Book and Bag: Stars in the Night Sky #Christmasisalmosthere #readromance #awardwinningfilm

Stars. How many times have we looked up and noticed them twinkling? And have you noticed them elsewhere? 

For a long time, I have traveled with girlfriends to a small town for their Christmas Candlelight Home Tour. The historic homes are decorated and docents tell interesting historical things. We eat great food, exchange gifts, and stay up til the wee hours, munching on M&Ms and chatting.

And a part of our visit is to The Enchanted Forest where we wander through approximately 75 Christmas trees. One year, the tree toppers entranced me. Many were star-shaped. Here's one I found:

Michelle Miles: How to make $3 million writing books

Do I have your attention? :)

This post isn't about how to make $3 million from writing books. I don't have the secret formula. Sorry about about the click-bait.

I’ve been writing for publication since 2001. The entire lifespan of my son. I’ve seen the industry change from the traditional houses ruling to indie publishing booming. To Amazon claiming its own stake in the publishing game. The rise and fall of small presses. The downsize of traditional publishing.

I joined RWA in 2004 and was so happy to find a writing home, a place where others understood me. A place where I could make connections with other writers. I was hungry to learn everything from craft to industry. Back then, the contest circuit was the way to go. The only way to catch the eye of an agent or editor. Careers were launched that way (I can think of two off the top of my head).

But things changed. The world changed. The industry changed.

Blog: Happy Release Day for Whispers of Winter, a holiday anthology #fruitcakelovers #romanticcomedy #MFRWauthor

HAPPY RELEASE DAY!!

Whispers of Winter holiday anthology which includes my romantic comedy short story, The Great Fruitcake Bake-off.

When five-time champion Samantha Greene teams up with her new neighbor, Dixon Roberts, for The Great Fruitcake Bake-off, they discover baking a prize-winning entry is complicated, bad guys are plotting to take the crown, and first prize isn't just about a ribbon.

Michelle Miles: NaNo

I’m participating in NaNoWriMo this year. I mean like really participating. Not just signing up and then ignoring my book for the next 30 days.

(For those who may not know, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month during November where you write 50,000 in 30 days AND survive the Thanksgiving holiday!)

Anyway…I decided to get off my duff and start working on book two in my Dragon Protectors series. I really hadn’t intended to start writing that book yet but when I put the first one up for preorder and it started getting a good response, I figured I better get on it. I even went so far as to go ahead and upload a preorder over at Draft2Digital and gave myself six months to complete it and get it ready for sale.

Blog: Quilting Magic with Ties #holidayanthology #crafting #readromance

A lot of you know I call my husband Handsome. When we first married, he gave me a card signed with Handsome Husband. I shortened it. (And Handsome is a pretty nice looking guy. )

I grew up when working men wore suits to their job and to church, to shows, etc. I like the look. Handsome’s career began at a large accounting firm and he wore the “uniform” too. He especially liked ties and for a long time, never threw any away.

An employee at his company makes quilts. After a chat, he decided to have one made into a quilt. Take a look:

Michelle Miles: Crafty Crafts

I’ve been in a bad funk with the writing lately (mostly ignoring it) so I decided to turn my attention elsewhere.

Most of you know I do other crafts. I opened my first Etsy shop to sell my handmade cross-stitch ornaments. I stitch A LOT of Santa faces. They are so cute. But I’m expanding and doing other little ornaments.

Stuff like this:

And this:

CUT! Costumes in Movies, part 4 #historicalromance #moviecostumes #readromance

From the CUT! Costumes in Movies exhibit, I'm focusing on evening gowns. And are there some doozies:

Who loved to play dress up? Me! Once, I went to a tag sale when I was about ten and for a very small fee, I bought a dark blue evening gown. I just loved it. Today is our last look at CUT!! and I'm featuring evening gowns. 

From Phantom of the Opera, we have this lovely pink creation worn by Emily Rossum as Christine:

Isn't it gorgeous? Love the shade of pink, how the train is gathered and embellished with flowers and ribbons.

Have I said how much I LOVE red? This stunning red dress was worn by Laura Flynn Boyle:

A little art deco flavor, slimmer silhouette:

And lastly, a slinky dress and suit:

Plotting Princesses: Vicki Batman - You know what’s really annoying? #MFRWorg #readromance #householdchores

I try not to be a gripey person. I take on tasks I dislike and finish them. There is one household chore I really dislike, and I think you’ll be surprised when I say... 

