Category: Promote & Publish

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Small towns might be able to keep big secrets but…

Contract 3 and 4…I am terrible at keeping secrets and this one has been burning a hole in my draft blog file since August when the lovely Larissa Edwards (my publisher) rang, wanting me to sign on with Simon & Schuster for another two books.

That means books three and four of my plan (read: dream) to see my Seasons Collection in print will actually come to life in 2015 and 2016. (Now my Facebook friends will understand my fascination for trees (thanks Patricia Franks) and my new little logo thingy showing four seasonsfour seasons.)

To say I am excited is, well, a massive understatement. I am also a little daunted as my previous experience has been along the lines of: write two books, sub two books, edit two books. It wasn’t until I saw the contract front page had books three and four listed as “UNTITLED NOVEL” did the significance of this offer hit me and I decided wine was required. (Quite liked the Two Fathoms label for two books. Any excuse really!)

Sincere thanks to my followers, my friends, family and especially my readers. And to those of you who have already popped reviews on retail & review sites (Amazon, Goodreads) here is a big (((cyber hug))). Contrary to popular belief, happy reader reviews do NOT give authors massive heads. They let authors breathe and enjoy the dream.

Such a dream come true too. I’m feeling a little country magic right now and am so glad I can finally shout out my news. The wait has been killing me, but I wanted to have the contract in my hands before I told anyone and there was a delay as it had to go through the S&S USA contracts process. As a result things were a tad more ‘involved’ so I am grateful for Clare and Annabel at Curtis Brown for their expertise and guidance.

But wait! There’s more…

No, not the steak knives. It’s the B format** of House for all Seasons. (And look at this lovely praise.)

SPraise for HFAS&S are bringing it forward from March next year to Christmas – in time for Chrissie stockings, folks! (and with a snazzy teal-coloured title!)

To celebrate I will have some House for all Seasons giveaways to announce soon – I will do so here or on Facebook. So if you are not subscribed to my blog as yet HFAS B Format(or Facebook) now might be a good time if you wnat a chance to win a copy before Christmas.

**To those readers unfamiliar with the publishing jargon, the B format is the smaller  version book that generally comes out around the same time as an author’s latest release. BTW – ‘Back List’ (what the biz calls an author’s previous titles) is another word I never thought I’d associate with my name!

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Imagine – House for all Seasons on the big screen!

movie dealWhat author doesn’t dream about having their novel made into a movie or an Australian mini-series?

I never considered this a possibility for House for all Seasons. I mean, why would they bother? We all know the ending – right? The ‘twist in the tale’ that people have been raving about is, well, it’s out there… Well before the first scene has been shot the cat is out of the proverbial bag and the horse has well and truly bolted.

It appears that knowing the ending of the story is not the death knell for a Hollywood blockbuster.

Case in point: Ryan Gosling (hubba, hubba) is tipped to play the lead character in the movie adaptation of M. L. Steadman’s The Light Between Oceans. Do we not know how that story ends? What would makes us want to spend money at the box office to see the film when we all know we are going to ball our eyes out as the credits roll?

Is it a Kleenex conspiracy perhaps?

No, it’s because we want to see characters we’ve fallen in love with, cried with, hoped for, laughed with come to life. It’s the characters. We want to fall in love all over again.

I’ve been discounting the movie dream all this time because I figured while Calingarry Crossing is a town keeping big secrets, the secrets in House for all Seasons are out. But if it’s about falling in love with the characters then I reckon my girls would be brilliant on the big screen.

What do you think? If you have a favourite character and an actress in mind to play her, let me know and I’ll pass it on. 😉

Ahhhh! Time to reignite the movie deal dream, perhaps.

Read more at Booktopia: http://blog.booktopia.com.au/2013/09/04/ryan-gosling-to-star-in-adaptation-of-the-light-between-oceans/

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Patrick is dead BUT… Bar Yarns and Beer Nuts lives on!

Beer Yarns and beer NutsPatrick might be dead, but Author Harvest will live on!

I was going to kill the concept off with little regard to my readers at the end of August as it was only meant to be a one year plan. But when word got out … well, the Twitter storm and the social media meltdown that followed said one thing and one thing only …

The country is not ready to lose Patrick AND Author Harvest.

I can’t bring Patrick back, so I hope a reincarnation of Author Harvest will ease your pain.

Starting September 1, Author Harvest will be reborn as Bar Yarns and Beer Nuts.

After a big year of harvesting Aussie authors (you can see a list of 2012/13 authors on my website here), it’s time to take a break from the hard harvesting yakka. And what better way than to drop into the local for a well-earned brew to interview some exciting new and been-around-a-long-time-but-still-got-it authors!!!! Given the Aussie pub is the heart of every small town and the bar is a kind of confessional—at least that’s how it is at Calingarry Crossing pub, which is at the heart of my second novel Simmering Season!—is there a better place to sit and chat?)

With help from the clever Lily Malone (blame her for the chicken and the stapler) Author Harvestprepare for a big year of new and slightly nutty questions in Bar Yarns and Beer Nuts, right here on www.jennjmcleod.com

You can subscribe to posts (top right) so you don’t miss the first chat.

So, yes, #RIPpatrick and #Offspring (shame on you) but Author Harvest lives!