Laura McNeill's Blog, page 4
June 7, 2016
Author Q & A: Pam Jenoff (Plus a 10-Novel Giveaway)!
Today, I’m so happy to introduce Pam Jenoff, who is a masterful storyteller and such a kind, sweet person. I first read The Kommandant’s Girl about a year ago and loved it so much that I immediately picked up The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach, which was wonderful, as well! I can’t wait to read The Orphan’s Tale, which is coming out next!
If any of you are planning on attending the June ALA meeting in Orlando, Pam’s speaking at the event later this month!
Here’s the 411 on Pam:
1. Hometown:
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
2. How long you’ve been writing:
My whole life (really!) But writing seriously since 2001; first book accepted in 2005 and published in 2007.
3. List the books you’ve written (and are releasing soon!):
The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach, The Kommandant’s Girl, The Diplomat’s Wife, The Ambassador’s Daughter, The Winter Guest, Almost Home, A Hidden Affair and The Things We Cherished.
4. Share the best thing a fan’s ever told you:
Because my books deal with sensitive subjects around World War II and the Holocaust, I’m always most gratified when a survivor or veteran feels that I have gotten it right.
5. Share a sentence from a recent Goodreads review: I’m too scared to read them!
6. Tell us about the book you’re working on now: The Orphan’s Tale. Described as The Nightingale meets Water for Elephants, it was inspired by two true stories out of Yad Vashem and tells of a young Dutch girl who finds a train of unknown infants headed to a concentration camp. She takes one of the babies and flees, finding shelter with a German circus that is rescuing Jews.
7. Describe the book in 3 words: Circus saves Jews.
8. Next event where you’ll be signing books or speaking?
American Library Association Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida June 26th. So excited!
9. Where can readers find you online and on social media?
Pam’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
10. Where can readers buy your books?
IndieBound
Barnes & Noble
Amazon
Would you like to win Pam’s book, plus 9 other fabulous novels?
Here’s the link to enter the JUNE giveaway:
xo,
Laura
June 5, 2016
Win a Book Club Visit from Laura
If you love book clubs as much as I do- have I got great news for you: Your book club could #win a Skype call or an In-Real-Life meeting with me (within 100 miles). Does that sound great? Want to know how to win??
Here are all the details:
All month long on Instagram, share pictures of Sister Dear for your chance to #win.
Tag me @dixiegirlwriter and use the #SisterDearBookClub. Need some inspiration for your pictures? Take a peek at this photo from my friend Jennifer Clayton!
So, get your camera ready and let Instagram see how photogenic Sister Dear can be!
Giveaway begins NOW and ends July 1st at 11:59 pm. Winners will be chosen and notified by July 6th.
Here’s what you could win:
– Two book clubs will win a Skype call or an in-person visit.
– Two winners will receive copies of my e-books published under Lauren Clark.
– One winner will receive a signed ARC copy of Center of Gravity and Sister Dear swag.
Thank you for your incredible support of Sister Dear- I’m hard at work on my next book as we speak- so feel free to follow me on Facebook or Twitter to keep in the know about my bookish news.
xo, Laura
June 3, 2016
Author Q & A: Mary Kubica (Plus 10-Book Giveaway!)
Happy Friday! I am thrilled to wrap up the week with a post featuring one of my favorite author friends, Mary Kubica! Not only is Mary a fabulous author, she’s also one of the most kind and down to earth people I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know.
I just received a copy of her new release, DON’T YOU CRY, and can’t wait to dive in! I’ll be giving away a copy of her book soon, so read on for details.
Here’s more about Mary ….
Hometown: Chicago
How long you’ve been writing: Since I was about ten years old – give or take a few years
List the books you’ve written (and are releasing soon!): The Good Girl, Pretty Baby, Don’t You Cry
Share the best thing a fan’s ever told you: I’m feel extremely blessed to receive many emails, tweets, Facebook messages and more from readers, and every single note and comment holds a special place in my heart. I’m quite certain I have the best readers in the world. But I was touched by the beautiful imagery of an email I received after The Good Girl released, where a man described the way he and his wife took turns reading the novel – though simultaneously – and portrayed the way their individual bookmarks leapfrogged through the pages of the novel. There was something so touching about this that I have never forgotten.
