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Men in Uniform: A Tribute … Electronic Release Just in Time for Veteran’s Day!

November 11, 2011 By 1 Comment

Lightning Always Strikes Twice by Patricia Marie Warren

Wyatt Richmond has been appearing in her life just when she needs rescuing. Now it is U.S. Marine Captain Audrey Justice’s turn to be the rescuer. It’s a matter of life or death and Audrey must use all her skills as a JAG officer and a woman to save her combat Marine from a court martial and himself.

 

Digital Release, November 11, 2011 … Print Release, November 21, 2011

I can’t describe the excitement I had, from a writer’s perspective, when an editor for Turquoise Morning Press extended an invitation for me to submit a story for the “in-house only” anthology, Men in Uniform: A Tribute. It is an honor for me to be included with these writers who work hard at perfecting the craft and weaving the art of writing romance.

From a personal perspective, this book is near and dear to my heart. I am the daughter of a retired United States Marine, SgtMaj Wayne A. Shelden, who served for 30 years. I am the wife of a retired United States Airman, SMSgt Steven T. Warren, who served for 22 years. And I am the mother of an active duty United States Marine, LCpl Steven R. Warren, currently serving and deployed in the big, ugly place. I am aunt and sister-in-law to more brave men who serve and have served.

My story is dedicated to these amazing members of my family and all those who serve – you are my heroes!

Audrey and Wyatt’s story is based on a true incident that happened during the Vietnam War to my father. There are circumstances that require our fighting forces to do things they could never imagine themselves doing during normal life. But there is nothing normal about war. I won’t spoil the story, but please be assured that I do not take lightly the seriousness of war or the effects it has on our fighting men and women both during and after they serve in war zones.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder affects more than just the warrior. Families can be torn apart. Our responsibility to our military reaches much farther than wearing red on Fridays. We must reach out and be a comfort to those who serve overseas and here at home. Please read here for more information.

I do wear red every Friday to show support for my son and all U.S. military serving worldwide. I take every opportunity to tell people why I wear red. Talking about our troops is the very minimum I can do. Praying is the most important.

More from the authors of Men in Uniform: A Tribute ….

Jennifer Johnson http://jennfrancesca.blogspot.com/

Margaret Ethridge http://www.margaretethridge.com/?page_id=54

Jennifer Anderson http://musingsfromthepeanutgallery.blogspot.com/

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Filed Under: Blog, Men in Uniform: A Tribute, PUBLISHED, Sharing the Writing Life, Today's Featured Story, Turquoise Morning Press

Kim Jacobs: Guiding Star at Turquoise Morning Press

May 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There is a fresh face in the publishing world, Kim Jacobs, owner of Turquoise Morning, LLC. Her dream come to reality company, Turquoise Morning Press is an exciting new option for authors looking to find a home for their work. I first met Kim at the KYOWA Dogwood Writers Conference in 2009. For a year and a half I knew her as romance author Maddie James. Her gracious enthusiasm was instrumental in me becoming more serious about my own writing.

When she launched Turquoise Morning Press last May at her Career Writers Network Workshop, I couldn’t have been more excited. Watching this endeavor grow into a viable business is no surprise to me. Our conversations throughout the last few years convinced me of her ability to take 30+ years in the writing and education worlds and develop a company that advocates for new writers and provides yet another platform of success for established authors.

One of the most appealing aspects of Turquoise Morning Press as a publishing house is that Kim has not limited the company to a single genre. TMP publishes everything from anthologies, fantasy, romance, and memoir to children’s, middle grade, and young adult books. She has assembled a cohesive team of editors whose skills are varied enough to assure each author gets personalized attention. It is a balanced package tied up neatly in one small press, something I think is unique to TMP.

I am working my way through the book lists at TMP collecting the ebook offerings in my favorite genres as well as purchasing the print books to go on my “author friends” bookshelf. The publishing world has been turned on its ear by the advent of digital book readers and Kim is wisely guiding Turquoise Morning Press to the forefront of small publishing houses by simultaneously releasing their offerings in both print and ebook formats. This is one company that I believe is destined to become a star!

 

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Filed Under: Kim Jacobs, Today's Featured Story, Turquoise Morning Press, Weekly Blog Recommendation Tagged With: , , , , ,

Publishing House Review Friday!