Changing out the toilet paper tube for a fresh roll.

Yep, the springy thing bouncing all over the room, getting on hands and knees and finding it, and pushing all just so to get it back in the holder drives me crazy. I wish I had installed the kind where the roll slips over the rod.

Silly, isn’t it?

Vicki Batman : A Writer’s Good Life #MFRWorg #readromance #RWA2018

The best part of being a writer is meeting writers. Sharing, collaborating, buying books. And that’s what I’m doing. I’m at the Romance Writer’s of American convention attending workshops, classes, dinners and lunches, and signing books at the Indie Signing. 

Last year was a huge one for me. I signed at the Indie Signing and my mystery at the Signing for Literacy. I had so much fun. Many writer friends I’ve made over fourteen years stopped by and picked up books. There were strangers who came looking for me! A friend who made the call to notify me I’d finalled in her chapter’s contest.

I think I broke my smile that day.

I’m not a fast writer lately. Life has pushed me around and I do what I do. Though, when I have looked back, I have been amazed at what I’ve done:

35 short stories and essays

2 romantic comedy mysteries

So I’m absorbing new information, hanging with old and new friends, and soon shall be flexing my fingers and hitting the keyboard. 

Author Vicki Batman on Handbag and Book - My Observations about Dogs #gettingapet #catsanddogs #romanticcomedy

Some of you may be laughing hysterically just from the title of my blog because you know I grew up with cats, not dogs. My mom didn’t want to fence the yard for a dog. Our first cat was a huge gray guy named appropriately Smokey. He was born between our wooden and the neighbor’s chain link fences. 

Over the years, there were others, like Mischief, Fuzzy, Snuffer. Our last two were farm cats from Kansas named Romper, aka Roo, Roo-roo, Romp, and her sister, Scooter, aka Scoo. 

Handsome, however, grew up with dogs. He loves to tell the story of their sheepdog who ate the Thanksgiving turkey (Christmas Story, anyone?). So when #1son was about three, he adopted Baxter, a sheep dog who grew VERY LARGE. Baxter was too big for little kids and no one could walk him well.

After Baxter and Snuffer passed, we adopted the farm girls. They were little and squirmy and perfect for boys’ love. Both had a long shy streak and would hide behind furniture when people came over.

Many years passed and Handsome began to yearn for another dog.

Michelle Miles: Living in a Fishbowl

I had a recent experience on Facebook that has me questioning my very existence on Facebook.

My post was somewhat controversial, though I had no intention of it being that way, and generated over 170 comments (don’t bother looking for it; the post is no longer available for public consumption). It was merely my observation of the double standard that exists in our world. What’s good for the goose is sometimes not good for the gander.

When we put ourselves on social media, and post things that are considered hot topics, we unwittingly invite these people into our world. If our thought or opinion doesn’t align with theirs, then we’re open for attack. Everyone and everything comes under careful scrutiny by people who know better and people who have no problem telling us about it.

Vicki Batman - Thirty-four #readromance #RLFblog #MFRWorg

34          I counted just the other day because I kinda had thirty in my head. So why the number?

I’ve written thirty-four short stories.

I began by writing my romantic comedy mystery, Temporarily Employed. Then I critiqued six very short stories for a friend, and all of the sudden, the rhythm of writing these fell into my head. Then an idea came, and I was off. I churned out a lot of short stories, many of which were pubbed by magazines and other publishers, some have been in anthologies.

I really do like writing short. My life has been upside down and concentrating on a book is hard for me. I can pop in and out of a short story and feel as if I’ve accomplished a lot.

As for very shorts…

I’ve collected eleven, two of which have never been pubbed before. Here’s a bit about them:

Michelle Miles: May Day

It's May! Can you believe how fast it got here? Seems like we were just celebrating New Years Day.

May is probably one of the best months of the year (besides October - I love Fall!). Lots of fun stuff happens in May. My birthday. My husband's birthday. Mother's Day. Memorial Day Weekend. The end of school. It's a busy month for sure.

And this year, we have a royal wedding to look forward to! I can't wait. I enjoy following the royals from their wedding to the birth of their children.

I had a blog post all written and ready to post but after re-reading it (and after my cool down period), I decided it was far too snarky. And so here I am talking about May 1/Beltane while The Fifth Element plays in the background.

I like May even if it is the official beginning of our hot Texas summers. There's lots of shopping happening during the month and cake and ice cream. That just can't be beat.

