Bev Pettersen's Blog, page 94

March 17, 2015

Show & Tell Wednesday: Foreign Covers

Got foreign editions? The Rubies do!

When I put out a call for foreign covers, I was struck by the diversity. Sometimes the publisher kept the same cover. Sometimes it was completely different. Sometimes the title was a literal translation from English, and sometimes it’s completely new.

I hired translators for Spanish and Portuguese editions of CODENAME: DANCER, but have a publisher for Chinese. I went with the same cover for the ones I produced, and the publisher did something entirely new...

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Published on March 17, 2015 21:12

March 16, 2015

Catch Your Muse & Win a Pot of Gold

big-shamrockHappy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! Do you have your green on? This fun holiday has a number of myths associated with it, one being the elusive Leprechaun. Considered a fairy who likes to cause mischief, yet also brings luck and riches, this little fellow has the makings of a great literary muse.9muses

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 gui...

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Published on March 16, 2015 22:00

March 15, 2015

Tools of the Trade: Empathy

When writers think about the tools of our trade, our thoughts might understandably go to craft: words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs. Grammar, punctuation, spelling, word choice. Characters, plot, setting, tense. Point of view, goal/motivation/conflict, dialogue, pace. And yes – all these things all need to be taken into account, all these things and more.

But I’d like to add to the list something that I consider to be an essential character development tool: empathy.

Dictionary.com defines...

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Published on March 15, 2015 21:01

March 12, 2015

Fangirl Friday (3.13.15)

Welcome, ladies and gents, to another edition of FANGIRL FRIDAY! The day when we Rubies gather to gush about books. New books, cheap books, free books, or books we’re just excited to be reading right now. (And encourage you to post your book news as well!)

New Ruby Releases This Week:

This weeks I am thrilled to celebrate the exciting contemporary DEBUT of our very own web guru Elizabeth Bemis. (Congrats, Liz!)

Love and Oreos by Elizabeth Bemis

loveandoreos_asfrKatherine Mendoza is curvy PR exec whose passion...

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Published on March 12, 2015 21:01

March 11, 2015

In One and Done

In One and Done


So here’s the thing, I have a secret.


Young attractive fashionable woman with finger on lips


My first draft is my only draft.


When I sit down to write a story, I write the story. I’m not bragging or saying that my process is better than others, I’m just saying that whatever writing process gets the job done, is the right one.


For a long time (I mean like 9 years), I thought something was wrong with me because my writer friends would bemoan their revision process. I’d write the book and then rack my brain trying to figure out how to re...

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Published on March 11, 2015 22:01

March 10, 2015

Show and Tell Wednesday: Ancient Texts Revisited

When I was at UCLA, I took an honors seminar on the history of medicine that was taught in the rare book room in the library. I imagined there would be old dusty tomes laying about, inscribed by hand with archaic illustrations. Turned out all the really rare volumes were locked away, but it was still way cool to be there.


It’s every bookish person’s fantasy to explore old monasteries and libraries, uncovering huge manuscripts with hidden knowledge inside. I think that’s why plots that feature...

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Published on March 10, 2015 21:10

March 9, 2015

Love & Oreos Debut

I’m so, so excited to host this Ruby Debut today! The fantastic, creative Liz Bemis has finally revealed her oodles of talent in a whole different way. I mean, look at this website and you’ll see just how creative she is everyday in her “other” job. But website designing wasn’t her first love. Nope. This all started with a dream to write. And today, Liz has fulfilled that dream. It’s time to find what’s over the rainbow with our very own Wizard Liz. With the thought of Oz, slippers and yellow...

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Published on March 09, 2015 21:01

March 8, 2015

What Did You Learn from Judging Contests?

It’s contest season, so lots of us have been judging manuscripts, both unpublished and published, for the Golden Heart and the Rita and other awards.
I always find that judging clarifies “craft” for me. Reading a stack of contest entries, I see patterns in what works well, and what doesn’t work well, and notice how subtle factors can make the difference between a merely-competent entry and one that’s truly award-worthy.

This year my experience was much like last year–the entries I judged in the...

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Published on March 08, 2015 21:57

March 5, 2015

Fangirl Friday (3.6.15)

Welcome to another edition of FANGIRL FRIDAY! The day when we gush about books. New books, cheap books, free books, or books we’re just excited to be reading right now.


New Ruby Releases This Week:

This weeks we have a new paranormal release by Shea Berkley and we’re also featuring the previous book in the series (which had a very quiet release last month):


Dark Secrets: Edge of Evil by Shea Berkley

DarkSecrets_EdgeofEvilWhat if nightmares, best kept in the dark, refuse to stay hidden?


Dr. Maya Kelbeck believes no matt...

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Published on March 05, 2015 20:01

March 4, 2015

Reflections on the Fifth Winter Writing Festival

Wow, the Fifth Annual Ruby Slippered Sisterhood Winter Writing Festival went by like a microsecond blip…. or it feels that way. But I know lots of us got huge amounts of writing done, despite a brutal winter that probably had many of us longing to crawl under blankets and hide. YAY to everyone who participated, and everyone who helped keep the Festival running!!!
As always, though, we’re looking ahead to next year, and thinking about how to make it work even BETTER.
So what worked well? And wha...
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Published on March 04, 2015 20:11