Happy Release Day to Marian Vere!

Today I am celebrating the release of Marian Vere's ONCE UPON A SECOND CHANCE  (Omnific Publishing). Woo-hoo!! *tosses confetti*  Marian is not only an amazing writer, but also someone I consider a dear friend, which is why I'm absolutely thrilled to see the book she was querying (alongside me) two years ago finally have it's day in the sun!

 

So without further adieu, I give you ONCE UPON A SECOND CHANCE . . .

 

 

What happens to your Happily-Ever-After when your Fairy Godmother doesn't show up for work?

Julia Basham’s life was perfect. She was finally done with school, about to start an internship with a prestigious financial company which would lead to a great job and, best of all, she’d just become engaged to her very own Prince Charming, Nicholas Kerkley. Unfortunately, while Nick was warm, intelligent, and completely devoted to Julia, he was also a college dropout, with no job to speak of, and almost completely broke. While none of his shortcomings were a problem for Julia, they were a big problem for her older sister Lisa, who told her that a guy like Nick wasn’t proper marriage material for a girl on the fast track to success, Julia began to reconsider the relationship. Although she didn’t wholeheartedly agree with Lisa, after some thought Julia decided that she would take her sister’s advice and end her engagement with Nick, convincing herself that it was the right thing to do. Only after breaking Nick’s heart, and her own in the process, did Julia realize what a horrible mistake it was.

As the story opens nearly a decade later, Julia is the quiet shadow of the woman everyone thought she’d be, who’s once fulfilling life has fallen into a stale and safe existence. Her shell of a world is thrown into upheaval when she finds out that the financial planning team she works for has taken on a new client; a now successful and very rich Nick Kerkley. Stuck in a horribly awkward situation, Julia makes a decision–take charge, step up, and find her own happy ending. However, she quickly realizes that fairy tales aren’t as strait forward as we’ve been brought up to believe. Sometimes, to get to happily ever after, you have to stop waiting for fate, strap on a pair of wings, and be your own fairy godmother.

 

Sounds freakin' fantastic, right? I can't wait to get my paws on this bad-boy ;) ONCE UPON A SECOND CHANCE is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Being the lovely gal she is, Marian agreed to answer a few questions for me (my questions/comments are in purple--to coordinate with the cover, of course :)

 

What inspired you to write Once Upon a Second Chance? 

My love for the novel Persuasion by Jane Austen. Sadly, Persuasion, (and any other novel by Jane Austen that isn’t Pride and Prejudice, for that matter) seems to take a backseat these days, and Persuasion is such a wonderful story—and in my opinion, far more romantic than Pride and Prejudice—and I wanted to try and put it in the limelight. I just know that if more people actually knew the story, that they would love it.

 

How long did it take to write?

Well, let’s see… I started writing on July 26^th, 2012, and my first query went out on October 1^st, so about two and a half months. It then took me about four months to find an agent, at which point we spent the better part of five months going back and forth with edits to get her ready for submission.

 

What's you favorite part of the book?

The flashbacks. In Persuasion, the story opens eight years after the two main characters break up. My version is the same, but in the original story, we are only left to guess what happened all those years ago, where in Once Upon a Second Chance, I have a series of flashbacks sprinkled throughout the first half of the story, so that readers not only see how things are unfolding in the present day, but also how they happened in the past and brought the characters to where they are.

 

What part of the publishing process surprised you the most?

Wow, this one is really hard. I’m not sure that anything ‘surprised’ me, per say, but there is one very important thing I realized that I didn’t know would I would need to realize, which is remember to celebrate your success. Sounds like a given, right? Sure, when you land that book deal, you’ll go out for a nice dinner. However, I don’t just mean the big things, and I also don’t mean only when they happen. Okay, let’s say you’ve gotten that book deal, are you still celebrating landing an agent? Or when you land an agent, are you still celebrating finishing a novel? The answer to both is probably no. It’s easy to say, “as soon as I finish my book/get an agent/get a book deal/write my next book/get a better book deal/etc., that everything will be perfect. But the fact is it won’t. There will always be something else, and the truth is, that is what you want. If you stop wanting things and stop having goals to reach, then you will stop trying and stop growing. So keep, trying, keep pushing yourself, and keep dreaming, but most importantly remember to be happy and to celebrate, because no matter where you are in your own journey or how rough it seems, there is someone out there who wants to be where you are.

Wow, I LOVE that answer! I definitely think that last bit is worth repeating: no matter where you are in your own journey or how rough it seems, there is someone out there who wants to be where you are. Awesome!

 

Any news you'd like to share?

I have the first book in a young adult series coming out in March of next year, called The Holders (though that one is under my YA alter-ego, Julianna Scott). As far as writing, I am currently working on writing the second Holders book, as well as a new, super-secret YA project.

Ahem . . . I may or may not know a little something about that super-secret YA project *tee-hee-hee*. One word: SQUEE!

 

Thanks so much, Marian, for participating! Now of course, a book release celebration just wouldn't be complete without a giveaway, so I'm gifting a free e-copy of ONCE UPON A SECOND CHANCE from Amazon*! To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment below, including you email address. You can enter between now and November 9th, 12:00 am (EST). The winner will be randomly selected and announced later on that day.

*Unfortunately, Barnes and Noble doesn't allow "gifting" of e-books. However, Amazon e-books can be read on a variety of devices other than a Kindle (as long as the appropriate app is downloaded), including tablets, computers, and smart phones.