Late to the Game This Week-Apologies to All and Here's a Great Repost from North Carolina!

When you think of North Carolina, the desolate beauty of the famous Outer Banks may come to mind. Or the breathtaking Biltmore House, which is America's largest private home. Or the college basketball rivalries of the Duke Blue Devils and the UNC Tarheels. Or perhaps you think of tobacco, manufacturing, furniture...all of these things are a big part of what attracts people to our state.

Yet, we're about so much more. For instance, did you know North Carolina is a haven for movie and television production? So much so, Wilmington, NC has been called “Hollywood East.”

Enticed by the variety of scenery from rugged mountains to the west and quaint coastal towns to the east, several production companies have east-coast offices and studios in and around Wilmington. The largest, EUE Screen Gems Studios, is the largest studio east of California. Boasting space for five productions at the same time, the studio is situated on a 50-are tract and has an estimated 700 crew members to accommodate any size production's needs. Some of the companies that have used the facilities include Warner Bros. Pictures, HBO, Paramount-Vantage, NBC Universal, Warner Bros. Television, ABC Studios, and Alcon Entertainment. And yes, the studio gives tours!

 

Television shows like One Tree Hill, Matlock, Eastbound & Down, Dawson's Creek, Surface, Under the Dome, Secrets and Lies, Sleepy Hollow, Homeland, and Revolution to name a few used Wilmington as their backdrop.

And the movies! Wow—there have been some blockbuster titles shot in the ol' Tarheel state. Like The Hunger Games, Iron Man 3, Dirty Dancing, Forrest Gump, The Color Purple, Tammy, The Conjuring, The Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe, Safe Haven, The Longest Ride, The Choice, Last of the Mohicans, The Patriot, Bull Durham, and soooo many more. To date, North Carolina has been the setting for over 800 television and movie productions.

When you're visiting North Carolina, you don't have to sit the bench and wait to catch the movie on the big screen or the show on the television. Several casting agencies listed with the North Carolina Film Commission and the Wilmington Film Commission are always looking for extras.

 

While you're visiting the television show and film sets in our great state, whether it's in the mountains along the spectacular Blue Ridge Parkway or along the coast, there are a couple laws you should always keep in mind to avoid turning your dream stay into a not-so-pleasurable experience.

• It’s illegal to practice as a professional psychic or fortune-teller. But it's okay if you're only an amateur.
• Visiting the dead after midnight is against the law. Graveyards are not included in North Carolina's hopping nightlife.
• Bingo games can not last five hours or longer, and no alcohol can be served. Do not play bingo and drink.
• If a man and woman who aren't married go to a hotel and register themselves as married, they are then according to state law, married. Congratulations!    
• It's against the law to sing off key. If you're going to sing, make it good.
• Elephants may not be used to plow cotton fields. So now you know.

If you're planning a trip to our state, check out the North Carolina Film Commission's website. They usually have a listing of movies and television shows in production. You don't have to go to Hollywood to catch a “star” sighting. There's plenty right here in the Tarheel State.

 

Lynn Chandler Willis has worked in the corporate world, the television industry, and owned a small-town newspaper (much like Ava Logan). She's lived in North Carolina her entire life and can't imagine living anywhere else. Her novel, Shamus-Award finalist, Wink of an Eye, (Minotaur, 2014) won the SMP/PWA Best 1^st P.I. Novel competition, making her the first woman in a decade to win the national contest. Her debut novel, The Rising, (Harbourlight, 2013) won the Grace Award for Excellence in Faith-based Fiction. Tell Me No Lies is the first title in the Ava Logan Mystery Series with Henery Press.

Lynn Chandler offers an exclusive ARC of Tell Me No Lies (Henery Press, February 2017) ** ARC will be sent as soon as it's available, around October.  Leave a comment here to win!

Learn more about Lynn Chandler here: http://lynnchandlerwillis.com  and  Wink of an Eye, Winner of the 2013 St. Martin's Press/PWA Best 1st PI Novel Competition
http://us.macmillan.com/winkofaneye/LynnWillis

New Hampshire Literary Agents:

Here’s a great link to New Hampshire literary.  Informative, quick, easy to use site.  I like those three things in a website. 

https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/2017/04/getting-a-literary-agent

And even better, a link to a very cool artist retreat/colony spot

https://www.macdowell.org/

Applications for residency are set to be accepted soon so scroll down and click on that link to apply.  There are some impressive artists and authors on the list. 

