Who wants some HOMETOWN LOVE?

Today is a special day as I welcome Christina Tetreault and I allow her to take over for the day.  I have the pleasure of being a chapter mate of Christina's at NHRWA.  She is having a sale this month of HOMETOWN LOVE.

Christina started writing at the age of 10 on her grandmother's manual typewriter and never stopped. When she is not driving her 3 daughters (ages 7, 5, and 5) around to their various activities or chasing around their three dogs, she is working on a story or reading a romance novel. Currently, she has two series out, The Sherbrookes of Newport and Love on The North Shore. You can visit her website www.christinatetreault.com or follow her on Facebook to learn more about her characters and to track her progress on her current writing projects.

Welcome, Christina!!

Don’t give away any secrets but what’s your book about?

Hometown Love which I have on sale this month to celebrate my 3 year anniversary as a published author is about how love can help a person heal.

Back cover blurb: 

Everyone in North Salem thinks they know Jessie Quinn.  She is the town’s quintessential girl next door. The woman you can always turn to when you need a helping hand. Nobody knows that she’s spent years overcoming the emotional scars left by her last boyfriend.

As a single dad and task force officer with the FBI, Mack Ellsbury moves back to North Salem to be closer to his family, not to find love. Then Jessie Quinn returns to his life. Soon Mack no longer sees Jessie as the quiet girl he once tutored in high school but rather the woman he is falling in love with.

Mack’s love helps Jessie erase the scars she’s carried around for so long, but when his ex-wife decides she wants reconciliation, their relationship is put in jeopardy.

What inspired you to write Hometown Love

Jessica Quinn the heroine in this story was originally a minor character in my second book The Billionaire Playboy as well as The Courage To Love. She continued to bug me until I finally gave her a book of her own.

How did you come up with the title?

Both main characters grew up in North Salem, Massachusetts, the fictitious setting for this both as well as the entire series Love On The North Shore. While Jessica remained in town, Mack moved away and lived in Boston for a period of time. At the start of the book he has just moved back town. Since he falls in love with a hometown girl, the title just made sense.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything about your book?

The only thing I might change is to drop more clues toward what is in store for a Tony Bates a secondary character that appears in this book as well as two of my other books. 

Do you have plans for a new book?   Is your book part of a series?

Currently, I am working on the sixth book in my series The Sherbrookes of Newport. I am hoping for an early summer release.  Once that book is done I will start on book three in my series Love On The North Shore.

How long does it take you to write your novel?

It varies.  My first book published The Teacher’s Billionaire took me about 5 years to finish. I started it and then life got in the way. Hometown Love I finished in the shortest amount of time ever. I was able to get the rough draft down in about two and half months. Then I spent about a month on revisions and edits.

What do you think makes a good story?

I think characters are key to a good story. If I do not at least like the characters in novel, I will not even finish it. The plot also needs to stay consistent. Even if it takes place in a fantasy setting, must stay consistent throughout the book.

What do you do when you are not writing?

When I am not writing I do like to go to the gym. Of course I also spend a lot of time driving my daughters to and from their activities. They are all busy girls. I am also a girl scout leader.

Do you have a day job as well?

In addition to writing, I am CEO,CFO and chauffeur for Tetreault Enterprises (AKA my family).

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

For the most part, I write 5 days a week starting around the time my three daughters leave for school. Once they get off the bus, however, that is it for the day. The weekends are usually filled with family time and the girls’ activities.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

I find the beginnings of a story the most difficult to write. Once I get the first few chapters down, I am more comfortable and the story starts to flow.

What does your family think of your writing?

My husband has always been supportive and is in fact my critique partner. My children are not old enough to read what I write, but they love to tell people that mommy is a writer.

What book are you reading now?

I just finished a Lynn Kurland time travel romance this morning.

Do you work with an outline, or just write?

I do a character sketch for the two main characters, however, I do not do a detailed outline. I tried once, and it just didn’t work for me.

 

How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre?

