Posted in event, my books, promo

Book Festival November 20th

New Bern Farmers Market Authors’ Event

1*Hope Andersen https://www.amazon.com/How-Remodel-Life-Hope-Andersen/dp/1734707577

2*Mike Barton xflier@yahoo.com Fantasy

3* Nathan Black Poetry https://www.facebook.com/wherethebreezechapbook

4*Phil Bowie Mystery www.philbowie.com

5* Rosemary Klim Bricker Non-fiction https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Rosemary+Ann+Bricker&i=specialty-aps&srs=17143709011&crid=2AQVZ3NJX7LU5&sprefix=rosemary+ann+bricker%2Cspecialty-aps%2C78&ref=nb_sb_noss

6*Chris Brown  Self Help

7 *Paloma Capanna Eclectic http://www.DowntonBeaufort.com  

8*Heather Cobham www.heathercobham.com

9*Karen Dodd Eclectic kedodd2@gmail.com

10 *Bill Furney https://www.billfurney.com/

11 *Michelle Garren Flye Poetry https://michellegflye.com/ & https://shelleygee.com/

12*Beth Garver Cozy Mystery/Fantasy The Java Tavern Series

https://DrunkBeth/wordpress

13* Diane Gray Non-Fiction finding her birth familyfhpspeaker@yahoo.com https://books2read.com/u/b5jKLl

14* Sherri Hollister Cozy Mystery https://sherrilhollister.com/

15* Nicole Kerr NF Self Help www.nicolekerr.com

16*Deirdre Kiernan PB Deirdrek45@gmail.com 252- 229, 0918. 

17*Jo Anna Kloster MG https://www.emptycagespress.com

18*Veronica Krug Fantasy https://krugbooks.com/

19* Eileen Lettick Children’s eileenlettick@gmail.com https://m.facebook.com/eileenlettick/; https//www.linkedin.com/in/eileen-lettick-347174aO

20* Julie Lombard Eclectic https://www.you-niqueproductions.com

21*Leslie Tall Manning Eclectic http://www.leslietallmanning.com

22*Nina Makhatadze Eclectic https://www.amazon.com/s?k=nina+makhatadze&crid=1NOXDC1RNGYP0&sprefix=%2Caps%2C216&ref=nb_sb_ss_recent_1_0_recen

23*Barbara McCreary MG Historical https://www.facebook.com/ebbandflowshackleford

24 *Murinda MacDonald nonfiction

25 * Sue McIntyre: email: suemcintyre10@gmail.com 

26 *Cheryl Meola non-fiction https://manesourcecounseling.com/

27*Margaret Pollock MG https://margaretpollockwrites.com

28*Timothy Reinhardt Fantasy https://timreinhardt.com/

29* Robert Reinschild/DeForest Shields Fiction https:// deforestshields.com

30* Natalie Singletary ? Eclectic www.obconwriting.com

31*Blaine Staat Sci-Fi, Dystopian https://www.staatsbakery.com/blaine-s-books

32*Cyrus Spears (a.k.a. Sirius) Fantasy www.uncrownednovel.com

33*Sarah Maury Swan Children’s YA & MG https://sarahmauryswanlovesbooks.com

34 *Sev Tok Spiritual https://planetsev.com/

35* Stanley Trice Eclectic https://stanleybtrice.com

Children’s Books

Hope Andersen

Deirdre Kiernan PB

Jo Anna Dressler Kloster MG

Eileen Lettick MG & YA

Barbara McCreary MG Historical

Margaret Pollock MG

Sarah Maury Swan MG & YA

Eclectic

Paloma Capanna

Karen Dodd

Michelle Garren Flye

Julie Lombard

Nina Makhatadze

Leslie Tall Manning

Sue McIntyre

Natalie Singletary

Stanley Trice

Fiction

Fantasy

Mike Barton

Veronica Krug

Timothy Reinhardt

Cyrus Spears a.k.a. Sirius

Blaine Staat Sci-Fi, Dystopian

Fiction

William Charles Furney

Heather Cobham

Robert Reinschild/DeForest Shields

Mystery/Suspense

Phil Bowie

Beth Garver

Sherri Lupton Hollister

Non-Fiction

Memoir, etc.

