Compromising Miss Tisdale

Allow me to introduce to you author Jessica Jefferson, who is now promoting her novel Compromising Miss Tisdale. For this occasion, the author is giving away a 50$ Gift Certificate from either Amazon or B&N. So don’t forget to follow the tour and place as many comments as you like, USING THIS LINK:  http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e43435/

Who is Jessica Jefferson?

Jessica Jefferson makes her home in northern Indiana, or as she likes to think of it – almost Chicago.  Jessica originally attended college in hopes of achieving an English degree and writing the next great American novel.  Ten years later she was working as a registered nurse and reading historical romance when she decided to give writing another go-round.   
 
Jessica writes likes she speaks, which has a tendency to be fast paced and humorous.  Jessica is heavily inspired by sweeping, historical romance novels, but aims to take those key emotional elements and inject a fresh blend of quick dialogue and comedy to transport the reader into a story they miss long after the last page is read.  She invites you to visit her at jessicajefferson.com and read her random romance musings.

 

http://www.jessicajefferson.com/

Like her at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessica-Jefferson/

Follow her at https//twitter.com/authorJessicaJ

More info about the novel

Blurb

Ambrosia Tisdale is the very picture of propriety and the epitome of what a respectable young lady should be. Haunted by a memory and compelled by her family, she pursues perfection to a fault.

The Earl of Bristol, Duncan Maddox, has returned to London after years of familial imposed exile. As the second son, he has led a life filled with frivolity, leisure, and a healthy dose of debauchery. Now his older brother has died, leaving the family’s flailing legacy in Duncan’s unwilling arms.

At the behest of his uncle, Duncan is advised to do the one thing that could provide instant fortune and respectability – he must marry. But there is only one prospect who meets the unique requirements to solve all the Earl’s problems – the lovely Miss Ambrosia Tisdale. But securing the prudent daughter of a Viscount’s hand proves to be more challenging than this scandal ridden second son of an Earl has bargained for.

With scandal, extortion, treachery, and even love itself threatening to keep him from his goal, will Duncan succeed in compromising Miss Tisdale?

 

Excerpt

She had stumbled upon the library.  A fire in the hearth threw a faint glow over leather lined volumes that filled floor to ceiling book shelves.   Lavishly upholstered plush arm chairs sat upon Aubusson rugs scattered throughout the room.  A settee was positioned across from a giant stone faced fireplace where a shirtless man sat warming his hands.

Shirtless man?

Ambrosia blinked.

Certainly, her eyes were playing tricks on her. 

Then the shirtless man turned his head, his eyes meeting hers.  

It wasn’t a hallucination-he was real.   She hadn’t been expecting to find a partially dressed man, and he obviously wasn’t expecting to be found.   It was but a moment before the man’s expression began to soften and a wicked smile slowly crept across his lips. 

A smile that stole the breath right from out of her. 

Every gently bred fiber in her body screamed to turn around and run straight out the door.  Hundreds of years of proper English rearing had produced a base instinct to flee when in the presence of an unknown male (especially one with so little clothing).  But then he stood up, cautiously, the way one does as if not to startle a deer.  Standing, he was clad in nothing but buckskin breeches, the dim light from the flames playing over the sculpted muscles and sinew of his shoulders and chest. 

Breeding be damned, her feet simply refused to budge. 

To end with, some advice to new authors from Jessica:

Dear New Author,

So, you’ve decided to be a romance author. 

Chances are you’ve at least started a book with romantic elements (hence the calling yourself an author).  Hopefully, you’ve been reading romance for years so you’ll have at least some semblance of how to properly structure your novel.  You may be struggling with the composition of your masterpiece, but be assured after you finish this book, the hard part of being a romance author is just beginning.

So, some advice . . .

First, join RWA.  Romance Writers of America is your professional organization and simply by becoming a member you’re declaring your intention of making this your profession.  Their monthly publication is filled with information that will undoubtedly help you along your journey.  Save every copy and refer to back issues often.

Edit the hell out of your book.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered editors don’t edit in the way we were taught to edit in eighth grade English.  They don’t have time to bother with trivial issues such as comma placement.  Editors review your manuscript for more important things – like marketability and character motivation.  It is your responsibility as an author to make sure that your product is free of misspelled words and grammatical errors before sending it off. 

Get some critiques.  You may think you’ve written the best novel ever.  You didn’t, and you’ll need somebody to tell you this in a positive, yet constructive manner.  And no, your mother can’t be your critiquing partner.   

Query well.  You won’t be able to send off your manuscript if you don’t have a great query.

Create an online presence.  What’s your platform?  Who is your public persona?  Get a Twitter handle, a website, a Facebook page, and sign-up on Goodreads.  Yes, books sell on word of mouth.  Word of mouth travels a whole lot faster when it’s done online.

My final piece of advice – don’t give up.  If you love to write, then write.  What you don’t know, you can easily find out.  The best part of being a writer, is meeting other writers.  Whether it’s on a blog, at a local RWA chapter, or at a conference, the writing community consists of a strong network of individuals generally willing to share what they’ve learned. 

Good luck!