For one week only, One Brave Thing will be for sale on Kindle for only 99 cents! If you have already liked my book, please consider sharing this post with any of your friends who prefer to get their books on Kindle.
This special price is in effect only from December 9th (TODAY!) through December 16th, 2016. Click HERE!
Thank you!
I followed the articles in the local papers about the evolution of FOUND, a shop that is the vision of FOUNDer 🙂 
Pamela Bennett. Pamela wanted to showcase the talents of Maine women (and some men!) who create from the heart and give them a venue in which to make their products available to people who might not otherwise find them.
For example, Amy Rose of Amy Rose Made in Maine makes lovely jewelry. One of my favorite pieces is her silver charm of the state of Maine on a silver chain. Find it at FOUND, as well as at her ETSY shop: Amy Rose Made in Maine. Below in the slideshow are some photos of her products.
Also, Jeanne Emerson has some of her designs at FOUND. This is her process (paraphrased from her website): Eco-printing, sometimes known as botanical printing, uses the natural dyes in flowers, leaves and other natural materials to produce one of kind, magical and beautiful designs on paper and fabrics. Check out the slideshow below to see her scarves and cards.
FOUND also has books! Kathy Eliscu’s wonderful book is there, Not Even Dark Chocolate can Fix This Mess! Kathy’s book is about Tink, a woman in midlife who is so busy saying ‘yes!’ to everyone else that she starts to lose track of herself. She becomes overwhelmed, and then makes a mistake that turns into a big (you guessed it!) mess. Once you pick this book up, you will not be able to put it down!
My book, One Brave Thing, is also at FOUND. Bebe wants to get married some day but keeps picking guys that are wrong for her. She learns from her mistakes, however, and in the process, learns how to stand up for herself and trust her gut about how to live her life.
Find signed copies of both books at FOUND!
I have given you just a small sampling of the amazing gifts at this great shop. Have some Christmas shopping left to do? Stop in at FOUND in Kennebunk, Maine! You will be able to find a beautiful gift for everyone on your list.
You’re welcome!
Today I was so excited to get a copy of the York Weekly newspaper that my husband and I braved the ice and snow and rode down to the York Hannaford to pick it up before work. After I ascertained that the article did, in fact, run this week (there was a photo of me and of my book cover right there on page B3 of the Living Section!), I folded the paper back up. I didn’t read it on the way home.
This was a do-over chance. The first article that was written in the newspaper about me publishing my first novel had many errors (including the name of the main character! Her name is NOT Bebe Kristen Davis!) and so was very disappointing.
I had high hopes for this time around.
When we got home, I had to go right to work, so my husband started reading it. “I found something that you’re not going to be happy about,” he began.
Seriously?
Here is the line: “…she is a registered nurse, a health coach, weight gain teacher and author.
Guess which part is wrong? Was it that stupid autocorrect?
Now the irony here is that I was just commiserating with a friend yesterday about how I had lost 30 lbs on Weight Watchers several years ago and then gained some of it back–talk about adding insult to injury!
Also, lesson learned. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I should have asked if I could give it a once over before the story ran.
And then I remembered myoneword for 2016: GRACE. I could just accept this with grace. I have made plenty of errors in my own writing, and have always felt terrible when I noticed them (or they were gracefully pointed out to me by others) after the fact.
Here is the article (it has since been corrected): Wells Author will Speak at York Library
This came to mind after the events of this morning, so I’m sharing it with you all:
So, this was not my first NaNoRodeo, as many of you loyal readers already know. This was my 7th consecutive NaNo 
win. I am so proud! I don’t always know what I will be writing, but this year I did.
I almost never write an outline prior to starting, but this year I did.
I always build in a buffer of five days in case I something comes up and I have to take a day off from writing, but that didn’t happen this year. I finished five days early!
I didn’t really look at my outline much as I was writing, but when I finished I discovered I had covered everything!
One thing that was the same this year is this: once I started writing, the words flowed out in a smooth (mostly) stream. I remembered not to edit as I was going and not to over think it, which is the death of all good “shitty first drafts” (nod to Anne Lamotte’s Bird by Bird).
Success!
As I mentioned in my prior blog post, there is a definite learning curve to this whole ‘promoting your book’ thing. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is this: assume nothing! (Remember Felix Unger’s lesson on what happens when you ASSUME?!).
Anyway, here are what I think are the top 10 tips (in no particular order) for having a successful (eg: well attended) author reading.
That’s all I have for you today. Please comment below if you have any additional tips that have worked for you!
I was given a DVD with my first TV interview with Jan Lewis on Be My 
Guest! a couple of weeks ago. I couldn’t figure out how to get it from the DVD to my YouTube Channel or my blog, but I am blessed to have had a child who figured out how to do it for me.
