Deborah Woehr

I’ve been looking for an easy way to create websites for quite some time. But none of the software programs I tried (Mac or PC) worked the way I had hoped they would. They were cumbersome, and the end result was poor. I was elated when I discovered blogs, but you can do so much with blog software. WordPress is great for building simple sites, and I probably could do more with it if I had the patience (and time) to master HTML and CSS. Forget Dreamweaver; that program is way too intensive.

The fact is, I don’t. I’m a writer and a graphic designer, not a coder. Earlier last year, I found a program called SiteGrinder, which allows you to create websites directly inside Photoshop. I was ecstatic until I realized that the developers hadn’t upgraded their program for Intel Macs. The year went by, and I became busy.

Then in January, I got curious about SiteGrinder and found that they had since upgraded to include Intel Macs. However, I didn’t have the budget at the time. I was searching for Mac software on Amazon yesterday when I found Freeway. I had tested it back in 2003 with frustrating results, but the single review made me curious. So, I went to their website, read pages of glowing reviews, and decided to download their trial.

While I’ve yet to test out making roll-over buttons and other technical tweaks, I was very impressed with how easy it was to create my landing page. If you’re familiar with page layout software, this program will be a cinch for you to learn. The hardest part was coming up with the design concept. Once I solved that, it was a matter of importing the design I’d created in Photoshop. Now, I have to start all over again for the rest of the pages, but I will finally have the main site exactly as I’d always envisioned it.

When I wrote yesterday’s post, I honestly didn’t expect to see my book listed on Amazon before the month was up. Imagine my surprise when I found it up early this morning. There is no synopsis, and Amazon is listing it as temporarily unavailable. A year and a half ago, I had no problem uploading the synopsis for the anthology. But if you frequent Amazon as much as I do, you’ll know that they changed their interface again.

Even though I’m able to update the author information, date of publication, etc., they left out the synopsis section. So. I’ll have to look for a solution on Lulu forum to see how I can get around shelling out $25 for the Amazon Advantage program. I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, here’s the link. Thanks to all of you who gave me moral support and/or offered advice. I would still be revising the manuscript if it wasn’t for you.

It’s been a month and a half since I published Prosperity, and so far things are going pretty well. So far I’ve met 10% of my goal to sell 50 copies by the end of this year. Most of the feedback I’ve received up to this point has been biased (but encouraging, nonetheless). This is what my editor had to say after he finished reading and marking up my manuscript:

It is an excellent story, very well written, a strong storyline, and characters that not only start with a strong impact, but also develop well. I would have liked to have seen more physical descriptions of the characters, but that’s a small issue, and one that doesn’t negatively impact the story. The idea is good, and you maintain a good pace throughout, which makes the book a very good read.

That’s my first unbiased review. I have another review scheduled for March 15 by paranormal author Pamela Kinney. I’m in the process of looking for other reviewers. Yes, I should have done this well beforehand. Live and learn.

The virtual book tour is still going well. I’m meeting new people and had a blast with my latest interview with Henri, the Ghostest with the Mostest.

Last weekend, I contacted Lulu to see when I can expect to find Prosperity listed on Amazon. They told me that it would take 6 to 8 weeks. Somewhere on that site, I had read 2 to 4. Because I inadvertently left out the ISBN number off the copyright page, the book didn’t get published until January 15. That means that I won’t see it listed until March 15, at the latest.

I’ve been down with the flu since Friday, so I have some catching up to do.

Interview with Beyond the Books: I don’t know about you, but I enjoy listening to or reading about people’s life stories. The questions are mostly writing-related, which were interesting, but I enjoyed reading the authors’ responses to the last five questions, which focused on their goals.

Author Spotlight at The Dark Phantom Review: Mayra Calvani, who interviewed me at Blog Critics, posted my excerpt on her book review site. Like Beyond the Books, you’ll find all kinds of books here.