I love the method’s McDowell is taking with this pandemic—click on that link to find out.

And, I heard somewhere in my day’s this last week, (I’m pretty busy lately so I couldn’t tell you where or when precisely) that people were reading more because they’re limited in their travels.  It’s a great time to be an author for sure.  

Stay safe, well, and thanks for stopping by 50 Authors from 50 States blog.

Annette

(All info downloaded from websites listed)

Missouri-I was Just There!

  

I’m not a fireworks person. My kids partake, as do my grand-kids and my step kids and my boyfriend.  Pyromaniacs surround me.   

So we went on a mini-vacation last weekend.  We went to a far corner of Nebraska and camped in a beautiful spot.  Like a lot of people this year with this virus, we camp more.  Well, camping?  I’m not much of a camper without air conditioning and a shower.  My man’s got a nice camper with electricity and plumbing. 

This far corner of Nebraska, named Indian Cave State Park, happens to be half an hour from Missouri.  In Missouri, just across the Nebraska-Missouri borders set fireworks stores.  I counted eight.  

It’s definitely the place for pyromaniacs. 

We stopped at the first store just across the state line to check prices and vowed to return for the deals after shopping at the others. 

Upon entrance to the second store, the man at the counter immediately asked if we’d been there before.  We hadn’t.  He gave the three kids their pick of TWO fireworks from long tables marked 99 cents.  At the mention of FREE, I knew we couldn’t walk out of the store without purchase.  My man blew up $40. The kids each spent the $5 I donated to the cause.  I abstained.    

On to the next store right across the interstate. The sign outside said, “We Deal!” 

The kids browsed the selection of sparklers and things that explode.  Chickens and dogs that poop when their butts are lit? Really?  Does anyone need that?

The youngest firebug is eight.  She hasn’t reached the stage to make money doing extra chores like the older duo.  I bailed her out to the tune of $24 for a tank and a fancy sword.

The kids spent the allotted $5 I gave them plus more of what they had in their pockets. 

I’m not sure what the boyfriend spent. He said, “Don’t ask.”

My boyfriend, the leader of our fiery tour, stood in line while the three mini-me’s wasted their money. At his turn, he asked the clerk, “What kind of a deal can you make us?”

The friendly clerk added all the amounts and replied, “You can go back and pick $25 free fireworks.”

Half an hour later, we left that store with a stash of fireworks worthy of satisfying even the most experienced pyrotechnic.

We headed back to our campsite.

Except there was that one store we passed on the way with the big wheel to spin that stated, “Everyone’s a Winner-No Purchase Necessary!”

At the mention of FREE, what else could we do but stop and spin?

I won some fun little strobe lights.  Nice pretty quiet. 

The two older kids and boyfriend got some noisemaker miniature firecrackers.

When the youngest stepped up to the plate, I said, “Win something big!”

She spun and won $20 free illuminating pleasure.  What luck!  Her win saved me that last $5 I was going to dish out.

I wasn’t without the bug of explosives.  I picked out two packages of neon sparklers at a cost of around $3.

One the way back to the campsite, for real, we couldn’t visit the closed ice cream parlor in Brownville.  Because of the virus, we didn’t even attempt a stop at the vineyard to grab a bottle of their grape dessert wine that I love but the fireworks stores of Missouri were enough of a detonative adventure.   

So far, nobody’s lost any fingers.   

Check out all my work at http://annettesnyder.atspace.com/  or just click on the tabs to learn more.  

Have a great week and stay healthy. 

Maryland's History Reboot: Margaret L. Carter

A Naval Career Leads to Maryland for Margaret L. Carter

My husband’s Navy career brought us to settle down in Maryland. This relatively small state spans geographical and cultural regions ranging from the rural areas of the Eastern Shore, famed for seafood harvested from the Chesapeake Bay, to the mountains of the state’s far western counties, with the urban centers of Baltimore and the Washington, D.C. suburbs in the middle. As celebrated in James Michener’s novel CHESAPEAKE, set largely on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the Bay provides crabs, oysters, and rockfish as well as perennial controversy over environmental and economic issues.

