Exclusive Interview on Tabitha from the Detours in Time Series

I have a guest post today on the RLF blog!  I’ll be giving some background on Tabitha, a main character in the Detours in Time books.  It’s a little different, actually.  I’ll answer questions about her, and she’ll answer questions about me.  (Why does she think I created her? Just one example).  It was a lot of fun to do!  Please visit the link below, like it, share it, etc.

Tabitha’s Character Background

The website rlfblog.com stands for Romance Lives Forever blog.  While I don’t classify Detours in Time as romance, there is a sweet romance involved when two friends learn things about each other during time travel, a unique bonding experience.  Detours in Time is classified as Sci-fi, time travel that comments on where society may be headed, but in the process, comments on love and the importance of family.  Detours in Time and its sequel, Undercurrents in Time are both available at Amazon.com.

Thank you for visiting my blog and the rlfblog.  I think you’ll enjoy what you see.

Blazing a Trail with Detours in Time…Maybe? Check out this Kindle Countdown

Doesn’t every author want to picture themselves taking the reading world by storm, blazing a trail toward notoriety and fame, imagining his/her name (or title) being emblazoned in lights?  Do we all have what it takes to battle to get there?  I don’t know, because as I envelope myself in the comfort of this world of words and my imagination, I at times imagine myself sequestered like Emily Dickinson, closing the door to fame or popularity and retreating with my delicious words that will never fail to please me.   Oh, they’re not always pleasant words, but at least I created them.   Yet, I so long to share my words with others.  I want them to be read.

At any rate, it has been a good week for reviews of Detours in Time.  There have been three more reviews that are four star and five star reviews.  The latest is by a book blogger, a 5 * review, and can be found at  https://literarytitan.com/2017/07/19/detours-in-time/

I value my writing and the work I put into it, however, I am all for the promotional opportunities that are offered by Amazon.  Detours in Time is on  Kindle Countdown until 7/25 for just 1.99 in the U.S.  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0711ZW6XF and also in the U.K. for a comparable discount, http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0711ZW6XF.  I urge you to get your own copy today!

#WeekendCoffeeShare, I’ll Keep Dancing ‘cuz I Love Dancing!

 

Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Emily at nerdinthebrain.com and soon to be hosted again by parttimemonsterblog.com.  As you can see in the photo, there are many days lately where my coffee of choice is ICED!  The heat here in Florida is amazing lately.  This coffee drink was iced mocha.  Yum!  I actually met with some friends and fellow writers Thursday for a fellow writers’ chat.  Hence, the above photo, which is perfect for summer!  If we were having coffee today, on the 9th of July, I would tell you:

*Book News:  Most days this week, I have sold one or two of the Detours in Time books at Amazon.  Some days, I think it’s because of the book postcard I gave to the cashier or customer service manager at the grocery store or the coffee shop.  This is one way I’m getting the word out.  I got a graphic designer to make this design, and then I ordered the postcards to be printed.  I hand them out in many places, and Wow!  They look very professional, and they make me look legitimate, so they make me talk to people about my writing!  Imagine that!  People don’t know I’m an author.  I need to tell them!  I should be proud!  I worked hard on this book.  I paid for editing, cover design, graphics, postcard, formatting, and there’s something I missed, but you get the drift.  I should be proud.  Plus, I really enjoyed the writing of this book.  I do this because I enjoy it, so I should be proud.  I’m working on this poem in my mind about it.  It’s like, I’m displaying my talent and hard work, so I don’t want people to ignore or to look away, even if I am only earning a few dollars on it.  Well, there are some days it seems no one sees my Facebook posts, and sometimes you’ll have some days without a sale.  Come on, you indie authors know what I’m talking about! Anyway, I’ll likely order more postcards.  It has been fun talking about my writing with strangers.  (It’s helping me develop my elevator pitch). 🙂  This is what it looks like, designed by Kat Mellon:

Also in book news, a big thanks to Jackie O. who, starting Monday, gave me a book/author feature on her blog this week!  See it at https://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com/2017/07/03/bring-your-books-5-author-zone/

Another round of thanks to Katrina Robinson, who hosted my “Interview with a Character” from Detours in Time this Weds., 7/05.  Please visit and give it a read at https://calliopewriting.com/2017/07/05/guest-blog-post-interview-with-a-character-from-pamela-schloesser-canepas-detours-in-time/   It is a different sort of post on the blog tour for my new sci-fi novel, Detours in Time.

