Loving Multiple Genres
May 6, 2015 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as cozy mysteries, Linda O. Johnston, Malice Domestic, National RWA Conference, Paranormal Romance, romantic suspense
Those of you who know me also know that I write in multiple genres, which currently include paranormal romance, romantic suspense and cozy mysteries. And I’m not the only one!
One of the fun things I also got to do was to meet with several of the people who will be fellow panelists with me at July’s RWA National Conference! Yes, we’re all attending both kinds of conferences this year. Our RWA panel topic will be From White Collar to Red Herring, and we’ll be talking about our non-writing professional experiences not only for plotting, but also for managing our writing careers.Linda O! Johnston
www.LindaOJohnston.comBITE THE BISCUIT, A Barkery & Biscuits Mystery
My First Blog Tour
May 5, 2015 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as Blogging Tours, Edgy Christian Fiction, Generational Curse, Tracy Reed
I’ve been preparing for my first Blog Tour…yes, I’m very excited. I have to admit, I had no idea how much work was involved. I have a lot going on and at one time, I thought I could set up my own blog tour. Stop laughing those of you who know how difficult it is to undertake such a daunting task. Hey, hear me out. I come from the school of, Do what you can to save money and farm out the rest to save time. So maybe, that really didn’t apply to this situation. Okay, I’ll be honest with myself, it didn’t apply.
I am swamped. I have two books coming out this Summer, another in the revision stage and another about thirty-five percent from finishing. I know that because I’m doing the RWA The End challenge and tracking my progress. Plus, I have to complete the second installment to my first book GENERATIONAL CURSE.
As an indie writer, I do a lot of the work myself, except, editing and eformatting. Thank God. If I didn’t have those deadlines I don’t know where I’d be.
Anyway back to the blog tour. I thought, if I can design a cover, then I should be able to set up a blog tour. I’m laughing at myself. I made a list of possible blogs and reviewers and that was the extent of that. I got so bogged down…did I mention I own an online lingerie store and our house is under construction. I think I got tired reading that statement. When I looked at what I wanted to accomplish, I just didn’t have the time.
I remember hearing about Goddess Fish Blog Tours at an OCC meeting as well as from some other sites. So I contacted them.
I write a genre that’s not too common so I was little apprehensive about a blog tour because of that. So before I agreed to book their service, I submitted a couple of chapters of my book to make sure there wouldn’t be a problem. Let’s be real, I wasn’t about to pay for something that might night work or only yield a couple of blog stops. [Remember, I write Christian Fiction with Faith and Sex]. Thank God, that didn’t happen. After they reviewed my excerpts, it was determined, they would market my book as a Contemporary Romance with Faith Elements and a little heat. I can work with that.
So how does this all work? About a month ago I received a slew of emails from the tour promoter. I remember it was a Friday night, and I was standing in line at Panda Express trying to decide between the ribs and the teriyaki chicken when my phone started dinging. I looked at my phone and my email was full of requests from the tour promoter. Wow. I was on a roll. The messages kept coming. About a week later the last one came in and I got to work.
Here’s the ironic part. I wrote the book, now I had to talk about the book, which seemed relatively easy. Man, reviewing the questions made me start to question myself. How is it I can push put eighty thousand plus words without a problem, but ask me to sum up my book in one sentence and I draw a blank? Or tell you why you should read my book without sounding arrogant? And don’t get me started on the character interviews, [don’t tell my promoter, but these turned out to be my favorite posts] or the “tell me about yourself†question. On paper, I think I read a little boring…I should work on that.
Back to the tour. The promoter gives you access to a site so you can chart your progress. I was a little nervous about this. What if there were no takers for my book? When I checked the site, I was excited and overwhelmed. My tour was completely booked. Praise God! Now I had to get to work.
I printed all the requests, reviewed them and that overwhelming feeling came back. It may seem like I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. What I thought happened was you answered a few questions, submitted an excerpt, the cover and that was it. Not so. In my list of procedures, I was reminded, no duplicate posts. Oh man, that meant all twenty blog posts had to be different. After the initial shock, I realized this was a good thing. It allowed me the opportunity to reacquaint myself with my book and my characters.
