Announcement

Book Babble and Insurance Payoff

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Learn all about Lindaland and my two new monthly get-togethers: Book Babble and Insurance Payoff. If you’re a writer or insurance professional, why don’t you join me?

Looking Backward

The past couple of years have been a time of discovery for me, as I stepped away from working full-time in the insurance industry. Now, I’m spending my time:

  • Writing. I finished one novel and am working on another. I’ve also written several short stories and a few insurance textbooks.
  • Teaching live insurance continuing education webinars 3 days a week for BetterCE.
  • Offering training/consulting services.

I gained some podcasting experience during this time, and you can find short videos on YouTube at Taking the Mystery out of Insurance and The Writer’s Voice playlist. I also created and hosted Craft Chat, a live monthly video meeting where unpublished members of our writer’s organization met with me and another published writer to ask their questions about the craft of writing.

This coming October I’ll celebrate my 50th year working in the insurance industry, and 2024 marks my 18th year as a published writer. These two industries I love have provided me with the ability to support myself and my family while also allowing me a creative outlet and the ability to realize a personal dream.

The Here and Now

Now that I have some time on my hands, I fully intend to have fun and I invite you to join me!

What I liked most about my podcasts and Craft Chat were the interactions with people who share my interests. Sharing our unique perspectives and experiences was uplifting and, in many cases, inspirational.

What I liked least was the technical work bringing the podcast conversations to a finished product and limiting my Craft Chat participants to members of my writer’s organization.

To use an old Romper Room saying, I put my thinking hat on. Then, I grabbed the magic wand my friend Lois McElravy gave me, waved it over my head, and promptly came up with two brilliant ideas. (Okay, I admit, there was more to the process than that!)

Moving Forward

I’m now hosting two monthly Zoom meetings at Lindaland: Book Babble and Insurance Payoff. Regardless of which meeting you attend, the setting is one for us to gather, chat freely about topics of interest/concern to us, and support each other.

  • Book Babble – for writers of all genres, published and unpublished
  • Insurance Payoff – for insurance professionals

I also envision these meetings as offering potential matchmaking opportunities. No, not for romance, silly! But for:

  • Writers who want to connect with possible beta readers, critique partners, and other writers who can help with those craft challenges.
  • Insurance professionals who are seeking access to new markets, refreshing sales ideas, and other industry representatives who can broaden their horizons.

For more information visit Lindaland on my website.

Mystery Making Event on March 6

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SW Florida Reading Festival Mystery Making March 6, 2021.

You might be wondering what a mystery making event is. Well, let me explain…

Mystery Making is the brainchild of Sisters in Crime New England, a writers organization of which I’m a member. Back when we writers made live presentations, mystery making events were primarily conducted in libraries. A panel of four writers would work with an audience to create a brand-new mystery.

In a mystery making event, members of the audience suggest:

  • Character names
  • The plot and the setting (including time period)
  • Who the unsuspecting victim of foul play is
  • Who the villain is
  • What the motivation for the dastardly deed is

Nowadays, we’re conducting these events virtually and on March 6, Sisters in Crime New England (SinCNE) will be joining our sisters from the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter at the SW Florida Reading Festival. The Florida Gulf Coast Chapter’s booth at the festival includes recorded and live events.

Four of our chapter’s board members will present a live Mystery Making event from 1 to 2 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, March 6. Join Lisa Lieberman, Lorraine Sharma Nelson, Tonya Price, and me. Registration information will be available soon.

Main Stage Event

Here is a video of a Main Stage event, Noir at the Bar, hosted by the Lee County Library System. Click the link or image to launch the video.

Save the date for Noir at the Bar, a main stage event at the Southwest Florida Reading Festival.

More Information

The SW Florida Reading Festival runs from March 1 to 13, is free, and involves the following types of activities:

  • Author panels
  • Author presentations
  • Book selling
  • Live author meet-and-greet sessions

Children’s programs air at 6 p.m. and adult programs air at 7 p.m. Featured authors appear in virtual online booths on Saturdays. More information and registration for the event can be found online here.

When the registration URL is available for Linda’s mystery making event on March 6, it will appear here.

SILA Foundation Webinar

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I’m honored to have been asked by the SILA Foundation to develop and present a webinar for their monthly series.

The webinar will be presented live on Thursday, May 21 at 3 p.m. Eastern time. The topic is: Insuring Cannabis Risks.

Click here to register: https://www.silafoundation.org/2020/05/webinar-insuring-cannabis-risks/

Attention Writers: Want Help Marketing?

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In light of shelter in place orders, those of us who have published books in the past couple of months have found it difficult to share the word about our new releases. Even without social distancing, marketing ourselves can be difficult.

I just launched The Writer’s Voice podcast, which is a forum to discuss their craft … and their books. In most cases, I will also post YouTube videos of each guest. I’m currently in the process of interviewing and recording my first five guests and plan to air the first episode on Wednesday, May 27th.

If you are interested in being a guest on the podcast, visit my website’s Podcast page and complete the request form.

Feel free to share this post with any writers you know!

Book Release Date: May 26

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Pre-Order and Save!

If you pre-order the eBook now, your cost will be $2.99. Beginning May 26, the full price for the eBook will be $3.99.

Click here to pre-order on Amazon

Relationships

People, and how you get along with them, define your professional reputation. Do people like you? Do they trust you? Do they want to refer you to their families and friends? In Chapter Five of Taking the Mystery out of Business, Linda McHenry explains in detail how your sincerity, generosity, and understanding of people create the basis for all your business relationships and demonstrate your degree of professional success.