Tari Lynn Jewett: Featured Author
April 14, 2025 by Tari Jewett in category Charmed Writer by Tari Lynn Jewett, Featured Author of the Month tagged as #Charmed Writers, #FireworksintheFog, #HeromsaForTheHolidays, #PleaseSayYes, Love and Mud Puddles, romantic comedy, Tari Lynn Jewett
Tari Lynn Jewett lives with her husband of nearly thirty years (also known as Hunky Hubby). They have three amazing sons, a board game designer, a sound engineer and a musician, all who live nearby. For over fifteen years she wrote freelance for magazines and newspapers, wrote television commercials, radio spots, numerous press releases, and many, MANY PTA newsletters. As much as she loved writing those things, she always wanted to write fiction . . . and now she is.
She also believes in happily ever after . . . because she’s living hers.
Tari’s newest title is Love and Mud Puddles, available now.
Hannah loves her accounting job, the condo that she purchased herself, and her best friend Melinda. What she doesn’t love is baking. To be fair, she’s never tried. But when her cousin shames her into bringing homemade cookies to the family Christmas Eve celebration, she begins a quest to make the perfect holiday cookie.
Paramedic Josh also occasionally teaches kids’ cookie baking classes at his family’s bakery. When a beautiful accountant mistakenly signs up for a children’s holiday baking class, he realizes immediately that she’s in the right place.
Can this local hero help to save Hannah’s Christmas? Or will it all go up in smoke?
Tari’s other Books
Bad vs. Good Reviews by Debra H. Goldstein
April 13, 2025 by Bethlehem Writers Group in category From a Cabin in the Woods by Members of Bethlehem Writers Group tagged as Debra H. Goldstein, Maze in Blue, reviews, With Our Bellies Full and the Fire Dying
Authors are often told to ignore reviews of their works. Some can, but most can’t. In fact, many writers can’t help focusing on anything except the bad ones.
I read reviews. Sometimes I totally agree and learn from the point being made, but often, I’d love to respond by telling the reviewer how crazy he/she is (authors are also told not to respond). For example, when Maze in Blue was published, the reviews and ratings were all favorable – mostly 5’s and an occasional 4. And then, someone posted a one-star Amazon review. The rationale was that not only had I gotten a main road in Ann Arbor wrong, but that if the character drove the road as I described it, they’d have physically run into the Dental school.
The reviewer was right for the way the road presently is, but Maze in Blue was set in the 1970’s. The road and building were neither moved nor built until a year after the story occurred. I desperately wanted to respond with a choice comment, but happily, the next review, was a five-star, written by the daughter of a U of M professor. She pointed out that the differences and noted what great and exact memories Maze brought back to her about living on campus in the 1970’s.
Talking to other authors, I’ve discovered they also have received one-star reviews that were a little out-to-lunch. One reviewer didn’t like the cover, another stated she didn’t read the book after learning the author name on the book was a pseudonym for a writer whose last novel she didn’t like, and a third said the book, while enjoyable, wasn’t anything to write home about.
Sometimes though, reviewers make my day. That’s been the case with my recently released collection of short stories, With Our Bellies Full and the Fire Dying. The collection contains eighteen stories about family and friends, their sins, and their sometimes redemption The tales range in tone from cozy to dark.
Here are some of my favorite reviews:
Veronica Jorge reviewed the stories from a murder and law perspective for A Slice of Orange. She wrote, “Don’t be fooled by the title. This is not a book about morality or religion. Far from it. It’s all about….MURDER … In this collection of eighteen award-winning short mysteries, everyday people find themselves caught up in events and circumstances that challenge and test them, and that reveal the thoughts and intentions of their hearts…. Goldstein is masterful at creating interest and intrigue, building suspense, and adding her signature twist at the end of each tale. … Debra’s years as a judge and litigator, combined with her skills as a storyteller, make for a perfect combination that, in these mysteries, introduce us to a diverse group of characters with a variety of motives for murder. Yet, where no one is above the law…unless you don’t get caught, or the law covers up for you. Read Veronica’s Review
Victoria Weisfeld fell in love with character voices, especially those that were children. She opined: “What’s most fun about reading this collection is how varied the stories are, even with the frequent appearance of something delicious. … A number of the stories feature children, precocious ones for the most part, like the son of the sheriff who not only discovers a body, but analyzes the crime scene based on his Magic of Forensic Science book. One I especially liked was “The Girls in Cabin Three,” made up solely of letters home from a teenage camper, whose reports must have horrified her parents! Although the stories are short, Goldstein loads in some compelling surprises, as in her story about a homeless encampment, “So Beautiful or So What,” where characters aren’t necessarily what they seem. Do they all get redemption? The lucky ones do. Read Victoria’s Review.
Writers Who Kill reviewer E.B. Davis focused on plots and characterizations. “Thankfulness, forgiveness, redemption and sometimes sinful denial are the result of living and are ways of coping with life’s dilemmas. Debra presents situations that are down-home real, and some are scary, pouncing on the reader like unaware prey. While reading, I heard the varied voices of characters, from youngsters of both sexes, several lawyers, to the old black men. Many stories were set in the South, which is unsurprising since that’s where Debra has lived.” – E.B. Davis – Writers Who Kill – Read E.B.’s Review
Perhaps the most interesting set of reviews were written and published cross-referencing each other for Bolo Books and Dru’s Musings by Kristopher Zgorzki and Dru Ann Love. Kristopher normally prefers suspense and thriller, while Dru specializes in reviewing cozies. Consequently, he reviewed the darker stories while she featured the cozy ones.
He described six stories before concluding: “This is Where I Buried My Wives” – This is my favorite story in the collection. A man and his new wife have a picnic lunch on the hill overlooking the graves of his previous wives. Readers will feel the tension in the air from the first sentence to the inevitable conclusion. This is a perfect example of how a dark tale can be told in non-graphic ways without losing any of the impact. … This is just a sampling of the excellent stories included in With Our Bellies Full and the Fire Dying. All fans of short crime fiction should include this book in their personal libraries.” Read Kristopher Review
Dru Ann examined ten lighter stories and found “With this collection of crime fiction short stories, Debra H. Goldstein takes us to the light side and the dark side where they all have one theme in common – mischief and mayhem. … These were all terrific reads…” Read Dru Ann’s Review
If you are an author, tell me about your “worst” review. Readers, have you ever left a review you realized was an oops?
Judge Debra H. Goldstein left the bench to follow her passion for writing mysteries. She is the author of author of With Our Bellies Full and the Fire Dying, a collection of her short stories, Kensington’s Sarah Blair Mystery Series and two standalones: Maze in Blue and Should Have Played Poker. Her novels and short stories have received Silver Falchion, IPPY, AWC, and BWR awards and been named Agatha, Anthony, Derringer, and Claymore finalists.
More of Debra’s books
Celebrating Thirty Years of Romance
April 12, 2025 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as 30th anniversary, historical romance, writers lifeThis post is not really book related, but since I write historical romance, it is romance related. This month, on April 22nd to be exact, my husband and I are celebrating thirty years of romance. Okay the entire thirty years may not be all romance, but it is our 30th wedding anniversary.
Just like any romance story, ours is full of attraction, love, faith, hope, discord, arguments, difference of opinion, reconciliation, hope, fun, magic moments, hardships, love, faith, and so on. A lot can happen in thirty years. For our 25th year, I wrote a blog post for why he was the perfect hero for me.
If I were to be writing this as a book, our happily ever after began on April 22, 1995. But our story began on Feb. 2, 1992. I wrote about it this year in February post on denisemcolby.com.
We met at Disneyland. Our honeymoon was in Florida at DisneyWorld. And for our 30th anniversary, we are headed to Disneyland Paris in France. We are so excited.
Our wedding day, thirty years ago
It is so fun to reflect back to our special day thirty years ago. I definitely was influenced by the fairy tales I grew up with. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White. Our engagement happened at the Snow White wishing well by the castle at Disneyland, and we had a replica made for our wedding, making it a central piece to our wedding theme.
