Do You Write Letters?

Susan Reichert


Have you ever written a letter? Most of us have. Some of us have used pen and paper instead of a computer.


Back in 2016, Jan Morrill wrote a guest post for Suite T. The title of Jan’s post was Writing Letters: A Creative Journey . Jan's started her post by saying, “I’ve found writing letters to, from or between my characters to be an imaginative technique to smash writer’s block.”

I think this is an excellent suggestion for authors. And I wanted to share her post with you again. Click Writing Letters: A Creative Journey and it will take you to her post.

I think this does even more than help with writer’s block and think it allows the character to come through to help the writer know more about them. I love the idea of having a character write a letter. I think you will too.

Her book, Creative Characterization includes details and exercises for you on letter-writing techniques and much more. You will see her advice is just what we writers need.

If you find yourself staring at a blank page, I hope you have Jan Morrill’s book, Creative Characterization handy, not only will it help you with your writer’s block but there are exercises on letter writing, techniques and more.

Jan Morrill was born and for the most part raised in California. Her mother, a Buddhist Japanese American, was an internee at Tule Lake and Topaz during World War II. Her father, a Southern Baptist redhead of Irish descent, retired from the Air Force.

Her debut novel, The Red Kimono (University of Arkansas Press, February 2013) and many of her short stories reflect memories of growing up in a multicultural, multi-religious, multi-political environment.

The Red Kimono was selected Historical Novel Society’s Editor’s Choice and a 2013 Arkansas Gem by the Arkansas State Library. Visit Jan at: https://janmorrill.com/

I think you will enjoy using Jan's suggestions and techniques she has so graciously shared with all of us.

~~~~

Susan Reichert, author of Listen Close, Between Me and You, God’s Prayer Power and Storms in Life. Published numerous magazine articles and stories in 9 anthology books. Speaker at writing conferences, seminars, and libraries.

She is the founder of Southern Author Services, and Editor of Suite T. She is the retired Editor-in-Chief of Southern Writers Magazine. Reichert has a passion for writing about God in devotionals, prayers, and inspirational works.

She and her husband live in Tennessee. They have four grown daughters with families of their own. Susan is a member of the DAR and a member of the First Families of Mississippi

Visit Susan at: https://www.susanlreichert.com/

The Love Month Is Ending!

 

Well, February is ending. The month we celebrate Valentines and Love.

I could not let it pass without bringing these books and author’s to our attention.

Love is a universal language that is true. But Love starts with ourselves, spouse, family and ripples out from there. See what these authors have to say.



For Lovers:

The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts  by Gary Chapman—author, speaker, and counselor. Chapman has a passion for people and for helping them form lasting relationships. He is the bestselling author of The 5 Love Languages® series and the director of Marriage and Family Life Consultants, Inc. Gary Travels the world presenting seminars, and his radio programs air on more than 400 stations.

For more information, visit 5lovelanguages.com or connect with Gary on his social platforms:

Twitter @DrGaryChapman

Facebook /5lovelanguages

Instagram /5lovelanguages

A definite read for lovers.




For Ourselves:

Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It  by Kamal Ravikant

I've been fortunate enough to have some amazing experiences in my life so far. I've trekked to one of the highest base camps in the Himalayas, earned my US Army Infantry patch, walked 550 miles across Spain, lived in Paris, been the only non-black, non-woman member of the Black Women's writers' group, written several bestsellers, held the hands of dying patients, and worked with some of the best people in Silicon Valley.

But the most transformative experience has been the simple act of loving myself.


Twitter: @kamalravikant

Instagram: @kamalravikant

Important to have a healthy self-love.




Our Choice

Love Is a Choice: The Definitive Book on Letting Go of Unhealthy Relationships by Dr. Robert Hemfelt (Author), Dr. Frank Minirth (Author), Dr. Paul Meier (Author)

In Love Is a Choice, best-selling doctors Robert Hemfelt, Frank Minirth, and Paul Meier walk you through their 10 proven stages to recovery from codependency that results from external circumstances. Humans are susceptible to codependency because of our sinful tendency to use defense mechanisms to fool ourselves. In codependent relationships, deceitful games are played, and important Christian principles are often taken out of context and abused. God wants us to have healthy relationships with a balance between being dependent and independent.

