Category Archives: Life challenges

September 28, 2016 · 10:12 am

One event down…

Last weekend I was thrilled to be included in this event:

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I thought I’d give you a little overview of what it’s like for someone like me – basically, a total introvert/hermit – to attend an event like this as a vendor, hawking my books, and as a presenter, giving two diverse classes.

The Friday night meet-n-greet included a few hours where volunteer vendors could meet the women attending the weekend and sell their wares. After an hour of setup here’s what my table looked like:

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Yes, that’s a banner with my smiling mug on it that you see. I used one of Stephanie’s pictures from my recent photo shoot and sent it to Vistaprint, where, for about $20.00, I had this banner made. It has my name, tagline, and website address on it. Conceited, much??!!

Anyway…

Those are all the print books I have out right now on the table, along with a promo-card for my holiday release of A KISS UNDER THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS which is in galley edits right now and which I should have a release day for any minute ( I HOPE)

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There is also a big basket of favors on that table, complete with individually wrapped portions of M&Ms, PepperMintPatties, and Hersey’s Kisses attached to one of my bookmarks. I use this as promo too, because, really, who doesn’t like free chocolate and a bookmark??

SO, for a few hours I stood, talked, smiled, schmoozed with the other vendors and tried to engage and entice people over to my table ( free chocolate, remember?), and sold books.

I am going to admit freely that this is the hardest, most difficult thing I do as a writer.

I am not a natural salesperson. My thought is browsing is king and if you need to ask a question, find a store clerk. I hate being accosted by salespeople when I shop, so I don’t like to accost people when I am the one doing the “selling.” In all honesty, in this day and age, this is not a good way for a writer to be, I KNOW this. So I tried to accost without, you know, accosting and being obvious about it. It must have worked because I had a lot of people at my table.

In my next blog I’ll tell you how the classes I taught ( and I use that word very very very loosely) went.

When I’m not hawking my books, you can find me here:

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Filed under Author, community advocacy, Contemporary Romance, female friends, Friends, Life challenges, New Hampshire, Romance, Romance Books, Strong Women

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September 23, 2016 · 4:32 pm

Proud Mama…

Yesterday, my niece and nephew had school pictures taken, one of those rights of passage I miss now that my own daughter is an adult.

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Anyway. ..

My sister-and brother-in-law both posted the picture of the two kids as they were leaving for school on their facebook pages and texted them to family members so we could see how great they both looked. My niece, as always, is just stunning. Truly. She is already a blonde beauty just like her mother. My nephew also looked stunning. He is one handsome little gent, made more so yesterday because he wore a tuxedo to picture day. Why, you ask? I did too, and My S-I-L told me he wanted to wear one so he’d look good,  so they rented one for his size.

Really, too adorable for words.

Apparently, on his FB page, under the picture, my bro-in-law put  a caption that read a little like this: Bond, James Bond and a beautiful Bond girl. ( Not an exact quote, but mostly.)

I thought: “How cute.”

My daughter, who happens to be this niece’s God Mother, commented, “*** ( My niece’s name, which I am not going to publicize because she is just a kid!) is not a Bond Girl. She’s the next M.”

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LOL!

Truly, you know you have raised an amazeballs daughter when she puts something like that into the universe! Proud never seems to be an adequate descriptor for me when I talk about her. Amazing. Empowering. Powerful. Intuitive. Brilliant.  All those and many more are better descriptions of the human being she is.

 

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So, for all those mamas who have raised amazeballs daughters who are actually making a difference in the world’s perceptions and thoughts about females : God Bless and Congrats!!!

 

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September 22, 2016 · 10:04 am

Public speaking isn’t for sissies…

So, this weekend I’ll be here:

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I’m part of the Vendor’s event on Friday night,  hawking my books and pressing the flesh ( why that always sounds so dirty to me, I can’t tell ya, but it does! )

Saturday I’m giving two “talks” or classes, as the camp is calling them. One is titled DREAM BIG the other, WRITING A BOOK, two concepts I know a great deal about.

Anyone who knows me knows I love to talk. I’ll talk to practically anyone, anywhere any time. My grandmother used to say I’d talk to a rock if it would listen. She’s wasn’t wrong.

But speaking to another person one-on-one or in a small group of your friends is totally different from getting up in front of a bunch of strangers and commanding a topic.

