Allie Boniface's Blog, page 32
May 3, 2013
TGIF: The Promise of Paradise is FREE Through the Weekend!
Happy Friday, everyone! Through the weekend, The Promise of Paradise is FREE over at Amazon - grab yourself a copy if you don't already have one. It's been doing well on the Free Lists, too - as of last night, it was #47 on Contemporary Romance and #261 overall. Not bad, considering all the free Kindle books advertised every day :)
So please spread the word - and don't forget that I and some fellow romance authors will be reading, speaking, selling, and signing tomorrow, Saturday May 4th, from 2-4 pm at the Newburgh Free Library in Newburgh, NY (the Town Branch, which is located in the Newburgh Mall at 1401 Rte 300). Love to see you there!
So please spread the word - and don't forget that I and some fellow romance authors will be reading, speaking, selling, and signing tomorrow, Saturday May 4th, from 2-4 pm at the Newburgh Free Library in Newburgh, NY (the Town Branch, which is located in the Newburgh Mall at 1401 Rte 300). Love to see you there!
May 1, 2013
Beacon of Love is Now Available!!
Well, I'm super-excited to announce that my BRAND NEW contemporary romance,
Beacon of Love
, is available a whole week early!! Here's the cover and blurb; if you want to read more, click the cover to go straight to Amazon and take a peek inside!
Welcome to Lindsey Point, Connecticut: suspicious of outsiders, loyal to tradition, and absolutely devoted to its local legends.
Enter Sophie Smithwaite, travel show host, in town to film an episode about Lindsey Point’s haunted lighthouse. But digging into the story of a tragic murder-suicide and love gone wrong reveals startling connections to Sophie’s own past. When a gorgeous local handyman fills in behind the camera, Sophie’s life gets complicated by more than just her family history.
Part-time paramedic, handyman, seasonal Santa-Lucas Oakes does it all--except get attached. He’s still reeling from the death of his best friend ten years ago and the more recent infidelity of his ex-fiancee. Yet despite Sophie’s big-city nosiness and her insistence on chasing long-dead ghosts, he’s drawn to her.
But mixing with an outsider means questioning people and traditions Lucas has always defended. When a series of attacks seem to be connected to Sophie’s investigation, both Sophie and Lucas must decide if they are willing to risk everything to uncover the town’s secrets...and their own.
Welcome to Lindsey Point, Connecticut: suspicious of outsiders, loyal to tradition, and absolutely devoted to its local legends.
Enter Sophie Smithwaite, travel show host, in town to film an episode about Lindsey Point’s haunted lighthouse. But digging into the story of a tragic murder-suicide and love gone wrong reveals startling connections to Sophie’s own past. When a gorgeous local handyman fills in behind the camera, Sophie’s life gets complicated by more than just her family history.
Part-time paramedic, handyman, seasonal Santa-Lucas Oakes does it all--except get attached. He’s still reeling from the death of his best friend ten years ago and the more recent infidelity of his ex-fiancee. Yet despite Sophie’s big-city nosiness and her insistence on chasing long-dead ghosts, he’s drawn to her.
But mixing with an outsider means questioning people and traditions Lucas has always defended. When a series of attacks seem to be connected to Sophie’s investigation, both Sophie and Lucas must decide if they are willing to risk everything to uncover the town’s secrets...and their own.
April 29, 2013
Monday Mentionables: New Blog Posts, New Releases, Newburgh Library Here I Come!
Happy Monday, everyone! Just a few quick things to mention today: first off, last Monday the hero and heroine of The Promise of Paradise were chatting it up over at Read Your Writes Book Reviews. If you missed it, here's the link. (And P.S. authors - this is a fun way to promote your books that's a little bit different than the average blog post).
Also, my long-time writing friend Marianne Sciucco has just released her first novel, Blue Hydrangeas, about an elderly couple dealing with the wife's descent into Alzheimer's. Not a light subject, but certainly one worth giving attention to. You can check out the beautiful cover and read more about it right here.
