This month I solidified a release date for my debut novel, Secrets of the Blue Moon. Friday, September 6th, here I come! But yowza. There’s a great deal to do between now and then.

To help stay on track, I’ve enrolled in a mastermind program, 12 Weeks to Book Launch Success, created and taught by Lainey Cameron, marketing coach and author of The Exit Strategy, my book rec from November 2023. So far, Lainey has tasked us with mapping out launch plans, identifying our target readers, and determining how to categorize our books (genre…but, oh, so much more).

This week’s assignment? Working on our personal brands. 

This assignment piggybacks well with something I learned from Lisa Montanaro at the Women’s Fiction Writers Association Conference last October. She reminded us that personal brands describe OURSELVES, not our books or products. Here are some examples:

• Oprah = self-empowerment

• Richard Branson = luxury

• Kim Kardashian = flashy

We were challenged to choose three to five words that best describe us. Here are mine:

• Warm

• Witty

• Wise

• Sassy

• Reflective

What about you, my friend? What’s your brand?

I would love to hear the words you think define you best. And while you’re at it, maybe help me pair down my choices to three. I mean, really:

Do you think I’m sassy?

Cheers ~ J

P.S. Marketing’s one thing, but don’t expect to see me on TikTok any time soon. Then again, I’m learning to never say never. So…stay tuned!? 

college…until she gets into trouble. In Washington, D.C., newlywed Eleanor hopes that having a baby will earn her acceptance into her husband’s wealthy elite family. But the odds aren’t good.

The two women’s stories weave together in ways you might expect—but not without several surprises. To avoid spoilers, let me just share what the book cover says: “Ruby and Eleanor will both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives.”

The House of Eve stuck with me on several levels. For one thing, I grew up during this era. I remember a junior high classmate who “disappeared” from school amid rumors she’d “gotten in trouble.” Whatever happened to her and her baby, I don’t know; she never returned to school.

Yet the book also resonated because these women were very unlike me. It’s a tale of two black women who grew up in different circumstances, not just from me, but from each other. Their separate stories illustrate the added complexities of race, regardless of economic status, when dealing with women’s rights in an earlier time.

Finally, the book blurb is true—these women’s decisions will shape the trajectory of their lives. Yet don’t our decisions depend on the choices we have? Decision and choice are two different things. I fear that’s been too easily forgotten lately. And perhaps that’s the thing that haunts me most.

If you’d like to read this book, which was a Read With Jenna Book Club pick, please order it from your favorite bookseller. 

If you enjoy watching drama thrillers on the screen, check out The Tourist, a series currently streaming on Netflix. It stars Jamie Dornan as the victim of a car crash in the Australian outback. He wakes up in a hospital with no ID—and no recollection about who he might be. He’s not sure he even wants to know as he senses he may not like what he learns.

A cast of intriguing and (mostly) charming characters try to help him, including a probationary constable (Danielle Macdonald), a waitress (Shalom Brune-Franklin), and an inspector general (Damon Herriman). But they’re all fighting their own personal demons, often raising even more questions.

This is one of those shows that will keep you guessing. It contains a fair share of gore and dark humor, but its more poignant scenes will touch your heart. I’m only four episodes into Season 1 (which consists of six episodes), and I notice that reviews have been mixed at best. But so far, so good. And Season 2 is based in Ireland. So what could be so bad about that?