Are You Ready to Visit NOLA? (Or, How I’m Celebrating the Best Decisions I’ve Ever Made in My Life)
This is typically the pre-post point wherein I give you an update on NOLA. You know, something witty, adorably personal, maybe with a touch of Bohemian humor.
Well, I hate to disappoint y’all, but there will be no pre-post update.
Awww, don’t cry! It’s okay. No, really. It is.
Wanna know why?
Well, I’ll tell ya:
NOLA IS FINISHED AND WILL BE RELEASED NEXT WEEK!
How do you like them beignets?
NOLA, by Molly Jo Realy
Isn’t she pretty? I’m so in love with the cover. Like, crazyinlove with it.
Ah, but first. The celebrations.
It was exactly one year ago today I woke up, and I just knew. I knew in the way no one questions the blue sky, or green grass. I knew I had to move to South Carolina.
What started as a five-year plan so became a one-year plan. Then maybe a six-month plan. Then God smiled and said, “Fasten your seat belt, honey. You’re on a race track and there are no stop signs.” Four months later, I unlocked the door to my new home.
That’s Celebration No. 1.
Celebration No. 2, of course, is finishing NOLA.
Like, really finishing it. Not just typing “The End” and going back to fix what wasn’t broken. But hiring the book designer, stop micromanaging the character dialogue, and just letting it simmer. Let a tea kettle on the stove on a hot summer day.
Which, come to think of it, is kinda what today is.
And you know what? That tea kettle is singing for attention. Yup. That’s right. I pulled that baby right off the burner, poured it over some leaves, let it cool, and now we have a nice brewed book ready to be drunk in with all the love a sweet summer tea can offer.
NOLA will be available through Amazon starting Wednesday, June 26.
That is Celebration No. 3.
And a very significant anniversary. It was seven years ago to the date that I started NOLA. What began as an idea for the name of a free-spirited character evolved into a short story until it became apparent a novel was born.
NOLA Research
And now here we are. I’m becoming Josie. I’m living in the South. And my book is a real thing. I just don’t know what to do with all this goodness except drink it in, toss my hair back, and smile.
Yup. It’s time to party.
Oh, did I mention I’m having a Launch Party on Facebook? You can join now if you like: NOLA Facebook Live Launch Party. There will be posts, polls, and lots of fun stuff for the next few days. The Live Event will be Wednesday, June 26 at 9pm EDT. Did I also mention gifts and prizes? I didn’t? Must’ve slipped my mind …
Well, much as I’d love to stay and chat, it’s super late on Thursday night and I need to make sure this gets posted. I also have some beignets to order.
Leave a comment: What are you celebrating this summer?
With a cup full of chicory and heart full of love, Happy Writing. ~Molly Jo
Frankly, My Dear . . . Savor the Journey!
Frankly, My Dear . . . : Bohemian Hurricane
Molly Jo is better known as the Bohemian Hurricane. She is the author/curator of The Unemployment Cookbook and several eBooks available on Amazon. Her work-in-progress, NOLA, is a romantic mystery novel set in New Orleans, and the first in her City Series. [Note to Self: Time to change the bio info. #shazam!]
So. This author? Lindsey? We kissed frogs together. #truestory.
Frankly, My Dear . . . Kissing Our Frog Princes at Blue Ridge
She has completely hunted me downthreatenedencouraged me to embrace my inner Southern Belle and pushed me toward being the person I am today. Yeah, I’m sorry. Wait. What?
No, seriously. Since I met her a few years ago, she’s been nagging me. “When are you gonna write for Splickety?” “How can I pray for you?” “Are you working on NOLA this week?” “When do we get to have coffee?” I mean, the girl is just . . . such an encourager. Sigh.
Annnnnd in the throes of being a wife, mother, magazine editor, and local newspaper columnist, she just published her debut novel, Still Waters.
Cora Anne Halloway has a history degree and a plan: avoid her own past—despite being wait-listed for graduate school. Then her beloved grandmother requests—and her dispassionate mother insists—that she spend the summer at Still Waters, the family cottage on Edisto Beach, South Carolina.
Despite its picturesque setting, Still Waters haunts Cora Anne with loss. At Still Waters her grandfather died, her parents’ marriage disintegrated, and as a child, she caused a tragic drowning. But lingering among the oak canopies and gentle tides, this place also tempts her with forgiveness—especially since Nan hired Tennessee Watson to oversee cottage repairs. A local contractor, but dedicated to the island’s preservation from development, Tennessee offers her friendship and more, if she can move beyond her guilt.
When a family reunion reveals Nan’s failing health, Cora Anne discovers how far Tennessee will go to protect her—and Edisto—from more desolation. Will Cora Anne choose between a life driven by guilt, or one washed clean by the tides of grace?
I’ll review Still Waters next week, but tonight, we’re celebrating. How? Why, having a Facebook Launch Event, of course! C’mon, you know you want in on this action.
