NANO RECAP
December 5, 2022 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as finishing the book, Nano, Tracy Reed
I’m going to make this very short, because I’m preparing for two releases at the end of the month.
Congratulations to everyone who participated in NANO. Whether you finished or not, isn’t the point. What matters is that you made the effort. I successfully finished NANO. I completed it with 50K+ words, however that wasn’t my number one goal.
My main goal was to complete my book, which I didn’t. The book I selected for NANO was the fifth book in my Alex series. The books in that series are 90k+ words. I’m preparing to release book four in the series on December 29th. It’s over 100k words. When I completed book four, I knew there was going to be a book five. I figured, while the characters were still fresh in my mind, it was the best time to write book five.
In order for me to complete book five, I would need to write approximately 3k+ words per day. I started the month well and then I hit a road block. Somewhere around the middle of the month, I realized I wasn’t going to finish the book. Instead of kicking myself, I focused on the NANO goal of 50k words. I finished NANO on the last day with my story at the mid point and 50k+ words.
This year for NANO, I did something I never do, make a writing plan. Unlike previous years, I periodically referred to my plan. Although I had notes, I still stuck to my pantser style. I knew I was going to introduce a new character. In my notes, she had at least three other names and a slightly different physical look. I sketched her out, but when it came time to introduce her, the only thing she had from my notes was her profession and her original fashion style.
I would love to finish this book by the end of December, but I’m not going to pressure myself. Instead, I’m giving myself until the middle of January to complete the book. This book caught me off guard. I’m still not sure if it’s going to be book five or if it will be a spin off stand alone. Right now, it could go either way. Only my writing muse knows what will happen.
How was your NANO season?
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Free Book Alert
December 4, 2022 by marianne h donley in category Spotlight tagged as Free Book, Good Folk Series, Green Valley, Limited time, Penny Reid
Totally Folked, a heartfelt and hilarious standalone romance from New York Times bestselling author Penny Reid, is ZERO PENNIES for just a short while. Now is the perfect time to start the small town Good Folk series and visit Green Valley!
★★Grab your copy TODAY!★★
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/35yF77N
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3bRkRCr
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/3oHrMRT
Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2N30PKI
Apple Books: https://apple.co/2XAtZmf
Nook: https://bit.ly/3ib736z
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2N2YDTu
Google Play: https://bit.ly/3skGO2h
Smashwords: https://bit.ly/3nIJd3c
Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3upwLcB
★★Blurb★★
One unforgettable night leads to an unlikely shared connection, and unlikely connections never go unnoticed by the good folks in Green Valley, Tennessee. . .
Jackson James follows the rules. He has to. He’s a sheriff’s deputy in a super small town with a super big personality. However, strict adherence to the law during the day has been enjoyably balanced by rakish rules at night. Jackson, typically happy to protect and serve (and serve, and serve), starts questioning the value of wayward evenings when getting laid starts to feel more like being waylaid. Could it be that Green Valley’s most eligible—and notorious—bachelor longs for something (and someone) real?
Mega movie star Raquel Ezra follows only one rule: always leave them wanting more. Studio execs, reporters, audiences, fans, lovers—no one can get enough of the smart, savvy, and sexy bombshell. But when “generous offers” begin to feel more like excessive demands, years of always leaving has the elusive starlet longing for something (and perhaps someone) lasting.
When Raquel abruptly returns to the quirky Tennessee hamlet, her path crosses with the delectable deputy with whom she spent one unforgettable night. Unfortunately, scandal and intrigue soon follow. Raquel and Jackson must decide which is more important: following their rules? Or, at long last, finding something real.
TOTALLY FOLKED is a standalone, contemporary romantic comedy novel and book #1 in the Good Folk: Modern Folktales series.
The Birth of the Christmas Card
December 3, 2022 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as Christmas cards, E.J. Williams, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, Research for Writers, The history of Christmas cards, Will Zeilinger
The First Christmas Card
John Callcott Horsley designed the world’s first commercially produced Christmas card for Sir Henry Cole in 1843.
Cole was part of the elite social circle in Victorian England. During the holiday season of 1843, having too many friends caused Cole much anxiety.
The old custom in England of sending Christmas and New Year’s letters boomed with the British postal system introducing the “Penny Post.” A letter or card could then be sent anywhere in the country for the cost of a penny stamp.
Now, everybody was sending letters, but Sir Henry Cole was a busy man. He watched the stacks of unanswered correspondence and fretted over what to do. In Victorian England, it was considered impolite not to answer mail, and being the 1840s equivalent of an A-Lister, Cole had to figure out a way to respond to all of these people.
Cole asked his artist friend, John Callcott. Horsley, to design an idea he had sketched out. Cole had a thousand copies on stiff cardboard made by a London printer. On each postcard he had printed “TO:_____” so he could “personalize” the generic greeting “A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to You.”
Thus was born the first Christmas card.
The Modern Christmas Card
In the early 1900s, a man named Joyce Hall started a revolution that resulted in creating the modern-day Christmas card.