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I tend to babble when I’m nervous. I tend to go off on tangents if something strikes me as funny. I tend to avoid eye contact because I’m so nervous. None of these little idiosyncrasies warms a listener’s heart when they have paid cash-money to hear you speak about a topic you are supposed to be proficient in and an expert on.

There are a million tactics to dealing with this nervous anxiety. Picturing your audience naked is one of the oldest and most quoted pieces of advice. But folks, seriously? I’m a romance writer. I write about naked people all the time! If I started envisioning my audience naked I’d most likely start to think up stories to put couples in the crowd together! Not a good tactic at all.

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Someone else offered me the advice of speaking to the crowd as if they were all a bunch of my friends and we were just chatting. Again- do you know me??? I have more “friends” on facebook than I do in real life. I’m never around more than 4 people at a time. EVAH!!!

One thing I did do for these two talks was write out all the bullet points I wanted to speak about and then transferred them to index cards. At least this way I can stick to topic and not go off on one of my numerous side trips and a non-sensical conversations.

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Arghghgh, as Charlie Brown so correctly says.

What have I gotten myself into? It’s so hard being a 50-ish, chubby, nervous, introvert in today’s youth obsessed, anorexic, let-everything-hang-out-there world.

I think I’ll go back to writing now to calm myself.

When I’m not having anxiety attacks about public speaking you can find me here:

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September 18, 2016 · 10:42 am

Loneliness….

I was out for the day with my besties yesterday. Love that. Just a day of girlfriends, shopping, eating, and laughing.

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One of my girls mentioned she was at a conference recently where this question was posed: What is the number one disease afflicting the world today? My first thought was heart disease. NO. My second guess was mental illness? NO, but closer.

Turns out, the number one disease afflicting a great majority of the world we live in is loneliness.

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When you think about it, it kinda rings true. Because I’m so egocentric(!LOL) I immediately thought about my life as it stands now as a full-time writer.

Here’s a quick snapshot of my routine day for clarification. I get up anywhere from 3am-4am due to this chronic insomnia I have.  Hubman is still asleep so I either write a little or watch a little OnDemand Real Housewives episodes that I’ve missed. Get him up for work a few hours later. He leaves  and most days is gone for between 12 and 13 hours. I do one of two things: go to the gym first or just start writing.

If I don’t go to the gym there are days when I will not speak to or interact with another human being until my husband returns home. That’s approximately half my waking day without human interaction. Without speaking to someone, hearing their voice, engaging them in dialogue. More than half. One of the reasons I joined a gym was so that I had a reason to get out of the house and be around people for a few hours a day and not just sit at home, typing, and being alone for hours upon end. Believe me, if I didn’t consciously go out of the house, I could sosososo be a hermit and never see or hear another person. Not good for someone like me who makes their bread and butter creating relationships between people. I need to see people, hear them, watch them, and talk to them so that my characters feel and sound real to readers.

Well, you troll on Facebook and Pinterest and Twitter you’ll say. That’s social interaction. Yes, to a point. But nothing can replace looking into someone’s face when you are speaking with them, drawing them in with  your expressions, your spoken voice, looking directly into their eyes so that you actually connect with them. Nothing. You don’t get that from hitting a “like” on facebook, or “Re-Tweeting” something on twitter. You just don’t.

Again, you will say, but Skype and Facetime, and other mechanical apps where you can look at the person you are speaking to over the device, face to face, is social interaction. Again, yes, to a point. It’s similar, but just not the same as sitting across from someone in a coffeehouse, being able to hold their hand when they’re sad, or run a comforting caress up their arm;  or sharing a meal with someone in a restaurant and actually engaging them, eye to eye, face to face, in a conversation that actually has substance, value. and meaning. Nothing.

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To most – if not all – writers, being alone is just part of the job. We need the alone time to settle our thoughts, run them through without interruptions, figure out the next scene in silence. Like I said, being alone is part and parcel of the job.

But loneliness is very different from being alone. Being alone has a purpose. You need quiet to focus, to create, to bring forth coherent thoughts on the page. Being lonely is a result. A negative result of an event, or simply just happenstance of life. A spouse dies and your family lives far away and doesn’t visit. You’ve worked all your life and now retirement comes and you realize you don’t have many friends or family members to spend time with. You’ve gotten divorced, moved, experienced a trauma. Anything and everything can contribute to a state of loneliness.

Humans are social animals. We talk, we laugh, we cry, we touch, we love, we communicate with words and without.  We need interaction. We crave the company of another, and when we are isolated or unable to interact with others, severe, depressing, heart-wrenching feelings of loneliness can surface and destroy us.

