Sunday 22 September 2013

What To Do On A Sunday...

I love Sundays!

I love waking on a Saturday and knowing I've got the entire weekend ahead of me, but I then feel the need to go out and meet up with people I haven't probably seen during the week, or maybe catch up with a bit of food shopping - I never have a problem when it comes to shopping for clothes, shoes or bags, but food shopping can be a little repetitive. But a Sunday is for chilling in bed, eating a late breakfast and forgetting about everything I need to do on the Monday. The television programmes on a Sunday are usually pretty good too, roll on Downtown Abbey!

 
Another thing I enjoy is having the entire day free to read whatever book I'm into, or simply write down ideas for my own future books. Bliss.
 
*whispers* There's only three days left to enter the giveaway at Fiction Addiction Tours for pens, keyrings, postcards and a mug one of two - I have the other one! (UK only, I'm afraid it's a heavy mug!) and an e-book (International entrants). Here's the link should you wish to enter. It's been a fantastic tour and there are four more stops still to make on it.
 
Thanks to everyone who's already entered (nearly 400 entries, so far) and for everyone involved with the tour, it's been great fun!


Friday 6 September 2013

Woman Walks into a Bar - Rowan Coleman's Blitz Tour

 
On September 10th Rowan is publishing her novella Woman Walks into a Bar as an ebook for the first time. And 100% of her proceeds will be donated to Refuge.
Her goal is to raise £10,000 and you can help. All you have to do is buy a book, or two, and get your friends to buy one too. You’ll get a funny, romantic and touching summer read and you’ll be helping women you’ve never even met at the same time and all for the price of £1.59!
 
The story behind the story
 
Every book Rowan have ever written has meant a lot to her, but with her latest book ‘Dearest Rose,’ something really special happened when the real world and the fiction she loves to write collided.  It changed her as a person and a writer, forever.
She was getting ready to research her tenth novel, which with the help of her Facebook readers she decided should pivot around the theme of domestic abuse. It was a subject she’d touched on briefly once before, when she wrote a short novella as one of the first Quick Reads called Woman Walks into a Bar, which to this day remains one of the pieces of work of which she is most proud.
So she posted on her Facebook page asking if anyone had any personal experiences of domestic abuse, and any stories they might share with her in confidence.
She was shocked and amazed by the response; there were more than 200 emails waiting in her inbox the next day. Each story she read was horrific and frightening in its own way, giving her an insight into the secret lives of many women; lives that all too often remain hidden. Domestic abuse can happen to anyone - well educated wealthy women are just as likely to suffer as women from a working class background - but the one thing all those women had in common was that they were survivors. After years of being mentally and physically beaten down, they had managed to find the emotional strength, somehow, to break free and start again.
Now Rowan wants to do something that will help other women find that inner courage, and change their lives.
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‘Woman Walks into a Bar’ is the story of 28-year-old single mother Sam spends her days working in the local supermarket and her Friday nights out with her friends letting her hair down at the White Horse. Life hasn’t been easy for Sam and her daughter, Beth (who always looks on the bright side) but she’s always hoped that one day she’ll break free from her past and meet The One.
But after a series of terrible dates with men she’s met through an internet dating site, that have all been as awful as her daughter’s terrible jokes, she’s starting to lose heart - until her friends tell her they’ve set her up on a blind date. Sam’s horrified but finally she agrees to go. After all you never know when you might meet the man of your dreams; maybe Sam’s happy ending is just about to begin….
 
So, come on and join Rowan, and help to #supportafriend on September 10th. Every time you buy or pre-order ‘Woman Walks into a Bar’ you’ll be entered into a prize draw for fabulous prizes every week, while the #supportafriend #womanwalks campaign is running. On 10th September, tweet Rowan photos of you and your friends, tell her your ideas to support a friend, and why your friends mean so much to you.
You can be a best friend to someone you have never even met. You can help someone out there find the support they need to change their lives.
If you are a blogger or tweeter, spread the word using #supportafriend #womawalks. If you are a company who could offer a prize to drive book sales and thereby money for Refuge, please get in touch. If you are a woman in an abusive relationship, or if you have a friend about whom you are worried, please get in touch with Refuge and ask for help today.
About Rowan
 
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Rowan Coleman grew up in Hertfordshire secretly longing to be a writer despite battling with dyslexia.  After graduating from university she worked in bookselling and publishing for seven years before winning Company Magazine Young Writer of the Year in 2001.  Her first novel ‘Growing Up Twice’ was published in 2002.
Rowan has gone on to write eight novels for women including the bestseller ‘The Accidental Mother, The Baby Group’ and ‘The Accidental Wife‘ and eight novels for children and teens including the paranormal adventure novels Nearly Departed and Immortal Remains under the name Rook Hasting. Her books are published around the world. She now lives in Hertfordshire with her family.
Rowan’s Amazon Author Page
 
 Jera's Jamboree http://jerasjamboree.com/

Monday 2 September 2013

A Jersey Kiss Wishes - Three Wishes Blog Blitz


Today I’m participating in the Three Wishes Blog Blitz, hosted by author Juliet Madison! From 2nd to 6th September you’ll have the chance to win some awesome prizes at all the blogs participating in the blitz, including mine. All you have to do is follow my instructions below for winning the prize I have on offer, and then you can click over to Juliet’s blog to enter her prize draw, and see the list of all other blogs taking part and enter their giveaways as well. How cool is that? Why is it called the Three Wishes Blog Blitz? Juliet’s new  romantic comedy release, I Dream of Johnny, is about three wishes, a high-tech genie in a lamp, and one very unfortunate typo that proves magic isn’t all it cracked up to be…


I remember when I was small if someone asked me what I'd wish for if I was given three wishes, my answer always used to be that I'd use the first wish to wish for another hundred wishes - not greedy at all then!

Writing is addictive and I love becoming involved in the lives of the characters I create. As my characters take on their own personas and become more rounded and real to me, I often wish I could actually meet the real life versions of these people. Now if I could wish to meet just one of the characters from A Jersey Kiss, it would be the sexy builder Luke. He's tall, dark, gruff and doesn't suffer fools. He's got a lot going on in his life and rather than live in his cottage, he chooses to live on his beloved boat. There's a lot about him that isn't obvious at the beginning of the book and I hope that if you read A Jersey Kiss, you'll like him as much as I do.

I suppose the biggest wish would be to see Luke come to life on the big screen, and I suppose the nearest I could come to finding someone like this fictional character would be an actor who is a cross between Gerard Butler and the most famous Jersey boy around at the moment, Henry Cavill.
Giveaway details:
I'm giving away two copies of my e-book, A Jersey Kiss (Open to all entrants). Please leave a comment below to be in with a chance of winning and I'll put the names in a hat and ask my six-year-old niece to select two winners. The competition closes at 12pm Friday 6th September (though if a few late entries creep in that’s okay).

Once you’ve entered my giveaway, visit Juliet’s blog & enter her giveaway too, and visit any or all of the other participating blogs to enter more prize draws. You could potentially win a whole heap of prizes! Good luck! Visit the official Blog Blitz post here:  http://julietmadison.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/3-wishes-blog-blitz-official-post/

Thanks for visiting my blog and for leaving a comment. Good luck!