Julianna Keyes's Blog - Posts Tagged "romance"

January has arrived at long last! I have been waiting for this for what feels like forever.

Last year I signed two book deals: one for "Going the Distance," and another two-book deal with Carina Press. That's the great news. The less great news is that neither company had room in their publication schedules until 2015. I cannot explain how anxiously I have been counting down the intervening months!

"Going the Distance" will be released on January 27, and the first chapter is available for free on my website, http://juliannakeyes.com.

The next book to come out is "Time Served" (March 23). You can imagine my surprise (and elation) when I spotted a Twitter mention from Dear Author shortly after Christmas. She'd read an ARC of "Time Served" and recommended it to fans of Cara McKenna's "Willing Victim." If you look at my book ratings, you'll see I loved "Willing Victim" (and "After Hours," if you're looking for something awesome to read before "Going the Distance!"), so that was particularly amazing. Oh, and then on Jan. 3 she reviewed "Just Once" and labelled it a Recommended Read! Not to state the obvious, but 2015 has gotten off to a pretty amazing start. :)

Anyway, *my* new books are on their way. "Going the Distance" is close to my heart. It's set in a small town in China, much like the one I lived in for a year and a half some time ago. I really love fish out of water stories (and love stories), and this one combines the two. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Thanks for reading!

~JK

If you like to try before you buy (and who doesn't?), the first two chapters of "Time Served" are now available. Find them right here on Goodreads, or my website: http://www.juliannakeyes.com/time-ser...

Either way, I hope you enjoy them!

-JK

TIME SERVED is not *technically* available in paperback, but a handful of print copies were prepared for a contest, and now they are ALL MINE. Since I spent a million years working on this story, it’s safe to assume I already know what it’s about, so I don’t need all of these. If you, however, would like one, visit my Facebook page and check out the Giveaways tab for a chance to win!

You don’t have to do anything bothersome like instruct everyone at the grocery store to enter or give me your baby or sign up for my free newsletter (though that last one’s also a tab and you should do it), just tell me about the best gift you’ve ever received (on the Rafflecopter page, not in the comments or you won’t be entered). It doesn’t have to be a Christmas present. My favourite gift of all time is a signed picture of Alex Gonzalez, a former Blue Jays baseball player. He was their shortstop for a number of years and when I first started watching, he was the reason I tuned in day after day. Alex no longer plays, but I still do, and looking at that picture reminds me of those first moments of falling in love…with baseball. Oh, and Alex.

So go ahead and enter the draw, tell everyone at the grocery store, do what you must. I’ll send the book anywhere in the world, and you can read it, stick it on your bookshelf, or give it to that friend who simply refuses to get an e-reader. These are the only print copies of this book on the planet, and for the moment, they’re mine all mine. In the spirit of the season, however, I’m willing to make one yours.

Good luck and happy holidays!

www.facebook.com/juliannakeyesauthor

Undecided

A couple of years ago I was reading a popular New Adult book, and as I read I kept thinking, “I really wish she’d ditch the hero and fall for his best friend instead.” She didn’t, of course, and because I had my hands full with the Time Served books I just moved on and forgot about it. Or at least I tried to.

But the idea of the cocky best friend being the love interest instead of the super-suave supposed-to-be-hero wouldn’t be ignored. I jotted down a few ideas (the Halloween scene is probably the big one – you’ll see in a month!), and carried on with my life.

“The heroine falls for the best friend!” isn’t exactly a plot, so while I had a basic idea, I needed to wait until an actual story came to mind. And eventually it did. I’m not going to tell you about it here because that would spoil the book, but when it occurred to me I knew it paired perfectly with the first concept and together I could make them work.

Eight months later, I’m thrilled to tell you UNDECIDED is set to release on April 4, 2016. There’s more info on my website, pre-order links are up in most places, and I’m so excited for you to read it. As a special thanks to those who are also excited and choose to pre-order, I’ve prepared a special PDF of bonus materials that includes:

*a comic strip I wrote (but did not draw)
*my dreadful original mock-up for the cover versus the final version, and the thought process behind both
*all three versions of my back cover copy and the journey it took to get to the polished perfection you enjoy today (ahem)
*a sneak peek at the first chapter of UNDECIDED

All you have to do is email info@juliannakeyes.com with a copy of your receipt and I’ll reply with the bonus material. And if you’re not quite sold, that’s fine too. To tempt you further there’s an awesome excerpt available on my website that will help you decide. (See what I did there?) ;)

www.juliannakeyes.com

Thanks for reading!

Pre-Order Links:

Amazon: http://goo.gl/mQY4iU
Kobo: https://goo.gl/jQFgRX
Apple: https://goo.gl/gZ3yWW
Chapters: https://goo.gl/pEX005
Barnes & Noble: Coming Soon

It’s heeeeere!! FINALLY! After what feels like a lifetime of waiting, “Undecided” is available pretty much everywhere, eagerly anticipating your download. (Okay, fine – that’s mostly just me anticipating things.)

