Books, Chocolate and Wine with N. N. Light

Get to Know Mary aka Princess of the Light A-Z Plus Save 33% Off

Mary Miller is someone just like you and me, except she has been chosen by God to rid the world of Darkness and restore the Light. Sounds pretty cool, right? Mary thought so too, until she met her first assignment: The Walking Man. He’s a homeless man being haunted by Lucifer’s second-in-command, Than, and The Walking Man shuns any human contact.  Her Heavenly guide Gabriel’s not much help, either. Mary needs to figure it out fast before Joe (her new boyfriend) finds out. Being the Princess of the Light is harder than she thought and as Than amps up the attacks, she’s worried she might not survive this ordeal.

Here are twenty-six fun facts about Mary aka Princess of the Light:

A- Art is one of her loves and she secretly paints in her free time

B- Bookstore Manager and loves all things books

C- Coffee and chocolate are her addictions

D-Demons attack her at every turn and must defeat them all

E- Empathy is one of her gifts from the time she was little

F- Friends are her family and she loves her friends fiercely

G- Golden Lake is her home and she loves it so much

H- Her greatest fear is turning evil and giving in to the demons

I- Insecurity flutters around her heart as she wonders if she can truly be the Princess of the Light

J- Jokes and comedy make her laugh heartily

K- Kicking Than’s butt gives her pleasure

L- Love, pure unconditional love, burns brightly in her soul

M- Musicals, she loves them and her favorite is “Guys and Dolls”

N- Natural appearance and make-up is her fashion sense

O- Orange is definitely not the new black in her opinion

P- Purple is her favorite color and lavender is her favorite scent

Q- Quiet and shy is the type of child she was growing up

R- Reading is her favorite thing to do and she encourages everyone to read

S- Soul mates are something she strongly believes in and she may have found hers

T- Transportation for her is mass transit or walking

U- Underneath it all, she is a normal woman living her life

V- Vexed by Lisbeth at every turn, she must figure out a way to banish the demon

W- Winter is her least favorite season, although she loves Christmas

X- Xtra sensitive talking about her father, Richard, as he died in a car crash

Y- Yearns for the day when the world is filled with Light and hunger is eliminated

Z- Zeal to heal and help all those who feel helpless and alone

Princess of the Light

Inspiring spiritual growth one person at a time

Back Cover Copy

Gabriel, the Archangel and Messenger of God - yeah, that Gabriel - visits Mary Miller. He tells her, as the key, she is destined to spread the Light and vanquish the Darkness. Her first assignment is to restore the soul of the Walking Man. Sounds simple enough -- until she’s thrown into the face of evil. And then, Joe Deacons enters her heart. This battle just got a lot more complicated. She must complete her mission without losing all she loves.

Excerpt for Princess of the Light

"He absolutely adored his daughter, too. I remember that clearly. She was his everything." Alfred paused, apparently lost in his thoughts. With a sigh he said, "There was a scandal with the project, though, and André got fired. Soon after, Dara left him, took Katherine with her and André fell apart. He started drinking heavily and, without his daughter, his life fell apart."

Joe looked at me and I fought to keep from throwing my hand over my mouth. There was purple fire in his eyes and I felt his anger. I already knew the story of André and I tried to smile at him.

I smelled burning flesh. Joe flashed in full armor fighting demons with a golden sword.

I gasped at the vision and brought my hand to my chest in shock feeling the key necklace, before I could stop the physical reaction. The necklace weighed heavily as did my heart. He would be fighting at my side soon.

Marie asked, "Are you okay, dear?"

Joe turned to look at his mother. He nodded and only said, "I never knew any of this."

Alfred continued, "I am sorry, son, but you asked for the truth. This is what I know. André was sleeping at the office and drinking all the time. He was supposed to give a presentation to a client and was drunk. He got into a scuffle with his boss and rumor has it, André punched him."

I feigned shock and said, "Oh my!"

Than is to blame. I don't know how I know or what happened but I vow to the Lord that I will make Than pay, thought Joe.

I choked and almost spit out my drink. I just heard Joe's thoughts! I had to set him straight and right away.

I cleared my throat and said awkwardly, "Joe, I think I left something in the car."

Joe looked at me with eyebrows raised. "Excuse me, we'll be right back," I said with a smile.

I walked outside and knew that Joe was right behind me. When I reached the car, I whirled and said in a stern tone, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Joe stopped mid-step and said, "What are you talking about, Mary?"

I ran into his arms and whispered, "You cannot take on Than by yourself! I heard your thoughts in there. Now, I don't know how you know that it was Than who drove André to punching his boss but please promise me that you will not get revenge."

I paused to catch my breath and remembered what Gabriel told me. "Joe, in order to defeat the darkness and not become dark ourselves, we need to have a pure heart. We are filled with the Light and our motives must always be to speak the Truth and spread the Light."

