Break Out the Bubbly & Dark Chocolate: Celebrating Christine Glover's Debut Novel The Maverick's Red Hot Reunion

I love my cover!! Thanks Entangled!

Well the day has finally arrived where I can say I am officially a published author! I am still quite a bit in shock about it all. But the last year has been an incredible journey from the first sale moment until now. This is a dream come true and proves that no matter what you should never give up your dreams. I almost did and look where I am today. So I'm celebrating in style and enjoying every positive moment about The Maverick's Red Hot Reunion's release. 

Pop*Fizzle*Pour and raise a glass of Champagne to this big day as I share a little bit about my writing journey with y'all. 

1. How did I end up becoming a writer?

I was born to be a writer, but pursuing it full time didn't happen until after I became a stay at home mom. At first I was busy volunteering in the classroom and doing what a lot of parents do with a growing child. But by the time my daughter was in the fourth grade, I needed more. I dusted off my old dreams and my laptop to begin writing my first story. 

2. What is my favorite genre to write?

Contemporary romance hands down. 

3. Am I a plotter or do I follow the muse?

I am a hybrid writer. I loosely plot the emotional turning points after I figure out my characters' goals, motivations, and conflicts. But I usually don't know how the story is going to be in the end until I've written a first draft and revised it at least twice. Then I send it to my CP Pam Mantovani for her input. After she sends her PAs (Picky Alerts) to me, I get back to work. I love revising so this is the fun part for me.

4. How do I relax after a writing day?

Wine and conversation with my CP Pam, the Physicist & the College Kid. I also love to cook so that's fun for me.

5. What do I read? What are my favorite genres? Who are my favorite authors?

I read all genres except for horror stories. I love historical romances by Eloisa James and romantic suspenses by Lynn Raye Harris. I also enjoy reading new authors and the other Indulgence line authors at my publishing house, Entangled Publishing. 

6. What is my current project?

I'm revising the prequel novella to The Maverick's Red Hot Reunion. It's about Michael's middle sister Jessie and the man who steals her heart. I am also working on the first draft for the sequel to The Maverick's Red Hot Reunion. This story is about Caleb and Hannah's journey toward love. I hope to have the first draft ready for a pre-Pam Mantovani PA attack by the end of July. 

7. Any new releases? 

Jessie's story, tentatively titled Beauty and the Marine, will release before November. It's set six years prior to The Maverick's Red Hot Reunion. You'll get to meet Michael just after his big triple Olympic gold medal wins in the swimming events and watch Kennedy and Zach exchange their first kiss. 

8. Where do I get my ideas for my stories?

I get my ideas from everywhere. Newspaper stories, overheard snippets of conversation, characters that pop into my head might give me a scene to start with and then I ask a lot of  "what if" questions to brainstorm each story.

9. How long was I trying to get published before I got the “call?”

I'd been writing contemporary romances for about nine years, but wasn't actively pursuing publication until 2009. Once I got super focused and treated the writing as a career then things began to move a lot faster. 

10. How did I celebrate the new book contract?

Champagne!!

11. How did I celebrate the “call?”

I was on my way to Zumba so I told my friends in the class before it started. Then that night we went out with friends for Chinese food. The server gave me a piece of cake when she learned I had sold my first book. It was a fun day!!

12. Was the “call” an actual phone conversation or an email or a snail mail?

I got an email from my new editor. The best email of all.

13. Do I have an agent?

No. But maybe one day I will have an agent. So many factors are dependent upon that kind of decision. Right now I'm very happy with the way I've been treated by my publishing house. 

14. What advice would I give aspiring writers?

Write every day even if it's just a word. Treat this as a profession long before you sell. And always build on your knowledge about the craft. I still take classes because I have a lot to learn.

15. What encouragement can I give writers who face rejection?

Well, I have a funny way of looking at rejection. I've called every rejection a "trying to get published badge of courage." I also paid myself for every rejection. A dollar for a rejected query letter. Five dollars for a rejected partial. And ten dollars for a rejected full manuscript. I saved that money and used it to pay for annual conferences, writing costs, etc. I also allowed myself one day of mourning which always included a call to my CP and wine. But you have to move past it. Truthfully, I'm already receiving a different kind of rejection. Not every reader likes my book. And that's okay. It's a subjective business. I just tell myself there are people who do like my story and focus on the positive. 

