Bev Pettersen's Blog, page 52
March 20, 2017
Livestreaming RITA and Golden Heart Announcement Day!!
Wow, the big day is here again!! We’re here to cheer, commiserate, celebrate, hold hands with other nervous hopefuls, give you good company to gnaw your fingernails with, or whatever it is you’re needing today. As each of the Rubies can testify, the next few hours are going to change some lives.
But we also know that life is good…NO MATTER WHAT happens today.
IT’S TIME TO START THE LIVE BLOGGING NOW!! As the news rolls in this morning, we’ll be continually updati...
March 19, 2017
A Star to Steer Her By – Welcome Beth Anne Miller
I am so excited to welcome my friend and fellow author, Beth Anne Miller, to the Ruby blog today! Beth and I met at a writers conference in 2010 and became fast friends. I’m so glad Beth has joined us to talk about her brand new book, A STAR TO STEER HER BY, hot off the presses from Entangled.
I’m scarred. Broken. I’ll never be the same.
But I will take this journey.
Ever since my last dive ended in bloodshed, I’ve been terrified to go back into the water. But the opportunity to spend a s...
March 16, 2017
How To Find Your Magic
Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! Do you have your green on? Leprechauns, gold and magic 
surround this holiday, but as writers we must employ a bit of creative “magic” every day to create characters, worlds and emotionally moving stories. Many call this magic their muse.
Originally a Muse was any of the nine sister goddesses in Greek mythology presiding over song and poetry and the arts and sciences. The term has come to mean “a source of inspiration, especially: a guiding genius.” (Merriam-W...
March 14, 2017
Falling In Love With The Bad Boy, Is It Wrong?
Recently, in the Winter Writing Fest Chat-room while talking about how we get to know our characters and develop their arcs, I stated that my villain in HIS WITNESS TO EVIL actually came to my house. Some thought that statement was cool. Others raised their brows, with little icons of course. Well, I’m here to tell you he did—figuratively he did.
While writing His Witness To Evil I had such a great handle on my hero and heroine, John and Stephanie. I knew their dreams and secrets. Heck, I eve...
March 12, 2017
What throws you out of a story?
Even RWA seems to be asking what throws you out of a story with their question about adding a DNF rating to the RITA judging. So today, we’re going to have an informal Kate wants to know poll.
I’ll start it off with a particular dislike of mine. Info dumps. I was reminded of this recently when I read a smashing story that had me turning the pages even as I grumbled about the numerous info dumps. These were on World War II and I imagine many readers wouldn’t know this information, but I do, an...
March 9, 2017
Heart, Heat, Hope, and Humor
No surprise here, but I have closets full of ‘keeper’ books that go back decades. Crisp contemporaries, crumbling high school favorites, bold and sweeping historicals, witty chick-lit, proper regencies, and romantic suspense. I love them all.
Early in my writing career, I studied my keepers to determine what—beyond plot—had me clinging to this particular assortment of books. Clearly, I gravitated to believable stories and relatable characters. Beyond that, no matter what the con...
March 7, 2017
365 Days
I’m really not sure where the past year has gone. I feel like I say this more and more as I get older, but in the case of the past year, I truly do not know. The last 365 days have included a move, a day job change and several writing commitments. All have been a source of joy but all have thrown an absolute monkey wrench into my productivity, my personal rhythms and my daily focus.
It’s through that lens that I wanted to focus on today’s post. I’ve been fortunate – the past year, for all its...
March 6, 2017
Writing at the Edge of Your Comfort Zone
I don’t really love public speaking. I like to think I’m not bad at it, but it is something I do with sheer determination rather than any sense of delight. Last weekend, at the marvelous NOLA Written in the Stars conference, I gave two workshops with the lovely and talented Kim Law – with a determined smile on my face. And you know what? It was pretty dang great.
I remember the first conference I ever went to. How blown away I was by the workshops at the Moonlight and Magnolias Conferen...
March 5, 2017
What exactly is women’s fiction?
Do you know what women’s fiction is?
Agents and editors seem to be showing more interest in this subgenre. Does it focus on a female protagonist who is dealing with relationship stuff other than romantic? I’m curious to see if it might be a direction for me to grow as a writer, but I’d like to understand exactly what it is first.
Wikipedia says it’s “women centered books that focus on women’s life experience that are marketed to female readers, and includes many mainstream novels.”
Wikipedia...
March 2, 2017
New at Harlequin: Two Single-Title Imprints and an Erotic Series
Harlequin is pregnant!
The venerable bastion of second-chance Amish SEAL daddies and billionaire rodeo secret-baby doctors will give birth to two new single-title imprints in 2017 and a yet unnamed “explicit and graphic” romance series in early 2018.
Graydon House Unconventional. Emotional. Multi-layered. Breathtaking. Edgy. Issue-driven.A commercial women’s fiction imprint on par with HQN and MIRA, Graydon House is anchored by Dianne Moggy (VP Editorial) and Susan Swinwood (Executive Ed...
