Starting Over ~ CELEBRATE!

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Linda Barrett

Hi everyone – I just got back from vacation and discovered that I screwed up the schedule and never published the following blog so you’d know I’d be away until today. The blog was originally supposed to appear on August 29th. Oy. I am so sorry. I thought I’d figured everything out and was so organized… So now, if you’ll indulge me, I’d appreciate catching up. As a little extra today, here comes the cover reveal–you are the very first to see this. It’s not even been on Facebook yet!

The front cover

We’d recently talked about first lines of famous books. I introduced you to four author friends who are joining me in releasing an anthology of stories based on holidays. The book is coming out in mid-October. You’ve gotten a taste of everyone’s story except mine! So here’s what I had prepared for August 29th:

CELEBRATE! — A five story anthology plus a novella about holidays we celebrate throughout the year. All written by award-winning authors of On Fire Fiction.

The month has flown by, and today is the last of the posts about holidays, short stories and the anthology CELEBRATE! of which I’m so proud to be a part. True confession: this is my very first time contributing to a group project. In the past, I just didn’t have the opportunity. But now, as an indie pubbed author, I’ve got the freedom to create opportunities simply by finding other writers who might be interested, and then–just doing it!

If you’re familiar with my work, you know that my romance novels contain lots of families. It seems I enjoy working with “a cast of thousands” rather than with a lone hero and heroine. But the families in my books are hurting and must struggle to find their happy endings. I find this set-up strange because I grew up in a very solid and happy family. So maybe I want everyone to have what I had. My short story is no different. Two lonely adults with two recalcitrant kids are challenged to find their way to love and laughter.

I chose to combine MOTHER’S DAY and FATHER’S DAY as my holidays to celebrate. It’s tough to separate them when the theme of the story is second chances for everyone–the adults and their children. Although this story has never been published before, it has been seen by other eyes. I entered the shorter version into a national short story contest when I first wrote it some years ago, and it placed in the top ten entries out of almost 2000. That achievement gave me the confidence to keep writing, to keep trying for a professional career. And here I am!

STORY TITLE: Man of the House

FIRST LINES: This can’t be good news. The readout on Nancy Wyatt’s desk phone said Pulitzer Middle School, and her stomach knotted as tightly as a fishing line around bait.

Uh-oh. Doesn’t every mom’s stomach hurt when her kid’s school calls in the middle of the day? Poor Nancy. What’s in store for her after she picks up that receiver.

I hope this peaked your interest as a first line. Maybe not in the class of “Call me Ishmael,” but in its own class of contemporary fiction. As a reminder, my women’s fiction novel, FAMILY INTERRUPTED is available at all the usual places that sell electronic books. But it’s also available in paperback at Amazon or CreateSpace. Here’s a pic of me holding it in my hot little hands.:

The PRINT edition is here!

I still get a kick out of seeing it!

As always, thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you’ve enjoyed this series of blogs about the authors of CELEBRATE! And I hope you add the book to your collection.

Announcement: I’ll be on vacation next week. Hope to see you for the next edition of Starting Over on Thursday, September 12th. Thanks for being loyal visitors. I appreciate each and every one of you!

Thanks for letting me share the background of this story a little later than I had in mind. Next Tuesday, we’ll be back to regular blogs about Starting Over.

CONTINUING THE AUGUST CONTEST AND WILL POST A WINNER ON TUESDAY. JUST MAKE A COMMENT AND YOUR NAME WILL BE ENTERED. THE PRIZES ARE A CHOICE OF ONE THE SELECTIONS BELOW AS WELL AS A $25 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO AMAZON OR BN. YOUR CHOICE 🙂

Starting Over ~ CELEBRATE!

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Linda Barrett

CELEBRATE! — A five story anthology plus a novella about holidays we celebrate throughout the year. All written by award-winning authors of On Fire Fiction.

I love presenting this series of posts to you because my writing friends are some of the greatest people I know. Always willing to listen and give advice. Never afraid to ask for it either. Just as with other friends, these are relationships based on trust. I’ve known most of these gals for many years, and I can say without hesitation that they work hard and love creating stories. When they get emails from their readers…well, that’s the whipped cream on the cake 🙂

I’m very pleased that my guest today is Debra Salonen, a California girl whose very first published book was released about the same time mine was. We met each other at what was our very first

Deb Salonen

writers conference in July 2000. Turned out we had the same editor! One of the qualities I admire about Deb is her ability to turn off the stress. Hiking and yoga are her secrets. Another quality I admire is her willingness to try something different with her writing. She came up with an adorable but naughty four book romantic comedy series for the “55 and better” generation called Screw Senility which sets a very different tone from the traditional romances she’d been writing. This is hot! But she still managed to give her heroine a happily ever after!

What holiday did Deb choose for her story? CHRISTMAS! Here’s the story behind the story in Deb’s own words:

Kindness gets to me every time. Maybe that’s because my mother, Daisy Bagby Robson, was one of the kindest women I ever met. I have numerous memories of her generosity, including once when she decided I wasn’t using my bike anymore, so it should go to a poor child I’d never met. As I recall, I reacted as any spoiled baby-of-the-family might. I threw a fit. She patiently described this other child’s circumstance as it compared to mine…in other words, she guilted me into agreeing.

