2019 Writing Goals #OpenBook Blog hop

December 31, 2018


Share your writing goals for 2019.

I may not have all of 2019 planned out, but I know what the first several months will look like for my writing.

First, I need to finish up my current work in progress, The Contessa’s Brooch. Yes, Harmony Duprie is back in action, fighting crime in the small town of Oak Grove. This time, she’s chasing down a firebug.

While I’m finishing the edits on Book Four, I’ll also be working with my cover artist to design new covers for the entire series. Much as I love the current covers, (Thank you, K.M. Guth!) there are good reasons to make the switch. The main one being is that the cover appeals to the wrong audience.

I can’t count how many times I’ve been asked if the stories are written for tweens or younger. If you’ve read them, you know they aren’t. So the time has come to retire them and move on to covers that are more ‘mature’ looking.

And while all of that is happening, I need to start planning the next Harmony book. She’s already nagging me. I don’t know exactly what she has in mind, but I’m sure it’ll be different!

Will there be another Free Wolves story in the works?  I haven’t decided yet. But getting two Harmony books out in the same year is pretty ambitious so I won’t commit myself to anything more.

So while you say goodbye to the current covers, I’m off to see what goals the other authors on this hop have made.

Happy New Year!

December 31, 2018

Share your writing goals for 2019.

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

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Holiday Greetings #OpenBook Blog Hop

December 24, 2018


What is your fondest holiday memory?

That’s tough, because there are so many good ones. Running downstairs to open the presents. Cleaning the silverware that only got used once or twice a year. Playing the new games with the family. Candy. Christmas decorations. Snow.

But the best of all? I loved going to church and singing Christmas carols. There was no professional chorus to lead the singing, no elaborate accompaniment, no soaring harmonies, just a lot of average voices joined in song. And unlike most weeks when people were tentative about joining in, everyone knew the melodies if not all the words and was willing to give it their best shot.

 And the songs themselves were uplifting and the messages were ones of happiness and peace. Something we all needed when the country was divided over political squabbles. (Kind of like now!) They put a touch of brightness and hope in our hearts.

And that is my wish for each and every one of you this holiday season. May you be touched by the spirit of love in whatever shape that takes for you.

December 24, 2018

What is your fondest holiday memory?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

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True Love #OpenBook Blog Hop


December 17, 2018

Do you believe in true love?


True love. The territory of poets for hundreds of years. How can I doubt it? I come from a long line of people who have found true love. My husband and I got engaged after six weeks after we met, married after three months and have been together for forty-three years! My parents were together in love for 60 some years, and separated only by death. My grandparents on my father’s side were together happily for many years, again parted only by death.  

That doesn’t mean it’s been all sunshine and roses. We’ve had our rough spots, like most people. But we’ve never given up on each other, and I think that’s what makes it true love. We’re growing old together—not so gracefully—and I firmly believe we’ll live up to our wedding vow of ‘until death do us part.’






Romantic love isn’t the only kind of true love. Parents and children, siblings, even good friends can all know true love in different forms. And how about pets? The animals who choose to live with us can sense our feelings and know when we need an extra cuddle or a warm furry body that needs a head scratch. Because they demand so little in return, their love may be one of the truer forms of the emotion.

So yes, I believe in true love. And in the words of the old song

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone

Songwriters: Burt F. Bacharach / Hal David

Now I’m off to find out how the other authors feel about true love.

December 17, 2018

Do you believe in true love?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

Blogger

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True Love #OpenBook Blog Hop


December 17, 2018

Do you believe in true love?


True love. The territory of poets for hundreds of years. How can I doubt it? I come from a long line of people who have found true love. My husband and I got engaged after six weeks after we met, married after three months and have been together for forty-three years! My parents were together in love for 60 some years, and separated only by death. My grandparents on my father’s side were together happily for many years, again parted only by death.  

That doesn’t mean it’s been all sunshine and roses. We’ve had our rough spots, like most people. But we’ve never given up on each other, and I think that’s what makes it true love. We’re growing old together—not so gracefully—and I firmly believe we’ll live up to our wedding vow of ‘until death do us part.’






Romantic love isn’t the only kind of true love. Parents and children, siblings, even good friends can all know true love in different forms. And how about pets? The animals who choose to live with us can sense our feelings and know when we need an extra cuddle or a warm furry body that needs a head scratch. Because they demand so little in return, their love may be one of the truer forms of the emotion.

So yes, I believe in true love. And in the words of the old song

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone

Songwriters: Burt F. Bacharach / Hal David

Now I’m off to find out how the other authors feel about true love.

December 17, 2018

Do you believe in true love?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

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Favorite Lines #OpenBook Blog Hop



December 10, 2018

We are writers. This is our time to shine. What are some of your favorite lines from your books?


This week is the dictionary definition of #humblebrag. Every now and then, I look at the line I just wrote and think “Wow, that’s a good one!” So here are a few of my favorites.


