TOUR WINNER!

Thank you to everyone who came out to visit with me during my blog tour for Her Highland Champion. Using random.org, I found a winner for the contest. And the wnner is......

Lorelei B!
(Lorelei commented on the stop at Virginia Wright's blog on April 30th.)

Congratulations, Lorelei! You are the winner of a copy of my book, a $10 Amazon card, and a Scottish surprise! Please email me at Alexa(@)alexabourne(.)com for more details on how to get your winnings.

Tour Ender- It's EPIC!

Today is the last day for my HER HIGHLAND CHAMPION blog tour! That means it's the last day you can leave a comment to win the tour prize- a copy of the book, an Amazon gift card and a Scottish surprise!

Today's post is an entry from the heroine's diary. Heather writes about her last day in the hospital and how she feels about leaving with Malcolm. I promise it'll be an interesting read for anyone who has already read the book AND for those of you who haven't yet had a chance to read or buy the book. Who knows? Maybe it will convince you to take a chance on my writing and me!

Visit here to read Heather Winchester's diary. Thank you to everyone who has come out these past couple of weeks to celebrate my book during this blog tour! Stay tuned afterward too. The winner of the blog tour prize will be announced later this week.

Coming Soon....

Good Sunday to you! I've spent most of the morning watching English soccer, writing letters to my English relatives and drinking tea. Now it's time to get busy. To start, I thought I'd give you a heads up for what's coming:

Today I'm interviewed on Warrior Princess Romance Writer Blog. This is another stop on my Blog Tour for Champion, so if you haven't been visiting the blog tour or you want a chance to win a free copy of the book & other goodies, visit here and leave a comment!

Tomorrow is the last day of the tour and I've got a special post for it. No, it's not another interview. I promise it'll be a very cool ending to the tour. I hope you find time tomorrow to visit Virginia Wright's Blog for that!

I'll be updating my website in the next couple of days with more details on Fractured Paradise. I'll let you know when the updated version goes live.

Part of that website update will be information about a month-long contest! I'm working out the details now and will post them on May 1st. Basically if you or someone you know is an amateur artist, be ready to participate! I need something drawn and NOBODY wants to see my drawing. Trust me.

A Whole Latte Romance

I'm being interviewed today by a woman who used to be on the Celtic Hearts board with me! Come check out my latest interview. I promise SOME of the information is different than the last interview you read. To read it, go here.

Happy Weekend!

Friday night here...for another hour in my neck of the woods. I've completed the 1st week of my long-term sub job & survived. I was supposed to have a blog interview, but the woman's computer kept glitching so I don't know when it'll go live. I only have 1 more stop on my Champion blog tour. That will be Monday and I've prepared an awesome post for you. Deets to follow. I turned in the paperwork for Paradise so now I just need to wait for edits. In the meantime, I'm going to get started this weekend on revising novella #3, which desperately needs a name. I just completed another Killer Openings online class. I LOVE teaching that and we had a great group. Tuesday starts my next class, Finished That Manuscript...Now What? I've never actually taught this one so I'm kind of looking forward to it. I bit the bullet on Monday and contacted an editor who has had a full-length manuscript for a long time. I was getting worried that the manuscript got lost in the mail. Yesterday I got a lovely email from her assuring me she did have the book and would be getting to it soon. I've been so busy with projects for Decadent Publishing that I hadn't really had time to panic about this submission, but now that I know the editor will be reading it soon and contacting me, the nerves have started up again!

On tap for the weekend...I plan to watch some soccer, write to all the British & Australian relatives, work on my lessons for my new class, plan updates for my website (which include an art contest in the month of May!), and of course work on novella #3!

What about you?

An Update & A Secret

Happy Wednesday! I figured I'd pop in and say hello. I've been pretty busy so far this week. I started my 6-week long-term sub job in a school I love, and it's been going great. I'm working on paperwork and pre-edits for FRACTURED PARADISE. And I'm in the last week of my blog tour for HER HIGHLAND CHAMPION. Today I'm blogging at Ella Quinn's blog. If you have a minute or two pop over, comment and get in the running for the blog tour prize!

Can I share a secret? Promise you won't tell anyone? Well, when CHAMPION first came out almost a month ago I was on Amazon pretty much nonstop looking at my sales rankings and getting all giddy when someone bought the book or posted a review. After the first 2 weeks, the feeling faded and I knew I had to get back to writing. So then I started checking the rankings only a couple times a day. Today when I got home from work I checked my rankings again and someone from the UK had bought the book! It made me stupid giddy all over again because there's actual proof that SOMEONE in the UK bought MY book!
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Back On The Train

Today is another day on my blog tour for HER HIGHLAND CHAMPION. I'm excited about this post because I'm talking about why I write romantic suspense. I had fun writing the post so I hope you'll check it out if you have a few minutes. & if you do, please leave a comment! Commenters are in the running for the tour prize-a copy of the book, an Amazon gift card & a Scottish surprise! Check it out here.

