Guest Post

HAVE A BOOK TO PROMOTE? Lyrical Pens welcomes guest posts. Answer a questionnaire or create your own post. FYI, up front: This site is a definite PG-13. For details, contact cjpetterson@gmail.com cj

Sunday, April 26, 2020

Toons, tidbits, and other stuff


cj Sez: Here's a suggestion on how to deal with the topic du jour, really the topic de l'année and a lot of years to come:

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   Publishers Weekly is asking you to show your support for the publishing industry: 

///
   Storyknife is a writers retreat for women, and one of the authors offers this tidbit of sage advice: 

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Public Service Announcements:

   Income tax due date is postponed to July 15, 2020.
….
Article excerpts: Alabama is one of a handful of states that could lose a congressional seat following the 2020 Census, and its low response rate isn't helping. The lack of returns could have deep consequences.

   The Census also determines how much federal funding states get for certain programs - and the most important thing a state can do to increase that number is make sure every person living there is counted.

   cj Sez:  If you received your census form and haven’t answered yet, please take ten minutes or so to do that today.
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Pre-launch sale!     My paranormal, short story, “Love is Immortal,” is included in BIENVENUE to the CHATEAU ROUGE, an anthology scheduled for release May 12.  Pre-order now at 99 cents! 
   Available at these fine sites:   https://books2read.com/u/bpOMw9

   And there’s a bonus…free for the downloading!
Lagniappe: The authors of BIENVENUE to the CHATEAU ROUGE have joined together to give you a little something extra: Lagniappe— a collection of novellas and short stories to give you a sneak peek at the writers who have stories included in the anthology release.
   Read the teasers and download Lagniappe here    https://bit.ly/2UKkGOO

/// 
   That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Sending up prayers for safe and healthy days in your future.

cj

   Autographed print copies of my novels CHOOSING CARTER and DEADLY STAR are available at The Haunted Book Shop. Anthologies in which I have stories are also available there.

  You can help an indie bookstore stay in business during this difficult days, by placing an order for any book by any author with them.

   TO ORDER, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: The Haunted Bookshop  Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and Rita-award-winning author (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you the book(s) of your choice. 
➜ Follow me . . .
         on Amazon: Amazon Central Author Page = https://amzn.to/2v6SrAj
         on Facebook at:   cjpetterson/author/facebook
         on BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson




Sunday, April 19, 2020

cj Sez:  When I posted on Facebook that I wasn’t having a lot of trouble with social distancing or quarantine requirements because I’m a writer, son replied…


Sounds like a motto to me.
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   Congratulations to fellow Mobile Writers Guild member Carrie Dalby on the release of SCARRED MEMORIES, the fourth book in The Possession Chronicles Series … currently 99 cents on Amazon.  

///
Tidbits of info to share:

   If you’re thinking about using song lyrics in your novel, read this:   https://www.ingramspark.com/blog/quoting-song-lyrics-in-a-book-4-factors-fair-use
....
   This Bookbaby article on "Tons of material and nothing to write" is so true for me (I spend a lot of time “growing" into the story,) that I thought there might other authors out there who could be reassured they are on the right path.     https://bit.ly/2KfZATF

....
   Here’s a blog with answers to some of the questions authors ask when filing their tax returns (is it a hobby?): https://writersinthestormblog.com/2020/04/tax-time-chat-for-authors/

Public Service Announcements

    The Internal Revenue Service announced that the federal income tax filing due date is automatically extended from April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020.

….
   The Alabama Department of Revenue also announced that the income tax filing due date is extended…Read more here: https://revenue.alabama.gov/individual-corporate/due-dates/

   Not in Alabama? Check with your state’s Department of Revenue.
….

Reminder: The 2020 U.S. Census is ongoing, and your answers are important for your community's federal funding.
///
Pre-launch sale!     My paranormal, short story, “Love is Immortal,” is included in BIENVENUE to the CHATEAU ROUGE anthology scheduled for release May 12.  Pre- order now at 99 cents!    https://books2read.com/u/bpOMw9

....
And here’s a bonus book...Lagniappe is free, gratis, no charge! 

