Updates, New Releases, & More...

Happy Tuesday Everybody,

Status report:  Book Three, Immortal Love (of the Immortal Dreams Trilogy) is over halfway written. It's not yet as far along as

I'd like, but it's making progress, which is good. Unfortunately sinus/migraine headache issues, and some other stuff got in the way this past week of me getting much writing in, so I'm trying to do much better this week. I'm relieved to tell you my headaches are better.

Book Two of Immortal Dreams Trilogy:  Book Two, Astral Love, will release in the Fall of this year. From the schedule I received from my publisher it looks like some time in October (Ooo! Looks like a birthday present for moi. What do you all think?)

Facebook:  There is now a Facebook page for the Immortal Dreams Trilogy. If you "Like" the page you will be able to keep up with updates. Things that will be exclusively posted there! (Such as Teaser #2 is already posted there) and cameo appearances from characters Laney and Jason. Who knows? Maybe one of the Immortals will take over my keyboard and make an appearance. But you will need to "Like" the page to get those updates. I may even do a sneak-peek-before-big-reveal cover reveal there (that's something I still have to make a final decision about, but I'm giving it very serious consideration).  Click here to get to the Immortal Dreams Trilogy Facebook page.

Nationals:  I will NOT be at the 2014 RWA National Conference. I just can't swing it. However, I do know there will be MANY other great authors there, so if you're going, be sure to check them out.

Conference:  I'm waiting for registration for the NWHRWA's annual Lone Star Writer's Conference to open up. It's taking place the first Saturday in October. To check the details please click here. It looks like it's going to be another good one.

There are a TON of new books out there. If you're interested in the new books my publisher is releasing, check the SMP website here.

My talented critique partner, Tess St. John released Last Chance in June. To check it out, click here for Amazon, for Barnes & Noble, click here.

Author pal/critique-er/word-sprint partner/awesome person, Patti Korbet, released This Year's Love in June. To check this novel out, click here for Amazon, and for Barnes & Noble, click here.

Recently the oh-so-talented Marie Hall released Hood's Obsession (a novel connected to her Kingdom Series--it features The Big Bad

Wolf and Red Riding Hood's daughter!) To check it out on Amazon, click here. For Barnes & Noble, click here.

The amazing Christie Craig released a novel with two other authors called Three Southern Beaches, which looks like  fun. To check this novel out, click here for Amazon. For Barnes & Noble, click here.

I know I'm forgetting probably more than one person, so if you or another author you know had a novel released this year (that is from January to now) feel free to post about it in the comment section of this blog post!

**Please Remember:  All comments come to me for approval. Once I see them and approve them, they will be published and appear in the comment section. If you make a comment and it doesn't appear by the end of this week (Friday, July 25th) please send me an email about it. Doing comments this way has cut down on some of the issues this blog had in the past, it also cuts down on identical posts. Thank your for your patience and understanding**

Hope everyone has a Tremendously Totally Terrific Tuesday!

Giveaway Alert!

Happy Tuesday All,

I'm a part of a massive giveaway that author Patti Korbet is holding. 

There's a ton of books (including a copy of All's Fair In Love & Lion on Kindle) being given away.

**For more details, check out Patti Korbet's blog.**

 

 In other news, I'm working on the read-through of my WIP to turn it into my publisher. It's due by the beginning of May (I'm hoping to be done before that).

Hope to have more news for you all soon.

Have a Terrifically Tip-Top Tuesday!

Kickin' Off Classics Week With Guest Patti Korbet...

Happy Monday Everybody,

Welcome to the first ever Classics Week on Write By Bethany. Each day I will feature a different author. The author for the day will talk about which classic author and book they enjoyed and why, plus whether or not it influenced them. At the end of the post, they will feature one of their own publications for your reading pleasure.

To kick off Classics Week, I've got author Patti Korbet. I met Patti through author Marie Hall's Facebook page. As it turns out, we're both avid Once Upon A Time fans (as well as fans of Marie Hall's work) and started chatting. She's got some interesting things to say about JRR Tolkein, so I'll hush up and let Patti take over...

My childhood memories are filled with moments of fantasy and science fiction, from the cartoons that started our Saturday mornings to the films we saw in the movie theater. Many of those stories were classics of childhood for kids of the 70's and 80's – E.T., The Dark Crystal, The Neverending Story, Legend, Labyrinth, Planet of the Apes, Back to the Future, Willow and of course, Star Wars, to name a few. The ritual of watching sci-fi and fantasy together binds my family even now.

Of all those movies, the one animated film of the two genres that always stayed with me was The Hobbit (1977). Before special effects and Peter Jackson could do justice to Middle Earth, the animator's hand gave life to this fantastical world. It stuck with me more than any Disney movie I had ever seen at that point.

Note from Bethany:  I think these were the Ozark Mountains
in Arkansas, but look a little Tolkein-ish!

Years later, a college friend gave me his extra copies of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy. I didn't read them immediately, but knew I would – I had loved that little Hobbit Bilbo from my childhood cartoon. Then a coworker loaned me his copy of the original BBC broadcast teleplay of LOTR, and let me tell you, if you've never heard it, you should. What Peter Jackson did for the films, that production did for audio. When I played the last CD, I felt compelled to read all four books. I devoured them.

I knew the story of The Hobbit, of course. But I could not have been prepared for the wonder that enveloped me when my eyes directly consumed J.R.R. Tolkien's words. He wove this fantastical tale of dragons, of demons with names like 'goblin' and 'orc', of elves the size of men, dwarves more complex than Snow White's pals, wise wizards and the small, gentle, half-men known as hobbits. It changed forever how I read fantasy and laid the foundation for the amazing series that followed.

In many ways, The Hobbit was not just the pre-quel to the LOTR saga, it was also the pre-quel to all the fantasy stories that came later. Some, like Harry Potter, nod very directly to Tolkien. But many writers and stories – even those outside fantasy and sci-fi – owe The Hobbit for paving the way to creating worlds that do not exist.

What Tolkien teaches us through The Hobbit is that you can create a wholly fictional universe, and as long as you believe in it, your audience will, too. When that world comes directly from your own imagination, however many words you need to carry the reader into the varied and vivid landscapes and to illuminate the characters, those are the words you must use. I don't write fantasy or sci-fi – not yet – but if I do, I know I'll strive to meet the standard set by The Hobbit and Tolkien.

Until then, you can catch my contemporary romance series, Ward Sisters, about an interconnected group of people. The third book, Right Here Waiting, featuring a strong woman and the soldier who steals her heart, is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, where you can also find the first two books.