Happy 2023
January 10, 2023 by Tari Jewett in category Charmed Writer by Tari Lynn Jewett, Writing tagged as new release, romantic comedyHappy 2023 Everyone!
This year promises major changes for Hunky Hubby and me. The first half of the year I’m watching our 21-month-old grandson full time, which, of course, means that little writing will be done! I’m okay with this…more than okay. I never expected this time with Milo, and I couldn’t have been given a better gift. My daughter-in-law is a preschool teacher, so once he turns two, he’ll head to school with her. It’ll be hard to let him go. Milo loves books, just like his grandmother, and my favorite part of the day is when he brings me a book to read to him.
Then, in July, about the time Milo goes off to preschool with his mom, Hunky Hubby retires. He’s worked hard as long as I’ve known him, and I’m excited for retirement, although he’s already talking about his next job, lol. Not sure how much of a retirement it will really be.
Speaking of hunks, I do have a little writing news. For those of you who have read the #HermosafortheHolidays series, I have a bonus story releasing in the Imperfect Date anthology. Many of you asked for a story for Rob, a fireman in #12DancingSantas. So, when the opportunity to write a romcom to be published in an anthology with this amazing group of authors, I jumped at the chance to tell Rob’s story. #DumpsterFireLove is one of the twenty-two stories, by fabulous romcom authors in this collection that drops on February 7th, just in time to curl up with a fire in the fireplace, and a glass of wine, or an electric blanket and a cup of cocoa, and get all of the romantic Valentine’s feels. I hope you’ll check it out! You can preorder now for just $2.99 at Amazon!
For more updates on my books, recipes from the stories, and more sign up for my newsletter!
In the meantime, what are your plans for 2023? I’d love to know!
You Can Go the Distance by Kitty Bucholtz
January 10, 2023 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing tagged as Classes, coaching, writingHappy New Year! The thing I love about mornings, Mondays, and January is that it’s a great time to start again. Today is the first full working week of the year for me and I’m excited. I’m making plans and figuring out, of the hundreds of things I want to do, how much I can get done this year and what things are most important to me.
Decades of experience shows me there’s no way I can accomplish everything, not even the most important things. 😀 So I’ve been telling myself — like when you get on or off a train in the city — to Mind the Gap. Be aware that, in addition to my Everything list, my Most Important list is too long to finish in a year. But I also want to keep training my brain to believe that I CAN do what’s necessary. Even if my conscious mind doesn’t know how to do that, my unconscious can figure out some things that will be nice surprises to me this year.
I want to help you and our other writer friends find ways to get more writing done in a less stressful way this year, too! One way I’ll do that is to reintroduce my online class, Going the Distance: Time and Project Management for Writers. Yay! I’ll post more information about it here. Let me know if you want to join us!
The other way I can help is to share a simple exercise I shared with some of my clients in December. Looking ahead at the whole year, what are the top three things you’d like to accomplish? And for each of those things, what are the top three things you can DO to achieve each item?
That’s it. Simple. Nine tasks to move you toward a satisfying conclusion to the year twelve months from now. 😀 I hope it helps you to have this simple but comprehensive view of the year, no stress, no pages and pages of detailed plans. Just nine tasks.
If you prefer a deeper dive into planning your whole year so that you get the most accomplished that you possibly can, look for details on my upcoming Going the Distance class on my blog over the next week or two! Have a fantastic day and year!
Hook, Line, and Sinker
January 8, 2023 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Spotlight tagged as Emily P. W. Murphy, Guppy Anthology, hook line and sinker, Short Stories, Sisters in Crime
Hook, Line, and Sinker: the Seventh Guppy Anthology,
Edited by Emily P.W. Murphy
Published by Wolf’s Echo Press,
Available for pre-order.
Paperback: $14.99
ebook: $4.99
Publication date is January 27, 2023.
Buy Links:
Hook, Line, and Sinker contains 23 original tales of grifters, con artists and their marks. The stories, written by members of the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime, demonstrate how despite devious plots and plans, things don’t always go as planned.
Contributing authors are Sandra Benson, C.N. Buchholz, Lida Bushloper, Judith Carlough, Kait Carson,Susan Daly, M.R. Dimond, Mary Dutta, Kate Fellowes, Wrona Gail, Vinnie Hansen, Ann Michelle Harris, Kim Keeline, Jane Limprecht, Sally Milliken, M.A. Monnin, A.W. Powers, Merrilee Robson, KM Rockwood, Lisa Anne Rothstein, Steve Shrott, Frances Stratford, and Shannon Taft.
Guppy President Susan Van Kirk wrote the book’s introduction. Carol L. Wright and Debra H. Goldstein served as co-coordinators for the project.
Amazon blurb:
Mystery deep inside, in that place you hide from the world, have you ever considered how you would carry off a great con? Or maybe secretly plotted revenge for falling prey to a grifter, liar, or cheat? As these twenty-three authors of devious plot twists show, whether it’s running a con or extracting revenge, it doesn’t always go the way you expected. In this seventh anthology of short stories from the 1,100 – member Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime, the stakes are high: money, power, love, and life itself. The stories range from Tudor England to tomorrow’s headline after another fish takes the bait. Hook, Line, and Sinker.
Twenty-three original tales of grifters, con artists, and their marks. The seventh anthology of the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime, Inc.
Featured Author: Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC
January 7, 2023 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Contests, Featured Author of the Month tagged as #TheBWG, Bethlehem Writers Group, Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award, Fur Feathers and Scales, new release, Short Story Award, The 2023 Short Story Award
About Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC
The Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC (BWG), is a community of mutually supportive fiction and nonfiction authors based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The members are as different from each other as their stories. BWG also publishes quality fiction through their online literary journal, Bethlehem Writers Roundtable, and their award-winning A Sweet, Funny, and Strange Anthology series.
Each anthology has an overall theme—broadly interpreted—but includes a variety of genres. All but the first anthology include stories from the winner(s) of The Bethlehem Writers Short Story Award.
Their first anthology, A Christmas Sampler: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales (2009), won two Next Generation Indie Book Awards: Best Anthology and Best Short Fiction.
An Element of Mystery: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Tales of Intrigue is the latest in A Sweet, Funny, and Strange Anthology.
About An Element of Mystery
The Bethlehem Writers Group is pleased to present this collection of tales of mystery and intrigue—the latest in its award-winning series of Sweet, Funny, and Strange® anthologies. From classic whodunnits to tales of the unexplained, each of the twenty-three stories contained herein have an element of mystery that will keep you guessing and wanting to read just one more story.
We’re thrilled to have old friends, but new members of BWG, join us this year. Award-winning author Debra H. Goldstein favors us with a mystery set among volunteers at a synagogue entitled “Death in the Hand of the Tongue,” while “Sense Memory,” by the multi-talented Paula Gail Benson, brings a delightful mix of mystery and the paranormal that helps a young couple find their way to each other.
In addition, we are happy to bring you the winning stories from two of our annual Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award competitions: “Good Cop/Bad Cop” by Trey Dowell (2021 winner) and “The Tabac Man” by Eleanor Ingbretson (2022 winner).
You’ll also find stories from your favorite BWG authors, including Courtney Annicchiarico, Jeff Baird, Peter J Barbour, A. E. Decker, Marianne H. Donley, Ralph Hieb, DT Krippene, Jerry McFadden, Emily P. W. Murphy, Christopher D. Ochs, Dianna Sinovic, Kidd Wadsworth, Paul Weidknecht, and Carol L. Wright.
So get ready to be mystified . . . or intrigued!
Next up for BWG
BWG is working on their eighth anthology, Season’s Readings: More, Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales.
In connection with this anthology, they are hosting The Bethlehem Writers 2023 Short Story Award.
The 2023 Short Story Award opened on January 1, 2023. The theme will be Holiday Stories (broadly interpreted).
BWG is seeking never-published short stories of 2,000 words or fewer. First Place will receive $250 and publication in their upcoming anthology: Season’s Readings: More, Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales or in Bethlehem Writers Roundtable.
The final judge of the 2023 Short Story Award is renowned short story author and editor Barb Goffman.
Books from Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC
The Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC (BWG), founded in 2006, is a community of mutually supportive, fiction and nonfiction authors based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The members are as different from each other as their stories, spanning a range of genres including: children’s, fantasy, humor, inspiration, literary, memoir, mystery, paranormal, romance, science fiction, women’s fiction, and young adult.
See the schedule of meetings and events here.
What’s With the New Year?
January 6, 2023 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as editing, happy new year, Lark O. Jensen, Linda O. Johnston, New Books, Writing Plans
Happy 2023, everyone! Should it be happy for a writer? Well, that depends on what you’re writing and what you want to accomplish in the new year.
Me? Well, I’ll have three new books published this year: Undercover Cowboy Defender, part of my Shelter of Secrets series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, Cry Wolf, my second Alaska Untamed mystery for Crooked Lane under my pseudonym Lark O. Jensen, and CSI Colton and the Pregnant Witness, part of the large Harlequin Colton series—this year, Colton NYC.
I’m currently working on edits for CSI Colton and the Pregnant Witness and Cry Wolf. Next will come a couple more books in Shelter of Secrets. And more? Well, my mind is always churning on ideas that I haven’t yet fleshed out. And I probably will with at least some of them.
And you? If you’re a writer, do you have this year planned? Are you working on something you’ve already sold or determined to publish independently? Even if you have a day job, I suspect your mind is also moving along similar paths to mine, figuring out what you’ll write when—and how much you can accomplish in 2023.
Do you plan over the long term? Weekly? Monthly? Or do you just see how things go?
And do you allow distractions to slow you down, at least a bit—like me? My 11-month-old puppy Roxie still has lots of energy and she knows how to get my attention to throw toys to fetch even while I’m writing. Or, she’ll attack our older dog Cari and they’ll run around the house growling in fun at each other, another distraction. What’s your most fun distraction?
And where do you want to be at the end of 2023 when you tell the world all you’ve accomplished this year? Me? I want to continue writing and playing with the dogs and coming up with even more ideas and following through with them. Oh, yes. I intend to enjoy 2023.
Some of Linda’s Books
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 →
MORNING MAGIC
New Moon Beach is a charmed hamlet by the sea. But when Olivia Merriman returns home from college to open her dream shop, Mystique Creations, the entire town erupts in magical chaos.
More info → 
