This is the link to the article on book covers.

https://99designs.com/blog/tips/anatomy-of-a-book-cover/

This article discusses the variety of decisions that an author needs to make about the covers of your book. During a recent library visit we discussed book covers and the role they play in choosing books for the library shelf. I would appreciate an honest discussion of the design of my book covers. Like, dislike, change, or keep before the next printing. How much does the cover make in your decision to purchase a  novel.

 

          

 

March 29th Vietnam Veteran's Day

If you are a person of maturity, you recognize this day as the Vietnam Veteran’s Day. On March 29, 1973, the last of our troops left Vietnam after 11 years of combat. On this day, the last of our POW’s walked out of the Hanoi Hilton where many of them had been “guests’ for many years. Many of those men injured from the torture and ill-treatment at the hands of the North Vietnamese. What thoughts were going through their heads? I think many were wondering if they would make it to the plane. I feel sure many were Thanking God for their release.

Three million Americans served in the conflict, thousands returning home with physical, and emotion scars. More than 58,000 others never returned home, laying down their lives in service to our Nation. The numbers are mind boggling. The amount of time we spent and the human price we paid. Not only our country but the countries of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea and Thailand sent troops and had many who served and died in this war.

When our troops returned home, many weren’t warmly received, so national Vietnam Veterans Day was established to pay honor to the sacrifice those servicemen and women made. 2.59 million Americans served, 58,282 sacrificed the ultimate sacrifice with their lives. The United States list  1350 Americans were prisoners of war or missing in action, more than 2646 Americans remain unaccounted for from the conflict. The numbers are staggering, and my heart goes out to those who never knew what happen to their loved one.

President Nixon chose the date for the first Vietnam Veterans Day in 1974. One year later this date was determined to be a day of honor for the Veterans of this conflict. Yet we have not fully embraced the veterans of this war. It has taken many years after the fact that we now recognize and honor the surviving and departed Vietnam veterans.

I hope you will take at least one minute out of the 1440 minutes of this day and say a prayer or a thank you for the men and women who were there!  

Thank You Veteran's of Vietnam!

Fall 2015 Events

September 15, 2015

Good Morning,

          It‘s the middle of September, hard to believe, summer is not official over, but reality is . . .  it is considered finished with the weekend of Labor Day.

          Summer is supposed to bring a lazier way of life, the days of vacation and playing in the sun.  Not so true at my house. Summer usually brings projects around the property, as well as long awaited visits from family and friends.

          This spring we moved into our new house. The interior of the house completely finished by my husband Cliff, so the summer brought projects of finishing the details, and redoing the outer buildings to match the exterior of the new house. All was going well until July 21 when my husband fell from a platform at least 12 feet off the ground. Needless to say the ground won and my husband broke his back. He is recovering nicely. He has a couple of more days in the brace, so he will be more mobile soon.

          I spent most of my summer before the accident putting the final changes on my new novel She Promised Her Heart. I’m in the final rounds of edits as I type and do hope to have a release date to announce soon.

          With that in mind I have scheduled several events where I will be participating to show off my current novel A Case of Hearts and hopefully before the calendar gets to far down the road have the second novel ready for publishing.

          I believe I have booked some fun events that will be enjoyable to many readers.

The first event I will be involved in is the What Women Want Expo I will be sharing a table with talented authors, Nan McAdams and Daniel Kencade Amsden  this event takes place this Saturday September 19^th at the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center in Des Moines. The event runs from 9am to 6pm details can be found at  http://www.desmoines-womens-expo.com/  Hope to see several of you there.

The next event will be Saturday September 26^th at the Brenton Skating Plaza, 20 Robert Ray Drive this event is the Iowa Author Fest in Des Moines, the information on this event can be found at this website .

 http://desmoines.eventful.com/events/iowa-author-fest-/E0-001-083832395-4 I will join a number of author for this event. Please mark the date.

The next day September 27^th you will find me at the Fireside Winery in Marengo, Iowa. The event will take place at the Fireside Winery from 1pm to 5pm where there will be multiple authors on site.  Along with authors and books, there will be music provided by Jordan Danielsen. Of course there will be wine tasting from the Fireside wine collection. This is a fun event for readers and wine drinkers alike.

http://www.firesidewinery.com/our-events/

October 17^th will find me in Altoona, Iowa The 3^rd Annual Iowa Dirt Devils Craft/Vendor Fundraiser. 9am to 4pm in the Iowa and Grand Ballrooms, Adventureland Inn 3200 Adventureland Drive Altoona, Iowa .For more information check out the Facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/events/886455684745190/

I have an event booked in Minnesota I will participate in the Midwest Book Lovers Unite Event October 22-25 at the Radisson Blu Mall of America. There will be 50 authors that will participate in this reader event you can find out more by going to  https://midwesternbookloversunite.wordpress.com/  This will be an event focused on readers.

We move in to November where I have two events booked: 

Saturday, November 7^th I will be at home in Pella at the Pella High School Fall Craft Show. The show is held at the Pella Community High School, 212 University Street, Pella, Iowa. The show runs from 9 am to 3 pm approximately 120 crafters and vendors will be at this show.

The 21^st of November I will be in Des Moines at the Animal Rescue League’s Fundraiser Craft Show. The address is 5452 NE 22^nd Des Moines, Iowa. The event will run from 10am to 3pm

December 5^th I will be close to home at the Knoxville, Iowa  One Stop Christmas Shop Annual Vendor/Craft Event at the Skate Pit in Knoxville from 9 am to 3pm

The calendar is filling up for the rest of the year. I will continue to look for events. I will keep you updated as events get closer.

Do hope you will mark your calendars, come, support reading, and find a few unique holiday gifts too.

      

Times of Future Past Event

Good Morning,

I’m sending out this post to invite you to an event that I and several Iowa authors will be participating in this coming weekend May 16^th and May 17^th 2015.

The event will be held at Sleepy Hollow Sports Park, 4051 Dean Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa  Saturday May 16^th and Sunday May 17^th.  Both days the event will be open from 10:00 a. m. to 5:00 p.m.

This is a new event to the Des Moines area. The Festival Producer has promised that with the variety of activities they have scheduled, there should be something,  that will please all individuals.

I’ve included the website address please feel free to explore this site to learn more of what to expect at this unique event.

http://futurepastfestival.com

I’ve also included in this post a schedule of events and the stages where they will take place. Please note that several Iowa authors including myself will be giving round table discussions at the Literary Hall. These discussions will take place between 10:30 a. m. and 4:00 p.m. on both days.  At this point, please note, I’m scheduled to talk at 2:00p.m. on both days. There will be opportunity to talk individually with the authors at their own tables in the Literary Hall. You also have the chance to pose with the authors for pictures, purchase books, and have your purchases signed by the author.

Here is a copy of the event schedule for your convenience :

 

 

 

I do hope you will join me at this inaugural event. This is a family friendly activity for your weekend plans.

See you there!