Guest Post: Cover vs Cover! by Donna Alward

hosted by: Jennifer Faye

This month the fifth book in my Cadence Creek Cowboys series hits the shelves! I’m pretty excited about it; there’s something I love about holiday stories. They’re extra sparkly and heart-warming, don’t you think? In particular, I love that I was able to combine both the holiday with a wedding in A CADENCE CREEK CHRISTMAS – Taylor Shepard is in Cadence Creek to plan her brother’s wedding and spend some time with family. Callum gets married off in fine fashion, and there are twinkle lights and evergreen boughs galore.

A CADENCE CREEK CHRISTMAS is also out in the UK this month and has a different cover. I thought I’d ask you: which one do you prefer? I mean,  the first one is sort of fun and romantic and wintery, but the second one is also a little more fancy with the wedding tuxedo and the holiday lights and everything.

I’ll give away a copy of EACH edition today here at The Hot Pink Typewriter! Just put your preference in the comments!

In the meantime you can find me on my website at www.donnaalward.com or on twitter @DonnaAlward. 

Here’s the blurb for A CADENCE CREEK CHRISTMAS:

It's Christmas in Donna Alward's Cadence Creek...

Taylor Shepard has come to Cadence Creek to organize her brother's Christmas wedding. Organizing such a special event might be a little bit stressful - but she can't deny she's swept away by the town's holiday charm...and by brooding rancher Rhys Bullock. 

Loner Rhys has been burned far too many times in the past. He's sure he has city girl Taylor all figured out -she'll be hightailing it straight back to the city in a few days! But as the snow starts to fall, Rhys and Taylor embark on a tentative winter romance. Could Taylor be the Christmas present Rhys never even knew he wanted?

Snowbound With The Soldier: New Release & Giveaway

New Release:

Snowbound With The Soldier

by

Jennifer Faye

  

Available at:

Amazon   |   Amazon - UK   |   Barnes & Noble   |   Harlequin  |  iTunes  |  Waterstones

The Book Depository   |   IndieBound  |  eBooks.com  |  Mills & Book UK

Books-A-Million   |   Indigo   |   Walmart  |  Booktopia  |  Mills & Boon Australia

  

Maybe this Christmas…?  

It has been seven long years since Kara Jameson last saw Jason Greene. Returning home as a wounded war hero, Jason looks a shell of the man she once knew. Yet her heart still skips a beat as if it was yesterday…. 

Stepping back into civilian life, Jason looks to Kara for help. But there's too much water under the bridge—not to mention too much lingering attraction. 

But it seems that the mountain weather has other ideas, and when Kara and Jason end up snowbound together they are forced to confront the ghosts of Christmas past.

---

Between the covers…

Old Man Winter huffed and puffed, rattling the doors of the Greene Summit Resort. Kara Jameson turned her back on the dark, blustery night. She didn't relish heading out into the declining weather to navigate her way home after a very long day at work.

She took a moment to admire the massive evergreen standing in the lobby of what had once been one of Pennsylvania's premier ski destinations. The twinkling white lights combined with the sparkling green and red decorations would normally fill her with holiday cheer, but not tonight. Not even the rendition of "Jingle Bells" playing softly in the background could tempt her to hum along.

The resort had been sold. The somber thought weighed heavily on her

shoulders. It didn't help that rumors were running rampant that all the management positions were being replaced.

Why did it have to happen with Christmas only a few weeks away?

Everything will work out. Everything will work out. She repeated the mantra over and over in her mind, anxious to believe the old adage. But something in her gut said nothing would ever be the same again.

"Kara?"

The deep baritone voice came from behind her. She froze. Her gaze remained locked on a red bell-shaped ornament as her mind processed the sound. Even in the two syllables of her name, she knew that voice, knew the way her name rolled off his tongue as sweet as candy.

Jason Smith.

It couldn't be. He'd sworn he would never come back.

"Kara, won't you even look at me?"

---

Snowbound With The Soldier Blog Tour Giveaway

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A Little Bit Happy

by Ami Weaver


So as I was trying to decide what to post for today, I started thinking about things that make me happy. Not just raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens (though those qualify!) but writing-related things that make my writerly little heart go pitter-patter.

