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High School Reunions

October 15, 2024 by in category Writing tagged as , , , ,

This year signifies that it’s been 20 years since I graduated from high school. I can’t believe it’s been two decades since I sat in English class dreaming of someday becoming a writer. There are so many things I’d tell my 17 year old self, but the most important thing would be that the best is absolutely yet to come.

So of course when a 20 year milestone is upon us, we are faced with the decision to either attend the reunion, or to sit at home and wonder what it would have been like to attend the reunion. I weighed the decision carefully, but ultimately I decided to put my brave girl pants on and drag my husband with me to the townie bar in my hometown to face my high school classmates.

I’m glad I went for a number of reasons, the biggest one being that it was honestly really nice to talk with people I hadn’t seen in a very long time and to make some new connections. But imagine my surprise when I walked in and discovered that reunion organizers showcased the various businesses and crafts of our class, including my book! I was so touched to see that they had purchased a copy of Mac and Cheese, Please, Please, Please to display at the event.

I spy a book about Mac and Cheese

A big thank you to the 2004 Student Council for giving M&CPPP some love at the reunion. It seriously meant so much to me. Go Cougars!

In other news, Mac and Cheese in Outer Space is in the final stages before its release. IT’S GETTING REAL PEOPLE! I have my ISBN number, the book is currently with a layout designer, and I have my beta readers all lined up as we prepare for launch. I seriously can’t wait to share this story with the world.

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Jina Bacarr October Featured Author

October 14, 2024 by in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author, Featured Author of the Month tagged as , , , , ,

About Jina Bacarr

I discovered early on that I inherited the gift of the gab from my large Irish family when I penned a story about a princess who ran away to Paris with her pet turtle Lulu. I was twelve.

I grew up listening to their wild, outlandish tales and it was those early years of storytelling that led to my love of history and traveling.

Jina Bacarr | A Slice of Orange

I enjoy writing to classical music with a hot cup of java by my side. I adore dark chocolate truffles, vintage anything, the smell of bread baking and rainy days in museums. I’ve always loved walking through history—from Pompeii to Verdun to Old Paris. The voices of the past speak to me through carriages with cracked leather seats, stiff ivory-colored crinolines, and worn satin slippers. I’ve always wondered what it was like to walk in those slippers when they were new.

You can follow Jina on social media:

Facebook
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Pinterest
Goodreads
Bookbub

Jina also has a column here on the 11th of every month: Jina’s Book Chat.

Jina’s newest novel, Sisters of the Resistance, is available now.

Paris, 1942: Two sisters in Paris had their lives torn apart. Now they must choose – save themselves, or fight the Nazis to the very end…

I’d given up everything to fight for the Resistance. But nothing prepared me for discovering my sister was a traitor. Kept by a Nazi SS officer, outwardly she barely resembles my beloved Justine anymore.

But I guessed her secret. About her beautiful, fragile little child. The baby she’ll do anything to protect. And I believe that deep down she still knows what is right.

As the Nazis threaten everything we ever held dear, I know I have one chance. I must convince her to betray the evil she seems to have chosen. I need her to find her true self once more.

Because I need her to join the fight…

Could you choose your country – and what is right – over the person you once loved more than anyone in the world?

Unmissable, heartbreaking, gripping WW2 fiction, perfect for fans of Soraya M. Lane, Ellie Midwood and Jean Grainger.

