Monique O'Connor James's Blog: Random Thoughts from Monique, page 2
June 9, 2012
A Year in the Life of an Author
I started my first novel in November of 2008. As most of you know by now, I’d always been a writer. I still have friends tell me they used my stories to turn in for grades in school. That thought scares me, because most of what I wrote back then was a little frightening!!
In April of 2011, I was going through a bit depression. I can remember the day that I got my first contract from Astraea Press vividly. I’d been at home suffering from a migraine and feeling sorry for myself. When I opened the email and saw the contract attached tears of joy rolled down my cheeks. Someone out there wanted to hear my stories!
The Keepers was published in June of 2011. I can’t even begin to tell you what it feels like to see your work on Amazon or to hold your novel in your hand for the first time. For me, the biggest thrill was putting that book in my Dad’s hands and saying here, this if for you and me and all we have been through together. Also, this was a very personal book for me. One about a main character whose mother had died of breast cancer and the damaged angel that came along to save her. This tale was so close to home that I was extremely nervous about sharing it, but tickled that I had the chance.
Everything wasn’t perfect. No, my first novel was quite the roller coaster ride. Somehow, the edition that was originally uploaded was not the one that the publishing company and I had spent hours pouring over during edits. I got a lot of great reviews, but then the die-hard readers started to mention editing errors and after much thought and support from Astraea, I pulled the book and it went back to editing. We literally had to start over!!!
During this time, Astraea put out a call for short stories which would be published with all monies going to the Japanese Tsunami Relief. This is when the Mulligan Man was born. I’d had a dream one night that I was standing in my front yard screaming, “I want a Mulligan!”. My son, Colton, and I jotted down ideas and characters and this fun YA Folk tale came to life. It is different from anything I’ve ever written, but one of my pride and joys because my son played an integral part of developing it.
The contract for Jamais Vu with Astraea soon followed and it was published in October 2011. Whirlwind right? Yes! And so much fun. I can’t talk about Jamais Vu without either crying or beaming. As though the cosmos was trying to make up for all that had gone wrong with The Keepers, everything with Jamais Vu was easy. There are over 25 5 star reviews on Amazon for this book and several four star reviews. Knock on wood, not one person has ever slammed it!
This book also had deeply personal meaning to me. My mother was playing with a gun she thought was unloaded when I was a toddler. She was shot and spent years recovering. My main character, Darby, also suffers this fate in Jamais Vu. I wanted to pay tribute to my mom’s story but give it a huge paranormal twist and I think this book did the job.
In February 2012, the follow-up to Jamais Vu, Deja Vu was also published by Astraea Press. Blessings! Blessings! Blessings! By this point not only did I have four book in the marketplace, but I also had developed wonderful friendships with readers, bloggers, reviewers, cover artists, editors and publishers.
It is such a rush. There are people out there who want to read my books! Before I ever considered getting published, the one thing I said was, “If I could just have a few fans who enjoy my work, I’ll be happy.” I’ve far exceeded that goal, and to each and ever one of you, I am eternally grateful and humbled by your love and support.
So that brings us to the middle of 2012, back to the time where I started last year. On July 9th, Becoming Jolie, my first Adult Paranormal novel will be published by Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing. Also in July, The Watchers, the sequel to The Keepers will be published by Astraea!
So what else is coming? I’ve written the first novel in a new series called Magia Rising. I’m considering self-publishing that one in October. Next year, I know for sure this book will have a follow-up as will the Jamais Vu series. I’m also hoping to self publish a novel that I’m currently offering chapters of on my blog, The Awakening.
I’ve had some hard moments in the last year. Sometimes, I’ve been frustrated and overwhelmed, but mostly I’ve been filled with joy and love. There is nothing like meeting one of your biggest fans for the first time, getting emails from people dying to read your next work, hearing from young authors who just want someone to talk shop.
I hope that I can continue to offer you all stories that capture your hearts and imaginations! Today, I just want to say thanks! Every time you mention my book to a friend, share my Facebook posts or Tweets you are pumping new life into my crazy brain.
As long as you will all have me, I’ll be around!
Cheers!
Monique O’Connor James
Website: www.moniqueoconnorjames.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=511255176
Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/moniqueoconnorjamesauthor
Twitter: mjames13
Author of The Keepers – http://www.amazon.com/The-Keepers-ebook/dp/B0054LO9E8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1331129226&sr=8-6
Jamais Vu – http://www.amazon.com/Jamais-Vu-ebook/dp/B005SG02FE/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
Deja Vu – http://www.amazon.com/Deja-Vu-ebook/dp/B006X3133G/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
The Mulligan Man – http://www.amazon.com/The-Mulligan-Man-ebook/dp/B005ES06M0/ref=pd_sim_kstore_3?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
Coming July 2012 - Becoming Jolie from Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing & The Watchers from Astraea Press!!!!
May 27, 2012
Free Read: The Awakening – Chapters 17, 18 & 19!!!!
Yes, I’ve been super slow. I have had major writers block and migraines for days….but I love you guys, so here is the next few chapters!
Cheers!
