tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49270435157569797072012-02-16T04:42:37.217-05:00a writer's journey of becomingBernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.comBlogger171100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927043515756979707.post-65444084955863138762011-01-09T19:37:00.000-05:002011-01-09T19:37:59.635-05:00

Today is Day One of the shift to my alter ego, McKenna Darby, and her new blog, which is the new incarnation of my blog. (Confused yet? I know I am!)  Today, she (and I) are blogging about the numbing effect Fear can have on our dreams as authors. To read the post, please visit McKenna Darby Romance. And while you're there, please sign up as a follower. It's quick and easy, and allows you to post

Bernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927043515756979707.post-22290310549026499642010-12-15T13:38:00.000-05:002010-12-15T13:38:14.203-05:00

They've finally posted the news on The Golden Network website, so I feel free to announce here at last that my manuscript Traitor to Love placed second in the 2010 Golden Pen contest in the "Novel with Strong Romantic Elements" category. Placing in a contest is always a great feeling, but I'm at least as excited about this second-place finish as I am about some of the first-place wins the

Bernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927043515756979707.post-68683320610859331462010-11-06T08:49:00.000-04:002010-11-06T08:49:04.845-04:00

Can you believe that 31% of the people voting on SB 3804 as of this moment think it is OK to steal someone else's intellectual property, to post it without attribution as if it is their own, even to edit and distort it? As a writer and a creative person, I'd like to encourage Congress to shut down such people. What about you? If you oppose the theft of artists' creative property - their

Bernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927043515756979707.post-92224825181047021832010-09-27T19:28:00.101-04:002010-09-27T20:51:26.685-04:00

The first round of results is in, and the editors at Mills & Boon have whittled the 824(!) entries in their New Voices competition for unpublished writers down to 10 finalists. Even though they didn't pick my entry (I know, go figure), I'm pleased to see that the writing is, for the most part, pretty good. Sure, a few of the finalists would never have made my short list. But that's

Bernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927043515756979707.post-82826804832328798862010-09-06T12:36:00.007-04:002010-09-06T19:02:50.395-04:00

I learned a lot about how I process feedback on my manuscripts from a post on Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz's blog about editor and writer Karen McGrath's Seven Stages of Editing Grief. The stages, for anyone else who might benefit, are: 1. Denial: This feedback is stupid and useless.  2. Pain and Guilt: How could I have made such a mess of this? 3. Anger: Who does this editor/crit partner think

Bernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927043515756979707.post-50505082308912388722010-08-24T22:22:00.007-04:002010-09-06T12:44:10.798-04:00

One of these days I just might learn never to say never. What might finally teach me this valuable lesson? The iPad. Like most writers, I love books. Not just the stories they contain but the books themselves. Especially hard-bound books. Especially hard-bound books with leather covers and beautiful end-papers. Opening such a book is a never-ending joy. Crisp, clean type on fine paper. The smell

Bernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927043515756979707.post-5072445365885066422010-08-14T19:16:00.008-04:002010-09-06T12:45:04.151-04:00

"Sing, sing a song, sing out loud, sing out strong..." I'm currently reading Eat, Pray, Love. I know, I know, I'm way behind the curve, but I've been reading a lot of romances and middle-grade/young adult fiction, filling the well of inspiration for my own work. I really want to see the movie -- I *love* Julia Roberts, and Javier Bardem looks positively yummy -- but for some inscrutable reason,

Bernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927043515756979707.post-33946490620817967212010-08-01T11:44:00.004-04:002010-08-03T20:48:37.514-04:00

I'm a bit shocked to see it's been more than a month since my last post. I meant to give myself a break, but not five-going-on-six weeks. I have plenty of excuses for why it's been so long: A blissful week of beach vacation during which I only left my lounge chair to take a dip in the ocean or grab a meal; nearly a full week in the Boston area for a staff meeting; a crushing backlog of work for

Bernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927043515756979707.post-74835741187234053902010-06-21T21:53:00.002-04:002010-09-06T12:45:40.562-04:00

When Alston appeared in my bathroom, I was surprised -- but not by his contention that I'd misjudged him. After all, that's what scoundrels always say when cornered. "So you're the hero." I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Difficult to believe when you dress like a war profiteer." He tugged at his waistcoat, the brocade too bright, the buttons too large and brassy. "Ghastly, isn't it? Effective,

Bernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927043515756979707.post-22566209084716874052010-06-09T22:12:00.025-04:002010-08-14T20:20:13.865-04:00

The book I'm currently shopping to editors and agents is nothing like the book I had in mind when I sat down to write it. In fact, about the only parts that have survived are the setting (my hometown of Wilmington, N.C.); the Civil War time period; and the names of three characters. The book I set out to write was intended for pre-teens in the 10-12 age range. My premise was that young people

Bernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927043515756979707.post-32880515113838898642010-05-31T21:38:00.014-04:002010-06-09T22:46:07.494-04:00

I get my love of reading from my parents. They're both voracious readers, and their books are stacked at least three deep on the bookshelves they've shoehorned into every available space in their home. As far back as I can remember, I had access to books - lots and lots and lots of books. My only shortage was time - there simply wasn't enough of it to read everything I wanted to read. So yes, I

Bernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927043515756979707.post-25128317383087497102010-05-23T23:11:00.004-04:002010-06-09T22:46:35.532-04:00

Battery Buchanan guarded New Inlet, the main access to the Cape Fear River When I worked for the Star-News in the early 1980s, we did a number of special publications, thick tabloids that got slipped into the regular newspaper five or six times a year, usually on Sundays. Publishers loved these tabloids because they brought in a lot of incremental advertising revenue. Reporters, for the most

Bernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927043515756979707.post-31948412071994588742010-05-14T22:43:00.020-04:002010-06-09T22:47:03.968-04:00

The photo at the top of this page and the one in the middle of the "Happiness is..." page (check it out; it's gorgeous!) are of perhaps my favorite place on earth: my hometown of Wilmington, NC. When I say Wilmington is my hometown, I don't mean it in the sense most people do. Although I was born in Wilmington, I didn't grow up there. My father worked for IBM in the days when those three letters

Bernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927043515756979707.post-69886477220469838092010-05-10T12:18:00.006-04:002010-06-09T22:47:27.508-04:00

I just returned from the Post Office, where I dropped off my application to become a PRO member of Romance Writers of America. PRO is a weird little purgatory where writers who are serious about getting published drift while waiting for THE CALL that will offer them a contract and convert them to a PAN -- a member of RWA's Published Author Network. The requirements for PRO are that you be a

Bernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927043515756979707.post-74961158221155929842010-05-06T22:48:00.025-04:002010-06-09T22:47:47.736-04:00

In the writing game, the risk of rejection is everywhere. And no threat of rejection is more daunting, more potentially lethal, than sending your work to an editor or agent who can dash your dreams with the stroke of a pen. If you take this risk and send your manuscript, your baby, out into the world in hopes of being published, you are one of two types: naive and delusional (the grandmother who

Bernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927043515756979707.post-1247675135384053652010-05-03T08:07:00.008-04:002010-08-31T22:37:02.810-04:00

Everything they say about the romance of Paris is true. The city’s magic even works on the decidedly unromantic, including my husband. Now John is one of the best husbands a woman could ever hope to have. He’s intelligent, honest, ethical, fiercely protective, funny, sweet – my best friend for nearly thirty years and counting. But romantic? Not so much. He doesn’t dance; can’t make him. The one

Bernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927043515756979707.post-6091652129459183832010-04-26T09:57:00.003-04:002010-05-17T12:10:55.711-04:00

Near the Pont Neuf in Paris, there's a lovely little footbridge called Pont des Arts. It's one of the few bridges across the Seine for pedestrians only. Wooden planking and abundant benches make it a charming place to sit and watch the city go by, and John and I took a few minutes to enjoy it during a recent visit. As we sat and admired the view of Ile de la Cite, with the towers of Notre Dame

Bernadettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02203668301347954203noreply@blogger.com3