I'm about to skype with a book club in Florida !  I had to put make up on, because It's just so wrong that webcams make you look like the cryptkeeper.  When you're talking romance and sexy Jack Eversea... that can be a little off-putting.  If you have a book club you'd like me to Skype with, just shoot me a message on Facebook or through the Contact Me part of this site.  

I have had the busiest / craziest few weeks. Being up in New York and WINNING the Digital Book Award for Adult Fiction for Eversea ~ was AMAZING. I've said it over and over and I'll say it again but most of this award belongs to Angela McLaurin of Fictional Formats. She doesn't know it yet but I've ordered the award  (yes, there is an ACTUAL award... a TROPHY!) with her name on it... eeep! 

 <<<------- I get to use that, though, that's cool.   I have so much feedback from DBW it warrants a separate blog post. But I've traveled non stop and just got back today - so hopefully I'll have something up in the next few days! 

It was an AMAZING experience.  Thank you to all the amazing people I met who made it so enjoyable. 

I have no idea what to wear to the Digital Book Awards next week.  What do people wear for one of the most important days of their digital publishing career? Hmm.  

In other news, I've been hosting a "My Favorite Things" giveaway over on my author page. I gave away 5 copies of my book, two subscriptions to Vanity Fair and a BOOK A WEEK for 2014 to ONE LUCKY WINNER: Kelly Whalen. She has agreed to pop on my page once a month and give us her feedback from what she's read. Fabulous! 

I'm thinking about what my next favorite thing is.  

The December blog tour giveaways are over. The tour wide giveaway saw a Kindle FIRE HD being won, signed paperbacks and also a turtle necklace (like the one featured on the cover of Forever, Jack). The individual ebook winners have been notified and I received the spreadsheet a few days ago, so I have been sending those out. 

Aren't you super excited about 2014? I am. It is going to be PHENOMENAL! 

With much love, 
Tasha xoxoxo 

So this is a pretty big deal.  Due to my amazing formatter Angela McLaurin of Fictional Formats, my editor, Judy Roth and my cover designer Adrian Repasch, we created a product that was good enough to be announced as a FINALIST at the Digital Book Awards in New York City (formerly called Publishing Innovation Awards).   I am so thrilled, proud and happy for my team!  I'm looking forward to being in New York City on January 14th.                                                                  

Here is the press release:

Random House, Harper Collins, Yale University Press 
Among 2014 Digital Book Award Finalists

NEW YORK – December 18, 2013-- Finalists for the 2014 Digital Book Awards were announced today, recognizing excellence in digital publishing over the past year. 

Winners will be announced at a dinner gala hosted by LeVar Burton, actor and co-founder of Reading Rainbow, at the 2014 Digital Book World Conference & Expo, January 14, 2014 at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers, New York. 

“This year’s finalists represent the most creative work taking place in digital publishing today,” said David Blansfield, co-president of parent company F+W Media, Inc. “It’s our pleasure to honor these companies and individuals and doubly exciting having the opportunity to do so at Digital Book World next month.”


Finalists by category are:

App, Adult Fiction

George R.R. Martin’s A World of Ice and Fire, Random House

Steampunk Holmes: Legacy of the Nautilus, Noble Beast

The Metamorphosis for iPad, Rocket Chair Media

 

App, Adult Non-Fiction

The Pocket Scavenger, Penguin

Psychometry, Carol Golemboski Ltd.

Ready, Set, Baby! The Watch and Learn Guide to Baby’s First Year, Open Air Publishing

 

App, Children

The Adventures of Captain Underpants, Scholastic

Axel’s Chain Reaction, Allison Pomenta

COWZAT!, Colour Me Play

Goodnight Moon Storybook App, Loud Crow Interactive

Little Red Riding Hood, Nosy Crow

App, Illustrated/Comics Graphic Novels

Go Big or Go Home: Taking Risks in Life, Love and Tattooing, Kat Von D, Harper Collins, Harper Design

The Journey, Alta Editions

 