So, like me, if you are alone a lot, do something that gets you out of the house, even for an hour. Be with people. Go grab a cup of coffee and a bagel. Call up someone you know is sitting at home alone and drag them out with you. Smile. Engage with the world and the wonderful people in it. Don’t give loneliness a chance to develop, grow, and fester.girlfriends2

I am home a lot, that’s true. So if I don’t see you at Panera’s (lol) or the Gym, here’s where you can find me:Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//

 

 

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September 13, 2016 · 4:02 pm

When rejection turns to acceptance…

At RWA16 I was delighted to sit in on a seminar by the wonderful Christie Craig. She spoke of her years of hard work in trying to get published  and her disappointment with each rejection letter she received. Like her, I can relate. Over the years I’ve probably had enough rejections from editors and literary agents to fill a suitcase. Well, Christie Craig did. Fill a suitcase. And she brought it along with her to the seminar to illustrate just how many pieces of paper with her work rejected she’d received over the years.

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I have to tell you it was eye opening.

I’ve always joked I’ve been rejected more times than there are books in the library. But I threw those rejection letters away and never thought about them again. This is my little psychological quirky way of dealing with unpleasant issues: out of sight, out of mind. Hey, it works for me.

Christie did not toss away her rejections. She saved them, accumulated them, stored them away so that one day she could take them out and say “Look. Look at what I had to suffer through to be a published author. Look at the fires I walked through to come out on the other side of my dream.”

Heady stuff.

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She–and I–are not the only  ones who’ve lived through mountains of rejections and so-called failures.

  • R.H. Macy, yes that MACY, started 7 failed businesses before finally hitting it big with his NYC-based store
  • Thomas Edison had 1000 unsuccessful light bulb inventions and attempts before one finally worked.
  • After Fred Astaire’s screen test, the studio director stated that Astaire, “can’t dance, can’t sing, is balding and can dance a little.”
  • Theodor Giesel, who the world lovingly knows as Dr Suess, had 27 publishers reject his first book.
  • Stephen King received 30 rejections of Carrie, one of the most iconic horror books and movies of all time.
  • Jack London’s first story received 600 rejection slips before being accepted.
  • Elvis Presley was told by the manager of the Grand Ol’ Opry, “you ain’t going nowhere, son. Go back to driving a truck.” He then fired him after only 1 performance.
  • Ever heard of Harland David Sanders? His secret recipe was rejected 1,009 times before a restaurant accepted it, coated their chicken with it and Kentucky Fried Chicken was born.

I could go on…and on. But won’t because you get the idea.

Hard work, perseverance,  a backbone of steel, and total belief in yourself and what you have to offer is what differentiates a successful person from one who isn’t.

Think about it.

What are you going to do the next time you get rejected?

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When I’m not being rejected(!), you can find me here:

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Filed under #RWA16, Author, Contemporary Romance, Cooking, Editors, Family Saga, Kensington Publishers, Life challenges, love, Lyrical Author, Netgalley Reviewer, Romance, Romance Books, RWA, Strong Women, The Laine Women, WIld Rose Press AUthor

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September 11, 2016 · 11:41 am

Remembering…

911

Historical events and the dates that follow them seem to be seared into our memories for life. People can always tell you where they were the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated, or when our astronauts landed on the moon, or even the day Elvis died.  The date, I feel, that is imprinted in the minds of all Americans for the past 15 years and for the next thousand and fifteen, is today, September 11, in the year 2001. The day we all realised that our God-given freedom comes with an exacting price.

I was sitting at work, the radio on, stocking supplies, when I heard about the first World Trade tower being hit. For a few minutes we all thought it was some horribly freak accident. The pilot suffered a heart attack, or the plane went haywire, or something – anything to explain such a tragedy.

Those thoughts went the way of the dinosaurs when the second plane hit… and then the Pentagon was attacked… and finally United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pa. Then,

Then, then we all knew it wasn’t a horrible mistake. Then, then we all knew we were at war and our world had changed.

Far too many words have already been devoted to why these heinous acts were perpetrated upon our land, upon our people, upon our beliefs and way of life,  and I am not going to add any to the speculation on why.

My words are for the heroes that gave their lives that day. The heroes on the planes, especially flight 93; the heroes at the Pentagon; the first, second, and third responders who are everyday heroes but who showed the world what true heroes are made of when everyone was running away from the burning buildings and they were running toward them, trying to help, trying to save whoever they could. Trying to – as they would simply and humbly  tell you – just do their jobs.

