Friday, April 16, 2010

How Are the Book Sales Going?

Arrgh! I kinda hate when people ask me this question. I know people's hearts are in the right place, but I just wish I had a better answer for them. I mean, they don't want the truth. "They can't handle the truth!" Sound familiar??? Just kidding, but seriously, I know many of the people who have asked me this question want the best for me. They want to hear some stupendous number of books that I've sold and BELIEVE ME, I would love to disclose a stupendous number to them, but I just can't right now. As a self-published author there is a lot of work to be done to spur even a decent amount of book sales and I just haven't had that the time to dedicate to it lately. I've got a busy teenager to keep up with,  adolescent son who needs much attention. Oh yes, I have a day job that keeps the bills paid and I regularly commit time to serving my community. Not to mention, I'm really anxious to dedicate more time on my upcoming novel because I certainly don't want to take as many years to finish it as it did to finish the first one. Honestly, I don't feel bad about my slow book sales because I'm still reveling in the joy and satisfaction of having finally published the darn thing! However, I do recognize that I have to do more to get it out of my hands and into the hands of readers, so keep checking my blog for my progress. AND, by all means, if you have some suggestions, please feel free to leave your comments!

Til later...L.A.

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Got Another One

Coming up with ideas for books is the best part of being a writer. At the same time, it can also be one of the most frustrating aspects, too. Why? Because the ideas practically fall from the sky. Ideas can sprout from ones own dreams & fantasies--like my story of Unfinished Business, which began from my own desire of reconnecting with an old flame. They can also come from ones real life dramas, such as my upcoming novel, Reconciliation to Hell, which deals with a couple's reconciled marriage that leads them both on a path straight to hell. Then the surrounding world is filled with ideas too! For example, I was watching a clip of Beyonce and her mother on the Today Show. As usual they were talking about their closer than closer mother/daughter relationship, right? Right. Then I began thinking, why doesn't she (Mrs. Knowles, that is) ever speak about the younger Knowles girl, Solange??? Have you ever noticed that? It's always about Beyonce and her mother. NEVER the other sister. Even when they talk about Beyonce's nephew--he's known as Beyonce's nephew NOT Solange's son. If it were me, I'd be pretty ticked about it! So my imagination gets to running...MAYBE Solange is not Mrs. Knowles daughter. Mayber she is the daughter of Matthew Knowles and some other woman. Hmmm. To my knowledge, this fact has not been brought to light, but truth or not, it sparked an idea for me to create a story about it. NOW that story could take many forms. I won't give it away now and I'm not fearful of anyone taking the idea because one story can be told from countless angles. Stay tuned...

L.A. Jefferson, April 2010