Christmas Decorating--What to do?

I find Christmas decorating a challenge, especially in our current home. When we lived in a Victorian era House it seemed easier, I guess because I had a theme to decorate around. This house is more contemporary so I'm left with a lot of Victorian decorations that now seem out of place.  I continue to do my tree in a Victorian theme--my family has fond memories of all the decorations and tell me "it's tradition!" Here's some pictures of the tree and decorations. (It is a faux tree because daughter is allergic to pine.)

GREAT NEWS!

Great news here--THE MAVERICK MEETS HIS MATCH will be published by Kindle Scout! And it is a big thanks to all of you who voted. Hopefully is you voted, you have received your letter from Kindle Press saying you will be getting a free e-copy of the book! And it means that not only will Kindle Press publish, but that I will also receive a pretty nice advance for the book!  I couldn't be happier.

And I am glad that I tried Kindle Scout--obviously! While the 30 day campaign is grueling, it took me out of my comfort zone, made me try new things, and I learned quite a bit about what works and what doesn't promo wise so because they track every view of your campaign and where the person came from so I can tell if facebook is working, loops are working, etc. I am grateful Amazon has such a program for relatively unknowns like me.

I've already heard from someone at Kindle Press and we are arranging a phone meeting for next week so I feel I am on my way. I will keep you posted!

4 DAYS left to NOMINATE THE MAVERICK MEETS HIS MATCH

THE MAVERICK MEETS HIS MATCH has only 4 days left in Kindle Scout and unfortunately, I don't think there is enough momentum to put it over the threshold necessary for a Kindle Press contract. And not being very proficient in publicity hasn't helped.

But I have learned a lot regardless of the final outcome.

First, it has been much easier for me to ask people to nominate the book for which they have the potential to get a free e-copy than to ask them to buy my book :)

Second, this campaign has gotten me out of my comfort zone and as a result I've tried new things--Fivver promotions, for one. One was very successful but the other two, not so much. I've done Facebook Ads and they have been more successful when sent to followers and their friends than to "targeted" audiences. A smaller audience has actually produced better results. But it is a lot of money per nomination received so not sure I will do it again. Tweeting hasn't really produced anything, but it is easy and simple so I'm still doing it.

Third, I realize I will need a lot of promo help when I do launch this book so I will be looking around for a promo company to help with that campaign.

Fourth, I have some really great friends, virtual and in-person, who have helped get the word out and I appreciate their efforts on my behalf!

Here's the nomination link:
https://kindlescout.amazon.com/search?q=The+Maverick+Meets+His+Match

Hanging in there until the end--Hugs, Anne

Update: Kindle Scout Stats

Well, today THE MAVERICK MEETS HIS MATCH fell off the Hot and Trending list. Now what? I am running a Facebook Ad and posting on every group where it's allowed but will that be enough? The book has spent 103 hours on Hot and Trending and had 238 page views (which is the only surrogate they give you for votes)--and I'm sure many of those page views were from me checking if it was on Hot and Trending, lol.

In case you'd like to nominate THE MAVERICK MEETS HIS MATCH, (and if the book is selected by Kindle Press you would get a free kindle copy) here's the link:
https://kindlescout.amazon.com/search?q=The+Maverick+Meets+His+Match

Hot and Trending on Amazon Kindle Scout

I suppose it goes with out saying that you have a better chance of being picked up by Amazon Kindle Press if you're book is on the Hot and Trending list of Kindle Scout, than if you are not.

I am happy to say that The Maverick Meets His Match hit that list last night and is still on it today. By the time they provided statistics (approx. 5 a.m. this morning) I had 104 page views so I figure I had at least a 100 nominations the first day--which I am very pleased with. Thank you to all who nominated The Maverick Meets His Match.

However, how do you stay on Hot and Trending? That's the key question. Almost half of my page views came from Kindle Scout readers, the rest came from loop emails and Facebook according to their stats which I guess was a result of my promo efforts. But once your friends on Facebook and Twitter and the loops nominates your book, that's it. So now where do I go to get nominations?

I am trying a boosted post on my Facebook page which has about 2600 likes/follows. I will have to wait until tomorrow to see how many nominations are coming from that ad since Kindle Scout only updates once a day so no idea how many page views today although, last I checked the book is still on Hot and Trending but now on the first page and it is listed first on the Romance category page so I'm hoping that means good news ahead. Fingers crossed!

If you haven't already and would like to view the campaign and nominate the book, here's the link:

https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3315VBUC26NWG

Thanks for everyone's support!

THE MAVERICK MEETS HIS MATCH is in Kindle Scout!

The Maverick Meets His Match has been selected for Amazon's Kindle Scout campaign. As someone else described it, Kindle Scout is like American Idol for books. Based on an excerpt posted on the Kindle Scout site, readers nominate those books they want to see published by Kindle Press. If a book you nominate gets selected for publication by Kindle Press then you as the nominator will get a FREE Kindle copy of the book before it is published. It's a win/win.