In any case, as I have done with my previous books, I’ve prepared a week of non-spoilery posts about all things “Undecided.” Today’s post will appear in just a moment.

Tomorrow’s post talks about one of the most enraging moments of my entire life, and includes photographic evidence. (Yes, that’s right: I hold onto grudges AND proof.)

On Wednesday I’ll talk about instalove, Thursday discusses pacing (see if you recognized my plot scheme before you read this post!), and on Friday there’s a post about character arcs and a giveaway. You’ll want to read carefully, since there’s also a quiz. (I’m mean!)

As always, thanks for reading. :)

Paperbacks available on Amazon.

Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B01BXZMCEW/
Kobo: https://goo.gl/jQFgRX
Barnes & Noble: http://goo.gl/OyAvqm
Apple: https://goo.gl/gZ3yWW

NAME CALLING

The working title for “Undecided” was “Love the One You’re With.” That’s actually still what the Word file is called. I used it mostly because it was the first thing that came to me and stuck. But I had my doubts, chief among them being that I’d read an Emily Giffin book by the same title and even though these stories had nothing in common, it still felt like copying. A search on Goodreads showed several more books with that name, and when choosing a title, one of the concerns is finding something that is both appropriate for the story, and not likely to be confused with others. (Especially when those “others” are huge authors whose search results are going to bump yours down to page 117.)

I don’t actually remember when “Undecided” occurred to me, but when it did, I knew I had a battle on my hands. I really liked “Love the One You’re With.” I’d been calling the book that for months, and every time I thought about it I sang the chorus to the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song of the same name. I wished someone would do a mashup of that song and Van Halen’s “Crazy Love.” How great would that be? Why aren’t I more musical? What else can I do to procrastinate?

What ultimately tipped the scales in favour of “Undecided” was theme. The entire New Adult genre is about people at an age and time in their life when they’re discovering who they’re meant to be. They don’t have to make a decision—they have to make choices. Mistakes. They try things, some work, some don’t. Some find what they’re looking for right away, some take a bit longer. And since the “Undecided” of the title isn’t expressly a statement of Nora’s romantic choices but rather her life choices—or lack thereof, as it may be—it ended up winning by a landslide. (And by landslide I mean my one vote.)

Some people have criticized the cover/title combination of giving the impression of a love triangle (there isn’t one), and I see their point. But the story is also about not judging a book by its cover. (I’m, like, super meta.) Nora assumes Kellan is one thing, Crosbie another, and they view her as something else altogether. But given time, they learn about each other and themselves, and grow up. Sorta.

The biggest “downside” to this title choice is not the love triangle assumption, but the fact that whenever people ask me what my book is called and I say “Undecided,” they think I mean that I haven’t chosen a title yet. So when I say the title out loud, it sounds more like, “The title of my book is ‘Undecided.’ Like, that’s the actual title. ‘Undecided.’ Not the status. I have a name. It’s ‘Undecided.’ That’s—Oh, dammit.”

Are you a title wizard? What would you have called this book? Feel free to pitch in in the comments. :)

PACE YOURSELF

I give a lot of thought to structure when I’m plotting a book. I want to make sure things are happening in a reasonable, orderly, and interesting way, and that my pacing isn’t too fast or too slow. I generally draw out a little three-act chart and map the major story points, then fill in the details as I go along.

One of the first scenes I envisioned before I ever started writing was the scene at the Halloween party. This is the mid-point (halfway mark) of “Undecided.” Because school starts in early September, that was Labor Day. Hmm, I thought. Interesting. Why don’t I use holidays to mark the major story beats? And so…

INCITING INCIDENT: Labor Day
MID-POINT: Halloween
2nd ACT TURNING POINT/CLIMAX: Chrisgiving (you’ll see)
RESOLUTION: Valentine’s Day

For those of you eagle-eyed readers, I skipped the 1st Act Turning Point in this example because it doesn’t happen on a holiday. In fact, I was not aware of any holidays (in the US) between Labor Day and Halloween until I googled them just this instant. I suppose National Grandparents Day, Columbus Day, or National White Cane Safety Day are all good options, but it’s too late now. (For the record: I’m Canadian and while I’ve heard of Columbus Day, I honestly had no idea it was in October.) Anyway, if you’re curious, the 1st Act TP is the day Crosbie helps Nora build her bed. That’s the moment readers are supposed to think, “Aww. There’s no going back now! Crosbie + Nora 4-ever.”

Crosbie sort of outlines this holiday structure toward the end of the story, but I thought I’d mention it here so you’d know I thought of it first. It was all my idea.

NOW YOU SEE IT

I may have mentioned this before, but for those who don’t know, I went to film school. ($13,000 well spent, says the girl who does not work in film.) In terms of a career in screenwriting, I would describe this investment as “not successful,” but even though I didn’t really appreciate it at the time, I learned a lot. I learned about storytelling, structure, plot, pacing, character development, and how to handle brutal criticisms, among other things. One of the biggest lessons you learn about storytelling is the importance of SHOW DON’T TELL. It’s so important I’m writing it in capital letters.

