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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Finding Claire Fletcher Novel Giveaway and Guest Blog Post.

On my excruciating journey to find a literary agent, I met Lisa Regan, a struggling author facing the same uphill battles I was fighting through. She had the door slammed in her face quite a few times, but she never gave up hope of getting published. At this moment, she has one published novel available, and another one on the way. I've read her novel, Finding Claire Fletcher, and I can tell you it's a great read.

Below is the synopsis for the novel, and then a guest post from Lisa.  But...wait...she's saved the best for last! A giveaway! Everyone loves free stuff!  So if you're a novel reader, you should check this one out.......

Newly divorced and with his career in jeopardy, Detective Connor Parks takes solace in the arms of a beautiful woman he meets at a bar. The next morning, Claire Fletcher is gone, leaving nothing behind but an address and a decade-old mystery. The address leads to the Fletcher family home where Claire’s siblings inform Connor that their fifteen-year-old sister was abducted from a city street ten years ago and is presumed dead.

During those ten years, Claire endured the cruel torture and depravity of the man who abducted her. Paralyzed by fear and too ashamed to return to her family, Claire is resigned to her life as Lynn, the identity her abductor forced upon her. Every time she attempts escape or betrays him in the smallest way, someone dies. Even now, her clandestine run-in with Connor Parks may have put his life at risk, as well as the lives of her family.

Connor is convinced that not only is Claire Fletcher alive, but that she is also the woman he met at the bar. Driven to see her again, he begins his own investigation, off the clock and without the police department's consent. He is determined to find her and unravel the mystery of her abduction and odd reemergence. But finding Claire Fletcher proves more dangerous than he anticipates. In fact, it may be deadly.

You can buy Lisa's book at:
Amazon (e-book)
Barnes & Noble (e-book)


 Lisa's guest post


WHY DO YOU WRITE?

As writers, we will inevitably be asked the question:  why do you write?  I’ve been asked this many times.  My immediate answer is: because I have to. I think it is because writing is how I make sense of the world. It’s how I process things, how I talk myself in and out of things, how I resolve my issues, how I answer my questions. 

As a child, pretty early on I had a lot of stuff to make sense of--I’m a product of divorce. Now I don’t want to make it sound like I had it so horribly because I didn’t, but the fact is that for a young child, divorce is hard. It hurts and all of a sudden your perfectly ordered world doesn’t make sense anymore, and in your child’s mind, it never will again. Plus for the rest of your childhood, no matter where you are, you are missing someone. My husband came from a not-divorced home and I can never fully explain to him the lifelong sense of FRACTURE that coming from a bunch of divorces has left me with—how it affects so many aspects of my life to this day. 

Again, I’m not saying oh-my-life-was-ruined-by-my-parents’-divorce.  On the contrary there were great things that resulted from the divorces. First of all I now have a number of (step/half) siblings and step parents who are some of the most fascinating, wonderful, kind-hearted, brilliant people I have ever had the privilege to know. I would never know them if the divorces and remarriages hadn’t taken place, and my existence would be much poorer for it. People who made me the person I am today, whose influences I am grateful for them beyond words. Then there is the double Christmas/birthday presents, double family vacations, etc. Those are all awesome things about being from a divorced family.

On the other hand, when you’re very, very young and all of these relationships and dynamics are changing around you, it’s hard to make sense of what’s going on in your world and where you fit. I’m not saying this is the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone—far from it—I’m just saying for me, the impetus for my writing came from just being really confused about my world and my place in it. When the landscape of your life and your role in the lives of everyone around you is constantly changing, sometimes you just want to get away. I loved, craved the escape that writing offered. In this world, I controlled everything. I could do anything I wanted, go anywhere I wanted, be anyone I wanted. It was a place I could go where I was completely free and where I always felt good. It was addictive. 

The other thing that it gave me was a constant. The writing never changed. It was always there, and it was always the same. Good or bad, sloppy or well-written, long-winded or brief—it was there. Wherever I went, there it was because it was inside me. It never left me, never made me feel badly about myself, never let me down, never disappointed me, never frightened me. It always felt good. It was consistent. It was constant. 

When I had no one to talk to, I wrote. When I needed to cheer up, I wrote. When I felt confused, I wrote. When I wanted a heady, euphoric rush, I wrote. When everything in my world was in disarray, I wrote. When I needed a release, I wrote. When I had questions, I wrote. It’s just the way I’ve always dealt with life so yeah, I have to write. Plus it feels good. It’s like a really great drug but it won’t land me in rehab, it won’t upset my stomach, and it won’t lower my inhibitions and make me do stupid stuff. You can’t beat it.

What about you?  Why do you write?


And now the free stuff!!!




As part of the Finding Claire Fletcher Blog Tour (12/6/12 through 12/21/12), Lisa Regan will be giving away the following items:

$25.00 Amazon Gift Card
1 signed copy of the paperback of Finding Claire Fletcher
1 e-book version of Finding Claire Fletcher

All you have to do is visit the Finding Claire Fletcher Blog Tour & Giveaway page on Lisa’s blog which you can find here and comment on that page letting Lisa know whose blog you’ve just come from.  Each commenter will be assigned a number and then the winners will be chosen using random.org.  Winners will be announced on 12/24/12!



9 comments:

Brian Miller said...

writing is great therapy...and def a drug that wont land you in prison...ha...true that...nice to meet you

Lisa Regan said...

Thank you!!!! This is awesome. I really, really, really appreciate it!!!! :)

Nice to meet you too, Brian!

Mike said...

It was my pleasure, Lisa.

And you are right Brian, writing is definitely a way to escape the everyday life.

JeffO said...

It's always fascinating to get a glimpse into the mind of a fellow writer. Thanks for sharing, Lisa and Otin!

the walking man said...

Why do I write? I think the most honest answer now is that after doing it for so long I do it out of habit. I get a line that rolls through my head and know if I don't write it down something bad will happen like an ink pen will leak in the pocket of my favorite jacket and it's the only time of day I get to wear my headphones, block out all the noise of the planet and listen to the music I want to listen to.

inpapa65 said...

If Otin says it is good, this is a must for me.

Nancy Thompson said...

That was awesome! I'll never forget the story you told me about you as a child with your little suitcase. Broke my heart. But at least you got great material from it.

Anonymous said...

I write because I love working with words... Thanks for letting us meet Lisa, Otin. And thank you, Lisa,for your generosity. Nice relazin read...

Pat said...

This book is already on my list of books to read because I had read about it from one of my many sources of new books that come out. Congratulations to Lisa for her tenacity in getting this book published. So happy for her!