ANNE & HENRY — Cover Reveal!

Sometimes I still want to pinch myself.

It was at this time last year that I auditioned for a unique development writing project imagined by two of the amazing agents at D4EO Literary—Mandy Hubbard and Bree Ogden. I went into the project blind, but intrigued. Both of these ladies were on my Agent Wish List, and winning this audition meant a chance to work with BOTH of them. How could I not give it shot?

When I'm having a rough writing day (hey, it happens!), I often go back and read the emails from Mandy and Bree telling me I'd been selected to write ANNE & HENRY. 

Not only did winning the audition give me the opportunity to work with two of the most amazing professionals in publishing (seriously), but I scored Agent Awesome Mandy Hubbard for ALL THE WRITERLY THINGS, and landed an amazing two-book deal with Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. (Pinch me, please.) My editor is Sara Sargent, an incredible lady who hand draws hearts and stars on my manuscript, cracks the whip when I need it, makes me smile (or cry) every day, and has truly pushed me to write my best work. 

Talk about a dream team, right?

I thought it couldn't get much better than this—but then Sara gave ANNE & HENRY to designer Regina Flath, who read the book and came up with a cover that absolutely nails the essence of this story. She is brilliant — and I am blown away.

So. After a very long few months of mandated cover silence, I am thrilled to reveal the cover for ANNE & HENRY. 

* swoon *

Yup. I love it.

And here's the official cover blurb: 

ANNE

Wild, brazen, mischievous, bewitching

HENRY

Driven, haunted, charming, magnetic

ANNE & HENRY

Apart they are bound to destroy themselves. Together, they are bound to destroy each other.

HENRY TUDOR’S LIFE HAS BEEN mapped out since the day he was born: student president, valedictorian, Harvard Law School, and a stunning political career just like his father’s. 

But ever since the death of Henry’s brother—perfect, high-achieving Arthur—his family has been twice as demanding. And now Henry’s trapped: forbidden from pursuing a life as an artist or dating any girl who’s not Tudor-approved.

Then Anne Boleyn crashes into his life. 

Anne is wild, brash, and outspoken. She is everything Henry is not allowed to be—or to want. But soon Anne is all he can think about. His mother, his friends, and even his girlfriend warn him away, yet his desire for Anne consumes him. Henry is willing to do anything to be with her. But once he has her, their romance could destroy them both. 

Inspired by the true story of Anne Boleyn and King Henry VIII, ANNE & HENRY reimagines the intensity, love, and betrayal between one of the most infamous couples of all time.

Intriqued? The book publishes Fall 2015, but you can add it to Goodreads!

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

The amazing Kathy Coe has lined up a number of awesome bloggers to help spread the word. Visit their blogs and enter for a chance to win an ARC of ANNE & HENRY, available early in the New Year.

You can check them out here:

1. Kathy Coe - http://glass-of-wine.blogspot.ca/

2. Jess from Read My Breath Away - http://readmybreathaway.blogspot.ca/

3. Emilie from Emilie's Book World - http://www.emiliebookworld.com/

4.  Alison from Sleepless Reads - http://sleeplessreadsreviews.blogspot.ca

5. Indigo from Adventures in YA Fiction - http://adventuresinyafiction.blogspot.ca/

6. Brenna from Ester's Ever After - http://everafteresther.blogspot.ca/

7. Jen from Pop Goes The Reader - http://www.popgoesthereader.com/

8. Kristie from Lost In Ever After - http://lostineverafter.blogspot.ca

9. Kelly from Kellyvision - http://kellyvision.wordpress.com/

10. Christy from The Reader Bee - http://www.thereaderbee.com/

11. Jess from Gone With the Words - http://gonewiththewords.com/

12. Lucy from The Reading Date - http://thereadingdate.com/

13. Nancy from Tales of the Ravenous Reader - http://www.lushbudgetproduction.com/

14. Kelsey from Kelsey's Cluttered Bookshelf - http://kelseysclutteredbookshelf.wordpress.com/

15. Meredith from Pandora's Books - http://www.pandorasbooks.org/

16. Little Library Muse - http://littlelibrarymuse.blogspot.ca/

17. Darby (author using her own website) - http://www.darbykarchut.com/

18. Christa from More Than Just Magic - http://morethanjustmagic.org/

19. Hazel from Stay Bookish - http://staybookish.net/

20. Rabiah from Confessions of a Readaholic - http://iliveforreading.blogspot.ca/

21. Sabrina from YA Bliss - http://www.yabliss.net/

22. Jessica Bell - http://thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.gr/ 

23. Kyle Kerr - http://www.kylewkerr.com/index.php/site/journal/

24. Louise D. Gorenall - http://bookishblurb.com/blog/

Forgive me while I sign off and go paste the cover image in ALL THE PLACES! 

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~ Dawn

GUESS THE TRUE STATEMENT & WIN JESSICA BELL'S THRILLER, WHITE LADY! (Statement #67)

It seems like forever ago when Jessica asked me to read a draft of her first thriller, WHITE LADY. I knew she was on to something then—but now, in its fully polished and revised state, I'm honestly blown away.

