A Smile

I admit I'm a Weird Al fan.  So when I came across this on YouTube, I just had to share.  I hope you enjoy.

'Tis The Season

Every month I meet up with a group of wonderful people and we talk/encourage each other in writing.  So last month at our monthly meeting we brought books to give to Toys For Tots.  This is a charity very dear to my heart.

So each of us brought one or two books (this isn't all of them) and explained why we picked them out.

Couldn't pass up an opportunity for a photo of this wonderful group.

May your holiday season be filled with love and laughter.

Beginning Sentences

An author always hopes that their beginning sentence pulls the reader in.  Sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail.    Hopefully we succeed more than we fail.  

The writer's group that I'm in does a 'starter sentence' every month.  It can be really interesting to see the different directions people will go with the same sentence.  Sometimes that sentence will grab me, just begging for a snippet of a story and I'll come up with something that amuses me and hopefully the other writers.  Other times the sentence will stare at me ominously and growl, daring me to even try.  I'd love to tell you that I plug away and eventually overcome, but that would be a lie.  And I try not to lie to my readers.

So today I was at a workshop with some of my fellow authors at the local public library (Yes they are still there and you should go visit one immediately!) and they had this quiz with beginning sentences.  I'll admit I couldn't answer them all.

Can you?

Now don't cheat and google them.  I'll leave the answers in the comments section in a few days.

Have fun and good luck!

Which novel begins with this line:

1. "Call me Ishmael."

2.  "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."

3.  "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth."

4.  "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."

5.  "Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested."

6.  "'Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents,' grumbled Jo, lying on the rug."

7.  "This is the saddest story I have ever heard."

8.  "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

9.  "The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new."

10.  "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice."

Halloween Thoughts

Halloween is my favorite holiday.  Don't ask me why, I just do.

So I tried to think of something profound to share, since I've been extremely lax on my posts.  But I've come up with nothing.

Instead I will share some Edgar Allan Poe memes.  Normally I'd do something terrifying like Stephen King, but I'm kicking it old school this year.

An excellent read on Halloween night.

I know many people like this.  

And just cause it tickled my funny bone.

Happy Halloween!!!

Count Down: 0 Days

Today is the day!  The day I have anxiously been waiting for.

At 5 pm tonight I will be signing books!

I know people may think I'm weird, but it finally seems completely real.  And I'm a nervous wreck!  Those butterflies in my tummy have turned into stampeding elephants!

However, I do hope you will all come out and see me.  Hopefully by then I'll be calmer.

Count Down: 1 Day

That's right!  You read the title correctly! 

Tomorrow is the book signing!

I hope you're able to join us at East Beach Sandwich Company tomorrow.  If you can't please go  purchase one of our books from Amazon or if you know one of the contributing authors, try getting one from them.

Count Down: 2 Days

When did those butterflies become stampeding elephants?

Those who know me, know I have an odd ball sense of humor.  So I thought I would share it with you.

As my nephew, JD, would say...    "I'm getting all excitedy!"

I hope you are too.  

Count Down: 3 Days

Only three more days until the book signing.

Really that's not too far off...  But it feels like an eternity!

That's the hardest part.  Waiting.  

Waiting for the edits.  Waiting for the revisions.  Waiting for the book to be published.  Waiting for the release.  And waiting for the book signing.  

And don't forget to include the promoting in there.  Get the word out there.  Post.  Blog.  Do what you can to get the word out about your book!

Patience shall endure.

Hope to see you there!

Count Down: 4

I realize that I missed day 5.  Sorry about that.  Things can get hectic some times.

First and foremost...

And I can't seem to hide it!  I'm walking around with a grin on my face and probably annoying the dickens out of my friends and family.

Side note.  Thanks to those who're being patient with me.  It is my first publication after all.  And I love you all for being my support system, by grinning and bearing it instead of bonking me on the noggin and telling me to chill.

And yes, my friends, I am a Star Trek type of gal.  So I thought it very appropriate to share this meme.

Bonus!  You got a tid bit about me that you may or may not have known.  I do try to share.

Count Down: 6

The count down continues.

As we get closer to the date I admit those butterflies are fluttering about!

I can't believe that in less than a week I'll be signing books.  That's right!  I'll be signing on my stories front page.

It's so exciting!

I do hope you'll be able to join me in the next step of my exciting adventure.

Count Down: 7

It's hard to believe, but there are only 7 days until the book signing!

I hope you are all as excited as I am.

If you are unable to join us at the book signing I encourage you to go ahead and purchase the book on Amazon.  It's available in paperback and electronic versions.

And every day is a good day to read a book.

I hope you enjoy!

Count Down: 8

Only 8 days until the book signing!  Just thought I'd share in case anyone forgot.


