…I’m gonna learn how to fly *high*!

I got my first taste of pseudo-fame today on the telephone. To tell this story, I’ve got to go back to the beginning. A few months ago, I had quite the spread in our local newspaper, the Hillsboro Argus. Just about a week ago, I had another article printed up, a press release on THE WOLVERINE AND THE ROSE’s debut in bookstores nationwide.

Now that you know the backdrop, our story can begin.

I got a random email out of the blue from a fan who happens to live in my town. She told me that both of my local libraries carry my books. One of my friends then decided to confirm that story by going to the library and checking things out for herself. And in so doing, she checked out ON EAGLE’S WINGS. (Thank you Megan!)

Now, I never once contacted these libraries myself as some local authors do to beg, plead, and otherwise cajole them to carrying their books. In fact, I have an author friend who donated her books to the library, only to see them a few weeks later on *sale* on their $2 used book rack. OUCH. Guess they didn’t like her book THAT much… *shudder*

Anyhow, so I’m thinking to myself that I should give the library(ies) a call and see if it’s okay for me to come in and sign their books. My friend Megan said they had an “Oregon Author” sticker on them–perhaps having a signature as well wouldn’t suck. I remember being a kid and living in Carson City, NV, fawning over the autographed copies of David Eddings’ books on the shelves. (He writes fantasy). His biography in those books said he lived “out west” or something, but I highly suspect Mr. Eddings lives/lived in or around the CCNV area. **Ooo, hey, I was right! According to Mr. Eddings’ Wikipedia page, he DOES live in CCNV! Damn! I should have looked him up in the phone book… If you’re reading, Mr. Eddings, please note that THE WOLVERINE AND THE FLAME was dedicated to you in part, for kindling my love of fantasy when I was but a wee lass…. **ahem** Sorry, folks, where was I? I’m still reeling from having it confirmed that the man I adored reading as a child actually lived in the same town I did back in the day…

So anyhow, I’m on the phone with the Main Hillsboro Library, and I get transferred to the Head Reference Librarian who seems genuinely excited to talk to a local author. He asks my name.

“Rebecca Goings,” I say.

“Oh, you’re that gal in the paper! The one who writes fantasy?”

**crickets**

“Uh, yeah. Yeah! That’s me!” Becka sheilds the receiver with her hand and squeals while jumping around the room like a madwoman.

“Someone told me just the other day to call you and see if you wanted to come in to do a presentation in our meeting hall–I don’t know if you do that kind of thing, but maybe we could set something up and maybe, you know, sell some books.” The Head Librarian waits patiently while Becka breathes into a paper sack.

“A presentation?” I say, once I pick myself off the floor. “Sure. I can definately do that. Sure. Definately.” Dear God, do I sound like Rainman?!? “I’d love to come in and speak at your library.” Head rush. HEAD RUSH!! Becka’s temples are pounding from the excess of blood pooling in her flaming cheeks.

“Great!” the Head Librarian says with a smile in his voice. “Let’s get together next Wednesday. You can sign our books and we’ll discuss the presentation at length then.”

In trepidation, I ask, “You don’t mind if I bring my FOUR kids, do you? I’ve got quite the brood, but they’re good kids.” Think he believes that?

“Oh, no problem! We’ll meet in our youth section and they can have fun.”

I love this guy.

“Wonderful! See you then!”

*click*

**Becka faints**then wakes up to email all her friends**

~*~*~

Okay, so what have we learned? We’ve learned that A.) press releases can and DO work to get your name in front of important people. B.) Librarians DO pay attention to these kinds of things, looking for local authors to support. C.) If you ever do a press release, bring it to your library’s attention so you can give a talk and have a sweet booksigning afterwards.

Advantages of a library booksigning over one at a bookstore:

* You give an actual talk, so all eyes are on you.

* Members of the community are there to see you specifically, so you’re the star of the show.

* Did I mention you’re in the spotlight? No hoping and praying people will stop at your table instead of giving you dirty looks or asking you if you know where the bathroom is.

* After your soul-stirring lecture about the joys of publishing, those in attendance can come and take a look at your books.

* You’ve left a much bigger mark on these people’s psyches than you did at the bookstore, and they’ll remember you on your next book’s release.