So will you help me and nominate THE MAVERICK MEETS HIS MATCH? You just need an Amazon account.  Here is the link to do so: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3315VBUC26NWG

Here's hoping you get a FREE Kindle copy of THE MAVERICK MEETS HIS MATCH!
Hugs, Anne

SAD beginning, HAPPY ending

I am sure many of you have had this happen to you but a bird flew into my sliding glass door yesterday near dinner time. The clunk was loud so I knew it wasn’t good. Sure enough, there she was on the deck, clearly stunned but still alive…barely. I felt helpless as I watched her struggle for breath. Tears filled my eyes. Another bird flew onto the deck. Her mate? He stood a few inches from her watching as her head bent and her body seemed to pull in on itself. She had been moving her head a little at first, but now it just hung, seemingly lifeless. Her mate moved closer, almost touching her wings. I thought he was saying goodbye. She moved her head slightly to look at him. This tragedy had been playing out over twenty minutes. 

Crying, unable to watch anymore and saying prayers that this bird would live and live well, I went in to change my clothes because I had someplace I had to be. Minutes later I had to check. Both birds were gone, had flown away. Happy ending! I doubt this is the same bird at my feeder this morning but I like to think so. Any tips for what to put on my window so this doesn’t happen again? 

Morning Glories

Morning glories have come back to my garden every year since the first one I planted three years ago. I had the same experience at my other house before moving to this one. Though annual, they are such prolific re-seeders that you rarely have to plant another one again after planting the first one. And if you get too many seedlings popping up, they are easy to pull out so you don't have to worry about being overun with them. So few flowers are blue that I treasure these little garden gems. I love looking at them while I sit on my porch and sip my morning tea. So if you need a smile in your life, try planting a morning glory and enjoy the view!


What are some of your favorite flowers in the garden?

I am a White Wine Kind Of Gal

White Wines

My favorite wine is a sweet white wine. I know, sweet or dessert wines aren’t really wines for the connoisseur but I’m not a connoisseur—just a wine drinker. J My favorite wine is a Riesling—guess that comes from that sliver of German in me. But I also like a good Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay—which aren’t so sweet.

My husband loves a good Melbeck or Merlot but his absolute favorite is a Montepulciano D’Abruzzo. Can you tell he’s Italian?

I wish I could drink red wines, but, like many people I get a headache afterwards and it’s just not worth it. Some people say it’s the sulfates but sauerkraut and lunch meats supposedly have sulfates and I don’t get headaches from those foods. Others say it is the tannins and that makes more sense to me since it comes from the dark skin of the grape as well as some of the oak barrels the wine is aged in. Some reds are low in tannins so maybe someday I’ll try an experiment but if I get a headache, that will be the end of the experiment because those headaches are debilitating!

So any wine recommendations for a girl who likes her whites?

Recipe: Lemon-Garlic Scallops

Hubby and I love scallops but we've never made them. Well that changed with dinner tonight. We adapted a recipe from allrecipes.com and we loved the dish. So I thought I would share the recipe.

LEMON-GARLIC SCALLOPS 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 cloves of minced garlic (depending on how much garlic you like)
1 1/2 lbs. of (fresh) sea scallops
1 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon of pepper
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup of wine (I like to use a sweet wine like a Riesling but any white wine should do)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Serve over fresh pasta (I always get my pasta in the refrigerated section of the supermarket--it only takes 2 mins to cook in boiling water--literally you only boil it for two minutes--and I like the taste much better than boxed dry pasta.) To cook the pasta, follow the directions on the package.

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in minced garlic and add the olive oil. Cook for a few seconds until fragrant. Add scallops and cook for several minutes on one side, then turn over, and continue cooking until firm and opaque (no longer translucent). I hovered over the stove to make sure the scallops didn't overcook. If you cook them too long they get rubbery. It should only takes a few minutes on each side. I sliced into one of them to be sure that they were white through out and then immediately lifted out of the pan so it couldn't cook anymore.

2. Remove scallops to a platter, then whisk salt, pepper, lemon juice, and wine into the butter and garlic sauce.  Stir to combine the flavors. Pour sauce over scallops and serve over fresh pasta (I always get my pasta in the refrigerated section of the supermarket--it only takes 2 mins to cook in boiling water--literally you only boil it for two minutes--and I like the taste much better than boxed dry pasta.) To cook the pasta, follow the directions on the package.

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and enjoy!




About 10 minutes Prep, about 10 minutes to cook so ready in 20 minutes.
Servings: Approximately 4 servings

Excerpt from Loving a Cowboy

On Feb. 3rd I will be at http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com 
 sharing a recipe for a dish Libby, the heroine of LOVING A COWBOY, makes to test her cooking skills, which to that point have been pretty much a disaster. Here is an excerpt detailing one of her disasters as she tries to use her cooking skills to persuade Chance to let her take care of him while he's laid up with a broken foot and bruised ribs. Enjoy!

