Barbara V Evers

I'm hard at work on the third revision of my latest work in progress (WIP). I started writing this story a few years ago but put it aside when I got the offer to publish THE WATCHERS OF MONIAH trilogy. I needed to write the third book, THE WATCHERS AT WAR, so that took precedence. After my last book had been edited for publication, I came back to this WIP. I've tentatively titled it, PLUNGED IN PURPLE. I say tentatively, because publishers have been known to change a book's title. It's an urban fantasy that's a mashup of Red Riding Hood and Hogwarts, but for adults. (FYI, mashups give you a hint of the story's theme, not the true story.) You might ask why does it need three revisions? A book requires multiple revisions. Each time you revise it, you need to ensure the story still works. After this revision, I'm going to my beta readers and a freelance editor I used with my trilogy. For the third revision, I'm reading it out loud. Why? Because you hear iss...

What in the world does the kraken have to do with a writer's ego? I promise to explain, so stick with me. A writer must let loose their ego to get words on the page. The idea they have something to say relies on that ego. There's no shame in that. All artists possess a certain level of ego or they would never pursue their creative interests. True writers have no choice in the matter. Something compels them to write. The kraken...oops... the ego must rise to the surface and play. Ask any writer dedicated to their craft, and they'll tell you the compulsion to write can't be ignored.  So why do so many aspiring writers stop writing? The Writer's Goal To answer why a writer gives up, you first need to explore the writer's goals. For some the drive to write satisfies their compulsion. Writing it down is their goal. Others seek publication, to see their work bound or digitized into a book. Then there are the ones who seek fame and grandeur. They believe authors make a...

Over the years, my husband and I celebrated Valentine's Day with dinner and usually a movie. Of course the day included small gifts and cards. Our Valentine's Day plans rarely veered from this for most of our marriage. But nothing always stays the same and so we did have two unusual Valentine's during our empty nest years, and of course, things have changed a bit since the grands came to live with us. The first Valentine's Day hiccup occurred when our eldest son wanted us to meet his fiance's parents for the first time, and they wanted to do it, you guessed it, on Valentine's Day. The funny thing is his fiance texted me to ask if we minded giving up our evening. My response was: "We won't make plans." She misinterpreted this to mean we don't plan to do anything for Valentine's and told this story that night at dinner. I was quite surprised by this, but it wasn't worth trying to correct her. Watch the stories you read, and you'll fin...

On January 20, I received the surprising news that I didn't have bronchitis, I had COVID. Why was this surprising? The doctor who diagnosed me as having bronchitis told me the test was a precaution, but he doubted it would be positive. Except it was a positive result. My symptoms over the next two weeks confirmed it, too. Unfortunately, my husband and granddaughter got it, too. Our grandson, somehow, managed to not get it even though he'd been stuck in the house with us thanks to e-learning days during the snowstorm that came through here in January. I'm better today, but I get exhausted easily. I have done very little work during this time. This will be a short post, but I wanted to share some of the things I've come to realize about COVID. When you get the results back, they come via email or MyChart, not a phone call. I stared at the word "Positive" for several minutes. I thought for sure I was misreading it. Forget trying to figure out how you got COVID. I...