Samantha Tonge's Blog, page 15

Festival of Romantic Fiction Shortlisting!

Goodness me. I am still recovering from the exciting news that Doubting Abbey has been shortlisted for the Festival of Romantic Fiction's Best E-book award. The ceremony is in a couple of weeks, so I guess I'd better brush down my posh frock - or even better, buy a new one!

The competition is fierce, but I'm just so thrilled to be on this list, it makes all the sweat and tears - and hours at my desk, eating chocolate! - worthwhile.

Best of luck to everyone. Further details of the other shortlists - for authors and the romantic fiction industry - are here.

Tips For An Online Launch Party!

Well, From Paris with Love is finally "out there" and on Thursday I held a wonderful online launch party, on Facebook. I've done a few of these now, so here are a few tips to make yours enjoyable, based on what works for me:

I find setting it over lunchtime is most successful, that way people in work can pop in during their lunchtime - mine was from 11am to 2pm. Also, unless you have lots of giveaways and subjects to discuss, setting it for many hours means it can end up being very quiet.

Prepare lots of fun photos to upload eg of booze for the guests, savoury snacks, cake, handsome guests - then in between competitions you have plenty to discuss, eg what is your guests' favourite sweet nibble or tipple.

Make sure there is going to be plenty going on - I set one competition each hour, and make the entry question easy for lots of people to participate. My book, From Paris with Love has the themes of France, food, spies and rockstars, so I set the questions around those themes, but in a general way, eg, what is the best meal you have ever eaten out? Then, I would pick a winner  out of a hat (or beret!) from everyone who left a comment. If you make the questions more specific, eg related to the book or its prequel (if it has one) you risk alienating people who are new to you as an author - they won't be able to take part. 

Have decent prizes - they needn't be too expensive. Mine were gifts related to Paris, eg a bookmark and notebook, plus an Amazon voucher is always a good prize to fall back on. 

Make it fun! And most importantly, acknowledge every single comment - if people have given up their valuable time to participate, that is the least you owe them.

Enjoy it! Online launch parties, especially for us e-authors, can make your day very, very special. 

It's Publication Day!

Finally it's arrived, the day I've been waiting for - the publication of my second novel, From Paris with Love. It follows the relationship of bonkers Gemma and Lord Edward, from Doubting Abbey, as they spend a month in Paris - although this book can be read as a standalone.

I'll be touring some lovely blogs over the next two weeks  and if you buy the book, I do hope you enjoy it. Some wonderful 4* and 5* reviews have already rolled in on Amazon and GoodReads.

Right, better go and get ready for my Facebook launch party - do come along if you can. My gorgeous (and knows it) female cat Mitzie has already packed her clutch bag :). 



From Paris with Love is available to buy from UK and US Amazon and other good e-book retailers.

Launch Party Prizes!

This Thursday 24th July sees the launch of my second novel From Paris with Love - just in case I haven't mentioned it before (which, um, is highly unlikely!) Below are photos of the prizes for three competitions I shall be running. There's a £10 Amazon voucher up for grabs, which would cover the cost of my book, plus leave change for another purchase! Plus a fancy Paris bookmark, and a cute Eiffel Tower necklace. Also vintage Paris themed coasters and a fab notebook.

I do hope you'll join me on Thursday, at my online Facebook event, before 11am and 2pm. There will, of course, be unlimited virtual cake and champagne... :)

You are cordially invited...!

Finally July has arrived and it is precisely 19 days until my second novel, From Paris with Love, is published - squee! Hence me sitting in front of a computer on a Saturday, whilst the sun is shining - I am writing guest blogs for my tour and picking out some lovely prizes for my Facebook launch party on 24th July. Please, do come along and join in the fun! There will be plenty of virtual cake and fizz. Or, visit one of the stops on my blog tour, where I'll be listing the best and worst things about being published and talking about the fact that I'm a little bit bonkers, like my  main character, Gemma Goodwin.

My blog tour will begin on the 22nd July with three blogs posting the first chapter of From Paris with Love. It will run until the 6th of August, by which time I'll have eaten my weight in chocolate. I can't wait for you to follow Gemma's antics once more. Plus meet mystery stalker Joe Bloggs and hot rockstar Blade who makes her laugh. And, of course, loyal, gorgeous Lord Edward is also in the French capital. In fact he's become friends with an annoyingly attractive, snooty local called Monique. Watch the sparks fly between her and Gemma!

From Paris with Love - the cover!

Isn't it preeetty? Well, okay, I'm biased - but I just love the cover to Doubting Abbey's sequel, From Paris with Love . Here's the blurb below! Not long now, it's out on July 24th  - I can't wait to unleash Gemma's Parisian adventure upon the world!





 Every girl dreams of hearing those four magical words Will you marry me? But no-one tells you what’s supposed to happen next…. 
Fun-loving Gemma Goodwin knows she should be revelling in her happy-ever-after. Except when her boyfriend Lord Edward popped the question, after a whirlwind romance, although she didn’t say no….she didn’t exactly say yes either!
 A month-long cookery course in Paris could be just the place to make sure her heart and her head are on the same page…  And however disenchanted with romance Gemma is feeling, the City of Love has plenty to keep her busy; the champagne is decadently quaffable, the croissants almost too delicious, and shopping is a national past-time!  In fact, everything in Paris makes her want to say Je t’aime…. Except Edward!

 But whilst Paris might offer plenty of distractions from wedding planning – including her new friends, mysterious Joe and hot  French rockstar Blade - there’s no reason she couldn’t just try one or two couture dresses is there? Just for fun…

From Paris With Love - the cover!

Isn't it preeetty? Well, okay, I'm biased - but I just love the cover to Doubting Abbey's sequel, From Paris With Love. Here's the blurb below! Not long now, it's out on July 24th  - I can't wait to unleash Gemma's Parisian adventure upon the world!



 Every girl dreams of hearing those four magical words Will you marry me? But no-one tells you what’s supposed to happen next…. 
Fun-loving Gemma Goodwin knows she should be revelling in her happy-ever-after. Except when her boyfriend Lord Edward popped the question, after a whirlwind romance, although she didn’t say no….she didn’t exactly say yes either!
 A month-long cookery course in Paris could be just the place to make sure her heart and her head are on the same page…  And however disenchanted with romance Gemma is feeling, the City of Love has plenty to keep her busy; the champagne is decadently quaffable, the croissants almost too delicious, and shopping is a national past-time!  In fact, everything in Paris makes her want to say Je t’aime…. Except Edward!
 But whilst Paris might offer plenty of distractions from wedding planning – including her new friends, mysterious Joe and hot  French rockstar Blade - there’s no reason she couldn’t just try one or two couture dresses is there? Just for fun…

Why I Heart Paris!

On my lounge wall is a famous picture - the Parisian kiss photo, taken by Robert Doisneau - and it sums up everything I love about Paris. The romance - understated in a classy continental way. The sexy accents. The majestic tourist spots.

I lived there you see, a couple of times in my youth and this no doubt inspired the setting for From Paris With Love, the sequel to my romantic comedy e-book, Doubting Abbey.

I spent six months there as a university student, working for a chemical company, just off the Champs Elysees - my, how I enjoyed my lunch hours, strolling down that famous boulevard, taking in the fashionable passers-by and gawping at the glamorous, sophisticated boutiques.

No doubt the French capital holds a special place in my heart, as I fell in love, with an older Frenchman who wrote poetry and played the guitar. I have fond memories of whizzing around the Arc de Triomphe on his motorbike and us sitting together, at night, on the steps of the Sacre Coeur. We would visit jazz bars and eat couscous at Tunisian restaurants.

Of course, some things weren't quite so romantic - the musty smell of the underground... The time I got pick-pocketed... Being very ill after a meal of rare beef, cockles and oysters! But whenever I look back on my time in Paris, my chest glows. My fantasy is to have a little flat near the artists' haven, Montemartre... 

I revisit all my favourite places in From Paris With Love - the atmospheric Pere Lachaise cemetery, where Chopin, Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are buried... The awesome Monet watercolour canvasses at the Orangerie Museum... The fabulous flea market in Porte de Clignacourt...

One day I hope to return there with my English husband, so that we can create some romantic memories of our own. 

Yes, I'll always have Paris... And it's been wonderful to take Doubting Abbey's bonkers main character, Gemma, there.

From Paris with Love is out on 24th July and is the standalone sequel to bestseller Doubting Abbey which is currently 39p on Amazon UK, $0.66 on Amazon.com and is today's Daily Find and 39p on Nook. 

Interview with fellow Carina author Kristina O'Grady!

Hello Kristina  - and can I just say, first of all, how much I LOVE the cover to your time-travel novel (blurb below)! It's great having you here!



Hi Samantha, thank you so much for having me!  I'm so excited to be here.




 Debutantes Don’t Date looks like a fantastic story. It is similar to Doubting Abbey in that my heroine, Gemma, is thrust into an aristocratic atmosphere and has to adapt quickly – it sounds like Grace has to do the same! I’m assuming the book is comedic? Gemma from DA certainly gets herself into some funny situations, when trying to fit in.
You are right to think that our novels hold a common theme and even although they are set in different times they are both about a heroine trying to fit into a situation she never expected to find herself in.  I wrote Debutantes Don't Date with fun in mind and although I wouldn't consider it to be a comedy per say, there is some comedic moments in it as Grace attempts to 'find her feet' in the 1800's.   What appealed to you about writing within the Regency Period?
The very first romance novel I ever picked up was set in the Regency period and since then I have always had a soft spot for that time.  I love the romantic feel of the era with the elegant dresses and the grand homes. Are you a fan of period dramas?
I am.  I love getting sucked into the past.  I can’t imagine having to live as anything but a modern woman – how do you think you would fit into an aristocratic lifestyle?
 The love the idea of travelling back in time but I think the reality of living in the past would soon loose it's shine.  I am too attached to my modern luxuries like running water and flush toilets. But I imagine I would have the toughest time in winter without proper heating. Brrr.  Describe Grace in three words.
Driven, short, klutz.   How hot is the hero, the Earl of Bingham?!
Super hot!  As all heroes should be. ;)  Tell me a little bit about yourself – how long have you been writing?
Lets see, I was born in Canada, I worked as an Environmental Consultant before meeting my husband and moving down to New Zealand.  We have three youngish children and live on a sheep and beef farm in sunny Hawke's Bay.I have been writing for a long time, since for as long as I can remember really, but nothing serious until about six years ago.  It was then that a story grabbed me and I decided to give writing a novel a go.  It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be and when I had written myself into several corners I decided to try something fun and romantic instead. That novel turned into Debutantes Don't Date. I must say it was so fun writing romance that now I can't stop!   Is there another book in the pipeline – can readers look forward to a sequel or is everything tied up neatly at the end of this one? Well.....things are tied up neatly at the end of Debutantes Don't Date...or are they?  Let's just say in the next book you might find out something else about Grace and Jasper, but the next book is not about them.
Well best of luck with sales, Kristina!
Thank you again Samantha.  It was great 'chatting' with you.
Find out more about Kristina here.
Buy her book on AmazonUK here.
Here's the blurb!
One minute Grace Lancaster is an overworked event manager organising 2013’s New Year’s Eve ball… The next she’s kissing a rather gorgeous man at the Regency themed party. Everyone’s entitled to an out-of-character New Year’s kiss, right? Except Jasper Mossman, Earl of Bingham, isn’t at a costume party - he’s a real-life gentleman from 1813...And, it seems, kissing a man in Regency London has consequences!What Grace considers normal behaviour scandalises Regency society and so far she’s provided the irrepressible gossips of the ton with a season’s worth of conversation! In a scramble to protect her reputation, as well as his own, Jasper insists that they marry for the sake of her honour. Marrying Mr Darcy might be a 21st century girl’s dream – but the reality is far from romantic. Corsets are uncomfortable, no running water is disastrous! Grace had always planned on falling in love before she got married, but when Jasper takes her in his arms she just might believe she’s finally found her very own Prince Charming.

Title for sequel!

I am really excited to announce that the title for the sequel to Doubting Abbey is... "From Paris With Love" ! 

Bond fans might see the simiilarity between this and a Sean Connery film. And sure enough, there's a pretty hot spy in the story, who hunts down Gemma...

But enough! Later in the week, I should get my hands on the official blurb. One things for sure, though - the sequel is going to take Gemma on a bonkers journey!