PRIZE UPDATE!!AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: VIVIAN MARIE AUBIN DU PARIS + A CONTEST!!!

PRIZE UPDATE AT BOTTOM!

Welcome to another round of Author Spotlight + Contest!!

Today I welcome a wonderful author and friend. Her first book captured my attention, led me through magical lands, made me laugh, cry and grip the last page. I read it in an afternoon and was blown away. I could not breathe when I closed it I had to know more! (Trust me this is how I felt that day) Then I HAD to email her to ask if there would be more (silly author letting me know her email….). lol.

I was blessed to not only get a response but begin a friendship that I hold very close to my heart. She is not only an author of great stories but a kind soul that truly loves the written word and puts her soul into her books. Who doesn’t love an author that has this on her bio: Because sometimes it’s nice to hold “Happily Ever After” in your your hands. *Sigh*

Please welcome Vivian Marie Aubin du Paris.

Oh my goodness, the pleasure is really, honestly all mine, Your Highness! Thank you for inviting me to visit! Um… Is there tea? I’d like some tea.

BOOK 1: The Quest of Dai: The Eroe

She wakes in a mysterious new world...

And discovers her destiny...

The only way to get home is to make a choice...

The Eroe...

Or the Malo...

BOOK 2: The Quest of Dai: The Malo (Cover is currently in design)

Secrets are revealed. Truths emerge. Betrayal is everywhere.

History is determined to repeat itself.

Dai Gold is haunted by visions of a boy she cannot remember.

Flashes at first... Light brown hair. Blue-green eyes. Images of a boy she had forgotten when she was rescued.

And then items begin to mysteriously appear. A map of the world she is destined to save. A list of past and present Eroe and Malo. A mirror that allows her to see the boy who haunts her memories.

Dai trusts her new friends who saved her from the Eroe's torture. But why does it feel like there are so many secrets veiled under their tenderness? Is Darius truly the one she's meant to be with?

As Dai continues trying to sort out the truth from the lies, the one person she never expects to betray her will...

Vivian has graciously agreed to be interrogated by the Princess. Don’t worry she knows the dangers, off with her head and whatnot, she comes bravely before the Royal Court. *grinsmischievously*

We welcome you Vivian!

Thank you for having me! Is the court jester here? I’ve always wanted to see a court jester…

Um yes, we have one, his name is Peanut Butter Barr and he’s soft & furry ;o)

Okay down to the nitty gritty…er…sweet questions of love…;o)

I’m going to be sweeping the chimney soon, aren’t I? Well, it worked for Cinderella… Okay, let’s do it!

Vivian is there any writing rituals that you display when you sit down to write? Most people here know about my tilted tiara, green tea, my servant husband and fetish for watermelon jolly ranchers…ahem…

Hmm… Writing rituals… Well… I must be wearing something comfortable! I must be in pajamas. I don’t think I’ve ever written anything good while wearing jeans or something uncomfortable. In fact, there were a few short stories I wrote where I can tell that I was uncomfortable. Is that weird? That’s probably weird, isn’t it? And I like to have my hair tied back. I don’t like it on my neck. And I must have a Coke with me. Oh! I know one. My music. I absolutely have to have the perfect playlist created before I start any story. If I’m not listening to the right “mood music” then I can’t create the right scene. I mean, how can you write a good love scene if you’re listening to metal music, right? …I think that’s a lot. I might be a little neurotic…

You began writing The Eroe when you were eighteen, many times a writer abandons manuscripts because they feel the characters have lost their punch or the author has lost its love of the story. Did you ever sit it down, not touch it only to come back and fall in love with it all over again? Or was it a steady process?

Wow… What a great question! I actually wrote The Eroe pretty quickly. I just finished it and set it aside. Then years later I was going back through my hard drive, found the story, and was like, “Ohh… I miss Dai.” So I started cleaning it up. Then I set it aside again. That process repeated until I turned twenty-four, when I finally published it. I will say I never lost my love of the story or my characters. I published the book because I wanted people to get to meet the characters I love and cherish so much. Dai, Westly, Galen, and Spencer all became friends to me, and I want other people to have a chance to know them. I know that’s weird, but it’s really the truth. They’re good people—they deserve to have their story told and be cared about.

