Good morning and thank you to The Book Binge for inviting me to participate in the Digital Read-a-Thon.
Have you ever been driving along and the drive seems to be taking a lifetime?
Of course you have.
A couple of years ago, I felt that way about my writing career. Like many writers, I was stuck in that almost-there place. That place where I was receiving great feedback from editors at traditional publishing houses, but no one would take a chance on a new writer.
I then made a decision that changed everything. I submitted my romantic suspense, Man Law, to Carina Press, the digital first imprint for Harlequin. Weeks later I received the call that Carina wanted to acquire the book. Yes, it was fabulous. When I’m having a bad day, I listen to the voicemail (of course I saved it!) and think about the feeling of accomplishment I got the first time I heard it. There truly is nothing like it when someone says they want to publish a book you’ve not only written, but cried over. To date, I’ve written four books and one novella in this series. I’ve also had the rewarding experience of seeing two of my books on Barnes and Noble’s Top 100 Nook Books list. At the same time!
My career as a published author began because I had altered my course. I changed the plan of attack. I varied my pattern. Call it whatever you like, but for me, moving my career along meant submitting my work to a digital first press. Am I thrilled I decided to alter my course? Absolutely. Working with Carina has been a wonderful experience, and I am grateful for the opportunity.
What about you? Do you have a success that came from changing your course?
I will give away one copy of Negotiating Point (my novella/June 2012 release) and one copy of Risking Trust (1st book in Private Protectors series) to a commenter.
Adrienne Giordano writes romantic suspense and women’s fiction. She is a Jersey girl at heart, but now lives in the Midwest with her workaholic husband, sports obsessed son and Buddy the Wheaten Terrorist (Terrier). She is a co-founder of Romance University blog and Lady Jane’s Salon-Naperville, a reading series dedicated to romantic fiction.
Adrienne can also be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AdrienneGiordanoAuthor and Twitter at http://twitter.com/AdriennGiordano.
I will start your comment list off by telling everyone that leaves a comment and is up for a chance at the giveaways, they will love your books and will want to buy the others in the series since you can’t get enough of those hot alpha men and strong females they love!
As for having success that came from changing my course in life? I feel I have had a very blessed live but lately, I just feel like there is something more I can/should be doing for others. I am trying to figure out what the change needs to be…
Hi, Amy! Thanks for the awesome plug! And, no, I did not pay her to say all those nice things. LOL. Amy and I have actually never met in person. She read my books and we connected on Twitter. That’s what I love about social media. It allows people to connect and share common interests.
I just went through wanting to make some changes when it comes to helping others. I wanted to see how I could transform my passion for books into a volunteer opportunity. Before I knew it, my friend Tracey Devlyn and I were starting a Lady Jane’s Salon satellite location where readers could come and listen to authors read excerpts of their books. All the admission proceeds go to a local charity. It’s a ton of fun to hear author’s interpret their characters and we get to support a local charity.
I’ve always struggled with shyness. I had to force myself to come out of my shell after I started a new job. I got promoted in less than 6 months. I also gained a new confidence in myself.
Hi Adrienne…
Congratulations on your ‘life changing’ decision.
As for myself..not sure…but we took the chance with our own review website-The Reading Cafe..and we are having the time of our lives…
sandy@thereadingcafe.com
Thanks for a great post and giveaway! Congrats on the new release and being brave enough to make that “life changing” decision.
As for me… eh… nothing that grand. Just a change of mindset. Putting myself first. Allowing myself to do things for me and not feeling guilt 🙂 Such as reading awesome books! Gotta go check out the rest of your series!
efender1(at)gmail(dot)com
Hi, Audrey. Wow, congratulations! It’s hard to put ourselves out there so making a change like that must have been huge for you.
Sandy, I’ll check out the Reading Cafe. Change is a scary thing, but sometimes it can be so exciting. Good luck with the site.
Thanks for stopping in, ladies.
No, this hasn’t happened to me yet.
bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
Thanks for a great post and giveaway! Congrats on the new release and having the courage to “change your course” 🙂
Ummm… I haven’t really done anything to drastically change my life, but I have changed my attitude which has helped immensely. Allowing myself the ability to say no guilty free, taking time for myself, doing the things I enjoy.
efender1(at)gmail(dot)com
Seven years ago, I attended a church retreat that helped change my relationship with God and my vision of life. I’m very grateful for the changes.
Much success to you, Adrienne. Thanks for visiting.
I’m a student and I’ve been studying English for a few years now (I’m from France). I didn’t really know what I would do after graduation and I was a little worried about it. I was interested in the publishing world but it was quite vague in my mind. And then, some day I learned about a management course in my university. I’m going to follow this course next year and I hope it’s going to help me create my own business. A lot is still to be done but I’m really happy I know where I’m going and I have a precise goal!
It’s great that you found a way to make changes in your career for the better. You took some risks and you were rewarded, that’s great!
Adrienne writes wonderful books and her characters are so very real. Love the interaction between those who have every right to be deadened to the pain of human violence, but who struggle to remain real and alive in spite of everything negative they have experienced in life. This newest book looks great and I am looking forward to reading it.