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@itslaurastone
Full heart,great titles, can’t lose
I was delighted to find my book, AND IT CAME TO PASS, on a list of the best of 2017–the best 17 of 2017–list of romances on USA TODAY‘s book review website, Happily Ever After.
A tremendous list to share company with! See sidebar for buy links, and don’t forget to ask your library for a copy if money is tight!
Hey, @itslaurastone, look what I found featured on the New Books shelf at the library today!
!!!!
I LOVE SEEING MY BOOK IN A LIBRARY! Oh my gosh, thank you so much for letting me know! [smooches you all up]
Folks, if there are books you’re interested in but money is tight, don’t forget to ask your local library! If they can’t immediately get you a copy, they’ll often ask other libraries for a loaner. Win-win!
Remember when Disney treated emotional trauma as an actual physical ailment and not the stupid “just stop being upset” thing?
Big Hero 6 was a great movie
Forever reblog
Thanks for your lovely comment about our "Two Fans" book review! I just wanted to let you know that I've posted the review on Amazon as well. Flowerfan and I LOVE your work, going all the way back to "Where There's Smoke!" Can we look forward to another book from you in the next few months?
Oh my gosh, y’all are the BEST. Thank you so much!
And I am currently writing a new book, yes! [zips lip about details]
[unzips lip]
ItsaLesbianGhostStorySouthernGothicinTheSwampsofEastTexas
[zips lip]
Two Fans Review And It Came to Pass by Laura Stone
Published by @interludepress
My friend @flowerfan2 and I are back with our latest book review. We select titles from the Interlude Press catalog for our two-person book club, read a group of chapters at a time, and comment back and forth about them.
We’ve been looking forward to reading And It Came To Pass by @itslaurastone and it more than exceeded our expectations. Stone serves up a literary feast that’s built around the story of Adam and Brandon, two young Mormon men abroad in Barcelona as part of their missionary work for the Church. They are portrayed so realistically and with so much sensitivity that you can’t help but care about them, while shuddering at the actions of some of the other characters who touch their lives. The setting is fabulous as well, and will make you want to visit (or return to) this fascinating Spanish city.
The character development is honest and at times, heartbreaking, and there is plenty of drama. You might think you can predict what’s coming, but trust us, Stone has some surprises planned. There is a moment when things take such a shocking turn that each of us gasped – and yet, it is perfect for the story’s development.
Unlike some novels about unfamiliar topics, Stone provides the reader with information and insights about the Mormon religion that put things in context without interrupting the flow of the narrative. You learn and question along with Adam and Brandon, who are exploring what it means to be part of two seemingly contrasting communities.
Adam’s literal and figurative journey of self-discovery is beautiful to experience as it unfolds. He and Brandon redefine the meaning of companions as they live and learn together. Additionally, as the romantic part of their relationship builds, they begin to test the rigidity of their church’s rules. The book speeds to an immensely satisfying conclusion, full of love and promise for the future.
And It Came To Pass is a fascinating novel where the characters affirm their love through God’s words, even as their church condemns them and threatens to exact an awful price for daring to act on their love. You’ll be awash in emotion, and in a good way. If you haven’t read it yet, please do so soon. It’s outstanding!
I love these ladies and their dedication to reading @interludepress books!! Not just that, but they post reviews, too! [all my cries because reviews are how small press authors get found by new readers]
Thank you for the generous review! And if you’d like to check out my book, it’s available directly from my publisher (and hey, my previous novel Bitter Springs is on sale HALF PRICE! Pick up two and save on shipping!) or from Amazon and everywhere books are sold. You can also request a copy from your library!
Where I be
You may have noticed I’m not super active here. Tumblr and author pages are sort of fading away in general. I am however, quite active on Twitter, if that’s a thing you’re interested in. I also have a robust (and spo!l3r-free!) weekly Game of Thrones discussion post at heydontjudgeme.com.
<3
Review: And It Came To Pass
This novel was amazing, and the author’s familiarty with the Mormon church made an incredible difference. The struggle and emotions of all the characters felt so real, as did the beautiful development of the main relationship. The sexual and romantic tension went hand in hand with the spiritual questioning. This book is emotional on many levels, and makes for a very enjoyable and satisfying read. Highly recommend!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate you sharing your review with Amazon, which as I’ve mentioned before, is a HUGE way for small press/indie authors like myself to get our names and books out to a much larger audience. When a book hits 50 reviews, Amazon basically does free promotion on the title. It’s so kind of you to help by sharing your thoughts!
AND IT CAME TO PASS is available directly from my publisher, @interludepress from Amazon, Target, iBooks, Waterstones and everywhere books are sold. (Ask your library to get you a copy if $$ is tight!)