I loved The Eroe not only for your characters & plot, but for your ability to create a beautiful setting. The details are wonderful! Were you inspired by any particular location?

Thank you! Actually… it all came from my imagination! I’m not a big outdoors person, so it was really difficult for me to write the forest scenes! Maybe it comes from being from Washington—it’s all pretty much forest out here. ;) And the castle and cities were a mixture of movies, pictures from books, television shows, and imagination. In retrospect, I wish I had used something as a basis—might have made it a lot easier!

This is a trilogy and I so cannot wait for the next one too,so often we are not sure where to end or continue a series; what made you decide to make it into multiple books?

I grew up reading L.J. Smith’s books. (If you haven’t read her books, you should. Everything by her is amazing.) She wrote everything in trilogies except her Night World series. And my style of writing was completely inspired by her. It’s because of her books that I’m a writer, actually. So when I set out to write this story, it felt natural to write a trilogy. I’ve since written stories that are not trilogies, but at the time it just seemed like the natural flow of a story—to break it out into three parts. Plus, this story is set up perfect for a trilogy. The Eroe, the Malo, and then the final destiny. With two warring factions, there are always two sides to each story, and in order to really capture that and do it justice, I needed to have space to tell each side—and I couldn’t do that in just one book and still tell Dai’s story.

Dai, the main character, is thrust into circumstances that would be confusing, terrifying, exciting and heart wrenching yet she stays true to the girl we meet on the first pages. Did you draw from yourself when creating her character?

Not even a little bit. Dai is almost nothing like me! Which is sad, because when I designed Dai, I set out to create a character that could be a friend to me when I needed one… I don’t know what that says about me! I actually based Dai off of a friend of mine in high school. She was just the sweetest, kindest, most friendly girl in the world. I loved her to death. Dai’s looks are actually based off of her, too—the light brown hair, blue eyes, tan skin. This friend of mine in high school, no matter what she went through, was always a true friend. I always thought there should be more people like her. I’m more abrupt than Dai, I think…

Your books are self published. Can you give us a quick walk through of the process and timeline?

Absolutely! I published with Outskirts Press, Inc., and they were (and are being, as I work on The Malo) amazing. If you’re considering self-publishing, I recommend them. You contact them, and they assign you an author representative to work with you through the process. They stay on top of you (which is good, because I’m lazy and a horrible procrastinator) and really do everything for you. I uploaded my book to their site, they reviewed my manuscript, and now I just need to sign up for my package and get rolling. You get to pick a cover or design your own, pick the size you want your book to be, what you want your royalties to be per purchase (and it’s so much less than you think), how much of a discount you want to give retailers so they’ll stock your book, they’ll set you up with an ISBN number and the copyright, format the book for you, and ship it over in .pdf. Then you get to make corrections and send it back, and once you approve it, they send you cute little e-mails to give you marketing tips/advice to promote your book. I never take them, but there are some good tips in there! I love Outskirts Press.

There are articles, blogs, magazines every where that discuss big publishing vs self publishing; what made you decided to self publish? Have you been happy with the experience?

You know, I didn’t really research self-publishing vs. traditional publishing when I published my book. My dad said he would publish the book for me for my twenty-fourth birthday because one of my goals in life was to be published at twenty-four. I was ecstatic. The company said they would list the book on Amazon and Barnes & Nobles and I just assumed people would find it the way people find things somehow on the internet. I had no idea there was such a stigma around self-publishing. I was a little depressed when I found out that no one wanted to read my book or stock it just because it was self-published, but at the same time, it was literally a dream come true, and it was the ultimate gift from my daddy to me. It’s not just a book I published because I wanted to be published… It’s really the love of a father for his daughter and doing everything to make her dream come true. Does it get better than that? And I had complete control over the published manuscript. Everything that is printed in that book—good or bad—is completely my fault. And there’s something thrilling and terrifying about that. Maybe I’m a sucker for punishment, since I’m doing it again with the second book!

What advice do you have for those of us just dipping our toes in the writing world?

