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11/19/2016 1 Comment A video interview with my book cover designer Erin Cawood about the design process I am so excited today to have Erin Cawood on the blog. Erin has done the cover for Snowbound, A Chicklit Christmas Novella which releases this week. I absolutely love this cover. It really captures the feel and the essence of the book, which is what you always hope for when you set out to have a cover designed. Erin has made a video talking you through her design experience and how we worked together to come up with the design which I think you will find really interesting. Erin lives in the UK and I live in Australia so we've never met in real life so seeing her on video was extra fun for me. (Don't you just love how the internet makes it possible for us to collaborate with people who live a world away?) This isn't the first cover Erin and I have done together, she did all my Upper Crust Series Covers as well, but this is our first illustrated cover together. I really hope you enjoy the video and if you are an author I highly recommend getting in touch with Erin to look at working with her. 
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 Today I'm sharing something very different but very exciting with you. See this book here with the funky cover? Well guess who made a small contribution to it? Did you guess me? Now look at all the other cool people who contributed. I quote the back cover. John Birmingham, Linda Jaivin, Marc Fennell, Clem Bastow, Lindy Morrisson, Justin Heazelwood, Elmo Keep, Dan Hunter, Angela Bowne and others fire up the copyright debate like never before.  So I'm one of the 'and others' and very proud to be one.
This is a wonderful book that looks at the issues we face in the digital age when we all want to download it, read it, watch it and listen to it anywhere, anytime. The book examines how we deal with this now in terms of copyright and the affects it has on the individuals who created the original work. My piece is here called One Click For Chicklit . Edited by the very talented Phillipa McGuinness and published by New South Publishing It is available in all good bookshops. I am thrilled to have been included in this wonderful book. There is a panel discussing the book at the Sydney Writer's Festival so if you're planning to be there you should put the event in your diary. EVENT NUMBER: 111 EVENT TITLE: Copyfight DATE: Friday, 22 May 2015 TIME: 1.30-2.30pm VENUE: Sydney Dance 2 Meanwhile, go grab a copy!  I am very excited to be part of this lovely box set with authors Jennifer Gilby Roberts and Geralyn Coracillo. I'll be featuring both ladies on the blog over the next few days so you can learn more about the women behind the stories. Meanwhile let *** Have Chick Lit, Will Travel A new box set of three great summer reads from up and coming chick lit authors. 
 About the Book Back to December: Thanks to an abusive mother and an absent father, Anna Blackhurst has only known the love of two people: her Gram and her best friend, Niki. When Anna meets Cooper Reed in a smoky club, she’s immediately drawn to his good looks but isn’t prepared to open herself up to a relationship. As time passes, Anna finds herself falling in love with Cooper and she begins to rethink her future. Maybe, despite her childhood, she can have a happy-ever-after. But when her mother is in a terrible accident, she again sinks her claws into Anna and Anna’s world is thrown upside down. Despite Cooper’s unwavering support, Anna walks away only to regret it immediately. In order to heal, not only herself, but her broken relationship, Anna must stand up for herself and accept that the only way she's going to be happy is if she grabs ahold of it herself. Back to December will be released June 20, 2014.  About the Author:
Heather McCoubrey is a native of Maine but having moved all over the U.S. as a child, she doesn’t sound like one. She’s been writing since middle school when a teacher taught her she could create her own stories instead of just reading them. That year she had some of her first poems published in the school magazine and from there she graduated to writing a full-length novel in high school (which has been collecting dust on her shelf ever since!). She is the self-published author of To Love Twice, her debut novel. Her second novel, Back to December, is scheduled to be released in June 2014 and the novel that’s been collecting dust on the shelf, Emily’s Choice, is scheduled to be released in October 2014. Heather resides in Pennsylvania with her husband, two children, Rex the chihuahua and Fatty the goldfish. When she’s not being super-mom and wife, she ekes out time to write, watch football, practice her British accent and dream of living on an island where it’s eighty degrees year-round. Find the Author: You can find Heather McCoubrey on: Her blog, Romantic Escapes: http://heathermccoubrey.