Happy Valentine's Day from Seekerville
And this just in from Julie Lessman!
BEST VALENTINE'S DAY PRESENT, EVER!!
Mega hugs to author Beverly Jenkins for putting A PASSION MOST PURE on her Publisher's Weekly "Ten Best Historical Novels"
for Valentine's Day with a truly FAB review, so check it out
and download A Passion Most Pure free.
http://bit.ly/1uSFS5x
And this just in from Julie Lessman!
BEST VALENTINE'S DAY PRESENT, EVER!!
Mega hugs to author Beverly Jenkins for putting A PASSION MOST PURE on her Publisher's Weekly "Ten Best Historical Novels"
for Valentine's Day with a truly FAB review, so check it out
and download A Passion Most Pure free.
http://bit.ly/1uSFS5x
We Have Winners
Giveaway rules can be found here. Please drop us a line to claim your giveaway at seekers@seekerville.net. All prizes not claimed in 8 weeks go back into the prize vault. We wish we could contact all our winners individually, but we'd rather write books! And P.S. -if we forget to send our your prize DO let us know after 8 weeks per our rules.
Did you claim your giveaway from LAST WEEK?
Last week's Godiva chocolate bar winners are: Jackie Layton & The New Karen.
Monday was "The Great Reader Event," brought to us by guests Lindi Peterson and Ciara Knight. They gave us an in-depth look at the process of planning an intimate, yet exciting reader event. We learned about budgeting, arranging venues, welcome bags, prizes and things you've never even though went into a reader event--all learned while putting together their Love Our Readers Luncheon to be held February 14th. Winner of Ciara Knight's Valentine's in Sweetwater County is Marianne Barkman. Winner of Lindi Peterson's Rich in Faith is Becky Dempsey.
Tuesday Myra Johnson hosted the Grammar Queen who graciously reprised one of her earlier posts, a refresher on dangling modifiers, possessives versus plurals, or comma usage regarding restrictive or nonrestrictive phrases. Terri is the winner of Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, by fellow grammarian Mignon Fogarty.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day!! Julie Lessman revealed her perspective on THE PERFECT KISS, on Wednesday with a giveaway of any of her books and a FREE DOWNLOAD of A Light in the Window. Winners are Sherida Stewart and Kara Gervin. Did you check out the video HERE ?
Thursday Ruth Logan Herne defied all land and sea speed records in her attempts to explain the unexplainable: "Writing believable children, Part 2." Winners of a signed copy of "Homestead Brides" collection are: Mary Hicks and Jeanne T.! Winners of "All Dressed Up in Love" to be released on 2/24 are Cindy Regnier and Vince Mooney!
Friday was Speedbo Prep Day. If you missed it, check here to learn how to sign up for Speedbo. We guided you through the non-rules of our yearly Book-in-a-Month Challenge to get you ready to score some series writing time and prizes in March.
You can sign up starting Saturday, February 14th, through March 31st by sending an email to seekers@seekerville.net with your personal goal listed. Sharing your goal is only for accountability. Seekerville will not be sharing your goal with anyone.
Sandy Smith, Eileen, Janet F, Kelly Blackwell and Kelly Bridgewater won ecopies of Rachel Aaron's 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love.
Rhonda Starnes and Meghan won the print version of No Plot? No Problem! Revised and Expanded Edition: A Low-stress, High-velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by NANOWRIMO founder Chris Baty.
The reader winner of a package of books is CindyW.
Monday: Love Inspired Historical author Janet Dean assures us that even published authors are rejected, but a closed door doesn’t mean a window isn’t wide open. Before a writer can choose her options, she needs to bring that manuscript back to life. Janet will share techniques for saving her rejected manuscript in her post “Performing CPR on your Rejected Manuscript.” Leave a comment for a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card.
Tuesday: We're super excited because The Social Media Muses visit today. Join Jana Oliver and Tyra Burton as they share their post," Author + Social Media = ???" Bring your questions because they have the answers. They're giving away several copies of Socially Engaged:The Author's Guide to Social Media, too!
Wednesday: Love Inspired Suspense Author Debby Giusti will talk about “Sacrifice and the Writing Life.” Stop by and leave a comment to be entered in the drawing!
