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We are all so thrilled to present these stories to you; as we feel strongly about love and relationships and how important a little happily-ever-after can be in a our fictional lives. Enjoy and thank you for being our fans, our friends and our supporters, with each new boxed set we write and publish!
There are a lot of issues that strike authors throughout their career. Deadlines, an over active imagination, days where a story you aren’t even working on interrupts your WIP or days when not a single person living in your head wants to come out to play. So, from writer’s block to multiple personalities – we all have issues.
Recently, I have developed a new tick, of sorts. It is a regular part of my job to create people, to decide what they look like, their mannerisms and silly quirks, and then I name them. Whatever I want to call them, so shall it be!
This is Thad, he is a smooth talker and a loyal friend. He has a crooked smile and what some might call a devilish grin; all held together with a heart of pure gold and a wicked sense of humor! I named him. I couldn’t imagine him with any other name.
I adore him! I better get back on topic, he is distracting to say the least. 🙂
Back to my new-found problem, a lot of times when I see someone I get an idea of what their name “should” be, you know if I was writing their life. Unfortunately, this is not always the name they actually have. When I am introduced to said person, I am now having a hard time remembering their actual name and instead want to call them the name I feel suits them best. Like the kid on my son’s baseball team who looks like a Jake to me, his name is Logan. Or the high school basketball who I call Todd, even though his name is Josh. It has gotten so bad that my son now knows who I am referring to when I use their name improperly – because it happens so often. LOL
I am not saying that I prefer my imaginary world to the real world; no, no, I would never say that. 🙂 It just seems to bleed over more and more the longer I do this and the more books and characters I have under my belt!
On the bright side it makes life interesting for me and new people I meet and gives my son one more reason to shake his head at his crazy MOM! ❤ Good thing he loves me and has a good memory for names! 😛
Speaking of characters, Thad and the rest of his wedding crew are all on sale this month of March. Each book in the One Day at a Wedding Series is 99 cents each or you can buy the entire collection for $3.50, which also includes a BONUS STORY, When Cassie Met Thad. It’s a peek into the early days of Cassie (Book One) and Thad’s (Book Three) friendship and why their loyalty and love is so unshakeable and PLATONIC! LOL
$3.50 eBook on Amazon, Barnes&Noble,Kobo and iTunes Paperback $9.26-11.99 (Prices Vary at retailer discretion)
Signed copies are also available on my website, www.kellyraebooks.com in the shop! :O)
Thanks for stopping by today and at the very least I hope you get a good chuckle at my expense or maybe even smile knowing you do the same thing. If you have a funny quirk that you have gotten due to your work or life, tell us about it and we can all compare notes. 🙂
Wishing you well, in Fiction and real life!
Kindly,
Kelly Rae
Triton Playing Sax
Being a mom is my most important job. Everything else and everyone else, comes second. I figure in about a decade I will have a life of my own, LOL! 🙂
Some days this clear-cut statement is harder to navigate that others – I need to work to take care of my child, but I also need to be there for him. And so the balancing act goes like this:
Last Friday I was scheduled to host a Facebook event on Hooks & Books page. Facebook events are fun and a great opportunity to meet and visit with current and new readers. Before I was doing my own, they seemed pretty easy and not all that time-consuming, beyond the 1-2 hours an author was chatting with the group.
The reality is that they take prep work; you have to write the posts ahead of time (well I do), so they are easily accessed and posted in a timely manner to the page. You have to set aside those 1-2 hours with little interruption so you don’t miss anything and/or leave a comment by a valued reader without a like or comment. You have to arrange prizes, get links set up, look for memes or photos of celebs to chat about, some of us make our own memes which takes time, as well. Suddenly, that 1-2 hours is now 3-4 hours where you aren’t writing your new book. So, there is a commitment made. All marketing is time-consuming – writing isn’t just about writing these days. Sad, but true! 🙂
So, back to my event last week. When I set up the event, my calendar was clear. My son’s basketball practice was cancelled, for its usual Friday slot, and so I scheduled the event to discuss my One Day at a Wedding Series. Then my son was asked to move up to the Pep Band and play with the high school kids (along w/ a couple of 8th graders). My son, Triton, is only in 7th grader and picked up an instrument for the first time just this past September. So, it’s a BIG DEAL that he was asked to play in the Pep Band as a first year student. I am very proud of him. The problem…their first game was Friday the 30th.
