OVER 20 DORCHESTER BOOKS TO WIN!!! KEEP READING!
Well this is it everyone, the big day has arrived and ANCIENT WHISPERS is on the shelves! It is pretty surreal, what can I say.

Ancient Whispers seen in Bay Shore, NY (courtesy of Scott Romanski)
I am not the only one to have a release this week and 3 author Dorchester authors who are at once friends and inspirations to me are celebrating as well: Emily Bryan with STROKE OF GENIUS, Christie Craig with SHUT UP AND KISS ME and Cindy Holby with BREATH OF HEAVEN.
So to celebrate, I decided to ask a bunch of Dorchester authors to give us some inspirations and guess what!!! They are all giving away books!!! So I have 3 big prices to give away. Read on for some wonderful advice then find out what you can win by including just one small comment!
Phyllis Bourne
“Believe in yourself and your work. No matter how tight the market, there is always room for your book.”
Find more about Phyliss at www.phyllisbourne.com
Marie-Claude Bourque
“Always write story that speak to your heart and ignore the trends. Because no matter what happens: rejections, critiques or negative reviews, you will always believe in your stories and be happy that you wrote what is truly in your heart.”
Find more about Marie-Claude at www.mcbourque.com
Emily Bryan
“Quite a bit of the writing business comes down to luck and timing–the right manuscript landing on the right editor’s desk at the right time. Of course, the harder we work, the luckier we tend to be, so no matter what, keep writing!”
Find more about Emily at www.emilybryan.com
Christie Craig
“I’ve been rejected by every editor for which I now write–a rejection doesn’t mean “never,” it means “not now.”
Find more about Christie at www.christie-craig.com
Leanna Renee Hieber
“Know what you write and who you are, your strengths and your weaknesses. No matter your subject matter, own it, be comfortable with it, live in it and love it with the ferocity of a steeled yet generous heart.”
Find more about Leanna at www.leannareneehieber.com
Caroline Fyffe
“When stuck, go for a short run. The blood flow to your brain amps up your creativity. If that fails…eat chocolate!”
Find more about Caroline at www.carolinefyffe.com
Erin Kellison
“Words of wisdom from my mom about juggling writing and the rest of daily life: If the kids are eating off clean plates and wearing clean underwear, don’t worry about the rest. Get writing.”
Find more about Erin at www.erinkellison.com
Rose Lerner
“To be a professional writer, you have to take your job seriously, and
you have to have fun doing it–maybe not every day, but a significant
percentage of the time. Both those things are equally important.”
Find more about Rose at www.roselerner.com
Tracy Madison
“Writing is like exercising. Just as you need to exercise consistently to strengthen your body, you need to write consistently to strengthen your craft.”
Find more about Tracy at www.tracymadison.com
Barbara Monajem
“Make writing top priority. Reserve your most productive time of day for writing. Save the dishes and the laundry for when you’re so brain-dead you can’t do anything else.”
Find more about Barbara at www.barbaramonajem.com
Elizabeth Naughton
“A critique partner you trust from the bottom of your soul is worth their weight in gold. It’s more than a connection on the writing level, it goes deeper into who and what you are and finding that person who gets you and your writing on a whole different level. It’s like a marriage in a way, except a really good CP can tell you the rock bottom truth and know you won’t break down into a puddle of tears. I’m published because of my critique partner. I don’t know what the heck I’d do without her. Luckily–as she said last night on IM–I won’t ever have to find out.”
Find more about Elizabeth at www.elisabethnaughton.com
Kerri Nelson
(Courting Demons, Dorchester ~ 2011)
My fave writer quote is from Joy Held: “Women with clean houses do not have finished books.” but I also like to say “You read because you choose to. You write because it chooses you.”
Find more about Kerri at www.kerrinelson.com
Gerri Russel
“You are already on the path of following your dreams. Everything you want can be yours if you just don’t lose faith in yourself. Believe it can happen, and eventually it will!”
Find more about Gerri at www.gerrirussell.net

Helen Scott Taylor
“You can’t please everyone. There will always be some people who love your work and some people who don’t. Accept that from the start and don’t be put off by bad critiques or contest judges’ comments.”
Find more about Helen at www.helenscotttaylor.com
Gayle Ann Williams
“Always remember- this is your unique journey– yours. Follow your heart, write your own truth, and the readers will notice. Remember why you write, and keep that joy somewhere safe, so you can find it at a moment’s notice.”
Find more about Gayle at www.gayleannwilliams.com
I kept Cindy Holby’s words for last because she is such an inspiration.