Monique O’Connor James
Check out my other books on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The Keepers, Jamais Vu, Deja Vu, The Mulligan Man.
Coming in July: Becoming Jolie and The Watchers
Coming in October: Magia Rising
May 19, 2012
Book Demolish Derby Winners!
Below are the Winners of the Book Demolition Derby! Thanks for playing and I’ll get the authors to contact you!
Shadow Kohler -
Signed Books – The Keepers, Jamais Vu, Spartan Heart, Secret Santa, Alien in the Family, Her Kind of Man, A New Dream
PDFS – His Chosen Bride, Aegean Intrigue, The Legacy
Denise Zaky -
Signed Books – Mirrored, Sucker for a Hot Rod, Foreshadow, Eternal Witch, Supernova
PDFS – The Keepers, Jamais Vu, Deja Vu,
Jen McGowan -
Signed Books – Seeker of Shadows, All that Matters
PDFS- The Mulligan Man, Spartan Heart Part One, Spartan Heart Part Two
Diane Burton -
PDFS- Spartan Surrender, Secret Santa, Unfiltered, Legend of The Oceania Dragon, Vala Agenda, Vala Heritage, Battlefield, The Sentence, Imperfect Beauty
Ann Hengst -
PDFS - Through the Rabbit Hole, Foreshadow, Eternal Witch, A Body in the Attic, Emily Dahill CID, A Dog Gone Christmas, Journey to Her Dreams
Danielle Williams -
PDFS - Painted Lady, Love Octogon, The Super Spies – Cat and The Lady Killer
Cheers!!!!
Monique O’Connor James
May 9, 2012
Free Read: The Awakening Chapters 15 and 16
Okay I owe you guys some more chapters~ I’ll get them posted promise…..Love you a bunch! I think I also owe you some ghost stories!
Cheers,
Monique O’Connor James
Author of The Keepers – http://www.amazon.com/The-Keepers-ebook/dp/B0054LO9E8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1331129226&sr=8-6
Jamais Vu – http://www.amazon.com/Jamais-Vu-ebook/dp/B005SG02FE/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
Deja Vu – http://www.amazon.com/Deja-Vu-ebook/dp/B006X3133G/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
The Mulligan Man – http://www.amazon.com/The-Mulligan-Man-ebook/dp/B005ES06M0/ref=pd_sim_kstore_3?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
Coming July 2012 – Becoming Jolie from Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing and The Watchers from Astraea Press
May 8, 2012
The Book Demolition Derby!!! Scavenger Hunt! May 5-May 20th 2012
A fabulous group of authors has gotten together to offer readers the chance to win lots of signed books and PDFs for their collection! This is amazing! We hope you enjoy!
Here’s the scoop! Below is a list of web addresses for each author and a question from their website. Most of the questions come from the first page. (If a question comes from another page we will tell you where to look).
We made the questions as simple as possible. The idea is just to visit each website. Once you have answered all the questions email your list of answers to nique313@yahoo.com. On May 20th, we will do a random drawing from the correct answers and you can win signed books or pdfs from these authors. (See prizes below.)
Questions and websites:
1. http://www.moniqueoconnorjames.com/ - In what state does Monique live?
2. http://www.kristinecheney.com/ - click on bio- what is the name of Kristine’s labra-doodle?
3. http://www.ginikoch.com/ - Making the world safer one _______ at a time.
4. http://sellery.weebly.com/- What is the name of the anthology Miller’s Daughter was published in?
5. http://jfjenkinswrites.wordpress.com - Click graveyard – what does Jillian keep track of here?
6. www.elainecantrell.com - Hope. Dreams.
7. www.frederickjarceneaux.webs.com – Where is the setting of Mirrored?
8. http://eawest.mcphitty.com – What are her unusual pets?
9. http://www.lisakumar.com/ – Escape into fantasy and _______.
10. http://www.breaessex.com/ – Shadows and ________.
11. http://www.briclarkthebelleofboise.blogspot.com/oise.blogspot.com – _____ from the life of an author and speaker.
12. http://www.thesupernovasaga.com/- Who is the publisher of Supernova?
13. http://murdersandmysteries.wordpress.com/ – What kind of dog is that on Lindsay’s blog? (hint – Lassie)
14. http://www.iris-b.blogspot.com/ – Dare to live your _______.
15. http://feliciarogersauthor.webs.com/ Click on about me. For what is love without _______.
16. http://www.lisaorchard.com/ click on bio – Where did Lisa grow up?
17. http://www.nancygideon.com/ Romance by any other _____.
18. http://www.loraleelillibridge.com/ – Ordinary People….Extra-ordinary ______.
19. http://www.sherrygloag.com/ – The ______ of romance.
20. http://joselynvaughn.wordpress.com/books-sucker2.htm – The things that give me joy (and _______).
21. http://www.patriciakiyono.com/ – Escape into a great ______ _______.
PRIZES:
FIRST PLACE: 7 Signed Print Books & 3 PDFS
SECOND PLACE: 5 Signed Print Books & 3 PDFS
THIRD PLACE: 2 Signed Print Books & 3 PDFS
FOURTH PLACE: 10 PDFS
FIFTH PLACE: 7 PDFS
SIXTH PLACE: 3 PDFS
Cheers and Enjoy The giveaway!
