Meadows Shore series by Eva Charles (VNBtM, guest post, excerpt, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

It is my pleasure to share a guest post by author Eva Charles, who tells us what her most challenging obstacle has been on her path to being published.


EC: My age is the most challenging obstacle I’ve encountered in publishing books. I wrote, and self-published my first novel last year at age fifty-five. Now, that’s not so old, and most days, I certainly don’t feel old, but I’m not as young as I used to be, and my aging brain had a lot to learn.



For most writers the path to publishing is long, years long, sometimes decades long. When I began my journey last year, I didn’t feel as though I had enough time left in my career to pursue a traditional publishing route, querying publishers and agents, hoping that after a sea of rejections, someone might be willing to take me on as a client. Fortunately, I began to write at a time when Indie authors had already come into their own, especially in the Romance genre. I will be forever grateful to all the pioneers, mostly women, who paved the way for writers, like me, to self-publish their work. If it had not been for them, my writing career would be nothing more than a dream.



Self-publishing requires lots of skills, especially in the area of technology. Skills I didn’t possess. I did have some basic computer knowledge about word processing, PowerPoint, excel, and email, but that’s about it. I had absolutely no idea how to format an e-book, write even the minimal amount of code required to build a website, and social media was a mystery to me. I didn’t have either a Facebook or a twitter account. If I were younger, technology and social media would have been something I’d have grown up comfortably around, understanding it as a beneficial tool, rather than fearing it like a black hole waiting to swallow my completed manuscript, or me, whole.



When an author writes a book and self-publishes, the promotional duties are also left to them. Like it is for many women of my age, self-promotion has been a challenge for me. Women of my generation, are for the most part, terrible self-promoters. We were taught that it was perfectly acceptable to talk about the accomplishments of others, but that it was unacceptable to speak of our own. I’m sure millennials reading this are rolling their eyes right about now, but it’s true, entire books have been written on the subject. Old habits, deeply engrained, are difficult to break.



I might not have the stamina that I had as a twenty-five year-old law student, staying awake and clear-minded until two or three in the morning to meet a deadline, but I have perspective, and understand the value of playing long ball. I’m also quite certain that no one owes me anything, so I work hard, listen closely, and I’m nice to everyone. Age and experience have taught me that there is enough sunshine for everyone.



Every day hasn’t been easy, but they’ve all been educational, and most days have been wonderful. I’ve met so many terrific people, readers, writers, and bloggers who have been kind and generous. I’ve also had the opportunity to work with talented professionals, an editor, formatter, and cover designer who helped me put out a better book than I could have on my own. I’ve started a website, a blog, Facebook and twitter accounts, copyrighted books, formatted an e-book, learned to write a little code, and started a small publishing company—all in the last eighteen months! I’ve also written and published three novels, and I’m working on a fourth. And did I mention I’m getting better at self-promotion?



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Meadows Shore Series
A Wedding at Meadows Shore: Sophie's Story
My Sweetest Sasha: Cole's Story

Petite Madeline: Drew's Story
 
by Eva Charles

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GENRE: Contemporary Romance

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BLURB:

Prepare to fall in love with the Claytons and Harringtons and their rich Portuguese heritage. A Wedding at Meadows Shore is the first book in the series. In it, you’ll meet the family and visit their beloved Meadows Shore nestled along the moody Atlantic in the charming seaside town of Fair Harbor.

It all begins with Sophie’s story, where she discards the past and learns to trust herself and others. The series follows the lives of her sisters and cousins while they, too, sort through their baggage and fall in love. Travel with them on their romantic journeys, stopping in rural Minnesota, New Orleans, and other enchanted places along the way.

They are wealthy and powerful, but suffer pain and loss much like the rest of us. Even great privilege can't shield them from those experiences. But despite their wealth and power, I think you'll find them approachable and down-to-earth—or as Cole Harrington would say: “We put our pants on one leg at a time, same as everybody else.”

There's an old Portuguese adage, "the rooster crows loudly, but it’s the hen who’s in charge.” And so it is with the Claytons and Harringtons: strong women, alpha males, and of course, Avó Angelina, the family matriarch who keeps them all on their best behavior.

Bem vindo à família, Welcome to the family!



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EXCERPT

A Wedding at Meadows Shore:

His voice took on a husky, seductive quality. “The women I date aren’t interested in my body, Sophie. What interests them is how I pleasure their bodies.”

She stared deep into his icy blue eyes and snickered.

Max never missed even the smallest of details. They were often the difference between success and getting your hat handed to you. Tonight, he noticed Sophie’s eyes betray her, even as she mocked him. Her pupils were dilated, the rich, whiskey-colored irises nearly overtaken by black. I have her attention.

Emboldened by her body’s reaction, he took a step closer. He was so close that if she’d been breathing, her breath would’ve warmed his skin. “I can bring much more to your bed than my father does. So…much…more…” He drew out the words, emphasizing each in a voice that oozed sex. “And though I’m not an easy man to impress, I’m sure you’d have no trouble persuading me to finance your agency. None at all,” he drawled.

Neither of them spoke for a long moment, maybe two. The air was charged. The silence dangled between them like a ripe peach, fragrant and swollen, tempting the weakest among them to reach for it first.

“What do you think?” he asked softly, ending the silence.

While waiting for her response, a calculated kind of wait, he resisted the urge to lift his hand and run his fingers through the strands of hair that’d come loose, softly framing her face.

“I think you really are an ass.”

With that, she turned and walked away. Leaving him to gape at her magnificent back.
Amazon


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AUTHOR Bio and Links:


Eva Charles is the author of the multi-titled Meadows Shore Series chronicling the lives and loves of the Clayton-Harrington family. She invites you to visit their beloved Meadows Shore, nestled in the charming seaside town of Fair Harbor, where you’ll enjoy love, laughter, loyalty, and an abundance of mouth-watering food, Portuguese style.

After being a confirmed city-girl for more than thirty-five years, Eva moved to beautiful western Massachusetts in 2014. There, she found herself living in the woods with no job, no friends (unless you count the turkeys, deer, and coyotes roaming the backyard), and no children underfoot, wondering what on earth she’d been thinking. But as it turned out, it was the perfect setting to take all those yarns spinning in her head and weave them into a romantic tale.

When she’s not writing, trying to squeeze information out of her tight-lipped sons or playing with the two cutest dogs you’ve ever seen, Eva’s creating chapters in her own love story.



Website
Amazon author page
Facebook
Goodreads


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GIVEAWAY



a Rafflecopter giveaway
The tour dates can be found here