Rebecca Connolly's Blog, page 10

Happily Ever After

The next stop on our Cove tour is something not in the original picture because I bought it after that! I was putting together my new apartment and trying to make The Cove the most inspirational and functional workspace ever for a romance writer like myself. I thought it was all set. And then…I went to Hobby Lobby. And…well… I came home with this…

Isn’t this just ADORABLE? And so perfect!

I stared at it for ages, wondering if I, a single woman with no current prospects (don’t you dare awww, guys!) could really rationalize taking this home.

And then I thought, “Why the heck not???”

I’m living in a happily ever after right now, and happily ever after is the goal of my life, no matter what the situation happens to be! And as far as writing goes, I happen to be in the business of giving out happily ever afters on a fairly regular basis!

So WHY THE HECK NOT?

So I did. And there it is.

And it’s perfect.

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The Research Shelves

Every writer has their own way of making sure they get things right. Mine involves a separate bookshelf filled with references. I present to you…the research shelves.

The stash of stuff!

It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I’m always looking for more references, so let me know if you know some! (Yes, I do have several “For Dummies” books. No judging!)

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THE COVE

WELCOME TO THE COVE!

Here we will have mini posts about my writing, my inspiration, my process, random fun things… Basically, whatever I want! So first… The Cove itself.

Where the magic happens.

No clue why it’s yellow tinted, my walls aren’t that color. But this is my space. And I heart it lots.

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Apology and Update

Hi friends!

I am so sorry I have been so super absent lately. It’s nothing personal, I promise! The truth of the matter is… I moved.

I KNOW.

It was random, it was fast, and it was actually kind of epic, but that’s another story. I got a new job opportunity, and I just HAD to take it. I moved from the lovely land of Ohio to the beautiful–and surprisingly warm these days–Minnesota! I knew absolutely nothing about Minnesota except what I’d heard from roommates in grad school, and something about hockey, and something about lots of snow.

I still don’t know very much, but I’m here! And my place is perfectly set up! Um…except for the couch, but that’s coming this weekend.

The best part of this place? I have a designated writing space. WHAAAAAT? I know. It’s awesome. I’m calling it The Cove.

Why? Because a cove sounds like a lovely place, and there is this perfect spot in my place for my new writing desk and all of my research and my story boards and inspiration stuff… It’s perfect. So it’s The Cove. I may wind up doing something with that name on this website later, maybe a special section of the website called The Cove.

But what should be in that part of the website? Shout out some ideas, I’m really curious.

I PROMISE to be more involved on here now that I’m settled. Promise promise.

I don’t have any real news for you right now, but does it help that news is brewing? Because it totally is.

Until next time, buh-bye from Minnesota!

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#AsktheAuthor

If you’re paying attention to the Facebook page, you’ll know that this week is a pre-launch event for Secrets of a Spinster. It’s been a whole lot of fun to get things together to do this, and I hope it will all be worth it!

Starting tonight, we’ll kick off a new thing… Ask the Author. Hopefully people will submit questions, whether about the book or my process or future works or my hot cocoa obsession, and then I can answer them! I’m planning on doing it via video, so we’ll see how that all goes!

If you have a question, submit it on the Facebook page or on twitter. Use the hashtag #AsktheAuthor, and you’ll be entered to win an Amazon gift card!

I promise to do a full blogpost on Secrets of a Spinster soon. It’s one of my favorites, and I can’t wait to share it with you!

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Arrangement Contest

Hi Gang! *waves from the cyber abyss*

I’ve been absent, and I’m sorry. But I’m back with a fun opportunity for you all!

A top secret project is starting up, and I need help to figure it out. I need a section of An Arrangement of Sorts that can be used to demonstrate range and feeling. Can’t tell you why, but I can tell you you will love it. It can be fun, it can be dramatic, it can be anything as long as there’s something awesome to it. It’ve been over the book so many times, I’m a bit biased and blind, and can’t decide.

So.

I need suggestions. Shoot your favorite parts, or parts you think fit the criteria mentioned above, on my Facebook page, and you will be entered into a drawing to win a $10 Amazon gift card. The winner will be announced on April 30. You can enter as many suggestions as you like, but you only get entered once!

More news will be coming in the days to follow! Stay tuned!

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Royal Delivery

A few months ago, my friend and fellow author Sariah Wilson announced that her series, the Royals of Monterra, had been selected to be part of Kindle Worlds, Amazon’s fan fiction platform. This was a HUGE opportunity for her, and I was so excited for her. Then she said that in order to launch the series there, she needed authors to write a fan fiction novella so that the launch would already have stories ready for people to purchase. Having loved the first book, Royal Date, I jumped at the chance and quite literally begged her, as a fan/friend, to let me write one.

Thankfully, she did.

Look at this gorgeous cover!!! Wouldn’t you want to read this just by looking at it?

Sariah is awesome, and she offered to let me read the second book, Royal Chase, which she was STILL EDITING so that I could get a better feel for what was going to happen and make my novella that more informed and improved.

Does this not KILL you? I was absolutely dying the whole book.

Loving book 2 as much as I loved book 1, I was set, and started figuring out what story I wanted to tell. This was a new challenge for me, working with someone else’s characters and trying to insert myself into the world Sariah had created without messing anything up. But what fangirl doesn’t want to take a story she loves and make it go the way she wants? It was a riot and I loved every minute of it.

The biggest challenge, though, was trying to write this while I was working on my own stuff. I wanted to do both justice, and my personal timeline was getting a bit strangled between the two AND my job AND the rest of my life. But both got done, and I think both are lovely. But I am pretty biased, so I’ll let you decide that.

Without spoiling anything major [because you REALLY need to read this series], I decided to focus my story on pregnancy. Why? Because that’s something that I found, in reading Royal Date, that was a natural progression of the characters’ arcs. This provided a major challenge for me, since 1) I am a single woman  and 2) I have never been pregnant. But I knew that this was the story I wanted to tell, and I knew that I wanted to make this very relatable.

So I did what any respectable author in need of information does. I went to the internet. I feel like I need to give Pinterest some of the royalties from this book, since I used it so much. But I also took to Facebook and asked for stories from as many of my Mommy friends I could get. They delivered [heh] in many ways. So many stories and hilarious moments, and I took careful notes on them all. I interviewed family members and friends about the specifics of their pregnancies and delivery experiences, and took myself off to various media sources for more info than I ever thought I would need before actually being pregnant myself.

The result is, I hope, something hilarious in a completely relatable way. Everything you will see in the book relating to pregnancy and delivery comes from actual stories from my sources, I made none of it up. And that makes it way more fun.

And for those of us who are not pregnant, there’s plenty of swoon-worthy lovey-dovey stuff to make us happy. So there.

My cover artist is SO GOOD. Oh, this makes me sigh and swoon, and I want it.

We are having a Facebook launch party with the other authors involved in this project when everything goes live on January 21, and I hope you will all join us for it. There are so many talented authors involved in this, and I love being able to help promote Sariah’s incredible series! Hope you guys will check it out and love it as much as I do. Then you can come and read my addition and see if my work does what it is supposed to — get Sariah more fans and friends! Monterra forever!

To check out Royal Date by Sariah Wilson, click here.

To check out the next book, Royal Chase, which comes out on January 26, click here.

And when my own little Royal Delivery is available, I will allow you to click here to see that one as well!

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Dream Cast

Okay, so thanks to some requests, I have decided to let you in on the dream cast I had in my head when I was writing Arrangement and Marquess…and the books that come after. We’ll start with the main people in Marquess, and see where we end up.

I see things in my head like a movie when I’m working, so it really helped to find people that looked like what I imagined my characters to. Then I could see them move and watch their facial expressions, and all that kinds of fun stuff. I know full well that this would never actually work for a movie cast, but that’s why it’s my dream cast, right? Right.