The doctors describe how the most effective means of overcoming codependent relationships is to establish or deepen a relationship with Christ himself. They describe the causes of codependency, pointing out the factors that perpetuate it, and lead listeners through their 10 stages of recovery.


Letting Go Of Unhealthy Love (relationships)



Thanks for spending the month of February with us!

Perfection or Progress, We Choose!

                               Susan Reichert

Perfection is said to be the condition, state, or quality of being free or as free as possible from all flaws or defects. (Dictionary)

Mel Swartz L.C.S.W in Psychology Today, 2008,said, “The desire to be perfect burdens many people and ironically dooms them to unhappiness.”

This I have found to be true. I believe we need to work at being our very best, but perhaps we could let go of the picture of being perfect in every way, whether it be looks, smarts, writing, or life.


Deep Patel in Forbes, Jun 16, 2017, said, “Too often, people mistake progress for perfection. They spend more time staring at the weeds than they do assessing the forest. They get lost in the details instead of asking whether their work is moving them in the right direction. And most of all, they are confused about the meaning of “done.”


Vince Lombardi was head coach and general manager of the Green Bay Packers, Coach Lombardi led the team to three NFL championships and to victories in Super Bowls I and II (1967 and 1968). He is considered one of the great coaches of all time. Because of his success, he became a national symbol of single-minded determination to win. He said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”


Michael J. Fox, is an accomplished actor who in 1998 publicly disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease seven years earlier. Fox subsequently became an advocate for finding a cure and founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2000 to help fund research. retired from acting in 2020 due to his declining health. Mr. Fox said, “Excellence I can reach for; perfection is God's business.”

Perhaps as we look at their definitions of perfection, we might readjust our view of this culprit that so many times prevents some from beginning and some from finishing.

It can be that way in our lives in every  aspects. For writers perfection can prevent us from achieving our dream of writing that book that plays scenes in our minds.

Susan Reichert, author of Listen Close, Between Me and You, God’s Prayer Power and Storms in Life. Published numerous magazine articles and stories in 9 anthology books. Speaker at writing conferences, seminars, and libraries.

She is the founder of Southern Author Services, and Editor of Suite T. She is the retired Editor-in-Chief of Southern Writers Magazine. Reichert has a passion for writing about God in devotionals, prayers, and inspirational works.

She and her husband live in Tennessee. They have four grown daughters with families of their own. Susan is a member of the DAR and a member of the First Families of Mississippi

Visit Susan at: https://www.susanlreichert.com/

https://twitter.com/swmeditorhttps://twitter.com/SouthrnAuthrSer

https://www.facebook.com/SusanLeeReichert, https://www.facebook.com/southernauthorservices, https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-reichert-55922a13/ , Amazon -

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54576850-god-s-prayer-powe

We Need Inspiration and Courage

                                Susan Reichert

Every writer, at one time or another needs inspiration and courage to keep going. To keep writing. An interesting note here, is that we all need that, whether we are writers or not.

Richard Bach, the man who wrote Jonathan Livingston Seagull and the book, Illusions: The adventures of a Reluctant Messiah said, “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.”

I found that statement could be a writers motto if we changed it to, “I will not quit.”


Some days writers look at a white screen waiting for the words to come. It might be easy to get up those days and do something else, but there is something in a writer that that keeps them writing.

If you remember Jonathan Livingston Seagull was about a seagull who became bored with his daily squabbles over food. It is a simple story. He has a passion to learn to fly and he learns everything about flying he can.

But in the story, there is a profound message. The message is that we can all be so much more than we believe or are given to believe.

His story in the book of Illusions questions the reader's view of reality. He proposes that what we call reality is merely an illusion we create for learning and enjoyment.

