Bev Pettersen's Blog, page 121
February 16, 2014
What Do You Do When Life Gets in the Way
So…um today my new book, Getting Lucky, was supposed to be released, BUT life got in the way. For the last two weeks, my husband has been in and out of the hospital. Not to get too personal here, but it was very serious.
How do you write romantic comedy when your husband is in ICU? You don’t.
A long time ago, my friend and kick-butt writer Jane Myers Perrine told me that it was okay to give myself permission to take a vacation from writing. I didn’t truly understand the need for this until two...
February 13, 2014
Winter Writing Festival CHECK-IN (Week 5)
Here it is—already WEEK 5 !!!
If you’ve made your goals so far, you should have earned 36 POINTS! (The day one sign-up gave you a bonus point for the first day!) Don’t despair. You can always make up points. If you’ve fallen behind, just work on catching up over the next few weeks. Even writing nonsense is better than a blank page!
Here are a few suggestions on how to increase your chance of succeeding in making your goals.
Make your writing a top priority! Write SOMETHING every day, even if it’...
February 12, 2014
The Genius of Buffy … er, Joss
…er, Joss Whedon
…and no, it’s not how to slay vampires.
It’s no surprise to anyone who knows me that I am a HUGE Joss Wheddon fan, and while I love anything he does with a fiery passion, especially Firefly (group sigh…), I first began studying him after watching his mega-successful series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. To say it changed my life would be an understatement. It was like looking into a teacup and seeing the secrets of the universe. I suddenly understood. I hop...
February 11, 2014
Writing Through the Slog
We had a great conversation in the Winter Writing Festival chat room a few weeks ago. I’m not sure what the impetus was, but during one of our sprint breaks, we started talking about those writing sessions where you just slog it out, word by word, slowly, painstakingly building sentences.
What makes some days a slog and some a breeze? We know the stories we’re trying to tell. Even for eternal pantzers, there’s some basic sense of where the story’s going. Or why these two characters you’re devo...
February 10, 2014
Ruby Tuesday: Kate Parker
Welcome to another edition of Ruby Tuesday, that day when we dig deeper and get to know one of our Rubies a little better! Today we head back east to interrogate the historically mysterious Kate Parker. Take it away, Kate!
Name: Kate Parker2009 GH Category & Title: Historical Romance with The Art of a Lady
What Happened to That Book: The Art of a Lady is being completely rewritten and will come out July 2015 as the third Victorian Bookshop Mystery – the first, The Vanishing Thief, came out Dece...
February 9, 2014
Debut Ruby Release: IN THE DARK by Sally Eggert
A woman drawn into a dangerous game. A man who may not be what he seems. Passion raises the stakes in Sally Eggert’s electrifying novel of deception and desire.
Josie Nielsen’s anonymous life as a bartender is a world away from her classified job at...
February 6, 2014
Winter Writing Festival: Check-In #4
Wow, are we at the halfway point already?! As Elisa’s post on Tuesday pointed out, we’ve crossed the halfway point in this marathon.
You may be chugging right along, pacing yourself perfectly to cross that finish line on time and with your goals met. Or you may have tripped over a loose stone, run smack into a boulder, splashed through a puddle, fallen and skinned your knee, or gotten stuck in a poppy field.
I’m here to tell you that finish line is still reachable. (*adopts drill instructor ton...
February 5, 2014
Closet Writers
CLOSET WRITER
http://www.dreamstime.com/working-lat...
Closet writers break my heart. Any reason a writer keeps their writing a secret is just wrong, unless the writing is extremely personal and not meant for other’s eyes. I was a closet writer.
There are many reasons why writers remain in the closet and the Rubies have had discussions concerning them. At some time or another, many of us have faced the road-blocks that kept us from being us.
Some writers think...
February 4, 2014
Winter Mashups
Anybody besides me get bored when the weather outside is frightful and Christmas is long past?
I thought today I’d try to exercise our minds with Winter Mash-ups. This is different than Winter Pile-ups. No one gets hurt and no cars need to be taken in to be repaired.
For Winter Mashups, take two or more eras, notable figures, locales, books and movies, and smush them together to create a new story. If it’s one no one would ever read or write, that’s okay, as long as the idea makes you laugh. We...