What is a parent to do? There is some liberation in the fact that I am a writer and essentially I work for myself. I make my schedule. But, I also want to be a succesful writer, one who can be counted on to meet deadlines, show up at events and be available to readers. My first thought was okay; I will set up posts, schedule them, and just do the event from my mobile phone, at the basketball game, while I watch the band. I have actually had to do Facebook events from my iPhone before, due to rescheduled basketball practices or games. So, it’s possible. But my level of engagement is certainly not as high.
Then the mom in me kicked in and said, how great would it to be feeling really special and look up in the stands to make sure your mom is watching you and instead see her looking down at her phone? Not so great. Here is the dilemma for working parents, focus on work to take of the material needs (inc. basic food/water/shelter) AND focus on their emotional well-being. It a choice all parents make, all the time.
In this case I opted to reschedule my event, last-minute, which I felt bad for doing. In an effort to make amends I did offer a giveaway to the site and those that were interested. That giveaway went really well and I was happy to see such a nice response and interest in getting a free copy of my series One Day at a Wedding. Even better was the look of pride on my son’s face, as I watched him play in the high school band. Sitting there in the stands, watching him was the only place I wanted to be. People in our small town were all telling me how great he was and I got to video the band to send home to our family in California. It was a great night and my son was beaming. I sure would have hated to miss that.
It’s a balancing act and the reality is that sometimes we are going to have to pick work over time spent with the kids. It’s just the way the world works, now that we can all access work from home, at night and on the weekends. All parents have to make tough choices, no matter what your line of work is, we face the balance. I am glad that last friday I was able to pick watching a high school band. My kid was awesome.
**GIVEAWAY**
For a chance to win a copy of the first book in my One Day at a Wedding Series, Once Upon a Wedding, please leave a comment below about your most recent balancing act and a winner will be randomly chosen to win an eBook copy.
For more information about my books please take a moment to check out my website http://www.kellyraebooks.com and look me up on Facebook for news about this series, the paperback coming out soon and future work, http://www.facebook.com/kellyraebooks
Thank you for stopping by today, we always appreciate our readers who visit. Make sure to comment and good luck on winning a free eBook from us today. See you on my next post.
Wishing you well, in fiction and real life
Kelly Rae
It’s a new year and I have been excited for its arrival for a while now. There were a lot of fantastic things that came about in 2014. Including, the purchase of my One Day at a Wedding Series to Forever Red Publishing. The first two books, have been very well received and the third will be out on the 9th of this month. The best it yet to come, starting with the release of Book 3, Anything but a Wedding, starring Thad Carlmont!
Anything but a Wedding: Pre Order Now / Goes Love 01.09.15 (That should be LIVE – but I sort of preferred the typo, LOL!)
Thad never expected to find anyone who meant more to him than his best friend, Cassie. She was the one woman he loved enough not to sleep with. He was a player, but an honest one. Unfortunately, not everyone felt that balanced out his love ’em and leave ’em ways. He just didn’t see a need to settle down — yet. Then, he met Brianna, who made him think about the future — a future with her — which was a new experience for Thad. Brianna is also a new kind of woman and convincing her that they have a future might just be the challenge of his life.
Thad is one of my favorite creations. He is everything we all hope for in a man, including his faults. Thad is kind and generous, he cares about his friends and is all around sexy. Sexy from his shoes to his well styled hair. As you get to know him you will find that who he is, how he treats people, and the way he loves are the real reasons to adore him.
