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A Day Late and a Dollar Short

Friends,

It has been crazy town all over town, in every town, and it’s just getting crazier. Before the corona virus closed down everything here, our county came to a standstill with an e-coli scare in our water. Schools closed. Businesses closed. And there was a grocery store run as if it was the apocalypse itself!

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And the very next day…my state, county, city, village,…went into corona virus lockdown. Schools closed. Businesses closed. Gym closed. Restaurants shut down. AND the good folks of this county and metro-area had already bought up all the supplies. Yes, folks! No toilet paper here either!

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Sooooooooo, kids are home for at least 2 weeks! What does that mean for me? All writing/editing/marketing pretty much shuts down for the business that is KC Freeman Author!

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So I will do what I can when I can, but deadlines have pretty much been thrown out the window.

Regardless there is two bits of good news.

Rekindled Prophecy – Book 1 of the Greylyn the Guardian Angel series is up for voting for the April book of the month in the Double Trouble Book Club.

 

April Nominations – Voting now open
Double Trouble Book Club Reader Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2220606254842963

The two books with the most readers signed up will be our winners. We begin reading on 4/1 and conclude on 4/21 followed by an exclusive Author Q&A.

We are voting on:

Good Intentions: Volume One by Ana Balen – Contemporary Romance 82 pages –
Available on Kindle Unlimited
getbook.at/DTgoodint

Rekindled Prophecy: Greylyn The Guardian Angel Series (Book 1) by KC Freeman -Fantasy Paranormal 392 pages
getbook.at/DTrkndled

Finding Purpose (Colorado Veterans Book 1) by Tiffani Lynn – Contemporary Romance 325 Pages
getbook.at/DTfndprp

Stone (Castle Sin Book 1) by Linz Basset – Suspense BDSM Club Romance 318 pages – Available on Kindle Unlimited
getbook.at/DTstone

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Please sign up even if you’ve read the book.
2. Just because I’m a day late getting my blog posted doesn’t mean I can’t post it the next day (today). AND because it’s Tuesday the added bonus is it’s also…#TEASERTUESDAY!!! So without further delay, here’s a snippet from Rekindled Prophecy to whet your appetites and just perhaps encourages you to check out the above item and vote.
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For a moment, Greylyn saw the lightning mirrored in his eyes. She shook her head to rid herself of the image.

Great! Now she was imagining things.

He warned, “It’s too late to go running for cover. Let’s just sit here and wait out the rain. Surely, there’s something we can discuss…in a civilized manner.”

Greylyn felt a pair of cornflower blue eyes peering at the two of them from the manor’s covered veranda. Maureen was watching.

After years of being subjected to his particular type of torment, she’d have to endure the insufferable man for at least one more go-around. But that didn’t mean she had to loiter in a gazebo with him. It was dangerous, in more ways than one. The gold flecks in his eyes beckoned her closer, not just to him but to the edge of her own sanity.

“Rain doesn’t frighten me, Kael. And neither do you. This little confab is over.” Pivoting, she stepped out into the torrential storm.

Instantly soaked, she steeled herself to keep marching right back towards the house, away from him. She felt his eyes boring into her back. It was as if he reached across the distance to trail a finger lightly down her spine, leaving a delicious tingling sensation that raised goosebumps over her entire body.

Just as Greylyn cleared the grove, another, more powerful, surge of electricity pierced the air. She whipped around just in time for a lightning bolt to strike the ground a few yards from her. The ground shook as the resulting thunder boomed and echoed through the valley.

The charged air was exhilarating. Her heart beat against her ribcage in frantic time to the raging rain. Adrenaline coursed through her body in waves. Everything seemed brighter, more vivid. Every detail of her surroundings accentuated.

Was it from the lightning or from the energy radiating from the being in the gazebo?

Greylyn couldn’t be sure. The whole situation seemed fitting somehow, and not entirely surprising. It mirrored the energy surging between them. Her eyes locked with Kael’s.

Rain pelted her body, and the wind whipped her hair around in all directions. Greylyn no longer felt a thing except his burning stare. It was achingly painful. Every molecule of her being hypnotized by his eyes. Time stopped. For that moment there was only Kael, everything else faded to black.

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Until next time…Stay healthy, stay sanitized, my friends!
Oh, and HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’s DAY!!!!!!
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Lessons Learned and Big Announcement

First, let’s get the BIG announcement out of the way because quite frankly I’m too tickled pink to put this off.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE…

Book of the Month

After some fantastic reviews from The Naked Reviewers last week, they chose my paranormal fantasy romance book, Rekindled Prophecy – Book 1 of the Greylyn the Guardian Angel series, as their Book of the Month for March 2020!!!!!

The book was also named as the Book of the Week from 2/26/2020 to 3/4/2020!

Somebody pinch me! Okay, not THAT hard! Geez, now I’ll bruise.

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Now for the original posting for this week ~ Lessons Learned from my first book signing event at Penned Charleston this past weekend.

See the source imageTo sum it up  – it was a series of unfortunate events which ended happily ever after.

