Meet Mia Montanari!

As nearly everyone in my world knows, my new book, Try Me On for Size, is due to release on August 11th!! Woo hoo! And you can order it now for a special presale price of only $1.99! Click here, or visit the ebook retailer of your choice!

So I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the characters who make up this crazy story!

First up is my main character, Mia Montanari!

As I wrote the book, I envisioned a laid back kind of woman, 32 ish, with long dark hair. I saw a sweet girl-next-door with simplistic beauty, like Natalie Portman :)

She isn't a frilly materialistic woman, she doesn't give a ton of time to looks or clothes or any of that. Just not her thing. She's part owner of a lingerie shop, called Classy 'n' Sassy Lingerie, and she is the classy part of the team. Mia is the one who brings her BFF back down to earth when she gets a little too wacky.

But Mia has a hard time letting herself go. It's all business for her, most of the time. ;)

Superiority

If there's one thing I detest, it's superiority. In anything. I don't understand why anyone needs to act like they are better than anyone else. There are a million different paths in life and why is one person's better than another? Yes...it may be the best for them, but not for others, and implying that it is the ONLY way is just plain wrong.

I see superiority in all facets of life. People think their lifestyle choices for health and diet are better than others. People think having name brand and designer clothes makes them better. Expensive cars, fancy vacations, etc... In the career world, people who do manual labor are often looked down upon. They work harder than most of the ones in office jobs with cushy chairs. I even see it in the most stupid places, like the ones who think they are better because they send their kids to a bigger and more expensive dance school. The one that gets me the most is the people who think they are better because of their resort choice when visiting Disney World. I mean, come on. Seriously?

Why can't people just be content with their lives and not feel the need to be better than others? Are they insecure? I feel sorry for the people with no ability to feel confident with themselves and need to belittle others to make themselves feel better.

Why can't we all just appreciate each other and support one another? Support the different paths that people choose? I think everyone wants to be happy and successful, to enjoy life and make the most of it. I don't think it's necessary to put people down in order to get there. #justmytwocents

Enjoy your day. Enjoy your life! You only get one! Be good to yourself, and be good to others :)

Baton Blog Hop!

HUGE Thanks so Juliette Cross, my agency sister, for inviting me to participate in this fun event! Juliette is a southern writer with a love of sensual settings, snarky heroines, and dangerous men! Sounds fab to me! Book one in her Nightwing Series releases in September!! Check out her site here!!

So, for this blog hop, I have to answer some questions.... Get ready to learn a little bit more about me ;)

What am I working on?

I am currently working on book one of what I hope to be a three book series. It's called Lemonade in Hell! And I came up with that title way before I had characters or a plot, which never happens! My story is about Callie and the company she built- Lemonista's Lemonade. Her beverages are flying off store shelves, but she needs to come home to the small town she grew up in to finish up a new deal that will expand her blossoming company. She didn't expect to meet a guy...or fall for him. But her new life--and the company that saved her from heartbreak years ago-- are on the other end of the country. And to top it all off, she's face to face with the guy who broke her heart and set her on this path to lemonade domination, battling her conflicting emotions for him. Callie made lemonade out of lemons, but she's in hell anyway.

(Wow....I think I might need to refer back to that paragraph when I start writing the blurb!)


How does my work differ from others of it's genre?

In my books, there's always sass, there's always comedy. There's tears and heartbreak, there's sexiness and steaminess. I think my books are fun, but there's always a real story, a real romance. I don't know if that sets me apart, but I'm told people fly through my books cause they can't put them down :)


Why do I write what I do?

I love to laugh. I love to feel the flutters of a new love. I even love to cry along with the characters in a book. I write what I write because it's what I love to read. I love making people smile. I love giving people a story to lose themselves in.


How does your writing process work?

My process is a pretty simple one. When I'm in active writing mode, I aim for a daily word count goal, but I worry most about the weekly total. Usually it's 1500 words a day. It's a modest goal. I know I CAN do more and often do. But I'm a mom and a wife and have a lot of things I do for myself too. I know I can't write every day and some days I can't hit that 1500 goal. If I get to 10,000 words for the week, I'm a happy girl. If it's more, great. I know I can do that too. I did NaNo. My goal is usually to finish a first draft in about 2 months. I am good at not editing while I write. I usually am able to just read over the last scene to get my bearings and then move forward. I have also become a plotter and that helps. If I spend a couple weeks just plotting out the book, every scene, the writing part is very smooth. (But for some odd reason I did not plot out the new book I am working on and I HATE that I didn't. Very slow going.)

So that's me!! And next Monday you can read all about my friend Jessica Topper!

Star Ratings on Reviews

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. So many authors out there seem to think if a reader gives a book anything less than 5 stars, it's a bad review. I don't get that AT ALL.

