Sally Clements's Blog, page 9

Congratulations to Sri!

Many congratulations to fellow Minx of Romance, Sri Pammi, who got 'The Call' from Mills and Boon/Harlequin yesterday, has sold her book - book one of a two book contract!


2012 is turning out to be a pretty good year for the Minxes - now pop over to Sri's blog (if you haven't been there already) and read her call story...

Am writing

I wish I could write like this man - the perfect, lyrical, romantic writing of Leonard Cohen...

Revenge

One of my favourite TV shows at the moment is Revenge. I'm in Ireland, so I still have 4 more episodes to go before the end of the first season (don't tell me any spoilers!) but so far, I'm completely addicted to this tale of money, priviledge and (of course), revenge.

This is a series that is filled with people who are beautiful on the inside, and no so beautiful inside, and I've been trying to analyse why exactly I find it so compelling.

The plot is straightforward. Amanda Clarke played by the excellent Emily Van Camp, assumes a false identity and infiltrates the monied world of the Grayson family, who are ensconced in their Hamptons' getaway. The locations are pure eye-candy, beautiful houses and beaches, fabulous boats and a bar I'd like to hang out in. Emily has one overriding goal, to bring down all of the people involved in setting up her late father for a crime he didn't commit. Along the way, she seduces yummy Daniel Grayson, and reconnects with her childhood friend (who of course, doesn't know she's Amanda) Jack Porter.

The interpersonal relationships are complex. The characters for the most part are damaged, many of them are totally ruthless in hiding the truth and playing dangerous games. It's really, really, watchable. Addictive even. Each episode adds another piece of the puzzle, throws up a new twist to consider. The main character, Amanda, is constantly faced with inner conflicts, will she continue down the path she's chosen, even if it means she will suffer emotional pain as a result? Every time I think she's going to back down, something comes along to strengthen her resolve, makes sure she keeps on her revengeful path.

Can't wait for next week. Is anyone out there suffering from revengeitis?

Something for Sunday

I have updated my page above for Sample Sunday - now showing the first chapter of Love On the Vine, my newest book.
Do click on the #samplesunday page tag above to have a read or click here.

See out July with a smile - Freebie alert!

Today - 1st August The Morning After is free on Kindle.  While the sun is fleetingly out, why not lie out in the garden with a glass of pimms and have a read?

You can pick it up if you are in the UK here http://amzn.to/MO86br

Or if using .com, the link is http://amzn.to/x34IOZ

Enjoy!

RNA Conference fun

Head on over to the minxes to see pics of Lorraine, Romy & me having fun at the RNA conference, and the Irish roadtrippers - with me making sure Denise Deegan didn't give me rabbit ears for the pic (and so displaying the back of my head in the picture!)

I really enjoyed the conference, it was great to hang with so many like minded souls for the weekend, and catch up with minxes 'in the flesh'. More conference snippets coming up when I've had a nap and caught up on all my emails!

#loveonthevine Let's Play! Release competition - with prizes!

Hi everyone! So Love on the Vine is having it's official launch today, and to celebrate I'm having a twitter competition to win copies of my other books - you get to choose either Bound to Love, Catch Me A Catch, Marrying Cade, Challenging Andie,The Morning After or my short stories, New Beginnings. Here's a UK link to see them all, or if you use Amazon.com, here's a link...

Bound to Love is going free on Friday and staying free Saturday and Sunday too, so I'd advise winners not to choose it as they can pick it up free over the weekend anyway. I'll be at the RNA Conference in Penrith for the weekend and am really looking forward to it. I'm going on a road-trip with Jane Travers, Ruth Long and Denise Deegan, which promises to be a hoot - and once I get there I'll be meeting up with Minx Romy Sommer (aka Rae Summers) and Minx Lorraine Wilson, and I really can't wait!

Right - back to the launch competition....

Here's how it works...

I'll be posting questions on twitter at the hashtag #loveonthevine

Each first correct answer that appears (with the hashtag #loveonthevine attached to it) will win the tweeter a copy of one of my books. I'll DM the tweeter, and find their email address so I can gift them a kindle copy. Love on the Vine is the only book not in the competition!

The answers to all the questions can be found by clicking 'Click to Look inside' on the Love on the Vine amazon page and reading through the excerpt....

Hope everyone has fun!

I'm @sallywriter on twitter...come along and play!

Next week's new release from me....

On the 11th of July, my new book Love On The Vine is out!
I'm going to make my launch day the 12th though - because sometimes books aren't where they're supposed to be on launch day - and I'm not on for angsy panicking, so check back on the 12th for a fab launch with lots of giveaways!

I've previewed the cover before - but haven't revealed much about it, so here's the skinny.
The book is published by Wild Rose, and is part of a series by other authors (and now me!)  which is called the Flower Basket series, which is set in a town in southern California called Almendra. I loved writing this story, tying it in to the town, and including some the owners of The Flower Basket (which is a flower shop) as secondary characters. In fact, they play quite a helpful part of the book, but no spoilers - you'll have to read to the end to find out how!

The hero of this story is French (ooh!) and called Etienne Durand. I loved writing the story of a man uprooted from his home in Provence and replanted into Californian soil.

I think I'm going to do something different to promote Love On the Vine - I was thinking of a launch day extravaganza on the twitter hashtag #loveonthevine, where I ask (easy) questions about Love On The Vine, and do some giveaways of some of my other kindle books as prizes. I'll let each winner choose from Bound to Love, The Morning After, Catch Me A Catch Marrying Cade or Challenging Andie. What do you think? On for it?

