Allie Boniface's Blog, page 7

Friday Flash Giveaway!

Hello readers, and thanks for joining me on another Friday! Today I need your help. I'm finishing up Book #4 in my Pine Point series, but I'm stuck on a title. Here are the titles of the other books in the series:

Summer's Song
Winter's Wonder
Spring Secrets

Book #4 is about, naturally, autumn. But I can't decide on a title. Here are the ones in the running so far:

Autumn Affection
Autumn Amore 
Autumn Allure
Adoring Autumn

Which do you like the best? Or, suggest another (please! I'm desperate!)

As always, one winner will be chosen randomly from everyone who comments to win a $5 Amazon gift card. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day! 

The Story Behind Soldier of Love - Part One

    Every 65 minutes, a veteran commits suicide.

    The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that PTSD afflicts:Almost 31 percent of Vietnam veteransAs many as 10 percent of Gulf War (Desert Storm) veterans11 percent of veterans of the war in Afghanistan20 percent of Iraqi war veterans
"Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime." (Ernest Hemingway)

    Most of my regular blog readers know I am a romance writer. I like happy endings. I believe in soul mates and the power of love to change the world. Yes, I am a sap. In my latest book, Soldier of Love , I tackle a subject I’m not particularly familiar with: veterans returned from war. Now, I do know some veterans; my father-in-law fought in Vietnam, and a few of my high school classmates have held long military careers or married people with military careers. One of my favorite classes in college was a history class on World War I and its influence on art/literature/music of the time. To this day, I teach WWI poetry and short stories in my English classes because the literature written by those who’ve served is so powerful - and so powerfully disturbing.

    My fear in writing Soldier of Love was that I wouldn’t get it right. That I wouldn’t even come close to getting it right, because I hadn’t lived it. I did have a vague sense of the complexity of war and battle and enlistment and what soldiers face and lose when they go to war. So I decided I wanted to do my best to portray a man who returned from combat not because he retired, or received a Purple Heart, or lost a limb in battle, but because he lost too many buddies over the years and couldn’t bear it anymore.

    Maybe giving Heath a prosthetic leg would have been easier. Physical disability is one thing, after all. Easier to see. But the more I read, and talked to a good friend who’s spent his life in the military, and befriended the wife of a military pilot who struggles with PTSD, and watched my own father-in-law come to terms with his memories of Vietnam, the more I wanted to create a character whose pain is internal. Whose struggle is with the demons in his head, the memories, and the pain of lost comrades. Did you know that every 65 minutes, a veteran commits suicide? That is unimaginable to me, and yet it happens in part because, I think, there is such a gulf between what these men and women endure overseas and what they come home to.

    Heath Garrick is my hero. He struggles, yes, but in the end he finds love and happiness and a life worth living. I wish this for all returned veterans. God Bless.

Soldier of Love is the story of a veteran returned from war and the woman he falls in love with. It will release at all retailers on March 18 and is available for exclusive pre-order NOW on iTunes (the first 2 chapters will also be available at iTunes on February 20).

Friday Flash Giveaway!

Updated: Congratulations to Kathleen Bylsma, winner of this week's giveaway! And thanks to everyone who shared their hometowns -- I think this was one of my favorite weeks. Please stop back next Friday for another flash giveaway!
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Hello readers, and happy Friday! Yes, it's giveaway time :)

Since my tagline is "Small Towns, Big Romances," it's no secret I love writing about small towns, probably because (A) I grew up in one, and (B) they have so much fodder for stories. Don't get me wrong, though, I do love big cities and all they have to offer. I love that I live an hour outside of NYC and can travel in whenever I get the urge to see a Broadway show or eat in Little Italy or walk through Central Park and people watch. And that got me to thinking: where are all my readers from? 

Today's giveaway question: where did you grow up? Small town, big city, mountain top, seaside, United States or somewhere oceans away? Let's see the geographic reach of everyone who stops by today!

Remember, as always, I'll choose one winner randomly from everyone who comments to receive a $5 Amazon gift card. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day! 