Write when inspiration strikes. If it hits you at 11:30 at night and you’re just about to go to bed, write anyway. I can’t tell you how many good ideas I’ve lost because I went to bed or cleaned the kitchen or got distracted by a video game! Bonus to writing super late: when you wake up in the morning, you may barely remember writing it, so it’ll be like reading something new. Also, if you do have to leave, leave in the middle of an exciting scene that you want to write—you’ll be eager to get back to writing. And remember to write what you love and what you read. You can’t write a mystery novel if you hate mysteries and only read sci-fi, right? Most of all: never, ever, ever give up.

Vivian, thank you so much for sharing your wonderful answers and amazing books with us today! I treasure our friendship and hope you know how much I love your books! I have been honored to get to know you better and hope to see even more stories of yours on my shelves ;o)

Courtney, I cannot wait for the day I have an autographed copy of your book on my shelf! You have been such an amazing, important person in my life, and I have a very, very special surprise in store for you, but you’re going to have to wait… I think you’ll be excited about it!

*Princessblushesprofusely* Vivian you have no idea how much fun I have had getting to know you and reading your work! It has been my pleasure~

Thank you so much for having me today! Now… about that tea…? Yes – I will get someone right on that!

It is such a pleasure to be able to share your wonderful stories with the Royal Court and well I am excited to inform the court that we are giving away 3 COPIES to the 3 lucky members of the Royal Court!

Yep 3 SIGNED COPIES of THE EROE!!!

You heard me! ;o)

UPDATE: PLUS a BONUS!!!

One LUCKY WINNER WILL WIN A SIGNED BOOK AND AN OPAL RING - when you read THE EROE you will understand the connection ;o)

Oh yeah…um so where can I enter???? ;o)

For those of you that wish to order a copy both books are available for purchase via WWW.AMAZON.COM

RULES:

YOU MUST BE A FOLLOWER OF THE KINGDOM & VIVIAN’s BLOG!

YOU MUST COMMENT ON THIS POST

LEAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS IN THE COMMENTS

(use the format: clsbarr(at)yahoo(dot)com to ward off the spam)

YOU MUST ENTER BY MIDNIGHT JUNE 15 CST

BONUS ENTRIES

OLD FOLLOWER +2

NEW FOLLOWER +1

SIDEBAR LISTING +1 (be sure to leave the link)

TWEET +4 (please put @southrnprincess & @vivianmarieadp in the message)

BLOG POST +5 (be sure to leave the link)

REFERRAL +5 (Be sure to have whomever you send over mention your name in the comments)

TALLY YOUR TOTAL +1

Just to whet your appetite the amazingly talented Vivian has created gorgeous book trailers for each. Check them out here: The Eroe and The Malo

Please visit Vivian’s blog! You can see trailers, updates and other writings – trust me they are all wonderful! (check out the ones she wrote back at Halloween – LOVE!)

Have a Fantastic Friday!

WARNING LONG POST AHEAD: Flash'n Fanny-Awards-Tagged-Bonus

Don't forget my Memorial Day Word Challenge Contest!

Enter HERE

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Whew! What a crazy week...for those of you who read of my sad little flashdrive Flora on Monday well, she is no longer with us. We were able to remove some files (thank you IT Guru) but not all of them. Some snippets for my WIP are gone - that made me cringe - and a few Critiques for my Crit Group - that also made me cringe - but overall the damage was minor. I did however bury Flora with sweet words before scooting over to the store and adopting our newest member. Meet:

FLASH'N FANNY!!!*

Oh yeah, she's trouble with a capital "T" and boy is she here to party! She happily accepted a few files yesterday while also telling me she can hold plenty more...this girl might be a bit wild,but we love her already!

Now, Fanny is getting settled in quite nicely so we hope to have a long relationship - though she did make eyes at Gavin the Gateway Laptop* and Tabitha the Toshiba* netbook huffed a little, but ah, what's life without crazy women! (yes we have a serious mixture of techie gadgets - we are a fully diverse household)

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Now, just the other day I received recognition from some AMAZING bloggie buddies.

Shannon O' Donnell from Book Dreaming ever so sweetly honored me with the Happiness 101 award! I love this award - not only is it pretty but it means that every now and then I make someone happy they stopped by my blog. That is awesome. Shannon should know that there isn't a single post of hers that does not make me grin. I want to pass this on to:

Jaydee Morgan - Her posts are always full of great information and she always makes me smile!

Lola over at Sharp Pen/Dull Sword - Not only is she my Wolfpack leader, but her posts ALWAYS make me smile!! I mean who doesn't love someone who starts their profile with My name is Lola. (I'm not a showgirl). ;o)

Talli Roland - Talli's blog is filled with wonderful posts on books, her writing, photos of England that will make you yearn to cross the pond, Banoffee Pie and a sense of humor that is refreshing!

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Summer over at ...and this time concentrate got extremely mushy and passed out the following award:

I have to say I was beyond words when I saw my name listed. I am honored to have made this list. I only hope that as we move further towards our dreams that I can continue to be worthy of her list.

Now I get the lovely pleasure of passing this on as well. You all may know that I have been blogging for a while. Since '07 really, but '07 & '08 I was blogging in hiding... i.e. I only let family know that I had a site and the site was purely a journal. Then in 2009 I decided to step out. I noticed that some authors listed blogs on their book jackets and well I decided to google a few. Through this exercise I discovered Writing Blogs.

You all welcomed this Princess with open arms. I discovered that my email inbox was beginning to be filled with correspondence much like Pen Pals from my youth. I began to open up, share things that I never would have imagined. (Wednesday's Written Word hasn't always been around, ya know? ;o) ) You critique and teach me things I am unaware of, you make me remember that writing is something I can do anytime, anywhere and you make me realize that dreams are important in life.

(It goes without saying my hubby & family deserve this award a thousand times over!) So many of you, in fact my entire Royal Court deserves this award. I know that there will be people I have yet to meet that deserve this acknowledgement & that is so awesome!

Here is a snippet of those who have pushed me to go further & continue to do so:

Shannon Messenger

Frankie Mallis

Shannon O'Donnell

Lola Sharp

Summer

SarahJayne Smythe

DL

Portia

Tara

JP

Lisa & Laura

Simon (this one is fairly unisex so no worries Simon)

Vivian Marie Aubin du Paris

Thank you all.

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One of those wonderful names above *cough*DL*cough tagged me with the five question experience! Five questions - five answers for each question.

I am happy to oblige with my answers:

Question 1: Where were you five years ago?

1. At this very same desk - only 2 years into the job after college.

2. Planning my wedding for the following year.

3. Moving into my new house.

4. Discovering the ins and outs of really living with the man you are going to marry.

5. Loving life.

Question 2: Where would you like to be five years from now?

1. Loving life.

2. A published author (hopefully on book two or three or four)

3. Planning or preparing for a summer vacation

4. Possibly playing with my very own children...

5. Still enjoying the wonder that is blogging!

Question 3: What is (was) on your to do list today?

1. be sure to get everything before heading to visit the fam

2. WRITE

3. CRITIQUE

4. Watch my twin nephews play baseball

5. charge my phone ;o)
Question 4: What five snacks do you enjoy?

1. Candy Apple (I mean the traditional apple dipped in red hard candy...yum)

2. Cotton Candy

3. Watermelon Jolly Ranchers

4. Chocolate coated sunflower seeds

5. Twizzlers

*its amazing that I have teeth*

Question 5: What would you do if you were a billionaire?

1. OMG! - TRAVEL with the entire FAM

2. Go to Orlando more than the traditional twice a year that I already go (worked for Disney years ago and still get a few perks ;o) )

3. Heck - have a house in Orlando

4. Secure the future of my children & family - most importantly

5. Use it to share books with those who don't have the means or libraries that need the funding - perhaps open some sort of Indie library/store concept...hmmmm.....

Okay so there you have it - an extremely long Friday post. If you hung in here through the whole thing - thank you ever so much! if you didn't well then you missed out on this:

One random commenter on THIS post will win a copy of:

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Contest ends Sunday at midnight - announcement will be made on Monday along with the Word Challenge Winner!

Open internationally.

Must be a follower.

*None of the companies listed here paid me anything to list their brands - they should ;o) but they don't. The photo of Flash'n Fanny is from Office Depot. Yes we love our gadgets and yes I will shamelessly promote the affairs of my gadgets - their love life amuses me.

Have a Fantabulous Friday!

Oh how the flames burn when you are put on the spot by an author you adore....

