Vol. #38: Showcasing (3) More Awesome Gang Authors!!

Photo Credit: https://awesomegang.com/leslie-jasper/ Hello Everyone! How is your Tuesday afternoon going for you? I'm happy to share that my first children's book entitled, "Not All Girls Play With Dolls" is now live in both paperback and as an e-book!! I opted to use my Book Bolt account for the paperback interior and the cover. For the e-pub. file that was created for the e-book, I used Reedsy free e-book tools. I plan to blog about the process steps that were used to generate both the paperback and e-book. The goal is to help the next author who is trying to self-publish and not looking to spend money on the process. Have you ever worked on getting a children's book online? Are you a budding author who just launched your book/podcast!? It's important to have all of the social media platforms and build your brand via networking with others. I find great power in the hashtag as well. My hashtags are #LeslieMJasper, #ConstructionTales, and #VerballyDisastrous. Share with me your hashtag and connect with me on social media. If you could also network with my 16-year-old son John's "Call To Action Marketing" business (hashtag #CTAMarketing), that would be helpful and highly appreciated. This post is intended to share even more work of some independent authors, such as myself, and earn some good karma in the process. Why not offer you a taste of a variety of authors with different content? Let me know if you have discovered a new author during this "Showcased Author Series"? My objective is to pick out different authors that offer a variety of media content. For the record, I know nothing about the author other than what is showcased in the author article that was shared, via Awesome Gang. Feel free to copy and paste and share this content on your blog, if you like. As an author, if you want to add more information, drop it down in the comment section below and I will edit and add at my earliest convenience. For now, I'm connecting with the authors in an effort to build my author network. Hopefully, they will follow me back on social media. I'm game to cross promote each other on social media as well. Just let me know or re-tweet one of my posts and I will automatically return the favor on Twitter. I'm totally cool with many ways to help each other market each other. When you are a small content creator, it is important to help others out. I recently shared some free marketing websites in a blog post. I've even submitted #ConstructionTales to both Awesome Gang and Book Reader Magazine recently. I also just submitted my children's book to Awesome Gang and currently working on other avenues. My first children's book #NotAllGirlsPlayWithDolls is intended to empower young kids to pursue their passions even if it is not normally the tradition in their society.

Photo Credit: Front Cover Of Not All Girls Play With Dolls- illustrated By Tad_Art Do you have any requests for a specific author or style of content? Let me know your various suggestions down the in the comment section below. For now, here are (3) showcased authors down below: Showcased Author- 1.) Kathy Gaudry Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written. I have been writing and editing, working both freelance and for book publishers, for decades. In the early 1990s, I founded Tamarack Books, Inc., and we traditionally published nonfiction Americana. After a huge number of requests, I also founded Towanda, Inc., a book production company for self-publishers. After selling my companies about 15 years ago, I retired, got bored, and started writing again, first blogs for my websites, next 2 books teaching self-editing to writers (for I have been going crazy reading self-published books that need editing!), and Training Your Puppy with Love along with a working journal to supplement it. What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it? Editing Fiction, Detect and Correct My first self-editing book dealt with nonfiction writing, but I had requests from fiction writers to do the same for them. It is a basic manual primarily for a beginning author (but experienced authors can benefit too) to teach him/her how to self-edit manuscripts before he/she publishes or sends it to a professional editor. Do you have any unusual writing habits? When I am starting a project, I usually outline it first. Then I walk around for days, creating paragraphs in my head of what and how I want to explain things. I go back to the outline constantly, revising and filling in the blanks. I also spend a huge amount of time researching the topic and have pages of notes before I begin the actual writing. What authors, or books have influenced you? Over a lifetime, there have been so many. Alistair Cooke and Kenneth Clark with their mega-history volumes, Dorothy Gilman with her cozies, The Brontes, Mark Twain, Dickens, Harper Lee–there are so many. My tastes are eclectic so I read classics and mysteries, literary fiction and best sellers. I just like any well-written book that can hold my attention. What are you working on now? I have three projects going: 1. an online class for Training Your Puppy with Love (with a collaborator) 2. an online class for self-editing nonfiction 3. an online class for self-editing fiction This is a bit of a change for me, doing online. I have always been in the classroom and on zoom before this. New challenges are good. What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books? My best method of selling books is to constantly “be stirring the pot.” I do like using the newsletters for promoting my books, for that is also the way I discover new authors. I look forward to working with Awesome Gang on promotions. Do you have any advice for new authors? Don’t talk about your book/topic to everyone in the world. I know you are excited, but all of that energy spent talking is energy you are not going to put into writing your book. If an author talks constantly about their book, they tend not to get it written. Be judicious when talking about your book. Better yet, don’t talk. Write! There is another