Bev Pettersen's Blog, page 100

The Joy of Ritual

As we move through the holiday season, ritual seems to be on the top of everyone’s mind. From ornaments that have been in your family for years, to specific foods passed down through generations, to someone’s annual party, ritual abounds this time of year.

I believe there’s comfort in ritual and joy in the familiar.

I also believe ritual can be a big part of writing. Selecting a certain spot and writing in it day after day. Using a special coffee mug. Writing in certain styles of notebooks.

What...

Holiday Travel Tips or I Hate Flying Who’s With Me

Here is the original blog that I meant to post last year, but ended up filtering out some of the rage. Here it is uncensored version. Holiday travel is stressful enough, but here are 10 things that make it even worse.

FYI—I was planning on doing a blog about nothing (think Seinfeld), but it turns out that a blank page isn’t that fun to read.

The back of my seat is NOT a handle to hoist your body up and down. Also, it is NOT a punching bag, chew toy, or kick boxing training tool for your toddler...

These Are A Few of My Favorite Holiday Recipes.

These days I always make my favorite thing –Reservations. My best recipes require calling up and ordering what I want then driving to pick it up. But I’m going to share a few very old favorites.

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Pecan (pronounced pee-can) Pie

Beat 1 cup sugar, 1 1/3 cups corn syrup and ¼ cup plus a tablespoon melted butter together until light/fluffy. Beat 4 eggs until light/fluffy and stir into first mixture. Pour into a 9 inch unbaked pie shell and bake at 300 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Remo...

A Writer’s Little Helpers

Twenty years ago, the only tools I needed for a productive writing session were a sharp pencil and a fresh notepad. But that was before the internet. Now my already short attention span gets pulled in every direction. So to increase my word count or to even get a single word on the page, I need help from high- and low-tech writing tools. These are a few of my favourites:

Freedom

I’ve raved on about this internet-blocking software before, and for good reason—it’s simple and it works. Activate Fr...

The answer is: You get back up…

When I signed up for this spot, I didn’t realize that it was almost the exact time last year when I had some not so encouraging news to announce:The Jade Temptress & the Future of Jeannie Lin

I’ve been thinking about this past year a lot as 2014 nears its close. Despite what might have sounded like bravado in that post, I was entering into a very uncertain period. I was dismayed to see after my announcement that publicly my story had become one of failure, albeit intrepid failure. I was in a t...

Louisa Cornell’s debut

Ruby Sister Louisa Cornell is having her publishing debut this week in the Regencyanthology Christmas Revels with fellow Ruby sister Kate Parker along with Hannah Meredith and Anna D. Allen.

Kate asks Louisa:

Tell us about your path to publication. Time, awards, manuscripts….

I have wanted to be a writer since I was nine years old and first read Pride and Prejudice. One might say my musical career got in the way of that dream, or at least put it on hold for a while. I came back to writing many y...

Look Your Best in Holiday Photos

Yes, it’s that time of year again, when we’re forced to mugfor the camera at the end of a long day. In the past, I’ve mastered the surprisegood-bye. A reasonable excuse (“The kids are exhausted!” “We have to feed the cat!” “We forgot to TiVo SNL!”) coupled with a quick slide out the door usually keeps cameras safely in their cases.But these days, even your MIL has a camera phone (well, mine doesn’t, but yours probably does), and having your picture taken is harder to avoid.

And besides, wouldn...

Golden Heart: Open for Entries Today!

Today RWA opens the Golden Heart Contest for entries!
The Golden Heart is what brought all the Rubies together back in 2009, but of course, the contest has changed in lots of ways since then.
You can find the full rules at rwa.org.
But here are a few highlights that are new this year, or that only changed in the past couple of years:

1. The entry fee has dropped to $30 this year!!

Woot!! Who doesn’t love a bargain? That’s 40% off the traditional price of $50. The savings of going all-electronic ar...

NaNo Confession Time 2014

I’m writing these words at one o’clock in the afternoon on November 30, the last day of NaNoWriMo, that crazy commitment to write 50,000 words in 30 days.
As I’ve done since 2009, I’ve pledged to reveal my NaNo progress here , in hopes that fear of public humiliation will drive me towards my goal.

At the moment, I don’t know for sure if humiliation or victory is in the cards for 2014. I’m nearly 4,000 words short, and my brain is not being especially cooperative (which may have something to do...

Last Minute Tips for Finishing NaNo, a.k.a., YOU CAN STILL MAKE IT!!

While much of the rest of America is out trampling each other for Black Friday shopping, those of us doing NaNoWriMo are probably hunkered down at our keyboards, trying to hammer out those last few thousand (or, um, last ten or twenty thousand) words.

When I checked in at mid-month this year, I gleefully reported that I’d gotten into an effective daily “slow and steady” routine and was right on track with NaNo. Yeah, well, pride goeth before a fall. A crazy week at work (literally sleeping onl...