The Roanoke River in Salem

It's a beautiful day in Roanoke...a good one to grab a fishing pole. Some recent shots along the Roanoke River in Salem...

Rebel Yell

When I was living in Brooklyn, I can honestly say the Civil War never, ever came up in conversation. Here in Roanoke, Virginia, I am reminded of it practically every day in some way. With some of the derogatory comments I've experienced being a "Damn Yankee" and an "Eyetalian" at that, I think some folks feel like they're still fighting it. In New York, I can't remember ever hearing about Civil War re-enactments, but down here there's a whole cottage industry surrounding it.

Recently I was at Appomattox National Park, which houses the spot where Lee surrendered to Grant. Of course down here in the South, many don't like to call it "surrendering." I've had some folks tell me Lee just asked Grant to hold his sword. I laughed thinking it was a joke, but apparently to them it wasn't. I find it best to ignore those type of folks.

Anyway, during this visit to the South's surrender spot, ooops, I mean to "where the country was brought together" spot, they were having a Civil War re-enactment. Well, really more of an encampment, since there wasn't any battle waging going on, but a small demonstration.

The guys I spoke with were all pretty cool, although I think they could have stayed in character like the annoying people do at those Renassaince Festivals do. There was one little boy, but there weren't any women to be found, not even a wench. Oh wait, wrong time period.

The guys showed us where they slept, and what they ate, although I seriously doubted they held the hard biscuit in a ziplock bag. They showed us the ways they carried their guns and they even let us hold them...very heavy!

I found out some of these re-enactors travel all over the state and beyond participating in Civil War events with their "authentic" replica uniforms, equipment and rifles. I don't think there's a union, but there probably is some sort of organization you can contact if you're interested in participating. They did mention they are always looking for Union soldiers since no one wants to be one. Funny thing...no matter how many times they re-enact the war, the outcome is still the same.

That last shot was the Rebel Yell. Here's the Rebel Yell I prefer...

Thank You "Agent X" for the Rejection

I'd like to take a moment to thank "Agent X" for rejecting Fractured Facade and "Agents Y & Z" for totally disregarding my query letter I sent to them last June. Had any of the three of them accepted my book I'd probably still be in revision hell. Even if I wasn't, I doubt it highly that I would have been accepted by one the Big 6 publishing houses as my tale is not "commercial" enough. I know I wouldn't be on any bookshelves anywhere by now.

Because of their decision, I made the decision not to bother wasting any more of my time tweaking my query letter and/or grovel at the feet of some unknown agent to even take a peek at my book. Instead, I chose to have complete control over my book -- the title, editing, cover design, promotion, and finally publishing.

After reviewing my stats, I took the chance in pulling my book from every outlet so I could enroll it exclusively in Amazon's KDP Select program. If I hadn't, 10,000 folks would not have Fractured Facade on their Kindles. Most of that 10,000 number were freebies, but the number of paid sales has been steadily increasing. When I awoke this morning I found Fractured Facade had arrived on Amazon's Best Selling Kindle Family Saga list at the #41 position, as well as Amazon's Best Selling Books Family Saga list at #53.

I just checked again before hitting the "post" button and found it had moved up to #40. If I can get to #39 that means I will be on the second page of Amazon's Best Selling list and that will give the book an even wider audience. From what I understand, most people look at the first two pages of best sellers, unless you're an author. We like to see who else is in our category. Some authors who are behind me include Danielle Steel, Anne Rice and V.C. Andrews -- not too shabby company!

If this keeps up maybe my local paper will change its mind and actually review Fractured Facade. Probably not, they wouldn't even post info on their Book Blog regarding the free promotion I had run. At least I know I do have supporters, and I thank each and every one of you. Without your recommendations, tweets, Facebook postings, reviews I would not have gotten this far.

48 Hours Later

When I woke up this cold, dreary Monday morning I turned on the computer and found something that immediately warmed my soul. It was an email informing me someone had left a comment on my last post. It was from a 68-year-old woman, originally from Brooklyn who now lived in Florida. Although the comment did not show up on my post, grrrr! Blogger! I want to share it with you here, and I hope she doesn't mind...

