All These Things That I Love - Drinks Edition - June 2018

A monthly roundup of things that give me life...

This summer, I've decided to focus on one of the most popular parts of this blog series... THE DRINKS. 

So... introducing The Drinks Edition. Sounds like a cover band in Omaha. Or a Harvard Law Review inside joke. 

ICED COFFEE!

As many of my readers know, coffee is one of my favorite things. In fact, lattes are practically a  character in my Sorority Sisters' mystery series. 

I'm not going to lie, as soon as summer temperatures hit 100 my usually delightful mug of hot coffee was so unappetizing. And as if THEY KNOW ME, the stores started stocking bottles of pre-made cold brew. 

Yes, I know you can make it yourself. But honey, I'm in deadline mode around these parts. 

I went and stocked up on my favorite sugar-free syrups and through several jittery trial-and-error days, I came up with MY perfect iced coffee recipe. 

It may not be yours, however. Every woman must listen to the siren call of her own cold brew desires. 

But my recipe is: 
2/3 cups of cold brew
1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 tablespoons of mocha syrup
ice to full cup

This is a very sweet, delicious pick me up. And of course I'm toying with the idea of making it... ahem... an adult beverage in the evenings but I have other... preferences there (which I'll be sharing with you soon.)

How do you take your coffee? Venti triple-shot like Margot Blythe in SISTERHOOD IS DEADLY?  Or black, strong and in a Limoges cup like Princess Theodora in the upcoming THE ROYAL RUNAWAY?

The Royal Runaway - How I got the idea...

It all started with a dream.

Seriously. About two years ago, I had a very vivid dream. A whole story came alive as I slept. I dreamed of a princess who sneaked out of her castle at night. The country was modern, but small. She was able to blend in with people in bars and cafes and visit friends. Then stuff happened. 

When I woke up, I couldn't get the idea out of my head. The world had felt so real to me, I immediately grabbed a pad of paper and made notes so I wouldn't forget. 

Don't believe me?  Here it is, pinned to the bulletin board in front of my writing desk.

Evidence of the dream-notes that would become a book. Spoilers whited out.

And oh yes - here was the key part. In the dream, I specifically saw that the princess had been abandoned by her groom on her wedding day. 
 

And I think that's why it stuck with me. You see, I'm a great sleeper. It's one of the top-three things that I excel at. Caffeine does not affect me, noise, lights, nothing stops me from sleeping pretty much anytime I want to (except planes because ugh.) Because I'm so awesome at sleeping, I also rock at dreaming. Almost every night I have lucid dreams but I let 99% of them go in the morning. 

This one? Wouldn't let me go. 

The emotions of a princess, suddenly not knowing who she is, or what she was meant for, were what caused me to grab that paper and pen and capture the idea. 

But it's a crazy idea, right? How do I write a story about a princess of a make-believe country? Even though I'm a writer, I'm a pretty down to earth, practical person. I put my electric purple thigh-high stiletto boots on, one leg at a time, like the rest of you. 

Just kidding. If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that I run car pool, have a garden, go for walks. I'm not nearly as exciting as a glamorous European princess sneaking out of her palace. 

But I went ahead wrote the first chapter. I do this sometimes, when I have a new idea that won't let me go. It's a form of bargaining. "Okay, FINE. I'll let you off the leash for 500 words but that's it. After that, we're going to switch back over to our normal, boring book."

Ah ha. You see the problem there, don't you?

Who wants to write a normal, boring book?

Who wants to read one, for that matter?

Maybe that was why the dream wouldn't let me go. And maybe because it all started with a dream, THE ROYAL RUNAWAY came out all backwards and forwards. Blips of it here, strings had to be pulled there. The characters popped up like a a literary game of whack-a -mole. HERE! was the Queen. THERE! Was the sexy Scottish spy. QUICK! LOOK! A psychic hacker?  Um, okay, subconscious. You're full-on nutso now.

So I went ALL IN. Fine. This insanity wants to unfurl? I want to make up a whole new country, with a whole new geography and hundreds of years of history? Sure. Why not. Clearly, I need a hobby. 

