Love to read Young Adult (YA) Books? Join the YA Read-A-Thon in February.
4 books are featured each week (I’m the last week).
Join the February 2021 YA Read-A-Thon group in Facebook.
Check out the authors and books featured each week.
Category Archives: News & Updates
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Why is the sky purple in the Troyk universe in the Worlds Apart series?
What was on my mind when I created the Nightshade universe in ‘The Crystal Telepath’ and started a series of its own?
Why was Kara chosen in ’Selected’?
How did Sydney Aubrey in ‘An Uncontrollable Passion’ get the scar on her face?
Join my Facebook Group ‘The Worlds of Evelyn Lederman’ and find out.
Ask your questions, join discussions, and have fun.
Happy Holidays
When I was a kid, Eggnog and Pumpkin Pie ice-cream symbolized the holidays. My father LOVED ice cream, so I can’t have a scoop without thinking about him.
This year, I craved Peppermint Stick ice cream. Since I’m always watching my weight, I shied away from getting the ice-cream since I couldn’t get an individual serving size. I finally broke down and purchased a half-gallon carton. Each evening, I had a scoop until the ice cream was gone.
Now I’m craving the Pumpkin Pie ice-cream that was in the same freezer case.
My first cat was a Siamese cat named K.C. (Killer Cat). KC was more likely to claw you than lick you. But he was the world’s best cat in my eyes. Because of KC, I’ve never attempted to dress up my cats in holiday gear…basically out of fear. LOL.
I’m therefore, wishing you a Happy Holiday season again using someone else’s cats. These kittens are adorable.
So Precious, Stefano, and Rudie wish you Happy Holidays and a WONDERFUL 2021!!!
Herd Immunity
From the Mayo Clinic Website:
‘Herd immunity occurs when a large portion of a community (the herd) becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. As a result, the whole community becomes protected-not just those who are immune…
A vaccine for the virus that causes COVID-19 is an ideal approach to achieving herd immunity. Vaccines create immunity without causing illness or resulting complications…’
In November, I had a flu shot for the first time. I never had the flu before and had never been part of the target population when shortages occurred. However, to support the concept of herd immunity, I got the shot (as well as one for the shingles).
On Monday, the first Americans received a COVID-19 Vaccine. It will be some time before I can get vaccinated, but as soon as I’m eligible, I’ll take advantage of it and become part of the herd.
Stay safe, my friends. There is light at the end of the tunnel. It will be wonderful to see your smiling faces at conferences next summer.
Halloween Cards Summerween
Some of the authors and readers attending Literary Love-Savannah (LLS)-SUMMERWEEN in 2021 participated in a Halloween card exchange. It was so much fun going to the mailbox and seeing all the cards from across the country coming my way. Here are some of the cards I received.
I have to say the ‘winning’ card goes to Breezy Jones. She managed to get PURPLE and a CAT on the card.
You can join us in Savannah and celebrate Summerween with us: https://www.eventbright.com/e/literary-love-savannah-2021-summerween-tickets-118157342793
Florida & Hurricane Eta
It’s a tough year, the Coronavirus not withstanding, when hurricane season works through the A-Z alphabet and begins with the Greek alphabet. I got confused when we went from Tropical Storm Zeta to Hurricane Eta. So I’ve included the Greek alphabet (for those of you who weren’t in a sorority or fraternity, like me), a radar photo of Eta and Florida, and finally a photo of the enclosed lanai with the hurricane shutters down.
The Greek Alphabet: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Omikron, Pi, Rho, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, Psi, and Omega.
I guess it’s true, you learn something every day!
The cats and I hung out on the lanai while I wrote the content of this newsletter and the maids cleaned the house. Yes, I’m the Queen of Clutter!!!
Literary Love Savannah (LLS): SUMMERWEEN 2021
Can’t get enough Halloween? Join us in for Halloween in August 2021 and celebrate BOOKS at Literary Love Savannah (LLS): SUMMERWEEN 2021!
Join all the fabulous witches mingling with authors and readers alike.
This is always a fun packed conference in beautiful Savannah, Georgia. I will be part of an anthology available exclusively in paperback at the conference.
Don’t miss the fun!
Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/literary-love-savannah-2021-summerween-tickets-118157342793
THE 6TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CHAMELEON SOUL MATE’S PUBLICATION
August 5, 2020 will mark the 6th anniversary of ‘The Chameleon Soul Mate’s’ publication.
Two dates stick in my head: the day the voices began (February 23, 2014) and the publication of my first novel. The photo was taken on August 14 at my first conference as a writer. I quickly got a banner made and paperback copies were shipped to the hotel with only a day to spare. People come up to me today and say they remember when I only had 1 book.
To celebrate the anniversary, I decided to take the Worlds Apart series and create a box set. It will be exclusive to Amazon and KindleUnlimited. The boxset will not only include the original 5 books, but the prequel novella AND comments from me about each of the books. it’s a great opportunity for KU readers to check out the books again. If you already own the series, I’ll have the author notes placed on my website. The Worlds Apart series is still near and dear to my heart. Alex, Shirl, Candy, JoJo, and Cassie are the closest characters I have to daughters.
The Amazon link will be in my next newsletter.
From My Mind, To the Page, Then Edits
My editor Tina has been with me since the very beginning. When I turned over the manuscript for ‘The Chameleon Soul Mate’, I felt like I handed in a final exam. By the time I got her edit back, I didn’t have any fingernails left. I’ve learned a lot since receiving the initial 8-page content edit summary. Tina provides a content line edit for everything I’ve written since. She’ll make revisions within the body of the manuscript (with revision marks) and comments in bubbles. I follow along with the version of the manuscript I sent her, make the revisions, and take notes related to rewrites I’ll make. Here is a page of edits from Tina I printed out from ‘Blood Interwoven’ where I wrote my revisions before placing them in the novella.
In this particular case, she felt I tied things up too quickly, not providing enough suspense. Tina has always been into conflict. My heroine isn’t getting her happily ever after without a lot of obstacles to overcome, turns in the road, and someone is always trying to kill somebody.
OUT & ABOUT and the COVID-19 Virus
When I worked for Farmers Insurance, I put together corporate Year 2000 business continuity plans, as well as strategies to deal with a world-wide pandemic when Bird Flu was in the news.
Never in a million years did I think the corporation I retired from after 33 years of service would have to enact the plan. As news trickled out of China about a new corona virus, it became clear we didn’t only have a world economy, but exposure to a virus that could become a pandemic. Throughout history, such pandemics occurred and ended. We will get through this one, like all the others. But be smart. Please follow the guidelines provided by the CDC related to social distancing, washing your hands regularly, etc.
Because of the COVID-19 Virus, The Weekend with the Authors originally scheduled for April 16th through 19th has been cancelled. Sandy Sullivan is working on plans for a conference in 2021 in Nashville again.
Space Coast Book Lovers scheduled for June 25th through June 27th is still going through activities planning for the event. They’ve communicated the 2021 dates so people can reserve those dates in case we are still under social distancing protocols. Again, we hope the world is back to normal by the end of June. Space Coast Book Lovers 2021 will be June 24th through 27th, 2021.
As with Space Coast Book Lovers, plans continue to be developed for Literary Love, Savannah: Thursday July 30th through Sunday August 2nd. This year will be my last appearance at that particular conference since I’m cutting down conference attendance in 2021.
COASTAL MAGIC 2020
I attended Coastal Magic 2020 because two of my favorite authors were featured: Shannon K. Butcher and Jeaniene Frost.
Here I am messing around with Shannon Butcher. I met Shannon at my first romance novel convention, Romcon2010. When I won a door prize, I chose the prize with the first book in her Sentinel War series ‘Burning Alive’. I’ve been a MEGA FAN ever since. Shannon is now writing under the name Anna Argent. If you love Paranormal Romance, you have to check out the Sentinel War series under the name Shannon Butcher and The Lost Shards series under the name Anna Argent. Yes, it’s a terrible picture of me, but the other photos were terrible where Shannon was concerned.
At Romcon2010, I also met Maggie Mae Gallagher. I signed up to have lunch at her table and it felt great catching up with each other. The last time I saw Maggie Mae was at the Barbara Vey event in April of last year.
Last, but not least, I was able to catch up with my good friend S.E. Smith who also attended the conference. We were able to catch lunch together with 2 other authors. Susan is sitting beside me. If all goes well, we’ll be hanging out at this year’s Space Coast Book Lover’s Convention.