Sometimes it's really hard to stay focused. Especially when you work on a computer all day and there are so many ways to get distracted on the internet...
Orca Monroe wants only one thing for her eighteenth birthday: to experience the Otherworld-the mysterious “mainland” across the sea that...
Join me this "preptober" as I outline my novel! I'll be giving you a behind-the-scenes look at my outlining process and preperation for NaNoWriMo 2019...
Orca Monroe wants only one thing for her eighteenth birthday: to experience the Otherworld-the mysterious “mainland” across the sea that...
Character voice is one of the hardest things to pull off as a writer. Why? Because you’re writing something in...
Contrary to popular belief, a “disaster” isn’t just a crazy horrible thing happening to your protagonist. The best way to destroy your characters is by...
All writers need to know how to write a dramatic climax. But most writers have totally misunderstood the climax. They think ACTION is the secret ingredient
Orca Monroe wants only one thing for her eighteenth birthday: to experience the Otherworld-the mysterious “mainland” across the sea that...
Theme: the backbone of every good story. Theme gives a story meaning not only to the characters, but to you –...
Highlights Abbie Rose Stone believes she has navigated the shoals of her long marriage and complicated family and is eager to realize her dream of producing hard apple cider-but when a lovely young stranger exposes a long-held secret, Abbie's plans, loyalties, and definition of family are severely tested. Author(s): Barbara Stark-Nemon 240 Pages Fiction + Literature Genres, Women Description About the Book Abbie Rose Stone believes she has navigated the shoals of her long marriage and complicated family and is eager to realize her dream of producing hard apple cider--but when a lovely young stranger exposes a long-held secret, Abbie's plans, loyalties, and definition of family are severely tested. Book Synopsis Abbie Rose Stone believes she has navigated the shoals of her long marriage and complicated family and is eager to realize her dream of producing hard apple cider-but when a lovely young stranger exposes a long-held secret, Abbie's plans, loyalties, and definition of family are severely tested. Review Quotes 2019 IPPY Silver Medal Winner in Popular Fiction 2019 Best Book Awards Finalist in Fiction: Literary 2019 International Book Awards, Finalist, Fiction: Literary 2019 Foreword Reviews Finalist in Adult Fiction-General 2019 Eric Hoffer Award Finalist 2018 Grand Prize in Chanticleer Book Awards: Somerset Award for Contemporary & Literary Novel "The novel soars with passages about upper Michigan's unique beauty...Hard Cider is a story about following a dream." -Foreword Reviews "In this moving, compelling novel, a character who makes cider from a variety of different apples says 'I can't help but feel that there's some magic in the mixing.' Barbara Stark-Nemon reminds us this is true for families, too. Through its exploration of the many forms family can take and the possibility of new beginnings in midlife, Hard Cider is easy to love." -Gayle Brandies, award winning author, poet, and essayist "In this absorbing and thoughtful novel, the alchemy of turning apples into hard cider becomes a potent metaphor for the way in which time blends and distills the characters into a family. With grace and compassion, Stark-Nemon examines the forging of relationships under the pressure of shocking revelations. A deep valuing of connection to land, work, and loved ones emerges from this beautifully written story." -Jessica Levine, author of The Geometry of Love and Nothing Forgotten "Hard Cider is a coming-of-age story for women of a 'certain age' finding their own paths when the kids are raised, unlocking their own dreams. Barbara Stark-Nemon woos her readers to fall in love, but not with a romantic notion of idealized marriage and family. Instead, we are immersed in the sensual details of her glorious Michigan landscape, where we fall in love with the natural world she so vividly paints." -Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, author of Fire and Water and Filling Her Shoes: A Memoir of an Inherited Family "I just flew through Hard Cider. Well written, with loving descriptions of northern Michigan, this is the story of Abbie Rose Stone, who strikes out on her own to create a cider business. She meets an intriguing young woman with secrets that could blow Abbie's cherished family apart-or enrich it. Abbie, as the true center of her family, navigates the subtle challenges of her loved ones, giving credit to women who hold their families together by sheer goodwill and small and large acts of love. A book that celebrates family." -Caitlin Hicks, author of Reader's Favorite and iBooks Best New Fiction pick A Theory of Expanded Love "Hard Cider is magical in its rootedness even as it explores the way we seek home and community and the lives of our dreams." -Andi Cumbo-Floyd, author of The Slaves Have Names: Ancestors of my Home, Steele Secrets, and Love Letters to Writers: Encouragement, Accountability, and Truth-Telling "Hard Cider is the intriguing story of a strong woman struggling with the psychological fallout of infertility decades after achieving motherhood. Just as she is opening a new chapter in her life by beginning a business of her own, a seemingly harmless encounter leads to a revelation that threatens her hard-won confidence and the cohesion of her family. The reader follows with interest this vividly told story of a woman fighting to regain her bearings, master a major personal challenge, and protect her already-challenged family." -Monica Starkman, MD, Psychiatrist, University of Michigan Medical School, author of End of Miracles, and columnist for Psychology Today "In Hard Cider, we are dropped immediately into a story-and a family-that we are eager to know. Abbie's family and other characters are well drawn and full of surprises. I loved getting to know them, and found it easy to empathize with the struggles and challenges that aris
Let’s just say our novels are all outlined and ready to be written in November. AWESOME… but that was the...
