Category Archives: self-publishing

Sometimes I Screw Up

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ADHD is a much bigger part of my life than I give it credit for. I’ve most likely suffered from it since elementary school, or even before, but it went without formal diagnosis until I was in my 30s. That’s pretty common for women of a certain age. My age. We had no idea that we had something going on that was beyond our control. It was always explained as a character defect, and we believed it. At least I did. I thought I was lazy, because I couldn’t self-start. I spent a lot of time sitting on the couch, watching TV, because that took no planning, and no skill, really. Well, at least until they invented remote controls, and then even more complicated remote controls. And they you had 4 of them for the various devices attached to the TV, and if you hit the wrong button, you could never turn on the TV again, or you messed up the cable channels, and you couldn’t find your shows, or…

(Going off on tangents is a symptom of ADHD, BTW)

I made it into adulthood without absent mindedly falling through a manhole into the center of the earth. I still find that hard to believe. I think I’ve run into a few metal poles because I wasn’t paying attention. *Rubs forehead delicately* But I made it. Here I am! I still struggle. The struggle is very, very real. Only now I know that it’s not my fault. But now that I know it’s not my fault, it’s my responsibility to get over that fact and do what I can to make it better. To let go of the guilt and self-blame and do the work. I took a great class on ADHD at Kaiser Portland via telehealth during the COVID shutdowns. It was fantastic. The instructor didn’t tell me all the stuff I already knew. She told me stuff based on evidence. Not only about my affliction, but also about things that can be done to make it better. Exercise. Good food choices. Sleep. For some people, medication. There’s stuff you can do to your vagal nerve to stimulate it and decrease anxiety. You can practice mindfulness. You can make schedules, and post little reminder notes for yourself all over your house so you don’t forget to make that important phone call that you couldn’t make over the weekend because the place was closed. I personally email myself to my work email to tell myself to make the stupid phone call. Otherwise, I don’t think about it until I get home after work, see the empty prescription bottle on my table, and slap myself in the forehead in frustration. So yeah, lots of stuff you can try. You can also remind yourself that you’re not faulty because you forgot something. You can explain to others that you’re not faulty, while still taking responsibility for your actions. ADHD is not an excuse…it might explain why you did something, but then you have to come up with a plan so that you can show it won’t happen again. But the most important thing to remember is, you’re not faulty. You really aren’t.

Sometimes, I feel faulty. And that’s okay. It really is. Not in the moment. In the moment, it feels like crap and I’m full of nasty things to say about myself and what I did or didn’t do. No one can beat me up any better than I can beat myself up. And you know what happens when you beat yourself up for something that you just did? Your memory of all the other things you ever screwed up on in your whole life pops into your head, and you beat yourself up for those things, too. Man, I’m kind of a bitch! Never get on my bad side! I can be very mean. To myself.

But then, later, I remember. My brain works differently than those of many people in our society, the people who made the rules about how our brains should work. Then I just get mad at them. We’re not all alike. We all have our own ways. We need to celebrate the way we think, and how it makes us special. Without my special brain, I would never have written 20 books, and now be writing number 21. I wouldn’t be able to have the singular focus it takes to sit there on my couch with my computer, day after day, typing, creating stories, and bringing them to life. I’m not a planner, as I’ve said. It’s too hard for me to sit down and complete an outline, and then stick to said outline. So every time I sit down, I have no more idea of what will happen next in my stories than you do. It’s always a surprise. I love reading back what I wrote. “Oh!” I exclaim to myself. “That’s pretty good! I wrote that? What will I write next? I can’t wait to find out!”

But then I do stupid things. Like last month. I was planning my release of my third book, Absolutely and Totally Smitten, and in preparation for the release, I ordered 20 copies of the book, to sell at the launch event. Well, they never showed up. Grr. I was upset, because I really wanted to have them there. But my guests bought copies of my first 2 books, which was nice, so the day was a success. A week later, the books still hadn’t arrived on my doorstep. Curious, I went to the web site to see what was going on. And of course, what I found out was…I had filled in the order, but I had never hit the last button, the one to send the order in. Oh Lord. I should have known. I rolled my eyes at myself, pushed the button, and closed to the computer, laughing at my silly ADHD antics. Then I moved on with life.

Well, yesterday, they finally arrived! Finally! I took to the box with a pair of scissors and wrestled with the packing tape. I finally got the tape off and readied myself for the reveal of…20 copies of the wrong book. Groan. Yes, in my haste, I had pushed the order button on the wrong book, my first book, titled May I Have Your Attention Please, a book that I already have a bunch of copies of. Well, okay, I’m pretty sure I could sell some more copies of it, so I won’t return them. I went on the website again today, found the order I had started for the correct book, and completed that order. AND HIT THE SEND BUTTON. And then I beat myself up. Just once. JUST ONCE I would like to find that it was a mistake at the publisher. Yes, this is not the first time I have completed a task without checking the details before hitting send. I mean, yeah, right????

So all that being said, does anyone want a signed copy of May I Have Your Attention Please? Because, I just so happen to have a few on hand!

$16 USD for the book, and $4 for shipping (US only). So $20 for a signed copy that someday, may be worth, well, less than $16! If you’re in Portland, hit me up, and I can bring it to you personally!

Let me know. I’ll send one to you. Real quick. If I don’t forget! Damn ADHD!

My books can be found here.

Have a great week, y’all!

…And a Happy New Year!

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Hello all of you out there in blog land. I wish you all a happy holiday season. My holiday is over. Chanuka was early this year. But I get to have some fun with my spouse and his family on Christmas day, and there will be food and presents. It should be fun. There’s always a good amount of chocolate, which makes any day complete.

The year is also coming to an end, and it’s a good time to review what I have accomplished in the past twelve months. I think it has been a wonderfully productive year for me. I have put out two books into the world, and I’m getting ready to set number 3 free. Book sales have been fair. I mean, they’re good, but would be better if I had a publicist. But it’s just like anything else. People don’t buy things they don’t know about. Maybe next year I’ll invest more money into marketing (and Powerball). But whatever the case, I can feel really proud about what I’ve done. I’ve also made some friends on social media, and that has been wonderful. I have two lovely ladies that I do a writing sprint group with at the butt crack of dawn every Sunday (they are in other time zones, so it’s not as early for them). There are also some folks on Facebook who have read my book, and I have read their books, and there’s just a love fest going on. I have read basic love stories, why-choose books that include alien invasions, space soap operas, and some that just evade description. I have made enough progress on my Facebook business page that I am now getting paid for making popular posts (not enough to make a living, but money is money, and free money is the best!). I have gotten much better at creating videos for TikTok. It has taken A LOT of practice!

