An Interview With... Moi!

The wonderful Brad Jaeger put a call out for aspiring authors who'd be willing to do an interview, which of course, I snapped at like a turtle does a finger.

Here's the interview on his blog, where you can learn more about moi, my book, and my path to publication.

Thanks, Brad!

A Quick, Fun Read: HTMAGATS (4 stars)

Say what? What was that title again? *grin*

How To Meet a Guy At The Supermarket by Jessica DeGarmo is a fun, flirty tale about Quinn's epiphany on meeting single men, and the crazy lengths she goes to in order to try and meet a great guy that way.


DeGarmo's great sense of humor permeates the book as she takes us through one bad dating experience to another, each guy flawed in his own special brand of nut.

This is a quick, easy read that will leave you smiling and wanting more. I'd have given it 5 stars instead of 4 but for that reason. I think it could have been longer, the relationships with the store employees fleshed out a bit more. The characters were well drawn; I would have liked to spend more time with them, allowing those friendships to build.

All in all, a wonderful read that will not disappoint. I'll definitely be reading more from Jessica!

YA swoon-worthy blogfest!

The lovely ladies over at Oasis for YA are having a blogfest where they've invited YA writers to post 250 swoon-worthy words from their novel. Check out this little yumminess from Between:

He hoisted himself up in one fluid motion, then called out something in Gaelic and the horse took off like a shot through the gardens. His arm tightened around my stomach and I leaned against him, holding my breath, but it wasn’t long before I relaxed and began to enjoy the wind on my face.


Aiden’s chest pressed against my back and his thighs held me firmly in place. We moved together as one, gliding in the saddle as the horse slowed to a steady gallop. The trees blurred with our passing and wisps of my hair tickled my cheeks. It was like riding in a speedboat with the wind swirling around me, but I felt a connection with the horse and the earth as we moved, something innately satisfying. The ride was over all too soon as he slowed the horse to a walk at the edge of a clearing.

“I thought you might like to stop here and have a picnic,” he said, his breath warm on my cheek. He swung down easily and offered me his hand. I wasn’t nearly so graceful as I dismounted, but he caught me in his arms. He stopped me halfway down with my breasts pressed tight against his chest. My breath caught in my throat at the sudden flame of passion in his eyes. His lips hovered before mine for a moment too long, but then he loosened his grip and let me slide the rest of the way to the ground.

“Well, did you enjoy it?” he asked, his voice a shade deeper than usual. I wasn’t sure if he meant the horseback riding or the fact that I had been pressed against him, but the answer was an emphatic ‘yes’ regardless.

“I loved it.”

(Ok, it's 295 words, but I had to include the whole scene... *grin*)
 

The Seven Deadly Sins: Check, Check and Check!

On Wednesday nights, I have a small group that meets at church and watches movies. Last week, we finished watching Bedazzled (the original English version with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore). It's a funny movie about a guy who makes a deal with the devil to get the girl of his dreams.

The devil's employees are the seven deadly sins (in the order I remember from the movie):

- Anger
- Sloth
- Vanity
- Lust
- Greed
- Gluttony
- Envy

While the movie is very tongue-in-cheek (and quite enjoyable), the truth is that these seven sins are exceedingly hard to shake. The very day after we finished the movie, I checked each one off as I struggled with it throughout the day. Hit all seven in one day, I did! Sheesh...

In my writing life, Envy is probably the one that attacks me the most. While I am extraordinarily blessed six ways from Sunday, I still find it in my heart to want the success that other people have. I want an agent to call and tell me my book is so incredibly awesome that she stayed up all night to finish it. I want an editor to be so passionate about my writing that she finagles a fabulous advance and multi-book contract for me. I want fans to be moved to laughter, tears and joy while reading, then tell their friends how awesome the book is. I want Twitter and the blogosphere to be humming with the news of my awesome success. And I am astounded by my ability to be both happy for, and terribly jealous of, writers who reach this level.

Wow, what a great big fat head I have! *blushes*

So, there. I have flung off the covers and exposed my naked envy to you. And that's only ONE of the seven! Yep, I am definitely sinful beyond redemption (thank you, Jesus and you know what for!). I would completely understand if you ran away screaming.

*waits, looks around*

Still here? Great! Welcome to the club. Today's goal is to only hit six of the seven. Hey, you have to start somewhere! *grin*

What's your biggest struggle (writing or otherwise)?

First Line Frenzy!

The fabulous Brenda Drake is hosting a contest on her blog and I am jumping in for the fun of it (I mean, what better reason, right?). All participants are to post the first line from their completed manuscript (any genre). As followers of the blog, it's your job to critique said first line to make it the best it can be.

So here's the first line of Between, my young adult paranormal romance:

Ravi's lips were soft and familiar against mine, but my mind was elsewhere, obsessing about my upcoming finals.

What do you think? Leave your comments below. Skip over to Brenda's blog to check out the other entries and provide feedback on one-liners all across the web!

Special thanks to agent Weronika Janczuk for providing page crits to the winners!

Saying Goodbye

My grandma passed away today. I didn't know her well, though I wanted to. We lived on opposite ends of the country while I was growing up. I have a handful of memories of our meetings throughout the years.

The last couple of years, I'd tried to engage her in some biography questions via email. I learned a bit, but it didn't really work out. And now she's gone.

I wish she had written her biography, had left some more of herself behind for me to know, for my children to know, for future generations to know. I enjoy genealogy and am sometimes called the 'family historian' because others don't seem to share my interest. I have names and dates for ancestors back to the 12th century in some cases, but that's all they are: names and dates. The breath of life that was their essense is long forgotten. And I long to know them, to understand their world, their hopes and dreams, their fears, failures and greatest joys. If they'd written biographies, perhaps I would.

