I just found out yesterday that my 1997 historical from Cerridwen Press is now available in print, as well as in electronic format from the Kindle Store and Cerridwen’s website.
The cover is one of my favorite’s. The dh sketched out the idea for the artist at Cerridwen.
Last month when I posted my original Branding blog (http://jeancgordon.com/wordpress/?p=115), I said I’d be back with the winning phrase. Celebrate Love — Small Town Style seems to be it, except a couple people suggested Celebrate Romance — Small Town Style. So, once a gain, which one:
And I still like:
Or, a couple people suggested I drop the “Celebrate” from the last two:
All comments welcome.
Check out the April 14 From the Heart Blog for an interview with me—courtesy of my agent Diana Flegal.
A happy and blessed Easter to all who celebrate!
In anticipation of updating my website (JeanCGordon.com), I’m thinking about how to brand myself. BFS, my critique group, says that one of my strengths is my portrayal of small-town life in the twenty-first century. If you read my books, you know most of them are set in very small towns in Upstate New York. The exceptions: Mara’s Move takes place mostly on a cruise ship and the other book in that series, Candy Kisses, is set in Albany. For me, Albany is the the city. But friends from other metro areas tell me Albany is a small for a “real” city. The students at the state university do call it Smallbany. But I digress.
As a start on my branding, I’ve come up with a list of branding tags. I have two that I like best. But I’m not telling — yet. Here they are:
What do you think? I let you know what I decide.
She pulled a sheaf of papers and a pen from her satchel. “Let’s get these forms out of the way first, then we can talk some more about Jake.”
“Okay, where do I sign?” Brett lifted the pen with a flourish. “I’m anxious to have everything finalized.”
Molly studied Brett’s face, lingering on his dimple. Surely, he was kidding. Susan must have told him about the new application. “I’m afraid there’s a little more to it,” she said.
“What?” he asked, the dimple disappearing. Jake’s been with Kate and David and me for the required six months. I thought this visit and signing the final papers was it.”
“Susan didn’t explain?”
“Explain what?” A muscle worked in his jaw.
“Because your sister and brother-in-law’s adoption of Jake wasn’t completed, Korean Child Welfare is requiring you to apply to adopt Jake yourself.”
“It’s not enough that Kate–” His voice caught on his sister’s name. “It’s not enough that her Will named me as Jake’s guardian?”
Molly’s heart went out to Brett. “Korean Child Welfare doesn’t recognize your guardianship, because, technically, Jake wasn’t legally Kate and David’s son, yet.”
“Technicalities.” His voice had an edge, but Brett’s expression had visibly relaxed. “So, what do I have to do? Fill out some forms?”
“Yes.” Molly hesitated. She hated being the bearer of bad news. “But, there’s another small problem.”
“Like, what?”
Molly cast her eyes down, away from Brett’s penetrating gaze. “Korean Child Welfare doesn’t allow single-parent adoptions.”
Brett Cahill stared out at the gray morning, ignoring the computer-aided drafting program running on his PC in favor of watching the rain pelt the window. Drops hit the glass, exploding in sprays that cascaded down the farmhouse window in a sheet of water. A rustling from across the room drew his attention back inside. He looked at Jake sleeping in the playpen. Except for the boy, the month since Kate and David’s funeral had been as blurry as the view outside.
He couldn’t believe his little sister was gone–or that he was now the father of a two-and-a-half year old. Brett had tried to accept the words the minister had said at the funeral, that Kate and David were at peace. But he couldn’t imagine how his sister could be at peace without the baby she had cherished so.
The phone rang. He grabbed it before it rang again, glancing quickly at the still sleeping baby. He wished he could have let the answering machine get the call, but he didn’t want to risk waking Jake. As much as he loved the little guy, Brett needed this break.
It was probably Josh or Tina. His friends had been after him to get out and catch a game or a concert, to get back in circulation. Truthfully, Brett had been too bummed out and busy with Jake. Or it could be one of those blasted telephone surveys. He hoped not. He was a sucker for attractive female voices, and he had work he wanted to finish before Jake woke up.
“Brett Cahill,” he said briskly.
“Brett, this is Molly Hennessey from Thayer House. I’m taking over as your adoption caseworker while Susan Green is on maternity leave.”
* * *
Since Kate and David’s adoption hadn’t been finalized yet, Korean Child Welfare, the Korean adoption agency affiliated with Thayer House was requiring Brett to go through the whole process to adopt Jake himself. It wasn’t enough that Kate and David had named Brett as Jake’s guardian in their Wills.
The winners of my contest posted Wednesday are:
Cami and Kathye. I’ll be emailing you soon for your addresses to send you your book.
In honor of the release of my latest book, Mara’s Move, I’m giving away two copies of my last book, Candy Kisses — one here and one on the Avalon Authors blog, www.avalonauthors.blogspot.com. Candy Kisses is the companion book to Mara’s Move.
To enter, go to the Avalon Authors blog and find which author posted on June 23. Email me the name at JeanCGordon@yahoo.com. Put Mara’s Move on the subject line. Next Sunday, I’ll draw a winner from the correct entries on each blog and notify the two winners by email. By entering, you agree to be added to my email readers’ list.
For anyone in the Albany, NY area, I’ll be signing Mara’s Move and my other Avalon books at the Desmond Hotel and Conference Center (Albany-Shaker Road) as part of the Capital Region Romance Writers annual conference.
When: Saturday, June 13, from 4 to 6 p.m.
With:
Annette Blair
Angela Knight
Angelique Armae /M.A duBarry
Ursula Bauer
Linda Bleser/L.B. Milano
Jean C. Gordon
Jackie Kessler
K.A. Mitchell
Lydia Storm
Jaclyn Tracey
Christine Wenger