Barbara V Evers

 This is the fifth week of September, which means I get to veer from my posting schedule and share what I choose to share. Today, it's another story, "Pieces." Although I'm posting this on Sept. 30, my story's message focuses on October for a very specific reason (no not Halloween, that story will come later in October). This story is a bit longer than the others, but I hope you'll take the time to watch it and share it with others. It focuses on a cause that is very important to me. Not giraffes, this time, although after you watch the video, scroll down for some giraffe-related news. Here's the story: Now that you've checked out the story, a bit of good news...and don't we all need some good news these days? The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo welcomed a new baby giraffe on Monday! A few weeks ago, they began preparing for a baby, but they weren't positive that Bailey, an 8-year-old giraffe, was pregnant. But they were correct, and there's a new ba...

 It's the 4th week of the month--it really is, check your calendars--and so that means storytelling time on the blog! Before I share the story I picked for you today, I wanted to announce the winner from last week's blog giveaway. If you missed it, Mary Beth Gibson told us about one of the characters in her Duncullen Saga historical fiction trilogy, and we offered a free autographed copy to one of the commenters. Here's her post if you want to check it out:  Exploring Character as Power In Writing So, I shot a quick video for the drawing...actually, I spun a wheel, but you can watch that here: And then, after you've checked that out, I'm sharing a story I wrote last year that appeared in moonShine review's 15th Anniversary Issue . It's called "The Wall." I hope you enjoy it!

  I'd like to welcome Mary Beth Gibson to the blog today. Once a month, I plan to introduce you to other authors. Hopefully, you'll discover some new favorite reads. Mary Beth writes The Duncullen Saga , a historical trilogy. Make sure you add a comment at the end of this post for a chance to win a signed book from the author. Here's what Mary Beth has to say about the power of character development: I don’t think Booker T. Washington was referring to novels when he made the statement, "Character is power," but it’s appropriate for those of us who weave tales of fiction. In a great story, I believe compelling characters trump genre. Case in point, I don't typically read fantasy, yet George R.R. Martin’s intriguing cast in Game of Thrones turned me into a rabid GoT addict. So, as an author, how do I get my readers to become enchanted with the players in my historical trilogy, The Duncullen Saga ? Can I make them captivating enough to engage a reader’s emotions...

It's the second week of the month, so that means information on animals, especially giraffes, and videos. Yay! Today, I decided to give you two videos: one with a giraffe and one with bears. This video was taken at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. We were lucky to be the only people on the tour that day, so we had a driver and two tour guides all to ourselves! Joy and happiness for me that day! I have more videos of feeding the giraffes, but this was my first time on this tour. The woman at the beginning is one of our guides teaching me how to do this appropriately. A lot of people have asked why I leaned so far back from the giraffe, and that's because their heads are HEAVY. You don't want to be hit by one. I hope you enjoy this one, then scroll down for a bonus, second animal (not a giraffe) video. We shot this video in Mendenhall Glacier Park in Juneau, Alaska. The tour guide told us we wouldn't see any bears, but he was wrong. We saw three! A mama bear and her two cub...

At some point in the writing process, most writers seek feedback on their work either from a writing critique group or beta readers, or both. They want to know if the story flows well and entices people to keep reading. If you've written a book and aren't using either of these feedback options, you might want to rethink your approach before submitting to agents or publishers. Both sources can be valuable during your revision process, but you want to consider the contributions and backgrounds of the people involved. Which brings me to the impetus for my post today: I asked too much of my critique group last month. Critique Groups Why? Half of the writers in the group know the story in my upcoming trilogy (releasing in Dec. 2020). They've seen large parts of books one and two. The other half have never seen this work. The Watchers is an epic fantasy trilogy. I'm working on book three and decided to run the opening chapters past the group to see how well it worked. I, also...