1. Pens and notebooks. I am an office supply slut. Yes, yes I am. I heart all things office supply and I stockpile them not unlike a squirrel with nuts. I am picky about my paper and I usually only use fine point pens. (The reason for that? My handwriting looks like I gave the above-mentioned squirrel a pen and told him to have at it.) So back-to-school time is a double happy whammy for me--the kids go back and I can buy more pens and notebooks than one person can reasonably expect to use.

2. My iPhone. This one makes the list because it has my music on it.  (And, ahem, Twitter.) I usually put it on shuffle, or I have some playlists generated by the Genius thing that I use, too. Or sometimes, it's just one song I put on repeat. Interestingly, at the coffee shop where I go write, it's not the other people that throw me off track. It's the occasional weird song. So, iPhone and headphones.

3. My favorite table at the coffee shop. Oh, do I get territorial when I walk in and my table is taken! I like THAT ONE because I can see outside and if I stare off into space (which NEVER happens) there are no awkward moments where the person between me and the window thinks I'm staring at them. I have a backup table that's okay, if a little cramped. Of course, I can write at any old table. But it doesn't make me as happy.

4. The days my muse shows up. Now, I don't sit around and wait for the muse, because otherwise I'd never get anything done. But there are days when she shows up and everything just flows out, like my keyboard is connected to my brain. (Those are also the days where my writing needs the least amount of editing, too.) Those days are magic, but relatively rare--so I don't wait for them, but savor them when they hit.

5. When a favorite author has a new release. Yep, this counts as a writing happy. Because not only do I get the enjoy a fantastic story, I get to immerse myself in all things craft--world building, characterization, plot, the arcs, etc. So this is a complete win-win. And therefore, makes me very happy.


As a writer, what of kinds of things make you happy?

Overplotting~In Which A Pantser Tries To Change Her Stripes

by Ami Weaver

I am a pantser, all the way. I'll own it. It makes writing a little tricky, to say the least, but I know I'm not alone in this. I have tried, over the years, to make it a little easier on myself by doing some pre-plotting--kind of a *very* loose layout of scenes. I wouldn't even call it an outline, exactly. Just kind of a collection of signposts to make sure I'm on the right path. These are all subject to change in terms of order, though interestingly enough, the scenes I lay out and write ahead of time usually need virtually no editing down the line. I've learned to trust them when they come.

But.

There is a very fine line between a loose collection of scenes and an actual outline. And outlines are where I get into trouble.  I LOVE outlines. They are so pretty and neat and organized. Everything is right there, at your fingertips, all you have to do is flesh it out! (Can you see how much I don't use them? I don't think it's that easy, even for plotters.)


So, I tried, a few years back to plot out a book. No, I didn't try. I *did* plot it from beginning to end. It was fairly loose, but it was all there. All the turning points, the full character arcs, all of it, tied up in a neat little bow at the end.

I was SO EXCITED thinking I'd finally put my pantser days behind me and could be a real plotter. So I opened up a new document and checked my outline, typed CHAPTER ONE--

And stopped.

For days.

I could not for the life of me figure out where I'd gone wrong. I had the whole book, right there, in my outline! Beginning to end (okay, mostly--the middle was a little sketchy but still), the whole shebang. I did manage to cough up a Chapter One, eventually. But it was lackluster and flat and I was no longer in love with the book.

I finally figured out what had happened. For all intents and purposes, I'd written the whole book--in the outline. I knew what was going to happen and I'd taken the magic out of it. So as far as my brain was concerned, we were done with this one. Next.

As it turns out, I need the mists. I need to only have a vague idea of where I'm going, bracketed by those few scenes I mentioned above. I need to trust that I'll figure out where I'm going, that if I keep those scenes in the back of my mind, I'll get there eventually. I *need* that strange alchemy of chaos and magic to make my process work.

I'll never be a plotter. I take great care not to overplot.  I do still write those anchor scenes as they come to me. But otherwise I just ask myself "What comes next?" and hang on for the ride.

How about you? Are you a plotter, a pantser, or somewhere in-between?

Before and After

photo examiner.com

by Ami Weaver

Ahh. The life of a newly published author. The glitz. The glam. The huge advance checks. The magic wand that produces the next book....

Wait. What? Oh, sorry. I was dreaming!

In all seriousness, though, what I’ve learned over the past year is being pubbed is a whole new world of the exact same thing. It’s still hurry up and wait--hurry to submit the next book(s), then wait until the editor can get to them. Even though you have an ‘in’ so to speak, editors are crazy busy people (I can’t even imagine everything they do on a daily basis) and while there’s a time period built into the contract it often comes down to that wire. In the meantime, what do you do?

Write the next book. But not too much of it, because you don’t want to get too far and have to rewrite it anyway. This has been the hardest for me. Usually, I start a book and let it rip. It was hard to judge about where the third chapter would end (allowing for editing) since the way I draft means chapter one has thousands of words. Sometimes the whole draft is listed under chapter one. Then I start another one, and do the same thing--polishing the first chapters to a shine, just like always. 

The fun part, though, is learning all that happens to the book as it moves through the publishing process. It helps alleviate some of the stress of waiting. The first time I got AAs (Author Alterations) from Harlequin I had NO IDEA what they were or what I was supposed to do with them. Thankfully, other authors were very kind and generous and didn’t laugh (too hard) at my panic. I filled out my first Art Fact Sheet (which Olivia blogged about earlier). Saw my first cover. Held the book for the first time.

Glitz? Glam? Big money? Not for me, no. I put in a lot of hard work and sweat and tears. We all do, as writers,  no matter how we publish. But it was worth all of it to hold that book for the first time.







Ami Weaver's debut book is an April 2013 Harlequin Romance  release. Visit her  on Twitter @writerlygirl or at her website www.amiweaver.com

Q&A with Debut Author Ami Weaver

I honored to introduce a longtime friend of mine, fellow HPT mate and Harlequin Romance author, Ami Weaver. She’s here today as a guest to tell us about her exciting debut, “An Accidental Family.”

Congratulations Ami! This is such a special moment for you. Thank you for sharing it with us.

A bump in the road…

The moment the stick turns pink Lainey Keeler's life is turned upside down. She's still aching from past hurts, and single parenthood wasn't planned, but, marveling at the tiny life fluttering inside her, Lainey knows she'll do anything for this baby—on her own.

Firefighter Ben Lawless is tormented by memories of the friend he couldn't save, and a pretty pregnant woman living on his land is an unwelcome distraction. Still, as Lainey's determination and spirit tempt him out of the darkness, he wonders whether he can have the family he's convinced himself he doesn't deserve….

Available now:

Amazon / Amazon UK / Harlequin / B&N

Ami has graciously agreed to giveaway a copy of her debut to one lucky commenter. Believe me when I say I’ve read some of her stories in the past and you don’t want to miss out on this book. I’m just dying to read it. At last the postman has arrived with it and it's next up on my TBR pile.   

Thanks, Jennifer! I hope you enjoy it!

Ami, could you tell us a little about “An Accidental Family”?

Sure! Lainey Keeler is determined to make her flower shop work on her own to prove to her uber-successful family she’s not a black sheep. But an unexpected pregnancy and meeting Ben (who is battling demons of his own) throws her off her course and forces her to reevaluate what she really wants from life.

How did you get the idea for this story? Did the heroine come to you first? Or the predicament the H/h find themselves in?   

The first line came to me first, actually. I wrote that down, and eventually the book evolved from there, but it took a really long time (this book took years). In the original draft, the hero was the father. But given his conflict, that wouldn’t have worked.

To actually hold your very first book in her your hands must be a dream come true. Would you mind sharing some details about your path to publication? How long had you been writing before receiving the “Call”? Any major challenges along the way?     

