Kellyn Roth's Blog: Kellyn Roth, Author, page 35

My Plans for Once a Stratton

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I think I’ve talked a little bit about my plans for Once a Stratton – I’m never very tight-lipped with y’all! – but I’ve never gone into detail about what to expect in the next couple months and years.

So … today I’d like to write a post briefly explaining my plans and goals for the novel. And I know I’ve talked about this project a lot (well, one blog post‘s worth!), but I’m super excited about it! And when I’m excited, I ramble! (To state the obvious, hehe.)

I’ll also be asking for beta/alpha readers soon (kinda combining them this time around because I need speed!), so that’s exciting! But for now, let’s talk about my plans!

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Before I really start telling you about my plans, I’m going to give you a brief summary of Once a Stratton.

Once a Stratton

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Summer 1855

Lilli Strauss never meant to offend anyone, but apparently marrying a German immigrant from the Philadelphia slums is an inconceivable action that must separate her from her family, the illustrious Strattons.

A year later, with a baby to think about, Lilli accepts her overbearing older sister’s request to come with her and her family, the Farjons, on their Virginia plantation while Lilli’s husband Chris goes to college.

However, Lilli soon finds that she simply can’t live in a place where her fellow human beings—regardless of their color—are enslaved. She can’t just look away; she is no longer what she once was; she is changed now. But … she was once a Stratton. Is family or beliefs more important?

Sounds amazing, am I right?

When Your Writing Just Isn’t Enough

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Sometimes I think that writers have the lowest self-esteem of any creature on this planet. We constantly judge ourselves. We second-guess word choices, plot lines, even calling ourselves a writer. We can’t even tell others about our stories without blushing!

Now, to a certain extent, it’s natural to worry about our creations like this. I mean, seriously. A writer puts a lot into his or her novels. Who wouldn’t be worried about what others will think?

But … there’s something every author should know about writing. And today I’m going to tell you about it.

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Do you ever feel like you’re just not moving forward?

That your writing is worse than everyone else’s?

That you just can’t be a writer … because your writing just isn’t enough?

You’re not alone, my friend. Many writers all over the world feel like that. Even professional writers feel like that! It’s not limited to newbies or people who aren’t well-established.

We all doubt ourselves. Oftentimes without need. Unfairly.

This is going to be a somewhat short post because I don’t have a lot to say on this subject. The truth is simple, as truth often is.

Your writing is enough.

I can see you rolling your eyes now. Well, knock it off, because I do have something to add to that.

You see … it’s true that writers are self-critics. Sometimes with reason, sometimes without. But whether you are Jane Austen or Kellyn Roth (*coughs*), you are enough for this time in your life.

If you’re just sitting around on your butt all day not doing anything, then that may not be true … but if you’re actually writing, then you’re doing great!

Whenever someone asks me in an interview what my #1 piece of advice for aspiring writers is, I say, “Just keep writing.” (If you can repeat that multiple times in a Dory from Finding Nemo voice, all the better!)

If you’re writing … you’re progressing. Because every word you type is going to teach you something.*

*trust me. I think I read it on Pinterest somewhere …

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A couple weeks ago before church I decided to shoot a quick video on how I’ve progressed as a writer.

I thought I’d share it on social media but decided not to as I rambled a lot (as well as got emotional … well, as emotional as I get!), and it didn’t make a whole lot of sense!

However, I think I’d like to share it with you today.

As you can no doubt tell, it’s a terrible vlog, but here’s the basics of what I said.

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A while back, I was reading a post by my friend, Abigayle Claire, about why you need a professional editor before you publish. I just started using an editor (Abi, actually) and am very happy with it.

Before this year, I published two novels, a novella, and a short story without an editor. I don’t know how I feel about that, to be honest. Makes me feel exposed now that I’ve experience an editor.

But the thing is, a couple months ago I would have told you I am a great author. I have raw writing talent, and I was perfectly okay. I didn’t need to learn because I had it down. I wasn’t worried about becoming better – because I was better.

However, recently I’ve learned that I need to improve a lot. I joined a community called Young Writers’ Workship (YWW) and started to talking to people on there. At that time, I was also going through beta-readers for At Her Fingertips.

I don’t know if I’ve ever talked about this, but I thought of AFOP as my best work. The best story I would ever come up with and write. I was sooo impressed with it.

Then I realized it wasn’t perfect … and neither was my writing.

