Barbara S. Stewart's Blog, page 11

Reflections…

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhH-iNk1ZV8

I LOVE this song – but my personal reflections aren’t of the song in the timeframe that it was performed….  my memories are from the 80s and my favorite TV show – China Beach.

Last night was a night of family and memories (MISSING TOO MANY, but we worked with who was there  ) Monday was Gene’s birthday, Tuesday was my bestie’s birthday and today mine. We laughed, sharing pictures and good times, wine and giggles….

I remember each year on my birthday when I woke up my mom would always say “Do you know what I was doing …. years ago today? Crying because you were a girl. Crying because I knew your daddy wanted a boy – but when I saw how much he loved you I quit crying…”  I wish she was here today to tell me that story. I remember every year I got a cherry chip cake with cherry icing and cherry vanilla ice cream… because she liked it! When I got older I asked her for my favorite cake instead and she said “that is your favorite cake” and I said “NO, CARROT CAKE IS MY FAVORITE.” And even when she wasn’t baking anymore I at least got a carrot cake from Publix (almost as good).

I was thinking after our get together last night about Kathy, my brother’s wife and one of the greatest gifts he ever gave me – our friendship – trying to remember how many years we’ve shared that friendship – 34…  How can that be????? I’m only 25 now? ha ha! We have been through so many times together… some ups in life and some downs (but never in our relationship). I pray I never spend a birthday without her…

And then I remembered the first birthday I shared with Gene – I was 30 and running into a bar at the bowling alley with my girlfriends and he was there, I stopped and gave him a kiss and went on to ‘play’ with my friends… And a couple of years later we started to share our life together. When I got up this morning he shared a beautiful love-letter with me instead of a card that he bought – that yellow-lined paper is my greatest treasure for this birthday…  HOW BLESSED I AM that he let me pick him…

I’ve had so many beautiful wishes from friends and family today that my heart is full… And I am glad for REMEMBERIES… (remembering memories) I just made that up – just now! Gonna go post it as a WORD OF THE DAY on facebook – I haven’t had one in a while.

I treasure each of you who took a moment to see my rememberies today…. I am blessed by you.

Happy Birthday to me….

Love, Barbara

 

and here I am…

Good morning world! I’ve been quiet here lately because I’ve been busy, but I’m getting notes asking WHEN for Feel Like Makin’ Love. I don’t have that answer yet. If I set a deadline at this point and I don’t make it I feel like I’ve failed, so I’ll give you a date when I am closer… But THANK YOU FOR ASKING! That means you are as anxious as I am. : )

I’ve gotten some reviews and messages on book two and I wanted to stop…. think and absorb…

So here’s the thing… I’ve struggled some with this one – only because I know this is the last of this series – I’m pretty sure that my journey with Andy will be over…. and I hesitate because it makes me sad…. But the other thing is – Some of you don’t love that book two isn’t how you think it should be… When I look to the Sky was the stepping stone to get to the end, and I loved the story of Matthew and Carlee, I knew they were part of the journey as I was writing Rock and Roll Never Forgets. (I don’t want to say more because I know some of you haven’t read it yet.)

OMGee, I am getting reviews that are saying things like, “if Andy falls in love, I won’t read the last book…” I look at every review as FEEDBACK, so as I read those comments I’m trying to take the negative thoughts and weave them into my story – I think they are actually making it better. You’ll just have to wait and see…

This series, from RRNF all the way until the end of FLML has been in my heart for a really long time – the whole story…  I knew where I was going, just had to fill some of the middle in to help us get there, but I knew all along where we were going.

I will tell you this one thing and then I have to go start the day that belongs to my ‘other world’…

I wrote the end of FLML first because I KNOW HOW IT ENDS….

Thanks, and I love all of you who ask…

XXX, Barbara

Another experience… another lesson…

I’m tried this evening, but I wanted to start getting my thoughts together before I forget. I probably won’t post ’til morning, but I don’t want to forget it all…

Today was another experience, another lesson…

I participated in my first organized Author Expo. It was held locally at the Riverside Arts Market here in Jacksonville. I’ve participated in a couple of small local festivals, but this was authors and book people! I was surrounded by people who were just like me – writers.

I met a gentleman who wrote about Jacksonville history and shared his experience with a “traditional” publisher – the thing I took away from that was that by the time everyone before him got their cut he didn’t earn that much. (hmmmm…. I am my own middleman.)

I met a lovely lady who just published her first book. She was sharing that her book was more of a “hold in in your hands handbook” on college prep, excited about the process. She, like myself, did the self publishing route. It was nice sharing what we both experienced through the publishing experience..

