Authentic Romantic Historical Fiction

Tag: Authors (Page 1 of 2)

Last week at retreat was fun!

Last week

I went to a writers retreat last week that is sponsored by a group I started thirty-odd years ago. They have it at a huge, gorgeous cabin in the woods in eastern Arizona.

Thirty-seven other brilliant writers were there, all women, all super nice. We always bring snacks to share. The goodies covered an entire counter in the kitchen. Such a multitude of yummies! As always, we had plenty of chocolate to stoke our brains. This year, however, I noticed a trend toward healthy snacks.

One thing that could have affected us badly was a fire burning in the Tonto National Forest southwest of our location. The fire caused a lot of smoke in the air, so several of us stayed indoors to limit our exposure to polluted air. The smoke did create some spectacular sunsets, though, and a pretty odd-looking sun.

Last week's hazy sky and odd sun

The sun last week in Eastern Arizona

Work in Progress

I did a fair amount of research for my work in progress (WIP), which features Mrs. Charity Bingham from the Owen Family Saga novel Trail of Storms. I reorganized what I had previously written, and added several thousand words, as well. This so-far untitled work is a romantic story for the Shenandoah Neighbors line that I hope you’ll love.

I’m excited about continuing work on it, but I’m slightly impeded by a task I need to complete for the Payson Book Festival.

Payson Book Festival

That event is coming up on Saturday, July 20, in the ballroom of the Mazatzal Hotel & Casino, on Highway 87 at the south side of Payson, Arizona.

The Book Festival is a family-friendly event that runs from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., featuring 90 authors, a bookstore, the Story Monster, lots of kids’ activities, and presentations and entertainment from featured authors in two side rooms.

Where to find me

I’ll be at Table 45 on the west side of the ballroom. Come visit me and take a look at the books at my table (also in the bookstore). They will be on sale at event prices you don’t want to miss.

See you there!

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Come see me on Saturday

I want to remind you that this Saturday from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m., I’ll be selling my signed books at the Mesa Book Festival. My booth will be in the block of South Macdonald Street directly off Main Street.

I’ll have all the following available at special, low festival prices!

  • Gone for a Soldier
  • The Man from Shenandoah
  • Spinster’s Folly (original cover)
  • Ride to Raton
  • Trail of Storms
  • The Zion Trail
  • Western Stories (very limited supply)
  • From Julia’s Kitchen: Owen Family Cookery (limited supply)
  • The Checklist: Indie Publishing My Way (nonfiction publishing guide)

I will see you on Saturday in beautiful downtown Mesa!

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Don’t Drink the Koolade

Some of you know the story of how I came to be an indie-published author (aka self-published). Probably more of you don’t.

The highlights are here:

  • Doctor said to put my affairs in order
  • Initial panic at thought of dying
  • I didn’t want my novel manuscripts thrown out by the kids
  • I sought out the best solution for me
  • I acted on it by publishing my first book
  • People liked the first, so I did the second one, too
  • I was Indie before it was cool
  • The doctor was wrong

That doctor actually did me a favor. I love what being in charge of my writing career does for me.

However, I see new and wanna-be authors making costly, unthinking mistakes in seeking traditional publishing for their book. I’ve done the careful cautions, but can’t save everyone from their dreams. They’ll sign the contracts, get badly burned, then ask around about how they can get out of those hideous contracts. Most times, they can’t. In a fraction of cases, they can, but only because the publisher already breached the contract.

I’m about to the point that I won’t open my mouth anymore. It’s sad.

Yesterday, one of my heroes among writers, Dean Wesley Smith, published a blog post that tells how he feels nowadays. Check it out here.

EDIT: I’ve fixed the link. I’m blaming the error on my fat fingers using the WordPress phone app.

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