I was kinda depressed at first. I thought, “I guess I’m not talented.” Or at least not as talented as I thought I was.

But as I started thinking about it, I realized that all authors (except Jane Austen) aren’t perfect. They’re always learning something.

All authors should be out looking for ways to improve their writing as long as they live. They should never be conceited or feel that they are perfect or stop trying to grow as a writer and seek advice and help.

At the same time, you can’t play the comparison game. You can compare yourself to yourself and God – that’s it. Beyond that is pointless.

I will occasionally play the comparison game – I hold myself up to other authors, bloggers, graphic designers, etc., and say, “How do I compare?” But I shouldn’t do that! It does no one any good, let alone me.

I need to realize that I, like every other author, am a work-in-progress. I don’t need to be perfect. I just need to be the best Kellyn I can be – through God – and that’s as far as it can go.

I am growing in the ways I need to be growing, and other authors are growing in the ways they need to be growing. Maybe you’re better about one writing thing than other authors – or maybe you’re not! It just doesn’t matter.

What matters is that you keep on writing and don’t give up and keep on keeping on!

After I’d realized that At Her Fingertips wasn’t perfect, I looked at a book I wrote about four years ago, The Heirs of the Trunk. It was pretty awful, to be honest, but there were some things about it that were okay.

I recognized my writing habits. They weren’t bad writing habits, though there were plenty of those. They were just writing habits, and they were mine. I could still see my habits … and I could still see my characters. Which, to me, is the most wondrous thing of all.

And yes, I have grown so much. I have learned a lot about writing. Everything is so much better.

But … there are things that I do not have to give up! I’m still in my writing. In four years, I will look back at the novels I’m writing now and think, “Wow, why did I do that?” But it doesn’t change the fact that it’s my writing – and in an odd way, I’m still proud of it, mistakes and all.

I know I’ll look back and think that my writing was pretty awful “back then” in four years, but nothing is ever going to change to make me less of a writer or more of a writer. I’m always a writer … and I’m always growing. That doesn’t make me less of a writer than anyone else!

So don’t become discouraged! If you write, you are an author. The need to grow doesn’t make you invalid. That’s the end of it.

TTFN!

~Kellyn Roth~

Social Media | Website | Book Blog

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May 2018 Dares

*blinks* Okay, so, April was … pretty crazy? And I only half-survived it, but I’m here, and I’m better, and it’s all good. *two thumbs up*

‘m still reeling a bit from April (five days into May, I know, it’s hard to adjust!). So making plans for May feels distant. Combined with the fact that it’s my last month of school … wowza.

Let’s just not think about May for a few hundred words and recap what happened in April. Because maybe if I can think about what happened I can figure out process it all. *shudders*

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April 2018 Dares

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Reading

Cut back on reading as much as you can. Check!

I read nine books, which is only 1 less than before.
But 2 are school books.
And 1 was my own book.
And 1 was a reread.
And 1 was a short story.
So I count it as “Check!”

My Favorite Excerpts from Once a Stratton

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As you may or may not know, I worked on Once a Stratton for Camp NaNoWriMo this year. I only went for 10,000 words (I wrote 24,593 bringing the novel to 59,749 words), but I’ve still got a bit to go. It’s going to be a lot shorter than I’d planned, though!

Returning to this world and these characters – 1850s Pennsylvania, Lilli and Chris Strauss – is like coming home again. Honestly, Lilli is one of my favorites as far as writing her goes, and Chris just has so much sass! #sassyhusbandsaremusthave #forfictionalcharactersanyway

I’ve really been enjoying it. Today I’m going to share a couple never-before-seen excerpts with y’all. Let me know what you think in the comments!

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Background:

This excerpt is from a slightly older section of the book where Lilli decides she wants to put her writing talents to good use – and fight to end slavery once and for all!

“Passion,” I mumbled. “People write about what they care about, and it makes writing easier. What do I care about? My husband and child. But that’s not really material for a great writer. Abolitionism, then. I haven’t … I haven’t really thought about it since we left Fantasies, but it was certainly something I cared about. Certainly something I’d like to write about.”

I put the pencil to the paper once again and began writing.

It’s a beautiful day on a plantation in southern Virginia. It’s mid-June. The sun is shining, bees are buzzing, butterflies are fluttering. Everything is as it should be. Only one thing is out of place, and no one knows that it’s even wrong. The people at this plantation are blissfully unaware, even as they are the perpetrators.

