Real Talk.
March 16, 2023 by Renae Wrich in category Writing tagged as Multi-tasking, parenting, snow, Thin Mints, WinterReal talk rn…I have to give so much kudos to those of you that have mastered the multi-tasking of parenting, working full-time, and writing. I’ll fully admit that I’m not the greatest at it.
Last fall my youngest came home with a flier for the Girl Scouts. She waved that thing in my face and said, “Mommy, I want to do this!”
Being that both my kids are already enrolled in multiple sports, swimming lessons, and that she was just getting into the groove of kindergarten, I was a little hesitant. I’m so glad that I ultimately said yes because she’s truly found her tribe in this pint-sized troop, and it’s been a wonderful experience.
What I didn’t expect was that cookie season would be a FULL TIME SIDE HUSTLE!
I anticipated that there would be some time commitment, but let’s be real, six year olds are not equipped to manage the inventory and sales of this (at least my six year old isn’t). I can barely figure out the application used for online sales!! I had to create my own spreadsheet for keeping track of the cookie inventory that we’ll be responsible for if we don’t sell these things. For the love of Thin Mints, my sanity (and my waistline) is very much ready for cookie season to end.
Another thing that I need to end is the SNOW.
As I write this, Minnesota is experiencing our seventh snowiest winter on record. This miserable achievement is compounded by the fact that my husband injured his neck earlier this winter and I’ve been tasked with mastering the BEAST of a snow blower that we own. My husband is basically “Tim The Tool Man Taylor” and every motorized piece of equipment we own is unnecessarily massive.
Please send sunshine and red wine (It pairs nicely with Thin Mints).
When you’re on deadline and the time changes and you freak out when you lose an hour by Jina Bacarr
March 11, 2023 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as #Historical, clocks forward, editing, Paris, time change, women's fiction, World War 2, writing
when the time changes and you don’t…
If there’s one thing we writers never have enough of…
It’s time.
Words we got… thousands.
Coffee… by the potful.
Comfy bunny slippers… on automatic re-order from Amazon.
But time?
That’s as elusive as the instant bestseller.
I’m on autopilot this week until whenever to get it all together and bring my next Paris WW2 novel home for my publisher Boldwood Books. Amazing company. They take good care of their authors… fabulous marketing team… I love my editor, Isobel… and the company has won several ‘Best Publisher’ awards in the UK and is up for more awards this year.
And my fellow authors are like family to me.
But in the end, it’s up to me to write the damn book.
Sweat, tears… blood. Yes, I changed the order because I sweat the small stuff like commas and the big stuff like research which turns into major tears when I realize writing never gets easier but tougher (you demand more of yourself)… and blood because if you don’t bleed onto the page, you’re not giving it your all.
So, mes amis, tonight is the night we turn the clocks forward and lose the hour.
But guess what. I’ve decided to do something about it.
I’m going to type twice as fast for a solid hour (accuracy is another story) and write twice as many words and–
Voilà!
I’ve got my hour back… at least for tonight.
Tomorrow?
Well, that’s another day.
===============
Some great book news:
The trade paperback of my Paris WW2 novel THE LOST GIRL OF PARIS
is coming to THE WORKS stores in the UK… so check it out if you’re in the United Kingdom.
Listen to an excerpt in the video below…
E-book:
My heroine, Angeline de Cadieux, is a Roma girl in WW2 Paris… she’s strong, fights in the Resistance… makes exquisite perfumes and comes up with an amazing marketing campaign during the war to boost morale in France.
Thank you!
————–
And THE RUNAWAY GIRL is a Kindle Monthly Deal in Australia.
Thanks for listening… and now back to our regularly scheduled craziness.
Jina
More Mac and Cheese, Please, Please, Please
February 16, 2023 by Renae Wrich in category Writing tagged as Children's stories, Childrens Lit, Mac and Cheese, teachers, writingMy eldest daughter was in kindergarten the year that I published my children’s book, Mac and Cheese, Please, Please Please. Her Kindergarten teacher and classmates instantly became my “M&C Triple P Fan Club”. I mean, it’s a rhyming book with easy to read words, repeated sentence structure and a memorable plot-twist ending… That has ‘Kindergartener’ written all over it! (Pun 100% intended)
As a lot of parents can relate, my daughter’s kindergarten year was impacted by the pandemic and her class moved to a distanced learning format to finish out the year.
Fast forward a few years and you can imagine our delight when my daughter learned that her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. K, would now be her third grade teacher! I was honestly feeling relief because after Mrs. K transferred to third grade, all I heard about was how my daughter hoped she had Mrs. K for third grade, and I was not prepared to deal with the disappointment had that not been the outcome.
When we went to open house at the beginning of the school year, my daughter quickly recognized that a lot of the kids from her kindergarten class were going to be in her third grade class too. When we pointed this out to Mrs. K she smiled and said that she had asked the principal if she could have as many kinds from her kindergarten class as possible so they could, “Finally finish the year together.”
Her words still make me cry. We are so lucky to have teachers like Mrs. K.
As it turns out, the kids in this class are still diehard Mac and Cheese, Please, Please, Please fans and they are straight-up demanding another book. So I started writing the sequel and I’m pretty excited about it. The only teaser that I’ll share is that my kids helped me pick the setting of the book, and as a result I’ve been watching A LOT of YouTube videos about space. Excited to share more updates soon!
