Hello Friends, Thank you for joining me on this blog hop today. I have answered some questions to tell you a little more about my most recently published novel, Maybe This Life. If you leave me a short comment and your email address, you will be entered in a chance to win a signed paperback copy of Maybe This Life. After you've left a comment and your email address in the comments section below, please be sure to click on the names listed below to find out more about some fabulous authors. Happy Reading, Folks. - J.P.
1: What is the working title of your book? My most recently published book is called Maybe This Life
2: Where did the idea come from for the book? The idea came from chatting with my aunt one day. She was telling me some old stories about my great-grandmother's life, and I thought, "Wow, I could write a book about her life."
3: What genre does your book come under? Maybe This Life is a contemporary romance, but since it touches upon the subject of reincarnation and a little time travel, it could probably be considered paranormal romance as well.
4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? I would choose Zach Efron to play Rick, and Nina Dobrev as Lena.
5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? When Rick Murphy enters Lena Giordano's world, Lena is suddenly haunted by images of a past she hadn't known existed.
6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?Self-published.
7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? The first draft took over a year. Then I trashed and rewrote it...taking a whole other year.
8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Jude Deveraux's A Knight in Shining Armor.
9: Who or what inspired you to write this book? My great-grandmother's life story inspired me to write HER story.
10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? Lena is a survivor of physical abuse. She finds the courage to walk away from a physically abusive fiance.
Below you will find authors who will be joining me by blog Do be sure to bookmark and add them to your calendars for updates on WIPs and New Releases! Happy Writing and Reading!
I have been given only a handful of books in my lifetime; most of them I buy for myself. But out of the books I have been given, my favorite has to be CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger. I love a flawed character. Perfection is highly overrated. That being said, until recently, my favorite book had been Twilight (the first one) with A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux at a close second. In both of those books I found the leading male character (our hero) to be perfectly flawed. I say until recently, because currently I am reading Gabriel's Inferno by Sylvain Reynard, and I have to say, I am blown away by the hero Gabriel. He is definitely flawed and perfectly dangerous and this is what is making Gabriel's Inferno my favorite so far. So it wasn't given to me - I had to buy it, but the reader that I am reading it on was given to me. Does that count? In any event, I'd love to GIVE one winner one of my e-books. All you need to do is leave a comment with your E-MAIL ADDRESS (Please don't forget). And please leave the name of the book you would like to win - Unplugged (A Portrait of a Rock Star or Maybe This Life - both are written by yours truly. Thank you so much for participating and have a wonderful Christmas season.
What you can win here: Your choice of one of my e-books
Number of winners: 1
Open to (INT, US or US/CAN): International
How to enter: Leave a comment with your email address and what ebook of mine you would like
I got my Avon Unplugged for Her today! So I thought I'd have a little fun with it. Here you go: When I had first published Unplugged (A Portrait of a Rock Star) in November of 2011, I had dreams of making it a movie. (Who am I kidding? I still have dreams of making it a movie.) Being a believer in the Law of Attraction, I started to put my dream into action by visualizing the movie in my mind. I visualized Jon Bon Jovi playing the roll of Tagg Holland. I would close my eyes and picture him with his guitar singing songs that hopefully Chris Daughtry helped to compose (since it was Chris' music that inspired the themes in my book). I would write down in my dream book Jon Bon Jovi WILL BE in Unplugged. Jon Bon Jovi WILL HELP to make Unplugged a movie. Well...the Law of Attraction must have been paying a little attention, because lo and behold, the universe put its gears into motion and brought Jon Bon Jovi together with Unplugged. - JUST NOT THE RIGHT UNPLUGGED.
Avon got to him before I did. That's not to say I didn't try. I mailed him copies of my book (got the USPS receipt that he'd received them) and hand delivered a copy to his Soul Kitchen (and met a wonderful hostess who promised to give it to his wife)...and with each letter I thanked him for being the kind of rock star to be proud of, the kind of rock star I wanted my hero in my book to be like - charitable and humble. ...AND in each letter, I asked him to please consider playing Tagg Holland in the screenplay. (Of course, I still need to have the book turned into a screenplay and with any luck I'd need some big Hollywood guy to buy it - but that's just a minor technicality really.) Alas, I never did hear from Mr. Jon Bon Jovi (but geez, give the guy a break - he's only helping to feed all of New Jersey).
