Tag Archives: new release

Anomaly Book 2 Coming Soon!

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Photo by Anna Tarazevich on Pexels.com

Greetings friends! Happy New Year, now that it’s February 2! I hope you are all doing well.

So Book 2 of the series Anomaly will be coming out later this month! This book takes place a few years after the events of Book 1, Don’t Say a Word, and continues to feature Kaya, Grayson, Dr.Blake, and Graham while introducing new characters Alice, Tony, Emily, Brad, and Ponyboy (the guy pictured above, who is a very, very good boy), who will feature a ton in the whole series. Each book in this series contains a full story, beginning to end, so can be read alone, but it might be a bit confusing if you don’t read the books that come before. I also usually end my books with a very small cliffhanger, which is just a tease for the next book. So yes, I recommend you read them in order, but I think you will still be entertained if you read them as stand alones. At least the first few. But they’re better in order.

I am going to share chapter one from Book 2, which is called Blinding Justice. For those of you that read Book 1, this is the return of the prodigal father, and Kaya and Grayson’s inevitable wedding. It takes place in the late 1990s. I hope you enjoy the story!

Chapter 1

Peter stood behind the hedge surrounding the courtyard to watch the ceremony. He knew he wouldn’t be welcome by the family. His family. What used to be his family. But it had been his choice to walk away all those years ago. He had never walked away completely. He had been watching them, from afar, for years. Not in the ways of a stalker. The world had been invaded by the internet.  Information could be found online. He saw when his daughter made the cheerleading team in high school, and then when she was voted team captain during her senior year. He had found the yearly honor roll from his son’s school every year on the digital version of the town’s newspaper, and the list of names of the graduates when he finally finished school. His daughter was three years behind her brother, and then they were both at State University. Lucky for Peter, who was adept in the ways of modern technology, social media was becoming easier and easier to access. He was able to see pictures and stories on MySpace, and then Facebook. He could see his children’s activities and thoughts, at least the ones they made public. When he finally decided to make contact, he would have to urge them to be more private with who could see their information. But for now, he was glad it was available for him, so he could track their progress in life.

It was harder to track his wife. She was now his ex-wife, he knew. He could see her progress at work as she got promoted through the years, making great strides even after she was left to raise their two children on her own, with no financial assistance except the balance of their joint savings account. But the news that hit him the hardest had been the announcement in the Wisteria Weekly News. Janice had gotten engaged. And the man she was engaged to was the dentist he used to bring his children to see when they were small. The man that provided the children with a new toothbrush every six months. Maybe Janice liked the perks. Maybe Dr. Flagg polished her teeth for free. What hurts the most was thinking about what else of Janice’s he was polishing. He hadn’t left because he stopped loving his wife. He left because he did love her, and their kids. He didn’t feel like he had a choice. He didn’t really regret his choice. The children were doing great. Janice was happy. And today, on this beautiful spring day in Wisteria, his daughter was getting married.

He watched as his son walked down the aisle, escorting his mother to her seat in front, and then went back to walk his grandmothers to their seats with their husbands. The bridesmaids started their trek, and Peter shook his head in disbelief. His daughter’s friends had all grown up so much. He felt as though no time had passed, but this was the proof that it had. As if to mock him, his left knee started to ache again. He shifted his position to take some weight off of it. Soon, his son walked back down the aisle, this time on the arm of a woman he had never met, but he knew she was his daughter-in-law. They took their place at the altar. A tear started to roll down Peter’s face as he realized that his daughter-in-law was obviously very pregnant. He was going to be a grandfather soon. He had already missed so much.

The music stopped. Peter looked to the back of the aisle, and he saw his daughter. She was a vision of absolute beauty, an angel, with her chestnut hair wrapped around the back of her head, wavy tendrils framing her face, her fragile features, her beaming smile. He wasn’t close enough to see them, but he remembered her shining blue eyes. She was radiant. She was holding on to the arm of an older man whose face he couldn’t see. He braced himself to see the dentist walking his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day. It was a job that should have gone to Peter, and it would have, if only he had made a different choice…but if he had made a different choice, this wedding might not have ever happened.