facet to this: if you have a good idea, someone else probably has that same idea. So, get your work out there before they do! What is the best advice you have ever heard? The book is done! In other words, know when to stop writing. What are you reading now? The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie by Osborne What’s next for you as a writer? I have another four nonfiction books that I would like to write, but that is going to take me another couple of years–at least. If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring? Boy, that is hard. There are so many I would like to have, read, and reread. Bible – because of all of the good stories and thoughts Complete Collection of Shakespeare – that will keep me going for a while, plus I can memorize the sonnets and great lines. Blank journal with pen – to write down my thoughts as I live on the island. (Can’t I take a few more???) Author Websites and Profiles Kathy Gaudry Website: https://www.kathygaudry.com/ Kathy Gaudry Amazon Profile: https://www.amazon.com/Kathy-Gaudry/e/B08TM5Q4QJ?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000 Showcased Author- 2.) Sharon Eshmade Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written. I am a writer, parenting coach, and counsellor. ‘Crash Test Mummy’ is the first book I have written. I initially trained to be a primary school teacher in South Africa before completing my postgraduate diploma in dyslexia and literacy in the UK. Soon after marrying, I moved with my husband to the United Arab Emirates, where we still live today with our two sons. What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it? ‘Crash Test Mummy’ is all about how I went out of my comfort zone and realised that we don’t have to be so extreme in our parenting views or follow any one way to raise our children confidently. I sat in the centre of all the different parenting styles, tested their validity, and listened to my gut to determine that what worked was a balanced, communication-based approach to raising my children. Following my successful twenty-year career in special needs teaching, working with vulnerable children and adults, including working with my challenging children and being one myself; in late 2019 I felt as if something was amiss. My older son’s behaviour has always been challenging but, I believed, that by strictly enforcing behaviour modification techniques to control his conduct, he would find his teenage years easier. As the opposite began to quickly unfold, I was inspired by my son, who struggles with Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD), to question my traditional parenting style and make significant and positive changes. Do you have any unusual writing habits? I am blessed to write each day while my children are at school. Understandably, lockdown and online schooling were detrimental to my writing process and mental health in general, but the stress and pressure of those months challenged my positive parenting to the extreme. Through that process, I am now parenting my challenging children with confidence! After a conflict with my kids, I open the note application on my phone and jot down my thinking, feelings, and especially what I have learned. These experiences inspire my daily social media posts. Often, by questioning my traditional thinking, I research a new topic for a blog post and increase my understanding of how to better parent my kids. What authors, or books have influenced you? A book that stands out is, ‘Things Fall Apart’ by Chinua Achebe, which I read in secondary school. The book made a lasting impression on me as a young, white girl growing up in apartheid South Africa. The book was the beginning of my questioning the patriarchal and racist institution that I was born into and brainwashed by. Literature has the amazing capacity to challenge our traditional mindset while developing our empathy and our character. What are you working on now? I have just released ‘Crash Test Mummy’ as an audiobook. Being dyslexic and narrating the book was extremely challenging for me. It was excruciatingly hard but interesting to listen back to myself reading the text for editing purposes and identify that my fluency and errors were greatly influenced by how personal challenging the material was for me. I am now shifting my focus to marketing the book and blogging. What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books? Writing ‘Crash Test Mummy’ has inspired me to develop in so many unexpected ways. I have learned so much through editing, narrating, formatting, and now marketing my book! Self-promotion does not come easily to me and makes me feel uncomfortable but through websites, such as awesomegang.com, I have found so much support in the publishing and promoting community. I am extremely grateful. Do you have any advice for new authors? I wish that I had started with the title! However, I only came to the title through the process of writing and editing the book. I have such high expectations of perfection for myself and becoming a confident parent means working daily on being more kind, caring, and compassionate with myself. I delusionally believed that I should have sat down and written ‘Crash Test Mummy’ from start to finish in a perfectly edited format. My advice to new authors is to be realistic about how difficult the writing process is and perhaps lower your expectations. We are humans, not robots. What is the best advice you have ever heard? In a world where you can be anything, be kind. We can choose to be anything in this world. The advice is not referring to one’s occupation but more to the state of being. We can choose to live in a negative state or a positive state, so let’s choose to be positive. All hardship, and happiness for that matter, is temporary. Life is hard for all humans and the next challenge is guaranteed to be on the way. I’m not sure why we are so surprised when it happens. Our suffering is what connects us. When we have this choice, we must choose to engage our empathy, kindness, and compassion. What are you reading now? Living with a challenging