New Year Musing by Bonnie Hobbs

                                        

I woke up with a word bouncing gently in my mind. I didn’t hear it, I saw it, as is often the case. Vicissitudes. Big word for such an early hour, but here at the beginning of a new year, I’m thinking about life’s ups and down, that ol’ taking our knocks, reeling with blows, but more often, just sliding along.

Bonnie Hobbs

We dance a kind of two-step. You know, one step forward, two steps back and slide, slide, slide. The dance of writing goes that way for me. Advance, retreat, make progress, delete whole scenes, and lately, with seven manuscripts in various ways “completed,” I seem to be sliding sideways with most of them – rewriting, revising, resubmitting. Yet some steps in this dance have been the high-stepping kind. One book was released by Wild Rose Press last March, and two more accepted by Five Star Publishing. (Can I say this without signed contracts in hand? Or is that a sure way to invite the wrath of jealous writing goddesses?)

So maybe this coming year will bring less downs in work and life and more ups, when words come swimming into my brain on awakening, as today. So, a new year, filled with what is yet to come.

In that light, let me leave with a story about life’s surprises, shall I? Throughout my childhood my rough-talking Texas grandma filled me with stories of living on the plains. Born in 1896, married at sixteen, her girl-hood and young wife’s memories stirred my imagination—living in a “soddy,” fending off rattlers with a buggy whip, cooking on a wood-stove for twenty men at round-up time, all with a toddler to mind and a baby on her hip.

Often I now think she told the stories in an attempt to tell us, when we were whiny little monsters, to “get over ourselves.” I have even wondered lately if she made many of those stories up. They’ve been sprinkled into much of my writing, that’s for sure. I wish I’d pressured her for more before she died in 1976. Is it any wonder my stories are Women’s Frontier fiction set in the American West?

Ah, but the surprise I promised—Grandma always told us how her great-grandma was Cherokee. I scoffed as a know-it-all college girl, telling her “everyone from Texas claims Indian descent, Grandma.” Well, she’d only glare at me with squinted eyes.

Last year, feeling sentimental about Grandma, I spat in Ancestry.com’s handy tube to find out just how much of this “Indian” blood I carried. Well—wait for it. My ancestors are mostly from the British Isles. No surprise. And Grandma was right in a way. I do indeed carry a small percentage of “Indian” DNA. Yep. From the Asian subcontinent. Huh? One can only guess at the when and wherefore of the co-mingling of such genetic material. (I, of course, plan to be putting this in a short story.)

So what would Grandma say to that? Something like “pshaw!” Again, she’d be glaring at me. But I can only chuckle at life’s vicissitudes and say, “Namaste, Grandma, many blessings upon you and thank you so very much for the stories.”

Learn more about Bonnie on her website.

A Funny Thing Happened...

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Women's Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual traditions that nurture the soul.

I will admit that there have been many times on my journey to become a published author that I was excited (someone liked my story) as well as frustrated (technical difficulties). Most recently I found myself laughing which should mean I found something humorous, right?

When I e-published the last two books in the original sacred Women’s circle series in early November, I turned my sights to a much neglected part of being a published author, marketing and promotion.

Earlier (August to be exact) I dabbled in a wonderful promotion through Melissa Storm andBonnie Paulson. I say ‘dabbled’ because in the fantasy world I sometimes live in, I truly did think I would be ready in September to take advantage of the Strong Women promotion.

Nope! Didn’t happen.

Not in September or October but in November?

Of course I could be ready then. My renovated website would be out there and the previously mentioned books would be published. Full steam ahead on promotion!!!

Except there I was, newbie newbie newbie, not at all ready. Somewhere in the back of my mind I thought I just had to sign up for this cool program and write a few emails and it would all come together.

Well, the program is cool and their support people are amazing (check out ConvertKit) but, there was still a learning curve. Oh, and since I was giving (actually still am doing so) a free e-copy of Lily to anyone who signs up for Connections (mynewsletter), I had other things to learn.

Sigh…whatever happened to November?

Finally, everything is ready to go.