"Well I just finished your book, as my late Italian Brooklyn Taxis Cab driver father would have said you have Moxie! I grow up in Brooklyn too, love Brennan and Carr's, your story had me rooting for you. Your dad and mom are touching Jersus shoulder, and saying "look at our Daughter, fight for us!"
You have shown your children that it is possible to fight evil and win. I am 68 years old and live near Orlando, it the Evil one sent you mail from here, I would gladly track her down send her you love. Only kidding. God bless you and your beautiful family."

At first I smiled, then I called my daughter over and as I read it to her, I choked up. That one little email validated for me that giving away thousands of copies of Fractured Facade was worth it. A complete stranger "got it" and she took the time to tell me. I reached someone and that's what any writer really wants to do.

I decided to check my Amazon stats just for kicks. I was happy to see that overnight, people had actually purchased and even borrowed the book. I checked the rankings and beheld this sight...

Yes, that's #78 in Paid Family Saga! Even though it's not burning up the charts, I'm still thrilled to have cracked the top 100. Frankly, I didn't think that would happen as my sales were almost non-existent immediately following the promotion. I figured there's no way anyone could "find" me. I think I may be getting noticed by the "also bought" icons that pop up on Amazon's page when you buy a book. My author friends told me to be patient, and suggested I lower the price. I do not want to "rock-bottom" my book. I put years into it and feel $4.99 is still a good deal. Heck, Snooki gets $11.99 for her eBook, and she "wrote" that in a couple of months. I believe after people read the sample they'll know whether or not they feel it's "worth" the money. If they do, great, if not, no harm, no foul.

Based on the number of times it's being shelved on Safari, as well as the recent paid sales, I think people are beginning to read it, before it gets buried and forgotten on their Kindle. And after they finish, hopefully they'll like it enough to not only recommend it to a friend, but also take the time to write a review on Amazon. Time will tell...

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

My Wonderful/Miserable Success

I'm happy/sad to report that the 2 free KDP Select days for Fractured Facade was a wonderful/miserable success! Huh? How could it be both you ask?

Almost 10,000 people downloaded Fractured Facade for free...yes, you read that right, 10,000! At one point it was #1 on Suspense, #1 on Family Saga and #19 in Amazon's Top 100.

I'd be lying if I said it wasn't exciting watching the ticker flick into the hundreds per minute, catapulting me to the head of the charts. Of course, it was the head of the free charts.

When I woke up this morning I checked to see if I had experienced what many authors have after giving their book away for free...sales! Yes, yes, I did. One! That's right you read that right, one sale. I checked my rankings and sure enough back down, down, down. Not quite in the netherlands where I began, but still low enough that I'm not on any potential customer's screens. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

On the positive side, for the last two days I stopped crying. Those that know me, know Max, my dog, died last Saturday. The grief had consumed me and having this distraction was what I needed. I am also humbled by how many friends, as well as people I hardly know, rallied around me to support this promotion. I thank you all!

On Fractured Facade's page I received 64 likes and folks have placed it on their shelves in Shelfari. I heard from strangers telling me they look forward to reading it and expressing how they knew someone that sounded like they were in a similar situation regarding a golddigging abuser as the "character" in my book. I believe in my heart that people that "needed" to get this book, have. And that's why I wrote this book. So if I can help even one person, this promotion was a wonderful success.

My biggest fear is that a lot of folks won't even read it. Too many people just download free books and forget about them. My hope is that even if 10% read it, they will like it, rank it, write a review, and finally recommend it to someone. Hey, my family likes to eat too.

I've always been a gambler. I bet on the longshots. I only play the progressive slots. I wait until the lottery hits over $100 million before I part with a buck. For the most part I can say, I always lose. And that's okay. I only bet with what I know I can lose. It's the excitement of the potential win that keeps me going. And one day, I know I will hit. Today's just not that day.

