A Big "Ripple" Day Today!

I have been looking forward to this day for a long time now. It has to do with the Ripple Effect Romance Novella Series.

So, what is this Ripple thing anyway?

"Like a pebble tossed into calm water,

a simple act can ripple outward and have a far-reaching effect on those we meet,

perhaps setting a life on a different course—

one filled with excitement, adventure, and sometimes even love."

What's fun about this series is that each book is complete in itself--except that a minor character in Book 1 will become the main character in Book 2. A minor character in Book 2 will become the main character in Book 3 and so forth. 

While each story could be a stand alone, we do recommend reading them in order so you aren't spoiled, since they are linked.

So what's the big deal today?

The first book launches!

Book 1 - Home Matters by Julie N. Ford 

According to her mother, Olivia Pembroke was born to be a star. But how is she supposed to be famous

when she can't even get a decent acting gig? Her lucky break comes when she lands an audition for a wildly popular home improvement show. Even though she has no design training and has never even held a power tool, she refuses to let that stop her. She's confident that her destiny is finally within reach. 

When her affections are torn between her heartthrob co-host and the irritating, yet somehow endearing lead contractor, does she continue to reach for the stars? Or does she design a new happily ever after? One that leads not to the fading lights of fame and fortune, but to a love that will burn forever. 

MY TAKE:
I read the book aloud to my hubby, and we LOVED it! There is so much heart to this story. And humor! I love to read to my husband because he's such an audio listener, and he doesn't hold anything back. In fact, I have to shush him in the theater.

We loved experiencing Olivia's journey with her. We sympathized with her, ached for her, laughed with her and at her sometimes. I wanted to smack her upside the head on occasion.

The chemistry between Olivia and Pete is fast--not in a good way either in the beginning. Pete totally cracked us up. In real life I'd probably kill someone like him but, you know, maybe not. His humorous snark and sometimes too-brutal honesty made his serious moments that much more profound.

For a romance to work for me, I have to fall in love too. I did, and my husband cried. This book is a total winner, and I will for sure read it again.

GOODREADS | AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | KOBO

The rest of the books will release as follows:

Book 2 - Silver Linings by Kaylee Baldwin - March 24

Book 3 - Righting a Wrong by Rachael Anderson- April 7

Book 4 - Lost and Found by Karey White - April 21

Book 5 - Second Chances 101 by Donna K. Weaver (moi!)- May 5

Book 6 - Immersed by Jennifer Griffith - May 19

You can find out more about these books by clicking here.

Twist of Luck Blog Tour

I've got a special guest today--author Jaclyn Weist--to tell you about the blog tour for her new book Twist of Luck, Book 2 of The Luck Series. You can see my review of Book 1 here. 

Take it away, Jaclyn!

Every day a different blog will post a question. When you find the answer, send an email to me at:   jaclynweist@gmail.com

Twist of Luck Blog Tour

I will draw a winner each day from those that got it correct. You can find the answers on Wikipedia.

The answers will also be posted the next day on the next post in the tour, along with the next trivia question. Some questions deal with colors of the rainbow. Other questions deal with leprechauns. 

And, of course, at the end of the rainbow, there's a pot of gold. In that pot of gold will be an Amazon gift card! Those that answer questions by sending me an email will be entered to win the gift card on the last day.

And don't forget to purchase a copy of book one, Stolen Luck. The great news is that it's $.99 right now! That link is here. 

Good luck!!

Yesterday's Answer:

Ireland's nickname is the Emerald Isle because of how GREEN it is.

Today's Question:

What do leprechauns usually do for a living?

The prize: ebook of A Change of Plans

About Twist of Luck: 

Megan finally has her luck back and hopes that life will return to normal. Unfortunately, the magical world has other plans. Suddenly, she find she has fairies following her to provide security, dragons become a constant threat, and an imp tracks her every move. As if that wasn’t enough, her luck begins to manifest itself in ways she could never imagine.

