Category: social media

social media

Just the Bears Watching

As a rule, I generally don’t talk politics on social media platforms. I may like or comment on something that is important to me. But I don’t engage in heated discussions.

The biggest reason for this is my writing. As an author of women’s Christian inspirational fiction, I want to reach readers with the redeeming message of God’s work in our lives. We are here for a purpose, each one of us. And it’s our responsibility to figure out what that is and live it to our fullest potential. I want my books to show that life is really rotten at times, but you can survive that and go on. You don’t have to be perfect, look beautiful, or have your life in order. You just have to keep getting back up and forging ahead.

I don’t want that message taken away by me fighting for my rights, or taking sides. All of us know what side we are on, what we believe. Some are more vocal about it than others.

Believe me, I’ve prayed, and thought long and hard about my position concerning social media platforms and writing. They are a huge help with any small business. They are a fantastic marketing tool.

But they are also developed by people that don’t have the same goals in life as I do as a general rule. Every decision I make in my life, every step I take is balanced with my belief in the Bible first, and then my beliefs as an American. I believe the Bible sets us free, and I choose to live my life by certain standards.

I firmly believe that all the social media platforms developed by all the names we are now familiar with have the right to control content. They developed them, it’s their site. They made the rules. We can play or not.

Because I believe I have freedom to choose, freedom to live my life the way I want, I may not play much longer. And that is my choice.

The problems begin when someone’s rights step on mine. Just because you have the freedom to do something, doesn’t mean you have the right to do it, or that you should. There are always consequences. You may like to run around in your yard with no clothes on. If you live in the middle of nowhere and just the bears are watching, that is your choice. But in a neighborhood, there are consequences for those actions. The biggest one being against the law in most places. On a more human level…just plain offensive to some.

Image by Annick Vanblaere from Pixabay

This past year, maybe more than others, has really clouded the freedom to choose. In past years, if you didn’t want to be exposed to something, you stayed home. If you were sick, you stayed home. Believe me, I spent many years working in church programs such as the nursery and AWANA wishing parents had made the decision to keep their sick children home! But, I could not control them. I could only make my immune system stronger, and be ready.

I think we are on shaky ground now because of fear. People don’t make good decisions when fear is controlling them. As a Christian, it shouldn’t be an option, but it is at times. Because we are human. Being informed, researching, and knowing the facts helps with that fear.

Anyone that knows me, understands that health-related topics have always been important to me. As I said in my last post, that stems from my mother having leukemia at a very young age and using alternative methods. That included her going to Mexico for treatment. There were risks involved. So, I have always believed that health-related decisions are a person’s freedom to choose. I’ve worked in the medical profession enough to not believe it all, and remember to be informed, and make my decisions based on facts. I have that freedom.

I use natural products as much as possible. My daughter recently introduced me to Earthley Wellness.

Image by silviarita from Pixabay

Their site: https://www.earthley.com/ I’m including that link for those of you that may be interested in more natural products. I’ve liked the few products that I’ve tried so far. I do not know the people that own the company, and I have no reason to promote them, other than what I read this morning. And that is what prompted this post.

This company was started because of a mother’s concern for her child. She had the freedom to do that. I think the company understands what is happening, and they are taking steps to do what they need to do to sell their products, and speak their mind. Again, their freedom to do. You can read about that here:

https://www.earthley.com/earthley-news-instagram-deleted/?redirect_mongo_id=607e1b80c931070022dccc1d&utm_source

My rights end when they infringe on your rights.

No company, business, or person has the right to share their content on someone else’s platform without consent to do so. I don’t want views that I don’t believe put on my author’s page, etc. Hence the reason I may soon disappear from the big social media platforms. That may be a bad decision from a marketing standpoint.

But I never began writing to make money.

I firmly believe that those readers that stand behind me, will still be there. I have a message to share, and I will until I’m no longer allowed to. I will keep adjusting my strategy until then.

