Holidaze!

Anyone else feeling the daze that comes with fall holidays, one after the other? Then top it off with #NanoWriMo2021 (or in my case, I opted for #NanoRebel) all November? Ahh…Well, time to cut to the chase.

It’s Giveaway time!

Woot! I do enjoy giving stuff away. This month I’m teaming up with ten other authors across genres (memoir, mystery, romance, women’s fiction, and fantasy) to giveaway a bunch of e-books! How to enter? Easy peasy:

Hop over here: bit.ly/21holidaygiveaway

What else have I been up to? Besides writing and researching and the usual marketing gauntlet, I’ve been working the craft and book fair circuit, meeting lots of local folks, and happily introducing new readers to my books, photo cards, and homemade jams! And yes, I did 2 events in one day because I have coffee running through these veins!

Be back in the new year!

Slainte.

Fun with Fall Festivals!

You’re either rolling your eyes or smiling at my alliteration, right?

’Tis the season of getting out and being a bit more social again. Or so I hope. 2020 translated to lots of canceled conferences, workshops, signings, and all things in-person for authors. 2021 started off the same, but as we transitioned into autumn and with shifts in state restrictions, I’ve noticed more opportunities popping up. I’ve been enjoying my October of not just the fall foliage (ahhhh) but other New England fall traditions: fests! Festivals are good excuse to get out and enjoy the fall colors, crisp air, pleasant temperatures, and blue skies. Our region is known for craft-vendor-bookish-fall-apple-BBQ-beer-cider-food truck events!

Apples from my own harvest. This is about 1/3 of my yield!

First up, I visited Brookfield Orchards for their 1st Annual Authors Fair. The scents of kettle-cooked popcorn and baked apple cider donuts wafted through the air upon the tunes of local music. Yes, I tried a donut and the popcorn.

Then, I hung out in “Authors Alley” at a local fundraising crafters fair. It was good to see some friends in-person I’d only seen on zoom for the past eighteen months. I chatted with a fellow author and gardener about our bounty of produce this fall. My raspberry grand total, if anyone’s been following me on Instagram or Twitter and Facebook was…18 pounds of berries!

Next up, I traveled to Boxborough, MA for the Fall in Love New England Romance Readers event. It was my first time, and won’t be my last. I connected with new readers, bonded over games of BINGO and Password, laughed it up at the Halloween party, and also got to finally meet authors I’ve been communicating with all through the ether of cyberspace for years now. I connected with dozens of new-to-me authors, too. Oh, and I dressed up! I never dress up. Ever. I ordered an amazing handmade (black watch tartan) Scottish lass costume from Etsy. I love it. I could wash dishes wearing it.

This past weekend, I partook in the West Boylston Parks & Recreation-sponsored Fall Fest and it was a blast: thousands of attendees, live music, pumpkin and scarecrow contests, balloon entertainer, hundreds of trick-or-treaters, delicious food trucks, and lots of lots of chatting with readers, selling books, and meeting aspiring authors. I also got to dress up again. This time, I donned long johns under my dress and wished I had brought gloves! (note to self for next time). Also a corset all day…yeah, maybe I will be revisiting that thought of doing dishes wearing it.

In November, I head into the Yuletide and holiday events. So far one fair is booked, but we’ll see what else November and December hold… in the meantime, I’m gearing up to wear my Scottish lass costume one more time as I hand out candy to trick-or-treaters on Halloween.

As the days get shorter, darker, wetter, and colder, soon it will be the season of hunkering down with a warm cup of comfort java and the manuscript that’s been calling my name, yet I find every excuse to not work on (hey, a gardener has deadlines, too!). Rest assured, it’s happening. I must always listen to the call of my characters!

Until next time,

slāinte,

Jean

Did Not Finish

What makes you not finish a book?

Preface: NO, this is not about “not finishing” a manuscript, project, career, or life goal. Oh, that’s a great post for another day…

Since my computer has been hijacked by aliens, I figured it was time to write my monthly blog post! My website works at least while I wait to chat with my computer-savvy brother for his help with what is probably a minor issue.

Have I mentioned before my ineptitude with computers?

Computers + Jean = oil + water

But I digress.

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Many readers are familiar with the term TBR pile. It’s our To Be Read pile of books hanging out on our desk, coffee table, or nightstand, in our car, or loaded in our e-reader or audiobook apps. TBR piles are fun! They’re good. We look forward to reading. I know it makes some of us fret, too. We look at them and feel, “Oh my gosh, I have so much to catch up on! I’ll never read them all.” But for some it’s a game of how many they can read in a week/month/year.

Now, on to the DNF pile, or the Did Not Finish pile, the lesser known sibling to TBR piles.

Oi. Did. Not. Finish.

