TO BE OR NOT TO BE RELEASED IN MAY!

 Okay, here I am again, wavering on when my next novel, Someone Like Them, will be released.  I'm on the last editing of the book to make sure that I release the best quality product possible.  My efforts in getting the book out have been interupted by my other writing passion, playwriting.  Over this pass year I've won quite a few playwriting contest.  My work has been selected as finalist or semi-finalist  in even more contest, and I've been deeply involved in the future production of yet another one of my plays.  All of this has taken time away from the promotion of the release of Someone Like Them, and when you 're in this business promotion is a must!

Then, lo and behold, the chance of a lifetime has popped up with my latest play contest win.  I won the right to control the full production of my work and will be provided the budget to do so.  What was already limited time will now become even more limited time to promote my book, not that I'm complaining.  My love for what I do and my gratitude for the writing talent that God has bestowed on me is endless.  Meanwhile, I'm still not sure whether I'll delay the release of Someone Like Them until June.  Actually, one more month is no big deal.  We'll see.

Whatever the case, below is the Prologue to Someone Like Them.  Enjoy!

PROLOGUE

Wanda stood bathed in the glare of the brilliant spotlight with tears streaming down her face.  The audience was singing a love song, just for her. 

Should auld acquaintance be forgot… 

How could it ever be? 

And never brought to mind? 

Not brought to mind?  That was impossible.   

Should auld acquaintance be forgot… 

This was the end.

And auld lang syne?

This was her last performance.   

For auld lang syne, my friend… 

The most important people in her life were beyond those lights.  Her mother, Faith, her younger sisters Melanie and Jolene, her granddaughters, Raven and Racine…  

For auld lang syne, 

And her beloved godmother, Miss Emma. 

We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet, 

Yes, everyone she loved was present, except the ones she loved beyond comprehension—her children. 

For auld lang syne. 

The song filling the Broadway theatre morphed into a chant in celebration of Wanda Carson’s extraordinary rise to stardom.

Lady C!  Lady C! Lady C! 

Standing center stage, a vision in gold, bathed in the spotlight, Wanda accepted the adulation and deafening applause.  Torrents of tears smeared her glittering makeup.  No one would have guessed that they weren’t tears of joy.

For the past eighteen months, she stood on this stage, singing her heart out.  Every song that she sang was for her children.  Every tear that she shed, past and present, onstage and off, was for the three of them. 

The curtain came down.  The spotlight faded.  The last performance was over.  Or was it just beginning? 

COMING IN MAY, 2021 -SOMEONE LIKE THEM

 

Here is the cover for the book that it seems as though I've been working on forever.  SOMEONE LIKE THEM is the last book in the Stillwaters Series.  Each of the books in this series follows the lives of three sisters caught in life circumstances that appear difficult to overcome, but they manage to perserve.  This last story belongs to the oldest of the sisters, Wanda Carson, who succeeds beyond any expectations that she may have had in life.  Yet, she finds that despite wealth and fame, life can still throw curve balls.  Below is the blurb for SOMEONE LIKE THEM.    

Lady C is a superstar!  The Grammy winning diva is the toast of Broadway, and will soon grace the silver screen.  She is on her way to becoming an entertainment legend, but in the real world she is WANDA CARSON, single, mother of three, and the legal guardian of her two grandchildren by her wayward daughter.  Having been poverty-stricken most of her life, Wanda has overcome many obstacles.  Yet, wealth and fame doesn’t mean that she has it all.  Not only is she estranged from her daughter, whose whereabouts is unknown, Wanda’s life is threatened by a dangerous man.  

Plagued by fears and filled with insecurities, Wanda goes into hiding, where the last thing she expected was to meet a man.  A victim of abuse in past relationships, DONALD CHAPMAN turns out to a complete surprise.  A giant of a man, he is kind, thoughtful and intelligent.  The friendship she forms with him changes her perspective in life.  Yet, just as unexpectedly another man enters the picture with a plan that could disrupt Wanda’s entire world.

FREE BOOKS DURING READ AN EBOOK WEEK!

FREE ebooks are back again at Smashwords.com.  For the week of MARCH 7-14th, Smashwords will be offering designated eBooks free on its website and two of my books are included.

In the Sin Series, you can get SWEET SACRIFICE for FREE, and in the Grandmothers, Incorporated cozy mystery series that I co-write with fellow author/playwright, L. Barnett Evans, our book, SAVING SIN CITY, can be gotten for FREE.  The other novels in the Sin Series and the Grandmother, Incorporated Series are on sale during this week. 

Take advantage of this special if you're looking for romance and laughs.    

BACK AGAIN and HOPEFULLY BETTER THAN EVER

I missed  the January 2021 post because I wasn't sure I wanted to continue this blog.  I've been so busy writing during the pandemic that the extra time it takes to attend to this blog hasn't always been there,  but then I thought, what the hell.  Some of my readers actually look at my blog.  So, I'll see if I can maintain it another year.

