Just Because Book Sale

Just want to announce that for a limited time I've lowered the price on all my Kindle version books, so if you've been meaning to read one (or all), now's a good time to go to Amazon and download them! Here are the links to each book:

Uncharted

Blind Stitches 

Spilled Coffee

 Girl Running

Protégé

Girl Adrift

Portrait of a Girl Adrift Now Available!

Over the past months, I’ve been working hard preparing Portrait of a Girl Adrift for publication, and I’m happy to announce that the paperback version is now available on Amazon.com.* Here is a preview of the full cover layout.

So that you don't have to squint at the cover copy on the back, here's what it says:

Just when Leila thinks she has everything under control, her deepest insecurities resurface when she must confront her unresolved issues surrounding the mother who abandoned her as a baby, and the men who raised her. Not even Clarence Myles can show her the way, and so Leila embarks on a journey of self-discovery that sends her drifting from place to place in search of answers.

In the process of zigzagging her way between North and South, Leila encounters a series of intense psychological twists and turns that send her reeling, grappling with more questions about her identity. Embarking on a final quest for what it means to be ‘whole,’ Leila risks everything she knows about maintaining control; on a calculated whim, she boards a boat with a young woman who is everything Leila is not. While navigating her own heart, nothing could prepare Leila for the biggest truth she’s about to learn.

Also, the Kindle version is still available for preorder, but I've moved the release date up by a couple weeks. It will be ready to download on Tuesday, November 15th.

In addition to uploading the novel files for publication, I updated my website, JBChicoine.com ... now to clean up the mess from my exploding head ...

* It will take a few weeks for it to show up on other online book retailers

Portrait of a Girl Adrift: Cover Progress

I've been working on the cover for Portrait of a Girl Adrift … it's been quite a process. In case any of my readers have suspected, yes, I am the model for the 'girl' on the covers, not because I necessarily resemble Leila—I mean, I am fifty six, after all—but I publish my novels on a scant budget, and what can I say … I'm cheap and available! And it's not difficult to trim off twenty-five pounds and smooth wrinkles with graphics software.

Nevertheless, I had intended a different pose for this cover—Leila sitting cross legged, 'Indian style' as we used to say (but that's probably no longer politically correct—the term, not the position). At any rate, Todd set up the camera, adjusted the flood light and flipped on the fan for billowing the linen shirt. But when I tried to assume the position, well, there was simply no way! I don't know when it happened, when my body decided to be so inflexible, but I was going to have to reconsider the composition for the cover. The image proportions are a bit different from the covers for Girl Running and Protégé, but Adrift still has the same feel.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to post the progression of the painting (and no, I will not share the photo I worked from—don't need that circulating around the internet!).

... And here is the finished cover:

I'm happy with the result, and now I can post it where it needs to be, places like Amazon (it may take a few days for the image to show up) and Goodreads. I also want to remind any of my readers that the Kindle version of Portrait of a Girl Adrift is available for pre-order on Amazon—to be released on December 6th. And if anyone would like an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for a review on Amazon or Goodreads (preferably both), just let me know. Also, if you've read Portrait of a Girl Running or Portraitof a Protégé, consider leaving reviews for those—it helps their discoverability.

Meanwhile, it's back to editing…

Portraits Trilogy Update

Well, I completed the first draft of Portrait of a Girl Adrift nearly a month ago. While the manuscript awaits its final edits, I have been updating the first two books, Portrait of a Girl Running and Portrait of a Protégé, both the kindle and trade paperback versions. I haven’t changed anything major in either book, just added back in some bits here and there that I had deleted from earlier versions—information that fleshes out some of the characters who show up in Book III. The plots remain unchanged.

I also committed myself to a publishing deadline—Portrait of a Girl Adrift is now up for pre-order on Amazon, to be released on December 6. This means I need to get cracking on the cover!

The layout is ready and waiting for a pivotal bit of artwork… I’m a little anxious about that since I haven’t painted in well over a year. I’m hoping it all comes back to me…Ha!

By the way, I’ve also reduced the kindle price of Girl Running and Protégé, so if you’ve been meaning to read either of them, now would be a good time to download them!

In case you're curious, here is the description from the back cover of Portrait of a Girl Adrift:

Just when Leila thinks she has everything under control, her deepest insecurities resurface when she must confront her unresolved issues surrounding the mother who abandoned her as a baby, and the men who raised her. Not even Clarence Myles can show her the way, and so Leila embarks on a journey of self-discovery that sends her drifting from place to place in search of answers. 

In the process of zigzagging her way between North and South, Leila encounters a series of intense psychological twists and turns that send her reeling, grappling with more questions about her identity. Embarking on a final quest for what it means to be ‘whole,’ Leila risks everything she knows about maintaining control; on a calculated whim, she boards a boat with a young woman who is everything Leila is not. While navigating her own heart, nothing could prepare Leila for the biggest truth she’s about to learn.

When Characters Misbehave

I’m not talking about when characters behave badly. That’s actually a good thing because it creates tension and moves the story along. I’m talking about characters and how they don’t always behave the way the writer expects or wants. This happens a lot in my writing, and it’s part of the fun—like putting two bugs in a jar, shake, and see what happens. I love allowing my characters the freedom to interact and behave in a natural, organic kind of way, but when I’m 95% done with the first draft—this is no time for characters to exert their free will! This is what has happened in Portrait of a Girl Adrift.

No matter how I tried to cajole them, they would not do or say what I expected. One in particular revealed more depth than I gave him credit for, which is kind of cool. And then another character brought up an issue I had failed to address. Which equals more words. Not a huge deal—I do want my characters to act ‘in character,’ but with the added scenes—I’ve already exceeded 100k words in the first draft (much of which is bare bones dialogue and so it’s not as if I can cut a lot of fluff, there simply isn’t any!) —I’m looking at one thick book!

Granted, 100+k words is not a tome, so I’m not panicking, after all, my other novels come in somewhere in the 90+k words. I’m now in the process of justifying the added wordage on account of Adrift being the final volume in the Portraits trilogy. Therefore, it seems to me that readers who have followed the story thus far would like the major loose ends all tied up and won’t mind reading an extra chapter or two that will, in essence, allow my reader to say goodbye to the characters with a less abrupt ending. That’s what I’m thinking anyway. I wonder how my blog readers--those who’ve read a series—how they feel about the last book and the way the author chose to wind things down. Any thoughts?