Do You Hear What I Hear?

Have you ever been introduced to someone and walked away without being able to remember the person’s name? Or been listening to a speech (supposedly) and realized you didn’t have a clue what the person was saying?

You’d think that, given all the practice students have in listening in school, they would become good listeners, but they don’t. Why is this? In order to develop good listening skills, we need a balance between speaking and listening, and listening involves more than getting knowledge to later regurgitate for a test. It involves making inferences, questioning, making judgments, and concentrating amidst distractions. Like most other abilities, it takes conscious practice of skills.

One of the things I observed as an English teacher was that we expected students to listen more than we expected them to speak, and when they did speak, we mostly expected them to speak to us. When I went through the process of getting my National Board Certification, I realized that students didn’t  usually have serious discussions about subject matter with one another—they always talked to me (“Mrs. Davies, is that right? Where did he get that idea? I didn’t think it meant that.”) Even when I would schedule so-called “class discussions,” I had to encourage them to talk to one another about their concerns, disagreements, and ideas. Otherwise, they would direct comments to me instead of other students. Therefore, although we expected them to listen to us, we may not have actually taught them to listen.

The Toastmasters program is a good example of requiring conscious practice of close listening. Most people think that Toastmasters is all about learning to speak in public, and it does help with that. But the program also emphasizes leadership skills, and that includes listening. Members are asked to perform specific listening tasks: evaluating specific skills of a speaker such as organization, vocal variety, body language; counting the number of “uhs” of all speakers; and looking for good/bad grammatical usage. At every meeting, members have a chance to practice specific skills in both speaking and listening. The meeting is divided into three parts. The first part allows a few members (two or three) to give short prepared speeches. These members are given both written and oral evaluations. The second part of the meeting is devoted to impromptu speaking, where members give a brief (1-2 minute) response to a question; and the third part of the meeting is an evaluation time. If you are interested in Toastmasters, check out the international website (https://www.toastmasters.org) or check our local Rome Toastmasters website (http://romegeorgia.toastmastersclubs.org).

So what have I learned about listening? I have learned that most people don’t listen well. A major reason for this is that we are constantly bombarded with noise from radios, television, the crowds, etc., etc. We can’t possibly keep up with it all, so we don’t even try. So how do we become better listeners?

First, we need to distinguish between those messages that we are expected to listen to and those that just provide background noise. I’m often amazed at the number of people (teachers, professional people, well-educated people) who will talk during someone’s speech! I am especially amazed that teachers, who spend so much time trying to get students to listen to them, will talk during a fellow educator’s presentation. I believe that any time another person is making a speech to a group of people, it is expected that I listen to that speech. I don’t need to make a decision about whether to listen. If I feel that I need to carry on a conversation with someone during that time, I should leave the room to do that. Another time I need to listen is when someone is speaking directly to me. I am having a conversation and the other person assumes that I will hear and respond to what is said. There are other times when I will have to take my cues from the people around me. If they seem to be trying to listen to a news broadcast, a movie, or something else on the television or radio, I should listen too (or at least be quiet). Of course, there are times when the noise is just background noise and no response is expected.

Second, it has helped me as a listener to listen for specific things when people are speaking. When I evaluate speeches, I have to listen for specific things, and I find that helpful. So now I find that just deciding to see exactly what points the speaker makes, how he/she introduces a speech, or what specific techniques are used helps me focus on the content of the speech. I think it is a way of forcing myself to listen more carefully. When I am in a conversation with someone, I also find it helpful to listen for specific things such as names, ages, or places the person mentions. I have often been introduced to someone and left, realizing I could not remember even the name of the person I had met! So I try to make myself listen for specifics so that I will at least remember some of what was said.

Third, I have found that writing down ideas or facts presented by a speaker helps me to remember what is said, even if I do not need to keep the notes. Often when I go to conferences or meetings where a speaker is giving information, even if I don’t plan to use the information, I will take along a small notebook and write down pertinent information. (It makes me look studious even if I don’t need it!) But seriously, I am much more likely to remember it if I take time to jot it down.

Listening seems to be a major challenge for all of us. I don’t consider myself to be a great listener, but it seems that very often I notice people asking a question that has just been answered or carrying on a conversation during someone’s speech. This blog post is as much an attempt to understand why this is and think about solutions as anything else. I hope it may help you to think about your own listening habits.

Did You Say What I Think You Did?