Okay on my lunch today I was flipping through a SELF magazine and reading the latest TWITTER updates... well a very sweet, wonderful author who I have found a great friend in put me on the burner. Her exact Tweet to me was:

@southrnprincess And when are YOU going to start your writing, ma'am? Or sharing it, at least?

Oh how she got me. I write. I write a lot in my spare time. I am constantly coming up with various plots that may or may not one day get complete. I currently have four stories that infiltrate my dreams, my musical choices, my drive to work, from work, my shower time and my down time.

They each are very, very different & would probably make you wonder about the person who can create such various characters. My husband would say "Okay, Courtney - MAN UP!" lol He has been on me for 13 years (we have been married for 3 but dated for 10) to write. He is by far one of my biggest fans and my most amazing supporter. Marcus knows the main one of the four manuscripts that is enveloping my every thought. Its characters scream the loudest and definitely want more attention.

Well, this author, *cough*Vivian*cough* called me out today. She is right. It is something I love doing and putting all my energy forward in order to get this dream done is what I should focus on. I am shortchanging myself by not trying as hard as I could. It may not ever make it where the entire world gets to see it, but if one person enjoys it then as a writer I will be accomplished.

So thank you Vivian, sometimes it takes a Tweet to get a Twit going.... ;o) (had to)

So if you call me and feel like I am ignoring you know that currently Ena, Grimly, Tara, Gage & Finley are taking up my current state of mind.... bear with me - they are a persistent group!

The Quest of Dai: The Eroe

Okay before I put my weekend in Atlanta then Fourth of July pictures & post I have to take a moment to post about the book I read yesterday.

A few weeks back I participated in a charity auction for Bridget Zinn. She is a new author who in one year published her book, got married & also was diagnosed with cancer. Her cause is one that brought together many members of the writing community. They offered items such as signed books, ARCs, paraphernalia, etc.

I bid & won 2 items: a signed Stephenie Meyer "Eclipse" & a signed "The Quest of Dai: The Eroe" by Vivian Marie Aubin du Paris.

I had never heard of Vivian nor her book, but just the synopsis caught my attention. I was blessed to receive a direct email from Vivian & was pleased that she responded to a reply that I sent. I expressed to her my own writing goals and just enjoyed 'speaking' with another young woman who has/had dreams that are similar to my own - give or take the bunny. :o) (you will have to visit her site to understand that last bit).

I was excited to receive my personalized book and then came yesterday. The first day I had free of other reading/writing projects to open the cover; a beautiful cover with a majestic picture of a wooded area. I came home from work around 5:15 and as I sat on my couch I traveled to a world full of amazing people & places. Dai is the main character (Diamond Gold is her whole name - cool, huh?). She is a normal 18 year old from Indiana who only wants to enjoy the magic that Prom and your last years of High School bring. Who knew she was destined to save another world? The characters she meets are mysterious & in their mystery I lost myself. I fell in love with the one person who gives her more grief than anyone else - much like I feel she is falling in love with him. After 4 hours I closed the book. I had laughed outloud, balled my eyes out, gotten angry at the frustrating attitudes that we as humans tend to develop, and I ached for love lost. But thankfully this is book 1 of a trilogy....I just now need the other two books :o)
I could not breathe for about an hour. Literally I would sit on the couch with Marcus & Peanut, then I would just start crying. I ached for so many things in that book. I am now invested in the story. Vivian wrote a book that I many times in the past have found myself falling in love with. There is chivalry and the hilarious misunderstanding of people from different lands. Love, compassion, hatred, betrayal, confusion, & destiny flow through the chapters. Those things we think we would choose so easily become the difficult choices. How we see the world - the good we see in people is questioned by evil actions. Then there is the romance of two people who think that the other hates the first & vice versa. They internally fight the connection for fear that if they fall they will lose everything in the end & the pain of that is so unbearable that it is better to just deny it all.

I completely adored this book. It is fast paced so it is a quick read even for those who don't read as fast as I do. I cannot wait for the next two & so hope to see many more things from Vivian. She began this book when she was 18. It is now, I am sure, her pride & joy.

I also hope to one day share one of my own with her, for I may have found a kindred spirit from a far away land myself. It was a wise choice for a good cause and I will forever be grateful that I stumbled upon it. I only hope that Dai will look back on whatever choice she has to make & will feel the same.....