The Valentine's Day Curse Facebook Event

As part of my promotional efforts for "The Valentine's Day Curse -- A short story" I decided to make it free on Amazon, in all six countries that carry it, (can't wait to get a sale abroad so I could call my self an international author Haha!) from February 13th - 15th. In order to get the word out I created an Event on Facebook.

In case you're not on my "friends" list, and you really should change that, here's the invite:

Just in time for Valentine's Day...for three days I'm offering for FREE a short story bound to appeal to guys and gals alike...The Valentine's Day Curse -- A short story.

"When Lisa’s Valentine’s Day ritual is interrupted by a phone call, she is surprised it’s from someo...ne she hadn’t heard from in many years. What could her ex, Joey, possibly want from her on what could have been their 25th wedding anniversary?

The Valentine’s Day Curse…A short story about stirred memories of unrequited love, revealing Valentine’s Day is not always a bed of roses."

Ok, so not everyone is a fan of the day, but maybe you are and you bought your sweetheart something different this year...like, ummm, a Kindle, and you really want to score points by having books already loaded onto it. Well, here you go. They don't have to know this one was free :)

Or, maybe instead of getting cheap chocolates, you were the recipient of an eReader (he/she's a keeper!) and you're looking for a quick free read. Well, here you go. You have until midnight on the 15th.

Oh, and just so you know, you definitely don't need to have a significant other to enjoy this tale. That is a noose around the groom's neck on the cover. By the way, you don't need to have a Kindle to read this freebie either. On the Amazon site, there's FREE Kindle reading apps which allow you to read this short story on your Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, smartphone, etc.

By joining this event you're not obligated to download the book, but by doing so, I'll be able to send you a reminder notice and link.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0074B2DAS

You can also like my author page where I'll post the link as well.

https://www.facebook.com/ElenaDeRosa.Author

This is the first time I've ever created an event, so hope I did this right, and by all means, feel free to share!!!

Thanks!!!!

I hope you not only download the freebie, but like it so much you spread the word to all your friends, family, twitter followers, etc. to do the same. Gotta say, the "Maybes" that responded to the event intrigue me...

Author Page

I've come to the conclusion that writing my stories is less "work" than promoting them. Luckily I come from a marketing/promotion background BC (before children) so I have some sort of clue as to the best way to do it, however, it is still time consuming. Frankly, I can't wait to get back to reading some of the many books I have on my Kindle, that aren't mine!

When you release something new, updates to websites, pages, bios, etc. become imperative. Since I just released The Valentine's Day Curse I've been busy will all that "fun stuff" while still promoting Fractured Facade. My website is still a work in progress so bear with me.

I decided it would be wise to create an author page on Facebook rather than have individual pages for all my books. I learned that lesson from having more than one blog at one time. I found I was pulling myself in too many directions and not being productive. I figure I could use the author page to make announcements, run specials, share events, and hopefully dialogue with my readers and friends.

If you care to, I would greatly appreciate you liking my author page by clicking here.



If you do, you can read the first post and see how to save 99 cents!

While the rest of you are watching the SuperBowl I will be composing a press release, compiling a contact list, and coming up with topics to speak about on my upcoming appearance on the Daytime BlueRidge Show. Anyone know how to lose 20 pounds in two weeks??? Apparently WSLS does not have a magic camera...

A Friend of a Friend is No Friend

My daughter's face was ashen when she revealed to me last night that the murderer of a local 18 year old girl had tried to get her to meet him in person three weeks ago. No, she didn't know him but he was on her Facebook friends list, a "friend of a friend" that she had accepted. Three weeks ago the killer sent my daughter a personal message that "gave her the creeps." Thank God she ignored it and promptly deleted him from her "friends." But what if she hadn't? What if her sixth sense hadn't kicked in, or he wasn't "creepy" but "good looking" and she would have struck up a conversation, or worse, met him in person? What if this person tracked my daughter down, stalked her and then kidnapped her? What if this person was the one ringing our doorbell at all ours and then hiding? What if? What if? What if? I get sick to my stomach just thinking about all the "what ifs." Would our family be forever changed and inconsolable as I'm sure the victim's family are?

Clearly this person had "problems" as evidenced by a comment left on WSLS's site..."i did know shane and he was truely a sick person..he used to tell me all the time he was going to kill someone but i never believed he would actually do something like this…". No one ever thinks something like this would happen in a small town like Roanoke, but I do. I learned quickly years ago that small towns have plenty of psychos living amongst us. When I put my Roanoke zip code in Virginia's registered sex offenders crime base I was horrified to see how many were living right under our noses. When I put my Brooklyn zip code in NY's registered sex offenders, zero came up. There are way more people living in my Brooklyn zip code than my Virginia one. If you need more proof that there are more "weirdos" here take a stroll any night through the Salem Fair. It's scary, and that's why I wouldn't let my daughter go alone with her friends.

When my husband found out the killer had contacted my daughter via Facebook he held her hand tightly as we crossed the parking lot to the restaurant. He wanted to pull the computer away from her. He wanted to chain her to her room. He got up all through the night to check on her. He told her he was taking her up to Potts Mountain to learn how to shoot. I told him to calm down. The girl had done the right thing, this time, and we just had to reinforce all the dangers lurking out there.

Facebook is not your friend. Friends of friends are not your friends. Having 500, 600 or 1,000 friends does not make you popular. It makes you vulnerable. When I first signed on I just accepted anyone who asked me to be their friend. Eventually I realized that was foolish so deleted many. Now I've even gone back and anyone that I don't have some sort of connection to I've deleted. I've gotten requests from people other states that I have no idea who they are other than a common friend of my daughter. When I show her the people and she says she has no idea who they are, I've ignored them. Now I want her to delete them from her friends list. I told her to go through her list and begin deleting people she doesn't know. Just being a friend of a friend doesn't mean they're your friends.

I don't know yet what the connection was between the killer and Cara, but my story should serve as a wake-up call to all parents of teenaged daughters. Hold your babies tight no matter how old they are. Condolences go out to Cara's family. I can't imagine what they're going through right now.

Having Fun Being Awkward

Since my kids said I was "awkward" I've been having a blast playing it up. Anything I do I preface with, "Would it be awkward if I....", or if I already did something I end with, "Gee, I hope that wasn't awkward...." One of my favorite use of the word has been when they ask me for something, like oh let's say gas money..."Don't you find it awkward asking me for money?" They don't.

I'm not the only one throwing the word around haphazardly...they've joined in and are doing it too, dramatically rolling their eyes while exclaiming, "Oh my God, that is really awkward" even when I'm performing the most mundane task that clearly is not awkward.

So I thought I would have even more fun with it by setting up a Facebook group called, "My Kids Think I'm Awkward." I'm sure there are many parents out there whose kids feel the same way about them as mine do about me. I thought it would be a fun place to vent and/or post what we do that makes our kids think we're awkward. I do have to tip my hat to my son for being politically correct in saying I'm awkward instead of what he probably really feels, "You're embarrassing me."

I asked my kids to help me set the group up but they wouldn't as apparently even thinking about creating the group reinforces my awkwardness. So I took their advice of "Google is your friend" and did the best I could by myself. They don't think I'll get people to join the group...I think they're wrong. I can't be the only awkward parent around!