Series promotion!! Let the countdown begin!

If I told you it's possible to purchase all five eBooks in the Jorja Matthews mystery series for less than $5, would you be interested?

It’s finally time for a whole series promotion, my first one yet. I’ve promoted books individually, but this promo will run for each eBook in the series and with dates back-to-back.

You may have already purchased some or all of the eBooks and under the opinion this promotion won’t appeal to you. However…if you purchased the earlier editions when they were originally released, there have been some changes. Obviously, all of the covers have been updated. In addition, the contents of No Mother of Mine and Best Kept Secrets were reedited so there have been some changes in that regard also.

Available on Amazon

With that in mind, you might want to obtain all the eBooks in the series while they are greatly reduced in price. And if you time it right, you could purchase all five eBooks in the series for less than $5.00!!

You read that correctly...5 eBooks for less than $5. 

All for the price of a designer cup of coffee. J

But if you’re not interested in purchasing, or repurchasing, the eBooks, maybe you know a friend or acquaintance who might like to begin a new mystery series. 

If so, feel free to pass this information along to them! 

So here’s how the series promotion will go… 

Beginning tomorrow, on June 29^th the countdown will begin as follows:

Available on Amazon

No Mother of Mine will be FREE! for 3 days during these dates and times:

• 6/29 all day (beginning 12:00 am PDT) – FREE
• 6/30 all day – FREE
• 7/1 all day (until 11:59 pm PDT) - FREE

Best Kept Secrets will vary in price over three days as follows:

• 6/29 beginning at 8:00 am PDT – eBook price will be $0.99
• 6/30 beginning at 4:00 am PDT – eBook price will increase to $1.99
• 7/1 beginning at 12:00 am PDT – eBook price will increase to $2.99
• 7/1 at 8:00 pm PDT – eBook will return to the original list price of $3.99

Available on Amazon

Ties That Bind will vary in price over three days as follows: 

• 7/1 beginning at 8:00 am PDT – eBook price will be $0.99
• 7/2 beginning at 4:00 am PDT – eBook price will increase to $1.99
• 7/3 beginning at 12:00 am PDT – eBook price will increase to $2.99
• 7/3 at 8:00 pm PDT – eBook price will return to the original list price of $3.99

Cross My Heart will vary in price over three days as follows: 

• 7/3 beginning at 8:00 am PDT – eBook price will be $0.99
• 7/4 beginning at 4:00 am PDT – eBook price will increase to $1.99
• 7/5 beginning at 12:00 am PDT – eBook price will increase to $2.99



Available on Amazon

• 7/5 at 8:00 pm PDT – eBook price will return to the original list price of $3.99

Price of Betrayal will vary in price over three days as follows: 

• 7/5 beginning at 8:00 am PDT – eBook price will be $0.99
• 7/6 beginning at 4:00 am PDT – eBook price will increase to $1.99
• 7/7 beginning at 12:00 am PDT – eBook price will increase to $2.99
• 7/7 at 8:00 pm PDT – eBook price will return to the original list price of $3.99

Available on Amazon

I hope you’ll take advantage of these promotional prices or pass this on to someone else who might be interested. As a mystery fan myself, I would adore a friend who shared with me not only a great eBook promotion but the opportunity to begin a new series that’s already five books in!

Also, by sharing this promotion with anyone you know who might be interested, it would be greatly appreciated and will assist me in making this promotion a success!

Thanks for following & sharing!

A road trip for relaxation…and inspiration

If you follow me on Facebook, you may have noticed that I was MIA the past week or so. Or maybe not, the way Facebook shares posts these days.

Glacier National Park

Anyway, my lack of FB updates or a blog post this past weekend was due to the fact that I was on a road trip to Montana. It was a quick trip, considering what we prefer when it comes to road trips, but even just a week on the road taking in the Montana sights is enough to rejuvenate me and help me feel centered.

