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advice Archives - Freelance Mompreneur

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Battling the Mid-Summer Blues While Surviving Summer for WFH Mompreneurs

Hey there, fellow busy mompreneurs and dadpreneurs! Can you believe it? Another school year looms ahead while summer is in full swing, and our little people are growing up right before our eyes.

As a mother, this time of year always brings a mixed bag of emotions. This year, more than most; my firstborn graduated from high school. Come August, our three remaining children start senior year (last year of high school), 8th grade (last year of middle school), and 5th grade (last year of elementary school).

But before I reach that point, I’ve got to survive summer as a work-from-home mompreneur. It can be exhausting to juggle the work day of work-from-home moms with the unique challenges of keeping kids of all ages occupied for the entire summer.

No doubt, you want to reduce the hours you work so you can spend more time with your children while they’re out of school. But you also want to keep your kids entertained and educated during the times that you have to work.

And you don’t want to have to take on the extra cost of childcare options like daycare, babysitters, nannies, or out-of-home care.

As a mom of four, with older children and young kids spaced out aged 18 to 10, boys and girls, I’m all about having a light work schedule that allows me to make maximum income without taking on a new job. The secret to making a lot of money during the summer months without a lot of work time? Passive income! 

My Five Favorite Tips for Small Business Owner Work-from-Home Moms During Summer Break and Back to School Madness

As most schools around the country are gearing toward the end of summer vacation, many work-at-home moms are floundering to create a plan that incorporates the important tasks for their work schedule with the final days of fun for a personal life. 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve delayed doing something with my kids, saying there’s always next year. Only here it is, 2023, and I’ve got older boys who aren’t as interested in doing things the girls like. Take it from this blended mom – love your little boys while they’re young! They grow up faster than the girls and want distance sooner. 😭

I learned a valuable lesson from years of being a single mom struggling to raise my kids with little income and no free time to figure out how to make things better.

Want to know the secret?

Use the events of your everyday life to make money. Here are five great ideas for helping WFH Mompreneurs survive summer break and the madness of back to school.

So, here are five great ideas for helping busy moms balance the day-to-day tasks of their online business with the daily tasks of a full-time stay-at-home mom with kids on summer vacation.

1. Use Affiliate Marketing for Creating Passive Income

For years, I’ve been into making money effortlessly—earning cash without putting in too much effort. The cool thing about this method is that once you’ve created a product, you’re pretty much set and don’t have to worry much about it anymore. 

One way to make money with ease is through affiliate links. As an affiliate, you simply recommend a brand or product to others, and if they make a purchase, you earn a commission. Now, there are plenty of shady and untrustworthy places out there, but if you choose the right programs, it can be a legit way to boost your income. The best part? You don’t need to invest a lot of time to keep the money flowing in.

My favorite way to promote affiliate links is with blog posts. You can promote these posts through social media to get further reach. It’s a great way to ease the parental guilt of spending too much time on your favorite social sites.

Need help getting attention to your blog? Or want to explore guest blogging? Contact me for opportunities!

2. Add an E-Commerce Store Launch to Your To-Do List for Extra Income

So, there’s this other way I found to make some extra cash for your small business without having to work too hard every day. It’s all about having your own e-commerce store. Right now, I’m handling an Etsy online store and a WooCommerce store on my website.

When I first considered selling digital products through online stores, I was totally overwhelmed. The whole process seemed so complicated and scary.

So, for a few months after opening my stores, I kept them empty with no products. But then, one day, I couldn’t resist the FOMO (fear of missing out) anymore. I realized that if I didn’t showcase my products, I wouldn’t make any sales at all.

I must admit, I was super worried about my state of mind and I had major imposter syndrome and felt overwhelmed. But when I finally took the leap and gave it a try, it turned out to be one of the best choices I’ve made for my small business.

If you need help kickstarting your online store, I invite you to join my Free 7-Day Stock Your Store Challenge, launching on October 1st.

