Wonderful Review: Sailing out of Darkness

I admit it: I’m a terrible blogger. There’s so much else I’d rather do, like work on my next book or read or spend way too much time on social media, checking in with the world on that huge, huge time-hole called Facebook.

IMG_6387

And, no, the picture above has absolutely nothing to do with a review or with wasting time. I just like it…and can’t wait to get out on the water again.

Anyway, back to the review. The first words made me giddy:

“Normandie Fischer is at it again–illustrating the complex heart of the mature woman. Hers aren’t the novels of first love and high hopes for the future. They aren’t aimed at fresh-faced youngsters looking for romance–and a husband, children, and a house with a white picket fence. They’re aimed at women who have already been there, and wear the tarnish to prove it.”

So writes author and editor Linda Yezak. Isn’t it a great beginning?

Yes, I write about tarnished folk. Women such as I who need a bit of buffing every so often to bring out the shine.  You can read the rest of her kinds words on her blog:

77 Peppermint Place

Check her out.

(Oh, and the last words of her review took my giddiness to the next level.)

 

 

 

Prelude to Virtual Launch 8

Prelude to VIRTUAL LAUNCH: Day 8

As we move toward Becalmed’s Facebook Launch Party on July 1, I invite you to meet Tadie Longworth.

Share This Blog Post to Win

For every unique share of this blog post on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or other media outlets, I’ll enter your name into the weekly drawing for a combination paperback and e-book of Becalmed.

Sailing PUff
Sailing a sharpie

BECALMED’S CHARACTERS

Eighth up: Sara Longworth 

The town of Beaufort has been calling Sara “Tadie” ever since her little brother first lisped it years ago. It must be a Southern thing, because it sure doesn’t make much sense otherwise. I mean, Tadie doesn’t exactly sound like a shortened Sara, does it? Now that her mama’s gone, the only one left who uses her real name is James Whitlock. “Miss Sara,” he said when she first asked about it, “your mama wants to call you what she named you, well, I’m gonna do the same.”

Tadie doesn’t know what she’d do without James, Elvie Mae, or their daughter, Rita. Those three are family, even if not blood kin. Of course, one fine thing about small-town life is that friends can fill in a lot of gaps.

Take her best friend, Hannah Morgan. Tadie and Hannah go all the way back to kindergarten, and they’ve been tight ever since. About six years ago, they started up Down East Creations to showcase Tadie’s jewelry and Hannah’s pottery, and then they hired Isa to help run the shop.

Just across the street from the house Tadie’s great-grandaddy built, Tadie’s little sharpie, Luna, bobs off the dock, just waiting for a sail out Talyor Creek to Cape Lookout. You outta see Luna skip along on a good breeze. Sometimes, though, when the wind sits for a spell, she’ll find herself becalmed. You know what I mean. We’ve all been there, boat or no boat.

And lookee out in the anchorage. See what the wind blew in among all those pretty cruising boats? How can a sailor of a small boat not yearn just a little for life on a bigger one. One that sails places.

 

Share this on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or wherever.

For each unique link to this post, I’ll enter you in a drawing to win a paperback copy of Becalmed along with an e-version! I have ten characters to introduce. After each five, I’ll pull a winner’s name from the hat.

Read more about BECALMED on the PRESS KIT

Beaufort, NC
Beaufort, NC

BUY Becalmed on Amazon

Save the Date: July 1

LINK TO LAUNCH PARTY

Watch for the virtual launch on Facebook, July 1

Giving away books at Becalmed’s Facebook Launch Party from authors Lorrie Thomson, Roseanna White, C Hope Clark, Kathryn Craft, Barbara Claypole White, and Robin Patchen.

 

(PS. In case the Internet thingies that are supposed to tell me of shares decides to fail us, will you also leave a comment and tell me where you shared this so you don’t get left out of the drawing?)

 

Prelude to Virtual Launch 5

Prelude to VIRTUAL LAUNCH: Day 5

Here we are at Day 5 of the prelude for the Becalmed’s Facebook launch Party on July 1. We’ve met James, Elvie Mae, and Rita Whitlock, along with Isa Wellington. Today we meet the Morgans.

 Share This Blog Post to Win

FIRST WINNER CHOSEN TOMORROW!

