Author Laura Drake releases The Road to Me
March 24, 2022 by Jann Ryan in category Jann says . . . tagged as romance, Western romance, women's fiction
Laura Drake is a New York and self-published and author of Women’s Fiction and Romance. Her debut, The Sweet Spot, was a double-finalist, then won the 2014 Romance Writers of America® RITA® award. She’s since published 12 more books. She is a founding member of Women’s Fiction Writers Assn, Writers in the Storm blog.
Laura is a city girl who never grew out of her tomboy ways, or a serious cowboy crush. She gave up the corporate CFO gig to write full time. She realized a lifelong dream of becoming a Texan and is currently working on her accent. She’s a wife, grandmother, and motorcycle chick in the remaining waking hours.
Author Laura Drake is a woman of many talents. In addition to being a wife, grandmother and motorcycle chick who loves to flyfish, she’s my friend. Her books reach in and grab your heart and soul. Let’s see what Laura has to say about her latest book and her love of writing.
Jann: How important is the setting, themes, plot in your stories?
Laura: VERY! I’m writing Women’s Fiction now, so themes really resonate there. I’m so not a plotter, but so far, I’ve managed to bumble through. Settings – especially important in my Western Romances.
Jann: Congratulation on the April 19, 2022, release of your Women’s Fiction book, The Road to Me. I love the tag—Trouble with the Curve meets Peace, Love and Misunderstanding. Did you have this tag when developing the book or did it come to mind after?
Laura: After – and it’s the first book I’ve had a tag for!
Jann: Tell us about your characters, Jacqueline Oliver and her grandmother, Nellie, and their story. What major conflicts do they need to work through?
Laura: Oh my gosh, so many. See, Jacqueline was raised by her barely functioning alcoholic mother. Her grandmother would sail in, shower them with love and gifts, and then sail out, a few days later. Jacqueline thinks it’s because her grandmother didn’t care…but she’s wrong.
Jann: You were introduced to the rodeo world and Pro Bull Riding. You sold your Sweet on a Cowboy series after several years of submitting to agents and editors and finally to Grand Central(Forever). I remember how excited you were to receive a three-book contract. And to top it off, the first book in the series, The Sweet Spot, won the 2014 Romance Writers of America RITA for Best First Book. What a thrill it must have been for you. Tell us about the book and your experience winning the award.
Laura: The agony of defeat – until the thrill of victory! I was rejected 417 times over the course of 3 books (but who counted?). I was so desperate, because I knew this book was special. It wasn’t until an editor came to town, and I think it was YOU that asked me to pick her up at the airport and bring her to a scheduled dinner. She was stuck with me on the Orange Crush for TWO HOURS. Eventually, she asked what I wrote, and I pitched her my book. She asked me to send the beginning to her. I reached in the back seat and handed it to her (hey, I said desperate, right?) She was a bit surprised but promised that she’d read it on the plane home. Sure enough, Monday, she contacted me and said, ‘The first thing we need to do is get you an agent.’ Yeah, like I hadn’t thought of that…
I was stunned when my name was called…my agent and I just screamed for it seemed like minutes. Nora Roberts presented it to me (squee!) and whispered in my ear, ‘This is the best RITA.’ I sure wasn’t arguing! One of the best memories of my life.
Jann: Did winning the award advance your writing career?
Laura: You know, I was shocked. I was sure it would be the start that would launch my career. So after, I contacted my editor and said, ‘Okay, now how do we take advantage of this for marketing?’ She told me that the award mattered to authors, but didn’t mean anything to readers. Wow. But sadly, she was right.
Jann: You have published five more western romances and four small town romances. Your first Women’s Fiction, Days Made of Glass, published in November, 2015. Would you tell us about the history of this book?
Laura: I self-published it, because though all the editors who read it loved it, they said that there wasn’t enough of an audience for a Western WF. They were right – but I didn’t care. It’s the book I wrote for my sister, who I lost at 32 to cancer. Nothing in the book is autobiographical, but the sisters’ relationship ours. Many readers have told me that it’s their favorite of all my books, and it has the highest star rating. That’s all I care – that it touched them.
Jann: What do you want readers to come away with after they read your books?
Laura: ALL the feels. Laugh, cry, and everything in-between.
Jann: Love the picture on your website for The Road to Me. Is it a road somewhere on Route 66? It reminds me of California Highway 395 on the way to Mammoth Lakes.
Laura: It’s not 395 (I so love that road), but somewhere in Arizona, I think.
Jann: What are you working on now? Can you tell us about your next project?
