Blog « Christa Allan

June 6, 2013

On the Threshold: A Mom/Daughter Team Novel

Filed under: Books,Guest Post,Issues,Writing — Tags: Christina Tarabochia, Depression, fiction, On the Threshold, Sherrie Ashcraft — Christa Allan @ 1:45 am

FROM CHRISTA: Sherrie and Christina were among my pre-published cheerleaders for Walking on Broken Glass. I met them during Margie Lawson’s workshop, and I’m excited to be able to introduce them to you here.

After fourteen years of hard work, Sherrie Ashcraft and Christina Berry Tarabochia are thrilled to announce the release of their novel, On the Threshold. Interested in how a mother and daughter can write a book together? Want a chance at winning a Kindle and a business card design from a top-notch company? Keep reading!
Why did you ladies begin writing this book?
Both of us had always talked about writing a book, but fourteen years ago Sherrie said if we were ever going to write, maybe we should work on a book together. It would hold us accountable. We lived on different sides of the state of Oregon at the time, so we did a lot of it via e-mail, and once a month Sherrie would make the 250-mile drive to Christina’s house and we’d work on it in person. We wanted to share a real look at depression and trying to be good enough to please God–what that might look like in a family’s life.

Fourteen years? Really?
That’s from the first word penned. The very first contest we entered, we actually talked about how we needed to decide how to fight off all the editors who’d be making offers. Instead, we found out we had a lot to learn! Attending writing conferences and reading craft books brought our writing to a higher level.

Tell us about On the Threshold.
We loved having the chance to tell this story! In fact, we have a few more stories to tell about these characters if readers love this one. Here’s what the book is about.
Suzanne—a mother with a long-held secret. Tony—a police officer with something to prove. Beth—a daughter with a storybook future. When all they love is lost, what’s worth living for?
Suzanne Corbin and her daughter, Beth Harris, live a seemingly easy life. Suzanne has distanced herself from her past, replacing pain with fulfillment as a wife and mother, while Beth savors her husband’s love and anticipates the birth of their child. But all that is about to change.
Like a sandcastle buffeted by ocean waves, Suzanne’s façade crumbles when her perfect life is swept away. Tragedy strikes and police officer Tony Barnett intersects with the lives of both women as he tries to discover the truth. Left adrift and drowning in guilt long ignored, Suzanne spirals downward into paralyzing depression. Beth, dealing with her own grief, must face the challenge of forgiveness. Can these two women learn to trust each other again? Will they find the power of God’s grace in their lives?

And a little about you?
Mother/daughter writing team Sherrie Ashcraft and Christina Berry Tarabochia bring a voice of authenticity to this novel as they have experienced some of the same issues faced by these characters. They like to say they were separated at birth but share one brain, which allows them to write in a seamless stream. Both live in NW Oregon and love spending time together. Many years ago, they were both on a winning Family Feud team!

Sherrie is the Women’s Ministry Director at her church, and loves being the grandma of eight and great-grandma of one. Christina is also the author of The Familiar Stranger, a Christy finalist and Carol Award winner, and runs a thriving editing business.
Please sign up for their Infrequent, Humorous Newsletter at Ashberry Lane for a chance to win cool prizes.

What about this contest?
If you help get the word out, you can earn different points for each thing you do, and every point represents an entry in the contest.
Say, for example, you name your next child “Threshold” in honor of our book. You would earn 100 points (entries), which would greatly increase your likelihood of winning.

Fine print to be read as quickly as those medical side effects are glossed over on TV: A certified copy of the birth certificate must be sent to Ashberry Lane proving the child was born between now and when the contest ends on June 30rd at 10 PM, PDT. Some restrictions apply, such as you must also promise not to change the child’s name to anything else for at least the next fifteen years. You are, however, allowed to use “Thresh” as his or her first name, and “Hold” as the middle.

If that seems like we’re asking a little too much, there are other ways for you to enter the contest.
~ Post about On the Threshold on Twitter or LinkedIn, or share the cover on Instagram or Pinterest, and you’ve doubled your points to TWO.
~ Refer someone to sign up for the newsletter. If he or she notes you as referrer, guess what? You just earned THREE points.
~ Blog about it and reap FOUR points. (We’re available for more blog interviews.)
~ And for those who buy the book (e-book or print copy), you will gain FIVE points.
~ Leave a review—positive or negative—on a retailing site after reading the book, and TEN points to you!

All you have to do to enter is drop us an email to Christina [at] ashberrylane [dot] net with a description of what you did. We trust you.

Here is a sample email:
Dear Sherrie and Christina,
Fortunately, my last name is Hold, so when my triplets were born yesterday, all I had to do was name them “On,” “The,” and “Thresh.” (Yes, that makes a double “h,” but without it, the name just looks silly and I don’t want a kid with a funny name.) I also got the cover of On the Threshold tattooed on my arm, took a picture of it, and posted it on every possible social media site, including Facebook, though I understand I don’t get points for anything done on there. Next, I forwarded the Infrequent, Humorous Newsletter to a few of my friends and ALL of my enemies. After reading the book in two hours, I posted an honest review on three different retail sites. Please enter my name 349 times.
Love,
Your #1 Fan
Or something like that. :)
Where else can we find you gals online?
Buy the book, e-version or paperback, on Amazon or B&N or iTunes or in any other version on Smashwords. Sign up for the newsletter (all the kids are doing it!). If you want a signed copy mailed anywhere in the United States, email us. (Christina [at] ashberrylane [dot] net)
www.twitter.com/authorchristina
www.facebook.com/sherrie.ashcraft
www.facebook.com/authorchristina
www.christinaberry.net/
www.authorchristinaberry.blogspot.com
Thanks for hosting us!

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May 7, 2013

Prologue: What A Mother Knows by Leslie Lehr

Filed under: Uncategorized — Christa Allan @ 4:33 am

Noone saw the deadly crash in the canyon on that gray October morning. The weather was strange, an out-of-season sprinkle from the coastal fog drifting inland. Soggy hitchhikers huddling under the umbrella of an ancient oak tree were the last to see the black SUV as it hydroplaned past them into the Santa Monica Mountains. A muffled bass beat trailed as it climbed the winding lane, up and around the evergreen scrub, until it disappeared in the forest crowning the coastal range. A mile farther, at the lovers’ lookout above the vast checkerboard of Valley streets, tire tracks puddled with mud were the only signs of human life.

As the headlights tunneled into the mist, no one noticed how the worn wipers flailed at the thrumming rain, how they blocked the bird’s-eye view of the gorge that inspired the Tongva name “Topanga,” a place above. No one could testify how the engine groaned as it climbed that ear-popping stretch of sacred land. Or how the vehicle veered around the dizzying curve, spraying water over the edge of the rocky cliff.

When a coyote streaked past to scale the hillside, the bumper dipped into a flooded pothole. Bright headlights bobbed across a plywood peace sign, then lit a tall pole flying a plaster pig toward heaven. A few yards farther, the beams flashed across the ruins of a legendary roadhouse like the spotlights of decades past. Echoes of Arlo Guthrie and Neil Young lingered in the air, but it was Jim Morrison’s tribute that haunted the highway beyond. “Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel…Let it roll, baby, roll.”

The Explorer dove off the cliff. Airborne, the bass boomed louder and reverberated across the canyon, accompanying a chorus of screams. It crashed against a scrubby ledge, then spun through the shower of pine needles, shredded branches and shards of broken grill, hurtling down, down, down, ribs snapping against the steering wheel, head splitting on the dashboard, music still blaring until the SUV smashed against the rock wall, shearing off the side mirror, shattering the window, shooting out into the ravine where the chassis flipped. The car exploded into the creek bed, airbags popping, bones cracking, flesh tearing, as the two ton cage of steel folded like origami into the mud.

Raindrops fell.

