A letter to my lovely and awesome readers.

Dear Readers,

I want you to know that I appreciate everyone who stops by this blog. I know I've been slacking lately, but things have been busy.  My lack of posts isn't what I want to talk to you about today. I want to talk to you about an issue that has recently showed it's face. Apparently, some writers out there think that readers are a machine that needs to be fed and right now readers want erotic romance and that is what everyone should be writing if they want to make money.

Well, I don't have any problem with erotic romance. I read it, but I don't write it. I'm not going to write it just because it's popular right now. I don't think I'd be any good at it and I won't subject you to that kind of torture. Regardless of genre, I will always write what I feel like writing. Some of that may find it's way to you. Some of it might sit on my computer for years and years. The point is, I'm not going to publish everything I write just because I want to make money.

I do not see you, the reader, as a wallet waiting to be emptied. I have great respect for you and the only reason I write is to connect with you. Anyone who picks up my books or stories is likely to have something in common with me. The communication may be one way, (Me talking to you through the story) but I do love talking to many of you on social media sites, through this blog, and sometimes via email. Honestly, your support is all I need.

If you only enter giveaways because you can't afford to buy your books, I STILL appreciate you, because you are putting in an effort to read something that I wrote. I would be very honored to meet anyone who read something of mine whether you won it in a contest, borrowed it from a friend, or paid for it with your hard earned money.

I've been a little down in the dumps lately, because I didn't think anyone was buying my book. The other day I got my royalty statement and I was surprised to see that I'd sold more print books than I did ebooks. I couldn't believe it. My print books are fairly expensive compared to others and there were people out there who wanted to spend that money to read what I wrote and own a physical copy of it. If you are one of those people, or even if you are just reading this post, I want to thank you. You are not part of a machine. You are all living, breathing individuals with opinions of your own and you deserve the best.

I started this blog because I want to connect with other people who like the paranormal genre, not because I want to shove my book down your throat. I would really love to know how YOU think I can improve this blog before I post anything else, so please tell me what you want to see in the comments. I want to make this blog about you, not me.

With much appreciation,
Kayla Curry

Off Subject: $.99 book alert (Non-Fiction)

I realize that most of you coming to this blog probably don't care about tourism. Some of you probably don't even care about marketing, but I had to let people know about this book (that I did the cover for!) is only $.99 today only!

The book is called Guerrilla Tourism Marketing: Increase Your Profit by Leveraging Marketing Technology & Relationships by Carol Wain and Jay Conrad Levinson

Now before you say, "I'm not in the tourism business, I don't need this," there may be some tactics in this book that writers can twist to work for them. That's why I bought it. I haven't had the chance to skim through it yet, but I think there might some helpful things in here.

So if you want to take a look, you can find it on Amazon HERE.

Cover Reveal for Robert Zimmermann's From Where I Stand

Today we are taking a little break from the paranormal and instead we'll be helping with the cover reveal of From Where I Stand, a book of poetry by Robert Zimmermann. Rob is a very kind and talented guy who is always eager to help others, so when he was looking for people to reveal his awesome cover, I jumped at the chance! He's been very hard at work on this project, and I can't wait until it's finally released!

 

BLURB:
From Robert Zimmermann comes From Where I Stand, an emotional debut poetry collection. Zimmermann explores strained parental relationships, loss of life, and the despair associated with grief. Alongside these darker themes, he delves into the small areas of life that often go unnoticed but become the hope we are searching for.

Expected release November 2012

Example’s of Robert’s poetry can be found in the poetry section on his blog. He also has poems published by Albany Poets.

QUOTES:

"Rob writes with an incredible sense of observation and feeling made all the more poignant by his struggles. Every verse is genuine and every poem is a journey toward understanding the soul of a poet." – Ben Ditmars, author of Night Poems


“Zimmermann has achieved something rarely seen in modern poetry. Each poem is a personal and detailed story that will strike the heart of the reader with a torrent of emotion. Zimmermann balances the dark and light beautifully and without a hint of hesitation.” – Jessica Fortunato, author of The Sin Collector Trilogy


"Rob's poetry has a very real tone to it and in some ways creates a tragic yet poetic story." – Paulina Ulrich, author of the Flightless Bird Series

 
"Honest, heartfelt and moving" – Amber Jerome~Norrgard, author of In The Gloaming


BIO:  

Robert has been writing poetry since the eleventh grade. His writing started as impulsive rambling, but soon became a passion. A few years later he attended SUNY Potsdam where he received a B.A. in Creative Writing.
His main focus is poetry, but at times you can find him dabbling in short fiction. Robert has also created the blog A Life Among The Pages, where he posts his writing as well as book reviews.

