Patricia Sands

Author

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Innkeeper, author, risktaker

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I love sharing stories of people who have taken chances, changed their lives and begun an entirely new adventure. Do you remember my post about Jacquie Gauthier? Hmmm ~ that reminds me I should do an update soon.

Today it’s my pleasure to introduce you to Patricia Rickrode (aka author Jansen Schmidt) who, with her husband, left a California lifestyle to run a Bed & Breakfast in a stunning Victorian mansion, built in 1870, in historic Vicksburg, Mississippi.

PS ~ Please tell us a bit about your life before you decided to undertake this great adventure of owning and operating the beautiful Baer House Inn.

PR ~ Before innkeeping I was a paralegal for about 30 years in California. It was a very fast-paced, high-stress job, demanding job. It was one of the main reasons we decided to relocate; I had had enough of that business suit, make-up, and high heel wearing professional environment. The stress gets harder to deal with as one ages, at least in my humble opinion. I think there comes a point in everyone’s life where they just say, “enough is enough.”

PS ~ This must have been quite a leap of faith! Was there one aspect in particular that called out to you and said “go for it!”?  

PR ~ It was a bit daunting when we decided to pack up and leave everything we knew behind, but it was exciting too. I think the day I realized that I needed to quit my job was the day I realized it was time to completely move on. I was more than ready to do something else and the idea of working in an environment where people were basically happy and calm all the time instead of stressed, confused and angry was very appealing.

PS ~ Was the Inn fully operational when you took it over or did you have a lot of changes to make?

“Arrive as strangers, depart as friends.” What a great line on your website!

PR ~  We bought the inn as a fully functioning, turn-key business. It had everything needed to run smoothly. As is pretty typical in most real estate transactions, there were a few things that needed to be done in order for the loan to go through, but the seller had to take care of all of that. We have since switched out quite a bit of furniture, especially in the common areas of the house. The previous owner had a lot of very modern, contemporary pieces of furniture like sofas, recliners, and such. It was very pretty, functional and comfortable but it wasn’t our vision for the house, so we replaced that stuff with antiques as we found them.

PS ~ On what date did you open for business and how nervous/excited were you? Were there times you questioned this change in your lives?

PR ~ We took over ownership around the 20thof July, 2015. (I never remember the exact date.) I wasn’t really nervous, but I was pretty excited. We had a whole house full of guests, some of whom had been staying several nights, so one day the previous owner made breakfast and the next day I did. Everyone was super excited when I was introduced as the new owner. Nobody staying here even knew there was a sale in progress. As far as having doubts, I’ve never felt like we made a mistake. There are a lot of really nice things about California, but there are some really ugly things too and I have never wanted to go back – other than to visit our extended family. I feel like Vicksburg has embraced us and almost all of the guests here really have a good time and I feel like I’m directly responsible for that. That’s a good feeling. I never felt like that when a lawsuit was over. I never got any of the praise or even acknowledgment for the part I played in helping get it resolved. Now I get daily praise and gratitude. It’s a really nice feeling. Complete opposite from my work environment in California.

PS ~ Do you have much support staff? Are you and your husband fully involved in running the Inn?

PR ~ For the first year that we owned the inn, my husband and I did everything. We cooked, cleaned, fixed things, worked in the yard, did all the administrative and marketing stuff. Then my husband was offered a very lucrative job and he decided to take it, so we hired a housekeeper to help with the cleaning. In 2017, when I got my cancer diagnosis, we hired another gal to help with afternoon check-in and finish up some of the “afternoon chores.” Since then, we’ve kept them both on the payroll but the afternoon gal only works on the days when we have lots of people checking in.

PS ~ It certainly is a beautiful home with a welcoming feel to it. I think you have created a special place for people to visit. Do you have a few “highs and lows” to share? Wishes for the future?

PR ~ Often times we question our sanity about buying an old house because when things need fixing, we usually have no idea how to do that. Or we get halfway into the project and realize we’re in over our heads. Neither my husband nor I are very handy when it comes to fixing stuff so those are the low times. The times we wished we had an additional skill set. The highs are definitely the 5-star reviews and hugs we get when people leave. There are a lot more highs than lows, it’s just that the lows are so very frustrating. And expensive. As far as wishes for the future – well, I guess I’d have to wish for an endless supply of money, so we can hire someone to fix all those little things that need fixing.

PS ~ Congratulations on publishing your soon-to-be-released second novel! I can’t imagine how you managed to find the time.