Share a sentence from a recent Goodreads review: “Move aside Paula Hawkins, Gillian Flynn et al. With The Good Girl and Pretty Baby, Mary Kubica introduced herself as a major new talent; in Don’t You Cry, she has confirmed her status as the unrivaled master of the psychological thriller.” Tell us about the book you’re working on now: I’ve just finished up my fourth novel, which is still untitled, but will release in the summer of 2017. This one begins when a young father is killed in a car crash with his four-year-old daughter in the backseat, unharmed. The crash is ruled an accident until the coming days when the girl begins having nightmares about another car following and pushing them from the road. The man’s widow sets out to find her husband’s killer. More details coming soon!
Describe the book in 3 words: grief, desperation, deceit
Next event where you’ll be signing books or speaking? I’m just finishing up my Don’t You Cry book tour, but have one more event scheduled for June 2 at The Book Stall in Winnetka, IL, and a number of Illinois area library events planned this summer.
Where can readers find you online and on social media (website & links)?
Website: www.MaryKubica.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mary-Kubica-...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryKubica
Where can readers buy your books (links)? Buy links are available on my website at www.MaryKubica.com
Would you like to win Mary’s novel, plus 9 other fabulous books?
Here’s the link to enter the JUNE giveaway:
Enjoy!
Laura
June 1, 2016
Author Q & A: Kerry Lonsdale (Plus 10-Book Giveaway!)
Happy June! I’m so excited to kick off this month’s 10 Book Giveaway with a feature on debut novelist Kerry Lonsdale! I just finished EVERYTHING WE KEEP (releases August 1st) in two days and LOVED it! You’ll adore the storyline – see Barbara Claypole White’s review below!
Read on for the 411 on Kerry…………
Hometown:
Brentwood, CA
How long you’ve been writing:
Since I learned to write, lol… although, 2010 for fiction. Before that it was technical and copy writing: pamphlets, websites, etc. Fiction is much more fun!
List the books you’ve written (and are releasing soon!):
Everything We Keep, debuts August 1, 2016
All the Breaking Waves, December 2016
What We Leave Behind, June 2017
Share the best thing a fan’s ever told you:
Everything We Keep sucked me in with the first sentence and didn’t let me go until the last word.
(I love reading books like that! It’s thrilling to know I’ve written such a book.)
Share a sentence from a recent Goodreads review:
As of today (May 17th), my favorite is still from Barbara Claypole White. Love her and she’s been so enthusiastic about my debut. This is what she said:
“It’s a thumping good read, a perfect book club pick, and one of those gems people pass around with, “You don’t need to know anything about the plot. Just read it and then we’ll talk.”
Tell us about the book you’re working on now:
Like Everything We Keep, my next book, ALL THE BREAKING WAVES is book club suspense, but it has romantic and paranormal elements. In a nutshell, it’s about sea glass artist Molly Brennan whose daughter, gifted with foresight, predicts Molly’s death. Molly has five days to outwit fate or make the ultimate sacrifice any parent can make. The daughter’s premonitions come with dangerous side-effects.
Describe the new book in 3 words:
Gah! Really???
Let’s see… for genre: book club suspense
And for theme: sacrifices mothers make
And for fun: food, family, first loves (oops. That’s four.)
Next event where you’ll be signing books or speaking?
Nothing on calendar for the summer yet. Still planning the launch party. I think it’ll be at a wine bar or a book & brushes (painting) event. Painting is a big part of EVERYTHING WE KEEP.
I will be at the Women’s Fiction Writers Association retreat in Albuquerque, NM this September.
Where can readers find you online and on social media?
Website: http://www.kerrylonsdale.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kerrylonsdaleauthor
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/kerrylonsdale
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/kerrylonsdale
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/kerrylonsdale
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kerrylonsdale
Where can readers buy your books?
