Book Release Party

Book Release Party! My first Book THE HAT PIN MURDERS will be introduced at AUNTIES BOOK STORE 402 W. Main Street, Spokane, on Friday, January 21, 2011. 7-9pm.
I hope a lot of people come. I've never done this before but I guess I'm supposed to read a little of the book and maybe tell how it came about. I hope people will ask questions and of course purchase the book and then I'll sign it.

Aunties has a big room upstairs that they allow people to use for such occasions. This is so they can sell more books. My daughter and granddaughters will be baking all kinds of goodies to entice people to come and eat and then buy the book. I hope to see you there, January 21st, 7 - 9 p.m. at Aunties Book Store.

Crazy, Crazy Excitement !

Crazy, crazy excitement! That's exactly how I'm feeling these days. I either gave away or sold the first 50 books and I picked up 40 more today. I'm waiting to hear what the reviewers are saying about the book. I hope its all good news.

I had lunch with three other ladies at Lindabee's restaurant in Medical Lake yesterday. When the waitress saw the books I was signing for the other gals she asked all about it then went to talk to the owner. He wants me to come there and do a book signing. I suggested we do it from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the lunch hour so people will eat lunch as well as purchase my book. He is so excited about it even wants to advertize it up on his big sign. But my official introduction will be sometime in January at Aunties Book store in Spokane.

Yes, it is crazy crazy excitement! Yeah!

Read my book.

Hello Bloggers,
Sorry I haven't blogged for a while. Getting a book published is quite exhausting. I purchased 40 books and the publisher gave me 10 free, of the pre-released books. I have 6 of the books left but promised some ladies on Thursday so looks like I'll have to order more before Chistmas.

Everyone seems so excited about the book and the ones that have read it are even more excited. I'm feeling good about the whole process.

Russ, my publisher says we will introduce the book in early February, then I will be doing some signings at local book stores. More on this later, until then Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Yes, it's been a while since I've blogged. I was given two copies of my book to read through and edit. I'm just thrilled with the cover I think it is beautiful and just what I wanted. I am hoping to get 50 copies before Christmas so I can give them out for Christmas gifts. There are several others that want to purchase them from me for their gifts. I'm so tired now, I can hardly make it through the day how can I expect to make it through a book signing.

THE HAT PIN MURDERS

Hello Bloggers, I agreed on a cover for my book and it is just beautiful. It is exactly what I want. I went to the publisher and picked up 2 copies of the book yesterday. I have to read through it for any mistakes or changes I want to make then that will be the last change that can happen. The publisher will send out advance copies to very special people hoping to get them to read the book and write something nice about it so their comment can be put inside the front cover. At that point in time which will be after the first of the year Russ, the publisher will put together a marketing plan and we will introduce the book and I'll do some book signings. The books will sell by the thousands and I'll get to go on Oprah!!! HaHa

It's Day Light Savings Time

Yes, it is Day Light Savings Time, but it was dark when Jake, our dog woke me up. I told him to go back to sleep, it was still dark. When he jumped on the bed the second time I decided he must need to go outside. I got up and started the coffee and I had plenty of time to get something started for dinner to be ready when we got home from church. Good sermon at church, our new pastor seems to be getting into the groove. I think he's a keeper.

LIFE GOES ON

We're having a nice rain today. The weather has been so beautiful lately, sunny and warm. It was a little disappointing to wake up to rain this morning, but we need it so I guess it's a good thing. My foot is getting better daily but still is a little stiff and swollen. My hip and back have been bothering me so badly lately that the doctor sent me for and MRI. I had to get up at 5 a.m. for a 6:45 appointment. They did give me ear plugs but it was still very noisy. I got home about 8 a.m. and went back to bed and slept until 10:30 a.m. My sweet dog, Jake, jumped up on the bed and curled up beside me and had a good nap too.
I got an e-mail from Linda, she will be making my book marks. I'm really excited about them. I thought maybe I'd give one with each book sale at my signings. Linda does such a beautiful job with all her projects.
I'm expecting to hear from the editor by the end of the week, which is the end of the month. After he finishes the editing I'll be able to look at the specs for the cover. I should see a finished product soon after that.

Life is good.!

Life is good! You bet it is. My foot, after surgery, is getting better. My hip is getting worse. Theropy guy says one more session then if it's not better I go back to the doctor. Well that's encouraging.

I went to see my publisher on Thursday, he told me everything was turned over to an editor that he just hired. Great, he introduced me to Andrew, the editor. Andrew didn't seem to know anything about my book. "Did Russ agree to publish your manuscript?" He asked. "Yes!"

I came home a little depressed, but after a few days I decided to send Andrew an e-mail and explaine where I'd been with Russ. So I got an e-mail back from Andrew saying he was going to check things out and get back to me. So now he is in the loop and I'm feeling a lot better. Yes, life is good if you just relax and communicate.

