Celebrate *Discovering Your Author Brand*

 Now, a brand isn't burned into your flesh, but it is burned into your reader's minds.

Bring readers to your books, to your series, and to every thing connected to your author name through Branding.

Discovering Your Author Brand will help you start branding.

Here's the book description:

Here’s something not sexy. A brand for writing is a contract with the reader.

Here’s two more. Brands identify quality work with artistic effort. They serve as a stamp of approval for the customer.

Yeah, yeah. You’ve heard that before.

Look around, and you’ll spot lots of flash-bang presentations on creating author brands. As more writers become self-published and traditional writers try to increase their marketing, the Author Brand is a hot topic.

Everyone talks about it. Few people can explain how to do it or give instructions to follow.

Well, gee, here’s another book, too. How is Discovering Your Author Brand different from the other books in the marketplace?

1^st ~ It’s packed with examples based on highly successful writers.

Face it, in today’s marketplace, our competition is our peers and every other writer who has come before us. Agatha Christie is still selling. Ray Bradbury is selling. Arthur Conan Doyle sells. Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot was made into a Will Smith movie over two decades after Asimov died.

These writers aren’t on the best-seller lists; only new books earn places on those lists. But Christie and Bradbury and Doyle and many, many more writers are competition for everyone else entering the marketplace. And they have the cachet of quality that new and recent writers struggle to achieve.

So, we’ll look at successful brands and analyze the secrets of their success.

2^nd ~ Discovering Your Author Brand understands that the browsing readers will only give a few nanoseconds to our books.

So, we explain the three main glances that hook the readers before they swim down the river. We also look at the keys to unlock those glances. With the right keys, the brand is revealed, and the door to the reader opens.

To help with the keys and glances, we have worksheets (charts!) to help you discover the brand for book, series, and your author persona—because the first leads to the last.

3^rd ~ We have something the other books don’t have, another way to catch the attention of that swimming reader. Video trailers!

Advertising claims that consumers have to see something seven times—7!—before they’ll buy. Static ads and promo posts are all well and good, but we writers need an extra oomph to get that seventh look. Enter the video trailer.

Have you ever wanted to set up a video trailer or a brief clip, currently big on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram? Have you hesitated because you don’t know where to start?

We have an easily adaptable script as well as guidance on settling the debate between music and narration. (We pick music!)

Discovering Your Author Brand is packed with explanations and examples. Book 7 in the Discovering set, the manual is designed for new writers on the journey to becoming totally professional.

Writer M.A. Lee has been self-publishing fiction and non-fiction since 2015. She has over 25 books published under her pseudonyms. Visit www.writersinkbooks.com or her Amazon author page to discover more information.

Launch Day for *A Trio of Hazards*

 

Launch Day!

Welcome to A Trio of Hazards,

twisty mysteries during Regency England,

as people from the many spheres of life clash against each other—

and against murderers!

Complex Schemes, Dangerous Pasts :: The Hazard of Secrets

Clarey Parton crosses the Atlantic to steal an inheritance. She hopes that no one discovers the rightful heir lies in a cold grave.

Jem Baxter returns to the England he fled three years before. He assumes the name James Axminster to conceal his past, one littered with misdeeds.

When a press gang sees two people traveling alone, they seize the opportunity for quick cash: they plan to sell Clarey to a brothel and impress Jem on a merchant ship. Fate brings these two lonely souls together. Chance helps them escape.

Yet escape traps them in another secret—one with murder as a bloody solution.

The Hazard of Secrets offers twists and turns as tight as knots. Can Clarey and Jem keep their secrets, or will murder force them to reveal all?

 

Treacherous Traitors, Murders Past and Present :: The Hazard for Spies

Disguised to Spy.

Conrad Hoppock works with the Bow Street Runners to locate a French master spy. His search sends him undercover in a firm of solicitors.

Phinney Darracott wants justice for the murders of her sister and brother-in-law. Clues lead her to a firm of London solicitors. Disguised as a cleaning maid, Phinney prowls for the evidence. There she encounters Conrad.

And the lawyer at the center of the tangle of clues is shot dead while they watch from hiding.

Will Phinney and Conrad discover the connection between past and present murders? Or will two bullets solve the problem for the murderer and the French master spy?

Will murder destroy their chance for love?

