Monday, June 24, 2013

[Book Spotlight] Destination Wedding by Robyn Neeley


Title: Destination Wedding
Author: Robyn Neeley
Publisher: Crimson Romance

BLURB:
 
Wedding planner Kate Ashby’s fear of flying is eased by a sexy stranger and one slow lip lock that rockets her into another obit.
 
CEO Luke Cannon has just traded seats with his identical twin. Little did he know that an innocent kiss while pretending he was his brother would soon create havoc.
 
What happens in the air doesn’t stay up there. Once on tropical land, Kate believes that the handsome stranger who gave her the best kiss of her life is now her new client, Drew Cannon, fiancé to the beautiful and wealthy Lauren Kincaid. While Kate struggles with the intense feelings she thinks she has for Drew, Luke discovers Kate’s been hired to plan his brother’s destination wedding. He also realizes the initial sparks they shared 30,000 feet up are now mistakenly aimed at Drew.
 
Can Luke get Kate to realize that the feelings she has are for him? He’s got forty-eight hours in paradise to try.
 
Available on Amazon
Coming soon to Barnes & Noble
 
 
Author Bio: Robyn Neeley is an East Coaster who loves to explore new places; watches way more reality TV than she cares to admit; can’t live without Dunkin Donuts coffee and has never met a cookie she didn’t like. If you have a must read romance suggestion or a fabulous cookie recipe, she wants to know. Visit her athttp://www.robynneeley.com/
 
Twitter – @robynneeley


What sparked your interest in becoming a romance writer?
I’ve always been a reader. The day after a particularly sad event in 2009, I sat on the commuter train and scratched some sentences on a notepad that eventually became the prologue to my holiday romance, Christmas Dinner. It took me three years filled with online classes; critiques and chapter contests, before it was finally ready to submit. It’s coming out this November by Crimson Romance.

What is your favorite scene in your new release?
I have so many! The opening scene in Destination Wedding is so fun in a terrifying way. My wedding planner heroine has a serious case of in-flight fright on a rather turbulent 12 hour flight to Hawaii. To get through it she chants her calming mantra, “I do. I do,” and when that doesn’t work she throws back two tiny vodka bottles and a glass of champagne. Lucky for her, my hero helps ease her nerves.

There’s also a towel scene in the hotel that has been cracking readers up. An author told me before it released that this scene would be the one people would talk about if it was a movie. I guess she was right. It is quite a “the hero so deserved that and then some” kind of scene. J

Best Writing Advice You’ve Ever Received
Everyone says to keep writing. It’s true. Publish the first and move on to the second. I agree – to an extent. I wouldn’t feel comfortable if I didn’t work equally as hard to promote the book currently out. To me, promotion is part of the writing cycle. I now build in hours during the week to specifically promote. It does cut down on my writing time for the current project, but I’m okay with that. I want my book that is currently out there to have its best chance. I owe it to my characters!

Worst Writing Advice You’ve Ever Received
Get onto social media (and best as well!). While yes, it is important to be on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, etc… you need to be smart about your outreach, otherwise you run the risk of promoting constantly to other authors who most likely won’t buy your book. Some will, but you’ve got to work on expanding your audience to readers interested in your genre.

I spend a lot of time experimenting with advertisments and hashtags. Because my book is called Destination Wedding it’s allowed me to creatively use the #destinationwedding hashtag, starting conversations with people I might otherwise not have connected with, but might enjoy my book.

Do you have a website recommendation for other writers?
I am a fan of both Savvy Authors and Romance University. Savvy Authors offers super helpful online workshops and online discussion chats. Romance University has wonderful weekly posts on writing craft; tips for publicity and marketing; and support for new authors.

Do you have a ritual when it comes to writing? Example….get coffee, blanket, paper, pen and a comfy place
I love to have Dunkin Donuts iced coffee next to me when I write – and okay, I never go there without getting a glazed donut as well.

Often, I’ll have a romantic comedy movie playing for inspiration. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched Music and Lyrics, Runaway Bride, The Wedding Planner and Leap Year! I’m pretty sure I would sweep any “Romantic Comedies” category on Jeopardy!

Is there anyone who really mentored or inspired you to keep writing until you were finally published?

I took a three month mentoring class with Lori Wilde last summer offered through Savvy Authors. She was tough! I think I cried the first three weeks. My writing grew by leaps and bounds. The techniques I learned from her helped me write Destination Wedding in four months. She was amazing! I highly recommend aspiring writers consider an online mentoring course. Savvy Authors offers several of these throughout the year with seasoned mentors. It’s highly worth the investment!

2 comments:

  1. Congrats on your new release! I loved Destination Wedding and wish you every success.
    Your post makes me want to watch a rom-com! I loved Music and Lyrics and think I might try to fit it into my schedule this week.

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  2. Robyn, I think some of your answers were incredibly helpful! We do sometimes find ourselves "preaching to the choir"--the support of other authors is essential, and we need to support each other--but it's important to get our stories out to the readers that never want more than to enjoy a good story.

    Much continued success!

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