Sandra Orchard's Blog, page 12

A Writer’s Christmas List

Well, it’s that time of year again when the family is asking for Christmas gift ideas. So…I thought I’d help out all of you out there with writers in your lives.

1) Chocolate 

This really shouldn’t need further explanation. It both consoles and re-energizes overtaxed brain cells.

2) A Pet

Another no-brainer. Walking the dog is a great time to dream up the next scene in a book. Not to mention an excuse to leave the desk. After all, too much sitting is not good for one’s health. The bonus is a pet gives a writer something to post on Facebook. 

Introducing Rising Darkness by Nancy Mehl

RT Book Reviews calls Nancy Mehl‘s newest release “Romantic suspense at its best, with an engaging plot that’s not overpowering. Mehl is an amazing author who writes believable stories, knows what fans expect and does not disappoint.”

 And who could resist that cool cover?

It was Nancy’s covers that first drew me to her books, when my publisher asked me to provide examples of the type of covers I’d like for my Port Aster Secrets series. At the time, Nancy had another series out with similar type covers, depicting the hero or heroine at the top of the page and a scene at the bottom.

I love them! And I was happy that my publisher did to and produced something similar. 

Love Inspired Suspense Backlist is On Sale

Great news for those with Ereaders or who enjoy reading on their phone, tablet or iPad, in celebration of 10 years of digital publishing, Harlequin had put 10,000 backlist titles on sale for $1.99–several of mine included!

I found Fatal Inheritance, Perilous Waters and Identity Withheld

marked down to $1.50 on Amazon and $1.99 on Barnes and Noble (Nook). They weren’t marked down on Kobo (they are supposed to be). Although the Epub versions are available directly from Harlequin. iBooks is also participating.

Amazon, bless their heart, is also offering great deals on the rest of my backlist ~$3 each for Deep Cover, Shades of Truth, Critical Condition and Emergency Reunion.

So…if you’ve missed any, it’s a great time to stock up.

Even my longer mystery titles–Deadly Devotion, Blind Trust, Desperate Measures and A Fool and His Monet (preorder)–are on for under $4!

Clicking the vendor names above will take you to my books at the vendor. Clicking the book title names will take you to the book description on my website, which also has buy links. So be sure to take advantage of this great deal!

It ends November 17th.

Bonus…click here to see which titles of your other favorite Love Inspired authors have been included in this deal.

Please share this limited time sale with your friends!

 

A Taste of Autumn Tea

Kate Adams—the I-have-a-tea-for-whatever-ails-you sleuth of my Port Aster Secrets series—shares this tea to get us into the autumn spirit.

Promotional Freebies – the fun side of marketing

With a new mystery series set to debut in March, I’ve been perusing the gamut of products out there that can be personalized with book and author info. Bookmarks, of course, are a given, but I love to be able to share something unique with my readers, too.

Which is why I’m super-excited about what we’ve created for the Serena Jones Mysteries.

The first is a very unique USB key embossed with the series’ logo and my web addy.

These are from USB Memory Direct and the salesman I worked with there was awesome at answering my questions and providing quick delivery of a well-constructed product. I’d highly recommend them. They have a phenomenal range of USB style choices and accessories, as well as, options to include preloaded content on the keys, or what I did, configure it to appear in the Windows viewer as an art frame logo.

I plan to share these with my editors and critique partners; bookstore owners who have me in for signings; as a thank-you to the authors who endorsed A Fool and His Monet; and in gift baskets at events.

But…

I also wanted to have something I could economically mail to lots of readers or give away at events that would:

be useful for years to come and
be related to the series.

This is what we came up with:

It’s a mini-first-aid kit for your purse or briefcase, complete with bandaids, antiseptic wipes and a quick reference guide. The plastic pouch is credit card sized and can easily be restocked as needed. I figured my heroine is an FBI agent. Law enforcement are supposed to help people…so now my readers can, too. 

Counting Blessings!

With the arrival of September, you’d think my mind would be turning to the routine of Fall, but here in Niagara, we’re enjoying one of our most “summery” weeks yet, after a peculiar roller-coaster ride in the weather department over the last few months. Would you believe I actually had to turn the heater on in my office last week?!

So…I’m planning swim dates every afternoon with the grandkids.

Always a splashing good time!

Did I mention we have a new grandson?!

He’s a big hit with his big brother.