Thursday: Today we're going swimming with Helen Gray and her post," Help!!! I’ve Dived into the Indie Ocean—and I don’t know how to swim!!" Don't miss this, because she's got a great surprise giveaway too!
Friday: We are delighted to welcome back Cheryl St.John, who will be talking about Creating Characters, a new Writers Digest book containing contributions from bestselling authors. As writers we are faced with grabbing and holding the reader's attention in this fast-paced market, and this book is filled with timely information on every stage of character development. Cheryl shares why she's a fan of this book. (Besides the fact that she is featured in a chapter.) Cheryl will be giving away a copy of Creating Characters: The Complete Guide to Populating Your Fiction.
It is coming October 6th (Book #2 Now and Forever is coming June 2nd) Fire and Ice is now available for preorder: CLICK HERE.
Bailey Wilde is one of the best new ranchers in the West. She's been living disguised as a man for a while, but when Gage Coulter comes to drive her off her homestead, he quickly realizes he's dealing with a woman--a very tough, very intriguing woman at that.
Gage is an honest man, but he didn't make his fortune being weak. He won't break the law, but he'll push as hard as he can within it. Five thousand acres of his best range land is lost to him because Bailey's homestead is located right across the only suitable entrance to a canyon full of lush grass. Gage has to regain access to his land--and he's got to go through Bailey to do it.
Spending a winter alone has a way of making a person crave some human contact. In a moment of weakness, Bailey agrees to a wild plan Gage concocts. Can these two independent, life-toughened homesteaders loosen up enough to earn each other's respect--and maybe find love in the process?
VALENTINE’S DAY IS LAST DAY FOR FREE DOWNLOAD!!! Today, February 14 is the LAST DAY to download Julie Lessman’s award-winning Irish love story, A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW free on Kindle, so take advantage! A Light in the Window is the winner of the 2013 International Digital Award, 2013 Reader’s Crown Award, and the 2013 Book Buyers Best Award and currently has 180 five-star reviews on Amazon and a 4.7 rating, so check out the video starring Julie’s daughter for a sneak peek here: ALITW Video.
Thanks for the links!
Beyond $0.99: New tips on ebook price promotions (GIGAOM)
Fiction Pitch Conference (NY Writers Workshop)
Judging a Book by Its Cover: What Book Publicists—and Media—Want to See on the Outside of a Book (The Book Baby Blog)
A Letter to My Younger Self (The Reader Service Blog)
No Panic Over 15 Percent Drop in Christian Fiction Sales (PW)
33 Revenue Streams For Authors – Even If You Write Non-Fiction (the Future of ink)
Overwhelmed As An Author? How To Work With Virtual Assistants With Chris Ducker (The Creative Penn)
Tax Time Revelations (Elizabeth Craig via The Passive Voice)
Ask An Editor:Story Flow (Swoon Reads)
No Limit's Quote of the Week:
Happy Valentine's Day!
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great WE, Tina, and congrats to the winners.
Happy Saturday, Seekerville...and Happy Valentine's Day.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget to sign up for Speedbo!
Happy Valentine's Day, Seekers! I signed up for Speedbo. Can't wait to start!
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine's Day everyone. I am so thankful for all my friends. Love you all.
ReplyDeleteGreat WE Tina.
Congrats to winners.
Love that last pic: You can have results or excuses but not both. Hmmmmmmm.
Happy Valentine's Day!!!
ReplyDeleteI've brought chocolate and roses to share! Enjoy!
Congrats to the winners. Yay, to Julie Lessman!!!
Hubby and I are renewing our wedding vows at church this evening with 200 other folks, followed by a candlelight dinner and dance. :)
Just an FYI, the Writer's Police Academy registration opens at 11 AM today for any interested in attending. Last year it filled up in 6 hours.
ReplyDeleteAnyone hoping to go?
Happy Valentine's Day :) I missed the posts for Thursday and Friday as I was swamped with getting Valentines boxes done for my kids! I need to read the for sure!
ReplyDeleteMary Connealy! LOVE THAT COVER!!!
ReplyDeleteBecky D! I remember those days of turning shoe boxes into V-day boxes. Good memories! HA!