A few other things: I changed jobs in July, and I am now going in to an office every day. In my mind that marks the end of the pandemic. I love my new job. I loved my old job as well, but I missed the companionship of being around other people who do the same work that I do. I hope to never work from home again.

I’m doing some private supervision for people who are working toward getting their social work licenses. I love this stuff. I love it better than doing therapy, which I don’t love so much. I don’t hate it, but it’s not really my thing. But I love helping to shape the minds of new social workers. I have been doing this work for 25 years. I’m glad I can share my knowledge and enthusiasm.

I attended a wedding in New Jersey, and had a lovely visit back home in Massachusetts. There are two more weddings coming up in the next year, bringing me to the total of 4 nieces and nephews getting married in 2 years. Aside from getting stuck in NY for three days on the way home and Jet Blue sucking with its customer service, everything went really well on the trip.

I started writing outside of my usual genre. I’m currently writing a book that’s what could be described as an urban fantasy. It has just a touch of un-realism, enough to make it seem like it could exist in the real world. I’m not sure if I’d call it young adult, but young adults could easily read it. I can see potential for a 4-book series here.

I finished my second series of coming-of-age romance books set in the 1980s, and also take place in the same “world.” Actually, world is a strong word. They are all attached to each together in some way, but each story is unique, even within each series. It feels amazing to have completed 14 books. I am hoping that I can release more than two per year going forward. That would take a very long time!

I guess that’s about it for now. I’m sure there’s more to report, but this is enough to share for now. I hope everyone has had a wonderful year, and has great Christmas and New Years (if you celebrate…otherwise, happy something, or happy nothing).

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My new book, title not released yet, will be coming out on February 14, 2024. Keep your eyes open for it. It’s a bit different than the first two. A little more twists and turns to get to the love part. That’s what’s so fun about it! Here’s a small clue:

Here again are the links to my Facebook page, Debby Meltzer Quick Author, TikTok, @dbmquick and Instagram, quickdebby_author. Please follow me on these pages. And please explore my page here at debbymeltzerquickauthor.com.

Happy Thanksgiving!-Anniversary

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Happy Thanksgiving to my not-IRL friends! This is also a big anniversary for me. It was two years ago this November that I had the dream that led me to start to write my first book. It was a vivid dream, one I can still see in my head if I concentrate hard enough. I was back in school, and it was high school. But it wasn’t my high school. I was at the public high school in my hometown. Somehow or other, I had ended up back at public high school after a year at private school. I was in the cafeteria, and I had finished my lunch. I was dumping my trash in the garbage can, when suddenly a boy I had not seen since I was in junior high approached me and asked me if it hurt. When I inquired about what would be hurting, he answered with a crooked smile, “when you fell from heaven.” In my dream, that pickup line led to a whirlwind relationship, and I got flashes of the next two years and how wonderful it was. I was so happy that I had gone back to public school. The dream was heading for happily ever after, when suddenly, a voice over spoke. “But none of this ever happened,” it said in a flowery but professional female voice, “because someone was out sick that day and the two never met by the garbage cans.

I don’t know if any Star Trek fans read my blog, but if so, do you remember the classic Next Generation episode where Jean-Luc Picard gets zapped by an alien probe, and ends up living decades on a strange planet, including having a wife, children, and grandchildren, and even learning how to play the flute, until he was a very old man, and he was returned to his ship, only to find that only 25 minutes had passed? Yeah, that’s kind of how it felt for me when I woke up from this dream. It had seemed so real, so vivid, that I had to sit there for a minute and remind myself that I graduated from high school, and not a public one, 35 years earlier! I was a bit disoriented, and couldn’t stop thinking about the dream for days.

It wasn’t the content of the dream so much, but the feelings it brought. I felt like I had missed something. There have been several times over the years when I have wondered what my life would have been like if I had gone to public school. Who would I have been friends with? The same people from junior high, or some other people from other junior highs that all converged on the same high school? Would I have met some new boy in high school, and would we have hit it off? Maybe whoever he was, he was at a private school somewhere thinking the same thing as me, about what it would have been like if things had gone differently.

I could have let it go right there, but actually, I couldn’t. I was anxious. We had just started with the Omicron variant of COVID, and things were not looking up with the world at that moment. I was stuck at home, working a job that I felt I could perform better with in-person collaboration, especially with my ADHD. I was craving change, something different. My family was doing the best they could. My poor daughter was stuck doing on-line school, which was not the best plan for her, and my retired husband was trying to keep the house together and also respect my need for quiet and confidentiality while I worked. Poor guy. And there I was, sitting in my tiny little home office, which was more like a glorified closet with windows on the far side of our bedroom. With a desk and a bookshelf in there, there was barely room to push back my chair, and my bed was two feet away, reminding me every moment that I was not in the office, and I had just crawled out of the covers right there only hours before, and would return there later that night. I HATED working from home. And there was no end in sight.

I mentioned before that I had been knitting, and I ended up completing 42 hats. That’s a lot of hats. They were in piles on a table near the front door, and my husband kept asking me what I was going to do with them. They kept falling over. I had no idea what to do with them. But then, the dream. I couldn’t stop thinking about the dream. The feelings. The not knowing. It was pushing at my brain. So one day, I decided to do something about it.

I started to write it down. I created some people. There was the girl, Sally, who had left her friends and gone to private school, to find her way, and see if it was a better fit for her than private school. Her parents had given her a choice, and she had decided. Then there was James. James was slightly troubled. He had difficulty with focus, and a brother with lots of problems. James represented the unknown to Sally. I had to give them a slight back story, so I did. They were acquainted in junior high, but he was a bad boy, and she was, uh, well, she hadn’t figured out what she was yet at the time. But somehow, she had some kind of connection with the bad boys.

And that’s where reality ended. When Sally meets James again in the hallway of McKinney High on the first day of school, every bit of that book becomes fiction. Sally and James set the stage and told me what needed to happen. Characters do that. They tell you about themselves, and when you put them together, they tell you what they are like together. You can write something else, but it won’t work. There is a chemistry, and if your characters have it, you have to go with it. You. Have. No. Choice. But I’m glad. Because Sally and James’s chemistry worked. It worked well for them, and for me. And the next thing you know, there’s a really long story about Sally and James. And my dream is satisfied.

The only problem, of course, is that once May I Have Your Attention Please was completed, Sally and James told me something else, something new, something unexpected. Their story was over, sort of, but there were lots of other stories to tell, and I already knew the characters. They were Sally and James’s friends, the ones that supported them, and helped them to make it all happen. They all had stories. And I had to tell them.