But I ask you...what came first - Unplugged for Her or Unplugged (A Portrait of a Rock Star)? Smiles, J.P.
Sharing My Favorite Read Giveaway Hop was organized by Reading Romances!
[I love WICKEDLY good romance as much as the next guy. And I love writing a WICKEDLY good romances. But I'm not sure if you'd consider my romances WICKED or not - they tend to lean towards the WICKEDLY SWEET. If you were looking for a little 'DEVIL' in your books, right now, I haven't written one of those. My characters are all ANGELS (well, not really). Anyhoo, besides giving away an eBook of my novel, UNPLUGGED (A PORTRAIT OF A ROCK STAR), I am also giving away a $10.00 Amazon Gift Card for you to buy a romance that you consider WICKED!...I hope you win...and thank's for stopping by my blog. DON'T FORGET TO VISIT THE NEXT ONE ON THE LIST. Happy Halloween.]
What you can win here: An eCopy of UNPLUGGED (A Portrait of a Rock Star) AND a $10.00 Amazon Card
Number of winners: 1
Open to (INT, US or US/CAN): INT
How to enter: Leave a comment and your email address
I have a challenge for you this week - CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK FOR ONE WEEK AND SEE IF THINGS START LOOKING UP.
It sounds easy enough, right?
Well....yes AND no.
It's easy to start saying positive things...when your day is going well. But when your day seems to be offering one snafu after another, it takes a whole lot of willpower to change negative thoughts into positive ones. Yet this is when it's most important. YOU HAVE THE POWER TO TURN YOUR DAY AROUND WHEN IT'S NOT GOING YOUR WAY. I've done it. It works. But not without every ounce of effort on my part to stay focused and BELIEVE my day would turn right side up. YOU CAN DO THIS TOO!
Instead of saying things like, "I don't want to run out of gas." Or, "I don't want to be late for work." Or, "I wish I wouldn't keep getting this wrong." - Say something along these lines. "I have more than enough fuel to get where I'm going." Or, "I will make it to work with time to spare." Or, " I will get this done with ease and perfection."
This takes a lot of focus, but if you CONSTANTLY have thoughts like these, you will actually start to believe it and your days will work out the way you want them too. Now I'm not saying NOTHING will go wrong in your life, but if you start talking positively to yourself and to others, less will go wrong. You'll probably even learn to say, "I'm grateful that's ALL that happened," when things do go wrong.
I know I'm sounding all Pollyanna, but I think young Polly was on to something when she decided to play her 'Glad Game' - She made sure she found something to be glad about in EVERY situation. I realize this is hard to do when times are bleak, but worrying about your situation won't make it better either. Why not try to find something to be glad about? Or change a negative thought into a positive one? I did it when hubby had his cancer, and I know with all my heart that if we had worried more than we laughed or smiled, the outcome wouldn't have been as wonderful. We made EVERY EFFORT ( for our children, as well) to keep smiles on our faces and positive thoughts in our minds.
So for one week - change ALL your negative thoughts into POSITIVE ones - eliminate NEGATIVE STATEMENTS ( I hope this doesn't happen...blah, blah, blah) and replace them with POSITIVE STATEMENTS (I can't wait for such and such to happen...blah, blah, blah). Keep a smile on your face, a laugh in your heart and try really hard at focusing on all the positives. PLAY THE GLAD GAME!! Wouldn't the world be a better place if it were filled with more POLLYANNAS?
I'm sure you're all familiar with the infamous quote by Napoleon Hill, - Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve. - You may remember my last post on the topic of positive thinking (which was my first post in the series) I talked about thinking my self happy and thinking my husband cured of his cancer. Being happy was essential in thinking of my husband free of his toxic disease. If I did not remain happy, then according to the law of attraction, my thoughts would not be effective in attaining the results I wanted. According to the law of attraction, 'like attracts like' - so if I succumbed to the sadness resulting from Johnny's diagnosis of bladder cancer, then I would be attracting more sadness and more cancer for Johnny. Now, at the time I didn't know if this was really true and I may not know if it's a hard fact right now either, but during his illness, I was NOT going to take any chances. No Sirree. I thought long and hard about my husband being healthy. I visualized a healthy husband. A year later, that's what I have.