16. What is the most difficult part about writing for me? 

Writing the dreaded synopsis! Blah. But I am getting better at tackling that beast. 

17. What is the most surprising thing I discovered after I received the call?

That the doubt and fear doesn't go away. It is still with me, on my shoulders, and trying to tell me I can't do it. I still have to battle those demons. I still have to fight for every word. And I still have to tell myself that the only way I will get a story written is to write the thing and revise it. 

Thanks for sharing all the fun and excitement about my first sale today!! I am popping champagne and playing over in my Facebook land from 12-8PM with lots of author friends. There will be giveaways, prizes, and just plain fun!!! You can check it out here.

Here's the back cover copy for The Maverick's Red Hot Reunion:

Can he satisfy his craving without losing his heart?

Corporate Maverick Zach Tanner returns to North Carolina to rebuild his dying friend's resort. He's got the money, the power, and the will to transform Sweetbriar Springs into a premier spa for the glamorous, but he doesn't count on the woman he once loved…and lost…to handle the construction contract. Zach thought he'd buried his desire for Kennedy five years ago. He was wrong, and now he’s determined to satisfy his craving...

Construction company owner Kennedy Gibson is eager to restore Sweetbriar Springs, but when she realizes Zach is her new boss she's terrified he'll learn the truth about their breakup so long ago. She vowed never to hurt him again, but she can't deny the passion he reignites in her. She wants to believe she has a chance for a different future with him, but will her secret threaten to destroy their red-hot reunion?

Buy Links:

Amazon Barnes and Noble kobo Amazon.ca

Born in the Netherlands, Christine moved to Canada where she spent her formative years. Then she married her Texan Alpha Physicist, moved to the United States and she has lived both south and north of the Mason Dixon line. Now Christine resides in Alabama with her husband, two insane cats and her wonderful daughter. She enjoys finding the silly in the serious, making wine out of sour grapes, and giving people giggle fits along with heartfelt hugs. When she’s not writing, you can find her traveling the world, cooking gourmet food, and desperately seeking a corkscrew.

Email: christinegloverauthor@gmail.com

Blog: www.christinegloverauthor.com

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Let's start this party off right. One lucky commenter will win a gift card today!!

Break Out the Bubbly & the Dark Chocolate: Celebrating Dakota Harrison's Debut Novel Exhale

Author Dakota Harrison

Hi Everyone! My dear friend and fellow Southern Magic Chapter mate hooked me up with a brand new author over at Samhain Publishing. Although I haven't met Dakota Harrison in person, we've been corresponding via email for several months. And I'm thrilled to have her on the Veranda as we discuss her debut novel Exhale released July 30, 2013 by Samhain Publishing. It's always fun to learn about how writers became published and what that journey is like for each one of them. So please join me in giving Dakota a warm welcome to the Veranda. 

*Pop*Pour*Sip* 

And nibbling on dark chocolate while we chat about Exhale!

Hi Christine! Thanks so much for having me here today.

 I'm so glad you could join me. Tell me, what what is your favorite genre to write?

My favorite genres are Contemporary and SciFi/Fantasy Romance. I would also love to attempt writing a literary novel one day, I just need to find the right story to tell. My problem is that I love my happy endings!

 I am a big fan of Happily-Ever-Afters myself. When you write your happy endings are you a plotter or do you follow the muse?

I'm most certainly a pantser, but I am learning (due to much prodding from more organized writer friends) how to incorporate some plotting.

 Plotting always seems to elude me. I try, but still the characters take me down interesting paths. I usually unwind with a glass of wine (or bubbly) after a writing day. How do you relax after a writing day?

I tend to write late at night. I have a young family and a busy home business so it seems to bet the only time I get that’s uninterrupted. So, I usually live on tea – most varying flavors – my favorite is Earl Grey, and Lemon when I don’t want caffeine. I also love a long bath with a good book. *vbg* Movies are a huge thing for me, too. I'm very visual, so a good movie really inspires and relaxes me.

 Oh, I love Earl Grey tea. One of my favorites.What do you read when you're sipping tea or soaking in the tub? What are your favorite genres? Who are your favorite authors?

I actually try to read across genres. I’ll try anything if it catches my interest, from romance, to hard scifi, to science texts, to manga, and everything in between.

 That's a wide variety! What is your current project?

I'm working on the sequel to ‘Exhale’. It’s nearly done, and the hero is a character introduced in the final chapter of ‘Exhale’ – Taka’s cousin, Shin. It’s set in Tokyo, and he’s a little more raunchy than I'm used to!

