Surfed on over to Amazon yesterday to check the status of my 99-cent sale and saw this:
Yup, that’s #1 in women’s humor, #1 in women’s fantasy, #1 in paranormal fantasy, and #49 throughout the entire Kindle store!! Dare I pinch myself?!
It’s a Kindle Countdown sale, so the 99-cent price will go up to $1.99 early Friday morning (EST) and then back to its regular $3.99 on Monday. The clock is ticking ;)
Filed under Desperately Ever After, Events
Aside from securing a seven-figure book deal or winning a Pulitzer, the coolest thing I can imagine as an author is to one day watch my work come alive on the big screen. To see the jewel-toned spires of Carpale’s skyline. To hear Rapunzel’s rants against “true love.” To join in as others cheer Belle’s growing independence, laugh at Cinderella’s vengeful “masterpiece,” and roll their eyes at Penny’s helicopter mother-in-law.
Unfortunately, Hollywood hasn’t called just yet. But just in case, here is my Dream Cast* for the Desperately Ever After series. Hey, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared! ;)
(Contest Bonus: Leave your own picks for an additional two bids in the Once Upon a Time/Damsels in Distress giveaway. Details and instructions at bottom of post.)
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THE LADIES
“Emmy Rossum, 2011” by MingleMediaTVNetwork*
Belle (Beauty and the Beast): Emmy Rossum
During the course of the series, D.E.A.’s Belle goes from a sweet, naive, ingénue to a strong, independent, kick-ass woman. I’ve loved Emmy Rossum since she played innocent Christine in The Phantom of the Opera, but her performance as Fiona in Showtime’s Shameless really blew me away.
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“Kristen Bell” by pinguino k from North Hollywood, USA*
Cinderella: Kristen Bell
For D.E.A.’s Cinderella, I picture an actress who shines playing the super smart, responsible, sophisticated woman who tends to bite off way more than she can chew and gets crazy paranoid when the slightest things go wrong — but still remains cute and lovable the entire time. For those of you who’ve seen When in Rome, all I have to say is “fountain breakdown.” For those who haven’t seen it, what are you waiting for?
Filed under Contests, Desperately Ever After, Hollywood
I am so happy to announce that Damsels in Distress, Book Two in the Desperately Ever After series, is now available as an e-book!
Visit Amazon to find out what’s in store for Belle, Rapunzel, Dawn, Penny, Snow, and Cinderella.
Also check out my interview with the fabulous Danielle Poiesz at her blog, Reading Between the Lines. She’s offering two e-books of Book One, Desperately Ever After, for anyone new to the series.
P.S. Look for the paperback version of Damsels in Distress next month. And have a wonderful weekend!!
Filed under Desperately Ever After
If you Google “denial,” you’ll get definitions from the Mayo Clinic, Wikipedia, and good old Merriam-Webster. You’ll also get to relive some Calvin and Hobbes cartoons, learn that “Denial” is an extremely popular book title, and read 217 author quotes on Goodreads.
“Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it,” George R.R. Martin wrote in A Game of Thrones.
While you could also call it optimism, or hope, or faith that Amazon would correct its conversion errors in a timely manner … at the end of the day, Mr. Martin is right. I have been in denial for the past week about the scheduled release of Damsels in Distress. Continue reading
Filed under Desperately Ever After, Writing Process
Infidelity. Secrets. Problems with the in-laws. A sex life on the rocks. Oh, and fairy tales. Sound familiar?
Yes, this description fully applies to Desperately Ever After. But it’s also the premise of a series of short videos called Disney Couples Therapy.
The three-minute clips show Disney’s versions of Sleeping Beauty, Belle, the Little Mermaid, and Snow White hashing it out with their romantic counterparts well down the road. They are downright hopeless compared to Desperately Ever After, and show only the couples (no girl talk here!), but fans of the book series may find them clever and definitely worth a laugh.
It’s perfect timing too, because Damsels in Distress (D.E.A. book #2) actually has a marriage counseling scene between Sleeping Beauty and her husband. Look for that August 20. But in the meantime, exercise your funny bone for a few minutes and enjoy these clips:
Filed under Desperately Ever After, Distractions, Fairy Tale Spin-offs, Hollywood, Misc
A few weeks ago, author RG Dole tagged me in this Writing Process Blog Tour. RG is the author of a supernatural star-crossed lovers book called Immortal Longings (as a fan of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, I hope to get to it soon!), and I’m honored she thought of me for this.
I’ve been struggling to find the time to pick up the torch, so without further ado:
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What am I working on?
Damsels in Distress, the sequel to Desperately Ever After, is due out next month. It’s hard to say too much about the story because the first book is still brand new and I don’t want to give anything away! I’ll just say that Damsels in Distress continues Belle’s struggle and also adds Sleeping Beauty (Dawn) into the mix. Dawn is a background character in Book One for space reasons, but her story is actually one of my favorites. I really can’t wait for everyone to get to know her better. There are so many questions people never ask about the Sleeping Beauty tale: What kind of man would discover a comatose woman in the woods and decide to kiss her? How would she feel waking up covered in dust with a stranger’s tongue in her mouth? What if she had been in love with someone else before the curse hit? How would she reconcile her old life with her brand new existence?
