Wise Men...One Year Later

  

 It’s been a year since Emmy Patterson and her fiancé Nick Klaussen were reunited through Madame Eve’s 1Night Stand agency. What have they been up to? Emmy sent a letter with her Christmas card, I’m happy to share it with you! Merry Christmas! 

      

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

          I apologize for the letter in this Christmas greeting (you know how I detest them), but so much has happened the past year, I wanted to share the news with the people I love.

          The biggest news is that I am a ‘Mrs.’ January 1^st, Nick and I will be married one year, although he’s had my heart for more than twenty!

          I won’t bore you with details of our reunion, but he told me I fainted when I first saw him after twenty years of wondering if he was coming back! It’s hard to believe Nick disappeared three presidential administrations and how many political scandals ago!

          As in all things in his life and personality, he’s adapted to ‘normal’ life so well. The two years at Coronado ‘re-integrating, before he felt ‘normal’ enough again to seek me out,  undoubtedly helped, but we both are saddened we couldn’t be together for those 600-and-some precious extra days. He still gets terribly quiet on occasion and feels guilty about his self-indulgence regarding his situational past, but he’s 99.999% the Nick I fell in love with so long ago.

          Despite not knowing Seth most of his young life, the two are very close. They get along famously! We’ll be attending a graduation in Annapolis this Spring! We’re terribly proud Seth followed in his father’s footsteps, but are still concerned about what the situation of the world could mean for him.

          I’m still ‘doing glass,’ and it’s amazing that I can do what I love and make a living at it and for so many years. It seems regardless of the ups and downs in the economy, people still want inspiring ‘pretty things’ in their homes. And, yes, Paul Stark at Third Street Gallery in Milwaukee is still my agent. And yes, although a steadfast and wonderful friend, still a flaming pain in the butt! (Love you, Paulie!)

          Nick is also doing what he loves, albeit—thankfully—in much safer environment. He’s been hired as a firearms instructor for law enforcement agencies across the state of Wisconsin. He’s also kept busy visiting with Vets at hospitals and homes—it’s touching to watch him as he so intimately knows the pain these Warriors carry with them on a daily basis.

          There is some wonderful powder falling outside, so we’re off to grab our niece, Parker and hit the Kiwanis Park hills with our trusty, rusty saucers before dark sets in!

          Wishing you a full heart, a warm hearth, and love surrounds you this holiday season!

Merry Christmas,

          Emmy & Nick

(Fritz, Marie, Boof and Harry also wish you a ‘Rrrow Mrrow Mrrow!’)

When not playing with the people in her head, Wendy has a silly life working in TV and radio. She shares her clean, yet perpetually dusty hovel with her her way-too-cute chef husband and three furry feline kids. She's proud to be a displaced Cheesehead, now living in Cpl. Maxwell Klinger's hometown.Find her on Facebook, Twitter (@WendyBurke1994) or send her a nasty email (wendyburke1994@bex.net) to which she will promptly respond! Her fifth book with Decadent Publishing, For Me, a Rubenesque 1Night Stand story, is on sale now at Decadent Publishing and other reputable ebook retailers.

My Babies...

By Wendy Burke

    I don’t have children, so between my husband, the cats and my stories – the latter two are my ‘babies.’

      And, I’m learning that ‘babies’ grow up and move out of the house.

      But, thankfully, the fine folks at Decadent Publishing want to keep my first two ‘children’ out front in the public eye.

Respite (the first child) and The One He Chose (kid #2) are part of the Buy a Book, Win a Nook promotion and my first two published works are only a BUCK during this promotion.

      So, what could be better – two great stories for a buck each and a chance to add to your electronic gadget collection – it’s a win-win all around!

    While the first two children have left the nest, their two siblings are just about ready to graduation ‘high school.’

     HasteYe Back is an ode to my dear friends in Scotland and its soul was born while sitting on a stump at Loch Lomond, then sipping an Irn-Bru at the Drover’s. 

     Wise Men Say – well, eventually I had to work my hometown, Sheboygan, Wisconsin into a story or I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.

So, while those two are busy with extra-curricular activities, my ‘fifth child’ is in grad school taking advanced classes. For Me, will graduate this fall.

      And gosh darnit, my imagination is pregnant again. Like it always is!  I’ll let you know what gets spit out next!

When not playing with the people in her head, Wendy has a silly life working in TV and radio. She shares her clean, yet perpetually dusty hovel with her her way-too-cute chef husband and two furry feline kids. She's proud to be a displaced Cheesehead, now living in Cpl. Maxwell Klinger's hometown. 

Find her on Facebook, Twitter (@WendyBurke1994) or send her a nasty email (wendyburke1994@bex.net) to which she will promptly respond!

The four books above are available through Decadent Publishing and all reputable e-book distributors. Her fifth book, 'For Me,' another 1NightStand story through Decadent Publishing is due out this fall.

What's Next?

by Wendy Burke

What's next? Here I am again, wondering 'what's next?' when it comes to writing. 

Despite having a minimum of four dozen in-various-stages-of-completeness in my laptop, I still ask myself, 'What IS next?' 

 When I'm severely stuck, I usually email (read that whine to) my WBFF (that would be 'writing BFF') and beta reader, fellow Decadent Publishing writer, Deanna Wadsworth for a nudge. She's been flogging me for a good two years to finish something she likes to call 'Second Chance Dad,' but I'm thinking that title is already taken by some other author/publishing house and it's a bit too--the word escapes me--to use for this story. It has the title I gave it while watching Lake Michigan return again and again to the sugar-sand beaches of my hometown, Sheboygan, Wisconsin--'Wind Off the Lake.'   

 II've long wanted to use my hometown as more than just a passing setting (as in Wise Men Say), and in 'Wind Off the Lake' it works. Sheboygan is a great place to 'go home to,' and I've done that a lot in the past three years, helping my brother through a terrible illness. It never failed that every time I 'went home,' I came back with another story. 
 

Nice guy in high school!

 Sheboygan is a lovely, pleasant, simple town. Sure it's matured since my growing-up years of the 60s and 70s--it has its own problems with gangs and drugs. It pains me to see photos in the local paper of Kevlar-vested cops (good lookin' ones at that!) raiding a home near my old neighborhood. It saddens me my hometown needs a SWAT team. And, then there was the on-going 'scandal' with a former Mayor--yep, turned out he was a year behind me in high school. (Trust me, there's another work of fiction based, partially, on him as well!)

So, maybe 'Wind Off the Lake' is my next project--after all, it is 60-some-percent complete. I'd be happy and proud to show off my hometown through a little fictitious work, and maybe put that little burg on the map for something more than Mayor Bob discussing his sister-in-law's possible proclivities on a cell phone cam!

                When not playing with the people in her head, Wendy has a full time job behind the scenes in television, a part time job in radio and an even 'parter' time job trying to keep her house clean. She lives with her  cute chef husband and two fuzzy felines in the Great Lakes region of the Mid-West. For Me, Wendy's latest 1NightStand, and last in the series of six written with Deanna Wadsworth with overlapping characters, will be released in fall.

Wendy Burke's Bucket List...Done! Well, Maybe Not!

    You know I committed to the dear Blogmaven for Decadent Publishing, Valerie, that I would blog once a month - heck, that can't be difficult, right?

    Yeah, well sometimes it is.

    But then I thought - 'Hey, this company has afforded me the chance to knock a couple of things off my Bucket List, so I should give them some props!'

    So, Thank You, Lisa, Heather, Val, et al for getting me published.   Without you and the rest of your talented staff, tired Doughboy, Ryan would still be sitting alone in a bar in Morocco in Respite.
   
 Jake and Grace, although good friends, might have never known The One He Chose and why...
  
 Bryn wouldn't have had nearly the amazing time in Scotland without Ian urging her to Haste Ye Back...

 
    And, another Christmas would have gone by with Emmy waiting for her love to return and her listening to Elvis alone in Wise Men Say.
   
   Thanks to Decadent, there are now more than three couples and their various family and friends who have 'life' and better lives at that, afterall, you wouldn't want to be stuck in my head or laptop for eternity, now would you!

   In my lockbox are four certificates from the U.S Copyright Office with the above titles and my name on them as author---who would have thunk, huh? A little ole radio geek from Sheboygan, Wisconsin is a published writer! But then again, my old friends always knew I had people 'running around in my head.'

Thank you Decadent Publishing gang and readers! -- I know I don't say that enough!

 When not playing with the people in her head, Wendy has a silly life working in TV and radio. She shares her clean, yet perpetually dusty hovel with her her way-too-cute chef husband and two furry feline kids. She's proud to be a displaced Cheesehead, now living in Cpl. Maxwell Klinger's hometown. 