As writers, once we complete a book [i.e., send it to press] we’re removed from it, at least I am and on to the next project. This process helped me to enjoy my book again. It also reinforced my theory, do what you can and farm out the rest.
When does the tour begin? May 11th – June 5th, I’ll be on a blog tour. Am I expecting big things, of course I am.
Tracy Reed
readtracyreed@me.com
www.readtracyreed.com
Fiction for Women Who Love God, Couture and Cute Guys
Sister against Sister in the Civil War: Love Me Forever by Jina Bacarr
April 11, 2015 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Civil War, Confederate, Confessions of a Podcast Goddess, historical romance, Kindle, kindle scout, romance, sister, soldier, South, spy, time travel, Union, war, women |
| Love Me Forever is on Kindle Scout |
The Civil War ended this week 150 years ago…
We hear so much about how the Civil War was a conflict about brother against brother.
What about the women of the North and South?
Sister against sister?
In “LOVE ME FOREVER,” my story on Kindle Scout, two women with very different beliefs learn to accept each other for who they are.
They’re not only separated by what they believe in, but by more than 150 years when my heroine travels back to 1862.
Here is an excerpt when my heroine, Liberty Jordan, a re-enactor from today disguised as a Confederate officer, meets up with Pauletta Sue Buckingham when Liberty escapes from the clutches of a dastardly sergeant in a Union prison camp. Pauletta Sue sees her running across the field and races after her in her buggy and carriage. Believing her to be a young Southern man, she offers her refuge:
“You must be brave, sir. The cause needs you,†the woman whispered with urgency, startling Liberty.
So that’s why she helped her. She was a Confederate sympathizer. Here? In a Union camp?
Would they both be shot?
“Hurry, get in,†she ordered. “The bluecoats are coming.â€
Holding onto the side of the carriage, Liberty lifted herself up when suddenly she felt her feet give way from underneath her. Damn, she hadn’t counted on the slippery step glistening with dew. It caught her unaware and threw her off balance. She lost her footing on the soggy, wet earth, staggered, then with a loud plop, landed on the ground, the wind knocked out of her.
Her officer’s wide brim hat flying off her head.
Liberty heard the woman gasp when her long reddish-blond hair tumbled down her back like a cascade of corn silk popping up out of its stalk.
“You’re a woman,†the Southerner cried out, her hand going to her mouth.
“Haven’t you ever seen a girl in pants before?†Liberty said, a weak smile curling over her lips. She was surprised the woman didn’t faint.
“Dear Lord, the soldiers mustn’t find out you’re a female,†she said, taking charge. “No telling what they’d do, seeing they have the manners of a country hog.†Holding up her skirts, she climbed out of the carriage to retrieve Liberty’s brim hat.
“Then you won’t give me away?†Liberty asked, surprised. The Southern belle was no pushover.
“You fool girl. I admire what you’re doing, but the Yankees will never understand what we women will do for the cause. Even if we suffer from a broken heart, we’ll never give up,†she said with an emotion so deep it surprised Liberty. She handed her hat back to her. “Run! I’ll hold them off. You can take shelter in the old mill down the road till morning. There’s a secret hiding place behind the pantry.â€
How did she know that?
Liberty had no time to ponder the belle and her cause. Instead, she pulled the soggy hat back onto her head and muttered her thanks. She lifted her chin, the sun hitting her cheeks with its fading rays and revealing her face. Before she could pull down the brim of her hat, the woman grabbed her hand.
“Wait,†the dark-haired beauty muttered with surprise. Or was it shock? “Who are you, Missy?‒
“Nobody, ma’am—†Liberty began, her breath catching in her chest when she saw blue-uniformed soldiers on horseback racing toward them, kicking up dust. She had to get out of here, now.
