I want to give a little shout out for an awesome group: National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) Before COVID19 attacked, I had signed up to participate in the April Writing Camp. I set my goal at 30,000 words on my new work in progress, Whispers of Wisdom. I didn’t know if I could meet my goal, since normally I teach full time. I will add that I did meet the November NaNoWriMo 50,000 goal for 2019. Yet, I knew I’d have to adjust to add new words every day in the spring.
Then, I had a lot of help. No more full time teaching for the school year. I treated my writing as a job. I researched in March finding resources in French and English to support my plot. The topic: 1747 France, Chenonceau Château, Enlightenment, Salons, Rousseau, gardening, Madame Dupin, Madame Pompadour, King Louis XV. I’m still researching even though I have written 30,000 words of the novel.
On April 1, I began the first chapter of Book Three in Gardens in Time: Whispers of Wisdom. I’ve finished six chapters and will keep writing another 60,000 words until The End.
The times are difficult for the nation, the state, the individuals, the family but hopefully you can find the extra time to do something you thought you’d not have time for in the normal day.
For the month of May, I will be sharing about the little things I’ve added to my day during these simpler times.
What is something you’ve had time to do?
Because Fiction Magazine link
Please read my article and enter the giveaway. There are many giveaways so while you are there, check out other authors and their giveaways. Each month I will have a new article and giveaway.
Here is the link to my page and article on Because Fiction: 
Rumor has it that the world is about to open up, offering a new normal. All I know is that I have learned lots of lessons that I hope I will implement in my life after the pandemic. Each of us has carried different burdens, perhaps bringing some from before the stay at home mandate–health, finances, jobless, depressed, loss. Most of us did not need the addition of a pandemic in our already hectic, over busy lives.
Don’t miss your chance to enter to win a $200 Amazon gift card and 39 books in our Celebrate Lit Multi-Author Giveaway.
The event and giveaway is going on now through April 26! Open to US residents only.
For my April giveaway, I’ve purchased The Scarlet Coat by Angela Couch–I love this book. Also, I’ll giveaway a copy of Surround Me (Book 2) in the Revolutionary Faith series. Both are set in the American Revolution!
Happy Easter, everyone! We have a lot to celebrate, even in these uncertain times. God is still in control. He is still on the throne. That is enough to make me celebrate every day.
As the angel said at the tomb two thousand years ago, “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead.” Matthew 28:5-7
One question I will never forget from the very first writer’s seminar I attended is “Where would your published book be on a bookstore shelf?” The assignment was to picture my future book among other cherished authors. I remember following through with actually checking at a few stores. While my books are not in any large national bookstore (yet), they do sit on my own library shelves nestled with some of my favorites.
Today, I’ll share what my novels look like on my shelves and who the fabulous authors are who serve as book ends.
Connect in Fiction with Marguerite Gray 