#DearDiary

Veronica's #WritersDiary: Book to Stage Productions, What Can Get Lost in Translation?

Veronica Cline Barton

Jan 18
7 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: Book to Stage Productions, What Can Get Lost in Translation?

“Try fighting with your head for a change... it's a good one, even if it does resist learning.” ― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird I've been blessed to see a few book-to-stage productions in past years I thought were stellar translations. Both were Dame Agatha Christie mystery tales I enjoy very much: Witness for the Prosecution and Murder on the Orient Express. In Witness, the play was actually held in a courtroom in the London County Hall--giving you a bird's eye view as a

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: 2023, Here's to a Fabulous New Year!

Veronica Cline Barton

Jan 4
5 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: 2023, Here's to a Fabulous New Year!

Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about un-becoming everything that isn’t really you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place. – Paul Coelho Well, hello, 2023 and a very happy January to one and all! This is a special month for me, because yesterday, I turned another year older. 🎂🎉💃 #Capricorn It was the BIG 6-5 this go round. A good time was had by all at the Ritz in Laguna! It's tough being an early, January baby--befor

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: A Sneak Peek at Book 8 in My #CozyMystery Series, Murder on the Runway!

Veronica Cline Barton

Dec 14, 2022
3 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: A Sneak Peek at Book 8 in My #CozyMystery Series, Murder on the Runway!

"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening." Coco Chanel Today, it's my pleasure to have a book cover reveal and sneak peek at my latest cozy mystery planned for release in February 2023! In book 8 of My American Almost Royal Cousin Series, Murder on the Runway: Fashion Week at Castlewood Manor, the couture creations are front and center, along with designer dram

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: A Charming Chat with Author Tonya Penrose!

Veronica Cline Barton

Dec 7, 2022
5 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: A Charming Chat with Author Tonya Penrose!

✨🌲🌹💐💟🍀🌸✨🌸🌻💮🌷✨🌿💞🌳🌷🌹✨🌺💮🍀 ✨🌲🌹💐💟🍀🌸✨🌸🌻💮🌷✨🌿💞🌳🌷🌹✨🌺💮🍀 Well, hello December! One of my absolute, Twitter delights as a reader and writer this year has been connecting up with multi-genre author, Tonya Penrose! Her books are filled with inspiration and magical settings. In addition to keeping readers enchanted, she's also a wonderful supporter of the writing community on social media. Settle in and prepare to smile, let's chat with Tonya: ✨🌲🌹💐💟🍀

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: #HoHoHo Bring on the Holidays!

Veronica Cline Barton

Nov 30, 2022
3 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: #HoHoHo Bring on the Holidays!

“Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.” –John Boswell The first day of December touches down tomorrow, are you ready? Buh-bye autumn leaves and pumpkins--hello mistletoe and cranberries! I've been pretty much living in the holiday limelight for the past few weeks thanks to the launch of A Novel Noel, but I realize others may prefer to ease their way into twinkle light zone. #Gasp Ready or

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: Giving Thanks!

Veronica Cline Barton

Nov 23, 2022
3 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: Giving Thanks!

“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite - only a sense of existence. Well, anything for variety. I am ready to try this for the next ten thousand years, and exhaust it. How sweet to think of! My extremities well charred, and my intellectual part too, so that there is no danger of worm or rot for a long while. My breath is sweet to me. O, how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: Cozy Mystery Fashion Fun!

Veronica Cline Barton

Nov 16, 2022
4 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: Cozy Mystery Fashion Fun!

