Jim has just posted Chapter 1 of THE DEARLY DEPARTED on my web site.

Go to: www.betsyhaynes.net

In the upper right, click on "My Works."

In the upper left, click on "Chapter 1 of my latest book." It takes a couple of minutes to load.

Hope you enjoy it.

Betsy

Hey, Julee and Cyndy! So glad to hear from you. I get so lonely when a class is over. It's great to catch up. Cyndy, I don't know if Amazon has my books yet, but you can order them directly from my publisher (and cheaper) by clicking on them at the beginning of my blog.

I'm so exhausted today that I don't know if I can even make sense. Jim and I helped our daughter move from a second story apartment to a two story townhouse this past weekend. I wish I had counted how many times I went up and down stairs.

As usual things are busy. I've started doing promo for my two new books; I've promised my agent that my YA novel will be in her hands before my new UCLA class starts at the end of June; and I've chosen an entirely different group of novels for students to read in this class, so naturally I have to read them before I plan lectures to fit them. I'm deep in THE BOOK THIEF right now. It's terrific. Just finished LOOKING FOR ALASKA. It's one of the best YAs I've read in a long time.

I'd really love to be planning a trip to SoCal right now. I had hoped to come out for the SCBWI conference in Aug., but it's a bit expensive. Don't know yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Congratulations on your win, Cyndy. Those are so important in keeping your spirits up. I think that the thing that kept me going was the fact that Jim promised me a house cleaner when i started making money. I'd do anything to keep from cleaning toilets! Seriously, though, I wanted to make it badly enough that I wouldn't let myself be discouraged.

I could write this all afternoon, but I'd better get some work done. Again, I love having you aboard!
Betsy

I hope all you mothers had as great a Mothers Day as I did. My daughter, Stephanie, took her dad and me for brunch at Reunion Tower in downtown Dallas. Aside from great food, the entire restaurant spins, making one complete turn in an hour and giving a panoramic view of Dallas and the surrounding countryside. Fort Worth is also within sight to the west. It's an awesome experience.

I've been busy doing my "author thing" for the past few days. For those of you who think being an author means simply writing fabulous, best selling books, I've got new for you. Last week I spent the entire week preparing for an all day writers' workshop that got cancelled at the last minute, and yesterday I did my bookstore crawl. I prepared packets containing info on my two recently published books, bio, contact info, ordering info, and anything else I could think of and traveled to two bookstores--one an independent and one a major chain. I plastered on my smile and tried not to grovel as I asked for book signing time and/or program time. I took along Jim, who did the jacket art for THE DEARLY DEPARTED, and offered him as part of the program. I got two "probablys." Today I tackle my list of book reviewers again. So far, I have two who have ordered review copies from my publisher and promised to review the book. Whew!

Would any of you like to review THE DEARLY DEPARTED for your local newspaper? Let me know, and I'll tell you how to get your very own FREE review copy. Nothing like bribery to get results!

'Til next time--Betsy

I just spent the past two weekends speaking at writers conferences. They're a lot of fun and I get to network with other authors as well as editors and agents. The first one was in Hurst, TX, about an hour's drive from home. It was held on the Tarrant County Community College campus and was sponsored by the Trinity Writers Workshop. My topic was "Writing the Young Adult Novel" and was based on my class of the same name that I teach on line for UCLA Extension.

The second one was at a retreat on a beautiful lake in north east Texas. It was sponsored by the North East Texas Writers' Organization. This time I talked about building characters. Jim went along and we had a cabin directly on the lake. We drank our morning coffee on the porch watching the fish jump in the lake. We only had one problem. We boarded our shy, rescued greyhound, Miller, for the first time. He was really traumatized when we got him home. We felt SO bad! We'll have to hire a sitter the next time we go away.

It's back to writing now. 'Til next time...

Congratulations

Congratulations Betsy! On your two books. And your blog! How exciting!

I can't wait to read "The Dearly Departed". What a great premise! It sounds very intriguing.

Have fun at your various conferences. Don't work to hard! Hi to The Dog and The Jim.

Take care!

Hey, everyone. This is the Jim checking to see if I got the posting process right.

Jim

Hey, everybody,

I'm live! Welcome to my first ever blog. I hope you'll talk to me here and tell me what's going on in your life. I'm on the conference circuit right now. Last weekend I spoke at the Trinity Writers Workshop in Hurst, TX, and next weekend I'll be at the North Texas Writers' Organization's Writers Roundup at Camp Shiloh in northern Texas. After that, I'll do a full day workshop on Writing for Young Adults May 12th in Dallas.

I'm happy to announce two new books just out. THE DEARLY DEPARTED and MY ADVENTURE PANNING FOR GOLD. You can find out more about them by going to the links on my home page.

Caryn, I'm writing again and plan to have the new manuscript to you in June!