A is for...

Audra

The Blurb:

Audra Kingsley, a wealthy heiress, may not have seen much of the world, but she knows exactly how she wants her future to play out—and a coming out ball held at her country estate, Kingsley Manor, would suit her just fine. Her father’s wish that she be presented at St. James in London seems silly since she is to marry her neighbor and childhood sweetheart, Lord Crispin Brighton, but she obliges him.

Audra travels to London with her patroness, the eccentric Lady Sutherland, intending to return home as soon as she has curtseyed to the Queen. Unknown to her, Lady Sutherland is in no rush to leave London before the Season is over and intends to show Audra she has more options in the suitor department than Lord Crispin, a second son.

Audra finds herself surrounded by few friends and is forced to attend parties, balls, and operas—all while becoming the object of a secret admirer’s obsession. As Audra struggles to make her way home to her beloved, plans to compromise her into an unwanted marriage are underway.

by Amanda L.V. Shalaby

Author Bio:

Amanda L. V. Shalaby’s passion for all things Jane Austen was inspired by her mother and grandmother. She now writes her own English historical romances, and is the author of Rhianna and Audra. When Amanda is not writing, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Matthew, her Shih Tzu dogs, Bella and Huntley, and her Persian cat, Sebastian.


Special note!!!

A is also for Arlee Bird, the founder of this crazy A-Z challenge. This is my third year doing this, and I have had fun and 'met' lots of new friends in the previous years. It's a mixture of hard work, good times, and excitement every time I take part. So I want to say a MASSIVE thank you to the guy who started the whole thing, and raise a virtual glass to toast the Awesome Arlee, a gentleman among bloggers! *clinks glass* Cheers!!

Book blurbing my way through the challenge on this blog, and limericking my way through the April A-Z over at The Furry Tale Chronicles. Please stop by!

Tara vs Tara vs Tara

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 I'm a self-confessed ditherer. I keep doing OTHER stuff - not even important stuff - rather than work on my next book. Now that I actually HAVE important(ish) stuff to do (like get as many of the 56 blog posts ready for the April A-Z - I signed up BOTH blogs... I keep having to remind myself about that. *shifty*) I have decided that now is the time I should work on the next book. *rolls eyes* Ah well, at least I managed the first week of posts for both blogs before I got sidetracked (though half of those were already done, in all fairness, so it's not such a great feat).

See, I had an idea pop in my head for the opening scene, and once it was there, it had to get out. This is not the first time this has happened, and I know from experience that if I don't get it written right away, it will poke and pester at me and drive me nuts.

This time, though, I am determined to keep going. In the last... year?... I have started the next book three times (not including this time), with varying degrees of success when it came to continuing with it. One draft was under five thousand words, little more than a chapter or two. The longest was over 25k, but I ran out of steam.

Now, a normal person would have backed these files up and revisited them, and I did. At least, for a while, at any rate. But during one of my (thankfully) infrequent dips into The Pit (I suffer with episodic depression), I went on a purging spree and deleted virtually everything from my laptop. Regretted it the following day, obviously, but when my Inner It comes for a visit, she's mouthy, pushy, and pretty hard to stand up to.

Anyway, as I said above, I have started the follow up to If the Shoe Fits, and this time I will email any and all progress to my sister for safe keeping. Just in case I have that Purge Urge again.

I'm also currently having numerous conversations with my multiple personalities about the title of my next book. The conversations are sort of like this:

Serious Brain Tara: It needs to have a beast in there somewhere. But not a beauty reference. Don't want it to be too bluergh. I want something snappy.

Serious Brain Tara #2:  Yes. How about what your friend suggested? To Beast Or Not To Beast?

Serious Brain Tara: Well, I like that, but I worry that potential readers might think it will be similar to a Shakespearean story, and really, I think the talking cat might shock them.

Serious Brain Tara #2: I see your point. What about Truly, Madly, Beastly?

Serious Brain Tara: Hmmm. Not loving it, but it's a start.

Serious Brain Tara #2: What about words that rhyme with beast?

Serious Brain Tara: Yes, that's a good idea! Feast! There's one! We could play with quotes that have feast in them!

Serious Brain Tara #2: A Beast for the Eyes, maybe?

Serious Brain Tara: Not enamoured, I have to admit. What other words rhyme with beast, anyway?

Silly Brain Tara: Yeast!

Serious Brain Tara & Serious Brain Tara #2: *blank stare*

Silly Brain Tara: I got it!! Beast Infection!!!!

*dies* Sometimes, I scare myself, I really do...

See you Monday, for the first April A-Z post!

Book Blurb Bloganza!!

I'm a bit scared... a little bit woo, a little bit wa-hay! Why on EARTH did I sign up for the A-Z on BOTH of my blogs?

