Hello, lovelies!! It gives me great pleasure today to host E.C. Bell and her new book, “Tying the Knot,” here on FAB!! For other stops on her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with E.C. and to increase your chances of winning!!
Thanks for stopping by!! Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!!
Tying the Knot
by E.C. Bell
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GENRE: Paranormal Mystery
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BLURB:
Marie Jenner just wants a Vegas holiday.
When psychic Crystal Demoines tells James Lavall that his uncle’s spirit is trapped in Las Vegas, Marie is thrilled. All she’ll have to do is help Jimmy “anything for a buck” Lavall move on to the next plane of existence, and then she and James can have the holiday of her dreams.
But she never dreamed that a lieutenant of the drug kingpin from Edmonton would be staying at the same hotel as her and James, and that James would become his new best friend. Or that she’d have to find Jimmy’s girlfriend Rita—who disappeared the same night Jimmy died—before he would finally move on. Or that the most powerful man in the hotel would be looking for Rita too. To find the money she stole.
And Marie never dreamed that she’d be planning a Vegas wedding in the middle of it all. But she is.
Looks like her dream vacation is about to become a nightmare.
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EXCERPT ONE:
WE DROPPED THE rental car off with the valet and got the keys for our room on the sixth floor.
“Can you remember what room your uncle died in?” I asked as we waited in a small crowd at the bank of elevators. A couple of people glanced at us, looking fairly aghast, and I wished I hadn’t said anything.
“Room 214,” James replied. “According to Crystal.”
The crowd around us backed away, and I guessed that people didn’t want to hear about someone dying here. Even though it was the truth.
The elevator opened and two men walked out. They pushed past us like we weren’t even there, and I glared, trying to think of a truly cutting remark to make. But I stopped, because there was something familiar about one of the guys. At least I thought there was.
Seeing people out of context sometimes made it very hard to connect the dots, memory-wise, but I was certain I’d seen him somewhere before. Not recently, but when I opened my mouth to ask James if he recognized him, he gently placed his hand on my arm like he could read my mind.
“Not now,” he said.
So I shut my mouth and watched the men walk past. They were dressed in suits, and I blinked when I realized I could see the outline of a gun under the armpit of one of them.
Who the heck were they?
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GUEST POST:
How to Hold Yourself Accountable:
How do I hold myself accountable when I’m writing a book? I celebrate!
When I first started writing seriously, I definitely focused on the serious part. I was terrifically hard on myself, and found I was always giving myself heck for not writing as well or as fast as I thought I should be.
I guess I thought that beating up on myself was the best way to get me to work harder, but it really wasn’t. I just found it discouraging. To the point that I thought about quitting, many times.
But I didn’t want to quit. So, I decided to turn things around. Instead of beating myself up for not writing enough, or missing deadlines, or whatever, I decided to celebrate when I made certain goals. And that has made all the difference in the world.
Here’s my process: When I have a novel to write, I mark everything down that I have to complete in order to get the book finished and to my publisher on time. I use a big paper desk top calendar, so that I can see all the deadlines I have to hit as I’m writing, and as I complete each “to do,” I check them off the calendar.
This includes celebrating when I hit certain milestones, which I mark on the calendar too, to make absolutely sure I remember.
When I’m in the planning and first draft stage, I use white boards and post-it notes as I try to wrangle all my ideas into some sort of coherent whole (while making that pesky murder mystery work). From that, I outline the plot. Usually it’s more writing out the beats of the story--a line or two per beat--that gets me from the beginning to the climax to the end. Then, I write the first draft, as fast as I can. (When I’m really cooking, I can write 10,000 words a day.)
That’s a ton of work, so when that first draft is done, I celebrate. Might be just a special treat I get for myself, but I give myself a moment to celebrate the fact that I got through the first part of the process. Because if I hadn’t finished the first draft, there would be no book!
I leave the manuscript for a bit (a weekend to a month, depending on deadlines) and then go over it again, with fresh eyes, to catch plot holes, make sure all scenes are in the right place and needed, and clean up other bits of organizational ugliness. Then, I go over it again to get rid of flabby words and other nasties. I read it out loud, to make absolutely certain all of it works. Especially the dialogue. Then, I do a final clean and polish to get rid of tiny mistakes like extra spaces or little typos. And then, finally, it’s ready to go to the publisher.
These steps are all on my calendar, so I don’t miss anything. Because they are all important. It’s also a whole bunch more work, so when it’s finally done, I celebrate again. It’s a bigger celebration, because the book is now in the publisher’s hands.
It would be nice to say that my work is done at this point, but it’s not. This is when I have to deal with editors. (Who take two passes, usually, unless there are bigger problems.) When I get the editor’s letter, I add the work and deadlines to the calendar, and then, when I’ve completed everything and the book is finally ready to go to print, I celebrate again.
I’ve learned to love celebrating! It really is the high point of the process. Have I mentioned that?
And this is actually why the launch I usually hold in my home town is the biggest celebration of all. The book I’ve been working on for so long is finally a real thing, and now I can finally put it into readers’ hands. What an accomplishment!
I find that celebrating when I hit the important points in the writing and editing process gives me something to look forward to. Because writing and editing can be hard, and I deserve all the celebration I can get.
Since I’ve started using this writing and organizing method, I’ve written seven books. I like to think that celebrating has helped me attain that.
Try it. You might be pleasantly surprised. I know I was.
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AUTHOR BIO:
E.C. Bell is the author of the award winning paranormal Marie Jenner Mystery series. She lives in Alberta, Canada, and when she’s not writing, she’s scouting out new locations for her upcoming novels or renovating her round house where she lives with her husband and their two rescue dogs.
That’s right. Her house is round.
Join
her mailing list on her website at http://www.eileenbell.com for news about new
books, upcoming appearances and, occasionally, recipes.
Follow
her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ecbellmystery
and Twitter at https://twitter.com/ApocalypseWoman.
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CONNECT WITH E.C.:
Website:
Blog:
http://www.eileenbell.com/blog
Email:
ecbell@eileenbell.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ecbellmystery
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ApocalypseWoman
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/e.c.bell
BookBub Author Page:
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/e-c-bell
BookBub Book Page:
https://www.bookbub.com/books/tying-the-knot-a-marie-jenner-mystery-book-7-by-e-c-bell
Goodreads Author Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/730293.Eileen_Bell
Goodreads Book Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57730599-tying-the-knot
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon US Kindle eBook:
Amazon US Paperback:
Amazon CA Paperback:
https://www.amazon.ca/Tying-Knot-C-Bell/dp/1989407250
Amazon UK Kindle eBook:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tying-Knot-Marie-Jenner-Mystery-ebook/dp/B08ZSX5T13
Amazon UK Paperback:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tying-Knot-Marie-Jenner-Mystery/dp/1989407250
Amazon AU Kindle eBook:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Tying-Knot-Marie-Jenner-Mystery-ebook/dp/B08ZSX5T13
Amazon AU Paperback:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Tying-Knot-7-C-Bell/dp/1989407250
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tying-the-knot-ec-bell/1139217937?ean=2940165350320
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tying-the-knot-ec-bell/1139217937?ean=9781989407257
The Book Depository Paperback:
https://www.bookdepository.com/Tying-Knot-E-C-Bell/9781989407257
BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:
https://www.booksamillion.com/product/A16636436002
Kobo eBook:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/tying-the-knot-14
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
E.C. will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway**This post contains
affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase is made, I may receive a small
commission to help support this blog.
This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those awesome
giveaways on here**
E.C. ~ Good morning! Welcome back! It is so great to have you here again! Congrats on your intriguing new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! It's great to be back!
DeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good book.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete