Hi friends,
First, we have an amazing promotion happening for the next four days. Our publisher has put ALL 6 books in the Aftermath series on sale for 99c each! So, cool, huh?
No food. No shelter. No way out but through.
A calamitous pair of storms.
Two women on the run from their past caught in the whirlwind.
83% OFF: $5.99 for all the books instead of $34.94
Aftermath series in US: https://amzn.to/3iUqiCQ
Aftermath series in UK: https://books.to/WHQtk
For those of you who’ve already read the series and enjoyed it, please feel free to share the links above on social media or with a friend who might enjoy the books on sale.
I know I really like getting book recommendations from my friends, so thanks for spreading the word!
And since your support and the spring sunshine is making me smile, I thought I’d share some fun info with you on the topic:
More smiling can make you live longer!
Many studies on smiles show that they release substances in the brain that decrease stress, increase happiness, help you heal faster, increase work productivity and creativity, and even make you live longer.
In fact, measuring the width of smiles in individual pictures in a yearbook actually correlated to more successful lives and living longer.
Even seeing someone else smile can have huge benefits. A fun study used an MRI to measure the amount of enjoyment in the brains of subjects looking at various smiles. Then they compared the data to MRI readings of enjoyment of chocolate or thousands of dollars. The smiles won. 🙂
So, if losing weight or exercise are a bit of a challenge, how about just smiling more to improve your health? We can make a difference by surrounding ourselves with opportunities to smile: children, happy situations, comedy shows, cheerful friends, etc.
There is even evidence that forcing a fake smile can still start a cascade of good responses in your brain, body and health. Scientist theorize that the brain responds to the act of smiling as if all the good things normally associated with smiling are actually happening.
So, maybe this week, watch for opportunities to smile more often: sit outside in the sunshine, watch the antics of a child or pet, do a small kindness for someone you haven’t contacted in a while, or whatever else makes you smile. Go for it. 😀
I plan on putting a little sticky note with a smile on it on my laptop, because I can always use another boost to my creativity and happiness. We’ll see how well it works.
If you try it out, let me know if it helps you, too.
Good luck and keep smiling out there!
____________________
Misty’s Writing Update:
Two chapters! That’s all I have left to finish this book . . . I hope! It might be three. LOL.
Then comes a lot of editing, or as I like to call it: grumblediting.
Yeah, not my favorite part of writing. 🙂 I’d rather jump into a new and shiny story, but I know that a bit of polishing can make the story so much better, so I spend the time.
As a side note, I have a few openings for beta readers if you are familiar with Google docs and have a gmail address. My beta readers enjoy reading the book before publication, and they mark typos or plot holes for me to fix. So if you have an eye for mistakes and like fantasy/litrpg, send me a note if you’d like to join the team.
My next step is to get working on a cover for this book, which I’m excited about. It will be my first semi-illustrated cover, so fingers crossed I can find a good artist.
And finally, Steph and I have decided to invest in producing audiobooks for our Escaping the Virus series. We’re both totally new to the process and know it’s pretty pricy – $2k – $4k per book. But we’ve had a lot of readers who only listen to audio, so we’re hoping it will sell well enough to pay for the investment. It’s a new venture, so hopefully it goes well.
By the way, if you’re an audio fan and have a favorite post-apoc narrator, feel free to offer suggestions, and we’ll check them out!
Thanks again and enjoy reading this week!
— Misty 🙂
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