There's something very special about this novel, and
that's saying something since I'm a tremendous fan of her work. It's not just that she seems to have mastered character development (and somehow manages to create authentic POV voices for MULTIPLE characters). Every page of this book is compelling and real, showcasing Jessica's command of the craft, and her magic for storytelling. Trust me: YOU WANT THIS BOOK!

To celebrate the release of  WHITE LADY, Jessica is giving away an e-copy (mobi, ePub, or PDF) to the first person to correctly guess the one true statement in the three statements below. To clarify, two statements are lies, and one is true:

Jessica Bell takes her coffee ...
a. with milk and no sugar
b. with milk and two sugars
c. black

What do you think? Which one is true? Write your guess in the comments, along with your email address. Comments will close in 48 hours. If no-one guesses correctly within in 48 hours, comments will stay open until someone does.

Want more chances to win? You have until October 31 to visit all the blogs where Jessica will share a different set of true and false statements on each one. Remember, each blog is open to comments for 48 hours only from the time of posting.

If you win, you will be notified by email with instructions on how to download the book.

Click HERE to see the list of blogs.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

*This novel contains coarse language, violence, and sexual themes.

Sonia yearns for sharp objects and blood. But now that she's rehabilitating herself as a "normal" mother and mathematics teacher, it's time to stop dreaming about slicing people's throats.

While being the wife of Melbourne's leading drug lord and simultaneously dating his best mate is not ideal, she's determined to make it work.

It does work. Until Mia, her lover's daughter, starts exchanging saliva with her son, Mick. They plan to commit a crime behind Sonia's back. It isn't long before she finds out and gets involved to protect them.

But is protecting the kids really Sonia's motive?

Click HERE to view the book trailer.
Click HERE for purchase links.

Jessica Bell, a thirty-something Australian-native contemporary fiction author, poet and singer/songwriter/guitarist, is the Publishing Editor of Vine Leaves Literary Journal and the director of the Homeric Writers' Retreat & Workshop on the Greek island of Ithaca. She makes a living as a writer/editor for English Language Teaching Publishers worldwide, such as Pearson Education, HarperCollins, MacMillan Education, Education First and Cengage Learning.

Connect with Jessica online:

Website | Retreat & workshop | Blog | Vine Leaves Literary Journal | Facebook | Twitter

COVER REVEAL: MY SOON-TO-BE SEX LIFE by Judith Tewes

MY SOON-TO-BE SEX LIFE by Judith Tewes is a freaking good book. I've had the pleasure of reading earlier drafts, and can hardly wait to read it again when it launches from Bloomsbury Spark this spring.

Judith (also writing as Judith Graves) writes kick-ass stories — this one, is no exception. I'm honored and excited to be part of the cover reveal. Whoot!

PS - Make sure you scroll ALL the way down for a chance to WIN a prize!

* swoon * 

Isn't it purdy????

ABOUT THE BOOK

Charlie is down to her absolute. Total. Last. Resort.

Despite a thoroughly comprehensive list of potential cherry poppers, er…suitors, and careful plotting, Charlie is three weeks into her devirginzation campaign, still untouched, and getting desperate. In the movie of her life, this aspiring screenwriter is giving herself a PG, for please, get some.

Her project goes into freeze frame when her mom checks herself into rehab and packs Charlie off to live with her estranged, or just plain strange, grandfather, Monty. How is she supposed to get a date when she has to go pick up his Depends? 

Enter Eric, a hot rehab grad on the road to redemption, and the only one who can make Charlie rethink her strategy. The more she gets to know him, the more convinced she becomes that is the one, and not just another to add to the list of people who will abandon her.

In this hilarious and heartbreaking story of one girl’s detoured road to womanhood, Charlie’s list develops a life of its own – right when she realizes there’s so much more to lose.

Find it on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21462279-my-soon-to-be-sex-life

ABOUT JUDITH TEWES

Multi-published, award-winning author, screenwriter, and playwright, Judith Tewes resides in small town Alberta, where she: writes, sings, plays bass guitar in an all-woman band, walks her three crazy labs, and suspects she's living the life of a superhero's alias. A commercial writer writing under several pen names, Judith’s work includes: paranormal, steampunk, and contemporary young adult fiction, as well as thriller, horror, and dramatic comedies for the stage and screen. 

FOLLOW JUDITH!

WEBSITE: http://judithteweswrites.blogspot.com   

FACEBOOK (personal and/or Author page): Personal: https://www.facebook.com/judithteweswritesAuthor

page: https://www.facebook.com/JudithTewesAuthor    

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/JudithTewes  

TUMBLR: http://judithteweswrites.tumblr.com/ 

PINTEREST: http://www.pinterest.com/judithtewes31/ 

GOODREADS: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/23456732-judith-tewes

To help celebrate the reveal of her new cover, Judith is taking part in this
a Rafflecopter giveaway for a $25 gift card. But hurry! The contest lasts for only 48 hours!

Killer's Instinct - ALIVE and well (and in my hands)

I'm still trembling a bit from what could be described as one of the coolest experiences of my writing career so far — if not my entire life.

A box of Killer's Instinct, the creeptastic zombie tale the "other me" co-wrote with Judith Graves arrived at my house Monday, and it was with much excitement and shell-shock that I tore open the box and held the first copy in my hand.

The past few months have been a blur of cool creative career news, and while I'm looking at 2014 to be THE year for it all to come together, there is something special about holding your first published novel in your hand.

But this book is special for a few reasons. Not only did I have the opportunity to co-write with Judith Graves, who writes arguably some of the best YA I've ever read (seriously, check out her SKINNED series), and work with Leap Books' talented (and tough!) super editor Kat O'Shea, but my talented (and humble) husband drew some of the artwork for Killer's Instinct, and along with my adoration, he received published credit.

Cool, right?

I thought so—so I made him sign my copy of the book.

Then, I bounced around the house, wrote status updates, posted pictures. Finally, hubs and I celebrated with a bottle of Italian champagne.

It's back to the grind, with many personal and professional deadlines looming. But I'm still riding the high of this week's career first — opening the first box of my very first novel. Not an experience I can ever recreate, and nor would I want to.

To learn more about Killer's Instinct, you can check out this blog, and to get your hands on a copy, you can buy it here. To my friends, family and (new) fans, thank you so much for your love and support and for making THIS such an amazing experience.

- Dawn

2013 recap; 2014 resolutions aplenty

2013 was a bad year for blogging, friends.

After two years of posting about smoking hot guys every Monday, I abandoned the Muse Avatar feature. How many times can I put up pictures of Charlie Hunnam and Kiefer Sutherland, anyway? I cobbled through the rest of the year with random posts about resolution goals, books I'd read, cool stuff going on in my career and then—

Nothing.

My last post was back in October. Which is odd, since November and December were pretty damn exciting. More on that, but first—

2013 was a year of ups and downs, triumphs and defeats, tears and laughs—well, you get the gist. I lost 25 pounds, only to gain back 30. I completed two Chase Duffy books for the Alberta Canola Producers, and launched them with thousands of kids. Killer's Instinct—the creeptastic zombie tale I co-wrote with Judith Graves—went through extensive edits, and is *this close* to launching from Leap Books for realz. Jessica Bell and I launched two new blogs as part of Vine Leaves Literary Journal—one of which I kinda dropped the ball on. The other one is pretty awesome. I "resolved" to write 500,000 words (ended up with 325,675 which isn't horrible), read 50 books (erm, not even close) and watch 50 movies. I didn't meet that resolution, either.

But.

Other cool stuff happened. Major cool stuff.

Like scoring literary Agent Awesome Mandy Hubbard at D4EO.

* waits for reality to set in *

Okay, this is not you normal "how I got my agent" story—and anyone who knows me won't be surprised. Because I don't do anything "normal."

But here's the fast version, because if I linger on it too long, I begin questioning whether it really happened at all. In November, Mandy put out a call for submissions. Tired of waiting for someone to query her with one of the books on her manuscript wishlist, Mandy concocted a plan—audition authors to write the book she wanted, and turn it into an in-house development project. for D4E0. Brilliant!

I auditioned with 10 pages from my YA psychological thriller and was (gasp!) shortlisted, and tasked with writing two scenes of pretty much the coolest project ever. The plot was developed by Mandy and Bree Ogden, another super cool agent. To work with them both? An impossible dream.

But they liked my submission. They really, really liked it. And I was asked to write one more scene.

Somehow—and I'm still not sure how— they gave me the job, and though I can't tell you the topic of the book, I can tell you this: It's BRILLIANT.

But even better, Mandy is now MY agent — for all kinds of writerly things. She'll sort through what I've written, what I wish I'd finished writing, and more than 300 loglines of projects I wish to write. I'll write stuff. I'm so excited to just...write.

I love Mandy. No, really. (Even though she wavers on her opinion of Charlie Hunnam. Um...that's weird.)

So.

* deep breath *

It's now 2014 and I'm ready to set some goals for the year. I suppose they'd be considered resolutions, but I'm reluctant to label them as such.

1. My friend Karen has challenged me to read 50 books this year. On it.
2. I will finish this amazing and cool development project for Mandy and Bree.
3. I will focus on my health.
4. I will watch 25 movies in the theatre.
5. I will blog more. Here, and here.

And I'll write. More than last year, even. I'll aim for 500,000 words, but yeah, that's ambitious.

Lots of cool stuff on the horizon—but maybe it's best I end this post now. I've already completed the first book of the year and I'm due a review.

Happy New Year—and wishing you SO MUCH success on YOUR resolutions, and all the best for an exciting, successful and healthy 2014.

- Dawn