Connecting With Fans

Howdy, everyone!  Howdy, Jordan M!

Who is Jordan M?  Well, you’ll have a read a bit to find out.  But I have to tell you, she’s someone who made my day.

When I sat down to write this blog, it was early in the morning on April 2nd, the day Saved at Sunrise was released.  As crazy as it sounds, I still get this knot in my stomach when I have a book released.  I’m always a little frightened that the story will miss the mark with my readers.   That the things I thought were funny, won’t seem so funny to you guys.  That somehow, my characters will fall flat.  You would think that after having almost 20 books published, the nervousness would end, but nope.  Putting a book out, is a little like standing naked in public.  Because when you write a story, it’s part of you.  Writers dig deep into their pasts, their morals, their fears, and likes and dislikes to create these pieces of fiction.  So, all these pages are really parts of us.  Then when those pages are released, we are exposed, opened for the whole world to see, to read. It’s a scary thought.

Yet, while I’m nervous, I’m also excited.  I want you to read my book.  I want to know you laughed, that you got that knot in your throat in the same places in the book that I got a knot in my mine while I was writing.

As a writer I have a few fantasies.  And no they aren’t about hot guys.  Okay, I might have a few of those, but I’m not sharing.  LOL.  I have this dream that I will sit down on an airplane and casually look over at the person sitting next to me and he/she will be reading my book.  And recently I’ve been doing a lot of traveling.  While I haven’t run into someone reading my book, I did have something almost as good happen.

You see, when I travel for book tours, I get to the airport and my publisher will have a limo driver waiting for me in the baggage claim.  I spotted a man with my name written on a card, and he helped me with my bags and we started off to the hotel.  He had heard I was a writer and asked me what I write.  I told him and he shared he has a step-daughter who reads.  I signed a bookmark for him to give to his step daughter.

I thought that was the end of it, that I would never see the limo driver again.  Sure in the back of mind, I mused about how cool it would be if his step-daughter actually read my work.  Now flash forward a few days.  The same limo driver came to pick me up at the hotel to take me back to the airport.  And when he saw me, he told me that after he’d met me he’d called his step daughter, Jordan.  He asked if she knew who C.C. Hunter was.  He said, she replied, “Of course, why?” When he told her he’d met me, she thought he was just teasing. So, he took her the bookmark.

Then as we got into the limo to return to the airport, he handed me a letter from Jordan.  It was beyond sweet.  She told me what she liked about my characters, about how she thought some things were funny and some things were sad.

Jordan, thank you for taking the time to write me a letter.  Thank you for thinking I’m funny in the right places and for tearing up in the scenes that made me cry.  Thank you for being a fan.

And thank you to all of you who are reading and enjoying my books.  Without readers, without the really excited fans who run out and tell someone about Kylie Galen and Lucas and Derek, and about Miranda turning Kylie’s cat into a skunk, without you guys, I couldn’t be a writer. And I wouldn’t be releasing my fifth Shadow Falls book, Chosen at Nightfall on the 23rd of this month!

So I have a treat for you. Here is the video for Chosen at Nightfall. Enjoy!

[image error]Today, just because I think you guys are the best, I’m going to give away a copy of a book I read and enjoyed: The Collector by Victoria Scott.  Yes, she was my guest blogger a week or so ago.  But I just want you guys to know I read this, and she’s an amazing writer.  She’s a little bit sassy like I am–and you know I love sass.  Victoria has an amazing writing voice.  So, I think you guys will enjoy her.

Make sure you leave a comment to be able to win.  Thank you again.  And hey…it’s just how many days until Chosen at Nightfall comes out?  Soon, right?  Very very soon!!  I think those knots in my stomach are coming back.

Winner! 

The winner of last week’s Chosen at Nightfall giveaway Isaiah Aldridge. Please email you mailing address to cc@cchunterbooks.com. Congratulations!

Notice

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I will be unable to attend my Wednesday,  April 10th signing at Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, TX. However, the delightful Rainbow Rowell will still be there, so I encourage you to go. It will be fun. As promised, even though I won’t be there, I’ll still give away FIVE copies of Chosen at Nightfall. I’m so sorry to miss this, but I would be happy to send a signed bookplate to anyone who buys one of my books at the signing.