When he’s not reading or writing, Robert enjoys spending time with his dog, Deuc. Deuc ran out of the woods in August 2011 and that have been inseparable ever since.


LINKS:
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads

 

Cover Reveal: Confessions of a Cereal Mother by Rachel McClellan

Hello! Today I'm doing a cover reveal for a book that is a little off subject. It's not of the paranormal sort but honestly, if there is a paranormal being that actually walks among us, it's a creature called Mother--or for short, Mom. It just so happens that I am a mom. Yep. Two little boys.

Moms have super human senses. We can see a kid doing something and immediately know that it's not going to end well. Moms have quick reflexes. Before that little one even hits the ground after climbing his first chair, we are there in the blink of an eye to console them and don't forget about our ability to heal boo-boos with just one kiss.

So without further ado, here is the cover for Rachel McClellan's Confessions of a Cereal Mother:

 
Here's the Blurb:

In this narrative you’ll discover several mind-saving rules, which include:

• Unless there is a rush on the grocery store pending a zombie-virus outbreak, never take your kids shopping.
• If your toddler is going to chew on a Band-Aid, hope it’s one found inside the community swimming pools chlorinated pool and not one found in their locker room.
• Never throw up in a cookie sheet.
• Things can always get worse. You could discover your child playing with a used tampon applicator. It’s not a whistle, sweetie.
• And most importantly, the moment one of your children is seriously ill, forget about everything else. You have the greatest honor in the world – being a Mom.

And some links:

Pre--order on Amazon I Author Website I Facebook
 Find out more about Rachel McClellan and other awesome authors on The Fiction Bookshelf!

Way off subject . . .

This post has nothing to do with the paranormal, but I just needed somewhere to rant.

Last week I heard a guest at the hotel I work at say something about a ban in New York on large soda drinks. I discarded it as some crazy comment made by some crazy guest. Today, I was lurking on MSN.com and found this article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48033495/ns/business/

They seriously want to ban large soda drinks? I thought this was America? The land of the free? You know, where people are supposed to have the freedom to choose how much soda they want.

I realize they think that this will help with the obesity rate, but unfortunately, unless they just outlaw soda, that won't happen. If people want to drink a soda, they will drink a soda. If they can't get the 64 ounce soda they crave, they'll just buy two 32 ounce sodas. Problem solved.

My thinking is that this will just make restaurants and gas stations go through more plastic/styrofoam/paper cups and therefore add tons of plastic/styrofoam/paper cups to landfills.

So let's recap. The mayor wants to add to the pollution strain the earth is already under, just to maybe save a few people from drinking too much of a sugary beverage. MAYBE!

I'm addicted to Dr. Pepper. I'll admit it. Since I'm pregnant I limit myself to two, sometimes three cans a day. (Which is well under the pregnancy caffeine limit) When I'm not pregnant, I will drink as much of that stuff as I want. Now, if I finish a can/glass of Dr. Pepper and I want more, what's to stop me from just getting up and walking to the fridge for more?

In my opinion, outlawing large cups will only lead to people carrying around a 2 liter bottle. This ban will not put a dent in obesity, let alone get rid of it.

Patrons of eating establishments will buy their 16 ounce beverage, drink it, and either get a refill or buy another one. What is the eating establishment going to say? "Sorry, you're cut off." I don't think so. They aren't going to turn away another $1.50 in their pockets.

If they decide to put a limit on how many you can buy, why not put a limit on how many cheeseburgers one can buy? Or how many fries they can eat?

Obesity is a problem. Yes, I know, but the people affected by this disorder need to want to change. They can't have it forced upon them in some silly attempt by the government to act like they care.