Nicki Elson's Blog, page 33
December 6, 2012
Holidays Without Rules Kindles Full of Books
If you're here for IWSG, you can find that post below, and on your way down, you just might want to check out this super awesome Kindle Giveaway. THREE Kindles, actually---each loaded up with a collection of Omnific Publishing books: Season of Sweetness (YA Collection), Haunted Holidays (Paranormal Collection) and Holiday Hotness (Adult Contemporary Collection). Be sure to stop by the Omnific Publishing Blog for holiday-themed posts by the authors, a new one each day of the giveaway. I made an 80s Christmas Mix for the occasion.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Here are two authors featured in the Holiday Hotness Kindle--me with Marian Vere at the book signing for her debut novel, Once Upon a Second Chance, a modern day retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Here are two authors featured in the Holiday Hotness Kindle--me with Marian Vere at the book signing for her debut novel, Once Upon a Second Chance, a modern day retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion.

Published on December 06, 2012 05:00
December 5, 2012
Insecurity Goes Well with Cookies
I'm multi-tasking today and at the end of this post you'll get cookies! First up is the monthly meeting of the Insecure Writers Support Group, brainchild of Mr. Alex J. Cavanaugh, whom we'll incidentally be roasting...I mean honoring...next week during the Cheers Cavanaugh Blogfest (brainchild of Mark Koopman, Morgan Shamy, Stephen Tremp, and David Powers King). Is not too late to get in on the fun.
My next The Next Big Thing question conveniently ties in w/ an insecurity, or really, more of a frustration: #8 What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I don't understand this question. Don't we write because we have stories in us that no one else is telling? So how then, am I supposed to identify a book that mine is like? If I'd found one like it, I would've just read that one instead of writing this one and saved myself a whole lot of time and trouble.
But when something's hot, people seem to just want more, more, more of the same. So although I don't understand this thirst for monotony, I'll soon have a new book to market and should probably come up with a short list of best-selling novels that I can twist into a comparison with mine. Help me out? I'm looking for something that combines realistic, contemporary romance and women's fiction with supernatural elements and spirituality. Throw in some dark mystery too. Got anything?
Quinn's Cookie Exchange
To celebrate the release of Angela Felsted's novel, Chaste , she's hosting a cookie recipe exchange throughout December, and I'm honored to be one of the stops. Below is the beautiful book cover and intriguing blurb, then my recipe for three-ingredient shortrbread. That's right folks, only THREE ingredients.
When he steps into his physics class on the first day of senior year, Quinn Walker is too exhausted from staying up all night with his three-month-old nephew to deal with moral dilemmas. As a devout Mormon who has vowed to wait until marriage for sex, the last thing he needs is a very hot and very sexy Katarina Jackson as his physics partner. Regrettably, he has no choice.
Kat feels invisible in her mansion of a home six months after losing her older brother in a fatal car crash and will do anything to get her parents’ attention. Since her pastor father has no love for Quinn’s “fake” religion and her ex-boyfriend refuses to leave her alone, she makes an impulsive bet with her friends to seduce her holier-than-thou lab partner by Christmas.
Um, while you were reading about Angela's book, I got a sneaking feeling that I'd already shared that recipe, so I checked the Bueller...Bueller, and yep, I posted it last Christmas! Now you know: these are the only cookies I've made for, like, the last five years, ehe. But when you discover something this easy and this good, why bake anything else? They'll be the perfect thing to munch on while enjoying Angela's story.
link to Brown Sugar Shortbread recipe
Congratulations, Angela!!!
My next The Next Big Thing question conveniently ties in w/ an insecurity, or really, more of a frustration: #8 What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I don't understand this question. Don't we write because we have stories in us that no one else is telling? So how then, am I supposed to identify a book that mine is like? If I'd found one like it, I would've just read that one instead of writing this one and saved myself a whole lot of time and trouble.
But when something's hot, people seem to just want more, more, more of the same. So although I don't understand this thirst for monotony, I'll soon have a new book to market and should probably come up with a short list of best-selling novels that I can twist into a comparison with mine. Help me out? I'm looking for something that combines realistic, contemporary romance and women's fiction with supernatural elements and spirituality. Throw in some dark mystery too. Got anything?
Quinn's Cookie Exchange
To celebrate the release of Angela Felsted's novel, Chaste , she's hosting a cookie recipe exchange throughout December, and I'm honored to be one of the stops. Below is the beautiful book cover and intriguing blurb, then my recipe for three-ingredient shortrbread. That's right folks, only THREE ingredients.

