I’m delighted to announce that my first middle grade book, The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky, is available once again in both e-book and paperback form. (Hardback to come.) This time around, I’m also releasing an activity book! More in the video below:
Both books are still in the process of going live across all platforms. For now, you can snag copies at these locations:
The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky (novel) –
The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky (activity book) –
My YA authors’ blog is looking for fresh blood!
YA Outside the Lines has been a godsend for me–a place to interact with fellow authors, as well as the librarians and teachers and reviewers who frequent the blog.
We’re currently looking for some new regular bloggers. We’d love to bring in a few authors who got hit by the pandemic–maybe a pub date got pushed back, etc. But you certainly don’t have to meet that criteria to join. Whether you’re releasing your first book or your fifteenth, we’d love to hear from you.
What’s Required?
For each blogger, it’s fairly low-maintenance. One post a month, on an agreed-upon topic. (We usually toss some ideas out mid-month). Each author has their own take on the topic–which is why it’s so great to have authors from all stages of the writing life. Everyone has a slightly different perspective. We blog about writing and marketing, about reading, about how we find inspiration, etc., etc. In the past, we’ve hosted large giveaways (of our work or virtual visits, etc.) We’ve also hosted book tours.
If you’re a YA author who would be interested (or would simply like to know more), please don’t hesitate to give me a shout: yaoutsidethelines (at) yahoo (dot) com, or hollyschindlerbooks (at) gmail (dot) com.
You can view the blog here: yaoutsidethelines.blogspot.com
Thanks so much–I look forward to hearing from you!
Ruby’s Place is a fictional bar in a fictional small town in Missouri. And for the past four holiday seasons, it has been one of my very favorite places to visit.
The idea came to me several years ago, as my hometown was debating a public ban on smoking. A woman appeared on the news to say her business (a small corner bar) would take a serious hit if the ordinance passed. A hard enough hit to possibly even close her business for good. The owner indicated she knew how to do one thing better than anything else: run that bar.
There was just something about the look of her face in the plate glass window of her bar, something about what she said…I started to dream up my own corner bar, my own caretaker of the establishment. An owner who was so good at running her bar, she was still there, rattling her cocktail shaker and serving up drinks long after her own death. When she was herself a ghost of Christmases past.
My Ruby’s Place has become, over the years, a place where the living in Sullivan, Missouri flock to reconnect with the faces of their past. Where they can sit side-by-side with loves and friends and family members who passed on themselves. After all, I thought, what would be a better gift than one last moment to say everything that had gone unspoken? “I love you” or “I miss you,” “You were so important to me,” or maybe even, “I’m sorry.”
This year, I’ve written the finale to The Ruby’s Place Christmas Collection. It’s a standalone, so even if you haven’t read the previous books, you can jump in. But if you’ve been reading along the past few years, you’ll see previous events from a new angle and understand characters in a new light.
The Gift That Is Ruby’s Place is available at all the regular outlets (links below). But this has been such a hard year for everyone that I’d also just really love to spread a bit of holiday cheer—which is also why I’m sending this particular newsletter to all my subscribers, regardless of the list. Whether we’re taking care of children or senior parents (as I am), dealing with natural disasters, financial disruptions, or virtual school years, our lives all feel a bit upside down. Since we’re all facing such hard financial times, if you’d like a free e-copy, please leave a comment here or contact me at hollyschindlerbooks (at) gmail (dot) com. I’d be happy to share a copy via BookFunnel.
The Gift That Is Ruby’s Place Links:
If you’d like to read the collection from the start, all four books are available as a single download at Amazon.
I’m so excited to get the full collection into the hands of readers. And please, all, do stay safe and healthy.
Holly
Hey, all,
I’m in the midst of a couple of new projects–one being the conclusion to the Ruby’s Place series, and the other being the sequel to Playing Hurt. I’ve so enjoyed reading your reviews and hearing from you directly regarding Playing Hurt–but here’s the cool thing: with a sequel in the works, the end of Playing Hurt is really kind of like intermission in Clint and Chelsea’s story. It’s unfinished. At the midpoint.
So–with that in mind, I’d love to hear from you all about the sequel. What are you most hoping to see? What issues would you like addressed?
Feel free to enter all your thoughts in the form below–I’m open to any and all suggestions! If you can’t access the form below for any reason, you can see it here, or you can hit me up directly.
