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Martha O’Sullivan and her New Release

Martha O’Sullivan has loved reading romance novels for as long as she can remember. Writing her own books is the realization of a lifelong dream. She is a graduate of Illinois State University where she wrote for the school newspaper and was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha. She is also a former Acquisitions Editor at MacMillan Computer Publishing. Martha writes contemporary romances with traditional couples and happy endings. Her Chances Trilogy is available at digital retailers everywhere. Her current work in progress is Christmas in Tahoe. A native Chicagoan, she lives her own happy ending in Florida with her husband and two daughters. Beverley: Which genre or genres do you write or prefer to write? And why? Martha: I write what I love to read, contemporary romance with happily-ever-after endings. Some of the best writing advice I’ve ever gotten was write what you know. Beverley: Who influenced you the most in deciding to become a writer? Martha: I don’t know that it was a conscious decision. It was always in the back of my mind, but I was busy with life, my family. I’m not sure what happened that April night ten years ago, but I just started writing and couldn’t stop. My favorite author will come as no surprise—Nora Roberts. My first romance novel was Heartbeat by Danielle Steel. I read it, and many of her early books, many times! Beverley: What gets your creative juices flowing? Martha: Reading. Right now I’m reading Taylor Jenkins Reid’s new book ...
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Martha O'Sullivan and her New Release

Martha O'Sullivan has loved reading romance novels for as long as she can remember. Writing her own books is the realization of a lifelong dream. She is a graduate of Illinois State University where she wrote for the school newspaper and was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha. She is also a former Acquisitions Editor at MacMillan Computer Publishing. Martha writes contemporary romances with traditional couples and happy endings. Her Chances Trilogy is available at digital retailers everywhere. Her current work in progress is Christmas in Tahoe. A native Chicagoan, she lives her own happy ending in Florida with her husband and two daughters. Beverley:Which genre or genres do you write or prefer to write? And why? Martha: I write what I love to read, contemporary romance with happily-ever-after endings. Some of the best writing advice I’ve ever gotten was write what you know. Beverley:Who influenced you the most in deciding to become a writer? Martha: I don’t know that it was a conscious decision. It was always in the back of my mind, but I was busy with life, my family. I’m not sure what happened that April night ten years ago, but I just started writing and couldn’t stop. My favorite author will come as no surprise—Nora Roberts. My first romance novel was Heartbeat by Danielle Steel. I read it, and many of her early books, many times! Beverley:What gets your creative juices flowing? Martha: Reading. Right now I’m reading Taylor Jenkins Reid’s...
Darlene Fredette and her New Release

Darlene resides on the Atlantic Coast of Canada where the summers are too short and the winters are too long. An avid reader since childhood, Darlene loved to develop the many stories coming to life in her head. She writes contemporary romances with a focus on plot-driven page-turners. When not working on her next book, she can be found with her husband, her daughter, and her yellow Labrador. Darlene’s favourite pastime is taking summer day trips to the Valley to soak in the small-town feel. Author Interview: Beverley:Which genre or genres do you write or prefer to write? And why? Darlene: I write contemporary romances on the sweeter side. I like focusing on the relationship between the hero and heroine. I also enjoy mixing a few twists and turns into the plot. Beverley: Who influenced you the most in deciding to become a writer? Darlene:I wasn’t really influenced by anyone in particular. I love reading, so one day in my teens, I picked up a pencil and plotted the story spinning in my head. Beverley: What gets your creative juices flowing? Darlene:This is going to sound crazy, but my answer is housework. While cleaning the house, a new story will suddenly come to life in my head, or ideas on a current story will work its way through a difficult scene. Beverley: Do you have a favorite cartoon character? Why? Darlene:My favorite cartoon character is Snoopy. I love dogs! Snoopy is adorable. I can draw him, and I...
Deleting Scenes

Welcome to summer and our group blog. It’s another interesting topic this month. Marci Baun came up with it, Deleting scenes: Do you ever delete scenes? When and why do you delete them? And what do you do with them? Do you save them? Or just toss them? Yes, I delete scenes. Earlier when I was writing one of my fantastic scenes and when I read it over it added nothing to the story. I knew I couldn’t leave it in, but it was so great. I put it in a folder so I could use it later or even in another book. I never did reuse it. I still delete scenes. These days it’s usually part of a scene., usually part of a scene. I find myself writing into a corner and I may not find my way out, so I cut it and start over. I hit writer’s block and when I go over the scene, I try to write I find I’m trying to make my characters do something that goes against their personality and beliefs. So, I cut the scene and go back to where the character wants me to go. When I cut them now, they get tossed. I’ve learned if they get cut they probably aren’t that good. When I’m writing a scene there are some things a good scene needs. The setting needs to be clear to the reader at the beginning. The scene needs to share important information to the reader about...
B.D. Storey and his New Release

