Wednesday 31 October 2012

Author guestblog and giveaway: Sharla Lovelalace and Before and Ever Since



Today I have author Sharla Lovelace over for a guestblog, and there is also a chance to win her new book.
Welcome!

Happy Halloween!!   I hope you are all having a wonderful spooky day!
Since this blog is all about books, I thought I’d talk about some of the stories that inspired and influenced me over the years.  Because they mold and define us, books do.  As a writer, they carved me out of jello and made me the author I am today.

And while it’s easy to wax on about recent reads, let’s go back a ways.  Like deep in a dusty library with old carpet and old librarian ladies and those ‘ka-chug-a’ machines to punch the check-out cards.  (That’s what I called them when I was little.)

I read from the time I could turn pages, and to this day I still remember a little yellowish brown book called GOOD TIMES WITH OUR FRIENDS that had all the wonderful adventures with Dick, Jane, and Sally.  
   I still have that book—found it at my mom’s in a box after she died.  I don’t have to look at it—the photos are still in my memory from reading it so much.  Then I went through every single Little House book, wanting more than anything in the world to live on a prairie and be wild like Laura but have Mary’s hair.

                                                                  (Come on, you did, too!)
I read every one of those red hardcover books that told of Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, James Bowie, Pocahontas, and every other historical figure.  I particularly went for the ones who lived in the woods and wore moccasins, for some reason, and remember getting my mom to buy me moccasins so I could practice my stealthiness.
Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys made their appearances, although I always preferred Nancy’s adventures to the Boys.  That strong woman idea, making its impression, I guess.
                                                           
Later on, I went through a horror stage with Dean Koontz and Stephen King.  I couldn’t get enough of it.  And then I was reading one about sacrificing infants right after I had a baby—and I was done with that.  LOL.

And then I discovered romance books.  
Danielle Steele’s HEARTBEAT hit me at a particular time in my life where that story resonated with me, then Sidney Sheldon’s IF TOMORROW COMES made me fall in love with romantic suspense.  I found Nora Roberts’ THREE SISTERS trilogy, and discovered a love for magical realism in what I was reading…

And then I found humor. 
I was enamored.  The first to hook me on the humor train and make me want to write just like her….was Jennifer Weiner.  I read GOOD IN BED in one night, and decided right then and there that I wanted to write just like that.  I soaked up everything she wrote, and moved on to Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series….loving every word.  Mixing it up with some Southern Women’s Fiction was Dorothea Benton Frank’s books like PLANTATION and SULLIVAN’S ISLAND.  (Wanted to move to Sullivan’s Island so badly, I actually researched the possibilities for two weeks. Lol.)  Karen White, Kathryn Magendie, and then Sarah Addison Allen were my inspirations as I discovered my own style of romantic women’s fiction with snarky humor and magical mystical touches.  

So I’m a mish-mash.  A blend, a smorgasbord, a virtual stew of many influences.

What are your favorite authors and influences….going as far back as you dare!

Thanks for having me!
Sharla

Thanks!

Giveaway Details:
Each stop: A random commenter will receive one of Sharla’s customized tote bags, some bookmarks and swag, and a random bestselling author’s book from her collection she accumulated at the RWA Writer’s Conference in Anaheim! (Authors include Larissa Ione, Terry Spear, Tessa Dare, Elizabeth Hoyt, Stephanie Laurens, Barbara Freethy, and Robyn Carr.)

1. Please make sure that you leave your broken up email addy in your  comment in order to be entered into the drawing!
2. Ends check rafflecopter
3. Just Enter
4. Open to everyone

Rafflecopter is at the end of this post!!!!!!!

Grand Prize giveaway tour wide: A random commenter chosen from the entire tour will receive an e-basket: E-book of THE REASON IS YOU, E-book of JUST ONE DAY, $25 e-gift card from Amazon or B&N, $10 Starbucks e-gift card.



Tour Stops:

The more stops readers comment on, the greater their chances of winning.

