Hi, friends! This weekend, along with spending a small fortune at the movie theater, I also participated in the third annual IndieVengeance Day, celebrating Indie Authors from all over the world. I thought I’d share a few pictures from the event!
Warning: Most of them are just my books looking pretty.
The new book covers were there too.
Pretty snazzy.
It was fun this year, crew! Until next time!
Hi, friends!
I’ve not been very good at updating recently. Lots of fun stuff going on including beta-reading, hanging out with friends, writing of course, and my first solo signing event at Half-Prince Books!
I had a wonderful time, met some new amazing people, and best of all, I had so many friends and family members come out to see me.
This is Cali, a new friend. It turned out she’d seen Boy Band on Tumblr! How cool is that? Also, please excuse my flushed cheeks and stringy hair. It was very, very hot. One thing they don’t tell you about becoming an independent author is how much manual labor is involved.
My gorgeous, amazing, wondering mom, who has gone above and beyond everything to support me (and my sister) no matter what.
So many of my favorite friends!
Friend and fellow author Jeanne Skartsiarsis (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jeanne-Skartsiaris-Author/309154242555980?fref=ts).
Wild and crazy cousins. I love these girls. They’re so weird.
Finally, my former high school English teacher, writing mentor, and Shakespeare enthusiast, Steven Lund! I was so thrilled he came out to the signing! He also has a book out (that taught me everything I know about grammar!): http://lovinggrammar.com.
Not pictured but no less appreciated are author James William Peercy (http://www.jameswilliampeercy.com) and his lovely wife, Claudette, and author Paula Walker Baker (https://paulawalkerbaker.wordpress.com).
Thank you all for your constant love and support. You all mean the world to me.
Now, onto the next adventure: After Death, the Third Installment in the Cemetery Tours series! I am having so much fun writing this book. I can’t wait to share it with y’all.
After an extremely busy weekend of work and play (though admittedly, I felt it was more play), it is time to get back down to the daily grind. Of course, for the self-employed author, the daily grind is actually quite enjoyable, so I’m not complaining. Still, I’ve kind of been in Self-Congratulatory-Fun mode since Comic Con ended and I need to get back to my Okay-You-Are-Building-Your-Future-You-Need-To-Be-Serious-And-Stay-Focused mode.
And even as I’m writing this, I just took a break to go buy “Cups” on iTune. Focus, Jackie, focus!
Okay, so what do I need to focus on, exactly? That’s a good question. The two big ones are
1) My signing at Half-Price Books on June 24.
Originally, I had thought that my signing on June 24 would just be for Boy Band, but Half-Price has since contacted me and asked if I would bring all three books! Of course, I am more than happy to do so. I need to get to ordering those books, however. I also need to restock on all my fun giveaway stuff, like postcards and bookmarks. Comic Con kind of wiped me clean (which is a good thing!). But I need to stay on top of all that.
2) Cemetery Tours 3.
As I told everyone at Comic Con, I plan on releasing the third Cemetery Tours late September-early October, just in time for Halloween! That means I have a LOT of work to do between now and then. I know where the book is going to go, but I am also going back and re-writing and thanks to events and a lot of weird life things, I’m afraid I’ve fallen a bit behind. June is going to be my catch-up month. I do have a teaser board up and going on Pinterest, if you’d like to check it out and see what may or may not be in store for our haunted heroes (OMG that sounded so cheesy… I apologize): https://www.pinterest.com/windtrailpub/teaser-board-cemetery-tours-3/
I’m especially eager to get back to work on my Cemetery Tours series because of all the enthusiastic feedback I’ve gotten from readers, especially those I’ve met at recent book events and fellow authors. 
So much love!
I’ve also been playing around with the idea of redesigning the covers to the series. I love the covers I have now, masterfully created by graphic designer Benjamin Durham, but the thing is, I used ShutterStock images. After designing the cover to Boy Band, I’m realizing that I think I prefer using my own images. I don’t have to pay for rights and there’s no limits on how I use that image. So, that’s something else to think about. If you have copies of Cemetery Tours and Between Worlds now, congratulations! You might have limited first edition covers!
Love to all!
Hi, friends.
It probably comes as no surprise that I find myself very scatterbrained at the moment. I’m trying my best to concentrate on what needs to be done, but you know, there’s just so much that needs to be done that instead of concentrating on one thing, I end up trying to do three or four things at once, resulting in… nothing, really. Just a lot of crazy.
As you probably know by now, when I find my brain muddled and cluttered, I sort everything out with a list. I find it very therapeutic to literally separate my thoughts. That way, the don’t get all mixed up, kind of the way they are now. It really permits me to focus on one thing at a time. So, here are the things rattling around in my huge head.
* NORTH TEXAS BOOK FESTIVAL THIS SATURDAY! I need to get everything organized. I need to make sure I have everything. I need to set everything out that I need to take. I need to figure out what I’m going to wear (this is a big one)! Get organized, brain! Get organized!
* Keep working on Cemetery Tours 3! Since I’m doing a bit of early revising, I’m going to have to go back and work even harder than I would have had I stayed on track. The good thing about being an independent author and publisher, however, is that I make my own deadlines. And if, for some reason, I miss a deadline, I can choose not to fire myself. Granted, it is very unprofessional to miss deadlines and all the official ones, I work like crazy to keep, but that’s another story.
* Don’t forget other events! Not only my upcoming events, like Authorfest in Denison, but friends’ events! For example, a couple of my friends are speaking at the Melissa Library. My dear friend, Paula, has a couple of book signings coming up that I want to attend! You can check out her blog and her new children’s book, Jack Learns to Grill, here: https://paulawalkerbaker.wordpress.com
* Boy Band is out in less than two weeks. It’s okay. Don’t panic. Breathe. Breathe. You’re excited for this! It’s an awesome book! You love it! Just make sure everything is okay for formatting for Nook and Kindle.