The music started. The Wedding March. Everyone stood as the bride made her way toward her true love. Peter tried to get a good look at the face of the dentist, only to find…it wasn’t the dentist at all. It was a man he had never seen before. He was a man of average height, with a deeply receded hairline. What was left on his head was a tufty gray fringe, and he wore a pair of lopsided round spectacles that appeared to be sliding down toward the tip of his bulbous nose. He was wearing a black tux that matched all of the other men in the wedding, but on this man, the suit looked frumpy, as if he had slept in it the night before. The man stumbled slightly, and Peter’s daughter caught his arm. They looked at each other and giggled before continuing their walk. When they made it to the altar, the groom stepped forward to meet them. His daughter kissed the older man on the cheek, took the groom’s hand, and went the last few steps to stand in front of the justice of peace, to be finally joined in holy matrimony. The ceremony progressed, and then came to its conclusion. The bride and groom kissed, everyone applauded, and the wedding party receded back up the aisle. Peter wiped the tears from his eyes. They were tears of joy, and tears of loss.

Peter Reed had lost years with his family. They were years that he spent searching, trying to find out the truth about himself, and by extension, his family. He did what he felt he had to, to protect them, and to be completely honest, himself. It made sense that they had all moved on. They had to. He wanted that for them. They were not obligated to stay in stasis until he returned. He wasn’t even sure he was ready to return. He only wanted to watch, and maybe establish some sort of brief contact…

“Hey, you, what are you doing back there?”

Peter turned to look behind him. There was a man in the formal clothing of a catering staff. He was holding a sealed trash bag in each hand, apparently bringing them out to the dumpster nearby. “I…uh, I’m just…”

“I told the other guy that came by earlier the family said we could leave any leftovers out on the south side of the venue after everyone leaves. But in the meantime, you need to clear out.” He turned to leave but then turned back quickly. “Oh, will you all be needing utensils? I can make sure we leave you some plastic forks and knives. And maybe some disposable napkins if you want.”

“I don’t…I guess…”

The man shook his head. “Listen,” he said apologetically. “I understand. I’ve been through some hard times myself. It’s hard to believe that our country has come to this, especially in a place like Wisteria. I’m sorry they don’t let you guys stay in the shelter during the daytime hours. I can’t imagine it’s easy to have to wander around all day. At least there are some shady trees at the park. If it gets too hot, I think the community center has an air-conditioned area where you can go and rest and get something cold to drink. And then come back later for the food. Probably around six?”

Peter stared at the man, and then he nodded. “Okay,” he said. “Yeah, thank you. You’ve been very generous. I’ll…I’ll just go.” He turned back toward the courtyard and took one more look. He saw her, his daughter. Kaya. She was standing on the lawn, talking to the dentist. The dentist had his hand on her elbow. On her right was the groom. His name was Grayson Pike. His son-in-law. Peter swallowed. He took one more sweeping look over the group of guests at the reception. There was Janice, his ex-wife, talking to Peter’s own parents, Tom and Candice. They all laughed. It made him happy to see them still being friendly with each other. Janice had never done anything wrong. She deserved to have their love and support. Maybe they had even befriended the dentist. And there, sitting at another table, was Graham, his first-born child. Graham had become a man. He was sitting next to his wife. Her name was Gina. She had her hand on her protruding belly, and she was smiling. The older man, the one who had walked his daughter down the aisle, was sitting at the same table, and he was talking. He was also looking around, as if he had lost something. Then he bent down and looked under the table. He came back up and shrugged. Graham and Gina laughed. Peter turned away. He was intruding here. He had to leave. If he didn’t leave now…he took a few steps forward.

“Hey!”

Peter stopped, but he didn’t turn around. 

“Hey! You! Stop.”

Peter took another step toward the street, praying his face had been shielded well enough by his baseball cap.

“I said stop! Come on! I can’t run in these heels. Give me a break.”

Peter took a breath, and closed his eyes. Then he opened them again, and turned around. And there she stood, about twenty feet away. He took off his hat.

