Author Tip from Michelle McLean + News

Author Tip from Michelle McLean + News ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌ ͏ ‌

NEWS

Oprah Daily recommended QUIET IN HER BONES by Nalini Singh in its “Crime Fiction Goes Global and Diverse, as These 20 Books by Women Writers Show” feature.

Today.com included HARLEM SUNSET by Nekesa Afia in their roundup of the best books to read this summer.

IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND by Robby Weber was included in BuzzFeed's 23 Books To Read If You Loved "The Summer I Turned Pretty" list.

BLOOD LIKE MAGIC by Liselle Sambury was #TikTokIndigoBookClub’s July pick.

The Nerd Daily gave HEAT WAVE by TJ Klune a great review. It was also included in their “Upcoming 2022 Queer Book Releases To End The Year” list, as well as Epic Reads’ 18 Most Anticipated YA Books to Read in July.

THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA and UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR by TJ Klune made BuzzFeed's Best Books They've Read So Far In 2022 list.

WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE by Emma Lord and HEAT WAVE by TJ Klune were included in Popsugar’s “100+ YA Books Full of Excitement, Drama, and Romance” list.

Publishers Weekly gave FINAL HEIR by Faith Hunter a wonderful review.

BLOOD LIKE FATE by Liselle Sambury and HEAT WAVE by TJ Klune made BookRiot’s Guide to Summer 2022 YA Books list.

Kate Lansing won 5280 Magazine’s 2022 Top of the Town Reader’s Choice Author. Her Colorado Wine Mystery series was also seen on FOX31’s morning news.

AUTHOR TIP OF THE MONTH

Michelle McLean is a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl who is addicted to chocolate and Goldfish crackers and spent most of her formative years with her nose in a book. THE GUNSLINGER'S GUIDE TO AVOIDING MATRIMONY is her latest novel.

The-Gunslingers-Guide-to-Avoiding-Matrimony-0

I think the best tip I can impart is that there is no “right” way of doing this. What works for one might not work for another. I struggled for years because I always heard the advice that I should be writing every day. Except, that doesn’t work for me. I’m actually more productive if I don’t write every day. I try to write on Mon-Wed-Fri and work on admin stuff or other projects the rest of the days. I can write every day, if needed. But I find I’m happier and get more done if I take a break from my main project for a day or two, especially after a really productive day. If I write 8,000 words one day, I might only write 1,000 the next day or will work on something else entirely. And then a day or two later will crank out another 8,000. It’s an odd schedule, but it works for me. Find what works for you.

Another tip – be sure to take the time for some self-care. Read. Play games. Watch movies. Hang out with friends and family. Take naps and go on trips. Not doing this stuff in the name of working all the time can lead to burnout and forgetting why you love to write in the first place. You have to refill that creativity well if you want to keep using it!

NEW CLIENTS ON THE BLOCK

Eva Leigh (also writes as Zoe Archer)

Eva Leigh is a USA Today bestselling romance author and graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She writes books with determined women and men who'll do anything for them. She enjoys baking, spending too much time on the Internet, and listening to music from the ’80s. Eva and her husband live in Central California.

Ari Baran

Ari Baran is always writing, whether that's fantasy, hockey players falling in love, or legal briefs. Baran is Philadelphia born and raised.

RECENT DEALS

- Fulbright scholar Mary Liza Hartong's HOT CHICKEN, pitched as Schitt's Creek meets Dumplin', a Southern novel about a Vanderbilt PhD candidate who returns to her small Tennessee hometown for her father's funeral and picks up work at a hot chicken shack, where she falls in love with another young woman, to Rachel Kahan at William Morrow in a nice deal, by Janna Bonikowski

- Nalini Singh's QUIET IN HER BONES, set in a twisted, exclusive New Zealand cul-de-sac on the edge of a sprawling forest, optioned to SHOWTIME Networks by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss Daily & Associates on behalf of Nephele Tempest

- Deborah Blake's THE ECLECTIC WITCH'S BOOK OF SHADOWS WORKBOOK, a companion to THE ECLECTIC WITCH'S BOOK OF SHADOWS, illustrated by Mickie Mueller, to Elysia Gallo at Llewellyn, by Elaine Spencer