Now, the big question is this. Do you think they’ll give me a library card while I’m there?

…FAME! I’m gonna live forever, baby remember my name…Remember…Remember…

~~Becka

http://www.RebeccaGoings.com

Well, I admit, I’m just throwin’ this 13 together this week. I totally wasn’t prepared for it. Looked at the calendar and said, “IT’S THURSDAY?!” So I figured, why not spotlight an older book and give it a little promo?

13 Reasons Why You Should Read IN YOUR ARMS.

1.) Do you love cowboys? ‘Nuff said.

2.) It’s currently my favorite historical Western.

3.) Marcus McCaide is a yummy tortured hero. Very swoon-worthy.

4.) There’s some humor, as you can’t be serious 24/7.

5.) IT’S IN PRINT!! Finally. But don’t tell my publisher I said that. lol

6.) The awesome reviews! Like this one that’s conveniently posted in a themed pic:

7.) It’s set in the great state of Texas. Woohoo!

8.) The love scenes are filled with intense passion and deep longing.

9.) This book has been endorsed by Diana Bold. Yay!

10.) The cover is awesome.

11.) I made a sweet book trailer (shh, I won’t tell if you won’t tell…)

12.) This book is still sellin’ strong, even though it was released in April of ‘06. Find out what all the buzz is about.

13.) Guaranteed to pull your heartstrings, and perhaps sniffle just a wee bit.

~*~

And there you have it! Thirteen reasons to read my historical Western, IN YOUR ARMS. I hope you enjoy it!

~~Becka

http://www.rebeccagoings.com/

~*~

This book was a long time in coming, but I finally get to share with my fans how my trilogy ends. I’ve gotten a LOT of curious inquiries if this will be the end of Lyndaria. In my personal opinion, Lyndaria is too cool a place to just have three books to do it justice. But I currently have no plots planned out. WatFlame was the last of the three stories I’d originally plotted back in the day, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have many other plots I could easily do.

IF I ever journey back, I have a bajillion choices of what I can do. Do I want to explore the Silver Sea? The elven kingdom? Do I want to continue with the Wolverines? Or with the dragons? Or do I want to go back and write a few of the “backstories” I elude to in the books? (such as Arianna’s grandparents’ love story or Sir Cederick’s “off camera” romance).

For those of you who’ve read this series, or even just one of these books, where would YOU like me to take this series now that “The Legends of Mynos” are finished? If you post something that is an important plot point, write SPOILER!! in your comment, please. And for those of you who haven’t read this series, please note there might be spoilers in the comments, so read them at your own risk.

But I do ask the fans… Where should I go next in Lyndaria? What would you like to see me write a story about?

~~Becka

It took 20 years, but the wish that 13-year-old girl made so long ago has finally come true.

BELIEVE IN YOUR DREAMS!!!

~~Becka

This week, I’m featuring a man I only saw in passing briefly on the cover of some magazine. Haven’t done much TV watching this week (except to watch America’s Got Talent – CONGRATS, TERRY!! ). But I know I’ve never featured this man before, so I thought what the heck? Who did I pick? Mr. George Clooney.

George is one of those men who get better with age, like Sean Connery. You see younger pictures of George and think, eh… You see older pictures of George and think HEY…

What’s up with that? Is it the fact that men who are sexier as they age had baby faces as young men? I think that might be it in part. Watching George in his early acting gigs, such as on Roseanne, when he was the love interest for Jackie… Or when he was on ER (back in the days when I watched that show…) But now, he’s got the salt & pepper hair and the laugh lines that really define his look.

He’s transcended his old “geeky” persona of the early ’90’s, and kind of become somewhat of a throwback to the golden age of Hollywood. He reminds me of Gregory Peck or Cary Grant nowadays… Hmm. Maybe it’s just me.

Congratulations, George Clooney. You’re Becka’s Hottie of the Week!

~~Becka

This week, I’m going to be posting some correct pronunciations in my fantasy realm of Lyndaria, to celebrate the recent PRINT RELEASE of The Wolverine and the Rose, Book I of my three book series. Each pronunciation has a part in bold, to signify the syllable with the emphasis.

Let’s get started!