ConvertKit support vouches for that. I do one last read through of the emails that will go out to people who signed up in August for the promo and click “Publish”.

Now one of the things I’d been told is to include my name in the subscriber list so I am also getting the emails.

Of course I immediately checked my emails --- oops! Nothings there!!!

Checked another email address in case I put the wrong address in.

Nope, not there either.

A very long, dramatic sigh escaped. I had company for the weekend, a book signing and we’d had a snow and ice storm! I told myself after this much time another couple of days wouldn’t hurt and I knew ConvertKit Support would help me figure out what I did or didn’t do. So I enjoyed my company and the book signing and beauty of the snow and ice.

Surprise!!! The next morning there’s the email.

As soon as I saw it I realized what I Had Done.

I clicked “Publish” Friday afternoon but the time was set for 11 a.m. Laugh Out Loud!!!

I’d actually done everything right. As you read this the emails to Strong Women subscribers have all gone out.

If you missed that opportunity, click here to sign up for Connections. You’ll get an email with the download link to Lily. And through January 2017 you can purchase Elizabeth, the second book in the series at all major e-retailers and from either my website or Windtree Press for $.99.

You can learn more about The Sacred Women’s Circle series on my website.

Check out my Windtree Press author page.

Follow me on Twitter: @JudithAshley19

I’m also on Facebook

© 2017 Judith Ashley

FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY by Michelle Somers

Patrick Van Eybergen
The Royal National Park, NSW

What a fabulous way to start 2017 – as a new, fully-fledged Genre-ista!

Thank you everyone – Genre-istas and readers – for making me feel so welcome. I look forward to interacting and getting to know you all over the coming months.

Well, we’re already five days into 2017 and from what I’ve seen so far, the coming year holds a wealth of promise – opportunities galore just waiting to be snapped up.

So many possibilities...

So, saying that, where should I start with my debut appearance in Romancing the Genres?

When I sat down to compose this, my first blog as a very new, very green, Genre-ista, I stared at the blank flickering screen wondering what I could possibly write that would be of interest. Christmas is over, the New Year has just begun…

Then it hit.

Would there ever be a better time to talk of new beginnings, of fresh starts? Of setting goals and aspiring dreams?

Great, but that it’s been done to death. And what could I say that you haven’t heard before?

So, I scratched that and moved on. Considered telling you more about myself, about my writing, about why I write the stories I write. Then I scratched that, too.

I do want to share all of this with you, and more. But this moment, this first week of January 2017 – at the head of a year when my career is about to take all kinds of turns I only dreamed but never imagined it would take – I want to touch on something very close to my heart.

In the words of Susan Jeffers…

Feel the fear and do it anyway.

This is the lynchpin of my entire journey to authordom  – from the moment I decided to write a book, to the moment I put myself out there and agreed to become a part of this wonderful group of blogging authors. So what better idea for my first Romancing the Genres blog, than to share my story in the hopes of inspiring others out there to do the same. To ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’.

I’m an inveterate introvert.

One of those people who attends parties only to lurk in the shadows, hoping someone else will make the first move, that they’ll approach and say ‘hi’ and start conversation, rather than me having to step outside my comfort zone and into the Formula 1 lane of extrovertism.

Of course, after they do, I spend the rest of the evening trying not to say something embarrassing or silly. Then do it anyway.

It’s that old idiom of what we focus on coming to fruition, whether the good, the bad or the ugly. And isn’t it so much easier to focus on the negative?

So, writing stories, stepping out of the shadows into the public domain, was a big step for me. Huge, even. And, of course, being an author these days isn’t just about writing books. It’s about being a personality that readers can connect with. That means connecting back. Posting on facebook. Tweeting on Twitter. Snapping on Instagram. Skipping through the tulips of social media, leaving your mark of footprints along the way.

Well, you get my drift. All actions that are unnatural to an introvert like me.

Yet, step by baby step, six years ago I slipped out of my shell. I put myself out there, and in the process I made contacts, colleagues, friends. And slowly, those baby steps grew, until I found myself attending conferences, approaching people before they approached me, and even – yikes! – pitching my book to editors and agents.

