Liz Tyner--Oklahoma Author Interview

 

 

This month I am happy to feature Liz Tyner on my blog. I have to admit getting this blog together has been a trial because of illness on my part as well as some unfortunate computer issues.

 Having other authors to count among our friends whether we have met or not is one of our greatest gifts as writers. We can call on them for ideas, to complain about this or that, to share good news and bad, and to simply be available. Liz is the author of THE ENGLISH ROGUES and GRECIAN GODDESSES SERIES from Harlequin. Book one SAFE IN THE EARL'S ARMS is available. Book two A CAPTAIN AND A ROGUE will be available in December 2014. An excerpt is below.





Liz can be reached at www.liztyner.com or ltynerwrites@yahoo.com She has a lovely site just waiting for visitors. I asked her a few questions and her answers were interesting, humorous, and filled with wisdom. It is below:

When and why did you start writing? One of my earliest memories is when my mother folded paper into a booklet form and asked me to tell her a story, and said she would print it for me. She took the story we finished and put it “in a safe place”—the cupboard where the important papers were kept. For a child, that was similar to winning a RITA. I was hooked, even though I didn’t know it. During my teen years, I scribbled poems, and started a novel—but disappointed myself greatly because I never made it to Chapter 2.


 

 

Did your first work that you typed 'the end' on sell or did it end up under the bed so to speak? Actually, it might be literally under my bed—at this very moment. I started it when I was 26 years old—easy to remember because my heroine was 26. It is roughly 100,000 words, and I submitted it to publishers. Maybe three total. One editor wrote a personal rejection. This was in the days of white-out, and she covered one of her comments. I removed enough of the white-out to see the original sentence. Basically, it was my first experience with the dreaded sagging middle. I knew she was right. I planned to re-write and re-submit to someone else, but I had no clue how to increase conflict. That ended that. But I started another novel fairly soon.

 

 

Do you have a favorite author, genre, or specific book you'll always love? I particularly like romance and have lots of favorite authors. When I read a novel and fall in love with the hero, I often search out the author’s backlist until I read a half dozen or more of her books. Then another awesome hero comes along and I transfer affections.

 

How do you overcome those moments when the words just won't come? Sometimes I get on the treadmill—which is a drastic measure and a last resort. Fifteen minutes there and I can usually get an idea. Or I even write out my thoughts on the problem. I have also put myself in the chair and said I am not moving until I write another hundred words.

 

Advice for new or first time published authors? Writing is easy. Finishing a story—that can be hard. But I just can’t imagine a surgeon looking into a body cavity and going, “Oh, it’s my lucky day, another ruptured spleen.” It’s about the final product, not the bloody mess you have to go through to get there.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-
keywords=liz+tyner



 

Excerpt from A Captain and a Rogue:

Capt’n. There’s yer mermaid.’

            At his first mate’s words, Benjamin’s head snapped around and his eyes locked on the form slicing through the Aegean Sea.

            Benjamin took two steps closer to the edge of the craggy rocks overlooking the water. The sea air took some of the rotted-egg smell of the island from his lungs and the shape reaching the shoreline took all thoughts from his head.

            He reached to his side and took the spyglass from the hanging sheath, and peered. His movements must have caught her attention, because as soon as her head appeared in his eyepiece—she treaded water. Her eyes locked on his, capturing him.

            Then she turned, long arms finishing the swim quickly. Everything else in the world disappeared but the vision in his spyglass. His breath caught. He’d truly found a mermaid.

            ‘Ah, she saw us,’ Gidley grumbled. ‘Now she’ll go and turn into a reg’lar woman. Blast the luck. Once a mermaid sees a man, she sprouts legs. Happens every time.’

            The woman stepped on to the sand. Benjamin grunted in disappointment, realising he’d been lost in a fantasy.

            He tipped the end of the glass downward to ascertain she did have legs. She wore a chemise, but the thin, wet garment viewed through a strong imagination left little covered. He braced himself, keeping his knees from giving way, while he leaned forward, trapped in his thoughts.

            Gidley nudged Benjamin. ‘Lend me that glass, Capt’n. Want to see if she be sportin’ a tail.’

            Ben pulled air into his lungs, giving himself time to relearn to speak.

I encourage readers of my blog to visit Liz, check out her books and fall in love with historical romance. Please leave comments and include your own links if you wish.

 

 

 

 

Meeting Janet K. Brown, Author

It is with the greatest pleasure that I am featuring my friend and fellow author, Janet K. Brown, on this post. She is taking off like a rocket in the writing world with her devotional, Divine Dining, as well as her young adult series. 

We met at the Red River Romance Writers of America group meeting in Wichita Falls, Texas early in 2009. It was a great group and full of talent. However, Janet made a positive impression on me the moment she welcomed me when I arrived that first day. I was a newcomer--not just to the group but to the region. Unfortunately, as a small group, the RRRW did not survive. We may no longer have regular meetings but the support for each other remains always available.

Janet has provided me with her story in her words. Let me share . . .

My writing journey began when I was a young mom of three. I wrote short stories and even published a few. When my girls got to be teenagers, I wrote my first novel. I submitted it, got it rejected, and promptly gave up.

