Guest Blog: Brenda Novak:Writing From Experience/Imagination and My Charity Auction!

Giveaway Alert: For one lucky person who comments by midnight 8 May EST, Brenda is graciously giving away a $25 gift certificate to her charity auction...details below.

As an author, I always get asked whether I write from personal experience. Sometimes I do—but more often what I create comes strictly from my imagination. While writing WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES I couldn’t help wishing I was writing from personal experience, however. Who hasn’t fantasized about falling in love with a gorgeous, rich and very successful movie star? Simon O’Neal is just such a man. But his life isn’t all roses. Thanks to a bitter divorce and losing custody of his son, he’s having a major and very public meltdown. It’s up to his publicist, Gail DeMarco, to get a hold of him and reverse the damage. But with someone who’s used to wielding the kind of power Simon wields, that’s not an easy assignment. The only way she can think of to improve his image is to marry him, and then things get really complicated because she can’t help falling in love with him, and that wasn’t part of the plan….

If this book doesn’t sound like it has a lot of suspense in it...it doesn’t. LOL My readers know me to be a romantic suspense writer, but I’m actually splitting up the romance and the suspense. WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES, out in August, is the first book of my new small town contemporary romance series set in the fictional town of Whiskey Creek (WHEN SNOW FALLS, Book #2, will be out in November). But I’m also working on a new suspense series that’s going to provide more chills than any of my other books. Although I don’t yet have a release date for HELL BENT, I’m having a blast writing it (and there will still be plenty of romance).

Annual Charity Auction

I’m also working on another project—this doesn’t include dreaming up stories but I’m definitely hoping it will have a happy ending. Ten years ago, when my youngest son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, I wanted to do some fundraising for research, to help him and everyone else in the same situation. I just didn’t how to go about it—or where I’d find the time. I had five kids at home and some very tight book deadlines (Ha! Sounds like now—except that some of the kids have moved out to go to college). Then I attended a silent auction at a local elementary school and realized that I could do a similar event on my Web site, where I could invite the people who visit me there to join with me.

So far, I’ve managed to raise $1.3 million, and the 2012 auction looks as if it might set a new annual record. This fundraiser is a shopper’s paradise with plenty of items to fit every budget, including trips & stays, one-of-a-kind jewelry, paintings, Native American jewelry donated by Mae Nunn, lunch with world famous author Diana Gabaldon (or Suzanne Brockmann!), and much, much more. And that’s not all. For those who are aspiring to become a novelist or to advance their writing career, there are AMAZING opportunities. Many of the most powerful agents and editors in the business have donated evaluations—some with the promise of a 24-hour response (which is unheard of in the publishing industry).

How does it all work? Just like E-Bay, except this auction is running at www.brendanovak.com.  Visit that URL http://brendanovakforthecure.org to register. The fun begins May 1^st and runs throughout the month. When the bidding is over, you can pay with Paypal or credit card. In most instances the donor even picks up the shipping. And the person who places the highest number of bids over all, even if that person doesn’t win a single item, will receive a fabulous prize package including a brand new iMac, Your Name in My Next Book, and an autographed copy of WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES.

Check out the auction, and while you’re at my Web site, enter to win a romantic beach getaway to the Hilton in Destin, Florida!

NOTE: Go to http://brendanovakforthecure.org and check out what Romance Books R Us is offering as a gift for my charity auction!

What cool items have you won in past charity auctions? Do you prefer on-line shopping to brick & mortar shopping? Do you think this “wave of the future” will eventually overtake traditional fundraising?

Here's to making a difference!

 http://www.brendanovak.com

BIO:
New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author, Brenda Novak, sold her first book, "Of Noble Birth", in 1999...and the rest is history. Many of her novels have won or placed in contests such as the National Reader's Choice, the Bookseller's Best, the Write Touch, the Award of Excellence and the Beacon Award for Published Authors.

Brenda and her husband, Ted, live in Sacramento and are the proud parents of five children...three girls and two boys. She juggles her writing career with her children’s softball and soccer games, field trips, carpool runs and homework sessions.

When she’s not spending time with her family or writing, Brenda is usually working on her annual fundraiser for diabetes research...an on-line auction held at http://brendanovakforthecure.org/ May 1st - May 31st. Her youngest son, Thad, has diabetes, and Brenda is determined to help him and others like him. She also enjoys traveling, watching sporting events and biking--she rides an amazing 20 miles every day!

BLURB:

When Lightning Strikes (releasing in August) 

Welcome to Whiskey Creek- Heart of the Gold Country!

Simon O'Neal's causing trouble again. And it's up to Gail DeMarco to stop him.

Gail DeMarco left Whiskey Creek, California, to make a name for herself in Los Angeles. Her PR firm has accumulated a roster of A-list clients, including the biggest box office hit of all — sexy and unpredictable Simon O'Neal. But Simon, who's just been through a turbulent divorce, is so busy self-destructing he won't listen to anything she says. She drops him from her list — and he retaliates by taking the rest of her clients with him.

Desperate to save her company, Gail has to humble herself by making a deal with Simon. The one thing he wants is custody of his son, but that's going to require a whole new image. He needs to marry some squeaky-clean girl who'll drag him off to some small, obscure place like Whiskey Creek. . .

Gail's the only one he can trust. She agrees to become his wife — reluctantly. But she isn't reluctant because he's too hard to like. It's because he's too hard not to love!

Brenda Novak