Joe took several deep breaths while he held me. He stroked my hair and whispered, "I'm sorry, my angel. I didn't mean to frighten you and you are right. It was just a momentary thought."

I lifted my head and locked eyes with Joe. Tears filled my eyes but I was determined. I bit at my top lip and then whispered, "Promise me you won't put yourself in harm's way." Hot tears spilled down my cheeks.

Joe wiped at them and said in a deep, reassuring tone, "I promise, Mary. I promise I won't be a hothead and I won't be rash." Then, he laid his forehead on mine and whispered, "Please don't cry, darling. Please."

I nodded and whispered, "I would die if I lost you. Than will use you to try to get to me. You are my love, my everything." My voice cracked. "I would die if I lost you," I repeated.

Joe shook my shoulders a little and looked deep into my eyes. "Listen to me, Mary, you will never lose me! Do you hear me? I am by your side now and forever."

Overcome with emotion, Joe kissed me.

Buy Links for Princess of the Light

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About the Author 

N. N. Light is the husband-wife writing team, commonly known as Mr. N and Mrs. N. Mrs. N. has been creating stories ever since she was little. Her grandfather remembers when she was two years old, she would stand at the top of the stairs and tell him a story filled with emotion (and in a language foreign to him) with her hands on her hips. Let’s just say she was a born storyteller.

They’re blissfully happy and love all things chocolate, books, music, movies, art, sports, trains, history, cooking and baking. Their mantra is to spread the Light.

Most of the time you can find them on Twitter or getting new ideas on how to spread the Light on Pinterest. They’re a proud member of ASMSG, Independent Author Network and Marketing for Romance Writers.

In addition to being authors, they’re also book promoters/reviewers, social media marketers/influencers and the owners of N. N. Light Author Promotions. They both love books, have ever since they were young. Matching up books and readers is something that gives them great pleasure.

100% of the proceeds of Princess of the Light go directly to food banks (US and Canada) in order to feed the hungry and help those in need. With only 7,500 books sold, N. N. Light will be able to set up a monthly endowment for the local food bank.

They’d love to connect with you either via email or via these various social media sites:

Website, Blog, Goodreads, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+, Amazon Author Page, 

Independent Author Network, iAuthor

Books, Chocolate and Wine with NN Light

Book Marketing 101: Three Tips to Promote Your Book(s) Without Driving Away Readers

You’ve just published a book. Congratulations! You’ve done something that many have tried and few have succeeded. Give yourself a pat on the back… then put on your thinking cap. It’s time for the next step: promoting your book.

Book promotion is something most authors dread. I get that and I’m here to help. Being an author myself, I know how overwhelming it is to sell and market your book. In today’s publishing market, both traditional and indie authors are expected to promote and be active on social media.

Ruth asked me to share some book promotion tips with you today. Who am I? My name is Mrs. N and my pen name is N. N. Light. I am a social media marketer by trade and I have the social media reach of over twenty-six million. I’ve been in the book industry for over twenty-five years and I specialize in matching books to readers. In addition, I’m the author of three books (with more on the way) and I firmly believe in authors helping authors succeed.

Below are my three tried-and-true tips to promoting your book(s) without alienating readers. The key to effective book promotion is to balance your selling of your wares and connecting with your followers/readers.

Tip #1: Be a real live person. In the digital age, robots and automation are everywhere. Don’t be a talking billboard on social media. Don’t scream at the top of your lungs, “BUY MY BOOK! BUY MY BOOK! BUY MY BOOK!” Instead, connect with your followers and take an actual interest in their lives. Say hello and talk about things that interest you.

When I first joined Twitter, I had no followers. I started following people who shared similar interests. I soon had a following and made connections. I built a trust with my followers and laid a foundation that’s more valuable than money. Sure, it was a slow process but these same followers are still with me today.

Love to bake, shop, hunt, travel or another hobby? Talk about it online. Intersperse news about your writing and books with what you like to do in your free time. Your following will soon grow and readers will connect with you, the person.

Tip #2: Pick three social media outlets and be consistent. Every day, a new social media outlet pops up. It’s hard to keep up. I mean, who has time to tweet, pin, facebook, tsu, post pics on Instagram, etc? I surely don’t. Readers want consistency so here’s my advice: pick three social media outlets that work for you. For me, it’s my blog, Twitter and Pinterest. I post to my blog every day (Monday through Friday), tweet 24/7 and add pins to my Pinterest boards at least once a week.

My followers know that if they want to connect with me, the first place they do it is Twitter. It’s my go-to platform and I’m always on there. I’m a social butterfly and I love how Twitter is like a global social club. I meet people from all over the world, get news I can’t get elsewhere and connect with people I’m interested in. I can share my thoughts on a topic without having to explain myself. If I have news to share (whether personal or professionally), it goes out to my followers and even strangers (when I use the right hashtags).