Knotty problems turn into bloody events in The Hazard for Spies.

 

Rumors, Lies, Superstition, & Murder :: The Hazard with Hearts

The bride of the Earl of Sheldrake, Vivienne Northrup encounters ghost stories from venomous neighbors when she arrives at the Hall. Her husband is busy with the concerns of the estate, and his relatives are less than welcoming.

Then, while exploring the ruins of Sheldrake Castle, she barely escapes a stone dislodged from a tower.

Rumors whisper the Earl is a Bluebeard, killing his two previous wives. Others claim the first  committed suicide while the second fell on the stairs. Which version is the truth?

Or were his wives murdered?

Two wives haunt the castle. Will Vivienne the third to die?

The Hazard with Hearts offers a determined heroine who confronts doubts, superstition, and the dark passions of a killer who wants every countess of Sheldrake dead and buried.

~ ~ ~ 

A Trio of Hazards bundles together the last three books in the Hearts in Hazard series, mysteries and suspense with a dash of sweet romance. Set in Regency England, the novels are loosely connected and are complete, without cliffhangers. Find it here!

Celebrate *Discovering Characters*

 Want to write a novel? You need to understand characters.

Discovering Characters is a comprehensive guidebook.  Check it out here:  take advantage of the summer promotional pricing, slowly winding down.

Preview *The Hazard with Hearts*

It's the first world premiere for the last book in the Hearts in Hazard series. This preview The Hazard with Hearts should spark your fire.

What's In a Name? Well, Everything.

 The Hazard with Hearts started with a mad rush of writing … then died to nothingness for several weeks.

The names of the characters presented my first difficulty.

The male protagonist’s name was never difficult. My female protagonist’s name posed several

problems. I intended this book as another salute to the vintage gothics of the 1960s and 1970s. I cut my reading teeth on the suspenseful romances of Victoria Holt and Jane Aiken Hodges and other masters of romantic suspense like Mary Stewart and of the Regency World like Georgette Heyer.

For my heroine, the name Victoria Winters tempted me greatly. Several pages in, however, her personality was nothing like that passive Victoria Winters of the TV Dark Shadows series, and no Barnabas Collins or other vampire would take a bite into this story. After the remake of Dark Shadows, the name also “hurt” my sensibilities.

I hunted up another project while I tinkered with this novel’s elements, trying to figure out what my writing problem was. When you write an entire chapter from the heroine’s point of view without using her name once—that is problematic. I had Name Avoidance. The novel was far behind my schedule and creeping toward its paperback publication date.

I can plead the distractions of non-fiction last year. In the back half of the year, I published four nonfiction guides for writers and added a bundle of the four. This year began with publishing three more NF guides and a bundle for that set.

But these are excuses.  

Problems, Problems, Problems!

The Hazard for Spies, the book previous to this one, gave all sorts of difficulties and encountered more trials than a single book should. The pandemic Corona-coaster was the greatest while moving into my dream home—a happy occasion—also gave another emotional roller coaster. H4Spies reached publication in April of this year.

Distractions and disruptions continued, caging my mind with other things while I tried to figure out my disaffection with HwHearts. For writers, that disruptive cage is psychological. We can and must free ourselves from those mental prisons. I repeat that reminder continuously. Yet I kept stumbling into the cage.

Distractions and disruptions can be helpful. I tinkered with other projects and kept unsuccessfully punching into HwH—and “punching” says everything, for no story-telling art is served by punching words onto the page.

As I worked through the project of reformatting the whole Hearts in Hazard series for paperback publication, I discovered my protagonist shared a name with a rather vile young lady in a previous book. After a few hours of contemplation of names, I changed the protagonist’s name to Vivienne.

The next day over 3,000 words flowed out—rethinking early scenes and revising the ones that were punched out, adding more ideas and inserting new scenes. 2,000 words flowed the next day; 3,000, the one after. The dam had broken.

Shakespeare asked “What’s in a name? A rose by any other word would smell as sweet.”

Well, true, but connotation is everything.

A simple change ~ thinking “opportunity” rather than “block”, “chance” rather than “doom”, and “potential” rather than “burden”. These are the saviors of the writer. Changing the character’s name led to changing a few traits of the character—and her new drive changed the trajectory of the back-half of the novel. See? Names matter? Just as the name Montague mattered to Tybalt Capulet, no matter what Juliet wanted to think.