Keep in mind that later on, the challenge will become a paid service. So don’t miss out on this opportunity to start your own online business with 100 products in just one week!

3. Help Your Kids Develop a Sense of Creative Pride and Business Entrepreneurship

As a small business owner, I’ve realized that educating our kids about crucial business know-how is never too soon.

Chill, child labor law crazies! No violations here!

We’re all about finding quick and easy ways for them to earn money without sacrificing too much time or effort for each project.

I’ve discovered that encouraging my kids to come up with their own products to sell helps them develop a strong sense of character and teaches them the value of earning money through their ideas and hard work.

Additionally, it’s a wonderful opportunity for quality time with each child and enjoyable family moments during group meetings and projects. By instilling self-reliance in your children from an early age, you can reduce the likelihood of them having to settle for lower-paying jobs like our oldest son did when he worked for less than minimum wage at a grocery store.

Some fun things that your kids (including young children) can do to start making money before they’re even old enough to have an official job include:

  • Painted rocks
  • Custom stepping tiles
  • Custom floor tiles
  • Wall art
  • Kid’s books
  • Recipe books
  • Friendship bracelets
  • Custom Jewelry
  • Paracord accessories

4. Become a Published Expert in Your Chosen Comfort Zone

With the growing popularity of AI writing tools like Jasper (get 10,000 bonus words for free by signing up with this link!), Copy.AI (sign up for your free account), Chat GPT, Bertha (free words or images), and Rytr (try for free!), many people have started experiencing the fear that freelance writing jobs are becoming irrelevant. 

I’m quite happy to say that I don’t see that trend coming true anytime soon. As a busy mompreneur that has yet to onboard virtual assistants to handle the millions of business tasks, I’ve used AI several times throughout the past year. 

It’s a great way to keep organized and stay on top of your work. But it’s not a quick fix. You still have to tweak things to your specific voice, niche, and clientele. Knowing the needs and pain points of your clients can help you create the perfect products that your customers can’t resist buying. 

What I’ve realized over the last six months is that even if ten different entrepreneurs use the same exact items – PLR (private label rights), graphics bundles, and AI chat tools – our unique viewpoints and life experiences can help us create completely unique pieces that appeal to totally different customers. 

I’ve learned that using your unique viewpoint and skills can be the easiest way to develop a good book full of great tips that help your clients take the first step to start their own home-based business. There are plenty of places to sell your digital books, including Amazon KDP. Not ready to start with books? Go small, with a mom blog. 

Be sure to follow my mom lifestyle blog for real-life stories from the trenches of a no-guilt IDGAF Xennial Mom.

Need help figuring out who your perfect customer is and what they want from you? Grab your dream client template on sale with the coupon BIZBEGINNER.

5. Make Simple Money with Summer Camps and Vacations

If you have a large home and you don’t mind catering to visitors, you can make a substantial income by hosting a summer camp. However, there are regulations for this, such as having the proper insurance policy, safety protocols like background checks, classes and courses, and licensing. 

Summer camps can be a great way to involve your older kids in a summer job without them having to leave the house. And it can help them develop important life skills that they can use for future endeavors while teaching crucial personal needs skills.


You often also have to have your home inspected and approved to be safe for children to be present. Not into having kids at your home? Look into hosting public readings at your local library, giving you a great opportunity to promote any products you may create for kids. 

Need kid activity products? Grab this Survive Summer as a Mompreneur bundle full of activities to keep your kids busy with quiet time while cutting down on screen time. 

Have younger kids that you want to teach business and work ethics with hands-on experience? Assigning your kids with simple daily chores, like a load of laundry, tidying up a living room, keeping quiet during the younger siblings’ nap time or when you schedule calls, and helping with meal plan prep are easy ways to start.

Interested in a planner that can maximize time management of your family’s schedule? Grab my extensive life management planner on sale until 5/31 using code CONTAINTHECHAOS. Now is a great time to plan your entire year with ease to have a better time this summer. The two best times to get your life organized are yesterday and now.