Laura: I just turned in my next Women’s Fiction to my editor. Tentatively titled, Amazing Gracie, it’s about a woman soldier returning from Afghanistan with heavy guilt. She takes her nine-year-old sister on a road trip to save her from the mother’s boyfriend, but her sister ends up saving her.
Jann: I know you love road trips on your motorcycle and fishing? Do you have any adventures planned this year?
Laura: Always! I’m lucky to now live within 15 miles of two lakes and a river and am fishing at least once a week (weather allowing). We’re planning on several motorcycle trips this year.
Jann: What kind of writer are you? A page a day or a burst writer?
Laura: My daily word count goal is 500. Yeah, not much, I know, but I work until they’re good words. I write every day, so they add up. It takes me 7 months to write a romance, 9 to write a Women’s Fiction.
Jann: Are there any words of inspiration on your computer, in your office or in your mind when you write?
Laura: I have a chunk of fossilized dinosaur poop on my desk. It reminds me that anything I’m worried about today won’t matter in a million years. And, not to write crap.
Jann: Do you have a website, blog, twitter where fans might read more about you and your books?
Laura: I have a Facebook group that is full of snark, wisdom and interaction—come join us! It’s Laura Drake’s Peace, Love & Books. Twitter & Instagram – @lauradrakebooks and my website is Laura Drake Books
I love doing Author Q&A’s and doing one with a good friend is great. Thanks Laura for giving our readers a peak into your writing, books and life. Good luck on the release of The Road to Me!!
0 0 Read moreBOOK REVIEW: THE HIDING GAME by Gwen Strauss
March 22, 2022 by Veronica Jorge in category Book Reviews by Veronica Jorge, Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as book review, The Hiding Game
THE HIDING GAME
Gwen Strauss
illustrated by Herb Leonhard
Pelican Publishing Co.
2017
ISBN 978-1-455622658
A REVIEW BY VERONICA JORGE
Picture books, that welcoming world of imagery and words that capture the heart and the imagination. And most wonderful of all, when the story is true and reveals a hidden gem.
The Hiding Game, a work of creative nonfiction, is a moving account of the author’s great-uncle Daniel Benedite and Varian Fry, brave men who were instrumental in saving the lives of some of the most important scientists, artists, writers and thinkers of the day such as; Vlady Serge who fled to Mexico and became one of the country’s leading muralist, Max Ernst, a German painter, and artists Marc Chagall and Marcel Duchamp, among others.
Little Aube, daughter of the famous poet, Andre Breton,( known as the Pope of Surrealism), is forced to move from place to place with her family during the 1940s in Nazi-occupied France. They eventually find shelter in Villa Air-Bel, a hidden villa where Varian, with funds from the New York American Rescue Committee, works with Daniel to arrange passage for them, and others, out of war-torn Europe.
Sundays are Aube’s favorite day because, together with all of the “guests” in the house, she spends the day drawing, singing, and playing games. “Papa said that by singing, playing and laughing with the greatest joy, they would fight against fear.”
But most of the time, things remain secret, like the radio for listening to the war news, and the cow in the yard for giving milk. Aube also has her own secret hiding place; the old armoire in the kitchen, just in case “they” come.
Illustrations by Herb Leonhard draw the reader into the lives of the characters, turning a factual account into a personal encounter with time and history. Strauss also provides actual photos of the individuals, a brief history of the account, and links for further study and reading.
I leave you with a quote listed in the book’s endnotes attributed to Rosemary Sullivan’s book, Villa Air-Bel. “Andre Breton believed that surrealism and art must keep the playful child inside us alive. He believed that laughter was fundamentally the opposite of fascism.”
Veronica Jorge
See you next time on April 22nd!
0 1 Read moreDefining Default: it’s your choice
March 15, 2022 by Rebecca Forster in category The Write Life by Rebecca Forster, Writing tagged as #amwriting, #writing, Craft, editing
I love the word default. It is so definitive. It is authoritative when you’re on the right side of it; terrifying if you’re on the wrong side. Default on your loan. Default the game. You have failed to live up to your promise. Over! Done! Fini— unless you do something to change the situation PDQ and get back on track.
Then came computers and the word default got a makeover. It’s softer. Helpful. Kind. The word became synonymous with a do-over. Default is now your safety net. Screwed up your settings? Default. Go back to the beginning. Get a do-over. It’s okay. We got your back.
Ah…
Well, don’t get too comfy with that default button, especially when you’re writing. I have a new book that I let lie fallow for two Covid-years because I took a creative hike, turning to manual hobbies like sewing and quilting, crafting and cooking. Now I’m back and making a sprint to complete the last 25%. I’m jazzed because it’s almost done. I proudly sent the first three quarters of the manuscript to my editor fully expecting the green light to cross the literary finish-line.
