Deadlines and Books, the Life of an Author
March 12, 2025 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as books, deadlines, Denise M. Colby, readingWith the deadline approaching for my third book in my Best-laid Plans series, I’m deep in my writing cave and not thinking about much else except exploring the California countryside with a peddler in 1867. And when I’m not thinking about that, I’m reviewing the edits on book two. Or working through my next read. Whatever it is, it’s all about books.
So I thought I would share some highlights from each of these areas.
What I’m Revealing – A Slight Change of Plans Releases May 27th
I will be revealing my book cover for A Slight Change of Plans in my newsletter that goes out on March 15. This is the second book in the Best-laid plans series. If you want to be the first to see it, sign up for my newsletter right now.
Deadlines on multiple books this month, which included edits on this beauty. I can’t believe that in a few months I get to say I’ve published books (plural)! I can’t wait for people to meet Ren and Jenny when it releases on May 27, 2025.
Here’s the back cover blurb.
A Slight Change of Plans – Book 2 in the Best-laid Plans series by Denise M. Colby
She believes she doesn’t matter.
Jenny Millard’s hopes for security and stability as a schoolmarm out west are dashed when her schoolhouse closes and no positions are available nearby. With only enough money for a one-way train fare, Jenny heads to her friend’s home uncertain of her next step.
His scars have made him an unlovable outcast
Newcomer Ren Lyman prefers to keep to himself, hiding in the back of the blacksmith shop to avoid the stares at the scars left by a childhood accident. When he comes across a lost stranger, he’s surprised when she doesn’t recoil at his appearance, and even more so at his eagerness to assist her.
As Jenny settles into the welcoming, but small, town of Washton, she can’t help but come across Ren, especially since his daily constitutional takes him along the same path. It doesn’t take long for them to form a connection that breaks down the walls erected by years of hurt. But when strange occurrences unsettle the townspeople, it seems their chance at happiness might be at risk.
Will Jenny and Ren discover that they’re enough—for God, and each other?
What I’m Reading – Readers Comfy Porch Book Club
I’m participating with eleven other authors in the Comfy Porch Book Club. I posted about this in my January post. This month we are reading EV Sparrow’s Muldoon’s Misfortunes. Anyone can join us at any time. There’s daily conversation in a facebook group page, and a monthly zoom call to discuss the book.
Back cover copy: A cursed widower forsakes his faith to ensure his hope.
On a verdant island beset by poverty and death, Mick Muldoon dares to escape his misfortunes. Is working a farm and raising a family such an impossible thing to ask? Wasn’t God supposed to answer prayers—not turn a deaf ear?
After surviving the treacherous voyage to America, Mick discovers the rumors of ample opportunity aren’t exactly true. His defective body hampers employment and keeps him dependent upon his peculiar sister. However, an unexpected invitation to move to the heartland guarantees his dreams.
Mick’s own dreadful choices hamper his hopes when he accepts work as a widow’s farmhand. Unbeknownst to him, there’s deception afoot. Mick’s inattention to love causes catastrophe as single fatherhood cruelly shatters his family. Will God miraculously hear his prayers this time?
In Book 1 of Those Resilient Muldoons series, this misguided, wayward widower encounters God’s unexpected presence.
What I’m Giving Away
I’ve joined a group of authors in a newsletter round robin and each month I will feature a different author in my newsletter and my subscribers can download their book for free. I thought I would start out with the first one here. All That Glistens by Marie Wells Coutu
When the bright lights of Broadway dim, the warm glow of home beckons to Delia. Delia left her tiny Kentucky hometown to make her mark on a Broadway stage in the 1930s. But when her success proves fleeting, will she be welcomed home or will her older sister’s jealousy tarnish the homecoming?
This short story was originally published in Best Short Stories from The Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction Contest 2023.
Get your FREE copy of All That Glistens
Hope you have a wonderful week
Blessings,
Denise
0 0 Read moreSteamy Lit Con Recommendations
August 5, 2024 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as books, Recommendations, Steamy Lit Con, Tracy Reed
Sigh…that’s me exhaling from the all the excitement from spending the weekend at the Steamy Lit Conference (SLC). I’m going to make this brief because I’m recovering. My voice tuckered out before I did. I don’t know what happened, but around the last thirty minutes of the conference signing, my voice gave up.
This was my second year participating in SLC and it was even better than last year. This year, I was able to do a little book shopping. A part from hanging out with my author friends, I get to meet readers and make new author connections. I met some amazing authors and culled some very helpful information and resources.
This year, I was able to do a little book shopping and thought I would share these books with you. If you aren’t familiar with them, I highly recommend reading them.
Fake It Till You Make It – Siera London
A Fire In The Sky – Sophie Jordan
Whiskey Business – Elliot Fletcher
My Fault – Mercedes Ron
Trial Of The Sun Queen – Nisha J. Tuli
Course Correct – Aliza Mann
The Duke Gets Desperate – Diana Quincy
Her Night With The Duke – Diana Quincy
Along Came Love – Tracey Livesay
Forbidden – Beverly Jenkins
To Catch A Raven – Beverly Jenkins
Night Hawk – Beverly Jenkins
Rebel – Beverly Jenkins
The Art Of Scandal – Regina Black
Sex, Lies and Sensibility – Nikki Payne
Pride and Protest – Nikki Payne
An Extraordinary Union – Alyssa Cole
Pardon My Frenchie – Farrah Rochon
Never Cross A Highlander – Lisa Rayne
And Some of Tracy’s Books
A Piece of the World
February 22, 2023 by Veronica Jorge in category Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as books, Keeper Shelf, making memories, Veronica Jorge
A figurine, Delft blue. I remember that trip to Holland and laugh. As soon as our bus pulled into Delft, we piled out and made a beeline for the gift shop, searching for the souvenirs that would eternalize this journey. I turn the figurine over in my hand: a lady holding a basket, gazing out. What does she see? What memories is she holding on to? I dust the gracious lady and seat her back in the curio. As I reach for the next pieces and reminisce, I wonder what it is that makes me want to own a piece of everyplace I’ve been? To keep forever alive a moment, an experience, an emotion?
