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When a writer needs a hug… by Jina Bacarr

July 11, 2020 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as books, editing, historical, Paris, writing, WW 2

Writing never gets easier… if anything, it’s more difficult.

Why? Because we expect more of ourselves. Even more so when you’re doing edits from your fab editor who’s really an angel in disguise. We want to make our story as perfect as possible and not disappoint her. She believes in you. Your characters believe in you. After all, their lives are in your hands.

But like a chocolate soufflé, a lot can go wrong.

Your computer screen goes blue… computer updates send your heart pounding as you pray you get all your pretty icons back…. a character keeps you up at nights because you’re so worried about how you’re going to save her butt and yours.

There’s more:

You go over your word count.

You can’t find your timeline/fact sheet for your heroine (when you’re writing about Paris during WW 2 this is crucial).

You ‘re so tired, you push the wrong button on your keyboard and everything in Track Changes disappears

You realize a secondary relationship ain’t working because the hero is based on an old boyfriend with a big ego. You dump him. Get a new guy for the part. And he’s an absolute dream.

You work from dawn-to-dawn the week before edits are due and have no idea what day it is.

And worst of all, you run out of coffee.

But I did it!

I sent my editor the edited manuscript at 7:37 a.m. on a sunny morning… and I felt numb. No whistles went off. No bells. Just the quiet hum of my computer.

I needed a hug.

Someone telling me ‘I done good’.

Yes, I’m totally proud of what I accomplished, but writing can be a lonely business. And it’s hard work, especially writing historicals. (My story follows a dual timeline from 1926 to 1950 and present day. Silent films, Nazis in Paris, the film business in Hollywood and France.)

So I did what I swore I wouldn’t after I sent the m/s: I opened it back up and read some of my favorite passages. Laughed and cried again with my characters… sat amazed at how they accomplished their goals… fell in love with them all over again… and cheered when they beat the Nazis!

And I got that hug.

From my characters. Reminding me why I write. Because I so love them, the stories, the chance to give them life.

So, merci beaucoup, mes bons amis! Thank you, my friends.

Jina

PS — I’ll keep you posted on my Paris WW 2 historical. Cover ideas coming soon…

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To sleep or not to sleep… why I stayed up till dawn every night to finish my book by Jina Bacarr

June 11, 2020 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as author, Boldwood, Boldwood Books, historical fiction, historical romance, Ireland, Queenstown, romance', ship of dreams, stories, story, Titanic, Writer, writing

I’ve worked nights a lot.

On late night radio.

In a U.S. Army service club

Dancer/Singer/Cocktail waitress.

Theatre productions.

Yeah, a lot. But you’d think as a writer I could choose to work the day shift. I tried, really tried, but my brain seems to be wired to work late.

So here I am at 3:36 a.m. writing my Slice of Orange Blog for this month. I don’ t know if it’s because of the lovely quiet, the comforting shades of night that envelop you like a cozy blanket, or the two pots of coffee, but I’m a night writer.

What’s your favorite time to write? Day, night?

Leave me a comment and it will be fun to see who writes when. But the bottom line is,

WE WRITE.

And that’s all that matters.

Jina

PS — I just finished my Paris WW 2 historical fiction story. Wow, what a challenge.

I adore Paris… I remember as a kid visiting the City of Light with my parents.

I never forgot seeing buildings around the city that still had bullet holes in them from the German Occupation.

I remember wondering what it was like in 1943 if you were a Resistance fighter… now I know. My book is about a brave woman who was.

Merci.

————–

THE RUNAWAY GIRL

Two women hold the keys to his heart. Only one will survive that fateful night…

When Ava O’Reilly is wrongly accused of stealing from her employer, she has no option but to flee Ireland. The law is after her, and she has only one chance at escape – the Titanic.

Aboard the ship of dreams, she runs straight into the arms of Captain ‘Buck’ Blackthorn, a dashing gentleman gambler who promises to be her protector. He is intrigued by her Irish beauty and manages to disguise her as the maid of his good friend, the lovely Countess of Marbury. Little does he realise, that the Countess is also in love with him.

As the fateful night approaches, tragedy strikes further when Ava is separated from Buck, and must make a daring choice that will change her life forever…

A sweeping historical romance set aboard the Titanic, from the author of Her Lost Love (Christmas Once Again).

Praise for Jina Bacarr:

‘A delightful holiday romance that has all the charm of a classic Christmas movie. Christmas Once Again is perfect for anyone who loves a holiday romance brimming with mistletoe, hope, and what ifs.’ Andie Newton, author of The Girl I Left Behind ‘A breathtaking holiday romance that is sure to stay with you long after reading’

‘A mesmerizing holiday romance that is sure to sweep you off your feet and take you away to another place, another time.’