Need some school-themed activities to keep your kids occupied and educated? Check out some of my favorite products:

Use These Five Ways to Survive Summer When You Work From Home

​If the last five years have taught us anything, it’s that there are dozens of ways to make money from home without having to devote extra time out of your day to your efforts. I love using the season of life to create new ideas for work from home jobs. Incorporating passive income has been a blessing, allowing me to earn money without having to work, like during a road trip or a kid’s swim lessons. There are plenty of ways to earn money minus the obstacle course hassle of phone calls, Monday morning traffic jams, and nervous deep breaths before corporate board meetings. 

Cut the stress of traditional work by investing full force in your work-from-home opportunities. And set your kids up for future success by teaching them of hard work and product creation from a young age. Once you learn how to start spotting income opportunities, it becomes easy peasy to develop future ideas.

Have you joined my email list to unlock thousands of dollars in free goodies delivered to your inbox weekly? Don’t miss out on all the riches! Get in on the action now. Want a sneak peek at what all you’d get?

I include information about free and paid summits, masterclasses, bundles, challenges, products, and memberships every week.

Use Affiliate Marketing for Creating Passive Income

For years, I’ve been into making passive income – earning money without doing much work. The cool thing about passive income is that once you create a product, you’re basically done. You don’t have to worry about it anymore.

Affiliate links are a super easy way to make money without putting in a lot of effort. Basically, you recommend a brand or product to people, and if they buy it, you get a cut of the profits. Of course, there are some shady places out there that you want to avoid. But if you join the right programs, it can be a legit way to make some extra cash. The best part is that you don’t have to spend a ton of time to keep earning money.

Personally, I love promoting affiliate links through blog posts. It’s a great way to get the word out, and you can also share the links on social media to reach an even bigger audience. Plus, it’s a nice way to justify spending all that time on your favorite social sites.

Need help promoting your blog or want to try guest blogging? Hit me up for some awesome opportunities!

Let’s work together to grow your blog!

8 ways a narcissist will change the way you love

At first, it was a perfect relationship. You thought you had finally found the one you were going to spend forever with. But over time, you realized it was a trap. Set by a manipulative narcissist who read you like a book and made you fall hard. When you finally walk away, you’ll be in thousands of pieces. Your outlook on love has changed. You won’t love the way you did before.

Trauma affects you deeply. It leaves you hollow and a shell of your former self.
You might have suffered but you have learned.

Nothing is worse than heartache. When we experience it, it impacts us in a huge way. We become jaded. Closed off. Determined not to let anyone else get too close. Every move is analyzed, every decision questioned. Nothing is taken at face value. Especially tales of love spoken by a new partner. Once you’ve escaped a narcissist, you’ll find yourself doing these eight things in your future relationships.

1. You’ll have trust issues.

When you’re in a relationship with a narcissist, it’s a common occurrence to be lied to and manipulated. This imprints on your brain and from now on, you’ll find it impossible to trust anyone else. Including yourself. Not being able to rely on your own judgment is one of the worst ways that a narcissist affects your life. You doubt everything and everyone, most of all your own heart.

Narcissists will ruin your life and yet you'll feel like you're the one at fault.
Stay woke! Know the Signs.

2. You’ll constantly apologize, even when you don’t need to

When you’re in a relationship with a narcissist, every problem that happens is your fault. Even when it wasn’t. It’s a common technique used by manipulators called gaslighting. This is when they get so deep into your head that you begin to question your own mind. You think you’re crazy for noticing red flags. And he’ll make you think that anything he’s done wrong is somehow related to something you did first. Once you get out of that cycle, you still have those feelings of inadequacy. You’ll find yourself apologizing for everything, even if it’s nothing to be sorry for. 

Abuse doesn't have to be visible to be real. Narcissists will leave scars that no one will ever see but you.
Loving a narcissist can change your life forever.

