Victorian England, or on another planet, my odds of finding a publisher are pretty darn good. After all, great writing is great writing!
Yes, in spite of the current swirling vortex of the publishing world, it’s a great time to be a writer. Besides, I love a good challenge.
Be sure and visit my web site for all the latest on my books. And through 5/12/12 you can download my Studs 4 Hire books for free at Amazon!
Until next month,
Sherry James
I don’t remember learning to sew. I know I was always fascinated by the idea that a flat piece of fabric could somehow become a three dimensional dress. And all my life I have been captivated by doll dresses–no, not doll clothes–miniature gowns. How much detail could one put into a dress less than ten inches tall, I wondered? Could buttons an eighth of an inch across actually be made to function? I don’t remember learning to sew but I recall when I was less than five, I sat beside my mother as she made clothes for us and I made clothes for my doll. Not fancy, no, not with working buttons and buttonholes, but with sleeves and collars. At the end of my first pregnancy, I drew endless comments from well-meaning relatives as I waited for my daughter to make her first, tardy appearance, because while I waited, I dressed a doll in chiffon and lace with a handbag, hat, and parasol. When a gal is as big as a mountain, is enduring the last weeks of a summer pregnancy with no air conditioner, and has feet as swollen as cantaloups, she has to do SOMETHING !
In the following years, I failed to inspire any of my female offspring with either the love of sewing or fascination with dolls. I am not easily discouraged, however, so I continued to amuse myself by copying full-size gowns from all periods of history, but reducing them to one-quarter or even one-twelfth of their original size. Because no patterns existed for the things I wanted to make, I resorted to cutting my own. And somewhere along the way, I found a few other twisted souls who were as driven to put embroidery on three inch pantalettes or boned stays in a two inch corset as I was. Gradually I explored needlework contests and found organizations that 
sponsored competitions for the strange beings who just had to put pin tucks in a microscopic Gay Nineties bodice or feathers and bows on a hat too small for a normal fingertip. Eventually I was asked to judge instead of just entering.
All of this is by way of leading up to mentioning that Authors By Moonlight will be conducting a Mid Summer Celebration in June with gift baskets awarded during the month. Each basket will have a theme–Western, Historical, Vintage, Paranormal, and Contemporary–and will contain about $100 worth of autographed books in keeping with the theme. Thanks to all the brilliant and gracious authors who contributed to the baskets. In addition to the books, the baskets will contain some goodies appropriate to the genre. And, not being one to pass an opportunity to ride my hobby horse , I have included in each basket a doll dressed in an original, handmade costume representing the theme. As I never make the same costume twice, every doll is truly one of a kind. From a cowgirl dressed in her green suede rodeo finest to the Queen of the Nightwalkers in her purple velvet robes, each one was a challenge. And a pleasure. And, as I don’t use a sewing machine for these petite pieces, the above mention of my pricking fingers is more truth than poetry.
I write books because I love to tell a story. I dress dolls to make a vision concrete. Between the two, I seem to spend a lot of time visiting Never-Neverland. Though I’m now a great grandmother, my offspring assure me that there is no chance I will ever grow up. Good heavens! If I did they might stop giving me dolls and tea sets or expect me to report how something actually happened instead of how it should have happened. What fun would that be?
Fleeta Cunningham
www.fleetacunningham.com
Don’t Call Me Darlin’
Black Rain Rising
Elopement for One
Half Past Mourning
Cry Against the Wind (Forthcoming)
A Nez Perce TaleFirst off, Thank you for having me here today!
I invented Indian spirits who are shape shifters and integral characters in my spirit Trilogy set among the Nez Perce. To me the spirit element is Native American. It is part of their culture and therefore makes the story more historical than paranormal, to my way of thinking.
Native Americans have long held the belief that animals carry spirits and those spirits were called upon to help with hunts, battles, and the day to day living required when living off the land. These spirits were depicted in drawings, ceremonies with elaborate costumes, and in their stories. Many myths/legends have the main characters of Coyote, Bear, Skunk, and Weasel.
These tales were told around campfires at night. The stories had morals like our fairy tales and fables. Only the characters in the stories were rarely human and always they told of lessons. Sometimes lessons for children and sometimes lessons for adults. And always they told of human foibles through the animals.
Here is a Nez Perce tale
Coyote was a wise man, and Fox was slow-witted. Coyote said to Fox, “Now we shall have to get up some scheme to procure food. You are slow-witted, just like your father. My father was not that way: he was wise. I have taken after my father.”
