Honorable Mention

I recently (a couple months ago) entered Waking Up into the 21st Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards contest. 

I promptly put it out of my mind. I knew that if I thoight about it, I would drive myself bonkers while waiting for October 14th to FINALLY roll around. 

October 14th came...and went without notification. I knew I hadn't won because the contest clearly stated that all winners would be notified no later than October 14th. 

Okay, whatever. I know the rejection game. I didn't expect to win though I had fervently hoped, of course! 

Then I receieved an email stating that I would receive a judge's commentary on my novel sometime before December 31st. Another waiting game. That's cool, I have plenty of patience. 

Then I got the commentary. I read it. I teared up. I read it again. I forwarded copies to my mom, my husband, and my two best friends. I read it again with tears in my eyes. I printed out a copy and showed it to a coworker. I read it again. 

"The writing crackles with suspense and excitement, and tells a fascinating story... The crosscutting of scenes and shifting between viewpoints is cinematic in nature, and so this book would lend itself quite well to being filmed commercially." Judge, Writer's Digest 21st Annual Self-Published Book Awards 

I am simply stunned. I figured my commentary would be filled with criticism. To be sure, the judge did give some awesome constructive criticism that I am taking to heart for present and future projects. 

But she or he took the time to compliment as well. Not only that, but they said that my story would "lend itself quite well to being filmed..." Filmed! 

Of course I have dreamed of potentially having a novel or story of mine on television or even the big screen (I like to dream big) but to have someone suggest it is beyond my wildest aspirations! 

And so I'm off to incorporate their suggestions for making Waking Up better  into the story and other stories as well. 

And then...I'm going to attempt to traverse the traditional publishing route again! 

On a Writer's Mind

Deidre Laurant is on my mind. Yup, the heroine of Waking Up has been on my mind quite a bit lately. So I gave her a call to see what's on her mind. 

Since confronting her fear and subsequently having me write her story, she has been talking with Will about adopting. They haven't made any firm plans since they already have a full house, what will Phoebe's baby on the way (which, I'm told, is a girl!!) but they definitely see themselves adopting in the near future. 

I mentioned to her that a couple people were a little unsettled by her story. She agreed and said that she is still unsettled by her past from time to time. But despite the true horrors (my word, not hers) in her past, she focuses daily on what she has here and now. 

She told me that, looking back, she isn't really certain how she managed to live in New York with such a huge fear. Elevators were often a problem and she found herself going out of her way to avoid them, taking flights upon flights of steps or pausing in a public area until she found someone she felt comfortable riding the lift with. 

Sounds strange, I know, and I told her so. She merely laughed and said how glad she is that I have never had the kind of fear that forced me to go out of my way to avoid the fear trigger. 

"Can you describe what that kind of fear feels like?" I asked her as we began to wrap up the conversation. 

She thought about it for a moment before she said, "No. Unless you experience it yourself, you'll never really understand how a fear drives you to do things a normal person wouldn't."

We made some additional small talk before we said our goodbyes. After hanging up, I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to live for a few days in Deidre's shoes before she truly faced her fear. To force myself to live in a place where I knew I would have to face said fear would be like me living in a spider's web. (You have your fears, I have mine. lol) The spider isn't in the whole web, but I know I would be forced to face it soon enough. What would I be willing to do to live there? Learn to run really fast? Wear some sort of protective clothing that would keep me from sticking to the web?

 

Okay, so a spider's web isn't exactly prime real estate... Even so, it makes me wonder...what would I do to live the life I want when I know that my fears are always right around the corner? 

I suppose a person just does what they have to do to live the life that's right for them. 

Book Review: Turbulent Sea by Christine Feehan

I know, I know, Christine Feehan is pretty much a household name, but I she is one of my favorite authors. I have to give her props for her Drake Sisters series, of which Turbulent Sea is one of the many stories.

The first of the series that I read was Dangerous Tides, which is about the Drake sister Libby, a doctor with mystical healing talents. The book intrigued me from the quick plot line to the depth of detail the author went to make it more realistic. But one sister caught my attention more than the others, and I wanted to know more about her.

Since I come from a musical family Joley Drake, whose story is in Turbulent Sea, sparked my interest. When I had the opportunity to pick up the story, I was very excited to read it.

Joley is a singer for an extremely popular band with world-wide recognition. She is a bit of a "bad girl" and very head-strong. So when Ilya Praenskii walks into her life with a domineering personality, she is immediately repelled by the Russian...yet oddly attracted as well.

I won't give the story away, but I found the plot to flow well despite a few jumps forward here and there. I laughed with the characters, mourned with them, felt what they were feeling. The story carried me away as all good books should, and I highly recommend it for anyone who loves a good romance with a dash of danger, magic and intrigue.

WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT

And the winner of the random drawing is... Post # 4, Tami, for sharing on Pinterest!!

Tami, please email me your contact info at AuthorAmberManuel@gmail.com so I can get your FREE autographed copy of Waking Up sent to you!!

Thanks for playing and CONGRATS!!

Note: if prize is not claimed within a week from this posting, it goes back into the prize pool.