For every unique share of this blog post on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or other media outlets, I’ll enter your name into the weekly drawing for a combination paperback and e-book of Becalmed.

A boat liked Luna, only still gaff rigged
A boat liked Luna, still gaff rigged

BECALMED‘S CHARACTERS

Fifth up: Matt and Hannah Morgan

Matthew Morgan works too hard at the family lumber company because he wants things done his way. That, coupled with careless eating habits and exercise limited to climbing in and out of a golf cart, makes him a prime candidate for another heart attack. Sure, his younger brother has come home to help, but it doesn’t seem to be slowing Matt down enough to keep Hannah’s worry at bay.

Hannah Morgan adores her big, normally jovial husband. They’ve been together since high school, and, yes, they’ve had their share of heartache, but they’ve survived. If only that man would take better care of himself, Hannah’d have more time for her pedicures and manicures, and all the other important things in life.

Manicures especially. After all, she messes around with clay, creating wonderful pottery to grace the shelves in Down East Creations, and clay wreaks havoc on the hands. Her best friend since kindergarten, Tadie Longworth, co-owns the shop, which serves as a showplace for their art.

Hannah’s stuck on rewind with Matt’s medical issues. Which doesn’t leave her as much time as she’d like to focus on the other messes in town.

Hannah loves camelias
Hannah loves camelias

 

Share this on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or wherever.

For each unique link to this post, I’ll enter you in a drawing to win a paperback copy of Becalmed along with an e-version! I have ten characters to introduce. After each five, I’ll pull a winner’s name from the hat.

Read more about BECALMED on the PRESS KIT

 

BUY Becalmed on Amazon

Save the Date: July 1

LINK TO LAUNCH PARTY

Watch for the virtual launch on Facebook, July 1

Giving away books at Becalmed’s Facebook Launch Party from authors Lorrie Thomson, Roseanna White, C Hope Clark, Kathryn Craft, Barbara Claypole White, and Robin Patchen.

 

(PS. In case the Internet thingies that are supposed to tell me of shares decides to fail us, will you also leave a comment and tell me where you shared this so you don’t get left out of the drawing?)

 

BECALMED’S COVER UPDATE

Front, Back, and Middle
Front, Back, and Middle

Isn’t this fun? Baby steps toward the finish line, but as release date nears (and no, it won’t be tomorrow, but soon), all the changes from the editor and beta readers have been included, the cover is ready, and

Amazon has a sale going on!

Pre-order at a significant discount

off the cover price for the paperback version. Of course, the e-book price will be even lower.

Can’t wait to announce the release. You want to party with me then?

 

 

 

 

 

Beta Reader Reviews BECALMED

From Nicole Petrino-Salter’s blog Into the Fire comes Becalmed’s first blog review.  I’m doing a happy dance.

Here’s a bit out of the middle:

Normandie Fischer leaves no question as to the authenticity of her sailing know-how in her entertaining first release Becalmed. Just as talented author Tom Morrisey has made rock climbing and diving terms real to those of us who’ve never done either, Normandie takes us right onto the boats in her story without talking down to us or forfeiting the true language and operation of those who love the wind in their sails.

Sometimes genres mesh together and don’t fit comfortably into their assigned niches, but Becalmed is Women’s Fiction from stem to stern…

A polished wordsmith, Normandie Fischer captures the essence of Southern charm and infuses it with the love of the sailing life, the needs and desires of a still-young woman who feels old and unattractive, and the necessity for honest relationships. Becalmed fills the reader with vivid emotional and physical imagery ingesting Southern humor and expressions moving toward reaching a touching and satisfying conclusion.

Hop on over to Nicole’s blog to read the rest!

 

Social Media for Me (Oh, and for You, too!)

You’ve heard it, perhaps in the squeak of your own voice. The fear, the worry, the I-don’t-know-what-I’m-doing so why should I bother? Haven’t you wondered if anyone out there even cares?

You have. So have I.

Origami Twitter

It wasn’t all that long ago that I wrote a post where I questioned the how-tos of tribe building, of finding like-minded folk out in blog-sphere, on Facebook or Twitter.

Old Bottle top icons

But in the intervening months, you know what I’ve discovered? Tribes. Plural. More than one real, honest-to-goodness groups of online friends who matter. Whose words I like to read. Who teach me and comfort me and let me into their life.

