Bev Pettersen's Blog, page 99

Goal Setting Advice for the 2015 Winter Writing Festival

The Festival starts next week! The Festival starts next week!! (Monday, January 12, 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 make be...

Get Ready for the Winter Writing Festival 2015!!

Okay, folks, the holidays are over, and we’ve all had a chance to catch our breath.
So if you’re ready to buckle down for some SUPER-POWERED WRITING PROGRESS, mark your calendar for the FIFTH ANNUAL RUBY SLIPPERED SISTERHOOD WINTER WRITING FESTIVAL, which starts Monday, JANUARY 12!!!

If you’ve joined us for the Winter Writing Festival any time during the past four years, you know it can be a tremendously productive time, with lots of inspiring support and the magic of REGULAR WRITING SPRINTS!!...

New Ruby Features in 2015!

Happy New Year and welcome to another wonderful year of sharing the writing (and reading!) journey here with the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood! We’re introducing a few new features here at the blog this year to keep things fresh and we hope you’ll enjoy the new theme days as they begin to roll out in 2015.

First off, don’t forget to join us for the Winter Writing Festival! Check back tomorrow for more details about the festival and join us starting Monday, January 12th to participate! There will b...

Happy Holidays! See you in the New Year!

As we do each year at this time, the Rubies are taking a few days’ break to spend time with our friends and loved ones.
We wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukah, and much joy for the new year!!!
We’ll be back before you know it with fresh posts and more news about the Winter Writing Festival!!!!

A Visit From My Muse

‘Twas the night before deadline, and all through the place
The dust bunnies were mating and taking up space.
The dishes were stacked in the kitchen in piles,
While crumpled up notes filled the circular file.

My lovers were nestled all snug in the bed,
With nary a conflict to mess with their heads.
And the villain in his wisdom, had gone to the coast
For a nice long vacation and a good Christmas roast.

My outline was there on my Scrivener screen
While my eyes were wide open, high on caffeine.
With K...

Self Publishing and the Flu

Yeaph! Self publishing on flu brain.

I was beyond nervous to self publish to begin with. But coming down with the flu as I’m ready to up load to retailers? Eeep.

For weeks, months, I’d made notes, come to conclusions and decisions, about what I felt was right for me. I had the book edited and hired a cover artist. Kim Killion at Hot Damn Designs blew me away with the cover. It is SO the characters. Hot Damn has around three thousand pictures to choose from and I went through them three times. I...

It’s Never Too Late

As 2014 draws to a close, I wanted to remind everyone that it’s not too late to follow your dreams. I know that sounds flowery and new agey and okay, a little stupid, but it’s true.

Get a cup of coffee and settle back in your chair, because I have a story to tell you. It’s the tale of two best friends.

Once upon a time—like 2005—in a land far, far away called my living room, two friends sat on the sofa watching Bridget Jones’s Diary and eating their weight in chocolate mint ice cream.

As the clo...

The End… And What to Do When It’s “Over”

Because I enjoy things with layers, like onions and ogres, this post about “the end” has many meanings for me. First, some insight into why I’m thinking about “the end”…

Yesterday was the official release day for my romantic suspense novel, END GAME. I wrote “The End” on that book a few weeks ago, and it has caused all kinds of issues. (More about that below.)

END GAME is the final book in a six-book series, called The Mindhunters series. While each book has its own happily-ever-after, the SSAM...

Announcing the 2015 Ruby Winter Writing Festival!!!

Caught up in the holiday frenzy?
Remember to pencil in a little post-holiday gift for yourself: THE FIFTH ANNUAL RUBY SLIPPERED SISTERHOOD WINTER WRITING FESTIVAL STARTS JANUARY 12, 2015!!!

If you’ve joined us for the Winter Writing Festival any time during the past four years, you know it can be a tremendously productive time, with lots of inspiring support and the magic of REGULAR WRITING SPRINTS!!

It’s completely free, and all writers are welcome—the more the merrier!

Through the bleakest par...

Creative Minds: Trent Reznor

Trent Reznor

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

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Everyone here at the Ruby Blog probably knows that I’m a complete and utter hoor for former Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters’ founder and front man Dave Grohl.

You might notice this post is not about Dave. However, it starts with Dave – or rather, with Dave’s 2013 directorial debut, a documentary called Sound City.

So...