She ran up to the edge of the courtyard, looking over the hedge at the sidewalk. When he looked at her, she stopped in her tracks, her mouth agape, eyes focused on the sight before her. A full minute passed as they stared at each other. Just as she went to take a step toward him, her new husband was at her side. “Kaya, what is it?” he asked, putting his hand on her arm.

She looked at him, and then back at Peter. She pointed. “Him,” she said.

“That’s the guy I saw behind the bushes during the ceremony,” Grayson said. “I’ll go talk to him.” He took a few steps toward the sidewalk, but Kaya grabbed his arm.

“Grayson,” she said softly. “No.” She held his arm tightly. “I…I need to go. Grayson…I thought he was just some creepy guy, gawking at us, but…that’s…I think that’s…”

“I’m  her father,” Peter said, taking a step toward her.

Kaya continued to stare, and then a sly smile spread across her face. “I knew you’d come,” she said. “I told Graham, years ago. I told him you’d come to my wedding, and you’d watch me get married, and then we’d talk…” She reached out toward him.

Peter quickly took a step back. “No, Kaya,” he said. “No. Not yet.”

Kaya jerked back, her arm still outstretched. She looked at her hand. “I…oh my God.” She dropped her arm to her side. “So it’s true,” she whispered.

“What’s true?” Grayson asked. He looked up and glared at Peter. “This is the absolute worst time that you could have shown up, Mr. Reed. This is our wedding day.”

Kaya nodded slowly, looking at her feet. “It’s the happiest day of my life.”

Grayson looked at her. “Kaya, what do you want me to do?” he asked, desperate to do something. “How can I help you?”

Kaya looked at him gratefully. “Go get Graham, babe,” she said. “But don’t tell him why. Just tell him I need him right now.”

Grayson nodded. He looked at Peter one more time, shooting him a warning look. “I’ll be right back,” he said, and he jogged away.

“He’s great,” Peter said. “I can tell. He really loves you.”

Kaya laughed bitterly. “So you don’t even need to touch him to tell, huh? I guess your skills are really advanced.”

Peter smiled at his daughter, although confused by her words. “You don’t need any special skills,” he told her, “to be able to see when a man is madly in love with your daughter. I could see it in every part of him. You did great, Kaya.”

“And you remember my name.” 

That statement ripped at Peter’s heart. “Your name,” he said. “I chose it, you know. Your mother had no idea what to name you. She was reading out loud from this baby name book she had taken out of the library. When she read off Kaya, I suddenly remembered a trip I had taken to Jamaica during spring break in college. These local guys were walking around the beach, trying to sell pot to tourists. They called it kaya. So when your mother said the name, it hit me funny, and I told her that was the name I wanted. I didn’t tell her why at first. She just thought it was pretty.”

“Everyone thinks it’s pretty,” Kaya said. “Some people ask me if it’s Hawaiian. I looked it up. It actually is a Hawaiian word. It means the sea. I think I like that better than meaning pot in Jamaican.”

Peter laughed. “Do you like the sea? Have you ever been?”

“No, “she said, rubbing her arms with her hands, as if she was cold. “I plan to, though, someday.”

Peter nodded. “We have so much to catch up on.”

Grayson ran back over. “Graham is coming,” he said. “He didn’t want to leave Gina alone, so he was bringing her over to your mom.” He turned to Peter. “She’s almost at full term,” he said. 

Peter could tell that Grayson was trying to convey a message to him. The message was, “This is my territory. These are my people. You don’t belong here. Watch your step.” He nodded. “I could see her earlier. She looks beautiful.”

Kaya looked toward the courtyard as her brother walked calmly over to the small group. “What’s up, Ky?” he asked. “Are those homeless guys from before bothering you again?” He looked toward the man on the sidewalk. At first, it appeared that he hadn’t made the connection. Then he looked back again and nodded. “Hello, Dad,” he said, still remaining calm.

“Hello, Graham,” he said. “Congratulations on the wife and baby.”