It’s the same with movies I’ve seen and loved. Gotta buy the VHS, then upgrade to the DVD in case the VHS goes bad. And even though I have both, I still watch the television film version when it airs and don’t mind enduring the intrusive commercials.
Then there are my books. Some with places of honor on shelves, the power of sentiment attached to each one. And designated piles: ‘To Read.’ ‘To Read Again.’ A wish list of books, ‘To Buy.’
When the news announced the banning of Harper Lee’s, To Kill A Mockingbird, I rushed to confirm I had a copy, which led to a thorough examination of which books might be brittle, yellowed and frayed. A new list formed: ‘Books to Replace.’
All of which leads me to conclude that maybe all of these actions explain my desire, my need, to write. A significant event, an emotion, an intense experience, compels me to want to immortalize it. I grit my 36 teeth and magically weave the 26 letters of the alphabet into some meaningful representation of the emotions exploding in my heart. A yearning to create stories that will last forever, that will be cherished by others and replaced over and over again because they’ve connected with a piece of my world and they too want to own it forever.
Veronica Jorge
See you next time on March 22nd!
0 1 Read moreThe Librarian of Auschwitz: A Book Review by Veronica Jorge
February 22, 2022 by Veronica Jorge in category Book Reviews by Veronica Jorge, Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as books, bravery, Dita Kraus, The Librarian of Auschwitz, WWII
by
Antonio Iturbe
translated by
Lilit Thwaites.
A REVIEW BY VERONICA JORGE
Henry Holt & Co., 2012,
First American Edition, 2017
ISBN 978-1-62779-618-7
Recently, I replaced my worn copy of Hard Times by Charles Dickens, a novel about the political and economic woes of the 19th century. Hmm. Sound familiar? He prefaces one of the themes of the novel by quoting the biblical phrase, ‘what a man sows, that he will also reap.’ The story unfolds with the ‘seeds’ that each character sows, and the consequences of what they reap.
But that’s a sermon for the pulpit.
My topic addresses the need for books. Replacing this book, and several others, required a long search to obtain the copies in the editions and hard covers I desired. Did I really need to go through so much trouble for a book? Were they worth that much to me? Yes!
Which reminded me of…you guessed it…a book; The Librarian of Auschwitz by the Spanish journalist and author Antonio Iturbe, and based on the true story of Dita Kraus, the little girl who risked her life for the sake of books.
Block 31 in the Auschwitz/Birkenau concentration camp houses about five hundred children and several adults named counselors. Secretly they run a school and hide a library that consists of eight books which include, A Short History of the World by H.G. Wells, a Russian grammar, and a book on analytical geometry. Not exactly essential reading or something to risk your life for, yet that is exactly what they do. Dita is entrusted to hide the books in a different place each night because these books fill their greatest need: the survival of their minds and souls.
The story examines bravery, the causes people risk their lives for, and questions the importance of books. As the author examines on page 408 of his postscript, “Books can’t be used as weapons. They can’t fill a hungry stomach or quench thirst. They can’t cure illnesses, loneliness or prejudice.”
Or can they?
The Librarian of Auschwitz, together with Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953), The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2007), ( the narrator in Zuzak’s book is Death, wow!), and the non-fiction book by historian of education Diane Ravitch, The Language Police (2003), to name a few, deserve our attention for they remind us of the importance of freedom of thought and expression. In addition, books can indeed satisfy our hunger and thirst for knowledge; they make good companions to ease loneliness; they open our minds to empathize with other cultures and curb prejudice.
Books are also weapons. To quote an often used phrase: ‘The pen is mightier than the sword.’ So, let’s keep on writing.
Iturbe concludes that humans can survive with just the basic necessities, but it is culture and books that make a complete person. Without them humanity dies.
Veronica Jorge
See you next time on March 22nd!
0 1 Read moreBabies, Books and Autumn?
October 10, 2021 by Tari Jewett in category Charmed Writer by Tari Lynn Jewett tagged as babies, booksIt’s October! Autumn is my favorite time of the year. I love the crisp autumn air, and the anticipation of the holiday season. This year is especially special. Our new grandson arrived and will experience his first autumn, first Halloween, first Thanksgiving and for Christmas. I hope you’ll forgive my absence the last few months, we’ve been totally captivated by Milo.
Milo Porter was born on April 9, to my oldest son Gerrod and daughter in law Kristina. And he has absolutely stolen my heart. Did I mention that he was named for me? Porter is his middle name, and my maiden name. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t get a full name from my son before he was born, then when they were leaving the hospital (because of the pandemic we couldn’t be there) he sent me a picture of the discharge papers, and there was his name. Okay, I might have cried (sobbed). They named their baby for me.
He’s beautiful, charming and has both GrandPaul and I wrapped around his little finger.
We all read to him, but I think the first to read a book to Milo was his big brother Isaac. Yes, this is a family of book lovers.
I do have some writing news. #SilverBracelets Book 2 in my #HermosafortheHolidays series is finally out in paperback. We had some glitches along the way, but it’s available on Amazon, and I’m so excited to finally have print copies!
And if you haven’t read #HauntedHermosa yet, this is the time! It’s a sweet little Halloween romcom. It’s available in ebook on Amazon.
I’m off to convince my son that Grandma needs zoom time with Milo and Isaac.
Happy October everyone!
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