You’ll face many decisions in your author career, including which name to write under. Four experienced authors have teamed up to share their perspectives and offer you the opportunity to ask questions. We write in various genres, so hopefully you’ll see yours represented.
Read at your own pace. We’ve given you time to
look through without rushing.
Gina Briganti writes fantasy and sci-fi romance in north Texas. Real -life should be fantastic, too, which is why she also writes holistic health non-fiction.
Her constant companion is a special soul who masquerades as a dog.
Sharon Ledwith
The Last Timekeepers Time Travel Adventure Series:
Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/young adult time travel adventure series, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS, and the teen psychic mystery series, MYSTERIOUS TALES FROM FAIRY FALLS. When not writing, researching, or revising, she enjoys reading, exercising, anything arcane, and an occasional dram of scotch. Sharon lives a serene, yet busy life in a southern tourist region of Ontario, Canada, with her hubby, one spoiled yellow Labrador and a moody calico cat.
HL Carpenter is a mother/daughter duo who write family-friendly fiction from their studios in Carpenter Country, a magical place that, like their stories, is unreal but not untrue. When they’re not writing, the Carpenters enjoy exploring the Land of What-If and practicing the fine art of Curiosity. Visit Carpenter Country at hlcarpenter.com.
Tina Griffith
I was born in Germany, a little more than 60 years ago. My family came to Canada when I was of school age, and I’ve been here ever since. When my kids were little, I wrote 27 children’s books, worked in television and radio, and worked as a professional clown at the Children’s Hospital. After my husband of 25 years passed away, I began to write romance novels as a way to keep the love inside of my heart. I now have 11 romance novels for sale in the amazon bookstore, and while all of them have undertones of a love story, they have different genres; murder, mystery, whimsical, witches, ghosts, suspense, adventure, and my sister’s scary biography. ‘The Elusive Mr. Velucci’ is nothing short of a very romance love story, where nobody dies, but it will bring a lump to your throat as you continue to wish that Enrico and Sadie find each other again.
Saturday, July 27 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. ET New York Marriott Marquis
Proceeds from book sales benefit ProLiteracy Worldwide, Literacy Partners and Literacy Assistance Center.
We look forward to having you at our event! Here are some things to know before you arrive:
This event is open to the public and is free of charge to attend.
You do not need to register to attend this event as a fan.
Since this is a fundraiser event for literacy organizations, attendees will not be allowed to bring books from home into the event. Plan to purchase books on-site.
We accept cash and major credit cards. We do not accept Apple Pay or checks.
I will not be at the signing, though I wish I was! I am starting my vacation in Maine and my flight leaves before the signing starts. I enthusiastically recommend going to the signing. I went to the 2012 literacy autographing in Anaheim, CA. It was one of the most thrilling moments of my life. I met amazing authors and I will always cherish those books and those memories.
I will be at the conference for the rest of it, so if you are also attending and want to meet up reach out and we’ll make sure to get together.
This is my first conference as an RWA member and I am so excited! It’s also my first time in New York.
Have you been to a conference this summer? Do you have one coming up? Tell me all about it!
Thanks for the time we spend together. It means so much more to share it with you!
Tasty new items in the store and a seasonal return, plus meal ideas that won’t keep you in front of a hot stove.
I love pairing a character from one of my Natural Gifts series with a food video. The character who would most like this shopping haul is Lucy from Desert Sunrise. She’s a career woman who doesn’t always have time to devote to healthy meals. Not to mention that she’s attracted the attention of the Sunny Skies Stables foreman and, shall we say, is spending as much time as she can with him? Wink.
Life is good for Lucy Shannon. Love will be too, when the man she knows is out there for her finally shows up. Until then she is going to enjoy herself. So what if her ex-fiancé tossed her heart into a blender? Years of therapy have put that in perspective.
Stan Spellman doesn’t think like her. Not in the least. Sure, life is good. He does what he loves every day, spends a pleasurable night with a woman when he wants to. Love? Happily ever after? He’s seen the rare occurrence of it. That’s as far as his thinking on the subject goes.