PR ~ Thank you. I’ve been honing my craft for about 10 years. I finished my first manuscript in 2009 simply to see if I could write one. (Hey, what can I say, I love a good challenge.) While I was deciding what to do with it, I started attending meetings at my local RWA group and taking lots of on-line classes. That’s when I realized I had no idea what I was doing even though I wrote an entire book. Since then, I’ve written 5 more manuscripts and outlined a publishing and marketing strategy, trying to implement everything I’ve been learning over the past 10 years. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long, but sure enough, 10 years. I’m not the kind of person who writes every day. That just doesn’t work for me. I’m more of a binge writer. When I have several hours, or days, at a time, I’ll write 50,000 words or more all in one sitting. That seems crazy to a lot of people, but that’s what works for me. I don’t think there’s any right or wrong way to write as long as you get the manuscripts finished and edited. I just schedule my time to include writing, just like I schedule breakfast every morning at a certain time. When you’re the boss, you can set your own hours and that’s what I do on both the writing and the inn fronts. I’m also pretty disciplined and that helps.

PS ~ It was great having you visit today. I love your story and wish you and your husband the very best as you carry on making your dream come true.

PR ~ Thank you for having me visit today. I enjoy your blog and your pictures. I live vicariously through your travels. I feel like I’ve spent lots of time in France and Canada because of your blog. Thank you everyone for stopping by.

Here are the links to connect with Patricia on social media:

Baer House Inn website: http://www.baerhouseinn.ms

Author website: http://jansenschmidt.com

Amazon author page for book details

Short link to buy book: http://bit.ly/2BBu7bb

Warmest wishes for the new year ~

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Greetings one and all! Are you in post-holiday relax mode? Or are you in high gear to get this new year started?

WordPress has set me back a peg or two while I learn to navigate the changes they have decided we need to create our blog pages. So this message will be a short one. I’m keeping my fingers crossed it works!

I hope your Christmas was merry and bright! May 2019 bring you and yours the best of health, happiness and an abundance of fine books to read.

Let’s also continue with our never-ending wish for peace on earth, goodwill to all. We live in hope!

I’m going to take some time this week to figure out these layout changes. With a 6:30 a.m. flight to Florida tomorrow, I’ll have a few hours to play around with the different options … unless there are some good inflight movies. Just kidding! I want to understand what I need to know here, so it doesn’t take me twice as long as it should to create a post.

Thanks goodness, Barb Drozdowich has put together a YouTube video going step by step through the changes for people like me!

You know how it is when you have all kinds of plans and not enough time? I was definitely in that category for the past few months! The most important thing to me then was to get all the daily posts up for our amazing South of France Memories Tour. That took me longer than it should have, but I did it! Did you take some time and enjoy the tour here? If you didn’t, I hope you will scroll back through the posts and see the fabulous experiences Deborah Bine (aka Barefoot Blogger) and I had with the sensational sixteen women on this tour.

As a result my blog did not get much attention after that, while I was finishing editing and then publishing The First Noël at the Villa des Violettes.

But it’s a new year, with a new approach here. I’ve got some fabulous guests lined up to visit with us. So let’s plan some great adventures together! Who knows where the path will lead?

On Amazon, B & N, Kobo, iBooks and wherever fine books are sold.h

Meet Women’s Fiction Author, Grace Greene

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This week it’s a pleasure to welcome Grace Greene to my blog.Grace Greene Grace writes women’s fiction and contemporary romance with suspense. A Virginia native, Grace has family ties to North Carolina. She writes books set in both locations. Allow me to introduce you to her.

Hello, Grace! Thanks for taking time to slip away from the beach and visit with us. What a summer you’ve been enjoying! I know writing new stories has been a top priority.

Now let’s share some of your news with everyone!

 

PS ~ Congratulations! You recently left your job to write full-time and that’s a serious step to take. Were you involved in writing-related work before?

GG ~ I’ve worked in financial institutions as a risk manager for many years. It is fascinating work. Basically, you look for what may go wrong before it actually does and seek solutions to prevent it, or if the problem has already occurred, you look for a resolution. From a wordsmith’s perspective, the job didn’t align with novel writing, but in terms of story development, it did. Not so much in the details, but rather from the perspective of how “what-ifs” function. Prior to that I worked in the cable industry and dealt with customer complaints and cable theft. It gave me unexpected, surprising insights into human nature and the extreme lengths to which some people will go to get what they want, including television programming, and that job certainly contributed to understanding the vagaries of character.

PS ~ Your debut novel, Beach Rental, won the Booksellers Best contest in both the Traditional and Best First Book categories. What was the inspiration behind the story?