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A Few of Jina’s Other Books

THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN

Buy now!
THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN

THE LOST GIRL IN PARIS

Buy now!
THE LOST GIRL IN PARIS

RESISTANCE GIRL

Buy now!
RESISTANCE GIRL

THE RUNAWAY GIRL

Buy now!
THE RUNAWAY GIRL

HER LOST LOVE

Buy now!
HER LOST LOVE

A NAUGHTY CHRISTMAS CAROL

Buy now!
A NAUGHTY CHRISTMAS CAROL

A SOLDIER’S ITALIAN CHRISTMAS

Buy now!
A SOLDIER’S ITALIAN CHRISTMAS

COME FLY WITH ME

Buy now!
COME FLY WITH ME

LOVE ME FOREVER

Buy now!
LOVE ME FOREVER

SISTERS AT WAR

Buy now!
SISTERS AT WAR

SISTERS OF THE RESISTANCE

Buy now!
SISTERS OF THE RESISTANCE

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Season’s Readings: More Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales from the Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC

October 13, 2024 by in category From a Cabin in the Woods by Members of Bethlehem Writers Group tagged as , ,

In this new addition to the “Sweet, Funny, and Strange” series of short-story anthologies, the multi-award-winning Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC, returns to its roots. As denizens in and around Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, (also known as “Christmas City, USA”) we were happy to make our first anthology a collection of holiday tales. But one volume just wasn’t enough. Now, in the eighth anthology, we’re returning to the theme to bring you twenty-one new stories that span the holidays from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve.

Emwryn Murphy’s sweet tale tells about a chosen family’s “Friendsgiving,” crashed by a blood-relative who might, or might not, be happy with what he sees in “As Simple As That.” Jerome W. McFadden once again reveals his humorous side in his story about a would-be Santa who gets into trouble in “Flue Shot.” A. E. Decker shares an intricate Christmas fantasy about “The Goblin King’s Music Box.” And Paula Gail Benson gives new meaning to a traditional symbol for the New Year in “Star of the Party.” Beyond these holidays, Debra H. Goldstein writes about Pearl Harbor Day, Diane Sismour about Krampusnacht, and Peter J Barbour about Hanukkah. Other favorite BWG authors, including Jeff Baird, Ralph Hieb, D. T. Krippene, Dianna Sinovic, Christopher D. Ochs, Kidd Wadsworth, and Carol L. Wright, also share their holiday musings.

In addition, this volume includes award-winning stories from the 2023 and 2024 Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Awards. Sally Milliken, the first-place winner in 2023, presents “The First Thanksgiving.” From 2024, we have our top three winners with first-place winner Rhonda Zangwill’s “Oh! Christmas Tree,” second-place winner Bettie Nebergall’s “Just Ask Santa,” and third-place winner Mary Adler’s “Narragansett Nellie and the Transferware Platter.”

We hope you enjoy these holiday gifts and that all our readers have the very happiest of holiday seasons.

Other Books by Bethlehem Writers Group

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Book Two is Finished, Here’s What I learned This Go Around

October 12, 2024 by in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as , , ,

I wanted to call this post ‘Writerly Thoughts about Writerly Things’ because my mind is all over the place after focusing the past three months on finishing book two. But as I let my mind write out my thoughts, they all circled around the idea that book two is complete and I learned a lot this go around.

Blog header titled Book Two Finished, here's what I learned this go around by Denise M. Colby

Writing a book on deadline is a completely different experience

I just completed and submitted my second ever manuscript to my publisher. I had to be organized, set a writing schedule, and keep going even when I wasn’t sure what I should write next. My original rough draft was messy and even though I felt solid about the characters I had flushed out, I had written it years ago, before I published book one. And book one had changed—a lot. Which made many scenes in book two unusable. But I had to read through it all again before I figured that out. Once I let go of my old writing, I was able to write a different story, one that I believe was better. 

picture of the title page of Denise M. Colby's finished book two A Slight Change of Plans

Book two would not be finished without my critique group

There honesty and encouragement kept me going. They asked questions, pointed out inconsistencies in the timeline, and held me accountable to my characters. Would she really say that? I don’t think he would respond that way. I’m just so thankful for them. It makes this entire journey more enjoyable and fun.

Denise M. Colby with her critique partners helped finish book two
Denise M. Colby with two of her critique group members, Kimberly Keagan and Marie Wells Coutu

I was able to meet them in person at the Faith, Hope, Love, Writers Conference in Phoenix at the end of September. We do pretty well with email. Having an opportunity to talk live about writing and our stories was an extra special treat. 

