Carly Phillips's Blog: Carly's Web Blogs, page 84

Carly’s PERFECT Giveaway & FATED Info!

If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter then you know I promised to run a fun big contest when I hit 10,000 LIKES on my FB Fan page. Well, that time is now!

I am giving away WINNER’S CHOICE – Kindle Paperlight (wifi only) or Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight, along with a pre-order of PERFECT FIT (available 12/31) AND a set of the ORIGINAL Serendipity Series books. (Serendipity, Destiny, Karma and Kismet)

To enter visit:

Carly’s Perfect Fit Giveaway at my website

Or

Carly’s Perfect Fit Giveaway on FB

NEXT UP – FATED – A SERENDIPITY NOVELLA is out 12/4 – eBook only for the low, low price of $1.99!

New York Times bestselling author Carly Phillips presents a never-before-published novella set in a quaint upstate New York town—where Serendipity’s finest show exactly what they’re made of…

Kate Andews is the original rebound girl. But she has had enough and has vowed to never be someone’s second choice again. Unfortunately, her undeniably intense desire for Nick Mancini is testing her best laid plans because Kate has carried a torch for Nick since high school– but she’s always been permanently in the friend zone.

Lately, Nick has definitely noticed Kate. Unfortunately he can’t get her to take him seriously. He knows he’s made some stupid moves in the past but he’s determined to get Kate to act on their obvious and mutual attraction. However Kate’s stubborn and she’s been hurt before, which means Nick will have to pull out all the stops in order to convince her he’s not the same boy she used to know, and she’s not second best… she’s everything.

Before you get upset because you don’t have an eReader, did you know you can buy and read on your computer? YES YOU CAN!

For no additional cost than the novella.

How?

Download the FREE Nook or Kindle desktop App!

Free Kindle App

Free Nook App

Then

PREORDER FATED on Amazon or BN.com! While you’re at it, here are the links for KISMET which is only .99!

FATED – Nook

KISMET – Nook

FATED – Kindle

KISMET – Kindle

Enjoy!

I’m Back!

In the last month, I’ve lost my father, a man I loved dearly, I’ve mourned, grieved, then suffered through Hurricane Sandy, no power for 8 days. It was cold and dark. Tonight it is snowing like crazy and I pray we don’t lose power again. Along the way, I learned a lot about myself (I’m stronger than I thought), I have awesome friends at home and far away, and amazing readers who truly care. So thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your condolences and caring, and for your patience while I tried to come back to myself. Thank you to Julie, Janelle and Leslie, for holding down the fort while I couldn’t be here. I love you all very much and appreciate all the love you showered me with when I needed it most. I’m still not all the way back. I don’t know if I ever will be. I’m lucky enough to have had a very special father and the loss is enormous. Because I think he should be memorialized for posterity, and because they say once things are on the Internet they are there forever, I’m going to post my eulogy. It’s up to you whether or not you want to read it. I just need for it to be here.

My father was all heart, which is ironic since his heart was the weakest part of him. That heart, which was so big and loving, held on longer than anyone, including his doctors, believed it could – because dad loved life and he loved everyone in it.

Unlike most, dad knew what it was to fight to live from a very young age. From being stabbed 37 times while opening one of his supermarkets, to the heart surgery in his early thirties, dad fought for life. He fought for us. Nobody knows this better than my mother. And everyone in this room and even people who aren’t able to be here know, my father wouldn’t have lived as long as he did if not for my mother. Theirs was a love story to be emulated and admired. They set a standard few will ever reach. I just wish he’d lived to see their fifitieth anniversary this coming June.

Most of you know, my brother and I have been preparing for this day from the time I was thirteen and Ross was nine, when dad had quintuple bypass surgery. From that day on, our lives changed. His most especially. After the surgery, my mother had to change his lifestyle. In a decade before low fat was in vogue and before anyone knew about asking for changes to meals in restaurants, my mother stepped up. If my father needed something to live, then she was going to make sure he got what he needed. As a 13 year old kid, I was mortified. As a 47 year old adult, I am so grateful she took care of him this way because that meant we had him 34 more years. That’s 24 more years than she was promised, not that she told us this, but I think we sensed it anyway.