And is the reason I haven’t been too talkative around here lately, as I’ve been enjoying having my two eldest grandchildren visit. Of course, many of you caught my odd post to FB, when I managed to snatch a few minutes to share a picture. I do so enjoy celebrating these blessings with all of you.

My autumn is showing no sign of slowing down with a wedding for my son in the works, but I promise to keep writing, between all the tempting distractions.

The Art of Naming Characters…and Babies

Around here these days, we have our noses in the baby names book as our daughter and son-in-law debate the merits of various suggestions for my newest hero or heroine–aka their soon-to-be-born baby.

Introducing: 7 Essential Habits of Christian Writers

I learned about the new anthology 7 Essential Habits of Christian Writers over the weekend and wanted to share it with the writers and aspiring writers amongst my blog readers. (And there’s a bonus surprise at the end for readers!)

This anthology deals with seven key areas for Christian writers: Time with God, Healthy Living, Time Management, Honing Writing Skills, Crafting a Masterpiece, Submitting, and Marketing.

The contributing writers, all members of ICWF— InScribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship—come from various walks of life and write in various genres for a range of audiences. Through fiction, poetry, and nonfiction such as devotionals, essays, and articles, they generously share their own discoveries, success stories, and hard-won lessons in order to encourage and support other Christian writers.

Here’s what well known authors are saying about the book:

Phil Callaway, bestselling author and host of Laugh Again Radio says, “I love seven things about this book: It is practical. It is affordable. It is encouraging. It is worth highlighting, underlining and dog-earing. Plus it made me forget about my toothache.” He continues his endorsement: “Whether you’re a newbie or a veteran writer, you’ll discover 7 Essential Habits of Christian Writers to be jammed with instantly actionable advice that will make you a better writer. Dig in.”

Jeff Goins, bestselling author of The Art of Work and other titles says, “This book is a beautiful blend of faithfulness and craft. It will help you answer the practical questions of what it means to be a writer while honoring what you believe. I wish I’d read this when I got started.”

Kathi Macias, award-winning author of more than 50 books, says, “7 Essential Habits of Christian Writers is an absolute gem! I love that it covers all the basics a writer needs to know, making them simple and practical. I also love that the book has many authors, giving us ideas and suggestions from their own writing journey. I highly recommend this book to anyone seriously considering writing as a vocation or even an avocation, particularly those writers who see their work as a ministry—which it certainly is!”

Nancy Rue, bestselling author and creator of Shadow to Shelf, a mentoring program for writers, says, “There are hundreds of how-to-write books on the market, but none that I know of touches both of the vital aspects of writing as a Christian better than this anthology from InScribe. The practical and the spiritual are woven into a whole by a remarkably creative group of writers who are in the trenches as we speak. I intend to snack on this fare again and again.”

The e-book is currently available on Kindle. The paperback version will be released in September, during the ICWF Fall Conference in Edmonton, Alberta. Click to learn more about ICWF and their annual conference.

Giveaway Opportunity: Stephanie Nickel, one of the anthology’s editors, is generously giving away a paperback copy (open to US and Canadian addresses) when it releases in September, to one randomly selected commenter below who lets us know an essential habit he or she is working on as a writer.

Bonus Giveaway for the non-writers who took the time to read this post anyway:

Behind the Scenes Glimpse of the Writing of Gone Without a Trace by Patricia Bradley

“Shh.” I glanced from side to side. “It’s a little known secret that authors think their characters are–uh, hum, there’s no less absurd way to say this than just to flat out admit it–real. They think they’re real!”

Case in point: I invited Patricia Bradley to interview her character for today’s blog, and… 

This is the scenario I walked in on:

“You busy?” Pat said to the hero of her latest novel, Gone Without a Trace.

She looked from his computer to the doorway. Alex Jennings leaned against it, a frown on his face. “A little. Do you have a problem?”

“No. I just want to hang out.”

I could tell this bugged her. She’s confided in me more than once that she hates it when characters won’t tell her what’s wrong, when she has to drag it out of them. She closed the top on her Macbook. “Spit it out.”

“Spit what out?” He stepped into the room and moved a research book from the Queen Anne chair beside her desk (a very nice chair I might add) and then sat down. Of course, his 6’2” frame looked ridiculous in it.

“Hold on a sec,” she said, and exchanged places with him. “Now, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He crossed his arms and stared out the window.

She waited. Although I noticed her toe impatiently tapping.

After two minutes of staring, he turned to her. “What am I doing in Logan Point, Mississippi? I’m a Texan, all the way back to the Alamo, and Texans belong in Texas.”

“You don’t like Logan Point?”

“I didn’t say that.” He smiled. “Actually, it’s a great little town. And I love Kate’s B&B. Did you know that woman can do some cooking?”

“Hmm. I think I knew that. So, what’s the problem?”

Alex pressed his lips together. “It’s that detective you paired me with. Livy Reynolds. She’s driving me crazy.”

From the slight curve in Pat’s lips, I could tell that warmed her heart, but she managed to restrain a full blown smile. “Exactly how does she do that?”

“She’s going to organize me to death. Have you seen her lists? That woman makes a list for everything. And that’s not all. She.Is.A.Control.Freak.”

“And you’re not?”

“Hmph.”

She doodled with her pencil. “Do you like anything about her?”

A gleam lit his eyes. “Have you seen her with Abby? That little girl has Livy hogtied.” He tilted his head. “And she has courage. She’s pretty, too.”

“So it’s not all bad?”

His eyes widened. “Uh, uh. You’re not going to—” He jumped up and palmed his hands up . “No. Don’t you dare try to get us together. Not happening. Not in a million years. She’s too bossy. And she hates flying.”

“If you say so.” She took her chair back and shooed him out of her office.

I slipped out of my hiding place behind the curtain to find Pat madly typing. “What’s up?” I asked.

She laughed sinisterly. “I just figured out another way to torture the both of them!”

Wasn’t that fun? (Okay, I might’ve made up her sinister laugh. Pat is really quite sweet even if she does love to torture people, ur, characters.)

Patricia, thanks so much for giving us a behind-the-scene glimpse of your character development!

Blog readers, if you love romantic suspense, you’ll enjoy this book. I was ridiculously pleased to have figured out whodunit before the end, but…Pat still managed to make me think I might’ve gotten it all wrong in those tense last chapters.

Pat hails from Mississippi, where I’ve never been, but I’ve enjoyed vicariously visiting the Deep South through her novels. I had the privilege of rooming with Patricia at last year’s Writer’s Police Academy and have to say that honoring God through her writing is her number one priority. Gone Without a Trace is the fourth book in her Logan Point Series from Revell, and…

I’m giving away a copy of Gone Without a Trace.

Answer one of these three questions in the comments to enter:

1) Where would you rather live Texas or Mississippi?

2) Do you make lists? How much do you put on them–as detailed as eat breakfast & brush your teeth or just the big projects?

3) How long do you think a couple should date (or know each other) before they talk marriage?

Thanks so much for visiting today! I hope you enjoyed meeting Pat and Alex. You can learn more about Pat at her website: http://patriciabradleyauthor.com/ or connect on Facebook.

And…please join me over on the Love Inspired Forum today, where Sherri Steele, the paramedic in my July release, Emergency Reunion, and I are sharing various summer safety tips! (You do need to join the “community” to participate)

 

Introducing Susan Anne Mason

I’m super excited to welcome the fabulous new Canadian historical romance writer, Susan Anne Mason to my blog along with Brianna O’Leary, the heroine in her debut historical release with Bethany House, Irish Meadows, which received a starred review from the Library Journal

I first met Susan when we both attended an ACFW conference in St. Louis in 2011 when my debut book released. To think we live a mere couple of hours apart and we had to fly to St. Louis to meet!

Susan, myself and our mutual friend Eileen who introduced us

Well, today, we’re all going to meet Susan’s heroine: Brianna O’ Leary

Welcome, Brianna. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I am one of six children (five still living). We live in Long Island, New York where my father owns “Irish Meadows”, a horse breeding farm. Daddy is determined that once I graduate I will marry a man he deems suitable in order to keep up our position in society.

Ooh, I hope we’ll meet a few horses. Our family loves horses. Tell us your greatest dream.

My greatest dream is to attend college in Manhattan. I want more out of life than to just become someone’s wife and to attend endless social engagements. I want to study literature and perhaps become a teacher or a librarian, and prove to my father that I am a daughter to be proud of.

What is a quirk of your personality that most people wouldn’t know?

I was a true tomboy as a child, much to my father’s dismay. I used to steal my brother’s pants and ride bareback around the track when Daddy was away. Mama finally sewed legs into my old skirts and I wear them when I ride my precious mare, Sophie.

Yeah, I guess that answers my question about meeting horses, too!