So I did. I wrote six more books in the series, each of them featuring supportive characters that were present in the hotel room on the night of junior prom. Junior prom. Something I didn’t go to, but Sally did. And it was the most wonderful time of her young life. I’m happy for Sally. And for James. They had it easy, and they found love.

As the series progresses, things are not so easy for all of the other characters. Kim and Carl have a tough time getting it together in Book 2, I Just Can’t Say I Love You. And some of the other characters don’t even end up with who they started with, as you will see in Book 3, coming in February. In Book 4, our female lead doesn’t even really have a high school boyfriend, and in Book 5, the female lead has more than one, but is not who we thought she was. Books 6 and 7 will surprise you, and if you’re anything like me, they’ll make you cry just a little.

I am now working on another series, which is in the same time period, but not featuring our McKinney High friends. They are there in some of the books as minor characters, but this series introduces you to new players, and new settings, including New York, Delaware, and Colorado (Eastboro is still in there, though. I love Eastboro). I’m on book 7 of 7 now, so I’m about to have to figure out what I’m doing next. I might leave the 1980s and Eastboro all together, and maybe try a completely different genre. Maybe add some magical touches. Only time, and my imagination, will tell.

Here again are the links to my Facebook page, Debby Meltzer Quick Author, TikTok, @dbmquick and Instagram, quickdebby_author. Please follow me on these pages. And please explore my page here at debbymeltzerquickauthor.com.

Enjoy your holiday that has nothing to do with turkeys, and make the most of being with your family, whether the one you were assigned at birth, or the one you have chosen for yourself.

.

PenCraft Award Winner!

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Imagine my surprise on Thursday when I got an email from the PenCraft Book Award for Literary Excellence announcing their 2023 winners. I had forgotten all about the contest that I had entered in the spring. I had actually forgotten about all of the contests that I entered. Recently, I thought about the next round of book awards, in 2024, and wondered if it was worth it to even enter next time. It seemed like maybe it was a waste of time and money. Well, the money part wasn’t actually that bad. Nothing more than $100 with an average around $30. The highest prizes for winners were monetary, so it made sense to have a fee. Everyone had said to enter for prizes. It could get you notoriety, and a nice little foil seal to put on your book cover.

But these award people don’t know me very well. You see, I’m that kid who always thought I would win games of chance. I thought that every raffle prize was just minutes from being mine. I thought, “why not me?” To be honest, I wasn’t just that kid. I’m also that adult. Even now, I start to spend my lottery winnings days before I find out that I lost. I just don’t see why it won’t happen for me. Winning the lottery is part of my long-term plans, part of my retirement plan. So yeah, as you can imagine, I get disappointed and discouraged easily. My mom tells me she used to feel so bad for me, because I had so much hope, only to have it all dashed on the ground after my name or number is not called. I can’t even imagine how hard it is for people around me to see me so giddy, only to have to console me after, when I resemble a dog that just got left in a car while its owners are enjoying a steak dinner inside the restaurant.

But this time, it was a little different. I couldn’t remember anything about the PenCraft award, so I opened the email to refresh my memory. But the email did not say much about the award. What it did say was this:

“We are pleased to announce that our judges of the 2023 PenCraft Book Awards for literary excellence voted your book May I Have Your Attention Please as our Young Adult-Coming of Age Runner-Up Winner!”

Okay, wow, I thought. That’s awesome! But then it hit me. What does runner-up mean? Does it mean that other people won, and I didn’t? Am I one of hundreds of people who are “runners-up?” Is it basically the same thing as a honorable mention? So I did a bit of research (not much as it didn’t take much) and found out that no, what an honorable mention is, is pretty much third place. Third place. I can tolerate third place, especially for an award I didn’t even remember I signed up for. So then I got excited. I won an award! I immediately took a screen shot and sent it to my brother, and then called my mother. They were excited for me, even if I didn’t win the money! “It was an honor just to be nominated!” Haha. No, really. The email had gone on to say that I needed to send them my home address so they could send me a certificate and some foil seals that I can adhere to the front cover of my book. That’s pretty exciting!

Well, then, of course, I started to doubt myself. How legit was a contest that you had to pay to enter? Is it possible that this is all a ruse, aimed to get indie authors to spend even more of their personal money on their writing, when in reality, they should be making money, not spending. So on another Google search I went, to find out if the PenCraft award was, indeed valid.

So the first hit I get is an article about scam contests. Oh no. I read the article and it said something about sending in money to these scams, not knowing who the people are, who the judges are, and if they even read your book. I mean, really. I think there were 1,100 entries or something in this contest. Each judge probably had a category. How many books in each category? How many books did these judges even have to read? I mean, okay, let’s say there are 35 categories, and each has 3 winners. That’s 105 winners. On average, each category would have about 35 entrants. So three winners out of 35. Is that percentage any good? And, after all this, did I even get my numbers right, or did I just make all of this up? And I found a list of contests, and whether or not they were legit. And PenCraft wasn’t on either list, so….

But then I read the PenCraft website, and it seemed okay. I decided to just let it be okay. And to make social media posts saying I had won a contest. And you know what? People were really great. I got a ton of hits, and people were really happy for me. People I know IRL have been really happy for me. I haven’t sold any extra books yet, but that’s okay. I don’t know if I would buy a book based on the fact that it won an award. Maybe I would. However, I would probably buy the book based on the fact that it won an award and the author had marked the eBook down to $1 on Kindle for a promotion and just kept “forgetting” to put it back to the regular price (I did that! It’s still $1 on Amazon!). But I am really looking forward to putting that little seal on my covers!

So will I enter any more contests? Well, that remains to be seen. I just don’t know. I have some time, like 4-5 months to decide. Maybe in the meantime, I’ll win something else that I forgot about, and that will keep me going on endorphins and dopamine just a little bit longer.

THIS IS THE AWARD WINNING BOOK! YOU CAN ORDER IT ON MY WELCOM PAGE, OR DIRECTLY FROM AMAZON, BARNES AND NOBLE, OR INGRAM SPARK IF YOU ARE A BOOK RETAILER!

And don’t forget book 2, I Just Can’t Say I Love You is now available at the same places, and eBook on Kindle Unlimited.

Here again are the links to my Facebook page, Debby Meltzer Quick Author, TikTok, @dbmquick and Instagram, quickdebby_author. Please follow me on these pages. And please explore my page here at debbymeltzerquickauthor.com.

Three, Two, One, Launch!

