In January of 2026,
just before my knee replacement surgery, my publisher at Pandamonium Publishing House and
I had a meeting to ‘plant seeds’ as she put it, for the spring and summer book
marketing seasons. My chin trembled. “Umm. Wait. You know that I’ll be out of
service for 6 to 8 weeks, right?” I asked her with the calmest voice I could
muster. Honestly, I could sense her grinning back at me through my cell phone. She
casually went on to explain that I’d only had to post twice a week, and they
would supply the images I’d need to pull off this Fairy Falls Narrative Campaign, as I dubbed it. “Fine,” I moaned. “What
does this campaign entail?”

The goal was simple.
To position Lost & Found and Blackflies & Blueberries—the two
books I have published so far in Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls teen psychic
mystery series—as dark, perceptive, outsider-driven stories set in a town with
secrets. Not cozy. Not gentle. Not seasonal fluff. I was instantly engaged. My
publisher went on to say that these books are not: cute animal stories, cozy
small-town tales, or gentle mysteries. They are: animals as witnesses, psychic
intrusion into hidden crime, corrupt systems inside “safe” spaces, and
outsiders seeing what insiders refuse to. “Basically,” she explained, “It’s
perception vs. reality.” It was my turn to grin. This marketing idea sounded
fresh and out of the box. Better yet, it was doable while I recovered from
surgery.

So, how did we go
about creating this framework? By choosing the appropriate campaign style. This
was narrative marketing, not polite promotion. The tone is unsettling,
observant, and atmospheric. We are creating intrigue, not asking for attention.
Then the fun began for me with just under two weeks before surgery, as I had to
create the content needed to commence this campaign. My publisher gave me a
template to follow with examples of what was to be expected, and I worked
diligently on these six key strategies until I had enough narratives to run. To
give you an idea, these are the content types I had to follow:

·        
Fairy Falls Incident Posts, that had to look like town notices, alerts,
or reports.

·        
Anonymous POV Drops, in an animal’s POV, a townsperson’s POV, an
observer’s POV, or a killer’s POV.

·        
If You Lived Here Series, where I’d post a narrative stating something
like, ‘If you lived in Fairy Falls, you’d trust the wrong people.’

·        
Watcher Imagery and Cryptic Lines, using normal, peaceful photos, then overlay
narrative like ‘Fairy Falls sees everything’. That’s it. No sales language. No
calls of action. Just atmosphere.

·        
Urban Legend and Myth Framing, using Fairy Falls legends, things people say
but can’t prove, or stories no one wants to repeat.

·        
Outsider Perspective Content, where outsiders would always see the cracks,
or it takes someone who doesn’t belong to notice, or no one inside Fairy Falls
wanted to see this.  

All these narratives I
had to create must align with teen identity, alienation, and distrust of
authority.
Easy-peasy, right? Well, it was a challenge, but I managed to
conjure exactly what my publisher was looking for. Yay, me! I also had fun
learning how to add type to an image and pick that atmospheric music to go
along with it on Instagram, and then share on my social media accounts. I know from
past experience that when doing a campaign like this, you must show up
consistently, however choosing to take a week and a half off to recover from my
surgery was a no-brainer for my health and well-being. Once rested, I jumped
back on the book marketing bandwagon with a renewed sense of excitement,
knowing that I am indeed planting seeds that will hopefully sprout into
connections with future readers. And in the grand scheme of things for authors,
it is all about connecting with readers. That, and have a supportive publisher
who pushes you out of your comfort zone. Wink.

If you’re an author, have you run any
interesting book marketing campaigns? If you’re a reader, what kind of campaigns
draw you in and get you excited enough to read the featured book? I’d love to
read your comments. As always, thank you for spending your time reading my blog,
and I hope that I’ve added value to your day! Cheers!

Lost & Found, Book One Buy
Links:

PANDAMONIUM
PUBLISHING HOUSE ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES
& NOBLE
׀

Blackflies
& Blueberries, Book Two Buy
Links:

PANDAMONIUM
PUBLISHING HOUSE ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES
& NOBLE
׀

I confess I am a Gemini. That means I do not apologize for having two personalities, two serious interests and two distinct pen names. As Emma Lane (Historicals) or Janis Lane (Cozy Mysteries) I spin tales at my computer happily imagining characters and plots. I enjoy the interaction of readers and writers on-line forming firm friendships that endure. It’s a perfect way to spend short winter days and early evenings.

