The Hippo Hands Over . . . . to Joan Hugues

Today I'm  handing over The Hippo to debut author Joan Hugues. Joannie recently followed me on Twitter and after taking a look at her book, Growing Only Dandelions, I decided to follow her back, we started to chat as if we were old friends and it lead to her being here today!

So I'm delighted to introduce you all to Joannie who is going to talk about her journey so far and tell you a little bit more about her novel.

Artwork courtesy of Joan Hugues

Joan P. Hugues is a first-time author making her publishing debut with Growing Only Dandelions.  Joannie (name of preference) lives in the United States on Long Island within the state of New York.  She is married to Jay, her High School sweetheart, for over 25 years and shares three children together, Jason, Jake Ryan and Juliet.  Joannie’s children motivate her to achieve her dream of becoming a best-selling author.  She longs to show them that dreams can come true.  Not by talent alone but through perseverance.  Joannie works as a Paralegal at a law firm and is the founder and President of JT’s Law Foundation Corp., a not-for-profit charitable organization that advocates against child food choking through education. Additional information about JT’s Law is available here.

For pleasure, Joannie immensely enjoys drawing.  The book cover and author photo used for Growing Only Dandelions are pencil artworks created by Joannie based on images of her daughter Juliet. You can view a catalog of Joannie's artwork here.

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                                      My Publishing Journey.

My publishing journey has been a rough trek.  Putting pen to paper or, more appropriately, concept into words; and crafting what would be eventually called Growing Only Dandelions took me several years to accomplish.  The hardships in my own personal life or just LIFE getting in the way, stopped and stalled the writing process a number of times.  Each written word was scrutinized and reevaluated.  Editing constantly and finding those sheepish, vile typos.  Searching for the ideal word to properly convey the messages contained therein.  Finalizing my novel was such a sweet achievement that swiftly turned sour once I commenced my publishing journey.

Excited to become the next best-selling author, my publishing journey begins on the traditional route.  I submitted my novel to the big five publishers.  Crickets chirping for months told me to switch gears and back pedal into more realistic territory.  Next up in my travels are the independent and regional publishers.  Rejection letters never felt so generic and cold.  Continuing on this icy path with my feet slipping and sliding along the way leaving bruises on my ass, I venture into the dark scary alleyways of Writer Beware Type Publishers with contracts that remind you to keep your day job.  Two years elapse without any significant, viable publication offers on my beloved Growing Only Dandelions.  Frustrated and defeated, I randomly sought advice in a Facebook mom’s group.  A published author commented and encouraged me to self-publish.

My thoughts on self-publishing was Last Resort.  The Hail Mary.  The No One Else Wants Me route in my publishing travels.  But, this individual completely convinced me otherwise.  She told me how a publisher would have control over my book.  Perhaps changing words, title choice and cover design.  These words solidified my path and showed me that self-publishing was actually the only road to travel on for Growing Only Dandelions.  I could never acquiesce to a rewrite, title change or different cover design for my novel.  Every single aspect of Growing Only Dandelions was carefully and painstakingly selected by me.

Self-publishing is a bumpy road with lots of potholes to swerve around.  The unavoidable Royalty sinkhole is deep, dark and depressing.  The percentage taken by the Vendor used to assist with my self-publishing is slightly (said with sarcasm) in favor of the Vendor.  Thankfully, now that the book is published, I can sit back with my feet up in the air and watch those books fly off the shelves.  Oh, how I wish that was true! 

Next road in my publishing journey feels like a dead-end (i.e., marketing plan).  Find clever ways to convince people to read a spiritual book written by an unknown author among a landscape full of promising and established authors.  Impossible or I.M.Possible. The outcome of my publishing journey is ultimately up to me.  

 

Posts to Facebook.  Photos uploaded to Instagram.  Tweets on Twitter.  Constantly barraging social media with colorful anecdotes to entice people to read my precious Growing Only Dandelions. Hitting a road block in my publishing journey only to be detoured to a woman named Neats who graciously offered me an opportunity to be a special guest author on her blog.  Reason for her generosity? “I’m just doing what I love, spreading the book love, helping someone out and making new friends along the way.” to quote this kind-hearted, humble woman who has poured concrete into some potholes and paved the way for me to reach a larger audience. Thank you for allowing me to share my publishing journey. 

It's a pleasure to host you Joannie and thank you so much for your kind words, you've made me blush!  🙂

Below is a brief summary of Growing Only Dandelions.  It is meant to open your mind, touch your heart, and awaken your spirit.  

