Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Unfaithful Widow Ten Years Later


It is my pleasure to welcome Author Barbara Barth to Thoughts in Progress today as part of her WOW! Women on Writing Tour for her book, THE UNFAITHFUL WIDOW TEN YEARS LATER.

Please join me as Barbara stops by to talk about her book and about starting a writing group. First, let me tell you about her delightful book.

Picking up where The Unfaithful Widow ended, Ten Years Later continues the author’s journey from widow to a slightly askew woman. A memoir written with warmth and candor on being single again, aging, and finding a creative path surrounded by dogs, friends, laughter, and a bit of craziness.
Barbara Barth shares stories on the adventures that followed her first year alone as she moved headfirst into a new life, listening to her heart, sometimes not so wisely, but always full speed ahead. Join her on the ride of her life, from owning an antique shop to moving to a Victorian cottage outside of Atlanta, and all the follies in between.
Going into the next decade with six dogs by her side, the author proves you are only as old as you feel, and happiness begins with a grateful heart. A funny and engaging memoir for anyone who wants to be their own superhero facing life’s good and bad moments.

* Print Length: 374 pages
* Genre: Memoir
* Publisher: Amazon Digital Services, LLC
* ASIN: B07YBNHXZG

The Unfaithful widow Ten Years Later is available in print and as an eBook at Amazon.com

Now join me in welcoming Barbara as she talks about starting a writing group. Welcome, Barbara.

One of my favorite things to do is to put people together with common interests. I’ve started social groups for dinners out, book clubs, and two writing groups over the past ten years. It’s good for me, keeps me busy and meeting new people, and great for others who are looking for kindred spirits.
    When I had my shop in Old Town, Lilburn, in 2011, I immediately started the Gwinnett County Writers Group. While the purpose of The Little Shop of Arts and Antiques was to sell antiques and gift items, I had discovered writing and published my memoir The Unfaithful Widow in 2010. Instead of focusing on the business of selling, I decided to follow my heart and make the shop a place for writers and artists to gather. We had local author book signings and a few writing classes. The next step was to start a writer’s group.
    A fantastic tool to help kick-start any group is Meetup.com (https://www.meetup.com/). I joined the online site and paid to become an organizer, so I could set up a page and post all our meetings and events. The grand thing about the site if you’re not familiar with it, people join for free, pick out the things they are interested in within a certain mile radius, and locate groups that are exactly what they are searching for. Keywords help, too.  I put up every writing term I could think of in the space allowed. Then I waited. There was interest and we had our first meeting.
      While I’m full of knowledge about writing, learning from the hit and miss self-taught technique, I wanted a more experienced writer to plan and run the meetings. This was not about me, but about helping others learn how to write. A local Steampunk author came by my shop and the rest was magic. She spearheaded the programs and I did the advertising and press. Our meetings were held in my shop space, but when I closed the shop’s doors permanently, our meetings moved to a local pizza restaurant. My favorite combination, pizza and writing.
     As with most everything I do, I did not charge a membership fee to join. My thought process was simple. This was a new adventure in a smaller town, and I wanted to draw people in. Initially, I wasn’t sure anyone would turn out. When I saw how nicely we were doing, I didn’t want to ask for money. A few folks kicked in to help cover my organizer fees on Meetup.
     Metro-Atlanta has many excellent writing groups, but I was not in a metro area. The great news, the folks in a few of the groups around me in Atlanta wrote about our Gwinnett County Writers and what we were accomplishing, with classes and a mini one-day conference, which helped us build our audience, too.
      My only advice for starting a writer's group is to have someone run the meetings that has more knowledge than you do. I do things my way with my writing and don’t follow traditional paths. I’m also in the learning process myself even after all these years. I wanted to offer programs that were more mainstream to give a good foundation to those wanting to learn the craft. It’s easy to find writers who want to give back by teaching others.

Barbara, thanks for stopping by to share these tips with us. Sounds like a great way to help one’s creativity.

Author Barbara Barth
For those who aren’t familiar with Barbara, here’s a bit of background on her.

Author, blogger, sometimes antique dealer, dog hoarder, bedazzled by life. Widowed ten years ago, Barbara writes about finding a creative path back to happiness. Her recent move to a 1906 historic cottage brought many surprises, including discovering the Monroe–Walton Center for the Arts where she started the monthly Walton Writers group and is on the MWCA Board as Literary Arts Chair.

Barbara is a contributor to Walton Living Magazine and a former blogger for The Balancing Act, Lifetime Television’s morning show for women. Currently she lives with six dogs, rescue dogs that rescued her. 

Visit her website at https://www.barbarabarthwriter.com/, follow her on Twitter @writerwithdogs, and follow her Amazon author page.


