Reach Your Writing Goals!

(Photo credit: MarkGregory007)

A few months ago I added a page to my website introducing a new coaching service I was offering for writers. I didn’t really push the service, didn’t do much in the way of announcing anything. I just kind of put it out there and let it be.

To be honest, I wasn’t ready to start accepting clients on a regular basis.

But now I’m ready.

If you’re a writer, especially a fiction writer, or if you aspire to be a writer and are looking for some personal coaching/tutoring to hone your craft . . . I can help.

If you have questions about writing or publishing that you need answers for . . . I can help.

If you’d like someone who is experienced and impartial to look at your material and give an honest opinion . . . I can help.

If you’re trying to determine whether to go the traditional route or self-published route but can’t decide which is best for you . . . I can help (I’ve done both).

If you’re discouraged and in need of some encouragement and help in determining what your next move should be . . . I can definitely help!

Please, if any of the above scenarios describes you, check out my coaching page, review the pricing, and contact me. I’m flexible. If what’s offered on that page doesn’t fit your needs or budget, contact me anyway and we can work something out. I want to see writers succeed.

I hope to hear from you soon!

Advertisement

Get FEARLESS for FREE!!

Sound too good to be true? It’s not.

Yes, you can get my newest thriller FEARLESS for free.

My publisher, Charisma House, recently created a website called Booketeria where you can request books for free and all you have to do in return is promise to write an honest review.

FREE book (and a new release at that). A $14.99 value. For a simple but honest review.

Not a bad deal.

Just go on over to Booketeria.com, sign up, and get your copy of FEARLESS for FREE.

And if you don’t mind, please share this great deal with all your social media friends. FREE is good!

Oh, one more thing . . . you can still get my novel FRANTIC for only $1.99 on Amazon. Hurry, though, this price won’t last too much longer.

Issues Writers Deal With, a Series

(Photo credit: MarkGregory007)

Over the next several weeks I’m going to periodically discuss different issues I deal with as a writer. Issues like:

• The pressure of sales numbers
• Dealing with negative reviews
• Writing about the supernatural
• Time management/fitting writing into a busy schedule
• The issue of faith and fiction
• Violence in fiction
• Creating villains without becoming one
• Romance and the element of love
• Balancing fiction and real life
• The ethics of using real people to create characters

If you’re a writer or want to become a writer or do any kind of writing I’m sure you’ll find these upcoming posts interesting.

If you’re not a writer, never were, and don’t want to be I really do think you’ll still enjoy these posts. It’ll give you an inside view into some of what writers deal with, what goes through our mind, and some of the decisions we make while writing. It’s actually pretty interesting.

Check in on these posts too as I’ll also feature some killer deals on books and occasional giveaways too.

Here’s a couple now:

Get my novel FRANTIC for only $1.99!

Enter the Goodreads giveaway for a chance to win FEARLESS.

And if you haven’t done so yet, check out my newest thriller, FEARLESS. Here’s my challenge: Go to the Amazon page and click on the “Look Inside” feature. Read the first several pages. I bet you’ll be hooked. If you’re not, I want to hear about it.

FEARLESS Release: I’m Givin’ Books Away!

FEARLESS, my newest thriller officially releases tomorrow and in my book (pun inteneded) that calls for a celebration. And to celebrate I want to give away some books.

So here goes . . .

Today, leave a comment to this blog post and get in on the drawing to win a copy of THE LAST HUNT (an e-short story), MIRROR IMAGE (an e-short story), or FRANTIC (my 5th thriller). Contest ends at midnight.

Okay, so you know what to do . . . and please celebrate with me by spreading the word by sharing this on Facebook, Twitter, and any other social media site you frequent. Thanks!

Come back tomorrow. I’ll be giving away copies of the short stories and FEARLESS as well as another book!

THANK YOU! Can’t Say it Enough . . .

I want to thank everyone who helped promote Mirror Image and The Last Hunt. I want to thank those who downloaded them, who read them, who reviewed them, who talked about them. I hope you enjoyed both stories. They’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback and have really seemed to strike a good note with readers.

If you missed the giveaways, not to worry, both stories are available for only $0.99.

And believe me, there are more coming. I’ve really been enjoying writing these short stories and making them available.

I recently wrote a short non-fiction book (just 35 pages) about making time to write and finishing what you start. It, too, will be offered for free in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Fearless releases on May 7, a week from Tuesday. You can preorder it just about anywhere. So far, it’s getting very good reviews, some saying it’s my best book yet. I find this interesting because after all is said and done with the writing and editing of all my books I always think, This is the book that’s going to flop, that’s going to expose me as a fraud. But from what I hear from my author friends that’s a perfect normal feeling and shared by most.

Fearless is a wonderful story and while writing it I quickly fell in love with the characters. It has lots of suspense, mystery, intrigue, and of course a slight twist of the supernatural. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

WINNER!! “Who Wants to Write a Short Story With Me” Contest

(Photo credit: kreg.steppe)

Wow, what a great collection of story ideas. Choosing just one was not easy and honestly it came down to about five minutes ago (as of the writing of this post at 5:45 this morning).

I’d like to say again that just because your story idea wasn’t chosen doesn’t mean it’s not any good. There were a lot of great ideas, creative, inspiring, intriguing, entertaining. Not all were appropriate for a short story, though. In fact, I was able to narrow the field pretty quickly by eliminating the concepts that would require much more than 10,000 words.

There were several that really caught my imagination. Some were surprisingly simple but sometimes it’s the most simple things that make the greatest impact.

Please, if you submitted a story idea and you’re interesting in writing or you are a writer . . . pursue it. Don’t wait. Make the time. Get help if you need it. But do something with it. You have an idea, a concept, a starting point, now go for it!

Okay, not to drag this on too much . . . here is the winner of the second “Who Wants to Write a Short Story With Me” contest:

CATHY GROOVER: I have always wanted to write, but fear kept me from doing so.

Congratulations, Cathy!

“Who Wants to Write a Story With Me?” CONTEST!

Do you want to take the plunge and co-write a short story with me?

Last year I held a contest where the winner would co-write and publish a short story with me. Aaron Reed, a pastor, husband, and father of five won and we just recently released our short story Mirror Image. You may want to check it out (only $0.99 on Amazon).

I think it’s safe to say both of us had a blast writing it, too.

Well now I’m ready to do it again.

Here are the details:

• Your entry must be a story idea in one sentence and one sentence only. Any genre, any topic, just please, no erotica.
• You can enter as many ideas as you want.
• You can either post your entry below as a comment or send it to mikedellosso6797@gmail.com. Please include your name in your entry.
• Entries will be accepted through midnight Friday.
• The final five will be announced Monday, 4/15.

Have fun with this. I know I’ll fun reading your entries.

Please help spread the word about this contest on all your social media hang-outs.

A Big Thank You

 (Photo credit: Avard Woolaver)

I’d like to give a big THANK YOU to all who helped promote the three-day giveaway of MIRROR IMAGE. The promotion went very well. I sincerely hope everyone enjoys the story. I know Aaron and I enjoyed writing it. And please write a short review and post it on Amazon. Those reviews carry more punch that you’d think they do.

In fact, I enjoyed the whole process so much I want to do it again. Stay tuned for more information coming next week about an all new “Who Wants to Write a Story With Me?” Contest. And start revving up your creative engine.

Also, if you missed the MIRROR IMAGE giveaway you can still download the story for just $0.99. Just follow this link.

And be watching for another short story to be released April 23. THE LAST HUNT is a tale that will make you think twice about ever going in the woods again.

MIRROR IMAGE is Coming!

Back in May of 2012 I held a contest where the winner would write a short story with me and we would publish it as an e-story. Well, the winner was Aaron Reed and our story, Mirror Image, is finished and will be available through Amazon April 2!

We’re going to be doing a launch promotion and offer the story for free for 3 days only, April 2-4. You won’t want to miss this unique story. It was a blast to write and we’re both very excited to release it to the public. Here’s a blurb:

When Dennis, a loner with a wounded past, discovers he looks exactly like author Joshua Norton he convinces himself that Norton is living the life he should have been given.  Dennis obsesses over Norton’s seemingly perfect life and eventually plots to switch places with the undeserving author. But reality isn’t always what it appears to be and what Dennis finds isn’t exactly what he expected.

This was the first time I’ve co-written anything but I enjoyed it so much I plan to do it again in the future. Stay tuned for more information and another opportunity to co-write a story with me. And be on the lookout for Mirror Image!

An Author I Admire; a Book I Recommend . . . and a Giveaway!

I don’t recommend very many books on this blog, not because I don’t read many books worth recommending, but just because that isn’t what this blog is about. But sometimes I feel compelled to, for a variety of reasons.

And as an author, strangely, there are few authors I truly admire. Oh, there are writers out there way more talented than me, that’s not what I’m getting at. I mean authors who because of what they write, how they write it, and who they are, have captured my admiration. Athol Dickson is one of those authors.

A couple weeks ago I posted about Athol Dickson’s new book, January Justice. I’ve read the book and like with all of Athol’s books, highly recommend it. I first discovered Athol at the prompting of my wife after she read They Shall See God. I then read River Rising and it literally made me see Jesus in a whole new way (there’s one line in the book that will blow you away). Athol’s writing is fluid and almost magical. He has a distinct voice that, as a fellow author, I appreciate.

You can find January Justice here. Please check it out.

And now for even better stuff . . . we’re giving away THREE KINDLE COPIES OF JANUARY JUSTICE. To enter just leave a comment to this post (entries will be taken until midnight Thursday). If you don’t have a Kindle, shame on you, but don’t worry, you can still win. Amazon has Kindle apps for just about every kind of reading device including smart phones and your PC or Mac.

And I hope the interview below allows you to get to know Athol a little better.

So tell me about your new murder mystery, January Justice.

The back cover pretty well tells the story: Reeling from his wife’s unsolved murder, Malcolm Cutter is just going through the motions as a chauffeur and bodyguard for Hollywood’s rich and famous. Then a pair of Guatemalan tough guys offer him a job. It’s an open question whether they’re patriotic revolutionaries or vicious terrorists. Either way, Cutter doesn’t much care until he gets a bomb through his window, a gangland beating on the streets of L.A., and three bullets in the chest. Now there’s another murder on Cutter’s Mind. His own.

January Justice is the first in a new series will follows Malcolm Cutter as he works as a chauffeur/crime sleuth and looks for his wife’s murderer on the side.

When did you decide to become a writer?

I didn’t really make a decision to become a writer, so much as it just happened. I was working as a partner in an architectural firm, and spending most of my days dealing with handling business issues instead of having fun designing buildings, which was not what I had in mind when I went into architecture. I wanted some kind of creative release, and I’ve always loved to read murder mysteries, so I decided to try my hand at writing one. A couple of years later, I met a newspaper editor who had good connections in the publishing world. He volunteered to read my novel, and to my surprise, he thought it was pretty good. He gave me my first professional editorial advice, and after I made the changes he suggested, he sent the manuscript to some friends of his. The next thing I knew, I had an offer from a publisher.

It was all sort of accidental, so I never really thought of writing as anything more than a hobby. But I enjoyed it, and I had a publisher, so I kept writing. Then one of my novels won an award and I flew to Denver to receive it. When they stood me up on stage and praised the book and gave me a round of applause, I remember thinking that somehow, I had become a writer. That was the first time it sank in.

Do you have specific habits when you write?

I write toward a specific goal every day. Sometimes it’s a certain number of words, and sometimes it’s the completion of a scene, but one way or the other I give myself that goal and I keep writing until I get there.

Are you an early bird or night owl?

I’m a morning person, usually up by five or five thirty, and working no later than seven.