Cindy Holby
My best piece of advice that I can give a newly published writer such as Marie-Claude is something she has already figured out. Cross promotion. At first I was going to go with the usual words of encouragement such as keep on writing, never give up, and keep plenty of book marks on hand. But after fourteen books and eight years of being published experience has shown me that cross promotion with my author friends is the best thing I can ask for.
As you can see, four authors from our publisher have the same release date. We have a widely varied audience. So I will be telling my friends about Christie Craig’s hilarious contemporary Shut Up And Kiss Me and Emily Bryan’s humorous regency A Stroke Of Genius. And they will, in turn do the same for me with my medieval fantasy Breath Of Heaven. Then we will all encourage our readers to try Marie-Claude’s first release, Ancient Whispers. By cross promoting we are reaching four times the readers. Makes perfect sense to me.
It all sounds very simple but there is more to it than that. It’s not only about finding someone that’s willing to give your book a shout out. It’s about finding like-minded people. Writing is a very lonely business. We spend most of our time alone with only the voices in our head for company. We also internalize a lot of things. Rejections, bad sales, bad reviews, the list can go on and on. We need friends who understand what we’re going through, who say, “Hey, I think you’re awesome.” And “Don’t give up!”
So I just want to take this time to say Hey, I’m grateful to everyone who’s ever told a friend or a reader you should read one of Cindy Holby’s books. And I’m also most grateful for my good friends in this business. The one’s who keep encouraging me when things are not going well and I’m fairly certain my career is over.
And since you’re here reading Musetracks I hope you’ll remember to look for my book, Breath Of Heaven on May 25th and also pick up Ancient Whispers by Marie-Claude Bourque, A Stroke Of Genius by Emily Bryan and Shut Up And Kiss Me by Christie Craig. All of them awesome writers, and all of them awesome friends.
Find more about Cindy at www.cindyholby.com
Hope you are all feeling inspired!
So here we are, your comments for 3 prizes, books books books and more books! Just tell us which bundle you want!!! That’s it (and please give us a second choice just in case!)
ONE WEEK TO ENTER! I will post the winner on Friday June 4th.
BOOK BUNDLE (1)
- ANCIENT WHISPERS by Marie-Claude Bourque (signed copy)
- TSUNAMI BLUE by Gayle Ann Williams (signed copy)
- SUNRISE IN A GARDEN OF LOVE AND EVIL by Barbara Monajem (signed copy)
- SHADOW BOUND by Erin Kellison (signed copy)
- MARKED by Elizabeth Naughton
- DIVORCED, DESPERATE AND DECEIVED by Christie Craig (signed copy)
- THE DARKLY LUMINOUS FIGHT FOR PERSEPHONE PARKER by Leanna Renee Hieber
- THE PHOENIX CHARM by Helen Scott Taylor (signed copy)
- LORD OF THE FADING LANDS by C.L. Wilson (audio CD)
- and a fun stuff such as pen, notebook & chapstick (courtesy of Christie Craig)
BOOK BUNDLE (2)
- STROKE OF GENIUS by Emily Bryan (signed copy)
- A WARRIOR TRAINER (AT II winner) by Gerri Russell (signed copy)
- IN FOR A PENNY by Rose Lerner
- BREATH OF HEAVEN by Cindy Holby (signed copy)
- WHERE THE WIND BLOWS by Caroline Fyffle (signed copy)
- CHOSEN WOMAN by Shirl Henke
- ANCIENT WHISPERS by Marie-Claude Bourque (signed copy)
- GOTCHA by Christie Craig (signed copy)
- and a fun stuff such as pen, notebook & chapstick (courtesy of Christie Craig)
BOOK BUNDLE (3)
- STOLEN FURY (RITA finalist) by Elizabeth Naughton (signed copy)
- A TASTE OF MAGIC by Tracy Madison (signed copy)
- THE HOLIDAY INN Anthology by Phyllis Bourne, Farrah Rochon and Stephanie Worth (signed byP. Bourne)
- SHUT UP AND KISS ME by Christie Craig (signed copy)
- A TALE OF TWO DEMON SLAYERS by Angie Fox
- A MIDWIFE CRISIS by Lisa Cooke
- A CHRISTMAS BALL anthology by Jennifer Ashley, Emily Bryan and Alissa Johnson
- CROSS CHECK MY HEART by Kerri Nelson (Romantic Suspense-Eternal Press) (signed copy)
- ANCIENT WHISPERS by Marie-Claude Bourque (signed copy)
- and a fun stuff such as pen, notebook & chapstick (courtesy of Christie Craig)