jacki delecki

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Valentine's Day Giveaway & Daily Winners

In honor of Valentine’s Day and to show how much I love my readers, I’m giving away 14 fabulous prizes every day through February 14! To keep it fun–and not too complicated–here’s how the giveaway is going to work:

#1  Visit my Facebook page every day to find the “giveaway graphic.” The graphic will be posted every day at 9 a.m. EST and you have 24 hours (until the next day’s graphic is posted) to enter. Here’s an example (and it also happens to be today’s graphic):

#2   Browse my website to find the giveaway graphic. Here’s the link to my site: www.jackidelecki.com 

#3  Once you’ve found the graphic, send your name and what page you found the graphic on to mariaconnor @ msn.com.

#4 One winner will randomly be selected from those who qualify and announced the following morning when the next “giveaway graphic” is posted on Facebook.

Oh! You want to know what you could win during this hearts-and-roses giveaway? Well, everyday will be a surprise, but each winner will receive a Valentine-themed gift. I hope you’ll play along every day and invite your friends to join in the fun!

Good luck!

'Love Between the Covers' starring romance readers

On Saturday, January 23, the Greater Seattle Romance Writers of America hosted a screening of Love Between the Covers, a “feature-length documentary film about the little-known, surprisingly powerful community of women who read and write romance novels.” A panel including Cherry Adair, Christina Dodd, Julia Quinn and Jayne Anne Krentz led a discussion following the viewing.

Produced by Laurie Kahn, screenings of Love Between the Covers have become an effective means of educating those not familiar with romantic fiction about the genre, authors and publishers, and readers. The film is also a celebration and validation of what romance authors and readers already know: There is nothing trivial, trite or shameful about this multi-billion dollar industry–which is actually more of a community.

Thanks to social media, as well as the variety of reader/author events such as RomCon, The Novel Experience Event, RT Booklovers Convention & Bookfair and Barbara Vey’s Reader Appreciation Weekend, opportunity abounds for readers and writers to connect. It is not uncommon for these casual encounters to evolve into mentorships for readers who want to write, close personal friendships and/or strong professional collaborations.

While I savor every sale, every review, and every award, it is the personal connection with readers that affirms my decision to write romantic suspense. I love hearing that some readers look forward to each new release because it’s a favorite indulgence or that escaping into my stories helped someone cope during a personal crisis. Or that reading Grayce Walters was like returning to their favorite city, Seattle. Or that they learned something new about political intrigue during the Napoleonic war in my Code Breakers series. It’s so much fun to start recognizing names on Facebook and discover a shared passion like high heels, theater or dogs.

Love Between the Covers showcases the unique relationships (readers and readers, authors and authors, authors and readers) that do not exist in other fiction genres. This film reminded me how lucky I am, and how much I value, the friends I’ve made in this community!

I’d love to hear about your special connections with other authors and readers. Feel free to comment on this post or send me a message on Facebook.

And the Oscar goes to...

The 2015 Oscar nominees were recently announced, and I’m always struck by how many of these movies I’ve never heard of, let alone seen. That got me thinking about movies and entertainment and human nature. Watching movies is actually a very complicated, subjective process, influenced by a variety of factors.

Location

I know people who love going to the movie theater. For them, it’s an adventure that requires Dolby Surround Sound, a bucket of popcorn drenched in artificial butter, a box of Jujubees and sitting in the dark with 100 strangers.

Then there are the folks who prefer to watch movies in the comfort of their own home, stretched out in their La-Z-Boy, a bucket of popcorn drenched in real butter, an icy glass of Coke soaking the coaster underneath it, occasionally hollering at the kids to keep it down.

Genre

The next classification is movie genre: action-adventure, romantic comedy, sci-fi, musicals, animated films, historical drama, thriller, animated and international films. A person’s genre preference may be influenced by their mood, age, ethnicity, education level and even who they are watching the movie with.

Favorite Actors, Themes, Settings, Plots

Patrick Swayze was one of my favorite actors, primarily for his dance moves. If he headlined a movie, I was likely to watch. Same thing for any movie set during the Regency period. On the flip side, there are some movies I’ll never watch because I dislike the lead actor, story line or some other element.

Reviews and Awards

I’m not sure films which win awards are actually better than movies which do not, but many people rely on reviews, rankings and awards in order to determine what movies to view. Curiously, it seems like even negative reviews, such as the Razzies, can motivate people to shell out money for a movie ticket.

What factors influence your movie viewing habits? Think about it and pass the popcorn!

One last gift under the Christmas Tree

After much anticipation and preparation…the holidays are over. Already? I was just starting to enjoy myself! I don’t know about you, but there’s a bit of let down when the rolls of red-and-green wrapping paper are tucked back into the closet, the last few sugar cookies have gone stale and the Christmas tree–with its multicolored lights and glittery strands of tinsel–no longer brightens the grey of winter.

Have you ever come across one last gift? Something tucked far back under the tree that was overlooked? No matter what’s in the package, the unexpected discovery makes this last present extras special. Well, I have one last gift for my readers!

A Christmas Code, book 2 in my Regency romantic suspense story, is FREE for a limited time at most online retailers. (Amazon doesn’t have a free pricing option so if you read on a Kindle, contact my assistant at mariaconnor@msn.com to request a mobi version).

Download A Christmas Code today and enjoy the holidays just a bit longer!

BN Nook | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play

Five literary quotes to ring in the New Year

When the New Year arrives, do you tend to look back or look forward? It’s fun to reminisce when it’s been a good year, but other times, the anticipation of a fresh start and new opportunities is needed to let go of hurts and disappointments. I was looking for a great inspirational quote to inspire you and kept coming across these “literary” sayings. So, since I’m an author and you’re a reader and we both love books, I decided to share these five literary quotes to ring in 2016.

The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day. ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Tomorrow, is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.  ~Brad Paisley

Life is a book. Every day is a new page. Every month is a new chapter. Every year is a new series. ~Unknown

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Let the New Year be like a book with blank pages, the kind that you shall fill with the choicest selection of good deeds.  ~Unknown

Here’s to new books and new friends in the New Year!