Tracy Brody's Blog
August 13, 2020
August 2020 Newsletter
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WHAT A WEEK!
First, there was Hurricane Isaias—could y’all pronounce that the first or fifteenth time you tried? Fortunately, it didn’t impact my part of NC or my happy place of Kiawah Island, SC. Then Sunday morning, I woke up to my bed shaking. No, it wasn’t hubby wanting something, but a 5.1 earthquake about 110 miles away. There, they had broken dishes and cracks in chimneys, but no damage here.
People like my son and his wife, who live in California, don’t even notice earthquakes unless they hit over 6. If you’ve never felt one, it’s like an off-balance washing machine. Well, the small ones. Since they are a rare occurrence here, it had a lot of people turning to social media, asking if what they felt was an earthquake.
Speaking of social media, I was on Facebook Saturday liking my friend’s comments and pictures, posting my normal stuff, like a Guardians of the Galaxy GIF and screenshots of several fake Instagram accounts all using the same model’s pictures from a stock photo site, but when I logged back in less than thirty minutes later, I found a message that my Facebook account was suspended.
Um, WHAT?!
They said I could submit it for review--which I did--and the response that came up said that maybe they’ll get to it, but with COVID, maybe not.
Um, WHAT?!
No warning. No reason given. I swear I didn’t post any naughty pictures, bully anyone, or get political. I checked with my techie son to see if he has any friends at Facebook who could help, but he doesn’t have connections. He does work for LinkedIn, but I haven’t asked him to shut down Mark Zuckerberg’s LinkedIn account without warning or reason—yet. Ha, ha. So, if you happen to notice I’m quiet, or my posts are missing, or I’m not showing up as your friend, I did NOT unfriend you. I did not get taken in the rapture. (Though the way this week and year have been, that could be coming.) I did not die of COVID, either.
Luckily, I was able to get back into my account before sending this newsletter out. Fingers crossed it stays active! However, it reconfirms the importance of being able to contact you via my newsletter and being friends on Goodreads if you have an account there. So, for this newsletter giveaway, you’ll be entered if you friend me on Goodreads.
My good news (yes, there is some this week!) is the development edits for book four of the Bad Karma Special Ops series were lighter than I expected. I'll send it to my copy editor soon, and IN THE WRONG SIGHTS is now available for preorder with a date of October 22 - but possibly sooner.
I appreciate those who expressed interest in joining my ARC team—or maybe some authors call it a “street team.” If you love my books and telling people about them, I would love to have you on my team. Join now, and you’ll get free access to the new book within a few weeks. Don’t miss out. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1B5q6...
Thanks to those of you who weighed in on my Amazon ad copy. Michelle G. was the winner of the $10 Amazon gift card or a signed paperback. Pat T. won the $5 Amazon gift card. (Or I can substitute one for Panera if you’d prefer a treat like a cinnamon roll or pecan braid!) CONGRATULATIONS! Email me to claim your prizes.
There’s also good news beyond my next book coming soon. You can all win by checking out this promotion for FREE small-town romantic suspense books. You seriously need to check it out because it includes several USA & NYT best-selling authors! There are even more than the books shown. All FREE! You can share this promo with your friends, too. https://books.bookfunnel.com/small-to...
I hope you have a great week (without a freak snowstorm or tsunami) and have some happy reading time.
Tracy
WHAT A WEEK!
First, there was Hurricane Isaias—could y’all pronounce that the first or fifteenth time you tried? Fortunately, it didn’t impact my part of NC or my happy place of Kiawah Island, SC. Then Sunday morning, I woke up to my bed shaking. No, it wasn’t hubby wanting something, but a 5.1 earthquake about 110 miles away. There, they had broken dishes and cracks in chimneys, but no damage here.
People like my son and his wife, who live in California, don’t even notice earthquakes unless they hit over 6. If you’ve never felt one, it’s like an off-balance washing machine. Well, the small ones. Since they are a rare occurrence here, it had a lot of people turning to social media, asking if what they felt was an earthquake.
Speaking of social media, I was on Facebook Saturday liking my friend’s comments and pictures, posting my normal stuff, like a Guardians of the Galaxy GIF and screenshots of several fake Instagram accounts all using the same model’s pictures from a stock photo site, but when I logged back in less than thirty minutes later, I found a message that my Facebook account was suspended.
Um, WHAT?!
They said I could submit it for review--which I did--and the response that came up said that maybe they’ll get to it, but with COVID, maybe not.
Um, WHAT?!
No warning. No reason given. I swear I didn’t post any naughty pictures, bully anyone, or get political. I checked with my techie son to see if he has any friends at Facebook who could help, but he doesn’t have connections. He does work for LinkedIn, but I haven’t asked him to shut down Mark Zuckerberg’s LinkedIn account without warning or reason—yet. Ha, ha. So, if you happen to notice I’m quiet, or my posts are missing, or I’m not showing up as your friend, I did NOT unfriend you. I did not get taken in the rapture. (Though the way this week and year have been, that could be coming.) I did not die of COVID, either.
Luckily, I was able to get back into my account before sending this newsletter out. Fingers crossed it stays active! However, it reconfirms the importance of being able to contact you via my newsletter and being friends on Goodreads if you have an account there. So, for this newsletter giveaway, you’ll be entered if you friend me on Goodreads.
