Merry Christmas and welcome to my contribution to the Scorching Book Reviews Christmas Blog Hop. We've been asked to post something literary that we want for Christmas. In my case, it's actually more than one something.
To begin with, I want Santa to bring me what just about every author wants: people who'll buy my books. Sure, there are some who write just for themselves, but I'm certainly not one of them. I want folks to stay up all night reading my work because they can't bear to put it down. And I want readers to be sad when they reach the end because they've fallen in love with the characters, the story and the setting. Pretty simple, right?
Building a following is anything but. There are so many authors out there and so many books, especially now with the relative ease of self-publishing, that it's difficult to figure out how to stand out among the crowd. Advice abounds from lots of so-called experts, but there's no easy formula. Marketing is one of those time-consuming but necessary tasks authors must find time for, and the challenge is balancing that with our primary goal of writing books people will want to read.
I'd also like Santa to bring me the inspiration to get back in the groove on my work-in-progress, Shore Feels Right, Book 3 in the Gulf Shore series. It's coming along, just not as quickly as Books 1 and 2. But I'll get there. And it'll be worth it because, as happy as I was with The Shore Thing and Shore Feels Right, I think Book 3 will be my best yet.
On a less personal note, I want Santa to deliver a load of reading material to everyone who loves to lose herself or himself in the pages of books, be they fiction or nonfiction.
For my characters, I wish them all love, happiness, good health and prosperity. Come to think of it, that's what I wish for all of you reading this, too.
And last but definitely most important, I wish that my dear friend Charlene Allison could be here, just in general but also to read my first novel, Getting Her Money's Worth, which she inspired and I dedicated to her. I hope she knew how much she meant to me and so many other people whose lives she touched in a positive way.
Charlene died in June 2012 after a failed bone marrow transplant. She suffered through four cancer-related illnesses but never lost her zest for life and her sense of humor. Whatever challenges she faced at a given point in time, she always thoroughly enjoyed herself whenever we set out on one adventure or another. She truly knew how to live in the moment, something I tried to do but often failed to achieve.
After one of our outings, whether it was a canoe trip or dinner at our favorite Japanese restaurant, my husband would remark, "That Charlene, she always gets her money's worth." It was that quality I tried to capture and celebrate in my book.
So now you know what I want for Christmas, at least as it relates to books and writing. What are you hoping to find beneath your tree on December 25? Please leave a comment below and I'll pick two people to win a free digital copy of my first Gulf Shore novel, The Shore Thing.
Merry Christmas everyone. And I wish you all good things in 2015.
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