  1.  Should travel the night before the event. I was stuck in a traffic jam on I-26 EAST towards Charleston with all lanes blocked due to a horrific accident. Nowhere to turn around, just had to sit there and continue sitting for a long time. Ended up 1 1/2 hours late!
  2.  Bring an assistant! Can be anyone, friend, foe, hubby, kids! Just bring someone to help out so the author can make trips to the ladies’ room and get food/beverages. Initially the hubby was supposed to attend with me, but he was easily persuaded to ditch me to take our youngest son to a wrestling tournament in Fayetteville, NC. Figured I’d be okay on my own, but easily see now how having a helper with me would have made the whole experience run more smoothly and enjoyable. Also assistants were working the venue by walking around and visiting all the tables and mingling with the guests/readers to direct traffic to their author’s tables. Assistants also freed up their authors to walk around and meet new authors and just mingle.
  3.  Double-check swag before the event. I found a typo on the bookmarks as I was sitting at the table Saturday. To say I was horrified is an understatement!
  4. Bring more swag! Some authors had some serious swag at their tables. Some had raffles going for their super swag. I had bookmarks with typos, postcards with book info (which I ran out of), candy (mints and chocolate), and mini hand sanitizers.
  5.  Personalized labels for swag (such as the hand sanitizers) can be easily purchased I learned from one incredibly helpful author assistant. One lady had personalized packaging for candies and chocolates!
  6.  When the venue doesn’t provide linen table cloths for the tables, bring your own nice linen table cloth, not a flimsy plastic tie-dye one.
  7.  Check into vinyl posters and heavy duty easels. Most authors had 8-10 foot posters set up behind and beside their tables. I had a foam board 12×18 book poster propped up a stack of books on a chair beside me.
  8.  Purchase easels for posters and something to connect the banner to the table.
  9.  Purchase book stands so the books aren’t just laying down on the table.
  10.  Sneak in snacks. The venue said no beverages or food to be brought in – they provided water stations and some appetizers were handed out in the beginning during setup (which I missed due to #1). I ended up eating more of my own candy which was supposed to be just for visitors to my table.

Sounds a bit like a disaster, right? Actually, it wasn’t at all! I met a lot of amazing authors, author assistants, bloggers, reviewers, cover artists, and most especially readers! I learned a lot! I made some contacts including a lovely author in my local area (Hi, Haven Cage!) who also organizes local author get-togethers, and I now have a Reiki healer to call locally when my chakras are imbalanced. So, HUGE WIN!

Sadly, I ended up leaving right after the event rather than staying for the 60s-themed party that evening (another Lesson Learned – STAY FOR THE PARTY!).

Hopefully this Lessons Learned segment will benefit other newbie authors as you go to your own book signing events.

Well, I’m off to celebrate my Book of the Month award with some of my leftover chocolate from Penned Charleston!

I hope everyone has a fabulous week!

1st Ever Book Signing!

I am beyond excited to be attending my first EVER book signing event this coming weekend (2/29/2020) in one of my favorite cities on planet Earth – Charleston, SC.

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Since this my first book signing, and Penned Charleston is such a HUGE event, I will admit to being a bit intimidated and nervous.

What if I don’t bring enough books?

What if no one wants a book?

What if my brand new Square card reader doesn’t work (or user error – I’ve never used one before)?

What other items should I bring?

What if the banner doesn’t stay attached to the table? What if there’s no place to hang the poster of the book cover?

And so many other questions have been playing roller derby in my head and are only gaining speed and momentum as the day edges closer.

Luckily, other authors have heard my pleas for help and offered amazing advice, so fingers crossed that I will be as prepared as I can be. I have my banner, my poster (well, actually it hasn’t been delivered yet – Yikes!), bookmarks, pens (have been ordered but have not arrived yet either – Double Yikes!), candy (individually wrapped mints and chocolates, plastic candy bowl, bright tie-dyed table cloth because the event is going with a 60s theme, lots of hand sanitizer (also order, but not delivered – Triple Yikes!), Square card reader (still gotta learn how to use this thing), oh and…books!

Unfortunately, due to the short notice when I signed up for this event, I was unable to coordinate a pre-order form and list so I could bring just the right amount of books, with a few extras. So I will selling books directly at the event instead and my inventory of books in my current possession isn’t that extensive. I genuinely am hoping to run out of books and have to take orders to send readers afterwards. Lesson learned for the next book signing (Queen City Book Fair on 5/23/2020) is to have a pre-order promotion well in advance and to institute all the lessons I will learn this upcoming weekend.

So if you are anywhere near Charleston, SC or want an excuse to visit this amazingly charming city, please join me this Saturday at the North Charleston Marriott for Penned Charleston! The weather forecast is calling for a mild 55 degrees and mostly sunny!

Hope to see some of you there. If you don’t live close and have a book signing event like Penned Charleston near you, please send me an email or private message here and I’d love to see about attending closer to you if you’re interested in getting your own copy of Rekindled Prophecy signed or just want to meet up and chat.

Until next week!

Besties,

KC