RELEASE DAY FOR DEJA YOU

RELEASE DAY: DEJA YOU

E-books 99¢ RELEASE DAY SPECIAL
Paperbacks $10.99

TITLE: Déjà You
PUBLISHER: Emerald Lily Publishing
RELEASE DATE: May 30, 2017
PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon | B&N Paperback |Paperback

In Déjà You, five authors share stories of second chances, as varied in telling as the writers themselves.

Kelly Cain’s We’ll Always Have Oahu takes us on a whirlwind New Adult romance set in the 80s between a young woman on a high school graduation trip and a handsome Navy sailor.

Bianca M. Schwarz transports us to 1760 in The Pearl with the story of Marcus Landover, who attends a card party and ends up with more than he bargained for in the beautiful Sophia Chelmsford.

Amanda Linsmeier’s Joy and Sorrow reunites lovers separated by death in a Women’s Fiction tinged with the unusual.

The Eyes of the Heart by Jamie McLachlan gives us Rosalina, who is forced to confront her attraction and the truth about her blindness when a new gardener is hired at the Greystone house.

Finally, C.H. Armstrong brings us Mr. Midnight, where tragedy reunites two star-crossed lovers, but misunderstandings soon rip them apart. Now, six years later, the stars are realigning with the help of the smooth voice of a late night radio DJ.

Some of the stories are sweet, some sad, some steamy, but all carry the same theme. Déjà You is a collection of stories for those who believe in love, but most of all, second chances.

---

The Birth of Déjà You

About two years ago, a group of five novice writers signed with the same small publisher, each inexperienced in the publishing world yet committed to understanding the process and finding success. Through their mutual dive into unchartered territory, Amanda Linsmeier, Bianca M. Schwarz, C.H. Armstrong, Kelly Cain, and Jamie McLachlan reached out to one another and became instant friends, sharing laughs, tears, and the struggles of life and writing. We soon dubbed ourselves “Book Besties.”

During the fall of 2016, we decided to write a book of short stories together. As friends, we wanted to combine our talents to create a collection that would inspire hope and happiness. After much deliberation, we chose the theme “Second Chances” and decided to title this anthology, “Déjà You.” Though each story contains the same theme, they all are as unique as the author who wrote it. Including New Adult, Women’s Fiction, Fantasy, Historical, and Contemporary Romance, each short offers a different take on the theme and involves varying heat levels, from sweet to steamy.

---

About the Authors

Kelly Cain has published a multicultural adult and new adult romance, but she writes across genres and age groups, currently penning book one of a young adult urban fantasy series. Most of her stories are set in Texas with frequent travels to her home state of California, and all of her stories have an excess of food weaved throughout.

If she’s not writing, she’s probably reading. Or maybe cooking. Check out her website for recipes for dishes featured in her books, and some other fun stuff. She has two adult daughters and lives in a suburb of Houston, Texas.

Kelly is the author of Altered, a new adult multicultural romance and Connections, a steamy short story exclusively available on Amazon. Visit her on her Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram or Tumbler.

Bianca M Schwarz was born in Germany, spent her formative years in London, and has a US passport, but she considers herself a world citizen. She lives in Los Angeles because that’s where they make movies and she used to work on them. She writes novels because that’s kind of like making a movie in people’s heads and because she just loves books. Bianca has one son, because that’s all she can handle and she tolerates her husband because, well, she loves him and there is no help for that. Visit her on her website, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Amanda Linsmeier is the author of Ditch Flowers and Beach Glass & Other Broken Things. Her writing has been featured in Portage Magazine, Literary Mama, and Brain, Child Magazine. Besides writing Women’s Fiction, she loves reading and writing fables, fairytales, and fantasy, and sometimes she pretends her Hogwarts letter is still coming. She can be found blogging about writing and books at amandalinsmeier.com. When she’s not writing, she works part-time at her local library and brings home more books than she has time to read. Amanda lives in the countryside, surrounded by trees, with her family, two dogs, and two half-wild cats. You can Amanda’s blog for book reviews and random musings, or check her out on Twitter or Facebook for more information.

Jamie McLachlan is the Canadian author of Mind of the Phoenix, an Amazon Bestseller in Dark Fantasy and the first novel in the Memory Collector Series. The third, Rise of the Phoenix, is set for release in summer of 2017. When not writing, Jamie reads, dabbles in various crafts, and spends time with her family. Find her on Twitter, Facebook, and her website.