Shattered Dreams Abbie Roads (Beautiful Nightmare, #3) Publication date: July 11th 2023 Genres: Adult, Dark Romance, Romance A crooked cop. Corruption. A woman convicted of murder. A man determined to prove her innocence. When Helena Grayse is released from prison, all she wants is to say a final goodbye to her old life. But when a man finds her trespassing on his property, instead of turning her in, he takes her in. Accepts her. Loves her. But someone decides to serve Helena with a death sentence. Shattered Dreams is the third book in Abbie Roads’ Beautiful Nightmare Series of dark romantic thrillers. It features a felon heroine who never thought she deserved love. If you devour true crime and romance novels then you’ll love a series that combines both in a roller-coaster ride of danger, mind games, and swoon worthy love. Buy this dangerously dark romance today! Trigger warning: Depictions of SA and violence. Previously Published under the title Never Let Me Fall. Add to Goodreads / Pre-order Excerpt! Thomas burst through the back door on a dead run. Each footfall a jackhammer of sound. Stealth didn’t matter as much as getting to Helen. He didn’t remember running through the house and up the stairs, but suddenly, he burst into the bathroom she’d been using. He skidded to a halt. Helen lay in the bathtub, curled on her side. Water rained over her nakedness. She wasn’t moving. Didn’t seem to be breathing. A garish river of scarlet gushed from the massive wound in her chest, pooling as it waited to slip down the drain. Her face was an abominable shade of blue and gray and devoid of life. Water rained over her, swirling the blood leaking from her chest in mesmerizing streams. The wound was massive. Destructive. Deadly. Something no one could survive. Despair emptied him out. He became a shell of skin with nothing on the inside. He reached for her, but even though he stood as close to the tub as he could get, she seemed so far away, as if miles and miles stretched between them. Water rained over his head, drizzling down inside his coat, but he barely noticed. His hands didn’t seem like they belonged to him as he scooped her out of the tub. Her skin was slick and slippery. Her body limp and lifeless. “Helen.” His voice contained a vast desolation. Her head lolled awkwardly to the side, and wet strands of hair clung to her face in fat tentacles. Ribbons of blood leaked from the gaping wound over her heart, sliding over and around her breast, pooling in the bend of her stomach. A sick sense of dread filled all his empty places. The wound should be gushing, not dribbling. He was too late. She’d lost too much blood. No. No. No. Goddamn it. She couldn’t be dead. He wouldn’t let her die. Not now. Not when he’d just found her. Helen needed to be alive. Even though they’d just met, he couldn’t live in a world without her in it. Didn’t matter if they were together or not, she just needed to be alive. That would be enough for him. His legs folded beneath him. He sat on the floor, leaned against the old tub, and held her. He grabbed her chin and shook her head gently, “Helen. Oh God. Helen, wake up.” This was wrong. So wrong. None of this should be happening. Not now. Never taking his eyes off her, he reached into his coat pocket for his phone and then dialed the number he called the most. Work. He pinched the phone between his ear and shoulder while it rang. “No news yet.” Lanning said when he picked up the call. Thomas opened his mouth. Only one word came out. “Helen.” His brain had clogged up, allowing only a trickle of thought at a time. “What?” Confusion dominated Lanning’s tone. “Helen.” It was just a name to Lanning, but to Thomas, she was everything. “Helen’s been shot. I need an ambulance. The police.” He let the phone drop and distantly heard Lanning shouting. Nothing in his whole life seemed as important as Helen. “You’ve got to fight.” A lump of some unnamed emotion rose in his throat. He struggled to swallow it back down. “You hear me? You have to fight to stay here with me. I know we just met. But you and me— there’s something between us. I knew it the moment I saw you. And you need to stay so we can explore this thing. Because it feels powerful. It feels destined. Like we are supposed to be together.” His voice hitched, and he struggled to keep talking around the fear and grief bubbling up inside him. “Just listen to my voice.” He smoothed wet hair from her face. Chilled skin met his fingertips. She was too cold. The tang of her blood sickening in the damp air. “Follow my voice. Don’t let it