The Proposal

Today we have an excerpt from "The Proposal" by Gina Buzby, Jayne Ormerod and Jenny Sparks.

But first let's read their blurb. 

A unique proposal goes forward despite a sad history, an old boyfriend, and an artistically-challenged fiancée

Wow!  Don't you want more with that?

Well here's a bit more,  check out an excerpt from their story.

Breast of Friends

Today we have an excerpt from "Breast of Friends" by Jenny Sparks.

But first lets read her blurb.

Friendship can grow in unexpected circumstances. Grace and Judy are at different stages of life but they develop a wonderful bond as one of them deals with the fallout from a breast cancer diagnosis.

Wow!  Don't you want more with that?

Well here's a bit more,  check out an excerpt from her story.

Author Interview: Jenny Sparks

Have you met our author Jenny Sparks?

No?

If you click on the AUTHOR INTERVIEW TAB you'll find an interview that we did with her as well as a few photos.

Each of the contributing authors submitted a question for this interview.  Which makes for an interesting interview.

So stop by and check out Jenny's interview.  Here's just a sample of one of the many questions.

What is your favorite genre movie and is it the same genre that you like to read?

I can best answer that in the opposite. I enjoy most any movie or book with the exception science fiction or dystopian settings. Give me a good drama or comedy any day.

Favorite Book of 2016 - Jenny Sparks

Writers read!  And here is one of our By the Bay 2 authors’ favorite books of 2016.

Written by Jenny Sparks

Title: A Prayer For Owen Meany

Author:  John Irving

Genre: Literary Fiction

Setting:  1950’s to 1970’s New Hampshire

Format:  Kindle

Pages:  658

Publication date:  1989 (Kindle 2012)

Publisher:  William Morrow

Opening Line: I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice- not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother’s death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am Christian because of Owen Meany.

Favorite Passage: She was a passionate reader, and she thought that reading was one of the noblest efforts of all; in contrast.

Review: In all honesty, I chose this book because my first grandchild, Owen, was born this year. I thought it would be fun to read a book with his name involved. (As it happened, my daughter-in-law, Owen’s mother, also read the book at the same time and for the same reason.) To my happy surprise I found myself engrossed in a tale about two men and their lifelong friendship. It begins in their youth in a small New England town and follows them as they navigate the pitfalls of growing up- death, school, girls and war. It’s well worth your time.

About the author: Jenny Sparks lives in Virginia Beach with her husband, Mike, and two goldendoodles, Millie and Twyla. "Millie's Missing Key" in By The Bay is her first published work. She considers herself a hobbyist writer and is pleased to be included in the By The Bay anthologies.

Mosaic Mermaids

Written by Elizabeth Kimball

Last month, the East Beach Peninsular Magazine featured a special group of 

military spouse volunteers — The Tidewater Officers’ Spouses’ Association Mosaic Mermaid Club! Four of our very own writers are involved in the group! Gina Warren Buzby leads the group, and Michelle Davenport, Jenny Sparks, and Elizabeth Kimball all volunteer! Here is an excerpt from the article and a few photos of the volunteers and the mosaic mermaids they create!

Mosaic Mermaids that Give Back to the Community 

Elizabeth Kimball's Mosaic Mermaid

As we pause to reflect and be grateful for our freedoms, I’d like to share a coastal craft and highlight a hard-working and artistic bunch of military spouses volunteering to create beautiful mosaic mermaids sold to benefit military families. 

Book Signing

February 27th was your opportunity to get an autographed copy of our book.  Did you miss your opportunity?  

Jenny Sparks, Mike Owens, Jayne Ormerod, Mary-Jac O'Daniel,
Karen Harris, Michelle Davenport, Patrick Clark & Gina Warren Buzby

Not to worry!  We will have another book signing on April 30th, so mark your calendars!  More information to come on that event.

Origins Part One

Have you ever wondered where the ideas for the stories came from for By The Bay?  Did it stem from something that happened to our authors or was it just a creative idea?

Well wonder no more!  Our wonderful author, Jenny Sparks, came up with a great idea.  Why not share how we came up with our stories.  

So, over the course of the next month we will share our authors thoughts with you.

I hope you enjoy!

Big Dreams: Millie's Missing Key

So once again we get to peek inside our author's head to see who they would cast as their characters if their story was made into a movie.  Be it big screen or a made for TV movie.  That's right we dream big here.

Everyone envisions a character differently, but wouldn't it be interesting to see what our authors were seeing in their mind's eye when they wrote their story?  So here's our chance!

And please feel free to comment below on who you 'saw' this character as.  Does your idea of who the character looks like go with who the author envisions?

Jenny Sparks says she envisions Lauren Graham playing her and Millie would need a well trained stunt double.

Jenny

Stunt Double For Millie

What do you think?

Books For The Holiday

On November 20th the East Beach Writers Guild got together for their monthly meeting.  This month we brought children's books to donate to Toys For Tots.  Books can be a fantastic gift.  From toddlers to teenagers we donated books that we thought someone else would love.

Back Row: Gina Warren Buzby, Jayne Ormerod, Jenny Sparks & Patrick Clark
Front Row: Mike Owens, Skip McLamb, Mary-Jac O'Daniel, Karen Harris, Michelle Davenport & Will Hopkins

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner This Time?

Come in!  Come in out of the rain!

With the specter of Hurricane Joaquin looming on the horizon we are so glad that you could join us for another one of our literary dinners!  I hope you had no trouble getting here.  Flooding can sometimes be an issue when we get so much rain.

I'm more than happy to tell you who all of our distinguished guests are tonight.

Anne Rivers Siddon

See those four lovely southern ladies in the corner?  That's Gina Warren Buzby and her guests.  She has invited Sue Monk Kidd, Anne Rivers Siddon and Dorthea Benton Frank.

I believe they've just been served shrimp and grits.  I wonder what they are discussing.  Maybe we can get some really good stories out of them if we let the Firefly vodka flow!

Maybe Mrs. Siddon is explaining the process of having your book made into a movie.  Now that's a conversation that I'd love to sit in on.

Karen Harris has invited St. Paul, P.D. James and Gabriel Garcia Marquez for dinner.

Author Interview: Jenny Sparks

Have you met Jenny Sparks?

No?!?

If you click on the AUTHOR INTERVIEW tab you will find an interview that we did with her as well as some candid photos.

Each contributing author submitted a question for the interview.  It proved to be quite interesting.

So stop by and check out Jenny's interview.

Did you know Jenny has two dogs.  Both are Goldendoodles named Millie and Twyla. They are full of love and energy and keep us laughing all the time. Twyla came after I wrote “Millie’s Missing Key.” Maybe she will be in the next anthology.

Millie's Missing Key Excerpt

Today we have an excerpt from "Millie's Missing Key" by Jenny Sparks.

But first check out the blurb.

What happens when you forget to bring your house key with you on your morning walk? Follow Jenny and Millie as they retrace their steps to find the missing key. A light hearted look at the life of East Beach dogs and their owners. 

Wow!

Now read the excerpt!