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Dear Extra Squeeze Team How Do I Balance Social Media and Writing?

December 31, 2018 by The Extra Squeeze in category The Extra Squeeze by The Extra Squeeze Team

Dear Extra Squeeze Team: Social Media—I hate it. It used to be that all I had to worry about was if I needed to order bookmarks. Now, I’m spending so much time tweeting and Facebooking and Instagraming that I barely have time to work on my WIP and my deadline is looming. How do you balance actual writing with all the stuff you have to do around it? OMG do I still need to order bookmarks?

Jenny Jensen | A Slice of Orange — *Jenny Jensen*
Developmental editor who has worked for twenty plus years with new and established authors of both fiction and non-fiction, traditional and indie.

Asking me how to achieve a balance between constant updates and creative output is like asking a Kardashian for advice on the natural look. I too, hate the treadmill of social media – so much in fact, that I haven’t touched mine in seven years! That gets you sympathy, which isn’t very useful but as this is a problem that plagues all writers, I’ve had a lot of discussion about it with my clients. I’ll share what I we’ve come up with. Every author needs to stay as much in the public eye as possible and every author needs to keep on authoring. It’s a balancing act. Whether you are a full-time writer or must carve writing time out of a busy life, you need to compartmentalize the social media vortex. Decide how much time to give it and stick to that. Your writing is the point.

Focus your efforts. Authors get stretched too thin trying to keep a presence on multiple outlets and since new ones pop up monthly it’s an impossible task. Narrow your social media efforts to fit what you want to achieve; announcements of a new release, updates on a work in progress, what you had for lunch (should your readers be interested), etc. If you feel you can achieve that with three outlets, say FB, Twitter and Instagram, then focus exclusively on those.

Schedule a block of time to devote to social media. This can be 15 minutes a day, 2 hours a week or one day a month. Whatever works for the frequency you feel is important. As an insatiable reader who is always on the hunt for good books, I welcome a post on progress, a new release, or comments on the process of writing, as long as the content is about the work. I’m not much concerned in what they had for lunch. A particular author isn’t always top of mind, but I never forget the ones whose work I love so an informative missive is great, regardless of how infrequent, and brings them quickly to top of mind.

Use this time to create and schedule a month or more of posts.

Automate with Social media management tools like Buffer, HootSuite, Hubspot, TweetDeck. If you have posts in a queue that automates the process and frees your working time to write, edit, write and re-write.

Content is as important to these publicity snippets as it is to your published work. No matter the frequency of your posts or the range of outlets you post on, if the content is empty and uninteresting or poorly written, the response will match it. Give your followers a reason to follow.

Rebecca Forster | Extra Squeeze — Rebecca Forster
USA Today Bestselling author of 35 books, including the Witness series and the new Finn O’Brien series.

No, don’t order bookmarks. Thumb drives with your title on it will do these days. Social media is the bane of every business person’s existence, not just authors. Embrace it. Love it. I pay most attention to what I enjoy and that is Twitter and Instagram. I share what amuses me, inspires me, makes me think and then I throw in some information about my books. I also use Buffer which allows me to queue up three weeks’ worth of tweets, Facebook, linked in or whatever other media I need. Buffer releases my tweets on the schedule I set. I will be on the couch watching TV with my husband and loading up Buffer. By the time lights are out I got a few weeks’ worth. Just remember, there is no rule about how often we need to be seen on any of these platforms.

H.O. Charles
Cover designer and author of the fantasy series, *The Fireblade Array*

Give me some advice because I am terrible at updating my social media!!

Robin Blakely | The Extra Squeeze Team | A Slice of Orange — Robin Blakely
PR/Business Development coach for writers and artists; CEO, Creative Center of America; member, Forbes Coaches Council.

Robin was out of the loop this month but hopes to be back in January.

We're Taking Questions | A Slice of Orange

If you have a topic or question for the Extra Squeeze Team, contact Extra Squeeze online producer Marianne Donley by clicking the link below to send us your questions.

