Allie Boniface's Blog, page 50
November 28, 2011
Monday Mentionables: A Guest Blog and a Contest!
Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm guest blogging over at Savvy Authors, all about trimming the deadwood from our writing. I presented some of this info at a Savvy Authors mini-workshop over the summer and got a lot of positive feedback from the participants, so I'm bringing it back with some changes and additions.
And...a sneak peek at my December blog giveaway: everyone who comments, either here or on any of my guest posts this month, will have their name put in the running (for EVERY comment)for a chance to win a "Keeping Warm in Winter" gift package:
~Signed copy of my novel Summer's Song
~Signed copy of debut author Liz Matis's steamy novel Love by Design
~Warm woolly socks
~Gourmet hot cocoa
~And a few other surprises tucked inside!
Unfortunately, due to shipping costs, the winner must be a US resident.
Even though this contest officially begins on Friday December 1, I'm counting all comments from today forward. Join me over at Savvy Authors today!
Finally, I want to wish my mom a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY today!! (I won't give away her age, because you probably wouldn't believe it if you saw her anyway. Hope I get her longevity genes!)
And...a sneak peek at my December blog giveaway: everyone who comments, either here or on any of my guest posts this month, will have their name put in the running (for EVERY comment)for a chance to win a "Keeping Warm in Winter" gift package:
~Signed copy of my novel Summer's Song
~Signed copy of debut author Liz Matis's steamy novel Love by Design
~Warm woolly socks
~Gourmet hot cocoa
~And a few other surprises tucked inside!
Unfortunately, due to shipping costs, the winner must be a US resident.
Even though this contest officially begins on Friday December 1, I'm counting all comments from today forward. Join me over at Savvy Authors today!
Finally, I want to wish my mom a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY today!! (I won't give away her age, because you probably wouldn't believe it if you saw her anyway. Hope I get her longevity genes!)
November 25, 2011
Friday Fun Facts: Black Friday Here We Come!
Happy Black Friday! Anyone brave the sales this morning? Anyone brave the new-this-year midnight sales at many of the big stores? My husband and I go out each year, usually leaving the house between 4 and 5 am, but we tend to avoid the huge/crazy places like Best Buy and Walmart (we aren't big electronics consumers, anyway). We made it a point NOT to shop the midnight sales this year because, as you probably read, many employees and consumers thought it was somewhat insensitive & disrespectful to start the shopping on Thanksgiving night, a time that's really meant for spending time with family.
Anyway, I think a lot of people must have disagreed, because the stores were virtually empty by the time we got there this morning. Our luck, though - we still managed to find everything on our lists, this year with a lot less stress!
December is right around the corner, which means, among other holiday happenings, I'm going to be running a month-long blog giveaway contest right here...and I'm also going to be guest blogging in a few different places as well, so stay tuned for your chance to win! Monday will have all the details of what's in store...
Anyway, I think a lot of people must have disagreed, because the stores were virtually empty by the time we got there this morning. Our luck, though - we still managed to find everything on our lists, this year with a lot less stress!
December is right around the corner, which means, among other holiday happenings, I'm going to be running a month-long blog giveaway contest right here...and I'm also going to be guest blogging in a few different places as well, so stay tuned for your chance to win! Monday will have all the details of what's in store...
November 23, 2011
Ten Things I Am Thankful For
Happy almost-Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope (if you celebrate the day) that your Thursday is filled with yummy food, time spent with loved ones, and happy memories being made. Today, 10 things I am thankful for this year:
1. My and my husband's well-being after our scary car accident earlier this month
2. The Good Samaritans that stopped right after said scary accident and helped us on a busy highway in the middle of rush hour.
3. My two jobs - I love teaching, and I love that I can write (and make money doing it) on the side!
4. My love of, and ability to, travel and see so many different places, both in this country and in others.
5. My family, both immediate and extended, even though I don't see some of them as often as I'd like to.
6. My friends. I am blessed to have wonderfully smart, funny, and supportive friends in many different areas of my life.
7. My health and fitness. I'm so happy that, at almost-41, I'm in better shape than I was 20 years ago. Love the gym!
8. Music. Just because there's always a song for every mood, and I can't imagine life without it.
9. My inner strength that allows me to deal with hard times and hurt.
10. The roof over my head, the food in my refrigerator, the fact that I can speak my mind, vote, wear what I want to, practice any religion I choose, and stand up for myself and for those less fortunate than I am without fear of punishment. It's a great country we live in, flaws and all.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!
1. My and my husband's well-being after our scary car accident earlier this month
2. The Good Samaritans that stopped right after said scary accident and helped us on a busy highway in the middle of rush hour.