Writers' Wednesday: Your Best Year (A Review)

I promised I would post a review of the creativity workbook I'm reading right now, so here it is: Your Best Year 2016, by Lisa Jacobs. Jacobs is a successful blogger and entrepreneur, so she knows what she's talking about when it comes to creating and running a business. This workbook is part cheerleader and part planner. She divides it into 3 sections: REVIEW, PREPARE, & DO. The first two sections require some digging and soul searching and are good for taking a step back and getting an objective look at what you're doing as a business person, what's worked, and what hasn't, and how to set goals for improvement. She talks about whole-life goals, like physical and relational, not just financial or business goals, which can be helpful for looking at the really big picture. 

The last section is filled with calendar templates you can use to plan your year. If you're not a planner by nature, they might be a little overwhelming, so my advice would be to take what's useful and what seems manageable and leave the rest. Overall, I really like Jacobs' positive voice and her realistic advice to take a cold, hard look at yourself as a business person. I've already set some goals for 2016 and looked at ways I can change some things I've done in the past that didn't pay off (blogging about things not directly related to my books, spending $ on ad sites that don't provide a solid return, and -- believe it or not -- writing novellas).

My big, "what would you do if you couldn't fail?" goal is to become a New York Times best-selling author by 2020. I think it's within my reach, with a lot of hard work and smart business decisions. Stay tuned and let's see! 

Monday Mentionables: Making Some Changes 

Happy Monday, everyone! How much snow did you get over the weekend? Surprisingly, here in southern NY we only got a couple inches. I know my friends in Philly and DC got dumped on, though! 

Just in case you're one of the still snowed-in ones, I'm running a special sale on the first 3 books in the Hometown Heroes series, through today. I was fortunate enough to be selected for a BookBub ad on Saturday (if you're a writer, you know this is the Holy Grail of advertising spots, since it has such a high Return on Investment, but it's also very hard to get into). Anyway, the ad ran for The Promise of Paradise (free), and Sunday morning it had hit #2 on the New Adult charts at Amazon! Very exciting :)

I am also making some changes in the next few weeks, based in part on a book I'm reading right now called Your Best Year by Lisa Jacobs, a soul-searching workbook of sorts that focuses entrepreneurs on where to best spend their time and money. One of the changes for me will be to blog less. If you're one of my faithful readers who comes by every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I thank you! But because I want to spend my time writing books as much as possible for you all, I'm going to limit my blogging to Fridays, where I'll still have a giveaway but also a regular "here's what's up" sort of post, and the occasional post during the week if I feel like I really have something to say.

I hope you'll stick around and visit each Friday. I'll be here this Wednesday with a review of the Lisa Jacobs book, so drop by then if you're interested in knowing more about that one. And have a wonderful day!

Friday Flash Giveaway!

Update: Congratulations to Melanie Johnson, winner of this week's giveaway! And thanks to EVERYONE who shared book recommendations. I can't wait to start reading!

Welcome to my weekly flash giveaway! Earlier this week I mentioned that I've signed up for the Goodreads 2016 Reading Challenge, and my goal is to read 30 books this year. So this is where I need your help today: book recommendations!

What book should I add to my reading list this year? What have you read recently that you loved? Or maybe you have an old favorite that you'd recommend. Any and all genres welcome.

Remember, I'll choose one person randomly from all those comment today to win a $5 Amazon gift card. Can't wait to hear your suggestions! 

Writers' Wednesday: The Girl on the Train (Review)

It's been on the best-seller list for a while, and I put it on my Christmas list, so I finally got to read Paula Hawkins' thriller The Girl on the Train. Here are my thoughts:

This is a story about a woman, Rachael, who loses her job because of her drinking problem, so she spends her days riding the train into London and watching the homes and the people who live along the tracks. One of these homes belongs to her ex-husband, Tom, who's still living there with his new wife, Anna, and their baby. Two houses down live Scott and Megan, who by all appearances live a happy domestic life, until shortly into the story, Megan goes missing. 

The book is told from the perspective of the 3 women, all unreliable because they only know so much information, or the author only reveals so much information, or because their life choices (drinking too much, sleeping around, lying to themselves) prevent them from seeing the truth. It's an interesting premise that gets more interesting and a faster read about halfway through the story, as we all try to find out what happened to Megan. 