Rosemary Klim Bricker

Cheryl Meola

Murinda MacDonald

Adoption

Diane Gray

Self Help

Hope Andersen

Chris Brown

Nicole Kerr

Spiritual

Sev Tok

Poetry

Nathan Black

36 Authors November 20th New Bern Farmers Market
Posted in my books, News, Thoughts, Uncategorized

My Birthday

Happy Birthday to me. My birthday is on it’s way. I remember as a kid always anticipating my birthday. I would start six months away adding half a year to my age. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve not been as anxious to add those extra years. But shouldn’t we celebrate even more so the years we’ve been given. A dear friend just celebrated 95 years and I cannot even imagine all that she has seen. Each birthday is a blessing. While our culture may celebrate youth, I think there is a lot more to be gained from age. I believe that each of us can benefit from the other. I believe youth needs the wisdom and the connection to our history that comes from those who are older, but older people need the young to remind us of what it was to be young. Being around young people keeps us current, relevant and vital.

As I celebrate this new birthday, I am grateful for this year that I have had with its ups and downs. I can honestly say 55 was filled with more good than bad even though some of the bad things were terrible, like the loss of my young grandson and dealing with this virus, the unrest in our country and the continued racial inequality, but even through all of those tragedies have been shining moments of joy, love and friendship. Each of you have made this year better and I hope in some small way, I have made things better for you.

I look forward to 56 with excitement and joy. I know I won’t be celebrating like I have in years past, but I am grateful for the love and support of my family, friends and you guys, my community of readers, followers and friends. It means so much to have you here supporting my dream. I wanted to be published before my 50th birthday. I didn’t quite make it but this year, I turn 56 with 6 books, so that’s almost as good, right? I hoping to have a couple more books before the end of the year, but life doesn’t always go as planned. I’m working on Roxy’s story and already have details of Trent’s story planned. I just have to decide if I’m going to make Remy wait a while for his story. Too many ideas and plans I’ve got to get busy. Thank you for celebrating with me.

Celebrating my birthday with a book signing at The Next Chapter Book and Art Store in New Bern, North Carolina. It will actually be the day after, Saturday, July 25th, 10-12 noon. Come check out Michelle’s little store with the big heart and maybe buy one of my books. I hope to see you there.

Posted in event, inspiration, my books, News, promo

You Are Invited to a Book Signing

Evergreen Crystals is the fourth in the Leeward Files Series. Most of you were expecting Red Steel and that’s coming soon, I promise, but I thought I could whip out a little holiday romance, give the gals of Leeward their happy endings and move on, BUT….

When I started writing Evergreen Crystals it was just going to be something sweet and fluffy for the holidays. I thought, I’d write a truly romantic story for my heroines and let them have their happy ever after, but I stalled. The quick story wasn’t so quick. In fact, I was having trouble getting started. When I tried to write just a happy romantic story my brain seized, and I couldn’t think what to write. I couldn’t do it. I was getting depressed and worried and it was getting down to crunch time. I mean, if you’re going to have a holiday story, you should really have it out in time for the holidays, right? The writing is usually the easy part because after the rough draft comes the revisions and rewriting, the editing and more editing, the publishing and proof reading and editing some more. Yeah, I was running out of time. Should I scrap this idea of a happy holiday story and just write my firefighter story? But I needed closure for Rae Lynne, Jenna and Dana. They deserved a little happy in their lives.