3. You’ll keep your distance

Once you escape Hell, you’ll do everything in your power to keep from going back. This means keeping yourself closed off on future chances of love. You no longer trust your own judgment. You got it wrong once before. It could happen again. And you can’t risk going back into the darkness. If you get lost this time, you’re scared you won’t be able to break free again. So you build up walls. You don’t let anyone too close. You can’t risk it. No matter how much you may think you love someone. It’s too dangerous to give in. 

There's beauty in goodbye. You just have to wait to find out how.
It may hurt but sometimes you have to just move on. It’ll be worth it.

4. You’ll crave the feeling of security

When you’re in a relationship with a narcissist, they become your whole world. You’ve isolated yourself from everyone around you who might try to talk you out of your relationship. You become dependent on your captor because for so long, that’s what your life consisted of. When it’s over, you’re free from the torturous abuse cycle. Yet you still crave the feeling of having someone to be your protector. Your shield from the harsh reality of the world. A champion to save you.

5. You’ll be waiting for Hell to start

The problem with falling for a narcissist is that you don’t realize their true self until you’re too deep to escape. Things were great in the beginning. Amazing. And then the switch flipped. Your fantasy life became your nightmare. Once you get into a new relationship, you become nervous when things seem to be going good. You’ll find yourself on pins and needles, waiting for things to turn sour, like they always do. 

Don't be ashamed of needing to work on yourself. The great thing about life is we have an infinite amount of times to start over until we get it right.
Forgive yourself for believing the lies. Open yourself to starting over.

6. You’ll keep everyone at arm’s length

Once you start falling for someone new, the fear and insecurity of your past relationships will haunt you. You’ll find yourself pushing your partner away, terrified of being hurt again. Because it’s turned so rotten before, you’re preparing yourself for it to happen again. You don’t want to lose them, but you’ve been so hurt before, you’re scared to try again.

7. Being treated right is a foreign experience

Narcissists know how to get into your mind without you even being aware of it. At first, it’s incredible. They’ll sweep you off your feet with all their charm. And once you’re hooked, their true nature shows. Then, you’re constantly being treated like crap. You’ll suffer abuse in some form: physical, psychological, or emotional, or even all of the above. Once you start getting treated properly by your new beau, you won’t know what to think.

8. Time and effort will pay off. 

For now, you’re broken. Don’t be afraid to admit this. It takes true strength to rebuild yourself after a traumatizing relationship. Go at your own pace. And don’t be closed off to a man who constantly shows he truly cares for you. How will you know? Look for these signs. 

Everyone has a role in your life. Take the time to figure out what spot they deserve to play.
Everything happens for a reason. Live, learn. love.

It will take time for you to let anyone get past your walls but if a man truly loves you, he’ll put in whatever effort is necessary to get through. He’ll be patient and constantly show you he’s sticking around for the long haul. He’ll understand that you’re not cold-hearted and emotionless. You’re just protecting yourself from the chance of future heartbreak. From the crushing pain of loving someone who doesn’t love you back. 

Things will get better

If you’re trying to recover from loving a narcissist, the first step is to forgive yourself. There is nothing wrong with you for not figuring out what he was really like. Narcissists are skilled at manipulation. They can get to anybody. It takes time but one day, you’ll be able to love again like you’ve never been hurt. Once you’re free, you’ll learn these things.

It's not your fault that you fell for a narcissist. Forgive yourself. He's the one who lost.
You’re not to blame. You did the best you could. You survived! Forgive yourself.

Trust me. I’ve lived through 10 years of Hell and it took a long time to get myself back to normal. I still do some of these things, even though I’m certain my new man is nothing like my tormentor. He understands. He doesn’t get mad. He’s patience and kind and supports me while I rebuild myself and learn how to love again. The right way this time. You can too. 

Hard times reveal true character. It may seem like the end of the word, but if it taught you a lesson, it wasn't a mistake.
Everything is a lesson if you just pay attention.

Dating a Narcissist Changes How You Love in 8 Ways

Dating a narcissist will leave you damaged. Things start off normal and then all Hell breaks loose.

