Author Interview

Hello. Thank you for visiting my blog today. I’m Rebecca Scarberry. @Scarberryfields on Twitter and the author of Messages from Henry, Rag Doll, the Jumper series of illustrated children’s books, and Where Love Takes You. I have a treat for you. I’ve interviewed author/book publisher, Steve Caresser (@ePrintedBooks on Twitter).

Rebecca: What year did you start up your book publishing business? 

Steve: In 2000 I started schooling for the self-publishing field. I helped several people along the way and I believe I launched my “One Stop Self-Publishers Shop” called ePrintedBooks in 2005. Link: http://www.eprintedbooks.com/ebookservices.html  

Rebecca: How long have you been writing fiction? 

Steve: Well, I’m not sure. Some years back I recorded my first poem and posted it on my website and Twitter. In a short time it got over 100 grand reviews. In shock, I asked several who had given a listen if they thought I would ever be a poet. They all said, “You are a poet!” Link: http://www.eprintedbooks.com/SteveCaresser/poems/poems1.html 

Rebecca: What are the titles of the books you published/and will soon publish. What genres are they, and what age group are they written for? 

Steve: In 1965 while I was still in grade school I wrote “The Phantom cow”. It’s a comedy that I recently dug up from my old attic. I’m currently editing the book. While in school back in 1970 I wrote a short story about a fishing trip. My teacher made copies and posted them around the school as an example of good creative writing. I then ran into some serious roadblocks in my life and stopped writing. I believe I started writing fiction again in 2005. “The Scared Crow “is my first published novel. It’s a small town detective mystery I wrote for my ten-year-old granddaughter. In book 2 (it’s underway and I’ve not told anyone this yet) I’ll soon be introducing “The Sherlock Holmes Quad Squad”. It’s about a pair of teenage girls and a pair of teenage boys who team up to solve crimes across the globe. This will be a young adult series. Link: http://www.eprintedbooks.com/SteveCaresser/Index.html You can listen to the prologue for The Phantom Cow: http://www.eprintedbooks.com/SteveCaresser/AudioBooks/PhantomCow/PhantomPrologue.html

 

Alien Checkmate” is an upcoming series of young adult novellas about the world’s next alien invasion.

“The Five Gallon Bucket” is a book I published containing some old wine recipes I have developed and used in my life.

 

“The Sunshine Series” is an upcoming young adult series of novellas about a young girl who becomes an investigator, trying to find those responsible for her mother’s murder. “Just Wandered Into Town” is book one in the series. Link: http://www.eprintedbooks.com/SteveCaresser/index.html  

I wrote and published “What Every Married Woman Needs” to help men have a happier marriage. 

Rebecca: What age group do you enjoy writing for the most? 

Steve: I enjoy writing for young adults the most. 

Rebecca: What do you enjoy doing when you’re not writing? 

Steve: When I’m not writing I enjoy collecting wild herbs in the area and filming more for my upcoming “Wild Herb Hunt” show. I enjoy filming more on our show called “The Whole World News”. And like most authors, I enjoy tweeting other authors’ books. I enjoy BBQ cookouts with the family, going to the park, and our swimming hole, way out in the middle of nowhere. I also enjoy my online radio show, "The Steve Caresser Show". I play oldies from the 60's, 70's and 80's. http://thestevecaressershow.playtheradio.com/index.cfm

Rebecca: What are you currently writing? 

Steve: I’m currently writing a mystery sci-fi thriller for young adults called “The Herbalist”. It’s about the ‘Herbalist’ who comes walking out of nowhere (fades in and out), and the only people that can see him are the sick in hospital beds. His pet Doberman and his black panther are always with him and he’s wanted dead or alive by the medical industry. I’m going to leave it at that. 

Rebecca: Thank you for answering my questions, Steve. It’s been a pleasure to have you as my book publisher over the years. You’ve done a great job on my author page and interview on your website. Thank you for promoting indie authors like me and others on so many social media sites.

  

Steve: You’re a lot of fun, Rebecca. I enjoy working with you and tweeting with you. Thank you for taking the time to interview me.

A Step Back in Time

Hello! Thank you for visiting my blog today. I’m Rebecca Scarberry, @Scarberryfields on Twitter, and author of seven self-published books in four different genres.
 

