And the news just keeps coming

 

cj Sez: Wanted, Readers and Writers.  The Mobile Literary Festival returns (after the enforced pandemic hiatus) to the Ben May Main Library on March 11, 2023.

 

  For readers and writers of all genres and skill levels, the Mobile Literary Festival aims to inspire and educate. And attendance at the workshops and author panels is FREE! Check back with the Lyrical Pens weekly posts for more info. 

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  It’s awards season all around the country—movies, TV shows, theater, and BOOKS!  Malice Domestic has announced the nominations for the upcoming Agatha Awards.

  From the Malice Domestic site:

  “The Agatha Awards celebrate the traditional mystery, best typified by the works of Agatha Christie. The genre is loosely defined as mysteries that contain no explicit sex, excessive gore, or gratuitous violence, and would not be classified as "hard-boiled." 

 There are too many wonderful nominees/books to list them all, but you can look for their names here: https://www.malicedomestic.org/agatha-awards.html  

  I know many of the nominees, some of whom are members of writing groups to which I belong, so it’s impossible for me to have fingers crossed for the win for just one of them. So I’ll say, Congratulations to all and win or no, I send you all best wishes for wonderful reviews and sales.

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  Everyone in Mobile, Alabama, has a Mardi Gras story. In the Mardi Gras Pieces anthology, the second installment of the Mobile Writers Guild Pieces anthology series, the guild members share their stories—some true and some fictional, some funny, some touching, and some downright chilling. 

  So don your beads, deck yourself out in purple, gold, and green, grab a Moon Pie or some King Cake (be careful not to swallow the baby), and coffee or tea and relax while you experience a little bit of the Mobile Mardi Gras tradition. 

 Valentine’s Day is coming up, too, and the Mobile Writers Guild created the Valentine’s Day Pieces anthology as the perfect gift. Amazon blurb: 

“Love is in the air, but so is something else . . . In this third installment of the Mobile Writers Guild anthology series, our members celebrate the traditional romantic aspect of Valentine’s Day with sweet and funny stories of hearts, flowers, and kisses, but they also explore the darkness that surrounds the day with a few tales of intrigue, madness, and murder."

And the anthologies are sale priced, too!

Buy Valentine’s Day Pieces now 

Buy Mardi Gras Pieces now

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  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for your health and safety.

cj

  No inflation here: THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA, my fast-paced, exciting suspense/thriller ebooks, are low-, low-priced at $2.99.

  P.S.  The Haunted Book Shop has signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  

➜ Follow me on . . .  

➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page

➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor

➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson

➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

 

For readers and writers . . .

cj Sez: The importance of a vivid and intriguing first sentence has been hammered, again and again, into aspiring writers. And it’s true. That first sentence needs to invite and draw the reader into the story. But then there’s this:

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Upcoming awards

  And I quote:   “Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce, as we celebrate the 214 th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, the nominees for the 2023 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2022.

  “The 77^th Annual Edgar® Awards will be celebrated on April 27, 2023, at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square. The Edgar Awards, or “Edgars,” as they are commonly known, are named after MWA’s patron saint Edgar Allan Poe and are presented to authors of distinguished work in various categories.”

  I was excited to see that I actually know some of the awesome writers. To find out if your favorite author is among the nominees and/or how many of the books you’ve read, click here: https://mysterywriters.org/mwa-announces-2023-edgar-award-nominations/

  And when you look up the books, pay attention to the cover designs as well, especially you indie published or soon-to-be-published authors. Lots of cues there.

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  Mardi Gras Season is happening now in Mobile, AL. The first parade rolled through Dauphin Island on January 21. Yeah, I know. Mardi Gras, the day aka Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday, is a month away—February 21. But hey, why wait a whole month to eat King Cake and party? Valentine’s Day, all sweetness and romance, is next on the list of February celebrations.

  Here are a couple of Mobile Writers Guild anthologies, chock full of a variety of short stories about those two popular holidays. And the Ebooks are sale-priced, too!

Buy Mardi Gras Pieces

Buy Valentine’s Day Pieces

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  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for your health and safety.

cj

No inflation here: THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA, my fast-paced, exciting suspense/thriller ebooks, are low-, low-priced at $2.99.