We often tell people stuff, give them advice but we don’t even hear our own words. This is what happened when I attended a writers’ retreat after a hurricane. My friend and fellow Pamlico Writer Adrienne Dunning went to Murfreesboro for a writers’ retreat. Y’all may remember me talking about my adventures on my website, “An Exotic Retreat in Murfreesboro, North Carolina.” During this retreat I met some amazing people both published authors and unpublished. While sitting around the table our last day together, I was offering words of wisdom to one of the unpublished authors when my friend, Adrienne cornered me and pointed out that I was doing just what I was telling her not to do. I was trying to force the story to be something it was not. As we talked, I realized she was right. As much as I wanted to be a true romance writer, I am not. I like to kill people and blow things up and create mayhem. I like a little romance, a lot of sex added in but that doesn’t lead the story. Once I embraced my darker side and just decided to have fun with the story, it all began to flow. It’s true. Trying to force a story to be something it is not, doesn’t work. Can I write romance? Sure, I can. But if I’m having fun writing my stories my way, why worry about a label, except for when trying to market them. So, from now on, unless I’m writing for an anthology or something, I’m just going to enjoy the journey and write.

I hope you all will check out Evergreen Crystals, and if you’re in Aurora or Eastern North Carolina, Thursday, December 5th at 7 pm, drop by the Hazel Guilford Memorial Library and celebrate with us. We will have games, prizes, gifts and a lot of fun, come join us. Thank you all for your support. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

White Gold book signing HGM Library Aurora
Posted in event, News, promo

Back Where It All Started

Join me Tuesday, June 18th, 2019, 7 pm at the Hazel Guilford Memorial Library. Back to where it all started.

I have been writing since I was a kid. I remember writing my first romantic story in fifth grade. I wrote short stories, poems, skits and plays for church and school but my passion has always been fiction, namely romance.

As a teenager, I had a short story published in the Pamlico News, later I became a reporter for the paper, writing up the local happenings. Even with all the writing I was doing, I had boxes full of notebooks in the bottom of my closet, under my bed and stacked on shelves in my tiny office, I shared very little of my writing.

It was only after becoming friends with Alice and Robina Norman, that I became brave enough to share some of what I’d written. Their encouragement gave me the boost to start thinking of doing something more with my passion.

I took classes with Stephan Horvath at Pamlico Community College, took classes by mail, sent off short stories and essays to contests, attended two Romantic Times Readers and Writers Conventions, joined Romance Writers of America and Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, as well as Writers Read NC and Pamlico Writers’ Group. I would still be hiding my work in boxes if not for the support and encouragement of my family and friends.

When Robina and my husband, David teamed up to push me out of my comfort zone, I should have known I’d never be the same again. While I miss those days of writing for my own pleasure, the feeling of accomplishment that comes from seeing your idea in print is priceless.

The support of this community has been humbling. It has meant so much to me to be able to thank each of you for your continued support. I hope you all will join me at the library for another book signing. I’ll share with you my plans for the next part of the Leeward Files and my upcoming Holiday book, where most of the characters get there happy ever after and a few only get a “the end.”

Contests, prizes, readings and books for sale. Come join me where it all began, at the library.

Posted in event, News

Pamlico Writers invade Aurora Fossil Festival

The Pamlico Writers’ Group will host a tent at the 26th annual Aurora Fossil Festival, Saturday, May 25th. Our members will take turns signing and selling books, and answering questions about our group’s upcoming events and regular critique meetings.

The Aurora/Richland Township Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with the Aurora Fossil Museum will welcome vendors, musicians and more to the town of Aurora Friday, May 24th. Opening ceremonies and entertainment on Friday evening start at 6 pm.

 Starting at 8 am on Saturday: vendors, rides, exhibitors with crafts, fossils, minerals, jewelry, food. Fossil displays, talks, digs and an auction that supports the museum, 5K run, veterans breakfast, parade, and more …

Tammera Cooper, author of the Water Street Chronicles

Tammera will have the newest addition to her series, the Water Street Chronicles, “Sleeping Mallows,” as well as her first book, “Drenched Sunflowers.” (Look for more about Tammera in our upcoming chat.)

Alison Paul Klakowicz author of Mommy’s Big, Red Monster Truck

For Alison Paul Klakowicz, the Fossil Festival is a homecoming. Stop by and visit, buy a book and learn what other projects she had planned. (You can also check out our previous interview!)

