Tuesday, August 30, 2022

COVER REVEAL & PRE-ORDER TODAY! CHRISTMAS PROMISES

Three novellas for your Christmas reading pleasure...

The Baby Contract--Cheryl St.John
She thought she knew what she was looking for…
until what she was looking for found her
She wants a baby. Piper Newport has made up her mind. It has always been only her and her Grandad, and she’s determined to have a family like others she sees in Pearl’s CafĂ© where she works. One little problem. There’s no man in the picture. She’s determined to find one, and it becomes increasingly clear—her closest friend is the best choice.
Kipp Hudson is an outdoor guy. A good son and brother. A fun-loving uncle to his niece and nephew. He owns and operates Hudson Outdoor Gear and is an avid camper and hunter. Kipp won’t damage his friendship with the petite blond waitress so he doesn’t wear his heart on his plaid flannel sleeve...but it beats for her.

The Eve Before Christmas--Bernadette Jones
Dreams can come true, on the eve before Christmas.
After taking a permanent position in Spencer, successful doctor Mitch Smith realizes there’s something missing. But with long hours in the ER, there’s no time left in his day to go looking. Frozen pipes in his new home, combined with a town crowded by the Christmas Festival, lead him to the last available motel room. He discovers his destiny waiting behind the reception desk.
Unwanted since the day she was born, Norma is rejected once again. Pregnant, she vows her baby will never feel unloved. Trying to make ends meet in Spencer leaves her exhausted and struggling. Until the holiday season brings more than a snowstorm. The support of a good man could change her life forever. Can she trust her emotions and allow the kindness of a stranger turn into an everlasting love?

A Perfect Snow Globe Christmas--*lizzie starr
Is there such a thing as a perfect Christmas?

To avoid a bleak holiday, Priscilla Van arrives at Spencer ready to start her new job. Little did she know, she'd end up helping with the Barlow triplets. Or that she'd find meaning and acceptance in a snowy Colorado town
.
A successful author and nanny (don't you dare call him a manny) to three adorable babies, Oakley Fifer has promised his fans a Christmas story. But he has no inspiration. Until the new Stick Pony Camp chef arrives early. The reserved woman ignites a wealth of ideas, and not just for his stories. Alone, neither expects much from the holiday, but together? It may just turn out to be perfect.
Please share!

Thursday, August 11, 2022

The Writing Process: Birthing a Book Baby, Sharee Stover

I liken writing to having a baby. Stay with me here…

Having three wonderful children, I’m well acquainted with the delightful series of events from that first “we’re having a baby!” moment to holding my precious gift from God. And I can attest to that fact that it is not instantaneous. Rather, there are nine (or less) months of waiting, hoping, planning, and expecting. In the same way, from the time an idea is conceived in my mind to the day I hold that printed copy in my hands, there’s a lot of waiting, hoping, planning, and expecting. For me, that all starts with what I like to call the Ugly Baby draft.

I know, all babies are beautiful. The same is true with writing. My book babies, as I lovingly refer to them, all started with Ugly Baby beginnings.


The Idea

The idea phase is where an event, a location, a news story, whatever, has brought a hint of something bigger to fruition. I might spend years, months, weeks, or days allowing this idea to brew, develop, and come to life. I’m getting used to the notion of this new addition to my book family and preparing for the arrival. The writing process is as unique to the authors composing the story as the story itself. For me, ideas often begin with the crime. It’s my favorite part of the story. But crimes are just events, so they must come to life with the characters involved in the mystery of solving them.


The characters

Characters develop via different means. Sometimes a name suggests the perfect hero, heroine, or villain. Or a picture of a model, actress, or even a friend.

Sometimes the characters remain unnamed until I get to know them more because just as naming a child is important—it sticks with them the rest of their lives—so is naming the characters that will live in this story. I love unique names, but that can stall a story if a reader is unfamiliar with the pronunciation. I also check to see if there are any infamous real-life people with the name. And the meaning of the name plays a role, too.

