Author
My Author Goal in 2018 was to publish a book. Results: I published two books.
My Author Goals in 2019 were to publish four books and earn a prestigious award. Results: I published four books and received three awards.
My Author Goals for 2020: Publish four books, receive a prestigious award, sell one book through a bookstore, and end the year with a POSITIVE net income.
That last one – positive net income – is a stretch goal. At least I know the IRS is cheering me on!
I’m struggling with whether I need to add a warning label or spoiler alert to the beginning of RED IS THE NEW GRAY, MAGGIE SLOAN MYSTERY SERIES, BOOK 2.
For anyone who has read I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SPY, BOOK 1, you know about Maggie and her men and her heartbreak.
It is possible for a new reader to read RED IS THE NEW GRAY, BOOK 2, without having read BOOK 1 because the men and other characters from BOOK 1 are introduced.
HOWEVER, the dilemma is that BOOK 2 of course also mentions Maggie’s heartbreak from BOOK 1. THAT’S a spoiler! Do I add a warning label to the beginning of BOOK 2?
WARNING: READING BOOK 2 WITHOUT READING BOOK 1 FIRST IS HAZARDOUS TO YOUR READING ENJOYMENT.
or
WARNING: DO NOT PROCEED WITH READING BOOK 2 UNTIL YOU HAVE READ BOOK 1. WE DON’T CARE IF BOOK 2 WAS FREE. GO READ BOOK 1.
or
SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ BOOK 2 UNTIL YOU READ BOOK 1. ANGRY READERS MAKE CRANKY REVIEWERS.
MAGGIE SLOAN – former librarian, self-trained spy, literal, and brilliant – has the skills of a deadly assassin. Our Gray Lady (like the Gray Man who blends in, except shorter) accepts a two-week assignment in Galveston, Texas, to find a missing spy who trusts only her. Larry, her original police officer protector and “cousin” from her hometown, is her backup.
The Gray Lady is rocking her new red boots as the fill-in cook at a diner, but before the end of her first week, she is shot. The attacks escalate and so does Maggie’s determination to solve the crimes. Note to bad guys: Maggie is irritated, and Larry and Maggie’s men are furious.
Maggie and Larry struggle with the disturbing clues that point to the guilt of everyone they meet. How many more people will die before Maggie uncovers the vicious leader who has escaped detection for so long?
My Author’s Goal in 2018 was to publish a book. I published two. Time to up my game in 2019, so I did.
Florida Authors and Publishers Association President’s Award
New Apple Literary Award – Excellence in Publishing
Florida Writers Association Award
Here’s a hack you won’t find anywhere else!
When you are at a school library in Georgia and you are discussing the differences in plants and trees between the Florida Everglades and South Georgia, NEVER dispute a second-grader. For example, coconut trees in Georgia? Pay attention to the seven-year-old expert.
Readers always win.
Are you ready for the free book in December that will help you check your survival skills? What will you do when the power grid goes down? No internet, no social media, grocery stores run out of food in three days, gas pumps won’t work. End of the world as we know it. How would you survive?
Note: My books are on Amazon. No surprise, but just letting you know as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
DANGER IN THE CLOUDS is Survivalist Science Fiction with a touch of supernatural.
Major Dave Elliott’s quiet farm life abruptly changes after a cyber-attack takes down the US power grid. When the criminal conspiracy expands to target his family, Major goes on the attack.
As soon as I had my table set up at the Bizarre Bazaar in Bainbridge, GA, my newest friend grabbed her DONUT LADY BOOK 1, Sweet Deal Sealed, before they were all gone. Note that I am a good inch taller than she is. She was at the booth around the corner from me with her amazing, talented husband and his beautiful woodwork. I love the new-to-me local festivals in south Georgia. I meet nice people and sell books.
There were some slightly bizarre happenings. I’m not going to tell you though because they all have a place in one of my books for 2020. I will tell you that I discovered the next murderer for DONUT LADY BOOK 4. One hint: the murderer is not pictured above. Unless she wants to be, then all bets are off.
Interested in knowing more about my current books? Here you go! Judith A. Barrett Author Page
This fall, FarmerMan and I are attending nearby fall festivals. We haul our books, tables, and tent and set up in a field or in a parking lot. Our most recent fall festival was the Elevate Artisan Market hosted at an alpaca farm. Some people go to their local chain bookstore to sell and sign books. My hat’s off to them, but I suspect I met more people, sold more books, and had more fun at the alpaca farm.
My booth neighbor
Notice that Donna Butler, a talented woodworker and carpenter, and my booth neighbor, is strategically placed across from the maisie daze fleecery.
My prime location
I had a corner booth. One side of my tent faced the fleecery shop’s alpaca petting pen, and the other side overlooked a field of beautiful alpacas.
All the volunteers at the event wore T-shirts with the tagline, “Spit Happens.” Alpaca humor. A little known fact is that when an alpaca mama is giving birth, she is said to be “unpacking.”
Art festivals are very educational.
Sometimes it takes a book a while to find its niche. THE GIRL WHO SAW CLOUDS has settled in at
Of course! Science Fiction + Fantasy! That’s it!
A quiet splash about The Girl Who Saw Clouds – a Young Adult/Middle Grade novel.
FREE for the younger reader interested in dystopian science fiction. Oct 23-25.
On Amazon THE GIRL WHO SAW CLOUDS
