Back by popular demand
In the seven years since The Wild Rose Press published my book, Hope’s Daughter, I have often heard compliments about it. It did not catch on as I had hoped, however, despite my husband’s best efforts to tell anyone he met all about it.
But strangely, starting a few years ago, I began to hear from various search engine optimization specialists (SEOs) who expressed interest in assisting me in promoting my book and helping me bring it to prominence. They told me how much they enjoyed my book; how wonderful it was and how important it was in the genre of historic women’s fiction.
To the first three or four SEOs who called me, I explained that I did not own the rights to the book, as they belonged to the publisher. They could not get off the phone quickly enough.
Recently I have been getting long, detailed emails from several of these SEOs, extolling my merits. One was for having written a mystery series featuring a nursery school teacher in a small town as an amateur sleuth. Others noted that along with my family I raised fifteen Seeing Eye® puppies and that I worked in the children’s room of a library for many years. The conclusion was that I’d led a life of service, observations, and stories.
The specialists reminded me of the heroine’s goals in Hope’s Daughter. She had two: to someday become a stock broker, not a career for a woman in those days of World War II, and to see her sister finish college and have a good life. The people who contacted me lamented that my book didn’t gain more recognition as a story of a woman in finance and as a romance. Offers of assistance in correcting that problem followed. By republishing, they asserted, I could get more results and get my book to the wider audience that it deserves. I admit, I was curious. My husband, of course, was curious about a few more things. How did they learn about my book? Why are there so many people sending me these notes?
I don’t know. But, on the off chance that republishing would be a good idea, I’ve gotten my rights back and gone ahead, with the assistance of a good friend, and my wonderful husband, and set up Hope’s Daughter for a second debut. Look for it on Amazon on September 18th.
More about me.
I have always written my books based on what my characters tell me they want to do, and what they want to happen. If a character wants to investigate who killed another character, that book will likely be a mystery. One of my favorite characters is Wally Morris, the amateur sleuth of the Vengeance series. She had many adventures both in and out of her little New Jersey town. After Wally, who was a nursery school teacher, I have written about a professor, a social worker, an advertising agency professional, an underemployed recent college graduate, and an orthopedic nurse. Why these people keep stumbling across bodies and putting themselves in peril is another mystery in and of itself.
My Wally Morris mysteries are available on Amazon, in both paperback and Kindle formats as well as other e-book formats. Another book is also available. HOPE’s DAUGHTER, is a novel set in the 1940’s is historical fiction, full of heart, great joy, deep sadness and romance.
For many years I worked in the children’s room of a local library where I ordered, catalogued, and read all the new books, giving me a real appreciation for juvenile literature.
It was a great pleasure to raise fifteen SEEING EYE® puppies with my family. Not only did I get a tiny puppy to take care of until maturity, the puppy would go on to help a visually impaired person in need.
Learn more about my books
Click here for Hope’s Daughter (Kindle):
Click here to find the series of six Wally Morris mysteries: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0861X7SGS?binding=kindle_edition&qid=1709081580&sr=8-6&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tkin
Kindle)
Reviews of Joani Ascher’s Books
“Hope’s Daughter” is an “enjoyable novel that immerses the reader in 1940s New York. ~News-Record
“HOPE’S DAUGHTER is a heartwarming look at one woman’s struggle to make her way in a man’s world to save her family and those she loves.” ~Deborah Nolan, author of Suddenly Lily
VENGEANCE TASTES SWEET:
“It was the perfect mystery for curling up with on a couple of cold days.” ~Roni Denholz, author of One of These Nights
“[Joani] Ascher is a fine writer, and she knows how to make all of her characters come alive. That is, except for the murdered person.” ~Essex Journal
VENGEANCE CUTS LOOSE:
“[I]t would take a sleuth’s sleuth to solve this murder mystery. It’s an impressive piece of work....” ~Essex Journal
VENGEANCE ON HIGH:
“Ascher is such a fine writer and is gifted in being able to keep her readers at bay. Her characters are well drawn, especially that incomparable, tiny, friendly and shrewd Wally Morris.” ~Essex Journal
Joani Ascher Bio
Joani Wolf Ascher was born in Brooklyn, New York, and, according to early report cards, she enjoyed reading and also writing. A prolific letter writer, back in the day when people did that sort of thing, she related detailed stories to her friends about funny occurrences. Sadly, no examples of her budding career exist.
Unfortunately she didn’t study writing at the State University of New York at Buffalo where she earned a B.A. before moving with her husband to Cincinnati, back to Buffalo, then to Cleveland, and finally to New Jersey, or her career might have started sooner.
The seeds for Hope’s Daughter were sown by Joani’s mother when she talked about the colorful characters she had known.
In the Wally Morris mystery series, Joani has taken her love of mysteries and her observations of the people around her and created an amateur sleuth living in a small town whom people have compared to Jessica Fletcher.