To-be-Dread

My to-be-read pile used to consist mainly of the table at the library with the sign that said, “Staff Picks.” Every book I ever nabbed from the staff picks table was a winner.

Then I got my Kindle.

Have you ever seen that delightful “free” list at Amazon? 

I thought so. 

As an author, I adore the free list. It has helped me sell thousands of books (and give away thousands more.) 

As a reader I feel like a small child who got lost at Disneyland. I know I should be scared, but it’s all so wonderful. I scan and click, scan and click, moving from one delicious cover to the next. It’s only when the click-fest is over and I’m tired, hungry (for a good read) and ready to settle down that the fear gets me.

I open my red pleather Kindle cover ready to settle in with a cup of tea and a blanket only to discover that all of the beautiful covers that drew me in are nowhere to be seen. (I’ve googled it. I can’t figure out how to make the covers appear on the home page. If you know the answer, please tell!)

I know we aren’t supposed to judge a book by the cover, of course not. I do my very best to apply that rule to people, but books? That’s what the cover is for!

I currently have 76 books on my kindle. I have no idea why I bought most of them because the visual is gone. I can’t even put them in the handy little collections I set up because I just don’t know what they are. Okay, not exactly true. Some of the books, like the delightful Julie O’Hara Mystery Series (Swan Song is free today!) and Death Knell: A Birdy Morgan Murder Mystery make it clear what collection they belong in. But The Typewriter Girl? Gabriel’sRedemption? Did I nab those in a sci-fi-steam-punk mood or in a inspirational fiction mood? There have no covers! I may never know!

I shouldn’t complain about the Kindle. The Kindle launched my writing career and I hold it near and dear to my heart. But my to-be-read list is such a snarled confusion now that I don’t feel thankful. In fact, I confess, the last three books I have read have been from my local library.

One of these days I will sit down and open the books one by one, reading their first pages and then putting them into their collections. After I re-learn how to put books into collections. When the job is done I will never run out of books to read again. I will have the 76 books in my current collection plus many more, all neatly categorized by genre.

Or maybe I’ll just get a Kindle fire. They show book covers on the home page. 

Traci Tyne Hilton is a wife, mother, author of The Mitzy Neuhaus Mystery Series, and award winning playwright from Portland, Oregon. She is madly working on her next mystery series which has finaled in the Books of Hope Contest at Write Integrity Press and has an impending deadline.

Traci earned a degree in History from Portland State University and lives in the rainiest part of the Pacific Northwest with her husband, the mandolin playing funeral director from Kansas, their two daughters, and their dog, Dr. Watson.

More of Traci's work can be found at tracihilton.com

Profile Pics--by Linda Kozar

Profile pictures aren't such a big deal, right? You post a picture on Facebook or Twitter or any other social network so people know it's you. But your profile picture tells people who you are. Your picture can invite or repel. The choice is yours.

First things first. Everyone should have a nice headshot. If you know someone who is fairly good at taking pictures, have them take a slew of pictures outdoors in different settings and backgrounds. Choose your favorites. Voila! Fast and inexpensive, this is the best way to go. Or if you prefer, find a photographer. Headshots are not usually that expensive. Shop around for the best deal, but do find a good photographer.

Not a good one...

Unflattering Pictures: 

Browse through Facebook and you are likely to find what could only be described as "unflattering" pictures of folks--like they just glared into the computer on their camera and snapped, resulting in a pale and pasty-faced, no smile, deer-in-the-headlights look. Do people want to visit your page? Nooooo. They'd have to come back and see that welcoming look. Helen of Troy had a face that launched a thousand ships but the face in your profile pic won't even launch your website.

Goofy Pictures:

Don't play around with the iPhotobooth...

Many people think it's kind of fun to post a goofy picture of themselves. For instance, my husband. One Thanksgiving I bought a silly turkey hat for giggles and grins. We all took turns trying it on and having our picture taken. For most of us--that was that. But not for my husband. He posted that picture of him with a turkey hat on Facebook and made it his profile picture! He kept that as his profile pic for quite a while too, loooooong past the holiday season. But in his case it didn't matter much. His Facebook page is only home to family and close friends. No big deal.

