June Moonbridge's Blog, page 18

Racing Heart Book Tour ~ Day Three

Now and then things happen that we have no control over. Take yesterday- Unfortunately there were no posts made based on the book.  

Today you can find me on  Nikki's Books4U where the lovely Nikki invites you to meet me - Meet author June Moonbridge.

There is also another book review - written by the Tour coordinator - JB Johnston from Brook Cottage Books - you can find it there Review & Giveaway: Racing Heart.


And another book blogger joined in. On Around the World in Books you can find me as an Author in a spotlight Blog Tour: Racing Heart.


If  you don't already know, there is an open Giveaway! Come check the blogs and enter the #giveaway!

Around the World in Books: [Blog Tour] Racing Heart

Desiree Hart in desperate search for her kidnapped son, does everything in her power possible to find him...

Read more on
Around the World in Books: [Blog Tour] Racing Heart: RACING HEART BY JUNE MOONBRIDGE 

Peace in Monday Madness ~~~ 07/09/2015

There is some sort of peace in setting sun... isn't it?

Racing Heart Book Tour ~ Day One

Today is the first day of the Book Tour for my first ever novel in English ~ its title: Racing Heart.
Book Tour is coordinated by Brook Cottage Books and the lovely owner JB Johnston.
So today you can find me and my novel Racing Heart hosted on the next two blogs:
Victoria's Pages of Romance 
and
Brook Cottage Books ~ Author Interview & Giveaway: Meet June 



p.s. If you haven't seen it yet on my FB page or Twitter - there is also a giveaway. Jump on any of these sites and log on!

Time ~ The End ?

At the begining of May I wrote a blog post entitled Time in which I talked about how time flies. The post also included a short summary of my current WIP. 

Status on 2nd May 2015:

- Working Title: Project Two 
- Status: Chapter Eight in progress
- Current Total Word Count: 40773


I also wrote that I planned to finish it by the end of August 2015. Today I can proudly say that I managed to do it. It was finished on 31st August 2015. 

With the help of a friend I wrote the second draft and completed the first grammar corrections on that day. And wrote those final two words: The End. 




The question mark? To be honest I wasn't really sure it was the end - but it was... finished.  
I struggled with writing the last sceenes of the last chapter. I always do. As soon as the ending is in my head, I have a hard time putting the words on the paper. It doesn't matter that I know I have to let them go - I still try to hold on to the characters, to the story for one more day, one more night... 
But then it's time -  time to let go. But I know they won't leave so quickly. There's an unavoidable way to meet them again - through four dreadful letters. 
EDIT

Peace in Monday Madness

I'm not particularly fond of Mondays. I know I'm not the only one, but today, sitting on the terrace, just a few minutes ago, I realised... 

Mondays can be peaceful too. You just have to be open to see it.

So, I decided I'm going to try to find in every Monday something peaceful. As I'm definitely not a professional photographer, please don't judge too harshly my attempts to catch those peaceful moments.

Music

A few days ago a question popped up in an authors' group of which I'm a member. The question was, what do we listen to when we write or think of writing.
Not really few members answered that they need silence while writitng. I'm quite the opposite; I need music.

It doesn't matter what I do; driving to and from my work, while working in the office, being home doing housework, playing with the kids, reading and last but certainly not least, when I write. I need some background music. It keeps me going. 
Now, I'm not a musican myself, although I'm sorry that I'm not, but hey, that's life. 
I always needed music around me; in my teenage years and some years after that too, I was only able to fell asleep if I had the radio on and I woke up when the alarm (music on a radion) went off the next morning. 

So it's actually no wonder that I listen to music while I write. I listen to radio or CDs or even something from my many different Youtube lists... I have plenty of them...I also listen to diffrent types of music, from Classic Insturmental, Opera and Musical,  to Jazz (the 'old' one), Country, Electronic, New Age, Latin, Pop, Rock... basically almost everything. 
But there is one genre that actually stole my heart; I always somehow return back to it. Irish folk music...
It's funny as I'm not from the island, but the songs... ah well, let them speak for themselves...