About Jaclyn:

Jaclyn is an Idaho farm girl who grew up loving to read. She developed a love for writing as a senior in high school, when her dad jokingly said she was the next Dr. Seuss (not even close but very sweet). She met her husband, Steve at BYU and they have six happy, crazy children that encourage her writing. After owning a bookstore and running away to have adventures in Australia, they settled back down in their home in Utah. Jaclyn now spends her days herding her kids to various activities and trying to remember what she was supposed to do next.

Find the answer and tomorrow's question at:

Laura Bastian at www.lauradbastian.com

Author Interview - Anna del C. Dye

I'd like to welcome author Anna del C. Dye to my blog today. Her newest book, The Roilden Stones of Elf Mountain is out.

Liberty … or Monarchy? Should the wisest of races choose such a path, or return to the traditional council? Their queen has lost the Roilden Stones of Elf Mountain to a power-hungry wizard. After all, one can be deceived, but twenty?

With the stones missing, a fatal drought grips Andoriah, the new elfin home. Death to all is imminent. Who will retrieve the Stones when the Gold Elfs won’t act? Will heroes arise before Andoriah burns in eternal fire?  Can the missing elf queen and her daughter be found?

The Roilden Stones of Elf Mountain is the long awaited prequel, and final installment in Anna del C.’s elf series. Discover the Elfs, an eternal race who chose to live in a world of woes away from their motherland. Love them, feel their pain and their happiness in a land that will test the core of their beliefs and bravery. Written in the genre of The Lord of the Rings and the Shannara series, The Roilden Stones of Elf Mountain comes alive with battles, heroism, action and romance. 

GOODREADS | AMAZON

What was your favorite chapter to write to write in this book and why?

The last chapter of The Roilden Stones of Elf Mountain:

The main male character is so worried that the princess will never give up her powers that he pushes her away from his heart, breaking hers in the process. There are many tender feelings in this chapter as families and race heal their wounds in love and harmony. Also this chapter is the basis for all my elf beliefs, actions, and the core of what defines them as a race. Coupled with romance and tears…yes, it was awesome.

What book are you reading now?

Thirty pages of Nine books in the category of Young Adults for a contest I am helping judge.

If you had a superpower, what would it be? How would you use it?

It would be “to be able to read minds.”

So many problems arise by one party believing that the other meant or said something different from what they did. It would be nice to always know the truth. I would use it to be the ultimate truth, especially in criminal cases.

About the author

Anna del C. has received numerous awards like “First Page” “First Chapter” in three of her books. A bronze Medal for book three in The Silent Warrior Trilogy and honor place in other.

Anna is fluent in Spanish and English and love to travel the world.

Amazon
Webpage

IWSG - Maybe

Click here to find out more and to see a list of other IWSG blogs.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

As I write this, I'm on my fourth chest cold (and ears and sinuses) since right after Christmas. Maybe the fact that I've felt like crap for two months is taking its toll on my outlook.

Maybe I'm running out of stories to tell.

Maybe not.

Maybe I'm sick and tired (of being sick and tired? haha) of the marketing part of being a published author. Definitely this part.

Maybe I am just looking back on the carefree days when I wrote for the sheer pleasure of it, when I had no delusions of publication.

Maybe I need to get another hobby.

Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.

Maybe I'll go finish those edits from my editor.

Fallen Angel by Lisa Swinton

Fallen Angel

Antonio does not believe in love at first sight until he sees her fall into a street in Milan and get hit by a motorcycle. Compelled to know if she can return his affection, he becomes Renatta’s hospital volunteer only to learn that the accident erased her memory. Together they must discover her past, present and future. In the way of happily ever after stand her opera career, tyrannical mother, and fiancé.  Antonio must win Renatta’s heart before she bends to the will of her mother and marries Marcello.  Failure means a lifetime of loneliness, for love at first sight never happens twice.

GOODREADS | AMAZON

About the Author
Lisa Swinton caught the romance bug early by way of fairy tales and hasn’t been able to cure it since. Instead, she feeds her addiction with romance novels and films. In between being a doctor’s wife and mother of two, she occasionally puts her B.A. in Musical Theater to good use via community theater, church choir and teaching the art of singing. In her elusive spare time she enjoys researching her family tree and baking (especially with chocolate). She loves to travel, Jane Austen, and all things Italian. In her next life, she plans to be a professional organizer

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Critiques, Movies, and Writing

Kind of all over today--the last movie I discuss will relate to writing.