May 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Come back Friday to see who this week’s Blog Recommendation is…*hint* It’s a new small publishing house…and they are doing great!

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I am Looking for Blogs to Recommend…

March 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you have a blog you would like me to review, either your own or someone else’s, please send me an email to TypingOne-Handed@gmail.com. I am particularly interested in reviewing blogs that focus on the following topics:

  • Writing/Publishing
  • Healthy Cooking, especially for Celiac Disease and other nutritional health issues
  • Gardening
  • Frugal/Sustainable Living
  • Keeping Backyard/Suburban/Small Farm Livestock & Poultry
  • Help for Parents/Spouses of Military Members

Reviews post on Fridays.

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The Office of Letters and Light–NaNoWriMo, The Blog

November 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

For the entire month of November the Weekly Blog Recommendation will be The Office of Letters and Light for two reasons:

  1. It’s a funny and informative blog for National Novel Writing Month participants.
  2. I will be too busy all month writing a novel in 30 days to evaluate any other blogs.

I don’t exactly understand it, but this writing thing is addictive…especially when you throw in a competition, albeit a prizeless one. The only real reward for participants is the warm fuzzies we get from meeting daily, weekly, and ultimately, the monthly goal.

We’re all really friendly about the whole thing. We have Writing Buddies to join us in the fun. Except when I checked my Writing Buddies’ stats and saw one of them had totally blown me away with her word count, I sorta had a red haze descend over my eyes. I said, “The heck with dinner!” Then I grabbed a glass of water and pecked out 800 more words.

Whew! Now I can sit calmly and edit my writing. Oh, by the way…do this before you take your writing to critique group. Pecking out words in a red-haze-covered frenzy may leave you with red flaming cheeks after the group gets done with you. (Yep…I took my pre-edited manuscript pages. Ouch!)

Write On, friends! Don’t forget to check frequently throughout November with The Office of Letters and Light for inspiration or just a few chuckles.

**50,000 words, here I come!!**

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Filed Under: NaNoWriMo, The Office of Letters and Light, Weekly Blog Recommendation

Getting Your Write On with Author Terry Odell

September 14, 2010 By 6 Comments

It never fails to amaze me the wealth of knowledge available for free in the World Wide Web. As a writer constantly trying to hone my skills, I search for good tips and techniques often. Terry Odell is writer I’ve discovered through social networking, specifically on Twitter. Through her profile, I found her author’s website, featuring book information, and her blog, Terry’s Place. Terry is very diligent at putting new posts on her blog.

I had a bit of trouble figuring out her technique in each blog post (she has a feature that adds the name of the book she’s currently reading at the top of each post), but once I read more deeply I found a treasure-trove of great posts full of information I can use now or store later. She gives us a look into how she makes writing work her. One of her current posts, Don’t Ask Me for Blueprints, really spoke to me as an as-yet unpublished writer. She relayed that I don’t have to try to follow rigid plotting rules to write my book. I had already discovered that strict plotting doesn’t work for me. My idea of an outline is a few scene notes with hints as to the action contained in each. Then I just go with it. Terry seems to make that method work for her: “I move walls as I write. I don’t have an outline, much less a blueprint. Characters reveal back story as the story unfolds, and I go move some wiring.”

Some more great Tips & Techniques posts from Terry:

Those Pesky Overused Words – How to rid your work of repetitive words.

Get Off the Page – Importance of making your “voice” so soft-spoken the reader gets absorbed in your book.

Vague is OK – More on plotting, or non-plotting, as Terry calls it. Reminder to not get so bogged down in the details that the writing doesn’t get done.

Now I’ll let you go exploring Terry’s Place yourself. She has conveniently added categories to her posts so just pick a topic, click the category and see what she has for you.

Terry can also be found on the web at these locations:

Terry Odell: Romance with a Twist — of Mystery

Twitter: @authorterryo

Facebook: Terry Odell

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Filed Under: Terry Odell, Weekly Blog Recommendation

Author Elizabeth Spann Craig Has Web Presence

August 2, 2010 By 2 Comments

While making writer connections through Twitter I started following the Tweets of Author Elizabeth Spann Craig. Every day she posts links to interesting blog articles she finds that are helpful to writers. I tried keeping a list of the links she posts, but finally resorted to giving Elizabeth her own column on TweetDeck. Now I can visit the links at my leisure (as opposed to trying to read the articles when I should be writing).

