Summer Lovin': A Novella

I'm so excited to announce I've taken the plunge and self-pubbed one of my stories, a novella called Summer Lovin'.

I know I'm not the only one who isn't a fan of winter, so this story about Mia and Luke, who have a little summer fling that leads to more, might be a nice distraction from all the yucky snow and sleet. There's also Hellboy, an adorable Bichon with a shoe fetish, who does his part to get the romance going.

I love the cover, so I have to tell you about the wonderful Carrie Spencer, who designed it. It was so much fun working with her as she brought my story to life visually. You can see more of her work at Cheeky Covers, but don't get her so busy she won't have time to do more of my covers! 

This story started from a writing prompt I had on the blog quite a while ago. It was a post called "Writer Laryngitis", discussing how important it is to keep our writer's voice intact. At the end of the post I suggested people write a little snippet about a puppy chasing a ball. At first it didn't seem like anyone was going to write anything, so I nearly took the prompt out, but then the intrepid Terri Osburn stepped up, so I left it in. We ended up having so much fun, with an amazing variety of stories showcasing everyone's unique style. 

I finally added my own little story, and I got so intrigued with it I had to keep going. I knew it wasn't enough for a full-size manuscript, so I thought I'd try my hand at a short story. It ended up being a little bigger than that, so it became a novella. I thought since it was shorter it would take less time to write.

Hah!

It just goes to show how much you learn each time you sit down to write. I really had a lot of fun with this story, and I'm thrilled to send it out into the world, hopeful there will be others who will find it an enjoyable diversion.

The story is available at Smashwords, in a variety of e-reader formats, for the delightfully affordable price of 99 cents. You can also purchase it for your Kindle at the Amazon website too.

Thanks for being a part of this great adventure!

Comments

[Quantum]

Wonderful news Donna ..... Many Congrats to a new published author with a stunning first cover!

I have bought my copy. I was a bit surprised that I had to copy the cover seperately. Could be a bug?
Minor detail though.

Now to read it *very happy smile*

[Donna Cummings]

Thanks, Q. I'm so happy that you bought my first published story. I hope you enjoy it. Oh, and you may recognize an excerpt at the end. :)

That is really odd about the cover. I will do some investigating on that. Which version did you get?

Thanks again. I'm wearing a very happy smile too. :)

[Quantum]

**That is really odd about the cover. I will do some investigating on that. Which version did you get?**

I downloaded the RTF and the PDF. The cover is displayed on the smashwords site where by right clicking I copied the image to my comp.

I must write a rave review when I finish it .... I just know that I will be raving. *smile*

[Donna Cummings]

Q, I'm still so new at all this -- I don't have an e-reader yet. LOL I'm hoping Santa has one for me this year. I've been reading ebooks on my laptop, but it can be a bit confining!

I hope you'll enjoy it, and a review would be lovely. Thanks so much!

[carrie spencer]

Congratulations Donna! It's a great book ....I just finished chapter one!

=)

[Melissa]

How exciting! The sample at the site hooked me and left me hanging right at the point after Mia agreed to have dinner with the hunky neighbor and is debating the wisdom of starting a fling...

And then I press the page forward button in vain. LOL Fortunately, I've bought the full version so I can find out what happens. :) I remember this writing prompt and it's so cool to finally be able to follow up with the rest of the story. I love your sense of humor!

Congratulations on taking the self-pub plunge! I'd tried that once a few years ago, but didn't know what the heck I was doing when it came to promoting. I think this Smashwords site is better than what I did and things have evolved more now. Maybe a short story or novella is the way to go. :)

You have me tempted to try it myself -- maybe with my own result from the puppy chasing the ball writing prompt. :)

Now back to finish the story...

[Melissa]

Oh! I forgot to say that I love the cover!

[Donna Cummings]

Thanks, Carrie! I'm glad you're enjoying it. And I have to say it again and again -- thanks so much for the great cover. :)

[Donna Cummings]

Melissa, I'm glad you liked the sample! I hope you enjoy the rest of it too. The writing prompt WAS fun, wasn't it? I definitely think you should give the self-pub thing a try--especially with your own puppy story. We could have a whole series from everyone's prompts. LOL

The Smashwords thing was relatively straightforward, although I think there might be a few bugs to deal with (like with Quantum's copy). But hopefully I can get them all worked out soon, and I can answer questions for you. :)

I'm glad you like the cover too -- Carrie did a lovely job. :)

[Terri Osburn]

For once I got to be involved in the conception of something and didn't have to give birth to it! LOL! How cool. I'm glad I got everyone started on that prompt then. Look what good came out of it!

Awesome cover and the blurb sounds like lots of fun. Who could resist a puppy named Hellboy? LOL! Or that hero either. Yum. Good job. And kudos to Carrie on an awesome cover!

PS: You should do what Q suggested and have Carrie put your cover with a link on the side of the pirate blog.

[Donna Cummings]

Terri, I swear, I was going back into my blog to take out the prompt when I saw that you had responded! Good thing I was a little bit slow that day. :)

I love what Carrie did with the cover. She's so great to work with too. That's a lovely thought, adding it to the pirate blog. :) I'll ask if she can do that.

[Terri Osburn]

She put the other ones up there, she might as well add yours too. LOL!