3. My two jobs - I love teaching, and I love that I can write (and make money doing it) on the side!
4. My love of, and ability to, travel and see so many different places, both in this country and in others.
5. My family, both immediate and extended, even though I don't see some of them as often as I'd like to.
6. My friends. I am blessed to have wonderfully smart, funny, and supportive friends in many different areas of my life.
7. My health and fitness. I'm so happy that, at almost-41, I'm in better shape than I was 20 years ago. Love the gym!
8. Music. Just because there's always a song for every mood, and I can't imagine life without it.
9. My inner strength that allows me to deal with hard times and hurt.
10. The roof over my head, the food in my refrigerator, the fact that I can speak my mind, vote, wear what I want to, practice any religion I choose, and stand up for myself and for those less fortunate than I am without fear of punishment. It's a great country we live in, flaws and all.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 21, 2011
Monday Mentionables: For Readers and Writers
For readers: Who's looking forward to seeing the movie version of recent blockbuster YA novel The Hunger Games? I'm not usually a fan of books-turned-into-films, but I did enjoy the tension and interesting storyline of this book, and I think I'll probably check out the movie. Here's the trailer, if you're interested:
For writers: The Long and the Short of It is running a "Stuff Your Stockings With Books" blog giveaway in December. Here's the forwarded info:
We need authors who want to guest blog around the holidays! It doesn't cost you anything but a prize – what could be better than free promo on a really busy site?
It's easy to participate. Simply send us a COMPLETED blog post that is holiday themed (can be winter, Christmas, Solstice, Hanukkah, New Year's, etc) and NOT pure promo (no posts that are only excerpts, etc) along with an author bio, website links and ONE book cover to use as promo. Also tell us what you'll be giving away in your spot. It can be a book, a GC, or other prizes (please be as specific as possible).
The posts will go up on our guest blog pages sometime between 12/19 and 12/30 (we'll tell you your date when we schedule you) and each author will be responsible for doing a drawing for their prize from the comments on their post and then posting the winner in the comments.
Email us your blog post and other information along with which site it's appropriate for (WC or LASR) with `STUFF YOUR STOCKINGS BLOGFEST' in the subject header to lasreviews AT gmail DOT com – and we'll do the rest!
We'll accept posts up through December 14, 2011.
Short week of work for me, just 3 days this week, and then it's off to celebrate good food and good times with family. Happy Monday!
For writers: The Long and the Short of It is running a "Stuff Your Stockings With Books" blog giveaway in December. Here's the forwarded info:
We need authors who want to guest blog around the holidays! It doesn't cost you anything but a prize – what could be better than free promo on a really busy site?
It's easy to participate. Simply send us a COMPLETED blog post that is holiday themed (can be winter, Christmas, Solstice, Hanukkah, New Year's, etc) and NOT pure promo (no posts that are only excerpts, etc) along with an author bio, website links and ONE book cover to use as promo. Also tell us what you'll be giving away in your spot. It can be a book, a GC, or other prizes (please be as specific as possible).
The posts will go up on our guest blog pages sometime between 12/19 and 12/30 (we'll tell you your date when we schedule you) and each author will be responsible for doing a drawing for their prize from the comments on their post and then posting the winner in the comments.
Email us your blog post and other information along with which site it's appropriate for (WC or LASR) with `STUFF YOUR STOCKINGS BLOGFEST' in the subject header to lasreviews AT gmail DOT com – and we'll do the rest!
We'll accept posts up through December 14, 2011.
Short week of work for me, just 3 days this week, and then it's off to celebrate good food and good times with family. Happy Monday!
November 18, 2011
Friday Fun Facts
Random thoughts on this Friday morning:
~It was 20 degrees here last night. Brr! I'm thinking about running a "Keep Warm in Winter" giveaway for the month of December, to include a copy of Summer's Song (of course!) as well as other goodies to remind us of those long-gone days of sunshine and heat. Stay tuned as next month nears!
~Since my car was totaled in my accident of 2 weeks ago, we found a replacement this week. The same car, same year, fewer miles, for just about the same price as insurance gave us to replace the other. Different color (not race car red...sigh...), but that's ok! It's safe, as we now know from experience, which is THE most important thing!
~I recently joined The Romance Studio again, after a membership lapse of a couple of years. It really is a great bang for your buck if you're a romance author - they offer tons of promo opportunities and ways to connect with readers. In terms of price, I think they're one of the best sites around.
~One of my students said yesterday, "Do you think that when e-readers become really popular, everyone will bring them to class instead of books?" I said, "Aren't they already popular? And wouldn't you like to have all your heavy textbooks loaded onto a single e-reader so you don't have to haul them to and from class all the time?" Answer: "Oh, yeah. Huh."
