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Print Verions, my next novel, and a Top Indie Author List

by Kristen James

I had to share! These are the print versions for some of my Kindle ebooks. I’ll be adding The Enemy’s Son soon so my books will all be available in print and ebook.

The picture just doesn’t capture how good they look, especially how the nonfiction covers pop out. They look a bit 3D to me.

How To Sell More Kindle eBooks and How To Be A Full Time Writer are both $6.99 in print and $2.99 for the Kindle ebook. (Book Promoting 101, not shown, is 9.99 in print but also 150 pages. It’s 2.99 in Kindle.)

The fiery cover with the dark figure is Embers of Hope, my women’s fiction novel. I’m working on a sequel to it that tells Cassie’s story. It’s in the early stages, but this is the working description:

More Than A Promise: Cassie’s Story

Cassie escapes to Ocean View Stables on the Oregon Coast, hoping she won’t think about the three year anniversary of her husband’s death. She’s there to relax and comfort her friend Missy, who’s been trying to conceive and just lost her first pregnancy. Instead, she runs into Ethan, and his nine year old daughter, and her life turns upside down.

If you read A Cowboy For Christmas, you might have caught that I’m using that setting again. That means you’ll get to catch up with Missy and Brent, along with Savanna and Jason from Embers of Hope.

The last bit of news is I’m included on a list of the top Indie Authors. It began as a list of 100 names but grew with author submissions. So I came in at #101. See it here! You might find some more authors to read too.

Extended Preview of More Than Memories on Kindle Nation Daily

by Kristen James

Kindle Nation Daily is a great FB page and website for anyone looking for new Kindle reads, including freebies.

You can read four chapters of More Than Memories and enter their Kindle Fire Giveaway HERE.

 

Reviews for More Than Memories:

Can she love him if she can’t remember him?  Molly Anderson returns “home” to a town she doesn’t remember, hoping it will spark a memory. She runs into Trent Williams, an off duty police officer, and something else definitely sparks. —  Rated 5 stars by BigAl’s Books n Pals and The Fictional Bookshelf. Rated 4.5 stars by 16 reviews.
“I fell in love with Trent… because of how Trent aided and cared for Molly and that made him very unforgettable.” ~ Reader Review

“I just loved this book! Primarily because Ms. James’ equation for the plot kept me guessing the entire time. There was no predicting the conclusion, which was a treat for me in reading this genre. For that reason, I couldn’t put it down. It read much more like a mystery than a romance. The characters drew me in. I cared about Molly, Trent and their friends. The subplots eased transitions and mentally stirred up the intrigue factor. I found myself constantly wondering… about everything. This felt like a love story in reverse only to have the characters come full circle with a new understanding of the past and a happy peek into the future. I look forward to enjoying the other titles noted above.” –5-Star Review by BigAl’s Books n Pals

These are a few of my favorite things…

by Kristen James

I’m borrowing from The Sound of Music there, and of course I hear the song when I typed that! I was thinking about what makes characters interesting, and mostly (to me) it’s how we get into their head and feel their dreams and conflicts, and see through the eyes of a different person. Characters need to make us feel, but it’s also fun when they’re quirky, unique people with interesting likes, hobbies, beliefs, etc. I’m in the beginning stages of a couple different novels, which explains why this has been on my mind. I often draw from things I like or things I want to know more about so I’m listing some of my favorite things:

fuzzy animals, especially babies
fuzzy caterpillars (fuzzipitters)
frogs
bumblebees
turtles

Cheesecake
salmon (most seafood!)
berries
white whine
Bree cheese with apples and crackers

cycling
reading and writing of course!
hiking, canoeing and other outdoor activities
traveling
making jewelry
watching the kids play sports – I can really get into a game then!

My all time favorite thing is spending time with my family, which is probably a given for most people. Well, it’s Saturday and the sun is out, so I’m off and running! (Well, cycling as the case may be.)

The ‘C’ Word

by Kristen James

The topic of my last post has been on my mind, and I’ve been thinking about when we want something but stop ourselves from trying for it. I didn’t join any sports until high school when my best friend, who was always a good influence on me, convinced me to join track with her. My coach, Mrs. Taylor, created a new rule that year: if anyone said the C word, they had to do 20 push ups.

