Embracing the New and Magical by Donna Michaels

And suddenly you know: It's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings. ~ Meister Eckhart

Seems to be a popular quote this month, and one that’s fitting for me. Like Vonnie, I had a few crazy deadlines last year. The ‘write a book in 3 weeks’ became a reality for me. Three times. Actually, I had 4 weeks for one of those books, then I went right into 2 weeks to revise a novella and lengthen it into a novel, which I turned in the day before I left for a conference. None of the crunching was by choice, but by necessity because of conferences, promo, social media, boxed sets, more promo, blogs, website updates, oh, yeah, and family obligations.

 

Jestina as 'Gloria' in Bye Bye, Birdie

 

There were quite a few this past year. My youngest in her high school productions, graduating from high school, one of my twins graduating college, and my daughter-in-law graduating from law school. Two of my children went off to 2 different colleges. Then there was my father-in-law diagnosed with cancer. Bless him, he was in the hospital for weeks, then a nursing home for months, then finally released to go home on my birthday. ☺ I've been helping to take him to chemo and doctor visits every week, but at least he’s home! Yes, 2014 was a crazy, busy year.

Holy smokes, just reading that makes me nuts. How the heck did I manage it all? Barely. Trust me. It certainly made me realize I need an assistant.

That's me, embracing my something new.

Yes, I am currently looking for an assistant. I know they can’t help me with the family stuff, but an assistant can help with my website, and promo, social media, and even the conferences. Hiring an assistant is scary, but I’m going to be asking my piers for recommendations and hopefully, I’ll find the right fit before I end up in deadline he## again.

So, I will trust the magic of beginnings.

How about you, was 2014 a crazy busy year for you, too? With one activity after another?

Here’s hoping 2015 is a crazy, wonderful year!

One of those boxed sets I mentioned will be releasing next week, Jan 20th, and is available for preorder for only .99¢! I’m honored to be involved in the Cowboy 12 Pack with such wonderful NY Times and USA Best Selling authors!

  

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1H4M25u
Amazon: http://amzn.to/11sGMZb
IBooks: http://bit.ly/1xyPCSu
Nook:  http://bit.ly/1BL0uiS

 

Time for Another New Beginning! by Alison Handerson

And suddenly you know: It's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings. ~ Meister Eckhart

I rarely find myself starting a new story in January; in fact, I can't think of another year my schedule worked out that way. Usually I'm in the middle of a project and spend January trying to get back up to speed after losing momentum during the holidays. Well, one of the big positives of  my current project is that it allows me to start a new story every month!

I've mentioned before that I'm working on a collection of Christmas short stories, inspired by our Roses of Prose stories, to be released next fall. So far, I've written five of the ten planned stories. My schedule allows me one month to write each story. That way I'll still finish in plenty of time even after life intrudes and I invariably fall behind.

The best thing about writing this collection is that I get to experience the magic of beginnings over and over on the same project--that heady rush of creating a new setting and new characters with a whole new set of problems. Talk about keeping the creative juices flowing!

As a confirmed plotter, I've found I have to do a significant amount of pre-writing even for a short story. Creating a fairly detailed character list before I start helps me understand my characters, and a brief outline of the three 1,500 word acts makes sure I have an actual plot. If I try to skip this step, writer's block grabs me by the throat and shakes me like a rag.

But why would I want to skip it? Pre-writing is one of my favorite parts of the process--the time I can let my imagination run wild. As I write this, I'm beginning my sixth story. This is what I know so far: 

1. It will be entitled NO ROOM AT THE INN.
2. The heroine Charlene (Charley) owns The Foxborough Inn, a B & B in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley
3. The hero Joe is a building contractor (i.e. a carpenter) from the Washington, D.C. area
4. Joe arrives at the inn on Christmas Eve during an ice storm with a very pregnant teenage hitchhiker named Maria, who's on the run from a trio of Mafia hitmen (i.e. wiseguys), only to find the inn booked up with a Christmas wedding party.
5. Despite a few intentional parallels, this is a comedy--not a re-make of the original Christmas story. Charley doesn't put them up in the stable. (They stay in her cottage with her.) And the baby does not arrive on Christmas Day.

I have some ideas about what will happen, and I won't start writing until I've decided on the basic plot points. That should help the actual writing flow smoothly. Fingers crossed. I've also created this mock-up cover to inspire me as I work. Hopefully all the new beginnings will help this project zip right along until I type THE END. 

Alison

www.alisonhenderson.com

http://alisonhenderson.blogspot.com 

Questions

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning. ~ Albert Einstein

Good old Al was so right. Questions are what keep us moving forward as a species. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve been rather disappointed in the lack of speed with which humans are moving. Not forward by leaps and bounds. Sometimes it seems as if homo sapiens aren’t moving forward at all. Not even by inch worm wiggles.

