CART BEFORE THE HORSE revisited pt 2

Holly Jacobs has lived her life a little backward. You know the kind...graduated high school at thirteen. She's always been a walk the line kind of girl too. Who thought she'd let loose only one night of her life and it would change EVERYTHING!

Holly is a textile designer. Now where did I get that? Well, I began writing this book on the airplane back to Denver from a writer conference in DC where I met author Gretchen Galway. At the time, neither of us had been published, but I have to say, this is why you sit next to people you don't know in group settings! We hit it off an all these years later we are still friends. 

Why do I mention Gretchen Galway? It just so happens that in another life, before bestselling novels, she was a textile designer. Funny how her telling me that made a whole book pop into my head with a phrase used by mother's for centuries.

You'll find more information on Gretchen Galway at the end of this blog.

Gabe Maguire. Just the name alone was perfect man material to me. Gabe is recovering from heart ache and he's nestled himself into his business. We all know the kind...workaholic who lives for his business--That was until Holly happened into his life.

Gabe's restaurant life was like adding a little bit of myself to the mix. Though I wasn't raised in a restaurant, I was raised in the restaurant business on the supplier side. In fact, the piece in the book where the freezer in the restaurant freezes over...I wrote that the day after I got a call from a Sabarro's who had to reorder all their produce for the same reason. Sometimes fiction imitates life!

Chandra, the bar tender, was probably the most fun to create. Lots of tattoos and an attitude to boot. There has always been a plan to give her a book of her own. I suppose in time it'll be written. I always figured it would be the Goth and the Geek. Just seemed like a natural paring.

To this day Cart Before the Horse is one of my favorite stories. I think there is a little bit of backward in all of us.  Join me next time when I discuss the setting for Cart Before the Horse.

Gretchen Galway is the author of Love Handles and other romantic comedies. Her latest novel, This Time Next Door (formerly The Geek Who Loved Me), began its stubborn, viral crawl into global human consciousness in July of 2012. A native of the Midwest, she is a graduate of Stanford University and now lives in California with her husband and two kids.

Gretchen loves to hear from readers. Really. You can find her online (where she spends far too much time) here on her website, or on Facebook and Twitter.

You can also email her at gretchen @ gretchengalway . com.

Bestselling Author Bernadette Marie is known for building families readers want to be part of. Her series The Keller Family has graced bestseller charts since its release in 2011, along with her other series and single title books. The married mother of five sons promises Happily Ever After always…and says she can write it, because she lives it.

When not writing, Bernadette Marie is shuffling her sons to their many events—mostly hockey—and enjoying the beautiful views of the Colorado Rocky Mountains from her front step. She is also an accomplished martial artist with a second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do.

A chronic entrepreneur, Bernadette Marie opened her own publishing house in 2011, 5 Prince Publishing, so that she could publish the books she liked to write and help make the dreams of other aspiring authors come true too.

Join Bernadette on Facebook 

Become part of the Bernadette Marie Street Team! 

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CART BEFORE THE HORSE revisited pt 1

Happily ever after doesn't always start with first comes love...

Gabriel Maguire thought he'd buried his past until the night he met Holly, only to lose the woman he cared about, again.

Holly Jacobs has always put the cart before the horse. A prodigy who shot to stardom in textile design, she never knew a normal life—and there's nothing she longs for more than to be normal.

Pregnant before she even knows the name of her baby's father, Holly has put the cart miles ahead of the horse this time. But when she and Gabe meet for the second time, they decide to have their baby together. Holly finally begins to accept her unique way of doing everything backward, but Gabe's very normality drives her up the walls. Then his tragic past rears up; pain and loss threaten to destroy forever the fragile bond that has blossomed between him and Holly.

Sometimes the only way to get where you need to be is to put the cart before the horse.


This week I am revisiting the second book I published with my house 5 Prince Publishing. This was the first book I had set in Colorado with actual landmarks. I must say it was a lot of fun to do that. This week I will introduce you to the characters, take you behind the scenes and show you some of the Landmarks mentioned in the book, and introduce you to the author who inspired Holly's career.

For now...here is a little excerpt to introduce you to the bestselling novel

CART BEFORE THE HORSE

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Holly’s feet had gone numb and so had her legs. Another fifteen, twenty, thirty seconds she sat looking down at the stick in her hand. She’d shaken it, cursed it, and waited more than the allotted time, but it hadn’t changed. The word on the stupid EPT stick said the same thing.