The wrong I’m speaking of is, of course, the enslavement of human beings so to enrich the select few. This dark spot in the history of these United States has continued for the seventy-plus decades of its existence.

I went on to describe the conditions of the slaves, the racial persecution, the anti-Abolitionist prejudice, the slave-catchers, and several other things that I’d only heard or read about—I could feel in the details later.

Though I was passionate, I forced myself not to rant, and I kept my words quiet and measured, just as I knew my mother would should she be writing this piece. I described my own brief experience, leaving out the part about it being my only experience. Georgiana would kill me, but she would never see this … no one would. They were my own, these words.

I finished with a plea to the masses—to act, to feel, to find a way out of this shroud of darkness, no matter what the cost.

copyright © 2018, Kellyn Roth, all rights reserved

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Background:

More writing-related stuff from Lilli. Talking to a newspaper editor this time!

I slowly approached the building, feeling dreadfully small. Once inside, I consulted a desk clerk, a happy boy several years my junior, who led me straight to the office of Mr. Thaddeus B. Wells. It was at the back of the newsrooms which were situated on the second floor. All around me, paper rustled, people shouted across the room—I even heard laughter coming from one of the desks where a few reporters clustered. The copyboys darted about and a few newsies loitered, perhaps waiting for the next set of papers.

The clerk motioned to the door. “He should be waiting for you, Mrs. Strauss. Just go on in.”

I opened the door and entered a medium-sized room containing a desk, a few chairs, and a thousand sheets of paper, some crumpled, some simply drifting about. Behind the desk sat a man of average size with brown hair and green-brown eyes. He stood and smiled when I entered the room.

“Mrs. Strauss, I presume?”

“Yes, Mr. Wells. I …” I paused, unsure what to say next.

“Please take a seat, Mrs. Strauss. We have much to discuss.”

I nodded and slid into the chair across from him.

“I considered putting this first topic off to the end, not to scare you away at the very beginning, Mrs. Strauss, but I feel as if it’s best to have it done with.” Mr. Wells took a deep breath. “I admit that I’m somewhat hesitant to have a woman write even a single article in my newspaper. It’s simply not something that is allowed. Yes, women sometimes write for magazines—under aliases—or publish novels, but … I’m not quite willing to take that responsibility. I’m not sure how the public would react. It would be new territory to the Pennsylvania Herald.”

I pressed my lips together, holding an inward shouting match with myself. I should have expected that, but I just hadn’t thought about it. “I see. But … if I were to use an alias … and remain completely anonymous?”

A look of relief flooded his face. “That would be lovely, Mrs. Strauss. A fine way of accomplishing both of our goals.”

“Would it have to be a male name?”

He hesitated. “I think that would be best.”

I nodded slowly. “Very well. I’ll think of something.”

“Just write me when you’ve decided,” Mr. Wells said. “To continue our discussion, I was considering putting an article or piece by you in the column twice weekly … or just weekly if your domestic duties keep you too busy.”

“I might be able to manage twice a week,” I said. “At least for the time being. But what would you like me to write about? I never thought the Pennsylvania Herald to be an overly-abolitionist paper, though it has published some exciting articles in the past.”

“That’s just it, Mrs. Strauss.” He leaned forward, excitement sparkling in his eyes. “The anonymity gives us an opportunity to write something a bit more fiery, if you will. I’ve never made it a secret that I support freedom for all men. However, I can’t write the articles myself, and most of the reporters don’t want to risk it. I am responsible for the paper as a whole—but an anonymous columnist would be a wonderful way to ease our paper towards the movement.”

I nodded eagerly, growing excited. “So I can continue writing … something like what I wrote before?”

“Exactly.”

“But … but I’m not a reporter, Mr. Wells. I have very little practical experience. I’m not even sure my knowledge of abolitionism and all concerning it is ample.”

“But you can learn. You can discover. You can write the kind of articles that will start a fire in the breast of whoever reads them. You have talent; all you need is refining.” Mr. Wells took a deep breath. “Mrs. Strauss, we don’t know each other very well. My wife would say we’re ‘hardly speaking acquaintances.’ But I can tell you genuinely care about what happens to those poor souls. I’ve traveled to the south. So have you. We know. We’ve seen, and it breaks our hearts. Both of us have to do something … and it just so happens that this is the speediest way to do so. Will you try?”

