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Friends and Writers -- with Giveaway

Kathryn LeBlanc, Nola Li Barr, Virginia’dele Smith, Jocelyn Kraemer, Kristeen Groth, and Lara Alspaugh • Apr 17, 2022

Photo above courtesy of George Milton, Pexels.com

Today we're trying something completely different--I'm hosting 6 authors at the same time! These friends have worked together as a team to make their books better, to reach more readers, and to create lasting friendships.


Ladies, take it away! Plus, they're offering the opportunity to win a $25 Amazon gift card! Read on through to see what to do.


Pythagoras said, “Friends are as companions on a journey, who ought to aid each other to persevere in the road to a happier life.”

 

Six authors of sweet and clean romance are taking those words to heart, and they’re having a blast as their writing careers are taking off to new heights.

 

Kathryn LeBlanc, Nola Li Barr, Virginia’dele Smith, Jocelyn Kraemer, Kristeen Groth, and Lara Alspaugh met through a publishing course. During online coaching sessions, the six women began sharing ideas of what was working well for each of them.

 

Those conversations naturally evolved to brainstorming, talking through scenes, and offering advice on all the different elements that create a wonderful story: setting, plot, character development, pacing, and voice.

 

Individually, each one of the ladies was supporting the other five by sharing their new releases, serving as beta readers and launch team members, and providing a sounding board and effective feedback.

 

Ashli Montgomery, writing small-town, romantic quilt fiction as author Virginia’dele Smith, decided to gather the co-workers into one place, to create a space where they could share their research and recommendations.

 

“I was receiving incredible inspiration and encouragement from these ladies. I knew that if we were unified as a group, we’d be unstoppable,” Ashli said.

 

And she was right!

 

“We should start an author group…band together,” group member Kathryn LeBlanc, tossed out in their Facebook chat. Kathryn began writing quilt fiction in the romance genre this year, and is better known for her best-selling quilting cozy mysteries under the pen name Kathryn Mykel.

 

Kristeen Groth, who’s inspirational romantic fiction is described as a divine union of romance, healing, and intuition, got the ball rolling by creating a spreadsheet of information beneficial to indie authors of sweet, clean, and wholesome romance.

 

Nola Li Barr, bestselling author of romantic family sagas that fall under the genres of women’s fiction and young adult fiction, added her wealth of resources to the group, and it felt very official…these six authors were off and running.

 

Jocelyn Kraemer, known for women's fiction intertwined with sweet and steamy contemporary romance to warm your heart and soothe your soul, and Lara Alspaugh, author of women’s fiction and clean, wholesome contemporary romance that are set along the fresh coast of Michigan,  jumped on board.

 

Within a week, plans were in the works to advertise, market, and promote their first project: a month-long giveaway including a $25 Amazon gift card and books from the authors.

 

Author collaborations are common among successful writers, so these ladies weren’t reinventing the wheel. But what began as a unified place to swap resources, share their books, and build readership has blossomed into meaningful friendships. The kind of friendships where true success for one another eliminates the need for critical competition, where each of the friends has a unique voice that is valued, and where each of the women can count on one another.

 

To build on what Pythagoras said, assisting one another to success is a very good thing. The accountability it creates is priceless, but the joy, confidence, and camaraderie it establishes is by far the best benefit!

 

Ashli, Kathryn, Kristeen, Nola, Jocelyn, and Lara want to hear from you… What meaningful collaborations have you had in the past, and what would you enjoy seeing from them in the future? 

 

Getting to know our authors a little better: 

 

1) Please describe yourself with three words.

 

Lara Alspaugh: passionate, honest, strong

Kathryn LeBlanc: quilter, author, designer

Nola Li Barr: organized, imaginative, hermit

Kristeen Groth: peaceful, creative, intuitive

Ashli Montgomery writing as Virginia'dele Smith: Loving, Creative, Passionate

Jocelyn Kraemer: Driven, Shy, Caring

 

 

2) What do you enjoy most about writing?

Lara Alspaugh: I love the creativity of writing. I also love exploring relationships and life circumstances through the collective eyes of my characters. And I really love emotion, not drama per say, but emotion. The humanness of being human. So I love to craft a story that pulls at the heart strings but also shows the rise after the fall, the loss, the struggle. I love a happy ending.

