A WEEK IN REVIEW

 This past week had me in a seven day writing challenge through The Write Practice. 

The Write Practice: Helping Writers Get Better Since 2011

The idea behind it is to write 1,000 words each day for seven days. I didn't meet the goals each day but I did get work done on some of the short stories I plan to publish in the near future. They've been in their folders for years and now they are seeing the light of day and getting a "facelift". Maybe "wordlift" is better? I spend a lot of time looking through websites for information about writing but also camaraderie with fellow writers and authors. I find gold nuggets and this site is one of them. 

"Silos" is now going through a critique session even though I've only gone through most of it once. I'm almost done with that but I think I'm going to move some character's stories I tell in the book. That's one thing about the format I'm using by dating sections and incidents (it's important to the forward motion of the story). I've already changed the dates once and had to go through my characters list and fix dates there. I knew this would be a big project and even though it's technically finished, filling in gaps is the other thing necessary to telling a story.

I also added more social platforms to market my books. Yes, there will be more books! The more I expose them online the more I hope they will get noticed. That's supposed to be a component of marketing. Now I have to figure out how to keep track of it all!😁

It won't be long before spring hits. We've seen daffodils blooming by the roads and in people's yards. I want to get some crocus bulbs since they are just as hardy and plant them next fall so they bloom in the spring. We've had a few days with warm temperatures and the need to step outside and dig in the dirt is calling to my inner being! We plan to put out a small garden and most of it in containers. Each year we'll add more containers and make some raised beds. The soil here is rocky and having gone through growing rocks as a kid when my parents had gardens, Containers are the way to go. This will be a work in progress as we continue to get acclimated to our surroundings.

 Last night was a fun time. It wasn't very cold, a bit chilly but we had a fire as we grilled pork chops for supper and had a drink called a highball. We used Ginger Ale and tequila with lemon juice. A nice light, and refreshing drink. It was nice to sit outside and not fight off mosquitoes or hornets. I do hope those things don't come back this summer! It's also fun to drive around and check out our "still new" home stomping grounds....

          

ANOTHER FIRST!

 I don't know if the two reviews are from the same person, but it humbles me to see someone appreciate the work I put into the book. 

This the first review. It's only in stars but it's a review and I'm excited! 

                                                Alicia Callahan

"I just finished that book and loved it! Congrats!" ~Facebook~

LEAVING REVIEWS

 

I learned something today…...I found out why reviews aren’t showing up in Amazon. I’ve been telling people to leave a review after reading the book. It turns out that if you are my friend or family, it will not let you leave a review. Since this sucks to the nth degree, I would like to suggest to my friends and family to please leave your review on my sites. However, if you don’t want to say anything, you can give a star rating (Amazon) https://www.amazon.com/author/cdclarkbooks.com

I get it, biased opinion. Whatever. If you loved “A Day of Reckoning”, thank you! Please say so! But…..if you didn’t care for it, please don’t cut me up into little pieces. I want honesty in your review.

I appreciate the support and will fill you in on details of my upcoming novel “Silos”, projected publish date 6-30-23,give or take a month.

MY FIRST BOOK SIGNING

 Hello! Last week was filled with personal milestones. The journey of self-publishing is both challenging and exhilarating, as I enjoy creating and sharing my work to bring joy to others. This post is not about that, however. I had the opportunity to sign my first book, "A Day of Reckoning", which I recently published on Amazon on December 13, 2022.

I reached out to the Green Forest Library in Green Forest, Arkansas, and was welcomed by Tiffany to promote my book. I arrived at the library, where I had spent many hours researching and was delighted to set up a small display of books with two pens. Although it wasn't a formal book signing, with a talk about my novel, I plan to do that at some point in the future, if I can muster the courage to stand in front of an audience. Speaking in public isn't my favorite activity, but I feel that "A Day of Reckoning" deserves attention due to its theme of domestic abuse.

 I have wip projects taking place in Carroll County, so I'll be making a trip or two to the Green Forest Library. 

It was great to reconnect with friends and sell a few books at the same time. I didn't expect a huge crowd, but I took all I had just in case! Needless to say, I brought some back home with me. That's okay. it was fun and exciting. 

 Christmas is gone, the New Year is growing old and I'm ready for Spring! The book is published! However, my sales are not what I expected them to be. It's understandable, there are millions of novels floating around, and people are struggling to make ends meet. I find great ways to promote this book, they too all want money. Living on a fixed income sort of has me between a rock and a hard place so to speak. I just do what I can and don't worry about it. I'd like to have it out there in people's faces, and set up book signings, but you need inventory. Thirty books is not inventory. I just take things one day at a time and keep pounding out the words and try not to let frustration get in my head. 

The current project I'm working on is called "Silos". I started this one in 2009. It started as a simple idea and is now a complex work in progress. The premise to the story is about a decorated Air Force Colonel who is called on a special task to find an Arkansas Senator's missing daughter. The reason his team is selected is of the work they do. Investigate "unusual circumstances". What causes him to accept the mission is where the girl disappeared. Over the past forty or so years there have been many disappearances of young people in a six county radius, and none of them have been found. 

So I think I'll make the book blurb like this: 

Air Force Colonel Tommy Jones and his team are sent to his home state to search for Arkansas Senator "Buck" Stevens missing daughter. The reason he is selected is that they investigate "unusual circumstances" and the girl's disappearance only sparked a desire he's had in his heart for many years and that was to solve the forty plus years of cases of missing children in a six county area. He thinks the missile base located near Damascus, Arkansas has something to do with it. Tommy Jones must find the Senator's daughter. He believes that if he finds her, he will find answers for the other missing children. 

I'll probably make some changes before I publish the book. I have a lot to get figured out before that happens. I'm not happy with it right now. The good thing is I have the rough draft finished and can now slow it down a bit and make it better.