Lizzy Charles's Blog, page 4

Going Home Again Blog Tour

Today’s my stop for Abby Cavenaugh’s Going Home Again tour! Going Home Again is a great, flirtatious, steamy adult beach read to help you wave goodbye to summer!

 

 

Author: Abby Cavenaugh

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Going Home Again Book Blurb:

In high school, it was doubtful Michael Day knew Alyssa Jones existed.

Twenty years later, when the now-famous pop star returns home to coastal North Carolina, Alyssa gets a second chance to make a first impression on Michael.

On sabbatical from his failing marriage, Michael agrees to an interview with Alyssa, a journalist for the local tourist magazine.

When the chemistry between them ignites, Alyssa and Michael are hit with the harsh reality that he isn’t yet free to love her.

With Michael’s wife and son still very much in the picture, can Alyssa hold out until he ends his marriage for good? Or will she risk it all for a second chance with the one who got away?

I’d thought we’d have some extra fun today and have Abby share a musical playlist for Going Home Again! I love the comments she added behind each song, explaining why it’s important to the list (her comments are in purple). What a great list of songs! You should download them to read with the novel!

 

1. Tender Love–Force MD’s (you gotta have this!!!)

2. Spell It Out– Gavin DeGraw (I had just bought this CD-Sweeter- when I was finishing GHA and the lyrics of  this song struck me as perfect for Alyssa & Mike!)

3. Undenied– Portishead (This is a sexy song and I could imagine it playing during the first love scene )

4. Stingy– Jordan Knight (Kind of what Mike feels… he’s got a woman but he wants Alyssa too…)

5. Arms– Christina Perri (I think this song really describes what Alyssa’s going through during the course of the story)

6. Sick Cycle Carousel– Lifehouse (Lifehouse’s debut album was like the soundtrack for my marriage ending; this song describes what it’s like to be going through a relationship, knowing it’s not going to work. The title says it all… you just keep going round and round until someone steps off the “carousel” and ends it)

7. Sparks– Coldplay (This is off Coldplay’s first album, and it always makes me think of an ex-boyfriend of mine, because I was young but I *know* there was an amazing connection between us (i.e., sparks) and I think at several points in the book, both Mike and Alyssa could identify with the words to this song. Plus, I just like the melody. )

8. Chasing Cars– Snow Patrol (In my opinion, one of the greatest love songs ever. Period.)

9. If Only For One Night– Luther Vandross (Because every one of my playlists for anything, ever, needs Luther Vandross. And he is one of Mike’s influences; he was mentioned in earlier drafts of the novel. In my opinion, this song fits Mike and Alyssa’s story the best of all of Luther’s amazing hits.)

Such awesome songs, thank you Abby!

Going Home Again is available on Kindle and Nook.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Going-Home-Again-ebook/dp/B00ED6MS9I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376609067&sr=8-1&keywords=going+home+again+abby

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/going-home-again-abby-cavenaugh/1116345615?ean=2940148365518

Here’s a bit about the author herself, Ms. Abby Cavenaugh! Make sure to stop by her Twitter and Facebook account to say hello. She loves to chat! (I know, as I chat with her frequently )

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About Abby Cavenaugh

Abby Cavenaugh is a writer of romantic women’s fiction and YA paranormal. She is a newspaper editor by day, but dreams of someday retiring to the North Carolina coast to write books full-time. She lives near Charlotte with her twin sister, also a writer, six-year-old niece and crazy cat, Gus, and is driven by dreams, Diet Coke and chocolate

Social Media

Abby Cavenaugh on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AbbyCavenaughAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/abswrites

Going Home Again on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18242120-going-home-again

Swoon Romance (publisher) site: http://www.myswoonromance.com/

The End

Blog Tour Days 9 & 10

Dear Diary,

Is this really the end? I can’t believe it’s gone so fast and we’ve had so much fun. Amazing reviews, fun interviews, musical playlists, top book boyfriends, the life behind the writing, and so much more!