When the sky cleared, the canyon Cub Scout troop began its weekly hike. They wandered out from the willows lining the flooded creek as the last plumes of smoke rose from the smoldering wreckage. Crows hidden in the hillside canopy flew out in a dark feathered cloud. A rabbit burrowed into his den beneath a steaming puddle of blood. Soon, sirens wailed in the distance.

By afternoon, the muddy canyon was clogged with emergency vehicles. The sky pulsed with the thwack-thwack-thwack of news helicopters circling for a story. Reporters soon pieced together the who, what, when, and where. But no one could explain the why. The only witness was trapped inside.

To read more, go to…

http://www.leslielehr.com/what-a-mother-knows/sample-chapters.html

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March 18, 2013

Where is Christa today?

Filed under: Writing — Tags: fiction, free book, Trish Perry — Christa Allan @ 9:38 am

Please leave a comment on Trish’s blog, and you’ll be entered in a drawing for a FREE book!

Looking forward to chatting with you there.

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March 15, 2013

How to know if you’re ready for publication

Filed under: Writing — Tags: Publication, writing — Christa Allan @ 2:36 am

NOTE: I’m on deadline, and as the line grows shorter, the dead moves closer…So, this is a recycled blog post (I’m saving the internet rainforest), but one I was reminded of just recently when talking to someone who said, “I think I want to write a book.”

Not your manuscript. You.

Here’s the test: Strip down to your pre-fall Garden of Eden nakedness and stand on the fifty-yard line during halftime at the Super Bowl while everyone submits critiques of your body on the JumboTron.

If you can handle that without buckets of drugs and/or a lifetime of therapy, then you’re probably ready. Because here’s what I’ve come to learn:

1. You can’t follow your writing. I’ve been chanting this to my students for years (I teach high school English…on a good day), but this never became so alive to me as it has since my own words hit print. If I could tap a reader on the shoulder as she’s finishing my book, I could explain why I phrased that sentence a certain way or why included that simile. The ending of my novel is most frequently slammed. Might I have ended it differently had I known the sequel wouldn’t have been contracted? Perhaps. But as one reader at a book club stated: “I think how people react to the ending says more about them than it does about the ending itself.” Crazily, that’s been true more often than I would have expected. (Note: When this blog post was written, I was still teaching. I retired in January!)

2. You can’t obsess over ratings. Some days, my Amazon and Goodreads ratings plunge faster than the stock market. When I find myself getting angsty over a drop from 4.2 to 2.25, I look at the front page of the newspaper. It’s called perspective.

3. You are not your writing. Okay, maybe I am in that a writer invests so much of him/herself into a novel. When I read a review like this: “Buying and reading this book was the biggest waste of money and time since buying the magical egg peeler the infomercials. It was horribly written and tedious,” I make a conscious effort to not personalize it as if I’m horrible and tedious. It also helps to envision dropping the reviewer in a vat of crunchy peanut butter.

If you’re a pre-published writer who feels compelled to vehemently defend or sarcastically retort to someone who has critiqued your writing…fasten your seatbelt. Dealing with an assessment of your writing that might suggest it needs more work pales in comparison to some reviews you may receive. When my publisher generously offered free Kindle downloads of my novel, I read several lovely reviews. Others…not so much. Just a few of the top vitriolic ones:

~the ending was so terrible I could barely justify this 3 (rating)

~this book was unrealistic and a waste of my time

~confusing and in my humble opinion, pointless

But to quote Joyce Magnin of the amazing Bright’s Pond and Cake books, “here’s the thing”: If now and forever, all I ever have is that one response from that one reader who said she saw herself in Leah (my protagonist) and changed her life because of that…the emotional nakedness was worth the price.

So, if your response to this is, “Bring it on!” then you are R-E-A-D-Y.

(Image: Wikipedia)

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March 12, 2013

I’m at Relz Reviewz today and the LouisianaVoice

Filed under: Books,Education — Tags: Books, education, Relz Reviewz — Christa Allan @ 12:42 pm

The two passions in my life: writing and advocating for public school education…all on one day!

