Becky Wade's Blog, page 66

Release Day Countdown

Fairest of Heart, the first book in my Texas Ever After series, releases in just five days! I can’t wait to share Titus and Penelope’s story with you.

As a young girl, I spent countless hours with my Fisher Price record player, listening to Disney storybooks and singing along with my favorite princesses on their journey to find their happily ever afters. Is it any wonder I grew up to be a romance writer? With my new Texas Ever After series, I get to mix my love for cowboys with my love for fairy tales, and Fairest of Heart gets things started with the reimagined tale of Snow White. Who needs a prince when you have Titus Kingsley, Texas Ranger? Add a mirror-loving villainess, some missing jewels, and seven retired drovers at the Diamond D Ranch, and we have all the makings for a page-turning western fairy tale.

I thought you might enjoy a short excerpt . . .

It took a moment for Titus to decipher that something other than a mound of brown dirt lay beneath the tree Rowdy indicated. Was that a face?

Titus crept closer.

Suddenly the mound moved. The men behind him sucked in a collective breath as a slender, pale arm poked out of the cocoon. Then a foot. A small foot. Wearing ladies’ stockings. But it was the face that captivated Titus and beckoned him closer. A face that seemed familiar even though reposed in sleep.

The girl from yesterday. The wood nymph who’d appeared out of nowhere, twirling, dancing, smiling. But this girl looked nothing like the one he’d met. Her dark hair hung in a wild, matted nest of twigs and leaves. Scratches marred the skin of her face and hands. Hands that led to bare arms with nothing but a mud-brown blanket to cover them.

What had happened to her? Had she been attacked after he left her? Titus’s jaw clenched. He should have escorted her back to her people. Maybe he could have prevented . . .

“Is she sleepin’ on a rope?”

“Poor thing.”

“What’s she doin’ out here?”

“And where are her clothes? You figure she’s one of them saloon gals?”

“What would a saloon gal be doing way out here?”

“I dunno. Maybe she got lost.”

“Your mind’s what got lost.”

Titus turned around and shushed the whisperers who’d crept in behind him. The last thing this young woman needed was to wake up to the sight of seven strange men hovering over her. He was about to suggest the others retreat to their original position when Dusty let out a sneeze loud enough to rival a gunshot.

The girl awoke in a flash, sat up, and waved a wicked-looking hunting knife at them.

***

“Stay back!” Penelope waved Hunt’s knife in front of her as if it had the power to stave off . . . five . . . no, six . . . good heavens . . . seven men.

She raised the blade in front of her face, noticed the sharpened side was aimed the wrong direction, and quickly twisted it around.

Maybe they didn’t notice.

“Ya probably want to fold yer thumb over yer fingers like a fist. It’ll give ya more control.”

So much for them not noticing.

A heavyset man elbowed the thinner fellow who’d offered the advice. “Shut up, Jeb,” he said in a stage whisper. “You’ll scare her.”

“I’m helpin’ by tellin’ her how to hold her knife. The way she’s got it now, she’ll prob’ly drop the thing before it can do any damage.”

Well, if he was willing to teach, she was willing to learn. Penelope corrected her grip on the knife and slowly rose to her feet. The blanket started to slip off her shoulders. Her heart lurched. She dropped the knife in order to grab the edges of the blanket and draw them closed beneath her chin. None of the men lunged at her. They kept their distance, waiting patiently for her to bend down and reclaim her knife before anyone said anything.

“We’re not going to hurt you.”

That voice. She jerked her gaze to the left, toward the only beardless man of the group. It was him.

Fairest of Heart officially releases next Tuesday, June 6. If you prefer print, it’s not too late to take advantage of the Baker Book House preorder sale. Can’t beat 40% off and free shipping! Or you can preorder from Amazon here.

What is your favorite fairy tale?

Honoring and Remembering

Honoring and remembering those who have served and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice that we might enjoy the freedoms we do. And thank you, Lord, that our ultimate freedom is found only in a life wholly given to You.