Prosperity: From Concept to Reality posted at The Story Behind the Book: This is another gem of a blog. The title says it all. The most interesting article I’ve read on that site so far is “Marwan: The Autobiography of a 911 Terrorist. I remember reading about how several authors had experienced having their books kicked back to them after 9/11 because they referenced this tragedy in one way or the other.

Author Spotlight at Buzz the Book: This is another good place to go if you’d like to read book excerpts from new authors.

Today, I was interviewed by paranormal romance author and Blog Critics writer, Mayra Calvani.

Author Deborah Woehr is the moderator of Paranormal Watch, a popular blog focusing on ghosts and the supernatural. She’s on tour this month of February to promote the release of her ghost novel Prosperity, available from Lulu.

Welcome to Blogcritics, Deborah! It’s nice to have you here.

Why don’t you start by telling us a bit about your book, and what inspired you to write such a story?

Prosperity is about an embattled psychic who would rather call herself crazy than believe in ghosts or the afterlife. I’ve always been interested in the paranormal and the debate about whether or not ghosts exist. Researching for both Prosperity and Paranormalwatch.com, I found that there are two hardcore camps. It’s always interesting to read what they have to say on the subject and about each other.

Read more

Below is an excerpt from the article I wrote for StoryCrafters, where you’ll find all kinds of articles on the craft of writing.

I didn’t always like to read books. In fact, I hated them when I was in the third grade, when my teacher began forcing book reports down our throats. Despite a kind mom’s efforts, I still couldn’t stand the thought of sitting there and reading some stupid story that I would forget a few minutes after I’d finished it.

Three years later, I was introduced to Judy Blume. All of the cool girls were reading this book. I just had to have it because they were reading it. Forever, it was called. I bought it with my own money, took it home and began to devour the pages because I knew what it was about. My parents wouldn’t approve of their 12 year-old daughter reading this book about a young woman’s first sexual encounter, which made it all the more thrilling to sit there and read it in front of them. Forget Nancy Drew! This was much more exciting!

Well, my mother caught me as I was reading The Act. Stunned shock came first, followed by outrage. My parents let me finish reading the book, which still remains in their night stand, 29 years later. I went on to rebel her by buying the books of Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Piers Anthony, Dean Koontz, and Stephen King.

Read more

Today’s stop is at horror writer and editor, M.E. Ellis’ Nutter’s Gang.

If you grew up reading horror novels and watching horror movies, you may think that writing a spooky scene with a ghost is easy. Just stick your hero and/or heroine inside a haunted house, maybe add a few friends to add a little more excitement and drama, and have the ghost write “boo” on the bathroom mirror while one of your characters is brushing her teeth. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? Hollywood makes you think so.

The best ghost stories I’ve read and watched involved ghosts that came alive as though they were living and breathing characters. They had personality. Even more important, they had their own story to tell.

Read more at Nutter’s Gang.

Day One begins this tour at Rose Marie Wolf’s author blog, where I’ve written a guest post about how I came up for the idea for Prosperity.

Writing Prosperity 1998

The idea for novel came to me as a “mind movie” of a woman who was standing on a small island in the middle of Hell, searching for the soul of her late husband. It was to be a book about a man who used black magic to lure an unsuspecting town into his cult. That was the very beginning.

Fast-forward one year. The story wasn’t coming together as I hoped that it would. I didn’t know enough about black magic to create a plausible story. And, I had way too many characters vying for attention.

Fast-forward two years. I had long since ditched the idea of black magic and cults. My characters were still unknown to me, although I was getting to know my main character, Amanda. The title of my novel was Prosperity, a once-thriving town turned into a literal ghost town. I was still having problems creating a cohesive plot. Who are the ghosts? Why are they haunting the area?

Read more

Day Two, I am stopping at Andrea Allison’s Ghost Stories blog. Andrea’s blog has always been one of my favorite places to lurk because, as you know, I enjoy the subject of the paranormal. Just Saying Hello isn’t a full-fledged ghost story, but an event that happened to me.