Uplifting escapism for just 99p/99c! Art and Soul is on worldwide sale | #ArtandSoul #RomanceReads #booksale

Posted in Writing by Claire | Art and Soul

My contemporary romance, Art and Soul, is on worldwide 99p/99c sale until 9am GMT on Monday 11th January.

It’s a cheerful, uplifting story featuring romance, art and cake which will provide hours of happy escapism for just 99p/99c!

Please help me spread the word – if you have friends you think would enjoy it, please let them know.

You can get your copy at Amazon or if you’re subscribed to Kindle Unlimited you can download it for free.

Thank you to everyone who has already read, reviewed, bought, downloaded and shared – I really appreciate it.

In case you’d like to know more…

The blurb: An expert at solving other people’s problems, single mum Becky is hired to help artist Charlie get out of his creative slump. She’s also meant to help him get his dream girl, but when Becky starts falling for him instead, she might just risk everything for a chance at love…

Reviews so far: I’m very pleased to report that readers are still enjoying it!

Thank you! I hope you’re all ok, particularly if you’re back in lockdown. Take care x

Claire Huston / Art and Soul

22Nov2020

UK Christmas Giveaway! Win a Yoshi book purse and a paperback copy of Art and Soul

Posted in Writing by Claire | Art and Soul

Update: this giveaway has now closed and I’ll announce the lucky winner on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Thank you to everyone who entered and apologies again to followers based outside the UK. I hope to do an international giveaway in the future!

An early Christmas present for one lucky UK-based reader: this lovely Yoshi book purse and a signed paperback copy of Art and Soul!

It’s been 7 months since I published my debut contemporary romance, Art and Soul.

Thank you all for your support. To everyone who has bought, downloaded, read, reviewed, spread the word and put the book on their Goodreads shelf, I’m tremendously grateful. And I’m sorry this giveaway is only open to UK-based entrants, but international postage costs are huge. Hopefully I can organise an international giveaway in the future.

The giveaway is running from Sunday 22nd November 2020 to midnight on 30th November 2020 (all times GMT).

I’m running the giveaway using Rafflecopter and you can enter here.

The full terms and conditions are at the bottom of this post.

Good luck!

Full terms and conditions:

–This is a prize draw to win one Yoshi Christmas bookworm coin purse (as pictured) and one signed paperback copy of Art and Soul by Claire Huston. There will be one winner.
–The one winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email by Thursday 3rd December 2020. The winner must then respond within seven days of the date of contact, providing a valid UK address for the prize to be sent to. If a selected winner does not meet all of the entry conditions or refuses the prize, another entrant will be selected at random from the remaining eligible entries. –Unsuccessful entrants will not be contacted.
–No purchase necessary to enter.
–The prize draw is open to residents of the UK aged 18 or over. Entrants must be UK residents and must provide a valid contact method to enable notification if they are a winner.
–The winner’s name will be published as part of an announcement on Claire Huston’s blog and social media channels.
–Any personal data given as part of the competition entry will only be used for the purposes of running the prize draw and delivering the prize and will not be shared with third parties except for the purpose of delivering the prize. –After I have dispatched the prize and receipt has been confirmed I will delete the data I hold.
–This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

Claire Huston / Art and Soul

8Nov2020

Charity book auction: get a signed book by giving to a great cause

Posted in Writing by Claire | Art and Soul

The annual Authors’ and Illustrators’ Children in Read online charity book auction ends this Friday, 13th November 2020 at 11pm (GMT).

Don’t miss your chance to bid on a signed copy of a book by a favourite author!

Hundreds of authors and illustrators in every genre imaginable have donated signed copies of their books for a fantastic cause. This is the biggest signed book auction in the world and all proceeds go to BBC Children in Need. Bids start at just £5.

If you want to get browsing now, the auction homepage is: https://www.jumblebee.co.uk/childreninread2020

A copy my debut novel, Art and Soul, is lot 188 in the contemporary romance category. Just in case if you fancy placing a bid 🙂

If your bid wins its auction, all packaging and posting within the UK is free! If you’re outside the UK, you shouldn’t give up hope – if you contact the auction organiser (either via the social media channels listed at the bottom of this post or by email at childreninread@yahoo.com) about a particular lot, they will ask the author if they could send it to you.

Successful bidders will be notified after the auction closes 13th November 2020 11:00 pm (GMT) via email.

And in case you’ve never heard of Children in Need, it’s the BBC’s charity which raises funds to help children in the UK be safe, happy, secure and have the opportunities they need to reach their potential.

Please share!

Please help spread word of the auction to anyone you think might like the chance to bid on a signed book by a favourite author.