Managing Your Critiques
Over at the iWriteNetwork blog, I wrote a post about a handy technique that will make it easier to manage all the critiques you get back for a WiP. You can check it out here.

Movies
Hubby and I finally got to see a couple of movies that were on our to-watch list. The first was The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

I don't know yet if I liked it. I'm going to hold my judgement until the third movie comes out because I had some plot issues that might be resolved there. It was definitely slower paced, and I kept having feelings of 'been there, done that'.

And good grief but Tolkien sure had a lot of "men who should be king" running around Middle Earth, didn't he?

I knew that the Martin Freeman who plays Dr. Watson on the BBC series Sherlock Holmes (love it!) was Bilbo, but I didn't realize they'd enlisted the aid of Benedict Cumberbatch who plays Holmes to be the voice of the dragon Smaug. Cumberbatch's voice is so deliciously deep that it's perfect--as you can see in this clip:





The second movie was Saving Mr. Banks. Wonderful story and the acting is exceptional. I've watched the movie Mary Poppins many times over the years, but now I want to see it again. I'm sure I'll view it differently.



This story totally supports one of my favorite saying:

You are who you are because of where you were when ...  

What happens to us and around us shapes who we are, how we view the world. Ask Baby Boomers where they were when John Kennedy was assassinated. Few won't be able to tell you--in great detail. It was the same way for people when Pearl Harbor was bombed and when the Twin Towers fell.

One of the (only) advantages to getting older is living enough years to be able to put things in perspective, to have lived through the changing times so you saw the transition.

What does this have to do with writing? 
Writers should be thinking about that statement--we are who we are because of where we were when...--as we craft our characters' backstories. If we're writing contemporary or even historical fiction, we need to consider what major events might have shaped our characters. If we're writing fantasy, we have more latitude since we're making it up anyway, but we should still be asking ourselves what happened to our characters to make them so passionate about whatever it is that drives them.

But, as so deftly shown in Saving Mr. Banks, we must also consider what personal or family tragedy might have made the characters the way they are in the book. This can be so much fun with antagonists, finding what happened to make them believe a certain way.

What about you?

What do you do to manage your critiques?

Have you seen either of those films? Did you like them?
Have you lived through an historical event you'll never forget?

Elevated by Elana Johnson

The ever-awesome Elana Johnson has just launched a new book!

The last person seventeen-year-old Eleanor Livingston wants to see on the elevator—let alone get stuck with—is her ex-boyfriend Travis, the guy she's been avoiding for five months.

Plagued with the belief that when she speaks the truth, bad things happen, Elly hasn’t told Trav anything. Not why she broke up with him and cut off all contact. Not what happened the day her father returned from his deployment to Afghanistan. And certainly not that she misses him and still thinks about him everyday.

But with nowhere to hide and Travis so close it hurts, Elly’s worried she won’t be able to contain her secrets for long. She’s terrified of finally revealing the truth, because she can’t bear to watch a tragedy befall the boy she still loves.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | KOBO | iTUNES | GOODREADS

Praise for ELEVATED:

"ELEVATED will take you on an emotionally gripping journey through the highs and lows of first love."

~Carolee Dean, author of Take Me There and Forget Me Not

"Poignant, raw, and intense, ELEVATED is a novel that will grip your heart and linger in your mind long after you turn the last page."

~Stasia Ward Kehoe, author of Audition and The Sound of Letting Go

Elana Johnson’s work, including Possession, Surrender, Abandon, and Regret, published by Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster), is available now everywhere books are sold. Her popular ebook, From the Query to the Call, is also available for free download, as well as a Possession short story, Resist. School teacher by day, Query Ninja by night, you can find her online at her personal blog or Twitter. She also co-founded the Query Tracker blog, and contributes to the League of Extraordinary Writers.

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