‘A fabulous book you won’t want to miss’

THE RUNAWAY GIRL e-book, print and audio book:

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Boldwood Bedtime Stories with Jina Bacarr reading from ‘The Runaway Girl’ A Titanic love story

May 11, 2020 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as bedtime, Boldwood, Boldwood Books, historical fiction, historical romance, Ireland, Queenstown, romance', ship of dreams, stories, story, Titanic

Since we’re all still at home… why not grab a lovely cup of herb tea and a biscuit and listen to THE RUNAWAY GIRL on Boldwood Bedtime Stories.

Here we meet Ava before she boarded the TITANIC..

I enjoyed bringing these characters in Queenstown Ireland to life… Enjoy!

Boldwood Bedtime Stories: The RUNAWAY GIRL Introduction

Boldwood Bedtime Stories: The RUNAWAY GIRL Part 1: Queenstown, Ireland Ava needs a place to stay

Boldwood Bedtime Stories: The RUNAWAY GIRL Part 2: Ava ends up in a dosshouse in Queenstown, Ireland

Boldwood Bedtime Stories: The RUNAWAY GIRL Part 3 Ava bargains with Florie Sims at the dosshouse

Boldwood Bedtime Stories: The RUNAWAY GIRL Part 4 Ava fights back against unruly gent in dosshouse

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THE RUNAWAY GIRL

Two women hold the keys to his heart. Only one will survive that fateful night…

When Ava O’Reilly is wrongly accused of stealing from her employer, she has no option but to flee Ireland. The law is after her, and she has only one chance at escape – the Titanic.

As the fateful night approaches, tragedy strikes further when Ava is separated from Buck, and must make a daring choice that will change her life forever…

A sweeping historical romance set aboard the Titanic, from the author of Her Lost Love (Christmas Once Again).

Praise for Jina Bacarr:

‘A delightful holiday romance that has all the charm of a classic Christmas movie. Christmas Once Again is perfect for anyone who loves a holiday romance brimming with mistletoe, hope, and what ifs.’ Andie Newton, author of The Girl I Left Behind

‘A breathtaking holiday romance that is sure to stay with you long after reading’

‘A mesmerizing holiday romance that is sure to sweep you off your feet and take you away to another place, another time.’

‘A fabulous book you won’t want to miss’

THE RUNAWAY GIRL e-book, print and audio book:

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Titanic and Me by Jina Bacarr: How I discovered the ship of dreams

April 11, 2020 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as historical fiction, historical romance, romance, ship of dreams, Titanic

Once upon the ship of dreams… me dressed as a first class lady

I first discovered the Titanic nestled among paperback romance novels on a shelf in a small library branch near the sea.

‘A Night to Remember’, that wonderful tome definitive of all things Titanic, had found an unlikely home among princesses and maids. I imagine the Walter Lord book was shelved there by a fussy librarian because of its provocative title, but oh, what a lucky break for me.

I was thirteen and living in a small beach town on the coast. Every day that summer I’d walk to the small library branch and take out as many books as they’d let me. Then I’d walk down to the beach and sit under the boardwalk, listen to the roar of the pounding surf, eat strips and salsa, and read.

Read… read… read.

I read ‘A Night to Remember’ a million times, imaging myself on the ship of dreams wearing an elegant gown and long white gloves, dancing in first class with a handsome gentleman. Then reality would set in and I realized I’d more likely be in steerage since my family came over from Ireland.

The place dreams are made of…

When I was a little girl, I lived with my Irish grandmother for a while and I remember sitting at the big, wooden table with her as she added flour, milk, and herbs to leftover mashed spuds for potato cakes, or wound her blue rosary beads around her gnarled fingers while she spun tales about life in Ireland. Grand times they were, and a lovely thread woven through the quilt of my childhood.

Books were my companions back then and I’d read anywhere, anytime. I read tons of romances, but I’d often end up in the history section of the library looking for more stories about the Titanic. Imagining sneaking into first class and pretending I belonged there. Something I found hard to do growing up since we moved a lot and I was always the ‘new kid’ (I went to fifteen schools before college). I yearned to be among the popular kids at the beach, but somewhere in my heart, I knew the way to better myself was reading and the rest would come later.

Reading was my world.

That became the basis of my heroine, Ava O’Reilly, in THE RUNAWAY GIRL, a girl who wants to better herself by reading books but it’s forbidden to the servants in the grand house in Ireland where she’s in service.

Then when she’s wrongly accused of stealing a diamond bracelet, she escapes.

To the Titanic.

And every tale I’d heard at my grandmother’s knee, every book I’d read, every film about the ship of dreams I’d watched over and over again became the fodder for telling my own story about the Titanic.

Based on my girlhood and love of books.

And the sea.

And yes, romance, too.

And how an Irish girl makes a daring choice on that fateful night when the Titanic hits an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. that changes her life forever…

And mine, too.

