Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Guest Blogger Sarah M. Anderson

When I sold to Desire, one of the first authors to welcome me was fellow newbie, Sarah. Since then, we've bonded over the process of getting our first book out into the world. Today, I'm psyched to have her here because its her LAUNCH DAY! Give her a warm welcome as she stops by on her blog tour.

If I were going to have a nickname on this blog, it would most likely be the Weirdo. I’m just a little odd—always have been, always will be. I was the kid who took the book outside during recess—and read it while I walked back into the building. I had a huge vocabulary—but I mispronounced all the words because I never heard words like ‘macabre’ said out loud. I just read them on paper.

That was bad enough, but what made it worse was a personal fashion sense that walked the line between ‘clueless’ and ‘God-awful.’ Some less-than-charitable classmates even called me ‘butch.’ I had a mullet. Yes. You read that correctly—a mullet, but not one of the trendy-at-the-times ones
with mall bangs and curls everywhere. Just a mullet with flat hair that stuck up funny. I was tall—one of the tallest girls in school, but I am not naturally graceful (read: I suck at sports). I didn’t wear skirts or dresses. Ever. Well, that’s not true—I wore one once for a presentation, and I swear, that’s the only thing people remembered. “Sarah wore a skirt today!” It was such a big deal that when I wore a skirt to my five-year reunion, people remembered. “Whoa—are you wearing a skirt?’

I was that kind of weirdo. Not organized enough to be Goth, not geeky enough to be a nerd, not coordinated enough to play sports. Just a girl with her nose in a book. I mean, come on—what kind of high-school freshman reads the unabridged (but translated) version of Les Miserables just to one-up her French teacher? Me, that’s who. (And you better believe I did that!)

And now look where it’s gotten me—I’M PUBLISHED! My very first book comes out today! A lifetime of being the odd duck has paid off—now I’m the PUBLISHED odd duck! It’s wonderful to have all the other misfits I hung out with tell me that they always knew I had a book in me. But I’m not going to lie—what’s even more gratifying is when some of those formerly
less-than-charitable classmates (you know, the ones who called me ‘bookworm’ and ‘butch’) tell me how cool it is that I’m a real-life author. That’s right—for the first time ever, I’m cool. How cool is that?

I’m giving away a signed copy of A Man of His Word (OUT TODAY!) to someone who answers the question: what’s the longest book you actually read? (Les Mis is actually only in my top 15!) I’m also giving away this custom-made Locket of Love on January 1, so be sure to comment early and often!

This post is brought to you as part of the A Man of His Word Blog Tour. U.S. residents only. For a complete tour schedule and rules, visit www.sarahmanderson.com. Comments on this blog will be entered to win a signed copy of A Man of His Word. All blog comments are added to the Jewelry Grand Prize list. Jewelry Grand Prize announced on January 1st, 2012 to one randomly drawn name on the list. Next tour stop is the Romance Novel News on December 8th.


A Man of His Word
Attorney Rosebud Donnelly has a case to win. And she never lets anyone see her sweat. But her first meeting with Dan Armstrong doesn’t go according to script. No one warned her that the COO of the company she’s fighting would be so…manly. From his storm-colored eyes to his well-worn boots, Dan is an honest-to-goodness cowboy. But is he honest? Her yearning for the Texas tycoon goes against reason, against family loyalty, against everything she thought she believed in. And yet, in Dan’s strong arms, Rosebud feels she might be ready to risk everything for one more kiss….

A Man of His Word is available! Visit your favorite bookseller, at Amazon, or for the Nook.

Award-winning author Sarah M. Anderson may live east of the Mississippi River, but her heart
lies out west on the Great Plains. With a lifelong love of horses and two history teachers for parents, it wasn’t long before her characters found themselves out in South Dakota among the Lakota Sioux. She loves to put people from two different worlds into new situations and to see how their backgrounds and cultures take them someplace they never thought they’d go.

When not helping out at school or walking her rescue dog, Sarah spends her days having conversations with imaginary cowboys and American Indians, all of which is surprisingly well-tolerated by her wonderful husband and son.
In case you missed it in the contest legaleeze, there's a book up for grabs and a grand prize of a really cool piece of jewelry from the blog tour. Be sure to comment. Thanks for stopping by, Sarah!

26 comments:

Unknown said...

YAY First comment !!! Congrats on on the blogs !!! Can't wait to read your book. LOVE LOVE THE NECKLACE!!!

ash

Unknown said...

Congrats on your new release! Your book sounds fabulous. I guess the longest book I ever read would have to be Gone With the Wind but I am not real sure right now.

Sarah M. Anderson said...

Thanks so much, U and Virginia! Gone with the Wind is pretty long!

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

Welcome, Sarah. Glad you could visit me and my alter ego here.

Longest book - I think it was the unabridged release of The Stand. Like 1100 or 1300 pages. Massive book. But excellent! Makes the Diana Gabaldon stuff look like kiddie books, although those probably come in as the next longest on my list.

Suzanne Lilly said...