 Oh, that sounds deliciously spicy. Can't wait to see that cover! Any new releases? 

Yes! I have another contemporary romance coming out at the end of October, again with Samhain Publishing, about a woman running away from her past and the repercussions of the bad choices she made, running so far she changes continents.

 I love those kind of stories. Keep me posted about when it releases!! And it sounds so interesting. Where do you get your ideas for your stories?

So many places! Overhearing a line of a conversation; a line in a song; characters in a movie that spark the ‘what if’ bug. I daydream a lot. I believe this is a huge part of my mental plotting technique. At least that way, if a plot line doesn’t work, I don’t have to delete anything!

 I consider daydreaming a form of writing. Now tell me, how long were you trying to get published before you got the “call?”

I was writing seriously for almost five years before I got that amazing email. I was so shocked I sent it to someone else to make sure I was reading what I thought I saw! The enthusiasm my editor showed for my characters was quite humbling.

 Ah, I can relate to the Amazing Email, too. A fabulous feeling to finally see that dream come to life. What advice would you give aspiring writers who are still trying to get published?

The biggest thing I would say is don’t give up, and write, write, WRITE! Even if you think what you’ve written is terrible, or the worst thing ever written in the history of man – Don’t. Stop. Entering contests took my writing to new levels, ones that enabled me to get my work in front of the right person at the right time. It took a while, from entering and doing poorly; to entering and finaling; from finaling to placing; then I finally started winning. And it was an important part of learning. All that feedback, all those well-meaning comments that sometimes completely missed the point of the story, but more often than not, they hit the mark 100%. Also, get yourself a group of peers – critique partners and the such – or even someone who you see as a mentor type person. Someone who may be slightly ahead of where you are yourself, or someone much further along. Then main thing is if you connect on a personal level as well as a professional one, you’ll have yourself the start of a support network, and likely the start of some wonderful friendships.

I'm a firm believer in the power of contests. And in surrounding yourself with a great group of peers who share your passion for writing. What is the most difficult part about writing for you?

BOS – Bum-on-seat! I have procrastination down to a fine art. I work fanatically with a strict or tight deadline. Give me time/leniency/open-ended options, and I crumble. I need that rigid timetable to keep me productive. Give myself a timetable I hear you say? Nope! Doesn’t work. My subconscious works ways around it and ‘tweaks’ the timeframe. The first 20,000 words also are hard for me. Once I get past that magic number, I seem to fall into my rhythm.

BOS is a great way of putting it. I call it BICHOK. Butt in chair, hands on keys. :-) Either way, regardless of what side of the earth we live, we have to sit down and work on the writing. Great advice! And it looks like all the BOS has worked for you Dakota. Y'all, check out the amazing, super sexy cover of her new book Exhale and read the blurb. This one is a story that sounds like one I need to add to my TBR pile :-)

Gorgeous Cover!!

Exhale

Release date ~ July 30, 2013
Samhain Publishing

Takeshi is finishing up a brutal double shift in the ER when a familiar—and bloody—face erases all thought of heading home. The broken body of the woman fighting for her life belongs to Gabby, his best friend’s mother. A woman he's loved since he turned nineteen, when he foolishly declared his love for her.

 She’s not dying today. Not on his watch. And not with a promise left unfulfilled.

Gabby has never forgotten the taste of the kiss Taka gave her under the mistletoe all those years ago. Or the silly promise that surely by now he’s forgotten. She’s wrong. Taka remembers. And she melts as he uses every trick in his highly trained surgeon’s hands to heal her—and rekindle the heat between them.

But there’s a secret lurking in Gabby’s past. And when it follows her all the way to Seattle, it threatens to drag the one man she loves into the nightmare she thought she’d left behind.

You can find Dakota Harrison here and because she's down under she'll be answering all comments in her Time Zone. How cool is that I have an Australian debut author on my blog? Pretty swanking cool!

www.dakotaharrison.com

Samhain: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/exhale-p-72890.html

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CC9PLLA/ref=cm_sw_su_dp

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/exhale-dakota-harrison/1115213409?ean=9781619216518

 

Break Out the Bubbly & the Dark Chocolate: Celebrating Larynn Ford's Debut Novel IN MY WILDEST DREAMS

Debut Author Larynn Ford

Hi Everyone! I met Larynn Ford at a Southern Magic Romance Writer's chapter meeting. She's a lovely person and man has she moved fast into the realm of publication!! I couldn't wait to interview her about her debut release IN MY WILDEST DREAMS when I heard she'd signed a contract with Soul Mate Publishing. Her paranormal romance is the first book she's ever written and she's proof that everyone has a different journey toward publication. Please join me in welcoming Larynn to the Veranda! 

*pop*pour*sip*

Larynn, I'm so glad you're here to share your story toward publication. Tell me, how did you end up becoming a writer?

It was actually reading that led me to the idea of writing. A friend gave me her copy of Twilight to read on vacation. “You have got to read this. It is so good,” she said. Since I hadn’t read in a while, it took a bit but when I got into it, I couldn’t get enough. I craved paranormal and sought out as much as I could read. I’m following at least twelve different series now and somewhere along the way I thought how much fun it would be to create a fantasy world and bring my own characters to life. So began IN MY WILDEST DREAMS.

Wow! That's so wonderful that one person's book recommendation lead to sparking your desire to write. What is your favorite genre to write?

Paranormal romance.

Of course!! It's your inspiration. Are you a plotter or do you follow the muse?

Plotting can only get me so far (maybe I’m doing it wrong). For me, it’s the sudden, unexpected spark of an idea that gets the words flowing.

Everyone has a different process. From what I've learned, most writers think each book they write has a different process toward the end result. So after you're done writing, how do you relax? 

I sleep.

Sleeping is good. I love to sleep whenever I can. When you're not sleeping or writing, what do you read? What are your favorite genres? Who are your favorite authors?

I fell in love with paranormal romance in 2006 and enjoy reading Christine Feehan, Kerrilyn Sparks, Charlaine Harris, and Lindsay Sands to mention a few.

I adore all these authors. They're wonderful storytellers. Tell me, what is your current project?

IN MY WILDEST DREAMS, release day April 17.

 And afterward will you  have any new releases? (For later)

My current WIP is called RESCUED, a paranormal romance about a couple of P I’s (were-cougars) hired to investigate the disappearance of young people. Their findings lead them to discover a widespread operation to harvest and sell body parts. Along the way they discover fate has decided they are life mates and they must deal with their attraction while solving the case.

Oooohhhh, how cool!! I love the premise. Where do you get your ideas for your stories?

 Sometimes, I call on my own memories and say, “What if…” Sometimes a song lyric or in the case of RESCUED, the blue eyes and long, thick, blond lashes of the singer set a scene into motion and the story blossomed from there.

Stories I heard as a child or something as simple as a bridge on Highway 80 that haunts me every time I drive by and begs for its story to be written. Ideas are everywhere.

That's so true, Larynn. Ideas are everywhere. I'm glad you were able to turn your idea into a story. How long were you trying to get published before you got the “call?”

I wrote my first words on June 12, 2009 and signed my first contract on May 21, 2012.

Bam!! Super fast!! I'm so excited for you. How did you celebrate the new book contract?

I checked email before I left for work that morning and found the offer then. After I caught my breath, stopped the happy tears, and calmed down enough to drive, I went to work… with a permanent smile on my face.

A permanent smile sounds lovely. Do you have an agent?

I don’t at this point have an agent. I’m just getting my feet wet with the whole road to publication. I think I need to wade in little deeper before thinking about an agent. As I learn more about the business, I may change my mind…we’ll see.

Yes. There are pros and cons and each writer must make her/his decisions about their career accordingly. Good for you that you're adaptable. What is the most difficult part about writing for you?

Finding the time. I work a more than full time job and am wiped out by the time I get home so weekends and an occasional sprint at lunch are my most productive writing times.

I'm in awe of your dedication to writing given that you have a day job. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

The best advice I got was read, write, read, write. Sounds too simple and I was skeptical but reading really does answer many writing questions

Reading is my muse. All genres. Excellent advice. What encouragement can you give writers who face rejection? 

Never give up. Rejection only means the right person hasn’t read your work yet.

Never give and never surrender are my daily mantras. Thank you so much for popping over to the Veranda to celebrate your debut novel release IN MY WILDEST DREAMS. May all good things continue to come your way. And looking forward to the next book's release as well.

Larynn Ford's book IN MY WILDEST DREAMS can be purchased at the following sites:

SOUL MATE PUBLISHING

www.larynnford.com