Sunday, April 6, 2014

All in for the Win! (Winners and Morning Glory)

Happy Sunday, everyone! Let's start this "winning" post with a winners announcement. :) For my 4th blogoversary, I gave away a signed paperback copy of Forget Me Not and an e-copy of one of my books.

The US winner (for the paperback) is...

Amy C!

The international winner (for an ebook) is...

Rochella D!

Congratulations, ladies! I've sent you both emails, so be sure to check your inboxes. :)

Thank you all so much for your interest in "The Heart's Spring" series, and for your support of "Seasons of Humility" these past four years! I'm so blessed to have the chance to share with you, interact with you, and become friends with you. I've absolutely loved my blogging experience so far, despite the time commitment. I mean, what did I even do with myself before blogging?? LOL. Thank you for joining me on this journey and for making it such a wonderful one for me!

Now, some of you follow me on The Heart's Spring series blog, so please forgive the repetitiveness - but I wanted to share with all my readers here about my progress with Morning Glory. It's been a bit of slow going, and March wasn't as productive as I wanted it to be. But I've signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo for this month, and I'm hoping I can finish the first draft of the book - or at least make a very sizable dent in my goal! - by the end of April. 


You can check out my camper profile HERE. (Camp NaNoWriMo totally brings back happy memories of Camp Humility! Any long-time followers remember that event??) Anyway, if you check out my profile and click on the tab "Novel Info," you can read my working synopsis for Morning Glory, as well as a brief, unedited excerpt from Chapter 1!

For those who don't want to venture into the wilds of camp, here's that synopsis:

***

The depths of fear. The dawning of hope.

Summer 1887

Felicity Lute's family is on the run from scandal and sorrow, but their "vacation" isn't bringing Felicity and her sister, Helen, together the way it should. Hope - or at least distraction - comes in the form of Myghal Tamblyn, a Cornish man wandering the West. When he joins them on their journey to Crater Lake, Felicity begins to believe her heart and her dreams will heal. Just as long as she and her two sisters can keep their secrets hidden.

Myghal has fallen in love - and been forced to let go of love - twice. He's intrigued by the flirtatious and flamboyant Felicity, but he's also wary of the obvious tension in her family, despite their welcome. An adventure with new friends might be just what his lonely heart needs, or it could be the path to a third and final heartbreak.

When tragedy plunges Felicity and Myghal into the very depths of their fears, will they find anything strong enough to help them rise again?

Inspirational Historical Romance

***

It's not necessarily the final version, but what do you think? Does it make you want to read the book?

I'll let you in on a few little secrets, too...
  • I currently have a third POV in play for the story (beyond Myghal and Felicity). Not sure yet if I should tweak the synopsis to mention more about her - guess that will be a question to run by my editor(s)! She's going to play a very pivotal role, from what I can tell so far. 
  • I've been doing a lot of my brainstorming for the story on Pinterest. It's been very fun to have ideas sort of leapfrog one another as I find new visuals to inspire me. I just hope it all makes sense when it comes together!
  • And speaking of secrets and Pinterest... You might have already come across these boards or overheard me chatting about "genre hopping" on Twitter, but if you want to catch a little glimpse at what I'm brainstorming for books to work on after Morning Glory, check out Secret Future Writing Project and Secret Future Writing Project 2. I'm not really sure why I'm attempting any secrecy, LOL. The title for the first one is pretty set, and Lena's actually already designed the first cover. But I guess since I haven't written the stories yet, I kind of want to wait until the right moment to share more. ;) I will tell you that I'm contemplating trying something more contemporary. We'll see how it goes! Be on the lookout in the coming months for title announcements and cover reveals, Lord willing. "I make you no promises, I tell you no lies" - but I am very excited about these projects, so I hope to pursue them!
Anyone else participating in Camp NaNo or working on writing projects? Let's go for the win and get some stories on paper!

5 comments:

Ganise C said...

Alright, Amber! Wishing you the best with Nano. I actually (unconsciously) leaned forward when you said ''I'll let you in on a few little secrets, too...''. Could even imagine you whispering that part. Ha-- silly me. Definitely checking out that excerpt. The synopsis is promising :)

Ganise C said...

Back after reading the excerpt... I just had to say, what a teaser!! I like it!

Unknown said...

Okay, love the name Rochella. ;)

Best wishes for Camp NaNo this year, Amber! You can do it! :)

Amber Holcomb said...

Ganise,

Oh, I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed the excerpt and you find the synopsis promising! I hope the story lives up to your expectations for it and blesses you in some way. :)

And LOL. I'm happy that my writing pulled you in. ;) That makes me think of The Emperor's New Groove (if you've seen that one): [quietly] "Let me tell you something. Lean in. A little closer." [shouts] "I don't make deals with peasants!" Hehe.

~Amber

Amber Holcomb said...

Rachelle,

Haha, not surprised! ;)

Thank you for the kind encouragement! Hoping to be able to send this one to you in June or thereabouts... :)

~Amber