She Plays a Mother on TV by Nora LeDuc #RomanceGems

TV Moms are one of my favorite subjects. Take your pick, you can find all kinds of mums on the small screen. I've chosen a few for us today.

Every Wednesday, we can tune in to "The Goldbergs." Here we have a prime example of an embarrassing, meddling smother-mother. Beverly Goldberg. She's the kind that's always at the school, making sure her children are treated fairly and perfectly because her kids are...perfect. (I bet we've all known a few women like Bev.) Although Beverly learns a lesson about parenting from her misguided efforts, she can never quite cut those apron strings. I've always been more intrigued by the history behind the scripts that are inspired by Adam Goldberg's video recordings of his family's lives. Yes, Beverly is his mother who occasionally makes an appearance in the show. More than once I've read the true-life happenings of the clan had to be toned down for a G audience. Darn.

Another popular TV mom is Marie Barone of "Everybody Loves Raymond." Marie is the parent of two grown men, Raymond and Robert. Raymond, the oldest, continues to be Marie's obvious favorite. This does not go over well with his younger brother Robert, but doesn't stop Marie. She also feels free to give unwanted advice to her sons who are often too afraid of her to cross her. As a mother-in-law, Marie knows little about boundaries and often barges into Ray and his wife's home without a knock and usually at inconvenient times. If you think about it, Marie might remind you of a relative or a friend who means well but is a little too close. And here's a trivia fact for authors-the actor who played Marie's husband, Peter Boyle, was a cousin of Kensington Editor Kate Duffy.

Don't you dare open your mouth when I'm asking you questions.

Before I finish, I must add Clair Huxtable from the former "The Cosby Show" to this list. (Forget Bill.) Every Thursday night, I loved to see what Clair was wearing. Her colorful style of clothing fascinated me. She seemed able to put on anything and look wonderful, but the character of Clair was so much more. As the stable center of the family, she was a wife, a lawyer, and a mom of five who actually talked to her children about their problems. Then, she gave them good advice. She could be funny, but stern when needed. Clair showed us that although mothers worry about their children or make mistakes with them, they will turn themselves upside down to love and guide them into happy, well-adjusted adults. That's a mother.

I have written two stories with moms. My latest, Christmas at the Easy Breezy, takes places in the White Mountains of NH. If you're looking for a happy uplifting book this story is for you. The main character, Darcy Malone, is divorced and a mother of a five-year-old. Darcy is desperately seeking to connect to the family she's never known. Little does she realize what she'll find when she arrives at the Easy Breezy Diner and meets the sometimes-grumpy owner Leo Homes.

Please Follow Me on Social Media and Stay Healthy, Nora.

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The Hopeless Romantic by @karilemor #RomanceGems

This was a post I wrote six years ago on my original blog The Hopeless Romantic. Back before I had anything published and had absolutely no people who knew who I was. I thought it might be nice to revisit.  It was one of the most romantic things to ever happen to me!

Feb. 14, 2014

So it’s Valentine’s Day.  That means we must discuss love and romance, right?  Of course.  I originally had this plan for my blog to make a list of the things that I found very romantic.  But when I woke up this morning, my plans changed.  Why did they change?  My husband.  He’s not some debonair Romeo who swept me off my feet or some Valentino with smooth moves.  He’s just a regular guy.  But sometimes he does something so amazing it just blows my mind.  And it happened again today.

Let’s go back in time and I’ll fill you in on our history.  Nothing glamorous.  We met in college in a History class.  He sat in front of me and would always turn around to hand me the attendance sheet.  He’d smile and I’d smile.  I really never saw much except the back of him.  But he had great hair and *ahem* a really cute butt.

I had a weekend job and so during the week I always went to the library every night, to the third floor (the quiet floor) and settled into the cubicles.  Some nights he would show up and sit near me.  It wasn’t until years later, he confessed he wasn’t there to do work.  Unless you call trying to get my attention work.  And often, on Monday nights, I would invite him back to my room to watch Remington Steele.  No, not in reruns, these were the original episodes.  Yes, that makes me very old.   Remember this little tidbit as it will come up again.

So flash forward a few years (okay maybe more than a few) to Christmas and he and I and our three children are sitting around the Christmas tree.  They are unwrapping gifts and he has gotten each of them some dvd from the $5 bin at WalMart.  I open mine, wondering what he has picked out for me.  I stop and stare and the kids just nod and go on opening.  But my heart stops, too.  He’s gotten me a whole season of Remington Steele.  He remembered.  Seriously remembered.

Flash forward a few more years to our 25th Anniversary.  We had a huge party (orchestrated by my oldest with the help of her younger siblings, and apparently my husband) but the thing I loved most was the card he got me.  Here it is:

Yup, cute little picture, but the sentiment is what has made me keep it still.  The inside reads:  

Turns out the millionth kiss is even better than the first.  Happy Anniversary.

But then my husband continues to write:  

Especially knowing there are a million more to come.                 *swoon*

Okay, so I’ve established he has his romantic moments.  No, our marriage wasn’t filled with little things like this every day, but they pop up every now and then.  So let’s fast forward to today.  No, actually I need to give you a tiny bit of backstory first.    I started reading romance novels when I was twelve and loved anything to do with romance.  I had a friend in High School who always teased me about it but one day gave me a cute little poster with a cartoon character riding in a hot air balloon throwing hearts out to scatter and float in the bright blue sky.  The poster was titled:  The Hopeless Romantic.

Yup, that’s where I got the name for this blog.  It describes me perfectly.  I had mentioned this poster one time to my husband when I first started the blog and said I wished I could find something similar again. I honestly didn't think he was listening.

