#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with C. L. Tolbert

I’d like to welcome author, C. L. Tolbert to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday.

A few of your favorite things:

My mother’s antique cloisonne apple. I store my rings in at night; family photos; my daughter’s ballet toe shoes; my son’s first poem; my wedding ring

Things you need for your writing sessions:

My computer, a desk, a chair, and relative silence

Things that hamper your writing:

Noise! I find certain noises distracting when I’m writing, especially people talking, or telephone calls. I also find loud music disturbing, so if I plan to write at a coffee shop, I visit on days when the barista in charge plays music more to my liking.

Things you love about writing:

I enjoy the process of writing. I love creating new characters and putting the old characters through the rigor of new circumstances. Plot development is always the first step, and scratches the same itch as completing a crossword or another sort of puzzle. Character development is next, then action. I write in stages and enjoy every one of them.

Hardest thing about being a writer:

The most difficult thing about being a writer is knowing when to stop editing. If it weren’t for deadlines, I’d edit forever.

Things you never want to run out of:

Books, pens, pencils, paper, watercolors

Favorite smell:

New babies, new puppies, springtime breezes

Something you wish you could do:

Snow ski

Something you like to do:

I like to write, and I enjoy reading. I also like playing tennis although I’m terrible at it. I enjoy walking when the weather is nice, and yoga, even on the worst of days.

Things you always put in your books:

Although my books are mysteries, each book has an issue of social justice at its center.

Favorite places you’ve been:

Florence, Venice, Paris, London, Istanbul, New York, Edinburgh, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Charleston

About C. L.:

In 2010, Cynthia Tolbert won the Georgia Bar Journal’s fiction contest for the short story version of OUT FROM SILENCE.  Cynthia developed that story into the first full-length novel of the Thornton Mystery Series, which was published by Level Best Books in December of 2019. Her second book in this same series, entitled THE REDEMPTION, which is set in New Orleans, will be released in February of 2021.  

Both books are legal procedurals, but they turn on complex characters, sympathetic suspects, and an attorney determined to find the truth. Adam, the protagonist in the first book, OUT FROM SILENCE, is deaf, and accused of killing his girlfriend. Louis, the protagonist in THE REDEMPTION, is only sixteen, and accused of killing two men. Their struggles to face their fear and to help their attorney prepare their defense is their greatest challenge.  

Cynthia has a Master’s in Special Education and taught children with learning disabilities before moving on to law school. She spent most of her legal career working as defense counsel to large corporations and traveled throughout the country as regional and national counsel. She also had the unique opportunity of teaching third-year law students in a clinical program at a law school in New Orleans where she ran the Homelessness Law Clinic and learned, first hand, about poverty in that city. The experiences and impressions she has collected from the past forty years contribute to the stories she writes today.

She has four children, and three grandchildren, and lives in Atlanta with her husband and schnauzer.

Let’s Be Social:

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Social Media Content Ideas for Authors

Sometimes, it can be overwhelming for authors to maintain all of their social media sites regularly. It’s not enough to post once in a while. Authors need to be engaged, and it can be hard to come up with content ideas other than news about your books. Here are some ideas.

Hobbies - Post pictures of your hobbies, crafts, cooking, or interesting projects you’re involved in.

Pets - Your furry, finned, or feathered sidekicks are always a hit and get a lot of attention.

Your Thing - Find something that interests you, and post about it regularly. I have several friends who take a walk each day with their dogs. They post each morning about their adventures. A lot of my author friends post what they are reading and ask for readers to chime in. I have one friend who starts a daily chat about exercise. I have another friend who goes antiquing a lot, and she posts pictures of her latest finds.

Your Adventures - Take pictures when you go places and do things. Share interesting exhibits, classes, and places. I know this is harder as the pandemic continues, but take pictures of Zoom calls. You can use your Print Screen button on your keyboard to capture a screen shot.

Shout outs - Recognize and celebrate with others. (Make sure to tag the person or organization.) If you attend events, workshops, or meetings, take pictures and share.

Look for Your Hook - Make a list of all the things that appear in your book. For my Delanie series, its Southern Sleuth, Female Private Eye, 80s Rock Singer, Richmond, VA, Computer Hacker, Sleazy Strip Club Owner, English Bulldog, Sears Catalogue Houses, etc.) Then look for posts to share. Look for groups with similar interests. I was asked to do a blog post and some interviews about the Sears Catalogue house in my stories with some folks I met on Facebook. Also post pictures or links to interesting research that you do.