Graham nodded. “Thank you,” he said. He turned to Kaya. “Do you want me to…do anything right now?”

Kaya looked back and forth between her brother and her father. “He doesn’t want me to touch him,” she said.

Graham thought for a moment. “So we were right then.”

Peter watched his son’s face. “What were you right about?” he asked quizzically.

“You have the skill,” Graham said.

“What skill?” Peter asked.

“Oh for God’s sake, Dad,” Kaya exclaimed. “You know very well what skill.”

“Maybe I do,” Peter answered. “But maybe what some people call a skill, others call a curse.”

“And that’s why you left me to deal with the curse all by myself?” Kaya snapped.

Grayson stepped up. “I really don’t think this is the right time to get into this.” He turned to Graham for support.

Graham nodded. “Dad, I’m not sure what to do or say right now. Kaya suspected a long time ago that you would appear at her wedding,  behind the bushes. You did exactly that. I also remember her telling me that when you did show up at her wedding, she wouldn’t be angry, and she wouldn’t turn you away.” He looked at Kaya. “Remember that, Kaya? You said that you would listen to what he had to say.”

Kaya’s face softened. “I did say that.” 

“Kaya!” a female voice called out. “The photographer needs you.”

Kaya looked back at Peter. “This is my wedding day,” she said. “I…I guess I’m glad you showed up. It’s like you fulfilled a prophecy. But like Grayson said, this is not the time or place to get into this conversation. I do want to talk to you.  We have a lot to catch up on.” She reached for Grayson’s hand.

“Wait!” Peter called out quickly. He didn’t want the moment to end. He wanted to gaze at his daughter in her wedding dress for just a little bit longer. “Who was that guy, the one that walked you down the aisle? I know it wasn’t Steve Flagg.”

Graham shook his head. “You know about Steve?” he asked. “Well, I guess if you know about Kaya and Grayson getting married, you’d know about Mom and Steve’s engagement.”

“That’s Dr. Blake,” Kaya said. “He’s a close family friend. Graham and I met him at State. He’s…helped us a lot over the past few years. He’s been, well, like a father to me. I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d want to walk me down the aisle. And Dr. Blake, well, he knows things. About me. About us.” She motioned to her brother. “And I guess, by association, about you, too.”

Peter winced. “About me? What about me? What does this man know?”

Grayson spoke up. “Listen, Mr. Reed…”

“Peter, please.”

Grayson nodded. “Peter. We have pictures to take, and people to greet. Graham, can you…”

Graham nodded. “You two go back. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” 

Kaya gave Peter one last faint smile, and then walked away with her husband, hand in hand. 

Peter looked at Graham. There was so much he wanted to know, including what this Dr. Blake knew about his family, but right now, his son was standing right in front of him, all grown up. His face relaxed. “You must be close to six feet tall,” he said.

Graham laughed awkwardly. “Five-ten,” he said. “I think these shoes give me a little bit of extra height. I never got as tall as you, or even Grandpa.” He looked more carefully at his father. “I guess it’s a good thing for me that male pattern baldness comes from the mother’s side of the family, huh?”

Peter’s hand went straight to the top of his head. “It’s not that,” he said. “It’s just some thinning on top. Most of it has grown back.” He chuckled. “It started during a stressful period of time in my life, soon after I left…Wisteria. I started to pull some of it out methodically, when I was anxious. There’s actually a name for it. Trichotillomania.”

“Huh,” Graham said. “Is it hereditary?”

“I don’t think so.” Peter took a step onto the lawn, closer to his son. “Some things are just learned.”

Graham nodded. “I’m in school to become a psychologist,” he said. “I’ve been working in research for a few years, but now I’m back in grad school. It’s a bit different than that path you took.”

“To say the least,” Peter said. “I guess advertising isn’t for the faint of heart. But you’ve done well, Graham. I’ve followed your progress since high school.”

Graham looked at the ground. “I always wondered if you knew what we were up to.” He looked back up. “Internet?”

