The first book in my series, Cali May Mysteries, Death Remembers, is at number one on Amazon in it’s category (Native American). Celebrate with me by downloading a free e-copy from Amazon! Offer good through tomorrow, Oct. 28.
Category Archives: Artist
Death Remembers hits #1, Now Free!
An amazing thing happened today!
The first book in my series, Cali May Mysteries, Death Remembers, went to number one on Amazon in it’s category (Native American). Thank you to everyone who purchased, read, and/or reviewed it, and to all of you who have encouraged me to continue writing. And since it is a ghost story it is…
Free, just in time for Halloween!
Celebrate with me and download the first Cali May Mysteries book, Death Remembers, for free from Amazon, starting today, Oct. 25th, through Sunday, Oct. 28th. What better way to see if you enjoy a good haunted mystery set against the desert environment and history of Arizona, with a hint of romance. I’m hoping you will like the second book, Killing Rose, and the third book, Magnolia Murders, just as much.
Next Book: Magnolia Murders
Coming in 2018! Magnolia Murders
Cali May and Daniel Silvertree, newly married, drive to Sedona, AZ to stay at the Magnolia House Bed and Breakfast for their honeymoon. Hoping for a relaxing, romantic vacation in red rock country, Cali is confronted with a sobbing ghost, a missing child and sinister secrets of the innkeeper’s family, including the suspicious death of the patriarch three generations in the past. While the Tinsdale family squabble over line of succession to a sizable inheritance, including Magnolia House, Cali and Daniel begin to piece together a decades-old event that led to murder, past and present.
I’m hoping to finish this latest Cali May adventure sometime in June, but will keep you posted on my progress!
Still Seeking Reviews!
Receive a FREE e-copy of Black Diamond Graves to read and leave a review on Amazon!
Thank you to my wonderful First Readers for their reviews!
If there’s anyone out there whom I haven’t reached, or who has received this plea previously (I apologize!) but might reconsider, and would like to receive a FREE review e-copy and leave a review on Amazon, please let me know. Amazon works on algorithms and I am still seeking additional reviews. Thank you, thank you, thank you, in advance! Contact me here.
Cali May attends an artists’ retreat at the Tawnee Mountain Ski and Golf Resort in Northern New Jersey. When she and the other attendees arrive, they find the spacious, enclosed gondolas out of order. They must ride the ordinary ski lift to the summit of the Black Diamond run to a small lodge. Cali overcomes her fear of heights with difficulty to climb aboard a chair, but is horrified to see a figure fall to earth half-way up the mountain. Is this an accident or murder? Isolated at the top of the Black Diamond run with a group of creative souls, both dead and alive, she must find a murderer before he kills again.
Black Diamond Graves
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After being invited into the company of six award winning authors to write a novella for the Tawnee Mountain Mysteries series, I am proud to announce my contribution, Black Diamond Graves, is available for pre-order. Or, receive a free e-copy to read and review on Amazon. Check out all seven of the novellas in this series!
News Release: “In “Black Diamond Graves,” Floridian Wendy Fallon takes her main character, California “Cali” May to attend an artists’ retreat at the Tawnee Resort. Cali is horrified to see a figure fall from the Black Diamond ski lift chair in front of her as she and the other attendees ride up the mountain to a small lodge. She finds herself stranded with several creative souls both dead and alive and must uncover a murderer before she, too, becomes a target.”
Ask me for a free review copy of Black Diamond Graves here.
My Next Book is Out!
My next book, Black Diamond Graves, is now available for pre-order on Amazon.
I was honored to be invited to contribute to a multi-author series, Tawnee Mountain Mysteries, published by Short on Time Books. I am one of seven authors who were asked to place their main character in the same location, Northern New Jersey, in the fictional Tawnee Mountain Ski and Golf Resort. (I was born and raised in a tiny little town called Pompton Plains, NJ, and consider it my home town.)
I am still seeking First Readers. If you would like to receive free e-copies of each of my books before the official publishing date, and provide a review on Amazon, please let me know at wendy.w.fallon@gmail.com. You will be helping me tremendously! The more reviews an author has, the more publicity Amazon provides. In return, you will receive occasional newsletters from me with information about future books, character naming contests, book conferences I will be attending, my inspiration, and questions to readers for which you can provide feedback. And other miscellaneous info!
I deeply appreciate everyone who has already purchased and/or provided reviews. I hope my books will continue to entertain you, and you continue to provide me with feedback. ~ Wendy
Winners in the Adult Coloring Contest: Congratulations!
My Adult Coloring Contest 2015 is now closed, but watch for more fun contests in 2016!
