From Sweden with Love!

 

New year, new books?

Happy January! I’m not one of those people who make resolutions just because it’s the new year. I tried it in the past and realized I never stuck to it. Instead, I ask myself what I still need to do. I still need to finish writing a few books (more of that later) and I need to decide if I want to continue indie publishing or focus on getting traditionally published (or some hybrid). The main thing I want to finish though is a book…or several.I want to publish at least two of them this year. I’m not going to swear that I will publish a book a month. I’m not one of those turbo writers (even though I sometimes wish I were). I am a slow writer. Pretty much, I am a tortoise. But I have a plan and it involves finishing and publishing at least two books this year.

 

Something new

I’ve always loved historical fiction but I never dared to write it. The amount of research needed for a historically accurate story felt daunting and I really didn’t feel like having to contend with debating readers who’d claim that Black and Brown people didn’t exist in Europe at a certain time (even though they did but just weren’t mentioned in history books) or forget about this wonderful thing called poetic license that we authors use to invent details to enrich our stories. But for a while now a story has been brewing within me. It’s set in the past and the present and involves a house by the sea, an inheritance and two sets of lovers separated by around 200 years. I’ve plotted the contemporary timeline. Now I am working on the part set in the past, which would be a few years following the Second Battle of Copenhagen, which took place 16 August - 5 September 1807.

 

 

I like the idea of these pairs of lovers who are somehow connected despite the centuries between them. Some details are based on history, some are my own invention. It’s just been so exciting delving into their stories and teasing it out. To keep me motivated as I write, I’ve made an inspiration image for my experiment, which has the working title of The Keepsakes House.

 Getting back in the swing of things

After an unintentionally long hiatus, I’m finally beginning to enjoy writing again but the words aren’t coming to me as easily as before. I think a lot of this is down to me trying to find a good rhythm again. I moved from a large city (with a multitude of cafés and coworking spaces where I could write) to a small town (with only three cafés and a library to use as writing spaces).

 I haven’t figured out yet which place is good for writing. The library is fine as long as it’s before the kids at the local school are done for the day. When they arrive, the library goes from calm and soothing to riotous. Apparently, kids here haven’t quite understood that you aren’t supposed to run, scream and act like you’re on a playground in libraries. And since my husband and I both work remotely thanks to COVID, I need a place to escape to where I can write without the distractions of home. I have a small home office, but it’s where I do my day job-related writing. I write there on the weekends but on weekdays I need another place to write.

I am sure I will find it soon.

In the pipeline

But, even with not quite finding the perfect rhythm, the words are coming. I’ve got several WIPs in various states of near-completion: a novella in the Maybe… series called Maybe Now; a travel love story set in Taormina, Sicily; a second-chance-at-love novella called Slow Song; a novel and novella set in the fictional Vermont town of Hunters Grove (from my debut holiday novel, Snowbound); two stories for my new series (Love in Sweden) that are both closing in on 60k words and my historical experiment.

   Which cover do you like for Maybe Now? I still haven’t quite figured it out yet.

 

  I’m aiming to get Maybe Now and the Hunters Grove stories done ASAP. I want to release the Maybe… novella by June and the Hunters Grove novel by November. And I hope you’ll love the characters and their love stories as much as I do.

Kim Golden lives and writes in southern Sweden. Originally from Philadelphia, she moved to Sweden in 1995 for love and is still with the Swede who stole her heart. Kim writes romantic women’s fiction featuring Black women who often live abroad and find love where they least expect it. Check out Kim’s latest release, Near Enough to Hold.  Follow Kim on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

New Year, New Me?

 

Hi, I'm Pippa Jay, author of scifi and supernatural stories to engage your emotions. 

First, I have to apologize for my absence. Lately I've been feeling like my brain is falling out, and stresses at work and home only seem to have made it worse. So for the new year, I'm hopeful science will be able to improve my mental state because right now it feels like it needs rebooting. 🤯

And then maybe I'll get around to the edits on the third novel in my main series that I've had since June. Oh, and the edits on a short story from December 2020. And two from a few years back. Oops? The pandemic did enable me to release a novella that had been sitting on my hard drive for seven years, and another novella in my main sci-fi rom series. So it hasn't all been bad. But I really need to clear this major brain fog that's been growing worse over the past two years.

Link

Vintro. The planet that had stolen all her dreams.