Prior to moving to Winslow, Arkansas in 2007, I lived on a farm in Oregon for 12 years. I miss raising chickens the most.  In spite of the tornadoes here, my husband, Rick and I now feel we’ve landed in paradise (the Boston Mountains of Arkansas). It’s definitely ‘a writer’s paradise’.
 

Above is a picture of my Oregon farm where I raised chickens and I had a vegetable garden.
 

Before we left Oregon, we sold just about everything we owned and packed our little 2004 Chevy Aveo hatchback with a few clothes and one cat. We stayed with Rick’s elderly aunt for six months in Rogers, Arkansas while we searched for property to buy. We searched in four surrounding states. We didn’t have much money and we were lucky to find the 5 acre farm on a creek we now own. It was in foreclosure. It was overgrown with silver maple trees and the hay was nearly as tall as I am. I couldn’t resist buying the property when I saw the creek with my very own waterfall and all the wildlife.

 

 

 

 

 

There’s a four bedroom home on the property, but it would have cost a minimum of $25,000 to make livable. There’s also a well house with a hand dug well inside. We had the water tested and found out it was contaminated, like most of the wells in the surrounding area. There’s also a chicken coup, and a tin shack.

 

The four bedroom home with ivy growing around the front and chimney.

 

We decided to get a loan and have a 2 story cabin built. It only cost us $7,500. We did a lot of the work ourselves like drywall, paint, and flooring. We decided not to put any plumbing in for a new septic tank would have been necessary. We couldn’t afford that and with the well water undrinkable, it seemed useless. We were happy to have power. I felt like we’d stepped back in time. . . A time when few had indoor plumbing. It was actually kind of fun. Well, until winter hit. The solar shower was out of the question. We started heating water for bathing indoors or we drove over an hour to a cousin’s house.

 

 

  

The above picture is the cabin upstairs bedroom

 

 

  

We were working fulltime and once we had most of the cabin interior done in August 2007, we moved in. Rick built an outdoor enclosed shower stall. We used a solar shower bag for bathing, bought bottled water, and used a microwave, barbeque, and campfire for cooking.  We adopted a female cat, living in the old house, and ended up with thirteen cats. We saved enough money to have the females spade. I now have four cats and two strays sleeping with the outdoor cats in the old house. We also had an underground metal shelter installed by the cabin and bought two weather radios. Very scary when you hear a report on the weather radio saying a tornado is headed straight for you!!

 

 

Thomasina, the cat we adopted.

 

In 2009 I started handwriting a novel. I didn’t own a computer nor did I know a whole lot about them. I’d used a computer on my job as a HMO claims analyst, but I’d only learned how to use their customized program to pay claims. My father passed away October 1, 2009 and I inherited enough money to have a three bedroom custom home built on the farm. Before they started building the new home, an ice storm hit. We were without power for 9 days. 15 trees came down (damaging the old house and chicken coup). It took us days to cut a path to the main highway.
 

We moved into the new home September 27, 2009. We quit our jobs and I started writing full time. I finally got a laptop in 2011, obtained internet service, and joined Twitter. The first week I owned the laptop, my pc got a virus. I was wishing that I had a teenager in the home to help me. The kids today grew up using computers. I didn’t. It’s been a major struggle learning to use the pc properly, type my novel, socialize without high speed internet service, and keep my pc virus free. We finally got city water 2 ½ years ago.

 

                                          

 

 

 

 

My waterfall in the fall.

 

 

 

Picture showing my metal underground shelter, painted red. 

 

We sold the Aveo to a local farmer and I now have this Hummer. I love it! My husband has one too.

 

 

 

                                                        Rick's Hummer.

                    

 

Just one of the great sunsets here in the mountains with a storm headed my way.

The novel I’d written has never been published and never will be. It’s in need of way too much editing and not really worth my time. In 2012, while sitting on my front porch, the story lines for Messages from Henry and Rag Doll popped into my head. June 14, 2012 I self-published Messages from Henry and on December 9, 2012 I self-published Rag Doll. I’m now writing my eighth book and as long as I can keep my pc working, I’ll continue to tweet, blog, and have fun.