My words are for the survivors of the tragedies, who, to this day still, suffer the physical and psychological effects of an act of terrorism, the likes of which had never been seen before and hopefully never will again. Their countless days of agony and torment, of recuperation and recovery, of never-ending memories, are circumstances they wouldn’t wish on anyone else.

My words are for the families of those that gave their lives  that day. Unborn children who will never know the scope of their father’s bravery, who never got the chance to meet them, show them how they were loved. Children who lost mothers, fathers, siblings, friends. Women who lost husbands and husbands who lost wives. Friends who lost people near and dear to them.

My words are simply this: I will never, never forget about you. My prayers, my wishes, my thoughts, are for you and with you. I will never forget  the freedom we hold so dearly and so tightly, that we’ve fought for, for over 200 hundred years and still battle for to this day, comes with a price. A very exacting price in the sacrifice of our loved ones.

Many more words will be written and spoken today at memorial services, around dinner tables, in houses of worship. News media will broadcast a timeline of events. Some will have interviews with survivors or families of victims. Our country as a whole will mourn, once again, the day that changed our way of life. The day we came to realize freedom isn’t free. The day we recognized America can be battered and bruised, but will never, ever break.

Today, I will be remembering those courageous, unselfish people who gave their lives on a crystal clear blue skied  cloudless day, 15 years ago.

Will you?

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September 4, 2016 · 10:28 am

A delicious recipe to go along with a good book!

AS I’ve said numerous times here, I lovelovelove finding authors new to me and then introducing them to my peeps. Patricia Preston is one such author. We both write for Kensington/Lyrical, and she has a new book out titled ONE WEEK IN YOUR ARMS. She’s giving you a little sneak peak down below, and she’s including something near and dear to me as well : a recipe. And what a recipe! Can you just say delicious!!

Here’s Patricia to tell you all about it.

Hawaiian Ahi Poke Salad Recipe & Gift Card Giveaway!

Part of One Week in Your Arms takes place on a fictional resort on Kauai, the fourth largest of the Hawaiian Islands and a popular dish in Hawaii is Ahi Poke Salad, which my characters enjoyed during their stay. This easy-to-make basic salad featuring fresh tuna will be a hit with seafood lovers.

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Ingredients:

2 pounds fresh tuna steaks, cubed

1 c. soy sauce

2 T. sesame oil

¾ c. chopped green onions

1 T. toasted sesame seeds

2 T. chopped macadamia nuts

1 T. red pepper (optional)

In large bowl, combine all ingredients and chill for 2 hours before serving.

 

ONE WEEK IN YOUR ARMS

Love Heals All Series

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My newest book, ONE WEEK IN YOUR ARMS, is mainstream contemporary romance filled with witty, charismatic characters. The fun, fast-paced plot features a secret baby, a billionaire baby daddy hero who needs a pretend girlfriend for a week, and a young doctor who is desperate to keep her child a secret. Unfortunately for the intrepid heroine, Marla, she needs money for her community clinic so she has no choice but to spend a week in paradise with the one man who can destroy her life. How can she say no?

ONE WEEK IN YOUR ARMS is the first book in Love Heals All series where romance causes havoc, heartache, and humor for a cast of unsuspecting doctors until they realize love heals all. Published under the Lyrical Shine imprint of Kensington Books, each book can be read as a stand-alone. They do feature the same location and continuing characters. The next book in the series is EVERYTHING HIS HEART DESIRES, coming in Jan 2017.

 

Excerpt:

She picked up the letter opener. Her heart palpitated in sheer terror as she slid the opener under the flap of the envelope. With the envelope open, she peeped inside to see one folded sheet of stationery.

After six years, what could he possibly have to say?

She pictured him, standing beside a black truck in the drive of Royal Oaks, an old estate belonging to his grandmother. She recalled the date. June twenty-eighth. The day they had said goodbye had been a warm, blustery day in Tennessee. A summer storm was heading toward the rolling hills near Nashville.

The wind made a mess of Carson’s unruly dark hair. His dark blue eyes were hidden by a pair of mirrored lens aviators, and his alpha-male physique tested the seams of his polo shirt.

“If I’m ever back in town, I’ll look you up,” he promised as their casual affair came to an inevitable end. For three weeks, they had been together and finally, the time had come for them to go their separate ways. She hadn’t realized it would be so difficult.

