Coastal Magic Convention 2024 Featured Author Spotlight: Bernadette Marie
Please give a warm welcome to Bernadette Marie to the Blog today, one of the Featured Authors for the Coastal Magic Convention that will be at Daytona Beach, Florida (February 22-25, 2024). Check out the Interview below with Bernadette, where you get to read about five fun facts about her, learn more a typical writing day for her, find out her fave movie(s), and so much more.
FranJessca: Tell us five fun facts about yourself that some readers may not know.
Bernadette:
1. In October I will receive my 3rd degree black belt in Tang Soo Do / Tae Kwan Do.
2. I was brought up in the wholesale food industry, so an enormous warehouse was my playground. I could drive a forklift by the time I was 7.
3. I wrote my first book when I was 13 and spent the next 22 years rewriting it before shelving it and publishing 57 other titles.
4. I am totally one of those messy / organized people.
5. I have become all the things I said I wanted to be when I grew up. Though I’m not an elementary school teacher, I do teach in my industry as well as martial arts. I’ve sang at weddings, even if I didn’t become a famous singer. And, I opened my first salon when I was 20—my trade is cosmetology and nail care. Yes, I wanted to be a beautician too. I had lofty goals, and I’d say hit them.
FranJessca: What does a typical writing day look like for you?
Bernadette: My writing day starts at 5-6am. The first thing I do in my day is get my first 1,000 words written. The middle of my day is spent running my publishing house and my other businesses. When I wrap up my work day, I write while my husband and I watch TV at night. I’ve always been able to write anywhere under any circumstances. So I don’t need quiet and serine. I can write at hockey rinks, on a treadmill, or while watching TV.
FranJessca: What comes first for you — the plot or the characters — and why?
Bernadette: This changes with every book. Sometimes my cover artist has a great cover for sale and it sparks a story. My newest release, Liz’s Road Trip, came from cover first. Sometimes it’s a scene or a simple idea that makes the story. I’ve been known to write an entire book off of a song verse. As for the characters, only once in a while do I come up with a character first. Often the story idea needs certain personality traits in a character to make it move, and that’s how my characters grow.
FranJessca: What genre/subgenres do you write?
Bernadette: I mostly write in Contemporary Romance. Some of my favorite books I’ve written are Paranormal Romance. Again, Liz’s Road Trip, actually is Women’s Fiction / Heavy Romantic Elements and that was a change for me, but I loved it!
FranJessca: Tell us about your latest book release and what’s up next on your writing schedule.
Bernadette: Liz’s Road Trip is a journey in finding one’s self by learning about someone else. Liz takes a cross-country road trip with her grandmother’s cat, and the urn of her grandmother, with the promise to fulfill her grandmother’s last wishes. What Liz learns is that her grandmother wasn’t the coupon cutting woman who raised Liz, but a woman who had lived many extravagant lives as a Hollywood starlet and as the writer of some of Liz’s most favorite movies. Included in her journey is the man writing her grandmother’s biography, the keeper of her grandmother’s secrets, and the romantic interest in the story. Perhaps Liz’s grandmother is playing matchmaker from the beyond.
Next up on my writing schedule is editing my next release, The Publicity Stunt, and I’m writing my Valentine’s novella for our publishing company anthology.
FranJessca: How do you celebrate when you finish writing a book/series?
Bernadette: I don’t do too much celebrating when I finish a book. Often I make a social media post and move to the next screen and start the next book. I’m a bit obsessed!
FranJessca: What’s your favorite thing about going to book conventions?
Bernadette: I love, love, love networking. Meeting like minded people is a thrill. I love teaching my craft, and of course I love to meet readers.
FranJessca: Preferred format of reading: Hardcover | Paperback | eBook | Audiobook
Bernadette: I am an Audiobook girl!
FranJessca: Coffee or Tea or something else?
Bernadette: I do love coffee.
FranJessca: Favorite TV Show or Movie?
Bernadette: My favorite movies are anything written by Nora Ephron!
Check out her Website. Follow her on her Social Media Accounts: Bookbub | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | YouTube | TikTok. Add her books on GoodReads
For a full list of Featured Authors, Information about the weekend, and link to register to attend, visit http://www.CoastalMagicConvention.com. And be sure to watch for more Featured Author spotlights coming up here each month!
My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)
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