Granted the sexy smile and haunting eyes don’t hurt! 🙂
It would be fair to say that I fell a little in love with him, as I wrote this story. Then a little more when I wrote Brianna’s story in, Not One More Wedding (also out this month). Luckily for me, my publisher has asked for another Thad based book, which will be out around Valentine’s Day! I was happy to write more about him and fall in love again, more, still – whatever the case may be. 😛
This year, I also sold 2 additional full length novels to be published, in 2015. That’s five books, signed and to be delivered THIS YEAR. Oh, and of course the women at The Authors of Main Street are working on another project for our readers this year, maybe two. Needless to say, I have a lot to look forward to this year. A lot of writing, promoting, and falling in love. What else can a romance writer ask for in a New Year? Not much!
Here are some teasers from the One Day at a Wedding Series, just for fun! If you want more info on the series or my other books, please visit my Author Page on Amazon, for details. You can also click the Yellow Favorite button and sign up for notices about new releases!
Now that I have shared what I have to look forward to this year, tell me what you have in store. What are your goals or resolutions, personal or professional – we like them all.
Thanks for stopping by today to spend some time with us, we always appreciate the time you take to read our blog.
Wishing you well, in fiction and real life!
Kelly Rae
Christmas Photo 2013
The Holiday Season is upon us! 🙂
Once again, December has snuck up on me. It happens every year and yet, I think we all say it anyway, don’t we… Where did this year go?
This year may have gone by quickly, but it was well spent. From big changes, like my little sister going off to college, which actually brought her closer to me location wise. To signing with a new publisher, for 6 books, between this December and next. To smaller, in the moment things, like spending a great summer with King Triton – visiting family and basking in the sun. There were a lot of little things that made my year, most of them involved being able to spend more time with my kiddo and writing a ton. It has been a good year, so it seems only right to end it in gratitude and joy!
Every year, Triton and I have a tradition that involves new PJ’s on Christmas Eve, hot cocoa, and
hopefully a sweet treat. This was us, last year in all of our PJ glory. This year the tree will be different, the PJ’s will be different, but the smiles will be just as big and bright. We are adding a new tradition this year, by changing our gifting policy. With only a few exceptions, we are gifting the “grown-ups” in our life with honory donations, made in their names, to a charity we feel represents who they are.
For example, we have a large military component to the people we call family and friends; so those who fall into that category, will more than likely receive a donation made in their honor to The Wounded Warriors Project. Our family members who love animals and would adopt them all if they had the room, will receive a donation to ASPCA. I thought it would be a great lesson for Triton and maybe a few of the adults we know, as well. HA 😉
I let Triton choose the charities, although he has actually proposed too many of them. LOL! Which leads me to believe he is learning the lesson, that giving is the best part of the season. It’s always been my favorite part, probably because getting gifts makes me uncomfortable at times. But gift giving, makes me joyous and fills my heart.
There are many charities to choose from, and I hope that this year you will consider giving that hard to buy for person, a goat or a bee hive from OXFAM. A small village will use this to feed themselves and/or for an income. You would be amazed what you can gift, so many cool things. It has been fun learning about all of these charities and discussing the act of giving with my son, I am hoping to continue this new tradition next year.
Available for Pre-Order NOW!
In other news, on 12.12.14, I will have a new release out with Forever Red Publishing. It is available now for Pre-Order on amazon, click here to order —> Once Upon a Wedding. This will be first of 4 novellas in my One Day at a Wedding Series, with a new book releasing every 2-3 weeks, until the end of January. I am very excited about this series and hope that everyone enjoys them, as much as I enjoyed writing them.
In the meantime the Authors of Main Street have a Christmas Boxed Set currently available for sale.
Click on a cover below and check us out! 🙂
Click for Amazon Link
Click for Barnes & Noble Link
Thank you for stopping by today to visit us here. I/We would love to hear about your traditions at this time of the year, please feel free to share them in the comments.
Wishing you well, in fiction and real life!
Kelly Rae
This Tuesday, November 11th, we will be relaunching our Christmas on Main Street boxed set. This year we have added a new book, by Joan Reeves, an exceptional member of our group who was not able to participate last year. This means 12 heartwarming love stories, for a fraction of the cost, of getting them separately. It’s a real Christmas Deal! One that you guy gift OR even better, a special gift you buy yourself. 🙂
NOBODY’S CINDERELLA by Joan Reeves:
Darcy Benton is the oldest cliché in the world–a woman in love with her boss. Other than
that, she’s no-nonsense, practical, mature, and sober. She’s just the kind of woman Chase
Whitaker wants as head of accounting for his company. She’s definitely not the kind of woman he wants in his bed.
