“Dark stubble on a jaw that would make a mule proud.
Dark hair, almost black, clear gray eyes with a hint of green
and hazel around the iris, and a height and girth to give
the Flood Building a run for its money.”
— Alli McClare describing Nick Barone in Dare to Love Again
Merciful Providence, since Dare to Love Again officially released on January 1st, it has garnered a solid five-star rating on Amazon (24 five-stars and one four-star), which makes me exhale a big sigh of relief. Uh … so far, that is. The actual proof will be in the pudding next week when approximately 80-90 blogger reviewers post their reviews in the official blog tour for Dare to Love Again, January 20-24, so wish me luck. Or, better yet — say a prayer! 😉
And … speaking of prayers, I suspect the two winners listed below in the “Spirit of San Francisco” contest held by my publisher said a boatload because they’ve cinched a ton of fun prizes with 1st and 2nd place. And those winners are …
1st-Place Winner: Ashley Patterson
2nd-Place Winner: Shannon Stockton
SUPER CONGRATS to both Ashley and Shannon, and a big HUG to everyone who entered! I wish each of you could have won, truly!
But to help cheer up those who didn’t win, one of my favorite reader friends, Angi Griffis, gave me a great idea as to how to do that. You see, she’s currently reading Dare to Love Again and asked me if I had any pix of celebrities I had pegged to play Alli and Nick. And, OF COURSE, I do and can hardly believe I haven’t posted them before now! So … without further ado, here are the shots I pictured while writing the story.
ALLISON MCCLARE: Alli McClare is petite with curly black hair in the typical Gibson Girl style of the day, usually up, as indicated in the 2nd pic below. She has eyes that are a very deep green with creamy, porcelain skin. She is fun and adventurous and has a flair for drama. She wants to be an independent woman so she learns jiu-jitsu and carries a large hat pin to protect herself when she takes a notion to explore the Barbary Coast. She has a dry sense of humor, is down to earth and doesn’t trust men because she’s been engaged and brokenhearted by three men who were fortune hunters and frauds.
The first pic is what I sent to Revell of a model whose name I do not know, and the next four model pics are the model Revell hired who actually appears on the cover of the book.
Next … we have Detective Nick Barone, or as Alli calls him, Mr. Ga-roan! Nick Barone is a six-foot-four Italian and 30 years old with green, almost hazel eyes and dark hair that tends to curl. I see him as a the unnamed model below or a younger George Clooney. He is a no-nonsense, hard-nosed plain-clothes detective with a hair-trigger temper and an axe to grind with the upper class. He’s smart, good-looking and a bit on the grouchy side, but ALWAYS has his shoes polished and animal crackers in his pocket (and on his breath).
DO let me know if you read and post a review for Nick and Alli’s story so that I can enter you in my contest to have a character named after you in my next book and a signed copy and maybe — if you are the top poster — a $50 gift card, okay?
Happy weekend, and be sure to check out the following giveaways going on NOW and those coming up soon!
Hugs, Julie
WHOO-HOO … LOTS OF GIVEAWAYS!!!
FREE DOWNLOAD on my Romance-ology 101: Writing Romantic Tension for the Inspirational and Sweet Markets, “a writing book that needs to be on the shelf of every author because nobody does romantic tension better,” according to Mary Connealy, so get your copy “hot” off the e-press HERE before JAN. 20, and we do mean “hot”!
JANUARY 13 – 20, 2014: One of my WONDERFUL reader friends decided to post one review every few days for all my books leading up to the blog tour for Dare to Love Again scheduled for Jan. 20-24. And guess what?? She is offering winner’s choice of any of my books, so I hope you pop by to each of the reviews to comment and accrue points in her contest. Note: Since this is a spur-of-the-moment idea to feature all my books and not a scheduled interview, I won’t be responding to comments, unfortunately, but I will respond to comments on all the other reviews below that follow. But here’s the link for another giveaway at least, so check it out every couple of days or so for another chance to win a book. GOOD LUCK!! Christian Novels Blog.
JANUARY 15 – 18, 2014: Join me for an interview/giveaway of your choice of my books including my newest release, Dare to Love Again, at Amber Perry’s blog, The Historical Christian Review. Hope to see you there!
JANUARY 24 – 31, 2014: Join me for an interview/giveaway of your choice of my books including my newest release, Dare to Love Again, at Lena Nelson Dooley’s blog, A Christian Writer’s World. Hope to see you there!
JANUARY 27 – 29, 2014: Join me for an interview/giveaway of your choice of my books including my newest release, Dare to Love Again, at Casey Herringshaw’s blog, Writing for Christ: The Audience of One. Hope to see you there!
JANUARY 28 – 31, 2014: Join me for an interview/giveaway of your choice of my books including my newest release, Dare to Love Again, at Savanna Kaiser’s blog, The Engrafted Word. Hope to see you there!
FEBRUARY 14-28, 2014: Join me for an interview/giveaway of your choice of my books including my newest release, Dare to Love Again, at the Remain in His Love blog. Hope to see you there!
