Becky Wade's Blog, page 151

Mom’s etagere . . . or étagère, if you prefer

About a month or so ago I shared a picture of my mom’s etagere and told you I was planning on chalk painting it. Well, I finally did!

I love having Mom’s etagere. It’s one of two, actually—my brother and sister-in-law have its twin. But the brown stain didn’t go as well with my current decor, so . . . enter chalk paint!

Here’s a BEFORE picture . . .

And some AFTERS . . .

I chose Annie Sloan’s Duck Egg Blue (a color I’ve long loved) then used her dark wax that really deepens the color and brings out the distressing in the wood.

Can you see the color difference in the image below? The left side is before the dark wax has been applied (a lighter blue/teal), and the right side is after (a deeper teal).

I love the distressing process, which you do after you paint. Distressing really brings out the character of the piece.



Someone asked me if I was going to change out the hardware. But I decided not to. Because it’s the handle mom used, so I just painted over it then distressed it.

Book Club Picks

I love book clubs! I joined my first one nearly twenty years ago, and it was such fun to read new books that other members had chosen, especially when their reading tastes differed from mine. I loved hearing the variety of opinions on our monthly selections and discovering themes or insights that I had completely missed. Several books were ones I never would have chosen on my own, but I was glad I read most of them. I can also remember a few books that our club unanimously disliked. I once struggled through 3 or 4 chapters of a William Faulkner novel and just couldn’t finish it in time for our meeting. I went to book club anyway—only to learn that I had made it through more pages than anyone else! 

When my own books began to be published and were being chosen by other book clubs, it dramatically changed the book club experience for me. I was a little nervous, at first, but soon learned that book lovers are very kind and encouraging people. The leader of one club asked if I’d like to come anonymously and listen to the discussion before she announced who I was. I said yes, but told her if they hated the book, just say I’m your cousin from Australia. It turned out they loved the book and I didn’t have to converse in my fake Australian accent.

I really enjoy talking about my plots and hearing how my characters have “come alive” for readers. It’s very helpful to know what readers like or dislike about my books so I can write with future readers in mind. And I love to answer questions about the book or about my writing process. Most of all, book clubs are a wonderful way to socialize with other book lovers.

Whenever I’m able, I like to visit in person, especially if there’s food! Some clubs are very creative with decorations and treats that relate to the story in some way. But when distance (or Covid-19) makes it impossible for me to meet with a book club in person, I sometimes visit via Skype or FaceTime or Zoom to answer readers’ questions. Afterwards, I like to question them and ask which other books have been club favorites. It’s a great way to add to my personal reading list. 

If you belong to a book club and are compiling this year’s list of titles, I’m very excited to announce that my novel, “If I Were You” has been chosen by Books-A-Million to be a Book Club Pick for the month of August. My book will be sold in Books-A-Million stores and their online website. 

Here’s the link for the Books-A-Million Book Club group you can join on Facebook. I’ll be checking in this month to answer your questions and read your comments.

And if your book club decides to read “If I Were You,” my publisher, Tyndale House, has put together a fun Book Club Kit with some special recipes and quizzes for your members to enjoy.

Do you belong to a book club? What are some creative things your group has done? Are you still “meeting” in new ways because of the virus restrictions? I’d love to hear your ideas and comments.

Inspired by Scripture

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Virtual Conferences—Yay or Nay?

I recently participated in two online conferences—the Beau Monde conference (for Regency-era writers) and this past weekend I was on faculty with the Northwestern Christian Writers Conference. I have been involved with NCWC over the last few years when the conference was held in-person near me in St. Paul, Minnesota. This year, as with a lot of things, most conferences are either being canceled or going to a virtual format.

Like many other people, I went into the experience with a level of uncertainty. Would it be worthwhile? Would pre-recording the sessions be effective without being able to take questions? Would 1:1 appointments work, and what about the loss of networking? But I have to say, I think the pros of these virtual conferences outweighed the cons. (Then again, I am an introvert so I didn’t miss the large group interactions as much as others would. :)) I know several writers who specifically didn’t sign up because the NCWC conference went virtual. For a while the registration numbers were below expectations. But as the conference drew close, writers began registering from distant states as well as from other countries, like Canada and the UK. In the end, total attendance ended up being robust indeed.

