Today, I’m featured over at Long and Short Reviews talking about my novel A Shadow in the Past among other authorly/bookish things.
There is also a GIVEAWAY at LASR for a copy of A Shadow in the Past.
Leave a comment for your chance to win! The giveaway is open to Canada and US residents only.
Suggested tweet:
Long & Short Reviews + Giveaway ~ talking with author @RobertsoKing http://tinyurl.com/aws7eck @4RV #Shadowpast #YACrossover
My book signing for A Shadow in the Past at Leeds County Books on Saturday, Feb 9th didn’t come to be until earlier last week. I was forewarned that Saturdays in the winter in the downtown are dead but I was determined to do it. Sometimes, I’m too stubborn for my own good but in this case it paid off.
I publicized it on my Facebook pages, in the groups I belong to on Facebook, set up an event there (as did the bookstore), followed by an email campaign to catch the people I know that aren’t on social media. But I didn’t stop there, I posted the event on my blog, Snap Brockville, BNTVNews (with the help of Dale Elliott), TV Cogeco, and Courtney, owner of Leeds County Books, got my signing up at Recorder.ca (our local newspaper’s online presence). I even did up posters and had them put up in a few locations around town.
Until I became a published author, I never really thought of myself as the entrepreneurial type. But, when needs must, we do what we have to do. My marketing strategy was take advantage of Valentine’s Day coming up. Romance and intrigue set in Scotland? Who could resist?
You’ll see one of my laminated posters on the table. My novel’s cover image, blurb, and quotes from readers are there for everyone to see. And a coffee cup with a big red heart filled with Hershey’s Kisses. There were even some A Shadow in the Past bookmarks and postcards! How about that tartan table cover? What better accent for a book set in Scotland than tartan?
In the end, I sold three copies of my novel, A Shadow in the Past, leaving the bookstore down to their last copy. However, I had taken a box of books with me (as a contingency plan) so I left a further ten copies with them.
The icing on the cake was when I was leaving the grocery store with my hubby and we stopped at the floral department (he bought me roses) and during the course of the conversation with the gal (I’ve known her for years), I sold another copy of my book!
How was that for an unexpected result?
And what better way to celebrate it than to pop in to my book signing and get your own copy of A Shadow in the Past at Leeds County Books, 73 King Street West, Brockville, ON.
View Larger Map
A Shadow in the Past…
Nineteen-year-old Sarah Shand finds herself thrust back into the past. There she struggles to keep her real identity from a society that finds her comments and ideas strange and her speech and actions forward, unlike Victorian women. When Sarah verbally confronts confining social practices, including arranged marriages; powerful enemies commit her to a lunatic asylum. After falling in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, Robert Robertson, she must decide whether to find her way back to her own time or to remain in the past with him.
So why not buy yourself a book (preferably mine), run a bubble bath and pour yourself a glass of wine (or your tipple of choice) and escape for some self-indulgence.
Do you read in the bathtub?
Just in time for Valentine’s Day! I’ll be at Leeds County Books, 73 King Street West, Brockville, ON from 1:00-3:00 pm on Saturday February 9th signing copies of my debut novel – A Shadow in the Past.
Haven’t found the perfect gift yet? Give your Valentine romance and intrigue set in Scotland…
Nineteen-year-old Sarah Shand finds herself thrust back into the past. There she struggles to keep her real identity from a society that finds her comments and ideas strange and her speech and actions forward, unlike Victorian women. When Sarah verbally confronts confining social practices, including arranged marriages; powerful enemies commit her to a lunatic asylum. After falling in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, Robert Robertson, she must decide whether to find her way back to her own time or to remain in the past with him.
I loved this Scottish time-slip novel. A great story expertly told.
Ms. Robertson-King has a gift for capturing dialogue that is familiar to today’s audience while remaining true to historical details that enrich her stories.
Great book and a very pro-active publisher!
