Never Give Up

After I received two rejections I began to wonder why I was doing all this to myself. I wasn't any good at writing even though a brick publisher likes my voice and have told me a few times, I still can't nail just the right story. Its a hard thing to believe in but I'm finally beginning too.

Then it occurred to me to list everything i have overcome in my life, being a teenage mum and at 21 having two children. Being in an abusive relationship where often i had to and always would shield my children from their biological fathers abuse. Too scared to leave, feeling like i had no where to go and no one to turn too. Even my parents knew nothing about the physical beatings or mental abuse I was suffering. I thought things couldn't get any worse yet they were about too, his friend sexual assaulted me, my word against his.

The death of my father ten years ago to cancer destroyed what was left of me for a while, but his voice kept screaming in my head "Never Give Up." I could have so easily ended it all and many times I felt I was stood on the edge. But who would look after my kids, the most precious things in my life.

I'd known my now husband a while, he taught me how to use a computer although I felt useless and no good at anything. Im studying History at University, writing and my kids are all grown up. I will be forever greatful to my husband for taking me from a damaged person with no self esteem to what i am now. I still have a long way to  go to overcome all the things I see as scary but with him and my children by my side. I can do anything.

Im still nervous when i walk into a room full of strangers and believe it or not quiet when meeting people even if i have talked to them on line. I saw Heidi Rice at the RNA conference last year and wouldn't speak to her even though I wanted to. Someone introduced me to Kate Walker and if they hadn't I wouldn't have spoken to her at all.

The whole point of this blog post never give up your dreams, your hopes and dont let anyone say you can't do something. 

SIREN ALLEN'S NEW NOVEL HER DREAM LOVER OUT SOON

 Her Dream Lover by Siren Allen Every time she closes her eyes he’s there…waiting for her. Brandi Connelly is too embarrassed to tell anyone about the strange dreams she’s having. Partly because she’s afraid they will think she’s crazy…mostly because the things that go on while she’s sleeping make her blush. As the nightly visions become all too real she’s afraid they’re not dreams at all. If that’s true, then she’s been having some wild nights with one very hot demon doing things she never thought she would. Draken Barrand is determined to claim his mate. There’s just one problem - he’s trapped behind the walls of a mental institution. The only way he can reach her is through her dreams, where he claims her and marks her as his own. But his mate’s life is threatened when the Leader of his Legion finds out about his unlawful mating. Will Drake be able to break free of his cell in time to save his woman? If he does will she finally accept him as the man of her dreams and her reality?





 COMING SOON Add it to your to-read list on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20434917-her-dream-lover ~



Author Bio~ Siren Allen is a writer and lover of all things erotic and romantic. She resides in southern Mississippi where she writes steamy romances that are guaranteed to make you blush. When she’s not listening to the characters in her head and jotting down their adventures, she’s busy working as a Clinical Laboratory Technician. Her weekends are spent writing and having sleep-over’s for her wonderful nieces and nephews. She loves to travel, preferably with her husband, so he can do all of the driving. She enjoys time with her family, who are just as silly as she is. She doesn’t have any children…yet! Her hobbies are reading, writing and shopping, though she hates trying on clothing. If she wasn’t a writer or a Laboratory Professional, she swears she would be a Secret Agent. But that’s the beauty of being a writer; you can create your own world and be whoever you want to be. In her imaginary world she is Queen and her siblings are her minions. 



~Author Info~
Website: http://sirenallen.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorsirenallen
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SirenAllen 
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/sirenallen/

CONFESSIONS OF A CHALET GIRL

MADE IN NASHVILLE BY MANDY BAGGOT REVIEW

REVIEW This was the first novel by Mandy Baggot i have read, and I am sure it wont be the last. I have never been a fan of country music but perhaps that is because i come from England and it's not as well known here. Honor and Jed lept off the page and you were immediately struck by the sexual chemistry between them which had me quickly turning the pages. My only complaint is that the story ended :(, time to give it another read I think. I was glad that Jed made such a difference to the broken Honor's life. Any chance of a sequel? 5 out of 5

BE MY VALENTINE SHORT STORY COLLECTION BY Nikki Moore, Brigid Coady and Teresa F Morgan

“Happiness is our honeymoon, no matter what may come next.
And to think that I almost gave it all up…”

Fall in love with three fabulous new authors – Nikki Moore, Brigid Coady and Teresa F Morgan – and these gorgeously poignant short stories about love in all its forms.

