Birthdays: Thomas Mayne Reid (1818), Margaret Oliphant (1828), Robert Emmet Sherwood (1896), Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (1908), Marguerite Duras (1914), Maya Angelou (1928), Johanna Reis (1932), Elizabeth Levy (1942), Kitty Kelley (1942),  Dan Simmons (1948),

Robert Sherwood won the Pulitzer for Biography for a book on FDR.

Johanna Reis won the Caldecott for “An Upstairs Room”

Quote: “Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.” – Maya Angelou

Tip: Find someone with an unusual job or hobby and interview them. Turn this into an article. How can you use this in your writing?

Jumpstart: Describe a food to someone who is blind and has never had it before. For instance, chocolate ice cream.

Birthdays: George Herbert (1593), Washington Irving (1783), Jennifer Paterson (1928), Jane Goodall (1934), Harold Kushner (1935), Reginald Hill (1936), Vanna Bonda (1958)

Quote: “Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right’. Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.” – George Herbert

Tip: Show your characters no mercy. If your story has stalled, ask yourself what is the worst thing that could happen to your character? Make it happen.

Jumpstart: You’ve gone to see a psychic who will answer your deepest question. What do you ask? Why? What will the psychic say?

New Books from The Wild Rose Press:

Birthdays: Giancomo Casanova (1725), Hans Christian Andersen (1805), Emile Zola (1840), William W. Warner (1920), George M. Fraser (1925), Anne Waldman (1945), Sue Townsend (1946), Camille Paglia (1947), Daniel Okrent (1948), Joan D. Vinge (1948), Mark Shulman (1962), Scott Lynch (1978),

Joan Vinge won the 1981 Hugo Award for her book “The Snow Queen”

Quote: “Everything you look at can become a fairy tale and you can get a story from everything you touch.” – Hans Christian Andersen

Tip: Action verbs make your work more vivid and interesting. Each action verb paints a specific picture. Go through your manuscript and change weak verbs to strong ones. For instance, if someone is looking at a picture—are they gazing, studying, pondering, or staring at it?

Jumpstart: Finish this: I closed my eyes, held my nose, and took a drink…

Birthdays: Rene Descartes (1596), Andrew Marvell (1621), Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (1809), Mary B. Chestnut (1823), William Lederer (1912), Octavio Paz (1914), Leo Buscaglia (1924), John Fowles (1926), Beni Montresor (1926), John Jakes (1932), Judith Rossner (1935), Marge Piercy (1936), Ian McDonald (1960)

Octavio Paz won the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Beni Montresor won the 1965 Caldecott Medal for “May I Bring a Friend?”

Quote: “The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries.” – Rene Descartes

Tip: For ideas, look for unanswered questions in other stories. For instance, while Luke’s busy with lessons from Yoda, what are Han and Leia doing? Or while Scarlett is saving the plantation, what is Rhett doing? While Sherlock is searching for clues, what is Moriarty doing?

Jumpstart: Finish this scene: Finally, I checked the closet, and found… (use: glass, lizard, knife, flag)

Birthdays: Anna Sewell (1820), Paul Verlaine (1844), Seán O’Casey (1880), Jean Giono (1895), Countee Cullen (1903), Alan Davidson (1924), Tom Sharpe (1928), Tobias Hill (1970), Rosecrans Baldwin (1977),

Anna Sewell’s only published work was “Black Beauty”

Quote: “No one really knows the value of book tours. Whether or not they’re good ideas, or if they improve book sales. I happen to think the author is the last person you’d want to talk to about a book. They hate it by that point; they’ve already moved on to a new lover. Besides, the author never knows what the book is about anyway.” – Rosecrans Baldwin

Tip: Start an idea file. You’ll need three: one for characters, one for settings, one for problems or situations. You can keep these as physical files or in a spreadsheet. Then mix and match to come up with stories.

Jumpstart: Plan the perfect date for your main characters. What will they do? Where will they go? What will they wear? What time will they go? (Maybe plan this for yourself!). Have fun.

Birthdays: William Byrd II (1674), Maxim Gorky (1868), Nelson Algren (1909), Byrd Baylor (1924), Mario Vargas Llosa (1936), Russell Banks (1940), Jayne Ann Krentz (1948), Iris Chang (1968), Jennifer Weiner (1970), Lauren Weisberger (1977),

Mario Vargas Llosa won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature

Quote: “Any writer who knows what he’s doing isn’t doing very much.” – Nelson Algren

Tip: Dreams are not only a look at our subconscious but can also be great story ideas. Start a dream journal and write down your dreams—if you remember them.

