Author: Jennifer Lane

Thanks to all who entered the 500 follower giveaway! And the winners are . . .

Congratulations, ladies. You win your choice of With Good Behavior, Bad Behavior, or Summer Breeze.

If you didn’t win, there’s one day left on the giveaway at Megan’s BLOG.

I just finished reading the autobiography Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder, exploring the disturbing world of bodybuilding and steroids. It got me thinking about addictions and I’ll post soon about the cycle of addiction (alcohol and other drugs, gambling, hoarding, shopping, sex, eating disorders, body image disorders) to help authors portray addiction accurately in their stories.

A rainy day AND a Monday? Humph. Meet an Author Monday Blog Hop will have to brighten my spirits! Visit Lisa Sanchez’s blog for details of how to join.

As we pounce and flounce on Thursday’s Blog Bounce, it’s time to alert you to a few events:

*TWO chances to win my books! I’m giving away With Good Behavior or Bad Behavior at:

1) Scroll down to the next post for the 500 Follower Giveaway or click HERE

2) Visit Megan’s BLOG Reading Away the Days to enter. (Both giveaways end 9/20/11)

* Readers, have you ever penned a thoroughly detailed book review, taking your valuable time to write a careful and thoughtful analysis of plot and characters? If so, I love you! As an author, I would LOVE to receive a review like my friend Belinda Kroll received for her novel Haunting Miss Trentwood. Check it out HERE. Reviewer Lazaraspate from the Dear Author BLOG wrote a fantastic review that is every author’s dream, especially if that author wants to improve her writing.

And now time for the bounce! Head over to Omnific Publishing’s Blog to become part of the Blog Bounce.

I started this blog a little over a year ago, and it’s been such a fun ride chatting with readers and writers. To thank those who follow and comment, I’d like to host an international giveaway.

Old and new followers can enter the giveaway simply by leaving a comment with your email address.

Up for grabs is a print copy of your choice of three books I’ve authored or co-authored:

*With Good Behavior (The Conduct Series #1)

*Bad Behavior (The Conduct Series #2)

*Summer Lovin Anthology: Summer Breeze (including my YA short story Swim Recruit)

Check out my Goodreads author page to learn more about each title!

If this blog reaches 500 followers, I’ll add a second prize to the giveaway–an e-book of the winner’s choice of the same selection above. The giveaway ends Sunday, September 18th at midnight EST.

I’m writing book three of The Conduct Series (On Best Behavior) and am excited to announce Omnific accepted my first Young Adult novel, Against the Tide. Look for both in 2012!

Now it’s time for the Meet an Author Monday Blog Hop, hosted by author and friend Lisa Sanchez.

I’m excited to report Omnific Publishing has accepted my Young Adult novel, currently titled Against the Tide. YA is hot right now, and I hope to attract some new readers via this genre. The story is a military murder mystery combining my loves of swimming, dysfunctional families, redemption, and healing.

Writing YA is a bit different from writing adult novels. Please visit Megan’s blog Reading Away the Days where I discuss those differences. We’re giving away an e-book from The Conduct Series!

Today I have a special guest, Nicki Elson, talking about her fun and sexy 80’s romp Three Daves. This novel has a beautiful new cover and we want to tell you all about the story! Take it away, Nicki:

Since the main character in my novel Three Daves is named Jen, I thought it would be fun to have three Jens host a guest post for each of the Daves. Lucky for me, I know three lovely Jens who readily agreed, including the darling Jennifer Lane. 🙂 This Jen read Three Daves and posted a marvelous review a few months ago (you’ll note that I’ve gotten a rockin’ new book cover since then. :)). Thanks, Jen!

The first Dave we meet in the story is David, our sensitive loner. He’s Mr. Alternative and endears himself to Jen with mix tapes featuring bands such as The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, and The Replacements. He’s the one who rescued her from Top 100 bands like Hall & Oates and Wham (not that there’s anything wrong with that), and he’s the one she knew as a friend before they became something more.

