Guest Post: Sara Palacios

Last week I had the pleasure of reviewing Love In Translation, the debut novel from Sara Palacios. (Read my review here if you missed it). Today Sara has a guest post for you all that talks about her road to publication. I'm always interested to see what it was like for an author to go from idea to actual book and I would like to thank Sara for this lovely post. I hope you all enjoy it!

I’ve dabbled in writing for a few years now. I finished my first book, BEAUTIFUL DISASTER, shortly after I graduated from college but didn’t really think that it was good enough. I think I saw it merely as practice and appreciated it for what it was. But then, I decided to really give it a go and write another book and see how it turned out. If I felt like it was good enough, then I would pursue publishing which was obviously the ultimate goal. So, I gave it another go and spent many months working on what would become LOVE IN TRANSLATION. Actually, back then it was titled A SUMMER TO REMEMBER, but I like the new title so much more. Anywho, I finished the book and thought it was decent, so I decided to give it to an editor. I began working with Erica McCormick who is a friend of one of my best friends and she was amazing. She really helped tighten the writing and reel me in during scenes where my writing was all over the place. After she went through it very thoroughly, I went through it again myself at least a dozen more times and really tried to make it shine. Then I presented the book to a really great gal pal of mine, Cristina Reyna. She read the book in its entirety and really helped help bring the story to life. After that, I sent my MS out to a handful of publishing agents and had a few bites, but nothing really solid so I decided to pursue self-publishing. By that time, I had been working with Samantha Robey over at Chick Lit Plus for roughly a year and saw firsthand how successful an author could be when self-published, so I went for it. I think deep down I was always intended to self-publish because I had so much fun with it all.  Luckily I had my husband to help me out with everything, and together we converted my book into ebook formats and designed the book cover (which was by far one of my favorite aspects of publishing). Then, I set a date and went from there.

Overall, it was a lot of work but it has been so worth it. I think ultimately the deciding factor was giving birth to my son. For so long I’ve dreamed of being a writer and had always been so scared to pursue my dream fully. Sure, I’d written things here and there but had never been published. After Ethan was born, I needed to prove to myself that I could do it and I needed to show him that he could do anything … be anything he wanted to be. How was I supposed to convey those messages when I was scared to do it myself? So, I dove in head first and went for it and I haven’t looked back since. Now I am on tour, with lovely bloggers (like you, Kaley) and I am having such an amazing time. I am so lucky that I have been able to do this and I am so grateful that I’ve been able to experience all of this. 

About Sara:

Sara Palacios is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a major in Advertising and a minor in English Literature. It was during her time in college that she really fell in love with the written word and ventured into writing her own stories. In addition to writing, Sara spends a majority of her time reading the works of other authors.  She reads most genres  – but thoroughly enjoys chick-lit, women’s and historical fiction. When she isn’t busy reading or writing, Sara enjoys spending time with family and friends. She is happily married, the owner of two precious doggies and a new mom to a handsome baby boy. Sara is also an avid animal-lover, runner, yoga enthusiast and wannabe vegan.

Connect with Sara:

Twitter: Sara Palacios

Facebook: Sara Palacios

Email: sararpalacios@gmail.com

CLP Blog Tour: Love in Translation

I am so happy to be part of the CLP Blog Tour for Love In Translation by Sara Palacios! I've gotten to know Sara over the last few months in her capacity as assistant to Samantha, who runs, among other things, CLP Blog Tours. When I found out Sara was publishing her own novel, I knew I had to read it. While I don't think this novel will quite crack my favourites list for this year, I enjoyed reading Emily's story.

Here's the synopsis:

Still reeling from the unexpected breakup with David, Emily nurses her broken heart by spending time with her best friends and taking one-too-many vodka shots. After one long night, she takes a good, hard look at herself in the mirror and doesn’t like what she sees. She realizes that she has sacrificed too much in her failed relationships from the past and vows to never settle for anything less than almost-perfect again. As she picks up the pieces and regains her confidence, a sexy Spanish chef moves in across the hall and completely knocks her off her feet. What ensues is an unexpected and tantalizing affair that opens her eyes, and her heart, to a whole new world and leaves her feeling sexier than she has ever felt. Emily finally sees how easy love is supposed to be. Is happily-ever-after actually possible? Just when she starts to think so, she realizes that sometimes life gets more complicated before it gets easier. And complicated is an understatement when Steven (her best and oldest friend) confesses his love for her. Everything spirals out of control as Emily must make a choice between love and friendship, and in doing so, possibly risk it all.
LOVE IN TRANSLATION is a modern day love story about following your heart to unexpected places and taking chances in life … because sometimes you will find exactly what you are looking for.

I was really drawn into Emily's life. I hated that she had been dating such an idiot and I was glad she was rid of him. She has some fabulous girlfriends who help her through the break up and provide some amusement for the reader along the way. I really cared for Emily and wanted things to work out for her. I'm also glad we got a peek into her family life as I think it added a bit more depth to Emily and her story.

There were also quite a few laugh out loud moments thrown in this novel as well. I'm sure my fellow commuters were wondering what I was laughing at when I got to this part in the book:

I had a bit of a hard time with the romance in this one. In most books and movies, the sexy foreigner is never the long term love interest. I am also a sucker for "boy and girl are friends and end up falling in love" stories. All that being said, it was no surprise that I went into reading this novel with the assumption that Andres was just a fling and that Emily would end up with Steven. I won't say much more because I don't want to give the ending away. I will say that I was, well, annoyed that Emily was so clueless when it came to Steven's feelings for her. There only needed to be one "I'm in love with you, Emily" scene and there were a couple - a bit unnecessary for the overall story.

There were a few little things with the writing that I felt could have tightened or polished just a little bit more. These weren't deal breakers or anything (and I'm not saying I could do any better) but just things that stuck out a bit for me. For example, I noticed there was a lot of description of clothing. When I read, I'm assuming the characters aren't naked so I don't notice when clothing descriptions are sparse or non-existent. I also know that when girls are getting ready for dates or a night out with their friends, it's nice to know what they're wearing. For some reason, I just thought there was a little bit too much description of the clothes and not enough action in them - and no, I don't mean that in a dirty way...get your mind out of the gutter ;) I also noticed a few repetitive words and phrases ("sounds good" is the only one I can specifically recall) that could have been cleaned up a bit. I'm not saying I could do better, but I wish the writing was a bit smoother.

I wanted to love Love in Translation since I knew how hard Sara Palacios, like any author, worked on it. While I didn't love it, I did really like it and would definitely recommend it to someone looking for a light, sweet read. I know Sara will continue to grow as a writer the more she works at it and I look forward to seeing what she comes out with next.

Happy reading! :)