I met a sweet-sweet-sweet older lady who writes period books, I believe the first one takes place in 1837 and the second in like 1912. She was interesting to talk to and told me to keep doing what I’m doing – “writing is a gift” and that in “todays’ ways” the rules have all changed. What I heard most from people who have more experience than I is that indie-authors ARE the future.

I met a local woman who has such a passion for books and wants to support those of us who are making the ‘LEAPS OF FAITH’ toward actual published works that she has set up an on-line community of authors, editors, graphic artists (NOTE TO SELF – several people asked about Jeff’s info!!!), people involved in all aspects of the book process, and I am very anxious to explore!

And my neighbor was a Sci-Fi writer and self publishes through a different company than createspace and the biggest difference I noticed was that he had hard cover books that createspace doesn’t offer – DO I NEED HARD BACKS? I’m not sure, because it seems as though Kindle is my biggest outlet, but would someone want a hard back if I had them… must consider this… He was kind to share info with me to help me move forward and I was most appreciative. The biggest thing he told me was that  I was doing things right, but to keep looking at ways to move forward – BETTER. He had suggestions about beta-readers (something I have already considered and reached out to some people to do that – First round readers will be my friends who know my heart….  second round readers will come from readers who have reached out to me in ways that have touched me that were so SPECIAL that I’m not really even sure I can tell you how I feel about them. I KNOW WHO YOU ARE…..).

I learned that I need to make a list of all that I need to take with me when I go to events such as this, and go over the list several times – one little thing makes a huge difference – two words – BUNGEE CORD! I learned that there are things that I need to explore to draw people to my area. I need to raise my books up and will explore ways to do that. I’ve been told that the BLACK tablecloth made my books POP and learned that tape sticks to crushed velvet better than a traditional tablecloth… and HELLO????? Where are my tablecloths from when I did Premier????  Sold!!! But I think, there too, I need something to raise my information up so that it catches the eye of those passing by not sure of what I’m offering – oh, and I need a bowl of candy – but – it has to be something that I DON’T LIKE! People flocked to tables where there was a bowl of candy.

I learned that I had to move WAAAAAY out of my comfort zone, but first I must explain.

I worked in corporate American for years and one of the things that happend quite frequently were what my husband called the ‘touchy-feely’ trainings to learn about yourself and how you work with others. Over the years I took the Myers Briggs Personality Test many times – and I learned over those years that I am a borderline Introvert/Extrovert. Those who REALLY know me get this – those I believe only THINK they know me can’t believe that INTROVERT was even a remote possibility….. but then you don’t REALLY KNOW ME. I had to absolutely PUSH myself to talk to people about my books – and there were some who REALLY wanted to talk  :) It wore me out, but now that I’ve spent a day doing it – I believe that I can lean more toward the EXTROVERT part of myself. A good friend and her husband were there yesterday and we wee discussing the E/I thing and it was funny because I was telling him, E – I, E – I and then I remembered something else I wanted to say and  finished my thought with OH! (come on – say it out loud – you’ll get it! E – I, E – I, OH! – ok, maybe it was funnier to me! ha ha ha!)

Check yourself out! http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html  ENSF – INSF for me…

I learned that NOTHING compares to family and friends – and I KNOW AND APPRECIATE how precious those people in my life really are.

I learned that I will wear COOLER clothes and more COMFY shoes in the future – especially OUTSIDE EVENTS! COTTON and cute flip-flops!!!) Oh! and there will be a FUTURE! I had a WONDERFUL SURPRISE when I got home from this event – There’s already something in the works for September 28th – STAY TUNED!!

And I learned that  when I got home and unpacked  - a chilled glass of Muscato was such a treat… And that YOU told me – it’s NEVER TOO EARLY TO GO TO BED…

With love, Barbara

#blessed #loved

tell YOUR story…

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

― Maya Angelou

I love Maya Angelou. Her words… so simple, yet so profound. I have a little card on my desk with one of her quotes… Anyway, where was I going – oh! Tell your story….

I’ve had so many “friend pleasures” the last two weeks. I met with a new friend who has two stories in her head. One is fiction, and one is about her 100-year-old grandfather. As we talked I wondered about all that he’d experienced in his lifetime and I encouraged her to JUST DO IT (I love that Nike slogan – in three words it says mounds of things – stop procrastinating – stop finding excuses – so many more, but the one thing that I hear every time I see it says ‘BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!”). There was a medical incident shortly after we spoke and I keep sending her text messages asking – ARE YOU WRITING? This is too important not to get down on paper, even if it’s just the scribbles of notes that are a big mess – get it on paper.

The following Saturday I FINALLY met with a friend who has a cookbook idea. We’ve tried to get together since January! Finally the stars aligned and our schedules meshed and we met… two-and-a-half hours later – she was on her way and I’m getting messages saying ‘I’m typing!’

