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About Cj Fosdick
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Blog postWRITING IN THE AGE OF COVID by Cj Fosdick
Social distancing is familiar to all determined writers. We sit at our keyboards for hours when the muse clicks, feeling fortunate if we have a place of solitude, free of interruption. The engine that drives us is a deadline, storyline, or even a line of persistent characters who nudge and push their way into the plot. Starting early in the day, working all day or half days or ev -
Blog postWRITING IN THE AGE OF COVID by Cj Fosdick
Social distancing is familiar to all determined writers. We sit at our keyboards for hours when the muse clicks, feeling fortunate if we have a place of solitude, free of interruption. The engine that drives us is a deadline, storyline, or even a line of persistent characters who nudge and push their way into the plot. Starting early in the day, working all day or half days or even finding productive -
Blog postSOPHIE’s CHOICE was not to spend 6 yrs. as a breeder dog in Texas, I’m certain. With little knowledge of how she became anxious and scared of everything, we can probably guess. She was sent to a pound when her owner became sick we were told. She was there for weeks with swollen nipples from nursing puppies. How did she get from Texas to Minnesota in January? We lost Hannah, our beloved 11 yr. old white Schnauzer, unexpectedly before Christmas.&nbs
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Blog post1/22/19... The Power of History lingers in the toolbox of authors. Every book written with diligence includes some research. Even Sci-Fi and Fantasy writers have to research
what often is a thin line between truth and imagination. Science breaks barriers all the time, turning what once was a dream or quirk of imagination into reality. Airplanes, automobiles, spaceships, submarines, reactors and robots—all were once locked in the imagination and dreams of inve -
Blog post11/23/18... Moving beyond the Santa Claus stage means entering a new phase in celebrating Christmas. The kids have grown into teenagers, college students and beyond. No more transformers, doll houses, rocking horses and bicycles. No more home visits by a family-designated costumed Santa. At least not until there are grandkids. A practical gift exchange and dinner or buffet now tops the home agenda of many families celebrating Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
However, tearing th -
Blog post1/23/18... WAS IT THE ROAD TRIP FROM HELL? Not if God, Garmin, and a determined hub could help it! Covering over 4300 miles (round trip thru 14 states), our trusty Rav4 maneuvered us through 2-6 lanes of speeding traffic, and around hundreds of semi’s, detours and construction zones to destination—California! The InD’tale Writer’s Convention at the Marriott Hotel in Burbank was a 3 day respite--if you could call it that--for 3 weary passenger
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Blog post8/7/18... Every published book, like every other marketed product, has keywords that identify its genre and basic content—kind of like ingredients in a recipe. They affect ranking, sales and SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Keywords for my Accidental Series are Time Travel, Romance, Suspense, and sometimes, even Western. I like to think my books offer even more ingredients: a good pinch of humor, a cup of comparative culture, a pint of history, a box of
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Blog post7/12/18... Uriah Heep, Pippi Longstocking, Ichabod Crane, Ebenezer Scrooge, Holly Golightly, Huckleberry Finn, and Katniss and Primrose Everdeen. Who can ever forget character names that singin the classic stories and films we all love? No doubt the authors who created them set out to tweak memorable impressions of the characters they named, as well as the titles of their books. Would their novels be less memorable…or less successful with more pedestrian names and titles
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Blog post6/11/18... June is blooming with both. MOREL mushrooms poke through Minnesota earth in wooded areas and around deadwood that surrounds our home each spring. My eagle-eyed daughter—who once could spot a 4 leaf clover while sitting atop a horse—has not lost her uncanny talent. Mid May, she quickly filled two plastic bags with the brainy-looking fungi while I spotted only freckled mushrooms that were big as dinner plates. Google and FB to the rescue! My dinner plate mushrooms were called phea
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Blog post9/28/17... “My avocation was a spark ignited by sugar.”
Remember Candy Dots? Sometimes called buttons, those little rows of rainbow sugar were easily peeled off long white strips of paper. (I always ate the cherry rows first.) Penny candy and nickel chocolate bars were sweet rewards in my childhood. Neigh -
Blog post8/9/17... Thirty years ago I attended my first Writer’s Conference in Rochester, MN. It was a weekend mecca for birds of a feather--hopeful writers flocking together to learn from two famous Minnesota authors. Frederick Manfred and Jon Hassler are both deceased now, but their writing was alive in 1986, and they actually read and evaluated the excerpts that were turned in. Mine was one of them. I had already won a short story contest and been published
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Blog postEvery writer knows that word of mouth and reviews can propel a new book into success. (At least six reviews are recommended for debut day.) So you enlist your best friends, beta readers, critique partners, and family members to review your baby. Pretty safe odds love rolls in for the “newborn!” LOW RISK only to biased honesty. No time to bask in the lovelight.
