Hobart Book Expo!

"Wear the old coat and buy the new book." ~Austin Phelps

I'm off to a book expo today, at the Hobart Book Village. This will be my first solo public author appearance, other than my launch party (which was mostly family and friends, so not scary). Should be a nice day, I hope, with some interesting other authors to check out too...

I'll be back here tomorrow and let you know how it goes! (With pictures, if all goes well ~ I'm remembering to bring my camera this time!)

TGIF!

“What We Think, We Become…” ~ Buddha

OK, I'm out of clever posts and pretty much all brain activity after my release blog tour this week, so here's the Friday Feast...


Appetizer
When was the last time you had your hair cut/trimmed?
About 4 weeks ago - with short hair I can't go too long or I start looking shaggy...

Soup
Name one thing you miss about being a child.
Um...not having to pay any bills?

Salad
Pick one: butter, margarine, olive oil.
Butter.

Main Course
If you could learn another language, which one would you pick, and why?
Italian, so I could visit the country and actually speak their language, and also because an upcoming novel I have planned is going to have journal entries and love letters written in Italian...and that way I could write them myself!

Dessert
Finish this sentence: In 5 years I expect to be…
On the New York Times best-seller list. Hey, a girl can dream, right? Intention is everything...

Last Blog Tour Stop...

"Writing is a struggle against silence." ~Carlos Fuentes

My last stop on the mini-blog tour this week is over at Sizzling Pens today. I'm talking about a little trivia behind the book...you might be interested.

Bonus: I'm running one last contest there today only, and drawing one name randomly from all commenters to win a free download of One Night in Memphis. So if you didn't win yesterday and still want to try, hop on over and leave a comment (so I don't feel too lonely there, either).

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In other writing, revisions on One Night in Napa are coming along pretty well, which is terrific. I read chapter one for my critique group Tuesday night and got some good feedback.

***

And I received this amazing email yesterday from a woman who works with my father-in-law, who just finished both One Night in Boston and Lost in Paradise, and said in part, "I read your books One Night in Boston first, absolutely loved it. I thought it was so well written, the intensity level was phenomenal and it really made it hard to put it down. Then I read Lost in Paradise which was absolutely amazing that one too was well written and very intense kept your interests peaked. There were mornings that I came in looking like I had been out partying all night because I stayed up too late reading!!! :0) Anyway, I was just telling [father-in-law] after reading your two books back to back that the Mary Higgins Clark book that I just read although enjoyable lacked the excitement that your two had... "

See, that's why writing and readers are so great. For every lousy review you get, there's someone who loves what you've done. Subjectivity is a nice thing, in some cases :)

Today's Contest Winner!

We interrupt today's regularly scheduled Writers' Wednesday post to announce the winner of my release contest...


(((((((((drum roll)))))))))


Diane!


Congrats to Diane, who will receive a free download of One Night in Memphis and her choice of an autographed copy of One Night in Boston, Lost in Paradise, or any other book from my shelf here. Diane, email me at allieb@allieboniface.com and we'll work out all the details!


Writers' Wednesday will return next week - until then, below is the official purchase link for One Night in Memphis...thanks to everyone who's been stopping by to visit and help me celebrate ~ I'll see you back here tomorrow!

It's Release Day!

Here it is, folks, the official release day for One Night in Memphis! (The purchase link won't be up 'til a little bit later today, but here's the main Samhain page, so keep checking, OK?) Since I actually wrote this story before One Night in Boston, I'm so happy for it to finally meet the reading world. Here's a peek at the trailer I just finished yesterday:

Now, I'll be drawing a name from everyone who's left a comment in the last week on my blog (or host blogs, including today's) to win a free download of the book, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out the winner!

Until then, please visit my blog tour stops today (I actually have 2 of them):

The Samhain Blog

Tracey Kitt's Author Blog

I'll see you back here tomorrow!

It's Time for a Blog Book Tour!

" book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy." ~Edward P. Morgan

Welcome to my release week! As it turns out, I'm doing a mini-blog tour this week, so please visit the blogs who've offered to host me each day. Added incentive: every comment you leave on those blogs today and tomorrow counts toward the contest I'm running (the prize: a free download of One Night in Memphis PLUS an autographed copy of one of my other novels, your choice, OR any book from my home bookshelf...I'll provide the list, you choose!). Plus, the blog hosting me on Thursday is running another separate contest, with another chance to win a download of One Night in Memphis, so enjoy the week, and please keep me company out there in cyber-world!

Today's stop is Fumbling with Fiction; a big thanks to hostess Chandler Craig! Hope to see you there :)

Excerpts Just For You!

"He’ll be the one who steps in front of a train for you. The one who climbs buildings to move them out of your way. The one who faces down dragons and brings you breakfast in bed the morning after..." ~from One Night in Memphis

I forgot to mention that my excerpt for One Night in Memphis is up on my Samhain author page, so you can check it out if you want to.