go.” Thomas shifted Helen’s body until she was settled in the crook of his left arm. Blood pooled on her stomach, seeping into his coat. Without any reason or rationality, he pressed his hand over the bullet hole. A zap of static electricity blazed through him at the contact. Her body jolted, and then his hand suctioned to her chest. Everything changed. Inside his torso, a cool and pleasant sensation gathered, then rolled down his arm to his hand and poured into her. His eyes rolled back in his head under the waves of bliss pouring from him into her. Holy shit. Maybe he was losing his grip on reality, but some vital part of him—his essence, his strength, his soul—flowed into her. The ultimate act of giving. And it felt amazing. “You feel this? You feel me inside you? Making you better?” He sounded crazy. He’d worry about his sanity later. Underneath her delicate eyelids, her eyes rolled. For the first time since he’d picked her up, he noticed the subtle rise and fall of her chest. Blood no longer trickled from the wound. He stared at his hand mashed against her chest. Were his eyes playing tricks on him? Making him see what he wanted to see instead of reality? Did it really matter what was happening as long as Helen seemed to be improving? Everything inside him that had been so devastated perked up as if spring had arrived. She wasn’t dead. He knew that now. Knew it as surely as he knew he was alive. He slumped back against the tub and sucked in a giant breath. “You’re going to be all right. I’m with you. I’m inside you. I’m a part of you now.” His gaze traveled beyond his hand over her heart to her body. All the horror he thought was behind them reignited. Her chest and stomach were covered in scars. Her body told a story of misery unimagined, of incomprehensible suffering. And from last night, he knew there were more on her back that he couldn’t see. “Oh, Helen.” He hugged her tighter to him. What on earth had done that to her? “This is it. After this, all your pain is over. I won’t let anything hurt you ever again.” He kissed her forehead, sealing the deal. In the distance, sirens sounded—a reassurance that everything was going to be okay. He just needed to keep his hand on her. Keep himself flowing into her. The sirens pulled into his driveway, then cut off midwail. Thomas whispered to Helen. “You’re gonna hate this, but there’s no getting around it this time. You’re going to the hospital.” He paused, waiting for some reaction from her. But she kept breathing, and her heart kept beating, and that was enough for him. “But don’t worry. I’ll be with you the whole time. You don’t have anything to be afraid of. I promise.” Footsteps sounded on the staircase, then treaded down the hallway toward them. “In there,” he called. Two EMTs entered the bathroom. Thomas didn’t look at them; he just kept his attention on Helen. Her color was better, and he knew in the way-down-deep parts of himself that she was going to be all right. “Dddaaammmnn…” One of the EMTs stretched the word out long and low. Thomas’s attention snapped up to the guy. What was he… The guy had his gaze glued to Helen’s face. “That’s Helena Grayse.” Thomas knew that name. Everyone in Sundew, Ohio, knew the name. He looked back down at Helen. She looked so fragile and damaged. Nothing like a murderer. Abbie Roads is the best-selling author of the Fatal Dreams Series and the Fatal Truth Series. Her novels have been finalists in many prestigious contests including The Golden Heart, The Greater Detroit Booksellers Best, The Oklahoma National Readers’ Choice Award, The Write Touch, The Strut Your Stuff Contest, The Aspen Gold Contest, The Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, The Heart of Excellence Readers’ Choice Award, The Midnight Sun, The Kathryn Hayes Contest, The Chanticleer, The Daphne du Maurier, The National Readers’ Choice Award, The New England Readers’ Choice Contest, The Beverly Award, and The Maggie Award. Her debut novel Race the Darkness was Publishers Weekly Top 10 Pick for Fall and Never Let Me Fall is an Amazon Editor’s Pick. By day Abbie Roads is a mental health counselor always focusing on the bright side. By night she writes on the dark side, putting her characters through the wringer before she gives them their happily-ever-after. She loves a good inspirational quote and is a fan of true crime. Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram GIVEAWAY! $25 Amazon gift card a Rafflecopter giveaway —
Editing: you might love it, you might hate it, but all writers have to do it. Sadly, no first draft...