Enter Darcy’s meddling, matchmaking best friend who has a plan to transform Darcy into a hottie designed to attract Chase’s interest. All it takes? A couple of little lies.
And a wish on a Christmas star. Darcy should have heeded that old advice: be careful what you wish for
To read more, check out Christmas on Main Street, our buy links will be up on the blog, the right hand side,this Monday 11/11/14.
Christmas on Main Street 2.0
We are trying something new in the marketing world with this new book, it’s called ThuderClap. We would really appreciate your support. It’s easy and should be fun to see how far our reach can go with the help or readers, friends and such. Click on the link below and you will be able to participate. Thunderclap is using the power of social media to extend the reach of all sorts of campaigns, whether they be non-profit, social awareness of even book releases like ours on Monday. Your support on Facebook and Twitter would be greatly appreciated!
https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/18561-christmas-on-main-street-11-11
Make you sure you also take advantage of our companion booklet, filled with design ideas, from the Authors of Main Street. It’s our gift, a thank you to every reader, reviewer and supporter of us individually and as a group. We could not do it without you!!
The link for this FREE gift to you will also available to you on our website on Monday. We hope you and your family enjoy our ideas and if you try them and we would love to see what you have created, please post photos on our Facebook page so we can ooh-and-aw, over your work!
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorsofMainStreet
Christmas is Coming!
Thank you for visiting our blog today, in the spirit of Christmas, we would love to hear what decorations or prep work you are getting ready to do, for the holiday season. Do you decorate for fall and Thanksgiving first, or jump right into the red and green of the Christmas Season? Whatever your holiday traditions are, we are so grateful that you spend a little time with us here on the blog and in our books!
Wishing you well, in fiction and real life!
Kelly Rae 🙂
In the fall of 2004 a small group of ladies from my work, and my sister, decided to take a sixty mile journey around San Diego. We had all been affected, in one way or another by cancer, not all of us breast cancer, but we knew someone, who had cancer, who had survived or not, from the disease.
San Diego – Susan G. Komen Walk
Due to the weather in San Diego, it’s usually one of the later walks that the foundation runs, usually in October or November. We started to “train” mid summer, doing our best to be prepared for walking sixty miles, in three days. Each day is a 15-22 mile walking day. It’s a lot!! We started out slow, walking five miles after work and then more on the weekends. We would change-up the course, try to enjoy the training, with breakfast after or the occasional nose piercing during one eighteen mile Saturday adventure (long story :P). We had a blast, you have a lot of time to talk when you are spending so much time together walking around your city. It turned into a strong bonding experience for us all.
Tent City for 3-day Walk
The first day requires a pretty early wake up call, the excitement boils over – mixed with a little nerves. We had a hearty pancake breakfast, prepared by lovely supporters and then with backpacks on us we headed to the start.
It was a pretty amazing experience, there were survivors all around us, family and friends with photos of people they had lost. Which on some occasions made the walk a very emotional experience. It might not have helped that by mid-day, on day two, everyone starts to get pretty tired. My group, while we had walked 18-20 miles at a time – we had not walked a full sixty in a row. It’s tough on the feet, the back, the knees, okay every thing starts to hurt! As lovely as the tents they set up for us, at the night were, it’s still grass and earth under your body all night. By day three some of the group had blisters, one of us had a sprained ankle, but we were all happy to be a part of the experience nonetheless.
The last day, when you wake up there is a sense or relief that you are almost done, a sense of pride that you are about to complete a pretty cool challenge, and just enough motivation to get you up the last hill and to the finish line and celebration.
Finish Line/Celebration
Once you make it to the end of the last day, and see the sea of pink and white there is such a feeling of accomplishment. There were so many moving speeches that last day, people who were thankful for the support of the foundation, for the walkers and a general sense of hope that every year we would lose less women (and men), from breast cancer.