Kat feels invisible in her mansion of a home six months after losing her older brother in a fatal car crash and will do anything to get her parents’ attention. Since her pastor father has no love for Quinn’s “fake” religion and her ex-boyfriend refuses to leave her alone, she makes an impulsive bet with her friends to seduce her holier-than-thou lab partner by Christmas.
Um, while you were reading about Angela's book, I got a sneaking feeling that I'd already shared that recipe, so I checked the Bueller...Bueller, and yep, I posted it last Christmas! Now you know: these are the only cookies I've made for, like, the last five years, ehe. But when you discover something this easy and this good, why bake anything else? They'll be the perfect thing to munch on while enjoying Angela's story.
link to Brown Sugar Shortbread recipe
Congratulations, Angela!!!
Published on December 05, 2012 05:00
November 28, 2012
And now back to The Next Big Thing...
Whoops, sorta got swept away in various blog hops & parties and the business of my non-e life and haven't answered a Next Big Thing question in a while. But I'm back at it and will continue to answer at least one a week until I've finally stuck a fork in this thing. As a refresher, I'm answering these questions in relation to my upcoming novel,
Divine Temptation
, scheduled for release in early 2013.
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
6 months. This story had been playing in my head for years, since well before Three Daves was ever published, but as you can gather from the opening paragraph of this post, I'm easily distracted, and so it took me a year and a half to recover from my squirreliness with the first novel and get serious about writing the second one.
When I decided it was time, I wrote a rough outline of the sequence of events and set a goal of writing out one chapter every weekend. The deal I made with myself was to just pound it out and move on to the next chapter the following weekend, no looking back (other than to check for consistency). I couldn't allow myself to start editing at this stage or I'd have never gotten the whole thing written.
Aha, but my secret weapon during this time was my trusted and talented friend who read each rough chapter as I wrote it and offered critiques and suggestions, which I filed away for the second draft. After letting the first draft cool for a few months, I was able to move through the second and third drafts fairly quickly---and I was relieved to discover that the story was a place in which I easily and happily re-immersed.
How closely does this resemble your writing process?
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
6 months. This story had been playing in my head for years, since well before Three Daves was ever published, but as you can gather from the opening paragraph of this post, I'm easily distracted, and so it took me a year and a half to recover from my squirreliness with the first novel and get serious about writing the second one.
When I decided it was time, I wrote a rough outline of the sequence of events and set a goal of writing out one chapter every weekend. The deal I made with myself was to just pound it out and move on to the next chapter the following weekend, no looking back (other than to check for consistency). I couldn't allow myself to start editing at this stage or I'd have never gotten the whole thing written.
Aha, but my secret weapon during this time was my trusted and talented friend who read each rough chapter as I wrote it and offered critiques and suggestions, which I filed away for the second draft. After letting the first draft cool for a few months, I was able to move through the second and third drafts fairly quickly---and I was relieved to discover that the story was a place in which I easily and happily re-immersed.
How closely does this resemble your writing process?
Published on November 28, 2012 05:00
November 12, 2012
Jousting...on the Internet!
I just love it when authors get creative with their release parties, and that's exactly what M. Pax has done with her latest release, The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear. She's celebrating with a jousting tournament and contest at www.mpaxauthor.com. Cheer for the knights to help them win the grand prize, and you’ll be put in a drawing to win an ebook copy of The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear. Five will be given away. Huzzah!
Let the Jousting begin!
A New Adult Urban Fantasy, The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear is the first book in a new series. And it’s now out! The main character, Hetty, is a twenty-two-year-old, stumbling about in an effort to become a full-fledged adult. She struggles with self-esteem, weight, relationships, and making the transition between college and the real world.
Graduation from community college isn’t the magic elixir Hetty Locklear counts on for becoming an adult. Her parents, who work the Renaissance fair circuit, insist she spend part of the summer with them. Hetty doubts pretending to live in the Middle Ages will help her find her way.
To make it worse, an entity haunts her at her dead-end job, warning her of a dangerous man she doesn’t know. The ghost leads her to a lover who has a lot of secrets. He pulls her farther into peril and into a strange, hidden world of genetic experimentation.
New Adult Urban Fantasy with a contemporary sci-fi twist. Mature content.
Available as an ebook at Amazon / Amazon UK / Smashwords / iTunes / KoboVisit www.mpaxauthor.com for more links.
Let the Jousting begin!

