Bev Pettersen's Blog, page 74

WWF Share a Snippet Day

We’re 10 days into the 2016 Winter Writing Festival, and participants have spun out hundreds of thousands of new words, whether in the rsswwf.com writing sprints or working on their own.

I love hearing folks in the Chat Room come back after 20 or 30 minutes of sprinting and say, “I wrote 673 new words!” or “I finished a chapter of my vampire slayer romance!”

All those wonderful words didn’t exist on paper before the Festival began, and now they’re HERE!!

During the 2014 WWF, I got nosy and as...

Death & Then There Was Rebirth

I’ve come to the conclusion that death mirrors birth. From the moment we’re conceived, we fight to grow into a whole person. Then we takeenter into a new world where again we strive to develop into a unique person. At some point, we struggle again, leaving behind love ones, and again take passage into another realm. Based on the trend, one thing we can count on in the next kingdom there will a promise of hope.

I lost my husband, my love, my best friend. Then I lost the first man to hold my he...

It’s Check-In Monday #1 for the Winter Writing Festival!!

The Sixth Annual Ruby Slippered Sisterhood Winter Writing Festival is really rocking, with the Ruby Sisters and dozens of their always-talented friends writing their hearts out! Today we complete our FIRST FULL WEEK, and it’s time to officially check in!

If you’re reading this on the Festival website (the blue site), jump on over to the regular Ruby Slippered Sisterhood blog ( the ruby-colored site, at rubyslipperedsisterhood.com) and leave a quick comment about your experience with the Festi...

Fangirl Friday – January 15th Edition

Happy Fangirl Friday! I hope you’re enjoying the Winter Writing Festival and getting lots of words piled up. Keep on writing! But if you’re looking for a great read to reward yourself when you need a break, check out these awesome new releases! (Including a Ruby Debut this week!!!)

Fangirl Friday is the day when we gush about new releases, discounted reads and freebies (or whatever books we’re excited to be reading). Please feel free to add your own new releases and discounts in the comments...

Marketing Your Book: Play to Your Strengths

Long before I decided to self-publish, I attended my first workshop on marketing at an RWA national conference. After an hour of PowerPoint slides about engaging with readers on social media, I wanted to hide in a dark, quiet corner with no computer or internet connection. (Have I mentioned that I’m the introvertiest introvert in the world?)

After five or six more marketing workshops with different names, presented by different authors, all of which focused on various social media marketing...

Opening Ceremonies: 2016 Ruby Slippered Sisterhood Winter Writing Festival!

Oh, how we adore saying these words: We now declare the Sixth Annual Winter Writing Festival OPEN!
Let the Games begin!! To get your BONUS point for today, Monday January 11, add a comment on the regular Ruby Slippered Sisterhood blog (rubyslipperedsisterhood.com) in which you: 1) define how *you personally* will earn your Festival “points”

and

2) declare your commitment to earning 50 points by Feb 29, 2016. (Further details on goal-setting follow below).

Leaving a comment today on the regula...

Fangirl Friday – January 8th Edition

Happy Fangirl Friday! Today we celebrate new releases, freebies and discounts. If you know of new releases or discounts, please feel free to add them in the comments.

Our annual writing festival starts on Monday, but today is all about READING! And now, to the releases!

New Releases:

I’m thrilled to present two new Ruby releases this week. SLEIGHT OF HAND by Anne Marie Becker and REMAKING RYAN by Jacie Floyd, both continue fabulous series:

Sleight of Hand by Anne Marie Becker

Some skills neve...

Goal-Setting Advice for the 2016 Winter Writing Festival

The Festival starts next Monday! The Festival starts next Monday!! (Monday, January 11, to be exact.)

I’m so darned excited, I could spit. Not very ladylike, but true.

To help you get ready, I’m re-posting a blog from previous years about how to get ready and set workable goals:

One of my favorite parts of the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood’s Winter Writing Festival is the fact that you can set your own goals. But of course that means you need to think carefully about what your goals should be to...

Creative Minds: Scott Weiland (1967-2015)

This is the third post in an occasional series about how I find inspiration in other artists’ creative processes. Read the first, about Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and the second, about Trent Reznor.

I was on vacation in warm and beachy Key West when I saw the news that former Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver lyricist and front man Scott Weiland had died on his tour bus in my home town of Minneapolis. “Ah, damn,” I breathed. As a longtime fan, I wasn’t particularly surprised by the n...

Fangirl Friday – Happy 2016 Edition!

Happy New Year! I hope 2016 brings you happiness and good fortune. Here at the Ruby site we’ll be starting our annual Winter Writing Festival soon (and I couldn’t be more excited!), but in the mean time get your goals ready and take a peek at the new releases from the Rubies this week.

As always on Fangirl Friday – please feel free to share your own new releases, discounts and freebies in the comments section (we only ask that you do not repost the same book repeatedly). And now… to the relea...