Some of these new friends write in my genre. Over at Amy Nathan’s blog, Women’s Fiction Writers, I’ve learned of new writers whose books I want to read. Women’s Fiction Writers Association is becoming a reality. Right now we have a Yahoo group where we learn and grow together. The founders are working to get the association off the ground to offer more and varied opportunities for writers and for readers. A Tribe.

Other groups simply support writers. All writers. My favorite is the penulitmate tribe builder, Writer Unboxed. Its Facebook Group (over 3000 members now) offers a safe place for writers in all genres, of any sort, at any level of competence or success to support one another. A Tribe.

I’ve made new friends on LinkedIn, and in some of the Goodreads groups. More folk in the Tribe.

Girlfriends Book Club is another wonderful tribe builder. I’ve recently discovered Southern Writers Magazine. You know I’m likely to fit there. They’ve asked me to write a blog post, so I’m trying to put that together. More tribe members. These are only a sampling of the places I’ve discovered. I’ve sailing tribes and publishing tribes and prayer tribes and tribes of old-friends from long ago whose worlds I’d lose if it weren’t for Facebook and email.

flock of flamingos

Do you remember how small the world once seemed? We knew only those in our circle. Yes, we could enlarge the circle by moving, by changing circumstances. But we couldn’t connect with people in California on the same day we connected with someone in Italy or Japan. (Unless we were ham radio operators.)

I can’t tell you how many lovely people I’ve met. People who laugh with me and who hold my hand. People whose hands I hold and for whom I do a happy dance when there’s good news. As they do for me.

I live in rural America, and I have friends in Italy and Australia, Wales and South Africa. My son tells me these online friends aren’t real. But you know what? They feel real. And when I travel and meet some of them face-to-face, that’s about as real as it can get.

So, those of you who are still stuck in the I-can’t mud hole or on the what’s-the-purpose cliff, I want to suggest that there are a lot of folk just waiting for what you have to offer. People who want to hear your words, know your thoughts. Who want to meet YOU.

 

Social Icons

 

Come connect with me.  I’d love to welcome you into one of the tribes I frequent. What makes any group strong is its membership. Its people.

Will you let me know some of the ways you’ve connected with folk online? Has it helped you at all? Do you feel less lonely or more so in the midst of this Internet noise?

 

A New Cover for Sailing out of Darkness! Releases August 15, 2013

I am so very excited to reveal the new cover from WhiteFire’s talented Roseanna White. She did a great preliminary one, but it just didn’t feel quite right. You know what I mean?

So she looked for ideas. I looked for ideas. I thought I’d found one. She thought it flat. And then she sent me this:

Sailing out of Darkness front FINAL copy

The tag line on the back:

LOVE CONQUERS ALL? Maybe for some folk.

River Laker, of Silver Seas PR, came up with that line, tweaked a little by Robin Patchen.

Now I can’t stop grinning. The gorgeous cover for Becalmed, my debut release, makes me giddy as well, but Sailing out of Darkness is a very different story, with much darker elements. There’s light at the end–and some in the middle–which I think Roseanna captured beautifully.

This cover didn’t even need to show a sailboat. With that sun shining under her arm, it looks to me as if Samantha’s sailing on her own, propelled by the light.

So tell me: would you buy it?

The book releases on August 15 in both e-book and paperback. Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Turn at The Next Big Thing

I’m writing this blog post at the behest of Val Nieman, who tagged me to join in a blog hop called The Next Big Thing. Val is a delightful friend, a transplant to North Carolina from the cold North, and a very talented writer. Her latest, newest, Next Big Thing is a literary-coming-of-age novel that has just the sort of elements that make me want to read it: sailing, marina life, and mystery.http://valerienieman.blogspot.com/2012/12/my-next-big-thing.html

 

It turns out that my critique partner also tagged me back in November, but either my brain went into under-drive, or I blocked it out because I’m so busy with too many projects. Probably hid that note in the recesses of never-to-be-found. I’m glad Jane Lebak has a great sense of humor. She writes delightful books starring angels with issues, and each one points me to a deeper place where I confront again the nature of God. Here’s the link to her Next Big Thing post: http://philangelus.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/writing-the-next-big-thing/

 

MY TWO NEXT BIG THINGS (In question format as dictated by this blog hop.)

