Well, I’ll admit that maybe that’s a misleading title for this blog post. The last time that ‘Twelve Easy Emotional Fitness Exercises to Tame Mad, Bad, and Sad Feelings’ was offered for free on Amazon Kindle it was downloaded over 800 times. Whether or not those people actually read the eBook or still have it sitting on their “shelf” on their e-reader is another thing altogether.

The Amazon KDP free promotions are the double-edged sword for the author and publisher. They may get the book downloaded an impressive number of times in a short period of time but just how many knock-on sales it generates can be hard to quantify. Interestingly though, the last time we offered this title for free the second eBook in the series, Self-Soothing – Create Calm in Your Life, did have a pleasing increase in sales.

What I’d love most of all is to see the number of (5-star of course!) reviews increase on the title. I mean, really, if you get something for free and you find it valuable, come back and post a great review!

So, without further banter I announce that ’Twelve Easy Emotional Fitness Exercises to Tame Mad, Bad, and Sad Feelings’ by Katherine Gordy Levine will be free again on this weekend, Saturday 25th May and Sunday 26th May. Two days only. No more free days coming up. Don’t miss out.

“If your kid has run away, even for an hour or two, you need to read this eBook carefully. Chronic, long-term running away – the kind that ends in prostitution or other dangerous ventures – usually begins with short-term sprints. Learn how to deal with this behavior so that you can help your child break a potentially destructive habit.

At the same time, you must look closely at your kid’s behavior before overreacting. Running away, in some cases, is just a declaration of independence. Moreover, a child who breaks a rule – for example, curfew – might be afraid to come home for a few days. Upsetting as these two types of flight can be to parents, they can often lead to growth and greater strength of character if you handle them properly.”

‘When Good Kids Run Away‘ by Katherine Gordy Levine is available for free until midnight this Sunday 19th May.

This book is based on a chapter from the book ‘When Good Kids Do Bad Things – A Survival Guide for Parents of Teenagers‘. This 265 page invaluable handbook on parenting teenagers deals with a vast array of common concerns and issues. 11 of the 17 chapters of this book have been revised and released as short eBooks. This is volume 8. The complete series includes:

vol. 1: When Good Kids Get You In A Gotcha War
vol. 2: When Good Kids Struggle in School
vol. 3: When Good Kids Hang Out With The Wrong Crowd
vol. 4: When Good Kids Dress Makes You Stress
vol. 5: When Good Kids Lie
vol. 6: When Good Kids Take Risks
vol. 7: When Good Kids Have Sex
vol. 8: When Good Kids Run Away
vol. 9: When Good Kids Break The Law
vol. 10: When Good Kids Do Drugs and/or Alcohol
vol. 11: When Good Kids Get Depressed

It’s an uncomfortable topic for many, especially because any sentence with the words “child” and “sex” just screams out alarm bells for a lot of people – those two words shouldn’t be together! The reality is though that children become young adults and young adults (including teenagers) often become sexually active. Whilst a parent cannot control all of the circumstances and the decisions of their child they can … well what can they do?

Parenting expert Katherine Gordy Levine has some answers and her eBook, ‘When Good Kids Have Sex’ is free on Amazon for five days from Wednesday 8th May to Sunday 12th May.

From one advocate on caring for people with dementia to another … Sandy Spencer, who runs free-alzheimers-support.com with the motto “Learning and Sharing information to support loved ones with Alzheimer’s and Dementia” has read and reviewed Dorothy Web’s inspirational memoir, ‘When Goodbye Begins – Sharing Life With Dementia‘. 

More than anything, Sandy can relate to Dorothy’s story and like many other people, has found solace and understanding in Dorothy’s story. Her review is a lovely summary of Dorothy’s journey, with some choice quotes from the book included.

If you are caring for someone with dementia, visit free-alzheimers-support.com, not just to take a look at her write-up of Dorothy’s book, but for the many other free resources Sandy has so generously posted there.

Peter Rake has a unique and yet distinctly Australian voice. His writing is sometimes poignant, often witty and always engaging. What makes his stories so memorable are the details built into the plot, of life in outback Queensland in the 1950s and 1960s. The details come from genuine personal experience and Peter Rake has taken those vivid memories and mixed them with a colourful imagination, to fictionalise those times with candour, respect and humour.