The authors of BIENVENUE to the CHATEAU ROUGE, have joined together to give you a little something extra. Lagniappe is a collection of novellas and short stories to you a sneak peek at the writers who have stories included in the anthology release.
   Read the teasers and download Lagniappe here   https://bit.ly/2WNYDtu      

ARCs of the anthology become available soon.  If you’re interested in reading the ARC and can promise to post an honest review on Amazon and Goodreads on the day the book launches (May 12), let me know. Send a note to cjpetterson@gmail.com and include your name, email, and the format you prefer.
///
Correction: I just found out that the untitled "and the people stayed home" poem used in my post of April 5 was misattributed. It properly belongs to Kitty O’Meara who wrote it in 2020. I had, unfortunately, not thoroughly re-vetted the source. The poem is still perfect, I think.
 
///


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

cj

   Autographed print copies of my novels CHOOSING CARTER and DEADLY STAR are available at The Haunted Book Shop. Anthologies in which I have stories, including THE POSSE, the Bienvenue Press Christmas charity series, and the Mobile Writers Guild PIECES series are also available there.

   If they don’t happen to have a copy of any book(s), by any author that you want, they’ll place an order for you.

   TO ORDER (and support an indie bookstore) contact The Haunted Bookshop here: The Haunted Bookshop  Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and an 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’re in Mobile area, do stop in at the book store; it’s a neat place to browse.
➜ Follow me . . .
➜         on Amazon: Amazon Central Author Page = https://amzn.to/2v6SrAj
➜         on Facebook at:   cjpetterson/author/facebook
➜         on BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson

Sunday, April 12, 2020

Celebrating Easter and Passover


cj Sez:  Our Easter celebrations may be different this year, but our Risen Savior is the same yesterday, today, and always.


May this Easter day bring peace and happiness into your life,
knowing that even when we feel like giving up, there is hope.


Wishing you the Gift of Faith
The Blessing of Hope
And a Life filled with Joy

Have a blessed and happy Easter Day.


 ///



And for those celebrating Passover…
חג פסח

SHALOM
שלום

May your life be blessed with peace, prosperity, and joy.


///
   Having to be separated from church family and family on this Easter Sunday truly seems odd, but it is not a day of frustration and sadness for me. This is still a day to celebrate my Risen Savior’s victory over the grave.

   Raising a hallelujah in my pajamas and robe as I join the minister on TV in praise works for me. Perhaps something similar will work for you and yours as well.

   I pray that the Lord God will uplift your spirits, encourage your hearts, strengthen your resolve, and renew your lives as we go forward through the trying days ahead. And I pray for a special blessing on all those who risk their health and lives to tend to the needs of others.

cj
(p.s. Rallying cry:  Next year together again.)
➜ Follow me . . .
         on Amazon: Amazon Central Author Page = https://amzn.to/2v6SrAj
         on Facebook at:   cjpetterson/author/facebook
         on BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson

Sunday, April 5, 2020

Derringer finalists announced, And People Stayed Home


cj Sez: As I shelter in place, it seems I’m less inclined to write even tho I’ve always complained I didn’t have time. I used to have a little wooden disc on which the words To It were inscribed, but I gave it away to a poet I know.**
So True!

   Now I’ve had to resort to putting a note on my computer that says, BIC …FOK (butt in chair, fingers on keyboard). Today I added: BIG (brain in gear). As a writer who loves the music and rhythm of words, I find it sad that my speech and writing have dissolved into runes.

Here’s what’s going on in the publishing world:

Congratulations are in order! In case you missed this: From The Short Mystery Fiction Society comes a list of finalists for the 2020 Derringer Awards for outstanding short stories published in 2019:

Flash
Lucky Trey Dowell
The Two-Body Problem Josh Pachter
2 Percent Lissa Marie Redmond
Birdbrain C J Verburg
The Six-Year-Old Serial Killer Chris Chan
Short
The Kindly Dark J. B. Toner
Living on Borrowed Time Melissa Haveman
A Sure Thing Mary Kellogg
On the Road with Mary Jo John Floyd
Pig Lickin’ Good Debra H. Debra Goldstein
Long
Miss Starr’s Good-bye Leslie Budewitz
None Shall Sleep Sylvia Maultash Warsh
Pretty Dreams Peter W. J. Hayes
See Humble and Die Rick Helms
Lucy's Tree Sandra Murphy
Novelette
Her Sister's Secrets Brendan DuBois
The Cripplegate Apprehension Rick Helms
The Concrete Smile Frank Zafiro
The Dutchy Doug Allyn
I Called to Say You're Dead Stephen Greco

   A vote of the SMFS membership will determine the winner in each category. Results will be announced in May 2020.