The book explains that the world that we live in is an illusion, the things we think are real, are not, and so is the underlying reality behind it. The teaching Bach receives he concludes that each of us must focus on our own spiritual quest, allowing others to attain their own enlightenment.


In this book Richard Bach takes to the air to discover the ageless truths that give our souls wings. That we don't need airplanes to soar. . .that even the darkest clouds have meaning once we lift ourselves above them.

Perhaps that is what a writer strives for, to be better with every book we write and in so doing soar above the dark clouds in life.

Susan Reichert, author of Listen Close, Between Me and You, God’s Prayer Power and Storms in Life. Published numerous magazine articles and stories in 9 anthology books. Speaker at writing conferences, seminars, and libraries.

She is the founder of Southern Author Services, and Editor of Suite T. She is the retired Editor-in-Chief of Southern Writers Magazine. Reichert has a passion for writing about God in devotionals, prayers, and inspirational works.

She and her husband live in Tennessee. They have four grown daughters with families of their own. Susan is a member of the DAR and a member of the First Families of Mississippi

Visit Susan at: https://www.susanlreichert.com/

https://twitter.com/swmeditorhttps://twitter.com/SouthrnAuthrSer

https://www.facebook.com/SusanLeeReichert, https://www.facebook.com/southernauthorservices, https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-reichert-55922a13/ , Amazon -

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54576850-god-s-prayer-powe

Wondering What 2022 Will Bring?

Sitting in my favorite chair in the living room by the fire, I wondered what the ‘New Year 2022’ would be like.



The past two years have been most unusual to say the least. But I did not want to think on these past two years and the devastation they caused around the world. Instead, I wanted to focus on the new year that would soon be here.



I remembered what Anthony T. Hincks said. “Don’t let the New Year get old.”


As I thought about those words, it seemed to me he was saying do not let the feeling we have at the beginning of the new year get to feeling like all the other years. To embrace the new year with awe and expectancy of good things to come into our lives throughout the year. Choosing to make everyday a new day in our lives. To create and achieve all we are capable of each day.


In this way, we will keep the ‘New Year’ alive every day.

Happy New Year to you!

Our Life’s Niche

Susan Reichert

Growing up we all are looking for our niche in life. The people we associate with. . . these would be the kids we play with growing up to the people we socialize with as adults. We look for the ones we fit into.

Webster dictionary says Niche is a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing best fits in.


We have all been at functions where we were uncomfortable, we did not fit in. So, we know why it is important to find our niche in life so we will be happy and be able to participate in life and be part of the community.

It is the same with an author’s book. It too has a niche; a place where it will flourish.

For every book there is a specialized segment of the market. It is said that the niche for a book is a very specific, tightly defined, focused audience. The secret for author’s is to find that niche.


So it is with life, people have a niche. Are you in yours?

A new year is upon us, and has we begin to look at our thoughts for the new year and making goals or resolutions, it would be good to look at our niche.

Susan Reichert, author of Listen Close, Between Me and You, God’s Prayer Power and Storms in Life. Published numerous magazine articles and stories in 9 anthology books. Speaker at writing conferences, seminars, and libraries.

She is the founder of Southern Author Services, and Editor of Suite T. She is the retired Editor-in-Chief of Southern Writers Magazine. Reichert has a passion for writing about God in devotionals, prayers, and inspirational works.

She and her husband live in Tennessee. They have four grown daughters with families of their own. Susan is a member of the DAR and a member of the First Families of Mississippi

Visit Susan at: https://www.susanlreichert.com/

https://twitter.com/swmeditorhttps://twitter.com/SouthrnAuthrSer

https://www.facebook.com/SusanLeeReichert, https://www.facebook.com/southernauthorservices, 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-reichert-55922a13/ ,

Amazon -

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54576850-god-s-prayer-powe

Nostalgic Moment with Susan Reichert on Why Build a World for Your Story?

 

NOSTALGIC MOMENT

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Why Build a World for Your Story?


