Thursday, October 23, 2014

It's almost here....


Yep...in about a week. Am I ready? Nope. But I will be.

This is my second year participating in NaNo. Last November I'd written about 35,000 words when we got news that my husband's contract was coming to an end and that we'd be leaving Germany to come back to the states. That's a very long story...one I won't bore any of you with here, but I will tell you that the news was not good for me. I was overwhelmed. I wanted to stay where I was. I didn't want to come back home and I quit writing for a couple of months. Even though I was incredibly sad, I probably would have continued to write, but it's hard to create a novel when everything you own, including your computer, is packed into a huge container and bobbing somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean.

So...here I am, settled into our new/old house back in Colorado. It's October 23rd and I've been busting my tail to get organized for NaNoWriMo. This year I will succeed.


You get the picture. We even bought a Keurig today which will come in handy, I'm sure. I'm a huge iced chai drinker, but I'm thinking I'll need a bit more caffeine than my usual tea can deliver.

There are still many things I will be working on throughout November. I'm a full time homeschooler, and I have one more book to review for a group on Goodreads. I'm hopeful that I will still be entrusted with a beta reading project (or two) that I have been looking forward to, (and that means I have a second review that needs to be posted as well.) I'll be really busy come Saturday. I'm sure glad my youngest knows his way around a microwave. Both my husband and I are delving into the world of NaNoWriMo this year...without my son's wicked zapping skills, both of our children might starve altogether. Hey...there's always Thanksgiving. We're celebrating it at our house this year. The kids can make up for a month's worth of lost calories that day.


If I don't post for a while, you'll know why. If you don't hear from me come December, you might want to send a rescue party. 


Oh, yes. I can.



Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Author Spotlight: RP Dahlke

I'm an avid reader. I always have been. I attended Sunset Ridge Elementary School as a child. I remember a lot about that school...Mrs. Johnson, my beloved second grade teacher who called me Jemmy instead of Jenny because she said I was precious, breaking two fingers when I was flipped off the slide, and the wonderment of the music room and after school movies in the gym. What I remember most vividly, however, is the library. I can still recall exactly what it looked like and how I felt when I walked inside that enchanted room. Oh how I loved the library! 

My love of books goes as far back as I can remember, and I still feel that way about them. Hardback, paperback, eBooks, PDF's...it doesn't matter. I'll take them in any form. I have an enormous collection of favorite authors, but since becoming an author myself, I'm happy to say that a lot of the writers that fall into my favorite category are actually people I know. How cool is that???? They are my friends. They are an email away when I have a question, (and believe me...I have had a lot of questions since I jumped into this big pool of self publishing...) and they are a never ending source of entertainment. They have been my beta readers, and I have been fortunate to read for them. They are sounding boards and inspiration. They are talented and imaginative. Oh, did I mention that these people are my friends?!?  

I have never done an author spotlight before. I'm excited about this first one, and know there will be many more in the future. One of the things that excites me about this author is that I enjoyed her books long before I ever met her. I sent her a friend request on Goodreads thinking she'd never accept it, but that was just one of the many surprises she had in store for me. This author's name is RP Dahlke, and she's a mystery writer with several titles under her belt. She's also a wonderful person who not only accepted my friend request but wrote me a personal note telling me she noticed I'd just recently published myself. After that I received from her a collection of information she'd gathered and written up about marketing and being a self published author that has been indescribably useful to me. Another bonus for me is that, not only is RP a tremendously talented author, she's hilarious and giving, supportive and caring. She was the first author I formed personal ties with, and that makes her very, very special to me. 


Enough of the gushy stuff already! Here is RP Dahlke's biography:

I sort of fell into the job of running a crop-dusting business when my dad decided he’d rather go on a cruise than take another season of lazy pilots, missing flaggers, testy farmers and horrific hours. After two years at the helm, I handed him back the keys and fled to a city without any of the above. And no, I was never a crop-duster.
I write about a tall, blond and beautiful ex-model turned crop-duster who, to quote Lalla Bains, says: “I’ve been married so many times they oughta revoke my license.” I wanted to give readers a peek at the not so-perfect-life of a beautiful blond. Lalla Bains is no Danielle Steele character, she’s not afraid of chipping her manicure. Scratch that, the girl doesn’t have time for a manicure what with herding a bunch of recalcitrant pilots and juggling work orders just to keep her father’s flagging business alive.
RP Dahlke released the fourth book of her Dead Red Mystery Series in late August. It's called Dead Red Alibi, and it has already received more than 100 five star ratings on Amazon. 

Here's a bit about this newest book from the author herself:
A successful, but reclusive young artist with a secret life.
A wannabe lawman and his dotty gun-toting granddad
An abandoned mine pit
A curious dad and a very dead police chief
When Lalla and her dad take a trip to Arizona to inspect her new property, Dad disappears. But when Lalla enlists the help of a local tracker she's relieved to find him unharmed, but in the bottom of a mine pit. Unfortunately, he's got company--a local police chief, and it looks like he's been murdered. Then too, a young woman artist living nearby has also been murdered. What're the chances that these two murders are going to be related? Well, if you're Lalla Bains, you don't guess, you start looking for the killer!
There are three more in the Dead Red Mystery Series, starting with:
#1-A Dead Red Cadillac http://getBook.at/B004QOAZO2
#2-A Dead Red Heart http://getBook.at/B004W9NIOU
#3-A Dead Red Oleander http://getBook.at/B008ALR6GC
Or get all three as a boxed set on Kindle: http://getBook.at/B00GY8W5D2
And coming in 2015, A Dead Red Miracle.
Lalla Bains isn't RP Dahlke's only heroine. She's written another series, as well as a guide to help the self published author jump start their book promotions.
Other books on Kindle by RP Dahlke
A romantic sailing mystery trilogy:
A Dangerous Harbor http://getBook.at/B0062D4GM2
Coming next in the trilogy – Dead Rise
and
Jump Start Your Book Promotions http://viewBook.at/B00HZ2RM70

Want to get in touch with RP Dahlke yourself? Here's where you can do that:
Her webpage:  http://rpdahlke.com
DIRT CHEAP MYSTERY READS
If you're looking for tightly constructed mysteries with interesting locales, colorful and vibrant characters and a lot of humor, you've just found your author. It's obvious that I am very fond of RP Dahlke and her talent for writing incredibly entertaining tales. I know you will be, too.