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When your child turns 18, you launch them into the world. Unless they take a gap year, which is what is occurring in our house, but that’s another story for a different kind of blog. No. When a child reaches 18, we hope that we have taught them all of our values and skills and they have enough common sense to be able to go out and make their way. This is unlike birds, who pretty much throw their babies from the next and say “see ya!” Of course, there are those “failures to launch.” There was even a movie about that. Who is to say that when your child turns 18, they know everything? What if the parent doesn’t know everything, so couldn’t teach the child? What if, while the child was in high school, a global pandemic hit, and everyone was regressed several years, both parents and children? Maybe we have some leeway? Maybe 19 is a better age. Or for some kids, they may be ready to launch at 16.

Ships are launched after being christened by a bottle of wine. Rockets are launched above a large mass of flames. A watermelon can be launched through the air with a catapult. Launch means “Propel with force,” or “get going, give impetus to.” What I’ve been describing has been the first definition. What I’ll be talking about next is the second one.

I’m talking about a good old fashioned book launch, like the one I had last week. It’s sort of a like a baby shower for a new book. And like a baby shower, people appear to be much more interested in your first launch than they are in your second one. The way I see it is, people are very excited when someone they know does something unexpected, or something that they would never do. So when I told everyone I know that I wrote a book, they were impressed, and happy for me. They wanted to celebrate me, like a first time mother. They all asked questions about my book, and where to get it, what it was about, and where I got my insperation to write it. Then I told them that I was now writing my 12th book. That just about blew them away! Who can write one book, let alone 12! It was as if I told them that I was planning on having 12 kids before I was done, and I’d even named all of them already! So, if you have these 12 (so far) books, they all have to be released, or launched, right? So how often is this going to happen? Every 9 months like a baby, every year, once every two years? Uh, no. Not every two years. That would take 24 years, and my work will be irrelevant by then. So I have been opting for every 6 months. So my first book was launched on March 4, 2023, and over 40 people came to celebrate with me, join the raffle, socialize, eat cake, and buy my book. I sold 62 copies in the first three days.

Jump to baby number two. “I Just Can’t Say I Love You.” Ironically, I can say I love this book, just as much, if not more than my first book. I mean, a mother loves all of her children equally right? But from the first to the second child, a mother learns a whole lot about how to take care of a baby, and how to be a mother. It’s the same with book. When I wrote my first book, it took me so many times through to be able to get it just right. It had to be perfect. There had to be just the right amount of words and chapters. The characters had to be just so. But with book number 2, you buy the cheap diapers, right? I mean, I put a lot into each book, but the second one definitely went more smoothly than the first, because I was learning the ropes with experience. So when it launched, I was ready to celebrate, just like I was with book 1. I was excited, and I wanted everyone to be excited with me. But you know how it is with baby number 2. “Wait a minute, didn’t you already have a baby? I could have sworn you had one. I’m pretty sure I already said congratulations and bought you a gift, and came to visit and told you how cute your little bundle of joy was. Now you’re going to tell me I have to do it again? Ugh.”

But there was CAKE!!!!!

I mean, come on. Who can say no to cake? And who can say no to cake with tiny little versions of my book distributed around it on toothpicks?

And brownies, made by my own child!

Also with tiny books stuck in them. Not to mention tiny egg salad sandwiches, pita with hummus, vegetables, a great setting (Thank you, Rose City Book Pub, again), and good friends? Well, apparently a lot of people can say no. Because for the first hour, there was no one there, except for me, my spouse, the staff, and a few of the venue’s patrons. It was kind of embarassing. Even my own daughter wasn’t there yet. I began to become discouraged, looking at my little swag stickers spread out across two round tables invitingly, and the empty raffle jar.

Happily, a few people did show up an hour later, staggering in and out until the end of the event. Those people are total rock stars, and I thank them. I started to wonder if this would have been what it was like if I’d had a second child and there was a shower. Would I have sat for hours amongst helium balloons, and little confetti pacifiers, and little cupcakes decorated with plastic babies and white frosting (I wouldn’t know the gender, so no pink or blue, please, until my child tells me what their gender might be…). I have to admit, I was sad. Not depressed, but just sad. I started to think about it. I bet a lot of people didn’t come because they had other plans. That was it. It was the last weekend predicted to have nice weather before the rains were due to come. I bet a lot of people had figured, “you know, I went to her last party, and it was really fun. She’ll understand if I don’t come to this one.” Sure. I get it. But in the end, there were 10 people. So everyone had the same idea. “I did this once. She’ll have other people there. She’ll understand.” Yeah, I get it. I sometimes want to do nothing, or something else on the weekend than what I originally intended to do. No big deal. But maybe it is.

Anyway, out of the lovely people that came to my party, four bought books, and one won a book. I see that as a success. I’m an adult now, not a child. I know that if people don’t come to my party, they still like me, and respect my work, and want me to succeed. Of course they do. They all told me that they do. Most of them apologized for not coming. To be fair, most people said they’d try to come. And a few did. And I still like all of them. But I just had to blow out my candles alone, and sing “happy birthday to me…” Just Kidding! This is not the plot of a horror movie! It’s an uplifting blog about an author who writes really cool books and wants to release them into the world. So there’s still time, and still a way.

The good news is that both of my books are still on sale on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I’m trying Kindle Unlimited for the new one, to see how it goes, at least for the 3 month commitment. So far, no pages have been read, and this keeps me from being able to sell my ebook elsewhere, so the jury is still out. But yeah, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and for those of you that want to sell them in your stores, you can get them on Ingram Spark at a significant bookstore discount. Check them out! And I think next time, instead of an IRL launch party, I’ll try to do a live, online one, so no one had to leave their home. I get why people want to stay home. There’s a tv there, and you can watch anything you want. All of your animals live there, and so to your clothes and toys. But just sayin’, the cake was pretty darn good. You can ask the folks at my work, who had a feast the day after my launch party. It was yummy!

Me doing a reading. I swear, I was reading to real people.

Yummy snacks!

Tiny egg salad sandwiches, with no tiny books on a toothpick, because I ran out of them.

May I Have Your Attention Please is available now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and anywhere that eBooks are sold. Please check it out, and if you do read my book, please leave a review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, or whatever other platform you are using. It would mean a whole lot!

I Just Can’t Say I Love You is available on Amazon, Kindle Unlimited, Barnes and Noble, and Ingram Spark, staring Carl and Kim and the usual cast of characters.

Here again are the links to my Facebook page, Debby Meltzer Quick Author, TikTok, @dbmquick and Instagram, quickdebby_author. Please follow me on these pages. And please explore my page here at debbymeltzerquickauthor.com.

