Starting Over ~ Friends and Writers Celebrate!

“That’s what friends are for…”  

Can you hear Dionne Warwick’s voice in your head?  In good times, in bad times…at all times, and at all ages and stages of life, I find myself making new friends while maintaining the old. New folks enter into our lives at work or in our neighborhood, in a classroom or when pursuing a common dream. In my case, in pursuit of the writing dream.

I received “the call” in May 2000. A phone call from an editor with an offer to buy my manuscript, Love, Money and Amanda Shaw, which turned out to be my very first published work.  After talking to me about the manuscript, my new editor’s next big question was, “Are you attending Romance Writers of America’s conference in Washington D.C. this summer?”  This particular conference is the big kahuna of conferences for those of us pursuing a professional career in the romance genre.

“I hadn’t planned on it,” I replied, “but I will now!”  When I hung up the phone, I bought a ticket–in fact, two tickets–to D.C. Mike wanted to go, and my son drove down from NY to meet us at the hotel. A great idea. He kept my dh busy the entire time I was busy.

One year earlier, author Debra Salonen received the call from the same

publisher, in fact, from the same editor who’d made an offer to buy her manuscript. Debra accepted, and this conference was Deb’s first one, too. We both wrote for the Harlequin Superromance line and met each other in person through our mutual editor. I have a picture of us together that summer under which I wrote: Debra Salonen, a new friend who also writes for Superromance. She’s 2 books ahead of me! 

From that conference and others, I met Barbara McMahon, Karen Sandler and Rogenna Brewer – all creating stories not only for the Superromance line, but for other Harlequin imprints as well. We reconnected regularly at other RWA events. Some of us also joined Novelists, Inc. and attended their conferences, too. We talked business and had a lot of fun while doing it. And then came the Internet. Whee! Nothing can separate us now.

 

 

 

 

After more than ten years of friendship, it seemed natural for us to dive into some projects together when we decided to Indie authors. Now we write and publish books on our own. And thus, the Celebrate! anthology was born. I knew it would be a pleasure to work with these gals. And it was. Here’s what you need to know about this anthology:

TODAY is the release day!

Celebrate! Five heartwarming stories celebrating the sweet gift of romance on Mother’s Day, the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas with five of your favorite authors: Linda Barrett, Rogenna Brewer, Barbara McMahon, Karen Sandler and Debra Salonen.

Celebrate! is available for $2.99 at all venues where electronic books are sold: Amazon, BN, Kobo, Smashwords.

These women have become more than simply writing friends. They have become friends of the heart. And I think that’s the secret for staving off loneliness throughout life. If your heart is open, new friends are invited in.

As always, thank you so much for stopping by. I hope to see you at the next edition of Starting Over.

 

OCTOBER CONTEST:  Two winners in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Post a comment and your name will be entered into a drawing for two of the books shown below and a $25 gift certificate to either Amazon or BN.  Your choice!

[Authors Jean Brashear, Dee Davis and Day Leclaire are other friends I’ve made through the years. We’re all part of On Fire Fiction, a group of award winning authors who’ve come together to support each other–the way friends do! I’m happy to offer their books as prizes here.]