Tag Archives: new adult

What’s Coming Next?

Anomaly, I Just Can't Say I Love You, May I Have Your Attention Please, McKinney High Class of 1986, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Any new book releases? Any new news? Both, of course!

Remember James and Sally from May I Have Your Attention Please? They were in for quite a shock on the first day of junior year of high school, when Sally returned from private school, had an early morning run-in with James, and the fabric of the whole universe was changed for them both. We followed them through a year of discovery, finding love and their place in the world.

At the same time, Kim and Carl were struggling to get past their challenging childhoods and letting themselves fall for each other fall hard in I Just Can’t Say I Love You. They took a chance on each other, leaving their lifetime homes and everything they knew behind them to venture out west. Along the way, they found themselves learning about what loyalty and happiness meant, and they learned who they could really trust with their hearts, and their lives.

And then there was Chris, in Absolutely and Totally Smitten. He was the ultimate rebel, king of the Bad Boy Posse. Suddenly, everything changed, and Chris found himself alone and confused. None of his old habits and skills could get him out of this one. But one thing he still had were his friends. And he a was amazed when one day, in college, one of those friends became something so much more to him. But was he in any place to open his heart again and let love in? Or would he only be facing a world of pain, maybe even one of his own design?

So what comes next for the friends of McKinney High Class of 1986?

Get ready to meet Stavros. He doesn’t go to McKinney High. He doesn’t even live in Eastboro. As a matter of fact, he doesn’t even meet anyone from Eastboro until years after high school. So what is he doing in this series? I’ll tell you what: Stavros is getting ready to overcome one of the worst traumas that can occur in childhood. He is able to try to live his life like normal, not knowing that normal just doesn’t apply to his life. And when everything finally blows up after graduation, Stavros is left in pieces, not knowing how to cope. He makes some decisions that lead him down a very dangerous and destructive path, one he will have to spend years trying to dig himself out of.

In the meantime, Darlene is struggling with her day-to-day life in Eastboro, making friends in elementary school, faking her way through social issues in junior high, and coming close to crashing when something horrible happens to her at junior prom. But Darlene must always keep the smile on her face. She must show the world that everything is just fine, especially her mother. And she must follow the path that her father set in motion for her life years earlier. Inside, she is dying, but somehow, she keeps going. It’s all good until she finally collapses in college, leading to suspicion from her mother. She still powers forward, getting through to graduation, and even into the working world. It’s not until she starts the path to graduate school that the one event that could make her break occurs and puts her out of commission. From that day on, Darlene must work to save herself, and to prove to herself that she is worthy of saving.

What happens when at last Stavros and Darlene meet? What can they possibly offer each other? Are they too broken to let love into their lives, or can love help them to continue in their own recovery journeys?

Coming in September: The Stories That Must Be Told. The story of loss, self-destruction, and final redemption. And overall, learning to let love into your heart, no matter how scary it might be. It might just be the best thing that ever happens to you.

In other writing new:

Coming this September: Don’t Say A Word is coming out in an audio format! I’m so excited to let you all know about this! I have had so many requests for audio versions of my books. This is the first try. I am very pleased to have found a wonderful, experienced narrator, making me feel a lot less nervous about the process. More to come on this venture soon!

COMING IN DECEMBER:

Book 2 of the Anomaly series, called Blinding Justice. Kaya and Graham are back, along with Grayson, Dr. Blake, and a whole new group of characters with various skills and abilities. I don’t want to give away too much right now, but just know this: Kaya is NOT the only person in the world who can do what she does…or other things. And we will be meeting some of them in this book. I can’t wait until you start to meet the gang. I love these characters like they were my own friends, which makes sense, since I’m actually currently writing book 13 of this series!

More to come as all of these releases get closer. If you have any questions, you can contact me. I’d be happy to tell you more about these series, and these dynamic 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.

And here is the link to my new book, Don’t Say a Word

Three, Two, One, Launch!

I Just Can't Say I Love You, McKinney High Class of 1986, self-publishing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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!

I Just Can't Say I Love You, May I Have Your Attention Please, McKinney High Class of 1986, self-publishing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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.

Be True to Your School

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

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.

Introducing My Series

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McKinney High Class of 1986

A series by Debby Meltzer Quick

April 27, 1984:  The McKinney High Junior Prom.

Six young couples, one fateful night.

A limo, a high school gym, a small hotel room. Twelve formally clad teens.

A night that none of them will ever forget.