But during the past year (he was cured of cancer three months after his diagnosis - without chemo and radiation - a real miracle), I decided to try it out on other things in my life. WRITING. I had completed two novels by the time John was diagnosed and I wanted so badly to be published. I sent query after query to no avail. Querying must not be my strong suit, because not one literary agent asked to see any part of my manuscript - which I happened to believe in. My dream two summers ago was to be published. Not famous. Not rich. But published. So, I kept my focus on that. I WILL BE A PUBLISHED AUTHOR was my mantra. I thought, well my mind conceived it, I do believe it, so I must achieve it. I spent hours upon hours, days upon days, months upon months, querying and researching. I researched several things. How to write a better query letter, how to build a fan base, how to use social media...and then I came upon the subject of self-publishing. I researched the pros and cons, the benefits of both and what would be best suited for me. I did not want to publish just to say I was published. But after doing my homework, I realized that self-publishing was exactly what I was looking for. By November of 2011, I was a published author (who chose to be self-published because it was the right choice for me). I hadn't really thought about my 'positive thinking' stuff while all this was going on, because researching, editing and reediting, finding a fan base, and making friends in the 'author world' took a lot of time and energy.
But one day, I decided to put my 14 CDs back in the player while driving to work and while listening, I realized, 'WOW, I got my wish. I am a published author on my way to publishing my second book.' Plus, some financial worries we had had previously had miraculously disappeared. Little by little, money was coming in and things were changing. I thought maybe there was some real substance to the law of attraction and believing in myself. I decided to delve further into the positive thinking world and listen to all the audiobooks I could on the subject. I started with the top 10 recommended in the 14 CDs that my neighbor gave me. I was hooked for life. I don't go a week (sometimes not even a day) without listening to one of these books or others I have since found. It's become a staple in my everyday life. I now have goals that I stay focused on. I think only positive thoughts.
NO WAY will I think negative thoughts. Even saying, 'I will not worry about such and such,' is a negative thought ultimately. Because according to the LoA, the universe hears 'such and such' and gives you 'such and such.' So instead, I say something like, 'I will be happy,' or 'I am happy,' or 'I am all right,' or whatever it is you desire to be.
Now, I know I'm jumping from thought to thought, but my point is - if you THINK what you want to be, then you WILL become it. It's the law of the universe. And incidentally, my husband has always wanted to own a Mazda Miata. He's a hard one to sell on positive thinking, but I insisted - if you believe you can get it, you can. You have to want it, taste it, feel it. ...A car he had wanted for 20 years, but could never attain because of money or whatever, all of a sudden, we had the funds for him to buy it. And now he owns a beautiful brand new midnight blue hard-top convertible 2012 Mazda Special Edition Miata. Because he BELIEVED.
I have so much more to talk about with you, but I'll save that for the next post. In the meantime, I recommend listening to Napoleon Hill's The Laws of Success in Sixteen Lessons. It's a long one, but well worth it. There is also the shorter edition called, Think and Grow Rich. But I wanted to apply my new knowledge to all aspects of my life, not just the financial part, so that is why I went with The Laws of Success.
There are so many other books I recommend reading or listening to, but I'll get to them in time.
Smiles and Think Positive, J.P.
Also, if you're interested in giving my neighbor a call regarding the original CDs I started with, feel free to email Rich DuHaime at richduhaime@verizon.net . He'll be happy to send you the first CD for free.
The Naughty or Nice Giveaway Hop was organized by Nat @ Reading Romances!
Hello and welcome to the Naughty or Nice Giveaway Hop In case you're wondering, I write 'Nice' I'd like to write 'Naughty' but when I try, I get embarrassed In my book, Unplugged (A Portrait of a Rock Star) I have one sex scene. I wrote it, edited it and published it, but when someone read it back to me, I got so embarrassed that I said I can't write that anymore. Now I only 'imply' the sex. But I LOVE reading Naughty!!!
Thanks for coming and I hope you enjoy this hop!