At first, it was a perfect relationship. You thought you had finally found the one you were going to spend forever with. But over time, you realized it was a trap. Set by a manipulative narcissist who read you like a book and made you fall hard. When you finally walk away, you’ll be in thousands of pieces. Your outlook on love has changed. You won’t love the way you did before.

Trauma affects you deeply. It leaves you hollow and a shell of your former self.
You might have suffered but you have learned.

Nothing is worse than heartache. When we experience it, it impacts us in a huge way. We become jaded. Closed off. Determined not to let anyone else get too close. Every move is analyzed, every decision questioned. Nothing is taken at face value. Especially tales of love spoken by a new partner. Once you’ve escaped dating a narcissist, you’ll find yourself doing these eight things in your future relationships.

1. You’ll have trust issues from dating a narcissist.

When you’re dating a narcissist, it’s a common occurrence to be lied to and manipulated. This imprints on your brain and from now on, you’ll find it impossible to trust anyone else. Including yourself. Not being able to rely on your own judgment is one of the worst ways that a narcissist affects your life. You doubt everything and everyone, most of all your own heart.

Narcissists will ruin your life and yet you'll feel like you're the one at fault.
Stay woke! Know the Signs.

2. You’ll constantly apologize, even when you don’t need to.

When you’re dating a narcissist, every problem that happens is your fault. Even when it wasn’t. It’s a common technique used by manipulators called gaslighting. This is when they get so deep into your head that you begin to question your own mind. You think you’re crazy for noticing red flags. And he’ll make you think that anything he’s done wrong is somehow related to something you did first. Once you get out of that cycle, you still have those feelings of inadequacy. You’ll find yourself apologizing for everything, even if it’s nothing to be sorry for. 

Abuse doesn't have to be visible to be real. Narcissists will leave scars that no one will ever see but you.
Loving a narcissist can change your life forever.

3. You’ll keep your distance after dating a narcissist

Once you escape Hell, you’ll do everything in your power to keep from going back. This means keeping yourself closed off on future chances of love. You no longer trust your own judgment. You got it wrong once before. It could happen again. And you can’t risk going back into the darkness. If you get lost this time, you’re scared you won’t be able to break free again. So you build up walls. You don’t let anyone too close. You can’t risk it. No matter how much you may think you love someone. It’s too dangerous to give in. 

There's beauty in goodbye. You just have to wait to find out how. Love yourself today.
It may hurt but sometimes you have to just move on. It’ll be worth it.

4. You’ll crave the feeling of security after dating a narcissist.

When you’re in a relationship with a narcissist, they become your whole world. You’ve isolated yourself from everyone around you who might try to talk you out of your relationship. You become dependent on your captor because for so long, that’s what your life consisted of. When it’s over, you’re free from the torturous abuse cycle. Yet you still crave the feeling of having someone to be your protector. Your shield from the harsh reality of the world. A champion to save you.

5. You’ll be waiting for Hell to start.

The problem with dating a narcissist is that you don’t realize their true self until you’re too deep to escape. Things were great in the beginning. Amazing. And then the switch flipped. Your fantasy life became your nightmare. Once you get into a new relationship, you become nervous when things seem to be going good. You’ll find yourself on pins and needles, waiting for things to turn sour, like they always do. 

Don't be ashamed of needing to work on yourself. The great thing about life is we have an infinite amount of times to start over until we get it right. Start with self-love.
Forgive yourself for believing the lies. Open yourself to starting over.

6. You’ll keep everyone at arm’s length.

Once you start falling for someone new, the fear and insecurity of your past relationships will haunt you. You’ll find yourself pushing your partner away, terrified of being hurt again. Because it’s turned so rotten before, you’re preparing yourself for it to happen again. You don’t want to lose them, but you’ve been so hurt before, you’re scared to try again.