As a side note, and another reason for this post this morning. My yahoo news feed informed me of this:

Yahoo News

The Postal Service is running a ‘covert operations program’ that monitors Americans’ social media posts

Really? A big sigh. More research for me to do! Have a great day everyone!

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social media, Writing

Yep, I Did That Contest

Sometimes it seems like you can’t get it right. So this post is not for all you perfect people out there! If you read my last post, you know it’s been a wild ride for our family the past year. So it shouldn’t surprise me to find out I messed up a book cover.

Why is it that if you make mistakes, they are more than likely ones that should have never happened, or ones that someone should have pointed out ahead of time, or should have been easily seen? A ‘well duh!’ moment. So you feel really stupid. God is still working on humbling me. I would like to think that I’m going to get it right someday, but it’s not looking good.

I have done several of my book covers. Designing book covers is something that I really enjoy. If I had more training in the area, I would probably work on covers as a side gig. But for now, other than a couple small projects, I just do my own. I designed the covers for the When series, and I’ve designed the covers for my current Love Defined series of four books. The first book in the series, Sweet Hope was released in June of this year. So it was with great surprise when our oldest daughter (also my editor) shared this picture with me.

Whoops!

My father has been a great supporter of my writing. He reads all my books, and even writes reviews! It shocked me, since my books are not what most men would read, but since they are not the typical love story, my father can handle it. So when he ordered my latest release, the above picture showed that it doesn’t have anything on the spine! Oh no! Not a good thing. So, I do apologize for those of you that ordered my newest release, which didn’t have any spine information on it. It will be fixed.

I enjoy writing, but I’m human (as is my editor!). I mess up. I need your help, and my editor and I thought this might be a fun way to catch any other errors. Because it seems like no matter how many times a book is gone over, and no matter how many eyes have been over those words, there are still errors! And it is aggravating!

So, I’m running a little contest. If you read Sweet Hope, I would appreciate you looking for mistakes. You may purchase a paperback or e-book version, or even borrow it from a library or friend. Just read it! If you find a mistake, please e-mail my editor at:

peasinapodeditinganddesign@yahoo.com

Each time you e-mail with an error that you have found, your name will be entered into a drawing that will be held in 2021. If your name is drawn, you will receive a free, signed copy of the next book in the series, Sweet Belief. I am currently working on this book. It is written, and it’s  good…one of my favorites…but it’s currently in rewrites and edits. I will update on here how it is progressing and when the drawing will take place. It will be before June, but I will give an exact date at the beginning of the new year.

In the meantime, while it is cold outside, and we are looking at another lockdown due to Covid-19, read, read, read! Here is a sneak peak of Sweet Belief…

Sweet Belief cover for wordpress contest post

Just For Fun!, social media, Yummy Food!

The Hill Country

For a few years, we lived in Texas. Our two girls were small, under five years old at the time. We started out in San Antonio, and then moved north to Round Rock. By the time our son was born in San Marcos, we were living just outside of Lockhart, Texas. And this was our view across the road from our house, in the springtime.

bluebonnets-4472789_1920

My husband didn’t take this picture, but it is so similar to ones he did take, right down to the barbed wire fence. Around April, the fields would be covered in rolling waves of bluebonnets…and they were gorgeous!

There were so many things that I really enjoyed about Texas. Our time in San Antonio taught us to love Tex-Mex. One of our favorite places to eat was Taco Cabana. At the time they had a fantastic deal on fajitas, and we enjoyed them…a lot. Our little girls weren’t big eaters then. So those fajitas went a long way for our little family.

We spent time on the River Walk. It was beautiful to see during the Christmas season! Lights sparkling around every little turn. The music, the people, and general joy of the season was invigorating and addictive. Check out this little preview of this special place:  https://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/

Of course you can’t go to San Antonio and not visit The Alamo, which it is commonly called.  It was originally known as the Misión San Antonio de Valero.  I was shocked to see it located in the middle of everything. The pictures you normally see make it seem as though it’s in the country. San Antonio has several missions that are worth your time to check out. There is just something about walking around a place that has been such a scene, and vital part of history. For me, walking into The Alamo for the first time was pretty emotional. The walls seem to breathe all that had happened within them. There was a general hush as I know many of the visitors were experiencing the same feeling.

