Blog
Researching Seattle farmers markets for Marriage Under Fire
I’m currently working on MARRIAGE UNDER FIRE, Book 4 in the Grayce Walters contemporary romantic suspense series. One of the scenes is set in the Columbia City Farmers Market where Maddy and Hunter are working undercover.
Seattle has seven neighborhood farmers markets, each of which offers locally grown produce, artisan food products, meat and seafood, and other farm-fresh products. South Seattle’s Columbia City farmers market features one of the most diverse populations of all the markets.
I love incorporating actual Seattle locations into my books, both to lend authenticity to the storyline but also to introduce readers to neighborhood locales they may not be familiar with. Researching local farmers markets was no hardship because I had the opportunity to experience the local Pacific Northwest’s bounty.
Photos from Columbia City Farmers Market Facebook page.
The making of a book trailer
My name is Maria Connor, of My Author Concierge, and I am Jacki’s assistant. Jacki invited me to write a guest blog on our recent experience in creating the book trailer for her new audiobook release, A CODE OF THE HEART.
There are many services available that will create book trailers, but in reality, these video teasers aren’t that difficult to put together and it’s fun to occasionally venture into a different creative sphere. Assembling visual and audio elements requires a different perspective than working with words, but it is no less rewarding.
Join me now for a behind-the-scenes look at creating book trailers.
Developing a book trailer starts with a script. This can be the book cover copy (also called the book blurb or book summary), an excerpt from the book, or something entirely different. For A CODE OF THE HEART, we used a brief excerpt that reflected the storyline, plus the tag line for the Code Breakers series. The script can either be narrated or added as text.
The next step in the process is to assemble the graphic and audio components. This can be a challenge, as you must comply with copyright laws. You must have permission or be authorized to use the content in your trailer. To avoid any problems, I either use images owned by myself or the author, or stock art/music I have purchased. You can also use material under a Creative Commons license.
Finding licensed images for Regency romance can sometimes be a challenge. One of the images we considered using for this book trailer was discarded when we realized the male model–posed in a classic historical romance cover embrace–was wearing a gold chain necklace. We didn’t want any readers complaining about the historical inaccuracy of such an image so we selected a different graphic. Another way to solve the problem of limited Regency England images is to look for photos that reflect the story elements without specifically portraying them. For example, in this book trailer, the “spilled” tea cup represents the poisoning, danger and betrayal incidents in the story, while the British flag was selected to signify the intrigue and danger to the British monarch.
I use Windows Movie Maker to assemble the audio and video elements into a finished product. For the audio “mixing,” I use Audacity, a user-friendly program that is essentially just cutting and pasting portions of sound tracks together.
A Code of the Heart Book Trailer from Jacki Delecki on Vimeo.
For a sample of Jacki’s new audiobook, listen HERE.
I hope you enjoy our creative efforts and that we’ve made you curious to learn more about Jacki’s Regency romantic suspense! If you’d like more information about Jacki’s audiobooks, you can find A CODE OF LOVE and A CODE OF THE HEART on Audible, Amazon and iTunes.
Celebrating the Fourth of July
One of the highlights of summertime is upon us: The Fourth of July celebration! Across America, families and friends will come together in backyards, on beaches and at parks in honor of this holiday.
Independence Day is also a reminder that we are fortunate to live in a country that affords the opportunities and privileges as ours does. It’s also an opportunity to recognize those who serve to protect and defend our freedom.
Today’s military personnel serve with incredible dedication, proving that every man and woman has the potential to be a hero. That’s one of the reasons I often feature characters with a military background in my Grayce Walters series. Sergeant Nick Welby and his bomb-sniffing golden lab, the lead characters in MEN UNDER FIRE, are an example of this.
To those who have served or are currently serving, I offer a special thank you on this Fourth of July. Know that your service and sacrifice are appreciated.
How will you be celebrating Independence Day? Are you vacationing? Attending a family reunion? Cooking for friends? For those in need of culinary inspiration, check out these classic All-American recipes. One of our family traditions on the Fourth is making 
s’mores. If you’re interested in making homemade marshmallows and graham crackers, Martha Stewart offers a couple of recipes. Let me know how they turn out!
Happy fireworks and freedom!
Bringing a Regency hero to life
I don’t like to make generalizations but it seems like many historical novels focus on the goals, motivation and conflict as it relates to the heroine. A marriage of convenience. A compromised reputation. The orphaned miss who seeks gainful employment. It’s important to remember that heroes need goals and motivations too. As authors, we must create emotionally compelling internal and external conflict for both our heroines and heroes.
While working on research for my book, A CODE OF THE HEART, I came across some interesting facts about Robert Fulton, an American inventor and engineer who is credited with developing the steamboat. During the course of his life, he traveled around the world, collaborating with other inventors and scientists on naval vessels and weaponry. He designed the first working submarine while in France before switching alliances and moving to England, where he was commissioned to build weapons for the Royal Navy. One of Fulton’s “secret weapons” was the torpedo-catamaran, which the British Navy hoped to use to blow French ships out of the water. Like many inventions, the early model had some functionality issues, but I was intrigued by the concept of French-British espionage.
When I began developing my characters for the story, I started wondering what it would take to redeem a disreputable young rake. Perhaps protecting his country by preventing a secret weapon from falling into the wrong hands would work. So that is exactly the challenge I put in front of Lord Derrick Brinsley, as well as the not-so-small matter of proving his worth to the very proper society miss, Amelia Bonnington.
By using the information I discovered during my research, I was able to create strong goals and conflicts for my hero, thus adding dimension to him on the pages of my book. Audiobook narrator Pearl Hewitt has been working with me over the last few weeks to make Derrick “sound” like a Regency hero. The audiobook version of A CODE OF THE HEART is in the final stages of production and will soon be available. I hope you’ll listen in and let me know what you think of Derrick and Amelia Bonnington, the heroine of the story.
Click on the audiobook cover for A CODE OF THE HEART to listen to a sample.
Beach Read Authors
I’m going to the beach and I want you to join me! I’ve joined a unique group called Beach Read Authors. You can read my introduction HERE.
Beach Read Authors is a group of women authors who write stories you love to read on that beach vacation or wherever you go to escape and relax. It’s not your average author collaborative, in that we focus on quality, diverse genres, and varying heat levels. Here are the other authors in the group:
Kim Hornsby (founder & overall genius, as well as Romantic Suspense author)
Christine M. Fairchild (co-founder & site designer, as well as Romantic Suspense author)
Alexa Grace (best-selling Romantic Suspense author with sizzling heroes)
Rebecca J. Clark (hot new Contemporary Romance author)
Lisa Costantino (award-winning debut Women’s Fiction author)
Lori Leger (Cajun Suspense author extraordinare)
Alicia Dean (Gossip Girl & Vampire Diaries fan fiction author for Amazon’s Kindle Worlds Platforms)
Pat White (Comedy screenwriter & author of Contemporary Romance with a sports twist)
Diana Layne (Award-winning author of historical romance and suspense)
I hope you’ll stop by!