Still, we had an amazing life thanks to my dad. From vacations in Puerto Rico to a family home in Florida, he made sure we enjoyed every minute of life.

Dad loved to laugh. Often he would begin telling a story, only to have to stop because he couldn’t prevent the tears running down his face as he tried to explain what he found so funny. Often this would be a crazy dream he had, where the retelling was as funny as the dream itself.

Dad was proud of Ross and of me. We always knew it. Dad read my books in manuscript form before they were published and he gave copies of my books to all the doctors and nurses he visited, and there were too many.

Dad loved his business. He treated everyone he met with such dignity and respect, that I grew up knowing what a great man my father was. He loved his childhood friends and he loved the new ones he met in Rockland, then Westchester and Florida. Dad loved his Tuesday/Thursday Gin Rummy games with the men. In everything he did, Dad enjoyed life and lived it to the fullest.

When I was in high school, I’d go out for dinner with them before meeting up with my friends. I was always the unique kid that wanted to be with my parents. And when a teenager wants to do that, her parents must be very special indeed.

Dad loved Phil. Oh, in the beginning he thought he talked with marbles in his mouth (that MA accent) and asked my mother how she could understand a word he said, but eventually they bonded. In fact, they complemented each other in very special and unique ways. Phil learned so much from my dad about love, life and business. And Phil gave my dad the ability to live his life and protect his health by running the business so my father could be in Florida where his health was better.

They truly loved and respected each other and that made me so very lucky – because though Phil worked with dad, he still indulged me my Friday night and Sunday night dinners with my parents. If he minded he was smart enough not to say.

From my dad, I learned how important it is to remain close with your relatives. Dad kept in touch with all of his uncles, aunts and cousins and there are many since my grandpa Henry, his father, was one of five children.

Dad wasn’t a good grandpa, he was an EXCEPTIONAL papa. Dad loved his granddaughters, Jackie, Jen, Jillian and Charlotte. His eyes lit up whenever he spoke about them. Jackie was his first granddaughter and to say he doted on her would be an understatement. He called her “my honey” and the sun rose and set on her. When Jennifer was born, the fact that he now had two granddaughters gave dad endless joy. She was his”Jen-Jen” as we called her then and sometimes still do. Jen would always end up in her papa’s lap in restaurants, crawling in and nobody knew how she actually got there.

Most of all, Dad loved life. Letting go was the most difficult thing he ever did. He didn’t go willingly anymore than we wanted to let him go. Because as much as dad loved us, we love him. And everyone loved Lenny Weinberg. I say this not because he was my father, but because it’s a fact. There will never be anyone like him and I’m so lucky that he was my dad.

Friday’s Winner & Halloween Funny

The winner of Friday’s contest for a $20 Amazon or BN gift certificate is:

Ilona (Comment #65)

To claim your prize, please contact Carly at carly phillips @ mac . com (no spaces).

 

HALLOWEEN FUNNY:

 

Truly Humbled …

I came home tonight after burying my father, a man I loved with all my heart, who gave me everything he had and made me who I am, to find out that three women I CHOSE as family, have posted something that might as well have been written by me about my dad. This shows how well Julie, Janelle and Leslie know me, how well they read me, how they see what is in my heart. I couldn’t have gotten through this day without knowing I had their unqualified, undying, unique brand of support even long distance. I admit, I haven’t yet been able to bring myself to read all your comments. I’m raw and fragile and not sure I can take anymore crying or emotion. But I know to the depths of my soul how lucky I am not just to have my plotmonkey sisters, but the visitors to this blog, who have created not a community but a family of sorts. With everything in me, I thank you all. xo

Welcome Guest Blogger, Macy Beckett

I met Macy Beckett on line and I liked her immediately! Then we talked for an hour at Lori Foster’s Reader Author Get Together and she’s as lovely in person as she is online. And pretty too . She’s a debut author, finding her way in our murky publishing world. I read Sultry with a Twist and loved it so much. It’s a fun contemporary romance that truly just works. I hope you’ll all give her a warm jungle welcome and read her fabulous book. You won’t regret it!

Small Town, USA: Fantasy vs. Reality

Hey, everyone. My name’s Macy Beckett, and I’m a recovering nomad.

If you grew up in a military family too, then you understand my plight. We’ve grown accustomed to hightailing it across the country (or the globe) every few years. Putting down roots tends to make us itchy. Heck, I’ve driven my husband half-mad because I can’t stop rearranging the furniture. But my life as a “rover, wanderer, nomad, vagabond—call me what you will” has given me a TON to draw on as an author.

When Texans find out I’ve published a small-town romance set in the fictitious town of Sultry Springs, they usually ask (perhaps a little defensively) if I’ve lived in the Lone Star State. What could I—a Yankee— possibly know about tiny Texas towns?

Ha-ha-ha. Friends, I give you my former residence (from 1993-1995): Red Rock, Texas.

Google tells me the current population of Red Rock is 1900, but I only crossed paths with about 5 of those folks when I lived there. Back in the early nineties, the town boasted one paved road and a post office. If you needed anything beyond a stamp, you’d have to trek it to the neighboring towns of Bastrop or Lockhart. I lived in a singlewide trailer down a sand road (not dirt, actual sand) that would trap the tires of my feeble sedan if I didn’t maintain a velocity of at least 10 mph. It was like a sad version of the movie Speed, but without the sage musings of Keanu Reeves.

If you can’t tell from my tone, I didn’t much enjoy my time in Red Rock. (No offense.) I was lonely, and I felt isolated. It took precisely 45 minutes to get EVERYWHERE—the university, the doctor’s office, my job, the nearest Target. At least gas was cheap back then, less than a dollar a gallon. I much preferred the years I lived in San Marcos and Austin, but sadly, I was a broke college student who couldn’t afford rent in the city.

After I graduated from Texas State University, (go bobcats!), I left one small town for another, relocating to the booming metropolis of Deep Run, North Carolina—population 3000—where my mama’s “people” hail. (True story: thanks to a philandering and prolific great-great grandfather, I’m distantly related to half of Lenoir county. I’ve got some serious kin in those parts!) Deep Run had it all: a grocery store, a gas station, even a nearby tractor museum!

Exciting, I know!

But I grew restless in the Tar Heel State, so I rolled onward to another small town—Christiansburg, Virginia. And then another—Taylor Mill, Kentucky. And another—Loveland, Ohio…where I finally hung my hat seven years ago. (Okay, in all fairness, Loveland is more of a Cincinnati suburb than a small town, but I’m still counting it.)

What does any of this have to do with my book? Well, if there’s one thing I know, it’s small towns. Clearly I’m drawn to them. And while I no longer opt for the teeny-tiny, one-horse variety, there’s an easy flow and an element of security to living in a place where everybody knows your name. Would I enjoy living in Sultry Springs: population 900 righteous souls? Probably not. But I promise it’s a mighty nice place to visit, and I hope you’ll come stay a spell.

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Macy Beckett writes hot and humorous romances set in Sultry Springs, Texas: where first loves find second chances. Her debut novel, SULTRY WITH A TWIST, is now available in stores, and two more Sultry Springs romances will follow in 2013. Macy loves to hear from readers, so feel free to say hello on Facebook or via her website.

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GIVEAWAY TIME!

Sourcebooks Casablanca will send a copy of SULTRY WITH A TWIST to one lucky commenter! (US/CAN only, no PO boxes, please). The giveaway closes tonight, October 4th, at 11:59 pm EST. At that point, I’ll assign each comment a number and use random.org to select the winner, to be posted on Sunday with the Plotmonkey winners.

