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| Wendy Gager |
W.S. Gager has lived in Michigan for most of her life except when she was interviewing race car drivers or professional woman's golfers. She enjoyed the fast-paced life of a newspaper reporter until deciding to settle down and realized babies didn't adapt well to running down story details on deadline. Since then she honed her skills on other forms of writing before deciding to do what she always wanted with her life and that was to write mystery novels. Her main character is Mitch Malone who is an edgy crime-beat reporter who would have made a great noir detective but instead hunts for the next Pulitzer and won't let anyone stop him.
Webpage:
http://www.wsgager.com/Blog:
http://www.wsgager.blogspot.com/Some of Wendy's Books -
Her Amazon author page-
http://tinyurl.com/3fqfzf2COMING SOON- A CASE OF HOMETOWN BLUESMitch Malone hasn't returned to Flatville since his parents were killed in an auto accident while he was in college. His mission is to teach good reporting skills to the local newspaper but Mitch isn't teaching material and his first session sends in disaster when he makes a bet with two reporters that he can find a major news story before the week is up. Drowning his sorrows in the local pub he comes face to face with his classmates celebrating the 15th class reunion. The Homecoming Queen he always had a crush on makes the moves on him and when she comes up dead the next day, he is the main suspect. Add in a bully for a cousin, a police chief who made his life miserable in school and a tragedy from his youth that still haunts him. As Mitch pokes around, more people start turning up dead and he is next…
Today, Wendy is posting on a topic you may relate to, as I do - CAN EMAIL BE ORGANIZED?I consider myself a pretty organized person. I can put my hands on anything in the first place I look in my house whether it is bills, extra toothpaste, or note car
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| F.M. Meredith |
F.M. Meredith, also known as Marilyn Meredith, is the author of nearly thirty published novels. Her latest in the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series, from Oak Tree Press, is Angel Lost. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, Four chapters of Sisters in Crime, including the Internet chapter, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com and her blog at
http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/Today, you can catch a glimpse of what F.M. is doing to promote her latest book. First, here's a little bit about that book. |
| Angel Lost by F.M. Meredith |
As plans for her perfect wedding fill her mind, Officer Stacey Wilbur is sent out to trap a flasher, the new hire realizes Rocky Bluff P.D. is not the answer to his problems, Abel Navarro’s can’t concentrate on the job because of worry about his mother, Officer Gordon Butler has his usual upsets, the sudden appearance of an angel in the window of a furniture store captures everyone’s imagination and causes problems for RBPD, and then the worst possible happens—will Stacey and Doug’s wedding take place?
My Promotion for Angel Lost by F.M. MeredithI do a lot of the same things as everyone else, Facebook and Twitter, and I’m on a blog tour through the month of March and will be visiting a few other blogs in April.
About Blog Tours: I host authors on my own blog http://marilynmeredith.blogpost.com and I’ve found that some of my guests don’t really have a clue about what they ought to be doing. Oh, they send me exactly what I ask for, and usually write great blogs, but they don’t do a thing to promote (I do) and they don’t come back and visit to see if anyone has left a comment or a question that they can answer.
The champion promoter on Facebook is Rob Walker and I can’t really add anything to what he’s doing, in fact I’ve copied some of his strategies. Just know, Facebook is there and it’s great way to reach a lot of people. Facebook and Twitter are other ways to steer people to your blog posts. And if you use http://iPing.com you can connect with most of the social networks you’re on with one post.
Though I love promoting on the Net I do a lot of in-person events too.
The only mystery con I’m going to this year is Mayhem in the Midlands in Omaha. This is one of my favorites because I’ve made a lot of friends who attend every year and are also my fans. Attending
I'm hosting Julie Lomoe today at my personal blog,
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com/ Julie sent me so much wonderful information, I decided to share part of it here. If you feel so inclined, by all means hop on over to Double M at
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com/ for the rest of the story and read her blog post.
About Julie Lomoe -Julie Lomoe knows home health care from the ground up. As President of ElderSource, Inc., a Licensed Home Care Services Agency in upstate New York, she became certified as a Personal Care Aide and filled in frequently for absent aides. The experience inspired Eldercide, the first in a mystery series featuring the staff and clients of Compassionate Care, an agency in the fictional town of Kooperskill, New York.
Julie’s first published novel, Mood Swing: The Bipolar Murders is set in a social club for the mentally ill on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The work was inspired by her many years of mental health experience, both as a professional and as a consumer. Both books are available online from Virtual Bookworm, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Barnard College, Julie received an MFA from Columbia University and an MA in Art Therapy from New York University. She lived in SoHo for many years, exhibiting at the Museum of Modern Art, The Brooklyn Museum, and many Manhattan galleries. She showed her paintings and won a prize at the Woodstock Festival of Music and Art in 1969, an experience she blogged about in a three-part series this past August.