Melandria Solei has always dreamed of commanding a starship and exploring the universe. When her own dark-eyed older lover steals the position she's worked for, she never expects to go chasing after him in a stolen ship to a world colder than revenge...

Link

How could a moment's anger destroy so much happiness?

It is a question that will haunt him. When an old enemy comes to Kasha-Asor to kidnap their daughter, armed with a weapon that could end everything, Keir is forced to leave an injured Quin on Lyagnius. But his quest for a cure and their missing daughter will come at a terrible cost.

Book #2.5 of the Redemption series.

Trigger warning: the loss of a child.

So I can't have lost my mind that badly... 😆

What’s New in ’22 … Delsora Lowe

For me, it is not what’s new for the new year, but what I will recycle and make new in 2022.

I’ll admit, 2021 was not the most productive year I’ve had. Between trying to figure out how to live a normal life, in a crazy situation, and then experiencing many life-changing situations, both sad and happy, I had difficulty making my goals that I set out for myself last year.

For 2022, I’ve brought forward all that I planned and was excited about in 2021, in hopes of accomplishing them in 2022. That list includes both professional and personal goals. For several years I have had on my list to join a local, non-profit organization that provides a meeting place and a list of activities for both teens and retirees. Last spring, I finally joined. The activities that interested me most were exercise classes, various art classes, and a writing group. Did I do any of them? 

A BIG FAT NO!

So, what’s new for ’22, is to get myself out of the house, with mask in place, and get to exercise class two days a week, join the writing group, and explore some art classes that will definitely take me out of my comfort zone. My sister was an artist. My grandmother was a juried craftswoman, mostly in painting on tins and velvets. My grandfather dabbled in painting, as did my mom. My daughter is an interior designer and a floral designer. Me? I loved art when I was in school, and I took craft classes as an adult and loved rug braiding, pottery, knitting, etc. But I never pursued any of them beyond the adult education classes I took.

2022—here I come.  Time to get out of my comfort zone and learn a new craft. If only, because it will challenge my creativity in a different way than writing. And by doing so, my hope is to jumpstart my writing,

I’m convinced that if I can activate my creative brain in other areas beside writing, that I might jumpstart my writing creativity, as well. In other words, allow the light of creativity to shine through once more.

“It is the light in the lantern which shows you the path,
 not the lantern.”
from a Yogi Tea Bag

And that leads me to what I love…writing. Alas, 2021 was a bad year for me. I totally shut down. I missed most of my goals I set for myself at the end of 2020, and I beat myself up over it. But hey…as I write this, we are in the last few weeks in December and all of a sudden, my creative juices are flowing through my brain and into my fingers. Time to take advantage, pull all my 2021 goals forward, and kick up a dance of creativity (both physical and mental) for 2022! And STOP with the I’m a failure self-talk.

The words of encouragement I have chosen to guide me for 2022 are:

Self-Forgiveness and Looking Forward

What are you going to do to move forward and find something new in ’22?

~ cottages to cabins ~ keep the home fires burning ~

Delsora Lowe writes small town sweet and spicy romances and contemporary westerns from the mountains of Colorado to the shores of Maine.

Author of the Starlight Grille series, Serenity Harbor Maine novellas, and the Cowboys of Mineral Springs series, Lowe has also authored short romances for Woman’s World magazine. Her new novella, The Love Left Behind, will release in late fall, 2020.

Social Media Links:
Author website: www.delsoralowe.com
Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/delsoraloweauthor/community/
Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Delsora-Lowe/e/B01M61OM39/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Books2Read Author page: https://www.books2read.com/ap/8GWm98/Delsora-Lowe
BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/delsora-lowe-93c6987f-129d-483d-9f5a-abe603876518
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16045986.Delsora_Lowe
Instagram: #delsoralowe / https://www.instagram.com/delsoralowe/

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What's New with Lisa Kinley

 

Thank you so much to the wonderful genre-istas of Romancing the Genres for letting me join today! My name’s Lisa Kinley and I write cozy mysteries featuring Hazel Hastings, a snarky, plus-sized romance author and college English professor with two cats, too many hobbies, and a popular Instagram account about donuts (but she hates being called a donut influencer).