1 More Week Until Book 2!

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I am so excited! But also tired. But excited! Book 2 is coming out on September 15! To be completely honest with you, it’s already available on Amazon and Ingram Spark, but that was by mistake. I won’t begrudge you if you decide to buy one now, though. Or if you pre-order the eBook, which you will have delivered to your Kindle on September 15. It will also magically appear on Barnes and Noble on September 15.

So I get to have another launch party! The last one was a lot of fun. It seems like I just had it not that long ago. Oh, that’s right! I did! It was in March. Who knew that I would be releasing a second book in the same month? Well, me. I knew. I already have all of my book launches set for like the next 6 years. Hopefully I’ll be able to start releasing more than two per year at some point, though, since I am currently writing book 12 and I need to get these out there! It’s hard to wait! I actually have a second series, still connected to the world of the first series, going now, so maybe I can start to overlap? Oy, if only I could win the lottery, and just put them out at will! But alas, there are costs involved, so I have to plan accordingly.

But I’m psyched about the launch party next week. I did have a lot of fun last time. I gave away books, there was food, there were friends there, and everyone stayed for hours. The venue was fantastic, and they even have a few copies of my first book there for sale. This time, I will not be able to have a big expensive cake with a photo of my book on it, but I will still have cake. And I mean, cake is cake, right? And less food. And better merch to give out, because I know how to do things now. It’s not my first rodeo (it’s my second). So I’m not as nervous about it. But I just hope people come. You know that line from my all -time favorite movie, right? If you write it, they will come. Well, close enough.

So come to my launch party next week! I would write more today, but the coffee shop where I write is about to close and they will kick me out in a minute. Wish me luck on my launch, and for my author friends also launching this week, best of luck to you. You all deserve the best! I can’t wait to keep reading those indie books!

In the meantime, my first book, “May I Have Your Attention Please” is marked down to $1 for eBook until September 15th, so go and get your copy today!

“May I Have Your Attention Please” is available now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and anywhere that eBooks are sold. Please check it out, and if you do read my book, please leave a review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, or whatever other platform you are using. It would mean a whole lot!

I Just Can’t Say I Love You will be available on September 15, 2023, on Amazon, Kindle Unlimited, Barnes and Noble, and Ingram Spark, staring Carl and Kim and the usual cast of characters.

Here again are the links to my Facebook page, Debby Meltzer Quick Author, TikTok, @dbmquick and Instagram, quickdebby_author. Please follow me on these pages. And please explore my page here at debbymeltzerquickauthor.com.

Book 2 is Coming! Book 2 is Coming!

May I Have Your Attention Please, McKinney High Class of 1986, self-publishing, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s coming soon! My new book, book 2 in the series, “McKinney High Class of 1986, ” I Just Can’t Say I Love You! I’m so excited about this! Launching Book 1 was exciting and stressful. And launching Book 2 is, well, stressful and exciting! It definitely was less scary. I mean the whole process. I was so terrified to send my files to the distributors the first time, like something I did would break the whole system and steal all my money. I had to actually go to Best Buy last time to have them help me load one of my files due to the imbedded fonts. This time, everything went through almost much too easily. I’ve requested proofs to be sent to me and I just have to wait to make sure, but then I can order real copies, and start to sell them! To be honest, I love my first book, but I really feel that each of my books gets better and better than the last one. I’m writing number 11 right now. Maybe it will be a Pulitzer Prize winner! Haha.

But the struggle has been real. This whole indie scene has been a struggle. Nothing is easy about self-publishing, and the payoff, well, is not much of a payoff. I was aware that it would be slow going, but I had no idea how frustrating it would be, not being able to break through to the public. I know I have this great product, but I just can’t get it out there. I have sold a bit above 100 copies of my book. I have given away several more. I have sold a couple in bookstores, which is exciting, but there are soooo many books to compete with, including those that have become best sellers (I’m talking about you, Colleen Hoover). It doesn’t help that I have to work full time in a very stressful profession at the same time as trying to market my books. I can’t spend all day trying to push my books. So I do as much as I can on social media. I feel a bit like a telemarketer! Recently, I changed jobs, and I no longer have a commute where I can read, write, or go on social media. Sometimes, I would even market on the bus. That was fun. I would read my own book on the bus and when someone asked me what I was reading, I would tell them. And show them. And sometimes impress them. But now I have a five-block walk to work. I could try to sell to the pigeons along the way, but they like mystery books better as a group. What I need is a carrier pigeon to drop some books on the heads of random passersby.

I’m going to try to sell my new book on Kindle Unlimited. Have you tried it? I used standard Kindle for the first book. I’m not sure if it will be a different experience. I hope that doing this gives new people an opportunity to see my book who might otherwise not. I haven’t tried joining Kindle Unlimited yet. I prefer paperback books myself, although I do partake on the occasional eBook. What’s your preference? What do you like about each one? I like books because they don’t have backlighting. I like the way they feel in my hands. I like the way they smell. I like pages to turn manually. I like that they can be signed by the author. What I like about eBooks is that I can get them so quickly. If I have my Kindle in my bag, and I’m stuck somewhere, I can just order up a new book, and read it right away. Maybe some light reading or something I wouldn’t have ordered on-line and waited two days or more to receive. Right now, I’m rereading Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I read it last when I was about 14 years old. I referenced it in one of my manuscripts, so I thought it was about time for me to read it again. And it’s so worth it. Such a great book. I wish I had as good marketing as that book had! 🙂

This is the last cover reveal image I’ll show you. I still have three more days to complete on social media. Maybe you can extrapolate what it looks like from what I’m giving you here. What does it look like to you? Do you judge books by their cover? I do. I know it’s not always accurate, but I’ve read a lot about the science (well, social science, I guess) of book art. You develop your cover based on your genre. So what happens if your book covers more than one genre? I guess you go for the most prevalent one. In my case, I go toward the romantic imagery. It can be stunning, and it’s really hard to make a cover around a 1980s retro high school friend/families coming-of-age love story with social issues theme. So yeah, romance seems to sell. And there is romance in my books. Quite a bit. But for those of you who don’t love romance, there is more. There is a lot of family dynamics, and function and dysfunction. There is the connection between a group of friends who have been through so much together. There is the spanning of years in the series, and the overlap of storylines. There is the fact that every one of my books in the series has a scene that takes place at the McKinney High junior prom. And stuff happens at the prom. And not all of it is sex. Some of it might be, though, so, yeah. But other stuff, too.