My good news (yes, there is some this week!) is the development edits for book four of the Bad Karma Special Ops series were lighter than I expected. I'll send it to my copy editor soon, and IN THE WRONG SIGHTS is now available for preorder with a date of October 22 - but possibly sooner.
I appreciate those who expressed interest in joining my ARC team—or maybe some authors call it a “street team.” If you love my books and telling people about them, I would love to have you on my team. Join now, and you’ll get free access to the new book within a few weeks. Don’t miss out. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1B5q6...
Thanks to those of you who weighed in on my Amazon ad copy. Michelle G. was the winner of the $10 Amazon gift card or a signed paperback. Pat T. won the $5 Amazon gift card. (Or I can substitute one for Panera if you’d prefer a treat like a cinnamon roll or pecan braid!) CONGRATULATIONS! Email me to claim your prizes.
There’s also good news beyond my next book coming soon. You can all win by checking out this promotion for FREE small-town romantic suspense books. You seriously need to check it out because it includes several USA & NYT best-selling authors! There are even more than the books shown. All FREE! You can share this promo with your friends, too. https://books.bookfunnel.com/small-to...
I hope you have a great week (without a freak snowstorm or tsunami) and have some happy reading time.
Tracy
January 16, 2020
I'm not a Fan Girl
The past few summers, I’ve attended RWA’s® national convention. I knew I’d have the opportunity to see and hear many famous authors and looked forward to it. In the past, friends have mentioned being “fangirls” and wanting to meet certain authors but being afraid they’ll be tongue-tied. Not me. True, I’m the unshy, outgoing type, but I just don’t get that fear.
The first writing conference I attended was the Central Ohio Fiction Writers regional conference when Suzanne Brockmann was the keynote speaker. I took books for her to sign and hoped to meet her. When I arrived for the kick-off dinner, I met up with a friend I’d made online and we went to stake out seats for dinner. Guess whose reserved table still had seats available. Suzanne’s! I was shocked. We were brave enough to snag them and have dinner with Suzanne and her husband and had a delightful time. So, last year I volunteered to moderate one of her workshops at RWA.
When Kristan Higgins spoke to my writing chapter, I volunteered to be her chauffeur. My being directionally challenged resulted in her having to navigate because I was ignoring the GPS to talk. I saw her several times at RWA 2013 and in New York, she was on a panel with legends Robyn Carr and Eloisa James at the Golden Network Retreat. At the close, people were standing around while I made a beeline to hug Kristan and get a picture with her. Later, in the week, a friend lamented riding in an elevator twenty-some floors with Kristan yet couldn’t speak to her, which is a shame because Kristan is one of the most down-to-earth, easy-going, warm and wonderful people you’ll ever meet.
I started thinking about how people react when given the opportunity to meet celebrities. I’m not one to hunt down celebrities. Sure, I’d like to meet Jensen Ackles, Max Martini, and Joe Manganiello, but I hope I could carry on an actual conversation with them. If given the chance, I’ll happily test out that theory. I started thinking about why I don’t fangirl. The famous authors are people who I enjoyed being with. What if I’d hung back? Been afraid to interact with them? I may not achieve their levels of success (though I’m aiming to!) but I would never want someone who enjoys my books to be afraid to approach me or leave me sitting at a dinner table alone because they didn’t think they could sit with me. I’m just Tracy. Aspiring Best-Selling Author. So, if you see me, come say hi—but be warned, I am the hugging type. I hope to meet you if I haven’t already.
Tracy
P.S. If you haven’t read any books by Suzanne or Kristan, consider this an invitation to check them out.
The first writing conference I attended was the Central Ohio Fiction Writers regional conference when Suzanne Brockmann was the keynote speaker. I took books for her to sign and hoped to meet her. When I arrived for the kick-off dinner, I met up with a friend I’d made online and we went to stake out seats for dinner. Guess whose reserved table still had seats available. Suzanne’s! I was shocked. We were brave enough to snag them and have dinner with Suzanne and her husband and had a delightful time. So, last year I volunteered to moderate one of her workshops at RWA.
When Kristan Higgins spoke to my writing chapter, I volunteered to be her chauffeur. My being directionally challenged resulted in her having to navigate because I was ignoring the GPS to talk. I saw her several times at RWA 2013 and in New York, she was on a panel with legends Robyn Carr and Eloisa James at the Golden Network Retreat. At the close, people were standing around while I made a beeline to hug Kristan and get a picture with her. Later, in the week, a friend lamented riding in an elevator twenty-some floors with Kristan yet couldn’t speak to her, which is a shame because Kristan is one of the most down-to-earth, easy-going, warm and wonderful people you’ll ever meet.
I started thinking about how people react when given the opportunity to meet celebrities. I’m not one to hunt down celebrities. Sure, I’d like to meet Jensen Ackles, Max Martini, and Joe Manganiello, but I hope I could carry on an actual conversation with them. If given the chance, I’ll happily test out that theory. I started thinking about why I don’t fangirl. The famous authors are people who I enjoyed being with. What if I’d hung back? Been afraid to interact with them? I may not achieve their levels of success (though I’m aiming to!) but I would never want someone who enjoys my books to be afraid to approach me or leave me sitting at a dinner table alone because they didn’t think they could sit with me. I’m just Tracy. Aspiring Best-Selling Author. So, if you see me, come say hi—but be warned, I am the hugging type. I hope to meet you if I haven’t already.
Tracy
P.S. If you haven’t read any books by Suzanne or Kristan, consider this an invitation to check them out.