There’s A Day for Everything - Google “Funny Holidays” or “Daily Holidays.” There are tons of lists and calendars out there. Make a list of things that interest you or relate to your books. At the beginning of the month, I schedule posts for my holidays. For the Mutt Mysteries series, I made a list of dog and pet days. This also gave the group some ideas for themes for Facebook parties.

Pinterest Boards - I make a Pinterest board for each book and topic that I’m researching. This helps me see what the characters and setting look like. A publisher asked me one time what the main characters looked like, so I pointed him and his cover designer to my Pinterest board.

Funny Memes - Funny memes garner attention, and these can be used to generate questions or discussion on social media.

What else would you add to my list?

Things Authors Can Do Between Books - Marketing Ideas

Marketing tends to be the all-encompassing focus right before and after a book launches, but there are lots of things you can do to build or maintain your platform or audience ahead of your next book. Here are some ideas.

• Look for ways to add readers to your email list. Make sure you take signup sheets to events, have a place on your blog for readers to join, and post about your newsletters on your social media. People sign up when they think they’re missing out on something.

• Set up a regular blogging schedule and try to stick to it. This will provide fresh content and drive traffic to your site.

• Build a backlog of blog posts. It’s always helpful to have a library of content to pull from when you get busy.

• Look for opportunities with other authors to be included in events, giveaways, and social media parties. This is a great way for readers to find you.

• Find ways to celebrate other authors by featuring them on your blog or social media posts.

• Build a list for your next launch. I have a really big spreadsheet that lists bloggers, reviewers, events, bookstores, podcasts, and anything else I can think of that will help me. I add to this every time, I come across something new or someone offers a recommendation.

• Don’t forget the “social” part in social media. You shouldn’t just be active on your sites when you have a book to promote. You build an audience and relationships by sharing, commenting, and posting regularly. This also helps to build your following. Figure out what you want to share and create interesting posts about your pets, recipes, crafts, etc.

• Set up a newsletter schedule. It’s a good idea to publish regularly and not just when you have a book for sale.

• Find projects to participate in that give you opportunities to work with other authors (e.g. guest blogging on your site or theirs, anthologies, etc.). This is a good way to pick up new readers/followers. I’m involved with several anthology projects that give me opportunities to participate in events and interviews where I can talk about my novels.

• Find a writers’ group. Many, like Sisters in Crime, have educational opportunities and ways to share information with other authors.

• Create a plan to add to your social media following. I focus on one or two a month and look for ways to build my followers on Facebook, Instagram. Pinterest, Twitter, Goodreads, and BookBub.

What would you add to my list?

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Tosca Lee

I’d like to welcome Tosca Lee back to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday.

Favorite thing to do when you have free time: Eat stuff like biscuits and gravy. Travel if I can, or watch TV and movies if I can’t. Wait… I feel like I should say “read a book.” But given a night at home, I’m eating buttered popcorn and watching Cobra Kai with my handsome hubby. :D

The thing you’ll always move to the bottom of your to do list: Taxes. Submitting health insurance receipts. Going to the dentist. Washing my hair. For real—people with long hair know washing, drying, and styling your hair is an hour of your life you’ll never get back.

Things you need when you’re in your writing cave: Snacks. Many, please. Mostly salty or buttery or greasy. Buttered popcorn will do. Fritos are great. Bacon is best. But bad for keyboards.

Things that distract you from writing: TV. My kids. My handsome hubby. My cuticles. Anything outside the window. Okay, anything.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Writing
Easiest thing about being a writer: Loving on my fans.

Something you’re really good at: Somehow along the way I became a decent cook of a few, select dishes.
Something you’re really bad at: Drawing. My fans sometimes ask me to draw pictures of specific things or people (Wonder Woman, my dogs…) when I sign books. They’re all stick figures. Everyone laughs.

Last best thing you ate: A double cheeseburger.

Last thing you regret eating: Haha, I regret nothing when it comes to eating.

Favorite things to do: Got to the movies. Wake up beside my husband. Hug my readers.
Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Getting a tooth pulled. Eating bugs.

Best thing you’ve ever done: Marring my husband.
Biggest mistake: Dating anyone else.

Things you will run to the store for at midnight: Buttered popcorn (okay, the movie theater, not the store)

Things you never put on your shopping list: Quinoa.

About Tosca:

Tosca Lee is the New York Times bestselling author of eleven novels including The Line Between, A Single Light, The Progeny, The Legend of Sheba, Iscariot, and the Books of Mortals series with New York Times bestselling author Ted Dekker. Her work has been translated into seventeen languages and optioned for TV and film. She is best known for her meticulous research, masterful prose, unexpected points of view, and high-octane thrillers.