* Don’t forget about you GoodReads Giveaway! You have to have FIVE copies to send to people! https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/129034-boy-band
* BOOK SIGNING AT HALF PRICE! Yay! This is exciting! If you’re in the DFW area, stop by and see me on June 24! https://www.facebook.com/events/1114004495292639/permalink/1114004941959261/
* I am WAY behind on blog posts! I need to post some more Character Interviews as well as an interview featuring Steve Lund, author of Loving Grammar: Mr. Lund’s Guide to Professional Clamdigging. http://lovinggrammar.com
* Oh! And I really need to step up my advertising for Lurking in the Deep! This is a big deal and after everything that’s been going on, I’ve really been neglecting the new anthology. It’s going to be AMAZING, y’all.
* This isn’t really something that I need to be doing or thinking about, but my sister totally got to meet Country Musician Wade Bowen this morning. So jealous.
I think that’s about it. I pray that all your brains be far less messy and cluttered than mine.
This will be my second post of the day, but I simply have to tell you all about my weekend in Denison. It was incredible. Absolutely one of the best experiences of my life.
It started out on Friday night with a book reading at Devolli’s Italian Restaurant and Homestead Winery.
Simply being at a winery and Italian restaurant, I knew it was going to be a great evening. Fettuccine Alfredo might be the best dish ever created by man and come on, I’m Episcopalian. We love wine. We’d probably baptize with wine if we could.
It just so happens that this Homestead Winery has the absolute best wine I’ve ever tasted in my life.
Move over, California. Texas wine is officially where it’s at. This particular bottle is called Rose of Ivanhoe, and oh my goodness, it is delicious. It’s a sweet red, even sweeter than Merlot. I know some people might not like very sweet wine, but I love it. My friend and I had originally intended to go and order food, but of course, we both ended up with bottles of wine instead. Hey, I needed a souvenir from my first public reading, right?
After making my purchase, we ordered our food and the book readings began. I was so, so nervous. Despite my history in musical theater, I’m not a very good public speaker, especially when I’m reading words that I’ve written. Fortunately, I had Fettuccine to help calm my nerves.
I actually ended up doing pretty okay. I used my “theater voice.” It’s a lot lower and calmer than my usual tone, which pretty much sounds like a Southern version of a Valley Girl. I’m not kidding, I have the dumbest sounding voice.
Right were I belong… amidst all the wine barrels.
After everyone had read, we had the opportunity to meet with readers and even sell a book or two. I also did a book swap with one of my friends, James Peercy (also the organizer of the event) for a copy of his third book and the sequel to The Wall Outside.
You can find James on GoodReads here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5822062.James_William_Peercy?from_search=true
More pictures of inside Devolli’s :
And the evening outside :
The next day was a bit busier. We all met at 8 AM at James’ office before splitting up. AuthorFest coincided with Free Comic Book Day and an event called Bark and Paws, for all the dogs of Denison.
My first destination was a sports ticket store called Box Seats, also a participant in Free Comic Book Day.
I was partnered up with Debbie Reece author of the incredible children’s story, The Christmas Pumpkin, so we each set up our books and waited for customers!
I’m thrilled to announce that I sold all my books for that designated area. Two of my friends, however, stopped by to help me. My dear former co-workers and friends, Terri and Shannon, stopped by, not only to buy a copy of the book, but to bring me flowers and lavender bath soap! How sweet is that?
Love these ladies.
After our time at Box Seats, we packed up and walked over the the Book Rack, and independent used bookstore, where I actually dropped off ten copies of my book for the wonderful ladies who work there to sell.
The Local Authors section of the Book Rack.
Linda and Carol, two of the ladies who work/volunteer there, are just two of the kindest and sweetest souls I’ve ever met. I feel like I’ve known both of them for ages, and I hope that Cemetery Tours will bring them some business!
After the Book Rack, Debbie, James, and I headed over to the Denison Library to have our book readings recorded and to donate books to the drawing and the library. That was pretty cool, though I was even more nervous reading for a camera than I was fora live audience. At least if I mess up in front of an audience, they’ll hopefully forget it. Recordings don’t forget! Fortunately, though, I think I did okay. Of course, I didn’t see the footage, but I’m going to hope it turned out alright.
After the reading, I was starving, so I ran down to the local coffee shop for a sandwich, a drink of water, and a strawberry smoothie for my dad who was there helping me out. I am sad to say that that strawberry smoothie never made it back, as I tripped and fell not once, but twice, thanks to the stupid heels I so stupidly chose to wear that day. The sandwich was the only thing that made it back in one piece, but of course, once I sad down, I dropped that too. It was in a plastic container, and when I dropped it, I was surprised to see tan, yellowish mush leaking out of the side. I thought, What the heck did they put on this sandwich?! Fortunately, it turned out to be a side of applesauce. Unfortunately, that applesauce got everywhere, including my shoes, so everyone was running around and handing me napkins and making “spill” jokes for the rest of the day.
But hey, it makes for a good story.
The event really wound down after that, but I ended up selling/donating all but nine of the books that I brought! I also gave away dozens of postcards and business cards, and was even able to spread the word a little about Between Worlds! All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a better first experience at a reading/signing event, except perhaps the applesauce on my shoes.
Alan J. Martin, Scott Morgan, Jackie Smith, Amber Norrgard, Debbie Reece, John Morgan and James Peercy. Photograph courtesy of Claudette Peercy.
Thank you all for everything! I can’t wait until next year!
A Platform of Sorts 