I am pleased to congratulate and thank all of you who participated in my Adult Coloring Contest 2015. The following Artists (in no particular order) will have their artwork included on the cover of my next Workbook, Drawing & Coloring the American Southwest, Animals & Cacti of the Arizona-Sonoran Desert.
Ginger Fleishans
John Fleishans
Nick Vandehei
Bonnie Lou Coleman
Debra Ann Christian
Laurie Fagen
Karen Mueller Bryson
Here is a sneak peak at the cover in progress:
Drawing & Coloring the American Southwest by WFallon
All participants will receive their choice of a free ebook copy of either workbook: Your Six-Year-Old Inner Aritst Dream Journal, OR Drawing & Coloring the American Southwest when it is publish in 2016.
Thank you so much for reading and participating! ~ Wendy
Seven Days Left to Win! Adult Coloring Contest
ADULT COLORING CONTEST
I’m still accepting entries for my Adult Coloring Contest. Your opportunity to be included on the cover of my next Workbook, and to win a free e-book copy of Your Six-Year-Old Inner Artist Dream Journal Workbook, ends midnight Dec. 31, 2015.
Indulge your Six-Year-Old Inner Artist by coloring the Road Runner! Visit the http://wendyfallon.com, Contests page for details.
Tweeting in the New Year
Yesterday, on Christmas Day 2015, my daughter, Deb, introduced me to Twitter. Not just HOW to tweet, but WHY. As a late blooming writer, I’ve adapted to Facebook, established an email list, and started blogging.
Why add any more technology to an already overloaded Artist’s brain? As an artist, technology isn’t supposed to be my strong suite, I argued. But something amazing happened this Christmas. I received an awesome electronic game designed by Jacquie Lawson that was packaged into her beautifully designed Advent Calendar. I had been avoiding electronic gaming like the plague, afraid of being sucked into a time sink. Smashing Christmas ornaments became my new addiction. My right brain (creative) was absolutely enthralled, my left brain (strategic) totally baffled…until I realized that to win the game I had to use my whole brain.
It turns out that knowing WHY I Tweet is key to engaging my whole brain. And at that point, tweeting became my new favorite pastime. Why should I tweet as an author? Because it has the potential to put me in front of more eyeballs than any other cyber tool, not as an artist (totally right brain) but as a writer (whole brain). And that can be pretty seductive.
Deb’s comment: “I’ve created a monster!”
Art Geek’s Christmas Wreath 2015
Distracted Focus: Getting it DONE!
Backyard Mesquite (C) Wendy Fallon
If what I do best is my passion and creative outlet, shouldn’t that be what I focus my life’s energy on? Shouldn’t it be EASY to give in to what I enjoy? It turns out that life is a balancing act, between what I want to do and what I need to do to support my life (work) and the endless interruptions and distractions. . . that IS (ARE?) Life.
I’ve been reading on the Web about the common characteristics of highly creative people. Not all of it is positive and some of it I reject, but enough of what I’ve read makes sense to me to know that I fall somewhere in the spectrum. (I believe EVERYONE falls somewhere on the creativity spectrum!)
Take one characteristic, that of being easily distracted and quickly bored because the brain is firing faster than the body can act. I believe we all suffer from this occasionally, due to a variety of factors. One cause might be the overstimulation from too much social or electronic media. Another could be today’s habit of multitasking. Either of these could disrupt the concentration of even the most dedicated thinker.
If you are a writer, an artist, or the master of your own specialty, how do you focus your best thoughts on creating something new or unique?
My own approach to this scatter-brained dilemma is as follows. What is yours?
- I commit to finishing my project on or within a deadline. Example: I will finish writing and illustrating my next workbook by the end of 2015.
- I consciously set aside recurring blocks of time, as consistently as possible, to writing and making art.*
- During these times I do not allow myself to read fascinating work by other writers. I am a voracious reader and can spend entire weekends reading a good book. I try to use this addiction to reward myself after I’ve completed a block of my own project.
- I turn off the TV and stay off social media (FaceBook, to which I am also addicted.)
- I do allow myself downtime in the form of meditation, walking or even short naps. This helps whatever ideas I have tumbling around in my brain to come together, make connections and mature.
*I often ‘show up’ to write or draw, only to find my mind is blank. Doodling or free writing helps me get started. I may struggle to get even the worst results down on paper, but often return later to find my efforts are not as bad as I thought. Even if I only retain a few words, or discard it entirely, it eventually moves the project forward and unblocks my thoughts.
HOW DO YOU FOCUS ON YOUR CREATIVITY?
How have you arranged your life to allow you to work at what you enjoy? Are you working at what you love? If not, how do you divide your time between work and ‘play?’ I’d love to hear from you, and would like to include your name and idea in a future book, or on my website.
~ Wendy
Wendy Fallon, Mystery Writer 