This and That

Not much to report this week given that last week was Thanksgiving and I've not really done much of anything.  I did finish three Carolina colored scarves and two of the Clemson colored scarves.  I think I can get one more Clemson one made but that will have to wait until this evening while I'm doing laundry.

I decided to do the drawing for the red, white and blue afghan next Sunday since I'm by myself and will be at our local chapter Sisters in Crime holiday celebration.   I'll have one of the folks pick the winning ticket.  Officially sales are completed but if I get any  online requests this week for chances, I'll add them to the  pot which is well over 300 - thanks to my wonderful book sales from the weekend at the Cascades Verdae.  Good luck to all my readers who have chances already. 

See you all in the postings - E :)

This and That

No sales this week.  I do have on event scheduled this coming weekend.  It is a local event at a retirement center.  Apparently the director of the festival has been talking up my books, so hopefully that will generate some decent sales.  I'm glad I've got something scheduled this month as I was feeling a bit antsy about not having anything this month.  I've been trying to contact the museum to get my books in there but every time I call, the person I need to speak to is out or not there.  Maybe this week before the scheduled event I can get my books in the gift shop at the Belton Depot Museum. 

This is the last week to get your raffle chances at the special price of 2/$1.  The drawing will be held December 1 and the afghan mailed out about the 7th of December.  If you purchase any book, you still get the 5 chances in the drawing. 

See you all in the postings - E :)

This and That

I was without my internet yesterday so didn't get to post.  Nothing new to report.  Afghan raffle drawing chances are still on sale 2/$1 and will be until next week - the 15th.  I do have a local event on the 16th and 17th - so will report more about that next week.

Writing is going rather slowly - I've written one day and not the others and today is already the 5th, but work first and then I can think of writing - I hope to get on track with this story although I really don't feel it will come together like I envisioned it. 

See you all in the postings - E :)

This and That

So sales this week have been nil across the board but it's all good.  I'm still hoping the book distributors will pick up my books and start getting them into schools and that I'll be able to hopefully get back to the state stories next year (fingers crossed; without the distributors, I won't be able to pay my illustrator to get back on track, although I guess technically I could write the next four states as I have already picked the clues so we could title them already). 

The Sugarfoot Festival is this weekend, which is a local street fair of sorts where there will be lots of entertainment and crafts and food.  I hope to sell at least half or more of the afghans and several books to boot, knowing the bookworms will sell as they have been my most popular items since I started doing them last year at the Sugarfoot Festival.  The colors have grown so selling out of them would be nice, but the afghans would be icing on the cake. 

I'm running a special deal on my red, white and blue afghan chances - 2 for $1.00 - so you can double your chances of being the winner of this beautiful afghan.  Thsi deal will run through November 15 and the drawing will be December 1.  Tell everyone you know.  Remember you can email me for more instructions on how to purchase chances for this drawing.   See you all in the postings.  - E :)

This and That

Sales were low for ebooks again - no sales across the board, but I did sell two books at the GA COMO event and as posted previously made contact with four distributors who will hopefully get my books in schools. I've received a response from createspace regarding how they can acquire my books and am ready to send the information on. The next month or so maybe I'll see a huge influx in my sales. I did sell 19 bookworms to one of the reps from Rainbow Books (the bikini colored ones which look like the rainbow colors) and then sold 16 or 17 others with two people buying a chance on the red, white and blue afghan. My presentation went okay; I had 2 ladies show up and found out that possibly my books are being talked about in one of the schools in Cobb County Georgia, which needs further investigation tomorrow. I am still in need of young writers writing questions for my Wednesday weekly postings, so teachers send in your students' questions and I'll do my best to answer them. If you are a class or writing club participating in NaNo and would like an author visit, please drop me a line and let me know so I can schedule all the class visits. If you are into zombies or just want some fun stuff for the month of October, stop over on Susanne Drazic's blog and sign up for her email notifications so you know when a new posting is made and leave a comment on her postings to be entered for some zombie related prizes. You never know when the zombies will show up. I wish I had a cover for "Zombies Amuck" and had it up for sale to participate in Susanne's zombie extravaganza but at this point I don't so maybe next year; and by then, she may do ghosts or werewolves or vampires or some other Halloween-y theme. We just have to wait and see. Time to get to work as I have been away from the work since Wednesday morning - see you all in the postings - E :)

