I’ve been reading lots of books and articles about promotion and apparently Amazon.com reviews can break or make lots of authors. If a book has few to no reviews that can sway a potential book buyer as can a book with dozens of great reviews.

So, I decided to review books as I finish them that I would highly recommend. I started with Niki Burnham’s Goddess Games on Amazon and am going to look over my recent reading list to see if I want to five-star other books. I’ve done a few but still have several to review. Authors probably don’t get as much fan mail as rock stars (except for Meg Cabot, perhaps!) so I like giving good reviews when they’re due.

How about you? Do you post reviews?

Until the article runs, the newspaper posted some of my photos from my photo shoot last week online. Check here http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=CD&Dato=20070629&Kategori=PHOTOS03&Lopenr=706290805&Ref=PH

if you’d like to see them. You may be prompted to register, but that only takes a second. 🙂

RIP Joel Siegel. The 63-year-old ABC movie critic died yesterday of cancer. He left behind a nine-year-old son, Dylan. Joel was one of my favorite movie critics and I’ll miss his insight and wisdom.

This week has been an insane blur! I swear that today could be Sunday, but nope, calendars tell me it is indeed only Thursday.

Yesterday, I did a photo shoot with my local newspaper. We shot at my favorite branch of the local library and then headed over to my house. While at the library, a couple of girls (perhaps 8 or 9 years old) were so intrigued by the guy with all of the camera equipment that they kept walking around him when he was trying to take a shot. We took pictures in the YA section, the children’s section and then a few at my workspace at home. He was an excellent photographer and made me feel so, so comfortable.

I’m glad he agreed to do photos at the library because my local system is facing significant cut backs. As someone who visits the library 3-4 times a week, that saddens me. The hours are changing, they’ll be closed for two days instead of one and funding is certainly going down. I’ll probably turn up at the board meeting to discuss library funding.

Today, I’m taking a timeout to catch up on e-mails, organize my massive pile of “to be filed ” papers and return phone calls. You know, anything I can do to keep busy until the HP movie releases. 🙂

What’s your library like? How often do you visit?

Diana Peterfreund’s second novel, Under the Rose, hits stores today so if you haven’t pre-ordered go and get a copy! Under the Rose picks up where Secret Society Girl left off and it’s sure to be a must-read for the summer.

Congratulations, D, on your new release and many, many happy sales! 🙂 Yay!!

Off to the bookstore!

I blogged about this months ago but couldn’t find the link at the time. I think the site was down for a while.Now, the Romance Galleria’s Website is up and running with a new look and new features. The Romance Galleria is like a virtual writing conference. There’s advertising, chats, book trailers, visiting authors and much more. Download the program and try it out. I’ve started visiting more and heard talk of authors of other genres (YA and MG) hoping to get one for their area of lit.

Anyone already have it? Anyone else going to try it? Let me know. 🙂

Ah. Saturday. I’ve been working on my Website (check out the new links page). I’ll be updating the link list on and off over the next couple of weeks. If you’re someone I’ve surely forgotten to link, it’ll appear soon! Feel free to send me a gentle reminder. 🙂

I’m busy writing and am watching Gilmore Girls season 2 on DVD. Yes, I’ve seen every episode not less than two to three times, but it’s a fab choice of TV program to watch while writing.

I’ve also been prepping my room for the big newspaper photo shoot next week. Nervous? Of course. Super-freaky cleaning? Oh, yes. That’s why I made the collage. I’ll take a pic of my room when it’s completely finished and will post it here. Look for that next week.

I’ve also been digging out all of my old photos and newspaper clipping from my most active Humane Society days. They’re inspirational so to speak. I’ll try to post the best clipping here over the next week. It’s nostalgic for sure. 🙂

Have a great weekend!

Lately, I’ve been innundated with e-mails from people asking “how the heck can I publish a book?” or “how do I write a magazine article?” While I’m thrilled to receive your e-mails, sadly I don’t have all (or most!) of the answers. Big surprise, huh? 😉

Here are a few good recommendations to everyone:

Read magazines such as The Writer and Writer’s Digest.

Get guidelines for magazines you want to target.

Get a Writer’s Market.

Visit your local library or buy books on freelancing and novel writing. Check out Amazon for a killer selection.

Check out writer boards such as Absolute Write and Verla Kay for a community of writers of all levels.

Try these tips and if you still have questions, post ’em here! 🙂

Happy Monday Morning! 🙂

My college’s newspaper, The FSView, ran a nice article about my book deal in today’s paper. Check out the link below!

http://media.www.fsunews.com/media/storage/paper920/news/2007/06/18/News/Writing.Her.Way.To.Fame-2915540.shtml?reffeature=textemailedition