What’s new in ’22 for me? It’s a big year! My debut cozy, Meet Cutes and Murder, just came out a couple of weeks ago. I’m planning to release the second in the series, Bad Reviews and Bloodshed this summer and the third, Romance and Red Herrings, in late 2022. There will be a lot of writing and editing and fretting and brainstorming in my future.

On the personal front, I turn 40 this year and will be starting a new job in two weeks. Both are big milestones for me. I began working at the job I just left in 2005, which is the same year I began writing romance novels (and the year I met the amazing Paty Jager!). I didn’t plan it, but the week I left that job is also the week I released my first book. Isn’t it funny how timing works out sometimes? I’m so excited about this new job, my upcoming cozies, and some romances I’m working on under another pen name.

My focus for this year will be consistency in my writing. For the past 17 years, I’ve been able to write what I wanted, when I wanted, and to whatever pace felt right. Sometimes that meant months away from writing, sometimes that meant writing in every free moment.

Now that I’m published and have editing appointments with someone who books out a few months in advance, I need to be more consistent with my productivity. I’m hoping my new job will help with that. It’s remote and narrower in both scope and responsibility than my previous one, which will hopefully leave me the time, energy, and emotional bandwidth to make writing more of a priority. This will be a year of learning my process, pushing my limits, and hopefully making steps toward being a full-time author.

Wishing you a wonderful 2022! I hope it’s full of all good things, great books, and rewarding words. 

And if you’re interested in a funny cozy mystery set in Oregon with some (elder) millennial vibes, check out Meet Cutes and Murder. You can also find me on Instagram, Facebook or my website.

Finding a Writing Path!

by Diana McCollum

 

First let me say my writing career has been on hiatus. 2019, Like many of you the pandemic stopped me in my tracks. I couldn’t seem to get a grip on what I should be doing, and I let things slide and my writing went nowhere.

 

2021, still dealing with the pandemic, sanitizing like crazy, wiping down groceries with sanitizer, washing masks, and avoiding people. Then in April of 2021, my husband and I took a trip to CA to have our first visit in 18 months with family. On that trip we decided to move back to CA to be closer to family. 

We put our house up for sale May 3^rd and it sold by May 25^th .  Then back to CA to find a home to move to. So the summer was all about moving and getting settled.

 

This year 2022, we are pretty much settled. I am taking the path to publication.

 I have committed to taking writing classes from POV Authors, restarting my newsletter, blogging for Romancing the Genres and Windtree Press. I’ve blocked out time each week to write on my work in progress. I also plan on venturing out of the romance genre and writing a short murder mystery to be included in an anthology Windtree Press is producing in the fall.

I’m pulling out an unfinished MS “The Rose Witch” and intend to finish that novel this year.

 

I am excited to finally be excited to write again. My desk in clean, papers have been filed or discarded, and calendar has been filled out with dates for classes etc.

 

Most of all, I’d love to attend a conference in person. There is nothing quite like being around other authors. The excitement, the good vibes and the networking, all good.

 

Are you looking forward to in person conferences and meetings?

Happy Holidays!

 

 

New You in 2022? by Lynn Lovegreen

 

The beginning of the year is a great time to do something new. Want to try a new hobby, join a club, work toward a big goal? You can do one or all of those things—a new year, a new you!

 

I’m guessing you already have a new year’s resolution or other goal for your “official” commitment for this year. Let me suggest some smaller things you might try during 2022. These items may not be earth-shaking, but they will provide moments of satisfaction or joy. That’ll give you the feeling of a new you!

 

·      Put on a favorite song. Sing along or dance to it.

·      Take a new route on your next walk.

·      Try a movie or TV show that sounds intriguing.

·      Play—ride a bike, play a game, or skip down the sidewalk.

·      Try a new food. 

·      Watch birds, either at a neighborhood feeder or out in nature.

·      Tell someone thank you.

·      Pull a favorite item out of your closet and wear it for a whole day.

·      Watch rain fall or the clouds roll by.

·      Make a list of five things you admire about yourself.

 

After you’ve done something new or fun or satisfying, are your shoulders a little less heavy? Do you feel bright as a shiny penny? Then you’re new in 2022! Good for you!

 

Any ideas to add to my list? What makes you feel joy?

 

Lynn Lovegreen has lived in Alaska for most of her life. After twenty years in the classroom, she retired to make more time for writing. She enjoys her friends and family, reading, and volunteering for her local library. Her young adult historical romance is set in Alaska, a great place for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com.