You can also keep up with the auction’s progress on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. But remember, the auction closes this Friday, 13th November so don’t wait too long to bid for a favourite book.

Thank you and happy bidding!

Claire Huston / Art and Soul

19Jun2020

UK book bargain alert: Art and Soul just 99p! #indieauthor #ArtandSoul #RomanceBooks

Posted in Writing by Claire | Art and Soul

UK readers! Are you looking for a light, cheerful read?

Then grab a 99p bargain at Amazon UK!

My debut novel, Art and Soul is only 99p on Amazon UK until 24th June.

Why should I read it? If you want a happy, easy-to-read romance to escape into, please give Art and Soul a try. I promise the story will provide some light relief.

The blurb: An expert at solving other people’s problems, single mum Becky is hired to help artist Charlie get out of his creative slump. But when she starts falling for her client, will she be able to fix her own love life?

Reviews so far: I’m delighted to say that readers are enjoying it!

My favourite so far:

Don’t miss out on the chance to bag a “knickergripping story” for just 99p! Pop over to Amazon UK and treat yourself to a bargain. And if you’re subscribed to Kindle Unlimited, you can download the book for free.

International readers: I’ll be running a wider sale in July. I haven’t forgotten you!

Thank you!

Claire Huston / Art and Soul

7May2020

Thank you and book update. A quiet lockdown launch for Art and Soul… with cake!

Posted in Baking, Writing by Claire | Art and Soul

Yes, the enormous book in the middle is, in fact, a cake!

Like many authors, I always hoped to have a small party to celebrate the publication of my debut novel, Art and Soul. Like everyone, I didn’t expect lockdown. But, even if she only has 4 people to feed, you can’t keep a baker down. And with a good excuse to make a giant cake, I made one!

Here’s another picture of it sliced, just to prove it really was a cake. Two large layers of simple sponge cake with vanilla buttercream and then an edible customised topper which I ordered online.

And if you’re wondering where I am… ta-dah!

Sorry I look so squinty, but it was a beautiful bright day so at least we got to eat cake in the garden.

Blog Tour thanks

Thank you to all the bloggers who took part in the blog tour for Art and Soul and, of course, to Rachel Gilbey for doing such a wonderful job in organising it all. Their reviews are brilliant and I’m thrilled they enjoyed the book, with many of them finding it was exactly the sort of cheerful distraction they needed at the moment.

Thank you too!

And thank you everyone for your kind words, sharing the message the book was out and, indeed, to those of you who bought or downloaded a copy. I really appreciate it.

If you have read and enjoyed Art and Soul, if you can, please leave a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. It does make a huge difference to how visible the book is to other readers.

Still a book bargain!

If you like contemporary romance and are looking for an uplifting story, I’d be delighted it you would give Art and Soul a try. And/or tell your romance-reading friends about it!

The ebook is still only 99p / $0.99 on Amazon or free to read with Kindle Unlimited.

And/or if you could add the book to your to-read shelf on Goodreads, I’d be very grateful.

Thank you again! I hope you’re all keeping safe and well.

Next week, normal service will resume with a recipe post 🙂

**Get your copy of Art and Soul now**!

Claire Huston / Art and Soul

23Apr2020

Happy Publication Day! New #ContemporaryRomance, Art and Soul by @ClaraVal, out today! Ebook just 99p/$0.99! #ArtandSoul #RomanceBooks

Posted in Writing by Claire | Art and Soul

Happy publication day to me!

My debut novel, Art and Soul, is out today!

If you are fond of contemporary romance and looking for an uplifting story, please give my book a try.

The ebook is only 99p (or $0.99) on Amazon. so go on, treat yourself, a family member or a friend today!

And/or if you could add the book to your to-read shelf on Goodreads, I’d be very grateful.

Here’s the cover, the blurb and a bit about the blog tour which starts today and runs until the end of April.

P.S. For those of you who are only here for the cake and biscuits, normal service will resume soon! I promise! 🙂

The blurb:
There’s no problem Becky Watson can’t fix. Except her own love life…

Struggling single mother Becky Watson longs to revive her career as a life-fixer, working miracles to solve her clients’ problems, no matter how big or small. Since the birth of her two-year-old son she has been stuck preventing wedding fiascos for the richest and rudest residents of the Comptons, a charming, leafy area of southern England known for its artistic heritage.

So when semi-reclusive local artist Charlie Handren reluctantly hires Becky to fix his six-year creative slump, she’s delighted to set him up with a come-back exhibition and Rachel Stone, the woman of his dreams.

