Category Archives: Publicity

Launch day for my novel, A Shadow in the Past, is getting closer

My novel’s cover created by Aidana WillowRaven

The closer launch day gets, the more excited I get. I still can’t believe it’s really happening. Me – having my novel published. Wow!

So what have I been doing the closer launch day gets? Well, I’ve put a countdown timer here on my blog and on the novels page of my website and I won’t bore you with how many days, hours, minutes and seconds it is until September 15 and the Kansas Book Festival arrives, which I’ll be attending.

Last week, I discovered that if I searched my name at amazon.com my book is listed. No cover image but it is there. The first day I saw myself there, the note said sign up for e-mail notification when this product becomes available or something to that effect. I checked again a the next day and I was in stock along with a retail price but still no cover image and now, there were 3 other sellers with new copies. Yesterday, I was temporarily out of stock and up to 4 other sellers. Follow the bouncing book?

I decided it was as good a time as any to set up my author page at amazon so worked on it yesterday. You can view it at amazon.com/Melanie-Robertson-King

And back to the bouncing book … this morning when I looked, I ship in 1 to 3 weeks.

Even though I said I wouldn’t do it, I have to … 40 days, 14 hours, 15 minutes and counting. And by the time this post goes live, the time to launch will be shorter.

lovehappyending.com author Owen Carey Jones launches his novel Rough Cut

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Rough Cut

Rough Cut is an international mystery thriller set in the UK and on the French Riviera. Populated with well drawn characters, it is filled with suspense and intrigue and the many twists and turns introduce the reader to the fascinating world of synthetic diamonds.

When a New York dealer in gemstones discovers a number of top quality synthetic diamonds in a batch he has bought, industry watchdog, the Federation of International Diamond Traders calls in Belizean, Carter Jefferson to trace their origin.

Carter, a synthetic diamond specialist who recently quit working or the FIDT to concentrate on writing but who still works for them on an ad hoc basis, is reluctant to take the case until he finds a reference in the file which takes him back 25 years to the time he was a geology student at Oxford University.

Old relationships are revived and family secrets emerge as an attractive English girl and a passionate young Frenchman are sucked into the web of deceit and death surrounding the illicit gems.

Review:-

What can I say about Rough Cut other than it was difficult to put down. Owen’s style drew me in immediately and kept me hooked until the very end. His characters are believable and with the exception of the villains, are extremely likeable.

Carter Jefferson, the main character in the book, is a diamond expert and author. His expertise in the gems and previous work with the FDIT leads him back on a freelance basis into the case of synthetic diamonds getting into a shipment of real ones.

A trip to England for a book signing hooks him up with the former love of his life, Nicole. She’s had her share of tragedies since her father forced her to break up with Carter when they studied at Oxford. Her husband was killed in an accident a few short years ago and now, between the time Carter has his signing in London and arrives in the village in Yorkshire, her son is murdered.

As Owen led me through the trail of murder suspects and where the synthetic diamonds were coming from, he kept me guessing who was behind the plot.

I love to curl up with a good crime read and this one definitely fit the bill.

loveahappyending.com author Sue Fortin launches her novel United State of Love

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United State of Love

My Journey as an Unpublished Author:-

“I have always dabbled with writing and always loved reading so when I had the opportunity last year to concentrate on writing, I grabbed it. It was a case of now or never to get that novel written.

So August 2010 I began my plotting and planning. I had one scene in my mind, a confrontation between two lovers over an ex. It had no story leading up to it and no story following it but it was the beginning of French Kissing in the UK, which has since become United State Of Love. I then went about building up other scenes that these three characters might find themselves in. My next step was to link these scenes with a story line. Funnily enough, the scene that started it all off never made the final manuscript, it just didn’t fit in with the story I had created.