Read a Snippet

I'm one of the Celtic Hearts authors spotlighted today on Sweet & Sexy Divas blogspot. Stop by and read a new snippet from HER HIGHLAND CHAMPION and several other awesome books!

Guess What I Got!

I got a new contract from Decadent Publishing for my 2nd contemporary romantic suspense novella, FRACTURED PARADISE! It wil be my 2nd Honor Guard Series book.

I'm so excited because this story is set in my mom's hometown of Sunderland, England. The very original version helped me get over the death of my grandmother back in 2003. Of course, the book has changed quite a bit since then because I am a better writer now, but some of the best scenes are still in there.

I'm so thrilled I'll be able to share it with you! And for those of you who have read HER HIGHLAND CHAMPION, the heroine in PARADISE is the technical analyst of the IPN. Ian MacKenzie also makes an appearance in this one too.

Guess What?

NEWS......

Taking A Tour Break

I'm taking a break from the "official" HER HIGHLAND CHAMPION Tour & I'm hanging out with fellow Decadent author Liz Crowe. Join us for my latest interview at her blog!

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If you're interested in being in the running for a FREE copy of my book, an Amazon gift card and a Scottish surprise, visit the Bee-Yond Midnight Blog and leave a message!

On The Cyber Road Again

Come join the party for HER HIGHLAND CHAMPION, a brand new contemporary Scottish romantic suspense! Learn more about me as I travel on a blog tour! Leave a comment and be in the running for a free copy of HER HIGHLAND CHAMPION, a $10 Amazon gift card, and a Scottish surprise! The more you comment, the better your chances of being the winner! Hope to see you along the way!

Blog Tour Sites & Dates!

Julie Lynn Hayes Blog- 4/16 (That's today!)

Bee-Yond Midnight Blog- 4/17

Honey Bee Authors Blog- 4/21

The Book Imp Blog- 4/22

Ella Quinn Blog- 4/23
Virginia Wright Blog- 4/30

More dates to come!

AND.....

Today I'm also writing about my happy place, Glenfinnan, Scotland on the Celtic Hearts Blog! 

So come visit me at my 1st tour stop or at the Celtic Hearts Blog. Or BOTH!

Help! I'm Drowning!

There's nothing drastic happening, but I am going through some new and odd emotions and I thought I'd share. I have 2 books out on submission and I'm getting a little antsy. A friend tells me not to worry about the submission to my publisher because she says they'll probably take novella #2, but I'm the type that needs the confirmation before I can get excited. I've been in situations over the years when I got my hopes up and then got crushed under a big, heavy publishing boot. I don't ever want to feel that again. The other submission was requested and it's now been over 10 months.I would love a YES, of course, but at this point I just want an answer.

Then there is the requested partial I STILL have not finished. I love the story, love the characters, but I can't get motivated to finish the partial and make it the best it can be. Part of me thinks it's all irrational fear that it will be crappy and get a rejection, part of me thinks I should forget it since it was requested 2 months ago, and part of me wants to give myself a deadline for it.

This has gotten me thinking about deadlines. I technically don't have any. I had minor deadlines for revisions with Champion, but they were easy. I'm a little curious how I'll handle real deadlines when they start coming up.

Okay, off to figure out my plans for the day. I'll get my new-to-me laptop today! YAY! I'm watching soccer, have some letters to write, errands to run and then I'm going to work on the partial again. No, really.

Where In The World Is Alexa?

Today I'm the featured member on the Celtic Hearts blog. I've got a mini-interview. Come join us!

News!

I submitted a proposal for a new online class called "Candid Confessions of a Newbie Author" and it was accepted by an RWA chapter! I always wanted to know what happened after the contract was signed and before the book came out, but no one ever gave me enough details. So I decided to create my own class. I talk about getting THE CALL, edits (and all the versions), promotion, release day, more promo, planning what's next. It's basically an inside look at my 1st year as a published author. The class will be in November!

I had a question about when Her Highland Champion would be available through Barnes & Noble, so I emailed a lovely senior editor who has been friendly and helpful before. We ended up trading emails on Monday and some good things happened that left my head spinning. Unfortunately, I can't tell you details yet! BUT as soon as I can you know I will!