Go on, treat yourself this Valentine’s Day!

- See more at: http://www.harperimpulseromance.com/books/be-my-valentine#sthash.FLEVFMSg.dpuf


http://www.harperimpulseromance.com/books/be-my-valentine

PAULA MARTIN'S NEW NOVEL IRISH INHERITANCE

Where do you get your ideas?

When I tell people I write novels, one of the first questions I’m asked is, ‘Where do you get your ideas?’

With my February release, ‘Irish Inheritance’, I have no problem in pinpointing where the original idea came from. About three years ago, I found an article online about a Paris apartment that had been abandoned in 1939, when the owner fled to the south of France on the outbreak of war. She continued to pay the rent, but never returned to the apartment. When she died, in her nineties, in 2010, the executors of her will entered the apartment – and stepped back in time. The apartment, under a thick layer of dust, was exactly as it had been left seventy years earlier, with beautiful furniture dating from the late 19th century, and other personal items. The most stunning item was a portrait – and research eventually proved this to be the owner’s grandmother, a French actress. It was painted by an Italian artist in 1898, and a love note found in the apartment suggested he had been having an affair with the actress.

That article provided the seed from which my story eventually germinated – but, of course, a single idea does not create a story. Many more ideas followed, as I thought about how I could develop this. These tend to be the ‘what if…?’ questions that go through my mind, and the original seed gradually produces roots, and eventually the first shoots appear as the story starts to evolve.

In ‘Irish Inheritance’, I actually had two stories to think about. First of all, the 19th century couple – who were they, why were they living in Ireland, what happened to them? And then the modern story. As I write romances, I decided a young couple would inherit the house jointly, but I had similar questions to ask – who were they, what were their jobs, what happened when they inherited the house?

Ideas sprout in all directions and at times it feels as if the ‘seed’ is turning into a straggly weed - but you prune away the suckers and train the shoots into some kind of order. That’s probably the point at which I start writing the story. I don’t plot it all in advance, but tend to know how it begins, and also have some vague (often very vague!) idea about where it will go.

I rely on more ideas to occur to me as I get to know my characters, because sometimes those characters have their own ideas! I could give you countless examples of this in ‘Irish Inheritance’ (and in my other novels too).

So, in answer to the original question about where I get the ideas for my novels, I really don’t know why something I see or read can strike a chord in my mind and refuse to leave me alone! I only know it happens, and then my mind takes over and creates the characters, and eventually the story.

Blurb for ‘Irish Inheritance’:

English actress Jenna Sutton and American artist Guy Sinclair first meet when they jointly inherit a house on the west coast of Ireland. Curious about their unknown benefactress and why they are considered as ‘family’, they discover some surprising links to the original owners of the house.

With the help of local descendants, they unravel an intriguing tale of a nineteenth century love affair. At the same time, their mutual attraction grows, even though they each have personal reasons for not wanting any romantic involvement at this point in their lives.

Problems arise when a local property agent appears to have her own agenda concerning the house. Other events pull them back to their separate lives in London and America, and friction builds between them over their decision about the house and its contents.

Will their Irish inheritance eventually drive them apart — or bring them together?

Bio:

Paula Martin lives near Manchester in North West England and has two daughters and two grandsons.

She had some early publishing success with four romance novels and several short stories, but then had a break from writing while she brought up a young family and also pursued her career as a history teacher for twenty-five years. She has recently returned to writing fiction, after retiring from teaching, and is thrilled to have found publishing success again with her contemporary romances.

