THE RED BIKINI: Where to Find ‘Fun Facts,’ Videos, and More

Want to read some fun “behind the scenes” info on THE RED BIKINI? I’ve got a whole page devoted to each book on my website. Here’s how to get there:

Go to my website any time, www.laurenchristopherauthor.com, and look for the “Books” page in the top left:

Books page

Once you click on that, you’ll come to a page where you can see all the books. Hover over the one you’re interested in, and click on the “magnifying glass” icon that should appear over the book cover:

Books page inset

On THE RED BIKINI’s page, you can find all kinds of fun stuff (fun stuff will be added to others, too, as we go along!). Right now I have reviews, testimonials, fun facts, videos, and photos for THE RED BIKINI:

Fun stuff

You can also find Book Club Discussion questions, and Chapter 1:

Book club discussion questions

And at the very bottom, you find all kinds of links to articles on other sites that share fun factoids about the book, including a song playlist and my top surfer movies!:

Read more about

I hope you have fun getting lost back in Sandy Cove!

See? “Fin” wants you to have fun:

f56839954bc53a8322654345f6ef4b1e

What a Fall ‘Hermit Weekend’ Looks Like

I’ve had a lot of “hermit weekends” in a row (also known as “going into the writing cave” or “disappearing from society for a few days”) while I scramble to meet various deadlines.

Fall hermit weekends, though, I have to admit, are my favorite: The weather is beautiful; the light is gorgeous; the house is quiet (because everyone is in school, at least on Fridays and Mondays); and I can fuel my day with pumpkin spice Starbucks drinks.

Here’s how the last few hermit weekends have looked:

My writing uniform – flip-flops, cargo pants, tank top, jean jacket:

2014-10-24 09.32.21 HDR

Here is my town and my morning view as I head out to the supermarket for “writing supplies.” I love my town.  Continue reading

THE RED BIKINI ‘Presented’ in Colorado

Jen Jones

So a very-old-friend from elementary school, Jennifer Jones (yep, way back to first grade! We were in MGM together every year, played at each other’s houses, etc. and stayed friends through high school until she moved), found out about my book and ordered a few to give away in door-prize baskets at a Women’s Networking Event at her camera store in Denver, CO.

She sent this:

“So my store hosted a women’s networking event last night and 55 women who have never heard of you before now know who you are. … Attached is a photo of me explaining who you are to me and why I was supporting you. … You’re awesome and I’m so proud of you and I enjoy following your adventures on Facebook.”

So sweet! (Old friends are the best, aren’t they?)

I told her I’d return the favor when she published her first photography book. (Because she will! Super talented wildlife and landscape photographer, she is.)

I hope whoever won those prizes really liked the book, and I’m super honored to be part of a women’s networking event with a really strong woman like Jen.

Behind the Scenes — Meet My CP Patti!


tricia lynne

Critique partners (CPs) are uber-important to writers. While beta readers read your book like the general public will (looking at the “big picture,” the overall story, the pacing, etc.), critique partners are usually other writers, and they’ll look at the little writerly details for you. They know how to “arc a character,” how to write a “beat,” how to add emotion, how to close your “black moment” and other kinds of writer-jibber-jabber like that.

I met Patti (aka historical romance author Tricia Lynne) in an online critique group I was in in about 2006. She lives in Nebraska. We quickly hit it off, liked each other’s writing, kept up with each other, and finally broke away from the group because we were writing at a much faster pace and had waaaaaaaaaay more pages to critique than the others!

Eight years later, we’re still great friends and still swapping pages and helping each other out. She’s the best CP in the world, I’m absolutely sure. She’s amazing with writing “deep point of view” and descriptions. And she’s great at pulling the best descriptions out of me. (She’ll write in the margin, “But what does this look like? What does it smell like here? Are there palm trees or is it a clear view?” etc.)

She’s seen The Red Bikini through every iteration, and I think she was as excited as I was when it was finally published! She’s definitely the godmother of the book, and I opened my acknowledgments with her.

Thank you, Patti!

Next time: Meet my photographer!

This piece originally ran in my May newsletter. If you’d like to sign up for my newsletter, and get all the posts mailed directly to you, sign up here. We also do monthly giveaways and have “sneak peeks” at chapters from upcoming books.

Behind the Scenes — Meet Beta Reader Debi!

Debi and daughter closer up

Debi (right) and her daughter, Justine

This piece originally ran in my April newsletter. If you’d like to sign up for my newsletter, and get all the posts mailed directly to you, sign up here. We also do monthly giveaways and have “sneak peeks” at chapters from upcoming books.

Although there’s nothing like the exaltation of finishing a book, it’s quickly followed by a panic … wondering if anyone will like it or not. To help me decide, I have a group of “beta readers” — readers who read the book in its development stage. Some of the betas have been with me for five or six years now, and they read my works in progress, then email me their gut-level reaction to help determine if I’ve conveyed the right feeling about each of the characters. (For The Red Bikini, I thanked all the TRB beta readers in acknowledgments — you can find all their names there. Good beta readers are worth their weight in gold, and I’m so very thankful I have such terrific ones.)

I met all my beta readers in different ways — some are old friends, some are new friends, a few I met randomly on Twitter when I put out a cold call in 2006 for someone to beta-read my manuscript! I’ve had various beta readers over the years, but five are true troupers who have been with me from the beginning and have read all three finished manuscripts.

This is Debi, one of my first betas, and she’s one of the “old friends.”

Debi and I were best friends way back in junior high. (She’s even a key player in my blog serial How I Met Superman!) We spent a wonderful, memorable summer riding bikes all over town, laying out by the pool, talking about boys, spending the night at each other’s houses, doing each other’s nails, and telling each other everything! She moved away in 9th grade, though, and we lost touch for some time. But we’ve reconnected in recent years and she’s become one of my earliest fans — and is probably my most faithful beta reader. I owe Debi a HUGE thanks for all her support and encouragement!

Next time: Meet my CP!

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