Barrett's Blog

February 2023 has begun. We are approaching the third week of the month and I’m happy to report that the days are longer and much sunnier while I have been willfully negligent about completing my latest novel — “Obelisk” I have been inspired to acknowledge the small, creative voice begging to be set free.

I have designated one room in my house to be my studio, which means that it is loaded with an obscene amount of materials waiting to be crafted into something special. My major effort for past several years has been working with Cholla , which is an abundant cactus in the high desert of New Mexico. Many of these cacti live for up to 35 years and are tremendously strong. When they die, their branches provide beautiful, intricate and sturdy pieces of wood and for the past three years I have made nearly 100 different carvings of this unusual wood. Each piece is unique and there are no two that are alike.

In addition to woodworking, I’ve also been attracted to the nuances of the high desert, especially the sky. Photography has always been important but lately I’ve learned more about how to adjust the camera and improve my pictures many of those I will be posting in the near future, along with pictures of my Cholla projects.

The latest fascination has been working with what they call. “Zentangle“ it’s simple line drawings with repetitive patterns that are extremely attractive.

All of this is to explain why I have not completed the final changes to my book “Obelisk: a mystery”. When I finish (which I hope will be soon), I have a couple of short stories to complete along with a new idea for a cozy mystery.

My plan for today is to upload some of my favorite photos and hopefully some examples of my woodworking.

My apologies for my absence and tardiness, the good news… I did not contract Covid!

By the time I post this I imagine you will already know the wonderful news.

Diva is now available as an Audio Book!!!

For quite some time, the magical and wonderful “Behind the scenes” folks have been working on a plan to record Diva as an audio book. Of all my books, Diva was the one I truly believed deserved to be recorded.

Well, it has come to pass! Shawn Marie Bryan is the creative audio director and Heidi Bindhammer is the superb narrator and the singing voice of Nicole Bernard!

I was stunned when I got to hear one of my characters actually sing. What a thrill. And I’m happy to share the news that Diva will be re-released as an audio book by the end of June and will be available on 44 different platforms!

Just listen to a sample and I’m sure your interest will be piqued.

Brief excerpt.

**Stay tuned for giveaway offers.

Thanks for your continued support!

Barrett has returned to visit my website after a long sabbatical–although some might say it was more like a long sentence for an unpardonable crime, which I did NOT commit. The Covid 19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the entire world where no one is really safe. Personally, I have been vaxxed, masked, and quarantined from an “abundance of caution”. During these many months I have not written a single word until now. I have had no impetus or energy to write, though while in my studio woodworking, I felt peaceful and engaged.

Fall has brought bright clear mornings and some heavenly sunsets which inspired me to reach to friends more often. My hope is that you are well and safe!

What better way to start a new year than enjoying a romantic comedy?

…but not fast enough for me! And I’m fairly certain that millions of people around the world feel the same way. It’s been a daily struggle on so many fronts that I can’t actually pinpoint a specific event or date that things began to unravel. It’s like the frog in the water slowly boiling. Suddenly, it’s too much.

I’m one of the lucky folks who is quite comfortable staying home and social distancing. I have plenty of things to entertain me and keep me busy. An occasional trip to pick up a grocery order or prescription is not a hardship. Indeed, like many folks, I would love to see friends for lunch or go shopping or entertain, but that’s not happening, YET.

In a week, the year 2020 will pass into the history books and with it dozens of of opinion pieces analyzing the many dreadful cogs that made up the 2020 Wheel of Misfortune. Then, starting in January, we will inaugurate a new president and an entirely new team to run the government. The Covid vaccine will have reached thousands of people building more immunity from this deadly virus; and hopefully businesses will reopen.

And with hope and new energy, we can all try to bring this sinking ship back to some sense of normalcy. My belief is that with some sense of balance, people will begin to be less fearful and angry. Then the boiling point will drop and with a sense of safety we can once again remember we are neighbors, we are not enemies. We are all citizens of one of the greatest experiments in democracy.

We can achieve a new level of decency, compassion, understanding, and patience. We are so much stronger together than pitted against one another.

That was a bit more of a ramble than I intended. Please take as one opinion. But, if you can think about one small thing you can do to connect with other people, it will begin the change. I’m going to try to look every person I meet in the eye, and acknowledge them; say hello, please, thank you, or have a nice day.

It’s not much, but I want to re-connect after almost a year of feeling separated from everyone.

Writing my blog will be my first step.

Stay safe and count down to 2021!

Print and audio books will be going out, and I think I might plan a follow-up Q&A

after folks have had time to read “DIVA A romance“.

In the mean time: Stay Safe. Stay strong. Wash your hands. And…WEAR A MASK!

The Story of the Story

Shortly after moving to New Mexico, I had the good fortune to attend an opera in Santa Fe with a dear childhood friend. We had front row center seats to La Traviata. I was enchanted! (Note: this was not my first opera. My friend also took me to see Birgit Nilsson in Salome at The Lyric Opera of Chicago.)

For weeks I relived the performance and every little nuance. Remember I was no more than 12 feet away. Gradually a story began to form. So, in 2009—during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)* I spat out 50K words of the first draft.

I worked on it and asked my Opera Friend (see above) to look at it. I should note she is a very talented opera singer AND fluid in French. She provided some wonderful suggestions, which I included.  I had good feedback from others, but got distracted with other story ideas.

Last year I capitulated to the pressure and I am proud to offer the result! Please read the acknowledgements to get a picture of how many have helped bring this love story to light.

I’m sure some of you will have questions which I am happy to answer. Leave them in the comments and I will answer. Also, if you wish to be included in the drawing for a print (2) or eBook (4), please leave a comment with which you prefer. I will draw from a random number generator and winners will be announced 24 hours later on Friday afternoon on this site

Scroll down and check out the offerings. Feel free to ask a question in the comment section. Check back regularly.

In case you wondered, YES! I’m nervous. Thank you.

The Virtual Book Launch will commence October 1, 2020 at 12 Noon MST (2pm EST, 11am PST). I will be on-line LIVE until 12:30 to answer questions.

There will be a couple of readings to provide a taste before and after the live event. I may have refreshments, but not sure how to share…

I will be offering a raffle for: TWO print copies of Diva (US only), FOUR eBooks, and some book plates.

All you need to do is comment (below) on which you would like to win. I will pick random entries and announce the winners at 8pm on this site! (You might want to bookmark it).

While you’re here, look around at the marvelous job my Web Guru has done preparing for this epic event.