A Shadow in the Past is a period drama/time travel combined with romance. The author’s research into life in Victorian Scotland, alongside her study of the horrors of being incarcerated in an asylum, is exceptional. The book is a must-read for me.
A Shadow of the Past brought a unique new voice to time travel.
A Shadow in the Past is an amazing story and the way author has described it, it’s really fantastic. When you read the book, you feel as if all this is happening right in front of you!
Fabulous book! A lovely adventure full of surprises!
Awesome book can’t wait for the sequel.
Awesome Book!
Fantastic book set in my home country. Well written and easy to follow and read.
Outlander for Young Adults.
And what a great story developed.
A charming time-slip love story with vivid description and authenticity throughout!
A great first novel and I will look forward to reading more books by Melanie Robertson-King in the future.
If you’re not in the area, don’t despair. You can order A Shadow in the Past from the following:
4RV Publishing: http://4rvpublishingcatalog.yolasite.com/robertson-king.php
ChaptersIndigo: http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/A-Shadow-In-The-Past-Melanie-Robertson-king/9780983801887-item.html?ikwid=a+shadow+in+the+past&ikwsec=Home
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-shadow-in-the-past-melanie-robertson-king/1112348992?ean=9780983801887
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shadow-Past-Melanie-Robertson-King/dp/0983801886/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344434484&sr=1-1
It’s not too late to sign up! My Goodreads giveaway for two signed copies of my novel, A Shadow in the Past, runs until March 11th and is open to Canada, the UK and the US.
My cover was designed by the uber-talented Aidana WillowRaven. Don’t you just love it?
Whilst I’m name-dropping, I have to thank Vivian Zabel, President of 4RV Publishing for taking a chance on an unknown commodity.
Okay, so what’ my novel about? Well, here’s the blurb…
Nineteen-year-old Sarah Shand finds herself thrust back into the past. There she struggles to keep her real identity from a society that finds her comments and ideas strange and her speech and actions forward, unlike Victorian women. When Sarah verbally confronts confining social practices, including arranged marriages; powerful enemies commit her to a lunatic asylum. After falling in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, Robert Robertson, she must decide whether to find her way back to her own time or to remain in the past with him.
So, if you fancy your chances of winning a copy in my giveaway, click here. Winners will be notified after on or after March 11th (it’s my first giveaway so I’m not sure how soon after it ends that winners are notified).
If you don’t want to wait for the giveaway to end, you can buy a copy of A Shadow in the Past from the following sources:
If you’ve entered my giveaway, good luck (winners are chosen by goodreads) and if you decide to purchase my book, I hope you enjoy it.
The annual Preditors & Editors Readers Poll, sponsored by Critters Workshop has drawn to a close. The results have been tallied and in the end, 4RV Publishing (with nominations in Children’s Books, Young Adult Books, Artwork from Books, Book Covers, Publisher, Author, Artist and Bookstore) finished with seven in the top ten.
Children’s Books (2 4RV nominations) took 8th place with First Flag of New Hampshire written by Stephanie Burkhart and illustrated by Ginger Nielson.
Young Adult Books (2 4RV nominations) took 3rd place with with my novel A Shadow in the Past.
Artwork from Books (2 4RV nominations) had two results tied for 6th place. Ginger Nielson who wrote and illustrated Willow, an Elephant’s Tale and my talented artist Aidana WillowRaven for her cover design for A Shadow in the Past.
Artist saw Aidana WillowRaven earn a 9th place finish in addition to her tie with Ginger in the Artwork category.
Author saw 4RV Publishing President, Vivian Zabel place 6th.
Bookstore 4RV Bookstore placed 3rd in the bookstore category.
Congratulations to everyone who placed!
It’s been a busy day for my character, Sarah Shand, and me. Sarah did an interview with Kai Strand at her blog Strands of Thought. You can read her interview here.
While she was off with Kai, I was in the spotlight over at Famous Five Plus You can read that post here.
I hope you’ll stop by both blogs and find out a bit more about us.
