Hi lovelies! It gives me
great pleasure today to host John Herrick and his new book, “Mona Lisas and
Little White Lies”! For other stops on his
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 $10
Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also,
come back daily to interact with John and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping by!
Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!
Mona Lisas and Little White
Lies
by John Herrick
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GENRE: Romantic Comedy
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BLURB:
She’s America’s hottest new celebrity. But her identity remains
a secret.
Lily
Machara is a wisecracking auto mechanic. She’s never cared for glitz or drama.
But when Ryder Flynn, a rising star in the world of commercial art, adopts Lily
as his muse after a random sighting, Lily discovers herself painted into his
hot new pieces … and becomes America’s newest — anonymous — celebrity.
The only problem: The woman Ryder imagines isn’t the true Lily.
Or is it?
Now,
as Lily and Ryder give in to mutual curiosity and a budding romance, Lily’s
life — secrets and all — fall victim to a pop culture with one question on its
mind: Who is the woman in Ryder Flynn’s art?
In
the spirit of Cyrano de Bergerac and Pretty Woman, MONA LISAS AND LITTLE WHITE
LIES is a delightful new romantic comedy from John Herrick, bestselling author
of Beautiful Mess.
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EXCERPT TWO:
By
three in the morning, Ryder had left Lily with her relatives and parted ways
with her. The thought of never seeing her again chafed his heart as he walked
down the hotel’s ninth-floor hallway and stuck his key card into the electronic
lock of his own room. As he walked inside, his eyes moved toward one side,
where a table lamp kept everything aglow.
He
wouldn’t sleep at all tonight. He couldn’t. The thought of Lily lingered in his
mind and swayed within his soul. Even at her low point that evening, as dismal
as she’d appeared, Ryder had seen an angel when he’d gazed into her eyes.
In
his room, he plunged into a sea of plush cushions on the sofa and grabbed a
tiny, five-dollar bottle of mineral water from the mini bar. As the carbonated
liquid tickled his throat and settled into his belly, its bubbles danced and
brought a grin to his face. An unexpected end to the evening. Ryder hadn’t
stepped foot in his room since morning and noticed he’d left the curtains open.
From his vantage point on the sofa, he gazed out the window at the Cleveland
skyline, where he noticed lights glowing from a nearby office tower.
Something
stirred in his soul, but he couldn’t identify its source. Invigoration,
perhaps? No, on second thought, he felt…alive. Alive, fueled by the memory of
her.
Something
about her had created in him a longing.
The
stirring wouldn’t cease. An artist’s vulnerability. An abstract impression that
begged manifestation.
She
had disappeared from his life. Dejected at the realization, Ryder sought to
keep her memory alive.
With
a beckoning in his heart, he moved to the writing desk. From his satchel, which
he’d placed beside the desk when he’d arrived that morning, he retrieved a
small sketchbook and his favorite pencil. After flipping through the book in a
hurry, he found a crisp, white page and focused his attention. With soft,
careful strokes, he sketched a figure on the paper.
Lily.
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GUEST POST:
4 Ways I Connect with Readers in My Books
Reading
is a solitary activity. It involves some degree of quiet and concentration. But
I’ve long believed reading is an opportunity for the reader and author to have
an interactive experience. For that to occur, connecting with my readers is a
must. I seek for ways for the story to become theirs, too.
Here are 4 ground rules I set for myself to facilitate the
process:
1.) Develop
the characters down to their souls. Oftentimes, while developing
a major character, I will fill out a biography sheet. I also like to give the
character a 15- to 20-question interview that captures their beliefs, their
secrets, their favorite childhood memory, their insecurities—everything. Some
of these things make it into the story; others don’t. But the purpose isn’t to
create content for your book—it’s to get to know my character inside and out,
to understand how they think, how they might make decisions. And although I get
to know my characters better after sketching the full novel, the interview
offers my first glimpse into how each character speaks, along with the attitude
that lies underneath. This enables my readers to know my characters inside and
out, to understand why my characters behave as they do.
2.) Make
yourself vulnerable.
Surprise, surprise, I don’t write naked. However, if I don’t feel like I’m
naked when I write, then I haven’t invested myself in what I’m writing. I’m not
my characters. Their views and struggles are not necessarily mine. But I should
write as if they are mine. I should write with such heart and soul, the reader
will mistake it for a true story. If I do this well, then by the time the story
ends, the readers have found such a genuine character, that character has
become a friend—a friend in whom the readers could see themselves confiding.
3.) Respect
the reader.
From the Dead was my first novel to hit shelves. I learned a lot from my
editor, Emma. I also learned a lot (and continue to do so) by reading customer
reviews. And what I learned is this: Readers are savvy. The first time you
write a novel, you feel like you need to explain everything to the reader,
describe every detail. But the truth is, your readers are smart enough to
deduce what you don’t provide. They can fill in gaps in the description once
you point the way. If you’ve developed your characters well, you don’t need to
explain why they say everything they do—or how they say it, for that
matter—because you’ve given your reader enough information to connect the dots.
And I’ve tested this, too. I write my stories in a way that anyone can enjoy
them. But for those who pay close attention, I plant extra pieces of
information or nuggets in my book—things I don’t specifically mention in the
narrative—for savvy readers to find. And sure enough, I’ll read a blogger
review or a customer review and see that they did indeed find the nugget and
they did indeed connect the dots. This story belongs to them, too.
4.) Leave a
few loose ends.
This is related to #3, and some people would disagree with my choice to do
this. But how often have you read a story and been a tad disappointed in one of
the details of how it ended? How many times have you thought, “I wish the
author hadn’t mentioned that” or “I wish the author would have done this
instead”? No reader wants a novel to end with holes in the plot or significant
questions unanswered. However, some unanswered questions won’t impact the plot
resolution or change the overall story: The couple has reunited as the final
chapter ends, but do they have a romantic evening? Do they stay together long
term? Does he write her another song? I like to leave a loose end or two
unanswered, because, as I said, I want my stories to be an interactive
experience. I want my readers to have a choice in the matter. And when I
respect them enough to do my job without overdoing it, it gives each reader a
chance to add to the ending. It leaves the door open for the reader to draw the
next conclusion, to imagine the characters’ future together, or even to remember
the characters a certain way. The readers help me end my stories, and I believe
that makes my stories unique.
My
latest novel is called Mona Lisas and Little White Lies. I hope take a few
minutes to check it out. You can find more about that novel and all my books at
www.johnherrick.net.
Thanks for letting me stop by. And thanks for being an important
part of what I do as a writer.
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AUTHOR BIO:
John Herrick is
best known as a chronicler of the human heart. His complex characters and
earnest tone prompted Publishers Weekly to write, "Herrick will make
waves." When he is not writing, he loves long drives on the interstate. He
is a sucker for 1990s music. Herrick lives in St. Louis.
In
addition to novels such as BEAUTIFUL MESS and FROM THE DEAD, he authored the
nonfiction bestseller, 8 REASONS YOUR LIFE MATTERS.
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CONNECT WITH JOHN:
Website:
Blog:
Email:
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BookBub Book Page:
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Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
The Book Depository Paperback:
BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
John will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to
a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**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.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
