Anne R. Bailey's Blog, page 8

Revisiting Old Series: Harry Potter

I was part of the large group of people who flocked to book stores at midnight waiting to get my hands on the latest Harry Potter book. Out of all the books I read as a child/young adult the Harry Potter books were my biggest obsession. For a long time, I would re-read the books I had over and over again prompting my father to worry about this unnatural preoccupation with the magical world.

But all obsessions fizzle out over time.

It has now been 9 years since I last read a Harry Potter b...

An Ode to Friends New & Old

I have come to the conclusion that having a lot of time on your hands can be dangerous. With nothing else to occupy my mind it has turned to sulking and reminiscing about the past. Most recently, I have been thinking a lot of about friends. Having moved across the country I left a lot of them behind so this tangent has not been surprising as I watch myself drifting away from yet another set of people. With some I know I will always be close to while with others I will probably never...

Free Fiction: The Warrior Bride is Now Live!

After some trouble I have finally managed to post The Warrior Bride - just one hour late.

This is a free short story available to read on this website (you can click on the image to the left to go to it).

It is meant as a companion piece to my novel Fortuna's Queen but it can be read on its own too. The story is about Cynane, one of Alexander the Great's half-sisters.

Fortuna's Queen is now available & Upcoming Free Short Fiction

The Warrior Bride
Cynane is a warrior princess and sister to Alexander the Great.
We briefly met Cynane in Fortuna's Queen.
Now this story will expand on her world.

Available on this site: April 8th, 2016

Note to Self: Slow Down

Last night, I had a dream that I was in a speeding car racing down an empty country road. Before I knew it I was heading to towards train tracks and the bar was down. I had two choices: step on the gas or hit the brakes.

I stepped on the gas and barely avoided getting hit by the oncoming train. I tried to slow down but no matter how hard I tried I could not get the car to stop. I was coming up to a city and I could just imagine the mayhem that would ensue. So I did the only logical thing...

Cover Reveal & Announcement

Coming This March To Amazon...

Fortuna's Queen (Forgotten Women of History Book 2)

"We were a doomed race. With our bloodstained hands we conquered, we loved and we fell."

Thessaloniki lived in a time when Alexander the Great was racing across the known world conquering all in his path. She was his half-sister living in the shadow of his glory, surrounded by the powerful women in his life. From a young age, she learns about the price of ambition. When she falls in love she begins to thi...

Envy: A Story of Fleeing & Fighting

In every career, hobby or project you take on there will be setbacks. From lack of time, money and energy to lack of motivation, competence and doubt. The list seems endless and sometimes I am surprised anything gets done at all. A combination of perseverance and passion gets us through but then I came across a hurtle I had never dealt with before. This hurtle threatened to undermine my determination and tear down everything I had worked so hard to achieve. What shocked me was that this...

Walking Is My Therapy

Everyone has that one thing they do when they need to relax whether it is taking a bath or drinking a hot cup of tea.

I turn to walking.

A quick walk to the store, through the park or a hike, clears my head and gives me the chance to just breathe. Then the thinking can begin. I work on problems with fresh insight, going over in my mind what I can do and the possible outcomes. Sometimes I just walk to relax.

We all get stumped by a problem - for me it is writer's block. I don't know how to...

The Passive Rebel: Why I Choose to Write Both Historical Fiction & Romance

I write -
Historical romance for pleasure,
And historical fiction for interest,
I write what I love.When I began writing the one thing I was certain of was that I wanted to write historical novels. I have always been passionate about history and used most of my elective courses in university to take as many courses as I could. I also loved reading historical novels and as a guilty pleasure historical romances as well.

I found myself debating if I should stay away from doing a historical romance...

My Notebook Addiction

When I sat down to get to work today I noticed my work space as if for the first time. As I looked around at my desk covered with my notebooks, papers and pens, I wondered when this had happened. It used to be just me and my laptop.

Each of my notebooks has a purpose from outlines, business plans, research and snippets of scenes for my new novel. I had begun doing all my work from beginning to end on the computer but slowly, I had migrated back to the comfort of a good old notebook (some...