Contact the Extra Squeeze Team

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ONE TASTE TOO MANY by Debra H. Goldstein: A Review by Carol L. Wright

December 30, 2018 by A Slice of Orange in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Book Reviews tagged as Book reviews, Carol L. Wright, cozy mystery series, Debra H Goldstein, One Taste Too Many

I was surprised when I had the chance to receive an advance reading copy (ARC) of award-winning author Debra H. Goldstein’s first book in her new Sarah Blair Mystery series, ONE TASTE TOO MANY (Kensington Books), available for purchase on December 18.

Full disclosure: I know Debra, having been on panels with her at writers’ conferences and having published some of her short stories in my capacity as Executive Editor of Bethlehem Writers Roundtable . One of her stories was nominated for an AGATHA AWARD in 2018 and another received an Honorable Mention for the 2018 BETHLEHEM WRITERS ROUNDTABLE SHORT STORY AWARD. (See Short Story Award hfor information about our 2019 competition which opens January 1.) Obviously, I already knew Debra to be a talented writer, so when this opportunity to get a sneak peek at her latest novel arose, I jumped at the chance.

As with her previous mysteries, MAZE IN BLUE (2012 IPPY E-Book Regional Bronze Award Winner) and SHOULD HAVE PLAYED POKER (Five Star Publishing, 2016), her new book is definitely of the cozy variety. Cozy readers know that means that the main character is an amateur sleuth, the story is usually set in a close community (e.g. a small town, a nursing home, a ski lodge, a cruise ship, a school, etc.), and there is no graphic language or violence. Some follow a theme, such as a particular craft or profession, and they often include a pet. As the cover of ONE TASTE TOO MANY promises, we get both a theme and a pet.

The main characters are Sarah Blair (nee Johnson), a twenty-eight-year-old recent divorcee and her fraternal twin, Emily. The Johnson twins are as different as any two siblings could be. Growing up in small town Wheaton, Alabama, a Birmingham suburb, one is fair haired; the other is a brunette. One is reserved and pragmatic; the other outgoing, talkative, and a bit of a risk taker. One is a “convenience” cook; the other is a gourmet chef.

Sarah married her high school sweetheart, Bill Blair, right after graduation and stayed in Wheaton. For ten years, her natural reserve was exacerbated by her husband’s unrelenting undermining of her self-esteem. Meanwhile her sister Emily, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), worked in restaurants in Birmingham and San Francisco. When Sarah’s husband leaves her with little more than the cat, RahRah, he inherited from his mother (to which he was allergic), and Emily moves back home to take a job at the Southwinds gourmet restaurant owned by her previous mentor from San Francisco, their lives intertwine in new ways that neither could predict.

Sarah’s ex-husband holds a controlling interest in Southwinds, and the woman who had stolen Bill away from her, Jane Clark, works at the restaurant and is Emily’s chief competitor for the open sous chef position. The competition heats up when Southwinds chefs compete against each other and other gourmet chefs from around the region at a Food Expo at Wheaton’s Civic Center.

When Bill is found dead late one evening at the Civic Center, with Emily at his side and her rhubarb crisp, which contained nuts to which he was deathly allergic, on his fork, foul play is immediately suspected. Everyone knew that Bill would never willingly take a bite of Emily’s rhubarb crisp, so the police chief identifies her as the prime suspect in Bill’s apparent murder. Fortunately for the twins, Sarah works as a receptionist for a lawyer who takes the case pro bono.

Jane makes a perfect foil for the twins. Not only is she Emily’s rival for sous chef, she claims to have papers that give her the right to take Sarah’s cat, RahRah. The tangled plot thickens when development schemes, an animal trust, and divided loyalties twist the sisters in different directions, looking for the person responsible for framing Emily. The more they learn, the less certain they are about whom to trust. The author also sprinkles in a hint of romance and finishes with an unexpected ending.

As with many culinary cozies, there are recipes at the end. But don’t worry if you’re not a gourmet chef—they are Sarah’s “convenience” recipes.

Debra Goldstein is the perfect person to write this book as an Alabaman, the mother of twins, a retired federal judge, and a convenience cook herself. Since this is promised to be the first in a new series, it should be very interesting to find out what Sarah Blair is up to next.

Carol L. Wright escaped a career in law and academia for one in writing. She is the author of the Gracie McIntyre Mystery series, the first of which, DEATH IN GLENVILLE FALLS, was a finalist for both the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award and a Next Generation Indie Book Award in 2018.

