February 5th, 2015 Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Oh JOY, more white stuff falling from the sky. This is getting old, FAST. If I was staying in, this wouldn’t be an issue; but because of RV’s commitments today, I will be crisscrossing Central Jersey for most of the day. I detest driving in bad weather.

So Dani won her request to have the Christmas tree up until her birthday, but tomorrow, it’s coming down. I’m sick of looking at the thing.

Her birthday was good. She’s so excited about the Nikon D3200 camera Paulie and I got her. The gift was a bit extravagant, but a girl only turns 16 once, and it was the only thing she really wanted. We’ll be eating a lot of pasta over the next few weeks. LOL

Although she LOVED her gift from PJ and Alex, she wasn’t a happy camper this morning. The mid-way piercing is rather painful, and the poor kid didn’t get much sleep last night. Unfortunately, there isn’t a dang thing we can do to help her. She’s just going to have to wait it out.

As you know, I have been focusing on Twitter for marketing this past week, and quite frankly, it still is making my head spin. I’ve been doing 3 – 4 posts per book (depending on spacing) a day, manually thanking each new follower, and manually thanking each person who retweets one of my tweets. I have also been retweeting, favoriting, and commenting on other tweets. They come in so fast and furious though, I doubt I’m seeing 10% of the tweets that come in. I sneezed, got up to get a tissue, blew my nose, tossed the tissue, and when I came back, there were 218 new tweets – in what 45 seconds. Good grief!

I got a reply from Kobo yesterday. Their advice was to delete my books. REALLY? Needless to say, I pitched a fit. I don’t mind putting in the hours, but then for those hours to be for naught, fries my cookies. Basically, I told them to “figure it out”. You would think if the IT team was worth a grain of salt, this wouldn’t be such an issue. They’ve been “working on it” for over a week now. WTHeck?

My publisher, Annie Acorn, was so sweet. She told me I could send the books to her, and she would see if she could get them to work on Kobo. She isn’t even the publisher on these books, and she wasn’t asking for anything in return for getting them up on the site for me. Bless her heart! I told her we’ll wait and see what the Kobo Team comes up with, but it’s looking more and more like I may have to take her up on her offer.

With all the money grubbing scoundrels out there in the publishing world, I have been blessed with a real gem. I am so grateful our paths crossed, and I am so looking forward to a long future with Annie. She is truly priceless, always ready to share her vast knowledge, makes an excellent sounding board – not just on books, but on life as well, and is just an all-around good soul. Yes, I have been truly blessed.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you this last week. Annie has asked me to be a guest Quill for the Pen & Ink blog on her site. As soon as I know more, I’ll let you know and provide you with a link. In the meantime, if you’d like, here’s the link to previous Pen & Inks. If you have any desire to write, you should check it out. The advice and tips are wonderful.

Okay, I have to get an early start today, so I best be going. I hope you have a warm & safe day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge is:

Enough already…

You have ten minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count, and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

February 4th, 2015 Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Wasn't she a cutie?

Good Morning! First things first, I want to wish my beautiful, amazing, crazy, fun-loving, witty, sarcastic, goofy baby girl a Happy 16^th Birthday. I love you to the moon and back Bananabeans, and I am so proud of the young woman you have become.

Thank you for letting me indulge in a proud Mama moment. It blows my mind that my youngest child is now 16 years old. In a few short days, she is also going to be the only teenager in the house, because her sister will be twenty on the 15^th.

UGH! I’m going to have two children in their twenties – when did I stop being in my twenties?? How the heck did that happen? Other than aches and pains, but they are due to a back injury, I don’t “feel” different, and I’m pretty sure I don’t act much different either. Aren’t I supposed to? Isn’t something supposed to have happened? In fourteen months, I am going to be fifty years old. I would think, at half a century old, my brain would function differently than it did thirty years ago. It’s like I got old, but someone forgot to tell me. Am I making any sense? I’m not, so I’ll just move on.

PJ an Alex are coming over tonight to celebrate Dani Rose’s birthday with her. Alex’s birthday is in six days, and since her an PJ were going to be away, I asked if it would be alright to celebrate her birthday along with Dani’s tonight. She agreed. Dani chose the dessert – red velvet cupcakes, and Alex chose the dinner – chicken crescent roll bake. It looks easy enough to make, but I have to run to the store to get the ingredients.

After dinner, PJ and Alex are taking Dani to get her ears pierced. She’s getting her 3^rd hole, and her mid-way done. When they’re finished, they are coming back here for dessert and presents. It should be a nice evening, and I’m really looking forward to it.

Okay, I have a lot to do, shopping, cooking wrapping, so I should boogie. I hope you have a wonderful day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge is:

It was the best birthday ever…

You have ten minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count, and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

February 2nd, 2015 Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning and Happy Ground Hog’s Day. Happy Birthday to my aunt, Mary, and to one of my best friend’s hubby, Lenny. Hope you have an amazing day!

Rumor has it that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, which means more winter is coming; but without the aid of artificial lighting, I’m not sure that’s possible. The Staten Island ground hog, Chuck II, – which the mayor managed NOT to kill this year, had a different opinion. But seriously folks, precognizant rodents, really? No matter what these little beasties see or don’t see, Spring is still 46 days away, and yes, I’m counting down the days.

Yuck. That is the only way to describe today’s weather - Y.U.C.K. Sleet and freezing rain – yeah, I’m NOT a fan. The kids have a two hour delayed opening because of it, and I’m hoping that will be enough. The freezing rain started after roughly two inches of snowfall. The road in front of my house looks good, but what about all the roads up on Zion Mountain? I doubt they will get them cleared before the 9:00 am bus pick up.

