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Tag: Donovan

Marketing, My Fear of Failure

 

After the unremarkable sales of my last book, I dead-stopped marketing. The thought of updating my blog made me freeze, I couldn’t find anything worthwhile to post on Facebook and my newsletter went silent.

What the hell was wrong with me?

At first I was convinced that I wanted to focus on my writing, then I was tired, then my day-job was overwhelming. Yada, yada, yada.

While all these things are true, they’re not the root cause of why I stopped. I think I have atychiphobia, fear of failure, in particular fear of failing at selling my books.

Yikes.

I looked it up on line and have all the symptoms. For me, it boils down to this.  What if I put myself out there and people don’t like me?

ARGH!

My persona is that of a successful, positive, outgoing woman. However, my abused inner child sabotages me. I know this and yet when it happens, I’m blind-sided. Growing up, I never experienced unconditional love.

Dammit. That isn’t me. Not now.

I need to ask her to step back and let me try my hand at marketing again. Sure, I may fail but eventually, with enough practice, I’ll get better. While I’m learning, it doesn’t change who I am or my value as a writer or as a human being.

Starting at lunch time, here is what I am going to do:

Write this blog. Woo hoo. Mark this one done!

Write a marketing plan, complete with due dates.

Schedule no-excuse marking time into every week.

Break the to-do list down into small tasks

Create a new mantra! Repeat after me, “I am successful at marketing.”

Face your fear head on. 

Picture yourself as a marketing maven.  What does it feel like? Live there in your imagination. Write about her.

Define Milestones and rewards.  Maybe that trip to a warm island surrounded by sand?

 

I must thank this website for helping me to define my problem.

http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/marketingfear.htm

 

More to come… please leave a comment with your own struggles!

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Romances Beyond Regency

…Tired of the same ol’ romance? …

Stella's Books

Medieval or Magic_

…a perfect weave of history and romance …

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…Stella is a recent discovery for me, and I’m just loving her books. The pace is fast, the sex is steamy without being crass, and she manages to mix wonderful descriptions in with a story that twists and turns…

…Alden’s gift for bringing to life the atmosphere and setting of medieval England’s wild countryside and challenges are equaled only by her ability to draw a feisty, strong female protagonists.

…has a way of writing that makes me lose hours in my day in her stories.
I can’t wait to read more from Stella!

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August 6th-12th 99¢ SALE

Hot August 99¢ Sale

 

…Stella is a recent discovery for me, and I’m just loving her books. The pace is fast, the sex is steamy without being crass, and she manages to mix wonderful descriptions in with a story that twists and turns…

…Alden’s gift for bringing to life the atmosphere and setting of medieval England’s wild countryside and challenges are equaled only by her ability to draw a feisty, strong female protagonists.

…has a way of writing that makes me lose hours in my day in her stories.
I can’t wait to read more from Stella!

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Midwest Book Review of ‘How To Seduce a Queen’

Review
D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

Given the fact that Stella Marie Alden’s prior medieval romance books in the series are winners, it’s a given that those who know her name will realize they’re in for a treat with How to Seduce a Queen, a new addition to the series – but it should also be emphasized that newcomers will have no difficulty entering Alden’s world if they start with this title, either.

Set in 1283, the prologue opens with a mad dash to his brother-in-law’s castle by one Nicholas, who has been shot with an arrow by the Lady Fay. In the mad rush to save his life, a twin sister and a host of characters are introduced in a vivid opener that compels readers to learn why a romantic interest with a long history could possibly lead to murder.

After setting the scene with an intriguing question, the first chapter goes back in time three months’ prior to introduce the politics and purposes of Nicholas, who is charged with the idea of kidnapping the royal Lady Fay.

There’s more than the seduction of a queen going on, here: readers will quickly be seduced not just by political cross-purposes and evolving romance, but the stormy relationships between families, political intentions, and arrogant suitors and fathers alike.

Alden’s gift for bringing to life the atmosphere and setting of medieval England’s wild countryside and challenges are equaled only by her ability to draw a feisty, strong female protagonist into the picture, who is more likely to get her way via arrow than wooing.

It’s refreshing to feel the tongue-in-cheek humor and delightful clashes and contrasts of personalities throughout a novel that takes as much time to create winning and different characters as it does to present a sense of the wildness and wilderness that was medieval England.

The fiery temperaments and encounters between the main characters, the blossoming and often-reluctant romance (“There would be no wedding banquet. Not while she lived and breathed.”), and the determination of a woman who will not “marry a monster” and who would rather kill than cuddle all lend to a rollicking, fun, action-packed story.

Romance readers with an affinity for historical settings, feisty characters, and medieval times will find How to Seduce a Queen engrossing and refreshingly different from the usual romance read.

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The TBR Pile! Recommended Read!

Check this out! Go Visit!

http://thetbrpile.weebly.com/reviews/giveaway-how-to-marry-your-wife-by-stella-marie-alden

TBR Reviewer: Amy

Rating: 4 Stars – Recommended Read!

Heat: 3/5 – Blush Worthy!

Six long years have passed without a word from Merry’s Knight. When Sir Thomas shows up he’s singing poetry one minute then denying their son the next. She is not the young woman he used to know. Merry is now a woman with a sharp tongue and knife, not afraid to use either or both on him.  She vows to never marry him. Sir Thomas cannot understand her attitude towards him. He had no choice to leave her six years ago. Will this tear them apart for good or will they discover the love they have for one another again?

The moment I finished the prologue of the story I knew I was in for a good time.