During my English teaching days, I had a little sign on my desk that said, “I know you understand what you heard me say, but I’m not sure that what you heard is what I meant.” I would often get puzzled looks from students (and some adults) when they read it, but I think it reveals one of the biggest problems in communication.We tend to assume that when someone hears what we say,  they know what we mean, but they often don’t. Why is that? There are many reasons, but often it is because our words conjure up images or ideas gathered from previous experience.

 If we wish to establish a lasting, trusting relationship with someone, we will try to get past that barrier, but often we never get the chance. We have what we call “politically correct” words and phrases, which result from the fact that some of our terms may be insulting or degrading to some because of the way they were used in the past. Recently I have heard people complain that they are getting tired of trying to be “politically correct.” Most recently, Donald Trump said he didn’t have time for that. We can probably all identify with the sentiment in some ways, because we are overwhelmed with all the terms that we have used but suddenly realize someone is offended by them. But the truth is, being politically correct (or incorrect) is only the beginning of establishing a relationship with someone.

 If I could learn all the terms and phrases that might offend your sensibilities and avoid them, it might be helpful in getting you to listen to me initially, but in the long run I would have to do much better than that. And if I ignore the correct words and phrases, you may reject me outright, but if I stay around long enough, I still might win you over. Either way, using “politically correct” language is a beginning, especially when the listener is trying to decide whether to pay attention to the speaker or not.

So what do I suggest for people who are frustrated with trying to be “politically correct”? I suggest that we do the kind thing. If I know that you are hurt by my use of a certain term to describe you, then I don’t use it because I care about you. There will be times when I go ahead and say something out of habit or ignorance that offends you. Then I will apologize. If I am in a position where I need you to listen to me and respond positively, then I have a double reason to be careful in choosing my words. Either way, I need to remember that being “politically correct” is just a beginning, but it beats an “I don’t care what you think” attitude.

Finding Time to Write

Since I’ve sent my third novel to the publisher, I’ve had some time to reflect on what I’ve learned about disciplining myself to get a writing project done. One of the things I’ve noticed is that there are at least two times during the writing of a book that I tend to get “bogged down” and need to find a way to move forward. One of them is in the middle of the first draft, when it seems I’ve done so much and still have so far to go, and the other is when I’ve received feedback from my Beta Reader and feel that I’ll have to rewrite the whole thing before it’s ready for the publisher! For both these times, I have learned that some form of writing retreat is what I need. I want to tell you about three ways I have created an effective retreat for myself.

The first few times I did this I took a friend with me to an island off the coast of North Carolina, where my daughter owns a house. Both my friend and I needed time to write, so we created a little routine each day where we would get up in the morning, have our breakfast, and write a few hours. Then we’d have lunch and sometimes get on our golf cart and go riding around the island for a bit before another work session. In the evenings we’d have dinner and then another work session before bedtime. It was amazing how much work we both got done in about three days. She was working on short fiction and I was working on a novel. Sometimes we’d share a little of what we were doing during our writing sessions, but for the most part the house was quiet during those times. We took food with us for most of our meals and ate out a few times. We had both sandwich meals (peanut butter, deli meat and cheese, etc.) and easy-fix meals (spaghetti & salad).

A year or so ago I needed some writing time, but my friend could not go with me, so I decided to find a location closer to home. That time I found a small bed and breakfast fifteen miles from home. I checked in Monday afternoon and left on Wednesday morning at 11:00 (check out time). Again, I worked out a routine for myself where I had a morning, afternoon, and evening session of work. Since only breakfast was served, initially I was a little concerned because there were no restaurants close by. I had brought a few energy bars/crackers/etc., and I ate some of those for dinner Monday evening. It turned out that the breakfast included enough fruit that I managed lunch on Tuesday from left-overs, and the owner volunteered to make me a salad for dinner. It worked out fine and I got a lot of writing done.

When I got my Beta Reader’s suggestions back this spring, I decided to look for a location that would have a restaurant on site. I found a state park lodge about an hour and a half away from my home. I took along several snack bars, crackers, and a few pieces of fruit so that I would not have to eat at the restaurant every meal. It was perfect. I checked in on Monday afternoon and checked out on Thursday morning. It was very quiet; I had a luxurious room; and I had the option of eating any meal at the restaurant downstairs. I had full days both Tuesday and Wednesday, and a little work time Monday afternoon and Thursday morning. My goal was to get most of my revisions made. Instead, I got ALL of them done!