It happens to us all. It’s the pile we don’t like to talk about. The one we push under the rug. Some of us see every dang book through to the painful ending, and do not enjoy it for whatever reason. We finish out of obligation, compulsion, hope, or something else…

Reading is subjective, after all. But some of us give up part way in. (btw, I am here to say THAT IS OKAY!) We might be disappointed with the story (for a whole slew of reasons), or with ourselves, perfectionist and conscientious to a fault. It could be the storyline or flawed plot, a trope, an ending, a character, a writing style, the point of view, grammar issues, overused clichés, words, the narrator if it’s an audiobook…there are a hundred reasons for us to not finish a book. We might want to throw it at a wall (yeah, I know you’re out there, book-throwers.)

Are you a power through and regret it later person?

Or…

Are you a, nope, gave it until x number/percent of pages, and said

Bye Bye Bye?

For me, it depends. If I promised to read it or got an ARC copy or signed up to review it, I will finish it. Always. If I’m reading for pure enjoyment, then I will give up by 20-35% if it’s not doing it for me, for whatever reason. Do I still review the book? If I finished, yes, but I focus on the positives and do my best to give an honest review and rating. If it is a DNF, then no. Never. Why? In my opinion, it’s not fair to the author or readers. If you read say the first chapter and hate it, how can you review the entire book? It might get better (or it might not). We all bring our own life experiences to a reading session. Sometimes it’s just not our cup of tea but may be for someone else. However, it could be a hopelessly flawed book, but how do we know unless we read the entire thing?

What prompted this blog post?

Well…I just gave up on a book about 35% of the way in. It was getting better, but also getting worse. (Yeah, figure that one out!). I just couldn’t anymore. It was a deeply tragic, sad, dark, twisted story. My heart was not able to keep going. Sometimes I need lighter. Sometimes I am cool with darker. Oh yeah, it was also a bestseller with a gazillion Amazon and Goodreads reviews, most of them glowing.

And when this happens, I go to the reviews and see if I’m not irrational with my thoughts (there is always somebody who feels the same), and yes, I read the spoilers because I DO want to know how it plays out. I was glad I made the decision to pull the plug on it.

Also recently on my DNF list: a book by a hugely successful bestselling author (I love her other books, but this one and I were just not hitting it off), and I tried a few different books by another bestselling author, and I just couldn’t get into them. I tried several! She came highly recommended, too. Is there something wrong with me? Why can’t I LOVE some of the “bestsellers”? Eh. Preference. My inner author critic. My own life experience. And it’s okay. There may be one plot point that hits a trigger so off to the DNF pile it goes.

What do you think about DNF piles?

  • Do you review the book anyway?

  • Do you regret the investment of time you put in?

  • Do you try another book by the same author? (I do. I like to give them another chance)

  • Do you tell everyone you know how much you hated the book?

  • Do you just toss the book aside, not stewing over the time lost, and move on to the next one in the TBR pile?

I’d love to know abut your DNF approach. Do share!

And in case you’re wondering, yes, the aliens have left my computer by now (hey, an author can get distracted and take two days to write a short blog post…) My brother helped me with the easy fix (sigh, I am such a luddite).

What is your approach to DNF piles?

Trilogy Boxed Set!

It’s here! The complete e-book boxed set of The Hundred Trilogy! And…it’s available for only $5.99…permanently! Yes, you read that correctly. Each book is now $2.99. Go grab your copies now. :)

Once you read them all (or during…) be sure to check out my cool EXTRAS page with a detailed Scotland map, family lineage chart, and a full glossary of the people and places.

trilogy boxed set 7 (1).jpg

More about this series…

Scotland

The MacCoinneach family is gifted but afflicted. Deeply rooted powers of healing, feeling, and prophecy run in their bloodline. Descended from the Norse and mystical Ancients of the Isles, they must each face the curses associated with their ability…they must each find the path to love.

A Hundred Breaths

1263

Gwyn of Uist is a merciful Healer but loses breaths of her life with every healing charm. She barters an alliance with a Scot bent on revenge against her Norse kin, in the hopes to save her brother from their abusive father. But can she and Simon MacCoinneach outwit her betrothed and bring an end to the Norse-Scottish bloodshed when it will take all her breaths to save Simon on the battlefield?

A Hundred Kisses

1296

Deirdre MacCoinneach feels the lifebloods of everyone around her…but vows to discover if her gift killed the men she married. Under the facade of a trader, Alasdair Montgomerie travels to Uist with pivotal information for a claimant seeking the Scottish throne. A cruel baron hunts him, leaving little room for alliances with the lass he meets along the way. Amidst ghosts of the past, Alasdair and Deirdre find themselves falling together in a web of secrets and the curse of a hundred kisses…

A Hundred Lies

1322

Rosalie Threston’s fortune-telling lies have caught up with her and she’s on the run from a ruthless English noblewoman. Rosalie finds refuge in the halls of Eilean Donan castle deep in the Highlands, and in the arms of the laird’s mysterious son, Domhnall Montgomerie. Terrible visions plague Domhnall and he avoids physical contact to temper them. When an accidental touch reveals only delight, he wonders if Rose is the key to silencing the Sight. Mystical awakening unravels with each kiss. But can Domhnall embrace his gift in time to save her life, even if it means exposing her lies?

