I am new author and I thought I was well read until I noticed several things while writing and then publishing my first novel. The easy part, was actually completing the manuscript. What is harder is fending off scammers and predatory marketers, salesmen and women within your own publisher. You have to get used to being the author and agent all in one and protecting your work.

I started writing this book not really out of spite but as a means to prove a point that I could and also to process my past.

A bit about my book #NotMyFamily. I was officially published almost 2 months ago. I have been fending off predatory practices of marketing people, other publishing scams, book fair scammers while trying to garner sales. What I am learning from research is I had options as far as editorial, book jacket design, and marketing strategy. The marketing, publicity, and promotion of my book could have started way before the actual publication of the book if I had not been subjected to pressure tactics to lock in other services that I really did not need.

This PS and questions for book clubs could have been part of the original book instead a post publication endeavor but at least I have control over the final product and final.

About Me: Long time blogger, reader, and tech nerd who is a proud worker bee at Blue Cross Blue Shield of TN and proud owner of a big ol’ F150 living in Chattanooga TN.

The Book

The book is a work of fiction loosely based on actual events of my life and interactions. It is not a character assassination of the dead nor is real insight into my own psyche. It is a tragic love story and a family saga imagined.  It is a different interpretation of events in hopes to inspire and to entertain. But if you find a little truth in this story hopefully it will evoke change and self-growth.

Reading Guide

#NotMyFamily is available on FeliciaBaxter.com, Amazon, Barnes And Noble, and Walmart(trying to figure out why that is still showing not in stock). The following guide is not included in the original printing.

1. There has been a lot written about the Great Migration of African Americans out of Jim Crow South from the time of Reconstruction through the early 70s. The protagonists families, the Butlers, Sampson, Purcell’s all stayed in the respective South and in TX,  what are your first thoughts on how the circumstances affected both families for better or for worse?
2. How much insight did you gain into Francis Purcell née Maria Butler? Was her character believable?
3. Some of the scenes were around fishing with her brothers, meals with family, and there were multiple scenes when she met her ex-boyfriends, what parallels could the reader draw from those interactions and her poor relationship choices? Do you think there is any hope for Francis and relationships with men? Does it really matter?
4. Readers impressions of
   • Tony Purcell
   • Darlene Sampson Purcell Butler
   • Angela Butler
   • Aunt Myrtle
   • Francis Purcell née Maria Butler
   • Purcell Clan-Brice, Mara, David, Joseph, Gran Em, Big Sam
5. Was the love story between Tony and Darlene believable or inspiration
6. Was Darlene Sampson Purcell a tragic hero or low level con artist and why?
7. Should the protagonist Francis Purcell give into middle or upper class guilt and continue to forge a relationship with her step father and share in her good fortune even her inheritance?
8. The book is 112 pages long just right? Does it call for a sequel?
9. The book is a fictional biographical narrative does it pull this off? What does that mean exactly
10. Is she obligated to have any relationship with any of them? What should that look like?

I hope to start posting questions and thoughts on Instagram soon and have to become a full fledged Bookstagrammer (yes, that’s a thing to market my book on that platform). There is just a lot more to be and to do as an author/agent/marketer. There is just so much more on this journey, crazy and exciting. See let’s do this! Follow my Podcast on Podbean, Itunes, and Spotify…