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.

A WRITER' S EBB AND FLOW

 It seems like I've been working forever on my latest novel, SOMEONE LIKE THEM .  This pandemic has heightened my creativity instead of lessen it.  I've been working on two books and a new play all at once, so getting my latest romantic suspense novel out has been slow since I'm doing so much.  However, I wouldn't do it any other way.  I'd get bored if I worked on one thing at a time.

I've made progress on each of my projects.  My latest play, Ebony Eagles, is finished, and I've entered it into several play contest.  I'm still working with my writing partner on our latest mystery novel, but  it's about to be completed very soon.  As for SOMEONE LIKE THEM, I'm on my third edit of this book. Each time it gets better and better, so I have no complaints.  I hoped to have the book out this year, but that may not happen.  I'd rather put a good book out there than a rushed book.  I want it to be a book that I am proud to have written.

Meanwhile, thanks to all of those people who went to Smashwords.com to get my books last month.  Two of them were free during the month of July, but there were a lot of sales of my other books as a result of readers liking the stories from my free books.    I really appreciate the support!         

SMASHWORDS SUMMER/WINTER SALE!

Smashwords.com is at it again.  The book site is holding another sale for all of the summer sun worshippers.  Of course I'm participating in this sale. Through the entire month of JULY, all of my ebooks at the Smashwords.com site are on sale for only $1.50 and THREE of my BOOKS are FREE:  SINFUL INTENTIONS, SWEET SACRIFICE and WHOSE KNIFE IS IT ANYWAY? 

SWEET SACRIFICE is the second book in the Sin Series, and it was nominated for an award by an on-line review site.  SINFUL INTENTIONS is the third book in the Sin Series and I have to say it is one of the best books that I've written.  It only took me three months to write it, and I didn't use an outline.  The words just came to me, flowing like a river.  I still don't know how I did it.  As for
WHOSE KNIFE IS IT ANYWAY? This is the latest cozy mystery novel in the Grandmothers, Incorporated series that I write with my writing partner, L. Barnett Evans. It's very funny.   So, go to Smashwords, pick an ebook, read and enjoy .

PRODUCTIVITY PLUS!

I've been so busy that I nearly missed this month's blog post. It seems that the pandemic is affecting different people different ways, and I'm one of those people who seems to be thriving while sheltering in place during this pandemic.  I've finished two books and a play!  The first draft of my third book in the Stillwaters Series, Someone Like Me, is finished and is now in the process of being edited.  It seems like I've been writing this book forever.  

My writing partner for the Grandmothers, Incorporated cozy mysteries, L. Barnett Evans,  and I have been busy writing a  new thriller that is very different then our usual work..  We've been working on this book since 2016 (can you believe it!) and we finally finished.   We're in the editing stage now.

 As for my playwriting, one of my One Act plays. won another play festival  (my third in four years).  It will be presented in Columbus, Ohio next year, that is if the pandemic is over.   During April and May of this year I made sure that all of my books were a part of the Authors Giving Back sale at Smashwords.com.  The sale was quire successful.  Thank you to the many readers who purchased my books.   

AUTHORS GIVING BACK SALE CONTINUES!

The authors on Smashwords.com continue to respond to the shelter in place directive that citizens are being asked to follow, and we are extending the  AUTHORS GIVE BACK sale that started in April.  Titles continue to be offered at 60% off through May 31, 2020! 

This means that all of my romance suspense titles in ebook format are only $1.20 on Smashwords.  The title that launched my career as an author SIN,  remains absolutely FREE during the entire month of  May!

In addition, through May 2020, the hilarious novel, There's Something Wrong with Miss Zelda,  one of the funniest titles in the Grandmothers, Incorporated cozy book series that I write with my writing partner, L. Barnett Evans, is being offered FREE on Smashwords this month!  All of the books in this series are also on sale.  Don't miss out on this opportunity to read a good book.

Go to Smashwords.com. CLICK on one of my titles, and ENJOY!   

AUTHORS GIVE BACK SALE!

In these precarious times when nearly everyone in the country is sheltering in place to protect each other from the virus that has overtaken our country, the authors on Smashwords are responding. We are offering 60% off our titles during the AUTHORS GIVE BACK Sale through the month of April, 2020. 

This means that all of my romance suspense titles in ebook format are only $1.20 on Smashwords.  To kick the book reading off,  the title that launched my career as an author SIN, is absolutely FREE during the entire month of April!

In addition, Whose Knife is it Anway?  the latest titled in the Grandmothers, Incorporated cozy book series that I write with my writing partner, L. Barnett Evans, is on sale as well!  All of the books in this series are cheap this month, so don't miss out on the opportunity to read a good book.

Go to Smashwords.com. CLICK on one of my titles, and ENJOY!