C.H. Armstrong is an Oklahoma-native transplanted in the Midwest. A life-long lover of books, she made her author debut with the 2016 release of her historical fiction novel, The Edge of Nowhere, which was inspired by her own family’s struggles during the one-two punch that was The Great Depression and The Dust Bowl. Armstrong is currently working on two young adult novels and is a regular contributor to the Minnesota-based women’s magazine, Rochester Women. Visit her on Twitter, Facebook, and her website.

---

For more information on Déjà You or the Book Besties, visit their website, or find them on Twitter or Facebook.

Save

Déjà You Giveaway on Goodreads

Book Besties is giving away a copy of Déjà You: Stories of Second Chances. The giveaway opens tomorrow. Click the link below – it’s super simple to enter.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Déjà You

by Kelly Cain

Giveaway ends June 04, 2017.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Pre-order Déjà You: Stories of Second Chances

We unveiled the cover to our new anthology Déjà You: Stories of Second Chances on Monday. We’re excited to let you know that ebooks are ready for pre-order on Amazon for only $0.99. Pre-order now for this low price because when it’s released on May 30, 2017, the collection will go back to its regular price.

We can’t wait to share these wonderful stories with you. Take a look:

Kelly Cain’s We’ll Always Have Oahu takes us on a whirlwind New Adult romance set in the 80s between a young woman on a high school graduation trip and a handsome Navy sailor.

Bianca M. Schwarz transports us to 1760 in The Pearl with the story of Marcus Landover, who attends a card party and ends up with more than he bargained for in the beautiful Sophia Chelmsford.

Amanda Linsmeier’s Joy and Sorrow reunites lovers separated by death in a Women’s Fiction tinged with the unusual.

The Eyes of the Heart by Jamie McLachlan gives us Rosalina, who is forced to confront her attraction and the truth about her blindness when a new gardener is hired at the Greystone house.

Finally, C.H. Armstrong brings us Mr. Midnight, where tragedy reunites two star-crossed lovers, but misunderstandings soon rip them apart. Now, six years later, the stars are realigning with the help of the smooth voice of a late night radio DJ.

Some of the stories are sweet, some sad, some steamy, but all carry the same theme. Déjà You is a collection of stories for those who believe in love, but most of all, second chances.

So head on over to Amazon and pre-order Déjà You: Stories of Second Chances in ebook while it’s on sale. The paperback version will be available for pre-order soon.

 

New Year Giveaway

Book Besties is giving away a bunch of books to celebrate the New Year. There’s no purchase necessary and you can earn extra entries by clicking a follow or like, or sharing. Click here for the Rafflecopter to enter and remember to check back for the Book Bestie collaboration of short stories in Spring 2017.

 

An Introduction to Book Besties Author, Kelly Cain

One day I decided to sit down and write a book. I’d never thought about writing before, didn’t even really like it all that much. I was a business major in college, only taking the requisite English and literature classes required for graduation. Sure, I wrote essays, term papers, book reports, and the like. Not fun, although I didn’t mind the book reports so much. Those allowed me to read. Now there’s something I really did like to do. I read during car rides, sitting by the pool, waiting for class, waiting on a mall bench while my friends shopped – you get the idea. After years of reading, I decided I could write. I sat down and started, and six weeks later I’d written the first draft for my debut novel, Altered. A few months after what I considered editing (removing/correcting erroneous punctuation and grammar), I sent it out to a publisher, and it was accepted and published.  As I met with and talked with other authors, I found out this is not the normal routine for getting published. I have since found that out on a personal level. A few months after completing Altered, I sat down and wrote another novel, Scale Steps, in about two months. No takers on Scale Steps, and after working with a Penner (my publisher for Altered) editor and knowing what actual editing is, it needs an extensive overhaul. I’ve since published a short story, Connections, and am in the process of writing two novels (one or both are part of a series), two short stories, and a screenplay. Writing? Who knew it would become my calling.

If forced, I can write any hour day or night, but my preference is twilight. I seem to be most creative and creatively focused. I can write until late at night, although most times I have to cut myself off since I have a day job.

