Category Archives: Contest

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Shameless? Shameful? Whatever, I’m doing it!

Yes, I’m promoting The Brevity of Roses again. I’m going to ask you to help me out and it won’t cost you a penny! That’s right, we’re talking FREE.

If you’ve read the book, please rate or review it any bookish place you frequent online … particularly Amazon, and while you’re there, please scroll down to the Tags Customers Associate with This Product section and click the appropriate tags to help Brevity rise higher in the search results.

I’d also like to invite you to follow me on Twitter,  and like my Facebook page, and be my fan on Goodreads … because you can never have enough of the real Linda. Cowbell, maybe … Linda, never.

If  you’re really dedicated, you could also sign up for my Brevity Insider Newsletter, which you’ll receive sporadically. And if you’ve already done all these things, my goodness, don’t you have a life??? Seriously, thank you for your support.

Now, today’s big news! This new giveaway begins today and ends May 19th. Click below to find out more and enter to win.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Brevity of Roses by Linda Cassidy Lewis

The Brevity of Roses

by Linda Cassidy Lewis

Giveaway ends May 19, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

You say you couldn’t care less about me and my book? Well, that’s just rude. :-) Seriously, even if you don’t, or can’t do, anything more to help me promote my book, come back Saturday to see the gift I have to give to you.

Until then, do you think we could use more cowbell around here???

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Reviews and Roses

If you are a writer, you will relate to what I have to say today. As you may know, the initial premise for my novel, The Brevity of Roses, came to me in a dream. At first, it seemed a simple story, but the more I wrote, the more I disturbed the placid surface and uncovered treasures in the depths. I fell in love with my characters’ story, and tried my best to do it justice.

Like you, I’m sure, I wondered how well the wonderful story in my head had come through the keyboard. Would readers see only a shadow of the story I had intended to tell them? My critique partners and beta readers reassured me it was all there, but I figured they were too close to the story, too close to me. Then last night, I read this review by Christa Polkinhorn and finally quit holding my breath.

This is a turning point for me. Yes, I know, my reviews won’t all be good ones. No one writes a book that everyone loves. But it’s enough to know that some readers will “get” the story I meant to tell. I can live with that.

Contest news! Congratulations to Dorte H who won the e-book from Cathryn Grant’s contest. I hope you enjoy the read, Dorte.

For the rest of you, I hope you enjoy your weekend, a holy time for many. I’ll take some time to revel in my roses, the spring bloom smells the sweetest.

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You, too, can be a winner!

Two contests have ended, but you until midnight (PST) today to enter the third to win a copy of The Brevity of Roses. The link is right over there –>

I’d like to congratulate the winners of the first two contests: Christi Craig and Darlene Foster. Enjoy the read, ladies.

Stick around, there will be more giveaways, including a chance to win a critique from me. I’m giving you a heads up on that one. To enter the contest, I’ll ask you to post a comment on my blog—but that’s not all. In your comment, I’ll ask you to share your “logline.” More details later.

If you’ve been following The Frugal Self-Publisher series, I invite you to read Part III. Just click the tab at the top of this page. Also on that page, I’ve added a rough timeline of my journey from completed manuscript to published book.

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The Frugal Self-Publisher continues!

First off, a reminder you still have time to read the interviews and comment to win a copy of my novel The Brevity of Roses. –>

I added a paragraph to my opening statement on the Frugal Self-Publisher page, to explain why I had to be frugal. I also added a disclaimer to make it clear I’m not being compensated for recommendations of software, books, or businesses I used in publishing my novel.

The second installment describes more of my effort to ready The Brevity of Roses for print. In it, I tell you why I chose Createspace as my printer/distributor and talk about cleaning up your manuscript file.

Here you go … and it’s free!

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Have I lost you?

Hello, blog friends. I apologize if it seems I can’t quit talking about The Brevity of Roses. It’s my first published novel, you see, and I’m excited. You get that, right? And did you notice I said first? Yes, I’m writing the next one right this minute. If you haven’t read Brevity yet, and wish you had a free copy, let me remind you of the two giveaway contests running now. Look over there –>.

Tomorrow, I will post the first in a series of articles about my self-publishing journey. I’ll begin the series with the decisions I made on how to put my book out there because I’ve written previously about my reasons for deciding to take publishing matters into my own hands:

You’ll notice a new tab at the top of this blog: The Frugal Self-Publisher. This is where you can follow my journey from novel writer to published novelist on a very limited budget. It can be done.

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Another interview means another free book!

Cathryn Grant, author of the psychological thriller The Demise of the Soccer Moms lured me to her blog for more questioning. She’s extremely intimidating, as you can tell by her photo, and she soon had me confessing to writing poetry and other strange habits. Please visit Cathryn’s blog to read the interview. And if you do what she says, you could win a digital copy of my novel The Brevity of Roses.

Did you know? You don’t have to own a Kindle to read Kindle books? You can download the free Kindle app to your PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, or Windows phone and read all the ebooks you want.

So, now you have no excuse not to enter Cathryn’s giveaway. Go. Go now.

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What was I waiting for?

First, a contest Reminder: Check my sidebar –> for links to two bloggers giving away copies of my novel!

I’m not a NaNoWriMo sort of writer. And yet, I am a “pantser.” I don’t write true first drafts. I need a certain level of reassurance I’m on the right track before I can head out of the station. And yet, I love uncovering the story as if it were an ancient artifact at an archaeological dig.

For months now, I’ve been taking down notes, sometimes nearly full scenes, in preparation to write my next novel. I know how it begins, how it ends, and some bits in-between, but I’ve been waiting for something more.

I thought I was waiting for my main character’s voice to grow stronger. Maybe I needed to know her better before I could write her. But I already know her, I created her three years ago. She’s been talking to me for a while now.

I considered doing a real outline, the kind I’ve heard other writers talk about. Some novelists, maybe you, plan in such detail before they start writing that they know every scene and exactly which chapter it will happen in. My oddly disorganized organized brain rebels against all that, but I thought maybe this time I needed to do it differently.

Then I remembered that I set off writing The Brevity of Roses with only a need to explore the story idea. I had a general idea how it would end—I was wrong. I thought I knew who the main character was—wrong again. I loved the adventure of discovery, and it turned out all right.

So, I kept taking notes and writing out bits of dialogue that came to me. I opened the file and stared at the opening paragraphs for a while before closing the file unchanged. Finally, it hit me; the problem was structure. I ran it by my critique partners and we decided my original plan was needlessly complicated. After I made a new decision on how to narrate the story, everything clicked into place. I’m writing again, and it feels wonderful.

Your turn: What do you need to know before you can start writing?