First Word

I have had what can only be described as the toughest week of my life. My boyfriend came close to dying on Monday! Not exaggerating, and I've never had anybody that close to me come so close to death -- and RIGHT in front of me. I am going to say one word: STRESS ! I have spent the entire week at his hospital bedside, and yesterday he turned back toward the positive. He was sitting up again, and he had some color in his face. I brought him a drawing from my 9-year-old daughter and that cheered him up immensely. I know that post-traumatic stress will set in soon, as it typically does with me. I'm one of these people who react appropriately during trials and then tend to lose it afterward ... the aftermath is coming soon, but that's okay as long as he's recovering and doing better. Next week I should return to my normal work hours. If you're a 3L client, please know it has been really challenging, but everything will be moving forward upon my return to full-time work....

It was the best of times … it was the worst of times … no wait! It’s the worst of times (see have to make a joke somewhere). This week I am willing to say qualifies as a visit to hell. Yes, I said hell (or would you prefer H-E-Double-Toothpicks … I used to say that as a kid). My boyfriend Kirk Donnelly became very ill and is hospitalized (and I’m sure by the time this publishes he’ll still be there). I am only writing this newsletter to let you know what happened and why I’ve been off the radar. I am on break from staying by his side. If you really want to help me, here is a proposition and you get something in return for it. I had planned a vacation to Hawaii but then Kirk got laid off, too (seriously, he is running on some negative gas right now). Now that he’s sick and will need to recuperate, I thought it would be nice if he could join me; but alas laid off = no finances. So, here is my proposition. Help his recover and get a great book, too. My second book in the Califor...

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Are you looking for that great beach book? You know the one that is pure mind candy? Maybe you need a book for that long plane ride to your vacation hot spot. My company 3L Publishing has some great books for some summer reading fun -- mind candy, brain junk, escapist pleasure. So here are the new releases books out of the 3L catalog I recommend if you want to just lay on the beach and do a whole lot of nothing but read and not think. Now this one is just gratuitous to promote, but it is the THE beach read of the summer releases. It's my book  California Girl Chronicles, Brea's Big Brea . The second book picks up where book one,  Brea and the City of Plastic  (which you can get for .99 cents on Kindle on Amazon,  click here ). Brea has finally gotten her first screenwriting job, but what's a girl to do when she still can't get her dreamboat producer's forgiveness along with a myriad of other hot men to choose from, including the crazy rich playboy Ryan and the ...

What does that mean anyway? Today's musing has to do with the photographed pin. I heart ... rabbit ears? I'm confused. What does that mean? It comes from joyfullyreviewed.com , which is a reviewer who picked up both Vengeance is Now and California Girl Chronicles at the RT Book Lovers convention. I don't get it. She loves reading, check! Rabbits ears = reading, how? She loves rabbits? No, it's rabbit ears. I love listening via my rabbit ears? Oh, the conundrum of the morning. Dear friends if you can explain the pin's message to me, I will send you a complementary copy of California Girl Chronicles, Brea's Big Break . Of course, you are free to come up with whatever meaning you think is appropriate. I naturally expect your interpretations to be amusing at the very least. Post your comment and then send me an email at info@3LPublishing.com with your shipping address, and I will get you a copy.

Okay, so that headline is a little strong ... masses LOL. Makes me think of Music for the Masses or wait! Was that Music for the People ... or perhaps Ghost in the Machine or Kiss for the Rose ... LMAO ... I am in a weird, little mood today. All right so yesterday I was reading the mass of junk mail I receive in my in-box, and one newsletter stood out. It had some great public relations information. I saw an article on proofreading, and it gave some great tips for the layperson to use. I have my own, so I thought I would share and help the "masses" or better yet the average businessperson. Tip #1 -- Take a piece of paper and cover up everything but the sentence you are reading . I like to call this the "non-green" method because unless you do this on a flat-screen like an iPad, you have to print up what you're proofing. This method works because your eye is not somehow wandering ahead of the sentence. The "wandering" eye isn't really controll...

Bo Bradley, operations manager, and yours truly at offending event. Are you a want-to-be speaker or a professional speaker? Today's peanut gallery wisdom comes after a rude speaker proceeded to disrespect the audience's time not by 15 minutes, not by 30 minutes, not by 60 minutes, but probably longer since we got up and left after the offending hour had past. For all we know this speaker continued another two hours past time allotment. Why no one got up and left sooner than they did is beyond me. My operations manager Bo Bradley and I sat and became more and more miffed as we wanted to go home -- it was already 10:00 p.m. and her speaking time was supposed to end at 9:15 p.m. A few attendees began to slowly slip out to family responsibilities. We finally ran into the group organizer who encouraged us to pack up. Well, I am a business owner ( 3L Publishing ), and I am mindful of appearances. I didn't want to give a "rude" appearance to the group, but after the ...

