Back to School and Good Books
August 10, 2021 by Tari Jewett in category Writing tagged as back to school, booksThis time of year, always makes me nostalgic. The end of summer means the beginning of a new school year, and while my kids are all grown, I still remember when they were small, taking them shopping for back to school clothes, backpacks and lunch boxes, and all of the other supplies needed for a good start to the school year. Late summer days also remind me of my own childhood, back to school shopping for brand new pencils and notebooks, deciding which dress I’d wear on the first day of school, and the anticipation of seeing my friends again after a long lazy summer.
I still indulge in back to school sales. Nothing gets me more excited than a stack of brand new spiral notebooks, and some new blue pens. And of course, there’s always shopping for the grandchildren!
Warm summer days, are also perfect days to read. As a little girl I’d curl up under a shady tree, or lay on the cool tile floor of our basement family room with a stack of books, and read until my mother called me for dinner.
Now that I think of it, that would be the perfect thing for me to do right now, curl up with a good book. I’m recovering from knee replacement surgery on my right knee, and waiting for surgery on the left, so share the best books you’ve read this year in the comments! And feel free to share your back to school memories! And just because it makes me happy, here’s a picture of my 12 year old grandson, reading to our newborn grandson.
There is No Such Thing As Too Many Books
March 12, 2021 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as books, Denise M. Colby, readingI’m a firm believer that there is no such thing as too many books. I’m sure that’s a quote I’ve seen somewhere. Maybe I should get a t-shirt with that specific phrase on it!
My To-Be-Read-Pile is ever growing, is yours?
I have books on my Kindle, books under my bed, books on my nightstand, and in the special pieces of furniture that I purchased specifically to hold books.
And yet, I still love to go to the library and peruse possibilities or hunt for treasures at used book or garage sales, or add to my Kindle list through all the different newsletters I receive from the many authors I follow.
Am I the only one who does this?
Any suggestions for how to manage them all?
Adding To The List
As I’ve made new writer friends in the different groups I’m a part of, I seem to have added a whole slew of authors to the list of books I want to read. It’s fun and exciting, but it can be overwhelming sometimes too.
I’m just curious to know if anyone shares in this same quandary?
My desire to add to my pile seems to ebb and flow, sometimes based on how overwhelmed I am with where to put everything. But mostly, I do tend to just accept and enjoy this desire to continuously add to my pile.
Of course, many books become favorites and I find it difficult to add them to the donate pile. Anyone have that habit as well?
Some days it feels like book overload. But other days, I just smile and look forward to the new set of friends I’m going to meet in the next book I read.
I’m hoping I’m not the only one who suffers from this malady!
Do you, too?
Denise M. Colby is writing her first novel. Check out her website to find out more about her story. You can also take a peek at her real-life hero she wrote about in a previous blog post.
4 0 Read moreBooks, Baking and Holidays
December 10, 2020 by Tari Jewett in category Charmed Writer by Tari Lynn Jewett tagged as #12DancingSantas, #NewRelease, baking, books, holiday books
Last month I told you that I was finishing #12DancingSantas the final book in the #HermosafortheHolidays series and it released this week, it’s on sale through Saturday, December 12th for 99 cents on Amazon. I can’t believe the series is complete! It’s like raising your children, when you’re in the middle of it, you’re so focused on the day to day business of feeding, teaching, bathing, schoolwork, extra-curricular activities, learning and adjusting as you parent…all of the things that come with raising kids, that you sometimes lose sight of how quickly they’re growing.
Then, suddenly, they’re all grown up.
It was a similar feeling writing this series. I’ve been so busy writing, revising, editing, learning how to publish and promote, and so much more that I’m still learning…
And now suddenly, this series is done. Well, except for getting the print books out.
So, #12DancingSantas is Brenda’s story. She’s a Hermosa Beach schoolteacher, and this year she’s watched as one by one, each of her friends have gone viral on social media, and found love. Then while attending the annual Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony on the Hermosa Beach Pier, and watching the performances, including one by twelve firemen on skates…also known as the Twelve Dancing Santas. Santa whisks by, sweeps her into his arms and gives her the most magical of Christmas kisses. And when he does, he drops a boot from the bag over his shoulder.