In addition to her mysteries, she is the author of short stories in several genres that have been published in a variety of literary journals and anthologies, including the award-winning Bethlehem Writers Group’s “Sweet, Funny, and Strange” anthologies in an assortment of themes.

She is a founding member of the Bethlehem Writers Group, a life member of Sisters in Crime and the Jane Austen Society of North America, and a member of Pennwriters and SinC Guppies. She is married to her college sweetheart, and lives in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania with their rescue dog, Mr. Darcy, and a clowder of cats. You can learn more on Carol’s website, or by following her Facebook page.

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Featuring Bethlehem Writers Group

December 29, 2018 by Bethlehem Writers Group in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author of the Month tagged as 2019 Short Story Award, Bethlehem Writers Group, Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award

The Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC (BWG), founded in 2006, is a community of mutually supportive, fiction and nonfiction authors based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The members are as different from each other as their stories, spanning a range of genres including: children’s, fantasy, humor, inspiration, literary, memoir, mystery, paranormal, romance, science fiction, women’s fiction, and young adult.

BWG has published five anthologies. Each anthology has an overall theme—broadly interpreted—but includes a variety of genres, and all but the first anthology include stories from the winner(s) of The Bethlehem Writers Short Story Award.

BWG is currently working on their sixth anthology, Fur, Feathers, & Scales: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Animal Tales.

Fur, Feathers & Scales | BWG | A Slice of Orange

In connection with this anthology, they are hosting The Bethlehem Writers 2019 Short Story Award. The 2019 Short Story Award will open on January 1, 2019 the theme will be Animal Stories, broadly interpreted. Stories of 2,000 words or fewer about WILD ANIMALS, PETS, or IMAGINARY BEASTS will be welcome (so long as an animal is an important character or element of the story). The winner will receive $200 and may be offered publication in the above mentioned upcoming anthology. The 2019 guest judge will be John Grogan, best-selling author of Marley & Me.

In addition to anthologies, yearly writing contests, and the quarterly literary journal, the group hosts twice monthly writing workshops and a critique groups for local members. You can see the schedule of BWG meetings and events, including author signings here.

Remember, The Bethlehem Writers 2019 Short Story Award opens in January 1, 2019. Get your short stories ready to enter.

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Quarter Days: Yuletide

December 28, 2018 by Alina K. Field in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field tagged as Christmas, Hogmanay, New Year's in Scotland, winter solstice

Winter Solstice

’Tis the Fourth day in the Twelve Days of the great feast of Christmas and I’m back to talk about celebrating the winter holidays in the British Isles where the stories I’ve been writing are set.

A week of binge-watching the series Shetland gave me a good appreciation of the closeness of Scotland to Scandinavia. Given the Celtic and later Viking influence, It’s no wonder that many of this season’s customs date back to pagan festivities marking the winter solstice. The word Yule (as in Yuletide and Yule Log) comes from the Norse word “jul” or “houl” meaning wheel.

Saturnalia

Ancient Rome also celebrated the winter solstice in the Saturnalia festivities of ancient Rome. I mentioned in my December post last year that the early Christian church built a religious holiday, Christmas, around this natural time of ancient celebration. Many of the Christmas traditions—Yule logs, mistletoe, feasting–date back long before the designation of December 25^th as the birthday of Jesus.

Hogmanay

Though we’re a week out from the shortest day of the year, nights are still long, so why not keep partying? The seventh day of Christmas, December 31^st brings us to the celebration of the new year. In Scotland, reaching back to their Norse roots, the locals celebrate Hogmanay with torchlight parades, bonfires, and lots of good whisky.

My favorite Scottish New Year’s tradition is the First Foot.

Needed: a tall, dark, and handsome man

Tradition says that if the first person to cross the threshold in the new year is a tall, dark, handsome man, the home and all who dwell therein will have good luck in the coming year. (No red-headed men, please—they’re considered unlucky!) I saw this set up in a blurb for a Christmas romance this year, and then promptly lost the link. If you recognize that story, please mention it in the comments below.

Whatever winter holiday you celebrate, I hope you’re surrounded by family and friends. I wish you many blessings in the New Year. Have a Happy Hogmanay!