Yesterday evening, Rebecca Yarros, Top Military Mom blogger and Most Influential Blogger from Circle of Moms reviewed my novel (She loved it) and we both made musical playlists of the novel. You have to check them out at The Only Girl Among Boys (She’s got 4 sons)! An overall playlist from Rebecca. A playlist from Lucy and one from Justin too! All different musical tastes, all fantastic songs. She’s also hosting a giveaway, separate from the blog tour one, of one free copy of EFFORTLESS WITH YOU.

An amazing review from For the Love Of Books came in late Wednesday evening that left me squealing like a crazy woman!

“ I first just have to say go get this book immediately! If you want a light fun romantic read this is it! It is a YA but I’m sucker for those I LOVED it- staying up til 2:00 in the morning to finish is proof enough! The main character is Lucy and you immediately come to care about her. She is someone you can sympathize with and relate to…let’s be honest we ALL have some unfavorable high school memories. What I loved about this is that the emotions are believable-i rememeber feeling some of the same things she does while I was in high school. What else I loved was the growth you watch her take throughout the book. The writing is perfect and I cannot recommend this book more. It is in the top 5 of the ones I’ve read this summer! Do yourself a favor and go get it! Lizzy Charles is one of my new favorite authors! Can’t wait to see what else she comes out with!”~ Leslia A.

Today, we’ve got two interviews circulating. One by my fellow Minnesotan author Sara Biren where we chat about my favorite parts of EFFORTLESS WITH YOU on her personal blog. The other interview is over at Phish Bowl Reads, where I dive into the events that happened in my life while writing Effortless With You. I’d love if you checked it out!

Author Vicki Lemp Weavil is hosting the last day of the blog tour giveaway! If you want to enter, stop in on her blog and go crazy with the awesomeness that is Rafflecopter!

I’m thrilled because we still have about three reviews that should be rolling in this month! I have an upcoming feature next week on Dear Teen Me where I write a letter to my teenage self! Can’t wait to share both with you.

I’m opting not to get sappy at the moment about the end of this tour. I’ll get there next week, trust me. So, Dear Diary, I’m not going to say goodbye. There is definitely a follow-up letter to all this madness.

Thank you for being here through it all, Diary (and anyone else who has read along).

Love you!

xoxo!

~Lizzy

OH! P.S. Diary!!!!

Sweet Days

Blog Tour:  7 & 8 (What happened to 6? I think 5 got it twice, whoops!)

Dear Diary,

I’m so sorry a missed a day of chatting with you! You’ve got to believe me when I say that my hands were filled yesterday. A super secret project has come to my attention that needed serious attention ASAP. I spent the night speaking with my dear friend, a youth director, researching then following it up with plotting. Oops! Did I say plotting? Hmmm… Forget I said that. It’s super secret stuff.

Yesterday,  I had two stops on the blog tour that meant so much to me. The first was from one of my most favorite people in the world, Fiona McLaren. She promoted and reviewed EFFORTLESS WITH YOU. Now, before you say “but if you know her…” (it’s okay, you can still say it) let me explain that Fiona has some of the strongest integrity I know. Despite knowing an author, she’s going to give an honest review. No matter what. So when I read her touching review over on The YA Bookcase, I was overwhelmed. She loved it!

“Lizzy Charles creates characters so honest, real and touching that you can’t help but be swept up into the lives they lead.  And no, they are not all light, pink and fluffy.  In fact, they are filled with angst, misunderstanding and misdirected anger.  The main character Lucy isn’t just some loved up teen.  In fact, she a three-dimensional young woman who has issues of her own and is navigating them the best way she knows how.  I really connected with her character, as she’s just doing what we all do…fighting to understand life and what it really means.” ~ The YA Bookcase

Next, my amazing agent, Jamie Bodnar Downley, made me get all teary eyed with her promotional tour stop on her blog. Honestly. She’s the sweetest, most amazing woman in the whole entire world. She’s so intelligent and ballsy balanced with great politeness and professionalism. I love her so much!!!!

And today? WELL… I’m having so much fun on the tour today!