You’re invited to RELZ REVIEWZ Character Spotlight for my newest release, Threads of Hope. She’s giving away a free copy.

Hope to see you there!

And, please stop by LouisianaVoice and read my guest column about teaching.

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February 15, 2013

The Irresistible Table, Irresistible Recipes

Filed under: Books,Reviews,Uncategorized — Tags: cookbooks, cooking, Mary DeMuth, nonfiction, recipes, reviews, The Irresistible Table — Christa Allan @ 10:43 am

I’m delighted Mary DeMuth‘s second cookbook, The Irresistible Table, is now available because her Facebook and Twitter photos and descriptions of her family meals made me wish I lived next door…or at least within walking distance.

First, what I love about this cookbook is the stunning cover, which was designed and staged by her obviously talented daughter Sophie. Look, even if you’re not a cook, it’s a lovely book to display in your kitchen.

Generally, I buy cookbooks for the recipes, not for reading material outside of the kitchen. Mary’s, however, is unique in that it opens with suggestions on cultivating “the art of hospitality,” which is sadly missing from many homes today. As a former high school teacher, I know that 75% of my students didn’t eat meals as a family or were responsible for meals on their own. But, one doesn’t need to channel her inner Julia Child to adopt some of the ideas she presents here. In another section, she lists her favorite cookbooks and tells why she likes them.

The Irresistible Table is 150 pages of appetizers, drinks, breakfast, bread, veggies, dessert, meat, pastas, soups, and salads. Not only all they all 100% created by Mary, they’ve been taste-tested by picky eaters (in my family, that would be my children), and use “scratch” ingredients that don’t require trips to five ethic or international stores to locate. For those following Paleo or even gluten-free diets, there are recipes here that work. Also, these are recipes that won’t keep you in the kitchen and dirty nine different pans in the process.

My father, being Greek, introduced me to feta cheese early enough in life that I didn’t think, as my children said,”it looked like icky little rocks.” Mary’s recipe for Baked Feta is yummy, and a delicious spread on hot French bread (I live in New Orleans, so I have easy access to this!). We also loved the Roasted Asparagus. I haven’t tried yet, but plan to cook the Rolled Stuffed Pork Loin. I don’t often buy a pork loin roast because, well, I wasn’t sure how to dress it up. Mary’s recipe uses ingredients (simple ones) that I wouldn’t have thought of, and the finished product will be so impressive, she suggests dabbing a bit of flour on your face to suggest you’ve exhausted yourself in the cooking.

Two desserts I’m looking forward to trying, but may have to give a thorough test taste before serving my family, are the Nutella Cookies and the Grilled Pound Cake. Oh, the sacrifices I make. . .

After you click over to Amazon to purchase The Irresistible Table, be sure to visit Mary’s blog. She’s offering three free novels through February 28th for anyone who buys the paperback or Kindle version of her cookbook. All you need to is send her an electronic receipt, and she send you PDFs of her first three novels.

HAPPY COOKING!

Mary DeMuth has published fourteen books, both fiction and nonfiction. She and her husband, Patrick, have three children. After spending two and a half years church planting in France, Mary and her family are stateside where she continues to write, speak and mentor others. For more on Mary, visit her at www.MaryDeMuth.com.

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January 30, 2013

THE NEXT BIG THING BLOG HOP

Filed under: Books,Writing — Tags: Abingdon Press, AIDS Memorial Quilt, Blog Hop, Brenda Janowitz, Kellie Coates Gilbert, Pamela Binnings Ewen, Threads of Hope — Christa Allan @ 8:41 am

Welcome to the NEXT BIG THING Blog Hop.

A blog hop is like a giant game of tag to help readers discover authors who are new to them. For this hop, authors are answering 10 questions about what we’re working on now. This week, I’m it.

I was tagged by Brenda Janowitz. Visit her blog to see who else she tagged. At the end of this post, I’ll tag more authors who will be joining the hop next week. Follow the hop long enough and you’re bound to find books you’ll love!
Here is my Next Big Thing!