After that, I’ll be diving into the third installment in the series, as well as writing my first Desperately Ever After novella. The latter will tell the story behind Grethel, the woman who took Rapunzel as a baby and kept her in that tower. There are so many minor characters in the series that I’d love to explore further, so I hope it’s the first of many side projects. Continue reading
Filed under Blog Hops, Desperately Ever After, Writing Process
The cover reveal for Damsels in Distress is here! And it’s coinciding with a 99-cent Kindle Countdown deal … so you can get acquainted with all the ladies of Marestam before their stories continue!
In this second installment of the Desperately Ever After series, Belle, Dawn, Snow, Penny, and Rapunzel struggle with love, obligation, old flames, new flames, disappointments, triumphs, and plenty of secrets. (Cinderella takes a bit of a breather in this one, but rest assured she’ll be back!)
About the series:
Imagine what might happen if our most beloved fairy tale princesses were the best of friends and had the dreams, dilemmas, and libidos of the modern woman. How would their stories unfold after true love’s kiss? Set in a fictional realm based on New York City, the Desperately Ever After series sprinkles women’s fiction with elements of fantasy, and encourages readers to rethink everything they know about happy endings.
About Damsels in Distress:
(Warning: If you haven’t read the first book yet, there are some spoilers!)
After watching her fairy tale go up in flames, Belle is finally starting over. With a baby on the way, a business to run, and a new love interest she just can’t shake, things are finally looking up. That is, until she learns her independence might revive broken curses the world over. Could “happily ever after” really mean staying with her unfaithful husband? Or will Belle and her steadfast friends find another way?
Meanwhile, Dawn still longs for the life she had three centuries earlier—before her sleeping curse ended in two kids, an unfamiliar era, and a husband she barely knows. So when she encounters the childhood sweetheart she believed to be dead, Dawn must suddenly choose between the past she once wanted and the present she never knew she did.
As both women struggle between love and obligation, they fail to see a great danger brewing in the capital–one that could change everything forever.
Damsels in Distress takes a whimsical look at our most beloved fairy tale characters several years down the road. Part Sex and the City, part Desperate Housewives, and part Brothers Grimm, it’s ultimately about a group of friends coming to terms with how their lives have turned out. They just happen to live in castles.
Click here to read an excerpt from the upcoming book, or here to find out what reviewers are saying about the series.
And don’t forget to take advantage of the Kindle Countdown sale at Amazon! The price just dropped to 99 cents, but will slowly creep back up over the next few days. The clock is ticking!
(Note: The link will take you to the US site, but the sale is available worldwide.)
Filed under Desperately Ever After
The wonderful Zanna Mackenzie, author of IF YOU ONLY KNEW and fellow dog lover, interviews me on her blog today.
It’s nice to turn the tables once in a while and talk about my experience ;)
Check it out here: http://t.co/P9I3mKXYAi
Today marks the end of Desperately Ever After’s blog tour, with a double stop at Tracy Riva’s Books & Reviews, and Deal Shaing Aunt.
It’s been fun, with a month-long price drop to $2.99, giveaways galore (read on to see which are still ongoing), interviews, guest posts, and some pretty darn fantastic reviews that left me smiling almost every day.
Here are some of the highlights. The red asterisk indicates sites that are still offering free copies. Keep in mind that the price drop is only temporary, and the sequel will be out in August … so now’s the perfect time to get acquainted with Rapunzel, Belle, Cinderella, and the rest of the gang as they cope with life after true love’s kiss!
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“It’s the perfect book to be reading this summer and it’s completely unputdownable!” ~ The YA’s Nightstand *** Giveaway ends July 1!
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“An explosive cocktail that will have you laughing out loud and wanting more and more! … Laura’s style is witty and flirty and had me turning page after page devouring this little gem.” ~ Lost in Chick Lit
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“No more damsel in distress, useless without her prince, but modern day woman struggling with and enjoying love. Desperately Ever After is a wonderfully sarcastic, romantic and heartwarming tale about love and friendship with witty conversations, juicy cliches and a healthy dose of humor. I cannot wait to read the sequel!” ~ M’s Bookshelf Continue reading
Filed under Blog Hops, Contests, Desperately Ever After
As an indie author, I’ve been so humbled, inspired, and motivated by the phenomenal reviews & support Desperately Ever After has received over the past few months.
I set down this road expecting cutthroat competition and closed doors, but instead have found so many amazing writers, readers, and bloggers quick to offer advice, support, and virtual fist pumps.
So here’s just a quick thanks for all of your blog comments, book reviews, tweets, features, interviews (on both sides), blurbs, Facebook likes, Goodreads adds, and general excitement for the women of Marestam. Because of you, I’m approaching the release of my second novel with an ear-to-ear smile and much calmer nerves!
Thanks for giving me a new happy place :)
Filed under Desperately Ever After, Misc
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