In 2020, I've been blogging about writing my latest Stillwaters series book, Someone Like Them.  I finished the book, and then sent it to the best editor I've had in a long time for her review.  To make a long story short, I have some work to do on Someone Like Them because I don't want to make the mistakes I've made in the past--and believe there have been many.  

In sending my two former Stillwaters series books, Someone Like Me and Someone Like You to the new editor, she found mistakes that had been overlooked in both those books, and I was truly embarassed that those books were released with too many errors.  There is nothing I can do but take full responsibility, go back, fix those mistakes and release the books again on Amazon.com and Smashwords.com.  I am in the process of doing that now.   So, those of you who may have read these two books that had such blatant errors, I apologize.  

I take pride in being a good writer, and I should have been paying more attention.  I'll do my best not to let that happen again.  

THE END OF THE ROAD

I've been writing this blog since 2012, and I think I've come to the end of the road on this site.  How I've managed to keep up amazes me,  especially in 2020.  This is the year that the pandemic seems to have put me on what I call creative crack.  My creativity has soared.  I finished  Someone Like Them a romantic suspense novel, (or is it Women's Fiction , I'm not sure anymore.)   I finished writing a mystery novel with my writing partner, L. Barnett Evans.  I also started two new novels.  One is a historical mystery and the other one is general fiction with political and social overtones.  Plus, earlier this year I wrote a play titled Ebony Eagles, the third work in a trilogy of plays I started in 2017.  All three plays have won or been finalists in  national play festivals.  I wrote Ebony Eagles in March 2020 and the play has been a finalist in two festivals and has won a third. I couldn't be happier with those results.  It has been quite a year.  However, I think it's time to find a new name for this blog, a new direction since I'm expanding my writing muscles, and probably a new blog platform. 

In 2021 Someone Like Them should be released, and if we can find an agent, hopefully, the thriller Retribution, written by L. Barnett  Evans and me, should be released by 2022.  In addition, I was the recipient of a prestigious award from my local Arts Council to indulge in a creative endeavor that will keep me on the road for a while.  So, I'm not sure if I'm going to keep up this blog or start a new one.  I have yet to decide.  Meanwhile I do have a website which I would like readers to visit:  www.crystalrhodes.com.  

I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year.  s we all know, the year 2020 has been one for the ages.      

A NEW COURSE OR THE SAME OLD DIRECTION

 I love to write and at times I admit that I overdo it.  Right now I'm doing the 5th edit of my romantic suspense/women's lit novel, SOMEONE LIKE THEM, which I've been writing about all year and have yet to deliver (but it's coming).  I'm doing edits on one of my old romantic suspense novels, SMALL SENSATIONS, for re-release in the future.  I'm working on completing the edits on a thriller co-written with my writing partner, L. Barnette Evans, from the Grandmothers, Incorporated cozy mystery series.  I'm turning one of my plays into a general fiction novel, which is easier than I thought it would be.  I'm busy entering my latest full-length play, Ebony Eagles, in playwriting contests and I recently received word that it is a finalist in one of the competitions.  On top of this I've also committed myself to writing a brand new play for one organization and working with a theatre to set up a reading of another play. Those two things happen if I win monies from two different arts organizations.  Yeah, I'm overextending myself, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  

The other day I received information about an on-line book app that specializes in hooking readers up with romance novels.  Of course I had to look into it.  I liked with I saw and now I'm considering re-releasing some of my former novels, SIN, SWEET SACRIFICE and SINFUL INTENTIONS, among others, on that app--with rewrites and updates of course.  At times it seems that although I'm setting a brand new course for myself as a writer in some areas, I'm still steeped in the same old direction in others.  Oh, well!  That's my life, and I LOVE IT!  

   

FINDING MY WRITING STRIDE

My last blog stated how I was on my fourth edit of my next novel,  Someone Like Them.  Well, scratch that, I am now on my fifth edit and counting.  I've agonized on why this book is taking me so long to get right.  Why have I not been satisfied by the main character in this book.  The personalities for the protagonists in my other novels came so easily.  Eventually, it came to me.  The protagonists in Someone Like Them started out weak, and I cannot write about weak women, mainly because I don't know any.  I was raised by strong, competent, independent women who taught me to be a strong, competent, independent woman, and that's what I write about.  In Someone Like Them I was trying to create a character I really didn't know.  Thank goodness I've finally discovered who she is, and no matter how long it takes, Wanda Carson is going to shed her light brightly in Someone Like Them.

Meanwhile, for those writers of color who might be looking for a writing community to join, I would like to suggest  Crime Writers of Color (CWOC).  Most of its members write crime and mystery novels, which I write with the co-author of our Grandmothers, Incorporated cozy mystery novels.   However, I do believe that there are some writers who are members of the group who don't write mysteries.  Nevertheless, I think it is a group worth exploring.   I stumbled on CWOC by accident a few months ago.  I find the members to be very supportive of each other and the information they share is very helpful.  I've attended a few panels and workshops that the group has held via Zoom and I've been very pleased with the results.  It cost nothing to join the group.  Simply put Crime Writers of Color in the Google search engine.  The name should come up and you can read about them.   If you're interested, follow the directions regarding how you can become a member.    

 Until next time...