The Values of Newsletters, Google+, FB and Twitter

Why the title, "The Values of Newsletters, Google+, FB, Twitter"? Well, because the value is in the connection. Great ways for writers to get to know more about their readers. And even more so now after the publication of my recent first Newsletter - the next will be in summer when my new book Lizzie of Langley Street is published. Social media such as Google+, FB and Twitter, are perfect vehicles for learning more about your lives and what you enjoy reading. These little pearls of information help me to know where you're coming from and how I can improve in delivering my stories to you. Almost everyone has a computer in the house and I'm happy to say that my books are gathering great reviews. Giant online retailers like Amazon invite readers to discover the best Family Saga Fiction in the Best Sellers lists and find the top 100 most popular items. And I've accepted this offer many times and count myself lucky to have my sagas featured. One click for an instant ebook, or just a day or two’s wait for a paperback by post. How I love to receive a paperback in the post wrapped in its trendy parcel! Paperbacks are still hot and my readers tell me that just the smell of the pages transports them into another world. Audio versions of my Best Sellers are available for those who want a laid-back form of reading or enjoy browsing the libraries. So it's a big hurrah for books of all shapes and sizes in 2015 and just as big a cheer to the social media platforms supporting them! I'll be waiting to hear more from you in response to my next Newsletter, complete with a competition, pics, prizes and hot gossip. Meanwhile, if you haven't received my Newsletter already, go to this link, subscribe - and read all about it. With love and very much more to follow! CAROL'S NEWSLETTER

Great Recipes ...

During the wartime era we were slim! Housewives dreamed up recipes from the basics. Austerity recipes? I hear you gasp. Well, yes, but great recipes all the same. 40's recipes avoided the more harmful fat and preservatives we eat today. Here's a pic of a 1944 mutton and mash recipe, ingredients used from the weekly basic allowance for one. I've added celery as a 2015 treat! It would more likely have been carrots, cheaper and easier to source unless you grew your own. (Which everyone was urged to do!) Coupons were a way of life during the 40's and 50's. Rationing didn't completely end until the mid fifties. In those 15 years, we changed our shapes and our stomachs grew accustomed to smaller proportions. We appreciated the coveted treats of tea, coffee, chocolate and tinned fruit - to mention just a few. Enter the 60's and sex, drugs, and rock n' roll kicked off. With affluence, we started to pile on the pounds. (Or ounces as they were in those days.) In came the slimming fads and the dietary meals, the G5 slimming machines and the appetite suppressants. No wonder the previous generation were astonished! They'd only had a world war to contend with to maintain a slim figure! So, if you'd like to know more about all things 40's and 50's, why not try some of my novels as well as the nosh? I love writing about these eras. And I can heartily recommend the corned beef and lentil hotpot illustrated here as I cooked it only yesterday! The ingredients are included in my March newsletter. So if you are keen to know more, please click on this link carol rivers.com