Okay, now we can flash forward to this morning.  It’s yucky with snow and ice, and I’m groggy so when Hubby says good bye in the morning, I haven’t realized it’s Valentine’s Day.  Once I get up and get going, I head to our spare room (now that the kids are all gone we actually have one) and sit down at my computer.  It takes me a while, but I realize there is something leaning against the wall.  It’s a painting.  And as I get closer, I realize it is a hot air balloon with someone throwing hearts to flutter in the wind.  And one of the hearts has some words on it:  JM to KL, Forever and Always.  That’s also what it says on the inside of our wedding rings.

The painting is by my niece who is an artist and it’s obvious my husband has conspired to have her do this.  I had no idea.  And the thought and consideration, and LOVE that went into doing this astounds me.  And I feel guilty because with all the snow we’ve gotten here lately, I haven’t even had a chance to get him a card.  But he has been so amazingly supportive of my writing that I figure a great gift will be my writing something for him.

So here it is.  Thank you, hon, for almost twenty-seven years of marriage, three beautiful children, a life of love, fun, and romance and making me always feel like the sexiest woman on earth (which I know I’m not).  You are the rock that grounds me and gives me strength in times when I feel I can’t go on.  Thank you for loving me as you do and putting up with all my quirks and bad habits.  I love you very much and will continue to love you Forever and Always.

And thanks to all who stuck around for this much too long blog.  Have you any romantic stories to tell?  Let me know.  I’d love to hear them.

Shameless plug: If you happen to be near Jacksonville, Florida, I will be signing books at JAX Bookfest at the Main branch Library on Sat. Feb 29 from 10 - 3.   I will have copies of my new book, True Dreams, even though it's not technically out yet!! Hope to see you there!

Last But Not Least!

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What’s Next in 2020? By Jan Scarbrough #RomanceGems

Every year, I make my writing goals. In 2018, I concentrated on revising, re-editing, and republishing five books in my Bluegrass Reunion series. I had gotten the rights back and wanted to update and polish them before self-publishing them.

That was 2018. In 2019, I finished revising the series with Kentucky Cowboy and Kentucky Rain. My other goal was more ambitious: a trilogy called Ghost Mountain Ranch. It would tell the story of Hank, a secondary character from the Montana Ranchers, a series I wrote with Maddie James.

I did finish the first book in the trilogy, and because it was a romance, Hank got his happy ending. However, life happened: my husband got sick and so did I. Currently the first book is with my editor. I’m almost finished with the second.

So, my goal in 2020 is to finish all three books and self-publish them. I’ve included the cover for the first book. I’m not sure I’ll keep the cover or the title. What do you think?

If you’ve read yesterday’s group blog, you’ll find I hope to get back on track personally in 2020. I have some chronic health issues that I must live with. But I want to get moving again: taking horseback riding lessons again, going to the gym, walking, volunteering, and helping with the grandkids. I have archery and volleyball contests to attend, not to mention basketball and football games.

What are your plans for 2020?

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Teaching an Old Author New Tricks by Cheryl Bolen

Last weekend I joined with over 300 authors at an intensive conference billed as the Romance Authors Mastermind, the brainchild of  New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren. Though I’ve been attending conventions of romance authors for more than three decades and have been a published author for more than two decades, in many ways I felt like a novice.

Nine member of my Jewels of Historical Romance group went to dinner with BookBub reps Carlyn Robinson and Audrey at the Romance Authors Mastermind. From left, Claire Delacroix, Lauren Royal, Glynnis Campbell, Darcy Burke, Erica Ridley,, Tanya Anne Crosby, Audrey, Carlyn,, Cynthia Wright, Brenda Hiatt, and Cheryl Bolen. The Jewels have been together for seven years.

Each speaker at this high-powered event has come on the publishing scene wa-a-a-y after me, and I’m pretty sure each speaker has had years in which they’ve pulled down seven-figure incomes. (Several of them admitted they had.) I have never had a year in which I made a seven-figure income, and no matter how many Masterminds I attend, I know I never will!

I did learn a lot of things about how the publishing industry has changed not just in these 30 years I’ve been close to it but particularly in the last half a dozen years. I’d estimate well over 90 percent of these Mastermind attendees were not traditionally published but self published. Also, the length of their books is considerably shorter than what was standard when I started publishing. There were several authors there who claimed to put out a book a month. I have to believe what they were calling a book is what I would refer to as a novella.

These gals work hard. On Mastermind’s Facebook group, several owned up to the fact they were writing page quotas in their hotel rooms. No time off for them.

Almost every single author I met there was experienced at placing ads at Amazon and Facebook to promote their books. I have never learned how to do ads. There were workshops at the conference addressing this. Now if I could just find someone to take me through the process step by step.

Sure, I can write a book. I have published 41 of them. But ads? Marketing? Promotion? These young chicks have left me in the dust of their stilettos.

And don’t for a moment think because their books were self published they looked cheesy. These gals know how to put out a sophisticated looking project.

 Along with some great speakers and workshops, there were 75 roundtable discussions, and some extremely savvy authors conducting these on topics ranging from foreign translations to metrics of tracking promotions and book sales to promotion of audio books.

You see, today’s indie author is more than a writer. She’s a business woman, and Romance Authors Mastermind filled a special niche for today’s indie author. Skye Warren got a standing ovation from the attendees at the luxurious Four Seasons Hotel in Houston, where the pricey event took place.—Cheryl Bolen confesses she went to the Mastermind to meet up with her fellow Jewels of Historical Romance. Check out her new Christmas novella, His Lady Deceived.

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