Happy Friday everyone! Anyone planning on tackling the Black Friday sales one week from today? Or are you just thinking as far as turkey and stuffing right now??
~It was 20 degrees here last night. Brr! I'm thinking about running a "Keep Warm in Winter" giveaway for the month of December, to include a copy of Summer's Song (of course!) as well as other goodies to remind us of those long-gone days of sunshine and heat. Stay tuned as next month nears!
~Since my car was totaled in my accident of 2 weeks ago, we found a replacement this week. The same car, same year, fewer miles, for just about the same price as insurance gave us to replace the other. Different color (not race car red...sigh...), but that's ok! It's safe, as we now know from experience, which is THE most important thing!
~I recently joined The Romance Studio again, after a membership lapse of a couple of years. It really is a great bang for your buck if you're a romance author - they offer tons of promo opportunities and ways to connect with readers. In terms of price, I think they're one of the best sites around.
~One of my students said yesterday, "Do you think that when e-readers become really popular, everyone will bring them to class instead of books?" I said, "Aren't they already popular? And wouldn't you like to have all your heavy textbooks loaded onto a single e-reader so you don't have to haul them to and from class all the time?" Answer: "Oh, yeah. Huh."
Happy Friday everyone! Anyone planning on tackling the Black Friday sales one week from today? Or are you just thinking as far as turkey and stuffing right now??
November 14, 2011
Monday Mentionables: Trying to Predict the Market
The latest issue of Romance Writers Report featured an article "Industry Insiders Give Their Predictions" - which, of course, is nearly impossible to do, but it was interesting to read all the same. Among the points mentioned:
~Upswing in acquisitions of dystopian and post-apocalyptic stories (this is a tough one...writing a happy ending in a notably unhappy world situation...hmm)
~Erotica and paranormal romance markets are fairly saturated (which is not to say you can't sell in them, but you need something a little different & fresh)
~Upper YA is becoming more popular: think heroines between 18 and 25 (hey, that's a terrific but terribly fragile time for many women...great potential for both conflict and happy endings!)
~Contemporary romance, esp. those with small town settings, may see an upswing, along with the idea of "gentle fiction", set in places with a slow pace and charming, small-town characters
Of course, this last one interests me the most, since I just (finally! it's about time!!) finished the second draft of my contemporary/small-town romance, Beacon of Love. It's off to a beta reader now while I figure out where to send it (agent, publisher, etc) and what project I want to tackle next. Let's hope these predictions ring true in 2012...
~Upswing in acquisitions of dystopian and post-apocalyptic stories (this is a tough one...writing a happy ending in a notably unhappy world situation...hmm)
~Erotica and paranormal romance markets are fairly saturated (which is not to say you can't sell in them, but you need something a little different & fresh)
~Upper YA is becoming more popular: think heroines between 18 and 25 (hey, that's a terrific but terribly fragile time for many women...great potential for both conflict and happy endings!)
~Contemporary romance, esp. those with small town settings, may see an upswing, along with the idea of "gentle fiction", set in places with a slow pace and charming, small-town characters
Of course, this last one interests me the most, since I just (finally! it's about time!!) finished the second draft of my contemporary/small-town romance, Beacon of Love. It's off to a beta reader now while I figure out where to send it (agent, publisher, etc) and what project I want to tackle next. Let's hope these predictions ring true in 2012...
November 11, 2011
Friday Fun Facts: News for Writers and a Thank You to Veterans
Well, because I missed Writers' Wednesday this week (I've been knocked out by a bad sinus infection...think my immune system after last week's stressful accident was a little, um, depleted), I wanted to share a couple of pieces of news:
Fellow romance author Leanna Hieber announces a brand new release, DARKER STILL: A Novel of Magic Most Foul, "the first in a new Victorian Paranormal series set in 1880 New York City, full of adventure, love, faith, mystery, mayhem and plenty of spooky stuff." Leanna is a doll and I've signed with her on a couple of occasions. If you're looking for something new and different to read, check out her works.
And All Romance Ebooks has a slew of promo opportunities for writers, from ads to free to reviews and more. Check out everying they're offering by clicking here. It's a great time to take a look at your promotional plan for 2012 and start booking spots NOW (this message is for myself as much as for any other authors out there!).
Finally, I'd like to say a heartfelt THANK YOU to all our veterans on this day, who have served and continue to serve to protect our country, most especially my own father-in-law, who fought in the Vietnam War.
Happy 11-11-11, and Happy Veteran's Day. We honor you :)
November 7, 2011
Monday Mentionables: Everything Changes in the Blink of an Eye
"There but for the grace of God go I..."
