Sunday, December 31, 2023

My Year in Review

 

I don’t think I’ve ever written a “Year in Review” post before, so I thought I’d give it a shot. I laughed as I looked back through my datebook and see all the entries and reminders I wrote. Many, I have no idea what they mean.

I started the year by setting my goal in the 2023 Goodreads Reading Challenge. I choose to try and read six books in 2023. That’s my usual goal and I've met that goal every year prior. I’ll post how I did at the end of this writing.

I also had been itching to write a screenplay, but had no idea how to do it. Fortunately, early in the year, one of my publishers, and a screenwriter himself, Tony Acree held a screenwriting workshop near me and I took the opportunity to learn a new skill. I have to say I loved it. I learned so much in that one-day workshop. I was ready to start and am happy to say I adapted my first mystery book, Homecoming to Murder into my first screenplay in three months. I was ready to enter it into some screenwriting competitions.

After the screenplay was finished, I started writing a new novel, leaving Nathan Perry and his fellow officers behind. The new book had new characters, new location, and a new murder. I was in the groove writing it. I felt a little guilty leaving Nathan stalled at solving his newest murder investigation, but I needed a break from the residents of Mystic, Massachusetts.

July rolled around with the Imaginarium Convention in Louisville, Kentucky occurring. This is always
my favorite convention to attend. I love seeing so many of my online friends in person and meeting new ones at the event. This year was extra special because my screenplay won Runner-up in the Long Format Screenplay category. My first screenwriting award! Unfortunately, I also came home from the convention with a case of Covid. Thankfully, it was mild and after a few weeks of doing a lot of sleeping, I was over it.

During all this time, I was still working on the new novel. In August, I attended the Lagrange (Kentucky) Authors Fair. I shared a table with my Louisville, Kentucky Sisters-in-Crime chapter and sold several books. One particular customer told me how much she loved my Nathan Perry series and was really looking forward to reading the next one. The guilt hit again about not working on the next book in the series, which was actually only about four chapters from being finished when I stopped writing it. The next day, I started working on it again, setting aside the other book for a while. I have to say, I wrote almost every day to get that book finished, sometimes writing for several hours in the day. In October, I competed Murder in Mystic Hollow and sent it off to my publisher. When it’s released, it will be the fourth book in the Nathan Perry Mystery Series. My publisher is shooting for a Spring release.

Also, in October, my screenplay won a second award for Best Screenplay in the ICE CineFest. I also wrote another screenplay. This one is a short script called Summer Darkness. It’s a paranormal thriller. What to do next? I found myself in love with the residents of Mystic again and started working on the next book, which might possibly be the last one in the series, tentatively titled, Kill the Story. We'll see how it goes.

After finishing the first chapter, my mind kept wandering back to the other book. I was coming up with ideas for more of it. That book is about a sheriff in a Colorado town. Oh, don’t worry, it’s not a western, but another contemporary murder mystery. The tentative title for it is Exposure. I’ve almost completed the
fourth chapter.

So that brings me to the end of the year. I exceeded my Goodreads Reading Challenging by reading eleven books this year. I really don’t know how I got so many read with all the writing I did. My reading goal for 2024 will be eight books, hopefully more. If you bought any of my books this past year, thank you very much. I love writing and hope to continue doing that for a long time. 

Happy New Year!
Carol 


 

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Video Reviews

I found out this week that my friend, fellow author, and book reviewer mentioned me in one of her latest videos, The "I" Tag, on her YouTube Channel, Sandy Says Read. I'm mentioned a little after the two-minute mark. After my first mystery novel, Homecoming to Murder, was released, Sandy reviewed it. What I didn't know until this week was she also reviewed the second book in the series, The Coin Collector. You can find the links to those videos below. Thank you, Sandy Lender.

