Updates & What I'm Working On

Happy Fourth of July, lovely readers! I hope everyone is having an enjoyable day with family and friends. I ended up with four days off the day job for this weekend, and intend to make the most of them around the property. The hubs had to work today, but he'll be off the next three days, so that'll be nice. We have a lot to do over these few days, and some of it (for me) is business related.

As most of you know, the newest book in the Liz Baker series came out at the end of May. So far, the feedback has been great. I'm so glad people are enjoying Liz's story! It makes me happy when someone tells me how much they liked the stories I write. It validates all the time I put into these projects: all the stress, frustration, late nights, long days, multiple sets of eyes, and even the time my wonderful cover designer puts into it. I love my books and I'm thrilled others love them, too. :)

The last two months, I've been working on something new. I'm still working on the 8th book in Liz's series (scheduled for release in 2020), but I have also created a new business venture. I am now a certified life coach and have started accepting clients out of the herbal supplement shop (my day job). So if you follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, you may, from time to time, see shared posts from Tailgate Life Coaching. That's me, so don't be concerned. Feel free to follow that page, if it's something you're interested in. I'm still building it up and creating content to share, but it's getting there.

Best wishes & happy holiday weekend, everyone!

It's Release Day!

Death's Seduction marks the 15th book I've released since 2005, and the 7th book in the Liz Baker series. This series will be coming to an end in the next book or two (I haven't decided yet), so now is the time to catch up with Liz and her group.

If you took advantage of the pre-order phase of the release, you should have gotten your copy early this morning. Not only did you not have to worry about remembering Release Day, but you also got an amazing deal when you ordered. Good job!

For those who forgot or didn't have the time to get the book for only $0.99, never fear! The price will go up today, but it'll only be at $2.99. *As of this posting all locations are still at $0.99*

If you've been part of the Facebook Release Day Event then you're also entered into the giveaway for a $10 Amazon gift card (Facebook is not responsible for the giveaway). Yay, you! I'll announce the winner on Saturday, May 25th.

Thanks, again, to everyone who has stood by me over the years. To all my loyal readers, I <3 you guys!

Amazon

B&N

Smashwords

Kobo

Preorders

Pre-Orders are a big deal in the book world. When you pre-order an upcoming release it not only assures you will receive your copy on the big day, but it also helps us authors determine how to promote the upcoming release. A lot of times, when you order a book during its pre-order phase you get a better (lower) price as well. The pre-order phase for Death's Seduction is no different!

From now until Release Day (May 24th), you can pre-order the Kindle version of the 7th book in the Liz Baker series for only $0.99! Once the book releases the price goes up. So be sure to snag your copy ASAP and you'll have it waiting for you on your Kindle (or phone, or tablet, or computer) whenever you're ready to read it on May 24th.

You only have three weeks from today to take advantage of the pre-order deal, so I hope you'll jump on it and show your love for Liz and her gang. :)

Order Death's Seduction HERE.  :)

The End!

Last week, I finally wrote those two little words I love the most: The End! Death's Seduction, book 7 of the Liz Baker series is finally finished. Woohoo! Well, if we wanna get technical, it's not "finished" since there's about half a dozen rounds of editing it will need to undergo, but for me..... IT'S DONE!

Yay!

I'm so excited!

Mr. Silvers asked me the other day how long it had been since book 6 came out and I figured a few years, until I looked at the copyright page of book 6. Five years! *Gasp* I can't believe it has been 5 years already. Even I have forgotten a lot of the small details of the series and had to go back through my notes from the previous six books.

Granted, I've been through a LOT in the last five years, the most important being the cancer diagnosis of my mother, sooooo many treatments, and her ultimate passing eight months later. Not to mention, I started working a part time public job two years ago, and that has taken away a lot of my writing time over those years. I also had one daughter join the Army and another daughter graduate high school and move out on her own. I finally got my very own office last summer (and it has been glorious!) that I was able to set up to my liking. That helped the writing process tremendously.

In the meantime, you guys don't know just how much I appreciate all my loyal fans that have stuck around, sent me words of encouragement, kindness, and understanding, and those who shared the Liz Baker series with their friends and family while I've worked to get my writing life put back together. My heart swells from the love you guys have shown and it definitely fueled the fire in me to get this book finished.

Oh, and I've already started on book 8, as well. I'm planning to release it toward the end of this year. Two releases in one year?! I haven't done that in quite some time, and I'm excited about it this year.

Sooooooo, while I have everyone all excited with me now, I'd like to announce what everyone is waiting for.....

Death's Seduction, Liz Baker Bk 7 will be released on MAY 24th, 2019!

