NEW AND IMPROVED book, TERROR IN THE NIGHT, shares stories of alien abductions and explores the existence of ETs

They say good things come to those who wait. For anyone interested in the subject of extraterrestrials as well as alien abductions, then the "something good" is a new book just released through CreateSpace. TERROR IN THE NIGHT I- ALIEN ABDUCTION EXPOSED! is a book I helped write with Martha Jette and Usko Ahonen.

For the longest time, I have always been curious about the alien phenomenon. I have a strong interest in the subject of astronomy, so I have spent many years reading articles and reports on things related to the universe. This includes the topic of the search for intelligent life throughout the cosmos. I have also had a couple of experiences that made me wonder if something related to ETs had happened.

So, imagine my delight when Canadian author Martha Jette asked me if I would join her writing team for this book. Martha and I first worked on a book together for TOTALLY SCARED: The Complete Book on Haunted Houses (which is currently out of print but we are going to submit a new and revised edition of this book to another publisher next year). She had already gotten a tremendous amount of work done on this book and because there was such an overwhelming amount of material to cover and so many people to interview, she felt a third person would be helpful. So I got started doing research on the chapters, gathering information and interviewing people she wanted to include in this book. Unfortunately, I ran into problems trying to obtain certain interviews with some people, but Martha was able to find other people to include. Or, she worked out the technicalities with people who were wary of being interviewed for such a book. It was quite an experience helping out with this book and I am grateful for the opportunity to explore this subject in such great depth.

Whether you are a believer or not, or a fan of TV shows like The X-Files, Terror In The Night by Martha Jette, Dawn Colclasure and Usko Ahonen makes for some very interesting reading on the topic of alien abductions.

Blurb:

Have you been abducted? After reading this book you will know for sure. Along with an extensive list of indicators, learn just who these aliens really are and what they want from us. You will be quite surprised! Read terrifying true-life accounts from folks in a variety of walks in life who in many cases are still being abducted. You will also learn what services are available to help you cope with this frightening and unwanted covert activity in your life.

Link

NOTE: This is a print edition of the NEW and IMPROVED Terror In The Night ebook published last year. This new edition will be available as an ebook in the near future and the old ebook will be removed from the market.

Born out of grief: My new children's book, Wolf Whispers

Grief can be surprising at times. Usually, if I am too sad over a loss or a national tragedy (as what happened after 9/11), I will be too shocked and saddened to write. Words won’t come easily to me; it’s the emotions related to the loss that take over. So I wasn’t expecting to write very much when, two years ago, I received the news that my mother had passed away. However, I found that it helped to write in a personal journal about the emotions and sadness I experienced during the first days following her death. With my family living far away and my husband doing his best to be there for me and the children as best he could, pouring my heart and soul out into this journal really helped me to cope with this loss.

But something else helped, too: Turning to my animal guide for comfort. My animal guide, a wolf, has helped me through many hard times in my life. And when I was faced with this major loss, as my mother and I had been very close, I recalled how turning to the wolf through meditation often helped me to feel a little better. Sometimes I was granted wisdom, sometimes strength. So this is what I did when working through my grief over losing my mother. I turned to the wolf for comfort, strength, guidance.

That was when the big surprise came. One day after I started this meditation process, I was inspired to write a story. A story about how a wolf helps a little girl whose mother died from an illness. I wrote this story exactly as it came to me in the meditative state and was surprised at how well it all came together. (Later, as I prepared the story for publication, I revised only the very first page.)

My new children’s book, Wolf Whispers, is the result of that experience. To make the book even more special, I asked my daughter, Jennifer, to illustrate this story. (After all, she’d lost her grandmother, and this story was tied to that loss.) The book has finally been self-published through CreateSpace and I’m very thrilled with how it turned out. I really think the writing I had been doing in my journal made it easier for me to write fiction while grieving. Writing that story brought me comfort and I hope it brings comfort to another grieving soul out there, too.

Wolf Whispers is my new children’s book illustrated by my daughter, Jennifer Wilson. It’s a story about how animals can help children who are struggling with the loss of a parent.

Blurb: 

After her mother dies, 9-year-old Anya must travel to the woods to live with her father. But Anya is very sad and misses her mother. Then one evening, she receives a very special gift from a wolf. Can Anya learn to listen to the whispers of her heart and heal from her grief?

Available only in print.

Writing at your own pace

Earlier this year, I asked my daughter if she was interested in doing another poetry book with me. She said yes so we got together to brainstorm on a topic. Once a topic was selected, I made a list of things associated with this topic we could write about. She went over the list and said she’d get back to me about it later.

