Friday, March 19, 2010

THIS WEEK'S DRAWING--GETTING TO KNOW AVERY

Each week during the promo for "Awakening Avery" we're going to host a contest that highlights one of the characters in the book with a give-away that matches the character

This week we're focusing on Avery, and you have your choice of two great prizes: an autographed copy of Rebecca Cornish Talley's "ALTARED PLANS," or a personal critique of the first ten pages of a manuscript. (This can be transferred as a gift.) Contest rules are listed below.
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“You’re depressed,” the doctor declared.

Ya think? is author Avery Elkins Thompson’s sarcastic response to the astute diagnosis for the malaise that set in following her husband’s untimely death. Avery’s carefully controlled world is imploding, and her adult children fear they are losing her too.

"You're just a shadow of the person you used to be. . . We'd gladly give you up for a while if it meant getting you back."

She can’t write, and questions about their father’s death leave the family mired in pain. “We need a healing place,” her oldest son tells her, suggesting she find it on Anna Maria Island, Florida, a former family vacation spot.

When Avery returns to Baltimore to sell the family’s waterfront condo she meets rodeo-ers turned real-estate brokers, Teddie and Rider Davis, and Avery’s quiet life will never be the same again.

The Davises help arrange a short-term house swap with widower Gabriel Carson from Anna Maria whose overprotective parenting has resulted in two self-centered, twenty-something daughters. Avery and Gabriel are in for the summer of their lives as they step into one another's messy, complicated worlds.

Avery's summer along the Gulf Coast awakens her to old truths she has long forgotten— that as messy as life can be, it is possible to laugh and love again.

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Avery is an author who hasn't been able to write a marketable line since her husband died. In order to heal she seeks a familiar place--Anna Maria Island--a place that holds happy memories for her. So where is your "happy place?" I'm always looking for a great location to use in a novel. Tell me in the comment box below to enter this week's drawing. The prize? Choose between two:

1) If you're a writer and you win I'll do a personal critique of the first ten pages of your manuscript.

2) If you're a reader and you win I'll send you an autographed copy of Rebecca Cornish Talley's "ALTARED PLANS."

You must be a follower of this blog to enter. So if you haven't joined, please do, and then leave your comment. And if you're already a follower, just leave your comment!

The drawing will be held next Friday, March 26th!

6 comments:

  1. I think my happy place is at the beach. My family used to spend a week every Summer going to Ocean City, MD. I love the smell of the ocean and strolling on the board walk. I love eating funnel cake and laying in the warm sun. Tropical places just feel like a little bit of Heaven to me. (But then again I also love swinging in a hammock in the mountains so probably anywhere that's calm and warm is happy!)

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  2. My happy place on my front porch which faces south. The sun on my face and I'm in my porch swing reading. I can't wait until it warms up a little more so I can enjoy this.

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  3. My happy place is on my back porch. I have a view of the pool with many fond memories of children and grandchildren splashing and learning to swim. I can also drink in the flowers, shrubs, and trees and remember the sweat that planted them. I remember my mom picking out perennials so they would return each year...even after she was gone. They are now popping out of the ground to remind me she lives on.

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  4. My happy place would be at temple square in Salt Lake City. Being there among the flowers, trees, and history brings such a feeling of peace, and reminds me of the day of my marriage, surrounded by family and friends. Every time I am there I remember the joy of being married to my Eternal love, the ancestry I descend from, and the joy of having an eternal family.

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  5. My happy place is my childhood home on a small farm in West Virginia. I can go back there geographically, but I think I would have to use a time machine to get the carefree comfort that I remember there.

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  6. The winner is Nanabear! Congratulations and thanks for playing everyone!

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