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The Mindful Writer.

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My guest on today’s blog is Deborah Klée. Deborah is such a warm and friendly person and she offers great support to other writers. I’ve recently been a guest on her podcast. She asks really interesting questions and makes you feel right at home. I’ve also been a speaker at one of Deborah’s Friday Salon Zoom meetings where I met so many amazing writers. Deborah manages to bring together people from all over the world and is a very inspirational woman.

Thank you for inviting me to your website to talk about two resources I host for other writers: Friday Salon and The Mindful Writer Podcast.

Both of these projects have brought some amazing people into my life, including you, Lizzie. They have enabled me to network with writers from all over the world and to learn from them as we share resources, wisdom, and expertise.

Friday Salon

Friday Salon started as a bit of an experiment. I had heard of tweet-chats but had little experience of them. I was new to Twitter and the writing community. I started out inviting writers to join me on Friday using the hashtag #FriSalon. Three writer friends from my local writing group turned up to support me and I was delighted that several other writers did too. I chose the name Friday Salon as I described the tweet-chat as a place where creatives could meet just as the Victorians did in the Salons of old.

Friday Salon started in October 2020. Encouraged by the success of the first tweet-chat I hosted one the following Friday and planned to continue until Xmas 2020. We grew in number and the tweet-chats became a popular place for writers to meet on Twitter each Friday at 4 pm BST (GMT) 11 am EDT (EST). I continued hosting until October 2021. In that first year, I invited at least one expert guest each month. I transcribed all of the tweets and posted them in a document the following morning.

By October 2021 I was running out of ideas and had other projects I wanted to invest my time in. Rather than discontinue Friday Salon I invited regular participants to share the role of host. The shared hosting arrangement is wonderful. We all own Friday Salon. It has just grown and grown. Everyone is welcome to pop into the chat. It is a great way of making meaningful connections with other writers. Friday Salon participants have supported one another by beta-reading, buying one another’s books, reviewing, and helping to promote new publications.

Now that I no longer host every week, I have been able to invest time in facilitating a virtual writing retreat three times a year. This was something that came about following a tweet-chat on writing retreats. Several participants said they would love to have a writing retreat with Friday Salon friends. As we come from across the world the best way to achieve this was by meeting on Zoom. We have had two writing retreats now, each with a guest speaker. There is no cost to participate.

Everyone is welcome to join in the Friday Salon tweet-chat and the virtual writing retreats. If you are new to the writing community and/or want to make meaningful connections with other writers then this is a great way to find your tribe.

To find out more about Friday Salon see:

https://abrakdeborah.wordpress.com/friday-salon/

  Here is the link if you’d like to listen to our Mindful Writer chat.

The Mindful Writer Podcast

The Mindful Writer Podcast is a resource to help writers cope with the emotional highs and lows of being a writer. There are lots of resources to assist writers with the business of writing, publication, and marketing but not so much on managing the inner journey.

In 2019 I was struggling with the lack of control and uncertainty I was experiencing as a writer as I waited for agents and publishers to respond to submissions. At that time, I had an agent and my debut was out on submission. I knew that my emotional state was affecting my relationships and well-being. So, for Lent that year I decided to meditate each day. Forty days turned into a year, and then four. Daily meditation became part of my life. Today, I practice yoga and meditate every day. These practices alongside regular journaling have given me insight. I have developed a strong sense of self-belief, and compassion for myself. I have learnt to let go and trust the journey. As I went through this transformation, I shared my reflections and learning in a weekly blog.

 I loved writing my blog and from the feedback, I have received I know it has helped others. However, I wanted to talk to other writers to learn from their wisdom. The idea for the Mindful Writer Podcast came to me many months before I dared to give it a go. It was scary, but it is only when we step outside of our comfort zone that we learn new things and grow.

Each week I chat with a guest exploring the psychological, emotional, and spiritual journey they have experienced as a writer, the lessons they have learnt – and are continuing to learn.

As I talk to other writers and reflect on my own experience, I am discovering how we might find abundance in our creative pursuits, achieving our goals the mindful way.

