M. E. Tudor

  I would bet that almost all of the writers reading this blog agree that writing the blurb for you book is a daunting task. Sometimes it feels like it's harder to write the blurb than it was to write the book. I've been working on the blurb for Through This Together  for several weeks and I'm still not happy with it. Partially because I have to decide which audience I want to target. The book is mostly about a family's challenges that they face because of the coronavirus shutdowns and the racial tensions caused by George Floyd's death. But, there's also a deep family story about a young woman being rejected by her family for being gay, and another young woman's fear of being rejected by her family for the same reason. The story is about friendships, relationships, and a sweet romance that blooms. So how do I put all of that into three hundred word advertisement? Here's the most current blurb for Through This Together . I would love to get some comments ...

Happy April, Everyone! I come to you bearing good news. Amygdala Design has created another fantastic book cover for me. I started writing  Through This Together  about this time last year as we started our journey into life with the pandemic.  I wrote this story from a seventeen-year-old high school junior's point of view. The main character, Natalie Weatherby, is a combination of teenagers in my life and a reflection of how I think I would have handled things if I were seventeen now and going through this crazy time. When I was a teenager, we didn't have computers available to the general public, let alone social media. We did have prejudice and fear about what the future held, and we dealt with it to the best of our ability. I listened to my grandchildren and their friends talking about how they felt about what was happening around the world, and here in the U. S. They were more concerned about not getting to see their friends initially than they were about the virus....

  Spring has always been one of my favorite seasons. Not only does it mean that winter is ending, but it's a time of renewal. Everything starts feeling fresh and new. Baby leaves begin to form on the trees. Bright green grass is growing. Flowers are blooming, and the world seems to be awakening. This is more true this year than ever. Last spring was the beginning of the extended shut down put people in a state of panic and fear over the Covid-19 pandemic. Even though the grass grew and the flowers bloomed last spring, everything was tainted with a dark hue.  This spring, there is hope in the air. People are getting vaccinated, and the number of Covid cases and Covid deaths are going down, hopefully for good this time. For many people, especially older people, this may be the first time in a long time that they feel safe enough to venture out to see family and friends. Sadly, visiting family and friends will mean going to their gravesites and memorials for too many people. I'm ...

  Patience is not one of my virtues. Although, if you talk to the people I work with at the library, they would tell you I have it in spades. If you ask my family, they will just laugh because they know I don't have any patience. But, it's one of those demons I deal with on a daily basis. I mention this because I'm still "patiently" waiting to hear back from a traditional publisher about my next young adult lesbian romance. If I were self-publishing this story, I would probably already have it available. Still, the reason I want to publish traditionally is to get feedback from professionals about my writing.  Yes, I have fans who love almost everything I write, and I so appreciate them all. But, I guess I want the industry recognition now. Not that I expect to win any awards or anything like that. There are far too many other more talented authors in the lesbian fiction genre for me to compete. But, I would like to have an editor or publisher say, "Your story...

I don't know about the rest of you, but 2020 is a year I would like to pretend didn't happen. Unfortunately, that is not possible for so many reasons, and especially for the over 2 million families who are morning the loss of loved ones due to the coronavirus.  I had high hopes for 2021. Joe Biden is going to become president of the United States and Donald Trump will go away. The virus will hopefully be contained, and I will hopefully publish some new work. Sadly, Trump is not going to go away. It will still be months before the virus is contained, but I'm still hopeful about publishing.  After Sheltered by Love didn't do as well as I had hoped last year, I went into a writing funk. I started doubting my ability to write a good story. Add some family drama and too much alcohol to that, it made for a rough year.  The family drama has gotten a little better. I've put my drinking hat on the shelf to give my liver and head a break. But, I'm still in a bit of funk t...

In this picture from left to right: Deborah, Michelle, Jim, Julian, Jacob, Samuel, Gage, Jazmyn, and David. It has been a wild couple of months. Of course, if you read my blog, you already know that my life is crazy. July and August are filled with birthdays. Starting on July 12th, my oldest grandson, Jacob, turned 16. I still can't get over that he's driving now and can grow a full beard. July 14th is my second oldest grandson, David's birthday. He turned 13 this year and is going through some early teen blues. July 23rd is my oldest granddaughter, Jazmyn's birthday. She turned 14 and started high school this year. August 4th is my youngest grandson, Julian's birthday. He turned seven and is all boy. August 24th was my birthday, and August 29th was my partner's oldest grandson, Ranger's birthday, and turned 6. Between the two of us, we have 11 grandchildren. Seven of them are mine! On top of all the birthdays, school started on August 24th. It was supposed ...

It's been another crazy couple of months. I'm back to working in the public full-time and I have to admit, it's a bit scary. As some of you know, I work as a reference librarian at a public library in Kentucky. I think our library might be the only library in the state that is open to the public. Our patrons are very excited about us being open, especially people who don't have the Internet or cable at home. Most people wear masks when they come in, but there are way too many people who don't.  My job is to help people on the computers and doing that from six feet away can be a little tricky. I've got a laser pointer and that helps. Most people are understanding about keeping their distance because of the virus, but at least once a day I get one of those people who's not wearing a mask and who wants to be in my personal space. Thankfully, I'm allowed to tell them to back up and keep their distance. How's your life going in the midst of...