Since we're giving away prizes every day of October, I wanted to make sure every day has a post and a prize.
No one claimed today, so I jumped in when I arrived home after a busy day in Houston's medical complex, not to mention the traffic.
Today, I'm giving away a copy of an older woman-younger man romance, appropriately titled Old Enough To Know Better.
More about that later. First, let's talk about Literary Gimmicks, and how much fun they can be in a book. What is a literary gimmick? Well, it can be anything from an aphorism to a metaphor to an object that means more than it appears at first glance, in effect, it becomes a totem.
In Old Enough To Know Better I used a literary gimmick in the quotation at the beginning of each chapter. The quotation represents what that chapter is about. Some readers absolutely love this book; some absolutely hate it!
The story is about a woman who made some huge mistakes in life, married 3 times, and had 3 daughters.
Men have been the big problem in Stormy's life. (Yes, I deliberately named her Stormy. I worked with a woman named Stormy many years ago, and I thought her name sounded like a romance heroine.)
When Stormy meets Sean, she wants nothing to do with him, but he won't be deterred. She may be a woman with a past, but Sean wants to be her future. He has a plan to win her heart. His plan? Whatever it takes!
Examples of "Gimmicks" from Old Enough To Know Better
Chapter 1: Sean is trying to charm Stormy without effect, or so he thinks.
"There is entirely too much charm around, and something must be done to stop it." ~ Dorothy Parker
Chapter 3: Sean's plan is to make Stormy, a control freak of the highest order, lose control.
"You mustn’t force sex to do the work of love, or love to do the work of sex." ~ Mary McCarthy
Chapter 5: Both Sean and Stormy act unpredictably.
"The main difference between men and women is that men are lunatics and women are idiots." ~ Dame Rebecca West
If you're the lucky winner of my giveaway today, I hope you'll enjoy this romance.
Review said: "This is truly a feel-good book. ... Sean is wonderful and sexy and Stormy is aptly named. She is complicated and emotional and needs to feel the love and lust of a good man."
NO TRICKS—JUST TREATS
Every Day is Treat Day in October. Each author will give away a prize of her choice on her posting day. That's 31 days of prizes. My prize today is a Kindle copy or an audio book edition of Old Enough To Know Better.
To be entered in the random drawing for this prize, leave a comment with your email address written out (not as a hot link) on this post. The deadline for doing this is Oct. 3, Thursday, at 8:00pm Central time. I’ll draw the winner's name Friday, October 4, and notify the winner by email and by leaving a comment on this post.
But Wait, There's More!
We're not just doing a daily random drawing for a prize. We're also doing a Rafflecopter with 4 Amazon Gift Card Prizes. Whoop! Big money! Visit our Monthly Giveaways Page for all the details. Or use the form below to enter.
Great cover, Joan. Did you create it? Stormy is perfect too for the heroine. Happy October!
ReplyDeleteHey, Nora. Thanks. I described what I wanted to my daughter who is an artist. She created the cover. October is going to be fun. Happy Oct to you too!
DeleteAnd the gimmicks just got me hooked! I've read many of your books, but haven't gotten to this one yet. Think I'll be adding this to my TBR pile.
ReplyDeleteGreat! Guess I'm doing something right. I had so much fun selecting the quotes for this book. The next book in the series, that I hope to finish if life will just calm down, has a limerick at the beginning of each chapter.
DeleteI’ve only used subtitles for chapters once. It was fun, but I haven’t found another story where they would work. But I do use items that mean more then it seems. I love the title Joan!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bonnie. The title is repeated with a phrase added to it on the last page of the book. Funny how I came up with this. The whole sentence (I won't tell you what it is so I won't ruin it for someone who might read the book) was on a refrigerator magnet my daughter gave me.
DeleteGreat idea. I know I'm too lazy to use anything but numbers on the chapter titles. Hee hee!
ReplyDeleteThat is funny. I always say I'm lazy and getting lazier with every year that passes.
DeleteAn extra layer of wonderful in your work, Joan. I like a teaser at the beginning of each chapter.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kathleen. I too like a teaser. Kind of gives it an additional hook. I hope.
DeleteI love books with chapter teasers! And this one sounds great, Joan. I'm with Kara - TBR addition! :D
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kathy. Teasers are a great way to add a bit of humor too.
DeleteI love the quotes at the beginning of the chapters, especially the Dorothy Parker one. Eloisa James has used quotes from Shakespeare and other authors have included teasers. I admire that a lot as you have to figure out which quotes fit as well as write the whole book! Karen H near Tampa (kesh307 at yahoo dot com)
ReplyDeleteThank you. Dorothy Parker had an acerbic wit that really fits today's snarky women. I read Eloisa too and enjoy her Shakespeare quotes. I put a small Quotation Collection at the end of every book. Those enhance the theme of the book. In Second Chance Bride, my heroine does a discourse on how Shakespeare must have hated women because they usually have such dire fates. *g*
DeleteDon't see a way to like & follow the Facebook page entry. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHi, Nancy. The Rafflecopter button for VISIT US ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE works. I just checked. When you click "Visit and Follow the Romance Gems on Facebook" a drop-down window opens with a blue button that says: VISIT US. Click that, and it takes you to our page, WHERE AUTHORS AND READERS MEET. Then when you come back to this page, the form shows a check mark in the FB block and it will say Visited. Hope that helps.
DeleteThe winner of a copy of OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER is Karen H. Congratulations, Karen. I've emailed you.
ReplyDelete