You might wonder how anyone can feel rejuvenated or centered after a quick road trip two states over. You definitely have to enjoy the whole process of road tripping, especially on our scale when we decide how much we want to do in whatever amount of time we have to do it. Getting to our destination lends a certain amount of excitement as we move ahead with anticipation – a natural high, so-to-speak – even making quick stops to view new sights as the mood strikes us before finally arriving at our first destination.

First destination, you ask?

Yes, first of a few in only a week. We were on the go most of the trip and we saw quite a lot…forests and fields in Washington, historical buildings and beautiful rivers in Idaho, and national parks, rivers, lakes and hot springs in Montana. But we also managed to relax, as well. We relaxed in the hot tub in the evenings after driving, exploring our surroundings and sightseeing around Glacier National Park for two days. We made time to sit by a river whenever we found a nice spot to have a snack and soak in the sights. We parked and stayed put for awhile just to watch a moose far down below us in a valley while enjoying chit chat with other park visitors who were also excited about seeing any type of wildlife. We soaked for hours over two days in the mineral-filled pools at the hot springs. I read a book with the birds chirping and the river flowing next to me while the hubby enjoyed a nice long nap. We took our time eating dinner while playing a game of dice. We visited with locals when we could and asked questions about the best places to eat or hike. We even viewed a few properties for sale! J That’s how much we love Montana.

This road trip was a perfect blend of sight-seeing and relaxation.

As we drove home last night, I began to think about what I needed to accomplish the next few days, beyond all the unpacking and laundry from our trip. Getting back to my current book, getting back on track with an author summit I had signed up for, my morning pages, cleaning out my inbox, a blog post here and on another site I began (if you like walks/hikes and dogs, check it out here), a book promotion for the series, and so many other book-related tasks. I had wanted to begin the book promotion before we left, but the way it was first set up, for about ten days, meant the promotion would run during the week I’d be gone. I knew I’d be in areas where cell service would be non-existent and that running a promotion and posting updates would have been difficult, if not impossible. Therefore, the series promotion had to wait, but it will begin soon and I’ll post again here and on Facebook when it’s up and running.

When my brain began to fill up with all the tasks and projects I needed to get back to, even the fact that my promotion was going to begin later than I had earlier hoped, I was pleased to realize the to-do list didn’t cause me to feel overwhelmed.

Not only am I ready to get back to writing and my normal day-to-day author-activities, I have new ideas and inspiration for the new book series I’m working on. I’m pumped…excited…inspired…all of the above. You get the idea. My thoughts are tumbling with details and I’m putting pen to paper (and fingers to keyboard) with fresh excitement.

While I hadn’t been too certain this was the best time for a little getaway, I now realize it was the perfect time. When road trips and relaxation breed ideas and inspiration, there’s really no doubt.

What about you? What do you do for additional inspiration? Whether it’s a road trip or a staycation, I hope you’re able to enjoy something soon!

Balancing multiple challenges with positivity – you can do this!

I was at a loss about what to blog about today and at first I thought it was because of a lack of focus and the need to just get outside. Then, I realized it’s possibly because I have too much to think about and I wasn’t sure which subject to focus on.

Jozee, balancing on a stick under water

The reason for too many subjects is that I’ve been balancing a number of challenges lately. The best way for me to work through them is to write about them so I thought I’d share some of the details here.

First, my biggest challenge was the decision to redo all of the covers on the Jorja Matthews mystery series. It’s been on my to-do list for quite some time but my ability to finally figure it out is due, I believe, to another challenge I’ve been taking part in (more on that in a minute). From that point on I was buried with multiple tasks involved with what photos to use on the books published so far, completing a re-edit on Best Kept Secrets, reformatting the paperback interiors of Ties That Bind and Cross My Heart due to margin issues, completing the covers for all of the eBooks, and pulling my hair out when the paperback covers took longer than I would have liked. And, if that weren’t enough, after believing I was finally done, I realized I should have looked at offering the paperbacks in a matte finish instead of the glossy cover that has been the go-to format since that’s what was used when the first novel in the series was originally published. I’m now waiting to receive a proof copy of one of the books in a matte finish to see how it looks and my hope is that I can switch all of the books to that finish. That should be happening this week.

