The fourth and final book in the Stories From Hartford series is coming out next week. It’s called The Christmas Project and my Christmas project is getting people to read it. Towards this end, the ebook version will be free from its release all the way until Christmas.*
I know what you’re thinking. “Another free ebook? Whoop-de-do. Everyone is giving away ebooks these days.” Am I right?
Let’s have a discussion about why you should be excited about this one anyway. Because I am also a reader and because I also have at least fifty free books sitting on my kindle that I may never get around to reading, I can do both sides of this discussion.
You: Give me some good reasons why I should download and read The Christmas Project instead of those other books.
Me: I’ll do my best. Reason #1 – He’s secretly in love with her.
You: Aww.
Me: Exactly. We all know that revealing long-held feelings is even sweeter than any cute meeting. Reason #2 – It’s a Christmas story. You can’t tell me that Christmas romances aren’t popular when the Hallmark channel is showing about 200 of them this month. Since you already watched some of those last year…
You: That’s true. A lot of those are reruns.
Me: Yes. My book is new. Reason #3 – The Christmas Project is awesome.
You: Um…
Me: I know. I’m a little biased. But that’s still a good reason. You like reading books that are awesome, don’t you?
You: Um…
Me: All right. We’ll move on. Reason #4 – It’s part of a series. That means if you like it, you’ll know what to read next.
You: Didn’t you say this was the last book?
Me: Don’t worry about that. The books make sense in any order. Reason #5 – It’s squeaky clean. If you decide you want to give copies for Christmas, there won’t be any embarrassing content to get in the way. Reason #6 – It might make you laugh. There’s one part where—
You: Wait! You’ve totally convinced me.
Me: Really?
You: Yes. I’m excited and I’m going to be back later to tell you what I think of it.
Me: Thank you. I’m glad we had this talk.
*I don't have the power to make a book free on Amazon. I can only hope they match the free price elsewhere, which typically takes a while. If you find that it's not free on Amazon, check back a few days later or download a kindle version from Smashwords.
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Friday, October 10, 2014
Connecting the Dots
In each of my Stories From Hartford books, I tried to include at least one reference to something from one of the other books. These are mostly inconsequential to the plots. They are little things intended as something like inside jokes for me and anyone else who noticed the connections. I don’t think anything I’m about to write could be considered a spoiler but if you’re really nuts about that sort of thing, you may want to read books 1, 2 and 3 first.
On second thought, you probably want to read the books first anyway because this will make more sense that way and because the books are very entertaining. Go ahead. This post will still be here when you’re done.
Ready? I’ll start with the characters. Most of the people who appear in more than one book are pretty obvious. I want to point out for the record though that I did not recycle any first names. The Emma who is Summer’s best friend in Jealousy & Yams is the same Emma who is Caitlin and Jon’s sister in Collecting Zebras. This means that when her brother is mentioned in Jealousy & Yams, this is the same guy who has a significant part in the later book.
The young police officer who comes to check on Rebecca at the beginning of Andrew's Key is the same Jimmy we are told can juggle yams in Jealousy & Yams and the same Jimmy who finally gets a last name, Larrick, in Collecting Zebras. He’ll have his biggest part in The Christmas Project as his brother is the Owen in that book’s description.
Rebecca is an avid runner in Andrew’s Key and at least once it says she turns a corner at the building with “the weird purple stripe.” Luke Foster of Jealousy & Yams works in this building.
Angel buys a strange wreath in the third book. (Yes, the one on the cover.) This was one of the old craft kits that Rebecca gave to Jill in Andrew’s Key.
In The Christmas Project, Owen accuses Gaby of once signing him up to ride on a Yam Fest float without asking his permission. This is only an offhand comment but of course anyone who has read Jealousy & Yams knows all about Yam Fest.
At one point in Andrew’s Key, Rebecca stops her car in the remains of a gravel driveway that is no longer adjacent to a house. Something happened at this location that is a primary source of the rumors about her house being haunted. Seth tells this story to Angel in Collecting Zebras.
Angel is reading a book in Collecting Zebras when she says that she’s going to be mad if Charlotte doesn’t end up with Jason. Those names actually come from one of my pre-Hartford books.
There is one minor plot point that carries over from one book to the next. We learn inCollecting Zebras that someone has romantic interest in Jimmy. He’s going to tell us whether or not he shares that interest in The Christmas Project. That’s just one of the reasons for you to be excited that the fourth book will be released next month. I’ll try to give you some more reasons soon. In the meantime, sign up for the giveaway for a chance to win all four Hartford books.
On second thought, you probably want to read the books first anyway because this will make more sense that way and because the books are very entertaining. Go ahead. This post will still be here when you’re done.
Ready? I’ll start with the characters. Most of the people who appear in more than one book are pretty obvious. I want to point out for the record though that I did not recycle any first names. The Emma who is Summer’s best friend in Jealousy & Yams is the same Emma who is Caitlin and Jon’s sister in Collecting Zebras. This means that when her brother is mentioned in Jealousy & Yams, this is the same guy who has a significant part in the later book.
The young police officer who comes to check on Rebecca at the beginning of Andrew's Key is the same Jimmy we are told can juggle yams in Jealousy & Yams and the same Jimmy who finally gets a last name, Larrick, in Collecting Zebras. He’ll have his biggest part in The Christmas Project as his brother is the Owen in that book’s description.
Rebecca is an avid runner in Andrew’s Key and at least once it says she turns a corner at the building with “the weird purple stripe.” Luke Foster of Jealousy & Yams works in this building.
