The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts Update

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Kourtney

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It’s time to share the official back cover summary for The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts:

She tried to ignore them. But some things won’t be ignored.

Kat Preston doesn’t believe in ghosts. Not because she’s never seen one, but because she saw one too many. Refusing to believe is the only way to protect herself from the ghost that tried to steal her life. Kat’s disbelief keeps her safe until her junior year at McTernan Academy, when a research project for an eccentric teacher takes her to a tiny, private island off the coast of Connecticut.

The site of a grisly mystery, the Isle of Acacia is no place for a girl who ignores ghosts, but the ghosts leave Kat little choice. Accompanied by her research partner, Evan Kingsley, she investigates the disappearance of Cassie Mallory and Sebastian Radcliffe on their wedding night in 1886. Evan’s scientific approach to everything leaves Kat on her own to confront a host of unbelievables: ancestral curses, powerful spells, and her strange connection to the ghosts that haunt Castle Creighton.

But that’s all before Kat’s yanked through a magic portal and Evan follows her. When the two of them awaken 129 years in the past with their souls trapped inside the bodies of two wedding guests, everything changes. Together, Kat and Evan race to stop the wedding-night murders and find a way back to their own time—and their own bodies—before their souls slip away forever.

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The cover reveal is coming up on April 6th! Several awesome blog buddies are also going to share the cover on their blogs. We’ll be kicking off a Rafflecopter ARC giveaway that day too!

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If you’d like to add The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts to your Goodreads To-Read list, you can find it here:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24991337-the-girl-who-ignored-ghosts

Posted in Giveaways, new release, Promotion, publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

The Pleasure of Reading

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Kourtney

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It’s been a while since I got lost in the pages of a book. Giving myself over to the pleasure of the story and enjoying it.

My brain is hardwired to analyze story. To note the pacing, look for the hook, examine the bond with the main character, to study the story arc, and catalog the character development.

Even when I watch tv shows or movies, my mind is focused on the story structure. I can tell you exactly why a story works or it doesn’t.

But that all fell away as I read Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner. The beauty of her writing sucked me in. I fell deeper and deeper into the story until I was completely immersed in it. Enjoying every moment with Liza.

And I realized this is why people read. For the pleasure of getting lost in something so much bigger than themselves. To care and to be carried away with the characters on a journey unlike any I’ve ever taken.

I missed this. Though a lifelong reader, I hadn’t taken off my writer hat in years. And it took this book to remind me that it’s important to be a reader. To stay 100% in the story and not think about why it’s working. To read solely for the pleasure of reading.

I am so thrilled that I got to meet Janni at the Tucson Festival of Books last year. She signed my copy, “For Kourtney, Listen to your magic!”

I don’t think she had any idea how important that message would be to me as I struggle through revisions of Six Train’s sequel. How personal it felt in that moment when I finished her book and the magic of it still hummed in my veins.

This is a book that I will treasure.

Because a good book makes you smile, but a great book energizes your soul.

And this is a great book!

Posted in Book Review, Personal | Tagged , , , , , , | 24 Comments

The Beauty of Choice

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Kourtney

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A few years back, I got to know this amazing blogger, August McLaughlin. She started out as a blogging mentor and quickly became a friend. I am honored to be participating in her Beauty of a Woman Blogfest for the third year in a row!

For me, the beauty of a woman isn’t in trying to meet some ideal size or lose a certain number of inches.

It’s about making choices. Deciding who you want to be and becoming that person.

Making decisions that are right for you.

I’ve always done well in this realm in the academic and the career, but never with my body.  Or at least only in spurts.

The last few years, I felt like I was stuck inside this body that I had no control over it.

I accepted that this was just how it was and I gave up.

Then I saw someone older, who was struggling with far worse chronic conditions, and he looked and felt amazing.

And that’s when I realized I had choices.

Difficult decisions I could make.

The ability to change course was mine, if I took it.

So I did.

For me, it’s been about focusing on becoming stronger. Exercising more. Slowly and gradually increasing my workout time each week.

 Choosing to make better decisions about where to allocate my time & choosing to get up from my desk and move more.

Little choices that add up.

With food, it’s been about speaking up and speaking out. At restaurants, I focus on meals that are better for my eating regimen. I ask them to make substitutions or not put things on my plate.

I take charge of my eating.

I say no to dessert.

Then I go home and have some fruit.

It’s a daily struggle to make good, healthy decisions, but it makes me feel stronger and healthier.