Normally book releases are at the beginning of a week, but I chose this day to honor my mother. May 24th will mark the 3 year anniversary of her passing, and while I miss her every single day, I know she would be so excited about the release of another Liz book. She loved to tell all her friends that her daughter is an author and she had all my books proudly displayed on her bookshelf for everyone to see. She had framed newspaper articles about me and even printed off online articles and blog posts to show everyone.

If you've read this far, thank you for sticking with me for all these years. I hope you're as excited about the new Liz Baker book as I am. Pre-Orders will start soon, and I'll share all of those links when it's time. Until then, check out the new cover above from the extremely talented Kelly Shorten. She has been the cover designer for every single Liz Baker book from the very beginning.

Lots of love to you all,

I finally found a title!

Deciding on a title for your book can sometimes be as trying a task as writing the back cover blurb for said book (it's hell!). You wouldn't think it would be so difficult, but it's like getting a teenager to come out of her room!

I had a running list of random words that *might* go together in some form or fashion to create an understandable title. Multiple Post-It notes with words, and lines through them, and frowning faces, and scribbles because I got distracted and hated everything I wrote stuck to my desk, laptop, and marker board. I even went so far as to have my 14 year old daughter on one computer while I was on another so she could look up synonyms for words as I searched on Amazon to make sure that title idea didn't already exist. All of that after I sat here and explained to her what the entire story is about.

It was bad! Trust me.

This went on for days and days, with NOTHING appealing to me. I even asked poor Mr. Silvers and his only question was, "Well, what's the story about?" I shook my head and replied, "No, I'm not going through that again!" I thrust a piece of paper toward him and demanded, "Tell me which one goes with the series!" And then he started asking me more questions, so I took the paper back and shooed him out of my office.

Wanna know what happened for me to finally come up with a title after many days of torment (because I can't get a cover created without a title!)? Are you ready for this?  Here you go................................................................................... 

I WENT TO BED!

Yep, you read that correctly.  I went to bed.  As I tried to fall asleep, and struggling due to all the nonsense in my head, the title slapped me in the face and just came to me. I had to immediately grab my phone and type it into the notepad app for fear of falling asleep and forgetting it forever. I've had that happen before. Whew!

Sooooo, staying with the theme of my Liz Baker series, book seven's title is: 

DEATH'S SEDUCTION

I also have a release date and just contacted my Liz Baker cover designer to start the ball rolling on all of that. But those are posts for another day. :D  Right now I'm just excited to give this project a name and be one step closer to releasing it to the public.

See you next time!

January Observances: Clean Up Your Computer Month

Time for another issue of January Observances! This week I want to share with you that January is Clean Up Your Computer Month. Have you cleaned your computer lately? I know I haven't. I do have it on my To-Do list for this month though.

As a writer, I really need to back up my WIPs (work-in-progress) regularly and in several locations. I learned a long time ago to never depend on a single draft in my laptop, and I learned that the hard way. Talk about a stressful 2 weeks while I waited for my laptop to return from the warranty department at Dell. I was on pins and needles waiting to see if they had erased all my data, or if my book file was still intact. I thanked the heavens above as I booted up my laptop and all my files were still there. Whew! Thus my learning experience that taught me to save my stuff in numerous locations, both online and off.

Sooooo, time to clean things up, update my antivirus program, clear out all those old files, upload photos, backup my current WIP to a flash drive, and make sure my online storage is up to date. While I'm at it, I guess I should clean up my phone too.

Let this be a reminder to all of my wonderful readers: Clean Up Your Computer! :)

Have a great week and I'll see you next time.

It's my birthday! Here's a gift for you!

Image by Maria Luisa Gutierrez

Today I celebrate my 42nd birthday. I can't believe I'm now "established" in my 40's. LOL! It's a weird feeling. I remember when my parents were this age and I couldn't imagine being in my 40's, and yet here I am. Weird!

Anyway, to celebrate another year of writing, I'm offering all my readers a special 1 day only BOGO deal.

Buy any of my eBooks on your favorite site, send me a copy of your receipt showing today's date, and I'll personally email you back a PDF copy of any 1 of my other books. For example: You buy Time for Death (Liz Baker, bk 1) on Amazon, send me the receipt, and I'll send you back Kill Me Next Week (Liz Baker, bk 2) for FREE. Well, if that's the book you requested. :D

The only exception to this deal is Alex & Fiona Forever. Since that is the complete Alex & Fiona series, I will not be including this one in the free book selection. However, you CAN use this one as your purchased book to receive another book for free.

