Category Archives: Writing

Book Trailer – Couples Guide to Pregnancy & Beyond

My latest book has just been released on Amazon today in ebook format and the mass market paperback will be available on the site by the end of the week, or early next week. Here’s the new book trailer for it!

New Cleveland Browns Biography book – Reserve today #clevelandbrowns

Starting today, you can begin reserving a copy of my third book – If You Wore the Uniform… You’re a Brown Volume 1. Due for release this summer by Blue Leaf Publications, but because of such high demand, the publishing house has agreed to begin taking reservation orders and also offering it in limited edition hardcover and author autographed softcover. The mass market paperback will be made available Fall 2012.

Be one of the first to own Volume 1 of If You Wore the Uniform… You’re a Brown!

You can reserve a copy HERE! Pay later!
Cleveland Browns new biography book

Couples Guide to Pregnancy and Beyond – Endorsements

Here are a few of the endorsements that have already come in for my next book, “The Couples Guide to Pregnancy and Beyond.” It will be released in paperback and e-book Spring, 2012!

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“…just what the doctor ordered. There are a thousand books on pregnancy geared to the expectant mother, but until now, not one that addresses the expectant dad in a format that he’ll actually read. It’s straight-talking, humorous and written in “guy talk”, while being sensitive enough to address the expectant mom’s questions and concerns. A true he/she bonding opportunity! Two thumbs up!” — Dave E. David, M.D. Nationally recognized Board Certified Obstetrician and creator of the video “Making Womb For Baby” http://www.drdavedavid.com

“We love this fun and refreshing approach to calming pregnancy fears for moms and dads.” — Ellie & Melissa, co-founders of the nation’s #1 maternity concierge and consulting company and planning experts for WebMD, DisneyFamily, Baby Zone, and Pregnancy Magazine. http://www.thebabyplanners.com

“A must-read if you’re expecting. Duffy and Zakour share the honest truth about those exciting nine months and beyond. Spiced with humor, their suggestions will truly help expectant parents understand each other and what’s happening in baby’s first apartment—the womb!” — Blythe Lipman, author of “Help! My Baby Came Without Instructions,” host of the Baby and Toddler Instructions radio show, and expert with 25+ years of experience in the field. http://www.babyinstructions.com

“A practical, delightful book chock full of valuable guidance for the expecting couple and gives them an expert map to embark on life’s greatest adventure.” — Stevanne Auerbach, PhD., Dr Toy Author, Smart Play Toys, http://www.drtoy.com

“A great approach to a very challenging subject, and a book every father-to-be should read. Having gone through the magic of having children twice, I would have appreciated this direct yet light hearted approach to preparing for the big day.” — John McPherson, Author, “Ten Simple Rules for Being a Better Parent in a World Turned Upside Down” http://www.tensimplerules.net

On Sale! Only .99 this month!

Stormy Knight: Prom Queen of the Undead e-book version is on sale for only .99 right now!!! In honor of back-to-school time and getting kids into meeting their reading minutes for school, the price is been dropped temporarily. Even if you do not have a Kindle or a Nook, you can STILL download the e-version and read it on your computer – for ONLY .99! It’s available at Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes & Noble websites. Just click the BUY THE BOOK link to the right for direct links.

Book Award Nominee!!!


I just got word that Stormy Knight: Prom Queen of the Undead has been nominated for an Award! Please CLICK HERE TO VOTE for this title as a portion of the final decision is weighed by how many 5 star votes it receives. It’s FREE to vote. You just have to click this link and then CLICK on the 5 e’s that are in BLUE just under the title. Make sure you click on the LAST ‘e’ so that the saying next to it says, ‘You gotta read this.’ That’s it! You can also leave a positive review about the book if you’d like, underneath, but that isn’t required to vote. PLEASE VOTE 5 “E’s” Thank you!!!

Official Release Date

Today is the official release date for Stormy Knight: Prom Queen of the Undead! Two recent reviews:

“With a nod to Buffy, this whimsical chick-lit urban fantasy is an entertaining tale due to the heroine who wants to live life as an ordinary teen, but fate keeps forcing her to use her paranormal skills to perform good deeds. A quirky support cast, a reluctant heroine and a spell caster who doesn’t know the consequences of his actions makes this a character driven charmer…”

Harriet Klausner for Alternative Worlds

“I really enjoyed this book. I was completely entranced with the great characters. This is the type of novel that you can really sink your teeth into…has a great plot and reaches outside of the box… pleasantly surprised by the level of emotions shown by the characters….”

