December, Celebrations, & Where Has The Year Gone?...

 Happy December,

Well, it's already almost the last day of December...and the whole month totally snuck up on me and slipped by me without me realizing what was going on until Christmas Weekend! I kept thinking "Oh, I've got time to do..." and whatever. HA! Next time, I'm going to REALLY look at my calendar and go "Wait, NO, I DON'T have all this time!"

Exhibit A: I need to finish putting together (and mail) Christmas cards. Yep. I'm late, I know, but hopefully I'll get them out during the 12 days of Christmas (before the celebration of Jesus' Baptism, which is celebrated the Sunday after Epiphany. Catholics don't do celebrations halfway! Case in point: Easter has many, many days in the Easter Season).

Exhibit B: I was wrapping presents on Christmas Eve. I'm usually done days before then.

So all of you out there who were behind this year...I get it! Things happen. Life can be nuts.

This whole year felt fast, though. I know I kept saying it pretty much every single month. I've sat there going "Wait, it can't already be___" and lo, and behold, it would be.

Writing updates? Well, still working on some revisions on a manuscript--hope to be done very soon. It would be nice if I could be done before the end of January...here's hoping! I have several other manuscripts in various stages of not done writing the actual story. There is one that my long-time critique partner loves that I still need to finish writing (ironically, it's Winter/Christmassy-themed!)

My family is doing all right. There's always bumps in the road, but there are also some wonderful moments--I'm working on focusing on the positive. It's easy to get bogged down in the negative and I'm incredibly sympathetic to those who do. But I'm one of those people who just can't stand to stay there. I've got a great support system and I keep learning new things and working on it. My faith has played a HUGE role in all of that.

Christmas Day was very quiet (which is okay) but nice. Christmas Eve we went to Mass (it's fun to see everyone all dressed up and smiles). The Church looked beautiful--Nativity scene, flowers, incense--the works! We sang one of my favorite Christmas hymns--"Joy To The World". I'm hoping during the Christmas Season we'll also do "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (I really like this one, I can't explain why, I just do). I'm also very fond of "The Holly And The Ivy" (my dad likes to whistle that one, and I have fond memories of one of my sisters singing it around the house when I was growing up) and "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" (the song is lovely, the poem has some sad verses, but ends in hopefulness).We have some other things planned, which I think will be fun.

I'm hopeful about some things for 2024. I won't know if they'll actually happen until they do (or don't happen--whatever happens). So, I have to keep working, praying, and hoping.

I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, a Blessed New Year in 2024, and hope.

Have A Tremendously Terrific Tuesday!

November Came And Is Going...

 Happy November Everyone!

I still feel like the year has been going by quickly. I blinked and it's the end of November. Maybe I need to stop blinking?

This month has been busy! Between family and personal stuff and working on some manuscripts, I'm not sure where to begin. Averie Cat got his yearly shot, nails clipped, and flea treatment all at his exam (but he's forgiven me for the indignity of going to the vet and being in his carrier). 

I don't have much that I feel like sharing from this month, not that it was so bad, but I'm pretty private about my personal life.

For those who are finishing up NaNoWriMo* 2023, I hope you've had great success with it! I don't do NaNo but I do like to cheer on those who do, which I've done this year on X(Twitter). I keep thinking I'll write a really good blog post. Maybe in December...hopefully I'll have a lot of great things to report on for that month! That would be awesome. :-)

I hope all my fellow USA citizens had a Happy Thanksgiving! (Fun was had at my sister and brother-in-law's house with my parents).

Have a great rest of November and a Marvelously Merry Monday!

*NaNoWriMo is short for: National Novel Writing Month, which refers to writers trying to get 50,000 words in during the month of November. Those who officially participate sometimes get a certificate or something like that for reaching 50k words. Others use it to accomplish personal writing goals (or polishing up a novel). Authors are encouraged NOT to query their NaNoWriMo books until they've fully edited and polished up the manuscript, which is true of any manuscript. There's also Camp Nano (which takes place in the Spring and Summer, which a little different from NaNoWriMo).

October Is Almost Over...

 Happy End-Of-October!

I'm a bit late posting for the month, but at least I'm getting it in before it ends!

We've had some days of mild temperatures with beautiful sunshine, and a bit of a breeze. A lovely change from 90-100 degree Fahrenheit that we had in August and September. We did get some rain, which is good.