A New Adult Urban Fantasy, The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear is the first book in a new series. And it’s now out! The main character, Hetty, is a twenty-two-year-old, stumbling about in an effort to become a full-fledged adult. She struggles with self-esteem, weight, relationships, and making the transition between college and the real world.

To make it worse, an entity haunts her at her dead-end job, warning her of a dangerous man she doesn’t know. The ghost leads her to a lover who has a lot of secrets. He pulls her farther into peril and into a strange, hidden world of genetic experimentation.
New Adult Urban Fantasy with a contemporary sci-fi twist. Mature content.
Available as an ebook at Amazon / Amazon UK / Smashwords / iTunes / KoboVisit www.mpaxauthor.com for more links.
Published on November 12, 2012 05:00
November 7, 2012
IWSG: Feeling Squirrely
Thank you Alex, for this monthly opportunity to share our woes and garner much encouragement. Hey! I haven't told you yet, Big Al, but I mentioned you and IWSG in my interview in Insatiable Magazine. :)
My post this month builds off something I read in an earlier IWSG post by Allison over at Geek Banter: Why I Like Scrivener. I'd not heard of Scrivener before and was intrigued by Allison's account of how the writing software eased organization and navigation through manuscripts and manuscript-related documents. I've downloaded the program and am finding it to be a delightful way to get organized for my impending book release.
With my first novel, I had no idea what I was doing marketing-wise. When it was released to the world I was like...I was going to say a deer in the headlights, but that's not quite right. I was more like a squirrel who jumps impetuously into the middle of the road and upon realizing he's in over his head, darts back and forth trying to do everything at once while meanwhile accomplishing nothing. I've been feeling good that at least with this second book, I'll be more experienced and therefore better prepared for the scary world of marketing, but on Monday my publisher gave me a tentative release date for Divine Temptation...and I'm starting to feel squirrely again. Too many ideas hitting me all at once, threatening to send me into a fluffy-tailed scurry of anti-productivity. Enter Scrivener...
There's something very soothing about the folders and files that I can not only jump easily between, jotting down ideas in the proper place as they hit me---I can assign each document a little post-it note thingy so that I can view an entire board of related ideas at once. And I can move them around as need be. I can't wait to use this software for writing and reworking my next novel! If you're interested in checking it out, Scrivener offers a free trial of thirty days of actual use.
Scrivener has helped me organize my thoughts well enough to have come up with a plan for involving my blog friends in the book release. :) I know time is our most precious commodity and we get hit left and right with various blog activities, so my plan is simple and flexible so you can tailor your involvement to whatever works best for you & your blog or other social networks. Please visit this page for a brief explanation and to give me your e-mail and first born (teasing, teasing). Thanks!
My post this month builds off something I read in an earlier IWSG post by Allison over at Geek Banter: Why I Like Scrivener. I'd not heard of Scrivener before and was intrigued by Allison's account of how the writing software eased organization and navigation through manuscripts and manuscript-related documents. I've downloaded the program and am finding it to be a delightful way to get organized for my impending book release.
With my first novel, I had no idea what I was doing marketing-wise. When it was released to the world I was like...I was going to say a deer in the headlights, but that's not quite right. I was more like a squirrel who jumps impetuously into the middle of the road and upon realizing he's in over his head, darts back and forth trying to do everything at once while meanwhile accomplishing nothing. I've been feeling good that at least with this second book, I'll be more experienced and therefore better prepared for the scary world of marketing, but on Monday my publisher gave me a tentative release date for Divine Temptation...and I'm starting to feel squirrely again. Too many ideas hitting me all at once, threatening to send me into a fluffy-tailed scurry of anti-productivity. Enter Scrivener...
There's something very soothing about the folders and files that I can not only jump easily between, jotting down ideas in the proper place as they hit me---I can assign each document a little post-it note thingy so that I can view an entire board of related ideas at once. And I can move them around as need be. I can't wait to use this software for writing and reworking my next novel! If you're interested in checking it out, Scrivener offers a free trial of thirty days of actual use.
Scrivener has helped me organize my thoughts well enough to have come up with a plan for involving my blog friends in the book release. :) I know time is our most precious commodity and we get hit left and right with various blog activities, so my plan is simple and flexible so you can tailor your involvement to whatever works best for you & your blog or other social networks. Please visit this page for a brief explanation and to give me your e-mail and first born (teasing, teasing). Thanks!
Published on November 07, 2012 04:05
November 5, 2012
I'm Thankful for My Readers Hop

