New Experiences
If you haven’t been to my website in a while, you may notice a different theme I’m using. I think I switched over about a month or so ago. But I hadn’t added much to it because, well…I’m technologically challenged.
However, I worked on it all day yesterday and with the help of my WG2E Street Team and my WANA friends, I managed to get some things accomplished.
For instance, L.C. Giroux helped me figure out how to get the cool newsletter signup for our Beach Book Blast (BBB) group added to my sidebar. Look to the right. Yeah. You got it! Right where it says, Beach Book Blast Newsletter. Now if you want to find out about some really awesome authors and their latest releases, events and giveaways, just click on the link and add your info. You’ll be among the first to get breaking news. And we promise. No spam!
The BBB is a spin off from our WG2E (Writers Guide to Epublishing) Street Team. If you’re a writer and not part of your own street team, you’re missing out. These wonderful people from the BBB support one another and work together to promote and encourage each other. They share their experiences and are more than willing to answer all my stupid questions with patience. I’m very lucky I found them.
If you look to the right sidebar again — far right — you’ll see a list of some of the Street Team members. I’m still working on getting the rest added, so check back later for more. Take a look at their blogs and books. They really are fantastic people. We’re an eclectic group, so I’m sure there’s something for everyone: YA, Horror, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense, Thrillers, Historical Romance, Paranormal, etc.
How did we all hook up? (Don’t even go there. That’s not the kind of hooking up, I meant. Sheesh! You guys have such dirty minds! LOL) We met through the always very hard-working but equally fun-loving, best-selling author, D.D. Scott and her Writer’s Guide to Epublishing. (BTW…if you’re a reader, check out the Reader’s Guide to Epublishing where D.D. gives away up to 50 free books EVERY day.) Thank you D.D. for all you do!
Sign up for the BBB newsletter and you’ll be one of the first to know when I release my debut novel. Yes, really. I’m working on it. Hopefully I’ll have it ready for you by the end of August. I’m so excited! You can see my cover and blurb here.
Now…you see those cute little graphic icons on the near right side? The WG2E, RG2E and WANA? Well, Laird Sapir, one of my WANA peeps actually helped with getting those there. She has an awesome blog and some of her posts help (and help a lot!) with website stuff. Want to know how to add those buttons? Check out this post: Gettin’ Friendly with WordPress…(Pt 2). She makes it so easy. Thanks, Laird!
What is WANA you ask? It’s another of those authors interacting with and helping authors things, only on a mega-huge scale. It’s the brain product of best-selling author, Kristen Lamb and means “We Are Not Alone”. And with the #MyWANA group, you aren’t. If you haven’t read Kristen’s blog and her books, you really are missing out. She’s a social media Jedi.
I also added those cute little link icons on the right so you can stalk follow me on the web. And I’ll follow back. 
In fact, just to pay it forward, why don’t you leave the link to your facebook page, if you have one, when you comment?
Another thing you might notice is that the info I had in the sidebar about my blogging schedule is gone. I hadn’t really been following it lately. I tried. I really did try to write more often and on scheduled theme days. But…I just couldn’t do it. I want to write about what I want to write about when I want to write it. I think it’s better that way too. More passionate. I figure if I care more about what I’m writing others will too.
And despite not posting as often and on schedule, my little blog is growing steadily. I have already surpassed the number of views in the past 5 months than I did in the preceding 10 months. And I appreciate every one of you who has stuck with me. I love reading all your comments and sharing my knowledge and, at times, my lunacy with you.
Okay, enough about writing stuff. How about something new that doesn’t revolve around books? I know. You didn’t think I did anything else, did you?
Well, Thursday night my little town (pop. approx. 7000) had the Bellamy Brothers in concert at our very brand new — opening night new — restaurant bar and grill, Red’s Roadhouse. Not quite sure how the owners managed to pull off getting the Bellamy Brothers, but maybe it was because part of the proceeds went to help the recent victims of a tornado that blew through our city. However, they got here, let me just tell you — the Bellamy Brothers ROCK! I’ve been a fan for years. And no I won’t tell you how many years because that would just date me and them. And I’m quite young in my head and heart.
Blain Gray, a local Fort Worth country band, opened for the Bellamy Brothers and let me just say, Blain was awesome! Care to listen? Go here.
Red’s was a pretty cool place. We didn’t get to try the food because it was packed and we wanted to make sure we got good seats for the concert which was outside under the stars. The weather was perfect. The parking atrocious. Very small parking lot and people were parking down and across the highway. However, they did offer free valet parking so that was awesome. I don’t know if they’ll have that all the time, but they did that night. Being on crutches it was definitely appreciated.
The whole place was redone from where a previous business was once located. It has a very rustic atmosphere. Two antique cars are inside the building and antique signs abound, including the old drive-in sign they now use as a marquee.
Red’s boasts a 5-star chef straight from Spago’s in Beverly Hills and advertises “premium dining” in a relaxed atmosphere. From what I was told, the menu is a little pricey, especially for our small town, so we’ll see how that goes over. However, I really hope it succeeds. We need something like this. Plus we get really cool live music that I can hear from my house. 
In fact, the manager for the Sweet Spot Band sent me a message today to let me know they would be at Red’s Roadhouse on June 8th. They’re advertised as a high energy classic 80′s band. Just my era. You can give them a listen, here. Sounds like a fun time, doesn’t it?
So, to sum up, in the past week, I’ve learned some new things, met some new people, experienced a new place and have plans to listen to some classic music by a band that is new to me. Nothing earth-shattering, but it’s the little things that count. Right? I’ve decided to treasure each new experience, regardless how small, and what it can teach me about the world, others and especially about myself. Now for some BIG experiences, check out CC MacKenzie’s blog.