*dies*

I'm pretty much fine over at my Furry Tale Chronicles blog, mostly because I'm limericking my way through the challenge, and they are easy peasy posts to compose. But as for this one, although I had the vague notion that I would make it related to the publishing side of writing, I was still pretty stumped for ideas for a lot of the letters.

But then I had a Blackadder moment.

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But let me backtrack for a sec...

A little while ago, I told my good friend, The Watery Tart, that I would be happy to help out with a promo post for her upcoming release (The Begonia Bribe, by la Tart's alter ego, Alyse Carlson). So I had my 'B' post (even though it was only when said Tart emailed me the details that it jogged my memory *is a Forgetful Princess at times too*).

Then, I also remembered that I'd signed up to do a cover reveal promotional post for Rhonda Helms - who, I should point out, I don't really know, but am Twitter-stalking, along with other Carina Press editors, due to my inability to patiently wait out the response period for my recent submission to them *shifty* - on April 18th.

I should ALSO add, that I only remembered THAT yesterday. *cough*

Anyway! With two posts firmly accounted for, I had a sudden thought. Or, in reference to my earlier Blackadder remark, I had a cunning plan!!!

Why not book blurb my way through the entire challenge?

With this in mind, and also remembering that I will be promoting my own book by limericking tasty teasers on my OTHER blog, I decided to ask my fellow Crimson Romance authors if they would like some promo next month.

These ladies - we are the CR Sisters!! - are fabulous. *nods* We chat, share advice, promote each other's books, and just generally support each other. We also post pictures of hot men - not always dressed - but that is besides the point. *whistles innocently*

Back to the point (yes, I'm rambling, I know). I asked my fellow CR Sisters if they wanted some book blurb love, and they have responded beautifully. I'm mostly using the alphabet letters to represent the author's name or book title, but where they didn't always fit, I have used my (slightly skewered) imagination. Now I just need to compose and schedule the remainder of the 52 posts. *dies yet again over signing up both blogs*

But why is this cunning? Well, because not only do I NOT have to worry about coming up with ideas for each of the letters, I am also able to kill two birds with one stone (well, not kill, as I like ickle birdies, but youknoworrimean) and share some promo love at the same time. Issallgood, like, innit?

Later, taters!!

(Note to self: Try to restrict using the word 'also'. Also, don't leave notes for yourself on a public page).

April Antics

Well, I did it, despite telling myself I wouldn't. I signed up for this years April A-Z challenge. *points at badge on the right* This will be my third year, though I failed last year, and didn't quite make it all the way through the alphabet. Still kicking myself that I never managed X. Y and Z, but there we are.

This year, I'm not going to do limericks. Well, there might be one or two, but I don't want to restrict myself. With my debut novel scheduled for release on April 29th, I really think I should take this opportunity to use the challenge as a sort of promotional lead-up to the big day. Still not sure how that's going to work, but I'll just do what I normally do and make it up as I go along... *shifty*

In other news, I've been participating in 'March Madness' - a sort of WriMo event hosted by my writer's group, except rather than the conventional 'write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days' challenge, it's more of a 'finish a project that's been bugging you' sort of thing. We like to bend the rules, you see. Me being me, I bent the rules further by choosing NOT to finish a current writing project, but instead work on a brand new novella.

This novella was in response to a specific submissions call by an e-book publisher, and despite the deadline being March 15th, I shocked and stunned myself (and probably my fellow writers) by writing, editing AND submitting my 20k effort in under a fortnight.

Clearly, somebody took over this Procrastinating Princess during the process.

Now I am putting most of my efforts into promoting If The Shoe Fits, but hopefully I can channel the Writing Fairy that took over me in the first half of March, and produce a decent word count on my next furry fairy tale before the end of the month.

Then it's April A-Z madness! Along with finding out whether my novella has been accepted or rejected on or around April 15th, followed by release day for my talking pussy-cat on the 29th.

Crikey, April will DEFINITELY be a crazy month...

Also, keep your eyes peeled on The Furry Tale Chronicles blog... there's going to be an update - with cover art reveal! -  post sometime this week!!

Image borrowed from here...

UPDATE!!! And Laura - blogger at Daily Dodo and Chick Lit Love - has just posted my first official promotional blog visit. Yaaaaay! Thanks, Laura! Check it out here: Dithering Debutante.

UPDATE #2!! I'm nuts, but I've also decided to blog through the April A-Z over at The Furry Tale Chronicles, where I will make up for not posting rude rhymes on here by limericking over there...

Published Princess

What's that? Published Princess???

Yes, you read correctly! I have no idea how it happened - it really is a mystery to me! - but I appear to have gotten myself a publisher for my innuendo-filled Cardiff tale. *is still recovering from shock*

Now, if you are one of my Facebook friends, you will already know this (as I announced it yesterday), but this announcing thing is fun, and surely it deserves a post of it's own on here. *nods* I'll be updating the Cardiffella Blog over the next few weeks with news as and when it happens, but for now, I'll just quickly say that in a little over two months - April 29th to be exact - my prudish pussy(cat) will be unleashed on the world!!

My pussy is going to be famous! Well, sort of...

Who'd have thought that my feline fairy godmother would make it, eh?

More to the point, who'd have thought that a Procrastinating Princess would ever kick her own butt enough to keep querying her innuendo-filled novel? This is why it's a mystery, you see...

Those of you in the know will remember that I wrote Cardiffella way back in 2009 during NaNoWriMo (you know, that crazy event where you write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November). It was great fun - what with the pussy jokes and the obligatory mention of wobbly sausages - but it was also NUTSO when it came to doing it. Particularly since I wrote it between three computers, not a one of them in full working condition. Between the three, there was just about enough to make ONE decent computer. Of course, they all died on me several times (and obviously came back to life), and between THAT and the 'boken keboa' (that was extremely fwuztwatin, let me tell you), it was a truly heroic effort.

But anyway, it was done. And I was proud of myself for not putting it off and actually finishing it. So proud, in fact, that I let it sit on my hard drive for over two years before doing anything with it. *shifty*

Last year I managed to talk myself into fixing it up so that I could submit it to a publisher. I formatted like crazy so that it looked nicer; I cleared up the (thousands of) typos, took a few words out (and added a few here and there). Finally, in September, I sent out two queries. Not being delusional (well, actually, I AM delusional for the most part, but you know what I mean), I figured there was no way it would be accepted (which it wasn't). But more than anything, I wanted a little feedback as to what would be needed to make it publishable, and I wanted the feedback from someone in the publishing game.

To my surprise, although it wasn't accepted, it actually did rather well - making it as far as the acquisitions team, no less. It failed at the final hurdle, which was, while disappointing, also extremely encouraging. Now, this happened in the last week of January - so a mere few weeks ago - and I thought to myself, well, if it made it THAT far, maybe I should just keep submitting. I told myself that I would submit it to another four publishers, and if I didn't get any feedback, then I would work on it some more before submitting again.

At no point, you see, did I think that it was going to be accepted.

So I sent out to another four publishers and heard back from one on the very same day. They told me it was a 'fun idea', and that they 'loved my voice', but as they were already working on  a similar series, they would have to decline.

*sigh*

But you know, that was even more encouraging than the previous rejection. I mean, this time the editor had given me a little feedback, even if it was only a few words. I was resigned, but still feeling pretty good. Surely I'll get a 'revise and resubmit' soon, I thought.

But - shocked and stunned as I was - I got much better! Last Thursday I got an acceptance, and I signed the contract over the weekend. Pretty cool, huh?

As I said, I'll be giving more details on the whole she-bang over on the book blog, but I just HAD to swing by my Procrastinating Princess blog to formally 'come out'.

Onwards and upwards, my friends, onwards and upwards!

Image self-taken.

It's All About The Pineapple

"Would you like a pineapple for £1?"

This is what I have to ask every customer that I serve while I am at work. Only for this week, you understand. We have to 'upsell' a different product every week, and this week is the turn of the pineapple. Usually we roll our eyes when we find out what the product is, but for some reason this one makes me laugh. In fact, I laugh practically every time that I say it. Trouble is, the customers usually laugh right back (which in itself isn't actually a bad thing), but then decline the fabulous opportunity to buy some exotic fruit.

We had to upsell pineapples around a year ago too (obviously The People Upstairs - i.e. those who have no clue about what it is like to work with the general public -  have these upselling items on some sort of schedule), and they didn't sell very well then, either.

I usually buy whatever the current upsell is - sometimes more than one if it is something I will use - so I dutifully bought a pineapple yesterday. I'm not sure yet what to do with it. Sure, I could go the normal route and eat it, but the girls are coming over Friday night for an evening of drink and silliness, so the possibilities are endless.

Ok, maybe not endless, but last year, as coincidence would have it, the girls (and guys) came over for drinkies the same week we had pineapples for upselling too, and we did this:

*shifty*

Still, as much as pineapples make me giggle (for no specific reason), at least it's not as bad as last week, when we had crumpets. Now, for you to understand why crumpets were so bad, you need to know two things. One, for those of you not in the UK, crumpets are otherwise known as English muffins - you toast them and smother them in lovely, lovely butter. But the key reason why they were a bad upsell is point number two - in Britain, 'crumpet' is a slang word for sex. So every time I asked someone if they wanted any crumpets for £1, well... you can imagine. It should be noted, too, that the majority of our customers are men. Of a certain age. Really, the joke wore thin after the first ten minutes.

Next week it's 'Snickers'. 69p each, or two for £1. Oh, joy.

Image self-taken. Obviously. *snort*

December 22, 2012

Newsflash!!! 

The world didn't end!!

Now there's a surprise.

Image borrowed from here.