7. Being treated right is a foreign experience.

Narcissists know how to get into your mind without you even being aware of it. At first, it’s incredible. They’ll sweep you off your feet with all their charm. And once you’re hooked, their true nature shows. Then, you’re constantly being treated like crap. You’ll suffer abuse in some form: physical, psychological, or emotional, or even all of the above. Once you start getting treated properly by your new beau, you won’t know what to think.

8. Time and effort will pay off. 

For now, you’re broken. Don’t be afraid to admit this. It takes true strength to rebuild yourself after a traumatizing relationship. Go at your own pace. And don’t be closed off to a man who constantly shows he truly cares for you. How will you know? Look for these signs. Start with self love first.

Everyone has a role in your life. Take the time to figure out what spot they deserve to play. Stop dating narcissists.
Everything happens for a reason. Live, learn. love.

It will take time for you to let anyone get past your walls but if a man truly loves you, he’ll put in whatever effort is necessary to get through. He’ll be patient and constantly show you he’s sticking around for the long haul. He’ll understand that you’re not cold-hearted and emotionless. You’re just protecting yourself from the chance of future heartbreak. From the crushing pain of loving someone who doesn’t love you back. 

Things will get better

If you’re trying to recover from dating a narcissist, the first step is to forgive yourself. There is nothing wrong with you for not figuring out what he was really like. Narcissists are skilled at manipulation. They can get to anybody. It takes time but one day, you’ll be able to love again like you’ve never been hurt. Once you’re free, you’ll learn these things.

It's not your fault that you fell for a narcissist. Forgive yourself. He's the one who lost.
You’re not to blame. You did the best you could. You survived! Forgive yourself.

Trust me. I’ve lived through 10 years of Hell and it took a long time to get myself back to normal. I still do some of these things, even though I’m certain my new man is nothing like my tormentor. He understands. He doesn’t get mad. He’s patience and kind and supports me while I rebuild myself and learn how to love again. The right way this time. You can too. 

Hard times reveal true character. It may seem like the end of the word, but if it taught you a lesson, it wasn't a mistake. #lovinganarcassist
Everything is a lesson if you just pay attention.

Review of “My Life as a Sex-O-Gram”

My Life as a Sex-O-Gram

Thanks to a friend on Facebook, I downloaded this book from Amazon for free. The title caught my eye and I thought it would be a fascinating book to read. This story is told in the first person narrative and it’s a lot of walking through the scenes. The abrupt sexual scenes and behaviors surprised me quite a bit. The scenes were graphic and explicit, which I enjoyed. I did notice a lot of redundancy in the phrases, which meant that the writer repeated the same thoughts multiple times. As a fellow writer, this automatically caught my attention, though a regular reader probably wouldn’t notice.

Despite these few minor technical issues, the story was different from anything I’d ever read and made me think more of a fictional journal or memoir than an actual story. There was no plot line, conflict, climax or resolution. The character didn’t experience any sort of life altering scenario, other than deciding to branch out on her own from a stripper-o-gram to a basic prostitute.

If readers enjoy hot sex, very descriptively written out, anal sex, F/F, multiple partners, masturbation, and/or domination, this may be a book you’d pick up. For readers who are not interested in any of this stuff, you may want to find a different book, as this story contains a scenario of each and more.

I’d rate this book a 3.5.

Free to download: My Life as a Sex-O-Gram

Also available: My life as a Sex-O-Gram Part 2

Find Nikki Blaise online: Goodreads, Twitter, Blog, Facebook

Guest Blogger Tom Mach

How I Came to Write An Innocent Murdered

One of the techniques I use, not only for An Innocent Murdered, but for other novels I’ve written as well, is to ask a key question: Whahut If? In the case of my murder mystery, I asked the question: What if a priest was thought to be a pedophile but wasn’t and what if he was killed because the media had already “convicted” him? This led me to another “what if” question: What if the case against a suspect was so strong that there seemed to be no possible way she could be innocent? And yet another question: How could someone else have done the crime in the face of such strong evidence against the suspect?

