by Keri Rozansky | Feb 14, 2025 | Blog
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Many people will be celebrating romantic love today. That’s not the only kind of love to celebrate today. I could delve into the history and lore of Valentine’s Day, but that’s been done way too much in my opinion. You can look up those facts easily with a Google search.
But first, let me wish you a happy Valentine’s Day. For those singles out there who think Valentine’s Day isn’t for them: you’re wrong. You can celebrate your love for yourself, your love for your family, or your love for your closest friends. Look up a Valentine’s Day activity happening in your area and go check it out. You may meet some new friends, or make a love connection you never expected.
Unless it’s your wish, don’t set out to experience Valentine’s Day for romantic love – celebrate love in general and all it has to offer to everyone who gives and receives it.
by Keri Rozansky | Feb 12, 2025 | Blog
Welcome to the next step of my social media presence! It’s not this blog, as this blog has been around in some form or other since at least 2011. I have a Facebook page that I try to keep up with, mostly posting links to the latest blog post on this website. I have an X/Twitter account, mainly because I was told it was part of a robust social media presence. Again, it’s mostly for tweeting out the link to my latest post here. In early 2024, I decided to start an Instagram author account, yet another thing I was told would offer a robust social media presence. Since much of the content I create doesn’t include pictures or videos, it sits mainly dormant. I prefer my face to not be in front of the camera, so photos and videos may be few and far between. Photos of my workspace, or the photos I use to put with posts are fun for only a short time. I’m not interested in Tik Tok, much for the same reason.
The final step in my social media journey has been to join Substack. It was part of my marketing and writing plan going into 2024. It took a while to get it set up, as I focused mainly on writing my novel. I avoided the big question: what does a typical fiction writer on Substack write about – and what should I write about? There are bunches of sites that focus on the craft or writing, or a user-friendly newsletter that’s not your boring list of articles laid out like a newspaper or traditional newsletter.
I didn’t want to start advertising my Substack until I had some content up. This included figuring out my theme: did I want to write about craft? Not really. Did I have a lot of “news” for a newsletter? No really. After examining some of the most popular writing-related and author-related sites, I came up with an idea: a newspaper for the fictional town where my novel is set. The Glass Creek Chronicles was born. The next step was to figure out content. The first several articles are introductions to the main characters, nuggets gleaned from the character biographies I’ve written for each.
Then came the news articles. News article reports on the deaths that are the inciting incident for the story. Town events, holidays, events at the school where my younger characters attend classes. A published interview with the senior detective tasked with solving these murders. Writing this as a town newspaper website has opened endless possibilities.
Now to the next step: Substack has paid and unpaid subscriptions. A paid subscription can get you special perks not afforded to unpaid subscribers. Those things could be anything the author deems to be limited access. Behind-the-scenes tours of writing spaces, special Vlogs, AMAs, podcasts, short stories, and more. Whatever they feel may add value to the content experience.
I’m still in the planning stages of some of this content, but it will be coming shortly. Once it does, you’ll be able to sign up for a paid subscription for just $5/month. Watch this blog and my other social media accounts for more announcements!
by Keri Rozansky | Feb 5, 2025 | Blog
I’m part of an online writers’ community that, without them, I don’t think I’d be anticipating the release of my first novel soon. They’ve pushed me to make a schedule and (mostly) stick to it. Of course, life gets in the way sometimes and I fell behind. That’s part of the reason why my debut got rescheduled from the end of 2024 to early 2025. I hate moving goalposts, especially ones that have been in place for so long.
That’s just part of the consequences of learning as I go. I have many years of writing experience, with nearly 20 of those under a professional degree. Other than still not always being able to tell the difference between affect and effect (yes, it’s true, that’s why editors exist), there’s not much I can’t do in terms of the ability and mechanics of writing. I hope you love the novel.
There’s more to writing a book than just the story, an edit, and pressing Publish on an online publishing platform. There were steps I wanted to skip – why do I need beta readers when I’ve been working on this manuscript for years? It’s perfect! Well, not quite. My beta readers, bless them, found plot holes I didn’t realize existed, and expressed needs/wants for information that was never followed up on – how did that happen!? Without them, these glaring mistakes would have made it to print.
The next step, or so I thought, was to send it to an editor. But first, the beta readers’ suggestions. I’m still working on them, with hopes to get them done by the end of the week. Only then, will I send it to an editor. After that, the editors suggestions will be applied, and sent back for proofreading. After that, I’ll be able to press publish. But again, that’s just the story.
What about the rest? What is the rest? That writers’ community I mentioned? One of the leaders gave a presentation recently about some of the things she’s working on and what stages they were in. She said she had to work on the “front matter” and “back matter” of the book? What the hell is all that? It’s the pages before the start of the story that include the ‘business’ of writing. It’s the traditional stuff you find in the front: copyright page, the ISBN number, the title page, a dedication if the author chooses, a prologue if the author chooses, and more. It’s the traditional stuff you find in the back: an epilogue, acknowledgments, a glossary if necessary, and a host of other information. It may even include an excerpt of the next book.
While I work on beta reader comments, I’m also working on these other things. They don’t take as long as the book itself, but they are things to consider for the final product. Without the knowledge gained from this workshop/presentation, I wouldn’t have thought twice about ‘front matter’ and ‘back matter’ and it’s importance. I likely would have added a copyright page and a title page, made sure the ISBN was listed, and left it at that.