Half-Baked Pictures:

Michael in the infamous Turkey Hat

So you've been to one of those photography studios in the mall, right? They teased and coifed your hair, took a makeup trowel to your face and slathered your lips with color and gloss. Why, they even glammed you up in a feather boa! And you chose that as your profile pic? And let's touch on the pose. Some photographers are keen on having you rest your elbows on the table, then resting your chin on your hands. Like that hasn't been done before. You could probably go back through your grammar school pictures and find a similar shot. Which brings me to the next in our line of bad shots...

Vintage Pictures:

Why do some folks live in the past? Because they looked better. They scan and post pictures from ten or twenty years ago and use 'em for profile pics. Not that I'm saying that's a bad thing. If you're reconnecting with a lot of high school or college pals through social media, that might be the most effective way of having them recognize you.

Me in silly hat years ago...

Our wedding pic--1989

But there are other reasons people post vintage photos of themselves--vanity. We all want to look our best, but that's what Photoshop is for. If you don't like how you look, learn how to edit your pictures a bit. Not too much, just enough to soften things a bit. Too much Photoshopping is as bad as too much plastic surgery. Your individual, unique look is replaced by an image that looks nothing like the real you.

This is a hard thing to swallow, but people want to get to know the person you are now--the way you look, the way you smile--not the man or woman you were thirty years ago. I once contacted a real estate agent about selling our home and was surprised at the woman who rang my doorbell. She looking nothing like the picture on her business card. She saw the look on my face and responded. "Sorry, that picture was taken ten years ago."

Icons or Cartoon Characters or Pets: 

Patches' Birthday...

C'mon. Do you really want a cartoon or anime character to serve as your profile pic? Instead of just being personable, many folks choose a personna. When people come to your blog or page, they want to know who they're dealing with. First impressions leave lasting impressions. If the "Roadrunner" or "Porky Pig" represent the real you, then you have more to be worried about than a photo.
And unless your pet is posting on your FB or Twitter page, a picture of your cat or dog or hamster or iguana, is not cool. Period.

Timbucthree Pictures: 

Family Pic at Horsetail Falls

Pictures of you or you and your spouse from a distance are not personable, PLUS they don't look good sized down into a headshot square. Long distance pics do not invite folks to want to visit you and your blog or page. When people have to squint to make out your face, or guess whether or not they're on the right FB page, you've picked the wrong profile photo. The picture might have a breathtaking landscape in the background, or be the best picture ever taken of you and your spouse, but regardless of quality or artistic value, it's not a headshot and is therefore inappropriate for the venue.

If this article hit home for you, it's time to get a nice headshot. I hope you'll take full advantage of gifted friends and relatives or find a great photographer. And by all means, use Photoshop as well. Be the best you, you can be (within reason). Here's hoping your new profile picture is a thumbs-up!

***

Linda Kozar is the co-author of Babes With A Beatitude—Devotions For Smart, Savvy Women of Faith (Hardcover/Ebook, Howard/Simon & Schuster 2009) and author of Misfortune Cookies (Print, Barbour Publishing 2008), Misfortune Cookies, A Tisket, A Casket, and Dead As A Doornail, (“When The Fat Ladies Sing Series,” Ebooks, Spyglass Lane Mysteries, 2012). She received the ACFW Mentor of the Year Award in 2007, founded and served as president of Writers On The Storm, a local ACFW chapter for three years. In 2003, she co-founded, co-directed and later served as Southwest Texas Director of Words For The Journey Christian Writers Guild. She and her husband Michael, married 23 years, have two lovely daughters, Katie and Lauren and a Rat Terrier princess named Patches.