Besides being a huge social media presence, Elizabeth also blogs at Mystery Writing is Murder. Here you will find very helpful articles articles Elizabeth has writing on the craft of writing. A quick perusal of her blog revealed these: Creating Lifelike Characters, Hooks, and a whole section called Developing Characters. Elizabeth is a frequent guest blogger on other blogs. Links to her posts for these blogs are listed on Murder Writing is Murder.

While reviewing Mystery Writing is Murder, I found a column she has titled Twitterific. In one tidy place, she lists all the links she has posted on Twitter for the past week. Her blog has a search feature so you can narrow your focus to the subjects that are pertinent to your current WIP needs. Nice!

I recommend that you follow Elizabeth’s blog in your favorite blog reader. I have installed Google Desktop with Google Reader on my laptop. Not that I need other distractions when I’m writing, but I like being able to take a break and read a new blog post without trying to search the web.

Get inspired during your coffee break with a visit to Mystery Writing is Murder. You can get information about Elizabeth’s books too: a little murder and mystery with a southern drawl.

Elizabeth can be found on Twitter: ElizabethSCraig and Facebook: Elizabeth Spann Craig Author.

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Filed Under: Elizabeth Spann Craig, Weekly Blog Recommendation

Visit my gal, Linda Crow, at 2nd Cup of Coffee

July 26, 2010 By 2 Comments

I’m launching my new Typing One-Handed section, a Weekly Blog Recommendation, today with a visit to 2nd Cup of Coffee. Linda Batt Crow is the author of one of my favorite places on the web. Before life got crazy last summer, 2nd Cup of Coffee was a regular stop on the web for me each day.

The first thing that attracted me was the catchy name. A coffee addict connoisseur myself, I couldn’t resist that first visit. I even made sure my cup was freshly filled while I read. Linda’s brand of humor is as alluring as her favorite drink is for we who are addicts connoisseurs.

Linda shares her life and interests so well, it’s like sitting at the table with your best friend and chatting away a free morning. Because she fills her posts with great photos and graphics that are relevant to the topic she’s addressing at the moment, you feel like she is sharing her family photo albums and home movies with you.

And Linda doesn’t keep all the attention on herself. She introduces you to her other girlfriends:

Linda occasionally sponsors “carnivals” on her blog. According to Wikipedia,”a blog carnival is a type of blog event. It is similar to a magazine, in that it is dedicated to a particular topic, and is published on a regular schedule, often weekly or monthly. Each edition of a blog carnival is in the form of a blog article that contains links to other blog articles on the particular topic.”

These are great ways for followers/friends of particular bloggers to get connected with each other. The first one I participated in was the Fall Into Flavor in October 2008. I enjoyed searching through my favorite Fall recipes and sharing them with the other participants. I copied every recipe from the other participants throughout the length of the carnival and put them together in a file for later use. I’ve actually even made a couple of them.

Linda has a two other locations on the blogosphere worth visiting as well:

Mocha with Linda is the location of Flashback Friday, a nostalgic (and sometimes downright hysterical) look at past fads, trends, or personal memories. Random Dozen is just what it sounds like: 12 random questions whose answers give you a bit deeper peek into one of the web’s funniest bloggers.

2nd Cup Columns is a collection of posts Linda has contributed to Internet Cafe Devotions, a website originally developed for Christian Women Online. Internet Cafe Devotions grew so popular that it merited a place of its own.

Linda’s style of relating life on her blogs makes 2nd Cup of Coffee a great place to refresh and recharge. Just be warned, reading her posts can lead to coffee/computer-related accidents. If you find yourself chuckling instead of just smiling, I advise you to put down your coffee before proceeding any further. I learned this the hard way, after spewing a nearly swallowed mouthful of delicious java all over my computer screen. Thankfully it was not my new laptop!

You can also find Linda on Facebook here.

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Filed Under: Linda Crow, Weekly Blog Recommendation