When we lived in Round Rock, we traveled every day to Austin on I-35. Our apartment was very close to that interstate. My husband worked in Austin and we attended church there several times a week. The interstate was busy, and the drivers a bit on the wild side, but nothing like what I have heard of today. In the early ’90’s, there was still a bit of country between Austin and Round Rock, with little places like Pflugerville along the way. I was curious about the census for Pflugerville during the time we lived in the area. It was 4,444 in 1990. The 2018 Census estimate is 64,431. Wow! That’s a lot of growth!

For us, even in the early ’90’s the Austin/Round Rock area was a little expensive and busy. So we moved to the Lockhart area, living a bit on the outskirts. I have fond memories of our time there as well. Our son was born there, our two oldest daughters began their school years there, and we learned about fire ants in the yard. Not a great place to leave your children unattended! Lockhart has a gorgeous courthouse.  I don’t know why, but I was never inside the courthouse, and I wish I had taken the time to see it. http://www.caldwellcountyhistoricalcommission.org/ We were very surprised that many, many movies have been filmed in that area.  We first realized this when we were watching, Where the Heart Is.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbzcodGsaRs. We recognized some of the buildings and the landscape. Lockhart is also known for barbecue. This website has some fantastic information on the area, and says it much better than I. https://austinot.com/lockhart-texas-day-trip.

This post has been a little different for me. I don’t usually do a travel brochure-type of post. But it has been fun to check out the sites I’ve shared with you all here. It’s brought back some great memories, and made me want a road trip to Texas sometime in the near future!

Another take-away I have of Texas in the early ’90’s was the pride of the Texans for their state, and the hospitality of the people there. After living in upstate New York and the Hudson Valley area of that state, Texas was a culture shock. I wasn’t use to strangers coming up to me in the grocery store and wanting to know what I was fixing for dinner that night. This seriously happened a couple times. I had never just chatted in the grocery store aisles about recipes. And when you think about it…what better place to do it? Not to mention that Texas drawl just kind of glides over you like maple syrup on a hot day!

And all of the above because I was thinking about Texas bluebonnets! Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

social media, Writing

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social media, Writing

Branding and Marketing

When I first started attending conferences for writing…I discovered how much I didn’t know about writing. And then the journey of learning more about writing began. One of the items that was shared was to make memes for Facebook and other social media to help with branding, marketing, and promoting books. So I jumped on and created memes every week. Now I have a bunch to pull from if I need one…but I still love to create new ones. And as with the writing, I have learned so much more about creating memes since my first ones!

To design memes, my business cards, bookmarks, banners, posters for events, book covers, and the list goes on…I use https://www.canva.com/ . I get my pictures from https://pixabay.com/ . These two sites have been a gigantic help for me in developing a brand and marketing my work. They are very user-friendly sites, and I find them fun. If you have a creative side, you should check them out! Canva has updated and you can now share directly to social media sites rather than downloading, etc. What will they think of next?

So now you have two great tools to go out and design for yourself. One thing that was pointed out…when making a meme, sign it as you would art work. I use my website, and I use the same font each time. People remember that. For example, what comes to mind when I say any brand name? You think of their logo. Great branding and marketing right there. Coke anyone? 😉

Remember, this week A Place to Call Home is being promoted as a free ebook. Get your copy today! Yesterday, this book was doing this:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #468 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)

It’s pretty exciting! Below is one of the first memes I did. I’ve learned a little bit more about downloading, etc. now, but I still love the picture I found on Pixabay. Have a great Thursday everyone!

 

Rubyville - A Place to Call Home

 

social media, Writing

Review, review, review please!

Today is the last day you can get your free ebook for my newest release, When Faith Begins. It’s been a lot of fun having the book promotions for the When series of books. By far, When Love Grows was the most popular in the giveaway. I think it’s the cover…which goes to show, your cover matters…a lot! I love the color red, and it looks as though many others do.

