October 17, 2006

It’s been a long while since I sent a newsletter and a lot has happened in the meantime. We sold our Indiana home and spent four weeks visiting our four married kids while waiting for our house in central Florida to be built. We enjoyed time spent with family and hated the goodbyes, but we moved into our new place in early June, and my husband and I both love it here.

We’d sold our furniture, car, and truck, so we had a lot of shopping to do the first couple of months, and we’re still not quite finished furnishing our home here. This is “a golf cart community,” with most residents using one for tooling around neighborhoods, so we promptly purchased a cart, right after buying a car.

We moved from a four bedroom, two-story house to a two-bedroom courtyard villa but don’t miss the space, and we’ve made a lot of friends and are having fun. All of the houses in our neighborhood were just built, so all of the homeowners are new to the area and eager to meet one another. We had some landscaping done and we love waking up to palm trees and sunshine. Paul has taken a full-time job, so life is gradually settling down and I’m going to try to start writing again.

I have taught a Barnes & Noble U online class, “You Can Write Children’s Books,” and in November and December, I’m going to instruct a WOW class for Writer’s Digest that I haven’t taught before, “You Can Write a Romance.” And this past Saturday, I took part in a Literary Festival.

Now, onto the writing news I’ve been waiting to share. I have a new domain for my YA and romance novels. I entered a contest at Author’s Art and my name was drawn for website design and setup, a domain name, and domain hosting for a year. Check it out at http://bettyjowrites.com. Please! If you don’t have Active X activated, you’ll have to click, but it doesn’t do anything permanent and you get to see and hear “me.” I have to click every time myself but I couldn’t resist the little animated cartoon. (Incidentally, if you’re looking for someone to design a website, Janean Nusz is wonderful to work with and did a beautiful job. Just click on the flashing Author’s Art logo on my website to learn more about her and her company.)

Before moving to Florida, I didn’t have any domains, and now I have two. My former website has been renovated to become my children’s website, and I have a domain for it too. http://bettyjoschuler.net/bettyjo.html

And that’s not the only thing that’s changed. Note that my e-mail is now bschule1@comcast.net.

We made a trip back to Indiana for a granddaughter’s wedding at the end of September, staying a week to visit with relatives, which is another thing that’s added to our busyness, and soon, it will be time for holiday preparations. Unbelievable!

ONE MORE PIECE OF REAL-LY BIG NEWS THAT I’M THRILLED ABOUT.
LOVE IN A SMALL TOWN is finally available! Yea. Tah-da. Whoopee. Hurrah! I wasn’t sure this day would ever come. It’s available in e-formats at http://store.fictionwise.com/servlet/mw?t=book&bi=40875&si=42 and it’s paired with my novel, FINDING MR. ROMANTIC, in trade paperback.

Order Double Delight #28 and you’ll get two of my full-length romances for just $12.95. http://www.hardshell.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=0759906270

You can find the links and terrific reviews of both books at my website, http://bettyjowrites.com

Robyn Roberts at Once Upon a Romance says, “This book slowly peels the layers off of both Sam and Lily until we get a crystal clear view of their hopes, dreams and desires. Can they ever put aside their differences and will they ever give into the longing they have for each other?? You’ll have to get your own copy and find out.

Love in a Small Town is an excellent, lighthearted read. Ms. Schuler writes solid characters that feel like best friends. Her story is well crafted and a pleasant diversion. I hope you enjoy it, too.”
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Robyn has this to say about FINDING MR. ROMANTIC, “I truly enjoyed this whole book. There is so much irony going on the whole time. C.J. wants to find a way to stop her pseudo-daughter, Susan, from marrying at the young age of 18. She also wants to go back to school and spend time just being on her own without a man to rule her life. She went straight from a controlling father to a controlling husband. So now, widowed at age 29, she’s ready to be on her own. So meeting Nick is perfect because he’s a no-strings-attached, I don’t want a commitment from a woman sort of a guy.”

Author’s note: You can’t imagine all the problems that leads to!
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I am really proud of both these books and thrilled to have a paperback release again. As usual, Books We Love has a contest going that you’ll want to enter, and there’s a link from my website. I may have forgotten some other things, but I can’t forget...

AN EASY-TO-MAKE RECIPE with a name that reflects the state of my recent life.

WACKY CAKE
(makes 8 servings)

1 ½ cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 T. cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
1 t. baking soda
1 T. vinegar
6 T. cooking oil
1 C. water
½ t. sale (if desired)
Grease a 9” square pan. Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, and soda directly into pan. Make three depressions in mixture and put vanilla in one, vinegar in another, and oil in the other. Pour water over all. Mix well with fork. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

ICING:
1/3 C. soft butter
2/3 C. brown sugar
¼ C. cream
½ C. nuts
½ C. angel flake coconut
Mix together and when cake is done, spread on icing. Place under broiler until browned, usually about 3-5 minutes.

And the other thing you’ve been waiting for…

A CONTEST!
You’ll find the answer on my new Betty Jo Writes website on the Romance page. Who is mayor of Browning, Illinois? Write the TITLE of the book I’m referring to in the subject line and the MAYOR’S NAME in the body of the e-mail and send it to bschule1@comcast.net. (Or if you do it the other way around, that’s acceptable too.) This contest will run from now until November 15 when a name will be drawn to receive a silver Freedom bracelet with charms that represent freedom to those in the USA. If the winner is from another country, I’ll send you a download of Gracie’s Holiday Hero instead.

I’m sorry I’ve been so long between newsletters. Changing one’s entire life take a lot of time. I’d love to hear from you with comments or questions. I wish the hyperlinks worked when sending through Author’s Den, but they don’t so you’ll have to copy and paste, but you can find everything by going to http://bettyjowrites.

Until next time…read a book (preferably mine) and take care of yourself.

Betty Jo