Blog Tour: Day 10, with queen Elizabeth Seckman

Yesterday, Britain voted in the EU referendum.

(I'm actually writing this last night, just as the polls are closing, so I have no idea of the result - all I know is we've been left with a deeply divided country which will take a long time to heal.)

Anyway, that's as political as I'm ever going to get on this blog. There's no football talk today, either, because no one played last night - it was weird not to have a match to watch mid-afternoon.

Elizabeth Seckman's blog is today's stop, talking about my favourite monarch... any guesses?

No, it's not this guy, although a long time ago - when I worked in a library and had a desk in an office, Alastair Mackenzie was definitely one of my pin-ups!


I've given up (um, did I start?) replying to the comments on this blog for the time being. Keeping up with the tour posts, drinking hot chocolate with all my friends and relations, working, and editing my WIP (two chapters to go!) has been challenging. My plan is to go back over all the comments at the end, and go visiting.

Have you liked My Facebook Page and You. I. Us. Goodreads Page yet?

Welcoming Elizabeth Seckman

Another guest post, this time the wonderful Elizabeth Seckman. Hey Liz, take it away...


Hi Annalisa! Thanks for having me over. Book promotion can be such a drag, but Swept Away is set on an island with so much history and fascinating tales, I could never get bored talking about the place.

Ocracoke Island is a small spot off the coast of North Carolina that is only reachable by ferry.  It’s a quiet hamlet where old seaside homes line sand-packed streets. Nestled among these quaint homes is a very special place.

The British Cemetery. Back when I was much younger, a local tour guide explained the story of this white picket-fenced spot, and it will forever by my favourite version of a very special tale.

The waters off the coast of the Outer Banks are known as the Diamond Shoals. But during World War II, this area it was quickly renamed Torpedo Alley thanks to German U Boat activity. No one knew if the Germans were there simply to upset cargo and passenger transports, or if they were planning an attack on the US mainland.

No matter what the German’s intentions were, they were thwarted with much help from the English Navy. It’s quite possible their dedicated assistance prevented the war from ever hitting US soil.

On May 12, 1942, the HMS Bedfordshire was patrolling the troubled waters and encountered a German submarine. The Bedfordshire was struck by a torpedo and sank to the bottom of the ocean. Island residents saw the explosion and diligently patrolled the beaches hoping to find survivors. Sadly, all they managed to recover was a few of the thirty-four bodies of the fallen heroes.

The people of Ocracoke buried the men together in a small plot, and the village of Ocracoke deeded the land to the British government. They couldn’t send these sailors home, so they did their best to bring a piece of home to them.  

Every May, the village of Ocracoke, the US Coast Guard, and the British Navy honour these fallen heroes with a wreath laying ceremony, a 21-gun salute, and the playing of Taps.

Did you know there was still a piece of the British Empire in the United States?

He came looking for a ghost. Instead, he found a girl. 

Tucker Boone is a war-hardened Marine on a ghost hunt. Fresh out of the corps, Tucker learns he has a missing half-sister, Maddy. The only clue to her whereabouts is a cryptic note…I’ve gone Mad, Mags. Tucker agrees to search for her and heads to Ocracoke, North Carolina where a ghost named Mad Mags is said to haunt the ancient graveyards dotting the island. 

The note doesn’t bring him any closer to finding Maddy, but it does offer him a diversion to the doldrums of civilian life— his new island neighbor, Josie McCoy. Tucker is drawn to her quiet spirit. There’s something special about Josie…a connection he can’t quite explain. 

By summer’s end, he’s mixed up in deception, murder, and the love of a lifetime. Logic tells him to head home and forget the truths he found on the island. But can he walk away? Josie offers him more than love; she offers him hope. When the clues pile up and it looks like she can never be the girl for him, he has to make a choice- play it safe and break her heart, or risk everything for a chance at being swept away.

Elizabeth is a multi-published author and family laundry wench.  She is the mother of four boys, who are quickly all becoming men! Her life is filled with stinky size-twelve shoes and beard clippings in the sink. Is it any wonder she enjoys days spent writing women's fiction of stories of romance and happily ever after? 