In case you decide to create a similar retreat for yourself, you’ll have to decide where, when, and how long you’ll need to “retreat,” but I have a few simple suggestions.

1.      Decide how much money you are willing to spend on it. My general rule is that I am willing to spend as much as I would typically spend on a weekend writing conference.

2.      If you decide to take a friend, be sure that she has a writing goal too, and that you know each other well enough to feel comfortable spending that time together. The writer I took with me was one with whom I had gone to several writing conferences. I knew that we could work together well. I would never take a casual acquaintance to go with me, even if she said she wanted to get some writing done too; and I would certainly never take a friend or relative who promised to “not bother me.”

3.      Have a specific goal for what you want to complete at your retreat. It will help you stay on track when distractions tempt you to wander off.

4.      Take breaks. I learned at my last retreat that I needed to take a 10-15 minute break at least every two hours. I planned four-hour work sessions for the morning and afternoons and a two-hour session at night. After about two hours in the morning, I would go downstairs and out of the building and walk around briskly for about ten minutes, and then I was ready to get back to work.

I hope that these ideas may give you an incentive to get that book project finished!

My social media pages and email are listed below:

Author Facebook Page: http://on.fb.me/1HHkUXf

Goodreads Page:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6525216.Merrill_J_Davies

Blog:  http://merrillblogs.blogspot.com/

Web Site: http://www.merrilldavies.com/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/MERRILLDAVIES

Amazon Author Page http://amazon.com/author/merrilljdavies

MY Email:  Merrill@merrilldavies.com

Organizing the Writing Life

In the eleventh week of my twelve-week book marketing course (www.indiebookmarketingcommunity.com) there was a session on getting better organized. I want to focus on one statement from that session: “You must organize your day around both the immediate and the long-term things that need to get done.”

When you plan your day, do you tend to think mostly about the short-term tasks or the long-term ones? Often we don’t go beyond the daily tasks. We think about the meetings we have scheduled, the laundry that has to be done, the dishes that need to be washed, or the phone calls or emails that need to be answered. What about planning the book marketing campaign for the next book, the unit on the Great Depression we plan to teach, or the writing conference we promised to put together? Personally, I enjoy doing the long-term tasks the most. When I was teaching high school English, I would spend hours planning my whole semester’s work, but I wouldn’t be quite ready for day one!

So what’s the answer? How do you balance the long-term/short-term plans? I have been thinking about that today, and have made a few observations.

(1) I think the short term plan often takes care of itself. If I have a doctor’s appointment at 8:00 A.M., then I have to go to it. I have found that it is best to make appointments (especially with doctors) early in the day. It gets me up and moving, and the doctor will not have lots of people waiting, because he hasn’t had time to get behind.

(2) It helps not to have too many blocks of time in the middle of my day. If I have an hour between meetings it’s usually wasted, but if I have back to back meetings in the morning, then I can plan something else to do, like work on long-term tasks, in the afternoon.

(3)  For me it’s harder to get up and get into the long-term, non –emergency, stuff in the morning, knowing that I still have lots of “to do’s” in the afternoon. 

One of the “long term projects” I’ve worked on during the marketing course has been to get all my social media working together a little better. It is still a work in progress, but I wanted to give you the links to all my different pages so that you can find me easily.

Author Facebook Page: http://on.fb.me/1HHkUXf

Goodreads Page:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6525216.Merrill_J_Davies

Web Site: http://www.merrilldavies.com/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/MERRILLDAVIES

Amazon Author Page http://amazon.com/author/merrilljdavies

After you’ve looked at these, I would love some feedback! You can email me and let me know what you think at---

My  Email:  Merrill@merrilldavies.com

Metaphors Are With Me!

For at least the last fifteen years, most of my friends recognize my car (no matter what I’m driving) because of the only bumper sticker on it—“Metaphors Be With You.”

Several years ago when Poetry Alive sold the bumper sticker at our annual National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Convention, I fell in love with it—not because I’m a Star Wars fan, but because I loved the play on words and because I love metaphors. I bought the bumper sticker and put it on my car. When I traded cars, I ordered another one. I kept it up until Poetry Alive said they were discontinuing the stickers. At that time, I bought several. They’ve become a part of who I am.

When I began toying around with ideas for my blog, I realized that the saying tied in well with the way I write. I write about things in life that inspire me. Every day events and happenings become metaphors for larger ideas. I write in several different genres—novels, short stories, nonfiction articles, and sometimes poetry—but the metaphors are always with me.

