Real You: Great summer reads!

I just love it when authors work together to support each other and that's the case with a new Facebook women's fiction writers group I'm involved with! The women are all amazing - and amazing story tellers. So, if you're looking for a great read this summer, consider one of these! You won't be disappointed! Available NOW:

Lisa Wingate's BLUE MOON BAY

Kaira Rouda's ALL THE DIFFERENCE (yes, that's by me)

Heather Barbieri's THE COTTAGE AT GLASS BEACH

Camille Noe Pagán's THE ART OF FORGETTING (paperback)

Coming Soon!

Claire Cook's WALLFLOWER IN BLOOM

Mia March's THE MERYL STREEP MOVIE CLUB

Amy Hatvany's THE LANGUAGE OF SISTERS (w/sneak peek of HEART LIKE MINE)

Margaret Dilloway's THE CARE AND HANDLING OF ROSES WITH THORNS

Laurie Frankel GOODBYE FOR NOW

Sarah McCoy's THE BAKER'S DAUGHTER (paperback)

Marisa de los Santos's FALLING TOGETHER (paperback)

You really cannot go wrong picking up one of these books ~ what a wonderful way to spend a weekend! Enjoy!

Real You: Author Interview! Meet Stacy Eaton

Welcome to my first-ever author interviAuthor My Blood Runs Blue seriesew on my blog! I wanted to return the favor since one of my new author friends, Stacy Eaton, hosted me on her blog a month ago! So, without further ado, here's Stacy: Kaira – First let me thank you so much for allowing me to visit your blog!  It is such a pleasure  to be here today!!!

Tell us a bit about yourself :  I love forensics – and I love photography.  Forensics keeps my interest at my full time job, while photography helps me relax and reminds me about the small moments in life that pass us by quickly!

Describe yourself in one word: Controlled

What is your favorite season? Why? I am a summer person. I love the heat – love to feel the sun on my face and the breeze in my hair.  I hate being cold – it makes me miserable and grumpy – so when the sun is out and the heat in the air, I’m happy!

If you could live anyplace on earth, where would it be? Why? I’d live at the beach – where it always is warm!  I’d go to the Caribbean someplace and find a small cottage that gave me a view of the ocean and the sun and breeze in my hair. Being near the beach actually helps center myself.  You get all the elements there – the air in the wind, fire from the sun, earth from the sand and water from the ocean. It brings it all together.

Tell us about your writing: Actually – I just fell into it.  I got an idea, I sat down – I wrote it and now here I am.  When I was in high school I wrote poetry, but I never did anything with it.  While I was always good at English – I actually hated having to write stories and reports.  Now, I love it!  It is like that first story plot line opened up a whole new side of me and I wouldn’t want to close it for anything!

Normally when I do write, the thoughts come to my mind quickly and I have to sit and write to get them out.  I don’t write notes or make outlines, so when thoughts come - I sit and write them out. When that happens, I can quickly write out a few chapters.  It’s the editing that takes a lot of the time. When I get ideas, I can be anywhere – most of the time I am at work driving around and they come to me and keep my company in the dark of the night.  Sometimes I have dreamt the ideas and find my characters waking me up. I always write in my office – it is the most relaxing to me right now.

Tell us about your book: My Blood Runs Blue is the first book and it is a series.  Book 2, Blue Blood for Life was  release September 30 and book 3 is in the works.  I believe there will be a total of 4 books in the series, I am not totally sure yet. The idea came from a very tired and deranged mind at about 2 o’clock in the morning while I was working night shift and standing outside of my patrol car getting some air. I was standing in the park one night and saw eyes looking  back at me from the tree line.  We stared at each other for a while and then it left.  I got back in the car and drove away. After that – the thought of vampires working with police came to me and the plot was born.

Officer Kristin Greene is a very strong woman who likes to be in control.  She doesn’t like her choices taken away from her, and she fights for what she wants.  In My Blood Runs Blue, her world is turned upside down when a young woman is murdered. Kristin starts the investigation and find way more then she expected, including some major things about herself. Julian Hutchinson and Alexander Armstrong are vampires that work for a vampires security force. They are working on the same homicide that Kristin is and when the three lives cross all kinds of crazy things happen.  Many of which Kristin has no control over and she has to learn to deal with them. In Blue Blood for Life, Kristin’s life taken even more twists after Alexander is kidnapped. Julian, Gabe and Trent help to locate him and there are more issues with choices and the consequences of those choices.

 Your other work: I currently have 5 other projects going on!

Where can readers connect with you? I’m just about everywhere these days!

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stacy-Eaton/191880767522183

Twitter: @StacySEaton

Blog: http://stacyeatonauthor.blogspot.com/

Website: http://stacyseatoncom.fatcow.com/

Where can we buy your books? You can get signed copies of my books on my website: http://stacyseatoncom.fatcow.com/  and copies of both of my books are available for Kindle and Nook.

What's Next? I want to tell everyone about this great event I am doing on my blog from December 13th – 24th  It’s called “Holiday Sirens”!  It is 10 authors whot all write great crime novels from the perspective of law enforcement!  Make sure you all visit us and check out the books that are available!!

