New Audio Book Graphic - Feedback Appreciated!

I've been playing around with my simply graphics program. I'd love some feedback on this audio book promo graphic I made. Thanks!


September Sale! His Wife For a While - 99¢ / 75p - Until the 23rd @DonnaFaz

If you've never read
His Wife for a While
now is the time to buy!

I've never offered the book at a reduced rate before, so please take advantage. Let all your romance-reading friends know about the price reduction. 
Thank you for your help!


Find this book:





The book will go back to its 
regular price ($3.99) on Sept 23rd.


How To Fix a Flat Tire in 10 Easy Steps

I received a call from a friend one day. She was stranded with a flat tire and she wanted me to pick her up. When I arrived, she told me she'd called her husband and he had agreed to change the flat later that day once his work day was finished. This plan meant that her husband would have to drive home, pick her up, and drive her back to the car so she could drive it home. When I suggested that we change the flat ourselves, she looked at me as if I had two heads.

Why is it that many women think this kind of thing is "man's work"?

Having grown up in a household of males (I was the only girl of five kids), I could toss a football, swing a baseball bat, and climb trees with the best of them. I guess that's why I'm not afraid of tackling jobs that other women might shy away from. (On the other hand, it could be that I'm just strange.)

Every woman should know how to change a flat tire. So here are some simple instructions. You will need: a spare tire, a jack, a lug wrench—all of these items should be in your trunk.

1.     Park on a flat surface and engage the emergency brake. Think about it. You don't want the car to roll while you're changing the flat. If it's at all possible, brace the opposite tire with something heavy (a block of wood, a large rock, a brick, etc). For example, if your front passenger-side tire is flat, brace the front driver-side tire.
2.     Remove the hubcap. Most newer-model cars don't have hubcaps, but if your car is older, you'll need to remove the hubcap so you can access the lug nuts. If your car doesn't have hubcaps, skip to #3. If you do have hubcaps, use the flat side of the lug wrench to pry off the hubcap, prying in several locations rather than all in one spot. Think of the hubcap as a clock face; pry at 9 o'clock and then 3 o'clock, then 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock, then noon. Prying the hubcap off all in one spot might bend the cap.
3.     Loosen the lug nuts. (Remember! Turn in a counter-clockwise direction. Leftie loosie, rightie tightie.) This is going to be the most difficult part of the job. Lug nuts are always TIGHT and it will take all of your strength to loosen them. Use the lug wrench and physics. Apply pressure to the furthest end of the wrench (as you would a lever). Loosen but DO NOT REMOVE the lug nuts (yet).
4.     Time to jack it up! Check your owner's manual for proper placement of the jack. Make sure the jack is firmly connecting with a solid part of your car's frame, the metal undercarriage, close to the flat tire. Once you've got the jack in place, crank the handle until the flat tire is lifted off the ground several inches.
5.     Remove the lug nuts and slide off the flat tire. Lay the tire flat on the ground; you don't want it rolling into traffic (just imagine the screeching brakes, swerving cars, mayhem!).  
6.     Line up the holes of the spare with the bolts on the axle. Don't be surprised if you have to jack up the car a bit more—the air in the spare will make it taller than the flat tire. Slide on the spare as far as it will go and then hand-tighten the lug nuts onto the bolts.
7.     Use the lug wrench to tighten the bolts, and when I say tight, I mean TIGHT! You don't want the vibration of the car to loosen the bolts.
8.     Lower the car and remove the jack from underneath the car frame. Put everything into the truck: the jack, the lug wrench, the flat tire, the hubcap.
9.     Drive to the nearest car repair shop or your favorite mechanic. Have the flat tire fixed OR buy a new tire. You don't want to drive around on the spare as it might cause road-wear on the other 3 tires. When installing the new/repaired tire, the mechanic will probably use a compression gun to tighten the lug nuts.
10. Feel proud that you've changed a flat all by yourself!

I used my flat-tire-fixing experience in a book. In the opening scenes of Mountain Laurel, two sisters are driving in the mountains when they run into trouble--yeah, they have a flat, but the "trouble" is a sexy forest ranger named Michael Walker who shows up and starts being a bit bossy. lol

Is this a job you think you can now try to tackle? I sure hope so! If you've already changed a flat (good for you!!!), do you have any wild and crazy war stories to share?    

Introducing Carmen DeSousa - New Release - Creatus

I'd like to introduce Carmen DeSousa. She's a friend and a wonderful writer. Her new release is entitled Creatus.

About the book:

As the sun's rays peeked above the horizon, lighting the abyss below her, she inhaled a deep breath, closed her eyes, and jumped. She didn't scream; she didn't look down. As much as she hated her life, she hoped it wouldn't end this way. She'd really like to see him one more time.

Her life didn't flash before her eyes as she'd always heard. Just an image of her mother covered in blood and her Dark Angel telling her he was sorry.