Maybe I wouldn’t notice this if it hadn’t been drilled into me in school, and maybe I’d read along happily being told things instead of shown them. But now that I’m aware of it, I can’t stop noticing when authors tell me how characters are feeling/changing/reacting when actions can do it so much better. One of the best examples we saw in school was from the movie Kramer vs. Kramer (well, the script). The mother leaves and the totally unprepared father is now responsible for raising a little boy. They try to make French toast and fail epically. The kitchen’s a mess, the toast burns, everybody’s unhappy. At the end of the story, however, they make French toast in perfect sync. They’re a team now. Nobody needs to write “After months of living together they’d found a system that worked and made everybody happy and improved their quality of life.” Seeing is believing, as they say, and I believed.

When I wrote the first draft of “In Her Defense” I didn’t include the company party scene at the end, and upon re-reading I knew something important was missing. Then it finally dawned on me: the party! Now normally I wouldn’t think it’s a brilliant idea to show someone’s character arc over two books (especially when they’re not the main character in both books), but because Caitlin’s role at the party in book one was so memorable (for all the wrong reasons), I thought seeing her in the same situation but behaving completely differently would really showcase her growth as a person.

I’ve tried to do something like this in “Undecided,” but instead of telling you what I did, let’s see if YOU can tell ME. First person with the right answer gets a signed print copy!

WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR: There are three scenes in which something similar happens and in each scene Crosbie responds/reacts differently. Nothing to do with magic. Everything to do with his character arc.

By now you’ve had all week to read, and if your week has been too busy, you’ll have the weekend. If no one gets this by Monday, I’ll tell you the answer and buy a gift for myself. We all win! (Just kidding—only I win.)

NB: This contest is only available on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/juliannakeyesauthor), otherwise I can't monitor the comments and the order they came in. If you think you know the answer, feel free to visit me on FB and share! :)

As you may know, I've been trying (and failing) to come up with a new cover design for "Undecided." There's really only so many times you can hear the same comments ("Is this a love triangle?" "That cover is very misleading!" "I HATE THAT COVER!") before you start to think that maybe the thing you love is hurting the other thing you love.

So.

There's a new cover. I tried to redo it maybe six or seven weeks ago, but I'm not a designer and the things we were coming up with looked like YA ghost stories for some reason. I bailed on the attempt, and then a short while ago I got a message from none other than Kristen Callihan kindly pointing out that maybe my cover was hurting my book. (Cue jaw drop. KRISTEN CALLIHAN??!) This was not offensive because it was not new information, but it was extremely motivating. I went back to the drawing board (which means staring blankly at stock photo sites and pondering what to have for dinner) and eventually spotted a picture I thought could work. I fiddled with it, mocked up something I kinda sorta liked, and sent it to Kristen and another author friend, Jenna Sutton (who was one of the first people to kindly suggest that I needed a new cover), who gave it their stamp of approval. One more thumbs up from a very well-read blogger with impeccable taste, and I sent it off to my friend for polishing.

All this is to say...I have a new cover and it's coming July 18. I'm going to swap the cover on the print version on that day, so if you've been thinking about buying one, you have three weeks until it's replaced everywhere but my heart.

Three weeks is a long time, isn't it? I've told myself July 1 is the day to start working on Kellan's story (that's also Canada Day, for those who don't know - I'll pretend those fireworks are all meant for me), and I'll share the title of the new book then. ;)

If you're interested in being part of the new cover reveal tour, you can sign up here: http://bit.ly/28XeFtt

Thanks for reading!

I have officially (and finally) declared (see what I did there?) February 27, 2017 as the release day for “Undeclared,” book two in the Burnham College series. It’s been a long time coming, and we’re nearly there.

The pre-order price for “Undeclared” will be $2.99USD, rising to $3.99USD (regular price) on release day. Paperbacks will be available as well, but not for pre-order, mostly because they’re not ready yet, and also because the last time I made one it went live immediately, about a week and a half too soon. Lesson learned, Createspace. Lesson learned.

If you’ve been following along, you’ll know this has been a long road for me. I’ve tried to keep the complaining and panicking to a minimum, but I can honestly say that without those #WednesdayWIPReports and the responses to keep me motivated, I might have given up long ago. I could try to put a spin on things and say how it’s life imitating art, how Kellan’s struggles mirror mine, but that’s annoying. This book was hard! But it was worth it. As someone who has read it approximately 100 million times and is not at all biased—it’s good. Honest. If you can laugh at a joke 99 million times, you’re onto something. And if your cold, dead heart resumes a hopeful beating when you read the last page—you’re really onto something. Or on something. Let’s not look too closely.

You can check out the excerpt I’ve added to my website, you can pre-order and save yourself a buck, or you can wait until the reviews come in and decide for yourself. And if you’re a reviewer, the book should be up on NetGalley by the weekend.

Thank you all in advance (and after the fact) for your support!

Amazon US: https://www.amzn.com/dp/B01MUKDJIF/

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/unde...

**Buy links for B&N and iBooks should be live soon!