Merry Farmer's Blog, page 24

2014 Book #5 – Strangers: Homosexual Love in the Nineteenth Century, by Graham Robb

Okay, I’ve wanted to post more about this book for a long time and to recount some of the history lessons I’ve learned from it, but I’ve just been so busy lately! So what better way to talk about the history behind my inspiration for Somebody to Love than to do a book report on […]

An Attitude of Author Success

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the Chicago-North chapter of the RWA’s Spring Fling writer’s conference. Not only that, I was invited to present a workshop there on self-publishing. It was a fantastic experience! The conference itself was so well organized and the people I met and friends I got to see […]

Somebody to Love – Release Day!

Hold on a second…. There’s something just a little naughty about calling it a “release day” when you’re publishing a romance novel (if you know what I mean). At last! Somebody to Love, Phin’s story, is out there! I’ve had Phin’s story in mind from the very beginning. In fact, I more or less thought […]

Self-Publishing v. Traditional Publishing – Is This Even An Argument Anymore?

So today I head off to Chicago for the Chicago North Romance Writer’s Spring Fling Conference! Not only am I attending two fabulous days of events, schmoozing, and goodies, I’m presenting a workshop. At last, another piece of the career I’ve always dreamed of is fitting into place! And what workshop am I presenting, you […]

2104 Book #20 – Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends, by William Guarnere and Edward Heffron

In case you couldn’t tell, I’ve been on a bit of a Band of Brothers kick lately. I finally read the book that the series was based on, and that led me to start reading the memoirs of the guys from Easy Company. I almost wasn’t going to do a book report on Brothers in […]

The Gay 90s

Well, I had such grand plans to get a spiffy newletter out to my fans at the beginning of April, but some new Yahoo rules prevented that from happening.  I really, really wanted to share this bit of historical insight that I included in the ill-fated newsletter, though.  Here’s a piece of the research that […]

2014 Book #17 – Band of Brothers, by Stephen E. Ambrose

Well, I kind of read Band of Brothers, by Stephen E. Ambrose accidentally. How do you read a book accidentally, you ask? I wasn’t supposed to read it. I’m still deep in the middle of reading as a judge for various contests and scoring the entries. I need to get all of those books—you know, […]

How Could They Even Think That???

Last week, a couple of my friends shared an article on Facebook that has been making the rounds. It’s a series of extremely sexist ads from earlier in the 20th century. By 21st century standards, they’re incredibly misogynistic and damning. I mean, the best you can buy for your wife for Christmas is household appliances? […]

Awards versus Sales

So last week the finalists for Romance Writer’s of America’s RITA awards (the top industry awards for romance novels) were announced. I had entered two of my books (Fool for Love and In Your Arms) in the competition. Well, I didn’t final. Big surprise! Okay, not really. I love my books, I am confident in […]

Pride and Prejudice and the Joy of the Same Story Over and Over

Last weekend I went to see an all new stage adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. P&P must be the hardest work of fiction to adapt in any new way of any book that has been written. It’s a story so many people know so well, yes. More than that, the miniseries version […]