Author Central Page on Amazon

Courtney Daisey's Amazon Author Central Page

Fellow authors, I've recently been made aware of a great tool available to us! How many of us are published on Amazon? If you are, then you really should consider creating an Author Central page.

What's Author Central? It's almost like a home page for your work on Amazon! Just visit http://authorcentral.amazon.com. If you already have an Amazon account you can use your same login information for your Author Central page. It's a great tool you can use to help promote yourself and your work! For example you can have a photo and biography information, a listing of all of your works on Amazon (including links to all of your works as well), and even a forum where you can post and interact with your readers! Link your Twitter to your Author Central page and your latest tweet shows up right there for everyone to check out! You can also link your blog there, which I am going to do as soon as I post this! That way my blog posts will show up on the page as well. Best of all, this tool is completely FREE! I love just about anything that's free, especially if it can help me out.

Also, notice that you can "like" these Author Central pages as well. Do you have an author you like? Definitely go like his or her page! Just like with Facebook, Amazon uses these likes to gauge the popularity of the pages. The more likes you have the greater your chances of Amazon promoting your books!

So please, check out my Amazon Author Central page, like it, and share this info with your author friends! It might just help them out a bit.

T'was the night before the book release...

T’was the night before the book release

And all through the author’s house

Everyone was excited including

The kids, the pets, and the spouse!

Amazon was loaded on

Her computer’s screen.

Barnes and Noble was up as well.

T’was all that she had seen!

Everyone was counting for

The clock to strike midnight,

For then there would be a brand new book

She’d taken the time to write.

The cover art has been designed.

The editing was through.

Now it was time to pass the book

Into the hands of you!

So take some time, buy this book,

And read to your heart’s content.

Share the story with your friends

And be a part of this big event!

Read it, love, it, and review it please.

We love to hear your applause!

Thank you for taking the time to read

“The Search for Mrs. Claus!”

I'll post the links tomorrow so that you can buy a copy! Stay tuned!

2 Days To Go!

I heard back from the publisher today. Everything's ready to go for the big release on Friday! Two days left until "The Search for Mrs. Claus" is available for you!

Releasing this book has been very much like the coming of Christmas for me. First was the writing of the story. Believe it or not, this novel was my NaNoWriMo project from November 2013. I've participated in NaNo several times but this was the first novel I ever finished during that month. Most NaNo projects usually don't turn out that great but I really fell in love with the story in my mind as I was writing it. It basically wrote itself. I love how I was able to sit back and let the thoughts flow out of my mind and onto the screen of my computer. While writing it, I was basically watching the story unfold in my mind like a movie. That was one of the most fun parts of writing this! I was seeing the action in my mind as it came to life on the computer screen.

After the writing was done, I did my first edits. It was then that I submitted the novel in the hopes that it would be chosen for publication. I was ever so pleased when it was selected!

Then the waiting game really began. The novel spent time with the editor and the formatter. My husband and I designed the cover art in the same way that wrapping paper is carefully chosen for a special present. Finally, today I heard back from the publisher. Everything's a definite go! I can't wait for Friday when I will see this novel available!

Yes, I can't help but feel like a kid at Christmas right now, sitting by the fireplace, listening and waiting for Santa to arrive. It's going to be hard for me to go to sleep on Thursday night because I know something wonderful will be waiting for me on Friday morning!

Cover Release!

T-9 and counting until "The Search for Mrs. Claus" will be released! I am so excited about this release that I don't know what to do! Now that we're in the single digits I wanted to release the cover for you all to see!

The image of the Christmas tree was taken by my husband and I designed the rest of the cover art. I hope you all like it as much as we do!

Stay tuned as we are in the home stretch of the release countdown! Thanks for all of your love and support!

A Good Read!

Even when I was a child, there was nothing more relaxing and fun than cracking open a book and being magically transported to another land, another time, or another person's life. Today this still holds true for me. For me, when I read the words on the page cease to exist and show themselves like a film in my mind. As I read I'm watching what's happening in my book in my imagination. It's quite intriguing really! Everything that happens around me I don't even notice. I zone out to the world and zone in to the world inside the book. Nothing else can give me that amazing sensation as reading does.

That being said, I'm very particular about books that I read. I prefer to read books that put things in a happier, fun light than not. I suppose that's why I usually read romances. However, I am reading two books currently that are quite different from my norm. One is The Protector's War by S. M. Stirling and the other is Calico: Children of the Shawnee by Allison Bruning.

The Protector's War is actually the second book in a trilogy. The first one is Dies the Fire and it was fantastic! Imagine yourself in the modern world when suddenly all electricity ceases to work. All of physics and science changes and nothing is as it once was any longer. The modern world is plunged into the Dark Ages and people have to learn how to survive. Factions are formed and people rule their lands differently. That's the story of this trilogy. In The Protector's War two friendly factions, the Mackenzies and the Bearkillers, are preparing for war against the Protectorate, as the Protector really is an evil, conniving man whose goal is to further his own good. This book is definitely a drama and keeps you on the edge of your seat!

Calico: Children of the Shawnee is the first book of a series by Allison Bruning. From the first page, I was hooked on this one. You are taken back in time to the mid-1700's to a time when the Native Americans were in control of the land and the European settlers have just arrived. The book centers on a young white girl named Calico, who is growing up as a member of the Shawnee tribe. She is at odds with Little Owl, a boy from her tribe and the two fight often. I am currently about a third of the way through the book and Calico is twelve at this point. She's struggling with growing up and feels more comfortable hunting than she does at home cooking, sewing, or doing other tasks left to the women. I'm thoroughly enjoying this book. It reads quickly and I look forward to reading more each day.

So if you're looking for a couple of good reads, you might want to check these out. Happy reading!