Author: Marcia

#ReblogAlert – This Week on Story Empire

/ Marcia / 8 Comments

It’s Friday again, and time for a recap of all the good stuff that was posted on Story Empire this week, in case you missed anything. 

MONDAY: Jan Sikes’s excellent post entitled Writing Organizations–The Good, The Bad, The Ugly is well worth a read. Check it out HERE.

WEDNESDAY: Ever think about revising any of your older books? Joan Hall brings up some very good points for you to consider in her post entitled Revising Published Work. Check it out HERE.

FRIDAY: Today, Mae Clair focuses on a very interesting topic. Her post, Don’t Cheat Your Readers, is one that really hit home with me. Check it out HERE.

And there you have it, Folks!
Another great week at Story Empire.

#ReblogAlert – Sally Cronin’s Smorgasbord Weekly RoundUp

/ Marcia / 8 Comments

Running a wee bit late this evening, but I hope you’ll excuse me. Been a busy, event-filled week. Still, I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if I didn’t share Sally’s latest Weekly RoundUp post. As usual, there’s something for everyone this week, and you’ll likely see a familiar face or two around her place. 🙂 Hope you’ll check it out, and won’t forget to pass it along far and wide. Thanks!

You can visit Sally’s Weekly Round Up Post HERE.

Happy Reading!

#ReblogAlert – This Week on #StoryEmpire

/ Marcia / 18 Comments

Running very behind here today, thanks to an enormously busy week, but no way can I let a Friday draw to a close without sharing this week’s post on Story Empire. Hope you’ll enjoy each one, and I’ll do my best to catch up, too. 

MONDAY:  Staci Troilo starts the week with a great post entitled How to Write A Red Herring, something that I have always been fascinated by. Check it out HERE.

WEDNESDAY: John W Howell has written a very interesting  post entitled A Little More About the Hierarchy of Needs. This is a pretty intriguing concept you can read more about HERE.

FRIDAY: Gwen Plano’s post today is entitled Accompanying the Writer, and deals with one of the reasons we choose to read the books we do. It’s also pretty interesting, and you can check it out HERE.

And there you have it, folks. 
Some interesting, entertaining, and informative posts
from the gang at Store Empire. Enjoy!

#TenThingsYouMayNotKnow – About Jeanne Owens

/ Marcia / 67 Comments

Please welcome today’s guest, Jeanne Owens, the first brave soul to share ten things about herself that you might not already know. Jeanne, I commend you for emailing me right away, and I’m happy to share your list with everyone. 

Ten Things You May Not Know About Me
by Jeanne Owens

1. I was born and raised in Virginia, and still live there.

2. My first time flying was when I went to Ireland in 2004 as part of a study abroad trip with a group from a local community college. I’d love to go back again someday.

3. I am interested in the paranormal, and have had a couple of odd experiences but I’m not sure if they were really paranormal or not.

4. I’m an amature photographer and love taking photos of nature and the moon.

5. I’m a bit of a geek, enjoying among other things: Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, anime, etc.

6. I dabble in reading tarot cards and have at least a dozen different decks.

7. I wrote my first “book” in high school. It was a Fantasy inspired by a Terry Brooks book. I’d written a little before then, but I think this was my first more serious attempt.

8. I am short of stature, coming in at mere 5’0” tall.

9. My mother named me after Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc).

10. My taste in music is rather eclectic. For example, I like Classical, Big Band, “Oldies”,
Country, Rock, Metal, Jazz, J-Pop and J-Rock.

~~~

Author Jeanne Owens

Jeanne Owens, a native of Virginia, is an avid reader and a fan of sci-fi/fantasy and anime. She is also an animal lover and supporter of animal charities. She has been writing for many years and has written numerous short stories. Kismet and Tell, the first in the Adventures in Sorcery series, is her first novel. Visit her website at http://jeanneowens.weebly.com to follow her on Facebook, Goodreads, Pinterest, and Tumblr, on Twitter @risscobalt, and to also follow her blog.

~~~

Jeanne’s Books: (Click cover to see on Amazon)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can reach Jeanne on Social Media Here:

Twitter: @risscobalt

Author website: http://jeanneowens.weebly.com

 

 

 

#GrannySays: Be Like the Rain Lilies

/ Marcia / 40 Comments

About ten years ago, Mark dug up a small  Zephyr Lily, also called a Rain Lily, from a big, weedy patch along a roadside ditch and brought it home for my garden.  Over the years, I’ve enjoyed the way the lily blooms after a rain, then often disappears completely. In fact, for the last two years or so, I figured it had finally died. No sign of stems or blooms in all those months. Then we had a monster thunderstorm Friday afternoon, and yesterday, I  saw a few stems popping up. This morning, I was greeted by the pale pink splendor of my rain lilies celebrating Friday’s downpour.  

