Webinar, Writing, Reading...

 Happy Monday Everybody!

Just two more weeks until me and my narrator, Chris J. Hudson, present our webinar, Done By Christmas: The Making of An Audiobook. I can scarcely believe we've got another opportunity to present this workshop again. It's been two years. We're very excited and I owe it all to the company I co-founded, The Author Encounter.

While I'm still writing, (and my writing is important to me, of course) The Author Encounter means a lot to me because it's giving opportunities to showcase authors in all different stages of their careers. Readers will get a chance to interact with authors in a more "intimate" way than some author events. And the events are more than a book signing. They're meant to be unique experiences. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, we had to put our inaugural in-person encounter on hold (Books & Beauty). We've got most everything for the event, but we're keeping it for whenever we can do an in-person event again. What we're doing is different than anything I've done as a writer--it's on a smaller scale (to create that intimacy I mentioned) and each event is themed towards a particular genre (Books & Beauty is themed around Romance). But, for now, everything will be virtual. We're going to have a costume contest on Instagram, we're putting together books we're thankful for in November and a scavenger hunt in December (I love Christmas and so does my co-founder, Nan, so we're hoping to do this up very Christmassy).

Our company is open to various genres across the board--including Non-Fiction and we very much would like you, my darling readers, to join!

We recently got a Celtic Author (who's bio was fun to read--originally from Belfast, and found his way down to Texas!) named David H. Millar. We've got some other members, too and working on building a member page on our website (not sure when that will be ready, but it's on our list to accomplish).

This brings me back to my webinar...

It's open for registration now. But, with one caveat...if you're a member you only pay the annual membership fee and then you can get access to the webinar for no extra cost (and that membership fee will get you into other exclusive member content as we roll it out), but if you don't join, it's going to be an extra cost. So, I definitely encourage everyone to join.

As for writing...

I'm working on an idea...I'm not sure if it's panning out or what, but I'm working on it. I'm also in the process of self-publishing Divine Love back into E-book and paperback with a brand-new cover! (Done by the ever-talented, Fiona Jayde--who did do the original cover, as well). Self-publishing has been a bit of a mess for me. There is a lot I have to look into and do that I didn't before, but I love this book so much that I want it out to my readers.

And I'm reading, of course...

I did some catch-up reading, too. I finally read C.C. Hunter's This Heart of Mine (very good!) and I read the two books that have been released in Jennifer L. Armentrout's Origin series (also good).  I'm hoping Harley Brooks comes out with part 2 of book 2 in her Designer Genes series really soon. 

I'm excited to see how Kiera Cass's The Selection works out for Netflix. So far they don't have a cast list--and it's in the very early stages of everything (and I'm not sure how this all works during a pandemic). So, I'll have to keep an eye on that for sure!

Anyway, I hope you all have a Marvelously Merry Monday!

An Experience Worth Encountering...

Happy Monday All,

While we're all trying to navigate our lives amid a pandemic, I'm eagerly awaiting the next collaboration I have coming up...

The last time audiobook narrator and musician, Chris J. Hudson, and I teamed up was in 2017. We did a talk on putting together an audiobook for BrazCon.

Well, we're baaaccckkk! 

This time our workshop, Done By Christmas: The Making of An Audiobook has been expanded into a more in-depth workshop! We'll be hopping online from our respective states (Chris is California and I'm in Texas) to bring you the workshop, except longer, more in-depth, and online. This webinar will be available on September 4, 2020 at 8pm Eastern/7pm Central / 6pm Mountain / and 5pm Pacific.

The Author Encounter will be sponsoring us in this event. The Author Encounter is geared towards helping authors' visibility whether they're newly published, or superstars. Some people who read a genre that an author is in might not have discovered a particular author and this is an opportunity for them to be seen and also engage with their established fans (and, hopefully, gain new fans!)

I'm pretty excited to see how this all goes and thrilled to be able to work with Divine Love audiobook's narrator again. (Yes, Chris did the narration and all the voices for the audiobook version of my novel).

I'm also working on getting Divine Love available to E-Book and paperback readers, too. I hope to make it available on more platforms, too. As an author, I'm trying to make my work available in as many ways as I can with the resources I currently have available to me.

