Tag Archives: #amblogging

#wednesdayWisdom 4.3.24

I wish more people realized, understood, and believed this.

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#wednesdaywisdom

I’m tryin’….

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#throwbackthursday 2.15.2024

This little gem is from June, 2017…

Recently on Facebook, I saw a post that was shared hundreds of times called THE DECLUTTER CHALLENGE,  a 30-day challenge to get rid of clutter and stuff in your life. A random sampling of the days’ tasks includes: purging 2 kitchen cabinets (day 7); cleaning out your wallet (day 9) and your purse ( day 10); cleaning out the freezer ( day 18); donating unused toys ( day 25). The challenge ends on day thirty with the simple task of CLEAN. I guess what you clean is up to you, but I took it to mean, clean your house.

This challenge, naturally, got me to thinking about how I could declutter my writing.  All writers have catch words or phrases they like to use, especially when writing dialogue. If we actually wrote how we spoke, the readers would be bored out of their gourds. For instance, would you seriously want to spend money on a book where every dialogue started like this:

#1. Hey, Bill. How are you?

#2. Fine, Jim. How are you?

#3. Can’t complain. How’s the family?

#4. Doing well. Yours?

#5. Same, same. So how, about those Red Sox?…

you get the idea. This is drivel. We may speak like this in real life, but in fiction, it’s a death knoll.

So that’s one way to declutter your work: check the dialogue. Can you get the idea across without all the folderol of “hi, how you doing’s?”

Another way I know I personally clutter up my writing is by using too many extraneous words to convey my thoughts. A quick search of my current work in progress yielded this:

the use of THAT – 89 times

the use of To her/to him/ for her/for him -56 times

the use of adverbs ( the bane of my writing existence) 91 times. EEK!

I really need to work on decluttering these words, don’t I! Hee hee

Other things that writers should declutter are phrases like “seemed to,” “tried to,” “began to.” Writing is much stronger and moves quicker when sentences are declarations and use an active tense.

For example: Her natural, spicy scent seemed to surround her body.

Better example: Her natural, spicy scent of ginger and peach, surrounded her.

Other words that can probably be eliminated a fair amount of time and still allow the sentence to convey what it needs to are:

move, push, reach, bring, pull, went, brought, press and came( to denote going  or coming from somewhere)

It’s a good practice to utilize the SEARCH for options in your word processing program to nit pick and eliminate words you use excessively after your first draft is written. This will make the editing process more about the story line and capturing what you intended to say instead of needing to remove excess words.

Oh, about that 30-day Declutter challenge. yeah, I survived for three days. Then I was exhausted. Maybe I should develop a 12 month declutter challenge. You know…do one thing a month instead of 30 in 30 days? Thoughts? LOL

When I’m not decluttering my life and my writing, you can find me here:

Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me// Triberr

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#throwbackthursday 2.1.2024

Today’s blog re-read comes from one I did for ROMANCING THE GENRES in January, 2021. Here’s the link: ROMANCING THE GENRES

 One of my favorite quotes of all time is from the amazeballs Maya Angelou, and I repeat it to myself often. 

Never has this thought been so profound in my writing life as it is right now.

When I started writing as a child I wrote like a, well, child. My short stories were a series of “and then his happened-s,” run-on sentences, and prose packed with adverbs, flowery descriptions, and analogies that had no real comparative basis behind them. My fiction read more like a diary entry than actual crafted storytelling. But I found great joy in the writing.

My graduate thesis was written from a scientific methodology viewpoint and reads like the driest medical tome ever penned. Facts, figures, graphs, statistics. Boring with a capital BORING. But I loved writing it.

As I began writing non-fiction articles on motherhood and the life of a 30-something for magazines after I had my daughter, I wrote with an easy, I’m-just-talking-to-you-over-coffee style. Nothing craft-heavy at all, no real plot or story structure, just a simple imparting of info laced with humor and self-deprecating insights. Writing these articles was a labor of love that made me feel lighter and more confident with myself as a new mother and a woman trying to navigate through a crazy world.

Even blog writing, which is more of a conversation with me in the driver’s seat brings me a sense of purpose and accomplishment. I can pop a blog post out in less than a half-hour most days, never have to edit it for content – only spelling mistakes – and then hit post without worry. Love that!