What are we doing instead? Taking selfies? Texting through life? Watching the nightly news and growing ever more convinced that the apocalypse is just moments away?

Sigh. I grow weary of the de-evolution I see happening around me on a daily basis.

Here are ten questions I hope someone is working on answering:

1.      How can we teleport humans over long distances?

2.      Is there intelligent life beyond our planet?

3.      Do people with true superpowers exist among us?

4.      Can we obliterate cancer once and for all?

5.      Will movies/television shows ever be in holographic form?

6.      Is time travel possible?

7.      Will replicators ever be installed in our kitchens so we can have whatever we want for dinner?

8.      Will we ever be able to download information directly into our brains like Trinity in the movie, The Matrix? (Oh, the time that would save!)

9.      In what ways can we improve our system of government in the United States so we can restore our country’s greatness?

10.  What’s the best way to educate children so they will raise questions that need answering and send humans into a new era of enlightenment?

           

What questions do you hope someone is trying to answer?

Toodles,

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

New year, new book, new everything

Well, not quite new "everything," but sometimes it feels that way.

As I mentioned in my last post, every year I choose a Word of the Year, and I use it to inspire me throughout the year. This year's word is "upbeat": I am determined to stay "upbeat" no matter what gets thrown at me.

I'm normally a very upbeat kind of person, but sometimes I get bogged down. It was a challenging Christmas this year. A dear friend died, but he had been in the grips of a terrible disease, so it's hard to be too sad. That's little comfort to his wife, of course, but one hopes with time she gets there. And my Day Job has been a big challenge lately. And my current WIP is a dragging its heels, the characters not quite ready to talk to me.

So you see why it's important to have a good Word. Every time I start to feel down, I say "I am upbeat this year. That [insert bad thing here] cannot beat me down, because I'm upbeat. I can whip it, I know I can. Just hang on..."

And trust the magic of beginnings. Because really, we have new beginnings every day, don't we? It may look like it's the Same Old, Same Old, but does it have to be? We can make new beginnings whenever we want. All we have to do is try.

And stay upbeat, of course. That's important.

J L
(so many books, so little time)


And suddenly you know: It's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings. ~ Meister Eckhart

Starting Something New by Vonnie Davis

And suddenly you know: It's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings. ~ Meister Eckhart

For the past year, I've been working on two series of three books each. A contemporary firemen's series set in Clearwater, Florida for Harper Impulse and a bear-shifter series set in the Highlands of Scotland for Random House. Six books that I hope to have finished by April 6th, when the final books of each series are due.

That's right. Two books to two different publishers on the same day. My ex-agent said she forgot to look at my first contract and the dates in it before she encouraged me to take contract number two. My fault: keep a calendar with all your due dates in it, so when a new contract comes rolling in, you can check for yourself. Or, as we like to say, take charge of your life.

I had 3 weeks between the submission dates of two books. Now, I don't know about you, but it takes me a tad longer than 3 weeks to write a full-length book. I had to ask my editor for an extension which went against my work ethic. In every job I've held, I've always met my deadlines.

So, here's where the bit of insanity slips in.

I'm ready--eager, really--to start my next series for Random House. But first, I'm taking a break. I've already had the nervous breakdown. Thanks to too many deadlines too close together. This year, one publisher, one series, one locale. I mean, I can't tell you the times I had my firemen in Florida speaking with a Scottish brogue! The Delete key became my BFF.

 

 

 

I don't think making mistakes is a bad thing. Not always. I learned a lot about myself through this process of over-extension. I've also learned to say, "No." And, at sixty-six, it's about time, don't you think? But society tells us to take on more, to do more, to achieve more. Sometimes we lose the joyous and renewing state of just being, of observing, of listening, of enjoying people important to us. Last year went by in a blur of words. This year, I hope the treadmill slows down....after all, I'm retired!

 

Here's my book trailer for A HIGHLANDER'S OBSESSION that was one of Amazon's best sellers last year, well, for a month anyhow.

 

T

Let's Hear It For Tomorrow - With No Mistakes In It Yet by Margo Hoornstra

Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet? -- L. M. Montgomery  

Oh, yes, it is nice. Very nice. Fabulous really to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it . . . . .

Yet!

I don’t know about you, but mistakes should be my middle name. Not a tomorrow comes and goes that I haven’t made at least one error, whether big or small. Leaving the porch light on when I’m gone all day, entering the wrong amount in the checkbook, running out of gas when I ignore the little red light, missing an appointment because I didn’t write it down. You name it, I've probably done it a time or two.......wrong.

The same holds true for my writing. Having finished my latest book, actually lucky thirteen, I was eager to start something new. But what? My critique partner and fellow Rose, the wildly talented Jannine Gallant, came up with an idea. Some women win the lottery and how immediate riches changes their lives and leads them to love. An interesting premise that conjured up about a dozen different storylines in my head.