GG ~ The original idea for Beach Rental didn’t involve the beach at all, but rather, it Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000032_00032]was a story of “What if a young woman who grew up in a variety of foster homes with no advantages and no family, who values being independent and self-sufficient, but has never learned to dream ~ is given the opportunity to dream and the means by which to achieve those dreams?” I needed somewhere to set the story and thought of Emerald Isle. My family and I had spent a week at an oceanfront home in Emerald Isle, North Carolina several years ago. I believe it was the inspiration I personally experienced at the ocean that I wanted to bring to the story, to use it to inspire the character, Juli. I chose the house where we stayed as the primary location for the novel and the publisher allowed me to design the cover using a photograph I’d taken of the white Carolina rockers on our porch during our stay there. It’s pretty cool to be able to say I sat in those rocking chairs while visiting the ocean and also get to enjoy them on the cover of my book.

Emerald Isle Trip - The House

PS ~ As a fiction writer, what do you enjoy most about the process? Do you have a specific writing regime?

GG ~ This is a great question, and it’s especially timely given my move to full time writing. Almost three months ago, I left the day job to write full time. It was a big decision. I had a great job but between the demands of that job and the needs of my mom who has Alzheimer’s, I was exhausted in the evenings and weekends and was writing almost nothing. If I left the day job, I’d have lots of time to write but what if I was lured into chasing distractions? Or what if the words dried up? Some of my writer friends had already made the leap. I asked them what they’d learned during their transitions. They advised me to stay open—to plan when to write but to be guided by what worked best. I’ve done that and have found that my best writing time is in the morning, so I start my writing workday in my jammies and write until almost noon. At that time, I shower and dress and, hopefully, write more in the afternoon. My goal at this time is 3000 words a day and that’s happening pretty reliably during the first draft stage.

It was a huge coincidence that at the same time I was giving notice at the day job, Amazon’s Women’s Fiction imprint, Lake Union, approached me about writing two Women’s Fiction novels for them. What amazing timing that was! I could never had taken on that challenge while working full time. Yet, being offered that opportunity at that time was like a validation of my decision.

PS ~ Many of your novels involve a suspenseful story line. What is your favorite genre to read?

GG ~ I enjoy reading almost all genres of fiction, some more than others, of course. I love Women’s Fiction, because it combines multiple genres, generally a love story or relationship story of some kind, combined with suspense or mystery, but dwells most particularly within the protagonist’s experience—the woman’s journey. I like that the best. I also enjoy reading mystery and suspense, and horror, too, if the authors are Stephen King and Dean Koontz.

PS ~ When you have time to take a break, do you have any particular hobbies, interests or sports that you enjoy?

GG ~ I like to take walks and ride my bike when the weather is good, but I incorporate my writing tasks into those activities by using Dragon (for dictating) or Text Aloud (listening for editing) or listening to audio books about writing. For pure relaxation, I like to walk on the beach (not terribly convenient since I live in central Virginia) and take photos, or watch a movie.

How I travelI also love photography and graphics and spend a lot of time in Photoshop, but again, I’m usually doing book or book marketing related tasks in Photoshop.

My husband and I like to travel whether for day trips or cruises or more. I enjoy visiting historical homes and botanical gardens. We were in Hawaii last Christmas and traveled to Alaska a couple of years before that. We hope to do more traveling now that I’m my own boss.

I’m rarely in the photos, though, because I’m the one behind the camera!

PS ~ What might we expect next from you?

GG ~ I am currently working on the two Women’s Fiction novels for Lake Union. The first book is currently in the editing stage and I’m working on the first draft for the second. They will be published in 2017, in February and July, respectively. I am enjoying working on them. Writing full time instead of part time makes a huge difference in the progress and in my enjoyment.

When I accepted the contract for those two books, I put aside a book that I was working on, the third full length novel in the Emerald Isle, NC Stories series which I self-publish. The first novel in the series, Beach Rental, is Juli’s story. The second, Beach Winds, is Frannie’s story. Readers have told me that Maia needs her own story, and I wholeheartedly agree. As soon as the two Lake Union novels are finished, I’ll have the opportunity to finish that third Emerald Isle novel, and I can hardly wait because “It’s always a good time for a love story and a trip to the beach.”

Thanks so much for stopping by, Grace! See you online!

To learn more about Grace’s novels, please click here to visit her website.

You can also follow Grace on Twitter, Facebook.

Readers love Goodreads! Here’s the link to Grace’s page.

Do you have fun on Pinterest? So does Grace! Follow her there.

 

 

Stop by for a visit with Andrea Hurst!