If you are a writer, trying to get your book published, and then branding, marketing and hoping to sell your work…well you know it’s a long, difficult process. Most of us don’t hit the New York Times bestseller list the first time out, if ever. It takes daily contact with readers, your target audience, and places to promote your work. Some writers may use a blog, website, newsletter, Facebook, etc., to do this. Many use all of those listed and then some!

My WIP is a manuscript I wrote in 1998. It’s 124,000+ pages long, and I wrote it on a typewriter in two weeks. I had four children at the time. I got them up, got them dressed, tossed some food at them and then sat about five feet away from them to write. Repeated two more meals each day, and then did the reverse at night for bedtime. Those were the days when our oldest was 12 and our youngest 2. Those were the days when I still made bread every day, and we had healthy smoothies for breakfast. We didn’t eat out. I relied heavily on my 12 year old, who is now my editor.

But that book had to be written at that time, and I wrote 24 hours a day for those two weeks. I wouldn’t recommend that, but we artistic people can be strange at times. Maybe most of the time! Now, I am rewriting and editing that book, and the three others in that series that I wrote several years later. It will take me a while, because it is a mess. And when I hand it over to my editor, proofreader, etc., it will probably still be a mess.

I have so appreciated the feedback from my readers during this book promotion! But I want to clarify a couple items. Those that write and are trying to sell books, will understand. Today, my rating for When Faith Begins is here:

If you go to the above links…you have to go to the FREE section to see mine. Not the paid.

That is huge for me! My books are usually in the thousands, if not millions. But this is for the FREE ebooks. Not the paid list. I’ve had several people comment about my royalties now. I’ve made under $10 dollars this month. The book promotions are about me getting my name out there, and loving that people are taking the time to look at my covers, read a portion of my books online, and then even downloading them. If I can earn money off my books at some time, that will be super fantastic!!! But right now, people don’t know me, and that’s where all of you can help…and writers should be helping one another.

Authors LOVE reviews, even bad ones. It helps them tone and tweak their craft. Please ALWAYS leave a review when you read a book. My books are desperately in need of reviews. The other huge help to authors, and anyone promoting a business, is to SHARE on Facebook and other social media. Again, it gets their name and business out there for all to see. There can be so much wrong with social media, but sharing a business for someone is a great opportunity to help. (An apology here to an editor that told me I shouldn’t cap words, but…) 😉

Again, thank you for all the support. Prayers and best wishes for those of you struggling in this writing market. And of course…be looking for my next book promotion, because there will be one!

3

social media, Writing

The Eye Of the Beholder

 

Well, it is the day after. Always a bit sad for me, but I do look forward to the New Year’s Eve celebrations and the first day of the New Year. So it’s not completely over yet! And I always leave the decorations up until after New Year’s Day. It keeps that holiday feeling for just a little bit more.

I don’t do a lot of book reviews on here. I really don’t do much of anything on a consistent basis on this site. I mean, this is not a food, health or parenting blog. It’s a ‘whatever pops into my head’ blog. So for those of you that stop by, it’s always a surprise. Rather the way it is for my children when they stop by our house. They never know what project I’ll be working on! Back to this post…

I first began this blog back in May of 2015. One of my first followers/likes, and a blog that I did the same for was this one: https://eyedancers.wordpress.com/

I was intrigued by the cover of his book, The Eye-Dancers. I also enjoyed his posts, and insights into life, the stories he shared. It reminded me of my teenage years living in upstate New York and Vermont. But since I don’t read Young Adult, I really didn’t think of reading his book. Well, after a year or so of struggling with getting my own books out there, and understanding how very important it is to have reviews of any kind, I decided I would read it. I had purchased it a while back, and then I finally began reading last July.