Congratulations, Sarah. I have to agree, Gone With the Wind was the longest book I read as a teen. I was grounded for an entire summer and I read it three times. Scarlett rocked! I wanted to be a strong rebel like her.

Playground Monitor said...

Hi Sarah!

Congrats on your release and welcome to the Playground.

Count me as another of the ones whose longest read is Gone with the Wind.

I'll be looking for your book. Congrats again!

Kiwi said...

Congrats on the blog and book.

Longest book I've read to date would have to be It by Steven King... I used to joke that Moby Dick would've been easier.

Sara Murphy said...

Sarah, Congratulations on being published! I too, was the odd duck with her nose in a book. I read Clan of the Cave bear in fifth grade and I put a "death curse" (meaning I did an elaborate dance on the play ground and ignored him for the rest of the year) on a boy named Braxton that wouldn't stop picking on me.

Sara Murphy said...

Oh, and the longest book I've ever read is unabridged version of The Stand, by Stephen King.

traveler said...

Congratulations and best wishes. Your book sounds great. A lengthy book was Great Expectations.

Sarah M. Anderson said...

Oh, I read The Stand, too! I think I still own it--read it in hardback. Why anyone would read a book that big in hardback--short of working out a few muscle groups--is beyond me!

I will admit, though--I've never read Gone with the Wind. *bad Sarah*

Sara Murphy--I like your style. We would have been friends on the playground!

Kiwi, IT was actually the last King book I read (for a decade), and the only one I didn't finish. It scared me so badly that years passed before I had the courage to pick up another one of his.

pjk said...

Although Stephen King's books "IT" and "The Stand" are probably the longest books I have read, they didn't feel long. I have read books with fewer pages, but they just felt longer.

Your book sounds great! Congratulations!

The Brunette Librarian said...

Jeesh, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself until I read the pages read by everyone else! Wow! I think the longest book that I remember reading was "Archeron" By: Sherilyn Kenyon. 736 pages! :)

Congratulations on your new release :) Always wonderful to find a new author!

rachie2004 AT yah00 *d8t* c0m

Sarah M. Anderson said...

Pjk, you raise an excellent point--some books feel really, really long. For Les Mis, the first 200 pages were pure torture--but once the story got going, it rolled right along.

Brunette Lib., don't feel bad! That's pretty darned impressive!

Kira Sinclair - AKA Instigator said...

Welcome, Sarah! It's great to have you on the Playground. :-)

The longest book I've read? I have no idea. I started Les Mis but have to admit the play was better so I stopped. Gone with the Wind is pretty long. The sequel Scarlet was fairly lengthy. But who knows. I'm guessing y'all beat me though. :-)

And I'm right there with you, Sarah. I convinced my group for a Junior class assignment to write a short romance. Everyone else in the class wrote about social issues or saving the earth or something. Guess who was electred to read the piece aloud when we learned after the fact that we'd have to? Yeah, that was shy, nose-in-a-book me. Luckily soon after that assignment I got caught skipping school and my reputation recovered.

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Mary Dieterich said...

I'm sure Homer's Odyssey isn't the longest, but it sure took forever to read. I'd say the last few Harry Potter books were probably the longest. Have read GWTW twice, plus the two sequels.

Sarah M. Anderson said...

Kira, thanks for the welcome! And I'm super glad you recovered your reputation. *whew*! ;)

Mary, you're the first person to toss out Harry Potter!

BW said...

Gone with the Wind was the longest book I've ever read.

Shana Smith said...

Hi Sarah! I'm obviously not in the running for the giveaways, but I thought I'd chime in. I think the longest book I've ever read was Anna Karenina. I started reading it the summer before my freshman year of college, and I think it took me an entire year to finish. I've since decided Russian literature is not for me. :)

I was also the girl with her nose constantly in a book--usually hidden under the desk when I was supposed to be paying attention in class. Oops. :) But I say let's hear it for book nerds like us--we've grown up to become authors and editors whose job it is to have our noses stuck in books. And that's a pretty great job. :)

Sarah M. Anderson said...

BW, Gone with the Wind is a very, very popular choice. Shana, Anna Karina! I'm impressed! Russian Lit is an uncharted territory for me.

Laurie G said...

Longest book- James Clavell's Shogun (1152 pages)

Arlene Hittle said...

Longest book I ever read was Gone with the Wind ... All 1,024 pages of it. In 7th grade. I fell in love with Ashley. Then I begged mom to rent me the movie and hated it because it cut out parts of the book (like 2 of Scarlett's kids) and Ashley was nowhere near as cute as the one in my head.

Sarah M. Anderson said...

Arlene, I've had that problem, too--the book can never match up to what's in our heads. And Laurie--the first Shogun! Awesome!

Sarah M. Anderson said...

BW was the winner of the signed copy of A MAN OF HIS WORD! Congratulations, BW!

Sarah M. Anderson said...

Laurie G was the Grand Prize Winner! Laurie, email me your address and I'll get the Locket of Love out to you in the mail! Thanks to the Writing Playground for hosting me and thanks to everyone for commenting!

Laurie G said...

THANK YOU!