Beth Carpenter Books

Remember all those black-eyed peas I ate on New Year’s day for luck? Well, now I’m hoping to cash in. I’m gathering my courage and entering Recalculating Route into the Amazon breakthrough novel award tomorrow. The first round is based entirely on the pitch. That means that out of 10,000 entrees, 8,000 of them will be cut without a judge ever seeing the book. Anyone who has ever tried to boil down a complete novel into a couple of paragraphs of sales copy will tell you it's extremely difficult. I’ve been frequenting the pitch thread and polishing mine for several weeks now. Sometimes I think it’s perfect and other times far from it, but it's certainly better than it was at the beginning. I’m impressed with the generosity of so many posters over on the thread who spend huge amounts of time helping with pitches. They’ve taken some real messes, and with subtle suggestions and questions, helped the writers turn them into something great. And remember, these are their competit...

Recently, someone criticized one of my books because one of the main characters had been divorced several times. She said people like this don’t change, and it was wrong to make him a hero. She had a point. The odds of someone with multiple failed marriages succeeding in love are low. But the story isn’t about averages; it’s about specific characters and the possibility of redemption. It’s about hope. I’m a lucky woman. I married my college sweetheart on the same day we graduated, we have two healthy children who are in the process of launching, and this year we’ll celebrate our thirty-second anniversary. We have very little drama in our lives. I’d highly recommend this path to happiness, but reading about it for two-hundred pages would bore you silly.   Much more interesting are people who have made mistakes or faced hardship and are struggling to overcome. I love characters that are flawed but likable, that I can root for and commiserate with. I love the satisfaction of a...

Eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day brings luck for the whole year. That’s the legend, anyway. Personally, I’ve never been a fan. I grew up with them and spent hours of my childhood hoeing, watering, and shelling them. According to my husband, by mother’s are the best, picked fresh from the garden, shelled with a few snaps thrown in, and home-canned with a little salt pork, but I could never develop a taste for them. I always managed to consume a few on New Year's but didn't enjoyed them until this year. I found a recipe in the newspaper for Hoppin’ John (black-eyed peas and rice), but not the traditional recipe I’ve used before with sausage and lots of cayenne. This one called for dried peas, a ham bone, and collard greens. I happened to have a bone left from the Christmas ham and some frozen spinach to substitute for the collards, so I gave it a try. Who knew black-eyed peas could taste so good? So, the lesson for me is to keep trying new things. Maybe I’ll event...

Last Flight from Flagstaff just received a four-star review from Readers' Favorites . Reviewer Natasha Jackson calls it "a creative blend of romance and mystery." The best part is that it's currently FREE! Depending on demand, this offer could end at any time so grab it while you can. Get it at  Amazon ,  Barnes and Noble   or  iTunes  .

I just got back from a wonderful Thanksgiving week in Prescott , Arizona . My husband, son and I flew down to Arizona so we could have Thanksgiving with my daughter who only had Thursday and Friday off and wouldn’t have been able to fly to Alaska . I love cooking for my family, and it was great celebrating the holiday with the four of us together, but a little bittersweet to realize it might not go on much longer. My son is just finishing his student teaching and (cross your fingers) will be teaching next fall and won’t have the whole week off. Odds are that with one kid in Arizona and the other in Alaska and no extra days off, somebody will miss Thanksgiving with the family next year. As they grow in their careers and start their own families, time to spend with us will become harder to find. This independence was always our ultimate goal, but it can sometimes leave a mother can feeling a little superfluous. I have the cure for that. We flew back to Alaska last night...

They Called it Moosicide is a fun, Nancy Drew type mystery set at Christmas in Anchorage Alaska, and at Goodreads, you can win signed copy. Goodreads Book Giveaway They Called It Moosicide by Lisa Deckert Giveaway ends December 09, 2013. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win

I'm so excited! On Halloween, October 31, the famous journalist I.B. Nosey will be interviewing me! I.B. Nosey, winner of the famous Pukelitzer Prize, is know for his, let's say, unconventional interviews. Please stop by Feeling Nosey?  and leave a comment. I.B. loves comments - he takes them all as compliments.  I'll see you there!