I bit the side of my mouth. “I’ll try.”

copyright © 2018, Kellyn Roth, all rights reserved

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Background:

Lilli and Chris going to church with their new friends, Mariah and Clayton Farrenson, for the first time. This one’s super random, but hey, I enjoyed writing it! For no reason!

Mariah and Clayton had invited us to their church, and we had talked about going several times but never made it a reality. I think Chris hated to disappoint his parents, and, though I was keen to meet new people and search for a place where we could truly worship God in the way we believed to be correct, it was a big step.

However, Mariah wore us down. She knew I wasn’t happy with the church we’d been going to—not happy with just sitting in a building for an hour with people who wouldn’t meet my eye and then shuffling out afterwards—and she used this to her advantage.

“It’s all so friendly there,” she said. She didn’t look me in the eyes as she said these words, but I could tell she was smiling slyly. “Everyone is open and kind—we’re like a family!”

It was that phrase—“like a family” —that did it for me. Chris, not naturally outgoing, took a little more convincing, of course, but he agreed to do it at last.

“We’ll just go once,” he said. “If it’s not all Mariah says it is—”

“Well, we can’t really judge from one week,” I said. I hesitated then placed a hand on his arm. “And anyway, I’m convinced we will like it.”

As I’d said before, it was a big decision, but sometimes you do have to take a leap of faith—per se—and this was one of those times.

Mariah and Clayton and Chris and I with little Maddie and Peter left our houses at the same time and walked to [can’t remember the name I decided on for the church] together.

I was excited. I didn’t feel even the slightest tinge of apprehension. But I could tell Chris was nervous. Or at least a bit worried. It took him so long to warm up to strangers, and he tended to be hesitant around people like the Farrensons—people who reeked of ’Old Philadelphia’ event if they weren’t rich or grand.

The church wasn’t as large as I had built it to be in my mind, but it was still very pretty. A white building with a small steeple. There was a patch of grass in the front, well-groomed and divided in half by a stone walkway that led to the door. I paused behind Mariah and Clayton as we reached this walk. They kept going up, but Mariah glanced over her shoulder when she sensed that I’d stopped behind her.

“Scared?” she teased.

I laughed. “No, of course not! Who’d be scared of going to church?”

“The devil,” Chris muttered.

I gently nudged him—not the time for his little comments—and followed Mariah and Clayton into the building.

Once inside, Mariah took my arm and steered me over to a group of ladies clustered towards the back. They were about her age, some a few years older, some a tinge younger, some middle-aged, and they were talking up a storm.

“Ladies, could I have a moment?” Mariah said smoothly when they stopped talking for a moment. “This is Mrs. Lilli Strauss, my new neighbor.”

A few of the women drew back a little, glanced me up and down, took my measure. Others gave friendly smiles and soft greetings. Whatever their response, it wouldn’t bother me, though—I was determined to make friends with each and every one of them. Well, unless they were determined to do otherwise, in which case let them!

“It’s so nice to meet you!” I said. “Only now I’m at a disadvantage; I don’t know any of your names!”

“Oh!” Mariah said. She rattled off each of the women’s names—and I really tried my best to retain them.

Once we were properly introduced, I began chatting with them. It wasn’t too hard to get along with people, really—all I had to do was ask them plenty of questions, smile and laugh and be open, and that I did.

copyright © 2018, Kellyn Roth, all rights reserved

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Background:

Just a sweet little family scene. It leads into a suspenseful-ish part, but of course I’m not giving you that.

At Her Fingertips, Blog Tour: Finale!

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And today’s the day when it all ends! *can’t believe it* *is again a little teary* Time for wrapping up all the posts, for announcing the giveaway winners … and for taking a break!

At Her Fingertips is officially out in the world. It’s been published on quite a few sales channels – including Barnes & Nobles, Apple, and Kobo – which you can view here.

Honestly, I’m almost at a loss as to what I’ll do now that it’s all over! I’ve been so stressed and yet excited about this for months and months … and now it’s over. And yet it’s such a relief, too!

The Complete Schedule
April 23rd

Author Interview by Julia @ Julia’s Creative Corner

Review by Abigail @ Novels, Dragons, and Wardrobe Doors

Author & Book Spotlight by Rebekah Devall @ Hunting for Truth

Guest Post from a Character by Kiki @ K.E. Stanton

Book Spotlight by Gentle @ Gentle Words

April 24th

Review/Character Interview by Heather @ Frozen Book Blog

Character Interview by Sel Young @ Hearth

Author Interview by Gabriellyn @ PageTurners

Author Interview/Review by Caitlyn @ Salt and Light

Book & Author Spotlight by Brian W.

