Welcome to the Rhode Island Authors Showcase! Each day in November, this blog will feature a different Rhode Island author. Read the post and leave a comment and you are eligible to win this day’s giveaway!
Leave a comment every day this month for over 30 chances to win either our Grand Prize (a $200 Amazon gift card), our Bonus Prize (a $100 Amazon gift card), or a Cheer-Up Prize (amount to be determined), just in time for holiday shopping!
A winner will be randomly selected one week after the publication of the blog post, and the Grand Prize and Bonus Prize winners will be randomly selected on December 7, 2021. For the daily giveaways, the author will contact you directly to coordinate delivery. Print books for delivery within the US only, please.
What’s in a name?
When Tabitha Lord started writing, she knew without a doubt that her first book would be science fiction. She loves the genre. She loves tackling real-world problems in other-worldly settings. She feels it gives her a certain freedom to explore challenging themes but with a bit of distance from those issues found here on planet earth.
Well, that first book turned into a trilogy. She then wrote and published several short fiction stories, including some horror and high fantasy, and she is currently working on edits with her agent for an urban fantasy novel. Thus far, all of Tabitha’s writing fit nicely under the umbrella of ‘speculative’ fiction. According to Wikipedia, speculative fiction is a broad category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, nature, or the present universe. While horror might be a departure from science fiction, and fantasy deals more in magic than space ships, they all share common speculative features and feel like close cousins. She was confident most of her readers would be willing to try most of those stories.
Find this trilogy and Tabitha’s other books on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/ytu8uyat
And learn all about Tabitha by visiting her website: http://www.tabithalordauthor.com
Somewhere along the way, however, Tabitha had the urge to write romantic suspense. She enjoys writing the steamy stuff! She also enjoys the deeply emotional nature of the genre and the happily-ever-after endings that romance provides. When she tried my hand at it, she found a good bit of success. Tabitha’s Tactical Solutions International series sold more books in a couple of weeks than her science fiction sold in a year! Certainly, sales numbers aren’t the only measure of success for a writer, but they did give her the encouragement she needed to continue writing romance.
One of the first decisions she made when she decided to genre hop was to use the pen name Maggie Clare. She knew there would be very little overlap between her speculative fiction fans and romance fans, and the marketing and promotional work would target a completely different set of readers. Of course, that meant she’d have to maintain two separate author platforms. The Maggie Clare platform looks and feels completely different from the Tabitha Lord Author platform, but Tabitha will admit, it’s fun! When she’s writing or interacting as Maggie, she actually feels more playful and flirty.
She’s been asked where the name ‘Maggie Clare’ came from. Tabitha’s grandmothers were two spunky ladies, very different from one another, but both avid readers. Unfortunately, they passed away before her writing career began, so she decided to honor them by using their first names to make up her pen name. As Tabitha says, she thinks they’d get a kick out of it!
And find all of Maggie Clare’s books here: https://tinyurl.com/3a282a25
And visit Maggie’s website, too! http://www.msmaggieclare.com
So, if you win today’s giveaway, you can choose which signed book you’d like to receive – HORIZON by Tabitha Lord, or SING FOR ME by Maggie Clare! Just leave a comment below indicating which book you would prefer to win.
Join us on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, from 9:00am to 3:00pm at the CROWNE PLAZA in Warwick for the 9th Annual Rhode Island Authors Expo!
Martha Reynolds Writes 
Sing for me🎶
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HORIZON by Tabitha Lord or SING FOR ME by Maggie Clare…I can’t decide.
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Sing For Me. I’m sure your Grandmother’s are smiling down at you and all you’ve accomplished.
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I’m a science fiction guy. I just purchased Horizon. It looks great. Best wishes on all your books.
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Horizon for me please! It’s been on my radar for a while 🙂
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Sing For Me would be my choice. I love the title, romance novels, and also enjoyed hearing the wonderful story of how you decided to use your two grandmothers’ names. Very inspirational and their spirits will be a part of your stories!
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Romance too? I had no idea. I love how your pen name was born – a wonderful tribute to your grandmothers. I would be delighted to win either one of your books.
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Hi, I loved reading this post, especially how you chose and for who you chose your pen name, great way to honor your grandmothers. Your books sound like great reads! I would choose the signed copy of Sing For Me if chosen. Thank you so much for the chance. Have a great weekend and stay safe.
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A saucy, spicy, hot romance to get me through the winter, please.
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I love that her pen name honors her grandmothers. If I’m picked, I would like Horizon.
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I would love either one
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I am “Speculative Fiction” (I love that name for the inclusive genre) all the way and looking forward to reading your trilogy.
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Tough decision, but I will go with the Sing For Me. Best of luck with both genres.
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That’s quite a dichotomy of genres…must keep the research/writing interesting. Either book would be great, SF for me Romance for the wife.
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Who has two names? A pen name and a real name??? That seems so odd…………signed Zulu Delta,,,,er, ah I mean Dennis Downes……….no wait Zulu Downes…….no wait……..
Horizon looks interesting!
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I’m a Kindle girl (bad wrists), so I’d love a kindle version of Horizon if I win! Such an interesting writing journey — I’m loving learning more about RI authors!
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I would like to read Horizon.
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I would love your book by Maggie Clare (Sing For Me)
I know your Grandmothers would love this!
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I have Horizon, . It’s time to get the other two in the trilogy.
I love the heartwarming story of how you came up with a pen name, Tabitha, as well as the way you’re tacking the two genre.
Wishing you continued success in both the speculative fiction and romance fields.
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Oops. I posted before carefully proofreading and cannot delete my comment, but here it is again, cleaned up:
I have Horizon. It’s time to get the other two books in the trilogy.
I love the heartwarming story of how you came up with a pen name, Tabitha, as well as the way you are tacking the two genre.
Wishing you continued success in both the speculative fiction and romance fields.
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I would like a signed copy of Horizon, should my name be chosen.
Wishing you continue success!
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Maggie Clare? Boy the things you learn through Martha’s Blog! Best of luck at Comicon this weekend.
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If I win, I would like a signed copy of Sing For Me. This was a tough decision as I enjoy science fiction and romance genres.
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Yes ! Tabitha Lord’s book HORIZON appears to be eye-catching . It may be a scientific fiction but I feel my liking tilts towards this . So , anyone including me , if win , will prefer HORIZON to get it . Thanks .
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