• Blog

    It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

    December 1, 2020

    Who doesn’t love a festive Holiday Read?

    If the good people at Hallmark have taught us anything it’s that we all love to immerse ourselves in holiday stories this time of year.

    I love writing them as well, which is why I have so many Christmas stories to share with you. From standalone novellas to romance series, I have holiday stories to delight.

    A Christmas Arrangement

    A Christmas Arrangement takes place in Cinnamon Bay. I really loved this story and was so thrilled to be a finalist in the Romance Writers of Australia Ruby Awards with this novella in 2020. Isn’t the video for the book above adorable?

    A Christmas Arrangement - Cover

    Snowbound

    I’m not going to lie this book is one of my favorites. I loved writing it and I love the cover. I think it’s one of my sweetest most feel-good books. I love the characters and the fun they have. It’s an Australian girl snowed in with a hunky basketball star for Christmas – seriously, what’s not to love?

    Snowbound - Cover

    More Than Ornamental

    I wrote this book after I asked a lot of questions on my Facebook page about what people wanted to see in a Christmas book – they wanted a small-town, single Dad romance set in Australia and that’s exactly what this is. It was in the Romancing the Holidays boxset in 2019 and now is a stand alone novella.

    More Than Ornamental

    Any Way You Plan it

    This is the fourth book in my Upper Crust series. I’ve said before I never meant this to be a series so it starts in Boston and moves to a small New Hampshire town. The characters are friends who move between the two places. Marissa in this book is the first permanent small-town gal and she’s had it bad for her friend for years. This Christmas she decides enough is enough – it’s time to move on. Turns out he’s not so keen on that idea and needs to woo her big time. (This can be read as a stand alone).

    Any Way You Plan It - Upper Crust Novel 4 Cover - Monique McDonell

    The Reluctant Bridesmaid 

    This may not look like it but The Reluctant Bridesmaid is  Christms story – it’s Mirand’s story o going home t her small town for her cousin’s wedding. It’s only available for newsletter subscribers right now. You can click here for a free copy.

     

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  • Blog

    Any Way You Plan It Blog Tour and Giveaway

    December 29, 2019

    5/2/2016

    Any Way You Plan It Blog Tour Banner
    Let the blog tour begin
    Today is the kick-off of the Any Way You Plan It Blog Tour. I’m thrilled to have so many amazing bloggers and authors hosting me over the next two weeks.

    Stop by each and every site on the day listed on the schedule below to read a combination of excerpts of Any Way You Plan It, as well as Guest Posts and Reviews.

    We’re also running a fun giveaway that includes a $20 Amazon Giftcard and e-books which have been donated by many of the hosts. That’s exciting for you as a reader. If you’re anything like me you probably struggle to find new authors in the maze of online retailers. Here’s a great way to discover lots of new ones.

    Any Way You Plan It Blog Tour Schedule

    May 1st Monique McDonell
    www.moniquemcdonellauthor.com

    May 2nd Written by Deb – Deborah Nam Krane
    http://writtenbydeb.blogspot.com.au/

    May 3rd HeySaidRenee -Renee Conoulty
    www.heysaidrenee.blogspot.com.au/

    May 4th Jen Collin Author
    http://www.jennifercollin.com/

    May 5th Pamela Cook
    http://www.pamelacook.com.au/

    May 6th Glynis Astie
    www.glynisastie.com/

    May 8th Caroline Fardig
    http://www.carolinefardig.com/

    May 10th Cat Lavoie
    http://www.catlavoie.com/

    May 12th Isabella Louise Anderson
    http://www.isabellalouiseanderson.com/

    May 14th Celia Kennedy
    http://celiakennedy.weebly.com/

    The Upper Crust Series Promo Banner Original Covers - Autumn
    Grab your copy of Any Way You Plan It now. myBook.to/AnyWayYouPlanIt

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  • Blog

    Any Way You Plan It – release week

    December 29, 2019

    4/30/2016

    The evolution of the Upper Crust Series
    Any Way You Plan It - Upper Crust Series - Monique McDonell - Original CoverAvailable at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EOA93RW

    This week is the launch of Any Way You Plan It, Book 4 in the Upper Crust Series. Any time I release a new book it’s exciting. I had intended to release it much earlier but life doesn’t always go to plan does it (As Marissa finds out in this book – talk about life imitating art!)

    When I wrote the first book in this series I intended to make it a stand alone novella. I had an idea about Piper’s character and then as I was writing I really liked the side characters of Lucy and Cherie so I decided to explore them and give them a book each.

    So then my intention was to write a trilogy.

    “Hang on – but isn’t Any Way You Plan It – Book 4?” I hear you cry.

    Then while I was writing Any Way You Dream It, Lucy’s story I sent her home to a high school reunion and I had a similar experience. Her friends Marissa, Mike and Todd spoke to me and so I thought ‘d better write books for them too.

    So this book, Any Way You Plan It is Marissa and Mike’s story. They have been friends forever but she’s always had a thing for him. He’s known that but wanted to stay friends because he’s bad at relationships. So Marissa decides it’s time to give up and get on with her life. And that’s what the book is about.

    How do you move on from loving someone who you still see all the time? Or is that even possible?

    You get to meet a lot of new characters in the town in this book and they reappear in Books 5 and 6. It’s fun to write a book where characters reappear. It’s like visiting with old friends because the truth is I write characters that are fun and kind and exactly the sort of people I like in real life too.

    I hope you enjoy Any Way You Plan It. If you do I’d love it if you could leave me a review on Amazon or let me know over on my Facebook page. I love hearing from readers.

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  • Blog

    Moving forward and maintaining momentum on a Musical Monday

    December 28, 2019

    9/13/2015

    To be a writer you need to write.
    Any Way You Fight It - Upper Crust Series - Monique McDonell - Original CoverI haven’t been much of a blogger lately and my social media engagement had been down as well, I suspect.

    Sometimes I really fret about that stuff – you can’t sell books without an online presence if your books are sold almost exclusively online. You lose visibility and people forget about you, or so everyone says.

    On the other hand you can’t sell books if you don’t write. Without that stage you have nothing to sell. That’s a fact.

    For the last couple of weeks I’ve chosen to focus on the writing and not get quite so distracted by the business and promotion side. Who knows if that’s a good strategy or not but I do feel more energetic, more engaged with my characters and more enthusiastic about writing so those are all positives.

    Any Way You Fight It, Book 3 in The Upper Crust Series is off at the editor now and will have an October release. Any Way You Plan It, Book 4 in the series is with the BETA readers now and Books 5 and 6 are ready for reading too. And I have a Christmas and a Summer/Valentine’s novella ready for readers as well.

    I guess that means I need to take a little break from the writing and get back to the promotion and other aspects of the writing business because that’s what it is, a business. I already run another small business so I guess this makes me a entrepreneur, with two businesses on the go.

    Like any business this one has goals – I want to get those four Upper Crust and two novellas published by January, I want to get better at organising my promos and newsletter, I have sales goals and marketing goals and now all I need to do is maintain momentum. Yeah, that’s the hard part.

    This song came me into my head yesterday for some inexplicable reason…and it reminded me of Marissa and Mike in
    Any Way You Plan It…so here we go an old Australian ’80s classic by Jenny Morris for Musical Monday.

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