Hello Fellow Bloggers

Hello fellow bloggers,
I had foot surgery a week ago Friday,9/24/10, that is bunion surgery. I had been using a lot of pain medication for the first week. The last few days the pain has slowed down so I'm off the pills, although the pain is not completely gone. I've been walking around, as little as possible, in this clunky, big shoe. I've tripped myself several times, but I hope when I see the doctor on Wednesday he will take out the stitches and I will be able to wear a real shoe again.
As soon as I'm able to walk a straight line, I'm going to call my publisher. It seems I always have to initiate a contact or meeting with him. I know he is really busy but I'm dying to get this book published and on the market. There is still so much to do before it is marketable.
So I guess I'll go to bed now and say my prayers. Good night and God bless you where ever you are.

High Tea

This afternoon five of our Red Hat ladies attended a High Tea and ventage hat show. What a hoot! The tea and all the desserts were wonderful, the hat show was great fun too, especially when our friend Ann tried on every hat that was modeled. The parade of Red Hat fashions was the best ever. These ladies know how to dress!!!
This is the best and nicest group of ladies I have the good fortune to be associated with. Every one was friendly, spending time visiting with women they had never met before. Purple, red, feathers, jewels, fun and laughter, that was the order of the day. I hope to do it again soon.

I met with my publisher!

Yes, I met with my publisher on Tuesday. After the meeting I was totally exhausted. The book will be ready for release around Thanksgiving. But there are a few things that I have to do before that. I have to come up with 12 people that the publisher well send early release copies too and hope they will send back a good comment on the book. I have to write my own Bio, which I'm sure will be short and sweet. At our next meeting we will decide on a cover and oh yes, I did give him a new picture of myself to be put on the back cover.
After the book is published he will set up a release party and a number of signings at local book stores etc. I'm exhausted just thinking about that but then I think it will be fun too. He promised to do promotion with press releases to newspaper, radio and T.V. stations and print up fliers and cards that I can send out to people that I want to come see me.
It is a good thing George is getting better because I'm going to be very busy. Yes, he is doing quite well. He didn't fall this week at all. haha. Parris and Amber, Laura's girls are off to college and we won't see them until Christmas. They have been a light in our lives and George especially will miss them.
Well, I hope that is enough of an update for tonight. Good night to all you bloggers out there in cyber land.

It's never too late to dream.

I have a meeting with my publisher at Gray Dog Press on Tuesday to go over the details of my novel, THE HAT PIN MURDERS. I can't wait to see what he has in mind for the cover. I imagine a hat pin dripping blood at least for starters. Perhaps a broken stran of pearls and some feathers lying about.
My daughter came over Wednesday and took dozens of pictures of me, not too many turned out good. I was hoping to have at least one good one for the back cover. There are so many things to consider and since I've never done this before I'm only dreaming so far.
It's hard to believe at my age to be starting on a new career. I guess it's never too late to have your dreams come true. So if you still have a dream and thnk it is only a dream you might reconsider. I believe God is the Dream Giver and if you believe and work at it hard enough He will make your dream come true.

It's Tuesday !

Yes, It's Tuesday! Robert went to the store this morning and bought ice cream. Last night we were all out and do you know what a miserable feeling it is to be out of ice cream? Ofcourse I could loose a few pounds if I didn't eat it but then what is life with out those wonderful goodies. My favorite is ice cream, any flavor, with carmel syrup and chopped nuts, lots of nuts or 3 scoops in a glass with just enough milk to make it slushy. How silly is this going on about ice cream.

I'm killing time waiting for my publisher to get back to me. I want to call him and ask what is the hold up, but I know he is busy and I don't want to be pushy. Mean while I'm starting on ANOTHER RED HAT MYSTERY not sure where I'm going with it. But I feel like I'm off to a good start. The fun thing about writing is that you can make up people that you really like and then you can make up people that you hate, those are the ones that make the mystery come alive. I have a very uncontrollable dog, he is a little brat! In my book, he is a Great Dane, protective of his mistress and the dog everyone would love to have. Oh if real life could be what we write about, I'd write a perfect life, no mystery at all.

I'm excited !

I'm so excited! I actually have followers. People that read my blog. Well there is nothing too exciting for you to read but since I love to write that's what a blog is for. So I'll keep you informed on what happened today. George is now using a cane instead of a walker, which should be a good thing, but he is getting a little too cocky. Today he went outside and slipped in some gravel and fell down. He called me and thank goodness I heard him and went out side to look for him. There he was all skinned up and bleeding all over his arm. He couldn't get up and of course I couldn't get him up so I called 911 and the whole fire department came encluding a police car. The firemen, 4 of them, got him up cleaned him up and put bandages on him and took his vitals. They wanted him to go to the clinic to have a doctor look at him so they were o.k. with me driving him there. One of the firemen followed us there after calling ahead to let them know we were coming. I pulled right up to the back door and the fireman went inside and go a wheel chair, came out and got George out of the car and wheeled him inside, told the doctor what happened and left us to get taken care of. With that George said he will leave the yard work to someone else and forget about it. Thank goodness he didn't break anything.