Honestly, my concern isn’t for the buses. Their drivers are seasoned. However, all the juniors and seniors who have recently received their driver’s licenses, now that’s a concern. This kind of weather condition is challenging for those of us who have been driving for years. It can be downright deadly for an inexperienced driver. So I am praying for either an upward spike in the temperature, or a phone call cancelling school for the day.

Me, I’m not going anywhere. Unless it’s something urgent, I don’t go out on days like this. I plan on finishing straightening up after yesterday’s party, spending a little more time marketing and at least two hours of writing. A load of laundry and a much needed nap are also in my future. A body can only survive so long without adequate sleep, and I am hitting my limit. Hopefully the dreary weather will aid in my endeavor.

Day 3 of my Tweet campaign was underway before 6:00 am. Today’s tweet said “The reviews are in, and it’s looking good!” with a screen shot of a review and a picture of the book’s cover. Also went through and read the 318 Tweets which happened while I was Tweeting. Sorry, but Twitter still makes my head spin.

Too fast and furious for this old brain to wrap around, but I’m giving it the old college try. I followed folks who retweeted me, retweeted a few interesting tweets, favorited a few tweets, and replied to a few tweets, but I’m sure I’m missing a whole lot. Can I at least get an “E” for effort?

I still haven’t heard back from the Kobo tech team. I’ll let you know when, or at this point if, we get the issues resolved.

Okay, the household is either off to work or off to school, so I am going to take full advantage to this blissfully quiet house. I hope you have a great day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge is:

The ideal way to spend a cold rainy day…

You have ten minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count, and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.

February 1st, 2015 Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning! What is it about 3:38 am? For the past twelve days I have woken up at exactly 3:38 - not 3:30, not 3:45, 3:38 on the dot. On a few of the mornings, I have been able to fall back to sleep; but for the most part, at 3:38 the invisible rooster has crowed, and I have been wide awake.

Needless to say, this new predawn ritual has left me a bit foggy come late afternoon early evening. I have tried taking an afternoon nap (but that’s nothing new – it is a well-known fact that I love my naps), but I’m even finding it difficult to sleep then. Last night, I was so tired, I went to bed shortly after dinner, around 8:30ish. I did well. I think I fell asleep around 10:30, which is an hour to an hour and a half earlier than I have been. So, when 3:38 rolled around this morning I had actually gotten five hours of sleep. Not optimal, but I should be able to function today.

Function, ha, I need to do a whole lot more than function today. I have around twenty people coming to my house today at five to watch the Superbowl. I have to finish cleaning up the house, bake brownies, make the chili, the wings, and the various dips.

Now this next confession will probably have you rolling your eyes at me, but I also have to take down our Christmas tree. Yeah, yeah, I know. Normally it would have been down by January 15^th, sometimes even sooner if I get sick of looking at it, but this year, for some reason, I still haven’t gotten to it. I asked Paulie to bring the ornament boxes up from the basement so I could take the tree apart this morning before he woke up, but he forgot, and with my back, I can’t carry boxes up and down the stairs. Then again, last night Dani did ask if we could keep the tree up until her birthday… It’s on Wednesday… LOL. I don’t know, we’ll see.

I have admitted many times before that I am a total Twitsaster. I don’t know why, but Twitter baffles me, and if I’m being honest, intimidates me. However, I do know it is a necessary evil as far as marketing my books goes. I am trying.

Yesterday I learned how to shorten the links to my books. For example, here’s what the Kindle link to Taking Chances looked like before:

http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Chances-Bradford-Christina-Paul-ebook/dp/B00B8RJWQM/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1422790750&sr=1-3&keywords=christina+paul&pebp=1422790755940&peasin=B00B8RJWQM

Wow! I’m pretty sure I’m over the 140 Twitter limit before I even typed a word. That just won’t work.

Now through this site called Bitly, the link to Taking Chances looks like this: http://amzn.to/1BIMing Infinitely more manageable. Now the trick was to, in the remaining 118 characters, include the appropriate #hashtags and something catchy or witty as well. Considering I have been told the following #hashtags are the ones I should be using - #IARTG #SNRTG #amwriting #tw4rw #romance #IAN1 #WW #RT – I had to put my thinking cap on, because I only had 14 characters left.

My first Tweet was pathetic. I put in all the #hashtags, the Bitly link and the words “Now only $2.99”. Seriously, who cares? Nothing makes that stand out from the pack, but at least I got something out there. I gave it considerable more thought this morning, and I came up with this:

Snow’s on its way. Stay toasty with a warm romance. #TakingChances http://amzn.to/1BIMing

You might say, “Wait, that’s almost all of your characters. What about the #hashtags?” I split them into three tweets. It’s a little more work, and if you follow me, you’ll see nine tweets from me in a clump, but I have got to do something to boost sales.

Taking Chances has fallen to its lowest ranking ever, and I can’t fathom why. Honestly, in my opinion, it’s the best of the three books I’ve written so far. The mystery is more intricate, the historical detail is more in-depth, there are more twists and turns, and the sex is much hotter. The book holds elements which would appeal to a much broader audience.

Because of this, I know it must be because of something I’m not doing marketing wise. So, for 2015, my goal is to get more marketing savvy. I have expanded my books to Nook, and hopefully soon Kobo. I’ve also gotten involved with sites like beezeebooks.com, and I am going to look into advertising with bookbub (if they’ll have me).

Okay, enough confessing for one day. I hope you have a spectacular day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge is:

You have ten minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count, and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.