For the conference, I co-taught a class on “Getting Started in Christian Fiction” with author-friend Michelle Griep. And because we pre-recorded our talks ahead of time, attendees and faculty are able to watch all the workshops over a two-week period, instead of having to pick only one or two.

So far, I have only had time to watch Mary DeMuth’s talk on “Write the Truth; Change the World.” But I plan to watch more, like author Tessa Afshar’s “Become Your Own Best Editor,” Shawn Smucker’s “Creating Characters with Depth,” Susan Meissner’s “How to Maintain Great Relationships in Your Writing Career,” as well as others.

The keynote addresses were awesome. Alicia Britt Chole spoke Friday night. I was not familiar with her but her talk really moved me (as well as my husband and son who watched with me). And on Saturday morning, the legendary Karen Kingsbury gave an inspiring message about looking for miracles in everyday life and letting Jesus be the hero of our stories.

Alicia Britt Chole, Karen Kingsbury, and fabulous host Susie Larson

Later that day, I took 1:1 appointments via Zoom and met over a dozen up-and-coming writers that I truly enjoyed connecting with. I also participated in a fiction “Pro-Advice Panel” with a few other faculty, and, oh my goodness, did participants ask great questions. The hour went all too quickly. And finally, the conference team did an amazing job managing the technical details and keeping us all organized.

As I mentioned, I went into these virtual conferences a little reluctantly, feeling like they were a second-best substitute. But both were great experiences. Now, I am considering with far more interest upcoming online conferences like ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) and JASNA (The Jane Austen Society of North America.)

What about you? Have you attended a virtual conference of some sort yet? Thinking about it? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

When God moves you . . .

We celebrated our one-year anniversary of moving to Missouri last week. It seems like just yesterday that we were saying tearful goodbyes to our family and friends in Kansas and packing up all our earthly belongings and making the eight-hour trip to Southeast Missouri. What a year it’s been! (For sure, we didn’t foresee a pandemic in our future!)

We sold our house to friends, a pastor’s family from our church in Wichita, we bought our new house from a pastor’s family in Missouri. [You can read that story HERE.] Southeast Missouri is very different from Kansas. There’ve been adjustments. To weather (aka humidity!), identifying trees and flowers, driving where not everything is on a grid and where everything is up or down a hill…and so much more.

But the bottom line? We love it here! Yes, we miss our families and friends back in Kansas, but Missouri already feels like home to us. After all, we’ve been coming here several times a year for the past twenty-plus years—ever since our oldest daughter decided to attend college at Southeast Missouri State, then fell in love and married a local guy, then talked her sister into attending college here where she fell in love and married a local guy and now six of our ten grandbabies live here! Of course, we’re home!

I always thought I was a Kansas wheat fields girl through and through, after all, I’m a Kansas wheat farmer’s daughter! Turns out I’m also a woodland hills and valleys girl through and through. Our backyard, with the deer who graze there every morning and evening, is like a little piece of heaven on earth.

So is the screened porch where we usually watch them from—like living in a Swiss Family Robinson treehouse!

We are especially thrilled to have had a cozy place to hunker down during this pandemic. But we’ve had some adventures too. We bought a camper van and traveled in it for almost two months last fall. We bought our Lectric bicycles and have loved exploring Missouri on them! So much so that we’ve sold our camper van to get something that will allow us to take our bikes with us when we travel. It looks like we might get to pick up our new “rig” this week!

When God prompts you to pull up stakes and move, it might be difficult, but He always knows what He’s doing! And here’s our latest proof! Grandbaby #10 made his entrance into the world July 13. Isn’t he a cutie?

Has God ever uprooted you from a place that felt like home? Have you learned to adjust to a new normal or even found a new place to call home? I’d love to hear your story!