Apart from writing, she enjoys visiting new places. She has travelled extensively in Britain and Ireland, mainland Europe, the Middle East, America and Canada. Her other interests include musical theatre and tracing her family history.

Links:

Website: http://paulamartinromances.webs.com

Amazon author page: http://amzn.to/KtlU6Y

Blog: http://paulamartinpotpourri.blogspot.com

SUN CHARA'S CALL STORY AND BOOK COVER FOR HER DEBUT NOVEL MANHATTAN MILLIONAIRE'S CINDERELLA

CALL STORY/Chara

Last year, 2012 I entered the Harlequin Fast Track contest when the editors read and respond within a couple of weeks instead of three months or longer. Everybody had gotten their response from the editors, but I, and a couple of others hadn’t.

I waited, one week, two weeks, three weeks…when I still didn’t hear anything, I emailed one of the editor’s, and she was surprised I hadn’t heard because they’d requested a partial of Manhattan Millionaire’s Cinderella.  So, I sent it in.  I waited some more.  Then, it was time for the Harlequin global contest, SoYouThinkYouCanWrite ’12, where writers from around the world participate; the prize is a publishing contract with Harlequin…yes it can change a life for the good! J  Readers, editors, and the public got to vote online for these entries. I got the second most votes and likes in the contest, but still the editors had the final say. 

Out of 700 entries they chose the top 28 finalists…I made it on this list with Manhattan Millionaire’s Cinderella. Yay! Then it went to the top 3 (which I didn’t get to), then to the one winner, the lovely Jennifer Hayward!  However, the editors were scouting for manuscripts and a bunch were bought from across the contest, but not necessarily from the top 28.  I hadn’t heard about mine so I went online to the Harlequin Forums and asked on the Editor thread if they could trace my submission, because I hadn’t heard either from the Fast Track nor the SYTYCW contest. (Through all this I had a good feeling about Manhattan…)

I got a nice email from an editorial assistant saying that Charlotte/editor loved the story, voice etc. and she was looking at it.  I waited some more. Finally, I heard from another editor that my SYTYCW top 28 entry was turned down, something about it had too much story. (what?!)  But hey, I roll with the punches!  Shortly after, I heard that my Fast Track entry (same ms, as in sytycw), the one that Charlotte loved, was also turned down. But I could send them another story.  I sent them another partial and this too was turned down, but I could still send another.  Hmm!  It didn’t feel right somehow (what I didn’t know at the time was that Charlotte had left Harlequin, and Manhattan... must’ve got lost in the shuffle for both Fast Track and SYTYCW’12), but I continued on… 

One day about mid July, 2013 I was on the Harlequin forums, and I came across Lori Connelly’s post that she’d just sold her western historical romance to another publisher, but because it was a Harlequin forum she couldn’t name the other publisher; but we could go on her blog to read her

‘call story’.  I read that the editor who bought Lori’s story was Charlotte, the

same editor who had expressed interest in Manhattan Millionaire’s

Cinderella.

But where did Charlotte go?! Lori wrote that another writer on the Harlequin forums, Bronwyn had suggested that she try to track down the editor/Charlotte who liked her work and find out where she went.  Lori did, sent in her story, Charlotte remembered her, and offered her a two-book deal. Yay, Lori!  And thank you, Bronwyn!

Aha!!!  Do I, don’t I?  I figured okay, I’ll send Manhattan Millionaire’s Cinderella to Charlotte at Harper Impulse, the digital branch in the UK for Harper Collins, one of the big five pubs.  Maybe she’ll remember me, and if not, it’s worth a go anyway.  Charlotte did remember, called 8:00 a.m. July 25^th/Christmas in July! offered me a three book contract, and then she spoke words of wonder: 'I really feel it's meant to come to me having picked you out of SYTYCW!'  I thought, wow!

Manhattan Millionaire's Cinderella - available from Amazon and all other e-retailers. Coming soon in POD. http://tinyurl.com/kv5f5ok

Sun Chara
'pure passion...global thrills'
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