Featured Book: Victoria and the Ghost

Victoria and the Ghost is written by Janet K. Brown.

From the words of Jane, here is a little bit of background info on the story and what her book is about:

The title of my book is Victoria and the Ghost. In North Texas where I live, a historic Texas ghost town by the name of Clara caught my interest. A German man started the town. Colonel Hermann Specht loved his adopted nation. He purchased the area, cut streets through named for Texans, and planted trees not native to the state. He dreamed big, but when he lost his wife, his grief nearly devoured him. He visited his brother in Germany where he got trapped by sickness and World War 1. He died without ever returning to the town of Clara. The legend says his ghost still haunts the cemetery. His sad story blended with the one of a young girl of today, rejected or pulled away from everything she loved.

At fifteen, Victoria, a city girl, loses her mother’s love and copes with country isolation, no friends and no one who cares, until she meets a ghost.

When her mother leaves the family to become a Dallas trophy wife, Victoria’s dad moves her and her sister to a North Texas farm to herd cattle and raise chickens. Refusing to believe this is more than a temporary set-back, Victoria tries to make new friends which isn’t an easy task. The first one stabs her in the back with gossip and a sharp tongue. Meanwhile, her new stepsister takes Victoria’s place in her mother’s heart. Rejection and anger stalk Victoria like a rattlesnake in the cemetery. Good thing she makes friends with a ghost and through him, a good-looking teenaged cowboy.

Purchase Victoria and the Ghost at:
http://4rvpublishingcatalog.yolasite.com/janet-brown.php
or
http://www.amazon.com/Victoria-Ghost-Janet-K-Brown/dp/0983801878/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=

Here is a little bit of info on Janet’s writing journey entitled Dream On, Writers:

“Never quit dreaming.” That’s what my eighty-four year old mother-in-law told my husband. Even at her age, she dreams and works toward them. Good advice, and one we writers should take to heart. Dreams change, but should never depart.

When I started my writing career, I listed my six-month goal which I made; my three-year goal, which I didn’t make, but that’s okay; and, my lifetime goal which I plan on achieving.

My first January, I took an online course from Suzanne McMinn which was wonderful. One of her assignments asked us to determine our goals month by month for a year. I’ve continued that practice.

During the time I took the course, a sermon at church jarred me from my lukewarm ideas about dreaming. “Are you talking to me, Lord?” I took out pen and paper and began an acronym. Daily, I read it and meditate on the words. After all, we’re word freaks. Right?

Here’s what I listed:

Decide How many projects can you balance with your other obligations? What should you write? What do you read? What do you enjoy?

Record goals (like I suggested, or however you want); Look back at them from time to time with a realistic approach.

Educate yourself in the craft. What do you need to study? How can you best train – writing groups, loops, online courses, books, critique groups, conferences or a combination of all? How can you best spend your time and money?

Associate with people who help you, build you up. Become accountable to a mentor or critique partner. Network with authors online and in person whenever possible. Listen to them. I’ve heard it said, more writers become published through the recommendation of another author than by a pitch to an editor. With certainty, we can learn from their experience.

Measure your success and your commitment each year. What have you done to further your writing career? Do you maintain a strong desire and/or need to keep writing? Where have you failed or procrastinated?

Survey your desires and accomplishments in the past year. Write your goals for the year, for the month, for the week. Make it something you can control. Being published or contracting for more sales is technically out of our hands, but following these guidelines with persistence makes those things doable. So, survey, keep goals, and dream on, writers.

Brief Bio:

Janet K. Brown lives in Wichita Falls, Texas with her husband, Charles. She began writing while her three grown daughters were kids. When she retired in 2005, she set about to study and submit her work. Writing became a second career.

4RV Publishing Co. published her first novel, Victoria and the Ghost.”. Janet has written several inspirational romances and women’s fiction, but this is her first young adult. She studies her three grandchildren for help with teen expressions and actions.

Janet contracts with Union Gospel Press for short stories for teens and adults. Her stories have shown up in such publications as Brio, Live, Standard, The Gem, and Cross and Quill. With a secondary passion for diet and fitness, Janet is working on her first non-fiction book, a devotion book for compulsive overeaters. She belongs to such writing groups as ACFW, OWFI, CWFI, and RWA. She and her husband love to travel with their RV, visit with family, and work in their church.

You may contact Janet in one of the following ways:

Website: http://www.janetkbrown.com
Group blog: http://www.bookstowriteby.blogspot.com
Facebook author page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/AuthorJanet-K-Brown/143915285641707
Twitter: https://twitter.com/janetkbrowntx
e-mail: [email protected]

I wish to thank Vivian Zabel and the editors at 4RV Publishing Co. for having faith to take a risk on a new author like me. I also thank Aidana WillowRaven for a superb job on the cover art.

Thanks to you, Kristena, for allowing me to post on your blog today. God bless you and your writing.