Mindy Hardwick's Blog, page 15

Midwinter’s Eve Giveaway Hop Winner

Congratulations to Kristia! You are the winner of the Midwinter’s Eve Giveaway Hop! Check your email for your two books!

Button Poetry

One of the things I love is spoken word poetry performed by teens. Thanks to the recommendation of a dear friend who works with teens and adults to help them find their voices and stories through poetry, I subscribe to Button Poetry.

You can subscribe to their You Tube Videos here.

This week, they are doing a Best of 2015. This is one of my favorites–“For Teenage Girls.”

“Little girls with big ideas are scarier than monsters.”

As we enter 2016, I ask myself and  I ask you….what big ideas are you holding which might be scarier than monsters?

“The world is waiting for you to set it on fire. Trust in yourself and burn.”

 

 

 

Midwinter’s Eve Giveaway Hop

 

Happy Mid-Winter’s Eve! I’m participating in the Mid-Winter’s Eve Giveaway Hop, sponsored by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Bookhounds. 

I’m always happy when my favorite romance authors have holiday books, and this year, was no exception. as romance author, Sheila Roberts has a new holiday book, Christmas On Candy Cane Lane, which is a part of her series set in the great town of  set in the great town of Icicle Falls (inspired by Leavenworth, WA),

I also love to read books in the Harlequin Heartwarming line which is the sweet romance category. And this holiday season I was happy to find a great book, Winter Wedding Bells which contains three novellas, The Kiss, The Wish, The Promise.

So without further ado, I will be giving away both ebooks as a part of the Midwinter’s Eve Giveaway Hop.

To be entered to win, all you need to do is leave me a comment telling me why you enjoy reading holiday romance. Be sure to include your email address! I will select a winner and announce it on January 2nd, 2016.. The winner will receive BOTH books! (Open to both International and U.S. entries). Please, only one entry per person.

Good luck! Happy Mid-Winter’s Eve!

You can find all the blogs participating in the Mid-Winter’s Eve Giveaway Hop here.

Writing a Summer Story When It’s December

I’m currently drafting the second book in the Cranberry Bay series. Sweetheart Summer is Katie and Sawyer’s story and takes place…yes…in the summer around the July 4th holiday.

As I write, I’m surrounded by lighted Christmas trees, festive holiday lights on houses, the smell of evergreen from candles and trees, and freshly baked holiday cookies. I’m attending Christmas concerts, shopping for gifts and sewing holiday projects.

And yet, here I am writing a summer story!

This is often the case when working on seasonal stories–due to editorial and release deadlines, I am writing the stories in the opposite season I am currently living.

So I have learned a couple tricks to help keep me in the season of my story–and not let those festive cut-out cookies sneak their way into my summer story!

Brainstorm Seasonal Sensory List: When I begin the first draft of my new story, I also open a new document and brainstorm seasonal elements that go with the five seasons for the story. I also include a list of festivals and events which would take place in that season. For example my current summer brainstorm sheet has things such as July 4th picnics, watermelon, BBQ, warm days, farmer’s markets.
Pinterest: I love Pinterest and have created a board for both Sweetheart Cottage (Cranberry Bay #1) and Sweetheart Summer. When I start to feel too much holiday and winter season, I hop onto Pinterest, do a search for summer or July 4th and start pinning the recipe, craft and decorating ideas.
Read books set in the summer. This one is the hardest for me. I love reading holiday romances. But I realized that wasn’t helping me stay in the summer season when I sat down to write. So, I pulled up my summer romances on my Kindle such as Tara Randal’s Harlequin Heartwarming series, The Business of Weddings including: Honeysuckle Bride, Magnolia Bride, and Orange Blossom Brides  and started reading. This helps ground me into the summer more than reading about kisses under mistletoe.
Watch movies set in the summer--Same as the reading. Seeing movies with scenes of swimming in rivers and festive picnics on beaches helps with the details of my summer scenes more than a dark, rainy night in December.

 

Do you have any ideas for writing in a season opposite the one you are experiencing?

 

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day

It’s Giveaway Day at Sew Mama Sew. For those of you who enjoy sewing, this is a great chance to win fabric, patterns, and homemade items.

Giveway Day runs through Sunday, December 13.

You can find all the patterns and fabric and supplies here.

And the homemade items here.

Sew Mama Sew is one of my favorite sewing blogs to follow. Plus, there are so many great tutorials on her website here.

I think the gals in the sewing circle in Sweetheart Cottage would love Sew Mama Sew!

Good luck!

Real Life Flood Pictures in Cranberry Bay

Cranberry Bay is a fictional town I have created for my sweet, contemporary romance series. It is based on the North Oregon Coast towns of Nehalem and Wheeler, both of which sit on the Nehalem river.

In my story, Sweetheart Cottage, one of the key scenes between the hero and the heroine takes place when the river floods the vintage cottages they are working on.

This week, I’ve been writing on the coast, and we’ve had a couple large winter storms come through the area. I had an opportunity to take pictures of the flooded Nehalem river. This is what Rylee and Bryan would have experienced in Sweetheart Cottage.

Sweetheart Cottage is available now as print or ebook.

 

 

 

January Writing Classes for Teens and Adults

I’m teaching a couple different writing classes in January.