And finally, just a reminder that I and some of my fellow romance authors will be reading, talking about romance, and selling & signing books this-coming Saturday, May 4th, from 2-4 pm at the Newburgh (Town Branch) Library in Newburgh, NY. This branch is located right inside the Newburgh Mall, which means you can do a little shopping before or after you visit us! (Just a heads-up for anyone on a tight schedule: I'm the last reader of the group, which means I'll be up around 2:45). Address: 1401 Route 300, Newburgh, NY 12550 Hope to see some local fans there!
Also, my long-time writing friend Marianne Sciucco has just released her first novel, Blue Hydrangeas, about an elderly couple dealing with the wife's descent into Alzheimer's. Not a light subject, but certainly one worth giving attention to. You can check out the beautiful cover and read more about it right here.
And finally, just a reminder that I and some of my fellow romance authors will be reading, talking about romance, and selling & signing books this-coming Saturday, May 4th, from 2-4 pm at the Newburgh (Town Branch) Library in Newburgh, NY. This branch is located right inside the Newburgh Mall, which means you can do a little shopping before or after you visit us! (Just a heads-up for anyone on a tight schedule: I'm the last reader of the group, which means I'll be up around 2:45). Address: 1401 Route 300, Newburgh, NY 12550 Hope to see some local fans there!
April 22, 2013
Monday Mentionables: A Sneak Peek at my WIP
I've been taking a break from revising the sequel to Beacon of Love and revisiting the Young Adult book I drafted last summer. It's funny - people ask where story ideas come from, and here's the truth about this one: I was sitting in the hair salon trying to think of the oddest combination of story ideas I could come up with. I knew I wanted to write a YA, but I wanted it to be different. I thought, OK, what about Shakespeare set it in an alternate universe? That's different, right?
And that was how What You Will was born. I'm calling it "Twelfth Night meets Fringe," because that's as much of a description as I can manage right now. I wrote about 50K words over the summer and then left it alone. When I opened the file again about a month ago, I was happy to see that I actually had something to work with, and I didn't hate everything on the page (LOL). It's been really refreshing to look at a new project, especially one so different from the contemporary romances I've written the last few years. I like writing in first person present tense, and I like trying to capture the teenage voice.
It's fun and different and we'll see how it goes. In the meantime, here's a blurb and the opening scene. What do you think?
When seventeen-year-old Shane is transported to an alternate universe as the result of the September 11th attacks, she decides to either find a way back to Earth or, failing that, a way to transport her twin brother to join her. But part of Shane's plot involves disguising herself as a male and taking an internship with a powerful young politician she soon develops a crush on. When he asks Shane to send romantic messages to a gorgeous entrepreneur, she must decide whether she’ll reveal her true identity to the guy she's falling for, despite the risk of losing her internship and her chance to investigate the innermost workings of her new world – and any chance of finding home or her brother again.
September 11, 2001
Every single part of me hurts.
My arms, my legs, my back, my feet, my head. My toes. The hollows in my ankles. Nerve endings in my earlobes I didn’t know I had. I have this weird feeling like I’ve been broken apart and put back together again, but wrong. I try to open my eyes, but all I see is black. All I can remember is a few fragments of color. A clear morning. The bluest sky. My cigarette burning down to my fingertips because I’m staring above me and thinking I’ve never seen a plane fly so close to the earth.Then nothing except this God-awful pain. What happened?The plane hit me.That makes sense. I saw it above me. I saw it turn over and then nose-dive toward the ground. I should be dead, fried into a million tiny pieces. Or if I'm not dead, then I'm so badly injured I’m in shock. I blink once, twice, look at my fingers and wiggle them in front of my eyes. I press two of them to the soft spot of my neck and wait to feel a pulse. My tongue darts out and licks my bottom lip. I don't feel dead. I move one leg, then the other, then all ten of my toes, and glance down to realize my leather boots are gone.
Someone touches me, and I flinch.
“Hey.” The voice is gravelly, almost not a voice at all. But when I turn my head to the left, I see a man lying next to me on the ground. His face is covered with ash and blood and I wonder if I look the same.
“Hey,” I croak in response.
His fingers clutch my arm, and I flinch again. Where are we?
And that was how What You Will was born. I'm calling it "Twelfth Night meets Fringe," because that's as much of a description as I can manage right now. I wrote about 50K words over the summer and then left it alone. When I opened the file again about a month ago, I was happy to see that I actually had something to work with, and I didn't hate everything on the page (LOL). It's been really refreshing to look at a new project, especially one so different from the contemporary romances I've written the last few years. I like writing in first person present tense, and I like trying to capture the teenage voice.