So, here is The Hazard with Hearts, more suspense than the psychological thriller à la Victoria Holt and Dorothy Eden, more like Mary Stewart in a historical era or Georgette Heyer’s The Reluctant Widow.

The Hearts in Hazard series is now concluded—but more ideas for stories are already pouring out. Watch for them! They may surprise you ~ the stories always surprise me.

 

New Release ~ The Hazard with Hearts

  What's my summer been? Well ....

The Hazard with Hearts

Two wives haunt the castle. Will she be the third to die?

Vivienne Northrup agreed to a marriage of convenience to reap the benefits of becoming the Countess

of Sheldrake. While she explores the ruins of Sheldrake Castle, a falling stone dislodged from a tower nearly kills her.

Only then does Vivienne discover that the earl’s previous two wives died tragically. The first had jumped to her death from that very tower.

Or had the woman been pushed? The way the stone nearly killed Vivienne?

In the gothic tradition of Victoria Holt and Dorothy Eden, The Hazard with Hearts offers a determined heroine who confronts doubts, superstition, and the dark passions of a killer who wants every countess of Sheldrake dead and buried.

The Hazard with Hearts is book 12 in the Hearts in Hazard series of mysteries and suspense, with just a dash of sweet romance. The stories are loosely connected with each story complete in one book.

In paperback and ebook formats.

Find it here on Amazon and at other locations here.

The official release date is September 16, but it is available NOW.

Celebrating *Digging Into Death*

 Celebrate!

On this date in 2016, Digging into Death published!

Crete in 1919:  Damsel in Distress.

Abandoned by her employer, budding artist Isabella Newcombe finds herself stranded at an archaeological dig.  Madoc Tarrant convinces his brother, the professor in charge, to hire Isabella to illustrate magazine articles covering the dig.

Romance is inevitable.  Murder is not.

Preview the story with this video trailer. Purchase the ebook or paperback at this link.

Celebrate Your Change with 2*0*4!

 Want to change your weight? Your heart? Your perspective? Your life?

Use a planner, daily documenting your journey of change. 2*0*4 Lifestyle is celebrating its 2 birthday.

Bird in the Meadow is Here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1718133286

Mountain Stream is Here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1720155321

One buck plus change for each month of the year, and tremendous changes in your life.

Enjoy!

Coming Soon! I Can't Wait!

 It's the release of The Hazard with Hearts.

Rumors, lies, superstition, and murder.

Is the Earl of Sheldrake a Bluebeard who killed his first two wives?

Vivienne doesn't know. All she knows is that two wives haunt the castle.

Will she be the third to die?

Promo Set 2 for *Hazard with Hearts*

 Earlier this month (September!), we shared the first set of snippets from the novel. Remember, each post has a teaser tag and a buy link (similar to the first one shared here).

Here's the second set for your EnJoYMenT! (Oh, repeating Sept. 7--because I like it!)

Sept. 7

“Sheldrake! That sounds as if you believe you are a monstrous beast in the forest, devouring whoever nears your lair.”

“You don’t find me a beast in the forest?”

 The gothic romance: a young heroine, an enigmatic hero, and danger all around, in The Hazard with Hearts. Coming soon!

 Preorder here.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GJXKK2N

Sept. 8

“You must keep all remaining secrets closer than a hand of cards,” Vivienne warned. “Miss Beale is an authoress. We mere mortals are fodder for her pen.”

 Coming soon : The Hazard with Hearts ~ mystery and suspense with a dash of romance.

 And a few snide comments about one authoress from another.

Sept. 9

She touched the shadowy figure in the window. The oil dabbed to paint the image had rough lines. “The artist didn’t depict the windows accurately. See these mullions. They are bars, like prison bars. See, the windows have no crosspieces, and all the house windows have three.”

“The man standing in the trees, he’s as much a ghost as the imprisoned woman. But he’s free.”

“And watching the house. Watching her. A lover? Someone who wants to free her?”

 Sept. 10

“Ride back as if the hounds of Hell are after you, Greggs.”

Sept. 11

The candle guttered. She quickly shielded it.

“Vivienne,” came the whisper.

