Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never Is, but always To be blest:
The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.
-Alexander Pope,
An Essay on Man, Epistle I, 1733
 The start of spring brings with it hope. After the winter we have endured, I am enjoying the warmth of the sun. It is what spring does...life begins anew, trees come back to life and flowers bloom. Once more the world is open to us. So it goes with life itself. Everyone needs that point to breath in and say let's go at it again. Every year, we deal with what life gives us. Every year, we need to rejuvenate to tackle life's obstacles. I suppose I'm reflecting a tad at the moment. It's the first year that my husband's family is dealing with his mother not being at family events. She has Alzheimer's and is in a nursing home. She wasn't at our family gatherings for Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter. We do go to visit her and she's quite happy in the little world she lives in at the moment. It's her family that's hurting. My father-in-law told me that retirement isn't anything like he imagined. My in-laws had planned on enjoying their golden years. My in-laws loved to travel. They had a time-share down in Aruba for twelve years. Every May, they would go down for a couple of weeks. But as we talked, he began to remember. It put a smile on his face. Then the younger grandchildren...the ones that didn't get to know their real grandmother...started asking questions about her. My father-in-law sat with them and relived with them his memories. Sometimes its what we have is the memories. Passing them on means they will live on. And that gives us hope. Hope...we built our country on that belief. If you enjoy reading about spies, traitors, love and betrayal, try Winds of Betrayal Series. The first book in the series, The Cry For Freedom, is now only $.99!
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Showing posts with label eBooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eBooks. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Hope Springs Eternal!
Monday, January 14, 2013
A Silly Contest
I’m feeling
silly today. In the spirit of that silliness and the theme of new beginnings, I’m
making this post a contest about story beginnings!
Your task:
Work the following three things into a 25 word or less beginning of a story…
1. Snowflakes
2. A
red purse
3. A
yellow canary
Leave your
entry in the comments below and be entered to win a free ebook of mine, winner’s
choice. Winner must supply a valid email address for delivery of ebook.
Have fun!
Check out my
books at www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com.
Toodles,
ChrisSunday, September 9, 2012
Gettin' the Author's Groove On by Brenda Whiteside
What... Where... When... How... do you write? I've gotten various forms of the questions, especially since I've published. Over the years, my answers have changed.
What do I write? The answer has always been romance but the sub genre varies. My first book was a contemporary. My current series of books in progress are mysteries. And in between I've written historical and western. I love them all and not sure which one will finally win out.
Where do I write? In the beginning, I couldn't write a lick unless I was at my desk. And I mean the actual physical act of writing. I wrote plenty in my head and most prolifically while behind the wheel of my car. In fact, I would write whole chapters in my head before I ever put fingertips to keyboard. But when I did write, I had to be at my desk on my computer. When I got a laptop, that changed. Or at least it evolved as my 'when' expanded.
When do I write? For many years, I worked outside the home and had little time to write. I thought I had to write in long stretches at my desk and at my computer. That limited me to weekends. I've never been able to do much after work besides eat and veg. Then I read The Artist's Way. I tried writing for fifteen minutes before work each morning and voila! I wrote nearly half of one of my novels in fifteen minute increments. Now I can write any time of day and for any length of time.
How do I write? Well, as they say, some things never change. I can't write longhand. I can't write with music playing or loud television or talking and laughing. I like it quiet. In the past couple of years, I've gained a bit more tolerance with some amount of background noise, but not much. There's always a drink of some sort to my write. Depending on the time of day, that drink will be coffee, tea, water or red wine.
Visit
Brenda at www.brendawhiteside.com.
Or
on FaceBook: www.facebook.com/BrendaWhitesideAuthor
She
blogs on the 9th and 24th of every month at http://rosesofprose.blogspot.com
She
blogs about prairie life on her personal blog http://brendawhiteside.blogspot.com/
Saturday, September 1, 2012
"I wrote it," he said, strumming the guitar. The Beginning of a Series by Jena Galifany
While watching my favorite 80s rock band on a television show, my favorite bass player said these three words. It got me thinking. I knew why he said it on TV but why would he say these exact words to someone else?
These are the three words that were the beginning of my writing career. These three words grew into a novel over 50,000 words in a matter of one month. Then they grew into a six book series, four of which are published by Whiskey Creek Press. Let me walk you through the beginning of my thought process.
1) If he were so famous, why would he have to tell someone he wrote the song? Well, apparently she (it would have to be a she) would not know who he was.
2) If he were so famous, why would she not know who he was? Um, maybe she couldn't see him.
3) Why could she not see him if he was sitting beside her, playing the guitar? She was blind.
4) That would be difficult to write. I don't know that much about blindness. It would take a lot of research to be sure that I correctly wrote about it. Do I want to take that kind of time for something I'm just scribbling out for myself? Naw.
