Writer's Pause

June wasn't just a great publishing month for me... it was a time of reflection.

In June I published the third installment of my Agnes Barton mysteries, Senior Snoops. Sales were slow to begin with and I now know I'll never again have a summer book release. Summer readers don't really exist. Who would be reading a book or buying one when you could be outdoors enjoying the sunshine? Others might disagree with this, but this was my experience. It was so discouraging for me that I contemplated giving it all up. I thought maybe I didn't like to write that much anymore. I guess that is the result after publishing two Agnes Barton mysteries plus a novella that has yet earned out the editor fees. Writing is a struggle... finding an audience for your books is a struggle. I continue to work hard to find that audience.

In June I ran two different promos on high profile website that had me reducing the price of my book Grannies, Guns and Ghosts to 99 cents, the price it still is. I had intended to raise the price as of the 1st, but Amazon's rules are clear. If it's cheaper on another site, the price will be matched on Amazon. I'm not entirely sad that is the case because Grannies, Guns and Ghosts has landed on some bestsellers lists for humor and woman sleuth. The best stats to date was a #215 spot on kindle overall. That is the best to date for any of the books of my series. My other books in the series are selling including the first book, Armed and Outrageous.

I think the success of my most recent book had to do with the fact that it has never been promoted before. I no longer partake in Kindle Select and won't be offering any of my books for free again. It's my personal choice. I have devised a much different marketing ploy.

Going forward I will continue to write the Agnes Barton mystery series for the audience that craves it. It has found a following of sorts and I will continue to bring them more Agnes and Eleanor adventures. 

Writing is a struggle.... I embrace it. My family deserves more of my time... I try to fulfill my obligations to them. Writing is my passion and the one thing that makes me feel better about life. I will continue to live life to the fullest...

Coming in the fall of 2013.... Redneck Romance, which will be published by Tirgearr Publishing. It will be my first published book.

True to his words, Sheriff Clem Peterson sends Agnes Barton and Eleanor Mason packing to Florida via a Cessna, but things go haywire when during a fuel stop, two men shoot the pilot. Agnes springs into action slamming the door just as shots are fired while Frank Alton jumps into the cockpit flying them out of there.

When they land in Florida, they’re asked tough questions by Putner and Palmer from Homeland Security. They keep asking if they found a packet on board the plane, a packet that Agnes has tucked in her purse, but they never mention what’s in the packet. She decides to hold onto it; after all it contains twenty-five thousand in cash.

Sheriff Calvin Peterson, Sheriff Clem Peterson’s brother, picks them up from the airport in Florida, but tells them the bad news. His brother Clem made arrangements for them to stay at Sunny Brooke Retirement Village and work as the hired help to pay for their room and board. They go unwillingly, but discover in town that two maids have disappeared at Sunny Brooke.

It’s a race against the clock; will Agnes and Eleanor solve the case of the missing maids and finally figure out what happened to their pilot before they also show up on a milk jug?

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Sequel to Armed and Outrageous Now Available

Senior snoop, Agnes Barton, has taken up residence in a Winnebago at a campground in East Tawas, Michigan. It’s not the ideal place for a woman of seventy-two to live, but she’s making do. She had planned to start a detective agency with partner in crime, Eleanor Mason, but a snag with the license has them free wheeling it, not that it matters because they are the ones folks call when dead bodies turn up.

A frantic phone call has Agnes and Eleanor racing to the scene of yet another crime scene. Herman Butler has fallen to his death from a third story window, and the widow, Betty Lou, is beside herself with either grief or competing for the Oscars, and it’s up to Agnes and Eleanor to unravel the mystery, which gets more interesting when a ghost is listed as a possible suspect.

This time around, Agnes and Sheriff Peterson can agree, the widow is nuts, but wait, a few days later the ghost ship, Erie Board of Trades, was spotted off the shores of Lake Huron. Ghost hunters, G.A.S.P., hightail it into town, and East Tawas is overrun with ghost sightings.

Agnes and Eleanor must sort fact from fantasy before another body is found or a curse is realized.

Now available on Amazon and Smashwords. 

Agnes and Eleanor sound off!

Dorothy Alton listened intently to Eleanor and I as we were exercising at the County Medical Center in Tawas, MI. Sure we could always go to the YMCA, but as luck would have it, not a one near Tawas. 

I knew a busy body when I saw one and knew Dorothy had best mind her P's and Q's is she didn't want to tangle with Eleanor today. It's bad enough the pair could barely stay in a room together without fighting. I just hoped to be spared the hassle of explaining to Sheriff Peterson what happened and why. If he had his way he'd lock El and I in a jail cell permanently. It's not my fault I happen to be great at sleuthing. Then there was Miss Fancy Dancy Administrator to deal with. She had it in for El and I ever since the last bake sale. Again, totally not our fault. How was I to know what were in the brownies or what uproar it would all turn out to be.

Eleanor picked up the weights, nearly bending to the ground and gave me more of a view of her backside than I cared for. That's just Eleanor. I think she does it on purpose.

I cleared my throat, I hated that I was the one that had to share the news with her. 

"Did you hear what Madison Johns is doing now?"

"Agnes Barton, why on earth are you picking on poor Madison like all the times. She gave birth to us or did you forget?"

"Of course not! It's just that," looking around to make sure nobody was within earshot. 

"She's telling everyone that we're giving it away for free."

"Well we do that already."

"You might, but I certainly don't." I straightened my back which caused a stitch in my side. 

"Why do you try and act all dignified, you know you ain't, right? I mean, what kind of woman your age drives around in a red hot Mustang?"

