While I don’t yet have a publication date set for my romance novel, The Cowboy and the Executive, I have been daydreaming about my male protagonist, Barton Young, quite a bit. He’s tall, tan, and I’m pretty sure he’d taste good.
My inspiration for Barton came from an encounter with a rodeo cowboy at a honky tonk in Amarillo, Texas, a few decades ago. We had but a single dance, but oh my! What a dance it was.
On Saturday I celebrated a “first” (for me, anyway). Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort was the featured book for a Tallahassee book club meeting, and I was invited to say a few words and answer questions from those in attendance.
It was a virtual meeting, so there were no worries about masks or social distancing. But I did pour myself a glass of Merlot, because what’s a book club meeting without wine?
I was a bit nervous at first, but the experience was so much fun that I soon forgot about my nerves and just relaxed and enjoyed myself. The funniest thing was that some attendees knew my book as well as, and in one instance, slightly better than I did! That was humbling and a little scary. Now I need to reread Mayhem before any future book club adventures.
The threat of impending thunderstorms has resulted in the cancellation of many of the scheduled Word of South events; therefore, I shall not be hawking my book to festival attendees this weekend. Instead, I shall parade around Doright Manor speaking formally to the resident feline and to the gentleman with whom I sleep.
Thankfully, today’s virtual book club meeting should proceed as planned, unless lightning intervenes. What is the old Yiddish proverb? “We plan; God laughs.” Alas, ‘tis true.
Carry on, fellow travelers. Weep not for me, for the heavy skies have taken on that task in your stead.
I’m looking forward to a fun weekend of doing author stuff. On Saturday, I’m attending a virtual book club meeting hosted by the Tallahassee Women’s Social Meetup group. Guess whose book they’re discussing? Mine!
Yes, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort will be the topic of discussion, and I’m pretty excited. Just keep your fingers crossed that I don’t say something so stupid that everyone in attendance will want to immediately burn their copies and dance around the bonfire.
Then on Sunday I’m working a table at the annual Word of South festival in Tallahassee along with other members of the Tallahassee Writer’s Association. The festival snuck up on me this year and I didn’t get my tickets before they sold out, but at least I can be part of the fun and maybe let folks know about my book. By nature, I’m not a joiner, so again, please send me some good vibes as I embark on this adventure.
If anyone ever writes my biography they should use the title “A Day Late and A Dollar Short.” Truly everything I’ve ever done has been “assbackwards” to use my mother’s terminology.
Case in point: I published my book, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort, on Amazon on November 30, 2020, but it didn’t occur to me to create an author page on Facebook until March, and now it’s April and I finally realized I probably need an author page on Amazon, as well. Every other author I know created both prior to publishing,
It’s nothing fancy—mostly because I only vaguely understood what it was I was supposed to do. Honestly, I need a minder to hold my hand and guide me through every minute of every day.
Or a genie! That’d work.
This lamp sells for around $25.00 on Walmart.com. Genie optional.
I neglected to post anything on Thursday and my stats dropped like a boulder attached to an anchor around the neck of a bull elephant. Pretty dramatic.
There was a time that would’ve caused me considerable consternation, but now I’m like “so what.” I’d love to tell you I was just too busy to write anything, but that would be a lie. Truth is, I worked on revising my romance all morning and then took a nap in the afternoon. And what a nap it was! Full color dreams about something that I can no longer recall. But it caused me to drool, so it must’ve been good, right?
Anyway, I’m feeding the beast now. I don’t think it’s all that nutritious, but surely any post is better than none.
Yesterday I wrote like a mad woman on my sequel to Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort, chewing up words and spitting them out onto the blank page like so many tiny sunflower seeds. Days like that are hard to come by, so I buckled up and enjoyed the ride. Too many mixed metaphors already? Sorry, sort of.
But in the middle of the night I woke up with a word, actually a name, on my mind—Gary. My subconscious sent me a message: Sweetie, (I often call myself ‘Sweetie’ just because I can) you have two characters named Gary.
Well, hell. Thank goodness for the ability to quickly locate every mention of Gary and decide just which character gets to keep the name. Should I flip a coin? Meditate on it? Draw a number from a hat? Maybe I’ll just ask Alexa.
Heh.
And with what name should I replace it? Accepting suggestions that don’t begin with a ‘G’.
Just a reminder that my friend, the other Leslie Noyes (Leslie Morris Noyes), has a book coming out on March 23rd. Check out the piece I published about Leslie and her book, Willing, back in December: https://nananoyz5forme.com/2020/12/30/the-other-leslie-noyes/.
If you enjoy steamy, smart romance I promise you will be smitten with Willing. I know I was.
Super hot cover, too!
I spent the weekend reading the soon-to-be-published sequel to Lori Roberts Herbst’s debut novel, Suitable for Framing. Her new book, Double Exposure, continues the adventures of photographer Callie Cassidy who seems to be a magnet for mystery. I adore her characters, and I always think I know whodunnit, but she fools me every time.
I don’t think there’s a fixed date yet for publication, but I’ll keep you all posted. In the meantime, read her first novel, pictured below, if you haven’t already.
Carl, the cat, and Woody, the dog, feature prominently in Lori’s novels.
And then there’s me. I didn’t get a lot of writing done this weekend, so engrossed was I in reading Lori’s book, but that’s not to say my books didn’t get some attention.
My novel, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort, will be featured at two different Tallahassee book club meetings in the next couple of months! I’m so honored to have had my little book selected by these clubs and excited to have the opportunity to visit with readers in real time about Mayhem.
My romance, The Cowboy and the Executive, available on Amazon in Kindle and in paperback.
Do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up? Depending on the day of the week, I wanted to be either an astronaut, a ballerina, or a famous author, like Dr. Seuss. An elementary teacher told me only men could become astronauts, so that was out, and since I was never allowed to take ballet classes, that one got scratched.
Occasionally I do still pretend to be both an astronaut and a ballerina, though. Sometimes simultaneously. It’s great fun, and when one is weightless, ballet is much easier.
And now, I’m an author, but hardly famous. At least not in the real world.
Praying for Eyebrowz 