Ooooh, but I think I can tell you that this editor said she was waiting for novella #2 (which is Fractured Paradise) from me. I told her I'd submitted it 7 weeks ago. So she said she was going to go find it and see if she could speed up the submission process!

Okay, back to work I go! MUST get busy with that requested partial. Much longer and the editor who requested it won't remember at all!

Win A Copy Of Champion!

With Easter over and a few thousand more words written on my requested partial, I'm back on the guest blogging/interviewee tour. Today I'm on Romance Author Hotspot talking about my favorite dessert, my favorite author, and offering a copy of Her Highland Champion to a commenter. Join me, won't you?

PS....I might have some writing information for you soon.....

Awesome Easter!

Whoohoo! Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it. I hope the Easter Bunny was good to you.

As for me, I've FINALLY figured out the opening to my latest WIP, have found my enthusiasm for it and I'm so excited to have the rest of today and most of tomorrow to work on it! Wish me luck!

What The Heck Is IPN?

Are you curious about my fictional agency, the International Protective Network? Find out how it started, what it's all about and what it's like to create your own agency. I'm on Decadent Decisions talking about it!

AND.....

I'm also the spotlight author on Morgen Bailey's blog today! Morgen is an English writer who hosts interviews and spotlights in her "spare time". I'm so thankful to her because today I get introduced to a bunch of UK readers!

It Makes Me Giggle

I've been glancing at the Amazon sales rankings quite a lot just because. I know, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter how low I am because I'm a completely new author with a completely new book and well, it's only been out a week. I checked the rankings this morning and I was around 170,000. I did a bunch of stuff, went to visit a friend, and came home. What's the 1st thing I did? Yep, checked the rankings and guess what? I was back up to 60,000! This brought a smile to my face because, wow, people are buying my book!

Now I'm going to try to control myself and get off the internet for a few hours so I can work on the requested partial I've been neglecting! Come hell or high water this puppy will be sent to my CP by the end of this long weekend! 

A Spotlight

I've been the spotlight author on the Chicks of Characterization blog all week. Today's my final day and I've got an excerpt from what I hope will be novella #2 with Decadent! Check it out!

You Mean It's The Fourth? And Wednesday?

All week I've been a day behind until it got me screwed up today. I was on the phone with a customer service clerk ranting and raving about how they're messing with me and she kindly informed me that today is the 4th and it's Wednesday and I'm the idiot. Ugh.


I'm happily working on the partial request, hoping to get it to my CP this weekend. I'm still waiting to hear on 2 other submissions and today, while herding a class of 2nd graders, I figured out my writing plan for the next few months. (You know, which story gets written when.) Of course, that may all change and I'll GLADLY reorganize my plans for a contract!


I'm still promoting HER HIGHLAND CHAMPION. This week I'm the spotlight author on the Chicks of Characterization blog. Stop by if you have a chance! I've gotten a few reviews on Amazon so far, and this is what people are saying:


"Malcom Fraser, a retired bodyguard with secrets of his own, charges into her life and heart with all the passion and desire of a Highland laird from history....Add a dash of suspense with a twisting sub-plot, another area of expertise in which Ms. Bourne excels, and you've got a riveting story that keeps you turning pages to the end." - Deborah Sanders


"The connection between Heather and Malcolm was so rich, and it moved through the story so perfectly. And Malcolm, as a Scottish hero, was every bit as num-num as those kilted Scottish lairds of old."- Rebecca from Montana


"I knew this was romantic suspense, but I didn't expect the romance to be so . . . hot! If you love Highland Warrior heros, Alexa Bourne has brought one right into the twenty-first century for us. He's a keeper, ladies - sexy brogue and all."- Irene Preston


I'm so tickled with these! How lucky am I?


I will tell you that I'm already obsessing about sales rankings. Not that I expect it to be high yet on anything because I'm a completely new author with a completely new book. But I look at Amazon and think, "What if no one is buying except friends? What if my publisher FINALLY starts thinking What did we do?" If you let it, this crap can totally drive you insane! BUT, I am stronger. I will NOT be defeated! I have too many stories to tell!


I'm putting together a new online class for me to teach, a class I always wished someone had done. I'm calling it Candid Confessions of a Newbie Author- Insider Information from my 1st year of publishing. What do you think?

I'm A Murderer

Not only do I kill people off in books, but I killed my laptop. Stupid decisions led to stupid moves which led to me dropping it and spilling liquid on it. When I brought it in and talked to the tech, he told me to wait, walked away and returned a few minutes later with a brand new one. Yeah, there would be no resuscitation (sp?). Thankfully the tech was able to get all my documents & pictures off of it, but I really can't afford a new one! And yet, I can't afford not to get a new one. {{{Sigh}}}