I'm thrilled to announce that The Eyewitness, Book 1 of The D'Azzo Family series is Free on Amazon from March 5th to March 9th worldwide. If you haven't had a chance to disappear into this "thrilling suspense, complex mystery, and hot romance" story, get over to the Amazon of your choice now.
Why am I thrilled, or for that matter, why would any author want to give away thousands of free copies of a book that took months, even years, creating?
We want our books in the hands of readers. But that's only part of the story. Well, at least that's only part of my reasoning. The Eyewitness played a key role in my life. It's time to share why I want this book into as many hands as I can get it.
I was in the very beginning stages of writing The Eyewitness when I became very ill with a constant fever and flu symptoms without any visible cause. I began to lose weight, which, for me, is not a bad thing, but my energy level became nonexistent. I was actually becoming angry with myself. I just had to shake myself out of this...whatever this was, and move. The worst part, I couldn't write. I can't be alone in my feelings I'm letting my readers down in some way if I can't get a new book in their hands in at least six months. My sweet hubby’s advice, "Just write what you can. It's going to be okay.”
The diagnosis was discovered, osteomyelitis with other spices to make things super complicated. I didn't even know osteomyelitis was a thing. It took months for a whole team of compassionate and knowledgeable medical personnel at the Anne Arundel Medical Center to figure out that a tiny scratch I received during a routine procedure came with a nasty bacteria. There was no evidence of MRSA on the small wound. Instead, it made itself a nice little home in my sacrum bone, and I guess, was slowly killing me.
The treatment for osteomyelitis was evasive, and as a paraplegic, recovery, crazy complicated. When the team told me the only way to heal was to stay completely off the area for six weeks, I thought, stay positive. This is a great excuse to binge watch all those shows I missed while writing. But weeks turned into months, every step forward, I took five backwards.
This isn’t just my story, but my husband’s. He fought just as hard as I did for one thing, our love. I know, that sounds so romance-y, but that's it in a nutshell. We had to beat this thing, together, and I’ll be the first to admit he saved my life on so many levels. And again, he would just hold my hand and say, "Just write what you can. It's going to be okay."
I needed to write. I gain such joy from the characters who live in my head, and I had become attached to Emersyn D'Azzo and Alec Pearce from The Eyewitness. At the time, it felt as if my sweet, amazingly strong hubby held one hand as the entire D'Azzo family held the other. When I would become overwhelmed with what was ahead of me, I would open my laptop and disappear into their world even if all I got down was four hundred words. And honestly, I could control that world.
I slowly began to heal and I found Emersyn and Alec a very lasting happily-ever-after. I was months behind my deadline, but I can't express what that moment was like.
There were a couple other wonderful moments I never saw coming. The Eyewitness was nominated for a RONE Award [Award for Novel Excellence], and because of my wonderful readers, it became a finalist. Flying at the time would have been impossible. We loaded the car and drove toward Burbank, California. If I developed a fever, we would turn around.
I took a few photos of our trip. You can see a quick view HERE. Oh…and The Eyewitness won, Best Suspense/Thriller 2018.
I feel so much better these days. Nothing is ever really over, but I can live very contently with my new baseline. You will have to be the judge, but I think my D'Azzo family will be just fine, too. I hope you enjoy each book in the series as much as I love writing them.. It was so hard letting them go, but it's time to move on.
But why am I giving away free copies of The Eyewitness? I'm here today because I'm loved. And that love gave me the strength to fight. I promised myself I would share as often as I can this message:
The power of love is real, unbeatable, and if you nurture it, fight for the right to be loved and share your love, everything else will fall into it's rightful place.
Everyday life can be so hard. It is my wish that my love stories give you a small escape from the stresses of your life. From my heart to yours, please believe in love's power.
Happy Reading!
Hugs to All,
Nancy C. Weeks
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