This week I have also have a book spotlight at princessofthelight.wordpress.com.  They are pleasant to work with, and have a lot of Twitter followers who have retweeted my book spotlight!

*A big topic of discussion with my fellow writers at coffee was recent movies.  I had been bad about attending movies, but I have finally seen The Guardians of the Galaxy 2, (and then rented part 1 on Netflix) and more recently, Wonder Woman.  I loved both!  There has been a lot of talk about theology in Wonder Woman, and then, I saw another article that cited Buddhists principles in Wonder Woman!  The point is, people are seeing a moral or spiritual element in the movie, and I noticed a similarity of the god Ares’ fall to that of Lucifer.  I did not love it for the fight scenes, but for many of the other elements present.  Many people are seeing different things.  Go see it!  GOTG: it’s just awesome, full of action, great music, and characters you can easily fall for.  Enough said.  See them both, especially if you love sci-fi and superheroes.  Next up, War for the Planet of the Apes.  I am there!  I’ve seen people guffaw at it as racist.  Huh?  You can see it in many different ways.  What I see is that the apes are closer to nature than mankind, and therefore they would save it (and fight for it) as opposed to our destruction of the planet.  I know the original condemns mankind for blowing up the planet, and it made quite an impression on the young me.  I am curious and will certainly see this one too.  My next on Netflix is The Man From UNCLE.  Yes, I’ve seen it before, but it’s worth a revisit!  Spy intrigue, handsome lead, 60’s fashion, 60’s classic cars, exciting love story, and HENRY CAVILL.  I am a fan.  🙂  Worth revisiting!

*Writing?  Yes, I wrote a story this week!  Well, two, but one of them is still secret.  The other is a flash fiction that I wrote here on WordPress for the Flash fiction for Aspiring Writers Challenge.  It is in reaction to a photo prompt.  I love these and will likely try them with my English Language Arts students.  Someone should love writing like I do!  Here is my response:                                                        https://pamelascanepa.wordpress.com/2017/07/04/flashfictionforaspiringwriters-i-took-the-fall/

*So, beyond that, I got the dog groomed, spent some time with my son, went to Artwalk with my significant other, and read at least one book this week, and there were two yoga classes.  I also went to a fundraiser yoga class this morning that was different than my usual practice.  It was great, even though I modified a lot.  Yes, it is a common thread in my posts.  Yoga-dogs-books.  If I spend my time doing those things, it means I am loving my life!

Visit   Emily at http://www.nerdinthebrain.com/weekendcoffeeshare-the-one-where-i-pass-the-reigns-back/  for her week’s insights and for the coffee shares of some fellow bloggers.  You may add yours by clicking on the InLinks button.

Thank you for reading this far, especially if you haven’t tired of me “spitting out the butt-ends of my days and ways,” (From a T.S. Eliot poem) which amounts to:  Yoga, books, dogs.  Add Family.  Friends.  Coffee!  I shall have to add food next time.  🙂 Have a great week!

 

Today’s Book Promo Graphic for Detours in Time, a.k.a Fun with Canva

The question is: Who would YOU bring to the future? Read the time-travel novel of two friends who take a fun journey that becomes an intense and challenging maze of danger and difficult decisions. Detours in Time, in Kindle and paperback, or free on Kindle Unlimited! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0711ZW6XF

Let my latest sci-fi release take you on a journey!

I’m loving this latest graphic, because it looks like an album cover, and to me, it looks like summer, and it screams, “Let’s go on a journey, you and me!”  Be sure to take someone you trust, someone you could stand getting lost with, and someone who can think quickly in urgent situations.

Teaser:  

“He (Milt) let it down slowly and hesitantly, as if having been forced to choose between the bug and Pinky.  He was like a teenage boy when it came to bugs, worms, caterpillars.  Pinky hated bugs, but still found his excitement amusing.   He was truly a young soul in that fifty-year-old body, that honestly didn’t look fifty, anyhow.”

