Wednesday, February 12, 2014

"A Lady Most Lovely," a dynamic historical romance by Jennifer Delamere

“A Lady Most Lovely” by Jennifer Delamere, a historical romance, centers on Margaret Vaughan and Tom Poole, who are attracted to each other from the start even though Margaret is engaged to wealthy Paul Denault. Tom and Margaret have conflicts that appear insolvable, and they experience the true-to-life emotions of those in love but who don’t believe they are meant to be together. Intrigue and mystery surround all the characters, which keeps the reader turning the pages.
As the second book in the Love’s Grace Series, Delamere makes references to people and events in the first book, “An Heiress at Heart.” It isn’t necessary to have read that book, but readers are sure to want to read it and see how the saga first began. A must read for those interested in a Christian-based love story.

Monday, January 27, 2014

A blog for Writers, Women and Adversity: Carly Watters

In the first post of my new blog: Women and Adversity, I featured New York Times bestselling author Kimberla Lawson Roby (www.kimroby.com). She answered questions I asked about overcoming obstacles to succeed as a writer in this competitive publishing world. I believe words of women who have succeeded will be inspirational for those aiming to get their stories and books in print.

Carly Watters, literary agent with P.S. Literary Agency, writes a popular blog (http://carlywatters.com/blog) giving writers advice on getting published. It is compiled in her ebook, “Getting Published in the 21st Century, Advice from a Literary Agent.” The book covers all aspects of the journey to publication and provides a valuable resource for aspiring writers.

The first question I asked Carly: What was the biggest obstacle you faced when you first began writing?
Answer: Starting out as an agent is like starting your own company. You need to acquire all your own clients and build all your own professional relationships with editors—whether you're with an established agency or starting out on your own it's all the same. It's a lot of hard work, long hours, and little reward for years. You have to love books, love authors, and love advocating for their success.

I followed with: What was the biggest obstacle you had to face when you decided to write your book?
Answer: Writing my ebook How To Get Published in the 21st Century was a fun side project for me. My blog was picking up steam and won an award from Writer's Digest in 2013 for one of the best blogs for writers to follow and I thought about making the posts more accessible to a wider audience. Immediately, the idea of a book came to mind: an ebook where all my best blog posts can easily be found and consumed. It's on sale for $2.99 from Amazon and Smashwords.

Finally: What obstacle/s do you face now?
Answer: There are always obstacles for a literary agent. If you think writers get faced with rejection, agents do even more so. We get passes on all our clients' work—even the ones that sell inevitably get a few passes. You have to have thick skin and confidence in your taste to make this a career. Luckily, I love it.

You can check out Carly’s Web site and blog at http://carlywatters.com and follow her on Twitter: @carlywatters

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Women and Adversity: A Blog for Writers

Women and Adversity, a blog for writers, Kimberla Lawson Roby

My fiction concerns women overcoming obstacles, so I decided I would start a new blog: Women and Adversity, a blog for writers. I have contacted women authors, agents and editors to learn what they had to overcome to be successful in this competitive publishing world. I believe their words will be inspirational for those aiming to get their stories and books in print.


I discovered New York Times bestselling author Kimberla Lawson Roby when she was the featured interview in the September 2013 issue of “Writer’s Digest.” I started reading her Rev. Curtis Black series and became a fan, wondering how the wayward cleric was going to repent once again.

Kimberla has 19 novels published with the 20th, “The Prodigal Son,” to be released May 13. A host of impressive writing awards are part of her resume as well.

I asked: What was the biggest obstacle you had to face when you decided to become a writer?
Kimberla answered: The biggest obstacle I faced in the beginning was receiving lots of rejection letters from both literary agents and editors at publishing houses. Thank God my mom kept insisting that I shouldn't give up, and my husband encouraged me to start my own business to self-publish my first book.

I'd never once entertained the idea of publishing my own work, but I listened to my husband and moved forward with it. He then borrowed money from his 401K account, we used money from personal savings, and took out a small business loan, and once my first 3,000 copies were printed and delivered I began the marketing, promoting and selling process.

As it turned out, I ended up selling just over 10,000 copies within the first six months of publication, and within the first two months, I signed with a literary agent who sold my second book to a major publisher in New York.

The second question I asked: What obstacle/s do you face now as a writer?
Kimberla answered: The primary obstacle I face now is that I'm always wondering if my story will be good enough. With every book I write, my hope is that every one of my readers will enjoy it. Of course, I do know that it's not possible for every person to like every single book they read, but again, this is what I hope for and what I struggle with year after year.

Check out her Web site at www.kimroby.com. Her books are available at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, www.booksamillion.com and www.goodreads.com.