Not in My 20s Anymore but Still Making Plans

Okay, so I left my 20s years—no, decades—ago. In fact, I'm even past my 50s. But does that make me old? I don't think so. Old happens when you give up on life. Old happens when you quit learning new stuff. Old happens when you always look back at the life you lived rather than think about everything you have to look forward to.

That's not me. I'm still making plans for the future. Maybe most people wouldn't call me young, but they'd better not call me old—at least not to my face.

While some people might wait until New Year's Day to make "resolutions," I think we should keep our lists close and make changes as needed. So here goes. Rather than call these plans resolutions, I'll call them adjustable strategies to make life as good as it can be.

The Important Stuff

My family and faith will always come first, so I don't even have to write down any goals for that. I attend church, study my Bible, and keep a running dialogue with the Lord throughout the day.

We see our daughters, sons-in-law, and granddaughters every chance we get. I suppose we could do more, like plant ourselves on their couch and just stare at them until they exchange glances and roll their eyes, but I don't want anyone to remember me as the "crazy granny." So we go often and stay for just a couple of days. Then everyone is happy, and so far, we haven't had anyone pushing us out the door.

Other, Less Significant Stuff

One of the first things I'm planning is my next meal. Yes, I realize that's pretty basic, but we all have to eat, ya know? After cooking a bunch of Thanksgiving food and eating leftovers, I think we'll probably go out for dinner tonight. I got a Chili's gift card for my birthday last month, but we didn't have a chance to use it yet. 

Next, I'm planning my fitness routine for next year. I could write down some lofty goals of running 5 miles per day and doing 100 crunches. But I won't. One of the things I've learned over the years is to be realistic and understand that it's too easy to make excuses when the plan is too difficult. So I'll set a goal of walking 2 miles at least four days per week and jumping on my rebounder for 5 minutes every single day. If I do more, it's a bonus. 

Now back to eating. You didn't think I'd stop at my next meal, did you? I remember people from my grandmother's generation saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Then that became a tired old saying that no one ever took seriously. But ya know what? An apple a day just might help keep the doctor away. Not only is each apple packed with fiber and vitamins, but it also fills us up and keeps us from eating too many brownies. So I'll eat more apples.

I'm tired of dieting, hoping for a svelte figure, but winding up frustrated. So I've decided to eat as healthy as possible most of the time, cut back portions, and indulge in an occasional treat without regret. I know this won't make me skinny, but a little bit of fat helps smooth out the wrinkles, right?

My wardrobe could use a bit more weeding too. I'll go through it again and get rid of anything that I'm sure I won't wear over the next year. That's hard for me, but it's time to do it. 

I'll continue writing etiquette articles for About.com, and fiction that reflects my worldviews. I believe that good manners are important but rather than worry about which fork to use, I'll double-down on the importance of kindness and showing respect for others. As for my fiction writing, I have a very long list of stories I want to write—some full-length fiction and some shorter novellas and novelettes. I doubt I'll get all of that done in 2016, but whatever doesn't get done I'll add to my 2017 list.

I've had several requests for more books in my Belles in the City series with Southern women moving to New York and charming everyone they meet. The mother of the heroine in my third book, Can't Fool Me Twice, is practically screaming for her own book. So I think I'll give her one. After all, everyone deserves a second chance, right?

 

Now It's Your Turn

What are some of your plans for next year? I promise I won't hold you to any of it. I'm just curious.

Belles in the City

As I mentioned last week, I've been working on a new romance series, "Belles in the City." The first book, Trouble in Paradise, is already available on Kindle. I'll eventually add it to other online retailers, but at the moment, you'll need either a Kindle e-reader or app (free on Amazon or your device's app store). 

Now back to the series. All of the main female characters in the "Belles in the City" books are southern gals with accents, southern sensibilities, and a love for down-home cooking. These women are strong but feminine, and they truly appreciate a true gentleman. 

Since all of these books have a common theme, I chose covers that show each woman's "walk of life." Here they are:

I've labeled them as "Christian Romances," but I think they're much more than that. These stories are about the lives of normal women who find themselves in all sorts of normal and abnormal predicaments. The heroes are unlikely love interests, but as you get to know them, you'll eventually see what Charlene, Bethann, and Sunny find so alluring. And just as much fun is the interaction among the women who form relationships with each other. They all met in New York, but their bond is the South.