Time for a Tea Party! by Nancy Jill Thames

Yes, it's time. We at Cozy Mystery Magazine would like to thank all of you for reading our articles and taking part in our giveaways. This week we'd  like to congratulate Bev as the winner of "Death in Dahlonega," by Deborah Malone. Now let me pour you a cup of Peach Tea and help yourself to some finger sandwiches and nutmeg scones. Umm! they smell wonderful- don't they? Here's  some strawberry jam and Devonshire cream to put on them. I'll be including the recipe in the Cozy Kitchen sometime!
   
Last week I had  Rosemary Adkins over on "Queen of Afternoon Tea" Celebrity Author Interviews. You're welcome to join us  there! She gave away a copy of her beautiful book to someone who left a comment (along with their e-mail)  and followed the blog.

 (Congratulations to Linneann - winner of Rosemary Adkins' book!

 


More tea? Let me warm yours up a bit. For dessert we're having a nice dish of Traci's Huckleberry Duff from the Cozy Kitchen. It's yummy! I'll pour a little sweet cream over it to top it off the way they do in England.     

Rosemary Adkins' Tostado Salad

Thanks for joining us today! Oh, I served Rosemary's Tostado Salad and Fresh Fruit Shortcake over at the interview. The recipes are included at the end. Hope to see you there! Have a lovely day Cozy Mystery Lovers!

Nancy Jill
Debbie
Linda
Cindy
Traci and
Sandra

Rosemary Adkins' Fresh Fruit Shortcake

Join us this week for an interview with our own Cozy Mystery Author C.L. Ragsdale!  We're having Smoked Chicken Mushroom Tarts and Cherry Topped Cheesecake Pie. Recipes included at the end.

Nancy Jill Thames is the author of the Jillian Bradley Mysteries - stories often set in exclusive hotels and resorts, based on real life travel adventures with her husband of 44 years. Her mysteries incorporate her love of afternoon tea, which has earned her the title of “Queen of Afternoon Tea.” She holds a music degree from UT Austin and lives in Leander, Texas where she is a member of the Leander Writers Guild. She has won awards for her blogs,  a pie contest for her Chip Chocolate Cream Pie, and has been on the Author Watch Bestseller List numerous times. Nancy Jill is busy working on book 6 Waiting for Santa, a murder mystery taking place on Christmas Eve near Jillian Bradley’s home in Clover Hills.

To check out her books, Murder in Half Moon Bay, The Ghost Orchid Murder, From the Clutches of Evil, The Mark of Eden, and Pacific Beach, please visit the Cozy Book Store and her blogs: 
Cozy Mystery Author, Nancy Jill Thames
"Queen of Afternoon Tea" Celebrity Author Interviews

Getting Hooked - It's Not Just About Fishing

The most critical thing a writer has to do is quite basic. You have to convince someone that they need to read your story. This is what is referred to as a hook, or a narrative hook if you want to technical about it. 

Creating one is not so easy. Mostly because you don’t have a lot of time to get a reader interested. I know that's the way I am as a reader you got to get me quick, or I'm moving on.

So what is a narrative hook anyway? 

A famous storyteller who had to keep her audience “hooked” was Scheherazade from One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights). She has to keep a king interested, or hooked, by telling him stories in order to avoid execution. Now that’s motivation for you. Thankfully writers don’t have it that bad these days. At least I hope not.

However one of the best examples in a cozy mystery I’ve ever read came from Agatha Christie. This particular tale featured the amateur detectives Bobby Jones and Lady Frances Derwent, or as her friends call her, Frankie, Never heard of them? Well that’s because they were only in this one book and I think it’s one of her best. Sorry Hercule and Miss Marple.

Here’s how she hooks you. A dying man is found by two golfers, one (Bobby Jones) stays with him while his golf partner goes for help.  As he waits, the dying man opens his eyes and says, "Why didn't they ask Evans?" Then he dies.

Got you interested? I know it did me.

That one line, which is also the title of the book, got me totally fascinated.  As it not only posted the question of whom the victim was and why was he murdered, but WHO THE HECK IS EVANS?  That question drove me crazy, and I think I wanted to know that more who done it. 