“I demand to know who you are, where you’re from.†The Confederate woman pulled the veil off her face framed by dark hair. “And why you look like me.â€
Yes, that’s Pauletta Sue on the left and Liberty on the right in the graphic at the top of the page. The two women are twins except for their hair color. Not only are they on opposite sides, but they both vie for the same man…course, I can’t tell what happens…but sparks fly and it isn’t just on the battlefield…
LOVE ME FOREVER is on Kindle Scout — you can read the first 5,000 words HERE. You’ll meet both my heroines and both my heroes in the excerpt. If you nominate my story and it’s published by Kindle Scout, then you’ll receive a free copy! It’s a saga of love and romance and war. Believe me, I walked every road, fought every battle with my characters, even walked around in a hoop skirt to “get it right.â€
This is a book of the heart…any questions? Please ask!!
Thank you for stopping by…………..
~Jina
PS — As I post tonight LOVE ME FOREVER is Hot & Trending!
PPS — COMING next month: a full account of my experience with Kindle Scout.
What About Love? by Kitty Bucholtz
April 9, 2015 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz tagged as It's Worth It, Kitty Bucholtz, love
After six weeks of Lent and the booming joy of Easter, I’ve got love on my mind. Not just the cute, mushy stuff that most of our acquaintances seem to think we write about. 😉 But love with power and strength and purpose, the kind of love that changes people and changes lives.
I’ve been thinking about a sermon I heard recently where the pastor told a story about an elderly woman who was kidnapped and forgave her kidnapper, asking the judge to get the man into a drug rehab program. The pastor said what I often think – I’d like to think I would be that forgiving. But he also said the other thing I think when I hear these stories – I’ll probably never be in a position to know.
So he challenged us to something else. Don’t worry about loving your enemies today. Start with something easier. “How about if this week you just try to love the annoying people in your life?”
And it occurred to me that that just might be harder.
Then he said, “When you get so you can love the annoying people, take a step up and try to love the irritating people.”
Ouch. I think I’d rather try to love the kidnapper. At least I can blame it on the drugs and believe in his potential rehabilitation.
And then I started thinking about my writing. If I can’t personally love the annoying and irritating people I come across on a daily basis, how can I write about people with a dozen layers – no, a hundred layers – of relational emotion? Because that’s who we all are – people with uncountable layers of emotion covering hundreds of different relationships in each of our lives.
Love is the emotion that packs a punch. It’s active. It changes things. It changes people.
Love changes us.
We’re romance writers. But do we love the annoying and irritating people in our lives, let alone our enemies? If not, how can we write about love?
How does the love we write about change the people who read our stories? Does it change them at all? Are we afraid of saying too much? Too little? It takes a double dose of vulnerability to put that kind of love on the page.
We must be fearless.
We are among the bards of our generation. Bards tell tales of heroes, warn of danger, and give people courage. All in a fearlessly entertaining way.
That’s the power of love.
Kitty Bucholtz decided to combine her undergraduate degree in business, her years of experience in accounting and finance, and her graduate degree in creative writing to become a writer-turned-independent-publisher. Her novels, Little Miss Lovesick, A Very Merry Superhero Wedding, and Unexpected Superhero are currently available on Amazon. The free short story “Superhero in Disguise” and the new short story “Welcome to Loon Lake” are available wherever ebooks are sold. You can find out about her courses on self-publishing, marketing, and time management for writers at her website Writer Entrepreneur Guides.
Thanks for California Dreamin’
April 6, 2015 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston, Writing Conferences tagged as Barkery and Biscuits Mystery, California Dreamin' Conference, Linda O. Johnston, Midnight InkI’m not the only one who enjoyed it. I’m not the only one to thank the four wonderful Southern California RWA Chapters. But I want to express my thanks to everyone involved in the wonderful California Dreamin’ Conference!
I knew it would be fun, since, as I said last month, I was on a wonderful panel about writing series with Judy Duarte and Janet Tronstad. I hoped our audience members enjoyed it as much as I did.
Even more, I found it great fun to get together with long time romance writer friends and make some new friends as well. The sessions and panels I attended were mostly about promotion, and I learned a lot there. I did some traveling between the time of the conference and now so I haven’t been able to try to implement what I learned, but I hope to soon.
I also had a lot of fun at the book signing–and even sold some books.
So, again, many thanks for an absolutely delightful conference. And now I’m looking forward to 2017!
Linda’s new Barkery and Biscuits Mystery series from Midnight Ink starts in May with BITE THE BISCUIT. 
