Happy Book Birthday!

As part of the A Promise to Keep Book Birthday Bash tour, I’ll be celebrating the 1-year anniversary of the book’s release.

I asked Melony to share with us what is was like to be a 2020 debut (pandemic and all) and asked her what’s next for her.

There will be a giveaway so make sure you enter to win a $5 Amazon gift card. It will run from Jan 18 – Jan 22. The winner will be announced the week of Jan 25^th.

Giveaway entry link at the end of this post.

Take it away, Melony!

Hello Laurie, and Laurie’s readers!

Thank you for having me today and celebrating the 1-year book birthday of A Promise to Keep with us!

What was it like to be a 2020 Debut author? Let’s just say it wasn’t at all how I envisioned it would be. Other than the thrill of opening my brand-new box of books and sniffing the pages, things were different, and that was for a few reasons.

First off, although A Promise to Keep released on Jan 21, our big kick off was delayed due to a snowstorm. Quite a few of the scenes in the book were set in Niagara Falls, Ontario and Niagara-on-the-Lake, so the plan was to go down, eat at the restaurant that Michael and Savannah had their first “not-date” and to film some live footage from some of the other locations featured in the book. But, no. Because there was a snowstorm.

“We’ll postpose that to when the weather improves,” we said, not knowing that by the time the weather improved, COVID-19 would cause shutdowns and travel restrictions.

I got good at baking bread and pretzel buns. I even tried making macarons, which are quite difficult to perfect. Zoom has become a thing I do now, and our cats are more than happy to have us around the house all the time.

I can just imagine the meowing that will happen when everyone goes back to in class school and university campus.

So here we are, a year later having survived all that and anxiously awaiting the vaccine and the return to some sort of newer, new normal.

This year came with some challenges in marketing and promoting books. Bookstores were no longer allowing browsing, authors had to learn to ZOOM and move promotion online.

I think the most challenging thing was a lack of focus and creativity. I’d love to say book two is hot on the heels of this book’s birthday, but the reality is that for the first few months of the pandemic, my mind was occupied with getting my teens adjusted to online learning and readjusting everyone’s study spaces and schedules.

No longer did I have a space to myself to write in. And it wasn’t safe to go write at my nearest coffee shop. My on-site research was no longer allowed, and travel to potential locations was out of the question. We made the most of it, knowing that eventually it would all end. By the time my creativity did return, it was the start of a new year, a second wave of lockdown and a remaining feeling of thankfulness that this will all be over soon.

However, all is not lost. I was able to write a short story for StoryTimeForGrownups which aired on You Tube on Christmas Eve. You can find it here. It’s called, CHRISTMAS EVE COOKIES.

It is an excerpt from a longer story, which will be free for all my newsletter subscribers sometime this year. I’m finishing that up now. I hope you enjoy the narration by the lovely Jacqueline Belle.

Thank you, Laurie, for having me!

HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY!

“With charm, wit, and romance, Teague’s debut novel takes readers on a journey of second chances, grace… and a trusty fern. Hope and humor blend throughout the story, balancing deep emotions with lighter moments and a sweet romance besides. A bright new voice in Christian fiction!”—Carrie Schmidt, ReadingIsMySuperPower.org

ADD THE BOOK TO GOODREADS

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A Promise. A High School Reunion. And a pact that proves harder to keep.

Research librarian Savannah Sanderson wants nothing more than to escape into her happily-ever-after novels with their larger-than-life fictional heroes. But a promise to her late husband has her attending her dreaded twenty-year high school reunion, drinking ghastly punch, and taking desperate measures just to keep her vow, even if she has to hide behind the décor to do it.

Once a reckless troublemaker, Michael McCann fled town after graduation. Now a professional technical rescuer, he’s back for the reunion, but on his trip down memory lane, he soon comes face to face with unresolved issues, namely Savannah. Before the night is over, a pact between these two old friends will lead them on an adventure into uncharted emotional territory where Michael must confront his past regrets and find the courage to reveal the truth. But can Savannah fly from her sheltered nest and risk her heart on a real-life hero?

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What skills did you refine while at home during the pandemic?

The post It’s a Book Birthday Bash with Author Melony Teague! appeared first on Laurie Wood Author.

            Oh yes, 2017 definitely *stank*. I started last January with the car accident pain and physio but with that most coveted email from an editor “I’d love to see the full manuscript when it’s finished.” And then–life happened. But still, I wrote that book. I took all year, but I finished it and submitted it. That became my over-riding goal for the year. My total focus. She may yet toss it in the digital scrap heap–I have no idea.

            Lest you, probably the only person reading this blog post, think I’m bragging, I’m not. I had a ton of support. Not in the writing although I do have a lovely critique partner. I had an online group of fellow unpublished authors cheering me on. My church delivered meals to us when I broke my arm, and when my son broke his ankle. My husband put up with me still talking about “my story” even as he wondered why I was even bothering when so much time had passed since her request.

            This doesn’t end with the wonderful news I’ve sold the book. It ends with the point that when crud happens in your life, you can choose NOT to let it take away your dreams. I recommend NOT writing during times of deep crisis, like my son’s accident. He needed me 24/7 nursing him–for that finite period. But, I knew when it was time to get back on the computer and finish the last four chapters of “my story”. We choose how we respond to what happens to us. We choose our thoughts, we choose our actions. It takes a lot of adults a long time to learn that, and some of us never do.
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            So, for 2018, I’m continuing to choose “my story”. To write what God puts on my heart and in my mind. He put me on this journey and showed me that this time in my life is “my” time. How about you? What season of life are you in? What challenges are you facing going in to 2018?
 
           
            

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