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Blog post3/25/17... History was my favorite subject in school. Westerns were my favorite TV shows. My favorite books ranged from mystery to historical romance. Every movie on my favorite list is a historical. So when I began my first novel, guess what? It was a 19th cen
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Blog post2/21/17... Reviews are to books what “Consumer Reports” is to electronics. A book can live or die by review buzz—whether written or by word of mouth. Reviews are important for new releases, especially important for debut authors. Authors understand this; readers not so much. With my debut novel, The Accidental Wife, I didn’t know about marketing early for pre-orders or even that an ARC was an “Advanced Review Copy.” Bloggi
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Blog postSince 1968 I’ve sent out a dutiful Christmas letter each December that had three major intentions. Touching base with friends and family was always a given, but exercising my writing skill and incorporating a historical timeline were ulterior motives. Each of our children will someday benefit from a Christmas binder of letters that includes a parallel view of the family in changing times, along with some family photos and greeting cards through the years. &n
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Blog postWHICH DO YOU PREFER?
Ever see a movie based on a book that drives you to pick up a copy of the book? Or vice versa--read a book that sends you to the theater adaptation? Chances are you may be disappointed by one or the other...unless you are an author. I was conflicted after seeing "The Girl on the Train" at a theater rec -
Blog postTROLLING FOR BLOGS? Need a quick blog or newsletter idea? Like searching for that special fishing hole in your favorite stream or lake, a well of inspiration can often be hard to locate…or even found bone dry. HOLIDAY INSIGHTS, an internet site listing historic ordinary and bizarre holidays OR alternate Days to Celebrate, is a good resource. For instance, I learned that Star Trek debuted on TV in September 1966. Good for any relateable Trekie or Sci-Fi trivia w
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Blog postSpring is in the air…and in my heart this month. On May 17th I was emailed notice that THE ACCIDENTAL WIFE was named a Finalist in the RWA Golden Quill Awards for Best First Novel. The Chairman wrote: “The judges in our contest are readers who love romance, and they loved your book!”
But is it a true romance? Wild Rose Press qualifies a romance as having the HEA (happily-ever-after) ending between hero and heroine after push- -
Blog postNineteen months ago I kissed the Blarney Stone, lunched on Irish Stew under a thatched-roof pub near a 19th century Famine Cemetery, and learned the truth about shamrocks. The wee part of me that’s Irish felt a tug of allegiance to the Emerald Isle during our tour. As I do on most St. Patrick Days in the U.S., I wear green, sometimes even a button that says “Kiss me, I’m Irish.” My early memories of St. Patrick’s Day include me singing “Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ra
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Blog postActual Valentine Lamp
Sometimes our favorite live-in- every-day Valentine heroes do pay attention! (Even without a gentle nudge). Early in our marriage, I got a lamp one Valentine's Day. It was a "light bulb" moment for me. The man I married was witty OR practical OR maybe tired of reading by candlelight!? (As newlyweds, we lived on a shoestring budget in a 2 room apt. with low wattage and pitiful furnishings.) It took years of -
Blog postI am Queen of the “To Do” lists—according to my chagrined hubby. To be fair, I make more lists for myself than as I do for him. Goose for the gander? Sometimes it takes us more than a week to check off our respective lists. But there’s something smugly rewarding about completing tasks that range from vital to procrastinated. Years ago, inspired by such feel-good rewards, I thought it would be fun for the family to write down res
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Blog postDiana G. wowed the Denver crowd as well as participants in the 6th annual Historical Novel Society Writer’s Conference June 26-28 at the Hyatt Regency. As her biggest Minnesota fan, I was once again in the presence of my inspiration. (Two years ago, we met at the 4thannual HNS in St. Petersburg, Florida. Every other year, the Historical Novel Society has a conference in England.) The popular author of the Outlander series that has sold 26
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Blog postJust 2 weeks after "The Accidental Wife" was released, it has climbed the Amazon sales chart! Yesterday, it was listed at 52,748. That means out of 1,600,000 books it is just hovering around status as a Best Seller! Only a few steady daily buys for the eBook or print will give me the facial surgery I'd love to have: A permanent smile!
All the social media that is necessary to market a book is a circus in my head! Thirty years ago it was all &quo -
Blog postJust six months ago I was in Ireland...on my back at the top of Blarney Castle...bending backwards like a gymnast...hanging onto bars to kiss the Blarney Stone. Two strong men held me steady after I warned them "don't let go; I'm part Irish." (As if that made a difference.) I waited in line for maybe 15 or 20 minutes and noticed that there was a bottle of spray disinfectant and a rag to use--supposedly to clean the stone after so many lips touched it. Yet I did
Books By Cj Fosdick
The Accidental Stranger (The Accidental Series)
Jan 6, 2017
by
Cj Fosdick
$1.99
Other Formats:
Paperback
Hot Stuff (A Candy Hearts Romance)
Feb 10, 2016
by
Cj Fosdick
$0.99
Other Formats:
Audible Audiobook
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