Resolute

Deb's Famous Chicken Salad

Whoa doggies. I can't believe so much time has passed since I last posted here. My deepest apologies.

As you know if you follow my my other blog (I consider this my writer's blog but I also have an active personal blog: http://deboracoty.blogspot.com) - and I certainly hope you DO subscribe - I've been hotly and heavily promoting my new Too Blessed to be Stressed Cookbook, which debuted in November.

I thought I'd sprinkle a few popular Cookbook dishes on this post for your drooling pleasure.

Eclair Cake

It's been fun ... but difficult. With Christmas falling smack dab in the middle of my peak 3-month marketing campaign, my momentum screeched to a halt in mid-December. My publicist had warned me this would happen, and it most certainly did.

The literary world shuts down for the holidays.

Hearty 4-Bean Salad

Of course we've tried to pump it up again in January, but I can already tell we've lost ground. It has reinforced my belief that the best time for a book release is Sept or Oct - you have just enough time to get in 2-3 months of uninterrupted focused promo and you still benefit from holiday (gift) sales.

But I'm pleased to report that my Eating Stress Free & Healthy in 2016 Contest is going strong. It was my publicist's idea to capitalize on most folks' resolutions to shed a few pounds after Christmas and restart our campaign in January with an emphasis on healthy recipes from the Too Blessed to be Stressed Cookbook. 

Sweet Potato Home Fries

So I posted a number of new PINS (Pinterest) depicting low-fat, heart-healthy, and fiber-rich dishes from the Cookbook and issued the Weight Loss Challenge: 3 pounds in 3 weeks. Got quite a few takers for the Challenge and will give away 5 copies of the Cookbook in a drawing of participants in early Feb.

Hey, speaking of which, it's the perfect time for YOU to get in on the second leg of the Weight Loss Challenge (lose 3 pounds in 3 weeks in Feb!). Hop over to my website httl://deboracoty.com and click on the Contest dropbox. You can't miss the "Eating Stress-Free & Healthy in 2016" contest at the top of the list.

C'mon and join us in starting the year out by slimming up and eating healthier.

And you might win a copy of the award-winning Too Blessed to be Stressed Cookbook to boot!

Okay, writer buddy, let me close with something interesting that was shared at my writing group this week. (And by the way, if you aren't already involved in a writing group, I highly recommend that joining one is #1 on your New Year's resolutions.)

We were discussing the importance of word placement in sentences and our instructor for the evening, author Kat Heckenbach (my fave inspirational speculative fiction writer) suggested to rearrange the word "only" in every free space of this sentence to completely change the meaning:

Best Bean Soup Ever

"She told him that she loved him."

Becomes:
Only she told him that she loved him.
She only told him that she loved him.
She told only him that she loved him.
She told him only that she loved him.
She told him that only she loved him.
She told him that she only loved him.
She told him that she loved only him.

Wow! What a difference one word can make. Goes to show how wars can get started, right?

Stay resolute, my writer friend, and keep your nose to the keyboard. I wish you many happy writing hours in 2016!