They were in their camp; and Coyote said to Fox, “If you keep perfectly still and do not move, we shall get some food.” Then Coyote began thus: “I wish that I and my friend could hear the sound of five packs of food falling at the door!” Then they heard five sounds: “tlitluk, tlitluk, tlitluk, tlitluk, tlitluk!” Coyote jumped up and ran out, and there he saw five packs lying at the door. He took the three largest ones for his share, and left the two smallest ones for Fox. The large packs that Coyote got were all dry meat without any fat, but the two little packs contained fine meat. In three days Coyote had eaten all his poor meat; while Fox had a great deal left, because his was so very rich. On the fourth morning Coyote was hungry, and kept his eye on Fox to see if he had eaten all his share. Now, Fox had eaten only one of his packs, so Coyote jumped over and took the other. Then he said to Fox, “You are a fine fellow never to divide up with your friend!”
Five times they repeated the magic act and got food, but the sixth time Coyote wanted to see who brought them the meat. So he said to Fox, “I am going to see the man who gives us meat.” Fox replied, “You had better not try to do that, because this is the only way we can get food.” But Coyote was determined to see. He stood at the door, and cut a peep-hole so that he could look out with one eye. Then he repeated the wish; and when the packs fell, he saw a man going up over the ridge who wore long hair in a wig. This man was Deer Tick. Coyote shouted after him, “Oh, you man with the wig, you go over the mountain!”
Think you they got food again from the man Coyote had shamed? [When this rhetorical question is asked, the chorus is "No!"]
Spirit of the Sky is my recent release. It’s the third book of my Spirit Trilogy that is set among the Nez Perce of NE Oregon. This book takes place as the non-treaty Nez Perce are fleeing the Army and avoiding being placed on the Lapway reservation.
Blurb for Spirit of the Sky
To save her from oppression, he must save her whole tribe. To give her his heart, he must desert his career…
When the US Army forces the Nimiipuu from their land, Sa-qan, the eagle spirit entrusted with watching over her tribe, steps in to save her mortal niece. Challenging the restrictions of the spirit world, Sa-qan assumes human form and finds an unexpected ally in a handsome cavalry officer.
Certain she is a captive, Lt. Wade Watts, a Civil War veteran, tries to help the blonde woman he finds sheltering a Nez Perce child. While her intelligent eyes reveal she understands his language, she refuses his help. But when Wade is wounded, it is the beautiful Sa-qan who tends him. Wade wishes to stop the killing—Sa-qan will do anything to save her people.
Can their differences save her tribe? Or will their love spell the end of the Nimiipuu?
Excerpt
She smiled and his heart leapt into his throat. He thought her beautiful from the first moment he saw her standing in the river fiercely protecting the child, but watching her tense face relax and smile, he was smitten. A light and pleasing calm washed over him for the first time in a very long time. He could only bask in the moment briefly. They were enemies.
“I am from the sky, and I watch over the Nimiipuu.” She nodded her head and flashed him with yet another smile. “You may call me Angel.”
“Only if you call me Wade.”
She nodded. “Let me check your wounds. You have moved around.”
“Why are you taking such good care of me when your warriors left me for dead?”
Her sunshine gaze peered straight into his eyes. “You saved my niece at the village and the wounded from the Bannock scout. You do not have the thirst to kill like the other soldiers.” She bowed her head and removed the blood encrusted bandage from his shoulder. “The Nimiipuu need you.”
Her touch warmed his body, tingling the areas around his wounds. He glanced at her small, delicate hands hovering over his injuries. He shut his eyes, and then opened them. Her hands shimmered as if in a fog. His pain subsided, in fact, his body felt well rested.
A soft lyrical chant rose from her lips as she continued to hover her hands over his wounds. Her eyes remained closed, her light lashes resting on her sun-kissed cheeks. He’d never seen a woman as beautiful as this. He had to learn her true origins and return her to her family.
Buy Link:
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=191&products_id=4850
Bio:
Wife, mother, grandmother, and the one who cleans pens and delivers the hay; award winning author Paty Jager and her husband currently ranch 350 acres when not dashing around visiting their children and grandchildren. She not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.
She is a member of RWA, EPIC , and COWG. She’s had eleven books and a short story published so far and is venturing into the new world of self-publishing ebooks.
Her contemporary Western, Perfectly Good Nanny won the 2008 Eppie for Best Contemporary Romance and Spirit of the Mountain, a historical paranormal set among the Nez Perce, garnered 1st place in the paranormal category of the Lories Best Published Book Contest. Spirit of the Lake was a finalist in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence.
You can learn more about her at her blog; www.patyjager.blogspot.com her website; http://www.patyjager.net or on Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/#!/paty.jager and twitter; @patyjag.
