CONTEST!!!! Giveaway, and a Diddy

Authors for Oklahoma have their first set of bundles up for their giveaway. Peeps are to make 10 dollar donations into the Crowdrise link, which helps us keep track of who is donating. And they need to state in the comment box what bundles they would like to be drawn for.***GO HERE FOR THE GIVEAWAY

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I finally figured out how to put a page together at FaceBook. Yay! I’m so proud of myself.

Anyway, if you wish, you can go and LIKE me at Author Shelly Arkon Books and Stories. You can also find details on how to win a signed copy of Secondhand Shoes.

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MS UPDATE

Killer Stilettos is the next book in the Lila’s Journey Series. Its coming along nicely. I’m working on the rewrites and connecting the dots. Not to mention, some of my characters are revealing some mysteries about themselves.

I thought I’d share a diddy:

Out of my right peripheral, something dark but transparent moved.

“Um…no.” I swallowed a hard lump along with another hiccup, squeezing his hand. “Can we go back to my room now? Please.”

“Mi amor, its okay. They’re dead. They’re not going to hurt us.”

Something clamored to the floor. It sounded like someone had dropped a pot.

I jumped, but it didn’t seem to faze Julio. He pulled us deeper into the room.

Another shadow crossed over my vision. It had an obvious head, neck, torso, arms, and legs. What ever it was, it wasn’t a deceased person.

The crowd of phantoms grew thicker around us.

“What do mean?” Julio cupped my chin and gently pulled my face toward his.

Crappity-crap-crap-crap. “Don’t you see them?” My hiccups were coming on steady.

“See what?” Julio pulled us between two body bags laying on separate tables. “All I see are body bags.”

More dark figures appeared, they were surrounding us. Somewhere beyond the double doors, the sound of heels clicked slowly against the tile. The noise stabbed my eardrums.

My stomach did its intuitive pinch while a pair of bright yellow stilettos flashed into my head. “We’re in trouble.” It didn’t help my mom’s face popped into it next and then Oshun’s. I hiccupped against his lips. “We need to go now.”

The heels clicking against the floor stopped.

I glanced over my shoulder.

The large double doors we had passed through, flew open. Oshun appeared all wild-haired dressed in a tight-fitting yellow dress, standing in a pair of bright yellow stilettos.

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I hope everyone is well. I’ve been busy. I’ve barely been around to read blogs. Apologies. A lot going on. But Sweetman is doing much better. And thank you all for your prayers and well wishes. August, he’ll be going for his scans to see if he has stayed cancer free.

Hugs and chocolate,

Shelly

Twister and a BookRaffle

“Get over here!” mom screamed from the pit of her stomach. Her arms flailed from underneath the kitchen table, while my little sister sobbed hysterically, and my brother rocked in a corner.

I wanted to obey, but I had never seen a twister before. Our small mobile home sounded as if a million tuna cans were being shot out of a ga-zillion cannons every second toward us. The sky outside the sliding doors was a watery grey- green color. Wind had picked up everything swirling it round and round into a funnel. I  had never seen anything like it in all my nine years of life.

As suddenly as it had started, it had stopped. Our trailer went unscathed, but the homes around us had either been rolled or tossed into the near-by cow pasture. Not to mention, several dead cows littered the mobile home park.

For some reason, God protected us that day. I really have no clue why either. But unfortunately, a lot of people don’t get spared the grief of losing everything.

Lately, it seems every time I turn on the television there’s a flood or a fire ravaging peoples’ homes somewhere in America. The devastation seems to be happening everywhere.

Right after Moore, Oklahoma was hit hard by a tornado, William Kendall, Norma Beishir, and myself put together Authors for Oklahoma. We put together a book giveaway for donations to The American Red Cross.

Many new and Indie authors donated their books for this cause. There is a plethora of genres: mysteries, erotica, and paranormal to name a few. We even have some children and mommy books. Click here for the Authors of Oklahoma fundraiser.

And also, please pass this info to your friends and family.

Hugs and chocolate,

Shelly

Creepers, Stalkers, and Serial Killers

It was a Friday evening. Shelly lounged on her sofa in front of her television set, computer in lap, and Sir Poops to the right of her laying on his favorite pillow with Hair Ball on her other side. While networking, a message popped up.

“Thank you for accepting my friend request.”

Shelly found it surprising that someone actually said ‘thank you’ for such a thing. It really caught her attention. It’s a rare treat when another author shows gratitude by simply writing a polite note back. So she responded back:

“You’re welcome. Thank you for the note.”

At that point Shelly thought that would be the end of this little conversation, but she got another message.

