Waiting By Doree L. Anderson - Launch Party

Everyone please welcome, Doree Anderson back to the garden. You may remember her from the roundtable discussion at Mysteries and Margaritas  on Firefly Part I and Part II. I loved that discussion. Anyway the weather here at the garden can’t decide what it wants to do, rain, snow or shine, so bundle up, find a heater to sit under and let’s begin.

Mary, it is such a delight to be again. Thank you. As a huge fan of your novels, this is an honor for me. And on Firefly, I'm still going through withdrawals. Thank goodness for the November 26th marathon. Starting on January 3, the cable station Ovation will air a week-long prime-time marathon of Joss Whedon's sci-fi/western series including Firefly.

Mary: Tell us a bit about Doree, the person.

Doree:  I'm from the mid-west and even though I've been in Utah for decades, I will always be a mid-west girl. I married young and 35 years later, still hanging with the same guy. When I opted to give up my 'career' in nursing and 12 hour shifts on my feet, I decided to put my first love into action. Writing is my release for all the characters and stories ricocheting in my mind. I love it more than reading and I love to read! I do a mean cross-stitch and dabble in sewing, but once the grandbabies are home, I'm behind the computer.

Mary: I know you’re a member of RWA (Romance Writers of America) so why aren’t you writing mushy Romance? Why did you decide to do Middle Grade? Can you explain the ages this would attract?

Doree: Yes, I am a member of RWA but I'm also with SCBWI (Society of Childrens Books Writers and Illustration) for Middle Grade. Mushy is fun, no doubt about it and my usual area of writing.  This book started out as a simple romantic Young Adult, but after going through an agent who told me to make it paranormal, I changed a lot of it and noticed that the fifteen- year- old isn't into mushy yet. The 'change' also took it away from being a romance as well as the age criteria for a Young Adult. I believe "Waiting" is geared more for Eight to 16-year-olds.

Mary: Oh, I've never heard of SCBWI, as I'm working on a middle grade with the boys, I guess I better check it out. LOL. How do you come up with your characters? Do you have a process? Are they patterned after people you know?

Doree:  Mary, I have been blessed with four grandchildren. These special people are daily influences.  I've learned that if you chuckle at their words...write them down. Seriously!  My characters are a modge podge of the people I've met through out a life of moving. During my childhood, I lived in 6 different states and more than one house in each. When I moved to Utah, I lived in seven different houses my junior year and attended three different high schools.

Mary: There’s something going on all over the net, it’s called ‘Book Bomb’. What the heck is that?

Doree:  Thank you for asking. I'm relatively new to this term but I'm going to give it a try. Prior to the day your book comes out, you announce that you will be having a book bomb on as many networking sights as you can, giving the exact day and time your book is coming out. Then on the day of your release, you announce it again. This gets out information to those interested in purchasing the book, where and for what. My humble teachings on this is that it boosts up your ratings with the e-publishing companies and can place you on the best selling lists which gives the book more national recognition.

Mary: Sounds very interesting, I'll have to try that out myself. I have posted a blurb for your Waiting. It’s release date is today, January 23, 2012, correct? Can you add the Amazon buy link and the times for your ‘Book Bomb’ if any?

Blurb:
No teenage girl likes to share, especially her closet space with a WWI ghost.

With her braces off, summer vacation a week away, and a member of the sophomore cheerleading squad, only life altering uprising could destroy Dani McCarty's happiness. So when her mother declares, "We're moving". Dani's calm life is destroyed and she feels like she's tumbling down the proverbial drain.

 Her hard landing is a haunted, dilapidated, abandoned, military hospital that her family is turning into a bed and breakfast. Add a pro bono nanny job, a bad boy boyfriend with a drug problem, and a ghost in her closet, and you have one grouchy teen. When WWI ghost Lieutenant William Raleigh announces that she's his salvation and his only chance to leave his state of limbo, she realizes that her fifteen year-old life is taking on some major changes.

Doree: The 'bomb' for Waiting is at 12:00 noon. Amazon has an extensive list of books titled 'Waiting' so for easy access, put in Waiting, doree.
Amazon Link

Mary: Okay everyone, this is a great book, so today at 12:00 noon, let's all support Doree over at Amazon. Do you have any other pertinent information you have for us? Web site, blog, Facebook, Twitter or anything else?

Doree: Yes, I do. My website: www.doreeanderson.com,
Facebook, Twitter  and blog

Thank you, Doree, for joining us again at the garden. Good luck with Waiting!

Mary, it was wonderful being with you today. Also, I'd like to mention that I am looking forward to March when your "The Beckett Series" comes out.