Map It Out: Creating a Setting for Your Story is an on-line class for teens with the Loft Literary Center.The class begins on January 18 and runs until February 14. There is an early bird discount if you register before December 18.

This would make a great gift for a teen in your life who likes to write. (Ages 13-18).

Registration can be found here

Course Description: Setting our story in a rich and varied landscape is important to our story. But, how do we create a setting that supports not only our character’s journey, but also helps to drive the plot? In this class, we’ll look at the details of setting and create a setting guidebook for our story’s world while looking at how to integrate setting into both plot and character. The class includes writing exercises, reading and discussion opportunities to support others in our on-line community through the sharing of our writing. Beginning to advanced teen writers will learn how to deepen their story writing skills by crafting a powerful setting. This class will be helpful to teens working on stories in all genres.

 

Writing the Picture Book at the Schack Art Center in Everett. January 14 and 21, 1:00-3:00 p.m. Registration here.

Course Description: Picture books are the most beloved story form of children’s writing. But, how easy is it to write a picture book?  In this class, we’ll look at how to create a memorable character, how to structure a picture book, as well as markets available to picture book writers. This is an interactive workshop with writing exercises and peer feedback. Students will complete a draft of a picture book story. The class is appropriate for both writers and illustrators with the focus on the writing of the story.  All Levels.

Write for Rights

This fall, I read a book entitled, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson.

The book tells the story of “Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.”–from the Goodreads page description.

Recently, I learned of Amnesty International’s Program, Write for Rights. It takes place from December 4 to the 18th and is very simple. You sign up to write one to multiple letters for people who have lost their rights.

The list of this year’s cases can be found here.

One of this year’s cases is Albert Woodfox,  a man who has been in solitary confinement in a Louisiana jail for over 40 years for a murder he maintains he did not commit. There was no physical evidence linking him to the crime, his conviction has been overturned three times, and a judge has ordered his unconditional release – yet the Louisiana authorities continue to block his release.  You can read his case here.

Amnesty International has done all the work and sample letters can be found for each person as well as ways to submit on-line letters in support of this year’s cases rights. There are even classroom kits and ways to host a writing party.

It only takes a few minutes, but Write for Rights is a great way to champion for someone who has lost their rights.

 

 

Looking Back and Eyeing the Future: Goal Setting

It’s the end of the 2015 and about this time of the year, I start thinking about my writing goals for the next year.

It was fun to reread this post from January 2015 where I talk about the writing needing to come first and three projects I needed to finish. I am happy to report that all three of those projects were finished in the beginning of 2015.

I finished the final draft of my memoir, Kids In Orange: Voices from Juvenile Detention based on an amazing editorial critique. This fall I posted the first three chapters on Wattpad and am currently in the process of submitting this book to traditional publishers and agents.
I finished the final draft of Seymour’s Secret, a middle grade based on another editorial critique I received from Sarah Cloots. This book I have been submitting to agents and editors. I’m considering taking this one out with Eagle Bay Press but the challenge is middle grade books have not caught in the Indie publishing the way romance books are selling and I’m not sure it will find it’s readers.
I finished not only the fast draft of my sweet contemporary romance, Sweetheart Cottage, but also a draft based on an editorial critique from Bev Katz Rosenbaum and then turned it over to Danica Winters and her team at SPS Publishing to bring it out to readers in November.
And, I dealt with the unexpected plot twist in my career this year of having Musa Publishing go out of business just at the time my tween book, Stained Glass Summer, was about to move to a widely distributed print. Unwilling to let that story or my young adult romance, Weaving Magic, whose contract was up with MuseItUp Publishing, disappear, I learned how to bring both of those books out under my own imprint, Eagle Bay Press and this opened the door to my decision to take my Cranberry Bay romance series out through Eagle Bay.

 

So, all in all, 2015 was a good writing year!

 

Now for those 2016 writing goals…..

Draft, revise and publish book two in the Cranberry Bay series, Sweetheart Summer. The goal is to have this book to readers by June 2016. I am currently fast drafting it and on the schedule with my developmental editor for late February, so it’s moving along. I am finding it fun to continue to write in a series which is already started–the world building of my town is already done and my characters were all introduced in the first book. Each book will be able to be read as a stand alone book, but it’s fun to link them as a series.
Draft, revise and publish book three in the Cranberry Bay Series, Sweetheart Santa. The goal is to have this book out for the holiday season of 2016, thus giving three books in the series with two more to write.
Revise, send out for an editorial edit, revise and consider a January 2017 publication date of my memoir, The World is a Sniff. This is a story about how my dog and I flunked the reading therapy dog test but found home on the beaches of Cannon Beach. My dog is going to be five this year and I’m getting a little worried I’ll be taking a very elderly dog to book signings if I don’t get a move on this story. I have a draft completed, but it needs a large revision and then a freelance editorial eye on it before I consider bringing it out with Eagle Bay Press.
Continue to submit Kids in Orange: Voices from Juvenile Detention and Seymour’s Secret to agents and editors...with a relook at the situation in summer. The publishing world is constantly changing and when I’m submitting, I make sure to target a six-month goal with another look at how things are at the end of the six months.

What are your goals for 2016?

Thankful to You Blog Hop Winner

Thank you to all who participated in the Thankful for You Blog Hop. I am happy to announce the winner of the $10 Amazon Gift Card is: Sally Peckham!