By the end of the night:

*One friend will bravely confront her bully.

*One will make a romantic gesture that sets a standard for his friends for decades to come

*One will tearfully share her deeply hidden secret

*One will feel betrayed by his closest friend.

*One will realize that her quest for revenge was horribly misguided

*One will realize that some secrets shouldn’t be kept from the people you trust

*One will go the whole night without realizing that her future lover is in the same room…with another girl.

*One will come close to breaking a solemn promise he made to himself years before.

*One will have her long-time crush realized in a very big way

*And something very bad will happen to one of the friends, but she will keep it to herself for years

Seven stories, ten friends, one special night

McKinney High Class of 1986. You never forget your high school prom.

Marketing, Promoting, and Social Media…A Trifecta of Fun!

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And so the games begin! I am getting much closer to my goal of self-publishing my first book, May I Have Your Attention Please. I am hoping I can push the publish button on KPD in about six weeks if everything goes as planned. As I may have mentioned before, writing the book is the easy part. Editing is tedious, but it is necessary to perfect (as much as possible) my art before I get it out to the public. Formatting seems like kind of a bear, but I’m figuring it out. So what is the hard part then, Debby? Please do tell?

It’s that part where you know that some time soon, your book is going to be released into the wild. And wild it is. No one knows what’s out there in the dangerous world of books and book sales. What becomes a best seller? Will people read my book, and if they do, will they like it? Or will they find out the horrible truth about me: that I am an imposter.

Imposter syndrome is a real thing, and it is very common in writers and authors. According to Wikipedia, “Impostor syndrome, also known as impostor phenomenon or impostorism, is a psychological occurrence in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud…Despite external evidence of their competence, those experiencing this phenomenon do not believe they deserve their success or luck.” Yes. Who am I to believe that others could like words that came out of my brain? But I do have one thing on my side: I have enlisted Beta-readers, several wonderful people who have read my first book and given me feedback. And guess what? They didn’t hate my book. As a matter of fact, they really liked it, and some of them weren’t even people I knew or family members, and I wasn’t paying them to like it! So, I know I have some good stuff, but now I have to convince millions of people out there that I have good stuff, and they should shell out their hard earned money to buy and read it. I mean, I could just give it away for free, but to be honest, if you pay for a book, you are much more likely to read it. Seriously. A lot of the time, I don’t even read the books I do pay for. You should see my To Be Read pile. It’s up to my waist.

So how do I let people know to buy my book, and the right people? First, I have to decide who I think the right people would be. My book takes place in a high school, with high school kids. Does this make it appropriate for high school students? Well, maybe. I mean, they can relate to the kids, even though the setting is the 1980s. Kids are kids. But not all kids might like it. I think a lot would. There is some, shall we say, intimacy, in my books. It’s not explicit, but it’s there, and it’s clearly implied. That is why you never let your family read your books. Just kidding. They did, and I was horrified. But I digress. So high school kids, young adults. Ok. But as my series progresses, my stories start in high school, move out of the high school setting, into college, and in some, beyond college into adulthood, with adult issues. And my books start delving into some pretty serious subjects, like grief and loss, mental illness, substance abuse, religious abuse, spousal abuse, child abuse. Not graphic or horribly described, but the topics are there. They are a main part of the story. So new adults might enjoy these books as well. What are new adults? They are part of a new genre of readers that have turned or passed the age of 18. They are learning their way out there in a world full of responsibilities. They are coming of age, just like my characters. Who else can relate to my characters? 1980s kids. Generation X. My characters were mainly born in 1968. If you were born around that time, and you read my series, you will get a nostalgic feel from them, and you might be thrown back in time for a short while. Hopefully your 1980s were not filled with angst and pain. If so, maybe skip my books, or rewrite your own 1980s story, like I did with mine. And the last group of people I know enjoyed my books? Men in their late 40s-late 50s! I had four of these men read my book, and they all enjoyed it. That was a pleasant surprise. So maybe my books are for everyone (over the age of 14).