Most importantly, I am an active participant in my health. I make choices. I don’t sit on the sidelines and accept things as they are. I change things.

If something doesn’t work for me, I speak up.

And to me that’s what makes a woman beautiful.

When she takes charge of her life and charts her own course.

Whether it be with her health, her career, her social life, or her family.

A beautiful woman knows how to set boundaries, embraces no, and learns when to say yes to the opportunities in her life.

To see more inspiring posts, please visit: Beauty of a Woman Blogfest 2015

Posted in beauty, Personal | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 48 Comments

The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts Finds a New Publisher!

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Kourtney

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So after everything that happened last year, The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts has a new publisher! It’s a small press called Beckett Publishing Group.

They will be publishing The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts in August 2015!

It’s the first manuscript I ever wrote and I started working on it back in 2006. After years or workshopping and revising, it sold to Harlequin in 2013. But in 2014, Harlequin shut down the imprint that was publishing my novel and the rights reverted back to me.

At the time, it felt like my entire world was imploding. Luckily, I have some amazing author buddies and blog friends who reached out and and supported me. My parents and my friends were also there to cheer me up. They all kept me going when giving up would have been the logical thing to do.

And now, I have a new publisher! Sometimes you just have to stay in the game no matter how unlikely it feels that things will turn around. Because that’s usually five minutes before they do.

I’ve been hard at work on line edits. Despite the editorial revisions I already completed with Harlequin, we had massive work to do to get the book through line edits. I think I’ve read this book more than any other book I’ve worked on. We’re wrapping up the copyediting phase now.

Stay tuned for updates on the back cover summary and the cover reveal. I’ll also have a limited number of ARCs to give away in May!

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In Six Train news, The Chocolate Expo went well! I sold 21 books in 4 hours and had two online purchases from the event. Met a ton of cool people and handed out lots of bookmarks so it was a very successful event!

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In other news, we have been bombarded with snow in CT. The goldens still want to play ball. The new game is find the ball in the snow pile. We have piles that are easily 5-6 feet high. And this week we are bracing for major snow again. Because of the chronic below freezing temperatures, our driveway is a skating rink.

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I signed up for the NESCBWI Spring Conference. Super excited to spend a weekend with children’s book authors. The panels look amazing!

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I am also in my last week of this teaching term. I taught basic keyboarding and business writing skills. It’s been challenging and exciting. I’ve gotten invested in my students and I really want to see them do well. Class prep and correcting tests and quizzes has taken up a good chunk of time, but hopefully I’ll get some of the same courses next term so that I’ll have the materials ready to go.

Posted in author appearance, Conferences, Personal, publishing, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 46 Comments

Five Years of Blogging

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Kourtney

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Okay not a 5th blog birthday cake, but you get the gist.

February is my fifth February blogging and my blog’s fifth birthday.

So I thought we’d look back at a post from each February of my blog’s life.

 February 2010:

Character Birthing

My first ever post to this blog–before I knew how to insert links or images. I was living on Wall Street and writing part time back then.

 February 2011:

I <3 Venezia

 I was on a daily posting schedule during my trip to Italy. Pictures in posts weren’t happening because I didn’t have the ability to move them from my camera to my iPad.

February 2012:

The Things My Grandma Says

I’ve shifted to a five day a week blogging schedule. Hanging out lots with Grandma H and capturing the hilarity that is her.

February 2013:

Just Breathe

I’m posting a few times a week now. Gearing up for my debut novel’s launch.

February 2014:

Last Week’s Events and Such

Posting a couple times a week and I’m doing author events–talks, workshops and signings!

February 2015:

Weekly posts now.  And that would be today’s post. 🙂

Posted in blogging, Personal, Ramblings | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 44 Comments

Chocolate Expo, Sesquicentennial Planning, and an Killer Nashville Profile

Posted on January 26, 2015 by Kourtney

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On February 1st, the Chocolate Lovers’ Spring Expo is happening. It’s a really amazing event to benefit Easter Seals. For $25, you can walk around and sample chocolates and desserts from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. There will also be vendors selling Valentine’s Day related gifts.

I will be there selling signed copies of my award-winning novel, The Six Train to Wisconsin, and original photography from the novel. Because chocolate, wine and a great love story go so well together on Valentine’s Day.

It’s at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at 1284 Strongtown Road in Southbury, CT.

Hope to make some sales and support a great cause.