Readers can pre-order EVERYTHING WE KEEP from:
Amazon
Books-A-Million
Barnes & Noble
Would you like to win Kerry’s novel, plus 9 other fabulous books?
Here’s the link to enter the JUNE giveaway:
Enjoy!
Laura
May 31, 2016
10 Fabulous Books & 11 Great Authors – June Giveaway
Hi everyone! I’m super-excited about this month’s giveaway … 10 GREAT books from 11 of my favorite authors!
Throughout June, I’ll be featuring superstar writers like Mary Kubica, Cynthia Luhrs, Pam Jenoff, Kimberly Belle … and some surprise guests that I’ll reveal later!
The fabulous Kimberly Belle and me last month in Canton, Ga.
Here’s the link to enter the contest all month long:
To follow along with the author features right here on my blog, here’s the schedule:
June 1 – Kerry Lonsdale
June 3 – Mary Kubica
June 7 – Pam Jenoff
June 9 – Surprise!
June 14 – Cynthia Luhrs
June 16 – Kimberly Belle
June 21 – Surprise!
June 23 – Surprise!
June 28 – Karma Brown
June 30 – Surprise!
You can also follow all of the fun on Twitter using #TenFabBooks……!
I hope you love reading about these very special friends and wonderful authors!
Happy Summer 
May 19, 2016
#SisterDear Audiobook Winners Announced
Happy May!
So glad to announce my #ListenSisterDear audiobook winners, chosen on Rafflecopter from nearly 500 entries!
The two lucky winners will receive a signed copy of Sister Dear and a small surprise treat in their packages, which I’ll be mailing off today!
I’m happy to announce that Shelly Hammond and Virginia Horton will be receiving copies of the Sister Dear audiobooks!
If you’d like to win a paperback copy of Sister Dear, be sure to stop by Lil Momma Reader’s page on Facebook before tomorrow at midnight, Friday May 20th!
All that you have to do is like or share her post! Go to Facebook.com/lilmommareader
Stay tuned for more giveaways in June, including a chance for me to visit or Skype with your book club!
Details to come soon!
xo, Laura
May 5, 2016
Sister Dear Audio Book Release & Giveaway
This week, we kick off a special tribute to audiobooks. I’ve been a fan of listening to books for a long time (especially in the car on long trips) and my recent favorites include The Life We Bury, In a Dark, Dark Wood, and Most Wanted.
This week, you can pick up a copy of the Sister Dear Audiobook. This edition is narrated by Clifton Harris, who is incredibly gifted and also narrated Julie Cantrell’s The Feathered Bone and Beth Wiseman’s Her Brother’s Keeper.
Listen to a sample of Chapter 2 from Sister Dear by clicking here: SAMPLE
The Audible page will look like this, and you will click below the book cover to listen. ♥
If you’d like a chance at winning an audiobook copy of Sister Dear, please click the Rafflecopter icon below to get started! Winners will be announced on May 15th!
What are your favorite audiobooks? What should I be listening to?
Have a wonderful week!
xo, Laura
May 1, 2016
Counting My Blessings
Happy May! I just wanted to take a moment this Sunday to say thank you to the many readers and friends who have reached out and sent lovely thoughts and photos to celebrate the Sister Dear launch!
This weekend, I received several very special pictures from Liana Mellow, the winner of my Fitbit giveaway, Melody Simons (in the socks), and the lovely Laura Rash!
In addition, I ran across these fun photos from Samantha March, Amanda, Jamie Lynn on Instagram!
Just today, I received this great photo from Jennifer Smeth … the winner of one of the Sister Dear signed paperbacks!
I’m so grateful to everyone who has supported Sister Dear from the very beginning. If you’ve reviewed Sister Dear, Tweeted, shared a photo on Facebook, posted on Instagram, or told a friend about my book, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
xo,
Laura
Counting my Sunday Blessings
Happy May! I just wanted to take a moment this Sunday to say thank you to the many readers and friends who have reached out and sent lovely thoughts and photos to celebrate the Sister Dear launch!
