Bev Pettersen's Blog, page 77

Love Between The Covers Documentary

For the last five years, documentary film maker Laurie Kahn and crew have been following players within the romance industry, culminating in the Love Between the Covers documentary which released earlier this year.

This last Saturday, the film showed at the St. Louis Film Festival followed by a panel of published romance authors from the MORWA chapter, of which I was asked to moderate.

From left to right: Jeannie Lin (moderator), Angie Fox, Shawntelle Madison, Lynn Cahoun, Amanda Heger, Eile...

NaNo 2015 Midway Check-In

Fate has a way of making us laugh at ourselves. Hard. Last year at the NaNoWriMo mid-point check-in, I was exulting in my new-found revelation that if I worked consistently every day (no binge-writing days, no completely off days), I could stay right on target with my word-count progress. Look at this beauty of a progress chart at the mid-point last year:

Yup, it was real Tortoise and the Hare stuff. I was so proud. I was like Oprah after her first Opti-Fast diet, when she swore she n...

Fangirl Friday

Harlequin is holding a huge sale until November 17th. All Jeannie Lin’s Historicals and Undones are on sale for $1.99.

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Liz Talley has a bunch of books in this Harlequin sale. Check out http://bit.ly/LizTalleyKindleBooks for the ones selling for $1.99

Anne Marie Becker has a new release this week. STACKING THE DECK is the first in the Redemption Club series. In a city built for sin, the Redemption Club is a secret society that exists to fulfill a...

Excuse Me, This Is NOT the Life I Ordered !

Guiding Light

Foy Vance

Well the road is wide,
and waters run on either side,
and my shadow went with fading light,
stretching out towards the night.

‘Cause the Sun is low,
and I yet have still so far to go,
my lonely heart is beating so,
tired of the wonder.

But there’s a sign ahead,
though I think it’s the same one again,
and I’m thinking ’bout my only friend,
and so I find my way home.
Well the air is cold,
and yonder lies my sleeping soul,
by the branches broke like bones,
this weakened tree no longe...

Decoupage Your Promo

As authors, we are creative people. Some feel that their creativity lies only in the written word, but I believe that creativity is broader within people. It just takes a little teasing to bring it out and a willingness to risk, mess up, and learn. It is a great way to exercise the far reaches of the brain, sweeping out the cobwebs by tossing around ideas.

When I’m not thinking of plot twists and what makes my characters tick, I like to try out all sorts of fun crafts. I sew, knit, etch glass...

What I Learned Writing Short Stories

You may have heard before that switching up formats — from novels to short stories, for example — can help you grow as a writer. The reason I’ve most often heard cited for this is that it teaches you to write more concisely. To say more with less. I whole-heartedly agree, but in my own short-story-writing adventure I learned much more than that.

It’s only in the last couple of years that I’ve gotten serious about short stories. I tried my hand at a few when I was entering the Writers of the...

Fangirl Friday – Early Christmas edition

HOME FOR CHRISTMAS by Lizzie Shane Only 99 cents! All she wants this Christmas is to get home and put this disastrous year behind her, but when Samantha Whitney boards her flight to Chicago she finds the man in the seat next to hers is none other than Jase MacGregor, her first love who shattered her heart last Christmas Eve.

All he wants this Christmas is a second chance with the love of his life, but if Sam’s frosty reception is anything to go by, it’s going to take more than a few hours...

NaNoWriMo 2015 Has Begun!

WOOOT!!!! It’s that wonderful time of year again, when over 300,000 writers around the world make a crazy pledge to each write 50,000 words of a novel during the 30 days of November!

“Winning” NaNo (nanowrimo.org) means averaging 1667 new words every day, which isn’t easy if you have pesky things like a day job or a house or family to worry about at the same time. But it CAN BE DONE!!

This will be my SEVENTH NaNo, and–with a little help from my Muse–stands to be my 5th “win.” And, trust me, m...

Fangirl Friday

It’s Friday, and we have some amazing weekend reads for you! Christmas Revels II, with novellas from Ruby Sisters Louisa Cornell and Kate Parker is out now. For shifter lovers, don’t forget to enter Vivi Andrews’ Goodreads giveaway. If you’re looking for YA, Vanessa Barneveld’s This is Your Afterlife is on sale in the US. And you have until the end of the month to grab Kim Law’s Sugar Springs and Montana Cherries for just $2 each. Read on for all the details!

CHRISTMAS REVELS II

by Hannah Me...

Writing Through the Holidays

On Sunday, the annual NANO challenge begins. 50,000 words in one month. Or, broken down, 1,666 words per day for 30 days.

I don’t know about you, but 1,666 seems a heck of a lot more do-able than 50,000. That’s 5-7 pages depending on font, font size and how much dialogue you’ve got in a scene. That’s a do-able level of work in a day.

And it’s the key to ensuring two particularly important things: That writing becomes a habit and that writing a novel is a surmountable exercise.

Writing throug...