5) She's only temporarily blind. That works! Why is she temporarily blind? Um, car accident. She hit her head. I know about this one because it happened to me long ago. My sight came back in a few minutes but her's will take until the next morning.
6) So far, so good. How did the accident happen? Driving on a snowy hill.
7) What was he doing on the snowy hill? What was she doing there? He needed to get away from his noisy band mates and the insincere women that hung around the band. She needed to get away from an abusive husband... no not husband (too permanent). An abusive boyfriend.
All of these things had been rolling around in my mind for months. It was not until I fell in my garden one morning and damaged my arm that I was able to have time to actually begin writing it all down. Off work for a month to allow my arm to heal, I began the adventure of writing the ShadowsForge series. It began with only three words. Sometimes it doesn't take much to get the imagination rolling.
Ty Synclair was my first ShadowsForge character. He needed to find that one woman who would be sincere. Alexis Rivers needed a man who would take care of her, never hurting her. Three Times a Hero gave Ty and Alexis the opportunity for both of their dreams to come true.
If you want to find out more about this couple and ShadowsForge, here is a chance to win an ebook copy of your choice of one of the first four books in the series: Three Times a Hero, Trials on Tour, Retaking America, or The Long Way Home.
All you need to do:
1) Go to my website at www.jenagalifany.bravehost.com
2) Locate the listing of the entire series. It is posted on only one page.
4) Send an email with the titles of ShadowsForge #5 and #6 to jena_galifany @ yahoo.com. (remove spaces)
3) Post a comment that you have sent me an email.
4) This evening, I will have my daughter pick a winner from those who email and comment. I will email the winner to find out which ebook she or he prefers and get it sent out.
Thank you for reading and playing along.
Cheers!
Jena Galifany
ShadowsForge Series
Shyanne's Secret
Her Perfect Man
Love Lifted Me
These are the three words that were the beginning of my writing career. These three words grew into a novel over 50,000 words in a matter of one month. Then they grew into a six book series, four of which are published by Whiskey Creek Press. Let me walk you through the beginning of my thought process.
1) If he were so famous, why would he have to tell someone he wrote the song? Well, apparently she (it would have to be a she) would not know who he was.
2) If he were so famous, why would she not know who he was? Um, maybe she couldn't see him.
3) Why could she not see him if he was sitting beside her, playing the guitar? She was blind.
4) That would be difficult to write. I don't know that much about blindness. It would take a lot of research to be sure that I correctly wrote about it. Do I want to take that kind of time for something I'm just scribbling out for myself? Naw.
 |
| Ty Synclair |
 |
| Alexis Rivers |
6) So far, so good. How did the accident happen? Driving on a snowy hill.
All of these things had been rolling around in my mind for months. It was not until I fell in my garden one morning and damaged my arm that I was able to have time to actually begin writing it all down. Off work for a month to allow my arm to heal, I began the adventure of writing the ShadowsForge series. It began with only three words. Sometimes it doesn't take much to get the imagination rolling.
Ty Synclair was my first ShadowsForge character. He needed to find that one woman who would be sincere. Alexis Rivers needed a man who would take care of her, never hurting her. Three Times a Hero gave Ty and Alexis the opportunity for both of their dreams to come true.
If you want to find out more about this couple and ShadowsForge, here is a chance to win an ebook copy of your choice of one of the first four books in the series: Three Times a Hero, Trials on Tour, Retaking America, or The Long Way Home.
All you need to do:
1) Go to my website at www.jenagalifany.bravehost.com
2) Locate the listing of the entire series. It is posted on only one page.
4) Send an email with the titles of ShadowsForge #5 and #6 to jena_galifany @ yahoo.com. (remove spaces)
3) Post a comment that you have sent me an email.
4) This evening, I will have my daughter pick a winner from those who email and comment. I will email the winner to find out which ebook she or he prefers and get it sent out.
Thank you for reading and playing along.
Cheers!
Jena Galifany
ShadowsForge Series
Shyanne's Secret
Her Perfect Man
Love Lifted Me
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
New Month, New Member
My name is Jena Galifany and I am new to the Roses of Prose group. This is my first blog post and I hope I don’t disappoint anyone.
As a new writer I first tried self-publishing. I’ve only had the one experience with this twenty years ago and it was not a good one. I was new to the game of publishing and didn't think anyone would actually want to take a chance on signing me to a contract. As it turned out, I’d really rather forget I was taken in by the disreputable company that was to "help" me with self-publishing my first book. I have to chock it up to lesson learned and pay better attention next time.
Since that time, there have been many reputable companies emerge to aid the writer with this endeavor. They will legitimately help self-publishing writers but a person still needs to pay close attention to details and small print.