Historically, Maryland claims distinction as the birthplace of our national anthem, written during the War of 1812 by Francis Scott Key at the battle of Fort McHenry, near Baltimore. Earlier, during the Revolutionary era, the Maryland State House, the oldest continuously used state capitol building in the country, served as the new nation’s capitol. There, in the Old Senate Chamber, George Washington resigned his commission as a commander-in-chief of the Continental army. In the same room, the Treaty of Paris was ratified, ending the American Revolution. The Maryland Inn on Main Street, a short walk from the State House, houses a restaurant named the Treaty of Paris after this event.

Annapolis, has claims to fame besides being the seat of three levels of government. It’s a major boating center, with annual sailboat and power boat shows downtown at the City Dock. Annapolis is the home of the United States Naval Academy, established in 1845. Across the street from the Academy stands the campus of St. John’s College, known for its unique Great Books program, in which all students study the same curriculum based on the foundational texts of Western civilization.

In Annapolis, walk through its eighteenth-century historic district, filled with phenomenal restaurants and tour the Naval Academy. The Academy’s magnificent chapel holding the tomb of John Paul Jones is a must see.

I’ve set several works of fiction in Annapolis, notably two vampire novels, Dark Changeling and its sequel, Child of Twilight, and a werewolf novel, Shadow of the Beast. My werewolf heroine works for the Maryland General Assembly in the same department where I do--fictionalized to protect the innocent, of course.

At the end of the week I’ll give a free PDF of SHADOW OF THE BEAST to one randomly chosen person who comments on my post. Please include your e-mail so I can award your prize.

I’m also a member of several groups and you can find me at any of them:

Explore love among the monsters! www.margaretlcarter.com
Subscribe to my monthly newsletter for interviews, book reviews, and excerpts:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/margaretlcartersnewsfromthecrypt
Visit www.JewelsoftheQuill.com for monthly giveaways.

For more info on Maryland, visit http://www.maryland.gov/Pages/default.aspx

Speilburg Lierary Agency-Louisville, Kentucky

We work strategically on each, individual project;
We represent the Author’s best interest, according to their career goals;
We strive, in every book deal, to more equally distribute the benefits and liabilities between the Author and the Publisher;
We create relationships with publishers who consider the Author an artist and partner, not just a content provider.

https://www.facebook.com/SpeilburgLiteraryAgency/

Visit website to find out all Speilburg Literary Agency does for authors it represents. 

(All info downloaded from website)

A Louisiana Literary Representation Agency:

 The Ahearn Agency of New Orleans

 

Operated by Pamela G. Ahearn and founded in 1992, The Ahearn Agency currently represents over thirty authors.

Agency clients are several New York Times, USA Today and Walden's Bestselling authors as well as RITA, Anthony and Agatha Award winners / nominees. Authors represented have included Rexanne Becnel, Steve Berry, Grant Blackwood, Carla Buckley, Julia Heaberlin, S.W. Hubbard, Sabrina Jeffries, Meagan McKinney, Kate Moore, Laura Joh Rowland, Carlene Thompson, Allan Topol and Carter Wilson.

Our agency handles general adult fiction, specializing in women's fiction and suspense.

We do not deal with any nonfiction, poetry, juvenile material or science fiction.

http://ahearnagency.com/

(All Info Downloaded from Site)

Metamorphosis Literary Agency of Olathe, Kansas

Our mission is to help authors become traditionally published. We represent well-crafted commercial fiction and nonfiction. Metamorphosis Literary Agency works with authors to ensure that every book is in the best presentable form. Our publishing connections come from numerous conferences, hard work, and genuine care.

Metamorphosis accepts many genres-visit their about page on their website.

https://www.metamorphosisliteraryagency.com/

(All info downloaded from Metamorphosis Literary Agency website)

Repost: 2020

First, I apologize for not getting to my blog last week.  So much going on right now--with this virus and work and life, I just didn't get it done.  I hope everyone stays well, washes hands, sanitizes, gets plenty of rest, eats properly--has enough of everything.  To my friend Jan who is being sent home as one of those who is able to work from home and told me if I heard of a murder on her street--I love you and I have bail money.  

On top of that, I didnt have a person to fill the Hawaii spot last week and didnt have time to pull something together.  This week, I'll just run this repost of Idaho!  A great author, Wendi Petzler, wrote this for the blog several years ago so check it out.  

Also, next week I've got talent from Illinois headed your direction!  It's a great article and you'll enjoy it.  

Thanks for stopping by, take care of yourselves and your families! 

Wendi Petzler of The Gem State-Idaho

 As the 13^th largest state in the US, Idaho produces 72 types of precious stones.  Some of these stones can be found nowhere else in the world which si why our great state is known as The Gem State.

And of course, there’s those amazing potatoes, a staple in most everyone kitchen pantry. 

From the populated capital of Boise to the smallest communities, Idaho boasts the second lowest cost of living in the US making it, when added to the culture, history, scenery and sense of community, a great place to live and visit.

For more information on Idaho, visit www.idaho.gov and www.visitidaho.org

With a very active imagination, I’ve been writing since I was a teen and finally got off my tush to make my dreams come true.  New Concepts Publishing took me into their family and I am grateful to Andrea DePasture for believing in me.  I like to shake up the genres and love writing combinations of historical, fantasy and vamps. 

Product of a book loving mother who got me hooked on reading at the early age of three, I quickly decided I wanted to write my own. As I said, you can find my hand in several genres, and currently released is the Borne Vampire series.  I love meeting readers and other writers, so please feel free to e-mail me at wend.petzler@yahoo.com.

Allow me to whisk you away on grand adventures and places where happily ever-afters really do come true.

Desire. Adventure. Welcome to my world ...
www.wendpetzler.com

Georgia—Literary Agent Sites

There’s a place to look online that offers a list of literary agents in Georgia.  Use the link below and browse a bunch of them.  I love the power of the internet and electronic communication because this allows us all to multi-work.  Ok, I just invented that term for working all over the world from the comfort of one spot.  AND—I’m sure I’m over-reacting, but this corona virus stuff kind of bugs me.   I didn’t go off at the turn of the century and overstock on anything but I did get some extra stuff for this virus thing.  Hand sanitizers, food, cash, over the counters—toilet paper—I don’t want to get anything flu-like without toilet paper on hand.   Another thing the internet is good for—working from home. 

So, here’s the link:

https://literaryagencies.com/literary-agents-atlanta/

I have heard of, and investigated, some of the agents on the list.  If you’re looking for an agent, it’s important to investigate the ones you look into and to follow their submission guidelines. 

That’s all I’ve got for you this week.  I’m off to tile my bathroom floor—I know, OMG THAT SOUNDS LIKE A BLAST ON A SUNDAY!!   It’s a small floor.  I’ll post a link someplace when I get that all done—because it’s the last step of my bathroom remodeling project.  You can check out the sidebar @ my HomeTalk link to see other stuff I’ve done or the tab at the top of this blog to check out another project of mine.  Leave a comment for a chance to be entered into the End of the Month Grand Prize Contest.

Until then, click on this Georgia link https://literaryagencies.com/literary-agents-atlanta/ and explore.

(all Georgia info downloaded from https://literaryagencies.com/literary-agents-atlanta/)

Leslie E Owen, Literary Agent of Pensacola, Florida

Leslie E. Owen is an experienced Literary Agent and Copy Editor. She began her publishing career in New York as an editorial assistant with Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1981, after graduating with degrees in Creative Writing and English Literature from the University of Arizona in 1980.

She has held positions as Literary Agent, Director of Foreign Rights, International Publishing Representative, and Acquisitions Editor in New York and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Leslie's extensive and varied career also includes freelance reading for Four Winds Press and working as a Movie Scout for Nevelco.

She has written articles and reviewed for Publishers Weekly, The Horn Book, the SCBWI Newsletter, and the Greensboro (NC) News & Record.