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http://chasecollegiate.smugmug.com/Campus-Pictures/

Campus photos courtesy of: http://chasecollegiate.smugmug.com/Campus-Pictures/

I attended a planning meeting for my prep school’s sesquicentennial. It’s been a part of the Waterbury, CT landscape for 150 years. The school’s name has changed from St. Margaret’s School and McTernan School (separate schools for girls and boys) to St. Margaret’s McTernan (which I attended) and is now Chase Collegiate.

The alumni at the meeting were amazing to meet. All really focused on making this event an unforgettable celebration. I ended up sitting with alumni from the McTernan School and St. Margaret’s School. They immediately made me feel at home.

Since I moved back to CT, I’ve gone back to campus a few times for events and every time I’m there, I almost expect to run into the ghost of me at 17. It’s been 20 years since I graduated and I can’t believe how wonderful it is to go back and see that some things stand the test of time.

I’ve been helping out with the alumni author program at the school and plan to help out with the sesquicentennial too.

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Killer Nashville is my all time favorite conference and the only one I have attended twice and plan to be at again this year. It’s a mystery/thriller/suspense regional conference that is held from October 29-November 1 in Nashville.

It has everything you could possibly want in a conference–pitch sessions, manuscript & query critiques, writing workshops, forensic workshops, awards, a murder scene for you to hone your detecting skills, and the friendliest people ever.

They reached out to me to do an attending author profile for their newsletter!  Here’s a screenshot of the profile!

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Posted in author appearance, Conferences, Personal, Promotion | Tagged , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

Awesome Reads From 2014

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Kourtney

It’s been a while since I’ve posted book reviews. Here are two great reads from the fall of 2014.

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One of the best cross-genre books I’ve ever read! Mr. Holm melds noir and urban fantasy perfectly. I love how Samuel’s backstory unfolds in flashbacks to his human life in the 1940s. It had the effect of creating two different mysteries–one unfolding in the past and one in the present. Mr. Holm did an amazing job weaving them together and bringing everything to a climatic and satisfying ending.

Samuel was an awesome protagonist and I will definitely be checking out the next book in the series. This is a unique take on the heaven vs. hell concept. The world building was intriguing and kept me wanting to know more the entire book. Mr. Holm has an engaging, fast paced writing style that ensnares the reader.

He does an amazing job capturing the sights and smells of the city from Chinatown to Grand Central. Terrific work making the setting a living, breathing part of the story.

The non stop action and constant peril kept me turning pages into the wee hours of the morning. Great work, Mr. Holm!

You can get the ebook, paperback, or audiobook here: http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Harvest-Collector-Chris-Holm/dp/085766218X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421593133&sr=8-1&keywords=chris+holm

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In If Catfish Had Nine Lives, Paige Shelton bring us back to the charmingly western town of Broken Rope, Missouri, for a Cowboy Poetry extravaganza. Yes, cowboys singing and reciting poetry by the campfire. And taking outdoor cooking lessons from Grams and Betts. What an adventure!

The campgrounds were the perfect place for mystery and mayhem. I love watching Betts, Grams, and Jake navigate between the ghosts and humans. Grams is so quick on her feet. The cooking aspect was truly original and one I wasn’t familiar with–outdoor dutch oven cooking. Fascinating stuff. The murder mystery was first rate. I had some ideas about who it could be, but I didn’t know for sure up until the very end.

I love the evolving ghost subplot too. The rules of their world aren’t as fixed as we thought and Jerome is back again to save Betts. Shelton does an amazing job weaving the ghost mystery from the past with the present day murder of an actor at a re-enactment. Definite jaw dropping moment was the reveal of who the ghost Joe really was. Keep ’em coming Ms. Shelton!

You can get the ebook, audiobook, and paperback here: http://www.amazon.com/Catfish-Country-Cooking-School-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00I3N5QKU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401316956&sr=8-1&keywords=if+catfish+had+nine+lives

Posted in Book Review | Tagged , , , , , | 34 Comments

Thanks for Making 2014 Bloggarific!

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Kourtney

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 28,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 10 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Thanks for making 2014 a great year for my blog! Big thank you to all my commenters and readers. You are a wonderful group of people and I’m so lucky to have you.

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 26 Comments

The Whirlwind of December

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Kourtney

 

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December was my busiest month this year!

I had two holiday craft fairs on December 6th and December 13th. That means I’m up at 6:30 a.m. getting ready, packing the car, heading to the venue, setting up, and then actively selling the book for 6 hours with Mom and then packing everything up again.

It’s a long day for both of us. I’m very lucky that she helps me out.