ReplyDeleteYOU WIN!
ReplyDeleteI give up!
I can't find a link to sign up for Speedbo. As much as I hate to do this, I'm going to have to ask for directions. : (
Vince
Hey, Facebook told me it's Valri's birthday today!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Valri!!!!!
And VINCE IS LOST!!!!
VINCE. THIS IS SO OUT-OF-GENDER BUT IN-GENRE!!!!
Well done!
That is my favorite of the Wild at Heart covers.
ReplyDeleteI love the smirk!!!!!!
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY, SEEKERVILLE!
ReplyDeleteGreat Weekend, Tina! Chockfull of wonderful news!!
Huge congratulations, Julie!!
Mary, love your cover!!
Debby, what a joy renewing your vows will be!! Hugs to a fabulous couple.
Off to sign up for SpeedBo.
Janet
You can sign up starting Saturday, February 14th, through March 31st by sending an email to seekers@seekerville.net with your personal goal listed. Sharing your goal is only for accountability. Seekerville will not be sharing your goal with anyone.
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine's Day to all my Seekerville friends!
ReplyDeleteCONGRATS to all the winners, and THANKS Miss T for another great WE!
Next week looks wonderful in Seekerville (love the title of Helen's post - - YAY Helen!!). :)
Happy Heartfelt Hugs, Patti Jo (who loves alliteration, LOL) ;)
p.s. Signing up for SPEEDBO right away!
Happy Valentine's Day, Seekerville! Hubby and I went out for a delicious breakfast this morning--so fun. Breakfast out has become our Valentine's Day tradition because it sure beats fighting the dinner crowds!
ReplyDeleteAND---I was pleasantly surprised to notice this cute little cafe got a perfect 100 score from the health department! Never, ever seen that before anywhere we've dined! Awhile back, I read in an article by someone who knows the criteria that you really, really don't want to risk eating anywhere that the score is less than around 95. Scary.
Happy Valentine's Day to everyone.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to all winner from last week, and to Julia for the wonderful review at Publisher's Weekly and to Piper Hugley for the glowing review on The Preacher's Promise. That's so exciting! Lovely that Debby's renewing her wedding vows today.
I love that you're renewing your wedding vows, Debby.
ReplyDeleteIs this something your church does every year? Like a large group or is this special just for you two?
Happy Valentines Day! Congratulations to all the winners. have a great weekend every one.
ReplyDeleteH A P P Y
ReplyDeleteV A L E N T I N E ‘ S
D A Y!
I just emailed my sign up for Speedbo. I hope we can get more writers to give progress reports this year. How everyone is doing is the 'show'!
Also, I just love the cover of “Fire & Ice”. I would, however, suggest that, if Bailey is trying to pass for a man, she go a little lighter on the Maybelline and perpahs use CK One Color pink verging on nude rather than Elizabeth Arden’s coral. Not that I notice these things. It’s just that I am reading Lee Child and he has more details per page than an Army battalion.
Vince
Hi Ruth:
ReplyDeleteIt is not getting lost that is out of gender, it’s asking for help! While I have learned to read my wife’s mind, mostly, (a husband survival value and important skill if you just 'don't listen'), I still have trouble with romance writers. : )
Love that I won your book, "All Dressed Up in Love". I wish they had shown more of the dress so I could guess the designer. From what I see I’d say it is by Carolina Herrera. Any experts out there know?
In a way, you are like the Will Rogers of romance authors: I never met one of your books I didn’t like. : )
Vince
Aw, Vince, you're adorable.
ReplyDeleteI sold hundreds of wedding gowns in my time at Bridal Hall, but we didn't carry Herrera...
Cap sleeve, keyhole back, lace overlay... and hopefully not a mermaid gown because the heroine makes fun of them in the book!!! :)
Ghastly uncomfortable things. We had a bride who had to be lifted into and out of the Hummer limo they rented for the day because you're so constricted in those things! The mermaid dress, not the Hummer! :)
Snowing here... I've gotten 3K done today, I think I figured out what I needed to fix in this sweet romance, and my daughter called to say she'd just read my light suspense for our spring collection and loved it.
