Memorial Day and upcoming call for submissions

cj Sez: I hope you have a safe and wonderful Memorial Day holiday, but please remember why this three-day holiday was created . . .

Arlington Cemetery: 624 acres of why we are still free. 

   Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States, celebrated on the last Monday of May…in 2019, it’s May 27. The day was set aside to commemorate the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

***

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

   If you write “wholesome or ‘sweet’ romance novels” or cozy mysteries, there’s still time to polish your work-in-progress and submit.

   Hallmark Publishing will be open to unagented submissions for “wholesome or ‘sweet’ romance novels” and cozy mysteries for the entire month of September 2019.

   Note that they are no longer accepting previously published works

Read their submission guidelines here: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/hallmark-publishing/write-for-us 

And GOOD LUCK ! 

***

That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

CHOOSING CARTER is free on

Kindle Unlimited at the time of this post. 

5-Star Review: The tension is high in this romantic thriller from petterson. This is a great suspense novel with characters who are independent but learn to trust each other to survive.

Little note: Print copies of Choosing Carter and Deadly Star are becoming scarce as Simon&Schuster winds down their support of the Crimson Romance imprint. You can, however, support an indie book store and order an autographed copy of my books here: The Haunted Bookshop  Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in her own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you the book(s) of your choice.

If you want to order from me (I have a few copies), I’d be happy to personalize the autograph and drop it in the mail to you (price of the book plus $3 mailing).

Drop me a note to sign up for my quarterly newsletter: cjpetterson@gmail.com 

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Amazon Central Author Page =  https://amzn.to/2v6SrAj

Simon&Schuster Author Page = https://bit.ly/2uo1M0Z

Doesn't have to cost a dime to encourage an author

cj Sez: Over the past week, I decided it was crunch time…I absolutely had to quit procrastinating and finish, this week, a short story with a June 30 submission deadline.  

  I need to finish the story early, like “now,” so I'll have time to do the necessary edits. Anyway, all of that was to explain why this post is going to be a short reissue of one previously posted in 2017. By the way, the call for submissions is still open, so if you're of a mind to ....

   What follows is a stream of consciousness blog about how to show your support for writers (at a little or no cost), whether you’re a writer or a reader.

If you’re a writer and have your own blog, invite guest bloggers. Lyrical Pens does do that, though we haven’t been graced with a guest for a few weeks. (Read the invitation in the Lyrical Pens banner above.) When you have a guest scheduled on your blog, send out “Coming Attractions” promotions on other social media sites, like Facebook, Twitter, et al. Be sure to give your guest blogger space to say something about their books.

Read and be willing to give the author’s work a fair review. Be kind but be honest.

If you know an author who just wants to just sit and talk, grab a chair and listen. Writing is a lonely occupation, and most other people don't understand.

Encourage each other. Writing is not a competition; everyone can be successful.

And here’s a little marketing tip: If you’re a yet-to-be-published writer and don’t have a business card, get one. Hand it out to agents, workshop instructors, fellow writers, wherever you have an opportunity to network. Get your name out there as early as possible (blogs and Facebook, too) so they can watch for your new release. Some variation of the one that follows is my suggestion:

Name  Jane Doe, Author

Writer of XXX (literary fiction, historical fiction, non-fiction, YA, romance, whatever)

eMail address

website address

Now, if you’re a reader (and since writers are also readers, I guess this applies to everyone) . . .

Like and comment on authors' posts on their Facebook pages. Facebook's algorithms only show posts that FB thinks other members would like to see. That means the more likes and comments a post gets, the more people will see it. 

Go to book signings, even if you can’t afford to buy the book at that time. Your attendance is ever so encouraging. I’ve been to book signings where the author and I were the only two people there. On the other hand, I was one of several authors at a local indie book store signing and because fans and friends showed up, the afternoon sped by and was fun—even though I didn’t sell a book.

   If you’ve got some good ideas on how best to encourage authors to keep writing, let me know. I’ll pass along the information and credit you as the source.

***

   That’s it for this post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

Stop by my Amazon Central Author Page = https://amzn.to/2v6SrAj and order a book to read or get in touch with The Haunted Bookshop here: The Haunted Bookshop to order an autographed copy of DEADLY STAR, CHOOSING CARTER, and THE POSSE. Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in her own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you the book(s) of your choice.

If you send me a note with a request before you order, I’ll even run down to the shop and personalize your choice.

Drop me a note to sign up for my quarterly newsletter: cjpetterson@gmail.com 

cjpetterson/author on Facebook   

Winners all. . .

cj Sez:  The Agatha Awards for 2018 books were announced at the Malice Domestic conference on May 4.  

   The Agatha Awards recognize the "traditional mystery," meaning that there is no graphic sex and no excessive violence in the writing. Thrillers or hard-boiled detectives cannot be found here, but instead, picture Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot at work.
   And the winners are .  .  . (indicated by asterisks) 

Best Contemporary Novel
“Mardi Gras Murder” by Ellen Byron **
“Beyond the Truth” by Bruce Robert Coffin
“Cry Wolf” by Annette Dashofy
“Kingdom of the Blind” by Louise Penny
“Trust Me” by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Best Historical Novel
“Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding” by Rhys Bowen
“The Gold Pawn” by LA Chandlar
“The Widows of Malabar Hill” by Sujata Massey **
“Turning the Tide” by Edith Maxwell
“Murder on Union Square” by Victoria Thompson

Best First Novel (Tied for the win)
“A Ladies Guide to Etiquette and Murder” by Dianne Freeman **
“Little Comfort” by Edwin Hill
“What Doesn't Kill You” by Aimee Hix
“Deadly Solution” by Keenan Powell
“Curses Boiled Again” by Shari Randall **