Take the Trophy and Run

Great news for Bloomfield fans! Gail Sattler's book Take the Trophy and Run is coming soon! 

Like Mitford and Lake Wobegon before that, Bloomfield is a place we could all call home. Here, the residents enjoy a splash fountain in the town square, dine at the “Fancy Schmantsy” on tree-lined Main Street, and dream of reaching the 10,000 population mark - only 22 more folks to go!

The Bloomfield Garden Club, and all-ages group of lovable oddballs who will stop at nothing to make everything beautiful, maintains this piece of heaven on earth. But even such idyllic places as this have their share of dramatic characters and stories to be told.

Take, for instance, craft store owner Amber Weathersby. She wants to be a member of the garden club but has never received the blessing of a green thumb. Her friend, Stan the mechanic, has helped as much as he can - even adding a times sprinkler system to Amber's garden - but the results never live up to the club's expectations.

Her only claim to fame with that gang is her semi-famous garden gnome, Gnorman, who gets to hold the prized trophy each year in the Bloomfield Spring Fling contest's winning garden.

But this year, instead of being the life of the party, her little star is gnomegnapped, and worse, the club's irreplaceable trophy has gone missing with him. While Amber is chasing the gnome around town trying to win the trophy, Stan is chasing Amber, trying to win her heart.

Order Take the Trophy and Run at the following places:

Amazon

Lifeway

Barnes and Noble

CBD

Books a Million

I also want to wish Gail a very happy birthday!

Welcome to Bloomfield!

The authors of the Bloomfield series - Debby Mayne, Gail Sattler, Kathi Macias, Martha Rogers, Trish Perry, Miralee Ferrell, Jenness Walker, and Tracy Bowen - invite you to visit our delightful town of Bloomfield. Here's a peek at what you'll see in our beautiful little town:

Bloomfield – Butterfly Gardening Tips

Naomi is delighted to show off the Lake Bliss Retirement Village butterfly garden to anyone who wants to see it. She has some tips to you be successful with drawing these beautiful winged creatures to your garden.

• In order to attract a variety of butterflies, choose flowers that bloom at different times.
• Select flowers that are bright and have potent, sweet scents. Most varieties of butterflies are attracted to reds, oranges, deep pinks, purples, and yellows.
• Plant as much of your garden as you can in full sun because butterflies need warmth.
• Cluster the flowers to make it easier for butterflies to find because they are nearsighted.
• Have an assortment of perennials and annuals so you can change the flowers according to what you discover the butterflies prefer.
• Plant some herbs in your garden so the butterflies have plants for all their life stages.
• Provide plants that have nectar, such as alfalfa or milkweed, to feed the caterpillars.
• Butterflies need shelter, so have tall trees or commercial butterfly houses that can be found in garden centers.
• Do no use pesticides anywhere in your garden. Plant petunias, marigolds, and mint to repel unwanted insects without creating danger to the butterflies. Ladybugs and dragonflies also help with pest control.


Butterfly favorite plants and flowers:
• Azalea
• Black-eyed Susan
• Butterfly bush
• Ironweed
• Lantana
• Marigold
• Hibiscus
• Daylilies
• Lavender
• Verbena
• Rosemary
• Aster
• Starflower
• Coneflower
• Lilac
• Milkweed
• Zinnia
• Willow
• Fennel
• Pawpaw



Photo courtesy of Morguefile.com.

Discussion Questions Waiting for a View (part 3)

1. Naomi has always enjoyed being an integral part of young people’s lives. During the course of the story, she started transferring some of her helpfulness from Sherry to Lacy. Why do you think she does this? Is she missing something important in her own life?

2. When Sherry acknowledges all that Gina and Jeremy have overcome, her perspective in her own life changes. Have you ever experienced learning through observing other people’s hardships?
3. How does the contrast between the fresh, new apartment and the house Sherry grew up in compare to what is going on internally?
4. Did you notice that Naomi and Pamela schemed together, even though they normally didn’t get along? Have you ever had to work with someone you didn’t want to, only to discover you had more in common than you thought?