Lee is the recipient of numerous awards including two International Book Awards, Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion in Science Fiction (beating one of her own books for the win), Literary Titan gold, Top Shelf Magazine Editor’s Choice Award, and the ELCA Book of the Year in Fiction for her portrayal of the infamous betrayer of Christ in Iscariot, which Publisher’s Weekly calls “impeccable and masterful.” The Legend of Sheba was a finalist for the same award the following year. In addition to the New York Times, her books have appeared on the IndieBound, Amazon, iTunes, Barnes & Noble, and Christian bestseller lists, Library Journal’s Best Of lists, and as part of Target Stores’ “Target Recommends” program.

She has been called the “queen of psychological twists,” and “in a league of her own,” her work praised by Publisher’s Weekly, The Historical Novel Society, Kirkus, Booklist, Woman’s World, Romantic Times, BookReporter, BookRiot, The San Francisco Book Review, The Dallas Morning News, and The Midwest Book Review as “deeply human…” “powerful…” and “mind-bending.” She can currently be heard on American Airlines’ in-flight entertainment system on the Beautiful Writers podcast alongside writing luminaries Lee Child, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Dean Koontz.

Lee is best known among fans, however, for her personal connection with and devotion to her readers, with whom she regularly shares home life from the family farm live, featuring her giant German Shepherd Timber and rotund Black Labrador, Charlie—the true stars of Story Time with Tosca.

Lee lives with her husband and three of four step-children still at home in Nebraska and posts her adventures as an author, city-girl-turned-farmer’s-wife, and insta-mom of four—on social media. To learn more about Tosca, please visit: www.toscalee.com.        

Let’s Be Social:

Facebook: @AuthorToscaLee

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tosca-lee

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/427839.Tosca_Lee

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tosca-Lee/e/B001JPCC42/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1

More Book Marketing Tips - What I Learned from Sandra Beckwith

I had the pleasure of attending an online presentation from the Buckeye Crime Writers with Sandra Beckwith. Check out her Build Book Buzz website. It is a wealth of information for authors.

Here were my key take-aways from her presentation.

1. The bulk of book promotion is up to the author.

2. If you are an indie (self-published) author, you need to follow the traditional publishing standards (e.g. covers, editing, writing standards). Readers have expectations for the books they choose.

3. Hire a professional with experience in your genre to do your cover.

4. Make sure your book is edited and proofread.

5. Know who your reader is. Look at the demographics of your social media followers.

6. Put your effort in the social media sites where your readers are.

7. Be an active contributor on social media.

8. Make sure you have an email/newsletter list.

9. Before you launch your book, make sure you have a marketing plan. It should start before your book launch.

10. Have realistic expectations about sales and success.

11. Be gentle with yourself.

12. Don’t give up. It takes time to achieve success.

13. Continue to market your book as long as it is available for sale.

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Rachael Tamayo

I’d like to welcome author, Rachael Tamayo, to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you need for your writing sessions: A computer. That’s it.

Things that hamper your writing: Ideas, and being a “pantser.” I can’t plan what I write. I just have to wait for it to come to me.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Starting a new book -creating that first chapter.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Is there anything easy? LOL I can’t think of anything.

Words that describe you: Laid back, rolls with the punches, mom and wife, strong.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Overwhelmed (sometimes), abuse survivor.

Favorite foods: Tacos, burgers and fries.

Things that make you want to gag: Brussel sprouts, rye bread, and licorice. YUK!

Favorite beverage: Dr Pepper and iced coffee

Something that gives you a sour face: black coffee and whiskey

Favorite smell: black cherry, cherry, and men’s cologne

Something that makes you hold your nose: maybe let’s not go there—LOL

Something you’re really good at: Writing and 911 dispatch

Something you’re really bad at: folding laundry (don’t look in my laundry room- ever. Ha!)

Things you’d walk a mile for: my kids and husband.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: mean, selfish people and people that hurt others.

Things you always put in your books: bad words, adult situations, and dark themes. Characters that are realistic.

Things you never put in your books: flat and too perfect characters.

Favorite books (or genre): psychological thrillers, and anything by Daphne De Maurier

Books you wouldn’t buy: erotica, romance, sci fi.

Favorite things to do: Have a drink, play pool or darts with husband, dance with my daughter, sing karaoke (at home).

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: If offered, going back to high school or being eighteen again. NO THANK YOU.

Things that make you happy: When a stranger contacts me to tell me they love my books, or glowing book reviews.

Things that drive you crazy: Jerky people.

Best thing you’ve ever done: Become a published author.

Biggest mistake: stopping for so many years (writing)

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: let someone read my books when I was so scared of what they thought.