Contest! I’m giving away a $5 Amazon gift certificate to one lucky commenter.
References
Nez Perce Tales, By Herbert J. Spinden, 1907
From Blue Panther Keeper of Stories.
Tales of the Nez Perce by Donald M. Hines,
Ye Galleon Press; Fairfield, Washington, 1999
This is an excerpt from my nonfiction book about gardening and country life, Shenandoah Watercolors, available at Amazon in kindle and print with lovely images of the valley and mountains. (A 2012 EPIC eBook Finalist.)
Sadly, unwary ducklings do not know to be on guard against snapping turtles, something their mama would have taught them. By summer’s end, just two grown ducks remained and were fondly named Daphne and Darlene. They were inseparable and divided their day between the cows and geese in the barnyard and forays to the pond.
The small male was undeterred and eventually won acceptance, amusing us by his attempts to mate with Daphne, twice his size. Persistence won out though. That year the girls had separate nests, Darlene at the base of a bittersweet vine, while Daphne went back to the tansy. Don and Dwayne bonded, swapping stories as they awaited imminent fatherhood.
Autumn in all its’ splendor passed into a winter that was our most severe in years. We tromped faithfully through the deep snow every day to scatter feed on the frozen pond. Then one morning after fresh snowfall we could not find a single duck. Our anxious calls came back to us empty on the wind…searching revealed spatters of blood and dog tracks in the snow, the silent witness to their grim fate. Still, we hoped that some birds had escaped the attack and combed the neighborhood, finally locating a pair of Dwayne’s offspring.
All of this took place eons ago, but we still have ducks on our pond and an ample flock fussy barnyard geese who make daily visits down to the water. The small town of Dayton, Virginia, not far from us, has a lovely body of water called Silver Lake (the size of a large pond) and a stream that attracts so many ducks the town has installed a duck crossing sign.
….what they can do for you. As authors, we have a lot of free promotional tools at our fingertips, thanks to the Internet. You have the ability to reach millions via Social Media from Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Blogs, LinkedIn, MySpace, Google+, Yahoo groups, and the list goes on. But as authors…who has that kind of time? Authors need time to write and if they spend their precious writing time on all of the latest social media websites, then the amount of books written drops back. It’s certainly a vicious circle…you don’t advertise, then you sell no books. You advertise too much, you don’t write books to sell. Somewhere in there, writers need to find their own happy medium.
Welcome to May! A world awaits us. Spring (as we saw in last month’s blogs) is abloom. We all want to go outside, plant, sit on the patio and sip tea….<screeching of tires can be heard>….wait! Who has time to sip tea? There are 
books to be written, books to be promoted! Some of us have day jobs…I am in that category…so I need to do a balancing act between promoting my work, spending time with the family (and my precious new granddaughter), going on date night with my hubby (can’t neglect him or I won’t have a hubby), and just spending some stress-relief time enjoying the spring of the year on my front porch, glass of tea in one hand, and a great read in the other. There is never a shortage of books to read in my house. As a matter of fact–I have more unread books on my shelf than I’ll likely ever read.
So what, you ask, is the solution for the writer who has too little time on their hands? Readers and word-of-mouth. You, as readers, have more power to promote a book than the author does. How’s that? Because your friends listen to you. “Check out this great author I found!” Anytime I see, or hear, a reader promote my work…I want to hug them personally 
because that phrase goes a lot farther than, “Look at this great book I wrote!” The author can have all the social media sites they can possibly handle on the Internet, spend hours promoting themselves, trying to engage with readers…but that one reader who loves their work so much that she/he sings it to the world, will probably sell more books for the author than he/she can on their own. So thank you…to all the readers who mention us authors names to the world…from the bottom of my heart. You have great power in your words. Remember that the next time you read a book and love that author’s words…so much so that you can’t wait for the next book. Don’t keep that a secret…sing it to all of your friends so that author has more time to write. There is no better Social Media in the world like good ol’ fashioned Word-of-Mouth! Write a review on Amazon or BN.com, tell your Facebook friends, Twitter it to the world…that author will be elated you were so thoughtful!
Readers are the heart of every book written. It’s with you in mind that we authors write our words and create our worlds. So thank you, God bless, and know that you, too, have a power in words!
May the sun always shine…
Patricia
Rosemary Gemmell is our April winner! She wins the $25 eGift Card, sponsored by Linda LaRoque. Rosemary, you can contact Linda at llaroque@hot.rr.com and let her know where to send your prize! All of us at ABM send out big ‘thank yous’ to everyone who stopped by and commented. And the winning goes on…
MAY CONTEST!