I’m a huge fan of the One Stop for Writers online program and I use it especially for the character development of my hero, heroine, and villain. If I’m writing a series, I will develop the other characters too.

No wimpy heroes or heroines for this author. They’re strong, brilliant, and skilled, but they have quirks, of course. And the villain. Ah yes. He or she must be fully rounded, matured and credible. One doesn’t wake up determined to commit heinous acts, they believe their cause is legitimate and necessary.


The story

I enjoy research and oftentimes, get stuck in rabbit holes that may or may not have anything to do with the story. However, it’s not a one-and-done kind of thing for me. I might stumble across an interesting fact and will research throughout the story’s development. 

As the saying goes, location, location, location, is huge. Wilderness and country settings are at the top of my list. I often use the area where I live as well as places I’ve visited, which might require a road trip, because I must visualize the scenery. This isn’t always possible, but when it is, I take the opportunity.

Now we’re ready for the synopsis

I use my personal template, created from various brilliant craft sources and based on the hero’s journey. A fully fleshed out synopsis is essential for me. There are days I feel creative and days I so DO NOT feel creative. So, the synopsis acts like a compass and road map, drawing me back to where I need to be and providing the necessary details for the story. But friends, it’s not a pretty one. In fact, I often write what I call Ugly Baby.

So here we are! We’ve had our time of expecting, hoping, and waiting. NOW it’s time for Ugly Baby to appear. This is not for the faint of heart. Just sayin’.

Birthing Ugly Baby

Ugly Baby is the—pardon the expression—word vomited version of the story. It’s the roughest, ugliest spewing of words where I’ve ignored my internal editor and pretended not to see the horrible grammatical errors.


Wash Ugly Baby

Once the story is drafted, I go back and begin the first line of edits. I will make two or three passes through the story from start to finish, so this is where I clean up those ugly, flat, scenes and give them life. I’ll start adding essentials to the characters and oftentimes, it’s where I learn something about them that I’d not known at first. But we know it’s not the finished product. We’re just cleaning ugly baby.


Make him pretty by diapering and dressing him

At the final pass, I’ll go through and run each scene through ProWritingAid. Another fabulous writer’s program that catches things like repeats, overused words, grammar, and cliches. It too, polishes the draft so Ugly Baby is as cute as he can be.

 

Listen to the baby

A baby’s cry says so much, and mothers often learn the differences between cries. This is true of Ugly Baby too. I listen to the book, using my Kindle or Microsoft Word to read it back to me. A lot of people say this seems unnecessary, but studies have shown our brains fill in missing words within sentences. Thus, I find audio edits especially helpful in catching my mistakes or repetitions. It’s also a great place to replay dialogue to ensure it’s not stiff and unbelievable.

Now Ugly Baby is ready to see the world. He’s been washed, diapered, and dressed. He’s been heard and taken care of!

_______________

Following the clues could be the last thing they do…

Temporarily working in the cold case division was supposed to mean less danger for state trooper Trey Jackson and his injured K-9 partner, Magnum—until they thwart an abduction. Now he must protect profiler Justine Stark, even as she blames him for her friend’s death ten years ago. Can he right past wrongs by finally solving the murder…and making sure Justine lives to find closure?

From Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense: Courage. Danger. Faith.

FREE WITH AMAZON PRIME

BUY COLD CASE TRAIL

______________________

Colorado native Sharee Stover lives in Nebraska with her real-life-hero husband, three too-good-to-be-true children, and two ridiculously spoiled dogs. A self-proclaimed word nerd, she loves the power of the written word to transform, ignite and restore. She writes Christian romantic suspense combining heart-racing, nail-biting suspense and the delight of falling in love all in one. When she isn’t writing, Sharee enjoys reading, crocheting and long walks with her obnoxiously lovable German Shepherd. Visit her at https://www.shareestover.com/.

Tuesday, August 09, 2022

Behind the Scenes in Movies and Books

The most recent behind the scenes I've watched are Jurassic World: Dominion and Spielberg's Westside Story, filmed in Brooklyn. Fascinating! Of course I watched Westside Story again to see the places they used. I loved all of the recent Paul McCartney documentaries, listening to how a genius songwriter came up with one iconic song after another. Songs that were the backdrop for generations of music lovers.

I’ve seen every King Kong movie there is, and Skull Island is my favorite. You can google the behind the scenes info: 
Tom Hiddleston behind the scenes!
Kong's "performance" and 17 million hairs!


Obviously some of my favorite shows are the programs on how movies are made. It used to be all we ever saw were director's cuts or bloopers at the end of videos, but t
he Internet has made behind the scenes accessible. Those looks into the development of a movie always leave a big impression on me. Sometimes after learning how over budget a production is, or the how the blue screen effects were done, I go see the movie just to find out how the finished product came out. Even if I don’t have the slightest interest in a movie in the first place, after I watch one of those programs, I have to see how all the special effects and the computer imaging and fake rain and snow and all that stuff came together into 90 minutes of near-perfect cinematography and sound and lighting. The process absolutely intrigues me.

Did you know that in Gone With the Wind, during the scene where Scarlet walks among the wounded soldiers on the battlefield, if one slows the film enough and knows where to look, Judy Garland, dressed as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, can be scene peeking around the backdrop? They were filming side by side on the same sound lot.


I’m an Avatar geek (impatiently awaiting the new one! I just saw the trailer in the theater), and the CGI technology is one of the most amazing things I’ve seen done in film—that anyone has seen done to date. I had to force myself not to buy the second release with extra footage, because I already owned the first version. When there are no behind the scenes extras on a DVD I’ve purchased, I feel cheated--and you don’t get those features buying amazon movies or watching them on Netflix. So I still purchase DVDs here and there just for those.

Even seeing a movie first and then watching the how-to program fascinates me, but I’d rather know the behind the scenes first, for some reason. Then I can sit and pick out all the places where I know they did a particularly wonderful job—or had an especially difficult time.


When we’ve finished watching a new movie, my husband cringes, because he knows I’m going to go into the menu of a DVD or online and watch the behind the scenes trailers and clips. I’ve learned a lot by seeing how scenes are created and changed and how actors get into the roles of their characters. I think one reason why that intrigues me so, is because everything that looks so polished and perfect in the finished product, was actually grueling, laborious, often times FRUSTRATING work behind the scenes.

I remember for example, in the making of the original Jurassic Park, every time that huge tyrannosaurus—the one that broke through the fence and came after the kids in the car—every time it got wet in the rain scenes, the mechanical parts stopped working. The crew would have to stop, dry it down, wait, and start over. Hours and hours and hours, and in some cases DAYS of painstaking work just getting a few perfect shots.

It’s not so unlike what we writers do. Other writers and all the readers see us with our good clothes on, our hair fixed, attending meetings and conferences, and book signings, with stacks of the glossy finished product in front of us. But how many hours of unglamorous work went into the finished product? I hate to even think how much I’ve made an hour on some of my projects, because when I think about it too hard, the more difficult it is, the more time it takes. And the more time it takes, the less I’m making per hour.

Finished books can represent years. They also often represent other projects that fell by the wayside in between. Not every book that a writer proposes sells. I know a lot of authors who claim they sell about one out of every three stories they come up with.

A book takes anywhere from a few months to several months to complete. Some writers take a year or more. And those words don’t flow out of our brains in perfect order. Great scenes don’t just happen without plotting and planning and playing with dialogue. I usually write a story from beginning to end. I’m a very linear writer. But sometimes I have to go back and add things I belatedly realize are needed. Many authors write in layers, with dialogue first and then go back to add body language and setting. Others write scenes out of order and then connect them like a puzzle. It always amazes me how the process differs with each person—and with each book. I don’t write every book the same way. And then there’s the middle muddle, and all kinds of things that can get a writer off track.


I’ve never asked other writers about this, but most often my books leave an impression on me—an imprint of what was happening in my life at the time it was written, be it good or bad. I remember which book I was writing when something significant happened in my life. While we’re bringing characters to life, we’re simultaneously living life.