THAT'S THE FIRST TEST, ALWAYS, IF I CAN PASS BETH'S TEST FOR EMOTION/STORY/CONTENT... a few things to tweak, but this makes for a good beginning to the weekend!!!
Vince, I went looking, and there are lots of versions of this out there...
ReplyDeleteI love this kind of gown. Sexy but discreet. Gorgeous, and comfortable to wear because you're not afraid the tops going to slip down when you dance!!!
Myra, you know that using that criteria, everyone in our house would starve?
ReplyDeleteYou don't want that to happen, darling, a bunch of starving logan/herne/blodgetts and friends?????
Hi Debby:
ReplyDeleteYou wrote:
“Hubby and I are renewing our wedding vows at church this evening with 200 other folks, followed by a candlelight dinner and dance. :)”
What a great thing for a church to do. Maybe we could get my wife’s church to do that. Surely this experience has to work its way into a romance. Would a Army Chaplin be allowed to do this on post?
A few years ago my wife and I went on a romantic cruise and a Catholic priest offered to marry people. This was a real marriage. Well my wife really wanted to do this -- I think she wanted to see if I would marry her all over again. Of course I would so I said yes. We got married again, in the chapel, and I thought it was very romantic. We even got a real marriage certificate. I said, “wasn’t that romantic” as other passengers were shaking our hands. “Yes,” she said, “and now that you’ve been married in the Catholic church, you can never get a divorce.” Now how romantic was that?
Ha, ha, on the Lee Child!!! Talk about rewards per page.
ReplyDeleteHi Ruth:
ReplyDeleteI love a mermaid wedding dress more than anything! If the bride has the figure to wear one. (How do you get a Prince dress in a hummer?)
I also like lots of lace and diamonds like in this picture:
http://pawdiesfriend.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/strapless-mermaid-wedding-dresses-with-diamonds-5xsxtslq.jpg
That is a bride who no one will take their eyes off for the entire ceremony and reception! Maybe that is what the hero did not want to see happen! : )
Debby, what a romantic way to spend Valentine's Day!
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine's Day to everyone. I am excited to win the e-book 2K to 5K. It should be very helpful.
Third order ‘back story’ reveal shows the genius of Lee Child.
ReplyDeleteI discovered an ingenious writing technique last night while reading “61 Hours” by Lee Child which I think writers will find very interesting and useful. This is a book Tina highly recommended I read.
Since I’ve never read any of the “Jack Reacher” series books, I did not know anything about the character -- even though this is the 14th book in the series. Therefore I stood in need of lots of backstory to help me make sense of what was happening in the story. First some definitions:
First order of back story reveal is to just give the back story for the sole purpose of informing the reader. This may happen when a character tells another character something that character already knows just to inform the reader of that information. This happens on CSI many times a show. The characters tell each other things about DNA they both well know. This is bad form.
Second order of back story is when the information is revealed in the legitimate context of the story narrative. This is good.
Thrid order of back story is when the character in the story uses the release of back story to obtain additional information from another character that the first character wants to know but that the second character does not want to reveal.
This happens in “61 Hours” when Jack Reacher wants a cop to give him information that the cop wants to keep secret. So Reacher tells the cop that he was in the army for 13 years. This sets up the cop to think that Reacher already knows the secret information. So when Reacher states the information, a guess on his part, the cop gives a true answer to this question thinking the police chief has already told this to Reacher. This is amazingly clever. This is why it pays to read some mega selling authors.
Lee Child had his character, Jack Reacher, reveal backstory in an effort to get another character, the cop, to reveal backstory to him which the cop would otherwise never have revealed if he were not tricked into doing it!
This third order thinking can be applied to other writing techniques.
Paradigm
A character does something in the context of the story that accomplishes a novel-craft need. (The author is happy about this.) Then the character expands upon that need to accomplish something that the character wants to achieve. (The character is happy about this.)
This is a writing approach I don’t remember ever knowing about before.
I wonder if Lee Child plays pool because that scene would have been an amazing combination shot!