Then, nothing. Weeks passed, then months, and still no word about where she wanted to go with this poetry book. She hadn’t written anything for it, either. I did not want to push her on it, but I was curious about what was up. So I checked in with her to see if she had any thoughts about this book idea. She informed me that she didn’t want to do this particular book anymore, and how about a different topic? I agreed and left it at that. But still, she didn’t write anything for that one, either.

But that doesn’t mean she hasn’t written anything at all. Believe me, this girl has been writing like a madwoman.

In fact, she recently started writing and illustrating a new book. One she is writing at her own pace.

I took note of how Jen was not trying to push herself and rush through the creation of this new book. It really made me stop to think about how so many writers out there are rushing to write their next book and get it out ASAP. They think that they need to hurry, hurry, hurry to get their book Written, Edited and Published right now. This. Very. Minute!

There is this misconception among many new authors that they have to keep churning out books to attract demand. I understand the professional authors able to do such a thing to maintain a demand that already exists, because this is just good business, but unfortunately, a lot of new authors and self-published authors think they need to keep throwing books out there just to keep getting their next book published and get more readers to buy more books. Too often, the quality of their work will suffer and the author frustrated by a lack of sales will experience burnout.

(Side note: Constantly churning out books hoping that it will attract readers when the new author doesn’t really have any will not make their situation any better. While keeping up with the demand for a next book is a good idea for an author, it doesn’t work if there’s no demand. And there won’t be demand unless the author does other things – tours, signings, speaking engagements and radio spots – to build up that demand. This is why many publishers encourage new authors to create a platform before attempting to get a book published. That way, you’ll start off with SOME demand for your book.)

For myself personally, I was not “churning out” books to meet any demand or hope there would be demand for more. I had a goal to get 20 books published by the time I turned 40 – and I met that goal. Now that I have met that goal, I’ve slowed down a bit. I was able to get those books written, edited and OUT THERE because most of them were easy to write (like the poetry and children’s books). Some of them were already written. But now I’ll be tackling the big stuff, some major topics, and I know for a fact I won’t be able to research and write those books so quickly.

This won’t mean I won’t have new books coming out any time soon. I’ve still got novels written up, children’s books waiting for revisions/illustrations and poetry books raring to go. Plus, I have other books already written and submitted that are pending publication.

But I’ll definitely be slowing down with other books. And this situation with my daughter made me realize, you know, taking the writing at your own pace is actually a pretty good idea. You can’t force a good story or a good nonfiction book to be written. You have to allow the story to come out on its own.

I have had this happen with one particular novelette. I tried to write it at a certain time, but that did not happen. My muse froze up. But, months later, the story started to come to me in bits and pieces. I realized I had to take the writing of this story slowly. I could not rush it. I could not force it to come out in entirety, ready for me to put it all on paper. I had to take the story at my own pace. And, by doing so, I know that the story will be better. I’ll be much happier with it and feel more confident that readers will like it.

Nothing will change for my daughter if she takes a little longer to get her next book out there. She will still be an author. She will still be writing her next book. There will still be people out there ready to grab her next book when it comes out. Her next book WILL come out, but in its own time. She needs to write her book at her own pace. She needs to allow her muse to share the next story, the next poem and the next illustration idea when the muse is ready. She knows it’s not a good idea to force the story out for the sake of rushing to get her next book out. She knows that quality is better than quantity. She wants to make sure she writes a damn good story and do so at her own pace.
 
Giving readers a damn good book to read is more important than just throwing more books at them to read, regardless of how good those books are. Readers expect a good book from you. Don’t let them down.

New book, old interest

I recently created a new board on Pinterest about anything related to prayer. Certain people who have followed me on Pinterest for some time may wonder about my sudden interest in the subject of prayer, but the truth is, I have been interested in this subject for quite some time. In fact, I have experiences related to prayer that are going to be in this book. A book idea may usually spring out of an interest in something, but for me, I have to spend time with the subject before I actually write or attempt to publish the book.

But it really begins with my interest in the subject. Later on, I might have experience with this subject that could go in to the book. Or I may just have a lifelong interest in something – say, like baseball – but never write a book on that subject.

I have a variety of interests and I’m curious about a lot of things. Not all of the things I am curious about are evident on my Pinterest board, and I don’t exactly go around telling everybody I meet about all the things I’m interested in. Those things will show in their own time. But when they do come out, it’s not like I am all of a sudden interested in this topic or all of a sudden want to explore some form of storytelling or another. I need to get my hands dirty first, and that’s what I usually do. I spend some time with this subject; checking it out, researching it and experiencing it. Then I’ll write about it.

So, yes, right now I am gearing up to write the praying book. I am spending the rest of this year finishing my research on this subject, and that includes pinning things on Pinterest that are related to prayer. But this focus with my nonfiction writing is not anything new. I just finally got around to putting more of a focus on it and bringing it out into the spotlight.