When I first began writing fiction in my 50’s I knew nothing about plot, structure, conflict, subplot, sub-text, or character motivation. I simply had a story in my head and wanted to get it on paper. I look at my debut romance novel, SKATER’S WALTZ from The Wild Rose Press, now and think, yeah, it was a decent story…but really could have been better. But I wrote that book with such joy in my heart during a time in my life that was very challenging. The sense of accomplishment and utter jubilation that it was actually published was a top ten event in my life.

Now that I write romantic fiction in a few sub-genres – RomCom, Contemporary, Romantic Suspense lite – I have to write in a way that brings the reader into the story, gets them hooked on the characters, and leaves them at the end of the book satisfied and wanting more from me. I have an obligation to the reader to present a satisfying product to them.

No easy feat, this, and one which – daily – gives me agita! I’ve gotten so worried this past year about selling books, marketing, and learning new digital ways to publish just to get my books in front of people that I’ve lost my way a little in the writing from my heart department. The joy just hasn’t been there and I think it’s shown in my writing.

So, after close to 30 books published, I’ve decided to do something that sounds a bit crazy, and, in all honesty, probably is.

I’m starting over. 

See? Crazy.

What it really means is that I’m going back to basics, armed with the wisdom I’ve managed to gather these past 5 years since I was first published. Readers want a story that they can tell the author just loved writing. They want to fall in love with the hero and heroine much the same way the characters fell in love with one another, and the writer did as well as she was bringing them to life.

I want that, too.

Those are the books I want to read, the stories I want to fill my soul. 

They are also the stories I want to write.

So, with age and experience, comes wisdom and I am taking that wisdom into 2021 and writing my heart out. I’ve got a list of books that will be written and released this year, some traditionally published and several new indie releases as well. I’m not worrying about marketing, sales, getting on bestseller lists, or even winning any awards this year.

What I am going to do is simply write my heart out because that’s what makes me happy. And I know when I’m happy, my readers are, too.

See? I know better now…so I’m going to do better.

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#wednesdaywisdom 1.31.2024

As we end the month, let’s do so with positivity!

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#Fridayfive 1.26.2024

Are you a romance reader? Or did you just stumble upon this blog because you were scrolling Google and liked the name? Hee hee.

I ask that question because for today’s Friday Five, I’m going to list the 5 books I recommend a novice romance reader read in order to discover what the genre is all about. Ready? Here ya go. My recs…

  1. SHANNAFrom New York Times bestselling author Kathleen E. Woodiwiss comes one of her most iconic and beloved romances of all time…A pact is sealed in secret behind the foreboding walls of Newgate Prison. In return for one night of unparalleled pleasure, a dashing condemned criminal consents to wed a beautiful heiress, thereby rescuing her from an impending and abhorred arranged union. But in the fading echoes of hollow wedding vows, a solemn promise is broken, as a sensuous free spirit takes flight to a lush Caribbean paradise, abandoning the stranger she married to face the gallows unfulfilled. Ruark Beauchamp’s destiny is now eternally intertwined with that of the tempestuous, intoxicating Shanna. He will be free . . . and he will find her. For no iron ever forged can imprison his resolute passion. And no hangman’s noose will keep Ruark from the bride— and ecstasy—that he craves.”  This was the first real adult romance ( read: SEX!) I ever read. To this day I think I’ve reread it 25 times! Perfection from a master writer.
  2. FRENCH SILKWhen she becomes a murder suspect, a New Orleans beauty and lingerie tycoon must share her most deeply buried secrets with a disturbingly handsome district attorney in order to clear her name.

    Like the city of New Orleans itself, Claire Laurent is a vibrant beauty laced with mystery. As the founder of French Silk, a fabulous lingerie company, she has fought hard to achieve worldwide success. Then a TV evangelist attacks French Silk’s erotic sleepwear as sinful. And when he is killed, Claire becomes the prime suspect.

