Jina Bacarr Featured Author
July 14, 2018 by Jina Bacarr in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as contemporary romance, Featured Author of the Month, historical romance, Jina Bacarr, kindle scout
Jina Bacarr : July Featured Author
Jina Bacarr discovered early on that she inherited the gift of the gab from her large Irish family when she penned a story about a princess who ran away to Paris with her pet turtle Lulu. She was twelve. She grew up listening to their wild, outlandish tales, and it was those early years of storytelling that led to her love of history and traveling.
She enjoys writing to classical music with a hot cup of java by her side. She adores dark chocolate truffles, vintage anything, the smell of bread baking and rainy days in museums. She has always loved walking through history—from Pompeii to Verdun to Old Paris.
The voices of the past speak to her through carriages with cracked leather seats, stiff ivory-colored crinolines, and worn satin slippers. She has always wondered what it was like to walk in those slippers when they were new.
Smile And Be Grateful In The Little Things
July 12, 2018 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby, Writing tagged as #amwriting, Be Grateful, poem, Smile, writing life
I had planned to have completed the third post in my “How to Maximize the SEO Potential of your Website Images” this month, but things got a bit derailed for me when my mom’s health took a turn.
Instead, I found myself sitting in her nursing home room with lots of family and nurses coming and going at all hours. Even though I lugged my backpack back and forth, I never pulled out my laptop. I couldn’t write. No quiet, no time, and my mind was just mush.
How did I come up with this post, then?
I rented a car to drive home and had over 6 hours by myself. So I made good use of the time with my handy voice recorder in my Notes APP where I preceded to share my thoughts about all that happened.
I’ll call it writing words with my voice.
I’d talk until I had nothing, then turn up the radio and sing a song. Then more would pop in my head and I’d talk some more. There was a lot. I hope to edit it and share it some day, but right now it’s pretty raw.
And once I got all my thoughts about my ailing parent and all that comes with this chapter of my life expended, my mind started to open up on my work in progress, and blog posts, and ideas for social media, and….I think you get the idea.
Remember, I had six hours.
And I probably could’ve used more.
One brainstorm was to write about enjoying the little things—like the color of my rental car.
It was green. And small. And quite cute. It made me smile, which was good because I needed to balance out the tears that kept flowing every time I thought about my mom and all that transpired.
Isn’t It Cute?
The rental car guy even joked that no one should hit me because they couldn’t see me.
I found myself wanting to have good driving behavior because I was the only green car on the road.
I stood out.
And it made me smile.
When I stopped for a snack, I smiled. Whenever I changed lanes, I smiled. When I stopped for gas….yep, I smiled.
We need to smile at the little things. Sometimes that’s all we can do.
I find a smile leads to a grateful heart. And I am immensely grateful to have had my mom in my life for as long as I did. Yes, my mom is no longer with us, her body no longer mangled and in pain. And she is finally reunited with Jesus and my dad. And that makes me grateful, which makes me smile. Or maybe it’s the other way around. It makes me smile and then I feel grateful. Both ways work for me.
My mom and her dog with my boys in 2008
I wanted to share a poem I wrote last year in her honor. It’s all written in one syllable words, which was quite fun to put together.
Thank You, Mom by Denise M. Colby
To be a mom is hard work. More than I thought it would be.
It was not till I was in the role, did I know by how much.
The trials. The hurt I take on for my child. The times I have to stay strong.
Now that I know, I want to say thank you to my mom.
For all she did. For all she gave. For the love she gave me.
Her words were kind, she backed me up when I had tough days.
She taught me how to read my bible and pray.
Her love meant more than just words to me.
She poured her heart and life into all I did.
She had pluck, pep and punch. She shared in my joys and woes.
She was there for me through it all.
She told me I made her proud to be my mom.
She held my hand. She hugged me and told me she loved me. I didn’t doubt it one bit. I knew.
My mom did cool things. She was fun. She showed up to all my acts and cheered me on.
I was in awe of her and looked to be like her when I grew up.
I hope I am.
She told me she loved me, hugged me, prayed with me.
She is my mom and I love her. And I hope she knows how much I thank her each day.
Thank you, Mom
Love you Mom.
My mom & me, 2008
Goodbye Kindle Worlds . . . or why I need a hug by Jina Bacarr
July 11, 2018 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat tagged as addiction, Amazon, author, books, Italian, Italy, Kindle, Kindle Worlds, moon, prince, princess, recovery, royals, vampire, Writer, writing
Even the biggest bag of Godiva chocolates from my favorite warehouse club store doesn’t last forever . . .
Such a fate has also befallen Kindle Worlds.
As of July 16th, all Kindle Worlds books will no longer be available on Amazon Kindle.
It’s a sad time for those of us who fell in love with the worlds created by some great authors.
I wrote six Kindle Worlds books — five for “The Royals of Monterra” and one for “Vampire Girl.”
=============
On July 1st, I checked my KW books and they had already been taken down — or so I thought.
Then I discovered they were back up!! I have no idea why this happened, but I’m certain that by July 16th, the Kindle Worlds program will be closed across the board.
The authors get their rights back — but in order to republish them, we have to remove the “world” from our stories. Not always easy . . .