Those questions led me to my original draft for An Innocent Murdered, which I had first written in the 1990s. What compelled me to write this particular novel at that time was all the media publicity swirling about concerning priests who were accused of child molestation. I noticed that these few bad apples created incredible damage for priests in general—the vast majority of whom were God-fearing and loving men who never do such a thing. Yet the media appeared to paint them all with the same broad brush. That was totally unfair so I hoped my novel would open the eyes of people to the truth.

After setting my original draft aside for almost 15 years, I took a fresh look at it and had to change just about everything except the three main characters—the priest, the detective, and the person who was suspected of murder. When I sketched the outline for this novel, the skeletal part of the plot remained the same—there’s a murder of a priest, a suspect with strong evidence against her, and a detective who, at first, believes she is guilty but later has reason to think otherwise. Originally, I had the priest murdered in the first chapter, but then I asked myself if I were a reader, why would I care about this priest? I wouldn’t. It would be just another dead body. But I wanted the reader to care because this man was innocent of any wrongdoing. He was a good man. He truly cared about children. And I wanted to show that and not to tell that. Thus, the priest isn’t murdered until 12,000 words later. By that time, we know all about him—how he agonized over being falsely accused, how he felt when even another priest and nun scorned him, how he reminisced about sexual temptation as a teenager when another girl his age tried to seduce him.

When people ask me how I create a character, I tell them that I break some of the rules. I don’t use biographical sketches to force myself to create a character from scratch. I don’t agonize over all the physical characteristics of the person—the way he combs his hair into a bushy wave, the way her smile fades like an old painting, the way she wears her skirts so short you wonder how she hides her essentials when she sits, or the way he walks with a limp and has to rest after every block. Those physical attributes come out of my story anyway. What I try to do is to allow a movie to play in my head and as I “see” the characters acting and reacting to others and learn their hidden secrets deep in their minds, the characters come alive. Alive! I can’t really explain it unless I tell you how I created my first successful character in a historical novel I wrote called Sissy! My main character there was a 19th century woman named Jessica Radford. When I created this novel, I had an image of a 10-year-old slave girl crying out for her guardian angel whom she named Sissy. And I had an image of a young woman who went against the tide and insisted that all women be treated as equals with men—in 1862 !! I had Jessica so real that after a friend of mind asked me where Jessica was buried, I told him that she was a fictional character and he found it hard to believe. That’s how I knew I created a great character!

The other thing I had to do with An Innocent Murdered is to plant believable “red herrings” in the murder mystery. That is, there were others who could just as well have killed the priest. One in particular actually possessed the murder weapon itself! I had to plant clues in the novel which were so subtle that—when the reader finished the novel she would say to herself: “Aha, I should have known that all along.” Agatha Christie was a master at that, keeping you guessing until you got near the end of the book.

My novel involved two different locations—one was a mid-sized Kansas town (which is where I live) and the other was Chicago (where I was born and raised). I had the advantage of being intimately familiar with both towns so I felt comfortable in describing the scenes in my novel. For example, I was easily able to visualize where the abandoned rectory was in Chicago, even though I changed the name of the street, and I had a good sense where Rock Meadow, Kansas was (although a fictitious town) and where the police department would probably be located.

Even a contemporary novel requires research. I had to understand how a criminal investigation proceeds, how interrogations are made, and the importance of a flawless crime scene investigation. I had to know how long it would take for person to fly from Kansas City to Chicago, Illinois—as well as what airlines would fly there and what major hotels would be located not far from O’Hare airport.

As far as my writing routine is concerned, I rewrote the new draft of An Innocent Murdered in thirty days, using pressure exerted from the National Novel Writing Month (http://www.nanowrimo.org). But after those thirty days my novel was expanded from 55,000 words to 74,000 words and I spent the next several months editing it over and over until it was in great shape. I found that by collapsing the time frame on this book, I had to live continuously with this story—every day thinking about it, reworking it, coming up with revisions, so I think the artificial pressure I put upon myself help me craft a much better book.