    District Attorney Robert Cassidy knows Claire is damning herself with lie after lie about the murder, even as he feels her drawing him into her world and her very soul. But neither Cassidy nor her protests of innocence can save Claire unless she reveals a shocking truth — one she has sworn to take to the grave . . .” Sandra Brown has been a one-click author for me since I read this book. Mystery, sex, romance, and a great story are the definition of an SB book!
  3. THE NOTEBOOK “At thirty-one, Noah Calhoun, back in coastal North Carolina after World War II, is haunted by images of the girl he lost more than a decade earlier. At twenty-nine, socialite Allie Nelson is about to marry a wealthy lawyer, but she cannot stop thinking about the boy who long ago stole her heart. Thus begins the story of a love so enduring and deep it can turn tragedy into triumph, and may even have the power to create a miracle…” He’s called schmaltzy and vanilla-y in his writing, but this story is a love story for the ages!
  4. THE THORN BIRDSThe Thorn Birds is a chronicle of three generations of Clearys—an indomitable clan of ranchers carving lives from a beautiful, hard land while contending with the bitterness, frailty, and secrets that penetrate their family. It is a poignant love story, a powerful epic of struggle and sacrifice, a celebration of individuality and spirit. Most of all, it is the story of the Clearys’ only daughter, Meggie, and the haunted priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart—and the intense joining of two hearts and souls over a lifetime, a relationship that dangerously oversteps sacred boundaries of ethics and dogma.” Hands down one of the best books every penned. A love story for the ages – forbidden love, family intrigue, secrets, and heartbreak, This book has it all!
  5. DEVIL IN WINTER “I’m Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent. I can’t be celibate. Everyone knows that.” Desperate to escape her scheming relatives, Evangeline Jenner has sought the help of the most infamous scoundrel in London. A marriage of convenience is the only solution. No one would have ever paired the shy, stammering wallflower with the sinfully handsome viscount. It quickly becomes clear, however, that Evie is a woman of hidden strength—and Sebastian desires her more than any woman he’s ever known. Determined to win her husband’s elusive heart, Evie dares to strike a bargain with the devil: If Sebastian can stay celibate for three months, she will allow him into her bed. When Evie is threatened by a vengeful enemy from the past, Sebastian vows to do whatever it takes to protect his wife . . . even at the expense of his own life. Together they will defy their perilous fate, for the sake of all-consuming love.” So no one writes a steamy, LONG, love scene like Kleypas. The hottest scene in this book takes place with the h/h standing upright and against a door. I’ll leave it to you to go read it!!! Kleypas is another of my one-click authors. I don’t write historical romance, but I read it because of her!

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#throwbackThursday 1.25.2024

So today’s blog throwback is from 2017. I was going to be presenting my first workshop for my local chapter of RWA and I was…to say the least…a basket case about it!

So this past Saturday I gave my first ever PowerPoint presentation to my local chapter of RWA.

To say I was nervous would be to do a disservice to the knocking in my knees and the way my heart was shooting extra beats.

I’ve spoken publically before, — hell, I use to teach Nursing to undergrads! – but I haven’t spoken publically in a very long time. In fact, I haven’t done anything publically in a very long time, not since I retired and started writing full time.

I think I was nervous because  I didn’t want to screw up, be boring, or deliver a topic that didn’t appeal to the audience. I didn’t eat anything all day because I was terrified I’d hurl!

I’m sitting here to report (1) I did not hurl, (2) I was absolutely starving the minute the presentation ended! (3) my audience laughed, repeatedly and freely in all the appropriate spots (4) there was discussion about the topic – a lot of discussion, so YAY!, and (5) my audience seemed to genuinely like the presentation.

So, again, YAY!!!

Now I just have to get my nerve up again, because I’m giving this presentation again next month to another group.

But I’ll think about that…tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day.

When I’m not being overly dramatic, you can find me here:

Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me// Triberr

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#wednesdaywisdom 1.24.2024

We need one another, kids. Remember that.

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#tuesdayteaser #teaserTuesday 1.23.2024

I’m almost done with book 2 in the Heaven’s Matchmaker series, so here’s a little bit…

Twenty minutes later he came back upstairs to find her sitting in front of her laptop.

“So?” she asked.

“Good news/bad news. The wiring is fine. But you need to replace both units. They’re almost forty years old, according to the model info. It’s amazing they lasted as long as they did, but the washing machine’s got multiple issues and the dryer even more. It makes more economic sense to replace them both than to repair the issues. It’d be quicker, too.”

She blew out a breath, then flexed her neck side to side, as if stretching some kinks out. He crossed over to her when her hand slid up her neck to squeeze the back of it. “How long will it take to get replacement units?” she asked.

Before he answered and without asking for permission, he flattened his hands across her shoulders and began kneading.

If she was shocked or mad he was touching her she disregarded it, instead letting out a low, guttural moan.

“Oh, good Lord, that feels good.”

“You’re a network of knots back here, Layla.”

