Category: Favorite Reads

Author's World, Bookshelf, Favorite Reads, Gardening, Publishing new novel, Strong Women Novels, Writer's Journey

Strong Women Novels

Veronica Mahara

Hello Everyone,

Hope you are all well. May is one of my favorite months and it’s nearly over but I look forward to the summer ahead. My veggie garden is popping with new growth. We’ve had a rainy and cool spring. Fingers crossed we start to warm up. The orchard is doing well and all 22 trees are healthy. The late frost took some of the early blossoms so I’m not sure we will get as many plums and pears as last year, but the apples are a plenty! After all Washington State is apple country 🙂

I’m so pleased to announce that my fourth novel, Beyond Diamonds is now available for purchase on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/author/veronicamahara

It’s Free with Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program – so check it out 🙂

Thanks for all your support! Happy Spring!

Peace and Love,

Veronica

Author's World, Bookshelf, Excerpts from my Novels, Favorite Reads, Publishing new novel, Uncategorized

Release Date for new Novel

Veronica Mahara

Hello Everyone,

I hope this finds you well and if you are in the part of the world where spring has sprung I wish you a happy spring! The longer, brighter days have certainly been a great help to my mental health. Along with planting a new veggie and flower garden, I have been sewing summer clothes in anticipation of a hot summer season.

I am excited to finally be able to announce the release date for my fourth novel, Beyond Diamonds. May 15th is the official release date but you can pre-order starting Monday, April 29th.

I am also doing an ARC -advance reader’s copies (which will go beyond the release date) at Booksprout and Booksirens.

Here is the blurb for Beyond Diamonds:

Due to her father’s success in the jewelry business and the diamond trade, Jane Wallingford enjoys a privileged lifestyle as part of Cincinnati, Ohio’s upper class.

At nearly twenty-five years old, she’s more interested in horticulture than marriage and children. When she finally falls in love with Martin, a mild-mannered jeweler, she’s faced with harsh disapproval from her parents, and Jane’s plan to marry and bring to society her grand ideas for a garden estate is shattered. With an arranged marriage looming, she endeavors in her studies of the plant world while she nurses her broken heart and ambitions.

Tragedy strikes and Jane can marry Martin, but he has his own plans, and she soon finds herself in a small northern California town where a rundown homestead and sheep farm await her. In Clermont City, and the society of San Francisco, Jane meets people from different social standings, including Martin’s cousin, Harry. She’s drawn to the handsome, down-to-earth man who doesn’t take her as seriously as she takes herself.

Using her substantial dowry, Jane sets out to turn the farm into her dream estate, while Martin engrosses himself in the raising of sheep. Even with the help of Harry, a fellow sheep farmer, Martin struggles to make a living at it. Unconcerned with money, Jane continues her passion for horticulture, and the running of her household until news from back home suddenly changes her way of life. The family’s fortune is bankrupt and now Jane and Martin must make the farm work or lose everything. Secrets come to light that will shake Jane’s faith in Martin, drawing her deeper into a scandalous relationship while her role on the farm changes dramatically. What was once a hobby, now becomes a lifeline.

A heartfelt story of fortunes lost and gained and a woman’s journey to find love and success on paths unknown. 

Thank you for your support 🙂

Peace and Love,

Veronica

Author's World, Bookshelf, Favorite Reads, Lessons Learn in Publishing, Publishing advice, Revision of a novel, Writer's Journey, Writing Lessons

Revisions are not Free

Veronica Mahara

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Hello Everyone!

Hope you’re all doing well.

I have been revising my Traveled Hearts series most of the spring and summer. When I say I’ve been revising, I mean myself and a team of professionals. When I first published Traveled Hearts I was pretty green about what it exactly needed before it was ready for the world. I soon learned with gut-wrenching clarity- reviews – that it was not. I looked to professionals to help me revise it but learned a hard lessen in finding the right indie pros. Not all indie editors and proofreaders are equal. It can be money ill spent if you don’t do some serious research into who you hire. Luckily, I have found a team of professionals who are helping me get the books to their very best. Some of the revisions are things a reader may not even notice and some are darn right obvious – but missed by previous pros. It’s been an eye opener!