Every one of those steps made my pulse race and my palm sweat. I took deep breaths, told myself that I could do it. I can’t honestly say I believed it, but I said the words, felt the fear and did it anyway. And after each of those steps, guess what. My pulse still raced, my palms still sweated, but something inside me lifted. As if whatever bindings had tied me to old habits were suddenly loosened. I felt light. Free.

A-mazing.  

And after a while, not only did I say the words, but I began to believe them.

I can do it…

Since those moments, I’ve pitched and published a book. Written and self-published a short story. Started a newsletter. Given television, radio and newspaper interviews. And each of those times, when my heart pounded and the sweat ran riot, I felt the fear and did it anyway. Because each of those steps brought me one step closer to my goal and a dream I’ve had for as long as I’ve been able to read and write – the dream of becoming a published author and connecting with and inspiring readers.

So, what if any message would I like you to take away from this meander down memory lane?

Don’t let your fears become the sum of your actions.

Consider what you’d like to do with your life. Dig deep, to the person beneath the armor. Rediscover those childhood dreams you nurtured before your adult self took them to task and buried them deep beneath a wall of insecurities and uncertainties.

If there’s something you desire, some deep-seated want or need that you’ve long ignored – because you never thought you could do it if it ever came about – don’t let those fears stop you from reaching out now and grasping them in the palm of your hand.

Picture that dream in your head, tell yourself you can do it, that you are amazing and able and deserving, and that anything is possible if you believe. Then feel the fear and do it anyway.

Live your dream.

Your life can be amazing. A wonder filled with so many incredible possibilities, if only you take the steps and make all that wonderfulness happen. 

Don’t doubt yourself, or tell yourself you’re not ready, that the time’s not right.

It will never be right, until you make it so.

Feel the fear and do it anyway.

And see the fruits of your endeavors prosper.

So, what steps will you take to make 2017 a stand-out year? What will you do that you’ve never done? What will you try that you’ve always wanted to try? Where will you go that you’ve always wanted to go?

Do something different. Brave. Spectacular.

Step out of your comfort zone, feel the fear and do it anyway.

Who knows what heights you’ll achieve?

Why not start right now? Comment below and tell me what you’ve always wanted to do or be or attain. I’d love to be part of your journey. To see your beginning then hear about how went.

Or to hear about your accomplishments – those times you’ve ‘felt the fear and done it anyway’. Why not share your stories to inspire others to do the same?

Start 2017 in the way you mean to continue. Step outside the boundaries of your fears and do something fabulous.

Feel the fear and do it anyway…

If you’d like to find out more about the introvert behind the writer, follow me on facebook, twitter or instagram, or sign up to my newsletter.

Michelle Somers is a bookworm from way back. An ex-Kiwi who now calls Australia home, she's a professional killer and matchmaker, a storyteller and a romantic. Words are her power and her passion. Her heroes and heroines always get their happy ever after, but she'll put them through one hell of a journey to get there.

Michelle lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her real life hero and three little heroes in the making.

Her debut novel, Lethal in Love won the Romance Writers of Australia's 2016 Romantic Book of the Year (RuBY) and the 2013 Valerie Parv Award.

If you’ve not yet read Lethal in Love, here’s what you’ve been missing:

Homicide detective Jayda Thomasz never lets her emotions get in the way of a case. So when a serial killer re-emerges after 25 years, the last thing she expects is to catch herself fantasising over the hot, smooth-talking stranger who crosses the path of her investigation.

Reporter Seth Friedin is chasing the story that’ll make his career. When he enters the world of swinging for research, he never imagines he’ll be distracted by a hard-talking female detective whose kiss plagues his mind long after she’s gone.

Past experience has shown Jayda that reporters are ruthless and unscrupulous. But when the murders get personal and danger closes in, will she make a deal with the devil to catch the killer? How far will she and Seth have to go? And do you ever really know who you can trust?

Want a teaser? Take a look...

BUY LINKS:

Amazon US     Amazon UK     Amazon Aus

Kobo     GooglePlay     iBooks    

My Bizarre Path to a Published Book...