Here’s the book blurb:

Kim and Carl became fast friends in kindergarten, but they were struck by the cooties plague in second grade. For years, it was the boys versus the girls, but Kim has missed her first school friend. Now they are juniors, and Kim has a plan. She has gotten Carl to agree to go to the Junior Prom with her, and she has some ideas about how the evening will end. Carl won’t know what hit him. But both of these teens have no idea that their childhood traumas will affect their ability to thrive in a romantic relationship. As Kim and Carl start down a road to love, they must learn to trust each other with their lives, and their hearts. Their journey takes them through high school and across the country, into a new life that neither of them could ever have expected.

I Just Can’t Say I Love You is the second book in the McKinney High School Class of 1986 series. Learn about Kim and Carl during their early years, and well into adulthood as they explore growing up with the help of their loyal high school friends.

(For those who read May I Have Your Attention Please, you may remember that Kim is one of Sally’s friends, and Carl is one of James’s posse friends)

“May I Have Your Attention Please” is available now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and anywhere that eBooks are sold. Please check it out, and if you do read my book, please leave a review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, or whatever other platform you are using. It would mean a whole lot!

I Just Can’t Say I Love You will be available on September 15, 2023, staring Carl and Kim and the usual cast of characters.

Here again are the links to my Facebook page, Debby Meltzer Quick Author, TikTok, @dbmquick and Instagram, quickdebby_author. Please follow me on these pages. And please explore my page here at debbymeltzerquickauthor.com.

Be True to Your School

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Here is it, McKinney High. It stands in the heart of Eastboro, MA, a fictional town in Central Massachusetts. The school is completely fictional, I swear! This photo was generated by Artificial Intelligence. It’s not exactly what I was looking for, but it’s close. I would hate to have to climb those stairs every morning, especially on a Monday! I imagine the parking lot is on a higher level, so the kids with cars get the advantages over the kids who have to walk to school and then hike Mt. McKinney! Sally Bachman is one of the walkers. In May I Have Your Attention Please, Sally lives about one mile away from school, and complains to her mother about having to walk, after being driven to private school every day the previous year. Granted, private school was seven miles away! Thank goodness for James Newell, with his 1973 rust colored Vista Cruiser station wagon, even if the heating fan is busted. Sally will endure the cold in order to be able to ride to school. And spend extra time with James.

Here’s a short excerpt from James’s first day of junior year at McKinney:

James slogged through History and Biology before entering English class right before lunch period. He stopped short when he saw Sally Bachman sitting in the second to last row, in the center. He realized he had taken too long to get to class, and as the second bell rang, the only seat remaining was at the back of the room, directly behind Sally. He squeezed by the student-filled desks between them and exchanged smiles with her before he fell heavily into the chair-attached-to-desk contraption which would be his home for the next hour. Their teacher, Mrs. Clark, closed the door, and a small breeze passed through the classroom, causing the smell of strawberry to waft from Sally’s hair to his nose. He breathed in deeply, enjoying the scent,  before realizing what he was doing.

Poor James, having to slog through classes. But it seems like school’s about to be much more fun for our hero, as he gets to spend the whole year sitting right behind Sally Bachman and her strawberry scented hair. Let’s see how the first day went for Sally:

When lunch finally came around, Sally was starving, having thrown away most of her breakfast. She met up with Michelle in line in the cafeteria, and once they had their steaming hot square pizzas secured on their trays, they made their way to a table where three other girls were already sitting. She knew Kim Drake and Darlene Feinman from Randall, and was introduced to Traci Walsh, who had gone to Fremont Junior High. It was an easy group to talk to, and soon Sally was feeling at ease as she laughed and ate. She continued to feel conspicuous in her new surroundings, however, and at times felt people were looking at her. When she looked up and around, she realized her fears were unfounded. Everyone else was focused on their food and their friends, and they were not concerned about the new girl. She let herself relax and concentrate on the conversation.

It’s hard to be the new kid, especially in a giant school like McKinney High. But luckily, Sally had some friends she remembered from junior high, and they came to her rescue. But what if she was to figure out that someone actually was watching her? Maybe a boy she sat near in English class?

School is not always drudgery and stress, though. Sometimes you get a break. Remember how it felt when you went into class, and you saw the big cart with the TV on it, and the teacher said you were going to watch a film? Even if was a movie about mitochondria, it was still better than listening to the teacher drone on for an hour.

Ronald Reagan took his second oath of the Presidential office on Sunday, January 20th, The inauguration had not been in the public square due to record low temperatures in Washington DC, and the whole eastern half of the United States was experiencing unusually cold weather. Massachusetts, which usually had temperatures in the freezing range during the month of January, was also experiencing a deep and prolonged freeze, leaving students feeling chilled and unmotivated in school. On Monday, all of the History teachers in all of the grades at McKinney High showed their classes special educational videos about inaugurations and presidential celebrations. The students loved to watch movies in class. It meant the lights were turned out, and more mischief happened in the dark.

Mischief at school? No way! Everyone was a perfect angel at my school. Wasn’t it like that for you, too?”

“I was trying to say,” Chris went on, “that my cousin Vince might be able to hook you up with a new muffler. Your car sounds like a motor boat.”

“Vince Bishop?” Carl asked. “Uncle Frank’s son? I thought he moved to Framingham this summer.”

Chris shook his head. “No, Vince Farmer, Uncle Benny’s oldest son. He’s the one who was expelled from Murphy a few years ago for trashing a teacher’s car when he failed his class.”

OR:

Fourth period was English class. James had arrived first and was sitting at his desk. The bell was about to ring, so Sally came into the classroom hurriedly, and slipped into her seat breathing hard from exertion.  She could feel James’s breath on her neck, and then she felt his hands on her shoulders as he gave them a quick massage. Mrs. Clark  entered the room.

“Mr. Newell,” she  called out, “hands to yourself, please.”

Everyone turned to look at them, and Sally sank slightly in her seat. It was no secret amongst the students at McKinney High that she and James were a couple. She was used to the looks when they walked through the halls holding hands. But she still felt uncomfortable with the attention.

Or even:

“Where are Kim and Darlene?” Sally asked, secretly glad Kim wasn’t there to ask her any awkward questions.

Michelle swallowed her bite of burger and washed it down with some milk. “Darlene’s out sick, and Kim has lunch detention for smoking outside on school property.”

“She needs to learn how to not get caught!” Rhonda stated, shaking her head, then scooping up a spoonful of chocolate pudding. 

I clearly remember being in the girl’s room in junior high when the girls who were smoking in there got busted! But more often they didn’t get caught, and they smoked in the strangest places and situations.

When you’re a teen, most of your life happens in school. There are academic classes, electives, gym and music classes, shop, lunch, extracurricular activities, times in the hallway between classes, standing at your locker, confiding in your best friends. Then there are the extras: the after school clubs, committees, and sports, and the social events, such as homecoming, prom, and other dances.