Ah! But in the mellow bath of the Spring sun, I emerge much like a daffodil and bloom with my favorite plants and gardens. March finds me in the greenhouses coaxing tiny plants to their full potential while the maple trees give up their sap for delicate syrup. May finds me happily breathing the fragrance of perky pansies.

June, ah, June. Who doesn’t love June with a surfeit of bouquets for the picking? July is for the necessary communication with the weeds, August is Sunflowers and September is a rainbow of mums. Late into Fall, we glory in the astounding blaze of fire from the trees. Never is the color blue so well represented as by the intensity of a cloudless Fall sky.

Winter approaches, plots have now inched forward; an interesting character speaks from the corners of my mind (that muse again!). A new story is born to share with readers.

I love to chat books, reading, or characters with my friends and colleagues both on line and off. Alternately I am eager and available for discussions regarding plants and gardening in all its forms. Is it Emma already enmeshed into 1800th century storytelling, or has Janis toddled off with Detective Fowler to solve a crime in peaceful Hubbard, NY?

Here’s a teaser from one of my Regency books.

What happens when a strong heroine meets an arrogant, but handsome hero? Sparks fly. It’s a Regency Romance Romp!

Miss Amabel Hawkins acknowledges her unusual upbringing, but she thinks James Langley, the Duke of Westerton, might be a tad unbalanced when he protests her efforts to right his badly managed properties. The duke, who has been away on the king’s business, demonstrates no respect for the beautiful but managing Miss Hawkins. Amabel has taken refuge at Westerton, fleeing from a forced marriage to a man who claims to be her relative in order to gain control of her young brother’s estate.

The Duke arrives home to find his estate under the firm control of a beautiful but managing female. His suspicions are fueled by his recent task of spy-hunting and he wonders if Amabel Hawkins is just who she seems. While a dastardly spy lurks, a wicked man poses as her cousin threatening to take over the guardianship of her young brother. Amabel might be falling in love, but she knows for certain the duke would never approve of a meddlesome woman, and she decides to flee his estate. Will the duke finally realize the true value of the woman he loves or will his prejudice ruin his chances forever?

And a little from my cozy mystery.

Detective Kevin Fowler is baffled by the wall of silence that greets him from the relatives of two septuagenarians whose bodies are discovered in a country cemetery called Blake Hill. Even more upsetting is the unusual rash of vandalism reported nightly by the citizens in his peaceful community. Have the teenagers declared an uprising? Night patrols reveal a totally unexpected and shocking situation. When a poignant secret is revealed, Beverly Hampton weeps over the sadness of a long ago tragedy, but soon wedding bells are heard for the home town princess and the popular detective. At the local diner the alluring fragrance of fresh-baked, cinnamon sticky buns continues to reign over the peaceful citizens of Hubbard, New York.

Emma Lane enjoys leaving her garden for a few hours to dip into the romance genre Regency era of history. Join her for a glimpse of a half selkie fairy as she teases a powerful duke and fights the curse of a lowly, evil warlock. Other Regency romances are available on Amazon and Wild Rose Press. As Janis Lane she writes a series of Cozy Mysteries for Soul Mate Publishing.

Look for information about writing and plants on her new website. Leave a comment or a gardening question and put a smile on Emma’s face.

Stay connected to Emma on Facebook and Twitter.

Many people believe Cinco de Mayo is Mexican
Independence Day. Nope, that is actually September 16. May 5 celebrates the
Battle of Puebla which was Mexico’s victory over France in 1862. Another
interesting fact – Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo more than the people in
Mexico. 

I met a wonderful lady in the Hispanic
aisle when I was shopping for these ingredients. Lydia literally took me by the
hand and taught me a great deal in just a few minutes especially about
tortillas and refried beans which I’m sharing with you. I am thankful for Lydia
and the time she spent with me. 

Guacamole

This
dish can be made hours in advance of your dinner and stored in the fridge.

Cut
avocados in half. Lift out pits and save. Scoop out avocado from shell and
place into a glass bowl. Mash with a fork. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Taste
for seasoning and adjust to suit you.

Place
guacamole into a serving dish. Bury at least one pit into the dip. This helps
keep the avocado from turning black. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate
until ready to serve.

