Monday, November 19, 2012

Today's Special - - Marilyn Baron



It's my pleasure to welcome Marilyn Baron to the blog today.   Marilyn is a public relations consultant in Atlanta. She’s a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA) and Georgia Romance Writers (GRW). She is the winner of the GRW 2009 Chapter Service Award. She finaled in the GRW Unpublished Maggie Awards for Excellence in the Single Title category for The Colonoscopy Club. The Edger won first place in the Suspense Romance category of the Ignite the Flame Contest, sponsored by the Central Ohio Fiction Writers chapter of RWA. She won a 2012 Unpublished Maggie Award of Excellence in the Paranormal/Fantasy Romance category for Sixth Sense.

Marilyn was born in Miami, Florida. She lives in Roswell, Georgia, with her husband, and has two beautiful daughters. She graduated from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, with a B.S. in Journalism and a minor in Public Relations. She blogs at www.petitfoursandhottamales.com. She loves to travel and often bases her books on the places she’s visited.

You can find out more about Marilyn and her books and short stories at http://www.petitfoursandhottamales.com/marilyn-baron/. Learn how fans with e-Readers can get KEEPER KASE™ Cards of The Edger and download your copy of Passionate Cooks: Free Recipes from Today’s Hottest Romance Authors, featuring her Pasta Passionata alla Carbonara.

Take it away, Marilyn!





All in the Family
By Marilyn Baron


     Thanksgiving is this week and that holiday brings to mind family. Family can mean relatives or good friends, like the two sets of friends who took my daughter in for a week when she was displaced by Hurricane Sandy in New York City.

     Today, I’d like to focus on my sister Sharon Goldman, who collaborated with me recently on two projects. At the beginning of the year, we released a humorous women’s fiction, an e-Book called “The Edger” http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006Y3P12Y. The novel is about landscape artist Alexandra Newborn’s shocking reunion with her college art professor, Nick Anselmo—once a celebrated Italian artist, now a homeless lawn man—which sows the seeds for murder, mystery and romance. As an award-winning artist in Florida http://sgoldmanart.com/index.htm, Sharon’s involvement in the project made the story more realistic. She also painted the cover art and some inside color and black and white art, which makes the book unique. The Edger received a 4-1/2-star rating and a wonderful review in RT Book Reviews’ September issue in the mainstream fiction section. Our plans are to rerelease the book in print form.
        
     We just completed a musical called “Memory Lane,” about Alzheimer’s, which we hope to get produced. Collaborating involves a whole set of issues, including the fact that we live in neighboring states, but, so far, we’ve survived both projects and are excited about our prospects. Our working relationship has brought us even closer together. 

     In addition, I have four humorous supernatural short stories published by TWB Press–my angel trilogy–A Choir of Angels, Follow an Angel and The Stand-In Bridegroom—and a story with a more devilish bent—Dead Mixhttp://www.twbpress.com/authormarilynbaron.html.   

     My romantic thriller, Under the Moon Gate, set in contemporary and World War Two Bermuda, will be released by The Wild Rose Press in 2013, as a historical. I am currently trying to find a home for my paranormal, Sixth Sense, which just won a Maggie Award of Excellence from Georgia Romance Writers. After that, I’ll finalize a prequel for Under the Moon Gate.

     What do all of these projects have in common? They are all humorous. I love to laugh and I think my readers do, too. What don’t they have in common? Genre. They range from women’s fiction and romantic thrillers (historical) to paranormal romance. I used to think that sticking to one genre was the way to go. But not anymore.

     So, no matter what genre you write, whether you work with a writing partner or go it alone, self-publish or go the traditional route, I hope everyone has a safe, happy Thanksgiving holiday and a healthy and productive 2013. One commenter will receive a free PDF copy of The Edger.  
 
Readers, what genre do you enjoy reading?  Do you read multiple genres or stick to one?  Do you enjoy humor in the books you read?  If you're a writer, have you tried your hand at multiple genres?  

38 comments:

  1. Welcome, Marilyn! I'm working this morning but will be back to play this afternoon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for hosting me. I'm so glad to be here.