PREGNANT.

“No. No. No!” She threw the stick into the sink as she tried to peel her numb legs from the toilet. She’d waited there so long, hoping, unable to look at the test, they wobbled beneath her and she struggled to pull herself upright.

Holly stumbled through her bathroom door and out to the bedroom. The box from the pregnancy test sat on the bed, taunting her. She fell onto the bed beside it. She read and reread the instructions. She’d done it right. She’d done what it said to do, and still it had boldly stated, PREGNANT.

“No!” she screamed and threw the box across the room.

She looked at the clock. It was already seven thirty. Not only had her life been upheaved, now she was falling behind. In exactly an hour and a half she had a presentation to make to a client who could bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars into the company in the next six months. Her meticulous planning and preparation for this very morning had been her focus for the past three months. Now she was nowhere near being on her A-game.

She showered, skipped a few of her usual rinse and repeats, ripped an outfit out of the closet, and grabbed for two shoes. As she buttoned her blouse for the third time, she realized her perfectly organized life had just crashed around her.

There wasn’t time to refine the out-of-control hair for her perfect hairdo. There wasn’t time for more than lipstick, and the shade she’d chosen didn’t do anything for her pale skin. Had she left the presentation in her office or her car? Sweat beaded on her forehead. The phone rang, and she screamed. She threw down her makeup brushes, followed by a string of curses.

“Morning, Holly.” Tracy’s voice on the other end screeched in her ear.

“I am not speaking to you,” she hollered into the phone at her best friend. Ex-best friend, she decided.

“You’re in a mood.” Tracy laughed.

“You have no idea. Leave me alone. I have to get to work.”

“Slow down,” she said. “That’s what I’m calling for. The client canceled. Weather in Chicago has the flights canceled. We have a week to stew over it now.”

“Are you kidding me?” Holly moved her head from side to side to alleviate the tension that had started to pinch in her neck. Was God mad at her? Was he punishing her? What was going on in her life? She glowered at the floor and noticed her shoes didn’t match.

Holly flung herself backward on her bed, the phone still attached to her ear.

“Hol, what’s wrong?” Tracy’s voice had that irritating yet soothing quality that Holly usually adored, but today it was unwelcome.

“I’m just not feeling well.” She couldn’t have spoken more truth.

“I’m headed in. Why don’t you take your time. Take a hot bath and have some tea,” she offered, as she would. Holistic tea would fix the world, according to Tracy Morton.

Nothing would fix her now.

“Fine.”

“Are you still mad at me?” Tracy teased.

“You have no idea,” she repeated, then hung up the phone and just lay there staring at the ceiling. 

An hour later, finally taking Tracy’s advice, she made tea, drank it down, and sat chin deep in a hot bath. She held the telltale stick in her hand. Still it hadn’t changed.

PREGNANT.

“Once more, Holly. Got the cart before the horse,” she said, just as her mother always said to her.

Bestselling Author Bernadette Marie is known for building families readers want to be part of. Her series The Keller Family has graced bestseller charts since its release in 2011, along with her other series and single title books. The married mother of five sons promises Happily Ever After always…and says she can write it, because she lives it.

When not writing, Bernadette Marie is shuffling her sons to their many events—mostly hockey—and enjoying the beautiful views of the Colorado Rocky Mountains from her front step. She is also an accomplished martial artist with a second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do.

A chronic entrepreneur, Bernadette Marie opened her own publishing house in 2011, 5 Prince Publishing, so that she could publish the books she liked to write and help make the dreams of other aspiring authors come true too.

Visit Bernadette at:

www.bernadettemarie.com

www.5princebooks.com/bernadettemarie.html

www.facebook.com/authorbernadettemarie

on Twitter @writesromance

info@bernadettemarie.com

When your voice won't work use your pen

Have you had that ah-ha moment, oh you know the one, ten minutes after a fight or someone made you mad you know what you should have said?  That stirring in you gut sticks with you for hours, days, months.  The gnawing feeling you have when you see that person, hear about them, or darn it--that fight or argument replays in your head again, still eats away at you.

Be honest, it happens to all of us.  For me, I'm nearly a 2nd degree black belt (October 2012 by the way-happy dance continues) and if you attack me physically I could defend myself.  If a job needs to get done, I have the discipline to do it.  However, for being a best selling author, words never surface when they need to.