Now, I have one request with all this... BE PATIENT. I work a day job and won't be able to respond to any emails until this evening, after I've picked my daughter up from school and made it home for the day.

To recap:

• 1.  Buy any of my eBooks on your favorite site.
• 2.  Email me a copy of your receipt with today's date.
• 3.  Include your requested free book of choice.
• 4.  Be patient while I reply with a PDF copy of the free book you requested.

If the link above doesn't work, send emails to authorchristiesilvers @ gmail.com  (no spaces).

I hope you all have a lovely Thursday. <3

January Observances: National Oatmeal Month

Image from Yaroslav B

It's National Oatmeal Month! How do you like your oatmeal? 

Lately, I've been trying out a ton of "overnight oats" recipes (thank you, Pinterest!) and it's a lot different than cooked oats. After eating hot oatmeal all my life it's a little weird to eat them cold, but not bad if you find the right combination of goodness to add to it. My newest favorite is a brown sugar and cinnamon combination and then I throw in a tablespoon full of a tropical trail mix. The pineapple and bananas kind of soften after being in the fridge overnight, and the coconut gives it a nice flavor.

The overnight oats make it easy for me to grab the jar out of the fridge, throw it in my lunch bag with a protein shake and my lunch, before heading to the gym early in the morning. After a good workout I can sit anywhere and peacefully eat my breakfast and drink my shake without having to worry about finding a microwave. And then it's off to the day job!

Granted, you can do a lot more with oatmeal than eat it for breakfast. Cookies and breads are quite popular, but for me it will always be a healthy breakfast.

What do you put in your oatmeal?

January Observances: Hot Tea Month

Photo from Willie Cloete

Every day of the year seems to be dedicated to something extra, and while it's fun to celebrate Hamburger Day or Whipped Cream Day, I've decided to focus on months instead of days.

January has several observances, however, I picked just four I like and I'll be sharing them with you every Monday this month.

Today, I'm going to share Hot Tea Month with you!

As a born and raised Southerner, it took me a while to become a fan of hot tea. My experimentation with numerous tea blends and sweeteners, bags or loose leaf, and even different kettles led me to some delicious, healthy, and warming teas that I drink regularly during the cold winter months.

Some of my favorite blends include apples and citrus fruits. I have one I like for daily use to get me started in the mornings called Sweet Tangerine Positive Energy from Yogi Teas. This is my "start the day" tea that I sip while waking up at 5:30am every weekday.

I also enjoy their Kava Stress Relief for nighttime use. Since I have such a difficult time settling down in the evening (don't we all have a million things left to do at bedtime?) it helps me relax and sleep better. Mr. Silvers uses it to fall asleep in the mornings because he works nights and it's hard for him to sleep in the daytime.

I like having blends that are meant for particular reasons, such as the ones I pick for cold & flu season, mental clarity, and relaxation. I also enjoy scrolling through the pages of Adagio Teas for coconut, candy apple, peach, and cherry flavors. They always have good sized "sample" packets. I can go for months at a time with sample packets.

You may see my characters sipping a cup of tea in the stories I write from time to time. If you notice this, you'll know I was most likely writing that scene on a cold winter day with my own steamy cup sitting to the right of my laptop fueling me forward throughout the day.

Do you have a tea you love? Share it with me! I'm always looking for a new flavor to try.

Happy Tea Month!

It's nice to see you, 2019!

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope the holidays were extra special for all of you and that 2019 has started off with a bang. My holidays began with my Army daughter making it home on the 21st. Her flights were delayed a little, making her an hour later than scheduled getting into the Chattanooga airport. Thankfully, she made it in ahead of some nasty weather we were expected to get that evening. We made it home safe and sound before the storm hit that night.

Not only did I have my daughter home for Christmas, but also her 22nd birthday, and New Year's! She had to leave on the 2nd. It was nice having her home, even if just for that short amount of time. She hadn't been home since May! The next time I expect to see her is next Christmas. :(

My other girls enjoyed seeing their big sister while she was here. There was a lot of giggling, squealing, wrestling, picking, and cuddles. They had a good time.

Now that the holidays are over, it's time to get back to business. This year I have several projects in the works, most important is the long awaited release of book 7 in the Liz Baker series. Yay! I have a long to-do list for 2019 that includes short stories, BOGO deals, a possible box set deal, and possibly some videos from lil ole me. With all this upcoming goodness, if you aren't subscribed to my newsletter no is definitely the time. You won't want to miss out on all the fun stuff coming your way. Subscribe Today.

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2019 brings you all the health, happiness, and prosperity you can stand. :D