Category: Brave books

A dream come true

by Karen, posted in author, books, Brave books, local fun, writing

I have always loved the library since I was a little girl. My dad would drive me every week and I would load up my arms with as many books as I could carry, and then stack them all around my bed when I got home, deciding which one to read first.

I was beyond excited last year when I was invited to give a reading at the Wells Public Library from my first novel, One Brave Thing, and when I saw it on the “New Fiction” shelf! I have stopped in to visit my first novel from time to time, but it’s always been checked out. Tonight it was there! I noticed it was little worse for wear. I decided to ask how many times it had been checked out. Twenty times over the past ten months! Plus two renewals! That’s twenty-two! YAY! I replaced it with a shiny new copy.

Also, I was going to donate a copy of my new book, What if Bebe Stays with Steven? I was thrilled when the librarian told me that they already have it! And even better, it was checked out!  I have been invited back to give a reading from this novel, scheduled for Tuesday evening, June 27th at 6pm. I am hoping that my new book will also be wearing out from being read so often and I will get to replace this one as well.

80’s-ish Playlist-Music to Write By

by Karen, posted in author, books, Brave books, Music

I played a lot of 80’s music as I was writing my new novel, and these are all songs that I loved then, and still love now. I thought I’d share them with you all as part of my book party celebrating the launch of my new novel, What if Bebe Stays with Steven?

Playlist:

Danger Motels

Girl Can’t Help It Journey

Cherish Madonna

Alive and Kicking Simple Minds

What I Like About You Romantics

I’ll Be Alright Without You Journey

The Way You Make Me Feel Michael Jackson

I Melt With You Modern English

You Give Love a Bad Name Bon Jovi

Gypsy Feetwood Mac

Love is a Battlefield Pat Benatar

Take Me Home Tonight Eddie Money

Everybody Wants to Rule the World Tears for Fears

Sweetest Taboo Sade

Dancing with Myself Billy Idol

Hungry Eyes Eric Carmen

Safety Dance Men Without Hats

I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do) Hall & Oates

Living on a Prayer Bon Jovi

Mickey Toni Basil

Our Lips Are Sealed The Go-Go’s

Beat It Michael Jackson

 

ENJOY!!!

My new book

by Karen, posted in author, books, Brave books, NaNoWriMo, writing

My new book started out as something else. I published my first novel, One Brave Thing, last year. Over the course of the year of doing talks and readings, I thought a lot about my characters and the story. One day, I had the thought: What if Bebe stays with Steven? How would her life have been different? I got excited re-imagining how the story might go.

What_if_Bebe_Stays_with_Steven_Karen_CreamerI decided it would be nice to write a couple of bonus chapters to give away at my book signings. I started outlining what I wanted to write. This was last October, and I thought I would take advantage of National Novel Writing Month in November to write it. This gave me plenty of time to work on the outline, and as I added to it day by day, I realized that hey, this wasn’t a couple of bonus chapters.

This was a book.

So, I wrote my second novel the same way I wrote the first. What if Bebe Stays with Steven? was birthed during NaNoWriMo 2016, edited over the winter, and will be launched this month.

 

To celebrate, I am running a special on the Kindle amazon-coverversion of my first novel. One Brave Thing will be 99 cents from March 13th (my mother’s birthday :)) to March 20th, for one week only.

And then my second novel, What if Bebe Stays with Steven? launches March 21, 2017!

BOOK REVIEW: This Life I Live by Rory Feek

by Karen, posted in book reviews, books, Brave books, good grief

I didn’t want to read this book.  I first heard about it when I came across an article in a magazine–some Woman’s Day-y type of publication, I think. I read some of the article, thought, “Oh, this is a sad story,” and put it down.

Well, it found me again.

Have you ever noticed how the books you are supposed to read have a way of doing that?

Joey and Rory are famous, but before that magazine article, I had never heard of them. I have since listened to some of their music and it’s beautiful (spoiler alert, this song is heartbreaking), in case you want to check it out.

Anyway, there is a lot of wisdom in this book. Parts of his story parallel my own, and probably your own as well. I relate to Rory talking about his childhood of being from “everywhere and nowhere” and about how “there are different levels of poor”. Moving so often in your growing up years isn’t easy. It certainly can begin to define who you are.

When Rory’s mom goes back to school in her 60’s, she ‘does the thing she thought she could not do’.  This resonated so strongly for me, recalling one of my favorite Eleanor Roosevelt quotes. It also speaks to one of the themes in this book, brave women, and the author’s respect for them.

My favorite quote from this book is:

“True joy and happiness have a way of attracting good things into your life.” (p 81)

So, I was right. It is a sad story, but it’s also a happy one. Rory tells it with raw honesty, but also with faith and hope. As anyone who has ever written (or tried to write) their life story can attest, this is no easy task. Rory has accomplished it with grace and love.

Read this book.

Doing the thing

by Karen, posted in author, books, Brave books, NaNoWriMo, writing
I have been working feverishly, madly, to design the cover of my new novel. My publication date is 3/21 (as in: 3-2-1 liftoff! 🙂 ) and I am determined to make it.
frontcoverbolder-2-7-17I originally planned to use my own photos for the cover, but then I started looking around on Canva, you know, just for fun, and one image caught my eye. What drew me about her is that she looks like she’s trying to go forward, but is letting herself be pulled back.
Like Bebe. In the new book, What if Bebe Stays with Steven?, Bebe is thinking, should I stay or should I go? I also like the little bit of backpack showing, since she is a student. This one image captured all that for me.

Here’s the most important part of this story. Right after I saved and downloaded the image, one of my favorite quotes by Eleanor Roosevelt popped up on the computer screen!

“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

I took this as a sign that this was exactly the right image for my cover. Of course, that was at midnight last week, and the next day, after I smacked my head into the corner of the huge mirror over my couch and hematoma’d my head, I started second-guessing it all.

 But I am going forward anyway. Like Nikki Groom said in her recent podcast (with Jodi Flynn on Women Taking the Lead), “Just start.”

Taping an interview for TV

by Karen, posted in author, books, Brave books, Fashion Sense, friends, Interviews, no fear, writing

It was my great pleasure and good fortune to be invited to be on Write Now with Gayle Heney.  I met Gayle at the New England writenow3Authors Expo last summer. After the taping date was confirmed, a helpful email arrived with instructions for how to get there, what to wear, where to park…

But back to that ‘what to wear’ part. The part where it mentioned to avoid wearing black because that was the color of the backdrop of the set. Oh, and a collar or a lapel of some sort would be good so there is a place to clip the microphone.

If you want to discover really quickly how much you think “Black! I’ll wear black!” when you are in a dress -up situation, be advised not to wear that color.

I realized pretty quickly that I was, you know, in big trouble. Plus, collars? Lapels? I was bereft of them.

I tortured my friend Sheila with photos of dress and sweater combinations. Right up until a half hour before I left for the studio this morning. In the end, it wasn’t about the clothes at all, because it was about the BOOK. I was getting to talk on TV with a skilled interviewer who had read my book, about my book.

How great is that?

My episode should air in April or May. I will post the link when it’s ready! YAY!

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One week ONE BRAVE THING Kindle Sale!!!

by Karen, posted in books, Brave books, shopping, writing

For one week only, One Brave Thing will be for sale on Kindle for only 99 cents! If you have already liked my book, please consider sharing this post with any of your friends who prefer to get their books on Kindle.

amazon-cover

This special price is in effect only from December 9th (TODAY!) through December 16th, 2016.  Click HERE!

Thank you!

 

I won NaNoWriMo 2016!!

by Karen, posted in books, Brave books, NaNoWriMo, writing

So, this was not my first NaNoRodeo, as many of you loyal readers already know. This was my 7th consecutive NaNo i-won-nanowrimo-2016win. I am so proud! I don’t always know what I will be writing, but this year I did.
I almost never write an outline prior to starting, but this year I did.

I always build in a buffer of five days in case I something comes up and I have to take a day off from writing, but that didn’t happen this year. I finished five days early!

I didn’t really look at my outline much as I was writing, but when I finished I discovered I had covered everything!

One thing that was the same this year is this: once I started writing, the words flowed out in a smooth (mostly) stream. I remembered not to edit as I was going and not to over think it, which is the death of all good “shitty first drafts” (nod to Anne Lamotte’s Bird by Bird).

Success!

BOOK REVIEW: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

by Karen, posted in author, book reviews, books, Brave books, family, no fear, relationships, teens

I read this book at the recommendation of a young lady, Angie, who visited my author table at the Kennebunk Community Market one Saturday.
everything-everythingShe told me that Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon was her favorite book. This book says it’s recommended for readers aged 12-17, but I object to narrowing the audience for this book. Anyone of any age could enjoy reading this.

The main character, Maddy, is physically isolated in a way few teenagers are. She is a prisoner on so many levels. This book is not predictable, however. There are surprises to keep your interest.

I had a problem with the nurse, Carla, whom I loved, but she compromised her professional ethics, therefore (in my opinion as a nurse) she deserved what she got.

But it still made me sad. I also didn’t like how the author portrays the other nurse in the book. Don’t even get me started. People! Don’t believe most of the characterizations of nurses you read in books!

Maddy is very lovable until she starts lying to everyone (including herself?) which made me like her much less. Is it acceptable to lie when you believe you are running for your life? I’m not sure. Read it and make up your own mind.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book:

“I am in the world and, too, the world is in me.” -Maddy

“Empty tummy, empty head.” -Carla.

“Be brave. Remember, life is a gift. Live it.” Carla the nurse to Maddy, Disc 3 track 13 on the audio book.

Bottom line: worth reading.

I caved

by Karen, posted in author, book reviews, books, Brave books, family, The write words at the write time, writing

Okay, fine; so I caved.

rosesWhen I first published my book, I was cocky. I did it! I wrote it! I put it out there and let other people read it!

Guess what? Other people have opinions. Some of which I don’t like.

Especially about the F word. Does an F word by any other name smell as sweet? Apparently not. Some people didn’t like it that I used poetic license and my self-proclaimed abilities as a wordsmith to come up with a spelling that I liked best for one particular F word. One person, of note because (s)he was the only negative review I received for my book on Amazon, decided to review it without actually reading it because of this.

That was back in March.

Fast forward to now, September. Another person declined to read my book because I used another F word. After consulting with the great literary minds in my household, I made the executive decision to change the spelling of one of the F words under dispute to the one in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (full disclosure: the online one) instead of the one in the Urban Dictionary.

So, now if someone doesn’t like it, they can bitch to them.

The other F word though, that’s trickier. I don’t think there is more than one way to spell f*&k.

So f*&k it.