I think I can imagine what it’s like when the director, producer and crew of a movie watch their finished product for the first time. They remember how that scene came off beautifully after the boom was repaired or how amazing it is that a shot was edited to remove a dog that shouldn’t have been there. And then I imagine they look at the film with fresh eyes and marvel at how all the parts and players came together in a satisfying and rewarding piece of work.

That’s how a book feels, too. Satisfying and rewarding, even though I know all the things that happened behind the scenes. I consider myself one of the most fortunate people in the world to be doing what I love and getting paid for it. Seriously, how many people can work in their jammies if they want to?

Do any of you enjoy seeing behind the scenes as much as I do?

Monday, August 08, 2022

Escaping With Her Saxon Enemy: Sarah Rodi



Escaping With Her Saxon Enemy is set on the shores of 9th century England. Viking shield maiden Svea Ivarsson would far rather face Saxon warriors than be on the run with the fiercely captivating Lord Ashford Stanton, protector to the Saxon king. But when they are ambushed while leading the royal convoy through the forest, they find themselves separated from their captured men. Ash learns how Svea has been mistreated by men, and he wonders if the same evil blood flows through him. He realises he must keep his true self hidden, but finds it increasingly hard to keep his distance. This scene is when they share their first kiss... 




EXCERPT:

    He lifted a hand to peel a wet strand of hair away from her face. ‘It’s the same reason I fought those men yesterday. You want to know something about me? Something truthful? I couldn’t bear the thought of any man touching you, Svea, unless that man was me. And now I really want to kiss you, if you’ll let me...’ 

    Her blue eyes were huge, and she looked so beautiful. She was trembling, but he wasn’t sure if it was because of the cold, or because of what he’d said. She hadn’t moved or said a word, so he moved closer to her, his chest almost touching hers... 

    ‘Svea, say something.’ 

    ‘I—I’ve never done this before.’ 

    Ash’s hands came up to cup her cheeks, his large thumbs caressing the corners of her lips, and he pressed his body gently against hers. Every part of him. She felt the instant flicker of excitement. 

    ‘It’s all right. I’ll coax you through it.’ 

    His dark, heated gaze was fixed on her and his movements were slow, as if he was giving her time to say no, to change her mind, and she felt her legs tremble hard. But, for the first time in her life, she knew she wanted this to happen. 

Smoothly, reverently, he pulled her face towards him, lowering his head at the same time. Her eyes fluttered shut as he covered her lips with his. 

    His cool, salty skin was at odds with the warmth of his mouth, and as his tongue swept inside hers she gasped at the thrilling and tender feelings rushing through her body. 

    Her knees buckled, she began to sway, and he caught her with his arm, hauling her closer. As his silky hot tongue delved deeper, rolling over her like the ocean waves, drawing her in, pulling her under, sending searing heat charging through her, she curled her toes into the sand. His other hand trailed down to brush over the sensitive skin on her neck. His thumb was at her throat, circling her pulse, and an insane need lanced her. 

    She had never imagined a kiss could feel so good, sending signals to every part of her body, telling her she wanted more. And it was as if Ash could read her mind, because his hand drifted down to cup one full, heavy breast in his palm and she moaned. She’d thought she’d never allow a man to touch her again, but as he gently kneaded, softly squeezing her flesh through the wet material, she welcomed the sensations he was creating. And as he twisted and teased the hard peak, his lips still ravaging her mouth, a low moan escaped from her throat and her head tipped backwards. 

    He took a moment to stray from her mouth, his lips roaming down her neck, kissing and licking, tormenting her with his clever tongue, moving to the base of her ear, all the time whispering how beautiful she was. Then he came back to her lips again, claiming her mouth once more. 

    Her thoughts flashed back to the kiss she had given him in the field—and how he’d said it had cured him. This was the same for her. His kiss was giving her confidence, telling her that she could do this. That she was healed. Needing to prove it—to herself and to him—she bravely pressed her hips closer, letting him know that she wanted this. That she’d meet him halfway. 