August 2010

Here it is August already. I feel like the year has just begun, where does the time go. George graduated to a cane yesterday. Everyday he makes a little more progress. I went to the doctor yesterday because my hip has been killing me. He took an x-ray and assured me that I still have plenty of bone there and it will be a long time before I need a hip replacement. So that made me feel better but I'm still having a lot of pain when I walk. He said I probably pulled something so I will be going to physical theropy for 6 weeks. Oh boy! Thats about it for now.

Thunder and Lightning

Our dog, Jake, woke me up at 4 a.m. this morning. He was barking non stop. I got up to see why and heard the thunder rolling and saw the lightning flashing. No wonder the little guy was freightened. I picked him up and soothed him and brought him to bed with me. He curled up next to my leg, his little heart was beating like crazy. The thunder and lightning continued to do it thing until we fell back to sleep. Up at 7 a.m. with gray skys over head, but soon we had a down pour of rain and hail mix, shortly after that the clouds moved on and it looks like a sunny day. As we say here in the Northwest, if you don't like the weather, no worries, it will change soon.

I hope you all have a beautiful day, I plan to.

After much sweat and nail biting I finished my Dedication and Acknowledgement page. I sent it to my editor (e-mail). He thanked me for it so I guess it sounded okay to him. He said he hired a new editor, I hope that doesn't mean they will start all over editing my manuscript. Originally he said it needed a lot of editing, punctuation, etc. I HATE PUNCTUATION!! Of course I do and that's the reason for hiring editors.
Once again he said the book will be out in the fall. Fall is October/November, right? I can hardly wait. I'm praying for a mild winter so I can get out and about, book signings and all the glorious things that come after the book is in the stores. A girl can dream, can't she?
If you're reading my blog I hope you will mark your calendar and check your local book store for THE HAT PIN MURDERS, A Red Hat Mystery by Joyce Caudel and Published by Gray Dog Press.

More Waiting

Yes, George is home and doing well. He is still using a walker and Home Care thropist come almost every day. But it is really amazing to see how he has progressed in the month that he has been home.
I was able to go over the publishers contract with the attorney on the phone. At least I didn't have to go to his office, but I'm sure his bill will be huge. I thought it would be much better to pay an attorney to know exactly what I was signing instead of having to have him get me out of a mess later. So I am ready to get started with my book, just waiting on the publisher. I guess I should sentd him an e-mail to see how things are progressing.
Mean while I'm trying to start my next mystery. I'm struggling. My first book, The Hat Pin Murders, came so easy. I had it all figured out in my mind, even though it took me almost 7 years to finish it. Well enough of this, I'd best get to my manuscript.

George is home!

Yes, George is home from his long stay in the hospital. His stay at St. Luke's Rehab. for physical theropy did him a world of good. Today the Home Health Care nurse came to call. They will be here several times a week to help us out. Thank God! I've been overwhelmed with the thought of taking care of him alone. Well, I do have help from my son Robert and daughter Laura and her husband Brian. They all have been wonderful . Today Laura and Brian put a railing down the back steps to the patio so he will be able to go outside.

I have my book contract with my attorney. I'm hoping he will get it back to me with a good report so I don't have to hastle with the publisher. I'm really excited about the prospect of doing the cover. Right now there is a piece of coconut cream pie waiting for me.

Time Will Tell.

It's been a while since I've added to my blog. George is in ICU with many problems. The doctors are unsure if he will recover or not. Sitting in the ICU waiting room can be trying on the nerves and right now my nerves are fried. Yesterday when he was taken to the ER, daughter, Laura and son-in-law Brian sat with me all day and into the night. I got home and took a nice warm bath and 2 Tylonal and slept pretty good the rest of the night. Laura and I went back to the hospital after lunch today. Daughter-in-law Kim, grandson Danny and his wife Lauren and baby girl Sawyer came up for a few hours. It was good for me to see Sawyer now 8 months old and just a beautiful blue eyed darling. It takes a healthy baby to take your mind off the tough things in life.
So we are having to make some hard decisions. All the 'what if's'. What if he doesn't make it? What if he does and how much care he will need later? The list could go on and on and we had a small family discussion today to try to cover some of these 'what if's'.
Well blogger's I'm tired so I think I'll pop some corn and watch an old movie with my faithful dog Jake.