What new things have you experienced lately?
Rhonda – what an excellent post! I’m going to have to talk to you about getting the BBB newsletter info and your WG2E blogroll. Thanks for including me!
Thank you, Kristine! I just sent you the info I got from L.C. about the newsletter. Made it easy. And you’re very welcome!
Wow, so much info here! WANA – had never heard of it. And BBB. Need to check everything out! Thank you
Thank you, Natalie! You should definitely check those out. Great peeps. Hope you have a great week!
Beautiful new blog, Rhonda! I’m in the midst of revamping mine, so I know it’s not a trivial task. Thanks so much for being such an awesome WG2E and RG2E member. I can’t wait until your book comes out!!!
Thank you, Dana! I appreciate you and everyone answering all my questions and being there for me.
Nice job, Rhonda! I was just talking with a marketing guy yesterday who suggested I change over my website and blog to either WordPress or Weebly. I worked so hard setting it all up, I can’t begin to tell you how disheartening it was to have him suggest such a thing. But you’ve inspired me with all your hard work, my friend. Thanks for the tips and websites. It will probably be a while before i switch over, but in the meantime, I’ll try adding some of the buttons, links, and the BBB newsletter sign-up.
Oh I’m so sorry, PJ! That really will be a huge job. At least I didn’t have to start completely over. I like working with wordpress though. If I can do it, believe me…anybody can. I’ll send you the email L.C. sent me for the newsletter. Couldn’t have done it without that link. Thank you for stopping by and for the kind words about my website.
PJ–Stacy Green (my critique partner) went from a blogger setup to wordpress. She was able to somehow upload all her past posts and just sort of transfer everything. So it is doable. She is @stacygreen26 on twitter if you want to ask her about her experiences.
But, yes, I do feel your pain.
Hellooooo my darling!!
Yes! I will be listening to Queen Elizabeth II’s live concert in front of Buckingham Palace tonight at 7.30 live on BBC1 and we’ve heard that for the first time singers will be singing from inside the Palace on the balcony where Kate and William had a couple of smoochies on their wedding day. I watched a programme last night where the organiser of the concert, Gary Barlow of Take That, went all around the Commonwealth countries including Kenya (where I lived for many years), South Africa, Jamaica, Australia and the Solomon Islands to add voices and percussion to the mix. Amazing. The song is called SING for the Jubilee and the vocals included the awesome Army Wives Choir that hit the big time over Christmas with all sales of over 1,000,000 downloads going to the injured service men and women. I will post the youtube vid of it when I can! Promise!
Yesterday’s river Thames Jubilee celebrations were a bit of a wash out (the British weather did what it does best, the heavens opened) but the Royals stood for four hours in the freezing wind and rain and carried on. If it had been me my bottom lip would have been trembling.
Ahh, the Bellamy Brothers “If I said you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me?” Those were the days!
Your blog looks awesome with all those links, Rhonda. Need to get my act together! The WANA Tribe with Kristen Lamb and WG2E Street Team with the awesome Dee Dee Scott are amazing and supportive. And for Dee Dee to connect with readers at RG2E – it’s a great way for readers to find new talent. And am just about to sign up to the BBB group newsletter too. And CONGRATS on the blurb and cover – not long now!! We’re all here for you, so worry not. It’s an awesome ride no matter how cool and calm you try to be!!
HUGS
Christine
How exciting, Christine! I can’t wait to hear all about it. Thank you for the kind words about the website and for the blurb suggestions. And thanks for all the support.
I signed up to get your BBB newsletter – sounds like fun! And what is something new that I experienced? Well it sounds corny but we had our first garage sale yesterday and I had SO much fun. We’re trying to sell a motorized scooter for handicapped persons and my daughter and I ended up taking rides up and down the block on it all day. What a blast. It was the first time in years that I remember sitting around and doing nothing with my husband – since we didn’t have many visitors. I earned $5 dollars
Thanks, Patti! Garage sales are a lot of hard work, but they can be fun too. Sounds like you and your daughter had a blast. We definitely need to have a garage sale. But, it’s already getting too hot. So we’ll store everything until this Fall. I have an extra room on the garage where the whole family stores stuff. We have to clean it out about once a year. Hope you have a great week!
I love your new look, Rhonda! Thanks for including me on your sidebar.
Where did you get your banner picture? Is this some of your photography? My banner pic is a picture I took while visiting my cousins in Alabama.
Thanks, Catie! And you’re very welcome.
I got the image from stock exchange http://sxc.hu/ They have some pretty cool free images.there. I’ve been using it for my banner on facebook for a while. Just a larger version with my tag line included. I just finally figured out how to add it to the top. I really am techno challenged.
This theme isn’t much different than the one I had, but the print is bigger which is good for my eyes and it works better on mobile devices which is important these days.
Thanks for stopping by!
Great new look and you encourage me to learn to do more on my website. I have issues with WordPress and pictures. It doesn’t like me. I will be doing something new next Saturday – I’ll be getting married after being alone for more than 30 years. Scary….
Thank you, Mitzi! I finally learned how to put the banner pic up and I know how to insert pics — well the basic stuff, so if I can help you, I definitely will.
That is so awesome that you’re getting married, Mitzi! I wish you and your fiance much love and happiness. Congratulations to you both! {{{hugs}}}
I love the new look of your site, Rhonda! Very fresh and clean and organized; everything mine isn’t! You’ve inspired me once again. As soon as I get a chance, it’s redesign time!
Thank you, Greg! I appreciate the kind words.
Thanks for the Shout out, Rhonda!
You’re welcome, Laird! Thanks for such an informative blog.