It’s fun to be able to share some pics from that day, long ago.
As you can see by the cake topper and toasting glasses, we added Disney touches everywhere.
We hired an artist friend Dave Avanzino (who now creates beautiful artwork including custom work for Disney) to transform our drab brown carpet area into a lush garden complete with a wishing well replica.
It was magical! Looking back I’m sure family and friends thought we were over the top, but our young adult church group was having over ten weddings a year at the time and we wanted to do something different and make it our own.
We could barely imagine our life thirty years from then. But here we are.
And here I am, now a published author with my second Historical Romance launching this year. I like to think my relationship with God and with my husband has influenced my writing.
Since this is a writing blog, I would be remiss if I didn’t share my new cover of A Slight Change of Plans. It launches May 27, 2025. A pre-order link will be coming soon. Next month, I’ll be sharing all about it.
Thirty years of romance later
Never could we imagine what our life would be like thirty years later. But now that we are here, I’m thankful for the adventure we have had so far. Here’s to many more years of romance in the future. Both in real life and in my stories.
The TITANIC set sail 113 years ago…with a Pig on board by Jina Bacarr
April 11, 2025 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Reading, Titanic, Writing tagged as #Historical, 1912. historical romance, British, Confessions of a Podcast Goddess, countess, Downton Abbey, England, Ireland, Irish, pig, romance', ship of dreams, Southampton, Titanic, Titanic 104
Photos: Dreamstime.com — female passenger and of course, the little pig.
Hard to believe it’s 113 years ago today the grand ship Titanic left Ireland.
So in honor of the souls who perished that night and those who survived, here is a lesser known story about the Titanic.
And a little pig.
According to the New York Herald on April 19, 1912: Five women saved their pet dogs and another woman saved a little pig, which she said was her mascot.
The reporter goes on to say that she didn’t know how the woman cared for her pig aboard the Titanic, but she carried it up the side of the ship [the Carpathia, rescue ship] in a big bag.
How did the pig get into the lifeboat?
Was the little pig traveling first class?
In a word, yes.
More about this intrepid little piggy and the important part it played in the sinking of the Titanic later. First, it seems you can’t get away from pigs and the Titanic.
In the Julian Fellowes’ mini-series Titanic, a passenger in third class isn’t happy about traveling steerage to New York. She tells her husband that her daughter said their Irish Catholic family is like six little pigs packed into that cabin, all trussed and bound for market.
They’re not the only Irish aboard the ship with pigs on their mind.
Ava O’Reilly, the heroine in my historical romance, THE RUNAWAY GIRL nearly doesn’t make it on board the ship because of a pig.
Katie runs away from the grand house where she is in service after she is wrongly accused of stealing a diamond bracelet. The law is after her, but she has one chance to escape.
The Titanic.
Will Ava make it on board the Titanic before she sails? Only by the skin of her teeth.
Does she see the pig during the crossing?
Few passengers did because the cute little pig with the curly tail was the lucky mascot of Miss Edith Russell.
She loved to wind up its tail and it would play a lively musical tune similar to a two-step called Maxixe.
You see, the pig was musical pig.
The reporter on the Carpathia didn’t know the real story behind Miss Russell’s pig. How it was given to her after she survived a horrific motorcar crash. She promised her mother it would never be out of her sight. When she realized the Titanic was sinking and she’d left her mascot in her cabin, she sent the steward to retrieve her lucky pig.
Still, Edith was hesitant to get into a lifeboat. When a seaman tossed her pig into a boat (believing it was a baby wrapped up in a bag), Edith insisted on getting into the boat, too. Its nose was gone and its legs broken, but Edith and her little pig escaped in lifeboat no. 11.
Overcrowded with sixty-eight passengers (nearly one-third were children), Edith realized her little pig could comfort others as it had her. She wound up its tail so it would play music for the children. Most of the little ones stopped crying as the pig’s sparkling musical notes calmed their fears.
Its furry, white-gray body wet with sea spray.