"Why do you always harp on me about my car?" I pushed a loose strand of hair from my eyes, changing the subject. "She's giving the whole damn book away!"

"Why is that a bad thing? Just think about how many more people that will be able to read about our escapades."

"Maybe she should just write the sequel already."

"Oh Aggie, just calm down."

"I can't. People will start to talk." 

"Again, they already do that. We live in a small town and that's what folks do for entertainment."

"They will spread rumors I tell you!"

"Will you two just exercise," Madison said. "You're gonna need all your energy for the sequel."

"Oh God, I don't like the sounds of that," Aggie said.

Madison smiles. "Don't worry, I promise that the two of you will have many adventures to come, okay?" She coughs. "I'm doing a free run on Amazon of Armed and Outrageous Sept 5th - 9th."

"I guess, it's not like I have a choice is it?"

"No Agnes, unless you want to be written out of the sequel. I could always let Eleanor run the show for awhile."

Eleanor rubbed her hands together. "I'm loving the sounds of that."

"Please don't encourage her!"

Madison walks away shaking her head. "Don't forget to snap up your free copy of Armed and Outrageous on Sept 5th - 9th!

Available at:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

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Grandma Betty is a dirty girl

Okay, so Grandma Betty is currently reading erotica, and no way am I entering the room to see what she's up to.

Editing is a game made up of two members, one the editor. We'll call him supreme being as he turns everything into gold.

Writer: has a rough manuscript that needs help for a multiple of reasons. 

Together they turn the mundane into a great piece of work. I won't call it a manuscript, I'll call it publishable. 

Armed and Outrageous is a work of fiction that I will call cozy mystery. No, it doesn't have murder in the title. How many of those could you invent? These 'person's of a certain age' will shock and awe you. If you like laugh aloud humor you need look no further. I should know, I have been laughing out loud the whole way.


Hiring an editor is the greatest experience of my life. I encourage everyone to hire an editor and go through the process. I'm blown away with how much I've learned. 

New Madison Johns Interview

Recently I was interviewed by Barry Finlay on his blog. 


Interviews are always fun and interesting, but most ask basically the same questions. I try to find a unique approach to answering these questions. I'm promoting my upcoming book Armed and Outrageous to gather interest in my senior sleuth and of course my released ebook, Coffin Tales Season of Death USA, Coffin Tales UK.


I hope you enjoy the interview for what it's intended, a way to get to know me better.

Busy girl is in the mood to snooze

Seriously too much going on and no time to think straight.

I'm doing a two week course using Armed and Outrageous for material. I had been warned this might be a train wreck waiting to happen. Not so. When I told you that I had a feeling about this book I wasn't joking. I can see how much I'd benefit from hiring an editor, which I plan to do, and now I know who I'm hiring.

I had worries about this book and they have been put to rest. This book is still submitted to a publisher. Here, we go again, I'm hoping for a rejection, does that sound bad? Maybe because it is I guess. I can't wait another year to make a splash. This is the year to make it happen. I have grown as a writer in leaps and bounds. I have two books that are marketable. All I need is an editor and drive enough to leash them onto the world.

Okay so I'm on Facebook way too much, but I still managed to start a new book, work on another, and think about what's next. The sequel for Armed is in the works and lord knows when I'll get back to it or if I should test the waters first. I did actually start it, but I needed to step away from the characters for awhile. My fresh step back has reminded me of the magic. I have so many places I want to go, and more senior naughtiness to explore. It's not erotica by any means. What I really want to readers to get from Armed and Outrageous is that life is not over if you're older. It has just begun.

Writing Talk

I did a podcast yesterday at Wise Bear Books. Check it out here.

It was great fun, and I'll be doing another podcast when my book Armed And Outrageous comes out. It's funny to me being asked questions about who my favorite authors are or which ones inspire me. I enjoy a variety of authors, and it's hard to choice just one. I'm a huge Janet Evanovich fan, and her books inspired me to start writing humor. I know that's the direction I started, but it's the one I'm now embracing.

I promise my thriller, The Bone Extractor, will be published by some means (it's still being considered by a publisher). My short story collection Coffin Tales Season Of Death is starting to have an increase in sales, which I'm grateful for because it will be serialized. Next time it won't be Season Of Death, it will have a different name like Coffin Tales Ghostly Images (just pulling that off the top of my head). I think you get the point. Next time it will be one story, not two.

Novel wise I'm working on a chick lit or romance entitled, My Redneck Boyfriend. It's going to be a fun read also, and of course, the sequel to Armed is in the works, if not on paper yet. I think it's important to continue to write new books. I try to come up with books that reflect my true personality. If they happen to be entertaining, it's a win, win situation.

Armed And Outrageous Trailer

I worked on the trailer for "Armed And Outrageous" and found out the following things:


1. It's hard to be funny when you're actually trying.
2. Make sure you have the right pictures the first time.
3. Keeping it simple is not, simple.
4. When it feels forced, it shows.


In the end, it all worked out.

Changes

I came to a conclusion about where I am and where I want to be. While self publishing is a good option for many, I have decided to try and traditionally publish "Armed And Outrageous." I think this book could be mainstream. It's a senior sleuth and could be considered a cozy mystery. I believe in this book and the potential of it's sequels. If I self publish, I will lose any chance for it to go mainstream. While I would hope that my followers would buy the book, I know my name is not well know enough to be successful with self publishing.

I have worked the last three days on writing a query and synopsis. It helped me that I had written an outline after the book was finished. I don't know if this decision will result in anything positive, but if I don't try, I'll never know.

Thanks for all your support.