April 25th

Character Interview/Series Review by Libby May @ GeoTurtle

Author Interview by Medomfo @ Writings from a God Girl

Series Review and Author Interview by Charis Rae

Author Interview by Sarah Addison Fox

April 26th

Book and Author Spotlight by Grace Matlyn Buckner @ Literatura

Book Spotlight by Kaylee @ Kaylee’s Kind Of Writes

Character and Author Interview by Amie @ Crazy A

Author Interview by Jessica Grayson

Author Interview by Rachel @ Rachel Rossano’s Words

Character/Book Spotlight by Erika Mathews @ Resting Life

Series Review & Character Interview by Victoria Lynn @ Ruffles and Grace

April 27th

Author Interview by Loretta Marchize @ Just Writing

Series Review/Author Interview by Lisa @ Inkwell

Guest Post from Character by Kelsey Bryant @ Kelsey’s Notebook

Book Spotlight by Angela @ The Peculiar Messenger

The Giveaway: Announcements Here!

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3rd Prize: the complete (published) series in ebook and a $10 Amazon gift card.

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2nd Prize: a copy of At Her Fingertips, a set of watercolors and brushes.[image error]

Grand Prize: the complete (published) series in paperback, a journal and pen set, and special features!

AND THE WINNERS ARE …
Third Prize

Megan G.

Second Prize

Liz Franklin

Grand Prize

Camie Fisher

I’ll be emailing y’all within the next couple hours.

Facebook Event Over

Here’s the link to our Facebook event page. You can read over old posts and such now. If you’re on Facebook, be sure to follow my characters’ pages! There will be more from them someday.

At Her Fingertips, Blog Tour: Day 6

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IT’S THE LAST DAY OF THE TOUR EXCEPT FOR OUR WRAPUP!!! Wow. That went sooooo incredible fast! Did y’all enjoy it? Thoughts, comments?!

Today is future day. That means we’ll be talking about novels I have yet to write, etc. It’s going to be beyond exciting! (Also, I’ll be sharing some spoilers on Facebook, so be sure to check those out if you like spoilers!)

First, let’s look at today’s posts! Honestly, some of my favorites are today! *so excited*

Today’s Posts
Author Interview by Loretta Marchize @ Just Writing

This was a fun (if somewhat long) interview to write! I talked a lot about my ideas, my writing time, and my first stories.

Reading over it today, I was embarrassed by the number of typos, though. I swear those slipped in out of nowhere …

At Her Fingertips, Blog Tour: Day 5

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Only two more days of blog touring! I can’t believe it’s going so fast! All the amazing bloggers as well as the readers who keep me going with their comments have made this time really fly.

Today’s process day! That means we’ll be talking about how At Her Fingertips came to be thought of, brainstormed, outlined, written, revised, and edited! Shout outs to my amazing alpha/beta team as well as editor.

At Her Fingertips, Blog Tour: Day 4

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[[Well. She shouldn’t have made her password so obvious.]]

[[Shhhhh, we don’t want them to know!]]

[[I’m not telling them! I’m introducing us. Hello, all! I’m Alice Knight, the main character of Kellyn’s latest book, At Her Fingertips. I wanted her to rewrite it slightly with *coughs* less complications, but it appears that isn’t going to happen.

[[Now, here’s how this will work! There are six of us who could come here today.]]

[[And steal Miss Roth’s blog.]]

[[Shush, Peter. Guilt will get us nowhere. I’m sure she doesn’t mind. *hesitation* Wait, Kirk, did we check and see if she didn’t mind?]]

[[Uh … let’s just say … we weren’t a thorough as we could have been. *clears throat* I’m sure she doesn’t care.]]

[[All right, then. Let’s go on. We’re putting on this post today. Each of us will be in a different color of colored brackets. And oh my goodness, am I using American spelling?]]

[[*laughs*]]

[[Neighbor. Theater. Center. Apologize. That’s it. I’m leaving.]]

[[Oh, come on, it’s not so bad!]]

[[You would say that! Alice, we just have to bear it. Go on.]]

[[*sigh* Very well. Now, here’s are the colors for each of us.]]

[[Alice Knight]] [[Kirk Manning]] [[Ivy Knight]] [[Peter Strauss]] [[Cassie O’Connell]] [[Gibson Ashfield]]

[[Is that in order of importance?]]

[[Shush, you. And … I believe that’s it! Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy our post!]]

[[You’d better. *waggles eyebrows*]]

[[Stop.]]

Today’s Posts
Character Interview/Series Review by Libby May @ GeoTurtle

[[In this post, there’s an interview with me! I got to talk about the woes of being a fictional character as well as my plans for the future to a certain extent. No spoilers, though – I’ve been thoroughly warned about spoilers.]]

[[One of those questions made me choke on my coffee …]]

[[I know! *silently glares at the interviewer*]]

Author Interview by Medomfo @ Writings from a God Girl

[[Author interviews. *tsks*]]

[[As an author, I’ll say thank you to Medomfo for hosting Miss Roth on your blog! I’m sure she appreciated it very much!]]

[[I don’t appreciate it. She could have interviewed me instead!]]

[[It’s her blog, after all …]]

[[Yes, she should get to decide subjects for her own blog!]]

[[Even if it’s not a good subject. *coughs*]]

Series Review and Author Interview by Charis Rae

[[Huh. Didn’t care for the ending.]]

[[We knew this was going to happen. *smug grin*]]

[[*slaps Kirk* Shhh!]]

[[Awww, she said nice things about Ivy Introspective!]]

[[And she was rather kind about At Her Fingertips, you must admit. I admit I wasn’t convinced that the ending was right for a long time myself …]]

[[Wait. What?]]

[[Er, nothing.]]

 

Author Interview by Sarah Addison Fox

[[MORE AUTHOR INTERVIEWS?!?!]]

[[Well-executed, Miss Roth and Mrs. Addison Fox!]]

[[Peter, you’ve got to stop siding with the authors.]]

[[I can’t help it!]]

The Schedule
April 23rd

Author Interview by Julia @ Julia’s Creative Corner

Review by Abigail @ Novels, Dragons, and Wardrobe Doors

Author & Book Spotlight by Rebekah Devall @ Hunting for Truth

Guest Post from a Character by Kiki @ K.E. Stanton

Book Spotlight by Gentle @ Gentle Words

April 24th

Review/Character Interview by Heather @ Frozen Book Blog

Character Interview by Sel Young @ Hearth

Author Interview by Gabriellyn @ PageTurners

Author Interview/Review by Caitlyn @ Salt and Light

Book & Author Spotlight by Brian W.

April 25th

Character Interview/Series Review by Libby May @ GeoTurtle

Author Interview by Medomfo @ Writings from a God Girl

Series Review and Author Interview by Charis Rae

Author Interview by Sarah Addison Fox

April 26th

Book and Author Spotlight by Grace Matlyn Buckner @ Literatura

Book Spotlight by Kaylee @ Kaylee’s Kind Of Writes

Character and Author Interview by Amie @ Crazy A

Author Interview by Jessica Greyson

Author Interview by Rachel @ Rachel Rossano’s Words

Character/Book Spotlight by Erika Mathews @ Resting Life

Series Review & Character Interview by Victoria Lynn @ Ruffles and Grace

April 27th

Author Interview by Loretta Marchize @ Just Writing

Series Review/Author Interview by Lisa @ Inkwell

Guest Post from Character by Kelsey Bryant @ Kelsey’s Notebook

Author Interview by Germaine @ The Writing Mafia

Book Spotlight by Angela @ The Peculiar Messenger

The Giveaway

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3rd Prize: the complete (published) series in ebook and a $10 Amazon gift card.

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2nd Prize: a copy of At Her Fingertips, a set of watercolors and brushes.

[[Oh, they’re themed. About me!]]

[[Don’t let it go to your head!]]

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Grand Prize: the complete (published) series in paperback, a journal and pen set, and special features!

How do you enter this giveaway? Well, follow the link, of course!

[[I’m just going to leave all her copy-and-paste info because I don’t want to rewrite it. If that’s fine with the rest of you, that is?]]

[[Right, who has time for that?]]

Click Here!

Facebook Parties

[[Today we’ll be answering questions and chatting on our Facebook event page. It’s going to be wonderful!]]

[[Also be sure to follow our pages!]]

[[Here are the links. *is the only one who would think of something practical like that because the rest of you are either butterfly-chasers or Gibson Ashfield.