Now, Brenda and her friends must find the Santa who fits the boot, because while there are plenty of Santas willing to try (at least twelve to be sure) she has to find the Real Santa.
Like the rest of the series, the story is a light, fun escape that I hope will bring a smile to your face…and maybe even a laugh or two.
Since Brenda, is a baker, and so am I, I thought I’d share one of my family’s favorite holiday cookie recipes with you. And I promise that while I’m baking cookies and wrapping gifts, I’m also working on the next writing project. I’ll be back to tell you about that next time!
My oldest son, Gerrod, is my cover artist, and these are his favorite Christmas cookies.
Sour Cream Cookies
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
2 whole eggs
½ cup butter, softened
8 oz sour cream
2 cups flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Frosting:
1/3 cup butter
1 ½ tsp vanilla
¼ cup milk
3 cups powdered sugar
Sprinkles if desired
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour baking sheet.
In a large mixing bowl cream vanilla, sugar eggs, butter and sour cream until well blended. Add flour salt and soda and mix well. The dough will be sticky. Drop by large spoonful’s onto prepared pan. Bake 10-12 minutes or until puffed and lightly brown on the bottom. Cool.
Mix ingredients for frosting until well blended. I like to divide the frosting and add food coloring. Frost cookies and use sprinkles to decorate.
Warning, this recipe can be a little finicky. They should puff up and become soft almost muffiny cookies, but sometimes they spread out and are thin. Don’t worry about it, they’re delicious either way. I like them best chilled in the refrigerator.
Happy Holidays whatever you celebrate, and best wishes for a happy, healthy New Year.
Love, Tari
You can find me at:
My website: TariLynnJewett.com
Amazon: Tari Lynn Jewett
Facebook group: Tari Lynn & Friends
Instagram: Tari Lynn Jewett
Twitter: Tari Lynn Jewett
The Whole #HermosafortheHolidays Series
When a writer needs a hug… by Jina Bacarr
July 11, 2020 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as books, editing, historical, Paris, writing, WW 2
Writing never gets easier… if anything, it’s more difficult.
Why? Because we expect more of ourselves. Even more so when you’re doing edits from your fab editor who’s really an angel in disguise. We want to make our story as perfect as possible and not disappoint her. She believes in you. Your characters believe in you. After all, their lives are in your hands.
But like a chocolate soufflé, a lot can go wrong.
Your computer screen goes blue… computer updates send your heart pounding as you pray you get all your pretty icons back…. a character keeps you up at nights because you’re so worried about how you’re going to save her butt and yours.
There’s more:
You go over your word count.
You can’t find your timeline/fact sheet for your heroine (when you’re writing about Paris during WW 2 this is crucial).
You ‘re so tired, you push the wrong button on your keyboard and everything in Track Changes disappears
You realize a secondary relationship ain’t working because the hero is based on an old boyfriend with a big ego. You dump him. Get a new guy for the part. And he’s an absolute dream.
You work from dawn-to-dawn the week before edits are due and have no idea what day it is.
And worst of all, you run out of coffee.
But I did it!
I sent my editor the edited manuscript at 7:37 a.m. on a sunny morning… and I felt numb. No whistles went off. No bells. Just the quiet hum of my computer.
I needed a hug.
Someone telling me ‘I done good’.
Yes, I’m totally proud of what I accomplished, but writing can be a lonely business. And it’s hard work, especially writing historicals. (My story follows a dual timeline from 1926 to 1950 and present day. Silent films, Nazis in Paris, the film business in Hollywood and France.)
So I did what I swore I wouldn’t after I sent the m/s: I opened it back up and read some of my favorite passages. Laughed and cried again with my characters… sat amazed at how they accomplished their goals… fell in love with them all over again… and cheered when they beat the Nazis!
And I got that hug.
From my characters. Reminding me why I write. Because I so love them, the stories, the chance to give them life.
So, merci beaucoup, mes bons amis! Thank you, my friends.