We have the sweetest review from Kelley Lynn, author of FRACTION OF STONE, on her blog Adventures Between the Bookends.

“I think this book is fantastic. I started and finished it in one day. I had to. Lucy is such a well developed character and the secondary characters surrounding her were fabulous as well.”

Next, Stephanie Wardrop, author of the young adult Snark novella series from Swoon Romance (my publisher), features an excerpt of EFFORTLESS WITH YOU and summarizes the amazing book blogging reviews on her blog. Thank you Stephanie!

Lastly, Love Words and Books featured EFFORTLESS WITH YOU and called it a MUST READ! Yay!!!

As far as the eating front goes, because this matters to me diary, and you know that, allow me to summarize this week with one word: Brownies. Lots of them!

Go make some. You know you want to!

Activities? My goal is to thank every person who has connected with my novel. Still some to go, but I’m out there looking for your posts, reviews, etc and hoping to get you each an individualized thank you response. It means the world to me that you’ve taken the time to read it. Honestly!

Oh. Other activities include swimming, the zoo, the library, and Target, where I rewarded myself with new underwear. Yeah, a little TMI, but I’m only growing larger thanks to the brownies and this pregnancy!

Speaking of pregnancy, I find out tomorrow if we will be having our third girl or our first boy! I’ve got all those kid before Christmas feelings going on. No matter what is between those legs, I’m thrilled and in love!

Alright Diary, there’s still much to do!

Thank you so much for being with me through this journey. It’s nice to have someone’s hand to hold onto. More book blogging reviews set to arrive tomorrow. *deep breath* I’ll get through it!

Love you!

~Lizzy

Fun Stuff!

Blog Tour Diary, Day 5

Dear Diary,

Today the tour made a fun stop with a special guest, JUSTIN! Cassie Mae somehow convinced him to hang out and chat about basketball, girls, and his painting business. AND, she snapped a photo! *drools* Justin’s interview can be checked out over here, on Cassie Mae’s blog!

Then Rachel Schieffelbein, another MN author, chatted me up about my favorite places in MN and what places I chose to throw into the novel. I also gave my best advice on how to hide a hickey. If you are looking for a great restaurant as well as a historical site to tour OR if you need to hide a hickey, check out Writing on the Wall!

In other news? Well, I MAY have some exciting news for Effortless that I can’t quite share yet. But until then, I am beyond thrilled that Effortless With You is back on the Amazon Best Seller list in Coming of Age novels… and not just scraping by. It’s settled nicely in the middle of two top one hundred lists. What an awesome surprise to wake up to! I know things always change, but I celebrate every win I get. I think that’s the only way to navigate this journey! The time will be fleeting, so I really am thrilled to be there again.

Alright! It’s been a long day and I have tons of work to do. This author stuff, it’s work, let me tell you. I definitely forsee a post on an author’s role in marketing their own work in the future. You’ve got to approach it as a job, but make sure to have fun with it. The posts mentioned above were super fun to write! Coming soon this week, EFFORTLESS WITH YOU in play list form from both Justin and Lucy’s perspective! That one is really fun!!

Okay Diary,

Kisses, hugs, and hip bumps!

Love,

Lizzy

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Reviews and Minions!

Blog Tour Dairy, Day 5.

Dear Diary,

I’m afraid you are no longer my bff. … I’m so sorry! But new people have usurped your place. Who, you ask? All of my amazing reviewers!

I’m seriously shocked and overjoyed with the amount of people who are taking the time to review my novel on Amazon/B&N/Goodreads. All of their words mean so much to me, as well as the time you spent reviewing. There’s no greater way to help an author out than reviewing their novel and sharing that you love it with your friends and family. I just want to shout to them all “I LOVE YOU! THANK YOU! FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!”

What’s that Diary? You think you can push them over?

Fat chance. You see, they’ve also got the support of these incredible book bloggers. Diary, you know how nervous I was about today. Three huge reviews in one day and one promo. Scary!

Well, the reviews came in and I’m astounded! I rotate between jumping for joy, wiping the tears out of my eyes, and just falling to my knees and thanking God. Honestly.