“Hey, I’d really like to get to know you. I’m a writer. I’ve been working on my book for the last seven years.”

Shelly sees no harm in this and writes back.

“It took me four years to write mine. I’m the author of Secondhand Shoes, a paranormal romance/suspense/thriller. I’ve also got a short story coming out on July 1, 2013, for Kindle only, The Partners’s Progeny.”

Another message pops up.

“So how do you cope with your kids and husband?”

Shelly thought this a little strange, but answered anyway.

“I write. I’m really busy working right now. Later, dude.”

But another message pops up.

“So what are you working on?”

Shelly was getting annoyed now.

“Marketing.”

Once again, the guy answers.

“I’m working on a book about marketing. How does that work for authors?”

Shelly sees this as a plausible question and answers.

“For Indie authors, we scratch each others’ backs. We promote each other.”

The creeper answers back.

“When do you ever have time for romance? Would you like to be caressed by a real man?”

Shelly ignores this and in a panic looks how to delete and block this jerk. And another message pops up.

“I’m going to the pub now. We’ll chat later. Okay?”

This is a true story, folks. I’ve had this happen on more than one occasion. And yes, he’s been deleted and blocked. But before doing this, I went to his page to see what he was up to. Everyone he’s befriended is a female. A lot of them authors. CREEPY-STALKER-SERIAL KILLER OF AUTHORS, PERHAPS?

One of his comments stated, he was lonely and in need of a good woman. And yet in another one he stated, he was sick of his possessive girlfriend. He also had several provocative poses of himself for a middle-aged adult.

I  know a lot of times I’m so busy doing something else when I accept a request. From now on, I’ll be a little more choosey who I’ll except. It’s not like I want to meet Ted Bundy or the Craig List Killer re-incarnated.

Anyone else have this happen to them?

Hugs and chocolate,

Shelly

The Indie Life: Marketing Recipes

The second Wednesday of the month is time for The Indie Life, hosted by, The Indelibles. It’s a lot like Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Group, where we spill our guts or not to each other. Or encourage each other or not.

Today, I’m not sure what I’m going to write, other than wing it. OMG! I drive myself crazy, but it is who I am. I’m a bonefied winger (if this is actually a word). Always going with the flow. Going to where ever fate and destiny may take me, which brings up the topic of MARKETING. ***eyes roll*** Currently, Secondhand Shoes is rocking in the waves of millions and millions of books. Hopefully, it won’t become a sinking ship.

But how much is too much marketing? Is there such a thing as too much? Everyday I’m bombarded via the social media by other authors. It causes me anxiety. The last thing I want to be is an annoying pain who can’t get past a comment box without saying ‘LIKE ME’, ‘FOLLOW ME’ and ‘BUY MY BOOK, DAMN YOU.” There has to be a better way of doing this. What happened to relationships?

Any suggestions?

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Like there has to be a better way of doing housework and keeping up with the dust bunnies. We, Indies, have a lot of hats to wear. At least, I know I do. I’m a hairdresser for thirty hours a week. A wife. A cook. A laundry maid. Some where in all of this, I write. Don’t ask me how I do it because I haven’t a clue. I just do. ***shrugs***

But I remember asking my grandmother years back how she kept her house so clean even though she worked full time for an attorney. She told me, she cleaned one room a day. So that’s what I’ve been doing. It’s been working out really well so far. Each room gets a top to bottom clean. Baseboards and all. One room can take up to an hour. Sometimes less.

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So all of this marketing, writing, hairdressing, and house cleaning leaves me hungry for chocolate. Brownies come to mind. Speaking of which, have you ever added a can of pumpkin and two tablespoons of chocolate syrup to a box of brownie mix? You skip the egg and oil and bake this delightful confection at 350 for twenty minutes. They’re quite yummy, actually. I like to put a little nutmeg and cinnamon in mine.

But if you want something a little more nutritious, you can try my favorite smoothie:

1/2 Cup frozen blueberries

1/2 Cup plain Greek yogurt

1 Cup Almond or skim milk

Handful of baby kale

1/4 Cup oatmeal

2 tbsp. of Flax meal

Blend it in a blender and drink up!

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Soon and very soon, Authors for Oklahoma, will be having a giveaway for 10 dollar donations to The American Red Cross for Moore, Oklahoma. A plethora of wonderful authors have donated their books to this, and I hope everyone will come and even help spread the word when we’ve got a date.

William Kendall, Norma Beishir, and myself have been working hard to get this going. So stay tuned for more information.

Hugs and chocolate, all!

Shelly