Words from the Heart

This year, the combination of rainy evenings and warm sunny days has created a rainforest effect in my garden.  The lushness of the green immediately soothes me on hectic days.  The sound of water running into our tiny pond, where frogs serenade us in the early evening, melts away the stress of hectic days. I must admit, I am having a difficult time keeping up with the weeding this year.  With all the warmth and rain, it seems things grow overnight.  But, there is a good side to this.  Weeding is meditative.   What amazes me, is that I can feel all stressed because I need to finish this or that, but, if I give myself permission to go weed for a bit, I find that my mind empties, leaving me with space to see what I need to do and how to do it.   In addition, I have come to realize that having a garden - planting, harvesting, weeding, and pruning - connects me with the seasons and the various phases of the moon.  Being connected to N...

Today, we have a guest blogger, Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar, who has written a new book, Love Comes Later , which a fictional love story in which the traditions and ancient culture of the East meet up with the modern culture of the West.  Love Comes Later is a tale that examines where the lines of loyalty to friends and family intersect with those of love. Welcome to Words from the Heart, Mohana!   I am so happy to have you with us, today, to talk about life and your book, Love Comes Later . Let me begin by saying how much I enjoyed the book. I recommend it highly to readers who really like a love story that spans cultures.    You’ve probably been asked this a hundred times, but I am interested in knowing how you came up with the concept for Love Comes Later . Was it something that happened in real life that triggered the story or was it purely the Muse at work?   Thanks for having me Linda. I’m excited to get this story out into the hands of rea...

Today, I am changing gears and sharing the blog with guest author, Beth Barany .  Beth shares some insights on using Twitter to promote newly published books.   Promotions on $0 Budget: Use Twitter for a Purpose by Beth Barany Twitter is a lot of fun! I’d be the first to admit it. And it’s a time suck. In researching this article I spent WAY too much time playing on Twitter, doing good things—which I’ll get to later—but it’s distracting nonetheless. Lesson: set a time to write the article [done!] and a time limit on Twitter. [I’m going to have to work on that one!]  You may think that using Twitter is a complete waste of time (see above), but actually it’s a goldmine of promotional opportunities for authors. If you use Twitter to grow your fan base, build your book buzz, and ultimately sell your books, then Twitter can be worth all your time away from your current work in progress. Yah!     Before We Begin – Twitter Basics   ...