Julie has published poetry as well as articles on home care, mental health, aging, and women’s issues. Visit her blog, Julie Lomoe’s Musings Mysterioso (
http://julielomoe.wordpress.com/) to learn more and read the first chapters of her novels.
You're invited now to hop on over to
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com/ to read Julie's post and learn a little bit more about her.
Thanks,
Morgan Mandel\
http://www.morganmandel.com/http://choiceonepublishing.com/
DEATH WILL HELP YOU LEAVE HIM, October 2009
DEATH WILL GET YOU SOBER, David nominee for Best Mystery
Novel of 2008
http://www.elizabethzelvin.com/What I’m taking on the road to BoucherconElizabeth Zelvin, 2007 Agatha nomineeI’m a veteran traveler and experienced packer, and I started making lists in my head at least a month in advance for what I’d need to take to Bouchercon, where I appeared on a panel, celebrated the publication of my new book, Death Will Help You Leave Him, at a special event with fellow authors Louise Penny and Jeri Westerson, offered items at the live and silent auctions, participated in the author talent show, and rendezvoused with groups of people I don’t ordinarily see face to face, including Sisters in Crime Guppies and my fellow authors of the brand-new crime anthology The Gift of Murder, to benefit Toys for Tots. I did not say I’m a light packer.
Only once have I ever succeeded in toting only carry-on luggage: this summer on my visit to Chicago for the American Library Association’s annual meeting. And that was a close call, since I brought 300 first-chapter chapbooks of Death Will Help You Leave Himand two hundred bookmarks with me and carried home a goodie packet (including a ceramic mug that had to be packed carefully) from a panel at the Niles Library and a couple of ARCs from the box my publisher’s library marketing director brought out as a surprise. I only made it because I left home my running shoes. Since I arrived on Friday and flew out again on Saturday, I knew I wouldn’t have a chance to use either. (When I saw people running along Lake Shore Drive and swimming laps in the lake on Saturday morning, I wished I had.)
I drove from New York to Indianapolis instead of flying because I had so much stuff to bring. Since the actual publication date of Death Will Help You Leave Him was October 13, Bouchercon Eve, I kicked off my book tour driving back through Ohio and Pennsylvania when the convention ended. I actually started loading the car this past May at Malice Domestic, when my blog sister Sandy Parshall transferred a large basket, cellophane, and ribbon for our Poe’s Deadly Daughters auction item from her trunk to mine.
So here’s some of what went on the road with me, Miz Scarlett, my 2004 Toyota Corolla, and Sadie, my even-tempered and reliable GPS:
The proverbial box of books: copies of Death Will Help You Leave Him. I needed it. At my first post-tour book tour stop, they hadn't received the books. The forty people the friend I was staying with didn't show up either, so it all balanced out. I signed book plates, my friend ordered a lot of copies, and all was well. I needed them again at Foul Play in Westerville, where they sold out all their copies in the book room at Bouchercon and couldn't order additional books in time.
Copies of the first book, Death Will Get You Sober. I experienced one of those precious author "firsts" at Bouchercon when someone approached me at the signing table with both of my books in hand.
Promotional materials, which I'm sowing broadcast like Johnny Appleseed: chapbooks, bookmarks, and posters.
My Martin Backpacker guitar. I performed not only at the author talent show, but also at the Three Deadly Dames event with Louise Penny and Jeri Westerson. We had advertised "conversation and more" in the program book. I thought of getting magnets to give out, but free drinks and a mini set of my own songs (with harmonica backup by new author J. Saunders Elmore) went over much better.
The basket for Poe’s Deadly Daughters, along with signed copies of my blog sisters’ books and copies of EQMM with my story in it and other Poe-related goodies, like the bottle of Poe’s Raven Hot Sauce that I bought at the Stately Raven in Ohio on my 2008 tour. Also an LZcybershrink T-shirt, a yellow New York taxi (no, not lifesize), a giant tea cozy hand quilted by Sharon Wildwind, and a big tin of Virginia peanut brittle contributed by Sandy Parshall.
Running shoes and the clothes to go with them.
MP3 player. I didn't run during the four days of Bouchercon (no time and lousy weather), so I exercised by dancing to music in my hotel room at 4:30 or 5 every morning.
Netbook computer, to keep up with email. So far, none of my online clients has had a crisis and needed a session, but you never know.
Digital camera, for those photos of me with other authors that my publicist says are essential for my website.I got a rare sighting of Sara Paretsky and a photo op with Liza Cody, among others.
Flash drive, so I have all my files—you never know what you’ll need.