Still I wondered: WHY was it happening like this? WHO would ever want to read it? Oh, an author gets so caught up in questions like that. Even now, when there are literal printed copies of this book going out to reviewers, I'm still not sure that I did it right. 

Or that I can do it again? Yes, that's always the next problem, isn't it? I went along for the madness that my subconscious dreamed up. But...

What if... what if my sleepy brain now has a huge ego and now thinks that it can come up with random, nonsensical story ideas in the future and hijack all my logical, reasonable (read: boring) book ideas and force me to do its diabolical will?

More importantly... what if it doesn't? 

THE END. 

<Lindsay's Brain: You forgot one thing.>

EPILOGUE. 

Reserve your copy of THE ROYAL RUNAWAY today so you can see why I dreamed it all up.
Pre-order at your favorite book retailer: Amazon || BN.Com || Apple Books || Amazon UK || Kobo

Best Books to Read Now: 2018 Women With Books Summer Reading Challenge

This time of year, I'm always being asked - WHAT'S A GOOD BOOK TO READ???  
Between road trips, vacations and lazy days in the shade, it seems like everyone agrees that it's the perfect time to immerse yourself in a great book. 

So in response to popular demand, I'm introducing....

For the next three months, join me as we explore new genres, discover new authors and bask in the glory of love... mystery... adventure...  Of course you can pick whatever book you want in each category but I'm going to give some recommendations... you know me. I can't RESIST giving book recommendations...

Ready?  Let's start with what everyone's been obssessing about!

A royal book! 
 

I've done a lot of talking about the Royal wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry this spring, including hosting several inspiring authors of royal romance. Here are some of their awesome books:

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole Amazon || iBooks

Royally Wed by Teri Wilson Amazon || iBooks

Command Me by Geneva Lee Amazon || iBooks

The Royal We - Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan Amazon || iBooks

BEACH BOOKS

Every time I do the lightning round in a podcast interview I ask people if they prefer a book with abs on the cover or a beach scene. So let's pick some books with beach scenes this summer. My recommendations...

Kristy Woodson Harvey's Peachtree Bluff series: Amazon || iBooks

All the Breaking Waves by Kerry Lonsdale: Amazon || iBooks

Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers by Sara Ackerman: Amazon || iBooks

New To You Genre

Branch out this summer. Do you want to try...

A mystery? Try Deanna Raybourn's Victorian ones or Gigi Pandian's Treasure hunt ones!

Fantasy? Try the new series by Jeffe Kennedy or L. Penelope

Historical women's fiction? The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Paranormal romance & Urban Fantasy?  The Shadowchasers' series by Seressia Glass or anything by (my all-time favorite) Ilona Andrews

Book from a Former Women With Books Guest

I've already mentioned a bunch on this page! But check out the Women With Books episodes for a deeper dive. 

A Diverse / Inclusive Read
 

It's really important to me, as a reader, an author and a podcast host to promote and recommend books by all types of authors. Many of the recommendations I'm making in this post include authors of color, but for even more books check out... 

WOC Romance
20 Books by LGBT Authors You May Not Have Read...but should

 

Debut Author

 

This is another branch of the Women With Books mission statement, to support debut authors. To that end, I'm very excited to suggest these authors who all debuted in the past year!

Alexis Daria's debut,  Take the Lead: Amazon || iBooks

Kate Clayborn's debut,  Beginner's Luck: Amazon || iBooks

Jasmine Guillory's debut, The Wedding Date:  Amazon || iBooks

Madame de Boudoir's debut, King of the Sea  Amazon || iBooks

A Book that Inspired a Movie/ TV Show

I always love reading books that will be or have already been interpreted on the big (or little) screen. Part of it is keeping up with the zeitgeist, participating in the discussions at the water cooler. And part of it is my analytical brain that likes to see the differences in adaptations. Either way, I enjoyed BOTH the books and the adaptations of the first and third of these (and I'll definitely be buying a ticket to Crazy Rich Asians!)