 

Leslie's recent works have been published in Zoetrope and Jewish Monthly, and her children's science book, Pacific Tree Frogs, was published in 2003 by Tradewind Books in Vancouver, London, and Sydney. The book earned a top-ten-pick rating in Canada.  In 2004, Pacific Tree Frogs was published in the U.S. by Crocodile Books.

Website contact is https://www.leslieeowenagency.com/

At website, you’ll find the submission process, editorial services and a slew of stuff to satisfy your literary needs—as always, use those guides when submitting or querying. 

(Info downloaded from https://www.leslieeowenagency.com/)

JoAnn Balingit of Delaware, Poet and Writer

I am a poet, teacher and arts-in-education advocate, and have taught creative writing classes at the University of Delaware, Delaware Public Libraries and Delaware Division of the Arts writing retreats. As state coordinator for Delaware’s Poetry Out Loud program I also teach poetry writing and recitation in schools and community centers.

My full-length collection of poems, Words for House Story (WordTech Editions 2013) was a 2015 Best Books selection at Beltway Poetry  I have two chapbooks, Forage (2011), winner of the Whitebird Chapbook Prize, and Your Heart and How It Works (2009), awarded the Global Filipino Literary Award.

I have been fortunate to find writing community through a writing residency at Hedgebrook, and through VONA/Voices of Our Nations as a 2017 Resident in Prose. I held three fellowships at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts  as a Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation Creative Fellow, and I am grateful for a 2014 Bread Loaf Bakeless Camargo Foundation Fellowship which allowed me to work on family stories that are part of my memoir-in-progress. This memoir project was my focus at Hedgebrook in April 2019. It’s a story of surviving family violence and coming to terms with intergenerational trauma, my mixed-race identity and my parents’ secrets.

I grew up in Lakeland, Florida, where my Filipino father and German American mother settled our big family after many moves. For the past 25 years I have lived in the woods of northern Delaware. I like road trips, hiking, gardening native plants, surfing, drunken noodles, libraries, and hanging out with family– especially my kids and granddaughter.

Visit JoAnn Balingit at her website http://joannbalingit.org/ to find out more and contact her from there. She does classroom visits and her poetry is awesome—and I’m not into poetry so that says something.    

Alabama! Here’s a Flashback Plus a Little More:

Alright, I was on vacation in South Carolina.  

Spent a day at Columbia, Charleston, and one in Savannah, Georgia because, well we were so close.  

Beautiful country.  

Before we head to Alabama, I wanted to post this picture of the Edisto River.It’s a place I found just because of this blog.  

Edisto River runs through South Carolina and C. Hope Clark https://chopeclark.com/edisto-island/ writes a series about it. In fact, check out the post from just a few weeks ago-C. Hope Clark wrote it.  So, of course, I had to stop and see. Not sure where we were exactly in South Carolina because I wasn't driving but I saw the river access sign and my BF turned around and drove the rental car down a rutted road so we could check it out.   And share with you!  Bless HIM for all my weird-OMG! Stop Here!  Turn Around! Episodes on vacation.   Enjoy.

Now on to Alabama!
Allison Knight’s Alabama Problem-(2013)

I have a problem. I write historical romance and my novels are based in England, Scotland, or the far west. But, you see, I'm from Alabama.

Visitor: You're from Alabama? I know the problem? Isn't that kinda - ah - slow?

Allison: Well, not really. Did you know that in Northern Alabama, Verner Von Braun settled and started working on what became our Space program? There's even a mock-up of a shuttle at the NASA complex in Huntsville. The town is home to all kinds of computer and space companies and organizations--very twenty-first century kind of stuff.

V: Well, Alabama doesn't make anything.  

A: Wrong again! Outside of Birmingham we have the Mercedes plant, makers of fine automobiles, and outside of Montgomery we have the Hyundai Automobile plant. Then of course, in Mobile, we now have the Air Bus aircraft company. So, Alabama does make things, rather large things at that. Again, modern things. Definitely not historical romance material.

V: But, there isn't that much to see in Alabama, is there? Maybe a romance about farmers.

