Archives

The Exciting Life of a USA Today Bestselling Author

Date: May 19, 2022
Author: Bobbi Holmes
Categories: Bobbi Ann Johnson Holmes
Comments: 10 Replies

Today the 30th book in my Haunting Danielle series, The Ghost and the Medium, went live. It’s currently available in eBook, paperback, and coming out in audiobook format. I don’t know the date of the audiobook release yet.

I often wonder what other authors do when they have a new book come out. Do they throw a gala party? Open bottles of champagne? Go out to dinner? What?

While wondering what they do on such an auspicious day—I’ll share what I did today.

Let’s see…I started the day by helping my mother take a bath, gave her coffee and breakfast. I cleaned the house (with hubby’s help), sorted laundry, washed clothes, baked four loaves of bread, changed the sheets (with hubby’s help)… gave Mom lunch…

Yep, exciting day! Yet, one nice thing about a small house, it’s just 2 pm and most of it is clean. The only room we didn’t touch was Mom’s, and I plan to do that tomorrow morning.

If I was still living in Lake Havasu City, tonight I would be giving a speech at the high school graduation, where I will be receiving one of this year’s distinguished alumni awards, which I mentioned in yesterday’s post.

But I’m in Oregon now, and it was not possible to travel to Havasu with my other commitments. So, who will be reading my speech?

I understand it will be Pat Rooney. Pat was my Civics teacher during my senior year of high school. Back then he was an enthusiastic young former Marine, starting his teaching and coaching career at my high school and would later become its principal. I ran into Pat again years later, after I moved back to Havasu with my husband and kids. Don and I were real estate agents with McCulloch Realty when Pat retired from the school district and started a new career in real estate, also with McCulloch Realty.

So tonight, Pat will be reading my speech in Arizona, while I’ll be quietly celebrating the release of The Ghost and the Medium in Oregon. There won’t be any champagne, but Don will be grilling burgers, and I suppose I could have a martini. Hmm… I think there are some olives in the fridge…

Nahh, I’ll probably skip the martini.

(Photo: Yep, that’s me in my stylish shoes and pajama pants.)

Barn with a View

Date: May 2, 2022
Author: Bobbi Holmes
Categories: Bobbi Ann Johnson Holmes
Comments: 1 Reply

Have you ever seen one of those photographs showing someone on the beach with his or her laptop, working while enjoying the sunshine and spectacular view? It is especially appealing to the author, who can easily take a laptop about anywhere.

One problem with that image, it typically doesn’t work. At least it didn’t for me. When I lived in Havasu, the place with lots of sunshine, I’d occasionally try taking my laptop out on the patio and work by the pool. It sounded lovely, and I was under a patio cover, so it seemed like the ideal workspace.

Unfortunately, I could never handle the glare and eventually retreated back inside to work.

Now that we are living in Oregon, the landscape and climate is vastly different from Havasu. Lots of rain here, but when the sun pushes aside the rainclouds, outside is where I want to be, not in front of the computer.

Last week I tried something a little different while editing. I took my laptop out to the barn, opened one of the garage doors (our family barn has 3 RV sized garage doors). Instead of going outside, I sat on the sofa with my laptop, with the door opened behind me, as you can see it the picture.

It was amazing! I am tempted to drag my desk out there. It is like working outside, but not outside. Fresh air, sunshine, no glare, and if it does start to rain, I am safely under roof. This may be one of my new favorite workspaces

In other news, The Ghost and the Medium is off to the editor. Look for it to be available May 19, 2022 in eBook and paperback. I don’t yet have the release date for the audiobook version.