@interludepress is having a birthday, and a particular book of mine is only $3.50! Watch for where and when to get this absolute steal!
Support books with casts of color and queer characters! ❤️
Interlude Press is turning THREE YEARS OLD, and I’m so happy to have been a part of it from the beginning.
To celebrate all the (massive, let’s be honest) accomplishments, @interludepress is putting a bunch of older titles on a massive sale all this week. Details can be found in the above video (Psst, that’s me. My personal account has a few thousand followers where this account only has a few hundred) but the sale prices won’t last for long!
BITTER SPRINGS is an historical queer novel without a SINGLE WHITE CHARACTER. Remember how everyone keeps talking about how important it is to write out of the publishing norm? How important it is for non-white stories to be published? I AGREE! (And so did my publisher, whew!) I believed then and now that it was crucial to write voices that we don’t often hear from, and in the instance it was the Mexican ranch families that settled what is now Texas as well as the voices of the black cowboys who built the mystique that still captures the ideals of what people believe about Texas and the Wild West, not to mention how many of these people were openly LGBT.
If that’s important to you, here’s a great chance to read a book that was beloved by critics. Visit store.interludepress.com for a deeply discounted copy of Bitter Springs for your own! Support queer & diverse stories, indie authors, and small presses all in one purchase!
Reminder of this OUTSTANDING sale!!
Looking for some good queer reads? @interludepress has you covered! In fact, I have you covered if you like:
second chance love stories of the emotionally heart-wrenching and gay male variety, a story with a play-within-the-plot based off the rumored gay lover Shakespeare had out in the open and also angry Hungarians and saucy Irish women and all for $3.50 (THE BONES OF YOU)
historically accurate queer people living in the Wild West, including a rambunctious Mexican ranching family (based loosely off Pride & Prejudice, and by loosely I mean PRETTY CLOSE TO THE BENNETTS) and a freed slave-turned greatest horse catcher in the land, based on a real man. This is baaaasically an AU Western Gay Pride & Prejudice, and for the life of me, I can’t understand why you don’t already have a copy of BITTER SPRINGS OH HERE, IT TOO IS ONLY $3.50 TODAY!
(If you would like paperbacks over eBooks, BITTER SPRINGS is only NINE FLIPPIN’ BUCKS right now. Half off!! Act fast! Sale prices aren’t forever!
@interludepress is having a birthday, and a particular book of mine is only $3.50! Watch for where and when to get this absolute steal!
Support books with casts of color and queer characters! ❤️
Interlude Press is turning THREE YEARS OLD, and I’m so happy to have been a part of it from the beginning.
To celebrate all the (massive, let’s be honest) accomplishments, @interludepress is putting a bunch of older titles on a massive sale all this week. Details can be found in the above video (Psst, that’s me. My personal account has a few thousand followers where this account only has a few hundred) but the sale prices won’t last for long!
BITTER SPRINGS is an historical queer novel without a SINGLE WHITE CHARACTER. Remember how everyone keeps talking about how important it is to write out of the publishing norm? How important it is for non-white stories to be published? I AGREE! (And so did my publisher, whew!) I believed then and now that it was crucial to write voices that we don’t often hear from, and in the instance it was the Mexican ranch families that settled what is now Texas as well as the voices of the black cowboys who built the mystique that still captures the ideals of what people believe about Texas and the Wild West, not to mention how many of these people were openly LGBT.
If that’s important to you, here’s a great chance to read a book that was beloved by critics. Visit store.interludepress.com for a deeply discounted copy of Bitter Springs for your own! Support queer & diverse stories, indie authors, and small presses all in one purchase!
[heart eyes]
So, big step forward with my small publishing house, @interludepress - they’re now on NetGalley, which is kind of a big deal. (The link will talk more about it.)
BUT. I want to talk about, by which I mean flail and make happy noises at the fact that like, straight dudes are reading my book about two gay Mormon missionaries... and they are loving it.
I was not sure that I would like this book, but I found it enlightening and informative, life-affirming and thought-provoking. Were I young and gay whether from a religious background or not, I would find an invaluable source of support from it. It affirms the importance of unconditional love in all relationships. The book is at different points funny, touching, frightening and moving. Highly recommended.
~Netgalley Review
Look. I get it. Folks around here like to really frown at straight dudes, but I am so happy that they’re trying? And not only that, they’re able to read a story that maybe isn’t their norm and then fall into the story? YOU KNOW, LIKE FEMALES/NON-STRAIGHT DUDES HAVE FOR MILLENNIA??