Too many story ideas, not enough time. < this is something that a lot of writers say (myself included.) What...
All writers want to make their readers feel like they are inside the skin of the characters. But it’s easier...
You know my favorite part of a new year? Yep, you guessed it: MAKING PLANS. If you’ve been here for...
Need some life-changing self-help book recommendations to prep for 2022? Check these out.
All writers need to know how to write a dramatic climax. But most writers have totally misunderstood the climax. They think ACTION is the secret ingredient
When I outline a new book, I always begin with the characters. Why? Because characters are the most important part...
'Seriously brilliant' CJ Tudor 'Chilling and compulsive' Cara Hunter "There's something I have to explain, my love," he says, taking your hand in his. "That wasn't a dream. It was an upload." Abbie wakes in a hospital bed with no memory of how she got there. By her side is her husband Tim, the driven British founder of one of the world's most ground-breaking tech companies. They met when she joined his startup as artist-in-residence, their marriage a Silicon Valley fairy tale. But as Abbie's memories return, she realises there's something missing from Tim's version of events. Because, five years ago, Abbie Cullen-Scott was pronounced dead . . . ********** See what everyone is saying about JP Delaney, the hottest name in psychological thrillers: 'DAZZLING' Lee Child 'ADDICTIVE' Daily Express 'DEVASTATING' Daily Mail 'INGENIOUS' New York Times 'COMPULSIVE' Glamour Magazine 'ELEGANT' Peter James 'SEXY' Mail on Sunday 'ENTHRALLING' Woman and Home 'ORIGINAL' The Times 'RIVETING' Lisa Gardner 'CREEPY' Heat 'SATISFYING' Reader's Digest 'SUPERIOR' The Bookseller 'MORE THAN A MATCH FOR PAULA HAWKINS' Sunday Times
What is the upside and downside of writing in past tense vs present tense? Which one is best for YOUR story? That's what we're talking about in this video.
It’s time to OUTLINE. This October has been super special because we’ve been outlining our NaNoWriMo 2019 novels together! Last...
Formatting your own ebook is simple and fun with Vellum! Want a BEAUTIFUL and PROFESSIONAL ebook? In this tutorial, I'll show you how I formatted my ebook.
Do you feel overwhelmed by the idea of revising your hot mess of a manuscript? Do you wish you had an organized, step-by-step process you could follow?
Join me this "preptober" as I outline my novel! I'll be giving you a behind-the-scenes look at my outlining process and preperation for NaNoWriMo 2019...
I’ve been waiting a long time for this day! I said I was going to announce something super exciting on...
You know my favorite part of a new year? Yep, you guessed it: MAKING PLANS. If you’ve been here for...
Hey there! I’m Abbie, and I help writers make their stories matter by teaching them how to harness the power...
Backstory is the backbone of story – without it, your characters are nothing. Their past experiences and decisions have shaped...
Let’s just say our novels are all outlined and ready to be written in November. AWESOME… but that was the...