I’d only written a handful of full manuscripts before I sold. A few partials in there, too. I started writing romance about 10 years ago but it came and went as I had more kids and less time. But I got serious about publication a couple of years ago. So family and young kids were a challenge as was this particular book. There was a time when I couldn’t even turn on my laptop without panicking. I couldn’t make it work, couldn’t figure out why, and I stopped writing for awhile. I’d just freeze up. It was no fun. I entered it as a lark into Mills&Boon’s New Voices contest and freaked when it finalled. That pushed me to rework it and I entered it in the Golden Heart as well, where it finalled under another title. The editor who read it for the Golden Heart remembered it from New Voices and bought it from there. 

Every writer I’ve ever talked with has a particular place in a book that they find challenging, what part would that be for you? Beginnings? Middles? Ends? How do you conquer these problem areas?        

Beginnings! For sure. The exception was An Accidental Family. The first three chapters came easy. The rest was like pulling teeth on an angry lion. But generally, I have to edit the beginnings the most, because I’ve learned to just kind of start the book and it always changes later. This used to cause me stress. Now I know it’s just how I work. Accepting your process, even if it’s messy, is key. It was for me. Otherwise, if you’re like me, you’ll grab chocolate instead of writing. Which is bad on many levels.

With a family to care for and other life demands, how do you make time to write? Do you have daily word/page count goals?      

All four of my kids are in school now, so I go to a coffee shop in the morning to work. (Fewer distractions!) I write pretty quick and on a good day I can easily get 2k in a couple hours. If I need to, I make up time on weekends. If I’m editing, I set a weekly goal, that I’ll get through X amount of chapters by Friday. (I always try to pick Friday, no matter what day I start and adjust the total accordingly.)  Editing is a little harder to quantify with pages and words, especially when I’m taking stuff out and adding things in and it can be a wash.

If there was one thing you wished you’d have known before you got published, what would it be?      

That selling isn’t the end of the journey! Oh, I knew it wasn’t in theory, but until I sold I had no idea what a change it really is. Working under contract is very different from writing what you want, when you want--even setting your own deadlines. Don’t get me wrong--I’m very grateful. But it was a bit of a shock that the pressure ramps up.

What’s the title of your next book to hit the shelves? When can we expect it?

In The Line Of Duty, September 2013!

You can find Ami via her Website here.

Or on Twitter: @writerlygirl

Thank you for sharing the exciting details of your debut. It sounds absolutely wonderful.

Readers, please don’t forget to comment. I know Ami would love to hear from you. And for everyone who comments, they’ll get entered for a chance to win a copy of Ami’s debut. I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of anything better than a free book. J

It’s a Golden Heart/RITA PRE-Party!!!

by Jennifer Faye

Can you believe it’s GH/RITA week already? My 2012 certainly buzzed by quickly. And this particular week is always such a nerve-racking/exciting week for so many romance writers.

I never thought I’d say this but I’m sooo excited that I wasn’t eligible to enter. :-D

Of course the reason for my excitement, if you didn’t already know, is that I sold to Harlequin Romance in 2012 making me ineligible for the Golden Heart and since RANCHER TO THE RESCUE won’t debut until July, I’m not eligible for the RITA either.

Which puts me in the awesome position of rooting for all of you who had the courage to put yourselves out there. So this blog post is dedicated to every talented writer that had the courage to follow your dreams.

I applaud you all!

And I wish you the best of luck!!!

Now I’d like to turn this post over to you. Since this is your week. *grabbing my popcorn and settling on the couch*

Now take a walk down HPT's pink carpet and toot your horn.

Tell us the title of your entry and in which contest/category, so that we can cheer for you and watch for you name on the big day.

Also tell us any new exciting writing developments that have happened since you pressed ‘send.’ Or what you’re working on currently.

It's Groundhog Day...again by Jennifer Faye

This past Saturday the U.S. has this peculiar holiday known as Groundhog Day. I must confess those little creatures are cute but how in the world they got their own day on the calendar, February 2^nd, boggles my mind. If you aren’t familiar with this unusual American tradition there’s a groundhog, Punxsatawney Phil, who sticks his head out of his hole and if he sees his shadow there’s six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow it means an early spring. Definitely a very scientific predictor.

And if you’re wondering how this ties into writing…well, I’m getting there. I promise.