—————

————–

THE RUNAWAY GIRL

Two women hold the keys to his heart. Only one will survive that fateful night…

When Ava O’Reilly is wrongly accused of stealing from her employer, she has no option but to flee Ireland. The law is after her, and she has only one chance at escape – the Titanic.

As the fateful night approaches, tragedy strikes further when Ava is separated from Buck, and must make a daring choice that will change her life forever…

A sweeping historical romance set aboard the Titanic, from the author of Her Lost Love (Christmas Once Again).

Praise for Jina Bacarr:

‘A delightful holiday romance that has all the charm of a classic Christmas movie. Christmas Once Again is perfect for anyone who loves a holiday romance brimming with mistletoe, hope, and what ifs.’ Andie Newton, author of The Girl I Left Behind

‘A breathtaking holiday romance that is sure to stay with you long after reading’

‘A mesmerizing holiday romance that is sure to sweep you off your feet and take you away to another place, another time.’

‘A fabulous book you won’t want to miss’

THE RUNAWAY GIRL e-book, print and audio book:

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My Titanic Love Story pubs March 17th… The Runaway Girl will run away with your heart by Jina Bacarr

March 11, 2020 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as BookBub, giveaway, Titanic

I’m excited to announce that my Titanic love story, THE RUNAWAY GIRL, will be published on March 17th.

———–

Reviews.

You either love them or cringe…. but they’re part of the business.

Kind of like you see in the old black and white films when the actors, director, and producer all gather at a famous restaurant, drink coffee and cognac, and wait for the early morning reviews in the daily newspapers…

There was something romantic about those days when we waited for print reviews. Smiling when they’re good, sighing when they’re not, but always grateful someone took their time to give us their honest opinion. You grow as a writer from reviews… all of them.

Now you can get a review in an instant on your smartphone.

It’s enough to keep a writer up at nights, sleeping with her phone by her side, waiting for that inevitable beep or chime that signals we’re about to celebrate with double chocolate brownies or go back to the drawing board with cold coffee at our side till we get it right.

And sometimes we do get it right.

I’m excited to say THE RUNAWAY GIRL has received amazing reviews:

‘A fantastic Titanic take woven in with a great portrayal of love, friendship, and even forgiveness. I would have rather seen this as a movie than the Jack and Rose story!!!’

‘… the writing was very good and so detailed that it felt like it was all so believable, and could really have happened. This was my first book to have read by this author but she managed to take me on an epic journey with her characters which I totally fell in love with.’

‘I loved, loved this book so much!!!’

‘This was such a good story, the characters were so compelling and you become so invested in them you want to keep reading even way after the story ends!’

‘The Runaway Girl is a mesmerizing romance that any reader (like me) that loves all things Titanic will adore.’

‘What a fantastic storyline the characters were compelling and I loved this story couldn’t put it down it was so well written, loved it’

‘From start to finish I was enchanted with the story and the characters and all the finer details describing the ship, clothes and scenery.’

‘The Runaway Girl: A Titanic Love Story is perfect for historical fiction and romance fans.’

‘The author has a way of creating a vivid, historically authentic world of the Titanic through this wonderful story. You will start to love the favorable characters and the great storyline.’

‘Oh how I adored this story.’

You can read all the NetGalley reviews in their entirety HERE.

If you’re a book blogger or a reviewer registered on NetGalley who’d like to give your opinion about my Titanic love story, it’s not too late to request a preview copy of The Runaway Girl.

Here’s the link:

US: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/183647

UK: http://netgal.ly/bCCpRd

I anxiously await to hear what you think! Believe me, besides those double chocolate brownies, there’s nothing that makes an author’s day than a review!

Thank you, everyone.

~Jina

————–

THE RUNAWAY GIRL, is on schedule for a March 17 pub date.

Two women hold the keys to his heart. Only one will survive that fateful night…

When Ava O’Reilly is wrongly accused of stealing from her employer, she has no option but to flee Ireland. The law is after her, and she has only one chance at escape – the Titanic.

As the fateful night approaches, tragedy strikes further when Ava is separated from Buck, and must make a daring choice that will change her life forever…

A sweeping historical romance set aboard the Titanic, from the author of Her Lost Love (Christmas Once Again).

Praise for Jina Bacarr:

‘A delightful holiday romance that has all the charm of a classic Christmas movie. Christmas Once Again is perfect for anyone who loves a holiday romance brimming with mistletoe, hope, and what ifs.’ Andie Newton, author of The Girl I Left Behind

‘A breathtaking holiday romance that is sure to stay with you long after reading’

‘A mesmerizing holiday romance that is sure to sweep you off your feet and take you away to another place, another time.’

‘A fabulous book you won’t want to miss’

THE RUNAWAY GIRL is now up for pre-order in e-book, print and audio book:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo.

Apple Books

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