Which point of view is best for your story? First person? Second person? Third person close? Third person omniscient? That's what today's video is all about
It’s time to OUTLINE. This October has been super special because we’ve been outlining our NaNoWriMo 2019 novels together! Last...
Which point of view is best for your story? First person? Second person? Third person close? Third person omniscient? That's what today's video is all about
Character voice is one of the hardest things to pull off as a writer. Why? Because you’re writing something in...
About this product Product Identifiers Publisher Penguin Young Readers Group ISBN-10 0140384286 ISBN-13 9780140384284 eBay Product ID (ePID) 313583 Product Key Features Book Title Lantern in Her Hand Number of Pages 256 Pages Language English Topic Historical / United States / General, Biographical / United States, General, Westerns, Family / General (See Also Headings under Social Themes), Historical / United States / 19th Century, People & Places / United States / General Publication Year 1997 Genre Juvenile Fiction Author Bess Streeter Aldrich Format Uk-B Format Paperback Dimensions Item Height 0.7 in Item Weight 6.1 Oz Item Length 7.1 in Item Width 4.4 in Additional Product Features Intended Audience Juvenile Audience LCCN 96-034910 Dewey Edition 20 Reviews "Piercingly beautiful. . . . Aldrich's pioneer woman was based on her mother, and the integrity of her depiction of life in a sod house in the late nineteeth-century Nebraska speaks to her readers. . . . In her own introduction Aldrich writes of wanting to tell her mother's story after her mother's death: 'Other writers had depicted the Midwest's early days, but so often they had pictured their women as gaunt, browbeaten creatures, despairing women whom life seemed to defeat. That was not my mother. Not with her courage, her humor, her nature that would cause her to say at the end of her life: 'We had the best time in the world.'"-- Belles Lettres "The language is good and sturdy and dotted with imaginative metaphors and similes ('Silence, so deep, that it roared in its vast vacuum'). If the book tries to crowd too much life into 300 pages, well, there was a lot of life: 'We old pioneers,' Abbie says at the end, 'we dreamed dreams into the country.'"-- Milwaukee Journal Grade From Fifth Grade CLASSIFICATION_METADATA {"IsNonfiction":["No"],"IsOther":["No"],"IsAdult":["No"],"MuzeFormatDesc":["UK-B Format Paperback"],"IsChildren":["Yes"],"Genre":["JUVENILE FICTION"],"Topic":["Historical / United States / General","Biographical / United States","Family / General (see also headings under Social Themes)","General","People & Places / United States / General","Westerns","Historical / United States / 19th Century"],"IsTextBook":["Yes"],"IsFiction":["Yes"]} Grade To UP Dewey Decimal 813 Synopsis The classic story of Abbie and Will Deal-pioneers who left everything behind for a new life on America's frontier. Abbie Mackenzie dreamed of becoming a fine lady like her aristocratic grandmother, devoting herself to music and art. But at eighteen Abbie found a different dream, turning away from the promise of a comfortable life as a doctor's wife to marry handsome, quiet Will Deal. Together, they eagerly accepted the challenge of homesteading in Nebraska territory, where the prairies stretched as far as the eye could see, and only the strongest survived for long. For nearly 90 years, reader have cherished Abbie's story-an inspiring story of struggle against unexpected perils, of love and laughter, of the land she helped conquer and the family she raised., The classic story of Abbie and Will Deal--pioneers who left everything behind for a new life on America's frontier. Abbie Mackenzie dreamed of becoming a fine lady like her aristocratic grandmother, devoting herself to music and art. But at eighteen Abbie found a different dream, turning away from the promise of a comfortable life as a doctor's wife to marry handsome, quiet Will Deal. Together, they eagerly accepted the challenge of homesteading in Nebraska territory, where the prairies stretched as far as the eye could see, and only the strongest survived for long. For nearly 90 years, reader have cherished Abbie's story--an inspiring story of struggle against unexpected perils, of love and laughter, of the land she helped conquer and the family she raised. LC Classification Number PZ7.A3683Lan 1997 ebay_catalog_id 4 Show More Show Less
Beta readers should be hand-picked and highly qualified to read your book and give you feedback. If you choose the wrong beta readers, it could harm your...
