It’s getting close to Christmas and I have wrapped up my watercolor Christmas cards. This one was a joy to do and I want to thank Dana Fox at her youtube channel Wonder Forest. She is a great teacher and I will be following her in the future for more watercolor tutorials. I painted several of these with each one just a little bit different. I then took the painting and placed it on card stock with double stick tape.
I decided not to stamp a message on the front because I was sure my hand  would wobble and make a mess.
Is it time for turkey yet? I’m mostly vegetarian and have been all of my adult life, but I cannot resist a good ol’ fashion Thanksgiving dinner!! Well, this post isn’t about that … ok V focus!!
I will be sharing some of my good reads with you. I like history… a lot… so I love reading about the lives of those lived in other centuries. Â And it’s always so great to read the author’s notes and find out that the person or persons in the novel were based on actual people.
That was the case in my latest read: Confessions of a Courtesan by Deborah Hale, writing as Elizabeth Charles. Talk about a page turner. It could be found under Historical Fiction, but also I would add Historical Romance too.
It’s about a young woman in 18th century who rises up from living on the filthy streets of London to become one of the most sought after courtesans in England. Her struggles make you think of how awful is was for women back in the day before we stood up for our rights. And I questioned what I would do to survive given the same circumstances.
It’s steamy, sexy, gritty and so compelling. I rooted for Lizzy and at times wanted to sit her down and give her some sane advice! That’s good character development!
The plots are riveting and I couldn’t put it down. If you like this type of novel- check this one out.
First pumpkin pie of the season! Banana bread too 🙂
June Stanford, a character from The Traveled Heart, would be proud. She loves to bake and she brings the other characters together with her cooking. The dinner table is always a great venue for conversations, and physical reactions to what was said … and not said.
Back to my bake–I like to add a little bit of cardamon to my baked goods. It gives that bakery taste to a lot of things. Lots of cinnamon, fresh ginger, nutmeg and cloves went into this as well. My kitchen smells like Fall!
Over the weekend I got to really relax, total chill. Hubby was off camping and I had the house to myself! Missed him but, you all know how we need to have some space and time to be alone. Two days was plenty for me without him.
I didn’t promote my book or write or paint. I gardened and read and looked around the internet and facebook at what other authors were doing to promote their books. ( I also binge watched “Adam Ruins Everything” on Netflix …)
So, I noticed something … people who know me would say “What else is new?” I tend to notice things a lot. What I saw was authors who had published at the time I published (late summer, early fall) had a lot of  feedback on Amazon already. Hmm… Fast readers? Preview copies? Friends and family? I got a little down. I haven’t received any reviews yet.
Now, I realize I had a very soft launch and asked friends and family not to buy my book since it  would throw my algorithms off. (more on that in another blog post) So, I know I will have to do a lot of work to get my books into the hands of all those readers out there especially those who love historical romance. But the good news is … I have a strategy!! Writing a book and self publishing is huge! Getting it noticed is a necessity!
Every Monday, I will have a blog post, and will post something on my Facebook Travel Heart Press page each day. I will take advantage of Amazon’s ad campaigns. I’m a member of the Romance Writers of America and will seek out other authors in my genre. The RWA is  a wonderful, helpful and supportive association.
It’s a start. Follow me here and on Facebook at Veronica Mahara. Get to know me and my writings. I hope to reach my target audience and readers in general and introduce another great read to their list.
If you love historical romance or just an entertaining, heartfelt women’s read then check out the link above and see what you think 🙂
I will continue to write and publish this series on Jessica Messing and Jacob Stanford. Their love story is a complicated one yet through courage and growth, adversity and success they may find happiness- the journey to that possible happiness is the meat of the story – so start here with the The Traveled Heart and enjoy the ride.
Traveled Hearts Press 