    Her fingers were trapped between their bodies, and she splayed them out against his solid chest, wanting to explore. She glided them upwards over his smooth, firm skin, to curl around his neck, her fingers delving into the wet hair at the base of his neck. She was drawing him closer, pushing her tongue into his mouth to deepen the kiss. 

    He growled, his careful control seemingly about to break. And his response delighted her. She’d finally done it. She’d broken his steely resolve. Feeling triumphant, she recklessly writhed against him, wanting to cause more of a reaction. 

    He gathered her closer, his hands drifting down her back and cupping her bottom, tugging her against him, and then his fingertips dipped lower, to the bottom of the tunic, swirling over the backs of her thighs. They travelled upwards, beneath the material, seeking out her most intimate places... 

    And she panicked. ‘Ash, stop!’ 

    With a violent shove she pushed him away, fiercely removing herself from his hold. Her actions were so sudden they shocked them both. 

    Her face flushed, her hair disheveled, she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. She felt so ashamed. Instead, she grabbed up her dress from the sand and ran.


I loved writing this book about Svea and Ash. Carly Byrne at Mills & Boon said: 'The chemistry between your two protagonists is absolutely scorching! It’s impossible not to love Svea, and be captivated by her journey towards acceptance and happiness. Similarly, Ash was the perfect hero for Svea, completely trustworthy of helping her work through her complex emotions, but conflicted himself by all the pain he has experienced. It makes for such a fiercely compelling read with such a joyous payoff.' I hope you enjoy it too...
off. 
  Visit www.sarahrodi.com
 

Friday, August 05, 2022

A Match for Bernadette: Parker J Cole

The Pinkerton Matchmaker series tells the stories of Pinkerton agents who are forced to wed their trainees! Love, mystery, and suspense combine in each book. The series spanned more than 70 stories from about twenty to twenty-five authors. A Match for Bernadette is a spin-off of the Pinkerton Matchmaker series. In that series, I wrote five of the books – An Agent for Arielle, An Agent for Brielle, An Agent for Camille, An Agent for Danielle, and An Agent for Brutus.

In A Match for Bernadette, the Women’s Division of the Pinkerton Agency has been closed for two years. Marianne Gordon, who once acted as the secretary for the agents, has found she misses the life, and decides to use Pinkerton precision to start a mail-order bride agency.

Obeying the final wishes of her dying mother, Bernadette Hicks travels to Denver, Colorado to become a mail-order bride. Plagued by grief for the only man she will ever love, she doubts marriage is the right path for her. Imagine her shock when she arrives and finds her true love alive and well!

Instead of a joyful reunion, Bernadette is dumbfounded to discover that Big Tom, known now as Flavius Stone, wants nothing to do her. What will it take to figure out why the love of her life says he no longer loves her? She can see it in his eyes that he’s lying. Will a miracle bring him around? Is there anyone who can help her figure out why he is denying his love for her?



Parker J Cole is an author, speaker, and radio host with an obsession with the Lord, Star Trek, K-dramas, anime, romance books, old movies, speculative fiction, and knitting. An on and off Mountain Dew and marshmallows addict, she writes to fill the void the sugar left behind.

Visit her website



Wednesday, August 03, 2022

Writing Basics: Creating Tension In A Scene - Cheryl St.John

 

Creating Tension In A Scene

Tension is what keeps the reader turning pages. Caring about what happens to your character is the most important hook a writer creates. There must be something happening and something at stake in every scene. Because of the importance of pacing, tension isn’t appropriate for every scene. We need peaks and valleys. Our audience must be able to recognize the calm spots in order to recognize high intensity.

It’s important to build traits into the characters that will lead to trouble in important scenes. Impetuousness, independence, pride and naivetĂ© are all qualities that can get your character into jams. Make the character’s conflict an inherent part of him. Starting with solid conflict assures tense scenes will occur throughout the story.



