Today I’m a featured author on Shelf Pleasure, sharing the books on my nightstand. Come check out the picture, the list of books, and stay to peruse their website. It’s a charming “destination spot for women who love reading.” What’s On My Nightstand…
Press
Travel to the new ShelfPleasure.com
Kristen Weber, who was my editor on Bonjour 40, has just launched a new website! With co-founder Stacy Gerard, they’ve created a website for women who love to read–a destination spot to chat about all things bookish. As they say on their new site, “Shelf Pleasure is a go-to source for the latest book news and trends.”
In their first week, I’ve been fortunate enough to be among the contributors for a fun section called “love/hate,” in an article called Will Travel For Words.
So grab a book, a steaming cup of coffee, and come on over to Shelf Pleasure. Soak yourself in books until your fingers get all pruny.
Guest Post on Steena Holmes’ site
Fellow Canadian and writer, Steena Holmes, invited me to contribute an article on the importance of writer characters with emotion. I wept. Or rather I wrote about the importance of crying. So drop in on her lovely site, grab a box of tissues, and click through to my article, “My character cried,” I sobbed. Thanks Steena for the invite.
A book trailer for Girl Unmoored
Debut author, Jennifer Gooch Hummer, recently worked with me to build a new book trailer for her YA novel, Girl Unmoored. Her novel has been garnering all kinds of awards (see the list below), and so Jennifer was ready to produce a mini-movie about the book. The trailer needed to give an overview of the story, match her book cover and author website, and also showcase a couple reviews and awards.
To find out more about her story, watch the Girl Unmoored book trailer
To build the trailer, first I read the book! Her main character, Apron, has a funny yet very moving way of viewing the world, so we knew the text had to not only match the book marketing, but Apron’s tone of voice. Working with the artwork and fonts from the book cover, I also added a couple videos and music to help it feel like 1985, the time period of the story.
So today Jennifer launches her new book trailer and announces her collection of fabulous awards. Congratulations!
Jennifer’s awards include:
Cross Genre, National Indie Excellence Book Awards
Best YA Fiction, Paris Book Festival
Best Teenage Fiction, San Francisco Book Festival
YA Fiction, and finalist for Best Cover Design and Chick Lit
Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Finalist for YA Fiction and Best New Fiction, International Book Awards
“Love, loss, and the coming of age of one remarkable girl blaze through this haunting debut like a shooting star you’d wish upon. It’s tough and tender, funny and smart, and it frankly took my breath away. I loved it.”
– Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author, Pictures of You
“…infused with love and punctuated with wry good humor… Apron may be adrift, but Hummer’s debut is on track.”
– Publishers Weekly
Book Review: Book End Babes Confessions
I received an oh-so-lovely review of Bonjour 40 from a fun blog called Book End Babes. In “Confessions of a Closet Francophile,” Heather Dearly admits her unending desire for Paris, and chats about her armchair review of my 40th birthday adventures in the city.
Back in October, her fellow-blogger on BEB, Melena Lott, was kind enough to do a review and include an excerpt. They’ve done a new review and update because of the new eLit awards the book has captured, and well, because they love books and all things France.
So needless to say, Heather and Melena – merci beaucoup! I’m so glad you not only read Bonjour 40, but enjoyed a little stroll through the Paris streets right from your own living rooms!
Branding a Neighborhood
Building comprehensive brands for organizations is never easy. So imagine doing it pro bono for an entirely volunteer non-profit organization who never had a brand before. Such was the two-year project I recently completed for the Church Hill Association (CHA) with my own neighborhood in Richmond.
The project began with the understanding that a full-blown brand was missing not only for the CHA, but for the neighborhood itself. Church Hill is a very historic, gorgeous neighborhood and we weren’t showing it. It was here that Patrick Henry gave his famous “Liberty or Death” speech in 1775, and Richmond’s first streets appeared. So it felt right to start the brand with the tagline “Where Richmond began.”
From there we developed a brand positioning statement, updated the CHA logo, chose specific colors and fonts, worked with photographers, built communication materials, and most recently completed the website.
Ultimately the main reason for the new website was to give the CHA a place to put all their information–meeting dates, bylaws, programs and events–and ask residents to “Join the CHA.”
The website is now also a major resource for tourists and businesses wanting to come to Church Hill. It provides homeowners with details about caring for historic houses, and provides crucial city and CHA board contacts.
Thank you to Worthington Photography who donated a year’s worth of seasonal images for the gallery, to the volunteer CHA committee who researched and proofed things like crazy, and to Christina Reeser of io studio who programmed the site. You were a gracious and lovely team.
Click to visit the new ChurchHill.org website here.
Book Review: Two new Amazon reviews
In the last two weeks, two new reviews have been added in Amazon.com for my book Bonjour 40: A Paris Travel Log (40 years. 40 days. 40 seconds.) As I approach the one-year anniversary of my month-long trip to Paris, it’s wonderful to know the book is still reaching, and touching others. To read the new reviews, visit the Bonjour 40 Amazon page.
Many, many thanks to Gregory, author of the blog Writing4Death, and Darlene of Peeking Between the Pages. Merci beaucoup to you both for the lovely reviews.
Book Review: Blog reviews Bonjour 40
“Whenever I start feeling sad that I’ll never make it Paris, I’ll read this book again. It’s the next best thing to actually being there.” – Vicki, writer for I’d Rather Be at the Beach blog.
Bonjour 40 was reviewed on the blog, I’d Rather Be at the Beach. Thanks so much for such a wonderful look at my new book!
Guest Post: Gutsy Living
I’ve recently published a guest-post on the blog Gutsy Living. Thank you to Sonia Marsh for including me on her wonderful, adventurous blog. You can read the article I posted about my Bonjour 40 adventure on the Gutsy Living blog here! Enjoy.
Promotion: Give Paris for just $1.99
For 40 days, between Thanksgiving and January 2nd, Bonour 40 is now just $1.99 (on sale from $4.99). So this year, you can give everyone Paris! For book trailers, information and where to buy, go to books.