*** PS: I did everything I could to get the covers of the books to pull into this post and for some reason the preview button wasn’t working in wordpress! So here is a list of the books that are being offered just in case it doesn’t work!
Print: The Keepers, Jamais Vu, Spartan Heart, Secret Santa, Alien in the Family, Her Kind of Man, A New Dream, Mirrored, Sucker for a Hot Rod, Foreshadow, Eternal Witch, Supernova, Seeker of Shadows and All that Matters
PDFS: His Chosen Bride, Aegean Intrigue, The Legacy, The Keepers, Jamais Vu, Deja Vu, The Mulligan Man, Spartan Heart, Secret Santa, Unfiltered, Legend of The Oceina Dragon, Legend of the Inero Dragon, Vala Agenda, Vala Heritage, Battlefield, The Sentence, Imperfect Beauty, Through the Rabbit Hole, Foreshadow, Eternal Witch, A Body In the Attic, Emily Dahill CID, A Dog Gone Christmas, Journey to Her Dreams, Painted Lady, Love Octagon,The Super Spies – Cat & Lady Killer.
Monique O’Connor James
Author of The Keepers, Jamais Vu, Deja Vu, The Mulligan Man
& Coming Soon: Becoming Jolie and The Watchers!!!
April 27, 2012
Win a Copy of Jamais Vu (signed) on Goodreads!
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Jamais Vu
by Monique O’Connor James
Giveaway ends May 21, 2012.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
April 15, 2012
April 11, 2012
Free Read!!! The Awakening – Chapters 11 and 12
Took me long enough but here are the next chapters! I'll try to do a couple more this weekend.
Cheers,
Monique O'Connor James
Author of The Keepers, Jamais Vu, Deja Vu, and The Mulligan Man
Coming Soon: Becoming Jolie
March 21, 2012
Ghost Stories #8 Haunted Baton Rouge (My Home Town!!!)
Highland Road Near Lee Drive – As a resident of Baton Rouge, I can tell you that Highland Road is beautiful. Some wealthy residents make their homes on the bluffs and golf courses along this stretch of road. In the months of September and October, our police stations are inundated with calls about ghostly sightings here. Injured confederate soldiers hobble along the street during the fall months drawing much attention. Reports say their injuries are horrific and most have missing limbs and are covered in blood. (Nope never witnessed it!)
The Spanish Moon – At this nightclub patrons have witnessed beer taps turning on by 
themselves and plates and glasses flying through the air (and it wasn't a bar fight). In the 1920′s the building was used as a makeshift morgue, but it was just over thirty years ago that the place was used as a wino flop-house, and this is the era from which most believe the spirits originated.
The Old State Capitol – Our Old State Capitol Building looks like a castle and is one of my favorite places in the city. The ghost of "Pierre", a senator from a by-gone time who died of a heart attack during the discussion of a hot political issue. Motion sensors set off the alarms in the building and nothing can be found on the security cameras. He has also been seen in the room where the Senate once met. Perhaps, he's only waiting to finish his argument?
Old State Penitentiary – This building now houses the headquarters of the Louisiana State 
Police. What was at one time the execution chamber and morgue is now offices. Here radios turn on and off and prisoners from the past roam the hallways. (Guess their just happy to get out of their cells.)
Guaranty Income Life & Broadcasting- The morgue of Baton Rouge General Hospital was once located on the bottom floor of this building. Now the morgue freezer serves as file storage. It is said that at night the temperature of the first floor drops several degrees and that the elevators run unmanned. Security guards refuse to visit the first floor because of the strange noises that can be heard at all hours of the night.
Hope you enjoyed!
Cheers!
Monique O'Connor James
Author of The Keepers – http://www.amazon.com/The-Keepers-ebook/dp/B0054LO9E8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1331129226&sr=8-6
Jamais Vu – http://www.amazon.com/Jamais-Vu-ebook/dp/B005SG02FE/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
Deja Vu – http://www.amazon.com/Deja-Vu-ebook/dp/B006X3133G/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
The Mulligan Man – http://www.amazon.com/The-Mulligan-Man-ebook/dp/B005ES06M0/ref=pd_sim_kstore_3?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
Coming May 2012 – Becoming Jolie from Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing.
March 20, 2012
FREE READ – The Awakening – Chapters 9 & 10
Okay this is probably pretty rough because I rushed through a quick edit, but enjoy anyway!
Cheers,
Monique O'Connor James
Author of The Keepers – http://www.amazon.com/The-Keepers-ebook/dp/B0054LO9E8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1331129226&sr=8-6
Jamais Vu – http://www.amazon.com/Jamais-Vu-ebook/dp/B005SG02FE/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
Deja Vu – http://www.amazon.com/Deja-Vu-ebook/dp/B006X3133G/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
The Mulligan Man – http://www.amazon.com/The-Mulligan-Man-ebook/dp/B005ES06M0/ref=pd_sim_kstore_3?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
Coming May 2012 – Becoming Jolie from Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing.
Random Thoughts from Monique
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