Set up the tension. Keep saying “No” to your character. Whatever it is he wants, hold it back. Don’t try to fix things--that comes later. Much of the time I don’t even worry how I will fix a problem. If I don’t know, I can usually figure I’ve kept the reader guessing. The best conflict is that which appears unsolvable, so heap situations on your story people so they can prove their mettle. Don’t make their situation easier, always make it more difficult.

Look at your character’s goals and ask yourself, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” Then take the worst thing a step further. For emotional intensity, conflict should be directly related to the character’s internal goals and to their backstory. Don’t rely on “incidents” to carry scenes or conflict. Heaping one calamity after another can end up leaving the reader breathless and without direction. By an incident, I mean something that could happen to anyone and doesn’t really have emotional importance to this particular character.

Here’s a simplistic example: A torrential thunderstorm with hail that destroys property or crops would be devastating for anyone. But if your character’s goal is to become a success by growing the largest tomato for the state fair, and her parents died when a storm washed out a bridge when she was young, you’ve got the basis for a tense scene.


Jayne Ann Krentz once suggested that in pivotal scenes you should think “larger-than-life, emotion and contrast.” A plot is basically a series of pivotal scenes that will cause your two main characters to confront each other frequently on an intense emotional level. Arrange these scenes in your story so that they escalate in terms in intensity.

Leaving details about the character in question is an effective way to intrigue your reader. Don’t fill in all the answers, but give them enough so that they’re not frustrated. With most techniques, what to use and what to omit is a balance, one that depends on your story and your characters.

You can’t leave out something and then just throw it in at the end because it needs to be told or because it’s the end of the book. You must make the reader want to know the information by planting a seed, alluding to this mystery and using it as a teaser. Like this line: “She hated funerals.” Someone dies, but your heroine won’t go to the services. The reader is left knowing there is a reason and wanting to know the reason. The lure of the unknown draws the reader further and further into the story. Revealing too much takes away the seductive lure of discovery.

The reader must know something is missing. We don’t want to make him feel as though he’s had something pulled over on him once the story ends. We don’t want him surprised that something is revealed, we want him surprised at what that revelation is.

Another approach is the Hitchcock technique: Let the reader know something that none of the story people know. This is successful because it keeps the reader guessing when the character will find out and how they will react.

In a romance, love scenes are action scenes, and if you’ve kept sexual tension high throughout the first chapters, the reader is eagerly awaiting this scene. If the love scene happens at the end of the book, it’s a resolution--by now the hero and heroine have realized they love each other and are culminating their physical relationship. All external conflicts should have been tied up by this time.

If a love scene takes place before internal conflict is settled, as a plot point or as an added dilemma, then you must follow the scene with a new problem or hook or story question that keeps the story moving. If tension is allowed to be dropped, your story will stop moving forward.


The classic example, of course, is where the hero/heroine declare their love, everything seems blissful, and then one of them discovers some truth about the other that pushes them apart again. This is used so much in books and movies because it works so well, but it’s always fun to think up something new, so give freshness another thought when you’re plotting.

Change is what keeps the reader turning pages: New challenges, new information, new twists and added complications.

Backstory in a scene of tension slows the pace. Save it for sequels and then use only sparingly. If you need to reveal information, you can do it through a quick flash of internalization or a secondary character’s dialogue.

Hint at things to make the reader want to know.
Keep the reader wanting to know more.

In a faster-paced scene avoid speech tags and use action instead. “I can’t take this any more!” James slammed his fist on the table.

Use shorter sentences, shorter paragraphs and clipped dialogue. This is not the time for descriptions or internalization or lengthy speeches. Use shorter, simpler words that don’t distract the reader from the action.

Don’t be wordy. Don’t echo dialogue with exposition. As you should always do, use specific adjectives, vivid nouns and strong verbs.

Use a hook at the end of a paragraph.
Use a hook when you switch point of view.
Use a hook at the end of each scene.
And of course, use a hook at the end of each chapter.

How is this done? Say something or allude to something that makes the reader ask herself “Why?” Make her want to see a character reaction. Make her want to find out what happens next.