In 1905, he and his brothers spent $540 to buy picture postcards to sell to store owners and retailers in Norfolk, Nebraska. A few years later, they opened their own little store in Kansas City, Missouri, selling the postcards and other greeting cards, but the store sadly burned down just a little while later. After that, The Hall Brothers bought an engraving business and printed their own cards.
Their customers wanted to write more than what would fit on a postcard. This resulted in a card that was 4 x 6 inches folded once, and inserted into an envelope. By 1928, the cards were being produced under the brand we all know today as Hallmark.
Christmas cards in the twentieth century reflected the times and artistic styles of each decade.
With the advent of computers and digital photography, families could now shoot, design, and print their own customized cards right at home.
The Most Popular Christmas Card of All Time
Debuting in 1977, one particular greeting card quickly took hold as the bestselling Christmas card design of all time.
Hallmark artist Ruth Morehead designed the angelic Three Little Angels artwork that depicts a trio of adorable cherubs. Unlike seasonal cards that come and go with each passing year, ‘Three Little Angels’ was so popular that it was sent over 36 million times in its first two decades of production. According to Hallmark’s director of creative writing, Kristin Riott, “Cuteness and God together are unbeatable.”
Christmas Cards Today
Technology advancements in recent decades are making Christmas cards a little less popular. Social media platforms make it easier to stay connected with friends and family all over the world, and face-to-face video conferencing helps form meaningful connections, especially around the holidays.
Along with Mother’s Day, Christmas cards are still the most popular season for card-buying, card making, & sending, with over 1.5 billion individual & boxed cards purchased every year.
Janet and Will’s Skylar Drake Mystery Series
Songbird, a Holiday Short Story from Penny Reid and L.H. Cosway
December 2, 2022 by marianne h donley in category Spotlight
★★NOW LIVE★★
Songbird, a holiday short story from Penny Reid and L.H. Cosway, is available now for a limited time and only 99¢! This Rugby series exclusive will be available only in the month of December, so grab your copy today!
Read Songbird TODAY!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3OOqxyk
Amazon UK: http://bit.ly/3ifCIba
Amazon CA: http://bit.ly/3u99JIZ
Amazon AU: http://bit.ly/3AZjSvr
Apple Books: https://apple.co/3XNvE5O
Nook: http://bit.ly/3is1dlK
Kobo: http://bit.ly/3gHdIcI
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/3ERnEbj
★ ★ BLURB ★ ★
After finishing another long shift at her dead-end job, Ophelia is left with the bleak prospect of spending Christmas alone for the very first time. Not wanting to return to the house she rents with far too many strangers, she wanders the streets of Dublin taking in the festive cheer. Then, in the cozy confines of a small, quiet pub she graces the patrons with a song, snagging the attention of a tall, handsome American stranger.
As famous record producers go, Broderick is incredibly low-key. Drinking alone in a random Dublin pub before planning to fly home to New York first thing in the morning, he takes an instant interest in the intriguing singer, her sound like none he’s heard before. The guy who rarely talks can’t help talking to her, if only to satisfy his curiosity about her heavenly voice. Soon, the two are walking the city streets together, Ophelia giving Broderick a tour of all her favorite places. And while he immerses himself in her world for a few short hours, they form a connection he fears will be hard to forget once the night is through.
Songbird, a collaboration between authors L.H. Cosway and Penny Reid, is an 11k word short story, can be read as a standalone, and might be the start of a great lovestory . . . one day.
#illustratedbookcover #romance #booksofinstagram #romancebooks #romancereader #romancebook #bookworm #bibliophile #bookstagram #IGreads #bookseries
Dianna Sinovic, Featured Author
December 1, 2022 by Dianna Sinovic in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as Dianna Sinovic, Featured Author of the Month, Quill and Moss, Short Stories
Author of the Month: Dianna Sinovic
Dianna is a contributing author in the last three anthologies from The Bethlehem Writers Group, An Element of Mystery: Sweet, Funny and Strange Tales of Intrigue, Fur, Feathers, and Scales, Sweet, Funny and Strange Animal Tales and Untethered, Sweet, Funny & Strange Tales of the Paranormal. She has also contributed stories for the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable ezine, including “In the Delivery.”
Born and raised in the Midwest, Dianna has also lived in three other quadrants of the U.S. She writes short stories and poetry, and is working on a full-length novel about a young woman in search of her long-lost brother.
She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Horror Writers Association, The American Medical Writers Association, and The Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC.
Dianna also has a regular column here on A Slice of Orange, titled Quill and Moss, in which she frequently includes short fiction.
Below, you can also listen to Dianna read her short story, “Cold Front” from the GLVWG Writes Stuff anthology.
Other books by Dianna Sinovic
Featured Books
PINDLEBRYTH OF LENLAND: THE FIVE ARTIFACTS
Pindlebryth and Darothien struggle against betrayal, international intrigue, and an unseen puppet-master, as they race to follow a bewildering trail of ancient clues to locate the most powerful of the Artifacts.
More info →
EXPERT WITNESS
Josie Bates disappears without a trace and the investigation finds more than one person who wants her dead.
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