Vince
P.S. I may be posting more than I should but this is the weekend and there is no moderator to step on and I am trying to avoid the start of very hard projects. : )
Okay my Valentine's Day consists of a What Not to Wear marathon and creating my Speedo advent calendar. No chocolate. :-( But I have some applesauce spice cake in the freezer. :-)
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine's Day Seekers.
I told you he was brilliant.
ReplyDeletere: the dress, Vince.
ReplyDeleteW. W. O. O. W. W
Kav, I love WNTW marathons.
ReplyDeleteHA HA HA!!!!!
ReplyDeleteRUTHY, if you think MY house could pass a health inspection, you've obviously never visited me!!!
Color me industrious.
ReplyDeleteOr crazy.
Hubby and I sorted through our mess of files and Quicken data and filled out the income tax forms for our CPA today!
VINCE said: "Third order of back story is when the character in the story uses the release of back story to obtain additional information from another character that the first character wants to know but that the second character does not want to reveal."
ReplyDeleteMYRA said: "I have a headache."
Speaking of Ms. Mabeline. I realized a few weeks ago why I generally go with dark haired dark eyed heroines....
ReplyDeleteThe majority of photos of actresses and models who are fair, especially with light-brown to blonde hair generally have on a good bit of makeup and red lipstick.
I do like to have a visual of my characters, but since I write historicals, some of the visuals just weren't working for me. I started looking for models with less makeup and added them to my Character folder on Pinterest.
Now, I have several "fresh-faced" looking models that fit the time period better. :)
Congrats winners! Those are some super prizes.
ReplyDeleteInteresting links, as always, Tina -- especially the one about revenue streams.
Am I the only one not impressed with many of the Best Book Covers of 2014?
Signed up for Speedbo.
And thanks to all the readers who will be cheering writers on. Encouragement is soooo important.
Nancy C
Congratulations to all our winners! We had a great week.
ReplyDeleteLoved the link to the Virtual Assistant post. Ah, one of these days...
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!
Happy Birthday, Valri! What a great day to do lots of celebrating.
ReplyDeleteAnd Julie! Super, duper congratulations to you, my friend. All my facebook friends are now aware of your Top Ten honor!!!
Hi Myra:
ReplyDeleteNot to worry.
My copy is likely to give any non-philosopher a headache. However, if you read that section of “61 Hours”, (it’s between 10% to 14% into the book or search the word ‘tricked’) it will all become very clear to you what Child was doing. When that happens you’ll wonder why I didn’t write it in a very easy to understand fashion which I’m sure you’ll be able to do.
BTW: Did the Grammar Queen talk to you about doing a Kindle book on the most common mistakes fiction writers make and how to correct them? I think it would sell a lot of copies.
YAY for SpeedBo! I read yesterday's post [soooooo sorry I didn't get back to you Tina!] and meant to pop back in to comment, but we had teen angst around here and, well, it didn't happen :p.
ReplyDeleteI'll send my SpeedBo goals in a few minutes :). I'm trying to talk several friends into as well :D. Be sure to join us on the #1K1HR FB page for races, etc :).
((Hugs to all the Seekers/Villagers))
Carol is the gal to talk to about 1K1Hr or ask any of the Seekers who joined.
ReplyDeleteI had one person IM me yesterday asking me to add her :).
ReplyDeleteI got a package in the mail today. From Mississippi.
ReplyDeleteA book!!!
With the word Homestead in the title!!!
Thank you, Pam!!!
I just love the weekends here at Seekerville! You are all amazing! Thank you first for the win and most of all for the Speedbo prep and encouragment. I've just gleefully signed up!
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine's Day!
I was out of town yesterday and couldn't comment. I checked in with Seekerville this morning and got a nice surprise—I'm one of the lucky WE winner!!!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to all the other winners!! :-)
Thanks so much for the signed copy of 'Homestead Brides', I can't wait to read it!!!
:-) :-) :-)
Vince, I love that, LOL! You're stuck, my friend!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story! I love that Debby's church does this, too. Love it!
You guys who've won Homestead Brides will love it. Such a delightful bunch of books, perfect "read 'em in a night" kind of stories, like when I would read James Herriot stories back in the day.
ReplyDeleteNow that's a series of books I can re-read. I love the conversational tone of Herriot's body of work, the family friendliness, the animals, the poignant emotions and the goofiness of brothers Tristan and Siegfried.
Vince.
ReplyDeleteThat dress is a stunner. And yeah, looks great.
But the reason you like it, the form-fitted shapeliness, and the tight booty is exactly why they're dreadful wedding gowns. You can't move normally if the legs are constricted that far down. So if you're modeling, they're great, but honestly, I had a lot of laughs with girls over those gowns.... and I talked a lot of women out of them by pointing out the obvious. And hey, big guy, at a Catholic Mass wedding, I shouldn't be distracted by those hips!!! :)
OY.
RATED R STORY, DON'T READ IF YOU'RE UNDER 17
ReplyDeleteVince, there was a dress my boss got in from a big NYC bridal show, a new designer line, and it was gorgeous at first sight... Flowing organza and lace over a satin underlay, and sprinkles of beads, heavy at the bottom of the dress, then thinning in # as they climbed the dress.
Gorgeous.
Until you stepped back and LOOKED AT THE BEADING.
The designer (a guy, I'm assuming, but who knows) did the tiny beading to resemble sperm. So you had a multitude of the little fella's around the hem, up to the knees, all pointing upward in proper fashion! And then it thinned to a sprinkling toward the top...
Oh my stars, the boss never noticed the "pattern" of beading, but once we noticed it, well... we laughed over that one with a lot of girls, too.
OH MY STARS.
Hi Ruth:
ReplyDeleteYou wrote this about that spectacular mermaid wedding dress:
“You can't move normally if the legs are constricted that far down.”
So what?
Comfort?
When are you going to wear that dress again? It’s not like that dress is a pair of hiking boots!!!
Where’s the romance?
Isn’t the whole idea of wearing a stunning wedding dress to make all the other guys at the wedding jealous of the groom because they didn’t nab a babe that beautiful? And, yes, also to look fabulous in those wedding pictures, one of which, you are going to be looking at for the rest of your life on the fireplace mantel?
That bride has a lifetime to wear muumuus and yoga pants! As Billy Crystal used to say, “It’s better to look good than to feel good”. (Maybe not always but at least on your wedding day!)
Oy! If I was a salesman at Filene's every bride, with the figure to wear one, would leave there with a mermaid dress! That’s why it is called salesmanship and not ordertakemanship.
Besides: that’s not a dress you're selling! It’s the fulfillment of a lifelong dream!
Now...I’m all wound up are ready to give a motivational speech to the sales crew! (I have to cool down.)
BTW: Maybe you would not be able to look at the bride’s 'mermaid' hips at a Catholic mass wedding but any red blooded Catholic boy can look at hips and repeat ‘mea culpa’ at the same time. (Even mea maxima culpa.) Why do you think they have confession for?)
Vince
P.S. While it is true ‘I’m stuck’ and cannot divorce, at least God will know I actually did get married! (Catholic joke. -- The first wedding was in Linda's protestant church. I'm not sure my family considered us really married until after that cruise!)
.
ReplyDeleteABOUT: "OH MY STARS"!
Eastern Wisdom: "We see what is behind our eyes."
TINA!!! Thank you sooooooo much for headline -- I grinned every single time I checked in to the WE this weekend!!
ReplyDeleteHope everybody had a great V-Day ... I'm still recovering from overeating and too much chocolate, but it was worth it ... at least till I get on the scale!!
I always judge a WE by how many links I follow at the end, and this one was a doozy, Teenster -- thank you!!
SUPER CONGRATS TO ALL THE WINNERS!!
Hugs,
Julie
Vince, love your picture in the snow...and your story about getting married on the cruise ship!
ReplyDeleteYes, our renewal was a church event. More than 200 signed up for the lovely dinner and dance following, but the pews will filled with even more folks who renewed their vows. Very touching. We've been doing the renewals for a number of years, always the closest SAT to Valentine's Day. Of course, this year was even more special since it was V Day!
So hubby and I are in for the long haul...at least one more year! LOL! Actually, he's a keeper...until death do us part!
Hugs and love to all!
I'm loving Mary's new cover!!
ReplyDeleteI hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day weekend!
Thanks for the WE, Tina.