1.  What is the working title of your book or project?

Becalmed will be my debut novel, published this spring by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. Sailing out of Darkness follows soon after, and then one of the other two in edits…I think.

 Becalmed Cover

 

2.  Where did the idea come from for the book or project?

The what-if for Becalmed arose from my aunt’s life. She was a small-town girl from New Bern, NC, who remained a spinster until she died at age ninety, a fairly common occurrence in her day, but it got me wondering. What if she—or someone like her—had grown up in a small town as a product of the eighties and nineties instead of the thirties? What choices might she have made that would propel her back to that small town? Why would she have said no to man after man who came begging? Would she, a woman with plenty of money and talent and friends, yearn for a man in her bed and children in her arms? Or would she be content with sailing and art, with friends and a shop and the big house on the water?

Sister Sara on board Sea Venture in 2004
Sister Sara on board Sea Venture at age 89

3.  What genre does it fall under, if any?

It’s women’s fiction with a love story thrown in for good measure.

4.  If applicable, who would you choose to play your characters in a movie?

If Meryl Streep were a few decades younger, she’d always be my first choice for Tadie’s character. She’s incredibly gifted. The other characters are hard for me to match, mostly because I’m not exactly au curant with modern movies.

5.  What is the one-sentence synopsis of your manuscript or project?

When a southern woman with a broken heart falls for a widower with a broken boat, it’s anything but smooth sailing.

6.  Will your book or story be self-published or represented by an agency?

My work is represented by Terry Burns of Hartline Literary Agency.

7.  How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I haven’t a clue. It’s been many years in the making, through draft after draft, and in between I’ve written and revised several others.

8.  What other book or stories would you compare this story to within the genre?

I’m never good at that. Let me know what you think when you read it!

 

9.  Who or what inspired you to write this book or story?

scan0001
Sara Meadows as a child

My aunt, the sailor, who lived with me for the last nine years of her life.

10.  What else about the book or story might pique the reader’s interest?

Beaufort, NC, is a delightful waterfront town and serves as the setting for a series of women’s fiction stories, beginning with Becalmed. The second will be Heavy Weather.

 

Beaufort, NC
Beaufort, NC

I love to write from the POV of children. Becalmed’s seven-year-old Jilly sails into town with her daddy and is my favorite character in the book.

I also adore writing bad guys. The one who confronts Tadie in Becalmed no longer has his own POV—I dropped it during a rewrite—but there must be something slightly warped in me that I find their thoughts fun to write. Heavy Weather’s villain does have his own POV because he’s so deliciously awful.

  Gulls in San Carlos Dec 2009

(Poor gulls, but doesn’t that one’s face intimidate you? He definitely wants what I have.)

The fact that many of my female protagonists are sailors may interest readers. I’ve been a sailor all my life, taught first by my auntie, whose small boat I still sail in NC coastal waters. Of course, some stories don’t justify giving the protagonists a boat, and one WIP stars a woman who is petrified of the whole sailing adventure.

puff-sm
My aunt’s sharpie, Puff

 

And now, I nominate the following friends and bloggers to tell us about Their Next Big Thing:

 

Linda Glaz, author, agent, hilarious and kind friend whose eagle eye caught a number of glitches in my manuscripts, will be giving away books on Friday, January 11, as well as talking about good things that make up the Next Big Thing.   http://lindaglaz.blogspot.com/

 

My dear friend and writer of thoughtful books, Nicole Petrino-Salter, beat me to this project. Here’s a link to her Next Big Thing blog post: http://hopeofglory.typepad.com/into_the_fire/2012/12/member-memes.html

 

Kristine Pratt is a born encourager and a wonderful, thoughtful writer. As CEO of Written World Communications, she’s also my boss. (If only we could get some of her manuscripts out of her hands and into book form…sigh.)  She has agreed to surprise us with her Next Big Thing on Thursday, January 10:  http://kristinepratt.wordpress.com

 

Susie Finkbeiner will be releasing her debut novel, Paint Chips in ebook format on January 15 and plans to talk about it on the 17th as The Next Big Thing at :  http://www.susiefinkbeiner.com/

Susie’s trailer is enticing enough that I’m going to be first in line to download the book to Kindle. And WhiteFire’s talented designer, Roseanna White, did a scrumptious cover for Paint Chips. Go take a look!