They’re both scheduled for a wake-up call that will change their lives forever, fulfilling dreams they never knew they had.
Lucy and Stan also made a recipe for dairy-free beer cheese soup, which you can find by clicking here.
I am old, I am ancient, my purpose is clear To give those who are needy a treasure so dear. They who come to my roots, touch my bark, stroke my leaves Find the soul of their lives if they but believe. When I call and you listen, your prize will be great If your heart remains open and you don’t hesitate. Do you yearn? Be you lonely? Is your time yet at hand? Reach for me and I’ll give to you. I’m yours to command. For your trust, for your faith, keep my secrets untold And I’ll gift you forever, to have and to hold.
An ancient legend spanning eras, continents, and worlds. To some, it’s nothing more than a dream. To others, a pretty fairy tale handed down through the generations.
For those in critical need of their own happy ending, a gift.
For sheltered Lily Kiers, it’s all too real. Her escape from danger, straight into the arms of her destiny.
Thrust into a realm made of fantasy and unbridled passion, Lily faces violent resentment and jealousy from extremely powerful enemies. Amidst fierce creatures whose very existence defy all common sense, Lily pieces together a past she could never have imagined.
Claimed by Kord, Prince of Battle Draconian, their love will not be denied, even as malevolent forces plot to rip them apart.
For college senior and hippie wannabe Rosemary—Rose for short—a teaching job is within her grasp, but she wants more. She wants love, the kind of love that has bound her parents for so many years. When she’s dumped by her current boyfriend because her morals can’t bring her to give in to free love, she finds herself at Woodstock in the middle of the biggest free-love, music festival of the Sixties. Alone, again. Until a magical tree grants her wish and she finds the man of her dreams—and loses him before she really knows who he is.
Dakota meets the girl of his dreams at Woodstock, but a jealous wannabe girlfriend drives them apart before he can discover Rose’s last name and where she comes from. After he sees a disappearing tree that promises him true love, a frantic search to find Rose comes up empty-handed.
Magic and music brings them together at Woodstock in 1969. Misunderstandings tear them apart. Will two flower children find one another again, or live with missed opportunities?
Zana Starchild is on a mission to restore her tribe’s livestock and save herself from one more meal of kelp. Sure, it’s technically illegal to visit Old Earth, but to a rim rat like Zana, galactic laws are really just guidelines. Her wrecked starship just means she’ll need to use her backup plan to get off the abandoned world, an old Earth legend her uncle passed down to her.
Pulled from a relaxing shower, across the galaxy to Old Earth, Galactic Marshall Kyle Kepler finds himself naked and marooned with a quirky rim rat. Zana’s broken more laws than Kyle can count, and he plans to arrest her, just as soon as he can find transport off the planet and a pair of pants.
A junk heap of a starship, a magical tree, and a roving gang of mutant kangaroos are just the beginning of rollicking intergalactic journey filled with laughs, love, and adventure.
Jack Billabard, mourning the loss of his wife and baby in childbirth, vows to never to love again. After their funeral at Fort Laramie, he rides into the Wyoming hills beyond the ranch he built for his wife. Through his grieving tears, an ancient tree appears, giving him the hope he doesn’t believe is possible. For the next four years, he acts as a guide on the Oregon Trail, taking families to a new life while his looms lonely and stagnant.
The night before her abusive husband’s death, an ancient tree appears in Sarah Nickelson’s yard as she agonizes over how to survive her marriage. The tree gives her hope she can’t help but reject. After all, a tree doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. After her husband ‘s death, and with no options as a widow in Independence, Missouri, Sarah decides to travel to Oregon City as a Mail Order Bride.
During their trek west on the Oregon Trail, Jack and Sarah encounter one another, each afraid of being hurt again. Can they survive dogs and puppies, wind and rainstorms, Indians and unfavorable fellow passengers, while their love blossoms? Will the tree fulfill its promise?
Widower Mark Cage is rusty at relationships. He owns the micro-brewery that supplies the restaurant and bar at St. Augustine’s premiere spa resort, Essence, with its award winning local craft beer. And he’s been focused on building his business and raising his teenage daughter ever since his wife died ten years ago. Nothing else.
