What's in a dream?

I have been unable to write much in the last few weeks. I've experienced a series of events that blocked me up.

• We went skiing to Livigno, Italy for a week and for the first time I admitted that skiing was getting to be excessive work (Am I getting old?). The conditions were great, and we had fun skiing with cousins from Germany until Celine tore her knee up like I did so many years ago. Perhaps the memory of that did me in. 

Promoting my book

It's hard work promoting a novel. We were travelling for much of the time since we released the book so I never had a chance to really launch it. We're also concentrating on Alex's new release Self Publishing for Success. He launched it at Books@One in Louisburgh to a small but interested audience in a very nice session. Next week he does a seminar at the Castlebar Library. But me, I'm not really doing much.

My book was on the table as an offering from White Seahorse Press at Books@One. I did post it on Goodreads and amazon.com. I did a book reading to post on our website and blogs. I have signed up to Reader's Gazette and they tweet my stuff out regularly. I did post when I had a chance on Women who sail Facebook group. I do occasionally post something on different sites but I'm not really working at it. Why? because I think this is a trivial book that helped me learn how to write a book. I am aiming for the next one to be the literary novel or memoir that I have to get out.

Book reading from The Naked Truth

Trailer for Onyx the Cruising Kitty

View on YouTube

Learn more about the book at White Seahorse.

The Naked Truth Press Release

Contact: Alex Blackwell
President
White Seahorse
Division of Knowledge Clinic Ltd.
Port Aleria, Rosnakilly, Kilmeena
Westport, County Mayo, Ireland
+353 87 624 3907
ablackwell@knowledgeclinic.com
www.coastalboating.net

For Immediate Release

Announcing the New Release:
The Naked Truth
A nautical murder mystery
by Daria Blackwell

14 February 2017, Westport, Ireland:  White Seahorse is pleased to announce the release of The Naked Truth - A nautical murder mystery. It is Daria Blackwell’s first novel. She is the co-author of several previous non-fiction works.

Alex Blackwell, White Seahorse President, independent publisher and author said, “This novel complements our existing line of self-published works, each of which takes on a degree of a nautical theme, but weaves an intriguing story around adventures on the high seas. It’s not the typical diary of an Atlantic circuit. It has multiple twists of plot that are unexpected but highly plausible. It’s a story that anyone who has ever thought about sailing away will find amusing and intriguing. They may even glean several valuable lessons from the narrative.”

When asked how she developed her story, Daria Blackwell explained, “When we sailed across the Atlantic and through the Caribbean, I kept meticulous notes and wrote missives to our friends and family throughout the trip. But I knew I didn’t want to just tell our story as a travelogue. I wanted to use our real experience as the backdrop to a fictional story, one that would be full of twists and turns. So I just started writing, and one day the idea of stringing together a series of disparate yet potentially connected events came to me, and The Naked Truth was born.”

The story begins with Xander and Jessica anchored in the Canary Islands. They had sailed off in search of adventure. Sailing across oceans on their own boat was exactly the kind of restorative voyage the Lynches craved. They quit their high powered jobs, sold their house, and cast off the lines. When Jessica witnesses a series of murders in exotic settings, their adventure sets her on the course of a murder trail. On finding no evidence – no bodies, no signs of struggles – their quest to answer unasked questions begins.  Tormented by helplessness, Jessica experiences bizarre dreams within which lay the clues that evaded the professionals. They embark on a convoluted course to uncover the naked truth.

The Naked Truth is set in the Atlantic Islands and the Caribbean. The description of crossing oceans as a lifestyle is based on the author’s experience. Everything else is fiction.

Paperback: 418 pages

Publisher: White Seahorse/CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Launch date:  February 10, 2017

ISBN10:  1540793745      

ISBN13: 978-1540793744

SRP: $15.00        

About the Author

Daria Blackwell is the co-author of two critically acclaimed non-fiction books Happy Hooking - The Art of Anchoring, Cruising the Wild Atlantic Way and Onyx, The Cruising Kitty. The Naked Truth is her debut novel, a murder mystery set in the midst of sailing adventures. She has written numerous articles for sailing magazines and websites on both sides of the Atlantic. Daria is a USCG-licensed captain with three Atlantic crossings and a year’s sabbatical sailing in the Caribbean to her credit. In a former life she was a scientist, a science writer, a creative copywriter, a strategic planner, and a top level executive in marketing and communications firms. She is the author of several publications on cultural competence. A dual citizen of the US and Ireland, Daria has taken on a mid-Atlantic mind set. Follow her blogs at http://dariablackwell.blogspot.ie/ and http://aleriasadventures.blogspot.com/.

About White Seahorse

White Seahorse (www.whiteseahorse.com) is a division of Knowledge Clinic Limited based in Westport, County Mayo, Ireland (www.knowledgeclinic.com). White Seahorse is dedicated to providing information, products, and consulting, marketing and communications services to the marine leisure industry. White Seahorse’s publishing arm provides support for independent authors who self-publish.

• High resolution art is available from ablackwell@knowledgeclinic.com .  
• Booksellers interested in carrying any of the White Seahorse titles should contact ablackwell@knowledgeclinic.com. They may also order directly from CreateSpace.com.
• For more titles, visit http://www.whiteseahorse.ie.

https://www.whiteseahorse.ie/publishing/NakedTruth/NT-Release.html

Soon to be released: Self-Publishing for Success, Every book deserves to be published.

https://www.prlog.org/12622784-new-book-release-the-naked-truth-nautical-murder-mystery.html

Moving to Ireland

When we first moved back (actually my husband moved back, I went with him) to Ireland, we were eager to work and share the immense amount of experience we had in very relevant professions.  I had been a top level executive in pharma and related businesses; my husband was a marketing, printing and new media specialist with multinationals. I have cultural competence as a specialty, which is very rare. I was told, "Oh we have plenty of people with your profile." So we started our own business, were let down by a government agency, and began writing books instead. It's been an interesting ride.

I do love living here. Life is real here. No alternative facts. But many people have a very limited understanding of what the world out there is really like. It's a story I'm looking to tell.

Social Networking to promote your works

eBiz MBA has ranked the top social networking sites. There is no doubt that self-publishing required disciplined self-promotion. So it pays to know where you can have the most impact. Facebook and YouTube are are the clear winners when it comes to delivering sheer numbers of users. But Twitter, especially now that with our supreme TOTUS has us wondering, "What next?"

"Now I lay me down to sleep 

wondering what the Trump will tweet."

But seriously, as opposed to most social media which depend on pull to intercept people who are already there, Twitter is a push medium that can distribute a message to the entire universe of users interested in a particular subject with a simple #. It's how the #resistance is growing. It's a very powerful medium so tweeting your message is very important. The following is today's report from eBiz MBA. Each of the sites has it's own appeal. Use them to your advantage. After all, they are free, except for your time. Use it wisely.