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.

WHY I WROTE "A DAY OF RECKONING"

 I wrote “A Day of Reckoning", for two reasons: 

I got the idea for the novel when one of my family members was involved in a tumultuous relationship. They had two children together. After she had her second child she suffered from “Post Postpartum Depression”, more commonly known as “Baby Blues” or Melancholy Blues”. She found out her boyfriend at the time was trying to get back with his ex-wife which sent her into a long dark vortex of anger and self-loathing. They tried several times to make the relationship work but, they couldn’t trust each other. She was also in a love triangle, going back and forth between the ex-boyfriend and the other boyfriend. Then the other boyfriend ended up sleeping around on her as well. Both relationships were violent and even caused her to lose her job.

The second reason was another family member went through a nasty one-sided divorce. Long story short, her now ex-husband was having an affair with another woman. Instead of working out the relationship in an adult manner, he went behind her back and filed a divorce petition; claiming she was mentally unstable and unfit to care for their three children. He then drained their joint bank account leaving her with no money. She came home from work and found her oldest daughter sitting on the front porch. He was verbally abusive; mostly about their weight issues. He did some shady things and for nearly fifteen years she did not see her children who then lived with their father and new stepmother. She had no visitations, and when she and her daughter did get to see the other three children it was supervised.

There are actually three reasons for the book. My own story. Almost my whole life has been filled with abusive situations. I won’t go into them because not only have I moved past them, I had to forgive them to move on. I’ve been on both sides of abuse. However, my side was usually a result of too much alcohol. In my late teens and early twenties, I thought I was some kind of badass, and I had a bit of a temper. I didn’t actually go out of my way to hurt anyone. I was in a relationship at that period of my life and the person I was with liked to say things that made me feel like I was crap. I didn’t look right, I didn’t dress right, and if we were drinking (which was most of the time) he would say something about a woman that would set me off.

But then my first marriage made me realize I was in a bad situation and needed to get out before I was murdered, or in prison for murder. At first, he was sweet, complementary and I couldn’t understand why his ex-girlfriend came at him with a knife. I found out soon enough. I hated that man so much I was actually thinking of ways to kill him. The one time I pressed charges it took law enforcement six months to act on it and that was because we were at the Sheriff’s dept pressing charges against a landlord for pulling a pistol on us.

I was taken into a room and asked if I wanted to have the now ex-husband put in jail. As terrified as I was of him I told them no. I told them that if that happened he would hunt me down and kill me. I believed that. However, not too long after that, and through the power of prayer, I was able to break free from that monster. In the years since that time I’ve had to forgive this man. He did some terrible things to me and said some things that made me feel like I was shit on the bottom of someone’s shoe. I admit, I left him a couple of times but went back because I forgave him and I did love him at the time. He had some bad luck come his way, but it didn’t give him an excuse to beat other people, or me for that matter. That is another story. I also thought the drinking was what caused him to turn into an ogre, but I realized as our relationship went along he was an asshole through and through.

No one should ever have to go through what I went through. But, many do, and far worse than what I suffered through. Domestic abuse, physical, sexual, or verbal, it doesn’t matter is a sickness. Yes, sticks and stones do break bones and words do hurt. Even if the offender has begged for forgiveness, chances are they will do it again. It can start out “innocently” enough. A few words of degrading their loved one can turn into yelling, throwing things, and eventually hitting, pushing, a black eye, or a bruise. Then the excuses start.

What I think is the scariest thing is not being able to find a safe haven if one does get the courage to take flight, having children to take care of and what is called the obsessive ex syndrome. There are reports of men (and women) who stalk their ex-partners only to end up killing them and sadly sometimes their children. Most of those who are abusive are cowards. 

Another scary thing I think is the way some people look for those who are vulnerable so they can control them. Vulnerable by having low self-esteem issues or even being abused in their childhood. These people try their hardest to please their loved ones only to have them be torn down by words that can cut deeper than any knife.

Each day, this world seems to get a little uglier. Generations have gone through domestic abuse hidden behind closed doors. Thankfully, it’s not like that any longer. Many programs deal with domestic violence and can help if the affected person(s) will just take their hand and don’t look back, don’t go back, and learn self-defense. Take a stand.  

In the back of the book, I have a list of websites dealing with domestic abuse.  I think it's important to list them here as well. Please find some help if you are in a violent relationship. If not for you for your children (if there are children involved). 

Hotlines - Arkansas Department of Human Services

24 Hour Hotline Numbers - Domestic Violence Coordinating Council (DVCC) - State of Delaware

Domestic Violence Support | The National Domestic Violence Hotline (thehotline.org)

National Domestic Violence Hotline | The Administration for Children and Families (hhs.gov)

Domestic Violence Treatment Services - Child Welfare Information Gateway

Court Ordered Classes - Online WebCasted Court Program Provider

The 3 Stages of a Dangerously Obsessive Ex | Psychology Today

THE BOOK IS OUT, BUT WAIT FOR THE PAPERBACK

 December 12, 2022, my book "A Day of Reckoning" was published on Amazon. As excited as I am about that, I'll be far more excited when it comes out in paperback sometime near the end of January. I for one, am not that gung-ho on electronic books (e-books). I like having the book in my hands. I like the feel and the smell of a book. I guess that's because I've grown up reading paper/hardback books than reading from a tablet or ugh, my phone. I know it's the wave of the future, save the trees, but in a world where we recycle nearly everything recycling paper for books is now the way to go. There is just something about staring at a glaring computer screen, it's cold and impersonal? Plus if you drop it in the water your device is toast, whereas, you might be able to salvage a papered book. 

I also don't like the ebook version, I know I should have found an editor, but I can't or don't have 1k sitting around the house. But, the story is good and there aren't that many issues, but if you know what to look for you'll see the mistakes. However, the second edition I feel is so much better, I'm debating on whether or not I should put the second edition in e-book form or not. You can click on the link below and it will take you to the page. 

https://www.amazon.com/author/cdclarkbooks