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It’s a wonderful today. Sun is out and although it’s blustery, it’s not raining. That’s an improvement. I intend to enjoy it because tomorrow the rains come again.

I’ve been spending most of my time on Can’t Be Tamed, book four in my Everyday Goddesses series and it’s flowing quite well. So well, in fact, that I’ve been checking out marketing sites and advertising venues. There’s so many to choose from that it’s often hard to know where to spend your money effectively. I’ve done business with KDPBuzz, had a tweetstorm through Shout My Book, and I’m now looking into other sites that promote new releases. (And old) Book Funnel offers a lot of new book promos but I’ve yet to dig in and see how it all works. That will be one of my upcoming projects in the days ahead, the ones where rain will warrant staying in and keeping dry.

I’ve found the best way to advertise is through word of mouth but so many who read my stories neglect to rate them. It’s pretty easy to do and would help my ranking on Amazon. (I’m now millionth+ in line.) Where can you give a review? On Amazon itself, on the  Goodreads website, and you can recommend it on Book Bub.

If you’ve liked any of my books so far, please rate them.  It’ll help me measure how I’m doing and it will bump my stats into the realm of potential sales and the fertile fields of possibilities.

I love writing and will continue to whether I sell a hundred books or only one a year but it’s gratifying when someone tells me they loved the story, that it made them think or feel, that they learned something new, or they just enjoyed an afternoon between the pages.

I guess I lost track of what day it was. Easy to do these days.

The blog is a bit late, but as I’m trying to keep my weekly ritual, I’ll give it a go today.

I’ve talked about character development, how I come up with a storyline, and have described what the next series is about: the Divine Feminine. In plotting what to write about today, I thought I might touch on the research I do for all my books.

My love of learning didn’t start with my writing obsession. It’s always been a driving force in whatever I was doing and that hasn’t changed. Whenever I’m sorting through my options for locations, careers, even styles of dress and music, I usually opt for a new topic that I can immerse myself in.

It’s the reason I write about different nationalities. Like Mateo in Clutch Hit. Giving him Cuban roots, I needed to dive into the history, understand their way of life, and get a sense of what kind of people lived there. I read everything I could about the Caribbean island, and watched documentaries wanting to know what it would have been like to live there before and after Fidel. In Thrown for a Curve, Izabella dos Santos hails from Brazil. I bought cookbooks to replicate some of the foods they eat there, scoured the map for a town she was born in, and created a family that had roots in the South American country.

In my new series, I’m including men from Serbia, Greece and Turkey, although with Gwen and Ioan’s army tour in Syria, I made it a point to investigate the White Helmets, why the army was there, and what would happen to their allies when they left. In Once There was a Tree, I also introduced the archeological piece that will come later in the series with Cerridwen and Zain. Greece is an ancient site for many mythological figures and places, with Heracles (Yes, it’s Heracles. He was named after Zeus’ wife Hera), Apollo, Athena, the Parthenon, and Delos among them. I thought it symbolic of the goddess theme I’d embraced. I learned a lot about Mykonos and as mentioned earlier, was surprised it had become the playground for the rich and wasn’t the quaint island I supposed. I’ve been eating a lot of Greek food these days, which has always been one of my favorites as far as flavor and spice.

On my research reading shelf, I have books on advocacy, forensics, medical examiners, archeology, life after suicide, judges, sacred circles, southern sayings, and how the numbers of unmarried women are on the rise. I read as I go, finding ways to bring my characters, their past and present, to life. It’s a learning curve every time and I walk away from each story with a better understanding of the people, places and things in, not only other cultures, but my own as well.

finally has a completed first chapter. It took days to decide where to begin Lil’s story.

Magic Bean Cafe began with Rhea reluctantly going to a speed dating night, where she caught her first glimpse of Aisin across the room. Once There Was A Tree began where Magic Bean left off, Gwen sitting on the sidelines until Ioan walked in. In Tipping the Scales we found Minerva in her chambers, going over files to prepare for the afternoon ahead, with Simon dropping off some of his Greek specialties as a sample of things to come.

As an author, I know that the first chapter is critical. It either grabs the reader so they are inclined to read more, or it doesn’t. Most people want to know quickly whether the book is worth their time. Let’s face it, it’s usually a valuable commodity that none of us want to waste. I read the blurb first, and if it hooks, I open up to the first chapter to get a sense of the writer’s style. I envy authors like Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Her first few pages, at times quirky, at times off the beaten path, are so intriguing that I know it’ll be a great read and I tend to gobble it up in one sitting.  She never fails to pull me in.

The first chapter has to contain all the important stuff. It sets the tone, introduces the main characters through dialogue and movement, gives you an insight into the conflict brewing, creates the setting and time frame, and establishes the theme. It should pack a punch. I tend to spend the first ten or eleven pages highlighting the female lead, giving the reader a sense of who she is, where she’s from, what important to her, and how she exists in the world around her. It’s only then that the male lead comes into play. He shows up on the page to intrigue, to badger, to cast a spell, or, in Lilith and Niall’s case, to annoy.

Lilith is one of the eight original goddesses in the series and plays a big role. Niall has been interspersed through out the first three books so you might have a sense of who he is and why Lil has a bone to pick. But do you really? There’s a lot more going on beneath the surface than even Lil realizes. It’s my job to spark your curiosity, to make you care enough about them both, to want to find out what it is.

It’s Tuesday and I’ve come to the page with no real topic in mind. It’s been a little hard to conjure up magic these days. Maybe it’s because, as I sit here, my dogs quiet, my husband working across the room, I can’t use the props I normally use when writing. Maybe it’s because my fantasy world is so hard to find lately. As I struggle with the last hundred pages of Tipping the Scales, I’ve gone back to review the basics.

The last section of the questionnaire I use to develop my characters requires me to list his or her favorites. Things like song, book, movie, drink, color, TV show, sports, possession and motto. Over the last couple of days I’ve been focusing on the kind of songs that apply to Minnie and Simon. Minnie’s from Virginia so I’ve gone with country and some folk rock, like Mumford and Sons. Simon, like many chefs, tends to listen to heavy metal while cooking.

Music has always been a big part of my flow. After I choose a genre that speaks to a character, I play it to get into their head space. I’m not doing that so much these days. The Dixie Chicks aren’t my husbands cup of tea, nor is Metallica, one of the bands that Simon listens to while he’s in the kitchen. I grab minutes here and there, while he’s in the shower or gone off to the post office to check his post office box. I’m still finding my way through the new normal.

Just given a half an hour to immerse myself in music, I asked Alexa to play some Chicks and after shuffling, she began to play one I’ve always loved. In fact, it’s the one I chose for Minerva’s cell phone ring. With them such a prominent part of people’s lives, the ring is another way of revealing a character’s personality. Goodbye Earl lends itself to Minnie’s profession and friendships. It was the song that came on. Good sign. As I move forward with the edit, I’m hoping it keeps me connected to who she is and what she wants.

I’m think I’m getting the hang of this, although I miss getting out for coffee, meeting friends for dinner, having the freedom to come and go as I please.

I do have my writing which is keeping me connected to “people” in another way. They might not be real, but the characters in my books are constantly talking to me, telling me who they are, what they like and what they dream about. I’ve just finished editing the  draft for Magic Bean Cafe and it will be going to the formatter on Monday. I’m re-reading Once There Was A Tree to send to my editor mid-April and then it’s back to Tipping the Scales and re-working that for a May edit.

The biggest challenge coming up is attending to the last three books in the series. I need to have them sketched out, not only in my mind, but on paper. The thing about a series is that you have to weave in the characters as you go. All my goddesses have shown up on the page in book one. Simon and Ioan were introduced as well. They are the men that will sweep Minerva and Gwen away. Niall has made a couple of appearances and is next on the agenda, giving Lilith a run for her money. I’ve mentioned Tihomir, who will become more visible as time goes on. Dax has made his debut and he’s becoming fleshed out with each scene. I’ve been able to create couples with built in conflict to this point, but there are two men who are underdeveloped. I’m not even sure I know who they are yet.

Let me explain the process I’ll go through to find the answers. I’ll think about the goddess, what kind of life she’s lived, and who might be a good counterpoint. Then I’ll ask questions like what are her triggers, false beliefs, fears, what are the needs that have been compromised by her life experiences. Then try to figure out what kind of conflict will provide the her the best opportunity for growth.

Brigid spent most of her life in foster care. She survived the less-than-stellar experience by writing stories, fairy tales, with happily-ever-after endings. She wants a family, roots and permanence but for as much as she’s bonded with the few people she’s let get close, she’s unable to believe that good things will come to her. What if one of the boys who bullied her when she was younger returns to Eden? Conflict, yes. What if he’s an investigative reporter whose life is now focused on truth, and he has no time for fairy tales? Conflict, yes. Over the next few weeks, I will play with this and see if it works, looking to Gabriel Bresnahan for answers.

And how about Cerridwen? She was trapped underground during a archaeological dig, and thought she was going to die. She left the field and is now working as a forensic specialist, dealing with a different kind of dead. Should the man who caused the cave-in show up? Conflict, yes. Should she be assigned a case where the body was trapped in a similar way as she was, but died as a result. Or should the corpse be in a confined space, one she’s not willing to enter for fear she’ll be unable to breathe? Conflict, yes. Will someone on her team help her get through it or will it be the man who’s returned to haunt her? Will she fight him, believing he’s incompetent and can’t be trusted, or learn that he’s changed due to the accident and is now a better man? Ioan brings a Kurd to Eden and there’s a possibility it’s his brother that caused the collapse… this one is still a work in progress.

It’ll be interesting to see who emerges for Breet and Cerri. They’re strong and resilient and will need men who can appreciate who they are and what they bring to the world. It’s my job to make that happen.