Or… You Gotta Laugh

By Robin Weaver

Not ME...
But could have been.

In grammar school, my best friend showed me his book of short stories—pages he’d written, rather typed, and stapled together. At the ripe old age of eight, I decided the stories were the coolest thing ever.  No matter that my friend later decided he’d sleep in a coffin every night. And did.  

I wanted to be a writer, too. The stories previously tangoing in my head got penciled onto double lined paper. A few years later, I convinced my high school principal (Did I mention it was a very small school?) we needed a campus newspaper—just so I could write articles, usually about dissecting frogs or how cafeteria sour kraut smelled exactly like chem lab.

As graduation loomed, the naysayers got into my head. Parents and relatives insisted I should get a real job, a career to pay the bills. So, I set aside my dream and got a degree in Business Management. My finance career quickly evolved into technology and a computer geek was created.

I forgot about writing for a couple decades—okay, so maybe more than a couple, but a genealogy project sparked the deeply buried writer gene. I had discovered a lot of Strange in my tree—literally, my grandfather’s last name was Strange (my mom married a Cox, but we won’t go there. J). 

In the Strange branch of said family tree, I uncovered my Uncle Noverta. A man who “supposedly” killed his wife, escaped from Parchment Prison in Jackson, MS, and ended up in Colorado.  Where he was the deputy sheriff for thirty years. Too cool for words, right?

I decided to finally write that book.

Inspired by Noverta

How hard could it be?  You think, you type, you staple the pages together. RIGHT? Besides, my book would write itself.

Better yet.  I’d just use the tape-recorder on my way to Myrtle Beach.  My admin assistant could type the novel after I got home. Or maybe I’d write it during the Thanksgiving holiday.  After all, the entire book was “in my head.”

Fortunately, I wasn’t really THAT dumb.

Really.

I did what any serious wannabe writer would do.  I took a course. Being a newbie, I didn’t see any issues with a teacher…last published in the 1970s. Her pen name was on a book and that was beyond awesome. So what if the teacher quit writing entirely when her writing partner died. I did, however, get a tad suspicious when she told the entire class to write erotica because…

Anyone could get published at Ellora’s Cave.

Like I said, I’m not really THAT dumb. (One can hope, anyway.)

I decided perhaps I should read her novel and found the instructor’s book on eBay. And guess what? Her novel opened with the hero raping the heroine. I kid you not. Then, they fell madly in love.

Dear Lord. Time to move on. I found a nationally recognized writing group and started honing my craft.  After a couple years, I decided I should stop honing and submit. Only I believed I needed credentials first. Simple, right? I’d publish a short story.

After several tries and thousands of submission… Okay, after several tries and ten or so submissions….I decided I might actually be THAT dumb.  But then, I sold my mystery to an online magazine!  I got a $50 gift certificate, a plaque, and a cool notebook. My family threw a party as we eagerly awaited the published story.

Only the magazine shut down. The day before the scheduled release. Sigh.

A few months later, I sold the same store to another publisher, Crimson Dagger.  Yep, you guessed it. Three weeks later, out of business.  This time, before I got the gift certificate. Heaviest of sighs.

But I preserved, writing an entire novel.  And after more submissions and even more rejections, I sold the manuscript.

Yay!

Not so fast.  I sold the manuscript to Mardi Gras Press. For those of you who areunfamiliar, the publisher went out of business, making headlines in the process. Two weeks before my release date.

Like any dumb, eh…I mean serious writer, I didn’t give up and finally sold a different novel. I held my breath – for the entire eighteen months between my contract signing and the release date.  I was certain I’d cursed my new publisher, too. Only BLUE RIDGE FEAR actually debuted in 2012. I waited three months before I had a release party.