App, Reference/Academic

The Animator’s Survival Kit, Faber and Faber

Disney Animated, Touch Press/Disney

Interaction of Color by Josef Albers, Yale University Press

On the High Line, Arjun Gupta

Ebook Fixed Format/Enhanced – Adult Fiction

Collected, Donna M. Thompson

Rain Shadow, Rebecca H. Carrer

Mistress of France, Emma Boling, Sherisse Hawkins, Alex Milewski

Ebook Fixed Format/Enhanced – Adult Non-Fiction

Henri, le Chat Noir: The Existential Musings of an Angst-Filled Cat, Ten Speed Press 

Isa Does It, Little Brown

Pizza Pilgrims, Harper Collins, Harper Non-Fiction

Ebook Fixed Format/Enhanced – Illustrated/Comics/Graphic Novels

A Long Way Away/Along A Long Road, Little Brown for Young Reader (from Hachette Book Group) 

The World Atlas of Wine iPad Edition, Octopus Publishing Group

 

Ebook Fixed Format/Enhanced – Children

Alicewinks: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Walrus & Carpenter Productions LLC

First Time on a Plane, Parragon

The Man with the Violin, Annick Press Ltd.

Seahorses & Pipefish, Dive in Your Imagination

Ebook Fixed Format/Enhanced – Reference/Academic

American Sign Language (Enhanced), Thunder Bay Press

Cracking the GRE: Interactive Prep & Review for the GRE Exam, Random House Information Group 

Introduction to Food Engineering, Elsevier/Academic Press

Julius Caesar: The Shakesperience, Sourcebooks 

Language of Medicine 10th Edition, VitalSource ® Edition, Elsevier/Saunders

The Making of Star Wars, Ballantine Group

Ebook Flowable – Adult Fiction

Cerberus: Book 1 of Parish, BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Eversea: A Love Story, Natasha Boyd

Ebook Flowable – Adult Non-Fiction

Cooking Light: Lighten Up, America!, Oxmoor House

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, InterVarsity Press 

Life After Life: The Story of Wayne Ford, John D. Cruickshank

That Polio Season, John D. Cruickshank, Toronto Star Newspapers

Ebook Flowable – Children

Can You Survive the Titanic?: An Interactive Survival Adventure, Capstone Press

Cinderella Spinderella, Light Publications

Ebook Flowable – Reference/Academic

CAE Strategic Relationships: Building Rapport with the Executive Suite, The Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation

Scotland’s Marine Atlas, APS Group Scotland

Digital Cover Design

Breaking Bad: Alchemy, Sony Pictures Television

A Long Way Away/Along a Long Road, Little Brown

The Persian Square, Davar Ardalan

A Shiver of Sharks, Little Bahalia Publishing

Steam Train, Dream Train, Chronicle Books

Transmedia (Any Format)

The 39 Clues, Scholastic

The Descent, Kobo

The Niantic Project: Ingress, Niantic Labs at Google

The Ruptured Sky, TEACH Magazine

Spirit Animals, Scholastic

The Digital Book Award for Inkling Habitat

The Louvre: All the Paintings, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers and Inkling Publishing

Modernist Cuisine at Home, The Cooking Lab

Moore’s Clinically Oriented Anatomy, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

The New Sunset Western Garden Book, Oxmoor House

The Way of Taiko, Stone Bridge Press

Learn more about the Digital Book Awards and reserve your ticket for the awards dinner by visiting conference.digitalbookworld.com. 

#  #  #

About Digital Book World
The Digital Book World Conference + Expo is the largest event dedicated solely to the business of digital publishing worldwide. It consists of a 2-day multi-track, multi-faceted digital publishing program, pre-conference events, Digital Book Awards gala and exhibition hall. Digital Book World, an F+W Media event, attracts an international audience of 1,500 industry professionals, 50 exhibitors and more than 100 speakers. http://conference.digitalbookworld.com

Contact:  Stacie Berger
F+W Media, Inc. 
513.531.2690 x 11457 
stacie.berger@fwmedia.com

I'm sorry if you emailed, tweeted or messaged me from Australia and I didn't respond.  I had no new information. But as of RIGHT NOW...  both the UK links and the AUSTRALIA links went LIVE! 

The links for Eversea #1 are only going live a week later (Dec 12th). This may seem counter intuitive, but the reality is that BOTH books may only have been released on DEC 12th, but the publisher worked their BUTTS off to get Forever, Jack (Eversea #2) to those of you who were waiting !  Thank you <3 

You are guys are awesome for being so patient! THANK YOU!!! 