P.S.  The Haunted Book Shop has signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us 

➜ Follow me on . . .  

➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page

➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor

➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson

➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

 

A call for young writers submissions

cj Sez: Hey, all you young writers (and teachers of same) in Mobile and Baldwin, Alabama, counties, the Mobile Writers Guild wants your stories.

  The Mobile Writers Guild is sponsoring a Writing Scholarship contest calling for submissions of short story fiction by students in grades 6 through 12 in Mobile and Baldwin Alabama counties.

   Write your story, edit and re-edit, get it proofread (the more eyes on it, the better), polish it some more, and submit the manuscript by February 26 for a chance to get some professional feedback and win a cash prize. (Be sure to follow all the instructions.)

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   On January 21, the Dauphin Island “People’s Parade,” the first of two weekends of parades on the Island, kicks off the 2023 Mardi Gras Season for Mobile, Alabama. The first parade for the City of Mobile will roll through the downtown streets on February 3. In case you didn’t know, Mardi Gras 2023, the actual day, also known as Fat Tuesday and/or Shrove Tuesday, is February 21. I checked the current schedule and counted forty-seven parades scheduled to celebrate the 2023 season. But wait, there’s more!

   Valentine’s Day is next on the list of February celebrations. 

   Soooo, here are a couple of Mobile Writers Guild anthologies, chock full of a variety of short stories about these popular holidays to get you in the swing of things. And the Ebooks are sale-priced, too!

Buy Valentine’s Day Pieces

Buy Mardi Gras Pieces 

§§

   That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for your health and safety.

cj

   No inflation here: THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA, my fast-paced, exciting suspense/thriller ebooks, are low-, low-priced at $2.99.

   P.S.  The Haunted Book Shop has signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us 

 

➜ Follow me on . . .  

➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page

➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor

➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson

➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

  

Resolutions or goals ?

cj Sez: I admit I have never been able to keep any New Year's resolutions. When my career in a corporate environment taught me to set "goals," a lightbulb went off. 

  The writer in me said, “No wonder I can’t keep a resolution.” The word “resolution” infers a passive ending…you know, set it and forget it because it's reached resolution. Whatever that was has been resolved.

 

  The word “goal” infers action…a constant striving to reach it or be defeated. The important thing is that a goal must be realistic and reachable or it is automatically defeating.

  

  I admit I have yet to set a goal for 2023. Since I love words and the syntax and cadence of a well-crafted sentence, paragraph, chapter, and story, I expect my reachable goal for 2023 will to once again sit down and write something—which I did not do in 2022. Yet enthusiasm wanes and ennui waxes when I contemplate self-publishing and marketing my novels. If a return to writing turns out to be my goal, I will not be defeated.

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  The new year does bring hopes for new opportunities, but it also brings with it memories of times gone by. Some memories bring fresh tears, some preciously bring smiles and warm feelings of love. A friend’s recent Facebook post sent my mind wandering back to my childhood days and my grandfather in Texas. The first things I remember are his blue eyes and thick Swedish accent. Of course, the years have enhanced my memories of Grandpa, but my fondest memory is still this:

Sitting across from him and his big, bushy, white mustache, playing checkers on top of an over-turned galvanized tub and dipping mama’s homemade bread into the hot, black coffee he poured into his saucer. I was about four years old and winning the game (so I thought).

  Does the arrival of 2023 bring memories for you? I hope they are mostly happy. 

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   When I first saw the picture of Mr. Scrappy Rooster, I wasn't sure if he was the winner or the loser, but then I thought, he's not only upright, he’s strutting, He’s definitely the winner. He’s my mascot again this year.

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A readers and writers note 

  

  Something to think about: If you replace “W” with “T” in What, Where, and When, you get the answer to each of them.

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  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for your health and safety.

cj

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  No inflation here: THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA, my fast-paced, exciting suspense/thriller ebooks, are low-, low-priced at $2.99.

P.S.  The Haunted Book Shop has signed paperback copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  

➜ Follow me on . . .  

➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page

➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor

➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson

➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6