All of my guests have been amazing. Their words of wisdom lifted my spirit first during the live interview and again on editing the interview. It’s wonderful because I get a high each time I listen. This is what I wanted for other writers. So many of us struggle with feelings of disappointment, wanting something so much it hurts, imposter syndrome, comparisonitis, fear of failure, elation and despair. I hope that by listening to these podcasts writers will feel that they are not alone, that they will be inspired, and find emotional courage.

I transcribe the interviews so that they can be read:

https://abrakdeborah.wordpress.com/category/the-mindful-writer/

or listened to as a podcast:

https://themindfulwriter.buzzsprout.com/

You can check out Deborah’s novels here:

 

Love’s Child.

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Welcome to my new feature, which is a book or prize giveaway to one of my wonderful newsletter subscribers. This month I am giving away a £10/$10 Amazon voucher! Each month there will be a new prize giveaway. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to read this blog post, leave a comment about the book featured, which this month is Love’s Child, in the comments section below this post and share on social media (links are at the bottom of this post). At the end of the month, there will be prize winner selected at random, who will be picked from people who have commented (if they are also a subscriber of this site).

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Today I’m going to tell you about the second book I wrote, Love’s Child. This book has been updated for 2019 and has a shiny new cover! The story is about love, family and friendships and staying together in tough times. It has some feisty characters and was great fun to write. My main character is called David Love. He has had a rough upbringing and wants his pregnant girlfriend Tilly to have the life he didn’t as a child. He runs a club for teenagers to channel aggression into productivity and his life changes dramatically when his club hits the headlines for the amazing work he is doing. This brings new people into the club and they try to discover a secret that David has harboured for a long time. It also puts Tilly in danger and David has to step into a glamorous world full of multi-millionaires, to make sure she and his baby survive.

If you want to check out the Love’s Child book and blurb, or buy a copy, it’s here: Love’s Child.

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Subscriber giveaways.

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Hello everyone. I’m going to be posting just once a week from now on. It will be on a Monday, as usual, but I will mix it up with author interviews, marketing posts for writers, my own writing news and I am going to be running a competition every month with great prizes for my website subscribers. I will randomly select one subscriber each month and send them the gift as a way of saying thank you for subscribing. Anyone is able to win more than once as it will be a random draw. Good luck everyone! From Lizzie.

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Prize giveaway!

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Competition time!

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Guess who’s participating in this promo?!? Me!! Enter to win 20+ Romantic Comedies, including my novel, If you love me, I’m yours, a brand new eReader and books from authors like Piper Rayne, Erica Ridley, Maggie Mae Gallagher, and more – along with ✨✨ FREE ✨✨ reads just for entering. This giveaway ends very soon, so make sure you hurry!
✨ Goodluck!✨

GO HERE TO ENTER: bit.ly/RomCom – July2019

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Introducing Arabella Sheen.

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Today I am happy to introduce you to such a lovely lady and talented author, Arabella Sheen. I met Arabella through the Romantic Novelists’ Association and it has been a pleasure to learn more about her work. Today she will be sharing the news about her latest sweet Regency release…Westbury.

Chit-Chat from Arabella Sheen…

Lizzie has asked me to tell her readers a little bit about me…so here goes.

Before, in a previous life, I left school with a few GCSE’s and trained as a nurse. Having qualified as a General Nurse, I then specialized in theatre nursing and moved to Holland in the Netherlands, where, for nearly twenty years, I lived, worked and breathed hospitals. I loved it. The work, the people, the place…everything. It was a brilliant life experience and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. The challenge of solving health problems whilst helping sick people at the same time was amazing. Although hard work, nursing is a rewarding job and one that I would recommend to anyone. Sadly, due to personal health reasons and the need for family support, I returned to England and my career track changed completely.

By day, I’m now employed as a chef in a busy international hotel and by night, I’m pounding the keys on the laptop, working on my latest work-in-progress.

Writing has always held a fascination for me. I have drawers, shelves, cupboards, and bookcases, all filled and covered with books. Anywhere and everywhere a book can be stored, you’ll find one. And it was simply a step from the longing to read romance novels, that the urge to write books evolved. The creation of stories has always captivated me.

I was fortunate enough to have been born and raised in Clifton, Bristol, England, (where I now live), and grew up surrounded by beautiful classical Georgian architecture. The romance of the Regency era has always held me spellbound and my imagination runs riot whenever I think about what could have happened behind some of the doors and in some of the buildings I walk by on a daily basis.