Back Cover Blurb: 
Emily Lockwood, your past is showing. 
Emily Lockwood has been sitting on a secret for so long, and buried so deep that she really doesn’t even think of it anymore. Why should she? She has a successful career, an ex-husband who rarely tests her pa­tience, a mother who usually does, and a stubbornly independent grown daughter. Everything is fine, just another crazy kind of normal. 
Until Ben Landry comes back to town. The one person that could change it all. From best friends growing up, to young adults who realize their love in a night of crazy passion, Ben and Emily had an unbreakable bond. Or so she thought. When he then disappeared without explanation for over twenty years, she’d had to pick herself up and accept otherwise. Seeing Ben back again now triggers more than mere memories and a tug at her heart. It rips the cover off an old secret that could hurt the people she loves the most. 
While Emily works to keep her secret safe and her heart safer, her sanity gets a reality check. She’s been seeing things—her past played out like home movies unreeling before her eyes, visions that are making Emily see herself, her family, everyone she knew, and every choice she made, in a revealing new light and a startling new angle. For Emily, seeing her life in rewind makes her realize she has hard choices to make for her future. Choices that may redefine everyone else’s future as well. 

Purchase Links: 

Author Bio: 
Sharla Lovelace is the author of THE REASON IS YOU, JUST ONE DAY, and BEFORE AND EVER SINCE. Being a Texas girl through and through, she’s proud to say she lives in Southeast Texas with her family, an old lady dog, and an aviary full of cockatiels. 
Sharla is available by Skype for book club meetings and chats, and loves connecting with her read­ers! See her website www.sharlalovelace.com for book discussion questions, events, and to sign up for her monthly newsletter. 

Connect with Sharla: 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

30 comments:

  1. Spreading some love at twitter: https://twitter.com/cherrymischivus/status/263564803153481729 :)

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  2. I love a book with humor in it, it's always so fun! thanks for the post!

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  3. This reminded me of my childhood. I loved Little House, Nancy Drew and Anne of Green Gables, Judy Plume and of course i read all of Danielle Steel and Nora Roberts..LOL
    kimbacaffeinated at gmail dot com

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  4. Sharla, I absolutely loved THE REASON IS YOU, and I can't wait to read your latest! My mom and I read the Laura Ingalls series together when I was little. I think those books were first to get me hooked on reading.

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  5. When I began reading I read the entire Anne of Green Gables series from the library and it was only available at that time in hardcover. What an experience that was. What a wonderful post. many thanks. Best wishes. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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  6. My evolution is pretty similair. The first book I remember reading was black beauty about the horse. Then it was Nancy Drew and the babysitters club. Once I started to grow up it was sneaking romance novels and now I am pretty much open minded to any type of book, there are so many different great stories to be told I try not to limit myself to one type

    fencingromein at hotmail dot com

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  7. I'm not able to reply individually, it won't let me, so I'll try to hit everyone's points here. :) And it won't let me sign in w/Wordpress, or my web addy. Trying gmail now. O.o

    I completely forgot about Anne of Green Gables...loved. And I clearly forgot all about my teenage years and the romances I snuck. Well, but it wasn't really "romances" I was sneaking. It was Judy Blume's FOREVER. Learned all about everything from Judy Blume...lol! Oh and now that I'm thinking about it, I forgot about the whole VC Andrews craze! I got VERY into the Flowers in the Attic series, and then went on to all the rest. This is fun, remembering!!

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  8. fyi, please don't try to click on this link I'm replying with...it goes to a blogger account I no longer have but it is the only thing that is letting me post here. If you want to find me, go to www.sharlalovelace.com. :) Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. Bad wordpress :/ So many blogger bugs around

      Thanks for the post Sharla and for stopping by

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    2. Heidi@ rnydayramblings at gmail dot com. I was just eyeing this book last night and it will be on Friday Forecast! I loved Little House on the Prairie and devoured every book, too a few times! I also loved Sidney Sheldon. I love a good humorous book and as of that Darynda Jones' Charley Davidson is my new fav. I need to read Stephanie Plum! I totally need something fun and humorous after a month of wickedly scary books! Thanks for the chance to win! As far as authors that influenced me and ones I adore Stephen King and Margaret Mitchell!

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  9. I never wanted Mary's hair, but I did love Laura's wildness. Although I had one of her books, I admit I'm more familiar with the tv series. As for going back, I got a series of classic books for kids that I loved. Black Beauty! Loved that story.

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  10. I also read books ever since I learned how, and quickly finished all the first grade books. I think I have read every children's book in my library back home. As an adult, I have bought some of my favourites for sentimental value, and to read again when sick. Like Thea Beckman, Leni Saris. I cut my romance teeth on Barbara Cartland and Georgette Heyer, Jude Devereaux, Johanna Lindsey and Bertrice Small. I still count them as my favourite authors.

    auriansbooks at gmail dot com

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  11. I've been reading since I was two, and I have to admit that Dr. Seuss taught me how to read that young. (Still popular!) I got real caught up in Tolkien, and I am still a fantasy addict. Somewhere in between I read The Little House books, loved them.

    brendurbanist at gmail dot com

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  12. Seems that Black Beauty and Little House were prevalent!! Love it!

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  13. Not entering but what a great guest blog. I loved Sidney Sheldon when I was a teenager :)

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  14. This was a wonderful post! Congrats to Sharla on the newest release! Ummm... I remember the first book(s) that I adored and couldn't get enough of was The Harper Hall Trilogy by Ann McCaffrey. I think I read them when I was in 5/6 grade. I devoured those books and make up continuation/alternate stories about her characters in my head :)

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  15. Thanks for the awesome giveaway. Please enter me. I would love to read this book. Tore923@aol.com

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  16. I haven't read a single Little House on the Prairie book! I feel like I need to do that just to say I read one, same with Anne of Green Gables. I grew up with books like The Boxcar Children, I remember devouring those books!

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  17. I grew up reading Dr. Seuss, Little House on the Prairie, Anne of Green Gables, and all the other greats. I fell in love with reading I always have a book in hand. Books are like friends that never go away. I devoured so many of my favorites from being a kid to now. Thanks for the giveaway and the chance to devour another book. steelers1099atgmaildotcom

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  18. This sounds very good. Those feel good type of stories and youth and lost loves.

    Margaret
    singitm(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  19. My reading evolution is kinda funny, since I started reading classics and books considered for adults, and nowdays that I am older, lo, most of the books I read are YA - but I still pick up different readings like romances, creepy books, and sometimes I go back to the genres I used to read, or pick different ones like Dark Fantasy books, romances, I'm a mish-mas as well =]]]

    Thx for the giveaway(s)!

    Ana Death Duarte


    personaldeath (at) gmail (dot) com

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  20. I loved how one book led her to another. That has pretty much been the story of my reading life too!!

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  21. If I go back far enough it's all the Enid Blyton books. I loved the pixies & fairies.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  22. I remember starting with the Little House on the Prairie books...Nancy Drew...and then when I exhausted all of my books and my Mom refused to go to the library again that week..I started on the Reader's Digest Condensed Books...LOL ( I know I can't be the only one who read those?!) Still, if not for those, I would never have read Jane Austen when I was 12.. :) I went through every classic in the house that summer...Not sure how much good it did me, but I kick butt with obscure Jeopardy questions ;) Thanks so much for giving us this opportunity!


    redcincibabe at yahoo dot com

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  23. I loved to read Dr. Seuss(still do), Judy Blume, Nancy Drew, Nora Roberts. I used to read anything I could get my hands on and I still do.
    Congrats on the new release.

    e.balinski(at)att(dot)net

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  24. haha. Nancy Drew. I have a small collection of the hardback ones with the yellow covers. My sister read the Hardy boys ones with the hardback blue covers. :)those were the days.I am only 19, so the first book I actually remember reading... was... if you give a mouse a cookie. My older sister read it to me. haha, this post took me on a trip down memory lane. :) thanks.

    snyderyan16 (at) gmail dot com

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  25. I have tons of favorite authors: Nora Roberts, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Lisa Kleypas, V.C Andrews, Isabel Allende, Suzanne Collins etc.

    (Ileana A.-rafflecopter)

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    Replies
    1. Ops my email: ilepachequin(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  26. I loved how one book led her to another. That has pretty much been the story of my reading life too!!

    parisfan_caATyahooDOTcom

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