Of course there are many methods writers use to hook their readers. A dramatic moment, such as finding a dead body (a mystery favorite), making it clear to the reader that they will need to follow the story all the way through to understand what is going on, or a story within a story just to name a few. Our jobs are to make it a good one, and don't worry, it won't hurt a bit.

 

Mystery writer C.L. Ragsdale is the author of The Reboot Files a Christian Mystery Series. A California native, she loves to "surf" the web to research plot details for her fun, quirky stories with just a bit of whopper in them. She has a degree in Theatre Arts which greatly influenced her writing style. Working in various fields as a secretary has allowed her to both master her writing skills and acquire valuable technical knowledge which she uses liberally in her plots. She loves to embroider and knit and is a big fan of the old Scooby Doo cartoons.

Current E-Books
THE REBOOT FILES:  The Mystery of Hurtleberry House, The Island of Living Trees, The Harbinger of Retribution, and The Wrong Ghost.

www.shortmysteriesandtalltales.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/CL-Ragsdale219184744858421

CAN Giveaway--by Linda Kozar

Members of the Christian Authors Network (me, Linda Kozar included) are doing a GREAT book giveaway on The Book Club Network (TCBN). The giveaway begins Aug. 23 and runs through Aug. 31. www.bookfun.org

I Have To Do What! (Plus Giveaway for "Death in Dahlonega")

THE WINNER OF "DEATH IN DAHLONEGA"

IS BEV - CONGRATULATIONS!

In honor of this post which is about Marketing I am offering a copy of "Death in Dahlonega" as a giveaway. Anyone who leaves a comment and signs up as a follower can qualify. I'll give a few days for people to leave a comment. Be sure to tell your friends on facebook!

I Have To Do What?

(Part One)

The journey to publication is usually a long one. Every now and then you hear of someone writing a book and having it published in less than a year, but that is not the norm. I started going to conferences and dreaming of writing my novel in 2002 - twelve years ago. "Death in Dahlonega" was published in October 2011. Yes, I had a lot of things going on in my life during that time so there were periods I didn't write for a couple of years. But three years ago I discovered American Christian Fiction Writers and I got serious! That was the best thing I ever did for my writing journey.

Now, back to marketing. I remember when I first started attending writing conferences they were already talking about how the publishing world was changing and how the author had to take a bigger part in marketing. So I was aware the author had to do some marketing. But that was in the future and as Scarlet said, "I'll worry about that tomorrow." Well tomorrow finally came. Boy did I learn a lot about marketing in a hurry and quite frankly by the seat of my pants. Yes, I'd read some books, but putting what is on paper into action is a different story.

I was published by a small press, Lamp Post Publishing, and I learned that most small presses do very little in the way of marketing. It is pretty much left up to the author. But having said that even the authors who are published by the big houses are still expected to market their books.

Now - what do I mean by marketing?  Marketing is getting your book out to the public in various ways resulting in sales of your book and name recognition. I want to tell you a few ways that I have marketed "Death in Dahlonega." When I first joined American Fiction Christian Writers I wondered if I would ever finish my book. So in the mean time I decided to establish a blog where I'd review Christian fiction and help other authors. That was a great move. Not only did I get to meet many authors it got my name out in the field of Christian authors and readers. They became familar with my name from the blog. A great way to market from a blog is to have giveaways - which I did. I now have 300 followers on my blog Butterfly Journey.  

To keep this post from being too long and getting boring I'm going to stop here and finish up in my next post which will be two weeks from now. Please come back and let me tell you more ways to market your book. If you are a reader you might be interested in knowing how much goes into writing a book - because the work doesn't stop when the book is published. Actually it's just begun. So I'll look forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks. Please don't forget to leave a comment to win a copy of "Death in Dahlonega." P. S. - This is marketing!

Deborah Malone’s first novel Death in Dahlonega, finaled in the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Category Five writing contest! Deborah was also nominated for 2012 Georgia Author of the Year in First Novel category. She has worked as a freelance writer and photographer, for the historic magazine “Georgia Backroads.” She has had many articles and photographs published, and her writing is featured in “Tales of the Rails,” edited by Olin Jackson. She is a member of the Georgia Writer’s Association. As a current member of the American Christian Fiction Writer she has established a blog where she reviews Christian Fiction.   



Travel Merci's!--By Linda P. Kozar

Yes, that is a picture of a hot mess of smoked fish. Sardines to be exact. Whaaaat? Sardines? Aren't those the little tiny fish packed in vintage roll-top tins?

Sardines do indeed come packed in tins, but you can also buy them fresh out of the ocean and some of them are much larger. They are exquisite! Lots of tiny bones to deal with, so they must be eaten quite slowly. More on that. . .

My family and I just returned from two weeks of bliss along the California/Oregon coast. The trip began in Sacramento all the way to Cannon Beach, Oregon. We visited lighthouses, lots of windswept beaches where we were the only living souls. We hiked through redwood forests and along the sides of cliffs, visited the Sea Lion Caves, went crabbing in Nehalem Bay and ended our trip with bumper cars and a tilt-a-whirl in Seaside, Oregon--the end of the trail for Lewis & Clark.

Which brings me to the crux of my post. Every story is a journey--one that readers take with you. To be a better writer it is advantageous to travel, to visit other places, meet new people, even try different foods. Journeys enrich our souls, broaden our horizons and give us a better base of information to work with. Sure you can sit at a laptop and google everything you need to know about places and people, but you can never capture the feel of the place. The scent of a windswept beach is like no other. In the cooling breeze are the captured fragrances of seaweed and sand baked in the sun, of salt and briny depths, of charred driftwood from bonfires, the remnants of 's'mores--and more. No google search will bring those scents to life.

If you can't afford to go anywhere far, visit someplace closer. Travel will refresh you and inject new life and new ideas into your writing. Try it and see!

Now for the sardine story. The last week of our vacation was a family reunion at a beach house on Cannon Beach, Oregon. On the last evening of our trip, my husband's cousins decided to smoke some fresh sardines and mackerel. I had no concept of sardines out of a tin. But I was open to trying them and so glad I did! They were delicious. All I could handle were two. But Michael's cousin Linda is a chef, trained in France and quite amazing. She decided immediately what to do with the remaining fish. She would pick apart the fish, then prepare the pieces with capers and finely chopped onions and other ingredients that whizzed right by me as she spoke. We would be gone for that amazing meal, but I'm sure it was delicious.

Hope this post has inspired you to travel. If you do, be sure to keep a travel notebook and take lots of pictures for future inspiration behind the keyboard.

Linda is the co-author of Babes With A Beatitude—Devotions For Smart, Savvy Women of Faith (Hardcover/Ebook, Howard/Simon & Schuster 2009) and author of Misfortune Cookies (Print, Barbour Publishing 2008), Misfortune Cookies, A Tisket, A Casket, and Dead As A Doornail, (“When The Fat Ladies Sing Series,” Ebooks, Spyglass Lane Mysteries, 2012). She received the ACFW Mentor of the Year Award in 2007, founded and served as president of Writers On The Storm, a local ACFW chapter for three years. In 2003, she co-founded, co-directed and later served as Southwest Texas Director of Words For The Journey Christian Writers Guild. She and her husband Michael, married 23 years, have two lovely daughters, Katie and Lauren and a Rat Terrier princess named Patches.

Represented by: Wendy Lawton, Books & Such Literary Agency

Member of: CAN (Christian Authors Network), RWA (Romance Writers of American), WHRWA (West Houston Romance Writers of America), ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers), Writers On The Storm, The Woodlands, Texas Chapter of ACFW, Toastmasters (Area 56) The Woodlands, Texas. WoodsEdge Community Church, The Woodlands, TX.

Linda P. Kozar

Sweet Tea Fiction

www.lindakozar.com

http://bookishdesires.

blogspot.com

Find me at about.me/LindaKozar