Years after my false start in the world of publishing, I was blessed to work for an online review site. Through the reviews that I wrote, I was able to see the quality of books coming from several online publishers. I had the opportunity to see who would be the most likely to publish the genre of books that I wrote and carefully put together the submission package for ShadowsForge 1: Three Times a Hero. I sent it off and, as I was taught by other writers, forgot about it while moving on to the next writing adventure.
Since I had readers at my day job, people who pushed me into publishing in the first place, who read SF1 and wanted to know what happened after the first book, I commenced to write two more books in the series. After two months, I received an acceptance letter and contract from the publisher for the first installment.
The contract stated they wanted to see any other books that included the same characters or continued the story. I contacted the publisher that evening to find out how to submit the next two stories, together or separately. She answered that she was going on vacation and if I could email them to her that night, she’d take them with her. Long story short, two weeks later, I was the proud owner of three contracts and doing the Snoopy Dance of Joy on the ceiling for about a week.
ShadowsForge, life on tour with an 80s rock band, is now available to follow in four of the six books in the series. Three Times and Hero, Trials on Tour, Retaking America, and The Long Way Home are available at Whiskey Creek Press.
Note: “ShadowsForge” is one word spelled with a capital “F” in the middle just to irritate my older sister who should have been an English teacher.
Since this beginning, I have added my first Western Historical Romance, Shyanne’s Secret, to my WCP portfolio.
Her Perfect Man, an Historical Paranormal, and a holiday short story, Love Lifted Me, are available at Red Rose Publishing.
I’ve thought about trying to self-publish but so far in my writing career, I’ve had such wonderful publishers helping me along the way, I don’t know if I could do as outstanding a job without them. But that’s just me. From research I’ve done, it sounds like a lot of work to self-publish but I do believe that there would be a lot of self-satisfaction that would come from it as well.
I hope that I’ve not bored you all with my humble beginnings. I am pleased to be a part of this wonderful group and hope that I will be an asset to the Roses of Prose. Thank you for giving me that chance.
Cheers!
_____________________________
Jena Galifany writes in the genre of sweet romance and adventure. She can be found at her WEBSITE, on Facebook, or writing book reviews on NovelSpot.net under the name of Marge _Anna Conrad.
As a new writer I first tried self-publishing. I’ve only had the one experience with this twenty years ago and it was not a good one. I was new to the game of publishing and didn't think anyone would actually want to take a chance on signing me to a contract. As it turned out, I’d really rather forget I was taken in by the disreputable company that was to "help" me with self-publishing my first book. I have to chock it up to lesson learned and pay better attention next time.
Since that time, there have been many reputable companies emerge to aid the writer with this endeavor. They will legitimately help self-publishing writers but a person still needs to pay close attention to details and small print.
Years after my false start in the world of publishing, I was blessed to work for an online review site. Through the reviews that I wrote, I was able to see the quality of books coming from several online publishers. I had the opportunity to see who would be the most likely to publish the genre of books that I wrote and carefully put together the submission package for ShadowsForge 1: Three Times a Hero. I sent it off and, as I was taught by other writers, forgot about it while moving on to the next writing adventure.
Since I had readers at my day job, people who pushed me into publishing in the first place, who read SF1 and wanted to know what happened after the first book, I commenced to write two more books in the series. After two months, I received an acceptance letter and contract from the publisher for the first installment. The contract stated they wanted to see any other books that included the same characters or continued the story. I contacted the publisher that evening to find out how to submit the next two stories, together or separately. She answered that she was going on vacation and if I could email them to her that night, she’d take them with her. Long story short, two weeks later, I was the proud owner of three contracts and doing the Snoopy Dance of Joy on the ceiling for about a week.
ShadowsForge, life on tour with an 80s rock band, is now available to follow in four of the six books in the series. Three Times and Hero, Trials on Tour, Retaking America, and The Long Way Home are available at Whiskey Creek Press.
Note: “ShadowsForge” is one word spelled with a capital “F” in the middle just to irritate my older sister who should have been an English teacher.
Since this beginning, I have added my first Western Historical Romance, Shyanne’s Secret, to my WCP portfolio.
Her Perfect Man, an Historical Paranormal, and a holiday short story, Love Lifted Me, are available at Red Rose Publishing.
I’ve thought about trying to self-publish but so far in my writing career, I’ve had such wonderful publishers helping me along the way, I don’t know if I could do as outstanding a job without them. But that’s just me. From research I’ve done, it sounds like a lot of work to self-publish but I do believe that there would be a lot of self-satisfaction that would come from it as well.
I hope that I’ve not bored you all with my humble beginnings. I am pleased to be a part of this wonderful group and hope that I will be an asset to the Roses of Prose. Thank you for giving me that chance.
Cheers!
_____________________________
Jena Galifany writes in the genre of sweet romance and adventure. She can be found at her WEBSITE, on Facebook, or writing book reviews on NovelSpot.net under the name of Marge _Anna Conrad.
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