Discussion Questions - Waiting for a View (part 1)

1. Can you relate to Sherry’s resistance to change? If so, did something happen in your life that made you that way?
2. Naomi has been there for Sherry all her life, so Sherry doesn’t have the heart to ask her to stop meddling. Is there someone in your life who seems to know you better than you know yourself?

3. Why do you think Sherry has such a difficult time with the idea of moving, even though her house is falling apart around her?
4. Small children often speak their minds, and Lacy did exactly that when she called Sherry the “old maid lady,” repeating what her mother had said during one of those frazzled moments moms experience. Have you ever been the object of a child’s faux pas? How did that make you feel? Was it worse or better coming from a child?
5. What do you think is the main theme of Waiting for a View? Sub-themes?

Great Start to ICRS 2012

Last night the Logos group invited Jessica Nelson, Rachel Hauck, and me to speak at their dinner event. It’s wonderful to see old friends – booksellers and authors! Jessica talked about the process of her first book release, and Rachel shared some of her experiences as an award-winning author. We had a wonderful time!

I’ll always be thankful for booksellers who provide a service to our readers by learning new ways to help them find what they are looking for. If your customer is looking for a certain type of book or something new by a favorite author, try ACFW’s Fiction Finder page.

Bloomfield Series Introduction

I’ve been working with Gail Sattler, Kathi Macias, Martha Rogers, Trish Perry, Miralee Ferrell, Jenness Walker, and Tracy Bowen on a new series set in our fictional town of Bloomfield. Our dedicated (and gorgeous) agent Tamela Hancock Murray took this project to B&H where our editor Julie Gwinn caught the vision. Now we’re starting to roll out the stories, with my straight-to-digital Waiting for a View launching the series.

Join us on Facebook: Bloomfield Club
To purchase: Waiting for a View by Debby Mayne
To order: Take the Trophy and Run by Gail Sattler

Yummy Contest!

I'm an avid reader, and I get really excited when my favorite authors offer a series. Now Sandra D. Bricker is doing something really fun, and I'd like to share it with my blog readers. Here's some information on how to enter a contest to become a character in one of her upcoming books:

Author Sandra D. Bricker Gives Readers a Chance to Step Into Her Book

Sandie's Contest

When Abingdon Press released Always the Baker, Never the Bride by Sandra D. Bricker in the fall of 2010, it was a standalone romantic comedy for the inspirational market. The setting (a wedding destination hotel), the heroine (a diabetic pastry chef) and a unique cast of memorable secondary characters blended to create a perfect storm for readers, and the demand for more books in the series was almost immediate.

“The first couple of reader emails came to me even before the official release of the book,” says the author. “They wanted to know what I had in store for Emma and Jackson, and a few of them were interested in visiting The Tanglewood Inn, hoping that it was a real place. It didn’t take long for my editor to recognize the potential for a few more novels in this series.”

This fall, the second of four Emma Rae Creation books hits store shelves. Always the Wedding Planner, Never the Bride centers around Emma’s best friend from college, a wedding planner returning to the Atlanta area to take a job at The Tanglewood while planning her own wedding. Always the Designer, Never the Bride follows in the spring, and the final novel of the series, Always the Baker, FINALLY the Bride, wraps it all up with the long-awaited wedding of Jackson and Emma Rae.

“I wanted to do something really special for the final book,” Bricker explains. “I think what I’ve come up with is going to excite my readers while rewarding them for sticking with these characters…and with me!...the way they have.”

On November 1st, a contest will debut on the author’s Web site (www.SandraDBricker.com) where readers will compete for the honor of choosing Emma’s wedding cake from a series of drawings provided by up-and-coming Canadian artist, Hanna Sandvig. Bricker says she talked to more than a dozen artists before finding and falling in love with the childlike wonder of Sandvig’s artistry. “Hanna’s talent just embodies the fun and whimsy of Emma’s personality.”

“I never imagined how loyal my readers would turn out to be,” Bricker says. “I just really wanted to find a way to say thank you in a very personal way. I think this contest is going to fit the bill. The winner will actually be written into the final book as well as receive a preview copy of the novel and a special Emma-inspired confection as well.”