It's fun and different and we'll see how it goes. In the meantime, here's a blurb and the opening scene. What do you think?
When seventeen-year-old Shane is transported to an alternate universe as the result of the September 11th attacks, she decides to either find a way back to Earth or, failing that, a way to transport her twin brother to join her. But part of Shane's plot involves disguising herself as a male and taking an internship with a powerful young politician she soon develops a crush on. When he asks Shane to send romantic messages to a gorgeous entrepreneur, she must decide whether she’ll reveal her true identity to the guy she's falling for, despite the risk of losing her internship and her chance to investigate the innermost workings of her new world – and any chance of finding home or her brother again.
September 11, 2001
Every single part of me hurts.
My arms, my legs, my back, my feet, my head. My toes. The hollows in my ankles. Nerve endings in my earlobes I didn’t know I had. I have this weird feeling like I’ve been broken apart and put back together again, but wrong. I try to open my eyes, but all I see is black. All I can remember is a few fragments of color. A clear morning. The bluest sky. My cigarette burning down to my fingertips because I’m staring above me and thinking I’ve never seen a plane fly so close to the earth.Then nothing except this God-awful pain. What happened?The plane hit me.That makes sense. I saw it above me. I saw it turn over and then nose-dive toward the ground. I should be dead, fried into a million tiny pieces. Or if I'm not dead, then I'm so badly injured I’m in shock. I blink once, twice, look at my fingers and wiggle them in front of my eyes. I press two of them to the soft spot of my neck and wait to feel a pulse. My tongue darts out and licks my bottom lip. I don't feel dead. I move one leg, then the other, then all ten of my toes, and glance down to realize my leather boots are gone.
Someone touches me, and I flinch.
“Hey.” The voice is gravelly, almost not a voice at all. But when I turn my head to the left, I see a man lying next to me on the ground. His face is covered with ash and blood and I wonder if I look the same.
“Hey,” I croak in response.
His fingers clutch my arm, and I flinch again. Where are we?
April 19, 2013
Friday Fun Facts: Pre-Order Beacon of Love!
Hey, check it out! You can pre-order my new book, Beacon of Love, over at iTunes!!!
Oh, in case you missed it, I blogged this week with both Christy McKee and Rachel Brimble - love for you to stop by :)
And my writing friend Liz Matis blogged about using the promotional emailer service BookBub - a good read for anyone who's self-publishing and exploring different marketing avenues.
Have a great weekend!
Oh, in case you missed it, I blogged this week with both Christy McKee and Rachel Brimble - love for you to stop by :)
And my writing friend Liz Matis blogged about using the promotional emailer service BookBub - a good read for anyone who's self-publishing and exploring different marketing avenues.
Have a great weekend!
April 17, 2013
Writers' Wednesday: In Honor of Boston
I'm blogging today not as a writer, but as a runner. And, to be honest, as a member of the human race whose heart is broken after the attacks on the Boston Marathon Monday.
I have been running, and racing, for almost 20 years. When I write that, it's hard to believe. I'm not as fast as I used to be (not that I was ever that fast), and I don't run as many 5Ks and 10Ks as I used to, but I still lace up my running shoes and head outside a couple of times a week.
I've run in about every kind of weather imaginable, on every terrain imaginable, in a variety of cities and towns and states and races everywhere from 1 mile to 26.2 miles. I know what it means to struggle through the last few hundred yards to the finish line, and I know how it feels to stand on that finish line and cheer for the runners crossing it, because I've done both well over a hundred times in the last 2 decades.
I think part of the horror that comes from Monday's attack is not only knowing that it can happen anywhere, to anyone, when we're least expecting it, but that this one happened in a place that is meant to celebrate life and health and activity. There is no protection when you're running, no umbrella or sunshade or wheels or anything at all to ease the motion of simply putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward. It is you and the road. That's it. You are vulnerable to wind, rain, traffic, other runners, your own pain, blisters, sun, and yes, bombs planted by people who have hate in their hearts the likes of which we cannot imagine.