By Susan Reichert


Believe it or not, most times, the setting we choose for our story is like a character. We must create that world. It may look like the world you live in, but it will have its differences.


This world is going to need its own look, sounds, and smells.


Even if you choose a setting like where you grew up, you will still add stores, houses, malls, a river, or stream or mountain that did not exist in your town.


The characters you create will need certain locations. You may need to create the places they work, the restaurants where they eat, or a diner they visit every morning for breakfast. You may want to put a particular church or a hardware store.


All these things you could create and place in this world.


This world will have a feel about it that is different from other places. Real or imagined.


This is the place your characters are going to come to life. The more you know about this world, the more you bring it to life for your reader. Even though you may not use everything you create for this new world in your story, by just knowing these things it puts more richness in your story.


Take it a few steps further, you could develop a little history for this new world. What are its laws, rules, does it have folk lore?


The most important rule of all when creating your world, is show, do not tell the reader. Open the door and bring them into this world you have created.


Some authors draw maps of their towns and surrounding countryside and put them in their books. Having read some of those authors, like Lin Stepp, it made it much more interesting and just delivered me into the world she created. As I read other author’s books I could picture the towns, a post office if they had it, where the general store was . . . across the street, with its red roof and black writing on the front of the store. I can follow the street a character takes to walk down to the bait shop and know that when the character is walking up Main Street they will run right into the courthouse. It creates for the reader a picture in their minds drawing them into the story feeling like they are there.


What all can you add to your new world you create for your story? What about the type of weather in that location? The flowers and fauna you find. Everything is usable in the world you create. The secret is to make this created world seem real.


However, you do not want it to overshadow your story. So, think about what type of world you want to create and how you can help your reader enter that world and be part of what you have created.

Susan Reichert, author of Listen Close, Between Me and You, God’s Prayer Power and Storms in Life. Published numerous magazine articles and stories in 9 anthology books. Speaker at writing conferences, seminars, and libraries.

She is the founder of Southern Author Services, and Editor of Suite T. She is the retired Editor-in-Chief of Southern Writers Magazine. Reichert has a passion for writing about God in devotionals, prayers, and inspirational works.

She and her husband live in Tennessee. They have four grown daughters with families of their own. Susan is a member of the DAR and a member of the First Families of Mississippi

Visit Susan at: https://www.susanlreichert.com/

https://twitter.com/swmeditorhttps://twitter.com/SouthrnAuthrSer

https://www.facebook.com/SusanLeeReichert, https://www.facebook.com/southernauthorservices, https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-reichert-55922a13/ , Amazon -

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54576850-god-s-prayer-powe

A Thank You?

Susan Reichert

“When you read a piece of writing that you admire, send a note of thanks to the author” Sherman Alexie.



Good advice? I think so. But I confess, I do not always take the time to do this.



I am sure there are others who have read good books, admired the writing, enjoyed the story, and made a mental note to let the author know. But life stepped in, and the thought forgotten. Another example of good intentions left undone.



Sherman Alexie was a poet, author, screenwriter, and filmmaker. I like to think he made this statement because he was pleased with his work and wanted to know if others were.



Aren’t we all like that though? Don’t we want to hear from others how they like our work? Even as a little child, we are that way. We proudly take that mud pie we made to show momma.



Being an adult now, I can picture my mother smiling as she looks down at my little hands holding up my mud pie, and somehow, she manages to not gasp at the mud all over my face, hands, and clothes. Instead, she brags on my pie



We all need accolades. I wish I had taken the time to let each author know how much I enjoyed their work.



We are fortunate in that we can let the author know how much we enjoy their work by leaving a review on their book.



I will try and do better and leave reviews for the books I read. I want the author to know I appreciate and enjoy their work. I hope you will too!

Susan Reichert, author of Listen Close, Between Me and You, God’s Prayer Power and Storms in Life. Published numerous magazine articles and stories in 9 anthology books. Speaker at writing conferences, seminars, and libraries.