Today over at Kassie’s Book Thoughts we have: 4.5 Star Review!

“Effortless with You by Lizzy Charles was just a really enjoyable read right from the beginning and all the way to the end. There is love, friendship, romance, betrayal, summer, and trying to find who you truly are to live the life you always wanted to live. I recommend everyone to add and buy Effortless With You by Lizzy Charles. I know I have an arc, but I am still going to buy it. Why? Because this is a book that I can see myself re-reading before the summer is over ! Thank you Lizzy Charles for delivering an enjoyable summer read, with lovable characters.” ~Kassie

At Always YA at Heart: A rave review! *She doesn’t rate, which I kind of love!

“It was almost like watching a caterpillar turn into a butterfly.  Overall, this is a wonderful YA contemporary romance, and if you enjoy that type of story, then Effortless with You is something I most definitely recommend checking out.” ~ Ellen

And, finally, The YA Bookworm: 5/5 Review! AND THIS:

“Overall, I think Effortless With You may be my favourite YA Contemporary novel that I’ve read this summer. Effortless With You is a flirty yet deep romance filled with great comedy, tough struggles and an ending that is sure to warm your heart! I definitely will be recommending this one to all you Contemporary Lovers out there!”

Then we end the tour day with a stop over at Book Nerds Anonomous with a book blitz! Thank you!

So, dairy, if you don’t mind, I’m going to take a moment to reach out and thank everyone (Readers and Book Bloggers) for their honest reviews and the time they took doing it. It means the world to me. Honestly. The time you put into reading my novel and reviewing it blows me away!

I just want to kiss you all!!

Okay, okay, Diary, I’m back to you now. What did I eat today? Hmmm. Earl Grey tea and an egg. But I get to go to a wedding sans children tonight, so I’m planning to eat a full dinner there! Who knew that I’d lose a bit of weight, all thanks to this book release and blog tour!

Alright, I’m out! Time to round up my little minions and play outside!

Oh, Dairy, don’t fret. You know you’ll always be in my heart!

xoxo!!!

~Lizzy

 

Perspective

Blog Tour Diary, Day 4

Dear Diary,

Kinda excited about this day guys, not gonna lie! Why? Because I’m working! My brain is completely computer screen fried after the past three days. There’s great life perspective when I step into the NICU. It’s the little things that matter most. And I’m thrilled to be there.

(So, obviously, this is prewritten as I’m taking care of the little ones at this exact moment.)

But that doesn’t mean the blog tour isn’t still hopping around!

We’ve got excerpts! We’ve got interviews! We’ve got reviews!

Today, the tour stops at Failing For Fiction where I dish on my book boyfriends, what I can’t live without (hint, it’s a type of food), and what in my life lends inspiration to the characters I create!

Kelley Harvey’s blog reviews Effortless With You and presents a featured excerpt from the novel! You won’t want to miss it!

Eats: (yeah, it’s important to me). Ummm… probably PB&J on a Tortilla for breakfast with black tea, french fries and soup, and hopefully I’ll remember to eat dinner. As I write this, it’s 9:25pm on Wednesday (yeah, I know, you are reading it Thursday), and thai rice is on the stove. Finally, dinner!

AH CRUD! It burned!!!!!! Bah! Oh well, i’ll scrape what’s edible off the top. I’m used to it.

Okay, I’m leaving you with yet another adorable photo of a pet with my book! I thank my fellow nurses for starting this trend! (Don’t forget to enter the giveaway below!)

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Love ya Diary,

xoxo!

~Lizzy

Whoa, numbers!

Blog Tour Diary, Day 3

Dear Diary,

Late last night, I facebook chatted with my agent, Jamie Bodnar Drowley. (This is one of the reasons she’s an incredible agent, because she takes the time to reach out and facebook chat!) She told me to go check my email, where my publisher, Swoon Romance, had emailed me news that EFFORTLESS WITH YOU had become an Amazon Bestseller in Coming of Age e-book novels.