 

Real You: Authors, writing and the power of community!

The writing life can be very lonely. Especially for a first-time novelist who is naviagating a new industry of bookstores, bloggers, online sites, events all the while trying to pursue a dream. The dream? Quite simply: having a book in the hands (or on the screen) of a reader who it's perfect for. The reader who will love the story, be swept up by it, smile/laugh/cry/cheer. That's the ultimate goal and the biggest thrill. There are a lot of steps between my words and those hands. Along the way, I've met an astounding number of supportive authors. From the women who grace the cover of HERE, HOME, HOPE, to the many writers I've been blessed to have blog about the book and me, to the other writers who are friends in social media. It truly has been the unforseen blessing of the entire process.

And now, I'm so excited to be part of an amazing author event featuring 36 authors who have come together to support the launch of Melissa Foster's COME BACK TO ME. For three days, all of us have agreed to drop the prices of our eBooks to 99 cents! Fun, right? So, here is your opportunity to meet some of my wonderful author friends, try out some books from authors you may not have discovered yet and smile at the notion of the power of community. Head to the Women's Literary Cafe for the full details: http://womensliterarycafe.com. Enjoy!

Real You: A post about Huffington Post

     I don't know about you, but when I have the opportunity to meet someone who is a mentor-from-afar (aka hero) and she turns out to be in person even more wonderful than you imagined, it's powerful. I had that opportunity yesterday when I listened to Arianna Huffington tell her story. She made an appearance at a brown bag luncheon to benefit the Venice Family Clinic. To get things started, an amazing woman came forward and told her story about how the clinic had been there for her family when they lost everything due to a child's illness. Her story brought the crowd to tears, including Huffington who onsite announced to the crowd she'd decided to feature the woman's story of reinvention on a new section of the HuffPost called Breakover.      That was cool. Spontaneous. Creative. Loving. After making that announcement, Huffington - who was introduced by her sister/best friend, Agapi - wowed the crowd with her newfound mission to get folks sleeping more. After collapsing at her desk from exhaustion, she has become a sleep advocate and she's taking time to inspire others to do the same. She's created NapQuest rooms at her new AOL offices (named after the company's Mapquest) for her editorial team. She's accustomed to using her wisdom and life experiences to help change the world.

     Huffington spent the majority of her talk reflecting on the positive consequences of rejection (she moved to New York because of a break-up with a man in London), the power inherent in giving back, the creativity explosion happening at this moment due to the connection and engagement the internet provides and using her own life as an example of how anything is possible if you keep the spirit of life in your heart.

     Can you tell I left the luncheon inspired? I'm still smiling. Use your gifts, she told us. Because Huffington is an eloquent writer and believer in the power of women entrepreneurs, because she tells her story - the good and the bad - from the heart as a way to inspire others, she is one of my heroes.

     "Use your gifts," she told us. Oh, and, "Don't sleep with a device next to your bed. A good old fashioned alarm clock is much healthier."

Real You: Choices

I am stuck. Doesn't happen much, because I try to be a woman of action. Afterall, my refrain is put your passion into action. But here's the problem. I need to choose a cover for my novel - Here, Home, Hope - being published in May 2011. But there are two good choices and I'm not sure which one to go with.
People do judge books by their covers. It's arguably the biggest, most important decision surrounding a book. The cover conveys visual cues about tone, subject, substance and so much more. And well, that's why I'm stuck. Please, if you like to read women's fiction and you have an opinion one way or another, please let me know! The choices are here, on my Facebook Fan Page, Kaira Rouda Books. And, of course, I'd love for you to become a fan. Pick a cover, become a fan and help a writer out. Thanks!

Personal Recommendations Beat Out Online Sources

As I was reading my daily marketing news, I ran across a study that found most online purchasers bought because of a personal recommendation from a friend/relative (34%), followed by spouse/partner (25%), then a blogger (5%) and a chat room (5%). Truly, this is no surprise to me. Personal, one-on-one connections are gems. These are the people you trust and depend on. If Oprah tweeted, “Acai is amazing”, but my friend Jane said, “I tried it and it’s not worth the price,” I’d go with Jane. Sorry, Oprah.

If you’re out there trying to make a splash in cyberspace, get the movers and shakers talking online and off. And talk to women! Women, your most valuable consumers, are twice as likely as men to recommend a product/service to a friend.

Start with a core group of “sneezers”, as Seth Godin calls them. These are influential people who are sure to tell their friends when they’re into something new. Then keep the momentum going. Ask those people to write online reviews or blog about your product/service. This will begin your online and offline publicity.

Are you looking for more tips on getting your product/service seen and heard in the marketplace? Sign up for my tip of the week, delivered to your inbox every Friday!

Summer (Business) Reading Recommendations

Summertime is here! And that means choosing a few great books (or magazines) to take along on vacations…to help your business.

Here are a few recommendations:

If reading magazines is more your style, try:

And of course my summer favorite, Gift from the Sea, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. It always gives me inspiration.

What are some of your favorite summer biz reads?