The exciting news is that if you're interested in the charities that we are donating all the proceeds are going to you can click this link.

So now instead of saying “proceeds to benefit local literacy charities” we can now say “proceeds of the sale of the book will be donated to Project Light and the Sinkinson Dyslexia Foundation".    

Which really makes me happy.

So happy in fact that I just had to share.  

This was another part of the process that can be hard.  We wanted to donate all the proceeds, so we aren't making a dime ourselves.  It's writing for the love of writing.  We had to find a charity to donate any proceeds to.  There are so many worthy charities out there, so it's hard to choose.  We did narrow it down to wanting to support a local charity and some how linking it to literacy.  

So keep coming back to see what else is going on and check in for other updates.

Count Down: 9

We are in single digits now as we count down to the book signing.

Only 9 more days until you can get your book signed by 9 of the 10 contributing authors as well as the author who penned our forward.

This is a great time to not only purchase your book and have it signed by the authors, but to chat with us.  We love our readers!

I hope to see you at the East Beach Sandwich Company on August 5th from 5 - 8 pm.  

It's Official!

In case you haven't looked to the top left of this blog you may not realize it, but...

We have officially released our book!!

It's for sale at Amazon in paperback and e-book formats!  I can not even begin to express how excited I am.  Imagine Snoopy's happy dance happening here.

If you'd like to have an autographed copy, we will be doing a book signing on August 5th at the East Beach Sandwich Company from 5-8 pm.  Would love to see you stop by!

Interview

The count down begins to the launch of the book.  However, that's not what this post is about.  I realize that I haven't done a lot with the blog lately.  Sorry about that.

But if you're interested, you can go here to the By The Bay: East Beach Stories and check out my interview.

Each author of the book submitted a question and was then asked to answer them all.  It can prove to be interesting.

Go check it out.

Book Signing

In case you haven't checked things out.  I will be at a book signing August 5th.  I've included our flyer with all the pertinent information.

Hope I see you there!

Promoting

So now that the book is written, it's time to promote as much as possible.  Kind of a frightening step.

So what do you do?

Well on By The Bay, we've alternated between author interviews and story excerpts.  And we threw in a fun question in between that we've called Whimsical Wednesdays.  

Not exactly something I'll be doing here, but I'll keep you in the loop and share the links with you on a weekly basis.

It's A Novel!

Announcing the birth of a novel!

The novel is 187 pages and will be available for purchase as of August 5th.

The book launch is August 5th at 5 p.m. at the East Beach Sandwich Company in Norfolk, VA.  Many of the authors will be in attendance to sign your copy.

Hope to see you there!

Cover Art Reveal!

Cue the epic opening theme number.  Or even a choir of angels singing.

Finally, I can reveal the cover art for the anthology that I have published a story in.  The book title is By The Bay: East Beach Stories.  It is a collection of 12 fictional stories that will have a connection to the real neighborhood of East Beach.  East Beach is a small community set along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in the northeast corner of Norfolk, Virginia.

Isn't it lovely?

The scene of grass, dunes and shoreline was done in oils by fine artist and fellow author Gina Warren Buzby.  You can see more of her wonderful works at GinaWarrenBuzby.com.

For more information about the project, the stories and the contributing authors go to bythebaystories.blogspot.com.

Exciting Times

Advanced Reader's Copy of By The Bay

So recently I was able to proof an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) of By The Bay: East Beach Stories.  This is not the cover art, but the insides are what will be in the book.

And proceeds from this book will be going to a local charity.  More on that later, I promise.

Color me excited!

It truly makes it 'real' to see your story printed in a book.  And this is my first published piece.

What's In A Name?

Most authors write under a nom de plume, also known as a pen name.  That way they can keep their anonymity.  Not a bad idea.  Sometimes you just don't want what you write to interfere with your day to day life.

So when I started this journey this came up.  I know now you're wondering if this is my real name.  It is!  So no worries there.

I turned to my husband to see what he thought.  He's the one I always turn to when I've got a big decision and need some input.  We're a team and this would affect him as well.

He said that I should use my real name.  How else could he prove that his wife's a writer.  We had a great chuckle over that.

So be it your real name or a nom de plume, wear it with pride!

Where To Begin

Probably with the how did this come about part.

I've always enjoyed writing.  At some point in time I'm sure I thought I would be a published author, but life seemed to get in the way.

I would always wander back for short periods of time.  Mostly joining in with friends to write fan fiction.  Yes, you read that right.  I did write fan fiction.

Until recently I'd completely stopped writing.  And then a friend, who is also a published author, asked me if I'd ever thought about writing.  We were in book club together.  I said I had, but had stopped.

She then invited me to join a writer's group.  And I did.  

And now I've submitted a short story for publication.  More on that later.

So thank you Jayne Ormerod for taking me by the hand and helping me out!