By and large, I’m a pantser, not a plotter. When writing my first two novels and the one short story, I pants my way through. I had a general idea of what the story was and where I wanted it to go although that usually changed once I started writing. It’s cliché, but the characters really do take control and write their own stories. My latest novel effort is something else though. I’m venturing into fantasy, and about 10,000 words in, I realized I couldn’t continue riding by the seat of my pants. With fantasy, you sort of have to know what the details are in order to weave them together in a sensible way. I had to stop and really flesh out the story. I’m still not sure what’s going to happen exactly, but I have a better sense of the structure, and I absolutely know the long game, especially since it’s a series.

I live in the suburbs of Houston, so most of my stories take place in and around Houston. Even my current fantasy manuscript is set in the fictional town of Spring Oaks (Ha! I live in Spring). I’ve also lived in Northern (born and raised whoot!) and Southern California, and both of those places showed up in Altered.

I tend to put a lot of cooking in my books because I love to cook and eat, especially Creole food. I have several book recipes listed on my website, and I expect to add plenty more. Being a huge fan of the Diana Gabaldon book series, Outlander, I submitted two recipes to the Cooklander* cookbook, and both were accepted. Maybe one day I’ll even do a cookbook myself. Who knows?

I love all my characters, well most of them, but Andrew from Scale Steps was the most fun to write. He and the main character, Faith, meet in Scotland (he’s Scottish, she’s American), and spend a week together while she’s on vacation. I loved researching where they would go for fun, especially given they’re both pretty outdoorsy, and listening to hours of Sam Heughan interviews to get the accent down. Andrew is a celebrity, but super down-to-earth and sweet. And he’ll do anything to get his girl.

Another character I would like to explore more is Rob from Connections. Because it’s a short story, we don’t get a whole lot of face-time with Rob, but he’s a great guy who has his stuff together. Plus, he’s a tattooed nerd… Is there really anything else to say? Here’s a short excerpt from Connections: A steamy short story:

I walk over to the bed and sit, unzipping my boots.

He watches me carefully, and I pat the space next to me. “I think you promised me a look at your tattoos.”

As he strips off his sweater and the T-shirt underneath, he walks slowly towards me, jeans slung low on his hips, allowing me to take in the full effect.

“God, you’re the hottest nerd I’ve ever seen.”

That brings a smile to his face, and he sits next to me on the bed. With my hands, I encourage him to turn away so I can see his perfectly muscled back with some sort of shield covering the top half. On the arm that doesn’t have the sleeve, there’s a tattoo of computer code on the inside of his well-defined bicep.

I look at his back again and try to puzzle out what it is. Finally I just ask, “What is it?”

“It’s a Hylian Shield.”

Since that doesn’t clear anything up for me, I lean forward and wrap my arms around him, kissing the smooth skin of his back.

He emits a small groan and puts his hands on top of mine, before turning towards me. “I think turnabout is fair play.” He smiles devilishly at me.

---

I’m looking forward to the publication of Déjà You because I’ve formed some great friendships with a group of really talented authors, and this collection will feature some incredible short stories. For my part, I’m including one of two short stories:

High School Hate – A couple has a terrible breakup in high school, and continue that trend over the next few years. Will they have a second chance at love when they meet at their high school reunion, or will they continue to make each other’s lives miserable?

We’ll Always Have Oahu – A young woman goes on a high school graduation trip with her friends to Hawaii and meets a handsome Navy sailor. She herself is slated to go to the Army, but after a whirlwind romance, he wants her to rethink her choices.

Look for Déjà You Spring 2017.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

*Proceeds of Cooklander go to charity:

• Bloodwise – Formerly known as Leukemia & Lymphoma Research, is the UK’s biggest blood cancer charity. Working to beat, treat, cure and prevent blood cancers. Bloodwise researches, helps, campaigns, shares learning and raises money. Sam Heughan, who plays Jamie Fraser in Starz series Outlander, supports Bloodwise. See https://bloodwise.org.uk/ for more information or to make a direct donation to this organization.
• NPH USA – supports Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (Spanish for “our little Brothers & sister”) raising children and transforming the lives of more than 3,400 orphaned, abandoned & disadvantaged children, in 9 countries, by providing shelter, food, clothing, healthcare, and education, in a Christian family environment, based on unconditional acceptance, love, sharing, working and responsibility. Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander book series, supports NPH USA. See https://www.nphusa.org/ for more information or to make direct donation to this organization.
• World Child Cancer – Their mission is to improve cancer diagnosis, treatment and care for children across the developing world. Caitriona Balfe, who plays Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser on Starz Outlander, is the patron of World Child Cancer. See http://www.worldchildcancer.org/ for more information or to make a direct donation to the organization