Suggested tweets:
Featured author @RobertsoKing today at Famous Five Plus http://ow.ly/gWG49 @famousfiveplus #Shadowpast #4RV #FFP #lahe
Get to know @SarahShand96 from @RobertsoKing’s novel A Shadow in the Past http://ow.ly/gWGf9 @4RV #shadowpast #4RV #lahe #FFP
Today I’m Michelle Betham’s guest on her Meet the Author Feature. I’d love it if you dropped by her blog and left a comment.
Suggested tweets:
Meet the author – @RobertsoKing talks about her writing inspiration with @michellebetham http://ow.ly/gxgmg #shadowpast #4RV #lahe #readers
Meet the author – @RobertsoKing talks about her writing inspiration with @michellebetham http://ow.ly/gxgmg #shadowpast #4RV #FFP #readers
Dec 31st says goodbye to the current year in anticipation of what is to come in the next year. Known as New Year’s Eve in many countries, in Scotland, it’s a special celebration known as Hogmanay. Great street parties with entertainment take place in major cities. Edinburgh’s celebration is the most widely known. You can see what’s happening in Scotland’s capital to ring in 2013 here.
But before I pop the cork on the champagne, I want to take a look at 2012 and reflect on all the good things that happened to me during the year.
In early January, fellow Writers’ Ink member, Joe Mossman, and I did a spot for the local cable TV’s program, Readers’ Corner and talked about our group.
A few days later, I was assigned my editor. We hit it off immediately which made the revision process a lot more fun. My gorgeous cover designed by Aidana WillowRaven was revealed here on January 18th.
In February, I was honoured with my First Book award from the Ottawa Romance Writer’s Association.
March came and with it, I received the Versatile Blogger Award from loveahappyending.com associate reader, Susan Livingston. I had been an associate reader for loveahappyending.com myself since June 2011 and on May 21, 2012 (my son’s birthday), I became a featured author!
June brought about the new Melanie Robertson-King “brand” reveal.
The weekend of Sept 14-17 (okay Friday to the following Monday – weekend plus) took me to Kansas for the debut of my novel… and best of all, I got to hold it in my hot little hands for the first time. It was brilliant meeting my editor, Carla, for the first time and my publisher, Vivian Zabel, and fellow 4RV Publishing authors Jacque Graham, Janet Brown and Galand Nuchols.
My short story, Cole’s Notes, that had been accepted for publication became available for the Kindle in Carrick Publishing’s first cross-genre anthology
– EFD1 – Starship Goodwords, and classed as literary fiction, no less!
Home from Kansas and the following weekend I hosted my hometown launch at the Wedgewood Retirement Resort in downtown Brockville.
One week later, I embarked on a 21-stop 15-day blog tour starting off at loveahappyending.com and ending at Author Roast and Toast.
In October, I created a blog for my character, Sarah, and filmed another program for Readers’ Corner – this time talking about my novel,
was invited to join Famous Five Plus and woo-hoo, I got my first 5-star review for A Shadow in the Past!
November came along and with it, my first kick at the can taking part in NaNoWriMo, and a number of appearances and signings – Ladies’ Night at Green Things Garden and Gift Shop, the Mallorytown Legion’s Christmas Bazaar and Bake Sale, and finally downtown Brockville’s Christmas Open House at Leeds County Books.
December and another signing – this time in Gananoque at All About Books Internet Cafe and I was awarded the Liebster Award by Joanne Clancy.
A great year for sure, and now I’m looking forward to what 2013 brings! So now that I’ve rambled on long enough, it’s time to pop the champagne corks and ring in the New Year.
Happy New Year! Happy Hogmanay! Or Happy whatever you call it in your part of the world. May 2013 be good to you and yours! Cheers!
I’m so excited. My novel, A Shadow in the Past, is currently sitting in 2nd place in the YA category at the Preditors & Editors Readers Poll. If you’ve not done so already, I would appreciate your vote. Help me make it to #1.
If you’ve already voted – Thank you! Follow the instructions here.