As far as looks go, he’s your average looking dude on first glance. But the attraction grows the more you get to know him. Since Three Daves takes place on a 1980s college campus, I’m casting an imaginary movie with 1980s actors. From the bits and pieces I’ve told you of David, who do you think could’ve portrayed him best on the silver screen?

In case you didn’t know, Omnific Publishing is having a Back-to-School Sale. Throughout September, Three Daves and other school-related titles are only only 99 cents in Kindle, Nook, eBook and ePub! If you’re a book reviewer in the U.S., you can sign up for the paper book tour hosted by A Tale of Many Reviews.

Thanks for stopping by! 🙂

You can meet Dave (#2) at Jen Daiker’s Unedited blog on Monday, Sept. 12 and Big D (#3) at Jennifer DeLucy’s blog on Wednesday, Sept. 14.

Time for the Omnific Blog Bounce. Go HERE for instructions.

Today I’m interviewing author Jessica Subject. I met her through her great blog Mark of the Stars and really enjoyed her short story Celestial Seduction (see my review HERE.) The story reminded me a little of the Jeff Bridges movie Starman.

Simply leave a comment on this blog to enter the giveaway for your own copy of Celestial Seduction! The giveaway ends Friday 9/9/11.

Jennifer Lane (JL): Welcome to the blog, Jessica! I’m intrigued by your journey to publication. How did you become a writer?

Jessica Subject (JS): Thank you for having me, Jennifer! 🙂 I was on maternity leave with my second child with my first child in school. My oldest was learning how to read, but struggling and fighting with us every day. I thought if I could write a book about something she was interested in, it might give her more encouragement to read. The story I started for her turned into something more geared for adults, so I ended up writing a different book for her about her stuffed unicorn. I also continued with the other story and haven’t stopped writing since then. Through twitter, facebook and following author and agent blogs, I’ve learned so much, including the importance of a critique group. And now that I’m published, I continue to learn, but my group of teachers has expanded to include more authors, my editor and publisher.

JL: What a great story about starting your writing career. I read in your bio that aliens formerly scared you but writing about them has endeared you to all things extraterrestrial. Tell us more!

JS: I wasn’t always afraid of aliens, but a couple movies (The Arrival and Signs) had me paranoid that aliens were hiding in the dark recesses of the farmhouse I used to live at. But I realized not all alien movies included alien out to abduct humans, including my favorite superhero, Superman. I got over it and made the aliens in my fiction fun. I mean, no matter how hard we speculate what life on other planets is like and why they would visit Earth, we truly don’t know.

JL: Oo, Signs was indeed creepy. What’s your favorite book about aliens? Favorite movie?

JS: My favorite alien series would have to be that by Gini Koch. Of the three published so far, I think they’re all great and can’t say I like one over the other. Even in alien movies, I have so many favorites, including Star Trek (2009), Avatar, Men In Black and Independence Day.

JL: Celestial Seduction features a “one-night-stand” dating service. I know you’re married with kids–what’s been your experience with internet dating? (Perhaps laughing at your single friends’ experiences?)

JS: Honestly, I’ve never used the internet for anything more than flirting with people I already knew when I was still single. The internet and dating services have come a long was since then. I don’t plan on being in the position to date again, but I’d still be reluctant to arrange a date over the internet. I’ve heard good and bad stories. I have made some great friends though and hope to meet them in the future.

JL: How would friends describe your personality?

JS: Busy. Most people ask me how I do everything that I do, including find time to write, but it has to be this way for me or else I’ll go crazy or maybe I’m already there. After all, I do have voices in my head. I call them characters. 🙂

JL: Celestial Seduction is a short story. How did you choose the length of the story? What do you like about short stories?

JS: I wrote this story with the intentions of submitting it to Decadent Publishing for their 1 Night Stand series. According to their detail sheet, submissions must be 7-12K words. It was a challenge for me to write a short story though as everything I’d written before had been at least 50K. I learned a lot along the way and continue to write short novellas.

JL: What’s next for you on the writing horizon?

JS: I have another 1 Night Stand story coming soon from Decadent Publishing called Beneath the Starry Sky. There is a common character in both stories, but they are separate stories. I also have several other projects on the go.

JL: Thanks for visiting, Jessica.