So today I’m launching my new blog—Writing Inspired by Life’s Metaphors. I will be writing about why and how I have written some of the stories I have published.  I hope that as you read this blog you might be inspired to write your own story—you know you have one!

Greece: In the Footsteps of Paul the Apostle

Mykonos

I found this picture and decided to share it with my readers. Look at all the white buildings! Beautiful.

In the near future I will be traveling to Greece. Our main purpose is to see some of the places which are mentioned in the  Bible as places the Apostle Paul traveled. However, everything about Greece interests me, from the fascinating stories in mythology to the ancient philosophers. Athens represents culture and the wisdom of the ages. One of the places we will visit while on a cruise of the Greek Isles is Mykonos, the whitewashed jewel of the Cyclades Islands. This is the way the island is described: "This charming, mountainous island is known for the hundreds of tiny chapels, white-washed buildings and beautiful windmills that dot the island." Okay, I'm ready to go! I'm hoping to get some ideas for something to write about. 

It's interesting how writers find ideas. When I travel with groups I often see things that inspire me, but I also find that often it's not just the scenery but it may be a comment that some fellow traveler makes that gives me an idea for a poem or story. In the future I will be writing more about my writing process and how ideas come together to form a story.

Breaking out in Poetry

I have been struggling with the term marketing people call my "Personal Brand" lately. It's supposed to reflect who I am and what I can contribute to society. I've done all sorts of things to figure this out--like getting all my friends to give me six adjectives that describe me, answering all sorts of questions about what I've done, what I like, what I write about, where I've lived, etc., etc. I am still working on it, but I may eventually get it.

One of the things which I've thought about through all this is that I love words. I love a play on words; I love to try new ways of saying things; I like reading books that are structured in a way that I've not seen before. And when I get inspired to write a poem about something, it usually comes as a line or phrase that sticks in my brain. Last Sunday, for example, our Bible study teacher wrote a phrase from Tony Cartledge that I kept thinking about. We were studying Mark (Chapter 14) where Jesus asks the disciples to keep watch while he goes to pray. He comes back to find them asleep. Tony Cartledge  said, "He calls us to be faithful, but we just keep nodding off." It was funny to me. It also had a ring of truth to it, and the phrase kept running through my head. So by Monday morning I had a kind of plan for a poem. I am posting it below because it may help you to understand what I am talking about.

Trying to Stay Awake

“…Could you not keep watch for one hour?” Mark 14:37

At His darkest hour, Jesus told us to “Stay here and watch.”

But honestly, I am exhausted.

I really love Jesus, and I truly meant it when I pledged to follow.

But the day is long.

So many people have made demands before I get to the store.

I am in a hurry.

I lash out at the cashier before I see her tears.

I don’t know what to say.

But Jesus forgives me, and tomorrow is another day.

I’m early to work.

I am ready to follow Jesus anywhere he leads.

My boss is expecting more.

By five o’clock my head is pounding and I just want to get home.

I’m at the intersection.

What is that? A mother and three children stand with a sign.

“Need food for family.”

Well, that’s sad, but I just can’t do anything about that tonight.

I drive on by.

Jesus wants me to be faithful, but I just keep nodding off.

                                                            --Merrill J. Davies (2015)

Quit, Start Over, or Just Travel On?

Many of us who write attend writers' conferences in order to get ideas, network with other writers, and often get feedback from editors and/or agents who might tell us how we can be more successful. We also enjoy listening to authors who are a little (or a lot) more successful than we are and try to determine if we're doing it right.

Saturday at our Rome Area Writers' Forum we heard four excellent authors who were accomplished and write in different genres: Mignon Franklin Ballard, mystery; Victoria Wilcox, historical fiction; Lauretta Hannon, memoir; and Terry Kay, mainstream fiction. They were all excellent presenters and gave us much to think about. Although they write in different genres, much of what they said applied to any good writing.

When I hear someone like Terry Kay, who has published numerous novels and short stories and received many awards, I look for ideas about how I might improve my own writing. And Terry always gives me plenty food for thought. One of the things which he said Saturday made me think that maybe I just need to start over--or quit. He was talking about how he always starts with character and then decides what to do with the character(s). I realized I don't really do that. I have heard other successful writers say they start with plot (what if someone did ...?), and I don't always do that either. Anyway, I thought back to the way I have written my own and decided that my method is a sort of blend of the two. When I hear a great writer like Terry speak of his methodology, I rethink my own, but in the end I think each writer just has to do it his/her way. So I guess I'll just "travel on" doing the best I can. I did get several good ideas,  both from Terry Kay and the other three, which I'll use as I continue to write.