I weep for those lost and injured on Monday. I also am eternally grateful for those who stepped in and comforted, healed, and helped in the moments and hours and days following the crisis. That is, after all, what you do when someone falls, when someone stumbles as they're running - you steer them back or pick them up and help them cross the finish line or hold them when they need you.
I hope that - I know that - those in Boston and around the country will continue to move forward, put one foot in front of the other with the strength and determination and optimism that comes from living in this country and from belonging to a fiercely determined and proud community that calls itself runners. I am sad, but I went out yesterday to run and I will continue to run, to race, to travel to big cities and small towns and foreign countries because I will not live, or run, in fear.
Run. Walk. Pray. Love. Connect. We need to remind each other, not only in these moments of sadness and loss, that we are there for each other, always, cheering and pulling each other to the finish line.
I have been running, and racing, for almost 20 years. When I write that, it's hard to believe. I'm not as fast as I used to be (not that I was ever that fast), and I don't run as many 5Ks and 10Ks as I used to, but I still lace up my running shoes and head outside a couple of times a week.
I've run in about every kind of weather imaginable, on every terrain imaginable, in a variety of cities and towns and states and races everywhere from 1 mile to 26.2 miles. I know what it means to struggle through the last few hundred yards to the finish line, and I know how it feels to stand on that finish line and cheer for the runners crossing it, because I've done both well over a hundred times in the last 2 decades.
I think part of the horror that comes from Monday's attack is not only knowing that it can happen anywhere, to anyone, when we're least expecting it, but that this one happened in a place that is meant to celebrate life and health and activity. There is no protection when you're running, no umbrella or sunshade or wheels or anything at all to ease the motion of simply putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward. It is you and the road. That's it. You are vulnerable to wind, rain, traffic, other runners, your own pain, blisters, sun, and yes, bombs planted by people who have hate in their hearts the likes of which we cannot imagine.
I weep for those lost and injured on Monday. I also am eternally grateful for those who stepped in and comforted, healed, and helped in the moments and hours and days following the crisis. That is, after all, what you do when someone falls, when someone stumbles as they're running - you steer them back or pick them up and help them cross the finish line or hold them when they need you.
I hope that - I know that - those in Boston and around the country will continue to move forward, put one foot in front of the other with the strength and determination and optimism that comes from living in this country and from belonging to a fiercely determined and proud community that calls itself runners. I am sad, but I went out yesterday to run and I will continue to run, to race, to travel to big cities and small towns and foreign countries because I will not live, or run, in fear.
Run. Walk. Pray. Love. Connect. We need to remind each other, not only in these moments of sadness and loss, that we are there for each other, always, cheering and pulling each other to the finish line.
April 15, 2013
Monday Mentionables: Congrats to the Winner!
Happy Monday, everyone! First off, a great big congratulations to CatherineLee, who won a $25 iTunes gift card just by following and commenting on my blog tour for The Promise of Paradise over the last 2 weeks. Thank you Catherine for all your great comments and questions - much appreciated!
There are more chances to follow and win coming up in the next couple of months as well, and I'll make sure to share those links with you all :)
One of those opportunities will be on my Book Blast Tour hosted by Black Lion Tours. They've created a fantastic page and banner for Beacon of Love, which you can see right here (and sign up to host, if you have a blog and are interested!). While I find their tour packages a little pricy for my budget, their "Blast," which I'm doing, is totally reasonable AND includes that gorgeous banner they made for me! So if you're an author looking for some publicity, give them a try. So far, they've been lovely and professional to work with.
On another note, has anyone read Amanda Hocking's YA trilogy? I'm thinking of getting the first book in the series. Thoughts? Reviews?
There are more chances to follow and win coming up in the next couple of months as well, and I'll make sure to share those links with you all :)
One of those opportunities will be on my Book Blast Tour hosted by Black Lion Tours. They've created a fantastic page and banner for Beacon of Love, which you can see right here (and sign up to host, if you have a blog and are interested!). While I find their tour packages a little pricy for my budget, their "Blast," which I'm doing, is totally reasonable AND includes that gorgeous banner they made for me! So if you're an author looking for some publicity, give them a try. So far, they've been lovely and professional to work with.
