May is ‘Get caught reading!’ month. Why not get caught reading my book?
One Brave Thing! At your local bookseller and at Amazon.com, where you can preview it before you buy it.
This is a photo of my friend Charlotte who ‘got caught reading’ One Brave Thing at the beach in Florida! YAY! Where will you get caught reading One Brave Thing??
Post your photos in the comments below!
Pieces That Fit: A Mother’s Journey Through Her Son’s Puzzling Diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome by Karen 
MacNeill is an important book for anyone to read that has, or wonders what it is like to have, a child with different needs in the school system. I found it to be immediately relatable. There are so many passages that could be a page out of my own life, from sitting at the IEP table (p 25. ‘…the process is exhausting…’) to putting undeserved trust in educators who ultimately proved unworthy of that trust. I also love that Chandler and his family found their way with the help of some wonderful teachers and other professionals who were committed to his growth and well-being, both at school and long-term.
This book also reveals how important it is for parents to take nothing for granted and to be strong advocates for their children. The hope is that as the child gets older and witnesses his or her parents modeling this behavior at IEP meetings and elsewhere, they will learn to advocate for themselves, which Chandler has clearly done well. Yay, Karen and Jim! Writing honestly about your real life experience is a difficult and brave thing to do. Bottom line: Read this book!
After you read this book, read my book! One Brave Thing
May is Lupus Awareness Month!
In honor of my niece Lauren, 100% of the profits from One Brave Thing for May will be donated to help find a cure for Lupus! Spread the word!
https://www.facebook.com/k.m.creamer.author/?fref=nf
I have set a goal to sell at least 1000 copies of my book, ONE BRAVE THING, by my birthday (May 28th). I am open to suggestions on how to accomplish this (please leave your comments below!).
I have one idea that I got from the shampoo commercial (see above video!)…if you have read my book and liked it, please ‘tell two friends’. Hopefully they will also tell two friends, and so on, and so on… 🙂
Also, please consider leaving a review on Amazon.com. Getting at least 20-25 reviews helps boost the visibility of my book A LOT! I am currently at 14. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS ALREADY WRITTEN A REVIEW! It is very much appreciated!!
I have been reading and reviewing books for years.
Years.
I haven’t loved all of them, but with only one (to my knowledge) notable exception*, I was not ever unkind to the author in my review. If I liked or loved a book, I said so. If I didn’t, then I moved on. Just because it wasn’t for me didn’t mean it was okay to ruin it for anybody else.
So, I was not prepared to deal with the negative feedback I got about one word that I chose to use in my book, One Brave Thing: ‘fleusy’. The first objection was to my repeating the word. Repetition is a tool that I use in my writing. I like to have my characters repeat words for emphasis. I am fairly sure that I am not the first writer in history to use this technique.
The second objection was to how I chose to spell ‘fleusy’. She wanted me to spell it ‘floozy’. I thought about spelling it that way, but I didn’t like how much it reminded me of ‘boozy’, so I decided to spell it differently. ‘Fleusy’ reminded me of ‘fleur‘ and I liked that better.
Hello? I am a wordsmith. If a word doesn’t work for me in my writing, then I change it up or make up a new word, if necessary, to get the feel that I want.
So, shut up. I can.
*The notable exception: Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper. I wasn’t critical of her actual writing. I just hated how she chose to end the book. Just an artistic difference of opinion.
I had the good luck to be Chris Ann’s 
guest on her live radio talk show last night on unitedpaganradio.net (WUPR). What a great experience! Chris Ann made me at home from the moment I entered her studio. We talked about my book and my other writings and doings.
We also discussed ways of manifesting things that you want in your life. I mentioned different methods I had tried over the years on my path to publishing my book, like making vision boards, meditating, creative visualization. A big one that I forgot to say was MIND MAPPING. I will talk more about this in a separate post.
I was shocked to hear how many listeners we had! There were 20,089 listeners in 129 countries. What the whaaaaatttt??? Isn’t that amazing? 🙂
If you missed the show, you can listen to it here: https://soundcloud.com/karen-maffeo-creamer/k-m-creamer-one-brave-thing-interview-with-chris-ann
I’m happy to share that my book One Brave Thing is now available at Chris Ann’s store, Elemental Energies with Chris Ann and Jeff, 27 North Berwick Road in Wells, ME! Stop in and buy one! While you’re there, pick up a crystal or two, just because!
I found out at the last minute New England Authors Expo having an author event last Friday night. Fortunately, it wasn’t too late to participate! I had fun and met some very nice people!
I brought my books and my daughter came to help me.
Highlights:
Yes! My book One Brave Thing is now available at Longfellow Books in Portland, Maine! YAY!
Please share this link with your friends!
My book is also available at Annie’s Book Stop in Wells and Nonesuch Books in Biddeford.
It’s been a busy week! I was at Will’s Copy Center yesterday, ordering some bookmarks (Maine 
Author!!) and flyers and such, when I ran into my friend, Denise. She was saying that it must be hard, putting the book out into the world. I said, “Yes! Thank you for validating that! It’s terrifying!”
This is true.
But what I wish I had also said was, “But it’s also a lifelong dream come true! I’m so happy!”
Because this is also true.
What helps in both cases is this: all of the people who have messaged me to say that they loved my book and (even though they were busy) they read it in two days, and oh, when will my next book be out?
Today I was lucky enough to learn that Nonesuch Books in Biddeford, Maine will be selling my books!
See? It’s just getting better and better!
Thank you to everyone for hanging in there for my five year journey from writer to published 
author.
It wasn’t always pretty.
(Okay, it was hardly ever pretty)
In the end, it was worth every minute. I hope my family, friends, and readers agree.
Here is the link to buy my book:
I welcome your comments and questions! Feel free to post them below. Thanks again!
UPDATE: Here is the link for the Kindle Edition!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CIV6MSM?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
Thanks again!
Karen Creamer Author, Coach, Speaker 
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