Anyway, I wish all of you the absolute best and hope things are going well.

Have A Marvelously Magical Monday!

Lots O' News...

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

I've been trying to update this blog at least once a month--sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I don't have a consistent schedule set up, so I guess at the end of every month, come check-in and see if I've put up a new post.

So, now for my news updates:

• The Author Encounter website has been up and running for a while now. Authors, readers, agents, editors, vendors, etc. can join. If you're interested, but want more information than what's on the website, you can contact the company via email.

• We're on the LAST day of the Kindle giveaway. You can join by going to The Author Encounter giveaway page and entering. No purchase necessary.

• The audiobook narrator of Divine Love, Chris J. Hudson, and I will be running an online workshop on September 4th for members (so there's an incentive to join right there!)

• Because of Covid-19, all our events will be online until further notice. We've got the Books & Beauty event on hold, for now. We're going to look into whether or not we can hold it next year when the new year comes around. Updates will be posted for sure on The Author Encounter website and I'll probably post something here, as well. Check the events page for more information on online events.

• I've decided to stick to writing Young Adult (YA) novels and not do adult, so for now, I'm retiring the Jeannie Averie penname.

• My publisher has decided not to renew the contract on Divine Love, so the Kindle and paperback versions are not available at this time. I'm not sure, but I think the only one of my books that's still available in paperback is Perfect Love, and I'm not sure if that will stay true in the future.

• I'm working on self-publishing Divine Love so that it can go back up on Kindle, paperback, and other platforms to be available to my readers. I'm very passionate about the series being out to you all because it's a story that's meant to be read and enjoyed not put on a shelf somewhere. I've got several people helping me out with that. I appreciate all my readers' support over the years and I hope you'll keep supporting me in my new and future endeavors. Please consider reviewing my novels on Amazon and Goodreads and/or your blogs. Also, tell others! Word-of-mouth is so important to authors.

My prayers and thoughts are with those suffering because of Covid-19. Recently, a friend of mine mentioned that co-worker of theirs passed because of the virus. I know people who have had it (and/or do have it) so my prayers are with you all. Hopefully, we'll get through this pandemic soon and be able to socialize more and have a more "normal" type of life experience again.

I wish each of you the very best and I hope you all have a Whimsically Wonderful Wednesday! Take care, God bless. :-)

Best wishes,

Bethany Averie

Checking In Amid All The Dust...

Happy Wednesday Everyone,

Renovations to the blog and my website are still in line to be done but have been put on hold for a short bit because the consultant and I have joined forces to start a company geared toward authors and readers.

The Author Encounter's mission statement is "Bringing authors and fans together" and that's just what we're working toward. We have an event scheduled for Saturday, August 1, 2020 called Books & Beauty. I'll be there with my amazingly talented audiobook narrator, Chris Hudson. Headlining the event is author Kerrelyn Sparks who not only did an amazing job with Paranormal Romance with her Love At Stake series, but she's got her Embraced beings in her Fantasy Romance series and a brand new one that will be showcased at Books & Beauty called How To Love Your Elf. It's going to be for people ages 21 and up because it's at a Wine bar. All the information is on The Author Encounter's website.

Other than working on The Author Encounter, I've been mom and catching up on some binge-watching. I caught ABC's The Baker And The Beauty and fell in love with that show. I also enjoyed what appears to be the final season of Alexa & Katie on Netflix. 

I'm behind on my reading. I'm working on finishing a non-fiction book by Kevin Wells and I've got a huge list of fiction to get to, but I'm sure I will, even if I'm a bit slow at it--I'm in the midst of reading a Christmas anthology by Nana Malone and Sheryl Lister.

There are a few projects I'm working on. Hopefully, they pan out into full-length novels. In any case, I've got ideas--just got to see if I can make the execution of these ideas happen!

I know this quarantine and everything has been hard on so many people. I really hope you, dear readers, are doing well and I wish you the absolute best as always.

Take care, and try not to mind the dust around here while things are getting settled on the blog and renovations on the website!

Have A Wonderfully Whimsical Wednesday!

Pardon The Dust...

Hello Darling Readers,

Please pardon the "dust" and chaos here. I'm updating/revamping my blog design and website, so you'll notice some changes here. Please be patient as things get sorted out.

Thank you!

Long Overdue...

Happy Thursday Folks!

I know it's been a while. My head has been in a whirl over everything going on these days. I never in all my years thought I'd see a pandemic like this, and it's even eerier than the HIV/AIDS scare years and years ago (yeah, I lived through that tense times, too--although that was a different situation--it wasn't as widespread). But, I'm certain you didn't come to my blog wanting to talk about that (or did you?)

Anyway, I'm no health expert, so I won't even try to say what's what about COVID-19. But I will say, I keep praying and looking for those glimmers of hope.

Book 5 of Immortal Dreams is in the writing stages...as it has been for a while. It's a tough book to write and once it's released you'll know why. I have to keep my characters' balancing the act between grief and emo-ness (we do not want to go down very far on the emo-ness path, that could get too depressing for what I write). Jason, Laney, Arion, and Hailey all make cameos, of course, but the story revolves around Nic and Sirena. No, it's not going back to when they were in high school and fleshing out all the details of what Sirena mentions in Perfect Love, but it will give the story of all that happened--what now? I haven't decided if it's the last book or not. We'll have to see. Probably. They're all grown up for the most part, so it kinda makes sense to end a YA (Young Adult) with this book.

I'm working on several other projects, as well. One is a YA fantasy, and the other is a contemporary YA inspired by some stuff (which I won't reveal just yet...I have to see if it pans out).

Big news:  In addition to the awesome group I work with already, I've added a new critique partner, Michelle Sinclair. I've already worked with her on my Jeannie Averie query letter and synopsis for the story I'm querying. She's really good and seems to get my vision from the get-go, so that's awesome. She also has some fun ideas for her own work and I hope her work gets published soon! (I had the honor of helping with her query letter, and she's definitely imaginative. :-) ).

What have I read lately? For that, I have to plug my new author friend, Fiona Woodifield. She's an author from "across the pond" who has a fun Contemporary romance entitled The Jane Austen Dating Agency, which I enjoyed. It was published earlier this year. It's not real hot on the steamy scale, but it is geared toward 20 year-olds and up, I'd say (I could be wrong, but it feels like it's geared toward that age group).

So, what are you all doing during this quarantine, my darling readers? Let me know in the comment section. :-)

Have A Totally Terrific Thursday!

End Of An Era, Writing Updates, K-Dramas, And...

Happy Monday Everyone,

The newest news for me is that after 10 years, 2 months, I left Romance Writers of America. It wasn't an easy decision and I didn't make it lightly at all. I won't get into the reasons or any of the recent events. I made a decision I thought was the right one for me. I plan to keep the good relationships/friendships I made while a member of the organization and continue to learn and grow the best I can with the many other resources available to me. I'm grateful to the organization for the experiences that I treasure and for the connections I did make because of being a part of it. I plan to continue writing Romance, just not being a member of RWA.

I'm working on several projects--some are books, and some are book-related but not writing or critiquing. I like keeping busy and I like the different ideas and things coming my way.

Under my Jeannie Averie pseudonym, I've been querying agents and participating in Twitter Pitch parties. I'm not ready to reveal anything about those experiences at this time, but rest assured there has been some positivity from those things.

I'm working on Book 5 in the Immortal Dreams series, and contemplating maybe ending the series in Book 5 instead of having a Book 6. I haven't decided, but I have made some progress--of which, I'm hoping to keep moving forward on it.

As Bethany Averie, I'm working on a new manuscript that's not connected to the Immortal Dreams series, but that's all I can say about it right now.

Other than that, I continue being a wife, mother, friend, sister, daughter, and relative. I've finished reading a few novels--and discovered I really like Helen Hoang's The Bride Test.

I've been watching a bunch of K-Dramas on Netflix, as well as various movies and shows, including P.S. I Still Love You, as well as the new reality series, Love Is Blind. So far, my favorite K-Drama is Cinderella And The Four Knights (All. The. Feels! ALL THE FEELS! Plus the music is so good!) Author Kerrelyn Sparks is also a K-Drama fan, so we compare notes. We both like My Holo Love.

What's new on your end, darling readers?

Have A Marvelously Melodious Monday!