1: What is the working title of your book?

The title of my upcoming March release is Threads of Hope; one of the novels in Quilts of Love, a series from Abingdon Press.

2: Where did the idea come from for the book?

My second novel, The Edge of Grace, explored a woman’s discovery and response to her brother disclosing he is gay. Not exactly a cutting edge topic, but for the Christian market, this was/is a difficult subject. When Abingdon announced its Quilt Series, my first thought was to create a story that incorporated the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

3: What genre does your book come under?

Women’s fiction with elements of romance.

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Hmm…this is always a tough question because I’m generally NOT thinking of “brand name” faces when writing! Carla Gugino would be my pick to play Nina; Bradley Cooper would be perfect as Greg. But then, he’s perfect for just about anything!

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Passed over for promotion and dumped by her boyfriend, Nina O’Malley is assigned to cover a gala benefit supporting the AIDS Memorial Quilt, but when she runs headlong into her high school nemesis, she finds herself facing two paths for her life, but which one will ultimately lead to her dream?

6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

Abingdon Press is the publisher of the series; my novel is the fifth to release

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Months and months and months!

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Another great question!

9: Who or what inspired you to write this book?

See #2! The research into the AIDS Memorial Quilt, its beginnings, and learning the far-reaching influence of those whose lives will forever be stitched together became my inspiration.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

There’s a free trip to Hawaii buried in one of the books? No…but I hope readers enjoy Nina’s journey!

Below you will find the authors who will be joining the blog hop next Wednesday. Do be sure to bookmark them and add them to your calendars for updates on WIPs and New Releases! Happy Writing and Reading!

Kellie Coates Gilbert

Pamela Binnings Ewen

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November 18, 2012

WHAT I WISH I KNEW THEN: HOW RELENTLESS IT ALL IS by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Filed under: Writing — Tags: Books, guest post, Lauren Baratz-Logsted, marketing, novels, publishing, writing — Christa Allan @ 1:07 pm

There’s a great line at the end of the steamy early-‘80s film, Body Heat. Speaking of the character played by Kathleen Turner, the character played by William Hurt says, “She was…relentless.”

That’s true of writing and publishing too.

In November 1994, I left my day job of 11 years as a bookseller to take a chance on myself as a writer. Over the next two months, I spent every day working on my first novel, Waiting for Dead Men’s Shoes, which will soon be published as an ebook 18 years later. It was a comedic mystery set in a bookstore. I can still remember the day I finished the first draft. It was the middle of January, there was a blizzard going on outside, my husband was off skiing, and in a mad sprint of writing I completed the last 15 pages – more than I’d ever written in a single day in my life. I was so excited, but with no one around to share that excitement, I decided to go for a walk. I used to walk for an hour each day, still do. That particular walk went like this: For the first 30 minutes, I was all elation, completely thrilled with my accomplishment. All my life, I’d dreamed of being a writer, of completing a novel. And now, finally, I’d achieved that dream. How wonderful was this? How wonderful was I? But as the timing of that walk reached 30 minutes and I turned for home, as the 31^st minute began, a different voice began talking in my brain, and that insidious voice said: “Sure, you did it once…but can you do it again?”

That voice, that relentless voice…

Writers always have to do it again. There’s never a moment, or at least not a very long moment, when you get to rest on your laurels, declaring your work done. There is always another mountain to climb. If you’ve finished writing a book, you need to revise that book; finish writing, you need to hunt for an agent; finish your agent search successfully, that agent needs to find a publisher; book published, you need to promote it; while promoting it, you better be working on that next book – better yet, have it already completed – so you can have a follow-up before the world forgets who you are. The ebook revolution has changed some of that – in that it’s not necessary, depending on your preference, to go the agent/publisher route – but the relentlessness remains; in some ways even more so, for if you don’t get people to buy your book, who will?

So how to combat that endless relentlessness?

Resilience.

The greatest tool any writer has – outside of writing talent! – is resilience. You need to be able to, when confronted with the relentlessness of it all, simply power through. When you’re a writer, in some form or another, people say no to you all the time. “No, I don’t want to represent you.” “No, I don’t want to publish your book.” “No, I’m not interested in reviewing your book.” No, no, no. So what? No matter how many people said no to you yesterday, no matter how bad yesterday was, today you get up and you write and you do whatever you need to do to keep your dream moving forward.

Since my first book was published over nine years ago, hardly a day has gone by when I wasn’t promoting a book, revising a book or writing a new book – often all three in the same day! Two days ago, I finished the first draft of a new book. Does that mean I’m done with my work? No, I’m never done with my work. Today I’m revising that book, promoting the last book, and planning the next book.

I will never be done with my work.

And that’s OK.

This business may be relentless, but I am resilient.

Lauren Baratz-Logsted is the author of 26 books – and counting! – for adults, teens and children. You can read more about her life and work at www.laurenbaratzlogsted.com or follow her on Twitter at @LaurenBaratzL

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October 8, 2012

The Miracle Inspector: Helen Smith’s provocative dystopian novel

Filed under: Blog,Books,Reviews — Tags: Alison Wonderland, Dystopian novel, Helen Smith, London, The Miracle Inspector, Tyger Books — Christa Allan @ 1:26 am

Until reading The Hunger Games, I didn’t ordinarily reach for dystopian novels, much less dystopian thrillers. So, intrigued by the cover of this novel (yes, that’s sometimes all it takes!), I eagerly asked to review Helen Smith’s The Miracle Inspector on her first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book.

The last lines of the first paragraph convinced me I’d made the right decision. Speaking of Lucas and Anna, the young couple around whom the novel revolves, Smith writes: “Layers of regret hung between them like unfashionable wallpaper. It made the place seem ugly.” Throughout an otherwise sad, disturbing, and uncomfortably plausible novel, Smith’s artistry with words often sands the rough edges of the unbearable. The humor and wit of the novel are quintessentially British in their wry darkness. Not the humor that makes you laugh aloud, but rather quietly smile or smirk.

As a couple in search of a “geographical cure” for the ills of a maddeningly oppressive London, Lucas and Anna find themselves on a journey to Cornwall. And, like most of the time when we attempt to find the answers outside of ourselves, the couple finds the proverbial grass not only not always greener, but fraught with danger and horrific images and actions. Sometimes so much so, and to Smith’s credit as a writer, I found myself squirming through the reading of them. What added to this uneasiness is the feeling that perhaps some of the world Smith creates in the novel is too uncomfortably close to, if not reality, the possibility of it.

This novel would be a perfect selection for book clubs. It’s elegantly written and haunting, and the characters of Lucas and Anna burrow their way into us. They remind us that maybe the miracles we seek in life as as close as the mirror.

The Miracle Inspector is a dystopian thriller set in the near future. England has been partitioned and London is an oppressive place where poetry has been forced underground, theatres and schools are shut, and women are not allowed to work outside the home. A young couple, Lucas and Angela, try to escape from London – with disastrous consequences.

“…this is an absolutely exceptional piece of fiction, a work of art befitting the best in socially-conscious literature.” Journal of Always Reviews “.

“..Only occasionally does a piece of fiction leap out and demand immediate cult status. Alison Wonderland is one.”  The Times

“…Smith is gin-and-tonic funny.”  Booklist

“Smith has a keen eye for material details, but her prose is lucid and uncluttered by heavy description. Imagine a satire on Cool Britannia made by the Coen Brothers.”  Times Literary Supplement

Helen Smith is a member of the Writers Guild of Great Britain and English PEN. She traveled the world when her daughter was small, doing all sorts of strange jobs to support them both – from cleaning motels to working as a magician’s assistant – before returning to live in London where she wrote her first novel which was published by Gollancz (part of the Hachette Group).

