With the pandemic and negative news articles spreading around, I stuck my head in the sand with five other women and began working on an anthology. You might ask, “What is an anthology?” Well, let me tell you, it is a fantastic project to be involved in.
An anthology is a collection of writings by various authors in the same genre, time period, or subject. Another type is a collection of selected writing by one author. I will be a part of the first type.
Cabin Fever is what many people experienced while under the stay-at-home order or lockdown during the Covid-19 outbreak, and that inspired the name of our collection of writings.
This is my first attempt into the romance genre. The heat range on this anthology is fade-to-black. While I write erotic short stories, they aren’t formula romance. Halloween Masquerade is my first published attempt in the romance genre.
In fact, we consider each author in this collection a new author. Sunny Abernathy writes A Lie in the Cabin, Renee Pellegrino writes Rewrite, Stephanie Spicer writes Untitled At this Time, Kristy Lynde writes Untitled At this Time, Roxie St. James writes Family Matters, and I wrote Halloween Masquerade.
All proceeds from this book go to sponsor the NaNoWriMo Support Sisters real life writing retreat in November of each year.
Joe, our birthday boy lives a nomad life. He travels and enjoys his siestas and trotting in circles. Each evening he takes a walk with his sister, Cleo while she zooms after their friend, Harley.
And Joe, what did you do today?
“I like sleeping late. Silly Cleo began trying to wake me and get huMom to take us outside in the dark. There are dangerous things in the dark. Last night a skunk came through our campsite. I hid my nose, his fragrance stunk.” Joe closed his eyes as if bored.
Did anything else exciting happen?
“Cleo began singing and she hums. I added additional bark to the choir practice. Sometimes I actually harmonize. Harley, the big girl dog from next door came out and I’d like to becomes friends but her huMom said she doesn’t like little dogs. I am anything but little. I weigh in at 7 lbs 1 oz.” He raised his head and crossed his front legs.
That does sound fun and frustrating. How long have you been able to sing?
“Cleo taught me after I was adopted as her brother. It took a while, I wasn’t really sure how she was able to howl. I like to yap in time with her singing.” He got up from his pillow and turned around to get into a better position.
Do you bark a lot?
“Cleo and I are on guard a lot. There are so many things that try to get my huMom. Not all people have good intentions. It’s Cleo and my responsibility to scare those people away. My huMom tells me to use my inside voice a lot. She wants me to growl instead of actually bark. That’s so annoying. I would have to growl twenty-four seven to keep her notified of all things.” He rolled to his side.
What adventures have you been on this winter?
“Cleo told you the highlights yesterday. After the New Year’s Eve bash. we headed to the hot springs with two of her new friends. One was Harley’s huMom and they continued to caravan with us for the rest of the winter. HuMom was in a party mode and we headed to the Par T R next. That’s where she met a prospector and his friends. We headed to north of Kingman to the prospector claim. And Cleo and I met, Wiley Coyote. He wasn’t a real coyote, those are dangerous. Wiley is a good friend of mine. HuMom’s furnace died and we condensed to a small area to sleep in the RV and heat it with a small heater. Mike the prospector gave huMom a tank to run it or we would have had to leave early. When Wiley’s huMom had to visit her mom, the packing to travel again began. I’m pretty content in my own little world of guarding huMom and sleeping. Our uneventful return to Quartzsite became interesting when I saw my huMan friend Don along with Harley and her huMom. Harley’s huMom helped my huMom to tear the bunk over the cab apart. It was yucky due to it being wet. The huMan didn’t fix it correctly and huMom had to re-do it herself. Then my world changed. I didn’t think Cleo and I were going to get fed ever again.” Joe’s eyes were as big as saucers.
Do tell what happened?
“huMom fell through the plastic step we used to get into the RV and fell to the ground. She didn’t jump back up and joke about being a clutz. My huMan friend Don came running over to keep Cleo and me from jumping on her to wake her up. She may not have been asleep but she wasn’t moving which was unlike her. We wanted to get to her face and make sure she was alright. Harley’s huMom held on to his kitty, Lilith and Harley stood by watching too. It was a good thing huMan Don was there to help huMom into our RV. She couldn’t walk. The humans packed her in ice, elevated her foot, gave her food and visited several times a day. It was exhausting. I had to growl to let them know she was still injured and needed rest. Nine days later she was able to go to the Veterans hospital to get x-rayed. The humans were happy. She was gone all day and it was stressful. What if she didn’t come back? Who would feed us, or walk us, or let us run outside? Her friends gave her many gifts that allowed her to walk, they were funny she was 4-legged too. Now, we are happy and feel secure again. She can feed us, walk us, hold and pet us, chase Cleo with a brush. Eww I don’t like the brush either. We are on another adventure. But there are no campers around us. Cleo and I like that. We can watch the bunnies, maybe chase them if our leads are long enough. And we go trick or treating every night. Each evening it’s Halloween and we get treats from Harley’s huMom.
Cleo, our birthday gal lives the life of a nomad. She travels and enjoys romping and zoomies. At dusk, she and her friends go trick or treating to the various campsites that offer evening treats to the trio.
So Cleo, what did you do today?
“I wanted Harley, my new best romping buddy, to come out and zoom with me before the sun came up. My huMom told me no. Can you believe it? Here I am celebrating my eight birthday and she won’t just let me run loose in the desert. Of course, Harley and I would have chased that large rabbit that lurks around in the morning hours.” Cleo ran in circles barking.
Did anything else exciting happen?
“Joe, my younger brother, and I had choir practice. I wanted it to wake Harley so her huMom would allow her outside to run and play. We finally got too. Harley came zooming at me and rolled me over. I got up and shook it off, ready to zoom again.” She laid down and scratched her ear.
That does sound fun and exhausting. How long have you been able to sing?
“I’ve howled and crooned since I was a puppy. Joe still has trouble but he gives it a good go every day about 10:00 a.m. I am trying to teach Harley, but she’s a boxer-boston terrier mix and so far she barks real deep.” Laid at the front door and watched for Harley to look out her front door.
Do you bark a lot?
“I am on guard a lot. There are so many things that try to get my huMom. Sometimes it is other dogs with a leash attached to their huMan or huMom’s, or bicycles, motorcycles, and some times silly kitties that wear a harness and attached to a huMan. My huMom tells me to use my inside voice a lot. She wants me to growl instead of actually bark.” She rolled over to her side.
What adventures have you been on this winter?
“Let’s see, We’ve been to the Great Tetons with Jazzman and her sidekick, Sherbert. After seeing the buffalo, paint pots, and geysers, we headed to Pocatello. We stayed at a couple of casinos along the way and met my huMom’s best friend from her time in San Fransico. She had a fun daughter that took us for a walk around the parking lot while the huMom’s visited. Then we were off to Oregon. There were many fun camping areas and one very peculiar one. We parked with cars so close to us we had to be careful opening our door. In the evening, they put more cars around us and closed this big gate and locked it. Each morning, they pulled the cars out and worked on them and we would take a walk while they raised our home up on a rack to work on. Very peculiar. Oh, and then we camped by the ocean, and in the mountains, at a winery and traveled on up into Washington. After traveling throughout the northwest, we headed south through Nevada and landed in Quartzsite, Arizona. I had been there before, but this time my friend Teddy didn’t show up nor his huMom and I made new friends.
“Did I tell you, Harley, Joe and I go trick or treating? Each evening it is Halloween and we get treats from the neighbor aka Harley’s huMom. There are no other campers around us anymore. I gotta go, it’s trick or treating time.” Woof woof, Cleo
Here’s me chasing Rooster and NO! I am not showing you him chasing me…geez
Welcome to Brule, Ohio, where the lost is misplaced, the grocery store is more accurate than a newspaper, and the home of online psychic, Tracy Richards, who is a single mother of two high-school daughters. She finds misplaced items for the police department and her neighbors. Her track record for finding the misplaced has earned her the respect and cooperation of the local law enforcement officers and town residents.
Sylvester DeGroff re-enters her life, only to learn history repeats itself. Despite their past, Tracy agrees to help after she learns his deceased brother’s only child is missing. Using her psychic abilities in a capacity she has never done before, she sets off on a course to find her daughters’ only cousin.
Tracy is driven to save the girl and try to redeem her confidence in lieu of the life she couldn’t save. Will Tracy only recover a deceased body, yet again? Or will she actually be able to complete a rescue?
What is a book review? A short synopsis of your opinion about the story you read. Amazon rates the book by the stars it receives along with how many copies are sold. Book review sites offer their own version of review guidelines. The sure-fire way to let an author know how much you appreciate their storytelling is to leave a review.
Twenty years ago I did reviews for a site that reviewed romance novels only. We had a three-
paragraph of three sentences for each paragraph. The first paragraph was our opinion of the female main character. The second included information about the male main character. Followed by the last paragraph as a short overview of the story. To this review formula, I added a fourth-paragraph that begin, why I liked/disliked the story.
The like or dislike opinion might include information about bad editing which had nothing to do with the author and all about the editing or publishing company. In today’s market where the independent author might have used an independent editor, I would not rate the book on the lousy edits but I will mention s/he might want to change editors in the future. Should I contact the author before leaving the review? Maybe, though the difference might not show up for six months or so.
Focus on the characters and storyline for a review with a short paragraph about why you like or dislike the book. Leave a rating without the focus on editing and your comment will be well received.
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What is NaNoWriMo? It is National Novel Writing Month. Embraced by novelists, authors, and writers. The goal is to write 50,000 words in a story format. Formatting does not matter, genre does not matter, and neither do your typing skills or grammar. This is a goal each person sets for him or herself, and all milestones should be celebrated.
My goal is to write 50,000 words in a new genre. The new to me genre is romance. Romance has a formula and to have a romance novel that means I have to meet the expectations of the industry. To reach the word count is doing what I do already, type 2,000 words a day. My stretch is writing to market and catching all the beats anticipated by the reader and demanded by the publishers.
My RoamingRavenRV YouTube trailer is all about my RV travels. This YouTube trailer is all about the author. October is Preptober for National Novel Writing Month in November. NaNoWriMo is a challenge many people use to write their novel, memoir, or something with 50,000 words in one month. Subscribe, click the bell and be notified when I go live for a writing partner. I’ll offer sprints and chitchat. Writing can be a very lonely profession. It doesn’t have to be 😉
Annie and Hillary continued to sit on the embankment. Dominick flashed his badge and identification quickly.
“You ladies are safe now.” Sly said.
“Show me your badge again. I want to know that it is real and not from the dime store.” Hillary said.
Dominick held it for Hillary to examine.
“See I knew it was f ning fake. No one from the damn UN would care if I got kidnapped or not.” Hillary said.
Two highway patrol cars parked behind the van and Sylvester’s truck, and one zipped around to park in front of the van. Dominick showed his badge to the officers and Sylvester produced his identification. “We’re looking for two women in a ‘70 orange MG. They go by the name of Tracy Richards and Lehana Jamison.” Dominick told the officers.
“What you want them for?” Hillary said.
“Have you seen them Miss?” The state highway patrolman said.
“Yes, they’re the ones who rescued Annie and me.”
“They did this?” The state highway patrolman asked.
“Yes.” Annie said.
The state highway patrol officers hauled the men out of the van.
“Two women did this,” asked the officer who took charge of the scene.
“Yes sir.” Annie said again.
“The idea that Tracy had put herself in danger irritated the hell out of me. Yet to see the men trussed up like goats at the rodeo makes me proud to know she has capabilities.” Sly said to Dominick.
“Officers, we’ll take our leave and continue on our search for those two vigilantes. Girls, I’m glad your safe and will be reunited with your families in a few hours.” Dominick said.
He and Sly returned to the truck.
“Let’s go.” Dominick maneuvered the truck around the patrol cars and pulled out onto the highway.
As they passed the next exit, there sat the battery to the van. They both laughed.
This past month continued being riddled with unexpected RV issues. Yellowstone National Park delivered eye candy galore. Bison and Old Faithful along with the Painting Pots delighted my imagination.
Dispersed camping in the Grand Teton National Park with friends made the experience more enjoyable. Follow me on Instagram: RoamingRavenRV and RoamingRaven.com for photos. The videos will go up on YouTube as soon as I can get it edited to a higher standard than my past.
For a USD $1 a month on Patreon.com/RoamingRavenRV, I post lens’ several times a day and other up-to-the current time postings.
AuthorApprentices is also on Patreon. Their blog is free on Patreon. The video content is extra.
Small Bit of Justice is in the final stages. It is on my ‘to-do’ list to have it published by the end of September. This revision took longer than I originally thought. I just had a thought, I’ll toss up some deleted scenes for your reading pleasure.
This is short and sweet, but I’m still putting in many hours a day on Small Bit of Justice with the goal of it being available this month.
With the pandemic and negative news articles spreading around, I stuck my head in the sand with five other women and began working on an anthology. You might ask, “What is an anthology?” Well, let me tell you, it is a fantastic project to be involved in.