I wish I could say I instantly became as giving and generous a my mom, but that would be a lie. Still, the memory stuck, and when my children were very young, I wanted to share the essence of this memory in a way that might teach and entertain. I wrote “My Christmas Angel.” Longhand, on lined paper. I read it to them every Christmas for a few years, then tucked it away in my files.

A year ago, my daughter asked me, “Didn’t you write a Christmas story once? Where is that? I’d like to read it to Daisy (my granddaughter).”

Ah…life comes full circle…courtesy of epublishing. I pulled out the story and read it. And, as happens with writers, I immediately wondered what happened to Abigail and Dickie–the little children in the story. Why…they’d be thirty-some years old by now. All grown up. With children of their own…and so the story begins.

STORY TITLE: My Christmas Angel

FIRST LINE: “Read me your story, Mommy. Please. Before you go. Plee…ase.”

Oh, yeah. I recognize that ploy…and I bet you do, too. One more story, Mommy. Another glass of water. Someone doesn’t want to go to sleep. Someone doesn’t want his mom to leave. In the next paragraph, we quickly learn about young Ben and his divorced mom who was on her way to a holiday party given by her ex-sister-in-law. Deb Salonen manages to draw us into the lives of these two lovely people very quickly and we want to know what happens next.

What’s next on Deb’s writing agenda?

“I’m back at work on my next project: a 3-book romantic suspense series called K.A.B. (Karma’s A Bitch) Investigations.”

Find out more about Deb Salonen and her books at: www.debrasalonen.com

This is the cover of Book 4 in Deb’s Screw Senility series. Adorable, no?

As always, thank you so much for stopping by. You’ll meet another of my author friends at the next edition of Starting Over. Hope to see you then.

POST A COMMENT AND YOUR NAME WILL BE ENTERED INTO MY AUGUST CONTEST. THE PRIZES ARE A CHOICE OF ONE OF THE SELECTIONS BELOW AND A $25 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO AMAZON OR BN. YOUR CHOICE!

Starting Over ~ Family Stories, Part II

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Linda Barrett

WORDS AND PICTURES FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION –

As promised, today I’m giving you concrete examples to help you write stories about your family. Whether you have a large family or a small one, you’ve got stories to share. Funny stories. Poignant stories. Life-changing events. Family traditions. And characters. Oh, yes, we can’t forget the characters. And one of them is you! I think writing family stories is not only fun, but important. How else will your children and grandchildren know who they are?

Last time at Starting Over, I suggested a number of topics for you to consider writing about. Of course, a dozen of your own ideas might have sprung to mind, and that’s wonderful. For those of you needing suggestions, however, I offered the gamut from family recipes, to holidays, to life cycle events, to particular family members. Everything is fodder. Just reach in and grab an idea.

Today we’re going to figure out some specific ways to start your story. Even for professional writers, choosing the right opening is very challenging if not the hardest part of the work. I’m here to make life easy for you! Here are three different ways to begin your tale–examples from my own stories are included:

SETTING — Using this option, you start by revealing such items as time, place and weather. The goal here is for your children to see and feel what you saw and felt at the time the real event took place. Use the real dates and places. After all, these stories are not fiction. If this is a story about your parents or grandparents, gather the information now.

Example: “Houston’s so flat,” I protested, “and the houses have no basements.” Too disappointed to hide my feelings, I looked at my husband with dismay and wondered if my friends up north were right. “Too hot and humid,” they’d warned. “Don’t go.” But I hadn’t cared, In fact, I’d looked forward to getting away from New England winters…until now.

Home of the Houston Astros! Beautiful park.

Minute Maid Park — Home of the Houston Astros! I always think of it as a happy
place.

ACTION — Using this option, you start with an event, then go back in time to explain how and why this event happened.

Example: I often tell people that Michael and I met by accident, but that’s not quite true. My uncle Sid introduced us. On our very first date, however, we did hit a telephone pole head on. The car was totally wrecked. Fortunately, we weren’t. (I then explained where we were, why we were out so late and what my dad’s reaction was–oh, yes, that made for a story 🙂

CHARACTERS — these are your family members, Using this option, it’s fun to describe how the personality affected you and others. The person you choose to write about can be quiet or larger- than-life or somewhere in between. Everyone is unique and worthy.

Something wrong, sweetie? Find Aunt Ethel.

Example: Aunt Ethel had a reputation among the kids. She was the doctor. In deference to the medical profession, however, we called her “half-a-doctor.” She could make “it” better, whatever “it” was, but her specialties were splinters and specs-in-the-eyes. The combination of her infinite patience and excellent eyesight earned her the reward of fixing us.

I hope you’ll make a stab at writing your family stories. If you have any questions, just ask them in the comment section. And if you want to share something you’ve written, you can do that in the comment section, too. I’ll post your efforts in a later blog as a “follow-up” if you’d like. You don’t have to be Mark Twain or Hemmingway or Dostoyevsky to write for yourself. You just have to pick up a pencil and get started.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by. I hope to see you for the next edition of Starting Over.

LEAVE A COMMENT AND YOUR NAME WILL BE ENTERED INTO MY JULY CONTEST. Prizes are a choice of two books below plus a $25 gift certificate to Amazon or BN. Remember, some of these are hot, hot hot, while others…not so much. Your choice!