L.E. DeLano's Blog, page 42

Two Weeks To TRAVELER, And It’s Time For A Giveaway!

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Do you see this? Do you see what I’m holding in my hot little hand? Yes, that’s it – the absolute last and final Advanced Reader Copy of TRAVELER – and it can be yours!! I’ll even sign it on the odd chance that I become wildly popular and Disney realizes what a terrific TV show this book would make!

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Anyway.

Here’s how you get your grabby mitts on this particular copy:

Use hashtag #TravelerMe on Twitter to tell me what you’d like to see if you stepped through your own mirror to an alternate reality. ex: I met with President Michelle Obama in my office at Hogwarts #TravelerMe

On Instagram, tag a pic that shows me what you’d like to see #TravelerMe

On Facebook, comment on this post with what you’d like to see on the other side of the mirror.

Or leave me a comment right here on this blog.

See? Easy!

Contest runs until Friday morning at 9am EDT, US and is open to anyone around the world. Winner will be randomly selected and announced on Friday, and the book will ship that day.

So have some fun with this and tell me what you’d like to see #OnTheOtherSide!!

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His eyes are staring off somewhere in the distance. . .

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. . . as if he can see all the multitude of unrolling possible

futures branching off every choice and diverting factor.

#LoveLines

Topic: “Long Distance”

Holding Onto The Cart As It Careens Down The Track

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I’m two weeks and three days from my book launch!

Do you know what that means?

WORK.

I’m writing up press releases, I’m front-loading a bunch of social media stuff on various platforms, I’m writing up blogs and guest blogs for other sites, I’m doing author interviews, putting together Q&A sheets and Media kits, and oh yeah – working on book 2, whose next deadline is a little over a month away.

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All this around raising two kids, dodging two cats bent on my destruction and working a full-time day job.

No pressure, right?

And how will I manage all of this? I’ll let you know when I figure it out. For now, my life is spreadsheets tracking media events and a whole lot of caffeine. I will emerge from this experience greatly enriched or babbling like a moron. Probably a little of both.

Have a great weekend, everyone – I’ll be hanging with my good buddy, Mr. Laptop.

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I Call This One “The Journey”

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I slam my journal shut. . .

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I do my best to ignore the rock in my stomach. It’s not working. This is some serious freak-out-level crazy. And I have to decide whether I believe it or not.

#2bitTues

Topic: “Ignore”

So I Opened The Box, And There They Were. . .My Books!

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They’re here! Oh my God, they’re here.

Aren’t they beautiful?

I swear to you, opening that box was just like that moment when they put my baby into my arms at the hospital. Only with less crying (because I was the only one crying this time).

Same amount of sweat and labor, though.

Now we see how it grows.

This proud author moment brought to you by my daughter, who was rolling her eyes and saying, “Stop crying, already!”

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My Writing Companions. . .

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The Books Are In! The Books Are In!

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[Photo courtesy of Swoon Reads]

They did it.

They actually did it, y’all.

They printed my book. My book. And the books are in and in a short time, I will be holding one in my sweaty, shaking hand.

I am speechless. I am in love (oh my God, aren’t they just gorgeous?), and I am beyond grateful to every single person who got me to this.

Every. Single. One. Of. You.

Today is a very, very good day.

 

My First Good Bad Review

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So uuuuuugh.

I got my first less-than-stellar review.

It’s bound to happen, and I know that. Even JK Rowling and Stephen King have one-star reviews and people who consider them highly overrated.

And really, this one wasn’t bad bad. It was actually very well thought-out, and the reviewer went so far as to say that she loved the first 3/4 of the book. What turned it for her was the ending. To her credit, she didn’t spoil the ending other than to say she didn’t like the way it resolved.

So all in all, she really liked the book until the ending – an ending that I took a huge chance on because it isn’t your typical linear romance-novel ending at all. There are bound to be people who aren’t okay with that sort of deviation, and I get that. Bottom line, she had some thoughtful insight, and I get where she’s coming from, even if I don’t entirely agree with all of it. And she liked it, mostly. I’ll take my lumps on that one and call it a 3/4 win.

You can’t make everyone happy as an artist. I have an author friend who had very positive reviews on her debut novel, but a few bad reviews hit the radar, of course. One guy went so far as to create an entire YouTube video dedicated to trashing her book! Yeesh! But she landed a TV deal off her second book and she’s smiling and waving all the way to the bank.

So far, I’ve had a couple of dozen reviews – all good, and one 3/4 good. For a debut author in a very competitive genre (and these are reviews off the galley copy), that’s not too shabby. I stand by my work because I love the story, I love these characters, and I know I’m not alone in that. I also know that won’t be my last less-than-stellar review.

Live and learn, and keep on writing.

When Your Instagram Looks Like This

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So many pretties. So many.

Love.