But I didn't love this story. Overall, it's rather dark and creepy, and it's similar to Gone Girl because (1) the reader is never really sure who's telling the truth and (2) it tears apart pretty much all marriages as being filled with lies, pain, or boredom. Rachael is hard to like, as a perpetual drunk who feels way too sorry for herself. Megan is an interesting character with some crazy back story in her past, but we don't see enough of her. And Anna is portrayed oddly, first as meek and submissive, then as jealous and harping, and finally as a wife who sees the truth too late and is torn about what she can do about it. 

I did appreciate the narrative structure to a certain extent, and I did keep reading to see what would happen. But I was left feeling at the end much as I did when I finished Gone Girl: like I needed a shower. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

Monday Mentionables: Have You Set a Reading Goal?

You may have seen people setting reading goals the last couple of weeks, thanks to Goodreads' 2016 Reading Challenge. I don't usually set a certain number of books I want to read in a year, but I think this year, I'll give it a try. My reading time is limited during the school year (I'm a teacher), but I do know that reading makes me a better writer. Seeing what others do in books always inspires my own books. Plus it's good to read what's on the best-seller lists, to see what's trending in popular literature! So I think I will set a modest goal and see how it goes: 30 for the year. And I just finished The Girl on the Train over the weekend (review to come Wednesday), so I'm down to 29 to go!

Anyone out there join the Goodreads Challenge? How many books are on YOUR list?

Friday Flash Giveaway!

Update: Congratulations to Melanie Murray, winner of this week's giveaway and an Amazon gift card! And thanks to everyone who stopped by and commented. Another great turnout this week ~ hope to see you back here next week for another one!

It's time for another flash giveaway! 

I was talking to a friend the other day, and she said she thinks *right now* is when most people read. It's cold outside, it gets dark early, and so more people are curled up reading than in, say, spring or summer, when they're doing things outside. I, on the other hand, do most of my reading in the summer. I'm a teacher by day, so I don't have a lot of free time during the school year. 


​What about you? When do you read most? Is there a time of year that stands out? Or a time of day? Morning, lunchtime, afternoon, night? 

Remember, one winner will be chosen randomly to receive a $5 Amazon gift card from everyone who comments today!

Writer's Wednesday: A New Cover AND a New Contract!

Most of you know that I'm what is called a "hybrid" author these days, meaning I both indie publish my own titles and write for Samhain Publishing too. There is much talk around the web about these sorts of situations, and depending on who you talk to, it's not always wise or financially the best decision to let someone else publish your work (mostly because of the lack of creative control and the loss of royalties). However, I will say right now that I've been happy with my decision to return to Samhain. They've been very open and flexible to work with, first off. Not having to put out money for a cover, edits or promotion is another plus. The Lori Foster Reader-Author Get-Together in June, for example, is limited to 100 authors, and it's almost impossible to get a registered spot unless you're lucky enough to be online in the first 10 minutes after registration opens. 

But as an author attending with Samhain, I was able to register early and guarantee a spot. It's those kind of perks I like, along with being recognized in the recent RT Best Cover Poll because Samhain had advertised my book there.

And even more exciting, not only did I get a shiny new cover for my upcoming work Spring Secrets (nope, I can't share it yet), yesterday was a milestone in my writing career: Samhain sent me a contract for a book I haven't written yet! You might be wondering what exactly this means. Well, always in the past (and for many authors in general), I've had to write the book, submit it to my editor, and wait to see if they'd offer me a contract. Last month, I sent in a synopsis and the first 2 chapters of proposed Book #4 in the Pine Point series, and that was enough for a contract offer! Haven't even written most of it yet, but they believe in me and the series enough to slot a release date for it in late 2016. Woo hoo....it's kind of a heady feeling, to be honest. 

I do believe that leaving Samhain for almost 4 years, and venturing into the world of indie publishing, helped my writing and my understanding of the business and the market to a great extent. It gave me credibility as an author, and it definitely honed my craft. So I'll continue to be a hybrid author as long as it benefits me -- and you, my readers! Here's to many more stories :)