Over the past three years I have tried a little of everything when it comes to marketing. I have done paid ads with companies such as Bookbub. I have done Facebook parties, blog tours and contest. I have also do ads on such sites as The Romance Studio. I think they all help. I also think regular interaction with my readers has helped.

Do you prefer e-books, paperbacks or hardcover?

I tend to buy more e-books only because it means they don’t take up a lot of space in my house. I still favor paperbacks. There is just something about feeling the paper between your fingers. I will buy paperbacks if I have the opportunity to get them signed by the author. I have never been a big fan of hardcover books.

 

Is there a particular movie that you preferred over the book version?

The only movie that I can say I enjoyed more than the book was The Bourne Identity. I do not watch many movies that are made from books because I feel they don’t usually do the book justice.

Coffee or tea? 

Coffee. I must drink at least 4 cups of coffee each day.

I personally can't wait to read this book and it has been added to my TBR pile.  Where can you find HOMETOWN LOVE?

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1zwK4Jt

iTunes: http://bit.ly/15zxywl

kobo http://bit.ly/1GBf9zE

BN http://bit.ly/1uM26X1

Thank you, Christina for joining us today.

What's New?

Oh where do I start?  Things have been happening so fast around me lately that I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed with it all.  I will have a new cover reveal next week for my upcoming release in April of SECOND CHANCES.  I'm so excited about this book.  As the title suggest this is symbolic of so much in my life right now and second chances going on.

SECOND CHANCES will be released in April and should be up for pre-order soon (just waiting on the cover).  I also am involved in a box set, which TRUSTING LOVE will be included along with nine other authors and their books.  Keep an eye out for information on that, which will be up for pre-order in April.

Beyond that, A TIME TO HEAL is looking like it will be released in late September.  I am wrapping up writing A FINE LINE (look for it in early 2016) and am anxious to start writing FINALLY HOME, which will be a little different from the rest of my books.  No details yet, but I think you will love it!

So on top of all the writing news above, I am in the process of preparing my house to go on the market.  Once my son graduates in June, I will be looking at moving to Tennessee and getting settled down there in my role as full time author.  I'm so excited for this move, yet it is scary at the same time.  There are a lot of changes going on and thankfully I can focus on all the positive.

Keep tune for more updates and if you haven't subscribed to my newsletter, now is the time to do it as my subscribers will have first glance at my new book cover and a chance to win a free copy.  Subscribe here.  Please feel free to follow me on Facebook and Twitter also.

And the good news just continues.....

As my writing partner and I sat talking yesterday, going over good things happening to her, good things and yet overwhelming things happening to me, I ended up with more good news via email.

Let me just say that when things fall into place -- THEY FALL INTO PLACE!  As I'm looking forward to 2015 and all the exciting things happening, and I know you are looking for what those things are.  So just a glimpse as to what is going on:

First, you will see a release from me in April.  I'm excited about this release as it is titled SECOND CHANCES and I feel that this book is just that for me.  There will be upcoming news in my newsletter regarding this release.

Also in my newsletter will be upcoming news about an exciting project I am involved in that will be fully revealed in the next month!  There will be new contest coming forth strictly for newsletter subscribers.  So if you haven't subscribed yet to my newsletter, do so here so you don't miss out on these exciting opportunities.

I'm also in the process of putting together the preliminary stages of starting a street team.  Anyone who may be interested in being a part of this, please contact me.

Oh, The Excitement!

As writers we all have days that knock us down. Days where we are filled with self-doubt about our writing, our ability to walk this career path and how will we find the time to do everything that needs to be done.  I was having one of those days today.  I was overwhelmed by the amount of writer things I needed to accomplish today.

When this happens, it sets me upon procrastination mode.  So instead of digging in and just writing, I started looking over release schedules and what had to be done for marketing.  And, yes, this is all writing stuff, but it's finishing A FINE LINE.  In the meantime, I received an email giving me some fabulous news on my writing, which has turned my "my writing sucks" day around into "good things are coming from me in 2015".