Jumpstart: You get a call from an old friend you haven’t seen or spoken with in years. The friend invites you to lunch at a posh restaurant—his treat. When you get there, you find your friend is very different. How? What happened? How do you feel?

Birthdays: Heinrich Mann (1871), Thorne Smith (1892), Budd Schulberg (1914), Dick King-Smith (1922), Barnaby Conrad (1922), Louis Simpson (1923), Frank O’Hara (1926), Michael Jackson (1942), Julia Alvarez (1950), Dana Stabenow (1952), Patricia C Wrede (1953), Patrick McCabe (1955), Kevin J. Anderson (1962)

Louis Simpson won the 1964 Pulitzer for Poetry for “At the End of the Open Road”

Quote: “To be a writer is to embrace rejection as a way of life.” – Dana Stabenow

Tip: Don’t make your hero or heroine perfect. Give them a flaw or quirk. Make them real.

Jumpstart: Finish this scene: The day I died…(use: sunshine, ice storm, valentine)

Birthdays: A.E. Housman (1859), Robert Frost (1874), Joseph Campbell (1904), Viktor Frankl (1905), Betty McDonald (1908), Tennessee Williams (1911), Elizabeth Jane Howard (1923), Gregory Corso (1930), Richard Dawkins (1941), Erica Jong (1942), Bob Woodward (1943), T.A. Barron (1952)

Robert Frost won multiple Pulitzer’s for Poetry.

Bob Woodward is best known for his reporting of the Watergate Scandal

Quote: “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” – Robert Frost

Tip: Begin a writing jar into which you toss your loose change. When it’s full, treat yourself to a writing-related indulgence—a fancy pen, pretty journal, new book, massage, etc.

Jumpstart: Write a short piece using as many clichés, metaphors, and similes as you can.

New reviews are up!

Under Romance:

Forever in a Moment by Charlotte O’Shay

Marked by the Panther by Zoey Indiana

Bang the Drummer by Desiree Holt

Finding Home Again by Darlene Fredette

Under LGBTQ for Adults:

Second Go-Round by Andrew Grey

Under Mysteries:

The Mermaid of Seattle by Heather Blackwood

PRECIOUS TREASURE

By Terry Segan

Thanks for having me today, Vicky. I’m here to share tidbits about my recent release, Precious Treasure. This paranormal mystery has a main character who is plagued with a missing husband, the ghost of a Confederate soldier, and the nagging humor of her favorite brother. She must delve into the past in order to figure out her future.

Tagline:

Eight years ago her husband disappeared. Does a hundred and fifty-year-old journal hold the answer as to why?

Blurb:

Janie Holcomb prays for closure once the courts declare her missing husband dead. Instead, she’s sent spiraling down a dangerous path.

When her lawyer delivers a package held in trust, she finds a cryptic warning along with a Civil War journal promising buried treasure. While seeking a connection between her spouse and the decades-old diary, Janie attracts the spirit of a Confederate soldier pleading for help.

Enlisting her brother’s assistance to chase down clues, they discover that not everyone they know should be trusted. Janie overlooks potential threats when the promise of new love stirs her emotions. Will her digging uncover the answers she craves or doom her to a similar fate?

Sneak Peek from Precious Treasure:

Janie dragged herself out of bed and into the bathroom. Turning on the tap to fill the sink, she bent over and splashed cold water on her face. The refreshing drops rolled down her forehead, cheeks and chin, pulling her out of her funk. Sightless, Janie reached for the hand towel hanging nearby and dried her face as she stood upright. Opening her eyes, she leaned in to examine the damage of the late night on her complexion. Her reflection looked back, as well as that of a young man standing behind her. Janie’s heart leapt to her throat as she whipped around and found no one there. Looking back in the mirror, she saw only herself.

This is too much, she thought. First nightmares and now hallucinations. Janie shook her head. With the assault of information thrown at her in the last twenty-four hours, her imagination cartwheeled out of control.

Knowing the visions were a result of the wine, newspaper articles and journal, didn’t calm the raised hackles on the back of her neck. The foreboding in Brian’s letter snaked its way up her spine threatening to encircle her throat and squeeze tight. His writing had a tone of uncertainty and fear—uncharacteristic of the man she had married.

Bio:

Terry Segan resides in Nevada. The beach is her happy place, but any opportunity to travel soothes her gypsy soul. The stories conjured by her imagination while riding backseat on her husband’s motorcycle can be found throughout the pages of her paranormal mysteries.

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/AuthorTerrySegan

Amazon book link: www.amazon.com/dp/B09PJXMD9Z

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/precious-treasure-terry-segan/1140834503

Author Website: https://terrysegan.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terrysegan

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeganTerry

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Terry-Segan/e/B087YQGXMD