This and That

Another week gone, no more sales, one more afghan to finish. No writing accomplished this week either. I really need to get back to writing. I just have no mojo left right now. Let's talk about weird dreams. If you know personally, you know I don't sleep well and most nights/mornings will only sleep about 3 or 4 hours - depending on the kind of day I've had, what's stressing me. I'm never rested but sometimes I do dream. Last night I had two kind of off the wall dreams that are a bit bothersome to me. One was about my mother with whom I have very little communication and the other was about me teaching a class of students ranging in age from 6 on up to almost high school who were learning English. I am by no means an English teacher and don't think I have ever been a teacher in any lifetime. I'm wondering if that could be a round about way to get me back to Imogene since most of the students were Asian (kind of like the movie Good Morning, Vietnam ith Robin Williams) and a few Spanish speaking but they were very few. It would make sense that these girls abducted in China would have to go to school to learn to speak and write the local language to fit in, so maybe this was a lead-in to something having to do with my novel. Maybe I'll explore it and see where it leads me. Gearing up for the Georgia COMO event, which is October 3-5. Waiting to hear back on when I need to be there and what all I need to do. I've also had a recurrent dream about this event being a big break and foot in the door type of thing. One can only hope as you never know what will transpire from event to event, but I've not done an event since the middle/end of August so I'm ready to get out there again and really work on book sales. Don't forget that the afghan drawing chances are still available through Thanksgiving with the drawing to be held on December 1 and the winner receiving the afghan sometime during the week of the 7th of December (not looking at my calendar so can't tell you exactly when it will be shipped out). All chances are only $1 each with 5 extra chances for every 25 you purchase. See you all in the postings - E :)

This and That

It's been a great week as noted by my previous posting of "Miracles and Good News" and sales have been okay this week. All in all, no complaints about book related stuff this week.

For sales, over on kindle, I had a copy of Finally Home and a copy of "Bride-and-Seek" and a copy of State of Heights, so not too bad.

Now for the fussing part. I've been watching some of the Olympics but during times that I've not really been interested in the sports being shown, I've flipped the channels and watched movies or other shows. The commercials are abysmal. There is no modesty or decorum on commercials geared for kids these days. One of the "toys" being advertised is "Doggie Doo" and the catch line is "Doggies do what doggies do" and they show the dog releasing what is supposed to be "doggie doo" (I think it's Play-Doh but it's still disgusting). The other is a Ladybug filled with some sort of jewels or trinkets that when tossed and the tells the girls to clean up the mess - so the ladybug goes around and picks up all the little jewels and one of the things advertised in the commercial is that the ladybug "poops too". I'm sorry but these commercials have gone to extremes - disgusting and totally not child-friendly (yeah, I know kids say more disgusting things but still, no need to advertise this on TV that kids will be watching. No need to encourage the disgusting behavior).

Other than disgusting commercials, I'll be happy for the fall TV season to restart. I've seen a few advertised shows that look pretty interesting but who knows if I'll have time to really watch much TV as I have a lot of events coming up.

Just a sneak peak of what is coming up - the end of the month is Sunday in the Park in Mint Hill; the weekend following that which happens to be Labor Day Weekend will be Decatur Book Festival - the place I got started with my state books and I'm looking forward to being there again. In October there are three scheduled events, just have to come up with the fundings for the last one and I'm good to go. I won't be doing Savannah this year as they have gone up on cost and the table isn't worth $150, even if I were to get a school visit just wouldn't cover enough expenses. Hoping the first event in October leads to several school visits.

Coming in a couple of weeks or so, I have a guest blogger, mystery author Sandra Parshall. So that's what is on the agenda for now. Don't forget you still have 2-1/2 months to purchase your chances for the red, white and blue afghan drawing and that chances are only $1 each. Good luck to everyone who has tickets so far. See you all in the postings - E :)

Miracles and Good News

Okay, my miracles are minor compared to some but still in the past 24 hours (more like past 18 hours) I've received an answer to one of my prayers and relief good news to another.

I've been campaigning to sell my book related items via Etsy and my websites to raise funds for a couple of big events coming up. I had asked Ann Eisenstein to join me for the GaCOMO conference coming up the first week of August to help offset the costs of the exhibitor's booth but have not really received a commitment from her, so have been fretting on how to come up with the $350 for the booth cost, which needs to be turned in by September 1. I kept hoping that some afghans or books would sell or large quantities of chances for the afghan drawing, but at almost the middle of August, neither has happened.

Yesterday, we had some terrible storms come through our area and I logged off for a while and then logged back on when I thought the storms had passed only to have to re-log off within a few short minutes secondary to another set of storms coming through as strong as the first one, but not before I was able to read my emails. One of them was from the director of the conference telling me that he was pretty sure he had a solution to my dilemma - they are always needing someone to sit in the SELA (that's the Southeastern Library Association) booth during the conference and if I were willing to help man the booth, I could set up my books at no cost to me. YES! - His last words to me were "think about it" and my reply to him before having to really get off the computer was - I'm there - lol. No thinking necessary. I'll be there whatever hours you need me except during my presentation time - so this was my miracle.



I only have to fret about the biggest book festival coming up but that one shouldn't be as bad since I do get paid on the 22nd of this month and have a small event the Sunday before and I'm hoping that one will be a huge success (lots of afghans and books sales) but I've already been planning so my check should be pretty good and able to cover all the expenses. It wouldn't hurt to see folks purchasing chances for the afghan drawing in batches of 25 (remember the cost per chance now is only $1 each and for every 25 purchased you get 5 free chances - so if you were to purchase 100 chances, you would actually receive 120 for the drawing and this is the afghan I almost don't want to give away but have committed it to being the 2012 afghan). This would just cushion my ability to meet all necessary expenses over the ensuing weeks.