She is the author of bestselling cult novel Alison Wonderland. She writes novels, poetry, plays and screenplays and is the recipient of an Arts Council of England Award. She’s a long-term supporter of the Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture and mentors members of an exiled writers group to help them tell their stories. Her latest book is the dystopian thriller The Miracle Inspector.

Visit her website at http://www.emperorsclothes.co.uk.

Friend her on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ emperorsclothes

Become a fan at Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorhelensmith

Friend her at Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2833648.Helen_Smith

Pick up a copy of The Miracle Inspector at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Inspector-Helen-Smith/dp/0956517056

For more reviews, interviews, and guest posts follow here:

Tuesday, October 9

Interview at Morgen Bailey’s Writing Blog

Wednesday, October 10

Guest Blogging at Rainy Day Reviews

Thursday, October 11

Book Review at Mary’s Cup of Tea

Friday, October 12

Book Review at Luxury Reading

Monday, October 15

Book Review & Book Giveaway at Bookspark

Wednesday, October 17

Book Review at Reviews by Martha’s Bookshelf

Thursday, October 18

Book Review & Guest Blogging at The Phantom Paragrapher

Friday, October 19

Book Review at Sweet Southern Home

Monday, October 22

Book Review at The Paperback Pursuer

Tuesday, October 23

Book Review at Sincerely Stacie

Wednesday, October 24

Guest Blogging at Waiting on Sunday to Drown

Friday, October 26

Book Review at Howard McEwen

Book Review at Celestial Reviews

I was provided a copy of this book for review purposes by Tyger Books.

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August 27, 2012

THE STORY BEHIND PURSUING THE TIMES (and how it came out of the closet)

Filed under: Blog,Books,Writing — Tags: Chick Lit, Lauren Baratz-Logsted, Pursing the Times, romantic comedy — Christa Allan @ 7:28 pm

by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

I first got the idea for a romantic comedy about a successful author of Chick Lit who’s obsessed with getting reviewed in the New York Times Book Review several years ago. At the time, my working title for it was Chick Lit: A Love Story. In fact, I actually wrote the book. It was supposed to be the fifth and final book in my contract with Red Dress Ink. Of course, by the time I delivered it, Chick Lit had become the label version of persona non grata, so the publisher was no longer interested in publishing a book that literally celebrated the much-maligned label in its very title.

So the book went in a drawer – or, more accurately, it simply stayed on my hard drive – and instead I wrote a different final book for RDI.

Now, thankfully, we live in new and exciting times. We have the ebook revolution going on and, with it, we’ve all come to realize that Chick lit is not dead. On the contrary, readers are eager to find the kinds of books that traditional publishing has shied away from these past years. I, for one, am not surprised. After all, what is Chick Lit, if not humorous fiction, written primarily for and by and about women dealing with contemporary problems? And what in the world ever made traditional publishing think that women would ever get tired of reading or stop needing books that make them laugh?

So Chick Lit: A Love Story is finally coming out of the closet – or at least off my hard drive – only now it’s called PURSUING THE TIMES. Here’s the official description:

All that popular Chick-Lit author Mercury Lauren wants is to have one of her books reviewed by the New York Times Book Review – just one – and she’ll do almost anything to get it. In this contemporary romantic comedy, with a nod toward Pride and Prejudice she crosses swords and hearts with the Editor-in-Chief of the NYTBR in a madcap adventure that takes her from her home in Westport to a yoga retreat to a golf course in Florida. Will she get what she wants and will she finally be happy if she does? Only one thing’s for certain: nothing will stop her from Pursuing the Times.

If you’d like to read a 30-page sample for free, simply click on this link and then click on the book cover image: PURSUING THE TIMES

Thanks for listening! I hope you’ll give PURSUING THE TIMES a shot. And remember, if you read it and don’t like it…you know who to blame!

Cheers!

Lauren

Lauren Baratz-Logsted is the author of 26 books for adults, teens and children. You can read more about her work at www.laurenbaratzlogsted.com or follow her on Twitter @LaurenBaratzL

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