READ PINK! SERENDIPITY

AVAILABLE IN PRINT, WHEREVER BOOKS ARE SOLD – TODAY!

When is a reprint not a reprint? When it raises awareness for a very important cause!

“So many of us have been touched by cancer, either personally, or through a family member or a friend’s diagnosis. I’m honored to be part of the Read Pink! program to help fight this disease. Purchasing a Pink book donates money to the The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Buy and Read Pink! and together we can do our part to eliminate this dreaded disease.”

SERENDIPITY will be reissued as part of Penguin’s READ PINK! Program, in which my publisher, Penguin will donate $25,000 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

I hope you will buy the READ PINK SERENDIPITY edition, even if you’ve already read the book, and show your support. If you do, send me an SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) and I will send you back an autographed bookplate as a thank you!

Carly Phillips

Serendipity – Read Pink!

PO Box 483

Purchase, NY 10577

(Honor system! I’m not asking for receipts as proof).

REMINDER!!!!!

SERENDIPITY CONTINUES!

Fated 12/4/12 (ebook only!) — Perfect Fit 12/31/12

eBook Only - 12/4/12

Available 12/31/12

Note – each book stands alone but for a fuller feel, you should read them in order.

See how it all began with the first books in the town of Serendipity!

LASTLY!

Check out my new FACEBOOK FAN PAGE banner – and LIKE me there because I’m always posting adorable pictures, (what I think is) important information on my books, and talk to readers all the time!

www.facebook.com/carlyphillipsfanpage

Sunday Winners and Funny!

The winner of either an Apple or Amazon $25 gift card is:



# 5 (in honor of the iPhone %) LORI HOWE – contact Carly at carly phillips @ mac . com – tell me which gift card you want, and which email address to send to!

And the winner of Marquita Valentine’s giveaway is:

# X XXXXX – contact Marquita at …..

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS!

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SUNDAY FUNNY - not sure if true – one of those Internet jokes that made the rounds!

AD – Single Black Female

This has to be one of the best singles ads ever printed. It is reported to have been listed in the Atlanta Journal.

SINGLE BLACK FEMALE seeks male companionship, ethnicity unimportant. I’m a very good girl who LOVES to play. I love long walks in the woods, riding in your pickup truck, hunting, camping and fishing trips, cozy winter nights lying by the fire. Candlelight dinners will have me eating out of your hand. I’ll be at the front door when you get home from work, wearing only what nature gave me…. Call (404) 875-6420 and ask for Annie, I’ll be waiting…..

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Over 150 men found themselves talking to the Atlanta Humane Society.

HAPPY SUNDAY!

An Exciting What’cha Reading Saturday

Because … I’ve read some awesome books!

A new genre to me – Dystopian Erotic Romance – world building at its FINEST! KIT ROCHA – BEYOND SHAME! I so highly recommend it I can’t begin to tell you!

My fav gal – Kristen Ashley - KA as you get to know her – CREED! The next in the Unfinished Hero series – I still love Knight but the backstory between Creed and Sylvie is phenomenal – I’ll say one thing – GREEN NECKLACE. Ok two things – My Sylvie. Yeah, I LOVE KA!

And one that is a new to me author, I’m in the beginning of it now – awesome prologue – and tons of reviews – Samantha Young, On Dublin Street.

That’s it for me. WHAT’CHA READING?

FOR FIFTY FANS

As you all know … Janelle and I have a special place in our hearts for Fifty Shades of Grey and Christian .. Yeah I said it. And Heather at The Book Reading Gals – and I have a great reading relationship – we both read fast (sorry Janelle) and we have the same taste and constantly recommend books to each other. She FINALLY got around to reading Fifty, saw things my way – yes I am “the author” of whom she speaks in this post – and has written up a great review – even going so far as to reference her own personal experiences with her son’s early life before he came to her – and so … I really suggest reading this review! (I added a link to hers and mine in case you’re coming to my Fifty party late!)