It made it into the top 100! Never thinking I’d see it there again, my husband and I snagged screen shots. Seriously, overjoyed!

#98..then #96

AND THEN, today, I wake up to #91! WAIT.. just received word I’m #88 in Coming of age ebooks, and #99 in all Coming of Age books. My book hopped the Kindle Store. WHOA!!!

Okay, done with numbers now. I’m enjoying this moment. I know the numbers will change. They always do. But it’s amazing to see the novel there! No matter how long it lasts.

Obviously, I’m up super early this morning. Sleeping after that news was difficult, and, more than anything, I don’t want to be completely glued to the computer today in front of the kids. So, I’m trying to snag a “good Mom” moment with waking up early and getting this stuff out there.

INTERNET STOPS:

Today, in my world, is big time interview day! Here are the blogs and what you can find:

Jessica Salyer’s Blog: An interview where I discuss my inspiration behind EFFORTLESS WITH YOU.

Chasing the Crazies: An interview about my journey as a new writer.

Leigh Covington: An interview where I discuss my current favorite quotes!

Book Crazy: An honest 4 star review. Thank you!

EATS: Umm, black peach tea. Hoping it’ll fuel me through the day. But I should probably have some grub to go with it.

Plan of Action: Snuggle up with the daughters, watch My Little Pony, go to the park, and focus on the things and people who are close to my heart!

 

Release Day

The Blog Tour Diary, Day 2

Dear Diary,

Whoa, diary. Today has been amazing! Like nothing I ever expected! Who knew that releasing a debut novel is WAY better than the last ten birthdays combined (That includes my 18th, which was the day I graduated highschool and my 21st, which is the day, well, you become an idiot). Somehow, I actually got sleep last night! I don’t know how, but it happened. It’s like my body knew I’d need tons of energy to get through the day.

I got to start the day in tears. But GOOD tears! I took a deep breath, opened up my browser, and went directly to my first blog stop of the day. A review from Sub Club Books. Now, this wasn’t just a random review to me. No, it meant so much more. This is a real book blogger whom I’ve never met before… and her opinion was kicking off my blog tour. So, yeah, it meant everything to me.

So, the tears? Where did they come from? From amazing statements like this:

“In true honesty I’m a sucker for a good Young Adult book, and Effortless with you by Lizzy Charles is a GREAT effortlessly well written YA book!

Do you remember being sixteen? I didn’t until I read this story. I was taken back to all those emotions and feeling I had when I was Lucy’s age. I couldn’t help compare what she was feeling, struggling with what I had at that same age.”

AND

“The writing is spectacular, Lizzy Charles does an exceptional job, pulling the reader in and making them feel what Lucy is feeling. She knows how to make a sixteen year old girl believable. Reminding you of your teenage years. I cannot praise or recommend this book enough.

Effortless with you is an adorable book, with a theme of hardship, trying to fit in, disappointment, friendship, loyalty, forgiveness, family, being true to oneself, new beginnings and first love.”

How could I not cry for joy after reading that? Wow~! Then, they gave it the big:

Internet wise, the day was crazy. Thank you everyone for all the facebook/twitter congratulations! Every one of them brought a smile to my face.

I also got great praise from readers, who haven’t yet finished, but seem addicted to the book!

“This book is KING AWESOME!”

“ADDICTED TO YOUR BOOK!!! It’s so good!!!!”

“I’m on chapter 8 and I can’t stop reading!”

Every comment left me smiling like a fool. Best gifts ever!!! Oh, and I’m getting pet photos with my book, so that rocks~!

I had great promos by sweet Texas author Jodi Linton and author Linda Budzinski! Thank you so much! Stop in on their blogs to enter the daily giveaway.

The Celebration

Hubby and I managed to snag a babysitter for the day! I gorged myself on unlimited sushi, got my wedding ring cleaned, then took an impromtu mini-tour of the James. J. Hill house (featured in EFFORTLESS WITH YOU).

When I returned, I caught a glimpse of my Amazon ranking for the day. And, guys, I’m beaming! It’s been such a journey to get here and I’m so thankful of where I landed on day one. I’m over the moon right now!