She is the founder of Southern Author Services, and Editor of Suite T. She is the retired Editor-in-Chief of Southern Writers Magazine. Reichert has a passion for writing about God in devotionals, prayers, and inspirational works.

She and her husband live in Tennessee. They have four grown daughters with families of their own. Susan is a member of the DAR and a member of the First Families of Mississippi

Visit Susan at: https://www.susanlreichert.com/

https://twitter.com/swmeditorhttps://twitter.com/SouthrnAuthrSer

https://www.facebook.com/SusanLeeReichert, https://www.facebook.com/southernauthorservices, https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-reichert-55922a13/ , Amazon -

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54576850-god-s-prayer-powe

Building Contacts on Social Media

Susan Reichert

Social Media. We all use it. After all, social media is comprised of websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking, according to the dictionary.


For an author this is supposed to be very helpful. It lets us tell people about our books, entice people to like us and get to know us and hopefully buy our books.


While an author needs to tell people about their books, I do believe we need to be tasteful in the way we do it. We have seen from the Covid vaccine, some people do not like people pushing things on them. So, authors do not want to turn people off by pushing our books on them, nor do we want them to feel like we are.


Authors will want to use social media to build contacts. Telling people about our books and having them follow us is one thing, learning how to nurture those people to build relationships with them is another, one that is most important.


We all have people who like us. Do we pay attention to what is of interest to them?


Social media is an avenue used for communicating with others immediately and getting feedback right away.


We want these relationships that we develop on social media to have interest in staying in contact, seeing what is going on, and participating as much as they would like. The more they do, the more they will tell others about us and that will bring new people to our sites.


One thing I want to say here is, we should not get mixed up in political commentaries of hate. If we  have created this social media to tell people about our books and to build contacts we will not want that to be associated with anything that has a hint of anger, rebellion, or hatred. So, staying away from making comments on those things is most important.


It is very important to build a solid foundation with people we interact with on social media. We want them to feel good when they are communicating with us and reading what we are saying. This and finding out what their interest are will keep them coming back.


Years ago, I was taught that people do business with people they like. I believe that to be true even more so today. If you care about people, they will care about you.


Getting to know and care about others makes the world a better place.


Treating the person on social media the way we want to be treated will create a new relationship and follower and probably someone who not only will buy your books but tell their friends about you too.

Susan Reichert, author of Listen Close, Between Me and You, God’s Prayer Power and Storms in Life. Published numerous magazine articles and stories in 9 anthology books. Speaker at writing conferences, seminars, and libraries.

She is the founder of Southern Author Services, and Editor of Suite T. She is the retired Editor-in-Chief of Southern Writers Magazine. Reichert has a passion for writing about God in devotionals, prayers, and inspirational works.

She and her husband live in Tennessee. They have four grown daughters with families of their own. Susan is a member of the DAR and a member of the First Families of Mississippi

Visit Susan at: https://www.susanlreichert.com/

https://twitter.com/swmeditorhttps://twitter.com/SouthrnAuthrSer

https://www.facebook.com/SusanLeeReichert, https://www.facebook.com/southernauthorservices, https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-reichert-55922a13/ , Amazon -

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54576850-god-s-prayer-powe

Attention Span of Readers?

Susan Reichert

Words are important. Advertisers know this. As writers, we know this too.

Our words need to grab attention, whether it is the title of our book, the title of our blog, the titles of a post, and our websites.

So, what is the human attention span now? You will be shocked to know it is now 8 seconds. Where did I get this? From Kevin McSpadden on a study from Microsoft Corp. https://time.com/3858309/attention-spans-goldfish/.

This study showed people now generally lose concentration after eight seconds, highlighting the effects of an increasingly digitalized lifestyle on the brain.

According to researchers in Canada they surveyed 2,000 participants and studied the brain activity of 112 others using electroencephalograms (EEGs). Microsoft found that since the year 2000 (or about when the mobile revolution began) the average attention span dropped from 12 seconds to eight seconds.

