Self-Publishing: Another Arrow in My Quiver

When I tell folks that I self-published Greater Treasures, some assume that I'm changing direction from my previous path of traditional publishers. I'm not.  I have enjoyed working with each of my publishers.  They've all treated me fairly, been great help in polishing my novels, and do their best to promote my books and support my writing efforts.  In fact, I credit them with giving me the confidence and tools I needed to embark on this adventure.

I chose to self-publish the novella for several reasons, which I've talked about on the blog tour, but today, I want to talk about using this as a marketing tool.  They say the best way to gain more readers is to write and publish more stories.  Self-publishing lets me do that a little more quickly and according to my own schedule.  In addition, since I'm bearing the expenses and not having to share the profits, I can price the book as low as I want to encourage more readers.  I've chosen to put it on Kindle Select for at least a while for that same reason--folks can borrow it for free, and I can pick freebie days without having to coordinate with my publisher, who had to work with scores or hundreds of other authors and books.  Also, I can promote my traditional books by adding samples of my other books.  The print version of Greater Treasures has the first chapter from both Magic, Mensa, and Mayhem and Live and Let Fly, even though they are published by two different publishers.  It's my hope that my self-published book will help sell more of my traditionally published works.

There's no reason in this day and age to have to pick between self-publishing or traditional publishing.  It's just another arrow in your writing and marketing quiver.

Get Greater Treasures on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/greatertreasureskindle

Circuit Torture: No post this week

Sorry, guys.  My computer is acting up and blogger is being affected.  This is about all I can do this week.  Glad I pre-scheduled some blogs.  My husband, Colonel Rob Fabian, comes home next Sunday, so hopefully, he can help me figure this thing out.

Keep exercising--and keep laughing!  It burns calories!

The Marriage Retreat and Feeling Good about my Marriage

Today, I ran across a movie called The Marriage Retreat.

When a group of best friends decide to go on a marriage retreat in the mountains for no deeper reasons to relax and have a little fun, they discover the true state of their marriages and how far apart hey have drifted. Once there, Dr. Sullivan (Fahey) and his wife Katrina (Jackson) challenges them to confront their own sin to heal their relationship issues through some rather unconventional methods grounded in Biblical principles. Now with their marriages unraveling, the couples struggle to resolve their issues when relying solely on their own strength. When it seems like all hope is lost, true love is revealed and they soon discover it's not what they're not missing in their relationships but who. Ultimately, they begin their journey finding their way back to the ONE they love. 

 The movie was light and funny.  While the resolutions were a bit pat, I laughed quite a bit and shed a few tears.  It was exactly the escape I needed that night, too.  I definitely recommend it.

It got me thinking about my own marriage, which is a happy thing.  I had the incredible blessing to meet, recognize, and marry my soulmate.  Of course, a lot of people do that, but now all are still so thrilled to be married after 22 years.  As I watched the movie, I thought about some of the reasons it is so.  Here's what I came up with:

1. Engagement Encounter/Counseling:  The Church expects engaged couples to have counseling where they really discuss the big issues of life and marriage--money, kids, jobs, dreams...  Rob and I didn't have months for the counseling (I was going overseas), so we did an intense weekend called Engaged Encounter.  Amazing experience!

2.  Communication:  Rob and I are simply open and honest with each other.  It comes naturally to us.  When something is heavy, it may take awhile, but we don't harbor secrets (unless we've signed a non-disclosure agreement with Uncle Sam, of course.)

3.  "Wives, submit to your husbands."  Yeah, lots of female hackles rise at this, but it's not necessarily a bad thing.  It's very easy for me, because Rob is a man with sound judgement and the ability to look at things objectively.  I know I can come to him with little problems, like how to respond to someone who had made me angry.  I also trust his wisdom in the bigger issues.  In a practical sense, that means moving every couple of years because of his military career and sometimes, setting up house or taking care of the kids on my own while he's on an extended TDY for a class or deployed.