A: On the east side of the state, we have mountains and Little River Canyon, a mini grand canyon, shear walls of stone leading to a little river which runs through the canyon, and over and through a number of waterfalls. You can't farm there.

If you'd rather spend your time shopping, you can get your fill at the beginning of the world's long garage sale, which starts in Alabama. Ever wonder what happens to all that luggage left in the airports around the country? It's for sale in the Northeastern corner of Alabama. Not very historical, I'm afraid. Of course, we have the Gulf, beautiful white sand stretching toward the placid waters of the Gulf of Mexico. And sitting proud along the shore is the Battleship, The Alabama, open for visitors daily.

My problem is—they’re not subjects for a historical romance. I write about medieval times and the 19th century west.  At nearly anytime of the year, you can attend one of our many festivals. The strawberry festival is coming up, and in the fall, we have the Jazz fest, and of course the Shrimp fest. Father's Day sees the sky filled with hot air balloons. There's the granddaddy of them all. Because, truth be known, Mardi Gras started in Mobile, Alabama long before New Orleans adopted the holiday. Mobile still offers one of the best Mardi Gras celebrations available. So I could write something based around a Mardi Gras parade. I'll have to give that a thought.

So, let's take time out to eat. You can choose a lively venue like Lulu's, owned by the sister of Jimmy Buffett, dine on oysters at the original Oyster House, or if you want simple, come on over to the "Road Kill Restaurant" where the menu changes each day and only one entre is available.

 

Believe me, Alabama is the place to be even if you write historical romance. Sunshine and white sand beaches give more then enough time for inspiration as I make my historical characters miserable until the HEA.

I've tried my hand at a Contemporary romance, this one takes place in Georgia. The setting for my next contemporary will definitely be Alabama. Now - who and where?

 Available May 6th from www.ChampagneBooks.com

www.AllisonKnight.com

www.AllisonKnight.blogspot.com

www.twitter.com/HistoricalAllie
(pictures provided by author)

Alabama Promo Starts 2020

This year, as a tribute to the people who work hard to support and promote the author community, I’ll highlight companies and individuals who do just that.

I found this website in my search for Alabama Literary Agencies.

Mark Malatesta has many websites to help authors write, publish, and promote their books. It doesn’t matter what genre your book(s) is (fiction, nonfiction, or children’s books), and it doesn’t matter if you’re already established or just getting started. His websites for authors will help them get to the next level. His websites include The Bestselling Author, The Directory of Literary Agents, Literary Agent Undercover, How to Write a Query Letter, The Book Genre Dictionary, and Writing Quotes. Visit his website for more info.

https://thebestsellingauthor.com/

MARK MALATESTA is a former literary agent turned author coach. Mark now helps authors of all genres (fiction, nonfiction, and children's books) get top literary agents, publishers, and book deals through his company Literary Agent Undercover and The Bestselling Author. Mark's authors have gotten six-figure book deals, been on the NYT bestseller list, and published with houses such as Random House, Scholastic, and Thomas Nelson.

(all info downloaded from sites)

Happy Holidays from 50 Authors from 50 States Blog

I love how far this blog has taken us!  People all over the world stop to learn about talented author’s right here at 50 Authors from 50 States.   I want to thank all visitors for continuing to support this project.

In 2020, you’ll have the awesome experience of learning about Books, places and people in the USA and you’ll still have the chance to win great prizes each week.  If you stop over and leave a comment on this blog during the week, you’ll be eligible for the MONTHLY GRAND PRIZE!!!  50 Authors from 50 States is gives away a GRAND PRIZE to one person who leaves a comment during each month. 

I’m really excited about the direction 50 Authors from 50 States is going and the people we reach.  I’m looking forward to sharing the talent across the USA in 2020.

Beginning in 2020, this blog will highlight the talented writers, photographers and so much more.  There will also be some of those who work hard to help author’s succeed-promotional companies, publishing houses, literary agents and the like.  It’s a great year to stay in touch right here.  Follow this blog for those instant updates and if you, or someone you know, would like to help, pass this web address on over. 

Have Safe and Happy Holiday, Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year and thanks for supporting this project.

Annette Snyder, 50 Authors from 50 States blog owner