I can give you one heck of dirty look.  I still have the teenage girl in me that can talk just a bit too loud so you can get the gist of my point, but to say what needs to be said at the moment it needs to be said is not a talent I have.  So how do I combat these feelings of loss to my pride when words deceive me and leave me unsatisfied?

I write them in my stories!

To date I haven't murdered anyone in my books.  Well no one within the book.  I have put a few of my husband's quirky habits into my heroes and yes, my mother caught this one, my father's favorite pizza.  But I haven't made any nemesis die, though I could.  However, the words that must be spoken are said.  And they fly freely from my fingertips through the virtual mouth of my heroine.  She gets the satisfaction of telling someone exactly what I would have told someone else had my throat not closed off when I needed to speak.

The best part about all this is I can work out my frustrations and I get paid to do so.  And chances those people aren't going to read me anyway, but they don't even know they did wrong by me.  I usually laugh when I make a snide comment on Facebook and the person in which it is about likes my status.  It's worth the laugh.

However, on a serious note, this writing challenge started for me at a young age.  It was my mother's coping mechanism.  She didn't get mad very often.  She didn't scream or yell a lot.  She sat down with a piece of paper and wrote a letter that would tear you to pieces.  Then she would rip up the paper and throw it away.  I often wondered why she did that.  But as I grew older I understood.  Some of us can't say the words that need to be said, but we can write them.  And sometimes no one has to read them to make us feel better.  We just feel better having seen the words for ourselves.

Happy Reading!
Bernadette Marie

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GRETCHEN GREENE by CJ West

When a team of assassins destroys the lab Gretchen Greene, ecoterrorist turned energy researcher, is working in, she must flee for her life. Cunning and crafty Randy Black has undergone a transformation from his previous tragic past and believes he's been sent to save Gretchen, but he must learn what she's done and why she's surrounded by armed men all intent on having her in one way or another.

SHE BELONGS TO ME by Carmen DeSousa

After secrets and a mysterious background leave a wife’s life hanging by a thread, a husband must look for answers in the only place he knows—the past.

CART BEFORE THE HORSE by Bernadette Marie

Gabriel Maguire thought he'd buried his past until the night he met Holly, only to lose the woman he cared about, again. Holly Jacobs has always put the cart before the horse. A prodigy who shot to stardom in textile design, she never knew a normal life—and there's nothing she longs for more than to be normal.

Keeping the positive side

Best Selling Author
Bernadette Marie

It wasn't so long ago that you'd hear me say the word "hate" before almost any sentence.  "I hate school. I hate that dress.  I hate my body.  I hate that."  Yes, this was me.  What an ugly word. I was young.  Newly married.  Desperate to have a baby.  I was hanging out with old friends that I'd grown up with.  Trouble makers, no.  Deviants? No.  Gossips...this is summed up with OMG!

It was brought to my attention at a wedding a of a friend that my outlook on life sucked.  While sitting among friends I hadn't seen in a long time and their spouses we were catching up.  Inevitably the conversation steers to, "I saw so and so  at the store the other day.  Did you know they got married..."  Typical conversation, right?  However, my negative self would reply, "Well, did you hear that they..."  Again, OMG!!!

One of my friend's husbands, whom I really didn't know well looked right at me and in front of all my friends, my husband, and my mother said, "Do you only know the negative things about people?"

WOW!  Talk about a come to God moment.  Lightning bolt to the head.  A slap across the face.  This was exactly what I was doing, idle gossip with  no purpose.  I spent the rest of the reception with my head down, mouth closed, and heart squeezing because I looked like an idiot.

It didn't take much more to learn my lesson.  In sixteen years you haven't heard the word hate come from my lips.  It's a nasty word.  And in my home, of now five sons, its a four letter word that is not said by any of us.  Idle gossip has no place in my life.  If you choose to share it with me I listen, but I don't have to reply.

This very significant moment in my life taught me I needed to hang out with people who were a bit more positive.  I began to do that.

At the time I owned a small salon.  I began to gather friends who had like interests, who wanted to build a business, who wanted to help me along the way.  From there I began my family, started direct sales companies, and again, began to build relationships with like minded, motivated people.  In the past sixteen years I have revamped my life.  I want your successes for you as much as I want my own.  I want you to feel as good about yourself as I do about myself.  And idle gossip is a thing of the past.  I surround myself with bright thinkers.  Positive thinkers.  People who take care of themselves and will take care of you too if you needed it.

