Showing posts with label fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fiction. Show all posts

Friday, October 9, 2020

Book Release TODAY: Picture This

 


I am excited to announce the release of my new novella, Picture This on Amazon, TODAY! 

It is available for Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and in soft cover! CLICK HERE to order.


Carmen Sloan was married at a young age to a man she knew she would spend the rest of her life. She owned her own home, was attending college, and was quickly moving towards the life of her dreams.

After her husband Joe becomes sick, Carmen finds herself living an unrecognizable life, dealing with guilt and sadness daily. Walking to work at a pizza shop to wait tables, while her husband sat holed up in their home, was not the vision she had for her future.

A series of selfish decisions bring Carmen to a place of darkness. Dark secrets begin to wear on her, so she decides to admit her secrets to her husband, the one she used to love more than herself.

Just as Carmen makes a fresh start and life begins to bring her peace, an ugly part of her past drags her back into darkness. Will a broken heart be the death of her?

Picture This is a story of love, strength, secrets, darkness, and new beginnings.
 
Ready to order? CLICK HERE
 
Thank you to each and every reader. Without you, I would not be doing what I love to do! 
 

Author Page on Amazon

Monday, October 5, 2020

NEW book release: Picture This


Hello! I am so excited to announce my new novella, Picture This!

Carmen Sloan was married at a young age to a man she knew she would spend the rest of her life. She owned her own home, was attending college, and was quickly moving towards the life of her dreams.

After her husband Joe becomes sick, Carmen finds herself living an unrecognizable life, dealing with guilt and sadness daily. Walking to work at a pizza shop to wait tables, while her husband sat holed up in their home, was not the vision she had for her future.

A series of selfish decisions bring Carmen to a place of darkness. Dark secrets begin to wear on her, so she decides to admit her secrets to her husband, the one she used to love more than herself.

Just as Carmen makes a fresh start and life begins to bring her peace, an ugly part of her past drags her back into darkness. Will a broken heart be the death of her?

Picture This is a story of love, strength, secrets, darkness, and new beginnings.

It will be released on October 9, 2020! Pre-orders are available right now for Kindle: Pre-order HERE 

Author Deanna Martinez-Bey on Amazon

Funny Farm: Why do I love this movie?

Monday, July 13, 2020

Fiction writing: Character living space




Do you realize that the detailed living space of a character speaks volumes about the type of person they are? Allow me to explain:

Dynamic extrovert:
A character with this personality type will typically live in a vibrant space.

Scatterbrained:
Your flighty or flaky character may have a messy, yet cozy living space.

Lonely introvert:
A loner will most likely live in a crisp, clean, non-cluttered environment.

I'm sure you can see where I am going with this. Your characters' personalities will determine the type of space where they live, work, or spend their time.
These spaces do not simply serve as a backdrop, they are scenes in your story and need to be treated as such.

Example:
Susan walked into her living room and dropped her keys and briefcase onto the couch, after scooting the flannel blanket aside. As she sat, she glanced around the room and realized it had been weeks since she picked up or cleaned the place. Dustbunnies were gathered at her feet and take-out boxes from last week still sat on the coffee table.

Does this scene make you think that Susan is a straight-laced professional who has her life together? Nope. It sounds like Susan falls in line with a scatterbrained character, right?

Houses, rooms, workspaces, and hangouts can show the reader into the life and personality of your character.

Fiction writing: Nature settings

What is the first draft?

Flannery O'Conner: How she impacted my life

Sunday, March 29, 2020

How to start your fiction writing career

Prepare your writing environment: click here

Have you always dreamed about becoming an author in the fiction genre? Do you sit and daydream about doing book signings and seeing your handiwork being sold in book stores all across the world? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this article will help get you on the path to obtaining your goals!

Writing Down Your Ideas
Go out today and buy yourself a notebook that will only be used for your story ideas. While you are at it, buy the matching pens, sticky notes, and page tab holders to go with it.

Set Aside Some Time
After you have your notebook and accessories all set and ready to go, pencil in about thirty minutes to an hour on your busy calendar to sit down and write out your story ideas.

Consider Taking a Free Writing Course Online
Chances are you already have some type of writing skills or you would not be interested in writing a fiction book. However, one is never too old or established to learn! Take an online writing course to sharpen up your writing skills. One course in particular that will get you ready to write is The Crafty Writers Creative Writing Course. This course will teach you how to take your story ideas and turn them into the fiction novel you are dreaming about.

Creating Your Characters
This is a very important part of creating an enjoyable novel. You have to breathe life into each character as if they are real people living real lives. A good idea to achieve this task is to take bits and pieces about people you know and combine those traits with your fictional characters.
Not all characters can be good guys. You should have your “good guy” characters, but you also need to have the antagonistic characters (the “bag guys”). The antagonist will help to bring the struggle into your story.

Proper Story Layout
A book, as well as a movie, should have three main sections: The introduction, the struggle and the overcome. Think about your favorite movie. It has a short beginning, a lot of drama in the middle and the happily ever after in the end. Now, think about a movie that you did not like, chances are this movie started off way too slow and that made it feel boring. Ever watch a movie and after it ended you thought, “It ended just as it was getting good?” The reason for that is because the introduction was way too long and the struggle and overcome were way too short. Writing books work the same way. The introduction and the overcome are to be shorter than the actual struggle (the meat of the story).

