Barbara V Evers

This past Saturday, my grands and I took my husband on a Dessert Tour in downtown Greenville as part of his birthday present. A young couple were also part of the tour. Before we discovered the truth! While we ate our first desserts, the tour guide told us stories about the Poinsett Hotel, the starting point for the tour. After she finished, I turned to the woman on my left and introduced my family. We learned their names were Brook and Jake, and they were celebrating Brook's birthday. As we chatted, the typical question came up: what do you do? Here's how that played out. Me : I'm an author and corporate trainer. Brook and Jake grinned at each other. Jake : I do book cover design. What do you write? Me : Fantasy Their grins grew bigger. Jake : I do fantasy and science fiction. Me : Really? We talked about his artwork a bit. Then... Me : Whose covers have you done? Jake : (provided a long list including Shannon Mayer which impressed me quite a bit) Jake : Who's your pub...

Photo: BVE, All Rights Reserved On this date, in 1969, Neil Armstrong took his famous first steps on the moon proclaiming, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." I have distinct memories of that night. My parents decided to take us on a traveling-around-Florida vacation that summer, and the night we saw this on TV--I can't believe my parents let us stay up for it--we were somewhere near Cape Canaveral. I have vague memories of touring Canaveral and seeing the size of the doors where they wheeled the rockets out of the building. I have a photograph of that building and those colossal doors, but I'll search for that on another day. My other memory from that night? My older sister nicked herself badly while shaving her legs. I half expect my sister or older brother to tell me I have these memories wrong, but the two remain intertwined in my memory: a fuzzy image on the TV and a scary amount of blood. Throughout the next few years, every time NASA launched ...

The Imaginarium Convention 2022 is in the books. As I told you last year, this conference offers so much excellence, camaraderie, and encouragement to the creative community that I feel blessed to have found it last year. I'm doubly blessed to be invited back this year. Special recognition must go out to Stephen Zimmer and Holly Phillipe, the brains, backbones, and muscle behind this amazing event. Last year, I met Holly and Stephen in person and made friends with so many of the Imaginarium family. It was great to catch up with them. They seemed as thrilled to see me as I was to see them after an entire year's separation. There were new faces this year, and I enjoyed meeting the participants who came to my workshops (shout out to the loyal ones who stuck it out for my 3-hour character development workshop and the determined writers who let me talk grammar as well as other submission error issues on Sunday morning).  If you're looking for a writing conference that offers so...

I'm headed for Imaginarium this week. This hybrid writing conference/science fiction & fantasy con is a great event in Louisville, KY. Last year, I met the wonderful leaders, Holly Phillipe and Stephen Zimmerman, and all of their crew and loved every minute of it. It probably didn't hurt that The Watchers of Moniah won the Imadginn Award for Best Fantasy, either. FYI, The Watchers in Exile is a Finalist this year. I'm up against two great authors, so I'm not holding my breath for a repeat performance. Here's my schedule if you're going to be at Imaginarium.  If not, check it out anyway and keep me in mind for any upcoming events you're connected to. I love getting out to meet with readers and writers, and as a corporate trainer, I love using my skills to teach  other writers.

Today, my grandson turns 11. Every year, on his birthday, I can’t help but think about the day he was born. I wrote this post a few days after his birth that year, and I thought I’d hold off my post this week until today in honor of his birthday. (I have added a few more details, too.) This post originally appeared as The White Mini-Van Race Car . Enjoy!   Picture this:  a white mini-van ignoring all traffic rules, roaring along Atlanta's I-285, weaving and zipping between lanes.  Who was that stupid driver?  Me! But let me explain: "Mom, I need you to come.  I'm in labor."  (Phone call from my pregnant daughter.) "Are you going to the hospital now?" "No, I've got time.  Just get here as soon as you can.  The contractions are too strong for me to drive.  I need you to take me." No problem. Right?  Wrong!  My daughter lives three hours away.  AND, at that very moment an insurance adjuster crawled over my roof assessing...