Monday, June 23, 2014

What an amazing week it's been!

I've gotten some wonderful feedback on Alabama Skye! Here's what some of my readers are saying:

4.0 out of 5 stars TeaghlachJune 16, 2014
This review is from: Alabama Skye (Paperback)
This is the first book that I have read by J.C. Wing and I must say that it was a delight. I read the entire thing in a single sitting.

JC has done a wonderful job of interweaving Scotland and Alabama, the past and present, in addition to sharing with the reader a family to whom many of us can intimately relate. At the core it is about family (teaghlach), friendships, forgiveness and love.

I will definitely recommend this book to my friends.

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book is Brilliantly Written!June 17, 2014
This review is from: Alabama Skye (Kindle Edition)
I came to the book with no expectations. It is so brilliantly written and the characters so deep and interwoven within each other. I laughed at the simple sayings two best friends can share, visualizing the looks they would share. I cried at the tragedy that can enter ones life, but then feel hopeful as that tragedy can bring us each lessons and the hope to forgive and understand, that in most cases, we all do the best we can. These characters will stay with me and have reminded me of life's great lessons...friendship matters, family is everything and healing comes from forgiveness.

The author is a genius and she has simply woven a beautiful quilt of words and of love between these characters. Sophisticated, but also visual and warm. You can feel love in this book.

Absolutely adored it! Looking forward to more from this great author!

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic ReadJune 17, 2014
Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Alabama Skye (Kindle Edition)
I enjoyed this book so much I didn't want it to end and it was very difficult to put down. I enjoyed the character Cheney who lost her husband and left Scotland to make a fresh start in Alabama with her family. The author described the relationships between the characters so well that I quickly began to empathize with several of them. The characters are well developed, real and believable, each facing their own flaws, hopes, fears and dreams. The plot moved along well with enough bumps and problems to keep my eyes riveted to my Kindle until the very end. Through all the secrets and struggles, it was evident that family would prevail because, after all, family is what is important.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous StoryJune 20, 2014
Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Alabama Skye (Kindle Edition)
This book brings back the beautiful, rich descriptions and complex relationships that readers have come to expect from J.C. Wing. This book draws the reader into the world of a small town on the Alabama coast when Cheney McGillvray, a scottish native, proposes a scheme to turn the family home into a B&B with a distinct Scottish flair. With a bit of mystery and a lot of love the author weaves the lives of 4 women into a compelling tale that keeps you awake long past bedtime.


On Facebook, I have offered anyone who is willing to review the book for me on Amazon a free eBook. If you're interested, please let me know in the comments and I'll get right back to you. I'll need to know whether you'll be reading it on an iPad (or other Apple device), a Nook or a Kindle and a good email address so I can send you the file.

Thank you to everyone who has read Alabama Skye and for those of you who are in the process of reading it now. It's been a crazy, wonderful, surprising and fantastic week. I can't wait to see what's still in store!

To purchase Alabama Skye in either paperback or hardback, please visit Amazon at:

or my publisher, Xlibris at:

It is also available on Barnes and Noble:


















Thursday, June 12, 2014

Now it's real...


I now have a hardback copy as well as a paperback copy of Alabama Skye in my possession! They arrived today and I couldn't be happier with the way they look.

I'm a two time published author! Wow...

So, here's the scoop.

You can buy the hardback, the paperback and the eBook on Amazon. Here's the link:


You can also buy all three versions from my publisher, Xlibris. I'm not exactly sure which format the eBook is in however. If you put it in your basket, I'm hoping this information will be divulged. I'll work on that and make sure I keep you updated. Here's the link:


They are not showing an eBook available yet on Barnes & Noble, but I have been reassured that it's coming. To purchase either the hardback or softcover there, follow this link:


Both of the eBooks from Amazon and Xlibris are priced at $3.99. I've been told by those who have read it that it's an easy read. Perfect for trips to the beach or reading on the plane as you fly to vacation spots this summer!

Reviews are incredibly important to authors. I urge you to please leave one for me if you read the book. It doesn't have to be long or wordy...and I'll be enormously grateful to you for doing so. Amazon is the best place to leave that review. It doesn't matter if you bought the book through them or not.

