Title: Art of Appreciation
Author: Autumn Markus
Genre: Adult Contemporary
Publication Date: December 17, 2013
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Event organized by: Literati Author Services, Inc.
Synopsis
Abby Reynolds is burned out.
Since clawing her way into a great position at a Boston museum, she’s been saddled with a scheming intern and a nagging boss. She’s scuttled her own painting dreams, her cat refuses to be box trained, and now the most boring man on the eastern seaboard just told her, “It’s not you, it’s me.”
Her bestie Sarah offers a much-needed escape: a summer of sand, sea, and younger men in Santa Cruz…
Hot young bike racer Jason is sexy, unattached, and completely ready to spend a summer in uncomplicated flirtation. Since Abby has decided love is off the table, he seems like the perfect match.
Then she meets Matt. Sculptor, surfer (and age appropriate), he’s everything she gave up wanting and then some. He’s a grown-ass man with his own life issues: does he want to sculpt for love or for profit? What about that twentysomething model who’s always clinging to him? Is he ready to let a woman invade his Fortress of Solitude?
Abby has to decide whether she’s satisfied with leaving behind the idea of Mr. Right and settling for Mr. Right Now.
Grown up love. It’s complicated.
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About the Author
Autumn Markus traveled far and wide as a military brat, but her heart was always in the American west, where she was born. She hikes, reads and writes there still, along with snuggling her husband, four children, and a horsedog. She freelance edits for other authors, reviews Women’s Fiction for the New York Journal of Books, and is the author of the contemporary romances Cocktails & Dreams and A Christmas Wish. She is currently at work on her next novel.
Connect with the Author: Facebook | Twitter | Website | Goodreads
Ten reasons
I love my favorite author-Autumn Markus
Since
I was a kid, I’ve had one favorite author: Stephen King. “But…but, Autumn…you write Chick Lit,” you say. “Aren’t romance authors your favorite?” Let me tell you a few things Stephen King
taught me about good writing…
10)
Scares--This isn’t the only reason I
love him, but it was the first. I read his book of short stories, Night Shift, as an eighth grader, and it
scared the snot out of me…except one story that made me cry. That taught me
that genre expectations aren’t everything, but a good story is.
9)
He ‘gets’ kids—And not just his
realistic children characters. I read an article recently that called him ‘the
first YA author’ (even though he’s stated an aversion to those books). His
titles are wildly popular with teens, perhaps because he refuses to talk down
to them, pander to fads, or treat them as either angels or devils.
8)
He’s not afraid to grow as a writer—Anyone
who has read him over a span of years can tell you that Mr. King has changed as
a writer. His first books are passionate, violent, sharp; his later books have
all of those characteristics, with the seasoning of a man who has lived, loved,
and suffered loss. Kids frankly might not understand all of his later works,
but adults will recognize themselves in every page.
7)
And he’s not afraid of technology—This
is a biggie to me, because I’m not so hot at new technologies and abhor change.
Mr. King was one of the first to utilize e-books (Riding the Bullet), write a modern serial novel (The Green Mile), do an e-comic book (N.), fit the publishing model to the
novel (his latest ‘40s style crime thriller, Joyland, was only available as a pulpy paperback), let small
filmmakers license his short stories (his Dollar Babies) inexpensively… The
list goes on and on. I admire that like whoa.
6)
His taste in music—Anyone who loves
AC/DC and the Ramones is a friend of mine.
5)
Plotting—Every book is a lesson in
plotting a story, sometimes over several novels (his Dark Tower series). He lays out his first chapters as a sort of
story argument, making you complacent…until things start to crumble around the
edges and you start to see things from another perspective. And another. And
another. And then you reach the end, where things are often far different than
you expected, but it somehow all makes sense.
4)
Love stories—Don’t laugh! There are
so many realistic, adult relationships in his books. Wizard and Glass had one of the most heartbreaking, beautiful love
scenes I have ever read (and I have read—and written--a lot of them J). I think
what he taught me is that a little can be enough, and that it’s what happens
before and after the actual act, the way people feel and think, that is
important.
3)
Characters—Mr. King’s ability to
create characters who think, feel, speak, and act realistically, even in the
most fantastic situations, is one of the Big Three reasons why I still love him
today. They’re not pure evil or pure good; they’re human. I aspire to this with every story I write.
2)
On
Writing—Quite simply the best book out there about being a working
writer, and more importantly, about how to be a good writer.
1)
Dialogue—No writer today is better
at dialogue. Mr. King respects how real people speak; dialogue is neither over
expository, stilted, or unrealistic. Again, something I aspire to.
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