While I was writing, I joined the Romantic Novelist Association under their New Writers Scheme and duly submitted my novel, receiving a critique back about four weeks later. Okay, I hadn’t written the perfect novel, I didn’t get a second read, I wasn’t put in contact with an agent and I wasn’t offered a three book deal with a mega advance. It took a couple of weeks for me to get over myself and realise that actually the critique had made some very valid observations, particularly concerning motivation of two of my characters. However, I wasn’t sure if I had the energy or enthusiasm to rectify this as it wasn’t something that could just be tweaked. Nonetheless, I didn’t want to give in and headed back to the laptop with a vengeance. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the re-write, which was pretty much the first half with tweaking of the remainder.

My next step was to get some feedback from other people. The lovely Associate Reader Lou Graham and fellow Featured Author Nicky Wells both read it independently, giving me encouragement and advice for which I am very grateful.

My final step of the process was to have my novel professionally edited and proofread by Kit Domino, who is also a Featured Author with Love A Happy Ending. I am very grateful to her for ironing out the rough edges, leaving me with a polished novel ready for publication on 11 July this year.”

loveahappyending.com author Richard F Holmes launches his Angelic Wisdom Trilogy

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Angelic Wisdom Trilogy

Richard Holmes’ Angelic Wisdom Trilogy combines three of Richard’s earlier volumes and has been updated.

This wonderful trilogy of angelic insights started life back in 2002, and was originally three separate volumes. It is a delightful piece of work that allows the reader to take a peek into the very souls of these truly amazing celestial beings that we like to refer to as angels. The first part of the book goes into great detail as to how the angels function and what they actually do for the Earth and mankind in general.

Part two gives a deep insight into spiritual (natural) law and answers the kind of questions that tend to keep the average mere mortal frustrated and in the dark. For example, have you ever wondered why you continuously seem to attract the same kinds of people into your life that always causes you hurt and pain? This question and many more are dealt with within the pages of part two.

There are also question and answer sessions in parts one and two, between the author and his celestial guardian, that are both thought provoking and interesting to say the least.

Finally, part three consists entirely of such a session and deals with matters that the author felt remained unanswered from the previous two volumes. This book will change your life; you can’t afford NOT to read it.

Celtic Connexions welcomes Gilli Allan

Celtic Connexions is thrilled to welcome author, Gilli Allan, fresh from her interview at Radio Stafford. No need to worry about hyperventilating here, Gilli. This is a really laid back, relaxed place but in case you do, I am prepared.

So we won’t beat around the bush any longer, we’ll get straight to the fire from the frying pan… well sort of. We’ll at least put Gilli on the hot seat.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself and what initially sparked you to write.

I suspect I’ve always been a writer.  Long before I was capable of committing more than a few laborious sentences to the page, I routinely developed long and complex stories in my head, peopled typically with fairies, princes and princesses and the sons and daughters of red-Indian chieftains.  And at primary school, instead of the usual playground games, I forced my friends to enact these dramas.

The idea that I could write down the story I wanted to read did not occur to me until I was ten or thereabouts. Inspired by Georgette Heyer, my fifteen year old sister had begun to write her own Regency Romance.  I copied my big sister.  Set in the olden days, my plot revolved around a party of ladies visiting a lighthouse.  They were trapped there by bad weather.  During the storm, my young hero – the 16 year old son of the lighthouse keeper – fell on the rocks. Confined to a couch by his not too serious injuries, he was nursed by my young heroine. My sister finished her novel, but my imagination and energy failed after only three or four illustrated pages of a small format notebook. But the writing seed had been planted and I continued with the hobby through my teenage.

The ‘love on a lighthouse’ story was a one-off.  Although I did enjoy those Regency romances so beloved of my sister, my own writing settled into a more contemporary style, and dwelt in a darker, seedier world – a world I had no experience of.  I was a lazy and innocent middle-class teenager.  Doubtless I was compensating, through my romantic fantasies, for my lack of a real love life.  I had to rely entirely upon my imagination and, unsurprisingly, never finished anything. I’m sure I bored my friends witless by insisting on reading passages out to them in the break times of the girl’s grammar school I attended.  An experience which wasn’t enhanced for them by the fact I couldn’t get through more than a few sentences without giggling and getting embarrassed by the rude bits (and by rude I mean nothing more risqué than kissing. I was nothing like the bold, sassy teenagers of today!).