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Today, I’m delighted to welcome author and literary agent, Andrea Hurst, for a visit from an island on the scenic west coast of the USA.Andrea-Hurst

When not visiting local farmer’s markets or indulging her love for chocolate, Andrea is an Amazon bestselling author and president of Andrea Hurst Literary Management. Her passion for books drives her to find and write stories that take readers on a journey to another place and leave them with an unforgettable impression.

PS ~  You live in a beautiful part of the United States. Have you always called the northwest ‘home’? If not, where else have you lived?

AH ~  I love living on an island in the Pacific Northwest. I used to live in Northern California, which is also beautiful, but the whole time I was writing The Guestbook, I longed to move to Whidbey Island. When the book came out, I was living here and it felt a bit blurry between fiction and reality for a while.

PS ~  Your history shows how involved you are with teaching and mentoring others, when did you first have a desire to become a published author yourself?

AH ~  I have wanted to write since I was a teenager. I started with poetry, and then writing children’s books. My first book to get published was Everybody’s Natural Foods Cookbook in the early 80s and after that, I was hooked on book publishing. I worked as a developmental editor and consultant with authors for several years before the idea came to me for the Madrona Island Trilogy.

PS ~  As well as being a writer, you are also an agent. Which came first and how do you cope with the demands of both careers?

AH ~ I became an agent in 2003 after meeting Dr. Bernie Siegel and finding out he was looking for an agent for his children’s book. He was a writer I’d always admired and I jumped at the chance to work with him. We went on to do several adult, self-help books together and he endorsed my book, The Lazy Dog’s Guide to Enlightenment. The agency grew quickly and I began to represent fiction as well, but the longing to write my own novels never left me. I still am not sure how I juggle agenting, editing, teaching, and being an author, but passion and drive keep me going.

PS ~ Your novels have such strong messages about the positive aspects of life. Do you have a particular story of yours that you would say is your favorite? And why?

AH ~  My Madrona series books are “feel good” love stories that are designed to help the reader escape daily life and come away feeling uplifted. Often, they do the same for me as I am writing them. My stand-alone book,AlwaysWithYou-Final Always with You, is very different. The idea came to me for this book in a dream. It was so clear and the voice of the protagonist, Cathy, spoke to me on a deep level. The book practically wrote itself. However, I was hesitant to put it out because the subject matter tackled adultery. It was never a subject I set out to write about. The basic theme addresses: What if your soulmate, the love of your life appeared, but he was married to somebody else? The book probes hard questions such as, is love that transcends time and place impossible to resist? Is love more important than friendship? Are loyalty and fidelity an anchor or a chain?

PS ~ Your love of animals is obvious in your writing. What pets do you have at the moment?

Ferdie WavesAH ~ Right now I have one, black and tan dachshund named, Ferdie. He is a rescue dog that came with multiple health issues including an enlarged heart. But every minute with him is filled with love and laughter. I hope someday to have many more dogs, a few cats, and a large farm to keep them all!

PS ~ What a wonderful plan! I can’t wait to see that unfold and wish you the best with your dream. When you have time to take a break, what do you like to do to relax? Do you have any particular hobbies, interests or sports that you enjoy?

AH ~ I love traveling to new places, wonderful restaurants with farm-to-table dining, and watching a few guilty pleasure TV shows like The Voice, Fixer Upper and The Food Network. We have beautiful parks to take long walks here, and the San Juan Islands nearby for escapes or a trip to Seattle for literary events.

PS ~  Can you give us a sneak peek as to what we might expect next from you?

AH ~ The third book in the Madrona Island trilogy, Island Thyme Café, will be out late fall this year. I will be releasing a preview of the first few chapters soon as well. This book brings the series to touching and final happy ending. After completing this book, I have several more ideas I am working on, but I am not sure which will come first. I might have to do some research in Italy to complete one!

Andrea, you obviously have no shortage of great plans. I love your idea of researching a new work in Italy. No surprise there! Thanks so much for spending time with us here today.

Andrea is also a developmental editor for publishers and authors, and a webinar presenter for Writers Digest. She lives with her dachshund in the Pacific Northwest, on an island much like the fictional Madrona, with all of its natural beauty and small town charm. Her published books include THE GUESTBOOK, TEA & COMFORT, and ALWAYS WITH YOU, The Lazy Dog’s Guide to Enlightenment and Everybody’s Natural Food Cookbook, and she co-authored A Book of Miracles. To learn more about Andrea and her books, visit www.AndreaHurst-author.com or www.andreahurst.com.

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