In his debut novel, The Outback Story – The Loves and Adventures of ‘Tiger’ Williams, Peter Rake treats the reader to an adventure-romance with grit and wit.

This heart felt rural tale, set in the Downs country of Central Queensland, follows the journey of a young man who finds himself coming to the attention of the big boss station owners. They can see a quality to the young Steve Williams that they admire. As an infatuation with a station owner’s daughter blossoms, however, will Steve impress upon the big man enough for their relationship to have any chance?

With a crazed no-hoper stockman causing strife, wild boar pigs, dangerous roads and local police out for blood, Steve has many obstacles to overcome – but with the companionship of his special dog, Freda, he has the chance to become the man he didn’t know he could become, and attract the love of a good woman.

Set among the sprawling, dry land of outback Queensland, this riveting tale is a fascinating snapshot of life on a sheep station in the 1950s and a romantic adventure that celebrates the opportunity of the Australian bush spirit.

It is with a warm thank you that I point your direction to an author spotlight by the great supporter or writers, Morgen Bailey, on the newly published poet, Janet Tan. Janet’s debut collection, ‘On The Edge of Consciousness‘, was published earlier in the month by MetaPlume and it has already received two 5-star reviews on Amazon. Print copy sales just outsold the eBook copy sales over the weekend also.

Here’s a snippet:

“Janet Tan, born and raised in the exotic, jungle-covered peninsula of west Malaysia, is a post-graduate student of accounting and management living in Adelaide, Australia. If pressed, she couldn’t tell you how old she was when she first held a book in her hands but ever since she was taught to read, her “full-on European nose” could be found buried in a book.

In her formative years, she grew up in a high-rise apartment. Other kids would be downstairs running around with their friends, playing and shouting and being children in general while she’d be sitting indoors reading yet another new book. It wasn’t that she was anti-social; being their only child and hard to come by, her parents just preferred that she was safe within their sight. Yes, she was brought up to be seen and not heard, to only speak when spoken to, and her mother – bless her soul – was not one to spare the rod when absolutely necessary. That is not to say that she doesn’t appreciate how she spent her time. Her childhood was a mishmash of adventures in strange lands and fictional planets, thanks to her local library.”

… read on.

For most people, poetry is either a love it or hate it deal. For young adults, it can be a swoon – an escape and an expression of feelings that are inexpressible. One young reader of Janet Tan’s collection of poetry for young adults had this to say:

“I am not usually much of a poetry reader, a dull course in English literature at university having successfully quashed most of my interest in the form, but I gave it a try regardless. Unexpectedly I found myself enjoying the clever and articulate verses and rereading some pieces several times over. An expert analysis of the virtues of the verse I will leave to others, but perhaps my best advice is that young men pick this up for some insights into the hearts of young women and the joy, pain, hope and beauty that dwell there.”

On The Edge of Consciousness is available in print and eBook format from Amazon.

‘When Good Kids Do Bad Things – A Survival Guide for Parents of Teenagers’ is a generous read of almost 250 pages, covering over a dozen topics. In late 2012, eight of those key topics, based on chapters from the book, were presented as $0.99 eBooks, giving parents the option to do a quick but valuable read up on a pressing issue. The most popular eBooks has been ‘When Good Kids Lie’.

This weekend, on Friday 19, Saturday 20 and Sunday 21st April you can download ‘When Good Kids Lie’ from Amazon Kindle for free.

Teens lie, a fact that can easily escape a good parent living with a good kid. Think for a minute about yourself as a teenager. You lied, often by omission, or with a carefully woven half-truth. You also probably told more than one or two whoppers.

Think of yourself today. White lies are often considered not just acceptable, but necessary to avoid hurting others. When kids lie they are doing what almost everyone else does, but when it comes to important relationships, even the white lies, are destructive.

Accepting lying as something teens do, just as acne is something teens suffer from, will not get your child ahead in the real world. Honesty is the basis of satisfying relationships and an important part of getting along in a job. So take advantage on Friday 19th, Saturday 20th or Sunday 21st April to download a FREE copy of Katherine Gordy Levine’s eBook, ‘When Good Kids Lie’.