April’s Featured Author: Tracy Reed
April 7, 2018 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author of the Month tagged as April Featured Author, Sophisticated Romance, Tracy Reed
Author: Tracy Reed
A California native, novelist Tracy Reed pushes the boundaries of her Christian foundation with her sometimes racy and often fiery tales.
After years of living in the Big Apple, this self proclaimed New Yorker draws from the city’s imagination, intrigue, and inspiration to cultivate characters and plot lines who breathe life to the words on every page.
Tracy’s passion for beautiful fashion and beautiful men direct her vivid creative power towards not only novels, but short stories, poetry, and podcasts. With something for every attention span.
Tracy Reed’s ability to capture an audience is unmatched. Her body of work has been described as a host of stimulating adventures and invigorating expression.
Find Tracy on Social media:
Publicity by Linda O. Johnston
April 6, 2018 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as blogging, Marketing. Social Media, publicity
I mentioned my first book of 2018 last month when it was published. There will be three more published this year, and the second will be a May release.
It’s PICK AND CHEWS, the fourth in my Barkery & Biscuits Mystery Series for Midnight Ink., and the only one this year that isn’t a romance.
I’ve started publicizing it already, which is always necessary when you have a book published, whether traditionally as mind mostly are, or self-published. This week, I appeared on a panel of other mystery writers at the Altadena Main Library, where several of us talked about the mystery subgenres we write in.
And what else is pending? Well, I’ll be at the L.A. Times Festival of Books later this month. There, I’ll spend some time at the Romance Writers of America booth, where I’ll get to publicize my romances, including the book published last month: the first in my K-9 Ranch Rescue miniseries for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, SECOND CHANCE SOLDIER. I also have times scheduled at a couple of booths for mystery writers, sponsored by local chapters of the Mystery Writers of America.
Next? Malice Domestic, a conference in Bethesda, Maryland, that features cozy mysteries, as mine are. And after that my next conference is RWA National in Denver this year–where of course my focus of publicizing my work will be on my romances.
Then there are my ongoing blogs, here at A Slice of Orange, plus Killer Characters, Killer Hobbies, Under Cover of Midnight, and The Writers in Residence, plus more at Writerspace.
Then there’s social media. I’m on Facebook a lot.
Is that all? I certainly hope it isn’t. Publicity is something that continues. And, fortunately, it’s mostly fun!
What about for you? Do you do a lot of publicity? What are your favorite resources?
Linda
First Quickie…Video Trailer
April 5, 2018 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as birthdays, Promo, Spring, Tracy Reed, video trailerHappy Spring! I don’t know about you, but I can’t believe the first quarter of the year is done. It’s even more shocking for me, because my birthday is in the first couple of weeks of spring. I always ask myself the same thing, “I can’t believe it’s April…why is time moving so quickly? And how am I suppose to get things done, with time moving so quickly?” Then I finish it by saying, “Yeah, thank God for another birthday.”
I’m the person that likes to do everything myself. Let me rephrase that. Being a small business owner, I’ve learned that if funds are tight and it’s not possible to hire someone, I need to do the task myself. The other side of that coin is, I need to know how to do it, so when I can afford to farm it out, I know how to effectively shop for the best person. As well as how to do it, if time doesn’t permit for outsourcing.
When I released my last book, DESPERATE DESIRE, I wanted to do a video. I studied television production in college, but that was a while back. Technology has changed greatly…for the better. Hiring a production facility to create a promotional video for me wasn’t an option for several reason: cost and time. I got this brilliant idea, a few days before release day. So I looked at what I could do.
I went to YouTube for answers. Turns out, I had a major tool at my disposal…Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Creative Cloud. Adobe Creative Cloud gives you access to every piece of software Adobe provides for $49.99 per month. I like it because it’s a month to month subscription and I don’t have to worry about buying new software. [There are a few rules to adhere to.] I simply install the updates when available. In addition to Photoshop and InDesign [is InDesign to format my print books]. They recently added TypeKit…a sea of amazing fonts. Until recently, I used Muse to create my website [the reason I changed websites is a post for another day]. The possibilities with the Adobe Creative Cloud are endless.
As I was saying. I wanted to do a video for my book. Armed with an few hours on YouTube and help from my godbrother, I was able to do my first video. I’m still learning how to do these trailers, but I’m pretty excited about my first try. I found the music on a free YouTube download and added my cover image and one from another book for the eye candy. It’s a simple process with a little learning curve. I encourage you to try it at least once.
If you have a problem viewing it, go to my Instagram page www.instragram.com/readtracyreed and view it.
See you next month.
Oh, yeah, Happy Birthday to Me.
Tracy
Fun writing tool
April 4, 2018 by H. O. Charles in category WritingWhoops, I’m a bit late with my monthly update. Soz!
Here’s a fun thing I found on the internet this week: I Write Like
I Write Like uses a Bayesian statistics algorithm to match up your writing style with that of a famous (and prolific) author. Its accuracy has been called into question by some high-profile authors over the years – authors who have found their own work likened to Dan Brown, for example – so I offer no guarantees against the result. However, it is an enjoyable time-waster, and the procrastinator in me is always on the lookout for those. Feel free to share your likenesses below…
I got Anne Rice for one of my excerpts, and Agatha Christie for another.
The Luxurious Fur Coat
April 3, 2018 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as 1950s Fashion, hardboiled mysteries, The Skylar Drake Murder Mystery Series
My husband, Will Zeilinger and I co-write the Skylar Drake Murder Mystery series, a hardboiled series that takes the reader to 1950s Los Angeles and other areas of the west. Our new book, Slick Deal, begins News Year’s Eve 1956 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the first murder and clues lead to Avalon, Catalina.
One of the challenges of writing a period piece is finding the right styles to dress our characters to match their personality. The rich matron, Mayme Wright, was a challenge because she was an integral part of the story. She lived in a mansion in Avalon. So I researched the beautiful fur coats I remembered ladies wearing in New York, (I was born in Queen) in the 1950s. The feel and the weight of these coats were etched in my memory.
Fur coats were glamorous and dressier than the everyday coat used by most people, i.e., the shopping, doctor appointments, etc. They were cut in the same shapes as everyday coats of the fifties. Certain furs looked better in certain styles. The box coat and swagger style looked best with thick fox, sable and seal fur. Faux furs were an option for the less affluent as well as the cheaper squirrel and marmot dyed to look like sable.
The sleeves were wide and open and collars were high and closed with a longer hair fur piece trimming the collar. To keep with the polished style of fur coats, closures were two or three buttons or clasps on the upper part of the coat. Some box styles coats had a single clasp at the neckline. Pockets were slash openings on the coat sides. The wealthy woman showcased themselves by the fur and beauty of her 1950s fur coat.
While most fur coats were full length or at least hip length, a few came in shorter waist length styles. The cape coat, popular in the 1940s, remained common into the 1950s. Coats like the short fur Diamond brand coat became increasingly popular in the late ’50s and ’60s when styles changed to the slim sheath dress rather than the full circle dress.
For those who could not afford a full-length coat, fur stoles, muffs and shawls were a popular alternative. Fur trim on short or long jackets also added a touch of richness without the outrageous price tag.
Mayme Wright was wearing her sable full-length coat when she went missing in Avalon.
SLICK DEAL is the fourth in the series and…yes we are still married!
Website: Janet Elizabeth Lynn
Website: Will Zeilinger
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