///


///

   I found the following message of hope on Facebook and shared it with my followers there . . . I want to share this with you also. The message is current, yet the poem was published in 1869.


And people stayed at home
And read books
And listened
And they rested
And did exercises
And made art and played
And learned new ways of being
And stopped and listened
More deeply
Someone meditated, someone prayed
Someone met their shadow
And people began to think differently
And people healed.
And in the absence of people who
Lived in ignorant ways
Dangerous, meaningless and heartless,
The earth also began to heal
And when the danger ended and
People found themselves
They grieved for the dead
And made new choices
And dreamed of new visions
And created new ways of living
And completely healed the earth
Just as they were healed.

   The poem was written about ten years after the Irish Potato Famine that occurred in Ireland in 1845–49, caused when the potato crop, the population’s main food source, failed in successive years. https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Famine-Irish-history

   Kathleen O’Meara was the pen name Grace Ramsay. O’Meara was an Irish-French Catholic writer and biographer during the late Victorian era. The Paris correspondent of The Tablet, a leading British Catholic magazine, she also wrote works of fiction where she explored a variety of topics from women’s suffrage to eastern European revolutions.

The poem was reprinted during 1919 Spanish flu pandemic…

The photo right was taken during the Spanish flu pandemic.

“Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.” – Corrie ten Boom
If you don’t know who Corrie ten Boom is, she’s a survivor worth researching.

///

Public Service Announcements

   It’s coming up on income tax time, and here’s some info for writers: https://writersinthestormblog.com/2020/04/tax-time-chat-for-authors/

Good news: The Internal Revenue Service announced that the federal income tax filing due date is automatically extended from April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020.  Read more here: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-and-payment-deadlines-questions-and-answers

   The Alabama Department of Revenue announced that their income tax filing due date is extended also…Read more here: https://revenue.alabama.gov/individual-corporate/due-dates/

Not in Alabama? Check with your state’s Department of Revenue.

Reminder: The 2020 U.S. Census is ongoing and the State of Alabama posted the following…but consider that every state in the Union has similar needs.

Economic Development: It is important that Alabama have accurate data to encourage new businesses to enter the state and to encourage local retail growth. Economic development and industry are critical to the quality of life here.
Rural Growth: The Census will play an important role in determining funding that positively impacts rural Alabama. The data collected will inform more than $675 billion in federal funding allocations to the states for programs like water and waste disposal systems in rural communities. Programs like Cooperative Extension Program, Community Development Grants, and Rural Rental Assistance Program are depending on this complete count.
Congressional Representation: Without a complete count, our state will lose one or possibly even two congressional seats in Washington D.C. That is two less voices to stand up for Alabama.
Federal Funding: $13 billion is on the line. Without a complete count, Alabama will lose money that supports our education system, police force, infrastructure, roads, and healthcare.
///

   The authors of the upcoming release, BIENVENUE to the CHATEAU ROUGE, have joined together to give you a little Lagniappe (a little something extra). This collection of novellas and short stories gives you a sneak peek at the writers who have stories included in this May release available for preorder now. 
Read the teasers and download a copy here   https://bit.ly/2WNYDtu  
///
That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on and I’ll try to do the same. 



cj
(** That little token kept me from procrastinating … I couldn’t tell myself I’d do something when I got “a round To It” because I had one.)

   My paranormal, short story, “Love is Immortal” is included in a new anthology scheduled for release later this spring. Watch for more on the launch of BIENVENUE to the CHATEAU ROUGE on Facebook and Amazon.

   My novels CHOOSING CARTER and DEADLY STAR are out of print, but I have a few autographed copies available at The Haunted Book Shop. Anthologies in which I have stories, including THE POSSE, the Bienvenue Press Christmas charity series, and the Mobile Writers Guild PIECES series are also available there.

   If they don’t happen to have a copy of any book(s), by any author that you want, they’ll place an order for you.

   TO ORDER (and support an indie bookstore) contact The Haunted Bookshop here: The Haunted Bookshop  Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and an 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’re in Mobile area, do stop in at the book store; it’s a neat place to browse.
➜ Follow me . . .
         on Amazon: Amazon Central Author Page = https://amzn.to/2v6SrAj
         on Facebook at:   cjpetterson/author/facebook
         on BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson