Our First Blog!

Greetings, and welcome to Romancing The Era’s first blog!

...and my first blog on my first website as an author. Wow. Not fancy, maybe, but still, there's something a little magical about it, a sense of having achieved a milestone that only a few months ago seemed impossible. So, good morning, dear readers! If you have a blog, do you remember how you felt, blogging the first time? Can you see my smile? Can you hear the delight in my virtual voice, a joy that makes me feel like dancing?

This blog allows me to announce that I am only weeks away from publishing my first novel, 'To Dream of Langston', a serialized book that in its own way, feels like a first child. All these 'firsts'! I feel elated. Protective. Fearful. Hopeful. Energized.

What a trip it has been getting to this point. Long hours. Grueling effort (really!). Phone calls. Countless emails. Hours searching the net. Early mornings. Late meals. DH sighing. Kitties irritated. Frustration. Fun. Lots of "eeks". Fun! And now, worth it all.

Today, I raise my cup of smoky lapsang souchong to my dear author friends Beppie Harrison and Lane McFarland (and our talented, knowledgeable, patient web designer, Rae Monet), who share this wonderful first with me. Pat yourselves on the back, Beppie and Lane. We're almost there, girls!

Màiri Norris

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So now we begin.

I am a great fan of the beginnings of things – a fresh start, new territory ahead of me, no inconvenient bumps in the road.  No stupid mistakes, although since I’ve spent a lifetime with myself I can guarantee some will come along.  I just ask that people focus on the “stupid” rather than the “mistakes.”  Most of what I do is well-intentioned!

What will I be blogging about?  Well, primarily whatever is on my mind at the moment I start to think about writing it down.  Today is a beautiful sunny spring day in the southeastern corner of Michigan, where I live.  I gather spring has finally found us.  It seemed to have taken a detour somewhere – maybe down in the Caribbean?  So another beginning, and a good one.  Trees are remembering they have leaves, the magnolia trees are on the point of popping into ivory-colored splendor, and the bulbs the deer haven’t eaten are bursting into bloom.

So, dear readers – and I hope your numbers will increase! – I blow a wish to you that this will be a new beginning in some ways to you, too.  Let us know what you’re starting on, or starting to finish. That’s nearly as good.

Beppie Harrison

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When Beppie, Shirley and I embarked on our journey together, we packed our bags with tidbits of information. Slowly, but surely those bags have filled with tips and tricks of website design, a newsletter, Twitter, Circles on Google…whew! My head is spinning, and my heart’s thumping with excitement as readers join us.

I look forward to posting topics from gardening, to places I long to visit, articles I run across in my research, and whatever happens to pop into my world. As I write from my quiet country home in the mountains surrounded by abundant wildlife, you never know what will wander up.

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you will leave us comments, let us know if something is of interest. We would love to hear from you…

Lane McFarland