“Literature & Fashion...food for the mind, a visual statement of the soul, a conversational platform for global transformation.” ― Prometheus Worley Or, the makings of a perty-darn-good cozy mystery tale! I've been having loads of fashion fun this month as I'm writing book 8 in my cozy mystery series. Today I thought I'd share some interesting tidbits on the topic of couture that you might not know about courtesy of: 10 Cool Facts About Fashion Week (stylefox.co). I've added

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: Mystery Topic: #CozyMystery Trends I'll Be Watching for in 2023

Veronica Cline Barton

Nov 9, 2022
6 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: Mystery Topic: #CozyMystery Trends I'll Be Watching for in 2023

"Now comes the mystery." Henry Ward Beecher As a cozy mystery writer and reader, I'm looking ahead to 2023 and have started booking my calendar for my manuscripts to be written and published, and what books I'll be placing on my new year's #TBR list! I thought it would be fun today to talk about what trends I'll be looking for in cozy mystery books for 2023. I've read loads of cozy books/authors this year and will continue this reading quest with even more gusto and exclusivi

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: 'Tis the Season for Holiday Mysteries!

Veronica Cline Barton

Nov 1, 2022
5 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: 'Tis the Season for Holiday Mysteries!

“I'll tell you a secret. Old storytellers never die. They disappear into their own story.” -Vera Nazarian Well, #HoHoHo hello, November, it's time to bring on the holidays! I thought the fabulous Lindsey Stirling video above, Snow Waltz, was the perfect way to shift from #Halloween to #Christmas season, LOL! The binge watching of the Hallmark Christmas movies has begun. I'm dreaming of chai tea, eggnog lattes. The lights are changing here at Cherrywood Hall West to bring in

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: Bring a Little Hygge Into Your World!

Veronica Cline Barton

Oct 26, 2022
4 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: Bring a Little Hygge Into Your World!

“...to hold twilight or watch it darken, describes the pleasure we take in pausing to observe as day slips into night. To stand at our window, wrapped in the half-dark and watch the day disappear... is a moment of hygge.” ― Louisa Thomsen Brits There's a bit of chill in the air these days and I for one, am loving it! It's that special time of year when we can bring out the sweaters and faux furs; put on the pots of soups and stews; and heat the oven up for making delicious, b

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: Book Club Reads; How Would Your Book(s) Stack Up?

Veronica Cline Barton

Oct 18, 2022
6 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: Book Club Reads; How Would Your Book(s) Stack Up?

"Books are something social - a writer speaking to a reader - so I think making the reading of a book the center of a social event, the meeting of a book club, is a brilliant idea." Yann Martel It's always been on my writer wish list to have one of my books selected as a book club read. 😍📚 Recently, I've been looking at some of the suggested book club, topic questions I've found from searches on the web. The thought of a group of complete strangers reading a book of mine a

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: A #Spooktober Chat with a Master of Horror, Author Ken Stark!

Veronica Cline Barton

Oct 12, 2022
8 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: A #Spooktober Chat with a Master of Horror, Author Ken Stark!

Multi-award-winning #horror writer, questionable painter, unapologetic nerd, and committed beer enthusiast. Ken Stark One of the absolute delights of our Alaska cruise holiday last month was spending the end of the trip in the stunning city of Vancouver, B.C. for a few days. It was an extra special stop for me, for I had the pleasure to meet one of my long time Twitter, writer friends in person, Ken Stark aka @PennilessScribe! I was so excited to chat with Ken. It's one thing

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: It's Fall Y'all; Time to Eat, Drink, and Be Scary!

Veronica Cline Barton

Oct 5, 2022
3 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: It's Fall Y'all; Time to Eat, Drink, and Be Scary!

“I long for the days Of pumpkins and ghosts; When the dead use homes And people as hosts.” ― E. Reyes 🎃👻 Pumpkin spice and everything nice, well, hello, October! It's the official start of scary season and I for one, can't wait to get my #BOO on! This month brings about all the things I love--scary movies, mysterious tales, bootiful decor, and spookilicious recipes! Did I mention it's boot season too?! 😍👢 MOVIES: I don't know about you, but I love watching the black and w

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: Scenic Waterways, Icy Bergs, Wicked Mists, and Rowdy Good Fun! #Alaska

Veronica Cline Barton

Sep 21, 2022
4 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: Scenic Waterways, Icy Bergs, Wicked Mists, and Rowdy Good Fun! #Alaska

"More than anything there is the sense of scale: you can fly for hours and hours of Alaska and you look down and all you'll see is forests, lakes and snow-capped mountains, with no sign whatsoever of human beings." Steve Backshall I truly appreciate Steve Backshall's quote above. The scale of Alaska is off the charts--I mean I knew it was our largest state geographically but being here in person has been eye opening. Looking over at the GIF 👈 where the map of Alaska is super

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: State 49, Alaska!