My blog is my secret weapon. Secret weapon? Yes! Every day, I create new content online and Google grabs it, sorts it and ranks it. Through SEO (Search Engine Optimization), I’m able to help Google get my writing into the hands of readers. Since I started blogging, my followers have sky-rocketed.

Authors underestimate how powerful a tool a blog is. Not only can you have one place where you can promote your book(s), the more you write, the higher your blog gets ranked by Google. Think about it for a second. Every time you post something on your blog, your writing goes out into the world. If you post twice a week for a whole year, that’s 104 sales pitches for you as a writer and author.

Sales pitches?

Yes, sales pitches. Each time you write a blog post, it’s a sales pitch for someone to read, secretly disguised as an inspirational thought, writing tip, recipe, book review, vacation memories, holiday remembrance, etc. Someone who’s never heard of you will run across your blog post and read your writing.

What happens next will be up to your writing. If your writing inspires/moves the reader, they’ll comment, follow your blog or even check out your book(s).

The best thing about using your blog to showcase your writing is that it’s absolutely free. It doesn’t cost you a thing and the results will astound you.

Remember one important thing about social media: be consistent. No matter what social media platform you use, be consistent. You don’t have to post every day like me. Find what works for you and do it. If it’s only once a week or once every two weeks, that’s fine. Just let your followers know what the schedule is so they’re in the loop. If they think you’ve abandoned them, they’ll leave and won’t come back.

Tip #3: Use graphics in your promotion. Studies show that 76% more readers will click-through to check out your book(s) if a graphic/photo accompanies your blog posts/tweet/update. Readers are visual creatures and one way to pique their interest is to create a quote graphic.

Find a compelling quote that will draw readers in. Create a graphic using one of the many software applications available (Photoshop, Adobe, Canva, etc) and save it to your computer/device. I have a folder with all the graphics I’ve used for my books so it’s easy to post to Twitter/Pinterest/Blog.

I can’t stress this enough, use graphics in Twitter and on your blog. Trust me, you’ll get more readers intrigued with a visual aid than by saying you have a book for sale.

Like the graphic states at the top of this post, it all comes down to trust. Readers will be more likely to buy your book(s) if you have established a connection and they trust you. I’ve built trust as an authentic author/blogger/reviewer and readers trust me when I tell them something is great.

I hope these tips have helped you to see that book promotion is not only essential but fun, too.  You’ve done the hard stuff, writing and publishing the book. Promotion is sharing your writing with the world while building your brand.

Question Time: What do you struggle with the most when it comes to book promotion? I’d love to hear from you. I’m happy to answer any and all questions, too. If you prefer, you can email me.

Planting the Seeds of Love: A Novella

Torn between two men, Sally must follow her heart and decide if love will lead her to the city or the countryside.

Back Cover Copy for Planting the Seeds of Love: A Novella

Twenty-Two year old Sally Rayton returns to the family farm she deserted four years ago to bury her grandfather. Her plan: to settle her grandfather's estate and return to her life in the city with her boyfriend, Trevor Mattson.

Her childhood friend, Jack Smith, has other ideas.

Jack convinces Sally to transform the farm into a brewery and fulfill her grandfather's dream while keeping the Rayton Farm in the family. Sally works side-by-side with Jack while Trevor is hundreds of miles away in the city. The more time she spends with Jack, the stronger her feelings are for him.

When Trevor shows up to propose to Sally right before Christmas and finds her in Jack's embrace, she must make the biggest choice of her life: true love.

Reviews for Planting the Seeds of Love: A Novella

Bottom line: I enjoyed PLANTING THE SEEDS OF LOVE. It reads quickly, has a solid romance based on compatibility and respect rather than being merely about sex, and the love triangle was realistically drawn, and earned four very solid stars — and a recommended tag. ~Barb Caffrey, Vine Voice Reviewer

The author does a splendid job of building the internal tension as well as some wonderfully lighthearted interactions that play out perfectly and keep the reader engaged. The secondary characters are well thought out, and bring an added dimension to the setting. ~Jacquie Biggar

Sweet and full of heartfelt emotion, this is a powerful little short story that will make the reader feel Sally’s angst as she considers her options. Sally must dig deep to decide what is best her both her and her grandfather’s legacy. ~Award-Winning and Best-Selling Author Carole P. Roman

A perfect read, even for a reader like me – someone who doesn’t normally read romances. ~Award-Winning and Best-Selling Author Nicholas C. Rossis

Buy Links:

Available at Amazon Worldwide exclusively, Paperback  Goodreads

Excerpt from Planting the Seeds of Love: A Novella

"Jack, thank you so much for the lift into town," a woman replied behind Sally. "Let's grab some lunch before we shop."

Sally froze. She stared at Linda who shook her head. What was Jack doing with a woman in town?