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Elizabeth Seckman talks romance

Happy Valentine's Day, folks. I'm not a very romantic person myself, so when Elizabeth suggested a Valentine's post, to celebrate the launch of her latest book Defying Reason, I wondered if she was on the right blog for the 14th. Turns out, she was :-)


Hi Annalisa! Thanks so much for letting me stop by on this lovely, love filled holiday. Now, you may think I am on a chocolate high, but I am here to convince you that some of the world's most famous love stories really do suck.


Romeo and Juliet? Seriously, they were kids! Imagine it. Your fifteen-year-old sneaks into a party, sees a hot girl (I'm assuming there were some glandular issues involved in this love.) and is so totally smitten, people will die. He dies, she dies, Tybalt dies, Paris dies, Mercutio dies...all dead because these two co-dependents needed an intervention.

Rhett Butler and Scarlet O'Hara (Gone With the Wind)? Scarlet  is a bitch. She hardly even likes her own children.  She is a survivor and will do anything and marry anyone to make it. Bring on Rhett. He sees her for the evil that she is and loves her. He's operating on true love. Scarlet could care less. She wants her best friend's husband...all the way up until the friend dies and her husband is up for grabs. Then Scarlet wants Rhett. Hmm. I'm kind of glad he tells her to go to hell...he no longer gives a damn. High fives to Rhett for growing a set!

Heathcliff and Catherine (Wuthering Heights): Mean people, both of them. They are hateful, selfish, and cruel. Too bad Catherine was too uppity and snotty to marry him. Then they could have pooled all their evil in one household and saved a whole lotta people a whole lotta misery.

Meggy Cleary, Father Ralph, and Mary Carson (The Thornbirds): I'm not getting kinky here...this love triangle has to be fully laid out to make sense. Old Mary Carson first loved the hot Catholic priest, Ralph. Then her niece Meggy moves to Drogheda, and the little whipper snapper grows into a hot babe. who catches the eye of  the priest. Mary sees it and she hates him for it...not because he's in love with her niece, but because there will never be any Ralph + Mary carved into a tree, So, when Mary dies. she leaves Ralph her money, thereby forcing him to choose: Meggy or status in the church. Meggy loses. True love didn't conquer all, not even pride. But there is one helluva a hot love scene on an island.

Now, for the record. I love all these books. Each one (with the exception of Romeo and Juliet...I read that because an English teacher made me) is on my top ten list of must read books. Each is epic. Each could be read a hundred times and something new found. The only thing I don't get is how did these couples become icons of the love story? But then, I suppose if these guys are the epitome of love, no wonder the divorce rate is so freaking high. `

The Blurb:

Jo Leigh Harper comes from a long line of trouble-making, white trash stock.

Tanner Coulter comes from a longer line of wealth-creating, blue blood stock.

Jo graduated college top of her class, moving toward a future full of possibilities.

Tanner dropped out of college, trading a law degree for drinking games and one night stands.

A family crisis throws the rich party boy and the poor genius girl together. The attraction is immediate, though neither one is a heart-in-the-sand-drawing believer in true love. But as the summer sun heats up along the shores of the Outer Banks, so does the connection between them. Maybe, just maybe, they can win at love by defying reason.

 

Author Bio:

Elizabeth is a multi-published author of books for people who are believers in happily-ever- after, true love, and stories with a bit of fun and twists with their plots. The mother of four young men, she tackles laundry daily and is the keeper of the kitchen. She lives along the shores of the Ohio River in West Virginia, but dreams daily of the beach. 

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Bella's Point cover reveal

Elizabeth Seckman has the most gorgeous cover to reveal. I was lucky enough to beta read the novel, and it's a wonderful rolling story that you just don't want to end. I can't wait for the book to be released, but in the meantime...

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Did you know? After the American Civil War, the Reconstruction Act of 1867 divided the Southern US into five military districts and martial law was in place to help bring order to the chaos. 