Chance looked at the withered slab of meat that had been set before him and wondered if she’d be insulted if he asked for corn flakes. Probably.

Besides, looking at those big blue eyes of hers, brimming as they were with hope, he couldn’t do it to her. At least there was a baked potato slathered in butter, a decent salad on his tray, and a few slices of bread. He wouldn’t starve. Not that he had much of an appetite with the pain pulsing in his ribs and throbbing in his foot. Good thing, because that meat was a whole other matter.

He reached for the bottle of steak sauce and tipped it so the brown liquid flowed over the beef, smothering it.

“I am sorry,” she said from her perch at the foot of his bed. “I guess I put the flame too high.”

“What did you put on the steak, lighter fluid?” He took a tentative bite…and chewed.

“Just some onion salt and olive oil.”

“Oil on steak with the flame up is a recipe for flare-ups.” He chewed some more. His ribs felt like they’d just been tenderized by a mallet, and his foot felt like it had been pummeled by a hammer. Hell.

“I’ll remember for next time.”

Next time. His house might not survive a next time. He kept chewing. The vinegar-enhanced sauce valiantly fought the dry charred taste. Too early to tell which would win.

LOVING A COWBOY is available at

Super Bowl Taco Dip

I'm always looking for an easy dip for tortilla chips. Here is one I found that everyone seems to love:

1 (16 oz) container of sour cream

1 (8 oz) package of shredded Cheddar cheese

1 (4 oz) can chopped green chilies

½ (4 oz) can chopped black olives, drained (optional)

1 (1 oz) pkg. of taco seasoning (to your level of spiciness)

Mix it all together.

Easy, Breezy!

My heroine in LOVING A COWBOY is a disaster in the kitchen--at least at first. Bet she would have been able to make this though. LOVING A COWBOY is available at:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

iBooks

RELEASE DAY: LOVING A COWBOY

LOVING A COWBOY is now available at Amazon, B&N and iBooks. It is Book 1 in the Hearts of Wyoming series. 

Saddle bronc rider Chance Cochran knows a bad omen when he sees one, and Libby Brennan isn't just a bad omen, she’s the woman he was married to, five years ago, for all of forty-eight hours—before her father dragged her away and started divorce proceedings.

It isn't by coincidence Libby Brennan shows up where Chance is celebrating the win that put him in the million-dollar cowboy class. Older and hopefully wiser, she’s come to clear up a legal technicality as well as ask his forgiveness. Then maybe she can move on with her life.

But saying she’s sorry won’t be enough to make amends to this cowboy who has endured a lifetime of people abandoning him. When Chance needs some help after sustaining an injury however, Libby may have a second chance—at love.

Here's an excerpt:

Would he stop? The silent question hung in the air while Libby watched him approach, her gaze riveted in his direction like a nail caught in a magnetic field.

Her foot was shaking like it was ready for takeoff. She felt like running. She knew she couldn't. Not this time. 

"Imagine finding you at the Cattleman's Club after all these years."

That low, sexy male voice could still vibrate her heart. Libby struggled to hide any reaction as she looked up into the familiar stone-chiseled face and stormy gray eyes shadowed by a black Stetson.

"Congratulations," she managed to get out as Chance, dressed in a white shirt and black jeans, pulled out the empty chair across from her and filled it without waiting for an invitation. "You looked great out there today," she added, reaching for the easy compliment and hoping against hope they could keep it friendly.

Her pulse picked up, perspiration dampened her neck, and her heart actually fluttered at the sight of him sitting across from her. What had she gotten herself into?

 “Didn’t think you followed rodeo, Libby. Things must have changed.” His rugged features may have been schooled into a bland expression, but there was a challenge in his voice.

“People do change, Chance.” Her being here, facing him, should have been proof of that.

“Do they?”

He angled his body toward her, bringing along a musky whiff of aftershave. The same aftershave she’d bought years ago to remind her of him. She tried not to breathe too deep lest the scent launch her traitorous heart into full-out palpitations.

“You’ve changed, Chance. You’re a million-dollar cowboy now.” She’d never have imagined it, though she should have. Chance had more grit and determination than anyone she knew. He’d had to.

 “So you think money changes a man?” His gaze traveled down her silky pink camisole, stopping at the waistband of her denim jeans and causing a little shimmer to go through her. How could that still be after so much time?

“Question is, whether the change would be for good or bad,” he added, meeting her eyes again.

If you want more, here's the buy link for:
 Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Loving-Cowboy-Anne-Carrole-ebook/dp/B00SO0DWK8
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/loving-a-cowboy-anne-carrole/1121110910?ean=2940150212121

Enjoy the ride!