Darlene's Book Nook: Guest Post and Giveaway with Jessica Chambers, author of Dark is the Sky

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Guest Post and Giveaway with Jessica Chambers, author of Dark is the Sky

Hi, everyone!

I am pleased to participate in Jessica Chambers' Dark is the Sky Virtual Book Publicity Tour hosted by Pump Up Your Book.

About Jessica:

Jessica Chambers has been inventing stories even before she was old enough to hold a pen. She has a passion for writing contemporary novels packed with emotion, complex relationships and often a touch of mystery.

Visually impaired from birth, Jessica currently lives with her family and Staffordshire bull terrier in the English town of Windsor. In addition to devouring fiction of all genres, she loves watching TV quiz shows and admits to being extremely competitive when it comes to a game of Trivial Pursuit.

CONNECT WITH JESSICA ONLINE:

Welcome to Darlene's Book Nook, Jessica!

Jessica has written a guest post, so I will now turn the floor over to her.

Living The Dream
by Jessica Chambers

I always knew I wanted to be a writer. What I didn’t know was just how much harder it would be to realize my dream than I ever imagined.

I’m not sure exactly when I started putting my ideas down on paper, but I’ve been inventing stories for as long as I can remember. As a child, I was content to spend hours at a time amusing myself, spinning ever more dramatic games of kidnap, runaway orphans and wicked stepmothers. When I wasn’t playing, I could usually be found reading, becoming lost in the tales woven by others. One day, I vowed, I would be an author myself.

I wrote my first full length novel immediately after leaving school. Naturally, at eighteen, I thought I knew everything there was to know. After all, how difficult could this publishing lark be? Just look at all the thousands of authors out there. All I had to do was write a book. Any book would do. Then I’d send it off to a literary agent, who would instantly fall in love with it and land me a six figure contract with Harper Collins. Simple, right? Think again!

What I truly believed would be a straightforward journey, evolved into an epic quest fraught with tears and tantrums, disappointment and disillusionment. Along the way, I collected enough rejection slips to open a gallery! At last, the penny dropped. If no agent was willing to take me on, I must be doing something wrong. The question was … what? In search of the answer, I joined an online writing group where I received feedback on my work, and was introduced to the hitherto unfamiliar concept of objectivity. Everything I learned was poured into the rewriting of my novel, which underwent a complete transformation. Once I was satisfied, I decided to set my sights lower and started querying small press publishers.

Finally, it happened. I received my first ever publishing contract, and my debut release, a sweet women’s fiction novel called Voices on the Waves, was let loose on the world in the September of 2010. Since then, my writing career has felt a little less like an uphill struggle with no view of the summit. I wouldn’t like to say that it’s been downhill all the way, but the ground has certainly leveled out.

Voices on the Waves, much to my amazement and gratitude, reached the final of the 2011 RomCon Readers’ Crown Award in both the Best First Novel and Women’s Fiction categories, and the November of that same year saw the release of my second novel, Dark is the Sky. I’m now working on my first attempt at a young adult novel, which, fingers crossed, will be the one that lands me that agent and big publishing deal. You see, I haven’t abandoned my ambition; I don’t think I ever will. I’ve just accepted that I’m in this for the long haul.

So what have I learned from all this? Never give up on your dream. The journey may be longer than you hoped, and you’ll probably find yourself taking a few wrong turns and unexpected paths along the way, but hard work and determination will get you there in the end.

Thanks so much for joining us today, Jessica!

One lucky winner will win a paperback copy of Dark is the Sky.

This giveaway is open to Canada/US addresses only.

Twelve years earlier, Olivia and Joel Cameron invited the family to spend the weekend at their new country home. Olivia hoped to provide them all with a much-needed escape from their anxiety over the recession crippling the nation; instead, the visit ended in tragedy when Scott, Joel’s wild and outrageously sexy youngest brother, was found dead. The repercussions tore the family apart.

Now, Olivia’s sister Violet has persuaded her to host a reunion. She claims it’s time they finally put the past behind them and laid their ghosts to rest. However, some wounds run too deep to heal, and some secrets are too destructive to remain hidden. Still grieving for the man she loved, Violet is determined to uncover the truth behind his death—a truth she believes lies within her own family.

As the web of deceit and hostility begins to unravel, family ties are tested to the limit, and no one will emerge unscathed.

To enter the giveaway, please fill out the Rafflecopter entry form below.

This giveaway is open to entrants from Canada and the United States only until 12:01 AM EST on April 17, 2012.

a Rafflecopter giveaway