Softly and Tenderly Book Tour

Softly and Tenderly by Lisa Binion – Book Tour

“Mom died in her sleep last night.” Those are terrifying words for a child to wake up to. The beetle that falls off the stretcher and stares at her is only the beginning one of the strangest and most frightening times in Lori’s life. Death is not a pretty thing, especially not when the funeral is to be at the Lights Out Chapel and Crematorium.

Once she walks into the funeral parlor, she experiences things that no little girl should ever have to experience. No one is acting normal. No one can see what is going on. Is Lori the only one who sees the blood oozing from the pictures of Jesus on the cross? Doesn’t anyone else see the beetles? Is Lori hallucinating when she sees her mom sit up and hears her speak? There is absolutely nothing soft and tender about what happens to Lori.

From her overly morbid piano teacher to the creepy preacher and a father that just isn’t acting like himself, Lori is surrounded by people and things that hint of something bizarre. Once she leaves the Lights Out Chapel and Crematorium, things will go back to normal. Or will they?

Lisa Binion is a writer, editor, and wife. She makes her home in the beautiful state of Kentucky. Her two children are now grown, but she has been blessed with two beautiful grandchildren, Tyler and Zoey. Her family also includes four dogs, four cats, and two goats.

As the Fiction Writing Editor for BellaOnline, she writes articles, reviews fiction books, and interviews fiction authors. She is also an editor for Silver Tongue Press and Edit 1st. In her spare time, she attempts to clean house and relax.

You can find her at https://www.facebook.com/pages/BellaOnline-Fiction-Writing/125143070846792.
http://www.silvertonguepress.com/
http://edit1st.com/.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Being Published

by Lisa Binion

I have been writing on and off since I was a little girl.  I even took a course on how to write for children right after I got married in May of 1984.  I have written my first children’s book and it will be published soon, but it took me a long time to actually start it.  The things I learned from that course were forgotten long before I wrote it.

I have taken other writing courses since the one on how to write for children, and I have learned different things from each of them.  There is nothing that teaches you to write like actually writing though.  You can learn all there is to know about writing but until you sit down at a desk or computer and start to write, that knowledge won’t do you any good.  My first published work was a creepy, horror novella.  There are many things I learned along the way to being published.

1)  I learned that writing is hard work.  I love to read.  When I read a book that is really good, one where the plot flows so smoothly, I imagine that I could sit down and write something like that really quick.  I mean, it all just goes together so good, how much trouble could it have been to write?  Well, getting a story to flow smoothly doesn’t happen automatically unless you are extremely lucky.  And most of time, I’m not.  Writing is hard work.  Ernest Hemingway once said, “There is nothing to writing.  All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”  Replace typewriter with computer, and that is about how it is for me.

2)  My writing is not perfect; it needs to be edited.  And sometimes the stories I come up with need a lot of help.  There are times I want to give away far too much.  Then there are also times I don’t want to give enough information.  I picture what I’m writing in my head.  I figure that if I can see it so clearly, then everyone else should be able to see it that clearly too.  My readers can’t read my mind though.

3)  I have learned that success doesn’t normally happen overnight.  Being successful doesn’t always mean you make a lot of money either .  It just means you are happy with what you write.  Getting paid for it is a bonus.

4)  Not everyone will love, or even like, what I have written.  I can always hope that they do, but everyone has different genres they like to read.  Even the style of writing that people like varies.  Maybe I’ve written a terrific story, but only those who like the genre I’ve written in and appreciate my style of writing will like it.