I think this series of lines is when I first fell in love with Harmony Duprie, the main character of the Oak Grove Mysteries. The concept of this level-headed, intelligent woman having such a illogical reaction to an everyday event really helped me form her character.


 The bus ride home seemed longer than the morning’s trip as I studied each person getting on for a potential threat. Was the little gray-haired lady with the oversize purse and shopping bag packing a handgun? Did the teenage boy wearing a long black coat keep ninja stars in his pockets? And the woman in her mid-twenties holding a little girl’s hand? Was the child was just a prop, borrowed for the afternoon, solely to throw off suspicion? In reality, was the woman a super spy waiting for a chance to drug me and cart me off to her remote hideaway?


That’s from The Marquesa’s Necklace, if you haven’t read it. 



And here’s a selection from Her Ladyship’s Ring, the second book in the series.It’s a conversation between Detective Thomason, Harmony, and her landlords. 

“Did you hear the shot? Was there more than one?”
What the hell? “No, I didn’t, I was singing.”
“Badly,” muttered Luke.
“Off-key,” added Joe.



I never claimed to be good.






Of course, I can’t forget the Free Wolves series. Here’s a quote from Wolves’ Pawn.

Dot was out of throwing knives, but she still had the wickedly sharp night stalker bowie knife Gavin had loaned her. The rival wolves quickly learned to avoid her, and when one shifted back to man form, she laughed and pointed the knife at his exposed genitals. He returned to wolf form, and paced around her, searching for another avenue of attack. A swift feint resulted in a nasty slice on his front leg, and a second saw a cut along his ribs. He wasn’t about to give up, and as he bunched his muscles for a third attempt, one of Dot’s companions rushed him from the side, knocking him over. While he was stunned, Dot wrapped a plastic zip tie around his muzzle, leaving enough of an opening that he could still pant, and two more ties went around his legs. “I should take lessons in calf roping,” she joked.

And another one from the same book.

She knew this was a bad idea. Even as Dot mounted her motorcycle to start the convoy, the human portion of her instinct screamed at her to stop. But the feral grin on her face was that of the wolf, and the wolf was in charge.

One more. This is from Wolves’ Gambit, the third book in the Free Wolves series.

 But the years of fighting and fleeing had scarred her, and hope didn’t belong in her vocabulary. Only plans and action.



You can find links to buy all of my books here: My Books




And I lied. Here’s another short one from Wolves’ Gambit

You’re not as innocent as you appear, Miss Grenville. Although if anyone else showed up in my bed in that outfit this late at night, I’d think they were trying to seduce me.



Now I’m done, and off to find out everyone else’s favorite lines

December 10, 2018

We are writers. This is our time to shine. What are some of your favorite lines from your books?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

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My Writing Space #IWSG

 IWSG Day Question: What are five objects we’d find in your writing space?

First off, thanks to this month’s co-hosts:  J.H. Moncrieff, Tonja Drecker , Patsy Collins, and Chrys Fey!

I recently re-did my desk, so it’s a lot cleaner than it used to be! The Harry Potter magic wands have been put in a safer location. And the stack of sticky notes have been trimmed down to almost nothing. But what’s still here?

First off is the computer. That’s a given. Although I have written books entirely by hand, I find I write cleaner if I type a story rather than compose on paper. I write slower on the computer but spend less time editing.

Second are my pens. It’s an addiction. I have more pens than I’ll ever need. Once I pulled a dozen
from my purse.

Third is a Thesaurus. I keep a physical copy handy. I’m good using an on-line dictionary, but when it comes to hunting down the perfect word, I get better results flipping trough the pages.

Next is the wolf sculpture my son bought me. I have a series of wolf shifter books and it serves as inspiration.

Last but not least? I confess, I didn’t get rid of all the stick notes. They’re a great way to keep track of the details on my WIP. What day it is, what last name did I give to that minor character who appeared six chapters ago? I just have to remember to get rid of them when I finish the story.

Now, I’m going to find out what the other insecure writers have in their writing space.

No Failure Allowed #OpenBook Blog Hop

December 3, 2018

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

I didn’t even have to think about my answer. If I couldn’t fail, I’d be a full-time author. But what would that mean?

First off, I’d have to fully replace my current job and benefits. I’ve got other people depending on me and I can’t let them down. Or maybe it would be better to say that I’m not willing to risk letting them down. Then I need extra on top of that for some long-term financial needs.

Second, I want to be able to maintain my status as an indie author. I like the freedom to write what I
want to write and to control my own prices. Although I don’t necessarily enjoy the business aspects of being an indie, I like the control being an indie provides.

Third, I’m going to need an full-time editor. One who can help me get books released faster. I don’t think I can accomplish my goal when I’m only releasing one or two books a year. And if I had someone else helping with editing, I could write faster!

And of course, I’d want to make a best seller list or two. Or three. I’d also have to go to more reader/author events. I don’t mind traveling, so that  would be fine.

So, for those of you that are already full-time authors, what have I missed?

Now let’s hop over and see what the other authors would do.

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December 3, 2018

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

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