I never took seriously the idea of writing as a profession. After all, writers were clever, educated people.  I was neither.  I wasn’t a star pupil at school. I wasn’t even particularly outstanding in English. My parents were both artists.  They never discouraged my writing, but it was ignored. Their interest in my notebooks was not engaged by my literary pubescent outpourings, but by the doodles and illustrations which lavishly embellished them.  It was clear where they thought my talents lay.  I left school at 16 with just enough exam passes to get me into art-college.  In my early adult life I stopped writing.

My career was in advertising where I worked as an illustrator.  When I stopped work to look after my young son, I started writing again.

2. Torn and Life Class aren’t your first two novels. Can you tell us a bit about your earlier works?

The ‘love on a lighthouse’ story was a one-off.  Though I loved to read those Regency romances that had inspired my sister, my own writing swiftly settled into a more contemporary style, and dwelt in a darker, seamier world than the writing of Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer inhabited.

When I started to write again, after having my son, Tom, it was with the serious intention of finishing the book and getting it published.  The book was a contemporary love story, but although it followed many of the tropes of the category romance (I originally intended it for Mills & Boon), it was unconventional.

My heroine was a young woman whose very first love affair had ended in pregnancy, threatening her budding career.  The story opens when she is in hospital and going through a miscarriage. The romance is between her and the OB & GYN consultant!  When I first had the idea it made me laugh.  I thought: ‘If I can carry this off, I can do anything’. Just Before Dawn was the first novel I ever finished. Given my subsequent experience, I am now astounded it was almost immediately taken on by a publisher, the then new Love Stories.

At the time characterized as the “thinking woman’s Mills & Boon”, Love Stories was a one woman band.  Anne Dewe was looking for un-clichéd stories about women and relationships; stories with a love-theme but which need not be conventionally romantic.  My book fitted the bill.  Just Before Dawn went through its fair share of editing before publication.

Now, feeling full of confidence, I let my hair down and wrote the novel of my heart.  Desires & Dreams, also published by Love Stories, revisited the darker world of my teenage imagination. It was still a love story, but it totally subverted the ‘romance’ stereotypes.

The heroine feels suffocated and bored in her relationship.  She feels there is something missing. She fantasizes about having an affair with an old boyfriend.  On her way to meet him for a lunch-date in London, she’s accosted by a street artist.  He flatters and romances her while drawing her portrait and, already subconsciously primed to go off the rails, she becomes enthralled.  But the face he shows to ‘punters’ is very different to the real man. Poor, bad-tempered and obsessive, she couldn’t have made a worse choice.  But their fatal meeting changes both their lives.  This book is not an HEA!

Both my books were published in hardback, using my own artwork for the cover designs.  Sadly, a few years after publishing Desires & Dreams, Love Stories folded. It was unable to get the promotion, marketing and distribution to gain success for itself or its authors. This was a time when publishing was going through a lot of changes, and moving from a gentlemanly profession to big business.  What became important was not bringing on a new writer who was exploring a slightly off-beat and unproved area of romantic fiction, but publishing the latest slam-dunk best seller, or a new writer who could be described as ‘the next Joanna Trollope’ or whoever. My reflections on my lack of success can perhaps be discounted as special pleading, and the truth is – no one liked what I was writing!  Whatever the real reason, I’ve been unable to find a new mainstream publisher for any new work, from that that day to this.  Thank heaven for digital Indie publishing.

3. Have the rights on your first two novels reverted back to you? If so, would you consider e-publishing them?

Yes they have, many years ago.  In fact, after the rights reverted, the books were taken on by a then new, POD publisher who republished them in paperback, again with my own art work for the covers.  Sadly I believed what I was told about marketing and distribution. And didn’t understand the amount of work I needed to do to get the books noticed and sold.  Also, I think they’d even then passed their sell-by, and were becoming very out of date. They were written in the 1980s before mobile phones and the internet, let alone the twin towers, and the banking collapse.  I feel I would need to do an awful lot of work on them if I was going to reset them in the modern world.  Or I could leave them as they are, and market them as historicals!