You're Never Too Old to Learn

It's been a busy week--actually it's been busy for several weeks. So busy in fact that despite the fact that our grandson Clifton has been in his baseball season at Maryville College since the first of February, Bill and I have not seen the team play. Friday we decided to go up to Covenant College (Lookout Mountain) to see his team play. It was closer than going all the way to Maryville. Anyway, although it was cloudy, we hoped for no rain and headed that way. The game was scheduled for three o'clock and we didn't get out of Rome until 1:30. Traffic slowed for construction around Dalton and by the time we headed out on I-24 in Chattanooga I was fairly sure we wouldn't make it by three. I sent a text to Clift (who was already there) to tell him we were coming but would probably not get there by three. His response surprised me: "We may be fogged out. It's very bad."

Fogged out? I grew up in the hills of Eastern Kentucky where there is a lot of fog, but I had never heard that before! When we finally got to Covenant College at the top of the mountain I understood what he meant. We could barely see the sign at the entrance, and nothing else. We finally flagged down a girl in a car (a student I guess) and asked her the way to the baseball field. She said "just follow me" and led us (we could just barely see the tail lights of her car) almost to the field. We saw nothing on the way. When we got to the field, we DID see Clifton for a few minutes. He said, "We can't even see their dugout or the score board!" So everybody hung around for a while until they called the game off and planned to return on Saturday--which they did, but we didn't. Fogged out! Like my grandpa always said, you learn something new just about every day!

SCBWI Southern Breeze Conference '15

First, I'll give you the good news about "Springmingle" (SCBWI Southern Breeze Conference) in Decatur this weekend. We had fantastic presenters and leaders all day Saturday and a half-day Sunday! (My friend Martha and I did not attend the Friday intensive sessions.) We had Meg Medina,  Elise Howard, Karen Grencik, and others who were not only accomplished professionals, but were very good presenters. (As a Toastmaster, I notice that!) Also, Neal Porter, the editor who did my picture-book critique was phenomenal, both in my critique session and in a number of presentations about picture books. Mr. Porter has been working in the industry for over 30 years and has been an executive with some of the big companies such as Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He is now publisher of Neal Porter books. Anyway, you get the idea. He is very knowledgeable and very personable. So the whole conference was well worth our money and our time.

Now, the bad news. I actually felt that I wasted this man's time in asking him to look at a manuscript that was not anywhere nearly good enough to submit to anyone. It's funny that it never occurred to me BEFORE I submitted it. He was a kind man and very professional. However, he did point out to me what I had already thought about during the other session on "101 Reasons for Rejection": It didn't have all the elements of a good picture book. I like to dabble in all kinds of writing, so in addition to writing novels, I write nonfiction, poetry, short stories--and occasionally (once) I try a picture book. At the time I actually read a good bit about how to write a picture book, but apparently I didn't pay a lot of attention except for things like word count, etc. The thing is, I forgot to give specific attention to some common elements that are true in any story--like plot and character development. Having said that, I will say that everything is subjective in this business, and sometimes the editors give us all these rules and then give us examples that don't really follow them. Anyway, he said my picture book "feels more like a poem than a satisfying story"--so I guess IF I do revision, I'll just try to make it a better poem and go back to working with my novels for the present.

The Apprentice Harp Maker

We had a great meeting at the Rome Area Writers meeting tonight--some wonderful readings were shared and we had some insightful discussions about how we could support one another. In a discussion with Karli Land, I was reminded of my last blog where I was relating how I got the idea for my first novel, The Welsh Harp. As I told you in my last blog, the cover features a photograph of a harp the Davies family brought with them from Wales. It is almost two hundred years old now and was played by Bill's grandfather and great grandfather. It was in bad need of restoration when I last saw it a few years ago in Harlan, Kentucky.