Heading into my 40th year I look around me and I'm pleased with what I've built.  Businesses. Careers. I've lived out many of my childhood dreams, and I continue to do so every day.  In this year I will become a second degree black belt.  Every day I tie on that belt I smile.  I can't believe that is me!  There is no room in this world for hate, not even for the word, because soon enough it begins to become you.

Gone are the days when I had friends only because I'd known them a long time.  Now are the days I seize the moment to find a new friend and have another positive moment in my life.

To those friends I've lost because I was petty, maybe you could give me another try.  To my new friends, thank you for being the positive crowd I needed.  To those I've yet to meet, I want only the best for you.  Let's take the world by storm and make it a wonderful place to live!

Drop hate from your words, from your hearts, and from your way of living.  Open yourself up to the greatness that is in you and in others.  When you feel the negative come along, only you can make it go away.  Is every day easy? No, but it doesn't have to beat you down either.  When you feel like slashing out at the world on Facebook or Twitter, write it and then delete and put good out into the universe.  I'm here to tell you it'll come back to you.

Have a Positive Day!
Bernadette Marie

Freedom of Opinion! Its the best part of what I do!

Originally seen on January 11, 2012. Please enjoy my view on my very first bad review. I've had many, and this article still encompasses how I feel about it. The blessing is that those who do love my writing usually want to tell me personally and they tend to gather on my FB page.  If you love my writing join us there. Join Me!

Recently I realized I had made it!  I was not only a published author, I was a published author who was being read!  What a glorious feeling.  While watching my kids at karate I had this amazing three minutes.  First, I received my very first random fan email.  It was great!  I love that I connected with someone I don't know.  Someone who said, "I don't think I have ever been drawn to a book like this before!" Second, the person who inspired one of my characters said he couldn't wait for the book, he was going to build a shrine.  Well now, that's something!  Third, I found reviews and ratings on iTunes!  I'm a solid 4 star read with over 195 ratings for The Executive's Decision.  There were three reviews.  Two of the reviews were 5 star.  They loved the book, couldn't wait for the next one to come out.  The third review was entitled Blah!  Well this was a two star review  from someone who didn't like my character and thought the story was boring and predictable.

Yep!  That confirmed it!  I had a bad review and that means I'm on the in!

Now you'd think I'd be upset.  You'd think that wouldn't have wiped out my high, but no, just the opposite.  I laughed.  Not because I thought the person was wrong.  In fact, every aspect (except the blah) of the review was right.  My character is a woman trying to take back her life.  She's a bit on edge.  Some might not like her. Predictable?  Yeah, maybe just a little.  It is a romance.  Many of those end with happily ever after, that's how I like em.  But what was thrilling was that this person, who did not like my book, read it.  As uncomfortable as I should have been reading the review, I realize she had been that uncomfortable reading the book.  She downloaded something, and read and finished it, without liking it.  She stepped out of her comfort zone, apparently to read my book. She used the freedom of her voice to give that opinion.  And I used the freedom of my voice to create the book (which to remind you has 5 star reviews (minus this one.))

What would the world be if we all like the same thing?  How boring and predictable would that be?  We certainly wouldn't have the great opportunity of choosing our own paths in life.  We wouldn't be able to climb ladders and advance.  I'm not a fan of Regency Historical.  Does that mean the world shouldn't' read it?  Heavens no.  I've given my book to men who smile, accept it, and will never crack the cover.  And that's a-OK with me!  I'm just thrilled that they can enjoy something different.

So to the person who wrote the Blah! review, thank you.  Thank you for downloading my book (which you got for free, so I don't feel too bad.)  Thank you for finishing it and for taking the time to go back online and write your thoughts.  Thank you for using your words to express yourself and the freedom to do so.  Isn't it wonderful?  I would love to think you'll download another someday and maybe it'll be just the book for you.  But then again... I'll bet you have a favorite and it might not be something I'd enjoy.  Alas, we may not see eye to eye, but then again thanks to the freedoms we enjoy, I think we just might.

Always let your voice be heard.  Its a freedom we should embrace.  As much as I'd like to reel in the world with my words, for some I won't use the right words.  For others, my words will change their lives.  WOW, what an amazing opportunity we have in this country.  Freedom to use our words.

Happy Reading (no matter what you enjoy reading!)


Bernadette Marie

Patience...I have so much... and yet it kills me!

There was a song that I used to sing when I was a little girl.  It went like this, "Practice makes perfect.  Practice makes perfect.  I guess if I practice then better I'll be."  Funny how those words stick with me all these years later.