It's amazing to me how quickly things can turn for a writer and their mindset.  So now I have good news and anticipate very good things coming just this spring.  So look forward to the details that will follow shortly and if you haven't signed up for my newsletter, please do so here.

Writing Schedules

How important is it for a writer to have a schedule?  In my opinion, extremely.  If you plan to make writing your career and want to write full time, you need to treat it as a full time job.  You need to work set hours and put in the effort and time into what you plan for your career.  I don't know how many times I heard my grandmother say "You get what you put into it".  How true that is especially with writing.

If you follow my blog, you will know that I have a very set career path of writing full time within the next year or so.  In that vein, I need to set my writing work hours and treat my writing as if it was a job that I had to answer to someone else for.  I set how much time I spend a day writing, and although I love the flexibility of changing the hours if I need to day to day depending on what is going on in my life, I have to remain rigid in the fact that I need to have at least three to four hours set aside each day for writing.

As I progress further into my writing career, I need to also set time for marketing and updating social media.  And let's face it -- social media is a necessary evil for writers.  It helps us connect with our readers, other writers and gives us the opportunity for networking, however it can be a huge time sucker from your day if you get caught up in it.  I have found that I need to allow myself so much time in the day for social media and I use it in small chunks.  Morning with my coffee -- check social media.  After a writing chunk and I need a break -- I allow myself another social media check in and then again in the evening when my day is winding down.

What kind of writing schedule do you have and do you struggle with sticking to it?

Looking Forward

I sit here this morning watching more snow fall down.  Winters in New England are long and tedious, and each winter I sit here and wonder why do I live in this area of the country when I hate winter so much.

This is the year for that to change for me. Plans are in motion for downsizing and moving to a warmer climate as my kids leave the nest.  Two out of three are already gone and one more remains. He will be graduating in June and then on to bigger and better things for him.  It's bittersweet for me to look at my children who have been my life for the past 24 years and see them as adults.  I am so enjoying having adult children, but when my youngest turned 18 last week, it struck me that they are all grown up. Two things hit me with that realization.  One, I really do love having adult children even if I do miss the age of snuggling and wanting to spend time with me and two, I'm at a phase in my life where I can be a little selfish and do what I want, go where I want and for the first time in my adult life, not be responsible for anyone but myself.  It's a strange feeling.

I can spend more time holed away writing and with that course, schedule at least two releases a year for my books. So I plan out my writing schedules and my release dates and with that comes another realization that I am about to make my dreams come true and be a full time writer.  Wow--honestly I wasn't sure that day would ever come, but here it is basically and within the next year I will be able to write full time.

So what's new for Emma Leigh Reed, author?  SECOND CHANCES is scheduled to be released in April 2015 and A TIME TO HEAL scheduled for late summer/early fall.  In 2016, you can look for A FINE LINE and COMING HOME.  There will also be some new projects started that I can't talk about yet, but be sure to look for news regarding those.  As always, you can find me on Facebook or sign up for my newsletter to stay better informed and for some special surprises that come to only my newsletter subscribers.

Here is to a bright and busy 2015!

Another Step Towards the Future

Two Fridays ago I went to a writers conference hosted by one of my writing groups, MCRW in Nashville, Tennessee. It was on plotting and Cherry Adair was there leading away with her color coding in her writing and plots.  It was very good, however the one thing it reiterated for me -- I am NOT a plotter and will never be one. Plotting a book for me is a huge source of stress. I much prefer to sit down, open a blank document and just start typing. When I sit down, I do have character sketches and a general idea of what needs to happen with my book, but I allow the characters drive the story. To me this is much more enjoyable.

Although I don't plot the story, I have new ideas (with character sketches) planned out for another three books to write.

However, one thing that did become very clear to me. The plan I have set in motion for my future is a good one, financially and career wise. So I look forward to changes coming, excited about a career in which I will be able to write full time, and anticipate an exciting move to a new city, new state and be surrounded with writers that get the craziness of this business. Once I made the decision and put together a plan, the stress I had been feeling just lifted.  Sometimes half the battle is just making a decision.