A bag of electronics: power cord for netbook, charger for cell phone, battery charger for camera and MP3 player, USB multi-port to plug a lot of stuff in at once, connector cord to recharge Sadie or download photos onto the netbook. Note for next time: bring two-to-three-prong connector plug.
Bathing suit. I inherited the swimming gene from my lawyer mother, whose motto was, “Bring a suit!” Wrap and flipflops and earplugs and goggles.
Food in insulated bag with ice pack. I found more fruit and vegetables than I expected to west of the Hudson, but you never know. My bags of baby carrots sre better traveled than some folks I know.
Pills. The vitamins. The supplements. The pills I take to keep from getting a migraine. The pills I take to make a migraine go away. The little bottles of resveratrol that are going to make me live forever. (Those need to be refrigerated too.)
My knitting. For unexpected waits along the way and insomniac moments.
What’s that you say? Change of underwear? Electric toothbrush? Yes, all that and more, but it’ll only be a fraction of the whole. Oh, and did I mention to stack of books I'm taking back to New York for a friend who flew home from Bouchercon?
What about you? Do you take any of these things to conferences? Did you go to Bouchercon? Please share with Liz and the rest of us.
Morgan: Thank you so much for helping with my adiction...I'm really looking for some help! There has to be something out there.
Welcome to Acme, Wendy. I hope someone can help you, but it's not me. (g)
Morgan Mandel
http://spunkyseniors.blogspot.com
http://www.morganmandel.com
OMG Wendy, you could have plucked that blog right out of my brain. I thought I was the only person who is bogged down with hudreds of e-mails, and don't know what to do with them.
Afraid I can't give you any advice,I am struggling to find a solution myself.
Best wishes
Margaret
I thought I commented, but don't see it. See you soon, Wendy. I read my email, reply if needed, and delete. Otherwise I'd have 100s and I don't want that.
Marilyn
Unfortunately, sometimes the slash and burn technique is really needed for email. Unsub from newsletters you don't really read. Reply to the messages that need replying to and then get rid of them. Save the ones you definitely will refer back to, and hopefully that'll help. :-) Good luck!
Marilyn: I can't wait to see you in Vegas. My plane leaves tonight.
Wendy
I know I need to be better about deleting. I tell myself I will never find it if I need it anyway, but I always hesitate at delete. I need a 10 step program. I do need to unsub from a couple of newsletters though. Thanks V.R.
Wendy
I use Gmail, which allows me to set up rules for incoming emails. I subscribed to a very busy email list that I only needed temporarily but may want to use again (It's for giving and finding free stuff). So I have all of these emails automatically go to trash; when I want that list again, I will cancel the rule.
There's a lot of labeling you can do manually, but have it done automatically to save yourself a lot of hassle. Anything that requires some action on my part gets marked with a star and marked as unread. If you don't care about mail from a particular source, do a search for that source to display a list of all those emails. Then you can delete them all.
Margaret: You and I have a lot in common I bet. Let me know if anything works for you!
Wendy
Bob: Those are great ideas. Does it work for Yahoo? I also like marking the ones with stars that need attention. Sometimes I lose those and spend lots of time trying to find the one I need among the many. Thanks for the help!
Wendy
I can flag, mark, read and delete, archive, and any number of the choices suggested but I then can't find, forget the color code I set up, delete the wrong thing, or spend wasted time searching my archives. I am beginning to think it is hopeless. I try to deal with it as it comes but it is distracting and takes away from writing time. If I don't look at it every day it gets worse. I am of no help...it is a problem. If only it was an agent or publisher emailing..I would be happy for the distraction. Happy writing.
Terri: I think I clone your actions everyday. I guess I should just delete and not worry and concentrate on writing.
Wendy
In microsoft mail I set up rules to and organize by topic. After I read I delete. And I make sure to keep the inbox to no more than 180 emails. That's reasonable then. Some get moved, some get dumped. Otherwise yes it gets out of hand and drives you crazy!
I feel like almost all I do is delete emails as soon as I open my inbox. Still, I don't feel right not keeping in touch.
Morgan Mandel
http://www.morganmandel.com
Wendy,
Better late than never-welcome to Acme.
Margot Justes
www.mjustes.com
Wendy ~ Have you been looking in my window??? I have the same problem with emails. Right now I have over 600 and I tried to delete several pages and got panicky and gave up. I try to check each day but don't always succeed - that's the problem. Sorry I do not have a solution either.
Welcome to Acme Authors - hope you enjoyed your visit. Best of luck on your next promotion!
DL Larson
I would love to keep emails to 180! I was delayed at an airport yesterday and went through deleting emails. Made a two hour delay go quick but still over 3000. Will have to work harder. Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. It was great to be at Acme.
Wendy