Sherryl Woods, once again, plunges her reader into a love story, on the first page, with a sexy kiss shared by strangers on a beach. The story keeps us interested with love fraught with complications, small town politics, and charming and funny characters.
I am a reviewer who does not give the reader the entire story in my review. I hate when that happens, don’t you?! But I will promise you that you will be rooting for Abby and Seth by Chapter two. They both deserve ‘forever’ love, but with the baggage that they both carry (and I’m not talking trains here) will they be able to find a common ground?
I am so pleased when FreshFiction.com invites me to blog on their site. Here is the latest and I hope you will enjoy it.
Excerpt: ‘It was only while I was researching for my novel, Wild Violets that I learned that my mother “farmed out” my sister and brother to strangers. The term usually referred to children who were sent to a relative back in the day. In my siblings’ case it was a true indenture. My brother and sister had to work for their keep, ages six and 11….’
I can’t believe that it was just this past September that I wrote this blog about an idea becoming a one act play and NOWI’m writing my fifth book in the World of Murder mystery series. The first four novels are available here and on amazon.com and now are audio books at audible.com So I am thinking it is worth posting this again to let my fellow writers see how an idea can grow into something pretty damn amazing!!
If you missed the story here it is again:
Let’s see….I think it was 2005 and we were in rehearsals for “Cheatin'” in Port Aransas, Texas. I was the director and we had pulled together a terrific cast. The title pretty much tells you the story line but the fun part and what made it so funny was it was set in….where else?…… Texas and was filled with good ole’ boys and girls. It was the highest grossing play for that theatre in many a year and won Best Production and Best Set Design (thanks to Janis Johnson’s contribution). I was very proud of the cast and crew! Continue reading “An Idea..A New Mystery Series! “The World of Murder””
I don’t really know why I’m writing about this topic…could it be because the writing for “Brave” was so exceptional?...filled with double entendre like the Mama Bear fighting to protect her ‘cubs‘. Once in awhile I enjoy a good Disney animated film. And I hadn’t seen the advances of animation in a long time, so I rented ‘Brave’.
We all know the timeless, underlying theme, the girl is looking for her Prince Charming. Her Prince finds her, usually rescues her and they live happily ever after. Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Robin Hood, The Little Mermaid, the list goes on and on.
God knows that’s how I was raised; that my Prince Charming would come someday and I too would live happily ever after. After all, when all was said and done, every movie (in my days of growing up) had an underlying story with this result and girls of my decade pretty much sat back and waited for HIM. Now, fifty years later and three husbands ago, I finally achieved some wisdom and the fact is there are NO Prince Charmings and all three men that I married were just as human as I was. What a huge expectation I put on them! Continue reading “‘Brave’…Brilliantly Written…an Overdue, Alternate Ending to Prince Charming”
I have a little section of my brain that resembles a hound dog. Nose to the ground, tail at half mast, she is relentless seeking a hot trail. Until she sniffs out an idea. Then the moon can hear her baying, the tail going like a pinwheel, the nose making a furrow in the soft dirt, it smells so good.
A friend shared a post with me on Google+ and it inspired me to write.
Inspiration: As some of you may know I have written 28 short plays for teenagers in the classroom.
Subjects that challenge them every day: bullying, cyber-bullying, cutting, drug use, texting and driving, date violence, breaking up, running away, etc. But I haven’t written one about the damage that an indiscriminate photo or posting can do…..forever!
When I first saw this photo, I chuckled and wondered if the teacher realized that there was a fire extinguisher behind her. Photos and gossip spreads like ‘wild fire’ on the Internet because of one supposedly innocent posting. And no fire extinguisher, fire hose, or fire truck would be big enough to put it out once it’s out there. Do our young people realize that a posting on a social network could follow them forever? College applications, job interviews, credit reports.
Stop!! Don’t Do It !! This photo will follow YOU forever!
Young people don’t think much of sending each other (sometimes) inappropriate photos. Or they say things about others (often not true) and think it’s funny, not to be taken seriously. A prank in the moment. They don’t realize that they may be harming themselves (or others) for a long time to come. THINK! Before you Post!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! “The Writer’s Corner”
So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!
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The final segment of my Interview with this fascinating author!
Q. and the all important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like?
A. I guess references to the Jonestown Massacre would be inappropriate? For some people it’s a pretty orderly process. I envy them and I try to be more orderly with every book. But I also think it’s important for the writer to be on a quest of his own, to be trying to understand the story in a million ways, and learning new things through the whole process of writing. When the writer figures something out, about the characters or the story– that generates real excitement for the reader. I’ve generally needed an editor at the end, the way one needs an obstetrician at the end of a pregnancy. And sometimes the editor has needed forceps.
Now in AUDIO books ! Book 1 of the series, ‘The World of Murder‘
This short novel is available at www.audible.com TODAY and at www.amazon.com and iTunes.com
Monty is a struggling, unknown artist, living in Soho in New York. From his third floor walk up, he watches his beautiful neighbor as she comes and goes. Too shy and reclusive to ask her out, he paints her again and again. Suddenly the police are at his door.
Detective O’Roarke and his partner, Stella Garcia sift through the forensics, motives and physical evidence. At first glance it seems that all the evidence points to the strange artist who is obsessed with the beautiful actress. But, as time passes, several other suspects come to the attention of the two murder cops and the case is now not so open and shut. As the detectives immerse themselves in her life, it turns out that she has more than one secret.
Also in Audio books: Art of Murder
Dance of Murder
Act of Murder
Angel of Murder
Taste of Murder Coming Soon! Video of Murder
From the author: It was great fun writing this book about a young woman so ahead of her time. Basketball star, speakeasy owner, flapper who literally worked all day and danced all night. The story about her red evening gown is true and her friends would make her change into it before going out on the town. The story about playing poker with a Catholic Bishop is true. She ultimately had five husbands, but always said the first one didn’t count as they never consummated the marriage. She went on to be the champion women’s bowler in California. She had three kids which she didn’t take very good care of. She was human with many flaws, she was selfish and generous in turns, she was wild and ladylike……she was my mother. Sometimes I ask myself: ‘did the apple fall very far from the tree?’
Writing it was fun but hearing her ‘voice’ and that of the other characters was amazing. When you hire an audio professional the author remains in control (quality) and can ‘proof’ ever word. It’s crucial that you hire the right narrator as your book sounds different from the written page. It’s important that the narrator is willing to work with you on edits, add on’s, and you can ask this upfront before you choose from the audition pieces that you receive.
Yes, thesnobs of the literary world might have scoffed at her pink signature Chanel suits, her poofy hats, her Pekinese dogs, and her silly romantic stories. But, they can’t quite get around her fifty plus years of writing, resulting in over 1,000 million books sold, or the fact that she spent her life making the world a better place.
Her name was Barbara Cartland. I know I must have started buying her books somewhere around 1972 because one of her letters to me was dated 1975. So I have been reading her historic, romantic fiction up until about ten years ago. Collecting hard covers when I could find them! I would send them to her and she would autograph them and always, always send a nice note and a little gift back to me. Most treasured gift was a gold-gilded oak leaf from an oak tree on Barbara’s property. The “Deer Oak”, which is said to have been planted by Queen Elizabeth the First in 1550, at the spot where she killed her first deer, is on the estate.
A REVIEW! 