Something you chickened out of doing: backing out of social functions because- people- Lol

The nicest thing a reader said to you: said something I wrote was brilliant, and that I should be famous.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: The lady that left a book review on Goodreads when she obviously didn’t even read or finish the book.

About Rachael:

Rachael Tamayo is a former 911 emergency operator and police dispatcher.  After twelve years in those dark depths, she’s gained a unique insight into mental illness, human behavior, and the general darkness of humanity that she likes to weave into her books.  A formerly exclusive romance author tried her hand at thrillers in her award-winning novel, Crazy Love, and loved it so much that she decided not to turn back.  She is the author of multiple bestselling novels and the acclaimed Deadly Sins Series. 

 Born and raised in Texas, Rachael lives in the Houston area with her husband of almost seventeen years, and their two small children.      

Let’s Be Social:

website: https://rachaeltamayowrites.com/

email: rtamayo@rachaeltamayowrites.com

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RachaelTamayowrites

Tiktok: @rachaeltamayowrites 

#WriterWednesday Interview with Liz Milliron

I’d like to welcome author, Liz Milliron, to the blog for #WriterWedneday.

Things you need to throw out: The pile of old cell phones on my dresser that have a quarter-inch of dust on them (no joke).

Things you need for your writing sessions: a snack and a cup of tea

Things you love about writing: Creating a new world out of almost nothing

Hardest thing about being a writer: Marketing and promotion (oh, if only readers came flocking the minute you said, “I have a book!”)

Things you wish you’d never bought: A car for my son (more stress than it’s worth)

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: stubborn and perfectionist

Things that make you want to gag: sashimi (raw fish--no, just…no)

Music that drives you crazy: rap music (isn’t that an oxymoron?)

Something that gives you a sour face: coffee (I know, I know)

Favorite smell: vanilla and cinnamon

The last thing you ordered online: Slippers for my son

The coolest person you’ve ever met: Mary Higgins Clark

About Liz:

Liz Milliron is the author of The Laurel Highlands Mysteries series, set in the scenic Laurel Highlands of Southwestern Pennsylvania, and The Homefront Mysteries, set in Buffalo, NY during the early years of World War II. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Pennwriters, and International Thriller Writers. A recent empty-nester, Liz lives outside Pittsburgh with her husband and a retired-racer greyhound.

http://lizmilliron.com

Coming February 2021

The Stories We Tell (Home Front Mysteries #2) - "The Stories We Tell has its dark side, but Buffalo's First Ward in 1942 is still a world of warmth and charm, where Betty's honour, loyalty, and sheer moxie are guaranteed to win the day." Catriona McPherson, multi-award-winning author of the Dandy Gilver Mysteries

 Now Available

Broken Trust (Laurel Highlands Mysteries #3) - “Highly recommended.” - R.G. Belsky, author of the Clare Carlson mysteries

 The Enemy We Don’t Know (Home Front Mysteries #1) - “…an exciting crackerjack of a novel.” - James W. Ziskin, author of the Ellie Stone mysteries

What I Learned about Creativity from Artist, Noah Scalin

Recently, I had the pleasure of listening to artist, Noah Scalin, talk about creativity. If you have not seen his Old Navy commercial, check it out, along with his art. He is so talented and inspiring.

One day, he started a project that turned into a year-long effort. Each day, he created a different skull, and he used a variety of materials. He posted each one to his blog, and it eventually turned into a book. The project that started off as an exercise to create something for himself, opened up a world of opportunities for him. Here’s what I learned from him about creativity:

• You have to create or cultivate the fertile ground for your efforts. This is your creative foundation.

• Creative bones don’t exist (Many say, “I don’t have a creative bone in my body.”) But you do have creative muscles that you need to stretch and grow.

• You were born with creativity. All kids are creative.

• You need the motivation to keep going.

• Start small. Little ideas aren’t as overwhelming.

• Tiny steps move you forward.

• Your work doesn’t have to be perfect. You can’t get it right every time.

• Fresh opportunities will grow from your efforts.

• Get up and move around.

• Work with your hands.

• Bring others into your projects.

• Pay attention to what’s happening around you.

• Don’t miss opportunities.

• Expand your default settings. (We tend to use the tools/techniques we know.) You need new ways to solve problems.

• Do something creative every day, and you’ll see the world differently.

• You can’t do it alone. You get ideas, dialog, and inspiration from others.

• Inspiration is everywhere. You need to train yourself to recognize it.

• Don’t wait. Get to work.

• You don’t realize all the lives you’re touching.

One of my resolutions this year was to learn new things. I’m going to expand this into creating new things. I’m going to try for one, new thing each month (or there about), and I’ll post my progress.

What creative thing have you done recently?