My eldest is in kindergarten and he loves his teacher.  We love her, too.  And we know that she loves the children in her class as much as her own.  I’ve written her a short letter this evening.

Dear Mrs. Lane,

This year, we’ve seen teachers shield their students from bullets with their own bodies.  We’ve seen fallen teachers hold students in their arms so that the children didn’t have to die alone.  We’ve seen a principal fling herself at a gunman to stop him from shooting her children, making the ultimate sacrifice in the process.  Most recently, we’ve seen a number of teachers try their best to shelter children in the face of a monstrous storm rather than running to save themselves.  These teachers, some might say heroes, stayed directly in the path of death and threw themselves on top of the children when it hit.

Thank you for being a teacher.  You are more than a teacher.  You are the fearless guardian and protector of many.  You are the real-life angel that walks among our little ones while the parents are away.  Thank you for giving so much love to our children.  It is times like this when we think about the ones who give so much and receive so little.

Thank you,
Joshua’s Parents

Feel free to use this letter.  Change it up if you like.  Reword it.  Rewrite it.  It doesn’t matter.  But it would be nice if teachers everywhere were recognized with personalized letters this week.  As many as possible.

So far there hasn’t been a bad review.

I hope I didn’t just jinx myself.

“If you have been enjoying the various zombie books on the market as of late —as I have— Days of Love and Blood should be at the top of your zombie TBR pile.”

Click the image above to read the review.  Psst – there is a distinct possibility that the horror magazine Fangoria® will be doing a review to be included in their print publication!

I can recall being a little obsessed with MySpace when it first erupted into mainstream usage.  And then I remember moving onto Facebook.  I still use Facebook.  But I don’t obsess over it like I do with GoodReads.

I will sit for hours (seriously) and pore over my to-read list and examine the lists of others.  I do not know why I find this site so powerfully addictive but I do know that it has broadened my reading landscape in a wonderful way.  I’m finding and reading books that I probably never would have known about, and it is through my GoodReads’ friends updates.  And I get to interact with other people who love books just as much as I do.

Seriously – try to talk to someone you barely know in the real world about a book you recently read, one that you are super excited about.  Perhaps your hair stylist or a coworker.  You’ll get a whole bunch of “uh-huhs” as their eyes glaze over, and while you ramble on about the high points of the main character or the details comprising a new world, they are silently plotting ways to run away from you.  Not so in the world of GoodReads.  Your avid love for the written word will finally be appreciated.  That’s why I love it.

As an author, reading is my favorite pastime.  You might think that an author’s favorite pastime should be writing.  And maybe you’re right.  Maybe it should be writing.  But not for me.  I would spend all day reading, if I could.  I don’t know what that says about me as author, but I don’t really care either.  I love to read and I will never apologize for it.

On that note, GoodReads is great for authors too.  Not only do I get to feed my to-read list, I can also interact with people who have read my book or plan to.  They can contact me and I have been able to set up giveaways through GoodReads which has created a lot of stir about the book, simply because the giveaways tend to create a month-long viral buzz.  It is a wonderful feature!

They give you a GoodReads Author Profile:  R.S. Carter on GoodReads
And each book has its own page:  Days of Love and Blood on GoodReads

Still, I prefer using GoodReads to find more books to read rather than promote my own.  It feeds my addiction.  It is where I can connect with other like-minded book addicts and it is where I feel normal.

Are you a GoodReads addict?

Some of the fabulous feedback book review Ashley provided:

Carter is brilliant.

..Carter touches on some pretty raw emotions..

..when I tried to put it down, I just could not, and believe me I did try to put it down – it was about 4 am when I finished it.

Thank you Ashley!  I’m thrilled that you enjoyed it!

R.S Carter Interview at Tribute Books

One thing is clear:  I need to get a better picture.

Days of Love and Blood by R.S. Carter

Days of Love and Blood:  A zombie book for women has a brand new look.  The cover has been changed!  Here is a glimpse of the new cover which should be up on all sites (Amazon, B&N) fairly soon. It’s getting excellent reviews so far!

Zombie fan?  Enjoy a little romance as well?  This book is multi-genre and crosses paths with sci-fi, romance, post-apocalyptic and fantasy.  For women and guys!

Read more on Days of Love and Blood here:

Days of Love and Blood

I guess I could read this in many different ways, if I was superstitious.  And right now, I choose to be superstitious.

I see a beautiful moon high in the sky as I look out my window at this very moment.  I wish I could reach out and grab it.  Then I would surely have a ball of light in my hands.  Too literal?  Probably.

I’m keeping this timely scrap of paper to see where it takes me.

So, get it.  Download it.  Add it to your GoodReads to-read list, read it, and review it.

Days of Love and Blood by R.C. Carter

I had originally entitled it LINE.  But my agent suggested a new title and we tossed around tons of ideas.  I also changed the cover image, which I made I might add.  I was pretty happy with the new image and how it came out.  I designed it on Photoshop.  A few people said it looked like clip art after showing it around for some feedback.  Others said it looked like Native American art.  What do you think?

It isn’t clip art.  I made the image myself and it took days.  I wasn’t going for a Native American feel, but now I can see it!  Oh well.  I will probably work on changing it yet again.

Okay, good night!  Back to posting on a regular basis I hope!

It’s a long book – so it will take me a while to finish.  But I really do like the long ones because sometimes I just don’t want a book to end.