What do you love about May?

Vicki Batman on What's inspiring you? #readromance #springishere #RLFblog

Nature is!

I have always liked the beautiful colors of flowers; however, my obsession really began about three years ago when Handsome and I traveled the Rhine on a river cruise. We began our journey in Lucerne, Switzerland in late June. The weather was perfect, in fact, almost like spring compared to the heat my area experiences in the summer. Many variety of flowers bloomed everywhere. I became captivated and took many photos. Some flowers resembled those grown at home. I also spotted new plants. Even the tiny orange weed in the crack next to a white-washed building captured my fancy. 

This year, the spring flowers are bountiful, most likely due to the abundance of rain and cool temperatures. The antique climbing roses is loaded with tiny pale yellow bouquets. (These are the same plants I nearly chopped down, too.) Every day, I see new things—a snowball viburnum bursting with large blossoms. Many colors of Iris. Hot pink Gerbera daises. Green roses.

The air is fresh, perfumed by the budding flowers. The breeze lifts my hair and brushes across my mouth only to stick on my lip balm (no flavor). On dog walks, Champ, our white malti-poo, toddles along, stopping to pee every ten feet. His smoky gray brother, Jones, has long straight legs and walks like he knows what he is doing, only he doesn’t most of the time. Kids handling super-hero kites which are struggling to find lift. My neighbor is dead-heading the yellow and purple pansies with their fanciful smiles along her front walkway garden.

So how is all this loveliness inspiring?

I’ve been working harder at effective descriptions by adding how I feel and what I see. Hopefully by doing so, you--the reader--are experiencing a better mind picture.

Michelle Miles: New Quarter…NEW GOALS! Sorta…

It’s really hard for me to get it in my head that it’s April. APRIL! The first three months of the year are gone in a puff of smoke. 

I think I’ve mentioned before I have this journal I use daily to keep me on track for my goals. I discovered, too, long ago that it’s too hard for me to plan an entire year of goals. With the Best Self, it breaks down the year into 13-week increments. I set three goals for those 13 weeks. They can be anything I want. So, because I want to produce more books and get myself out of debt, I decided to start tracking these goals.

What makes a good Ending? #readromance #RLFblog #writing

Hi, everyone! It's Princess Vicki and I want to chat about THE END. You just finished the book,  close it, and sometimes, sigh. The last line sets the tone for how the book ends, a resolution, and is a counterpoint to the opening line which sets the story in motion.

Sometimes, there are lines that stay with us forever. For example:

“Tomorrow is another day.” From Gone With the Wind

“Thank you, God, she thought. Thank you.” From A Knight in Shining Armor (When I reached the end of this one, I sat for about a minute with the book in my hands, then started it again instantly.)

When I finish a story or book, I think a lot about the last line. I have been accused of writing a cliffhanger and maybe so.

Michelle Miles: Let's talk crafts

I had a hard time coming up with something to blog about. I’m not sure what my mental block is with blogging lately, but I literally stare into space and then … I got nothin’.

I thought about talking about the Oscars but, let’s face it, they were #OscarsSoBoring. I was glad to see Gary Oldman and Sam Rockwell win. The Shape of Water just looks weird to me and I doubt I’ll ever see it.

There’s not much else going on in my life other than writing, editing and stitching. I’ve started an Etsy shop and I’ve been stitching my little fingers to the bone. I make cross-stitched Christmas ornaments. If you follow me on Facebook, you likely have seen me post progress photos of them. They’re fun and they give me a sense of accomplishment because I can finish one in about a week.

I’m also trying to teach myself how to crochet. I have no idea why other than I saw the most gorgeous crocheted blanket on Facebook. It looks like this:

Where Did You Get that Story Idea? by Kathleen Baldwin #CreativeInspiration

Good morning! I’m Kathleen Baldwin, author of the award-winning Stranje House novels. Like most authors, the question I’m asked most often by readers is, “Where did you get the idea for your books?”

Every author has her own answer. 

I love adventure in real life and in books. Guess where I get my ideas for my adventurous heros and heroines . . .

You guessed it. For me, adventuring in the wild is a powerful source of inspiration. I love being out in nature. But hey, I also enjoy doing research. How's that for a dichotomy?  Dusty musty old books are often a source of inspiration as well.

TRUTH: Inspiration comes from many places. 

Here's several wonderful authors answering that question.