She shuddered, realizing that someone was in these passages with her. With only a narrow board between her and a steep drop onto twisting stairs.

Sept. 12

He called himself aloof … but he was hiding from life.

Only now, with his third wife, threatened, did he understand.

Sept. 13

“Max!”

“Do you know? I prefer Max to Sheldrake.”

“It’s not proper,” she choked.

“But it is now you think of me. Of me, not the title.”

Sept. 14

“You say that so easily. Find another way to kill me. I do not like that it sounds so easy.”

Sept. 15

Dreams of knights gallant are all very well, Vivienne thought hazily, but a man who stops nightmares is a greater hero.  The gothic romance: a young heroine, an enigmatic hero, and danger all around, in The Hazard with Hearts. Coming soon!  Preorder here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GJXKK2N

Promo Set 1 for *The Hazard with Hearts*

Here are the snippets (first Octave set) that I pulled from the manuscript to create promotional posts on social media for The Hazard with Hearts. These are an interesting preview of the novel.

Launch is on Sept. 16.

If you haven't seen them, well--Enjoy!

Aug. 31

“Ghosts, my dear. On the darkest night, when no moon lights the velvet sky.” Julius Cavell swirled the brandy in his glass. “She drifts along these halls. When you see her, your blood will freeze. When she touches you, you will scream.”

 The gothic romance: a heroine in danger, an enigmatic hero, and ghosts, all in The Hazard with Hearts. Coming soon!

 Preorder here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GJXKK2N (This line never changes.)

Sept. 1

Miss Beale watched the dowager’s ascent of the curving staircase. “I can never manage that floating ascent. I must add that to one of my books.”

Coming soon : The Hazard with Hearts ~ mystery and suspense with a dash of romance.

The "Coming Soon" alternates among three options.

Sept. 2

Miss Beale watched the dowager’s ascent of the curving staircase. “I can never manage that floating ascent. I must add that to one of my books.”

Sept. 3

“Will I enjoy meeting your new wife?” Mr. Beldreccan asked snidely. “Does she know that she is your third wife? Is she aware of the tragic ends of your first two wives? I might be tempted to call you Bluebeard.”

 The gothic romance: a young heroine, an enigmatic hero, and danger all around, in The Hazard with Hearts. Coming soon! (For here, I won't continue to repeat this line.)

Sept. 4

“I was exploring the castle ruins,” Vivienne explained.

“I asked you not to go there without me. It is dangerous.”

That whiplike retort made her feel like a disobedient child. “You said very little more than that.”

“Clearly you didn’t listen.”

“Clearly I did not.”

“Clearly—.”

“You did not explain,” she said over him, surprising Max into silence. Since their engagement, she had treated him with deference, but she wouldn’t be lessened to a child.

Sept. 5

She drew herself taller, adding an inch to her small stature. “I am the countess of Sheldrake. I do not give an inch to fear.”

 Perhaps she should.

Sept. 6

His second wife Rowena had believed him guilty. Something twisted in her had thrilled at the suspicion that her husband had killed his first wife. “Bluebeard,” she called him then laughed and said, “Goldenbeard, but still the same.”

Sept. 7

 Julius Cavell nodded. “Her ghostly aura was there, waving a warning to Lady Sheldrake.”

Miss Beale shuddered. “That is a delightful thought, a dead wife warning the living one.”

Celebrate *The Hazard of Secrets*

 The Hazard of Secrets 

celebrates its first anniversary.

Complex Schemes. Dangerous Pasts.

Clarey Parton crosses the Atlantic to steal an inheritance. She hopes that no one discovers the rightful heir lies in a cold grave.

Jem Baxter returns to the England he fled three years before. He assumes the name James Axminster to conceal his past, one littered with misdeeds.

When a press gang sees two people traveling alone, they seize the opportunity for quick cash: they plan to sell Clarey to a brothel and impress Jem on a merchant ship. Fate brings these two lonely souls together. Chance helps them escape.

Yet escape traps them in another secret—one with murder as a bloody solution.

The Hazard of Secrets offers twists and turns as tight as knots. Can Clarey and Jem keep their secrets, or will murder force them to reveal all?

Click this link to take advantage of the Summer of Hearts in Hazard promotional pricing, at online distributors everyone and available at this link on Amazon in ebook and paperback formats