 

Starting out strong, I chose four of my favorites and wrote the first chapter of one book where I introduced the heroines who would carry the series. Then I gave one of them a flawed hero and off I went again – smack into chapter two, then three then four. That’s where I, rather my writing, hesitated, then sputtered, then finally stalled altogether.

But why? Whatever was wrong? I wasn’t that interested enough to go on, why would anyone else be? (With all due respect to Jannine, because her basic idea was a winner.)

Then it dawned on me. I’d made a mistake. I write romance, traditional romance. By definition – Romance is a narration of the extraordinary exploits of heroes, often in exotic or mysterious settings.

Ah-ha! The majority of romance readers are women. What was I offering? More women. Not a good way to honor my audience.

So then I came up with this.

 

Blood Brothers in Blue features four guys who attended the police academy together and became long-time friends. The dropout, the straight arrow, the movie star and the maverick. They all share a passion to protect and serve – each in their own unique way.

I kept the same basic storylines, from different points of view.

Once again I know exactly where my writing and I are going. Directly into tomorrow….…with no mistakes in it yet.

My days to blog here are the 11th and 23rd. For more about me and my stories, please visit my website

The Waiting Game by Anita Kidesu

Hi Roses and Readers. Brenda is taking her scheduled day off so please welcome our guest blogger, Anita Kidesu.

The waiting, the excitement, the anticipation. How long? When? Where? What will it look like? Will I like it? Sounds like a child waiting with excitement and anticipation for their birthday or Christmas, doesn't it? Waiting to peel back the wrapping paper to reveal the hidden gift. Or waiting to find her Easter Basket. But, it's not a holiday I'm talking about.

As a new author with The Wild Rose Press, I'm currently going through the emotions mentioned above. I've been anxiously awaiting the release of my erotica, South Seas Seduction. I've been anticipating the arrival of the cover. I picture myself, finger poised over the key that will open the file, holding my breath, heart tripping, palms sweating, as I reveal my baby.

From the time I sent in my first three chapters to the day I received a contract, my system zings every time I go into my e-mails. Will they want to publish the book? Will I have a lot of edits? What if they don't like my edits? Having gone through my first round of edits, each time I open my e-mails, I now eagerly search through them, looking for the next round, or the cover, or the release date.

Those feelings I had as a child waiting, waiting, waiting for Christmas or my birthday or that last day of school before summer vacation, come forth once again. The sense that the day will never come and nothing you can do will make it come faster.

Right now I'm in that mode. The day I announce, "Here is my cover release," or "I have my publication date," will never come and I'll die if it doesn't.

Of course, I survived all those years as a child when I knew Christmas was never going to arrive or I'll never turn 10, 16, or 21. And, of course, I will survive waiting for the birth of South Seas Seduction.  

As authors, we are told to start the next book as soon as we've sent one off. I suppose that means every time I send off a book to my editor, I'll go through these emotions. I'm not sure I can stand the suspense.

But then, I guess that feeling I had when I received the email that I was being offered a contract, is worth it. It's like Christmas, Easter, birthdays, and last days of school all rolled up in one. Can't get better than that, can it?

South Seas Seduction Blurb:

Sheltered all her life as the daughter of an ambassador, Emma Labonte boards a small plane on a trip from Australia. One hijacking and a plane crash later, she finds herself on a deserted island and stranded with three different yet equally sexy men. With no hope for rescue, the four begin to carve a semblance of a life in their tropical setting. Closeness breeds curiosity, and naive Emma begins to wonder what it would be like to be loved by these three men. The adventurer Jack, Toby the intelligent doctor, and shy English professor Steve--each carve a special place in her heart. 

When her three men launch seduction in the South Seas, how can she resist?

Excerpt:

Thinking about the men’s needs, she also thought about hers. She needed to set up a plan to keep some kind of control and not be simply a plaything, available every time one of them felt the urge and crooked their finger at her. No, she needed to retain some independence. With her eyes closed she ran through several scenarios. Details had to be finalized before giving them her decision.

Activity always made her think better. Her wrinkled skin itched. Emma got out of the pool, air drying her body before getting dressed again. The sun reflected off her wedding ring. She stared at her finger.

What if she had married the real Jean Paul? Would she have liked him better than the fake one? Would she be mourning his death? She’d liked his parents. How will they feel when they found out he was dead? Of course, that wouldn’t happen unless they were rescued.

What if they weren’t rescued? What if Francois gets away with the murder of Jean Paul and the near murder of herself?

Her mind whirled with the ‘what ifs.’

“Dammit,” she whispered, closing her eyes, tears leaking at the corners.

Before she changed her mind, she yanked off the ring, swung her arm behind her head, and tossed the offending piece of jewelry into the jungle, hoping it would rot with the rest of the vegetation.

 
You can find Tina here:
https://anitakidesu.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/AnitaKidesu
https://www.facebook.com/AnitaKidesuAuthor?ref=hl
http://www.pinterest.com/AnitaKidesu/