Inspired by Scripture

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

Proud Mom Moment!

Our oldest daughter graduated from college this month!

How it started….

She was born in December of 2000. A Y2K baby! (Which makes it easy to remember how old she is.)Elementary SchoolMiddle SchoolHigh SchoolIn August of 2019, we moved her into her dorm room for her freshman year at San Diego State University.

How it’s going….

Our family spent the weekend in California celebrating her graduation ceremonies. Despite all the Covid craziness that struck during the spring of her freshman year, she had a FABULOUS college experience. She loved going to school in southern California. She joined a sorority and lived in the sorority house her junior and senior year. She became president of her Pre-health-professions club. She volunteered lots. She worked very hard at her academics, earning straight A’s! She graduated summa cum laude with a pre-med degree and hopes to become a doctor one day.

This summer she’ll be traveling to Europe with our family for two weeks. (We leave tomorrow!) Then she’ll spend six weeks in Memphis as an intern with an orthopedic medicine program. Then back to San Diego to work for two years while she studies for the MCAT, takes the MCAT, applies to schools, etc.

We’re so very proud of our girl!

Have you or your family/friends celebrated a milestone moment recently?

7 Tips for Successful Book Clubs

As I continue to write books, one of the things I’ve been thinking about lately is how can I as a writer interact more with book clubs? I love the dynamic that occurs when book lovers start talking about a book they’ve all read. There is something magical about watching readers interact with my characters and story.

It’s a mix between oddly terrifying and liberating.

Want to participate in or start a book club. @cara_putman shares tips for success. #bookclub #amreading
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I get to see what you identify that I didn’t know was in my plot or characters. On occasion I get to explain why I wrote something the way I did. But the true magic is in the reality that a book is just words on a screen or page until a reader interacts with them. That is where the transformation occurs.

So how can you launch a book club if you aren’t already part of one?

Choose a type of book to read…not every book will appeal to each person, so figure out what you and your friends will enjoy. Maybe focus on a genre or rotate among the months. You could do coming of age in January, romance in February, Christmas stories in December, etc. Consider reading one childhood classic a year. I’ve loved reading these with my kids, and it could become a group favorite.Select your books ahead of time…give people time to buy or locate the book. I’ve heard of very successful clubs setting the books they’ll read 6 to 12 months ahead of time. That can be one of your meetings. Have people bring a book they want to read or think the group will enjoy. Then vote or let each person select one. There are so many ways to select.Include food…make it a time of fellowship. I’ve attended book clubs where they served a full meal, others with appetizers, and still others that focused on desserts. There’s no right or wrong answer. The key is to provide a vehicle for people to connect.Consider using book discussion questions, but don’t become rigid...let the conversation free-wheel from the questions in the back of the book. Sometimes those questions aren’t what interested your members. That’s great! Talk about the things that catch your attention. Have someone as a designated leader for each book, and do a little research to have conversation starters when the discussion peters to a halt. Need some help coming up with questions? There are excellent suggestions here and here. Penguin also has some helpful information here.Talk to the author….many of my friends and I love participating in bookclubs. All you have to do is ask. We may join you in person or via phone or Skype. It’s a great way to learn why the author wrote the book…what they learned…research they did, etc. You can ask why they killed characters or didn’t.Pay attention to book length… From the research I did 300-350 pages seems to be the sweet spot. I’d love to know if longer books have worked for a book club you’re part of.Encourage discussion… agree to disagree on the book and your opinions. Be gentle but firm about actually discussing the book. Spend somewhere between 20-40% of your time enjoying fellowship and food. The rest of the time is about the book. And a way to keep one person from dominating is to use phrases like “let’s hear from others” or pass an object and people can talk when they have it. That one seems so strict, but it’s a way to make sure all participate.

Are you a member of a book club? Have you had an author participate? What would you recommend to those starting a club?

