Skip to content

Tag: #whatToRead

Marketing, Conquering my Fear of Failure

DC-WIX-shit together

Do me a favor? Put this on your wishlist? 

My first three chapters are here: Instafreebie

 

My last post was all about how I had stopped all social media marketing, discouraged and disheartened.

Today, I am happy to say, I am back at it.

As I listen and dance to ‘The Greatest’ by Sia, I am inspired.

I’m free to be the greatest, I’m alive
I’m free to be the greatest here tonight, the greatest
The greatest, the greatest alive
The greatest, the greatest alive

I truly am good at project management in my day job. One of the things I’ve learned is you need to create an end date and then put all of the tasks you want to do in front of it. If there isn’t enough time, move it back.

So here is what I did. I started with a date. I needed two weeks to ask ARC readers to review. That means my book had to be finalized two weeks before go-live.

Got it.

But I wanted to get some feedback from a few folks I know will be honest with me.

That’s another two weeks.

Now, what tasks can I do in those four weeks?

  1.  Go to Canva.com and make Twitter ads, Facebook ads, Google Ads,
  2. Using my ‘Mass Planner’ app, schedule my ads
  3. Schedule a newsletter and do swaps
  4. Define a Facebook audience, and take out some ads, see if any hit.
  5. Schedule my sale for one week before go live and one week after for .99
  6. Go to all the free sites or almost-free sites and schedule
  7. Pick paid promotions within those days
  8. Revise my blog daily, using key words
  9. Put first three chapters on Instafreebie

MARKET EVERY DAY FOR 30 DAYS BEFORE GO LIVE!!!!

Okay. The above may not be perfect, but I am not afraid and

I won’t give up, no, no, no.

 

If you like these posts…. you probably like my writing and might like to try a sample here http://a-fwd.com/asin-com=B06XBCZGXL

 

signature

 

 

2 Comments

Stella’s New Year’s Resolutions

2017-good-luck-wallpaper-1920x1080

Goal 1: I write to empower, to strengthen, and to uplift. A great story is more than a story. It can be life changing. I write with that in mind.

Goal 2: I am true to myself even if it means not following the bestselling herd.

Goal 3: I publish four new books this year.

Goal 4: I increase the number of newsletter followers to 10K.

Goal 5: I market efficiently.

Goal 6: I focus on the positive, ignoring trolls, negative naysayers, and the generally grumpy.

Goal 7:  I strive to be the best I can be in all things. I never settle with good enough.

Goal 8: I dream big and believe all things possible.

Goal 9: I make more money writing this year than last.

Goal 10: I don’t worry so much about goal #9

Leave a Comment

Stella’s Sexy, Savvy, Strong Heroines

…and the alphas strong enough to love them.

I can’t wait to see what adventures Stella writes next! …Lauren, Romance Novel Giveaways

Ms. Alden is now on my ‘go to’ author list. I can’t wait for the next story.  …Emma, Night Owl Romance

you-become

 

 

*******************************************************

Some people have asked me recently, why do you write?

Others ask, are you making a lot of money?

LOL!

Not yet.

So why DO I write?

One of my goals is to give back, but I am a little geeky, a little shy, and don’t have buckets of money to give away.

How can I throw good karma into the world?

I do it with my stories.

When I started writing, I vowed I would write about strong heroines facing adversity and overcoming. Why? Because I truly believe that we become what we think about all day long.

If we dream about having someone dominate us, that is no doubt what we will attract. I’m not saying don’t ever read those fun books, I’m suggesting to balance your reading.

Read and imagine yourself as more.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

I do hope you will become a fan and sign up for my bi-monthly newsletter. I hate spam, too.

You can also read samples here or go right to Amazon and pick one up for this weekend.

Or… just log in and leave a comment below! I love to respond!

 

signature

 

 

Leave a Comment

A New Twist on an Timeless Story

feuding

When I visited Soriano last Christmas, I fell in love with the medieval city and its people and knew I’d have to write a novel based there.

Each fall, the residents hold a Renaissance fair to celebrate a fifteenth century battle. It was won in part, by the early warning of an old woman.

As I walked the cobblestone streets and stared up at the castle, I paused to wonder at it all.

Soriano1

What if it wasn’t an old woman that sounded the alarm? What if it was a young woman in disguise? What if she was in love with someone in the castle? Would she risk everything to save him?
Researching the battle and the times, I was thrust into a world where couples like Romeo and Juliet lived and breathed. It was a time when marriage joined powerful families and love had no say. It’s easy to imagine a tragic couple like Romeo and Juliet.