This weekend, I received several very special pictures from Liana Mellow, the winner of my Fitbit giveaway, Melody Simons (in the socks), and the lovely Laura Rash!
In addition, I ran across these fun photos from Samantha March, Amanda, Jamie Lynn on Instagram!
I’m so grateful to everyone who has supported Sister Dear from the very beginning. If you’ve reviewed Sister Dear, Tweeted, shared a photo on Facebook, posted on Instagram, or told a friend about my book, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
xo,
Laura
April 25, 2016
Domestic Suspense, Deception, & the Dark Side of High School Football
At the heart of Sister Dear is the idea that one single decision can change a person’s life forever. That moment defines and shapes the future, molding and pushing one’s chosen journey to an entirely different path.
Such is the case with Allie Marshall, the heroine of Sister Dear, who finds herself caught in a web of deceit after stumbling on the body of her town’s beloved high school football coach. Instead of running 
from the scene, she chooses to stay by his side and attempting to revive him, but Coach Boyd Thomas dies in Allie’s arms, leaving her the only witness to the crime.
Just an hour later, the Thomas investigation falls squarely on the shoulders of the county sheriff, Lee Gaines. The people of the town, angered and grieving the loss, begin calling for justice. Gaines, a high school football booster and friend of Thomas, hardly provides an unbiased legal perspective. If his personal connections weren’t enough to stack the evidence against Allie, the Gaines’ own recent loss and turmoil stand in the way of him seeing the truth of the situation.
While many of the Sister Dear characters, like Gaines, create barriers for Allie, the coach’s death creates a treacherous and inhospitable landscape from which Allie must be shunned. When Allie is found with 
the coach’s bloodied and beaten body, it is perceived, just below the surface of the community’s subconscious, that Allie has stripped the town of its right for victory, celebration, and hope for the future—she has, in fact, stolen the very joy which comes from sitting under the football field lights each Friday night.
It is no mistake that Sister Dear was set in the heart of Georgia, squarely in the midst of a place when a sport is revered as much as God and country. Though many parts of the country share a love for high school athletics, it is difficult to find a place in which adoration of football is deeper or stronger than in the Deep South. Boys are raised from birth to toss a football and root for a particular team. It is expected that young men play the game with passion and loyalty, just like their fathers, and their fathers’ fathers. Girls, in turn, cheer from the sidelines and mothers pray for their son’s safety in the stands. In many ways, football exists as the very source of a town’s identity and pride.
Not all communities in the Deep South take their love of football to the extreme, but in Sister Dear, heightening the importance of the game makes Allie’s struggle to claim innocence and 
clear her name that much harder. In fictional 2006 Brunswick, Ga., so important is the need to win that the townspeople and its Sheriff turn a blind eye to what the high school players are experiencing at the hands of their trusted coach.
In order to build his players into an unbeatable force, Coach Boyd Thomas devises a plan to manufacture and distribute steroids. Though Sheriff Gaines protests when he discovers the plot, he never takes a real stand against Thomas.
In that moment, Gaines concedes to the coach’s power. In that decision, his life changes. Gaines, in effect, goes against his sworn duty as an officer of the law and against his moral convictions. He stands by while players suffer the side effects from the steroids. He doesn’t step in when a player is ejected from a game in a drug-induced fury. And when players are hazed 
and abused by the coach for not performing up to the coach’s expectations, he doesn’t act. By the time Gaines realizes the extent of the damage done by Thomas’ plan, it’s far too late.
When all is lost, much like in the Salem Witch Trials, Allie Marshall becomes the object of fear and loathing in a town, which, by all rights, has created its own monsters, among them, one of the people she loves and trusts most in the world.
It is only through Allie’s tenacity, strength, and insistence on proving her innocence to her daughter, Caroline, that she is able to clear her name. At the risk of losing her new-found freedom, at the risk of losing everything, Allie sets off on a dangerous quest, holding one sentiment close to her heart: that the only life worth living is one in which the truth is known, no matter what the cost.
What do you think about the dark side of Sister Dear? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
xo,
Laura