My Amazon author page: http://smarturl.it/0z9brq

Libraries: A Great Place to Visit

Hello! Thank you for visiting my blog today. I’m the author of seven books, written in four different genres, and @Scarberryfields on Twitter.

My oldest sister reminded me a short time ago about how much fun it was to visit a library as a child. That has never changed for us. She reminded me of how great it was to smell the books, lining the shelves, as soon as we walked in. That smell was mixed with freshly polished wooden banisters, shelves, and tabletops. It was one of my favorite places to be. My life at home wasn’t peaceful nor did my parents encourage me to read. I visited the library and borrowed books because I was able to read those wonderful stories and escape. A place to borrow books my parents couldn’t afford nor wanted to buy for me.

It was wonderful to have a smiling librarian walk up to me and ask what I like to read, meant so much to me. My answer was always, “I love animals.” They always guided me to just the right book for me. Not only did I love the books I read, but I thought to myself, I’m going to write stories like this one day. Well, I’ve done just that. 

The libraries have changed a bit since we were small, but you can still smell the books when you walk in. The children of today are able to get on computers to read many books, my own included. I have to say, I’m still thrilled to see many children holding books in their arms as they walk out of the library. I hope they have one of mine. I’ve donated a few copies of my children’s books in paperback.

 

Please continue to take your children to libraries and encourage them to read. It’s important!!

An Update on my new book and screenplay

Hello. Thank you for visiting my blog today. I’m @Scarberryfields on Twitter and author of seven books (written in four different genres) that many seem to enjoy.  I have to admit, writing for young children is my passion, but I’m writing a new novel. Like my popular short story, Rag Doll, this story will have many twists and the ending might shock many readers. I’ve only written approximately seven thousand words so far. It’s a crime drama set in California. I think this story about a toddler named Chelsea will touch your hearts. I’ve already sent a portion of this story to my beta readers and they tell me they can’t wait to read the rest of it.

My main focus in the near future is to attempt to please all of the young children who love my children’s books, by getting Jumper, the friendly red beach ball, on television. I’ve been told that I’ll get the copyright for the script this month (January). Six days a week I walk a mile to my mailbox to see if it’s arrived.  Several television producers are waiting for me to send them the script. As I’ve said before, my main focus is to get the public broadcasting service to buy this and turn it into an animated cartoon series, similar to Sponge Bob Square Pants. I don’t care about wealth. I just want to please the children. Where I live, PBS has eliminated nearly all Saturday morning cartoons. 

I sell most of my Jumper series in person. Even my husband acts like my publicist. When he goes to town he tells everybody he meets that his wife is an author. He has sold many copies of my Jumper series right out of the back of his Hummer. I’ve also gotten many requests for signed copies of the series. No matter where these people live, I’ve given them a price, they’ve sent the money, and I’ve mailed them. This series is very costly for me to self-publish, but I’ve donated the entire series to a women’s shelter in Maryland and several libraries. Here’s a picture of a ‘thank you’ from the children in the shelter. I can’t show you the picture of one little girl holding volume one for her mother has requested I not do so. Her daughter read Jumper to all the little ones in the shelter and they loved it!!

If you have young children, please keep reading books to them. And if your child loved one of the books you read to them, please post a review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A true Christmas Story:

 

Hello. Thank you for visiting my blog today. I’m author Rebecca Scarberry (@Scarberryfields on Twitter).  I have a true Christmas story to tell you. I wrote this story three years ago and it was posted on an author’s website. It’s since been deleted. Therefore, I thought I’d post it on my blog.

Christmas in Arizona 

It was November of 1997 when my husband, Rick decided we needed a vacation away from our problems.  He and his brother had inherited property in Fort Mohave, Arizona when their father died. We thought the property most likely needed some sprucing up before it was put on the market for sale. Therefore, that’s where we headed for three months in our Jeep and our big red dog named Taz. It took many hours to get from Rogue River, Oregon to Arizona, but we were just happy to be headed for a warmer climate for the winter.

Once we arrived, we found that some teenagers had broken into the mobile home and destroyed it. There was a two-car garage attached to the mobile and unharmed. Therefore, we insulated it, and decided that’s where we’d live for the next three months.