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorHeatherMcCoubrey Twitter: https://twitter.com/h_mccoubrey Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/heathermccoubrey Google+: google.com/+HeatherMcCoubrey Find the Book: To Love Twice: Amazon (eBook & print): http://www.amazon.com/Love-Twice-Heather-McCoubrey-ebook/dp/B00BWYEHH0/ Barnes & Noble (print): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/to-love-twice-heather-mccoubrey/1116093917?ean=9781492175995 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17668673-to-love-twice Blurb for To Love Twice: During an intense and terrifying experience, Kate meets Brad Walker, the man of her dreams. After a blissful ten years, Brad suddenly becomes cold and distant. A few months after giving birth to their daughter, Kate leaves and files for divorce. When he dies a few days later and his secrets are revealed, Kate is devastated. Five years later, Kate has made a successful new life for herself and her daughter, despite the fact that she clings to his memory and grieves for her husband. While in London on a business trip, she meets London's most eligible bachelor, Edward Kent. She is enchanted with his manners and dazzled by his attention. He's everything she could wish for, and everything she's afraid of. Edward finds her refreshing and lovely and quickly realizes that he's finally found the one he wants to spend the rest of his life with. Can Kate set Brad's memory and her fears aside long enough to find happiness with Edward and finally see that she is able To Love Twice? Reviews of To Love Twice: “First book I've ever read completely through! It was awesome. I laughed, I cried, I found some really good points. I loved the romance. Just might read it again!” –Jillian Hucks “I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Readers who just want a steamy romance will be disappointed... No smut here...but plenty of romance and great character development. I laughed, I cried, I was genuinely surprised a few times and skipped sleep to finish reading and get to the happy ending. I wish it were longer! I am not ready to say goodbye to Kate and Edward.” –Kindle Customer “CharmedGirl” “I'd recommend this book to anyone. I'm not one for romances but this book had me hooked. And the crazy twist at the end, I couldn't put it down.” –Tiffany Clark “I'm not normally a fan of romances but this was good and kept my interest… the ending was Awesome. Great snowy day read!!” –Bonnie G “This story was very unexpected. The plot was great, the characters were real, and the ending was surprising. I never saw it coming. Kate is so strong to have gone through all she did to find love again. Heather, I look forward to your next novel. You have a new fan!” –Ann  The China Doll By Deborah Nam-Krane Genre: Mystery/suspense  Hypocrisy, half truths and lies... Sick of being treated like she's going to break, Jessie Bartolome is back to her old ways and calling everyone on their hypocrisy. Sheesh! One little breakdown and even easygoing Martin Shepard thinks she's too fragile to handle their age difference. Good thing her older and equally yummy teaching assistant Robert Lester thinks otherwise…right? After spending so long cleaning up after everyone else, Jessie's cousin Richard has never had the time to start a life of his own. However had he managed to find his girlfriend Zainab? So what is Richard going to do now that everyone else has grown up? Marry Zainab and start a family? Things have never been that easy for a Hendrickson…just ask his cousin Michael. Richard's mother, Lucy, is one of the most powerful women in Boston... so when is she going to put a stop to the blackmail ruthless Alex Sheldon has been holding over her for years? And if Richard knows more than he's letting on, why hasn't he gone after Alex himself? The question is, how much does he- or anyone else- really know? Welcome to the Bartolome/Hendrickson family. The China Doll is Book Three in The New Pioneers Series EXCERPT “My dad drowned. My mom died in her sleep.†“How old was she?†“About twenty-six.†Jessie shuddered just a little bit. “Just a little older than Miranda is now.†“That’s awfully young to die in your sleep.†“Heart condition, they said.†“Who’s they?†“Richard and Lucy.†Jessie shook her head. “No. Just Richard.†“What did your aunt say?†“Nothing,†Jessie said quietly. “She just let Richard do all the talking.†“How old was he?†Jessie sighed. “Thirteen, I think.†“And how old were you?†“Four.†“So how do you know you remember it correctly?†Jessie looked at him square in the eye. “Because you know when you’re that age. When you’re a little kid, you don’t have to go through the apologetic BS you do when you’re older. When you’re eight, even. You just get it. And people think you’re crazy or in the way or rude because you get it and then you say it. So then no one wants to talk to you or they send you to your room. Then you start making up excuses for why they must be right and you must be wrong. Then you grow up, and you realize that you had it right back then, and if your world seems messed up, it’s because you bought into someone else’s lies. So don’t lie anymore, and everything will be just fine.†“And when did you come to that nugget of wisdom?†“When I was fifteen,†Jessie said quietly. “And I’ve been very happy ever since.