Let's look at how Goodreads describes each star rating:

5- It was amazing
4- Really liked it
3- Liked it
2- It was ok
1- Did not like it

And here is Amazon's:

5- I love it
4- I like it
3- It's okay
2- I don't like it
1- I hate it

So...what's so wrong with a 4? And on Goodreads, a 3 is lovely too. I only review on Goodreads, so I see nothing wrong with 4s and 3s. Amazon's system is a little different, so a 3 isn't really ideal there, but it's still not horrid.

Let's face it, I do not adore every book I read. No one does. If they gave every book a 5 they'd be lying. If I see a book listed on Amazon or Goodreads with all 5's, I am pretty positive the reviews are all friends and family. And we all know mommy isn't gonna give her baby's book a 1 or 2.

So if I give a book a 4, or even a 3, why is that so bad? A 4 is still really good. It means I really liked the book and had a lovely time reading it, even though I didn't want to kiss every word. And a 3 is pretty good too. It says that I liked it. Which is a hell of a lot better than not liking it. Maybe it just didn't give me quite as many warm fuzzies as other books have. Not every book will.

Very rarely do I even find a book so amazing it deserves the highest rating. Usually there has to be crying involved, either happy or sad. It has to leave me completely breathless and wanting to read again. I did a quick scroll through my Read folder on GR and there are 24 out of 141 with 5 star ratings. But some of those I know are not true 5s. They are authors I know and I was afraid they'd be mad if I gave a 4.

Of course I want good reviews of my books, but I never expect people to adore every word I write. And I sure don't want fake reviews. I've read it's actually far better for a review to have mixed star ratings, as long as there aren't many 1 and 2's.

I have always rated books on Goodreads with star ratings and a text review. I used to write my negative thoughts as well as positive, but once I became a published author, stopped the negative stuff. It's not my place to point that stuff out. So I would type a lovely review focusing only on the good things in the book, but the general star rating would reflect my overall thoughts. And 9 times out of 10, it was a 3 or higher. If I really didn't like something, I usually left the star rating blank and tried to write at least one positive thing in the text portion of the review. But now...after hearing how so many other writers think anything less than a 5 is horrid, I am afraid to give star ratings. I don't want my writer friends to think I hated their book because I gave it a 3 or 4. That is soooooo not the truth. So I guess I will go forward and leave the star ratings off.

This has been said So. Many. Times. But it needs repeating. This business is SO SUBJECTIVE! All art is, whether it be paintings, sculptures, music, movies, even fashion. People have different thoughts and opinions on all these things. And no two people will get the same thing out of the same book. And nobody's opinion is wrong.

Cover Reveal Party!!!

Woo hoo!!!! On Friday I'm hosting a fun party on Facebook to reveal my cover for Try Me on for Size, my new book that will be released in August through Simon & Schuster's Pocket Star imprint!

Click here for the event page! There will be all kinds of fun stuff, including excerpts and prizes! Stop by for all the fun!

But right here on my blog, I'm doing something really awesome!! Lots of ways to enter to win a $25 Amazon or B&N GC!!!! Woo Hoo!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*****UPDATE!!!****

The winner is Melissa Giorgio!! Congrats!!

Are you a home body or a socialite?

It was recently brought up at a girls night function that the older we get, the more we yearn for home and all it's comforts. I suppose I can see that. I can also see how working all day out of the house, dealing with less than pleasant people, and especially this winter, dealing with the elements to get there and back. Who would't crave the warmth and quiet of home?

When I quit my job outside the home, I wondered if I would miss it. Part of me really did, but it was seeing my work family every day that I missed, not the job so much. And when I started working from home, I wondered if I would start to hate my house and feel intense cabin fever. Would I really be able to to do this work-from-home thing and not go insane??

I ended up adoring it. I love the ease of it. I do what I need when I need to. I make appointments whenever I want and adjust my schedule when needed. I wear whatever I want, which is usually yoga pants and comfy long sleeve tees. I can go au natural in the makeup department and just throw my hair in a headband or ponytail.

And the best part of all, now that both my kids are in full day school: COMPLETE SILENCE! I work best in silence. Many writers like music or the TV on as background noise. I can't have it.

So I guess I would say I have become a homebody.....during the day. But I'm a socialite too. I love to go out with friends, do fun things with my family, be out in the world! We're rarely home on weekends. There's always something going on, and if there's not, we usually find something. I love to walk down by the waterfront. After this long hard winter, I can't wait for that.

I guess I am all about balance. I like both! I crave home and I love being away from it. What about you??

Museful Monday!

I'm over at Sandra Sookoo's blog today guest posting about inspiration! Come on over!! Click here!