I appreciate everyone's support! I am really proud of Alabama Skye. I hope you all like it, too.


Monday, June 9, 2014

You can now buy Alabama Skye!

First of all, I'd like to announce that Alabama Skye is now available for purchase!!! You can buy both the hardback and paperback versions from my publisher, Xlibris, as well as from Barnes & Noble. The link isn't complete on Amazon as of right now, and the eBook isn't available quite yet. There will be eBooks available for both Nook and Kindle very shortly. If you are interested in purchasing either a hardback or a paperback version, please visit either Xlibris or Barnes & Noble. You can use the following links. Thank you in advance!

Xlibris:

B & N:

I am a self published author who chose to go with Xlibris to help me on my journey. I worked with them before when I published Color of Thunder. The experience I had back then was amazing. There were bumps in the road...but those mainly occurred because I was living in Germany at the time. I tried to have my author's copies delivered to our post office box on the Ramstein Air Force base...and, well...that didn't work so well. They wound up in England somewhere and traveled all over the place before I finally got wise and gave them our home address in our little village of Linden. When I finally received the box, it had many different stamps and stickers...and was a little battered. My experience with Xlibris in general? Awesome! That's why I chose to go with them again when it came time to publish Alabama Skye.

Even though I published through Xlibris, I am still a self published author. I keep all the rights to my work. I get to design my own cover, (but a trained, creative professional puts it all together for me,) and I get a little extra help with the marketing of my book. When I published Color of Thunder, I was given a huge questionnaire. I filled in all of the answers, then some brilliant writer took what I wrote and turned it into a Press Release. They also did an author spotlight featuring me on the Xlibris webpage. Here's the link for that if you'd like to take a look.


I just finished a second questionnaire, this one for Alabama Skye. I'm going to post it here so that you can see what the questions were and how I answered them. When the press release comes out, I'll post that, too. It's interesting to see how they use what I've written to construct the advert.

1. What inspired you to write this book?
This story started out as something quite different than it was when it was finished. There were always the two main characters, Cheney and Greer, but their story, and the stories of the characters that support them, changed and evolved over time. My inspiration came from the desire to delve into the complexities of familial relationships, specifically those between the female members. Each character is so uniquely her own and I grew to love each and every one of them.

2. Summarize your book in one to three sentences as if you were speaking to someone unfamiliar with your book and its topic.
Alabama Skye is ultimately about the complicated and intricate relationships between four generations of women, and about how the things that happen in their lives both as individuals as well as a part of a family make them stronger and bind them together. It’s about the love between a parent and child, and about how what happens to a person when they are young really shapes who they become when they reach adulthood. It’s also about the romantic relationships between men and women, about how often times we have to struggle to make peace with our pasts in order to allow ourselves to enjoy fulfilling and worthwhile futures.

3. What is the overall theme (central topic, subject or concept) of your book?
In one word, I’d have to say that the overall theme or central topic of Alabama Skye would have to be family.

4. Where does this book take place?
This book takes place in both Scotland, on the Isle of Skye, and in the fictional town of Kelby which sits between Gulf Shores, Alabama and Pensacola, Florida. Part of the story also takes place in Mobile, Alabama.

5. Who are the main characters and why are they important to the story?
This book is really about four generations of women, so of course they are the main characters. There is Sarah, who is the oldest of the four. She’s really at the core of this story. She’s a true Bay Lady; very southern and proper but with a hearty dose of feistiness. She falls in love and marries Finlay, a Scotsman who is just making his way into the prosperous paper industry boom that hit Alabama in the early fifties. They have one child, a daughter named Meara. When Finlay dies and his will his read, Sarah realizes that he kept an enormous secret from her throughout their twenty year marriage. She discovers that Finlay had not only been married before she met him, but that he’d left a daughter behind in Scotland. This daughter, Cheney, is another main character. The book opens to find that she’s recently lost her husband, and by the end of the first chapter, she’s decided to leave Scotland and travel to Alabama to be reunited with the American family she knows little about. This brings in the fourth main character, Greer, who is Meara’s daughter. Together, Cheney and Greer turn Sarah’s historical home into a Scottish bed and breakfast. There are many very important supporting characters such as Meara’s husband, Jack and Greer’s lifelong best friend, Noah. Another important and very key character is Jimmy, who is Greer’s love interest, and Jolly, who serves as a surrogate grandfather to Greer and who is a prominent member of the family.