Now that you have some really good and basic ideas about how to write a fiction book, take them and run with them. Get started today. Do not delay. The quicker you get started, the quicker you will get your first book completed.

Setting Reasonable Goals
Always remember to set reasonable goals for yourself. Writing a two hundred and fifty to a three hundred page novel is going to take you more than a week to write. It is good to have goals, but make them reasonable. If after looking at your calendar you feel that you will be able to dedicate three hours a week to writing, set your goals accordingly.

Some of the bold headlines in this article have links attached. Click on the links to learn more about that particular subject.

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Lilac Sand by Tara Cignarella: Book review



Here is Tara's synopsis of her book, Lilac Sand:

1995 is bound to be a very exciting year for Morgan Evans. One night at a crowded party she heads outside for solitude, but she will not be alone for long. Frederick Rhoades, lead singer of a world famous New Jersey band sits beside her. A chance meeting brought on by her need to get away from people leads to her finding the one person she always wants to be with.
Morgan meets Frederick under an overgrown lilac tree. The purple lilac symbolizes the first emotions of love. Will the fate of such a random meeting turn into everlasting love, or will they become star-crossed lovers? New adventures and heartbreaking situations await Morgan as fantasy becomes reality, but will it be the reality she craves? The difficult decisions she makes trying to stay true to herself will test her in ways she never knew she could be tested.



Let me begin by saying that I, myself, am a Jersey girl...Born and raised. Lilac Sand takes place in Jersey and that in itself made me want to read this book!

Lilac Sand is a love story. For me, it was a different kind of love story than I am used to reading. But, even with its dark undertones, I was completely sucked in! I do not want to say too much and give away any secrets that this book holds, but I will say.... Buy it, buy it, buy it!

The way that Tara writes speaks to me. Her writing makes me feel as if I am going through the emotional roller coaster with Morgan. I feel her joy, her desires, her sadness and her conflict right along with her. Bravo, Tara on a well written and constructed novel!

I am not one to throw out random book reviews for the hell of it. I was not paid to read this book or write this review. I have chosen to do it on my own free will because I truly enjoyed this novel.

To purchase your copy of Lilac Sand, Click here.

I believe in uplifting others. I believe in being an encouragement. I believe in Tara and want to see her do well!




Sunday, May 19, 2019

New approach to writing a plot and creating a protagonist

See my toesies? 
Novel #4

I have decided to take a slightly new approach when creating my plot and main character for this book.

What is different is how I am specifically creating my plot prior to my character development. In the past I would create my characters first and then put together the story line. For novel #4, I have created my story line before the characters! It is a different approach for sure, but it seems to be working smoothly.

In addition to this change, I have decided to create my main character to be the complete opposite of me. I would often take a little part of me to create my main character. I would then elaborate to make her fictional. This time around, I am trying something different...which also seems to be working!

I am having fun writing, isn't that what it is all about?

Here's hoping for a successful and fun filled 2019!

Baking cookies and writing a plot

Changes coming for 2019

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

My trip to Colorado...lots of writing!


I heard that March was a great month to visit Colorado because they tend to get a lot of snow...This proved true for me.

For four days, I took in the most breathtaking views I have ever laid my eyes upon. Everywhere I looked I saw something beautiful. From snow covered mountains to the bright sunlight bursting through the clouds.

I could easily live in such an amazing state. The clean, crisp, cold air proved good for my health and I felt fantastic while I was there. No daily migraines, no fibromyalgia  pain. Colorado was good to me.

I had two full days to write novel number 4! I was just shy of my 10,000 word goal. But, I am happy with the progress I made. I sat by a warm fireplace with a view of the snow capped mountains. Talk about inspiration!

I have included a couple pictures from my trip. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.



More articles:

Started novel number 4

New approach to creating a plot and creating a protagonist 

Baking cookies and writing a plot

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Started novel #4

The writing of novel #4 has begun! First, I put together my plot, then my character development, next a bit of research and then my rough outline. 

The camera you see pictured above will be placed on the chapter page for each chapter in the book. The photo may change if needed, but as of now, this is the one.

I hate giving away book details, because they will often change along the way. But I can tell you this, my main character is NOTHING like me! I am excited to write about a character that I do not know. I have to create her from beginning to end. 

I wrote an article entitled: Writing a novel: How to come up with story ideas and plot twists If you are writing your first novel, you may find this helpful. I keep my articles brief and to the point. There is nothing worse than when I click on a post to see a recipe and there is paragraph after paragraph of useless info before the recipe is posted. Well, except people who hold up traffic to back into a parking spot...but, I digress. 
My point is, my blog posts and articles cut to the chase. 

Thank you for visiting my blog! 

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Check out the book trailer for our domestic violence survivor in: Hot Cocoa, Green Tea and The Man Who Sweetened My Heart...

Let me preface the following book trailer by stating that my publisher must live within my head! She hit the nail SQUARE on its head with this one! I LOVE the way it has turned out.

