An 'Unexpected' Review

As I was updating my web-site yesterday with some permalinks for blog stops I'd done for my An Unexpected Blessing tour, I came across a review at Sizzling Hot Book Reviews for the title. It hadn't showed up in my Google alers, so I didn't know it was out there. I was delighted!

Here are a few of the highlights:

Debra St. John built a really beautiful love story in the contemporary novella entitled An Unexpected Blessing.

As far as characters go, I'd have to say that Joe was by far my favorite of the two. He was so loving and sweet and generous, that I couldn't get enough of him!

With two very well developed characters and a plot line that was easy to follow as well as fall in love with, I found An Unexpected Blessing to be a beautifully written romance, that will surely touch the hearts of many readers out there.

Kudos to this author for bypassing the typical holiday theme of Christmas and focusing more on the Thanksgiving holiday as well. I was ready for something new and refreshing for the season, and An Unexpected Blessing was exactly that.

Overall, the reading gave it four stars, which at Sizzling Hot Book Reviews means: Great! Move it up to the TBR pile.

To read the full review, click here.

An Unexpected Blessing is available from:

The Wild Rose Press
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Another Transition

It seems like it was just yesterday that I was putting out my turkeys and Pilgrims in anticipation of Thanksgiving. No, wait, it seems like just yesterday that I was putting out my pumpkins, witches, and ghosts in anticipation of Halloween.

And here we are getting ready to celebrate Christmas one month from today.

Seriously...where does the time go? This time of year seems to slide into a time warp and the days fly by in a quick blur. Almost like those lines we use in our stories to transition us from one scene to another: A week later, the days sped by, over the next few weeks etc.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving here on Thursday. It was our first year hosting, and everything was simply perfect. A small group of family and friends gathered and we indulged in turkey, stuffing, corn, beans, two kinds of potatoes, rolls, and cranberries. Then of course there was dessert: homemade apple and pumpkin pies. After dinner we watched a bit of football, and then everyone headed out, stuffed and content.

Less than twenty-four hours later, the turkeys (both food and paper decorations) were packed away and the Christmas decs were in place. Two trees, outdoor lights, and a plethora of other decs went up. We took a break and had turkey club sandwiches for lunch, but went quickly back to work. All the while, Chrismas music played in the background. That night we watched our first Christmas movie: Christmas with the Kranks.

I even have some of my shopping done! Most of the nieces, nephews, and Godchildren are finished, and I have a few other presents already stashed away. There's still quite a bit to be done, but it's nice to have a head start. (And I am not one to brave those Black Friday sales...)

So, we've transitioned into another holiday here in this season of holidays.

Are you ready?!

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Holiday Stories from Debra St. John and The Wild Rose Press
An Unexpected Blessing - a Thanksgiving novella
A Christmas to Remember - a Christmas novella
Mistletoe and Folly - a FREE read

You've Got the LOOK!

Thanks to fellow author, Jennifer Wilck, for tagging me with the ziggy zig zag tag—“You’ve got the LOOK!”

As part of this tag, I have to take my most recent work in progress or my current manuscript and search for the word “look,” then post the surrounding paragraphs/text.

Since I've been blogging a lot lately about my new release An Unexpected Blessing, I decided to do the search on my WIP, "The Feels Like Home". This mss is in a second round of edits for an editor at Wild Rose. It would be the completion of the series begun with This Time for Always. This Can't Be Love was the second installment.

I found the word look in the second sentence! So here are the first two paragraphs:

Jake Hawkins spotted the newcomer right away. Her fancy clothes made her look as out of place as boots on a chicken. No one from town would wear a fancy sweater and dress slacks to The Corral. Not to mention heels so thin they looked like they’d snap if she tried to walk on them.

But his gaze didn’t linger too long on her attire. Instead, he studied her as best he could from across the bar. She leaned toward her friend, elbow on the table, chin resting in her hand. Her legs were crossed. One foot waved in the air. She wore her dark hair up in some kind of twist. As she gestured, her features settled into a frown. He wished he could tell what color her eyes were.

And now, the fun part–why should I be embarrassed on my own–I get to tag five more authors. So, Morgan Mandel, Calisa Rhose, Isabella Macotte, Margot Justes, and Sherry James, tag, you’re it! You can post in your blogs, website or on your Facebook pages. And the rest of you, these ladies are great writers, so check them out!

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

The Ups and The Downs

A writer's life is filled with many ups and downs. Sometimes all at once.

On the up part of things these days, I got a release date for An Unexpected Blessing! My Thanksgiving novella will be out the day before Thanksgiving (November 21). I'm so thrilled it made it for this year. I've spent the last couple of days working on promotional considerations: ordered post cards, started setting up a blog tour, updated my web-site. All that fun stuff.

On the down side of things, my bull rider story got sent back with a request for more revisions. I'm really stuck on what to do with this mss right now. I changed the heroine's career to make her motivation for her dislike of dangerous sports more logical, but now the editor wants a deeper romantic conflict. My hero was left at the altar, so that's his, but I'm stumped as to what to do for the heroine. I had set up the story to be country vs. city as the external conflict, and the dangers of bull riding as the internal, but that doesn't seem to be working. So now I need to dig deeper. And I'm not sure where to start. What I need to do is set it aside for a while and just let things percolate in my mind. Something will come to me. It always has in the past...hopefully it will this time too. I'd hate to see this story go by the wayside as it's the completion of my trilogy. Can't have a trilogy unless there's a third book, right?!

So how about you? Any ups and downs for you these days?

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

A Cover!

I had a wonderful 'surprise' in my in-box Friday. Although I've been waiting with bated breath for the cover of An Unexpected Blessing, I never expected it would show up at 8:20 on a Friday night. What a great way to start the weekend!

So...here it is...ta da!

And just for fun, here's the blurb, too.

Single Mom Katy Roth thinks life can't get any worse. In the past six months she's been let go at work, had to move back home with her parents, and found out her ex is cutting his child support payment. As Thanksgiving approaches, she finds little to be thankful for in a life that is quickly spinning out of control.
Joe Mason is the town's bad boy. Literally. He's just returned from a four year stint in prison. He wants nothing more than to put the past behind him and get on with his life. He’s had a secret crush on Katy since grade school, but when Katy’s parents hire him to be their handyman, she’s less than thrilled to have him around. But soon, through her young son’s eyes, Katy discovers the good in Joe. As their feelings for one another deepen, small town gossip and prejudice threaten to ruin everything. Will Joe’s past come between them, or will they be able to get beyond it and hold onto a love neither expected?

Still no release date yet, but now that the cover has arrived, a date should follow shortly. I've already approved the galley.

Oh,and I love how the font of the new cover matches the font of my Christmas novella. Great for marketing and branding.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Summer Writing Journal - Final Entry

Yes, sad but true, in a sense summer is over. Oh, I'm sure we'll still have warm (hot) weather and we're still a few weeks away from Labor Day weekend and then a few more away from Autumn, but for me, I go back to work tomorrow and summer as I've known it is indeed over. *sigh*

In a way I'm ready to get back to a routine, but I've accomplished so much writing-wise this summer, I'll be a little sad to lose that momentum.

But I do have a doozy of a way to close out my journal for the summer.

The other day (about a week and a half ago now) when I brought the mail in, I had an interesting envelope. It was addressed to me and also had my own return address label on it. I knew immediately what it was. My return correspondence from Harlequin. I'd sent in a query with a synopsis back in May and had included this self-addressed envelope with the letter. I didn't open it right away. Honestly, I'd gotten a similar envelope before, and it was a rejection. So, I opened the other mail first, and then finally got around to opening the Harlequin missive. Which I then had to re-read twice to make sure I wasn't seeing things: they had read my synopsis and were interested in seeing the full manuscript!!!!!

A few moments of Happy Dancing ensued, and then the work began. I immediately got to work doing a read-through. And then another. Now this book has been finished and edited for a while now, but with something this big on the line, I wanted to make sure all of my i's were dotted and my t's crossed, to say the least. I also enlisted the help of fellow Chicago-North chapter mates to do a read-through. (A big thanks and lots of hugs to Pamala Knight and Jennifer Stevenson for doing an ASAP read and offering suggestions on the mss.) Then I edited some more, revised some more, edited again, rewrote and added scenes, and then did a final read-through. While all of this was going on I wrote a full-synopsis and another cover letter.

Finally, it was time. I printed out the mss (almost 300 pages worth), got my mailing label ready (I'd pick of the envelope at the post office), typed up the self-addressed envelope for return correspondence, signed the cover letter, and headed off to the post office. My goal was to have it in the mail before going back to work on August 13, and I was so excited to be ahead of my dead-line.

I'd like to report that all went off without a hitch and that as we speak the mss is winging it's way to Canada, but, alas, it isn't so. The post office was out of IRC (International Return Coupons) which is the postage I need to provide for my self-addressed envelope. They wouldn't be getting any in for another few weeks. I didn't want to wait that long, so I tried a different post office. They don't sell the IRCs at all anymore. After a third post office didn't have any either, and getting more and more frustrated by the minute...was this a sign this wasn't mean to be?...I remembered I was living in the 21st century and went home and ordered an IRC on line. It should arrive in 3 to 5 business days. Now why didn't I think of that in the first place?

So, the mss is all bundled up, complete with a custom's form, and ready for a trip to the post office as soon as my Priority Mail arrives next week. Once it's in the mail, the waiting will begin. The letter I got said it takes from three to five months for a response, even for requested materials.

In the meantime, I'm still looking forward to finishing up the final stages for An Unexpected Blessing (galleys, cover, etc.) and beginning promotion on that. And I have a WIP I set aside to get "Family Secrets" ready to send to Harlequin. So, I'm sure I'll have plenty to do to keep my mind of off waiting. Plus, like I said, it's back to work for me, so the real world will provide plenty of distraction and keep me from waiting by the mailbox every day.

All in all, I have to say it's been a productive writing summer. It doesn't get any better than that. So, if you'll keep fingers and toes crossed for me, I'll let you know as soon as I hear back from Harlequin.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com