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Category: If I Could Stay

An Ode to Reviews

Published by Annette on September 4, 2020

(Not actually an Ode)

I’m coming up on a launch. Songs for Libby releases on October 15 and is up for pre-order now. That means that I’m going to be putting out my hands to beg for reviews as soon as it’s out.

I think a lot of people think that in order to leave a review, you have to be a “good reviewer.” For the record, anyone who bothers to review something is a good reviewer in my book. You don’t have to do a special intro to the book before you give your opinion. It doesn’t have to be long. You don’t have to cover every aspect of what you did and didn’t like. If all you want to say in your review is, “I really liked this one,” that’s great! You can write as much or as little as you want. No one is out their judging your reviews (unless you are a professional reviewer, but that’s different).

Continue readingAn Ode to Reviews

If I Could Stay Deleted Scene

Published by Annette on May 7, 2018

It’s time for a deleted scene from If I Could Stay!

While the final plot line had Leila leaving her go-bag in the trunk of her car, my original plan was for her to lose her money belt/wallet/purse in Jack’s truck. And since she can’t ask him for help due to the illegal nature of her fraudulent IDs, she ends up taking matters into her own hands.

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FBI. Research. Oh my.

Published by Annette on March 6, 2018

Just like all of my other books, If I Could Stay involved a lot of rewrites. I’ll write a scene as I imagine it and then I’ll realize that I don’t know enough about a subject to be sure that the scene is realistic. For Painting Rain, it was the painting scenes. I had to go out and research renaissance painting techniques and then go back and incorporate them. For Keeping Kinley, it was how to tend an orchard. What fruit should I use? How can you tell if a pear is ready? And then I went back and rewrote.

Continue readingFBI. Research. Oh my.