 I want to share a story about what happened at one of my book signings for The Welsh Harp. The signing was in La Grange, Kentucky, at Karen's Book Barn. Just before the signing started, a girl walked in with a harp and played during my signing. She had seen my card and learned that I would be there, and she just wanted to come in and play while I was there! It turns out that she was an apprentice harp maker at a music shop not far from La Grange in Crestwood, Kentucky. My husband and I decided to go and see what all they did. They restore a lot of old musical instruments and actually make instruments as well. It's a really neat place called Hewn From the Mountain.  Anyway, several months later, I was telling my brother-in-law about the shop. He asked if they restore harps, and I told him I didn't know. He said that he and his cousin were hoping to get the harp restored. He ended up contacting those people and in the end he took the harp to them to restore!

Isn't it interesting how things can happen? By the way, the apprentice harp maker is Sami True and she has a beautiful CD of harp music called Blue Fire Sky.

Getting Ideas

I'm all excited about this weekend because my friend and I are attending the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) "Spring Mingle" conference in Decatur, Georgia. Children's books have not exactly been my focus, but then neither has anything else. I just write whatever I want to at any given time. SO, I do have a children's picture book which I will have critiqued at the conference (I'll tell you about that next week!). But today I wanted to talk about something else.

The question I get asked most often is "Where do you get ideas for your books?" The answer is "just about everywhere." I wanted to share where I got inspiration for my first book today. The Welsh Harp was published in 2012, but I actually got the idea and wrote it (the rough draft at least) in the mid-1980's.

Two events came together to give me an incentive to write the book. First, I decided to take a correspondence course in "Writing for Children and Teenagers" through the Institute of Children's Literature. At the time I was still teaching full time and I worked through the course in about eighteen months, including two summer breaks. Anyway, the last assignment (#10) was to plan a book-length project--not write it, just plan out the chapters, etc. The second event was that during the time I was working on the course, Bill (my husband) had received a copy of a 250-page, hand-written, family history handed down after his Aunt Ellen had died a few years earlier. He decided to type the history into the computer and have copies made and bound for him and his brother. When I looked at the history I was captivated by his Aunt Ellen's precise descriptions of the family's immigration from the Rhondda Valley in Wales to the mining towns of Eastern Kentucky in 1902.

 I knew of course that I could not write the history, because Aunt Ellen had already done that. So I got the idea to write a novel, using many of the facts she had given about their experiences. Having just been studying about how to write for children and teenagers, it seemed natural to focus on the children, using his aunt (who was twelve when they came over) as a model for the central character. Since one of the things I remembered most about Aunt Ellen's home was the huge harp in the corner of her living room, it became a central image in the story and a large part of the story plot. I eventually decided to use the photograph of that harp as the image on the cover.

What if...?

What if you (as a teacher, construction worker, caterer, beautician, attorney, or whatever profession you are in)--what if you lost your job? What if your spouse got sick and you had no insurance and you lost everything including your home?  What if you had no relatives to take you in? What if you then had no place to live? Would you still be a beautician or whatever you had been? Or, would you just be a "homeless person"? What would you want people to think about you? Would you want them to know more about you than just that you had no place to live? By this time you may think I'm just rambling, but trust me, I'm not.

I ask you these questions because we often use the term "homeless" as if it is some sort of identity label that tells a lot about a person. But it's really only a small part of who a person is. We often know people for years without ever knowing where they live.

My next novel is set in a homeless shelter and it will allow readers to see a different side of homelessness. I hope you'll read it.

The In-Between Time

I am at that in-between stage in the publishing of my next book. I've written it, I've revised it, I've edited it (some, but not enough), I have others reading it, and frankly--I'm tired of it. Don't get me wrong. I'm excited about the book, but there's still a lot of work to do before it comes out this summer, and I'm kind of ready to start on a new project. I don't think that's a good idea though, so I've decided that I will focus on learning how to market books through a better use of the tools at my disposal.  So far I think I'm going to enjoy doing that.

Book Marketing

I am beginning a new journey this week, trying to learn book marketing. My first major task was to set up a blog which will be linked to my website (http://merrilldavies.com). Although I've blogged before, this is my first time to use this particular blog.

As some of you may know, I have published two novels (The Welsh Harp and The Truth About Katie), both available through Amazon and other booksellers. My third novel will be published this summer and I'm trying to learn how to make sure it sells--so my publisher, Martin Sisters Publishing, will be happy with me! The blog will be the place to get lots of information about my new novel in the coming weeks/months.

It would help me if you would let me know when you have read this. If you will send me an email at merrill@merrilldavies.com within the next 24 hours I will send a personal reply with the title of my next novel. If you are viewing this through my website, you can just click on the "Contact Me" page!

--Merrill