Goals

Here's one thing. I don't make New Year's resolutions! Ever. For the past decade at least. For one reason - I learned in the past that I suck at sticking to my goals. 
I usually make one (ONE? Hmmm...)  big mistake. Really big! 
When I finally set myself a goal I talk about it to anyone who'll listen. And there's a catch... I won't say that people are blocking me or that they are trying to hold me back, throwing obstacles in my path - but something has prevented me reaching my goals.
And then I figured it out (wow, what a revelation): IT WAS ME! 
Yes, me. I blocked myself. Don't ask me why. I still need to think about this... But every time I tell people about my goals, I fail to reach them! 
So, while on our family vacation I looked back - no, not on my life, way too many skeletons in the closet - but on my last goal, a goal that I set for myself three years ago. And I realised that I've actually achieved it. WOW!
That was an "A-HA" moment. I can do it. I just need to keep my mouth shut! 
So I said to myself... it's time to set another one! (I know, I know... you're probably thinking: "Now she's not just going to tell her friends, but the whole world!" ~~~ But I won't tell.)
And I did. Without any proper preparation relating to how the goal should be set, I did it. In my head. Although that second step is still somewhat in the 'under construction' phase...

I'm already half way up... I'm working on it. 

Book reviews

I had to face a one star review the day after my book was published. I perhaps shouldn't be telling you this, but I am. I think most of us have to deal with a one star review sooner or later. I confess it didn't (still doesn't) feel nice. It's only two lines long, but, nevertheless, I re-read it a few times. 
Then I stopped, breathed and a thought occurred. The book's publication day was on 1st July 2015, and the review appeared on 2nd July. It reads:"I barely made it through this book."
Ummm...what? Don't quite get this. The book was bought the previous day (although the review doesn’t come from a verified purchaser) so the reviewer has read it in one day and has written: I barely made it through...
If I don't like a book - it doesn't matter why - I don't read it in a day, it takes me a week or even more, because I have a hard time convincing myself to carry on. But that's obviously just me.
But then I got a four star review, by verified purchaser katiematie , saying: "I found this a very entertaining debut book.... It is an easy to follow storyline and you do not have to be a racing fan to be able to enjoy it. Like a track there are a lot of twists and turns throughout the storyline..." 
It was like a bandage over my bruised writing confidence. 
Not long after that, I saw a tweet: "It's a well crafted story and your book ought to be read!" says @BeaumontBee
And then there were three - yes THREE - 5 star reviews.  Two appeared on the same day and all three are from verified purchasers. Here are some snippets:
Always readingsays: "This is a great racy read."           
Renata says: "This book is really amazing. The story of the book is thrilling from the beginning to end. You could find there love, tension, joy, sadness and a lot of surprises. I could recommend this book. I couldn't break away from reading."
and Michele says: "Wow... I was spellbound, excited, enthralled and glued to the story line with lots of twists keeping you, not wanting to put the book down. You feel as if you're there in Monaco and all the wonderful places you are taken to. I highly recommend this fast paced book."
Now, that kinda makes you forget about the first one, doesn't it? You don't have to believe me. The reviews - all of them - are right there, on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and on Goodreads. You can check them for yourself.But as with all new, not known or indie authors out there, I'm trying to get as may reviews as possible, so:  
Thank you if you have purchased or if you're going to purchase Racing Heart. We all know time is scarce, so I thank you for taking the time to read it. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and it would be much appreciated. Thank you again. 

Walking in somebody else's shoes

is something that writers try to do. From story to story, from novel to novel, from one fictional character to another. Isn't that the truth? With each and every story that comes into our heads, we are trying to walk in someone else's shoes. 
We stumble, we fall, we walk and we try to run too.  
That is one of the purposes of writing. To "crawl" into somebody else's mind and live that life. It doesn't matter if it's only for a little while. That's what we do. And to be honest, I'm proud that I can do it.
So, not long ago, I was - to put it nicely - accused of being  impatient, bossy, pushy, etc...I won't deny it; I can be all those things. 
If it is important for my children, my family and, not least, for me - I can be even worse than that. Believe me; I can be.

I read those accusations and couldn't defend myself. I didn't feel that in that particular case I was all those things. But I said to myself:
'Okay. It's one of those days - a bad day. I'll live.'
But then I saw it, right there, written between the lines; You can't put yourself into my shoes and see how hard life can be.'
To be honest, I wasn't even trying to. And for that reason instead of being hurt, (what was the purpose of the accusation), I had to laugh.
I learned very quickly that until you walk a few miles in somebody else's shoes, you can't say that you truly understand their life. No matter how hard we try, we can't. 
And that goes for everyone. Yes, some of us are lucky enough to have a vivid imagination, the ability to 'create lives', but those are fictional lives and they are what we make them. 
But real life? We all bear our own personal crosses. Perhaps my life is easy, perhaps it isn't. It doesn't matter. You know only what I choose to share with you and nothing more. How you picture my life is up to you, but don't say you know how it is. Believe me, you don't. I won't apologize for the way I am. This is one part of me and all anyone can do is accept me or...don't. 
In this era of social networking sometimes we reveal too much.  
I choose not to.