Linda Barrett, National Bestselling Romance Author

CELEBRATE! – A five story anthology plus a novella about holidays we celebrate throughout the year. All written by authors of On Fire Fiction.

I feel like I’m hosting a party, introducing people who I know will turn out to enjoy each other’s company. At least in the world of books. Wonderful authors matched with enthisastic readers. That’s what I call a party. Of course, it used to be called a book signing…but I think that’s evolved to its electronic versions–blogs and other social media. To me, it’s all good as long as writers and readers connect.

It’s time to connect with Dee Davis who’s favorite genre is romantic suspense. She’s written lots of them. Has won awards for them. Somehow, she figured out how to combine a thriller with holiday good times. With a little inspiration from one of her favorite movies, Die Hard, she managed to combine loss and hope…and a killer. Dee is the author of our stand-alone holiday novella, Still of the Night..

In another life, Dee would choose to be a rock singer, an actress or a winery owner. Hmm..is there a theme here. Maybe creativity? She loves anthologies because she usually gets to know authors who are new to her, stories she can read in an hour or so. “I’ve found amazing hew authors and worked to find copies of old anthologies with stories from authors I already loved.”

I agree with Dee. I view an anthology as a schmorgasbord of stories and authors. You can taste a little from everyone at the party. Dee Davis is part of the On Fire Fiction group of authors, but her holiday story stands on it’s own as a separate publication. Here’s a taste of Dee’s novella:

STORY TITLE: Still of the Night

FIRST LINE: “I’ll be home for Christmas…” Judy Garland crooned in surround-sound, and Jenny Fitzgerald resisted the urge to throw something.

Oh-oh. I think Jenny’s world is upside down. That’s a huge reaction to the words home and Christmas, the opposite emotions of what those words usually generate. Maybe she’s getting divorced. Maybe she lost her job. Maybe…maybe…maybe… Maybe she’d being blackmailed. I want to know more! A good first line.

We’re going to wind up this series next time with my own contribution to CELEBRATE!. As always, thank you so much for stopping by. I hope to see you for the next edition of Starting Over.

POST A COMMENT AND YOUR NAME WILL BE ENTERED INTO MY AUGUST CONTEST. THE PRIZES ARE A CHOICE OF ONE OF THE SELECTIONS BELOW AS WELL AS A $25 GIFT CERTIFICATE AT EITHER AMAZON OR BN. YOUR CHOICE!

I’m starting over in a new home.

Last year, Mike and I moved to an “active” retirement community in Florida. We discovered that we’re not 55 and older. We’re 55 and better. We discovered that almost half the residents are still working-many full-time. A line of cars leaves every morning and returns at night. The rest of the community is so busy, busy, busy. Who has time to retire?

I sure don’t. With a clean bill of health, I’m back to writing, writing, writing. Because that’s what I do. That’s what I enjoy. Which is the answer Neil Diamond gave when asked why he was still traveling around the country giving concerts. “Because singing is what I do.” He loves his work just as I love mine. I attended one of his concerts a few years ago in Houston, and for a few hours forgot all my troubles as Sweet Caroline, Forever in Blue Jean and so many other favorites filled the air. I thought Diamond’s voice was better than ever. He gave a hundred and ten percent of himself to the audience that night. I’ll remember that concert for a long time.

Just as Neil Diamond’s goal may be to entertain audiences, my goal is to offer an emotional story with characters you’ll care about and remember after the last page is turned. I hope my writing improves with every book. I also understand, however, that I won’t please everyone all of the time. And that’s okay as long as I write the very best story I can.

I’m starting over in a new genre, extending my reach into women’s fiction or some might say plan old general fiction. <Sigh> Categorizing books these days seems to be almost as challenging as writing them! However, I love the stories of Jodi Picoult, Barbara O’Neal, Emily Giffin, Barbara Delinsky, Elizabeth Berg and so many other wonderful writers–and I don’t worry about how to categorize them. I just read them!

Family Interrupted is my first novel of this type and I intend to write more of these bigger stories with satisfying endings. However, I’ll also continue in the romance genre because I love writing a ‘happily ever after’ ending as well. Isn’t that what we all want in real life?

Have you read any books recently that are lingering in your mind? Tell us about them in the comment section below. Book lovers are always looking for another great read. I just finished reading “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein. I loved it. Clever, emotional, so warm and wise. And my book club is discussing it this week. Can’t wait for that.

See you next time,

Linda

P.S. Almost Forgot!! CONTEST!! You have a chance to win a copy of Family Interrupted or a copy of any of my backlist books just by leaving a comment. I’ll pick a winner at the end of the month.

Tag Archives: reading

Starting Over ~ Meet the Authors of CELEBRATE!

Writing is What I Do…