Meriam Wilhelm Featured Author of the Month
March 14, 2020 by marianne h donley in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as Featured Author of the Month, Meriam Wilhelm, Witches of New Moon Beach
Meriam Wilhelm Featured Author of the Month
The one thing I know, after all my years as an elementary school principal, is that there is magic everywhere and in everyone. While I miss those enchanting moments with kids, I have always wanted to let my imagination run wild as I seek out my own magic and write about it. When I retired, I started to write my first books, a series called The Witches of New Moon Beach and inspiration wasn’t hard to find.
I have lived in Redondo Beach all my life, and New Moon might have more than a passing resemblance to my hometown. Every day I walk on the path that runs along the beach, sometimes with my sisters, but most often with my thoughts as I plot my next book.
I am long married and mom to three great grown kids. When I’m not writing or walking on the beach, you’ll find me sewing, reading or traveling and taking pictures.
Website: www.meriamwilhelm.com
The 2020 Short Story Award
March 13, 2020 by A Slice of Orange in category From a Cabin in the Woods by Members of Bethlehem Writers Group tagged as 2020 Short Story Award, Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award, Fur Feather & Scales, Peter Abrahams, Spencer Quinn
It’s time!
The 2020 Short Story Award is now open!
Bethlehem Writers Roundtable seek animal stories (broadly interpreted) of 2000 words or fewer.
First Place winner will be considered for publication in their newest “Sweet, Funny, and Strange” anthology:
Fur, Feathers, & Scales: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Animal Tales
The latest of their “Sweet, Funny, and Strange” Anthologies
See Submission Guidelines
The 2020 Guest Judge
Peter Abrahams is the Edgar Award winning author of thirty-eight novels including The Right Side, The Fan, A Perfect Crime, and the Echo Falls series for younger readers.
Under his pen name, Spencer Quinn, he writes the New York Times best-selling Chet and Bernie series, as well as the Queenie and Arthur series for younger readers.
Abrahams was born in Boston, graduated from Williams College, and lives on Cape Cod.
You read an interview of Mr. Abrahams here.
Previous BWR Short Story Award Judges
2012–Jonathan Maberr
2013–Hank Phillippi Ryan
2014–Rebecca Forster
2015–Curtis Smith
2016–Marisa A. Corvisiero
2017–Carrie Vaughn
2018–Kimberly Brower
2019–John Grogan
To submit a story
Why Link Building on Your Website and Blog is Important
March 12, 2020 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as Denise M. Colby, Link building, Marketing for Authors, SEO MarketingLink building on your website and blog posts is important because it helps build your SEO (search engine optimization). Google uses links to measure the quality of a page. The more links there are that go back to that page from good sources, the higher the SEO. Link building is only one part of the bigger SEO picture, but for this post, I’m discussing link building only.
Linking between other websites and/or pages is important
Why is it important to have other pages link to your page and vice versa?
It’s a vote of confidence that what you’ve written is worth reading. Similar to a recommendation for say a plumber, car repair, or a restaurant.
There are other benefits to link building as well:
- Relationships between websites
- Referral Traffic
- Building your brand
The algorithm Google uses changes constantly, so no one truly knows specifically how much link building is appropriate, but in my research there are things you should and should not do. Do not submit your website to a web directory in order to get a link in return.
True organic links work best
Denise m. Colby
This means links should be complementary to the content that the blog post is written about. Adding links is also a great way to provide extra content to your readers.
But what if you don’t have anything to link?
I have found some web pages and blog posts I write have links that naturally fit, and then with other pages and blog posts, I draw a blank. I especially found it difficult when my website and blog were brand new.
Potential content ideas that include link building:
- Your welcome page can introduce your other pages with links to those pages (even if you have a menu).
- Create a page for each book you’ve written and then talk about each one in a separate blog post and put the link to the book page in it.
- If you are unpublished, you could write a blog post about setting, clothes, animals or any other topic that connects with your manuscript and include links to a pinterest page with sample photos.
- Review other writers’ books and include links to where the book can be purchased.
- Write a blog post about craft and include a link to the website or person where you learned about that topic.
Whatever you do, don’t despair. As you add content to your website and/or blog, you are building content. That content may be linkable material later. Just keep building your content.
For example, I have written several blog posts about SEO both on my own blog (Why the M), and here on A Slice of Orange (What is Alt Text and How To Use it).