Veronica Cline Barton

Sep 14, 2022
3 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: State 49, Alaska!

"By acting as if I was not afraid, I gradually ceased to be afraid." — Theodore Roosevelt Grrrrreetings from State 49! This past week the OH and I began our much-anticipated, northern journey along the coast of Alaska. We stayed in Anchorage for a few days before setting sail on the Viking Ocean Cruise ship, the Orion, on Saturday. This is such an amazing part of the country--spectacular scenery, colorful carvings, friendly folk (love their pioneering spirit and humorous take

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: Wicked Mist Is Here!

Veronica Cline Barton

Sep 7, 2022
3 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: Wicked Mist Is Here!

"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes..." William Shakespeare Well, hello September and with it, a big #WOOHOO for the arrival of book 3 in The Haunted Series, Wicked Mist! Bibiana Krall and I co-authored another collection of haunting tales to entertain our readers for this coming season of scary. I am super excited for this latest collaboration--you're going to read five unique tales with a spooky twist, and one that... well let's just say itsh a bi

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Veronica's #WritersDairy: Ode to the Summer of '22

Veronica Cline Barton

Aug 31, 2022
4 min

Veronica's #WritersDairy: Ode to the Summer of '22

“August has passed, and yet summer continues by force to grow. They sprout secretly between the chapters of the year, covertly included between its pages.” - Jonathan Safran Foer Here we are--the last day of August! Now, I know we have a few more days (okay, maybe lots) of sweltering heat and blinding sunshine left, but there's something about entering September that brings me a breezy, mental boost. The promise of cool, crisp days, pumpkin spice everything, and let's not for

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: Upstairs/Downstairs; Positioning the Class Divide in a Storyline

Veronica Cline Barton

Aug 23, 2022
6 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: Upstairs/Downstairs; Positioning the Class Divide in a Storyline

“I think accepting change is quite as important as defending the past.” — Cora, Lady Grantham, Downton Abbey, Season 3 In today's post I want to chat about the cross-genre topic of incorporating and positioning the class divide in a story. I'll be focusing the discussion on what happens when servants are included in the storyline with the high society crowd. Their interactions did happen IRL, despite the separate entrances and staircases. Let's think about it, if a person was

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: Coming this Christmas Season, It's A Novel Noel!

Veronica Cline Barton

Aug 17, 2022
4 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: Coming this Christmas Season, It's A Novel Noel!

“Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.” ― Mary Ellen Chase I know it's still August, but... This week I'm super excited to have the cover reveal and give a short summary of the Christmas tales included in A Novel Noel: Rikkhe St. Claire Hygge & Bisous Holiday Mysteries! Rikkhe's back for an evening of storytelling with her Mor--Anna; Papa--Henri; former nanny, current companion--Christine; and her main man--Pete. We'll be gathering by the fire once again

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Veronica's #WritersDiary: Calling All Mystery Lovers: Meet the Authors of #MurdersWeWrite!

Veronica Cline Barton

Aug 10, 2022
5 min

Veronica's #WritersDiary: Calling All Mystery Lovers: Meet the Authors of #MurdersWeWrite!

"The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.” ― Arthur Conan Doyle Imagine if you will, a place where like literary minds interact--exchanging ideas, introducing new concepts, acquainting you with new books to read, and films to watch... No, you're not in the Twilight Zone, you're in the #MurdersWeWrite room on the Clubhouse app!! (BTW, it's free to join) This past weekend was our 12th deadly chat session where we discussed the mystery topic,

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