Friday Five for July 11, 2014

1. For the month of July, The 13th Floor Complete Collection is on sale at Smashwords for 50% off with coupon code SSW50. With the same code, you can also get most of the novellas for FREE! So far I haven't had many sales there this month. Last year's Smashwords sale was more successful for me.

2. Sorry I still can't reveal what my big news is yet. It's a bit frustrating waiting, but this is what you deal with when you sign on with a publisher. It has to be before the end of the year because I know when my release date is!

3. I've not done any writing lately, but I've written blog posts and done a lot of little things. Obsessing about my author tagline took a lot of my time. And I'm still thinking about different ones!

4. My son finished his summer reading class this week. He's absolutely brilliant. So smart and yet has the focus of a four-year-old. (He is four, after all!) We'll spend the rest of the summer hanging out at the parks and pools. No other big plans.

5. I was lucky enough to win the awesome Tara Tyler's newest book, Broken Branch Falls from her Goodreads giveaway. It's absolutely amazing! I'll have a review on my blog in a few weeks, but this is one I recommend to everyone.

Wicked Wednesday - creating an author tagline

I once dedicated Wednesdays to topics dealing with paranormal romance. I've talked about various things that link to it too, but I wanted to keep my focus on that genre since I dubbed it part of my author brand.

Things change. I have a manuscript in consideration by one publisher and another accepted by a second press. Neither of the stories are paranormal romance. So lately, I've been working on changing my author brand. This includes changes to my blog, profile, and my website. (I finally have a new website design, and my husband is in the midst of programming it. Yay!)

One of the most important ways to establish your brand is to have an author tagline. What's this, you ask? An author tagline is a sentence or two (usually no more than 5 to 10 words) that describes who you and your books are. It must be short and attention-grabbing.

This is no easy task. I have enough trouble creating taglines for my books, but for me? Yikes. Where do I even begin?

Here are some tips to help you create your own author tagline:
- Who are you? What's important to you? Not your writing, but you.
- What is your writing like? The genre(s)? Are there any themes? What's your style?
- Focus on what makes you unique.
- Pick about a dozen words that describe you and your writing. (Or 50 like I did!)
- Ask for opinions from other writers, friends, and family. How do others see you and your writing?
- Narrow it down to a few words, play with them together, and come up with various phrases.
- Pick your favorite one, and remember, taglines aren't forever. You can change them, and you most likely will as life goes on.

What's important to me: Family, friends, creativity, and my geeky interests.
What's my writing like: supernatural, dark, witty, twisty, romantic.

I used a thesaurus to produce a bunch of words that I played around with. Here are some of my rejected taglines. Feel free to laugh all you want!
- Otherworldly flirts and courageous spooks.
- Heroes, haunts, and heart.
- Geeks, freaks, and EEKS!
- Flirting with what goes bump in the night.

Horrible, I know. And why was I so focused on alliteration? I had a lot like that.

I wasn't satisfied. So I went back to the drawing board. Or, rather, the crumpled and scribbled upon piece of paper. And I had a good brainstorming session with a fellow writer. (Thanks so much again, Graeme!) I had to accept I could not capture everything about me and my writing in one tagline. That was the hardest thing for me to accept.

What makes me unique: I'm add twists to whatever genre I'm writing, and I'm character driven.

Here is my final choice. Let me know what you think, please!

Paranormal intrigue with a twist.

Untethered Realms Giveaway!

Woot!

We at Untethered Realms are excited to reach 100 followers on our blog.

We're so excited that we're giving away a ton of awesome books!

One lucky winner will win ebooks from all of us.

I've read all the books by my fellow members, and I'm blown away how talented they are. I'm honored to be a part of a terrific group of writers. You don't want to miss this opportunity to win these books for yourself.

To tease you, check out the Free Books section on the site. There are five magnificent ebooks you can nab for free!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review for Past Due

Blurb:
Jenna Austin is a young, widowed artist raising a teenage son on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. As the costs of living in paradise rise, she struggles to make ends meet. Life isn't easy, but she manages.

When her car breaks down, she trudges on. She assumes life can't get any more complicated than it is. But it can...

Chance brings her nose to well-formed chest with Tres Coulter, the handsome, affluent aid to Governor Hunt. Jenna and Tres share a history; they also share a love they thought long lost. Their lives are about to be altered forever as the deceptions of the past transform the very foundation of the present.

The price of happily ever after may be too steep to pay once the past comes due.

My review:
Life can't get any worse for Jenna Austin. Even when her car breaks down, she keeps trudging onward. Her son counts on her after all. That's when gorgeous Tres Coulter steps back into her life. Once upon a time, she loved him, but he'd left her to struggle on her own. Neither of them know the truth of what happened, though, and their happiness depends on them finding out.

A sweet romance with a ton of heart. A cozy little beach town is the perfect place for a love story and a great big misunderstanding. The plot is a huge ball of tangles and knots, and it slowly unravels. It left me wondering each time how they were going to get past that conflict and surprised me with the strength and compassion of the characters. The characters are lovable and genuine even with their flaws.

I will definitely be reading more from Elizabeth Seckman!

Available in E-Book and print from Amazon & World Castle

In ebook from Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, or All-Romance E-Books.

You can find Elizabeth on her blog here!

Happy Fourth of July and Sign up for Jessica Bell's blog tour

Happy Independence Day to all my American friends!

Do you like to read psychological thrillers? Well, Jessica Bell's giving away her latest release, WHITE LADY, for FREE, to every single person who signs up to the "Two Lies & a Truth" Blog Tour (taking place October 1 - 31). It's hassle-free. All you have to do is post what she sends you to your blog (or Facebook page) and Bob's your uncle. She will also be giving away a copy of the book to one lucky reader of your blog. More details and sign up form here: http://goo.gl/0EsZLo

Here is the book trailer (music written and produced by the author herself): http://goo.gl/BeYPXV

Here is a tweet:

Join @MsBessieBell's "Two Lies & a Truth" blog tour & get her new novel, WHITE LADY, 4 free!  

http://goo.gl/0EsZLo #thriller #chicknoir

IWSG for July 2014

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

This month's awesome co-hosts are: Krista McLaughlin, Kim Van Sickler, Heather Gardner, and Hart Johnson. IWSG is also trying to get on the Writers Digest Best 101 Websites list. Please email them at writersdigest@fwmedia.com, subject line "101 Websites," and suggest the IWSG - http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/ .

This month I'm insecure about being accepted. Rejections get me down, but acceptances stress me out in another way.

Will I live up to the editor's expectations? What if having a publisher doesn't live up to my expectations? Will my readers like it? What if my sales flop and no publisher ever wants to take me on again?

Taking a deep breath. Letting it out slowly.

Did I think I should be dancing for joy and kicking back with no worries? Well, no. I did think I'd be a little more confident about things. I know the twisty-turny roller coaster of writer emotions will take me around the bend again to dancing days, but this week, I'm gripping the edge of my desk as I finish off the first round of revisions for my editor.

Happy Canada Day, Brilliant Flash Fiction, and Nerdiness on Untethered Realms

Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian friends and family!

The very first edition of Brilliant Flash Fiction is now up on their site. My sci-fi piece, "Soulless" is one of their stories this quarter. Let me know what you think.

Click on over to Untethered Realms today where we're celebrating our nerdiness. Find out what nerdy things the UR authors have in their homes. Plus check out our new awesome banner!