“Sure.” She forced a smile of goodwill. After all, they weren’t parting in anger, or in love for that matter. And it was unlikely that she would ever see him again.

“I had a great time,” she confessed boldly. She’d loved every minute of their brief, steamy affair. Talk about a summer break to remember. She grinned.

He gave her cheek a stroke. “You’ll make a great doctor.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah.” He grinned. “You certainly know all there is to know about male anatomy.”

“Yours, at least.” She laughed. Then she hopped up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss. “Goodbye, Carson Blackwell.”

She stepped away from him. Now was the time to face what was ahead. A grueling three-year residency. There would be no more time for long summer nights, tangled sheets, and sighs against swollen lips. She walked toward her small, sturdy hatchback. Before she opened the driver’s door, she looked up and met his gaze.

“Goodbye,” he called.

At that moment, she’d had an odd sensation in her chest that her life was never going to be the same.

Buy Links:

Amazon   //  Nook //  Kobo //  iBooks

Author Bio

PPreston HS 250

Patricia Preston writes mainstream romances where love matters most. You are her reader if you like fun, passionate, feel good reads. Must haves in her writing cave include sweet tea and music. Besides writing, she loves music, history, taking road trips, and anything containing chocolate. Her dream-come-true would be a townhouse in the French Quarter. She never misses Supernatural or the Walking Dead. She is repped by the Seymour Agency and currently working on a contemporary romance series, Love Heals All, for Lyrical Shine imprint of Kensington Books.

Author Links:

Webpage

Amazon

BookBub

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

Giveaway

I’m celebrating the coming of fall and the release of my first book in my new contemporary romance series by giving away a batch of my Kindle ebooks and a $20 Amazon gift card. You can enter by leaving a comment and email address on this blog and add extra entries by going to my Giveaway post on my blog: http://patricia-preston.blogspot.com/2016/08/celebrating-new-release-monthbatch-of.html Drawing will be on Sept 30th. Winner notified via email and posted on my blog.

 

 

 

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August 30, 2016 · 9:16 am

The year of YES

I did a post at the beginning of this year, telling you all that I’d made 2016 the year of saying yes for me to things I don’t usually  say yes to ( or even want to!) Thought I’d give you an update on how that’s going.

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I said yes to attending a woman’s expo earlier in the year as a vendor when an old friend asked me to. I was allowed to have my own “booth”, set up to sell copies of my books. This wasn’t a book conference, or a literary meeting, but an expo for women of all ages, all walks of like, and was filled with all things pertinent to, well, women.  Life style coaches, diet, exercise gurus, local and national vendors alike all converged on my local college for the day. I figured if I sold one book I’d be happy. Didn’t sell one book…sold 50. Mostly to people I didn’t know ( so that’s a plus!) Very glad I said yes to my friend when she asked me to participate. Another reason I was happy I’d said yes was when the guy at the booth next to mine told he was the sponsor of a woman’s retreat weekend, coming up this September and he would be thrilled if I participated and  maybe…wait for it…be a speaker. As a speaker, I’d also be able to sell my books during the weekend’s own trade/vendor show. Since this is the year of yes I said…Yes! I’ll let you know how it goes after it’s over next month.

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Even though I retired from my job last year so I could write full time, I said yes to going back for a few months to help my old office out with a problem. Because I knew there was an end-date on that “yes” I was happy to help out and actually had a good time interacting with my old patients and my crew. I really don’t think I need to tell you how happy my husband was when I said yes to this, since I would be getting paid for my time!

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I was asked to be a judge in our annual Keene Dancing with Stars and said yes – and was sosososo happy I did. I had oodles of fun and made some new friends.

I attended RWA in July ( you know that!) and this year when the call went out for volunteers to work the conference I said…yes. So glad I did because I got to chat up some of my all time favorite authors, like Jill Shalvis and Kristan Higgins, in a casual, fun-filled, no stress-sweat situation.

Remember my friend who asked me to participate in the woman’s expo? She also asked me to participate in this year’s Taste of Home Cooking show that will be happening this October at our high school, and again, I  said yes, because I get to sell my books to the 600-800 participants this event usually sees attend. More on that after October, but another good reason to say yes to something I’d rather avoid – crowds!!!