“Growing Only Dandelions” is an inspirational story of a woman who has a near-death experience that propels her on a spiritual and emotional journey.  This unconventional supernatural manuscript dares the reader to consider the possibility of a present and loving God through a narrative that triggers one’s imagination to question every action and inaction.

Bethany, a wife and mother, is enjoying a beautiful day at the beach with her family.  She falls asleep while her husband and son swim in the ocean. Awakened by the winds of an approaching storm, Bethany is alarmed by how dangerous the water has turned.  She frantically searches for her family before rushing to the water and jumping into it.  Bethany struggles against the treacherous waters and slams her head against a reef on the ocean’s floor.  Falling unconscious, Bethany says “I never saw a more brilliant light.”

Bethany opens her eyes in heaven and her spiritual and emotional journey begins.  She is escorted through a long corridor by a man insisting that she must see “Him” right away.  They swiftly walk alongside an endless stream of people shuffling forward slowly in a single filed line.  Some of them are curious and reach out their arms to touch the woman being chaperoned to the front of the line.  Upon contact, their “ugliness” (i.e., personal, shameful life event) is revealed to Bethany.  A person calls out to her by name.  Bethany recognizes that it is the voice of her estranged father.  Her hatred towards him is palpable.  He steps off the line and touches her wrist transporting her mind back in time to when her “ugliness” started as a young child from his abuse. 

Throughout the novel, Bethany is transported back in time to those milestone moments in her life that shaped her own “ugliness”.   Growing Only Dandelions highlights the presence of God through strategically placed relationships, purposely left “signs” and guardian angels, all of which are gifted to us through his grace.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to write such an insightful guest post and for stopping by today Joannie. I started reading Growing Only Dandelions yesterday and I'm already over half way through it. It's definitely touched my heart, I'm really enjoying it so far and I may even have finished it by the time this post goes up, so watch out for a review here sometime very soon! 😉


You can find out more about Joannie, her book, her artwork and connect with her using the links below:


Facebook
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Twitter
Instagram
Artwork

The Hippo Hands Over . . . . to Joanne Nicholson

I'm thrilled to be handing over to the very lovely Joanne Nicholson today and I'd like to say Happy Publication Day!!! Joanne's book Only The Lonely hits the shelves today it's a book that I'm really looking forward to reading once my busy schedule allows.

Let's kick things off by introducing you all to the lady behind the words and then I'll tell you about the book.

Photo courtesy of Joanne Nicholson

Joanne Nicholson is an Australian author who enjoys boating, exercising, reading, writing and spending quality time with family and friends.

Joanne enjoys writing a variety of genres including contemporary women's fiction, young adult fiction, children's books and short stories. Her books are available to purchase on Amazon.

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After Tiffany is orphaned on the night of her 18th birthday, she discovers, as the sole heir to her parents' estate, she has inherited a frozen embryo from when they did IVF to have her.

Feeling, lost, alone and longing for a sense of family, Tiffany can't bring herself to destroy or donate the embryo. Instead she decides to be impregnated with her biological twin. A legal battle ensues over whether the embryo is a person or property and the ethics of whether it is acceptable to give birth to your own sibling.

Set in Australia, this contemporary fiction novel is full of emotion, dilemmas and unexpected friendships as Tiffany forges a new life without her parents.

I love the sound of this and I think that the cover is absolutely stunning!

Now that you know a bit more about the author and the book I'll hand you over to the lady herself.

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Thank you to Neats for handing The Hippo over to me today. I’m Joanne Nicholson, an Australian contemporary women’s fiction author. This month marks the release of my fourth commercial fiction novel ‘Only the Lonely’. While I usually tell everyone about my novels and their characters, here’s ten things about me that maybe you don’t know:

I’m a twin

I have a fraternal twin sister Jacqui, who looks nothing like me. We have different builds, different colouring (she has brown hair and brown eyes, and I’m blonde with green eyes) and we even have different blood types. When we were at school Jacqui was very athletic, while I was more bookish. We used to joke that if we had been one person we would have been perfect.

Image found on Adorable Wallpapers

I was born in South Africa

The company my father was working for sent him to South Africa to set up a new office. My dad only wanted two kids, my mum wanted four kids, so they decided to compromise and have three children. Lucky for Mum she had twins and got her wish. My twin and I were naturalized as Australian citizens within a few days of our birth. My family moved back to Australia when I was two so I have no clear recollections of my time in South Africa.

I've visited South Africa a few times now Joanne and I think it's a stunning place.