But to be honest, when people look at my book cover and read the blurb on the back, I am guessing they will think teen love story, and they are not wrong. It is a sweet love story about Sally Bachman and James Newell. And it has a happy ending, at least for the main characters. So it’s probably best that I market toward young women, YA and NA genres, Coming of Age Romance readers. And hope that their moms and dads pick up their copy someday and get hooked. So here’s the 15 million dollar question: where to you find these young people who would maybe want to read my book? And the most obvious, and truest answer, is TikTok. I mean, all social media, but have you been to TikTok? I hadn’t. I knew my teen child is obsessed with it, and always has their eyes glued to something on the screen, but I wrote it off to being a kid magnet, and never even bothered to look. But then I did. And you know what? It is a kid thing. But I’m absolutely hooked now! I love it! I found Booktok, a group (millions of people) who love books and reading and love talking about books and reading. And these people? THEY BUY BOOKS! Lots of them! And they review them! And they have thousands and thousands of followers! So if you can tap into these people (primarily young women) you have found a gigantic door to best seller heaven.

But the 20-million-dollar question is how do you tap in? And that, my friends, is where TikTok loses me. I have posted videos of me talking, of funny things my pets do, of text, and now, today, I made one of me coming to the coffee shop to show my writing process. Some of my posts have gotten 600-700 views and close to one hundred likes. Some others, which are similar have gotten around 100 views and maybe 15 likes. I know some of the formula. You need to use hashtags. You need to find out what is trending and get on that trend. Ok. Each time you put in a hashtag, you get to find out how many times that hashtag has been used by others. So you want to choose the ones that have 13.4 million uses, as opposed to “created a new hashtag.” So I do that. Then, there is the music. You can attach a clip to your video or post, or not. TikTok will automatically attach one if you don’t, and then you will have to either switch it to one you like or delete it. So again, you want songs that are trending. What do you do if your brand is the 1980s? You want to use 1980s music. It is very distinctive, and as soon as people hear it, they know where it came from. But unfortunately, most of it isn’t trending. I tried using “Running Up That Hill,” which I never even heard in the 80s, but apparently was very popular. It was trending due to the show “Stranger Things.” But I guess I missed that bus, because it didn’t seem to help me much. But, seriously, the music that’s trending? Like my mother used to say about my Eric Clapton CDs back when I was a teen, “that stuff hurts my ears!” Ugh. I’m old, I know. But 2020s music does not go with a pitch to sell a 1980s themed book, and series. I asked my followers what they thought would help. I was told little snippets from my book. So, I’ve been doing that. And I included the first few in this post so you can see and be intrigued, in case you are one of everyone, and might like my book. And I did the “behind the scenes at the coffee shop” that I am going to post later in the day, after I attached a trending noise song, but turn the volume all the way down so it can’t be heard, a trick someone told me about yesterday.

So, my plea to you is check out my TikTok, see my pitches, and buy my book, for your teenage niece, your Gen X sister, and your 55-year-old male coworker. But if you give it to him, maybe put in a discrete brown paper bag. He has an image to maintain, you know!

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

Cover Reveal is Here!

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Here it is at long last! The cover of my upcoming book, “May I Have Your Attention Please.”

I am hoping to release this book into the wild by the end of March or early April. I will post a link to the Amazon location as soon as it becomes available.

I thought I might drop a little excerpt here just to keep you entertained until the book release. Please enjoy!

“What do you think of the Great Gatsby so far?”  Sally asked, glancing at the novel as she set it down next to her tray.

“It starts off a bit slow,” James admitted. “I’ve never been much of a reader, so I hope it picks up the pace soon.”

“That’s one thing I’ve always been,” Sally responded. “A reader. I have always loved to read fiction. I get in the zone and sometimes hours go by before I know it. Like on Saturday night. I read before bed, and next thing I knew it was almost two am!”

“That’s exactly what it’s like for me when I play my guitar,” James said. “In the zone is a good way to describe it. When I learn a new song, or a new chord, I stay on it for a long time, until I get it just right. My parents know not to knock on my door when they hear me playing in my room.”

“I can’t wait to hear you play,” Sally said. “I wish I could play an instrument. I tried to play the flute when I was younger, but I never practiced. I wanted to, but I couldn’t seem to figure out how to get started. I’d be watching tv, and get anxious that I wasn’t practicing, but I still wouldn’t do it. My mom finally told me that if I didn’t get with it, she’d stop paying for lessons, so that’s pretty much what happened.”

“I was like that with karate in third grade,” James disclosed. “My friends were all doing it. I liked the idea of doing it, but at each class, it was obvious to the teacher I hadn’t practiced since the last class. He told me practice was a discipline I had to develop, but in the end I decided not to. It was too hard for me to stay focused.”

“It’s so weird we both do that,” Sally said, shaking her head. “Some things we can totally focus on for hours without anything stopping us, and others, we can’t even get started on. I wonder what that’s all about?”

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

Thanks for coming to my release party!