But, it was while travelling to a RNA Chapter meeting which was being held with fellow authors in Lacock, a historical village in the heart of Wiltshire, England, (where Cranford, Pride and Prejudice, Downton Abby, not to mention Harry Potter, were filmed), that the urge to write Westbury evolved.

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BOOK  BLURB:                    Westbury

Can Miss Georgina Morton surrender her independence and accept the Duke’s love?

Miss Georgina Morton, at the age of four-and-twenty, with a modest annual income of four hundred pounds, believes she has no need of a husband and can manage quite nicely without one. Yet within a matter of weeks, she’s betrothed to Giles Glentworth, the Sixth Duke of Westbury, and bound for Regency London.

Set in rural Wiltshire and elegant, fast-paced London…a runaway ward, a shooting at mid-night, and a visit to fashionable Almack’s, are only a few of the adventures Georgina enjoys while falling for the Corinthian charms of the Duke.

 

Arabella Sheen - Westbury - Cover - Feb 2019

BOOK EXCERPT:

The Marquis was a fine figure of a man. Handsome enough, with a crop of thick, raven-black hair swept back from his brow in the style known as a Brutus. His features, although not rugged, were strong and compelling. And his penetrating eyes, by startling contrast, were of a cool steely grey that was mesmerising. But his good looksand manly attractiveness did not sway her from the fact that his gentleman-likebehaviour wasn’t up to scratch or that he was shouting, giving her a dressing down in public.

Flustered and on the point of apologising for her hasty action, Georgina remained silent. When she heard his angry words and the tone of voice in which he spoke, she pointedly ignored his outburst and concentrated solely on straightening her lopsided bonnet. But when his horses moved, restlessly shaking their manes for attention, her bonnet, which had by now fallen from her head and dangled by its ribbons down her back, was completely forgotten.

Drawing near to where the high-perch phaetonstood, and with total disregard for her safety, she’d gone to the front of the carriage, taken the horses’ bridles in her gloved hands, and tried to calm them. Stroking their forelocks, she’d spoken soothing words before fixing a steely glare of disdain upon their owner.

Never before had she been more thankful for all the hours she’d spent in her bedchamber as a young girl, standing in front of the mirror, practising and perfecting the art of delivering the harshest of stares imaginable. Any lesser man than the Marquis would have baulked at herglower, but her unflinching look seemed not to affect him.

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Westbury  – Ballrooms, Cotillions and Almack’s

Available from:

Amazon Universal:http://bit.ly/2TAndcI

Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2DbG1Ie

Barnes & Noble – Nook:http://bit.ly/2RHldOb

Kobo:http://bit.ly/2GaHUJe

Website:http://www.arabellasheen.co.uk/sweet-regency.html

and other reputable ebook retailers.

 

Arabella keeps in touch with her readers on:

Website:http://www.arabellasheen.co.uk/

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/ArabellaSheenAuthor/

Twitter:https://twitter.com/ArabellaSheen

 

 

 

Introducing Rosie Dean.

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It’s my great pleasure to introduce you to romantic fiction author, Rosie Dean, today. Rosie is a fellow member of The Romantic Novelists Association and I can’t wait to find out what you think of her fabulous work. I absolutely love receiving the author photos I request, as they say so much about the writer’s personality. Here you can see Rosie with her cover designer, Joe Brown, in one photo and another with her dog Dillon, in Spain.

Meet Rosie:

Although Rosie Dean has been writing stories and plays since she was big enough to type she came to full-time fiction writing after teaching art and pottery in high schools, and then writing marketing materials for the corporate world.

Now, happily inhabiting the imaginary world of her characters, Rosie loves to write sassy, romantic fiction with a sense of humour and, sometimes, a sense of the ridiculous – because we all know life and love aren’t exactly how we’d like them to be.

Rosie often draws on her past experiences for the content of her books; Vicki is a teacher of art, Gigi is a sculptor, Millie works in marketing but runs an amateur dramatic group for teenagers in her spare time, and Chloe is trying to save a theatre from being bulldozed.

Each heroine is looking for her hero, and her search is invariably fraught with chaos, drama and some amusing misunderstandings.

