Wheeeeee!

The Grace and Chocolate Countdown Celebration is going very well! Your responses have been so encouraging and the word is getting out. THANK YOU!

I just got some REALLY GREAT NEWS! Aaaahhh, I can't stand it! But I'm not going to tell yet. You have to wait. But not long, I promise! Eeeeeee!!!! *spins around in spinny chair*

photo by rickremington. Flickr.

Continue on! And don't forget to go here to enter in the Countdown Celebration.

I am so mean.

Grace And Chocolate Countdown Celebration!

It's here! The Grace and Chocolate Countdown Celebration! *blows party horn and tosses confetti*

From now until my book launch in January 2012, I will be celebrating EVERY MONTH, starting with this one, even though it's almost over! I don't care! Yay, September-October-November-December! I'll be giving away books by Covenant authors, books by other fabulous authors, Christmas goodies, and lots and lots of CHOCOLATE! And THEN, when it's finally here, I will be giving away my debut romance, Of Grace and Chocolate, just in time for Valentine's Day! Hooray! *tosses more confetti*

I'm going to keep this simple. To enter for prizes you must:

1) Become a follower of this blog.

2) "Like" my Facebook Author page, here: Krista Lynne Jensen Author

3) Share this contest on Twitter, Facebook, your blog, email to your family, post it on the bulletin board at work, send it in a note to your kids' teachers, sky-writing, that kind of thing. Let me know what you did in a comment here. You will be entered for each mode of sharing the love.

That's it! Giveaways will be twice a month, so if you share this contest for each giveaway, you are entered every time! Visit often and enjoy!


September's Kick-off  Giveaways:


Seeking Persephone, by Sarah M. Eden

Heavenly regency!

2 lb. bag of Chocolate-Covered Cinnamon Bears

Heavenly, also!

 Have fun! This giveaway will expire on September 30th at midnight!

I HAVE A RELEASE DATE!

Several {EXCITING} items of note:

1) My final revisions for OF GRACE AND CHOCOLATE were accepted! Next, it goes to the copy editors. And I'll get a cover. A COVER!!!!

2) Did I tell you the official title is OF GRACE AND CHOCOLATE? This is big news, because for a minute there, the title committee mistakenly thought the book was a suspense, and this is NOT a great suspense novel title. So after the genre mix-up was fixed (see below), not only did the title committee see that yes, this is a ROMANCE, they decided to go with my submitted title, but made it EVEN BETTER! The novel is not about a woman named Grace, as some people have asked, but the act of grace, and the "OF" clarifies that. And OF GRACE AND CHOCOLATE is a delicious name for a romance, is it not? Perfect!

3) The title committee, in considering my (and my editor's) alarm when we learned of the genre mix-up, requested I give them a b-liner. Or b-lines. I forget what they're called. Yes, I'm the newbie. Anyhow, I got to write a draft of how the back of the book might read. Wanna see?

Of Grace and Chocolate

Because grace isn’t always . . . graceful.

If someone told Jillian Parish moving on is simple, she would argue that it depends on what someone is leaving behind, and how much chocolate is available.

Jill has worked hard to build up a life far different than the one scarred by her mother's alcohol abuse. She works at a busy publishing house, is writing the novel of a lifetime, and goes home alone every day to a little dog, a spotless apartment, and a piece of 70% cacao and sugar. But in one day, Jill’s phone is stolen, she is tackled by a childhood love who has no idea who she is, and finds her long-lost sister on her front doorstep. In two days, Jill’s carefully controlled world is turned upside-down. In three days, she wonders if chocolate will ever be enough again.

When Scott Gentry moves to the city of Portland, Oregon and spots Jillian at church, he learns her reputation as a lost cause. But something compels him to get Sister Parish's attention, no matter how difficult that may prove. As Scott stumbles, crashes, and falls into Jill's guarded world, he finds himself with more attention than he bargained for, and more willing to do anything he can for the woman who is not made of stone, but of strength.

Grace brings Jill and Scott together, but can grace erase the past, or save the abandoned hearts left in it's wake?

4) I HAVE A RELEASE DATE!!! I know I told you that in the post title. But it's TRUE! And it's not a release year, or a release season . . . it's a DATE! Okay, it's a month, but STILL. And, it's just around the corner!  In JANUARY! J-A-N-U-A-R-Y.

So, what this means is, I get to pump up the book promotion. Which is exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. I'm going to start by giving away a book every month until January, at which time I will give away MY book! Yay! I will also give away a chocolate prize every month until January, at which time I will give away MY chocolate. Wait. At which time I will give away MORE chocolate. And, I may throw in a few surprises here and there. Yay surprises!

I'm going to start this month, so the first contest will be posted VERY SOON. Be sure to check back! I'll be setting up a blog tour as well!

7 Things I Learned From This Revision

I've been working hard on my revisions for Grace & Chocolate and just sent them to my editor this morning at 2 am.

I know, what??

Last night we got back from our annual fruit run where we drive to a fertile valley in Idaho, overload a giant UHaul with boxes of peaches and pears, then drive it back to not fertile but ruggedly beautiful Big Horn Basin, WY, where I live. It's a fast, whirlwind of a trip and we've been doing it for 5 years now. And I happened to finish my revisions just before my turn to drive the last leg home, from West Yellowstone, through the park, and out the East gate, then on to Cody. We saw a grizzly just off the road totally chowing down on some bushes, and that was awesome.

After we unloaded way too much fruit into our garage and the truck continued on to the other side of the Basin, I skimmed through the manuscript again, catching little things here and there, hoping that, after the 8th or 10th time through, this story was still fresh, that it was still the same story I started out with a year ago, only better, tighter. Finally, I realized I couldn't do any more to it without input from my editor, so I wrote the email, attached the ms, and hit "send". Oy.

A few things I learned from my very first editor-managed revision:

1) 85% of my editor's fixes and suggestions were really great. I stumbled over a few ideas and stressed about not pleasing her. This was okay. I'm allowed.

2) Asking for advice from a few author friends who had done this a few times was critical, and gave me confidence, not only in addressing issues with my ms, but also in how to communicate with my editor, and paying attention to what feels right for my story.

3) My editor listens to me.

4) Beta readers are essential to making a story better. I had some writers, and I had some readers, and a variety of different styles of feedback, from simply needing to know more about characters and background, to eagle-eye critique where everything is questioned. Some paid attention to little misses in detail and grammar, and some had me pushing to fill a plot hole. One highlighted every "looked" I'd written in the 1st few pages. Yikes. Lots of looking going on. EVERY SINGLE READER had something that helped make my writing better.

5) At one point, I was a quivering mass of WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING THINKING I CAN WRITE A NOVEL. I started addressing critique, one issue at a time, keeping what worked, what made me excited about the story, and setting aside what didn't feel right. It didn't take long for me to feel excited again.

6) Sending a revised manuscript is almost as scary as sending a new one.

7) When you are given a deadline, you will also find a job with more hours then you intended to have, you will get the flu, you will be in the middle of fruit orders, and it will be back-to-school shopping time.

So, I'm still learning, still trying, and still thinking about what comes next. In the meantime, I have a link with some information on a Christmas story anthology I'm part of. I'm very excited and nervous about being a part of this book with so many wonderful authors! Thanks, Traci Hunter Abramson, for sharing the love.

That's my name right there. See?