I can’t wait to read your thoughts! And if you’d like to have me join your book club, simply complete this form:
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Seasons of Change

Hi friends,

Today, am I so excited to have my good friend and fellow suspense author Nancy Mehl here at Inspired by Life…and Fiction to share about herself as well as her upcoming release COLD PURSUIT! Sit back, relax, and enjoy this post by Nancy!

I love the different seasons, but my favorite season is winter. Why? I think it’s because when it’s cold outside, I can sit in front of a crackling fire and sip hot chocolate or flavored coffee. I feel protected and safe. I also love the white snow that covers my world and makes everything look clean – pure.

Don’t get me wrong. I also enjoy spring with its colorful blooming flowers, and I like watching my trees turn from brown to green. Then there’s fall with its orange, reds, and yellows signaling the entrance of winter. You may have noticed that I skipped summer. Yes, I did. Not a fan. Heat, sweat, mosquitos, and the insects I detest most…flies.

I realized lately that my writing life has seasons as well. When I started writing twenty-five years ago, I could write all day long. It was exciting! Will this be the manuscript that leads me to my first contract? When that finally happened, I was full of ideas and the excitement continued. I could easily write four books a year. As the years progressed, it got a little harder. Then came the pandemic. Covid left me drained. I needed to rethink my priorities and make some changes. I wanted to spend time with my family. I have two grandsons that I love dearly. I wanted to make memories with them.

 I’m still an author, and I believe I always will be. It’s simply part of who I am. But I’ve decided that I’m in another season. My publisher is giving me seven months to complete a book. Of course, there are still edits and promotional activities, but this schedule is perfect for the current season of my life. I have time for my family, myself, as well as time to write. I may not write as many books from now on, but I’m content. This is a wonderful season. 

My newest series is set in winter. The first book, COLD PURSUIT, releases in July. A little winter in the summer.

You can win a copy of COLD PURSUIT! All you have to do is leave a comment saying what your favorite season is! (Giveaway is U.S. only.)

Nancy Mehl is the bestselling author of over 50 books. She’s won the Daphne Du Maurier Award, as well as an ACFW Mystery Book of the Year Award and a Carol award. She was also a finalist for the prestigious Christy Award. Her short story, Chasing Shadows, was in the USA Today bestselling Summer of Suspense anthology. To learn more about Nancy, you can check out her website at: www.nancymehl.com. Or, you can find her, along with several other suspense authors, on her blog, the Suspense Sisters. www.suspensesisters.blogspot.com 

Giant Christian Romance Giveaway! (5/22-5/31)

I wanted to share this massive giveaway with all our faithful IBLF readers! There are over 40 books up for grabs, including brand new titles by both me and fellow IBLF blogger Becky Wade.

All that is required to enter is to follow the authors you choose on Amazon or Bookbub. Super easy.

To enter, click here:
https://www.booksweeps.com/giveaway/may23-win-a-bundle-of-inspirational-romance/

I hope you win!

Giveaway Time!

Today, I am happy to give away a set of two autographed novels by sister-Regency author Rachel Knowles. When I last visited England, I met Rachel in person after being acquainted with her for a few years online. (I love the connections we make through social media!) She and her husband, Andrew, showed us around the historic seaside town of Weymouth, Dorset, where they live.

Rachel and Andrew Knowles regularly post interesting articles on their well-respected site, Regency History. I also enjoy following Rachel on Instagram where she posts beautiful photos of historic places in England. You might enjoy following her there, too.

Rachel is also an author, having written a nonfiction book called What Regency Women Did For Us, as well as two clean Regency Romances. Rachel has kindly provided signed copies of her two novels for me to give away. You can read more about the novels here.

To enter, simply comment below and let me know if you have ever read one of Rachel’s books or visited her blog. Also, be sure to leave your email address in this format: name(at)provider(dot)com (for example: julie(at)julieklassen(dot)com ) so I can contact the winner. US mailing addresses only, please, due to high postage costs. (Sorry.)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Blown Away!