The best thing anyone can do for a writer is to read what they've written; therefore, I'm grateful to anyone who's ever read anything I've ever written. And I'm especially grateful to those readers who take the time to let me know what they think, whether in person, through a private e-mail or in a public review at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, a blog, or all of the above.
Life is busy, and sometimes the simplest things are the first ones to get brushed aside (don't I know it) so whether someone puts together a multi-paragraphed, thorough review or types out a couple sentences highlighting their overall thoughts on the story, I appreciate it so very much.
One particular person I need to thank is someone who's real name I don't even know. I only know her as ILoveNeville over at harrypotterfanfiction.net. She was my very first reviewer---and for several chapters my only reviewer---on the first story I ever put out for public consumption, and despite my profuse thank yous after each review, I'm afraid she'll never know how truly much her enthusiasm meant to me. At the time I didn't share my writing with anyone I knew real life, so her words gave me the validation I needed to know that I didn't suck and the encouragement to continue doing this thing I love so much.
Speaking of little things that get brushed aside, this blog hop inspired me to finally tackle a certain pesky task as a teensy way to show my appreciation to readers. I signed up at Authorgraph, so I can now provide free personalized e-signatures! The service is intended for e-readers, but it comes to your e-mail as a separate pdf, so even if you have paper copies of my books, you can print the Authorgraph & tuck it inside the book. All you have to do is visit my Authorgraph page and click the request button.
Right then, time to read more heartwarming tales of writer/reader love at this Linky.
Published on November 05, 2012 04:29
November 1, 2012
Look! Winners!
First up, congratulations to these 5 winners of a Three Daves eBook from the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop! Thank you,thank you to everyone who played along.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Next up, I've been tagged by Jennifer Lane in U Got the Look (tell me you're not singing THIS in your head right now). This is how it works: take your current manuscript, search for the word “look,” and post the surrounding paragraphs. Lastly, tag 5 blogging authors. Ready? Here's my first instance of "look" in my upcoming novel, Divine Temptation .
Tara TylerSuzeJanie JunebugHeather MurphyAutumn Markus
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Next up, I've been tagged by Jennifer Lane in U Got the Look (tell me you're not singing THIS in your head right now). This is how it works: take your current manuscript, search for the word “look,” and post the surrounding paragraphs. Lastly, tag 5 blogging authors. Ready? Here's my first instance of "look" in my upcoming novel, Divine Temptation .
Maggie researched private schools in the area and presented the list to Carl. Although she and her ex--husband had attended Sunday Mass often enough to look respectable and dutifully fostered their children through the sacraments, Carl seemed surprised to see mostly Catholic schools on the list. “You do realize that divorced parents are going to be more a rarity at a parochial school than a public one, don’t you?” he cautioned.
“I can deal with the judgment of strangers” Maggie answered. “What I can’t take any more of is people who acted like my friends last year eyeballing me now like I’m a juicy piece of meat they can’t wait to tear into the second my back is turned.”
“You mean the way you looked at that mom after her, er, previous profession was exposed?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Fine. Maybe I deserve this. But…I just, I get such a strong feeling that this is the right thing to do.”
“Okay, as long as you don’t think switching schools is the ticket to a magical fairyland where all your troubles disappear.”
Maggie nodded and frowned, knowing he was right.This time I'm not going to flake out on the tagging. I hereby tag the following 5 bloggers with U Got the Look:
Tara TylerSuzeJanie JunebugHeather MurphyAutumn Markus
Published on November 01, 2012 14:57
October 29, 2012
Monstrous Monday