And, my Marketing for Authors program now has a newsletter (where you can sign up and receive a free booklet of SEO help), with the plan to have training courses available this year.
Did you see what I did there? I added several links to previous blog posts as well as actual pages on my website, all in some way related to the topic I am writing about – SEO and link building.
Remember, SEO looks at both internal and external linking, which leads me to my next tip.
Write guest blogs so that you can link back to your website.
Another way to add links to your blog post is to add your social media links. These would count for outside links.
This can be done at the bottom of your post with a phrase such as: If you’d like to connect with me on social media, you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook.
You could even link to a specific post on your social media. Since this post is about SEO, I’m linking two separate tweets here and here I’ve posted related to SEO.
You can go back and add in links, however, it is BETTER to REWRITE a new post with a little different angle or side-topic (SEO does not like duplicate content) so it reads differently, then add a link to your old post.
Remember, links can include other pages or posts on your website. Circling in a loop is okay. And you can add links to both words (Anchor Text) or photos. The goal would be for every blog post to have at least two links in it (one internal and one external).
There are many other things to learn about link building, but I will save those tips for another post. For now this is enough to get your started.
Give it time. You won’t have enough content in the beginning to do this right away. But in time you will be able to add link building into your SEO plans.
My Titanic Love Story pubs March 17th… The Runaway Girl will run away with your heart by Jina Bacarr
March 11, 2020 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as BookBub, giveaway, Titanic
I’m excited to announce that my Titanic love story, THE RUNAWAY GIRL, will be published on March 17th.
———–
Reviews.
You either love them or cringe…. but they’re part of the business.
Kind of like you see in the old black and white films when the actors, director, and producer all gather at a famous restaurant, drink coffee and cognac, and wait for the early morning reviews in the daily newspapers…
There was something romantic about those days when we waited for print reviews. Smiling when they’re good, sighing when they’re not, but always grateful someone took their time to give us their honest opinion. You grow as a writer from reviews… all of them.
Now you can get a review in an instant on your smartphone.
It’s enough to keep a writer up at nights, sleeping with her phone by her side, waiting for that inevitable beep or chime that signals we’re about to celebrate with double chocolate brownies or go back to the drawing board with cold coffee at our side till we get it right.
And sometimes we do get it right.
I’m excited to say THE RUNAWAY GIRL has received amazing reviews:
‘A fantastic Titanic take woven in with a great portrayal of love, friendship, and even forgiveness. I would have rather seen this as a movie than the Jack and Rose story!!!’
‘… the writing was very good and so detailed that it felt like it was all so believable, and could really have happened. This was my first book to have read by this author but she managed to take me on an epic journey with her characters which I totally fell in love with.’
‘I loved, loved this book so much!!!’
‘This was such a good story, the characters were so compelling and you become so invested in them you want to keep reading even way after the story ends!’
‘The Runaway Girl is a mesmerizing romance that any reader (like me) that loves all things Titanic will adore.’
‘What a fantastic storyline the characters were compelling and I loved this story couldn’t put it down it was so well written, loved it’
‘From start to finish I was enchanted with the story and the characters and all the finer details describing the ship, clothes and scenery.’
‘The Runaway Girl: A Titanic Love Story is perfect for historical fiction and romance fans.’
‘The author has a way of creating a vivid, historically authentic world of the Titanic through this wonderful story. You will start to love the favorable characters and the great storyline.’
‘Oh how I adored this story.’
You can read all the NetGalley reviews in their entirety HERE.
If you’re a book blogger or a reviewer registered on NetGalley who’d like to give your opinion about my Titanic love story, it’s not too late to request a preview copy of The Runaway Girl.
Here’s the link:
US: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/183647
I anxiously await to hear what you think! Believe me, besides those double chocolate brownies, there’s nothing that makes an author’s day than a review!
Thank you, everyone.
~Jina
————–
THE RUNAWAY GIRL, is on schedule for a March 17 pub date.
Two women hold the keys to his heart. Only one will survive that fateful night…
When Ava O’Reilly is wrongly accused of stealing from her employer, she has no option but to flee Ireland. The law is after her, and she has only one chance at escape – the Titanic.
Aboard the ship of dreams, she runs straight into the arms of Captain ‘Buck’ Blackthorn, a dashing gentleman gambler who promises to be her protector. He is intrigued by her Irish beauty and manages to disguise her as the maid of his good friend, the lovely Countess of Marbury. Little does he realise, that the Countess is also in love with him.