6. Why do you think that this book will appeal to readers?
At the core of this book is the relationship of these women and what each one of them brings to the tale. Sarah, who was once very headstrong and capable, is now suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Cheney is a Scotswoman in a foreign land, and she has secrets she is unwilling or incapable of revealing that torture her. Greer is a recent college graduate who is unwed, pregnant and unsure of which path to choose, and Meara is a successful and well-loved business owner who is trying to be all things for her family. She wants to be a good sister, she wants to make sure her ailing mother is taken care of and she wants to support her daughter. There are many serious subjects in Alabama Skye, but the book is not a heavy one. It’s a real life story that so many people live every day. My hope is that when the reader picks up this book, the first few lines will intrigue them. Something has happened to Cheney. Her husband is dead. How? Why? From there, I believe the rest of the story will carry itself out. There is mystery and romance, there is comedy and there are tears. It’s a realistic tale with colorful, interesting characters and I believe every reader will be able to relate to them, feel for them, laugh and cry with them, and rejoice with them as they travel through to the last page of the story.

7. How is your book relevant in today’s society?
Alabama Skye is absolutely relevant in today’s society. It’s about the struggle and success of small business owners, and the intricate and complex nature of familial relationships. It’s about the reality of growing old and having to deal with sickness and the act of caring for loved ones who are no longer able to care for themselves. It’s about parenthood and romance and making the choices that everyone has to make as they come into adulthood.  

8. Is there any subject currently trending in the news that relates to your book?
Not really, except the ongoing plight of small business owners and those people who are either afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease or the ones who are caregivers and loved ones of those who are.

9. What makes your book different from other books like it?
I haven’t read any books that are really like Alabama Skye. There are countless books about families and the relationships between the people within these families, but each one of those books is as unique as the people they are written about. This book has two very different and interesting settings; both in Scotland and in the southern U.S. It touches upon the geography, the history and the traditions of each and introduces the reader to a bit of Scots Gaelic as well as the warm southern twang of Gulf Coast Alabama. It is at times serious and heartbreaking as much as it is comedic and light.

10. What do you want readers to take away from your writing?
Every writer wants to affect their readers. I certainly do. I hope that when a reader finishes Alabama Skye, when they have read the entire book and put it aside that they feel touched by it. I hope they will remember the story long after it’s been read.  I hope that perhaps they look at their sister, their daughter, their mother or their grandmother in a little different light. Maybe they will hug their best friend, tell their spouse that they love them, go the nursing home and sit with a person afflicted with Alzheimer’s. It’s so easy to take family members for granted. It’s so easy to be frustrated or overwhelmed by those who have been rendered less capable by age or disease. It’s easy to be too busy for others when our lives are so full, but in reality, we are far less fulfilled without these other important people in our lives.  

11. How did you learn about the topic?
Well, first of all, I am a daughter, a granddaughter and a mother myself. I don’t have a secret half-sister living in Scotland…at least none that I know of! I’ve been faced with my own obstacles and my own difficult decisions just as everyone has. I have also been touched by Alzheimer’s disease. I watched as it robbed my grandmother of her memories, made her fearful and weak, both mentally and physically, and I watched how it affected the other members of our family. My grandmother was a huge and important part of my life and I lost her a year ago. Family is such a difficult and intriguing thing and I wanted to write about it. I find it so interesting how a family is a whole, but it’s made up of a lot of individual parts. I wanted to tell the different stories that belonged to some of the people who make up those parts. We all have experience with that so basically, I learned about the topic by just living life.

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And there you have it! I hope to have the finished product by the end of the week. I haven't heard anything yet, but it would be great if they highlight me on their website again. We'll have to see...and, of course if they do, you'll be the first to know about it. :)