Heart of Dixie Readers Luncheon: Baskets Galore

I'm attending my fabulous writing organization's Readers Luncheon this Saturday and I'm thoroughly looking forward to it. Not only is it a time to gather with my writing friends and colleagues whom I so rarely get to see, but it's a time to connect with loyal Romance Readers who love our genre.

This is Heart of Dixie's of saying "thank you" to the people who support romance by buying our books, talking about them, and reviewing them online. It's so much fun to see the long line of women (and a few men) waiting to go inside the luncheon room. There they will sit with published authors and have an opportunity to listen to a fabulous keynote speaker as well as get all kinds of goodies.

Both baskets ready to go to the Heart of Dixie Reader's Luncheon

This year's keynote speaker is the ever fantastic J.T. Ellison. Her current release is EDGE OF BLACK. I can't wait to hear her speech as I know it will inspire me. There will be 26 published authors at this event who will sign books as part of a benefit book signing immediately after the luncheon. And for the first time in five years, I will attend as a writer with a publishing contract! Can we say "pinch me now?"

As part of our luncheon we always have baskets for readers to bid on as well as an author basket giveaway. Everyone who is registered for the luncheon has an opportunity to win this basket. Tingling with excitement over here. Usually there is what I call a "lucky table" where the same people win over and over again. Imagine carrying home a boatload of baskets and goodies and books and more home. It's so much fun.

Debut Author Basket

This year I'm donating two baskets to the luncheon. One is my BREAK OUT THE BUBBLY AND THE DARK CHOCOLATE: CELEBRATING DEBUT AUTHORS basket and the other one is my DEBUT SUMMER 2014 ENTANGLED RELEASE basket.

Darling College Kid made the beautiful label.

I'm always so blown away by the generosity of my debut authors. They send autographed books and cool promotional stuff for the CELEBRATION basket. Then I round it out with champagne flutes, sparkling cider, and dark chocolate. What's not to love about that basket?

Here's the list of the wonderful authors who contributed to the basket and the contents:

Marilyn Baron & Sharon Goldman: Murder at the Outlet Mall

Adrienne Giordano: Justifiable Cause: The Chase & Bullet Earrings

Wendy S. Marcus: When One Night isn't Enough & Pen

Jennifer McQuiston: What Happens in Scotland & Bookmark

Cathy Perkins: Honor Code

Carla Swafford: Circle of Danger and Coasters, Bookmarks, & Postcards

The finished basket.

My Debut Summer 2014 Entangled Release Basket Contents

Cute Terra Cotta Planter
One Nook Simple Touch E-Reader with Glow Light
One free copy of my future digital release: The Maverick's Red Hot Reunion
(OK, pinching myself again and turning a wee bit black and blue LOL)

My College Kid made the contact sheet
and About Me Page

Break Out the Bubbly and the Dark Chocolate: Celebrating Adrienne Giordano's Debut Novel MAN LAW

Hi Everyone. I'd like to welcome a dear friend to the blog today as we celebrate her debut novel, MAN LAW. I met Adrienne Giordano through the online motivation group GOAL IN A MONTH or as we like to call it GIAMx4. Adrienne's debut novel MAN LAW is available digitally and is sold through CARINA Press. The cover is super delicious. I know I will LOVE this book. Adrienne is taking over my blog and telling us all about her own distractions after she got THE CALL. The call is the elusive thing we unpublished authors dream about getting, but after the call, the real work begins! So welcome Adrienne. 

*pop* *pour champagne* and *sip*

My Attempt to Manage Distraction 

by 

Adrienne Giordano

This is Adrienne's cover. Nice Distraction!!

I'll admit I've been distracted lately.  I'm trying not to beat myself up over it because in the last four months I've been through nine rounds of editorial edits on three books.  I've also needed to revamp my website, set up author accounts on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Library Thing, etc.  And let's not forget I'm a co-founder of Romance University, a busy and growing blog. Oh, and I'm also working on a new book. Not to mention I have a life outside of writing.

The thing I've figured out is that I'm not special. Hard to admit, sure, but this chaos, apparently, is day to day life for published authors. Rather a scary thought, no?

After absorbing the fact that all the marketing aspects of promoting a book wouldn't go away, I had to decide how to manage my distraction and not let it get in the way of my writing. I had to make brutal decisions about eliminating some of my online groups because I was spending close to two hours each day scrolling through digests. I also had to cut back on the blogs I visited daily. It's hard to back away from things I enjoy, but unless someone could give me another five hours in the day, things had to go.

After cutting back where I could, I implemented a plan to work for a specific amount of time each day on marketing. Of course, immediately after implementing said plan I received edits on book three and had to go into my cave and ignore everything but the book in front of me. That was okay. I just picked up my plan when I finished the edits. The downfall was that I had to dig out from everything that piled up while I was in my cave. It's a never-ending balance that I will keep working at.

What I absolutely know for sure is that if I allow myself to go over my allotted time for each task, I will completely lose control of my day and get no writing done.  Why, you ask, don't I write first and do the other tasks later? I've tried that. Unfortunately, all those emails and tasks nag at me and it distracts me all the more. If nothing else, I've determined that I'm one of those people who needs to clear everything out before I can concentrate on my writing.

It's a process that's evolving. It will probably never be seamless, but if I stay focused on keeping at least a little control over my day, maybe a routine will develop.

I hope.

Thanks so much for coming and sharing the pitfalls of social media after one is published! And you're right, Adrienne, this is a time when the focus has to be on promoting your books. I am very excited that you're debut novel is out and I can't wait to read it!!

Adrienne Giordano writes romantic suspense and women's fiction.  She is a Jersey girl at heart, but now lives in the Midwest. She is a co-founder of Romance University blog. Adrienne's debut romantic suspense, Man Law, will be released by Carina Press on July 4, 2011. Her second book, A Just Deception, will be available from Carina Press on September 5, 2011. For more information please visit www.AdrienneGiordano.com.  Adrienne can be found on Twitter and Facebook.