CREATUS is a new romantic-suspense novel with a supernatural edge that answers the myths and fairy tales you've heard about preternatural sentient beings.

Prepare yourself to believe.

Find Creatus:




About the author:

Though all of Carmen's stories have a common thread—romance, mystery, and suspense—not all of her novels are supernatural. Her first five books, the Southern Suspense Series, are romantic-suspense whodunits. They are all stand-alone novels; however, she does link each of her stories with a little surprise.

She Belongs to Me
Split Decisions
Land
of the Noonday Sun
Entangled Dreams
When Noonday Ends

Carmen also has two mini-mysteries with a ghostly paranormal edge that she offers free on all book websites. However, sometimes the websites pull the free offer, so always check prices before downloading.

The Pit Stop
The Depot
The Library (Coming Soon)


Fried Green Tomatoes... And I'm Not Talking Fannie Flagg #recipes



I went to our local farmer's market yesterday… one of my favorite places to visit on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Before I knew it, my cart was filled with local peaches, apples, Brussels sprouts, zucchini, and other beautiful fruits and vegetables. Then I saw it! A huge basket heaped with the largest, plumpest green tomatoes I'd ever seen. That's when I realized that I'd never eaten green tomatoes.

How could I call myself a southerner, I wondered, without ever having tasted the very popular southern dish called Fried Green Tomatoes? I decided, then and there, to rectify the problem. I chose a couple of those luscious, green babies and put them in my cart.

I decided to try a dry/wet/dry method to coat the slices. Don't worry, it's easy. I'll explain in the directions.

Fried Green Tomatoes

2 large green tomatoes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup all purpose flour
½ tablespoon granulated onion powder
½ tablespoon granulated garlic powder
Large pinch of cayenne pepper
2 eggs
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Slice tomatoes into ¼ inch slices. 
Sprinkle slices with salt and pepper. 
Heat oil in a skillet.

Dry/wet/dry method:
In one bowl, stir together the flour, onion and garlic powders, and the cayenne pepper.
In another bowl, whisk the eggs until well scrambled.
Put the panko bread crumbs into a third bowl.
Dip the slices into the flour mixture, then into the egg mixture, then into the bread crumbs (get it… dry/wet/dry).
Fry the slices until golden brown, approximately 4 minutes on each side.
Drain on paper towels.
Enjoy!

Fried green tomatoes taste like nothing else I've ever eaten. The coating is crunchy and spicy, and the inside is firm but moist and has a slightly sour taste. Very delicious! Have you ever eaten green tomatoes? Where you eating out, or did you cook them yourself? How were they prepared?


Cover Reveal: Mountain Laurel (Need a graphic designer? Here's a recommendation!)



Mountain Laurel has a brand new cover. I'd like to thank Naj from Najla Qamber Designs. I think she did a spectacular job. I encourage authors who are in need of a graphic designer to contact her. Tell her Donna sent you!


You can find Mountain Laurel in these stores:

Kindle US          Kindle UK          Kindle CA


Kobo US          Kobo UK



So…tell me what you think!

Authors! How To Change The Cover Of A Published iBook Using iTunes Producer



I just used iTunes Producer to swap out the cover of my book, Mountain Laurel. The process is simple, easy, and quick. Within 2 hours, the new cover of my book showed up in the iTunes iBook Store. These instructions can also be used to change the metadata (description, categories, etc) of your book.

Before you begin, you'll need to find your book's Apple ID number. To do this, log into iTunesConnect.Apple.com and click 'manage my books' on the dashboard. Each book has an Apple ID. You should also have your new cover close at hand.  

1. Open iTunes Producer and click the Look Up Metadata.


2. Enter your book's Apple ID number. 


The book's metadata will automatically open in iTunes Producer and you can now make the necessary changes. To upload a new cover, simply go to the Assets portion and click Cover. Insert the new cover image. Then click Next until you get to the "Deliver Content" at the end. Click to validate and deliver. Done!

See? Very easy.  


Not Your Grandma's Oatmeal Cookies




September has arrived, and there is one delectable treat I always make to help usher in autumn. You got it. Oatmeal cookies. Sweet, chewy rounds of goodness. Mmmm! However, these cookies aren't like any your grandmother made—not unless she was privy to my secret ingredient, that is.

What's the secret ingredient? Shredded coconut. That's what makes these mouth-watering morsels of oaty goodness so moist and delicious.

This is one of my tried and true recipes. I come back to it again and again. So fire up the oven, pull out your best mixing bowl, and let's bake up a batch of cookies.

Raisin Oat Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
2 cups raisins
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350º. Cream the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Stir in raisins, oats, and coconut. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a light greased baking sheet. Bake for approximately 15 minutes (or until golden around the edges). Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

So...what's YOUR favorite cookie for fall?