4. You’re a member of the Romantic Novelists Association. Can you tell us what that means to you?

More than anything the RNA provides support and a network of friends who understand what it is to be a writer. Before I joined I knew no other writers.  My first two novels were published with no help or guidance from anyone, other than my publisher.  I lived then in Coulsdon, a town in Surrey within striking distance of London. It was only after my husband took a job in Cheltenham, and we moved to Gloucestershire, that I first found out about the Romantic Novelists Association.  I joined immediately and I’m very glad I did.  Apart from anything else, it provides an important component of my social life.

I have never been able to profit from the RNA’s wonderful New Writers Scheme because I was already a published author when I joined.  And I have to admit, it has been a slightly galling experience to meet so many unpublished writers in those early days, people like Katie Fforde (who lives just 2 or 3 miles away from me as the crow flies) and to watch them find publishers, sign contracts and go from nowhere to bestsellers, while I languished – the years steadily piling up since my flash-in-the-pan ‘success’.

5. In addition to the RNA, are you a member of any other writing groups/platforms?

I contribute to several on-line discussion platforms:  ROMNA, the on-line newsgroup of the RNA, British Romance Fiction and Post Chick Lit, and I’m a member of the collection of Indie writers, Famous Five plus. The last two are Facebook sites.  I also post regularly on several other groups.  I don’t belong to a real-life writing group.  Maybe I should but there’s not enough time in the world.

6. Can you tell us about Torn? And Life Class?

TORN

You can escape your old life, but can you ever escape yourself?

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ISBN =9781458003409

Jessica Avery is a woman in her early thirties with a three year old son, Rory.  She has made a series of wrong choices in her life – job, men and life-style.  Her job came to a disastrous conclusion.  The men in her life have let her down and her life-style involved too many pills, parties and promiscuity. But she believes that by quitting her old relationship and moving from London to the country, she has escaped all that.  Her choice now is to live a steady, responsible life in a tranquil new environment, putting her son’s needs and her role as mother as her number one priority.

But she finds country life less serene and bucolic than she expected. Her ex-partner tracks her down and assaults her as she leaves a local pub.  Luckily, a witness to the encounter steps in and helps to defuse the situation, but she is left badly shaken.  As an in-comer – and even worse, an ex-investment banker – Jessica is not made very welcome by the local mothers.  Then there is the management of the rural landscape – the interests of commerce versus the preservation of the environment – which begins to engage her interest and concern. She wonders if leaving London was the right move.

The narrative is played out against the low-key background story of a proposed by-pass to the local town. Initially Jessica favours a new road until she realizes the route it might take, tearing through the landscape she’s come to love.  She is torn between the pragmatic and the romantic decision. The friends Jess makes represent the differing positions. There is Danny Bowman, the counter-culture shepherd; his employer, James Warwick, affluent widowed farmer and father to three year old daughter, Sasha; Gilda Warwick, James’s match-making mother; and Sheila, the feminist nursery school owner.

The title – ‘Torn’ – can also be understood as referring to the personal choices which confront Jessica.  Despite vowing she wants no emotional entanglements in her life, she is attracted to two very different men.  She finds, to her cost, that in the face of temptation it is not so easy to throw off old habits and responses.  She is a woman who claims she has never been in love. Eventually she is prompted to re-evaluate this stance and to admit to herself, that beyond an undeniable physical attraction, she has indeed fallen in love, but with which one – the suitable man or the unsuitable boy?

LIFE CLASS

About art, life, love and learning lessons

(chosen as book of the week 1/7/12 on Radio Stafford FM’s Sunday afternoon book programme).

