Writing and Facebook

Hello blog readers! Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful May weekend. Of course, it might not be beautiful everywhere.

I have been concentrating on a new story idea. I'm trying to break into the paranormal world that is so "in" these days. It's been hard trying to come up with ideas for something other than normal teenage drama. But, it's fun at the same time. I look forward to doing both paranormal as well as the regular drama.

For those of you who are authors, I belong to a Facebook group for indie authors. They are a wonderful group of people. Please join us.

My weekly update will be up soon!

Ten Copies Sold!

Woohoo! We did it! In only four days, ten copies of If I Die Young were sold! The proceeds from the first ten books have been donated to The Children's Heart Foundation. Thank you all for helping. I hope this book continues to sell well and helps to spread the word about heart defects. I also hope the story touches many people.

This Week in Talia News

Some big stuff happened this week! Er... last week - I'm a little late posting this. I had to spend part of the weekend changing passwords since one of our accounts got hacked :(

So, here we go, this is what happened last week in author news:

Got spotlighted on the blog: Written In Blood

E & K Family Book Review did a review of Teagan's Story: Her Battle With Epilepsy.

Damaged: Natalie's Story has arrived on Apple! Buy it from iBooks to read it on your iPhone, iTouch, or iPad.

If I Die Young is live on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. I'm half way to my pledge!! So, the proceeds from the next 5 books that are sold are being donated to The Children's Heart Foundation!

And finally, I have a new idea brewing in my head for another paranormal type book. We'll see where it leads.

If I Die Young is LIVE and a Pledge

If I Die Young is live on Amazon and B&N!

I decided that since congenital heart defects run in my family (myself, my daughter, and many uncles and cousins - one uncle is on the heart transplant list right now), I am pledging the proceeds from the first 10 books sold to The Children's Heart Foundation. I hope the money will touch the lives of many people struggling with heart defects, especially in children.

If I Die Young

Yesterday afternoon, I uploaded If I Die Young to B&N, Amazon, and Smashwords. They are all still processing, but it's just a matter of time. I will let you all know when it becomes live!

When Caelyn Noel was diagnosed with asthma five years ago, it put a damper on things. Now, she’s sixteen and things are finally going her way. She has loving parents, the best friend ever, and the boy she has had a crush on since elementary school has finally noticed her. Then, she collapses in school one day. To her horror, she finds out her heart is failing and she must have a heart transplant to live. Caelyn struggles with her fear of dying and worries of having someone else’s heart.

If I Die Young's Setting

My third book, If I Die Young, takes place in the Denver, Colorado area. The scenery there is beautiful. I wanted a beautiful place where Caelyn could experience the season changes, where she would feel alive. One of the most beautiful flowers is the Colorado state flower - the Columbine - mentioned a couple times in the book.

Caelyn mentions the mountains and views in the book. Here's a few pictures of Estes Park from this past winter:

This is the children's hospital in Denver where Caelyn spends a lot of time:

I hope to get to the Denver area this summer for more pictures.

A New Cover for Natalie

Damaged: Natalie's Story has a new cover! Yes, I did the old one myself. No, it wasn't very good, but it got the book out there and selling. I have wanted a professional cover for this book for a long time, but just didn't have the money. And I had to convince my husband, who didn't think I needed one. When he saw what Streetlight Graphics did for The Ultimate Sacrifice, he finally understood.

The new cover is exactly what I pictured. I love the colors, the font, and the girl. She looks exactly what I would picture Natalie looking like.

Old cover:

New cover:

I'm very excited and hope to see an increase in sales!