4.  "Husbands, love your wives."  This was one thing I liked in the movie, Marriage Retreat.  Dr. Sullivan chides the couples that love isn't just about feeling good around your spouse.  For men, that means supporting and caring for their wives.  In the movie, the husband's each had an issue there:  one with finances, one with emotional support and reassurance, and one with supporting his wife's dreams.  Rob does this very well.  When we first dated, that meant not freaking out when I told him I was taking an assignment to Italy; when we married,  working like crazy to get an assignment where we could both be (Japan, more's the pity, huh?).  He's kept us financially fit, and now that he's retiring, he's striving to find a job that will help him with his dreams while still providing for us.

5.  We are a team.  Despite the submit/support roles, it's not all one or the other.  I set rules that he follows.  He comes to me for advice.  When we get mad, we back off until we can attack the problem and not each other.  We bow to the others' common sense.  (He brings in the dough, but I do better at paying down the bills.)  We put up with each others' foibles--he needs time online to decompress; I am an indifferent cook.

6.  We laugh.  We kiss. We love.  We enjoy each other.  Marriage isn't just supposed to work; it's supposed to bring joy.

Of course, the overall thing is we recognize God's role.  He set the real ground rules and is there to love and support us.  He leads us to compassion when we are not so inclined, and keeps us on track.

 At the end of the movie, Mrs. Sullivan tells the couples that she doesn't want to see them back.  I sometimes think that Rob and I ought to go to a Marriage Encounter, but really, it's more of a nostalgia thing.  We've worked hard to build an awesome marriage. 

Exclusive Scene From Greater Treasures

As some of you who follow me know, Greater Treasures came to me while watching The Maltese Falcon.  Naturally, I had to change a few things, one of which was the falcon itself.  After all, if someone offered Vern a cure for Grace in exchange for a bird statue, he'd probably fly to his lair in Faerie and dig one out of his treasure pile. So I replaced it with the Lance of Longinus, which is the spear used by the Roman centurion to pierce Christ's side.  That, of course, changed things.

Here is the scene when they unwrap the bird in the movie:

Here's my take:

Then, she turned to me, her eyes pleading and innocent. "Please, Vern, please. We are certain it's the real one; even more, those from whom we were stealing it know it's the real one. They're the real enemy here. And he's in their employ!" She pointed theatrically in Ramada's direction, but he only chuckled. "After what you told me, I know we have to spirit it away. I wish I had an antidote, I really do. But isn't it more important that we get the Lance away from here? I've been watching the news. I know there's a big Fourth Reich cell here. They're behind all that, too, don't you see? Help us, Vern. Help us get the Lance. We'll escape to Faerie, have it destroyed…”

Her solilo-plea was interrupted by a knock on the door. The courier, right on time. I took the package between my teeth so no one would be tempted to wrest it from me.

"Pay the nice man, Eva," I instructed through my mouthful.

Despite her feigned tension, she managed to "Tuh!" but Ramada, chuckling all the while, paid the delivery fee and tip.

They gathered around the table as I ripped apart the packaging. They began ooh-ing and aw-ing at once.

"It's amazing!" Ramada murmured.

"It's beautiful!" Eva breathed.

“It’s ours,” Weylin hissed.

"It's fake." I chanted.

They turned to me in surprise. I rolled my eyes. "You can't fool this nose. The blood staining the shaft? Not more than five hundred years old. The shaft itself is aster plantanoides. They didn't have Olmsted Norway Maples in the Roman Empire. You're looking at a bona fide copy—no power potential whatsoever."

Eva gave a small gasp. Weylin opened and closed his mouth several times, but nothing came out.

Ramada sighed deep within his throat. "A shame, a shame. Nonetheless, my employer is more interested in the historical content. As I am the one most likely to obtain an antidote, may I assume the prize goes to me?"

"No!" the other two shouted in desperate unison.

On cue, sirens began to wail outside.

"Actually, I think the police will have to decide that..." I said as uniformed officers burst into my lair, guns drawn.

Vern does not get off as easy as Spade does, however.  Want to know more?  Get Greater Treasures on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/greatertreasureskindle

Circuit Torture, Week 13: Let's Talk Sweat

I started circuit torture (training) in mid-January, and while I've not appreciated the cold weather anywhere else, I did enjoy it at the gym.  While some folks were complaining about the 40-something degree interior, I felt fresh as a daisy--if a daisy could run, lift barbells, and contort itself rapidly...  Maybe an exhausted daisy, a sore daisy, but you get the point.