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The narrative follows four members of the class, who meet once a week to draw the human figure. All have failed to achieve what they thought they wanted in life. They come to realize that it’s not just the naked model they need to study and understand. Their stories are very different, but they all have secrets they hide from the world and from themselves. By uncovering and coming to terms with the past, maybe they can move on to an unimagined future.

Dory says she works in the sex trade, the clean-up end. She deals with the damage sex can cause. Her job has given her a jaundiced view of men, an attitude confirmed by the disintegration of her own relationships. The time seems right to pursue what she really wants in life, if she can work out what that is. She moves back from London to the country town where she grew up and where her sister still lives, yet she remains undecided whether to make it a permanent move. She’s always been clear eyed realist – love doesn’t figure in her view of the future – and yet she finds herself chasing a dream.

Stefan is a single-minded loner, whose only and overriding ambition is to make a living from his sculpture. So how the hell did he find himself facing a class of adults who want their old teacher back? If he can sell the big old house he’s inherited, he’ll be able to finance himself and concentrate on his work, and maybe give up the part-time teaching job. Love is an emotion he long ago closed off  ̶  it only leads to regret and shame  ̶  but it creeps up on him from more than one direction. Is it time to admit that letting others into his life is not defeat?

Fran – Dory’s older sister – is a wife and a stay-at-home mother without enough to keep her occupied. Her husband’s early retirement plans throws her into a panic. She sees her life closing down and narrowing into staid middle-age. On a collision course with her mid-life crisis, Fran craves the romance and excitement of her youth. An on-line flirtation with an old boyfriend becomes scarily obsessive, putting everything she really loves at risk.

Dominic is a damaged child. He has lived his life knowing all about sex but nothing about love. If he can only find his mother perhaps he can make sense of his past. But perhaps it is a doomed quest and it’s time to look to the future? If he can grow up enough to accept the help and love that’s on offer here and now, he has the chance to transform his life.

7. Which have your found the most difficult – the actual writing/editing of your novels, or the marketing and promotion?

A hard question to answer. I am not one of those writers who are bubbling geysers of plots and new ideas. In fact I’ve described starting a new book as like carving a block of granite with a teaspoon.  I begin with my characters and their back stories, and the scenario in which they come together. I might have a few elements in my mind about the story, but other than those few building blocks it’s always very nebulous and ill-defined.  It’s a type of approach aptly described ‘as into the mist’. (I apologize for mixing my granite and my mist metaphors!) In fact, when I was writing TORN I truthfully had NO idea how I was going to resolve it until I was within a couple of chapters of the end.  It was good.  I feel it made it fresh.  If I didn’t know, then the reader didn’t know either.

It’s the characters who tell you what’s going to happen.  And it’s wonderful and a bit magical when you suddenly get that ‘Of course!’ moment, and everything slots into place.  That’s what makes writing worthwhile – when the story catches fire and races off with you.  You’re left running behind, trying to catch up and get it all down. That’s when you need to be disciplined about the other things in life, like getting dressed, and doing the shopping, the washing and the ironing.

So then there’s the promo and marketing. I’m afraid I’m one of those typically English self-effacing types and find all that sort of thing terribly difficult.  In some ways it’s easier these days, in that you don’t have to telephone people and persuade them you’re the best thing since sliced bread. You can email.  And being digitally published it makes sense to use as many on-line opportunities that I can identify.  But I still don’t take advantage of every opportunity or ‘put myself out there’ as much as I could (or should?) For one thing, it all takes so much time.  I’m not a natural typist, I don’t think in perfect grammatical sentences, and the right words don’t necessarily come to me immediately. So, even just writing emails, I have to edit and correct far more than some people.

8. What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

To become a published writer you need to be resilient, tenacious, obstinate, persistent and obsessive. You even need to have a degree of selfishness. In other you have to be bloody-minded.  Think of the ‘wobbly man’  ̶   one of those figures with a heavy rounded base. Though they do fall over if punched, they don’t stay down. They swing around and bob back up again.