BECALMED: Fun with Book Covers

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Becalmed Cover

 

 

The proposed cover by the designer at Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. I figure where there’s a cover, there’s bound to be a book someday.

And here’s the Back Cover Copy:

When a Southern woman with a broken heart falls for a widower with a broken boat, it’s anything but smooth sailing.

Tadie Longworth doesn’t spend much time worrying that she’s turning into one of Beaufort, North Carolina’s, spinsters. She has a gift shop full of her own jewelry designs and a sweet little sailboat to take her mind off the guy who got away. But now he’s back—with the drop-dead gorgeous wife he picked instead of Tadie—and he won’t leave her alone.

When widower Will Merritt sails into town with a broken boat and an inquisitive seven-year-old daughter, he provides the perfect distraction—until that distraction turns into something more when Tadie offers them shelter during a hurricane. Over candlelit board games, Jilly becomes the daughter she could have had and Will the man she always wanted . . . only, he’s sworn never to let another woman in his life. Any day now, he’s going to finish those repairs and that ship’s going to sail—straight out of Tadie’s life.

 

 

 

 

 

The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D.: A Review

Have you ever noticed that some friendships require work? You really like her, but sometimes your smile seems fixed, because she’s just so complicated. Her world has so many hills and valleys. Fine, yours does, too, but they’re yours, after all, and her issues remind you of the times you didn’t quite make it all the way to the top and over. Or the days when the valleys felt as if they extended for hundreds of miles.

The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. by Nichole Bernier isn’t a fun book. As Kate reads Elizabeth’s journals, she works through her own issues in this character-driven fiction. There’s little fluff, few hoots of laughter—and those only from moments when I could say, oh, yeah, been there. You know, the embarrassed hiccup that morphs into a laugh and then finds itself stifled by a hand covering the open lips?

That’s what the author has done here: forced me, the reader, to contrast the characters’ experiences with my own. To dig a little deeper into motivations. When Kate examines truth—how much Elizabeth hid about herself and how much she, Kate, has also hidden and misunderstood—I remember bits and pieces of my own history. And I consider larger issues of truth and lies, of comfort and remorse, of the known and the unknowable.

The thing is, our life needs both the easy, relaxed friendships and the hard-earned ones, the stories that we read with laughter and sighs and the ones that make us stop and think, ones we set aside momentarily as we wrestle with the emotions they evoke. Nichole has done a fine job of creating characters worth knowing—fully developed and rich.

Yes, the Kindle version is pricey. The thing is, I bought the book because I read a blog post by Nichole and wanted to know her. In recent months, I’ve clicked Buy on so many freebies and under-three-dollar bargains that have barely kept my interest through chapter three. Books that vanished under the Delete key. And it’s been a very long time since I’ve bothered to review a book.

But this one is worth the time to read and to critique. This author has crafted hard-to-love characters who have crept in and found their place as friends. Friends who’ll stick around in memory as they challenge me to deeper, better, more honest relationships. And isn’t that the best one can say about a book, any book?

According to Nichole Bernier, a family friend’s healing following the September 11th attacks inspired this novel. Visit her website to learn more about her extensive writing career. Fortunately for us, her readers, she’s at work on her second novel. I’m sure she’d love to hear from you with questions or comments.

I’d love to talk books with you. If you’ve read others that stimulated the responses I’ve mentioned, books that you remember long after you’ve finished reading them, with characters who have forced you to dig a little deeper, please leave a comment. Next week, I’ll pick one commenter to receive a free copy of Nicole’s book. (Kindle preferred so I won’t have to foot the shipping cost!) Yes, readers, a freebie. Aren’t I sweet?

(You may wonder why I’m giving away a book from an author I don’t even know. Well, here’s my rationale. Nichole writes high-caliber women’s fiction. That’s my writing goal. So, if you like Nichole’s, I may be able to entice you to buy mine when it’s available. See, sneaky as opposed to sweet. A method to my generosity. I mentioned honesty and transparency in this post, didn’t I?)