Catie Vargas for Night Owl Reviews

Aiming for a Bestseller List

Stormy Knight is set to debut May 1st, but Amazon.com has already begun shipping orders for it. I just checked rankings of the paperback version and as of this morning, it’s ranked at 35,214 out of over 8 million books! The stats change regularly, but it’d be awesome to end up on one of their Bestseller Lists. To those that have been spreading the word through Facebook and Twitter and word of mouth, thank you! I’ve made it super easy to do so – click on the BUY THE BOOK link to the right – - – -> near the top (next to my picture) Once you are on that page, you can scroll down under the video book trailers and there will be little icons for Facebook, twitter, etc. Click on one of those and it will allow you to write a little blurb and then share the direct ordering link right on Facebook, or other social media websites. You can also print out free Stormy Knight bookmarks from that page, too!

A writer’s room…

When I was working on Stormy Knight, I did the majority of my writing in my writing office/craft room surrounded by 12 bookcases full of books and craft supplies. There was a little bit of it I wrote while sitting outside enjoying the wildlife that would pass by the the back yard. Lately though, I’ve been doing a lot of writing sitting in the living room on the couch, or in the bedroom sitting on the bed. I have every intention of going into my little writing spot each morning, but I just haven’t quite made it there these past few weeks. My comfy chair keeps beckoning for me to come back in there, so I don’t know what the deal is. I have had a lot going on in recent weeks though, so I haven’t been able to fully concentrate on my writing as much as I would like. If you are a writer, do you have a favorite spot you like to write at, or can you just write anywhere?

A NEW Stormy Knight Book Trailer

Check out this catchy, short Book Trailer for Stormy Knight Prom Queen of the Undead.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du1ypC6brBg?rel=0&hd=1&w=480&h=390

LYRICS to STORMY KNIGHT
Stormy Knight had an average life except she was half vampire queen/
she lives in Littleton and goes to Littleton High/ with her friends Marco and Cory by her side/high school can be hard without the added bizarre but she does a good job of fitting in/ and Candi the vampire queen who enjoys eating way to many ghost has appeared/ well everything was fine until about the time that the undead started popping out the grave/now in stormy knight’s life nothing seems right/ as these things seem to threaten all her dreams/

Writing the Book is Only Part of the Big Picture

Here’s a piece I wrote for another website, but thought I’d post it here, too:

My new book is set to release next month and it seems like it was ions ago that I sat down and started working on it. I remember running into the occasional “minor” writer’s block here and there. Then of course, there was the editing and editing and yes, more editing that took place between my publisher, my co-author and myself. Months of that. Now that the book comes out soon, it seems like all that was the calm before the storm. It’s all about getting the word out about the book and getting it into as many stores as possible; doing interviews – rinse and repeat. Everything has kicked into high gear. Most nights I’m not going to bed until 1AM and even then, my body is physically wiped out, but my brain won’t shut off and relax for a while longer. Then… like clockwork, back up at 5:30 AM – answer emails that came in throughout the night, then get the kids ready for school and work twice as hard as I did the day before.

When you break it down to what authors actually make per book sale… it’s quite literally pennies on the dollar – unless you are one of the lucky, chosen few, that go bigtime and land a huge publishing contract with one of the big New York houses. Those deals are out there, but they are few and far between. So, in the meantime, authors such as myself, with a publishing contract with a smaller publishing house must come up with random ways to both entertan and amuse myself in this world of book promotion while hopefully entertaining and amusing a kid or two along the way enough to make them want to read my new book. With that in mind, I came up with an idea to commission a recording artist and music producer to go into the studio and record a catchy, kid-friendly song that tells the basic story of my book. It’s a hip-hop beat with a little bit of rhyme, so be forewarned if that isn’t your cup of tea. However, if you’d like to humor me for a moment, feel free to watch the new (cough, cough) ‘world premiere’ of my latest book trailer in a post, below. I have others being released in the coming weeks.

A recent review, “A quirky support cast, a reluctant heroine and a spell caster who doesn’t know the consequences of his actions makes this a character driven charmer.” – Harriet Klausner, Alternative Worlds

So, I have to ask – for the other fellow authors out there, how involved were you with the actual promotion of your book(s)? Is that something you left up to the publisher to handle, or did you roll up your sleeves and dig right in?

Stormy Knight is now on Amazon

You can now place your order for Stormy Knight: Prom Queen of the Undead over on Amazon! The book is softcover (not hardcover like in the picture though). : )

“A quirky support cast, a reluctant heroine and a spell caster who doesn’t know the consequences of his actions makes this a character driven charmer.” – Harriet Klausner, Alternative Worlds
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Stormy Knight Review

Head on over to Alternative Worlds to read a review of Stormy Knight: Prom Queen of the Undead (Due for release May 2011). Thank you, Alternative Worlds for the cool write-up!

A quirky support cast, a reluctant heroine and a spell caster who doesn’t know the consequences of his actions makes this a character driven charmer.” – Harriet Klausner, Alternative Worlds