And if you truly believe you’ve got what it takes, don’t just talk about it, do it!  There are always reasons to put it off.  But don’t wait until you have the time, until the children are off your hands, until you’ve gone part-time or you’ve retired.  If you procrastinate now, you may never begin, let alone finish.  If you really have a book (or books) in you, you will find a way!

Thanks so much for dropping by today, Gilli. It’s been a blast! And you didn’t need your hyperventilating bag.

You can follow Gilli online at the following links:

Writer Cramped. Gilli Allan’s Blog
On Facebook Gilli Allan
On Twitter @gilliallan
And over at Famous Five Plus

loveahappyending.com author Sheryl Browne launches Somebody to Love

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Somebody to Love

The first of three-book contract, Somebody to Love, described by my agent as ‘thoughtful but funny’ romantic fiction, is finally launched.

This is a book that is very special to me and I am truly delighted it has found a home. The story, centering around a single father’s search for that special someone, a woman with a heart big enough to love him and his autistic son, is fictional – but grew from a tiny incident that fuelled the desire to write it. Somebody to Love was inspired by ‘a lost little boy’. An autistic little boy, who was on a mission, it seemed, to throw his shoes over my garden fence in order to facilitate a meeting with my three-legged dog.

As mentioned, the story is fictional, based on a little fact, and a good deal of research, particularly in regard to Autism Assistance Dogs. To Karl, to three-legged Sadie, and with huge thanks to Danemere Animal Rescue Centre and Our Dog Publications.

After a turbulent marriage to a man who walked off hand-in-offshoot with something resembling a twig, divorced mum, Donna O’Conner, doubts happy endings exist. She’d quite like to find herself an Adonis with… pecs …and things. Alas, that’s not likely, when her only interest outside of work is hopping her three-legged dog in the park, carrying a poop-scoop. In any case, Donna isn’t sure she’d know what to do with an Adonis if she fell on one. When PC Mark Evans comes along, gloriously gift-wrapped in blue, however, she can’t help wishing she did.

Mark, a single father, is desperate for love. He doesn’t hold out much hope, though, that there is a woman out there with a heart big enough to love him and his autistic son. Enter big-hearted Donna, plus three-legged dog. And now Mark has a dilemma. Pretending not to mind her house-bunny chewing his bootlaces, he’s smitten with Donna on sight. Should he tell her his situation up-front? Announcing he has a child with autism spectrum disorder on a first date tends to ensure there isn’t a second. Or should he skirt around the subject, which amounts to a lie? When one lie leads to another, can he ever win Donna’s trust back? Admit that he didn’t trust Donna enough to let her into his life?

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Somebody to Love has been made with love… love of animals. Sheryl Browne has done excellent research on assistance dogs, specifically their use with autistic individuals. With a focus on romance with police officers, appealing to all readers who love our boys in blue, the author’s “teasing but not telling” style makes this read appropriate for anyone, including young adults and older teens.

ISBN 9781908208118
Publication Date 1 July 2012
Format Paperback. Also available on Kindle

 

 

 

Publisher Buy Link: http://www.safkhetpublishing.com/books/soul/9781908208118/Somebody_to_Love.html

Amazon Links: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Somebody-Love-Sheryl-Browne/dp/1908208112/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339421531&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Somebody-Love-Sheryl-Browne/dp/1908208112/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339421630&sr=1-1&keywords=somebody+to+love+sheryl+browne

Website: www.sherylbrowne.com

LoveaHappyEnding Author Page: http://loveahappyending.com/sheryl-browne/

Author Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sheryl-Browne-Author-Page/245372252189480

RNA: http://www.romanticnovelistsassociation.org/index.php/about/author/sheryl_browne

Twitter: @sherylbrowne

Author Bio:

Now residing in Worcestershire, Sheryl grew up in Birmingham, UK, where she studied Art & Design. She wears many hats: a partner in her own business, a mother, and a foster parent to disabled dogs. Creative in spirit, Sheryl has always had a passion for writing. A member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, she has previously been published in the US and writes Romantic Comedy because, as she puts it, “life is just too short to be miserable.”