Eats: Hubby made brownies late last night to curb my anxiety (it worked) so I ate them for breakfast too. Followed by unlimited sushi for lunch. Dinner? Gosh! I forgot to eat. I think I grabbed a spoonful of corn off my daughter’s dinner plate. I’ll tackle that later!

I think that about covers it, Diary!

xoxo!

~Lizzy

Ready, Set…

Here for the EFFORTLESS WITH YOU Blog Tour giveaway? Stop in along the blog stops listed to enter for a free copy of EFFORTLESS WITH YOU and amazon gift cards. More than one winner!

The Blog Tour Diary. Day 1

Dear Diary, 

I’m kicking off the blog tour today with two great promos over at Love Between the Sheets (this blog is incredible for finding new romance reads, young adult, new adult, or adult (general progression of aging, I guess) and author Jessika Fleck’s blog (one of the sweetest women around!)! If you are interested in participating in the Blog Tour Giveaway, please make sure to stop in at their blogs to enter. Prizes include amazon gift cards and free copies of my novel!

Eats: Dairy free waffles, Chipotle Barbacoa Tacos, and Cashew Chicken (If I can figure out how to make it)

Freak outs: One and counting. Let’s just say, the hubby has been very patient with me today. I freaked out about the mail. The mail! … No, I wasn’t expecting anything. I just… I don’t even know. Obviously, I’m stressed! (Don’t worry, I appoligized!)

Promotional Projects: Now, any sort of paper/glue project, I generally steer clear of. Crafts is more of a torturous activity for me (though I admire all who enjoy it). So, I’m pretty proud of myself for acquiring all the materials needed to make a cute flyer about EFFORTLESS WITH YOU for my coworkers in the Birthplace. Can we just pause for a moment and reflect on the cost of scrapbooking paper (had to google the term)? Like, whoa! Expensive. Thankfully, I found six pages for 99cents. Score! So now that I’ve got the stuff, I just need the desire to cut, glue, and organize it in a cute way. That part, I’ll tackle tonight!

Sleeps: I actually slept last night! I’m surprised, as I haven’t been sleeping well for about a week with tomorrow’s release on the horizon. Hubby even let me sleep in while he took care of the minions. Not too shabby!

Thanks for being my bestie dairy! 

(p.s. I know food doesn’t technically have anything to do with the promotion of this novel. But it has everything to do with how I will function through this tour. Tune in tomorrow for photos of my release day celebratory sushi!)

 

 

 

Upcoming Blog Tour!

Guys, EFFORTLESS WITH YOU is coming to Amazon and Barnes & Noble this Tuesday (August 13th!) ! I’m so excited and celebrating the entire event with a ten day blog tour. The blog tour includes a giveaway with two prizes. Each prize includes an amazon gift card and a copy of EFFORTLESS WITH YOU.

Before the blog tour starts, tomorrow EFFORTLESS WITH YOU is being featured on YATopia: Teen Lit Heaven. Please stop in and check it out!

I’m super psyched about this amazing tour so I thought I’d share the stops!

Blogs that are reviewing my novel:

The Sub Club Books
Book Crazy 123
YA Book Worm
Always YA at Heart
Kassie’s Thoughts
Get Between The Book Ends
Le Book Squirrel
The Only Girl Among Boys
Stuck in YA Books
Swoon Worthy Books

Blogs that are promoting/interviewing/hosting excerpts:

Love Between The Sheets
Jessica Slayer
Book Nerd Anonymous
Cassie Mae
Stephanie Wardrop
Phish Bowl Reads
Sara Biren
Writing on the Wall
Kelley Harvey
Chasing the Crazies
The Book Shelf
Vicki Lemp Weavil

There are some blogs not yet listed as date are to be determined or you were just added (Thank you so much for that!) Don’t worry, if you were just added, I’ll be promoting your stop along the way!

I will be posting everyday next week about each promo/interview and point you in the right direction if you’d like to come along on my book blog tour with me! I do hope you’ll join me.