CAROL BURNSIDE / ANNIE RAYBURN

One Uploaded, One to Go!

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Carol Burnside / Annie Rayburn

Heart 2 Heart, my short story collection, has officially flown the coop. It went live on Smashwords and All Romance ebooks last night. I’m posting new links on my Books page as soon as they’re available and I see them.

Problem is, I’m traveling all day, going to my daughter’s wedding reception in Denver. But I’ll try to keep up with links as best I can.

And on the “as soon as is humanly possible” agenda is Nobody’s Baby. I’m hoping to have it live with a week.

I’m officially debuting my cover art for Nobody’s Baby today. I think this is my favorite cover yet. What do you think?

Posted in Books, Carol Burnside, Cover Art, Going Places, Good News, New Release | Tagged cover art reveal, Heart 2 Heart, new release, short stories | Comments Off

It’s tea party time!

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Carol Burnside / Annie Rayburn

Yesterday’s post, On the way to the tea party, was about the reason why there was a tea party to attend, and the relaxation and nature during the days leading up to said party. No, make that THE TEA PARTY. I even bought a dress for this, y’all!

My hostess/date for this event was a terrific writer and friend, Susan Carlisle. I tease her about her throwback ideas of how people should dress at certain kinds of events, but even she draws the line at pantyhose, so we were good.

Susan drove us all the way to Madison, Georgia to the Madison Tea Room & Garden, which was decorated for fall.

Inside were pretty rooms of fragile, fine china, lovely gift items and well presented tables. While our table was being set, we moved into the back room and tried on hats from days gone by. What fun! We were too busy admiring each other and laughing to take pictures, but I did snap one of the hats before we left.

They were fabulous, as was the decor.

Did you think I’d gotten so wrapped up in the hats and decor that I’d forgotten about the tea and food? My weigh scale would tell you (if it could talk — and some days it seems to) that I absolutely did not forget about the aromatic teas or the savory sandwiches and fluffy clotted cream on delicately sweetened scones. We worked our way up those tiers without reservation.

I think all Susan and I left was a lonely piece of celery. Yep, that means we ate all the deserts too. Bad Carol, but I loved every minute of it and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Have you ever enjoyed a tea party?

Posted in Everyday blather, Going Places | Tagged Georgia, Madison, scones and clotted cream, Susan Carlisle, tea party | Comments Off

On the way to a tea party…

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Carol Burnside / Annie Rayburn

So, there was this charity auction earlier in the year that I forgot to contribute to due to writing deadlines. That led to me feeling I needed to support in some other way, so I bid on a listing which sounded wonderful: a tea party with one of my favorite people, Susan Carlisle.

Susan is a tea party enthusiast and I wanted to be, except I’d never attended one outside of the one she gave at her house a few years back. That one was lovely and I wanted to experience it again. I selected a maximum amount to bid then forgot about it until the auction was over. I figured I had a good chance, but was still surprised to receive notice that I was the high bidder. Yay!

Just one catch… Susan lives in Georgia, I’m in Arkansas. The tea was offered for the time frame surrounding the RWA National Conference in San Antonio. Susan and I were both attending, but our schedules were crazy. Plus, there was the whole hot tea/Texas in July issue. Not so appealing. We decided to wait until the fall, when I would attend Moonlight & Magnolias in Atlanta, like I usually do.

I arrived several days early for the conference. Susan and I schlepped out to her mom’s lake cottage for some writing and workshop building. It’s a lovely, serene setting, but a bit isolated, so we didn’t look like tea party types during our stay. Not to worry. We clean up.Still, no pics of us at our retreat will grace this post. Instead, I’ll show you the feathered and furred friends who visited us.

Reluctantly, we left the serenity of this place and headed back toward the Atlanta area for an overnight stay, cleanup and to re-pack for the conference. Our tea would bridge the gap between backwoods bliss and metropolitan bustle.