As the fateful night approaches, tragedy strikes further when Ava is separated from Buck, and must make a daring choice that will change her life forever…
A sweeping historical romance set aboard the Titanic, from the author of Her Lost Love (Christmas Once Again).
Praise for Jina Bacarr:
‘A delightful holiday romance that has all the charm of a classic Christmas movie. Christmas Once Again is perfect for anyone who loves a holiday romance brimming with mistletoe, hope, and what ifs.’ Andie Newton, author of The Girl I Left Behind
‘A breathtaking holiday romance that is sure to stay with you long after reading’
‘A mesmerizing holiday romance that is sure to sweep you off your feet and take you away to another place, another time.’
‘A fabulous book you won’t want to miss’
THE RUNAWAY GIRL is now up for pre-order in e-book, print and audio book:
Kobo.
Saying Goodbye to Joyce Ward
March 10, 2020 by Tari Jewett in category WritingSaturday was a tough day. We said goodbye to a good friend, author Joyce Ward, who also wrote as Linnea Alexis. This was the message I shared on Saturday, and I wanted to share with all of you:
Are you a plotter or a pantser? Many of you know what I’m talking about, but for those who don’t, as writers, plotters are those who plan out their books in detail, and they know where the story is going long before they actually start to write. Pantsers, are those who take it as it comes, writing by the seat of their pants. And then there are I suspect many of us who are somewhere in the middle. We do some planning and some pantsing as we write. There’s no right or wrong way, it’s just the process that works best for us as authors to get the story on the page.
In life it’s much the same. Many are plotters, planning their life in detail. Where do you want to be in 5 years? In 10? What’s the best path to reach those goals. Others are pantsers, living life as it comes, waiting for the surprise plot twist. And most of us fall somewhere in the middle, because in life, a plot twist isn’t always something that we plan. Again, there’s no right or wrong.
Joyce Ward and I met when we were at similar places in our lives. Our kids were grown and we were both reaching for a dream we’d long waited to attain, being authors. We were new members of the Orange County Chapter of Romance Writers of America, and in a little bit of a plot twist, the first time we met we were sharing a hotel room for an author event. There were three of us sharing the hotel room that weekend, Joyce, Erin Pryor and me. All of us unpublished authors.
We were instant friends, talking about story plots, the speakers and what we hoped to learn and achieve in our new endeavors. After that weekend, Joyce and I roomed together at many writers events. It worked out well. We both snored, we coordinated our workshop schedules, and at night we would talk for hours about writing, but also about our families…she loved hers very much, about our pasts about our lives.
There were many times that Joyce called me and told me she was quitting, that she was a terrible writer and she was done. She wasn’t going to write another word, and I would remind her this was her dream, she couldn’t give up, and she had way too many ideas that needed to be put on paper.
The next time we spoke I’d be the one ready to walk away, stay home and bake cookies, and Joyce would be the friend at the other end of the line telling me I couldn’t give up.
In fact, Joyce was the reason that my first book was published. She had submitted to a boxed set publisher, and called me up to tell me I needed to submit as well. Her support, her belief in me pushed me to do what I wanted to do, but sometimes wasn’t sure that I could
Joyce worked tirelessly for our RWA chapter, chairing the Book Buyers Best Contest for many years. The contest is a lot of work, and at the time that Joyce started doing it, she had to collect piles of print books, store them in her home, sort them and mail them out to people, as well as recruiting all of the judges and collecting ballots. She was good at recruiting judges. I could never say ‘no’ to her!
My best memories of Joyce are of the conferences and events that we attended together. We shared a passion, we shared many of the same hopes and dreams. We could talk about our families, especially our children. I know how much Joyce appreciated that her children supported her dreams, and believed in her. We called each other with good news, or to commiserate. We were friends.
And then another plot twist, and here we are today. Saying goodbye for now.
I miss Joyce. I miss calling her when I want to throw in the towel. I miss her voice telling me not that I can’t stop writing. I miss planning our writing trips.
But Joyce will always be in our hearts, her books will keep her alive to everyone who reads them, and memories will keep her story going for all of us who loved her.
I’m sure that Joyce is in heaven right now, plotting and planning stories to share when we meet her again.
Featured Books
SEA DREAMS
Can help from a lavender-eyed sea witch, a few enchanted cupcakes and a touch of New Moon magic really rescue a once famous now washed up artist from himself?
More info →