Rosie is lucky enough to split her time between southern Spain and the Isle of Wight – where she set her latest book, Gigi’s Island Dream.

Rosie has four romantic comedies available on Amazon which you can buy via her author page:       http://www.amazon.com/Rosie-Dean/e/B00GML9CU0

Millie’s Game Plan

Vicki’s Work of Heart

Chloe’s Rescue Mission

Gigi’s Island Dream

 

Grab a copy of her books and visit her social media pages here:

E-mail                                     rosiedean.author@gmail.com

Website/blog                          http://www.rosie-dean.com

Facebook                                http://www.facebook.com/RosieDeanWriter

Twitter                                    http://twitter.com/RosieDeanAuthor

Goodreads                              www.goodreads.com/RosieDean

Amazon (Author Page)          http://www.amazon.com/Rosie-Dean/e/B00GML9CU0

BookBub                                 http://www.bookbub.com/authors/rosie-dean

Visit the #RRBC pop-up book shop!

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This December 2018, marks the start of a 15-day BOOKS & BUDZ HOLIDAY “POP-UP” BOOKSHOP for my book group which is called RRBC. Check out the selection of romance books in the store with this link: ROMANCE

This amazing promotional event is popping up for two weeks only, to help you make your holiday shopping a breeze for those bookworms and big book lovers on your list.

The venue has so much to offer, and although I want to tell you all about it here, I’d rather wait for you to drop in to see it all for yourself, as there are so many new authors to discover there.

When you visit certain areas of the (virtual) venue, you will see dollar signs ($) around everywhere.  This is a reminder that there are some really good book deals here and we want you to not leave without first making a book purchase (or one, or two, or three…well, you get my drift).

Let me tell you what you will get for making a one, two, three or more book purchase:  one lucky randomly drawn winner will win a $50 Amazon gift card, and a few other randomly drawn lucky winners, will also win Amazon gift cards, in varying amounts!

To earn entry into this wonderful drawing, you must purchase a title from the “pop-up” and you must email us proof of that purchase (made between Dec. 1st and Dec. 15th) to RRBCInfo@gmail.com. (Simply take a snapshot of your Amazon receipt with your phone or computer).

For every purchase receipt that you send to us, you get 1 entry into the drawing.  Some books are FREE, some are $.99 cents, some are $1.99, $2.99, $3.99…again, you get my drift.  You’ll be able to shop under each price point that you’d like to spend in.

Click the link below to visit the location:  #RRBC pop up bookshop

(This link should be live from the start of December 2018)

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Also bought on Amazon.

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Hi everyone. Today’s post is about also bought on Amazon. It is the section that offers similar products to people who have purchased something on Amazon. It is important because it works on Amazon’s algorithm and sends your book or product to customers who might also like to buy it, as they have purchased something similar before. For example, someone who has bought a romance book, might enjoy a romantic suspense novel. Someone who has bought a bikini, might also like suntan lotion.

The full article here explains that although selling to your friends and family first is wonderful, it also adds them to your products ‘fans’ and then your books/products would be sent out as an also bought. If you have other customers who buy your products first, then they will be the ones seen as ‘fans’ and they will be sent your new products as something they might also like. Friends and family buying your book first, may be detrimental to your future sales as the promotions would be sent to them, when it is likely they would know about them already.

Read the full article here. I posted this in my Facebook book group Lizzie’s Book Group a couple of weeks ago, so some of you may have read it there. Feel free to join the group if you aren’t there already.

Understanding also bought on Amazon, click here.

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In the top 100!

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For today’s part of my tour, I have been invited onto the blog of author of the Sexy M.F series of books, Lisa Mackay

Lisa has been a big part of my tour, long with my other hosts, and has been visiting each tour stop and posting on social media about Ninja School Mum, for which I am eternally grateful. I can’t wait for her to read my latest book. Ninja School Mum is now raked #33 and is in the top 100 of it’s category alongside books by Tilly Bagshawe and Agatha Christie!  A big thank you to everyone who has bought a paperback or pre-ordered their ebook copy.  Happy reading:)

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Meet Award Winning Author Heidi Catherine!

