Dog Days Of Summer

It may be the dog days of summer, but it seems that I have no time to sit back and relax. If you saw me today, I am sitting writing at the Oregon County Local Producers and Artisan Coop sipping on ice tea and on my computer, but don’t think that I am playing video games or social media. I am, in fact, working.

Doing My Own PR

During the past several days I have been working on doing my own PR for my book A Coward’s Solace. I have been contacting radio stations and newspapers locally via email and so far I have gotten one response concerning anyone including my information as a news item. I am still waiting on my flyer from the printer. The young man who is doing the one flyer finished the design on Saturday and we went it off to the printer Saturday, so it should be done by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. Once that happens I will have to rush around getting the flyers up around the county.
I have been thinking about how I can continue physical (as opposed to online) marketing. Once the flyers are up and the media is contacted, I am going to call senior citizen centers locally then regionally, and then nationally and see how many I can visit. In addition, I am going to contact bookstores with my press release and see how many places I can visit for book signings (hopefully in conjunction with visiting the local senior citizen center). I think that it will be a good way to spend the upcoming fall months.

School Shopping

Where has the summer gone? Already, I took my daughter school shopping on Friday to buy the last of her school supplies. This morning, I am adding to that, where has all my money gone? Raising kids are so expensive. I am glad that she is my youngest and that she only has four years of school left. We had a good time, but it seems like every time I have to leave her at her Dad’s I feel depressed. I really wish I had my family back.

New Job

Today I started another job in addition to the one that I already had. A friend of mine asked me to help care for her mother and I agreed to do a few chores for her. It doesn’t pay a lot , but it will help me keep my cash flowing in the directions that it needs to flow.

Thinking About Working Around My Travel Trailer

As I am rushing around trying to get started on the marketing of my latest book: A Coward’s Solace, I have been thinking about starting to work more on my travel trailer and growing a small vegetable garden around it. . What is it about life that when we know that we have to do one thing, something else draws our attention? A friend of mine had volunteered to help me do some of the work that needs to be done, so I guess I have a legitimate reason for thinking this way, also, I have more time to do other things now that I have finished the second drafts of those two other books that I am writing this year. It is amazing how much time ti takes out of a day to write every day.

My trailer is cleaner than it has been since I moved into it at the end of May. Now that everything has a place, I am able to keep things caught up. This certainly gives me more time to look around and see all the things that I still need to do.
I have been thinking about starting a garden next spring. Along the front of my house I want to put in a multi-level garden. I was thinking about building a pergola type structure and hanging upside down tomato plants on it and underneath grow pole beans growing up a trellis in the back along the front of the trailer with a salad bed in the front, then next winter I can cover the whole area with a heavy duty plastic and use as a greenhouse to extend the whole garden season and maybe plant snow peas instead of pole beans. In the back yard I want to grow bins of potatoes and sweet potatoes and in the rest of my yard raise chickens and goats.
However, before I do all of that, this fall, I still need to get the underpinning on the trailer and get the porch built and figure out how to save my gray water and rainwater. (a composting toilet is also something that I would like to have.) Not that any of that is hard, it all just takes time and, of course, money.

 

Building Online PR

In addition to physical book marketing, I need to step up my PR and marketing presence online. I really want to update my website. I also need to get motivated to get started planning a blog tour as well as finding individuals to review my book. I haven’t yet been too motivated to do that yet. Perhaps I will once I get the flyers hung up and get more interest generated by the local media. Whatever it takes, you know?

 

 

Donna Brown is an ordained minister. As Author Cygnet Brown, she  has recently published her first nonfiction book: Simply Vegetable Gardening: Simple Organic Gardening Tips for the Beginning Gardener

She is also the author of historical fiction series The Locket Saga. which includes When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don’t Cry, the Locket Saga Continues. Her upcoming book A Coward’s Solace will be available soon. Click here for more information about Cygnet Brown and her books.