Bev Pettersen's Blog, page 30

Are You GDPR Ready?

Next Friday a new data-protection law goes into effect in the EU.  Why should you care?  Because all EU citizens are protected under it and if you collect data (read as: have the email address on your author mailing list) of an EU citizen, you need to make sure you are GDPR compliant.  Now, whenever people start talking about 20 million euro fines, a sensible person is going to sit up and take notice, but this doesn’t have to be scary.  And, in my humble opinion, it’s a very good thing.  Bein...

Travel Inspiration

Do you travel for inspiration?

I love travel.  In recent years, in the interest of frugality and my starving-artist state, I’ve cut back on a lot of my more adventurous (read as: expensive) trips, but I recently came to the apex of that pendulum swing toward penny pinching and started swinging back toward the center and the reminder that if you always do the responsible, money-saving thing you can miss out on a lot of experiences in life.

In that vein of prioritizing experiences again, I sat...

Friday Motivation

I’m a huge fan of quotes. Perhaps it’s trite, but I often find that the right mix of words can provide the perfect motivation at a certain point in time. I also had a donut this morning so I’m feeling particularly inspired!

With that in mind, here’s a bit of Friday motivation to kickstart your day and offer a jumpstart to your weekend.

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to...

Meet 2018 Golden Heart Finalist Scarlett Peckham

Today we’re starting back up with one of our favorite Ruby Traditions: inviting members of the new class of Golden Heart Finalists to join us here on the blog! The Rubies first got together as 2009 Golden Heart Finalists, an experience which changed all of our lives for the better. And we love celebrating with each super-talented new group of finalists every spring! This year, we even know the group’s name already…(Drum roll please!!): The Persisters!! As Finalist Cheryl Ford explains, “We ch...

RELEASE DAY LOVED BY DARKNESS

I’m celebrating today, because today is the release day for LOVED BY DARKNESS.  Picture me dancing nervously, waiting to see what readers of romance, mysteries, suspense think of Loved By Darkness. 

Often readers ask where I get my ideas for stories.  This is how the plot came about for Loved By Darkness. 

It was a sunny day in St Augustine, Florida.  I was visiting the Ruby sister, Rita Henuber and while we lounged on the beach, I read a Facebook post by a friend who’d just found a little lo...

Not A Blue Bird In Sight

A blank page sits in front of you. The sharpened point of your pencil taps against the lined paper, or that black cursor blinks at you, mocking your muse to write something readers will find entertaining. What you envision scrawled across that page and every page afterwards may be a full-length novel, a short story or just a blog post. But you’re frozen in time like a deer in the headlights of a semi-truck. Your heart pumps your blood through your veins so fast every nerve sizzles and every m...

Words of gratitude

Writing the acknowledgments to my books has always been one of my favorite things to do, because it lets me thank all of the people who help me write a story. So I’m taking an opportunity today to tell them again just how very grateful I am for the contributions they’ve made to my writing career.

To the Rubies – It would be hard to list all the ways you’ve had my back. You are wise, kind, generous, and there. Although our sisterhood is virtual, I know I can count on you to stand by me through...

Persistence

Last week I wrote a blog about inspiration and why I think it’s overrated. Today I wanted to talk about persistence and why I think it’s underrated. WAY underrated.

While it’s lovely to imagine writing is this inspired rush of madness, words spilling from your fingers like dripping pearls, the reality (as we all know) is way different. While there are writing sessions that flow well, it’s neither guaranteed nor realistic to expect that to be the norm. Instead, writing is hard work. And unlike...

5 Tips to Creating Fresh Plot Twists

 

The title to this post should be longer. It should really read, 5 Tips to Creating Fresh Plot Twists that No One will see Coming and Will Leave your Readers Breathless and Begging for More.

Whew!

Before I get started on the tips, I want you to know something. I feel like I’m giving away all of my secrets here. I’m not a secretive person, so this is painful. I only have, like, two. I’m essentially giving away half of my stable of secrets.

So, what are we waiting for? Let’s get this party st...

Inspiration

Inspiration is an interesting subject. While it’s easy to think that writing is about inspiration, I’d like to think it’s about a few other things. Persistence. Patience. And a healthy dose of wild self-confidence mixed with an equally healthy dose of wild insecurity. (You need both, by the way – one boosts you up to focus on the work and the other keeps you humble. If you can find another way to do this whole writing gig, please – PLEASE – tell me.)

While I actually do believe in inspiration...