I don’t normally take so long to read a book, but I’ve had several on my nightstand for a couple years now. I made it a personal goal to read 25 books this year on Goodreads. I reached that goal and reset it to 30. Now I’ve read 32 for 2017…and that feels really good! At one time I loved to read. It was better than watching a movie, or having friends over. But marriage and children put that love on the back burner. Unfortunately I’ve read some not-so-good books lately, and that makes it hard to forge ahead. Just a bit of advice if you are going to self-publish. If you don’t have a degree in journalism, etc., take some writing courses, attend some writing conferences, or have a really fantastic editor. The typos, bad research of a topic, head-hopping and boring plot-line really lose a reader’s attention…and quickly! 

On Christmas Eve morning, I finished reading The Eye-Dancers, and I was pleasantly surprised. I don’t mean that in a condescending way. I literally went into it with the idea that it was a book for Young Adults, and just not my cup of tea. What turned it all around and kept me reading was the great writing, well-researched topic, well-developed characters, and the believe-ability of a time-travel book. Me, a 53 year old woman could enjoy the story, and look forward to more. Because I’ve heard there’s another one coming! 😉 Because of all the above, I wanted to share my thoughts here, and support a fellow author and their writing. Below is my review for Goodreads and Amazon:

I don’t normally read YA, but I do enjoy time travel-type books and movies. So I thought I would give this one a try. I rated it a 5-star because ‘it was amazing’ since it was well-written, very thought-provoking, and well-researched. That is saying a lot after some of the books I’ve read lately with the head-hopping, plot holes, etc. The author didn’t ‘dumb-down’ the characters as I’ve seen so many times in YA. The author also nailed the teen years of angst and thought patterns. It made me think of my own years and the struggles I experienced and felt. And somehow, the author made this story feel as though it could really happen…which is fantastic in my mind, considering the plot! It is what I loved about the Time Traveler’s Wife and Somewhere In Time. I read the books behind those movies, and I loved the books even more. Thank you for a very good read! 

You may purchase The Eye-Dancers right here: https://www.amazon.com/Eye-Dancers-Michael-S-Fedison/dp/0692262784/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1514136399&sr=1-2&keywords=the+eye+dancers

From the reviews the book has received so far, readers are thinking the same as me.

 

*I purchased the book and wrote the review on my own with no encouragement from the author. These thoughts are my own. Did I cover all the bases? 😉
A Quick Thought, social media, Writing

Goodreads Giveaway!

It’s the Christmas Season and the time for giving. I shared this on Facebook and Instagram, but not with all of you. I’ve just opened my Instagram account, so still finding my way around there. I’m older, so stick with me, it takes a while to figure it all out. Only yesterday I discovered that I could link my group page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/216963165342784/

to my author page on Facebook. It’s probably been available for months, or even years, but at least I have it now!

I’m having a giveaway on Goodreads! This is for my newest release and runs until the 8th of January…2018! Wow! It will take me a while to remember that year. Until about July I’m still functioning in the previous one. So, be sure to enter. To date, I’ve given away 18 books in giveaways on Goodreads. So check it out!

Follow this link to enter for a chance to win one of three signed copies of my newest release! https://www.goodreads.com/givea…/show/269283-when-love-grows

That also gives you time to read the first book in the series, When Hope Blooms. You may purchase the first book, or any of my books right here: https://www.amazon.com/Deborah-Ann-Dykem…/e/…/ref=sr_tc_2_0…

All books are available in paperback, or kindle editions on Amazon. If you purchase the paperback, the kindle edition is yours for free!

Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million (BAM), and Walmart also carry my books for online purchasing. Please share with all your book-loving family and friends, and remember…reviews are greatly appreciated! Merry Christmas Everyone!

When Love Grows Cover - 6.2 x 9.5 measurements I love the colors on this cover! Red is my favorite one, and it does remind me of Christmas colors.

social media, Writing

For Sale!

I’m doing things a bit backward today. But every now and then, that makes life a bit more exciting! I wrote this post for my Facebook author page this morning, so I’m sharing it on here. Usually I post on here and share it to Facebook. Really exciting…huh? Thank you all so much for your support, likes and comments!