Find her on Facebook, Twitter (@WendyBurke1994) or send her a nasty email (wendyburke1994@bex.net) to which she will promptly respond!

What's on YOUR Bucket List? Tell Wendy and she'll give one commenter an ebook from her backlist!

Get Off My Duff!

by Wendy Burke

I have no excuses, even the way my life has been the past year or so is not an excuse. 

Best Big Brother, ever!

Some would say writing would be a great distraction, helping me forget about losing a job, the terror of trying to find a new one, and driving 800 miles roundtrip nearly every weekend for the past six months tending to my ailing lone sibling -- who died a week and a half before my latest story, Wise Men Say, was released.

But, life can interfere with writing. Right now, though, I have no excuse -- I have a job (two actually) and the last time I was in the car for more than six hours one way was to Nashville a few weeks back - the first 'real' vacation I've had since my brother took ill.

So, now it's time to GET OFF MY DUFF!

You see, my BWFF&BR (my 'best writing friend forever & beta reader), Deanna Wadsworth, just had #thebestever contracted. Why is that important to me?

Well, although the story stands alone, it's also part of a series of six 1NightStands the two of us are writing with overlapping characters. Should you read DW's (and no, not Darrell Waltrip!) Bear It All you'd find John is brother of Grace, the main character in my story -The One He Chose. The main character -Martin -  in the next 1NS, Deanna's Accidentally Beautiful, was Grace's concierge. When I penned Haste Ye Back, my Ian was an old friend of Martin's and Ian's 'date' Bryn a friend of Jason -- who is the main character in #thebestever.

And, where does that leave me? 5,000+ words into For Me, the story Jason's sister, Abby, who's having her own 1NightStand.


I don't regret that which distracted me for the past three years or so--it was time immensely well-spent with my brother, and I was able to get stories written and published.

I'm hoping, though, this time around, I can actually 'bask in the glow' of a a new story being released with little outside interference. Wish me luck!

Now, it's time to GET OFF MY DUFF and finish this story!

When not playing with the people in her head, Wendy has a full time job behind the scenes in television, a part time job in radio and an even 'parter' time job trying to keep her house clean. She lives with her cute chef husband and two fuzzy felines in the Great Lakes region of the Mid-West. 

 

Wise Men Say...

I wish I could figure it out, but I can't. Call it happenstance, a coincidence, or cheesy pun—I'm still trying to figure out where all the Elvis references came from in my latest story, Wise Men Say. 

Thankfully, the title goes well with the 'holiday-esque' story. Originally titled, Never Brought To Mind, my writer-bestie, fellow-NightStander and beta reader, Deanna Wadsworth mentioned the reference was a bit vague (the line is from the New Year's song, Auld Lang Syne). So since the story takes place during Christmas/New Year's, you can take the title as The Wise Men (as in 'we three Kings/men of orient are'), or a line from that Elvis song.

Songs come to mind when thinking of what my characters are going through. 

Emmy refuses to give up, she's been alone, waiting for someone a long time. Her family thinks her crazed, believing her situation will have a happy ending. So, naturally, Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx came to mind(...love the '80s hair).

 

 I don't want to give away the story, but the male character also has his troubles. He's been away for some years and just wants to be Home by Michael Buble..

A recent release, Some Nights, by Fun also works perfectly for this man's situation. I'm sure you know it, if not, take a look.

I

So, there's a bit of a musical peek into 'Wise Men Say.' 

Blurb:

Over twenty years ago, Emmy Patterson kissed her fiancé for the last time. Nick promised he’d return and despite bad news from U.S. military services since the day he went missing, she’d never lost hope he's alive and celebrates his life every chance she gets.

When The Castillo Hotel purchases some of her glass artwork, she spends the winter holidays in Las Vegas promoting it. But is this unexpected business travel a coincidence, or has the wise Madame Eve found a way to heal Em’s wounded heart?

And, I have a copy for one of you! Email me by midnight Dec. 23rd (wendyburke1994@bex.net) and one of you will win

a copy of Wise Men Say, along with a lovely, hand-blown glass ornament. 

Merry Christmas!

  

When not playing with the people in her head, Wendy has a full time job behind the scenes in television, a part time job in radio and an even 'parter' time job trying to keep her house clean. She lives with her cute chef husband and two fuzzy felines in the Great Lakes region of the Midwest. Wise Men Say, is Wendy's fourth story from Decadent Publishing.