GIVEAWAY with Connie Mann and her new novel, TANGLED LIES

I'm so thrilled to have my good friend and talented writer, Connie Mann, as a guest on my blog today! AND...she's doing a fantastic GIVEAWAY to one lucky reader--simply scroll down to the bottom for details on how to enter for your chance to win a copy of her newest book!

Buy it HERE on Amazon

Hi Connie! So glad you can join me today! I am so excited for your new book, TANGLED LIES. The cover is gorgeous! Before we tell everyone how they might win a FREE COPY, I'd love to ask you some questions on your writing process and career. 

First, what is THE most important thing writers can do for themselves to get an agent/publisher in today's market?

Beyond all the dos and don’ts, I think it still comes down to the writing. All the social media connections in the world won’t help you if you don’t get that story down on paper and submit it. It’s always easier to focus on the peripherals, but you have to block out the distractions and just write. Regularly. Whether you feel like it or not. And once you submit one story, start another instead of waiting and pacing. (Preaching to the choir, here.)

Great advice! (One I need to heed, myself!) Next question: If you could have done anything differently with your writing career so far, what would it be?

I would have taken a deep breath and sent out more projects. I recently went through my computer and was appalled at the number of almost-ready manuscripts I’ve never sent out—or only sent to one publisher. Fear of rejection keep me from doing the final polish and submitting them to publishers or agents. That saved me the sting of rejection, but what if they hadn’t been rejected??

Who are your writing role models, and how have they influenced you?

Many years ago I met Susan Elizabeth Philipps at a writer’s conference mixer and she impressed my socks off. She walked in and went around to every single person there and introduced herself, asked what they wrote. I decided I want to be like that—to see every single person in a room.

AnneLamott’s way with words will always inspire me, move me, and yes, make me wish I could write like that.

SharonSala’s honesty in how she approaches life and the way she has balanced taking care of her ‘Little Mama’ (who has dementia) with her writing has been a huge source of encouragement to me, especially since I am dealing with increasing caregiving in my life these days.

Do you have any upcoming releases? If so, tell us about it!

Currently, I’m busy promoting Tangled Lies and am hoping there will be another book set in Safe Harbor, so stay tuned. In the meantime, my agent has another Florida-set series she’s shopping around and I’m busy scheming and plotting my next suspense book.

Woo Hoo! Okay, last question: What's one fact about you that most people don't know?

The only reason I bake cookies is so I can eat the raw dough. (I know, I know!) There have even been unverified accusations of whole batches of frozen cookie dough that simply evaporated. I have no idea how that happened.

Photo Credit: Geraldine (cookie dough) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

LOL, yum! Now I know what to bake...or at least MIX for you next time we get together! 

Okay, I know people will want to check you out online. Can you give us your website links and contact information?

Of course. I’d love to hear from readers and connect online. Here’s where to find me:

Website:  www.conniemann.com

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ConnieMannAuthor?ref=hl#!/ConnieMannAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CaptConnieMann

Pinterest.com http://www.pinterest.com/captconniemann/

Amazon buy link:

https://www.amazon.com/Tangled-Lies-Connie-Mann-ebook/dp/B0194UEDEK?ie=UTF8&keywords=connie%20mann&qid=1460580370&ref_=nav_signin&sr=8-1

Here’s my bio:

Connie Mann is a licensed boat captain and the author of romantic suspense novels Tangled Lies (May 2016) Angel Falls and Trapped! as well as various works of shorter fiction. She has lived in seven different states but has happily called warm, sunny Florida home for more than twenty years. When she’s not dreaming up plotlines, you’ll find “Captain Connie” on Central Florida’s waterways, introducing boats full of schoolchildren to their first alligator. She is also passionate about helping women and children in developing countries follow their dreams and break the poverty cycle. In addition to boating, she and her husband enjoy spending time with their grown children and extended family and planning their next travel adventures. You can visit Connie online at www.conniemann.com.

Here’s the Tangled Lies back cover copy:

Orphaned as a child in Russia, boat captain Sasha Petrov has spent most of her life adrift, anchored only by her loving foster family. So when they beg her to return to the family marina in Safe Harbor, Florida, for Mama’s sixtieth birthday, Sasha complies, hoping to put the past behind her. But Mama has other plans: she wants her three foster daughters to find Tony, the biological son who disappeared twenty years earlier.

Sasha agrees to try, but that’s easier said than done when bad boy Jesse Claybourne shows up, reigniting an old attraction. Back in Safe Harbor on a quest of his own, Jesse gets tangled up in Sasha’s search, and soon the two are close to uncovering an old town secret that some will stop at nothing to protect.

When Jesse is violently beaten and Sasha’s dog is poisoned, they realize the past is hiding something more sinister than they ever imagined. Can they uncover the truth without destroying Sasha’s family and breaking each other’s hearts, or are they sailing against the wind?

Doesn't that sound AMAZING? For your chance to WIN a FREE COPY of Connie Mann's newest novel, TANGLED LIES, please comment on this post below. One winner will be randomly selected from the comments below this Friday, June 24. 

Good luck, and thank you for being my guest today, Connie!

Happily My Ever After,

Dylan