Author’s note– (I actually had to answer this in one of my blog interviews)

By the way, if I got stuck with a character on a deserted island, I’d totally choose Milt. How fun that would be with his childlike wonder and curiosity!  He’d chart the stars for us at night and tell me stories about the constellations.  He’d know the best way to build shelter.  He wouldn’t mind getting dirty either, nor would he care if my hair got frizzy. Awkward scientist trying for the part of book-boyfriend.  Works for me!

#WeekendCoffeeShare, Feels Like Summer!

Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Emily at nerdinthebrain.com. If we were having coffee today on July 1st, I’d tell you that:

*I still drink hot coffee, despite how warm it is outside, and that warmth seems to glide through the windows.  Heaven help me though, I cannot thrive in a blacked-out room.  There are some days I’ll put an ice cube or two in my coffee, though.  How about you?

*It’s been another week of book promotion and finding people who will review my book, which means contact numerous book bloggers.  You know, I did a LibraryThing giveaway, and I keep wondering when those reviews will trickle in?  I should not be so hasty, though.  This book is at least twice the length of the books I have published in the Made for Me series.  I just don’t know what to expect, and I felt like I started ahead of time as needed.  Oh well, start sooner next time!  Got it.

I’ve been doing more visual promo graphics for Detours in Time with Canva, and I posted a few here:  https://pamelascanepa.wordpress.com/2017/06/28/detours-in-time-visual-book-promo-fun-with-canva/  I plan to make a visual book post once a week here.

Here is one that sets some character background:

Find a few more here: https://pamelascanepa.wordpress.com/2017/06/28/detours-in-time-visual-book-promo-fun-with-canva/

*I have not been writing much because of all the promo attempts and writing author interviews.  Okay, that is writing.  I haven’t been doing the fiction writing that I love. I did, however, write a short story for the Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers prompt.  Check it out:  https://pamelascanepa.wordpress.com/2017/06/26/fffaw-the-search-ends-at-daylight/

I also wrote an eerie short story last night.  I am not sure when I will drop it on the world, but I had to get the thoughts in writing, and I feel better for doing so.

*Other than that, there has been a lot of family time.  My mother and my son currently don’t drive, but I think things are coming together.  At any rate, I get to spend a lot of time with them and our dog this summer.  I also had a little getaway with my boyfriend for his birthday weekend.  I wrote a short post on these happy glimpses of summer as well:  https://pamelascanepa.wordpress.com/2017/06/29/summer-glimpses-beyond-book-stuff/  This includes my goal of yoga two times or more a week, which I’m proud to say I am doing!

*I spent an hour yesterday visiting an elderly lady from my church.  I volunteered to do this; I do a few volunteer things through my church.  I was nervous when I first started visiting two years ago, but she is so kind.  She has memory problems, but she is in a really nice Assisted Living community.  When I got there yesterday, one of the directors had been urging a few of the wheelchair bound patients to move down the halls in their chairs.  She had been doing that too, so I continued to wheel her around.  She loved it.  Movement is so good for anyone’s mind.  Then, we sat out back in the shade, just a short while.  She seemed so much happier than usual.  I am glad she has some good days, but I can even tell on not-so-good days that she is so appreciative of my visit, and she offers help to any others there; though I don’t think she could get up and fetch a glass of water, by gosh, she would try.  That’s part of memory, forgetting  certain things you can no longer do.  I learn so much about attitude from her.  I learn a lot about the mind, as I have learned from the nervous breakdown of one of my family members.  I am not an expert on the brain, but I am learning that some things can spark a healthier brain, and I am learning to listen, even when things don’t make sense.

So, there’s my week in a nutshell!  That kind of fits, whith my hazelnut coffee!  How was your week?  Leave me a comment, and go and check out other coffee shares at http://www.nerdinthebrain.com/weekendcoffeeshare-the-one-with-a-big-ol-announcement/

Perhaps you will share your own?  Click on the link up button and follow the steps.

Have a great week!

#WeekendCoffeeShare. Of Books, Dogs, and Yoga.

Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Emily at nerdinthebrain.com.  It goes like this, If we were having coffee today, on the 24th of June, I’d tell you that:

I actually worked on a book manuscript today!  (Not the one I just published).  Well, the draft is already written, but little bits and pieces have been coming to me, and today I finally decided to add them in.  I can’t tell you my word count, because I only do that during NANOWRIMO.  I’m sure I’ll be adding more to this one.  It felt so good, because it seems such a long time since I’ve done that.  You see, I’ve been working on promoting my new sci-fi release, and most of my writing efforts have gone into that.  I must say, though, I really miss entering the Flash fiction challenges, and I need to get back into it.  The Weekend Coffee Share has been my one semi-regular post in the blogger community.     Photo:  Detours in Time is my new sci-fi release.  Buy link is in my footnote!

You see, I’ve been writing blog guest posts and answering interview questions in order to get featured on other blogs.  I’ve been contacting book bloggers about reviews and writing those e-mails, as well as searching my book for some really good teaser quotes to add to my Canva graphics.  I published a post earlier this week that explores part of the background in Detours in Time, which is the 1990s.  Find it here:  https://pamelascanepa.wordpress.com/2017/06/21/10-reasons-the-1990s-were-not-so-bad/ This week, I was also part of a blog tour that I signed up for through a blogger in Ireland.  Each day, a different part or element of my book was revealed. Friday, my first page was featured at https://thefirstpageblog.wordpress.com/2017/06/23/419/  Please do go and check it out!

The book promo graphic that I made on Canva and posted Thursday.  It’s a quote teaser from Detours in Time.  If you couldn’t tell, it’s a time-travel book. 🙂

You may also want to visit this link this weekend, where my book is being featured and a giftcard giveaway takes place when you sign up for my newsletter (a once or twice monthly update) and follow my social media:  https://eskiemamareads.blogspot.com/2017/06/eskiemama-dragon-lady-reads-saturday_24.html

Other than writing and book promo, I’ve been reading Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee.  The social dynamics from that era are interesting.  I have also been going to yoga class and trying some yoga at home.  I go to the studio at least twice a week, get some cardio at some point, and then try to get on the mat at home a few days.  The yoga at home doesn’t last long.  My dog thinks I’m just having fun, so he comes and rolls around on the mat.  It’s a little distracting, but I get what yoga  I can until he just has to have attention.

Dog on the mat!  Not distracting at all. 🙂

So, all the writing and typing gets my shoulders in knots.  Therefore, I had to have a massage yesterday.  It was great!  Later today, I am headed to St. Augustine Beach with my boyfriend Kenny.  We’ll get some beach time, and then later, we’ll have a really good dinner.  It’s his birthday weekend!  I so need a little getaway.  We may get to the shops, unless it’s too hot.  This heat has been overwhelming at times.  Even lukewarm coffee gets to me.  My room also has thin curtains so the sun comes in, full force and bright.  I wouldn’t trade it for the world, though.  My corner should be and needs to be sunny to maintain my state of mind.  I can always go to another room to cool off!

On the home range, things are still going well.  I had to catch my attitude, as I am the only driver in my family right now.  I am not used to being a caretaker for the family.  For my child, yes, I’m used to that.  I had to check my attitude, though.  It left me feeling petty.  I gifted my mom with a pack of Klondike bars, though, and she was so appreciative.  Everyone seems to be on the uphill climb lately.

Well, that’s my week.  How about yours?  Please leave me a comment, and visit Emily’s Coffee Share.  You may even want to post your own #weekendcoffeeshare.    http://www.nerdinthebrain.com/weekendcoffeeshare-the-one-where-life-just-keeps-being-fun/

Have a great weekend!

Fun with Graphics, a #DetoursinTime promo teaser

Made with Canva.com.  Find Detours in Time, my latest sci-fi novel, on Goodreads and on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0711ZW6XF

Available in Kindle format, Kindle Unlimited, and paperback!

Blurb:  On a whim, feisty Tabitha takes a trip to the future with her trusted friend Milt, an awkward Science professor. Wonders and curiosities abound.  However, their fun journey soon leads to a challenging maze of danger and difficult decisions.  On an unplanned “detour,” the two set events into action that could save one life and destroy another.  Can these friends of completely different mindsets agree on a course of action?  Detours in Time starts as a fantastic escape and grows to present many moral dilemmas that could either ruin the best friendship or bring two people closer together.

I’m having fun with these graphics.  What do you all think of the blurb?  It is a tweaked version of what I had put on Amazon.  Yes, I’m working on re-writing it.  Book Marketing!

Have a nice weekend!