Emotional upheavals plagued me all my adult life. I gained and lost weight every year and kept several sized clothes in my closet for my ups and downs, mostly ups. Depression drove me to deeper depths at the same time my job as medical coder and bookkeeper became more stressful and turned into longer hours. Writing came to a stop except for personal journals.

During a Christian weight loss class at my church, I drew closer to God. He healed me emotionally, and the weight started to drop. I retired in October, 2005 to give more time to grandchildren and writing.

I joined Romance Writers of America (RWA) and American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), studied the writing craft, and began to write and submit. I wrote romance and women’s fiction. When I received a rejection, instead of working more on that manuscript, I started a brand new one. At the same time, I submitted short stories again and got a few of them published. One of the teen short stories I wrote featured a ghost legend at a registered Texas ghost town near my home. The publisher of the magazine where I submitted it asked if I’d ever considered making that story chapter one of a novel. I hadn’t, but I did. So, I wrote my first YA.

A few years ago while I was busy submitting, studying, getting rejected, and starting another manuscript, God woke me in the middle of the night with devotions running through my head. The focus was on emotional healing and weight loss. I wrote fourteen devotions before I could go back to sleep. I continued to write devotions sometimes one a week, sometimes one a day for four years. I considered the devotions therapy for me while I WROTE fiction.

 In 2011, a small press out of Oklahoma, 4RV Publishing, offered me a contract not on my romance or women’s fiction but on my one and only YA. I danced, I sang, I didn’t come down to earth for months. In 2012, my debut novel, an inspirational, paranormal YA, Victoria and the Ghost was released. Before its release, God hit me upside the head and told me I hadn’t written 300 devotions just as my therapy, but to minister to others with a similar problem.

 

After three rejections on my weight loss class curriculum based on the devotions I’d written, I pitched a 365 day by day devotion book for overeaters to another small press out of Arkansas that was starting their company with inspirational, self-help books. That was Pen-L Publishing. They offered me a contract and had the book out by December, 2012. This book is titled Divine Dining: 365 Devotions to Guide You to Healthier Weight and Abundant Wellness. This was truly the book of my heart coming straight from my personal journals, critical failures, and testimonies of God’s goodness.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: For the month of September, Pen-L is offering a devotion a day from Divine Dining for #FREE. If you like what you read, you may purchase the full 365 devotion book right on the site, but there’s no obligation. All you have to do to receive your #FREE devotions for a month is click on this link:https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/468985

My writing journey marches on.

In 2013, I signed another contract with 4RV Publishing for the sequel to Victoria and the Ghost. (Got to stick with what works, YA and ghosts). The working title of it is A Ghost for Shelley that should be released soon.

In early 2014, I signed a contract with Pen-L to publish (finally) a women’s fiction. We titled it Worth Her Weight. This book releases in November, 2014. Here’s the elevator pitch:

 

Lacey’s addicted to overeating.

Toby’s a controller.

Mom’s anger seeks to destroy everything in its path.

Each must let go before God can heal.

I stay active in ACFW, Faith, Hope and Love (FHL) the inspirational chapter of RWA, and Oklahoma Writers Federated International (OWFI). I take online courses, go to workshops and conferences as finances allow, contract to write short stories, and promote my books with the help of a host of wonderful new friends I’ve made through my writing. One of those new friends is Winona Cross.

Please feel free to connect with and/or follow me at the following links....

Twitter: @JanetKBrownTX

Website: http://www.JanetKBrown.com/

Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/#!/pages/Janet-K-Brown-Author/143915285641707

Victoria and the Ghost: Available at http://www.4RVpublishingcatalog.com/Janet-Brown.php

Divine Dining: 365 Devotions to Guide You to Healthier Weight and Abundant Wellness. Available at www.pen-l.com/DivineDining.html



AGING PRINCESSES

August 4, 2014

AGING PRINCESSES

 

 

 

Once upon a time there was a woman, aging by princess standards, who finally had the opportunity to go to a kingdom in a land called Disney World where magic and fairies and princes who rescue princesses really exist. She had three small princesses by her side to help grant her access to those places where her age and size might have raised suspicious eyebrows otherwise. At least that's how she felt.

 

Beneath a magical arch everything changed. How could a place, such a crowded place, be such fun and so exciting at every turn? A twenty foot tall breathtakingly beautiful woman made of vines and branches walked out of the tress circling the crowd with such grace silence overtook them. Colors never imagined by this aging princess blended perfectly with those in a crayon box. Everyone seemed happy and patient with the exception of an occasional ogre. Long lines were the fact of the week but most often they were entertaining or we held special Fast Passes.

 

Of course, she had dinner with the real princesses.  Her reaction and that of the small princesses when Snow White skipped past their table was captured. Every special Disney princess moved through the dining hall talking and acting royal before having a parade including the younger princes and princesses in attendance. The aging princess wanted to be in the parade but, alas, she wasn't able to do so without sustaining the chagrin of the other adults in the group.