I've done a bit of writing this month--not a ton, but at least it's making progress and I think the manuscript I've been mostly working on will be fun story when it's written. (There are already fun aspects to it, as far as I'm concerned!)

September feels a bit of a blur of sorting through emotions on some things I've had to deal with and family responsibilities. But October has been better. Sometimes things happen and you just have to keep holding onto hope (my faith as a Catholic Christian helps me tremendously with that).

I celebrated my birthday, my dad's, and sent birthday wishes to other family members whose birthdays fall in October. My husband and I went out to dinner the weekend of my birthday--something we hadn't done in awhile and I really enjoyed it. I think we need to have dinner or date out more often!

It's hard for me to believe that November is almost here, but there we are! My thoughts are starting to turn towards family moments, smiles, laughter, and the warmth of the Holidays. I always look forward to seeing the Church all decorated for Christmas. The flowers are always so beautiful and love Christmas hymns (I love Christmas music in general, too) I don't love snow--you northerner regions can keep it as far as I'm concerned--but I do like 50-60 degree weather, and hot cocoa or hot cinnamon apple flavored tea. I'm also a big fan of baked goods (especially my dad's).

I'm not sure what the rest of 2023 will bring, but I wish you a wonderful end of October, a safe and Happy Halloween (which I also call All Hallow's Eve) and a Merry Monday!

September Is Here Already...

 Happy Friday Everyone!

It's September...! Is it just me, or does this year feel like it's going by fast?

Schools are back in session. Texas hasn't gotten the menu that it's getting into the Fall months. But that's nothing new when it comes to September in my part of Texas.

I've got four family members with birthdays--a joyful thing for sure. Buddy Holly was born on September 7th (and I enjoy several of his songs). My deceased friend, Sarah's, birthday is on September 16th.

After working so intensely on revisions on one of my manuscripts, I've been reacquainting myself with the WIPs (Works In Progress) that I haven't as yet finished writing. It's been interesting...I like them a lot more now than I did even when I started writing them! My long-time critique partner is working on some stories she hopes to release--I got a chance to read one of them. I hope readers will enjoy it. She's a very talented writer.

Not much else to report on so far, since it's just the beginning of the month, but stay tuned! If something comes up that I want to announce, I'll announce it!

Meanwhile, Happy September 2023!

Have A Fantastically Frabjous (look up Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky poem for that word) Friday!

August Is Here...

 Happy August Everyone!

My August started off with a road trip to Lubbock, Texas. My Real Life Hero (aka my husband) did the driving. My offspring hung out in the backseat, while I had the front passenger chair.

I've got some family in Lubbock, plus I've wanted to go where the innovative singer/songwriter/musician, Buddy Holly was from.

My fandom of Buddy Holly-(Buddy Holly & The Crickets) (Buddy Holly was inducted into The Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame in 1986) started when I was probably either in high school or my early twenties (I can't remember exactly). I went with my parents (and maybe my younger brother) to see The Buddy Holly Story, a musical about Holly's life. Later, I got a copy of the musical, and Paul McCartney's The Real Buddy Holly Story.

A family member of mine moved to Lubbock some years back. I vowed to one day get out there to see my family member's house, and get over to The Buddy Holly Center.

I would've gone last autumn, except a family thing came up and I wasn't able to go. So, I finally got to planning with my Lubbock family members, and got out there.

I found Lubbock charming. The heat didn't faze me much, since I get plenty of that where I live. Despite knowing it's essentially desert, I found the dryness a bit surprising (I'm used to humidity). Regardless, I enjoyed the city a lot. I thought the Tech campus was pretty (I liked all the trees, and the public art was cool).

 The Buddy Holly Center visit: I had mentally prepared myself for it to be small. I knew that as short of a career that Buddy had there wasn't going to be much, but I made up my mind to enjoy whatever was there. I actually was not disappointed in the least. If anything, I was overjoyed. It was so fun to see guitars he actually owned, letters, some of the clothes, drawings, and other items. I'd known they recovered his glasses from the crash sight, yet was still amazed to see them. Other than a small crack or two, they were still pretty much intact. There was an incredible timeline centering around Rock N' Roll, which I didn't get to read the whole of, plus a ton of other information. I made a promise to myself that one day I'd go either by myself or with someone else who would want to read everything and read all of it!

We went to a local ice cream parlor called Holly Hops and I fell in love with the 1950s vibe. There was even a working jukebox! I didn't put in any money in it or select any songs, but it was playing music.

