What's on My Bookshelf

The name of this post is misleading. The books listed below are never on my bookshelf. They sit at my elbow on my desk for quick reference. Hope you find the list helpful. –Theresa Snyder


Writer’s Guide to Character Traits, 2nd Ed., by Linda N. Edelstein, Ph.D

Noted psychologist and author Dr. Linda Edelstein takes you beyond generic personality types and into the depths of the human psyche where you’re sure to find the resources you need to make your characters stand out from the crowd. From sex to schizophrenia: everything you need to develop your characters.


The Emotion Thesaurus, A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression, by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi

The Knotty and the Nice of Indie Publishing #2 - Social Media

It takes a community to get the proper attention for a writer’s work and social media helps accomplish that.


Your readers wish to learn about you as a person. They want to feel as if they know you. If you are gentle and engaging, folks will respond. They will assist you if you work together.

Shortly after I posted my first book, The Helavite War, on Kindle, my students suggested that I sign up with Twitter and actively work to market the book. Two of them stepped in and created a perfect profile – branding me as the author, reader, gardener and dreamer that I am.

The Knotty and the Nice of Indie Publishing #1 - My 1st Year

I started my life as a published indie author on May 1, 2013. It has been an all-consuming project ever since.

There is no blueprint telling how to become a successful indie author. Like childrearing, it does not come with a manual. Everything is trial and error. What works for one author may not work for another.

My goal last year was to post all twelve of my completed books to the Kindle store on Amazon. I accomplished that plus one more, thirteen in all. I also did so much more and met so many wonderful folks along the way.

I’d like to detail my journey thus far. Each step is important – each step helps build a bridge closer to the readers who I hope are awaiting my stories.

SHIFTING - Halloween Challenge!

Take the Shifting Books Halloween Challenge

Win a Book!

1. Purchase "Shifting in The Realms"
2. Between October 17th and October 31st read the book and review it on any social media platform
3. (A) Post the link  to the review (and a way to contact you) in the comments on this article (B) Tweet me @TheresaSnyder19 with the link and #ShiftingReview (C) DM me on Twitter with the Link & your email address

I will contact you and arrange to send you an ebook of the second book in the series, "Shifting Agony & Ecstasy"

I promise not to use your email for anything other than to send you the second book.

A synopsis of the series, a sample chapter and the links for all the buying platforms (under the header) can be found here: The Shifting Books

This is a 62 page paranormal novella with a 4.6 Star rating on Amazon.
The story is seen through the eyes of a shape-shifter in his wolf form.

Warning there is reference made to the aftermath of a rape, and retribution for said rape.
However, this is a vital part of a story that develops into a unique adventure/romance with a liberal dose of humor.

Take the Challenge! 

I dare you! 

I Double 'Wolf' Dare You!

Art by Kwazar of Deviant Art

Yakov Hightower and the Glitter of a Pirate's Booty

My friend, Cheri Matthynessen, an author in her own right, has a wonderful little contest running on her blog Challenge the Writer. Readers are challenged to give Cheri a (1) Character Type (2) Specific Place (3) Situation and (4) A Random Item.

I love this kind of thing to get the old creative juices moving. I immediately challenged her with:
(1) A hunchback prince with a gift for gab
(2) The imaginary land of Sand & Stone
(3) A torturous climb
(4) A sentient mute snake

I think she felt the pressure so she turned right around and shot one of her own personal challenges to me:

TweetJukeBox and Dragon Mania with Farloft the Dragon

I have found a program I just love, TweetJukeBox . Tim Fargo @alphabetsuccess and his partner really know how to write a program worth having. I can't tell you how many great little features this program has to make your twitting life easier if you have numerous friends and followers like I do.

With the other program I used, if I found an error in a scheduled tweet I would have to scroll through all of them in order to find it and correct it. TweetJukeBox has a 'search' feature. What a time saver.

You can schedule each day of your week with different tweeting times and frequencies. If you are like me and work 8 hours a day, but don't want to be absent for that time period, you can schedule your tweets then.

If you are just starting out on twitter and don't really know what to say to catch folk's interest, Tim supplies you with a jukebox of quotes and one of pictures so you can spark conversations that will create friendships. Someone comments on that quote you posted and you are on your way to establishing a social media empire.

If you love Dragons, consider downloading "Dragon Mania with Farloft the Dragon" from the Jukebox Library. Farloft and I created it for giggles. It is full of dragon quotes, lore, free reads, art and fanart. Currently, it is on page 7 of the library.

Art by Bluekite-Falls of Deviant Art