For. real.  It happened so fast.  

Barnes and Noble (US) 

Amazon.com 

Yep. I've been dangling news. Not on purpose obviously, but there are a few moving parts and it has taken a while to work things out. However, this is what just happened on my twitter:

Let me tell you a little about Headline (from their Website):   Headline Publishing Group was founded in 1986, floated on the Stock Exchange in 1991, won Publisher of the Year in 1992, became part of Hodder Headline PLC in 1993, and today is a division of the UK’s No 1 publishing group, Hachette UK.  Headline is a powerful publisher of stylish bestsellers in fiction and non-fiction, and has stayed true to its original principles of publishing books that will entertain their readers and by providing authors and customers with a unique level of friendly involvement and service.

Sounds pretty awesome right?  Yeah, I thought so.    But when you read the list of authors in their eternal line ... you may, like me, freak the F8ck out !! Seriously.   *breathe*  

So this was the feedback I received about Eversea : (Names withheld to protect confidentiality). 
We all have fallen in love with Natasha Boyd and her sensational debut. Not only has Natasha created two unforgettable characters in Keri Ann and Jack, she has also swept us off our feet with their irresistible, passionate and electrifying romance. Natasha has crafted a gorgeous sultry setting in Butler Cove. ( ...) there really is a vivid sense of place, and we loved the sexy coastal feel. For me, EVERSEA has a flavour reminiscent of Nicholas Sparks, and the Hollywood movie star falling for an ordinary girl (like us!) is a fantastic hook. When I finished reading EVERSEA, I was hungry for more, and, to my delight, the early chapters of FOREVER, JACK, did not disappoint.

So what does that mean for you?     Well, first of all let me say that there will be three books. THREE. The third one is still in talks.  It may be Jazz and Joey, I don't know yet. And you will still be able to buy both Eversea and Forever, Jack online. And in the USA nothing will change. I will still own all my rights (woop!) 

But in spring 2014, you will be able to walk into a bookstore, for example, in London or Johannesburg or Sydney (and potentially a host of other countries) and see Eversea on a shelf!  This is so important to me because not every other country is as dependent on digital reading as we are. And there are TONS of readers out there who may not ever discover the absolute insane hotness of JACK EVERSEA  (horror!) unless they walk into a book store!   And let's not forget I grew up in other parts of the world (England, South Africa, Belgium etc) ... so for me ... this is a REALLY BIG DEAL! 

This is what my new editor (GASP... I have an editor at headline *faints*) said about Forever, Jack in an email: I stayed up late last night and finished FOREVER, JACK. I was absolutely blown away, Natasha - it is FANTASTIC!!! Dark, brooding, meaningful, sexy, powerful, emotional and ultimately totally satisfying.

HOLY SH*T ! I am so excited to share it with you guys.  OKAY so TIMING :
We are still on schedule for USA/CANADA release. Everywhere else will have a small wait (I AM SO SORRY!) but there will be preorder links up! YAY! 

OH HOLY HOTNESS... MY HEART IS FULL TO BURSTING ! 
I'm terrible at blogging. I realize that.  I tweet, I FB, I pin, I instagram, (@lovefrmlowcntry)  but blogging seems to be a bit of a problem. My 2014 resolution is to be better at it.   My 2012 resolution was to write a book. I did. If you are here, you probably read it. If you didn't, this is really odd. Hi.  My 2013 resolution was to put myself out there and BELIEVE I could succeed.  It's been the scariest f*cking thing ever.   You made me stronger.  
T H A N K  Y O U , I appreciate it more than you know. 

Oh. My. Word. The support I've had from readers and bloggers has rocked ma world.  I've started getting a few reviews back from the Advance Review Copies of Forever, Jack I sent out...    here's how it goes:

"There may have been a few panty changes ... Jack is hot!" ~ Sizzling pages Book reviews
"The EPILOGUE ~ Oh, the epilogue!!!"  <--- my favorite part too. Tee hee :)
"... book is absolutely BRILLIANT!!" ~ Goodreads early reader
"I loved the first book and wasn't sure if it was possible to love a sequel more but I did." ~Goodreads early reader

Okay ... so ... you get the drift.  I am BE wait-for-it YONDexcited to share Jack with you all again. 


