Bev Pettersen's Blog, page 91

Where Do Stories Come From?

In the top five questions authors are asked is: “Where do you get your stories?”

When asked this I quickly said, “the Amazon story store.” I mean, Amazon sells live lady bugs and rents goats, why not sell stories? But alas, I had to stop saying that because too many wannabe write-a-book-in-a-weekend writers asked me for the link.

Here’s the real skinny people.

Writers are blessed/cursed with imaginations. Wild, vivid imaginations. As Addison pointed out yesterday, “Our imagination is capable...

The Fruits of Imagination

I spent the past weekend on a girls’ trip with several of my college girlfriends. We’ve been planning a trip for a while and ultimately settled on a long weekend in Orlando at Universal Studios.

The big impetus behind Universal was so we could attend the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. As a fan of the books and movies, the park is nothing short of spectacular. Seriously – it is like Hogwarts has come to life around you. The experience is immersive and I defy anyone to go and not feel like a...

The Community of Entertainment

A few days ago the new Star Wars trailer released. The internet blew up immediately and by this past weekend a ton of memes, shout outs and general excitement pervaded any discussion of the film online.

What I realized in looking at all of it (including a hilarious Space Balls reference I’m still giggling over) was that there was an amazing sense of community happening right before my eyes.

Entertainment has the power to do that. To draw people together and get them excited around a common ex...

Show and Tell Wednesday: Conference Swag

With RT just around the corner and the Barbara Vey luncheon coming up this weekend, conference season is officially upon us. (Well, it’s officially upon me, at least.) So it’s time for a Show and Tell about conference swag.

S.W.A.G. = “Stuff we all get”

I’ve scoured the internets to catch a few interesting items. Wanna see?

Authors have been teasing readers online, like historical author Elizabeth Boyle with her secret RT swag.

Take a look at the array offered by Donna June Cooper, author of...

Location, Location, Location!

When it comes to real estate prices, it’s all about location, location, location. But in your novel location becomes all about details, details, details and which ones you choose to focus on. Can your readers imagine the locale of your story, smell the flowers, or hear the birds chirping?

As many of you know, my husband and I recently relocated from Pennsylvania to Texas. We knew this move was coming for a few years now, so I decided to set some of the books in my upcoming spin-off series Bey...

Words in the Refrigerator

It’s no secret that I enjoy food. Different food groups, different cuisines, I love it all. So when Susan Elizabeth Phillips said in a speech that it’s an all too common problem to “look for the next line of our stories in the refrigerator,” it touched my taste buds.

There are many authors who deal with their writing by eating while sitting at the keyboard. It could be they’re on deadline and can’t take the time for meals at a table away from their work. It could be to deal with the anxiety o...

Fangirl Friday! (4.17.15)

Welcome, welcome, to a new edition of FANGIRL FRIDAY! We’re changing things up this week, and our fearless leader, the lovely and talented Vivi Andrews is no longer hosting this weekly segment so she can focus on some deadlines. So you’re stuck with me for the next several weeks.

New Ruby Releases This Week:

There are no new Ruby Releases this week. But if you released a new book, please feel free to let us know in the comments! We love getting reading recommendations!

Free or Discounted Ru...

It’s All About the Data!

As authors experiencing the wild world of both Indie and Traditional publishing, as well as working with authors in the capacity of Bemis Promotions, we (Liz Bemis and Jenn Stark [aka Jennifer McGowan/Jennifer Chance]) find ourselves consumed with idea of needing more data. Quick chats online or at conferences lead to more confusion than clarity, with questions from street teams to virtual assistants, freelance editors to formatters, marketing to metadata. No sooner do we learn about a cool n...

Show and Tell Wednesday: Cover Photo Shoots

Romance novel covers are an entity, an institution, icons in and of themselves. So let’s take a look inside cover photo shoots for this week’s Show and Tell.

I followed historical author Michelle Willingham‘s series on a Viking photo shoot at the Harlequin office with great interest. Watch how they take a regular looking Joe (okay, a rather attractive looking Joe) and transform him into Viking hero extraordinaire. (Photos courtesy of Jon Wayne Brown via www.michellewillingham.com)

Author Mic...

I Got Nothing…

Which is exactly what I had when I volunteered to post today. When I began typing this, I still hadnothing. Oh, I could ramble. I’m very good at rambling. I can ramble with the best of them. I can ramble about rambling. See what I’m doing here?

Then, I had a thought. Why don’t I write about nothing? After all Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld created a successful television series based on nothing, right? So, why can’t I do a post about nothing?

Nothing for me, as it relates to writing, is when...