Uncategorized – Tiffany Shearn

Soccer and a Giveaway

It has been a while since I blogged. I feel as though I am finding my feet again to be able to step in the right direction. While my chest still feels tight, straining against the weight I imagine on my shoulders, there are moments and days I can take for myself now.

Soccer Week

Last Sunday, I had a booth at the Wizard’s School put on by Wizards of Washington. The charity organization does a wonderful job supporting local authors, so I was one of around eight authors offering my books. I went straight from the event to the OL Reign game that evening, so I did not have time to change. While only one person commented on my Renaissance attire, I’m sure other soccer fans wondered what drove my strange garb.

I mixed up a couple of boxes, and my partner had to make a trip home and back to bring copies of Hidden Promise. Oops!

Friday was another Reign game and a special event for many soccer fans. Megan Rapinoe announced her retirement earlier this year, and Friday’s game was her final home match of her final NWSL season. I envy her confidence and self-assurance in the face of controversy and opposition. A record-breaking crowd turned out to see her off and thank her for her contributions to US women’s soccer and other social issues.

Finally, Saturday was fan appreciation night for the Sounders. After over a decade, I have still yet to win any of the big screen giveaways, but my sister and I got a lunch box they were offering out front and some championship trinkets. Both weekend games were exciting, despite ending up as draws.

Upcoming Giveaway!

I teased this on Facebook yesterday, and there will be more posts about it in the coming days. In celebration of reaching the fifty-review mark for Hidden Memory on Amazon (thank you all!), I’m giving away another paperback copy of one of my books!

The entry process will be similar to last time, where I will receive entries via replies to the October newsletter. If you signed up for my newsletter at the faire this summer, I will add all those emails this week. If you don’t see a welcome email by Friday, I recommend signing up on the website.

This event will be open to all, but I’m capping shipping at $25. If you are outside the USA and win, I would ask that you cover the difference in shipping or it would go to another person randomly selected.

If you win, you will be able to pick the Hidden Series book you want to receive. So, if you have the first three already, I’ll hold your win until Hidden Strength comes out and send you that one if it is your selection. Your reviews mean the world to me, and I am so excited to send another signed copy of my book to another recipient.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

I have been thinking more about recycling and reusing various materials, especially packing materials. The goal, as always, is to minimize waste, but there is always a point at which the cost outweighs the gains. That point is different for everyone, but it is why we reuse and recycle as much as we can.

I recently received a large pallet of supplies for my new business. It was constructed of wood products, very sturdy, and held together with screws. We considered using it to fix our shed floor but thought the material was a bit too thin to work for flooring. Instead of dragging it to the dumpster, we posted it on Offer Up, and someone was there to get it within a few hours.

There are often local ways to take certain materials to people and organizations that can put them to use or give them a second life. Unfortunately, with the variety of materials in our lives, figuring out what goes where can be a daunting task. The more complicated something becomes, the less likely it is to be executed to completion. The way they remove challenges is why I have been rather impressed with Ridwell.

Ridwell

The company (https://www.ridwell.com/) has engaged with several local partners to take difficult-to-recycle materials and give them new life. One of the most consistent we have for them is the plastic film, which includes plastic grocery bags. We usually bring our own bags for shopping, but during the pandemic, the curb-side pickup we used sent more home with us than necessary. This category also includes external plastic packaging on things like toilet paper.

They feature unique things on a rotating basis and take some specialty items for a small price per filled bag. You sign up and, each time, let them know what you have. They take the full bag and leave an empty one in its place for the next time. We now collect things like cleaned chip bags, mesh veggie bags, and styrofoam to send in when we have a sufficient amount.

The padded envelopes are for shipping signed books, but the rest is our bundles saved for Ridwell.

The next time you find yourself throwing some of these things in the trash, consider looking to see if Ridwell or a service like it is in your area!

Happy April, and have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday (to me)!

I have never celebrated Valentine’s Day because my birthday is so close. One year I was supremely irritated because the holiday fell on the weekend closest to my birthday. My family tried to go out for a birthday dinner and it was insanity. Parking was impossible. There was an almost two-hour wait to get into any restaurant. I was in my teens at the time and had a teenage breakdown (not so bad where my parents went into “don’t make me turn this car around” mode).

Since that day, I have been hyperaware of the holiday’s proximity to my desired family meal day. The latter is this afternoon, and we are going to a local Korean BBQ place. This will be my grandmother’s first time trying it, so we’ll see what she thinks. I suspect she will like the sweeter marinades the best and not care as much for the spicy sides.

A friend also sent me the flowers in the main picture, which was very thoughtful. Other than that, I’m planning to take it pretty easy this weekend. I’ll polish another six to ten chapters of Hidden Strength to send off to my alpha readers. I have just over twenty chapters left to send, so I’m hoping to get those out before the beta feedback for Hidden Promise comes in.

