Bev Pettersen's Blog, page 105
October 1, 2014
Hour-a-Day Challenge: The RECKONING!!
And that means the September Hour-A-Day Writing Challenge has come to an official close.
How’d we do?
Pretty damn well, thank you very much! Enough that a core group of us are re-upping the challenge for the month of October. (WOOOOOOT!!!! I’m so excited about this!!!) Also enough that I’m going to give away that $25 gift card that I promised if I “succeeded” in the challenge. Leave a comment below to be entered in the drawing!
I can’t say we were all perfect this month—I c...
September 30, 2014
Writing Linked Books – Ruby Release Taming the Lion
I love perspectives. We all see through the world through our own filter and when I began writing the Lone Pine Pride series, I knew I wanted each book to not only advance the series arc, but also to show the reader a new perspective on something they’d seen previously from a different angle. It was one of the things that got me excited about writing shifters again—the idea of launching Lone Pine with a pair of linked books, not just two books in a series, but two books whose plots were inext...
September 29, 2014
Make It Golden Contest WINNERS
And the votes are all in!As always, trying to pick a favorite in the Make It Golden Contest is a wee bit like picking a favorite child: we really loved them all!!
For those of you who may just be joining us, the Make It Golden Contest celebrates excellent beginnings in unpublished romance novel manuscripts. Round 1 asks for entries of the first 50 words (max) of the very opening of the book. Ten talented finalists emerged from that round, and expanded their entries for Round 2, extending each...
September 28, 2014
Romance writers as Travel Companions
Please don’t tell the extended Essex family, but I’ve just discovered that I like to travel without them. It is a rather astonishing revelation for me, as I very much enjoyed travel with my family. But I’ve discovered better companions—other writers!
Imagine yourself on a road trip with a fellow writer—I took just such a trip earlier this summer with romantic comedy author Tracy Brogan, and it was marvelous, productive fun.
Now, imagine that experience times six! Imagine it in a foreign country...
September 25, 2014
Make It Golden Contest Finalists Announced!
Finalists: be sure to post your EXPANDED entries in the comments below (a maximum total of 250 words, starting with the opening lines you showed us already, plus what immediately follows) by 12:01 a.m. September 27 to stay in contention for the final round. In other words, you’ll have 24 hours from the time this post appears.
Please put the word ENTRY in all caps at the top again (and, no, that doesn’t count as on...
September 24, 2014
And While We Tabulate the Votes…….
Once again, the wonderful writing community around us has set us a REALLY, REALLY hard task–it will take us all day to read and re-read (and re-re-read) the entries trying to make up our minds about which are our very favor...
September 23, 2014
Fifth Annual Make It Golden Contest Entry Day!!!!!
Welcome to the FIFTH Annual MAKE IT GOLDEN Contest!!The MAKE IT GOLDEN contest is designed for unpublished authors who are polishing up their entries for RWA’s Golden Heart Contest. We all know how important a strong opening line is in grabbing the attention of Golden Heart judges, and this contest is a great chance to test yours out!
Check out past Make It Golden contests here and here.
Just post your romance manuscript’s first fifty words (with the word ENTRY in all caps at the top),and you’r...
September 22, 2014
Plot and Premise – An Epiphany
At the recent RWA national conference in San Antonio, one very simple tip from best-selling YA author Ally Carter almost tipped me out of my chair. I noticed other workshop attendees’ faces lighting up at the same time. (They were reacting to what Ally said, not to me falling out of my chair. Just thought I’d clarify that…)
What did Ally say that was so profound to me? When it comes to plot and premise “Don’t start a book till you have both.”
It makes perfect sense, right? Without a plot to dri...
September 21, 2014
The Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood Blog-O-Versary!!! Five Years and Counting!
Today marks FIVE YEARS of the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood Blog….
That’s 1,667 posts and over 60,000 comments, and more than 675,000 reads from visitors we love!!
(And don’t forget the hundreds of Ruby books that have come out since we started in 2009!)
Thanks to you, Loyal Readers,
we’re in the mood to CELEBRATE!!!
In typical Ruby style, we’re going to enjoy our party by GIVING AWAY PRESENTS!!
Even if you normally check the blog without commenting, we’d really love to hear from y...
September 18, 2014
Milestones
When I realized my birthday is tomorrow and I’ll be hitting another decade milestone in another year, my first reaction was, “That’s it—I’m not having any more birthdays after this one!” Then it dawned on me that the only way to avoid getting older is . . . well, you know.
Death is not an acceptable alternative, so I’ve decided to continue blowing out candles and change my outlook toward aging to an attitude of welcoming the opportunity for accomplishment.
The year 2014 has been especially chal...