From an early age I started to lose very important people in my life to cancer, various versions of the same deadly disease. This walk felt like a nice way to celebrate their lives, their importance to me, and to be a part of an experience that was meaningful with 10,000 or so strangers. 🙂
This month there will be a lot of PINK things around, supporting Breast Cancer Awareness. We should all make sure that the women in our lives are taking steps to check for all cancers, the same for the men in our lives and the cancers that are higher in their life. We don’t all have to walk sixty miles or send in money to a cause, sometimes the simple act of reminding someone close to you to make that mammogram appointment, or even just not to skip their check-up this year could be the difference between detecting and beating cancer or not.
Thanks for stopping by today, if you have a cancer foundation that you support or a story you want to share, please feel free to do so. Maybe someone will see the cause you care about and think, I care about that too and send in a donation.
Wishing all the best in life and fiction,
Kelly Rae
In loving memory of my beautiful grandmother Kentucky Potter
Image via clip art
This summer, the ladies here at the Authors of Main Street put out a new collection of novellas, focused on weddings. The Weddings on Main Street collection was well received, with more than twenty 4/5 Star Reviews, in just over a months time. I am just thrilled to be a part of such a wonderful group of writers, and more importantly, people. Working with them this summer on this, and future projects, has been a highlight. It also led to new opportunities for me.
Thanks to the wedding boxed set, I created a wedding series that I planned to do on my own, outside of the set. A publisher took interest, and offered me a contract. A publisher with whom I am very excited to be a part of their contemporary romance line. This means I am officially a hybrid, which I admit sounds a lot less cool than being an Indie. But it means an opportunity for me to possibly reach new readers, with the assistance of a larger budget and more resources, in terms of marketing. I was ecstatic with this change in circumstance, despite it making me sound like a really slow, hipster vehicle. 😛
The week I signed the contract I already had the first two books, in the series, written and was working on number three. It seemed like a piece of cake, a good old walk in the park, until I sat down at my laptop. Suddenly, I was working on someone else’s deadline, making use of someone else’s resources, and someone else would be counting on me to help make a name of their brand. YIKES!!
Image via clip art
It took me almost a week to write more than a sentence or two. It was driving me crazy. I certainly spent some time worried that I was going to ruin this opportunity. It was a case of the deadly deadlines. I am used to working on my schedule and suddenly, I couldn’t write at just any pace and I was accountable to someone other than myself. I had signed a contract for heaven’s sake.
At some point, I just had to get over it and work. Writing is what I do, what I love, and I would do it whether I was publishing or not. So, big girl panties on, I sat down and just did it! It had to be done and the story was all in my head, I just needed to get over the jitters.
Some days words flow like crazy and I wish I didn’t have to stop for real life things, such as cooking dinner or picking my son up from school. Other days, I keep an eye on the clock, willing it to be the end of my scheduled work day. It’s a process and I am so excited to finish this series, work with this new publishing house, and reach out to a larger fan base with my book babies. It’s been a great summer professionally. In between my deadly deadline issues, the exciting release of Weddings on Main Street, and getting some work done on other projects, I did find time to enjoy summer vacation with the kid.
On this blog we love authors and supporting them in this industry. So, I shared my deadline story now we want to hear about your next deadline or most recent one. We want to hear about your new release, if you have one. I don’t like the term “pimp your book”, so let’s call this a “Book Shout Out”. Let our readers know what you are up to and where to find you on social media, so they can track you down. Ready, set, gooooooooo!
*fyi: the readers here are mainly sweet to mild heat, so we ask you keep that in mind w/ any excerpts, descriptions or images you post about your stories. Thank you in advance!
Image via Flickr Creative Commons
Thanks for stopping by today, wish me luck readers and writers on this new hybrid adventure. I feel blessed to be able to do both and I cannot wait for the next installment of The Authors of Main Street, which you can expect out in early 2015! We are plotting and planning and scheming away. 🙂
Wishing you well in fiction and real life,
Kelly Rae
I recently ran across a video discussing the origination of the soul mate and what it means to folks today, (Should We Stop Believing in Soul Mates).
