Prelude to Virtual Launch 6

Prelude to VIRTUAL LAUNCH: Day 6

Here we are at Day 6 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 and Matt and Hannah Morgan. Today we meet the Alexander Morgans.

Share This Blog Post to Win

FIRST WINNER CHOSEN! Congratulations to Katie Clark!

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.

We’re also having fun with ideas for actors to play the various parts. Come take a look at the Pinterest Board for Becalmed’s Characters and let me know if you’d like to add a suggestion. I don’t see my characters this way, which is why I like faceless covers, but one of my readers, John Pelkey, sent me these offerings. Here are two of his suggestions for Alex. And then there’s Bethanne.

What do you think?

: Jeffrey Donovan

Rufus Sewell

BECALMED‘S CHARACTERS

Sixth up: Alex and Bethanne Morgan

Alexander Morgan flips a lock of his black hair off his brow and tries to hide how conscious he is of his looks and his smarts. He strutted around Beaufort during his youth, competing, always competing, to be the best, the handsomest, the smartest, and a whole lot better than his older brother. Matt stayed put in this small, pokey town, but Alex has been places. Last fifteen years, he’s been living in the North and doing just fine, thank you very much. He’s got two gorgeous daughters, and if things aren’t going so well with Bethanne, well, that’s not his fault.

He shouldn’t have sold half his interest in Morgan’s Lumber to his brother. Fact is, Bethanne wanted that big house and the swimming pool. And if Bethanne wants something, she’s likely to get it. He’s not careful, she’ll sashay those hips of hers right out the door, taking her daddy’s money and connections right along with them.

Well, maybe now they’re back in Beaufort, he’ll let her. After all, he’s managing—all right, helping to manage Morgan’s—and he’s got other prospects. Looks to him like Tadie might just be one of them.

Love this choice of John Pelkey’s for Bethanne.

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.

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?)

22 June, 201322 June, 2013

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.

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.

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.

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.

21 June, 2013

Prelude to Virtual Launch 4

Prelude to VIRTUAL LAUNCH: Day 4

Here we are at Day 4 of the prelude for the Becalmed’s Facebook launch Party on July 1. We’ve met James, Elvie Mae, and Rita Whitlock. Today we meet the ethereal Isa.

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.

BECALMED‘S CHARACTERS

Fourth up: Isa Wellington

After a disastrous marriage in Wilmington, DE, Isa (Isadora) Wellington moved to Beaufort, where she now works for Tadie and Hannah at Down East Creations, a boutique for the arty and unusual. Here, she flits around, her long silver hair flowing behind her, dangly earrings swaying from her lobes, fluttering like a brightly colored butterfly. Who’d guess that she was once a math teacher?

Isa hates to part with the goodies at Down East Creations. But she’s good at it, as she is at making friends with everyone who comes in the shop, including—and especially—a little cruiser named Jilly.

Isa has secrets of her own and things from her past that inform her choices. But then, don’t we all?

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.

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 Roseanna White, C Hope Clark, Kathryn Craft, Barbara Claypole White, Lorrie Thomson, and Robin Patchen.

20 June, 201320 June, 2013

Prelude to Virtual Launch 3

Prelude to VIRTUAL LAUNCH: Day 3

Here we are at Day 3 of the prelude for the Becalmed’s Facebook launch Party on July 1. We’ve met James and Elvie Mae. Today we meet their daughter Rita.

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.

BECALMED‘S CHARACTERS

Third up: Rita Whitlock

Rita Whitlock’s a lawyer. Okay, she still has to take the bar exam, but working for the public defender’s office in Raleigh feels like an exercise in futility. Why can’t she help fix things before the wife gets killed or the kids dropped out the window? So she’s reconsidering her future, especially with everything going on at home and, ooh, the loveliest boyfriend who’s begging to be more than that—and whose mere existence is likely to cause a ruckus when he meets Elvie Mae and James. He is not what they had in mind.

Lots of folk, including her friend/sister in the big house, Tadie Longworth, envy Rita’s fashion sense. Rita knows how to dress, all those silky yellows and oranges to highlight her butterscotch skin. She’s a woman of obvious “class,” even if her pedigree misses the mark for the Daughters of the American Revolution. She figures she owes that to some pretty special folk named Longworth—her other family—and to her no-nonsense mama and the sweetest daddy in the world. She’s been one of the blessed ones, hasn’t she? But can her favored place hold out against a hefty prejudice?

Living in Raleigh means she’s missing a lot of the fun things that go on in Beaufort, like sailing with Tadie and being spoiled, just a little bit, by Mama and Daddy. Oh, and she’s just way too far away from that trouble back home.

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.

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 C Hope Clark, Kathryn Craft, Barbara Claypole White, Roseanna White, Lorrie Thomson, and Robin Patchen.

19 June, 201320 June, 2013

Prelude to Virtual Launch 2

Prelude to VIRTUAL LAUNCH: Day 2

Here we are at Day 2 of the prelude for the Becalmed’s Facebook launch Party on July 1. Yesterday we learned a little about James. Today, we meet his wife, Elvie Mae.

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.

BECALMED‘S CHARACTERS

Second up: Elvie Mae Whitlock

Elvie Mae Whitlock reminds me of a beautiful woman from my childhood. Her name was Rose, and a lovelier, kinder, more intelligent woman would have been hard to find. Rose “did” for my grandmother when I was a lonely young girl. I’d spend summers in that big house in New Bern, NC, and I’d read or wander the outdoors because, as sweet as my grandaddy was, he was too old and often too ill to spend any time with me. Green Acres was a wonderful place on acres and acres of woods, but none of the folk who inhabited it talked much to children. My grandmother may have taught me to curtsey to her friends, but she’d had help raising her own children, so what to do with me except whisper “Hush” puzzled her. Sometimes I needed a friend. And there was Rose, who’d let me sit in the huge country kitchen while she ironed or cooked. And she’d listen.

Maybe if Elvie Mae had been younger when her own Miss Caroline died, and maybe if she hadn’t been a married woman going through a heap of trouble, she might have gone off like Rose to complete her education. The last time I saw Rose, she’d moved to DC, gotten a masters degree, and landed a good job. Her daughter, Darlene, was thriving.

Elvie Mae, a tiny thing who came to work for the Longworths to help her granny, stayed on because Miss Caroline—and Miss Caroline’s two children, Tadie and Bucky—needed her. She raised them right along with her own daughter, Rita, and they became family.

To Tadie, Elvie and James and Rita are true kin.

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.

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 Kathryn Craft, Barbara Claypole White, C Hope Clark, Roseanna White, Lorrie Thomson, and Robin Patchen.

31 May, 201331 May, 2013

BECALMED’S COVER UPDATE

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?

28 May, 2013

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!

3 April, 20133 April, 2013

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:

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!

7 January, 2013

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.

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?

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.

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.

(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.

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 17^th 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!

1 January, 201318 March, 2013

BECALMED: Fun with Book Covers

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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.