“Work hazard,” she mumbled, dropping her chin to her chest as he worked out a particularly tight muscle group. “I’ve been on the computer for a week, exclusively, doing all my work there.”

“How do you usually do it?” He dug his thumb into a mass of knots just below her hairline.

Oh. Wow. You’re good at this.”

He grinned. “Muscle strains are part of my job. Now, answer me. If you don’t work at the computer all day, what are you usually doing?”

“Visiting showrooms, warehouses. Design stores. I meet face-to-face with clients. Do consults.”

None of which she’d done since she’d been in town.

She slid her neck to one side and he pressed in, deeply, on her scapula. A shudder ran through her that zinged right through his hands and up his arm, like he’d touched a live, sparking wire.

Layla groaned again. The sound, so erotic, so enticing, so damn…pleasure-filled drew a line straight to his dick and he hardened like a brick in an instant. He’d give anything to have her make that sound while he was inside her.

The thought sent an ice river cascading over him.

He lifted his hands, rubbed them together once, then shucked them in his pockets.

What had he been thinking to touch her like that? So boldly. So…intimately.

She’s a client. You need to remember that. No mixing business with fun.

He eased out a breath.

No matter how much fun it might be.

Layla, oblivious to his mounting lust, tipped her head left and right a few times and sighed before she turned around.

Luckily, his hoodie fell below his hips, obstructing the bulge agonizingly pressing against his jean fly.

“I don’t think my neck’s been this loose in weeks.” She lifted her gaze to his, a question in her eyes. “How’d you learn how to do that?”

“My ex was a physical therapist. She practiced on me when she was in school.” A gentle shoulder lift and he added, “Some of it –” he rolled his eyes “– rubbed off.”

That tiny grin she’d shown him previously, built and grew until her lips parted, revealing perfect teeth.

Cody swallowed as his groin grew even tighter.

She dipped her chin a hair as she continued her perusal of his face. Her breathing was a little too fast and when her pupils dilated he took a step forward, then stopped mid-stride.

Her grin flew, a worry line grooving the spot between her eyes as she hissed in a breath.

“Layla—”

 “How long will it take to get a replacement washer and dryer?” she asked, the words rushing from her. “And please don’t say weeks.”

He shook his head to clear it. “I can have them here by lunchtime if you know what you want.”

“Really? How? I can’t imagine there’s an appliance store with that kind of inventory and same-day service in Heaven.”

“There isn’t. But there is the next town over. The owner and I went all through school together and because I bring him so much business he’s always willing to help with an emergency. And this qualifies as one.”

Thankful he had something to do instead of stand there, staring at her and wanting to do something to ease the ache in his pants, he pulled his phone from his back pocket and called up the store’s website. “Here.” He pointed to her desk. “Sit down and type in this web address. You can see the brands and models he offers. Decide what you want and I’ll give him a call to make sure everything’s in stock.”

She did as he asked and within fifteen minutes was assured both models would be delivered within the hour.

“I can’t believe this,” she said, when he disconnected the call. “Whenever I’ve dealt with dealers and businesses for merchandise for my clients, I always have to wait weeks, if not months, for the items.”

“You don’t live in a small town,” he said, lifting his toolbox again from where he’d left it in the hallway. “Those local connections go a long way toward making life easier. That old saw about one hand washing the other runs true here. Something you might consider if you decide to set up shop in Heaven.”

She stared across the room at him, a look he couldn’t decipher crossing her face.

“I’m gonna head up to the attic,” he told her. “See to those issues you mentioned. The delivery truck should be here in less than an hour.”

Worry. It was worry forming across her lips and pale skin.

“Can you be in charge of the delivery?” she asked, her voice shaking. It was subtle, and you’d have to know what she sounded like usually to actually hear it. But he did. “I mean,” she threaded her fingers together and pressed them against her tummy. “Since you know them, and everything. I’d just be in the way.”

Silently, he cursed her idiot ex- fiancé again. He doubted she’d ever worried a whit about not knowing deliverymen or anyone else for that matter. He could lay her hesitation and apprehension squarely on his indicted doorstep.

The asshole.

He’d give anything to wipe the worry and dread from her face.

“Give me a shout-out when they get here,” he told her. Relief drifted over her lovely face.

Good thing the idiot ex was in another state, incarcerated, because he really wanted to punch him in the face.

Stay tuned – publication date announcement coming…soon. At least I hope it is, lol!