I’m so proud of my Traveled Hearts series and want it to shine! It has come at a cost and I’m writing this to inform indie authors– Make sure you have the best version of your book done before publishing. Purchase a physical author’s copy of your book and read it before it goes live on Amazon or where you intend to sell it. You’d be surprised at how different it may read as you become the audience.

There are a lot of great youtube channels on the how to publish your book and I love the free advice from those who take the time to share their knowledge.

I know how tired you can get after several drafts of your book. That’s the time to step away, then take another look and – Send it off to a professional developmental editor!

I love editing and revising, but this has been a lot and it’s cost me . Expensive hobby? …maybe, but hey, some people invest in toy trains… dance lessons… collectables… 🙂

I love to write. I have to write. It brings me joy! What brings me greater joy is sharing my novels with those who love a juicy, romantic, adventurous, and compelling read.

Happy writing and creating!

Peace and Love,

Veronica

Author's World, Bookshelf, Excerpts from my Novels, Favorite Reads, Gardening, Seasonal Delights, Writer's Journey

Fall and Falling Behind

Veronica Mahara

Hello Everyone!

Hope you are all doing as well as you can out there.

I feel the Fall around me now in the Pacific Northwest. We had such a long beautiful stretch of sun and warm weather. I was spoiled in its light. My roses and flowers still think it’s summer and then yesterday a wild, dark storm came through. I will be doing clean up in the gardens as soon as the rain lets up. It’s satisfying to get everything tucked away for winter. Bulbs will be going in the ground and and my cat Tommy is beginning to spend more time by the fire. It’s quite cozy.

~Beyond Diamonds~ my fourth book was on hold this summer for various reasons, one of which was Covid. I never thought I’d get it, but after a trip back East, I came home with the nasty thing! Vaxed and boosted I thought I could handle the travel without a mask…. no… It’s taken me two months to get back to myself again.

Having rescheduled my editing services, I have been tackling the rewrites. It’s pretty fun to go over my developmental editor’s comments and suggestions. Jane, my protagonist is in up to her elbows with her husband Martin’s dream- a sheep farm near the San Francisco Bay area. What can a wealthy city girl from Cincinnati in 1879 learn on a farm ? And why does she suspect there might be more to his mere devotion to it? His handsome cousin Harry poses a problem… she likes him and in way she shouldn’t. Then there’s her brother back East holding tightly to her inheritance. What if he decides he needs it for the jewelry business their father started? Will his gambling debts in Cincinnati find their way to Jane and Martin?

Lots to do still and I’m looking at a January 2024 debut. I hope you will all like it. Until then check out my ~Traveled Hearts, Sacred Terrain and Unending Trails Trilogy~ at Amazon. The love and adventures of Jessica, Jacob and Caleb are waiting for you!

Take care,

Peace and Love!

Veronica

Author's World, Bookshelf, Excerpts from my Novels, Favorite Reads, Gardening

More Beyond Diamonds

Veronica Mahara

Hello Everyone,

A watercolor I did of sweet peas.

How are you all doing? Depending on your part of the world you are enjoying summer, sun and warmth or the worse cold you’ve know so far. We in the Pacific Northwest are kind of in between. Spring is hinting its arrival. I have buds on my trees and daffodil spears coming up in pots around my garden. Still cold and cloudy, but hopeful with the few sun breaks we’ve been getting. I long to work in my gardens again!

My next novel, entitled Beyond Diamonds has been great fun to write and is getting me through the winter doldrums. I’m halfway done and my protagonist, Jane is finding life’s challenges not only lie in the struggles on the sheep farm, far from her life in Cincinnati’s society, but in her marriage to Martin whose devotion to their land takes precedence over Jane. As a result, feelings between his cousin, Harry and Jane are allowed to heat up.

Her wealthy inheritance buoys her from the daily routine of country life with escapes to San Francisco society and a home unlike any in the area. But what will happen if she losses her fortune? And how will she manage without the household help and her trips into the city across the bay?

Stay tuned. Beyond Diamonds is set to publish in early 2023. In the meantime you can read my trilogy beginning with Traveled Hearts. Spoiler alert – Jane makes an appearance in the second book, Sacred Terrain.

Have a wonderful day!

Peace and Love,

Veronica