    Marilyn Baron

    ReplyDelete
  3. I enjoy reading everything but have been stuck in a women's fiction rut for a while now, both reading and writing. However, this year's NaNoWriMo project is a YA with a hint of paranormal, and I wrote a romantic short this year. And I agree that everyone needs a touch of humor here and there. I enjoyed your post, Marilyn!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good luck with your journey out of your writing box, Pam. I think a touch of humor is perfect in any genre!

      Delete
  4. Dear Mariln,

    I love to laugh, and I really do enjoy humor in my reading.

    As one of four sisters, I wonder what it was like to work with your sister. Did you find yourself falling into former childhood roles? Did you perhaps have a "shorthand" of shared experience and point of view? Have you collaborated with anyone else? How did it compare?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I answered you in the comments below. You asked great questions.

      Marilyn

      Delete
    2. Great questions! They have me wondering what the experience would be like to write with my brothers. I think we would definitely fall into childhood roles with me, as oldest and only girl, being the boss. ;-)

      Delete
  5. Thanks for sharing such a fun post and congrats to Marilyn on the new release! I'm an indiscriminate reader. I pretty much love it all... humor, angst, drama, dark gothic, sci fi, historical... You name it, I'm there! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Pam,
    I'm like you. I'd been writing mostly women's fiction and I stepped out of the box and tried paranormal with a full-length novel and my short stories. I found I love that genre. So I would advise trying something new like you did. In fact, I hadn't been much of a YA reader but I am getting into that and there are some amazing YA writers out there. I now see what all the fuss is about. I don't think I can write YA, but I do enjoy reading it.

    Marilyn

    ReplyDelete
  7. HI Marilyn - I love that there is a central theme to your writing - humor. You're a really productive writer who has her eye on being successful in this business. Not everyone is cut out to collaborate so congrats to you and Sharon for making your joint efforts work.

    To answer your question, I read across the board - lots of different genres. Have a great holiday, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by, Dianna. There's a whole lot of talent inside our Miss Marilyn, isn't there?

      Delete
    2. Thanks for saying that, PJ.

      Marilyn

      Delete
  8. Erin,

    Thanks so much for commenting. I really appreciate it. I love reading all types of books, not nonfiction, but most genres of fiction. One of my favorites is historical fiction. I never thought I could write historical but when TWRP bought my romantic thriller Under The Moongate as a historical, I realized, you can go outside your comfort zone and try new things. I especially love it when my favorite writers come out with a new book and then I can't wait to get it.

    Marilyn

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dianna,
    Thanks for visiting the blog and for your comment. You collaborate successfully but then, everything you do is successful. People could learn a lot from you. And you have taught me a lot. I've only collaborated on two projects but it was a fun experience. Happy holiday to you, too.

    Marilyn

    ReplyDelete
  10. The prolific Marilyn Baron strikes again. I'd say collaboration certainly seems to work for you, having read the excellent The Edger, AJ Kirby

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dear Anonymous,

    Four sisters, wow. We have another sister in the family but she won't let me write about her or mention her (oops, I just did). I asked the sister I collaborate with whether we fell back into our old roles and she said something like, "You took the lead. You wove it together. And I let you." Does that mean I'm bossy? I am the older sister and she's the youngest sister. So maybe. When we reread the manuscript there were parts where I said, "I don't remember writing that." And she said, "I didn't write that." Obviously one of us did. I thought the writing was seamless by the time we finished but there were those parts we couldn't figure out which of us wrote. One thing about my sister, she has big dreams and plans. She won't let me rest until I've explored every avenue. For example, she wants me to contract Oprah or this movie star or that. And she's serious. She sends me their contact information. As far as our play, she's convinced we're going to be on Broadway. She's relentless and that's probably a good thing. Actually, as far as collaboration, I am collaborating right now on a free sweet romance anthology with my Petit Fours and Hot Tamales blogging sisters. It's due out at the end of this month. We each wrote separate stories and we're calling the Anthology "Seasons and Seashells." That was also an awesome experience. If you go on the blog, there's a picture of the cover on the right side. My sister did the artwork on the cover. In the past, the Petit Fours have written blog novels, where one starts out and the rest continue the story. They are on the Free Reads Section of the blog. www.petitfoursandhottamales.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. Andy,

    Thanks so much for visiting all the way from the UK! I appreciate the compliment about the Edger, especially coming from such an accomplished writer. You are the prolific one!

