Barbara Ellin Fox's Blog, page 2

My Books Have Issues

I'm an author specializing in clean and wholesome contemporary romance and romantic suspense, set in equestrian environments. This year I finished publishing my series, For Love & Horses. Each book in the series deals with an actual issue, or issues, in the horse industry. Remember Not’s issuesBook 1, Remember Not, deals with horse abuse. In […]

I’ve Noticed These Trends in Publishing During 2024

Change annoys me unless it’s a good change. Who put me in charge of deciding the virtue of changes? Me. I decide what I want in my life; what I like to read, eat, watch, listen to, etc. I have an innate system of judging what seems right to me according to my basic Christian […]

The Opening Scene I Didn’t Choose for REMEMBER NOT

Finding the best place to begin my first story, Remember Not, took multiple efforts. At one point, I was encouraged to write a more impactful opening scene, so I wrote the one below. It’s taken right out of my proposal. For the longest time, I struggled over including this scene. It felt too dark and […]

When You Write Something You Know is Controversial…

As an opinionated person who has always marched to the right of the center line, I’m somewhat used to being controversial. For example: I loved horses from an early age in a family where no ancestors had anything to do with a horse, except for one used one to pull a plow. I grew up […]

Where the Wild Ones Roam, Wild Horses and TikTok Comments.

I rotate my books Remember Not, Where the Wild Ones Roam, What’s There to Love, and Last Wish, through the Tik Tok videos that I add to the platform twice a day. I continuously change my video style to suit the trends. All I’m looking for are views of my book covers and story snippets. […]

Pondering a New Story

Sometimes when I prepare to write a new story, the parts and pieces just fall together like snowflakes. Too bad that doesn’t always happen. There are times, like now, that I “ponder.”Pondering includes research, lots of thinking, pages of scribbling “what ifs,” and then mental rewrites. I do just enough to be sure I have […]

7 Months of Low Budget Marketing

I’m mostly a one woman band with a tight budget. At this point in my author career, I trade sweat equity for getting the word out about my books. I’ve spent the first half+ of the year throwing lots of effort into a broad selection of social media and platforms. In this post, I’ll share […]

Stress & Progress

There is a lot of unnecessary stress involved in seeking traditional publishing. There’s even more stress for writers who don’t write according to market trends. Indie publishing opens its arms to either; the author who writes to market and the individual. A year after I published my first indie book, I’m glad I stepped away from […]

What’s There to Love?

On the outside, Lizzie Stratton appears everything a horse girl could possibly want. She has a beautiful home on a Kentucky horse farm, the best horses for showing and competing, a great college education, a fancy car, access to all of Lexington's social events, and friends. But appearances can be deceiving… Like a Thoroughbred racehorse, she […]

I ❤️ Critique Groups

Making Friends Through Critique Groups Critique groups provide a great way for writers to receive feedback while making friends with fellow authors. We all know that it can be challenging to find friends who understand how a writer’s mind works, so why not take advantage of opportunities that connect you with your peers? Another advantage of […]