Best Short Story (Tied for the win)
"All God's Sparrows" by Leslie Budewitz (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine) **
"A Postcard for the Dead" by Susanna Calkins (in Florida Happens)
"Bug Appetit" by Barb Goffman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
"The Case of the Vanishing Professor" by Tara Laskowski (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine) **

"English 398: Fiction Workshop" by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)

Best Young Adult Mystery
“Potion Problems” by Cindy Callaghan **
“Winterhouse” by Ben Guterson
“A Side of Sabotage” by C.M. Surrisi

Best Nonfiction
“Mastering Plot Twists” by Jane Cleland **
“Writing the Cozy Mystery” by Nancy J Cohen
“Conan Doyle for the Defense” by Margalit Fox
“Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life” by Laura Thompson
“Wicked Women of Ohio” by Jane Ann Turzillo

   Congratulations to nominees and winners alike, and special kudos to my fellow Sisters-in-Crime members on the list. 

  

ooo

   When we lived many miles apart, I sent each of my sons flowers on Mother’s Day, because they have always been a source of pride. Besides, I wouldn’t be a mother without them. (I also got a kick out of them having to explain the roses delivered to their places of work.) And they would send me yellow roses. They could have given me a dandelion stem as they did when they were little, and I could not have felt more loved.

   I can’t end this post without remembering my Mom, as I do most every day. I’m grateful that she was the sweet soul who soothed my fears, dried my tears, and patted my rear when I needed it. Thank you, Mom, for your unconditional love. 

Yes, Lord, please hold her for while. She is forever in my heart.

ooo

That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

Little note: Print copies of Choosing Carter and Deadly Star are becoming scarce as Simon&Schuster winds down their support of the Crimson Romance imprint. You can, however, support an indie book store and order an autographed copy of my books here: The Haunted Bookshop  Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in her own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you the book(s) of your choice.

Drop me a note to sign up for my quarterly newsletter: cjpetterson@gmail.com 

cjpetterson/author on Facebook   

Amazon Central Author Page =  https://amzn.to/2v6SrAj

Simon&Schuster Author Page = https://bit.ly/2uo1M0Z

I've read that . . .

cj Sez: Authors often include bits and pieces of personal experiences in their stories. Let me tell you a little backstory about my first-person research for:

   Way back when I was a younger woman, I spent five-and-a-half days on an Outward Bound, white-water rafting trip down one of the best, dam-free rivers in the United States—the Yampa River.

   The Yampa is the only free-flowing tributary in the whole Colorado River System. At 250-miles long, the river—a lazy float trip in the summer months—surges to life when spring melts the mountain snows and rushes boaters through awesome, sandstone canyons in Dinosaur National Monument.

   There were four huge, silver rafts in our Outward Bound convoy, each carried eight to ten people, and there was a flotilla of kayakers who ran the biggest rapids ahead of the rafts and waited downstream, ready to pick up anyone who fell overboard.

I went alone, in May, during the snowmelt, didn’t know anyone who was going to be there, had never rafted before, and I didn’t know how to swim. We entered the river in Colorado, slept in sleeping bags on the shores, and ended our adventure seventy-five miles later in Utah.

   The following year, I volunteered to do a Jeep Jamboree off-road adventure on the Rubicon Trail in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range and write about it for the company newspaper. The Rubicon Trail is classified as a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 in difficulty for off-road enthusiasts. I joined two professional writers in a Jeep Wrangler that, like many of the Wranglers on the trail, had had its doors and top removed and a skid plate welded to the undercarriage to protect the engine from boulders.

   I was the only novice driver/writer in that Jeep, and sat, mouth agape, when the driver ahead of us miscalculated and rolled off the one-lane trail. We waited until Jamboree trail guides rolled him upright and sent him on his way again. We drove onto the Rubicon from Georgetown, California, slept in sleeping bags under pup tents, and drove off the trail above Lake Tahoe. After one night of bathing in an icy mountain stream and sleeping on a deflated air mattress atop a granite boulder, I was extremely happy to spend the next night soaking in a hot tub in a hotel.

   Both of those trips were the inspirations for the settings in CHOOSING CARTER and a personal essay, “Don’t Ride the Clutch,” published in CUP OF COMFORT FOR DIVORCED WOMEN (Adams Media, 2008).

   The only reason I can give for daring to seek out the adventures is, I was in the throes of a midlife crisis and wanted to challenge myself…to do more than leave dimples in the surface of my life like a water spider. And who knew they would make great fodder for stories.

   To read more about the exquisite mountain settings I experienced, eBook copies of both books are available on Amazon. They're free on Kindle Unlimited at the time of this post. An autographed copy of the CHOOSING CARTER paperback can be had by contacting The Haunted Bookshop. A link is provided below.

   That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

Free on Kindle Unlimited at the time of this post:

5-Star Review: Mirabel Campbell must learn how to stay alive in a covert world of political intrigue where the unexpected is the norm, and she’s not the kind of woman who’ll wait for anyone, including her CIA ex-husband whom she still loves, to make her decisions. She made a promise to a murdered friend to find out what’s so special about a mysterious point of light in the sky, and she intends to keep that promise.

Little note: Print copies of Choosing Carter and Deadly Star are becoming scarce as Simon&Schuster winds down their support of the Crimson Romance imprint. You can, however, support an indie book store and order an autographed copy of my books here: The Haunted Bookshop  Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in her own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you the book(s) of your choice.

Drop me a note to sign up for my quarterly newsletter: cjpetterson@gmail.com 

cjpetterson/author on Facebook   

Amazon Central Author Page =  https://amzn.to/2v6SrAj

Simon&Schuster Author Page = https://bit.ly/2uo1M0Z