Peter nodded. “Internet. Son, I have to say I’m very proud of you. Of both you and Kaya. You’ve really done well. I was a bit skeptical when I saw that Kaya had been working for the police, and was planning on attending the police academy. I’m both proud and scared for her. She’s a brave girl.”

“Woman,” Graham corrected. “She’s easily the bravest person I’ve ever known.” He turned back to look at the crowd at the reception. He caught sight of Gina, still talking to his mother and her fiancé. “So do you want to wait, or do you want to talk about the elephant in the courtyard right now?”

Peter felt a palpitation in his chest. “The elephant?” he asked. “What elephant are you referring to?”

Graham smiled in amusement. “I might still be young, Dad,” he said, “but I’m not stupid. It might have taken us a long time to figure out what was going on with Kaya, and most likely with you, but we did figure it out eventually, and the hard way. Dad, Dr. Blake has found out that Kaya has the anomaly. I’ve been tested, and I have it too, but it doesn’t express itself the way Kaya’s does. We’re assuming we got the anomaly from your side of the family, but we’d have to do some testing to know for certain. We’d probably want to consider bringing in Grandma and Grandpa, too.”

Peter looked at Graham, his eyes wide. “Son,” he said, shaking his head. “You’re gonna have to enlighten me. Because you’re saying a lot of things here. A lot of confusing things. And to be honest with you, I have no idea what in the hell you’re going on about.”

I hope you enjoyed the sneak peek at my new book, and that you will look for it on Amazon, KU, and Barnes and Noble later this month. It will also be available on Ingram Spark in case you want to order it at your favorite book store. Be sure to check my social media pages for more information!

Facebook: Debby Meltzer Quick Author

TikTok:  @dbmquick 

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Author Website:  debbymeltzerquickauthor.com

Email: debbymeltzerquickauthor@dbmquick817

…And a Happy New Year!

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Photo by Todd Trapani on Pexels.com

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).

Photo by Shivkumar Sd on Pexels.com

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.

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.

Who Is In My Book?

May I Have Your Attention Please, self-publishing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve gotten much better at this artificial intelligence thing. I don’t like saying AI because it looks too much like my husband’s name, which is Al if you haven’t guessed already. Isn’t that weird?

Anyway, a friend from Facebook turned me on to Midjourney, which is on Discord, and I’ve fallen down a proverbial rabbit hole. It’s making me late for things. But it’s SO COOL! I have made a bunch of character sketches for my, uh, characters. Which is really good, because most of them are in all of my books, so you can get a better idea of who to expect to become your best friends while reading my series. The image above is how I picture Sally and James’s first kiss. It’s not perfect. James is supposed to have blond hair, and Sally, brown. Sally’s hair should be down, and she should be wearing a navy-blue mini dress and a denim jacket. But it’s close.

So I will start with James, and then move on to Sally. I probably won’t do all the characters today because it could be a book in itself, but I’ll get to the important people.

Introducing James Newell. He was born on January 12, 1968. He is the youngest of 3 children. His sister is a genius and his brother is a major troublemaker. James is still trying to figure out where he fits in with his family. His best friend, Pete goes to a different high school, but he still has his close friends Chris and Carl, cousins from a famous Eastboro family. James, Pete, Chris, and Carl are former bad boys, but they’ve cleaned up their act. James loves to play the guitar, and enjoys being able to chill at home when he’s not with his friends. He is not expecting to see Sally Bachman at his school on the first day of junior year. He is also not expecting how he will feel when he first lays eyes on her.

Sally Bachman was born on August 1, 1968. She is the youngest of 3 children, and she has an infant niece named Josie. She is very close to her older sister but struggles with finding common ground with her brother. She loves cats, Rock and Roll, New Wave, writing, and especially the Boston Red Sox. She is majorly into all Boston sports. Sally decided to leave her friends at public school and go to a private school sophomore year. But things didn’t go too well there. She returns to public school for her junior year, much to the delight of her best friend Michelle and her other friends from Randall Junior High, Darlene and Kim. The first person she sees at McKinney High is Jamie Newell from the group of bad boys she knew back at Randall. Sally has always had a soft spot for Jamie and his friends, and is happy to see him, especially when she gets lost in the hallways of her new school. Little does she know that this chance encounter is not only going to change her expectations for her junior year, but most likely far beyond.