Now, however, the temperatures are climbing into the 80s and 90s.  Awesome when driving a convertible with the top down, but not so fun in the gym, and I learned something about myself.

I sweat like a pig.

We're not talking that attractive, athletic sweat you see on models advertising sports drinks.  No, this is icky sweat:  heavy enough in the hair to make part of it drippy while the rest gets springy, as if  trying to flee the fate of their sister folicles.  It clings to the wattles of my neck and drips off my nose.  I've always liked my eyes, which are kind of deep set, but when I'm working out, sweat likes to gather  on them.  Is it possible to sweat out your eyebrows?  I think I do.

I'm certainly a sight when I work out.  My hair is no longer long enough for a cute ponytail.  I sport something like a topknot instead.  I used to have a headband, and it would ride up on my hair as I worked out, so when I was done, the top of my hair boofed out, reminiscent of a chef's hat.  The wash ate it, though.  Seriously.  Somewhere at some Socks Without Partners meeting is my headband, hoping to get lucky.  I have a washcloth with me at all times, tucked into a waistband or bra strap.  If I forget one, I go through paper towels or tissues.

I drip, anyway.  Yesterday, we did walking push ups.  You start standing, bend and put your hands on the floor by your feet, then walk out on your hands until you are in a push-up position, do the push-up, and walk your hands back to your feet and stand up.  By the time I was done, I had left a trail of sweat drops on the floor that would have made a statistician happy.

I just hope that all that sweat is made of fat cells flooding out of my body, kind of like rats abandoning a sinking ship.  Or in my case, a shrinking ship.

Show of hands: Who of my readers sweat--and is it cute sweat or ick sweat?

Mini-Review: Rapunzel Let Down by Regina Doman

Summary: A teen summer romance in New England has disastrous consequences when the daring son of a conservative senator forms a secret relationship with the isolated daughter of a reclusive scientist. A modern retelling of the classic tale 'Rapunzel.'

Mini-Review:  This summary, taken form Amazon, does not begin to do the drama of this book justice.  The book is a gripping tale of one nightmare after another for the two young lovers: the boy goes to jail for statutory rape; the girl flees her mother who would force her to abort her babies.  Even when they find each other again, the trouble does not stop, as the jealously "protective" mother devises the most heinous of punishments for the daring boy who stole her daughter's heart.

Past all the action and stomach-churning tension is a story of redemption, where selfish love grows into something sacred and self-sacrificing.

Definitely something not suitable for younger teens, but with a terrific message told in a unique and memorable way.

Buy on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Rapunzel-Let-Down-fairy-retold/dp/0982767773

Behind the Cover of Greater Treasures

I think this will probably always be one of my favorite covers (and I've had many wonderful covers), and the funny part is I stumbled upon it by accident.  Sarah Jane Lehoux and I are in some writing groups on Facebook.  A few months ago, she posted that she was trying something new by pre-making covers  and putting them on her website at half her usual price.  I'm not sure if she did them with books in mind or was just playing with images and thought, "This is too good to waste," but regardless, she has some lovely work on her site: http://www.sarah-janelehoux.com/premade.jpg.

Out of curiosity more than anything, I went to her site.  When I saw this cover, I fell in love.  It perfectly fits the mood for my story Greater Treasures:  it has a kind of noir feel, and of course it has a dragon, butin a style that can hint at Vern without anyone really thinking that is Vern.  The style also makes me think of the 40s, official heraldry, all the things that harken to the plot and feel of the story.

It's great as a cover in and of itself.  The title and name show well when shrunk, it has great contrast, and it stands out in a crowd.  Those are the top three things you need to think about when creating or selecting a cover.

I had not planned on self-publishing, though I toyed with the idea for my shorter works.  However, this cover pushed me over the edge.

I recommend Sarah-Jane.  She does great work.  We're already talking about doing covers for some of my other stories, all following the same style.

What about you?  Would a cool cover convince you to self-publish? What do you look for in a cover?

Get Greater Treasures on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/greatertreasureskindle