I could not have completed my manuscript without writing sprints with other authors

There’s a group that started them back in July and I joined in to help me be focused and write. It did that and well. (So well, I gave myself tendonitis in my arms from too much typing between writing this book and my day job – but that’s another story). The group still meets and I’m so glad to have this focused time for my writing. I don’t like getting up early in the am for it, but it helps to know there’s people on zoom and I want to be there.

Knowing there’s another book in the series still to come 

The decisions I made for these first two books impact what I can do in the next. Things like choosing names. For some reason I was sticking to last names that started with m, and had similar sounds. It was important to catch that now before going to print, so I didn’t regret it when I write the next story. It was actually my critique group that helped catch that for me.

I’m having fun writing in this story world I’ve created

One of the things that helped me this time around was talking with readers about my characters from book one, When Plans Go Awry. They shared with me their favorites, and what they liked and had questions on. It really stayed at the front of my mind when writing book two. In my rough draft, Bert, my crazy rooster, didn’t exist yet. But he has by far stolen the show in book one and being able to write more of him in book two was so much fun. I hope my readers think so too.

Denise M. Colby swag from her Best-laid plans series bert the rooster book one book two
Bert the rooster will make a return appearance in book two

What comes next after finishing book two?

Working on deadline and writing an entire book is no joke. I had to say no to several things, ignore my family a bit, and work hard at not getting distracted by home stuff, including the dog. Now I’m playing catchup on things at home, mentally jumping into the projects we need to finish in our yard and house.

I like the new schedule I have and want to keep that time for anything writing related (like writing this blog). It’s amazing how fast time goes by. Besides writing books, as an author I have other writerly things to do including working on my website, posting on my author social media, writing blogs and newsletters, and brainstorming for the next book. I’d love to create a VIP section on my website for my newsletter subscribers. And continue building my word of the year pages—something near and dear to my heart. This year my word is grow, and I think I have definitely done a lot of that.

So many things, but some will have to wait as I have another deadline early next year for book three.

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The Beaufort Sisters are at it again: the long awaited sequel to ‘Sisters at War’ is here SISTERS OF THE RESISTANCE

October 11, 2024 by in category historical fictoin, Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as , , , , ,

Whoever thought writing a sequel would be so difficult? I had the characters, backstory, I knew the ending… so what was the big deal? I never thought I’d get it right, but I did. Here are some videos for you to celebrate the publication of SISTERS OF THE RESISTANCE.…

2 sisters at war with the Nazis and each other…

The Wartime Paris Sisters 2-book series

I want to mention that everyone’s back in the sequel including that awful Gestapo man… but will Eve and Justine finally get some loving with the men they adore? It’s touch and go… especially for Eve.

Not to mention there’s a surprise for everyone at Maison Bleue when a Nazi general requisitions their home for his headquarters…

And of course, little Ninette is adorable… just love her. But then something happens…

Find out in Sisters of the Resistance!

Amazon Series Link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLGLTCMG

PS — Sisters of the Resistance, the sequel to Sisters At War 

Wartime Paris Sisters series https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLGLTCMG

‘2 sisters at war with the Nazis…. and each other.’

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SISTERS OF THE RESISTANCE (sequel to SISTERS AT WAR) and it’s a wham bam finish even I didn’t see coming… thanks to my editor’s fabulous edits and notes. Thank you, Isobel!

Keep you posted…

US https://a.co/d/eZ25gZb 

UK https://amzn.eu/d/0LEWy2z 

The Beaufort Sisters are at war with the Nazis… and each other

‘A must read for anyone’

‘Hard hitting and heart breaking’

‘An absolutely gripping, powerful story’

Who are the Beaufort Sisters?

They’re beautiful

They’re smart

They’re dangerous

They’re at war with the Nazis… and each other.

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