The Coven by Tricia Drammeh

Paranormal/Horror for Young Adults

Abby has finally put the horrors of the past behind her and is ready to move forward as a medium-in-training, but her vow to refrain from dabbling in the paranormal is harder to keep than she'd anticipated. A strained relationship with a former best friend, a mysterious stalker, and a new friend who is full of surprises turns Abby's world upside down, but when she discovers someone she trusts is keeping a shocking secret, she doesn't know where to turn.​

The Coven is the exciting sequel to The Seance. Filled with magic, chilling suspense, and surprises, this latest story in the Dark Summons series is the perfect read for teens and adults alike!

The Coven is available here: https://books2read.com/u/3kppPR

Creativity - Your Way

Creativity - Your Way

There's the old saying that everyone has a book in them, waiting to be written. While I'm not sure that's true - not everyone wants to be a writer, after all - I think everyone has the ability to be creative. I would even go so far as to say creativity is part of who we are as human beings.

Creativity comes in many forms. Some of us are sculptors, painters, writers, poets, or song writers. There's scrapbooking, photography, crafting, woodworking ... the list goes on and on. Being creative is a way to let your mind run free. It's both relaxing and invigorating. And, even if you don't see yourself in any of the aforementioned creative categories I listed, I'm willing to bet you're still a creative person. Some people use creativty in their jobs - landscapers, architects, engineers, for example. And, then there's some common hobbies such as gardening, sewing, and knitting that require creativity.

If you've always wanted to try your hand at writing, painting, or some other artistic pursuit, what's stopping you? Don't worry about whether or not you'll be any good at it. The whole point of trying something new is to see if you like it. If you enjoy it, that's all that matters, Don't let anyone discourage you from being creative or expressing yourself.

Be creative - YOUR WAY!

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To read more of Tricia Drammeh's post, please visit her blog: https://authortriciadrammeh.wordpress.com/

Winds of Change by Tricia Drammeh

Today, I was sitting in my living room, coughing like crazy, thinking about what I was going to write about for my blog post here at #OurAuthorGang. It seems like I've been sick, busy, and stressed ever since 2019 took hold. It's cold, snowy, and I feel miserable. I'm ready for spring, but here in New England, we are still in the grips of winter.

As the wind whipped outside, I began thinking about how quickly the weather can change. The wind can bring in a cold front - or a warm front. The wind can bring in a storm, or carry one away. The wind can be destructive or it can be refreshing. 

Do you see the winds of change as a positive thing or as something negative and frightening? We all undergo many changes throughout our lifetime. My mom always says "change is the only constant thing in life." That is so true. 

As someone who is usually resistant to change, I have come to accept that I have no choice in the matter. Things are always changing. I must change too. But, I must also learn to accept. Just like there are seasons that add structure (and variety!) to each year, there are also seasons during our lifetimes that we must accept and embrace. 

I could go on and on, but I think this song says it much better than I can:

Better than Perfect

Valentines Day might be over, but many people are still celebrating the romantic holiday over the weekend - and beyond! Romance lovers tend to gravitate toward romantic movies and books year round. Though I'm not a romance writer, I do enjoy weaving some romance into my books from time to time.

In my novel, Better than Perfect, my main character Karlie doesn't have much time for romance in her crazy life. That doesn't stop her from meeting not one, but two romantic interests. Though this might sound like a love triangle situation, that isn't so! There is much more to Karlie's life than finding the perfect date. Most of her time is spent supporting an elderly neighbor who has custody of her juvenile delinquent twin grandsons. For Karlie, community and friendship are far more important than having a boyfriend, and when she's forced to choose between having fun or helping a neighbor, she decides to do the right thing even when it breaks her heart.

Here's what a few reviewers have to say about Better than Perfect:

There are so many important life lessons in this story.....it shows you that life isn't always pieced together perfectly, and that's okay. It's how we deal with those curves that life throws at us that define who we are. If you are looking for a feel good read with a cute little romance this is your book. I loved it! ~ Amazon Customer

Family is family. Love is love, no matter how that is defined by you. This was a really enjoyable way to spend a day. I could hardly put it down. It progresses nicely without seeming to "push" too much. I loved the reminders in here that you don't have to be blood to be family and that what we thought was what we wanted isn't what's best for us or even really what we wanted in the long run. I will more than likely reread this...and I already can't wait. ~ C. Sullivan

If this looks like a book you might like to try, it can be found on Amazon and at several other online retailers in both ebook and paperback format.

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Spring Cleaning for your Inbox

Tidying up and de-cluttering is HOT right now. Everyone wants to do a little pre-spring cleaning for the New Year. But, what if it isn’t your house that’s got you feeling overwhelmed by clutter? Virtual clutter (Facebook messages, out-of-control emails, pop-up notifications) can be just as overwhelming.

Are you drowning in emails? Do you have heart palpitations every time you try to confront your out of control inbox? If you’re like many of us, and you have dozens or even hundreds of new emails every day, these simple tips might help you make your inbox more manageable.