Thank you, Anthony.
So here it is! I hope you enjoy watching it! Please feel free to share this and to comment with any thoughts below!
When I participated in the New England Authors Expo, I met Jan Lewis. She subsequently invited me to be a guest on her show, Be My Guest.
This was my first TV interview since I became a published author.
Okay, my first one ever.
Anyway, My husband came with me for the two hour road trip to Upton, Massachusetts. The episodes are taped at the Upton Town Library. We toured downtown Upton (note: it was quick) and ate lunch at The Upton House of Pizza (bacon pizza and a chicken parm sub).
Jan Lewis, the host of Be My Guest was wonderful!
I had a blast! Being interviewed was so much fun!
That is, until I started Monday morning quarterbacking the shit out of it.
Talk about stealing my joy.
So enough, already. It WAS fun. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
P.S. As soon as I know when it will air, I will post the information on my FB page: https://www.facebook.com/k.m.creamer.author/
Okay, fine; so I caved.
When I first published my book, I was cocky. I did it! I wrote it! I put it out there and let other people read it!
Guess what? Other people have opinions. Some of which I don’t like.
Especially about the F word. Does an F word by any other name smell as sweet? Apparently not. Some people didn’t like it that I used poetic license and my self-proclaimed abilities as a wordsmith to come up with a spelling that I liked best for one particular F word. One person, of note because (s)he was the only negative review I received for my book on Amazon, decided to review it without actually reading it because of this.
That was back in March.
Fast forward to now, September. Another person declined to read my book because I used another F word. After consulting with the great literary minds in my household, I made the executive decision to change the spelling of one of the F words under dispute to the one in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (full disclosure: the online one) instead of the one in the Urban Dictionary.
So, now if someone doesn’t like it, they can bitch to them.
The other F word though, that’s trickier. I don’t think there is more than one way to spell f*&k.
So f*&k it.
If you have never been to Zen and Company in Kennebunk, you are really missing out.
Beautiful clothing and (Dansko!) shoes? They have them. A wide variety of oracle cards? They have them. Excellent books*? Yes! The most amazing crystals? OMG, yes! Yes! They have those, too!
Even more important is this: once you pass through the door of Zen and Company, you will not ever want to leave. The atmosphere is so warm and inviting, it just wraps around you like a big warm hug.
All of the staff will welcome you and help you figure out what you want, even when you aren’t sure exactly what that is. Have questions? They can help you. Curious about what the cards in that oracle deck you have your eye on look like, and there isn’t a demo deck open? Just ask them and they will open the deck up for you. You know you need a crystal, but aren’t sure which one? Sue is not only knowledgable, but is also has a knack for helping you define what your own intuition is trying to tell you that you can’t quite grasp on your own.
Maybe you are shopping for a nice dress (eg: a dress you look hot in) to wear to dinner on your twenty-fifth wedding anniversary but you have zero fashion sense (hello? me!). They will help you find the perfect dress! I looked amazing on my 25th anniversary in the dress that Sue helped me pick out at Zen! Just sayin’!
Zen and Company. Go! Tell them Karen sent you!
*So maybe you noticed that I mentioned they have books? One of the (fabulous) books they have is MY book, One Brave Thing. So go, already!
11/30/16: I decided to update this post. I made several trips to this shop after I gave them a free copy of One Brave Thing as well as newspaper articles about me publishing my book. On the third trip, I discovered that they didn’t know what they did with it!
I decided to trust the Universe and let this one go.
🙂
Recently, I wrote about attending an author talk given by Anita Shreve. I mentioned that I found out about it at the last-minute from my husband (an avid reader of newspapers). As happens so often in life, this even led me to another happy accident: I discovered a local bookstore that I had somehow missed.
I know, right? Unbelievable!
After Kennebooks (seriously, play the violins-I loved that store) closed, I thought that Kennebunk was now bereft of book stores.
Not true.
The Book Burrow sponsored Anita’s talk. That’s how I found out about it! It was like getting a free gift with purchase! I got to see Anita and I found a new local bookstore to love!
When I visited the The Book Burrow’s website, I was welcomed by a wonderful poem by Adelaide Love. Go to their website and check it out!
One note: I mentioned that I saw Anita Shreve speak years ago. I still have my book that she signed, my favorite book of hers: Fortune’s Rocks. What’s wonderful about this is that she put the date when she signed it! Yay! So I’ve decided to do this when I sign my book as well.
See? This author talk is the gift that keeps on giving. 🙂
Karen Creamer Author, Coach, Speaker 
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