Here's the blurb, so you can get a feel for the story, and I'm going all out and including an excerpt too!

Bella St Clair must keep her business, Celebrate! afloat to prove she can succeed without her controlling family. But she needs a big contract, and soon.
New owner of the St Clair Durand Vineyard, Vintner Etienne Durand hangs his dreams for success on hiring an event planner to organize a launch party. Upon entering Celebrate’s office, he’s stunned to discover its owner is none other than the enticing nymph recently spotted skinny dipping in his lake—as well, the daughter of the vineyard’s previous owner, a man set on destroying Etienne’s business.
Can he trust Bella when she denies she’s anything like her father—in spite of evidence to the contrary? In surrendering to the attraction for the handsome Frenchman, can Bella overcome her fear of being controlled and take another chance on love?

And the excerpt....

Her eyes sparkled and shone, and her cheeks were pink. Her body moved in perfect harmony with the relentless beat.Ice chilled his top lip as Etienne took a long swallow of his drink and smiled back. With any luck, she wouldn’t see how much her dancing affected him.
With a flip of her hand, she pointed at her feet, mouthing watch. A mock frown creased her brow.
Of course, he’d watch her, he couldn’t drag his gaze away as her feet repeated the steps. The pattern didn’t look too hard. And he’d always had a good sense of rhythm.
The music faded. Bella returned quickly to the table and picked up her glass. “Okay, so those are the basics.” She drank deeply. “Are you ready to try it?”
“I’d prefer to just watch you.” He trailed a finger down her cheek, feeling the sharp tug of attraction as her eyes darkened to jade. “You look beautiful.”
“So do you.” She tilted up her chin.
Etienne stood and snaked a hand around her waist to hold her close.
At the action, her lips parted and her eyelashes fluttered closed.
She looked like a woman who wanted to be kissed. Instead, he moved his lips to her ear, speaking words intended for her alone. “Would you like me to kiss you?” He felt her shiver. “If you do, you have to tell me, remember?”
Her long, dark eyelashes fluttered and her eyes opened, staring straight into his.
The arousal in their depths stunned Etienne to his core.
“I want you to kiss me,” she murmured.

Check back on the 12th for more info, and to help me launch!

Minx Jo published by Authonomy, a paperback cover reveal and a freebie alert!

First up - breaking FAB NEWS! Minx Jo Pibworth - aka Jodie James, has just sold to Harper Collins!!! WOO!
Find out all about it on the Authonomy website - where they have just announced that they will be having a competition to give her fabulous book, The Lighthouse, a new title. Minx success is coming hot and fast this year - and I'm delighted to be able to congratulate Jo on her achievement. There'll be more about it on the Minx blog tomorrow, and I'm sure she'll be blogging today too!

Competition details:

A book's title is just as important as its cover - these are the first things you notice, whether you're shopping for an ebook or a physical book. Jodie James' brilliant women's fiction needs a name that really does the story justice. And, we want you to help us choose it! We're inviting authonomy authors to use their creative minds and suggest a fitting title for Jodie's book.
The winning submission will win its creator a brand new bookshelf: 20 of HarperCollins' best titles from the genre of their choice. Oh, and they may just see their suggestion gracing the shelves of bookstores in a few month's time.To enter:
 Send your suggestions to yourauthonomy@harpercollins.co.uk
All entries must be submitted before UK midnight July 13th
The subject line needs to include the words Title Competition and your suggested title - e.g. Title Competiton: Little White Wedding chapel'
Please put your details in the body of the email. 

Good luck!

Sometime next week, Challenging Andie will be available everywhere in a paperback version, and I thought I'd share the paperback cover! I'm very excited about this, going self-published paperback is a new departure for me, and Challenging Andie will be followed by paperback versions of Bound to Love and Catch Me A Catch.


In early July, I have another new release, Love on the Vine will finally be available, so my next blog post will be all about that!

And to celebrate I'm having some giveaways!
Catch Me A Catch is going free on Amazon on 23 and 24 June - so do go and grab a copy, or if you've already got it, tell your friends!
And to launch Challenging Andie with a roar rather than a wimper, it will be going free as an ebook on Kindle on 25 and 26!

New Book Out!

My new book, Challenging Andie, is out now at Amazon in kindle format, and in a couple of weeks will be also availabe in paperback. It is the story of a war correspondent who considers himself incapable of love - until he meets the heroine!
Andie Harte has suffered the loss of the two people most dear to her, and knows she must confront loss head on in order to continue living. She wants to conquer her fears, and has drawn up a list of challenges to do so.
Originally, I'd intended to publish Challenging Andie with a publisher, but my self-published success this year changed my mind, and I decided to stay with the 'dark side', and add it to my self-published stable.

Here's the blurb:
Is loving Ryan a challenge too far?
Jaded war correspondent Ryan Armstrong reports terrible events without letting them pierce the armor covering his heart. When his colleague Emily Harte is murdered, he feels responsible for her death, and travels to England to return Emily’s effects to her daughter.
Bereaved, primary school teacher, Andie Harte has set herself a list of challenges to prove she can be as brave as her recently murdered mother, but when she’s hounded by the press the need to escape means she must accept help from Ryan. During their time in seclusion, attraction blossoms into an affair. Their relationship was only supposed to be a fling. When the time comes for Ryan to return to Bekostan, can she risk loving a thrillseeker, or is that a challenge too far?

Ryan avoids love, knowing the pain losing it can bring. A life without Andie is sensible, but is it possible?

I hope you all like it!
Available now from Amazon.com hereAnd Amazon.co.uk here.