I guess the question I have is, is our mobile revolution this important to let it take our attention span? What do you think?

According to the article our attention span is less than the attention of a goldfish. Frightening!


What then can a writer do to get and keep the attention of readers? The saving factor is our words and phrases must be powerful. The kind that grabs the reader and causes them to have interest to read further.

This is nothing new.

We all look at the headline first. If it interests us, we will read further. According to David Ogilvy, a British advertising tycoon said, “On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy. If you don’t get someone’s attention immediately, your entire landing page fails to reach its potential.” com

My curiosity got the better of me and I researched words and found this: Amanda McArthur, Research Director with Mequoda, said, “The word, “You”, is generally considered to be the most powerful single word, ranking right up there with free, new and save.”

Why are these words so important? Because they speak to human emotion and the emphasis is on them.

People in general will do something either because it makes them feel good or to avoid something painful.

Direct marketing legend, Herschell Gordon Lewis, says in The Art of Writing Copy, “Unless the reader regards himself as the target of your message, benefit can’t exist. Benefit demands a ‘We/You’ relationship.”

Here are a few of Mr. Lewis’ power words and phrases:

· right now

· surprise

· hot

· first time offered

· not sold in stores

· good only until [DATE]

· Don’t miss out

· I’ll look for your order

· Try it at our risk



Happy Writing!

Susan Reichert, author of Listen Close, Between Me and You, God’s Prayer Power and Storms in Life. Published numerous magazine articles and stories in 9 anthology books. Speaker at writing conferences, seminars, and libraries.

She is the founder of Southern Author Services, and Editor of Suite T. She is the retired Editor-in-Chief of Southern Writers Magazine. Reichert has a passion for writing about God in devotionals, prayers, and inspirational works.

She and her husband live in Tennessee. They have four grown daughters with families of their own. Susan is a member of the DAR and a member of the First Families of Mississippi

Visit Susan at: https://www.susanlreichert.com/

https://twitter.com/swmeditorhttps://twitter.com/SouthrnAuthrSer

https://www.facebook.com/SusanLeeReichert, https://www.facebook.com/southernauthorservices, https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-reichert-55922a13/ , Amazon -

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54576850-god-s-prayer-power

Do We Kill The Reader?

Susan Reichert

Have you had the opportunity to be in a group, and one person starts talking and talking and talking, and you just keep saying to yourself, “Lady, are you ever going to get to the point?” Through the years I have been in groups at experienced this. I confess my mind shuts her off and wanders.



Believe it or not, there are writers who write just like this. They just go on and on and on meandering all over the place until finally readers either close the book or start skipping ahead, page after page, trying to find where they can start reading again.



Ask that author what tight writing is, and they probably will tell you what they believe the definition is and also state that they write tight. The thing is, they don’t.



To me, tight writing is getting your reader immersed in the story, moving them along, turning the pages, become part of the story, seeing it unfold on the screen of their minds.

I like what Elmore Leonard, author of Get Shorty said, “I try to leave out the parts people skip."

Reading a lot of books, I confess there are pages I skip over in books where the authors do not write tight. I am sure you’ve read books by an author or two who did not write tight.

The best advice I’ve heard on writing tight was from Dr. Seuss, “So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.”

I believe that says it all!

Susan Reichert, author of Listen Close, Between Me and You, God's Prayer Power and Storms in Life; numberous magazine articles and nine anthologies. articles, and in 9 anthology books. Speaker at writing conferences, seminars,  and libraries.

She lives in Tennessee with her husband and grown children with families of their own.

Visit at:  www.susanlreichert.com

Are You a Detective?

Susan Reichert

I have been doing some research in my ancestry lines and have come to appreciate the authors who write historical fiction. Why? Well, they must do research, a lot of it, if they are going to use history in their stories.