 

Jocelyn Kraemer: For me, writing is a way to process ideas and emotions. I love getting to muddle concepts, experiences, and thoughts around in my brain and then craft them into stories that entertain, while also helping people to better understand their lives and the world we live in. We all must, at one time or another, grapple with difficult challenges related to life and death, love and hate, despair and happiness. Stories help prepare us to meet those challenges, head on, so that we can live our best lives. I think that is why it is so important to me to include a happy ending in everything I write. If I can craft a happy ending into a fictional story, then maybe…just maybe…we can craft those same happy endings into our own non-fictitious life stories. Now that is something to love about writing! 


Nola Li Barr: I love the quietness of writing. Being able to dive into your own made-up world and create stories from it.

 

Kristeen Groth: I love the freedom of writing…freedom to create something unique, freedom to do it my way, freedom to create my own schedule, freedom to express my soul and message through stories. I also love how the books and stories I create make an impact and change the lives of those who read them.

 

Kathryn LeBlanc: The challenge. Everything I have learned over the past year has challenged me to no end. When I left my corporate day job, I was so burnt out and mentally drained, that I truly thought I might not ever be able to learn anything complex again. To say that self publishing is complex, is an understatement. It is hard work! But I am loving the journey.

 

Ashli Montgomery writing as Virginia'dele Smith: My favorite part of writing clean and wholesome romance is seeing how the love stories come together! Getting to know the characters and being a “fly on the wall” in Green Hills — the fictional small town I created for my series — make the books come alive. I love belonging in that community… watching my friends from town fall in love is fun and joyful, every single book!

 

 

3) How did you get started writing?

 

Lara Alspaugh: Since I was young I have written -- stories, journals, poems, songs ... I wrote my first book in 2008 and didn't try to publish it until 2018. It wasn't until late 2021 that I thought about doing this on a full-time basis -- or rather thought it was an option I could go after.

 

Kathryn LeBlanc: My intention was to start writing a few years earlier, as a way to make a good living while being able to service my retail quilting customers and be mobile. Well, life had other plans for me and I wouldn’t change a thing. I have a full writing schedule for 2022 with three new romance books releasing before the end of the year. And more cozies releasing also!

 

 

Nola Li Barr: Stories have always floated around in my head but there they stayed because my career took me on a different track. But one year, I learned about self-publishing and suddenly the dream to see my book in a store seemed attainable. That was the year I started writing my stories down and it’s been the funnest and most fulfilling career I’ve ever had.

 

 

Kristeen Groth: When I was young, I was always reading and writing, entering writing contests, and dreamed of being a writer. After taking a horrible composition class in college, I believed I couldn't write—And didn’t write anything for about 25 years. My inspiration to write a book came through a series of intuitive messages that I tried to ignite, unsuccessfully. Any excuse I made about not writing a book received an immediate solution. So finally I gave in, wrote my first book, and fell in love with writing again. Now I am hooked, currently working on my third novel, and have contributed to 6 non-fiction anthologies.

 

Ashli Montgomery writing as Virginia'dele Smith: I lay in bed at night and envision the characters in my books. I see their struggles, and I see them overcoming. I see them have the courage to choose love. I hear their conversations and feel compelled to write down the dialog. I simply feel called to share their love stories.

 

Jocelyn Kraemer: I’ve always wanted to write a book. Not just any book. A novel. I think most people at least think about it. But I never thought I could. Life was too busy, first with getting through school, then securing that first real job, followed by marriage, and then babies. Life was full and very busy. Time to write a book? Nope, never. But then, one day, I realized that if I didn’t try, of course I would never write a book. So, I tried. I dove in. Jumped off that cliff with both feet and started putting down on paper the ideas that had been percolating around in my brain for years. And what a wonderful ride it’s been! Yes, it’s hard and often tedious. But it’s also one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done—and that I plan to keep on doing for as long as I can.


Here is the link to the giveaway:  http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/840d70478/


Check out the books:

Christmas Star Cottage https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Star-Cottage-Holiday-Book-ebook/dp/B09TS2TVK6

Forbidden Blossom  https://www.amazon.com/s?k=forbidden+blossom&crid=E9VEKV4PDC9

Grocery Girl  https://www.amazon.com/Book-Grocery-Girl-Green-Hills-ebook/dp/B09KQDK8D8

The Metamorphosis of Becca https://www.amazon.com/Metamorphosis-Becca-Jocelyn-Kraemer-ebook/dp/B09QFVJ79D

Lara Alspaugh's Amazon page https://www.amazon.com/Lara-Alspaugh/e/B07BM959PM

Soul-iloquy https://www.amazon.com/s?k=soul-iloquy&crid=2DVTNC16955DS

 

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