Serve
with tortilla chips.

Photo by The BlackRabbit on Unsplash

Beef
Tacos

Preheat
oven to 220° F (100°C).

Brown
beef in a large skillet set over medium heat. Be sure to stir and break up
clumps. Stir in onion and cook 3 – 4 minutes.

Pour
tomato sauce over meat mixture. Sprinkle on spices. Stir well. Cook 5 – 8
minutes longer, stirring often.

Pour
into an ovenproof dish. Set in oven until ready to serve.

When
you return home open the package, separate tortillas and lay directly onto your
kitchen counter for 10 – 15 minutes. Restack tortillas, wrap lightly in a paper
towel. Replace them in their original package, seal, and refrigerate until
ready to use. 

Heat
a flat skillet over medium heat. Lay in a tortilla and warm for a minute or so.
Turn. Fold tortilla in half. You now have a perfect taco shell. 

Lay
shells on a plate and serve. 

Heat
oil in a large saucepan set over moderate heat. Swirl oil to coat pan bottom.
Add onion. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes or until onion is
transparent but not brown.

Pour
in rice. Stir well for 2 – 3 minutes to coat all the grains. Do not let the
rice brown or the dish will be bitter.

Stir
in stock, water, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Cover pan and reduce heat to a
simmer. Cook for 20 minutes or until rice absorbs all the liquid.

If
need be, keep rice warm in a low oven until you’re ready to serve.

Scoop
beans into a microwaveable bowl.

Fry
bacon until crisp. You want to render as much fat out as possible. Eat the
bacon (no joke) and then stir the rendered fat into the beans.

Depending
on how powerful your microwave is, heat for 1 – 2 minutes before serving.

*
Buying canned beans is much easier than using dried pinto beans for this dish
and probably better tasting. Be sure the can reads Authentic Refried Beans. La
Preferida is the brand Lydia recommended. She was right. It was delicious as it
has bits of bean in it instead of just being a heavy paste.

May you enjoy all the days of your life filled with good friends, laughter, and seated around a well-laden table!

Sloane

Taylor’s cookbooks, Hot Mean Wear Aprons, Date Night Dinners, Date Night Dinners Italian Style, Sizzling Summer, and Recipes to Create Holidays Extraordinaire are released by Toque & Dagger Publishing and available at all book vendors.

One of the most asked questions to authors is, “Why did you set your book there?” For us it started with a car commercial. In the commercial, a grandmother is telling her granddaughter that she met grandpa under a tree. Then the two hug the tree and in a subsequent scene are joined by the child’s parents. As they leave the area, the car passes a sign marked Woodstock.

Honestly, we don’t even remember the make of the car that was being advertised, but we did remember the tree hugging scenario and the Woodstock sign. When Donald proposed the setting of Woodstock to me (Catherine) I was like, What???? It wasn’t a place I expected him to go. But the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. After all, who doesn’t like a walk down memory lane? I was into folk music in the Sixties. I sang and played Peter Paul and Mary songs on my guitar so many times I could have done it in my sleep, and I liked rock ‘n’ roll. And maxi coats and the cool threads. Since we’re both musicians, it was a short leap to making our hero and heroine musicians, too.

Because Rose, our heroine, is a music teacher, who plays several instruments, we decided to give her a love of all music, including classical. To broaden her horizons, we introduced classical music rebels into her music lexicon.

In one of the scenes, she is wandering around the festival grounds when she happens on another female hippie playing her flute and twirling to the melody. Rose decides to join in and plays a counter melody on her flute. Then the hippie begins playing “Bach’s Minuet in G”, to which Rose creates a counter melody.

We were so intrigued with the idea of two flutes playing Bach’s Minuet in G that we decided to compose the counter melody Rose played. If you click on the audio link, you can hear what we heard in our minds when we created this scene.

Now that you’ve heard the music in our heads, we hope you’ll enjoy an excerpt from our story.

The Soul Mate Tree . . .
An ancient legend spanning eras, continents, and worlds.
To some, it’s nothing more than a dream.
To others, a pretty fairy tale handed down through the generations.
For those in critical need of their own happy ending, a gift.

Our book, Can’t Stop the Music, is a blast back to the Sixties and Woodstock.