Keep the reader in suspense and expecting by not giving answers. Present questions and give just enough information to keep the story moving forward. If you do answer a question, then it should be information that only opens up a bigger question.

As a rule, don’t end a scene with hope or acceptance or resolve--those are for internal narrative or decisions. Do end the scene with a story question, worry, pain, anger, frustration or a negative reaction. Our goal is to keep the reader turning pages because he has a question, is engaged and wants to see what happens next. Tension is the state of excitement, nervousness or concern over the outcome that doesn’t allow the reader to relax until he gets to the end.

Wrap it all up at the end. Don’t leave any loose threads and show your reader a satisfying conclusion. We don’t like tension in real life. We want to experience all the chaos and drama through our characters’ viewpoints and know that in the end everything will turn out all right.



Today's highly competitive fiction market requires writers to imbue their novels with that special something - an element that captures readers' hearts and minds. In Writing With Emotion, Tension & Conflict, writers will learn vital techniques for writing emotion into their characters, plots and dialogue in order to instill that special something into every page.

"...essential knowledge and practical exercises which combined, create a tool-kit that no aspiring author can afford to be without. Everything you need to write your novel can be found in these pages." 
   
 - Kelly L. Stone, author of THINKING WRITE: The Secret to Freeing Your Creative Mind

Wow! Where was this book when I started my writing career?

"A must-have compilation of rock-sound advice from a writer who knows what she's talking about. A book you'll want to inhale whole and then return to time and time again to improve your craft and go deeper in order to write YOUR story. Not only does this book embrace some of the most complex elements of story construction in a clear, easy to digest format, it acts as inspiration for the writer. Sentence upon sentence of outstanding advice!"

- Mary Buckham, author of the Amazon best-selling WRITING ACTIVE SETTINGS series for writers.

*   *
"I've been a fan of Cheryl St.John's fiction for years.  She's a master of emotional stories.  And with this book she passes on those skills to both new and seasoned writers."    
- Holly Jacobs, author of Steamed: A Maid in LA Mystery




Tuesday, August 02, 2022

The Bluestocking’s Whirlwind Liaison: Bronwyn Scott

The Bluestocking’s Whirlwind Liaison explores one quiet inventor’s struggle to find her voice in a world that is determined to ignore her.  This story is set against the backdrop of manufacturing, patent rights, and the newly industrialized, factory-based world which saw an explosion of technological advancement and inventions in the 1850s. But this world is a man’s world and patents are not for women. Rebecca Peverett is tired of standing in the shadows.

She has watched her brother and her sisters make their own ways in the world, fighting for their own causes. Now it’s her turn. Using a male alias, one of her inventions is accepted by a manufacturing company. She hopes the invention will speak for itself when it’s time to sign the contract and the agent realizes she’s female. But in order to convince him to sign her, she must find her other voice as well—the voice of self-assertion, the one allows her to take her wit and her intelligence and step into the light in order to be seen and heard as a woman who has worth as both a person and an inventor.

This was such a fun story to write. Both Jules and Rebecca are on their own journeys of self-discovery and realization. Together, they prove that opposites attract but deep down once the layers are peeled back, they’re not all that different. They have the same hopes, the same insecurities, and the same strengths if they are just willing to find the courage to embrace them.

I think their story is very relatable regardless of the century. When we look around our circle of friends, we see it peopled with those who lift us up. But like Jules and Rebecca, we also are faced with decisions about what to do with the people who do not lift us up, and instead seek to tear us down. It takes courage to step away from them when they are also people we love.




Bronwyn Scott writes historical romances for Harlequin, Mills and Boon. She has fifty titles currently in print with them. Bronwyn's 2018 Novella, Dancing with the Duke's Heir was a RITA finalist . Her 2009 novel, The Viscount Claims His Bride was a RomCon finalist for best short historical, as was her 2011 release, A Thoroughly Compromised Lady. Bronwyn enjoys learning foreign languages, traveling, and history.