On my previous blog post I mentioned I have a new book coming out soon. I wanted to share my new book cover with you. Next week I also plan to share an excerpt from it.

If you have someone you know or perhaps even you recently received the diagnosis of cancer this book may be helpful. My journey with breast cancer is the key to the comments and suggestions provided. Chemotherapy is an ordeal. Being prepared is a lifetime mantra of mine and with chemotherapy, I feel it is a must for everyone.

Have a wonderful Memorial Weekend!

I know it’s been a long time since I updated this blog. I’ve been busy fighting cancer these past several months. Please forgive my neglect.

Good news — I won the fight! No signs of cancer after five months of chemotherapy, followed by surgery then weeks of radiation. I’m also sporting a new hairdo. Very short and straight (I used to have curly hair). I’ll be back in June at local craft fairs selling my books. If you’re in the Myrtle Beach, SC, area stop by for a visit. My dates and locations can be found on the Upcoming Events page.

Hopefully in June I will also have my new book available. Sorry, it isn’t the promised third book of my series. Instead it is a non-fiction book titled Stepping Thru Chemotherapy. I’m sure you can guess where the inspiration came for this book! It will be published under the name Becky Wellborn, but you can find out details on this website.

This summer I will resume the completion of book three of the Sons of Magnolia Meyers series as well as an historical fiction. My plans are to have book three ready for you to read by Christmas.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous summer!  I’ve had a number of personal issues to deal with. My husband had surgery and my car gave me some trouble. Not to worry — hubby is doing fine and I have a new car!

In the meantime I’ve been working on book 3 of my series, The Sons of Magnolia Meyers. It’s been a struggle, but I think I’m on the right path now. I rewrote the first three chapters three times. I’m convinced the third time is the charm!

The hero of this story is Hunter. He’s living on an old trawler (that’s a type of boat for those who may not know) while restoring it. It’s one way to have a place to live without costing much. Since the story takes place in Georgetown, SC, which is an old port city I thought it seemed like the perfect setting.

His love interest made an appearance in book one of the series (don’t worry, you don’t have to read book 1 and 2 in order to enjoy this third book). Amy English is a youth minister of a local church and she has a CRAZY family. They are survivalists and live off the grid — way before it became a trend!

I can’t wait to see how they overcome their differences. You’ll need to read the book to find out what those are! I’m still trying to figure out how they plan to do it.

More soon.

INSPIRATION

People often ask authors what inspires them. It can be any number of things, a topic on the nightly news, a movie, a book, an overheard conversation at a restaurant. We play with “what ifs”. What if one of the secondary characters in a movie didn’t react the way portrayed, but instead did something totally different? Can I write a book about that?

I think that’s what happened with the new TV series Blood & Treasure. I’m sure it was inspired by the Indiana Jones movies. There is a thief and a former FBI agent who search world wide to find a terrorist everyone previously thought had been killed. Said terrorist steals artifacts and sells them to fund attacks.

Naturally there is a romantic element between the thief (beautiful female) and the former FBI agent (handsome male). Throw in some actions scenes where things are blown up and escapes are nail-biting and I’m hooked!

I’ve have my TV set up to record the upcoming episodes.

I hope everyone who celebrates Easter had an enjoyable weekend last week.

My husband and I went to a restaurant in the area for brunch. Although we’ve eaten at Quigley’s we have never attended brunch at their location. I have to say it was FABULOUS! Lots of yummy things to eat and the service was excellent as usual. We’ll be going back. Hmm… I wonder if they have one on Mother’s Day?

This time of year I take advantage of the numerous craft fairs in our area to offer my books for sale. Last weekend I attended The Oaks Craft Show at the Lazy Gator Gift Shop in Murrells Inlet, SC.  This year the weather couldn’t have been more perfect! Delightful temperatures and sun shining all day!

Both days of this weekend I will be displaying my books for the first time at The Art In Common located at Market Common in Myrtle Beach, SC. Unfortunately the forecast for the weather is not as fantastic as last weekend. Some rain on Saturday and late Sunday. That’s how it goes sometimes. Hopefully there will be a lot of people willing to brave the sprinkles!

Marketing is a big part of being an author in today’s world regardless if you are independently or traditionally published.  It’s something that does NOT come naturally to me.  I struggle all the time with it. Part of the marketing is to go out and speak to people about writing. My writing. My books. I don’t have a problem with public speaking; however, I find it difficult to discover venues where interested people gather.

This coming week I have an opportunity to speak to a group of readers about my series The Sons of Magnolia Meyers. I’m excited and nervous. I have my presentation all worked out and hope people enjoy hearing about some of the things I did while writing the books as well as how I came up with the ideas and name my characters. I’ve mentioned several of these same things here on my blog.

I’m hoping the questions people ask will give me additional ideas for topics to share with you here on my blog. So stay tuned! I’ll have some new information next week.

When I attended my first Romance Writers of America (RWA) chapter meeting I listened to recommendations from everyone whether they were published or not. One of the first comments that stuck with me was to develop “Rhino Skin”. What in the world is that, you ask? When listening to a critique of your work it can hurt. After all, you showed them your baby. It was a masterpiece, at least that’s what you thought. All babies are beautiful, right? Well, real babies are, but not necessarily a manuscript.

This is where you need to listen to the truth and not become discouraged. The truth does hurt sometimes and if you want to make your book the best it can be you need to be able to accept recommendations and edits. This is what we call developing a rhino skin.

I’m sharing this information because last Wednesday I read aloud the prologue and first chapter of my latest Work In Progress (WIP) to my critique group. Ouch, it hurt. However, I took their comments at face value and tried to read my story through their eyes. Yes, I admitted, there are some problems. It should not have been a surprise; after all it was a first draft. So I thought to myself, “toughen up buttercup”.

