Today I am so pleased to welcome Mia Kerick to Joyfully Jay. Mia has come to talk to us about her If I Fell series. She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

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Hi everybody at Joyfully Jay! It’s Mia Kerick here!! I’m so happy to be here today to talk about “percolation” and my new IF I FELL Series. AND to offer a GIVEAWAY!! Thanks for the warm welcome, Jay and crew!!

First things first…The Process of Percolation.

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I don’t just plunk myself down at my desk, declare, “I think I’ll write a book today,” and start scribbling. That is a big no-can-do—at least until I’ve gone through the process that I refer to as “percolation.”

1. It starts with music, which I listen to while I’m exercising. Picture this: Sweaty Mia (sorry for the visual), my hand weights—whopping 1 pounders, Walk Away the Pounds YouTube video (on mute), and iTunes blaring on my trusty Bose headphones. Song lyrics—as well as the mood and vocals—spark my creative process. I get pulled into the music. I wonder about the who’s and what’s and why’s of the song. And an idea for a story starts to unfold.

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2. Once I have a (brilliant) idea I’m excited about, I need to muster up some character visuals. I just can’t write about people I can’t see in my mind’s eye. Thank you very much, Select Model Management… I peruse this modeling website for men of all ages and appearances—in London, Paris, Stockholm, and LA. It is truly not a hardship. (wink) Once I find “the one”—usually an image of the character whose story moved me enough to be told—I go in search of “the other one.” And yeah, they need names. I usually don’t spend enough time on the name game, so I end up having way too MANY characters named Timmy and Tristan. (These names pop into my head with alarming regularity. LOL)

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3. With an idea for a plot and a vision of my main characters, I return to the music. But along with listening and dreaming, I focus in on the details of my story. It’s almost like creating a loose mental outline. This part of the process requires me to stop my Walk Away the Pounds YouTube video, my music, and my exercising over and over so I can scribble down notes. I stop at least fifteen times during one exercise session! I write about moments I envision occurring in the story—both passionate and painful. I discover character quirks. I even come up with the exact words they say to each other at critical moments. And I jot it all down on any paper available.

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4. Next, I type up all of the notes I’ve scribbled down and print them out. These visual clues allow me to write the world’s roughest of outlines. I am more of a pantser than a plotter, but I need a general direction for the book’s main events, beginning and end.

5. I also need an early cover. Yes, I admit it: I’m extremely visual. With my self-published works, I often plan and create my cover—looking for images on deposit photos or recently hiring cover artists—in the very early stages of writing, sometimes even before I begin writing the story at all. So, I need to decide on the book’s title, series, if applicable, early in the process. My gorgeous cover is an inspiration to write.

6. And now for the real work… I know the characters, the story, the emotions I want to illicit from my readers. Okay, okay, I like to make my readers sweat. I have a cover and a title. The percolation process is complete, and I’m ready to pour the coffee, so to speak. Writing for me is challenging—I also sweat while I’m writing the stuff that makes you sweat. It’s truly a labor of love, but it’s work I attempt only when the percolation process is a done deal.

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My November 1st release, Blackbird, is Book 2 in the IF I FELL Series. Titles, as you may have noted, were inspired by Beatles Songs. Book 1 in the series, Hide Your Love Away, is the story of Timmy and Cole’s very rocky “meet and greet.” Blackbird gets even angstier because Cole kicks Timmy out of their newly renovated love nest “for his own good.” Come Together, the final book in the series, will release on January 24th, 2022. And yes, it provides a turbulent conclusion to the series…with a very happy ending, so don’t worry.

 

Blackbird is on KU or is $1.99. Right now, Hide Your Love Away is only 99 cents and is on KU on Amazon. Blackbird is so much better if you read Hide Your Love Away first. And they’re novellas—not too long.

My next project is the DON’T LET GO Series. Book 1 I’m Not in Love and Book 2 Smitten. This series was inspired by the 1970’s song “I’m Not in Love” by 10cc. (I listened to it hundreds of times during percolation. I wonder how many pounds I walked away.) I have characters visuals. I have covers—STUNNING ARTISTIC ONES! I have a rough outline. The percolation process took about 5 weeks, and it’s finally complete. I’m ready to write.

 

I’d like to offer a GIVEAWAY!

Every reader who comments on my post about percolation will be entered into a drawing for an e-copy of Hide Your Love Away and a $10 Amazon Gift Card. One winner will be chosen at random within a week. Thanks so much!!

<3 Mia

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Blurb

blackbird coverSequel to Hide Your Love Away (If I Fell Series, book 2)

Timmy and Cole’s angsty love story continues…

Last year, in Timmy Hale’s junior year at Edgewater University, he set his romantic sights on Colton “Cole” Ledger—a burly and sometimes over-protective dormitory maintenance man. Cole soon had it bad for sleek and snarky Timmy too, and—despite a bumpy road (a frenzied stalker and an uncooperative son)—before year’s end they’d found love. Now, in Timmy’s senior year, the couple has left the dormitory behind. Cole is back to running his own custom construction company, and they’ve turned an antique Victorian home into a love nest. For a while, life is good.

But insta-love comes at a cost, and for Timmy and Cole it’s steep. Cole’s doubts haunt him: he’s almost certain he’s too old for Timmy, and that he’s pushing him into a life he’ll eventually resent, keeping him from spreading his newfound wings and taking flight toward his best future. Acting on his fears, Cole pressures Timmy to accept an internship in Manhattan—far from the home they’ve built together. He means well, but Timmy feels like a baby bird kicked out of the nest too soon.

Tensions rise until fear, resentment, and desire draw Timmy and Cole into explosive conflict. When the dust settles, will Timmy wing away like a young blackbird, or return to nest with Cole in their happy garden home?

For maximum enjoyment, Blackbird is best read after Hide Your Love Away.

Stay tuned for Book 3 in the IF I FELL Series, Come Together, coming in January, 2022.


Giveaway

Mia has brought $10 Amazon gift card and a copy of Hide Your Love Away to give away to one lucky reader. Leave a comment below to enter. The contest closes at 11:59 pm ET on Saturday, November 13th.

 

  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
  • If you win, you must respond to any Joyfully Jay email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
  • Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
  • Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize. In order to facilitate prize distribution, the winner name’s and email may be provided to a third party awarding the prize.
  • All book prizes are in electronic format and U.S. dollars unless otherwise specified.
  • By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
  • Readers may only enter once for each contest. Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
  • Void where prohibited by law.
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