Norse invasions, Scottish fights for independence, and the plights of the mystical isles’ people come together in The Hundred Trilogy.

 

What happens at town meetings...stays at town meetings?

I’ve had small-town politics on my mind lately. I attended quite the (always) lively town meeting this weekend. What made it more heart-drumming for me was I stepped up to bat for our town library. I drive with my friend, she brings the soft cushions for the bleachers (though this time we were in an auditorium and last year we held the meeting outside in a parking lot with residents in their cars). I bring coffee and snacks (one of these days I WILL bring popcorn), and get myself comfy for the 3.5-hour show.

Although I reside in New England like the fictional town of Gilmore Girls, we’re not quite so small as to fill a quaint barn with our town residents [though our town moderator is a local farmer]. However, with a population nearing ten thousand, and over half of them registered voters, our meetings are lucky if we get a few hundred to attend. In the past few years, when hot button topics were articles on the town warrant, we’ve maxed out at maybe 700 people.

Saturday night, 150 of my fellow townies joined for the heated debate of…

  • Sprinkler/watering installation

  • School budget (Gasp! NOBODY got up for this multiple-million-dollar line item?! Shock of the year!)

  • Department budgets

  • The right to have marijuana facilities in our town

  • and about 20 other articles on the warrant

I’m an elected member of the Library Board of Trustees. While watching our budget get slashed more and more, and after many conversations with the Board, I knew I had to do something. This is why I joined the committee after all. If the proposed reduced budget succeeded and the upcoming override vote at town elections does not pass (it rarely does, because nobody wants to have more taxes taken), our little, but ever-busy, ever-present library would likely have to shut its doors and lay people off.

Though all departments would see staggering cuts, none of them were going to lose state certification, state aid (money which we use to fill holes in our chronically deficient budget), and reciprocal privileges. This means: loss of money, inability to get and circulate materials from other libraries for any of our residents (even if they went to another library), inability to pay utilities, less open hours (because we can’t heat the place or have electricity), less meetings (and LOTS of groups meet at the library), and not being in compliance (we are REQUIRED to be open a certain number of hours), less events, laid off staff, and likely

…closure.

It would be a domino effect. Wishing, wanting, and hoping will not keep a library afloat.

I couldn’t see that happen.

Our library served as a regional vaccine center this spring, vaccinating over 7,000 people per month, while remaining open throughout the past year (via curbside pick-up or scheduled appointments), distributing over 2,500 materials per month. The library stepped up when called upon. So now it was my turn to do the same. Libraries are an essential part of our community, providing free resources, free meeting spaces, fellowship, knowledge…life.

Heart pounding in my chest, I went to the mic to speak, representing the Library Board. I pleaded our case (I had it printed and rehearsed).

I rallied people in the auditorium to speak on our behalf.

When told, “You’ll need to put that in writing before the end of the meeting…” I immediately presented copies for all of the committees up front. (I am always prepared - Plan B and organization are my two middle names)

I had to go up a second time—mid-vote!—to clarify and request where the money I requested would come from. I think I surprised the Finance Committee and Select Board with my bold request. Never underestimate the library nor its board, even when this soft-spoken gal gets to the mic.

(I’d like to acknowledge that the Select Board, departments, and Finance Committee had all worked very hard on the budgets and I know they struggled with where to cut. It’s no easy task.)

I sat back down.

We used our clicker remotes (instead of our traditional waving of neon cards) to vote.

Our amendment was the only one to pass.

I did it.

The town’s residents in attendance did it. My amendment won something like 112 to 44.

I am not one to boast or let pride get to me, quite the opposite, but this time…I am so very proud. And grateful. Grateful that another resident allowed me to go first AND he also spoke strongly on our behalf. Grateful that others voiced their support at the mic. Grateful to serve on this committee and to feel that I CAN have an impact on our town.

I’m still hopeful the override vote on the ballot passes, so all departments can get their budgets, so many staff get the step-up raises or cost of living wages they deserve, so that my amendment is moot and we have more money back in our town’s “free cash” fund and even better budget than the one I proposed.

I’m also hopeful that more residents will feel compelled to attend town meetings—because 150 people of thousands cannot be left to make all these important decisions and because it is our right as citizens to let our voices be heard.

Oh and here’s a lovely aside…I’ve been working on a new manuscript (just finished my final round of edits after nearly 2 years writing/editing/taking a break) about a small town librarian fighting to save the library that’s been in her family for generations. :-) Life lends itself to inspire, doesn’t it?

Thank you to all who came and supported the library!