Michelle and Darlene talked Sally into volunteering for the homecoming decorating committee with them. They were on it the previous year, which is where they had met Traci. They had fun, and thought Sally would enjoy it too. It would give her a chance to make some new friends at the same time.  

And:

Sally quickly found Michelle and Carl, and together they all watched people dancing and listened to music as they chatted.  Soon, their other friends filed in, and in no time, the gym was full of noise and dancing bodies. Sally and Michelle tugged their dates out to the dance floor, and they all moved awkwardly to the music, enjoying the feeling of letting loose. The place was too crowded for anyone to observe and judge their dancing, and they took full advantage of it. 

And we mustn’t forget the most special day of all, junior prom:

When the first notes of “Purple Rain” came on, everyone got up to dance. It was slow even for a slow song, and James held Sally tight, only pulling away to kiss her. She rested her head contentedly on his chest. As soon as the song ended, the DJ put on Madonna’s “Crazy for You.” James knew Sally loved the song. He continued to move her around the floor, dodging other couples, as they clasped their arms around each other. Their friends were also dancing in couples around them. Kim had her head resting on Carl’s chest, and Carl was smiling his biggest, cheesiest smile. James felt it was the perfect prom moment. 

So there are a few glimpses into the school lives of the main characters of May I Have Your Attention Please and their friends. McKinney High is a huge part of what goes on in my series, McKinney High Class of 1986, obviously. I imagine the members of this class looking back fondly on their classmates, their teachers, and the events at McKinney, and the music and other culture they experienced back in the mid 1980s at their huge fictional school!

I hope you decide to read the series, and you start to fall in love with the characters and their stories as much as I have. And here’s a little clue for you all. There are six books in the series. And guess what? There is more than just one high school in Eastboro, MA. There is also Murphy High. So you can guess, all the characters you love, and ones you haven’t even met yet, will show up again after book six, in a new series, yet to be named. Stay tuned!

“May I Have Your Attention Please” is available now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and anywhere that eBooks are sold. Please check it out, and if you do read my book, please leave a review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, or whatever other platform you are using. It would mean a whole lot!

I Just Can’t Say I Love You will be available on September 15, 2023, staring Carl and Kim and the usual cast of characters.

Here again are the links to my Facebook page, Debby Meltzer Quick Author, TikTok, @dbmquick and Instagram, quickdebby_author. Please follow me on these pages. And please explore my page here at debbymeltzerquickauthor.com.

So you wanted more characters? Here they are!

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There is no end to the list of characters! Well, there is an end. I lied. But there are quite a few of them. I’ll keep them going until I exhaust them. Or you get exhausted. I’m already exhausted but that’s another story!

Tracy Walsh

Traci is a very, very minor character in “May I Have Your Attention Please.” She has one or two lines in two scenes, and if you blink, you’ll miss her. She shows up a bit more in book 2, even more in book 3, and by the time you get to book 4, she is a big time major character. She even gets her very own book down the line!

The McKinney High girls have known each other for a long time. That is, all except for Traci. Traci moved to Eastboro, MA, in ninth grade, and went to Fremont Junior High. She then transfers to McKinney Sophomore year and befriends Kim, Darlene, and Michelle. Fate, is it? Or did Traci know exactly what she was doing all along? Traci is very sweet, and she fits right in with the group, as if they have known each other forever. The group soon learns that Traci has some very special skills. She does not possess magic powers or ESP, but she is extremely intuitive. Traci has extremely sensitive, acute sense, and she has learned to interpret the input subconsciously. She can walk into a room, into an ongoing conversation, and instantly know that someone is lying. She can tell if someone has a crush, or if they are feeling poorly. Her interpretive skills are also excellent, so she can extrapolate predictions of what might happen next. Her new friends are bowled over. But there are some things, and some people, that Traci cannot sense, and it drives her crazy! She has no idea why. It could be a glitch, or it could be that they are hiding things. Traci’s parents have made some decisions for the family that Traci and her brother Bobby don’t understand, and sometimes, these choices can lead to heartbreak for their children. Traci and Bobby cling to each other for support. But soon, there will be some major changes occurring, and Traci is not sure if she can face some emotional losses that she is facing. It’s possible that her McKinney friends might be the key to her future happiness.

Darlene Feinman

Darlene and Kim Drake have known each other since they were babies. Their mothers are best friends. They were pretty much inseparable as preschoolers. They started kindergarten together, and were placed in different classes. Darlene made a new friend, Michelle, and she felt loved and accepted by Michelle. Over the years, things change between the three girls, and the power differential shifts. Darlene has to make some decisions based on loyalty and making sure that she makes everyone happy. But Darlene has a secret. Everything is really not as wonderful as she leads everyone, including her own mother, to believe. The world is wearing Darlene down, but damn if she ever lets anyone in on what’s going on inside her head. She divides her time between the homes of her mother, who is supportive and giving but oblivious to what is going on, and her father, who is demanding and critical of her every move. She is an only child, so she is often left to her own devises, with her own thoughts. She develops a set of coping skills to help her get through, but sometimes, they just make things worse. As Darlene navigates life in high school, college, and beyond, she must figure things out, and make some major changes, before things go drastically wrong.

Rhonda Jenkin

Rhonda was the prettiest, most popular girl in her junior high. She developed early, and boys started to notice her. She finally focused her attention on one lucky boy, only to find herself feeling forced to break away from him in high school. Rhonda soon finds new love with Chris Mahoney. They had flirted with each other back in junior high, but Rhonda chose someone else. Now, they are hot and heavy, and falling in love. The only problem is, Rhonda knows that their relationship is not built on honest intentions, and knowing this is killing her. She finds herself getting closer and closer to Chris, which is confusing and does not serve her true purpose. Rhonda is seeking revenge. Not on Chris. On someone in his circle. The problem? This person doesn’t even know she did anything that might have hurt Rhonda in the first place. When the quest for revenge blows up in her face, Rhonda must make a decision that will not only break her own heart, but also that of the boy she has fallen in love with. But deep down inside, she knows it’s the right thing to do. She only hopes that this decision doesn’t haunt her for the rest of her life. But it might. Rhonda has an older brother and an older stepsister. She lives with her brother, mother, and stepfather, who is basically her father. She hasn’t seen her biological father since she was three and no one knows where he is. But he has been keeping a very big secret. And it’s a secret that will lead Rhonda to a very, very dark place.