Sheryl’s debut novel, RECIPES FOR DISASTER – combining deliciously different and fun recipes with sexilicious romantic comedy, is garnering some fabulous reviews! Sheryl has also been offered a further three-book contract under the Safkhet Publishing Soul imprint. SOMEBODY TO LOVE, a romantic comedy centring around a single policeman father’s search for love, launches July 1. The book, which also features an autistic little boy and his Autism Assistance Dog, has already been endorsed by Danemere Dog Rescue Centre and is currently being reviewed by Our Dog Publications with a view to future advertising. WARRANT FOR LOVE, bringing together three couples in a twisting story that resolves perfectly, is released August 1.

 

Celtic Connexions welcomes YA author – Lauren Howell

Today I’m thrilled to host fellow lovehappyending.com author Lauren Howell. Before I put Lauren on the hotseat, I thought I would share the cover and brief synopsis of her debut YA fantasy novel.

Rowan

Jake, a dragon wearing orange chucks, shows up in Kelly Foster’s living room disguised as a human.  When he starts going on about a lost sword, a magical pendant and Stonehenge being the gatekeeper to the lost city of Atlantis, Kelly feels a little more than skeptical.  But when Jake tells her it could all be the key to finding her father, Kelly doesn’t hesitate to jump on board.  Swept away to the world of Rowan, she picks up a band of followers along the way, Henry, Tyler, Sky, and Caesius.  Will they help her find her father or will someone more sinister cause their paths to go in opposite directions.  Will Kelly do what she came to do then go home?  Because the fate of Rowan is up to her.

Now for the fun bit…

What prompted you to write Rowan?

I actually started Rowan when I was a kid, though, it was very VERY different from what it is now.  In fact, I don’t think there’s a trace left of the original story except for Jacinth and Henry.  I always wrote stories when I was a kid and I always wanted to be a writer.  I couldn’t get enough of what books did for me and I always wanted to write stories that would do that for other people.  Provide an escape, a comfortable, fun place to go on a cozy afternoon.

Why did you choose Stonehenge for the cover (other than it features in the book)?

There’s a really easy explanation for this.  It was free.  Being as this was my first book and all, I ended up getting the cover for free.  I had wanted to put the sword from the book on the front but the person doing the cover needed to use a photo and wasn’t able to design it themselves.  So I chose something that at least had something to do with the book.

Before self-publishing it, did you try the traditional route?

No, I didn’t try the traditional route before self-publishing.  I wanted to have the freedom of self-publishing would give me.  However, I discovered that I am horrible at marketing so I may be looking to see if I can’t find a publisher.

Are you currently working on another book?

Yes!  Not only the sequel to Rowan but several others as well that I’m really excited about.  They aren’t all young adult fantasy like Rowan is but they do all have some sort of supernatural element to them.

Where to buy Rowan:

Format: Kindle Edition

File Size: 207 KB
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B004Y0AWFK
Lending: Enabled
Reading level: Ages 9-12

Paperback: 184 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace (May 2, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1461134315
ISBN-13: 978-1461134312
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces
Sold By: Barnes & Noble

Format: NOOK Book (eBook)
Age Range: Young Adult
Series: Kelly Foster #1
File Size: 758 KB
BN ID: 2940012483034

Amazon (buy): http://amzn.to/k5OfSr
Amazon (buy paperback): http://amzn.to/iLA4S0
Barnes and Noble (buy): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rowan/1031139951?ean=9781461134312&itm=1&usri=rowan+lauren+howell

What are readers saying about Rowan?

Kimberly Hoye: What a great adventure! I finished it in 2 days! From the beginning to the end, I didn’t want to put it down. It kept my attention and made me want to read more.  Humor, sarcasm, suspense, friendship, it’s all there! A great read for anyone who enjoyed Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Neverending Story!

Jay “Dizzle”: This book was a real page-turner.  I finished it in one sitting.  It has great suspense and drama.  The character interactions are fantastic and its very well written.  I can’t really describe how much I enjoyed this read but please take my advice if you like young adult fiction like Harry Potter or Twilight then pick up Rowan.  More please Ms. Howell!!!