From the start it seems these two are cursed. Their first joining to the many years apart and miscommunication has set Merry and Thomas in opposite directions. It seems that Merry, once timid and shy is now more vocal. She’s not afraid to speak her mind. Although she has had to bare so much from a young age she is still a delightful person and I love her character.  Sir Thomas has me on an emotional roller caster. One minute I love him, then love becomes hate, then laughter, just when I thought all is lost with him he redeems himself. These two are great together and their dialogue is so good. I did enjoy that the story doesn’t only focus on their re-connection but of the plots and ploys that involve them. I really like Nicholas and I hope to read more about him in a future story.

​This was an excellent historical romance that kept me on the edge throughout the story!

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What is a Facebook Release Party?

Funny you should ask!

Chantel and I are having a release party and I would like to invite you, personally. Please click that you are coming!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1093679247343288/

Now that you’ve done that, let’s talk about a Facebook Event.

It’s merely a way to tell your friends and family that there is something important going on. It’s easy to do. Just make a start date and an end date.

How does that differ from a Facebook Party?

At a party, people come to visit, right?

However, unlike a REAL party, it isn’t rude to jump in, say a few words, or enter a contest, and leave.

So, at a Facebook Party, people come to visit the URL of the event. They might play a game, click like, enter a raffle, or post something on the timeline.

Our release party is going to be ‘hosted’ by different authors over the course of one day. This is a lot of fun. There are games and prizes and clever folks. Sometimes its fun just to watch the melee.

We have hired ‘help’ with our party. (In the real world, consider this like hiring a caterer.)

I highly recommend this site below. She helps get us hosts, and sets up the event for us.

https://www.facebook.com/LikeABossBookPromotions/

If you have any questions, leave a comment!

I LOVE to hear from people!

Please let us know, too, if you’d like an ARC to give a review!

(ARC? Advance Review Copy)

Chantel and I are hoping to sell 200 ebooks in pre-sale.

If you want to help us get there, it’s just ONE DOLLAR!

http://a-fwd.com/asin=B01BBHP4DS

 

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Midwest Review gives ‘How to Marry Your Wife’ a rating of ‘exquisite’

How to Marry Your Wife #4c copy

 $3.99 or available on Kindle Unlimited.
Soul Mate Publishing
by Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer
Fans of Alden’s prior book How to Train Your Knight might remember the protagonist Thomas in her latest How to Marry Your Wife, who was featured under main character Marcus in the first book.  Set in England in 1276, Templar Knight Sir Thomas D’Agostine has found the ideal woman with whom he will handfast; only a love potion hastens matters and changes their lives – and this is only the beginning.

Anticipate the same solid attention to medieval history and detailed sexual scenes as in How to Train Your Knight; only from a different perspective as a minor character assumes major proportions in this novel. Time moves swiftly using two different, alternating timelines identified by chapter headings, so readers need to be on their toes to absorb a satisfyingly fast-paced story line that revolves around romance.

But the marriage (when it happens) is a farce and is completed only because Thomas won’t have Merry bedding another man nor raising his son, and so love seems to vanish as the consequences of sex and love potions evolve. It’s not often that a brand new bride hates her husband before the marriage takes place, but Merry has been branded a harlot because of Thomas, and her hatred of him is just as intense as her reluctantly ongoing attraction.

The process of turning hate into love and rekindling more than the physical fires of passion is the theme of a rollicking good medieval read that infuses its protagonists with the lingo, culture and social mores of its times, yet includes a healthy dose of sexual description for spicy reading.

Romance readers with an affinity for early history will relish its passionate, powerful protagonists and their diametrically opposing personalities, and will find this saga of scoundrels, secrets, idiots and wise men (and women) is filled with satisfying medieval atmosphere and twists and turns of plot.

Under Alden’s hand, the sexual encounters reinforce and flavor events and the juxtaposition of battle scenes, romance, and the era’s political overtones is exquisite. There’s no need for either a prior familiarity with How to Train Your Knight or with medieval history and culture. As events unfold, Thomas and Merry are continually challenged both in their stormy relationships and in their stubborn natures which will ultimate lead to not just survival, but real love.

Without revealing spoilers, suffice it to say that the conclusion of How to Marry Your Wife leaves the door wide open for more – and readers who relish historical romances will welcome this possibility!

 

 

 

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Changed by Italy

SorianoCouple

As I return from my third trip to Italy, and my fourth trip overseas, I am filled with wonder. How can this happened yet again? I look in the mirror and it seems incongruous that the same face stares back.

Like a balloon that has been filled with air and then deflated, I am stretched and changed. I’m filled with sights and sounds of another age. I walked along Medieval paths and touched the slits in the walls from which arrows flew.

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I stood in the square where traitors were burned at the stake. As I hiked up the narrow village paths, I ducked, hoping the over-ripe persimmons, known as cachi, would not fall upon my head.

cachi

I passed the old church wine cellar gate on the way to the castle where knights once held their ground.

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We lit an ancient fireplace and cooked fish over the embers of beechwood; the best, I am told, for cooking.

 

fireplace

I drank new wine from Uncle Tio, was fed by Luisa, and laughed with Fulvio, Stefano and the rest as we shared Christmas and the New Year. I stuffed myself on Panettone and drank cappucinno. I fell in love with my daughter Sarah’s extended family.

Truly, I am blessed beyond measure and I am not the same.

I have wonderful new ideas for my next set of Medieval Novels. Stop by occasionally and I will share!

For now, I hope you will enjoy a Romance in Medieval England. Choose one or both!

tower

US: http://ow.ly/WjTXG
CA: http://ow.ly/WjU15
UK: http://ow.ly/WjU58

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