 

Here’s where you can find me when I’m not saying yes!:

Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//

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Filed under Author, community advocacy, Dancing with the Stars, female friends, Friends, Life challenges, love, New Hampshire, Project Graduation, Romance, Romance Books, Strong Women

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August 17, 2016 · 11:22 am

Goal vs. Dream

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So…I’m giving this motivational speech next month at a woman’s weekend retreat and I’ve starting putting my thoughts together on what I want to say, the points I want to highlight, and the ideas I want to leave the women with.  And by starting to put together I really mean I’m starting to panic about what to say!! I’m going to use this blog piece as a way of organizing my thoughts, so please bear with me!

I’ve always asserted that there is a distinct difference between having a dream for yourself and having a goal. To prove I’m educated in the difference between the two, here are the definitions:

A goal is: an aim or desired result

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A dream is: a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal

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Now, just looking at the two you might think they really are the same thing. But I don’t think they are and here’s why.

I always had a little dream to write romantic fiction and have it published. My dream was to be able to support myself as a writer and have the people who read my stuff like it, be loyal, and want more of it.  That was it. Just a dream. A little fantasy that played out in my mind time after time. I’d  imagine myself going to book signings and have the waiting line for my table be out the door and around the block! I’d make every bestseller list out there, and talk shows would be clamoring to schedule me whenever I had a new book released. Amazon would list me as a preferred author and my Goodreads page would be off the chart with followers.

Okay, so it was a BIG dream and not really a little one.

What turned my dream into a reality was when I set a goal for myself centering on that dream to write and publish. I put an action plan behind my fantasy. I set a time frame for what I wanted to happen, the means to make sure it did, and took steps to promote and push it along to fruition.

See the difference? My dream was ephemeral, just a thought, an idea, a wish. My goal put action behind the fantasy to make it come true. To break it down even further ( for you literary and English majors!)  my dream was a noun and my goal was the verb.

Make sense?

Now, of course,  I’m going to expound on that a lot more when I give my talk. I do have to fill an entire hour and not just a three minute ready-to-read-piece like this one! But I think my idea is solid. How I got to live out my fantasy, my dream, how I made it happen, will comprise the majority of the speech. But for now, I have a starting point, so thank’s for listening and ANY WORDS OF WISDOM would not only be appreciated, they would be cherished…so feel free.

Here’s the info, btw, if you want to attend the women’s weekend retreat and see me make a fool of myse–, er…hear me speak: Camp Takodah

and…if you can’t make it to the retreat, here’s where you can find me:  Tweet Me// Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//

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Filed under Author, community advocacy, Kensington Publishers, Life challenges, Lyrical Author, Netgalley Reviewer, NHRWA, Romance, Romance Books, Strong Women, The Wild Rose Press, WIld Rose Press AUthor

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August 16, 2016 · 9:08 am

Something new…

Recently, I signed on with NetGalley, an online book reviewer site. The reason I decided to do this was because I read a lot  of books by new authors,  and I know – personally!- how hard it is to get reviews. Reviews generate buzz about books to people, and as an author, I appreciate how valuable a good review is to finding new readers to read my stuff.  A good review can up an author’s sales. A great review can propel a book and its writer into another stratosphere. Being a reviewer allows me to help the people I know who read my blog find great new and upcoming authors, and writers they’ve never read before.

I made a new page on my website to list the books and their reviews that I think are outstanding and worthy to be read. This is the link: Books I’ve reviewed .  You’ll find well known authors in addition to many names many you’ve never heard of before – but should be hearing about!

My standards for review are the same ones I hope other reviewers will use for me. I won’t write a written review for any book that I can’t give a 4 or 5, to. If a book scores lower than that for me, it usually means the story didn’t resonate with me. That doesn’t mean it won’t appeal to others, tho, and I don’t want to post something negative about it. I’ve read two books recently that I gave only 3’s to because there were so many grammatical and typing errors in the copy I couldn’t actually enjoy the story because of it.

I don’t ever want to be one of those mean reviewers who epitomize the haters gotta hate rule. Those are the reviewers who I always think are secretly writer-wannabes who just can’t – for whatever reason -write the story themselves, so they bash others that do. So. Not. Me!

So, if my humble opinion means anything, I hope you will check back periodically and read about the books I’ve given kudos to.

If you need to find me, you can:  Tweet Me// Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//

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Filed under Author, community advocacy, Contemporary Romance, Kensington Publishers, Life challenges, Lyrical Author, Netgalley Reviewer, New Hampshire, NHRWA, research, Romance, Romance Books, The Wild Rose Press

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