Bob grew up in a pretty typical Southern household. An Army brat, he was born in Germany and spent his formative years moving around the country from post to post, never going to the same school twice until his father’s retirement. A typical teenager of the 70’s, he spent hours playing baseball, tennis, band, and dumping hard earned quarters into his favorite arcade games. He retired from the Air Force in 2000 and began working in the technology department of a local sheriff’s office, where he will soon retire. A lover of both PC and console games, Bob has spent many hours immersed in the lands of role playing and make-believe with friends and family. This is where his love of writing took off as he and his online friends spent hours writing epic tales of fantasy, love, and adventuring. Oh, and dragon slaying. One can’t forget that. He is married to his best friend and love of his life, Pam. They live on their small ranch/farm in Clarksville where Pam keeps him busy with the multitude of chores that come with having three horses and four cats. He has three great kids who are the lights of their life. Fate Takes a Hike This book is a result of a challenge I set myself in July of 2020. I’ve always been a puttering kind of writer. Small stories here and there, usually a result of some game I was playing or some small moment that caught...
Addison Brae and her New Release

Addison Brae lives in Dallas, Texas on the edge of downtown. She has been writing since childhood and continues today with articles, video scripts, and other content as an independent marketing consultant. Addison enjoys traveling, collecting interesting cocktail recipes, reading, jogging in her neighborhood park, sipping red wine, binge-watching TV series, vintage clothing, and hanging out with her artistic other half and their neurotic cat Lucy. Character Interview Beverley: What’s your name and where did you grow up? Gillian:Hey. I’m Gillian Davis from Sugar Creek, Missouri, outside of St. Louis. If you’ve never heard of it like most people, it’s a little town outside of Kansas City. Beverley: During what time period does your story take place? Gillian:My story in Becker Circle and Dark Energy, Return to Becker Circle is current. Luckily all of the craziness in my life happened before the pandemic hit. The outcomes may have been entirely opposite if the timing was different. Beverley: What’s your story/back story? Why would someone come up with a story about you? Gillian:I worked hard to graduate early from Harvard last December then start over in Dallas with a good accounting job and my own apartment in Becker Circle. I’d be happy anywhere but Sugar Creek after Mom’s death and losing Dad to the bottle. Then there’s what my ex did on my last birthday. Boston’s not big enough for both of us. They say Becker Circle is the “it” place to live. I call it home now, but the...
Update on Me

Summer is here and so is climate change apparently. Out here we’re setting records for high temperatures and forest fires. In other areas, they’re having torrential rains, winds, and tornadoes. How’s your summer going? I hope you’re managing whatever weather you have. I‘m doing a little writing. I’ve finally set some goals. I’m editing and rewriting my latest WIP. It’s in a rough draft. I don’t have a title yet but I’m trying a few different ones. The two I’m working with at the moment are SHE SAW SHE RAN… MURDER UNLEASHED.I’m open to suggestions. If you check out my website for July, you’ll find an excerpt from the book there. https://www.beverleybateman.com/Scrolldown, it’s under the picture of the wolfhound, one of the main characters. I’d love to hear any comments. I also just posted the Wednesday question on https://www.facebook.com/WordbyWordWomenWould love to hear your answers.

Marketing – Is It or Isn’t It?

A few years ago I attended a workshop at RWA with author, Bob Mayer. One of the things he said was if you’re self-publishing don’t even think about marketing until you have at least three books published, four or five, even better. I thought this made sense and marketing scared ...
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Crime Scene Forensics for Writers and Readers.

I’m continuing on with the workshop on Forensics for Writers. There was so much information ion that workshop and hopefully it might be of interest. For security the crime scene should be roped off; the larger the area the better. Establish an area for the media away from the scene ...
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Beginnings, Endings and Sagging Middles

It’s that time for another group blog. This month’s topic is ‘How do you ensure a story has a good beginning, a satisfying ending, and good continuity in between?” It’s a great topic, but my first thought was, if I knew that I’d be a NY Times best seller. But ...
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Meet Michael D. Smith and CommWealth

Michael D. Smith was raised in the Northeast and the Chicago area, before moving to Texas to attend Rice University, where he began developing as a writer and visual artist. In addition to exhibiting and selling paintings and drawings, he’s completed fifteen novels. Smith’s writing in both mainstream and science ...
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