I’m not sure when I’ll do this — I’ve started another story in the same line as my Italian prince billionaire submission for a publisher. It will take a while to re-do six books, so as a tribute to the worlds I participated in, I decided to post the videos for five of my books and a graphic for the sixth.
Here they are.
Thank you, KW, for the opportunity to participate in this program! And yes, I could use a hug. It’s always sad to see your characters ride off into the digital sunset . . . but they’ll be back!!
Jina
PS — I’m excited to be a Featured Author this month!! Check out my other books, too, especially in you love Civil War time travel romance and my WW 2 time travel romance3.
The Royals of Monterra series:
Twisted Tiaras: Princesses with a Past
Book 1: Royal Dare http://bit.ly/1sAkoKJ
It ain’t easy getting clean . . . even for a princess.
Book 2: Royal Bride https://amzn.com/B01N3U44OH
Can a sexy prince give a girl a second chance at love?
Book 3: Royal Kiss http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MY91GBM
Even a goody two shoes princess can get lost down the rabbit hole.
Book 4: Royal Noel http://a.co/65GYfHH
A pretty con artist risks everything when she falls for a handsome duke
Fairy Tales & Magic:
Royal Magic https://amzn.com/B01I21TIF6
The magic is in his kiss . . . a Philly girl falls in love with a royal magician.
Vampire Girl series:
Princess Moonglow http://a.co/7MGyUqz
Can a girl with a weird superpower find happiness with a hottie vampire?
It’s Just Your Point of View
July 10, 2018 by Tari Jewett in category Charmed Writer by Tari Lynn Jewett tagged as Cynthia Swanson, Edgar Allen Poe, Erika Robuck, Mark Twain, Megan Hart, point of view, POV, The Book Seller, The Tell Tale Heart, Tom Sawyer
I’m the mother of three sons, all voracious readers, and all highly opinionated. Each knows what he expects from a story, so if he’s going to invest time reading a book, it better deliver. So, no surprise that as I rinsed the dishes and arranged them in the dishwasher my youngest son, Joey joined me to talk books.
“Hey Ma, do you prefer books written in first or third person?”
I thought for a moment, which did I prefer? First or third person point of view? “Either as long as it’s well done.”
A lively discussion ensued regarding the pros and cons of first person…he had mostly cons, I was somewhat divided.
I wondered how my writer friends might feel about the topic, so I brought it up at a recent write in.
“It doesn’t work well in fantasy, how do you give the reader a view of the world you’ve built in first person?”
“Don’t like it, it just doesn’t work for me.”
“The reader’s view is too limited in first person.”
The majority landed on the third person POV team.
Interestingly enough I’d never considered POV as controversial until these conversations. Personally, I love good writing, and whether the author delivers in first or in third, I’m happy.
First person done well can be amazing. Think Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain, or Edgar Allen Poe’s, The Tell Tale Heart. Either story can be told in third person, but first person gives you a more personal glimpse into the main character’s head, and The Tell-Tale Heart gives you a view of the mind of an insane person that you probably couldn’t get in third person.
Some of my current favorite authors do first person brilliantly.
Author, Megan Hart writes in both first and third person and does both well. Her first-person books are seductive, slightly dark and suck the reader in from the very first line. As a reader you know her heroine, and each page gives you a better understanding of the main character, the choices she makes, what she thinks and how she feels.
The Book Seller, by Cynthia Swanson is written in first person. Swanson could have told the story in third, but by writing in first, she kept secrets from the reader, only to be revealed at the perfect moment.
Erika Robuck pens literary fiction in first person. Many of her stories offer a glimpse into the life of a historical figure, but written from the point of view of a fictional character who could have been in their life. By doing this, Robuck is able to present a different perspective. The story is fiction, but with an amazing excellent historical detail. She leaves you wondering…what if?
I write primarily in third person, but occasionally in first. And I read and love both. Tell a good story, make me turn the next page. If the writer puts me into their world and I don’t want to leave, I don’t care what tools she (or he) uses to get me there.
What about you? Do you prefer to read third person or first? And why? Or do you care? Which do you use when you write?
The Power of a Restart – by Kitty Bucholtz
July 9, 2018 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing tagged as Goal Setting, Kitty Bucholtz, time management, Writing Goals, writing life
Since it’s early July, I’ve been thinking about and talking about and podcasting about hitting the Restart button. How have we been getting on with the writing goals we decided upon six months ago?
I know that I am way off from what I expected. Moving to another country will do that to you! So I’ve been thinking about how I want to adjust the year to finish with strong, achievable goals. I did a live broadcast presentation for the Yosemite Romance Writers in May, and decided to use the recording for a mid-year podcast. Here’s the link to the audio, and here’s the embedded video.
Right after I posted that episode, it occurred to me that it might be a good time for a personal goal review as well. When I started thinking about that for myself, I realized I had some changes to make in my life if I wanted to accomplish my new/biggest goal for the year – recovering from burnout.
Here is the link to the audio. And here is the video with my self-discovery. 😉
I’ve been getting a lot of feedback from people about the episodes where I’ve talked about my firsthand experience with burnout. (Here’s the embarrassingly honest look at my journey in audio and in video.) Now that I see how much it affects other people as well, I’m going to bring on more guests to talk about how to recover and how to avoid it. I hope my willingness to talk about both burnout and restarting helps others – you included! 😀
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