Though they get off to a rocky start, Becky and Charlie soon become close. But as the beautiful Rachel becomes Charlie’s muse, Becky is forced to wonder: will giving Charlie everything he wants mean giving up her own happily ever after?

A heart-warming, uplifting romance served with a generous slice of cake.

The blog tour!

Thank you to all the amazing bloggers taking part in the tour for Art and Soul. Special thanks to the fantastic Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources who organized the tour.

I’ll be doing my best to share everyone’s posts on my other social media accounts. Thank you again to everyone for your support!

Get your copy of Art and Soul now!

Claire Huston / Art and Soul

17Apr2020

Author Interview: Claire Huston @ClaraVal

Posted in Writing by Claire | Art and Soul

I’m delighted to be featured on Esther’s brilliant blog today to talk about my debut novel, Art and Soul (which comes out next Thursday, 23rd April – eeek!), writing and baking (of course!).

You can read the whole interview by following the link to Esther’s blog and the original post blow 🙂

estherchiltonblog

It’s a pleasure to introduce you to Claire Huston. I met Claire at an author meet-up a little while ago and was very interested to hear about her forthcoming book.

Q. Your first book, Art and Soul, is due out on April 23rd this year. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

A.Art and Soul is an uplifting, contemporary romance featuring love, art and cake.

The main character, struggling single mother Becky Watson, longs to revive her career as a life-fixer, working miracles to solve her clients’ problems, no matter how big or small. Since the birth of her two-year-old son she has been stuck preventing wedding fiascos for the richest and rudest residents of the Comptons, a charming, leafy area of southern England known for its artistic heritage.

So when semi-reclusive local artist Charlie Handren reluctantly hires Becky to fix his six-year creative slump…

View original post 740 more words

2Feb2016

Editing your novel. My experience of getting professional feedback

Posted in Writing by Claire | Art and Soul

To date, I’ve submitted the first 3 chapters of my first novel, Art and Soul, to 23 literary agents to no avail.

So, before continuing with submissions, I decided it was time to ask a professional editor to look at those first three chapters and give me critical feedback.

I researched my options, selected my editor, sent off my first 3 chapters and synopsis, and waited for their report with a mixture of excitement and dread.

The good

I paid for critical and I got it. However, for the sake of my own self-esteem I must keep repeating an opening comment: “on the whole” I write well. That’s a relief. I shouldn’t chuck it all in just yet then. 🙂

The improveable

There were bits and bobs I won’t bore you with, because the headline, Dear Reader, was tremendous: cut chapters 1 and 2 and start with chapter 3.
Continue reading…

29Dec2015

New pages to make my blog easier to navigate

Posted in Misc, Reading, Writing by Claire | Art and Soul

Holidays are a good time for some blog housekeeping (cue brilliant comic from Fowl Language Comics…)

I’ve recently created a few blog pages to keep my blog content organized and make posts easy for visitors to find (I hope!).

Now under Sweet’s Cakes on the top menu (see screen-grab below) you’ll find:

A new Recipes Index. I’ve listed all my recipes in alphabetical order under headings such “Cakes” and “Biscuits/Cookies”. Creating this page was also a great excuse to use this cute cupcake clipart:

Baking. The archive of all my baking posts, appearing in reverse chronological order.

And then under Reading (see screen-grab below):

7Dec2015

Editing your own writing. Can you ever be “done”?

Posted in Writing by Claire | Art and Soul

When is a book finished? And other writerly ponderings…

I finished the first draft of my first novel, Art and Soul, back in November 2014. I spent two months editing, then sent the manuscript to my first two readers. While they were reading, I read a couple of books on self-editing and realized I’d committed a lot of glaring errors.

I used my readers’ feedback and what I’d learnt from the books to do another complete manuscript “fix”. I then sent this draft to more readers. Their feedback resulted in more re-writes, particularly to the beginning of chapter 1, which I freely admit I’m still not 100% happy with.

Art and Soul

Books served with a generous slice of cake.

Tag Archives: Art and Soul

Uplifting escapism for just 99p/99c! Art and Soul is on worldwide sale | #ArtandSoul #RomanceReads #booksale

Claire Huston / Art and Soul

UK Christmas Giveaway! Win a Yoshi book purse and a paperback copy of Art and Soul

Claire Huston / Art and Soul

Charity book auction: get a signed book by giving to a great cause

Claire Huston / Art and Soul

UK book bargain alert: Art and Soul just 99p! #indieauthor #ArtandSoul #RomanceBooks

Thank you!

Claire Huston / Art and Soul

Thank you and book update. A quiet lockdown launch for Art and Soul… with cake!