Sherry James sponsors this month’s eGift Card. The rules are the same:
To enter the drawing, leave a comment on any post in May 2012. The prize for May is (1) $25 eGift Card. We’ll post the winner’s name at Authors by Moonlight on May 1, 2012 and ask her or him to contact the sponsor before sending the prize out.
Authors by Moonlight will enter up to three (3) comments per person per ABM post, so check back all month long and see if there’s anything you’d like to say! The more posts you comment on, the better your chances! No spam please — comments should be relevant to the post or someone else’s comment.
All non-spam comments left between now and 11:59 p.m. Central Time, USA on May 31st, 2012 are eligible, with the exception of those left by the Moonlighters themselves.
The Fine Print:
- Must be 18 or older to win.
- No purchase necessary.
- Void where prohibited.
- Chances of winning may vary based on the number of entries received.
- Winners are final.
- All rules and regulations are subject to change at any time without reason
or notification.
- Entering this contest is an agreement to abide by all rules and
regulations.
- Prizes are as stated. No substitution or exchanges.
- All entrant information is strictly confidential and will not be shared.
- Winners are chosen via lottery using Random.org.
Springtime for parents of school-age kids, particularly those in grade school, brings thoughts of how nice it would be to have a clone. When my kids were young, April and May were months I endured rather than enjoyed. With end-of-year school concerts and field days, the last skating competition, the skating show, the dance recital, and spring activities for youth group at church, capped by a late spring birthday party to plan each year, by the time June rolled around all I wanted to do was spend two consecutive weekend days with an empty calendar.
Grade school days are long gone at our house, but this spring has a particular air of finality. Our daughters are graduating from college and high school next month, and we are performing the rituals of spring for the last time.
Yes, there will be another college graduation another year, God willing, and more than likely weddings and christenings, as the cycle begins for our girls. And I look forward to life unbounded by August to May and nine to three-thirty. But the role of Mom as my children grew up brought me more joy than not, and there is much I will miss: dinners together, and the pleasure of watching my oldest skate and my youngest dance onstage. Hilarious discussions of what would be the best way to fend off a baboon attack . (No, I’m not going to explain. You sort of had to be there.)
We can never be sure what the future holds, but I am encouraged. My daughters are ready to embrace life as college graduate and college student, respectively. I anticipate the freedom to attend conferences and maybe take an occasional road trip with my sweetie. I will always be Mom, but the role is changing. It’s sort of like stepping away from being chairman of the board and acting in an advisory capacity.
You don’t know how well you’ve raised your kids until they leave. I learned that with my oldest. As my youngest now plans to leave home and go to school several hundred miles away, I can only hope that her dad and I have done a good enough job preparing her for life outside the nest. We’re sure she’ll be okay, but there is always a worry that we missed something. In case of a real emergency, I’ve already noted which airlines can get us to her college town the fastest.
Our spring rituals will change after this year. I don’t know for certain what they will be, but renewal is the cycle of nature. Meanwhile, thanks for joining me as I reflect on a part I’ve loved playing for most of the last twenty-five years.
What are your best memories of spring? Something that happened once or a custom you enjoy every year? Let us know! Comments will be entered in the drawing for this month’s e-gift card!
Till next month,
Ann
One day, mild temperatures lure you outside where you can take a breathe without the chill air seizing your lungs. You pass beneath tree limbs covered in white blooms and green leaves. A sweet fruity fragrance lingers upon a gentle breeze.
Spring is the time of rebirth and every year I look forward to the colorful splash of flowers. Purple, pink, and white flowers adorn fruit trees, dogwoods and wisteria. Bright yellow daffodils are quickly followed by tulips and hyacinth in an array of colors.
Across North Carolina the azalea shrubs pop with a riot of red, pink and white blooms. And in mid-April, my roses produce their first buds. A collection of peaches, whites, pink and reds that I gather through October.
Nothing warms a room quicker than a vase of flowers.
They’ve been around for centuries and come with their own tales. Take the dogwood tree, current ‘legend’ states that the dogwood tree was used as the wood for the cross upon which Jesus was crucified. The tree was so saddened by the event that it became stunted and gnarled. The flowers would forever form a cross and thorny crown. Except dogwoods don’t naturally grow in Israel and the legend can only be traced to the 1950s.
But a few facts never stopped a fiction writer from exploring every possibility. Including the dark side of these beauties. The flowers and leaves of the azalea are poisonous. As are the berries, roots and bark of many other plants. A bit of poison, a bit of mayhem, and your characters are in for an interesting time.
Flowers are the backdrop of life – inside and out.