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About Heidi Catherine:

Heidi Catherine is a writer with a weakness for stories that encourage readers to see the world in a new light. Her debut novel, The Soulweaver, explores the possibility of loving the same souls over many lifetimes. This novel is the winner of Romance Writers of Australia’s Emerald Pro award and will be released by Crooked Cat Books on 19 January 2018.

Not being able to decide if she prefers living in Melbourne or the Mornington Peninsula, Heidi shares her time between both places. She is similarly pulled in opposing directions by her two sons and two dogs, remaining thankful she only has one husband.

Heidi loves to hear from readers and can be found at www.heidicatherine.com


The Soulweaver by Heidi Catherine

The Soulweaver Blurb

She’s loved and lost him a hundred times across a thousand years. She can’t bear to lose him again.

Lin’s dreams are haunted by faces of people she’s never met. Unable to shake the feeling she’s lived before, she’s drawn to Reinier—a stranger whose soul is heartbreakingly familiar from a time gone by.

Reinier helps Lin unravel the mystery of her past life as Hannah, a girl who sacrificed herself for her true love, Matthew. As Lin falls hopelessly in love with Reinier, her memories of her life as Hannah sharpen and she finds herself unable to let go of Matthew.

With her heart torn in two, Lin must decide whether she should stand by Reinier’s side or track down Matthew and fight for his love. What she doesn’t know is that her decision will ripple across our troubled planet, affecting far more lives than just her own.

Winner of Romance Writers of Australia’s Emerald Pro award, The Soulweaver is a story that will change the way you see the world.

 

Here are five fun things you may not know about me, by Heidi Catherine!

1. I am a vegetarian who used to work in a delicatessen. You’d think that coming home with shoes filled with chicken blood might have been what tipped me over the vegetarian edge, but almost 20 years passed between me leaving work at the deli and deciding to no longer eat meat. My decision also had nothing to do with the tray of ham I threw at my boss’s feet when I resigned… I promise.
2. When I was growing up, my father was a forensic scientist with the police. My sister and I were strictly forbidden to look in his briefcase, which of course meant that we looked in it every chance we got. Until one day we found a jar with a human finger floating in it (nail polish perfectly intact). Scarred for life!
3. I recently had a Soul Reading, where I was told that in my past lives I’ve been a trapped miner, a dancer and a famous male actor in black and white movies. Apparently I was a very dapper and had a lovely moustache. Those were the days…
4. In my early 20s I was talked into doing a bungy jump. I was so petrified that I refused to jump so the guy working there picked me up by my hands and dropped me straight over the edge. It was one of the worst things I’ve ever done.
5. In celebration of signing my first publishing deal, I got a tattoo on the inside of my left wrist that says ‘BELIEVE’. A few minutes before the tattoo artist began he confessed to me that he’s dyslexic. Not exactly what I wanted to hear!

The Emerald Pro award is an annual competition run by Romance Writers of Australia for the best unpublished manuscript written by a published author. 

 
The Soulweaver won first place in the Emerald Pro awards in 2015. 
 
 
Emerald Pro judges’ comments:

‘This entry had me transfixed from the very first sentence and the intrigue continued throughout the whole book. Amazingly well written, fantastic use of poetic language, unusual story line that made sense even though it transposed time and characters. Thought it was wonderful.’

`I would describe it as really beautiful, clever and interesting story about love (not just romantic) and connections.’

‘The story, it’s amazing! Loved it! I love the concept and the storyline.’

‘The writing is beautiful, and I think this story has been very carefully crafted for the target readership. I think it will really appeal to young female readers (and older ones too).’

‘This was a very compelling novel opening. I shivered a few times while reading it— always the sign of a good story, I think! I thought the plot was well structured and well paced. The tone of the opening drew me in, and the writing was expressive without being overly flowery. The supernatural part of the story was also dealt with beautifully.’

‘The opening lines are very powerful and would definitely grab the intended audience. There was a feeling of intense emotion straightaway and I was captivated by what might have happened.’ 

 

Book Title: The Soulweaver

Author: Heidi Catherine

Release date: 19 January 2018

Available for Sale at: TBC

ISBN: TBC

Retail Price: TBC

Publisher website: www.crookedcatbooks.com

Author website: www.heidicatherine.com

Author Twitter: www.twitter.com/heidicatherine

Author Facebook: www.facebook.com/heidicatherineauthor