You can win a signed print copy of my novel, Maybe This Llife - a reincarnation romance
One Winner
Open to US/Can residents only
To Enter, please answer the question: What type of romance is your favorite to read, Naughty or Nice
In Spring of 2011, a neighbor, bearing one little CD, changed my life.
He offered this CD as an introduction to 14 more CDs. If I liked what was on the first CD, I could ask to hear the rest. I liked what I heard enough to ask, so I did. And with the same enthusiasm as I listened to the first, I listened to the rest. I LOVED them. They opened my mind to a new way of thinking, and they introduced me to a new way of living.
My neighbor hadn't known it (I hadn't yet either), but he had given me those CDs at the most daunting time in my life. Not a few weeks later my husband was diagnosed with bladder cancer. The tumor took up two-thirds of his bladder. He needed to have it removed. This was something my husband did NOT want to do. But he had no choice. We needed to act quickly.
During this time, it was easy to slip into pity mode. But since my husband had the right to feel sorry for himself, I knew I had to be strong. Those 14 CDs helped me to do that. How did they help? It was all about the law of attraction - what I would think about, is what would manifest. If I'd thought about my husband suffering, then would I actually think him into suffering? I did not want to do that. So I would listen and listen to what the CDs told me to do...and not to do. I would visualize my husband healthy and happy. I would think about him with a healthy bladder and a healthy attitude.
What I wouldn't do (because the CDs told me not to) was talk about his cancer in the negative. If someone would ask how he was feeling, I would say, "He's feeling better each day." Or, I would say, "We found a great doctor who knows what he's doing." I wouldn't fall prey to those looks of sympathy and I definitely would not talk about his cancer...not unless I was saying something positive. I also wouldn't say to myself, "John will NOT have cancer," because the law of attraction states that the 'universe' would hear 'cancer' and that's what John would have.
Should I believe what was said about the law of attraction? I felt I had no choice. I wasn't taking the chance.
I listened to those CDs over and over and practiced their way of thinking every moment of every day. I managed to get through that whole summer with merely two mental breakdowns (which was awesome for this highly emotional empathetic Libra). I was determined to stay strong and positive. I couldn't expect my husband to do the same, but I was impressed with his attitude nonetheless. I shared with him each day what I had learned about thinking positively, and I believe he tried to think that way as well.
In any event, within three months, hubby was clean of cancer. Of course he lost a bladder, but he gained a brandy new NeoBladder (if you want to know what that is, you can Google it, that's not what this post is about). It was a long road to recovery, but he recovered. And along the way, I learned that positive thinking can help you through most anything. (I say most, because obviously I have not experienced everything, so I wouldn't know).
So is there a SECRET to getting what you want? I'd say yes. And it's this...YOU DO BECOME WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT MOST OF THE TIME.
You can find out more about the law of attraction in many books, the most popular being THE SECRET. As for the 14 CDs, I'm not sure I'm allowed to share that information, since it was part of a business network that my neighbor was part of. But there are many books on the subject. Since listening to those original CDs, I have found a plethora of books (I download audiobooks, I love to listen in my car) that help enhance my positive thinking. I do not go a day without listening to one of them.
This post is the first of a series of posts that I would like to talk about on the subjects of the law of attraction and positive thinking. My life has definitely changed for the better. Since THINKING only positive thoughts, I have changed many things in my life and I am excited to share what they are and HOW I got there. So, stay tuned...I will try to have a new post on the subject each week.
As always, friend, KEEP SMILING, Smiles, J.P.
Post Script: Since publishing this post, I have been given permission to give my neighbor's name and his email. If anyone would like a copy of the 1st CD that began my travels on the road to positive thinking, my neighbor will send you the CD for free. Just tell him 'Julie sent you.' His name is Richard DuHaime and his email is: richduhaime@verizon.net
Thank you to all who participated in our Fall Variety Blog Hop. We had so much fun. I loved everyone's comments and look forward to hearing from you again.
The winners to my blog contest were Francine and Tracey! Congrats Francine and Tracey. I left you a reply to your blog comment with my email address so you can email me your address to receive your choice of one of my print books.
Please join me this week when I blog about the POWERS OF POSITIVE THINKING.
Have a wonderful weekend, and as always, keep smiling.
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