JS: Thanks for having me, Jennifer! I appreciate your support.

Readers, go out and get your copy of this fantastic story! Jessica is helping you by giving away an e-book of Celestial Seduction for commenting on this post through 9/9/11.

I hope those of you in the northern hemisphere are having a happy ending to your summer. I’m in denial about the last days of my favorite season, defiantly planning a pool party for this weekend. Take that, September!

Speaking of happy endings, I definitely prefer them in novels. I don’t need everything tidied up in neat perfection, but I do want to feel some sense of hope at the end, especially if the author has tortured the characters (as I like to do).

Recently I finished the popular novel Little Bee by Chris Cleave. The story covered some painful territory, including death and torture in Nigeria, and I was hoping for some kind of meaningful, hopeful ending. Unfortunately my hopes were dashed. It was a very well-written novel but the less than satisfying ending made me view the story less positively. See my review HERE.

How about you? What kind of endings do you prefer?

Today Omnific Publishing is hosting a new blog hop, celebrating several events, including the release of Patricia Leever’s Cat O’ Nine Tails, the Back-to-School $.99 sale, and the new cover of Nicki Elson’s Three Daves. Hooray! Please join in.

Did you know you can invite your favorite author to your book club? Galleycat, a great publishing website, has made it possible to connect with authors. If the author’s local, invite her to attend your book club to discuss her book. If the author doesn’t live nearby, invite him to do a Skype chat!

Check it out HERE.

I know I’ve signed up on Galleycat, and I’ll try to make it to Ohio-area book clubs that invite me. In fact, any book club that chooses With Good Behavior or Bad Behavior will receive a free package from me including a book and swag!

There are already questions prepared for book club discussions on the “Book Club” tab on the menu above.

Authors: Fill out this easy Facebook form to sign up.

To follow up on my post from last week, our book club had a really fun time at my condo last week, discussing the book Half-Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls. The blueberry cupcakes turned out pretty well and I ended up choosing the book Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard for next month’s read. (Too bad Ms. Howard hasn’t signed up on Galleycat). I hope everyone enjoys the romantic suspense!

Alas, it’s Monday again and happily that means it’s time for Meet an Author Monday Blog Hop, hosted today by Killian McRae.

Are you in a book club? If so, you’re lucky! I love my book club, which I’ll be hosting on Thursday. (Check out the “Book Club” tab above on my website for a photo of my lovely friends holding my novel With Good Behavior!)

We’ll discuss Jeannette Walls’ Half Broke Horses. See my review HERE.

I’ll serve Blueberry Hill Cupcakes (I hope). Check out the recipe. My friend Eric made these for July 4th and they were YUM.

The hostess chooses the book for the following month, and I need your help to decide. Here are some options I’ve been considering:

1. Divergent by Victoria Roth. I selected The Hunger Games for book club in November and everyone loved it. My review of Divergent wasn’t quite as glowing but I still enjoyed it. The problem is there’s a long waiting list for this book at the library, and we only have a month to read the book (most of the members are busy working mothers).

2. Summer Lovin’ Summer Breeze Anthology. This short story anthology benefits the breast cancer research organization Save the Ta-tas, and my book club is always out for helping women’s organizations. However, it seems a bit self-serving to choose a book for which I contributed a short story. I really enjoyed the opportunity to read a variety of authors–here’s my review.

3. Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard. I loved this romantic suspense novel (which I reviewed here) and it would be a nice light read to end the summer. This was published in 2003 so it would be easy to get.

4. Little Bee by Chris Cleave. I’ve started this book and it seems good but possibly really sad. Any opinions of this one? I prefer to preview books before selecting them.

What is your opinion? Any other books you adored that you’d recommend?

Hop on over to Lisa Sanchez’s blog for the Meet an Author Monday Blog Hop!

C’mon over to Author Darcia Helle’s blog, “A Word Please”, to check out her interviewing me. Darcia gave With Good Behavior five stars (bless you, dear!) and drummed up some really interesting interview questions about psychology and writing. I loved Darcia’s novel Enemies and Playmates (see my review and interview of her here) and look forward to reading more from her.