What beautiful gifts these will both be to others someday soon…..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucHGJBv-GZ4

If you have a story in your head – WRITE IT DOWN. It doesn’t have to be all set and ready to go – WRITE YOUR THOUGHTS DOWN… TELL YOUR STORY – even if it goes no further than scribbles on scrap paper, you may stumble across them one day and say ‘hey… look here what I found. I’m gonna do something with this! If you don’t write it down…. that will never happen   :O

Yesterday, I had the BLESSING of meeting – face-to-face- someone who I met on a social network and we’ve chatted for eight years and yesterday we rolled into conversation about a million things all crammed into two hours and it was like we’d known each other forever – but we had. Over those eight years we gone through many things together and all I could think as I drove home was what a TREASURE it was to meet her. We’ve seen each other’s pictures – and family pictures on FB, but to wrap my arms around her and HUG my friend was such a great thing…

Now about MY story. I love the reviews and thoughts you share. I know I say that often, but it’s a gift to me each time I find one – and I read them all – even the negative ones – you took time out of your busy lives to share your thoughts. You can keep asking, and I will keep answering, ‘I DON’T KNOW YET’ about book three. I am working on it and the middle has opened up and I’ve been a typing fool again – that’s not to say it’s getting close – I haven’t gone back and reread or checked anything there are notes in the middle of the text that say (GO BACK AND CHECK THIS) and (DID I ALREADY SAY THIS) and (TO HERE I FEEL GOOD) and… well you get the picture. There are links to places I want to go and verify something or see if I explained something correctly or (CAN YOU FIND A BETTER WORD). It’s a mess – but it’s moving forward.

I am very excited about next Saturday (see the WHAT’S HAPPENING PAGE!). This is a big adventure for me and I’m working with an event planner to set my table so that it’s beautiful….  (Only half-kidding there!) I have one of my besties going with me so that I can have a break once in a while (and if you know me, you KNOW, I’ll be needing a break just about every hour! ha ha! I’m only gonna have ONE CUP OF COFFEE before we go!)

Well, there’s laundry to do, typing, maybe a bag of mulch to spread, a NASCAR race and maybe some reading (I’m reading INEVITABLE by Angela Graham now) so off I go…

Just feeling blessed and wanted to share…

Love, Barbara

 

 

WHERE AM I??????

Good morning world! (and I can say that for sure now because #totallybookedblog opened up the other half of the world to me! THANK YOU!!!

I want to share some things this morning…

I’ve mentioned the notes and reviews and what they mean to me. Sometimes I read them again and think ‘WOW’ – that’s so personal and someone reached out to ME to share their personal story… I DON’T TAKE THAT LIGHTLY. It wows me in a way that overwhelms me, makes me feel BLESSED and lucky to know that something I wrote can allow someone to chose ME to share with… THANK YOU.

I received a note on Friday that was an eye opener in MANY WAYS. The writer told me that she’d never reached out to an author before but felt compelled to tell me her story. Several chats back and forth in the days that followed, and that writer is helping me with a huge part of Feel like Makin’ Love… so as you ask me ‘WHEN?’ as many of you are doing I will now reply that I’m in the middle of the book (I’ve already written the beginning and the end (some tweaks needed) but there was a part in the middle that I wasn’t FEELING and it was important to me to FEEL that part. To that point I had written only from FINDING information – now… Information – real information – is being shared and I AM BLESSED.

So here I am – in the middle of the book… I’m not putting a date on anything yet, because this one brings it all together and you (HOPEFULLY) won’t be sorry you had to wait…..

Love and appreciation, Barbara

 

Happy Friday!

I don’t know about y’all, but I will be glad when I am on my way home from work today! (I can’t say 5:00)…

Busy day tomorrow – and Sunday will be the chill day – relax with my honey and I’m sure there will be typing or reading involved*! I’m plugging along on Book Three – I keep getting asked “WHEN?” I honestly don’t know yet. The middle of the story is evolving – I know what it is, I just need to write it the way I want it, and I’m not there yet, so keep watching here or on my FB page for updates. It’s too important because it ties everything together and I want it RIGHT… I’ll let you know when I know  :)

I have to say that I am sooooooo happy… I am absolutely blown away, no wait….. BLOWN AWAY!!! (That’s more emphatic!!!) at the notes, reviews and stars y’all are sharing with me. I love that you are comfortable enough to share the feelings you experienced reading one of the books. I’m humbled that you share such personal stories… If I ever win the lottery – what ever “MY LOTTERY” is – I’ll explore Butterfly Camp I made a promise to someone, that if I’m ever “rich and famous” that would be a priority (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!). I love that you connect with that – and if you haven’t gotten that far in a book yet – you’ll know later…

  We already designed (and copyrighted) the camp logo – JUST IN CASE

I’ll put this on my WHAT’S GOING ON PAGE as I have more details for my local friends, but I will be at the Riverside Arts Market on Saturday 6/29 with R&R, WILTTS and Boots. I am not promoting/selling Sweet Surrender at this time. So mark your calendars and I will add it to FB, too.