I got hit by a car when I was five

Walking across a zebra crossing to go to school when I was in first class, a parent, who was distracted by waving to her child, hit me with her car. The impact sent me flying into the gutter. Thankfully I had no serious injuries because I was holding my very fashionable brown Stanley school case (think Paddington Bear’s suitcase) on the side of the impact. I was distraught that my favourite book was inside and I couldn’t open the case after it was crushed. All was put right in the world when my dad levered open the case and rescued my book.

Image found on Google

I married my high-school sweetheart

My husband and I started dating when we were sixteen. We got engaged at eighteen, but I insisted on a long engagement so people wouldn’t think it was a shotgun wedding. We got married when I was twenty and last year celebrated our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary with a cruise of the Greek Isles. We have four children who are growing into such lovely people, even though none of them seemed to inherit my bookworm gene. My husband and I have one of those nauseating love stories where we are living our happily ever after.

My kids all recently changed their names

For a few generations on my husband’s side of the family, they have included a middle name of ‘Onslow’ as a family name, as a way to track their branch of the Nicholson family tree. We didn’t adopt this name for our kids when they were born, as neither did any of my husband’s brothers. My father in law has always been disappointed by this, so last year for his birthday, our children, of their own accord, all had their names legally altered to include Onslow.

I have a much loved fur baby

Wherever I go, my adoring cavoodle dog Tilly shadows me. She resembles a living teddy bear and she has the sweetest nature. I know many authors have pets that keep them company when writing. It is nice when undertaking such a solitary pursuit to have the calming presence of my little fluff ball. She also gives me the excuse to walk away from the computer and get some fresh air when I walk her, which often gives me time to process ideas of how a plot can develop.

Photo courtesy of Joanne Nicholson

I love this photograph Joanne and Tilly looks adorable!

I began my career in advertising

When I left school I worked my way up through several advertising agencies. I worked as an Account Manager getting briefs from the clients and then getting the appropriate creative people to weave their magic. The last agency I worked in was a small, integrated advertising and marketing agency where I did everything from client liaison to copywriting, proofreading, booking media space and new business recruitment. It was a high pressure industry, dealing with many people with inflated egos. I decided after having my kids that I wouldn’t return to that career.

I once owned an indoor play centre

Just after the birth of my third child, my sister in law and I opened an indoor play centre. It was a way for us to have a business where we could have our kids with us. We spent so much time entertaining our kids at these types of places that we had very definitive ideas on how it should be run. The first item on our list was a ball cleaning unit, so the ball pit wasn’t a cesspool of grime. We set it up so the kids would feed the balls into a clown’s mouth and watch the ball get washed and whizz overhead in clear tubing before going into a container that would periodically tip over, raining clean balls down over the kids in the ball pit. The only problem with this business was that the landlord (a large multi-national shopping centre goliath), decided to put a communal playground out the front of our shop, effectively giving away our product for free. We sold the business after three years and it is still running today in a different location.

I had a bucket list of things to do when I turned forty

Reaching the milestone of turning forty a few years ago, I had a list of things that I wanted to achieve. One of these was to write a novel, as I had all these story ideas swirling around in my head. Knowing how much I enjoyed reading, I thought I could share my stories with people and hope they got the same amount of enjoyment out of reading them as I had in creating them.

Another thing I decided to do was learn how to play the saxophone. Ever since high school (when Kenny G was cool) I have wanted to play saxophone. I played the flute at school so I could already read music. At forty I started tuition to learn how to play the sax. I have no intention of ever playing in public, but I can now play songs for my own enjoyment (usually when there is no-one home to whine about having to listen).

Image found on Google

 The saxophone is a favourite instrument of mine but I doubt that I could ever learn to play one. I'm sure you'd make Kenny G proud! 😉

I started a book club a few years ago

Just over two years ago, a friend of mine, who is an avid reader, contacted me to see if I would be interested in setting up a book club with her. I loved the idea of a group of friends meeting monthly to discuss books. Together we rounded up ten ladies to meet, with the person hosting at their place the following month choosing the next novel. Book Club has made me read books I may not personally have chosen to read and has given me insight into how other people perceive books differently to me. As an author it makes me second guess how readers might dissect portions of my novels. The main thing it has highlighted is how books, like any form of art, are so subjective and not everyone is going to like the same thing.

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Thank you so much for stopping by on what must be a very busy day for you Joanne, it's been great to find out more about you. Have a great publication day and wishing you lots of success with Only the Lonely. 🍾


You can find out more about Joanne, her books and connect with her using the links below:

Website
Facebook
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