Please take a brief look at what Stephanie's story (our domestic violence survivor) has to tell...


_______________________________________________________________________

“That day, I decided that a battered and bruised physical body, damaged emotions, and
what felt like a broken ankle was not going to keep me from finding happiness.
The hunt was on!” -Stephanie



Pre-Order your copy on Amazon today!

Book release: December 1, 2017!






Monday, October 2, 2017

Photo shoot for back cover of, "Hot Cocoa, Green Tea and the Man Who Sweetened My Heart"

We are officially in October now and the leaves are starting to fall. Cool mornings are a welcome treat as are the pumpkin spice offerings being sold in stores.

I decided to host my photo shoot for the back cover of my new book, OUTSIDE this time. I do not regret this decision!
Check out what I have to say about the photo shoot and a few added bits about the next book in the making...


PS...the picture you see is one of the photos taken during the photo shoot! (But, not the one chosen for the back cover.)

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Janine's Cool Cats and Reviews: review of my book




I could not be more excited about this book review for: When Life Gives You Lemons, Drink Coffee! 

I absolutely love Janine's thoughts and what she wrote about my book. What a humbling experience it has proven to be to be a published author. My readers make me successful and honest, professional bloggers like this help get the word out about my work.

Not only has Janine written a lovely review about my book, she also gave me a great rating on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Goodreads!

Please take a look at her blog and read her heartfelt review about my latest novel: Janine's Cool Cats and Reviews: When Life Gives You Lemons, Drink Coffee! by Deanna Martinez-Bey - review






Monday, January 2, 2017

Ready to start writing that book?





Are you dreaming about writing a book or maybe two? Let me help you make that dream a reality! I have written several articles about writing that I would like to share with you.


As you read these articles, keep in mind that I would not suggest you do something that I do not do myself. These are tips and tricks I have learned along the way. Let's take a look:

Create a special place to write your best seller!

What is a goal and how do I set one?

Set reasonable writing goals specifically for you...

6 easy steps to get you started. Write that book!!!!

Should you follow your heart when writing your book (or ignore it completely)?

These 5 articles will hopefully inspire you and get you going in the right direction...in the direction of writing your book!

Be patient, I'm sure I will have more articles coming soon! Happy writing!

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Author Interview #2 Deanna Martinez-Bey: The Book Adventures of Emily


 This interview by: The Book Adventures of Emily asked a few questions that I had to really think about before answering! She asked me what inspired me to write this book and which character I could relate to the most.

My favorite questions was: What does my writing environment look like? I make sure I create a special place to write because I want to look forward to that time.

Thank you, Emily for taking your time to create space for me on your blog!


Official book trailer...





Thursday, December 24, 2015

Author Spotlight (Deanna Martinez-Bey) By Indy Book Fairy

Thank you Indy Book Fairy for giving me a special Author Spotlight on your blog!

Indy Book Fairy was kind enough to spotlight me on her blog. This is my first "official" blog tour spotlight. I am truly thankful for the time she took to put together the post. The more we can help readers become aware of my work, the more chances it will have to touch lives!

When Life Gives You Lemons, Drink Coffee! By Indie Book Fairy


Official Book Trailer



Thursday, December 17, 2015

Author Interview by Freda Hansburg


I am happy to announce my first interview for the Blog Tour! Author Interview with Deanna Martinez-Bey (click this link to view the interview) 

Freda asked me a variety of questions pertaining to the book: When Life Gives You Lemons, Drink Coffee!, writing, being an author and life in general. She composed a wonderful post containing all of the information I provided for her.

Thank you, Freda!


Official book trailer...

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Back Porchervations: 1st stop on the blog tour: book review

A BIG thank you to the first stop on my blog tour for: When Life Gives You Lemons, Drink Coffee!  ... Back Porchervations (Life Happens on the Back Porch)

Please take a look at her review of my book and take part in the giveaway she has going on for me on her website! You could win a digital copy of my book PLUS a $5 gift card to Amazon.com!

When Life Gives You Lemons, Drink Coffee! by Deanna Martinez-Bey - #review #giveaway #trailer


Official book trailer 





Book tour: When Life Gives You Lemons, Drink Coffee!

I am happy to announce that I am in the middle of my first ever Blog Tour! Five different blogs will be highlighting me and my new book!

Please take a look at the tour schedule:

Sage's Blog Tours





Book trailer: When Life Gives You Lemons, Drink Coffee!

Welcome back to my blog! Thank you for taking your time to keep up with what is happening with me! I am honored.

I am excited to announce my first book trailer! Natasha, with Emerging Edge Publishing is not only a talented publisher and editor, she is amazingly creative! She made this book trailer for my latest book.

Please take a look at it and let me know what you think...




Thursday, December 10, 2015

"With Five Questions" interview


My first interview pertaining to, When Life Gives You Lemons, Drink Coffee! was fun! The author of the article asked me 5 questions. Each interview that is conducted on the site consists of 5 questions.

The name of the site indicates just that...
With Five Questions - Conversations with creative professionals in business and the arts

Please click the following link to read my interview and learn about what inspired me to write this book...

Meet Deanna Martinez-Bey, Author