Peggy was
born in a small farming community in southeastern Iowa. She began piano lessons
when she was only five and was playing the organ for church services when she
was nine. She attended the University of Northern Iowa where she met her
husband. Her career in commercial credit included being a speaker, trainer, and
national sales manager. She wrote and published “The Art of Business Credit
Investigation” in the ‘90’s and has been a contributor to numerous magazines
and newspapers throughout her career.
Peggy
and her husband are both now retired and living in Wisconsin where she is
active in water conservation efforts. The couple loves to travel and have taken
two shelter dogs into their home in the past two years. Peggy has been an avid
reader since childhood and reads all genres. “Books are the perfect escape when
life becomes a bit sticky!” She is an avid spokesperson for the protection and
safety of children, making that the central focus of this year’s release of Elle
Burton and the Reflective Portals. Her own struggles with abuse,
disability, and depression allow her to connect with her target audience to
help them find hope in a world they often feel is hopeless.
Welcome
to Adventures in Publishing Peggy and thanks for helping me with the Swim Season Pubslush campaign.
To get started I thought I'd ask you a couple of questions about high school
and sports, since that's what the book is about, and then we'll move on to your
marketing tips for authors and your book projects. At the end of our interview
Peggy has a very special gift or all of you.
Thank you so much for inviting me to visit your site
Marianne. Elle Burton and the Reflective Portals - Lessons from
Fiori is the first book in a coming of age fantasy series about a
young girl who is enticed by winged creatures from another dimension to help
them protect the children of Earth.
Records indicate that nearly six million children are abused in
this country every year. Whatever we’re doing isn’t working. I became committed
to the idea of writing a series of books for kids to inspire them to ask for
help if in trouble and to recognize when social injustices are affecting their
friends. Elle is the kind of role model every parent wants their child to
become as she stands up for her friends.
Most of us have strong feelings about our high school experience.
Was yours a yay or a nay? Please explain.
My own school years were filled with successes and challenges. The
bullying became less frequent in high school but the most popular girls made it
very clear I was not an active part of the “inner-circle”. Instead of being
invited to parties, I spent most of my time at home curled up on the sofa
experiencing adventures far beyond my living room through the characters in the
books I loved. I was active in choir, band, Stepperettes Dance Routine (never a
cheerleader), theater, speech, and of course the piano and organ.
Did you play sports in high school? If yes, which one(s) and
how did it work out for you? If not, do you have children who play sports?
I was never involved in sports. I had rheumatic fever when I was
in first grade and the doctors would not allow me to go outside to play or even
go to gym classes for years to protect my heart. As a result, my coordination
is horrific to this day. I was always the last one to be picked when I reached
junior high and was finally allowed to participate. I missed that important
growth phase of developing motor control as a child. Those experiences
encouraged my determination my own children would never be outsiders. They were
urged to participate in any sport they were interested in. We lived in
Minnesota at the time and ice hockey became the sport of choice for the boys.
My oldest son’s greatest achievement was an article on the front page of the
newspaper. It described him in 6th grade when as goalie, he
held the best team in our conference to only two goals in a final match. We
still lost but for that one game he was a hero to everyone in town.
I'm using Publish to help build an audience for my next noel. Pubslush is a global marketing platform to assist authors with
pre-publication publicity and sales. Do you have any key marketing tips for
authors?
I had an extremely profitable launch of a business reference guide
in the ‘90’s but the Elle book is my first novel. I wish I’d known about
pubslush and other pre-launch tools like pre-release orders before my book was
published. I became so buried in the edits, cover art, etc., that I did
absolutely nothing before the book came out. My best solution is to find people
who already have an established blog in your topic and do guest blogging. This
allows you to take advantage of their readership. It takes far too long to
build a following on a website if you don’t already have one built when your
book is released. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start one slowly, but do
devote more time to guest blogging as you build your new site for broader
exposure.
Can you tell us about your latest project?
My author friends have not only been supportive but also an
impressive force to keep me moving. They convinced me to sign up for NaNoWriMo
this November. I’m writing a cozy mystery about a young reporter from Iowa.
Jess Gantry is more like me than any character I have ever created. Since the
book is in its infancy, I think the title will be “Secrets of the Lake” – A
Jess Gantry book. All things are open to change as it goes thru editing and
publishing.
Where can we learn more about you and your books?
You can find me at www.peggymcaloon.com.
My holiday gift to all of you is a free pdf download on my website
during the month of December of Elle Burton and the Reflective
Portals. (Parents, be sure to download the discussion sheet under the
books tab on my website so you can help your own child understand and stand-up
to the social injustices they see each day. Elle confronts bullying in the book
and this is a topic that affects every family during a child’s school years.)
Amazon also has the 276-page soft-cover book at a giveaway price of $1.99 for
Christmas, but hurry, I don’t know how long it will stay that low.
You my purchase Elle Burton and the Reflective Portals on:
Copies are also available on the Peggy's website.
Follow Peggy:
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