Titanic and Me and the 1997 Movie and how my Irish grandmother helped me write my Ship of Dreams story by Jina Bacarr
February 11, 2023 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Titanic, Writing tagged as historical fiction, historical romance, romance', ship of dreams, Titanic
Can you believe it’s 25 years since James Cameron’s TITANIC film hit the theaters?
And guess what, it’s back in theaters this weekend!!
I’ve seen all the Titanic films — even the one made in German — but the 1997 film is an event to be enjoyed over and over again.
So I have a question, will you go back to the in-person theater and see it again?
OR: enjoy it once more in your own home?
I’d love to know how you feel about seeing it again in the theater.
Jina (dressed as a Titanic First Class lady)
——————–
And if you can’t enough TITANIC, check out THE RUNAWAY GIRL — my Titanic love story starring Ava O’Reilly, my Irish heroine.
I had no problem writing an Irish heroine.
When I was a little girl, I lived with my Irish grandmother for a while and I remember sitting at the big, wooden table with her as she added flour, milk, and herbs to leftover mashed spuds for potato cakes, or wound her blue rosary beads around her gnarled fingers while she spun tales about life in Ireland. Grand times they were, and a lovely thread woven through the quilt of my childhood.
Meet Ava O’Reilly, in THE RUNAWAY GIRL, a girl who wants to better herself by reading books but it’s forbidden to the servants in the grand house in Ireland where she’s in service.
Then when she’s wrongly accused of stealing a diamond bracelet, she escapes.
To the Titanic.
And every tale I’d heard at my grandmother’s knee, every book I’d read, every film about the ship of dreams I’d watched over and over again became the fodder for telling my own story about the Titanic.
Based on my girlhood and love of books.
And the sea.
And yes, romance, too.
And how an Irish girl makes a daring choice on that fateful night when the Titanic hits an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. that changes her life forever…
Super Romance Sale now until February 15th on #Kobo #Audiobook THE RUNAWAY GIRL is $9.99 AUDIOBOOK
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/the-runaway-girl-2
Two women hold the keys to his heart. Only one will survive that fateful night…
When Ava O’Reilly is wrongly accused of stealing from her employer, she has no option but to flee Ireland. The law is after her, and she has only one chance at escape – the Titanic.
Aboard the ship of dreams, she runs straight into the arms of Captain ‘Buck’ Blackthorn, a dashing gentleman gambler who promises to be her protector. He is intrigued by her Irish beauty and manages to disguise her as the maid of his good friend, the lovely Countess of Marbury. Little does he realise, that the Countess is also in love with him.
As the fateful night approaches, tragedy strikes further when Ava is separated from Buck, and must make a daring choice that will change her life forever…
A sweeping historical romance set aboard the Titanic, from the author of Her Lost Love (Christmas Once Again).
Praise for Jina Bacarr:
‘A delightful holiday romance that has all the charm of a classic Christmas movie. Christmas Once Again is perfect for anyone who loves a holiday romance brimming with mistletoe, hope, and what ifs.’ Andie Newton, author of The Girl I Left Behind
‘A breathtaking holiday romance that is sure to stay with you long after reading’
‘A mesmerizing holiday romance that is sure to sweep you off your feet and take you away to another place, another time.’
‘A fabulous book you won’t want to miss’
THE RUNAWAY GIRL e-book, print and audio book:
Imperfect Date-#DumpsterFireLove
February 10, 2023 by Tari Jewett in category Charmed Writer by Tari Lynn Jewett, Writing tagged as #dimpsterfirelove, imperfect date, new releaseWhat happens when a girl meets a guy over a literal dumpster fire? #HeartsAblaze. My latest story in the #HermosafortheHolidays series released Tuesday in the Imperfect Date collection with a total of 22 stories by some amazing authors!
The story was really fun for me to write. It was great to be back in my make-believe Hermosa Beach with all of the characters that I now feel are my friends. The hero in this story is Rob Greer, who you might remember from #12DancingSantas. I had so many people ask me for a story for Rob, that when the opportunity came up to write for this collection, I thought it was Rob’s turn.
I had so much fun writing this story! And just an insiders note. Knight, Cassie’s dog, is really our family pet, Knight. He’s been gone for a few years and I miss him terribly, so this was a way to spend some time with him again. There’s a scene in the book from real life. When we got Knight, we lived in Wyoming and he had lots of open space. We brought him to California where we lived in a townhouse for a few years with no yard. I won’t tell you anymore, but the scene is both funny…and a little sad, and I had to include it in the story.
Here’s the Blurb for #DumpsterFireLove.
So you think your love life is a #dumpsterfire…
Cassie Harper’s first day as a teacher starts with a dumpster fire, her longtime boyfriend dumps her, then she’s kidnapped by a couple of her new colleagues who insist they’re trying to protect her. Now the whole town has her set up with the hunky fireman who put out the dumpster fire.
Rob Greer is on his way home from work when he spots a dumpster fire at Beachwood Elementary School. The new teacher, is trying to put it out with her water bottle. She’s cute, and he’d love to ask her out, but when a photo of them putting out the fire together goes viral, things get complicated.
Can a dumpster fire set two hearts ablaze? Will social media fan the flames, or dampen the embers? Only chocolate, wine…and new girlfriends can help her now!
This story and all of the stories in the book are a perfect way to spend your Valentine’s week! Hope you’ll check out Imperfect Date!
Hope you have a little romance in your Valentine’s week (you can always find it in a book)!
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