Link to Gibson’s – Link to Mine – Link to Peter’s – Link to Kirk’s]]

[[I resent that! Butterflies indeed …]]

[[I don’t … *has accepted his butterfly mind*]]

[[My page looks wondrous. The others’ … well. *eyeroll*]]

[[I just happen to like my horse pictures!]]

[[I’m not on Facebook, unfortunately, but I’ll be there in spirit!]]

[[Me, neither, but you’re in my thoughts!]]

[[Just to give you an idea of what we’re capable of:]]

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[[What can I say? The faces are amazing!]]

[[I’m just a teensy bit jealous!]]

[[Those faces are amazing …]]

[[Don’t worry, Ivy … you’ll have a book release in October. Surely Miss Roth will let you have a page then!]]

[[What about me?]]

[[Sail Away, remember?]]

[[That’s just a pipe dream of Miss Roth’s …]]

[[She is a will-o’-the-story-idea, like any author.]]

[[I … no, that’s actually quite accurate …]]

Theme Days


Day 1 (22nd): Introductions

What the blog tour will entail.



Day 2 (23rd): Historical Day

Talking about the history behind the novel.



Day 3 (24th): Theme Day

Talking about the meaning behind the novel.
[[The meaning is simply uncomfortable …]]
[[Oh, Alice …]]



Day 4 (25th): Character Takeover Day (you are here!)

Oh, no! The characters have taken over the blog!
[[MUHAHAHAHA.]] [[Behave yourself.]]



Day 5 (26th): Process Day

What Kell’s writing process looks like.
[[It looks like majorly changing my life, personality, and habits multiple times!]]
[[YES. EXACTLY.]]
[[You two are actually agreeing on something??]]
[[I think we’ve both had our lives altered multiple times …]]
[[I’m just grateful I don’t have to spend the rest of my life in shame and agony and heartbreak … even if it took a while to figure out …]]
[[KIRK. SPOILERS!!!]]
[[Sorry!]]



Day 6 (27th): Future Day

Talking about what novels Kell will be working on in the future.
[[Alice Unanswered. *read the synopsis once and is dying of suspense*]]
[[Even the title is foreboding …]]
[[I’m actually looking forward to Beyond Her Calling, though. I think it will be interesting!]]
[[At least your synopsis isn’t vaguely threatening …]]



Day 7 (28th): Wrapup

Giveaway winners announced, etc.
[[I want that journal.]]
[[You can’t have the journal, Peter … we’ve talked about this …]]
[[Uggggghhhhh … it’s even nautical-themed! I love sailing!]]
[[I thought you get seasick …]]
[[I do, but I still love sailing!]]

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[[And … that’s it!]]

[[Thanks so much for reading our post! I hope you enjoyed it. It was fun to write – though I still don’t know about stealing Miss Roth’s blog …]]

[[It’s all right, Ivy. I think she rather wanted us to.]]

[[Oh? Well, that was kind of her.]]

TTFN!

~Alice Knight~

~Kirk Manning~

~Gibson Ashfield~

~Cassie O’Connell~

~Ivy Knight~

~Peter Strauss~

Social Media | Website | Book Blog

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At Her Fingertips, Blog Tour: Day 3

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AND WE GOT THROUGH THE FIRST DAY AND HERE WE ARE! *big grin* And today’s theme day, so we get to talk about meanings and lessons and all that fun stuff.

Honestly, writing theme is hard for me. I’m always afraid I’ll come off as preachy! I believe I’ve avoided that for this book, however. The key is to just tell the story.

However, before that, we have today’s posts! Let’s see what my amazing blog tour buddies came up with!

Today’s Posts
Review/Character Interview by Heather @ Frozen Book Blog

Another review! *more nail biting* Honestly, why does this always make me nervous even if I know the people will be kind with their negatives and such?

There’s also a character interview with Peter Strauss. Heather asked some great questions!

Favorite quote from the review:

“My favorite part was the ending. I was surprised at how happy I was with who Alice ended up with and it was so cute and perfect it almost made me want to cry with joy!”

#MissionAccomplished This sounds super conceited, but gotta love that ending, right? Back me up, beta-readers!

At Her Fingertips, Blog Tour: Day 2

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YAY FOR THE BLOG TOUR! *can’t believe it’s starting* *is dying of excitement* Are you ready to have tons of fun?

Wow, this month went fast! This tour may seem like I put it together carefully, but honestly, I’ve been rushed! Still, nothing bad has happened … yet.