 

 

 

 

 

A week of magic, some mayhem, and lots of entertainment left the aging princess feeling very old. As a matter-of-fact I he ended up in the hospital shortly after she returned home. But, she said this-- all the aching muscles and bones, and fatigue was worth it. While she was in the hospital she wrote the scribbles of a "poem". One of the members of the group was her age. She couldn't help but compare herself to the other woman. She don't usually write poetry but she will share this bit with you. It's longer than she would normally post to her blog but it tells a story.

 

Life is uncertain. There will always be times of confusion, sadness, fear, and uncertainty. Just as surely there will be times of wonder, happiness, undisguised joy, certainty, and even magic. Try to smile through the worst times and the laughter during the good times will come straight from the soul. A girl can be a princess at any age. It's true.

 

 

“63”

Winona Bennett Cross

 

I know a woman who makes me laugh yet makes me sad. She’s my age—sixty-three (63). We’re Vietnam era girls, graduates of classes of 1969 and as different as they come. Perhaps because of geography, family, or society.

According to modern society I look, act, and sound like 63. This woman is just the opposite living in a perpetual flower child world.

I’m living, as I have all my life, in a “what will they think of me” world.

Her hair is colorful. It varies like a color wheel spinning in Vegas. Turquoise, hot pink, green, or blue. I wonder if it’s ever been boldly striped? Her style is spiky and funky.

My hair is dirty blonde with graying temples, simply cut, and styled in something easy. No pizzazz. No youthfulness. I do not like growing old.

She wears strapless sundresses and camisoles with short skirts. Her wardrobe is a canvas for the embellishments she adds through the day. Dangly earrings, large hoops, bracelets of gold and silver, fabric, beads, and leather almost to her elbow. Scarves drape her body including a dedazzled belly dancers sarong around her hips. She is comfortable and dances through the streets and stores.

I wear matronly capri pants or jeans and T-shirts with sleeves. My jewelry is gold and classic with a few pieces of appropriately suitable costume pieces added for bling on special occasions. Without my jewelry I feel naked. I try to hide behind “invisible” clothes.

She smokes small dark cigars. They remind me of something Greta Garbo or Katherine Hepburn would have smoked in eras past.

I have never smoked. Anything! I wonder what it feels and tastes like. But, I’ll never try it. My parents smoked and I lost my mother to lung cancer.

This woman, my friend, glides through life just high enough most of the time to make others smile at her antics. Free Bird. Flower Child.

I always do what I think is right. Often feeling stifled. When I do let my feelings soar someone will tell me I’m acting silly. So, I stop and retreat into some  of the shell I have built.

I wonder what happens to her in the night when she falls. Is it a desperate dive? A fully dressed, spread-eagled splat? Or, is it a subtle wilting of the flower as she awaits the morning dew and sunlight to decide what kind of ornamental blossom she will become that day.

I simply crawl beneath the covers, read for a while, then fatigue takes over and I sleep.

How can two women of the same era be so different? I sometimes wish for some of her free spirit but not the problems that accompany it.

I wonder if she ever wishes for some of my so called normal life?

We are different but forever bound by the love of two little blonde, blue-eyed girls. Granddaughters.

 



 







Cover Reveal, Delay, and Superstition

Several months ago I received my first cover for my first novel! It was very exciting and I did the happy dance and made the phone calls and updated Facebook . . .  But, I just couldn't bring myself to reveal the cover on my blog even though I had revealed it on Facebook. I guess I thought my blog was so much more serious or something. I don't know. But, this morning is the day I've chosen for a specific reason. More on that later.

One reason I must make clear is this--I'm a Registered Nurse. Even though I'm retired I'm still a nurse and we are a very superstitious bunch. I was a Labor and Delivery nurse. That's a high risk specialty and any of the specialties are especially superstitious. Let me relay an example. Every unit has a status board. It's usually a basic white board with sections taped off for pertinent data depending on the specialty. When I was new to the game we had a slow day and we didn't have any patients so I decided I would clean the white board. Damn! One would think I had cut someone's throat! It seems the board must never be blank because it's bad luck. If it's blank it brings in the hoardes and they will be really sick or will have some kind of problem. What did I have to do? Make up a patient's name, assign her to a doctor, give her some fake physical data and move on. Alas, it was too late. The hoardes did arrive. Every bed was soon filled, we had a couple of patients waiting on stretchers in the hall. I remember at least one emergency cesarean section. And, this is the way  the charge nurse looked at me:

The reason I've decided to go ahead and reveal the cover today is because I'm still trudging through edits. My goodness, it's tough. I feel sorry for my wonderful editor, Ally Robertson, from The Wild Rose Press. It's been a long road for us. She sent me this latest round along with some more specific homework which I believe will help me. It narrows things down into small bites rather than having the intimidation of the entire manuscript in front of me. I suppose revealing it on my blog will also help me feel more professional or something. Today I'm feeling down but not defeated. My confidence is flagging but it will rise again.

I hope you've enjoyed a glimpse of my cover. Would you who have successfully published share any tips of getting past the first book edits and blues? I would appreciate it if you could drop off a comment for me as well. Enjoy your writing and your successes.