When he runs into a sweet kindergarten teacher who is vacationing in St. Augustine and staying at Essence everything changes. A sudden, inexplicable encounter with a mystical tree known for its legend of bringing lovers together, convinces Mark the schoolteacher is his destined match. However, his encounters are disastrous.
His only hope of persuading the woman he wants to even consider a date with him is working with Essence’s on-site relationship guru, Athena Sullivan. A reknowned relationship coach, Athena is the opposite of everything Mark wants in a woman. She’s feisty, independent, and challenges him at every turn. Sparks fly between the two from their first meeting and flare into a blazing inferno as Athena helps him navigate the dating scene.
After a series of too-perfect, mis-queued dates, Mark realizes maybe the woman of his dreams is not a sweet schoolteacher after all. Maybe she’s a feisty, independent, sexy relationship coach who stands up to him and is everything he’s always wanted or needed in a woman.
If he opens himself up to true love, he might just find second chances at love are possible and that his perfect soul mate is closer than he thinks.
Two souls entangled in an eternal echo of true love…
Rowan and James have been drawn together in every existence since the beginning of time. But love’s sweet promise is cut short after an unthinkable tragedy strikes two young families, shattering the bond in this lifetime.
Is love stronger than death? Can Rowan and James find another way to each other? Against all odds, a forgotten promise is remembered and kept, reuniting two souls destined to be together.
Sometimes you want to die, but it’s not meant to be. Vincent became a vampire in 1847. He fights to keep humans safe from rogue vampires, but can never find love. One thing makes him go on and not find a way to die. The Soul Mate Tree saved his life with its shade and showed him a woman in the future who would need his help and show him love. He could be more than the bloodsucker he had become.
In 2015, Adele is a vampire hunter by night and a photographer by day. She has never allowed love into her life as it would only complicate things. Then she meets Vincent, and the attraction is instant.
Vincent must try and convince Adele to love him while they both fight off rogue vampires?
How will she cope when she realizes the man she has fallen in love with, is what she has been trained to kill.
Respectable Lady Katherine Baxton, striving to meet the requirements of her station, has become the ultimate dutiful daughter. And now, the Duke of Blackthorn’s betrothed. Far from a love match, Kate is nevertheless determined to do as expected and marry.
That all changes the night she panics at her impending future and runs, stumbling upon a private grove, a mysterious tree. . . and a half-naked man.
The youngest son of a viscount widely thought to have purchased his title, Jackson Cooper demonstrates his disdain for the aristocracy by affording himself every luxury available—drinking, wenching, and gambling—while eschewing anything representing the ton. Jackson has little care for his reputation and no desire to marry. His escape from London is all but complete.
Until fate—in the form of a beautiful, mysterious lady—interrupts his plans, enticing him with the very thing he never wanted.
Former Navy SEAL Sebastian “Bash” Lockard died in Afghanistan after leaping on a grenade to save his comrades. Little did he know his act of heroism would grant him a ticket into Heaven’s elite army as one of the few and powerful Archangels. Struggling with his new existence, Bash still retains his human memories, leaving behind a wife he loves with all of his heart. Although he’s forbidden to see her, he can’t resist her lure, or the mortal desires he harbors for her.
As a young widow and nurse, Irene Lockard still mourns her husband two years after his untimely death. His absence is everywhere, and when her best friend weds, she hits an emotional rock bottom. As if summoned from the skies above, Sebastian appears before her, and they share an unforgettable night. But when he once again vanishes, she wonders if she’s truly gone mad with grief.
The only way Sebastian can remain with Irene is if he makes the ultimate sacrifice. But will she overcome her fear of losing him again to another war?
Dottie thought she had it all: a successful singing career, a handsome fiancé, and a starlet’s wardrobe. Sudden betrayal brought it all crashing down around her. Those she trusted most played her as nothing more than a pawn. One misstep while fleeing the scene trapped her in another world alone, save a mysterious visitor.