Now all you have to do is click on this link: Sandra D. Bricker. Follow the instructions, and you may find your name in Sandie's next book!

ACFW

Anyone who writes Christian fiction should consider joining the American Christian Fiction Writers. This organization provides opportunities for both published and pre-published authors to learn, have fellowship, and meet once a year at the national conference. If you're interested, go to the ACFW website and click around to see everything this organization offers.

Abingdon Fiction

One of my publishers, Abingdon Press has some fabulous fiction coming out soon. Here's a link to the fiction page on their website: Abingdon Fiction.

My editor, Barbara Scott has selected a wide range of books to suit a variety of tastes, including women's fiction, romance, medical suspense and mainstream fiction. The covers are gorgeous, so I'm extremely excited about my book, Sweet Baklava, that will be available in Spring 2011.

Signing at Lifeway Christian Store!

This Saturday I’ll be signing my book Love Finds You in Treasure Island, Florida at Lifeway Christian Store in the Citrus Park area of Tampa. If you’re close by, stop by and see me sometime between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM.

Thoughts about writing

A couple of weeks ago, I started writing the first draft of Special Mission, the second book in the West Virginia set for Heartsong Presents. I can't help but think about my writing process and how much it's changed over the years.

When I first started out, my goal was to wow an editor. However, now I want to entertain my readers while making them worry about my characters. Sure, I want my editor to love my books, but I view her as my first reader. I see my writing now as a series of goals—mine, my characters' the editor's, the marketing department's, and most importantly, the readers'.

In my first West Virginia Heartsong Presents, Noah's Ark, my heroine's goal was to find herself and figure out what she wanted in life. The hero knew what he wanted, but he didn't know where work left off and his personal life began. As I set out to explore their internal conflicts, I had to dig deep to find what really made these people who they are in the story.

Characters in a book have to be well motivated in all of their actions, unlike real life where they can do things "just because." Each thought, scene, and conversation needs to have a purpose and give the reader one of several things: more insight about the people in the story, a way to relate to these characters, incentive to worry (especially close to the end where all hope appears to be lost), a logical progression to the conclusion, and a satisfying ending.

In Peachtree Dreams, my 3-in-1 Georgia set, my heroines all have conflicts that keep them from falling in love in the beginning of the stories. In Love's Image, Shannon is torn between living her mother's dream and doing what she knows deep in her heart is right for her. Jill in Double Blessing has emotional issues involving conditional love. In If the Dress Fits, bridal boutique owner Cindi's dream of happily-ever-after is shattered when her parents separate. In all three of these stories, my goal was to give my readers hope and provide entertainment while showing the power of faith in Jesus. Peachtree Dreams will be available next month.

Research, research, research!

After reading an editor's blog post about fiction writers needing to do enough research to make the settings and characters in their stories ring true, I went back and did a little more for my work in progress, Noah's Ark, that will go to Barbour's Heartsong Presents bookclub members in October 2009. Some of the information wasn't clear online, so I called Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia and spoke to Byron Clercx, the chairman of the Department of Art and Design, to get more specific answers. What a nice man! He not only answered my questions as they pertained to my story, he gave me more information about the area. Now I have the strongest urge to write more books set in Huntington! From what I've read and heard, not only is it a gorgeous place, the strong sense of community lends itself to what I write—Christian fiction.

Something I've learned is that most people love to help writers, as long as they have a passion for their subject. Over the past twenty years, I've interviewed hundreds of people, and with only a small handful of exceptions, they've told me way more than I requested, making the experience even richer than anything I could have hoped for.

My Summerside Press book, Love Finds You In Treasure Island, Florida, is another example. Jeff Jensen who works for the city in a community relations capacity gave me enough information to add scenes I'd never even thought of. Then I called Captain Kosmakos, a favorite restaurant in the area, to find out what was on their menu. By the time I got off the phone with Phyllis Kelly, I was dying for some of their fabulous, mouthwatering seafood.

If you're a writer, what experiences have you had with interviews? Have they been good, bad, or neutral? Have you been rewarded with more than you ever expected?