Plans for the Future...

I never make resolutions for the new year. I'm afraid they would just end up depressing me because I would never accomplish them.

However, I have made a few plans. Number 1, I intend to get smarter about social media. I admit I'm uncomfortable sharing much of my personal life on the Internet. I just think it's not smart. I know people whose whole life is on their phone. I know people who have Alexa, which is one of the scariest thing to come down the pike lately. I will never have Alexa.

With Facebook on the brink of making some major new changes (which I don't yet understand), I'm going to learn more about using Facebook as a marketing tool. I have 3 Facebook pages. First, there's my profile page https://www.facebook.com/anna.jeffrey.3.

There is my professional page, Anna Jeffrey Books: https://www.facebook.com/annajeffreybooks/. On this page, I mostly comment about books and writing. My Facebook store is also on this page, with links to Amazon to buy books and audio books. I haven't yet figured out how to add links for other retailers yet, but I'm working on it.

After that, there is my new Anna Jeffrey Readers Club: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=anna%20jeffrey%20readers%20club. This is a closed group you're welcome to join. We are supposed to talk about books and movies and share opinions and thoughts. (no politics, no flame-outs and no promotions) It's supposed to be like we all get together for coffee and cake and we're supposed to have fun. .... I don't know about you, but I have a hard time finding people to discuss good books with.

I'm going to be more active on Twitter. If you'd like to follow me on Twitter, my I.D. is annajeffrey@annajeffrey. Twitter is where I'll be making announcements if Facebook becomes un-tolerable after they make their changes and their announcements.

There's my blog, on which I'm going to try to post more. https://annajeffreyauthor.wordpress.com. I post all kinds of things on my blog (except politics), but including a few recipes from time to time. I also have a few guest authors promoting their new releases. If you would like to subscribe, a sign-up box is on the blog or it's at my web site, https://annajeffrey.com.

I'm on Pinterest. There I have boards on my books as well as a few other things that interest me, such as great people, food, and art. I would love to have you follow me there. https://www.pinterest.com/annajeffrey/

I'm on LinkedIn and Instagram, but I'm not quite into using those two yet.

And in the middle of all of this, I'm going to try to find time to write. As soon as I finish THE HORSEMAN, I'm going to start on the revisions of MAN OF THE WEST, which is a sequel to LONE STAR WOMAN. Originally, this book was to be Book #1 of a trilogy.







It took forever to get the rights to MAN OF THE WEST back from the New York publisher, but I finally succeeded. I hope to get that done in the next few months and I will be releasing it as an Anna Jeffrey book.




So those are my plans. Not resolutions.😀

Snakebit!.....Yikes!

I always try to create interesting situations and circumstances for the characters in my stories. In my newest endeavor, THE HORSEMAN, Book #3 of The Sons of Texas trilogy, I’ve created a situation where a character has been crippled by multiple surgeries after a rattlesnake bite.

Not just any old snake, but a RATTLESNAKE. Thus, I’ve been researching rattlesnake bites. And after researching them, I’m even more scared of them than before. Rattlesnake bites are different from other snake bites.

On the Internet, there are personal stories from victims. One of the most hair-raising is from a 13-year-old boy who was bitten on the hand. http://rattlesnakebite.org/ Another is by a 50-year-old female backpacker in an area where she hikes several times a week. http://www.backpacker.com/survival/out-alive-bitten-by-a-rattlesnake/#bp=0/img1.

Both of these accounts will get your attention and put you on the lookout for venomous creatures.

So what happens if one strikes you? Here is a web site with good information about what to do. http://www.desertusa.com/reptiles/rattlesnake-bites.html.

Rattlesnake venom contains toxins that damage tissue, destroy blood cells, skin tissues and cause internal hemorrhaging. It can also immobilize the nervous system which can affect and even stop breathing. In reality, a snake bite kit isn’t really a good solution. You need to get to an emergency room fast.

The experts tell you that rattlesnakes are solitary creatures. They strike when startled or when they feel threatened. That’s good information, but if one is resting under a bush and you don’t know it and walk past it—as was the case with the 50-year-old woman—I guess that’s enough for it to feel threatened. 

The experts also say rattlesnake bites are rare. I grew up in West Texas, have

lived in Texas most of my life and I’ve never known anyone personally who was bitten. I’ve run across a couple of people who’ve been bitten by copperheads, but apparently those bites aren’t the same as rattlesnake bites.

Those same experts also say that there are very few deaths in the USA from snakebites. But me? If one bit me, I would probably die from a heart attack.

It’s the time of year when everyone wants to be outside working in the yard or the garden. Just be careful out there.

Meanwhile,  I'm  working  away  coming  up  with  a  way  my   heroine  in  THE HORSEMAN, the beautiful Dallas Ann Carol, is going to go on with her life after this trauma. And how our hero, handsome and rich  Troy Rattigan,  is  going  to find her courageous and irresistible.