So why the question, “Are You a Detective”? Because you must dig out and follow clues. Remember, writing historical fiction is writing truth and creating a story to go with it even characters and dialogue, settings, plots, it is definitely hard work and a balancing act. In other words, they are telling a true story but using a creative license. When you use real events as your backdrop, it can make it easier to develop the story. Remember, when writing historical fiction, the main consideration for the writer is to make sure of the authenticity as well as the historical accuracy.

Some authors create a fictional character and base it on a real person or they take an interesting historical episode and use elements of it in their stories.

One thing a writer wants to make sure of is to learn about the period they are writing their story in, and what happened in that period. Make a list of things you need to know and search for that information. The more information you have, the more you will have to use to weave into your story.

Don’t become overwhelmed. Remember, you are not a historian. As a writer you use your imagination to fill in the gaps. That is true even with dialogue. There is no way for you to know what a person said, but that is when we use imagination. When we are filling in the gap, we must make sure our interpretation is believable.

I do suggest when researching that you take a lot of notes. Make sure you write down where you got the information, who wrote it, and a website if there is one. Cross referencing helps to weed out errors.

To reconstruct a past historical event and tell it in a fictional story is exciting; especially if you love history.


Most of us have heard our parents, or grandparents tell us stories of their past and as kids found it interesting. My great uncle on my mother’s side, ran away from home when he was young and traveled out west and became a cowboy. Hearing that story as a child I was mesmerized. I heard about him going on cattle drives, being with the calvary at a powwow with the Indians. He told of the unbelievable cold weather in Wyoming Territory (he was from the South) and the stories of how the cattle ranchers didn’t like the sheep ranchers.

Hearing that story, if I were an historical author, I could research and probably write a fiction story on what I remembered him telling me and combining all the research. Perhaps somewhere in me is a little bit of detective, right?

The thing is, how will you know if you don’t try!

Susan Reichert, author of Listen Close, Between Me and You, God’s Prayer Power and Storms in Life. Published numerous magazine articles and stories in 9 anthology books. Speaker at writing conferences, seminars, and libraries.

She is the founder of Southern Author Services, and Editor of Suite T. She is the retired Editor-in-Chief of Southern Writers Magazine. Reichert has a passion for writing about God in devotionals, prayers, and inspirational works.

She and her husband live in Tennessee. They have four grown daughters with families of their own. Susan is a member of the DAR and a member of the First Families of Mississippi

Visit Susan at: https://www.susanlreichert.com/

https://twitter.com/swmeditorhttps://twitter.com/SouthrnAuthrSer

https://www.facebook.com/SusanLeeReichert, https://www.facebook.com/southernauthorservices, https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-reichert-55922a13/ , Amazon -

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54576850-god-s-prayer-power

Questions To Ask Yourself

Susan Reichert

Here are some questions for authors to ask themselves.



Do you follow blogs of a few authors you like?



The ones you follow, do they update their readers about the stories they are writing?



How much information do they give you each time they update their blog?



Do they tell you enough to pique your interest to want to keep up with what is transpiring with their new creation?



Do they share things like the period it is set in? Anything about the characters? What about the setting they are placing their story in? You know, the mountains, the ocean, a particular town, or country?



If they do, do you leave a comment, letting them know of your interest? How much you are looking forward to reading this book when it is published? Do you spur them on, keep the dialogue going?



Do they ask you questions for suggestions maybe on name, titles colors? Or do they ask you what you think?



Why am I asking these questions? People love to be involved in projects, especially with authors. Let them in on the up’s and down’s, in’s and out’s-enough to whet the appetites, building excitement and buzz for the book. The important thing to know is it gives them a feeling of being part of and involved in the process of your creating your book. And when it is published, they will be the ones for sure buying a copy of this new book.

Susan Reichert is the author of Between Me and You: God’s Way is Better, God’s Prayer Power, and Storm in Life. Her new book, Listen Close will be released this month.



She and her husband live in Tennessee. They have four daughters with families of their own.

Visit at https://www.susanlreichert.com/