Here’s all you have to do: Click this link: Still Waters Launch Party. That’s it. Follow the link, click, “going”, and show up. I’ll be interviewing Lindsey about her book, the writing process, and her life, and she’s got a few giveaways for y’all as well.
And how my love for all things baseball and community and movie quotes blended together to restructure FMD some years ago?
Well, folks. That paint is peeling. So guess what.
Are y’all ready for this?
All those old adages keep circling through my mind.
“The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
Hey, guys. Here’s the deal. I’m so stinkin’ excited (and it’s so stinkin’ late) I can’t concentrate.
So here’s another deal. Things are changing. But they’re staying the same.
Pretty soon you’re gonna see a new layout here at FMD. Also over at NIP. Nothing dramatic. Just some cleaning up. Just some updates and maybe a few layout changes. I’m tossing out the old posts. You know, the very first ones. The ones that don’t have much to do with anything except me spilling the milk in public. Yeah. Let’s not do that any more, okay? What remains will be the good posts. The ones where I actually say something. The ones y’all want to read.
Frankly, My Dear and New Inklings Press will still be who they are. Just updated. With a whole new upper management: Me.
MJR- Molly Jo Realy
I liken it to moving an existing business to a newer office. The work is the same. The management is the same. But the ambiance is oh so much better.
The reason? There’s a new site on web, my friends. A new sweet to my tea. A new kid on the block, and I don’t mean Wahlberg.
That’s right. This Girl is now a brand. A name-turned-whatever-it-is. This Girl is now a website.
MJR Website
Check out those colors. You know this already, but that there my friends is some Tiffany Blue, and orange poppy. Like Wizard of Oz type poppies. How smashing is this?
The first in a series, Hand of Adonai is a Young Adult Fantasy novel that starts in North Chester, Minnesota and ends in Alrujah, a video game kingdom created by best friends Lauren Knowles and Oliver Shaw.
Don’t be fooled by the genre. This book has been read and enjoyed by all ages.
Being Aaron’s social media manager has its perks. I was also one of his beta readers. That just means a few pre-release books were printed for people like me to review and edit. Since I took the task while we were at Blue Ridge, I opted to make comments via stickie notes instead of a computer file.
My HoA Beta Notes
Don’t worry. Most of those are “Way to go, Gansky” cheers. I fell in love with Lauren and Oliver.
They’re not perfect characters. They have real struggles. Like weight gain and bullies and broken families and high school awkward genes. So they create a perfect world. Lauren writes out her ideas in her journals and Oliver transforms them into computer code that results in a game.
After a particularly hard day for both of them, they wake up. Or do they? Lauren doesn’t know if she’s dreaming or dead. Oliver doesn’t know what to do. Together, they play along with the game only to find there’s more to it than they invented.
Dark creatures like the Nar’esh and Beresus are not easy to conquer. And worse, Lauren and Oliver are in the roles of a Princess and a Monk ~ not easily deniable. Their traveling companions swear to protect them. But would they still, if they knew they were frauds? Or are they gods?
Soon they are joined by Erica Hall and Aiden Prince ~ the objects of their real-life affections. It’s hard enough to navigate through high school emotions in this world. Setting aside teen angst and popularity contests, the four must work together to return home from a place that shouldn’t even exist. Will the demon Belphegor win the game by destroying Alrujah?
I’ve been helping Aaron and his publisher spread the word on social media, and Tuesday, we’re having an online party! Starting at 6:30 pm (Pacific Time) you can join our Aaron D Gansky’s Hand of Adonai Launch Party event on Facebook where we’ll be interacting and sharing trivia questions. And if you can’t meet us on Facebook, at the same time we’ll be streaming live with his weekly Firsts in Fiction Podcast. This week’s theme is How to Launch a Book and I’ll be the guest caster.
Of course, what’s a party without presents?
What’s a party without presents?
As we talk about inspiration, social media, what it takes to write a book, and all things from first thought to final print, Aaron, Al, and I will be giving away copies of books, a packet or two of Magic: The Gathering cards, and I’m not sure what else.
If you’d like a preview of the book, you can view the Hand of Adonai pre-release with your BookGrabbr app (download it to your computer or smart phone).
If you like what you read, you can buy Hand of Adonai at Amazon. It’s now available both in print and Kindle editions.
So we hope you’ll join us for the fun. You can check in to either event (or both) ahead of time. In fact, we’d be super glad if you did, and share them with your peeps. Because what’s a party without guests, right?
In upcoming posts, I’ll blog about my love for Jamberry Nail Wraps and post new design combinations. I hope you’ll join me.
After two months of buying product, I realized it’s more frugal for me to sell it and support my own habit. So I signed on. My online launch party starts tomorrow, and it’s going to be super fun.
It’s my goal to use this income boost to cover my future writing and travel needs. After all, all roads lead to writing, right?
Right now it’s well after midnight and I’m tired. My jammy nails and I are hitting the hay.
Would love for you to stop by my JamWithMojo page and check it out. And if you’re interested in ordering, how’s this for an incentive?