Isabella Troy Stanley is a divorced, slave freeing pariah surviving in the shattered post Civil War south the only way a fallen debutante knows how. 

She heads to a Yankee prison and buys herself a husband. 

Jack Byron is the former Troy plantation stable boy and object of young Bella's affection. He rejected her then, and he's still not sold on the idea of marrying her now.  

 It’s complicated.

 Though to Bella, it’s simple: make Jack love her, marry her, and live happily ever after. The plan seems to work...at least until her secret is revealed.

Elizabeth is a wife, a mom, and a writer. She has four wonderful boys, one dusty house, and three published books to her credit. Feel free to check them out and buy them HERE! Erm, the books, not the kids or the house...though all things in life are negotiable ;)

You can find her here - Blog // Facebook // Twitter

Cover art by Sprinkles on Top Studios.

40 - argh! - Elizabeth Seckman

In honour of my birthday, I decided to invite some fabulous bloggers to help me celebrate.

Their task? To create a post with the theme 40. Today's guest is Elizabeth Seckman...

Turning 40 was a big deal for me.

I didn’t get a tattoo. Or a belly button ring. It didn’t spark a mid-life crisis, but it did light a fire.

Not the sort of fire that leaves nothing but ashes in its wake; the sort that reminded me if I was to accomplish everything I wanted to do (publish a book), then I needed to do things a little differently.

Pre-40 me had all these rules. At dinner, the last person barely had a chance to drop their fork on their plate before I nabbed it and started cleaning up. The laundry pile never overflowed the basket. The floors were vacuumed twice a day.

That left me with about fifteen minutes of writing time per day.

Hardly enough.

So, I had to re-organize and re-think my life and I came to this realization - there are plenty of things I can NOT do and NOT go belly up!

1. Make the bed (it’s actually healthier…allows the sheets to dry and cuts down on microbes)
2. Vacuum (once a day is plenty…once a week if you have no pets!)
3. Do my hair (sloppy bun is easier if you don’t brush it out!)
4. Wash the car (I’m certain the dust coating protects it from the UV rays)
5. Obsessive parenting (allowing them to eat pizza for breakfast every now and then preps them for the single, bachelor life…so does doing their own laundry)
6. Make-up (Going au natural allows my pores to breath…or so I tell myself)
7. Laundry (The dirty clothes will be there tomorrow, trust me…I’ve checked!)
8. Cooking (Make a double pot of whatever…voila- leftovers! Just like take out, though not as good)
9. Farming and jeweling (whatever games are popular now…delete them. Playing games on Facebook is NOT platform building)
10. Television (Shut off the TV. I have no clue who is dancing with what stars, but it does up the word count.)

Go ahead. Don’t do some of the things on the list…I swear, it won’t kill you.

Caleb, Cole, me, Carter, Conner

Here are my guys and me on my 40th birthday. I had to get this photo from my Facebook page, seems I deleted the file. Now my only copy of my monumental day has the Coal Miner tribute ribbon...in honor or fallen miners in West Virginia. 






About Elizabeth...
Elizabeth is a wife, a mom, and a writer. She has four wonderful boys, one dusty house,  and three published books to her credit. Feel free to check them out and buy them HERE! Erm, the books, not the kids or the house...though all things in life are negotiable ;)

You can find her here - Blog // Facebook // Twitter

Elizabeth Seckman's Fate Intended tour stop

Who-hoo, I have a visitor... One of my favourite ladies! And she always tidies up after herself... Welcome Elizabeth Seckman...

Hi Annalisa! Thanks for having me over. I've been here often enough to be a boss and  suggest you put the kettle on. We'll enjoy a cup of tea as we discuss reader input.

Kettle's on, and there are some really chocolatey biscuits in the tin! Now, who've you been talking to recently?

I talked to an avid reader the other day and she shared what I consider valuable advice for us all.

She said she loved to buy indie and small pub books, because...

The price is right. She knows the editing might not always be as tight as a big pub, but the $10 price difference makes up for that.

She likes how there is less "formula" fiction in indie and small pub. Story lines are fresher when you stray from the mainstream.