Inspired by Scripture

This Sunday feature is brought to you by ClashEntertainment.com. You may sign up to receive a beautiful photo with scripture in your inbox each morning or view the verse each day online.

Writing Update (aka What I’m Working on Now)

I’ve always loved reading books that are part of a series. Because of that, for years, I dreamed of trying my hand at writing a series. With my Porter Family books, I got my wish!

I discovered two things about series… #1) They’re tricky because I have to juggle a large cast of characters who will star in future books or have already starred in past books. I strive to bring those characters in just enough, but not so much that they dilute the force of the primary romantic and plot story lines. Additionally, I have to keep track of a master timeline and all the details of my fictional towns.

#2) Writing a series is every bit as wonderful as I’d supposed. Because I get to spend several books in the same place with the same people, the latter books in the series offer me a great sense of depth, richness, and homecoming.

I’m so enamored with series that I followed the Porter Family series with the Bradford Sisters series, and now I’m halfway through the writing of my current Misty River Romance series.

So far, two of the stories are available. Take a Chance on Me, the prequel novella, is free to download to your e-reader. Stay with Me, the first novel, came out in May.

On June 1st, I turned in my next book, Let It Be Me. Then took a month of vacation. On July 1st, I returned to my writing desk to plan, research, and brainstorm the Christmas novella I hope to release next year. That done, I planned/researched/brainstormed novel #3 in the series.

This phase of the writing process is my favorite. It’s fun and creative. The possibilities are intriguing and invigorating. I spent time scribbling notes.

My writing desk

I spent time doing a lot of online research for things like, “How to Run a Non-Profit Animal Shelter” and “Prisoner Reentry Programs”.

via GIPHY

I completed “character interviews”.

Snippet of the interview for Luke Dempsey, hero of novel #3

I hunted Pinterest for setting and character inspiration.

A portion of my Inspiration board. (For my Christmas novella, I’d like to write about a ginger hero and a curly-haired blond heroine).

I spent the first half of July working on all of the above. Then I received revision requests for Let It Be Me from my editor at Bethany House. So, I set aside my unwritten projects and focused my attention on rewriting the second full-length novel in the series. For those of you who read Stay with Me, Let It Be Me is about pediatric heart surgeon Sebastian (one of the Miracle Five) and Leah, a high school teacher and bona fide math genius. I hope to share Let It Be Me’s cover with you in October, ahead of its May release!

When I rewrite, like I’m doing at the moment, I start at page one of my manuscript and make my way through the book word by word. I expect to return the novel to Bethany House on September 7th, at which time I’ll begin the rough draft of novel #3 (which will be about Luke).

Do you have any comments or questions for me about my books or the writing process? If so, I’d love to hear them!

Books, Puppies, and Fun oh my!

One of the things I’ve done bit by bit through our time at home these last months is organizing different corners of the house. I had to laugh when each bookshelf I was working through had a copy of the same Lisa Scottoline book. The top one Lisa autographed for me at International Thriller Writers conference a couple summers ago. Now to make the time to read the book all the way through. I’ve read the first few chapters several times before I got sucked into my own writing. However, this summer I’ve worked through the Rosato & Associate novels one after the other via audiobook. I’m finishing book eight (Dead Ringer) right now. I’m enjoying listening to them and watching the character development and piecing together the intricate plots. So much fun!

Our puppy is proving to be a great addition to the family because she likes to devour books as much as the rest of us…except in her cases, it’s actual devouring. I wanted to cry when I came home last week and saw The Pursuit of God chomped through, but I have to admit she has good taste. Then the next day she pulled Christopher Robin off the coffeetable. Sigh. As long as she doesn’t pull them off the bookshelves she has a good home. (JK)

Here’s a cover I created for the novella. I’ll use it when I rerelease the book in January.

Over the weekend I finished my suspense novella for the Mistletoe and Murder collection. I wrote in first person from the perspective of the heroine. It was such fun to try that though it’s with my editor now, so fingers crossed I still love it later :-). I really wanted to write something fun and different this summer, and writing this novella that takes place in essentially 24 hours fits the bill. It’s also set in DC, so I had fun returning to one of my favorite citites, even if it was only through words.