- Deborah Blake's LITTLE BOOK OF WITCHCRAFT, the next entry in the Little Book of series of basic introductory titles, to Elysia Gallo at Llewellyn, by Elaine Spencer

- Joyce Tremel's DEADLY TO THE CORE, first in her new Cider House Mystery series, featuring a woman who inherits an orchard along with a bushelful of problems, to Faith Black Ross at Crooked Lane, by Melissa Jeglinski

NEW RELEASES

HEAT WAVE by TJ Klune

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Heat Wave is the explosive finale to the thrilling and “uproariously funny” (Sophie Gonzales) Extraordinaries trilogy by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author TJ Klune!

Nick, Seth, Gibby, and Jazz are back in action bringing justice, protection, and disaster energy to the people of Nova City.

An unexpected hero returns to Nova City and crash lands into Nick's home, upturning his life, his family, and his understanding of what it means to be a hero in the explosive finale of the thrilling and hilarious Extraordinaries trilogy by New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune.

A Cold Nose for Murder (A Chatty Corgi Mystery Book 3)

A COLD NOSE FOR MURDER by Jennifer Hawkins

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Trouble is brewing for a tea shop owner with a penchant for investigation and her talking corgi in this delightful cozy mystery.

When Emma Reed moved to the Cornish village of Trevena, she was looking forward to making new friends, opening up a small tea shop, and taking plenty of brisk walks with her talking dog, Oliver. But when a valuable motorcycle and an old skeleton are found together under the local pub, Emma’s antique dealing friends David and Charles become prime suspects in a forty year old mystery. The local gossip is soon flowing faster than tea in Emma’s shop, and old secrets are being unearthed right along with the old bones.

THE GUNSLINGER'S GUIDE TO AVOIDING MATRIMONY by Michelle McLean

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At the ripe old age of twenty-eight, desperate-to-retire gunslinger Adam Brady has exactly two rules. And one of them is never, ever get married. So he’ll be danged when his dreams of permanently avoiding the bounty hunter on his tail in Desolation, the only town where notorious men like him can find respite, comes with one helluva string attached. The town has a new rule: gunslingers welcome—if they get a job…or marry.

When the Lights Go Out...: A workplace romance set in a blackout (Angel's Share Book 1)

WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT... by Jules Bennett

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A blackout gives this straitlaced executive the chance to break the rules…in USA TODAY bestselling author Jules Bennett’s scorching new series, Angel's Share!

What happens in the dark won’t stay in the dark.

What to Expect When She's Expecting (Sutter Creek, Montana Book 8)

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN SHE'S EXPECTING by Laurel Greer

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This is one fire he never wants to extinguish.

Since childhood, firefighter Graydon Halloran has been secretly in love with Alejandra Brooks Flores. Now, with Aleja working as the building contractor near to where he's staying, it’s becoming impossible for Gray to hide his feelings. But Aleja's situation is complicated. She’s pregnant with IUI twins and she isn’t looking for love. Can Gray convince his lifelong crush that he can make her dreams come true?

FIRE SEASON by KD Casey

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Charlie Braxton has it all: a wicked curveball, a beautiful wife, and the kind of money and attention that's attached to a professional baseball contract. Except his famous curveball comes with intense social anxiety, his wife is actually his soon-to-be ex-wife, and the money… Well, suffice it to say, he knows what it’s like to be treated like an ATM. But at least he’s better off than the new guy.

THE LIFE SHE HAD by KL Armstrong

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Kelley Armstrong writing as K.L. Armstrong

Celeste Turner has a woman living in her shed. A woman who is definitely not supposed to be there. The local police, however, are ill-inclined to help. Celeste is a newcomer to a region of rural Florida. It doesn''t matter that her family is originally from the area or that she returned to nurse her dying grandmother. All the locals see is a "city girl" who swooped in to secure her inheritance . . . a rundown house in need of extensive repairs. Celeste needs her new life to work, and this woman is a threat to that.

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