Oh, and this gif was just posted on a review by Miss Construed  LOLOLOLOLOL!!!

 ....EEEEEK ......   and really since my critique partner Al persuaded me to add back in parts of the scene... you should all be happy  :) 

In celebration of all this awesomeness, and appreciation for everyone... because I love the whole freaking world right now *sob* Eversea is on sale right now!  For today (Nov 14th) and tomorrow (Nov 15th)  ~ I hope you'll share the news and perhaps gift someone a copy who needs a little PICK-ME-UP  because who doesn't need to imagine that a hot Hollywood crush walks into their place of employment and thinks you're the pearl to his oyster ;-)  

LOVE YOU GUYS!

Some of you may have gotten an email from Amazon today stating that there was an updated version of Eversea available. It also stated that there were significant editorial changes. 

Well, there weren't any changes. There were some ADDITIONS!  First of all Angela from Fictional Formats did the most amazing thing... she loved Eversea so much that she gave me the GIFT of reformatting the entire book to make it look more beautiful.  There are Eversea fonts throughout, and my beloved Turtle as section breaks. And Jack's handwritten lists!!   Angela is truly amazing!!  

She also went back and added in (AFTER she'd finished working so hard) the prologue to Forever, Jack.  Granted, it's an original version, before it went to my editor, so it may be subject to change. But y'all?  WOO HOOO!  This book is becoming more real by. the. second.   

AND she added in my super agent's info.  You know, in case anyone wants to make this into a movie or something... or translate it into Greek. 

Okay - so that's what it's all about. In case you were curious.  I emailed Amazon about asking if you all could at least see an update available. And they emailed you all!  

Please be advised that if ANYTHING creates any kind of roadbump to making sure sure Eversea #2:  Forever,  Jack is in the best position possible to be in your hands... then this countdown will be obsolete.  I really want it to be the best it can be, so please forgive me if this changes!  I'm shooting for Nov 25th. But the widget says Nov 30th just to give me some leeway for potential issues that may arise! 

Dear iOS7 –

I welcomed you into my life with trepidation, and after you loaded and I blinked and thought for a moment I’d woken up in Whoville, I adjusted. 

It’s quite cheery to be so bright. I’d forgotten all the various shades of pink, lime green and turquoise there could be. So thanks.

I see you have already issued an update, so I’m sure you’d like to know a few things that might help me out before you spawn again.

-       When I send a text message on my phone (you are still a phone right?) It’s quite a surprise when you let me know five minutes later that it wasn’t delivered and ask me if I’d like to send it as a text message. (!?) WHY YES, YES I WOULD.  ISN’T THAT WHAT I FUCKING ASKED YOU TO DO?

-        Thanks for being so on top of the push notifications. I see you know all my private facebook messages word for word to display on my screen that is locked for privacy and security (funny) so I’m wondering why, after I play your little game of passcode, you then play coy and spin that clock face at me over and over again.  You may not know this, but I can see that you have access to five dots (what happened to bars?) of my network, and a full wifi signal too (bonus baby)  - so in actual fact that winking clock face spinny thing is not cute and coy – ITS FUCKING ANNOYING.

-       Oh and while we’re at it, when I typed that message, I didn’t fucking stutter so I’d appreciate it if you could just go ahead and show me the letters as I type rather than thinking about it so hard. I promise you, I know what I want to say better than you do.  Making me wait between each word won’t change my mind about what I want to say.  I’ll do the thinking, you just do as I say and look pretty.  All pink and turquois-ey and shit.

-       By the way, I just have to tell you my favorite part. I was at my kid’s football game. There was a spectacular play in progress. I had my phone at the ready. And there you were playing that secret passcode game again.  I’d just like you to know that taking the camera option off your locked screen was a seriously low blow. And now we’re both sorry.  We both missed that spectacular play as I fumbled around with hitting the right numbers and finding my camera button.  You would have loved it.

-       Oh, and it was cute to hide all my apps two screens over. FUCK YOU, I found them (actually my four year old did. So “Nah” <-- I just stuck my tongue out, did you see?)

That’s all.   For now. 

Oh wait ... on the subject of cellphones. Check out this teacher. LOL!