I Promise You Won't Learn A Thing From This Blog

The official blog for author Ashley Chappell. Check back every week for a few laughs at my expense or, if you know the love-hate process that is writing, commiseration.



Monday, February 16, 2015

Red Rover, Red Rover, Send Elizabeth Over!

Today I'm handing over the reigns to one of my favorite people in the whole wide world AND the interwebs - Author Elizabeth Seckman! Elizabeth, for those who don't know her, is not only a champion of authors everywhere, but she manages to be a prolific writer as well as Super Mom and Super Wife. She is my hero! And her Coulter Men series is a seriously smart, snarky, and realistic romance series you have to read. I've never been one to pick up a romance series, but Elizabeth makes it fun for even those of us who still believe that boys have cooties!

So without further ado.... here's Elizabeth and her newest release - Defying Reason!

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Thanks for having me over Ashley! It's so good to be here. I tried to think of something I could teach a smart gal like yourself, and decided I'd show you how to be a cheap and easy tease.

I know you're now married to an uber smart guy and don't really need to worry about easy, but there are plenty of people who do. 

For my book launch, I wanted to have some teasers. Problem was, I didn't even know where to begin. 

But with hard work and plenty of frustration, I made this:



I have to admit, this tech moron was pretty pleased with the results. And honestly, it was so easy!

1. I bought pictures at Dollar Photo Club. There are plenty of stock photo purchase sites, but I chose this one. I like easy and their rules were simple. A dollar a picture, with a minimum purchase of ten. 

2. I then went to PicMonkey. They have plenty of free photo shop applications, like adding text and overlays, or you can get the full site for under $50 a year. (Great for fixing blemishes on family photos too...when I have time, my albums are getting an update!)

3. Download a picture on Pic Monkey and start tinkering. There are tutorials to watch, or you can do trial and error with all the cursing and hair pulling until you get it right. 

4. Then save your masterpiece. 

5. Share.

I even made one for you, Ashley! I know you're quite the Star Wars fan, so I gathered up a few of my favorite lines and put them together. It was so easy! I mean seriously? If I can do it...anyone can!









The Blurb:

Jo Leigh Harper comes from a long line of trouble-making, white trash stock.
Tanner Coulter comes from a longer line of wealth-creating, blue blood stock.
Jo graduated college top of her class, moving toward a future full of possibilities.
Tanner dropped out of college, trading a law degree for drinking games and one night stands.

A family crisis throws the rich party boy and the poor genius girl together. The attraction is immediate, though neither one is a heart-in-the-sand-drawing believer in true love. But as the summer sun heats up along the shores of the Outer Banks, so does the connection between them. Maybe, just maybe, they can win at love by defying reason.


 
Author Bio:

Elizabeth is a multi-published author of books for people who are believers in happily-ever- after, true love, and stories with a bit of fun and twists with their plots. The mother of four young men, she tackles laundry daily and is the keeper of the kitchen. She lives along the shores of the Ohio River in West Virginia, but dreams daily of the beach. 

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40 comments:

  1. Thanks for having me over! And you know I seriously love you, even before the awesome introduction! Hugs lady :)

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  2. Oh, I hadn't heard of dollar photo club, and now, I will never be seen on the internet, because yeah, I'm totally going to spend the rest of my life trying out pictures for my dream cover.

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    Replies
    1. I love finding cover photos too. I found the picture for Defying Reason's cover before the book was half written. Had to go back and rewrite Jo a little :)

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    2. iStockphoto.com and Shutter Stock do free photos every week - be sure to check them! I download them even if I'm not sure I'll need them yet just to keep a good supply. It's helped a ton with the lit fest!

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  3. That's a great collection of Star Wars quotes for Ashley.
    I need to put some together for my book. At least I have a whole website of tease with the Kargrandes site.

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    Replies
    1. Yes you do have a whole website! The teasers are great for quick posts to twitter and facebook- thoug I know you don't do facebook :)

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  4. Great tips! Love how the graphics turned out, too. I've been using Canva at the suggestion of a friend, but I've also heard great things about PicMonkey. Am going to have to try it out, too.

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    Replies
    1. I started with PicMonkey because they have a great free side. I got used to it and I'm the sort who likes to stay where I am familiar.

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    2. I haven't tried etherized either of those yet, but I need to! I've been using Gimp, which is a free program similar to Photoshop, but it's not very intuitive.

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  5. That's a great picture you made, and I recognise all those quotes (except for the one about being mistaken, I can't remember who said that :P)

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    Replies
    1. I spelled mistaken wrong in that one. I guess the force wasn't with me. LOL

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  6. That was a lot of work!! I love Star Wars quotes too.

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    Replies
    1. The first few are hard, but like anything else- a little fiddling and it gets easier.

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  7. Anonymous4:33 PM

    Thanks for sharing your Yoda-like wisdom! My marketing guru over at Curiosity Quills made all of my graphics for the 18 Thoughts release, but I was wanting to know how to do it myself! And those SW quotes? I'm printing that & hanging it up!! <3 And nice to meet you Ashley. You're a fellow SW nerd & my daughter has your same name, same spelling, so I think I'm gonna like it here :-)

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