Sadly — and thankfully —her input was the exact opposite. I had dialed in my characters. I had been lazy with my red herrings. I had defaulted in the bad way, and not lived up to my promise to deliver my best work to my readers. On the other hand, she was offering me the chance to default in the kind way: reset, rethink, and rework. It was up to me to decide if I wanted to skate, shrug my shoulders, and publish a book that was ‘just okay’, or go back and make this the best book it can be.
I decided to go with option two. Reset. Rethink. Rework. That’s what author’s do. Thankfully, I have a great editor who is clear that how I define the word default — and how I respond to that definition— is up to me.
0 0 Read moreThe Bethlehem Writers Roundtable 2022 Short Story Award
March 13, 2022 by Bethlehem Writers Group in category Contests, From a Cabin in the Woods by Members of Bethlehem Writers Group, Writing Contest tagged as #TheBWG, Bethlehem Writers Group, Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award, Short Story Award, The 2022 Short Story Award
Are you ready for the 2022 Short Story Award?
Contest Deadline is March 31, 2022.
The theme is An Element of Mystery (broadly interpreted).
BWG is seeking never-published short stories of 2,000 words or fewer.
First Place will receive $250 and publication in their upcoming anthology: An Element of Mystery: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Tales of Intrigue or in Bethlehem Writers Roundtable.
The final judge of the 2022 Short Story Award is New York Times best-selling author Kate Carlisle. You can read Katie’s interview here.
Here is the link for more information on the 2022 Short Story Award.
Books from Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC
The Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC (BWG), founded in 2006, is a community of mutually supportive, fiction and nonfiction authors based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The members are as different from each other as their stories, spanning a range of genres including: children’s, fantasy, humor, inspiration, literary, memoir, mystery, paranormal, romance, science fiction, women’s fiction, and young adult.
See the schedule of meetings and events here.
My Story Themes Trend Toward Having A Plan
March 12, 2022 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise ColbyDo you find you have a theme trend in your stories that you keep coming back to?
I have heard that we tend to write where we are in life.
If that’s true. Then I’m all about plans and realizing that God’s plan is definitely better than our own. And that no matter how tight we might hold on to our plan, we need to be open to the idea that it just might need to change.
Spiderman had a plan too
I saw this so clearly in the movie Spiderman Far From home. In the very beginning of the movie Peter Parker slides into his seat next to his best friend and says, “I have a plan!”
And then something happened and he has a choice to make about continuing on, or straying from the plan. And he, like many of us, are not quite ready to give up the plan. So he continues on.
He is so laser focused on his plan, he misses all the cues that something isn’t right. Until it’s almost too late.
How many times have you missed the cues that you need to change your plan?
Should you change it or keep going?
We hang on until we hit a breaking point and can’t control it all. And we feel everything is against us. Of course it happens because what we are doing is not fully working.
Once we let go we see new options.
New doors.
New opportunities.
My own plans have turned out differently.
It’s interesting being a parent of adult children. Things change daily. Doors open and close. And it reminds me of my own plans at their age.
I planned out my major in college and decided that work in non-profit PR, doing special events, would be my thing. But taking a paid internship at a corporate job took me on an entirely different career path.
I also thought I’d be married and have my kids by age 25. But I didn’t get married until I was that age and I was in no way ready to have children right away. In fact I had my first kid at twenty-nine.
And I don’t regret a single change in any of those plans.
Because they turned out better than my original.
Sometimes we need to have a plan just to move forward.
I have done it with my writing. The plan was to be published by now. But for many different reasons, the plan has changed, multiple times. And I think my stories, my writing, and my mindset is in a better place because of the extra time.
Is it what I’ve planned? No.
Is it something I’m accepting? Yes
In my novel, “When Plans Go Awry”, Olivia did not want to depend on anyone else. She had a plan. It would be how she would survive. Except everything she thought she needed, she didn’t. And what she thought she didn’t need, she did. But she’s got to go through a lot of strife before she finally realizes it. The little town of Washton has to teach her a thing or two about friendship, depending on God (and not herself), and of course, love.
Not at all what she was looking for but everything she needed.
I think having a plan is important.
Being flexible with your plan is necessary.
Knowing when to fight for the plan and when to change it is smart.
Here’s to us writers making plans and knowing when to adapt them.
If you enjoyed this topic, Denise talks about Real Life Turning Points in this past blog post.
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