On another note, has anyone read Amanda Hocking's YA trilogy? I'm thinking of getting the first book in the series. Thoughts? Reviews?
April 10, 2013
Writers' Wednesday: Pitch Your Book at Savvy Authors!
Hey writers, just a quick mention today:
Savvy Authors is hosting a slew of agents and editors this week over at their website, all of whom are taking pitches for material!
Click here to find out more.
Savvy Authors is hosting a slew of agents and editors this week over at their website, all of whom are taking pitches for material!
Click here to find out more.
April 8, 2013
Monday Mentionables: Learning to Take a Deep Breath from Hugh Howey
I read a terrific article over the weekend in Writers Digest, about self-published success story Hugh Howey. I hadn't heard of him, but apparently he writes sci-fi and had a breakout with his novella (series) Wool. Long story short, he ended up winning agent Kristin Nelson and signing a contract with Simon & Schuster for print rights only, while keeping his right to self-publish digitally. This is a huge deal because it's almost unheard of. Big New York publishers traditionally want all the rights they can get: digital, print, audio, movie, foreign...
But apparently Howey held out because he didn't feel a burning need to grant those rights (he was making upwards of $150K a month in royalties from his self-pubbed works, so I guess he could afford to be choosy). He wanted to secure a "hybrid" deal for himself in part to break ground for other authors to do the same - which I think is oh so cool.
That's not the part of the article I liked the most, though. This is the paragraph that stood out for me:
"...maybe you're earning $20 or $50 a month with the six or seven titles you have out there, and you're busy writing your next work. You're not thinking about landing an agent. You're not writing query letters, you're writing stories. And meanwhile, your ebook sales might be paying your cable bill...Instead of having your manuscripts in a drawer or in self-addressed, stamped envelopes, you have them out there where readers can find them, and maybe one of them will take off..."
Something clicked for me when I read that, a reminder that we should be writing because we love it, not because we need to pay bills with it or because a contract/editor/agent is breathing down our necks for the next manuscript or because a genre is bursting with new works and if we don't keep up then we'll somehow lose our chance to publish...well, ever.
His words reminded me that I need to take a deep breath and worry a little less about when my books are coming out, when I'm finishing the next one, whether anyone will want to sign it, how I'll promote the backlist along with the new release and...
Yeah. Deep breaths. And remembering why I love to write. Thanks, Hugh Howey. I needed that.
But apparently Howey held out because he didn't feel a burning need to grant those rights (he was making upwards of $150K a month in royalties from his self-pubbed works, so I guess he could afford to be choosy). He wanted to secure a "hybrid" deal for himself in part to break ground for other authors to do the same - which I think is oh so cool.
That's not the part of the article I liked the most, though. This is the paragraph that stood out for me:
"...maybe you're earning $20 or $50 a month with the six or seven titles you have out there, and you're busy writing your next work. You're not thinking about landing an agent. You're not writing query letters, you're writing stories. And meanwhile, your ebook sales might be paying your cable bill...Instead of having your manuscripts in a drawer or in self-addressed, stamped envelopes, you have them out there where readers can find them, and maybe one of them will take off..."
Something clicked for me when I read that, a reminder that we should be writing because we love it, not because we need to pay bills with it or because a contract/editor/agent is breathing down our necks for the next manuscript or because a genre is bursting with new works and if we don't keep up then we'll somehow lose our chance to publish...well, ever.
His words reminded me that I need to take a deep breath and worry a little less about when my books are coming out, when I'm finishing the next one, whether anyone will want to sign it, how I'll promote the backlist along with the new release and...
Yeah. Deep breaths. And remembering why I love to write. Thanks, Hugh Howey. I needed that.
April 5, 2013
Friday Fun Facts: Covers, Covers Everywhere!
Got a "Favorite Cover Alert" for The Promise of Paradise (a nice review, too!) at my blog stop today, Flirting with Romance Reviews:
And my writing friend Liz Matis just released her new novella, Real Men Don't Drink Appletinis. It's a steal at $.99. Check it out!!
Happy weekend, all :)
And my writing friend Liz Matis just released her new novella, Real Men Don't Drink Appletinis. It's a steal at $.99. Check it out!!
Happy weekend, all :)
