Julia Gabriel's Blog, page 7

Last day to get Falling for the Prodigal Son for FREE

Today is the last day to get the Falling for the Prodigal Son ebook FREE over at Amazon. Falling for the Prodigal Son is set on the eastern shore of Maryland, an area I know well and love. (Spent my wedding night there!) St. Caroline is loosely based on the real town of St. Michael's, a sailing mecca and a place where many wealthy people from Washington, DC own summer homes. I liked exploring the contrast between the wealthy people who vacation there and a summer camp for disadvantaged kids....

Summer lovin'—sweet or savory?

Remember that old Mounds-Almond Joy candy commercial? "Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't." Well, sometimes I feel like a sweet romance and sometimes I feel like a sizzling hot romance. So I write both, of course—and today I have both a sweet and a savory summer romance on sale over at Amazon.

Heck, they're not on sale. They're actually just flat-out free (and will be through the weekend). If you like sweet, there's Falling for the Prodigal Son. If you like scorching hot, there's Feral. (Feral is also good if you like scorching hot but in small doses—it's a short story.)

Descriptions and links to each are below but—first—a question. I need some guidance from you because I'm making edits to a book that is as much women's fiction as romance, and I'm contemplating whether I need to dial back the steam factor on the romance part.

So ... do you like your romance sweet or savory? Or a little of both?

More at http://www.authorjuliagabriel.com/rea...

Summer lovin' ... sweet or savory?

Remember that old Mounds-Almond Joy candy commercial? "Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't." Well, sometimes I feel like a sweet romance and sometimes I feel like a sizzling hot romance. So I write both, of course—and today I have both a sweet and a savory summer romance on sale over at Amazon.

Heck, they're not on sale. They're actually just flat-out free (and will be through the weekend). If you like sweet, there's Falling for the Prodigal Son. If you like scorching hot, ther...

Quilting is my plotting secret

I'm being interviewed today over at author Mae Clair's site. I'm talking about why I write slow, which scene in a book is always my favorite and why quilting is my plotting secret.

Stop by and say hello!

Why quilting is my plotting secret

I'm being interviewed today over at author Mae Clair's site:

http://bit.ly/13pqldF

I'm talking about why I write slow, which scene is always my favorite in a book and why quilting is my plotting secret!

Stop by and say hello!

Chicago, taekwondo and dinosaurs

It's an occupational hazard, I suppose, but whenever I go someplace new I look at it with an eye toward using it in a story someday. I never know when I'll need to put my characters in the local haunted restaurant, say, or on a particular beach.

But last week, I had the experience of visiting a city I've never been to—Chicago—but have already used in a story. In Cupcakes & Chardonnay, Daryle and Suzanne are in Chicago for a wine convention and visit the famed Field Museum on an afternoon off...

Novellas ... love 'em or hate 'em?

I love short fiction. A short story or novella is a very intense, concentrated experience of a story. In a great work of short fiction, there's nothing extraneous. No rambling, no tangents, no distracting subplots. Every word counts. There's no room for throwaway sentences.

So I'm glad (overjoyed, really) that romance authors seem to be taking on this form more and more. The intensity of a romantic encounter is ideal for a short story or novella. I finished one last night that is a perfect example of this ...

Read more at http://www.authorjuliagabriel.com/1/p...

Novellas ... love 'em or hate 'em?

I love short fiction. A short story or novella is a very intense, concentrated experience of a story. In a great work of short fiction, there's nothing extraneous. No rambling, no tangents, no distracting subplots. Every word counts. There's no room for throwaway sentences.

So I'm glad (overjoyed, really) that romance authors seem to be taking on this form more and more. The intensity of a romantic encounter is ideal for a short story or novella. I finished one last night that is a perfect ex...

Long distance relationships -- thumbs up or down?

In my book, Cupcakes & Chardonnay, Suzanne Austin moves to San Francisco to be with the man she's fallen in love with. That was pretty much the story of my life in my early twenties (except the part about him being a wealthy wine heir—somehow I missed the memo on that part!). I had fallen hard for a man I met on a business trip and, after six months of long-distance dating between San Francisco and Washington, DC, I moved.

And, as with Suzanne, the relationship fell apart pretty quickly after that. When you're dating long distance, every time you're together you're on vacation. Being on vacation is easy! You're never tired or cranky from a long day at work. You're eating out so no one has to do the dishes. And your time together is just so much more intense because you know you only have this one week or one long weekend.

The flipside, of course, is that you're not really getting to know each other. You don't get to see the other person in all their normal, day-to-day glory. And eventually, one person has to move. When I wrote Cupcakes & Chardonnay, I wanted to give Suzanne and Daryle a second chance to not screw up their relationship.

I'm always curious, naturally, about other people's long distance romances. Have you had one? Did it work out? If you've never tried it, do you think you would? Write a comment and share!

Long distance relationships—thumbs up or down?

In my book, Cupcakes & Chardonnay, Suzanne Austin moves to San Francisco to be with the man she's fallen in love with. That was pretty much the story of my life in my early twenties (except the part about him being a wealthy wine heir—somehow I missed the memo on that part!). I had fallen hard for a man I met on a business trip and, after six months of long-distance dating between San Francisco and Washington, DC, I moved.

And, as with Suzanne, the relationship fell apart pretty quickly afte...