Fractured Facade Freebie

One thing I've learned is to never say never. When I first read about Amazon's KDP Select Program I said I'd never put my novel, Fractured Facade in it. Since it had to be exclusive for 90 days, I didn't want to alienate any potential Nook readers. Well, after much consideration, noticing Nook sales have dried up after all my friends and family had purchased the book, as well as seeing the success of the KDP Select Program for my short story, The Valentine's Day Curse, I have taken never out of the equation.

So, today, Friday, April 20th and tomorrow, Saturday, April 21st I am finally able to offer Fractured Facade for free everywhere Amazon carries it. Click here for the US link. Click here for the UK link.

"Marie's peaceful life in Virginia is shattered the moment she receives word from her brother: “I just got a call from a detective. Daddy’s dead.” Rushing to her family home in Brooklyn, New York, Marie seeks answers to her father’s mysterious death only to discover disturbing occurrences and encounter acts of betrayal.

After her questions are amplified and suspicions confirmed surrounding her father’s ex-girlfriend, Marie becomes frustrated by how oblivious so many had been, and continue to be, to the wily con-artist.

Inheriting her father’s scheming ex-girlfriend becomes a journey Marie never imagined she’d be forced to travel.

Written as memoir, “Fractured Facade” is a cautionary tale for anyone concerned about a parent after the loss of their spouse. The survivor, often thrust into an unfamiliar world, finds it quite different from the dating scene of their youth; one where some create facades to mask their true intentions. Sadly, loneliness can cause an otherwise intelligent person to behave foolishly.

“Fractured Facade” is the tale of a father’s death, a daughter’s life, and a sociopath’s vendetta."

I hope that after reading the description and reviews many of you will download it. But then, what I hope even more, is that you'll read it! Many people have said it's a quick read, so I would hate to see it fall into the netherlands of your Kindle or Ipad or whatever, forgotten. To me that's the worst part of giving away books...too many folks just "forget" about them.

My last hope is that after you read it, you rate it, review it, and most importantly, recommend it. We writers are a needy bunch. Thanks for all your support!

Creatures of Habit

We always said Max was a creature of habit. With him gone, we've come to realize we were the creatures of habit.

Sitting on the couch, my legs extended I find myself moving my feet back and forth to rub the back of the dog that's not there. As my husband goes to putter in the yard, he waits a moment holding the screen door open for his little buddy, who's no longer here to follow him. As I ride my bike in the basement, I keep looking toward the basement stairs awaiting the sound of Max barrelling down them. Next to me the rug with the half-eaten chew remains empty, and my hand reaches to pet the air.

When my husband comes home I say, "I didn't even hear you come in," and with a long face he replies, "I know." He no longer says, "Go ahead, tell them I'm here," and I no longer reply, "Okay, okay, I got it, Daddy's home."

That's the saddest phrases we no longer say, but not the only ones...

"Did the dog eat?"
"Feed the dog."
"Ya gotta go outside?"
"Ohhh, you got your baby?"
"Leave your baby inside?"
"Gimme that baby."
"You want to come to the patio?"
"C'mon Boo, inside."
"Frankie, go clean the dog's yard."
"Did you clean the yard?"
"When are you gonna clean the yard?"
"Didn't I tell you to clean the yard?"
"Go put down a towel, Max wants to eat his chewie." "How do you know?" "He's mind-probing me." "You were right." "He's a dignified dog. He doesn't eat on bare floors. He needs a tablecloth."
"Max wants water." "How do you know?" "He's mind-probing me." "You're right, his bowl is empty."
"Don't give him table food. He's getting too fat."
"Okay, stop mind-probing me...you can have my pizza crust."
"Where's Max?"
"Is Max outside?"
"Someone let the dog in."
"Did you give him a treat?"
"He's waiting for a treat."
"He won't be denied his treat."

And the one that I still say before going to sleep...

"It's bedtime, Boo..."

I've decided the best way for me to handle his absence is to be places where Max wasn't with me. And when I have to be home, I pretend he's at the groomer, or sleeping on the floor by the side of my bed. Sometimes I can even hear him snore.