1.) Mynos – pronounced “Mai-noce.” When I was in school, kids used to call him “my nose”… uh uh. It’s NOT “Mee-nos”. It’s not “Mee-nose” or “Mee-noce” or “Min-ose”, it’s “Mai-noce”, long “i” sound on the first syllable, long “o” on the second syllable.

2.) Arianna – pronounced “Ahr-ee-ah-na”. It is not “Air-ee-ann-ah”.

3.) Geoffrey – pronounced “Jeffrey”, but I’m sure you knew that already.

4.) Lyndaria – pronounced “Lin-dahr-ee-ah”. NO “Lin-dare-ee-ah” here.

5.) Malnan – pronounced “Mal-nen”.

6.) Estriel – pronounced “Es-tree-el”, emphasis on the first syllable. Not “Es-tree-el”.

7.) Kaas – pronounced “Kahs“, NOT “Kass”.

8.) Iruindyll – pronounced “Ear-oo-in-dill”

9.) Djendorl – pronounced “Jen-dor-l” (silent “d”)

10.) Marynville – pronounced “Mare-in-vill”

11.) Aeryn Island – pronounced “Air-in” Island.

12.) Stollinshire – pronounced “Stahl-in-shire”.

13.) Meiri – pronounced “Mear-ee”, NOT “Mai-ree”.

And there you have it! If you’ve read the series and are unsure of a pronunciation, just ask, and I’ll tell ya! I know a lot of times, the author’s pronunciation and what you read to yourself just don’t sync up. If that’s the case, tell me how YOU thought one of these words were pronounced!

~~Becka

Recently, I’ve picked up baking. No, really. I love it. However, I wouldn’t have started this shocking trend if it hadn’t been born out of necessity.

My family’s surname should be “Sweettooth”. Forget this “Goings” nonsense. From now on, I’m going to be writing under the name “Becka Sweettooth.” Seriously. On any given day, usually right after DH sets down his dinner plate (as we eat in front of the TV most nights), he’ll ask me what’s for dessert. Normally, it would have been some ice-creamy-sandwichy-cookie-brownie concoction I purchased at the local S-mart. (Shop smart. Shop S-mart. You got that?!?!?!) **if you recognize that movie quote, give yourself 1,000 Campbell points.**

Anyhow, all these dessert-y items were being consumed in mass quantities. Yes, we’re fatty-fatty-2X4’s over here and proud of it. **Ahem** Have you SEEN the size of my family? And I’m not talking girth, here folks, I’m talking sheer numbers. A package of Chips Ahoy cookies, for example, can be consumed within a couple of days. So you figure, a package of cookies is about $3.50, give or take.

A package of flour costs about the same, however, you can get many, many dozens of cookies out of it–if you bake them yourself. At about that time, I had what Dr. Phil (or is it Oprah?) calls a “lightbulb moment” right there in the grocery store. “Self,” I said, “It’s about time I did something about this horrid grocery bill.” Taking a look, I realized a lot of it was going toward dessert-y items.

Huh.

Okay, okay, I can hear you, ya know. Why not just cut out the sweets all together?

**GASP!!** Then I’d ruin this figure I’ve been working my whole life to obtain! lol Seriously, I can’t live without my sugar fix. But this post isn’t about the 100 pounds of junk food Becka packs away in a year, it’s about baking. Moving on.

So I go to Costco and I come to their baking aisle and I see this GIANT bag of flour and this HUGE bag of sugar and a GINORMOUS bag of brown sugar. All bags were in the $5.00 range. Compare this to the $3.50 bag o’ flour at S-mart (Safeway, for those of you not paying attention), this was a good buy. And since I’d endeavored to begin making my own dessert-y items from now on, I purchased said bags.

Now, to top all this cookie-brownie-cake baking I’ve been doing lately, I figured heck, if I’ve got the flour, might as well buy yeast and make bread! LOL I have a bread machine, and I’ve had it for about 10 years. (Dayam, has it been that long?!?) Anyhow, I couldn’t remember EVER using the dough cycle. I’d always just made the full loaves in it. My philosophy of old was “Who’d want to use just the dough cycle when you have a fricken’ BREAD MAKER that could just make the entire loaf for you?”