Here is a break down of one possible origination:
Zeus via Clip Art
<—— Zeus here, got angry at the humans; as he tended to do in his day, and for this he split humans in half. In mythology there was talk of humans having two heads, four limbs, two of everything, but for the soul.
When Zeus split humans he separated their souls and declared that they wouldn’t be whole again, unless their souls could find each once more. (talk about a Greek tragedy, but you’ve gotta love his flair for the dramatic)
He sure seems like a cranky guy, doesn’t he?
Fast forward to the modern world and studies of relationships based on how people view the concept of a soul mate.
Researchers have found, according to this same video, that those who believe in the idea that there is only one person, another half to their soul, experience more passionate relationships, but cannot sustain them as often.
On the flip side, couples who believe in finding a partner, someone to go on a journey in life with tend to weather storms better.
Soul mates don’t handle the ups and downs as well, because when things become a struggle they start to worry that maybe they didn’t find their soul mate, maybe they made a mistake and their soul mate is still out there – meaning they cut and run, looking for something, someone, better.
All the while, those with a more realistic approach take the bumps and bruises of love, life and relationships, in stride, knowing they can work it out and that their might not be greener grass next door.
I know for me, when I was young and in love, married to my elementary school sweetheart, I thought for sure we were soul mates. How could I not? I watched and read fairy tales, like anyone else. Plus, it was nice to think I had managed to find the other half of my soul. It’s a wonderful and inspiring idea.
One divorce later and I had to revamp my thoughts. To be honest, I’m still uncertain how I feel about a romantic soul mate. I lean more towards the idea that if I have one, it could very well be a very dear friend. Otherwise, I have to admit that I was wrong about the first man or decide you only get one shot and now I have to wait until my next Zeusey life to find my other half a soul again.
It sure seems to me the better bandwagon to hop on, is the one with a greater success rate – partnership through a journey.
Tell us what you think, is there only one soul mate for every person? Do you think there can be more than one? Maybe a romantic one and a non-romantic one or do you refute the entire concept and think you just have to find someone you can sail through the good and bad times with, a friend and a lover combined?
Thanks for stopping by and please check out our boxed set, filled with stories of love, hope and happiness. Let’s hope all our couples on Main Street can stand anything that Zeus throws their way! 🙂
Wishing you well in fiction and in life,
Kelly Rae
San Diego, CA
Summer is here and I couldn’t be happier, days of sun and swimming lay ahead, for the kid and me. Like most, we have plans to travel a bit. Our first trip will be in full swing, when this post goes live, on Independence Day! We will be in gorgeous Southern California, with family watching fireworks near the beach. Hooray!
As we travel, by car, from Oregon down into California, we will be making stops from the top to the bottom of the state. Along the way we get to attend a 1-year-old birthday party, see for the first time a new baby to our family, visit every grandparent my son has (there are a lot of them), go swimming in pools and oceans, eat good food and catch-up with our loved ones. I wonder if it will all be exhausting as it sounds? Ha!
Golden Gate
Unfortunately for me, this will be somewhat a working vacation. Oh the dangers of being your own boss – you forget to schedule REAL vacation time! 🙂 The good news is that I have so much going on, in my writing life, that I will need to work a little each day in order to stay on track. I have promoting and fine tuning to do on my novella series, One Day at a Wedding. The first of which was released with the wonderful ladies here on Main Street in our newest boxed set Weddings on Main Street.
I would love to hear about your vacation plans for the summer or just in general what kind of vacation style do you enjoy? Our first trip is all about visiting family and friends. Check out our poll and share your faves with us, feel free to comment as well and start a discussion about your best vacation ever!
I would also like to take a moment, this being Independence Day, to wish everyone a happy holiday, may you spend it with those you love and cherish most. USA! USA! USA!
Wishing you only the best in fiction and in life.
Kelly Rae
All of the lovely stories below are available in the newest Authors on Main Street Boxed set! We are all so proud of the entire set and hope that those of you who have read it would consider writing a review and letting others know what you thought of our collection of weddings!
Authors of Main Street 