All At the Same Time

I don’t know how it happens, but it almost always does. I have friends who only write one book a year, friends who can whip out a book in four months, and friends who finish a book whenever life doesn’t interfere. But somehow, they all finish their books at about the same time.

Now, I’m not complaining, because I LOVE their writing. So when they give me a manuscript to critique, It’s more pleasure than work. My friend, Karen Lenfestey, gave me her manuscript for A SEASON OF CHANGE, women’s fiction. And it was wonderful! I’ve read all of her books (https://www.amazon.com/stores/Karen-Lenfestey/author/B004SBIK2M?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true), and each one deals with a woman’s struggle with the challenges life throws at them. They’re all good, but I think this latest is my favorite. It’s happier than usual, and I adored the character of Blake. I don’t know when she’s going to publish it, but if you see it when it comes out, it’s worth giving it a chance.

A member of my writer’s group, Karissa Farina, gave me the manuscript for the first book she wrote in a series. I have no idea when or if she’s going to publish it. She’s young. She leads a busy life, and for now, writing’s something she does because she loves it. BUT, she’s a wonderful writer, so I consider it a compliment that she shares her work with us and shared her manuscript with me. I think she writes the strongest emotional scenes I’ve ever read. I’m not sure how she’d market it since it’s about a fourteen-year-old who gets pregnant and how devastating it is for her life. In book one (the one I read), Kari falls in love with Owen, they try to be responsible and buy condoms, and still get pregnant. Her Christian school asks her to leave. The people she babysits for fire her. Everything in her life goes downhill, but at the end of the book, she decides to keep the babies (yes, twins). Book two is about her pregnancy and relationship Owen. And she has more books planned in the series. It’s serious and poignant and wonderful. And someday, I hope she publishes.

For right now, though, my awesome critique partner, M.L. Rigdon/Julia Donner, gave me her latest Regency to critique. Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! I love her Regencies. I’m going to try my best to pester her into sharing something about OPHELIA’S MARRIAGE PLAN on my blog when she’s ready to publish it. I love my friend’s dry wit and naughty sense of humor. She creates such wonderful characters! I read at the end of my day, and I can’t wait to get back to her manuscript.

If I were you, reading this, I’d suspect that I’m biased because my friends wrote these books. But you’d be wrong. I’m usually harder and expect more from them than some random author I pick up. I’m a pretty forgiving reader IF I don’t know the person. I know how hard it is to write a book. I tend to be more generous than maybe I should be. BUT, I know how good my friends are, and my red pen is ever at the ready when I read their work. And happily, they do the same and expect good writing from me.

Anyway, once I finish this manuscript, it’s back to my Kindle, and I’m BEHIND on the Harbor Pointe series. D.L. Finn’s The Destination is next on my list. https://www.amazon.com/Destination-Harbor-Pointe-Book-ebook/dp/B0CCQB7X1S?ref_=ast_author_mpb This is an interesting series where each author in Story Empire writes a novella that features a lighthouse in Harbor Pointe. It will be interesting to see what she does with it.

Well, I’ve blabbed enough for this post. I hope you’ve found some wonderful reads lately. I have!