Indie and small pub writers are easily reached and most are friendly and sooo appreciative of a kind word.

And what rabid reader wouldn't love to discover the next E.L. James or Colleen Hoover?

But the one drawback, as she sees it?

Indies and small pubs have a tendency to ramble about in their stories.

Hmm. Why would that be?

There is a saying, you can either be the dog of kings or the king of the dogs.

With indies and small pubs, a writer is given much more authority and leeway than at a big house. Hence, the king of the dogs. Most times, to accept or deny an edit is up to the writer.

In a big house, these writers are working for the kings, but as their dog. They say make an edit, I'll bet that edit is made.

The freedom of the small pubs and indies puts the burden of responsibility almost solely on the writer.

For myself, I try to avoid this by using several betas and listening when there is unity in opinion.If more than one person sees the problem...cut it; change it...whatever it takes; fix it.

It's best to listen before publication rather than hear it in a review after publication.

Fate Intended is the third book in the Coulter Men Series.  Trip is the last of the Coulter sons to find love. He’s a handsome man with all the skills a young spy needs to succeed. But when it comes to love, he misses the target. Jane is a sweet beauty who may or may not be wanted for murder. She’s hiding out as a cleaning lady when chance brings her and Trip together. It looks like a happily ever after is in the cross hairs until reality tries to destroy what fate has intended.

Elizabeth Seckman is a simple chick with a simple dream…to write stories people want to read.

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Say 'hi' to Elizabeth Seckman

Please welcome the wonderful Elizabeth Seckman to my blog today - she is a super supportive blogger, and hosted a stop on my last blog tour, so as a thank you I've given her my blog for the day. I wonder what she has to say...

Want the magnet? Buy it Here!

Hey Annalisa!

Thanks for having me over.

You go put the kettle on (practicing my Brit lingo) while I tell you how a fridge magnet changed my thinking.

I was out shopping with some girlfriends and came across this magnet, "Dear Lord, if you can't make me skinny, please make all my friends fat!"

At first glance I got a good laugh.

I mean misery does love company and if everyone was in the same chubby boat as me, I'd feel a whole lot better about myself.

Or our cellulite covered butts would sink our dingy and we'd all drown.

But still, I wouldn't be THE chunky chick, I'd just be one of many...

Then I started thinking...how beastly is that sort of thinking?

It's not at all motivating. I mean motivation is the push to do better, to try harder.

I decided this little five dollar cutie was a double fail-

First fail:

"Lord, make me skinny?" Like I was going to get a miracle where chocolates, candies, and cakes were suddenly going to become the new broccoli, carrots, and celery of the world and TV watching would become high impact cardio?

Absurd, right?

Second fail:

I was asking to drag all my friends down (or up the scale) with me.

Ms. Size Six who never finishes a full meal? I hoped your every spoonful had a heaping helping of excess fat.

Ms. Thin who skates every evening? Sorry, I just wished you a broader bum!

Final conclusion? I am what I am because of the choices make. If I want to be something different, I have to make different choices. And if I don't want to put in the sweat equity, then I'll accept and love the person I am.

To wish failure on my friends? Well the only thing that shrinks is my personality.

My pooch is tummy pooch camouflage!

Links:

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Bio:

Elizabeth is just a simple Yankee chick who dares to dream...one day she'll have a clean house, a tight bum, and a shelf full of books with her name on them. The mother of four boys...she divides her time between the laundry room, the kitchen, and the computer. 

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a great weekend. I listened to some great music and sat out in the sun drinking Pimms and cider - a very British summer!

And now I'm back to sharing my soul, and the soul of my stories.

Today, I'm over at Elizabeth Seckman's Use Your Words... blog explaining how much of myself I put into the character Gypsy.

I'm being interviewed

Today I'm over at Elizabeth Seckman's blog, Use Your Words... She asked me some probing questions, and I rambled for a while... That's an interview, right?

But it's tied in to my new book, which is why I've used it as an excuse to put the cover up again!

(I'm still working my way through ISWG posts, so if I haven't been round to yours yet, I'll get there after work!)

Off for tea and scones with Elizabeth!

Today I am with the wonderful Elizabeth at Use Your Words...

I'm not quite sure how to introduce this post. Out of all the fun topics that I've posted about, this one is probably closest to my heart - you'll see why when you read it. (It's a sporty one, but hopefully that won't put you off!)

I'm out today (having a hot chocolate and gossip with a friend - yay!) so I'll catch up with you later.

Have you got any plans for today?

Elizabeth Seckman's Healing Summer Blog Tour

I'm delighted to welcome Elizabeth Seckman here today as part of her Healing Summer blog tour. I have just finished reading Past Due, the first in the Coulter Men series, and I'm really looking forward to reading about the bad boy of the Coulter family!

I gave Elizabeth the prompt: My Perfect Summer's Day

Hi Annalisa! Thanks for taking the time to host me. I know you’re getting ready to start your own tour and hop, so best of luck on that!

You asked about my perfect summer day? Well, this is the first thing that pops into my mind…

Many years ago, when my oldest son was just a year old, he loved to go outside. Once set free, Caleb would explore. He has always been bright child, so it isn’t surprising that during his second summer on earth, he was intent on learning everything. He’d weed through blade after blade of grass to find an ant. Then he’d watch it as it would roam about like we would watch a lion at the zoo. Then he’d spy a bird in a tree and he would point and watch in awe as it took flight.

To him, the world was fresh and new.

All the things that I saw each day and had come to ignore, he was fascinated by. He could lie in the grass for long minutes (which in toddler time is like hours) and watch the clouds move across the sky, then gasp as a plane flew over. Every little bit of this planet was an intrigue.

Bark on a tree.

The texture of concrete.

A shadow compliments of the sun.

Those things were as exciting to him as the Magic Kingdom.

And on those perfect summer days, he taught me an important lesson in writing:

Look at the world as if you have never seen it before. Look beyond the snap image the brain has pre-loaded like clip art for us. I say grass and you see green…but look closer…there is a smell, a texture, a bend to each blade that you might have long stopped recognizing. That’s where we will find the depth, the clarity, and the realism to make our lies more real.

Or ask a toddler, “What do you see?” and quickly write that down!

Great tips Elizabeth - I'm off to ask the nearest toddler!!

Maybe Love, Not Time, Heals All Wounds

Ditched at the altar…biopsied for cancer…Mollie Hinkle is having a bona fide bitch of a summer. When life sucks so hard it takes your breath away, what's a girl to do? Pack a bag, grab a few friends, and leave the past and the worry in the rear view mirror. What wounds can’t be healed by a drive across the Heartland, where quarter flips at cross roads determine the route and the future? All roads lead to Craig, the second son and bad boy of the haughty Coulter line. Has fate brought her to the miniscule Montana town to find happily ever after or will it just break her heart?

“Healing Summer” is the second book in the Coulter Men Series.

Elizabeth Seckman

Here are the links:

Blog Tour blog page

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Goodreads page

Buy Healing Summer on Amazon

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Just a quickie

I'm hosting Elizabeth Seckman on her Healing Summer blog tour tomorrow - she's going to tell us all about her perfect summer's day!



I'm really excited to have been nominated for Best Writing and/or Inspirational Blog on Misha Gericke's My First Book blog, alongside some fabulous bloggers, and some bloggers I've never met before. There are four categories to vote in - have you been over there yet? Have you discovered some new bloggers too?



I have a bit of a secret... I have another blog. I haven't linked it up to my Blogger profile because I don't want people to get confused - it's just a bit of fun for me, really - but I thought I'd give myself a little shout out. It's called The Gym Instructor and it's all about fitness and health! I set it up a year ago, and I've only just made the effort to start blogging on it regularly. It's an experiment in writing articles, mostly, and I'd appreciate you popping over and giving me some feedback - either from a content or technical article-writing point of view. At the moment I have a guest post on there by Jade Varden at the moment, but I'm planning the next post to be added in the next couple of days.

Have you got any news to share?