Save the date and "Let's go back in time together..."

Okay, I have a date and time for my book signing/food tasting party! April 18 (Friday), 6 - 8pm, come join me in celebrating the debut of my first novel, The Legacy, a historical romance, at Read it Again & Again Bookstore in Houston on Beechnut. The fabulous Chef Norie will provide the food for the tasting part of the event. She promises to take our palates back in time and will feature something from the historical setting of my book (Early Reformation Germany)--Americanized for the modern foodie, of course.

I'll put more details up later, as we're still hammering them out, but I hope some of you can set that date aside and come visit us if you are in the area. Tell your friends! We're billing this as my Houston "book launch party." I'll be signing, so you can buy The Legacy there if you haven't already by then.

Hope to see some friendly faces at my book launch party. If you can't make it that day, but you happen to be in Los Angeles at 10am on April 13, I'll be speaking at the Barnes & Noble in Encino for the Los Angeles Romance Authors RWA chapter . I'm pretty sure there will be books there, too. *wink*

TJB

Lose Yourself

The ladies over at the Boxing the Octopus blog have had an on-fire week blogging about the challenges and barriers--both internal and external--to a writing career. Joni's post about fat, nude writing was particularly moving. I found myself thinking a perfect soundtrack to her post would be Eminem's "Lose Yourself" hip-hop mantra for laying it all on the line. I listen to that song and feel like I could--no, like I must--go out and conquer the world, lay it all on the line, because I never know when my chance might come again. I'm not a leap-of-faith person, by nature, but that song makes me wanna.

Opportunities for success come around once in most people's lives, and sometimes we choke. Sometimes we make mistakes, and slink off to lick our wounds, bitter and resentful about turning into a "bum," instead of a "contenda" (props to Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront). But it's one thing to try and to fail spectacularly; no shame in that. Most times, when we've given it everything we have and we hit the ground anyway, face first, we still bounce--even if it is only a little. What I don't want--God, no--is to be that person who loses out on the opportunity of a lifetime because she was afraid to take her best shot. Failure is scary, and success is even scarier. Either way, you're petrified. May as well have something to show for it, right?

"A normal life is boring..."



TJB

Romantic Times Author Spotlight and Blog Tours

Hey, just a post to let everyone know I'm a featured author this month in Romantic Times BOOKReview magazine's Author Spotlight on the "exclusive content" section of their website (for subscribers), or you can link to the page from my website for non-exclusive content. You can find an article written by me about the origins of The Legacy (now available for preorder on Amazon.com), a brief description of the story, and an excerpt. I was told that RT readers like the steamy stuff, :-) so I tried to choose the excerpt appropriately. All in good fun, mind you, all in good fun. LOL!

Saturday I spent a lovely day in Tomball, TX Lone Star College's library as part of an author appreciation panel. A panel of local North West Houston romance authors spoke to an interested audience on how to get published, find an agent, connect with other writers, and many other interesting topics. We also sold and autographed books and raised money through a raffle basket to donate to the library. We noshed yummy chocolate treats and mingled with readers for an entertaining and rewarding day. I didn't have a book to sign yet, so I brought my wonderful Terry's Wilde & Wooly Bears to display. I'm still debating whether I'll give these wonderful bears away. I've grown so attached to them, I may just have to keep them for my very own. LOL!

In coming months I'll be making the blog tour, so look for that as well. Several well-travelled blogs have asked me to be a guest. So, look for me in April on Booksquare, History's Hoydens, Killer Fiction, and Juanty Quills. I'll be giving a talk and doing a booksigning for the Los Angeles Romance Authors in April, and having a booksigning and tasting with my former personal chef, the fabulous Chef Norie, in Houston at Read It Again and Again Bookstore. Finally, I'll be teaching an online class in May for Elements of RWA chapter. Whew! I guess I'll get my fifteen minutes of fame and then go back to my cubby after that's all through. I'll post more details as we get closer to the events.

TJB