Year in Review

I'm coming up on a full year of promoting my books and thought it would be nice to take a moment and recognize all of the people who have offered their advice, reviews and guidance throughout the past year. I believe in showing gratitude and there have been so many wonderful people who have kept me going over the past year despite many personal struggles. Below is a list of the websites, authors and others I'd like to thank for their support of the Rona Shively series:

Tara Settembre
Myshelf.com
Simegen.com
Onceuponaromance.com
Coffeetimeromance.com
An Alternative Read
Lucille Perkins Robinson
Sabrina's Reviews
Euro-Reviews
Books 2 Mention
Readerviews.com
Front Street Reviews
Mystericale.com
Huntress Reviews
Mysteryfiction.net
Lillian Cauldwell
Kathryn Raaker
Fallen Angel Reviews
MySpace.com
C.S. Lemone
Mary Ann Hayatian
Barbara Watkins
Jennifer Brown
Jennifer Miller & Word Weavers
Mike Ricksecker
Meloni Cassidy
The Clark County Public Library
Inspired!
New Carlisle Public Library
The Armchair Travelers Reading Group

The Managers and Staff at the following stores:

Waldenbooks-Fairfield Mall
Barnes & Noble-Dayton Mall
Waldenbooks-Springfield, OH
Waldenbooks-Columbus City Center
Around About Books-Troy, OH
Barnes & Noble-Montgomery Road, Cincinnati, OH
Barnes & Noble-Newport on the Levee
Waldenbooks-Monroe, MI
Waldenbooks-Ann Arbor, MI
Waldenbooks-Florence, KY
Joseph Beth Bookseller-Cincinnati, OH

Contest Winners and all entrants:

Nicole Tuttle-Recipe Contest
Morah Lynch-Valentine's Day Contest
Julia Johnson-Got Character Contest
Karen Sheehan-Monthly Drawing
Sanjay Srinivas-Monthly Drawing

Lisa Scottoline for her words of encouragement.
Alex Evanovich for her comments about my website.
My sister, Jennifer for her clever insights and editing.

I'd also like to extend thanks to anyone out there who has read the books and to those who have added positive reviews to Amazon and Barnes & Noble's websites. I hope I haven't missed anyone. All of your support has meant so much. I'm hoping that this next year will hold just as much fun and excitement as the last. I'm going to be taking a couple of months off to recharge and I plan to be back "on tour" by the end of October. I'll be posting here regularly and I hope to finish my third book over the next couple of months. So, stay tuned for more from the Rona Shively Stories plus some special projects that I'm working on.

Until next time...

If a tree falls in the woods...

is anyone reading this blog? I sometimes get the feeling that I'm all alone out here. Although I'm sure that there are others who feel the same way, it unnerves me somehow. I'm at that point in the writing process where I'm wondering what it all means. I'm in the middle of writing the third installment of the Rona Shively series and I'm working doggedly to promote the first two books as well as that little-known Amazon Short I wrote a few months back. Every other day or so, I write a little and then start to think, "Is anyone going to want to read this?" Self-doubt is not the author's best friend, although she is a constant companion. At least for me.

I'm also attempting to write a non-fiction book on Women's Self-Esteem issues. This project has been brewing for some time now, but only recently was I able to start getting together some real data. A subject that is close to my heart, self-esteem is something I've always wanted to write about. I've tried to give my Rona Shively character a degree of self-esteem that helps her to cope with some of the crap she has to deal with and in doing so, I hope that has made her seem more like someone that readers feel close to. After all, we all have struggles and how we deal with them has a great deal to do with how much self-esteem we have. Rona is alot like me. Although I have some issues, I still try to be confident and to bolster myself with the knowledge that I have done a few good things and that I shouldn't feel badly about myself.

The non-fiction book will be based on a collection of ideas gathered from survey participants. So far, the information I'm getting is great! I'm excited about the insights being provided by the participants. I think this is going to be a wonderful project once it is completed. I'll go ahead and say it here, I'm still looking for more women who would be willing to participate in this study. It wouldn't hurt to have at least ten more. If you're interested, please e-mail me. If you need more information about the project, I've been working on a networking website for this one. You can find it at http://www.2higherground.ning.com. Even if you don't want to be one of the study participants, you can always join the NING group. I'm hoping we can share lots of advice and support at the site.

That's what's cooking today. Until next time...