--- Blog Tour Dates

Today @ The Muffin
What goes better in the morning than a muffin? Grab your coffee and join us in celebrating the launch of Barbara Barth's new book The Unfaithful Widow Ten Years Later. You can read an interview with the author and enter to win a copy of the book.

November 12th @ All Things Audry
Author Barbara Barth is a guest writer over at Audry's blog today and will be talking about women friendships.

November 13th @ Words from the Heart
Stop by Linda's blog and you can read a guest post by Barbara Barth about publishing anthologies.

November 15th @ The World of My Imagination
Visit Nicole's blog and read her review of Barbara Barth's book The Unfaithful Widow Ten Years Later.

November 16th @ Lori Duff Writes
Stop by Lori's blog today where you can read her interview with Barbara Barth and read her review of Barbara's book The Unfaithful Widow Ten Years Later.

November 16th @ Jill Sheets Blog
Visit Jill's blog today and you can read Barbara Barth's guest post about self-publishing.

November 17th @ A Storybook World
Be sure to stop by Deirdra's blog today and check out her spotlight of the book The Unfaithful Widow Ten Years Later and enter to win a copy of the book!

November 18th @ Beverley A. Baird's Blog
Be sure you visit Bev's blog and read Barbara Barth's guest post about starting over at 70. You won't want to miss this!

November 19th @ Look to the Western Sky
Be sure to visit Margo's blog and read her interview with author Barbara Barth. Don't miss it!

November 20th @ Anthony Avina's Blog
Make sure you visit Anthony's blog today and read Barbara Barth's guest post about publishing anthologies.

November 21st @ Cassandra's Writing World
Stop by Cassandra's blog today and read her review of The Unfaithful Widow Ten Years Later. You can also enter to win a copy of the book as well!

November 22nd @ Karen Brown Tyson's Blog
Join us at Karen Brown Tyson's blog where you can read a guest post about self-publishing by author Barbara Barth. Don't miss it!

November 23rd @ Beverley A. Baird's Blog
Visit Bev's blog again and you can read her review of Barbara Barth's book The Unfaithful Widow Ten Years Later.

November 24th @ Choices
Be sure to stop by Madeline's blog and read Barbara Barth's guest post that will be talking about women friendships.

November 25th @ Wild Woman Writer
Visit Anne's blog today and you can read Barbara Barth's blog guest post about starting over at 70.

November 26th @ Life Like A Galaxy Girl
Stop by Alanna's blog today and you can read her review of Barbara Barth's memoir The Unfaithful Widow Ten Years Later.

November 27th @ Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews
Visit Lisa's blog today and you can read her interview with author Barbara Barth and find out more about this incredible author!

November 28th @ Bibliotica
Stop by Melissa's blog and make sure you read Barbara Barth's guest post about grief over the years and finding happiness again.

November 29th @ Stranded in Chaos
Visit Sara's blog and you can read her review of Barbara Barth's book The Unfaithful Widow Ten Years Later.

November 30th @ Anthony Avina's Blog
Visit Anthony's blog again and read his review of Barbara Barth's book The Unfaithful Widow Ten Years Later.

December 1st @ Words from the Heart
Visit Linda's blog and read her review of Barbara Barth's book The Unfaithful Widow Ten Years Later. 

December 2nd @ Women's Writing Circle
Stop by the blog Women's Writing Circle and you can read a guest post by Barbara Barth about adopting dogs while all her friends are having grandkids. Don't miss this one!

Thanks for stopping by today. Are you a part of a writing group or have you thought about starting one yourself?

3 comments:

  1. This does sound like an interesting memoir, Mason. It's a good reminder that, really, life is a journey more than a particular place we get to in our development. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. It sounds like it would be very funny.

    I've looked for book groups as well as writing groups through Meetup, for author visits for my authors and myself, but most either don't respond or aren't interested, which is a shame.

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  3. Thanks Mason for hosting me today on your wonderful blog! Just saw the photos of your sweet pets on the side bar. So hard to loose them, but what a lovely way to remember them here. And thanks for the comments above. I'm sorry you had bad experiences with Meetup. I don't do PR for them, but in my community it is a good way for folks to find out what we have to offer both with my writing groups and the art center. If you were nearby I'd love to have you come speak. We have a small, but strong, writing community in Walton County. Everyone knows everyone so it is easy to share. We're working hard to make Monroe the writing hub for Walton County. Have a great small independent book shop now, too. Lots going on. Would love to know more about your work! Chatty this morning with my coffee. Happens when you just live with dogs. Thanks again all.

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I'd love to hear your thoughts on today's post. Thanks for dropping by.