I discussed the basics of book cover design in a previous post. Really, a cover is no more than a photo with some words on it. As I discussed in that earlier post, you can truly create a professional looking cover for minimal expense (somewhere in the thirty to fifty dollar range) even without using Photoshop.
I now use both Photoshop and InDesign for my covers. I primarily use InDesign for the print cover layout and Photoshop for the e-book. (The e-book cover is also the image that winds up being on the front of the 3-D print cover.) InDesign is really all about text layout, so it can also give more options when designing your title. I sometimes find it helpful to edit the cover image in Photoshop, then bring it to InDesign to add text–you can save InDesign files as JPEGs.
The main benefit of using Photoshop over another photo editor is that it’s so widely-used, you can always find a post or YouTube video in which a graphic designer explains how to accomplish a task you’re stuck on.
Recently, I’ve been using a basic Photoshop editing trick (blend modes) in order to get some interesting results:
This gives you your blank canvas. Here, you’re going to need to size your cover. If you know you want to offer a print version of your book, go ahead and plug in your paperback or hardback’s trim size. If you’re planning to release an e-book only, I might suggest using a 5.5 x 8.5 or 6 x 9 trim size for your cover. Those are used fairly often in the pub world.
As I discussed in that previous cover post, the easiest way to get a professional looking cover is to get a professional (stock) image. You’re going to need to do some resizing to get it to fit your nice 5 x 8 or 6 x 9 canvas. The easiest way I’ve found is simply to open the image as a new file, then choose: Select – All, then Edit – Copy. Now return to your blank canvas and chose: Edit – Paste. Your cover image will now be its own editable layer. Your hi-res image will be quite a bit larger than your canvas, though. Select Edit – Free Transform in order to size your image to fit.
Of course, your image doesn’t have to all be on the canvas. It probably won’t be. You’ll crop to get the portion you want on your cover.
Here’s where I’ve been having some fun lately. It’s also a great way to easily add some mood to your stock image. Add an image or overlay as a new layer (you can accomplish that using the same cut and paste method outlined earlier), then use Photoshop’s blend mode, usually found in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen:
Head for the drop-down menu set to “Normal.”
You’ll find a ton of options for blending the layers together. By playing with the various settings in this drop-down menu, you can instantly make a stock image look vintage, as I did for my cover for Sentimental Journey:
I used a stock photo of old paper as a layer to blend with the image of the cardinal. Not only did it add a vintage look, it also gave the book a warped-paper effect at the bottom of the cover, which I really loved.
You can also use overlays to help create mood. I added three different rainbow overlays using various blend modes for the cover of my forthcoming Playing Hurt:
Yep, that’s three different rainbow overlays: one somewhat blurry rainbow to add color to the entire sky, one round rainbow to add the effect of sun peeking through the trees, and of course, the most obvious rainbow over the title.
Overlays can be purchased affordably as well, through several different digital goods sites. I found my rainbows at The Hungry JPEG.
These additional layers and overlays don’t just offer something fun to look at, either. They can help you convey what the book is about–every bit as much as your main stock image. Sentimental Journey contains several historical (Depression-era) passages, and Playing Hurt is about two broken-down athletes that learn their lives can have light and love again. Hope can spring eternal. I hadn’t planned on a rainbow, but was utterly delighted when I found the overlays. I think they make the cover.
Have you used blend modes? I’d love to see the results! Comment here or find me online: Twitter or Facebook.
The book has been updated and includes several new scenes. To be notified of the official release, subscribe to my Steamy Romance Newsletter.
What’s the old saying? “There’s no good time to have a baby?” I always took that to mean there’s really no perfect time for any life shakeup: new relationship, a move, a new job, going back to school, starting that novel that’s been in your head for ages…
And so, when the opportunity appeared, I took the plunge. Even though I was in the midst of finalizing my Christmas novel. (Enter Gus the Peke puppy.)
And now, to be honest, I am completely obsessed with my new addition, who is a handful and a time consumer and a sleep stealer supreme.
(If you want to get off social media or do a digital detox, get a puppy. You have absolutely no time for scrolling.)
But seriously, though, who wouldn’t be obsessed?
I love this pic. It’s like he’s looking out the door, trying to figure the place out. The world according to Gus.
In honor of National Poetry Month, I’m delighted to announce a hardcover edition of my poetry collection TANGLES officially releases April 2 (but is already available for purchase)!
The book design’s my doing: gray cloth cover with a matte dust jacket. The interior also includes several visual design elements to tie the work together.