After the awards season, I always love it when the nominated films start to be released. I know I will have have some wonderful movies to enjoy -- and one such movie is the mind-blowing, inspirational film titled The Impossible . I had so many people recommend this movie to me. I was sitting on an airplane, and a woman was watching it and said I should see it. Taking heed, I decided to pick up a copy this weekend. Of course, it turned out to be just an incredible film. On just a technical level alone, the CGI was truly impressive. They were able to recreate what it would really be like to be hit by a tsunami with such true-life accuracy, I started wondering how the heck they did it. But the technical aspect wasn't the impressive part -- it was the story itself. The movie is the true story of the Bennett family who were swept up in the tsunami that hit Thailand's coast and destroyed it. It's a tale of survival, human perseverance, and family love. The filmmakers take ...

Welcome aboard Mr. Bill, 3L's newest executive in charge of "mewing." Welcome "Bill" 3L Publishing's newest addition. My feline friend has a cozy, new "desk" complete with litter box and food next to the CEO's workstation. He's my chief advisor on all things kitty. Bill is quite an expert when it comes to detecting chicken is cooking on the stove. In fact, he's so good at it, he yowled his "vote" that I bring that chicken on down! Actually, we got Bill as a stress-reduction tool. Animals are known to reduce stress. Our blood pressure goes down when we pet animals. My constant, reactive brain power was being constantly turned on by any number of stresses in my life. So, my sweetheart and intrepid fiancé kept suggesting we get a kitty to pet and love on. I love kitties. And big bonus: my daughter has wanted a kitty forever. A little note about children. I had a ridiculous suggestion that I essentially "over-analyze...

Last year my company released California Girl Chronicles: Brea and the City of Plastic . The book received positive reviews, and then my life went to hell and a really bad picnic basket. I had to refocus my attention on my personal life, and our poor flawed heroine found herself adrift in a sea of other frothy, fun summer reads. Now here we are in May -- and hey it's almost summer time. Are you looking for a really great beach read, something completely mindless and described more like mind candy? (As a side note, I always have to laugh when reviewers took this book way too seriously ... it's just meant to be escapist fun.) In the second book (which I think is better than the first), Brea is starting her first professional screenwriting job all the while fielding the attention of male admirers. This story has an underlining message rooted in sexual politics, and it digs into the reality of screenwriting, which isn't quite as glamorous as our heroine expected. As a screenw...

Yours truly with Kirk Donnelly at Wright's Beach. My fiancé and I are making all sorts of plans and dreaming about our future and what we want. I was feeling rather discouraged and sniffed that at my age the fact that I no longer owned a home was depressing. I gave up a lot of different things in the divorce ("things" being the operative word). To gain my freedom, I had to free myself of essentially my material world -- a world I worked equally as hard to build as my ex-husband and yet had to give up. My brilliant, sensitive and caring fiancé slept on my lament and woke up this morning and said I needed to give myself a break. The divorce wasn't even final a year, and it takes time to rebuild. His last thought, "And you have love."  When I left my other life, I went on walk-about and then I sat back and let love find me. Kirk found me. I left my marriage to find love. Not the kind of love where the other person doesn't want to be with you. Not th...

Writers consistently ask questions and discuss the different publishing options available today. I want to provide some pros and cons to each publishing option. I also want to impart that except for the shysters in the publishing industry who will take money and produce virtually nothing, most independent publishers are reputable. My best advice: always do your homework. Ask for references and happy client testimonials. If a publisher produces none then shy away. Also, ask for samples of their previously published books. TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING Pros Your book's expenses are paid for by the publisher You have no costs for the book itself The publisher distributes to the bookstores Royalties range from 8-12 percent Royalties are paid annually or every 18 months to account for returns Cons You have layer upon layer to get to the publisher Most publishers want you to have a platform or following before they will consider you You must have an agent It can take a long...

I wish I had some before and after photos of self-published books that were republished through my company 3L Publishing . The difference is astounding. Most new and emerging authors don't have the platform or following to get traditionally published. Out of frustration these authors end up trying to self-publish, and because they are not publishers they either try to scrape together an amateur self-published book or they wind up being ripped off at one of the many self-publishers who offer some super cheap K-Mart prices. The results are typically embarrassing and do nothing to generate sales. Here are reasons why you don't want to self-publish, and you especially don't want to self-publish and buy one of those "super cheap" package offers that look great until you end up with a terrible product. Typos and errors : What do you get when you work with a "professional" editor who is nothing more than an entry-level English major who is being paid $10 an...