So with many other things in life, I’m learning as I go. What are some things you’ve had to learn as you go? Had the learning process set you back from achieving the end goal? Let’s talk on Facebook!
by Keri Rozansky | Jan 29, 2025 | Blog
I’m Pam Moore, Turner’s mom and Brad’s wife. I never really asked for either of those roles. My father got his old-fashioned traditions from his father, who got them from his father. That meant men ruled the world, and women had to ask for permission to succeed. That’s not how I felt about things.
My dad never wanted me. He wanted a boy to pass on the family business and carry on the bloodline – so old fashioned of him. So I had to make my own way and be successful on my own. Lord knows my mother had bent to being the dutiful housewife and mother my father’s way dictated. I did everything I could to stand against it.
When he told me I wouldn’t be inheriting the business until after I was married to a worthy man, I lost it. I had been captain of the swim team, a straight-A student, and everything else a parent could want in a top-performing child of any sex. Again, I put my foot down. I told him that if that were the case, I wouldn’t be getting married at all and he would either have to close the business or pass it to me as would be my right as the only child. He didn’t say a word, only huffed and stormed away.
My fragile mother came to plead me to change my mind. I wouldn’t. I had only just started college and wasn’t looking to get married anyway. Then my father burst in. He told my mother to get out, and she dutifully shuffled away in front of my dad’s glaring eyes. She was such a mouse of a woman. Just about as disgusting as my father’s old-fashioned ways.
Then the old man showed ever more of his contempt for women. “Pamela, I’ve decided.”
“Decided what, Father?” I said. I still had to play the subservient role now and again, but I always added some spice, as he called it. Then he dropped the bomb. “I will arrange a marriage for you.” I think my eyes popped out of my head and surely my jaw hit the floor. This was the most ancient thinking I had heard him spout in my life. “Arranged marriage? Ha! You won’t find a man good enough.” He rambled on and on about there being plenty of men good enough to take on this family and its business, and who would assure to give him grandchildren to carry on the traditions and family business.
“You most certainly will not! You can’t force me to marry anyone.” Okay, I was 19, I probably didn’t say “certainly,” but you know what I mean. He was not going to be running my life this way. Then, then he told me he had found some qualifying – qualifying! men to suit the role already. “And who might they be, Father?” He said he was still working on it, and there would be a testing period for each one. He wanted to know the boy was serious, that he wasn’t just in it for the money or control. My father never wanted love for me, just a weaker man he could force his ‘traditional’ values on, one that would keep me home barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen while the man ran our lives.
I was having none of that. I questioned him again about who they were. He said the first one was arriving soon. “Soon? Like, today?” I asked. He said yes with the straightest poker face, even a professional would have been jealous. He told me to make myself pretty and be downstairs in the living room in an hour. I decided to play along. I showered, dressed in my least favorite dress, slapped some makeup on, and prepared to be auctioned off like a pig.
Just as I got downstairs, the doorbell rang. I ignored it and went into the living room while the housekeeper answered the door. “Hello, Master Valentine,” I heard the housekeeper say. Jim? Seriously? My father was trying to set me up with him? I liked Jim and all, but he and Emily had been all over each other for the past ten years. How could he have even agreed? Whatever. Jim and I sat and had a late lunch and talked about Emily. He was going to propose soon. I asked why he was here and he said he heard his father talking about it and asked to be ‘considered’. It was his way of getting to me so he could tell me and show me the ring. It was beautiful. I knew she’d love it.
I could go on until I get to the prize I actually won, but that would take too long. So now you know why I am the way I am. If you don’t like it, oh well. Maybe you’ll learn more if you read the book coming out about my family’s life in just a couple months.
I know the author likes to interact with her fans on Facebook, so maybe you should go there and ask more if you really want to know.
by Keri Rozansky | Jan 22, 2025 | Blog
One of the lessons of the Fresh Start program was to create a reading list. Much of the books are related to some of the themes and goals I’ve set for my life this year, but there will be some that will be for entertainment, and possibly research for upcoming stories. I added all three of the Dragon Heart Legacy books by Nora Roberts, even though I have read the first two and only part of the third. It’s been so long since I’ve read them though that I feel the need to re-read the first two. I’ll be taking a trip to my local library.
– The One Thing — By Gary Keller
– Unfu*k Yourself: A Motivational Self-Help Book – Gary John Bishop
– Spark Joy: Marie Kondo
– Financial Peace – Dave Ramsey
– The Fitness Mindset: Eat for energy, Train for tension, Manage your mindset, Reap the results by Brian Keane
– Weird Michigan by Linda S. Godfrey
– Smart Journaling: How to Form Life-Changing Journal Writing Habits that Actually Work for Reaching Any Goal and Getting Your Life on Track by Mackenzie Reed
– The 80/20 Principle (Richard Koch)
– Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Dave King
– The Fourth Wing (Rebecca Yarros)
– The Little Book of Hygge/Lykke (Meik Wiking)
– Spark Joy: Marie Kondo
– Inheritance, by Nora Roberts (Book 1 of Lost Bride series)
– The Mirror, by Nora Roberts (Book 2 of Lost Bride series)
– The Seven Rings, by Nora Roberts (Book 3 of Lost Bride series)
– The Awakening, by Nora Roberts (Book 1 of Dragon Heart Legacy series)
– The Becoming, by Nora Roberts (Book 2 of Dragon Heart Legacy series)
– The Choice, by Nora Roberts (Book 3 of Dragon Heart Legacy series)
– Framed, Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions by John Grisham & Jim McCloskey
Have you read any of these? Do you have any recommendations? Let me know on Facebook!