It’s just very inspiring. :D
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to plotting out my next book. <3
(And if you’re curious to read my book, ask your local library to get you a copy of AND IT CAME TO PASS! Or, feel free to buy it directly from my publisher, from Amazon--where it’s currently on sale w/ free shipping--or from anywhere books are sold.)
The Importance of Reviews
[I know, I know, it’s a repeat conversation, but it’s crucial enough to my survival as an author that I must repeat the conversation!]
FRIENDS, LOVED ONES, FOLKS SCROLLING BY, let me sing the song of my people, my people being authors and artists and fellow-creative types.
[hits a C, but a bouncy C]
No, I’m not actually going to sing because Chairman Meow up there keeps borking it up.
But I am going to talk about how important reviews are for content creators such as myself. And let me blow your mind with this right off the bat: the type of content in the review is irrelevant. Like, it doesn’t matter if it’s fourteen paragraphs long (omg, we love those, though) or if it’s a short “Cool. Liked it.” or the even shorter “not for me”.
What does matter is that it exists. And more importantly, what matters most is where this review gets placed, in particular.
Por Ejemplo:
One. You leave a review on Goodreads. That’s awesome! Danke! But the people you’re connecting with are folks looking to (statistically speaking) borrow the book or... just add it to their TBR pile. And this is fine! A lot of these folks reading the review from Goodreads will stumble on a copy at a library or borrow from a friend, and faces in books of writers is always A+++. But the reach for new readers who buy the book is... so-so. It’s good! But not great.
Two. You leave a review on Amazon. First, I know. I know we all have issues with Amazon, especially from the content-creator perspective. But the truth is that reviews on Amazon generate sales.
MORE IMPORTANTLY, there is a magic number of reviews on Amazon that push those sales into hyperdrive. Let me explain... Let’s say an author gets 50 reviews, and again, it can be paragraphs of gushing or a short “meh, I didn’t HATE it” or even “I hated it”. It’s the number that matters. Why? Because Amazon will then start promoting that book-at no cost to the content creator-when it hits that number!
Promotions like:
When you turn on your Kindle and a book cover appears as the home screen
When you log onto a website and Amazon Ads make suggestions for books to purchase
When you log onto Facebook and Amazon plonks a book suggestion in your feed or the side bar
When you surf Amazon itself and it suggests books for you to read both below and in the sidebar
And here’s how magical our monkey-brains are: the more we see a cover and a significant # of reviews, we think to ourselves, “THIS BOOK MUST BE GOOD AND/OR INTERESTING. ADD TO MY CART, JEEVES, I WILL ONE-CLICK THIS, BY GOLLY.”
Because, my precious, magnificent antelopes, you can buy RIGHT THERE. Goodreads, while without question is useful for researching what book is For You, is unfortunately a few clicks away from a purchase, which, we know we’re already exhausted from thinking about clicking THREE MORE TIMES to get somewhere when we only have to click ONE TIME on another site.
This is not to say that a review on GR is useless, not at all! It just doesn’t generate sales like an Amazon review will. (And hey, no reason you can’t cut-and-paste a review onto BOTH sites, ahem.) Goodreads leads to LIBRARY sales, and that’s pretty stellar! I’m a huge fan of libraries getting books! It’s a raison d'être, you might say.
But reviews on Amazon auto-populate OTHER book sellers pages, which also have that one-click to purchase thing working, so it’s just a win-freaking-win.
My plea: asking for 50 reviews as a small press author seems impossible, so how about helping me get my latest book to 25? If you’ve read AND IT CAME TO PASS and haven’t left a review, would you consider it? (And hey, BITTER SPRINGS got to 26! How about helping me get it to 30? THE BONES OF YOU petered out at 19, maybe 25 is a worthy goal there, too? I’d like to toot my own horn and remind the world that they got high-praise from critics. How about from you, Dear Reader Pal?
In conclusion, I love you. Thanks for helping support me and other writers like me. And if you liked it, LEAVE A REVIEW, not just for me, but for all content-creators. It sucks feeling like you live in a vacuum. (See what I did there? #MomJokes)
[blows kisses to the 3 people following]
I just got back from the ALA Con in Chicago, drove to a Buddhist temple (where I’m working to beautify things for a visit from the Dalai freaking Lama) and am now on my way to Nashville for a Game of Thrones convention where I’m a panelist (check: heydontjudgeme.com for why I was asked) and it’s a whirlwind of activity!
If you’re in Nashville this weekend, check out Con of Thrones and come see me! I would LOVE to meet you and get super fannish about things.