Though, I should also reach out to the cover artist if I want to have that done in time for the April newsletter…Okay, maybe “take it easy” is a bit of an overstatement, but these are busy times, and there are only so many days between deadlines!

Of the Realms – Orientation

Elaria is a realm where the current inhabitants are not all native in origin. Throughout the Hidden Series, I make references to other realms and the races coming to Elaria from them. For the story in this series, the specifics of how the realms interact are not critical. It is enough to know humans, dwarves, and magai are immigrants.

However, I have been asked about the realms by readers. I could add more explanation into the books, but it adds little to the story, slows down the pacing, and can start to feel like a lecture. Instead, I have decided to lecture here and offer these “realms” posts as bonus insight for my readers who check out my website. Details on specific realms will come later. Today, we will look at the general structure and interaction of the realms.

Orientation

So, what are the realms?

The realms exist upon another dimension. I’m not referring to the “everything that can happen, does happen” type of multiple dimensions, but about X/Y/Z dimensions.

3D, Time, and the theoretical “mystical power” dimensions.

Back and forward. Right and left. Up and down. These are the physical dimensions in which we exist as we pass along the time dimension. I am not a theoretical physicist, so this is where I will depart any proven/measurable science to delve into the world of fantasy.

The various realms exist along a spectrum of mystical power and governing forces with diverse expressions.

Aryanna (Earth), Elaria, and Scorcellen as they currently sit on the dimensional line.

Our realm exists toward the physical end of the spectrum. Toward this end, science and the laws of physics hold sway. One plus one will equal two. Actions and reactions, from a physics perspective, will be calculable. The further this direction a realm goes, the further it departs from magic and mysticism and becomes more structured and standard.

Moving in the other direction along the spectrum is where things become more chaotic and fascinating. Magic and other arcane forces change how the people of a realm interact with the world around them.

In Elaria, the world and its creatures exist connected to the people evolving there. The natural world strives for balance, and it exerts influence on and through those people. While there is power beyond the physical, most life conforms.

Further down the line, Scorcellen sits seeped in magical energy at the edge of what the magai call the boundary between high and low magic. Our world is on the low magic side. On the high magic side? Wonders. All you can imagine, glorious and terrible, can exist in those realms.
Fae, dragons, and even god-like beings dominate independent high-magic realms.

Perhaps they have visited. Maybe it is only stories of their existence that have passed down through the realms. They exist out in the far reaches of the power spectrum, spinning and ever-changing.

“But how do they all interact and fit together?” you ask.

Such interaction is a topic I will touch on further in the upcoming “realms” blog installment. Until then, have fun imagining a realm of your own making.

Generating Interest

Advertising

Recently, my sales have slowed to a trickle, along with my Amazon ad impressions, so I decided to give Facebook ads a try. The opinions of Facebook ads in the indie-book business group I joined are pretty mixed. Some other authors have had success with Amazon ads and none with Facebook ads, while others experience the opposite.

I searched through the group’s previous posts and responses on the topic, but there were no conclusive or overwhelming answers or experience in either direction. It is a very mixed bag, even within the same genres. So, I decided to do some research through trial and error.

Dusting off my Canva skills, I created two images (main post image and the one below) and ran with a few different headlines and a link taking folks to the Amazon page where they could buy the book.

I Made a Sale!

I still celebrate every sale and preorder, but the conversions are nowhere near enough to cover advertising costs. It means my advertising is not doing its job and I need to make some changes.

I need dynamic ads…which means researching dynamic ads. This one will have to wait until I send Hidden Sanctuary to my betas.
I need more reviews. The best I can do here is remind and provide easy links whenever possible. If you haven’t left a review yet, log into Amazon now and do so today!
I need to finish the series. I’m working on it!
I may need to change the description or title.
- The description part is easy enough. Understanding how to change it to entice readers to buy will be the challenge. I’m also considering going into KU, but more research is required before clicking that button.
- Title changes are a can of worms.
  - Sub-titles will be the first thing I work with because those are modifiable on KDP.
  - Changing full titles means new covers and a complicated mess of publication drama. I do not see myself doing this. My time is most valuable in writing more books.

Onward!

Eventually, I will get to a reader magnet short story. If you have read Hidden Memory, do you have a favorite character? Is there someone or something about whom you want to know more? Do you have a favorite scene or quote I should feature?

On another topic: Should I do a launch party for Hidden Sanctuary this August? A virtual launch party?

Let me know answers to these questions here or on my social media accounts. In the meantime, thank you for your support, and don’t forget to leave that review!