Marcia King-Gamble's Blog, page 69

Boomer Sacred

 By Courtney PierceWhen I think of the word sacred, images flash in mymind of religious artifacts, artwork, music, and holy sites throughoutthe world. But those are what we’ve been taught to us to deem as sacred.Humans arequite magical beings, so this is the time to look deep within ourselves to findthe inner light to carry forward into the New Year. Spirituality sets our moralcompass,

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

by Diana McCollum As I create this blog it is Christmas Eve. We from Romancing the Genres wish you and your kin the very best Holiday!  Enjoy!I hope you enjoyed the pictures. This last one is the winter sky in Bend, OR, that I took last year. The tradition at my house is everyone gets a Christmas stocking filled with surprises even grown ups and kids. What is a tradition at your house?

Looking Forward, Looking Back, by Peggy Jaeger

 Hard to believe we are finally going to put a pin in 2021 in a few days. I mean...come on - this hasn't been the best year for the world, has it?To put things in perspective, though, my little world did okay in 2021. No one in my immediate family got Covid or any of its variants because we were all hyper-vigilant: got vaccinated, got boostered, never stopped wearing masks in public, vigorous

Sacred - Alice Rosewell

I have grappled for days with this month’s theme, continually disappearing down rabbit holes of gloom, and generating hundreds of preachy words. In large part this is because the dictionary defines sacred as ‘connected with God or a god, or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving of veneration.’Some of us do not believe in any god, can we still have a religious purpose?A dictionary

Celebrating the Seasons Reading Holiday Romances … Delsora Lowe

We celebrate many sacred holidays inDecember…among them Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Thanksgiving is over. AndNew Year’s Eve is ahead of us. I am sure I have missed many sacredcelebrations. But since this is not what my blog is about this month, I’ll notgive you a rundown.Instead, I have given you another list ofholiday books I have read this season, or plan to continue to read in

What’s New in Publishing: Preparing for 2022 by Maggie Lynch

Whenever I start to prepare this post every December, I look back at my previous posts. My post last year focused on four major areas of change:  1) the impact of the pandemic on book products and fan events; 2) the rise in sales of subscription services across the board; 3) International sales expanding at a higher rate than U.S. sales; and 4) Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to make a

Trying To Keep A Christmas Tradition

 My family heritage is Latvian and I'd love to be able to pass on at least one Latvian Christmas tradition to my kids. I have tried - and failed - to make the famous Latvian 'piragi' (absolutely delicious bacon rolls). Even after going to a special cooking class at the Melbourne Latvian House, they were still a dismal failure. But I'm not giving up!Another Christmas tradition (which is also a bit

A Novel Notion: the Novelette by Eleri Grace

 One of our themes this month is "what's new in publishing." While it may not be new to publishing -- and if our dear friend Merriam-Webster is to be trusted, it's not a new concept generally -- the novelette is new to me. Since the pandemic has been a strain on my creativity, my editor suggested I pursue writing a short. "A short story?" I asked. "No, no. A short," she replied. "A novella?" I

What I Hold Most Sacred

 By: Marcia King-Gamblewww.lovemarcia.com December rolled around faster than I expected it to. It’s alwaysbeen the perfect time of year to reflect on life in general. While I don’t do NewYear’s resolutions, I create vision boards, they help to keep me on track. Theend of the year is the perfect time to reflect on the things you considersacred and make them a part of your 2022 game plan.That

2022 Predictions for Independent Publishing by Debbie Young

This time last year, my predictions for the new year were influenced by the impact of Covid on indie authors, on readers, and on the publishing industry. Twelve months later, with the pandemic still rumbling on like a multi-generational saga, we’ve mostly accepted Covid restrictions as the new normal (for now), and as we head into the new year, the biggest conversation points in the indie