The other bit of good news is that I was fretting about the hotel expenses for the GaCOMO since that conference falls the very first week of October (3-5) and I don't get paid until the 7th but in that case I actually will get paid on the 5th. I called the hotel this morning to inquire about when my credit card would actually be charged - upon check-in or check-out - Erica stated that I wouldn't be charged until check-out which is a relief since I'll be checking out Friday morning and my money will be in my account first thing that Friday morning. So, yay for a little relief on that and now all I have to do is save my check on the 22nd of September to cover gas and food to and from the conference. Things are definitely looking up as far as that one conference is concerned.

I'm having a Miracles and Good News day. What about you - what kind of day are you having? Hope it's full of wonderful miracles and good news - see you all in the postings - E :)

This and That

This week is the start of my 50-day giveaway which will run through August 2. I've got a few postings up starting Tuesday. The giveaways will be from bookworms to crocheted kindle or nook covers, crocheted tablet covers, signed books, ebooks and many other items. So please tell everyone you know to keep checking back every day to see what I'll be giving away in celebration of my half century.

Sales this week have been slow but there have been a couple - 1 copy of "The Proposal" and 1 copy of "The Tulip Kiss", but there haven't been any online sales since the week ending the 12th of May so I'm happy with it.

I received a preview cover for "Butterfly Halves" yesterday and hopefully will be able to release it to the public soon. I can't share the cover yet because there were a couple of problems that I need fixed before accepting it as complete. Heather is doing an awesome job as usual.

I also need to review "Train of Clues" one last time before re-releasing it. I think we caught all the doubled pages/paragraphs this go round and we have made a few changes in the placement of the illustrations and made the book length a bit longer by putting more white space per page - the story is basically unchanged. So be on the look out for that to make its reappearance.

I've got all but one tablet cover completed and I'm not really liking the Old Glory yarn for the cases/covers because the yarn is softer than the Red Heart brand (I've only been able to find the red/white/blue varigated at Hobby Lobby and it's their brand "I Love This Yarn" which seems to be a very soft and not as stiff as the Red Heart brand). Once I finish the tablet cover, I'll post pictures of all the kindle/nook covers and the tablet covers. I hope to find some yarn at the "All About Fabric" plant this week to make more of the cases. I've got all summer to build up my supply until my next big event, Decatur Book Festival, Labor Day weekend. In October I have a librarian's conference and then a local event where I know my afghans will do well. The price of the kindle/nook covers is $8 and the tablet covers $10 (these are a bit bigger and take a little more time). Afghans are $75 in person and $85 shipped which includes shipping and tax.

Chances for the red/white/blue granny square afghan are still available either by purchasing from my website or the JGDS website under the gift tab or by purchasing any print book from me or from amazon.com or other place. If you make a purchase that isn't directly from me, all you need to do is email me (eeldering@gmail.com) with proof of purchase (attached receipt or electronic receipt) so I can send your chance to you. The more you enter, the better your chances. This drawing will be done December 1, so you have six months left to get all your chances in.

Come celebrate my birthday with me starting Tuesday and see you all in the postings

Curl up with a good book afghans

I just finished my 2013 red, white, blue varigated afghan, which will be used only for a drawing and not for sale, and was so inspired by the quickness of the stitch I used (Alternating V Shell stitch) that I decided the colors of most of my bookworms would make really great afghans to sell at the Sugarfoot festival in October. They will be available on my website as well.

So the colors I'm going to make up will be the bonbon print (the one I call Cotton Candy - started and completed), Woodsy (the one I call Earth worm - will have to rename it or leave as woodsy for the afghan), Monet (the one I call Easter or spring 3 - started (need more yarn which will be purchased on payday)), melonberry (the one I call spring 1 or 2 - can't remember but it's on the website under gifts), Primary (or the other spring one) and the Marrakesh (or what I'm calling fall). My daughter keeps saying that the bonbon print is hers but I told her that she would have to save up her money and purchase it since I already made her an afghan and it isn't really being used - she says it's on the back of her computer chair which means it is not being used - lol.

I'm thinking $45 a piece will be a decent price, plus $5 shipping if ordered from the website.

I need to scour the thrift stores to find a quilt stand to display my afghans, so that will be my next project. I hope to have at least 3 maybe 4 completed by time of the SC Book Festival in May to put up for sale and go from there - E :)

(I was hoping to be able to post pictures of the completed afghans but have misplaced my camera so as soon as it shows up, I will get some pictures posted.)

Afghan drawing is now a raffle

I've been steadily working on my red, white and blue crocheted afghan and have half the rows sewn together. I had originally planned to make the afghan for a drawing for the JGDS series only but have decided to do a raffle instead of a book purchase related drawing. Raffle tickets will be $1.50 each or 10 for $12. You can find the raffle buy buttons at both the JGDS website and my other writing website. Pictures will be posted by the end of the week. Drawing will be December 1, which is after my final event as this is a year-long raffle. I need the afghan to show at my events so that folks can purchase tickets in-person as well as online. Good luck to everyone - E :)