Greetings From The New Gal

Hi Folks!

I felt right at home the first time I visited Murder By 4. It was like, "Honey, I'm home!" An instant sense of connection enveloped me as I read through this wonderful blog. I loved the way in which Aaron, Kim, Marta and S.W. approached the writing life—with wisdom, dedication and joy. I relished the discussions, the guest bloggers who found a platform here, and the clever readers' comments. It was as if I had found this very special place, a clearing in the huge, crowded forest, a safe haven where travelers shared my interests, questions and concerns. No—wait—it was better than that. I had stumbled into a community of open arms willing to embrace my writer self.

I was smitten.

So when my friend and fellow Twilight Times Books author Aaron Lazar asked me if I would join Murder By 4, I was thrilled. I love to hang out with my writer friends. We all benefit when we share information, promotion tips, support, thoughts, questions, aspirations and inspiration. Thank you Aaron for inviting me to join MB4!

Aaron—one of the wisest, kindest, most generous and helpful authors I've ever met—leads by example. He is always talking about paying it forward. He talks the talk, but let me tell you: he also walks the walk. And since I've learned so much from him, I had to come when he called. I'm grateful and honored for the opportunity to become a part of Murder By 4.

My goal is to support MB4's tradition of sharing and building community as we learn and grow together.  In my posts, I plan to share whatever helpful tidbits I've picked up in my writer's journey. But I also know that learning is a continuous process and we learn best from each other. So I plan to ask a lot of questions to other writers, publishers, editors, cover designers, publicists—anyone who works to support writers and promote writing, books and publishing.

Which brings me to my next point: If you have a subject you'd like to discuss or learn about, if you have comments, questions and suggestions, people you want to hear from, issues you want to bring up, by all means, send them my way, at dora@doramachado.com. We want to learn from you too!

You might find that I'm a little different from Aaron, Kim, and the others, mostly because I write fantasy instead of mystery. To find out about me and my books visit http://www.doramachado.com/. But here at MB4, we all share a serious passion for writing, a compulsion for words, and a lust for adventure, mystery, suspense and romance as vital components to all great novels. 

In addition, we believe that, regardless of genres, all writers benefit from coming together and having a dynamic forum like Murder By 4. And if along the way I can someday entice you to give the fantasy genre a try, well then, I'll be more than delighted to share in that journey with you.

Have an awesome week. See you next Wednesday!

Dora Machado is the award-winning author of the epic fantasy Stonewiser series and her newest fantasy romance, The Curse Giver, available from Twilight Times Books. She grew up in the Dominican Republic, where she developed a fascination for writing and a taste for Merengue. After a lifetime of straddling such compelling but different worlds, fantasy is a natural fit to her stories. She lives in Florida with her husband and three very opinionated cats.

To learn more about Dora Machado and her novels, visit her website at www.doramachado.com or contact her in any of the following ways:

Website: http://www.doramachado.com/

Email: Dora@doramachado.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoraMachado101

Twitter: @DoraMachado or https://twitter.com/DoraMachado

Blog: http://www.doramachado.com/blog/

Newsletter:  http://doramachado.com/newsletter.php

Amazon Author Central: amazon.com/author/doramachado

For a free excerpt of Dora's latest fantasy romance, The Curse Giver, visit  http://twilighttimesbooks.comthingsTheCurseGiver_ch1.html.