Often the lilies will bloom within 24 hours of a rain, but I suspect they really had languished, and it took a bit longer to work their way to the surface this time. Still, they persevered, and I have gorgeous pink flowers now.

Oh, sure they’ll only last a day or two, but isn’t that what makes them special? That they wait patiently for rainy days, and then shoot straight up in a display of glory? That speaks to me, and I believe there’s a lesson to be learned from this little wildflower.

The lilies show me that with determination and the right attitude, we can face drought or monsoon, and still prevail.  I don’t know about you, but I feel empowered when I see the Miracle of the Rain Lilies. Over and over, throughout the seasons, it reminds me of what we can do once we decide on our course. It’s all in our mindset. We can prevail! 

~~~

Remember Folks:

 

#ReblogAlert – Smorgasbord Weekly RoundUp

/ Marcia / 10 Comments

What a fabulous week this was on Sally Cronin’s Smorgasbord! Her Weekly RoundUp post has enough going on to keep you busy until the NEXT one! So many great guests,  including some of my very favorite writers and bloggers! And the videos are wonderful, as usual. My favorite is the beautiful story behind the friendship of a beautiful parrot and a dog. (There’s a lesson in there somewhere, too.) Hope you’ll stop by and check it out. It’s well worth seeing for yourself!

You can visit Sally’s Smorgasbord Weekly RoundUp HERE.

#ReblogAlert – This Week on #StoryEmpire

/ Marcia / 9 Comments

It’s Friday, again, and that means time for a weekly recap of the great posts on Story Empire. I know you’ll enjoy checking each of these out.

MONDAY:  Harmony Kent sets the pace for this week with a post from her ongoing series entitled Don’t Talk Like That: Quotes and Paragraphs. You’ll learn a lot from this one! Check it out HERE.

WEDNESDAY: D. L. Finn gets Wednesday off to a great start with an interesting analogy on the writing process entitled Writing and Puzzles. What a fun post! Check it out HERE.

FRIDAY: Craig Boyack’s post today is entitled Case Study: Army of the Dead, and is a great object lesson in what NOT to do in our writing. You don’t have to be a zombie fan (I’m not) in order to see exactly what Craig means. Check his post out HERE.

And that’s it from Story Empire for this week. Do stop by and see for yourself just how informative and interesting these posts are. You’ll be glad you did.

Notes on the New #TenThingsYouMayNot Know Feature

/ Marcia / 35 Comments

Good Morning, Everybody! Happy Freya’s Day!

I’m pleased to report that folks are sending me their #TenThings lists already, and I’m busy scheduling them over the weeks ahead. I’m planning to run this feature a several times a month on days when nothing else is scheduled, and I hope it’s going to be as much fun as I think.

I do need to remind you all that this is more than just a fun way to get to know you  better. It’s also meant as one more way to introduce new readers to you and your work. So please remember to include the same “authorly” info you would for a #GuestDayTuesday post, or the like, namely:

*Your Book Cover Image(s), Author Photo, & any other appropriate images submitted as SEPARATE jpgs or pngs*

AND

A Word Document which contains the following:

  • Your Author Bio
  • Your Buy Links
  • Your Social Media links
  • Your Contact info

That way,  these lists will not only be a fun thing to share, but also a way to be sure folks know who you are and what you’ve written.

I’ve already received several lists (great stuff!) and will be scheduling them as they come in, first come, first scheduled. I’ll let you each know the date your post will go live, and will remind you again that day so you can plan to check it out and respond to comments. While this IS going to be about having some fun, it’s also still a great opportunity to promote your books, so I want to be sure you get to take advantage of that part, too.

Looking forward to hearing from you guys. No rush at all, as I think this series is going to be a keeper, so you can join in when your schedule allows time to do so. (You might go ahead and start jotting down things for your list, though, so you’ll be ready when you have time to get everything off to me.)

Oh, and for those of you who have been guests here in the past, I may already have all your promo info in your file, unless you have updates on new books or new photos, etc. But otherwise, do send me the things above along with your list.

Hope you are going to enjoy this as much as I am! Now … what don’t we know about YOU?