iU author Renäe M. Gilley and her first book, “Twenty-Eight Days”

iUniverse introduces Renäe M. Gilley, who has just published her first book, Twenty-Eight Days!

My name is Renae Gilley.  I have published my first book, Twenty-Eight Days.  It went live on October 12, 2018.  This is a fiction romance, about Kara who is dreaming about a handsome man and Mike who sees a beautiful woman every night in his dreams, standing on a deck, looking up at a silver moon.  She only says one thing, {Please Find Me}.  Mike has become abscessed with this woman to the point that he hires an artist to come to his home and paint his night time companion.  The artist suggests that Mike goes to see a hypnotist and here the real story begins, while he is in Ashville.  Mike cannot believe he has found her, but there is a problem, Kara is married.  The book continues with mystery and plots as Mike comes up with a plan to have twenty-eight days with Kara.  It is a beautiful love story with four marriages and three adoptions.

I retired two years ago and decided to do something I had never done before, so I tried writing.  Much to my surprise I found that I was pretty good at it too.  Quickly I wrote a six-book series that I have not published yet.  Then came the idea for Twenty-Eight days, and now I am almost finished with the next book I plan to publish, The Housekeeper, having an accompany cookbook with it. I have done a lot of things in my life, own and ran businesses, changed careers and became a beautician for a hospital, and sang in a rock and roll band for fifteen years.  My daughter said once I have sure have lived a full life.  I am from the baby boomer generation but have not slowed down yet.

My personality is that of a very romantic woman and it just came natural to me to write in that genre.  My style is what flows out of me, I sit, type, and I call it {getting it out and on the paper}, then I go back and read, correct and improve on it.  If I lose the thought or idea, sometimes I cannot go back and find it.  I have pulled over to the side of the road to jot down a plot I was having a hard time writing.  I also found music will help me to solve writer’s block in many chapters.

I wanted to write these books to share the characters with the world.  Most of my books begin with a dream, I see the people, actors in my sleep.  I dream in color and can tell you the color of their eyes.  I would know them if I ever saw them out anywhere.  I know it sounds crazy, but that is how my books start, with a dream.

I love to read and have read many books in my lifetime.  I do not have a favorite author but have enjoyed many authors at different times in my life.  There have been books that made me cry, laugh, want more when it ended and some that after the first one-hundred pages I would not continue reading it.  I have said that if a reader wants more than just the one book, they are reading by me, then I have succeeded as an author.  If they cry at the sad parts, or the very romantic parts, then I have succeeded as an author.  If I can fool them with my plots, then I have succeeded as an author.  If they laugh at the funny parts, then I have succeeded as an author, and if they try and enjoy the recipe at the end of the book, I have succeeded as an author.  When I am no longer on this earth, I will continue on in my books.

In time I hope for all twelve of the books I have written to be published.  Not to worry, I have a lot more I still want to write if I see that my readers want more from me.

I had my first book signing two weeks after Twenty-Eight Days went live, because I was hounded by friends for a copy.  I sold 70 the first two weeks.  I know they are selling on line, and I already have four reviews and five stars on Amazon.  I have twenty-five ebooks being given away on BookGrabbr, we joined Author Learning Center, and GoodReads.  My local newspaper wrote an article about my publishing, my gym posted signs to help promote me, and my church told the congregation.  I have two more signings set up.  I mailed cards or emails out to all my friends and family for them to share my success with all of their friends.  Word of mouth will help a lot.  I am going to set up a personal blog and social media is already up and going.  I will go to our local book stores with book in hand and offer to do a book signing for them to help with the upcoming holidays.

When I started the journey with iUniverse, I had no idea what to expect or what was ahead of me.  Almost everyone that I dealt with was kind, thoughtful and helpful to me.  My first contact became my lifeline.  When I was lost, he guided me.  When I was upset, he calmed me down.  When I was ready to quit, he pushed me on.  When someone upset me and I cried, he found a different person to match my personality to work with me.  I NEVER want to publish another book without him in my corner.

I feel anyone that wants to write a book should try.  I believe we can do anything we set our minds to do.  Never give up, just start on page one, read what you have written to this point, correct, improve and move forward.  The day you write that last word, you will cry, smile, laugh and be proud of your book, it is a part of you and will be forever.

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