I learned two things in a short amount of time after that.

First, I learned I said “I can’t” to a lot of things. Soon I only got as far as “I ca–” and I had to do 20 push ups.

And second, I learned I could really build some muscle. In fact, I joined a weight raining and conditioning class in high school. I worked up to bench pressing my weight and leg pressing 350 lbs.

I suppose I learned a third lesson too. At first the lesson was to never say the C word. If indeed I slipped up, I had to quickly change it to I can. 

You know that saying, you are what you eat? In reality, we may be roughly the same fat content as the foods we eat, but we aren’t turning into fried chicken or a cupcake any time soon. We do, however, turn into what we think. “Whether you think you can’t, or you can, you’re right.” I’ve heard that one quite a bit too, and over the last few years I’ve decided it’s pretty much right on. If you set out on a mission thinking you’ll fail, guess what? You usually fail. It works just as well to expect positive outcomes. It can make an amazing difference simply to outlaw the C word. Now I’m trying to teach that to my kids!

How To Live Your Dreams

by Kristen James

I just read a must-read blog post called “How To Quit Your Job, Move to Paradise and Get Paid to Change the World.”  I’ll wait here while you go read it yourself…..Amazing, right? Jon Morrow is a person who decided to live his dreams and did it, against odds that would stop most people from trying anything. There are so many stories out there along the lines of, “If I can do it, what are you waiting for?” I saw a guy on TV a while back with the slogan, “No arms, no legs, no worries.” He actually has no arms or legs, and he visits schools to encourage kids. Many people live their dream, and it’s not despite/ because of any excuse or special situation. It’s because they decided they could do it. So what are we waiting for?

When I moved out on own my own for college, I had two dreams. Since the fourth grade, I wanted to “be a famous author.” Somewhere around high school I started dreaming about getting married and starting a family, a big family. And, oh boy, I’m living that dream! Now, 14 years since graduation, I have a blended family of 6 kids. As for my writing dreams, I wouldn’t say I’m a famous author, but I’m working toward it every day, I’m writing for a living, and I’m loving it. The part I didn’t understand 14 years ago is that you should love your life at every step, even as you work toward your goals.

That’s why I sometimes stop and ask myself, “Am I living my dream?” I don’t ever want to wake up and realize I stopped evaluating my life and now I’m living something I don’t really want. Part of that question implies, at least for me, “Am I helping people?” It’s hard to be truly happy if you just care about yourself. My small way of giving back is my blog, www.bookpromoting101. I renamed it Book Promoting 501 and I’ve been blogging about tips on book promoting and the publishing industry. I’ve published two nonfiction books, Book Promoting 101 and How To Be A Full Time Writer, and I’m about to publish a third called How To Sell More Kindle eBooks. Writing is my passion, and I’ve learned a lot about making it as a writer, so I hope my knowledge is helping others.

The other part of, “Am I living my dream?” is looking at new dreams. That’s what has been on my mind for a while, and it popped up again when I read Jon Morrow’s blog post. I’ve actually done quite a bit of traveling, and moving across the country at one point, but I have a dream of traveling more, enjoying it more, and taking the kids more. I read about families that take to the road for a year to see the U.S. with their kids, or even sail around the world. There’s books and blogs about how you can stop renting or sell your home, put your stuff in storage, and use your rent or mortgage money to finance your travels. That inspires me to get creative and look at ways to take more trips with my kids, even if we don’t travel the entire U.S. or world right away.Still, I want to take them on one of those trips they’ll remember all their lives.

You would think this dream isn’t that hard to achieve, but I’ve been making all kinds of excuses. I have a job I can do from anywhere, and I set my own hours, but I have kids, and they have school and sports. Well, other families have done year long trips with kids. Then there’s the money issues. But deep down, I know if I want a dream, it just takes planning and work.  I think I’ve been on the cliff, thinking about jumping. I’m not committed to any big or specific goal for a family vacation yet, but I’m researching and I’ve taken little steps. We’ve always gone on short trips around Oregon and some into California, and we have some more planned that branch out a little more. So maybe I’m even wading into the waters.  I just have to remember that reaching dreams means taking steps.

So what about you? Do you feel you have dreams that you’re working toward? Are you researching, planning and dreaming? Are you pausing in life and wondering what you really want?