Truffles and Tragedy Guest Post - Christy's Cozy Corners

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Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Truffles and Tragedy: A Down South Cafe Mystery Book by Gayle Leeson. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!

Truffles and Tragedy: A Down South Cafe Mystery Book

by Gayle Leeson

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Truffles and Tragedy: A Down South Cafe Mystery
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Publisher: Grace Abraham Publishing (March 16, 2021)
Number of Pages: 295 (approximately)

Down South Cafe owner Amy Flowers learns her chocolate truffles might not be the only things her patrons find “out of this world.”

When her cousin, Jackie, asks her to give a presentation to her online class, Amy thinks all she has to worry about is speaking before a group. But then the nitpicky professor collapses. He has been murdered, and hot-tempered Jackie is the prime suspect. Some online forums are even speculating that the professor was an extra-terrestrial, so Amy must sort out fact from fiction to get to the truth.

Certain the real killer is setting Jackie up, will Amy be able to outwit the killer and save her cousin?

Guest Post: You Don’t Have to Chase Every Butterfly

I get it. Butterflies are beautiful. They’re delicate and kind of mysterious—they were once caterpillars, for goodness sake—so they likely remind you of transformation.

Our books can be representative of butterflies. We take them from caterpillar to cocoon to butterfly, and then we have to release them into the wild where they might be appreciated or consumed or carelessly stepped on.

But we don’t have to chase every butterfly we come across. There are people with butterfly nets who love the rapid-release method of book publishing. “You have to release a book a month if you want to make a living as a writer,” they say. But your idea of “making a living” might be different from theirs.

Others might tell you that in order to write a truly captivating book, you need to put so much time and energy into it that it will take you a year to complete. One book a year might be enough for those writers. Is it enough for you?

You have to advertise, of course. So in addition to writing your books, you must learn to become a fantastic marketer. Advertise on Amazon, Bookbub, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. In addition, you’ll need to keep up with your readers through social media and provide valuable newsletter content on a regular basis. But some of us get overwhelmed by that kind of pressure.

Sometimes you hear that a particular type or genre of book is the “in” thing, and you’ve heard about “writing to market.” Is that something you should try? If it’s a book you’d enjoy writing, then, sure! If you’re merely writing a book hoping it will be the next Harry Potter or Fifty Shades and you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, is it worth it? Odds are that by the time you’ve written your book and jumped on the trend train, the market is either flooded or readers have moved on.

This fall, I was standing in my front yard and saw a monarch butterfly at my feet. I thought it was dead, but when I looked closer, I could see it was moving. I gently picked it up and took it over to my neighbor’s azalea bush and placed it on a bloom. My thinking was that the poor creature probably needed nourishment and to recover enough to be able to fly away. I kept checking on it and after a few hours, it was gone.

Okay, but what does that butterfly have to do with our metaphorical book butterflies?

Just this—you can only do what you can do.

Author Becca Syme, founder of the Better-Faster Academy (https://betterfasteracademy.com/) teaches fellow writers the value of questioning the premise. Rather than compare yourself to others and tell yourself that you need to do what they’re doing in order to be successful, ask yourself, “But do I?” You don’t have to excel at everything—writing, marketing, public speaking, traveling to events, etc. You don’t even have to do it all, especially if you don’t consider writing your career.

Success for Author A might be publishing half a dozen books a year, sending out quarterly newsletters, making a modest income, and attending one conference a year. Success for Author B might be publishing three books a year, sending out monthly newsletters, writing a weekly blog, advertising on all the social media platforms, and making a substantial income. Success for you will look like whatever makes you happy. And sometimes that’s sitting on a porch swing smiling as you watch a butterfly flit right past you.

About Gayle Leeson

Gayle Leeson is a pseudonym for Gayle Trent. Gayle has also written as Amanda Lee and Gayle Trent. Going forward, Gayle intends to keep her writing under the Gayle Leeson name. She lives with her beautiful family in the hills of Southwest Virginia.

Author Links

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/GayleLeeson/

Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/Gayle-Leeson/e/B01NBSTBDU/

BookBub:

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/gayle-leeson

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/426208.Gayle_Trent

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/GayleTrent

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