Donna Holloman, author of YA Christian thriller

Retired nurse and former Children’s Church minister, LaDonna Holloman shares her faith through her fiction. Come check out this exciting young adult Christian Fantasy/mystery. (Check out our interview coming soon on this website!)

S L Hollister, author of the Leeward Files series

Local author, S L Hollister will have her latest book, “Titanium Blue,” on sale along with the rest of her Leeward Files series. (Leeward is the fictional version of Aurora, complete with Fossil Festival.)

Presenting Jim Keen with his service award for his years of dedication to the Pamlico Writers
James Keen, author of Trinidad Express, a true account of his sailing adventure.

Jim Keen is the finance officer, webmaster and former chairperson for the Pamlico Writers’ Group. He is an avid sailor and writes non-fiction about sailing and family.

The second book in M K Graff’s Manhattan Mystery Series
“Marni” M K Graff, award-winning author, speaker and mentor.

M K Graff is the award-winning author of the British cozy mystery, Nora Tierney series and the Trudy Genova, Manhattan Mysteries. She is a favorite of Pamlico Writers’ conference attendees.

Stop by and visit, let’s talk books and writing. We’d love to meet you.

See you at the Aurora Fossil Festival.

Posted in event, my books

Book Signing

Book signing

“What are you doing back in town?” Dana asked with a smile that showed off a dimple. “Did you miss me?”
The question pulled him from his brooding. Yes! He wanted to shout. Dana’s smile was like sunshine dispelling the dark clouds that filled his soul. Her can-do spirit and loyalty to Rae had attracted him immediately when he’d first come to Leeward. But he’d had a job to do and she’d been dating Billy. The man didn’t deserve her. The sweetness and innocence Dana exuded, made a man want to take care of her. Not that she needed him to. With her dynamic personality and pinup girl curves, Dana Windley was a dangerous combination. His chest tightened, as did his pants. Jake didn’t have anything lasting to offer her, not even the security of his job. Moving his lips into a parody of a smile, he replied, “Vacation, Rae promised to take me fishing.”

Posted in event

Friend and Mentor

I just had my second book signing and my first experience co-signing with my friend and mentor, Marni Graff. I was surprised at the ease in which we were able to blend our thoughts and ideas, and talk about our books. It felt natural, sharing the stage with Marni. We’ve discussed books so often that in many ways, it just felt like a discussion among friends. Of course, the lack of nerves on my part may have been from the amount of cold medicine I’ve been taking.

I first met Marni Graff when she was hosting open mic events at a bakery in Washington, North Carolina. She called it Writers’ Read and several writers and poets would come and share their work. I was attracted by her unflappable style and grace. I followed Marni to Belhaven, when she moved the Writers’ Read to the public library after the bakery closed. When she became a presenter at the first Pamlico Writers’ conference, I knew I had to attend. I’ve attended every writers’ conference since.

Over the past few years Marni and I have become close, first as student and mentor, and later as friends, and writer-sisters. I have learned so much from Marni, she is a patient teacher, mentor and friend. She has pushed me to stretch my talent to judge a competition, review others’ works and even submit my own work to agents and contests. It because of her faith that my story was ready that I leaped into the publishing fire and self-published Chrome Pink.

I resisted self-publishing for years because I wanted the dream, to have an agent or editor believe in me and take on my project. After having the experience of an agent, I learned that by going the traditional route, you give up a lot of control. When my agent broke up with me, I began to embrace the idea of having complete control. It’s frightening and a little intimidating but with the push from Marni, friends and family, I finally did it.

Sitting at the table, discussing our books and fielding questions from the audience is a dream I never allowed myself to have. Having the book signing with my friend and mentor, is a priceless gift I will treasure for a life time. I appreciate my library manager Robina Norman for setting this up with her colleague, Sallie, and to Sallie for making this book signing a lovely event, thank you.

Book signing at Robersonville Public Library, March 7th, 2018.