You also have to keep in mind you are not required to accept every single recommendation to change your manuscript. However, if more than one person points out a flaw then there is a good chance you need to make the change.

Don’t let the critiques bring you down. Think of them as opportunities to improve your story and your writing. That’s what critique groups and/or partners are there to do. Keep smiling and move forward.

It’s over! The Pathways to Independent Publishing conference is a wrap for 2019. One of the writer’s groups I belong to sponsored the event and it’s been a couple of busy weeks for all of us in the group. We call ourselves Coastal Authors Network (CAN). This was our first conference to sponsor and a learning experience for all of us.

The speakers all received great evaluations from attendees as did the location where we held the event, Caravelle Resort in Myrtle Beach. I participated in one of the panels where I provided information to attendees about all the details involved in publishing your own book. I did have professional editing, but the rest I did on my own. That involved uploading my book to create space (now absorbed into Kindle Direct Publishing), creating my own book cover, modifying e-book format and print formats, uploading to Nook and a million other details.

The hardest part for me as a independent publisher is Marketing. We had a couple of speakers who covered ways to accomplish that and I have to say I learned a lot.

Although we counted it a successful conference we’ve decided to wait for two years before doing it again. Why, you ask? We need to market our group more so we can have a larger attendance. Larger attendance equates to more speakers and larger budget.

The last few months some fellow writers and myself have been busy preparing to present our first Writer’s Conference. The name is Pathways to Independent Publishing and Beyond. Whew! It’s been a learning experience for all of us.

There are eight workshops which include two panel discussions to be held over a two day period. We have a total of twelve speakers.  Juggling the schedule, preparing the menu, ordering badges, folders, bags and other items has been very time consuming. Fortunately we have a great group of writers who want this project to turn out to be a fantastic opportunity for ourselves and others.

Once it’s over and my life returns to a normal pace I’ll be posting more entries to my blog. Until then please be patient!

If you’re interested in learning more about the conference please visit www.coastalauthorsnetwork.com

Happy February!

This month we have a lot of very important dates coming up!

Tomorrow, of course, is the all important Groundhog Day. Can you believe the tradition started in 1887? Wow! I had no idea until I looked it up. Apparently the many German immigrants in Pennsylvania brought the tradition with them although they switched from hedgehog to groundhog.

On the 14th is the date all lovers look forward to, Valentine’s Day. There are various versions of how Valentine’s Day started. I’ll share my favorite one: Valentine was an imprisoned man who fell in love with his jailor’s daughter. Before he was put to death he sent the first ‘valentine’ to his love when he wrote her a letter and signed it ‘Your Valentine’. These words are still used on cards today. As a writer of Romance novels this appeals to me the most.

The third Monday of the month is President’s Day, which this year falls on February 18. This single day celebrates the birthdays of President Washington and Lincoln. Although prior to 1968 President Washington’s birthday (February 22) and President Lincoln’s birthday (February 12) were acknowledged, they were not National Holidays. Only when Congress passed a measure known as the Uniform Monday Holiday Act was the third Monday of February identified as a National Holiday. The measure required some public holidays would always fall on a Monday.

Although it isn’t a Holiday or even a date recognized by very many people I have an important event coming up this month. The Pathways to Independent Publishing and Beyond will be held February 19-21. The conference will be held at the Caravelle Resort in Myrtle Beach, SC. If you are interested in more details visit http://www.coastalauthorsnetwork.com

Come join us!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve finished my Christmas shopping! Well, at least for those I have to mail. The final person I shop for this time of year is my husband because I don’t have to mail the items. Now all I have to do is figure out what I plan to purchase … where is that list he said he made?

I also had one party at my house and attended two others. Since I had guests I needed to finish decorating before the party. I haven’t FULLY decorated the house for a couple of years. Why, you ask? We spent Christmas with our son and his family who live out of state so I did minimal decorating at my house.

The good news about decorating this year — I’ve pared down to one tree. I used to decorate two. So I sorted through the ornaments and tree toppers. I have the extras in my car ready to make a trip to Good Will to donate for someone who doesn’t have anything. I feel so much better!

Last weekend I had the privilege of participating at the Winter Arts and Craft Show in Myrtle Beach, SC, which is a three day event.  Fortunately this event was held inside right on the ocean at the DoubleTree Conference Center. I say fortunately because the weather was warm for December, but that didn’t make it warm enough to be outside (at least for me)! The high was around 65 degrees and rain intruded the second day which made it seem much colder.

There were many fabulous booths containing a variety of gifts suitable for Christmas as well any time of the year.  Naturally I had to buy my fair share of those!

I shared a booth with a fellow author, Catherine Lowery, who writes children’s books under her own name. She also writes murder mysteries under her pen name Bella Fayre. Be sure to check her out on Amazon!

Sorry for being a couple days late with this blog post. Last week was Thanksgiving and my family went on a Disney Cruise! Yes, we did! So exciting and fabulous. The Disney island called Castaway Cay couldn’t have been more perfect. The weather, the amenities, the service, the food – all outstanding. The grandchildren had an absolute ball and the parents and grandparents did too. We were all truly thankful and blessed to have an opportunity to be together and celebrate in such a unique fashion.

If you’ve never been here are some photos of the island.

Last week I attended the Authors Invade Columbia event. This was a first for me. I can’t explain how exciting it was to be in the room with over 80 other authors and all their readers. Lots of energy and enthusiasm for new authors and those who’ve been published for years. I created a basket to give away.

A number of people came by and signed up for my quarterly newsletter. I’ll be sending out my first newsletter in December so be sure to keep an eye out for my email.

The winner of the basket was Christine Bresett. Here is a picture of her, her adorable son and me as she picks up her prize!