Kandy Shepherd's Blog, page 5

Books, beautiful books!

Both dogs are on the outside back cover, too.

Excitement all round when my author copies of HOME IS WHERE THE BARK IS arrived from Penguin in New York. The cover is gorgeous, with the two dogs– sad-eyed Mack (the big black one) and cute Bessie (the purse-sized pooch in the purse!) The band around the title is a wonderful fuchsia colored foil-and Serena is wearing purple, my favorite color. This was the first time I saw the back of the book—and it's as lovely as the front.

I find it awe-inspiring to see the first draft of the cover and discover how the cover artist and designer have interpreted my imaginary people. Of course with the trend for "headless" people on covers, it's just their bodies we see but I love the way Serena and Nick look.  (BTW, I like the headless trend as it lets my imagination fill in the faces of the characters in a book.) The first version of the cover had Mack as a German shepherd. While the big mutt might have some German shepherd, he is very definitely black and the final version has him as the correct color!

I, husband,  and daughter were all thrilled when we opened the big boxes of my books—my books!—the only creature left unmoved by it all was Tabitha—as her expression shows. "Don't tell me that's another book about dogs," it could say. "When are you going to write a book about the superior feline species?" Or, more likely, "Get those books out quick smart so I can have the box."

Tabitha just wants the box!

WHAT I'M READING NOW:  C.C Coburn's The Sheriff and the Baby (Harlequin American Romance) is a sweet, heart-warming story with a touch of mystery and a whole lot of humor set in small-town Colorado. C.C and I became buddies when we were both striving to get published and this is her second book. I'm really enjoying it!

Thrill of the win

To win an award for my writing is an extra special thrill for a person who never won a thing for sport. Thank you ARRA (Australian Romance Readers Association) for my elegant trophy, awarded to LOVE IS A FOUR-LEGGED WORD for Favorite Contemporary Romance 2009.

My ARRA award

This award is so special for me because it is a reader-nominated award for "favorite" book, not "best", but "favorite" and that means a lot. Also, my books are not readily available in Australia—readers buy them from a group of fabulous specialist romance bookshops or online.

My family has shelves groaning under the weight of the awards they've won for various sports—not something I excel at.  My ARRA trophy stands on a shelf in my study—next to a stack of my other wonderful "trophies", copies of LOVE IS A FOUR-LEGGED WORD and an ARC (advanced review copy) of HOME IS WHERE THE BARK IS.  Proud as I am of my family's trophies, I'm super proud of mine, too!

And then there are the "trophies" in the form of emails from readers who have enjoyed my book so much they have taken the trouble to write to me about it: how it made them laugh, made them cry, or even

At the ARRA awards dinner

how it made them hungry! (The heroine of LOVE IS A FOUR-LEGGED WORD is a chef…) No matter what kind of mood I'm in, when I open my email to find a letter like that the day becomes immeasurably happier. Thank you!

WHAT I'M READING NOW: the unauthorized biography of OPRAH by Kitty Kelley—fascinating stuff! Like untold millions, I'm an Oprah fan and it's compulsive reading—all 520 pages of it— to find out so much more about her.

Trouble with the "help"

Part of the publishing process for my new book HOME IS WHERE THE BARK IS (on sale July 6, 2010) is checking page proofs, the final opportunity to correct errors before the book is printed. My tortoishell Tabitha was determined to "help"–or is that expression on her kitty face reprimanding me for writing canine rather than feline characters? More likely, she's just demanding attention–after all, how could pieces of paper be more deserving of attention than she is? Whatever, I think she looks very cute reclining on the proofs and she got lots of cuddles for being so cooperative for the camera.

Tabitha "helps" Kandy read the page proofs

So I tried to get Miss Molly into the act when it came to admiring the ARCs (the advance review copies my publisher Berkley sends out to reviewers). Only a judicious scattering of dog treats near–but not too near–the books got the desired effect. I wanted her to look as though she was "reading" the cover, but I also didn't want doggy drool all over the covers of my copies!

Are there doggy characters in this new book?

She was nowhere as cooperative as Tabby–the demands for treats escalated as I tried to photograph her– but wasn't it worth it for that doggy smile of approval?

HOME IS WHERE THE BARK IS  is meant to be humorous (it's the follow up to LOVE IS A FOUR-LEGGED WORD) and Miss Molly looks like she gets the joke!

Miss Molly approves HOME IS WHERE THE BARK IS

I hope readers  share her opinion when the book goes on sale!

Book signing can be fun!

Waiting for readers

My first Romance Writers of America convention as a published author with my actual printed book to show, sign and sell. The big literacy signing at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington DC was awesome – more than 500 authors signing their books donated by our publishers with the proceeds going to adult literacy programs.

So how to attract readers to this newbie's section of that massive room? I had help. First from the wonderful Kim Castillo who solved the problem of how to make a batch of brownies a long way from my own kitchen by cooking them for me. Why brownies? They're an important part of the plot of LOVE IS A FOUR-LEGGED WORD (the recipe is on my website.)

Brownie wrapping

All wrapped in bite-sized pieces the brownies filled a basket and made a good excuse for people to stop and sample – both the brownies and my book.

Then my marketing assistants – husband, teenage daughter and her friend wore their LOVE IS A FOUR-LEGGED WORD T-shirts with great enthusiasm and handed out bookmarks to direct readers to my little area of that room.

Team Brutus

They got lots of comments! And yes, I signed lots of books! It was a wonderful experience.

Love is a Four-Legged Word goes on sale

Four-legged friends snuffle up celebration pupcake

It might seem like a petty pleasure, but I  cannot wait to see my beautiful book Love is a Four-Legged Word on sale in a bookstore. Physically sitting on a shelf.

Tomorrow I am flying to San Francisco and then to the Romance Writers of America convention in Washington DC. But the first thing I'll do when I get to downtown San Francisco will go straight to a bookstore and look for my book. If that store doesn't have it (other authors tell me it is not uncommon for books to remain unpacked in boxes on the first few days after the release date) I will scour San Francisco to find one that does. Then I will take a photo of it in situ so I can always recapture that thrill.