In such a place and time, how could I help Bernardo and Aurelia, a young couple from opposing families, find their happily ever after?

 

Leave a Comment

Witches And Romance. Happy Halloween!

facebook-oct-tremor

In the mood for the spooky season?

Earth and fire unite in paranormal ritual so hot that sand melts to glass and meteors fly across the sky.

Jace Fialko decided long ago he’d never try to mate again. He knows firsthand how the magical foreplay–the duel for sexual equality can turn deadly. He tempts fate when a stubborn, sinfully tempting earth witch gets into trouble and can’t resist being her hero. She’s prickly as a badger, lives in an Earthship, and has secrets deeper than the crevices she carves into the sand.

Terra needs to hide her talent. Alone in the desert for years, she knows better than to fall for an arrogant, sexy, flame-throwing alpha male. Her potent dark power could destroy them both, yet every moment she spends with him, makes her desperate to join with him. When an evil clan tries to take her mine full of turquoise, she must learn to fight back or lose everything, including Jace.

Haven’t read book one yet? No worries. Read the series in any order.

WARNING: Book contains mature themes, steamy, sexual scenes and graphic language

“The displays of the “earth” magic were stunning and spectacular and the solstice-mating antagonism between the characters was exhilaratingly beautiful, humorous, and heart-wrenching.” Lori Wiest, Wee Bit O’ Whiskey Blog

 

 

Leave a Comment

Stella’s Strong, Savvy & Sexy Heroines – ‘The Angel of Soriano’

 
 

TheAngelOfSoriano

Buy Now
Another of Stella’s strong, smart, and sassy heroines with attitude.

Tonight, Aurelia’s uncle plans to steal Soriano away from Rodrigo Borgia. Although she doesn’t give a fig who owns the town that nearly stoned her to death, her handsome captain is behind bars. She should never have agreed to marry him, especially not upside down and over his shoulder.

What is it about Bernardo’s new wife? The beautiful angel refuses to trust him, not even after he weds her without a dowry. She wields a firearm like a pirate, disguises herself as a male doctor, and nearly drives him mad. And yet he can’t go on without her.

How can a mere mortal convince a woman like that to come home?

 

*******************************************************

Some people have asked me, recently, why do you write?

Others ask me, are you making a lot of money?

LOL!

Not yet.

So why DO I write?

One of my goals is to give back, but I am a little geeky, a little shy, and don’t have buckets of money to give away.

How does a person like me throw back good karma into the world?

I do it with my stories.

When I started writing, I vowed I would write about strong heroines facing adversity, and overcoming. Why? Because I truly believe that

we become what we think about.

If we dream about having someone dominate us, that is no doubt what we will attract. I’m not saying don’t ever read those fun books, I’m suggesting to balance your reading.

Dream about being strong.

 

 

 

 

 

Leave a Comment

Romances Beyond Regency

…Tired of the same ol’ romance? …

Stella's Books

Medieval or Magic_

…a perfect weave of history and romance …

fbMedieval


…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!

Leave a Comment

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!

Leave a Comment

Strong Renaissance Heroine!

 

1489 AD – just north of Rome

Aurelia Nardini dresses as an ancient hag, sneaks under the portcullis, and sounds the alarm. Tonight, her uncle plots to murder the whole Carvajal family and take the city. Worse yet, because of love for her, the eldest son is locked in the dungeon. She must take action.

What is it about this infuriating woman? Bernardo Carvajal rescues her from Borgia’s bed, from a well-armed neighbor, and her uncle’s fist. Despite admitting her love for him, the stunning beauty refuses to marry. She speaks too rationally, acts too boldly, and drives him mad. And he can’t go on without her.

Enjoy the fictionalized version of events that’s celebrated every year in Soriano’s ancient hazelnut festival.

My latest thoughts…

The year 1489 perhaps is on the cusp of the Renaissance in Italy. Some would insist the year is still Medieval. The world was still changing slowly. Fear of plague kept strangers at bay. Forks were only recently in use and only among the nobility. Benches were still more common than chairs.
My story takes place in the town I visited last Christmas, where my daughter’s fiance has a family residence, built into the tufa of the volcano. When I heard of their hazelnut festival, my imagination took off….

But did I want to start researching a whole new era, a new society, two hundred years later than my last trilogy?

The story screamed in my head. YES! YES! YES!

Why does the festival in Soriano celebrate an old woman who saved the town? Why, did the heroine haunt me, claiming to be a young woman in disguise?
Who do I see a dark Spanish hero, who fights off the evil plots of a greedy neighbor?

 

TheAngelOfSoriano

Leave a Comment

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.

Leave a Comment