Bev Pettersen's Blog, page 82

Exit, Stage Left!

No, this post isn’t about the Hanna-Barbera animated character Snagglepuss. (Yeah, I’m definitely aging myself here.) Instead, it’s about stage direction – you know, those descriptions, tags and ‘beats’ we writers use to move our characters around within the setting we’ve created.

To be even more precise, this post is about UNNECESSARY stage direction.

Too much stage direction can really slow down the pace. Too little stage direction can really confuse your reader. Either can make the reader...

Fangirl Friday

We have a new Ruby release this week from Vivi Andrews writing as Lizzie Shane.

PLANNING ON PRINCE CHARMING by Lizzie Shane

What would Cinderella do?

Wedding planner Sidney Dewitt is always the fairy godmother, never the heroine of her own love story–until she’s selected for the reality dating show Marrying Mister Perfect. It might finally be her chance to ride off into the sunset, but when she sneaks out of her room on the night before the show begins to catch a glimpse of her prince, the...

In Case You Missed It – Nationals Videos Online

Were you unable to make it to the RWA National Conference in New York this year? Did you get caught in a meeting or sleeping in after a fancy publisher party or running out to catch a Broadway show and you missed some parts? This year, whether you were there in the ballroom or not, RWA is giving us the opportunity to watch (or rewatch) the Keynote and Featured Speakers, as well as the RITA and Golden Heart Awards Ceremony!

Behold!

The first speaker was Keynote Barbara Freethy, who talked abou...

Lessons from the Giants

I started writing when my son was eleven months old. He graduates from Junior High this coming May. I wrote my first book in under a year, at least I count it as my first book, because the other two before it weren’t fit to be coasters for the coffee table. So I wrote this book, met with a popular rock band for the research and secured an agent within three months of sending it out.

I got a call from her one day telling me that a publisher in England had heard about this book through the grap...

Creativity and The Author

Lately, in writers groups, there has been some discussion about keeping the joy in our writing. There are a bazillion answers. I think one is by indulging our other creative talents. Yeaph. OTHER creative talents. Authors are very creative people. Think about all the other talents you have and how those creative outlets can nourish your writing.

Here are a few.

Sewing. BTW I hear it’s coming back as a thing.

Knitting and crocheting.

Setting a proper table is now considered an art. Ha! I gigg...

Back to School=Back to Writing

Happy Monday! Why am I so happy this morning? Because my kids are all back in school today! Woot! Usually people talk about goals and new plans for productivity around January 1st, but as a mom, my “New Year” starts when the kids go back to school. So in celebration of a quiet house and hours without a request for lunch or a ride or a playdate, I’m posting today about my productivity goals for the “New Year.”

1. Do I really need to make goals? Yes. What do you want to accomplish before the...

Fangirl Friday

We have one new Ruby release this week, and it is number 25 for our Vivi Andrews. And her tag line is perfect for so many marriages! TANGLING WITH THE TIGER

It might be love. If they don’t kill each other first.

Siberian tiger-shifter Dominec Giroux doesn’t play well with others. Horribly scarred by the Organization scientists who killed his family and tried to turn him into their pet assassin, his sanity has been hanging by a thread ever since his escape.

His one reason for living—revenge...

Announcing the 2015 September Hour-a-Day Challenge!

Hard to believe, but another summer’s winding to a close.

For many writers, summer’s a slow time, what with family vacations and bored, housebound kids chipping away at their focus. For me, though, summer’s by far the most productive time of the year…because I’m a teacher, and the second I step back into the classroom in August, I barely get to catch my breath until late June.

Last year as I faced the return of my not-for-the-weak-of-heart day job, I vowed not to lose my summer writing moment...

Show and Tell – Back to School

Apologies: The originally scheduled “Star Wars” edition post had to be pulled back due to me not yet having permissions for the images I wanted to post. I present to you instead a topic that is on many of our minds this week:

Back To School

And the twinsies already have their first assignment before school even starts. Which means I have my first assignment:

I’m going to take some liberties here — rather than cutting out images, I’m just pasting digital pics

Color:

Burgundy/Wine

The color o...

Birthdays, Books and Other Milestones

Last month at the RWA Annual General Meeting, the Board announced that they will soon be offering milestone pins so members can celebrate on their lanyards the achievement of publishing their first, fifth, tenth, twenty-fifth, fiftieth and hundredth books.

Cool idea, eh?

At that moment, sitting in the Broadway Ballroom, I realized I had no idea how many releases I’d had. Sure, people often asked me how many books I’d written when I fessed up to being an author, but I’d taken to saying “I hone...