"Here, let me take your coat, Emma," Jack said.

Emma? mouthed Sally to Linda.

"She's the daughter of Lonnie and Mary Beth." Linda gave Emma the look-over and scoffed, "She can't be a day over sixteen."

"What do I do?" Sally panicked. Normally she didn't care what Jack did or who he went off with. Curiosity got the better of her and she turned around.

Emma stood five foot three with curly blonde hair and innocent green eyes. Her figure was slim with curves in all the right places. Sally narrowed her eyes as Emma stood on tiptoe to kiss Jack on the cheek.

Fuming, Sally turned around. Linda chuckled.

"What?"

"You better tone down your jealousy, darlin'. You're shooting darts everywhere."

Sally gritted her teeth.

"I'm not jealous. If Jack wants school girls kissing him, what do I care?" She took a deep drink of her coffee, draining the cup. She slammed it down.

"Simmer down, here they come," whispered Linda. She waved to Jack while Sally swore under her breath.

"Well, fancy meeting you two here," Jack drawled.

Without looking up Sally retorted, "I told you I was coming into town today."

Linda kicked Sally's leg under the table. Sally plastered a smile across her face, greeting Jack and Emma.

"Yes, what a coincidence." Sally noticed Emma looping her arm in Jack's and snuggling closer.

"I was on my way into town to pick up those parts we ordered for the tractor when I ran into Emma walking by herself in the snow." Jack smiled. Emma squeezed his arm.

"He pulled over and offered me a lift into town. Isn't he a gentleman?" cooed Emma. Jack patted her hand.

Sally's chest constricted at the sight of the two of them acting all couple-y. She stared into his twinkling eyes. Oh God, is he laughing at me? Emma can't have him. He's mine. Wait what?

"So," Linda broke the strained silence. "I have to go powder my nose. Emma, would you care to join me?"

"What's that?" Emma looked confused.

Linda laughed. "It's the bathroom, dear sweet child." She stood up, untangled Emma from Jack and guided Emma away from the table.

Jack sat down.

"What's with you today?" he asked.

"Nothing." Sally cleared her throat.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Really!" A few diners turned to stare. Sally flushed with embarrassment. She didn't mean to talk so loud. She looked everywhere except in Jack's direction.

Jack observed Sally as she fidgeted, first with her coffee cup then with the silverware. His gaze unnerved her and she practically jumped out of her chair when he placed a hand over hers. Electricity flew up her arm while warmth filled her core. Butterflies raced around her stomach, only she didn't feel sick; she pulsed with life, like never before.

"Sally...look at me."

Sally shook her head.

"You'll only laugh at me."

Jack's thumb caressed her hand gently, causing her breath to hitch.

"You know I'd never laugh at you. Laugh with you, definitely, but never at you."

Sally lifted her gaze to meet Jack's loving eyes. He slid his fingers between hers, never breaking eye contact. Sparks flew between them. He moistened his lips with a flick of his tongue. Her gaze dropped to his lips.

"Please tell me. I'm begging you," he whispered.

Unable to think clearly through the fog of desire, Sally tilted her head to one side. Her skin vibrated with heat while her nerve-endings jumped at the slightest caress.

"Tell you what?" she whispered. Her throat dry, her breathing shallow, she wet her lips with her tongue. She was under a spell and everything fell away except for Jack's passionate eyes.

"Tell me what my wasted heart needs to hear." His eyes flashed. "Tell me Emma made you jealous."

Sally started to nod but Emma interrupted.

"What are you guys talking about in hushed tones? Crops and stuff?"

Jack groaned. He dropped Sally's hand as if it burned him, causing the water glasses to jostle.

About NN Light

N. N. Light has been creating stories ever since she was little. Her grandfather remembers when she was two years old, she would stand at the top of the stairs and tell him a story filled with emotion (and in a language foreign to him) with her hands on her hips. Let's just say she was a born storyteller.

She was born in Minnesota, lived in Southern California only to move to chilly Ontario, Canada to marry her beloved husband MR N. She is blissfully happy and loves all things chocolate, books, music, movies, art, sports and baking. Her mantra is to spread the Light.

Most of the time you can find her on Twitter or getting new ideas on how to spread the Light on Pinterest. She is a proud member of ASMSG, Independent Author Network and Marketing for Romance Writers.

In addition to being an author, she's also a book promoter/reviewer and social media marketer. She loves books, has ever since she was young. Matching up books and readers is something that gives her great pleasure.

Social Media

She’d love to connect with you either via email or via these various social media sites:

Website: http://princessofthelight.com

Blog: http://princessofthelight.wordpress.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/nnlight  

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/NNP_W_Light 

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/nnlight 

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/n-n-light/90/1a7/902 

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/118060034268079734144/posts 

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/nnlight 

Independent Author Network: http://www.independentauthornetwork.com/n-n-light.html