* I am reading an ARC (advanced reader copy) of a book that will be available in July, Secret Sister, by Emelle Gamble. (I’m slow reading it because I’m sneaking back and forth to Bk 3). Watch for my review when I put it on goodreads.

Ok – as I say on FB – hi ho, hi ho…

Have a beautiful day, Barbara

 

Random babblings…..

So, just some things you need to know…

I write under my own name – that way I won’t write anything that I wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing with my family….

There isn’t a genre that my writing has a comfortable place to land in, so ROMANCE is my only option. There is no category called LOVE STORIES and that’s what I write. When someone asks me and I have an opportunity to talk to them, I say that I write “ROMANCE”, but I add that it’s not the kind of romance you normally think of. There is no hard body man on the cover (he is in my dreams and I hope that the way I write ABOUT HIM you get your own vision of that man.) I believe that each of you have sent me the swooning emails has your own version of Andy Stevens. and I like that. You also won’t find a half-naked woman. I’m hoping that the “LOOK INSIDE FEATURE”, the book blurb, and my covers make you think, ‘hmmmm… this won’t be a typical ROMANCE.’

Any sex scenes in my writing will lean more toward innuendo, they will be alluded to because I don’t think it has to be graphic to paint a picture… Paint your own picture of how you see that moment… I am, and I’ve been told that I’m moving a little deeper (NO PUN INTENDED… HA!) with each book  Oh and don’t get me wrong – I’m no prude – I READ those books, I just can’t by-pass the giggles and shock to consider doing it (NO PUN INTENDED! ) in my own.  These are some of my favorite quotes about that in reviews that I have read.

“You will find no steamy scenes in this book which I found refreshing!!” 

“This book throws the adage that “sex sells” right out the window. Details were not necessary and not missed in this book because the emotion elicited from the connection between this couple was all that was required for you to feel, really ‘feel‘ those scenes between Andy and Bethy”

“I enjoyed it as a romance without the sex scenes actually being played out in writing.”

These comments make me feel like I’ve done what I set out to do…

There will be no drugs… and for some reason a recent post makes me feel as though I need to add a disclaimer that says so, so that someone looking for “SEX, DRUGS and ROCK AND ROLL” doesn’t read them…

I write love stories from my heart – hoping that they take you on your own journey.

I just felt like I needed to share all that this morning.

Thank you again for sharing this experience with me – and to the Totally Booked Blog ladies… I have to share this song again…

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4rthQiAQu0

 

WINNNERS!

Quickie for now… Off to have lunch with a friend…

We did a drawing for two prizes:

1st prize – Michele Dewell

2nd prize – Karen Newberry Camp

Ladies please PM or eMail me: bsswrites@yahoo.com

I’ll tell you what the prize is before I announce it here. If anyone who reads this is friends with these ladies, please let them know – WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!

Thank you for the LIKES – I mean ♥!

OMGeeeeee!!!

I am SPEECHLESS! (actually that’s not TRUE… I’ve been excitedly sharing the blog post below with anyone who would LISTEN! ha ha ha!

http://totallybookedblog.com

Look for Rock and Roll Never Forgets on their blog!

Also – today my FB page went crazy… I asked for 200 LIKES… today there were 80+ NEW LIKES and I will be doing a drawing later for a special prize – stay tuned! I’ll announce the winner on the FB page!

I’m excited… and blessed beyond words…

Thank all of you for sharing this journey with me!

Love, Barbara

I can’t help it…. I’m a tease!

For those who look here – but aren’t following my FB page….  it’s cryptic enough that you have NO CLUE! and it’s early so it could change a dozen (or more) times…..

“Are you coming back because you want to? Because you’ll miss me?” he teased.

“I will miss you,” she said, not making eye contact with him, instead focusing intently on the shirt she’d refolded twice already. Finally she sat with the shirt on her lap and looked up at him. “I’ve enjoyed this time with you, enjoyed the nights wrapped in your arms as you held me. Our time together has been special.”

She took a big breath to continue, “I don’t want to leave you. I find myself enjoying you more and more. I don’t want to go,” she said again. “But I have to take care of some things at home. Our departure was so sudden that there are things left undone.”

“Don’t forget what you are leaving behind undone here,” he said.