My seventh book, When Love Grows will be available in just a few days. 😍This is pretty exciting for me! I have also started working on the third book in this series…which is also…fantastic! Writing is something I love to do. Marketing is not. 😣 I am not a salesperson, and I really need to be to a certain extent to get my books out there.
 
I have so many very talented people in my life. It is amazing to me when I see the items you have made, whether it be art, quilting, building, writing, etc. I would literally love to be able to support each and every one of you by purchasing your product, to give you encouragement, to support your business, and to show you that I really DO care about what you are doing in your life. But I cannot. I try to show my support by reading your posts, liking them, loving them and commenting. I don’t know if that helps or not, but it is time I invest in your lives. In some ways it seems sad that our lives have come down to interaction such as a smiley face, or a little red heart…but it is a way to communicate and show support.
 
As I said, I probably need to be more of a salesperson. But I am not. I don’t like to be hounded, and I know others don’t. I dislike to try to read a post or article and have pop-ups asking me to buy or subscribe. Therefore, I don’t do that to others. I dislike chain messages asking me to show I care. I do, or I wouldn’t comment, like, love your posts. Because my family has asked me not to share some things, especially items about their children on social media, I do not. And I do understand and respect that. Because I write, I have my settings to public to reach my readers.
 
My books are works of fiction, but my life experiences are woven through each one of them. I’m sharing what I’ve learned, the mistakes I’ve made, and the respect and love I have for my Heavenly Father. I pray this speaks to my readers.
 
Please share this post with your friends. Please share the post I’ll have in a few days promoting my newest release. And if you’ve read any of my books, please, please review in the places that you can. This is a huge encouragement to me! This writing life is all new, and it has a huge learning curve. Please let me know if I can reach you in a different way, if you’d like to hear more or less from me. You can always interact and have discussions on my group page about my books. I would LOVE that! https://www.facebook.com/groups/216963165342784/
social media, Writing

Shifting Down

This is a post I’ve debated about writing for several months now. For the month of October, I tried some different things, just to see what that would result in. Some of you gave me feedback. A few people really liked the Monday One Liners and the Friday Trivia. A couple people said they would just rather read a post. To be honest, I’m rather lost in this blogging world. I just don’t know what works...for me.

I’ve blogged regularly for over two and a half years now. For those of you that blog, you know it is a time investment. Some bloggers seem to be able to take the world, (literally) by storm and within a few months they are off and running with thousands of hits and followers. That has not been the case for me, and I’m not really feeling that I’ve found my corner in the blogging world…or if I’m even supposed to.

As a writer, I love to write. I have written most of my life in some form or another. I will continue. But right now, I feel as though I should concentrate more on my novel writing, and those stories I need to tell. And I need time to do that.

So, I will be doing some reconstruction with my social media. My goal is to have more of a website, maybe a section that I blog in once a week, or once a month. I might offer a newsletter every three months or so for those that are interested in my books, and new releases. I have four books written several years ago that are badly in need of edits and covers. So, I want to make those a priority. I also have a little bird whispering to me about a fifth book in the Rubyville series. I also need to concentrate more on events, and speaking engagements.

The most difficult part of this decision is not having the daily contact with those of you that have become a part of my life on here. I so appreciate you! For sharing your lives with others, for the encouragement you have given me, for all the interesting stuff I’ve learned from all parts of the world.

This is not good-bye, but a pulling back and regrouping. I will still be here, and I will still share my life with all of you, just at a slower pace. You can still find me on Amazon right here: https://www.amazon.com/Deborah-Ann-Dykeman/e/B01B2BYPK6/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1509656300&sr=1-2-ent and my author’s page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deborahanndykeman/?fref=ts

I check Goodreads daily as well. It’s a great place to encourage others, as well as authors. If you’ve read a book of mine, or another author, please leave a review there and follow them. You don’t need to purchase their book to do those two things. Every little bit of encouragement helps an author get their stories out there. It’s not only about purchasing their books, which is wonderful of course…but about getting that author’s name known around the world.

Until next time…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOY0C5F8dfw