Friday Feature: A Song for Rory

My friend Cerella has known she wanted to be a writer since she was ten years old. On Wednesday, she made this dream come true-- again--with the release of her fifth book, A Song for Rory. 

“Even winning Country Music Artist of the Year can’t help Sawyer Landry shake his guilt over leaving Rory Callahan behind. All the fame, fortune and fans he’s earned haven’t relieved his regret over the way he ditched her. But all that’s about to change. Because Sawyer has finally realized that everything is empty without Rory. And he’s returning to Findlay Roads to win her back. Hopefully.

But Sawyer has no idea how hard it’ll be. Rory’s not going to welcome him with open arms. And he’s about to discover a family secret that could ruin everything…”

Cerella's new book is part of the Harlequin Heartwarming line, books that "celebrate wholesome, heartfelt relationships" and center on things like home, family, community and love.

I'm really happy for Cerella, and I hope that if you're looking for something to read this weekend, you'll take a peek at A Song for Rory. 

5 Questions from The Porch Swing for Loree Lough

What have you written? Fiction and nonfiction for adults and children (107 books in print; nearly 6M in circulation 7 book-to-movie options); more than 2,500 articles.

What do you read? Research manuals, mostly, so I'm sure to include authentic and accurate details in my books.

Why do you write? If I didn't, I'd get into trouble for repainting all the wood surfaces in our house. (Men! LOL)

This book is #2 in Heartwarming's
THOSE MARSHALL BOYS series.
Book #3 is due out in May.

Fun writing factoid (not technically a question, I know): I act out characters' mannerisms and facial expressions, and speak their lines of dialog aloud. (That weird truck with the men in white coats doesn't show up anymore, thankfully).

One more thing: My all-time favorite thing about the job is reading letters from people who've not only spent hard-earned money on the books, but took time from their busy schedules to tell me which scenes and/or characters most touched them.

5 Questions from the Porch Swing for Cerella Sechrist

What have you written? My debut novel was a contemporary romantic comedy entitled Love Finds You in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Since then, I've published three novels with Harlequin's Heartwarming line, including my most recent release, Harper's Wish, the first book in my Findlay Roads series. It centers around a fictional town in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland and the series features such characters as a disgraced food critic, failing restaurateur, Irish folk singer, country music superstar, bed and breakfast owner, soldier, doctor, and others.

What do you read? A little bit of almost everything in the realm of fiction - adventure, romance, historical, women's, mystery, fantasy, speculative, literary, etc. I also really enjoy a lot of young adult fiction - there's so much unique creativity in that genre!

www.harlequin.com

Why do you write? Because stories are the heart of who we are, and our stories - real and imagined - are the legacy we leave behind.

Fun writing factoid (not technically a question, I know): For years, I wrote only in historical fiction but couldn't get published. On a whim, I decided to change direction and try writing a modern-day romantic, foodie comedy. I titled it Just Desserts. Two-and-a-half years later, it was published by Summerside Press as Love Finds You in Hershey, Pennsylvania - my debut novel. 

One more thing: I have a new author blog debuting in January entitled: "A Story Life: Finding the Extraordinary in the Everyday." I'm really excited about the chance to share with my readers on a more personal level. I'd love for you to sign up  for the blog emails and come visit me at www.cerellasechrist.com!

Friday Freebie: Gifting Books

Photo by George Hodan via publicdomainpictures.net

It occurred to me sometime last week that I really need to put Christmas shopping on my to-do list. It's not that I haven't started -- it's just that I haven't been to many -- okay any -- stores yet with the primary intention of doing specific Christmas shopping. I've taken advantage of Cyber Monday and picked up a few things here and there, but some things just require visits to the store.

Today's timely blog post by two of my author friends reminded me that Christmas shopping can be fun for me, too. Not only does the post talk about books and bargains, but it also talks about authors and writing. More than a few of my favorite things.

How about you? How's your Christmas shopping going? Let me know if you need a book for someone's stocking :-)

Saturday Special -- Celebrations: You've Got to Have Friends, Part 2

When you live in Pennsylvania, launching a book at the end of January is a very "iffy" proposition. Sure, there's always a chance the weather will hold and your launch party won't get snowed out…but if the winter is anything like last winter, the chances of that happening are very, very slim.

I did, indeed, plan a launch party in the middle of February before being scared away from that idea by more snow than we've seen in our area in a long time. In the end, I celebrated with an online book launch party, so it didn't matter if the weather outside was frightful or delightful. I followed that up with a book signing at my favorite local Starbucks…and it snowed. Fortunately, that didn't keep people away.

Then in June, five months after the official launch of my book, I had a Bookiversary Party. Since a picture paints a thousand words, I'm going to stop here and let the photos tell the rest of the story.

Thanks to everyone who attended anything. As I plan more events, I hope you'll keep stopping by, just to say hi, when I'm in your area because no matter where the event is, fun and friends are necessary ingredients.

"Cake" and decadent cupcakes were created by Rise,
a barista at the Randolph Park Starbucks in York.

I'm not the only writer at my local Starbucks.
Rosey, one of the baristas, has a degree
in creative writing, and I got to read a sample
of her novel last summer….

…and Cerella is a Harlequin
Heartwarming author. Her
latest title is The Paris Connection.

I was excited to celebrate with members of my
critique group who knew my story when….
Maggie (left), Judy….

…and Anne.

My sister (and fellow writer), Lori
and brother-in-law, Paul made sure
my family was represented….

Though I've retired from public education, I'm blessed to still
count former colleagues among my friends.
Wendy and Missy were not only among the
first to arrive, but they "tested" my book
club questions (and the edible stones around
the bottom of the cake) as well….

...along with my
sister-in-law, Sue.

…and Dorene & Rick even offered their house
as a location for the party.


Okay, I really thought I was going to get them all in today….but I think maybe I need one more post to get all the pictures in.  Stop back next weekend for the final installment of my party series!