Overall, I'm very happy with the trip and hope to go back someday.

As for writing news, I'm working on revisions. I'm not sure when I'll be done. Although, I'm definitely making progress! I've got a scene playing in my head for one of my WIPs. I'll let you know when/if I have more news.

I can't believe summer is almost over--it seems like it just began. This year is really flying by for me! I hope you all have had a wonderful summer. Best wishes to all the teachers, students, and staff going back to school.

I'll check in again in September (or earlier if I have news). 

Take care. :-)

Have A Fantastically Fabulous Friday!

July Snuck Up On Me...

 Happy Thursday Everyone!

June is already over? I was completely unprepared for that. In fact, I feel like this year is flying by. (I was late sending birthday card to a friend who had a birthday near the end of June...normally I'm better about these things, but it snuck up on me!)

Updates: June was full of working on revisions. At the moment, I don't want to go into detail...if something fun happens with this, I'll update y'all. For now, pray for me. :-) And if you don't pray, at least wish me well, please? Thanks.

Writing: I haven't been working on my other WIPs because I was doing revisions. I've got some notes back on some chapters for revisions from my long-time critique partner, so I'm going to be working on those on Friday. I do plan on working on one of my WIPs, though. My CP (Critique partner) likes this WIP in particular.

Reading: Yes, I've been doing some reading. I've really liked this one Beauty And The Beast retelling. It's called Beauty's Rose and it's by Shonna Slayton. It's set in 1986. There are a lot of 80s references that made me nostalgic. I totally had a Walkman. Okay, okay, it belonged to one of my sisters, but I used it, too and I eventually inherited it.

Summer:  Is hot. Very, very hot. We had 2 weeks of temperatures in the TRIPLE digits. I expect that to happen again before (and if) we get cooler weather in the Fall.

Fourth of July:  Mine was relatively quiet (minus fireworks going off near me, and then I think a neighbor of mine was shooting some off). I watched a bit of some fireworks online. I went to Church in the morning and then spent the day cleaning and hanging out with the Offspring. My husband had to work, so we didn't do very much. I got my end tables in the living room all dusted. My living room is finally livable. (Ha, ha).

As for the rest of July: regular schedule for me. Family, revisions,  writing, and reading. I've got a tiny bit of a travel planned for this month, too.

I hope your summer is going well--and that you're keeping cool. Take care and I'll catch up again with y'all in August!

Have A Thrillingly Terrific Thursday and A Joyful July! 

I Missed A May Post...And It's JUNE, Now...

 Happy Tuesday All,

Wow...I can't believe I actually forgot to post on here in May. In my defense, I thought I had, but when I came to post a June entry I realized I had missed May!

In May, my husband and I celebrated our anniversary. We've been married for well over 10 years! :-) We didn't do anything big...but we did get take out from Chili's, which was good. My husband is my Real Life Hero. The man has seen me at my best and my worst and STILL loves me, so I'd say he's a keeper. My wedding was lovely. I felt like a princess (which is cool, since my Dad sometimes calls me "princess"). We had a blast at our reception and a wonderful honeymoon on St. Croix (US Virgin Islands).

This June my parents will celebrate 57 years of marriage. I'm so happy for them!

In terms of writing...I've turned a bit of a corner so to speak. I had a brainstorming session with my long-time critique partner, author Tess St. John, which helped one of my manuscripts quite a bit. I've been able to add some pages and some ideas are coming down the pipe for the manuscript, so that's great. :-)

I read 3 books by Victoria McCombs (The Storyteller's Daughter, Woods Of Silver And Light, The Winter Charlatan--they're all part of the same series. I enjoyed them!) I've read some other books, too, that I've enjoyed, but given that I write primarily YA Fantasy and Paranormal, I thought I'd mention those 3 specifically.

I'm still hopeful on the query front, but right now I don't want to say much about it. It's a process!

I hope things are good on your end and that June is a good month for you. Take care!

Have A Tremendously Terrific Tuesday and a Joyful June!

April Is Almost Gone...

 Happy Tuesday All,

Can you believe April is already almost over? I think it went by way faster than I expected.

One thing that has been interesting about this particular April is the variety of weather we've had. Everything from jackets to shorts. No snow, but that's just fine with me! After "Snowmeggeddon" (what was that, about 3 or 4 years ago?) I'm good. I don't need any snow here.

Yes, I'm still writing. I have several what I term "active" projects, meaning they're the main manuscripts I'm working on. I also have a sort of "side-ish" project, which has to do with my Immortal Dreams series, but I don't foresee it ever published (at least, not anytime soon). For those who have read the other books, this would be Nic and Sirena's story. I hinted a bit at it in Perfect Love. The Immortal Dreams books are no longer available (I have my rights back; any of them you find for sale aren't from me or my previous publisher) EXCEPT for Divine Love's audiobook is available (that I did independently with my audiobook narrator, the very talented Chris J. Hudson).

I've nothing that's ready to report on The Author Encounter at this time. It's currently working on some things, though.

I'll tell you about querying when I'm ready to say something. At this moment, I'm not. (When I'm in the middle of it I prefer to not say much about it publicly).

And yes, I've been reading, too. I read Jenniffer Wardell's Beast Charming. I enjoyed it. :-)

I hope your April has been great! It's hard to believe May is right around the corner!

Have A Tremendously Terrific Tuesday!

Ooops!

 Good Evening/Late Evening Everyone!

It's after 9 pm my time on March 31, 2023, and I just realized I never posted any post for March! I'm sorry I neglected to do this.

I hope everyone's March was good--mine was busy! 

Recently I started doing some critique for a fellow author. I can't give details or a name or anything, but this author's work intrigued me. I've been having a blast! It's really been and honor and privilege to do this for the author. This author has some interesting ideas. *Cue Smiley Face Emoji*

Not much to report on The Author Encounter front right now. I'll do so when I can.

Still waiting on some agent responses to the novel I'm query. (I don't like to publicly give details on query stats, sorry, not my style).

Oh and yes, I've been doing some writing, too! But you know I don't say much about what I'm working on--but I do have a holidayish-themed WIP. Normally I don't do very well with writing holiday-themed novels, but this one has been a fun little thing to work on. I've got several other WIPs (Works In Progress) going, so never fear, the imagination is working.

Gearing up for Easter (can hardly believe Holy Week starts on MONDAY!) Hope y'all have a Blessed Easter if I don't get to post before Easter Sunday. Take care and have a FRABJOUS night!

All my best,

Bethany Averie

February, The Month of Many Things...

 Happy Friday!

We're nearing the end of February, if you can believe it! Sometimes I think this year is going by fast.

February is a mixed bag of emotions for me. Early February marks my eldest's birthday, which is a good thing. One of my siblings has a wedding anniversary. Another good thing. Two family members (a sibling and a cousin) have birthdays. (I think other relatives have birthdays this month, too, but I can't remember). Some friends have birthdays. More good things. Unfortunately, my friend, Sarah's death anniversary is also in February.

So, while I like Valentine's Day okay, and I'm totally on board with celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, always in the back of my head is February 20th. That's the day Sarah died. This year marked 10 years, which felt big. I couldn't figure out why it felt big, but one of my counselors said "It IS a big one." Leading up to February 20, 2023, I did have several bouts of tears. But none on the actual day. It was as if I had done all of that and now I was ready to just get passed it. It felt like I was holding my breath. The thing is, if she's in Heaven, no matter how much I might miss her, I don't begrudge her that. Her being gone does mean that certain things are sometimes hard (even with hoping for Heaven--missing her/struggling with certain things are the human side of me). There are songs I don't like to listen to much. Yet, despite sadness, there is joy because I remember all the times we sat and laughed together. I remember her encouraging my writing and supporting my dreams of having a career as an author. How much she believed in me. So, regardless of tears shed, there is joy. And that's what I try to hang onto. So, don't worry about me or pity me, rejoice that I had those moments.

Putting aside the sadder part of this post (sorry to bring anyone down, that is NOT my intention!) I do have some fun stuff to report. I got some positive response on one of my queries--I can't say much unless they offer me rep & I sign with them, but it's still nice to get positive response(s). I've been re-reading one of my WIPs (Works In Progress) to do some more writing on it. I've got several other WIPs in various stages of being written, so lots of ideas. All of those are really fun things to report on. I won't say a lot about what I'm writing (I like to kinda keep it close with only a few people knowing what it is), but as always, there are magical things, some kind of adventure (I always think even the less "journey" type stories I write have something adventurous in them), romance, the stuff you've come to know in my work.

The Author Encounter had a bit of a slow start to the year, but there are several things being planned. Authors March Forward happens next month! There is also work going on to update the site. If you want the replay to previous events, check out The Author Encounter's Facebook page and The Author Encounter's YouTube Page.

I'm working on reading a non-fiction book that was recommended on a podcast I sometimes listen to (I don't listen to a lot of podcasts, because I do better with visuals or reading) but this podcast has been fun for me. I also watch a literary agency's YouTube Videos which has been very informative (some information I already know--I've been in the business since around 2009 for perspective). Listening to these things, picking up information, and growing as an author are good things for writers to do. I'm not saying you're always going to learn something jaw-dropping, but you might pick up a tip or a trick that you hadn't thought of before. So, reading books/articles/etc and listening to podcasts or YouTube videos of literary agencies or other authors or editors can be helpful.

My husband and I didn't do anything special for Valentine's Day, which is okay. :-) We're pretty lowkey about Valentine's Day anyway. We'll likely do more for our anniversary.

Recently on Twitter, I saw a literary agent Tweet that the authors who query them will check up on the author's social media. I know many agents do this to get a "feel" for an author, but it makes me a little nervous. My website isn't renovated (I know it's been something that's been needing to happen, just getting everything lined up hasn't been easy for me. I promise, it's in my head, it's just taking longer than I originally thought). I'm trying to post at least once a month on here. I do try to post a couple of times a week on my Instagram and Facebook. I'm mainly on Twitter. For me, Twitter is just easy. It's short, and I can quickly scroll through my feed. A lot of people don't like Twitter for various reasons (NOT going to get into any of that on here, so please don't get into any of that in the comments). It's also sometimes hard for me to come up with posts, so Twitter is good because if I can't think of something, I can respond to someone. Instagram is tough because I don't always have a picture or video I want to post. Don't even ask about YouTube (I don't have an account on TikTok). I don't have a good set up for videos at this time, so I haven't done anything beyond post All's Fair In Love & Lion's book trailer years ago (that book is now not available anymore from me or my previous publisher). So, for anyone who has wondered about my social media, that's where I'm at. I update my Author Page on Facebook from time to time (I try at least once or twice a month--on occasion it's more than that), but I'm really active on Twitter, so if you're looking for regular posts, that's where to find me.

For those who observe the Lenten Season, I wish you one full of blessings. (Lent started on February 22, 2023).

How has your February been? Do you have big plans for the weekend, next week, or in March? I hope things have been good/great/or, as I often like to say, FRABJOUS (one of my favorite words--it's from Lewis Carrol's "Jabberwocky" poem), on your end!

Have A Fabulously Frabjous Friday!

A New Year...

 Happy January (about 30 days late)!

Happy New Year! Can you believe it's a brand-new year, and 2023? So much happened last year. Some good, some hard, some not-so-good. I often get a mixed bag; although, some of it I hope never happens again. Good and bad often happen every year, though.

January has been busy. Family stuff, mostly. Nothing bad, just as I said, busy. My eldest is getting older and had an overnight trip. I was a worried Mama, but Eldest was fine, of course. Eldest had fun at this camp for 2 nights. It was weird having Eldest gone for longer than a night, but I reminded myself that one day Eldest would become an adult and be out there in the world doing whatever Eldest decides to do with life. Kinda a spooky thought, all things considered, but parents do have to help their offspring grow up.

I'm querying one of my manuscripts and have about 4-5 WIPs in various stages of being written. There are about 2-3 main ones that I'm focusing most of my attention on at the moment. One of them is involving learning disabilities--which I don't normally include in my work. You see, I live with learning disabilities. Both within myself, Eldest, and another one of my offspring, who is autistic. I write/read to escape reality not to relive it, but this one WIP (Work In Progress) has some learning disabilities in it, which actually seem to fit in that WIP. We'll see what happens. The others have various other things in them--I don't like to talk much about my writing until it's definitely going to be released. So, unfortunately, you darling reader, will have to wait. But, try not to be too disappointed. I'm still involving fantasy and paranormal aspects in my work.

This weekend I finally posted a new post (on Saturday, January 28, 2023) on my Author Facebook Page (yeah, I don't always update that, I'm mostly on Twitter). Working on several other things, including some stuff for The Author Encounter.

Other than that...doing real life stuff and trying to figure out how it's already the end of January when it was just New Year's Day not that long ago, but tomorrow really is the last day of January, so there you have it. In any case, hope 2023 treats well. Take care, and as I like to say, God bless!

Have A Merrily Marvelous Monday!

Enjoy the rest of January 2023. :-)