Michelle Gorman is Sally’s best friend. She was born on St. Patrick’s Day, and already had a full head of flaming red hair at birth. She and Sally met on the first day of junior high in art class and bonded over their love of New Wave music and camp. Michelle is very petite, and she is very self-conscious about her size. When she realized there was no magic serum to help her grow, she settled on learning to be strong in every sense of the word. She is fiercely loyal to her friends, and she loves a good tidbit of gossip, especially from her friend Darlene. Michelle is smart and clever, and she would go to the end of the world to protect her older sister, who was born with an intellectual disability.

Pete Cooper (on the left…the guy on the right doesn’t show up until book 5, and you’ll be very happy that he does!) is James’s best friend. They have lived three houses from each other since they were 3. Pete is also the most athletic and most attractive of the friend group. He’s almost 6 feet tall at the start of high school. Pete is devastated when he found out that James is transferring to McKinney High, and they’ll no longer see each other in school every day. But the two boys stay very close and confide in each other often. Pete has a younger sister that he dotes on, and a girlfriend named Carolyn. He still hangs out with his junior high friends on weekends and vacations, even as he makes new friends at Murphy High. He has a secret he needs to tell James about Sally, and although he worries it will cause issues in their relationship, it only brings them closer. Pete then becomes the voice of reason when it comes to James’s relationship struggles.

J.D. and Julia Newell are James’s parents. J.D. works as a manager at Aries Corp, where everyone’s dad seems to work. Julia is a special education aide in the public schools. They have three children, Erin, who goes to Brown University, Howie, who they had to kick out last year, and James, their baby who tries really hard to meet their expectations. Julia is Italian. Her parents were the children of immigrants. J.D.’s father was an alcoholic who died young. His mother took the kids and left him due to abuse when J.D. was young. Julia loves all of her children and worries about them constantly, especially her boys. She also makes a mean cannoli. J.D. wants to be there for James, his namesake, and gives him advice when it comes to love. Both of his parents enjoy joking around and have their own little comedy routine for Sally when they first meet.

Phyllis and Jacob “Jake” Bachman are Sally’s parents. They both work full-time. Jake works in printing, and he has to be available anytime something he’s working on goes to press, which means that he had to go out of town a lot. Phyllis works in “computers,” and she is very tech savvy. The Bachmans are Jewish, and they have raised their children with Jewish traditions. Phyllis enjoys lighting Shabbat candles with Sally every Friday night and having a special family dinner. The family celebrates all of the Jewish holidays together. Phyllis’s mother had a lot of troubles when she was a child, and Phyllis is very affected by this. She credits her father for raising her and her sister. Jake loves Boston sports and has instilled this love into his daughter. There is nothing he loves more than watching the Red Sox or Patriots with her on TV or in person. The Bachmans are very welcoming and friendly people who enjoy having intimate parties in their home.

There are a few more friends to introduce you to, but I haven’t discovered their pictures yet. Kim and Darlene are Sally’s friends from junior high, and Traci joins them in high school. They each get books of their own later but have bit parts in book 1.

Carl and Chris are second cousins, but they are as close as brothers. They are from a large family. Their grandmothers are identical twins, and their grandfathers are brothers. Chris’s mother and Carl’s father were very close growing up. Chris is famous for having a cousin for every occasion and need, and Carl does his best to be funny. James, Pete, Carl, and Chris made up the DeMarco Elementary and Randall Junior High Bad Boy Posse. But they were the type of bad boys that you can’t help but cheer for, and they’re finally trying to find their way in the world.

All of these characters have their own unique stories, and all of them will be told. One thing they all have in common is one night in April, 1985: the Junior Prom. What happens to each of them on this night changes their individual lives forever. And most of them are so caught up in their own stories, that they aren’t even aware what’s going on with everyone else. But eventually, years later, all is revealed, and sometimes, friendships are tested.

 “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.