Steena’s Comments (group member since May 23, 2013)

Steena’s comments from the Ask Steena Holmes group.

Natasha wrote: "Finished this afternoon. I LOVE it soooo much! I still love Dottie, I really felt for her in Finding Emma. Of course she did wrong taking the girl but the more you read about her the more you under..."

Natasha - I'm so glad you enjoyed the book :) And you hit it right on the nerve about Megan. She had all her defences up and I think she was just waiting for everything to come crashing down on her.

I kept asking myself how I would respond...not the way I 'should' but the way I 'would'. It was a hard question to answer.

Steena wrote: "Who's read it? What are your thoughts?
Did any of the characters change for you - especially in how you viewed them?"

But Kivalina...if it were your daughter - would you see Jack as innocent right away or do you think it would take some time before you could look past all the hurt and anger? Megan isn't perfect - she's just a hurting mother.

Jean wrote: "Good! When ever I'm able to get it and read it, I wanted to let all my dachshund friends know about it."

Check your email!

Who's read it? What are your thoughts?
Did any of the characters change for you - especially in how you viewed them?

Jean wrote: "Was I in this book? LOL"
Jean ...it's Emma's Secret you're in :) Check out the acknowledgements too...

I'd love if you shared some of your favorite recipes on here - especially if they have chocolate involved!

Tell me - are you reading Emma's Secret today?

Happy release day everyone! I'm so thankful you are all here to celebrate with me! Off and on throughout the day I'll be posting my favorite recipes and other fun things.

Did your ecopy of Emma's Secret hit your reading device today? I sure hope so!

Jean wrote: "Any idea when the winners of the book are announced? I hope and pray I win it. With disability it could be a long while before I can buy it."

Jean the winners were randomly chosen yesterday by goodreads. I know some winners received emails...I hope you won!

Cyndi wrote: "I just loved the book. It was such a sad story and I read it with a box of tissues. I have recommended this book to lots of my friends. I also have read it twice and now waiting for my next install..."

Today's the day Cyndi! Get that tissue box ready - early reviewers are saying you'll need it :)

Canna wrote: "I loved your Finding Emma book. I didn't want to put it down when I reading to see what happen next. I am excited to read Emma's Secret when it's release."

Thanks Canna! I hope you'll enjoy Emma's Secret as well - I can't believe it's out today!

The cookbook idea is a really good one and it's a project I've been working on here and there :)

Natasha wrote: "I've read it and loved it! The ending is amazing. I loved finding out more about Dottie, I was strangly drawn to her in Finding Emma and was eager to find out more."
Natasha - knowing you liked Dottie makes me happy :) The one part I loved the most of writing both Finding Emma and Dear Jack was creating characters you knew you should dislike but couldn't. Jack and Dottie hold special places in my heart.

Cyndi wrote: "The ending sure was a big surprise. It was the best part for me."
I'm glad you liked the ending Cyndi! It was probably my favorite scene as well :)

In each book I write there is a recipe that I use as an inspiration for a special scene. In Finding Emma, it was the scones Megan made for Peter.

If you've read Emma's Secret - any ideas on what scene/recipe I used?

In this folder, I'll post my go-to recipes and I hope you'll share yours with me too!

It's almost time :) I'm bringing out my favorite recipes for Emma's Secret release parties! Looking forward to everyone joining me!

K.N. - there's no magical answer to this, sorry! I wish there were ;)
K.N. wrote: "What steps did you take to get your Amazon deal? Did it simply come from how well you sold? Thanks again for taking the time to answer our questions :)"

A little bit of both Christine! For a brief second my youngest daughter was out of my eye sight and that moment of panic hit me hard. Christine wrote: "Steena, how did you first arrive at the idea for Finding Emma? Personal experience or bolt out of the blue?"

When I started I worked full time. Now I write full time. Blog tour went well - it did what I needed it to...I helped to get my book front and centre of potential readers!

Congrat's on your first novel! Are you writing another one? Are you looking for readers? That was my main goal. Getting my book out there as much as I could (without being spam). I got involved in Goodreads groups, I started a Facebook author page, I started conversations on Twitters, did a blog tour/review tour etc.