I Need Your Opinion

So, I have this shiny new idea for a spy series and it's been simmering in my head for the last couple of months. I want to start on it so bad, but I have a few other projects that need my attention before I can. 

But while the idea is still simmering, my author friend Becky Monson mentioned one of her new favorite actors is Theo James. I looked him up and now I want to use him for character inspiration in my new series. 

Here is my question for you: Do you see him more as a spy with a dark past? Or a member of an elite military task force?

My Character Inspiration

A lot of times when I'm writing, I look for actors and actresses that sort of look like or have a characteristic of the men and women I'm writing about. It helps me to have that picture in my head when I'm fleshing out the story. 

For Second Chance, I settled on Barrett Foa as my Augie and Marie Avgeropoulous as Rian. I was going for adorable computer tech and a mysterious Libyan information broker. I love how much their eyes can say without any words being spoken. 

Second Chance comes out next month and I can't wait to hear what you think of it! And if you think Marie and Barrett were perfect for the role. 

Griffin Force Has An Emblem and Motto! Official Reveal!

I am so excited to reveal my Griffin Force emblem and motto! Thank you to everyone who voted.

*drum roll*

Pro Libertate is Latin for "For Freedom" and is so appropriate for the Griffin Force who travels all over the world in the cause of freedom. I really think the emblem captures the essence of the task force as well and I'm thrilled with how it turned out.

What do you think?

Creating Shareable Content For Your Book

Today I've been working on creating some shareable media. These days, pictures, memes, teasers, are all important in building buzz for your book. The problem is I'm not very tech-savvy and doing things like this are hard for me.

I put aside my pre-conceived notions of whether I can do this or not and just got down to business. I worked with Canva, DesignFeed, and Picasa and some other programs designed to make things easier for people like me and the more I tried, the more I thought, hey I can do this!

Here's one of the things I created today with DesignFeed. Yeah, it's basic, but I have to say I'm pretty proud of it. I did that. By myself! And it looks good.

I got to share it on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook and since other people could potentially share it as well, I felt good about the professional look of it.

So, the moral of this story is, even if you're not tech-savvy like me, you can still learn. You can still do something awesome. And isn't that the way with writing, painting, or anything where you are creating? You can learn the craft. You can create something amazing. You just have to stick with it and keep trying.

For me, the sense of accomplishment alone was worth the work today. Have you ever done something you didn't think you could do? How did you feel when you did it?

Using An Author Tagline

I gave a marketing presentation this evening and one of the things I talked about was how having an author tagline can be part of the foundation of your marketing plan. An author tagline is the free publicity that keeps on giving and I believe that. It's also a great starting point if you're just starting to build your marketing plan.

What is an author tagline you ask? An author tagline is three to seven words that describe your writing.  For example, my author tagline is Action-packed suspense with a touch of romance. Jordan McCollum's is Love, Lies, Secrets, and Spies. A tagline is just something short and catchy that leaves a memorable impression of what you write.

How do you come up with one? Brainstorm some words that you would want a reader to think of when they stumble over your books. Are they sassy? Funny? Fantasy with a twist?  What's unique about your love stories? Are they edgy historicals? Is there a running theme throughout your work? Once you have a pretty good brainstorm cloud of description words, pick the ones that jump out at you, the ones that will leave an impression on your writing and create the tagline that best describes your writing.

Once you have come up with your author tagline, you can pair it with an image (if you look at the header of my blog, author webpage, Twitter and Facebook cover pics, you'll see my tagline with my cover image. I also use it on my tote bags, t-shirts, and all my book swag) and voila! By combining a tagline with your image, you are creating a great foundation for name recognition and an author brand.

It is important to use your newly created tagline wherever you can and definitely on all your social media sites. Be consistent with it so that when readers hear it/see it they'll remember you. Make yourself memorable by focusing your readers in on what kind of experience they'll get when they pick up one of your books.  Like knowing that whenever someone picks up a Julie Coulter Bellon book, they're going to get a lot of action and a little romance, you know?

Having an author tagline is another way to connect with your audience---which, as we all know, is the heart of true marketing. So get brainstorming the amazing tagline that best describes your work and if you come up with something amazing, I hope you'll tell us about it in the comments!

Puppy Themed Birthday Party

I've been having a little too much fun lately planning my little girl's puppy themed birthday party.  It is finally over and I'm dying to show you all the pictures!

The Decorations

Puppy paws on the balloons

Adorable puppy cake!

I got brand new dog bowls from the dollar store for the treats and found cute little tags with dog themes on Pinterest.

The "Pup" corn was a bit hit!

Doesn't that really look like puppy chow? LOL It's just chocolate puff cereal.

Scooby snacks.  :)

Paw print sugar cookies, aren't they adorable?

Drink station and "chew" toys.

Doggie bags for the kids to take home. Included in them are: a ball, a "best in show" medal, puppy chow, scooby snacks, and a Snoopy fruit snack.  

The Fun

So when each child got there, they picked out some puppy ears and a tail, (I found fabric remnants and hot glued them to head bands for the ears, then sewed simple tails and put them on elastic) then we started working on their "collar" which was foam beads with a larger one in the middle for the "dog" tag.

then I face-painted simple puppy faces on them.

then each person got their own dog bowl for their snacks. (Also from the dollar store and washed thoroughly of course.)

We played games like obedience school (where they learned to roll over, howl, chase their tails, sniff for bones, play dead, and wag your tail) and then played "Simon Says" to show off their skills.

We also did a puppy obstacle course where they jumped through a hula hoop, pushed a ball with their nose, balanced a dog biscuit and dug for bones in the sandbox.  The fun one was "guess the smell" and we had a pickle and some fruity shampoo in paper bags that they were trying to guess. LOL

We couldn't find a poster for Pin the Tail on the Puppy so my son hand drew one for me. It was fun!

We made a simple dog house to take pictures of our puppies in front of and show off their puppy faces!

Then, my neighbor brought over her two month old toy Pomeranian puppy to show everyone and talk about dog safety (never approaching strange dogs, asking owners first before you try to pet a dog, that sort of thing) and then everyone got to play with the puppy. After that we did presents and cake and ice cream, then everyone went home with their ears, tail, dog bowl, and a doggie bag. I think it was a success! I know my little girl loved it and we had a lot of fun planning it together.