And, like most things, I know the true meaning behind them.  But as the saying goes, "practice what you preach," boy is that hard!

As an avid martial artist I should have that discipline to get up every morning and go for a run, because I know every six months that's what I'm tested on.  So why do I start training the week before I'm supposed to?  When I have a tournament or a test, how come I wait until that week to get my classes in and my forms perfected?  Because I'm human.

When I was in college it took me two years to learn how to effectively study for a test.  Once, I remember walking in and when the exam was on the board I was ready.  Not very good odds for getting through school when you can remember only once being ready!

I find now in my writing I'm more disciplined, but it still takes practice.  It takes practice to sit down and deem my job (which doesn't pay me for months) as important.  It takes practice to write and effectively rewrite an opening chapter so that your audience doesn't put the book down right away.  It takes practice to learn when to use a word correctly and when to omit it.

Now I'm also a publisher.  I've practiced on my own books for a long time.  The writing.  The editing.  The formatting.  The printing.  The marketing.  Do I still get it right every time?  No, and that's the part that gets me.

Practice, practice, practice.  The next book will format correctly, the grammar will be all correct, and the biggest book chain will by thousands of copies.  Well, it just doesn't happen like that.  There is ALWAYS something wrong in the formatting.  Guess what, you can't pick up a New York Times Bestseller without finding an omitted word or missed period somewhere.  Grammar, its not my strongest item.  But then again isn't grammar used for voice too?  And as for that bookstore picking up my book, it takes practice to know who to market to.

Practicing all of these little bits means one thing...practicing patience.  Yes, without patience you're not going to get too far.  In this industry especially, you need to practice it more and more.



Recently I have found myself getting worked up over my lack of patience.  I have a publisher who refuses to return my emails.  I have a book that needs my attention to be written and I don't have time.  I have authors who depend on me and I feel as though I let them down when I am not right on task, or at least on task to my standards (which I'm finding are very high and unobtainable.)  So when it comes to practice makes perfect I certainly know that I need to practice all the items I've mentioned.  But what I really need to focus on is my patience   Without it my practice isn't worth squat.

So, what do you need to work on?  What tries your patience and makes practicing what you preach harder than it should be?

Thanks for stopping by!
Bernadette Marie

FRIDAY FREEBIE on Saturday!!! 11-26-2011

Happy Weekend after Thanksgiving!  I had grand plans for this past week here on my blog.  We were going to blog everyday and give away lots of great stuff!  However, I got the flu, and 3 out of 5 kids got the flu, now my hubby has the flu!  WOWZERS!  So alas, nothing was said or given away.

But that doesn't have to hold us back from a Saturday giveaway!!!!

This Saturday I will be signing at the local Barnes and Noble, but if you stop by here YOU could win a free copy of CART BEFORE THE HORSE and THE EXECUTIVE'S DECISION!  Yep... a 2fer!

Just leave me a comment and you'll be entered.  We will announce the winner on Sunday night!

THE EXECUTIVE'S DECISION:
Regan Keller fell in love with a wealthy and powerful man once. He was her boss. When that turbulent relationship ended, she swore she’d never again date someone she worked with. That was before she literally fell into her new boss’s lap.

Zachary Benson is the head of a successful empire and used to getting what he wants in the boardroom and outside of it – and what he wants is Regan Keller. He’s determined to convince Regan that even though he’s her boss, they can share a life together.

However, when Regan’s past threatens to destroy the architectural firm Zach has invested his entire career in, he has to make an executive decision whether to choose his business or fight for the woman he loves.









CART BEFORE THE HORSE
Gabriel Maguire thought he'd buried his past until the night he met Holly, only to lose the woman he cared about, again.

Holly Jacobs has always put the cart before the horse. A prodigy who shot to stardom in textile design, she never knew a normal life—and there's nothing she longs for more than to be normal.

Pregnant before she even knows the name of her baby's father, Holly has put the cart miles ahead of the horse this time. But when she and Gabe meet for the second time, they decide to have their baby together. Holly finally begins to accept her unique way of doing everything backward, but Gabe's very normality drives her up the walls. Then his tragic past rears up; pain and loss threaten to destroy forever the fragile bond that has blossomed between him and Holly.

Sometimes the only way to get where you need to be is to put the cart before the horse.



Both books are available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance eBooks, and Smashwords!