Awesome Applesauce
Indies Down Under
By S.K. Lessner and Stacey Broadbent
Blurb
Two Indie Authors, slinging our shit in every group, blog, and post we could find.
That’s how we met. That’s how we became virtual besties.
It didn’t matter that we lived on opposite sides of the world. We understood each other. We shared the same hellish road of authordom, filled with its
struggles, successes, rejections, and triumphs. Through endless texts, countless posts, and obsessive chats, we discovered the treasure hidden along this path.
This is our story.
Our first real book signing.
And the beginning of one very wild,
extremely funny, and beautifully intense adventure.
Excerpt
I’d checked my appearance in the mirror at least thirty times in the past sixty minutes. What once passed for fingernails were now nothing more than red, inflamed nubs on the ends of each finger. I was certain I’d wear a path in the rug due to the pacing I couldn’t control. Furthermore, I could feel the rash that was blossoming on my recently shaved thighs as they continually rubbed against one another. I was beyond nervous!
If anyone saw me, they’d assume I was meeting a man for the first time, interviewing for a new job, or maybe waiting to hear the doctor’s news that I was finally pregnant. But none of that was true. At least, not at the moment. No, I was waiting on my bestest of best, fantastic, amazing friend. The problem wasn’t in how close I felt to her or even how excited I was to finally see her. It was the fact that she was my virtual bestie. Yep, virtual. She’d popped my cherry in internet relationships. And together we’d forged one of the closest and most sincere relationships I’d ever had.
Dinah and I had met online, both of us aspiring new Indie Authors. We were both slinging our shit in any and every group we could find, hoping and praying that just one individual would love our work enough to give us a review. Forget hoping for receiving five stars back then. We just wanted someone to read our books and type a few words about it. Sounds easy enough, right? But hell no! The world of authordom does not work that way folks! It’s like bleeding from every orifice I have, and somebody finally walks by taking notice, having pity on me by handing me a band aid ten sizes too small and patting my head as they scurry along their way. It’s brutal.
Anyhow, as I was saying, we met online. Over the next year or so, we became like sisters. Albeit virtual sisters, but heck, beggars can’t be choosers! We talked throughout the day, from morning until night. Sometimes skipping sleep to work and chat too. It didn’t matter that she was 19 hours ahead of me due to time zones. Whatever we were working on, whatever odd and often crass thoughts that passed through our heads, we shared that shit! Don’t even get me started on the photos we’d pass back and forth! No, not of ourselves, you dirty-minded person. (I only say that because that’s what my first thought was when typing it too!)
So, that’s us. Virtual Besties. And being the besties that we are, we had discussed, planned, and made preparations to attend our first book signing event together. For me, that meant traveling to the other side of the world. Seventeen hours of flying from Chicago to Australia. And I had arrived in Brisbane exactly two hours ago. After texting to tell her that I had arrived at the hotel, and giving her the room number, I took a quick shower, dressed, and began my nervous breakdown. What if she didn’t like me in person? What if the funny pictures we sent, and nasty complaints about annoying fellow authors we shared, were the limit of our ability to converse in real life? What if she thought I was ugly?
Ugh! You’d think I was waiting for her to arrive in order to fulfil one of the many love scenes I’d written in my books! Which couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Join us in our celebration! We are having a release party with lots of giveaways and games! There are some fantastic authors who will be joining us and doing some takeovers, so invite some friends, and join in on the fun!
About the Authors
Stacey lives in Ashburton, New Zealand, with her husband and three children. She is a qualified proof-reader, self-published author, foodie, and self-confessed book-a-holic!
She loves to spend time with her family and friends, and experimenting in the kitchen.
When she isn't busy writing, she spends her spare time helping to promote other authors on her book blog.
S. K. Lessner is a native of the Chicago area, growing up between the cities and endless fields of cows and corn. After working in the medical field around the world for many years, she decided to put her experiences, as well as, dreams into writing. She writes a mixture of Romance themed books that venture into suspense, comedy, and fantasy. When she's not writing, she's busy being a mom and enjoying any beach she can find!