NOTE:  As of this moment, the publisher is still in business.  😉

CASEY RANDOLPH hopes to follow in his deceased father’s footsteps, serving the community with a star on his chest. He’s a shoo-in to win the election if he can hide his necrophobia—fear of dead bodies. As a young deputy, his condition posed no issues. Drunken NASCAR fans and fistfights over the Duke-UNC basketball rivalry were the extent of criminal activity. No more. Growing like kudzu, the Charlotte metro-area has invaded his sleepy little county, which now boasts a quarter-million people. The body count, both living and dead, keeps increasing.  All the skeletons in Casey's closet dance on a very public stage when a body is discovered in his new girlfriend's pool. With no sign anyone but Shannon can be the murderer.

Available at Amazon.com.

New Year...New Book Launch by Kristin Wallace

I’m starting off 2017 with a bang. On January 16^th, the next installment in the Shellwater Key Tales will officially launch. I’m very excited to present Book 2 in the series, Straight On Toward Paradise. Unlike the Christmas novella, this story will center once more on The Paradise Dinner Theatre, with chef Emma Bertram’s tale.

Here's a little taste...

Reece stared down at her, and the heat behind those dark eyes could have powered an entire kitchen. She shivered as his gaze dipped to her lips.

“This is insane,” he muttered.

“I know, and you hate me.”

“I don’t—” His eyes closed, head shaking as if in denial. Another beat went by, and then he opened his eyes. The wry expression returned. “You’re going to drive me crazy, Miss Bertram.”

“Just returning the favor, Mr. Casings.”

“Reece…” he said, the raspy word a command.

Emma didn’t take commands well, but when he gave the orders… “Reece.”

His chest rose and fell again. They stared at each other, the heady pulse in the room vibrant and alive.

Now what, Counselor?

Chef Emma Bertram doesn’t believe in the fantasy of happily ever after. As a teenager, she witnessed the destruction of her parents’ marriage when her father left for another woman. Lingering bitterness and a demanding career have kept her apart from her father’s new family for years. Then he and stepmother are suddenly killed. Returning to her childhood home of Shellwater Key, Florida, Emma suddenly finds herself with custody of her two half-sisters. Left with no choice but to stay in Shellwater Key, Emma accepts a job offer from her best friend Layla McCarthy as Head Chef at the old Paradise Dinner Theatre.

Renovating the dilapidated kitchen just might kill her and nothing has prepared her to become an instant mother. But it’s not her new job or her sisters that threaten Emma’s peace of mind. No, that honor belongs to her father’s law partner, Reece Casings. The buttoned-up, so-wrong-for-her, but oh-so-sexy lawyer makes Emma’s blood boil. Or is it heart race? How can she be attracted to a man who is so wrong for her in every way? A man who clearly blames Emma for the fractured relationship with her father and who loves to point out everything she’s doing wrong?

Except she cannot deny that Reece touches something in her that no man has before. But when an explosive secret boils to the surface that reveals Reece’s real connection to her family, Emma is left reeling. Can she get past the truth? And can she ever learn to forgive her father – and herself – to in order to serve up a real happily ever after ending?

I loved writing this tale. Emma is a real spitfire and serious (but super sexy) Reece Casings is her perfect foil. They set off some serious SPARKS! This tale also includes a wonderful secondary plot for Emma’s mother, Mary Bertram. She takes the extraordinary step of staying in Shellwater Key to help her daughter learn how to become a mother to two girls who represent everything she lost when her ex-husband walked out. She even gets her own unexpected romance, which was a lot of fun to write. After the contentious mother/daughter relationships in Left Turn At Paradise (Book 1), it was quite refreshing to portray a healthy and strong one in this book, LOL I hope you love this new entry in the Shellwater Key Tales...and look for Book 3 coming soon. 

As a bonus, I’m offering a chance to WIN an AMAZON KINDLE if you buy the ebook by January 24th! Once the book has downloaded, just click on the link inside to enter! You can also share the giveaway for extra chances to win!

Pre-order Buy Links:

AMAZON  ITUNES  KOBO

Kristin Wallace is the USA Today Best Selling Author of inspirational and contemporary romance, and women’s fiction filled with “Love, Laughter and a Leap of Faith”. She is the author of two best selling series, Shellwater Key Tales (sweet contemporary romance) and Covington Falls Chronicles (inspirational romance). For more information on her books, visit her website: Kristin Wallace Author