So, we went to Bodega Bay and spent the afternoon at Wright's Beach. It was a beautiful, clear afternoon (after the fog lifted). I thought I would post this picture and recommend a quick trip and/or escape. BUT this is a business-related blog not a travel blog LOL, so I also thought I would share three great tips about blogging. I was talking to a business man in Occidental who owned the French restaurant we ate at. He mentioned he blogged, and he has 3,000 readers per month, which is pretty good. I have roughly 2,000 per month myself. It takes a lot of blogging and great content to build up your blog readership. I thought I would share three ways to make your blog a success and build readership. Tags or Labels Count -- make sure you always tag each blog. The Google and search engine crawlers look for those keywords. Make sure you use tags that would work in the mainstream. For example, if you're talking about your iPhone, make sure you tag it as Apple AND iPhone. The mo...

"New Mexico Sky" by Scott D. Roberts, author and now talented photographer! I want to print this photo for my wall. Gorgeous!!  My dear friend and fellow author Scott D. Roberts , who recently penned the novel Vengeance is Now , was out on the road for his book tour and sent me this picture of the New Mexico sky (isn't it gorgeous). Can you believe that was taken on an iPhone in HD? Amazing what technology does on a Smart Phone. Well, the ghost in the machine moment ... I was at my desk last night and suddenly this photo gets sent (on its own) from my phone to my email. How utterly bizarre is that? I love this photo! I didn't send if from my iPhone. It parked itself in my email in-box all by itself. I sometimes wonder what the fairies are up to LOL. My good friend and operations manager Bo Bradley and I often marvel over the fairies. I'm not entirely sure what is the message behind sending me the photo, but it's gorgeous and I'm sharing with all of you...

I am an avid True Blood fan. This year, the show's creator Alan Ball stepped down for season six. I've been so busy I have yet to watch any of the show's trailers. I have no idea how Ball's absence will affect the show and the storytelling. I've always said Ball is a savant storyteller whose attention to details throughout the seasons is unsurpassed. I will find it curious if the storytelling takes a dive or manages to maintain at the level and quality of a Ball series. If any of you do more than just watch TV shows but study them for dialog and storytelling then I'm sure you're aware of Ball's massive gifts. He is also the show creator of Six Feet Under , which is another well-done show that I never missed an episode. Now we are on season six of True Blood , and last year's cliffhanger left us with Bill gone crazy transforming into "Billith" all covered in red blood and goo. Billith made some dinosaur-like shriek and prepared to pursue ...

When I go on the road I am always sure to see something to make my jaw drop. Here is what I learned as I toured the South: There is a gas station chain named (wait for it) "Kum & Go". Not only did they not spell "Come" correctly, but they spelled more like the infamous erotic word (we all know what that is). Scott D. Roberts, author of Vengeance is Now , also managed to procure a cup with that wonderful name emblazoned on the side. Sometimes you just have to laugh no matter what. Like we're all no supposed to get the reference. Or maybe the business owner just couldn't spell. Either way it provided plenty of snickers in the RV. "Are you drinking your 'kum' juice?" And on it went ... smirks and smiles. Yes, and very juvenile. I admit it. Yet I still have to simply shake my head why anyone would name their establishment "Kum & Go" ... and that's just a big, whopping "I'm just saying." Or maybe it's tr...

Yours truly surrounded my romance novel cover boys. Post conference reflections and lessons ... here we go. First, you never know the "personality" of each conference. I had author Scott D. Roberts with me who was signing his brand new thriller Vengeance is Now . It was his first book conference, and he learned the valuable lesson, too -- each day of a conference is different. From sitting there one day with books selling like buttermilk pancakes at a Pancake Day to boring quiet, that is how it goes. Last year, the final day of conference was flat and boring with a trickle of sales. This year, we could barely keep up with sales we had so many people stopping and buying. We moved almost 150 copies of both Vengeance is Now and my second book in the California Girl Chronicles series, Brea's Big Break. I have done a number of conferences over the years. If you are considering participation in a conference, please keep these principles in mind. #1 Conference attendan...

I hope to post pictures from the road soon. I tried to download at the RV park, but it won't let me! How can this be? Modern technology has once more failed. I know you are all ... shock ... awe! I have done the whole "road show" thing in the past, and the RV Wi-Fi not working (trust me) is not particularly shocking but more like what did you expect? It's an RV park. Today we trek over to the RT Book Lovers Convention in Kansas City to start hawking the wares, so to speak, or more specifically selling Vengeance is Now , California Girl Chronicles (book one and two), and the infamous "Love My Coconuts" T-shirts. If you are in Kansas at the convention, stop by the RT Book Club located in the Atlanta room at the Sheraton Crown Center. We would love to meet you and sign your chosen book. It's going to be a great day! Lots of authors and books lovers to meet and greet. I will, of course, come back with funny stories to keep you entertained.