Howie Newell

Howie is the most tragic figure in the series. Howie is the older brother of James Newell, lead character in “May I Have Your Attention Please,” and also featured in every other McKinney High book. Howie is mainly featured in the first book, but does make guest appearances in others. He is three years older than James, and two years younger than their older sister, Erin. He is the middle child, and he meets all the criteria. He grows up pretty normally, with caring and loving parents, until age twelve, when something happens to change him. Howie falls in with some older kids who start him down the path to trouble. As the years go by, Howie gets in more and more trouble at school and home, much to the dismay of his family. He gets suspended from school often and for stupid reasons, but he is never expelled. He is the reason that James decides to go to McKinney High School rather than Murphy High. James doesn’t want to be classified as being just like his brother. Howie somehow graduates from high school, but no one understands how. Trouble starts again about a year later, when he gets in more trouble at home, and is told he must move out. Howie complies, but he still comes home often to visit, use the washer and dryer, and take food from the fridge. His mother worries about him. James can’t understand him.

“May I Have Your Attention Please”  is available now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and anywhere that ebooks are sold. Please check it out, and if you do read my book, please leave a review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, or whatever other platform you are using. It would mean a whole lot!

I Just Can’t Say I Love You will be available on September 15, 2023, staring Carl and Kim and the usual cast of characters.

Here again are the links to my Facebook page, Debby Meltzer Quick Author, TikTok, @dbmquick and Instagram, quickdebby_author. Please follow me on these pages. And please explore my page here at debbymeltzerquickauthor.com.

Have a wonderful week y’all! Happy Pride!

Photo by Marta Branco on Pexels.com

More Characters!

May I Have Your Attention Please, McKinney High Class of 1986, self-publishing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I didn’t have enough time and space to introduce all the characters from my series a few weeks ago, and since I’m so excited about them, I wanted to share more! I have my second book coming out on September 15, so it’s important for you to meet more of the main players! Book Two, I Just Can’t Say I Love You features Kim Drake and Carl Bishop, so I’ll start with them, but just remember, all of my characters are in all of my books, so pay attention to all of them. Even if they have bit parts in one book, they’ll have a lead role in another! I hope you enjoy their bios, as well as the hours I poured into developing my gorgeous AI pictures (don’t worry, I’m not going to sell anything with these images on them!)!

KIM DRAKE

Kim was born on February 28, 1986 to a single mom. She and her mother are very close. Kim was an only child until she was seven and she gained step-siblings, then baby half-siblings. Kim has a lot of confidence, and has been the leader of her friend group since second grade, when the social structure changed between boys and girls, and she lost her best friend. She can at times be bossy and directive. Kim’s greatest gift is her ability to tell a captivating story. Her friends all stop what they are doing to listen. Kim is very petite and very pretty. She is a good schemer, and knows what she wants. But sometimes, she doesn’t know what to do once she gets it. Her closest friends are Darlene Feinman, who she has known since birth, and Michelle Gorman. The three of them have been together since kindergarten, and have forged a tight bond. They become even closer after Kim experiences a tragedy at age 10. She depends on her friends and her strength to get her through. Kim wants to go places in life, and she will. She will go a lot of places, and learn a lot.

CARL BISHOP

Carl was born on September 15, 1968. He is the youngest member of all of the friends. Carl is part of a famous Eastboro, Massachusetts family, which sometimes makes things easier, sometimes harder. Carl is very close with his cousin, Chris Mahoney. They have been placed together since birth, and all of their family pictures include them both. Carl easily fits into the roll of Chris’s lieutenant in their bad boy “posse,” a role he enjoys. Carl has an older brother who he hardly sees, and a mother who is bitter and angry. His father is around sometimes. Carl learns to fend for himself and his orange tabby cat, Tiger. Carl sometimes appears helpless and dependent on his cousin, but he has a strength that no one can see, a strength that will serve him going forward in life. Carl is very close to his grandmother, Gram Missy, one of two identical twins that are a large part of his and Chris’s life. Gram Missy will help to guide him and try to make the path easier for him, since no one else seems able or up to that task. Carl will learn great lessons about love and loyalty, and about sometimes having to walk away from your old self to find your true self.

THE GRAMS

They were born Melissa and Cecelia Farmer, but now they are affectionately known as Gram Missy and Gram Cissy. They are the matriarchs of the biggest and most famous family in all of Eastboro, Massachusetts. They were the daughters of a very well-known and respected leader of the community. They are part of a family of nine children. They married into a family that was also prolific in the area, and everyone has had many children. You can’t walk down a street in town without running into one of the Grams’ nieces or nephews. The Farmer Twins are very strong and opinionated, and fiercely loyal. They look after their family members and make surethey are taken care of in every way, and that they feel as special as they should. They make a point of being present at all the milestones, and they have often been the planners of all of the family celebrations. It is unclear where they get the funds, but they never do anything half way. Their younger family members tend to come to them for advice, and the Grams have seen it all. They know how to point their kin the right direction. The Grams have led charmed lives, but they still have their lot to contend with. No matter how much love they give to their children, sometimes their children are just not open to that love. It’s a very difficult fact to accept, and the Grams will never give up trying.

CHRIS MAHONEY

Chris Mahoney was born on March 15, 1968. If you look back, you will see that Chris, grandson of Gram Cissy, and his cousin Carl look an awful lot alike. This is not by mistake. They are second cousins, but there is a good reason that they look so much alike, but not completely alike. There is one big difference. Chris was charismatic and charming at birth, and he has a tremendous memory for names and events. His extended family, which is very large, all adore him, because he takes time to get to know them, remember important details, and question them about things the next time he sees them. Chris is the natural leader of his group of friends starting in elementary school. They all follow him and respond to his commands. His bond with his “posse” grows stronger each year, and they all tend to get in trouble together all the time. But Chris can charm himself out of most situations, since everyone likes him. But the truth is, not everyone likes Chris. There is actually one person in his circle who not only dislikes him, but also blames him for everything that has gone wrong in her life for years. And this person is about to make things difficult for Chris, and change the dynamic between him and his cousin and best friend, Carl forever. When this happens, Chris will discover that maybe he hasn’t been quite as much in control of what was going on in his life for a very long time.

“May I Have Your Attention Please”  is available now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and anywhere that ebooks are sold. Please check it out, and if you do read my book, please leave a review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, or whatever other platform you are using. It would mean a whole lot!

I Just Can’t Say I Love You will be available on September 15, 2023, staring Carl and Kim and the usual cast of characters.

Here again are the links to my Facebook page, Debby Meltzer Quick Author, TikTok, @dbmquick and Instagram, quickdebby_author. Please follow me on these pages. And please explore my page here at debbymeltzerquickauthor.com.