For college senior and hippie wannabe Rosemary—Rose for short—a teaching job is within her grasp, but she wants more. She wants love, the kind of love that has bound her parents for so many years. When she’s dumped by her current boyfriend because her morals can’t bring her to give in to free love, she finds herself at Woodstock in the middle of the biggest free-love, music festival of the Sixties. Alone, again. Until a magical tree grants her wish and she finds the man of her dreams—and loses him before she really knows who he is.

Dakota meets the girl of his dreams at Woodstock, but a jealous wannabe girlfriend drives them apart before he can discover Rose’s last name and where she comes from. After he sees a disappearing tree that promises him true love, a frantic search to find Rose comes up empty-handed.

Magic and music brings them together at Woodstock in 1969. Misunderstandings tear them apart. Will two flower children find one another again, or live with missed opportunities? 

Short Excerpt:

As they made their way to the festival site, Rose and her friends grooved to the music coming from the stage.

When they reached the makeshift bridge over the road, someone yelled, “Hey beautiful! You with the red hair.”

She looked around to see if there was anyone else with red hair. Then she glanced up and spotted two guys, one blond and the other dark-haired, leaning over the side of the bridge.

“Yeah, you,” the blond called out as he caught her gaze.

Willow halted beside her. “He’s cute. How about him?”

Rose looked away, her gaze landing on the other guy.

He jabbed his companion in the ribs. “Quit trying to pick up every girl you see.” Then he leaned farther over the rail. “Don’t pay any attention to him. He’s high.”

“So, she’s not beautiful?” Willow yelled to the hippie.

She poked her friend. “Stop it, Willow, you’re making a scene.” In spite of her protest, her gaze remained on the dark-haired guy.

He rested his elbows on the rail and stared back at her. The intensity of his expression shot heat into her belly.

“I didn’t say that, just that she shouldn’t pay attention to him.” He flapped a hand at his blond buddy, then tapped his own chest with his thumb several times as if to say, ‘Choose me!’

Does he want me to pay attention to him? Her heart thumped in rhythm to his jabbing thumb.

“Take that one,” Willow whispered. “He’s the real cutie.”

Before she could respond, the crowd pushed them forward. When they reached the other side of the bridge, she looked back, searching for the dark-haired hippie, but the spot where he’d stood was empty.

Just my luck. I see someone who’s intriguing and he disappears.

With a sigh, she continued the trek to the festival grounds.

Putting words and stories on paper is second nature to co-authors C.D. Hersh. They’ve written separately since they were teenagers and discovered their unique, collaborative abilities in the mid-90s. As high school sweethearts and husband and wife, Catherine and Donald believe in true love and happily ever after, and that’s why they write romance.

In addition to writing Catherine and Donald love antiquing, traveling, singing, and going to the theatre. Catherine is also an avid gardener and has drawn Donald into her garden as a day laborer. They figure the couple who plays together and works together, stays together—and that’s just what they aim to do.

Second Editions Coming Soon:

Ghosts and Gardenias

The Promised One The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 1
Blood Brothers The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 2
Son of the Moonless Night The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 3
The Mercenary and the Shifters The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 4

Social Media Info:

Website

Blog

Facebook

Amazon Author Page

Twitter

Goodreads

Stretching leftovers is always a good plan, especially now with our over-the-top food bills. If you celebrated Easter, you may have a few leftover yams or sweet potatoes, and maybe some chili kicking around in your freezer from the winter. If so, this recipe will definitely speak to you! Take it away, Helen… 

So, you’ve prepared your
favorite chili recipe. Friends and family said yum! Now you have leftovers, but
not enough to feed everyone another meal. Here’s a tasty trick.

Buy a yam or a sweet
potato for each member in the family. While the taters are microwaving, heat
the leftover chili. When the sweet potatoes are done, place on individual
plates slice open long-ways and fluff. Spoon the heated chili on top of each
potato.

Before you say, “Yuk,”
fork up a taste of this sweet, spicy savory combo. You may need more leftovers.

Enjoy!

Once upon a time there was a mother/daughter author duo named Helen and Lorri, who wrote as HL Carpenter. the Carpenters worked from their studios in Carpenter Country, a magical place that, like their stories was unreal but not untrue. Then one day Lorri left her studio to explore the land of What-If, and like others who have lost a loved one the magical place lost much of its magic. But thanks to family, plus an amazing group of wordsmiths named Authors Moving Forward (AMF), the magic is slowly returning.