But I have since seen the light. You see, storebought rolls at your local bakery might seem like a good buy. But over time, when you buy them again and again, costs can add up. Yes, we also like to eat rolls and biscuits with our dinners. So I cracked open my bread machine cook books and found some awesome bread dough recipies for rolls. I also made my own calzone crust one evening. (Use chicken broth instead of water in the recipe. You’ll thank me later!)

But the bread machine comes in handy because I hate the mixing/kneading of the dough, not to mention the rising of it. But in the machine, you put in the ingredients, wait about an hour and a half, and all you need to do is make rolls and pop in oven. Voila!

All this baking started when I wanted to learn how to make my own jam. Now, I’ve devolved into some 19th century (or 1950’s) mom who actually BAKES for her family. LOL DH asked me the other night, “What’s gotten into you? **Not that I’m complaining…**” Heheheh… I do enjoy making bread and desserts and jams. I just love the fact that I can throw things together in my kitchen and they come out as some cool concoction I can eat! And 9 times out of 10, they taste a million times better than storebought.

And truth be told, my kitchen doesn’t even get that dirty. As long as I start my baking with an empty dishwasher, I’m good to go! And the family LOVES it. With my satchels of sugar and flour, I should be set for many, many cookies, cakes and calzones to come.

~~Becka

As you may or may not know, myself, Donica Covey, Phyllis Campbell, and Ciara Gold are in a writing troupe known as the “MAGIC MAVENS“. We even have a blog and a newsletter.

BLOG:

http://magicmavens.blogspot.com

NEWSLETTER:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MagicMavensNewsletter/

We’re starting a new feature on our blog called “Mavens Monday”, and every Monday, we’ll be holding a conversation about any topic under the sun. Our topic for our first official “Monday” is our new look and what to expect from the Mavens in the future. So stop by our blog:

http://magicmavens.blogspot.com

Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and yak for awhile. We’ll be checking back frequently throughout the day to keep the conversation going. Stay tuned every Monday for a new discussion topic!

~~Becka

A little late in coming, but here nonetheless! I cannot tell you how insanely busy I’ve been lately. My poor blog has been suffering! BUT, it did take me most of the weekend to figure out who I would post as my hottie. I thought I might do an “old timey” hottie feature with Hotties from yesteryear. I might still do that. But I did indeed find a good man for my Hottie this week. Anyone watch the show “Eureka” on the SciFi Channel? If so, you’ll recognise this man. Mr. Colin Ferguson.

By now, y’all know I’m an Uber Geek (echo echo). Therefore, it should come as no surprise that I love the SciFi Channel. (Except for those SciFi original movie cheesefests. Has anyone actually *watched* Mansquito? LOL) SciFi has an AWESOME original show called Eureka, about a town in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon rawks!) that is home to geniuses the gov’t wants working on super-secret high-tech out-of-this-world projects. There’s only one person in town who’s not a genius. The local sheriff. You guessed it, played by my Hottie.

And of course, this makes for some highly comical moments. I just love this show. It’s so quirky and original. If you haven’t watched it, you might want to start from the first show. In fact, this show went on hiatus between the first and second seasons for almost a YEAR, and fans didn’t know if SciFi cancelled it or not. SciFi, being infinately cooler than Fox, decided against canceling the show, and brought it back in July ‘07 after going off air in Oct. of ‘06.

And thank God they did. I mean seriously, wouldn’t you want this man in your living room every week?!? I’ve always had an affection for blond men with blue eyes, and Colin has both in spades. And his smile is so infectious, you just wanna smile along with him, regardless of what he’s smiling at. Seriously, if you don’t watch Eureka for Colin, at least watch it because it’s a darn cool show.

Congratulations, Colin Ferguson. You’re Becka’s Hottie of the Week!

~~Becka

Come and join the authors and readers of Champagne Books for a 24 HOUR Beach Party on the Coffeetime Romance Yahoo Group!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/karenfindoutaboutnewbooks/

There’ll be chatting, contests, yakking, schmoozing, laughing, jokes, fun, strippers… Threw that last in to see if you were paying attention. LOL But hey, you never know!

Come and join us! It starts at 5pm EST / 2pm PST until 5pm EST / 2pm PST on Saturday. So why wouldn’t you pop in for a bit? Don’t make me hurt you…

See you there! Remember:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/karenfindoutaboutnewbooks/

~~Becka