.@VickiBatman - What Makes me Stop Writing? #readromance #RomanceLivesForever #MFRWauthor

I remember the first time my brain didn’t want to write. I’d been working on my first romantic comedy mystery for a few months when Handsome was diagnosed with throat cancer. My whole world stopped. (FMI see Romance Lives Forever at: Romance Lives Forever .)

But how to keep the creativity going? I did develop a game plan—I took writing classes (didn’t comment much but worked on all lessons), played my favorite Word Search no Vowels, I critiqued with friends, journaled, attended my local romance writing chapter meetings. Most importantly, I set a deadline for after when his treatment would end and our lives would be back on track.

On the designated date, I booted up my computer and found my book. It had been haunting me, and when thoughts popped in my head, boom! I wrote them down and saved them. I had decided if I could only write twenty words, that was what I would do. I started with chapter one and worked. I was so nervous because I thought what if I can’t get back in my groove? The next day, I did better, and after that, better, till finally, my fingers were flying again.

A Family for the Rancher by Allison B. Collins #CowboystoGrooms #AFamilyfortheRancher #PlottingPrincesses #MFRW @allisonbcollins

Hi, everyone! It’s been ages since I blogged with the Plotting Princesses. So much has happened, but I’ll try to keep it short.

Under my real name, Allison B. Collins, I have a three book deal with Harlequin for a new series, Cowboys to Grooms!  It’s been a dream of mine for years to be a Harlequin author.  I’ve been reading their series for more years than I care to admit, and to now be writing for them—it’s better than the richest of chocolates and the bubbliest of champagnes. It really hit home last summer when I was invited to the Harlequin party at the Romance Writers of America conference.  Strictly for Harlequin authors and employees, I really felt like part of the Harlequin family. (I might have to write about it after the next one, so stay tuned!)

The first book, A FAMILY FOR THE RANCHER, just launched, and I’m over the moon excited about it. This series started out as a dream I had a couple of years ago. As soon as I woke up that next morning, I knew I had to turn it into a series of books. There are five brothers, so five books.  Nash is the oldest brother, and definitely a wounded hero home from the war in Afghanistan. I was so into writing about him that it made me cry several times. Kelsey Summers is the physical therapist Nash’s father hired to help Nash get better.  Kelsey arrives at the ranch with her mother and young daughter in tow. 

Blurb:

#NewRelease DEVIL TAKE ME by Karilyn Bentley #urbanfantasy #supernatural #magic

I'm excited to announce that Devil Take Me, the fourth book in the urban fantasy Demon Huntress series is now out at an online retailer near you! Gin Crawford returns for another adrenaline-racing adventure. This time a demon is loose in Dallas wreaking havoc and her demon-killing employer seems to be harboring its own demon. She needs the help of her guardian mage, Aidan Smythe, to track down the demons, but he's not speaking to her. What's an demon hunting empath to do? Check out the blurb and excerpt, then get your copy to find out!

Happy Reading!

Blurb:

Handbag and Book: Oldies but Goodies. @VickiBatman #readromance #RLFblog #MFRWauthors

At age fourteen, my mom introduced me to romance books. On our summer breaks, she took us to the library. Our reads had to last two weeks and then she would take us back. I was such a fast reader. I read mine, sometimes twice, and sometimes, my sisters’ books too.

One day, I was totally bored. Nothing new to read. So I asked Mom if we could go to the library, a day off from our regular schedule. She firmed her lips and gave me an interesting look. Then she reached for her handbag, stashed on a shelf in a built-in bookcase. She pushed a small paperback in my hands and said, “Read this.”

On the front was a picture of a couple, a dark-headed girl turned away from a man with brown hair wearing a suit. The author’s name was Emilie Loring. I flipped the book over and read the back cover blurb. Hmmm, I thought, and went to my room where I plopped on my bed and began.

Michelle Miles: Dream Big

Oh, hello, there. It’s 2018.

Last year was trying in a lot of ways for lots of people including me. I had a lot of changes on the job front and the home front. But that’s all in the past and I’m ready to move forward in the new year.

I wrote a lot in 2017 but some of it hasn’t made it to publication yet. I finished three novels, one a major revision, one new and as-yet unpublished and one published and for sale (On the Hunt for the Wizard King).

I’ve made some career decisions for 2018 regarding the books and have decided to phase out all the contemporary romances on January 20. They’ll be gone and permanent out of print. I may do something with them someday, but for now, they’re all going away. It wasn’t an easy decision, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized those books are not really part of my brand anymore.