I don’t mean to destroy any images you have in your head of these characters, so please don’t take this as gospel. This was just where my head was [and is!] as I worked on this. You don’t have to agree with me. In fact, if you have other actors in mind, please comment and let me know!

It should be noted right here and now that I do not own any of the photos you will see posted here, and none of the rights to them.

So. Here we go.

As the charming and witty Derek Chambers…

Peter Facinelli

As his tyrannical and terrifying wife, Katherine….

Dagmara Dominczyk

As the imposing and demanding Duke of Ashcombe…

Sean Connery

As the well meaning and proper Duchess of Ashcombe…

Helen Mirren

As Derek’s stubborn and warm hearted sister, Diana, Lady Beckham…

Rachel Weisz

As Derek’s charming and troublemaking brother David…

Adam Levine

So that wraps up the Chambers family. But I think you want more, right? I’d want more. So here you go.

As the fiery and impudent Moira, Countess of Beverton…

Bryce Dallas Howard

As the kind and gentlemanly Nathan, Earl of Beverton…

Hugh Jackman

As the almost proper and close to perfect Geoffrey Harris…

Rupert Penry-Jones

As the large bodied and larger hearted Duncan Bray…

Gerard Butler

And finally last, but not least, as the plucky comic relief, Colin Gerrard…

Tom Hiddleston

So there you go! Hope you enjoyed this fun little casting session! Look for more to come with future books!

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Marquess Release

It’s here!!!

Well, technically, it was here yesterday, but still!

Married to the Marquess is now available for sale!

I can’t believe that I have my second book out in the world now. I love this story so much, it was a joy to write. Derek and Katherine were such vibrant characters, and still are, that the story almost wrote itself. I could see every move they made and heard every line they said, and I laughed so often while writing it that I was starting to wonder if I had gone crazy. I hadn’t, but there’s still time for that, I guess.

The challenge of writing a story about a couple that was already married was a fun one. I loved the freedom of working with a married couple and figuring out how they had gotten where they were. Watching them change as the story went on was rewarding and satisfying, and really fun, too!

I hope you all love Derek and Kate as much as I do. They’re such fun, special people. I even have a dream cast for them, and should we ever need to talk about that, I will be happy to provide photographic evidence of my entire cast for this book.

And it’s soundtrack.

But for now, sit back and enjoy the next adventure, and let me know your thoughts!

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Married to the Marquess

Did you hear? Married to the Marquess, Book 2 in the “Arrangement” series, is coming out December 1st! You probably already saw that on the news page. But still. It’s so exciting! The cover art is STUNNING, and I absolutely love it.

What is Marquess about, you ask?

Well…

If you read Arrangement, you will remember that Nathan has a friend named Derek, the Marquess of Whitlock. If you read closely, you will also remember that Derek is married, and none-too-happy with his situation. His wife Katherine is not the sort of woman that any of the men are keen to be around, and as such, they have very little to say about her that is complimentary.

So, having set this situation up, I asked myself, what could we do there?

Why don’t we force Derek and Katherine to have to spend some time together? either they will kill each other, or something else entirely will take place.

[Insert evil laughter and rubbing hands together here]

To whet your thirst, here’s the back cover blurb for Married to the Marquess. Don’t forget to watch for updates on ordering!

To hate and to scold…

Derek Chambers, Marquess of Whitlock, has a problem: his wife. She is the single most horrifying aspect of his life, and the only thing he has ever enjoyed about her are their truly spectacular fights. As such, he prefers having as little to do with her as possible. So when she unexpectedly summons him to London, he surprises himself by going, and finds his life turned upside down in ways he never thought possible.

To loathe and to perish…

Katherine despises her worthless and irritating husband, and nothing bothers her more than the fact that he actually came to London when she sent for him. Worst of all, now that he has come, she needs him to stay. With her. And with his every smile making her heart race, she begins to wonder if there could be more to him than meets the eye.

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