Have you been hearing about AI—artificial intelligence—in the news? I’ve heard everything from how amazing and cool it is to horror stories about how it is going to end mankind as we know it. The former is essentially a database trained by humans using material that is already created and is mostly innocuous (think of Siri, Alexa, GPS, etc.) The latter is “general AI,” which has the ability to actually teach itself and has far exceeded expectations. That should scare us. And I do want to caution everyone to think carefully and seek godly, biblical wisdom about any use of either type of AI. There are serious ethical and even spiritual considerations that come with this new facet of technology.

I don’t pretend to understand either kind of artificial intelligence, but today, I want to share one of the really amazing aspects of AI with you. My husband, an illustrator and graphic designer, has been experimenting with an application of AI in the art world via an app called Midjourney.

By simply entering prompts telling the Midjourney app what image you want it to create, you have access to a vast database, and can end up with some incredible images in every style from photo-realistic, to paintings, to any other medium or style you can think of. And that’s the point: it’s whatever the artist can think of. With amazing accuracy and uniqueness, these images can take the place of the stock art that graphic designers currently use to create book covers or other types of illustration.

Here is an example of some images Ken generated for the hero and heroine of my work in progress. This is the prompt Ken entered to get these images: Blond female travel writer, 30s, working in coffee shop in North Carolina

I was blown away to see this image—almost exactly how I’ve been picturing my heroine, Leisl.

Each prompt creates 4 images and you can continue creating groups of four images with the same prompt, refine your prompt, or select one of the four images and ask for variations of it, until you get something that looks close to what you had in mind.

A second and third try with the same prompt created more great images, but none as accurately depicted as the one in the first batch. Since the people pictured in these images aren’t real people, but are generated by artificial intelligence from a vast database of widely varied images, there aren’t issues with getting model releases or permission to use a real person’s likeness.

This was the prompt for my hero: Caucasian male, 30s, dark hair, brown eyes, clean-shaven, Airbnb proprietor in his North Carolina country kitchen with coffee.

These images clearly show AI’s shortcomings. For one thing, AI apparently doesn’t know the meaning of clean-shaven. And (like many real artists!) AI apparently isn’t very good at drawing hands. There have been many reports of hidden hands, missing fingers, extra fingers, etc. And I have no idea why the second guy has two long belt straps overlapping or why the coffee mug in the last image is levitating!

Still, with a little tweaking from a real artist, these images could eventually become the background or characters on a book cover. For now, they simply serve as inspiration for me as I write about these characters. And another round with the same prompt gave me this image of my Zach. (It even included a bowl and tea kettle in my two favorite colors! Ha!)

Ken can now use these AI-generated images the same way he uses stock photos, combining, meshing, changing and refining images using programs like PhotoShop and Illustrator. For example, while I prefer the woman in one image, I like the coffee shop scene from another one. Ken can combine the two, adjust the color and tone, add textures, lay type or decorative swirls over them, and voilà!—my dream book cover!

Whether they end up being part of my story or not, it’s hard to explain how much the images have helped me capture the mood and setting of my story. 

Creating contemporary images has never been much of a problem, but Ken says the most difficult thing for a designer creating book covers is finding stock photos for historical novels. “There just aren’t many resources out there and the ones that do exist can be very expensive. But I just got a cover assignment for a book about a woman who took a train across the country in 1913 and kept a journal of her trip. There was virtually nothing like that in stock photography, but within minutes I was able to generate numerous variations on that image and they all look great!” Here are just a few that Midjourney came up with in response to Ken’s prompt:

Ken said the author was blown away to get cover roughs back from him within minutes of her assignment. Of course, there still needs to be research to make sure the clothing and settings are accurate and appropriate to the story, but the author can make suggestions for changes and Ken can incorporate those into his prompts and the final image. He did say he may have to start charging by the minute instead of by the hour! Haha! But he’s definitely viewing AI as a boon, not a hindrance, to his work as a graphic designer and illustrator.

I can’t wait to see what he comes up with for the covers of my new series, but so far, I’m thinking this kind of AI should stand for “Absolutely Incredible!”

Inspired by Scripture

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