Its cute grin giving them hope they would be saved.
It was the little Titanic pig that could.
Thanks for stopping by!
~Jina
The Runaway Girl
Buy Links:
Amazon:
Audible https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084MM1D4R
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/3A08bcsCeI6LHWRQTmAM30
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-runaway-girl-jina-bacarr/1135653540?ean=9781838893736
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-runaway-girl-1
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-runaway-girl/id1492269132
PS check out TITANIC AND ME, my story behind the story on the BOLDWOOD BOOKS Blog.
Once upon the ship of dreams… me dressed as a first class lady
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Let’s Start/Finish Your Book in May! by Kitty Bucholtz
April 9, 2025 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing tagged as Classes, finish your book, finishing the book, It's Worth It, Kitty Bucholtz, Workshop, workshops, writing
You may know that it’s been a rough few years for me. First burnout (long story) and then perimenopause – the monster in my body! But I am cautiously optimistic that I’m finally coming out the other side. Yay! For the last two months, I feel like the real Kitty. I’m happy and my brain works and my body is less tired and I just plain feel good. Thank God!
So even though I have 8 titles out (books and shorter stories), in some ways I feel like I’m starting over again. All of my ideas have been piling up, waiting for this day, and now I have four novels (in four series!) and three nonfiction books of encouragement in three different topics. I want to write them all! Now!
And that makes me laugh because a lot of people feel that way, including many of my clients. Our brains get so full of interesting things we want to explore or share and we think we’re going to explode if we don’t get it all out. Haha!
Just in case this hits a nerve with you, let me share some ideas on how to choose.
First of all, it’s not a rule that you can only write one book at a time. If you want to work on more than one at once, go for it. Just know there are pros and cons. One, it will probably take longer to finish any of them. If you work on two books over the course of a year, it will take you a year to get one finished. On the other hand, you may have two finished books at the end of the year. Or you may find that the distraction of going back and forth is actually making you take longer to finish either one. If you’re having fun, I say ignore the cons! But if you’re getting frustrated, it may be time to focus on one book at a time.
Two, you may confuse yourself sometimes when brainstorming. This happened to me a few months ago. My menopausal brain fog was in full swing and it was all I could do to get just one task done for this book here and one task for that book there. Not even the same tasks. So I was prompting Midjourney to create some images for me for Little Miss Lovesick…and didn’t realize for weeks that some of the images I’d created were based on Love at the Fluff and Fold! It’s funny now, but it sure wasn’t back then.
So suppose you’re thinking, okay, I want to choose one book to work on right now, but which one? Here are some ideas.
Write a paragraph description of each book. Which one grabs your attention more? Which is most interesting?
Set a timer for 30 minutes and start writing on the first idea. Do it again for each book you’re thinking about. Now compare the drafts. Which one did you get the most words written? Which one flowed the best? Which was the most fun to write? Which one makes you want to give up another half hour of doing something you love to write some more?
You’ll probably have decided at this point. But what if you’re still unsure?
For instance, I have a nonfiction book and a full-length novel that I already have a finished draft for. Why, oh, why are these books not published already? (The answer to that is another story entirely.) Since I am writing to make a living, these two books automatically get preference, no matter how much I also want to write and finish the others. So now I’ve narrowed it down to two.
Personally, I find it easier to choose between two rather than seven!
Now I can look at a couple more questions.
- Which book is shorter and can be finished quicker?
- Which book needs less editing and can be finished quicker? (I personally can’t know that without reading/skimming them both, but you may already know.)
- Which book has a larger potential market within the readership already following me? Hence, more income potential.
- Do I feel simply driven to get one of them out first?
I hope this has helped you make a final decision! For me, I still have to read/skim both to see which one is closest to being finished, and I will likely choose that one to give me a needed boost of confidence.
If you have been in a bit of a downturn or you know someone trying to start or restart a book and you need to find a way to just get going again, consider joining my 30-Day Writing Challenge: Kickstart Your Book in a Month starting May 19, 2025. I’d love to help you and/or your friends start/finish a book!
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