Special Edition of Write By Bethany Blog: Are You A Re-Reader?

Hey All!

Hope everyone is doing well. I was wondering something...

Do you re-read book series and which ones?

Lately, I've been re-reading Shanna Swendson's Enchanted Inc. series, which I absolutely love. There's something so fun about the way she wrote them (in a genre that used to be called Chick-Lit but is now more like contemporary). So many great characters and fun scenes. It's been a while since I read it, so it's nice to pick it back up. I own all the books.

I've read C.S. Lewis' Narnia books multiple times. I've also read some of Lynn Kurland's MacLeod/de Piaget family books a few times.

What is it about a series that makes you want to go back and read it again and again?

For me, it's like seeing old friends. If enough time has passed, I'm getting reacquainted with them, or just enjoying them. I'm remembering how much I enjoyed certain scenes.

I've read other books that weren't series more than once, too. Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice is one such book--I've read it at least 3 times (I have family members who have read it more than that!) I've read other books more than once.

When I was in high school, I used to say that "Books are the best friends. They'll never betray you and they're always there when you need them." At least, the ones you love the most.

So what about you? Do you re-read series and/or non-series books? Why?

Have A Fabulously Fantastic Friday! 

It's July ALREADY...?

 Happy Wednesday All,

I can barely believe it's July already! Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July American Independence Day. We didn't do very much for it, which was okay. There were plenty of people around us shooting off fireworks for 2 days (late into the night, too).

After Texas "Snowmeggeddon" displaced us from our house from February 15th to late June, we're back in our house and things are fixed. We're unpacking boxes from things we had to box up while the contractors were here putting our house back together. We had 2 pipes burst--one in the kitchen, the other around the garage. My kitchen looks so different, but I love how it turned out. We were glad that insurance covered so much of it.

While our house was getting help, we lived at my parents' house. We were lucky they're still living in the two-story I spent a lot of my growing-up years in. Except, my old room is now my dad's office so there is no sign of the pink walls anymore. Although, the memories are there. Sometimes nostalgia hit so hard I was surprised. I did enjoy sharing old photographs with my eldest who enjoys hearing stories about when I was growing up and seeing photos.

I haven't done a whole lot of writing and editing. I started working on a new story that I can't decide what I'll do with, I just know I need to get it out. I've got a ton of editing to do--the Immortal Dreams series is getting a sort-of "facelift"--I'm not changing the story, but I'm doing some re-edits and new covers (Divine Love already has had its new cover, which I revealed a while back). My business partner and co-founder/co-owner of The Author Encounter, Nan, wants to help me with the relaunch.

This one story I finished is in the editing process. I was surprised and flattered (complimented) when a freelance editor asked me if she could edit it for me. We worked out a deal and she's already seen the first 3 chapters and liked them! We've struck up a friendship of sorts, being that we're both Dan Navarro fans, and she's listened to me talk about how this story feels different to me. Sure, it's got my usual fare of magical beings and fairy-tale, but it's different. In some ways, it's a bit intimidating, but the editor says that it's good that I've gotten a bit out of my comfort zone, in a manner of speaking. She's struck at the heart of my fears and obstacles...encouraging me in spite of them. People like that are the type of people every author should have. And they're not always easy to find--someone who feel you can trust with something you created.

Having the right people and resources as an author is one of the reasons why I worked with Nan to found and now, to own, The Author Encounter. There are plenty of author groups, sure, but it works a little differently. It's a cross between a publicist and a community. The Author Encounter is not designed to teach one how to write (or what to write or any writing technique) it's designed with the author's career in mind. Working with The Author Encounter is how I found the freelance editor. It's how I've formed some networking relationships with agents, and some other writers and people I never thought I'd ever even end up in the same room with (like Shay Baby of The Brown Book Series, who interviewed me and my narrator, Chris J. Hudson for her show!) I'm excited to be helping authors, especially with some of the events we have coming up in August, September, and in November. Of course, every other month I sit down and interview someone in the industry for The Author Encounter's Behind The Page. The next one is in August (I need to work out who my guest is going to be, yikes...this decision came upon me faster than I expected--not because I haven't been working on it, I truly have, but it's not settled and I usually have these things already figured out). So, August, then October, and December, which means there are 3 more Behind The Page events for 2021.

Anyway, I hope your summer is going well. I hope I'll work out a blogging schedule, but so far I haven't come up with one, yet. You'll just have to stay tuned!

Have A Wonderfully Witty Wednesday!

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

Remembering Grandpa...

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Near the end of this month is Memorial Day, and in honor of it The Author Encounter is having a May We Remember Blog/Website scavenger hunt. In talking with my business partner (we're Co-Founders/Co-Owners of The Author Encounter) I got to talking about my grandfather who served in World War II.

He was my dad's father, and he was a tall man who went by the nickname "Mickey" (no, I didn't call him that, I just called him Grandpa). My dad doesn't even know why his nickname was Mickey, nothing in his name suggested it (does the name Owen sound like Mickey?) But that's what he was called (apparently, my Grandmother even called him that--but I didn't know her, she died a year before I was born). Anyway, he was an MP (among many other jobs while in the army) and he went all over the place, including Italy. I've often wanted to go to Italy (not during a war, obviously, but on a visit--who knows when or if that will ever happen, but hey it seems like a beautiful country).