I was pretty young when I met this monster, young enough that I don't remember exactly how young, but I'm going to guess about 7ish. I'm fuzzy on memories from that age, but this one is fairly sharp. My family and I were visiting our old neighbors, the Taylors, at their new house in Hanover Park. We sat as a group in their family room watching a movie on TV:

Or "Son of Blob" as it was dubbed for its TV release. My little heart started pounding the moment that woman inadvertently thawed the blob, thinking it was tomato sauce. The first victim, a fly. The second...

Nooooo!!! With each kill the blob grew, as did my conviction that my parents should've never let me watch that movie. When the ordeal finally ended and it was time to go home, my courageous father went outside to warm the car---ALONE! And everyone else acted like it was no big deal. Hadn't they just witnessed the Blob's silent but deadly approach? Didn't they see how its victims had no idea of the danger until they were hip deep in the unstoppable red ooze? How could they sit there talking and laughing while my father was in mortal peril??
He came back in before I could work myself into anything more than a silent worry, and I was very happy to see him. But it was a loooong time before I was comfortable being near a can of tomato paste again. I stayed wary of marinara until Kevin Dillon & Co. came along with this...
Come on, you knew I had to work in the 80s somehow. ;) If you haven't seen this movie it's a pretty fun & funny retelling of the original Blob movie. What better way to face your fears than to laugh at them, right?
Now that we've conquered that monster, we've got lots more waiting for you in the Linky below.
Published on October 29, 2012 04:45
October 23, 2012
Spooktacular Giveaway Hop

That's right folks, it's here - one whole week of Spoooooktacular giveaways, hosted by I am a Reader, Not a Writer. Hop around this list of over 500 participants to win so many prizes, it's scary!
At my place, I'm giving away an eBook of my 80s chick lit/romance novel, Three Daves, to 5 winners. To enter, all you have to do is answer the very personal and revealing question in the Rafflecopter below (tweeting, liking & following are optional but will win you extra bats in the bellfry).
Now, what do you get when you cross the retro 1980s with the current zombie trend?
Thriller!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Published on October 23, 2012 19:00
October 21, 2012
Letting Go

I didn't get past my 4th decade on this Earth without having had to let go of a lot of things. It's never easy, but the good news is, every heartache is given to us for a reason, to either teach us something or lead us somewhere better, even though it often doesn't feel that way at first (e.g. giant spiders in Lord of the Rings, remember?)
A change that proved pivotal for me, because it both taught me a lesson and led me to a better place, was when I had to let go of my beloved little house---the one where my babies were born, the one I Martha-Stewarted the bejeezus out of, the one I thought I'd never leave---to move my family out west. I'm talking 1/2 hour west, practically straight down Roosevelt Road from one western Chicago 'burb to another. Pathetic, I know.
But it was a really, really tough decision for me. I'd firmly established myself in the miniature suburban Utopia of Glen Ellyn---how could I possibly be as happy in Batavia? Well guess what, circumstances being what they were (the relative price of real estate, the me not working full time, the husband's freakish tallishness that proved incompatible with the quirkier areas of the home), the move I fought against happened, and the doughnut committee at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School just had to find itself a new chairwoman. And I had to grow up and realize that the world wouldn't combust if things didn't go exactly the way I'd always foreseen them.
Because Someone Else foresees much better. I see now that the move helped me shed some things I needed to shed, and it put my family in a corner of the world that's a much better fit for us. I like this house we're in now. I like it a lot. But I don't love it. I love the people who live here and the ones who visit and the experiences we have inside. I'm in a better place.
Visit Kyra's blog for more participants. and don't forget, today only you can get If I Let You Go FREE on Kindle.
Published on October 21, 2012 22:01