Well, this has been a busy year. I figure it's time to update everyone on what I've been doing and to let you know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth!

My daughter, Leah, got through her Freshman year of college and came home in May. She managed (somehow) to keep her GPA up and came out with some great scholarships and grants for this next year. She found a great job catering at a soccer camp for the summer and made enough to pay for books and miscellaneous stuff. She just went back last week. It's hard to have her gone. I've so enjoyed being with her, going shopping, talking books and plots (she loves to write, also), and just doing girl things together. Christmas is only a few months away. I'm counting the days.

My son, Kent, has also been working this summer. He's trying to build his first computer from scratch, buying components one at a time. It will be fun to see it come together. School is starting for him next week; he'll be a Junior. He's in Jazz Band, High School Band, and Marching Band. He plays drums and percussion and has his own following at school. It's fun to watch him improve each year. Otherwise, he's just being a normal 16 year old boy, riding mountain bikes off the sides of small cliffs and scaring me grey. His goals for college are music and Graphic arts.

I am keeping busy writing my next book and trying to market If I Perish. I've sold several myself this year, and I hear several more have sold over the internet. I placed a couple in a Christian bookstore in my area. Marketing is hard for me, but I keep plugging away at it.

One marketing tip I heard recently:
Place in a ziplock bag your business card, a bookmark with your book cover and ordering information on it, and a piece of chocolate or other candy. Have them at book signings. Everyone loves candy and it's a good draw for your business card, even if they don't buy the book right away. Also, you can see try to get bookstores to hand these out as freebies to their customers.

You can get 250 free business cards printed at Vista Print.com. They do a professional job and will even do custom jobs (for a fee). All you have to pay for with the free ones is shipping and handling.

I hope everyone has a safe and profitable fall.

Deb