St. Pius X Holiday Craft Fair on Dec 6th:

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Friends of the Wolcott Public Library Holiday Craft Fair on December 13th:

 

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I also had some holiday orders for signed copies. In December, I sold a total of 47 books! I’ve also broken the 1000 copies sold milestone, which is something only 10-15% of debut authors (traditionally or indie published) accomplish.

I finished my first draft of Six Train’s sequel on December 12th. It’s 82,000 words or 445 pages. I planned to take the rest of December off since I’d been drafting non-stop for 4 months, but things had started to happen with The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts.

Harlequin signed off on the termination agreement for The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts. Then they sent me the line edited version. ICM agreed to terminate me as a client too.

So I spent December 14-Dec 28th doing line edits. I’ve never seen so much red on a page before. Most painful editing process ever. But the book is far better for it!

My reward was that I spent the New Year’s holiday in NYC with my best friend, Brett. We hung out, watched movies, galavanted around the city, and caught up on each other’s lives. On NYE, we went to see Erasure in concert at Terminal 5. It was amazing!

Andy Bell is in fantastic shape. He moved like a leprechaun all over that stage. And he’s got such charisma and personality. A real showman.

 

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At midnight, Brett and I hugged and kissed and it was so nice to be with someone I’ve known 19 years. What a wonderful start to 2015!

On New Year’s Day, I got to have lunch with my mentor (and dear friend) and his wife and daughter. It’s so cool to reconnect with people who were such a big part of my early days in New York.

The next day, I had lunch with my former boss and early reader of The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts. She always supported my dream of being a writer, even when I wasn’t particularly good at it. It was lovely to catch up with her.

On my last night in the city, my oldest friend Ant and his husband Darren met Brett and me for dinner. We had a blast catching up and the conversation flowed so freely. Two hours flew by.

I’m so lucky to have such great people in my life. I can’t imagine my world without them.

 

 

Posted in author appearance, Personal, Promotion, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

Readers' Favorite International Book Awards in Miami

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Kourtney

On Thursday night, I landed in Miami and met up with a Georgetown friend for dinner. The best steak at Graziano’s. We caught up for a few hours. I’m so glad we did. Great way to start my time in Miami!

Friday, I went to the book fair, but it was raining and windy. I met Lorrie and Wally and we walked around for a bit together. I tried to walk around until the rain went horizontal and then I called it a day.

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Saturday at The Readers’ Favorite Tent at the Miami Book Fair. The Six Train to Wisconsin was on display and for sale there!

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A shot of some of the award-winning books.

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The Miami Book Fair.

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Driving out to Miami Beach.

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Weird birds we encountered on the drive.

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Gorgeous house under construction.

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The Readers’ Favorite Award Ceremony. Loud music boomed. Everyone was so excited. I stayed in my seat and tried not to freak out about going on stage. Usually, I’d rather have dental work done than walk the stage in front of a huge group of people. Even awesome people that were my peers.

Dad asked me to get up on stage for a trial run before the ceremony. My answer: No! I’m doing it once, so be ready.

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Three award-winning paranormal authors in YA and Adult (Ronnie Stich, Elizabeth Kirke & me). We all coincidentally sat in a cluster. Woo-woo.

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Kelvin Kwa and I got to chat the night before at a mixer. He’s written an amazing sci-fi techno thriller.

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Getting the award was the most nerve-wracking part. Walk across the stage, remove glasses, kneel down, flip my hair out, pose with book and award medal and the President of Readers’ Favorite, Debra Gaynor, and get off the stage without falling.

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Me on stage for our second go around. Dad was not so ready the first time. 😉

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Verna Clay and me. Her book covers are gorgeous and she’s awesome to hang out with too!

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Dad accidentally videoed this the first time and it included me on my side when he flipped the camera. We needed a do-over here too. So we went back after the ceremony. And after I’d had a drink.

20141122_202237Lorrie Farrelly and I had a blast hanging out. Her husband Wally is a great book trailer creator. We met at the Readers’ Favorite tent on Friday and walked around the book fair. Then we hung out at a mixer on Friday. But it wasn’t until the award ceremony on Saturday that we realized we both won in the paranormal category for adults!

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I sold 32 books in November. Nine were audiobooks!

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I’m going to take a blog holiday for the holidays. So there won’t be any new post until January 5, 2015. I’ll try to catch up on a little blog reading and commenting on other blogs during that time.

Hope everyone has a happy holiday and see you in the New Year!

Posted in Award, book festival | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments