Joyce DiPastena's Blog, page 95

Winner of my Book Cornucopia Drawing!

Congratulations to Karlene Browning of Utah! She's the winner of my Book Cornucopia Drawing. Karlene has won a tote bag with a quote from Abraham Lincoln that reads: "My best friend is a person who will give me a book I have not read," (hmm, does that mean Karlene and I are now best friends?) filled with the following books:
The Once and Future King, by T.H. WhiteThe Three Musketeers, by Alexandre DumasCrocodile on the Sandbank, by Elizabeth PetersWuthering Heights, by Emily BronteA Man for All

Book Review of "Martha's Freedom Train", by C. LaRene Hall and Book Giveaway

Martha's Freedom Train, by C. LaRene Hall, tells the tale of a young slave girl before the American Civil War. Fearful that their master's attentions are turning too uncomfortably towards their daughter, Martha's parents decide to flee the plantation with her and travel the Underground Railroad in a bid for freedom in the North. Unfortunately, the frigid temperatures the family is forced to navigate causes Martha's mother to contract pneumonia. Martha's father is faced with a difficult choice: l

Review of "Illuminations of the Heart"

Since I'm completely confused about my WIP, I might as well share a review of a book I've actually finished! That would be my recently published medieval romance, Illuminations of the Heart. You can read a review if you'd like by Tina Scott at Totally Tina. (I love her blog's name!)
And don't forget that my Book Cornucopia Drawing is still ongoing, but the deadline is coming up fast. Click here for details, and enter by July 31, midnight PST.

Heroines, heroines...

Did I say I knew who my new heroine is? I may have spoken too soon! I'm pretty sure Leonia is gone for good. It might still be Joslin. But with my WIP proving itself to have a stubborn will of its own, it might turn out to be someone I (and my hero) haven't even met yet!
Or maybe (gasp!) I'm not even writing a romance at all this time. If anybody knows, it certainly isn't me! Looks like I'll just have to keep writing to find out what the heck this next book of mine wants to be!

The Sweetest Romance Chat Scavenger Hunt

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I've been invited to participate in The Sweetest Romance Chat Scavenger Hunt that is going on today. E.A. asked me to include my clue in a blog about one of my favorite books. Oddly enough, the title that sprang immediately to my mind was The Three MUSKETEERS, by Alexandre Dumas. I have friends who prefer his more "serious/complex" titles, like The Count of Monte Cristo or The Man in the Iron Mask…both excellent works, I'll grant you. But my favorite of all Dumas' works remains The Three MUSKE

Illuminations of the Heart - on sale at Amazon!

Illuminations of the Heart is currently on sale at Amazon for only $14! This would be a great time to give it a try!

Interview and Giveaway with Regency Romance Author, Jaimey Grant

Today I present the second interview in the three Regency romance author installments I promised you! And yes, I have contacted the third author and she has agreed to do an interview with me in August, so unless some unforeseen "life events" trip us up, I will be able to keep my triple interview promise to you. :-) In fact, this is proving to be so much fun (for me, at least), that I may round up some additional historical fiction authors to interview in the future. Time will tell...

But for now,

Review of "Illuminations of the Heart"

The first review of Illuminations of the Heart is in! It earned 5 stars on Teens Read Too!

Home and a key WIP decision

I'm home from an AMAZING writers retreat! I attended some fantastic classes led by some fantastic authors, and hopefully, my next book will be much the better for it. I also got some valuable writing done. In case you've been wondering, it looks like Joslin has won the battle for the heroine of my next WIP. I'm sad to lose Leonia, but maybe she'll find her way into a story of her own in the future.

And I'm off...tomorrow, anyway

I'm off to a writers retreat tomorrow. Looking forward to cooler temperatures than 110 and hoping to get some progress made on my new WIP. Maybe by the time I get back, I'll know who my heroine is!