Old goals and New Year’s resolutions …

As I’ve finished up revisions on one book and a proposal for the next, I can actually take a breath for a minute … but only a minute because Christmas is rapidly approaching and I’ve been buried deep in my Angel’s Bay books for the past few months.  Shopping, decorating, baking, cleaning the house have all gone by the wayside until now …

Now it’s all about the holidays … Yesterday I sprinted through several malls, ran through the supermarket because family has descended and they’re always hungry.  Last night I started the wrapping with the help of my cat, who loves to jump into every box as soon as I get the tissue paper spread out. When that gets boring, she goes for the curl ribbon that I’m tying around the gifts and we had a tug of war over one piece of wrapping paper that she eventually won.  My kids think it’s hysterical … but I’ve got my eye on the clock, because there’s so much to do.

But it will all get done … one step at a time … which brings me to the heart of this blog … making time for the things that count … setting goals and meeting them …

For me I’ve had  a lot of ideas but not all of them came to fruition … I’d like to change that next year.  I have a new writing project that I’ve been working on for awhile that’s a bit of a change for me.  I love it.  And I hope to sell it at some point, but I need some more pages.  I’m putting that closer to the top of the list next year.  I love writing my Angel’s Bay books and hope the series will go on and on, but that all depends on sales of the next two weeks in April and May … but until I know, I’m just going to keep writing and hope the readers find the books.  I’m going to do all those promo things I keep putting off like redesigning my web site and making bookmarks … now that I’ve written it down in this blog, I’ll have to do it!

Publishing and books are in a state of great flux right now.  Book formats are changing with the wind.  People are reading on electronic readers and their phones as well as the traditional books.  Publishers don’t know what to publish besides vampires … will the vampires ever die?  It sure doesn’t look like that trend will go anywhere soon.  And for authors there are a lot of things to worry about with the progression of electronic publishing and the worry that the book will go the route of the dinosaur.

I hope people will keep reading, because every time I read a book I’m reminded of how much fun it is to sink into a story and get taken away.  While movies and YouTube videos abound, there’s really nothing like a book where you really get to know the characters and become a part of their world.  My New Year’s hope that is more people will remember that reading a book can be more fun than chatting on Twitter, making friends on Facebook, or laughing at kids making faces on YouTube.  Yes, lots of entertainment choices abound, but hopefully the book will stay in the mix.

So after the holidays it will be on to New Year’s … new diets, new goals, new work opportunities, new friends …  I love a change and there’s nothing like a new year to start out fresh.

What are your resolutions for the New Year?

New Cover – On Shadow Beach

Here is my new cover for the next book in my Angel’s Bay Series.  ON SHADOW BEACH will be in stores April 2010.  And I’m thrilled to say that book three, IN SHELTER COVE,  will be arriving the following month, May 2010.   So no waiting in between stories – yay!

On Shadow Beach features a new central story line  … here’s a blurb from the back cover:

Lauren Jamison hasn’t been back to Angel’s Bay since she was a teenager … when her sister Abby was murdered and Lauren’s boyfriend, Shane Murray, was accused of the crime.  When Lauren reluctantly returns home to assist her ailing father, the old attraction flares between Lauren and Shane.  But the terrible days after Abby’s murder still stand between them as well as the secrets Shane has yet to unveil.  Finding the truth could bring closure … but at a cost.

Also featured in the story are continuing characters and secondary story lines … Kara is desperate for her husband Colin to awaken from the coma that resulted from a shooting… Charlotte finds herself in the middle of a growing love triangle between Joe and Andrew and rumors about the unnamed father of Annie’s baby continue to swirl.

You won’t want to miss the second installment in Angel’s Bay …

So tell me  - what do you think of the look?

Angel’s Bay Series – On Sale June 30th

With my new series kicking off next week, I thought I’d tell you a little about the history of the series.  I’d never written a series set in a town I created, and I found it both fun and challenging! 

Each book in the series will feature a new central story with romance, suspense and lots of emotion.  That way if a reader misses one book, they won’t be totally lost, however for the full reading experience, it would be great to start with Suddenly One Summer, because there will be continuing story lines with some of the other fascinating characters in town.   I hope you’ll come to know and love them as I do!

So getting back to Angel’s Bay – I knew the first thing I needed was a history, so here’s what I came up with.  Back in the late 1850′s when many were fleeing San Francisco after the California Gold Rush, a ship named the Gabriella went down in a horrific storm off the central California coast. There weren’t enough lifeboats as many of the ships were overloaded by people eager to get out of San Francisco, and tales of both heroic and murderous actions abounded. The twenty-four survivors of the wreck settled near the bay where many of their loved ones had lost their lives and for hundreds of years there have been legends of angels watching over the bay.  In Suddenly One Summer, an Internet video of angels over the Bay sparks nationwide attention, drawing a cynical reporter to Angel’s Bay who finds a story he never imagined.

In addition to the angel legends, the townis also known for its story quilts, in particular the original quilt stitched by the twenty-four survivors who each made a square to tell the story of their lost loved ones. Coming together in their grief the quilters formed a community that still exists to this day and each story in the Angel’s Bay series ties togetherthe past and the present through one of the quilting squares.

Adding color to the town are occasional angel sightings and the ongoing mystery of just what happened to the ship that has never been discovered and is believed to buried deep in underground canyons off the coast.  Yet, a few items begin to wash ashore.  Will the wreck finally be discovered?  Is there a lost treasure to be found?  And will the story of what really happened on the ship that night ever be told? 

In the first book, Suddenly One Summer, Jenna, is on the run with a seven-year-old, but shatters her hopes of invisibility in Angel’s Bay when she is called on to rescue a young woman who has jumped off the pier. Her heroic actions draw the interest of a determined reporter who senses a story much bigger than angels over the bay, and that’s exactly what he finds.   Both Jenna and Reid have a lot of secrets, and very emotional back stories.  They also have an unexpected tie to Angel’s Bay…

Suddenly One Summer has received some early rave reviews:

Library Journal: “A large cast of townspeople adds to this intriguing, suspenseful romance, which is the first of Freethy’s “Angel’s Bay” novels.Freethyhas a gift for creating complex, appealing characters and emotionally involving, often suspenseful, sometimes magical stories.”

Debbie Macomber: This book has it all: heart, community and characters who willremain with you long after the book has ended.”

Susan Wiggs:”SUDDENLY ONE SUMMER transported me to a beautiful place, and drew me into a story of family secrets, passion, betrayal and redemption. Barbara Freethy writes with touching honesty and the skill of a writer at the top of her game.”

I hope you’ll check out the book meet some of the fascinating people in Angel’s Bay. Read an excerpt at http:www.barbarafreethy.com/suddenly1.htm

Happy Reading!

Publicizing so much more work than writing …

I just fnished writing the second book in my Angel’s Bay Series, which is now titled ON SHADOW BEACH, a cool title I think you’ll agree.  I have to dive into writing book three, but first I have the release date for SUDDENLY ONE SUMMER coming up fast and furiously.  The book hits the shelves on June 30, 2009, just two weeks from today – yikes and I’m realizing that I’ve let the self-promotion slide.  So I’m updating my website and writing blogs and navigating MySpace and Twitter and Facebook and wondering how authors do it.  It’s so hard to keep up with all the Internet Social Sites and while fun, they become addictive and a great way to procrastinate.

On Facebook I’ve found myself looking up my old high school and college friends, which has been the most fun of all, but I really don’t know how to utilize the ‘Fan” pages.  On Twitter, I’ve started following some of my faves, but still wonder why anyone wants to really know the day to day tidbits of a person’s life.  I was watching the Ellen Show the other day and she had Matthew Perry on who admitted to just diving into Twitter.  He said he wrote that he had half a sandwich for lunch and got thirty-five responses ranging from “Cool, dude” to “Awesome”  … he didn’t quite get it, and neither do I, but I’m twittering in case anyone finds the life of a writer interesting.

What are your favorite ways to procrastinate on the web?  Am I missing any other great sites?  Someone suggested LiveJournal, LinkedIn and others, but my mind is spinning …