teenager who is rarely happy, I am currently researching topics on happiness. It is so difficult to live with an individual who is prone to being oppositional, defiant, and negative, so my reading material is usually based on how to support him to rewire his thinking to be open, warm, vulnerable, appreciative, understanding, and empathic. This, of course, begins with me being the guinea pig. Once I have internalised and demonstrated living in the teachings of happiness, I can inspire and role model the thinking, feelings, and behaviour to aid in his increased happiness. This process is as difficult as it sounds! What’s next for you as a writer? My ambition is to reach millions of parents and positively influence them to be confident parents. On a daily basis, I work with clients to increase their communication and proactive strategies to cope better. Whether that means encouraging cooperation with their kids or helping them as they’re struggling with anxiety, bereavement, and other mental health challenges. The work I do informs my writing and I hope to consolidate my blog posts into my second book on surviving and thriving as a parent through the teen years. If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring? The Untethered Soul by Michael A Singer The Road Less Travelled by Scott Peck Keep Calm and Carry On by Everlyn Beilenson Author Websites and Profiles Sharon Eshmade Website: https://crashtestmummy.net/ Sharon Eshmade Amazon Profile: https://www.amazon.com/Sharon-Eshmade/e/B09TNJ6H5D Showcased Author- 3.) Melrose McFadden Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written. I have committed to writing and publishing one book per month in 2022. At the time of this comment, I have published four books, with another on the way in about 4 weeks and another in drafting stages. I am writing 2 series at the same time: Wicked Wick Mysteries and Major Bummer Murders. Each book takes 2 months total, and I always have one book from each series in progress at all times. My schedule is: write 1 month, revise 1 month, publish. While I am writing a book in one series, I am revising a book in the other series. It’s intense, but this is my “next chapter” (pun relished), so I’m going at it hard. What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it? My latest book is called KICKING THE BOUQUET. It will be released 4/5/22. It is book 3 in my Wicked Wick Mysteries series, and involves a deluge of tourists and groupies descending on the small town of Fall Haven to attend a celebrity wedding. All of the books in the Wicked Wick Mysteries series are inspired to an extent by the sense of smell. I am interested in how all of my own core memories are tethered to a scent memory, and how the sense of smell triggers ideas and understanding in a way the senses of sight and sound do not. Do you have any unusual writing habits? It might be unusual to write a book per month? It might be more unusual to get up at 5:00 every morning to get my writing done before I go off to my day job (not for long though). I’m not sure… these things feel pretty usual to me at this point! What authors, or books have influenced you? A plethora of cozy mystery authors such as MC Beaton, Vivien Chien, Julie Mulhern. What are you working on now? I am working on finishing up the full draft of KICKING THE BOUQUET, along with starting the first draft of what will be book 3 in the Major Bummer Murders series. I am also heavily into the planning stages for 2023, which will involve two new series. What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books? GoodReads, BargainBooksy emails, and Instagram. Facebook groups to an extent. I’m just getting started, so still learning. Do you have any advice for new authors? Just write the book. What is the best advice you have ever heard? The best marketing for the current book is to write the next book. What are you reading now? I am reading “Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life after Which Everything Was Different” by Chuck Palahniuk. Excellent guidance, anecdotes, and actionable tips for better writing. What’s next for you as a writer? My short-term goal is to retire from my day job in 1 year and make writing books my full-time income. My long-term goal is to hit 100 books released. If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring? Harry Potter #1. Whatever the longest Outlander book is. Something about coconut recipes. Author Websites and Profiles Melrose McFadden Website: https://melrosemcfadden.com/ Melrose McFadden Amazon Profile: https://www.amazon.com/Melrose-McFadden/e/B09MWGPT5V/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1 Thanks for swinging by my section of the internet today in order to check out all of this great author content that I have shared with you today. Hopefully, you enjoy learning about some new authors that are out on the market. Perhaps we have found a future best seller? Let me know, in the comment section below, if you either like or dislike the author showcase content? I'm also sharing my latest (8) podcast episodes that are listed down below from The Verbally Disastrous Podcast, via links for Spotify & YouTube down below. If you are into reading on a Kindle, check out my newest short story release that belongs to my Construction Tales-Told By A Woman Kindle Vella Library short story series on Amazon down below. This new short story #11 is entitled, "Juggling Motherhood & Working With The Tools". This short story covers my life as a widowed, single mother in the era when I juggled both motherhood and my career as a journeywoman electrician. The previous short story is #10 is entitled, "Early Life Lessons & Characters To Meet As An Apprentice". If anyone has read any of my other previous short stories, by all means, let me know what you think? Check out the links for my book #ConstructionTales down below. I'm sharing with you my blog posts this afternoon while juggling work. Enjoy your Tuesday and be safe during your ongoing work grind. I wish you a great morning/afternoon/evening on your side of the globe and a restful or productive day!

Photo Credit: Call To Action Marketing Logo- John Collazo, CEO Link To Construction Tales: Volume I: A Woman's Journey To Become An Electrician (Paperback & Kindle) On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Construction-Tales-Womans-Journey-Electrician/dp/1467960160 Link To Construction Tales: A Young Person's Guide To Accomplish Anything In Life (Paperback & Kindle) On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Construction-Tales-Persons-Accomplish-Anything/dp/1497593115 U.S.A.: Use This Link For The Audio Version Of My Book #ConstructionTales On Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/B07P5PNCS7/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-144253&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_144253_rh_us United Kingdom: Use This Link For The Audio Version Of My Book #ConstructionTales On Audible: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B07P5PP7RW/?source_code=AUKFrDlWS02231890H6-BK-ACX0-144253&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_144253_rh_uk France, Belgium, Switzerland: Use This Link For The Audio Version Of My Book #ConstructionTales On Audible: https://www.audible.fr/pd/B07P7RYP4G/?source_code=FRAORWS022318903B-BK-ACX0-144253&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_144253_rh_fr Germany, Austria, Switzerland: Use This Link For The Audio Version Of My Book #ConstructionTales On Audible: https://www.audible.de/pd/B07P8W3MVY/?source_code=EKAORWS0223189009-BK-ACX0-144253&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_144253_rh_de VERBALLY DISASTROUS PODCAST EPISODE LINKS: Here is the link to the Verbally Disastrous Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2dFYgX4dUiHaMfJ4gigLY0?si=KcR-D8RyRnKGk1wuPOqa1Q&dl_branch=1 Verbally Disastrous Season #1, Ep. #41: Part A- Working On The Railroad With The Tools As A Chick! on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Q1G4Y14pAiw Verbally Disastrous Season #1, Ep. #42: Part B- Working On The Railroad With The Tools As A Chick! on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Nsbehf3Fbh0 Verbally Disastrous! Season #1, Episode #43: Part A- Tramping In Cali! on YouTube: https://youtu.be/6XzVL9ybKHA Verbally Disastrous! Season #1, Episode #44: Part B- Tramping In Cali! on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TFDLB5talUo Verbally Disastrous! Season #1, Episode #45: Part C- Tramping In Cali! on YouTube: https://youtu.be/nYRVJNya0lU Verbally Disastrous! Season #2, Episode #46:Early Life Lessons & Characters To Meet As An Apprentice On YouTube: https://youtu.be/IcQ4-uGankA Verbally Disastrous Podcast! S#2, Ep. #47: Part A- Juggling Motherhood & Working With The Tools on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qWhf4lGmcXo Verbally Disastrous Podcast! S#2, Ep. #48: Part B- Juggling Motherhood & Working With The Tools on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wO8nXSRw7sU I recently shared my latest short story that has been loaded up to my Construction Tales-Told By A Woman Kindle Vella Library on Amazon. This is short story #11 entitled, "Juggling Motherhood & Working With The Tools". This short story covers my life as a widowed, single mother in the era when I juggled both motherhood and my career as a journeywoman electrician. I share the various challenges I faced and lessons learned along the way. The previous short story is entitled: #10: "Early Life Lessons & Characters To Meet As An Apprentice". I decided to write about some life lessons such as guarding your personal information, managing nasty rumors, combating sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and racism. Overall, the construction culture has improved dramatically over the past 25-years. Developing both a thick skin and a sharp tongue are key tools needed to survive various jobsite antics. I hope you learn something from this short story. There are more to come. These short stories are now also available as Verbally Disastrous podcast episodes. Construction Tales- Told By A Woman: (11) Kindle Vella Short Stories On Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/product/B096N8NSGM The Verbally Disastrous Store On Tee-Spring:

https://my-store-c1f946.creator-spring.com Cheers! Leslie M. Jasper -Author And Host of the #VerballyDisastrous podcast now alive on many platforms that include: Acast, Amazon Music, Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Breaker, Castbox, Deezer, Google Podcasts, I Heart Radio, Listen Notes, Overcast, Pandora Podcasts, Player FM, Pocket Casts, Pod Bean, Podchaser, Podcast Addict, Podcast Gang, Radio Public, Reason, Soundcloud, Soundtrap, Spotify, Stitcher, Tune In, and YouTube. -The Audio Blog: Verbally Disastrous Podcast And Construction Tales Blog. Now available on: Acast, Amazon Music, Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Breaker, Castbox, Deezer, Google Podcasts, I Heart Radio, Listen Notes, Overcast, Pandora Podcasts, Player FM, Pocket Casts, Pod Bean, Podchaser, Podcast Addict, Podcast Gang, Radio Public, Reason, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, and Tune In. #CTAMarketing, #PhotacularImagery, #KindleVella, #FreeBritney, #AmazonMusic, #AnastasiaTaranenko, #Fiverr, #Tad_Art, #PandoraPodcasts, #Soundtrap, #ConstructionTales, #audio, #intro, #fun, #hot, #mess, #creations, #Connecticut, #NewYork, #family, #foolery, #podcast, #Spotify, #VerballyDisastrous, #new, #topics, #howto, #secrets, #women, #powerful, #strong, #shorts, #men, #teen, #trynottolaugh, #edgy, #realistic, #explicit, #mature, #shocking, #thoughtprovoking, #fresh, #dark, #mustwatch, #Soundcloud, #YouTube, #Johnny, #creative, #IABX, #Reddit, #community, #Leslie@VerbDisastrous, #strongwomen, #womaninconstruction, #empower, #gender, #ICanDOIT, #femalerenovator, #renovation, #project, #womanconstructionproject, #strong, #slideshow, #2013Project, #learnbywatching, #girlpower, #sheetrock, #tape, #electrical, #plumbing, #tile, #dust, #dirt, #debris, #basement, #paint, #renovate, #insulation, #hihats, #wiring, #metalstuds, #screws, #workout, #Johnny, #promo, #videos, #creative, #sons, #discusswithmom, #topics, #Tom, #openconversation, #Johnny, episodes, #LotLizard, #AmazonPrime, #video, #documentary, #Netflix, #gorillaglue, #gorilla, #glue, #spray, #gorillagluewoman, #hair, #hairsurgery, #LosAngeles, #DrObeng, #plasticsurgeon, #alcoholic, #drinks, #testing, #episodes, #release, #soon, #alcoholic #samples, #RevelStoke, #NewAmsterdam, #PinkWhitney, #WickedPickle, #BirdDog, #blackberry, #whiskey, #vodka, #99Bananas, #OleSmokey, #Tswoooh23_, #videogaming, #streaming, #OSHA502, #renewal, #trainthetrainer, #RIT, #Anchor, #Breaker, #GooglePodcasts, #PocketCasts, #RadioPublic, #article, #life, #apprentice, #ComedyCentral, #skit, #JessaReid, #ApplePodcasts, #Deezer, #Podchaser, #PodBean, #TuneIn, #Castbox, #PlayerFM, #iHeartRadio, #Stitcher, #Acast, #PodcastGang, #PodcastAddict, #ziplining, #AdventurePark, #presskit, #SayNoToRapists, #JusticeForUwa, #NotAllGirlsPlayWithDolls #Scholastic #nonfiction #bookstagram #DropEverythingAndRead #SpringBookFair2021 #LoveOfReading #Reading #ConstructionTales #books #funny #NYC #podcast #Spotify #VerballyDisastrous #bookfair #bookjoy #ReadAnywhere #LoveToRead #AllForBooks #Adult #FBF21 #LBF21 #BEA21 #IKBF21 #KLF21 #HKTDC21 #GBF21 #IIBF21 #LATFOB21 #SIBF21 #FILBO21 #EIBF21 #BAIBF21 #MIBF21 #BIDLDSP21 #BS21 #BBF21 #HIBF21 #IBTAF21 #IBBF21 #ITEF21 #JLF21 #JIBF21 #LBF21 #NDWBF21 #TiBE21 #TIBF21 #BCBF21 #LIVREPARIS21 #SDLDM21 #HBF21 #FIL21 #IIBF21 #SBF21 #BuchWein21 #VIBF21 #ADIBF21 #AIPF21 #bookstagram #book #bukuislami #b #bukumurah #islamicbookfair #buku #booklover #bukusejarah #buchberlin #booklove #cher #bookshelf #internationalbookfair #bookholic #jualbuku #jualbukumurah #reading #obralbuku #bukuindie #bukujogja #tokobukumurah #buchmesse #langka #pasarbuku #bukulangka #bhfyp #jualbelibukuonline #onlineshop #jualanonline #booklovers #anresbooks #readingbooks #booksofinstagram #boekuitstalling #buch #bookish #buchberlinkids #tokobukuonline #boimela #lesen #bookworm #poetry #gontor #fbm #bazarbuku #bookreview #berlin #read #writer #berlinerbuchmesse #buchmesseberlin #author #instabooks #boekverkoping #virtualbookfair #bookaddict