Doreen McGettigan

It’ Here!!

Book #3– Realize Your Writing Dreams- Actionable tips on writing, publishing and marketing

Becoming a published author is no easy task. Overcoming the writing challenges, agent and publisher rejections, and marketing failures can be excruciating. It can often seem like an impossible dream, but those dreams can be realized.

Realize Your Writing Dreams will talk you through each step of the writing process. The author explains in simple terms the business and the ever-changing publishing landscape. She gives the writer a complete description of each publishing route and the pros and cons of each choice.

The reader will receive actionable instructions on all things marketing including public relations, promotion, advertising, and how to write a winning book marketing plan.

Becoming a successful author has nothing to do with luck and everything to do perseverance, passion and preparation.

Realize Your Writing Dreams is that book that you will keep and refer to throughout your writing career.

About the Author:

As the President of Intrepid Marketing, Doreen McGettigan consults with and coaches on all things writing, publishing, and marketing. She’s an author, speaker, ghostwriter, and award-winning blogger. She facilitates workshops on writing, blogging, social media, communications, networking, and elevator pitches.

Doreen chaired and facilitated the Press Club professional Development Workshop Series, “How to Get You, Your Business, Book, Product or Non-Profit in the News.” She is a member of the SCORE speaker’s bureau, is an active member of the Press Club (former board member,) and Fem City (A national networking organization.)

She started her career as a journalist and her writing has recently appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer (prompting over 300 positive emails.) Her writing appears often in 1010 Park Place, an online magazine.

She lives with her husband John in Delaware County, Pennsylvania (just south of Philadelphia.) They have 5 children (2 more in Heaven) and 13 grandchildren. Their lives are never boring.

Book #2-

The Stranger in My Recliner

He gently helped her back up onto her feet and then picked up what he thought was her grocery bags. After giving her a quick look over and insuring she had no injuries he insisted on giving her a ride home.

After asking her numerous times for her address and struggling not to get frustrated with her, Sophie finally admitted to him, she had no home to go to and nowhere to stay.

John called me to ask if he could bring a woman home for the night.  Not exactly the thing you expect your husband to call and request.

When Sophie walked through my front door that night I could not believe my eyes. She was a frail, filthy, and hunched over, eighty–year–old woman.

I made her a hot cup of tea and then went upstairs and prepared her a warm bubble bath. I gave her my favorite silk pajamas, clean underwear, a warm fluffy pair of socks, and a thick robe.

What possibly could have happened to her, what sin or crime did she commit that left her no choice in the world but to trust complete strangers over family or friends? Imagining what in the world those possible sins and crimes were, scared me to my core.

My husband on the other hand is trusting to a frustrating fault. I admire his compassion and knew in my heart that keeping her safe and warm on that cold, wet night was the right thing to do no matter how she came to be in this situation. I could not help wondering why I had to be the one to do that particular right thing on that particular night.

I just kept saying to myself, no worries, she will only be with us until we can find a good home for her. I believed one of her relatives would show up and claim her. They would knock on our front door and tell us they had been searching for her and they could not thank us enough for taking care of her.

Sophie’s story is one of jealous, vindictive siblings, an abusive husband, and a sexual assault that resulted in a pregnancy, a kidnapping, and bitter, unforgiving children. She was attacked by several younger homeless people and an Elvis impersonator’s girlfriend. She was left out in the cold by a deceiving judge who convinced her to care for his dying wife while he cheated on her and then by a group of lost souls that she devoted her life to serving.

As much as I felt we were getting to know Sophie and it was starting to feel like she was just another one of our ‘crazy’ relatives there was still so much that we didn’t know about her. After more than two years how was it possible that she was still very much the stranger in our recliner?

Book #1

BRISTOL bOYZ STOMP

I am so grateful for the positive response I have received to this story. Thank you!

‘ROAD RAGE’ is what all the news shows and newspapers called it. To me, that sounded like a disease, an affliction that can make you kill.  A sorry excuse to take the claw end of a hammer and pound it repeatedly into the skull of another human being.

In April of 1999, my younger brother, David, passed away.  Doesn’t passing away sound so gentle, even normal?  David’s death was neither, it was a brutal murder.

This book is the true story of the random murder of my brother.  The youngest of five.  I am the oldest.  We were the book ends.

You will meet and fall in love with David, the victim.  He was a handsome soft-spoken gentle giant with great musical talent.  He was also a husband and Daddy.

The reader will agonize with the family as they spend seventy-two hours in the intensive care unit watching Dave slip away.  They prayed for miracles and discussed organ donation while still trying to figure out exactly what happened that night.

The family will take you along on their frustrating journey navigating the justice system and learning to deal with the media.

You will become infuriated with the judge, the evil skirt and sneaker-wearing district attorney who was only interested in winning an election, the defense lawyers, and the murderer’s family’s lack of empathy or compassion.

The reader will agonize with the author as she struggles to share her story of grief, depression, and defeat.

A painfully gripping, honest detail that will leave readers inspired to hug everyone they love and sadly; forever looking in the rearview mirror.

The Insecure Writers Group Guide to Publishing and Beyond-

I am excited to be included in this project and encourage you to download a copy; IT’S FREE!

http://www.amazon.com/Insecure-Writers-Support-Publishing-Beyond-ebook/dp/B00PM98I08

Tapping into the expertise of over a hundred talented authors from around the globe, The IWSG Guide to Publishing and Beyond contains something for every writer. Whether you are starting out and need tips on the craft of writing, looking for encouragement as an already established author, taking the plunge into self-publishing, or seeking innovative ways to market and promote your work, this guide is a useful tool. Compiled into three key areas of writing, publishing, and marketing, this valuable resource offers inspirational articles, helpful anecdotes, and excellent advice on dos and don’ts that we all wish we knew when we first started out on this writing journey.

Book #4

The Father’s Pain – [coming  2022]

The true story of the suicide of 17- year –old, John and the devastatingly painful effect on his father and 15 -year -old brother, Michael. The reader will feel for the father as he tries to heal his remaining son’s mind and soul while struggling with his own sanity.

 This book also provides mental health and suicide warning signs. These signs are not acts for attention but are desperate cries for help. The author also includes emergency referral information.

Sometimes God does give you more than you can handle. Losing a child is the most horrible thing. The father blames himself, feels guilty and ashamed, and wonders if his son will go to heaven. He can choose to escape like his son did or he can find the strength to live with his pain.

Our society still treats suicide like a deep, dark, ugly secret. To end suicide we must first end the stigma surrounding it and provide hope for families that are damaged and deeply scarred.

This story is less about death and more about real life and a man’s strides towards transformation, real redemption, and the positive affirmations of a father and his love for his sons.