BTW, Amazon just put my latest novel And It Came To Pass on DEEP discount (31%) but I still make $$$ so if you’re interested, there you go! (Or ask you library to get a copy! THEY WILL. YOU PAY NOTHING. IT’S AWESOME)
And if I may? If you’ve read the book, would you consider leaving a review on Amazon? GR is great, but AMAZON generates sales. When I get to 50 reviews, I get FREE PROMOTION from Amazon, which, as you can imagine, is massively helpful. Would you help me get to my goal of just 25 reviews by July 10th? That would be amazing. REBLOG, write a review (if you read it, and it can be one sentence!) and I will love you forever.
Otherwise, I will only love you for 15 years. I’M JUST SAYING.
<3
Their romance is complicated and emotionally staggering, with layers of internal and external tension. I loved the detailed explanation and portrayal of Brandon and Adam’s daily life as missionaries, how they practiced their faith and struggled with it and kept trying to be worthy of the expectations placed on them.
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books review of And It Came to Pass by Laura Stone
And It Came to Pass is now available from the IP Web Store and other book retailers.
(via interludepress)
[LOUD NOISES!!] I’m so happy Sarah of Smart Bitches gave my book a chance. True story: I met her at RT in Atlanta, she’s adorable and running on 240% energy, and this made my day. From now on, please refer to everything about me as complicated and emotionally staggering. That’s maybe the most wonderful thing.
Come find me this weekend!
A Stoney in the wild... and by wild I mean Chicago and the ALA (American Library Association) Convention, June 23 - 26th. I’ll be signing and chatting with folks Saturday and Sunday morning at our booth, #2029G in the Diversity Pavilion.
I’ll be there with @erinfinnegan, new @interludepress author Nancy Stewart, and Editor-in-Chief Annie Harper. I would love to meet you and talk books!
Today is Juneteenth, an official state of Texas holiday. Well, I say “Texas” but I mean it's a holiday for Black Texans, as most whites don't celebrate. It's not our holiday, after all. Juneteenth is a celebration of June 19th, 1865, the day that slaves in this state were finally told (a year-and-a-half late) by General Granger that they were free, due to the Emancipation Proclamation... given January 1, 1863. That it took so long is clearly due to racism. There are many reasons bandied about, but ultimately all excuses boil down to slave owners wanting to keep their free labor.
The proclamation that began this highly revered holiday was held in Galveston, and the city continues to host huge celebrations for the descendants of the slaves there that day, food (barbecue in particular) being an absolute central focus. A resurgence in this holiday's importance has spread outside the state, and Juneteenth events can be found as far north as Milwaukee.
One of the prominent ways to celebrate this day in history is through rodeo.
Black Rodeos are making a comeback, and as well they should seeing as the average cowboy in the Old West was statistically not-white and (not straight).
Black cowboys were far more common than white cowboys. Black horsemen were crucial to the building of United States in the 19th Century and these rodeos honor that oft-forgotten past.
If you’re near a Juneteenth celebration today, I highly recommend joining in and honoring this important (and neglected by white America) piece in our country’s history.
Laura Stone is the author of three novels with @interludepress, including Bitter Springs, an historical novel following a Mexican ranch family and Henry “Hank” Burnett, a freed-slave and well-renowned horse wrangler, based off a real black cowboy in history, Robert Lemmons, the original “horse whisperer.”
The podcast is back! This week we’re talking about Current Events (the 12-year-old who came out to her congregation only to have them shut the mic on her and usher her away from the podium) and the significance of the particular meeting she was speaking at.
The link above takes you to my website (and a Complete Episode Guide can be found right here including downloadable links and transcripts). You can also listen on iTunes, Google Play and Stitcher.
Be sure to subscribe to keep up to date with episodes and hoo-boy, will I love you forever if you reblog, share links and/or leave a review. Podcasts cost a lot of time and money (I make none from its production) and it’s wonderful to know it’s not for naught. :)
I live for stories of heroines realizing their power. It puts me on the edge of my seat, curious and delighted by the prospect of seeing what they do with their gifts; how they wield them. Young women entering that phase of self-discovery are champions of newfound ability, juggling powers we (unfortunately) don’t come across in real life with all the cringey, awkward momentousness of coming of age. They search for their confidence and their place in the world as girls becoming women, and it’s these seemingly humdrum pursuits that charge their abilities and make them superhuman.
Here are a few worthy champions–heroines of YA fiction burdened gifted with incredible abilities that make their lives as magical as they are challenging. Revel in their superpowers.
http://bookriot.com/2017/06/08/7-ya-novels-superpowered-heroines/
So proud of CB Lee's continual presence on these lists for queer and racially diverse books!
