The Author Encounter Scavenger Hunt INFO!

 The Author Encounter is doing a Blog Hop / Scavenger Hunt! The information is all available right here:

 Military appreciation month officially recognized by Congress in May 1999, incorporates many holidays celebrating our women and men in the Armed Forces. Join us for a literary approach to celebrating the soldiers and families that proudly serve and protect our country.

Crafting military fiction whether it’s romance, fantasy, mystery, or any other genre mix isn’t easy. Each story has unique challenges. However, creating believable, relatable characters, scenes and plot lines is a goal all authors aspire to no matter how they write. That is why so many authors use tropes to get their creative juices flowing in familiar ways to encourage their readers to fall in love with their stories. What is a trope? Or more specifically what is a military trope? A military trope is a commonplace, recognizable plot element, theme, or visual cue that conveys something about the military.

Tropes can help make an alien situation or fictional scene feel familiar especially for those of us with no military experiences. So, using tropes in the right way can make your reader love your story that much more. Many readers across genres love military elements added to story lines. A great place to find ideas for military tropes is from other authors. Get inspired by other authors' use of tropes readers love, such as the veteran finding new adventures, the special forces soldier, the unknowing hero, or teaching kids about the American Flag. Whether you use tropes in a Tom Clancy style or old school like our favorite WWII vets: this blog hop will be an advantage. Click the links and match the authors to the tropes to win!

 

 

Deb Ewing	https://www.debnation.com/2020/11/the-bronze-star-posthumous-award-to.html
Doc Sheldon	https://docsheldon.com/
Stacy Juba	https://stacyjuba.com/blog/book/teddy-bear-town-childrens-bundle/
D.C. Gomez	https://www.amazon.com/D-C-Gomez/e/B078T2RBN8?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1621826453&sr=8-1
Christina Francine	https://www.christinafrancine.org/
Bethany Averie	https://writebybethany.blogspot.com/2021/05/remembering-grandpa.html

It's May Already...

 Happy Wednesday All,

I can't believe it's already May! April got away from me and I didn't get to post any other blog posts besides the initial April one. Yikes, I'm sorry!

Life continues to be crazy on my end. Our house is much closer to being ready (we have a great contractor!) and we have hopes of being back in our home not next week, but the week after. We'll see. Our contractor is industrious and efficient. He keeps us in the loop and gets things moving. We've been grateful to have someone reliable after the water remission people weren't the most communicative (which is a big reason why it's taking us so long to get back into our house).

This weekend is my and my husband's anniversary (I don't give out details on how long we've been married--my husband likes a lot of privacy, so other than a few pictures on here and Facebook, you won't hear a whole lot about him). We've been together for over 10 years, though, and I feel a sense of accomplishment saying that. So, while I'm not as young as I once was (or as thin!) and growing older brings about female stuff that sucks bananas, I'm grateful he's stuck by my side and still thinks I'm sexy, desirable, shares my faith and most of my beliefs/views, and thinks I'm funny, too. A girl can't ask for a lot more than that in my experience.  I thank God for him. (Of course, I also love him--that's a given!)

Editing my new manuscript (that's all written, just being edited so I can query) is sl-o-o-o-w going given my current living circumstances and life. But, I'm working on it and a Supporter Member of The Author Encounter (one of the Freelance Editors) wants to work on it with me (she offered!) so we put together a deal and will start making a schedule soon, I believe.

The Author Encounter has a special blog hop/scavenger hunt even this month, so be sure to get over to the website to check that out. June will bring back Behind The Page. A new Ex Libris will go out July 1st, so members of The Author Encounter should watch for that--and if you aren't a member, you should join! There are 3 different types of membership (Author membership is ONLY for published authors--and there are some genres that The Author Encounter doesn't work with quite yet due to being only a year old and needing to have departments for those). But we're growing and developing and there are some exciting things coming down the line.

I'm supposed to be reviewing Katie McGarry's upcoming release soon--I've had some trouble with getting to sit down and read it (health issues) so hopefully, I'll get it done, soon. My allergies have been AWFUL this season (not Covid-19, definitely allergies--I can pinpoint exactly when they began flaring and why and what things set them off again). It seems like an interesting switch from her normal work, so we'll see how that all goes. I've been a fan ever since she entered the Northwest Houston RWA Lone Star Contest all those years ago (I was YA Category chair at the time). I've read almost all her work (there are about 2-3 books I haven't gotten to, yet). I've also had the pleasure of talking with her on the phone and meeting her in person (back in 2013, so pre-Covid). She's super sweet and extremely talented in the writing and publishing world.

Other than that, I keep on being a wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, niece, etc. I hope all of you are doing well.

Have A Wonderfully Whimsical Wednesday!

Blog Events & Updates...

Happy Tuesday All,

The time stamp probably says Monday, but this post is actually meant for Tuesday. 

I'm so excited about next week (well, I'm also excited about something on this blog for THIS week, but I'll explain that later in this post) Why am I excited about next week? Because I've got this huge blog event ON HERE going on!  I'm going to be featuring different authors (many of which I haven't read, yet!) And just wait until you hear the topic. I think this is going to be fun! Be sure to stay tuned to see what's up.


On the writing front, I'm working on edits that I got from a critique on one of my WIPs. (Work In Progress).  It's slow going, but hopefully it'll be done soon. I've made some progress, but I still have several pages left to go. My publisher is expecting this novel to be turned in by May. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get it in on time, and I'm glad that I have a good portion of April to finish up and work on any touch-ups before I send it out.

This week I will have another official blog book review. One (because I have several favorites) of my favorite authors was nice enough to let me have a copy of her upcoming release. I'm very excited to be able to do this. So make sure you also stay tuned this week to see what book I'm reviewing and which author it is! 

As to other things...

The weather down here in Texas is still exhibiting indecisive behavior. However, I do know that eventually it will settle into hot and humid until probably sometime in October. So the cooler weather is a must to enjoy, but at least we don't have to contend with snow, ice, or frozen pipes, so I guess it's a matter of count your blessings!

Have A Tremendously Terrific Tuesday!