    Marilyn

    ReplyDelete
  13. I read a few genre's. I like to read contemporary and woman's fiction. Historicals are another fav espeically if they are westerns. I like paranormal and it all of these book have a humour in them, then the more I like them. Your books sound great.. I wish you luck getting your musical produced...

    ReplyDelete
  14. Kathleen,
    Thanks for your comment. I like contemporary, too. I haven't read many Westerns although I like to watch them on TV. Like you, I love to read humorous books. Thanks for your good thoughts about the musical. It's about an important topic so I hope it does get produced.

    Marilyn

    ReplyDelete
  15. It was fun working with you. We both like to laugh and did a lot of it working together. Now, get with it and contact George Clooney for the lead role in The Edger. Sharon

    ReplyDelete
  16. You see what I mean?

    Marilyn

    ReplyDelete
  17. Marilyn, I write in several sub-genres of romance. Sometimes a mash-up in one book. But it all seems to work out. :)

    Humor is always welcome in my reads and I try to interject it occasionally in my writing. Most of my reading has romance in it, though the occasional dark suspense or a non-fic historical works it's way to the top of my TBR pile.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Carol,

    Thanks for your comment. I like dark suspense, too. Even when I write suspense, I try to inject some humor into it.

    Marilyn

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hi Marilyn!
    Your books sound so good and love hearing about you and your sister. I like comptempary and romance suspense mostly... Right now I am on a Christmas readathon...lol Good luck with your new book.

    Donna

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi Donna,
    Thanks for visiting and for your kind words. I love reading romantic suspense and I write that, too. I want to be on a readathon. I usually have more time to read, but now I find it more difficult to read as much as I used to and I miss that. I'm going to read a lot over the Thanksgiving vacation.
    Marilyn




    ReplyDelete
  21. Hi, Marilyn, and welcome! We are SO happy to have you here today. :) Congrats again on your Unpublished Maggie win! It was good to see you at M&M and to be there to see you win.

    My favorite romance genres to read are historical and contemporary. And yes, I do love humor in them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Andrea,
      Thanks so much for inviting me. I've really enjoyed being here and I was happy to see you at M&M. I am still so thrilled about winning the Maggie.

      Marilyn

      Delete
  22. I read a little bit of everything though I haven't really dipped my reading toes into the YA pool much yet.

    I love the sound of your musical, Marilyn and Sharon. I hope you're able to find a producer.

    ReplyDelete
  23. PJ,

    We know it's a long shot, but it's out with several producers and we're hoping someone will pick it up. Our play takes a light-hearted, but poignant look at this global epidemic.
    Marilyn

    ReplyDelete
  24. Well, I hope I embarrassed you with my screaming at M&M. Your Maggie win was well deserved and long overdue. Proud to know you. So excited for all your creative projects. Love you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think anybody heard you screaming, Nicki. What with the rest of us all screaming too. ;-)

      Delete
  25. Nicki,
    I heard you and Jeanette screaming all the way across the room and I appreciate all the support from you, PJ and Andrea and everyone. That was such an exciting night. I'll never forget it. Thank you Nicki.
    Marilyn

    ReplyDelete
  26. Bingo! You hit on my favorite part of any novel - humor. There has to be some humor added to make characters appear REAL. It also helps to break the tension and, quite frankly, keep the reader interested.

    Congratulations on your awards and on being able to juggle a job, family and writing. Whew! That makes my head spin of trying to accomplish all that you do.

    My favorite genres are regency, historical and contemporary romance novels followed by chick-lit. Of course, I have to say I love biographies and non-fiction.

    Wish you great success and all the best!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Connie,

    Thanks for your comment and good wishes. I'm glad you like humor. I think it adds to any book, and it sounds like you read a little bit of everything. I like your philosophy that humor makes the characters appear real. I agree, although I never really thought of it that way. It does help break the tension and keep things interesting.

    Thanks to everyone who dropped by. I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving holiday.

    Marilyn

    ReplyDelete
  28. Thanks for today's excellent guest blog, Marilyn! I hope you get “Memory Lane” produced!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much. I'm glad you liked the blog and I hope we get the play produced, too.
      Marilyn

      Delete