Real Life and Fictional Life Mingle

My series "Six of One" is set in a real place where my family has had a mountain cabin since the 1930s. The cabin in the story looks different from ours and is in a slightly different location on the fictional lake, but it's very close to the real thing. I go there at least twice a year for extended stays and my first of 2018 is coming up shortly. Looks like I'll have a little rain and a little sun as a backdrop to my long writing session. Book 3 of the series is coming along nicely after a bit of a story snag early on. I've got it figured out now and it's full steam ahead.

In other news, I've achieved over 500 'likes' on my author Facebook page, which makes me very happy! There's no reflection of this increased interest in sales or page reads as yet, but lots of people are kindly sharing my ad posts to their own pages. That's hugely helpful. The more eyes that see it, the more folks might pick it up. The books are so inexpensive for what I put into them and what they cost me, but at this early stage--I have to gain readers any way I can. Still, unlike some indie authors, I'm simply not able to give anything away for free. To me, at the crazy low price they're selling for on Amazon, it's almost free. Might as well be, really, as I have no way of breaking even at this point. But with so many other writers undervaluing their work and giving it away, readers of independents have come to expect free books. I guess those folks aren't my readers. That's probably okay, really. This isn't a hobby for me; this is real. And I plan to make it my life within a handful of years.

I'm so looking forward to being in the mountains again. My day job is demanding and draining, and doesn't "feed" me personally in any way. Sure, it pays my bills and buys my groceries, but there's nothing in the work I do for a living that fulfills me or teaches me anything new. It's like the air running out of a tire. At the beginning of the work day, that little pinprick hole is made in my energy tire and the air seeps out of it steadily all day long until the end. I'm sure many other writers experience this, too. When I can finally go home and focus on my writing, THEN I get a recharge of my energy--but also then, I have only a couple of hours to devote to the one thing I truly love doing. I know in my heart this will pay off one day--and I pray it will be one day soon. In the meantime, I just keep working on the story, putting out the books and moving forward.

I'm getting a little better at the teasers and ads, I think. Practice is at least making me less terrible. LOL Here is my latest teaser from last week and my currently running ad, which seems to be catching the eye of lots of people. I assume that means it looks good, but who knows? Maybe people just think the girl on my cover is pretty. ;)

Back to the grind for now, but this time next week I'll be packing up the car for that long, cathartic journey across the desert to the lake. Blessings to you all and happy Spring. ~