Don’t forget you can preorder all ten novellas in the Mistletoe and Murder collection for 99¢ through the beginning of October.

I’m giving away a book from one of my co-authors from Mistletoe and Murder. Use the form below and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

She said, “Yes!”

Fun family news!

This past weekend our son Kurt asked his girlfriend Kellie Fusilier to marry him—and she said, “YES!”

Unbeknownst to Kellie, Kurt had been in cahoots with her family and they drove from Louisiana to be with us at the lake this weekend. How it played out… 

Kurt and Kellie were camping with friends on a nearby island and after he proposed, he sent us a quick text saying, “Done!” at which time we all piled in the boat and drove over to surprise them. And wow was Kellie ever surprised! The look on her face when she saw her parents and twin sister (and her precious nieces) . . . priceless!

She’d so wanted to share this moment with her family too (whenever the proposal came!) so this was a really wonderful weekend.

Kurt and Kellie and the Alexander fam



Kurt and Kellie and the Fusilier fam



Kurt, Kellie, Kelsey and Kristen acting crazy



Kurt and Kellie with Kellie’s sweet nieces



The entire clan on the island that was oh-so-hot-and-muggy. But oh, what joy there was amid all the sweat! ; )

Our families blend so well together, our mutual faith in the Lord being the cornerstone and interweaving everything else together so beautifully. Thank you, Jesus! Lord, bless our son and his future wife—and our “new daughter.”

Me and Kellie before she and Kurt headed out on Sunday. Love this girl and so grateful she’s part of our family!

As Leslie (Kellie’s mom) said, “When our kids marry, their spouses become our children too!” And I wholeheartedly agree. Blessings abound in the Alexander and Fusilier household and we’re so grateful.

Now comes the wedding planning, which is also fun!

What’s the last wedding you’ve attended? Was it during COVID or before? Anything especially memorable about it? It can be a more serious memory or a funny one—or both! : )

Thanks for sharing in our joy,

Tamera

Books and Cover Art

Every now and then, my publisher sends me copies of the foreign editions of my books. It always amazes me to learn that my novels are being translated and read in different places all around the world, places that I’ll probably never get to visit. I also find the foreign covers very entertaining! Sometimes the publishers use the same cover art as the original book, but sometimes I like the foreign cover design better. And sometimes the covers are—to be honest—quite terrible! I thought I would share some of these foreign editions with you and see what you think.

I received this copy of my novel “Gods and Kings” yesterday. It’s in the Slovenian language:

Here are “Gods and Kings” in Afrikaans, Polish, and Slovakian. I love the fact that my name is Lynn Austinova in Slovakian! Doesn’t that sound cool?

And this one is in Korean:

These are all copies of my book “Hidden Places.” The one in the top row beside the original is in Danish. The bottom two are in Russian and Polish. I think the Russian version looks racier than the original, don’t you?

Here is my original “Eve’s Daughters” with the Dutch version beside it. Below it is the Danish version and the Romanian version. Which is your favorite?

My novel “Until We Reach Home” is about three Swedish sisters who immigrate to America in 1897. I find it amusing that the sisters look the same, but in the US version they are gazing at the statue of liberty, and in the Swedish version they’re saying goodbye to the Swedish coastline.

This is the American version of “Waves of Mercy” compared to the German. The novel takes place in Michigan but the German cover sure looks like Maine to me:

The cover of “Fly Away” on the left is the original US version published in 1996. (Not one of my favorites!) The middle cover is Dutch, and the one on the right is my own reprint with a cover designed by Deb Raney’s very creative, graphic-designer husband Ken Raney:

And finally, these are two of my least favorite foreign covers: A Woman’s Place” in Norwegian and “Fire by Night” in Romanian:

They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but that doesn’t mean the cover isn’t important! So, what do you think of these foreign editions? I would love to hear your opinion.