But the most important part of a poetry collection is, you know, the collection. The words on the page. TANGLES is not a head-scratcher. These love poems read like song lyrics. They’re accessible and digestible. One of my favorite aspects of the collection is that the poems age as they go along–the speakers in the earliest verses are clearly quite young; by the end of the collection, the speakers are looking at love from a more seasoned, experienced angle.
You can grab a copy of the hardback on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. If you’re a bookseller yourself, the book is also available from Ingram.
Something cool happened at Amazon recently. They changed how they show the Amazon Best Sellers Rank, which I’m sure directly affects quite a few books. It also affects my latest release I REMEMBER YOU.
I REMEMBER YOU is the sequel to last year’s CHRISTMAS AT RUBY’S. Like last year’s installment, I REMEMBER YOU is a non-horror ghost story.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good creepy tale. In fact, my favorite holiday is Halloween. Right now, my porch is covered in undead clowns that hang on chains. Their voices are on timers, and every two minutes or so, they wail and cackle and beg to be taken down.
But if you asked me what my favorite ghost story is, I’d tell you this:
Actually, THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR is one of my all-time favorite movies–not just ghost stories. I think it’s one of the best love stories ever told.
Is it creepy? Fit for Halloween? Ghoulish? Does it make the hairs stand up on your arms?
Nope.
My RUBY’S PLACE series follows the same romantic-ghost sentiment. And yet, when I listed the books as “ghost” stories, the Best Sellers Rank on Amazon looked something like this: #00000 in Fiction – Horror – Ghost Stories.
Which always made me sigh with disappointment.
Until recently, when I noticed my Best Seller Rank for I REMEMBER YOU:
It’s a small thing, I suppose. But I clapped when I saw it. I’m so glad “Ghost Fiction” is no longer merely a “Horror” sub-genre.
How about you? What’s your favorite non-horror ghost story?
Okay, it’s a little more than just a cover reveal. I REMEMBER YOU (my sequel to CHRISTMAS AT RUBY’S) is now available at most retailers. It’s a big part of why I haven’t posted much the past few weeks–while CHRISTMAS AT RUBY’S was a short read, I REMEMBER YOU turned out to be longer (more novel than novella). I’ve been eyeball-deep in copyedits and uploads, making sure I had the book up in plenty of time for the holiday season.
Last year, CHRISTMAS AT RUBY’S introduced readers to a magical bar (actually, it’s not really a “bar” in the sense you usually think, not a dank and dark place of escape, but a classy supper club) in which the “spirits” aren’t just the liquors behind the bar. The “ghosts of Christmases past” are still around, showing up at happy hour, just like they once did to celebrate all their life’s accomplishments.
CHRISTMAS AT RUBY’S also introduced readers to Angela, who is middle-aged and somewhat aimless, in need of an accomplishment of her own. She accidentally finds herself inside Ruby’s Place, empty by that point for decades, and learns what’s still inside…
I don’t think it’s spoiling too much to say Angela did buy the old Ruby’s Place bar. She’s been working the entire year in anticipation of a Christmas Eve opening–and for the magic that she believes will accompany it.
This year, we learn more about Angela’s glamorous Aunt Elizabeth. We’re also introduced to a fairly wide range of characters who all live in Sullivan, Missouri–and who have all had some experience with Ruby’s Place. The central story of this year’s installment focuses on a message that had been scrawled into the sidewalk just outside of Ruby’s when the cement was still wet:
Rob & Geena 4Ever 1987
We meet Rob and Geena during the course of I REMEMBER YOU. We relive their “Jack and Diane”-style ’80s love story. As Christmas grows closer, the potential for a first-love reunion grows increasingly stronger…
Think last year’s CHRISTMAS AT RUBY’S was magical and uplifting and heartwarming? I promise it’s got nothin’ on this year’s I REMEMBER YOU:
To see that special someone once more. Tell them everything you didn’t get to say while they were alive. Right wrongs. Mend disagreements. Or simply relive special moments spent together. Fall in love for the first time all over again.
At Ruby’s Place, where “spirits” are more than the dusty liquors in bottles behind the bar, where voices from the past celebrate yet another Christmas Eve, your ultimate Christmas wish might just be granted.
AVAILABLE NOW AT:
The book will also soon be available through iBooks, available for library purchase through Overdrive and Bibliotheca, and the paperback will have a wide release through Ingram.