When I ask my living grandparents about their lives, they don't think what they have to say is anything special. They tell me they can't remember anything interesting. It's like pulling teeth to get anything from them. The stories will be lost. And that breaks my heart.

I do have one biography written by my great-great-great-grandfather Daniel Heiner and I count it among my dearest treasures. What a gift he left me, a priceless wonder to this descendant he'd never know. I pray you do the same for yours.

God speed, Grandma. I will see you again someday!

Author Spotlight: Jessica Degarmo

Hey, Love Stories fans! I had the wonderful priviledge of interviewing Jessica Degarmo, author of How To Meet A Guy At The Supermarket, a delightful and funny, romantic tale of going out there and finding a man (and all the frogs along the way). While you're sure to love the book, you may fall in love with Jessica, too. She's an absolute sweetheart and new to this writing business (succeeding wildly!). So, let's give her a warm welcome. *throws confetti*

CT: What made you decide to write this book?
JD: A few things happened to make me write this book. I visited the Outer Banks of North Carolina with my family in 2008 and 2009, and I absolutely loved it! The beach and that whole region are very inspiring. Then, my husband underwent a long-term layoff and we tried to come up with a creative way to make some extra money, and the idea for the book was just rattling around in my head, so I started to write it down. It went from idea in January 2010 to submitted to publishers by June 2010. I accepted a contract with Night Publishing in July, and the book was released in November 2010.

CT: I know the title was originally How to Meet a Guy at a Food Lion. I am glad you changed it, since I've never heard of a Food Lion. What exactly is that?
JD: The Food Lion is a chain of grocery stores down in the southern US. We spent a lot of time there during our vacations, so it was the inspiration for the Grocery King Supermarket in the book.

CT: What was your experience posting the book on Authonomy prior to its being published?
JD: Authonomy is a great tool for people who want to put feelers out and test the waters of being an author. I had never put my work out there for anyone else to see before, and I enjoyed the immediacy of the feedback I got. I won't say that everyone loved my book, but I rose through the ranks quite quickly, and ended up in top 200 prior to their system change-over that occurred a few months back. A lot of the comments on the book were very helpful, and I did do some revisions based on the feedback I got. Most importantly, I developed a great frienship with a lot of the other authors. I'd say it's an amazing networking tool.

CT: Why did you choose to set it in North Carolina?
JD: If you've never been there, you may not understand, but you're also depriving yourself! It's lovely...

CT: Any significance to the places mentioned in the book?
JD: Many of the places in the book are real businesses. The Corolla Brew Pub, The Outer Banks Brewing Station, Salty Paws Biscuits, Sooey's Barbeque, The Rundown Cafe and Tsunami Bar, and Lovie's Kitchen Table are all real, thriving businesses down in the Outer Banks. Check them out...they're lovely. Other places in the book are inspired by local businesses.

CT:  Have you always lived in that part of the country?
JD: I've always lived on the upper east coast of the United States. The farthes west I've been is Michican. I hate snow, but at least up here we don't usually have hurricans, earthquakes, tornados, floods, or really big
bugs and other poisonous creepy-crawlies.

CT: What's been the best part of the process (writing, published, etc) for you so far?
JD: Everything! I did an interview with a local TV station the other morning, and when I watched the playback, I saw that they had put a banner across the bottom of the screen with my name. Under my name it said, "Author." It was probably the moment I realized I actually did it. I fulfilled a dream. I am an author. Up to this point, I've just considered myself somone who tried out writing and got lucky, but the TV station actually labelled me an author. It was the single biggest moment I think I've had since starting this journey.
(CT Note: You can view the video on Jessica's facebook page.)

CT: Tell me about Night Publishing. What's it like to work with them?
JD: Oh, they're amazing! Mr. Tim Roux, esquire, is a fantastic publisher. He's very pro-author, and he seems very committed in working with us to get our books out there. He's tireless and I am not quite sure how he does it all and retains his sanity, but he does. He's also very hands-on and approachable. It's not like a business where the inhabitants of the Emerald City never get to see the Wizard. It's like a family. We all chat
on the Night Reading site and support each other. Tim's been known to pop in on the forums regularly and chime in. It's great. I'm in good hands there, and I believe in Tim's vision for us.

CT: Who designed the cover?
JD: Well, initially my incredibly talented sister-in-law did a design, but due to sizing issues (don't ask, I'm incredibly dumb at this sort of stuff), we had to scrap hers. We used the same image, just tweaked it to make it what it is now. I'd like to think it's a great collaberation between Tim and Teresa.

CT: What sorts of marketing efforts have you done (alone or with the help of your publisher) to get the word out?
JD: Social networking is very NOW, and very much a part of my marketing. I have a facebook page (Books by Jessica L. Degarmo) a blog (that I'm horrible at updating, but occasionally I post on it) at http://www.jessicadegarmo.com/, and I'm a member of Authonomy still. I also try to contact our local media to let them know what's going on. I've had some small write-ups in our local paper, and the interview on WENY TV. Tim also does his own promotion and we have both sent the book to various book reviewers/bloggers to get them to review and promote the work for us.
CT: What do you have coming out next?
JD: Hooking Up will be released by Night Publishing in March 2011. It's a story about Caitlin, a young woman with abandonment issues who looks to find temporary solace in the arms of a stranger, just for the night. The problem is, he won't go away! How did Catie manage to find the one guy in town who wants more than a one-night stand?

CT: Any words of advice for aspiring authors?
JD: Don't give up! Learn all you can, but don't take yourself too seriously. There are always naysayers out there and not everyone will like your work. Just do the best you can and explore many avenues for publishing. Network and create a good support system. And most importantly, write from within. Thanks so much for having me! It was great chatting with you!

Thanks, Jessica. We loved having you on the blog and best of luck to you on your future books!