Hello Friends,

I’ve gotten quite a few emails asking about the next book in The Billionaire Marriage Brokers series, The Professional Bride, and when it will be made available so I wanted to update everyone on the status.

The book is almost ready. It’s so close! The cover is finished. The story is down. I just need to send it through one final editor and my amazing proofreader. However, The next two weeks are dedicated to the release of my new cookbook, The Healthy Family Slow Cooker Cookbook, published through Front Table Books under the name Christina Dymock. This is a follow up to the award-winning slow cooker book, The Hungry Family Slow Cooker Cookbook, and is now available through your local retailer as well as online through Amazon, iTunes, Barns and Noble, and etc.

I will also be releasing my book, Love in Light and Shadow, from the Summer in Snow Valley Anthology, individually on June 15th. I’ll be sure and let you know when it’s out. If you’d like to read it now, you can purchase the anthology by clocking here. I highly recommend the anthology. Not only s it a great summer read, but the authors are individually and collectively talented and the town of Snow Valley is a magical place. One of the comments we continually get in reviews is that readers wish Snow Valley were real and that they could visit the town.

What does all this mean for The Professional Bride? It means a release date in July. That’s not so far away. I’m so excited for this book. It’s based in Park City, Utah and it has all the wonderful elements of the first two books but with a twist. You see, this isn’t the bride’s first marriage. Nope. She’s done the BMB thing before — a couple times. This brings in some interesting dynamics with her ex-husbands and her new husband (who doesn’t want to be married in the first place but finds out having a wife can be a wonderful idea.)

I’ll post here when the book is released. If you’d like the information sent directly to your email, you can sign up for my newsletter by clicking here. Thanks for your interest in the Billionaire Marriage Brokers series!!

A Shot at the NYT Bestseller List

I need your help! And a Giveaway!

Hello Friends, We all have dreams and goals. If you’re like me, you keep the big ones close to your heart. Therefore, I haven’t told anyone this before, but one if my goals is to make the New York Times Best Seller’s List.
I know—it’s big.
The reason I’m telling you about this now, is that I just found out that Summer in Snow Valley has a shot at making the list. However, I can’t do this alone.
So I’m asking for your help.
This week, June 1-6, is when the sales count! I need to spread the word about the release week for this book! And I’m raffling off a $25 Amazon Gift Card as a thank you.
What you can do: Facebook shares, tweets, pins on pinterest, google shares, tumblr, and reviews, reviews, reviews—on amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple—wherever you buy and read! The momentum has been amazing, but we need to keep it going!
Okay, here’s how it works: If you email me back at authorlucymcconnell@gmail.com and let me know what you did to get the word out—you will be entered into a drawing to win a $25.00 amazon gift card! You get one entry for each share, post, tweet, whatever.  Here’s and example of what you can share on Facebook: I’m so excited for this new release Summer in Snow Valley! Check it out HERE!
Here are the hashtags for Twitter: #newrelease #clean romance #$.99 Sweet and Sassy! Summer in Snow Valley Get it HERE!
And, of course, if you haven’t had a chance to get your copy—get it HERE. I hope your week is going amazing and, once again, if you have a chance—you can get your copy for just 99 cents by clicking here.

Thanks so much for your help!!

Thanks to all the bloggers, reviewers, and fans who have worked to make the release of Summer in Snow Valley a success. We truly could not have done it without you.

Have you ever wondered what goes in to making an anthology like this? I thought I’d share a bit of the behind the scenes today.

The Big Idea

Almost a year ago, I went to an Indie Authors’ writing conference. It was the first one of its kind that I’d attended and I learned so much about the world of publication. I hadn’t brought or bought a lunch and had to head off campus to get something to eat during the break. My friend and critique partner, Janet Halling, was in the same boat. We met up in the lobby and there was another friend of mine, Cami Checketts, with Cindy Roland Anderson and Taryn Taylor — whom I had yet to meet.  Since we were all hungry, and there was a cute sandwich place nearby, we ended up walking over together and sitting down to eat. We started talking and realized that we all wrote in the same genre. We joked about doing a box set together and then moved on. I remember having a moment, watching the ladies gab over brownie samples, when I thought, “This is something. These women, sitting here, it’s something.” I know, great words for an author — so descriptive, right? 🙂

Well about a week later, I couldn’t get the idea that there was something there. So I emailed Cami, Janet and Taryn and asked if they were really interested in doing a box set. They replied quickly that they were and I asked Cami to contact Cindy and see if she was interested. In the mean time, I had a good friend, Kimberley Little, whom I had met a few years before at another writing conference who kept coming to mind and I knew she needed to be a part of this. Within a week, the group had all committed to writing a new book for Christmas in Snow Valley.

I set up a conference call and we hashed out the basic framework for the town as well as assignments. Taryn was in charge of Snow Valley’s history. She did an excellent job laying the foundation for the place we’ve come to know and love. Cami and Janet were over marketing. I can’t believe their level of research they had to conduct to get Snow Valley off the ground on a budget. Kimberley and I worked on cover design. Kimberley searched through countless photos online to find the one that finally ended up on the cover. I also mapped out the week of Christmas events so all our stories would gel. Cindy was monumental in helping us set the book up with the right keywords, categories, and reading and critiquing stories.

For Summer in Snow Valley, assignments shifted around a little bit. Janet did the events calendar this time which freed me up to do the cover again. We divided up some of the marketing between all of us, though Cami did the lion’s share. Kimberley did the photo selection. She and Janet had to work especially close this time around because their characters interact closely. Writing stories from different perspectives that take place in the same house is a lot of work and they brought it together beautifully. Cindy did more critiquing, researched marketing sites, and has answered many of my questions about the genre, placement, and etc. She’s loaded with poise and purpose and helps keep me grounded.  And we all read and critiqued for one another. Each day there is something new that comes up and someone from the groups steps forward with their expertise, teaches the rest of us, and solves the problem.

If you have any questions about writing a box set, feel free to drop me an email at dymock.christina@gmail.com.