Grandpa died in 2013, not during the war and not from any pandemic--just other health issues. At his internment (he was cremated) a couple of those in the military (who I think had known him) came out to pay respects in uniform. They were delighted when my younger brother was there with his bagpipes (in a kilt when it was September and chilly up in Michigan!) and played Amazing Grace.

Grandpa was a man of few words. He called me "Bethie" because that's what my dad called me (or maybe my dad called me that because he did? I don't remember) and when I was studying World War II in high school, he answered all my questions. He didn't volunteer information about serving in the war, but he answered the questions I asked--I guess enough time had passed that he could talk about it. I know it was hard on him to do so when he first got back.

He was a blue-collared worker, who never shied away from hard work or from family. He built a house out on a lake (that's STILL owned by family members to this day). He was a lifetime Master of the card game, Bridge. I never learned, but my dad knows how to play. We had a computer game of it years ago, and when he came to visit he learned how to bring it up on the computer and would play it. I didn't know he had been a Lifetime Master until recently.

Anyway, I believe a lot of those who have died who served our country were hard workers like my grandfather. Men and women who wanted to serve their country in the military and some who laid down their lives for it. I hope this Memorial Day family of military both living and passed on will remember the sacrifices and be grateful, just as I was to my grandfather for his sense of service, family, and country. Not everyone is cut out for that kind of service, but I salute those who have and are and say 'thank you' to them. God bless you.

Hope everyone has a Totally Terrific Tuesday!

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!

It's April!

 Happy Wednesday!

It's April 2021, if you can believe it! I went on a sort of hiatus from blogging because of Texas's "Snowmeggeden" in February. Our house suffered 2 broken pipes and is currently unlivable while we undergo demolition (of moldy/totaled out/drenched) wall, appliances, etc. in our kitchen (one pipe burst in our garage and the other in our kitchen). We also need to replace the carpeting in 2 rooms because of water damage. So we're living at my parents' house while all this is going on and hoping that it finishes, soon.

Meanwhile, I continue to conduct The Author Encounter business with my business partner, Nan, and there are many things happening with that. Nan has done a ton of work on the website and continues to work on ways of making the website better and more user-friendly. We filed our LLC after having a "soft-opening" for a year in 2020. You check out everything on the website.

My publisher added an addendum (per my request) to Perfect Love's contract after the contract on Immortal Love had expired and all rights have been reverted back to me. My next step is to re-edit all the books (I need to finish the fresh edits on Divine Love) and to issue the 2nd edition with new covers at some point in the near future. I don't have dates, yet. There are a ton of details to iron out. But as of last week, the rights to all 4 books have reverted back to me. Divine Love is still available on audio, which I will continue to make available. I hope to put new cover art on the audio version, soon, too.

I've got to finish editing a manuscript I finished writing (and started editing last year). That's a process, but I made a little progress. I plan to query that one.

Recently, I started working on another new fantasy YA romance. I can't go into many details at this point, but we'll see what happens with it.

Anyway, I just thought I'd post a little update to let you know what's going on. You can find me most often on Twitter at @WriteByBethany.

Have A Whimiscally Wonderful Wednesday!

Postponing & Other News...

 Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Hope you're having a great holiday (if you're off, enjoy your break, if not, hope work is going well). I'm doing okay, busy as always! Being Co-Owner of The Author Encounter means I don't take a lot of time off at the moment, but I have taken some time off for Christmas, so that was nice. New Years' was pretty uneventful (other than lots of fireworks going off in my neighborhood) which is fine with me.

So, what's being postponed? Two things, actually:

1. The Author Encounter decided to postpone the January 15th event to March 20th for our new theme (more of that will be announced at another time).

2. The release of 2nd edition of Divine Love is currently postponed. Nothing bad, just realized I needed to postpone it. When I have a release date, I'll announce it here and on my social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are the primary places you can find me. Facebook under Bethany Averie, Instagram is @bethany.averie and Twitter is @WriteByBethany).

In other News:

I finished writing my WIP (Work In Progress) on December 31, 2020 at 2:26 a.m. my time. So that's now in the editing process and I've already got a beta reader giving me some awesome notes, so that's really good. I've got a list of agents that I wish to query with this story and we'll see what happens when I get to that point.

I'll be doing another online live Behind The Page for The Author Encounter on February 19, 2021. This one will be with singer/musician/songwriter, Dan Navarro. For years, he and Eric Lowen had a band called Lowen & Navarro and toured, as well as writing songs for such entities as The Bangles. Pat Benetar made their song We Belong famous in the 1980s. I'm excited to sit down with him because when I was in high school (many moons ago!) I interviewed Dan and Eric for my school paper. Dan said something like "The agony of the blank page" which has stuck with me all these years later. So, this interview feels like everything has come full circle. Eric Lowen died in 2012 of ALS, which is sad, but he is definitely NOT forgotten. He was a talented musician, songwriter, and singer. Pre-Covid Dan was still touring, and perhaps if things work out with the vaccine, etc, he'll go back to touring soon.

I'm also working on other novels--writing one of my WIPs that's not finished with the written draft, yet, and I have one other to work on as well. We'll see what happens with these two stories.

As for my family life, today is my husband's birthday and I'm thankful that not only did he take the day off to celebrate, but that he's in good health and I have him in my life. We've been together for more than 10 years and I look to many more years of us being together as well.

Anyway, Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day again!

Have A Marvelousy Meritorious Monday!