We didn’t have much money, so we went to a thrift store and bought a used mattress, used thirteen inch TV, bedding, and camping gear, including a kerosene heater.  Once we had the electricity turned on, we were so happy to discover the fridge in the mobile worked.  Most of the time we cooked on a campfire and we took showers at Rick’s cousin’s house, seven miles away.

We spent most of our time burning trash and sightseeing. There was an old swing set on the property. It was in good condition. It had three swings and a slide. The only thing it was in need of was a fresh coat of paint. We decided to put it near the roadway with a sign on it we’d made, using cardboard. The sign read, “FREE”.

The next day, while we were sitting by our campfire, a young man, driving an old rusted pickup truck; stopped by the swing set.  He got two little girls out of the truck and they were looking at the swing set. The little girls were around three and four years old. Their little dresses were torn and dirty, just like they’re adorable little faces, and they were barefoot. The father saw us and shouted, “Is this swing set still free?”

We walked over to the three and Rick told him it was free if they wanted it. The father looked at his little girls and said, “Well, girls. I could paint it and then you’d both have a Christmas present. What do ya say?” The little girls smiled up at their father and shook their heads.

After Rick helped the young father load the swing set into the back of the truck, the little ones looked up at Rick and said, “Merry Christmas, Mister.” We both wished them all a merry Christmas and they went on their way.

 

A Special gift

Hello, thank you for visiting my blog today. I’m author Rebecca Scarberry (@Scarberryfields on Twitter) and author of seven books written in four different genres. As many of you already know, one of my favorite things to do is to help newly published authors learn to market their books better. I’m not an expert, and it’s been a struggle for me to learn to write fiction better and get noticed. In 2011 (before I had published), I was a book reviewer on two different review teams. This was a blessing. By reading all of the wonderful books written by self-published authors like Des Birch, Scott Bury, Micheal Rivers, Derek Blass, @Wodkehawkinson, @rsguthrie, Diane Major, Dave Perlmutter, John Dolan, Patricia Paris, Steve Caresser, and so many others; my writing skills improved. I’m honored that author, Dave Perlmutter mentioned me for my kindness in his 2^nd book, My Way.

 

A very short time ago I started sending many new writers to author, Steve Caresser, founder of ePrintedBooks, for all their needs. Many signed up for promotional packages, book covers, etc. As a result, Steve has given me a free promotional package. I feel honored to have been given such a wonderful gift. I can’t thank Steve enough. I want to thank all of you who’ve tweeted my author page on his site and shared it on Facebook. The last time I counted 177 had tweeted it. I find that amazing and without a doubt, I’m very pleased.

I never check my sales on Amazon. Therefore, I don’t know if this has resulted in more sales. I just wait for the royalty check to be deposited in my account each month. The link to my author page is: http://www.eprintedbooks.com/Rebecca_Scarberry/ I hope you’ll check it out and utilize the services provided by ePrintedBooks. They are very reasonable. Trust me, I've compared prices.

The Truth Be Known

Hello. Thank you for visiting my blog today. I’m @Scarberryfields on Twitter and the author of seven books, written in four different genres. I didn’t plan to write in four different genres, it just happened that way. I didn’t think I’d be writing any more books, and actually promised my husband I wouldn’t so that I could spend more time with him. Well, I’m now writing a new novel. It’s an adult crime novel with many twists and turns. I might never publish the book, but this one, I’ve now entitled, THE TRUTH BE KNOWN; has my mind spinning out of control. As a result, I’ll be spending less time online so that I can do all of the necessary research for this new book. Trust me it will have twists that will knock your pants off. Well, maybe not your pants, but it will at least knock your socks off. If you know me, and many of you reading this do; I’ll most likely be tweeting just as much as I normally do. It’s important to me to support all of the authors, supporting me on Twitter such as @JohnDolanAuthor, @dianemajor1, @CliveEaton, @osbornrobertsr, @Norm_Clark, and many others.

Tweeting works well for me as far as selling my books or at least getting my followers to download a couple of those I currently offer free (Rag Doll & Messages from Henry). Just this morning, November 3^rd, an author told me he has a grandchild and just bought volume 1 and 2 of my Jumper series. This occurred because I’d asked a reader/reviewer of Rag Doll if she had children. She said she didn’t have any children, but she’d told all of her friends with children about my Jumper series.

 

My Amazon author page: http://smarturl.it/0z9brq