Jina
PS — I’ll keep you posted on my Paris WW 2 historical. Cover ideas coming soon…
4 0 Read more‘Once Upon a Christmastime with the Oprah Show’ and how it inspired CHRISTMAS ONCE AGAIN… by Jina Bacarr
December 11, 2019 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as books, Christmas, holiday, piano, tradition, treeOnce upon a Christmastime, I had a fun experience with the Oprah Show that has remained a fond memory… even if it took a different path than the show planned…
==============
‘Ring… ring… ’
I was halfway out the door when the telephone rang. I slammed to a halt, clutching my car keys, my purse slung over my shoulder. Who could be calling me this early in the morning?
It was 8 a.m.
I was running late for a meeting and the last thing I needed was another telemarketer trying to sell me carpet cleaning for Christmas.
Then it hit me. I remembered the Christmas tradition story I wrote about my mom and her old piano and sent to the Oprah Show.
I swallowed hard. It was 10 a.m. in Chicago. Oprah Time.
I grabbed the phone and mumbled a breathless, ‘Hello… ’
‘Hi, this is the Oprah Show calling.’
‘Did you say Oprah?’ I gulped, my heart pounding like a million elves working overtime.
“Do you have time to talk?” the producer asked, hopeful.
I cleared my throat. ‘Yeah, sure… no problem.’
Wait till I tell my boss why I’m late today.
‘Awesome. We received your story about your Christmas tradition… ’
I tossed my purse and car keys onto a chair, my pulse racing out of control. ‘Yes?’
‘We’d like to use it for a segment on our holiday show.’
‘You do?’ I said, my voice squeaking like a little kid seeing Santa Claus.
The producer chuckled. ‘Yes… now here’s what we need from you.’
Knees wobbly, I fumbled in my purse for a pencil while the producer give me instructions on what happened next. Tears misted in my eyes. I couldn’t believe it. My Christmas tradition was going to be on Oprah.
I let out a deep sigh. If only my mom could see this, praying somehow she did know.
My mother loved to play the piano, especially at Christmastime. She knew every holiday carol by heart and every year, she’d sit down at our old studio upright piano and take us on a musical trip to Bethlehem or a journey with the Three Wise Men or rock ‘n roll with Jingle Bell Rock.
We lived in the Pennsylvania woods when I was a kid and one Christmas we were snowed in and couldn’t get into town to buy a tree. So my mom decorated our old piano with shiny, silver tinsel and red and blue and green balls with a gold star on top.
After all, a piano is made out of wood, and that wood was once a tree.
So why not a Christmas Piano Tree?
My mother passed away a few days before Christmas many years ago. I didn’t have the heart to trim a tree that year. Then I remembered her Christmas piano tree. I decorated that same old, wonderful studio upright with Christmas ornaments that year and I do so every Christmas since then as a tribute to my mom.
It was an exciting time after the Oprah Show producer called. They asked for photos of my Christmas piano tree, then we taped the segment for my holiday tradition with me reading what I wrote about my mom. The sound crew added holiday music and I got all ready to watch the show when it aired…
But the show ran overtime, so my segment didn’t make the national broadcast. I was devastated, but the Oprah producer promised she’d do something for me.
She did. The next year the Oprah Show ran my old home Christmas movies and used them as part of their promo for their holiday show.
So here’s my pretty young mom at Christmastime hanging up Christmas stockings.
Awesome…
When I wanted to write a Christmas time travel story, I thought about how much I missed my mom every year and those wonderful holidays when I was a kid in Pennsylvania. If only I could go back in time and see her again and tell her how much I loved her…
I dedicated CHRISTMAS ONCE AGAIN to my mom. It’s the story of the Arden Family during World War 2 on the home front with Kate, the older daughter, as the heroine sending the man she loves off to war in 1943… she never sees him again.
Then years later she has the chance to go back in time and warn him about a secret mission gone wrong in France. Will he believe her?
All she wants for Christmas is to save the man she loves…
Christmas Once Again is available at e-tailers everywhere, print, and audio book, too!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Jina
PS – some of my favorite scenes in Christmas Once Again are when Kate reconnects with Ma…and their wonderful moments together.
———–
CHRISTMAS ONCE AGAIN is on sale for 99 cents for a limited time!
US Amazon https://amzn.to/2pcz2eN
UK Amazon https://amzn.to/31rF4pZ
Audio US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YL6KG3W
Follow me on BookBub for new releases and promo deals!
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jina-bacarr
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