GIVEAWAY TIME!!

Guess what?! 

GIVEAWAY TIME!! 

You heard me - I'm giving away an AUTOGRAPHED paperback copy of Waking Up! 

Here's the RULES:

1. Go to Waking Up on Amazon.com (click here)
2. a) If you've already read it, REVIEW it!
    b) If you haven't read it, SHARE it!

Facebook, Twitter, it doesn't matter as long as it's shared! (the more the better!!) 

3. Post a comment to this blog with a link to your share and/or review. I like a visual. ;-)  
4. You will be assigned a number according to your number in the posts below. So if you posted the first one, you are #1, and so on.

All the numbers will be entered into a random number generator. If your number is pulled, you WIN!! 

Contest ENDS in 2 weeks on March 29! 

Questioning My Conviction

2013 has so far been a tough year. I won't get into details but suffice it to say that I've had enough stress that I'm ready for a vacation.

I began to wonder what I was doing with my life. While I enjoy my day job, I was beginning to realize that something was missing from it.

What was it missing? Passion.

You heard me. Passion. Do what you like and you'll like what you do, someone once told me, but I think he wasn't focusing on the bigger picture.

Do what you love, what you're passionate about, and you'll love what you do, even on bad days.

So I got to thinking about it and it occurred to me that I have never had one thing that I was passionate about. Oh, I did many things growing up - sports, band, choir, ROTC - but I never felt that any of those things were something that I couldn't live without.

I called my mom to ask her if there was something that I just *had* to do when I was younger. Not something like the soccer league I was on that, while I enjoyed it, it was just something to do to pass the time. Playing the French Horn was the same thing. I did it because 1) it was something that was pretty fun and 2) in a family where all the guys play an instrument and mom sings gorgeously, I definitely felt I was expected to to something musical!

Anyway, mom thought about it for a moment and said, you were always playing pretend, using your imagination.

Huh. Go figure.

Guess I never really grew up, then, because what it writing fiction if not a form of playing pretend?

And writing is something I feel is necessary to who I am. If I don't write, there is something wrong. Or it's tax season, which always saps all the energy out of me lol!

Maybe the blog is slightly misnamed. My passion is for writing, and my favored genre just happens to be romance.

And I guess I am doing what I love, what I'm passionate about.

Now if I could just figure out a way to work that into my day job...

Writing for Pleasure Isn't the Same

I have always made up stories, ever since I could remember. All my life the spinning of tales has been about one thing: me. An escape from the real world, something fun and relaxing. When I had to clean my room or I couldn't come out, I pretended I was Cinderella. When we moved to a new house and my room had a huge mural with a rainbow on one wall, I remember pretending I was a Care Bear because they could ride rainbows and I so wanted to climb that rainbow to see where it went.
Over the past year since publishing Creole Escape, I have have had plenty of new ideas come to me, but have struggled to flesh them out. In the past month since publishing Waking Up, I have struggled to find the inspiration to really sit down and work on any one story.
I have at least thirty story lines that I have started but lately I just cant figure out where to go with them.
This morning I was reading a writing blog when i had an epiphany: I am no longer writing for myself. My writing has another audience: you, the readers! This may seem like a no-brainer and of course I realized I was writing for you, but I never realized that that could also mean that I had to write something that goes against the grain. Something that I would really have to sit down and mull over to make certain I got it right. Something that isn't about just doing what I please.
It doesn't mean that I love writing any less. It is an integral part of who I am and always will be. It just means that I have to take a step back and rethink the way I have always written, and then revise it to meet the expectations of the most important person: you, the reader.
It may not seem like a big thing but after 30+ years of pretending to please myself, I have a feeling that I have a lot of work ahead.
And I'm looking forward to it.

Waking Up... Romance or Drama?

I was thinking about my recently released novel Waking Up and I realized that while there is romance in the story, there are darker themes that perhaps make it less romantic than other novels I previously grouped the novel with. It certainly isn't in the same category as my first novel Creole Escape.

Waking Up is a darker novel than Creole Escape. While Creole Escape is a light-hearted story of love conceived and written when I was in my teens and early twenties, Waking Up has more depth to the story, the characters, the themes. There are parts of the story may be uncomfortable to the reader.

As such, I may have been a bit hasty to label Waking Up a romance novel. While it certainly can fit in that category, it is more of a dramatic fiction novel about a contemporary woman's struggle to accept herself and her past in a world that she feels will not accept her as she is.

So the disclaimer's coming a bit late, but here it is: Waking Up is a darkly-themed novel thick with deep emotions. If you're looking for light-hearted reading, may I suggest Creole Escape?

Pre-Release for Waking Up

Check out my Facebook page for details on FREE copies of the book and other FREE stuff!!
www.facebook.com/authorambermanuel

Checking In

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Years' Day!

I have been very busy since my last blog, getting ready for the holdiays and working on revisions to Waking Up. I am happy to report that I finished the last touches this morning and just need to go through a few more steps with my publisher to wrap things up!

January 15, 2013 is the release date for Waking Up! 

Keep an eye on my Facebook page for contests to win a free copy!