But I thought today, since Release Day is only 2 days away, I'd whet your appetites with a couple of extra excerpts, just for my blog readers :)

Here's the first, the initial telephone conversation between Dakota (our heroine) and her best friend, Sarah:

“Dakota? Got your message. What’s up?”
She took another look at her watch. Five minutes to boarding. Terrific. Where the heck was Gate A14? She stopped at a map of the terminal and tried to make sense of the multi-colored arrows. “Um…are you busy this weekend?”
“Don’t think so. Why?”
Dakota dug her boarding pass out of her pocket. “I’m sort of on my way to Memphis.”
“What?” Sarah whooped, and for a minute Dakota couldn’t hear anything but muffled conversation on the other end of the line.
“Sarah?”
Her friend came back on. “‘Sort of’? Or you really are?”
“I really am. I’m getting on a plane in about thirty seconds. That okay?”
“Are you kidding? Of course.” Sarah paused. “Wait a minute. Nigel just let you off work? In the middle of June?”
“I had vacation time.”
Another pause. “You broke up with Sean, didn’t you?”
Dakota handed her boarding pass to the flight attendant at the counter.
“Is that what happened, D?”
“Um…it’s a long story.”
“Are you okay?”
“I guess. I just—” Dakota’s voice broke. “I just needed to get away for a couple days.”
Sarah’s voice poured over her, warm and comforting. “Then you’re coming to the right place. Really. You’ll love it down here. And forget about that jerk. He’s not worth even ten minutes of tears.” She said something else that Dakota couldn’t make out. “I never liked him, anyway.”
“You never met him.”
“Whatever. I could tell. ‘No, he’s busy tonight.’ ‘No, he doesn’t stay over because he has to get up early and work out.’ ‘No, he’s still sorting out the details of his divorce.’”
“You don’t have to be cruel about it.”
Sarah’s voice softened. “Oh honey, I didn’t mean it. I just—listen, when you get here, we’ll party our brains out. You won’t even remember that guy in a few hours.”
That sounded perfect. “Good. I’ll call you when I land.”
“Where are you?”
“Philadelphia.”
“Already? You’ll be here…when? Couple hours?”
“My flight lands at two-thirty. But I can take a cab. Just give me your address, and I’ll—”
“You will not. I’ll pick you up at the airport.”
“I didn’t think you had a car.”
“Gunnar does.”
“Gunnar?”
“My hot downstairs neighbor. The one I told you about, like, two months ago. Do you ever listen to anything I tell you?”

And here's the moment Dakota and Ethan (our hero) first meet:

Someone whistled behind her, long and loud. Dakota turned. Ten feet away, ball propped on one hip, stood a stocky, redheaded guy. Thick freckles covered both arms like a tattoo. He winked and gave her a once-over. “Hey, good-lookin’.”
Dakota fought the urge to roll her eyes. “Hey yourself.”
Sarah tugged at her wrist. “Ignore him. He’s an ass. He’s here every weekend, hits on anything that walks by with boobs and a pulse.”
“Thanks a lot.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Got room for two more in the game,” the guy called after them. “Or we’ll be over at Doc’s later. You should come by.”
Dakota cocked her head as she tried to think of a clever comeback. The guy jerked his chin in her direction and looked as though he was about to say something else when one of his friends jabbed a hand at the ball from behind. It spurted from his grasp and rolled away.
Dakota giggled.
“Hey!” The guy spun around, hands fisting.
She was about to follow Sarah when a basketball bounced near her feet. His? She wasn’t sure. It slowed as it hit the grass, but she kept on walking just in case.
“Can you get that?”
Dakota stopped at the voice. Still masculine, though different. Not the obnoxious rasp of the redhead. Soft-spoken, almost. Polite. Kind.
She squinted into the sun to see who it belonged to, and in that moment, the world tilted under her feet. A guy she hadn’t noticed before stood at the edge of the pavement: medium height, dark reddish-brown hair, flushed cheeks. His chest heaved as he panted with the effort of the game. He smiled, sort of a crooked grin that didn‘t make it to his eyes. Still, it worked its way under her skin, until she felt her cheeks burn. For God’s sake, stop staring at him. He’s just a guy. Ordinary. Not even that tall, or good-looking, or built. She reached down and picked up the ball, rough and rubbery under her fingers.
“Thanks.”
Dakota took a few steps in his direction. Now she could see the color of his eyes, a greenish shade that reminded her of the lake back home in early evening when the sun was right. They would make a girl stop and stare, she thought, a second before she saw the sadness coloring the pupils. Sadness and distance and—what else was that? She tried to read the other emotion there and failed. Maybe he wasn’t completely ordinary after all.
“No problem.” She bounced the ball over to him and he caught it on the second hop. Strong fingers, she thought, even as she told herself not to look.
He smiled again, wider this time, and something inside her lit up. “You visiting?”
“You can tell?”
“It’s your voice.”
“Oh.” She felt herself redden. “No accent?”
“A northern accent.”
“Yeah, well, I flew in today. Just staying with a friend for the weekend.” She put one hand on a hip, liking the sound of his voice. Wanting it to continue. Wanting him to come closer.
“That’s too bad.”
“That I’m staying with a friend?”
“That you’re only in town for the weekend. Memphis deserves a week or two, at least.” He studied her for a moment longer. Then one of his buddies yelled something and he glanced back at the court. “Well, have a good time while you’re here.”
“I’ll try.” Dakota dug her toes into the grass and watched the way his back flexed as he jogged away. She wondered if he would turn around. She waited. She willed him to.
He didn’t.

Now, go on over and read the Samhain excerpt (if you didn't already) and you'll see what's in store for these two a little bit later on.

Want to know more? The ebook is out on Tuesday!!