Guatimozin, an eagle shifter, has spent ages assisting people through the realm between life and death, leading them to join loved ones on either side. No one had ever made him want anything for himself until he discovered this city girl.
Forces plot against them and time is short. Soon, their chance for a happily ever after will be too late.
Healed from her own loss, Juliana Hopkins wants nothing more than to mend reclusive artist Aidan Byrne’s heart, and help close a chapter in his life that has haunted him for over twenty years. Risking their newfound love, Juliana is determined to release the ghosts he can’t let go.
Aidan has been in love with Juliana since the first moment he saw her, but if she can’t leave the tragedies of his past alone, he won’t be able to make a life with her.
She offers him a love he never dared to want, but loving her could rip open all the old wounds he’d never been able to heal.
Faith Kometo cleans out the church coffers of a quaint village, flees on foot from pitchfork-wielding townsfolk, and ends up entangled in the veil between parallel worlds by a primordial spirit with Hayden Cox, an elite scout with the Order of Hunters, hot on her trail.
It’s taken Hayden two years and three timelines to trap his gargouille prey—a member of the Kometo clan. Now that he has his target in hand, he’ll stop at nothing to unearth the truth behind the order, genocide, and love’s pull.
Sprouts Farmers Markets brought out 11 new chip varieties! I chose the ones that are gluten-free and plant-based because I feel best when I eat that way. I purchased all the chips and am not affiliated with Sprouts other than as an appreciative shopper. My opinions are my own.
I had a great time trying these chips and sharing my thoughts with you. If you’re looking for more gluten-free, non-dairy snacks I have an Urthbox Unboxing Video that will show you more. Lots of variety there!
Now that you have plenty of snacks here’s a fantasy romance that foodies will enjoy. It’s Jason and Lina’s story in No Yesterdays. He would heartily approve of the chips in the video because he doesn’t have the time or the patience for cooking.
No Yesterdays is about four couples.
Brittany has shy down to an art. Maybe she needs a push. It’s been years already!
Jack is stubborn personified. Push, push, push.
Jason is having the time of his life in college. All those beautiful women. Ha ha. Not the plan.
Rowan is convinced that his soulmate didn’t incarnate with him in this lifetime. Surprise!
Forget slow and steady, fate has plans for these four couples!
This slightly more sophisticated version of a no-bake cookie is a perfect treat to make this summer. Any cookie I can hold in one hand while I hold a book in the other is already a winner. Add peanut butter and oats and it is on!
Ingredients:
12 pitted dates
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1 tablespoon reduced-fat peanut butter
Materials:
Measuring cup
Measuring spoon
Food processor/chopping blade
SpatulaSmall mixing bowl
Waxed paper
Heart-shaped cookie cutter or sharp knife
Directions:
1. Place the dates in food processor fitted with the chopping blade. Process until the dates are very finely chopped and stick together.
2. With a spatula, transfer to a small mixing bowl. Add the oats and peanut butter. Using your hands mix well.
3. Divide the mixture into 4 equal amounts.
Shape each into a ball. Place one ball between two sheets of waxed paper. Flatten the ball to a 3″-diameter cookie. Repeat with each ball.
Remove waxed paper and cut out a heart using heart-shaped cookie cutter or a knife.
With remaining cookie dough repeat process of rolling into balls and flattening in between waxed paper.
Serve immediately or return to waxed paper and store in an airtight plastic container. Refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Makes 4-6 cookies depending on shape of cookie cutter.
The Dreaming is a fantasy romance about a celebrity cookbook author and a rancher who find out they’re sharing seriously interesting dreams. If you’re into psychic love check it out.
Anyone who has ever been unhappily unemployed – even for a short time – can testify to the damaging array of emotions that come with that particular package. So much of who we are is wrapped up in what we do.
After I aged out of TV reporting, I often found myself lerry of running into acquaintances: the thought of addressing my lack of a fulltime job enough to make me queasy.