Angel buys a strange wreath in the third book. (Yes, the one on the cover.) This was one of the old craft kits that Rebecca gave to Jill in Andrew’s Key.
In The Christmas Project, Owen accuses Gaby of once signing him up to ride on a Yam Fest float without asking his permission. This is only an offhand comment but of course anyone who has read Jealousy & Yams knows all about Yam Fest.
At one point in Andrew’s Key, Rebecca stops her car in the remains of a gravel driveway that is no longer adjacent to a house. Something happened at this location that is a primary source of the rumors about her house being haunted. Seth tells this story to Angel in Collecting Zebras.
Angel is reading a book in Collecting Zebras when she says that she’s going to be mad if Charlotte doesn’t end up with Jason. Those names actually come from one of my pre-Hartford books.
There is one minor plot point that carries over from one book to the next. We learn inCollecting Zebras that someone has romantic interest in Jimmy. He’s going to tell us whether or not he shares that interest in The Christmas Project. That’s just one of the reasons for you to be excited that the fourth book will be released next month. I’ll try to give you some more reasons soon. In the meantime, sign up for the giveaway for a chance to win all four Hartford books.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Life After Hartford
Now that I’m working on the last book in the Hartford series (so it’s been a few weeks since I’ve actively worked on it, but I promise I’m making progress) I’ve been giving some thought to what I want to work on next.
I’m definitely leaning towards a similar series, one with books linked by the setting and each one having an independent plot. I’ve been trying to figure out some of the details of this new setting. I haven’t made many decisions but the place might have a name.
I was recently working on a side project when my daughter asked if she could help me. It was a rather mushy scene. She’s eight. I was pretty sure she’d want the scene to be something like, “And when she realized he was going to kiss her, she said ‘Eww’ and ran from the room.”
I pulled out a different notebook and offered to let her help me brainstorm for the new series instead. I asked if she could help me come up with some minor characters, some people to populate my imaginary town. My child has none of my inhibitions when it comes to names. She threw out Lucy Haid. I thought that was a promising start. Then she said the school principal could be Dirk Lay, the mayor May Lewis, a guy working at the library should be named Loy Mystery and a really, really old guy who wanders around the cemetery should be called Asma Loss. She had more ideas.
Already impressed, I asked what she might – just out of curiosity – name a pair of horses. Her answer: Molly and Swift. It took her less time to say them than it took me to write them down.
I asked about some places in the town. She told me there would be only one restaurant and it should be called The Sleepy Crab.
I was getting excited about the gold mine of names. Just as I was thinking I might never have to suffer over names again, my little one suggested a name that I recognized from someone else’s book. This of course makes all her other suggestions suspect as well. I believe at least some came from her imagination but now I cannot use any until I’ve done some research to determine if they have obvious sources.
But I asked what she’d name the town anyway. She said, “Thompson City.” This was when my older son noticed that I was getting help. He insisted that Tweedville would be a better name. If you have siblings, you know it stopped being a brainstorming session at that point and became a battle of wills. There was no backing down on either name and no suggesting further names until I declared a winner. I suggested the compromise of Thompsonville. That sounds like a good Anywhere, USA sort of name. I think I successfully disappointed both children with this choice but I think I might go with it anyway.
Don’t be surprised if Loy Mystery shows up somewhere in one or more of these books. There’s something about that name that intrigues me. It sounds like a fun character. And at least you’ll know where I got the name.
I’m definitely leaning towards a similar series, one with books linked by the setting and each one having an independent plot. I’ve been trying to figure out some of the details of this new setting. I haven’t made many decisions but the place might have a name.
I was recently working on a side project when my daughter asked if she could help me. It was a rather mushy scene. She’s eight. I was pretty sure she’d want the scene to be something like, “And when she realized he was going to kiss her, she said ‘Eww’ and ran from the room.”
I pulled out a different notebook and offered to let her help me brainstorm for the new series instead. I asked if she could help me come up with some minor characters, some people to populate my imaginary town. My child has none of my inhibitions when it comes to names. She threw out Lucy Haid. I thought that was a promising start. Then she said the school principal could be Dirk Lay, the mayor May Lewis, a guy working at the library should be named Loy Mystery and a really, really old guy who wanders around the cemetery should be called Asma Loss. She had more ideas.
Already impressed, I asked what she might – just out of curiosity – name a pair of horses. Her answer: Molly and Swift. It took her less time to say them than it took me to write them down.
I asked about some places in the town. She told me there would be only one restaurant and it should be called The Sleepy Crab.
I was getting excited about the gold mine of names. Just as I was thinking I might never have to suffer over names again, my little one suggested a name that I recognized from someone else’s book. This of course makes all her other suggestions suspect as well. I believe at least some came from her imagination but now I cannot use any until I’ve done some research to determine if they have obvious sources.
But I asked what she’d name the town anyway. She said, “Thompson City.” This was when my older son noticed that I was getting help. He insisted that Tweedville would be a better name. If you have siblings, you know it stopped being a brainstorming session at that point and became a battle of wills. There was no backing down on either name and no suggesting further names until I declared a winner. I suggested the compromise of Thompsonville. That sounds like a good Anywhere, USA sort of name. I think I successfully disappointed both children with this choice but I think I might go with it anyway.
Don’t be surprised if Loy Mystery shows up somewhere in one or more of these books. There’s something about that name that intrigues me. It sounds like a fun character. And at least you’ll know where I got the name.
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