This year I learned there are more groundhogs in the U.S. predicting the end of winter, who’d have guessed. Well, Phil predicted an early spring as did two other groundhogs. However, the one from Atlanta heartily disagreed. Hmm…3 to 1 vote for an early spring. I’m going with Phil, an early spring it is. J

Weather predicting aside, when I hear the words Groundhog Day, I think of the movie starring Bill Murray. If you haven’t seen it, it’s about a man who keeps reliving the same day in his life. No matter what he does it’s the same day. There’s no escaping it. Sometimes when I hit a rut, I joke that I’m stuck in Groundhog Day.

Hmm…now that I’ve been talking so much about the movie, I’m going to have to borrow it from the local library and watch it. *makes note*

Anyway, by now I know you’re scratching your head and wondering how this all relates to writing. Well, it does in a creative sort of way. When you are crafting a story, you have to be very aware that you don’t create a world in which your characters feel as though they are living out the movie, Groundhog Day. No one wants to read about someone’s boring, routine life day after day after day.

You want to start your book at the moment of change. When the H/h’s ordinary life becomes extraordinary…but within the bounds of reasonableness. For me discovering that moment is a lot of fun. What exactly will bring my character to that inciting moment? What exactly will cause the hero and heroine’s lives to intersect and never be the same again? The possibilities are endless and exciting.

For my July 2013 debut, “Rancher to the Rescue”, my hero and heroine have been taken out of their routine lives where the heroine is a cooking sensation on television and the hero is a sexy rancher. In the opening of the book, the heroine is a bride on the run and the hero unwittingly becomes her accomplice.

So how about your stories? How do you take the ordinary and make it extraordinary? Do you find it to be a challenge? Or are the prospects exciting?

What’s between your covers? by Jennifer Faye

*shakes head and grins* It’s not what you’re thinking.

With this being my first post of the new year, it’s still the season when people are making goals for the upcoming year. I must admit I'm not much of a New Year's resolution kinda girl. If it's that important to me, I don't need a holiday to get me started. However, there is one goal that I do make for myself each year and I stick with it all year long. Can you guess what it is?

Nope, it's not my writing--too many variables there. And it’s not my word output. I'll give you a hint...I love to read. No, that’s not quite right. I LOVE to read. So I have a yearly book-read-goal. How about you?

What’s between the cover of what you’re reading now?

As I write this, I’m reading a Harlequin Romance. These are NOT your mother or grandmother’s style books. Nope. These are contemporary, fast-paced, emotional, steamy reads with happliy-ever-after's.

As a writer, I can’t imagine not reading. To me it goes hand-in-hand with writing. A writer must refill their creative well not only with real life experiences, but also with all forms of writing from various genres.

Most people read as a form of entertainment, but for a writer it can also provide a learning opportunity. It can be fascinating to observe how other writers develop such powerful emotions on the page or the way they arrange words to provide such a realistic setting that you can feel the breeze on your face and hear the trickling of the creek.

Now, I’m not saying you should copy these talented writers. I’d never advise that.

But I believe the more you read, the more you comprehend what it takes to translate the story in your mind and heart to the page. Because from my observations, one of the biggest challenges for writers is to evoke in the reader the passion and emotion that is present in the writer’s mind.

Believe me, I understand that there are so many hours in a day and everyone has various responsibilities. I just set up my goal on Goodreads and I was really frustrated when I listed 50 books as my 2013 goal. I was so tempted to put 100 or more, but I hate to fail at something. Better to underestimate than have the stress of knowing I’m NOT meeting my goal. And with my debut and a holiday romance out this year, I’m going to busy.

But no matter how busy we get, it’s also important to squeeze in some quality reading time. Sometimes you can double-up on things such as reading in the car, while waiting to pick your child up after school or even my favorite—while riding a stationary bike. Be creative. You’ll be amazed where you can squeeze in a few pages.

However, if you need to justify sneaking off with a good book tell your family it’s your homework. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. It also works for explaining those large book orders that appear on the credit card statement. *G*

So share with us what’s between your covers? And when do you carve time out of your busy life to escape into another world?