Whew!

If I’d known it was going to be this difficult, would I have dealt with the hassle anyway? Yes, most definitely. This was a change that I’ve wanted to make for quite some time and while I wish I had thought of it a couple of books ago, I can now move on with the series and be happy that they all have a similar look and theme.

So what challenge may have helped me pull the cover idea from my subconscious? I’ll attribute it to finally trying my hand with morning pages. I originally learned about morning pages from a speaker at a conference I attended a year or two ago and after looking into the subject, I purchased The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, where the idea of morning pages was birthed. Now, I’ll be honest in saying that I bought the book, and I began to read it, and I began morning pages in January 2018 during my first month after leaving the day job. However, I only wrote morning pages sporadically for two months. The next time I made any attempt at morning pages wasn’t until March of this year – a whole year later!

If I knew then what I know now, I would have done better to stick with it. Julia Cameron describes morning pages as three pages of stream-of-consciousness longhand, or a brain dump. I’ve used them as a basic personal brain dump but more often I use them as a creative brain dump. If something personal is really bugging me, I’ll tend to get that out, but what I enjoy using morning pages for is to let out all of my thoughts, questions and concerns about my writing projects, marketing, branding and other topics with the business of writing, the tingles of book or character ideas, and whatever else flows freely from me when I’m in that zone. While I understand how writing about personal frustrations can free a creative to think more on the creative side of things, I’ve found that working through any creative issues in my morning pages has been the best use of them. Case in point: the new cover idea for the series. Also, new story ideas to include in my young adult novel and answers to questions I had about the backstory on my characters in the new series I’m working on. Those are just a few of the bulbs that went off in my head while taking part in morning pages. There have been more when it comes to other areas in my writing and even in my personal life.

I’ll stick with morning pages because they work for me. I may not write every day, and it’s been an uphill climb in completing them on a more regular basis, but forming new habits isn’t easy. While I only wrote morning pages four days in March, I was able to write 11 days in April, 16 days in May and so far for June I’ve written six out of nine days. That’s progress! Therefore, I no longer wish to call the morning pages a “challenge” but instead, part of my creative routine.

Speaking of forming habits, my other challenge involves just that. I’m doing my best to form better habits for a morning routine. I’ve never been a morning person. It’s a simple fact but not an excuse. I can still get a lot done in a day but I tend to begin and end later. I’ve decided I’d like to change that one simple fact about myself. I’d like to enjoy daybreak, have more daylight hours for writing and feel good about using the rest of the day as I see fit before an early bedtime. A while back I bought The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod and was truly optimistic that a book could help me get my butt out of bed earlier. I tried and I failed. But I know now that my attempts were not driven by the right need; my reason “why.” I’ve since changed my mindset, I have my “why” and I’m taking baby steps to form better habits and a regular morning routine (to include morning pages) when I do finally get my butt out of bed. I’m currently using The Morning Sidekick Journal (created by Amir Atighehchi, Ari Banayan & Mikey Ahdoot) and I’ve really enjoyed using this journal. While getting up earlier is still a work in progress, I’m on the 21st day out of 66 and I’m seeing progress. The fact that I enjoy using this journal through my journey is a bonus. While getting out of bed earlier every day is a challenge, forming habits that make my days better and more productive is the bonus I’m striving for and will be well worth it in the end.

On top of all that, I’ve started a new exercise routine. And that is most definitely a challenge! But I enjoy the exercises, many of which include weight lifting and high intensity workouts with varying exercises and so far I’m enjoying them.

Are all these challenges a lot to take one? Not really, since each one helps me with a key area in life: writing, creativity, productivity and health. These are areas I should always invest in and which will benefit me greatly if I continue to focus on them.

What about you? Are you a creative who has tried morning pages? Are you a night owl trying to form an earlier morning routine? Have you tried to form new habits overall and if so, how did it go?

Whether you’re a night owl or an early bird, I hope you have a creative and productive day!