When the Great Recession hit in 2008, a financial meltdown that saw the nation’s unemployment rate rocket to 10%, there were so many unemployed people that support groups were formed. The unemployed could meet and chat and prop one another up amidst their hunt for a paycheck. Being on an extended job search became so common that, I’d like to think, the stigma of unemployment vanished to a certain extent.
When I was without work, there was no one with whom to share my pain. Still married at the time, my now ex was frustrated that I no longer brought home a big paycheck. I spent my days alone while the world went on without me. I was left wallowing in my own self-pity, which, as anyone who has ever lingered in that neighborhood can tell you, can become an awfully lonely outpost.
One afternoon, I returned home from yet another “thanks, but no thanks” interview, this time with a sports bar manager who had not too subtly appraised my buxomness quotient, multiplied it by my age, and deemed me unworthy, despite my skills with a shaker, my ability to pour a perfect shot every time, and in-depth knowledge of sports that would have kept even sober patrons entertained.
Shortly after that, I found a phone message from a temp agency. They’d gotten me a gig working on the assembly line at a Revlon plant in South Phoenix. I was to report early the next morning.
Now, I had always thought I was a tough girl. But I must be honest here. As I pictured myself Lucy-like – product slipping by on a conveyer belt too fast to handle – I cried. And, unlike that famous red head, I wouldn’t be able to eat my way out of the problem.
Full-time employment would evade me for several years, a time during which the only thing that sustained me was a skill that I had always considered just a means to an end. The fact that officiating amateur sports – an avocation I practiced in order to get my foot in the door in the sports-reporting business – would put food on my table was something I had never considered. And yet, it was the one place that felt normal, that I still had some semblance of control. The one place I felt like me.
The only place I felt comfortable those years I was without a fulltime job was on the field, especially with my longtime baseball umpiring partner Don Clarkson.
There was a rhythm to my world on the field that, no matter what was happening outside those lines, remained constant. Perhaps it was the need for punctuality, the ritual of donning the uniform, or the customary procedures in regard to game management. Maybe it was the camaraderie: players, coaches, fans, and fellow officials all involved in an endeavor that mattered to them. Or maybe it was that feeling after the game – whether the contest went smoothly or not – that I had done my best and learned from my mistakes.
As a Vietnam veteran and former Special Forces sniper descends into the throes of mental illness, he latches onto a lonely pregnant teenager and a group of Pentecostal zealots – the Children of Light – who have been waiting over thirty years in the Arizona desert for Armageddon. When the Amtrak Sunset Limited, a passenger train en route to Los Angeles, is derailed in their midst in a deadly act of sabotage, their lives are thrown into turmoil. As the search for the saboteurs heats up, the authorities uncover more questions than answers. And then the girl vanishes. As the sniper struggles to maintain his sanity, a child is about to be born in the wilderness.
I had so many mixed emotions as I recorded and put together the finale. No more voicing Ariel, Hilda or Hagrid. No more Pat The Cat. What a strange thought after writing this story years ago for a short story competition and deciding to go for it and have fun seeing what it would be like to make a short story video series out of it. Thirteen parts later we are at the finale.
Thank you to those who have been with me since part 1. It means everything to share this adventure with you.
“Saving It All,” is a second-chance-at-love dystopian sci-fi romance video short story series.
It’s
not looking good for Ariel and Hagrid’s marriage and that’s bad news for
everyone because the all mentioned in the title is humanity.
It’s
freaky in a good way.
Why
did I turn a short story into a video series? I did it for love. The love of writing
and making videos.
I
bet it won’t surprise you to know that I grew up watching Twilight Zone and
Outer Limits. There were episodes that touched on romance, but they weren’t the
focus of the story. I want more romance with my sci-fi, and that’s part of how
this story came about. The rest of it came from my muse who asked, “What would
happen if…?” The answers included alternate timelines, testing the strained
bond between the couple, and a life lesson we can all identify with.
Are you reading an interesting sci-fi romance? Tell me about your favorites so I can check them out. I’m always up for an enthralling tale.
I’ll end with links to my latest fantasy romance book and where you can find me on the internet.
www.ginabriganti.com 