Fun with Facebook

I have a Facebook friend page.  I haven't yet tried an author page, and I've heard some of the pros and cons about starting one. 

I admit I'm not always diligent about posting on Facebook.  I'll check it out often and do a lot of "likes," but I don't always stick something on my own page or even share others' posts.

This week, though, I have been posting a few things.  One of them was the celebration of National Dog Day yesterday.  I definitely had to share that.

And on Monday I did a fun post where I mentioned that I'd seen the promotion for the new Disney version of Cinderella, which will be a 2015 release.  That particular promotion really caught my attention since its symbol is a glass slipper.  I consequently posted on Facebook the cover of my own Faerie Tale Romance called--what else?--The Glass Slipper!  It, too, depicts a glass slipper. 

This version of The Glass Slipper is my first republication of one of my backlist books for which I got the rights back.  It's only available on Kindle, at least for now.  The process was fun and educational, and now I'm particularly glad I chose its cover as a symbol.

One of the particularly enjoyable things about posting the cover on Facebook was the number of likes I got quickly.  Apparently friends, both those I actually know and those I know via Facebook, liked that cover and its symbolism, too! 

Will the upcoming movie make any difference in the sale of my story?  Unlikely, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the movie. 

In case you couldn't tell, I like Cinderella stories! 

How about you--have you seen the movie promotion?  Do you like fairy tales, particularly Cinderella stories?

My First Backlist Book Is Available!

I've been thinking about it for a while: getting my backlist books, the first novels I published, available online as ebooks.  But now I'm not just thinking about it.   

THE GLASS SLIPPER, the fairy tale romance I wrote years ago that was published by Dorchester Publishing Co., is now available on Kindle at Amazon! 

Dorchester has unfortunately gone out of business, but I got my rights back while they were still around to all the books of mine that they published.  I didn't modify THE GLASS SLIPPER to be current, but other than the use of a few landline telephones and other small references that aren't in keeping with today's technology I think it works out well.

 

 

What's it about?  Well, it is a Cinderella story.  Paige Conner, an insecure U.S. historian, is hired to research and write the history of Dargentia, a small European country that's finally regained its independence thanks to its hereditary prince, smart and sexy Prince Niko.  Niko needs to find the country's missing jewels and marry someone fast, according to legends.  He figures he's got to marry a wealthy princess, not a commoner, despite those legends.  And certainly not a commoner like shy but gorgeous Paige Conner. 

And Paige?  She knows why she's here.  Her imaginary--not!--fairy godmother Millicent has brought her here to find her Prince Charming.  Niko seems all that and more.  But Paige doesn't believe in fairy tales...

Though it's been a while, I remember having lots of fun writing that book.  And now I've gotten to reread it several times to get it prepared to become an ebook.  I've always loved fairy tales, especially Cinderella stories, and now my creation is available to read once more! 

How about you--do you like fairy tales?  Are you reading ebooks these days?

How long did did happily-ever-after last for Cinderella?

This week, I’ve been thinking about Cinderella.

I’ve been thinking about her a lot, wondering how long she stayed "happy" after she landed the Prince and the castle? Was it eternal bliss, or did she eventually go back to worrying about more mundane matters, like pesky royal in-laws, or her pecking order at court? In a real-life example, Princess Diana certainly showed us that sometimes there's nada happily ever after.

By way of background, I should say that, of late, things have been going pretty darned well for me. Maybe not fairy-tale well, but definitely “pinch me—is it real?” kind-of-well.

Here’s a partial list of my current blessings:

My family is healthy and happy (this one has to come first on anyone’s list).
I have several great friends.
I have a new mystery series coming out.
I was recently gifted with a second house, a killer sports car, and some enviable bling.

Life, as they say, is good.

So you’d think that I’d be wandering around the house all the time with a big, goofy grin plastered across my face.

Instead, I find myself scrabbling for things to worry about. Like, how do I guarantee that my second book will surpass the first? Is my college-age daughter locking her doors at night? When is the Big One going to strike California (and what’s the deductible on my earthquake insurance?).

When nothing else works, I’ll watch CNN and fret about global warming, wondering if I should have eschewed my nice little Z4 for an earth-friendlier Prius.

I once read about a study that found that people have a default level of happiness—or unhappiness, whichever applies. This study posited that, long term, a change in an individual’s life circumstances is irrelevant to his or her “happiness” level. Oh, their moods will have ups and downs, depending on unknown and unpredictable factors such as a sudden trauma, or winning the Lotto. But according to this study, almost no matter what happens, most people eventually return to their original state of happiness. I recall the researcher saying that even someone hit by a devastating injury, such as Chris Reeve, probably eventually regained a semblance of his original level of happiness.

That must be why my mind is foraging for things to feel down about: life has removed some of its former obstacles, and somewhere in my brain, a gray cell is itching to even up the score. But from now on, whenever it does that, I’m just going to shout it down. Down, avenging brain cell! Down!

One reassuring thing: Cinderella seemed happy as a person, even before she met the Prince (at least, she was in the Disney version of the story). So odds are that this particular couple did live happily, ever after.

Anyway, that’s the fairy tale.

What about you? Do you have a “level set” of happiness (or unhappiness) that you eventually return to, no matter what brickbats or bouquets life throws your way?

Guilty pleasure of the week: The Biggest Loser

As a former fattie (okay, granted—I still have a ways to go—but at least I’m no longer morbidly obese), I experience a vicarious thrill whenever I watch Bravo TV’s The Biggest Loser.

As I watch a three-hundred person lug to the top of a seven-story tower, huffing every step of the way, a part of me cringes inside, thinking, “How can they put themselves out there like that?” But a part of me cheers them on, and gets caught up in the suspense as they step onto that scale at the end of the week to find out which team lost the most weight.

Confession time

Last year, when the producers of The Biggest Loser tempted the show’s dieters with a malevolent tower of cupcakes, I wanted to throw my diet tools in their general direction, to exact some payback.

So…?

So here’s the question: why am I so drawn to this show? I think it’s because it amplifies the everyday drama of my bathroom scale—Am I up? Am I down? Am I winning the battle? Losing?—writ large. Writ very large.

Fat people, it turns out, are the stuff of prime-time drama. And if you don’t believe me, I’ll sign off with a quote from no less an authority than The Bard himself:

Let me have men about me that are fat,

Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o’ nights: Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.

On the other hand, I suspect that Cassius was a much more dramatic character than the “men…that are fat.”

Food for thought.