Cynthia Hill guest post and Idol Hands e-book giveaway!!

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, then you know I recently had my mind blown by a little book I like to call “OMGWTFREADTHISBOOK!”  Seriously.  Other people might call it IDOL HANDS – that works, too!  You can check out my review here.

I’m so happy to welcome Cynthia Hill to my blog today.  Enjoy her post and then enter to win an e-book of IDOL HANDS.

I’m starting to think of Idol Hands as the Fight Club of books. You know the movie, right? Brad Pitt and Ed Norton beating the crap out of each other for kicks? That’s about all I know of it, as it’s not really my type of movie, but everyone knows the famous line:

The first rule of Fight Club is that you do not talk about Fight Club.

Take the words “Fight Club” and replace them with the words “Idol Hands” and the premise stays the same. If you read just about any review, it says the same thing:

• “How do I write a review for a book that left me mind blown with my jaw on the floor and not give away any spoilers? I can’t.” – Book Drunkard
• “I cannot say much more without giving away key plot elements that would ruin the story for you (sorry).” – Change the Word http://change-the-word.blogspot.com/2012/02/book-review-idol-hands.html
• “This one is going to be hard to write given I try to stay away from spoilers.” – Chick Lit Plus http://chicklitplus.com/idol-hands-cynthia-hill/

So then if reviewers have trouble talking about a book, how does the author promote it? To tell the truth, I sound like a total idiot when I talk about it to people. “It’s uh, about a boy band… well, no, not really about a boy band, but about this girl who was the girlfriend of a boy band member… but it’s not a romance… I know it sounds like chick lit, but it’s darker than that…” I sound like a blithering idiot.

There are fun parts of it, though. I get the emails, Facebook posts, and Twitter DMs after people finish reading the book and just have to talk about it “with SOMEONE”, and every single one makes me smile. I’d love to see some book clubs adopt Idol Hands just because I see how much people want to talk about it after they read it, but so far there seems to be an understanding by the readers that they don’t want to spoil anything for people who haven’t read it. It’s like getting to be a part of a secret club: there are those who have experienced Idol Hands, and those who haven’t. Remember being one of the ones to have seen The Sixth Sense and then coming across someone who hadn’t? Being able to give them that knowing, “Ohhh… so you don’t know then?”

No matter what, though, I am so very grateful for the reception that the book has been given by its readers and reviewers, and for the people who are trying their hardest to spread the word about it. As a new author, my best allies are happy readers who tell others. Then they can be a part of the club, too!

One lucky reader of this post will also get their mind blown when they win an e-copy of IDOL HANDS!!  I’m jealous.  I wish I could experience the book for the first time all over again.  To enter, comment on this blog post with your email address.  For extra entries, Tweet, Facebook, or blog about this giveaway.  Just leave links in the comments section.  Contest is open to anyone and ends on March 31, 2012.  AND, if there are a lot of entries, I might be able to persuade Cynthia to add another e-book to the pot.  So tell your friends!!