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty: Amazon || iBooks

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan:  Amazon || iBooks

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline: Amazon || iBooks
 

A Book with A Pretty Dress on the Cover

 

As I mentioned above, I always ask guests if they prefer abs covers or beach scene covers. But you know what my favorite type of cover is? Pretty Dress Covers. And these three are GORGEOUS, don't you think??  (Another favorite is Deanna Raybourns' Lady Julia Grey series, mentioned above.)

Chanel Cleeton's Next Year in Havana 
Taylor Jenkins Reid's Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Sonali Dev's A Bollywood Affair

So. Are you ready? Inspired? Feeling competitive?  I'd love to hear what you're reading this summer and what you recommend! Comment below or on any of my social media and use the hashtag: #WWBSummerReads to update your friends and the Women With Books community on what you're reading this summer! (And check out the podcast where I talk about all this!)

AND... while you're updating your TBR pile, make sure you reserve your copy of my next release... THE ROYAL RUNAWAY!  Anyone who has good taste in books will enjoy it! 
 

All These Things That I Love - May 2018

A monthly roundup of things that give me life...

I'm re-watching, actually, THE CROWN. In preparation (and celebration) of the Royal Wedding, the dramatization of Prince Harry's grandparents' marriage is truly riveting historical drama...

Rose' all day. Aren't they pretty? And delicious. But mostly pretty. 

To this Celine Dion song. Okay, I'm listening to it while watching this amazing video. What's not to love? The unapologetic ferocity of Celine Dion?  And the sly humor of Deadpool?  It seriously gives me hope that all of my so-called "crazy" ideas just might work...

It was my birthday last month and I gleefully skipped to Ulta and Sephora to pick up my birthday gifts. And aren't they gorgeous? Must-haves, seriously. The NARS orgasm blush is a perennial best-seller and supposedly great on all skin tones? (I'm not sure as I only have one - but it's not overpowering on this pale girl.)

And I'm not a really a matte lipstick kind of gal - give me an easy color balm any day but this Bite set might have won me over... to Bite matte lippies, anyway. 

Make sure you're signed up for all your birthday rewards, too! (I don't get anything out of this - I just really like my tribe to get free, awesome stuff.)

LIKE... did someone say a free, awesome book?  LOVE IN THE TIME OF HYGGE is the book I'm including in my newsletter this year, chapter by chapter and some people are saying it's the best, most entertaining novella they've gotten for free all year.  But it's only for those in The Inner Circle.

Cover Reveal - THE ROYAL RUNAWAY!

It's time to announce the secret that I've been carrying for so many months...

Yes, you may commence with the squealing and ooohs and aaahs. I won every book cover lottery, the stars were aligned, the feng shui was perfect, and my publisher clearly loves me the most of all the authors they've ever published, in the history of the world. 

I'm not being cocky, my cover is just THAT GOOD. 

Don't you want to instagram it? Model with it? Print it out and put it on a wall? (Believe me, you're welcome to do all those things!)
 

More than that, don't you want to READ IT???

Honestly, I can't wait for the world to read it. The early readers have been sent into a tizzy by this story of the aftermath of a #RoyalWedding gone wrong. THE ROYAL RUNAWAY is the story that I've always wanted to write - a perfect blend of suspense, romance and mystery. 

THE ROYAL RUNAWAY is a princess story AND a spy story. It has kissing AND dead bodies. It has good and evil, tears and laughs. And kissing. Did I mention kissing?

Oh, you want to pre-order it?  One-click here: Amazon. (And THANK YOU for pre-ordering. It helps my publisher know that people love my stories and want more of them!)
 

Make sure that you're signed up for The Inner Circle newsletter, where I will be sharing exclusive content and inspiration for THE ROYAL RUNAWAY  in the months to come. 

And as this will be a paperback book, I will also be doing book giveaways for my social media followers and newsletter subscribers so follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter!

As always, thank you for your support and excitement! I can't wait to see what the next few months bring!