† BOOK ONE The Smartest Girl in the Room Genre: Coming of Age Nineteen year old Emily wants her college diploma fast, and she's going to get it. But when the perfect night with perfect Mitch leads her to a broken heart, Emily is blind to her vulnerability. When the person she cares about the most is hurt as a result, Emily's ambition gives way to more than a little ruthlessness. She's going to use her smarts to take care of herself and protect the people she loves, and everyone else had better stay out of her way. But shouldn't the smartest girl everyone knows realize that the ones she'd cross the line for would do the same for her? BOOK TWO The Family You Choose Genre: Family Saga Miranda Harel has been in love with her guardian Alex Sheldon since she was five years old, and Michael Abbot has despised them both for just as long. When Miranda finds out why she wants both men out of her life for good and questions everything she believed about where and who she came from. Finding out the truth will break her heart. Without family or true love, will her friends be enough to bring her back? AUTHOR INFO Deborah Nam-Krane is a writer living in Boston proper who has been storytelling since she was a little girl and writing those stories down since she was eight. Any given day will find her reading, writing, reviewing, editing and, just for fun, homeschooling her three school-aged children (she’s very grateful the fourth is now college-aged). The China Doll is the third installment of the New Pioneers series, the sequel to The Smartest Girl in the Room (March 2013) and The Family You Choose (September 2013). While her long-suffering editor works her magic on the fourth installment Let’s Move On, Deborah is working on the fifth. That book will be set in the world of Boston and Massachusetts politics, and her job will be to tone down the true stories she’s heard so they seem believable. Deborah is all over the place on the internet- no, really- but the best way to keep in touch is to follow her blog Written By Deb and subscribe to her newsletter (only publishing news, never spam). @dnkboston GIVEAWAY $10 Amazon gift card 5 copies of both The Smartest Girl in the Room and The Family You Choose  At last the day has come BUILDING ATTRACTION is live on AMAZON.
Saddle up and head on over there to get a copy. Amazon US Amazon UK If you don't have a Kindle you can download the Kindle app from Amazon for your tablet, smartphone or computer!. Competition: Take a photo of you and your copy on your Kindle/iPad/device and post it at my Virtual Book Launch on FB and you could win a $10 Amazon GC. Book launch is here. Stop on by! https://www.facebook.com/events/390588931074795/?ref=2&ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming Building Attraction –Single Tittle Romantic Fiction Hers has been a life of too many responsibilities and his has been a life of too few. Could the thing that initially repelled them from each other finally be the ultimate source of attraction? Holly Adams has two jobs in the city, two petulant teenage sisters to support, a farm with a big mortgage and a terrible secret that propels her forward. Brad Winchester has a reputation for being a spoilt playboy who has abandoned his family business but he also has a secret that has finally brought him home. When they are forced to together at work (Holly works at the cut-throat PR Consultancy that handles his family’s account Winchester Homes – They don’t build homes, they build dreams”) a series of misunderstandings has them at odds. Still while working together they learn they have more in common than either might have imagined – common friends, family loyalty and dreams of something different. When life keeps pushing them in each other’s paths they must decide whether this is an attraction that might be worth building on after all. *** If you read it and enjoy it please leave me a review on Amazon US and/or Amazon UK. I am always very grateful when someone does. 
Building Attraction by Monique McDonell
Hers has been a life of too many responsibilities and his has been a life of too few. Could the thing that initially repelled them from each other finally be the ultimate source of attraction? Holly Adams has two jobs in the city, two petulant teenage sisters to support, a farm with a big mortgage and a terrible secret that propels her forward. Brad Winchester has a reputation for being a spoilt playboy who has abandoned his family business but he also has a secret that has finally brought him home. When they are forced to together at work (Holly works at the cut-throat PR Consultancy that handles his family’s account Winchester Homes – They don’t build homes, they build dreams”) a series of misunderstandings has them at odds. Still while working together they learn they have more in common than either might have imagined – common friends, family loyalty and dreams of something different. When life keeps pushing them in each other’s paths they must decide whether this is an attraction that might be worth building on after all.  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0086L8NBS My first indie book has now been out in the big wide world 22 months. I guess that makes that book a toddler. It certainly has fallen over and scraped it's knees along the way, more than once. I suspect it's also resentful when I give it's younger siblings my time but that may be another post.
When I had my daughter (back in the day!) I joined a mother's group. They were like a support group for me. They got me out of the house and I could talk about my daughter and the trials of motherhood without boring my friends, who for the most part didn't yet have children. (Ok I'm sure I did still bore them but hopefully a little less than I would have and as they largely went on to have their own kids I must not have scared them off the idea!) Anyway, when I released my first novel I did a similar thing. I found groups of people online who wrote what I wrote, or reviewed what I wrote and started to build a lovely network of people around me with whom I could discuss writing and books and writing comedy and writing chicklit and writing contemporary romance. If you follow my blog at all you'll probably see that I've done cover reveals, interviews and guest posts from lots of wonderful authors. I've been involved in group promotions and give-aways as well. Lots of these people have reciprocated and hosted me or retweeted my sale days, new releases etc, So every so often (it'll be like totally random) I'm going to just alert you to the books of some of these people. I'll just pop a cover or two up here as suggestions of nice people who write books who might appreciate you downloading their book and having a read. They won't all be women's fiction but lots will be because that's who I write for and who I seem to mostly have connected with. If you read and enjoy their books let me know - or even better - let them know. Authors love that!  Synopsis of “Facebook Jeanie” by Addison Westlake It's Bridget Jones meets "Groundhog Day"... Ever wonder if you made the right choice? What if you could go back and find out? 31-year-old Clara is in a steady relationship—with Facebook. Every night after her depressing bureaucratic job (so much for saving the world), Clara comes home to her empty apartment (yes, she was dumped) and settles down with a pint of ice cream for some good, old-fashioned Facebook stalking. It's her college boyfriend, The One Who Got Away. With the bod of a God and a net worth of umpteen bamillion, he now has the perfect life—everything she could have had if she hadn't been so, so stupid. But, wait. Jeanie from Facebook shows up at Clara's job. There's a new app they're beta-testing and Clara's perfect for it. That night she clicks on it and... nothing happens. But the next morning when Clara wakes up at noon, hung over, listening to her roommate blow-drying her hair and singing "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It", she realizes she's back in college. With the chance to do it all over again. Back in the world of frat parties, BFFs, and long-suffering, overlooked lab partners, join Clara as she discovers what it really means to hit the reset button on life. What could possibly go wrong? And, this time, can she get it right? Facebook Jeanie will be out October 1st.  About the Author
Addison Westlake made her debut as an author at age 13 by rewriting the "Sweet Valley High" series. Despite copyright violations, she maintains that her rendition of Elisabeth and Jessica Wakefield as preteens in a British orphanage is a classic. Between then and now she went to some fancy schools, swapped out the East Coast for the West Coast, and had oodles of kids. Some of her favourite things in life include coffee, Aretha Franklin's inauguration hat and the sleepwalking scene in "Step Brothers." Addison's first romantic comedy, “Christmas in Wine Country,” spent six weeks on the bestseller list in women’s fiction, humorous fiction and humor. And it’s only $0.99, y’all. http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-in-Wine-Country-ebook/dp/B00A9I292U She would like to thank MCM cover design, mcm@1889.ca, for the awesome “Facebook Jeanie” cover. And for the unfailing patience with questions such as “should she have an earring” and “do her pinks clash?” Addison loves to hear from readers, so please find her at: addisonwestlake.blogspot.com facebook.com/addisonwestlake  A Fresh Start – A Henley’s Bluff Romance - Book 1
Susannah Morrison is searching for a new life with her young daughter, Maisy, when a car accident, hospitalisation and a chance encounter with Declan Doherty puts her plans on hold. Declan is only in the annoyingly tiny seaside village of Henley’s Bluff for a quick visit to support his father. Agreeing to help Susannah by pretending they’re old friends and giving her and Maisy somewhere to stay is a huge mistake. He has no intention of letting his attraction to Susannah derail his plans to return to life as a magazine editor in London. It took him years to escape the town and his family and no convenient affair is going to change that now. Except desire has a will of its own. And soon Declan and Susannah are wondering if Henley’s Bluff is the new start they both need. This is the first novel in the Henley’s Bluff romance series, set in the coastal seaside village of Henley’s Bluff. *** Monica Donnelly is an Australian author who writes contemporary romance. She has always been a hopeless romantic who believes in love at first sight and ‘happily ever afters’. She does however, also know that the path to true love is not always smooth. Her Henley’s Bluff romance series charts the romantic entanglements of the Doherty family and their friends in the sea-side town of Henley’s Bluff. The first three books in the series will be released between July and December 2013; A Fresh Start – July 2013 A Wave of Love – September 2013 A Chance to Love – December 2013 Monica lives in Sydney, Australia where she divides her spare time between family, writing, reading, and enjoying the beach. One of other secret hobbies is discovering how people met! For more information visit: www.monicadonnellyromanceauthor.com or find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MonicaDonnellyauthor |
Monique McDonell-AuthorI am a writer of light-hearted contemporary women's fiction. 
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February 2019
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