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#teasertuesday 1.16.2024

Don’t let the little heart in that graphic fool you into thinking this is going to be a romance book discussion today.

I just decided to publish another of my VELLA stories and put it into print. VINDICATION was the first serial murder/suspense book I ever penned back in the day when I wasn’t writing romantic fiction.

This one involves the abductions and mutilation murders of 13-year-old girls in the DC area. The SPCD – Sexual Predators of Children division – of the FBI is a group of profilers who study this type of killer and they’ve been given the case. When the team is stymied, they are forced to call in a retired member of the group to help out. What happens then is creepy, gruesome, and – I think – riveting.

Here’s a little taste, which is the opening scene….

Virginia; Ten years ago.

“How does it feel to know you’re dying, Agent O’Brien?”

The soft, dulcet sound of his oddly feminine voice sent a river of ice-cold sweat down her spine. The knife slash he’d slit across her neck pumped blood, like a fountain bubbling over, drenching her. Her father’s dead body was sprawled across the room, the officer assigned to protect them, slouched against the wall where he’d been struck down after answering the demanding knock at the door.

The only movement in the room was the killer’s as he wiped her blood from his hands with a single paper towel.

“Do you feel a calm, almost spiritual joy welling up inside you?” He squatted in front of her, shaved head cocked to one side as he regarded her through eyes devoid of compassion and filled with psychotic glee. “Can you feel death approaching? See any white lights? Is your mind even working with any rational thought right now?”

He rolled the gore-filled towel into a tight ball and stuffed it into his mouth, then swallowed it in one quaff, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the effort.

“Mustn’t leave any evidence behind, must we.” The maniacal grin she’d grown to despise skittered across his face.

Her gun lay, inert, just beyond reach where it dropped when he surprised them with the attack. She tried to crawl her fingers to it, but the sheer force of movement was exhausting. Sweat pumped from her forehead, drowning her eyes, clouding her vision.

Watching her efforts, a bemused expression furrowed his brow and twitched at his lips.

“Don’t bother,” he told her. “Even if you had the strength to pull the trigger, you’d miss. About now your reflexes have all frozen from shock. Your breathing is shallow and quick, your pulse rate thready, barely palpable. All your blood is pumping out of your neck, none of it getting to your organs. You’ll die in another minute or so. I know how this works, Agent O’Brien.”

His mouth broke into a full-toothed smile. “I’ve made death my life’s study. What a rush it is to see the actual life leave a body and know I’m responsible for it happening. It’s a feeling that has no equal. Not even the best sex of your life feels so good.”

The feral grin broadened. “Power. Ultimate and absolute power over life and death. And I have it.”

Her weakened palm pushed against the butt of the gun while he spoke, then across it to slide a finger along the trigger.

“Are you for real?” he asked, derision lacing the question.

She tried to blink the moisture from her vision so she could focus on the gun.

“You really think you’re going to die a hero, don’t you? That I’d let you? Go ahead, then.” He rose and stared down at her, hands on his skeletal hips, sophomoric defiance in his stance.

“Go ahead,” he repeated with a careless shrug. “Try to shoot me. You won’t be able to. You’re too weak to lift your gun, much less fire it. You’ll wind up shooting the ceiling if anything. Guaranteed you won’t hit me.” He folded his arms across his chest and smirked. “I’ve got nothing else to do but watch you and wait for you to die, so just try and shoot me.”

She flicked her parched tongue over lips that tasted of metal and was fueled by the flavor.

“Okay.”

The word was almost inaudible as it croaked from her. With every ounce of life left, she leaned forward and, in one fluid motion, managed to grab the gun, raise it, point, and pull the trigger.

A shocked expression exploded on his face. Eyes bulging from their sockets, mouth paralyzed into a silent moue of amazement, the bullet shattered into his brow, dead center, freezing his astonishment in place, leaving a burning hole smoking with the heat of the bullet. A millisecond later his body fell straight backward, his head banging on the concrete floor, dead.

The gun bounced from her grasp as her hand banged back to the floor.

“I never miss,” she whispered. A volcanic coughing spasm spewed blood from her nose and mouth. Glancing over at her father, a solitary tear escaped from her eye and drizzled down her temple, while a screech of sirens blared in the distance.

Unable to keep her eyes open any longer, the world in front of her went black.

I don’t have a publication date yet, but it’s gonna be soon. I’ll keep you posted.

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