LINKS:

THE BOOK READING GALS on FIFTY

and in case you missed it

CARLY ON FIFTY

CARLY on E.L. in person

and

Carly’s Final Fifty

Carly’s Contest

MY IPHONE 5 IS BEING DELIVERED TODAY!

To celebrate winner’s choice – a $25 iTunes or Apple gift card (you can buy books or tunes!) OR a $25 Amazon gift card.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

OR NOT – UPDATE – Will try not to throw a tantrum. Just realized b/c I had to order phone from Verizon, it shipped yesterday but is showing delivery by 24th. 2nd day Fedex. I am an adult. I will not cry.

Welcome Back Marquita Valentine!

Thanks for hosting me at Plotmonkeys again, Carly and ladies! I am so excited to be here!

When I was a teenager, it was a very big deal for a guy to have his ear(s) pierced. Like only very bad boys who were up to very bad things did stuff like that. Needless to say, my very conservative dad (former Marine) was none too happy when a potential boyfriend showed up for our first date with a lovely gold hoop in his ear.

And when that same potential boyfriend became a real boyfriend and had his other ear pierced and got a tattoo…Talk about adding insult to injury.

All kidding (kind of) aside, I love reading about a hero that has piercings. For me it’s like the new tattoo. And my hero, Sasha Romanov, in THIRD TIME’S a CHARM has two piercings.

Sasha stood, propping himself against the window above the claw-foot tub and gingerly moved the soap over his skin. Steaming hot water ran down his body, washing away the suds, blood and grime, revealing his lean, muscular form. The large cross tattoo on his bicep contracted and expanded with his movements. Gold nipple rings flashed in the morning sun.

Wonder if the heroine, Rose Holland, plans on helping him wash his back?

What about you? Do you like for your hero to be tattooed or pierced? Maybe a combination of the two? Two lucky Commenters will receive an e-copy of THIRD TIME’S a CHARM for their Kindle or Nook.

Not even Holland Springs’ Most Notorious Resident can stop this Love Spell.

Customers come to Rose Holland’s apothecary shop for three things: to hear her uncanny matchmaking advice, to buy the “magical” hair and skin products she sells, and to accuse her of trying to steal their men. For years Rose has been entirely innocent and almost content with that status quo. But that was before sexy, smooth-talking Sasha Romanov came to town and made her want to use her love potions on him… until he broke her heart. Now corrupt town officials want to seize her land and sell it to an industrial giant, and her only hope for help looks like the one man she can’t trust—or stop herself from falling under his spell.

Alexander “Sasha” Romanov seems like every woman’s dream: charming, handsome and fabulously rich. But while the people of Holland Springs think he’s in town to generously invest in their economy (and possibly one of their daughters), Sasha struggles to save his sick mother from his vicious uncle’s plans by doing everything the greedy businessman wants. And Vlad Romanov wants Rose Holland’s land—at any cost.

Despite Sasha’s vow to get the job done and keep his hands (and everything else!) off Rose, the blue-eyed witch enchants him. But his mother’s life remains in the balance. Sasha must find a way to protect his mother, sabotage his uncle’s plans, and win the woman who’s captured his heart without destroying everything she loves.

“A refreshing, whimsical contemporary romance with complex characters and bursts of emotion that tugs on your heartstrings. Kept me up till one AM reading!”~ Carly Phillips, NY Times Bestselling Author

BUY LINKS

Kindle

Nook

BIO

Marquita Valentine writes small town romances that are anything but small. Lisa Kleypas, Carly Phillips and Rachel Gibson are among her favorite contemporary authors. Marquita met her husband aka Hot Builder at Sonic when they were in high school. She suggests this location to all of her single friends in search of a good man — and if that doesn’t work, they can console themselves with cheesy tatertots. She lives in North Carolina in a very, very small town with Hot Builder and their two children.

You can find Marquita all over the internet:

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