TVBT: ACTING UP by Kristin Wallace (Covington Falls Chronicles Series) #Guestpost #Giveaway @tastybooktours

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Addison Covington is the reigning Ice Queen of television. Until her producer husband falls in love with her on-screen daughter and a well-placed punch on national television casts her as the wicked ex-wife. Fired and disgraced, she escapes to Covington Falls, the idyllic Southern town where she found comfort in a time of turmoil as a teenager.

Life is constantly on the brink of chaos for widower Ethan Thomas. Being a single father is one challenge. As a high school principle he also has to deal with hundreds of students and their interfering parents. Now, he’s short one drama teacher and if he doesn’t find a replacement to direct the spring musical he’s going to have a riot on his hands. His childhood neighbor, Addison Covington, could be an answer to prayer. Or one more complication he can’t afford.

Before Addison can say “Casting Call” she's drafted to direct the high school musical. Soon she’d dealing with some off-key caterwauling, a bitter stepson showing up on her doorstep, and the boy-next-door turned sexiest high school principal she's ever met. One thing Addison and Ethan agree on is that there’s no room in their lives for romance. He’s got too much at stake, and she needs to reclaim her former glory in Hollywood. In the end, these two lost souls will choreograph a happy ending with the help of Grace, Love and a Curtain Call.

My Road To Publication

by Kristin Wallace

ACTING UP is my second novel. I finally received the coveted “yes” from Astraea Press last year and my first book (MARRY ME) came out in October. Getting to that first sale took a long time. I was about 25 when I had the great epiphany that I was supposed to be a writer when I grew up. For the next few years I wrote and submitted…and I got absolutely nowhere. At the same time, I was still looking for a career path that would let me buy food and pay rent. I needed something where I could write and be creative, but actually get paid.

So, I stumbled on advertising and went back to school to study copywriting. I had to put the writing dream aside while I was in school and then I worked for several years in ad agencies and also running a freelance business. At some point I started writing again.

That’s when I had another “great epiphany”. One afternoon I was sitting at my computer working on an outline for a new book and I literally stopped with my hands on the keyboard. I realized it had been ten years and the urge to write had never gone away. I figured it had to mean something and so I decided to try again.

I joined Romance Writers of America and the local chapter, Florida Romance Writers.  I quickly discovered that I knew absolutely nothing about actual writing.  I started to learn, though. One thing I learned is that the selling a book to an agent or editor starts with a pitch. You have to be able to describe your 300+ page book in one paragraph or less. Imagine my surprise when I realized that wrestling large complicated subjects into a line and a paragraph of copy was exactly what I did every day for my day job.  I also got into the game at a time when publishing was undergoing a radical change.  Authors were doing more and more marketing for themselves. Then the advent of e-publishers and self-publishing exploded. Both of those avenues are all about marketing, and I’d spent the last decade of my life learning all the skills I would need to sell…myself.

Of course, the awaited book contract still didn’t come right away. It took 6 more years, four completed manuscripts and more “no’s” than I can count. But FINALLY…on May 10, 2013…I got a yes and sold my first book, MARRY ME an inspirational romance set in the fictional Southern town of Covington Falls. A few months later I sold the next two books in the series (which you remember I had written in the course of those 6 years).

ACTING UP is the second and it is a great story about a Hollywood diva who escapes to Covington Falls after losing her marriage and career and ends up being asked to direct the high school musical. This book is very special to my heart because I was a drama nerd in school. I’ve always loved theatre and it was great to be able to recreate that experience in a book.

Life is all about timing and now I’m in the perfect place.

Have you every experienced “perfect timing” in your life? Maybe something you waited on for years and then it finally happened? Tell me about it.

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Growing up Kristin devoured books like bags of Dove Dark Chocolate.  Everything from Nancy Drew & Encyclopedia Brown to C.S. Lewis and the  Sweet Valley High series. Later she discovered romance novels. It’s no surprise then that Kristin would one day try her hand at writing them. She writes inspirational romance and women’s fiction filled with love, laughter and a leap of faith. In May 2013, Kristin sold her first novel, MARRY ME, to Astraea Press. Publication date to come!

When she’s not writing her next novel, Kristin works as an advertising copywriter. She also enjoys singing in her church choir and playing flute in a community orchestra.

 http://authorkristinwallace.wordpress.com/

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