Holy rain showers! Yes, it's been raining for days. We must be making up for the fact that we had almost no snow this past winter, therefore the water table must surely be low.

Again today I heard from 'my publisher'. He wants to get my book out later this summer hoping to capitalize on the upswing that characteristically comes in the fall for book buyers. YES! YES! That's exactly what I was hoping for too. See we are of one mind. Let's get it out there for those book buyers.

I'm confident that with God's help my husband, George, will be well so I can do some book signings and perhaps attend those wonderful Red Hat conventions. That's where all those Red Hat Ladies hang out.

My Publisher !

Dear Bloggers,
I'm happy to say I heard from the publisher and he said he is ready to publish my book. So now I guess I should call him 'my publisher'. At any rate on May 20, 2010 I received an e-mail from him saying he is looking at publishing it. Of course he said there is some work to do on it (typos, punctuation, etc.) well of course there is. I'm the first to admit that my punctuation skills are the worst. But the good news is his intent is to leave the storyline as it is. Hoorah!!!
Of course things never go well, now do they? My husband, George, is in the hospital. He had surgery on Wednesday and now his heart is acting up. I guess it's never a good time for surgery and you can't always plan things. So I will just go with the flow, spending time at the hospital and when the publisher calls I'll be ready.

Who reads blogs anyway?

Who reads blogs anyway? That is the question. I've been reading some and I'm not sure if the bloggers know I'm reading them, after all I didn't write them a note. I'm not sure is any one reads my blog since no one ever leaves me a message. So perhaps this is just a way for us bloggers to practice our writing or blogging. It's getting late and I'm not really in the mood for blogging so I'll quit because I don't have anything to say.

Mother's Day

Its Mother's Day and I had a very nice day. My mother is 96 years old. She is a beautiful lady, I don't get to see her very often since she lives in California. She has a house full of people there all the time. The last time I visited I had to sleep on a mattress on the floor in the living room. It was comfortable so I really can't complain and I'm not. My sister, Jane lives with Mom and takes really good care of her. Mom is an avid reader, I sent her 2 books for Mother's Day and I'm sure by not whe has finished both of them and is looking for more. I'm sure that is the reason her mind is still so sharp. What a blessing to have a Mother that is full of life at 96 year of age. Yes, I am truely blessed.

Happy Mother's Day to any one that happens to stumble on my little blog and reads it.

No news is maybe good news.

Two weeks have past and I did not hear from the agent I sent my manuscript to. Sooo, I guess that means she wasn't interested.
I know, all the famous writers say they got hundreds of rejections before they got published. I only wish she would have sent me a rejection slip so I could put it up on my wall. It would give me something to look at and get mad about, then maybe I would get angry enough to sit down and write again.
Who is to say that at this time in my life it is better that I don't get published with a big New York publisher. I'd have to fly around the country making guest appearances on TV shows. It could be very tireing. Has any one stumbled onto my blog? I'd love to hear from you. Or am I just talking to my self?

Restless in Cheney

Yes, I'm restless here in Cheney. I've written a novel, THE HAT PIN MURDERS, A RED HAT MYSTERY. I've had it critiqued several times and had it pretty well ready for publishing. I gave it to a local publisher and I'm waiting, waiting, waiting for a response from him. When I met with him about 2 1/2 months ago he seemed pretty enthusiastic. He liked the idea and he really liked my marketing plan. Great! He said he had at least 20 others in front of me and he would get back to me in a couple weeks. I contacted him again to ask how it was going and was he interested in my book. He responded quickly that he hadn't gotten around it looking at it but would in a couple weeks. So I decided to sent it to an agent. I had considered this agent a year or two ago but wasn't quite ready to get it out there. The agent is on the west coast, in fact in Washington. I immediately got an e-mail back that my query had been received and they would respond with in 2 weeks if they would like to represent me.

Yes, I'm restless in Cheney. Waiting for someone to let me know what they think about my book. After all I worked on it for 5 plus years. Will I ever get it published? Wait and see. Mean while I starting on ANOTHER RED HAT MYSTERY.

A New Adventure

Today I went to a book signing with a friend, Margie Swenson. Margie has been an inspiration to me in my writing. Vern Hopkins had his books there, selling and signing. Oh, I forgot to say it was at Boarders at the Y, Spokane, WA. It was great fun. Margie and I wanted to see how things were done so when our books are published and we do those book signings we will feel at ease. We took a break from our purchasing of books to go to lunch at Shakey's Pizza. I haven't been to a Shakey's since we lived in Sacramento, CA. Oh, it was great!

My Red Hat Story

My Red Hat story is all red and purple. Big hats and lots of boa, and glitz. I'll write more about this later as I'm not sure how to Blog.