Mom Fun

HELLO MOMS!!!

I found this questionnaire on FB and it sent me down memory lane.
Take the trip with me and answer the questions about your FIRST born.
Actually, I'm not picky . . . if one of your other pregnancies is more memorable, think of that one.
Feel Free to steal the questionnaire and repost. I certainly did.

1. Epidural? Yes

2. Father in the room? Yes, although what he was supposed to do remains a mystery to both of us.

3. Induced? Yes

4. Delivered in OR/Delivery Room? Or All-in-One-Labor Room? OR: and honestly, I'm so grateful that I was totally focused on 'getting that kid out' during those moments of rolling into OR. These places are scary-looking.

5. Know the sex before hand? Nope, opted for the surprise.

6. Did you deliver close to the due date? Yes, actually only a few days early. I think the DOC induced out of self-defense. I'd threatened to slid down the banister to speed things along.

7. Morning sickness? Oh, you betcha! Six weeks of the flu-like systems.

8. Cravings? Mexican food - anything spicy -- chocolate covered cherries. Yes, and sometimes together. That's why they're called cravings.

9. Pounds gained? 25 (It was those chocolate covered cherries.)

10. Sex of the baby? Girl

11. Place you gave birth? Ft Worth. I managed to deliver all (3) of my babies in the same hospital, with the same DOC, no less.

12. Hours in labor? 12 hours

13. Weight: 7lbs 13oz

14. Name: For those who know me well, you know my oldest daughter's name. For those who don't -- honestly, you don't need to.

15. Age now: 29

And I added a couple of my own:

16. First thing my husband said to the baby? 'This is your daddy speaking.' Of course, considering that he'd said those exact words to my tummy for 9 months, it's no shock that my daughter turned her head and blinked at him. He swears it was a 'wink' of acknowledgement. Maybe it was. Those two have always been thick as thieves.

17. Sweetest memory? The first moment I held her in recovery. Almost 8pm on a surreal quiet Friday evening, still the old fashioned recovery area (the open concept) except for the bleached white separating curtains. Lights low, some soothing tune on a radio at the nurse's station, and then the squeak of metal wheels across tile as a nurse wheeled over the bassinet. From the blanketed depths, she lifted this tiny mummified creature and laid her in my arms. I was no wide-eyed youngster, but I knew a moment of sheer terror. I didn't have the first clue how to peel my baby free of all the swaddling. Watching my confusion, that I'm sure mirrored hundreds before & after me, the nurse lifted edge-after-edge until there was my baby girl. In an instant, there was this perfect being, stretching out baby ivory hands with sudden freedom, yawning and blinking open light-blue eyes to owlishly stare at me. How could something so perfect be mine? I marveled. Because God is good, and blessings do happen.

*Come on Mamas! Let's hear your story! Copy and paste. Change my answers to yours.

Enjoy the trip down memory lane!

Marketing: 13 Thursday Tips on TEXT TEASERS

TEXT TEASERS are a fabulous way to entice readers to purchase your book.
Today's job has been about seducing the reader.

I've highlighted Paint for the purpose of this blog, but other options for image-compiling the Text Teaser are available. However, I highly recommend working these early steps through Paint.

STEP 1 --

Resize book cover to several different sizes and SAVE!

STEP 2 --

Select side background picture for text teasers and paste as an addition beside your book cover. You will need to work with the sizing. Again, I suggest saving in multiple sizes for different media releases. What works on Facebook and what works on Twitter may require different sizes. Take the time - upfront - to resize and then mass media release is possible. Additionally, you can utilize a 'blank or solid colored' background if no particular picture reinforces your book. However, consider the multitude of free media images before you go with a blank slate.

.

STEP 3 --

Choose text teaser. Mine for gold. Choose a teaser that will still make sense when pulled from the text. Choose a teaser that emphasizes character conflict.

STEP 4 --

Load text on side background picture.

STEP 5 --

Save.

STEP 6 --

Oops! Won't save.

STEP 7 --

Re-select side background picture and add, change size of background picture, or as I did -- save as a .png.

STEP 8 --

SAVE NOW!

STEP 9 --

Load text teaser on side background picture.

STEP 10 --

**Transparent? or Opaque?

If transparent, is your text color easy to read? Sized correct? Is your text teaser too long? But long enough to entice? Should the sentences be set apart for more impact?
If opaque, what color? How does that effect the overall read-readiness of your text? Is the text color the right shade against the opaque background color?

STEP 11 --

SAVE!

STEP 12 --

Reopen and make certain that you like the look of the text teaser, the overall sizing, etc. This TEXT TEASER technique is perfect for uploading reviews of your book. Once the basic cover art is sized for multiple media release, changing text teasers to reviews, and then more reviews is a click of the mouse.

STEP 13 --

Now upload -- everywhere.

STEP 13A

Repeat all steps for more text teasers and to increase marketing presence.

If you noticed a theme in the process, it was SAVE. Save at each step so if part of the process falls apart, you can simply reopen the work @ the last step and start again. Starting from scratch is no fun; avoid the aggravtion, and SAVE OFTEN. Oh, and I keep a separate file inside my BOOK COVER folder, marked: TEXT TEASERS. I date each finalized selection so I'll know that's the finished process and I can easily drop into a marketing site.

HAVE FUN with this process.