It's a familiar saying, right? How many times do we read stories in the newspaper or hear something tragic on the radio or drive by an accident on the side of the road and think that? But it's also all relative, too, because that's what I'm saying today after my husband and I were involved in a car accident last Friday night. I hesitate to call it a "serious" accident, though if you look at the picture of the car, you might say I'm crazy. I guess I don't consider it serious because we both walked away from it unhurt. But for a couple of seconds, though, it could have ended much differently, and that's why I think that even though we WERE that couple standing on the side of the road next to wreckage during rush hour, it could have been so much worse. The grace of God did help us out of this one.
I pray no one has to experience a car accident at all; it's a terrifying feeling in that split second when you realize someone else is going to hit you and the only thing you can do is hold on and press the brake pedal to the floor and pray the car will stop without hitting anything else. And it is absolutely true, how time slows down in a moment like that. I'm sure it was only a second or two between impact and when we stopped, but it seemed like many more, 5 or 10 or 15 seconds at least. And it's odd, the things you focus on, the sounds or the sights, and then the things you do or don't remember.
Anyway, we're fine. But it certainly does make you stop and take stock of things in your life in a moment like that one. I don't need the holiday of Thanksgiving to say prayers about all the things I'm thankful for right now~
It's a familiar saying, right? How many times do we read stories in the newspaper or hear something tragic on the radio or drive by an accident on the side of the road and think that? But it's also all relative, too, because that's what I'm saying today after my husband and I were involved in a car accident last Friday night. I hesitate to call it a "serious" accident, though if you look at the picture of the car, you might say I'm crazy. I guess I don't consider it serious because we both walked away from it unhurt. But for a couple of seconds, though, it could have ended much differently, and that's why I think that even though we WERE that couple standing on the side of the road next to wreckage during rush hour, it could have been so much worse. The grace of God did help us out of this one.
I pray no one has to experience a car accident at all; it's a terrifying feeling in that split second when you realize someone else is going to hit you and the only thing you can do is hold on and press the brake pedal to the floor and pray the car will stop without hitting anything else. And it is absolutely true, how time slows down in a moment like that. I'm sure it was only a second or two between impact and when we stopped, but it seemed like many more, 5 or 10 or 15 seconds at least. And it's odd, the things you focus on, the sounds or the sights, and then the things you do or don't remember.
Anyway, we're fine. But it certainly does make you stop and take stock of things in your life in a moment like that one. I don't need the holiday of Thanksgiving to say prayers about all the things I'm thankful for right now~
November 4, 2011
Friday Fun Facts: Talking About Book Trailers
I didn't have a chance to post on Writers' Wednesday (busy week!) but I wanted to let you know that fellow author Liz Matis has a brand new book trailer for Love by Design! Click here to see it
I always really enjoyed making trailers, both for my own books and fellow authors'. Whether or not trailers translate directly into sales is tough to know for sure, but another marketing strategy is never a bad idea. Remember, your "brand" (your name, your title, your website, your concept, etc) has to be in front of someone 7 times before they remember it - this is a marketing FACT. So a trailer combined with other marketing strategies (especially if you can make it yourself, or have someone do it for you, inexpensively) can be a good idea.
I looked back through my own book trailers and decided my two favorites are for Lost in Paradise and Summer's Song. Take a look:
Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!
I always really enjoyed making trailers, both for my own books and fellow authors'. Whether or not trailers translate directly into sales is tough to know for sure, but another marketing strategy is never a bad idea. Remember, your "brand" (your name, your title, your website, your concept, etc) has to be in front of someone 7 times before they remember it - this is a marketing FACT. So a trailer combined with other marketing strategies (especially if you can make it yourself, or have someone do it for you, inexpensively) can be a good idea.
I looked back through my own book trailers and decided my two favorites are for Lost in Paradise and Summer's Song. Take a look:
Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!
October 31, 2011
Monday Mentionables: A Freak Snowstorm
Yes, the HUGE Nor'easter that moved its way up the East Coast over the weekend hit us, but good! We were super-fortunate not to lose power (many people in our area did), but we did get about 10 inches of snow when it was through:
Funny thing, to see leaves and snow on the trees. You never can tell what Mother Nature has in store for us (case in point: it's supposed to be in the 50s this week!)
And just because it's Halloween, and in honor of the snow and one of the most talented modern-day storytellers, here's a clip from The Shining. I don't know which is scarier, the book or the movie, but I definitely can't watch it (or read it) when I'm home by myself! Happy Haunting :)
Funny thing, to see leaves and snow on the trees. You never can tell what Mother Nature has in store for us (case in point: it's supposed to be in the 50s this week!)
And just because it's Halloween, and in honor of the snow and one of the most talented modern-day storytellers, here's a clip from The Shining. I don't know which is scarier, the book or the movie, but I definitely can't watch it (or read it) when I'm home by myself! Happy Haunting :)
