Smart Girls Read Romance -- so do the bestselling and award-winning Authors who write this blog.
Join them as they dish about Books, Romance, Love, and Life.






Friday, January 16, 2015

Inspired by Betty White? Absolutely! by Joan Reeves

When I saw that tomorrow is the birthday of Betty White, one of my favorite actresses, I changed my scheduled blog post so I could talk about Betty and some of the memorable roles she's created.

I confess that I didn't really "know" who she was even though, as a kid, I saw her on the game show Password, hosted by her late husband Allen Ludden.

Lusty Sue Ann: What a Gal

What I remember her for the most was Sue Ann Nivens, the lusty broad on the Mary Tyler Moore Show which I saw in reruns.

If you read the Wiki article, you'll see why she's in the Guinness book of records for being the female entertainer with longest career.

At 88, she was the oldest person to host SNL. Now 93, she just won a People's Choice Award and scored an escort onto the stage by the oh-so-cute Chris Evans.

Always On My Mind

Last month, I thought about Betty a lot. I was writing a short story based on the Vernon Ladies Bridge Club from my romantic comedy Jane (I'm Still Single) Jones.

I've had so many readers email me, telling me how delightful they found the blue-haired ladies of the Vernon Ladies Bridge Club--where no one actually plays bridge. These ladies run society in the fictional town of Vernon, and they specialize in matchmaking and mayhem.

As I was writing the book, I was mentally casting the parts of the four main characters. I decided Betty White would be perfect for the role of the leader of the pack: Miss Mamie, an elderly maven who never leaves home without her sweep of false eyelashes and her signature bright red lipstick.

Unfortunately, I got so caught up in having a "real life" during the holidays, I didn't have the story ready to publish by the time all the ebook publishers shut down for the holidays so I shelved it until next year.


Other Story

Instead of publishing "Betty's story," I published LuvU4Ever, a romance short story that is the first of a new short story series, A Moment in Time.

David and Noelle fell in love when they were eighteen. They promised to love each other forever. Now, it's 10 years later, and Noelle is heartbroken because she thinks she's lost David.

About LuvU4Ever

LuvU4Ever, that's what David had engraved on the plain gold heart he gave Noelle when he proposed.

Can 9 little words destroy a Forever love?

I told you NEVER to call me at home.

Noelle faces the biggest decision of her life. Will she stay? Will she dish out some payback? Or will she just walk away?

I love this story and hope you'll like it too. Want to watch the video book trailer? It's getting a lot of views so it must be hitting some hot buttons. (I'd be so appreciative if you'd click LIKE and Subscribe to my YouTube Channel.)

LuvU4Ever, at These Ebook Sellers: All Romance eBooks * Amazon Kindle * Kobo * Nook * Smashwords.

In Conclusion...

Happy Birthday, Betty White. May you have many more. Cha-Cha-Cha (That's how we always end the birthday song in our family.

About Joan Reeves

Bestselling romance author Joan Reeves lives her happily ever after with her husband in the Lone Star State. Her books, available as ebooks and audiobooks, all have the underlying theme that is her motto: "It's never too late to live happily ever after." Find Joan online: Blog * Website | Subscribe to WordPlay, her free NL for readers, or Writing Hacks, her free NL for writers.

4 comments:

  1. Betty White is one of my favorites. There's one show that never appears on her bio and that's "Life With Elizabeth." I don't know why, but it was such a cute show back in the late 1950s (Telling my age).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually, I'd never heard of that show until I read her bio. She's remarkable in everything I think.

      Delete
  2. Betty White is like the Energizer Bunny of actresses! Such a great inspiration for all of us to keep on doing what we love -- no matter our age.
    Great post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I totally agree. I wonder if all those years of playing Password sharpened her wit to such a keen edge. *g*

      Delete

Thank you for commenting on Smart Girls Read Romance. We love readers and love their comments. We apologize that due to a few unethical spammers we've had to institute comment moderation. Please be patient with us... we DO want your genuine comments!