1. Unsubscribe. I don’t do a lot of online ordering, but somehow I ended up on a ton of mailing lists. Most of the online stores who emailed me with special deals and sales offer the same ‘deal’ to everyone. There was no benefit to staying on their list, and if I want to shop with them again, chances are, I’ll still be able to cash in on a special promotion or deal. Unsubscribing from these various online stores was quick and easy, AND it had an immediate (positive!!!) affect on the number of emails in my inbox each day.
2. Opt Out! If you’re like me, you follow a lot of blogs and newsletters. I signed up to receive immediate emails from several of the blogs I enjoy, which meant I received dozens of emails every day! I decided to opt out from receiving daily emails, and instead receive a daily or weekly digest. I still visit my beloved blogs, but usually on the weekends when I have time to do so. Now, instead of receiving a constant stream of notifications, I am enjoying a much cleaner inbox. And I’m still enjoying my favorite blogs.
3. Create folders and labels. Sometimes you don’t want to delete an email, but you’re not quite sure what to do with it. Yahoo allows you to create folders. Gmail allows you to create labels or to archive emails to save for later. Once I read an email, I either delete, sort, or save it. The only emails that stay in my inbox are those that still need to be addressed in some way – they require a response or some sort of action on my part. Everything else gets shifted out of my inbox.
4. Get serious about spam. Most of the spam I receive goes into my spam folder automatically, but not all. In the past, I simply deleted spam emails. It was quicker that reporting it and moving the message to the spam folder manually. But once I made the decision to tackle my inbox, I knew I had to be aggressive in eliminating these unwanted emails. I reported every single piece of spam and that has made a huge difference! I rarely see spam in my regular inbox anymore.
5. Change your notifications. I used to receive an email every single time someone followed me on Twitter or liked my post on WordPress. Every. Single. Time. Facebook sends you emails too, depending on your settings. If you’re getting tons of emails from WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, there are ways to make it stop. Each social media site allows you to customize the way you receive notifications. You’ll have to go to each site and puzzle out how to make these changes, but it’s worth it. A little time spent now will save you tons of time (and clutter) later.

Happy Decluttering! 

To read more articles by Tricia Drammeh, please visit her blog! Be sure to visit the Post Gallery to read more articles by Our Author Gang! 

COMMENTS

Erika M Szabo

1 week ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Great tips Tricia, thanks for posting this! It's worth the time spent on decluttering on the long run

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Erika M Szabo via Google+

1 week ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Today Tricia Drammeh gives us great advice on how to declutter our emails at #OurAuthorGang

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Tricia Drammeh shared this via Google+

6 days ago  -  Shared publicly

 

 

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Chris Weigand

1 week ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Thanks for the helpful tips.

 

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Tricia Drammeh

6 days ago

 

 

You're welcome!

Ruth de Jauregui via Google+

1 week ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Tricia Drammeh​ shares tips on keeping your email under control on #OurAuthorGang.

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Ruth de Jauregui

1 week ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Great post Trish. I'm not so good with my personal emails, but work? I rarely have more than three emails (that need to stay in my inbox) showing. Everything else is archived, sorted or deleted.

 

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Tricia Drammeh

6 days ago

 

 

Same. My work email is super organized. My personal email...not so much. I've gone through the spring cleaning process a few different times, but when I first decided to really tackle it, my email was so out of control I was getting hundreds of emails per day! It was so overwhelming.

Joe Bonadonna

1 week ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Great advice, Tricia. I clean out my Spam almost every day and delete emails and other notifications as soon as I read them - unless I need to save - and then clean out my Trash almost nightly. I unsubscribe all the time, too. So much we think we need we eventually find out that we don't.

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Joe Bonadonna via Google+

1 week ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Today on #OurAuthorGang, Tricia Drammeh​ offers some helpful suggestions for "uncluttering" your virtual life, such as your email inbox, spam and website notifications.

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Chris Weigand shared this via Google+

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Toi Thomas

1 week ago  -  Shared publicly

 

I usually declutter once a year, but I forgot last year and now I'm overwhelmed. Thanks for the reminder to get this done.

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Tricia Drammeh

6 days ago

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You're welcome! I do this periodically, but lately it has gotten bad again, so i decided to go through spring cleaning once again.

Cindy Smith

1 week ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Great advice!  I have done most of that already except the reporting all the spam, every time  I did that I ended up with twice as much.  LOL 

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Tricia Drammeh

6 days ago

 

 

Oh no! Those spammers are tricky. You have to read the unsubscribe instructions carefully because they always find a way to put an option in there that sounds like you're unsubscribing, but you're really not. I've been burned by those too.

Toi Thomas via Google+

1 week ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Today, Tricia Drammeh offers tips for de-cluttering your email. #OurAuthorGang

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Cindy Smith shared this via Google+

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Eva Pasco

1 week ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Helpful reminders for decluttering!

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Rick Haynes

1 week ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Receiving emails every day from Pinterest was annoying. But thanks to you, Tricia, I have changed my settings. Great article.