This brings me to my last point. When a writer creates a novel, he should find great satisfaction in constantly rewriting it. There’s a certain delight in knowing, after your draft is completed, that you can now spend all of your time making your story much better than it was. You see things you haven’t noticed before. You notice omissions, you notice errors, and you notice room for improvement. The end result should be your best work. That’s what I hope An Innocent Murdered will prove to be.
Excerpt:
“No, I understand. Do you think Matt and I can have access to the former rectory? We’d like to look around.”
“Well, I guess not, but why in the world would you want to look around over there?”
Matt showed him his badge. “It’s part of an investigation we’re doing on the murder of that child.”
“By all means, check it out.” He opened a desk drawer and took out a key attached to a plastic tag. “Here, take this.”
Matt pocketed the key and was about to leave when the man stopped him.
“That place is haunted, you know,” the old man said.
“Haunted?”
Bio:
Tom Mach wrote two successful historical novels, Sissy! and All Parts Together, both of which have won rave reviews and were listed among the 150 best Kansas books in 2011.Sissy! won the J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award while All Parts Together was a viable entrant for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Award. He also wrote a collection of short stories entitled Stories To Enjoy which received positive reviews. Tom’s other novels include: An Innocent Murdered, Advent, and Homer the Roamer.

His poetry collection, The Uni Verse, won the Nelson Poetry Book Award. In addition to several awards for his poetry, Writer’s Digest awarded him ninth place in a field of 3,000 entrants. His website is: www.TomMach.com He also has a popular blog for writers of both prose and verse at http://tommach.tumblr.com

Book Blurb:
Father O’Fallon has been murdered, and police officer Jacinta Perez is arrested and charged. Detective Matt Gunnison, however, is not convinced and with the help of Susan, an ex-nun, he discovers a fascinating link between the priest’s death and the death of a child 25 years ago. Will Matt be able to solve both murders? See video: http://t.co/H1siZOg
LINKS FOR VBT: AN INNOCENT MURDERED
http://www.tommach.com/
http://twitter.com/kansasauthor
http://www.facebook.com/kansasauthor
http://www.amazon.com/An-Innocent-Murdered
http://youtu.be/ndsPTht08EA
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/74459

My Blog Tour Schedule

Here’s a schedule of my upcoming, and past guest blogging spots, as well as some folks who are visiting me. It’s a busy month with all this and NaNo going on. Sign up for my newsletter to find out all about the happenings in my crazy world.

November 3rd: Thursday Thirteen

November 4th Guest Blogger with Skhye Moncrief

November 6th Six Sentence Sunday

November 7th Seeing Night Reviews

November 10th Thursday Thirteen and Guest Blogger with Dawne Prochilo

November 11th Guest Blogger with Sherry Gloag

November 13th Six Sentence Sunday

November 14th Guest Blogger with Nice and Naughty

November 16th Guest Blogger with Obsession with Books

November 17th Guest Blogger with Long and Short of It

November 18th  Guest Blogger with Book Wenches

November 19th Guest Blogger with Sit Here and Read

November 20th Review and Interview with Aubrie Dionne

November 21st Guest Blogger with Gabrielle Bisset

November 23th Guest Blogger with Jean Joachim

November 25th Guest Visitor with Diana Duncan

November 26th Visitor with Kathleen Ann Gallagher

November 27th Guest Blogger with Jennie Marsland

November 28th Visited by Jean Joachim

November 30th Visited by Tom Mach

December 2nd Visited by Kat Flannery

December 3rd Visited by Kathleen Grieve

December 4th Interview with Books and Kisses

December 5th Guest Blogger with Some Write It Hot

December 7th Guest Blogger with Lindsay Downs

December 9th Visited by Tracy Cramer Kelly

December 16th Visited by Gabrielle Bisset

Blog Tours I’m Participating In:

Save A Turkey, Gobble Up a Book

Black Friday Book Bonanza

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