 

The "I" Tag video: https://youtu.be/nYjip6UbNTw?si=XvZlic4j76mnOJUV

Homecoming to Murder review: https://youtu.be/v4bt6nJMzNs?si=DmG0ujfENG8MAprq

The Coin Collector: https://youtu.be/IBMIJRuysl4?si=p9UzHdnEc-m3xHW2

Take a look at Sandy's channel, she has some great videos on there.

 Carol

 


Monday, November 27, 2023

Cyber Monday

 

Seasons Greetings!

Happy Cyber Monday! Amazon has reduced the price on some of my books. http://amzn.to/2khvWld  If you would rather buy from other booksellers, check out my Buy Links page where you can find all the links to my books. https://bit.ly/3sIUsBl

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!

Carol

 

Saturday, November 4, 2023

Another Screenwriting Award

 I'm very excited to announce that my screenplay, Homecoming to Murder, adapted from my book of the same name, won Best Feature Script at the ICE Cinefest in October, 2023. This is the second award my screenplay has won.



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Saturday, September 30, 2023

Coming Soon


 I'm currently working on the first round of self-edits on my next Nathan Perry Mystery. If you're not familiar with my mysteries, you can find them on the right side of this page. Click on the cover and it should take you to the Amazon page for that book.

Murder in Mystic Hollow started out as a modern-day retelling of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. If you read closely, you can see elements of Washington Irving's original short story. You'll find it has all the characters you loved in the first three books. You'll also meet newly hired librarian, Isaac Caine, who comes to Mystic for a new start and ends up falling for the lovely Katina Van Allen. When Isaac finds a dead body at the bottom of his stairs, his world turns upside down, and Detective Nathan Perry is called upon to find the killer. So many people are on the list of suspects, that Nathan become frustrated at not being able to sort it all out. Throw in a 35 year-old bank robbery and the officers from the Mystic Police Department find their hands full, not to mention the mysterious motorcycle rider that keeps taunting Isaac. It all comes to down Nathan and his officers finally figuring out, 'who done it.'


 Look for Murder in Mystic Hollow around the end of 2023, or the beginning of 2024.

Carol


Saturday, September 23, 2023

Such a Great Day Today

I had such a wonderful day today at the Greater Clark County Schools Holiday Craft Fair. I met some great people, especially my table neighbors that I talked with all day. The staff and the volunteers were a great help, especially with carrying my table in and out.

I want to thank everyone that purchased my books today. I had great sales and appreciate everyone that stopped by to talk. 

As I told the readers that came by, I have about half of a chapter left to write, and then book #4 in the series will be finished. I'm hoping for a release date sometime after the first of the year.

As you can see from the list on the right side of this page, my next event will be October 14.

Carol 



Friday, September 22, 2023

GCCS Holiday Craft Fair

I'll be selling my books at the Greater Clark County Schools Holiday Craft Fair tomorrow, Saturday Sept 23 from 8 am - 3 pm. The Fetter Center is located on 10th Street, Jeffersonville across from Papa John's and White Castle. I hope to see you there.
 


 

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

My new web site coming soon

 


Welcome to my temporary main web site, otherwise known as my blog. If you recently tried to visit CarolPre.com, you would have found that it is no longer there. My web host recently changed and all the emails I received said I had to do nothing. What I found out today was that I still have my domain, but no web site. Bear with me while I rebuild my site with a new host. It's not going to be a quick build, so until then, check back here for any updates.

Remember the old "under construction" graphic we all saw when we first got on the internet?


Carol


 

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Lagrange Book Fair

 

This weekend, I'll be at the Lagrange Book Fair at City Place, 112 First Ave in Lagrange, Kentucky. It will be held from 10 am - 4 pm. The location will be packed with authors selling their books.

I will be signing and selling all three of my Nathan Perry Mystery Series books, as well as one of my romances, Her Bluegrass Beau.

I hope to see you there.

Carol 


 

The Maximum Z Winter '24 Script Showcase

  I'm honored and excited that my screenplay, Homecoming to Murder has been included in The Maximum Z Winter '24 Script Showcase, ht...