SBM: A great adventure story for readers of all ages! This creative storyline is filled with fantastic characters that make it a truly fun read.

MarksLadyJane: I read alot of werewolf and vampire books but the DRAGON in the story surprised me…I love it!

About the author…

Lauren likes reading, writing, gaming, camping, hiking, horseback riding, sports and just about anything else that makes life fun. She’s currently in school studying anthropology and when she’s gets through that program, Lauren will continue her education to get her masters in forensic anthropology and archaeology.

She has many obsessions, some of which are anything to do with fantasy, tigers, cryptozoology, the paranormal and just all around mysteries of the world, post apocalyptic books, shows, and movies, moleskine notebooks, sharpie, and the color orange.

Facebook laurenhowellwriter: http://on.fb.me/m4qtwL
Twitter @lm_howell: http://bit.ly/kA9iSQ

 

loveahappyending.com author Miriam Wakerly launches Gypsies Stop tHere

LAHE logo

Gypsies Stop tHere

“A fantastic, insightful first novel… Challenges prejudices
and entertains thoroughly… perfect holiday read”
Waterstone’s

Will uprooting herself from London to live in the country help Kay escape guilt-ridden memories of her husband’s death? Far from finding a quiet life, she is caught up in an age-old village conflict where passionate opinions on Romany Gypsy Travellers divide the local people.

A young woman, Lena, enters her life, unwittingly putting Kay’s plans on hold. Kay struggles to not only come to terms with her emotional past but also to resolve Lena’s problems, those of the village and the Gypsies. And another relationship blossoms that she would never have dreamed of…

Gina Dickerson’s Lies Love Tells blog launch


 Lies Love Tells:

Saze Monnivan thinks Mr Him is not being completely honest with her. Fingers of suspicion tap at her, telling her that he’s not vanishing night after night to guzzle alcohol with his friend, Mr Dry, who appears to hate Saze. She pours her emotions into her blog diary and her real life takes a sharp turn, spiralling her into unknown territory, giving her the courage to stand up to Mr Him. Unfortunately Mr Him’s not the only person Saze needs to be afraid of. Something awful is happening to young women in the town and their lives are being extinguished frighteningly early.

As Saze’s life peaks and falls spectacularly and her blog attracts interest, comments, and trolls, she can’t help wondering if her followers exist only in the virtual or whether she needs to be looking over her shoulder.

Is Saze foolish to trust new faces, will she ever survive the madness she is inadvertently drawn into, and will she find the love she craves?

Where to buy:

For the Kindle:
Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/MpKWVs
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/LZn49C

Paperback version:
Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/LYCElJ
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/LronQG
In other e-book formats:
Smashwords: http://bit.ly/SmshwrdsLiesLT

The book is also on other sites like WHSmith’s in paperback  here and ebook here. Waterstones in paperback here. The Book Depository (link is for the UK site) also in paperback here.

About Gina:

Gina Dickerson lives by the Thanet coast with her family and Siberian husky. Besides writing, Gina loves vintage shopping, scoffing crisps with cheese (sometimes accompanied by a glass of sparkling wine), de-fluffing her dog, and buying new shoes. She has had short stories and poetry published in collections. Lies Love Tells is her first novel.
You can find Gina online at the following links:

The Unveiling…

Presenting the new Melanie Robertson-King “brand”

As children, we’ve been taught that bragging, boasting or tooting our own horn is not an attractive quality and we shouldn’t do it.

But authors, well we have to be “out” there. Launching and signing our books, marketing ourselves. Besides good writing, being approachable to our readers, there is still something else that’s important. What’s that you say?

Your author “brand”. A catchy tag line on your products – website, business cards, etc. will make you stand out.

And in keeping with that… I now unveil the “new” Melanie Robertson-King “brand”.

Please visit my website melanierobertson-king.com and sign my guestbook with your feedback about my new “brand”.